Kraig Johnson holds forth in 1998
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"We didn't."
"When we first started out (in 1992), it was just me, Gary (Louris) and Danny (Murphy) doing acoustic stuff. We were just sitting 'round, talking and playing some demos. It wasn't like we did it right away," says singer/guitarist/songwriter Kraig Johnson.
Well, seven years, two full length albums, an EP, and two U.S. tours later, Golden Smog seem to be falling out of its "Who the hell knows what's gonna happen" attitude. Made up of alt-country heroes and rock and roll superstars such as Johnson (Run, Westy, Run), Louris (the Jayhawks), Murphy (Soul Asylum), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Marc Perlman (the Jayhawks), and Jody Stephens (Big Star), the group is stepping into a more mature, more defined existence.
Nowhere is this more noticeable than on the band's latest release, Weird Tales. According to Johnson, the band recorded Weird Tales over two Januarys (1997 and 1998), with really no expectations, following up a pretty solid album that had no expectations itself.
In 1992, Golden Smog recorded On Golden Smog, its five-cover song debut, in one weekend. And in 1996, the band released a hastily-recorded full-length debut, Down By the Old Mainstream, recorded over a period of roughly five days in November 1994. This time around, the band took two months, and the result is a more polished, professional-sounding effort -- an idea not lost on Johnson.
The main difference between the band's albums is the time factor, he says.
"Not only time being the time of us playing together, but in making each (album). (Original drummer) Chris Mars didn't even stay the night after recording the first EP. This time we had a little more time and were more focused. Everyone had more songs."
Johnson says the band felt no pressure in following up Mainstream, which contains such classics as Tweedy's signature "Pecan Pie," Johnson's nonsensical live staple "He's A Dick," and the killer Louris/Tweedy closer "Radio King."
"I don't think there was any pressure at all," Johnson says. "It was a more relaxed thing. We had a bunch of songs already in the (can)."
Perhaps making things more relaxed for the Smog is the attitude the band takes towards performing and recording. "It's different," Johnson says of life in the Smog. "In other bands, you tend to have a couple people who run the show. (The Smog) is a like a musical chairs kind of thing. It's a good time. Murph's even playing drums, for crying out loud. I mean, who else is going to let him do that?"
The band already finished a brief East Coast club tour which ended in December at a Chicago show cyber-cast across the country.
"I didn't think anything was different until I saw all the cameras and stuff and I was like, 'What the hell is that?'" Johnson says. "Chicago was fun."
The Smog then kicked off a West Coast tour in January. After that, though, things appear to be up in the air. "We've got a West Coast tour and then I don't know. I don't know about another album," Johnson ponders.
RODEO ROB | An expert on all things "alt," Rob spends his days covering the energy industry and his nights covering the DC-area bars. Raise yer glass especially high to this man, for he has contributed to this site constantly since its creation four years ago.