Experimental Dental School Interview

by Stephen McLeod on Wed, 2009/08/26 - 8:15am Post to Twitter

Experimental Dental School are the exciting Portland-based duo whose LP ‘Forest Field’ we reviewed last week (here), and I caught up with them over a pleasant email exchange. Face-To-Face would be nice, but given the Atlantic Ocean, text had to do.

Here it is, in all its exciting Question and Answer format glory.

Artrocker: It has to be asked – what happened to the three-piece thing?

JESSE: We moved to Portland OR,.,. where we currently live. Because it is so much cheaper than San Francisco we felt it would be a much better place to be able to attempt to make music a full time thing. I think mainly we moved because every one in Portland has a built in practice space called a basement - get a cup of coffee go down & record,,.,.in SF we practiced in a large 300 band complex.,.,.it was so loud, the only time we could get any recording done was between midnight & sun up.

SHOKO: I wanted a change in my life, and wanted to get out of oakland. I think our initial plan was to find some drummer in Portland, but I wanted to try playing drums, so we thought we would give it a shot.

Artrocker: Do Deerhoof comparisons annoy you?

JESSE: It didn’t used to. Now a little bit, because I think we have our own unique sound. We love Deerhoof, as people & as music makers so I guess it could be a lot worse. Our new music (the album we are working on now) especially is pretty far from DH territory.

SHOKO: I don’t mind it, because they are so awesome. But it’s always a pleasant surprise when a writer approaches in a different way.

Artrocker: What bands are you guys into listening to?

JESSE: mostly our selfs practicing everyday - & getting sick of it ha ha,.,.hmm,.,.OOIOO, I like a local PDX band called Explode into colors, MIA, dam just realized that was all powerful lady bands. I like old country music.

SHOKO: Lately I’ve been listening to silver apples, can, bonnie prince billy, beach boys, MIA, dirty projectors..

Artrocker: Do you ever fight?

JESSE: yes. sometimes, mostly about music. Shoko has high standards & many strong opinions. This is of course a good thing. We fight because we care about what we are doing.

SHOKO: oh yes.

Artrocker: You’ve got an intricate sound for a two-piece. How do you find it transposes to playing live? And do you write songs with that in mind?

JESSE: Most of what you hear on Forest field is live & has very little over dubs- so that is easy play. The old songs (written as a 3 piece) are fun to adapt & we don’t care if they even remotely resemble the original as long as they are fun to listen to & play.

SHOKO: when we were working on FF, we had the idea to simplify everything, and not to repeat what we did on the last albums. But that doesn’t mean that I really wanted us to be able to play the songs live just like on the album. I kind of enjoy when bands play the "live version" of their songs, because they are still familiar sounds, but are also interesting and unique.

Artrocker: In the songwriting process, what would be the typical step-by-step for a new song being written? Does one of you come up with a riff or something first?

JESSE: It’s always different. The most typical is we just start playing, shut our minds off & play - then when something good comes up we use it as the skeleton of the song. Probably pretty typical. After the no-mind initial approach we do a kind of an analytical surgery to construct and from the song.

SHOKO: I agree with what jesse says. A lot of times, we would just play, and get some ideas for several parts and starts our surgery.

Artrocker: Is songwriting a long and laboured process, or do you pretty much have an idea and it is done fairly quickly?

JESSE: Some songs are very easy & many others require a lot of work. We throw out alot of songs.

SHOKO: i agree with jesse.

Artrocker: What made you guys decide to give away your latest release for free? I know that I’d be willing to pay for a vinyl, and sure many others would too. How did that decision fit with whatever label arrangement you’ve got?

JESSE: Free record have wings,.,and they fly further,.,. also it is fun to give people things,.,. it’s great to be able to not have $ stand in the way of someone enjoying our music. ,.,. The feeling of appreciation for the record we have gotten from people is worth more than money. Strangely our income has increased since we released the free record.

SHOKO: We felt right to give them away. and we are thankful that the label understood and let us do what we wanted to do.

Artrocker: You recorded Forest Field in a basement.. what sortof recording setup have you got there? Two condenser mics, or a full studio-kit?

JESSE: I did a lot of study on relatively inexpensive mics that don’t cost alot. I have 4 Russian oktava mics - one of them I got for $25 - I had read a review that said you could record an Iggy & the stooges type record sound with these mics,.,.they really are great,.,. we have a 8 channel digital recorder,.,.nothing to expensive,,. & a laptop,., ,., I download alot of free plugins - one is a great tape simulator call Colorsound.

SHOKO: Jesse did such a great job. I don’t know anything about recording, but it sure was nice to just record down in our basement.

Artrocker: The music industry can be a hard and difficult place for arty types, and it’s easy to lose faith or feel frustrated – have you got any advice for any bands who might be slightly off-kilter in their style, who are feeling like that?

JESSE: Don’t become a part of an industry. Interact with people. With individuals. Make personal connections with people.

Also, for us, I think the goal is to make interesting music that is also accessible. This is very difficult & an extra challenge.
For me making weird music is easy- making music that my mom can listen to AS WELL as someone who only listens to noise likes is a big challenge.

SHOKO: I think we all should try to appreciate the life we have even if we are different than others. It is so great to be healthy, and if you have great family, friends or boyfriend/girlfriend, then you are solid gold!

Artrocker: Did you ever have to play crappy gigs at local bars and clubs in order to get anywhere week after week? Or did you find you were able to get good gigs fairly easily?

JESSE: We have played bad shows, mostly because we weren’t really checking out the bands, the venue etc. - we just wanted to play as much as possible, so we took anything that was offered. Sometime this works out well though.

SHOKO: We love playing with great bands at great venues..but sometimes things turn out differently. but since we became a duo, my attitude towards playing shows changed. I have so much more appreciation for the audience, other bands and the venues who want us to play.

Artrocker: What’s your most obscure gig memory?

JESSE: oh man,..,we played in a college library once. I guess they didn’t know we were a loud band. The first bass note almost made an older lady at the buffet loose her stuff.

SHOKO: I don’t know this is obscure memory, i just don’t remember much about the show..it was our first show as a duo at some house party in portland. I was sooo nervous, and i think many things went wrong.. it was a chaotic show.

Artrocker: How do you work things financially – do you have to do jobs to make ends meet? And how does that fit in with all the touring etc?

JESSE: Things are just now starting to look up for us. We still do some old computer jobs (luckily we can work from home - so when some one calls during band practice, we are in a "meeting"). this year has been the best so far.

SHOKO: We now start to not lose money on tours.. but we work part time on computer to get more income for sure.

Artrocker: If we should do three things before we die, what would you say to do?

JESSE: I can only speak for myself. 1.) Make friends & connections with people 2.) do something you love  3.) travel & expose yourself to cultures you don’t understand.

SHOKO: 1) Live in foreign countries 2) Help others 3) Eat the best food in the world.

Check out the review page (here) for tour dates, and the link to the free download of their latest album.