Photo by You Don’t Love Me Yet
TheMusic.FM’s Charles P just had a nice chat with Sebastien Grainger, formerly known for his work on drums and vocals in the band Death From Above 1979.
Sebastian Grainger & The Mountains perform here in New York tomorrow, December 2 at Union hall (tickets) and Wednesday, December 3 at Mercury Lounge with Snowden (tickets).
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Sebastien Grainger - By Cover Of Night [MP3]
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Sebastien Grainger - American Names [MP3]
Interview with Sebastien Grainger
You were recently in New York for CMJ. How was the experience for you?
Sebastien: It was a lot of fun. We played 3 shows in 2 days. We kind of ran in and ran out. We didn’t have time to get caught up in the craziness that can occur in that kind of festival, you know? In a way, it was good because we were pretty focused; we just went in, did what we had to do and left. It felt like we had a job and did it properly. The response was good, and we had fun, so that’s all that matters.
Do you have any plans for the upcoming festivals?
Sebastien: There have been some offers, but nothing I can talk about yet.
How are the first shows on this tour going?
Sebastien: We played our first show in Buffalo. It’s been good. When you start touring, it always gets to a point, where you feel sharp and feel good about the show. You get into a groove, and it becomes easier and more comfortable to play. So when we hit Chicago or Minneapolis, you feel good about the show going in. It’s been a lot of fun and the response has been very good. Having a record out and playing a show, is a lot different than being on the road and not having a record. People recognize the song, sing along, and know when a cool part is coming up. It’s encouraging for the performing aspect of the band.
Touring with your debut album, do you feel any extra pressure?
Sebastien: I don’t feel that, like there’s any added pressure. If I was at all uncertain about what I was doing, or had any doubts, maybe I would feel that pressure. I feel totally comfortable with the record I made and the music we are performing as a live band. I think we are getting it. And I feel like, it’s not something I don’t think we are doing in a regular way. It has its own place in the world, and I know l it’s not for everybody. At a certain point, you have to subtract yourself for the thing as a whole, emotionally. Business is business. You can’t get hurt if someone doesn’t like your band or your show. I know, for sure, that there is an audience for what I am doing, it’s about having fun. It’s what these early tours are all about, it’s going out and having fun, about people coming with us on this journey. It’s a really exciting time. I feel a little bit like a scientist.
What should fans expect from the show?
Sebastien: It’s like the Volcano experiment. It doesn’t get that exciting. I just sweat a lot while doing it.
Do you model your live show after any past or present live acts?
Sebastien: Not specifically. I know the types of performers I like to watch and the types of performers I hate to watch. It always depends on if I feel like they are being straight forward and honest with how they are behaving on stage. There is a certain showmanship required to be in a rock band, I think. And I think it’s boring when someone doesn’t go out of their way to put on a show. At the same time, you have to be motivated from playing the truth, you know?
Sebastien: I’ve always viewed live performance as part entertainment and not only for the audience but for myself, as a performer and a musician and also it is part catharsis. It’s like a way to expend energy and it’s a way to try to exorcise yourself of frustrations and anything negative. You flail around for forty five minutes to an hour playing as loud as you can and singing as hard as you can and it’s wonderful therapy.
The debut album is out now, how would you describe the thought process going into the album?
Sebatien: That’s a hard thing to pin down. I have a general philosophy and I think the record was produced over the course of a year on and off so it wasn’t like it was one thing that linked all the songs together and I have a general philosophy of always doing what felt right and what felt natural. And also there was a certain awareness of current music and an aversion to certain trappings that people fall into. I think when they’re making a record in a time in history, look around you and not deliberately go, “oh, I’m going to do this because it’s very popular what works for other bands” but I think that when bands are heavily immersed in a time and place and the band almost ends up defining what’s cool and what’s happening and I wasn’t really interested in getting caught up in that. So I had to ask myself questions if I came up with a part I’d ask myself if it was the right kind of song or something I was inclined to because it’s what’s happening. I feel like every point of the record, I had to consider how to assert the song or how to assert the aesthetic. That’s how I generally operate. Every song doesn’t have to display your ability to play; it has to serve the song. There’s a lot of cutting the fat, it’s as focused as can be, considering the elements.
How did “I’m all Rage (Live)” and “Renegade Silence” come to be on the album?
Sebastien: “Renegade Silence” It only made it on record for two reasons. One was that, it was supposed to be released under my other project, but it didn’t seem like it would make the light of day. The label was taking their time with it. The other reason, we started playing it live as “Cover Song” and it got such a good response. I felt like I didn’t want to deny people of that song. I included it on upon recommendation from a few people. To me, the record really ends with “Meet New Friends”, with “Renegade Silence” as a kind of an appendix. With “I’m All Rage”; I’ll let you in on a little secret. That song is not really done live. I’ll tell you why. When I was gathering up all the songs for the record, that one song was basically a demo version, well not really, more like an early version of the song that came early on in the recording process. Part of me felt it didn’t match the aesthetic of the record as a whole. I kind of re-approached the mix on it, and I’m a fan of the not-live “Live” records. Some of my favorite records are those that claim to be live. It’s kind of an inside joke, and at the same time, it’s a way to make people ask questions. As for “Rabbit’s Paw” it’s me just fucking around in the living room.
A lot of the songs to have an optimistic approach to them like “Meet New Friends”, or “American Names” instead of a more straight up rock-and-roll aesthetic of youthful abandon, was that the approach you were going after?
Sebastien: There’s still a little bit of that sentiment in me, but I’m a 29 year old man, and I approach it from a different place than was I was 22 when I was more reckless. Going into the record, I wanted to make something that was a little bit glorious and a little bit triumphant. Even though some of the scenes are seen as a little bit negative, in a literal sense, there’s an element of positivity that runs in the music. For sure, a song like “Meet New Friends” is my way of writing a guide to myself on how to behave, at a certain point. Even in my old band, you get an opportunity to write yourself laws, almost. With Death From Above, on our first EP, there was a song that sort of slandered people in my community for doing cocaine or whatever. And that actually empowered me in a way. Not that I was tempted to go that route, but when you have a philosophy that’s pressed, printed, or distributed, you can refer back to it. This is who I am, I don’t do drugs. I don’t have to tell you anymore, it’s right there. I approached a couple of songs on this record that way as well.
What was the transition like going from the drummer/collaborating in the band to being the guitarist and focal point?
Sebastien: It gives more confidence to sing, speak, and play. It also gives me a new life too. There was a pretty strong rhetoric with Death From Above that we were uncompromising, and did what we wanted to do. But with collaboration, there’s going to be a push and pull. That’s kind of what the trick was with the band, kind of the magic behind the band. At the same time, it restricted me from other things I wanted to do. I felt limited and restricted in what I could do and how I could do it, and what instruments I could play. We were a two piece band, there was a certain, maybe a fear, of leaving that shtick behind. We stuck to it as a working frame, but it was restrictive. But with this record, it gave me the opportunity to explore all the ideas I had or any ideas I had at any given point.
How was the process of producing and recording your album by yourself?
Sebastien: It was a learning process. At the beginning of the recording, I didn’t have help or knew what to do like my partner in the studio, Jimmy Shaw, who played guitar with Metric and he also produced a lot of their stuff. It was my first time operating in a proper recording facility. It took awhile to learn, the ins and outs of that. It kind of felt like it was adventurous. I didn’t know how to work everything at one time, so I would have to sort of improvise, technically. Sometimes, I had to commit to performances that maybe sonically weren’t the best, but I thought the performance was the best. That’s what it’s all about for me. It is a recording, and there is a lot of trickery involved, but if a performance is un-emotive or uninteresting, then the record will be boring. There has to be a balance between being a performer and being a technician, and it’s exciting to do. I learned a lot from it.
With the album completed, have you thought about going back into the studio?
Sebastien: I finished the record in June or July, and it was done and delivered in July. The summer gave me enough time to decompress and I’ve been back a few times. Nick and I are planning to go in and write rock songs in January maybe make a garage-rock EP or something and view that as more of a collaboration of his natural tendency to garage rock, and what the fuck I do, I don’t know.
Do you have plans to remix any songs with your other project, The Rhythm Method?
Sebastien: Remixes are not super exciting for me to do. If I was offered a ton of money to do it, I would because it’s work. But, I’m kind of self-involved/self-infatuated guy when it comes to music and I’m really interested in what I do, personally. To commit that much energy in someone else’s work might not be too interesting for me. The Rhythm Method moving forward will likely be dance music that I produce on my own.
