Wilco's Jeff Tweedy interview: 'It's not the end of the world to be a bit depressed and have to go out and do a f*cking awesome job'

“He's the bearer of a populist message but unfortunately he is a complete buffoon,” says Wilco frontman, Jeff Tweedy, as he reflects on the unavoidable topic of the recent presidential election in his country. Wilco campaigned for Obama in previous elections and the band even ended up on the President’s handpicked Spotify playlist, not something they are likely to find happening with Donald Trump. “Perhaps he's amoral, I don't know, but he's certainly not guided by any of the same things that guide normal humans.”

Tweedy admits he is “extremely disappointed” by Trump’s win but feels a great sense of optimism from it too: “I am feeling a great surge of hopefulness and defiance, based on seeing the reactions of so many of my fellow Americans. I think we're going to witness a movement of protest unlike anything we've ever seen and that gives me a great deal of hope… what I’m witnessing right now I don't think I’ve ever witnessed during my time on this planet.”

And of Jeff Tweedy’s 49 years on this planet he has now spent over twenty of them as the singer and primary songwriter of Wilco, a Grammy award-winning and critically acclaimed group that have traversed the genres of alt-country, indie, electronic rock, classic pop and experimental to create a recorded output that, whilst stylistically varied and occasionally erratic, is fundamentally underpinned by a defining characteristic and personality traits totally unique to the band – through their wild explorations in multiple genres over the years they have always left a distinct snail trail throughout new ground covered. Tweedy’s slightly husky and smoky vocals that can range from a biting snarl to a fragile whisper is one such key personality trait and his voice feels instantly familiar when he speaks. “For me, Wilco gets better every year”, he says, “the connections between us as musicians gets better every year, my enthusiasm and my energy for creating gets stronger every year.”

This comes on the back of a fertile period for the band. In 2015 they surprise released the album Star Wars as a free download and it’s quieter, more reflective and acoustic partner album, Schmilco, in September of this year. It seems time has been a useful aid to Tweedy when it comes to shaping his perceptions of what he wants to do and is doing. “It's built on a lot of gratitude’s I think, simply that I get to do this. I've been much more committed to the idea of it as something to work for then when I was younger, I go to the studio every day and I’m excited by that prospect every day of what might happen, what will I discover?”

Even Tweedy’s occasionally fraught relationship with his own audience seems to be hitting a pleasant middle ground for him, “The audience, for me, has become less of a problem.” He says with a hearty chuckle. “I think I’ve struggled most of my life with the notion of having an audience and certainly for years as a person standing on stage singing, I’ve been unable to tune out the feeling that there were certain fractions of an audience not on board or weren't on my side” Such an interaction can be heard on Tweedy’s 2006 live DVD Sunken Treasure in which he’s locked into battle with hecklers and talkers, trying to contain his exasperation. “Now as I’ve got older I don't feel that sense in a live entity anymore, I don't feel that separation within the audience and I feel much more of a connection overall to people just being on board with what we're doing and that's a really great place to be, musically, to be able to suspend disbelief and to just be trusted.”

Tweedy’s ability to connect to people through his lyrics it seems is an on-going driver too, “I think that's one of the reasons why I’ve obviously done this for most of my life, it’s an effort to reach out and have some connection in spite of my - I would label them as somewhat disabilities - social interactions, I think it's [writing lyrics] an easier form for me to have some contact.” The impact of these lyrical connections can spring up in the most unconventional ways too, as Tweedy reflects on one example, “I was having my teeth worked on and my dentist turned out to be a fan and was asking me questions about specific lyrics when I had a mouth full of gauze and dental implements - it was like a fever dream.”

The fact Tweedy is doing this interview at all is something of a rarity, given his aforementioned difficulties with social interactions. “As a general rule I try not to do interviews. Just because I get self-conscious when I hear myself talking about something pretty frivolous and silly. Especially when I read other people's interviews of other bands and hear musicians talking about themselves, I’m always a little embarrassed for them and embarrassed for myself.”

The Schmilco artwork was designed by Joan Cornella

Irritability was a recurring theme for Tweedy on this last record but there’s little sign of such traits during our conversation, has that since subsided? “Oh, I'm divinely irritated, yes.” He says with a slightly sardonic laugh, “I consider it a blessing. I think some irritations felt whilst making this record have come to full bloom and I anticipate that irritability to be a motor for me to continue on.”

And continuing on is very much a part of the plan for Wilco, whose schedule is a pretty consistently full one. “We've always been on tour, we don't go out on tour...we tour, period.” He says. Being a constant live presence who regularly dip in and out of old material has refreshingly meant Wilco have managed to avoid the trappings of the nostalgia circuit occupied by many bands of their age and duration. “We've made an effort to stand behind our work of what we're putting out into the world.” Tweedy says of that, “The last album we played in its entirety on tour. From where I’m standing as long as people don't leave then we're being encouraged to do that and even if we weren’t being encouraged I think that's a risk we'd be willing to take, we want to be most connected to the music we're making today.”

Excessive touring is not without its drawbacks, of course, but being seasoned professionals, the group have systems put in place. “We have a lot of strategies for managing our mental and physical health” he tells me, “To be honest we're pretty good at it. There are periods that are difficult for me, like being in Europe at this time of year with the lights getting dimmer earlier every day, I tend to struggle quite a bit with that emotionally but everybody in the world goes to work when they are struggling sometimes.” For Tweedy any such difficulties are easily overcome by the weight of the music they make, as he says enthusiastically, “it's not the end of the world to be a little bit depressed and have to go out and do a pretty fucking awesome job”

Wilco play:

Albert Hall, Manchester – 18th Nov

Brixton 02 Academy, London – 19th Nov