Damien Jurado!

Jaka: Hi there Damien, hope you're doing OK. You're getting ready for a short European tour, right? I saw you perform at Rifflandia in autumn and you said that you were looking forward to some rest and family time. Is it hard to go on the road again or does playing exciting new stuff outweigh that?

Damien: The time off was much needed and was good. I am looking forward to getting back to work. It's always exciting having a new album come out, and performing those songs, in front of an audience.

Jaka: I've only heard ''Nothing Is The News'' from Maraqopa and I love it. Will the whole record have that fresh new sound and approach? And, by the way, what IS Maraqopa?

Damien: Maraqopa is the name of a fictitious town, taken from a dream I had. Maraqopa doesn't mean anything. ..at least I don't think it does. I would say, "Nothing Is The News" is a good example of where the record, and my new direction is going. I plan on going further into exploring more and more landscapes of music. My days of being a "folk singer" or "singer songwriter" are over.

Jaka: ''Diamond Sea'' and ''You For A While'' from Live At Landlocked are one of my favorite songs of yours. Do you plan on releasing them on a future album? And, to follow, do you have a lot of such awesome songs that just lie around and never get released?

Damien: "Diamond Sea" I believe will be released eventually. I have a lot of songs, that will one day or another be released. Maybe in a boxed set, or as live bootlegs... it's hard to say.

Jaka: So, the upcoming tour - will it be a solo thing or will you bring a band with you?

Damien: January dates will be solo, but in March it will be with a full backing band.

Jaka: Are you particularly fond on any cities or places which you always look forward to visiting on tours?

Damien: I really love the Netherlands and Spain. And Scandinavia.

Jaka: If I'm not mistaken I saw you tweeting about how awesome the Shabazz Palaces record is. They're also from Seattle - how is it there with specific music scenes? Really interconnected or isolated from one another?

Damien: It's very interconnected here in Seattle. It's different here, than other music scenes. I like to think of it as a community more than a scene. All of us represent where we are from with pride. You don't hear of bands or groups really putting each other down for stupid things. That mostly comes from people who leave stupid comments on blogs or what have you. We don't care about that stuff. It doesn't affect us.