Interview with Shortwave Dahlia
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008I had a chance to toss some questions to the band, about the new album and their newest member, and here are their replies!
1: Now that you’re heading into your second full album, has your sound changed or evolved since the last album, Illuminated?
Jack: It’s evolved a lot! The process is much different to the point that it’s almost impossible for me to equate the two. Illuminated was an educational experience for me as much as it was an artistic endeavor. I was learning how to utilize the studio, but I wasn’t really trying to stretch myself as a songwriter so I hear it now and think about things I could have done better. In this process, I can actually say “Why don’t we do this instead?” It’s nice to have people to bounce ideas off of.
Mark: Because everyone in the group has the chance to contribute to the songwriting process, the sound cannot help but have changed as we have added more people. I think that the great thing about this particular group of people is that we all liked the sound of Shortwave Dahlia before we joined. No one is trying to strike off on a tangent, instead it is more a matter of developing what we had as a starting point.
4: Mark and Ethan– do you find that your playing for the band has changed since the last album? Have you found a signature sound or are you remaining eclectic?
Mark: Personally, I have some new gear that I am very excited about using on this album. I think that I have the chance to spread out what the bass can contribute song by song. That said, I like to think that each instrument performs different rolls depending on what song you are listening to, so I would have to say that I, for one, am looking forward to remaining eclectic.
Ethan: For the studio stuff, most of the changes, for me, come from knowing the other guys better and what I can do to round out the songs. The live shows have contributed to the evolution as well, in that the atmosphere of where we play can help shape what we’re doing. even tho’ I tend to gravitate towards the same sounds + effects, I believe our influences are too wide + varied to let us settle into any deep ruts.
5: Song for Vara has received a LOT of attention over the past year, most notably getting a nod of approval from Warren Ellis. Did you anticipate this particular track getting so much (deserved) attention?
Jack: I’m certain we wanted it to. Can you ever really anticipate stuff like this? But Warren including it in his podcast was incredibly cool. I sent it to him in one of those “oh, what the hell!” moments, and was chuffed when it paid off.
Mark: This is one of the first ones where I was around for a good bit of the writing process. When Ethan joined, the song took on a very different sound. In either version, I have always felt that this was a very powerful song. The ugly truth is that I thought it might have been just me. It is nice to see that others are being moved by it as well.
Ethanl: I agree with Jack, as great a song as it may be, you can never take for granted others will appreciate it the same way. Had it not been for Jack remixing the guitar parts from several takes, I might have abstained from contributing to it at all, as it was already a thing of beauty without me.
6: Your audience is expanding, with you adding global listeners via the web, shows and additional exposure from MySpace and AmieStreet and other venues. Do you think that this will create more opportunities in the wake of the new album?
Jack: We’re not an average band, so I think we really do rely on what the Internet can do for us. We are able to reach people in countries that we’ll most likely never be able to visit. With the new album, I think it will only build further off what we’ve already accomplished. As far as shows go, shows are good but with the current economy a tour of any kind is pretty impractical. Thanks to the web, we can still reach out to people regardless.
Ethan: we can haz fanbase! Seriously, with the exception of television, internet popularity is the next best thing for a band unable to tour extensively. Sometimes even better. We see all sorts of notoriety gained by people with nothing of substance to offer but receive millions of hits or views or myspace friends. At least we have something to offer, why not us too?
7: Jack, you’ve been making music for a good long time now. Do you find you prefer the solo artist or band experience? And is having side projects beneficial for the band?
Jack: I don’t think I prefer one over the other, but I think both can be educational experiences and can benefit each other. You can try things outside of one that you cannot do in another. And yeah, side projects help the band…the more you do with music, the more you come to understand about it. I do electronic music on the side, and certainly wouldn’t take offense if any of the others were working on something else as well.
8: Okay, whet our appetites! Tell us what you can about your upcoming second album? When can we expect to get it in our hot little hands?
Jack: I’d say the brave souls who saw us in the last third of 2007 already know about a third of the album. I think it’s got some strong themes running throughout but it’s not a “concept album”. When? When it’s finished!
Mark: All I will add is that I am extremely anxious to finish. I think that there is some really good material here and I can’t wait until I can drive down the road listening to the final take.
Ethan: hopefully before spring is over, but we definitely want to be sure it is the best it can be before releasing it to the public. From what we have so far, I’d say we are 2/3rd’s the way there. if I had to describe it to those who heard the first album, I’d say more of the same but really, really different..
Thanks to the band for answering my questions!
More mini interviews to come, so Stay Tuned!
–Heidi–
