Like most bands with biting names (check, Murder by Death), The Drums’ sound does not reflect what their name brags. In fact its quite the opposite as hooks galore dominate the latest offering from the Brooklyn band founded in 2008. Where their last album, 2011’s Portamento was short on substance, The Drums have returned with the vast album righteously titled Encylcopedia into a collection of more electronic, psychedelic and aggressive sounds, Ironicallyalthough the sad beach pop of earlier Drums days has vanished, the band has been narrowed to a duo featuring only original members Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham. As Pierce cryptically sings on “I Hope Time Doesn’t Change Him “- “I never thought I’d want to die, but I was looking for a gun on a cold night” – Encyclopedia like New Order, remains dark and highly danceable, yet offers a bold flavor of 90s alternative courtesy of the lead single “Magic Mountain.” Just prior to the release of Encyclopedia we got a candid interview in with Jonathan Pierce who still knows how to mess around good with band mate Graham- even in interviews.
Your new album Encyclopedia’s first track “Magic Mountain” has a very alternative late 80’s Janes Addiction feel to it. Were you intentionally trying to mold a song quite unlike anything The Drums have done before?
When we decided to make a third album, we also decided to get serious. No more breezy material. We wanted to really say something with this record. We wanted to have a message. I can’t believe I’m even saying this because all my life I have always been annoyed with bands who get political or play up the humanitarian side. But after we finished the Portamento album cycle, we found ourselves feeling very alone and very frustrated. We had lost band-mates and managers, we had been dropped by our label for not selling a million records- granted we play in front of crowds of 50,000 people and every kid is singing every song. So it’s not that kids don’t have our albums, it’s just that they don’t buy them… anyway I’m rabbit-trailing. Where was I? Oh yes, so we were feeling alone and utterly abandoned by those who we felt the closest to and after a year or so of scratching our heads about it… one day something just clicked and we realized that we didn’t need others to make us complete.
Jacob and I were The Drums in 2008 when we were recording “Let’s Go Surfing” in a shitty apartment complex in the middle of nowhere, Florida- long before Connor or Adam had ever heard of our band. We wrote the whole Summertime! EP and all of the debut album. In fact Adam never wrote or played a single note and Connor helped out some only on Portamento and the last track of the first album… where I’m going with this is… well we realized we are The Drums and we are complete and we can finally make our magnum opus. We called it Encyclopedia. “Magic Mountain” sounds angry and aggressive because that’s how we were feeling when we made it. This record- and this life- needed to be transparent. I also think about those poor gay boys and girls in Russia and how they get lured into gang beatings and humiliations while the government does nothing. This song is for them over anyone else. We believe in you!
The album is titled Encyclopedia – a strong noun that references the summary of items, honesty and facts. I know that might be reading into things too much, but why this album title?
Well not to get too literal, but an Encyclopedia is made up of volumes – different books with new information – discovery and adventure. That’s how this record feels to us. We wanted this album to be very colorful and adventurous and even surprising up and down while all the time maintaining a heavy weight of reality. Each song can really stand on its own and each song has its own purpose. We literally said let’s make each song in its own style! Instead of saying oh we’re a garage band or we’re a psych band or we are a glitch-house band… we just thought well lets just do whatever we want and since we barely know how to play our instruments, we will still sound like The Drums! The flaws are the glue. Beyond that, Encyclopedia is a beautiful word. Sometimes that is enough of a reason when you’re sifting through this ugly world.
The range of emotions on Encyclopedia are vast from the slow thematic buildup of “ I Hope Time Doesn’t Change Him” to the frantic energy of “Let Me” What songs are you essentially the most proud of on Encyclopedia and was there anything on the album that stretched the band into realms that even surprised you?
Well, I’m proud of all the tracks but for me “Face of God” really nails it. It was a song that Jacob was kind enough to let me put on the record. He is a practicing Quaker and says he believes in a god or something like that? I can’t really speak for him, but part of what is so remarkable about Jacob is his ability to let me have my way with things that I’m really believing in. he can sort of flip a switch and kind of says ok cool but you know, I’m not gonna have much to do with this track. He once told me he could not stand behind Face of God, but he could stand beside it. At the time I wanted to slap him across the face, but now I think that’s rather eloquent. I look up to Jacob in this weird way. I’ve never told him that. Jacob if you are reading this, now you know.
As a duo how did you guys essentially come together with the ideas and compositional elements of this recording?
Jacob wanted to make The-Drums-Does-The-Sound-of-Music sort of album, and I wanted to make a The-Drums-Does-Nothing-But-Sound-Like-Shit record and we decided to marry the two ideas. Kind of have these gorgeous synthesizer arpeggios all over the place but on top of them and panned far to the left – too far to the left-… and don’t read into that… – a guitar that sounds like Donald Duck with leprosy.
We also tried to get in the studio with a few different producers…that……shall……..remain…………..nameless forever and ever amen. We just can’t do it. Nothing sucks out our creative juices like shellacked pine floors and black sound absorbing foam framed in more shellacked pine wood- and a mixing board that you could land a private jet on. And then you always got the guy who spins around in his swivel chair and is like “hey should we order some thai?” and all you want to say is “hey can you do a good job!? Do you get us at all? How bout we turn down the U2 monster kick!”
We decided to just make the record ourselves again but we did have a quick affair with Mr. Luck, as we found a friend in Eric Broucek who mixed the record. Everything before Encyclopedia had always been mixed by Jacob and I. We actually got a book from the 1950’s on how to mix a record and we followed all the rules and that’s why those records sound like garbage, but like fresh garbage! Beautiful garbage!
How did working on solo projects establish a new identity and era for this album and The Drums as they are now? Did going solo help you appreciate the musical partnership you two hold any more dearly?
We both definitely developed a more evolved skill set while working separately on our solo records, and so when we came together we had a bunch of new ideas and also had gotten some out of our system. So it was like we had become new people in a way… new artists. But we did not have fun making the album and every day was torture. We don’t like making albums and we don’t like touring or being on stage. We don’t like DJing or after parties, but we do all these things because they are more fun that doing anything else. I kid you not Jacob talks daily about wantiung to start a new life as a librarian… I roll my eyes every time but there is a little fear in me that one day he just might. At least it’s a consistent wage. I will say there are tiny little moments of pure bliss. When Jacob showed me “Wild Geese,” I cried tears of joy. I had not cried tears of joy since I got married! Now I sound soft…but a song like that stands up with songs like “Landslide,” “I Will Always Love You,” “Moon River” and “Crazy.” It kills me every time. I told him – Jacob… you’ve been making music your whole life for this moment. It was all for “Wild Geese.” We decided to close the record with that one because well I don’t have to say why. It’s a monster and even more powerful and strong than “Magic Mountain” – the power of subtlety.
Jacob has explained – “I think our band is kind of fragile and probably on the verge of breaking up pretty constantly” – is the band in a good place as it’s ever been and how would you describe how your stylistic differences have enhanced your creativity?
It’s true – our band is always held together by post-it notes. Fragile is an understatement. But isn’t that a little more exciting. Isn’t it boring when a band is so super confident and they sound really confident and they act really confident always. It’s good to never know what’s happening next as it keeps us on our feet. We embrace our differences now, as we used to be repelled by our differences but we’ve realized that this is why this works. We kind of hold each other back – and I know that sounds bad, but when you are in our shoes you understand it’s essential because we are both completely insane and if we didn’t have each other you would actually be getting The Sound Of Music as our third album- or 30 two-minute songs made with a can and some nails.
Can you best describe the stylistic differences between Jacob and Jonathan?
Jacob has always dressed a little boring for my tastes- and I think he would not mind at all that I said that. He loves a turtleneck and a sweater, but I wanna feel young and alive as long as I can so I wear university sweatshirts and cuffed pants. I was homeschooled and have no higher education and so I wear these Ivy League hats and shit. It reminds me of Paris is Burning how all those amazing kids were dressing up in outfits that represent things they believed they could never be… but it was also sort of a fuck you thing too… I dunno. I’ve always thought about why I was so into college-style clothing and I think it’s me fucking with the man. It’s more than just a sexual fetish- although that plays a part. Ding-Dong Merrily on High!
The word indie pop continually gets used to describe The Drums but I find that terms so overused and cliché – what do you is the most fitting description if you had to write your own bands bio?
I was doing a interview for a French publication the other day and they said they could not pinpoint a single influence on Encyclopedia. They said “Do you even listen to music at all when making an album?” and I thought that was so refreshing because they nailed it. We turn off all the music for the months of recording. We try to be influenced as little as possible. We always look in. Or look to our past work and study it to figure out what needs to stay and what needs to go and what needs to be adjusted. Look in not around. I stopped caring a long time ago if people call us indie or not indie or surf or whatever. It’s human nature to label something to be able to digest it, so you can’t really fight against that. You are different things to different people. That’s life. We are just lucky we are anything to anybody!
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