Greetings From Tennessee

Scene: Sebadoh’s an interesting reference point, because the demos on 4-Track Rock suggest a direction in which Superdrag could’ve gone. Did you ever give any thought to ditching the polished sound of your major label records and going lo-fi?

Davis: That was kind of how we started. I’ve always recorded on four-track, and to this day, that’s the only mode I have of recording at home. I don’t really care about learning anything else. The 7-inches and EP we did, that was all eight-track, and our original idea was to release our first album in eight-track form. But this whole chain of events was set in motion and we just kind of went with it. In hindsight, we could’ve bailed, and not signed, and not made that first record the way we did. It’s kind of like that Marvel comic, What If? “What If Superdrag Had Just Recorded On Eight-Track?” [Laughs.] I personally love the sound of four-track recordings, and to hear that stuff mastered, that was a lot of fun for me. If we do another record, maybe it will be four-track. That would suit me just fine.

Scene: Where does Superdrag go from here?

Davis: You know, I’ve written a bunch of new songs that sound a lot like Superdrag. [Laughs.] I don’t think we’re trying to look too far ahead, but I think we’re down for whatever, as long as it’s fun and everyone’s involved. I can definitely foresee a time when we make an album as a band again. I don’t see us spending nine months of the year in a van, playing. I kind of feel like those days are over for me. I can’t stand to be away from my children that much.

Scene: The technology is such now that you could make a record, put it out yourself, not tour behind it, and still not lose money. In a way, that’s kind of what you’re doing with Arigato, right?

Davis: Yeah, well I recorded that record in August of last year, and then for all intents and purposes, the company that was supposed to be paying all the expenses and putting the record out pretty much disintegrated. So it’s taken me a year to work my way out of that mess and get the record back. As it turns out, the guys in the band really like the record, and when I suggested the possibility of playing one of the songs in our set and putting it out at the merch booth, they weren’t only cool with it, they were into it. I’m not trying to get people to show up to the Superdrag show so I can have a captive audience for my gospel music. I’m going to go out of my way to make sure that things aren’t that way. But the truth is that the record does sound a lot like Superdrag.

I’ll make the music available, and do everything I can to let people know about it, and hopefully they’ll tell a friend. [Laughs.] I guess in my own imagination I view myself as kind of a lifer. I hope that God grants me that wish.