Big Walnuts Yonder

A collaboration between four celebrated figures in the independent music community, Big Walnuts Yonder is a meeting of the minds featuring bassist and vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:1MGR2y3msa1wBK06SSUNaf">Mike Watt</a> (best known for his work with <a href="spotify:artist:0z6zRFzl5njXWLVAisXQBz">the Minutemen</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4BFMTELQyWJU1SwqcXMBm3">the Stooges</a>), guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3s6o8vxtYJ1utkWl8EXxUp">Nels Cline</a> (of <a href="spotify:artist:2QoU3awHVdcHS8LrZEKvSM">Wilco</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4EfCutoqt4ULxGFkymvBmf">the Geraldine Fibbers</a>, and the Nels Cline Singers), guitarist and singer Nick Reinhart (from the band <a href="spotify:artist:3K4vimkwmCyjD4g1hEMPjZ">Tere Melos</a>), and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:3NF49vAOfTRgDEcjsHx9Ak">Greg Saunier</a> (of <a href="spotify:artist:7AZwAitWq1KcFoIJhRWb6V">Deerhoof</a>). The first glimmers of the project came when <a href="spotify:artist:1MGR2y3msa1wBK06SSUNaf">Watt</a> toured with <a href="spotify:artist:3K4vimkwmCyjD4g1hEMPjZ">Tere Melos</a> in Japan in 2008, and the guitarist and bassist discussed making an album together. When Reinhart asked <a href="spotify:artist:1MGR2y3msa1wBK06SSUNaf">Watt</a> about working with <a href="spotify:artist:3s6o8vxtYJ1utkWl8EXxUp">Nels Cline</a>, who played lead guitar on <a href="spotify:artist:1MGR2y3msa1wBK06SSUNaf">Watt</a>'s 1997 "punk opera" Contemplating the Engine Room, <a href="spotify:artist:1MGR2y3msa1wBK06SSUNaf">Watt</a> suggested the best way to learn about him was to make music with him, and <a href="spotify:artist:3s6o8vxtYJ1utkWl8EXxUp">Cline</a> soon accepted their invitation to join the project. <a href="spotify:artist:3s6o8vxtYJ1utkWl8EXxUp">Cline</a> proposed that Reinhart choose the drummer for the sessions, and he and <a href="spotify:artist:1MGR2y3msa1wBK06SSUNaf">Watt</a> were pleased when he suggested <a href="spotify:artist:3NF49vAOfTRgDEcjsHx9Ak">Greg Saunier</a>, a favorite of both musicians. While <a href="spotify:artist:1MGR2y3msa1wBK06SSUNaf">Watt</a> wrote a batch of songs for the project, and <a href="spotify:artist:3s6o8vxtYJ1utkWl8EXxUp">Cline</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3NF49vAOfTRgDEcjsHx9Ak">Saunier</a> each contributed a tune, the multiple commitments of the musicians meant that the quartet members weren't able to go into the studio together until the summer of 2014, when they congregated at Studio G in Brooklyn, New York with Tony Maimone (formerly of <a href="spotify:artist:3V4FPipSnuYjtHnnAw9cZd">Pere Ubu</a>) as engineer. The musicians recorded their tracks in three days, and after the fact, Reinhart and <a href="spotify:artist:1MGR2y3msa1wBK06SSUNaf">Watt</a> cut their lead vocals using their home-recording setups. In May 2017, the self-titled debut Big Walnuts Yonder was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sargent+House+Records%22">Sargent House Records</a>. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi