Wilco: Who Needs Radio?

Wilco leads a dual life in the world of rock music. In the eyes of the fan, the group stands as the avant-garde of roots rock, which is a fitting contradiction. In the eyes of pop radio, however, Wilco is The Band That Must Not Be Named, a role drummer Glenn Kotche says he has no problems with. "You can't make the music fit into what you believe will be popular," Kotche says.

The band, famous for its unusual use of synthesizers and syncopation in otherwise folksy songs-not to mention an infamous split with its record label in 2001-comes to Springfield to play the Shrine Mosque October 16 at 8 p.m. Kotche's advice for people seeing Wilco live for the first time: Don't expect too much of any particular music style. The group's live shows have changed significantly since it toured behind its first album, A.M., in 1995, but Kotche says the current group-himself, singer/lyricist Jeff Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, guitarist Nels Cline, keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone-is its most powerful yet, able to transition between avant-garde pieces and country ballads with ease.

When Tweedy formed Wilco from the remnants of alt-country powerhouse Uncle Tupelo in 1995, he created a similar group: loved by fans, ignored on the airwaves. Kotche joined Wilco in 2000, just before recording began on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the band's most popular album to date. Kotche says his use of unusual percussion instruments and relationship with Tweedy were his "ins" with the group.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot changed the band's direction. Reprise Records refused to release the album, saying it wasn't marketable, and the band bought the master tapes from the label in order to distribute it on Nonesuch Records in 2002. Most unusual of all, the ordeal happened to be filmed for a documentary about the album's recording process, titled I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (which will be shown at Moxie Cinema October 13 and 14).

That saga and the critical acclaim surrounding Yankee Hotel Foxtrot kept Wilco in the limelight throughout the rest of 2002 as YHF climbed to No. 13 on the Billboard albums chart. The success was more than Kotche was ready for. "I was shocked," he says. "I thought people would hate me and would hate that record." Kotche says the biggest lesson the band learned was to believe in what it was doing. He says he has no regrets. "Even if the industry doesn't agree with us, the fans do," he says. When YHF's follow-up, A Ghost Is Born, came out in 2004, it cemented Wilco's status as one of the giants of indie rock.
Kotche says the band's songwriting has changed a lot. Whereas Tweedy used to present more finished songs for the band to flesh out, the work today is more collaborative, although "I view it as Jeff's band, too, sometimes, because he writes the lyrics."

The band's increasingly progressive and experimental sound has brought  critical acclaim and a growing fan base, all without giving in to a more radio-ready approach to writing. Kotche says it has no intention of ever changing that. "Wilco has never been one to follow trends," he says.

Wilco on Wilco

We asked Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche to give his thoughts on each of the Wilco studio records he's been involved in recording, which, since he only joined the band for its last two albums, didn't take long: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002): "For Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, I was encouraged to just run amok. Then it was [producer] Jim [O'Rourke]'s job to fit the pieces together. My most vivid memories are just being in The Loft [the studio in Chicago where the album was recorded] and exploring the possibilities. It was just a big learning experience."

A Ghost Is Born (2004): "I really like the way it turned out in the end, with the layers of sonic landscapes. It was such a different approach [to recording], being in New York and recording together and actually hearing Jeff sing. Instead of crafting the record, we were performing the record."