Lord Buffalo: An Interview With Danny Pruitt
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It’s a long stretch of prairie ahead of you, and the sun is going down. Twilight has a distinctive beauty to it, but under different circumstances, it can be quite horrific, perhaps triggering a certain panic. You’ve got to hurry before nightfall. Your pace quickens. An owl cries out from an abandoned barn, but you’ve got to keep moving. Before you know it, that house is visible in the distance, that horrible, wretched house from your nightmares. Run down and dilapidated, with broken windows, absolutely no light coming from within. You know it’s haunted. You know that truth like you know your own body, but something is compelling you to move toward it, to get inside, completely against your will. You break into a run. You’re literally racing to the door. The sun has almost disappeared from the sky, shadows falling everywhere. You push the door open with great force, your eyes widened and your pulse rapid.
You’re met…with complete darkness.
Believe it or not, this entire scenario was inspired by the very engaging music of Lord Buffalo, an Austin-based quartet that, for me personally, invokes these incredible, haunted images. Songwriter and vocalist Danny Pruitt describes his band’s music as a cacophony of swirling sound, a big sonic space nurturing a number of contradictions: At once beautiful and ugly, explosively loud then unnervingly quiet, solid but steadily crazier. Yet each of these collected moments of confusion are embraced rather than repelled. This is what keeps the band evolving in the most organic way.
Pruitt paid a visit to the KUT studios to chat with Laurie Gallardo about Lord Buffalo’s creative process, and their live performances, which must be experienced to be believed. It’s mindblowing to see them build such an intense and many times disquieting atmosphere with tremendous passion and conviction.
You’ll have the chance to see them perform at their EP release show Saturday night at Hotel Vegas, 1500 E. 6th St. The line-up for the party is stellar: Salesman (Lord Buffalo drummer Devin James Fry‘s musical and artistic project), Black Books, and The Dalles. Doors open at 9 p.m.
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