Catching Up With Ian West As He Embarks On His Second Act
After a breather, the Nashville singer-songwriter is back with his breezy new EP, Songs Eila Won't Dance To
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“Mountain Nursery” is one helluva reintroduction for Ian West.
The song that kicks off his new EP, Songs Eila Won’t Dance To, is an immediate slacker hit, as West channels his inner Stephen Malkmus declaring, “I’m a leopard, I’m a mountain, I’m a scholar, I’m mistaken, I’m a corpse from the spinal cord down.” The stream of consciousness stutters and randomly dropped chimes accents are far from West’s previous work.
Originally from Ashville, North Carolina, West started his career as a more straightforward folk artist. Recording under his given name of Ian C. Parker, West began playing open mics and coffee houses before he released two albums with the debut, Push the Child arriving in 2011, and its follow-up Somebody Else, while finding himself in Nashville and touring the southeast. He planted the seeds for Songs Eila Won’t Dance To during this time with full band features on the records, but West wrote solo and was a one-person act on the road. “They were the type of gigs where you were expected to play some cover songs and stuff like that,” remembers West. “I’d put in originals and covers that I want to do, but everyone only wants to hear so much Townes Van Zandt before they want you to play Bon Jovi.”
West decided he wouldn’t be in it for the money and instead forge his path while putting a band together. “I wanted to tighten up the sound and concept, which is why I switched the names, says West. “There was already an Ian Parker in England, so I took on my mom’s maiden name. It kinda gives you a different feel like you can put a mask on.”
The band includes West’s brother, Sean Parker, who sprinkles in charming electric guitar flourishes that perfectly accompany West’s rhythm work. Mike Little and Dan Stoeckel fill out the group, doling out a jovial bounce that sets the mood for the five-song set found on the EP. West and Little go way back, with Little playing drums on those early Ian C. Parker records, and the two have found the odd writing groove of guitar and percussion to be a successful formula. “I’m tired of playing by myself, and the band is so much more exciting,” says West.
The liveliness of the rhythm section is at its best on “Damaged Gods,” which finds Stoeckel climbing up and down his bass fretboard and Little placing some tasteful triplets during Parker’s guitar solo. West sings about JFK conspiracies and Utah cops, which plays well into his goal of lyrically “pulling from a lot of places and floating somewhere between conscious and unconsciousness.” The newfound elasticity of the music is due to West looking to Talking Heads, Pavement, and Velvet Underground as influences for his new record.
When it came time to lay down the tracks, the foursome found themselves at Bomb Shelter Studio in East Nashville, under the guidance of producer and engineer Drew Carroll. West wanted to record to two-inch analog tape, and Bomb Shelter is well known for their vintage approach, having received a Grammy nomination for Alabama Shakes’ debut, Boys & Girls.“With my first two records, I had the right concept but wasn’t as prepared as I should have been,” remembers West. “(This time) I wanted to have things tight and basically record a live record. Even though that approach is tougher to gain radio play or get noticed by a lot of people, that aesthetic is the superior way to do this kind of music.”
While listening to the Americana shuffle of “Ego Deep” or the boogying “Broken Mirrors,” you probably have one question: “Who is Eila?”. It turns out she is none other than West’s three-year-old daughter. “Since she was born, I’ve tried playing a lot stuff that I would like her to enjoy, and she typically doesn’t respond as well. She’s not into dancing to Leonard Cohen,” laughs West. “So I started a playlist of things that she would dance to like Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, you know, not bad stuff. When we’re around the house, she’ll ask me to keep it down or play songs she can dance to, so the name is a play on that.”
After the pandemic slowed things down, Ian West and his band are writing again and have warmed up the live act, mostly playing shows in East Nashville at venues like The Basement, which has hosted acts like John Prine, Maggie Rogers, and Jenny Lewis. This year has been a refreshing new start for an artist who got his start playing covers to JoviNation. As West sings on “Down the Stream,” - “life is but a dream.”
Songs Eila Won’t Dance To is available now on streaming services.
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