by Daniel Colussi | At only 23 years old, Ty Segall is already an old hand at the vicious game of rock n roll.  Having done his time in countless thrashy punk-garage outfits, including a stint drumming for Scout faves Sic Alps, Segall now focuses solely on his own particular brand of West Coast garage rock.  With five solo albums and way too many 7″s to count, he has grown steadily from a ragamuffin punk rocker into a mature songwriter.  Nowhere is this more apparent than on his newest full length, Goodbye Bread, which runs the gamut from fuzzy guitar freak outs and British psychedelic pop to West Coast paisley beach ballads.

In conversation Ty very much resembles the laid back West Coast surfer ideal.  During our phone interview, Ty’s responses include a lot of awesome, totally, rad, and the like.  When asked about the sonic departures of Goodbye Bread, Ty responded, “I totally got to record 25 songs and used the ones I like best. All the songs work together, and make it more of an album.” The nonchalant vibe comes naturally to him.  Having said that, he’s is no slouch. He knows his musical roots and his vast knowledge of rock music betrays his young age.  A true student of rock, he shows his familiarity with disparate corners of guitar music, everything from Neil Young and Hawkwind to Lynyrd Skynyrd and obscuro black metal albums recorded by northern European prison inmates.

All this talk of past musical greats forces me to ask, if there’s so much great classic rock from the last 40 years, is it needless to try to add to the canon?  And with so many bands today, what can a young rocker do to leave a mark?  Ty’s attitude is both humble and wise.  “It just makes me more psyched. It gives me more motivation to make the best record I can. And I mean, I have to do it. I can’t draw, I can’t paint. Music is all I can do. I wasn’t trying to make a classic rock record, but just something classic in a way that won’t sound dated. I was shooting for something to sound like it was from 1972.”

Ty knows his shit, and can play it too.  Goodbye Bread’s pentultimate track, I Am With You, starts out as a chiming acoustic ballad, but after a few left turns rides out on an absolutely devastating guitar solo. It’s a key track in that it seamlessly integrates several decades of guitar rock into a three minute song. Where did that solo come from? “Freebird!” he jokes. “No, to be honest, it was Neil [Young’s] solo on Down By The River, when he had a 102 degree fever. You can hear him sweating his way through the whole song.”

Well familiar with the rigors of being a full time touring musician, Ty has crossed the U.S.A., Canada and Europe multiple times over the last several years.  “I tour so much, when I’m at home it’s just like a vacation.  I just want to catch up with friends, ride a bike and stay healthy.  I sleep a lot.  Playing every night on tour is so taxing.  It isn’t healthy.”

In a final test of Ty’s rock knowledge I ask him about the meaning of the semi- bizarre title of his album. Is “Goodbye Bread” in any way a reference to the 70’s soft rock band Bread?  And are the more mellow acoustic moments of the album – which are unique to Ty’s discography – an homage to Bread?  Chuckling, he tells says no. “I’m not the biggest Bread fan.” I didn’t think so.

Ty Segall plays The Biltmore | Saturday July 30th

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Zulu Records veteran and tunage aficionado Daniel Colussi is the Music Editor of Scout Magazine.