|
|
|
BANDS: Punk
& Ska INTERESTS: Venues ETC... About LOTD
|
So here we are in 2004, thirty-six years after the heyday of the Velvet Underground, and underground musical culture seems to be in some sort of archaeological phase where bands are digging up all sorts of old styles that were either lost or stylistically off limits only a few years ago. Maybe bands were too busy trying to copy the irony and anger of contemporaries like Pavement and Nirvana to worry too much about the past. It seems to me that for most of the nineties, garage rock was sealed in a little safety bin next to some fire alarm with the words In Case of Emergency, Break Glass scrawled on it; but now that its free, its beginning to run rampant. And, yes, I admit that popular musical trends in the late nineties did constitute an emergency, at least from the perspective of a rock n roll fan, but isnt there something were forgetting here still? What ever happened to Sister Ray? Even a casual listen to this song off the Velvet Undergrounds White Light/White Heat (particularly if you ignore some of Lou Reeds chauvinistic ranting) can open up a new world in Rock N Roll a world that for all intensive purposes will be eternally Left off the Dial. The sound is noise rock. Not a stop and shock sort of Jack-White-noise, but the kind of steady droning distorted guitar melodies you probably thought that Sonic Youth invented. And really it was a small handful of bands in the 80s and 90s who, like Sonic Youth, dug a trench for noise rock to settle into; a trench where noise rock was safe from out of control trends like punk, heavy metal, and erralternative, that seemed to occasionally borrow the sound, but missed the point. Maybe thats why Im so excited that we have some bands today that are really taking noise rock into uncharted territories. You can find music like this around the world from Japans Guitar Wolf to Scotlands Mogwai, or you can search Americas growing dynasty of noise artists on Chicago based Kranky records. Perhaps the word dynasty is a bit of an overstatement here, but all of these bands are doing very different things with music that sound fresh and inspiring compared to a lot of the recycled rock that frequently gets toasted as the next big thing. In fact, noise rocks lack of public attention sometimes amazes me, because music like this can be so powerful as a live spectacle that it puts many standard rock performers to shame. At least thats how I felt when I saw Washington D.C.s Alcian Blue perform in the sadly defunct Pudhouse back in Charlottesville, VA two years ago. Alcian Blue unleashes their music like a tornado of sorts upon the listener, and the noise swirls around in a thick layer of sounds where you never quite know whats going to come flying out at you next. The bands first release Slow Colorless Stare has been out since 2001, and it shows a strong dynamic of musical textures that youd hardly expect from your typical band of DC locals. So this month, Left Off The Dials excited to bring you a little Q&A session that we had with the band (Jake Reid [guitars/vocals], Clark Stacy [drums/percussion], Matt Welch [bass/synth/engineering], and Sam Chintha [guitars/vocals/engineering]) to find out more about them and what theyve been up to since the recent release of their new Translucent EP. LOTD: First of all, how long have you guys been playing music in general, and when did you get the idea to form Alcian Blue? Clark: I've been playing music for fifteen years and the drums for about four years. The band just happened. The four of us have been playing in various bands since high school. The present lineup has been together for about four years. As far as the music is concerned, we all like noisy rock so it shines through. LOTD: What has your experience been playing shows around Washington D.C. and Virginia? Is it hard to find clubs and places that will book a band like Alcian Blue, or is it more of a challenge to attract new fans to the show? Clark: Playing in the DC metro area is fun. It's more of a challenge to get people to the shows that are into us. But there is usually a new face or two at each show that likes what we're doing. LOTD: From the website pictures, it seems that you enjoy throwing together some visual effects during your concerts whenever its possible, including lights, film projectors, etc. What kind of experience should someone expect nowadays if they can catch one of your shows? Matt: It really depends on the venue: some places are geared toward it, some aren't. I know I love when bands include visuals. Film is probably the most likely thing to see. Unfortunately, our strobes were lost to a damp basement in Guelph. Why assault just one sense when you can assault two? At least until we figure out how to include taste and smell effects. LOTD: One of the strengths that surprised me about Alcian Blue is the quality of your recorded material. Do you prefer playing shows live or working in the studio when you have the choice? Sam: Speaking for myself, I like the studio because I feel less pressure there. I mean things can go horribly awry in the studio, but no one's watching, so you can just be chill and sort whatever stupid problem out at your own pace...but if that happened at a show, personally, I feel horrible about it, because I prefer things to go off seamlessly...like without having random pieces of equipment dying on me in the process...
LOTD: One song off Slow Colorless Stare called Touch has sort of an ambient feel to it as opposed to the heavier tracks on the Translucent EP. Are there any artists in that style that you guys listen to and enjoy? Sam: Matt's gotten us into the classic ambient stuff like Brian Eno's ambient records and other ambient type stuff Eno worked on during that time like Harmonia...and Slowdive when considered as an ambient band especially, their last two albums are awesome too. When I was in high school, I listened to a bunch of Orb and Aphex Twin stuff. My current weakness is for things like Oval and Kid 606. Fennesz has done some really interesting things with guitar noise. And I was obsessed with Steve Reich for a long time especially Music for 18 Musicians. I could keep going, but I really speak for myself. We're all into quite different things. LOTD: What importance do you feel that vocals have in the Alcian Blue sound, particularly when the heavy music in some songs makes it tough to pick out specific words? Jake: It's just a matter of making all the parts important in the mix. The vocals aren't really buried as much as on level with the other instruments. We think it's cool that a person can choose what they want to pull out of a song instead of a part being more noticeable than another. LOTD: I heard Kevin Shields talk in a recent interview about his use of guitar noise as an attempt to share with the audience what music feels like as a performer. Its as if the resonance and the immediacy of the notes just feels stronger when its presented in a noisy context. Do you think thats a useful description? Is there anything that draws your tastes towards such a loud and heavy sound? Sam: I think that's quite adequate...plus loud and noisy music is innately disorienting. I love what happens in our practice space, because it's so confined and the volume of all the amps and drums going at the same time makes the room resonate with us when we play, and all the sounds seem so direct and in your face, yet non-directional like the sound's coming at you from all angles. It's all rather psychedelic and very organic. I wish we could do this sort of thing more in a live settingsort of to share that experience of feeling the sound literally, because there's something very comforting and warm about being able to physically feel sound. LOTD: Ive noticed that some of Alcian Blue has teamed up with some of the band Landspeeder to start a DJ night around Washington D.C. that focuses on some of the classic shoegazers and other noisy rock artists from the past few decades (www.headondc.com). What has the response to that been like? Are you a fan of the DJ nights that have been taking off around DC in the past few years? Jake: Me and Tim do a monthly night at Saint Ex that has been going very well. We spin a lot of early 90's/80's stuff that isn't heard a lot, plus a lot of new stuff like Skywave, M83, Guitaro, Ashrae Fax, etc., etc. I've been a huge fan of DJ's in the area like Will Eastman, Aaron Hedges, Steve EP, DJ Medusa, and probably more Im forgetting. LOTD: I loved the four new songs on the Translucent EP. and Left of the Dial will be reviewing it this month. Tell us a bit about this new release. Is the band hoping to put out another full-length release in the future, or are these some of the newest songs that youve come up with? Jake: The new release is four tracks that are a combination of songs we've had for a year or two and some newer material. We recorded it at our home studio and mixed it at WMUC in College Park. The songs gave way to a lot of experimentation, broken bones, and too many blown amps, but I think in the end, we were happy to start and finish it all ourselves. We have about 6 new songs and we are getting ready to work on the next EP which could turn into an album. Some of the stuff is almost 3 years old and we are just now getting around to recording them. It'll be self-released again as we continue to browse around at labels. LOTD: Is it tough to keep a band like Alcian Blue going in the Washington DC area? If you had the choice, would you like to tour around the country someday? Matt: I don't think it's any tougher to keep the band going here than anywhere else. There isn't really a scene for us here, but I think we're all used to it. And there are good bands around to play with. I'd love to tour around the country. It seems like we get a better response out of town than at local shows, but I'm sure that's a grass is greener sorta thing.
Releases from Alcian Blue can be purchased at the Alcian Blue Official Website About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
