There’s something quietly defiant about No Lonesome. Rooted in a homespun, DIY ethic but driven by a restless curiosity for texture and tone, the Chicago-based project blurs the lines between folk intimacy, indie-rock grit and tape-warped experimentation. Led by musician and producer Jeb Backe, No Lonesome balances the rawness of hand-made recordings with thoughtful songwriting that lingers in emotional grey areas. They’ve recently released the evocatively titled EP, Am I What I’m Not? Probably Not. Wait!, which the artist has dubbed an “Extended Extended Play”, as it’s an expansion on an earlier EP.Backe has taken this opportunity to further explore those ideas on a deeper level and in an effort to embrace the beauty of imperfection. As a result, this collection of eight-tracks feels deeply personal and human, which is a much needed sentiment in our age of digital obsession. For On The Record, we asked No Lonesome some questions about their DIY philosophy, flawed experimentation and making music as an outsider.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with No Lonesome, can you introduce yourself?
Thank you! No Lonesome is my music project. Throughout its history No Lonesome has been imbued with something of a DIY ethos. But No Lonesome is also very much a live show experience, performed alongside some amazing friends and musicians.
Congratulations on the recent release of your new EP! The title feels playful but existential at the same time. Where did that phrase come from, and what does it mean to you?
Yeah I suppose the title is playing with the idea of defining by negation. Not to get too into the weeds about it, but I suppose I was ruminating on the title “No Lonesome”, and how it functions in the negative. Like, it’s defined by what it’s not. Broadly, there’s a bit of a cultural push for folks to express a defined personal identity. I’m seeing that signaled with clothes, what you say, or what you do. But I also see personal identity defined by what you don’t wear, what you don’t say, or what you don’t do. By the way, I don’t think that defining by negation is bad. I mean, defining anything without using relational language gets tricky. In the end, I guess I was thinking about these ideas of definition and having a bit of fun.
If you had to assign a specific color or visual texture to the record, what would it be and why?
I think that the colors and textures of the cover art are the de facto answer to this question. The record is sort of a blood red because of its sharpness and rawness. And relatedly, the handprinted linocut parallels the record’s hand carved shape. It also allows for the somewhat unpredictable character of the medium to play a role in forming the final image and/or sound. Like you never know how the slightly different ways ink will take to page. And you never know exactly how tape or recording equipment will color sound.
You’re calling this an EEP (Extended Extended Play), so what made you want to revisit and expand the original collection of tracks rather than move straight into a new project?
Each of these added tracks come from the same family as the initial release. They were mostly written and recorded around the same time and certainly pull from similar aesthetics. These newer tracks were axed when making the final decisions to release a tight EP. But it felt right to give them this space— especially because the sound that No Lonesome is moving towards won’t pair as well with this one.
No Lonesome is very much a self-produced, self-directed project. What does “DIY” mean to you at this point?
I first began to record myself at age 13. Over time, I developed an overall interest in shaping sound and learning how recordings function on a technical level in relation to the emotional. I am far from an expert. But I like to have the ability to play around with things and to actualize ideas. Learning about recording has been cool because I get better at achieving what I’m imagining without it taking a an unreal amount of time to get there. I’m still totally fucking up all the time. But the fuck ups can be rewarding too.
Are there specific recording tricks, limitations or happy accidents that ended up defining the sound of this EP?
I was introduced to recording to tape by my friends Austin Koenigstein and Ben Astrachan. On this ep, each song has at least one instrument or part that is recorded to tape. My favorite happy accident has to be the weird noises playing in the first half of “off at the door”. I honestly can’t even remember what that sound originally was. But I believe it came from a shit old cassette machine. I was running the machine in a tiny coach house I was living in. The house certainly had a “DIY ethos” to the electrical work. I don’t think the machine was getting the right amount of voltage or whatever, plus it was already half broken. So ultimately the sound is a result of improper functioning of the gear and a physical manipulation of the tape and machine.
‘Good Hurt’ leans into that bittersweet duality between emotional comfort and pain, so what draws you to those grey-area emotions?
I imagine I’m not alone in thinking that the majority of life is lived in the grey-areas. I think art is able to connect people in those experiences that are perhaps less easily described. So yeah I suppose if my songs lean into the grey-area of emotions, then I guess that’s my attempt to relate with people.
Another noteworthy track is ‘Great Eternal’, which closes things on an uplifting note, so why is this the lasting impression you wanted to leave your listeners with?
It seems to me that a lot of what I get out of life is how I’m interpreting whatever is going on around me. Songs and other art can affect the way I’m experiencing the world. And when writing this one, I felt a hopefulness that the universe can be in my favor. I am definitely not always feeling that way, so it felt important to capture that state of mind. The chorus is the most common lyric people approach me about after shows. I know singing it helps me when I’m feeling less optimistic so it’s cool to know that the song has a similar impact for other people.
What else do you hope that listeners will take away from these songs?
My community in Chicago has been in conversation about the state of music streaming. And there’s a grassroots movement that is pushing back against one of the largest audio streaming platforms, Spotify. In a lot of ways, I align with the movement. I similarly disagree with Spotify leadership’s investment in military technology, Spotify’s inadequate compensation model, as well as their surveillance of users among other things. It’s for these reasons that this ep is released everywhere except Spotify. I hope that listeners will be sympathetic to this. It’s a shame that the cost is somewhat upon the consumer in this action. But I think this strategy is a worthwhile effort to advocate for something better.
Following the release of the EP, what will be next on the horizon for you?
No Lonesome has been picking up more live shows in the past year or so. I anticipate a continuation of that. And there’s plenty of new music in the works behind the scenes. These songs are leaning in a slightly different direction than what has come before and I’m excited to share them in the future.
You can also find EP track‘Good Hurt’ in our Outsiders Club playlist.
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