The Daily Reveille: You’ve been recording albums for 15 years now. How has your recording process evolved since you started?
Pat Green: That’s an interesting question. For a long time I went off to make my records by myself — have a producer come and sit with me. We’d get a band together from the amazing pool of musicians that are around country music, and I would just go in and quietly make my own records by myself. But this last record I’ve been working on this year I’ve done only with my touring band. It’s been a really wonderful experience getting back in the studio with the guys I’m on the road with every day, and I think the sound is a lot more raw and there’s a lot more angst and energy and so forth to the feel. I’m trying to get back a little bit more towards the older school sound that I had back two or three records ago.
TDR: When discussing your latest album, “What I’m For,” you said you wanted to write songs by a man and by a father. What do you mean by that?
PG: I just think that for me I have to write songs that are on the top of my head, and what occupies the space at the top of my head is my children and my family. When I was in college all I did was write about where I was going to have my next beer, because that’s what was relevant. I think life is a journey and a process. If you’re an artist and you’re creative for a living then sooner or later you realize that the things that you create parallel with the life that you’re living.
TDR: So when do you decide you’re ready to record an album?
PG: When I have 10 good songs I go make a record.
TDR: And you’ve got another collaborative record coming out soon, correct?
PG: We’ve got two records coming right now. One record is kind of finished. It’s “Songs We Wished We’d Written Part Two,” and the other is an all-new material record.
TDR: You’re known for putting on high-energy performances on stage. How did you develop your stage performance?
PG: I just think about the show that I want to see. I don’t want to see a lame, hang-out, sit down show. I want to see some action and excitement.
TDR: And are you still touring “What I’m For?”
PG: It’s hard for me to tour one album. I get out there and I play songs that span a 15-year career, so I feel like I’m touring all the albums at all times.
TDR: You’ve played at a variety of venues ranging from the Astrodome to the Varsity. Do you have a favorite, or do you like them all?
PG: I think that’s a lucky thing for me because I do like them all. I get to experience every different kind of emotion ranging from the most intimate nights where I’m playing for a crowd of two or three hundred to a humongous crowd like the show with KISS. It’s a great way to be in a band and a fun way to experience it.
TDR: Is there anything in particular you enjoy about performing at the Varsity?
PG: Yeah, Cane’s is right down the street! We’ve been doing shows at the Varsity for a decade, and I’m just glad that it’s still around and it’s still the place to play.