Exclusive Interview with 'PODGE LANE'

Podge Lane released ‘Battle Wounds’ on October 14. Podge Lane’s ‘Battle Wounds’ features country and rockabilly instrumentation and his comedic flair in a serious setting. ‘Battle Wounds’ is the second single from Lane’s sophomore album, “Common Country Misconceptions,” due in early 2023.

Podge says, “I’m not saying I’m perfect, nobody is, but one-sided conversations are bringing me to tears.” Lane’s lyrical critique of “sharing is caring” is unmasked by boisterous instrumentation. Discuss your thoughts with trusted people, seek their support, and be a shoulder for others to lean on rather than an automatic door that closes when someone approaches. Lane says, “It’s about all the times someone emptied their mind without asking about you. It mocks the idea that someone is “always there” when they’re not. And that you could do it to someone else at any time.”

Building on the success of his debut album launch for ‘Outer Monologues’ (2021) in Winthrop Avenue, Lane showcases his “feel-good energy and vibrant instrumentation with painfully honest lyrics” (Hot Press Magazine) on his 2022 Irish and UK tour and with the release of his 2022 single ‘Paradise’. Lane joined Lion Records after supporting Charlie Parr, Tootawl, and The Brother Brother.

“Battle Wounds” marks a new era for Podge Lane and hints at 2023. Checck out the song and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

PODGE LANE: So I was born in Ireland, moved to the US when I was 5, and then back to Ireland when I was 11. That’s why people find it hard to pinpoint my accent. I started playing music at about 17 when my mom came to see me play at a match, and asked on the ride home if I might might be better to try something…. else. I started playing guitar and singing, but immediately the thing that hooked me was songwriting. I loved telling stories and writing the songs I wish I heard, the outcast stories, the weirdos, songs for people who felt they were overlooked. And then slowly I started playing shows, writing more, self examining, and came to be the person I am now. A writer who takes himself seriously, but not too seriously, and loves nothing more than writing songs, recording albums, and playing shows.

2. Who were your first and strongest musical influences?

PODGE LANE: Johnny Cash was the first artist I remembered loving. My grandad is a big Cash fan. One day, long before I started playing music, I remembered hearing ‘Boy Named Sue’. That song meant so much to me, I loved the humour, the style, the anger, everything about it. I’ve modelled a lot of my music on that moment and feeling. Since then I’ve branched out and gained a lot of different influences that I don’t think are always heard in my music. While I play and love country music, I’ve always had a deep love for Blues, Punk and Rap. So I’m hugely influenced by artists ranging from Jack White and John Prine, to Benjamin Booker and The Pixies, to Childish Gambino and Clipping. Essentially anything story driven, broken and emotional. (I had a longer list but it would have taken up way too much space).

3. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

PODGE LANE: I feel like story telling is very important to me. I love albums and songs that have a beginning, middle and end both lyrically and musically. The stories usually deal with introspection, and character development. I prefer actually writing about how I’m messing up. I don’t think every song needs to show me as a hero, I’d rather be honest and say “I felt bad about this, but in the end it was kind of my own fault’ because unlike in songs, most of the time, you didn’t get the girl, or you got into a fight, because you were the problem and not because the world was against you. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn and grow. Sonically, I love when the music is also broken, or slightly off. I’ve always preferred making and listening to music that felt a little messy, whether it’s an out of tune instrument, or the room noises, or a vocal that cracks. I don’t want the music to feel perfect, I want it to be damaged. So I would describe my sound as country music that’s been taken out back and hit with a rusty hammer, then taped back together.

4. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as Alt-Country?

PODGE LANE: I feel like I finally had an original sound when I realised I wasn’t original, if that makes sense? I think we all try to make music that doesn’t sound like anyone else, and once you realise you’re an amalgamation of your idles throughout your own life, then things become a lot freer. I struggled with this for a long time, making music I thought set me apart, but I wasn’t happy with it. Then during the pandemic, I moved back home to my old family house, and being back there, listened to a lot of the music that inspired me to start writing, and realised why I was doing it. I’m never going to make something wholly unique, but as a lover of music I’m going to take elements from all the vast array of artists I love, no matter the genre, and make something completely knew. Alt-Country feels like the perfect label for me. I’m a storyteller, like most country artists, but not in a conventional way. My new album is a huge example of this, country music for people who don’t ride off into the sunset happy. It’s for the people who have problems, yeah, but are working everyday to do better, and are honestly pretty happy with that.

5. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

PODGE LANE:

Oh 100% its giving me back more than I could have imagined. From just a writing side, it has helped me grow so much as a person. A lot of the times I’ll write my songs or album concepts and at the end think, “ah so that’s what I’ve been dealing with recently”. It’s cathartic, and as long as I’ve given it 100% and done it for the right reasons, it’s never disappointed me. Because of my music I’ve played shows with musicians I’ve idolised, where people have come up to ask for pictures or to sign their album copy. For me, as just a fan of music, I’m living the dream!

6. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

PODGE LANE:

It can start a lot of different ways. I think of it as one big puzzle. I write a lot of songs, most of them being discarded or never used. But I make sure to write as much as possible, so I have options. I may take a lyric from one song and it fix the missing piece from another song. I try to write a bass line that ends up as the hook of the song I stopped writing the day before. And then it’s about finding what fits, and creating a story, building a world around those fragments. Sometimes it comes out in one burst, but I can honestly never tell the difference of which song was and wasn’t “frankenstiened.”

7. What would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

PODGE LANE:

Probably bringing out my debut album “Outer Monologues” in November 2021. I’ve always been album driven, I collect records and cassettes because I just love physical music and listening to it as one big piece. So when I finally finished OM, which is a concept album that takes place over one night, I was so happy to hold the cassette in my hand, I think I just stared at it for an hour. That album really allowed me to play amazing shows this year, and started off my favourite period of my early career so far. However, ask me again in February, the answer may change to releasing my sophomore album “Common Country Misconceptions”!

8. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?

PODGE LANE:

Oh I love criticism. Early on it hurt, I would get a lot of passive aggressive comments that stung. Now I just find them fun, and I like to use those comments for myself! One of my favourite remarks was someone saying “Your voice sounds like Neil Young, no offence”. I love that comment because to me it sums up criticism. This person thought it was a good dig, to say I sounded like Neil Young, and I was sat there thinking, “That’s so amazing! I love Neil Young!”. I make alt country music about my life, I’m bound to receive criticism, but I’ll take 1000 negative comments, if it means I made a song 1 person relates to.

9. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?

PODGE LANE: Now, this is going to sound like the antithesis of everything I’ve said about loving story driven music, but I don’t think its necessary at all to know what I’m talking about! I write concept albums because its important to me as a fan of stories, but I get so excited when people tell me what they think certain songs mean! Honestly it’s one of the best parts of doing this, when someone says “Oh I love how Battle Wounds is about this” or “as a fan of … I really relate to Ghost”. I tell people the stories, so they can find something in them, and feel comfort in it, so who am I to say they’re wrong? Sometime people have told me their interpretations and its made me realise I may have subconsciously meant something else.

10. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?

PODGE LANE: Oh, live interaction is incredible. I love making albums, to tell a huge story and create a sonic landscape, but in front of an audience I feel at home. I love joking with a crowd, feeding off their energy and creating a night that is completely unique. I love music, but stand up is also a huge inspiration for me. The fact that you typically don’t see the same show twice from a stand up, that the crowd add to the show, it always struck me as such an amazing thing. I love when someone shouts something out that I can react to in real time. I love hearing a crowd member laugh, or when I get to do something impromptu because of how the crowd reacts. I’ve made it a goal to never play the exact same set twice. I always add a song, because I don’t want anyone to see the same show twice. It’s an experience unlike any other, live music, and I am so honoured to be in it.