A Conversation with Jim Bianco – HuffPost 4.22.11

Mike Ragogna: Creatively speaking, how do you think your new album Loudmouth differs from your previous albums?

JB: It’s meaner. It’s sexier. It’s funnier. IT’S BETTER! I worked very hard at being precise in what I was writing about, whether it was anger or sex or elevator operators. I worked very hard to lyrically execute the exact feelings I was feeling. Also, I was less drunk.

MR: Is the title of the album your wiseguy way of referring to yourself?

JB: Not wiseguy. Loudmouth is an attitude. It’s a way to live. It’s a bit too fearless, a bit too unconstrained, and a bit too honest.

MR: At what point do you feel it’s time to record another album, when you have enough songs, when you come up with a concept, just when you feel like it or…?

JB: In my experience, records represent a time period. They are a collection of songs written about experiences that define a certain section of my life. My record Handsome Devil was written at a time when I was maniacally chasing girls around Hollywood, blindly fumbling with intoxicants, and obsessed with my own folly. My record Sing was written after two years of haphazardly touring the world, which left me scattered and exhausted, but somehow still dreaming of both love and the devil. This new record, Loudmouth, cuts deeper. It’s more direct. The characters on this record know more than the characters in my earlier songs–and they’re acting on their hunches.

MR: What’s your process for writing?

JB: I wake up every morning at 6am, light 5 white gardenia candles in my writing temple and sit naked in the lotus position while listening to Carl Jung books-on-tape. Kidding. There really isn’t a process. I know some guys write every single day, but that doesn’t really work for me. “Elevator Operator,” a song from the new record, was written simply because I became obsessed with the rhyme.”Sinners”is an anthem for the wild-at-heart that started with a chorus that fell from the sky. When a good idea hits me in the head, I write. When a good melody lands in my lap, I write. When someone says something stupid or truthful or both, a little switch turns and I’m inclined to put it down. But only when I’m naked. In the lotus position.

MR: Were you consciously trying to balance your humor with the darker concepts when you wrote and recorded Loudmouth?

JB: Most of my life is spent trying to balance humor with darkness. In my head, there’s a cruel, angry misfit who points out the worst, judges everyone harshly and tears down everything I try to build. Then, next to him, is a comedian who pokes fun. All day, everyday, there is an arm wrestling match between judgment and humor in my head. It’s the only way I know how to reasonably accept the unreasonable things life throws at us.

MR: Although it includes are strongly expressed songs full of emotion,
there don’t seem to be any love songs on Loudmouth. Was that intentional?

JB: I’m not sick of love, by any means. I’m not sick of the battles we find within love, or the crusades we venture into to find love, or the pain we feel when we lose love. But I am sick of love songs. I think songwriters tend to lean too much on them.

MR: How did you fund the album, what’s the story behind that aspect of the project, and what do you promise the fans who donate in return?

JB: I am quite proud to say that this album was completely funded by my fabulous fans. I raised over $30,000 from people all over the world who, in exchange for their hard-earned money, received things like a phone call on their birthday, an animated cameo in my next video, a house concert, a song written for them, and more. It was such a success that CNN wrote an article about it.

MR: Is there any song on Loudmouth that you feel encapsulates the overall vibe of the album?

JB: If the songs “Sinners” and “Home” made ravenous love to each other while cranking “Talented,” that would seem right.

MR: How do you feel about being compared to icons such as Tom Waits?

JB: Yeah, I get compared a lot to Tom Waits and Randy Newman and Elvis Costello, too. Thankfully, that sounds like pretty good company to me.

MR: Exactly. What’s the immediate future hold for Jim Bianco, like touring or personally?

JB: Let me keep this simple. Maryland, Charlotte, Charleston, Asheville, Germany, Norway, Scotland, England, Australia, Canada, California and Mexico. In that order.

MR: Having already recorded three albums, what is your advice for new artists?

JB: My father lent me this advice all through my life: “Do the best that you can do, and when you run out of ammunition, start kicking.”