Showing posts with label 2004. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2004. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
2004-05-10 - 30Music
Of Montreal create fun music. It really is as simple as that. Hailing from the booming Athens, GA music scene, Kevin Barnes and company (when there is company, that is) have been making the most of constructing engaging indie pop fun for the past six years. In our conversation with Barnes, we really do cover a whole lot. So much in fact that it’s seemingly pointless to tease you right here with what was discussed. Just read on already.
As we typically have proper intros to our interviews, this time around we decided to extend the intro into a feature story of sorts, simply because Of Montreal are artsy as hell. Please check the Features section for this intro/feature/show review of sorts extravaganza. You’ll be glad that you did.
30: First, I should say welcome back. I understand you actually used to live here.
Kevin Barnes: I did, yeah, for like four months or something.
30: Oh really? When was that? That was before this band was started up, right?
Barnes: Yeah, that was like ‘94 maybe.
30: Were you playing anything here back then?
Barnes: No, not really. I don’t think I did. I was trying to get a band back together but nobody was interested.
30: Eventually, obviously you settled in Athens [GA], which is a huge music town. What are your impressions of Minneapolis? If you weren’t playing then, maybe you weren’t able to form an opinion…
Barnes: I wasn’t – I just wasn’t able to form any opinion. The bands we play with have been really great. You know, it seems like there is great stuff happening in Minneapolis.
30: A lot different sound than the Athens sound.
Barnes: Yeah - I’m sure it’s like a climate thing. I think that influences people’s impressions - people’s artistic impressions. You’re reacting to your environment. It’s unavoidable, I think. Not that everyone has to make melancholy music just because it’s cold, but I think it’s probably natural that music in California is going to sound different than music from the East Coast.
30: Speaking of what goes into making people’s sounds, I understand there was a covers EP with some copies of your new album – I didn’t get a chance to hear that. What is on it?
Barnes: It is all contemporary covers. We did a Shins cover, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci cover, Broadcast and V-Twin.
(Kevin’s wife, Nina, stops by and they chat for a few moments. Kevin apologizes.)
30: That leads into my next question, actually. There were some personnel changes again with the band. Are you looking for a set lineup, or are you pretty comfortable just changing?
Barnes: I don’t mind having a rotating cast of characters. The most important thing I’m looking for when we go on tour is that everyone is feeling good, and their hearts are in it, and they want to do it. And they’re having fun. And also, personality-wise, how everyone will click, because they’re going to spend so much time together. I’d definitely pick that over musicianship – although everyone’s such a great musician anyway already, but it’s like, if you can choose who you’ll hang out with 24 hours a day.
30: Let’s move to the new album, you pretty much did it mostly yourself, or a lot yourself anyway. How much of a change in style for recording was that – so much of your albums are really dramatically arranged and overdubbed, clearly a lot was just you to begin with anyway. Was it really that different?
Barnes: Not really. I mean, it was fun. It was kind of like the others, like Petite Tragedy was kind of like that, with people coming in and contributing. But it wasn’t like a diplomatic thing where everybody is there from the start to the finish and has their say the whole way through. This record was more like Petite Tragedy or Gay Parade. Then we made a couple records as a full band – and that was a good experience also – but I think I would probably prefer doing it this way just because I can control it more. And it’s less of a mind-fuck. You don’t have this drama – not like we were a soap opera kind of band, but it’s hard to do that, people’s feelings getting hurt and this and that. It’s better because you can keep it focused and then have people help you. It just feels more relaxed.
30: As far as your preference, the first time I saw you live a few years ago I was shocked to hear what a rock show it was, given what I was hearing on albums like Gay Parade and so on. Do you have a preference as far as which experience, or end result, you’re putting across? Does it matter to you?
Barnes: Well, the live show, you want it to be high energy. You don’t want it to be convoluted. You don’t want it to go over people’s heads too much. We try to combine both elements. There’s definitely a poppy element to Of Montreal as well as our more proggy element, prog-pop or whatever. But we try to keep it fun and light and playful, so people can have a good time. It’s important. People are there to have fun, and people are there to drink and talk to their friends. It’s like a social gathering as much as it is a rock and roll performance. People don’t necessarily come to sit and listen to music. A lot of times they come just to be around other people and enjoy that experience.
30: Do you prefer that – which is almost like being a house band the way you describe it –
Barnes: Yeah, totally!
30: Over being in the studio, or would you rather sit back and play with a dozen dubs of your voice?
Barnes: I’d rather, if I had to choose between the two, just record because that’s when you can be the most artistic. When you go out live you have to make sacrifices and you can never control it – it’s so unpredictable every night. Like, you don’t know what the sound’s going to be like, you might have no vocal monitor, you might not be able to hear the drums at all, everything might be totally flat-sounding. When you’re in the studio you have control. You can change it, you can mess around. And that’s just the greatest thing for me. That’s my greatest joy, is when I work in the studio.
30: What’s been [the crowds’] reaction? The album hasn’t been out in the States for very long. Do people know the new songs yet?
Barnes: Yeah! Yeah, totally, yeah. I’ve been shocked. Even from the very beginning, I looked out into the crowd and saw people were singing along with the new songs, and that’s really encouraging.
30: How much of the new album are you playing live?
Barnes: Pretty much all of it. I think we’re only not playing like three songs…two songs. Two or three songs. It’s definitely a tour to support the new record and, if, for no other reason, it’s just fun to play the new songs, just because we played the old songs so many times. I was thinking about that because I had just gone over to catch some of the Strokes’ show and was thinking, “God, they must have played that song, like, a million times.” I don’t even know how they do it. For me, I get bored. I don’t really want to play the same songs over and over and over again.
30: There’s been a lot written in the press already about the electronic influence of the album. Was that something you really artistically felt like doing, or was it more a matter of you being in the studio alone, and it was kind of a one man band thing, like Prince?
Barnes: No, I always loved dance music. I always loved old ‘80s dance party music and synth-pop. So that was kind of my aim, with the more programmed drum songs. Just to make something different, something you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find on an Of Montreal record, just to keep things interesting.
30: Are you doing the programmed songs live, or are you using real drums for that?
Barnes: There’s one song that we have programs on, we have it on a CD, through the house [system].
30: You said you’re doing all but a few [of the new songs]. Out of curiosity, are you doing “Lysergic Bliss” live?
Barnes: Yeah.
30: Are you skipping the end part? The vocal part?
KB: No, we’re doin’ it. (Laughter). We’re attempting it, anyway. Yes. Yeah.
30: That blew me away – it was very Queen, with a huge, big sound.
Barnes: Yeah I don’t even really know where that came from. I mean, I like Queen a lot, but I don’t even own any Queen records. I don’t even know the greatest hits or anything, but it’s a lot of vocal stuff. I think it was just because I record a lot on the computer, so it’s like, ‘Na-na-na,” you can just keep adding more and more and more and more. I was just like, ‘Ooh, I can do this crazy vocal thing!’ And there’s nothing stopping me from doing it!
30: It’s not like with the old four-track, the cassette four-track. Critical response has been, I think, probably better for this album than, certainly for the, for lack of a better word, the “opera albums.” Do you care? I mean, does this matter to you?
Barnes: I hate to see a bad review. It hurts my feelings. But it’s not going to prevent me from doing what I want to do. I think I realized kind of early on, there’s no way you can control the way people view your music. There’s no way you can present it in a way that they’ll totally get it -that everyone, across the board, is going to get it in the way that you want them to get it. You just can’t let it get into your head. It just fucks you up. It’s so damaging. And I think that for a long time it did hurt me because when we were making the Gay Parade or Petite Tragedy, it was so innocent, and it was just so sweet, and I was so oblivious to the world. But the rock media is so pessimistic and so jaded. It can be really, really damaging to a young artist.
30: There’s definitely an optimism in your music that isn’t, like, dopey optimism – like stupid – but it seems really sincere. It’s really fun to hear. It’s a good time.
Barnes: That’s what I’m hoping. Hopefully it’s just refreshing. Because there’s just so much cynicism, just in the world, and in people you talk to. And there’s really no point. You can create your own reality in so many ways. So, you can either view it as, “the world is horrible, where spirits are crushed every second,” or you can just look at the flowers and smell the wind and feel OK about your life.
30: About your arrangements, back to the albums: your arrangements on the albums are always just immaculate – layered and really very interesting. Do you put a lot of thought into “how am I going to do this later, live,” or do you really work it out in rehearsals?
Barnes: Yeah, we just kind of figure it out as we put it together. The thing that we realized is, the live show, it comes and it goes, and maybe we’ll never play it live. Maybe we’ll never be able to duplicate that live. But it doesn’t really matter, because the record is something that people have forever. As long as the medium exists, the music will be there. That’s the most important thing, is focusing on making the album really interesting, and then worrying about reproducing it when you have to.
30: Between some of your lyrics and the short stories you put up on your website, it strikes me that you have a lot of interesting things to say. Do you read a lot, or have you read a lot?
Barnes: Yeah, I do. Before I was always into more classic literature. Recently I’ve been getting really turned on to more contemporary writers. Recently I read this really great book by Jonathan Safran Foer, it’s called “Everything is Illuminated.” And Jonathan Franzen’s “The Corrections,” David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest,” Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy is what I’m reading right now. But before that, I was huge into Roald Dahl and his more adult short stories: Uncle Oswald; Kiss, Kiss; (a third title is somewhat inaudible – possibly My Complexion]. I just really like his style because there’s always a twist at the end. And there’s always some subversive element.
30: Do you find literature coming into songwriting? There are a few people who do, but they tend to be so completely different than most of what you do – Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen. Do you find it creeping in, or are they two separate things?
Barnes: As far as? Than writing prose?
30: When you’re writing songs, are you thinking about it as writing prose, or literature, or are you just writing pop?
Barnes: A lot of times, if I’m getting a story-type song like “Good Morning, Mr. Edminton,” or “Nickee Coco,” I kind of address it like a short story. You have to create the introduction, establish some character development and then there’s some sort of ending. It’s kind of neat, because it’s all in this three-minute section of time and it all has to be in there. So it’s kind of an interesting challenge to develop some short story in the template of a pop song.
30: I have one more – customary for our site. What were you listening to when you were 17 years old?
Barnes: Seventeen? I think, actually the Replacements. I was getting into like.
30: You’re bringing it right back home.
Barnes: Yeah – Let It Be was my favorite record when I was 17, I think.
2004-09-03 - CrownDozen
Of Montreal. I shall loudly and without hesitation say right now, yesterday, and tomorrow that they are one of the top pop bands in the land. They make the most dour indie kids dance like toddlers and smile like fools on their non-stop tours, and continue to release irresistible albums overflowing with crazily inventive imagery and sounds upon sounds that mingle everything good from the bands you love (The Beatles! The Kinks! The Beach Boys! and on and on...). Kevin Barnes, OM's lead singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist renaissance guy, answered a few questions for us before their last tour, and if you didn't happen to catch that, they are going on tour again in September in support of their latest album, Satanic Panic in the Attic.
Sarah: It seems like you've had less-than-ideal situations with your first labels; how is Polyvinyl treating you so far? Have you ever considered starting your own label?
Kevin: I am very happy with Polyvinyl. They are very artist friendly and everyone that works there seems very nice. We did seriously consider starting our own label for awhile but it just seemed like such a huge undertaking. None of us wanted to take the initiative and so it just never happened.
Of Montreal's line-up has changed a lot over the past year, with Derek Almstead (who joined Circulatory System) and Andy Gonzalez (of Marshmallow Coast) leaving, BP Helium returning, and Nina (Kevin's new wife) and Jason NeSmith joining...how has that changed your sound?
Now there are more people in the band than ever before. The sound is a lot denser and we can do a lot more. Bryan and Jason have really good voices so we are able to pull off some vocal harmonies that we weren't able to in the past.
I'm always in awe of your live shows...you all always play with such enthusiasm and joy, and manage to sound great on top of that. Do you still enjoy touring? What are your favorite songs to perform? Where do you like/not like (ahem, Canada) going?
I really enjoy performing live. This tour has been a little bit of a challenge to prepare for because there are so many new musicians. When Andy and Derek were in the band we were very comfortable working together and things seemed to come together a lot easier. It has been a good experience though working with new people because I think we had grown sort of complacent in the former line up. Now there is a new energy and excitement. It is also really great to play with Nina on bass and travel with her and share the touring experience with her. My favorite songs to perform are Penelope, Old People In The Cemetery, Spike The Senses, Vegan In Furs, Jacques Lamure, Doing Nothing, Neat Little Domestic Life... My favorite place to play so far was Tokyo because they made us feel like rock stars.
Are you planning on doing any skits/theatrical miscellany (A Pollinaire Rave-style) on the upcoming tour?
Yes we have some theatrics planned for the upcoming tour and like the A Pollinaire Rave tour we will most likely develop the skits as the tour progresses.
Are Cherry Peel, The Gay Parade, and Coquelicot... going to be rereleased? If so, when? Does it fill you with rage that they went out of print?
All of them are going to be repressed in time for our tour. It is very disappointing that they went out of print in the first place but what can you do. That in itself is motivation to start our own label.
Your brother David is an amazing artist (and a kind and generous guy as well)...Did you have an artistic upbringing? Have you and David always collaborated? Do you do any visual art of your own?
We didn't really have an artistic upbringing but our parents did encourage us to pursue the things that interested us. When we were very young we would make little plays together and perform them for babysitters. I'm sure we were adorable. Unfortunately I received zero visual art talent. I have tried in the past to paint and draw but with depressing results.
How long have you been playing music?
I started playing guitar when I was around 13. It became an obsession and I didn't put it down for a long time. My parents moved us from Detroit to West Palm Beach Florida when I was 15 and I was so lonely. If it wasn't for my four track during those years I probably would have become a monk and taken a vow of silence.
Of Montreal has covered many, many songs (covers include songs by everyone from Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, the Kinks, the Shins, VU, Broadcast, and the Misfits )... Are there any songs you wouldn't attempt because you feel that they're kind of untouchable, songs that are so perfect as is that it would be wrong to attempt them?
There are a lot of songs like that. I don't think it is a good idea to record a cover of the Beatles' Day In The Life but then again that kind of makes me want to try. I think all songs are fair game. We don't tend to change the songs too drastically when we cover them. It is a lot of fun just to pretend we are a different band for an afternoon.
You have such a gift for the surreal, and a knack for storytelling. What are some of your inspirations and influences?
My biggest influence would have to be Roald Dahl. His way of combining the morbid with the comical really inspired a lot of my writings. I also love the films of Bunuel and the writings of Borges. Musically my heroes are Ray Davies, Syd Barret, Os Mutantes, the Beatles, Faust, Lou Reed, Robert Wyatt...
Have you heard/seen/read anything amazing lately?
I really loved "Everything Is Illuminated" by Johnathon Safran Foer and "Corrections" by David Franzen. Right now I am reading the "New York Trilogy" by Paul Auster.
If you could kidnap anyone and take them to an art museum, who would it be?
I think the person that most needs a trip to an art museum is Donald Rumsfeld. I don't know if it would do much good but something needs to happen to that sanguinary jerk to enlighten him.
And finally, if it's not too much, could you come up with a list of 12 anythings -- 12 favorite sounds, dog breeds, months, whatever you think would make a lovely (or horrifying) dozen.
1 mouthful of Donkey Kong players
2 antennas to pick up french sleepers' dreaming transmissions
3 bright photographs of an idiots image of the ozone
4 traps to capture a soggy moment
5 knives that peak out from behind an owls wing that has been salted
6 prayers spoken loudly into the plastic ear of a part time racket ball
7 has beens smelling the flower sprouting out of the armor of misty dancers
8 tastes of chocolate that make babies misbehave
9 blind autistic 21 year old men who fear having to climb into a ditch during inclement weather
10 guitar solos that make the future beard of Ted Leo fear the touch of porcelain scarves
11 thimble ship captains who are trying to divine the significance of the red armies flaming red fungus tit
12 smiling cats croaking after a glimpse into nightmare onanism
Interview conducted by Sarah Akers, who lives in North Carolina and says the most wonderous things.
2004-04-28 - Glorious Noise
By Ryan King
April 28, 2004
April 28, 2004
Of Montreal - There's no future in that.
Fueled by love, frosted with joyous psychedelia, and infused with subtle percussive polyrhythms, Satanic Panic in the Attic has already been getting word of mouth buzz as one of the best records of the year. Now, fanning the flames of fame as a flamboyantly flexible sextet extended by blends of friends, Of Montreal proudly un-frowns wowed crowds with stridently styled guile. Surreally appealing, with skits that are scene stealing, the band deals a meal of real rock and roll with more than a feeling. Why did they wish again to come to Michigan? Climbing the ladder and connecting the dots, Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes surveys the scene, selflessly soliloquizes on the folly of bucolic solitude, and takes pains to explain why he would like to write music that changes your month.
GLONO: I discovered you guys about 5 years ago. A friend of mine in Kalamazoo, would you like to see a picture of him?
Kevin Barnes: Hello, friend! Peering through the bushes...
GLONO: He's like 6'4", 200 pounds, he has like found art all over his walls, lots of things he made himself, Polaroids everywhere...
KB: He lives in Athens?
GLONO: Now he does, yeah.
KB: I think I recognize him.
GLONO: Oh, yeah? You've seen some of his Polaroids?
KB: Maybe, I think so, yeah.
GLONO: He introduced me to the music... I show up at his place one day, and he turns it up full blast. The song was "Fun Loving Nun." And he was like, "You gotta dance to this!" And he just starts losin' it and flying around the room, back and forth, you had to join him, you know?
KB: (laughter) Or get knocked over...
GLONO: So what kind of responses have you got from fans, in person, or in the mail?
KB: Well, so far, we've had a lot of great response. We haven't sold, like, tons of records, but it seems like people who buy our records are really moved by it, really into it. So that's more important than the numbers. It's more important for people to be touched by your music than for you to make tons of money off it. So, so far, we've been happy with the response we've gotten.
GLONO: Do you ever get any people who are really into the fantasy worlds that you create in your records? Is there an Of Montreal cult?
KB: There's not a cult, but there was this one girl we met who said she was going to name her daughter Nickee Coco, which is one of our song titles, one of the characters I created [from The Gay Parade]. So that was amazing to hear.
GLONO: What kind of response have you gotten from the crowds at the recent shows?
KB: It's been amazing. This has been one of the best tours we've ever done. I think because we're combining skits along with the music, so it's not just traditional rock and roll performance, that people are accustomed to seeing. Plus I think people expect something slightly different from us because we've always tried to do something... a little bit unpredictable. We have a couple costume changes, some strange skits, people are jumping around, changing instruments and stuff. A lot of movement on stage.
GLONO: In Kalamazoo, I saw a really big guy with a red Mohawk doing a tango with another kid.
KB: Yeah, yeah. I saw that. That was great.
GLONO: You guys do trade instruments... almost for each song! What drives the stage arrangements?
KB: Everyone is really talented, everyone can play a bunch of different instruments. And I think it's just, if for no better reason, because it keeps it interesting for us, you know? Well, I don't really change instruments that much. I play piano on one song, but everybody else, it's just kind of cool to feel like you're moving around a little bit, get a little exercise. But also, it's like trying to work out, because the songs are created in the studio, so when we try to figure out how to do them live, it's like, okay, I can't play my part because I'm playing the clarinet, so they go, okay, I can put on my guitar for five seconds and pick up the accordion or pick up the tambourine or whatever. So everyone has to pick things up, drop things, pick up another thing, just to pull off the recorded sounds live.
GLONO: You look like you're having a lot of fun playing the new material. What songs are you really getting into playing?
KB: I love playing "Vegan in Furs," just 'cause I get to do a rippin' guitar solo. (laughter)
GLONO: Have you ever added any other forms of multimedia to the performance?
KB: Yeah, we've had video before. My brother went on tour with us and he shot a bunch of short films that went along with the music. That was really cool. So many people do it, but it's kind of tricky, it's hard to take it to the next level, because we have such a limited budget, it's always shoestring.
GLONO: Yeah... quality, not quantity, of records sold.
KB: Yeah, so for us to do something like that, we'd want it to be really special, and not just do it kind of half-assed, just like footage behind us or something.
GLONO: How many tours is this for you?
KB: I don't know! Many.
GLONO: What is your favorite place to go and play, so far?
KB: In the states?
GLONO: If you want to say Europe or Japan...
KB: Japan was by far, just because it's such an extraordinary experience, culturally, on so many levels. I definitely would say Tokyo is the highlight of my "rock career," if you could call it that.
GLONO: What did you go out and do and see in Tokyo?
KB: We didn't really go out and do and see that much, but just being there, wandering around, going out to dinner... we spent some time in Osaka and Kyoto as well. We got to go to the Osaka Castle, got to wander around Kyoto, and it was great because then we had more of a sense of the country, it wasn't just like coming into a gigantic metropolis, staying there for a couple of days, and then leaving. We got to see the countryside, bullet trains, and all sorts of things.
GLONO: You had a sense of the community there, and how it operates?
KB: Well, not a great sense, but some sense. (laughter)
GLONO: The new record, Satanic Panic in the Attic. The rumor went around that the last record, Aldhils Arboretum, was going to be the accessible record. This is the accessible record!
KB: Well, the last record... for me, I felt like the last record was a bit of a disappointment. Like, I don't really feel like we were pushing ourselves, creatively. And I guess that was the point, to try to make a record that was closer to a live band. It's okay, it has its own place.
GLONO: At the time, you said it would really translate well live. So that was the idea, to record it live?
KB: Yeah. Everyone had worked their parts out already, and we had the arrangements, the orchestrations, all before going into the studio, which we had never done before. And we recorded it like a rock record, without any sort of whimsical elements added. In that way, it's not one of my favorites. I like Coquelicot and The Gay Parade, and the new record a lot more. I think with this new record, I was trying to have that element, that fun element that was kind of lacking a little bit on the last record.
GLONO: You talked with the band and you all decided that you would record the new album mostly by yourself?
KB: Well, I didn't really talk to them. I just kind of started doing it. We used to live in a house together out in the country and we moved out of that house, because I got married in July. My wife and I moved into a new place in Athens, and so I just set up my studio in one of the extra bedrooms and I had so much energy, like so much creative energy that I just wanted to knock it out, and just have fun. Everyone else was going through these different phases in their life, like Jamie was living in New York for a long time, and Dottie started this new full-time job and she was working a lot with that, and Andy went back to school, and Derek had been focusing a lot of time in this other band, Circulatory System.
GLONO: I heard he's doing that full-time now.
KB: Yeah. So there was kind of a shift in all of our lives. But I didn't want the music to stop, so I wanted to just be, "Don't stop the music!" I had to keep rockin'. So I just made it. Because also, I really wanted to make a record on my own like that. Just because it's really fun to do it that way. You can just get lost in your headphones, and there's no one to confuse your vision in a way. Not to say that the band members confuse my vision, because they didn't. They totally contributed an amazing part to the records, but I just wanted to make a record that was straight out of my brain.
GLONO: Uh-huh. You had the itch, you had the creative energy, surging, and you were like, "I gotta get this out."
KB: Yeah, totally. It wasn't like an ego trip, it was like, "I wanna make this." And here I go, I'm making it.
GLONO: (laughter) But you know who that sounds like, right?
KB: Yeah. Paul McCartney?
GLONO: Are you thinking of Sgt. Pepper? Did he do that mostly by himself, initially?
KB: No. I don't think so. I think maybe, a little bit more the White Album, he was playing drums on some songs.
GLONO: Oh yeah, he had some songs that were just all him.
KB: Yeah.
GLONO: I was thinking of Brian Wilson!
KB: Well, he wrote all the parts, but he didn't play them.
GLONO: That's true.
KB: But I'm no Brian Wilson, so... (laughter)
GLONO: Have you ever seen him play?
KB: Uh-huh. Well, I haven't seen him live, I've seen it on television, and I've heard the live Smile, it's amazing.
GLONO: What do you think of him going back and finishing Smile?
KB: I think it's great. I've heard it so many times, that it's like, I wish that it would have happened five years ago, because now I'm kind of like, "Oh, Smile". I mean, I love Smile, but I've heard it so many times that it's like, not as exciting. But I think it's great that the people actually hear the record closer to the way that he wanted them to hear it, instead of in fragments. A lot of bootlegs are totally fragmented and you can't really visualize what he was trying to do with it and how it all flows as one piece. That's the cool thing, also, about CD. You never would have been able to hear it that way because you would have had to flip the record over. Now you can hear it all the way through!
GLONO: Ever got a reaction from him on any of your stuff?
KB: There's some quote on the Elephant 6 webpage where someone asked him, do you know that you're inspiring this new generation of musicians, like the Elephant 6 collective? And he was like, "I don't know who they are... I just like the good old rock and roll," or something.
GLONO: He likes "Be My Baby."
KB: Yeah, that's his favorite. I don't think he'd really appreciate The Gay Parade. I don't think he'd really understand it, even though he inspired it.
GLONO: With the new record, you seem to be adding a few new sounds to the Of Montreal vocabulary... there's a really vintage analog sounding synth on "Your Magic is Working," "How Lester Lost His Wife," "Spike the Senses," it sounds like the synth on the old Steely Dan records, actually!
KB: Yeah, it might have been! It's actually from the 70s, it's this Univox. All the synth is pretty much that one synth. It's really versatile, it has a bunch of different sounds.
GLONO: Was that for this record or did you actually get that a little earlier?
KB: No, it was for this record. It's not mine, it belongs to Great Lakes, another band I play in, and it's on all of the Great Lakes records, but somehow it ended up my house, so I just used it every day!
GLONO: And much more diverse percussion, much more groove oriented!
KB: Well, I got into Afrobeat and dub music, and like 70s funk. I think that had a lot to with the more percussive element.
GLONO: You said in Flagpole, you're aiming for a sexier sound.
KB: Yeah, totally.
GLONO: "Vegan in Furs" is really funky.
KB: Oh, cool!
GLONO: So funky is a compliment?
KB: Yeah. Definitely, I mean to say, with a lot of people, funky stuff can be atrocious, especially a lot of white funk can just make you wanna slit your wrist, so yeah, it's a compliment. Especially if you're just one person doing it by yourself, it's kind of hard to make it super funky, like Sly and the Family Stone or Curtis Mayfield or whatever, but I tried my hardest.
GLONO: It really showed through. Like the drum machines on "Rapture Rapes the Muses," or this bassline on "Eros' Entropic Tundra," and there's some kind of a woodblock or cowbell on "Eric Eckles," do you remember recording that?
KB: Yeah, there's woodblock and cowbell.
GLONO: Wow, I feel cool for guessing that. And there's a menacing—is it a keyboard bass on "Spike the Senses?"
KB: Oh, that BARRRHRHRHH...
GLONO: Yeah!
KB: Yeah, that was the Univox. I think it was that and a fuzz bass.
GLONO: The album just sounds lighthearted. Even relaxed!
KB: Yeah, I think I was trying to go with more of an atmospheric feel in a lot of the songs. I think, like before, my arrangements and orchestrations are super crowded, they make you feel claustrophobic in a way. They just keep layering, layering, layering.
GLONO: ...there was a lot going on in those records.
KB: I think with this record, I wanted to have everything have its own place, fit in the mix, have its own personality, its own voice, and have its moment.
GLONO: Yeah, it seemed like there was a lot of breathing room. Everything in its Right Place. I once read an interview with Neil Young where he said that music should be approached like painting, where you have the time to return to it at your leisure. He indicated that playing shows can be emotionally difficult because it takes music, and the feeling you've put into it, out of its natural context.
KB: Oh yeah, I definitely can feel that, because you have to play every night, you know, when sometimes you don't necessarily feel like playing, but you have to somehow get yourself in the mood. Especially when it's a sadder song, you clearly don't feel that way. But you have to get into the character. So, it's a challenge, and it's something that I struggled with a lot, early on. But now, I can just do it because it's so integrated into my existence, it's just become my life, performing and writing and everything. So I don't feel like I'm being phony. There are certain songs that I will not play, for that reason, because to do it without putting your heart into it would be a crime, so I try to shy away from the really heartbroken songs that I have written in the past.
GLONO: So you're playing music so often now, that it's not so much of an emotional stretch anymore?
KB: Yeah, it's not. I mean, you go through a range of emotions every night. I do especially, with the songs and stuff. I'm sure everybody does. The music is pretty emotional, even though it's very whimsical and playful. But especially the songs that are a little bit more melancholy, it seems a little bit strange, because what we're doing is so upbeat, and we're trying to put across is a joy. We want people to feel a joy and we want people to feel happiness and feel like, "Okay, there's people who care in the world," because you know, you're just inundated with like McDonalds, and Wal-Marts, and Fox News and it can be so depressing. But it's so inspiring when you see people who are doing something that's not motivated by greed or not trying to manipulate you, and not trying to fuck your head up in any way.
GLONO: Your earlier records shaded a lot toward personal lyrics, and your middle period records like The Gay Parade and Coquelicot shaded toward stories. In interviews from when Coquelicot came out, you said you might move back toward personal lyrics when your personal life got a little more dramatic or interesting.
KB: (laughter) Well, there are some songs on the new record that I wrote for Nina, my wife, that are just love songs. "Your Magic is Working," "Lysergic Bliss," also "Climb the Ladder." But then other songs are just kind of like wordplay, because I have a lot of fun just letting my mind wander and doing a stream of consciousness style of writing. And so there are songs like "Rapture Rapes the Muses," I don't really know what that means... It just came to me.
GLONO: Yeah, there are definitely some "throwback" songs that are very much the playful Of Montreal of old.
KB: Yeah, I think that's maybe just like, I have four styles of songs that I write, so if I write a sad song, it's not necessarily a throwback because it's just human emotions, and everyone feels that way from time to time. It's a tricky thing as we record more, and have more records in our catalog, because people are like, "Oh, I like this record," or "I don't like this record, I wish it was more like this record." You have a little bit of pressure because you don't want to let people down, but I try never to let that influence me because I just want to do my own thing. If people like it, great, and if they don't, you know, maybe they'll like the next one.
GLONO: The lyrics on Aldhils Arboretum indicated some themes of romantic emptiness and cynicism.
KB: Yeah, I was going through a hard time. That was before I met Nina, and living in the country was becoming more oppressive. I was having a hard time just feeling good in the world, just feeling pessimistic, jaded. But then I fell in love, and everything changed. You never know what's right around the corner.
GLONO: Is it that simple? You're in love, so you're happy now?
KB: Well, I think it's more like appreciating life. Because I got to the point where I was just not appreciating life. I had this crappy job, and blah blah blah, and I just sort of died inside a bit. But then, I met Nina, and like, going over to Europe and just realizing that the world is a magical place if you want it to be, or are tuned into it, and there are great writers who can inspire you, and there are great painters, great filmmakers, and great poets, just great people, and so you just have to focus on the positive and be a positive force on your own.
GLONO: How was your experience in the country?
KB: At first, it was great, because it was the five of us, well actually, the four of us, because Andy didn't actually move in. It was me, Jamie, Dottie, and Derek. And we lived like that for a year, and at that point, the band was really coming together on an emotional level for all of us. We were having a great time together, and it was still really new, really fresh, and exciting. And to be out in the country, like away from everything, away from all distractions was really cool.
It was so great because we had a recording studio in the house, and didn't have any problem with neighbors, because everyone was so far away from us, and we had a lot of land. And it was really exciting because I had never lived out in the country before. For the first year and a half or something, it was really, really really great.
Eventually it became too much because we were touring together, and traveling together, living together, and so it was just... too much togetherness. And also, it was confusing because, when you're in a band like that, and I would want to record and do stuff but I couldn't, because I might upset Dottie because I was playing a keyboard part and all of a sudden, she would feel obsolete or something. Oh, you're playing it because you don't think I'm good enough, and then there'd be this drama.
So, I wanted to get away from that. I wanted to be able to just create and not have any sort of strange pressure. Because I love all of them, and I want them to be happy, and I'm sure they want me to be happy, so actually it turned out really great in the end, like they're happy with the record, and they're happy to be playing the songs on tour, and it's the family again.
GLONO: You did a covers show in Athens on New Year's Eve, 2002. How did that come about and how did you choose the songs?
KB: Uh, well that was kind of tricky, picking the songs, because... that was the New Year's Eve show?
GLONO: Yeah, with the Krush Girls.
KB: Okay, because before that, we played a Team Clermont party. Team Clermont is this publicity company there in town, and every year they hold this formal ball, everyone dresses up in these ridiculous seventies tuxedos, this time it was an eighties—or maybe it was always eighties—so anyway, it was an eighties ball and we were the band for the dance, I think the theme of it was Almost Paradise or something, kind of a high school reunion or a class of '84.
GLONO: Was there dancing allowed? Was it like Footloose?
KB: Yeah, totally, everyone was cutting loose, everyone was going wild. We had to learn two sets worth of cover songs, we had to learn close to 40 songs, and so that was the first time we had ever taken on such a big undertaking. It was great, it was really fun. And so we realized, hey, we can do this, and it's fun, you know, we'll make some money and it's a good time. For a while we kind of flirted with that idea. Like, what if we play frat houses and become like a cover band on the side, to make money, like a lot of bands do?
GLONO: (laughter) Uh-huh!
KB: In the end, we just, we weren't ambitious enough. Or we were too ambitious, maybe. So then the New Year's Eve thing was actually our second cover show, and so we had to learn songs that we didn't play in that 40 songs that we played at that eighties dance party. And, it was just fun because New Year's Eve is always great at the 40 Watt, the Krush Girls are always really great so it was great that they asked us to do it.
GLONO: You covered "Wild Wild Life?"
KB: We're all huge Talking Heads fans. And it's such a party song. Gets people movin'. We've done that, we've done "And She Was." Not that night, but maybe at the eighties dance party.
GLONO: And "War Pigs."
KB: Yup, "War Pigs." (laughter)
GLONO: That blew my mind. I mean, that blew my friends' minds. There was a lot of mind being cleaned up off the floor at the end of the night!
KB: We tried to mix it up and do things that people wouldn't necessarily expect from Of Montreal.
GLONO: You did that song, and then you think about that recent release of yours, If He Is Protecting Our Nation, Then Who Will Protect Big Oil, Our Children? And there's a skit in the current show where you kind of "play war"...
KB: Yeah, the wind war. Oh, that's not really political in any way, it's just supposed to be surreal.
GLONO: Oh. Because I was wondering if you were pursuing any overtly political message.
KB: Well, that is pretty clear, yeah, like, what we're going for there, but it's supposed to be tongue in cheek, I mean, it's not supposed to be like a serious, pretentious stance against George W. I mean, it's clear anybody with a brain is against George W.
With Then Who Will Save Big Oil, my brother, David, had already made the artwork long before we thought about compiling those songs and making a second singles and songles type of record. We just thought it would be funny to do, just to be a little bit ridiculous. You know, like here's George W. with an oil derrick for a penis and shooting his wad into a little boy's ear, it's a ridiculous image. (laughter)
GLONO: I actually haven't seen that artwork, is that in the artwork for the record?
KB: Yeah, it's like George W. wearing a button down white business shirt, and no pants or underwear... and he has this black oil derrick for a penis, and it's shooting oil through this little kid's ear and, he's wearing a shirt that says "America"... (laughter) and there's this little African-American choir boy singing in the corner, and it's just ridiculous... and it's kind of funny because Pitchfork, actually, the guy who wrote about that totally missed the point. He was like, "They're struggling to regain cred after..." and it was like, "What are you talking about?" (laughter) "You missed the point, man."
GLONO: How does the artistic community of Athens inspire you?
KB: I think just because everyone is sort of on our level. It's encouraging, like you don't have people saying, "You don't have health insurance. What's wrong with you?" You know, "Go back to school. Get your master's degree..." So everyone is around our age, and doing their home recording thing, and kind of taking it seriously, working hard at it and putting their hearts into it. I guess just in that way, it really keeps you going because you don't feel disheartened. There's no pressure, there's no status symbol that you have to attain.
GLONO: What is the reaction of children to your music?
KB: Well, my nephews like it. Every once in a while, someone will be like, "My four year old son really likes Of Montreal." The lead singer from the Lilys, Kurt Heasley, he said that his kids are really into Of Montreal. So, it's funny, every once in a while someone will tell me, "My son loves The Gay Parade, he's four years old, and he always wants me to play him The Gay Parade and dance around the room..." That feels really good, to know that we're reaching the youngsters.
GLONO: What do you think of this? I was in class and someone read this quote from Nelson Mandela. And on the recent record, the song "City Bird" made me think of this. I want to show this to you, you've probably seen it before.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
KB: (laughter) That's great!
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
- Nelson Mandela, 1994 Inaugural Speech
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
- Nelson Mandela, 1994 Inaugural Speech
KB: That's great. How did that remind you of "City Bird?"
GLONO: "You neglect your wings like you don't need them."
KB: Right. Actually, I didn't write those lyrics. Those are Dan Donohue's. That was the first time on any Of Montreal record that someone else wrote the lyrics. And when Dan gave them to me, I thought they were really beautiful. So, I just wrote the music for it.
GLONO: What other groups are you into right now in Athens?
KB: Well, Athens is kind of the same, you know, Elf Power, Circulatory System, Summer Hymns, Casper and the Cookies, the Late B.P. Helium, Marshmallow Coast, and like all of our friends' bands. I haven't really been turned on to that much new Athens music. But I'm sure there is a lot of great stuff being made. I don't really go out very often. I'm not really... in touch.
GLONO: The other members' projects, like Marshmallow Coast, Circulatory System, how are those coming along?
KB: Well, Marshmallow Coast just put out a record last year called Anti-Star and it's a really great record. Circulatory System is in the process of completing their second record, I guess it's going really well. I haven't heard any of it yet but it's supposed to be really great. And with Great Lakes, Jamie was like a main songwriting force in Great Lakes, but he's not really doing so much with that anymore, he's working on his own thing. Right now, it has the title of James Husband. But he might change it. But he's actually recording that record as we speak, well, not right now, because he's on tour with us! He would be, if he was at home. The Casper and the Cookies record just came out.
GLONO: Yeah, you have a couple Cookies in the band right now, right?
KB: One, yeah.
GLONO: One Cookie.
KB: Yeah, only one cookie. (laughter) And The Late B.P. Helium, his record should be coming out pretty soon, he has an EP [Kumquat Mae] that was really great that came out last year.
GLONO: This might be premature to ask, you know, as you're doing the tour supporting your new record, but where do you think Of Montreal will go next?
KB: Well, I actually have a really good idea of what I want to do with the next record. I want it to be less like a pop record, and more like a long piece, you know, with all these different movements, everything connected together, but not necessarily in a linear fashion. Something more ambitious.
When I think about it, I really want to make a DVD. I wish that DVD audio was the media that everyone uses, for that to be the norm instead of CDs. It would be so great if you could put on a DVD and just listen to it, or you could turn on the television and watch it. It would just be more interesting if you had an animated feature that would go along with the whole record, or films or whatever that would be, just to have visuals with the audio. But not necessarily to have to listen to it through television speakers. Everyone would have it set up just like their CD player is set up right now.
We've talked about making a website also, me and my brother and Nina. We don't have a name for it yet, but that's going to be the project we start immediately when we come back home.
GLONO: When you say in the long piece, that the movements might not proceed in a linear fashion, do you mean like the Circulatory System record that was a shuffle play record?
KB: Oh, it could be something closer to that, but I was thinking I wanted to sort of just abandon the pop music clichés of verse-chorus-verse-chorus but I don't want it to abandon the great part of pop music that is like the infectious melodies, the toe tapping rhythms, or whatever. I want to make something that is very listenable, very cool to listen to but not necessarily conventional. I just want to push the envelope in a way, and I know that that is a cliché in itself, but I want to make something that is just so... that somehow, will make every other record seem obsolete.
GLONO: Ah ha ha! That's ambitious!
KB: Yeah. I just want to change the face of music. I want to make something that... that people can relate to, but will still seem very exotic. The reason I want to do that is because, I want to hear that record.
GLONO: Well, they say, write what you want to read...
KB: Exactly. I want to make the record that, if I heard it, I would say, "Holy shit, I need to go to my studio right now and make a record!"
GLONO: You want to push the envelope in a different way, huh?
KB: Yes, for some reason I felt like, music has gotten kind of stagnant, in a way. And like this "return to rock" with the Strokes and the White Stripes is great, and it was great for like five minutes, but like, there's no future in that. And I don't know, it changes too, like, I wouldn't want to listen to something totally insane and symphonic every day, either. I like to put on Iggy Pop every once in a while too. I like to put on the Misfits or Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin or whatever.
GLONO: It's rockin', it gets you through.
KB: Yeah. The thing is, that's why I was talking about the DVDs. I wish there was more of an experience, where you put it on, and you watch it, you listen to it, you experience it, through headphones hopefully, and it changes your year. It could even just change your month or something, you know? That's my goal. Just change the month. It doesn't have to change the year. (laughing) A year is a long time.
GLONO: You are changing lives through music.
KB: I hope it has a positive impact on the world. That's definitely the goal.
GLONO: Last question. What's your favorite scene from "Help!"
KB: I like when they all walk up to their apartment and they're saying goodbye to each other... It's brilliant. (laughing)
2004-07-12 - Junk Media
Originally published by Junk Media.
I consider myself very privileged. Not just anyone gets to call up Of Montreal wunderkind Kevin Barnes and shoot the shit. Well, that is unless you look up his phone number or something. At any rate, I felt honored to speak with the writer of one of the most outstanding records of the year so far, Satanic Panic In the Attic. The album is an odyssey of winsome storylines dancing over sugary melodies and some truly eccentric song-writing. I caught Kevin while he was on the phone with a friend, but he was gracious enough to give Junkmedia a few minutes of his time to chat it up.
So you just finished up a pretty big tour a few weeks ago. How did that go?
It was great. It was by far the best tour that we've done in every possible way.
What were the bests and worsts of the tour?
Well, the best part was we got really good tour press, so that helped a lot; and we're doing really well on college radio, so it seemed that people were getting into the record at the same time we were touring. The worst part about touring is touring in general -- eating at places you wouldn't ever eat at. Not getting much sleep... but that's tour so...
You also just put out a fantastic album, Satanic Panic in the Attic. Considering the number of line-up changes you've had with Of Montreal, who exactly played on this album?
This one is mostly me; I did most of the stuff myself. Some people came in and helped, like Andy Gonzales, who's played guitar with Of Montreal for a while. He didn't do the last couple tours because he's back in school, [ but] he played guitar on a couple songs. My friend, Eric Harris, played drums on a song and Heather Macintosh played cello on a couple songs. But the majority of the instrumentation was done by me.
What is your song-writing process like? Do you start with a chord progression or a melody, or...
Well, normally I try to think creatively every day -- doing some role-playing and humming and seeing what happens, seeing what comes up -- and then sometimes it will turn into a song. I'll just go into my room and pick up my guitar and figure out what the chord progression would be for that melody line and then try to write lyrics. Probably a pretty typical procedure.
Is it hard to be a creative songwriter these days?
Most people aren't as creative as I'd like them to be. There're only a handful of songwriters that really try to push themselves to do something that's eccentric and strange and unconventional. Maybe it's hard, or maybe it's just hard to want to try? I don't know. It seems like the majority of at least mainstream music is like that: super predictable and boring. But then you have the indie scene, which is so great. People can really express their own personal vision.
I really enjoyed the somewhat dancey structure of songs like "Disconnect the Dots" or "Rapture Rapes the Muses." At the same time, there has been a revival of danceable music in the underground. Is there any correlation?
I think I'm definitely influenced by what my peers are doing, so that played a part in it. But it's something I've been wanting to do for a while -- do some programmed drum beats -- just because it's fun, it's a different thing. I get kind of bored doing the same thing over and over again. With the last record, Aldhils Arboretum, it's just a straight record; it's just conventional rock and roll instrumentation. It was an interesting experiment, but I didn't want to do anything like that -- I wanted to do a more eclectic mix of styles.
How do you feel about integrating the newer technologies into your music?
I think it's great to use modern technology in your own way. I think that's really the only way to make progressive music. For music to progress, it has to use the tools that people are creating currently, so things aren't just retro, retro, retro. There's no way music can evolve if you're obsessed with some period that happened at one point in time.
I don't have any qualms about using a drum machine or computer programming or studio trickery. That's like an artform in and of itself. I think it's exciting to be able to work that way; I don't think you should ever limit yourself, say, "I'm only going to use these organic instruments," or, "I'm only going to use analog because it seems more pure." If that's your trip, that's fine; for me, I'd much rather be completely open-minded and use whatever's available.
Your lyrics are one of my favorite parts of Of Montreal records. The lyrics of "My British Tour Diary," well, can be read as a tour diary. Others are much more abstract. Where do you come up with your lyrics?
It's a lot of role-playing and creative thinking; trying to think of different, weird ways to say the thing, or strange scenarios that I can put into a song. Like [the song] "Chrissy Kiss the Corpse," where I was just driving in a car with my dad and, for some reason, I was imagining my sister -- it was a really grim, macabre vision that I was imagining my sister at my nephew's funeral and how she would have to kiss the corpse. I was like "That'd be a funny idea for a pop song." I mean, not really funny, but like it'd be like [sings] La la la la la! You know, bouncy melody line and really dark lyrics.
What are your feelings on the folding of Kindercore records?
It's really sad, because there was a period where Kindercore was doing really well and they had this great financial backer in Emperor Norton. So they had tons of money, high rolling and were putting out tons of records. That was their high-water mark and then after that they sort of went down hill, they lost Emperor Norton. They had too many bands, so they had to get rid of some bands. Then this really, really, really crappy company called Telegraph sort of bailed them out financially, but in the end sort of destroyed them. It's a really sad story, because it started off so pure and so great; Ryan built it up out of nothing, then it started to erode.
How do you feel about your new home at Polyvinyl?
I think they're amazing. It's by far the best experience I've ever had working with a label. They're so together, so organized, so motivated and ambitious. And on top of that, really sweet people. Their hearts are in the right place and are really supportive.
Who are some of your favorite bands from the present time?
All the bands we put on that four songs cover EP, and we picked our favorite four contemporary bands. It was Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, the Shins, the Z-Twins, which is this really great band from the UK, and Broadcast. That's the stuff I'm really into. I've been getting really into stuff like Daft Punk and Phoenix -- I really love Phoenix. I guess they have a new record coming out soon. And then there's the obvious stuff like The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev.
What's your favorite thing about music these days?
I think the best thing about it is that the indie scene is thriving. If everybody had to rely on major labels, no records would ever get released, or none of the great records that are being made right now. Also, with recording equipment costs getting a lot lower, it's becoming more affordable for people to have studios. I've been able to build a studio just from producing records and getting recording advances and putting that into the studio. It becomes this freedom to explore things you wouldn't be able to if you were paying by the hour.
What can we expect from Of Montreal in the coming months?
I'm working on a new record right now that's gonna be more like a synth-pop record. It's going more in the direction of "Disconnect the Dots" and "Rapture Rapes the Muses." I just wanted to do something like that -- that was my foray into the programmed drum thing. It's really fun and really interesting. I've always loved '80s bands, and there's that whole new '80s dance revival thing. But people don't really do the "Come on Eileen"-type of dance stuff. People are more influenced by new wave and no wave... like Depeche Mode, I guess. It seems like a lot of people that are doing the '80s dance revival thing, they don't really capture the joy of the 80s -- the blissful, sweet, pop element. My goal for the next six months is to finish another record and have it out by around March or April.
You've put out quite a number of records on a consistent basis. How do you stay so prolific?
It's such an important part of my life that it is my life in a lot of ways. So there's nothing else to distract me, nothing else that I do. I don't have any other hobbies, I don't watch television; I don't do anything. When I'm at home I'm writing and recording.
Steve Mizek
July 12, 2004
I consider myself very privileged. Not just anyone gets to call up Of Montreal wunderkind Kevin Barnes and shoot the shit. Well, that is unless you look up his phone number or something. At any rate, I felt honored to speak with the writer of one of the most outstanding records of the year so far, Satanic Panic In the Attic. The album is an odyssey of winsome storylines dancing over sugary melodies and some truly eccentric song-writing. I caught Kevin while he was on the phone with a friend, but he was gracious enough to give Junkmedia a few minutes of his time to chat it up.
So you just finished up a pretty big tour a few weeks ago. How did that go?
It was great. It was by far the best tour that we've done in every possible way.
What were the bests and worsts of the tour?
Well, the best part was we got really good tour press, so that helped a lot; and we're doing really well on college radio, so it seemed that people were getting into the record at the same time we were touring. The worst part about touring is touring in general -- eating at places you wouldn't ever eat at. Not getting much sleep... but that's tour so...
You also just put out a fantastic album, Satanic Panic in the Attic. Considering the number of line-up changes you've had with Of Montreal, who exactly played on this album?
This one is mostly me; I did most of the stuff myself. Some people came in and helped, like Andy Gonzales, who's played guitar with Of Montreal for a while. He didn't do the last couple tours because he's back in school, [ but] he played guitar on a couple songs. My friend, Eric Harris, played drums on a song and Heather Macintosh played cello on a couple songs. But the majority of the instrumentation was done by me.
What is your song-writing process like? Do you start with a chord progression or a melody, or...
Well, normally I try to think creatively every day -- doing some role-playing and humming and seeing what happens, seeing what comes up -- and then sometimes it will turn into a song. I'll just go into my room and pick up my guitar and figure out what the chord progression would be for that melody line and then try to write lyrics. Probably a pretty typical procedure.
Is it hard to be a creative songwriter these days?
Most people aren't as creative as I'd like them to be. There're only a handful of songwriters that really try to push themselves to do something that's eccentric and strange and unconventional. Maybe it's hard, or maybe it's just hard to want to try? I don't know. It seems like the majority of at least mainstream music is like that: super predictable and boring. But then you have the indie scene, which is so great. People can really express their own personal vision.
I really enjoyed the somewhat dancey structure of songs like "Disconnect the Dots" or "Rapture Rapes the Muses." At the same time, there has been a revival of danceable music in the underground. Is there any correlation?
I think I'm definitely influenced by what my peers are doing, so that played a part in it. But it's something I've been wanting to do for a while -- do some programmed drum beats -- just because it's fun, it's a different thing. I get kind of bored doing the same thing over and over again. With the last record, Aldhils Arboretum, it's just a straight record; it's just conventional rock and roll instrumentation. It was an interesting experiment, but I didn't want to do anything like that -- I wanted to do a more eclectic mix of styles.
How do you feel about integrating the newer technologies into your music?
I think it's great to use modern technology in your own way. I think that's really the only way to make progressive music. For music to progress, it has to use the tools that people are creating currently, so things aren't just retro, retro, retro. There's no way music can evolve if you're obsessed with some period that happened at one point in time.
I don't have any qualms about using a drum machine or computer programming or studio trickery. That's like an artform in and of itself. I think it's exciting to be able to work that way; I don't think you should ever limit yourself, say, "I'm only going to use these organic instruments," or, "I'm only going to use analog because it seems more pure." If that's your trip, that's fine; for me, I'd much rather be completely open-minded and use whatever's available.
Your lyrics are one of my favorite parts of Of Montreal records. The lyrics of "My British Tour Diary," well, can be read as a tour diary. Others are much more abstract. Where do you come up with your lyrics?
It's a lot of role-playing and creative thinking; trying to think of different, weird ways to say the thing, or strange scenarios that I can put into a song. Like [the song] "Chrissy Kiss the Corpse," where I was just driving in a car with my dad and, for some reason, I was imagining my sister -- it was a really grim, macabre vision that I was imagining my sister at my nephew's funeral and how she would have to kiss the corpse. I was like "That'd be a funny idea for a pop song." I mean, not really funny, but like it'd be like [sings] La la la la la! You know, bouncy melody line and really dark lyrics.
What are your feelings on the folding of Kindercore records?
It's really sad, because there was a period where Kindercore was doing really well and they had this great financial backer in Emperor Norton. So they had tons of money, high rolling and were putting out tons of records. That was their high-water mark and then after that they sort of went down hill, they lost Emperor Norton. They had too many bands, so they had to get rid of some bands. Then this really, really, really crappy company called Telegraph sort of bailed them out financially, but in the end sort of destroyed them. It's a really sad story, because it started off so pure and so great; Ryan built it up out of nothing, then it started to erode.
How do you feel about your new home at Polyvinyl?
I think they're amazing. It's by far the best experience I've ever had working with a label. They're so together, so organized, so motivated and ambitious. And on top of that, really sweet people. Their hearts are in the right place and are really supportive.
Who are some of your favorite bands from the present time?
All the bands we put on that four songs cover EP, and we picked our favorite four contemporary bands. It was Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, the Shins, the Z-Twins, which is this really great band from the UK, and Broadcast. That's the stuff I'm really into. I've been getting really into stuff like Daft Punk and Phoenix -- I really love Phoenix. I guess they have a new record coming out soon. And then there's the obvious stuff like The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev.
What's your favorite thing about music these days?
I think the best thing about it is that the indie scene is thriving. If everybody had to rely on major labels, no records would ever get released, or none of the great records that are being made right now. Also, with recording equipment costs getting a lot lower, it's becoming more affordable for people to have studios. I've been able to build a studio just from producing records and getting recording advances and putting that into the studio. It becomes this freedom to explore things you wouldn't be able to if you were paying by the hour.
What can we expect from Of Montreal in the coming months?
I'm working on a new record right now that's gonna be more like a synth-pop record. It's going more in the direction of "Disconnect the Dots" and "Rapture Rapes the Muses." I just wanted to do something like that -- that was my foray into the programmed drum thing. It's really fun and really interesting. I've always loved '80s bands, and there's that whole new '80s dance revival thing. But people don't really do the "Come on Eileen"-type of dance stuff. People are more influenced by new wave and no wave... like Depeche Mode, I guess. It seems like a lot of people that are doing the '80s dance revival thing, they don't really capture the joy of the 80s -- the blissful, sweet, pop element. My goal for the next six months is to finish another record and have it out by around March or April.
You've put out quite a number of records on a consistent basis. How do you stay so prolific?
It's such an important part of my life that it is my life in a lot of ways. So there's nothing else to distract me, nothing else that I do. I don't have any other hobbies, I don't watch television; I don't do anything. When I'm at home I'm writing and recording.
Steve Mizek
July 12, 2004
2004-04-21 - Lazy-I
Tired of the same old indie-rock show schtick week in and week out at the local club?
You know the one I'm talking about: The T-shirt-clad band slumps onto stage and pounds out the typical 35-minute set of songs from their new album, barely acknowledging that there's an audience standing a few feet away while they scream to the soundman that they need more vocals in the monitor. If you're lucky, you might get a "Thanks Omaha" after the lead guy plays his one-song encore before slinking away for the evening.
Of Montreal feels your pain.
So don't expect a traditional rock show when the Athens-based ensemble plays Sokol Underground April 28. Expect an extravaganza.
"There's always a lot of unconventional stuff going on," said Of Montreal leader Kevin Barnes about the stage show via cell phone in transit to their Mt. Pleasant, S.C., gig. "It's kind of hard to describe. We perform a whole bunch of skits between songs. We pantomime to prerecorded music just for fun, just to make people laugh."
| A veteran of countless tours since the band formed in the late '90s, Barnes knows just how uninspiring a typical rock show can be -- both for the fans and the musicians on stage. "We want to make something that's less predictable," he said. "We've done so many tours, it gets boring playing 14 rock songs and saying 'good night.' Doing skits breaks it up." It can also make for some interesting challenges. Just the night before, the 7-piece band found themselves struggling to pull off their skits on a tiny stage at Asheville, N.C.'s Vincent's Ear. But they soldiered on and made it work. "We're pretty flexible," Barnes said. "We roll with the punches. If the skits don't go off like we want, it doesn't matter. The point is trying to do something special. Most people familiar with our music know we have an unconventional sense of humor and expect to see it." The "unconventional" is just what those Of Montreal fans have received since the band burst onto the indie scene in 1997 with their playful Bar/None debut Cherry Peel. They were quickly identified as part of the Elephant 6 collective -- a gathering of bands and artists whose sound reflects a love of '60s California sunshine pop from such icons as The Beach Boys, Van Dyke Parks and The Turtles. Other Elephant 6 acts include Apples in Stereo, Elf Power and Neutral Milk Hotel. Barnes acknowledged the ties, though he said the Elephant 6 concept has faded over the years. "It's not really an active collective anymore," he said. "It's always been difficult to describe what it is. It's abstract -- a bunch of people who live in town who play similar music. It's not like a cult -- we don't have meetings." They do, however, share musicians and other resources, but no more than any other active scene, Barnes said. "Pretty much every scene that's thriving at all will have that communal experience that comes from working together," he said, citing Omaha's Saddle Creek "collective" as an example. "I'm sure Detroit, New York and every big music scene has a group of musicians that work together, whether they have a name for their scene or not."
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| Elephant 6's stereotypical ironic, low-fi chamber pop influence isn't obvious on Satanic Panic in the Attic, Of Montreal's just-released full-length on Polyvinyl Records, though there's plenty of '60s inspiration to be heard, albeit slightly modernized. Think recent stuff by The Shins or New Pornographers and you're getting the picture. Satanic Panic in the Attic sports an ethereal theme park vibe -- an exuberant kaleidoscope perspective of color and light, like a child spinning in place until she falls on the grass, dizzily looking to the sky. Songs like the standout opener, "Disconnect the Dots," floats along a cushion of keyboards, handclaps and Barnes cooing "It's so beautiful…" Unlike the band's past albums, including their 1999 carnival-ride breakthrough The Gay Parade, Satanic Panic isn't a concept piece. "It's just a collection of pop songs all recorded in the same four-month period in the same studio," Barnes said. "I wrote all the songs, so there's a thread of continuity that runs through them, but it's not a concept. "Concept records are more challenging and ambitious to write, but can be a less enjoyable listening experience if they're following a story line. Sometimes the lyrics can become too spelled out and that can limit you." And that's just what Barnes says the band is trying to avoid -- limitations -- hence, their wonky vaudevillian stage show. "We're having a lot of fun," he said. "Hopefully the audiences are as well." |
2004-10-01 - Opening Bands
by mike heiber - Oct 01, 2004
Lead singer and songwriter from Of Montreal, Kevin Barnes, was kind enough to meet with me and answer a few questions before their show here in Champaign at the Cowboy Monkey on 9/28/04.
Mike Heiber: Welcome to Champaign. How was your drive from Chicago?
Kevin Barnes: It was very uneventful.
M: How has the touring been so far?
K: It's been great, probably the best tour I've been on so far.
M: I know bands usually like to play at home, but what are some of your other favorite places to perform?
K: I actually don't like playing at home, I hate playing at home. I like playing anywhere else, but my favorite place is probably New York or San Francisco.
M: What makes those places better?
K: I think it's just because we have a larger fan base there, more people turn out to shows. It's also just cool to be in those cities, you know, even if we weren't playing, to be there. There's always a good vibe there.
M: Have you played in Champaign before?
K: We played the High Dive about four years ago.
M: How do you like it in Champaign?
K: I like it but, I mean we have only spent a small amount of time here, so it's hard to say, but it seems like a nice environment.
M: Your band is based out of Athens, GA. How is it there? You had said you didn't really like playing there?
K: Athens is a cool place just because there are tons of like-minded people who have recording studios in their bedrooms and they are very supportive of each other and help each other out and you don't really feel like there is a status issue. You don't have to feel like, "Oh shit I have a crappy job" or "I don't have health insurance" or "I have a gross car." It doesn't matter. Nobody worries about status. We just feel our music and make sense of the world that way.
M: How does that compare to other places, for example you said you like San Francisco and New York? How does the South compare to other places as far as music goes?
K: I guess it varies from town to town. We have had great shows in Florida, and fun shows all over the place. I think there is a really great indie community spread throughout the whole country.
M: Champaign is also home to your new record label, Polyvinyl Records. How does Polyvinyl Records compare to some of your past labels?
K: By far this is the best experience we've had with a label. They have just been amazing. I mean, I think Bar/None and Kindercore were really awesome to work with too, but Polyvinyl has taken care of us in a really good way and we love everybody there.
M: Myself, a big fan of Polyvinyl, since you guys just signed to Polyvinyl, was exposed to your music, which I had never heard before. So do you think going to a new label also helps give you guys more exposure to fans?
K: Yeah I think so, because with each new label there is that fan base of people that check out everything on the label. Yea, it's cool in that way so that people who haven't heard of you would be exposed to your music. It's definitely a positive thing.
M: Are you familiar with any of the other Polyvinyl bands, and what do you think about them?
K: Yea, there are some great bands, I haven't heard every band on the label, but Volcano, I'm Still Excited is really great. We played a bunch of shows with them. I also like Saturday Looks Good Me, Mates of State, and Rainer Maria, but yea it's definitely a good roster.
M: Over the past 7 years you have been able to produce almost one album per year if not more. How do you continue producing albums at such a high rate? I would say probably higher than a lot of bands usually do.
K: Yea, I guess I don't know. As we're recording, we're also writing, so by the time the record is finished there is half of a record or more that's already written, ready to be recorded.
M: So do you cut back on touring at all for writing? How is your touring schedule affected?
K: It doesn't really interfere so much because we don't tour more than about 4 or 5 months out of the year. So we have plenty of time to work on stuff.
M: Do you think if you toured more it might help give you more exposure?
K: It's hard to say, because you can kind of run it into the ground, you know playing every month in a city. Then people aren't going to come see you every time. So, I think it's good to space it out a bit.
M: Your newest record, Satanic Panic in the Attic on Polyvinyl Records still has a surreal type of style to it, but listeners have found it to be quite a bit different from some of the older singer/songwriter oriented work that you have done in the past. What are you trying to do? What do you think personally is different about this record and what are your reasons for doing so?
K: Well I always like to do something different with each record, so we don't just repeat ourselves. I also was influenced by different things with this record that I had never been turned onto before, like some Afro-Funk from the 70's and Jamaican Dub and Electronic influences. We basically just wanted to do something different and do some genre hoping that we haven't ever really messed with in the past.
M: Yea, I noticed that you used some drums loops and electronic type elements, so how does that transfer over into a live show?
K: Well on the last tour, for the song called "Rapture Rapes the Muses" on Satanic Panic... has programmed drums and we just burned it onto a disc and then we played along with it. It's a little bit more sterile when you do it that way, but on "Disconnect the Dots" which has programmed drums on the record we replaced with live drums. So we try to reproduce it as best we can, but it's kind of a different animal sometimes because back in the studio it sounds a lot different.
M: Also for the new album, I understand that it was mostly written and recorded by you, by yourself. I image it is pretty difficult and time consuming to record all the instruments, do the mixing, and also write all the parts. How was that experience for you?
K: It was fun. It was something I had been wanting to do for a long time, and something that I had done in the past too. A lot of the stuff on the Gay Parade, Cherry Peel, and ...Petite Tragedy I did it that way, just by myself. So for me it's not really a matter of feeling like "Oh this is really time consuming," because it's a labor of love and something I really, really enjoy doing.
M: I heard that you have a new record coming out. Do you know when that is expected? Do you have any comments? Should we expect something new again?
K: It's going to come out in April and it's called the Sunlandic Twins and it's more electronic, there's more programmed drums. It's kind of taking off where "Disconnect the Dots" and "Rapture Rapes the Muses" left off. In a way, there is sort of a disco type element. The first half is like that, really sunny and dance-like, and then the second half gets a lot darker and a little bit strange, for example, the theme become a lot stranger. There's lots of weaving sounds and it's a lot more cinematic as the record progresses.
M: So you are going farther into the electronic type styles and experimenting a little more?
K: Yea, we are just trying to take that genre and Of Montreal-ify it.
M: So you are still going to keep the surreal type style that you have been known for?
K: Yea, (the electronic styles) are just something fun that I just really enjoy working with. For people who are way into electronica, it may just seem like, "Oh this isn't that cutting edge," but for me it's just fun to do.
M: So did you have to learn a lot of software or computer skills for the electronic elements?
K: Yea I did, but its fun. It's a totally different experience working in that way because its not as organic and so you don't have to think as much about playing the guitar a certain way, or playing the cello a certain way, or the piano, or whatever. The main struggle is just getting the sounds you want, and tweaking it the way you want it to be tweaked, and automating all the effects. It's a really fun, strange animal.
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2004-04-29 - Denver Music
Wordsmith - A game of artful dodgeball with Of Montreal.
By Eryc Eyl
Published on April 29, 2004
Published on April 29, 2004
Kevin Barnes won't play along.
I'm trying to break the ice with Barnes, Of Montreal's idiosyncratic leader and auteur, with a game of word association I've created by cherry-picking some of his striking lyrics, adding words that are often used to describe his band and, just for kicks, tossing in a few more that came to mind while listening to the outfit's latest effort, Satanic Panic in the Attic.
But things aren't working out as planned. When I say "vaudevillian," he responds with "toothache." When I say "hallucinogenic," he says, "taco matter."
Clever as I'd thought my ploy was, it's clearly too conventional and predictable for a mind as inventive as Barnes's. Since 1997, this native of Athens, Georgia, has made Of Montreal an outlet for delightfully poppy and phenomenally creative musings inspired by Brian Wilson, the Beatles, Ray Davies and the Apples in Stereo, who were fellow members of the Elephant 6 collective. While Of Montreal's dozen or so releases during that time have explored a number of musical styles, they have always stuck close to the '60s psychedelic pop that occupies a special place in his heart.
Most Of Montreal recordings were sponsored and released by Athens indie-pop stalwart Kindercore Records, onetime home to similar acts such as Denver's Dressy Bessy and the Essex Green of Burlington, Vermont. But when that label encountered financial difficulties, the band found a new home with Polyvinyl Records, and Barnes couldn't be happier. "Towards the end, Kindercore kind of changed their focus, and we felt a little alienated," he says. "Polyvinyl has been very supportive."
The logo stamped on the back of the new disc isn't the only thing that's changed. After a few releases that gave longtime collaborators Dottie Alexander, Jamie Huggins and others a chance to contribute their ideas to the Of Montreal mix, Satanic Panic represents a return to Barnes's roots as an almost-solo creative force who used his home-based studio as an instrument itself, creating complex, ever-changing layers of sounds. Those who associate the term "solo" with a whiny guy and his guitar will be surprised by the new album. And fans who associate a sunshine-pop style with Of Montreal will find the music spiced up with disorienting time changes, stunning a cappella harmonies, dashes of electronica and even some new-romantics-style '80s pop.
"I try to explore different styles with each record," Barnes explains. "I'm always trying to do stuff that's unpredictable, because it's more exciting to make and to hear. You try to make music you'd want to hear. The last couple of records have been more democratic. This was the first record in a long time that was done by myself. It was very liberating."
Still, Of Montreal is more than just Kevin Barnes. In fact, he approaches the group as an artistic collective. Hitting the road to support Satanic Panic,he's even brought along a half-dozen close friends, most of whom have played and lived together for years on the Of Montreal ranch outside Athens.
The artistic collaboration isn't limited to music. Album art created by Barnes's wife, Nina, and his brother, David, is just as important to the Of Montreal experience. The act's extraordinarily ambitious 2001 work, Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse, included a sixteen-page, full-color booklet of artwork by David that accompanied its 22 tracks. And on stage, the musicians often sport outlandish costumes designed by David, performing songs in front of David's sets.
I throw out a loaded word -- "brainchild," which is how many people connect Barnes and Of Montreal. He answers with "saddlebag."
In addition to being a gifted songwriter, Barnes is also an extremely talented storyteller. His tales are peopled with unique and interesting characters who expose themselves willingly to scrutiny. The vulnerability and ingenuousness of the characters on each track might seem a bit twee at first, but Of Montreal is far more than wide-eyed bedroom pop. Lyrically, the content veers wildly from the safe and innocent rolling hills of gleeful adolescent love -- on tracks like "Your Magic Is Working" -- to the dark crags of vaguely necrophiliac sentiments on "Chrissy Kiss the Corpse." Friendly and familiar territory is explored on "Erroneous Escape into Erik Eckles," but influences from surprising and less accessible sources, like Os Mutantes, Brazil's groundbreaking psychedelic rockers, are mixed in on the unpredictable "Lysergic Bliss."
Listening to the multi-layered, complex euphony of an Of Montreal record while perusing the intricately designed liner notes is a bit like reading the EEG of a mad genius. The blips, the jagged lines, the colors and patterns all seem to hint at a wellspring of unparalleled intellectual and imaginative activity. Even in conversation, Barnes seems to be bursting with creativity, nearly unable to staunch the gushing flow of ideas. For him, this is simply a way of life. "In a lot of ways, [making music] is my reason for existing. Being creative gives me a sense of purpose."
Yet with all that originality, Of Montreal got started in an almost clichéd way. The story stars Barnes as the stereotypical loner, a troubled teen whose parents moved often, allowing him few opportunities to form real friendships. Because you know how the story ends, you can probably guess the rest. First a guitar and then a four-track recorder provided focus for adolescent angst; insecure and lonely, Barnes found refuge in music, spending hours alone in his room, playing his guitar. Blissful pop was still a few years away, however. Initial attempts at songwriting were influenced by his early musical heroes: Poison, Ratt and Mötley Crüe. Later he would discover the Beatles, followed by the Kinks, the Who and Frank Zappa -- and Of Montreal would be born.
I take a chance and offer up two more words: "Sergeant Pepper." Barnes gives me "ugly mustache."
"For a long time, I only listened to records made in the '60s, mostly psychedelic pop," he recalls. "But in the past couple of years, I've realized there are so many great bands making music right now. Touring has exposed me to indie music from all over the world."
In addition to the many musical influences that Of Montreal absorbs, Barnes nourishes his innate desire to innovate and create with stimuli from literature and film, from visionaries like Welsh author Roald Dahl and pioneering surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel."Last night we were in New York, in this really great bookstore," Barnes explains. "In a good bookstore, I get overwhelmed by how many incredibly creative people there've been throughout history, and I'm just feeding off that energy."
The inspired Of Montreal feeding frenzy is now so enormous that it threatens to overtake the boundaries of the usual CDs-and-tours paradigm. The artistic collective is considering branching into other media."We're talking about starting a very ambitious animation project," Barnes says. "I'm really excited, because it seems like you can do everything at once, and the possibilities are limitless." They're already envisioning the distribution of this latest project over the Internet.
"The hardest part is getting started with the first image, the first sound," Barnes concludes. "A record is much easier. You just write fourteen songs and string them together."
If putting together a record as impressive, masterful and enjoyable as Satanic Panic is "easy" for Barnes, I can see why he's ready for the challenge of a new medium. Most artists toil for years attempting to create an album as rich and complete as Panic, and most never succeed.
As it turns out, there's only one word that can truly describe Kevin Barnes and Of Montreal: brilliant.
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