Lawrence.com

Remember six-inch voices? Those would be about four inches too long for a Doby Watson concert. The 21-year-old songwriter pens tranquil numbers that emphasize sparse arrangements for acoustic guitar and voice: the only two instruments he typically carries with him on his frequent tours of D.I.Y. folk venues. Though he'll occasionally relent and fight the jabbering crowds at local bars, Watson more often targets alternative venues like houses and art galleries. He applies the strength-in-numbers principle, touring with friends to support split EPs and albums (recent cohorts include Margo May, Manipulator Alligator, Viking Moses and Regal Standard). Watson brought his 12-inch voice to our podcast studio along with a compilation of tunes from his first four years onstage (previously under the alias Boo Hiss).

No-fi highlights from the podcast

Tell us about your new guitar.

Well, I don't know, I don't have it yet. I'm still paying it off. It'll be awhile.

Isn't that what credit cards are for?

Oh, I don't do credit cards layaway.

I've noticed that you play at a lot of alternative venues.

I don't like to play at bars. And actually no offense to coffee shops I hate playing at coffee shops. Anywhere people are going for a reason other than a show : It's hard to get their attention when you're just one guy without drums and bass and yelling and all that. I prefer houses or art galleries, but it's hard because there aren't that many in this area that know about me or take me seriously.

Every so often I'll play at the Jackpot or something. The folks from Eleven Productions are really nice to me, and they'll give me spots at good shows. The last one was Besnard Lakes : A really good opportunity, but no one listened to me. They all just talked and drank and it was really awkward : I might as well not waste their time or mine. Let someone else who wants that opportunity get it.

Tell us about these recordings we're listening to.

Most of them are live. I just put a bunch of mics up in a room and throw them together last-minute for split albums before a tour : I have friends contribute; usually my tour mate. We sell that because most of the shows we play are free; that's kind of the expectation in the music scene we're in. You have to have something to make money to get to the next town and get some food.

How did you discover that scene?

I've been trying to do this since 2004. I would get shows with Dirty Projectors or Thanksgiving or Karl Blau pretty good names for solo-guy music but it wasn't really going anywhere. I was uncomfortable with myself. I didn't really want to play shows; I just did it because I thought I had to.

Why were you uncomfortable?

I have really bad stage fright, actually. But I love making music; I would no matter what. I got talked into playing shows around 2004 and it just kind of went from there.

Your MySpace headline says "Mark Kozelek wannabe."

I'm such a fan of his. The funny thing is that I didn't know about him until people started comparing me to him : A lot of the more recent stuff that will be on this supposed album is in the same tuning that he uses: DADGAD.

Another big influence is Idaho. I have all their CDs and I'm totally into it. I send them fan emails once a month saying, "Please, come play here; I'll pay you anything."

What else have you been listening to lately?

I've been getting back into music I was into in high school: really brutal '90s hardcore like Crestfallen and Pageninetynine. I work every day from 10 to 7, so it's kind of my way to fight back. Other than that I'm really into Mt. Eerie and Songs: Ohia and Will Oldham and Willie Nelson.

What type of work do you do?

I serve old people food. Sometimes people die in the dining room : It's pretty epic.

That's a good word to describe it.

Yeah, it has a big effect on me. I've been there for almost two years and I don't really like the work, and it doesn't pay that great. But you become emotionally attached to the people who live there and it's hard to just leave : It's really kind of depressing, but it pays my hospital debt and my guitar bills and it gives me things to write songs about. I was just telling the old people yesterday about how I was going to come in here this morning and do this. They clapped for me. They're kind of like my real friends.

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