Interviewing Pete Yorn

As you all know, I'm the music person here at The Times. I write about local artists trying to make it, touring artists passing through town and everything in between. Each week I talk to some pretty interesting people. Musicians can be an odd bunch. But very rarely do I get the chance to interview an artist whose music I love personally.

I talked to Martina McBride a few months ago. I admire her as a musician, and she was kind, warm and personable during our interview. But I don't rock out to Martina McBride when I'm in the car. My interview with Phil Collen, guitarist and vocalist for Def Leppard, also was interesting. When I brought up difficult topics, such as the death of his fellow band member, Collen's answers were sincere and heartfelt. I went to this concert, but Def Leppard still isn't one of my favorites.

Finally, after a year in this job, I got to talk to a musician I consider one of my favorites, Pete Yorn. It was hard not to seem like a super fan during the interview, although I did tell Yorn I liked his work.

The interview flowed. It was light and conversational because I'm more familiar with his music than most artists. It was like getting to sit down with a favorite musician and picking their brain. In 2006, Yorn released "Nightcrawler," the third album of his trilogy chronicling morning, day and night. Yorn said when he started the project in 2001 with "musicforthemorningafter" he had no idea it would develop that way.

Each album in the trilogy is a reflection of what music Yorn was into at the time. When working on "Nightcrawler," Yorn said he listened to a lot of David Bowie and Frank Sinatra, which you can actually hear on the album. He's a fascinating musician. Nothing Yorn records is by happenstance. He's thoughtful about they lyrics, music and order in which the tracks on his albums are composed.

So here are some excerpts from my interview with Yorn:

SN: "Nightcrawler" is the completion of your morning, day, night trilogy. Is there one of the three albums that is your favorite?

YORN: I love them all for different reasons. Looking back, there's really something about that first record that is very much like your first love. It was a magical time, and I have a soft spot for that and those songs. But I loved a lot of elements about the other records as well.

SN: You've said that "Nightcrawler" wasn't so much an album about the night, but for a later period in your life. How has your life changed since "musicforthemorningafter" debuted?

YORN: I've grown up a little bit, which is inevitable. It's a good thing. You kind of have a different view about how things play out. With all the traveling and relationships you have, you take that with you in forms of songwriting and the person you become. I feel I've evolved a lot in many ways as a person since then. I want to take that into the next piece of work that I do.

SN: You worked with several artists on this album like Dave Grohl and Natalie Maines. What would you say they contributed to "Nightcrawler?"

YORN: I always loved to hear Natalie sing. I love her voice so much. It's a real treat to be able to sing a song with her. She brought a beauty to that record that's very different and you haven't seen before on my other records. Dave brought the rock. I reached out to him and he came into the studio and just nailed it. He gave the album that punch that it needed.

SN: I hear you write each song completely before moving on to another song. How do you end up tying all those songs together to complete an album?

YORN: Sometimes I purposefully won't finish a song. I just let it simmer because there is a magic in the studio that you can't really predict. Uncertainty is to be celebrated. The magic that happens in the studio is part of the process that I really love.

SN: "Nightcrawler" starts off pretty soft and bare and builds as the album goes on. Why did you choose to start the album that way?

YORN: I'd worked up in my mind at that time that I wanted the album to start that way. "Vampyre" is one of my favorite songs, and it's not your typical upbeat way to start a record. But it just had a real atmosphere to it and sounded dark and creaky. It was a cinematic way to open the album.

SN: You recently wrapped an acoustic tour. What was that like for you as a performer?

YORN: It was a good challenge for me. I get nervous and it's hard not having a band out there to protect me. It was hard to make myself get out there after not performing publicly for a while. I forced myself to do it and it will do me good in the long run. The tour took some it's toll on me, and I wore myself out in the end. But I became a better performer and I'm more comfortable from all that.

SN: These albums are all tied together and have consumed your attention since 2001. What's next for you and does it feel like a clean slate?

YORN: The records are tied together so much in my life that I felt like a big change was coming and has come in a lot of ways. I've been forced to grow up and I feel like the next record is sort of a rebirth, a clean slate and an opportunity to move into the next phase of my life and my career.

Yorn will perform tonight at the Riverdome at Horseshoe Casino and Hotel at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20.