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

Become a fan of The Days of Lore on Facebook, and follow moi on Twitter.

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

The Shaky Hands spin a yarn

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

My what a busy week for Portland’s The Shaky Hands. The band just released Let It Die on Kill Rock Stars, cut a new video for “Already Gone” and will throw a dual CD release party Thurs., Oct. 1 at Berbati’s Pan along with labelmates Panther.

The video is fantastic—put together by Seattle filmmaker Clyde Petersen using stop-motion—and tackles a mountain of environmental issues using only yarn and a few Lincoln Logs. Let’s just say Mother Nature (or a weird yarn monster, let’s call it a yarnster) will always take care of her own. “Already Gone” is very—and I mean very—reminiscent of early Dr. Dog. OK, it sounds like Dr. Dog. But it’s The Shaky Hands. Promise. I mean it! OK? No, really. Believe me. Seriously. Stop it. OK, I’m leaving now.

Tags: "Already Gone", Clyde Petersen, Kill Rock Stars, Let It Die, Portland, The Shaky Hands

Now You Can Win: The TDoL Thermals Contest

Monday, March 16th, 2009 | musiX | 8 Comments

I’ve made a damned fool of myself with how often I’ve mentioned The Thermals in this space. I will not apologize. Only a few weeks to go until the release of The Thermals’ new record Now We Can See (out April 7 on Kill Rock Stars).

To help celebrate the event The Days of Lore, in conjunction with the fine folks at InSound, is holding its first-ever contest called—Now You Can Win: The TDoL Thermals Contest. The winner will receive a very snazzy Thermals T-shirt, which can be viewed right … here. The winner also gets a free download of the new record. Is there any way I can enter my own contest? I’m being told that I cannot. OK then.

All you have to do is write your favorite Thermals lyric in the comments section of this post and provide your name and e-mail address. Also, if you’re on Twitter—and I know you are—Tweet your pals about the contest … Tweet, Tweet! Deadline for entries is midnight (PDT), Monday, March 30. The winner will be announced that same week on Friday, April 3, and the loot will be sent right to your door. Total retail value of this package: PRICELESS.

“Now We Can See” - The Thermals

“An Ear For Baby” - The Thermals (The Body, the Blood, the Machine)

Hutch and Kathy performing “I Let It Go” for an MTV feature on PDX music

Tags: Kill Rock Stars, Now We Can See, Now You Can Win: The TDoL Thermals Contest, The Thermals

The Thermals: Top of the pop

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 | musiX | No Comments

Like I said, you haven’t heard the last of me doting over the new Thermals album (out April 7 on KRS). A few weeks ago I posted the demo version of the excellent “I Let It Go.” Today the band released the title track to Now We Can See—a shiny, sparkly piece of pure power pop that might be poppier than anything they’ve ever popped out. If you’re not humming along to the chorus after listening, ask a friend to hold a mirror up to your mouth.

“Now We Can See” - The Thermals

Tags: Kill Rock Stars, Now We Can See, The Thermals

The Shaky Hands can’t sit still

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

Didn’t The Shaky Hands just get back from tour? No matter. This is a good one. Portland’s jangle-pop kings are headed out on the road again, this time with the brothers Meat, Chris and Curt, the Kirkwoods, The Meat Puppets.

If you live in Portland, you know The Shaky Hands. If you don’t, they play to-the-point indie rock, and I’ll wager that two or more members have the following records in their collections: Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat, R.E.M.’s Murmur and Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Essentially, you can’t go wrong by snagging the band’s latest release Lunglight (besides, TDoL would never steer you wrong).

It’s been a while since The Shaky Hands have played their hometown, and this tour is noticeably devoid of Portland dates. I’ve got my eye on you, Shaky Hands …

The Shaky Hands and The Meat Puppets:
1/13: San Diego, Calif., at The Casbah
1/14: Long Beach, Calif., at Alex’s Bar Stab City
1/15: Santa Barbara, Calif., at SoHo
1/16: Santa Cruz, Calif., at Rio Theatre
1/17: San Francisco, Calif., at Bottom Of The Hill
1/18: Petaluma, Calif., at McNear’s Mystic Theatre
1/20: Eugene, Ore., at WOW Hall
1/21: Boise, Idaho, at Grizzly Rose
1/22: Salt Lake City, Utah, at Urban Lounge
1/24: Denver, Colo., at Bluebird Theater

“We Are Young” - The Shaky Hands

Tags: Kill Rock Stars, Lunglight, The Meat Puppets, The Shaky Hands

Why? Too. ¿Qué?

Monday, January 12th, 2009 | musiX | 1 Comment

The year 2008 has come and gone. Moves to Portland completed. Elections successful. Year-end lists, compiled. It all happened so quickly. Time really does go by quicker the older you get. Which means I’m ancient.

Now it’s 2009. The other day I was thinking about how it seemed like only yesterday that everyone was ready to party like it’s 1999. It also didn’t seem long ago that I was working at Costco, ringing people up as they purchased pallets of canned food and bottled water in anticipation that the world would stand still because our computers couldn’t comprehend the digits ‘00. I’m not making this up. People really were stocking up their bomb shelters. I also witnessed an elderly man drop dead in the food court line (something I would witness again exactly three years later). Again. I am not making this up. Needless to say all this reflecting was making me feel like crap.

Then I received a package in the mail. It was a few days after the conclusion of 2008. Inside the small, slightly worn, manila envelope was a compact disc and a Post-it note that read: “Lovin’ you in Chico, CA via this perfect dose of musical correctness. Happy New Year.” Yes. My good friend’s annual year-end mix. It included some familiar names as well as a few not-so-familiars. One track stopped me dead in my tracks …

I thought guitar wankery croaked the day Kurt Cobain came in and made dolts like myself believe they could play guitar. But Marnie Stern shreds. I mean, this chick could slice open your jugular by simply finger-tapping up and down YOUR neck. But don’t let her mad skillz scare you off: Marnie Stern also writes some wicked rock songs. Her sophomore record for Kill Rock Stars [inhale]—This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That—[and, exhale] was released in October. And she’s played with some ridiculously great bands including Blitzen Trapper, Animal Collective and Battles. Not to mention she studied journalism at NYU, where she’ll perform on March 5. I love her.

Oh. And my friend who sent me his celestial 2008 mix—you can find out what else he and his pals (including myself) are listening to at Your New Favorite Song. Needless to say I feel better about 2009 and the world in general.

“Transformer” - Marnie Stern

Tags: Kill Rock Stars, Marnie Stern, This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That an, Your New Favorite Song

The Thermals: Yes they can!

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | 1 Comment

I’m going to come right out and say it: The Thermals are a great American rock ‘n’ roll band. There. I said it. The Portland three-piece has been busy putting the finishing touches on its new record Now We Can See, all while celebrating President-elect Barack Obama’s victory, celebrating Thanksgiving, recruiting new drummer Westin Glass, gearing up for a PacNorWest/Euro mini-tour and choosing which label would actually put out their fourth record … sheesh, a great American rock ‘n’ roll band’s work is never done.

In the end the Thermals’ core members, guitarist/vocalist Hutch Harris and bassist Kathy Foster (also of PDX pop punks the All Girl Summer Fun Band), parted ways with Sub Pop and went with Kill Rock Stars. The follow-up to 2006’sThe Body, the Blood, the Machine is due out April 7, with the new single coming our way in 7-inch form on March 10. The Thermals will also play two nights (December 5 and 6) at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge before heading off to Europe for some dates. TDoL recently chatted with Foster via e-mail about pop music, the benefits of signing with KRS and why Now We Can See is “such an Obama record.”

TDoL: When you think of some of the great pop songs, who comes to mind?
Kathy Foster: The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Prince, Madonna, The Who, The Zombies, Weezer, The Supremes, Built To Spill, Flaming Lips …

Tell me about the decision to sign with Kill Rock Stars … must’ve been a tough one.
Yeah, we thought a lot this year about our different options and about what label would be a good fit, or if we should release it ourselves. Over the past six months a bunch of really great indie labels approached us, but in the end Kill Rock Stars won us over with their aggressive enthusiasm and pro-artist way of doing business (they agreed to all our outrageous terms!). Plus it’s great to work with a women-run label. Maggie bakes us cookies, and Portia [Sabin, president of Kill Rock Stars] does our laundry! Another big reason is that they are in Portland now. They moved down here from Olympia earlier this year. So we’re pretty much there every day now, eating all their chewable vitamin C and playing with Maggie’s [Vail, KRS VP] dog, Jackson, who’s the best dog in the world! Yes he is!

How’s the new record coming along? Any kooky tales from the studio?
The record is pretty much done! We’re finishing up the mastering. It’s called Now We Can See and will come out April 7, if all goes as planned! In the studio, it was only John Congleton, Hutch and me, so things got a little nutty. For some reason we were all channeling Larry David, and talking in really exaggerated New York Jewish accents to each other. We went to John’s studio in Dallas to mix, and Hutch and I went to Dealey Plaza. It was eerie how there are two X’s painted on the street at the points where JFK was struck.

What are you doing differently on this album lyrically or musically?
Well, we worked with producer/engineer John Congleton for the first time, from Elmwood Recording Studio in Dallas. He has worked all across the spectrum: Modest Mouse, Polyphonic Spree, Explosions in the Sky, Smog, Erykah Badu, The Roots, Kirk Franklin, R. Kelly(!) and tons more. I just looked him up on Wikipedia, and I really think this sums him up: “Congleton’s production is usually notable by a signature dark sound and a rhythm section that is very large and enveloping.” I was gonna say he’s really into making the rhythm section (that’s all me baby!) sound big, so this album has a much bigger bottom than our others. It was almost gonna be titled Does This Album Make Our Ass Look Big?. The songs are more dynamic and more developed. Also, Hutch feels the lyrics are the best he’s ever written. Yes they are!

What are you going to write about with Dubya leaving in January?
Luckily, Obama won the election, (YES!! We are STOKED!) because this record is SUCH an Obama record. It’s mostly written from the perspective of someone who’s died and is looking back at their time on Earth, realizing their own mistakes and those humanity has made. Now we can see! Yes we can!

Track listing for Now We Can See:
When I Died
We Were Sick
I Let It Go
Now We Can See
At The Bottom Of The Sea
When We Were Alive
I Called Out Your Name
When I Was Afraid
Liquid In, Liquid Out
How We Fade
You Dissolve

“St. Rosa and the Swallows” - The Thermals (The Body, the Blood, the Machine)

“How We Know” - The Thermals (Fuckin A)

Tags: All Girl Summer Fun Band, Hutch harris, John Congleton, Kathy Foster, Kill Rock Stars, Now We Can See, The Body the Blood the machine, The Thermals, Westin Glass