Drink The Sea - new group with Barrett Martin, Alain Johannes, Peter Buck, Duke Garwood
goldrush
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This could be very cool. 
Barrett Martin, Peter Buck, Alain Johannes, Duke Garwood, and Lisette Garcia (with a special appearance by Dave Catching), have formed a new group. They're called Drink The Sea, and their first single is "Outside Again"
Barrett Martin, Peter Buck, Alain Johannes, Duke Garwood, and Lisette Garcia (with a special appearance by Dave Catching), have formed a new group. They're called Drink The Sea, and their first single is "Outside Again"
“Do not postpone happiness”
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
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(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
Peter Buck, the former lead guitarist for the iconic rock band R.E.M., is one of the most prolific and collaborative artists you can ever meet. Over a handful of decades making music, he’s worked in seemingly countless projects. But his latest offering is a new supergroup with Barrett Martin, Duke Garwood, Alain Johannes, and Lisette Garcia called Drink The Sea.
That band, which released its debut single, “Outside Again,” in May, is also set to release two debut LPs later this fall on September 19 and October 3. Below, we caught up with Buck, who talked about the group’s origins, why he works so well with Martin (the former drummer for Screaming Trees and Mad Season), and what’s next for the project.
VICE: When Barrett Martin first talked about the group with you, what did you think you were getting into, and how did you think about your role in the project?
Peter Buck: Not a clue! You know, Barrett mentioned Duke. So, I looked up Duke’s stuff online, and I listened to it, and I thought, “Oh, okay, I understand where he’s coming from.” And then Alain Johannes, who I met when I was in Chile, I didn’t have a clue what his stuff was going to sound like. So, it wasn’t really until I started hearing conglomerations of all this stuff that we put together that it kind of made sense.
VICE: What inspired this project? Was it all Barrett pushing for the collaboration? Did he give a sense of what was on his mind at the time?
PB: Barrett is a great facilitator. He knew Duke, and he knew Alain. I’d only met Alain once, and I didn’t know Duke at all. But he just said, “This guy’s great, we should record with him.” And I said, “Yeah, I’ll give it a shot!” You know, my feeling is that you’ve just got to keep yourself really open. And Barrett is always looking for new collaborators, new people to work with, and it’s great for me. Because I don’t really have a manager and I’m not one of those people who’s going to get on the phone and call people up and ask to make a record. Whereas Barrett will say, “This is what we’re doing! Monday, we’re doing this!” And I’m like, “Okay, that’s great!” All I have to do is write and record and play, and those are all things I enjoy doing.
VICE: Is Duke the lead singer?
PB: He sings on over half the songs. He and Alain both have deep voices.
VICE: The vocals sound a lot like Mark Lanegan, which I know is sort of ironic given that Barrett played in the Screaming Trees.
PB: All four of us have worked with Lanegan in one degree or another. Duke worked with his band for a while, and Alain played on some of the Queens of the Stone Age records that Mark played on. Of course, Barrett was in Screaming Trees.
VICE: If you were to describe the band’s chemistry in one sentence, what would it be?
PB: I don’t know. You know, the four of us have never played in the same room at the same time. It’s been two or three of us at different times. So, I don’t even know what the chemistry is going to be until the first day of rehearsal. I mean, I know what the record sounds like, but we’re going to figure it out on the fly.
VICE: What is so strong about your friendship and collaborative relationship with Barrett? I know you two have worked together on various projects over many years.
PB: I’ve been playing with him now for over 30 years and yeah, I think he said we’ve made, like, 40 records to one degree or another together. I think we just have the same philosophy about music, that you have to keep your mind open, stay open to whatever happens. This isn’t a career for each of us. We’re trying to create things that have lasting worth and meaning. And Barrett is much more of a mingler than I am. He’ll actually meet people where I don’t meet anybody!
VICE: Do you have a hope for the project? Or what are your own creative ambitions with music these days?
PB: You know, I think my real ambitions as far as having a career is behind me. But I just want to learn things. I want to learn new music, and I want to enjoy myself. So, I hope that we get together in a room and it feels great, and it’s something we want to pursue over the years at whatever level. I don’t really have any expectations of record sales—I mean, no one really sells records anymore. I would like, if we do some shows, to have a few people show up and appreciate it. And given the fact that there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think what a privilege it is to have been making music for 50-some years and still have people paying attention—it’s kind of amazing for me.
VICE: The band is going to release two albums this fall. How did you decide which songs would be on which record and when to release them? Was it just how you recorded them chronologically?
PB: No, Barrett kept sending rough mixes and I’d listen. He’s been living this thing for four or five months now, and in that time I’ve played in, like, five different bands and learned whole sets and finished records. So, I’m kind of like—he passes it along to me and I’ll go, “Yeah, sounds good!” But I’m quite literally in a van on the way to, you know, wherever. So, I think for me, it’s just great that I get thrown into the deep end. Some of the music was a little complicated, and I just have to wing it. And I totally appreciate that. When it comes to sequencing the record, Barrett is really good at that. If I was in the studio every day with him, I’d probably have super strong opinions. But he sent me the records a couple of weeks ago and I said, “Yeah! That sounds great! They sound like real records!”
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)