Dan Deacon Talks About New Album, Tay Zonday to Pitchfork
posted by Mojo Marshall
Pitchfork: How has recording for the new album been going?
Dan Deacon: I think it’s going amazing, but it’s been consuming and draining. Due to my really tight schedules, I need to finish it in a really short period of time so that it can come out this year. It’s a much darker album in tone, and elements of the story have been really weighing down on me. Not to say it isn’t a positive record, but it’s just more balanced in emotional range than Spiderman of the Rings.
The pieces are a lot more intense and mature on Bromst than on Spiderman of the Rings. I think anyone who’s been to one of my shows lately and heard the new stuff live would agree. When I was writing and recording SMOTR I was playing small house parties out of shitty amps or busted PAs, basically whatever I could get my hands on. So when I was writing songs I had to keep that in mind, making sure I worked within the parameters of my performance limitations. After that record came out, I started playing to larger crowds with much better PA systems. This allowed me to start working with a denser, more percussion-based pallet, again pushing the PAs as far as they could go, but this time filling them with as much space as possible with a fuller, richer sound.
As a result, my approach to writing changed. Not to say they aren’t dance songs, but they are more about mass movement rather than dancing at a party. They are more developed, focused pieces. Sort of like a culmination of my past few years of noise-based pop songs. There are still tracks that I think are the party-type jammers I’m associated with, but there are also a lot more tracks that are great for relaxing or just listening to. I think the music on Ultimate Reality [DVD/tour collaboration with Jimmy Joe Roche] is a good bridge between Spiderman of the Rings and Bromst.
Pitchfork: What are the plans for “Silence Like the Wind” at this point? Will it end up on the new record? Still be a single?
DD: It’s going to remain a single. It just doesn’t fit with the rest of the record. I might put it on an EP I plan on releasing a few months after Bromst comes out of material that I still like but that doesn’t fit the story/tone of the other pieces.
Pitchfork: What is Tay Zonday like? Is he for real?
DD: I only met him for a brief moment, and he seemed pretty surreal. Like someone whose idea lapped itself into a new reality that one can never escape. I wish he toured small clubs and tried to build a real fan base. I think a lot of people really liked his music and not the novelty. That Dr. Pepper shit fucked him.
Dan Deacon - “Silence Like the Wind” (Live in Omaha)