Sounding Off – Interview with SOUND TEAM

Posted on 25th Jun 06 by Contributor | 0

Artist: Sound Team
Author: Jason Golden

Over the past few months almost every American music blog has featured an article touting Sound Team as the new messiahs" of music. So" as you do" I avoided them. I just hate it when a band is over"hyped but Sound Team kept being compared to Interpol" who I love" Eventually" curiosity got the better of me" and I had to listen. The Sound Team" I discovered" are a sort of hybrid dance/indie time bomb ready to blow the minds of anyone who gets within listening distance. Their music is driven by pulsating bass and spooky synths and can move from intensely moody to joyous in the same song.

For years Sound Team did things their own way: they toured and recorded at their own expense " pressing" packing" and shipping CDs out themselves" presumably along with what one can only assume were their blood" sweat and tears. After a whirlwind year which saw them joined by Trail of Dead producer Mike McCarthy" release the critically acclaimed Work EP" and wow pretty much everybody at SXSW with their unique brand of dance music" it seems like these indie kids are definitely going places. Having recently signed to Capitol Records" and plans afoot to release their album "Movie Monster" worldwide" now seemed a good time to catch up with Sound Team to find out more.

Interview with Matt Oliver.

For those in Ireland who haven't had the pleasure of hearing the band yet" can ye tell us a little about the band""
Sound Team is a musical rock group from Austin" TX. The band members are Bill Baird" Michael Baird" Jordan Johns" Matt Oliver" Gabe Pearlman" and Sam Sanford. Our interests include vegetation" tape echo" yelling" soda" tambourines" minimalism" the Russian Bath House in Manhattan on 10th St. between 1st Ave and A" super 8 film" and very old Fender guitars.

Where and when was your first show" and how did that come together"
Sound Team's first show as a six"piece group took place in the now defunct "scenester" hell dance club known as Le Privilege" across the street from the Reddy"Ice factory" on Austin's Red River Street. That was the last Sunday of January 2003. A few days later the club was raided and we took up residency at Emo's" a great old punk rock club down the street.

I first heard of the Sound Team through a recent interview I did with
Voxtrot. It seems Austin is producing a lot of cool bands at the moment. Do you feel being part of such a vibrant music scene has helped the band develop"
Ramesh just surprised us by coming to our show we played at the Camden Barfly. We're pals with Voxtrot" and with many of the groups in Austin who seem to be doing well right now. Getting out of town to play as much as possible was just as helpful for most of us though.

For a long time Sound Team toured and recorded at their own expense" pressing" packing" and shipping CDs out themselves. That must have been a hectic time. Can you tell me about some of the difficulties ye faced as a band"
Of course we've all waited tables" washed dishes" tended bar" or worked some other kind of McJob. We had a very crude sort of SST"type mail order system in place: someone would mail a check to one of us" and we'd mail off a tape or 7" or CD"R or whatever. On one tour we couldn't afford proper "merch"" so we went to the thrift store and bought t"shirts" shorts" socks""whatever. A record cover was used as a stencil to spray"paint the shirts. Sam made woodcuts for the cassette covers. Gabe silk"screened every LP cover differently for the Marathon 12" that Secretly Canadian/St. Ives pressed up for us. Sometimes Sam would cook us all breakfast and we'd eat together to save money. We relied on level"headed tact and good"natured bonhomie to get us through.

Ye have such an experimental and original sound. Tell me" were ye exposed you to a lot of different styles of music at an early age"
Our parents were probably most responsible" Isn't that most people either totally hate and rebel against whatever their parents are into or can generally tolerate what their parents are into" Bill's parents were big music lovers and played him a lot of 60s R " B and pop stuff. Television static was also an influence. There was lots of bad/good modern American radio growing up to appreciate too" either ironically or earnestly. When you're 8 and "Chaka Khan" comes on the radio" you just kind of automatically lose it" you're not trying to take the song apart or anything. The Beatles were great. On car trips my dad would play folk music" which I liked because the songs all involved stories about murders and machines competing with people and flowers that ate people and talking animals.

How does the band approach the whole song"writing process" Are you a democracy or a dictatorship"
We're more oligarchy I guess. We're certainly not a kakistocracy. We like to use our studio as a compositional tool. Usually it's Bill or I who comes in with an idea" either on our own or us two together" and work up the arrangement as a band. A lot of times we'll record a song first and then work up a different live arrangement. I use the 4"track at home a bunch.

Is it true the band have just signed to Capital" What's it like being signed to a major label"
We signed with Capitol after we'd already been working on our album for awhile. Now that we're on a major label" the roof at the studio no longer leaks. Parlophone will release Movie Monster in the UK September 15th.

How did it feel to finish the debut album" It must be pretty cool to listen to the finished article for the first time"
It felt really good to finally finish but we're ready to start on the next one already"

I know the band is due to play London soon but do ye have any plans to come to Ireland"
Yes we do. In the fall. We're quite looking forward to it.

Has the band any European festival appearances for the summer"
Unfortunately no. We're touring the states this summer.

What's it like on the road" I mean six lads out on the road together how do ye keep entertained" and do ye ever fight"
Gabe and Michael recently invented a new form of Paper"Rock"Scissors" but this one has five elements: Garbage man" Crane" Water" Flame"thrower" and Sledgehammer. I watched them play it backstage a few nights ago" and from what I can tell" you should either always go with Crane" or always go with Flame"thrower. Crane can pretty much fly over everything" and Flame"thrower wins 90" of the time. All disputes are settled by arm"wrestling. Ikebana "traditional Japanese floral arrangement as meditative practice" might be a good way to pass the time in the van. We go to batting cages a lot.

On your ideal tour which bands would ye have as support"
I have no idea" Booker T and the MG's" All of our friends' bands.

If you could have covered any song what song would it be" And why"
The Odyssey" Homer. The original folk song. We'd poke our eyes out with sticks and travel the land" stopping only at the local aqueducts for refreshment.

Do you have an all time favourite album/artist" You got to pick one"
Nah. Dylan" Highway 61 Revisited" Beatles" Revolver"

Who are you listening to at the moment"
Bill's on the plane next to me" listening to Matthew McConnaghey" or however you spell it" He's watching this really awful movie and frowning. Oh and I'm listening to the plane engine.

What have ye got planed for the next few months"
Lots of touring" and whenever we have the chance we'll be working at our studio" Big Orange.

Finally" do you have any words of wisdom for any bands out there trying to make it at the moment"
Try not to think too much. Don't worry about clothes "except socks".
Worry about socks. Don't worry about success. Don't worry about failure. Don't worry about flies. Don't worry about mosquitoes. Don't worry about insects. Don't worry about the future. Don't ever play cards with a guy named after a city. Don't ever play cards with a man wearing an eye patch. That"s it.

So there we have it" strange but true. I"d like to thank Matt for taking the time to talk with us. The album "Movie Monster" is due out here in September and I for one can"t wait. To find out more on Sound Team then check out their website http://www.soundteam.net . You can also check out their myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/soundteam" where you can listen to some great tunes.