The Western Extra Interview w/ Donovan Quinn
A supergroup? The melodic manifestation after years of cosmic coincidence? Whatever it is, the California-based duo Western Extra, consisting of members Chris Rose (Vampire Hands, Robust Worlds, Web of Sunsets) and Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards, New Bums), released their dynamic debut “Zig Zags on the Book of Changes” without hesitation over the summer, and thank God they did. We sit down with Quinn to discuss the band’s origins, which he says dates all the way back to 1997, the project’s overall process, and approach for bringing this brilliant body of work to life, working with the legend himself, Ben Chansy, and bringing on members Andrew Mart and Leslie Medford to help further expand the whispering wisdom that is Western Extra.
How did you and Rose initially meet? I understand that there was an immediate chemistry and interest in beginning to play and record together. As two musicians who’ve respectfully made their mark on contemporary music with such groups as Vampire Hands, Skygreen Leopards, and Robust World, to name a few, how does this project and its unique approach compare to others in the past?
Chris played a show with New Bums, my band with Ben Chasny, in Minneapolis around 2017. We talked at the show, but never kept in touch and forgot about the whole experience. 5 years later, we had both moved to Humboldt County, California, where our partners met and became friends. So we were reintroduced in a totally different context. After hitting it off, we did a little jam with acoustic guitars, and Chris’s musicianship and style blew me away. We still had no memory of meeting until Chris tried to find an email I’d sent and discovered an old message, from our mutual friend Chris Berry, encouraging him to look me up when he was in San Francisco. It would seem, then, that we were fated to make music together. Our approach is instinctual. I think we’re both fairly idiosyncratic in our sound and style, so it naturally sounds distinct from other projects.
Photo: Ethan P. Miller
Recorded between 2023 and 2024, what was the overall experience of those sessions like, working out the language of the music, as well as getting to know each other through that process? What elements, specifically, did you want to bring to the studio, and what was most important for you to achieve and express with this particular material? You mention that, “The album has a density of feelings and ideas that we couldn’t have created on our own.” At one point, did you realize that the material was beginning to take on a life of its own, eventually becoming a joint effort to capture the essence of that energy at any cost?
We recorded everything at 13th Month Studios. It’s a Humboldt recording space made up of local friends’ gear and our own collection. The location is tranquil and surrounded by forest. Many of the sessions we’d talk and hardly get any music done. I think that’s a good way to work, when possible. The breakthrough song was “Understanding Crystals,” which had a concept that led to many other concepts. It’s a dual-lead guitar song featuring two vocalists and a story that combines narrative writing with abstract elements. That’s a simplified idea of “Zig Zags on the Book of Changes.” When Chris wrote “Binocular Minds,” we both realized how harmoniously our lyrical styles blended. From there, the instrumentation and production followed like a conversation, with both of us exchanging ideas. What is really special, to me, about the band is that we didn’t have to compromise anything. Often in collaborations, you need to adjust aspects of your playing, writing, or rhythm feel to make it cohesive. That didn’t happen with Western Extra, and I don’t really know why. The entire “density” aspect stems from having two different writers contribute ideas without those ideas being refined until they fit.
“The album has a density of feelings and ideas that we couldn’t have created on our own.”
As seasoned veterans of your craft, were there any tricks, tactics, or specific approaches that were applied to the music that you’ve both used in the past on certain projects, as familiar or even nostalgic? Tell me about some of the background to tracks like “Houses,” “Star Atlas,” the album’s title track, and the ‘90s feeling anthem “The Minotaur Invents Its Own Maze”? I understand that you later brought on Andrew Mart and Leslie Medford to advance the band’s live performance. How did you go about bringing these guys on? Released on Chasny’s acclaimed label, Hermit Hut Records, what are you guys most proud of about this record? Is there anything else you would like to share further with the readers?
Photo: Ethan P. Miller
Sometimes I’ll get what I think is a new idea and realize that it’s basically a revision of an idea I had in 1997. So there’s always something familiar happening, but there’s also a constant uprooting, as well. Technology changes, people change, circumstances change, and so on. All of the songs you mentioned have a lot of back and forth between Chris and me. He wrote “Houses,” and I wrote the other two. My main contribution to “Houses” was to add a dissonant chime guitar to contrast Chris’s playing. Likewise, Chris said a blistering lead to “Minotaur” that contrasted with the repeating riff I wrote. I recall “Star Atlas” coming together relatively quickly, but sometimes it’s hard to remember. We met Andrew and Leslie in Arcata, CA. I saw Andrew playing bass with another band and thought he was great. It was just as we were finishing the record, and he agreed to join. He’s currently participating in the recording of the next album. Leslie, we met at our first performance. It was a generator show out on the dunes. When he heard we needed a drummer, he offered his services. Leslie plays all sorts of things. He’ll be adding horn to the next record and probably other stuff. It’s definitely an honor to be on the Hermit Hut roster, and Chasny did a lot to help the record get out there. Really amazing to have his support! I’m probably most proud of how well this record captures something distinct. Even if I can’t easily put into words what it captures, just that Chris says “hello” and we both thank everyone for checking out Western Extra.
