The Days of Lore

Janet Weiss talks Quasi mojo

Monday, February 22nd, 2010 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | No Comments

The first time I threw on Quasi’s new record American Gong, I thought I was listening to a different band. Not that it doesn’t sound like Quasi, there’s just a certain—if I may borrow a quote from drummer Janet Weiss—”joie de vivre” to the new record.

Quasi is an interesting band in that it’s almost always felt like the side project to the members’ numerous other projects—multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Sam Coomes‘ Elliot Smith collaboration Heatmiser, Sleater-Kinney, and now the Jicks. Not the case here. American Gong might be the strongest, most definitive Quasi record in the band’s 16-year existence, jam-packed with guitars pushed well into the red and drumming that defies … well, everything. It’s also the band’s first record with longtime bassist (and Jick) Joanna Bolme, whose fuzzed-out basslines are solid enough to walk on. If you need more convincing, listen to the entire album here.

American Gong—Quasi’s first on Kill Rock Stars—is out now. And that’s only the beginning. The band is touring Japan, the U.S. and Europe as well as hitting all the totally hot festivals, including SXSW and Sasquatch. A quick glance at the ol’ Quasi planner looks something like this: 2010 = booked solid.

Janet Weiss took some time to talk to The Days of Lore about their new digs at KRS, the beauty of mistakes, and the band’s love of fuzz-bass.

TDoL: This is your first record on Kill Rock Stars … how did that come about?
Janet Weiss: I sent [rough mixes] out to people I knew, Sam sent them out to a couple people he knew. Kill Rock Stars were just really enthusiastic about it, and said they loved the record. Of course, I worked with them for years with Sleater-Kinney. You know, they’re here in Portland now, it was just so obvious and natural. And I love working with a label where the two people in charge are women—strong, decisive, intelligent women.

I interviewed Kathy [Foster] from The Thermals and she said the same thing.
Yeah, I mean that’s important. I come from that background of strong women, and I want to pass along that it’s important to make choices that enable that to continue. You know, try to take bands on tour where there are women performing and try to show people that it doesn’t have to be all guys onstage all the time. You have to let girls see other girls up onstage or they might not have the courage to do it. If some girl wants to go into the business and sees there’s a girl running that label, it’s really inspiring I think. And it’s very important to actively be a part of that.

I’ve been listening to the new album, and it is loud.
[laughs] I guess so, yeah … I suppose it’s only as loud as you turn it up.

It just sounds like it was recorded with the intention of blowing things out …
Yeah, I’d say we were going for a very live, sort of ballsy sound. We wanted to somehow capture what it feels like to be at a live show or be in the room with all of the molecules banging around.

It almost reminds me of the production on The Woods …
Yeah, Dave Fridmann did mix a few of those songs … I think we would love to make a whole record with him. We admire his … just his joie de vivre [laughing]. I think he’s really unafraid to push the sound and make things unusual and strange.

How long did it take to record?
We recorded it in about 10 days. We were ready when we went in; we didn’t have to do very many takes of songs, and the takes that we did do just got better and better as we went along. I feel like a lot of the music I love and that I listen to—music of the ’60s and ’70s—it was all recorded like that. They just went into a studio on tour and made a record, kept the mistakes and moved on. It’s amazing how many mistakes you hear on old records. You don’t hear that anymore—it’s sad. Mistakes can be so gratifying when you’re listening.

Absolutely. That reminds me of a post on Carrie’s [Browstein] blog not too long ago.
I don’t think I read that one … but it’s scary to think of a world where all of our mistakes are being erased when so much of creativity is about that.

Yeah, the human aspect gets wiped out …
It’s our self-loathing … we want to correct everything all the time.

Did you go into the studio with a set group of songs ready?
We knew we had too many songs. We weren’t positive which songs were going to go on the record—we knew what the heavy hitters were, and kinda let the other songs show themselves. So there are a couple extras, there’s a cover. Then there’s the song “The Jig is Up”—[laughing] Joanna and I went out to get burritos and Sam recorded that while we were gone for like a half-hour. He just pulled an acoustic guitar off the wall and recorded that with a few mics. That’s actually one of my favorite songs off the record.

That one’s great. I really like “Black Dogs & Bubbles.”
Oh cool. That’s maybe one of the oldest songs out of the batch. That one’s been around for a little while. I think we just kind of kept it simple on that one. It sort of speaks for itself … you sort of get that Neil Young-y type of vibe at the beginning. We always wanted to make sure that middle part was shocking.

The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” came to mind when I heard it …
Yeah, I think I’ve heard that from one other person. That’s great, I’m glad you like that one. It constitutes part of the moody center of the album … as I like to call it, “the moody middle.” It’s funny, because I’m usually pretty involved in the sequencing of most records I’ve played on. This one was pretty easy for some reason; it just sort of made sense. The first song was really obvious and that’s always a big help. On the last Jicks record we didn’t really have a for-certain first song and it made sequencing tough. We got it in the end, but it took a lot more time.

Obviously you’re making a record, but are you ever like, “Do people even listen to full albums anymore?” Does that cross your mind?
It maybe crosses my mind a little more now. I think I’ve always been guilty of top-loading, wanting to put my favorite three songs first. On [American Gong] I feel like the last song is the heart of the record. Kind of like the old days when you’d listen to vinyl—like “When the Levee Breaks,” the last song on Zeppelin IV—the last song wasn’t the single or maybe wasn’t even the catchiest, but it represented the heart of the record. It was what they wanted to leave you with. I don’t really know how people … like do they buy three songs, four songs, one song? I don’t understand that so much, so I just do what I know, which is sequence it as a record and try to put a couple strong, catchy songs up at the top.

Besides being loud, the hooks are definitely still there …
Sam started this project Pink Mountain with some friends in San Francisco … I feel like he got a lot of his weirdo side out with that band, and kind of allowed Quasi—at least the structures of the songs—to be a little more pop-oriented. Although we all are very anti-establishment, and anti-conservative, anti-corporate—we don’t want it to sound like easy listening, we don’t want it to be boring—we want it to represent something free and something that’s not passive. I think to make those pop structures palatable to him as a songwriter we had to turn up the volume a little.

Is there much improvisation involved in the writing?
This was definitely our most collaborative record as far as the writing. Sam came to practice with less structured songs, and just parts that needed to be arranged and organized. And he really let me have a hand in that more, which is something that I did in Sleater-Kinney a lot, and something that I love to do. He’s not used to writing like that; he’s used to writing a song from start to finish. I think Joanna made up so many great basslines that I think define a lot of the songs. I end up humming her basslines more than the vocals or the drums and guitar.

Yeah, there are a couple of basslines that are super fuzzed-out that really stood out.
Well, Sam loves fuzz-bass. [laughing] That is one true statement about Sam Coomes: He loves the fuzz-bass. We’d be working on songs and we’d be like “What does this one need?” and Joanna and I would just laugh and look at each other, “Fuzz-bass!” We know he’s going to say it. That’s the answer for everything. Luckily we like it, too.

You’re about to head out on the road. I take it you like touring …
I’m really into touring, I love touring. Especially these shorter ones, anything under three weeks is totally doable. I mean I like coming home, but I really, really like going out. And I love playing. There’s nothing like playing live, nothing quite like it at all. Gotta keep your chops up.

“Repulsion” - Quasi

“Black Dogs & Bubbles” - Quasi

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Tags: American Gong, Janet Weiss, Joanna Bolme, Kill Rock Stars, Portland music, Quasi, Sam Coomes, Sleater-Kinney, the Jicks

TDoL gets some Goodnight Loving

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 | interviewZ, musiX | 1 Comment

“We’re already three songs into the next LP,” says Goodnight Loving guitarist/bassist Colin Swinney. “Beginning this Thursday we’ll be going back in the studio to hopefully finish the rest.”

I like the sound of that. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin four-piece has been receiving steady play over the last few months here at TDoL HQ. The Goodnight Loving’s ragged rock ‘n’ twang is the sound of a freight train chugging down a lonesome, dusty trail—fully embracing traditional country music, and tussling with ’60s folk and garage.

Of course, it only made sense that the Reigning Sound’s Greg Cartwright wanted to produce their 2006 debut Cemetery Trails (”He was really professional while still keeping up beer for beer with us,” Swinney says). Three full-length records and a handful of 7-inches later and The Goodnight Loving is still cranking out new tunes, no doubt a credit to the fact that all four members write and sing.

The band—which takes its name not from a nocturnal petting session, but from a Southwestern cattle trail established by a couple blokes named Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving—released their Nothing Conquers Us 7-inch for Portland’s Dirtnap Records in November and will—as the kids say—drop a 12-inch EP later this month on Italian label Wild Honey Records. Oh, and that new full-length? That’ll be out some time this summer on Dirtnap.

With so much on their—as everyone says—plate Colin Swinney was still able to make some time to answer all of The Days of Lore’s burning questions, explaining what it’s like to record in a cabin, getting lost in Europe, and why the band will never listen to David Bowie again.

TDoL: I read that you all started out playing in punk bands in Wisconsin. How did you end up coming together and shifting to more country-influenced music?
Colin Swinney: We definitely began with the idea in mind of starting something we hadn’t really tried before. A couple of the guys were writing songs together with acoustic guitars, and it seemed natural to try and play with a full group using those same instruments and whatever other ones we could bastardize, like harmonicas and pedal steels. We all loved country and ’60s folk music, but it’s not like we were into jam bands and pickin’ circles—you still would have found us in basements drinking Old English at a Holy Shit! show. You still can.

Do you ever listen to any of the old Bloodshot Records bands? The Goodnight Loving would sound right at home on that label …
I don’t know if we could count them as an influence, but we are certainly familiar with a bunch of those bands. I’ve seen the Sadies a couple of times and I know Kavanaugh saw Whiskytown open up when he went to John Fogerty with his parents.

Does it surprise you that The Goodnight Loving has been embraced by garage rock crowds?
Not really … everyone loves garage rock. It’s no different in spirit or anything to whatever it is we do. I don’t really know who else would embrace us, either. Soccer moms?

How was it working with Greg Cartwright on your first record?
It was wonderful. We were all really big fans of his at the time, so it was like having a highlight of your career be the first thing you do as a band. He was really professional while still keeping up beer for beer with us, so whatever nerves we had psyched ourselves into quickly passed.

What did you take away from the experience?
I’d say how to make a record to be proud of in just a few days. We didn’t quite know what to expect having never made an album with a producer or anything, but we definitely learned that you can just knock it out quickly as long as the performances can speak for themselves.

It’s not often you get a band where every member writes songs and sings. How does the process work? Does that make it difficult to whittle down songs?
It’s pretty fun and stress-free actually. We show up to practice and say, “Does anyone have anything new?” and go from there. Sometimes songs don’t work, but those ones usually make themselves obvious enough that we just don’t spend much time on ‘em.

I love that you recorded [2007's] Crooked Lake in a cabin. How did that affect your approach over recording in a traditional studio?
A big part of it was that we didn’t intend on coming away with a full-length record. We just had all these songs left over or written after the making of the first LP that we decided it’d be fun to get them down to tape. We picked a cabin on a beautiful lake in June to record them, because who wouldn’t? When it turned out we had enough songs, we fell into our next album.

You’ve had success outside the States … how do you like touring in other countries?
For as much as fun as it is, it’s also a lot of stress. We’ve been driving ourselves around while we’re in Europe, and it’s pretty intimidating trying to navigate with just a GPS that barely knows where the hell you are. That said, there’s nothing comparable to a trial by fire in another language. We always managed to have a good time and keep our spirits up when someone’s reaching a breaking point. And there’s almost always a new, delicious food to set anyone’s mood right.

Any countries in particular that have embraced the band?
Italy and Australia stand out as they’re places where we’ve had labels who released our records, and then followed through with promoting them and bringing us there. We’ve had some really great shows in both. Sometimes it’s hard though. There are some cities where nobody moves, just staring through you as you play and you think “well this sucks” … but you still might sell 200 bucks in merch and suddenly that crowd wouldn’t seem so bad anymore.

What’s usually in the CD player/iPod during tours?
Usually it’s Roger Miller, Buck Owens, Hank Williams, lots of Beatles, CCR … pretty standard road material. We once went five weeks with a Velvet Underground best of and a David Bowie 1962-1967 collection on cassette. No one ever got sick of the VU, but I don’t think anyone of us will ever willingly listen to Bowie again, no matter what period of his career. “Sell Me a Coat” will live on in all our top-five-worst-song-ever lists.

“Nothing Conquers Us” - The Goodnight Loving

“Colin Attends a Party” - The Goodnight Loving (self-titled LP)

“Drafted Into War” - The Goodnight Loving (Contaminated Records 7-inch)

Tags: Cemetary Trails, Colin Swinney, Crooked Lake, Dirtnap Records, Greg Cartwright, Nothing Conquers Us, The Goodnight Loving, Wild Honey Records

Liam Finn: No place like home

Monday, December 7th, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX | No Comments

At a recent Portland performance Liam Finn was a man possessed, bouncing between guitar and drums while his own looped beats and guitars blasted alongside him. Musical partner Eliza-Jane Barnes provided sort of a calming elegance with her sweet harmonies and delicate percussion.

That chemistry and energy is difficult to catch on wax. And while Finn’s recorded output is tame in comparison, it does capture one thing—his knack for blending pop sensibilities with fearless noise experimentation. It’s good stuff, and his debut I’ll Be Lightning easily made TDoL’s 2008 Year-End List.

Of course, I was drawn in before hearing a single note due to my unrequited love for his father Neil Finn, whose bands Split Enz and Crowded House are embedded deep into the soundtrack of my youth. The 26-year-old Liam occasionally tours with Crowded House (which also includes his uncle, Tim Finn) and has worked with his father on the 7 Worlds Collide project, a collaboration with musicians including Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Cribs/Modest Mouse/Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.

With his numerous projects and constant touring it’s amazing that Finn found the time to record Champagne In Seashells. The EP—his first with Barnes—continues with Finn’s ear for melody as well as an itchy finger for using the studio to its fullest, adding plenty of white noise and mutant electronica. As with his debut, Finn recorded the five songs at his father’s Roundhouse Studios in New Zealand, many of the songs reflecting life on the road (”Long Way To Go”). As Finn explains: “It’s been a crazy few years where we haven’t been anywhere for longer than a few days or a week here, a week there.”

The Days of Lore caught up with Finn during his recent U.S. jaunt, as he discussed new projects, his old man and what to expect in 2010.

TDoL: I wanted to ask you about this instrument you recently acquired called the Tafelberg.
Liam Finn: It’s quite funny, actually, I didn’t even know it was called the Tafelberg until someone asked about it in an interview recently and I didn’t know what they were talking about. We know it as the drum-guitar. Basically it’s this thing that this man called Yuri Landman made for me. I got introduced to him through a friend from a band called the Luyas, and she had this weird, experimental instrument called a Moodswinger made by him. She told me all about how he’s this crazy mad scientist kind of guy. He’s really into making weird atonal, sort of Sonic Youth-y noise instruments. So I got in touch with him and told him that I wanted an instrument that I could hit with drumsticks, and he had already been talking to the band the Dodos about making something similar. And he designed this thing for me and I ended up with this crazy 24-string drum-guitar … what the hell was it? [laughing] Tagernaffel? Tafelberg!

Live you’re pretty much a one-man band. Have you considered going out with a full band?
I think it’s definitely something that’s on the horizon. We’ve been doing this for a few years now, and as much as it still seems like it’s molding and changing, I really feel like hearing my songs in more of a band lineup I suppose. We actually just made a record down in New Zealand with some friends.

Is it the Having a Baby project?
Yeah, yeah, well that was kind of its working title. We’ve still yet to decide on a name. We’re affectionately referring to it as BARB, kind of a weird middle-aged woman’s name. It did start out of the fact that probably all of us—including Lawrence Arabia and Connan Mockasin—were doing things on our own for so long that we were kind of craving that band experience again. It was all a very collaborative record. It was quite refreshing. [Editor's Note: The new recording from BARB is due out in New Zealand in early 2010. No release-date has been set in the States.]

How much has your father’s songwriting influenced your own?
Melody-wise and harmony-wise I love what my dad does, and I think it’s actually rubbed off on me. Genetically it probably has as well—the way I hear music or the way I naturally make it. I don’t think I’ve ever tried to specifically make music that’s not like my father’s. So if it’s sounding like that, it’s not like I go “Oh god, I better fuck this up, put some noise on it.” That comes from my other influences, loving bands like Sonic Youth and more noisy kinds of things.

As a kid did you think your father’s music was dorky?
Not at all really. I’ve always loved it, being so immersed in it. It’s just different. It’s like when you grow up with you parents blasting music, and you just inherit the love for it like they do. I grew up with all that Beatles and Neil Young stuff, but also Crowded House. I was really, really interested in Split Enz especially—altered my life really.

Your first record I’ll Be Lightning was written about your time living in London …
Yeah, yeah, I spent about three years years over there, a couple of years before I wrote I’ll Be Lightning. I was confronting an intense time. Living in that country is intense enough with a band and a long-term girlfriend and stuff like that. And everything pretty much fell apart over there, so I think that it can be good for inspiration. I feel like I can speak about it, like it doesn’t bother me. It was quite a long time ago, actually.

Was there an underlying theme on Champagne In Seashells?
Again, it’s probably very—in hindsight—obvious to me that it’s kind of about whatever’s going on in my life. I suppose a lot of the songs have reference to traveling and being away from home and a certain nomadic life that EJ and I have taken on. And without sounding earnest about it, the effects it takes on relationships and normal life stuff you try to maintain while having this quite extraordinary life. It’s been amazing and incredibly stimulating, so once again—good for writing stuff.

I can imagine it’s an intense lifestyle, especially for any length of time …
Yeah, we only had three weeks to record that EP, and I had a few songs we had been writing backstage. But I wanted to write a few while I was back in New Zealand. It was just after the 7 Worlds Collide project, so I felt really invigorated by that whole experience.

What’s life looking like in 2010?
I’m really excited to have more time on my hands to make another record of my own and work on a few things, but ultimately the goal for the year is to make a followup to I’ll Be Lightning. [The EP] was a good way to keep things moving without feeling like you’re making your followup record. My ultimate goal is that every record sort of keeps changing with who you’re working with or how you’re doing it so that it feels like a first record every time.

“Long Way to Go” - Liam Finn + Eliza Jane

Tags: 7 Worlds Collide, BARB, Champagne In Seashells, Crowded House, Eliza Jane, I'll Be Lightning, Liam Finn, Neil Finn, Split Enz

John Darnielle gives up the goat to TDoL

Monday, November 9th, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | 1 Comment

John Darnielle is just all right with me. He’s an intelligent guy, not to mention one of this generation’s great storytellers (musically speaking, of course), but still has this sort of—for lack of a better word—dude-ish humility about him … and he listens to metal.

Darnielle has been leading his Mountain Goats in one form or another since 1991—way back at a time when I was listening to this album religiously. Of course, those early lo-fi boombox recordings are a far cry from the lush sounds found on albums like We Shall All Be Healed and the latest The Life of the World to Come. The new record finds Darnielle naming each song after a verse in the Bible to let listeners know that “bigger things, darker things, heavier things” lie within. Plus, he says, it looks kinda bitchin’.

Musically, The Life is spare—guitar, bass, drums, occasionally only piano—which effectively directs more attention to the lyrics, though it doesn’t necessarily make for an exciting listen (honestly, I like Darnielle’s approach to music sometimes more than the music itself). I find the stripped-down The Life of the World In Flux (acoustic demo versions of the record, plus a couple of bonus tracks/verses) to be much more gritty and urgent.

What connects Darnielle to listeners (and separates him from many other songwriters) are his surprisingly candid takes on music, religion and even songwriting—all which can be found in his songs, on his music blog Last Plane to Jakarta, and in interviews. Over the years The Mountain Goats have built a cult-like following (sorta like those Finnish death metal bands Darnielle seems to love). The band will perform Wednesday, Nov. 11 at Portland’s Wonder Ballroom, which I’m guessing will be a religious experience for many.

Darnielle recently talked to TDoL about the Good Book as an actual good book, being an atheist who dislikes the company of atheists, and writing songs by the light of a television.

TDoL: On this album you delved deeper into the Bible than you ever have. What made you decide to go as far as to name every song after a Bible verse?
John Darnielle: Well, I’ve been doing that for a long time, just not as concentrated. I think the first one of those was a long time ago, a song on Nothing For Juice called “I Corinthians 13: 8-10,” which was a story about a couple of people during the Warsaw uprising in the Warsaw ghetto. It was a very in-the-moment story, and I wanted to have a song title that kind of, was like a big finger going there’s something bigger at issue here. I’ve occasionally written songs like that over the years. And I wrote one about a year ago, and I was like “Hey I kinda like that song.” And the next time I wrote a song I did the same thing, and once I had two then I started picturing a whole list of them and how bitchin’ that would look [laughs]. Everything tends to start with really simple aesthetics of what would look cool. I never trust people who say, “Yes I had this vision of making an album that would somehow be a big gesture.”

That might be the best thing I’ve ever heard a songwriter say …
So then somebody might say, “Oh so it didn’t have any deeper meaning.” No, it comes after. It’s like with any major life decision you make. It’s like, why did you take this job? It’s not like you sat down with a big chart and said, “What am I going to do in life, and how will this job help me?” It’s like no, you need a job so you go apply for your job and then later you can see the bigger things. And creating things is the same thing. I’m always telling people—and they don’t believe me—but when I try to write songs, the first couple lines are spat out while I’m watching television or something. I’ll pick up the guitar while I’m watching Law & Order and I’ll bark out some lines and then it goes somewhere. I assume that songwriters who sit down with a big vision first are the ones writing very boring songs. It sort of has to come from the playful part of your brain. It has to come from the little kid with finger-paints to be interesting to me.

You’re an atheist, right?
I am, but I’m an atheist who can’t really stand the company of other atheists [laughs]. You know what I mean? There’s nothing more tiresome than a person who never grew out of saying how awesome it is to have discovered that there’s no god. You know the kid who shows up in kindergarten and goes, “You know Santa is your mom and dad.”? The bully who hits that kid in the face is like my hero. I mean, I doubt strongly. I’m always open to a religious conversion, I would love to have a massive religious conversion, but I don’t see it happening.

Has anything come close?
You know, the experience of music—to be really corny about it—when you’re 17 and you find a song that you’re quite certain there was a definitive way for you to discover it so you could have this communion with the spirits inherent in this piece of music. The notion that that’s all just a biochemical or psychological process is kind of attractive to me. The notion that it’s more than a construct of the human psyche is not just really attractive to me, but seems to have some truth in it somewhere. But, I mean, once you start looking at any religious ideology it’s going to be drawn with so many problems by the time you get in even for a few minutes.

Some people “find God” after dealing with difficult times in their lives. Drug use and depression are both things you’ve faced in your life. How did you deal with it?
It’s the many thousands of things that I did after various times. I can’t really say, “Well, I had a wound and I treated it with peroxide.” It’s more like, “Well I had a lot of friends, and I had a lot of ideas, and I had a lot of other things to do, I had a job, and I had a guitar, and I had records, I had books, and I had a garden to work in.” I don’t think that climbing out of that situation is the same as dressing a wound. Drug abuse and depression are these stops, not even stops—they’re sort of lines on a long path.

Do you have a fascination with the Bible? Is “fascination” the right word?
[Laughing] I like the Bible. I enjoy reading it. I think it’s awesome. For one thing it’s pretty impossible to imagine an American writer that doesn’t have a very strong relationship to the Bible as a text. If you’re not interested as a writer I think you’re kind of in the bush league. It’s where the real writers go to start looking at how to grapple with questions, and what to do with them, and how to tell stories that raise interesting questions. And, honestly, to not answer them—because the Bible is a less didactic book than some of its followers seem to think. It’s more of a really sort of gory, really productive poem in my opinion.

Who are some of the storytellers that have spoken to you?
Joan Didion is a person I always name first and foremost. I think she’s the greatest living American writer. One thing is she doesn’t trust stories, and neither do I. The difference is she’s not a romantic and I am. When she tells a story, she enters immediately assuming that the story is not true and that it’s there for some purpose other than the purpose it would have you believe. Where I’m the kid who wants to believe in Santa and I want to take everything at face value first, for as long as I can. But the common obsession is the idea of the story as having some sort of totemic functionality. In recent years William Gass—talk about people who don’t trust stories. He refuses to tell a story outright. At all. It’s very hard to figure out what’s going on in his books, but I think underneath there’s this idea, there’s this sort of a trusting symbolism.

Are all of the stories in your songs true?
No, no … I mean, define true. It varies. Generally speaking, I’m a storyteller, but over the past four, five years I’ve been sort of experimenting with telling stories that are also true.

It seems like the songs have become more simple in recent years …
Again, it has to do with aesthetics. I think most of the poetry I admire tends to arrive at simplicity. A good writer learns to pare things down and do more with less. Not to make it weightier, but to use [words] better. When you first learn to cook you thrown in all the spices you can, and later you learn that if you just use these two and put them in the right way, that’s all you need. I think I’m more compact than I used to be. The songs aren’t likely to have as many words in them. [Laughing] I mean when you talk too much no one hears a word you say, right?

“Psalms 40:2″ - The Mountain Goats (The Life of the World to Come)

“Proverbs 6:27″ - The Mountain Goats (The Life of the World In Flux)

Tags: John Darnielle, Last Plane to Jakarta, Nothing For Juice, The Life of the World In Flux, The Life of the World to Come, The Mountain Goats, We Shall All Be Healed

Purple Rhinestone Eagle walks with the wizard … and talks with TDoL

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX, politiX | No Comments

It was a few years ago while doing an article on Portland’s New Bloods that I stumbled upon Purple Rhinestone Eagle. The name was enough. And the music … sort of this doom-y Sabbath-meets-Love love-fest led by a lanky guitarist who channeled Hendrix and Blackmore provided the final blow. I was also intrigued by this tight-knit community of musicians made up of women who celebrated diversity and sexual freedom with the DIY spirit of punk rock in a city that, while liberal, is still 95 percent white.

Purple Rhinestone Eagle—guitarist/vocalist Andrea Genevieve, bassist Morgan Ray Denning and drummer Ashley Spungin—released its latest EP Amorum Tali in March on Eolian Records. It’s a psychedelic blast from another time and place, where black-light posters come to life. Where riffs rule (and rattle your ribcage). Where black leather and tie-dye go together and peace and love frolic on gloomy days.

It’s looking to be a busy year for the three-piece. PRE will hit the road for six weeks, but not before playing a fist-full of Portland shows, including an afternoon performance at the PDX Pop Now! fest on July 26. Then it’s back in the studio to record a full-length follow-up to Amorum Tali. I’ll just let them explain. The ladies of Purple Rhinestone Eagle took some time to talk to TDoL about music as a tool for social change, MJ vs. Prince, and giving their audiences “loin vibrations.”

TDoL: Purple Rhinestone Eagle is active in many causes for queer and women’s rights. What are your thoughts on rock ‘n’ roll as an avenue for bringing awareness?
Andrea: I feel that music can be a very good tool for social change. It doesn’t take place of the hard work that is done by activists/organizers, but music can be a great motivator. Also, it’s a great way to release all sorts of feelings and emotions. People really need that. It’s essential to feeling human.
Morgan: Also, sometimes it feels like causes can become exclusive or create divisions … music is a great connector. It brings people together to focus on the positive aspects of movements and people, rather than focusing on all the negative things that happen in the world.

You put out a zine as well …
Andrea: Well, we’re slowly working on a zine. It was mainly Ashley’s idea but we’re all going to write and contribute to it. It’s going to be an “etiquette” zine for how to respectfully approach/compliment female musicians. A lot of “compliments” we (and other female musician friends) receive actually don’t feel like compliments. For example comments like, “Wow, I didn’t expect that” or “That was great. You play like a dude,” feel really shitty because it makes you realize how many preconceived notions people have about you because you’re a lady.
Morgan: People just need to think a little bit before speaking sometimes, and we hope this zine will help with that, along with giving music-making ladies a place to share and vent about their experiences.
Ashley: We all got it pretty bad on tour, but I think I got it the most. I mean people started throwing things at me. “Hey i think you are a good drummer! Now I’m going to throw this empty beer can at you!” What? I wanted to make a PowerPoint presentation and show it after we play while we break down. The zine is a little more reasonable.

You started out in Philadelphia. What brought you to Portland?
Andrea: We went on tour with New Bloods a couple of springs ago. We were all having a tough time in Philly and we wanted a little mental health vacation. Also Portland is a great place for music so we decided to go for it and move 3,000 miles from everything we knew. Pretty romantic, I must say.
Morgan: Portland has been good to us … the scene here is incredibly friendly and supportive. We all decided playing music was one of the best things in all of our lives, so why not get serious about it? Here we can do that.

Tell me about the recording process for Amorum Tali.
Andrea: We recorded Amorum Tali in a full analog studio. The first recording we did in Portland was digital and although it sounded great, we really feel that for our sound we need to record the old-fashioned way—on tape. We recorded for about three and a half days and then mixed for about three days. It was a tedious process that turned out beautifully. We’re really excited to get in the studio again this fall. We’ve got all of these crazy ideas for this time around.

Where does the title come from?
Andrea: The title means “Talons of Love” in Latin. The “Talons of Love” concept is something that has been with us since the inception of this band. It’s kind of an inside joke that also holds great significance to us, if that makes any sense.

Aside from the more obscure music you listen to, what’s something you like that might surprise people?
Andrea: Yeah lots of weird, obscure music. But uh, I do enjoy a little Erasure from time to time. I guess that might be surprising. And despite what Ashley might say, I’m not into Journey.
Morgan: I’m actually kind of a pop punk freak … something I get picked on for, but I feel no shame …
Ashley: Late-’60s era Grateful Dead. People, give it a chance!

Andrea, what/who made you pick up a guitar?
Andrea: It wasn’t any one person that made me decide to take up the guitar although I do have some big heroes/sheroes. I just had this really strong desire to learn how to play it. I was about 15 when I started. It’s such a finicky instrument but so alluring! I’m still in the process of figuring out all its beautiful subtleties. Total life long student and super proud of it.

What influences your live performances?
Andrea: I love the way the MC5 handled the stage, James Brown, etc. Rock ‘n’ roll is this sex-love-apocalypse explosion. I love anyone who can channel that raw energy.
Morgan: I love Freddie Mercury and Iggy … they both just owned it. Our song “Loin Vibrations” is actually about the relationship between those on stage and those in the crowd … it is extremely sexual, whether you’re literally feeling the low end rumbling in your loins, or feeling the energy passing between the people involved … capturing some of that is our goal.
Ashley: Animal from the Muppets … and Ginger Baker.

And if you had to choose between …
Page or Blackmore?
Andrea: Oddly, I’d have to say Page.
Morgan: Agreed.
Ashley: Same. I just can’t get behind Deep Purple. Rainbow on the other hand …

Zeppelin or Sabbath?
Andrea: The Edgar Winter Group. Just kidding, Sabbath for sure.
Morgan: No question: Sabbath.
Ashley: Sabbath. Every. Day.

Bonham or Moon?
Andrea: Bonham. But Moon is my homie, too.
Morgan: Moon!
Ashley: I could go on about this one but I will just answer. Bonzo!

MJ or Prince?
Andrea: Prince. What a god.
Morgan: Prince … what a tiny, amazing man!
Ashley: MJ … I’m still grieving.

You have a long tour ahead. What’s life on the road like?
Andrea: We’re the type of band that likes good food and yoga on the beach. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy partying it up and staying up late, but we like to stay pretty healthy, too. And we take really long to do anything (like getting up in the morning, deciding what snacks to pick out … ).  All of our roadies attain the great patience of wise monks by the end of tour.
Ashley: Touring is like a quest to bring forth the music to the people. Each day we venture to a new location and with us we bring rock ‘n’ roll sorcery. It’s nonstop jokes, weird snacks (which, yes, sometimes take me a while to pick out), meeting great people, and getting inspired by the places we see. It’s very far out.

“Walk With the Wizard” - Purple Rhinestone Eagle

Tags: Amorum Tali, Andrea Genevieve, Ashley Spungin, Eolian Records, Morgan ray Denning, New Bloods, Portland music, Purple Rhinestone Eagle

Viva Voce, indeed

Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | 1 Comment

Not enough has been written about the vocals of Viva Voce’s Anita and Kevin Robinson. Yeah, there are the great, no-frills rock songs, Anita’s rambunctious guitar twang, and that whole husband/wife angle—but their voices will melt your heart.

Viva Voce’s (pronounced Vee-vah-VOH-chay) latest record Rose City is exactly as I said—no frills, and the songs goes down easy. The Robinsons use their tools to great effect, putting together jangly pop that could have been born in the Paisley Underground, and occasionally brings to mind the shimmering brilliance of seminal Davis, Calif. indie rockers Thin White Rope. A compliment in the highest form. Kevin even sounds a bit like TWR vocalist Guy Kyser when he reaches for that low, smoky register.

Now if you read TDoL with any regularity (and I know you do), you know I’m in love with female vocalists like Barbara Manning and Neko Case. Add Anita Robinson to that list. Her voice falls in that same sweet and silky range—never leaping where it shouldn’t—simply strong and beautiful. And her vocals become even more striking when she’s harmonizing with herself (”Good As Gold”), or with her hubby on the album’s title track. It’s no secret why she was recruited by James Mercer to sing backup with The Shins in 2007 (a tour in which Viva Voce played some dates).

It’s been three years since the release of Viva Voce’s last record Get Yr Blood Sucked Out. In that time Kevin and Anita performed as Blue Giant (a noticeably more sparse and countrified project), before spending the better part of a year building a home studio. Viva Voce released Rose City—named after the Robinson’s home base of Portland—in May on Barsuk. The record took only a month to record, which is 0.00490196078 the time it took Axl Rose to complete Chinese Democracy. Rose City blends ramshackle looseness with lush production … it doesn’t hurt that there’s not a bad song in the batch.

Viva Voce just returned home from a month of touring, which freed up Kevin Robinson to answer a few ramshackle questions. Also, not a bad one in the batch.

TDoL: You spent a month writing and recording Rose City. What was the process like?
Kevin Robinson: It was a fast process. We didn’t squeeze the life out of ideas, just let it happen naturally. We tried to capture a moment in time you know? Very few takes are more than the first one.

The production is gorgeous.
Well thank you! I’ve produced a lot of records and I’m very happy with this one.

How have the addition of Evan Railton and Corrina Repp changed the band? Do you prefer it to being a two-piece?
We added them to the live lineup after we had finished the album by ourselves. Corrina and Evan had contributed some keys and vocals to the record and it felt natural to fade them into the live sonics.

You named a record and song after Portland. It seems you two have really fallen in love with the city. How has your songwriting changed from the days of living in Alabama?
I was really young when I lived in Alabama, so my songwriting then seemed a little green. I hope I’ve matured a little with age, but truthfully I like a lot of the same stuff I liked back then. It may seem strange coming from two southerners, but we really do love living in Portland.

Your Web site says you and Anita met at a punk show in an abandoned warehouse. Who were you there to see?
I can’t really remember! The events of the show were “overshadowed” to say the least.

Do you both come from a punk background?
Sort of. “Punk” as it’s known didn’t really come through our small towns. Black Flag and Fugazi didn’t stop in Muscle Shoals! So what we had was a strange mashup of our own version of what you could call DIY, with whatever music we grew up on. There is a real purist sense of superiority with hardcore “punks,” which is understandable, but back then we wouldn’t raise an eyebrow at a band covering Led Zeppelin in any given set with their own material.

Rose City received a 7.6 from Pitchfork, which by their standards is pretty good. Do you pay attention to reviews, or sort of block them out?
I’ve never really lived my life by the validation of others, and truthfully I could give two shits as to what arm-chair journalists think of the art I make. It’s always nice to be understood and appreciated, but it would be toxic to have expectations. Rating music or art by grades is pretty juvenile in my opinion. But whatever … what do I know? I’m not getting paid by Apple to run huge banner ads on my Web site, am I?

“Rose City” - Viva Voce

“Good As Gold” - Viva Voce

Video for “Octavio,” directed by Alicia J. Rose

Tags: Anita Robinson, Barsuk Records, Blue Giant, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, Kevin Robinson, Portland, Rose City, The Shins, Thin White Rope, Viva Voce

TDoL has a Melvin …

Thursday, May 21st, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | No Comments

… not the kind I used to get from seniors in gym class … an actual Melvin. Buzz Osborne has fronted the Melvins for the past 25 years, bashing it out heavy and weird while influencing floods of bands over the years of the stoner metal ilk. Without the Melvins, there’d be no Kyuss or Queens of the Stone Age.

The band has not-so-quietly recorded 20-some albums with core members King Buzzo and drummer Dale Crover, who had a brief stint as skinsman for Nirvana during the Bleach years. Not much has changed, save for the fact that they finally added some consistent members a few years back in Big Business’ Coady Willis and Jared Warren.

The Melvins were one of Kurt Cobain’s favorites (Cobain had actually tried out for bass in the early days), which no doubt helped get the band signed to Atlantic Records in the early ’90s. In 1993 the Melvins released their Atlantic debut Houdini, a classic among the band’s followers that brought the slow and weird meat-and-potatoes sludge of songs like “Hooch” and, my personal favorite, “Teet” to a wider audience.

Almost a decade later, the Melvins were asked to play the album in its entirety at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in England. They obliged, and continue to play it today. But it’s not a case of a band resting on its laurels—the Melvins released Nude With Boots last year and, according to the outspoken Osborne, have no plans of stopping. Why should they?

The Melvins are playing a string of shows this month, including in Portland at the Roseland Theater on May 24—expect Houdini in its entirety as well as a few surprises. King Buzzo obliged to answer a few questions in his lovable, curt way—which I liken to a wedgie with words.

You’ve been playing Houdini live since performing it at All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2004. Wasn’t the album requested by someone at that festival?
Buzz Osborne: Yes this is true. They requested we play the Houdini record all the way through.

Is there an album of yours that you’d rather play live?
Not really, I guess. It’s a pretty good record for us to play all in one go. Lots of variety.

Someone else’s album you’d like to play in its entirety?
Tommy by the Who.

What do you think it is about Houdini that makes people return to it?
Do people return to it? I know we have but that’s because we know it now. Lots of our records have songs we had no intention of playing live.

Why did you choose to cover KISS’ “Going Blind” of all songs?
It’s a good song. I’ve always thought KISS had some good songs and some that were less than good. “Going Blind” is one of the really good ones.

I agree. What are you listening to these days?
Bobby Darin and Lou Reed.

I’ve read that you collect toys, but not records, which I found interesting. What’s your most prized possession?
Why is that interesting? Should I collect records? I have a ton of music and I listen to a ton of music all the time … just not on record. I don’t care what format music is on. No one should. My most prized possession would be my dogs.

Do you find that some people concentrate on the Melvins’ place in a certain time in music rather than the fact that you’re still making relevant, creative music today?
Actually, I find most people are interested in our new stuff as well as our old. I suppose some people only recognize the older elements of what we have done, but they are usually not fans of our band … so who cares what they think? I couldn’t be bothered worrying about things of no consequence.

Twenty-five years playing music … great? Surreal? Just what you do?
Of course it’s great. Doing anything for 25 years is a little surreal. What do I do? I go go go until it’s gone gone gone.

“Teet” - Melvins (Houdini)

“Going Blind” - Melvins (Houdini)

“The Kicking Machine” - Melvins (Nude With Boots)

Tags: Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, Houdini, Kurt Cobain, Melvins, Nude With Boots