Welcome back to Rich Text, an interview series.
In “Still Coming Down,” John Ross has made the best record of his life. Since dropping last week, the album has garnered near-universal praise, from the Wall Street Journal to this very Substack. It’s easy to understand why. “Still Coming Down” is one of the tightest, tidiest rock records of the year, an all-killer/no-filler package of anthemic chords, distorted accordion, and quietly poetic lyrics that exist somewhere on a continuum spanning from Bruce Springsteen to Raymond Carver. It is, in other words, Good Music.
Recently, I sat down with John to discuss the new record and the trajectory of Wild Pink. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we spoke about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, following in the footsteps of giants, fatherhood, the great state of Florida, and much more.
I knew I was gonna dig this record when I heard William Fichtner get name dropped in the first song. And then I knew I was really gonna dig the record when I heard Sirhan Sirhan get name dropped in the second song. Salute for that.
Thank you, thank you.
Can you indulge me in a little JFK conversation up top?
I’ll do what I can, yeah.
I take it you’re interested in the contested history there?
Absolutely. There’s a podcast called Ghost Stories for the End of the World. It’s made by this guy named Matt, I don’t think anybody knows his last name. I know that he lives in Northern England. He’s a cagey guy.
But he makes this podcast, and he talks about all kinds of… I mean, I don’t even know if they’re conspiracy theories. There’s a new genre of conspiracy theory that’s like, they’re real. Y’know what I’m saying? He has a couple episodes about the Kennedy assassination that kinda rocked me. A lot of the references [in “Round of Applause At The End of The World”] about Sirhan Sirhan being hypnotized and John Kennedy actually joking about getting killed right before he got killed—those are pretty much taken from the podcast.
I’m just a huge fan of the show. He plays really cool music, I’ve shouted it out now so many times.
I just pulled it up over here, I see his Patreon. He’s got Nazis, werewolves, MKUltra—this sounds like my shit.
Yeah, all good stuff [laughs].
As an avowed fan of motion pictures of the 1990s and JFK conspiracies, are you an Oliver Stone’s JFK fan?
I saw it once and enjoyed it. It’s not something that got heavily repeated, though.
Interesting. You should give it another viewing, I feel like it might land for you.
I will.
I just love talking and thinking about this shit. I was down in Dallas for some Bob Dylan shows earlier this year, and I went to the Book Depository...
No way.
Yeah, I stood on the ‘X’ right there in Dealey Plaza, hung out at the Grassy Knoll. It’s really a surreal place.
What do you think? Did Oswald have a clean shot?
From the window, it’s a pretty clear line of sight, yeah. It’s the sixth story of a seven-story building, corner window tucked there in the back. It looks pretty neat and tidy.
Pretty compelling. I always took Bill Hicks’ word for it, who said that he stood there and was like, “There’s no way [Oswald could have pulled it off], unless he’s hanging outside the building.” But I don’t know. I haven’t been.
What’s crazy is you have that clean shot, but then you still have to be a fucking pro sniper to nail that many shots in such a short period of time—and with a bolt-action rifle!
I’m certainly not a believer in the official story, I’ll say that much.
We can agree on that.
This kind of stuff—you brought it up already—it’s stuff that gets talked about on podcasts, or in speculative fiction. Rock songs are not the typical medium for JFK conspiracies…
Except for Bob. Bob had one.
That’s true. He had a pretty long one, in fact. Were you thinking about any of that going into writing this record?
No, I wasn’t thinking about the big pop culture references, like the Oliver Stone movie or the Bob Dylan song. Though Ghost Stories is technically pop culture.
Sure.
Did you see The Octopus Murders on Netflix?
I believe I did, yeah. It was like a three or four episode documentary series?
Yeah. They briefly touch on the Kennedy assassination, specifically talking about this CIA spook who had altered footage of the assassination showing the driver turning around and shooting JFK. And this agent would show it to people that he was manipulating, so that if they were ever questioned about the things he told them, they would say, “Well, he has the real footage of the JFK assassination.”
So it makes you think we’ve all been shown a doctored version of the Zapruder film. That stuck with me.
I feel like there’s an interesting tension between the sound of this record and a lot of the subject matter. Not only 90s Hollywood or the JFK assassination, but like, Cybertrucks and Draftkings. And then an accordion or a fiddle pops up. It feels very in touch with modernity, yet there’s a classic Americana sound.
Totally. The arrangements are pretty raw. It’s a lot of non-electric instruments: harmonica, piano, accordion. They’re processed with some distortion, but they do play nicely with the lyrics.
Did you have an intention there? Or is that just where your head was at in terms of writing material and the sound you wanted to hit in the studio?
I think it’s more the latter. I was in a transition period with the pedal steel while making this record. There is pedal steel on it, but I feel like I’m interested in new sounds, and I just love the accordion. It’s timeless, it’s super American. “Round of Applause” specifically reminds me of “Atlantic City” by The Band.
Yeah. That cover isn’t better than “Atlantic City,” but it’s almost just as good.
Totally. And that’s a song about like, the mafia, juxtaposed with classic-sounding accordion stuff.
So touchstones like that—Bruce, The Band, Bob—are these guys that loom large in your personal cosmology?
Absolutely, Bruce Springsteen is pretty evergreen for me. I would say Tom Petty is probably the biggest influence, he’s my North Star. Lately Bruce Hornsby, as well. Those classic rock artists, especially the ones that had big second act in life divorce records, I love that stuff.
You’re speaking my language, man. I talked to Hornsby earlier this year when his new record came out.
Oh my god, what’s he like? I imagine he’s super smart.
He’s incredible. I very rarely tell people to listen to an episode of my podcast, it’s the most embarrassing thing I can possibly think of. But if you have an hour to kill, listen to the Hornsby one. I barely even talk. He’s the most gregarious individual on the planet, he’s just monologuing the entire time. He could be a stand-up comic.
That’s so cool. The first two records with The Range, Scenes From The Southside and The Way It Is—amazing records.
Is it imposing to be shouting out the biggest names in rock history and being like, “Yeah, these are my guys,” and trying to live up to those legends?
No, I have no expectations. I have no delusions about that. I’m just a fan.
With this record in particular, Bruce is a good person to name check, because it does have a sort of “going for it” quality, at least in terms of the sound. I’m certainly tuned in when you’re referencing Billy Beane, though that may be a little outside the typical rock fan’s vocabulary. But musically speaking, these are just like, mondo chords and huge choruses.
This is now the sixth Wild Pink record. I’ve been doing this project for a minute, since 2015 or 2016, and I’ve gone through different sounds. In the past, I’ve tried to make music that’s more sophisticated…
More sophisticated sound or more sophisticated as a written object?
Both, I think. I was trying to make music that was like, post-guitar rock. I was leaning into production—synths and sound design elements and stuff. And I feel like I could never get the hang of it. My reach was beyond my grasp.
Starting on the last record, Dulling the Horns, I was like, “I just want to have fun and write songs that are fun to play live and fun for someone in a small rock club to watch.” The record before that was called ILYSM, and it was very hushed. Vocals were whispered, it relied a lot on acoustic piano and stuff. And I just felt frustrated with the live experience, trying to make those songs sound good live, y’know?
Absolutely, these songs seem like they’ll go nutso in clubs. Honestly, they sound like they’re made for even bigger stages—or they’ll work just as well. Not that you can necessarily book Forest Hills right now, but I feel like this sound is tailor-made for bigger venues.
That’s awesome to hear. I don’t think that’s the idea behind the songs, but like, as long as it reads as fun. If you’re gonna spend $20 or $30 on a ticket and get a babysitter or whatever, like, it’s entertainment at the end of the day.
Reading a little more into the songs, I feel like water is a recurring symbol or metaphor here. I’m a huge David Berman/Silver Jews fan, and that was a big fixation of his, too. American Water, obviously, and half the songs on The Natural Bridge are about water in one way or another. And then “Horseleg Swastikas” has got a great water line in it, too. Was that in your mind at all?
I don’t think it was something conscious. My records tend to have these—I’m not gonna call them “motifs,” because that sounds deliberate—but I do find that nine or ten songs that I write at one time all sorta live in the same neighborhood. I don’t know if that has to do with like writing nine or 10 songs at a time over the course of a year or something.
Sure. Just the language of the record, so to speak.
They’re all cut from the same cloth at the same time.
Yeah. It just felt intentional to me, especially smack-dab in the middle of this record, with “Like Water” and then “Simple,” which has got that great chorus about the river.
Thank you. That song, “Like Water,” is about these Romanian people that came to live with us when I was young. And the water coming out of the spigot is like them being ejected from the Soviet bloc.
Sure. “The most fucked up pipe you’ve ever seen,” right?
Yes, yeah! Good memory.
I love the way that you return to that line twice in the song. At the beginning it’s “the dirtiest pipe you’ve ever seen,” and then it becomes “the most fucked up looking pipe you’ve ever seen” at the end. That always tickles me.
It sounds like you’ve got some big intentions for this record in terms of Wild Pink as a live experience?
We definitely have a lot of tours coming up. August 31st, we’re kicking off a Europe tour and then off and on in the US until April. And I’m writing new stuff now and yeah, staying busy with it.
Your artist bio mentions fatherhood—have you toured much since becoming a father? How do you put those two pieces of your life together?
It’s tough, and it’s getting harder, especially now that he’s older. He’ll be three next month. I’ve toured quite a bit since he’s been born, but there’s a lot of touring coming up in the next six or seven months. And I’m nervous about it.
He’s not coming along for any of it, I would assume. Not cut out for the road quite yet?
Yeah. He’s washed out of it [laughs].
My philosophy is so long as I’m the one who’s most troubled by it, then it’s fine. If I know that he and my wife are at home and they’re good—they’ve got support, they’re seeing friends and family, they’re okay—as long as it’s hardest on me, then it’s more tolerable.
Makes sense. I can’t help but ask—my wife is seven months pregnant right now…
No way! Amazing.
You got any sage advice you can lay on me here?
In my experience, people tell you it’s frightening, and you’re not gonna sleep, and it’s hard. It’s the absolute best. Don’t listen to anybody who tells you it’s bad, because it’s the absolute best. You’ll love it.
Great. You hear from people and it’s like, “Yeah, this is the end of your life, you’ll never get to go to shows again, you’re gonna be up all night.” But I feel so sanguine about it.
Totally. I was kinda dreading it—I was so not prepared, not really wanting it. And now that it’s happened, I can’t imagine my life before. It’s just the absolute best, I would not trade anything for it. I’m sure you’ll feel the same way.
I hope that I will. I’ll find out soon enough.
Congrats. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?
It’s a boy. He is a boy.
So exciting. Should we share the name in this article?
We shouldn’t, actually! Because we’re not even sharing the name with family. My wife has heard some horror stories from friends who were broadcasting the name before birth, and then a coworker was like, “Oh, that’s sort of a gross name.” [Laughs] We don’t want anyone’s input on it whatsoever.
Smart.
Remind me where you’re from?
I’m from Florida. A small town called Melbourne. It’s central Florida on the Atlantic coast. I lived in Tallahassee for a while as well. I went to school there
Do you get down there much these days?
I go probably like twice a year. My parents are still in Melbourne. And I think we’re gonna be doing some Florida shows in the spring, too.
Sure. I feel like a song like “500 Is The New 250”—maybe that isn’t set in Florida specifically, but the South in general. Y’know, “Fuck You Yankee Bitch.”
Absolutely. That was a real interaction that happened in Florida. Insane tattoo.
That’s crazy. I assumed that you were taking some artistic liberties with that, but it straight up just said, “Fuck You Yankee Bitch?”
With a Confederate flag.
Of course.
Pretty incredible.
Did you guys talk at all? Or did you just peep him and be like, “I’m staying away from this guy?”
Yeah, exactly. I saw that and I was like, “I will never forget that guy’s arm.”
I hope he listens to the record.
I know. He’s probably dead [laughs].
You live in New York now, obviously. Do you conceive of Wild Pink as a New York project?
I don’t know. I don’t really feel like a New Yorker, I don’t think we’re “plugged in” to New York. If anything, I think I’ll probably always feel like a Floridian. I don’t even know how that really informs my music, except that it makes me love Tom Petty that much more.
But yeah, I’ve been here for a long-ass time.
What’s the vibe like in Florida these days when you go back?
Brevard County, where I’m from, is one of the big MAGA strongholds. My parents are out there protesting—there’s rallies, y’know?
Yeah, holding the signs?
Yeah, and I worry about them. I’m like, “It’s probably unsafe, but I’m glad they’re doing it.”
But I love Florida. I don’t know. I always will.
It’s the place you’re from, so it’ll always be a part of you, whether you want it to be or not.
Yeah. I just hope people come out to the shows and catch this record live, y’know?
Absolutely. It feels like a record that’s meant for the stage just as much as it is for the record itself, if not more so.
Yeah. And if you’re around, we’ll be in San Francisco on October 20th.
Due date is October 24th…
Oh, dude, you’re gonna be tied up!
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