Issue 42: Ryan Lindsey of Broncho
Welcome to The Band Bible! I’m truly glad to have you here. If you’re a new reader, purpose of this newsletter is to address, break down, and shine a light on the business of being in a band. Each issue, we do this by interviewing (and celebrating!) someone who is making waves through their incredible work with or for artists, or is an artist themselves. Learning the business of being in a band is something that is often inaccessible or shrouded in mystery, and it shouldn’t be, so I hope The Band Bible is able to play even a small role in helping to change that.
No one does it like Broncho.
On April 25th, the Oklahoma quartet (composed of Ryan Lindsey on guitar and vocals, Ben King on guitar, Penny Pitchlynn on bass, and Nathan Price on drums) released their 5th album, Natural Pleasure, which is also their first in six years. Having a new Broncho record feels like reuniting with a beloved old friend, one who knows all your secrets and stories — the texture of your life. Indeed, Broncho’s work has long been embedded in the texture of listener’s lives. Since bursting onto the world’s stage in 2011 with their debut album, Can’t Get Past the Lips, Broncho has been winning over ears, hearts, and minds with their easy charm, memorable melodies, and ability to imbue each song with richness in feeling. As a result, people have truly grown up with their work. They’ve hit milestones, rejoiced, grieved, faced challenges, and changed all while Broncho’s music remained nestled close inside them. That said, Natural Pleasure is a gorgeous portrait of all that makes Broncho a band that listeners have long been forming deep-running roots with.
Natural Pleasure is Broncho’s most stripped back album to date, but it’s still very much in possession of the core components that have made their work both sound and feel lovingly their own. There’s witty lyrics, riffs and rhythms you’ll find happily staining your brain, and the gorgeous sense of elsewhere that only they hold the keys to. On top of it all, Natural Pleasure is woven with wonder. Wonder is the throughline that stitches the album together, its common denominator. This element of wonder imbues a sense of magic into each track. In its own way, each one entrances and enchants. The score sways, the lyrics are acutely dialed into emotion, and it’s all sprinkled with a wink. This makes listening to Natural Pleasure like being able to live inside the good dream you’re having without being interrupted by your alarm for once — magnetic, hypnotic, a lulled version of reality.
Herein lies the beauty of Broncho. Their work so deeply grounds us in emotion, bringing us somewhere else in the process.
It’s an effect on the listener that they have always managed to consistently conjure. Lindsey’s vocal performance, a toolbox bursting with an array of tones and timbres, is just as much of a communicator as the lyrics themselves — on occasion, more so a communicator than the lyrics. Broncho’s music doesn’t tell you what to think or feel about it, but rather, it helps you guide yourself to an emotional destination. Even if that destination is somewhere that invokes more pain than pleasure, there’s a release to be had within that. That release has a way of making the world look like a better version of itself, one that’s easier for you to handle. When you press “play” on a Broncho song, you’re treating yourself to an experience that turns up life’s saturation levels, augmenting it, while journeying to a place within yourself that just feels right. In other words, Broncho’s work makes you feel alive.
This is true for Natural Pleasure, and every single — yes, truly — album they’ve released prior. It’s beguiling, and part of the marvel of this effect is that it can’t be described. Not really. It’s something you feel, rather, and you feel it from your core. This spellbinding impact has remained a constant stronghold even as Broncho metamorphosed from album to album. Each one is almost completely sonically distinctive from the other, showcasing the strength and breadth of their range. To be chameleon-like is not only a fantastic skill, but an act of bravery. It would have been easy for Broncho to stick with the sounds and styles that initially put them on the map. That’s the safe route. That’s what artists so often face pressure to do. Had they done so, their discography would have been no less wonderful, but their ongoing commitment to innovation gave way to a dazzling display of multiplicity. Within this commitment to innovation, Broncho sets a wonderful example to other artists. They are proof positive that you can create whatever kind of album you wish to and still achieve longevity. There are plenty of folks out there who will be quick and confident to say that this isn’t feasible or possible, but that just isn’t so. Art and artists can and deserve to evolve, and there will always be people to whom the work is absolutely cherished by.
Broncho is a band unbound, and gloriously so. To have a band that makes it delightfully impossible to predict what they’ll do next is, simply put, lovely. And even though what Broncho will do next is unpredictable, what can be relied upon is that it will always be beautiful, and it will always be true. Furthermore, their work highlights the joy that can be found in experimentation. This is an absolute spoil for the listeners, a banquet of riches. For no matter what they may be in the mood to hear or feel, there’s a Broncho song for that — more than one, in all likelihood. This allows for listeners to create a deep, diverse, and wide-ranging relationship with Broncho’s work — and they do. As a result, Broncho is not a band for a moment, a phase, or a few years. They are a band for life.
In the interview you’re about to read, Lindsey discusses ruleless composition, hitting the five album milestone, the commandment he’s leaving behind in The Band Bible, and more. Enjoy.
Photo by Bryon Helm
Natural Pleasure is Broncho's fifth album, which is obviously a significant accomplishment. If you could tell the Broncho who was getting ready to release Can't Get Past the Lips that the band would one day hit this milestone, how do you think they'd react?
Those dudes would not be surprised at all. They envisioned even more. They might even be a little disappointed to only have five. I do hope that they’d accept our apologies for only making five.
What were the early stages of working on Natural Pleasure like?
Me in my garage in my robe playing my guitar and singing “Imagination'“ over and over. It felt so good.
In a previous interview, you mentioned connecting with Warren Zevon's quote about each song having its own set of rules. Did you have any particular "rules" for the tracks on Natural Pleasure?
That philosophy has probably morphed into the only rule is no rules, but if there must be rules, then the only rule is to give each individual song only what it needs. This set of no rules rules is probably how we ended up with such a chill ass record.
Your work has been included in soundtracks before. That said, if Natural Pleasure was a score to a film, what do you imagine its plot would be?
It would take place in nature. And it would feature adults, dealing with adult situations. And, I’m sure there would be kids there too. Dealing with the adults problems, yet on a kids scale, and with kid gloves. Maybe the kids find the solutions to the parents problems, before the parents can come to these conclusions themselves. The adults then thank the children, and in turn solve what problems the kids might be dealing with, and then take them for ice cream. All while being in nature.
Lastly, which "commandment" would you like to leave behind in The Band Bible?
Thou shalt knot. For thou shalt keep enough slack to tie together what thou might need keeping close, and tight. For If thine needs to let something go, make it a slip knot. For a slip knot shalt make it easier on thou to loosen, and let go of, whatever is needing let go of. Amen.
Thank you to Ryan for taking the time to share such fantastic answers. To keep up with Broncho, click here to visit their website — there, you’ll find links to streaming and socials, merch, and information about their upcoming US tour which kicks off next month. Special thanks to Jaycee Rockhold.