Stormy weather outside, freezy and normaly the time for a tasty tea. You can give a shit about that when the San Francisco based band Dredg is in town. Here we are.....
You are in Austria since two days, played two shows, in Graz and Salzburg. How was it?
GAVIN: Yeah, they were good, kind of mellow shows but good shows. We´ve never been in Graz, so that was cool. We knew Salzburg, we had been there in 2002.
You are on tour with your new album „The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion“ which is influenced by the words of Salman Rushdies Essay. I read it aswell and found myself agreeing to his thoughts. Can you remember the moment when you decided to do what is most important for you – the music – no matter what all the people around you said.
GAVIN: Yeah, I mean. I start playing guitar at six grade or so and that was pretty when i got into it, and lasted up through highschool but practicing a lot. But as a band I guess probably late ninetees or something around that time.
DINO: I start playing piano when i was really young, so as kind I was always playing music and my mother played music too since i was baby, so…..
So, you started with piano?
DINO: Yeah, at about five for like ten years. And then i start playing drums. I never realised that it´s what i do, because it was all the time the thing I did.
On the 1st of october there was a happening in NYC´s Housing Works where Dredg together with Salman Rushdie had organized an event. Would you say that this special concert was one of the most important and interesting moments in your (musical career or in your) career as an artist?
GAVIN: Definitely, it was very different and the show turned out really well. From a fun racing scanpointer it is sucessfull and they were very please. A well rounded evening i think. It was more a mellow show, without drums, only Roland Syntie, Keys, Guitars and Dino played Piano. It was in a bookstore, so we tried to make it bookstore´esk
In what way had the Split from your old label, the major Interscope, to your new one, the indie Ohlone Recordings, affected the work of the album. Was it hard to follow the concept, and was it also a reason for the various release dates of the album? Did you have more freedom in making the record with all the things you loved (to do afterwards?)
DINO: It was definitely part of the delay, you know. That took so long to make a album, because we were dealing so long, it was a long process that we actually left there and were kind of part away. During that whole like decision time and it was a lot of like delay. Just month, you know. We wrote a few songs, we were all kind of new, tried some more things, wanted to see some more. It was kind of a stretched up ending of the relationship. That was a big part and definitely a year of that kind of stuff going on and as far as the beginning of making the new record. And yeah, everyone would say that since we´ve been kind of our own it´s great. Making the album just for ourselfs and not feeling this pressure, i mean we never felt this pressure but it´s defenitelly better…
You recorded the album in your studio?
GAVIN: No, that wasn´t our studio. We decided a rehersal space. There are some studios around the bay area, and we recorded a few tracks in L.A. as well. Also in a studio in the north of San Francisco and in two studios in San Francisco as well. Yeah, and at a studio called Barefoot in L.A.
Oh, alright. I Ask this, because at The Leaflets i´ve seen this awesome studio with all this instruments and i also loved the bicycle ride to the studio.
GAVIN: (laughing) Oh yeah, it´s a beautiful location. That studio does not exist anymore, we were one of the last bands which recorded there. It´s kind of sad anyway.
You said one day that Dredg stands for „Discovering the World“, for transformation – because only when you go on journeys into unexplored areas you learn how to see things differently. You changed the producer – did you feel that Terry Pate would not be able to make this record?
GAVIN: We need a ingenieur and producer after sound a little different. So, you know, every record has kind of place for it´s persons. Mat Radosevich, we worked with on the new record. is a lot more musical than other people we worked with, so, he brought another element at the mix aswell. You know, every experience is a lot different.
In the song „Ireland“ you´re talking about the topic when we don´t move ourselves, when we stay at the same place, always with the same things around - which are in fact comfortable, but at the same time we´re losing our sight for the adventure, for discovering new things, new cultures…
No one of you really has this problem because of your touring-schedule.
Although: Was there a day, when someone had the impression to leave San Francisco, or did anybody of you live„far away“?
GAVIN: Yeah, i mean i think as a band we´re very privileged in reality, so it´s not useable for every persons to be to…you know…this kind of all great distances but it does not have to be a huge move or a huge vacation that experienced something new. I mean within our state there are a lot of different ideals, you know, geographic differencies or something like that, that could be inspire me in my life
DINO: We travel so much thats it´s kind of nice to be…ähmm..you know, someone have family too, and you´re always far away from them most of the time, so it´s kind of nice to be at home. To have it´s comfort.
GAVIN: But you guys are lucky, that you have so many different countries within short distances. We have Mexico, but it´s …hmm… you know……..
We are talking about places. Is there a place that means a lot to you - that always will be associated with a special song or music – because something special happend there?
GAVIN: Well, i think probably Germany, just because that was one the first countries outside of our own that embraced the music, and we´ve met a lot of people there over the years and have friends there now. There are certain areas.
DINO: Oh, I remember that when we were doing „Information“. It´s a little bit inspired by like the german festivals which we were playing, you know, this feeling when you are playing outside, lots of people. It kind of inspired me a little bit with the drumming. You know what i mean?
Is there something that creeped into your life, but right now you don´t like it anymore? An addiction, a habit or something like that?
DINO: (Laughing) Well, something is always creeping in somehow.
GAVIN: I think we´re pretty good right now, i think, yeah. We´re pretty down, more than ever probably. Yeah, we´ve calm down a little bit.
DINO: Yeah, but this is about six weeks ago (laughing)
DINO: This is the fourth and least month on tour, two europe once one months, and two us ones once with like seven weeks long. So that was like since late february, so it´s been like a whole year. We haven´t been on tour for long time, so, we got kind of crazy for a while, you know, but now it´s kind of like pacing ourselves a little bit,……getting older
DINO: Well, we had more fun to be fucking drunk all the time, party hard..you know, it´s more fun, but it also brings you down more aswell.
When the shows starts suffering because of you partying to hard, then you´re kind of guilt, you know, kind of fuck…
GAVIN: It´s just a bad cycle in which you´re caught in.
But for sure there are thes days which are more normal and these days which are sort of exzessiv. It always depends on the city aswell, right?
GAVIN: Especially being in a different place every night, seeing people like: „hey can i give u a drink“ and you are in..ähhm.. vienna and u feel like an idiot for not maybe, because we´re all over here and might be my last time that i am able to do this, so i wanna go out. That´s the tough thing but I will not sitting in the bus and read when i am in vienna, you know what I mean.
For example: Your best friend is asking you for advice about new music stuff. Which record would you recommend him (beside yours).
GAVIN: Well, the new Elbow record is not bad, that´s a great album.
DINO: To be honest it´s not that much that´s like flaring me right now. It might just be me, my grand, my life or something but I just dont have anything that´s like or that feel like that i have to listen too.
GAVIN: I listen to a lot of mellow music, usually i listen to most of my music in the morning. Especially on tour.
I ask this, because there´s a nineteen year old girl right now, she´s from austria and her artist name is „Soap and Skin“? You know her?
GAVIN: No. How was it, „Soap and Skin“?
Yes. She plays piano and mixes it up with sounds from her notebook.
DINO: Does she sing in english?
Yeah. I have the cd for you.
GAVIN & DINO: Thanks, great man.
What was your last dream about?
DINO: Wow, fuck, it was really weird. I had to protect an ex-girlfriend against getting shot down by some like folks, on a top of this hill, at night…
Yeah, nothing makes sence when i am woke up, but it totally makes sence when i was dreaming it…kind of weird when u know everything that was happening…..
Yeah, we watched this really fucking creepy movie Paranormal Activity, so we watched that regulary before going to bed, so….you know…one reason for this fucked up dreams!
GAVIN: I remember that when I explain dreams they sound just terrible, so…I don´t know, I was running from cops and there was some weird drug thing. You know, it was kind of this dream when u watching a movie and there is some new drug there that would transform you, like shapeshift you on a different things….. i was running from the police and turned into water…..i dont know, but it was really great during the dream, but yeah, it sounds pretty boring right now.
Explaining dreams is like impossible.
I got mobed the other night in my dream, by a girl and i´d followed her and was camping outside of her house, waiting for her to come out to get my phone and wallet back (all laughing)
Yeah, pretty boring.
You said that this album is dedicated to Chi Cheng, the basser of Deftones.
did his accident and his incidental condition changed the view of something in your lives (which was quite normal until then)?
GAVIN: I mean always things like that were unsuspected, kind of shocking. I don´t know, i mean, it makes u to think about this person after, and you reclaim what happend to him as best as u can in your mind. It´s sad and whatever. It´s a shocking like that, a sudden death or anything like sudden accidents are always kind of choking.
Does anyone of you write - in the century of mails and internet – Do you like handwritten stuff?
GAVIN: Not that much. More email.
Wordrap:
Mozart:
GAVIN: Austria
DINO: Salzburg
Falco:
DINO: What?
It was an important musican from vienna. Maybe you know his song „Rock me Amadeus“?
GAVIN: Oh, yeah. Ok, i know that my answer have nothing to do with it, but my fist thought was „The Endless Story“,because of Falkor
DINO: laughing
Drugs:
GAVIN: Fun
DINO: I love them
(all laughing)
Opera or Classical Music:
GAVIN: Classical
DINO: Classical
Nature:
GAVIN: Economy
DINO: Hock
Preferd fruit:
GAVIN: Banana
DINO: Apple
Night:
GAVIN: Inspire
DINO: Drugs
Sade (the singer):
GAVIN: Horny
DINO: Sexy
Vinyl:
GAVIN: Dredg
DINO: 1970´s
Thank you guys, was a pleasure.
Also thanks to FM5 (where you can read the german version) and ROOO!!! - you rock, take care - we need you man!!!!!
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen