Ottoman Turks' Nathan Mongol Wells Flies Solo With From a Dark Corner

Few things are as much fun as spending a Saturday night whooping it up with Nathan Mongol Wells and the Ottoman Turks. That still leaves 6.75 days for regret, heartbreak, recrimination, broken dreams, strained relationships, your shitty job, trips to Mexico and those small infrequent moments of emotional clarity.

Wells has a new solo project coming out in August that will keep you company on those days. Aptly titled From a Dark Corner, this is music made to nurse a hangover and wonder why the last cigarette in the pack is always broken.

We caught up with Nathan before a Turks show at Ruins to ask him what this release means to him, about the Ottoman Turks and about days of the week in general.
We were relieved to find out that for the Ottoman Turks, nothing has really changed. The group is happily at work on a third album but at a pace that allows for some catch-up with the rest of life. And you know, maybe some solo stuff. With support from State Fair Records, Billy Law (bass player for the Turks) has also released some non-Turks music.

Wells, Law and drummer Paul Hinojo have been friends for years. The full Turks lineup includes spirit brother Joshua Ray Walker, who has his own growing career and who also co-produced this Wells project.

In Wells's view, the tightness of the Turks is what allows the side gigs to flourish.

“As we have matured as a band, it’s gotten easier to see what songs fit into the Turks and what songs are better served with a different approach," he says.
Listening to the album is like visiting an old friend who just moved into a new home. You will recognize some of the furniture, but there is a whole new view out the window. From a Dark Corner starts out with "Beulah Land" — driven by a standup bass and Chad Stockslager’s somewhat discordant piano. Wells gets a chance to channel his inner Tom Waits in a way that would be hard to reproduce in a band driven by electric guitars.

The entire album is uniformly well-written, as you might expect from Wells, and Stocklager’s piano and organ give the songs a honky-tonk vibe while being clever enough to avoid getting trapped in clichés. John Pedigo, who produced the album, fills in on lead guitar in a restrained, almost delicate way.
The biggest surprise on the album is the quiet and delightful "First Day It's Warm (in Texas)."  With Wells accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, this is a song that could be the background of a Blue Bell ice cream commercial — OK, you would have to cut out the parts about drinking “till they arrest us,” but other than that it’s as beautiful as a rare nice weather day in the Lone Star State. It deserves to be played by amateur guitar pickers on back porches everywhere, with a gentle smile and dogs and friends and kids around to appreciate it.

It seems appropriate that Wells will kick off the release by supporting Old 97's singer Rhett Miller’s solo project on a three-stop mini tour. The official party will be back in Dallas at Reveler’s Hall on Aug. 18. Consider yourself invited.