Few bands have generated the kind of electricity that Nickel Creek sparked when it emerged from southern California obscurity with its eponymous debut album in 2000. Each member of the genre-defying trio, guitarist Sean Watkins, violinist sister Sara, and mandolinist Chris Thile, demonstrated a startling level of individual musical prowess. But it was together that these musicians displayed their true power to astonish. Whether playing live or in the studio, the childhood friends meshed seamlessly into the kind of magnificent musical whole that could only come from a lifetime spent playing together. The resulting sound and the extraordinary energy behind it was instantly applauded by critics, who praised the band’s remarkably instinctual cohesion and the eclectic influences of its captivating original material. For their part, audiences knew the real thing when they heard it and thrilled to the spontaneous dynamics that mark the group’s now legendary performances. It’s a story that continues with the release of Nickel Creek’s hotly anticipated third album, Why Should the Fire Die?, on Sugar Hill Records. Setting a new high water mark for a group that’s known more than its share, producers Eric Valentine and Tony Berg have helped the band capture the explosive feel of their concert experience while using a variety of vintage recording techniques and retro equipment to explore exciting new sonic ground. Recently, Elixir Strings sat down for interviews with Sean Watkins and Chris Thile to find out what fans can expect when the record hits stores on August 9th.

Tell us a little bit about the new album.

Sean: We do a lot of new things. There’s a new producer, his name is Eric Valentine. And there’s a co-producer that Eric had help us. His name is Tony
Berg. Another huge new thing was that there was a lot of co-writing within the band. We did tons of co-writing within the band and editing of each other’s songs. I’d bring a song to them and they would want a lyric sheet and to look over it and say “I don’t understand this.” Or “I love the chorus, but let’s work on the verses.”
So there’s stuff like that that was really nice. We were editing and acting as filters for each other.

How did that process work, editing and writing as a unit instead
of privately?

Sean: It was funny because we just hadn’t done any. So you just jump into it and start doing what you think you’re supposed to do. It’s sort of like the first time you’re doing anything. You don’t really know how to do it. You just start this process of taking comments. It’s sort of hard to start, but you know, you say it in the right tone of voice. Everybody’s listening. Everybody realizes that we all respect each other, and we just want to make this better. And everybody had comments for everyone. It ended up being a very mutual thing.

Chris: In a way, I kind of feel like it’s our first record. I think that Nickel Creek has finally learned to embrace its strengths, and recognize what those strengths are. I think it’s been both a process of realizing what those strengths are and then not being afraid of the strengths which may box us in. You know a song on the new record like Jealous of the Moon we might not have considered recording before because it’s a lot like a country song. But it happens to be something that we do well. And we’re no longer afraid that something we do might label us a “bluegrass band” or a “country band” because we’re comfortable enough in our own skin now to just do what feels right and to do what we feel we do well enough to make a contribution to music as a whole.

What would you say the band’s strengths are?

Chris: I think one of our strengths is our three-part vocal blend. Whereas before there was a little bit of a stigma attached to three-part harmonies, (which are) such an identifiably folk or bluegrass kind of a thing. We had just done it for so long that we’d just taken it for granted, and we were kind of relishing singing by ourselves. And now we realize that it’s one of the advantages that we have as people who have grown up together. We’re just very used to singing together and making it blend as sort of a natural sensation. Our ability with our instruments is something that I think is a little bit underlined on this record as opposed to the last one. There are three instrumentals as opposed to the last record. There were four on the first. (We’re) just trying to embrace the more natural, organic sound of the band. That’s something that was a major objective.

How does the new record differ from past releases?

Sean: I think it sounds a lot more like us when we play (live). There’s some stuff on it that’s very kind of otherworldly. We tried to keep a healthy mix of very organic, just-playing-in-the-living-room sort of thing, vs. songs that have some production on them where we tried to take people to a new creative land.

Chris: (Eric Valentine and Tony Berg) brought a completely unbiased ear to our area of music. Certainly we have a lot of bluegrass and contemporary folk in our background. Working with Eric and Tony, who have a predominantly rock background, was a very fresh experience for everyone. We had a totally different set of priorities and skills than they did. For instance, on the instrumental song “Stumptown,” there’s a brief guitar solo, and in my life, I’ve just grown up playing mandolin behind guitar solos on fiddle tune-sounding things. It’s maybe even something I’m more comfortable with than anything else. And there’s a thing that you do… You chop. There are these sort of established chord shapes that produced the desired tones that you want. Eric listened to that and went “No, I just don’t feel like that’s really totally supportive of the guitar. For one I think the voicing might be in his register and kind of detracting from that and for the other, I think that the chop is leaving him a little too exposed.” So all of a sudden what resulted instead was a really kind of pretty, higher chord voice thing that’s more chordal and less rhythmic and the result was a texture that I’ve just not really heard on a fiddle tune before but that is totally supportive and pleasing. So it’s that kind of thing that was the best part of that incredibly happy marriage.

Sean: I’m happy with all the songs on the whole album. We had a huge pool of songs, and I’m happy that we’re proud of each one of the songs. My favorite thing about the record changes. There’s cool stuff on it. I’m really proud of the last song. The last song was done around on C-24 stereo microphone.

That brings up an interesting point. Technologically, the record is a bit of a throwback. You recorded in analog, used vintage plate reverb, single mikes, etc.. What prompted the decision to step back from the digital era?

Chris: We felt like it would be a more honest way to record our type of band, which is maybe more organic than some as far as just being all acoustic instruments. As we are embracing our strengths, we have some of those that lie in having a sort of a simple overall color to the ensemble. So I think it was natural for Eric to start to lean heavily toward mono miking, not pairs of mikes in front of everybody and towards less in the way of separation and isolation. Generally, we were all recording in one room with tons of bleed. (We also recorded) in a row occasionally, with vocals live. (There were) a lot less overdubs than normal.

Sean: We’ve always been fans of that kind of stuff. But it really has to do with the producer, and what they prefer. And Eric just loves tape. He records to tape all the time, and he has a huge tape machine collection. The one we used was this John Stevens machine. There’s actually only about 500 of them because he’s the only guy that makes them. It’s just an unbelievably huge sounding, two-inch tape machine. It just feels good. The tape’s right. He’ll tell you that the reason he likes tape is because of the way it changes the sound. It’s not transparent like recording to a computer. Computers are completely transparent. They do nothing to the sound. The tape warms it up and gives it a color. It definitely changes the sound, and it’s a change that we like. We think that overall, it translates in a more natural way. We did do some digital recording, but the bulk of it was done to tape. He’d cut tape and edit that way. We did details on the computer, but we put it all back on tape.

Chris: Overall another objective was for the record to leap from the speakers, and I think that occasionally we went for smaller, more natural sounding tones that would allow the whole to sound bigger. A lot of the time when you go through these huge acoustic instrument sounds with stereo miking, the end result is that things are sort of vying for space in the stereo spectrum. They’re sort of elbowing for space and pushing each other out of the way. The end result is possibly smaller. So I think a lot of that was being considered during the recording process.

Chris, tell us about your collaboration with Gary Louris
on Jealous of the Moon.

Chris: I’m a huge fan of Gary Louris. I think he has a really solid and well thought out take on the songwriting process, what’s important and the kinds of things that need to be considered. Like making sure your chorus sounds like a chorus! And all that kind of thing. When I write songs, I’m always thinking about, “well, how do I make it sound different?” And Gary… he wants the song to end up sounding like a song. It’s got to feel right. It’s got to have that great rise on the chorus. Above all, everything needs to sing really well. Don’t be afraid of the cliché that says everything you want to say in a simple way. Don’t be afraid of that. That kind of thing was really wonderful to be around.

What’s your instrument of choice these days?

Chris: For the last three years, I have found the love of my life, mandolinistically speaking!. It’s a Dudenbostel made in 1998. It’s the fifth mandolin that this guy ever made, and it is a gem. It’s an incredible instrument. I could not be happier. I’ve never played a mandolin I liked more. I’ve played mandolins I liked as well, but never more. Only a very few have I liked as well. I’m very happy.

How are Elixir Strings working for you?

Chris: At this point in my career, I could kind of get whatever strings I wanted. And these strings… There’s something about the nanowebbing. I love to slide. I don’t want to sound like I have frets. If I hit a note straight on, I want that to be a choice. I don’t want that to be because I have to. Before I discovered the nanoweb coating, I would be applying hand lotion to the fret board, putting it on every 20 minutes. Just so I could slide. I think that the nanoweb coating is perfect. It’s a perfect compromise between getting the functionality of the coating with the sound of a great bronze string. They’re doing really, really well for me. I’m wanting nothing. I get great tone. They feel great. They last long. It’s great.

What can fans look forward to on the upcoming tour?

Chris: You can expect a much more energized, much more urgent performance from us. We really believe in the validity of what we’re doing and cannot wait to share and communicate that with our fans.