2015 was a landmark year for Nathaniel Rateliff.
With the hosts enthusiastic intro and the groups impassioned performance of S.O.B.the clipwent viral.
He and his band were in town torevisittheFallonstage.
Credit: Brantley Gutierrez
NATHANIEL RATELIFF:I think I might be healthier [laughs].
But, maybe not.
We have the same group of friends at home so it might not be all that different.
Britney Spears recently posted an Instagramvideoof herself dancing to S.O.B.
Did you get a heads up before she shared it?
We thought for sure it would finally get us on TMZ, but…it didnt.
Have you been before?
RATELIFF:We tried sneaking into Mercury Rev and R.E.M.
as teenagers, but we got drunk and lost [laughs].
POPE:They make it not very easy to sneak in, for good reason.
The terrain is pretty rough around there, and theres some gullies with a bunch of thorns.
And then we were just giggling and running down the hill as fast as we could.
POPE: So I land flat on my back and hear him hysterically laughing.
I look up, and he hit the fence, but it stuck straight into his shins.
So anyway, you should just buy a ticket…
So you never got into the show?
RATELIFF:Not that one.
Then we saw the Allman Brothers that was when I had a ponytail and bell-bottoms.
I was drinking Guinness, and then I ate some mushrooms… turns out that was a bad combination.
[Another time] we got passes to meet Beck.
We really thought we were kindred spirits with Beck.
We were like, One day Beck is totally going to want to hang out with us.
So Beck, if youre reading this, do you remember two dickweeds?
One of them had a jean jacket and no shirt that was me [laughs].
Have you started working on a follow-up to last years set?
RATELIFF:We have a break in May-ish.
Im going to try and put a lot of time into it then.
Now that youve found success, what will you draw on for inspiration?
RATELIFF:We struggled for a long time.
I feel like Im a big enough screw-up that it wont be a problem [laughs].
What role does songwriting play in your life?
RATELIFF:It can be really exciting and [it can be] therapeutic.
Songwriting has this sort of prophetic element to it.
POPE:Youre a prophet, eh?
RATELIFF:[Laughing] Oh yeah, Nathaniel David!
Are you excited about moving on to new music with I Need Never Get Old?
POPE:The most optimistic way, for me, to look at it is that S.O.B.
opened the door to everything else.
Not just the songs on the record, but even the back catalog and everything that weve done.
It was a long, 15-hour day, Rateliff recalls.
Still, The video was fun.
All confirmed tour dates are listed below.
