Aaron Dessner of The National spoke with host Jill Riley about the history of Eaux Claires Festival, and the upcoming return after an eight-year hiatus.

During the week of Eaux Claires, The Current will broadcast live with guests from the festival at SHIFT in Eau Claire. Find out more at thecurrent.org/eauxclaires.

Listen to the full interview in the player above, and find a complete transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current, I'm Jill Riley. Well, the Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, made its debut in 2015. It was founded by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner of The National. It ran for four years and then went on hiatus, and after eight years, the festival is back. The Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival is happening this weekend at Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Well, Aaron Dessner of The National, who is a producer of many, a collaborator of many, a composer, and a co-founder of the Eaux Claires Festival, is returning as a performer this weekend. Aaron Dessner is on the line, my guest on The Current. Aaron, hello and welcome to The Current.

Aaron Dessner: Hello, thanks for having me.

Jill Riley: Glad you're here because it wasn't right away that it was announced that you were coming back to be part of the Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival, and you are billed as Aaron and Fred. So I wonder if you could talk a little bit about this collaboration.

Aaron Dessner: Well, I always intended, obviously, to be there. After COVID, we never started again. Like the last Eaux Claires was right before COVID. There was actually a winter or late fall edition, I think, in November of 2019 or something, and then COVID happened, and it went dormant for a long time. And it's being brought back this year, in a beautiful way, very locally run, and it's moving to Carson Park, where it was actually where Justin — like when we first looked around for where we could do it, that was where Justin wanted to do it originally. So it's really exciting, and I think I've always thought of Eaux Claires as a place to do new things and to have plant new seeds. And many interesting things have happened there over the years, and the origin of all kinds of collaborations and bands and new projects have happened at Eaux Claires, so I knew it always had to be something surprising.

And Fred Gibson is this incredible musician, producer, artist, Fred Again, and he and I have worked together on a number of things. One of them was I helped with this album that he made called Secret Life with Brian Eno, and he came to Long Pond to work with me a few years ago on that, and it was just the one of the most inspiring few days I've ever had with any musician. And I knew then, I think we both knew then, that like “Oh there's like something we need to figure out about this,” because everything that we would do was — like we were bouncing off each other in such an inspired way. So that was the seed that was planted a few years ago. And then when Eaux Claires came up again, that was a strong idea in my head was like, well, maybe this is where Fred and I can make some music.

So the truth is, I don't actually entirely know what's going to happen. Although we've been trading ideas, I'm pretty sure it's going to take the shape of spontaneous combustion between what I do and what he does, and we'll work. We've been working on some ideas, and then we'll work a lot in Eau Claire to develop those ideas, and yeah. I think it's very much in the spirit of what the festival was started for, which is basically, originally, it was try to get a try to reconnect people with why they make music in the first place, or why they make art, or getting out of the kind of machinery of the music industry and the very repetitive and formulaic kind of ways that things have to operate in order for them to be cost effective or commercial or whatever it is. So like Eaux Claires was supposed to be really outside of that. So things that wouldn't normally happen can happen at Eaux Claires, like this.

Jill Riley: Yeah, and it really feels like that spirit of the Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival is kind of back as it's the return after an eight-year hiatus. I'm talking with Aaron Dessner of The National and co-founder of the Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, happening this weekend. So, Aaron Dessner of The National, I remember talking with you, a number of years ago during the Eaux Claires Festival, and you talking about the spirit of what a music festival can be, and you touched on it, shedding the expectations. And I've been to a number of music festivals where it felt like there was a formula. There were things that weren't great for the fan experience, but I always felt like in those four years that you guys had really thought about how things could be different for music fans, and I know you've been involved with other music festivals as well. What is something that's really important to you when thinking about either the curation or the experience of a music festival?

Aaron Dessner: Well, I think a lot of my involvement in different situations and these kind of collective experiences has been driven by feeling like, I've been on tour for 30 years or so almost with The National and have played every music festival pretty much that exists. I remember playing Coachella more than 20 years ago, and sort of experiencing the real range of of things, like from very commercial mainstream festivals to like the kind of multidisciplinary arts festival experiences that you might have in Australia and Europe, and my brother Bryce started something called Music Now in Cincinnati, Ohio. I think it's probably 25 years ago now, and the whole idea with that was it was called Music Now, and it was a not-for-profit festival.

Bryce's idea was that he would commission artists that he loved from different disciplines, like classical musicians and folk musicians and visual artists, to come make new work, and it became this real oasis in Cincinnati for all kinds of people, including for Justin, who came, I think in 2007 or maybe or 2008. And we improvised on stage with Justin, my brother and I, and then we invited some musicians to join us. So then Justin, he had such a great time, they piled into his van essentially and went back to Eau Claire and made that second Bon Iver record. They were part of it, some of the musicians there, like Rob Moose and Colin Stetson, and some other people. Those kinds of experiences happened a lot at Music Now, and I think as we grew closer, Justin and I, it was obvious there's such an amazing community in Eau Claire that he was part of, that the world didn't even really know. Really, they knew Bon Iver because it had exploded in this way. But actually, it's like he's the tip of the iceberg in terms of all these interesting, like there's the great music school and all these people, like making stuff, you know, and not just musicians. There's authors and other people that the idea was always to create a situation that could be about new work and about doing residencies and about connecting with the community. And we were also experimenting with each year, Eaux Claires was really like a big experiment, and kind of risky.

Jill Riley: Yeah.

Aaron Dessner: Also, the first year, it was so successful that it kind of got too big in a way, you know. It started to look more like a normal music festival for a second, and then we kind of went like radically against that. We didn't announce the lineup the last year that it happened, which I loved that, but that was also pretty intense for people coming, being like, "Wait, where do I go? What do I see?" And just enjoying being disruptive, I think. And also, it was so many great things. Like we invited our friends Josh, and Eric and Anaiis to come make songs, and then they that became a band, Bonny Light Horseman, you know, that we all love, and many things like that happen. Or like Big Red Machine, I don't think it would have existed if it wasn't for Eaux Claires, because we just had an excuse to get up and around, you know.

So, anyways, I'm not sure if I'm answering your question, but I think Justin is, as an artist, he's not complacent. He's not going to ever be safe or sort of like repetitive about anything. He's not really interested in doing something just to do it or getting on stage in a normal way all the time. Which a lot of artists get stuck in this pattern, so I think this experience this year. Who knows what would happen again, or if it'll happen again? But like for him, this is really about a local, like really celebrating Eau Claire and where he is right now, and it's bringing together a beautiful group of artists and new people and old faces that are coming in to play, and I'm just really excited to be there, as a part of the family. But and then also I'm gonna be flying by into some new collaborative situation with Fred, who I love, and just really excited because I know it will plant seeds for who knows what. I'll learn something, you know.

Jill Riley: Yeah, who knows what will come down the line. Aaron Dessner is on The Current one of the co-founders of the Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival. He'll be performing as Aaron and Fred with Fred Again. The Eaux Claires Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, back this weekend at a new location at Carson Park. And Aaron, before I let you go, I do want to talk about one artist, Kevin Morby, and we've been playing songs from his new record. And I know that you produced his new album. I wonder if you could just talk a little bit about how you connected with Kevin Morby and and started working with him.

Aaron Dessner: Yeah, well, that's a good question because it ties back to Eaux Claires also. It's because Brad Cook, who's from Eau Claire and a great producer, and who has worked a lot with Katie Crutchfield, who's Waxahatchee, and who is Kevin's partner. Brad introduced me to Kevin and Katie on a street in the East Village more than 10 years ago in New York City, and that was how I first met Kevin. And for many years listened to his music and just been a big fan. And so usually if I'm working with someone, it's either because I really feel because first of all that I love their music, and second of all that I feel like I hear something, or I can somehow musically feel that I could make a good impact or help them in some ways, and also learn myself. And Kevin's always been one of those songwriters where I feel I would just be honored to play his songs essentially, and that's what happened was he was looking for a way to record, and we just were talking. I was just like, oh, I'd be so thrilled in any capacity to help you. And he just landed in Long Pond, my studio here in upstate New York one day, and it was the most magical, effortless experience I've ever been a part of, and probably my favorite record I've ever made, or one of them. You know, it's definitely on the level of like the best things that I feel I've ever been involved in, just from his songwriting and the way it sounds, the way it feels, and how cohesive it is, and so yeah. I've listened to that music we made every day since we made it. So it was really nice when it finally came out because we had finished it quite a while ago, but there was like there's always that gap before something comes out. So it's just it's been really special to see people respond the way they have to his music.

Jill Riley: Well, Aaron, I hope you have a great weekend. Good luck with whatever seeds are going to be planted for the future out of this festival, and appreciate you talking with The Current.

Aaron Dessner: Thanks so much.

Credits

Guests – Aaron Dessner
Host – Jill Riley
Producer – Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer - Natalia Toledo

External Link

Eaux Claires Festival – Official Website