You thought we were done, didn’t you? Well, the promos and emails have been flying in at an ever increasing rate since our post this morning and this is a compilation of the stuff that’s grabbed us. To view a schedule for the bands we’ve previewed click on the link below: 2009 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival: The Dumbing of America’s schedule.
Grand Analog- Ok, I need you to open you mind because this isn’t your normal TDOA fare. Please know that Land of the Loops, Chemical Brothers and Autechre occasionally make their way onto our turntable. This Canadian (?!) group reminds us of a sexier, funkier Tricky. And that’s a good thing….
Ume- We gave them props after their SXSW performance and this is certainly another chance for you to see one of the best Texas bands around. Blissnoise at its’ best.
Still Life Still- Canadian group that sounds like Pavement crossed with The Smiths. And now that we’ve set your expectations unreasonably high….
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get a preview of upcoming interviews, music news and behind the scenes stories about our interviews.
Here’s our preview of the CMJ Festival, which begins today! We’re so excited to see that so many of the bands we love and have interviewed, are appearing. Now’s your chance to see what we’ve been ranting about. To view a calendar of our recommended bands performances, click the link below: 2009 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival: The Dumbing of America’s schedule.
Warpaint- Interviewed here. Is this the band most likely to blow up after CMJ? An original sound with great vocal and bass melodies make them primed to climb into your veins and make you bleed Warpaint.
Ambulance LTD- At some point, these guys are going to have to release a new record. Supposedly they’ve recorded a new one, with John Cale acting as a producer. Sounds interesting. Check out them out live, because if they’re able to pick up where they left off, they’ll be something special.
The DeBretts- Originally interviewed by us when we were just little kids, they return to America with their combination of Banshee-esque punk and Strokes-like cool (they recorded their demo with Strokes producer Gordon Raphael). They’ve pulled their songs from MySpace which leads us to believe they’re either about to hatch a brilliant plan or they need a new manager. Either way, we’ve heard their songs and you’ll thank yourself for seeing them at CMJ.
Diehard- At the point we interviewed New York’s finest, we expected big things from them. At the time we compared them to Superchunk, which we meant as a compliment. Many months later, the songs stand up on their own and the obvious nod to late 80’s britpop makes them less a Merge knock-off and more a walking encyclopedia of great musical tendencies.
Lovvers- Interviewed this month and ready for global domination. This is one of those bands that you just know if going to be an amazing live band. I remember seeing early shows by The Replacements and Guided By Voices. These shows at CMJ have that same kind of “who knows what’s going to happen” sense of chaos. Chaos=good.
Ringo Deathstarr- Interviewed here. If we had a complaint about CMJ, it would be their refusal to acknowledge the resurgence of the My Bloody Valentine/Jesus and Mary Chain genre. Ringo Deathstarr embrace the genre while cranking up the volume. Making your ears bleed has never felt so good.
Robbers On High Street- Going to festivals like CMJ is about taking risks. However, we always like to throw it a known entity every once in a while. Going to see Robbers On High Street is money in the bank. Great melodies, great musicians, great live shows. A well-respected band, who’s still underrated in our opinion.
Heavy Trash- If you’ve never seen Jon Spencer, do yourself a favor and check out his current band. Jon Spencer is a modern Elvis Presley and we are just spinning hyperbole here. The ultimate showman, he has been dazzling audiences for years. Guarantee to sweat and shout by showing up for this show.
The XX- Ok, we’re not breaking new here. The XX are the most hyped band coming in to CMJ. Based on the album and the live appearances on TV, it’s justified. Might be a battle to get into their shows at CMJ, but would certainly by worth the payoff. An album of the year candidate, in our estimation.
Merge Records has always been a purveyor of great music. When a Merge record jumps into your cd player, you can assume the best. In this case, Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack would like you to close your eyes and let your imagination run wild while listening to their newest album, The Knot. There’s something about their music that leaves you gasping for more and begging for answers. How do they create songs so dense, yet fragile? Why can’t more bands create vocal harmonies, this complex yet beautiful? Why isn’t Ryan Seacrest introducing their newest single on AT40?….skip that last one. It’s the dumbing of America that keeps this band from being in heavy rotation on your local, crappy radio station. Thankfully, Jenn took a few moments to battle cellphone towers in west Texas and talk about the passion that is Wye Oak.
TDOA: You’ve talked about the arduous process of putting out the first Wye Oak record, with the huge gap between recording it and finally releasing it. Was putting out The Knot an easier process?
WO: It was definitely still pretty painful. But for better reasons. We knew what we wanted from the songs going into the process. We already had arrangements, so it was a little easier in that way. We had more experience in the studio. But still, this was the first record that we “knew” was going to be released and our first on Merge so there were high expectations. Not necessarily from Merge, but from us. The first one, we were kind of doing for ourselves and we didn’t really think anyone else was going to hear it. We definitely agonized over it. It was a pretty quick process and we recorded it in less than three months. But we did everything ourselves, recording and mixing. We were so completely wrapped up in it, we didn’t know if it was good or not. When you do the same thing for three months you kind of lose sight of what it is. The difference is I think we’re much happier with the result.
TDOA: It sounds like the recording process for the first record was less stressful because there was no pressure, but this time there was. Even if it was self-inflicted….
WO: Exactly. The first one we did, we didn’t think it was going to be released. Once Merge decided they were going to release our new record, that was a little scary. But we’d had a bunch of people, including people at Merge say, “This is really good.”, so we knew it wasn’t going to be a complete bomb. But the fact that Merge had decided to release it was really comforting. I think the new album is more indicative of who we are an what we’ve become. But we weren’t really expecting everyone to react so positively.
TDOA: Major labels who’ve invested lots of money in a band will generally ask for demos while you’re in the studio. Did anyone from Merge call you during the recording process to check in and see how it was going?
WO: They had already finished the artwork before they’d even heard the finished product! They are 110% behind their bands and giving you complete control of what you’re doing. Their hands-on in the areas that you don’t want to deal with: money and press. But when it comes to doing what you want; writing and recording they let you handle it yourself. That’s gratifying and also a little terrifying. I mean, we’re delivering the masters and the wheels are already motion. So we’re like, “What if they hate it?” and they’re not that way at all. They’re really supportive and hands-off on the things you’d want them to be hands-off on.
TDOA: Early on you had the shoegaze tag, but with the new record it seems like critics don’t feel as compelled to try and categorize your music. Was their a conscious effort to move in one direction or the other? Is it gratifying that they just like the music and not because it fits a genre?
WO: Hopefully that’s a sign that people are moving away from that impulse. We wanted to make a record that was cohesive. We didn’t really talk about the kind of music we wanted to make or what we wanted it to sound like. You write a song and try and arrange it in an interesting way. We did address the fact that we wanted to make the songs united and joined together for part of the overall product. But as far as trying to sculpt the sound to fit a certain way, we didn’t do that. I think the one thing we’re always trying to escape is the male/female thing. It’s so ridiculous and transparent. Whenever people can address our music and not reference that it’s a duo and a boy and a girl, that’s kind of nice. When we record, we try and overcome that so that people don’t say, “They sound pretty good for a duo”. We just want them to think we sound pretty good, period.
TDOA: How do you make the album translate live without extra musicians?
WO: We compensate for subtlty with volume. Andy plays drums with one hand and keyboards with the other. There’s nothing pre-recorded. There’s some loops, but mainly it’s just us. There’s stuff about the arrangements that I miss, but there’s an immediacy to the songs that I think people seem to enjoy. It used to be a limitation, but now we’re used to it and it’s something that we’ve come to enjoy. We enjoy playing live.
TDOA: I love the vocal harmonies on the record. A lot of people would be afraid to do those live. Do you practice a lot while you’re on the road.
WO: When you’re performing on stage, it’s so different, so there’s some things we can’t practice. We don’t do as much harmonizing live as perhaps we’d like, but Andy’s already so overwhelmed with drumming, keyboards and singing that we have to give him a chance to breathe too!
To purchase the new Wye Oak album, The Knot, click on the gorgeous grey button below:
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get a preview of upcoming interviews, music news and behind the scenes stories about our interviews.
While My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Lush were ruling the UK alternative music scene, Medicine was making similar music that was as good, if not better. They were quickly snapped up by Rick Rubin’s then-fledgling label American in their effort to sign the “next big alternative band” in the U.S.. They proceeded to make a series of seminal records, but thanks to the dumbing of America, the U.S. music media and most American fans didn’t get it. Brad Laner created the sound that was Medicine and surrounded himself with a cast that would follow his lead. Their albums still stand up today and we were fortunate to track down Brad, so that he could describe the mystique behind the band.
TDOA: You were signed to Rick Rubin’s American label relatively quickly. Can you tell us the story of meeting Rick and how you came to join the label?
BL: We were signed to American by a fellow named Marc Geiger and we only met Rick Rubin once we were working on the first LP. They signed us based on a 4 song demo that I had made. Back in those days a band could make serious dough from weird/noisy music on major labels. No more.
TDOA: At the time, this was a pretty new style of music for American audiences. Did you feel like Rick and American understood your music and how to market it?
BL: Barely. I don’t think Rubin ever understood us. But they did their best.
TDOA: I remember reading about the band when the first couple of records came out and you were frequently portrayed as the “mastermind” of the band. Were you writing everything, including vocal melodies on the Medicine records?
BL: Yes indeed. There were a few moments here and there that represented contributions from the others but 99% of it came from me.
TDOA: Did you prefer to play live or record in the studio?
BL: Making records has always been my favorite thing to do and playing live was just something that we had to do.
TDOA: Can you discuss the break-up of the band, the decision to record an album under the Medicine tag in 2003?
BL: The original band was always a really stormy/unfriendly set up and it was bound to crash and burn from the moment it started. If I hadn’t gotten away from the others, I most certainly would have lost my mind. The album I did under the name Medicine in 2003 wasn’t a re-union, but rather a duo with Shannon Lee. We called it Medicine just for fun, but it wasn’t meant to be the same.
TDOA: How has growing older, getting married and having children changed your perspective on making music?
BL: Life experience makes everything richer and more meaningful. It’s great to have things in your life that are far more important than music.
TDOA: We’re intrigued by the resurgence of the dreampop/shoegaze movement with a lot of bands starting out now, who were clearly influenced by Medicine, MBV, et al. How do you feel about the renewed interest in the genre?
BL: Do you really want to know? I think it’s a bit lame. Look forward, not back, kids. But I never felt part of a genre anyways. Genres are so boring.
TDOA: Are there bands that you played with that you’d love to see reunite and play together again?
BL: Moonshake was awesome. I can’t think of any others off the top of my head.
TDOA: What are your plans for the next year and will we see you playing live again?
BL: You won’t ever see me playing live, but I have 3 new albums coming out next year :
A new solo album called “Natural Selections”, the debut album by my new group, The Internal Tulips and another solo instrumental double LP called “micro-awakenings”.
You know that feeling when you stumble upon a great song? The thrill of discovering a great, new band? That internal battle of wanting to keep is as your own private secret versus shouting it from the tallest building? Well, we’re taking the express elevator to the top floor to tell you about Apteka. Hailing from Chicago, they made a huge splash at SXSW in 2009. With a heady mix of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the epiphanal rush of shoegaze, with the intensity of Jane’s Addiction they’re truly the great band that’s flown under your radar too long. They released a “tour EP” to coincide with their appearance at SXSW and subsequent tour that would end up on most critics top ten lists if there was any justice.
Without any mega-buck videos for us to show, we’re going to stream some songs here and throw a live video at the end for your viewing. Close your eyes and just imagine this sound washing over you while standing in your town’s mega-arena.
TDOA: You’re sound has been compared to the “shoegaze” movement that’s started to gain momentum again. Do you like the comparisons and what music do you think influenced you the most?
Apteka: We’re all really into some of the early shoegaze bands like MBV or Ride, but we’ve always been a bit surprised by the comparisons. We’re definitely not opposed to the shoegaze label or anything, and
it’s great to see all this exciting guitar music reemerging under the shoegaze banner, but I guess it’s hard to see it in our own music. The ethic is definitely there. We write songs to envelop and blanket you with sound; to create some sort of sensory overload or take you someplace else, whether that’s through our use of volume or guitar textures or whatever. So I guess in some ways, the end results may be similar. But to be honest, we all grew up rock kids, so as much as we love Slowdive, we’re probably more influenced by Led Zeppelin.
TDOA: The sound on your ep is tremendous. Please tell us about the recording process for the band; where you recorded, who produced it, etc.?
Apteka: Thanks, we actually recorded everything ourselves in our noisy little practice space, which can be a total madhouse. If you listen close you can hear all sorts of ambient noise from metal bands down the hall, or a stray vocal traveling through the vents, or just someone slamming a door. But, all the little mistakes and imperfections really ended up adding something to the recordings. especially because they were recorded digitally. The imperfections seemed to give it an analog quality.
None of us has ever really worked in a studio, so the process of getting things sounding right was done mostly by trial and error and trusting our ears. By recording it ourselves we could compensate with time, what we didn’t have in gear or experience. We could spend hours or even days working on guitar tones, or the drum mix, or changing the arrangement a bit. Not having an engineer or producer really forced us to improvise and experiment with the ways we record and write, which at times was really frustrating, but in the end opened a lot of doors musically. That being said, it would be a lot of fun to spend some serious time in a proper studio and see what we would come up with.
TDOA: When we hear bands with such a dense sound, we’re always intrigued about the songwriting process. Does one member of the band generally write parts that the rest of the band build on or do you find most of the music comes out of rehearsal “jams?
Apteka: It really varies from song to song, but for the most part our best stuff happens pretty spontaneously. I’m not really sure where it all comes from, but someone will play a riff or a drumbeat or whatever and everyone will just lock in. We’ll look at each other and just know. These are my favorite moments, when everything is happening in real time, and the four of us are in sync. A song like “Traitors”
for instance came together that way. I just started playing this riff and within minutes the song was pretty much all mapped out.
TDOA: What do you think are the overall themes of the band lyrically?
Apteka: I’m not sure if there is an overall theme to the lyrics, but most of the songs deal with pretty standard themes, you know, love, loss, excess, fights in the dark. Often the actual lyrics are left intentionally vague. I don’t want to imprint the songs with a specific message or meaning
that hits you heavy over the head, but rather to leave things a bit more ambiguous so they can evolve or adapt to the situation or listener.
TDOA: It sounds like you got some good press from your appearance at SXSW this year. Tell us about the experience of playing their. What were the crowds like and did you get a chance to see any bands that you
really enjoyed?
Apteka: SXSW was amazing. we played 5 shows in three days. It was hot, chaotic, and a lot fun. We played in all sorts of venues from a biker bar to a little taqueria. We were so busy that we didn’t have much of a chance to check out that many bands, but it was a great experience. We can’t wait to get back.
TODA: Most of the press you’ve gotten discusses the injustice of your failure to be signed. Are you just waiting for the right offer or is this another case of even the indie labels having their heads buried
in the sand?
Apteka: Yeah, we’re working on that now. More than anything we’re looking for a supportive label that’s a good fit for the band. It’s not like we’re holding out for some insane deal with a crazy advance or the promise of a castle in the English countryside or anything.
TDOA: I remember a time when the Chicago music scene was pretty vibrant with labels like Drag City and the Chicago Reader covering local bands. How would you describe the scene now and the level of support
from local media?
Apteka: Chicago is pretty much the same as far as I can tell. It’s taken some hits recently with the closing of Touch and Go and some of the print media has gone under or has radically changed, but with the rise of
Pitchfork and other online media, it’s kind of reasserted itself as the center of the indie universe. Chicago has always had this really strong indie identity, to a fault at times. Not being New York or LA, it’s developed a sort of outsider complex, and I think that’s why so many great indie labels started here. It’s still a great place to start a band. the rents are reasonable, there’s a lot of great places to play, and a lot of great bands making exciting music.
TDOA: The only videos of the band are youtube performances and you don’t post pictures of yourselves anywhere. Do you think the visual emphasis people put on musicians is over-rated and takes away from the
purpose of being in a band?
Apteka: I’m not sure that was really our intention or that conscious of a decision. We’re not photo averse or anything. We just happened to find this designer when we first started playing shows whose posters
we really liked, and whose work seemed to represent our music visually in a way that band photos just can’t. His name is Dylan McConnell and we love him.
TDOA: You released your first EP in April. Any plans to record a full-length?
Apteka: Until we get the whole label situation figured out, we’re just planning on pressing limited edition 7in’s. We would love to make a full length and all, but at the moment, it just makes more sense for us to put out singles on a regular basis, than to disappear into a full length.
TDOA: What’s the next step for the band? Will we see you outside of the midwest and at SXSW in 2010?
Apteka: Yeah, hopefully we’ll get out of the midwest for some of the winter hate. We went out to the west coast in June to play a couple shows with Band of Skulls, and had a great time and are looking forward to
playing there again sometime soon. We’re definitely planning on heading back to Austin for SXSW. In the meantime, we’re about to demo out a bunch of new tunes, and see where they go.
For more information about Apteka, visit their MySpace page here. To purchase their ep, go here.
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get a preview of upcoming interviews, music news and behind the scenes stories about our interviews.
Each morning, after kicking the coffee maker at the TDOA offices, we give thanks for our lot in the world. This past year has allowed us an opportunity to interview every band that we’ve pondered putting on our “top 10 albums of 09″ list. Some take longer than others, but they’ve all been gratifying. Hailing from England, Lovvers are certainly a band that will be in that final 10. Sounding like the bastard child of Paul Westerberg, Will Shatter and Robert Pollard, they’ve perfected the sound of setting a spoon full of sugar on fire. Currently preparing to tour America with their brilliant album OCD Go Go Go Girls, they took a few moments to share the wealth.
TDOA: There are some hilarious entries on your website, where you publish negative reviews of the band. Do you value the opinion of the media at all, or are they just providing material for good jokes?
Lovvers: Like everything there are good and bad people. Its a shame most of them are clueless hacks but it makes for fun reading from time to time.
TDOA: When bands like Guided By Voices revived the Lo-Fi movement in the 90’s, they took a lot of heat from critics who thought it was just noise until they saw them live and the lightbulb went on. Did you make a conscious decision to have a lo-fi sound or does it have more to do with the economics of recording?
Lovvers: We find analogue equipment more satisfying to work with, and there is more potential for a sort of genuine creativity where the music sounds authentic and real – the sound of a band playing together in a room. That is what we strive for more than to sound ‘lo-fi’. Guided By Voices had bad experiences in regular studios and by learning to record themselves on a cassette 4-track, they liberated themselves to express the music in their natural style. We actually recorded in a great studio called Jackpot!, where the 24 track tape machine and all the equipment and the playful decor enabled us to feel at home and work at the right pace. I don’t think personally that the record sounds incredible lo-fi though, just not augmented with hi tech bells and whistles that the contemporary audience has come to expect.
TDOA: The lo-fi bands of the 90’s always seemed to love playing live because fans always responded to the change in “dynamics”. Can you tell us about your approach to playing live? One of the funnier reviews on your site implies that you could care less about playing live.
Lovvers: It’s always cool when a band sounds different when they play live, its natural as well I think. Take a band like Times New Viking, who have a cool grainy sound on record and then are really rocking and the sound is purer and louder when they play live. We do enjoy playing shows, and our approach is pretty straight up, try and get people to have a good time, and don’t outstay our welcome.
TDOA: Enough of the lo-fi talk! Your songs are really quite complex with quite a few melodies running through songs like OCD GO GO Girls. When you recorded that song, did it change from the version that you’d rehearsed or are there some overdubs in there?
Lovvers: We made our own demo of the song in our own house, which enabled us to experiment with overdubs and structure, in a relaxed environment – something we hadn’t done before. So in the studio we could work on the sound and add some keyboard to back up the sumptuous melodies we had come up with.
TDOA: Can you talk about the bands that influenced you? I’m interested that some of the songs have a Ramones feel to them and there seems to be influences from some American bands in there. True or false?
Lovvers: …yes we listen to American bands! Who doesn’t? Actually some bands from the Portland area, where we recorded, influenced this record. For example Exploding Hearts, Clorox Girls (both have been recorded by our producer, Pat Kearns), Wipers. We had listened to more Garage and Power Pop than before when we were writing this record. Also English groups like the Kinks and Wire.
TDOA: You’re preparing to tour in quite a few countries, including the U.S.. What are your expectations and is there anything you’re looking forward to seeing?
Lovvers: Can’t wait to go to San Francisco for the first time and have a gander at the Golden Gate Bridge. And to drive through the desert which should be novel for at least 2 or 3 hours before becoming incredibly monotonous. Today we’re going to Prague for the first time and expect to encounter plenty of boozed up britons on debaucherous stag weekends. Looking forward to returning to places and friends we’ve had fun with before, in LA, Portland and Austin.
TDOA: Have you considered doing a video (live or conceptual) to promote the band or are you anti-video?
Lovvers: There are some cool videos we’ve already done for Human Hair, No Romantics, Wasted Youth and OCD GO GO Girls. You should check them out.
TDOA: We talk to some good British bands who don’t have the money to come to America. How are you folks able to do it? Good support from Wichita?
Lovvers: Wichita helped us to get on SXSW and to record our record in the states. After that we found a lady called Michelle to book shows for us and a Michiganite Midwesterner named Mark to drive us around. Between them they make it all possible for us.
TDOA: Once you’ve completed the tour, what’s next for the band? Recording, more touring….
Lovvers: A break and then writing / recording. We have two 7”s ready to put out so hopefully they will come out later this year or early next. The only tour we have planned is another full US tour which will start in March for 4 weeks. Other than that I have no idea!
TDOA: We haven’t asked this question of a band in a while and we’re betting you’ll take the bait. If there was one band you could have “removed” from the planet, who would it be?
Lovvers: Twin Atlantic (on Red Bull records). And Mariachi El Bronx
North American Tour Dates
Tue Oct 20 Santos – Panache CMJ Showcase New York, NY
Wed Oct 21 Kung Fu Necktie w/ Popo Philadelphia, PA
Thu Oct 22 Comet Pizza and Ping Pong Washington DC
Fri Oct 23 Dartmouth College w/ Turbo Fruits Hanover, NH
Sat Oct 24 Union Pool – Panache CMJ Showcase New York, NY
Sun Oct 25 Casa Del Popolo Montreal, QBC
Mon Oct 26 The Garrison Toronto, ON
Tue Oct 27 Now That’s Class Cleveland, OH
Wed Oct 28 Cafe Bourbon Street Columbus, OH
Thu Oct 29 Garden Bowl Cafe Detroit, MI
Fri Oct 30 Mac’s Bar Lansing, MI
Sat Oct 31 Firebird w/ Turbo Fruits St. Louis, MO
Sun Nov 01 Hideout w/ Turbo Fruits Chicago, IL
Mon Nov 02 Hi Tone w/ Kurt Vile Memphis, TN
Tue Nov 03 529 w/ Kurt Vile Atlanta, GA
Wed Nov 04 Black Owl Trading Florence, AL
Thu Nov 05 Saturn Bar w/ An Albatross New Orleans, LA
Fri Nov 06 Sam’s Burger Joint w/ Shonen Knife + The Strange Boys San Antonio, TX
Sat Nov 07 Beerland w/ Jack Oblivian Austin, TX
Sun Nov 08 Mohawk [FFF Fest Aftershow] Austin, TX
Tue Nov 10 The Rhythm Room w/ Health Phoenix, AZ
Wed Nov 11 Bujwah El Centro, CA
Thu Nov 12 Bar Pink Elephant San Diego, CA
Fri Nov 13 The Smell w/ The Urinals + Signals Los Angeles, CA
Sat Nov 14 Spaceland w/ Abe Vigoda + Le Face + An Albatross Los Angeles, CA
Sun Nov 15 House Party w/ Audacity Fullerton, CA
Mon Nov 16 Elbo Room w/ An Albatross + The Fresh & Onlys San Francisco, CA
Thu Nov 19 East End w/ Nice Boys Portland, OR
Fri Nov 20 Comet Tavern w/ Past Lives + Intelligence Seattle, WA
Sat Nov 21 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, BC
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get a preview of upcoming interviews, music news and behind the scenes stories about our interviews.
During the 90’s Pavement were truly the kings of the alternative world. The announcement that they would reform in 2010 has created a reaction, greater than even they could have expected. All of this coincides with the release of a new solo record by Pavement guitarist Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs) on Matador. We were fortunate to get Scott to talk to us about the Pavement reunion, the possibility of a new Pavement record and our mutual fondness for Australian Rules Football.
TDOA: I really like the new album. When you get solo records from someone who was in a band you loved, you always worry if it’ll be good. I was so happy to hear what a great record you’ve made.
SS: Thanks man, I’m pretty proud of it. I’ve worked pretty hard on it and it took quite a while for it to come to fruituion. I just got back in the country from Australia and finally got to see a finished copy
TDOA: You’re talking about moving to Austrailia aren’t you?
SS: Yeah, I’m getting married to a girl from Australia and we were going to move in the new year, but the Pavement reunion is going to take precedent and push things back. But the plan is to move down to Melborne and take a new step in life.
TDOA: The Pavement reunion isn’t going to push the wedding back is it? Eek!
SS: No, we’re getting married in March and actually the first Pavement shows are going to be in Australia about a week after the wedding.
TDOA: What drew you to Australia?
SS: Pavement toured there a lot back in the old days and then after the first two Preston (Preston School of Industry) records we toured there. I made some really good friends down there, particularly in Melbourne and started going back a lot. It’s a really great cosmopolitan city and is kind of the best of a lot of other cities like Chicago, San Francisco and Paris. And then you’ve got the world’s weirdest sports.
TDOA; I love Australian Rules Football.
SS: Dude, I just got back from the Grand Final. The team my friend was cheering for lost in the last five minutes, it was terrible. Sports there, reminds me of a time when sports were really pure and not corporate.
TDOA: I read an interview where you said that in the past 5 years, you weren’t sure you wanted to make music anymore. Why did you feel that way?
SS: I went through a divorce and after that I just spent a few years feeling like music wasn’t saving me. The woman I was married to was with me for all of the Pavement and Preston years and I didn’t really want to go that way. Music wasn’t really saving me. But then I started figuring things out and listening to music again. It made me want to get back into it and chronicle what I had just been through. I was listening to a lot of old records, where people who were my age were in similar places in their careers. I listened to a lot of Dylan, Fleetwood Mac and Richard Thompson.
TDOA: I’m a big fan of Richard Thompson’s ‘Shoot Out The Lights”….
SS: That was my original intention. I thought, I want to make the Shoot Out The Lights for my generation. I didn’t realize it until I started singing the lyrics. I always do the singing last and I kind of got out this emotional baggage.
TDOA: I think of Pavement and Preston as being pretty light-hearted, but this is pretty dark.
SS: I think you’re right. I don’t think I’d really found my voice before this. In Pavement, I didn’t really care about writing songs. It was more about just being a part of the band. This feels like it’s more “me”.
TDOA: How did songwriting work in Pavement?
SS: We always had a riff and just built around it. Malkmus wrote so much and was a better songwriter towards the end than I was.
TDOA: You’ve been on Matador essentially your entire career. What makes you want to stay with the same label?
SS: They’re just great people and the three main guys are still there after all this time. We feel like we have some hands-on people there who like us. I wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t putting out records with them. They’ve always been supportive and would do anything for us.
TDOA: Can you tell me about the genesis of the Ashod Simonian album cover?
SS: Ashod played with Preston and plays on this record. He put an a book of polaroids a couple of years ago called, Real Fun. I asked him to do the cover art and I asked him if we could use the raccoon picture. I wanted a strange cover that would kind of shock people. His book is really great.
TDOA: Is there a deeper message? (laughing) Are we supposed to think that you’re portraying a dead raccoon?
SS: (laughing) It definitely portrays a couple of years of my life where I was boozing it up and partying and it was kind of exhausting. But those days are over!
TDOA: I’m sure you realize interviewers are going to ask about Pavement. Since you’re trying to focus on publicizing a new album, does that frustrate you or do you see it as another mechanism of making people aware of your work?
SS: I think it all goes hand in hand. I knew the Pavement thing would be pretty big, but I didn’t realize it was going to be this big. I don’t’ feel like it’s overshadowing my solo record, but I’m probably not going to be able to tour as much as I would have. That’s ok there’s other ways to publicize the record.
TDOA: Do you feel a simpatico with the members of Preston School of Industry that’s different that the feeling you had with the guys in Pavement?
SS: With Pavement, we basically grew up together. We were five guys who did everything together. Preston was a bunch of guys who helped me out and did a great job.
TDOA: Preston School of Industry and Pavement always had pretty light-hearted videos. How much input did you have in creating that feeling? How do you feel about making videos?
SS: We did one for Cold Change which should be out any day and then we did one for Stolen Pills which Chris from Preston did. He’s a director of photography in L.A.. The Stolen Pills video is pretty good. It has the raccoon in it.
TDOA: Excellent, the raccoon theme continues! You’ve got to have a raccoon on the tour shirt, right?
SS: That’s right, we’ve got to have a shirt! We didn’t make any tour shirts!
TDOA: I saw a couple of shows towards the end of the last Pavement tour and it really looked like you guys weren’t having as much fun as you did during the early tours. Is that fair and how much of it was a result of Stephen’s unhappiness?
SS: We had fun most of the time. It was a lot of work. We were grinders and played anywhere, anytime. We got really good as a band and were able to jam out our songs. We just had fun with what we did. There were some days where people weren’t happy, but overall, people were happy to be in the band.
TDOA: I’ve read a few quotes from members of Pavement, warning that Pavement isn’t reforming, you’re just going to play a few shows. Some bands say this because they want to see how the chemistry is before they commit to anything. Is that the case here or is it impossible to imagine recording a new Pavement record?
SS: I can’t say it’s impossible, but that is what we were thinking. Let’s see how it goes and if we’re having a good time after all this touring then we’ll revisit it. I’d love to record a new Pavement record. I think after all these years and the solo records, it would be interesting to get back together and put together a record.
TDOA: When I interviewed Will Sergeant of Echo and the Bunnymen, he talked about the concerns they had when they recorded a new record and the impact on their legacy. Would you be at all concerned about the impact a new record might have on the legacy of Pavement?
SS: Not really. I bet that the Bunnymen didn’t worry about it the first time they got back together to record. It’s after the 3rd or 4th record that you’d probably worry about something like that. They (the Bunnymen) were my favorite band and they made me want to play music. I haven’t heard the new record, but I hope they’re having a good time.
To pre-order the new Spiral Stairs record, click on the link! The Real Feel
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get a preview of upcoming interviews, music news and behind the scenes stories about our interviews.
When I sat down to interview Peter Hook, I felt a nervous sense of intimidation because of the magnitude of his contribution to music. In the end, he ended up being easy to talk to and we connected easily. When I prepared to interview Imaad Wasif, I looked forward to talking to someone who’d made a great record (The Voidist) but didn’t feel an ounce of trepidation. However, after talking for merely five minutes I realized that I was in the presence of an aritst that was incredibly complex and had sense of his inner self (I passed on the Eastern Philosophy classes in college. Shame on me!) that I could barely comprehend. Afterwards, I went back and listened to the album again. Where many artists write lyrics with no depth and music with little true emotion, Imaad creates soundscapes that truly cleanse the soul. A beautiful and powerful record that gains depth upon repeated listening. I can only hope that this interview adds to the mystique of the record.
Below is the transcript of our conversation, in which I barely stay above water while trying to skim the surface of this great musician.
TDOA: Can you talk about the central lyrical themes of this record?
IW: It’s really a continuation of my obsession with the ideas of faith and love.
TDOA: Do you consider yourself to be a religious person or do you mean faith in a non-secular way?
IW: It doesn’t denote a specific religion and I don’t subscribe to a specific dogma. The connection I feel to music is similar to ideas of mystical and esoteric literature, even dating back to the time of ancient Egypt.
TDOA: Most of the music in the alternative scene is often lyrically shallow. Do you find it challenging to get people to listen to your message and how important is that to you?
IW: I’ve come to realize I don’t have any real control over that. There’s no right or wrong way to connect to music and performing live, songs frequently mutate into other things in my mind and forms of energy that are channeled through me in the performance. I think I can set forth ideas, even through primal energy. Ultimately the idea of making records is important to me so that I can put these ideas down and let them gestate. You can’t control how people interpret your music, but it’s amazing when I meet someone who’s connected with my music is some way. Like being able to talk to someone about shifting dark energy within themselves and move towards the light.
TDOA: When you go to write an album that’s got such an emotional feel to it, how long does it take you to complete that project?
IW: Every song is really different. Ultimately you have to balance the desire you have to push things. I find if I try to control my vision, then I find that I’m forcing things in a direction that I may not like.
TDOA: On you last solo record, you wrote a song called Isolation. Lyrically it has themes of fragility and I wonder if these songs are autobiographical or are you talking in the 3rd person. And I assume you’re familiar with the Joy Division song.
IW: Of course I know Joy Division! Everything’s really connected to me, but the ideas are shared universally. I don’t think I’m a special case, but I’m so absorbed by trying to understand these ideas. A lot of times I do feel ravaged by the ideas in the song and tortured until there is resolution in the song.
TDOA: You’ve done records with Kill Rock Stars, Tee Pee Records and you’ve worked with “alternative rock” bands, but I feel like this record is much broader in it’s appeal. Was that something that you were conscious of while writing the new record.
IW: I listen to a lot of East Indian classical music from the 1940 to 1970, which was a period of music that I really find amazing. I don’t find myself aligned with any one type of music. People have talked to me about the idea of mystics and it’s something that I felt from a very age. I think most people have that feeling of being strange and disconnected up until a certain age. That has really never left me. Rather than let it destroy me, I’ve dedicated myself to not going down the path of Ian Curtis. Ultimately, you can give so much to the world by dedicating yourself completely to this idea of serving the world with humility and keeping that as your focus. Then all these other ideas that could poison your life, you can keep at bay.
TDOA: You’ve worked with Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, you’re touring with Dead Weather and you used to be on Kill Rock Stars. Your message is pretty deep. Do you think labels like your new one, Tee Pee Records understand that and aren’t trying to get you to make glitzy videos and generally understand where you’re coming from?
IW: Tee Pee has been incredible. I’ve been working on a video for Redeemer with an LA based artist named Jess Holzworth. We had this conversation early on regarding film and its relationship with music. There’s beautiful things by people like Kenneth Anger and people who made that connection before it became a commodity. I don’t have any interest in doing anything that doesn’t feel like it’s coming from my emotional center.
There is an undisclosed, underlying and perhaps cryptic series of fragments and codes, love notes and small death notes throughout the new record and I think anyone who can hear the record will understand it. Not listening to it as background music, but spending time with it. It’s my hope that they’ll have a connection to it.
TDOA: You’ve mentioned feeling really centered. In some interviews you’ve talked about being very comfortable when playing on stage with Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. Some people would find it really daunting. Is it really your experience that rather feeling that sense of teenage euphoria, you just feel happy and calm and enjoying the moment?
IW: I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m calm. I have a lot of nervous energy and at some point in my life I realized that was destructive to myself and I had to find a way to channel it. Music is a great way of being able to do that. It’s a great honor to be able to go out and play music with people I respect. I don’t know if I ever felt that teenage angst. When I was a teenager, I always felt like I was 80 years old. I feel like I’ve lived a series of lives and at this point in this life, things are finally coming into sync. I sense it with people that I meet and people I work with. It’s a really strange sensation because it feels like going from a pinpoint of light to really opening up to a full sun.
TDOA: One of the last questions I usually ask an artist is where you’d like to be a year from now. Many people answer with tangible descriptions of what size arena they’d like to be playing and how big they’d like their bank account to be. I suspect I’m going to get a different answer from you.
IW: (laughs) What I practice is going back to the 60’s “be here now” concept that really has been forgotten. Really focusing on this moment is the greatest overlooked idea and is the thing that I really feel is important to focus on. But I will say that I want to go to India because I haven’t been there since I was 5 and I feel a real pull there. Now, if that means I go there and start studying with a mystic… we’ll just have to see.
The Voidist will be released on October 13th by Tee Pee Records. To pre-order click here: The Voidist
To purchase his earlier music, click on the intriguing, yet enticing grey button below
Generally we feel obligated to wax poetic about the greatness of the bands that we try to introduce. We continue to be fortunate, in that we only cover the bands that we like. We’re passionate about their music and desperately want you to agree, so we’ll string a series of outrageous adjectives together to capture your attention for the three minutes that we hope it will take to gain your attention.
With Alberta Cross, we’re absolutely dumbstruck. On one hand, we’d like to tell you that their new album, ‘Broken Side of Time’ is the best album of the year and perhaps the decade. Their live performances are musical perfection and emotional epiphanies. They were clearly the best band at Austin City Limits and routinely provide the soundtrack for our dreams. And we could go on….
But perhaps it would be best to stop now and let you listen to the music, which should be more than enough to convince you…
Lead singer Petter Ericson Stakee took a few moments on the phone with us prior to their appearance at Austin City Limits.
TDOA: I’ve always wished that I’d had an opportunity to interview a musician shortly after they’ve released a “legendary” album. I feel like I’ve finally gotten that opportunity, in talking to you now. How did you feel upon completion of the new record? Did you walk out of the studio and think that you’d just created something really special?
Petter: This finished it at a time when we were still struggling. It was definitely a weird patch. We thought the tunes were really good and were inspired by a lot of things that we were around at that time; London and New York City. I don’t think you think about it that much. You just think about making sure it’s honest. It was such a nightmare to record it.
TDOA: How was it a weird time? Emotionally or from a business-sense?
Petter: Emotionally, really. We left London and then New York. It was a crazy time.
TDOA: You weren’t really very fond of NYC were you?
Petter: I don’t mind New York, but we had left everything behind in Europe and had no money, so it was kind of a tough time. We were sleeping on peoples couches and things like that and New York City isn’t really the best for that style of living. As a city, I think it’s pretty great. We went out too much and got too excited and kind of got into a bad place.
TDOA: How long did it take you to record the album?
Petter: It was recorded in Austin and took about two months, then we went on tour. When we came back, we spent another two weeks finishing it up.
TDOA: How did you like recording with Mike McCarthy?
Petter: I think it was interesting. He’s great with sounds and stuff. I think he was in a weird place or something in his life and he was kind of having a tough time of it. It was a bit weird. It worked out and ended up sounding good, but when we were going through it, it was pretty mad. He’s a bit of a nutter.
TDOA: Did he know he was a nutter?
Petter: (laughing) probably
TDOA: Did he contribute to the album or the sound?
Petter: He’s really good with sound. We kind of knew what we wanted and I knew how I wanted the songs to sound.
TDOA: When I hear a record like this, that is so dense and thick and has so much going on, I wonder if come into the studio sounding like that or did you add parts during the recording process?
Petter: We did a lot of it live, making sure we had really good takes. We added some extra guitars and pianos, but overall we tried to get a really good, live feel. I did go back and add the vocals after the music.
TDOA: In interviews you’ve talked about how the songs came out of jamming together. When you’re rehearsing, do you come in with parts you’ve written and build from there or are guys really just noodling around and songs are born?
Petter: A lot of songs on this album, I wrote in Brooklyn, but songs like ATX were built on a jam. The more we go out touring, the more songs come out.
TDOA: Is everything from those sessions on the album or do you have some songs that you’ll release later as B-sides or an EP?
Petter: Yeah, there are a lot of songs. We took it down to 10, but it probably could have been 30. We had loads of songs before we moved to New York and we scrapped some of those. Who knows what we’ll do with them.
TDOA: There was a couple of years gap between the first EP and your first proper album. Why?
Petter: We toured after The Thief and the Heartbreaker came out and then left our label, then moved to NY and signed to a new label. It was kind of hell for us.
TDOA: How supportive do you find the label with the new album?
Petter: I think they’re really good. It’s really hard, because we just got back from London and we see how little support labels give to bands and how hard it is. Our label is really good, they want the bands out touring and want to grow it in an organic way.
TDOA: Some music critics ask you about Neil Young and “southern rock”, which is a label I don’t agree with. Do you worry that the label is going to try and market you as Lynard Skynard and not “get it”? Do you have that kind of dialogue where you can say, “here are my influences and this is what I think out market is”, so that you don’t have to worry about them trying to have you record a duet with Kid Rock?
Petter: (laughs) Yeah, I think our label gets it. It surprises me when people compare us to southern rock. It’s kind of weird. I never listened to that kind of music.
TDOA: How did you pick ATX as the single? Does the label make that decision.
Petter: I think it had the best feel and direction. The label wants us to have an upbeat record for the radio and we thought it was a good introduction for people to the band and a nice “toast” to Austin.
TDOA: You guys really love Austin, don’t you?
Petter: People are really great here. There’s music everywhere and it feels like people are honest and nice.
TDOA: You did a tour with Oasis in England and lived over there for a long time. How do you compare the American and British crowds?
Petter: The American crowd is a little more forward. They’ll run up to you after festivals and tell you how much they love you. In England, they’re a little more reserved. Sometimes it means a little more when they’ll come up to you and actually talk to you about it. America’s been really good to us.
TDOA: How do you feel about making videos?
Petter: I’m not happy with any of our videos. ATX is alright because it’s a live video, but it’s not really a music video. It’s just a live video, but it’s ok. I haven’t seen many really cool videos in a long time. I think you’d hear a lot of band say the same thing.
TDOA: What’s next after this brief tour?
Petter: We’ll do a month in America and then a month in Europe. I think we’re going to be on the road a lot. We’ll come back and do a bigger tour of the U.S.. We haven’t done a proper western U.S. tour and we’d like to do that.
Clearly, your next move is to buy the new album “Broken Side of Time” from iTunes (click on the hypnotically gorgeous button below)
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get a preview of upcoming interviews, music news and behind the scenes stories about our interviews. You also get links to bonus videos, like….
Here’s a collection of videos from Thom Yorke’s concert on October 2nd at the Echoplex in L.A.. Generally, we try to follow the order of the setlist, but this time we’ll start with the highest quality video and work our way down. Enjoy…..and yes, that’s Flea playing bass.
UPDATE: We’ve also added videos of his show on the 3rd at the Orpheum at the end of this post.
Lotus Flower
Skirting on the Surface
Open The Floodgates
Paperbag Writer
Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses
The Hollow Earth
Harrowdown Hill
Cymbal Rush
Black Swan
Orpheum show on October 4
Lotus Flower
The Clock
Analyse
The Eraser
For those of you joining us for the first time, welcome! Take a poke around and you’ll find interviews with legends like Peter Hook, Will Sergeant and newer bands like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Boxer Rebellion and more. Next week, check back with us for an interview with Alberta Cross, Wye Oak and more surprises!
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get a preview of upcoming interviews, music news and behind the scenes stories about our interviews.
CMJ Preview, Part 2
You thought we were done, didn’t you? Well, the promos and emails have been flying in at an ever increasing rate since our post this morning and this is a compilation of the stuff that’s grabbed us. To view a schedule for the bands we’ve previewed click on the link below:
2009 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival: The Dumbing of America’s schedule.
Grand Analog- Ok, I need you to open you mind because this isn’t your normal TDOA fare. Please know that Land of the Loops, Chemical Brothers and Autechre occasionally make their way onto our turntable. This Canadian (?!) group reminds us of a sexier, funkier Tricky. And that’s a good thing….
Home Video- Interviewed by us, here. Somehow we missed them the first time around, but don’t you make the same mistake.
Ume- We gave them props after their SXSW performance and this is certainly another chance for you to see one of the best Texas bands around. Blissnoise at its’ best.
Still Life Still- Canadian group that sounds like Pavement crossed with The Smiths. And now that we’ve set your expectations unreasonably high….
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get a preview of upcoming interviews, music news and behind the scenes stories about our interviews.
Popularity: 14% [?]