Exclusive Q and A: Freelance Whales Talk Floods, Cities, And Outer Space
posted in: Exclusive Interviews • Pop • Rock
Sure, there are hundreds of bands in New York, but how many of them do full-group live busking performances on subway platforms? Since their string of live street performances in New York, Freelance Whales have climbed their way to the top of the indie rock heap. Songs from their acclaimed first album Weathervanes have appeared in ads for Chevy and Twitter as well as on shows like One Tree Hill and Skins. As the band geared up to drop their follow-up record, Diluvia, which hits stores today, we chatted with Chuck Criss about recording in a rural space, the band’s pre-order pocket planetarium, and the end of the world.
OS: You guys supposedly rented a house in upstate New York to write material for Diluvia. What was it like to work in that environment?
CC: It was amazing. The city has so many distractions, both good and bad. It was nice to go somewhere isolated with no Internet or cell service. We would just buy groceries for the week, wake up in the morning and write music. The only breaks we would take were to cook food. I think it really helped us focus.
OS: Judah has spoken about sensory deprivation (sitting blindfolded in a closet) as a way to access the brain’s natural power to create music. On that note, is it hard to find some breathing space to create if you’re writing an album in a busy, urban context?
CC: With writing, you kind of have to be on call because you never know at what moment inspiration will strike. We’ve found it’s a lot harder to open your ears to inspiration when living in an urban environment. That’s why we decided to rent a house upstate.
OS: What was it like to write collaboratively as a group this time around, as opposed to the songwriting process on Weathervanes, for which Judah wrote most of the material?
CC: It was a challenge, but ultimately rewarding. The biggest thing was not getting to attached to an idea on a personal level, since a lot of ideas did end up getting tossed. We had a very Darwinian approach to musical ideas. We came up with a ton, but only the strongest were able to survive and evolve. The end result was a record that has the creative stamp of all five us, and we couldn’t be happier.
OS: The term diluvia sometimes refers to the great biblical flood. Is there any connection between that idea and the album title? If not, is there any particular meaning behind the title of the album?
CC: More than anything, we liked the way the word sounded and liked the way an old Latin word could describe a piece of music that is very contemporary. We’re very into dichotomies. Particularly for this album, we wanted to explore emotions versus science. In wake of all the “world is going to end in 2012” business, we wanted to explore the emotionality of why people are so drawn to such a morbid idea. “Diluvia” to us seemed like a good way to capture that notion. It implies not just a literal flood, but also a more abstract one as a flood of ideas.
OS: Something called the The Astralark Home Planetarium is shipping with the preorders of your new album. Can you tell us more about that? How does it add to the album experience?
CC: A guy named Dr. Bleep made them for us. He’s awesome, you should check him out. He basically made us a pocket sized home planetarium that responds to music. Our new album deals a lot with outer space, and we thought a really cool way for fans to listen to it would be to turn their bedroom into a mini planetarium.
OS: You guys also are including free album downloads with ticket purchases to your U.S. tour. What made you decide to give the album out for free automatically when fans bought tickets?
CC: We just want to get out our music as quickly as possible to our fans. Normally, when you tour a new album, fans haven’t really had much of a chance to hear the new album yet. The album/ticket bundle seemed like a cool way to play a city we haven’t played in a while, and fans already knowing the words to our new songs.
OS: What are your words of wisdom for young bands trying to make it in a tough music scene like New York?
CC: I would say find bandmates that are 100% dedicated, and find unconventional ways to stand out. For example, we used to busk to get people to come to our shows. You have to do stuff like that. Take risks!
Catch Freelance Whales on their fall tour and pick up Diluvia, out now!