My Interview with Jason Narducy (Bob Mould, Superchunk, Split Single, Sunny Day Real Estate)

This episode features my interview with musician Jason Narducy. He is probably best known as a member of Bob Mould's band, as well as for playing with Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate, and his own bands, Verbow and Split Single. He also has a project with actor, Michael Shannon, where they cover the music of R.E.M.

Jason recently conducted a solo, "living room" tour where he performs intimate shows inside of fan's homes. In advance of his appearance in Omaha, I spoke to Jason for a piece on my radio show, New Day Rising. After the piece aired and I caught Jason's show (which was awesome, btw), I realized that  I had about 20 minutes or so of interview that was left on the cutting room floor. And here we are...

Here is the full interview I conducted with Jason along with some clips and photos from his solo show, and from recent appearances with Bob Mould and Superchunk. Hope you dig it.

Find The Dark Stuff on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thedarkstuff

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I think the general public thinks that if you're a musician, you're either famous or you're a hobbyist, when actually there's tens of thousands in between of publicists and talent buyers and booking agents and crew people and musicians and songwriters. And there's so many of us. And that's where some of the most interesting stories come from, in my opinion, the stories that I enjoy.

SPEAKER_04 0:25

Hey everybody, it's me, your buddy Dave, the host of the Dark Stuff Channel here on YouTube. Thank you so much for checking out the video. So today I'm interviewing uh Jason Narduce. You know him from uh his solo work. He's in the band Split Single, he plays with Bob Mold, he plays with Super Chunk, he plays with Sony Day Real Estate, he has a uh an REM sort of tribute band that's going on with actor Michael Shannon, and he's involved in a lot of other projects. He was doing a solo tour and he was coming to Omaha, and the person putting on the show asked if I'd like to talk to him uh ahead of the concert. I was like, yeah, absolutely. So we and I chatted for about 30 minutes, and I converted that 30-minute talk into a little 20-minute radio segment on my radio show, New Day Rising, and uh you take out the four songs that I chose, and then the interview segment was really only about five or six minutes, and I still had about 20 minutes of interview left. Went to the show. It was great, by the way. If you ever get the opportunity to see Jason doing a living room show, you should take that opportunity. It was a really great show, and I thought, why not just present the rest of this part? So I'm just gonna go ahead and present the entire rest of the interview for you guys to watch. It was a fun interview, we mostly just talked about Jason's career and the kind of stuff, the differences between playing live with a rock band versus doing an intimate sort of living room show and what one can expect from that sort of thing, and a lot of just discussion about his general career. But you'll note that I did do this interview for the radio show, so when I introduced Jason, I said welcome to the New Day Rising show. That's the the distinction, the caveat that I should point out. Jason is a veteran musician and songwriter who you may have seen performing with Bob Mould, Super Chunk, Honey Day Real Estate, and many other notable artists. Recently, he's been traveling the country with actor Michael Shannon, doing the very best tribute to REM that anyone has seen. The excitement about this even got Michael Stipe to join them on stage recently. In addition to all these projects, Jason is an accomplished songwriter and artist. His current band is called Split Single and has released three full-length albums full of incredible indie power pop. Jason is now also an author, and in 2025 published the book Mostly The Van, Volume 1, detailing his life on the road. There are probably a million projects I failed to mention, but one thing I don't want to forget is that Jason is currently in the midst of a solo tour. He's mostly playing at people's homes and offering fans a more intimate experience than one they would normally have. Jason Arduci, welcome to New Day Rising.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Hey Dave, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_04 2:56

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, let me get started with sort of the obvious question, I would say, and that is um, you know, because this show is called New Day Rising, you obviously know where that comes from.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:07

Um, so obviously Bob Mold is a pretty significant figure on this show and to the listeners and everything. And I imagine that's probably where most listeners first became familiar with you by seeing you play with Bob. So let me just start with when did you start working with him and what do you think makes that musical relationship work so well?

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Um I started working with him, I guess, on a professional level in 1995 when he took me and Allison out on tour. I was playing with a cellist named Allison Chesley. And um, we opened up three shows at Metro in Chicago for him, and he liked us enough to take us on the rest of that tour. And then when we got home from that, he knew that we were working on new music and he offered to produce our next record, which uh was uh transformative for me because not only did we make a record with Bob Mulde, but uh we got a record deal with Epic Records and did a couple records with them. And that kind of that's you know, I was 25 years old, and that's where my career started, you know, where I was able to make a living at music. And um, so that's quite a long that's 31 years ago. So I've been working with Bob a long time. And then in 2005, he asked me to join his band and play bass, and that's what I've been doing for the last 21 years. One one of the things.

SPEAKER_04 4:31

Okay, well, what um what had you been doing musically before you joined up with Bob? You just mentioned that band with the was that Verbo?

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Yeah, you're okay.

SPEAKER_04 4:39

That was the band. That was your primary band before uh working with Bob.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Yeah, we we released two records on Epic and toured, you know, constantly. And um and then I had a brief stint as uh bass player with Liz Fair, and then uh Bob yeah, and then Bob took over, and then I started I I toured with Bob Pollard from Garabay Voices, uh brief brief stint with the pretenders. Um I played with a band called Telekinesis in Seattle, um Super Chunk that started 12, 13 years ago, and then uh in the last four years I've been playing guitar with Sunny Day Real Estate.

SPEAKER_04 5:22

Well, you know, just anecdotally, last time you were in town with Super Chunk, because this is probably 2023, I would guess. Um, I was right in the front, and it had been about 10, 12 years since I'd seen Super Chunk, so I was incredibly excited. Was having kind of a bad time emotionally or whatever, and I was just putting all my hopes and dreams into the Super Chunk show that I was gonna magically feel better once the show was over. And it did. I was standing up in the front, kind of between you and Mac, and I almost started weeping. I was so happy, and I had to hold it back because I was like, you know what? They're gonna look at me and think I'm having a medical emergency and like stop the show. So I better get my shit together before uh uh before anyone notices that I'm looking like a weirdo in the front row. But uh, it was uh an absolutely incredible night uh that particular night, and you were with Bob not too long ago. Um, okay, so moving on from that. So I know that you're doing a solo tour now and you're performing on your own, or are you do you have someone accompanying with you accompanying you? Okay. What do you enjoy most about doing the solo shows compared to playing with a full band?

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Um I I I tend not to compare experiences. Um the solo shows, I started doing these about 12 years ago in Chicago. Um and it was kind of just out of necessity, just a way to play songs and do shows that wasn't as big of a production, and you know, trying to get people out to clubs and putting a band together. Um and I wanted to get better at doing solo shows. So I worked really hard at that. And then I started touring as a solo artist about nine years ago. And fortunately, there's this sort of ecosystem uh for living room shows where, you know, it's still a mystery to the general public, but for you know, a lot of indie rockers and folk artists, um, it's an integral part of a concert going experience for many reasons. These these are the reasons why I like living room shows so much. They start at 8 p.m. or earlier. And even when I was in my 20s, I I never understood why rock shows, especially in clubs, you know, if you headline a club, you're going on at 1 a.m. Even when I was, you know, 22 years old, that made no sense to me. Um, so I like earlier shows. Um, it's B Y O B. So people, you know, who are accustomed to going to clubs and paying $10, $15 for a drink, are happy to bring not only the drink that they want, but for a lot less. They're seated. Um, and it's intimate, so I can tell a lot of stories, and um there's some interplay with the audience. Sometimes people would bring up my band from the 90s, and maybe they want to hear a song from them, and I would do my best to try to remember that. So I just kind of like I like the immediacy and the intimacy of it. And just from a purely, you know, kind of like financial standpoint. If I toured solo and played just clubs because of how clubs, you know, they have to pay a door person, they have to pay a sound person, they pay for advertising. If I brought 50 people to a club show, I might get a check for $100 at the end of the night. And that I'm not slamming clubs because they have to, that's a business that they have to do.

SPEAKER_04 9:13

That's their that's their system or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Yeah, yeah. And that's why clubs are really good for bands or artists that can bring 150 or 200 people, then everybody wins. The club makes money, the artist makes money. But at 50, 30, even, it doesn't make any sense. So with these living room shows, the hosts, and this is you know the very generous thing, the hosts don't take any money. So the artists get 100% of the tickets, and and you know, we bring records and in my case, books and posters and t-shirts, and you get all of the what we call merch, merchandise money. So even on a slow night, it can be pretty good for me. And um, I I need to make a living, so and I enjoy these shows, so it works out well. Um, this year in particular, Bob Mold got sugar back together, which as a fan is very, very exciting, but it also means I need to go work. And so I'm very thankful that I started a while ago on these solo shows because now I can really build on that.

SPEAKER_04 10:14

Now you were at one of those uh sugar shows. Uh yeah, that was yeah, the initial last minute decision.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

I um, you know, uh Bob and I have talked about this for a long time. When when sugar was together, I I was 21 years old and I would sneak into the soundchecks. And I don't recommend anybody try to do that, by the way. But um I we we we started a friendship at that point. And um when he told me that you know he's getting sugar back together, I was like, Well, you remember that 21-year-old who was sneaking into the sound checks? There's gonna be a 55-year-old grandpa sneaking over the sound checks. So I thought about with the New York thing, I thought about reaching out to the crew to sneak me in for a sound check. And then I thought, these guys have you know, they're working and they have too much on their mind for you know, some silly little Jason idea. So I just I just reached out to Bob directly and I said, Hey, I I I think I can make this New York show tonight. Is there any way you can get me in? And he wrote back, whoa, you know, he did not expect uh and then an hour later I was at the gas station and I got another text from him and he said, you know, what do you think about jumping up for the last song? So what a thrill for me. I mean, I my heart was racing when he said that. I I sugar's one of my favorite bands, so oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:30

No, I I saw sugar once back in the 90s. Loud, one of the three loudest shows I've ever seen in my entire life. Yeah, I mean, it was just nuts.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Yeah, great somehow. I mean, the songs that they had, the songs that they wrote in those three years, it's just an amazing catalog of songs.

SPEAKER_04 11:46

Yeah, now um it was funny because when you were here with Bob last time, my friend who I went with made the comment hey, you know what? They didn't play any sugar songs in the set.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

We didn't play sugar, we didn't play any workbook, we didn't play any black sheets of rain.

SPEAKER_04 12:00

Right. And I was like, Well, I I get black sheets, maybe I get workbook. I mean, I love those records, but it's a long time ago for Bob. Maybe he's not into it. But I thought that is a little strange about the sugar, and then of course, two months later or something, they announced they're getting back together, and I'm like, Yeah, well, it all makes sense now, so I I understand.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Well, what you know, when we we did one practice for that tour, because we hadn't played, we hadn't toured in three and a half years, we we hardly ever practice, but we did one practice in San Diego, and there was a number of songs on the list, but we kind of you know, we took some pride in those last six records, uh, a lot of pride. And we thought if we can lean on those six records and throw in some hoosker do throughout, um, if we don't hear if we don't hear any complaints, the highlight for me was when he put it out, then we're not gonna change it, you know. Um, and we we didn't hear a single complaint, and that was a six-week tour. That's the longest US tour we've ever done. So uh I'm real proud of that set list and that tour.

SPEAKER_04 13:01

No, it was hate paper doll was the one for me when when that song, when he started playing that one, I'm like, okay, here it goes. You know, I'm in heaven. This is I've been waiting to hear this song forever. So uh for Deep Cut Who's Gurdoo fans, that was uh that was a good night for me. So um now you've worked with so many legendary artists over the years, over your career. What's the biggest thing you've learned from playing with so many different songwriters?

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Uh I mean, there's a number, there's a longer list than I could give you. Um I mean, one of the main components is to be a team player, and a lot of that is the other 22 hours of the day. Um, there's so many talented musicians out there who um it could be any different kind of reasons, but I I just try to be a pleasant person to be around and a supportive person and think about ways that I can make the experience better for the front person. I mean, really, the the person fronting the band is carrying the show and they need to be comfortable, and that includes them writing the set list. You don't you don't have to chime in with set list ideas all the time. It's tempting, you know, like when you're in a band for a long time or even just for a little while, and you have you there's a song you love, it's tough to, you know, like, but that's not the role. The role is to support the person who's playing the show. So that's one thing I've learned. Um and just kind of like look out for your bandmates, and if they need something, check in with them and you know, just kind of be I'm sure I don't do I'm not successful at doing this all the time, but just keep that in mind that you're you're a role player, you know, your your job is to play the songs and uh bring energy and bring you know everything that you can to the table, but also not get in the way. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 14:57

Well, how how is your relationship or has your relationship with songwriting changed as you've gotten older? Do songs come easier now because of experience, or is it harder because you have higher standards?

SPEAKER_01 15:09

That's a good question. Um, I think both. I I've certainly learned from all the songwriters that I've worked with. Um and uh but songwriting is so tricky. I mean, I've I've done I wrote a musical, I wrote music to a musical and I'm working on a second one. And lyrically, those are easier for me because there are structured scenes and characters that are involved. Right. And you know what there is on their mind. So after I write the music and I have the melody and I'm writing the lyrics, it's just so much easier because when I write a split single song, I'll write the chords and the melody, and then I'll be working on the lyrics and I'll just think, what the hell am I gonna write about? Whereas with with musicals, it's very specific. And another thing I noticed about musicals is that there's no use for metaphors, you know, it's literally what does this character want? Just say it. It's you don't have to you don't have to be poetic about it. Um so uh it's always challenging for me, but then I'll get on a swing and and and a bunch will come out and um um you just try to rate ride that wave. But for me, it's also perspective. Like I'll I record a lot of ideas on my phone, and then my rule of thumb is to just document them and then the next day listen because I can listen with fresh ears and not think about what I was playing physically, just listen to it. And that's that's a really good uh perspective for me to take is just give it a little bit of time and then revisit it.

SPEAKER_04 16:45

Interesting. Okay. Well, when you step into somebody else's music, whether it's you know, Bob Mold, Super Chunk, or any other project, how do you balance sort of honoring the original material while still trying to sound like yourself?

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Or does that even matter sounding like yourself because you're playing a role or um, you know, both of those bands let me kind of play whatever I want. Um so I try to do both. I try to, you know, if there's like Laura Balance has some really interesting bass parts in those super chunk songs, and I mean continue continues to even on the on the most recent record. So I try to play those if it's really unique. Um, and then uh sometimes there'll be like a simpler line on a sugar bass line or a simpler line on a super chunk thing that'll add some counter melody or some um I always try to stay out of the way of the vocalists. So the if the singer is singing, I'm not doing much. But if there's a space, then I might throw in a countermelody or um something that uh that sounds like a hook to me. But I I mean, neither Bob nor Mac have ever said to me, tone it down, or like let's play it. But when when Bob and I are recording records, there's very long discussions about what will be on there. And um because we're sometimes we're recording something and he hasn't written the vocal yet. And I'll kind of turn to him and say, Well, I remember one time on Beauty and Ruin, I turned to him, I was like, What what are you what will you be doing there vocally and with your guitars? And he said, he said, I'm just dragging, I'm just gonna be dragging chains, which I I love, I love that he used that phrase, and I knew exactly what he meant. So there's a lot of discussion for that, but for the live shows, and neither of them uh have ever given me any comment, like, what are you playing there? Maybe we should yeah. Uh and I think I think part of that is that we we our perspectives align really well on that, and that it's it's a language that we all grew up on. So if I'm playing something, it's probably coming from a punk rock uh influence or cheap trick or the who. And these are all bands that those guys love too. So it's not like it's not like um, and this is no, you know, like I I I like Rush, but I don't ever play anything that sounds like Rush. So I think I think it's just kind of like knowing the language, and um I'm gonna play things that those guys are in tune with. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 19:21

Well, um have you learned to enjoy performing more over time, or has it become more complicated? And what's the hardest part about stripping your songs down solo for like a solo performance?

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Um yeah, I I still love performing. I can't imagine that changing. Um uh there are songs that just don't work stripped down, so you don't play them. And then there are other ones, like there's this really fast song from the most recent split single record called Stoneheart World. And um for the acoustic shows, I slow it down and just make it a little bit more uh I don't want to say folky, but it leans harder on the vocal than the energy of the band sound on the record. And then there's other songs I speed up. It's kind of nice. I I like I like the solo thing because it's a completely different representation. Sometimes I'll change the key so I can sing it differently. Um sometimes I'll I'll play it on a different instrument or you know, a capo or uh on the guitar. So it's it's fun to write new set lists and come up. A lot of my solo shows involve stories, which is how you know the book came about. And um so yeah, I I I really enjoy that. And I like with solo shows that it can just go in any direction, you know. It's tougher to change change direction with um with a band because you practiced a set list, but I can I can veer off into different things.

SPEAKER_04 20:50

No, are you are you doing solo uh I mean I'm sorry with an acoustic guitar?

SPEAKER_01 20:53

Are you doing solo electric or both or for years I did electric just to kind of be a little bit more of a Billy Bragg approach, but um I I've been doing acoustic now, honestly, just because I did I didn't feel like carting an amplifier around.

SPEAKER_04 21:10

That's okay. When people leave your solo show and as they may be doing uh at your Omaha show, what do you hope people are feeling on their drive home?

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Um I hope they had some good laughs. I hope that uh some of my stories connected with them on a human level, an emotional level. Um and I hope it was unique. I hope it wasn't just an yet another white guy playing acoustic guitar. God knows, we don't need any more of those. Um and yeah, just kind of like welcoming people into I mean the the whole perspective on the book, which I uh by the way, I try to keep the stories positive. There are obviously gonna be negative things that have happened in in any anybody's musical career, but I I don't want to dwell on those. I just I I enjoy the fun stuff. And the weird predicaments and um odd situations that we get thrown in. But I think the general public thinks that if you're a musician, you're either famous or you're a hobbyist, when actually there's tens of thousands in between of publicists and talent buyers and booking agents and crew people and musicians and songwriters. And there's so many of us. And that's where some of the most interesting stories come from, in my in my opinion, the stories that I enjoy. And so that's what I that's what I sought out to write with the book. And I'm working on the second one that'll be out in the fall. Um, so I hope that when people leave, they feel like they've been maybe maybe the the curtain was pulled back a little bit and they got to hear about some interesting things with that happens to musicians, and um, and I hope they enjoy that.

SPEAKER_04 22:54

Okay. Well, speaking of your book, it is called Mostly the Van. This is volume one, and it does detail your life on the road. So, you know, what one listens to while they're traveling across the country in that van is definitely important. Uh, what albums have you been listening to on this current tour?

SPEAKER_01 23:10

Uh, there's an artist named Hannah Francis. Um, I love her record. This record is amazing. It's it's one of those, I don't know if you ever have have had this happen where you listen to somebody's music and you go, I don't know if I understand what this is, but it's engaging me. And then after like the third or fourth listen, you're like, okay, this is this is special. I mean, I knew it was special right away, but it's it's so different um to my ears. Of course, I can hear influences, but she's got a really unique approach to music. And I'm that's that's a really cool, challenging thing that I've been listening to. Um, I I tend to listen to podcasts. Um there's some classical music that I've been exploring. A friend of mine has been sending some great uh pieces and and uh links to to nice uh works and um other music. I I like to listen to newer bands. You know, this man Sharp Pins from Chicago are very got it by voices influenced. But really, really good songs. Um yeah, so I try to I try to I tend to listen to newer music than than older stuff.

SPEAKER_04 24:22

Okay, here's my one recommendation for you. It's a band from New York called Snowmen. Okay, they've only done one album, they're pretty new. Um, I've been plugging the shit out of the orbs. I just can't just see it on the radio. I've been plugging the heck out of them for the last uh couple months since the album came out. Huge, huge supporter. I like to pass that on. I don't personally know them or anything, it's just a just a recommendation.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

I know I love I love discovering new stuff.

SPEAKER_04 24:46

Get more information, look him up on social media. He's on Instagram and Facebook at Jason Narduce. You can get all the information there. Again, his band is split single. You've seen him play with Bob Mold, you've seen him play with Super Chunk, you've seen him play perhaps with Sunny Day Real Estate or many others. Thank you very much, Jason, for uh coming on uh and stopping in on your on your tour here and talking to the New Day Rising show. It's very much appreciated.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Thanks, Dave. A lot of fun.

SPEAKER_04 25:11

All right, appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

Thank you so much.