Regulars around these haunts will know all about the droneroom story. The project spearheaded by the Sun 13’s favourite gunslinger and certified Kentucky Colonel, Blake Conley, the droneroom voyage has been one of the most fascinating from DIY culture this decade.
2024 has been another steady year for Conley, who has released a spate of droneroom recordings (including Barstow Deluxe, As Long as the Sun, A Long Line) as well as collaborations with Michael Sill as Secret Teeth (New Common Era), alongside Nonconnah’s Magpie Corsa as Jesus’ Twin Brother (Cartwheel Club), and with Stephan Blount’s Corpse Pose for their self-titled split LP.
There’s not much to say that’s already been said of Conley’s escapades under the droneroom banner and beyond. Where the former is concerned, that maybe something that is coming to a logical conclusion of sorts. Or is it?
Conley spoke to us at the beginning of the month about his year. Not the greatest by his own admission, Conley speaks candidly about the obstacles that life has thrown his way. His honesty has paved the way for a bit of inward reflection, and after reading what Conley has to say, I’m sure many others will feel the same: if you’re struggling, reach out.
Aside from his own creative endeavours, Conley has always been an avid new music follower, and with this in mind, it was the perfect opportunity to ask the cowboy of drone about the albums that have taken his fancy the most in 2024.
Sun 13: How has your year been?
Blake Conley: “This year has admittedly been a mess… an aggressive amount of screwing up in life, heavy depression, extreme lack of focus, and general self-implosion… my mental health has kind of ground out a lot of joy in many things, leaving me to trying to figure out where to go from here and what needs to be left behind, so it’s stuff I’m working on. Self regulation, in particular. THERAPY ACTION GO!
“I would like to add that I don’t mention these things seeking pity or anything, but I think being honest about struggling helps others to be honest about struggling?”
S13: Of course. Despite this, you’ve still managed to release a lot of music. Most of which was from your Las Vegas days, right?
BC: “Yeah, everything (As Long as the Sun, Secret Teeth, Jesus’ Twin Brother, Barstow Deluxe, Rich God, Nothing If Not Worrisome) except for A Long Line (principally Memphis on my end, Nashville on drummer / producer extraordinaire Josh Byrds) any compilation appearance and my side of the Corpse Pose split were all Vegas. As Long As the Sun was a particular bear of a release to get out, having rolled around a few labels and release dates.”
S13: Do you feel like these releases were an end of a certain chapter?
BC: “I do, actually. It was interesting to finally clear the archive. (Which is not to say this was everything I did in Vegas. I definitely have a drive folder of material that just didn’t feel like it had a home or a purpose, but who knows down the road?)
“That period of recording… I mean, Jesus I made a lot of things. And I stand by them. I’m that sociopath who enjoys listening to his own music. I think I made some particularly interesting explorations across Whatever Truthful Understanding, The Most Gorgeous Sleep, and Easy Payday. Those are so drastically different in sound and purpose, but I still can follow the line of myself through them. Maybe this is weird, but listening to my own music is often a self-reflection moment. ‘Let’s see where my head was when I made this…oh god…’
“I think I have drifted from the question… it is definitely an end of an era. Probably not a particularly healthy era… the unhealthy part is still going even if the musical era is concluded, but an era none the less. I made what could amount to a lifetime of material in the span of a year and a half and I don’t know if I will ever have the means or motivation to do something like that ever again. I don’t know how to feel about that yet…
“I will add that the sliver that was my Memphis period (the town I was born in, fun fact) resulted in The Best of My Love, which feels like a perfect encapsulation of what droneroom is/was. While it wasn’t the last thing I released, it was the last real thing I made (along with A Long Line, but that exists in its own separate universe), so that one is particularly special to me. Having a tune for my partner draws the line back to my first ‘real’ album, Jesus Year. Mentioning Cole Morse draws a line back to the first song of the post loops full improv’ era (found on the Blood on Blood compilation. Somewhere Cold always being there to release my work, and, of course, Cory Fusting’s art to tie the ribbon as it were. That one also kind of harkens back (at least in my mind/spiritually) to …The Other Doesn’t, which was the record where I think I truly hit on what droneroom should be, and I think that The Best of My Love unintentionally echoes that in a way that endears me to that one.”
S13: Which brings me to your thoughts about a name change. Do you with to elaborate?
BC: “I am, yes. It has been a nagging thought in the back of my head for a while now. I mean, most all band names are kind of bad, often a joke that goes a little too far… I just don’t know that the name suits the material anymore and having drone in the name kind of makes me think of the propensity of the word ‘ska’ in ska band names! A part of me thinks I should have pivoted names to Negative Libra when that album was released. But that moment has passed…
“But in the spirit, of that idea (thanks to Jason Molina for making that a valid pivot via the Songs: Ohia / The Magnolia Electric co switch), I am currently leaning towards the name Burial Cake as that was the concluding name on the last thing I recorded and released via the Corpse Pose split cassette. The tune on the release, Funeral Biscuit/Burial Cake was a struggle to create but I think the end result, melding acoustic and electric resulted in a nice tidy send off. Plus burial sounds pretty metal, but then there’s cake!
“I don’t really think the musical aesthetic will change much, if at all, but I just needed to feel a little different. One of my big issues / personal projects has been trying to shed as much of myself as I can so I can become something better. I’m admittedly scared that there will be nothing underneath it all, but that seems to be the direction… so maybe the name change is part of that.
“Also, please note, I reserve the right to change my mind on all of this and revert back to droneroom at any moment… particularly if that moment allows me to cash in on whatever it might be that what I do can cash in on…”
S13: Is there any new music in the works under the new name?
BC: “Honestly, no. I plan on making something for Silber Media’s annual Dronuary Comp as a soft opening (if you are unfamiliar, they are massive releases of nothing but the good shit, found here.
“From there…I honestly haven’t made anything new or substantial or good since I left Memphis (so going on two years)… lack of proper space to make, a much more encompassing work schedule, and my aforementioned declining mental health has seemed to have stabbed the muse straight in the heart, resulting in a deep dissatisfaction with and lack of joy in anything I have attempted to make, along with live performances… momentum was a big discouragement in perusing a name change, but with no material forthcoming and being in a new area, this seemed like the pause I needed to make the change. Nothing is set in stone, though, so ‘the future’s not ours to see’ and all that… hope this isn’t too grim, but I just wanted to be honest.
“I will vague hint at a project featuring a long-standing collaborator along with a certain heavyweight in the doom scene. The album is recorded, just trying to find a label for it. It sounds massive with just the two of them and I was invited to add some glitter and twang on top.”
S13: Lastly, what have been your favourite releases in 2024?
BC: “Well my intake/absorption of new releases and general creative output has been pretty lacking in both size and scope… consisting mostly of old reliables rather than anything really new or forward… familiar things to soothe when the mind feels unfamiliar. But here’s what I got…”
BIG|BRAVE: A Chaos of Flowers
Thrill Jockey
Harrowing as always, BIG|BRAVE’s use of texture within their maximised minimalism never fails to provide an intense and cathartic listening experience. Also Marisa Anderson appearance #1.
Dirty Three: Love Changes Everything
Drag City / Bella Union
Equal bits scattered, rambling, and beautiful. Warren Ellis usually gets the lion’s share of the press attention for his beautiful work and Jim White is going to turn up three more times, so I would like to highlight Mick Turner who remains eternally underrated as a guitarist, his note choices always seeming almost random, yet perfect. Somehow the rhythm of the band and yet there isn’t a hard focus on rhythm. Baffling and movin…
The Hard Quartet: The Hard Quartet
Matador Records
Jim White appearance #2. I’ll be honest with you that Pavement / Stephen Malkmus has never meant anything to me (beyond his playing with the Silver Jews and now here), so the real draw for me here is an opportunity to hear Matt Sweeney be a front man again. His tunes on this have the hallmark spiralling arpeggios that he first showed off on the Superwolf album, giving his songs a loping almost Mississippi hill blues approach. Emmett Kelly has just two tunes, but they show two fascinating ends, one being what might happen if Big Star became a prog band and the other being high on the drama and deep on the excellence. Bonus points for being the only Jim White appearance on the list to include him doing vocals(?!).
Interview
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Myriam Gendron: Mayday
Chivi Chivi
Jim White appearance #3, Marisa Anderson appearance #2. Beguiling blend of folk with enough exploration around the edges to keep you on your toes (Zoh Amba sax explosion go!). Strong and unique vocals (that sound just as captivating live!) in English and French. Excellent guitar playing. Rules.
Nathan Salsburg/Bonnie Prince Billy/Tyler Trotter: Hear the Children Sing the Evidence
No Quarter Records
Protracted Lungfish explorations? Yes, please. The way these two 20-minute tunes seem to last no more than three and yet also forever has been one of the more fascinating temporal experiences I’ve had this year. Auditory disassociation.
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: Woodland
Acony Records
Any time Gillian Welch and David Rawlings choose to send new missives from on high is a gift. Their first record where they are billed on equal footing, this one mixes the sparseness typically found on the records billed to her and the bigger band arrangements typically found on records billed to him. The duo found what they do best years ago and they continue to provide it here.
Rosali: Bite Down
Merge Records
Just excellent. Neil Young flavoured indie rock. Good tunes, ragged arrangements, let it roll.
Kim Deal: Nobody Loves You More
4AD
It’s Kim Deal, what else do you need to know?
The Necks: Bleed
Northern Spy Recordings
The Necks continue to find new ideas using the same basic tools. This one is fascinatingly deconstructed but still sounds like The Necks and The Necks sound like nothing else.
Claire Rousay: sentiment
Thrill Jockey
Heavy sad feels processed through autotune and aughts emo guitar parts. The sounds of isolation that fit like a warm jacket on a cold wet day…
Jim White and Marisa Anderson: Swallowttail
Thrill Jockey
Jim White appearance #4, Marisa Anderson appearance #3. Soothing hedge mazes of guitar and drums dancing with each other, at each other, against each other, in defiance of each other. Push pull conversations for head space decompression.
Jim White interview
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For more information on droneroom, visit Bandcamp.
6 replies on “2024 with Droneroom’s Blake Conley”
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