A Talk with Deer Tick's John Joseph McCauley III

Special to Seattlest: Matt Whiting of the music blog Back Beat Seattle.

It has been quite a year for Deer Tick. In addition to being named the "#1 Breaking Band" at SXSW 2009 by Rolling Stone, the band found itself in an unusual but fortuitous situation by attracting the eyes and ears of one of TV’s biggest names. As it turns out, newsman and self-described avid music enthusiast Brian Williams can be counted among the growing masses of Deer Tick's devoted fans. Williams hand-selected Deer Tick as the first band to be featured on his new web-only music interview series, BriTunes. Watch the first episode here.

As increasing amounts of attention are paid to frontman John Joseph McCauley III’s distinctive, raw voice, and his "wise beyond his years" storytelling prowess, the band continues to amass praise for their masterful blending of blues, rock, grunge, country, and pop. With their latest album, Born on Flag Day, released on Tuesday, we were able to catch up with John to discuss the band’s influences, evolution, and future plans.

You can catch Deer Tick at the Tractor Tavern tonight. Dawes and Widower will open. Tickets: $10 (21+).

Deer Tick: Chris Ryan (in brown), Dennis Ryan (in blue), John J. McCauley III, Andy Tobiassen (Photo: Kendall Pavan)

We’re still a bunch of knuckleheads from the North. I’m trying to put a different perspective on the type of music that’s usually a pretty regional sound. We do other kinds of music too. I don’t like when people call us a country band. That makes no sense whatsoever. I think a lot people listen to us expecting to hear a country band and I feel their listening experience is sometimes ruined by that. Because when it comes down to it, we’re pretty much a pop band.

Who would you count among your major musical influences, and how have these evolved since your earlier recordings?

Some of my favorites are Paul Simon, John Prine, and Tom Petty. I don’t know--things are always changing. My obsessions in music change pretty frequently. By the time we started recording [Born on] Flag Day, we just kinda figured out the sound for most of the songs. The third record is a lot different and when we do the fourth record, it will be really different. I like to keep things sounding new.

We would imagine being interviewed by Brian Williams would have to be among the most surreal experiences of your career. Can you describe how that came about and talk a bit about that interview?

Definitely kind of weird. [laughs] It was surreal. He’s a cool man. He knows his stuff. He is a genuine music fan. It was pretty cool he picked us to do it with.