White Arrows – In Bardo

By starrymag | March 24, 2015

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) I think what I’ve learned is that it takes an unbiased ear to describe it. So, I have kind of taken notes from what people have described to me. The best category is probably psychedelic pop.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) I listen to a lot of classic stuff and modern stuff. I really liked the group Them before Van Morrison became Van Morrison because they were more grunge rock. I think Van Morrison’s voice is pretty next level. I love Jared Paul’s leaked record that came out a year or so ago. It’s somewhat modern and a lot of people are doing interesting things.

Q) How did you come up with name In Bardo for the album?

A) It  was actually Andrew’s [Naeve] idea to call it In Bardo after I had written out all the lyric sheets and we noticed that every single song had kind of similar themes and tones. There was kind of a cohesion of sex, religion, death, reincarnation and transition. I think Andrew came up with it because this was kind of our culmination of years of touring, the first time being in a band together and finally honing in on a cohesive sound that ended up being our record. It was our coming to that realization of the lines between the beginning and ending were consistent themes for the record.

Q) What was the inspiration for your song “Creep on Dreaming?”

A) That was just kind of fun track that we did. It was the last track on the last day of recording where my little brother played drums. It was just my little brother, JP [caballero] and I in the room and we were kind of improving a little a song. It was just live, one take and winging it. JP came up with the key part first and we just kind of went with the flow on that one. It was a nice relief at the end of recording an entire album worth of music. It was a nice to kind of relax, kind of have a freakout. We didn’t really know what it would be for.

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) We kind of write like producers. On the first album, Andrew and I kind of wrote downstairs in the basement of where I lived. We tend to write that way. We tend to write at the computer, building tracks and sounds and layering tracks upon tracks. What was unique about In Bardo was that after we did that we got to take it into a proper studio with someone who is solely a producer and with an engineer manning the controls. So, we got an extra set of ears. Once we brought in this shell of a track we had someone else retool it and rethink it like a producer would. So, we have a hand in that sense that we write like producers too, but we actually brought it into a studio with Jimmy Messer producing it. It was our first time working with an outside producer.

Q) What is your song writing process like? Do you need music before the lyrics?

A) Sometimes I’ll be driving and I’ll think of a cool line or a theme that I want to talk about. Usually, the music sets the mood or tone of the song and that influences what kind of lyrics end up on that song.

Q) Your video for “Nobody Cares” is out now. How does it play into the theme and vibe of the song?

A) Daniel Kaufman came up with the treatment and directed the video. We were going through treatments and I liked how it was kind of surreal and cinematic. It embodied kind of a musical element, but also was somewhat a narrative element, which I always thought this album had. The album could be a series of short films and do three or four music videos, not the whole album. Each video could be kind of a loose narrative. The video ended up being something that I really love. The sentiment for “Nobody Cares” is one that sticks with me more than any other song I’ve ever written. I think about it all the time. Nobody cares. I have to remind myself that sometimes to help uninhibit me from feeling weird or self conscious. Then, you also get sad by that same sentiment. Why doesn’t anybody care? Then, you also get angry. People should care! You get liberated by it because if nobody cares then you won’t be judged for something that you want to do.

Q) What are some of your favorite tracks off the album?

A) There are a few. I guess it rotates. I really like a track that I didn’t really think of while I was working on it. The song is “Leave It Alone” and it ended up being one of my favorites to play live. I really like how the lyrics of “We Can’t Ever Die” turned out. I’m kind of surprised and happy that people really like the “God Alert” songs because I originally recorded them for potentially another project or like a solo project. It was so much more electronic and different. I played the for the producer and they said it should definitely go on the record. It’s kind of a two part song I wrote on my own that ended up being a part of the record and seemingly turned into peoples favorite songs on the record.

Q) What can fans expect from a live White Arrows concert?

A) From a White Arrows concert, you can expect a lot of sensory overload. We like heavy visuals, smoke and flashing lights. We like it to be a place where you can come in and turn off your brain and just have an experience as opposed an intellectualized study of something.

Q) You will be touring with OK Go! Have you spent much time with them?

A) Tim [Nordwind] is a really great dude and he is the really one I kind of know in the band. I think they are all going to become friends by the end of the tour.

Q) You got to work with D. Konopka on remixing “We Can’t Ever Die.” How did that happen?

A) I think it was because they were considering us for the tour. It was just kind of a cool collaboration idea and he was into doing remixes. Our front-of-house guy was their crew at the time and our manager was their tour manager. He played them our song and D. really liked it.

Q) What do you think it is about In Bardo that resonates with fans?

A) I think there is just a lot of truth in it. I don’t know if there is one specific thing that is making it resonate than another thing. I think when we went in to record this, my mindset was of “nobody cares” and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen beyond this album. I didn’t want to make any sacrifices and I just wanted to make something that my friends could be proud of. If it’s the last thing I make then it is the last thing I make. I kind of wasn’t thinking beyond that. I think because of that there is a lot of heavy topics and kind of personal, very very personal things that I just kind of went for on the album. I think people might be responding to that.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) I never think of it as a serious thing.  Although, people think it is a serious thing. I like it just because it is fun. It’s a good way to keep in touch with everything that is going on immediately. I’m kind of a product of my generation. It’s not a tool so much as something just that everyone has and kind of how we talk about with other people.

Q) What would you like to say to the Arrowheads – fans and supporters of your music?

A) I’d like to say that they should all creep on dreaming.

 

 

ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY MICKEY CHURCH