On his new album In Plain Sight, Neal Francis offers up a body of work both strangely enchanted and painfully self-aware, unfolding in songs sparked from Greek myths and frenzied dreams and late-night drives in the depths of summer delirium. True to its charmed complexity, the singer/songwriter/pianist’s second full-length came to life over the course of a tumultuous year spent living in a possibly haunted church in Chicago. The result: a portrait of profound upheaval and weary resilience, presented in a kaleidoscopic sound that’s endlessly absorbing.
Neal sat down to speak with us right before his fantastic set at Shaky Knees.
Atlanta Music Guide – John McNicholas
In Plain Sight, your new record, talk to me about the recording and the writing process for that.
Neal Francis
I recorded the demos and recorded the album at a church that I was living in in Chicago. The infamous haunted church. It’s definitely a product of the pandemic and our isolation.
AMG
Were you able to collaborate with people while you were there or was it just you working on the record?
Neal
It was me at first with my drummer, who lived there with me, and then eventually the band came in. We started doing rehearsals again and then our producer and engineer Sergio Rios and Mike Novak came in.
AMG
How did you end up at a haunted church?
Neal
Well, I was the music minister there for three years and there was a vacancy in the pastor’s residence, and I asked if I could live there. They were gracious enough to let me and then, that was even before the pandemic, so I didn’t know about any sort of energy until I actually moved in.
AMG
What neighborhood was that in?
Neal
Belmont Cragin. It’s like 20 minutes from anything. Kind of like my music.
AMG
No, the music’s great. Your previous single “Can’t Stop the Rain” has Derek Trucks on slide guitar. How did you hook up with him and get to know him?
Neal
My friend Jesse Louder does production for Susan (Tedeschi) and Derek. I actually didn’t even know that at the time. I’ve been friends with him through some other things and when he heard the track he was like, you know, “Derek would sound great on this,” and I was like, oh, you know, I was kind of laughing about it. Because he is the greatest at what he does, so, he sent it to their management and Derek liked it and wanted to do it.
AMG
Did he jump in the studio with you?
Neal
No. So, that was actually the only element of the recording that wasn’t done to tape. We bounced everything, sent it down to Jacksonville, digitally, and he recorded it remotely.
AMG
I’d heard people say you’ve got a strong New Orleans vibe, but the first single I heard was “Prometheus,” like your most recent stuff, and to me that’s kind of like a 70s Pink Floyd vibe, a little psychedelic. There’s so many layers going on in there. What prompted you to write a song about a Greek Titan in the middle of a pandemic.
Neal
The Prometheus myth was in my consciousness because we had been watching this movie “Lighthouse.” It was like an allegory of the Prometheus myth and my drummer and I were sort of living in isolation and we kept joking that we were like the two guys in this movie “Lighthouse.” We’re living on a lighthouse. I had already written the song with a completely different set of lyrics. I was just like, “this ain’t happening.” Beat my head against the wall for a few weeks.
AMG
Do you feel like each record has its own little vibe? Do you consciously go for something a little bit different than the previous record?
Neal
I think every song just comes out in its own way.
AMG
In 2019 you released the record, “Changes.” I really love it, love the production of it. How did you decide to release an instrumental version of that entire record? What made you think, “this will work,” because it really works.
Neal
Thanks. Actually, that was our record label. Terry Cole, he’s done that with a few of his records. I was so grateful to be on that label because so many of his artists just got killing bands, and the musicians that I hired to be part of that recording, just, you know, I had the parts, but like, they brought such their own style to it.
AMG
When you’re working with other artists, do you just turn them loose in a sense, like… “Hey, you’re the bass player, you’re probably gonna know what’s going to be the coolest bass part or you’re the drummer, you’re probably gonna know the best drum part,” or do you go in with a vision for all the parts already?
Neal
To an extent, the demos for In Plain Sight were very detailed, you know, because I had so much time at my disposal and I had a tape recorder and I was able to just get parts out. But, undoubtedly, they’re bringing their own stuff to it. I don’t want to say magic but the guys that I play with I just respect so much as musicians.
AMG
Are you excited about playing today?
Neal
Yeah, I’m so excited, I’m like, doing this at all. This is our first actual run where it feels like we’re touring again and I love that. I also just love that I get to do this with my life, because for my entire 20s and into my 30s, I was just, you know, working random jobs, and just getting fired from random jobs.
AMG
Your job was to get fired from random jobs so you can keep doing your music.
Neal
Right, and I didn’t know that and it was frustrating. I remember that every time I get frustrated, because it is hard. This is demanding physically and mentally. But like, when I get in a twist, in times of grace, I realize I could be driving to a telemarketing gig right now and, you know, I didn’t dig that as much.
AMG
You seem very grateful.
Neal
Yeah.
AMG
It’s been a common theme with artists and fans I’ve hung out with this weekend. How long is your run for on this tour?
Neal
I think we’re out until November, but then there’s some breaks, but we’re really touring intensively until like mid-December and then we’re picking up again in January. That’s when the real crazy shit starts. The January tour is going to take us to the west coast and then back down through Chicago and then we’ll be going to Mexico to play a festival with Wilco and then we’re flying to Europe from there. So I’m like, stoked.
AMG
Sounds amazing.
Neal
I’m super jazzed.
AMG
Well, congratulations. That’s gonna be awesome.
Neal
It is, and this is awesome. Like, the weather’s perfect today and we’re gonna rip it up. We’ve played some rainy sets this year, like earlier, and obviously Bonnaroo got rained out, so it’s advantageous to have a “Can’t Stop the Rain” tune.
AMG
When you got started, did you take lessons? What inspired you to play?
Neal
There was a piano in my house. My mom played a little and she just encouraged me from an early age. I got lessons but there was always really good music playing all the time.
AMG
So lucky.
Neal
Yeah, and I realized how lucky I am now, because not everybody gets that. There was always something playing… classical, Latin jazz, ragtime, Broadway music, classic rock, R&B, everything.
AMG
I can hear that in your music too. You’re not afraid to pull in some different sounds to make it interesting.
Neal
Yeah, man.
Links
Website – https://www.nealfrancis.com
By John McNicholas
