Horse Feathers was originally Justin Ringle's solo pseudonym as he played gigs around his adopted home of Portland, Oregon, in 2004. The following year, Peter Broderick, an accomplished solo artist and member of Efterklang's live band, tracked him down through the internet after hearing some songs Ringle had recorded in a friend's basement, and the folk duo was born.
Using a wide variety of musical instruments, including banjos and the musical saw, the pair work together as Justin writes the songs and Peter puts together the range of instrumentation. Their debut 'Words Are Dead' was released in 2007 receiving a degree of underground acclaim. They return this week, with Peter's sister Heather added to the line-up, with their fantastic new album 'House With No Name'. We spoke to Justin Ringle.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I began playing trumpet in school band when I was 10. then moved on to guitar when I was 15. That's when I started writing songs.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
I can't say it was any single thing, but rather all types of events and experiences. There were a lot of deaths in my family and in the families of close friends coupled with a lot of major transitions in my life and people closest to me... I suppose those things definitely influenced my writing.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
I develop the skeleton of the songs with words and loose arrangements in terms of verse chorus structure. Then I see what Peter and Heather do with it, and we rearrange some parts to account for the strings or other instrumentation.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Lots of older roots music for me. Son House, Dylan, Neil Young, John Prine, Jeff Mangum, Willie Nelson, all those guys I love, too.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
That I bet you will like it more on the second listen than the first!
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
I hope that people enjoy this record and that I get to keep on making more in the future.