“I was digging through YouTube comments” – An Interview with Scout Gillett

Scout Gillett’s artistic journey up to the release of her new EP Imagination, MO. is a testament to her unyielding passion for performance, rooted in her upbringing in Independence, Missouri. Seven years ago, Scout’s mentor and friend, Sharon Van Etten, encouraged her to make the leap from small town Kansas City to Brooklyn, NY. Since, she has reframed what it means to feel “at home.” Her first record, no roof no floor (released in 2022 via Captured Tracks) explores the desperation entrenched in transition.

Through the creation of this new EP, Scout was empowered to embrace her roots. She visited her hometown of Independence, MO (outside of Kansas City), and reflected on how the town had shaped her into someone who is, in fact, “independent.” She studied fellow Missourian writers and artists such as Charlie Parker, Mark Twain, Pat Methany, Sheryl Crow, and Chuck Berry. The EP’s title comes from a coworker who mocked her ideas by calling them “cute” and referring to her hometown as “Imagination, Missouri.”

While the whole EP is a great listen, highlights for me include the wonderful “Closer” and a cover of The Outcasts “Loving You Sometimes”

I was lucky enough a chat with Scout as she prepared for the EP’s release and her upcoming residency in NY.

Hi Scout! How’s everything going right now?
I’m doing well. It’s been busy but it’s been good to be back in New York for a bit.

Your new EP, Imagination, MO comes out next week. Where did you write and record the songs?
I wrote and recorded the songs kind of throughout, um, between New York, Nashville and LA. I started writing “Mistaken” and “Closer” in New York, and then I finished writing them in LA and the “Loving You Sometimes” cover was recorded in Nashville when I did a Build A Band Tour right after our show. Super spontaneous, not much sleep and an early flight the next morning

You moved to Brooklyn in 2017. Does the title reflect a yearning to move back to Missouri, or is there a different meaning to it?
No, I had a co worker kind of make fun of me when they asked what my next body of work was about, I told them that my first record was more of a longing for home. And I feel like I still have longing in all of my songs and all of that but I was explaining to them that I felt like my current songs and writings were more grounded and leaning into my roots. They were like “that’s cute! Aren’t you from Imagination, Missouri?” and it took a minute because I’m from Independence and we had talked about where we’re from and stuff.

It kind of stuck with me over the last year and I was figuring out what I was gonna do with this EP and call it and that kind of kept coming to me in this way where I collaged all of these pieces and these songs and these recordings and writings and collage all the covers. I wanted to make it very much a hands-on, fully in my control release. So I kind of made that place up and it actually really resonates with me. I have a real pride from being from Independence. It’s a small town and I certainly think I gained a lot of my independence by being from there.

But I also created a lot of my imagination being there because not much was going on; it pretty much was just the woods and made it so there were no walls for my creativity. I was always in these different worlds and I feel like songs are like that in a way where you collage all these experiences and create something that’s tangible by using your imagination and going for it.

So that’s kind of where the title came from.

I listened to your debut album (no roof no floor) and it has quite a country-Americana feel to it but the new songs seem a bit more like classic singer-songwriter. Was that a deliberate change or is that just how they evolved?
I feel like I’ll always have a part of my heart for twang, country, Americana and folk. But I think my inspirations are so wide. The biggest inspirations for me are classic songwriters, classic rock, grunge, shoegaze, you know, there’s just so many different inspirations that I have that, I think as an artist, I’m constantly trying to explore those realms and not keep myself in any kind of box.

What were your influences specifically for the record? Was there anything you were listening to that you had constantly on your playlist while you were writing or recording?
Yes, I remember more as it was coming more so together, I was listening to a lot of The Pretenders, The Cars, Pat Benatar, Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse. Just all kinds of stuff but also old soul. I’m a record collector and DJ so there’s also like the rare covers that I covered like “Room of Shadows” and “Loving You Sometimes”. And then the Deftones cover which is like a high school song for me “Change (In The House of Flies). So I was really pulling from a lot of older stuff, but a lot of things that really moved and spoke to me for different reasons.

And, I was listening to a lot of Jeff Buckley as well while I was recording. A little bit of everything but when I listen to music, I don’t use a streaming service. I use vinyl and YouTube. So when I’m with a record, I’m with it for that time and usually it can last for a month or a year, you know?

That’s a good list! You mentioned that you’re an avid record collector. What would the one piece of vinyl you would rescue from your house?
I was trying to avoid that by giving a bunch of options. It would be between The Human Expression – Love at Psychedelic Velocity, which “Room of Shadows” is on. Maybe my Sabbath record and the Wire Pink Flag record. Those are all special original copies.

What did you do differently or what did you learn from your debut EP and LP that you did differently or used from those experiences when you were recording this time?
I’ve learned so much. I’m independently releasing this EP and I was wanting to go that way after trying some things out. But there’s a lot that goes into it, and a lot that I didn’t really think about. Even getting the rights for some of these songs was so hard. I’m doing a limited edition vinyl pressing as well and so we have to get the physical licenses for that. So I learned that and it’s been a really tight time crunch too. I was on tour and traveling most of the year. So, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. But everything got taken care of.

Even “Loving You Sometimes”, that’s from this band called The Outcasts, and I was listening to that song a lot on YouTube. I’ve seen it once at a record store but I could not afford it. We could not get in contact with anyone to get the licenses and the clearances for it. I was digging through YouTube comments like “I dated this guy there in my high school band”, trying to find them on Facebook. I’m not even kidding you. It was so hard. And then I became friends with Al Collinsworth on Facebook and we started chatting. He’s the writer of the song and he’s in Louisville. It was a lot of work and also just getting everything registered properly through BMI and myself for publishing and making an entity for that. So from the most current EP, I would probably look up the covers and make sure I could get all that handled before.

From the debut EP and LP, I think I learned to take more space and to come and have more entitlement because it was just this whole new experience. I had recorded in advance but it was a lot more DIY. It was all this amount of time to do this and then do all the business after getting signed and stuff. But I was very kind of like, “Yeah, that sounds amazing”. So I’ve been a lot more picky and assertive and being like “no, I want this. I’m producing this, I’m directing this”. This is my vision and I have learned to trust myself more and trust my experiences and how I grew up doing directing and music. So I think my attitude really changed and I felt a lot more capable of doing it and inspired to do it.

You were just recently on tour with Marissa Nadler – How was that?
It was great. She’s amazing and it was really inspiring seeing her play every night and she was super sweet and the shows were good. I’m excited for connecting with her more and potentially doing more shows in the future. We talked about that. So it was a great experience.

What was the one thing you had to take with you when you went on tour?

I brought a photo of my brother and I. Sometimes there’s just like all my journal things that just feel like home to me. And I also can’t leave without my guitar!

Have you played with some of them before or is just gonna be brand new like “Hi! I’m Scout!”
No, I know almost all of them. Maybe one person who is their friend, but they’re gonna play keys one week and I trust them. If it doesn’t work out, there are other people and it’s only for a few songs, but for the core players, I know them and they’re all really great.

We’ve got a cellist one week and the shows are a lot more intimate than I normally play in New York too. They’re not gonna be as rocking; they’ll be like rockin it loud in ways, but not literally so loud, which I also am always a fan of. And I really wanna just showcase the songs.

So each one’s gonna be different, is what you’re telling me? Everyone has to come to all five shows?
Yeah, definitely!

What would go on your signature pizza and what would it be called?
I think just pineapple and cheese and it would be called Tangy Scout. I don’t want the ham, I just want half the slice to be pineapple and the other half to just be black olives. You don’t want to eat it together. It’s not that creative of a slice of pizza but I’m a simple gal in that way. But I do like pineapple on pizza a lot!

After the shows in New York at Cassette, what have you got planned for the rest of the year and maybe into the next year as well?
I am moving to Los Angeles. I’ve been here for almost eight years and I’ve been spending more time in L. A., and I think between the touring and stuff, it feels nice and slower. I’m already kind of a fast energy, high energy person, so I was spending more and more time out there last year and swapping my apartment.

And I have an opportunity to live behind a really good friend and have a space to myself. And so my plan is just a long term sublet right now, but I am moving my cat there. It’s a big decision, but an opportunity opened up and I’m terrified but I am going to see how it goes. And my plan there is to start working on my third record and some shows as well.

Are you planning to tour the EP around the US?
I don’t have anything in the books as of right now as I toured for more than half the year last year. I might do a little west coast thing and I plan to tour a lot whenever my second record’s out and I’ll be working on getting the rest of that together. I’ll have a plan for it by the end of the year but I’ve been going pretty hard with touring and recording and releasing. I’m trying to work at a good pace to figure out what it is, but the touring does physically do a number on you.

I want to hit major cities and plan it really, really well. But nothing yet, maybe something in the West Coast in the winter and then probably spring and summer, I’ll get back out there.

You can find out more about Scout by visiting her website, get some merch and vinyl from her Bandcamp and follow her on Instagram for all the latest news.

Featured Image Credit – Chelsea Palatucci