Kevin Bronson on January 17th, 2019

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There are a lot of boldfaced names on drummer-songwriter Kyle Crane’s debut album as Crane Like the Bird. Here, let’s boldface some: Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), James Mercer (The Shins), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Luke Steele (Empire of the Sun), Sabina Sciubba (Brazilian Girls), Peter Morén (Peter Bjorn and John), M. Ward, Blake Mills, Daniel Lanois and Brad Meldau.

But the most important people on the album are the 33-year-old indie-rocker’s family. The album honors Crane’s father, a Coast Guard lieutenant who died in a helicopter crash while on a search-and-rescue mission in 1997 (poignantly captured in the song “Mendocino”), along with his mother (“The Painting”) and sister (“Nicole”). There’s a warm, familial feel to all Crane’s tightly constructed compositions, too — a cohesive collection that belies the fact the album was made over a three-year period in many different locations. The long gestation period owes to a schedule that has seen Crane perform as the touring drummer for Neko Case (currently), Kurt Vile, Elle King, Glen Ballard, M. Ward, Alexi Murdoch, Everest, Pomplamoose, John Mayer and Rocco DeLuca, among others. Not to mention the odd jazz ensemble gig like he used to do in the corner of the Silver Lake bar the Thirsty Crow.

In this Buzz Bands LA interview, he talks about “Crane Like the Bird” (out tomorrow), its collaborations, partying in college (or not) and the guy at the corner of the bar who turned out to be Daniel Lanois.

Buzz Bands LA: How long have all these songs been in the works?

Kyle Crane: The first thing I recorded was about three years ago. There are about 20 other tunes on this record that are done, minus the real vocals. I have been touring a lot of that time, so it’s kinda like, I get back for 2 weeks and the studio is all booked. Oh, then I can do it in six months. So it seems like it was a long time but it was a lot of “finish this before you could do that.”

When you were out on tour, did it feel like you were leaving a child at home alone?

Not just that, but I had all these gigs I was booking out, too, and many times I was not even there to enjoy the shows. The more I started touring, the more all those steady gigs ended.

Is “Mendocino” the emotional centerpiece of the album? (The cover is a photograph of Crane’s mother near the site of the crash, throwing a rose out to sea.)

Kyle Crane: Probably that, and “When I See,” which references the last trip I made with my dad, a snowboarding trip. He was a pilot and a lieutenant in the Coast Guard. He was like an all-star dad — chairman of the Boy Scouts, coach for my basketball and baseball teams, coach for my sister’s basketball and baseball teams, volunteer … Totally committed to his family. Outside of flying, he was with us 24/7. Helping us build a tree fort or whatever, he was a great dad. He passed away trying to save some fishermen and their boat in a huge storm. They lost the signal from the helicopter. It’s all speculation, but they think he died approaching the vessel when a rogue wave hit the side of the helicopter.

||| Stream: “When I See”

It had to crush you for a long time, and maybe still.

Kyle Crane: It never really leaves you. When you’re a kid, you never even really consider that that could happen. My dad once landed the helicopter at my elementary school — it was organized, but it was like, “Oh yeah, that’s my dad.” It was like having a celebrity parent. I never even thought that he might have to fly a helicopter into a storm with zero visibility.

Some kids who lose their parents at an early age feel cheated, or become bitter, and things don’t turn out well for them. They hold it against the world.

Well, there’s the song “Nicole,” which is about my sister. She got pregnant in high school and probably never would have been in that situation had my dad been around. He would not have let her date the guy she was dating… That void that my dad left, she filled it another way.

You were and still are close with her?

Kyle Crane: Yes. She played bass in my first band — we were called Revelation. It was organized by our youth group leader. They said, “You guys choose the name,” and I picked Revelation because that’s the most evil book in the Bible. … My pastor was always pushing me. “You’re dragging…” and I didn’t know what that meant. But all the while he was grooming me to play in the adult band, which I did a year later. Every Sunday, I would show up with all the adults, playing in front of all these people, and I would have to know my stuff.

And then you ended up at Berklee. What was your experience like there?

Kyle Crane: I went to one party the whole four years I was there. On Marathon Day when everybody was out cheering, I was in the practice room. I was committed, 100%.

Way to not waste your tuition money…

Kyle Crane: Well, because of the situation with my dad, the military helped with college. That was the only silver lining — they help the kids with their education.

You absolutely had to honor your father.

Kyle Crane: There wasn’t a week that I didn’t pull one or two all-nighters practicing, singing my ear-training test and all that. It was the most stressful time of my life, for sure. I arrived there just being a drummer. But then you have all the theory and other training. It was, ‘Oh, I learned this today.’ But then I have to go practice drums for six hours.

How did going to USC compare to that?

Kyle Crane: I stayed another year in Boston and played after college, but I knew I wanted to move to L.A. There were 500 drummers at Berklee, there were two of us accepted the year I applied at USC. I was around elite players. I feel fortunate, even though I left USC after one year to go on tour.

How did you end up playing with Daniel Lanois?

Kyle Crane: After touring with a couple bands, I was playing a lot around town. There was one year I did more than 365 gigs. Dan saw me playing one night at the Thirsty Crow, and I had no idea who he was. He would sit this far from the drums with a whiskey, the most engaged person in the bar. I was happy because I thought, “Somebody gets it.” Then he’d leave and put a generous tip in the jar. Finally, Rocco DeLuca was there and he said, “My buddy Dan wants to meet you.” When I did, he said, “You got a bright future. You got a nice right foot.” And I was like, “Oh, thanks.” We talked about gear, and he sounded like he was a collector or just a gearhead. Then he invited me up to his house to hear some mixes and I was amazed.

I didn’t hear from him for about six months until I got a text that said, “Do you have a passport?” … That was four years ago. Playing with him is 90% improvisation. It’s total freedom, like playing a jazz gig only in the context of his music.

How did you ask people to sing on your records?

Kyle Crane: I got an email from Mike Mogis’ manager, who said that he saw some videos of me playing with Daniel Lanois. They wanted to fly me out to Omaha to play on a record they were working on. I’m a huge Bright Eyes fan, so, yeah, I was happy to. I met Conor’s wife Corina, who engineered the session. … I eventually told her I had just finished a song and was trying to figure out who I wanted to sing on on it. I asked, “Could I send it you and maybe you could show it to Conor?” They ended up recording it in Omaha and sending it back. It was raw and real and came out great. I probably would not have even put out that song if it wasn’t Conor on it. The stars kind of aligned.

When I heard he was willing to do it, I was like, “Wow, this is a cornerstone of the record.” It was a Hail Mary for sure.

It got easier after that?

Kyle Crane: Things fell into place. Like, I ran into M. Ward in Denmark when I was playing with Daniel Lanois. He had liked one of the songs we did. I sent him “The Painter,” and he said, “I’m down — how about you play on some of my songs? We’ll do a session up in Portland.” That’s how I ended up on the new M. Ward record, and then he invited me to tour with him. Then Ben Bridwell was next. I actually asked the bassist if he could forward the song to him. I went to North Carolina to do that — it was that way for all the vocals. I decided to go to everybody’s comfort zone, in their space, with their engineer.

Did the songs pretty much stay as you’d drawn them out?

Kyle Crane: Sometimes I would mix a song and decided that something needed a connective tissue. So there were stitches. One song that would be totally unrecognizable if you heard the original was “Kaleidoscope,” which is 9 1/2 minutes long. That song went on such an insane journey. I actually had another verse that I cut out, and it was Sabina’s favorite. When I sent it to her, she said “Why’d you take out the first verse?” It’s become an inside joke. I keep telling her it will come back on another record.

Are you surprised the album sounds as cohesive as it does?

Kyle Crane: Well, the thing I had going for me is that I was the only person writing it. Just by that nature, it’s gonna come out as it’s gonna come out.

||| Watch: The video for “Wishing Cap” (feat. James Mercer)