74. Califone

Illustration by Lani Morrison

Today I’m talking with the band Califone’s founding member Tim Rutili. Califone began 25 years ago as a solo project after the dissolution of his previous group Red Red Meat in Chicago. You may have heard his collaboration with Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, Ugly Casanova, or his ambient rock group Loftus. Tim has continued to do sporadic collaborative efforts over the years, but Califone has been a constant having released 15 albums as well as a bunch of singles and EPs. Their experimental take on Americana, musique concrete and indie rock is unlike that of any other group around. On May 19th, 2023 they are releasing a new album called Villagers on Jealous Butcher Records. I spoke with Tim about live performances, the new material, the group’s previous album Echo Mine which was a score to a dance piece, their experiments with live improvised silent film scoring, the virtue of acting like a baby, writing and directing the film All My Friends are Funeral Singers, and several of his other projects over the years. Tim Rutili spoke with me earlier this year from his home in Los Angeles.

Hello, World!

Find tons of music by Califone and other projects from Tim Rutili on Bandcamp and stay up to date on their website califonemusic.com