Son Lux

“I’m overwhelmed my friend,” says Ryan Lott when I call him up, “but it’s an accumulation of fantastic things, which I suppose is only one kind of bad.” The reason for such a full schedule? Intensive preparations for taking his acclaimed album Lanterns out on the road. Add in a proposed LP with Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti, and the fact that he’s just relocated from California to Brooklyn, and it’s easy to see why 2014 is shaping up to be his busiest – but best – year yet.

Interview by Derek Robertson, photos shot by Tim Navis

Is this holiday season very much the calm before the storm?

No, this is like the storm before the storm! Right now, my next day off is – other than Christmas day – in April. But I’m doing what I love, so it’s a good problem to have.

You’re about to embark on a pretty long tour of Europe and the US; how does that make you feel?

Right now, it makes me feel nervous. I have very little time to pull off all the preparations. And reverse engineering an album like Lanterns, let alone earlier material is no easy task. That said, I’m super excited because this is really the first time I’m properly supporting a record with a tour, and I also think that it’ll be a marvellous opportunity – unlike any I’ve had so far – to become a better performer. Because my primary instrument is the studio, when I’m on stage, I’m without my main instrument, and I’m looking forward to getting past that and honing my ability to communicate live.

What one thing can’t you live without on the road?

Well, I have a cheese plate on my rider for every show, so probably good local cheeses will be my saving grace.

Do you specify any particular types, like a Camembert, or a blue cheese?

I love to discover cheese, and you can have the same type of cheese from two different regions and they’ll taste very different. I specifically request local if possible.

And what do you eat this cheese with? What goes well with it?

I’m definitely a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy, so also a fresh baguette, some cured meat, and some fruit. The main thing for me is if I can stay healthy while on the road, I’ll be able to survive, but there’s one stretch where I’m doing 13 shows in a row in lots of different countries – it’s pretty intense! So staying healthy, and staying awake, is going to be the bigger task; performing will be the joy.

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What are you drinking with all this delicious food?

I love wine, and I’m not really a liquor guy; I’ve also got away from beer somewhat. But actually the only thing I ever drink – I never drink soda or coke or anything like that – is water and coffee. Then wine at night.

Listening back to Lanterns now, what aspect of the album pleases you the most?

I don’t think the record really sounds like anyone else, and yet it’s not completely foreign. Maybe I’m most proud that the music sounds both familiar and strange, and that’s very difficult to do. I’m happy about that.

Are you the type of person who attaches sentimental value to things and objects?

It’s a timely question, as I just spent last weekend moving my stuff out of a storage space in southern California. Going through the space made me realise I am getting better; one of the things I learned from moving a lot is that things are a terrible burden. Even cheap things are expensive to hold on to, and more and more I’m of the opinion that the less you can store the better you are in so many ways. That said, I am sentimental about some things; like I keep a special card from my wife in my backpack at all times, I’ll never throw away my dog’s first collar…but the Ikea shit can come and go.

So if your house was on fire, what one thing would you save and why?

Outside my wife and my dog, I would grab my back up hard drives. I’m a little obsessive about backing up; I even back up remotely as well, to a company that stores your information. I have an incredible amount of music that hasn’t been released, and who knows what I’ll do with it in the future – and there’d be no way to get that stuff back. It’s like it’s your life, because it only exists because of the time you spent doing it as opposed to stuff you have because you have a lot of money or you found that great “thing”. But those things aren’t related to the ticking clock, the time you have in life to do stuff – that’s your work, and that’s the type of thing that should be saved.

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Son Lux performs at Rotown, Rotterdam on Sunday, 19 January. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members.