Nashville-based artist Crumbsnatchers (a.k.a. “Guetts” Guetterman) released one of our favorite local albums of last year, Petway, and have been solidifying their reputation as one of the city’s best live rock bands so it was no shock to see them recently added to the Bonnaroo lineup. Guetts shared that news with us and his new single, “Valid Victorian” ahead of its release on DSPs. When Guetts stopped by the studio to talk about the debut, he told us the recording session was booked before the song was written.
JMW: So tell us a little bit about the making of this. I was reading a little bit about you working with Jared Corder from Repeat Repeat.
Guetts: Yeah. Jared has this studio space that he is built up like an hour outside of Nashville, out in Hartsville. Really remote, kind of up out there in the mountains. And you get up there and you’re like, ‘Wow, we’re out here.’ You look at your phone, it says SOS, there’s a little airplane on it. We went out there intentionally with nothing pre-written, just to kind of like squeeze us as musicians and see what kind of juice comes out.
We had two days to write and record this song and ‘Valid Victorian’ is what came out. The first day we kind of got the framework for the music, the arrangement. Second day, I just kind of like locked myself in this RV that we stayed at with a pot of coffee and just poured the lyrics out. And then went and did the vocals and the song was done.
JMW: And for you, working in that RV, looking out in the middle of nowhere, where did you land on meaning for this song?
Guetts: A lot of my songs don’t typically have a linear story structure. A lot of it is, um, collages of thoughts, feeling moments that make up a, a collective feeling. And that’s very much true with this song. But that that feeling that this is about is taking ownership of your time that you have on this earth and taking responsibility. Like, I’m responsible for this to make sure I’m making the most of this. And that’s kind of encapsulated by the chorus ‘I need no alibi. It’s not your time to waste.’ Whether that’s like a boss at your job or a relationship that’s draining you or whatever. It is that ultimately you gotta turn around and be like, I’m responsible for making the most of this.
JMW: And, and why that title ‘Valid Victorian?’
Guetts: Well, I just also wanted it to be kind of dumb a little bit. I like the idea of someone aggressively standing up for themselves then also misspeaking while doing it. I just thought that that was funny and beautiful at the same time.
JMW: You’ve got the single that is dropping but you also just had the news of getting selected to play Bonnaroo. What does that mean for you?
JMW: It means so much for me. I’ve been to a lot of Bonnaroo’s. This one will be my 13th. I’ve dreamed of playing since the first time I went. I’ve volunteered. I’ve worked. I’ve played guitar for another artist, but this will be the first time that, Crumbsnatchers has ever played.
JMW: Do you plan on doing anything special for that?
Guetts: Definitely. Anytime there’s like a big show it gets me really excited, I start thinking about new ways that I can make the show memorable and new ways that I can make it a party. I want to go up there and just be us. I don’t wanna do too much, but I also want to be a little extra, you know? I want to like freshen up. Or, you know, turn up the party a little bit? ‘Cause I want it to be something that I remember and everyone who’s there also remembers.
