EC Interviews O’Death
O’Death is set to release their next full length, Broken Hymns, Limbs & Skin, on October 28th. They’re currently touring to promote the record and will be in Boston on November 2nd at TT the Bear’s. Full tour dates are available after the break.
Perhaps the most telling pieces of the interview come in their thoughts on other artists within their genre and in the closing lines of the interview.
The following interview was conducted via email.
O’Death – Low Tide (Broken Hymns, Limbs & Skin; 2008)
Enough Cowbell: Head Home has a certain hollow sound to the recordings, almost as if many of the tracks were recorded in a factory. “Home,” the only track streaming on your myspace from your upcoming record, has a much warmer feel. Will that be heard throughout the entire record and is it a result of a little more money to play with now that you’re on Kemado Records?
O’Death: You gotta hear the whole album! I’d say head home had a certain hollowness by design. It was recorded in a very strange way with us being very inarticulate about how we wanted it to sound. I remember using the word “flat” a lot as something to shoot for in the mixing process on that album. Things were recorded very minimally (maybe two mics on the drums) and our engineer, Kris Pierce, hadn’t ever seen us or heard us before recording us so it was kind of a challenge. I still love the hell out of that recording but that may account for the factory feel you’re talking about. But yes, getting to Broken Hymns, our new album, we did want to get a certain punchy, aggressive feel, and Alex Newport our engineer/producer is great at getting that vibe. The album is more aggressive - and yeah - I think warmer too. More money was spent, but I think both decisions were by design and not a result of money.
EC: What was the main reasoning behind the switch from Ernest Jenning Co. to Kemado and what opportunities has being on a bigger independent label afforded the band?
O’Death: Well the album is not out yet on Kemado so a lot is still to be seen. but Kemado has a larger staff, more experience in the industry and yeah maybe some more clout. Ernest Jenning Co. folks are great great people, enthusiastic and kind, but it was always our intent to move forward from there. Kemado has a lot of momentum now - I think - and are very exciting professionals with really great ideas. They’re also real cool dudes – like the cool uncles I’ve always wanted or something.
EC: In what ways do you all feel O’Death’s sound has developed with the new album?
O’Death: The songwriting has changed some. There’s more band dynamic. More swells of instruments here and there. The album is more defined, more impressive musically and lyrically, I think. Rather than it being a departure I see it as a bit of a focusing on our intent as a musical project. We’re more interested in folk music as an world encompassing idea rather than just an American thing too. New rhythms, new feels. It may feel less off the cuff and more deliberate.
EC: Is there a particular artist, album, or genre, that was a stronger influence on the band in terms of sound for of Broken Hymns, Limbs & Skin?
O’Death: Going to have to say, ‘not really.’ While the band agrees we all like certain artists, we don’t usually look to a specific band or artist, or genre when putting together songs. it just doesn’t really work that way for us.
EC: Although O’Death is a bit more true to traditional Americana music than other bands who could be narrowly labeled as cow-punk, country-punk, etc., you do share certain similarities with artists such as the Violent Femmes and Meat Puppets, in addition to others. Do you all feel more of a connection to more modern bands who went about incorporating an aggressive edge to country/bluegrass/Appalachian folk or the actual traditional styles that has clearly influenced the band? How so?
O’Death: Yeah, I think we do respond to those sort of bands. A band like Morphine for example, is one we look up to. They sort of took these basic elements: sax, that deep bass, drums, that bluesy vocal sound, and turned into something really aggressive and rocking. They worked within a framework and expanded from there. Violent Femmes are definitely also a band we feel that way towards. These are bands that perhaps presented their limitation first and then surprised you at how much they could do with it. At how aggressive they could be and always how melodic they could be. We don’t however feel limited to country music just because our instruments incorporate banjo and fiddle. That’s maybe why morphine is a good example because they had nothing obvious to do with Americana/country. We don’t like to be limited by the country-punk aesthetic, though we do acknowledge its a part of us.
EC: What’s the process the band goes about when creating new songs?
O’Death: It depends completely on the song. Often Gabe will come up with a banjo line and I’ll work a melody around it. We’ll sit on that for a bit until its in good enough shape to show it to the band. Sometimes it works other ways. Sometimes I’ll come up with a song, with structure and it will be manipulated into something that works for the band. There’s also a couple songs on the album whose nucleus was introduced by Bob, our fiddle player. There is no law or rule. We just go with where the inspiration is.
EC: What aspects of the new record are you most excited about? Why?
O’Death: I think this is an exciting sounding album. It’s a great collection of songs and our performances have a lot of punch. There isn’t just one aspect really, the whole thing is great.
EC: During your Daytrotter session last year you played an untitled track which featured a Lake Snake. Has the song been finished and recorded for the new album? What is a Lake Snake and were you aware of the July 2nd, 2007 Lake Snake spotting in Lake Michigan?
Lastly, a bit of a random question, but a telling one: If the Beatles were varieties of mustard, which variety would each member be?
O’Death: Ok. Well no, I hadn’t heard about the lake snake. I don’t know why that popped into my head but I must have been channeling something about what you’re talking about. Sometimes these words just fit together with the imagery you’re going for and you got to commit to it. It’s always fun to see if it really means anything to anyone. Of course a lot of lyrics are more deliberate than that.
I’m thinking about this mustard question. I’m not especially a huge Beatles or mustard fan so I might not be the best to ask this question of. I don’t even know of four types of mustard. I think they’re all kind of yellow mustard though. Sorry Beatles.
O’Death Tour Dates:
October 30 – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY (w/ Hoots and Hellmouth, La Strada)
October 31 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA
November 1 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA
November 2 – T.T. The Bears – Cambridge, MA
November 3 – La Sala Rosa – Montreal, QUE Canada
November 4 – El Mocambo – Toronto, ONT Canada
November 5 – Mohawk Place – Buffalo, NY
November 6 – Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH
November 7 – Jakes Nightclub – Bloomington, IN
November 8 – Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL
November 9 – Hideout – Chicago, IL
November 10 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN
November 11 – The Picador – Iowa City, IA
November 12 – The Jackpot – Lawrence, KS
November 13 – Waiting Room – Omaha, NE
November 14 – Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO
November 15 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT
November 17 – Media Club – Vancouver, BC Canada
November 18 – High Dive – Seattle, WA
November 19 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
November 20 – Jambalaya – Arcata, CA
November 21 – Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA
November 22 – Spaceland – Los Angeles, CA
November 23 – Casbah – San Diego, CA
November 24 – Modified Arts – Phoenix, AZ
November 26 – The Mohawk – Austin, TX
November 28 – Marquee – Tulsa, OK
November 29 – Off Broadway – St. Louis, MO
November 30 – Hi-Tone Café – Memphis, TN
December 1 – Exit Inn – Nashville, TN
December 2 – The Earl – Atlanta, GA
December 3 – Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC
December 4 – Black Cat Backstage – Washington, DC
