INTERVIEW WITH DESERT CITY SOUNDTRACK
Desert City Soundtrack are Cory Gray (Vocals, Piano, Bass, Trumpet), Matt Carrillo (Vocals, Guitar), Brian Wright (Drums, Percussion, Organ).The band resides in Portland, Oregon.They're Cielo Líquido favourites.
Cory Gray was so kind to answer our usual pack of useless questions.
1.Would you give us a short bio of the band? What has happened with the band until now?
Desert City Soundtrack was started by Matt & I in Santa Rosa, CA in the year 2001 after the breakup of our old band Edaline (Law of Inertia records), and shortly thereafter relocated to Portland, OR.. There has been a whole slew of other members leading up to the current lineup. We’ve done quite a bit of west coast tours and five national tours, with some shows in Canada and Mexico.
2. How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it? What do you think you sound like? Why do you feel the readers should make an effort to check you out?
My favorite review said we sound like Ben Folds Five having a bad acid trip. That’s funny, but not really accurate. I would say it would have to be more of Ben Folds Five jumping off a bridge after a fifth of cheap bourbon..
3. Have you been really inspired/influenced by anyone? Where do you take your musical cues from-both now and in the past?
One of my favorite things about Desert City, especially this particular incarnation, is the vast diversity of our influences. Though we obviously all share certain influences, we all have very different particulars. You’ll catch Matt with anything from the Polyphonic Spree to the Red House Painters, while Brian comes from an intense jazz background, and I will play anything from 50 Cent to Astor Piazzola to Will Oldham.
4.Why did you choose to make the sounds you do?
I think the sounds may have chosen us.
5.Can you make a living being DCS? Can you do this full time?
Not so far. We usually do okay on the road, but still have to work our crappy jobs to get by when we get home.
6.Is frienship an important factor inside a band?
To reference the last question, I think the only reason a band could stay together that weren’t friends, is if they were making a shit load of money. We don’t make a shit load of money, but we are good friends and have a great time playing music at home and on the road together.
7.Tell us about those line-up changes.
The first two records were with Caitlin Love on drums and Mike Cassanova on bass. They are both great musicians that have gone other ways. But truthfully, the Desert City that exists now is a lot closer to the music Matt and I were making in the beginning, which was mostly acoustic slow and dark. We’re sort of getting away from the more hardcore sound that we developed for a while.
8. How do you go about writing songs? Where do you find your inspiration? What are your lyrics about?
The new record is a mish-mosh of conceptions. About half the songs were my musical outlines with Matt’s words, that were molded and shaped by playing them live as a trio. “Its not that bad” and ”First sickness” were remakes of old four track songs of matt’s, while “Batteries” and “Good times without” were songs of mine that just seemed to fit with the record. “Last Nights Floor”, “Lets Throw Knives” and “No Signal” were songs that were more or less written at Bear Creek (Seattle recording studios) as we were making the record.
9.Unfortunately I have not had the chance to see you playing live until now. How is your live set in comparison with your recordings?
Our live set now I think is comparable to the new record. Our live set in the past was much louder, much screamier. We’ve kind of had our fill of that, at least for now.
10.Tell us about your producers. Have they been so relevant/important?
Obviously the engineer has a lot to do with determining the sound of a record. I can’t say enough good stuff about Brandon Eggleston, who co-produced Perfect Addiction. He has fresh ideas and is very open minded and easy to work with. The first two records were done with Rob Bartleson, who is also great to work with.
11.I think that DCS is, let's say, a rare/special band inside Deep Elm's catalogue...What's it like being part of that label?
I don’t feel that we really fit with any of the other bands on the label. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or not. At least for them it proves Deep Elm bands don’t all sound alike.
12. Do you feel like being part of a movement, a scene or something like that?
The movement of the earth and the spreading of the virus that is humankind. Other than that, not really.
13.I am particularly interested in knowing as much as possible about how are things for a band like DCS in such a huge country (USA): tours, labels, records, fans, radio, magazines, scenes, etc?
We book our own tours. We buy our own gas. There are a insane amount of bands doing the same thing, trying to get their music out there. Deep Elm handles most promotion that we don’t do ourselves.
14.It's almost impossible to find a bad review of your stuff.Your records are well received by critics in general.So, what do you feel when you don't get a similar response from the public? What does a band like DCS need to reach a huge audience?
If you find out please let us know. I think it has something to do with money. But I’m not sure. Sometimes people like what we do, sometimes they don’t. I think it’s important not to take it personally, but its also definitely is nice to get positive feedback.
15. Tell us something about your local scene: musical activity, bands, etc.What other Portland or american bands should we be looking out for? Is Portland a good city to be a band in? Can you recommend us something?
Portland is an awesome town to play music in. Everyone here seems to be in a band. I play in a few other projects: Tracker, Norfolk & Western & The Graves, all quite different and equally inspiring groups of musicians. This town is full of people making great music.
16. I love to talk about music so...What other things do you like musically? What's on your stereo right now? What kind of bands/artists do you like at the moment? What were the last records you bought?
Lately: Cass McCombs, Iron & Wine, Hayden, Bonnie Prince Billy, Beck, Jollie Holland, Robert Johnson, Johnny Cash, Calexico, Little Wings, Arcade Fire, Settlefish, The Rum Diary, that unreleased Fiona Apple is pretty rad, Idiom Creak, that’s been going lately. Off the top of my head.
17.Are you pleased with where you are now? Would you have liked to have gone further? What would have to happen for you to be able to think "we've made it now"?
It would be great to do nothing other than make music and art. And I can speak for the entire band when I say that.
18.Finally, what are your upcoming plans?
Regional Touring until spring then National and overseas touring next year
If you want to know more about the band check their website
www.desertcitysoundtrack.com
Interview by Fernando Pérez Herrero
