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This is an e-mail interview in addition to one we did when "It Was High Time To Escape" has been released. A lot happened since then, "The Curse Of The Longest Day" and "Talk Like Blood" for example, so here we go with more questions to Joe Haege (the guy left with the red wooly hat) ...
It has changed over time. When we were still playing with our old drummer it was very rare for me to write one song entirely by myself. In certain ways I think it created more unique song structures, but it also usually meant that I would have this half-finished song dumped in my lap and I needed to figure out an ending for it. However, once Pellicci started playing with the band there was a period of time when I was able to use a lot of the songs I had envisioned for the band. However, even when I bring a song that is essentially complete to the other two they still have a voice as to whether or not we will pursue the song. They usually still come up with their parts independent of me, though I will suggest timings/ cadence or a certain melody to follow.
The band is definitely by baby. It means a lot to the other two but I think I have always been the one that is the driving force. It is a unique dynamic because Jay and I have always been in it together and he has a totally distinct effect on the music we make, as does pellicci. I think I am just one of those people that obsesses and they just let me go with it, only intervening when they feel I’m wrong.
How would you describe the way your music has changed over the years?
I think it has matured in it’s own weird way. Coincidentally, it is more ragged and raw than it used to be. I know it might be hard to tell from a recording standpoint, but I definitely see it. I used to think too much about making every song some epic masterpiece. I thought everyone was as willing as I was to pay attention to some long drawn out song about how I felt about things. Not true! I think technically speaking that my voice is a lot stronger and I’ve become a little more comfortable writing songs from a different perspective rather than just from the perspective of myself emoting.
Before our first interview you said that you're thrilled to reach out of your own backyard as a band. Some tours outside the US later: how does it feel now?
It’s still great. I have friends who are in bands that have worked just as hard as us and yet they have never been to Europe and Japan. I’m consider myself very lucky and fortunate to have expanded the bands’ and my own horizons so drastically. It is so much more rewarding to meet and befriend people from a different culture and country rather than being the band of the day in the U.S.
I have the impression (stop me if I'm wrong) that the attention you gained has always been bigger outside of your home country. Is that right and how would you explain it?
You are absolutely correct. We somehow have “flown under the radar” in the U.S. for some time. I think a lot could be summed up to us not having a label that people really knew of, because it was small and very new. Also, even three years ago we had more songs over five minutes than we had under. I don’t really care either way, but even the U.S. underground music scene(which is quite fractured these days) has a tendency to notice bands that play melodic catchy short songs. It is no wonder that bands like the Decemberists, Death Cab and Modest Mouse all have gotten so big. Don’t get me wrong, I like their music, but it is quite palatable to a larger audience than we will ever appeal to.
Your recordings sound pretty raw, though I guess it has been hard work to make them sound that way. What does that tell about your ideas of sound aesthetics?
I think the first thing it means is that we don’t have a lot of money!! Just kidding. Um, I think we are accustomed to fairly raw recordings. I listen to songs on our new album and I think it is nothing but raw. However, if I compare it to Mars Volta it is fairly simple.
Regardless of that, though, I think we like the “sound of rawness”. Though I’m sure that a very produced record would please a certain part of us to no end. We all dream of having ample time and money to record. It would be so fulfilling. My dream album would sound as full as Black Sabbath and as jagged as Sonic Youth played at full volume through a cheap car stereo.
How did you get in contact with Polyvinyl?
During our last European tour with QandnotU their drummer asked me who was to release our next album. After telling him I had no idea he suggested Polyvinyl. I would have never thought of us and Polyvinyl at all, but once I got back from tour I sent them a couple of our records and they got back to me very quickly and seemed incredibly interested from the beginning. They have been great to work with, Always very supportive.
OWN records, of Luxembourg, released our last European release, THE CURSE OF THE LONGEST DAY, as well as the European version of TALK LIKE BLOOD. They have also been great to work with. It is so nice to work with people that seem to actually care about the music. They are somewhat a collective in decision making but are as organized as an actual business. That is quite rare in the U.S.
You're working hard but as it seems you're always arranging your live around the music. How important is music for you?
Music is the focus of my life. I have only a few things I really care about: My girlfriend, my friends, my cat, reading, taking baths and music. Music is not the top thing on the list. Rather, it’s the glue. Most of my friends have a passion that is music or something else of equal importance. My girlfriend also works in a restaurant and focuses on music as her passion. I will not lie…it’s very hard in the U.S. to not make money at your art and still work so hard at it. I have tried over the last few years to quit thinking in ways that pity myself, but rather to focus on how lucky I am to have a life where I can focus on music. Millions of people in this world don’t know when their next meal is coming from or if they will be dead by nightfall. So, I am now quite content to be broke, play piano and guitar and work on any musical project I think I can handle.
interview done by christian. visit www.31knots.com!