MODERN DAY SAVAGE: Washed Out Interview with Ernest Greene

This past week Washed Out aka Ernest Greene and Small Black made a trip to the City Proper to do a show at a little spot called DC9. Washed Out has been killing it with his lo-fi bedroom pop on tracks like "Feel it All Around" and "Belong," and Small Black sure knows how to jam it out on stage. These guys are no strangers to Savageness and seeing them rock out together on this collaborative tour was a night to remember.

We got in touch with that Southern Savage, Ernest, and were able to chat with him briefly before the show to find out just why he is so Savage.

MDS: Since getting all this exposure this year you've been playing shows and doing interviews a lot… How has this changed your life?

ERNEST: I guess I’m generally just a little better at doing interviews and playing live shows. I’m a pretty shy person. Six months ago I would’ve been freaked out by the idea of even doing something like this, then factor in playing… like I just did two sold out shows in New York. If someone had told me six months ago that this would happen, I would’ve been totally freaked out. I’ve kind of kind of just figured out that the less I think about things the better it will turn out. … We’ve done six nights on tour now... you kind of get in the groove after you play the same sets over and over. You figure out what works and what doesn’t. It’s exciting, it’s a huge learning experience. This is the first tour I’ve done. I’ve done a lot of little one-off shows.

MDS: So, you're touring with Small Black right now, how did you end up getting set up with them?

ERNEST: They actually sent me an email out of the blue, pretty early this summer... saying they were fans of my song. They asked if I wanted to remake one of their songs and I really don’t seek out that kind of stuff unless it’s a really good song. I’m not really into doing remixes but I heard the song and it was really great. It’s called Despicable Dog, it’s really good. I did that remix… They play a lot of shows around New York but they haven’t been on tour. We ended up signing with the same booking agency so it kind of made sense. We both are learning the whole process… just do it together… I flew up not this past Monday but the Monday before… to Brooklyn and met up with them for a few days before our first show… It was a weird thing… I had no idea what kind of people they were… what kind of musicians they were. It was a little hectic at first but they’re great guys and we’ve gotten along well. It’s kind of like one big family now.

MDS: Since you are from the South, are you stoked to see a lot of good new indie and electro pop bands coming out of there?

ERNEST: Oh yeah... I’m good friends with Chaz from Toro y Moi… We talk about this a lot and our thing is whenever we do interviews and people ask… we try to back each other up… Im all about the South for sure.

MDS: If you could go to any concert ever from the past or present, what concert would you choose?

ERNEST: Hmm that’s tough… My taste is all over the place… I went to UGA, I definitely like the 40 watt… the Georgia Theatre… especially now that the Georgia Theatre is kind of not there… I don’t know if they are going to rebuild it or what… Well, I grew up in Perry, GA which is kind of close to Macon, GA… that’s where the Allman Brothers came out of. I think it would be really cool to see the Allman Brother’s back in the day

MDS: What are the top three go-to songs on your I-pod right now?

ERNEST… Pantha Du Prince - Stick To My Side… It’s got Panda Bear on it. I got some CDs from the band we played with last night… Moss of Aura

Have you seen the Final Placement video?

MDS: No, never heard of them.

ERNEST: Oh man, well there is this viral video of this band called Final Placement… you've got to check it out… It's 4 teenagers in a little garage band… they are from Texas I think. They did this really elaborate music video to go along with it… I guess the right people saw it because it is all over the internet now… I can't really describe the song… you have to hear it… its like ridiculously bad but somehow it works… it gets stuck in your head… The guys in the band have I-phones and we will just stream Youtube videos… Of course everyone in the band has their favorite videos… that was one I happened to see and we’ve been playing it everyday because its so funny… Final Placement, the song is called Shine…

MDS: What is the most savage thing you’ve ever done?

ERNEST: Savage… ahh I feel like we’ve been pretty Savage so far on tour… we did two or three shows up front… college shows… they were kinda small warm-ups for the bigger ones in New York… it is a pretty ruckus crowd… one was in Wesleyan College in Connecticut and the other was... a college in Maine… I don’t think they get very many bands coming through so they were super crazy and into the music. So of course after the shows they have after parties… everybody wants to smoke you out… ya know they just want to hang out and I guess make a connection...

MDS: Has being on tour changed your southern gentlemanly manners, or have you always been a savage partier?

ERNEST: I feel like I’ve been pretty good. I definitely have a good time, I've been under control… I'm 27… all of us are around the same age and most of the kids that are in college and coming to these shows are around 18 and 19 so it's like we can't hang with these kids anymore… I definitely had a good time back in the day… My wife is on tour with us… one of our friends from Georgia is here too and he is definitely the gentleman of the group.

MDS: Where were you and what were you doing when you wrote "Feel it All Around"? That song makes me feel like I am floating in the ocean.

ERNEST: Yea it’s definitely a crowd favorite… I was back in Perry where I grew up, in the house I grew up in. I just have this little set up in my bedroom. It was the middle of summer so it was definitely good vibes going around that time. I wasn’t working so I had a lot of free time… It's definitely a weird place because I was kind of up in the air about a lot of things so the songs were kind of a release from all that… Most of the basic idea was to write songs that were happy and positive to help me be happy and positive.

MDS: Money aside, would you rather play huge well known venues to sold out crowds or smaller dive venues?

ERNEST: Definitely the smaller ones… but it is a trade off. The bigger shows normally have better sound systems and better lighting… I would say the best experiences I’ve had have been house shows, you know at someone’s house, you can’t hear what’s going on but the energy there is usually pretty great…

MDS: Do you enjoy PBR?

ERNEST: Oh yea of course…I'm not even going to admit how many PBRs I’ve had on this trip, it's pretty ridiculous… definitely liking PBR.