Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold Talks Relationship With Father John Misty, New Music, Going Back to School in his Reddit AMA

Fleet Foxes‘ Robin Pecknold answered questions from fans today during a Reddit AMA. He talked openly about his relationship with former Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman (aka Father John Misty), why he decided to go back to school and how school has helped him, and he shared some info on the forthcoming Fleet Foxes LP. Find highlights from the AMA below. Earlier this month, Pecknold announced on Instagram that he’s been working on new Fleet Foxes music. Fleet Foxes’ last LP was 2011′s Helplessness Blues.

On his relationship with Josh Tillman:

Josh and I haven’t spoken since the end of touring HB and, to be honest, we didn’t really speak much for the two years before that either. We ended up going down different paths too soon before our touring and recording commitments were finished. Happy he’s doing his thing tho

On the sound of the upcoming Fleet Foxes record:

Swimming not quite the vibe of LP3

Just thinking a lot in terms of contrast and slideshows.

On the benefits of hiatus:

The hiatus has really helped! I have a lot more perspective now and I feel pointed in the direction of what is most exciting for its own sake without secondary considerations effecting my headspace. I also got some academic pretensions out of my system that I won’t be inflicting upon the listening public thru song. You are welcome

On going back to school at Columbia University:

I think once I had stopped touring, and was out of that bubble, I started meeting a lot of really cool and interesting people who had gone to college and learned interesting things. I was naive before and thought college was for getting a job and stubbornly thought that I could learn whatever I needed to on my own time online. So meeting those people made me really interested in it. If I’m being honest I also wanted to prove to myself that I could be more than the box I felt that I had put myself in, I want to experience as much of life as possible

On how school has helped him musically:

College has helped me practically in terms of a more legit arts education and some music theory stuff that is helpful when arranging songs. But it was also paralyzing at times. In indie rock you can throw some flutes on a song and it sounds high minded but that wouldn’t play in academia or academic art music at all, so for a while I had no idea what to do or which path I wanted to go down. For a second I thought about becoming a composer but I realized I would be really out of my depth, and I really love good songwriting and interesting melody and the human voice too much to try and move into that world, I’d be a pretender.

On the artists he’s into now:

Chris Cohen / Amen Dunes / Kevin Morby / Frankie Cosmos / Nap Eyes / Jessica Pratt / Ultimate Painting / Chance the Rapper / Empress Of

Watch Fleet Foxes perform “Grown Ocean” at Pitchfork Music Festival 2011:

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