A conversation with Dan Schwartz of Good Old War

“You could call indie-folk trio GOOD OLD WAR “prolific,” but that barely covers just how much the band do. When the acoustic outfit featuring vocalists/guitarists Keith Goodwin and Dan Schwartz and vocalist/drummer Tim Arnold aren’t on the road performing seamless three-part harmonies night after night, they’re either working on new music or acting as a backing band for friends Anthony Green and Cast Spells. In addition to recently releasing a split EP with the latter, GOW are also putting the finishing touches on their sophomore album–one they recorded and produced completely on their own–and are already doing pre-production on another album. Schwartz broke away from the studio to talk with Lucy Albers–but he was probably simultaneously laying down guitar tracks or something.

What have you guys been up to lately?
We’ve been doing some recording and some pre-production on a record that we’re going to do that probably won’t be out for a little while. It’s sort of a little secret project. It’ll definitely be another full album, but it’s not a typical album. We’re working on it sort of quietly right now.

Good Old War released a split EP with Cast Spells in November. How did that come about?
Well, we’re on the same label, Sargent House, and we’re good friends with Dave [Davison], who is Cast Spells. It just made sense because he was the only other act on the label that we felt a real connection with to make a record.

You also toured with Davison playing as his band.
We thought it would be cool. We were headlining the tour and we just really don’t like to get off the stage. [Laughs.] We would play with Cast Spells for almost an hour and then an hour [for our set], so it was almost two straight hours of performing. As much time as we can get to spend playing music is awesome. It just made sense for us to do. One thing we’re really good at doing is being the band that people respect. We started in a lot of ways with Anthony Green and playing with him and being his band, which was just a really comfortable role for us. So when we get a chance to get out, we like to take it. These songs made perfect sense to us. We practiced, like, two times before going out and played possibly the best we’ve ever played.

When did you guys first meet Anthony Green?
He’s an old friend from high school, actually. It was sort of a dream that we finally end up playing in a band together. It’s almost like [Good Old War] are separate bands. We have our main project, then when we play with Anthony, it’s like we have another band. We don’t have a separate name for it or anything, but it feels like a different band. It also feels like a different band for him, too. It’s not just, like, Anthony Green solo. We’re really a part of it, and that’s really cool.

What is it about being a backing band that appeals to you?
We love it. It’s a good change for us. We work so hard on our own stuff, and we’re so into production and the idea of how songs go together. Any chance we get to learn from someone who knows how to do something we don’t, or how to do it a different way, we’ll take any opportunity to learn and to play. We just want to do everything. We’ve all gotten so much better from playing with other people, along with being in the band. We’re all better from the amount of practice we get.

Are there any other artists you’d like to work with?
There are millions. I think the best thing is playing with solo artists, but at the same time, we’d love to play with someone like Paul Simon and his band. We have really high expectations for the possibilities. We’d be shooting really high to get someone like Paul Simon. If we like somebody and they wanted us to be their band, we would definitely consider it. We don’t really have any ideas about what we should or shouldn’t do with that. So far we’ve worked with two amazing people and look forward to more.

Your schedule seems pretty clear until the Bamboozle in May. What are you working on until then?
We’re just rehearsing for our new album in May and the tour for it, which is going to be a big tour. We don’t know exactly what it is yet, but we’re just getting ready for the album now. We don’t stop. We’re just rehearsing and recording and doing all sorts of stuff every day. We’re just as busy as when we do have shows. Plus, it’s difficult living on the East Coast because you can’t really tour in the winter. We tour up until the point where it gets dangerous [due to bad weather], then we have to stop.

Are you excited to play Bamboozle?
Yes. We didn’t play it last year, and that was the place we kind of got started [in 2008], so we thought that it might be kind of cool to play it again. The first time we played, you know, we played this little stage, like, somewhere off in the corner. So hopefully this year we’ll have a better spot.

Is the new album done?
Yes, the new album is done. We’re getting the mastering done. Currently, it’s self-titled, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to stay that way. We really think it defines us well. We don’t have an exact release date yet, but I’d say early May. We’re putting together all of the artwork and gearing up for the release with the label and talking about all that we want to do. It’s amazing. I don’t think we ever realized how much really goes into making an album. It’s not just the making of it, which is so natural to us. There’s so much more you have to learn. Making our first album [2009’s Only Way To Be Alone] was a huge learning experience every day. When you’re recording, you’re sort of in this crazy, little world and we don’t know that anyone listens to us until we play a show.

Who produced the album?
We did it 100 percent by ourselves. We had people that we asked questions of, but the recording and production and everything was completely us. We did the bulk of it in about three weeks, but the rest of it we had to do over the course of a year because we kept having to tour.

How does it feel to know that you have so many fans out there, especially other artists like Tom DeLonge from Blink-182?
It feels amazing. It’s so surprising. We really had no idea. We try really hard not to think about anything that has to do with a fanbase or anything like that. We do think about what people think of when they listen to us, but at the same time, the three of us are so in our own world. We’re so intent on what we’re doing that we really get surprised to find out that we have a fanbase. We love getting bigger, and we don’t think we’re a big band or anything, but it’s a nice thing to know that we have that support if nothing else.

Do you think you’ll ever add more members to Good Old War?
I don’t think it would be good because our names are [within] our [band] name. [Laughs.] We thought about having, like, horns or strings or something like that. But there’s so much more we can do with just the three of us. alt“