Gary Clark Jr’s ‘JPEG RAW’ is an early album of the year candidate. We spoke with the Austin guitar hero about the new album, his creative process and much more.
In January we shared part one of the incredible hour-long conversation Sage Bava and I had with Gary Clark Jr. about his long-awaited new music. This weekend (March 22) sees the release of the full JPEG RAW album and now we can share the second part of the interview.
Here, in part two, we delve deep with Clark on a wide variety of subjects, from his favorite comedians and shot-gunning a beer with Dave Grohl (which both Clark and I have been lucky enough to do at different points), to bringing the new album to life on stage, songwriting and much, much more.
JPEG RAW is an incredibly special record, one that shows a stunning versatility, from the magnificent beauty of “To The End Of The End” to the mind-blowing, nine-minute plus closing track, “Habits.” This conversation reflects the depth and diversity Clark showcases on this album of the year candidate.
Sage Bava: Did you ever think this album is what the end result of all that barbecuing and jamming in Austin would be? Or did that come much later for it all to materialize into what it is and how it became?
Gary Clark: At a certain point, management calls, Scooter [Weintraub] says, «Hey. I’m glad y’all having fun down there, label wants to know, what the f**k are you all doing. I’m going to come down there and see what y’all got.» So, he comes down, he’s like, «Eh.» And I go, «Yeah, I know. We’ve been messing around. But we’re on to something.» He’s like, «Okay, let’s put a bow on his things.» We started getting real serious. And then I’m like, “Yeah, it’s still not close.” This thing was supposed to be done probably two years ago. I don’t even know, I wasn’t paying attention to time, I didn’t care. They did, so they finally came in like, «This needs to happen.» So, we whittled it down to the things that we thought were the most powerful and told the best story, and this all happened very quick in the last couple of months. Jacob [Sciba] and I were sitting around doing the final mixes. Scooter came down and was like, «Yup, okay, go on to the label. Play it for him. And everybody’s like, ‘Okay. Right, we’re going to do this, this, this and this, and this, and this.’» I’m like, «I haven’t even sat and digested this thing yet.» So as of maybe three weeks ago, we just got maybe final masters, so it’s all just going like this. It’s from years and years to like, «Whoa, here we go.» I’m still digesting it. I might be rambling because I’m thinking out loud. I haven’t processed this stuff yet. Yeah, label came in and said, «It’s time to go.» I said, «Alright, we think this is it.» And everybody seemed to agree, thankfully.
Steve Baltin: Whether it’s Stevie Wonder or George Clinton talk about how all these great artists inspire you with their own unique ways.
Clark: They’re all different. But I think that the thing that inspires me is they go for it. Like George Clinton went for it. I said, «Just do you.» And he went, «Okay.» He tried everything and got as weird on the mic as he could. Same thing with Stevie Wonder. They tried everything. He tried the wildest vocal runs. I was like, «That didn’t land. But the attempt was bad ass.» So just trying to think outside the box and just be as creative as you can be, to dissect every single note, beat, sound, to dissect that. Stevie went through this whole thing and was like, «Is this part right? Is this part right? Is this part right? Is this part right? Can I do it again? Should I do it again?» It’s the willingness to keep trying, to push the boundaries of your own physical possibilities and what’s inside your mind. And the dedication to keep doing it, even though someone will go, «Yeah, it’s time to take a break.» You go, «No, I’m not done yet. I’m done when the spirit stops moving through me. Until then, y’all sit y’all’s asses down and make sure that the red button is pushed and it’s recording. That’s what I need y’all to do right now.» That’s what I’ve noticed with the greats. Like a Prince. Just hours in that space and people are exhausted and they keep going because I’m a weirdo like that.
