Gregory Alan Isakov moved to the U.S. from South Africa when he was 7 years old. Isakov said his upbringing prepared him for his life as a musician because he moved around a lot as a kid. After producing two EPs and one full-length album, he’s released his latest album titled This Empty Northern Hemisphere. Isakov said he enjoys the touring life, but he also enjoys going home to Boulder, Colo. Isakov’s band consists of a violinist, a drummer and a cellist. The group is playing at the El Rey Theater on Saturday at 8 p.m.
Daily Lobo: Where did your musical interest start?
Gregory Isakov: I have always had music in my life, growing up. I’ve always been writing songs, since I was a kid, but I never thought I would be doing it all the time. It was always a big part of my life.
DL: I was reading your biography and you said that your most recent album talks about traveling a lot and leaving things behind and feeling like the world has been pulled out from underneath you. How is that incorporated into your music?
GI: I wrote one of our first bigger records, which was called I See the Gambler, and I wrote most of those songs about the ocean and ocean references. So I always kind of liked records that had a similar quality to them. I think everyone gets into these artistic curiosities for a while and it feels like you’re writing about the same thing all the time. I don’t think every song is about the same thing. I just kind of have the same feeling about the time in my life when I wrote that record. The new one for sure was about traveling a lot and being on the road a lot. I was living on this farm outside of Boulder for about eight years, and then I left that place, and it was a big transition time in my life.
DL: It’s always interesting to watch artists grow in their style as they get older. How has that been represented in your work?
GI: I think with this new one I wanted to try some stuff out that I hadn’t done before, and I wanted to use more electric because we spent a long time writing the string arrangement with the band. I feel like I usually go more with a sparse route when I arrange. But a lot of intention went into the arrangements and the production, too.
DL: How many tours have you done?
GI: I have been touring for a couple years pretty hard, and before that it was just kind of here and there. I went to school for horticulture, so I did that for a long time and then started touring in the winters and working with plants during the summer. So that was really nice actually. I still kind of have that going on a little bit, but it’s been a little busier this past year. I work on a vegetable farm and they have animals and a goat dairy, too.
DL: Do you see relationships between the work you do with the farm and the work you do as a musician?
GI: I bet you there is, but I don’t really know specifically what it would be. I think especially with writing, we’re just kind of walking around and experiencing our lives and then a song will kind of happen. I’m sure all of it gets in there.
DL: Where do you get the inspiration for your songs?
GI: Songs have kind of been a mystery to me, and that’s probably why I still love it. I don’t really know what they’re about when they happen. But I like that relationship that I have with it because it keeps me really curious about it, and it keeps me in awe of the whole process and the whole craft. I feel it’s never really something that anyone can master. It’s just always happening. It’s been really fun to just kind of watch it grow and have a scrapbook of your life with your songs.
BOX:
Gregory Alan Isakov
El Rey Theater
620 Central Ave. S.W.
Saturday, 8 p.m.
$15
Ages 21
