Switchblade Comb

Pitchfork: I read that you wrote hundreds of songs for this album and continue to write three or four a day. Can you tell me about your writing process?

SRW: I usually start very early in the morning. I get up around 7 or 8 or so, and Ill usually lie in bed for a while. And I’ll think about songs and various chord progressions that I would use. Or instrumentations. Or beats or something like that. And once I have something that I think I can work with, then I’ll go in and make it on the computer. I’ll try to recapture the sound that I had in my head when I was thinking about it. That’s usually how I do it. I very rarely sit down with a guitar and try to write a song. I usually think about it a lot and then I’ll try to re-create what was in my head at the time. And I don’t work at night. I’m not very good about working at night. I get tired during the day and I usually like to save my nights to try things out recording. I like to get everything done during the early morning hours and the early part of the day.

Pitchfork: On previous albums, you’ve presented yourselves very cinematically, even so far as the packaging. What role do movies play in your creative process?

SRW: I probably watch movies more than I actually listen to music, I think. Photography and movies are a much bigger influence on me than music is itself. I like to think that the music is a mixture of personal experiences mixed with photography and movies. I always saw us as very cinematic.

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