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| Jonny Fritz's Sweet Creep |
The Sweet and Creepy Music of Dad Country
by Matt Chrystal
The story in short -- very short -- Jonny Fritz, the artist formerly known as Jonny Corndawg, is a country music eccentric with a gift for songwriting, storytelling, and swagger. He’s a clotheshorse, a leather crafter, and a funny son-of-a-gun who delivers honky tonk humor with great panache. But none of this is a joke. Mr. Fritz takes his silliness very seriously.
He's relocated from Nashville to L.A., dropped his stage name, been down on the bikini line, transitioned through dad country, and evolved into a sweet creep.
There were a few setbacks along the way, like breaking his hip and going on an "awful trip" to India; but Fritz was able to recruit an all-star team of musicians to put together a "cool and weird" new album in just three days.
I got to talk to Mr. Fritz about the making of his new album, Sweet Creep, his thoughts on L.A. versus Nashville, his fondness for hearing "the rare and dying accent of the native Philadelphians," and about his idea to have you send him naked pictures of your girlfriend or boyfriend.
CoolMattyC: For those who are unfamiliar with the story… why the name change to Jonny Corndawg to start your career and then the somewhat recent change back to your given name of Jonny Fritz?
Jonny Fritz: Ahhh. Let's skip that. Let's talk about anything else. Let's talk about the music.
CMC: OK, OK. The songs on 2013's Dad Country, your third album and first under the name Jonny Fritz seemed to take on a bit more weight that most of your earlier works. Tracks like "Shut Up" and "Have You Ever Wanted to Die" have a more serious tone than say, "Shaved Like a Razor" and "Red on the Head" off of 2011's Down on the Bikini Line. Was this a conscious effort or just the natural progression of your songwriting?
JF: Yeah, it's a natural progression. I'm certainly not getting away or hiding from anything, or trying to not do the old songs. There's a song on the new record called "Chilidog Morning" that I wrote with a four year-old, so I don't see that as much of a progression from something like "Shaved Like a Razor." Stuff like that is still in the same vein. I don't know. It's a little bit different. There's some growing up I guess. Oh, no wait. I wouldn't say growing up. Yeah, how about we just say evolution of songwriting? That sounds like it could be right.
CMC: You caught yourself there. You almost admitted to growing up. I mean, that is something I always try to stay away from.
JF: I really hate grown-ups. Grown-ups are people with marble counter tops and AirBnB going on in their basement apartments. I just don't want to be lumped into that at all.
CMC: Can you talk about the song writing process and what went into the making of your new album, Sweet Creep?
JF: I have been working on it for quite a while. I went over to India with Robert Ellis to go on a writing retreat. India is a very funny place to go on a retreat to try and write music. It is the most distracting place and the most impossible place to get along with. We had a helluva time there. We both got really sick. It was awful. It was just an awful trip. So we didn't get to write much there but we did pick up these crazy looking suits that were made there, a bunch of shirts, too.
So we got to start our new careers as fashion designers there but we didn't get to write too much. That was the first thing that stopped me writing the record. I had broken my hip a few years earlier and so when we got back from India, I couldn't really walk more than like a block or so. I had to focus on that for a while. I had just been set back from writing this record for so long. I finally got a hip replacement earlier this year and then I met Jim James [of My Morning Jacket], and we just got along really well and started hanging out all the time and he produced the album. We recorded that record in three days. It just kinda shot out. Everything snowballed from there.
CMC: Your last album, Dad Country, was produced by Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes …and you just mentioned that Sweet Creep was produced by My Morning Jacket's Jim James. That's pretty impressive company. How did that come about?
JF: I know Jim James through Taylor Goldsmith. Taylor has introduced me to more people and more music than anyone else in my life. He is just an incredible friend. He knew the struggles I was having putting this album together, and he told me that he and his brother, Griffin, would be my band if I could just find someone to record it. But I had just moved out to L.A., and I didn't know all that many people. Taylor was just like, I'll bet Jim would do it. Let's talk to Jim. So he introduced us and we became friends.
Jim came out and saw me play live and said he loved my stuff and would love to record me. We all sat down to figure out when could we get this done and what our timelines looked like and we were all looking over our calendars. We only had three days to make it happen. So we did everything in three days. I'm talking about all the overdubs, all the guitar solos, all the backing vocals, everything in three days.
I don't know that many people can recognize just how fast that is! Records usually take months to make. I feel so good about it. It ended up sounding so cool and it's such a weird sounding record. I’m really excited about it!
CMC: Wow. So the studio band for Sweet Creep was…
JF: Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith (of Dawes), Jim James (of My Morning Jacket), Joshua Hedley and me. That's the band for the album.
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| Photo via ATO Records |
JF: Yeah right! No way. That would be one expensive group. The touring band always just depends on the tour. For this upcoming tour, I'm bringing out Kelly Doyle, who is one of my most favorite guitarists. He's played with Robert [Ellis] for years and he is just incredible. I'll be going on tour with Jamestown Revival and happy to be bringing out Kelly Doyle.
CMC: Have you had previous exposure to your tour-mates, the Austin based rockers, Jamestown Revival?
JF: I met them in Australia last year. They are really great guys and we just hit it off and they asked me to come out on the road with them. It just really ended up working out with the timing of the release of my record.
CMC: You recently relocated to Los Angeles after stating that Nashville had become too much like L.A… how are things going for you on the west coast?
JF: I really love it. I realized something about myself last year. I love being in the stage and up there in the spotlight; but, when I step off the stage, I want to be anonymous. I do not want anyone to know who I am. I want to be able to survey people, to watch and observe. In Nashville, it was impossible to do that. If you go to the post office, you know everyone in line. It's nice but it's hard to be anonymous.
In Los Angeles, you can be a really famous person, and nobody cares. It's not too much of a city; it still feels like the country in some places. I just love it. I want to be there forever. I feel really good about it. I don't know how long I can afford it there, but I do really love it so I'm gonna stay here as long as I can.
CMC: Speaking of Nashville, you were pretty vocal on your website about the changing scene down there. And it seems that, in addition to a shift in clientele, there seems to be a noticeable shift in the industry itself. Sturgill Simpson was pretty adamant about the topic when he stated, "They should drop all the formulaic cannon fodder bullshit they've been pumping down rural America's throat for the last 30 years along with all the high school pageantry, meat parade award show bullshit, and start dedicating their programs to more actual Country Music."
So with all that said, what are your thoughts on the state of country music in general?
JF: I hadn’t heard of him saying that. I don't know that I have any thoughts on Nashville or country music. I just know there are a lot of people complaining. I just do not care. If there is some new country singer singing about tailgating and wearing daisy dukes… I just don't care. It's not a big deal to me. It doesn't bother me. I think everybody should just do whatever it is that they want to do.
CMC: I recently interviewed alt-country singer/songwriter, Robbie Fulks, who also became fed up with the Nashville scene (back in the early 90s) and moved on. I told him your quote about Nashville becoming too L.A. and he agreed and he also expressed how he felt the whole vibe down there had become "less dangerous" and has just become too comfortable…
JF: The funny thing is, there is like this new outlaw thing going on down there; and, to me, the whole outlaw thing now is just some dangerous neighborhood that got gentrified. It's a neighborhood that is not dangerous anymore. It's a place where people never would have gone in the 1970s. Like a bar that Waylon was hanging out in during the 70's. These people have like a picture of that bar hanging up in their living rooms now but they would've been terrified to go there back then.
But it's not dangerous anymore. The Hells Angels that hung out there are older now. There are not people there who will harass anybody anymore. So, now, people feel they can dress up like cowboys and look cool and complain about how new country music sucks. It does just seem like pageantry.
New country and this revival stuff that's going on, too. This throw-back stuff to what it used to be like... It all seems fake. There is a serious lack of authenticity. Authenticity is a tough thing; it can't be a singular thing. Just liking outlaw country is not authentic. To be into just the music that was made in the 1970s and ignore everything made after that and not be influenced by it just seems like that is not being authentic. I think there's just a problem with a quest for authenticity these days. It all just seems so contrived.
CMC: So it sounds like maybe you do have some thoughts on Nashville and country music…
JF: There are still good songwriters there, and some places are still great. But c'mon, a cup of coffee is like $6 in Nashville. I was like, "Fuck this. If I'm going to pay that much for coffee, I at least want to be surrounded by beautiful people and palm trees while I drink it." I liked being in Nashville when it was a hick town and it was low and cheap and boring. It was a struggle. You had to really want to be there. But now you don't, it's like fun to be there now. All that just negated all the reasons why I liked it there.
CMC: We talked some about L.A. and Nashville… your current tour brings you to the NYC and Philly areas in late October. Is there anything in particular you look forward to when coming to this area?
JF: Oh God. I love it there. I lived in Philadelphia for like five years. I love it there. I look forward to hearing all the accents. I look forward to hearing the rare and dying accent of the native Philadelphians! It's probably my favorite thing about coming up there. Hearing people talk about having hoagies and cokes.
CMC: In addition to being a musician, you have gained a reputation as a leather crafter. What got you interested in creating custom leather goods?
JF: I got into it about eight years ago when I was living in Nashville. I was just struggling so hard, and I really wanted a leather covered telecaster like Waylon Jennings had. I was like man, those are so fucking cool. They were just so expensive, like $2000 at the time. But I really wanted one, so I saved up a lot of money, maybe $1100.
I was driving around and I stumbled upon a wholesaler for leather work. I just walked in and was like, "Hey, you know where I can get a leather telecaster like Waylon?" And they were just like, "Why don't you just make it?" I said, "That's a great question."
So I spent like $800 on tools and I bought a $200 guitar on Craigslist and I just jumped right into it. I always wanted one of those guitars, and I was able to make one for myself just by watching videos on YouTube and reading books. Pretty soon, people started asking me if I could make them a strap or belt or keychain or anything. I just thought, "Oh shit. This could be a business!"
It was great because when I wasn't playing music and when I came off the road I had another job that totally worked for me. It's been wonderful and an absolute blessing to find a way to make money when I'm not touring.
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| Photo via jonnyfritz.com |
JF: As a musician, it's tough to have any kind of other job because you lose it when you leave for a tour. When I would go look for a regular job, they would ask what I do and I say I'm a musician, and then they'd usually reply with, "No Thank You." It's just wonderful to have income from [leather] and still make music.
CMC: You have showcased your handmade custom wallets based on the theme “Swimming Women” on your website and posted Instagram pics of custom guitar straps that you crafted for fellow musicians. What are some of your personal favorite creations or products that you are most proud of?
JF: I really love naked women stuff. That’s my favorite. It just looks so good. I love the Swimming Women. It's simple and it's fun. I want to do a whole series of them. That was just the first design.
I'm excited for this idea I have where people send me images of the girlfriends, boyfriends, wives or husbands diving naked into water and I’ll put that onto a wallet. It's the perfect, kind of sexy, kind of sweet but also creepy, one of a kind wallet.
CMC: Ah there it the sweet creep theme again…
JF: Exactly, that's my whole thing lately. "Sweet creep" just keeps popping up on me. Every time I have an idea it just always seems to be equal parts sweet and creepy.
CMC: So you are saying it kinda sweet creeps up on ya…
JF: (silence)
Jonny Fritz's Sweet Creep, produced by Jim James, is out now on ATO Records
Some Jonny Fritz w/ Jamestown Revival East Coast Dates
10/24 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
10/26 – Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
10/27 – Philadelphia, PA – World Café Live
For info and more tour dates please visit: www.jonnyfritz.com.
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