Sugarland's Kristian Bush on his reunion with Jennifer Nettles and what makes their partnership work

Ed Masley | The Republic | azcentral.com

Show Caption Hide Caption Sugarland hits the road after 5 year break Grammy-winning country duo Sugarland is hitting the road again for the first time since 2012, when the duo took a hiatus to focus on solo projects. The band will begin their tour on May 25 in Augusta, Georgia, a couple of weeks before their new album, “Bigger” comes out on June 8. (May 15)

When Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush of Sugarland returned to active duty with their first new music since 2012, it's not for nothing that they went with "Still the Same" as the lead single from their forthcoming reunion album, "Bigger."

As Jennifer Nettles explained in a press release, “The title of the song is so meaningful to us as we want fans to know, we are still the same, we are still the same Sugarland they’ve known and loved."

They'd both gone off and worked on other projects during that hiatus.

What were they doing with all that time apart?

Nettles made three solo albums and got into acting. Bush released a solo album, started a podcast and produced a country chart-topper for Lindsay Ell.

And when he got back together with Nettles and sat down to work on new music, he says, "It was interesting because immediately I was like, 'Oh yeah. I don’t make this with anyone else except her.' It’s the way chemicals react."

After working with a lot of people, Bush says, what he's found is that there's something special about the way he works with Nettles. And it came right back.

"We wrote all the songs on this record immediately one after the other," he says. "I mean, we left one on the ground because we wrote it and I was like, 'I’m not sure this is good enough. Can I try a different one?'”

So does it sounds like a Sugarland record?

"Absolutely," Bush says, with a laugh. "And what’s weird is now I know there’s no way to control that. If you could rewind me back 10 years, I might have said 'We have to fit into this thing we’ve created.' The truth is the thing we created creates the thing."

Bush laughs, then adds, "You could sit us down and say, 'Jennifer, Kristian, we want you to write a theme song for this movie.'And no matter what came out, it would be a Sugarland song."

Here's what else Bush had to say in the course of 15-minute conversation. We also talked about how much we both like Aztec Camera, but that's neither here nor there.

Q&A with Kristian Bush

Question: I interviewed you in 2012 when you played at the Musical Instrument Museum as part of that CMA Songwriter Series.

Answer: Oh my gosh, I love that place. It’s so cool. And you know what’s funny? Something I said that day, they put my quote on the wall. So people take pictures of it all the time and send it to me.

Q: That’s awesome. So how have you been the past six years?

A: (Laughs) Busy. It’s funny. In reactivating Sugarland, one of the first questions is, “When you were on hiatus, did you get some rest?” (Laughs). It’s like “Have you looked at what we both did?!” We both started running faster.

Working with Lindsay Ell

Q: It does seem that way. You know, I just saw Lindsay Ell at Country Thunder.

A: Oh man, how was it?

Q: She was really good, although she told us she was having trouble with her voice. You couldn’t really tell, though. It was obvious to her, but I don’t know that it was obvious to people in the audience.

A: Man, I am so proud of her. I love what she does so much and I have really thrown my weight behind it.

Q: I really like that album you produced for her.

A: Thank you. I love that album. It surprises me every day. I listen back to it and I go “Wait a minute. Did we really do that?”

Q: She’s a really cool guitarist, too, I think.

A: I know. She’s got her own style. She could pick up an instrument and start playing and it is as identifiable as her actual voice.

Healing the pain through music

Q: I read a story that said you gave her a homework assignment where you had her record her own version of a John Mayer album. Have you ever given yourself that kind of assignment?

A: You know, funnily enough, the way I came up with that idea was I lost my mom when I was 30 very suddenly and within a couple weeks after that, the studio that I had all my gear in burned to the ground. So my whole life just kind of exploded.

And I couldn’t write songs, I was so sad. I also didn’t have any instruments to write them on. I ended up borrowing a microphone and I found an old four-track I had in the basement and I had a guitar that was still at my house.

But I couldn’t write my own songs so I went back and started digging through my records. When you lose someone, a lot of times, the grief process is looking backwards.

So I found all these songs from the ‘80s that I loved and thought “You know what? I’ll record these. But I’ll give myself some rules. I can only record them alone. I can only use whatever instruments are in this room.”

I made a shaker out of the top of a Pepto-Bismol bottle with some tape and rice. But what I found was that there are a lot of songs I loved that were just great productions and terrible songs. And there are songs that I loved that were actually great songs.

Like, I love the Boomtown Rats’ “I Don’t Like Mondays.” And I have a version of me playing a double banjo version of that song.

Q: Oh man, I would love to hear that.

A: And I found a way to heal a lot of the pain that I had by going backwards, finding things I loved, understanding them, learning them and recording them.

So when Lindsay said that she had kind of run out of road with herself and said, “You know, I don’t really know the last time I liked music,” I said, “Well, when was it? Before Nashville broke your heart, when was your heart still beating?”

She was like, “Oh, it was this year of my life.” And I said, “What was your favorite record then?” She was like, “It was this record.” And I said, “Well, then, this is what we’re gonna do.” Weirdly, not long after I made that little record, I started Sugarland.

Anyway, they’re gonna put that out. I just finished mixing it.

Q: So I can hear your version of “I Don’t Like Mondays.”

A: Not mine. The Lindsay record.

Q: Oh, the Lindsay record. Darn it. I mean, I want to hear the Lindsay one. But I was really intrigued by yours.

A: (Laughs) You know you might be able to find it out there. It’s called “Paint it All.”

Getting back together with Jennifer Nettles

Q: What set the wheels in motion to get you and Jennifer back in the studio and out on the road?

A: At first, it was just a curiosity. Her manager called my manager and said, “Would you be interested?” I said, “I’m always interested in this. Let’s find out.” So Jennifer and I got on the phone and I said, “Let’s go write. Let’s just start there and see if that works.”

We really hadn’t kept in a lot of touch, other than personal stuff, like, “Geez, are you OK? You fell off the stage.” I lost a parent during this time. So there were things like that where we kept in touch. But creatively, we really couldn’t communicate.

Because that would make it Sugarland.

Sugarland is back after 5-year hiatus Grammy-winning country duo Sugarland made a surprise appearance at the CMA Awards last year, subtly signaling the duo was back together after a five-year hiatus. Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles talk about what's changed in country music since they last recorded together. (Feb. 13.)

Q: How important was it to have new music to come back with? Would you have been interested in going out and touring without new music?

A: You know, I’m not sure that was ever presented as an option. But I mean, of course. I love the songs we had already made. Can you imagine if you were a fan and you haven’t heard these songs in that long? You would totally want to hear them.

It’s like I went to see the Police in Boston at Fenway and I was losing my mind. I was hearing “Regatta de Blanc” and I thought I’d never hear it again. I was freaking out. So I want someone to have that experience with a Sugarland song.

Everything we did in between mattered

Q: You talked about how you two both kept busy while you were away. Do you feel like the stuff you did while on hiatus had an impact on the album?

A: Oh I’m sure it did. I’m positive. Because I started to go into writing rooms that I had never been in before. I was having conversations I had never been in. Jennifer was diving into Broadway and in a strange twist of fate, I got offered to write a musical.

So I started to understand a lot of the language about a dream that she’s been chasing. And similarly, I think I brought a lot of new skills in production and songwriting and a lot of pretty significant confidence that I didn’t really understand was confidence.

I just considered it habit because I had just been waking up and writing more songs. So if someone says, “Hey, you want to come and write a song,” it’s like “Sure! Let’s write two. That’s what I do.”

In a weird way, I think everything that we did in between mattered.

Q: Could you talk briefly about what it was that made you decide to step away from it in the first place?

A: That was kind of circumstantial on Jennifer’s part. She was wanting to start a family. She wanted to be a mom. She came to me and said “I want to put out a solo album.” And that made sense to me.

When I met her on the Atlanta music scene, that’s how I knew her, as a solo artist. And if she wanted to step back into that, absolutely. I know exactly what that sounds like and the world needs to hear that. As a partner, you support your people.

So I was like “Yeah, man, go for it.”

How Sugarland discussed their reunion with their kids When Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush decided to reunite their band Sugarland after a five-year hiatus, they had to keep it under wraps, even with their children. (March 22)

Q: It sounds like you have a really healthy relationship.

A: I think you have to. If you’re gonna be a creator with someone, you have to be able to give them the keys.

Sugarland

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, May 31.

Where: Gila River Arena, Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue, Glendale.

Admission: $34-$94.

Details: 800-745-3000, gilariverarena.com.

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