Thursday night at Bauhaus Brew Labs, the Sparkyard Sound Series continues with a performance from St. Paul and the Broken Bones, and ahead of the show, we had an opportunity to check in with St. Paul himself — frontman Paul Janeway.

Listen to our conversation using the audio player above, and read a transcript below. For some of the ghostly parts, you may wondering if you heard right and you just might want a transcript.

Interview Transcript

Edited for time and clarity.

Jill Riley: Hi, Paul, how are you?

Paul Janeway: Good. How you doing?

Jill Riley: Not bad. You know, ahead of our conversation here, I was thinking back to — oh, gosh, almost 10 years ago — the first time St. Paul and the Broken Bones came into the studio, you would have been on tour in promotion to that debut record Half the City. And I just remember like, I remember "Call Me," because it's still, that's still such a jam.

You know, all these years later, that debut single, and, Paul, to be honest, I will never forget the shoes you were wearing that day for the in studio; they were these great, like white — I think I described them as "Cousin Eddie shoes," and I hope you weren't offended by that, but that's all I could think of! So it was kind of fun to reflect back on that.

And look at that: I mean, almost, what 10 years later, you know, five albums now, two EPs, and I'd love to spend some time talking about the new album, Angels in Science Fiction.

Paul Janeway: Yeah, I mean, it's kind of nuts that we've been, it's been 10 years. I actually picked those shoes up at a store in Columbus, Georgia. That was one of the very first shows we had played. And so I remember those shoes dearly. They didn't make it through through that tour. 

Jill Riley: Oh, no!

Paul Janeway: I know. They broke in pieces, so.

Jill Riley: I was just gonna ask if you still have them, but maybe someday you'll do a little thrift shopping on on another tour; you just never know. So, you know, when we talked all those years ago, I remember talking about you guys recording at Fame in Muscle Shoals. Well, you know, I was kind of looking into this new album, Angels in Science Fiction, which we've been playing the song "Sea Star." Now I understand that you all recorded at another historic studio. Can you talk about that?

Paul Janeway: Yeah. So we actually did it in Memphis at Sam Phillips Studio, which is where Sam Phillips' office was. And it was, it's a beautiful, beautiful place. Also very haunted, to be frank. 

Jill Riley: OK, hold on now — haunted? I love walking into a historic space and just asking, "On a scale of one to 10, how haunted is this place?" So for you, are you thinking like more on the nine-and-a-half end? Or were things moving around? Tell me about the haunting.

Paul Janeway: Yeah, so seriously, we were, it was kind of, you know, during, during kind of COVID-y time. So you know, we, we'd had pretty high security and you know, one in, one out, and we were hearing doors shut all through the session, and opening and closing, there was actually a door, a security door, that's not even supposed — it was locked and wasn't even supposed to open, and it opened. There is something like, there's something there. I don't know what's there. But it's there. It was a lot of those doors closing and that kind of thing. So it was pretty nuts.

Jill Riley: Yeah. Do you think it was in response to you, like, any of the songs? Maybe it was like, you know, an approval or a disapproval at points? 

Paul Janeway: Let's, yeah! Let's hope it's an approval. I don't know; it wasn't anything, it wasn't anything violent by any stretch. It was just, you know, there's definitely some movement and stuff. It was interesting, because we had to make the record basically with two of us in the studio at a time. So it was a very different approach than we've taken ever on any record, but it brought that kind of minimalistic sound to it, which was, which made it intimate. But I don't think, I hope, I hope the spirits were all good. I feel like, I felt like they were, but I guess you never know, right?

Jill Riley: Nah, it doesn't sound like it was anything too sinister. So Paul, with this new album, Angels in Science Fiction, you know, you talk about, you know, a different approach. And, you know, even just the recording of it, and it having more of a, like minimalist approach. What was the inspiration for the new album Angels in Science Fiction?

Paul Janeway: Well, we had got done with the record in basically, January of 2020; you know, obviously, you know, COVID, and all that stuff that happened. And around that time, I found out my wife was pregnant. And, yeah, right before — February of 2020. And then, you know, the world, the world is in turmoil, and we'd go, you know, "I don't even know if I'm gonna be here."

And so, within three months later, I was like, "Hey, I really feel like I should write a record about this whole experience and going through this and like, am I going to be here?" And so I kind of considered it kind of to my daughter; you know, my unborn daughter at that point. And so we just kind of wrote the record with that in mind, and there's a lot of really bad advice on there and just kind of talking about my experience and those kinds of — because that's really the only way, like, I am not going to journal. I don't really, I have horrible handwriting. So my only way of kind of expressing is like, through music. And so we, we basically wrote the record via Dropbox back and forth. And we were like, I was like, we have to have to record this before she's born. So we had to figure out the logistics of that. She was born September 29, of 2020. We finished recording the record a week and a half before that.

Jill Riley: Yeah, well, congratulations. I know, it's kind of a late congratulations. But going through that experience, I mean, it's one thing to go through the experience of, you know, expecting a child, but then to go through that experience during that time. I know, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law had a similar experience where, you know, they were expecting during the pandemic, and it was just something that, you know, people of our generation had not experienced before. 

Paul Janeway: Right! Yeah. I mean, it's for me, like my wife, you know, had to push for four hours with, like, a mask on. It's just a very, you know, very different experience. And, and I'm glad, it's funny, I'm really glad I did it, because it was one of those things, like, when you do stuff, like you debate and you'll go, "Do I even released this?" You know what I mean? Because it is so kind of personal, and intimate. And then the guys were like, "We gotta release this, like, this is a beautiful, beautiful record." And so it's one of those that like, obviously, I hope it's successful, and all that stuff, but it really doesn't matter to me, because it's just such a, like, it's a piece of history and a piece of like, kind of a love letter to my little girl.

Jill Riley: Yeah. And well, and at times, the more personal and the more intimate, the more that it can be relatable to people who are listening to the record. You know, we've been playing this song "Sea Star," and I wonder if you could talk some more about that song in particular, and you know, what your experience was when you were writing it?

Paul Janeway: Yeah, so, well, that song, it's, it references a lot of things, because I'm born and raised in Alabama, and it references a lot of things about, you know, don't forget where you come from, about putting your hand on the coast, but also, also around the time with all the, you know, the George Floyd murder and all of that stuff, that it felt like having a, having a cause in which to dedicate yourself to, and make sure it's worth it to you and have those things, and I think, it's a combination of don't forget where you come from, and if you find something, make sure it's worth fighting for, right? Or a cause or something. And then there's a lot of references that probably only Alabama people understand, like, our governor's love shack on the coast of Alabama, that kind of stuff. It's a, so it has those little, little little nuggets like that.

Jill Riley: Well for us here in Minnesota, so what is that reference all about? If somebody is from outside of Alabama.

Paul Janeway: So, our governor had an affair, and a lot of the texts came out, and it was, they were ridiculous. But apparently he was using like, on the Gulf of Alabama, was using like a love shack mansion that he had gotten redone.

Jill Riley: It's like a little Alabama gossip. But when you write a song like that, it is, you know, it's kind of circling back to, you know, your home and where you're from. And when you make those references, it's like you have that little extra bond with your fans in your home state.

Paul Janeway: A hundred percent! And I mean, it's a part of who I am, a part of who I'm supposed to be. And yeah, I think that's where it's always gonna be a little extra. Because, you know, we're, we have a few things in Alabama — there's some great things in our state, but there's also some not great things. And I think we all ... It's like someone talking bad about your sister, I can talk bad about it, but you can't.

Jill Riley: Right. 

Paul Janeway: It's kind of like one of those things. And I think that's always been, that's always been the connection.

Jill Riley: Yeah, well, and I think that's a relatable thing for Minnesotans, too; I think we feel that way where it's like, "Well, hold on now — I said that, but you can't say that because you're not from here." I know, I totally get that.

Paul Janeway: Exactly!

Jill Riley: Yep. I'm talking with Paul Janeway. St. Paul and the Broken Bones playing at Bauhaus Brew Labs this evening. The new album is called Angels in Science Fiction; it's got the song "Sea Star," which we were just talking about. I've got it queued up here. And Paul, hou know, I know that St. Paul and the Broken Bones, now, it seems that you have a real big appreciation for historic spaces, and I couldn't help but notice that, that you do have a star on the wall at First Avenue in Minneapolis.

Paul Janeway: That is like a career goal that I never thought in 1,000 years I would ever achieve. I don't even know. I don't even know what the parameters were, but that was like, just the whole history there. I don't know. I was like, that's better than any sort of award you can get. You know? I feel like that's, I feel like that's some sort of accomplishment that I'm pretty proud of.

Jill Riley: Yeah, certainly. Glad to hear you're proud of it. Looking forward to your return to the Twin Cities, so St. Paul and the Broken Bones again this evening at Bauhaus Brew Labs. Paul, thank you so much for checking in here with The Current's Morning Show.

Paul Janeway: Well, thank you so much for having me.

Jill Riley: All right, that's Paul Janeway of St. Paul and the Broken Bones here on The Current.

External Link

St. Paul and the Broken Bones - official site