I got the chance to interview Luke Sweeney about his latest single "Probably Me," out now, ahead of his full-length album Novel Tea out Aug 29.


Tell me about who performed on “Probaby Me” and the new album overall. How and where did you get together?

This song is mostly me & my guy Robin MacMillan. We’ve been at it for over a decade now, and this album is our third full-length effort together - recorded in many studios from Brooklyn to SF to LA spanning nine years’ time. ‘Probably Me’ was built upon the grainy beat that you hear at the outset - pulled from one of my sketch demos. Robin and I got to work with our dear friends Roberto Pagano & Joe Santarpia inside their Mission District studio at the end of 2018 while I was working on the ‘Rishi’ album with them. I tracked a couple guitars and an organ over the beat, then Robin came in hot with that thriller of a bass line on the bridge. He later tracked proper (and, to my ears, “transcendent”) drums in his Altadena home studio, which tragically burned down in the Eaton Fire this past January. That’s where this ‘Novel Tea’ record was completed. We’re grateful to have something beautiful and memorable that has survived from that place. There are also some amazing vocal contributions from Adron on this record, and my children sing on it as well.

Did anything magical or strange happen during the writing or recording process?

Magic and strangeness always occurs in the process! This record technically spans nine years of writing and production, so I’d have to write a literal novel of these stories to accompany the album. Which is not a bad idea, actually…

But for this song ‘Probably Me’ in particular, it’s pretty cool that the original hand-drumming beat I played in my old basement made it into a good chunk of the finished track. It’s a ghost in the mix, for sure. Also, the last couple lines of the song were written on the spot while we were tracking vocals, headphone cable stretching thin across the furniture as I leaned over to put pen to paper. I always like to leave a little room for studio magic like that.

The other part of the magic is hearing back stories from somebody who relates to a song in an intimate way… so I’m hopeful there’s more magic in that realm yet to be written ;-)

Who or what would you say are the main influences behind the new single?

 I’ve always been a nostalgic sucker, but this one is perhaps the most whole-hearted nod to 60’s rock n roll that I’ve churned out yet. The groove is obviously inspired by African rhythms; the melody grown from a deep love of early doo-wop a la girl groups like The Crystals, The Ronettes, some Buddy Holly & The Crickets maybe; and then appears a shred of my longstanding Fripp streak. But any influences that one may hear in this song were mostly subconscious for me.

If you had to pinpoint your favorite lyric in the song, which would it be and why? (haha. good question!)

“Out of all the Luke Sweeney’s I know, only one of them’s me”

Sometimes my favorite lines are the ones that are just throwaway placeholders… they sit there on the page or in the original demo just waiting to be replaced by a real line. But then it almost becomes a dare to leave it in there. This line took on a life of its own, posing a series of existential questions for every one of us:

“Are there alternate or perhaps infinite versions of myself that I get to know, or get to be?” “Which one of these versions is the ‘true’ me, or the ‘ideal’ me?”

“How many Luke Sweeney’s are there, really?” [I looked this one up, there’s actually a lot. But only one of them is me].

So, ya, I love that line because it’s a liberation of the ego. I encourage everyone to write in their own name on that line and see how it feels :-)

Is there a particular ethos behind “Probably Me”, and how does that fit into the overarching album concept?

With every record I endeavor to make, a lot of my effort is to be as honest as possible. If that means being uncool or even controversial, so be it. This song is like a musical flip-book of candid polaroid snapshots of my life and actions. The album is similarly blunt in its descriptions of the personas and processes that I encounter just weaving through this world. Also, this song is an honest introduction to ‘Novel Tea’ as a whole, because it employs a lot of sonic guilty pleasures without yielding to hipness. Robin & I took this approach with all the songs on this record, which gives each of them a classic feel in their own way.

Do you have any notable gigs coming up? Where can we see you next?

There’s a big one May 24 at Great American Music Hall, with a full band. I’ve got some solo shows at the end of March…

3/27 in Sacramento CA

3/28 in Chico CA

3/29 at Tiger Rose Vintage & Vinyl in Carson City, NV.