Las Vegas Weekly

Chatting with Band of Horses bassist Bill Reynolds

Reynolds (third from left) and the other Horse banders

Photo: Philip Andelman

What's the latest?

We're in Atlanta covering the Cee Lo song "Georgia" in the studio. I was actually just riding around my car listening to the mix.

A response to his cover of Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You"?

We really dug the version he did. I was blown away at how good it sounded, the approach he took. It's out of control. And the video — wow. We were really stoked about it. So, we thought, "Hey, we'll do a song like that."

You joined the band after the second album, Cease to Begin. How'd you hook up with them?

I was in the studio when they were making Cease to Begin; I was working with The Avett Brothers, helping record them. Ben [Bridwell] came in, and we became really good friends. After they were done recording, he said we should tour.

Prior to that, Band of Horses had started to make some headway in Europe. Was it weird joining a band at that crucial time?

Joining a band is always about the situation. If you can play music and you get along, it'll work. When it doesn't work is when everyone doesn't get along. I thought it went really naturally. And right after that, we went up in venue sizes really quick. Scandanavia took off.

Why do you think you took off there before anywhere else?

If you'd asked this question two months ago I wouldn't have known how to answer. We wondered the same thing. We just played Norway, and it really reminds me of Seattle. It's almost the same geography. I don't know if that has a lot to do with it. It might.

Why the decision to self-produce the newest album, Infinite Arms?

There were a lot of timing issues. We were on tour at the same time we made the album. With our previous producer [Phil Ek] it was hard to get a lot of timing down. He's busy, too. So, halfway through the process we said, "Let's just go in one session, set up and see how it rolls." We ended up falling in love with that way of doing it. We felt confident we could pull it off.

Is anyone keeping track of how many shows, movies or commercials "The Funeral" has played in?

I think at one point someone was keeping track. I don't really watch a lot of TV, but yeah, you hear about it a lot. When we start playing, it's definitely the song that everybody knows.

Is it weird hearing any of your songs in movies or TV?

It's flattering. The funny thing about the song in Twilight is we didn't really know where that song fit, but, for some reason, the [movie producers] attached to it. We were just glad to see it get a home. Making that song we didn't think it would be on the record, so we went kind of crazy on it. Maybe that worked in a cinematic kind of effect.

Have you seen any of the Twilight films?

No, I feel bad. Our drummer saw it, though. Creighton [Barrett] loved it.

Earlier this month you surprised two fans in Norway by playing "Marry Song" at their wedding. What made you guys do that?

These people had gotten engaged at one of our shows, and he called and said, "We're getting married the same day you're in Norway." We got off the plane, and we decided last minute to show up and play. We didn't know anyone would hear about it. It was really beautiful.

You probably made their life.

It's crazy, right? Who would have thought?