Damien Jurado – Interview
Back in 2005 Damien Jurado played Whelan’s in Dublin in support of his sixth album, On My Way To Absence. He was a really gracious interviewee and happily chatted about how he got into music: “I stole my first bass at 13 from school and taught myself how to play an entire Black Flag record, that’s pretty much how it all started, I then started writing my own songs.”
Damien started getting into folk and country music in the early 90s when Nirvana's ‘Smells Like Teen Spirt’ was crossing over: “I felt a little bit betrayed - because when your enemies at school start wearing Nirvana t-shirts, dying their hair and wearing boots, you look for another alternative and for me I discovered Simon & Garfunkel records and Phil Ochs and people like that.”
Damien is an incredible storyteller and draws huge inspiration from the idea of people escaping their humdrum everyday existence in Middle America: “The bored teenager, the bored adult who has nothing going on for them, they’ll pretty much work themselves to death until they’re about seventy, not much happens so they have to make things happen.”
Damien chats about touring Europe and getting to see how people from other countries perceive the US: “It’s definitely weird seeing how Europeans view Americans, even in newspapers or on TV.”
Paul McDermott and Damien Jurado.
Highly prolific, since On My Way To Absence Jurado has released over 10 more albums. Highlights for me have included: Saint Bartlett (Secretly Canadian, 2010), Maraqopa (Secretly Canadian, 2012), Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son (Secretly Canadian, 2014), Visions of Us on the Land (Secretly Canadian, 2016) and In the Shape of a Storm (Loose, 2019). The interview can be heard below.
Damien Jurado – Interview Pt1
Damien Jurado – ‘Fuel’
Damien Jurado – Interview Pt2
Damien Jurado – ‘A Jealous Heart is a Healthy Heart’
Damien Jurado – Interview Pt3
Damien Jurado – ‘Sucker’
Damien Jurado – Interview Pt4
Damien Jurado – ‘I Am the Mountain’