John Vanderslice Teams With 'Super Hip' Orchestra for 'White Wilderness'

For years, John Vanderslice has doubled up his workload. Besides being a prominent indie-pop musician with numerous releases to his name, he's worked as a producer and engineer for acts such as Spoon and the Mountain Goats while running his Bay Area studio, Tiny Telephone. And as the owner of a recording business, Vanderslice gets plenty of random offers appearing in his inbox.

"I get a lot of e-mails from engineers and session players, who are like 'Hey, I play session guitar,'" Vanderslice tells Spinner. "It's like 'Whoopty doo -- so do about 9,000 other people in the Bay Area.' I put the studio I own in that category, too. There are probably three to 4,000 studios in the Bay Area."

But about a year and a half ago, he received a curious query from Minna Choi, arranger of the Magik*Magik Orchestra, who was looking to meld her musicians with pop bands. "When I got the e-mail from Minna, I thought it would make the studio a bit more unusual and that we could offer bands an orchestra to play with: super hip and current string and horn players," Vanderlice says.

Listen to John Vanderslice's 'White Wilderness' for Free

Having a string orchestra as your studio's house band surely comes with benefits, as Vanderslice explains. "Then I thought I needed to make a record with them," he says. "I got to know all the different players and that's why the record is so different: I was in the room with some crazy good musicians."

The result is 'White Wilderness,' Vanderslice's eighth studio album and easily one of his best albums to date. It's a gorgeous blend of his pop sensibilities with Choi's subtle, orchestral arrangements. Even more impressive is the fact that they did it in three days.

"While we were recording, some were auditioning for the San Francisco Opera. They're in a different world," Vanderslice recalls. "I love both worlds equally, but if you don't really know what a downbeat is, you definitely look a little stupid. There were moments where Minna was like 'Do you know this part is in 3' and I'd have to say, 'Honestly, I don't.'"

'White Wildnerness' is out on Jan. 25 via Dead Oceans.

Watch Studio Footage From John Vanderslice's 'White Wilderness' Sessions

White Wilderness from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.