“I’m really intrigued about Fargo. I’ve never been to North Dakota and they apparently have more weird laws than anyone else, like you can’t wear a hat inside while dancing,” says NYC-based singer/songwriter Scout Gillett, laughing. Gillett just announced the release of her debut full-length, no roof no floor, which drops on October 28th, courtesy of Captured Tracks. The LP follows up one to ten, her debut EP, which came out this April (also on Captured Tracks) and is comprised of the title track, along with covers of songs by Broadcast, Blaze Foley, Ferrante & Teicher, and Brenda Lee. Additionally, Scout Gillett just kicked off a US tour at TV Eye in Brooklyn, which will resume in Philadelphia – which she tells me is one of her favorite cities (in addition to Nashville and Chicago) during a recent phone chat – on August 3rd at Kung Fu Necktie.
no roof no floor was recorded with producer Nick Kinsey and Kinsey’s friends Ellen Kempner (Palehound) and David Lizmi (MS MR) in a barn. While Gillett admits to me that recording with such seasoned musicians was a bit nerve-wracking, they all had an incredible time together, especially considering that it had been so long since they’d gotten an opportunity to work on music: “We all hadn’t played music in eight or nine months.” Last month Scout Gillett released “signal,” the lead single off of no roof no floor, along with an accompanying music video inspired by the slapstick of Charlie Chaplin and one of many of the movies that she grew up making with her cousins. The song itself is reminiscent of the most delectable Brooklyn hipsters of the aughts.
However, in addition to its classic indie, guitar-driven elements, no roof no floor also features plenty of barn-friendly Americana instrumentation, inspired by the musician’s Midwestern roots: “I’m just from Independence, Missouri, middle of nowhere.” She describes the album as having a, “Warm, ‘70s room feel, but also big and full.” In comparison to her mostly-covers EP, she says, “[Fans] can expect a lot more fullness and rawness, grief, transformation, and solution… It’s a really hopeful record and has moments of grace.”
Above all, Scout Gillett tells me that she always considers her work to be “genuine and authentic,” explaining, “My life is full of experiences, and I channel them in my music.” She tells me that that will be reflected in her live performances, taking audiences on a tour of her moods and emotions: “You can expect some realness and to get really loud at times, and really quiet and intimate at others.” She also tells me that she books all of her own shows, and makes a great effort to play as many all ages shows as possible, despite the fact that that can be difficult in many markets (notably this one). However, she tells me that not only is she happy to play shows in a variety of settings, but she feels that that’s a certain responsibility of hers: “I like playing all kinds of different venues. As a musician, I feel like it’s my job to be able to play different types of spaces.”
*Get your tickets here.
