Interview: Edward Nolan Reyes of The Little Ones

As we reported a week or two back, California band The Little Ones is currently on tour supporting their splendid album Morning Tide. Even after one our contributors was an unwelcomed intruder in their green room at Park West, lead singer and guitarist Edward Nolan Reyes was still nice enough to answer a few questions via email about Morning Tide, and what might be next for the band.

NQL: How much of Morning Tide was written when you realized you were being dropped by Astralwerks? And how worried were you about the state of the band, and music business, in general?

Edward Nolan Reyes: Morning Tide was already completed and already had a release date on Astralwerks. So it was a bit of a shock to find out that we were being released from the label. It was unfortunate since we really enjoyed working with all the people at Astralwerks. I think we were all a bit concerned about what was going to happen next. As everyone knows, the music industry is in a state of flux and you just don't know what's going to happen next. Luckily, Chop Shop Records came along and were very excited to release Morning Tide.

NQL: Morning Tide to my ears is a pretty great summer record. Especially the title track. Summer is festival season. Therefore, it makes sense to me that you guys should be playing a few festivals this coming summer. Shall this be the case?

ENR: Unfortunately, we have no summer festival appearances this year. We did a bunch last year here in the U.S. and in Europe. It would be nice to perform in the summer. It's our favorite time of year.

NQL: The Little Ones went from touring with the Walkmen to playing shows with Brett Dennen. That’s a bit of a musical shift. What was the main difference between the two tours?

ENR: I think the obvious difference is the type of music. The Walkmen are the ultimate indie rock band and a bit esoteric. Brett Dennen is probably a bit more accessible for the normal concert going audience. I think you have to prove yourself a bit more when you are playing in front of the Walkmen's audience. Brett Dennen's audience's welcome you right off the bat. Both were great experiences and both band's were great.

NQL: At your somewhat recent Chicago show, a contributor for NQL snuck into the green room and pretended to belong and chatted you up a bit. After telling you guys that he enjoyed your set, he said he felt genuine appreciation for the comment. Is that a product of still being somewhat blown away by the fact that you’re touring the country in a rock band, and making albums? Is the level of success you’re currently experiencing something that was envisioned when the band formed a few years back? (He also wanted to know if Red Stripe was the requested beer or if that was just standard green room beer.)

ENR: So he wasn't supposed to be there? Where's security when you need them? Just kidding. Every show and every opportunity is a blessing for us as a band. Most bands don't even get a chance to play outside their city so when you get a chance you must cherish every moment. Everything that has happened to us so far is way beyond what we envisioned. We are just grateful to be in the position we are in. Red Stripe is not normally on the rider so it was a pleasant surprise that night in Chicago.

NQL: Have you seen this cat? Thoughts?

ENR: That is the most creepiest thing I have ever seen. Is that for real? Did someone do something to that cat? That's just not right.

NQL: The standard comparisons for the Little Ones seem to be the Kinks and the Shins. Nothing wrong with that. But who are your actual influences? And are there any particular bands you’d like to tour with?

ENR: The Kinks are definite influence on us. We are deeply influenced by the music of the Motown era, Tropicalia music, and music from The Band. I think the common thread is that we are fans of pop music as an art form. If you look at these genres or band you'll notice that a great deal of attention was spent on song structure, melody, and rhythm. This is what excites us when we listen to the bands that influence us. We'd love to tour with the Flaming Lips. I think that would be the ultimate tour for us.

NQL: Another standard comment about the Little Ones is that your music is overtly happy, especially Morning Tide. Is this all just a ruse before you guys pen the greatest and most depressing break-up record since Blood on the Tracks?

ENR: Who knows? We didn't consciously set out to write a overtly happy record. It might just be in our blood since we are all from Southern California. We don't really know what the next record will sound like. I guess it will be whatever we are feeling at the time. As long as it is very honest and real.

NQL: Speaking of that, the last track “Farm Song” slows Morning Tide down just a bit. Was this strategic planning, kind of a nice rest after the party that just unfolded?

ENR: We wanted to end the record with something a bit more slow and subdued. That's why we opted for that version of Farm Song. The original version is more upbeat and used our traditional band set-up.

NQL: Any big plans for the band in 2009?

ENR: I think our main goal is to start writing and recording a new record. I think we'll be off the road for a while so we'll just hunker down in our rehearsal space and see what happens. We want to make something special and hopefully we can accomplish that.

--Alex

Interview: Scott and Grant Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit

I don’t know if Frightened Rabbit was scheduled to play any of the inaugural balls on Tuesday night (I could see Rahm Emanuel being a big fan), but the night before they did put on a great set at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Before the show, I sat down on the ridiculously uncomfortable couches in the green room to talk with lead singer and songwriter, Scott Hutchison. Not bad, after all, he did write the best album of 2008. Joined half-way through by his brother and drummer, Grant, they discussed The Midnight Organ Fight, and a life of nearly ten straight months on the road.

NQL: First off, when you scheduled this date, did you know what would be going on in DC at the time?

Scott Hutchison: I think our booking agent did. It was picked as a treat for us or something. We’re gonna check out some of the stuff that is going on tomorrow, take a walk around. But yes, I think it was purposeful.

NQL: I saw Josh Groban yesterday at the concert at the mall so tonight you have some big shoes to fill tonight.

SH: [laughs] Well, there will be slightly fewer people, but yeah.

NQL: Do you have any more plans to take in some of the events while you’re here or do you have to get right back on the road?

SH: We have to leave tomorrow afternoon for Baltimore, but that won’t be too hectic of a drive, I guess. We got some last minute shows added. Tomorrow was supposed to be our day off, but we got offered a spot and we said yes. I’ve never played Baltimore.

NQL: But you’re not taking in the Inauguration or anything?

SH: I think we’re gonna do it. We’re staying with a friend and she lives kind of close, so we’re gonna head down. When is it, like mid-day?

NQL: Noon? I don’t know.

SH: But yeah, we’re definitely going to see that. For what it’s worth, that we can actually see. Have you seen any of these before?

NQL: No. I mean, I saw Obama speak yesterday, I guess, but I’ve definitely never been to an inauguration. I saw you guys last summer with Oxford Collapse at the Black Cat, and I didn’t feel well and left after about five songs. But it seemed like you were playing The Midnight Organ Fight from the beginning. And I noticed with your recently-released live album that it’s structured the same way. And I know when I listen to that record it tells a story from beginning to end, so do you feel it almost has to be played that way, like it would be out of order any other way?

SH: We don’t anymore. There was awhile when I quite enjoyed doing it like that. I guess we played that set that way for that whole tour. But I do feel like it’s a story, and it’s fairly chronological. And we were quite happy playing it like that, but it doesn’t really bring any surprises, either, so we stopped doing that.

NQL: Speaking of that, whenever I tell people about your record, I mention “I Feel Better” which is the second track, but in that song you say something to the effect that this will be the last song I sing about you. “You” meaning the girl, I presume. And unless I am interpreting this wrong, I took it as kind of a joke because nearly every song after that seems to be about that same person.

SH: It’s not a joke. The reason it is on the front end of the album is because that was the genuine feeling at that time, unfortunately. Well, fortunately, actually because we ended up getting a whole record out of it. It could have just been an EP. But there’s definitely a reason why it’s on the front end of the record.

NQL: Gotcha. The third track, “Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms,” I probably heard that song ten times before I even noticed the lyrics, and that it wasn’t just some nice, romantic song but actually had a more bitter, funny, and sinister tone to it. Is that something you planned for the listener? To take kind of what seems to be a beautiful song, but once you peel back a layer, you realize there’s something completely different there?

SH: Yeah. I think the two parts kind of come from different parts of my brain. The music kind of satisfies the side that kind of likes that, you know, and the music doesn’t stray far from indie-guitar rock and the lyrics hopefully contrast that and have some surprises in there, and people will be like, “Whoa, did he just say that?”. But yeah, I really enjoy that contrast. It’s weird that it took you that many listens.

NQL: It really did.

SH: Personally, I’m not really a lyrics kind of guy when I listen to other people’s music. But, I definitely like that contrast.

NQL: And that might be my thing, maybe as a listener. Kind of like a Pavement thing where lyrics aren’t always necessarily meant to be heard.

SH: It’s true, and it’s kind of nonsense as well. It takes a really strong lyric to make me listen to it. But it’s definitely nice that a song can be enjoyed on both of those levels though, you know. Just as a mellower song, but with deeper kinds of levels. We’ve been doing a cover of a Neutral Milk Hotel song…

NQL: Which song?

SH: “Song Against Sex.”

NQL: Oh, yeah, first track on On Avery Island, right?

SH: Yeah. But take a song like that, and we play it, and I’m surprised I even know the lyrics.

NQL: Just curious, can you get all the syllables down like Mangum can?

SH: I kind of got it. You just have to pick where you breathe, otherwise you’ll keel over.

NQL: I can’t sing along to that.

SH: Yeah, yeah, it’s tough, it’s been tough, but I think I got it down. We’ve been playing it on a lot of cities on this tour. It’s nice to sprinkle something different in there that people aren’t expecting, otherwise it’s just the same old set.

NQL: That reminds me, I remember before The Midnight Organ Fight came out, you said you were getting kind of sick of playing the first record (Sing the Greys), and that you couldn’t wait for the next album to come out so you could start playing those songs. Do you feel that way about this record yet?

SH: No, I don’t think so.

Grant Hutchison: I don’t think we’re sick of it. It’s more just like we’re ready to do new ones on top of our other stuff.

SH: I’m not sick of it, because whenever we come back to play it in the U.S., there seems to be a whole new set of people at the shows because the way the album has grown has been quite gradual and quite consistent. So there are people who weren’t there from the start, and it’s new to them, and that makes it fresh to me. And people that have been at the shows seem to be very excited about the songs, and that kind of feeds back to us, I think, so I’m not tired of it yet. I’m tired of touring.

NQL: [laughs] It seems the album had a pretty strong word-of-mouth well after it was released.

SH: That’s it. Absolutely. Especially at the end of the tour, which I think has been heavily affected by all those end-of-the-year polls. And we got included in a lot of good ones.

NQL: You were # 1 on mind, by the way.

SH: That’s great.

NQL: A few of my friends had it farther down.

SH: That’s all right.

GH: It’s really helped, because it’s been close to a year now and there are still plenty of people who are seeing us for the first time, and it’s been ten months at least, that we’ve been touring on this album, so to still have people seeing us for the first time is pretty great, and like you said, it’s that word of mouth, slow build kind of thing. And the end-of-year lists have added to that. But most importantly, as long as the crowd is still excited, you’re going feed off of that.

SH: I know a lot of people didn’t really like Midnight Organ Fight the first time they heard it, and told me they weren’t that impressed, but then they just sort of came across a lot of the songs on shuffle on their iPod, and we’re like “Who is this?” and realized that maybe that hadn’t really given it a chance. And a lot of people then kept going back to record, and back again, and then they were just sort of addicted to it. So even then, with people who bought the record, it took them awhile to get into it and figure out what it was about.

NQL: I really liked it from the beginning, mostly because I thought “The Modern Leper” (first track) was such a strong song. But like you said, I don’t think I really “got” the album until I listened to it multiple times. And I realized there was a funny story going on, maybe not funny, but one that deserved to be paid attention to because it’s so relatable to probably 99% of the population

SH: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think that’s the reason people still come back to it is because the album really hit home for a lot of people, with normal experiences that people go through.

NQL: I feel it touches on all the right stages with anger, revenge, acceptance. It basically covers the whole timeline of a break-up.

SH: It (the breakup) happened six month prior to me writing the songs. And I was able to get a view of it from the outside and deconstruct the narrative of it. And it’s semi-fictionalized, parts of it were for effect and stuff, but a majority of it is absolutely true, and it’s not out of the ordinary. It happens to everybody, but I think because it’s such a well-trodden path, that drove me to a new way to express these things, because it’s been expressed so often, but I don’t think it has been expressed in this way, like leprosy for instance, and it drove me to try and find a new way to describe how it feels, I guess.

NQL: I couldn’t agree more. I certainly have never heard a line like, “I’m drunk, and you’re probably on pills. If we both have the same diseases, it’s irrelevant, girl.” When you write a line like that, I mean, do you laugh, or pat yourself on the back, because that’s pretty hilarious.

SH: Well, it’s funny but it’s true. And because it’s true, I’m not bothered that people find it hilarious. Some of my favorite lyricists like Nick Cave, Craig Finn, they still use a lot of humor in relation to pretty dark themes and I think it’s a really human way of dealing with a lot of things.

NQL: Especially when writing a breakup record I would think, because there’s that fear of getting pigeonholed as a whiner or “oh, man, this guy is depressing me” type of thing.

SH: Yeah, right. Otherwise it reads like sort of a "Dear Diary" entry and I wanted to be less selfish than that, and allow people to actually walk in and be the person in the song.

NQL: Backing up a bit, you said something about the year-end lists and those are just everywhere now, but obviously you guys pay attention to them, and do you find that’s true with most bands?

SH: We have the Google alerts working on our hotmail account, and everyone has one now, the blogs and stuff like that, but when you throw a lot of those together they can become a pretty powerful force. Just on a pure numbers level, album sales doubled for us I think in the middle of December until now. Actually, we went from about 350 sales a week to almost a thousand. So it’s really had a lasting effect.

GH: It’s good to find new albums as well, just to see other people’s top ten.

NQL: That’s really interesting to hear that from the other side of the fence. Because I do that, I notice. I’ll keep seeing some band name pop up and eventually I’ll feel compelled to check it out.

GH: Exactly. And since we’ve been on tour for ten months, it’s kind of hard to keep up with everything, especially with new releases week-by-week. Obviously there are certain ones you know about, and certain ones that after a month people will be talking about, so it’s good just to see what everyone else is listening to.

NQL: So you guys have been on tour for ten months. Scott, earlier I heard you say you were sick of it.

SH: It’s only because, if we had two more months of touring then I’d be in the mind frame of like, “Yeah, two more months, let’s do it.” But since we’re approaching the end, it feels more like your last week of school or something. It’s been great. I’m not sick at all of playing live. The shows on this tour especially have been great, and enthusiasm has been huge so that really helps.

NQL: So going back ten months, I guess that’s about right when the album came out, how different are things now? You must be pretty satisfied with the past year?

SH: Absolutely. I mean we never predicted we’d be headlining a show at the Bowery Ballroom, or just playing there.

NQL: That’s New York City, right?

SH: Yeah. I guess we feel now that we got everything by working very hard so that’s very satisfying to see that it actually does pay off, to just really hammer it.

GH: We haven’t really said "no" to much.

SH: We just said we’d do any shows. They can be shitty, we don’t care. And they have been shitty and incredible and everywhere in between.

NQL: What makes the difference, just the crowd?

SH: Any number of things can make a show good or shitty. It can be the room…

NQL: Speaking of which, this is a pretty sweet green room or whatever you want to call it. The 9:30 Club which I guess is the main venue in this town has nothing on this place. I’ve seen much worse than this. The couches leave a little to be desired. [Interviewer's note: The room was very spacious and had a refridgerator stocked with beer.]

SH: We played in at the Great Scott in Boston last night where your green room is the men’s toilet. Or the women’s, I guess. And when you come off the stage, you just sort of wait by the stage until you go back on. Which is pretty strange. But yeah, we’ve had some crappy venues and crappy audiences. Like the UK is not as into us as the U.S., so some of the venues we’ve played there are pretty tiny.

NQL: I remember reading something about Black Flag and how when Henry Rollins first joined the band he was bummed when only five people showed up to the show, but then (Greg) Ginn pulled him aside and said, “Those people are here to see us. It’s not their fault no one else showed up so we’re gonna put on a good show.” But how hard is it to actually do that versus saying that?

SH: It’s not hard. When we were in Austin we played for about four people in a room a little bit smaller than the one downstairs and they fucking loved it. And it probably ended up being the longest set of the tour because we were like “Well, we’re here, let’s have fun.” And you can play in front of a bunch of people and have it feel like shit or feel weird. It’s completely random, sometimes.

GH: It keeps it exciting. These past three shows have all sold out, and they have all been pretty good. And it just changes so much from city to city, especially in the States, and you can’t predict what a crowd is going to be like.

NQL: Any city or venue that has really stuck out over the last ten months?

SH: I really enjoyed Chop Suey in Seattle. You can get about 250 people in there and it seemed to be quite the exiting place. And also 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.

GH: I was just about to say Minneapolis. It’s actually part of a pretty large venue and Of Montreal was playing in the large room, and the small venue is really small, but it’s very personal.

SH: I had no preconceived notion of Minneapolis as a town. I know New York is awesome, Chicago is great, it’s always been good to us. But when you turn up in a town like Minneapolis and see a bunch of people, that is great. So yeah, Minneapolis really surprised me.

NQL: Are you getting ready to work on a new record or is that something you don’t even want to think about right now?

SH: No, I’m really starting to think about it. Now more than ever. It’s nice to be able to switch the head around and be in that mode.

GH: It’s completely different from touring.

SH: It’s completely different. Touring is not creative, and not nourishing to your brain, it’s actually damaging, and for the most part (damaging) to your body.

NQL: [laughs] And I assume you can be home when you make a record.

SH: Yeah. We plan to do that in Scotland. The reasons behind that are mostly because we miss the place. I think it will be nice to feel productive again rather than just being on automatic pilot all day. I don’t really like being on the road.

NQL: When was the last time you were in Scotland?

GH: Christmas day.

SH: Yeah, we left Scotland on Christmas day.

GH: It’s just more, in the past ten months, we haven’t had more than a period of four or five days back home.

NQL: This is going to be a stupid question, but one I have always wondered. When you’re on tour, what do you do with shit like your mail? Who looks after your place when you’re gone for ten months?

SH: I don’t have a place. My mail goes to my parents’ place but they don’t open it. I think my dad would freak if he saw the bank statement.

GH: I just moved back as well, but previously I lived with one other guy in an apartment and spent just way too much rent when I wasn’t there at all so I just moved back home. So I can come home to huge pile of bank statements and phone bills.

SH: I should be paying more attention to what’s going on in the bank but there is generally very little to look at.

NQL: Well, I am going to wrap this up, but give my friends in Chicago a good show when you go there soon. Empty Bottle, right?

SH: Yeah. We got to add another show, so now we have an early and a late show. I think Chicago is one of the places we can get away with playing more of the first album as well. Chicago kind of picked up on it quicker than anywhere in the world, I guess. In fact, there is this radio show called Sound Opinions…

NQL: Oh, sure. With Jim (DeRogatis) and Greg (Kot).

SH: Yeah, I didn’t even know they did a radio show, but the message board that is attached to the show caught on to our music very early on. And a lot of them are based in Chicago.

NQL: Actually, I remember listening to Sound Opinions earlier last year and they were talking about The Midnight Organ Fight and then they took a swipe at your name. I think they said they loved your music and played “The Modern Leper” but didn’t care for the name Frightened Rabbit.

SH: Well, “Sound Opinions,” that’s wonderfully creative. Jesus Christ.

NQL: [laughs]

--Alex

Interview: Jim Hanke of Kid, You'll Move Mountains

Illinois band, Kid, You'll Move Mountains, recently released their debut album Loomings and will play a CD release show at the Metro on January 2nd. I have been listening to Loomings for the last week and a half and can't get enough of it. But I did take a recent break and chatted with lead singer Jim Hanke about the album and other notes of interest concerning the band.

NQL: First off, can you tell me about this Ragged website contest and how Kids, You'll Move Mountains got involved.

Jim Hanke: Well, although we've been playing shows since the summer of 2006, we haven't had anything recorded until now, so we've been looking for ways to just get people to know that we exist. We're going to hit the ground running with the new album for sure, but we heard about it through Filter Magazine and thought it might be a good chance to reach people in Austin, because I guess that's where the Ragged issue will be distributed.

We all have day jobs right now and when you're tied down like that, I think finding other ways to get your name out other than just straight touring helps. Whatever that is. So if ten people pick up this free Ragged issue and give us a chance, then cool. I will say the fact that the Filter staff picked us as one of the final five though out of hundreds of entries is pretty humbling, though.
Never expected to be a finalist.

NQL: I noticed the other bands come from the likes of San Francisco and Miami and then there's you guys from "Rural Illinois." You all are city people, or at one time were city people, since I know my Land of Lincoln pretty well, where exactly is "Rural Illinois"?

JH: Four out of the five us live in Geneva, IL which is about an hour or so west of Chicago. It's a little suburb. I come from Milwaukee, which is certainly smaller than Chicago, but bigger than Geneva by a landslide, so it is a little weird reading about us and it kind of insinuates that we practice in a barn or something. But to get to where we practice in Elburn, we do have to drive through corn fields. That's definitely true. But we're honest. We don't live in Chicago. There's a lot of that, I think, where bands say they're from Chicago and are even further away from there than we are. We're proud of where we're at because we can always play in DeKalb, Rockford and Chicago. And you can get a $3.00 omelette in Geneva. We love Chicago, but a cheap omelette is pretty hard to find there.

NQL: Yeah, sometimes you'll be downstate and you'll see a flyer of band and it will say "FROM CHICAGO" in letters larger than the actual band name.

JH: Right. A lot of Milwaukee friends of mine assume I moved to Chicago and when I say it's not Chicago, they're kind of stunned.

NQL: Will the Ragged Website thing coincide with a trip to SXSW?

JH: We'd love to play SXSW. Since I was old enough to know about SXSW, I've wanted to play it. Nate and Andrew from our band played there a few times when they were in Troubled Hubble, so they're anxious to get back, too.

NQL: Speaking of Troubled Hubble, can you explain the writing dynamic in the band. Especially with Nate and Andrew coming from a Lookout! band and also, between yourself and Nina.

JH: I'm very happy that everything in our band is pretty communal. One person isn't coming with a song completely written and the rest of us fall in line, and I love that it's not that way. I'm comfortable writing all the words for Nina and I, but I am absolutely not good at telling a group of four other people what to play and when and how loud. Everyone throws in their ideas and if most of us don't like an idea, we can it. Andrew specifically, I know, wanted to try different things in this band as opposed to Hubble, so in this band he switches a lot between bass and baritone guitar, or he'll use lots of pedals along with Corey.

When we started the band, I was excited that Nina was involved because I wanted to not be the main singer for once. She was really open to me writing the words and I didn't know how I'd do that at first, writing for another person. I could totally understand how what I wanted to say might not exactly be what she wanted to say. But it's worked out really well, I think. The feedback we've been getting is that she has some pretty sinister lines and that's what I wanted all along. Not the standard 'Oh, it's a guy and a girl singing, so it's all lovey-dovey and cute all the time'. I wanted some back-and-forth that was more push-pull and I hope we accomplish that.

NQL: Have you ever written a lyric and her say something along the lines of, "Sorry, try again, I'm not singing that."?

JH: The only things that I've changed have just been phrasing, not anything as far as subject matter. Just single words that would sound too rushed or choppy, because I think I tend to overwrite as far as lyrics. I love writers like Elvis Costello or Craig Finn who write a ton of lyrics and then cram it all together so it makes for a very urgent delivery. I don't think Nina or I sing like that, but I think I try to write a novel and then cram it into the time frame. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But no, she's never balked at anything I've given her, subject-wise. We just changed one or two synonyms around.

NQL: "I'm A Song From the Sixties" is one of my favorites on Loomings. It kind of has that dance/punk sound that I don't hear as much anymore but wish I did. Does that song specifically recall some of your influences as a band?

JH: Oh, cool, thanks. It was one of the first songs we wrote. I don't know if it shows any influences specifically. We definitely never set out to write a dance song or a slow song or anything. We kind of just found that rhythm in that song and went with it. I think we all have different influences and we don't always agree, but that's good. Nate and I really like REM, but some in the band aren't as into them as we are. One of Nina's favorite pianists is Vince Guaraldi, but I couldn't tell you what else he's played other than the Charlie Brown music. Corey is big into IDM beats and I don't know much about that stuff at all. So whatever comes out I guess is just stuff we all managed to agree on. We agree on more than we disagree on, for sure. Otherwise I don't think a band could exist or grow.

NQL: Right. Backing up a bit, and I should have mentioned this earlier when talking about Illinois, but your bio has this written in it: “each voicing stories of looming autumn days that turn to the dead of winter, before each also sings of the hopefulness of spring.” I love that because it's such a Midwest mindset. And I guess my question is, do you think region actually plays a role in a band's existence and ethics, or is that something that's just often overblown by media-types.

JH: I don't know necessarily either way. I think it's silly to assume that it doesn't because your location growing up effects what you hear. Bands like Braid and The Promise Ring, being around my area, influenced me and I can't know if they still would've influenced me if I only heard their records in, say, Billings, Montana but never saw them. But I can't say that being from the Midwest has really affected the words at all. I know what you mean though about people maybe blowing a band's whereabouts out of proportion. I read blogs and with all the bands coming from Brooklyn now, I can hardly keep track. And I know that those aren't 10% of the bands in Brooklyn.

NQL: My friends and I joke about that all the time. I pretty much just assume a band is from Brooklyn until I find out they're not.

JH: We should've done that, maybe. Or just say "America."

NQL: [laughs] That would be great. "West" is another song I really like. Nina does a great job vocally. And the lyrics and those to "Volts" kind of led me to the image on your album cover. Can you tell me what's going on there, with the imagery with the whale and stuff.

JH: "Volts" is kind of this mess, lyrically, that covers music in general. Kind of like, the points of view of the fan, the critic, the band, etc. The whale line from the song is kind of a metaphor for hype. And with the art on the album, where when you open the sleeve, there is a couch, a clock and different things falling out of him, I kind of look at the design as a visual of "not living within your own hype". In anything, not just music, you don't want to get too comfortable in just what your friends or others say about you. You want to branch out, challenge yourself, etc. and I'd like to think that we try to do that. When I saw the whale design, I don't think Marky Hladish, who did our art, had any idea bout that line in "Volts". So I asked him to kind of mock something up where pieces of someone's apartment were falling out of the whale and he gave us something we were extremely happy with.

NQL: I know you all are playing Chicago on January 2nd. Anything after that?

JH: I'm not sure where we're going or what exactly we're doing after the Metro show, but we want to be as busy as possible. As busy as we can be with us just doing everything ourselves. The Metro date is just this overwhelming dream come true to me. Andrew, Nate and Corey have all played there before in other bands, but for me, it's this hallowed ground, a place where I've been to see so many amazing bands, that I never thought I'd ever ever play at, let alone headline.

NQL: I love the Metro. It's one of those places that makes you feel like you're seeing a big show no matter who is on stage. It's hard to describe. You mentioned the day job thing earlier, how difficult is it to juggle your lives with the band?

JH: Right now, it's relatively easy to juggle band and work because we're at a point where we just absolutely have to work. We get out regionally and luckily our respective employers have been cool with us cutting out early or taking a long weekend here or there. I'd love to drop everything and go out and see the country. Nate and Andrew and Corey have all done that but none of my previous bands had that opportunity, but I'm realistic with what we CAN do. Hence, something like that Ragged contest that we talked about before. Hopefully getting our name out there (helps), despite not physically being able to be in front of everyone.

NQL: I often talk to bands and ask them if they have seen any shows recently and usually I get the answer that since they are on tour so much, the last thing they want to do when they get home is go to a show. I totally understand that, but at the same time I always think that's kind of unfortunate. With KYMM touring, do you find yourself a bit more reluctant to spend off nights inside some rock club watching another band?

JH: I definitely go to less shows than I used to, but I think that's more due to location and not due to playing in a band. I always try to go out and support my touring friends when they come through DeKalb, but it's harder to get out to the city on a Monday night at 10pm when I live an hour away. We have a pretty tight group of friends who play around Wisconsin and Illinois who are always there for us, so we want to be there for them, too.

--Alex

Interview: Chris Chu of The Morning Benders

Again, it's summer time. At least it feels like summer, although here in DC it feels like a sweltering swamp in hell. (I feel I was not adequately warned about this; I'm moving back to Chicago.) But more importantly, now is the time to find that great summer record/band. This month I'm going to recommend the Morning Benders of Berkeley. Their album, Talking Through Tin Cans, came out last month and I briefly caught up with lead singer/guitarist Chris Chu over email to discuss the album and their influences. (Please note, as you will see, I did not receive an answer to my Bash Brothers question which I was very proud of. They may have been a bit before Chris' time. In retrospect, I should have brought up the "tuck rule" instead.)

NothingQuiteLike: How did you all get hooked up with the Kooks for this current tour?

Chris Chu: Jonny (Kaps of Plus One Music) introduced them to us and we got to do a couple of "intimate" shows with them in LA. "intimate" for the kooks, but some of the biggest shows we ever played. they are super cool and humble dudes, and we got along really well. then they asked us to come on the full us tour with them. we were pretty excited, to say the least.

NQL: I saw you guys opened up for the Cure* in Washington (state) not that long ago. Tell me about it!

CC: (It was) amazing. That was our first time going to Washington, and getting to play the Gorge, of all places!! Amazing!!! That is one of the venues I've only seen pictures of, but have wanted to go to for a long time. It was pretty awesome getting to go there for the first time to play a show.

NQL: You guys have a pretty nice breezy sound, which I would assume is kind of facilitated by your California roots. Who did you all grow up listening to that influenced your sound?

CC: This first album is very much influenced by a lot of 60's and 70's pop and rock bands and artists. Beatles, Beach Boys, Neil Young, Dylan, Phil Spector, etc... This was some of the first music we felt really passionate about, we were pretty much listening to old stuff exclusively. No new music. It definitely influenced the sound of the songs on Talking Through Tin Cans.

NQL: Speaking of which, you all come from Oakland. Care to share your favorite Bash Brothers memory? And wait, are you guys from Oakland? I've also read San Francisco, Berkeley, and Sac-town. Help out this Midwesterner, which is it? And why is San Jose not getting any love?

CC: Haha. We live in the East Bay. Oakland/Berkeley. We say San Francisco to a lot of people from other states, just because it's more recognizable. Sorry for the confusion.

NQL: Your cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying" sounds great. Whose idea was that?

CC: Thanks! I just recorded that one on a whim at home. There wasn't really an idea behind it - just liked the song.

NQL: Your debut album Talking Through Tin Cans came out on Tuesday the 6th of May (the track "Waiting for a War" is catchy as hell, btw). Were you at all nervous that people would have been too hungover from Cinco De Mayo to make it to the record store the next day? And I'm sure someone out there has already been listening to Talking Through Tin Cans for awhile. I'm always interested to get up-and-coming bands' thoughts on (illegal) downloading because it is people like you that this phenomenon probably impacts the most. Does the rush that people are listening to your music trump the fact that they're not paying for it?

CC: think it's great. I think the internet is a WONDERFUL and SCARY place. I encourage people to download music, especially new music, because it only leads to new fans / but I also encourage people to support music. If you downloaded the album, go to a show, buy a t shirt, buy the CD directly from the band. Do something to support the people who are making this stuff!

NQL: You guys just played the Vic in Chicago on the 2nd. How was it?

CC: This was our first time to Chicago, and it was killer. It's the first big city we hit after going through all the states in the middle. And it was really nice to get a good, healthy meal.

NQL: Your sound has been compared to the likes of the Beatles, the Shins, Tom Petty, and the Kinks (the Kinks is my call, btw). How much are these comparisons a blessing and how much are they a curse? Seems like that could be a lot of unneeded pressure to have those names casually thrown around.

CC: Those bands are all pretty commemorated bands, so I don't think we can take it any way but as a compliment. I don't feel much pressure from those comparisons. I don't think we sound like any of those bands really, but I also think I am probably the worst person to judge/describe our music. I just hope people use the comparisons as a jump-off point, not an end-point. I hope people listen to the music and it hits them in a unique, personal way.


*Granted, it was at Sasquatch, but I think that counts.

--Alex

Interview: Bry Webb of the Constantines

For nearly a decade, the Constantines have been churning out album after album of compelling, catchy, emotionally resonant music. On the heels of their outstanding new album Kensington Heights, songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Bry Webb discusses with NQL the process if the album's creation, the celebration of normal life, and the best Canadian bands you never heard of.

Nothing Quite Like: Kensington Heights has a live feel to it--the ebb and flow of a concert. The vocals are very "close" and I hear a lot of natural ambience/echo. Was this intentional? What did you do differently in the studio this time around?

Bry Webb: We didn't (do) much differently in regards to recording techniques, we were in the same studio (Hallamusic in Toronto), with the same engineer (Jeff McMurrich) as on Tournament of Hearts. The biggest difference was the amount of time we had on this record. Tournament was recorded relatively quickly, between long tours, and Kensington Heights was made over three or four months, which was a great luxury. I think we've just figured out that the best songs we've got were conceived as live performances, rather than studio bits.

NQL: On Kensington Heights I get a strong sense of forward movement, and of leaving and returning. Is it a stretch to relate these feelings to your sojourn from Three Gut to Sub Pop to Arts & Crafts? Even though you never left Canada, you recorded for a label headquartered in the U.S. Do things feel any different now? What drew you to A&C in the first place?

BW: We've definitely had a lot of change and movement in our lives, together and apart, over the last few years. At this age though, I think everyone gets a bit reflective or self-conscious about changes in life and work. Three Gut Records was a very collaborative, open, creative family, which was wonderful in our formative years as a band. We learned nearly everything we know about being a band from Royal City and Oneida, our early tour mates. Sub Pop was incredible as well, in that we just looked up to everyone there so much. They've been great friends to us. That relationship won't change. And now, Arts & Crafts has taken us on, and we're just beginning to see what they're capable of. Their energy is amazing, and it feels like we've come into another great creative community. And it's good to have the business side of what we do back in Toronto, closer to home.

NQL: What is your songwriting process? Do you come to the studio with everything prepared, or do you work off the cuff on arrangements and so forth? How much room do you give songs to change and grow after they're written?

BW: I think we just try to have songs worked out as interesting live performances before we go into the studio to record. We don't have any real system for writing songs, though. Sometimes they're collaborative ideas and sometimes private ideas, brought to the practice space. We're pretty democratic about most of what we do. I'm certainly not much of a band leader.

NQL: "New King" is flat-out one of the best songs I've heard in a long time, and I cringe asking you to discuss a specific song, but can you talk about "New King"'s origins?

BW: Most of the songs I write are little tributes to specific people in my life, who I think are surviving or defining themselves in great ways. "New King" is a song I wrote to celebrate my friends The Kings having a baby girl a few years ago. They left Toronto about five years ago, and moved to the Yukon Territory, one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Most people I know are living lives worth celebrating, so I've got subjects for songs all over the place.

NQL: Kensington Heights is more subdued than your older material. Do you feel like you're filling the role of elder statesmen or sages telling the young turks how it be? (I'm thinking of "Our Age" and "Time Can Be Overcome" in particular.) What accounts for this maturation? Does age really make all the difference?

BW: I think after nine years as a band, we've become pretty comfortable with the idea of space in songs. We don't all have to be playing at top volume all the time anymore. And as I said earlier, at this age it's pretty natural to get reflective or to think a lot about Time as a major creative force.

NQL: Earlier this year, an unmixed version of Kensington Heights leaked onto the Internet. What's your stance on this phenomenon? Inevitable consequence of the information age or bane of your existence? What did you do when you found out your new album leaked?

BW: As long as people are interested and seeking out new music, I'm pretty content with all that. Of course, it's good to pay people for the work they've done. It wasn't too much of a problem to us, other than the fact that the leaked version wasn't a final master. It felt like a bit of a misrepresentation.

NQL: A couple months back I found a used copy of the original pressing of your debut, and I love the packaging (I had the album digitally before). Years ago, I read that only 1000 copies of the CD were pressed, and the band and the folks at Three Gut created each piece by hand. First, how true is this anecdote? Was this out of necessity, or was it more a matter of commitment to the craft? How involved were/are you at every level of production and manufacturing at Three Gut as opposed to Sub Pop as opposed to A&C?

BW: I think we ended up putting together about 2000 copies of the first CD package with our friends and some of the label folks. Dallas (Wehrle, bass) is exceptional at designing die cuts for these things, and his sculpture work reflects that. The mutated airplane on the new album cover is one of his sculptures.

NQL: Who in the band still works a day job? What are the best and worst jobs you've had (apart from "professional musician")? I worked briefly in a machine shop running a "broach," i.e., a huge, dangerous machine that required me to put my fingers far too close to two giant blades. At the time I was probably 21 and didn't appreciate the hourly peril I was in.

BW: Some of the guys work day jobs between tours. Bars, restaurants, etc. The kind of jobs that afford you as much time off as you need to tour and record. The worst job I had was probably at a wholesale tree and plant nursery, weeding and repotting plants all summer when I was a kid. It was great being outdoors and all, but I was stung by five bees in one day while working there, and the boss was the kind of guy that would say, "Bryan, to ASSUME makes an ASS out of U and ME." The best day job I had was working as the music director for a community radio station in London, Ontario. I was probably only making $4 an hour, but the program director, Michael, and I took it upon ourselves to get the most outlandish free stuff through advertising. We had theme park tickets, paint-ball passes, and helicopter rides rolling in. I was constantly up to my eyeballs in new music. Wonderful.

NQL: Left-leaning young Americans declare their disgust with this country's terrible predicament by saying, "That's it, I'm moving to Canada." What, in your view, would be the advantages of expatriation?

BW: If you do it right, you've got universal healthcare, better social programs, grants for artists and musicians, and more wide open space. Come on up. You can all work as tree-planters for a few years in Northern British Columbia. Then we'll consider you honorary Canadians.

NQL: What did you listen to growing up? Are there any unsung Canadian bands we should be aware of below the 49th parallel? The only exposure to "Canadian" music I had as a kid was Rush, BTO, and The Tragically Hip--the latter only because I was friends with the son of a Canadian diplomat.

BW: Eric's Trip, The Wooden Stars, Hacksaw, Union of Uranus. Those were some Canadian bands I loved growing up. Best kept secret in Canada right now is a band from Ottawa called The Empiricals, who also go by The Hilotrons or Hylotrons I think. Does everyone know the Sadies by now? Hope so.

NQL: Who are your stand-by artists, the ones you can put on at any time and enjoy?

BW: Castlemusic, Reigning Sound, Oneida, The Reveries, The Clean, Oakley Hall, Skip Spence, anything on Drag City.

NQL: If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

BW: Jim Henson. That guy had the right idea, man. Invent your own weird and beautiful world, and live there.

NQL: What era or movement in pop music is your favorite and why?

BW: Now is good, 'cause it's happening now. Genres disappearing.

NQL: What occupies you other than making music?

BW: Watching my lady dance, fishing with my father, trying to relearn 360 kickflips, bacci in the Park, and kratom.

--Brian Herrmann

Photo courtesy of Jack (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sevres-babylone/292804107/). Apologies for thievery.

Interview: Andrew Juggernaut and Daniel Stricker of Midnight Juggernauts

We love our loyal Australian readers. So on the heels of reviewing a Cut Copy show, NQL presents an interview with Andrew Juggernaut and Daniel Stricker from the Aussie trio Midnight Juggernauts. Fresh off a set at Coachella, they were in town last week and played a rather frenzied show at the 9:30 Club. A few hours before hitting the stage, and in between checking their email, they talked about their tour, chili dogs, and their quest to find good coffee in the States. Midnight Juggernauts debut album, Dystopia, comes out in the States on May 27th.

NQL: You guys came here from Montreal, is that correct?

Andrew Juggernaut: We came from….let’s see, where were we? We’ve been moving around so much sometimes we forget. But yes, our last show was in Montreal and we’ve done a few shows in the U.S. so far and it has all been pretty great. I think we all really like coming here, it’s an exciting place.

NQL: You talking DC or the states?

AJ: Just the States in general.

Daniel Stricker: This is our first time in DC. Last time we were over here we played Philadelphia and New York but we never made it down here, so it’s pretty cool to be here. And this venue is amazing.

NQL: Yeah, it seems like a lot of good acts pass through here. I just moved from Chicago and I saw you guys played the Double Door a couple of day s ago. That’s one of my favorite venues. How was the show?

AJ: It was fun.

DS: Yeah, it was really good.

AJ: That’s the thing, all of the venues we’ve been playing have been very good with great production. And the crowds have been great. We’ve been able to go out to a few places that we hadn’t been to. Today is kind of an example. We drove in today, and just drove around and looked at all of the sights.

NQL: What’s it like for a first-timer in DC?

AJ: Well, you already have a bunch of images in your head from film, just like the White House and all these other things you see a lot, and we literally just drove straight in and drove in circles checking things out.

DS: We did the same thing when we went from Coachella to Denver and went through Vegas. We drove straight down the strip.

AJ: Yeah, and it was like “There’s that. And that. And that…”

NQL: I’ve never been to Vegas.

AJ: It’s a strange place. It’s kind of cool, it’s like a much bigger, much larger scale version of a place back home called the Gold Coast. It’s on the Australian coast and it has been sort of set up like that.

NQL: By the way, I want to let you know when I get home and listen to this tape these Australian accents are really going to screw me up, so let me apologize in advance when you're all misquoted.

AJ: [laughs] But yeah, in terms of Washington, we haven't really had a chance to hang out here. Hopefully, we’ll be here later tonight because I don’t think we’re leaving until much later. It’s just good going to all these cities because they all feel like music cities. Everyone talks about New York and places like that, but everywhere we’ve been has been cool.

NQL: Had you played Chicago before?

DS: Once.

AJ: Yeah, we played at the Metro last year when we were touring with Justice, and that’s, you know, a really beautiful place.

NQL: You brought up Coachella. How was that?

AJ: Yeah, I mean, it was pretty amazing. I think most bands would dream of playing it and I had this idea with the audience in the desert in the middle of nowhere and I really built my hopes up but it was one of those occasions where it really did live up to it. The way it looks is incredible. It’s very surreal, like some sort of oasis in the middle of nowhere. It was such a cool festival and we had a really good show and it was great fun playing. And seeing all these mountains in the background and palm trees in the middle of nowhere. It’s just a crazy landscape. But it was just a lot of fun and we hung out for the three days and got to see lots of bands.

NQL: Yeah, who did you check out?

AJ: Umm, the second and third day I saw more than I did on the first day. But the first day was Jack Johnson, and yeah, I didn’t see him. We saw our friends Cut Copy. Some of the bigger acts…Roger Waters was pretty amazing. Portishead was really good.

NQL: I heard that Roger Waters’ pig floated away.

AJ: [laughs].

DS: I’m pretty sure that was meant to happen, I don’t know what everyone was talking about. Let’s see, who else…I really wanted to see Animal Collective but I didn’t get a chance to. I saw a bit of the Breeders, who were okay, they weren’t amazing even though I’m a big fan. There were a lot of bands that we’ve played with that were on the festival that we have seen a whole lot of times which would have been cool to see. But for a lot of the festival we were busy with stuff so we missed out on some people we wanted to see. But we still got to see a lot of bands at the same time.

NQL: Moving on, have the David Bowie comparisons lost their novelty yet? I feel like I see that every time I read about you guys.

AJ: I’ve never taken that too seriously. He’s obviously an iconic artist and amazing. I think sometimes Vincent (Vendetta) unknowingly sounds like him and I think that’s why people do it, because vocally sometimes he does sound like David Bowie.

DS: It’s not an intentional thing.

AJ: [laughs]. He’s a great artist who has done so many things, so obviously it would be nice to try and have a career as long as his.

NQL: When is Dystopia coming out in the states?

AJ: It comes out May 27th?

DS: Yes, May 27th.

AJ: It has been released online, you can get it on iTunes but it actually comes out on the 27th.

DS: A lot of people have it already from downloading.

NQL: Yeah, how does that feel for a band your size? I would think it’s a cool feeling for you to be able to realize that a lot of people all over the world are listening to your music but, then again, a lot of people all over the world aren’t necessarily paying for your music.

DS: Well, it’s like our first record so it is good to get your music out there.

AJ: I think it kind of builds a fan base for us internationally that we wouldn’t have had. And we want everyone to buy the record and understand the implications of that. But through our experience, it (downloading) has helped. I still think we’re still very much on an underground level so many people haven’t heard our record and if you reach them may go out and buy it. So a lot of people have gotten it online, but that means when we go to strange places in Europe or when we’re touring here, they may show up.

NQL: Do you think it’s an advantage to have an album come out on iTunes before it actually hits the stores?

AJ: Yeah, definitely. The album came out on iTunes in the U.S. when it did and it kind of coincided with our tour. So it was really nice for people coming to our shows to have access to the record. So yeah, I think it definitely works to release it online first. I’m not quite sure what the sound difference will be, with the digital vs. the CD.

NQL: I feel like no one cares anymore. If people can get music on their computer they don’t care what the quality sounds like.

AJ: Yeah, yeah. I still like to have all the packaging and the booklets and stuff. And the album art. But yes, May 27th, the album comes out.

NQL: I was telling a friend about your band and he asked me what you sounded like and I didn’t really know what to say so I just kind of put the album on and hit play. I find your music hard to describe, I know what other people describe it as, but do you like that your music isn’t that easy to put into a niche?

AJ: Yeah, that’s always cool. We’re not the best ones to ask when wanting to describe our sound. Lots of stuff get thrown around. It doesn’t really matter, people call it what they want. I guess it more broadly gets put into an electronic thing, even though we don’t really see ourselves as an electronic band. We really very much like rock and have a rock background. And we do just sort of blend a lot of things.

DS: It’s a mish-mash. I would hate to be too pigeon-holed.

AJ: But it definitely comes out like our own sound.

DS: And if you say that and actually believe that, then that is a good thing rather than us having to say, “Oh yeah, we don’t sound like anybody.”

NQL: You mentioned you toured with Justice and now you’re headlining a tour. How noticeable is the difference?

AJ: Well, it’s a very different kind of experience. Stepping into a tour, like the Justice tour, when they were blowing up and were really unknown over here and we came along and were just treated amazingly well by them on that tour. We had the opportunity to play to like thousands of people every night. And we played to packed rooms every night and we were really introducing ourselves and we didn’t have the pressure of that being our tour. It was kind of an amazing experience and it meant we were able to come back now and do our own tour. And it’s different because now it’s about us, and trying to promote an album. So we’ll probably come back a few times the next months to really support the album, but we’re still really introducing ourselves. But the Justice tour was great because we got a lot of new fans out of that. It’s constant building, and we’ve always kind of been like that. It’s a gradual process or rise or whatever, and it has felt very organic the way we have done it. And I think the U.S. is the last continent that we hit, we had been to Europe a couple times and we had done a lot in Australia, so it has been about spending a lot of time here, building a profile, and do a lot of playing here.

DS: Yeah, and people are nice to us. And, the chili dogs.

NQL: Oh, did you get any chili dogs in Chicago?

DS: Oh yeah, they were amazing.

NQL: Where did you go?

DS: Well, our manager is from Chicago so he took us to some place. Tell me some names and I might remember.

NQL: Okay, there’s Portillo’s. And Murphy’s. Hot Doug’s.

AJ: [laughs].

DS: I got one across the street from the Metro but that’s not what I’m thinking of.

NQL: Oh, I know exactly what you’re talking about. Damn, what is that place called. I’ve stood in line at that place many times late at night.

DS: And there’s a place down the road here called Chili Bowl or something.

NQL: Ben’s Chili Bowl! Yes, that’s good stuff. Apparently Bill Cosby is a regular there.

DS: Yeah, that’s what we were told.

NQL: Going back to what we were talking about earlier before, although I would love to keep talking about chili dogs, now people are here at the venue most likely to see you. That has to be some added pressure.

AJ: Yeah, I guess so. Whenever it’s a show that you’re putting on, you’re so much more involved with the whole set up of it all. With the bands that are on tour with you, to the press promos, you’re just much more involved and invested. So I think it’s a lot more rewarding when you have those shows and they go well. And this tour, places like Washington where we haven’t been, or like Denver, we’ve had great turnouts and it has been really cool.

NQL: What could you tell me about the music scene in Australia?

AJ: Australian bands were always kind of straight ahead rock. Kind of rough and tough rock bands. It has only been very recently where there has been this kind of dance music scene and we’ve sort of had our footing in there. We’ve always been a bit of a “live” band playing at all the live venues and we’ve always played with a lot of indie rock bands. And there wasn’t much out there like what we were doing and now it’s a really big scene, it seems. We’ve had a lot of recent success there. And you know, there's also bands like Cut Copy whose album is doing really well. It’s kind of all crossing over to the mainstream. And we kind of left when it was on the cusp of happening because we started touring, and now it’s kind of taking over.

DS: At the same time, we kind of all do very different things. Although everyone in that scene sort of gets clumped together.

[At this point, I had a really awesome question to ask, but someone was banging on a bass drum during sound check and it really screwed up my train of thought.]

AJ: Do you want anything to drink?

NQL: Uhh, sure.

AJ: Let’s see..there is Coke and water.

NQL: Coke will be fine, thanks.

DS: Can you get me a Coke, too?

NQL: [hands me a Coke]. Thanks. You guys are all pretty energetic on stage. Is that something that’s hard to maintain night after night on the road?

DS: It used to be tougher. It does get a bit strange. But now it’s not so bad because we have a good crew of people that we’re working with. And they make it a lot easier for us. We just sort of get to the venue, check our email, do sound check, check email, play, check our email, then get on the bus and check our email. We just get into a routine.

AJ: I guess having energy on stage has never been a problem. As we play more shows, we get more confident, and the more confident you are, the more free you are on stage and not be so worried about what you’re playing. And that allows for a lot more energetic show and for us to do random, stupid things.

[Daniel left the interview at this point to go tend to sound check duties, I believe.]

NQL: I’ve never really had any inkling to be a musician but I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to be on the road and tour.

AJ: It’s a lot of fun. And the thing is we’re just now releasing an album internationally. And in Europe we had a lot of shows, and it’s just good to make the most of it until we’re jaded later on. [laughs].

NQL: When the album comes out and is reviewed by certain sites that have a lot of influence for whatever reason, how much will you pay attention to those reviews?

AJ: It’s just something that you have to deal with. We’ve had a lot of good reviews and we’ve had a lot of bad reviews. I think that it’s easy to take it personally but you just have to have confidence in what you are doing and you can’t be affected by it because that’s just how it is. I know personally I’m not too affected by it, but I always read reviews of the band and I can tell if the criticism is valid or if it’s not. You want good reviews in all the important publications but it just doesn’t always happen and that’s just the way it is.

NQL: When you get off the stage, can you immediately tell whether it was a good show or a bad show?

AJ: Umm, sometimes, yeah. It can be hard because you have a different perspective of what’s going on onstage. The way it sounds onstage is different from the front. And obviously the crowd is a part of it and they help determine when it’s initially kind of good, if the crowd is reacting well to it. You know, it’s really bad when shit fucks up, or something breaks on stage. When stuff like that happens and you can’t really do anything about it and I think those are the times when you just have to make something good out of it because I think people, even though you hate seeing things go wrong, they appreciate that “chance” for things to go wrong. That’s what makes things interesting about a show.

NQL: What does the average American need to know about Australia? Besides Paul Hogan.

AJ: Yeah, yeah, we tend to play up that angle in interviews and try and tell people that’s what it’s like, with kangaroos on the streets and it’s just a big desert. But what a lot of people don’t know is that Melbourne, where I live, is a very European city, and it has a really big art and music scene. For live music and lots of different types of art, it’s just a really strong and creative city. It’s like a lot of other cities, but there are still elements outside of the cities in the suburbs that I’m sure you could hit a lot of the stereotypes and clichés out there. But Daniel is from Sydney, so he’d probably have other views. It’s kind of interesting because Melbourne and Sydney are kind of the two main cities where everything is sort of happening in Austrailia. Sydney is a lot bigger and really kind of crazy. Melbourne actually really reminds me of Chicago in some ways. What else…we have beautiful, amazing beaches and the food is incredible. One thing I do find is that the coffee in Melbourne is still the best in the world. I’m a big coffee person.

NQL: Me, too.

AJ: We are always hunting for good coffee when we’re on tour. I’m always obsessing about it.

NQL: So what’s it like being in the country with the worst coffee?

AJ: Well, so far there was a great place in San Francisco right near the venue we played. I haven’t had a chance yet in DC yet to find anything. There’s a site called Coffee Geek that’s like a map of good coffee across America that helps us out.

--Alex

NQL Interviews Patrick Hallahan of My Morning Jacket

Chicago is no stranger to My Morning Jacket’s ability to "leave everything on the stage" during the nine plus years of traveling up Interstate 65 from the biggest city in Kentucky. As the Kentucky Derby and one the most anticipated albums of the summer are on the horizon, Louisville’s most famous drummer took some time to talk about Vishnu, limestone cuisine, Montel Jordan and the theft of Blossom’s Air Jordans.

NothingQuiteLike: I’ve seen you at the gym recently. So, now is the time to come clean, how much ya bench?

Patrick Hallahan: Right now I’m benching about 5 benches, 4 kittens, and a bean. On the elliptical machine, I’m running about 20,000 leagues. It’s all about getting stamina up for future touring.

NQL: It was just announced that you will be playing once again in the heralded "midnight slot" at Bonnaroo this year. Can you give us any hints as to how you plan to top your extremely awesome performance of two years ago?

PH: Hiring Vishnu to hover over the entire audience has proven to be a little out of our budget, so we’re going back to the drawing boards for the next bright idea. Other than that, we offer two years of rest, insight, and growth…who knows what the hell that will yield.

NQL: Does the band prepare itself differently for a festival appearance like Bonnaroo versus, let’s say, your upcoming 22-minute sold out performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York? If so, how?

PH: Every event is different in feel and meaning, and is treated as such. We love figuring out the spirit of the place and adapting our set list and/or stage to the occasion. There are few things better in life than getting that mixture perfect…

NQL: I believe the upcoming album, Evil Urges, is the first album that has all five members of My Morning Jacket returning from the previous album. What, if any, affect did this have in preparing and recording the new album?

PH: Stability. Comfort. Trust. All the things you need when creating an anchor for your next stretch.

NQL: Music critics often praise the band for the ability to constantly evolve its sound from album to album. Do you think that explains the bands viability and continued growth over the past few years. Additionally, what if anything, did you draw inspiration from in making Evil Urges.

PH: Each album is a measurement of where we are in our lives, and therefore it will always be different.

NQL: It seems like it has been an eternity, at least in My Morning Jacket touring years, since your performance at Lollapalooza last summer. Other than record/finalize Evil Urges, how have you occupied your time?

PH: I gave up street fighting, so I’ve been kinda restless. Lots of family time, cooking, exercising, listening to music, playing with two kittens my wife and I adopted from the humane society, missing playing live, and missing my boys. MY FRIENDS!

NQL: I can’t remember the band ever taking such an extended break in touring. And by doing so, the band made a conscious decision to forego having a show in Louisville for an indefinite period. As one proud Louisvillian to another, what would you say to those fans that are frustrated over not having a local show in over 15 months?

PH: WE LOVE LOUISVILLE. There was NEVER a "conscious decision to forego having a show in Louisville." We took time off, an album had to be made….end of story.

NQL: Since this music site is based out of Chicago, I seldom get the opportunity to talk about how proud I am of our hometown. When you are out touring, and someone asks you about Louisville, or to describe our city, what do you tell them?

PH: I usually say "it’s a city that doesn’t know if it’s northern or southern, rural or urban, and therefore has it’s own identity." People from Louisville are proud citizens, and those who visit pick up on that immediately.

NQL: My Morning Jacket has always seemed to have the support of the Chicago music fan. Is there a specific show that you remember in Chicago and why?

PH: We’ve played Chicago so many times it’s not even funny, and each one is amazing in it’s own way. There are certain cities that BRING IT every time, and Chi-town is among the best. Plus, Louisville and Chicago have had a special bond for the last 20 years. Our music scenes have lived harmoniously. Ps: Thanks Touch and Go/Quarterstick.

NQL: Waterworld was a critical and commercial failure--one of the worst of all time. However, with age and further consideration, the film presents a particularly cogent view of our possibly dystopic near-future. If you had to, could you grow gills? That first liquid breath would be tough, but after that I bet it would be gravy.

PH: I’m pretty adaptable, Matt. I would desperately try to grow gills, but if that wasn’t going so smoothly, I’d call my old friend, Ed Harris, and see about getting that oxidized red liquid they used in The Abyss for deep sea diving.

NQL: Morgan Freeman is president. Tea Leoni is the most trusted face in cable broadcast news. Two meteors--the smaller one cleaved off the larger one in a failed attempt to avert cataclysm--are hurtling toward earth and you've just been selected to live out the two-year nuclear winter in an elaborate series of caves in the limestone beneath Missouri--but you can only take with you that which you can carry. What do you pack?

PH: I over pack for anything I do, so I’d try to fit in: my wife (unless she could come too, then we’d split the payload), my kitchen aid (for making delicious limestone cuisine….see ya, teeth), my toothbrush (only one, though, since I’ll be eating limestone), dentures with reinforced chompers, Super Polygrip® to hold those badboys to my gums, Kombucha tea, my camera, pictures of my family and friends, and probably a few bottles of vodka…being trapped in a cave system for 2 years would really suck.

NQL: You are back in the old conversion van on tour, and you’re sitting in shotgun. You get to choose an album for each member (including yourself) that you feel either encompasses that person or their musical tastes, what would be played. Feel free to elaborate.

PH: Bo: Boyz II Men "Phillihighharmony"
Carl: Third Base "Pop Goes The Weasel"
Two-Tone Tommy: Montel Jordan "This Is How We Do It"
Jim: Rick Astley…entire catalogue…with matching dance moves
Patrick: Public Enemy "Apocalypse ’91"

NQL: It’s no secret among that you and Jim have been friends since you were little kids. Could you tell the fans something they might be surprised to know about him or your guys’ childhood? Additionally, did you ever have that "aha" moment growing up where you knew that you two would become rock stars? If so, when?

PH: Let’s see…we were kids that grew up right down the street from eachother. We enjoyed video games, playing outside, listening to music, spending the night at friends’ houses, making bike ramps, lighting fireworks, hoopin’ it up, being awkward, building forts, causing what we thought was "trouble," having Little Debbie® eating contests, lighting fires, and smelling like outside. Completely different than any other childhood.

I think my first "aha" moment was when….oh wait, that hasn’t happened.

One regret: we lived right around the corner from Scott Carney and didn’t even know it. How the hell did that happen??? Oh well, we’re making up for lost time now. We have a date with secret the bike track near Bradford Grove in one hour.

NQL: I know you are now a married man. However, assuming that wasn’t the case back in 1992, where you more of a Six guy or did you like your girls in Air Jordan like Blossom?

PH: I need substance, not vacancy. Blossom…but I’d steal her Air Jordans while she was sleeping, and burn that hat. Maybe then, just then, I could jump over a campfire without burning my ass.

--Matt Farra

Interview: Ben Swanson, Secretly Canadian Label Head

Ben Swanson, who runs Secretly Canadian with his brother Chris and friend Jonathan Cargill, took time from his hectic schedule to dish on the label's history, its day-to-day operations, its philosophy, and its unsung heroes; to hint at what's in store in the coming year; and to profess his love for Prince and the one-hit-wonders of the 1980s.

Nothing Quite Like: When did you decide to start a label (in your mind, not on a timeline), and when did you realize it would be viable long-term? For readers who don't know, would you give a brief history of Secretly Canadian?

Ben Swanson: I was in high school in Fargo, North Dakota. My older brother, Chris, had moved to Bloomington to attend IU a couple years earlier and began working at the college station, WIUS (now WIUX). He kept sending back all this great new music that was barely available in Fargo.

This was 1994/95/96, so finding independent music was still something of a treasure hunt. I was getting ready to graduate, and knew I needed to get out of Fargo and do something; really anything, I was just really restless in Fargo--I'm not sure if it's a product of a just having grown up there, or the over-riding sense that you're honestly in the middle of nowhere with little hope of making any sort of impact outside the immediate region. Somewhere along the line Chris met Jonathan Cargill (they worked together in a dormitory cafeteria) and Eric Weddle (at WIUS) and the idea was floated to start a label. We had no idea how, just knew there were all these great bands in Bloomington being overlooked. Eventually in the summer of '96 I moved out to Bloomington and we went to work.

Eric eventually left to start his own Family Vineyard label; it was totally amicable, and we're still very much friends.

NQL: What's a typical day for you? For the label? What's the general vibe in your office?

BS: I usually get up and check email before work. I come to work, check email all day. That's the bulk of it. Going to shows, etc., is obviously huge…this sounds really boring…basically it's a lot of logistics, putting together marketing plans, having publicity meetings, talking (with) bands, booking agents, etc…the vibe is pretty loose here, there's 10 of us in the Label Department (we have 5 companies run out of this office); everyone comes in between 9-9:30 and leaves around 6-8pm…We have a great staff, everyone works super hard and is a lot of fun to hang out with.

NQL: I've always been curious about the A&R process. Can you provide some insight? Do you actively recruit, or do you receive/listen to demos, or some combination of the two?

BS: Pretty much a combination of the two, it usually starts with seeing a show or hearing some sort of music. I can't think of an instance where we received a demo and got so stoked that we wanted to begin working with the band…usually if something (piques) our interest we get in touch with the band and go from there. It's a lot of dialogue, as we like to work really closely with our artists.

NQL: What was the first major success for SC? Conversely, what do you think should've caught on but didn't? What zeitgeist-y album failed to garner the attention it deserved? Personally, I think Marmoset should be indie-normous.

BS: Our first success was definitely Songs: Ohia. Putting out that first 7” and album opened a lot of doors for us, especially (with regard to) distribution.

I agree, Marmoset never received the love they deserved, I think they're the biggest heartbreaker. It's been fun watching how their records have sort of grown into the subconscious in a very small way. We get emails all the time professing their love for Marmoset. They're our Lungfish.

NQL: Is there a label-wide aesthetic you try to adhere to, some golden thread that connects the artists on your roster with one another? I'm not claiming to have heard SC's entire catalog, but the gulf between Antony and the Johnsons and Catfish Haven is pretty vast. Or do you consciously try to avoid being pigeonholed as, say, "the lo-fi label from Indiana?"

BS: I think the only thing we really try to ground ourselves in, is asking ourselves "Is this a record or artist we'll want to listen to in 20 years?"

NQL: You've had long-standing partnerships with countless artists, and I have never heard of anyone leaving your fold amid acrimony. What do you do to cultivate such fruitful relationships? What's your underlying philosophy?

BS: It goes back to the A&R process I think. When we work with an artist, we become 50/50 partners with them. It's us against the world, and we really strive to provide the best, most sustainable home for our artists. We have so many long dialogues about this partnership before beginning to work with and artist, and it's not for everyone--which is fine. For us it needs to be grounded in that core idea for it to work; and I think it minimizes a lot of awkward dialogues later on down the line.

NQL: How do you balance the needs of the business (i.e., making money) with artistic freedom? You can't put creativity on a timetable, but there has to come a time where the interested parties say "enough perfectionism." Are artists as eager to get their material out there as you are?

BS: There's no hard and fast rule. Our core principal is to make these projects sustainable. It doesn't do anyone any good to invest a ton of money in something if it doesn't make sense financially. Sure we have our loss leaders, but it's part of a bigger picture. And we take risks for sure, but they're calculated…I guess it's always a balancing act between a sustainable budget and total artistic freedom.

Personally I don't believe an unlimited budget provides (artistic) freedom. The best art is made adhering to certain parameters; be it financial, conceptual, timing, or whatever. Usually it's a combination of these and a myriad of other things. In most cases, loosing the financial constraints necessitates a tighter control over the focus/concept/ideas behind the project for it to be artistically/culturally successful.

NQL: With the Internet being a vehicle for self-releasing, how do you sell an artist the idea that the benefits of being on a label outweigh any risks or encumbrances? Of course some artists choose to remain staunch in their independence, but would you say that most eventually want to land label support? Do you ever see an end to the morass of self-released music on myspace, for example? Or is this just the evolution of a kid in his basement with a boombox, a guitar, and a bad microphone? What happened to quality control? Just because you can make music doesn't mean you should make music.

BS: I think most artists still want a solid home for support. Sure it's easier to self-release a record digitally, though it's more difficult (than) it has been in the last 10 years to self-release a record physically. Financial support aside, the single most important thing a label provides is context. Whenever I talk about records with people, the first or second question that's invariably asked is "What label are they on?" Instantly you're given a shorthand into what an artist is all about, much like "Sounds like so-and-so mixed with so-and-so."

NQL: Simplistically stated, Dead Oceans sprang from a distribution partnership coupled with common passions and creative impulses. Now it seems like every few weeks a new buzz-album comes out on DO, yet all are wildly different. What's your secret?

BS: Dead Oceans has been fun because it's been starting a label from scratch, but allowing us to play the game of "if I only knew then what I know now." Obviously it has a leg up because DO has a built in staff, distribution infrastructure, etc. But mostly it's Phil Waldorf, the GM of Dead Oceans. He does the A&R, and we have many long discussions about it, but it's pretty much his label to shape.

NQL: Does SC have any tricks up its sleeve for the rest of '08? What are you most looking forward to this year?

BS: Lots of stuff, it's crazy. SC specifically has three new bands that I'm super excited about: Seattle's Throw Me The Statue (have) gotten some good momentum in Seattle, but it's been exciting introducing them to the rest of the world.

Philadelphia's The War on Drugs just made the most classic record out of the gate, I can't get it out of my car stereo…I'm stoked for people to hear it.

LA's Bodies of Water: their first record did very well, especially for being self-released, we're definitely excited to put out their second record. They have to be the sweetest bunch of people on the face of the planet as well.

Antony's new record should come out this year, which will be amazing to work on again. He's such a genius. We also have David Vandervelde, new Damien Jurado, Frida Hyvönen, Catfish Haven and a slew of others…that's just SC…

NQL: If you weren't running a venerable independent record label, what would you be doing? If I weren't a low-level employee of a large public university, I'll tell you what I'd be doing: astronaut. NASA already asked me once, but I was on tour with Phish at the time, and grilled cheeses were selling like hotcakes.

BS: I have no idea…probably something computer oriented or something with sustainability. Maybe move to Guatemala and become a bum.

NQL: What era or movement in pop music is your favorite? I hesitate to make any assumptions based on what your label releases.

BS: Mid-80's is so good. Talking Heads, Prince (PRINCE!!@#!!), Madonna, New Order, Guns N' Roses, INXS. It's the era of THE HOOK. The hook was everywhere, even in bad music. Like Phil Collins, he's easy to rip on, but the dude had HOOKS. He'll get in your brain like no one's business, and I have an immense amount of respect for that. There's all the one-hit-wonders too…I'm a total sucker for a good hook…

NQL: Who are your stand-by artists, the ones you put on and every time make you be like, "Yeah."

BS: PJ Harvey through To Bring You My Love (majorly disappointed with everything afterwards; those early records are some of the most raw and perfect pieces I've ever heard).

Talking Heads: Remain in Light is, what, 25 years old? (It's almost 28. --Ed.) It still sounds like it's from the future.

NQL: What are your favorite SC releases? The record-buying public, I think, recognizes that everyone has favorites--even label heads.

BS: You're right it's hard to choose, I have favorites at different times. Windsor For The Derby's We Fight Til Death is a total classic I keep coming back to regardless of mood and was generally underappreciated. I can't say that's my favorite though.

NQL: What are your hobbies outside of music? Do you even have time for hobbies?

BS: Hanging out with my lady and our dog. Obsessing over our house, trying--often in vain--to fix things…Playing music (we have a band together)…

NQL: What do you like most about Bloomington?

BS: I love that it's a small town, but there's enough to do where you never get bored. I couldn't live in a big city for very long, but I get bored easily…

NQL: Bloomington's population is largely transient, and at the same time there's a thriving arts culture. What effect do you think this transience has on the local artistic landscape?

BS: It's hard, it ebbs and flows…I think because of that it's difficult for a good infrastructure to be developed, the momentum is just so erratic…

NQL: Would you consider yourself a townie? I've heard different criteria for what constitutes a townie. Someone told me that you're not a townie if you're affiliated with IU (even spousally), but my understanding of townie has always been "lives there but isn't a student," ergo, I am a proud townie. What's your take? What are your criteria? Or is townie a reductive, offensive, bourgeois term that should be stricken from our lexicon?

BS: I'm not sure, I think I'm slowly becoming a townie…but then you go to the hospital or Spencer or something and you realize what a bubble you live in.

NQL: Morgan Freeman is president. Tea Leoni is most trusted face in cable broadcast news. Two meteors--the smaller one cleaved off the larger one in a failed attempt to avert cataclysm--are hurtling toward earth and you've just been selected to live out the two-year nuclear winter in an elaborate series of caves in the limestone beneath Missouri--but you can only take with you that which you can carry. What do you pack?

BS: My lady and dog.

NQL: Are you hiring? I personally know one enterprising young go-getter with a can-do attitude, a liberal arts degree, a background in writing and book publishing, and gumption to spare.

BS: Haha, we're not currently hiring but tend to have something open up every couple months…

--Brian Herrmann