Interview is up with At a loss Artist DEL REY
1. So Del Rey has been around over a decade but this is the 1st time I've heard of this powerhouse Post Rock force. Give us a history about this explosive project.
Del Rey kind of grew out of this band from Maine called Charco de Luz (means “Puddle of Light” in Spanish), which was a band of a couple of the guys during the college days. After graduating from school in ’97 we all moved to Chicago and that’s where Del Rey was born. I think we were attracted to Chicago because of the great music scene and it just seemed like something was really taking off here, and we wanted to be a part of it. Over the years, a couple of the original members have left to pursue other interests, but we’ve always been able to find people to step in. Actually, the two guys who replaced the original members were in bands together in Peoria, IL in high school and college, so there’s a long relationship there as well. Over the years as we’ve made records, we haven’t always been able to as much touring as we would have liked. But the band has been self sustaining and/or symbiotic enough to let little other than our own preferences dictate the shape and sound of the music over the years.
2. You are working with At A Loss; a great label for Noisy Hardcore/Metallic Sludge Bands. How did you hook with them?
Our friends in Minsk actually kind of helped us get in touch with At a Loss. Also, Jason (keyboards/guitar) runs a mastering studio here in Chicago, and he’d done the mastering for a bunch of records that came out on that label. When we finished this record and started thinking about labels, it seemed like it would be good fit artistically.
3.You looked to have worked with My Pal God for many years. What made you change labels?
My Pal God in its capacity as a rock label had come to an end a few years ago. They were always good to us and we’re eternally grateful when someone puts out one of our records. They have a newer label called Comedy Minus One now.
4 Chicago seems to be a strong home for more aggressive Post rock music ... Do think it has to do with so many labels and bands there?
Certainly the fact that there are record labels here like Touch and Go and Thrill Jockey made a big difference back in the late 90s when the instrumental scene was really exploding. Chicago has so much music going on all the time – it’s big enough to support a pretty diverse scene. Instrumental post-rock is by no means the only thing going on here, which has always been great. We’ve been influenced by a lot of bands that don’t fall into that category just from being here and going to shows.
5. Who are the bands that influenced Del Rey and your sound?
Short answer . . . Led Zeppelin. It’s such a big question, and really between the 5 of us there’s so many different influences it’s hard to narrow it down to a few. Obviously we were influenced by Tortoise, TransAm, and Don Caballero in the beginning. Now I think we have a much deeper well of influences to draw on – anything from Brian Eno to Hawkwind to Fela Kuti to Squarepusher to classical Indian music to Television to Mastodon to Iranian maqam to the Police.
6. Do you enjoy studio time and how are songs arranged? Do you have the music ready to go or is it just rough idea's then worked out in studio? The songs especially on Immemorial; they sound so organic.
- We love the studio would go back to there right now if we could. We would live there and experiment until we all passed out, but from a cost efficiency standpoint, we have always arranged most everything before tape rolls. Immemorial was probably the record that we experimented with the most in the studio. A lot of songs really came together around a specific instrument or sound that we found in the studio, like the electric harpsichord or mellotron.
7. On to the live side of Del Rey being that there are no vocals. Are the songs more expansive live or do you toy with the arrangements on stage?
- The big difference has been the addition of Jason Ward to the live lineup. He’s recorded all our records so he knows the music and the sounds inside-out. We’re way thicker with the additional instrumentation. In the past, we’d always have to take a hand off of one instrument to play another, but now folks are getting full flavor. We don’t necessarily modify the arrangement of the songs for the live environment, but there’s usually a couple places in each show where there’s some room left for interpretation.
8. Are the US and European audiences very different? You seem to have had greater success over the pond like many US bands... Do you see a reason why?
Del Rey has never actually been to Europe, though we’ll be going there on tour after this record comes out. So we might have to abstain on this one for now. I don’t think Europeans are biologically wired to appreciate music any more than Americans or anybody else. But I think a lot of European countries do a great job of instilling an appreciation for the arts and supporting the arts.
9. Do the members of Del Rey perform or record with projects outside of Del Rey?
- Jason is in Swiss Dots and Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds. Chris has been doing a string of live movie soundtracks, while bringing Peralta back to life for some reunion shows with Planes Mistaken for Stars. I think he contributed to Dark Fog for a while as well. Mike has always performed, competed and won awards with Scottish Pipe Bands on the international stage. Eben used to be in a band called L’Altra. Damien just works on his mix tapes and mash ups quietly in the background, but no other band credits to speak of.
10. Is there anything that Del Rey have not done musical as a band that you still want to achieve?
We can think of at least 2 or 3 records I want to make right now. One that leans a little more heavily on electronic beats and space guitar, plus a total psychedelic noisetrip record too We just want to keep playing and making records. I mean we’d love to play some big festivals or something – we’ve never actually played outside – but it’s not something we dwell on these days.
11. Your website is very nice most bands today just use myspace and nothing else. Do you feel a proper website is needed in this day and age?
We enjoy being to do our own thing online rather than being constrained by the design of sites like MySpace and stuff. MySpace is great for certain things, but I think we wanted to go beyond that in how we represent ourselves digitally.
12. Do you see Del Rey as a crossover band? Do you have as many Metal head and well as Avant rock fas.. As you do have a very metallic over tone in your music?
- Yes across the board. Del Rey might not hit home with total shred dudes or the doom crowd, but it definitely bleeds into the indie metal scene. We enjoy listening to and playing with metal bands so sharing some of their fans is a no brainer. I think they know where we’re coming from. Our amp and pedal distortion might not be metallic enough to call us metal, but the aggression is there. Our angry hearts are in the right place.
13. Would a band like Del Rey like to play arenas or are clubs and theaters more where the sonic works for a band like Del Rey ?
- We’d play to 80K at Wembley or to 8 in a random Midwest basement and everything in between. The audience is not really going to change the music for us. That said, there’s normally a higher appreciation for both band and fans when everything is close quarters. Playing a party in someone’s living room with people 3 feet from you tends to be a much more rewarding experience than being one of thousands, no matter how good the band is.
14 Thanks for the time any closing thoughts here.
Rock is the international language of love. Del Rey is prepared to love you. All. Night. Long.
Comments