1. How did you come up with the name of the band?
It came from a chapter title of a WWII book we were using as inspiration for the first record.
2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it?
We’ll get together, crack some beers, throw on a weird movie, and play with different melodies and rhythms, jam them out a bit. We loop a lot of parts, record the sessions, and then comp down the good bits and give it a framework. Then we just refine the tracks over time to tell the story we wanna tell.
3. How did you decide to add vocals to your new album?
It’s actually something we has explored a little during the writing for SUNLESS but ultimately didn’t fit. Vocals worked better with the material this time around. There were some songs that were written with vocals in mind from the start, and others were we added them later in the process where we thought they might add some new dimension to the track. Vocals to us are just another element, another instrument, another layer.
4. What is "Go Mirage" about?
Michael: Andy came up with the idea as a song title. When I heard it, it really intrigued me, and I suggested it for the album title. “Go Mirage” is the idea that you’re telling something/someone, that you know isn’t there, to leave. We all have events in our lives that we wish didn’t happen. Or we look back to a time where our life was perhaps a bit more at peace, but know we can’t have that time back or undo what has been done. It’s only human to be taunted by those mirages… those memories. “Go Mirage” is taking a stand and telling them to leave.
Andrew: Memories are a Mirage. “Go Mirage” is getting stuck in that moment where memory and reality cross, and the inability to discern what is real and what is not. Thematically, it’s kind of a harsh, broken reality vs. dream concept with a dose of nostalgia.
5. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home?
Michael: My influences come from a lot of places—past experiences, the seasons, work, stress, really any emotion. The music I usually listen to at home is ambient and shoegaze. Lately it has been She Past Away, Kyle Bobby Dunn, and Stars Of The Lid.
Jeff: For me it’s books, films, art, winter, the universe, a lot of times it’s nothing in particular. We usually have a film playing as we write, which can influence the direction the writing takes. As far as listening at home, lately I’ve been into Ben Frost, Sinoia Caves, The Abbasi Brothers, and Esmerine.
Andrew: Memories and dreams. Film and art. Music I’ve been into recently would include The Radio Dept., LORN, Black Marble, Teargas and Plateglass. We also curated a Spotify playlist with some of what we were listening to during creation of Go Mirage. You can check that out here: https://open.spotify.com/user/_n5md_/playlist/5p2PvJyUfU8GT7AvdEQE5k
6. Which is the one album you can’t live without?
Michael: Slowdive - Just For A Day
Jeff: The Dead Texan - S/T
Andrew: Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
7. What’s the first record you’ve ever bought?
Michael: Green Day - Dookie
Jeff: Green Day here, too.
Andrew: AC/DC - Blow Up Your Video. Gotta love that cover.
8. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with?
Slowdive or Boards Of Canada. We’d also love to get a tour together with God Is An Astronaut.
9. Did the Internet and especially the blogs help to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached?
The Internet definitely helped us get there. After we finished up the first record we upped it to bandcamp and emailed a number of blogs concerning its release. From there, and through some word-of-mouth, we made contact with n5MD. I don’t know if we’re surprised by any country in particular that’s into us, but I guess we have a decent presence in Russia and in Taiwan, which is pretty cool.
10. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price, or services like Spotify?
We definitely support Bandcamp. It’s a great platform for letting the artists decide on how to value their music. For the self-titled, we initially used the name-your-price model because we were just getting out there. Then, when n5MD came into the picture, we pressed CDs and vinyl. So there are costs there for those releases and we/n5 can set the price accordingly. It’s a very flexible platform and the money goes to the artist. Spotify is pretty much the opposite. We’re not fans of the ad-driven, freemium type model that makes up the majority of its users. You don’t want people listening to your track, getting in the zone, and then immediately getting blasted by a Home Depot commercial or some shit. It, and similar services like Pandora, are cool from a “radio” standpoint where we’re gaining exposure via similar artists, but there is no compensation. I guess that’s the trade-off? Exposure vs. compensation. At the end of the day we work hard to make a quality product that we believe in. The physical component is an important element to the experience.
11. Where to you see yourselves in 5 years?
Hopefully doing what we’re doing now just with a couple more albums under our belts. It’s exciting to see how the writing and the sound evolves over time. We’ll have a new studio up within the next few months and we’re interested in how the new environment will influence us. Hopefully, we’ll get to play some shows in the spring of 2018.
12. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era?
Artwork has been and always will be important. It’s a visualization of what you’re hearing, and gives the artist an opportunity to color how you experience the album. The focus has shifted a lot as digital delivery has taken over though.
13. What is your favourite album cover?
Michael: Cocteau Twins - Treasure
Jeff: Tame Impala - “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” single, or really anything Leif Podhajsky has done.
Andrew: Ministry - Filth Pig
14. It seems that a lot of people are turning to vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format?
With a physical release in general, you get more of a sensory experience. You don’t just hear the music. An album is an object you can see and hold in your hand. Some people get more out of that experience, especially when the album is something that has made a large impact on their life. Some people don’t. For those that do, I think a lot of them are finding that vinyl specifically is preferable to CD in some ways. You get a larger format, bigger artwork, and being analog brings a certain life and color to the record. There are way more options now as far as colors and vinyl design, which adds a new element too.
15. What’s the most vivid story or moment as a band?
Finalizing the mixing process of the first album was pretty powerful. Especially as we were finishing up Goodbye, Dear Friend, everything just sort of clicked. We all had a lot of going on in our lives at that point and we needed that. Opening for Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra in Chicago was awesome too. It was a great shot at one of our favorite venues, surrounded by a lot of our favorite people.
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