Pictured: Justin Rice. Photo special to recess.
Interview conducted by Jessie Tang.
Are you guys excited to tour again?
Yeah, especially because we have new songs to play that are really fresh, as in we've never played them live before. And anytime that that happens, it makes touring a million times better.
Is your sound different on the new album?
There are some instruments that we've used a lot on the new album that we've never used before, like the marimba. It's a much more percussive album, the rhythms that we're using are different than anything we've ever use and it's more varied. There's a lot more percussion. We wanted to do something that wasn't melodramatic at all. It's a very fun record.
More sunny pop?
There's more you can dance too. There's a lot of tension, but it's not blustery. It's a little bit funnier and a little wryer. The songs don't seem too puffed up like they're taking themselves too seriously.
You guys have been keeping yourself busy.
Yeah, we've been working really hard. We figured out the most efficient way when we're writing was to split the day in half. Christian would come in during the day, I would go in for the afternoon, and we would overlap for the evening and stay all night. We're basically like a tag team. I'd go in during the afternoon and listen to what he had done and then stay all night. It became an efficient machine because I trust what he's going to do, and he trusts what I'm going to do. Having our own time to pursue our thought paths independently was really the secret in making this record happen. After we figured that out, that's when we could really hone in on what the songs were.
Did you guys ever have big arguments?
We both definitely have different tastes—and there's a lot of overlap—but a lot of how we shape the songs is through objections and arguments. They're intellectual; he sees certain things, and I see other things, and we try make things we can both like. There's a certain kind of conflict, but it's productive conflict. It's a lot like dialogue.
I know the band had a cameo in Nick and Norah. How was working on the film?
It was awesome. We were only on the set for two days, but it was this huge production, surrounded by all this equipment and all this people. I mean, it was a Hollywood production, and Michael Cera was there. It was really fun though because, despite all that, it felt like we were playing a show. We went to a club and set up all our equipment and played the song. It was both surreal and normal at the same time. It was a really interesting experience. It just felt like it was a part of something bigger that was happening.
Was it weird to be in such a big budget indie film?
Yeah, when I went to go see it, it was like, “I almost can't believe that that's us. It doesn't make sense that we're in it.” It's also really exciting to see yourself up there at the megaplex. It was really unexpected. Those kinds of things... they never seem real, and it's so incomprehensible.
Yeah, I know you have been in other movies, and I was just wondering how this experience was different.
Those movies we're always made by our friends, and everyone involved we knew pretty well. The audience we screened to, they cared about that specific kind of movie. They're like film festival films. This was a mainstream—still indie, but mainstream—movie and they put us, the real live us, in the middle of this Hollywood film.
Do you and Christian (the other band member) miss the college environment?
A lot of the times, yeah. The college environment is great because you can really pursue whatever interests you have, and you don't have to worry about how to get by, and you have all these resources available to you and ton and tons of like-minded people around. I felt like I had access to everything. After graduating college, for the first couple years it was hard because it felt like you're outside of this system. We had to invent everything for ourselves. But...while I definitely miss the college environment, I'm starting to figure out what it means to go outside of that, and I'm happy doing that.
Stepping outside the college bubble?
Yeah yeah, because as things get easier, as our tours get easier... like, we played a big festival in Barcelona. There were all these bands hanging out in Spain, and it had this same kind of everybody's-together feeling that college had. We're starting to find the context that makes everything more fun.
Do you feel at every stage you're just seeking out a different niche?
I think the reason we make music has something to do with this outside effect of making music. There's this outside compulsion that makes you make the songs that you make. The consequence of that is whether people listen to those songs, or you find yourself around like-minded people, that's a great consequence of it—but it's not what you seek. The thing you seek is just to make the best songs you can make or make the songs you feel like you have to make. The rest is just an effect of that.
What would you say your band seeks out to say through your music?
I don't know if there's one particular theme, because it's not a lecture series or self-help session. You're not supposed to come away with a particular idea. Music has a place in the world, and I believe that. Something about the music speaks to people, and that has to do with where they are, what they know, how they're feeling. In a way, music is a reflection of the world that I find myself in. If anything, I would hope with music—and what I find with music that I like—is that it makes me feel connected to other people. It's not to say that the point of the music is to say that we're all connected. Finding music that other people like, sharing it with them, is a really important way to stay connected to the world, you know? At least for me that's part of it: seeking connection, and not feeling stranded.
Are there any bands that you're particularly fond of right now?
Yeah, I mean, there's tons from all over the spectrum. There are bands that I have loved and will continue to love even though they're gone, like The Kinks, The Zombies, the bands from the sixties will always mean a lot to me, and The Clash. As for bands today...I just went out and bought the Department of Eagles CD, and there was something there that I really loved. Or the Fiery Furnaces. I love them even when they put out bad records. I don't know why. Bands that are opening for us, like Drink Up Buttercup. I literally stumbled into a show, saw them, and were like, “These guys are amazing!” I'm trying to keep my ears open. Bands like Mates of State and We Are Scientists, bands that we've known forever, I'm always excited to see what they're doing next. I don't know, a lot of good stuff.
Do you guys have any plans post-tour?
This record that we're finishing now is coming out in February. After this tour, we're probably going to take some time off and try to write some new songs and work on different projects. It's the first time in a year where I don't know what I'm going to do.
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