Talk with Confederate gent

At a tour stop in Birmingham, Ala., Dead Confederate singer and guitarist Hardy Morris called… At a tour stop in Birmingham, Ala., Dead Confederate singer and guitarist Hardy Morris called The Pitt News to talk about touring, the new record and Jackson Pollock. The Pitt News: I’ve been listening to the new record for weeks now. It’s really great. Hardy Morris: Thanks, man. Pass it around. Burn it for people. Give it away. TPN: What were the challenges recording Wrecking Ball? HM: The record turned out differently than we thought it would ‘mdash; definitely not in a bad way. It was much easier to make than we’d planned. When we record demo versions of songs, they’re layered up. But when we play live, the sound is much more bare bones. So I was expecting to do more experimentation on the album, but when we got to the studio, our producer started setting up mics and pushed us to record the record live. It wound up being very stripped down ‘mdash; we recorded it all in this little concrete room. TPN: What were you listening to before recording? HM: Oh, man. We were blazing through records on our way out to record in Austin. TPN: This interview is running next to a review of the record. Can you give me your own review? HM: I’d say it’s raw and honest. We’ve been asked to compare ourselves to other things, and I think the album and band compare to a Jackson Pollock painting. It’s unexpected, it’s primal, and honest and bare bones. It’s just whatever comes out. As long as it’s honest, it’ll stick. TPN: You guys have been playing since 1996. Is the band getting better and better with age? HM: I think our songs are better than ever ‘mdash; we’re writing and trying to open a new chapter of what we’re doing. Touring helps ‘mdash; and we tour a lot ‘mdash; to make our band better.