SXSW 2014 Interview: Clouder
SXSW comes earlier and earlier every year doesn’t it? Prepared or not, the festival is right around the corner and of course we’re going to get you ready as best we can. Interviews are a great way to get a varying perspective from band and I’m going to kick mine off today with one featuring Brooklyn upstart Clouder. I haven’t know about these guys too long, but what I’m hearing, I’m digging big time. Based on these interview responses, I think I might just like the guys even more. Check it out after the jump.
Answers coming from bass player Max Goransson.
ATH: There was a lot of hubbub last year concerning corporate sponsors and pay to play and what not at SXSW. As a band, what’s your reason for coming to pay at the festival? What do you hope to get out of it?
Max: Well, we actually had the opportunity to pay to play this year. Someone offered to put us on a bunch of random things for a bunch of money. To me, the kind of people that run that sort of racket are total hacks. From my experience, they’re generally out of touch with underground music. They have questionable, flimsy contacts, and the actual music is completely incidental to them. It is entirely a business opportunity for them. They will book a troop of christian mimes if the christian mimes are willing to pay up and are dumb enough to feel lucky to play a twenty minute set behind a dumpster next to a 7-11 nine miles outside of town at 11:45am on a tuesday. No thanks. Our reason for playing the festival is, mainly that our record label (Fleeting Youth) is here. We’re excited to meet some of the other amazing bands on our label and excited to meet Ryan, the kind gentleman that heard our album and liked it enough to want to be forever associated with it. He has been working his butt off for us and i’m assuming our album sales aren’t exactly going to buy him a yacht. Also, I love Austin. It’s such a fun town. And I love tacos. As far as what we hope to get out of it, we’re not a band expecting to leave town with a bustling career and the cover of Rolling Stone. We just want to play to some new faces and drink for free and get the hell away from this godawful New York winter for a few days.
ATH: For most SXSW sets, you get 30 minutes to leave a lasting impression. What’s your plan of attack? You have a set list mapped out yet?
Max: We have a very specific and meticulous procedure when it comes to crafting the perfect set list. First, we each take seven shots of whiskey. Then, we write all of our songs’ names on separate, small pieces of standard white lined paper. Then we scatter the pieces of paper along the floor and form a circle around them. Then, we all punch each other in the face for three minutes and forty-seven seconds. When the three minutes and forty-seven seconds are up, we all give each other gentle kisses on the nose and all the pieces of paper with blood on them are our set list.
ATH: The festival caters to music fans, but food and booze are an important aspect of the fans and the bands. What’s your band’s food and beverage of choice?
Max: We love whiskey and beer. Well, we love almost all alcohol. And we eat meat. And bones, sometimes.
ATH: There are tons of bands coming into town. Who would you ideally like to play with of the 1000s of bands gracing our city? Make your own optimal line-up?
Max: I honestly haven’t looked at the full line-up. I just went on their website to bring myself up to speed, but the list of bands was super long and they wanted me to click on a bunch of shit and I’m trying to drink a beer at the moment. We’re really happy to be playing with the bands on our label. Apart from that, a few bands we’re friends with will be in town– Dead Stars, Mean Creek, Speedy Ortiz, The Suicide Dolls, The Governors, and The Teen Age, to name a few. We’d always love to play with them. Other than that, most of our favorite bands aren’t contemporary, so there’d have to be a time machine involved and that wasn’t included in the question.
ATH: We are partial to SXSW obviously, but what festival do you feel is the best around?
Max: We always have a really good time playing the Northside Festival in Brooklyn in June. One of my life’s dreams is to play The Austin Psych Fest (are you people reading this? fucking book us. We’ll be an unparalleled blast, I promise).
ATH: Let’s say your band has been booked an official showcase at a pop up venue somewhere in the middle of 6th street. The lineup features thrash metal, hip-hop, spoken word, and you. The sound is horrible, the lineup is not your style, and the crowd seems angry at the world. How would your band deal with such a situation?
Max: I can totally get down with thrash metal, hip-hop, and spoken word if the artists are talented and doing compelling things. Also, we don’t particularly mind crowds that are angry at the world. Those people tend to like loud rock n’ roll. Also, Eric (our lead singer) can suck anger. He takes anger with beer and his thirst is endless. He sucks all that anger right up, swishes it around the inside of his mouth, then spits it back up into the air, spewing forth a sparkling rainbow of misplaced angst and rage. It’s quite beautiful, really. And we deal with bad sound all the time– when we can’t hear ourselves, we just go for broke and deliver the most insane performance we can muster. And then, we might also break things.
ATH: What’s your favorite album to come out in the last year? What’s playing in the tour bus?
Max: Steve (guitar), who is sitting next to me, says the most recent album from Thee Oh Sees. We’ve also been listening to a lot of Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats lately and, as always, The Pretty Things. In the van, we’ll probably be listening to stuff like The Vibrators, The Adverts, Stereolab, The Undertones, This Heat, various 60s psych and 70s punk and jangly rock. Personally, I listen to a lot of old soul music. Steve (guitar) likes more experimental stuff. Eric (lead singer) also likes gothy post punk and shoegaze.
ATH: The digital age is upon us, like it or not. What are your band’s thoughts on streaming services like spotify, pandora, etc.? Blow em all up? Or embrace the future?
Max: I’m sure if we were a band that made tons of money, we’d have more grounds to have beef with Spotify. Personally, I think it’s great. Yeah, the amount of royalties we get could make my dog cry, but people can stumble upon our music and put our songs on mixes and share them with random people. If the platform makes it possible for even a few random people to hear us that wouldn’t otherwise, i’m all for it. I’m thankful for ears.
ATH: Day parties have replaced showcases for music discovery? Is the conference really completely upside-down?
Max: I have no idea…. this is our first year here. Most things are upside-down, though. No matter what time of day, we’re excited to hear new bands and make some friends and eat a million tacos.
ATH: Flatstock is a crowd favorite. Have you ever been to browse? Find a print to buy? Find a print from one of your shows you didn’t know existing?
Max: No idea what this is, sorry. However, while not a fan of stocks, I often enjoy things that are flat. I think everyone appreciates a smooth surface from time to time.
Thanks again Max. You rule.