segunda-feira, 22 de fevereiro de 2016

Either That or the Moon with Desert Mountain Tribe - An Interview


Da mesma linhagem dos prediletos The Black Angels, os londrinos do Desert Mountain Tribe jogaram no mundo o pesado, ácido e freak, Either That or The Moon O debute dos caras é ciclíco, leviano e perfeito para sair da mesmice.

Riffs recheados de fuzz, vocal rasgadíssimo. psych rock atual sempre se alimentando nas fontes clássicas mas as recriando e explodindo bem no centro de nossas cabeças.

Estreia perfeita de uma banda perfeita.


***** Interview with Desert Mountain Tribe *****

Q. When did Desert Mountain Tribe start? Tell us about the history...
A: Felix and me (Philipp) are brothers who grew up in Cologne, Germany but we now live in London.

The reason why we moved to London was to make music and form a band. However it did take some time for us to set foot but after half a year or so we slowly built a band constellation that was composed of four people. Felix, Philipp, our friend Lars from Cologne and Andrew from Liverpool. What was missing was a singer!

Andrew remembered meeting Jonty at several house parties where he would start to sing whenever he had a little too much to drink. So we approached him and asked him whether he could see himself singing in our band. Even though he only ever played guitar up to this point and we were not in need of another guitarist (Lars and Andrew were taking care of that) he came down to a rehearsal and discovered that he's a really good singer, even when he's sober!

Unfortunately the band only lasted for about a year and half and from the ashes rose Desert Mountain Tribe. This time with Jonty also on guitar.

Q: Who are your influences?
A: We're influenced by completely different sounds. In general we all like powerful drums and bass lines from bands like Neu!, Can, Föllakzoid, Stone Roses or Dead Skeletons but we also like more guitar based rock such as Led Zeppelin, Oasis, The Brian Jonestown Massacre or Dandy Warhols. If the mood is right we also listen to hip-hop or deep house. You should be open for all kinds of music as every genre has something else to offer that you can learn from.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
A: We have to make a list each because we couldn’t agree

Philipp:
1. Velvet Underground And Nico
2. David Bowie – Hunky Dory
3. Neu! – 1975
4. Throw Down Bones – S/T
5. Dead Skeletons – Dead Mantra

Felix:
1. Velvet Underground And Nico
2. Oasis – Definitely Maybe
3. Air – Moon Safari
4. Brian Jonestown Massacre – Aufheben
5. Led Zeppelin – 1

Jonty:
1. Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
2. The Dandy Warhols – Come Down
3. Eagles – Hotel California
4. Air – Moon Safari
5. The Black Angels – Directions To See A Ghost
Q. How do you feel playing live?
A: Playing a live is the best part about being in a band. There is really no better feeling than playing in front of an enthusiastic crowd in a sold out venue.

Q. How do you describe Desert Mountain Tribe sounds?
A: Difficult to say. To put it simply, you could say we're a rock band. We do have strong 'psych' influences, however that term is so overused now that you can't really use it anymore. By now almost every indie folk band labels their sound 'psych'. It's probably the new indie.

We love having strong instrumental parts and often add the vocals at a later part of the process. But we are also versatile and don’t focus too much on particular sound but like to try new things all the time.


Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
A: Almost every song of ours was written whilst jamming in the studio. Apart from very few exceptions no song was ever complete written at home by one person. Normally Jonty or Philipp come to the studio with a riff or melody and we start just playing with it and trying ideas out. A lot of good stuff gets lost in the process because we're not great at organising or planning despite our German heritage. But as soon as we think „Hey, this could turn into something great“ we start to think about different parts that we could create and step by step we have a finished song.

Of course, all instruments on the album are played live and the different sounds you hear all sound like the way they came out of the amps. However, we didn't record the album on tape. We neither had the budget nor the time to do that. A big part of our music consists of experimenting and of creating a certain recognizable sound which flows from song to song. Naturally everything sounds slightly rawer and rougher when we play live but we do try to capture our live sound on record.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
A: There are many great bands out there at the moment. Everyone should definitely check out Sonic Jesus, Throw Down Bones and 10 000 Russos though!

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
A: That’s a tough one. It would probably something no one would expect from us. Maybe Prince, that could be interesting! If you make a cover I think you have to really reinterpret the song and not just replay it. So making a cover from another Rock or Psych band would be a bit boring I think.

Q: What are your plans for the future? Q: Any parting words?
A: We have our first album ‘Either That Or The Moon’ coming out on the 4th March. We will then be going on tour in the U.S. in April and hitting Europe in May. So exciting times ahead!
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Thanks

http://www.desertmountaintribe.com/
https://www.facebook.com/desertmountaintribe/
https://soundcloud.com/desert-mountain-tribe