JV: Yeah, I have a new project called the Volcano Choir with my favorite band, Collections of Colonies of Bees– if the world was perfect, they would be as big as U2. It’s this really liberating thing– like I’m in a new band. We started collaborating three years ago and just this year we started to realize we had nine or 10 tracks almost done. So we got together up at my studio and finished it. I sing on it, but there aren’t a lot of lyrics. It’s mostly choir stuff.

It’s definitely more on the experimental side of things. I don’t know if we’ll play shows because it’s all really textural and landscape-y, but I think it’s coming out in September.

Pitchfork: Are you working on new Bon Iver material, too?

JV: I got home from Australia [in January] and it took me like two months to even get my songwriting chops up because I didn’t write any songs while on the road. But I’m working on stuff. Right now everything sounds like a Bruce Hornsby song, which is fun. [laughs] But I’m not telling myself when I want to be done. I’m waiting for it to reveal itself, rather than go after it and be nervous about the next record or whatever. And all that stuff is behind me– I’m not worried about it at all.

Pitchfork: After touring the world last year, did you ever consider recording somewhere else or not going back to Wisconsin right away?

JV: Actually, I was pretty serious about staying in Australia for a couple months earlier this year because I felt so hastened by the Wisconsin thing. Even though it’s the only place I want to be, there was a time when everything felt like it was imploding in my head. It was a whole lot of “me” and it was a little unbearable at times– borderline embarrassing, even. It didn’t last long, though, and as soon as I got home everything flooded back. It all boils down to that common denominator of stillness and trying to self-discover– I guess it just feels good when I’m there.

Pitchfork: The backstory about you recording For Emma in your dad’s cabin really took off and became this kind of myth. Do you feel like you never want to step inside that cabin again?

JV: No, it’s totally cool. Though it was distracting sometimes because I was wondering if people were actually into the music, but over time I’ve realized they are. I think the next chapter isn’t about proving anything. From the beginning, the concept of Bon Iver has been about our place in the world and our sentimentality, if you will. Hopefully, I’ll have many decades of a career to explore that.