#audiotree live | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sinceileftyoublog · 27 days ago

Text

A Place To Bury Strangers Interview: Romance Is a Place

Photo by Ebru Yildiz

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Picture Oliver Ackermann in his early 20s, playing Skywave's "Got That Feeling", one fist in the air and the other holding an open note on his bass. Now, picture him today, doing the same thing with "Disgust", the opening track on Synthesizer (Dedstrange), the latest A Place To Bury Strangers album. He specifically wrote "Disgust" on open strings so he could return to the showmanship of decades prior when playing it. Perhaps not as intentional but equally mischievous is that the band starts an album named after an instrument--one that's actually built into the LP's cover--with a different instrument. White hot guitar squalls shriek over propulsive drums, the sound of a seasoned band sounding new again. Indeed, on Synthesizer, A Place To Bury Strangers resemble three musicians feeling their love of playing more than ever, willing to take gnarly risks, yet still the same group that's pierced eardrums since the Aughts.

Well, at least the same group by name. Synthesizer is technically the first full A Place To Bury Strangers album to feature the new lineup of drummer Sandra Fedowitz and bassist John Fedowitz. Though they had joined the band prior to the release of 2022's excellent See Through You, that album was recorded solely by Ackermann after the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021's Hologram EP was the first recorded piece of music with the new lineup and is one that's a truer predecessor to Synthesizer than See Through You. "That EP was really awesome to do and was a stepping stone for the excitement of this record," Ackermann told me over the phone in late October, right before the band was set to go on tour. At the time of our conversation, the Synthesizer LP hadn't yet found its way into record stores, and those who had a copy had likely purchased it at a show. Ackermann didn't quite know how many people had tinkered around with the circuit board that graces the record cover, though one person had gotten it to work. "We'll see what kind of crazy questions people have, and how people are making it happen," he said. "But I hope a bunch of people build this."

For a band known for their abrasive live shows, Synthesizer's entire personality--from the exploratory nature of the record cover to the romance of its songs--exposes a softer side of A Place To Bury Strangers. Take "Join The Crowd", a dance track that takes its time to build into a shuffle. Ackermann sings, "Today was the day we were supposed to spend in love," like Robert Smith at his most crestfallen. On "You Got Me", Ackermann's vocals are obscured, but you can tell he's singing about devotion, a yearning contrast to the crispness of the upfront drums and wiry, harmonic bass. "Have You Ever Been In Love", whose live versions were previously released on the band's Audiotree Live and Live at LEVITATION, finally sees its studio release on Synthesizer, and it doesn't lose any of its urgency, its fast-throbbing drums and primal band vocals illuminating a sense of desperation. While there are certainly tracks on Synthesizer that should satiate longtime fans' taste for harsh noise, like the fuzzed-out, strobe-lit "Bad Idea" or evil protopunk jam "Fear Of Transformation", the band's 7th album stands out for its emotional honesty.

Below, read my conversation with Ackermann, edited for length and clarity. A Place To Bury Strangers plays Friday at ALPHAVILLE in Brooklyn, as part of the venue's series of 10th anniversary celebrations. The show is sold out, but you can join the waitlist for tickets.

Since I Left You: You've said Synthesizer sounds like the band's live sound. Does it reflect the live sound of the new lineup?

Oliver Ackermann: I would say so. At some point, you lose track of what the band sounded like ten years ago. This record, I feel like really captures [the three] of us.

SILY: Were there any newfound aesthetic or lyrical influences on the record?

OA: There have been more and more of these darkwave artists that have been coming out that I've been getting into. It wasn't necessarily intentional, but [people like] Madeline Goldstein...doing this electronic stuff...helped push us over and embrace some of that more. We'll embrace some of that in the future.

SILY: It's definitely a fun sound. You've talked about the lead single and opening track "Disgust" being reminiscent of Skywave's "Got That Feeling", where you'd play the bass with one hand and the other fist in the air. I think the whole album kind of sounds like that.

OA: Sick. Hell yeah.

SILY: I honestly think that "Disgust" is a spiritual sibling to "Got That Feeling".

OA: I think so. You are who you are, and you think about the past, and that's what drives you to keep on going. If you're doing something you don't really like or is kind of miserable, you probably shouldn't continue it. These songs definitely [recall] the inspiration and excitement of years past, and the potential for the future.

SILY: The record is named after an instrument that plays a prominent role on it, not just on the cover but in the songs themselves. At the same time, I love how the guitars, the synths, and the bass sound like they're melting together. Were you trying to create an abstraction where if you're the listener, you're not sure what's making what sound?

OA: I love that, when there are sounds and you're not sure what they are. There are field recordings [on Synthesizer]. I think that's a little bit more interesting, when you can quite pinpoint it. That's what I love about artists who use [abstraction]. When it's an obvious sample, it can be great when it's a nod to some sort of pop music and it makes you want to dance, but it's not really a goal of A Place to Bury Strangers.

SILY: Do you tend to come up with songs' instrumentation before the lyrics?

OA: Not necessarily. A lot of these songs were written at the same time the instrumentation was happening. "Join The Crowd" was a jam that we did. There's a vocal part and melody along the whole song. I took that and rerecorded over the top of it. You can still hear that original vocal melody of whatever I was making up off the top of my head. The lyrics exactly phonetically go off of that backing track. It's this kind of spiritual or subconscious writing, having that take on the structure. You can hear the background vocals are just a jam of the subconscious.

SILY: "Join The Crowd" calms you down after the first three tracks, and I feel like your vocals took a turn for the forlorn, almost like a Cure song. It made me think about how you do that a lot throughout the album, where you adapt the way you sing to the spirit of the song. Is that, too, a subconscious process, or are you actively experimenting with different singing styles?

OA: It's definitely a subconscious process. You're just trying to make what fits with the music. Sometimes, you'll rerecord totally different vocal lines on top. You're trying to let yourself go and be at the mercy of what the song and music is asking you for. When it comes time to arrange and finish the record, that's totally conscious and planned, almost the way you'd DJ a party. You have to have it make sense within the journey. I guess I'm kind of romantic in the sense that I grew up listening to whole albums, each song written for the song's sake, but when all put together, it's a piece.

SILY: I wrote down the word "romantic" a lot when listening to the record. It imbues you with feeling.

OA: I think [romance is] one of the most desperate and awesome qualities. Even if it's with friends, that connection and those moments where someone does something really kind for you, or romance in the sense of it being broken when you wished and hoped for something better. That's where I'd want to go when listening to music. A lot of times, it's sorrow. I think we all felt that when writing this record.

SILY: I was going to ask you about "Have You Ever Been In Love" which deals with those feelings, but it was a song written by everyone, and everyone contributed vocals.

OA: John wrote most of the lyrics for that. I do backup vocals which change around, but that song was a really awesome connection of the band. Having that magic unfold was awesome. You're starting to write, and you're starting to see how it's going in awesome places.

Photo by Devon Bristol Shaw

SILY: Like "Join The Crowd", the closing track on Synthesizer, "Comfort Never Comes", is an outlier in terms of length. If most of the other tracks are in your face right away, this one takes its time. It starts with silence and builds subtly. Why did you decide you wanted to end the album with something like that?

OA: It just seemed right. There was a full onslaught throughout the record, and this was a way to have almost a healing moment, or some sort of catharsis from what happened. It's like walking around after a long run.

SILY: How do the songs take shape live?

OA: They're great. It was awesome to be playing them and see people get super excited when we started them. It's fun to readapt what you can do, where you can take these songs in that live setting. It makes you do all of those different things you don't think about when recording a record.

SILY: How would you say they change?

OA: In all kinds of different ways. We play every song a little bit differently. Since there's only three of us, they're always a little more stripped down. You always have to figure out a way for the songs to hold their own. That's always the goal we're going for. You just have to readapt it and find a way to make the song work.

SILY: You've been prolific over the past few years. Is there anything else in the pipeline for the band?

OA: Of course! We're recording. There will be a few remixes, too.

SILY: How's Dedstrange been over the past couple years?

OA: The label's been doing great. It's a lot of work, and it's cool to be doing this stuff, but we're just kind of taking our time. All of the bands have been awesome. We came out with the Goblin Daycare album, EAZYHEAD record, Plattenbau record.

SILY: Is there anything you've been listening to, reading, or watching that's caught your attention?

OA: I just heard this band Offermoose, who are frickin' awesome.

youtube

0 notes