Josh Lovell was Justin Stanley’s right-hand man in the Station to Station recording studio car. (Josh is actually living in my house right now while he looks for an apartment in New York, so I cornered him as he was getting out of the shower and quizzed him about his role in Station to Station: a public art project made possible by Levi’s®.) Justin, who has worked with Beck, Prince, and Eric Clapton, among others, handpicked Josh to assist him for the entire train trip. While people were hanging out and relaxing during the long train trips, Josh and Justin worked non-stop in the recording car. In the middle of all that, they even found time to be Patti Smith’s rhythm section during her show in St. Paul, Minnesota.
VICE: Hey Josh. How’d you meet Justin Stanley?
Josh Lovell: Justin was my neighbor in Los Angeles, and I knew he was a producer. A friend of mine recorded with Justin at Henson Studios, and I tagged along to play bass and some piano. At the end of the recording session, I worked up the nerve to tell Justin that I wanted to learn from him and help him out around the studio. Without skipping a beat, he told me about how Levi’s® was putting together something called Station to Station.
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And you had the job, just like that?
It was a few months before I found out of I had it for sure. I was going back and forth between Los Angeles and Nashville a lot, and wondering what my life was going to look like in September. But I got the official call in August, and everything else fell into place.
You were on the train the whole time, right?
Yeah, from September 3rd until the last day in Oakland. That was the 29th, I think.
Who did you guys record?
We recorded Ariel Pink, Thurston Moore & John Moloney, Yoshimio Trio, Eleanor Friedberger, White Mystery, Giorgio Moroder, Cold Cave, Sun Araw + Congos, a really cool local Kansas City band called Conquerors, Lucky Dragons, and several others.
What was your favorite project to assist on?
That would probably be tie between Cold Cave and Thurston Moore. Cold Cave are super sweet, polite people. Their song was the most memorable. Wes from Cold Cave recorded his vocal between two train cars—he helped me set the mic up and tape his lyrics to the wall. Thurston and John were just amazing to watch. Thurston played “Schizophrenia” and the fanboy in me was elated. John Moloney gave me some records and his girlfriend, Greta, gave me a shirt and some of her art. They were total sweethearts.
Any weird collaborations that sprang up in the recording car?
The weirdest collaboration I think would be Austin Meredith, Oli Hecks, Chris Totushek, and Mika Soma. They were the people working their asses off in the content car, editing videos and stuff for Station to Station. They recorded a song called “Save My Baby.” It was my favorite spontaneous moment in the recording car.
Mika was five months pregnant and sang the vocal. The song got stuck in all of our heads. When I can have an mp3 of the final mix, it will be my favorite souvenir from the tour.
How’d you end up playing onstage with Patti Smith?
Justin and Levi’s® were in contact with Patti’s management and they found out she needed a full band. Justin very casually asked me if I wanted to play bass. I said, “Are you joking?” We had a day to learn the songs, but when we got to the venue the setlist had changed. I was freaked out. But we pulled it off.
Gary from the Jayhawks and her son Jackson were playing guitar. Justin was on drums and Mark Mallman played keys. It was surreal. Everybody on this trip were such great musicians. I felt kind of like a fraud. I’ll never forget that night.
To check out the rest of the collaborations and contributors, go to http://levi.com/makeourmark
