Black Mountain 2008

Black Mountain bassist Matt Camirand was nice enough to take time out to talk to us as he was preparing to hit the road the next day on a tour to support the newly released album “In The Future”.

3 years on and off in the making, the new album has turned out to be the first “must have” album of 2008. While Matt put doing laundry on hold to spend time with us, we talk about the worldwide music press, Canadian music awards and even Stevie Nicks and Gordon Lightfoot !

David : The new album comes 3 years after the last and in there somewhere was a false start. What told you that you needed to scrap most of what you had and start again ?

Matt : I think we were pouring over what we had done, the bed tracks and starting on the overdubs and everyone was lacklustre over it and it seemed to lack any energy.  It didn’t feel like anyone’s head was there for it you know ?  It didn’t feel like a team effort so we all agreed to set it aside for a while and play some music with some other bands and come back to it and see what we thought.

I think we were tired of being around each other.  I know personally I didn’t want to be there... I would show up and do my parts and leave again while everyone else worked on their parts.  I’ve seen these people on tour for the past 2 and a half years and I was like, I had other things I’d like to do.  I just got home from the tour and wanted to do some other shit and hang with my friends and play some other music and everyone felt that way.  So when we came back to it a year later and actually made the record, it was the complete opposite, everyone was so excited to be there.

David : Did you ever think that maybe this album would never see the light of day ?

Matt : Not really, no one really stressed about it.  Everybody said the same thing, that they were sick of this right now.  That they wanted to do other stuff and have a break.  So no one was thinking, wow, are we going to do another record ?

David : The new album sounds like a complete album if you know what I mean, a complete work rather than a collection of songs, which is getting more rare these days.  Was the intention to sequence and mix this new album so it was a complete listening experience ?  Or am I reaching on that one ?

Matt : Yes very much so that was the intention, a very vocal intention so I'm glad you picked up on that. I’ve done some interviews over the past couple weeks and a few people have picked up on that which makes us super happy.  It’s nice when people pick up on that instead of some of the normal questions like ‘are you guys trying to sound like Black Sabbath” and yada yada… it’s nice when people pick up on that.

David : Having said that, we do live in a world of downloads and file sharing where people can take 3 or 4 songs off the album they like and discard the rest, taking away from the overall listening experience and the intentions of the artist.  Do you share this feeling and what are your thoughts on the matter ?

Matt : Yeah, I totally agree with what you said and it’s a real bummer and lame but at the same time I’m not going to expend any energy rallying against it.  I don’t really see where that would get me.  I’m not going to champion the “no downloading” thing because I do it.  The rest of the band does it.  It’s just another hurdle that eventually will work itself out or it’s not.  It’s actually too big to worry about, for one person to worry about.

David : Black Mountain and all of its off-shoot bands have remained thus far in Canada signed to indie labels. Is there any desire or has there been any pressure to make the major label jump one day ?

Matt : It’s pretty much a non-issue to be honest.  I remember 10 years ago where there were indie bands who swore they would never sign to a major label and I was in bands like that.  And some did and some didn’t.  I don’t think of the major label machine to be this big evil thing like a lot of people do.  I think that they are the shittiest thing going though right now because they are the ones who are struggling the most and I can't see where they would take you.  If there were any benefits in the gamble before, I see even less now signing with one.

When our first record came out, I think every major label you can think of was knocking on our door and we turned them down because Jagjaguwar did such a good job and they deserved our faith in them and they still are.  And we still want to work with them and I think the majors have even less to offer.

David : Well it seems as though it’s come full circle where the indie label is king again doesn’t it ?

Matt : Well I think they are struggling just as much but they don’t have the overhead that a major label has you know, which has pretty much killed the major label.

David : Going into your tour with Coldplay in 2005, what expectations did you have ?  And now looking back at that experience did it meet your expectations or was it just another gig ?

It must have been an honour no matter how you slice it ?

Matt : It was cool.  We didn’t have any expectations going into it that’s for sure.  We didn’t think it was going to sky rocket us anywhere.  We were kind of curious and I’m glad everyone else agreed to it and there was that chance that someone would have totally disagreed with it.  I’m glad we did it and those guys were really cool and also the reason we were on the tour wasn’t because some management or label said they should take this new buzz band on the road.  The reason why we were on was the guitar player got our record from a friend in Los Angeles and loved it.  Every time I would look out and see someone eating nachos or trying to find their seat at these shows, I would remember that.  It was hard, they were hard shows... they weren’t the best shows.  We’ve done way better bar shows that’s for sure but it was an experience.  My Mom got to come out to the huge Air Canada Center and see us in Toronto and that made her happy, but in the end it didn’t really do anything positive for us besides every journalist in the world knows about it.

David : The reviews of the new album are staggeringly positive, especially in the UK music press but all over North America as well. Do you feel a vibe where the band is about to turn a very big corner in popularity ?

Matt : Sometimes.  It feels like that every time though, and I’ve felt that in other bands I’ve played in.  And it’s tough to reign in and it seems every band feels that way; it just can’t go to your head.   On this record I get the feeling more than any other time and your right; the UK reviews have been insane.  The American reviews have been funny; as good as they are, a lot of reviews think there is a dumb-ness to the record, a tongue in cheekness to it which the UK doesn’t point out at all, which I find interesting.

David : I’ve read in a lot of these reviews that you get saddled with the “stoner rock” thing.  I can’t really see it and think it’s an un-fair slot to throw you in.

Matt : Yeah me too.  It’s with all the emphasis they put on us trying to sound like our fore-fathers, and it’s the last thing we think about.  I know when playing my parts I don’t even consider trying to sound like what these older bands sounded like.  It just doesn’t enter my head and if it comes out sounding like that, it’s like throw anyone in front of an amp and a bass and it’s going to sound like something you know ?  I try not to think about it and I just play the first thing that comes to me.

David : Is there something about the band that has the UK press going crazy for you ?  I know they do like to champion their rock.

Matt : Their music press is so much more important over there to them.  I mean they review albums a month before they come out, and up to the release date and the excitement builds.  And in North America you don’t see a review until the release date.  Over there they still plan and release songs as singles, 7 inch singles.  Their whole journalistic system is totally different over there.

David : So is that a good thing or a bad thing do you think ?

Matt : Well in this instance it’s a good thing.  But when I go over there and read some of the shitty rags like the NME and that crap.  But also it does a good thing because over there they still have these huge festivals, these awesome festivals that have been going for years.  But over here you can get Lollapalooza going for 2 years then it has to take a break and goes away.

David : It seems to be more of a way of life over there too doesn’t it ?

Matt : Yeah.  I think too that English music fans mythologize rock music more over there and Americans seem to be more jaded maybe.

David : Being a self produced band, are there ever any fears of losing objectivity when recording, and / or is the vision of the band that strong where that isn't a problem ?

Matt : So far it hasn’t been a problem.  A couple of us are real audiophiles and really enjoy the recording process and think of it as part of the writing process.  I was thinking the other day, the song “Wild Wind” which is on the new album - I kind of didn’t get it.  I can really see this but when we got into the studio and Josh (drummer) comes up with this killer drum sound and all of a sudden it made sense !  A lot of bands treat the recording process separately and write songs, then go in and track them.  But for us the song isn’t complete until the recording is done.  It's part of the whole process.  We are like kids in a candy store in the studio.  We really enjoy it, and to have someone else there would be a scary thing.  We did it for one song on the new album and that turned out good.  But I don’t know if we would have someone come in and produce a whole album for us.

David : The song "Bright Lights" is very adventurous song clocking in at over 16 minutes long and it takes you many different places in that time.  Please tell me the vibe going into that, recording that song ?  Were there ever any thoughts of editing yourself or was it a case of just letting it all hang out and just going for it ?

Matt : We actually did edit ourselves.  That version on the album is edited down.  We’ve been playing that song for a while live and we discussed recording it many times but there was a lot of fat that needed to be trimmed.  This time around we talked about it and wanted to make sure it wasn’t this meandering, dragging you through the mud kind of thing forever.  We wanted to make sure parts flowed and never left you bored.  So once we had the idea down in our heads we thought that maybe we should try to record it in three movements.  But then we thought that, that would be the easy way and maybe we should try it once all the way through.  And we nailed it the first time.  The take we got is the take on the album.  It just seemed like it was meant to be, and when recording it we actually had very little intention on it making it to the album because it was such an undertaking and we never got it right in the past.

I used to fucking hate playing that song live because it just got so unfocused and no direction and seemed like one big jam that went nowhere, and used to put me to sleep playing it live.  But once we got it focused and recorded it, it turned out amazing.

David : If you could hand pick the perfect touring bill including Black Mountain, what bands would you invite along ?

Matt : I think it would be Black Mountain... and The Unintended and maybe that Howling Rain band we are touring with this week.  They are really good.  There are not a lot of big bands that I am huge on these days.

David : Yeah, I wanted to ask you... who you are grooving on lately?

Matt : I’ve been listening to a lot of Blue Rodeo and stuff like that - roots country stuff.  I really have been listening to Stevie Nicks solo stuff from the 80’s and Tom Petty.  Now Tom Petty would be on my wish list for touring bands.

David : Ah, I love Stevie Nicks first few solo albums!

Matt : Yeah totally, “Bella Donna” is just great from start to finish and also I’ve been listening to Gordon Lightfoot.  He would also be on my wish list for touring.  I fucking love Gordon Lightfoot.

David : Tell me about the title of the album ?  It's a short statement but has huge possibilities..."In the future..... what" ?

Matt : Yeah, it was actually a line from a song that never made the album because it wasn’t good enough. The more we talk about it and the more I look at the cover the more it revealed.  I think there is a bit of sarcasm that I didn’t pick up on before.  A lot of people talk about how we sound like older bands from the 60’s and 70’s, so it seemed sarcastic that, in the future shit will sound the same as it does now.  If you asked anyone else in the band I’m sure you will get a different answer.  There isn’t one idea of it but I look at the cover and I think it’s pretty sarcastic.

David : There is a limited edition that includes 3 bonus songs, why separate those 3 songs ?  Did they just not fit in with the other songs but you felt they were still worthy of hearing ?

Matt : We didn’t want the album to be too long.  We wanted it to be a double album but not this gross, glutinous thing.  So sequencing this album took 3 months and a thousand emails between everybody complaining not to drop certain songs and once we got it finalized those 3 songs were left over and we thought it was a shame because they are good songs.  So we put a couple on a tour only vinyl EP that we sold at shows in the fall so we would have something new to offer.  And then the label decided it might be good to add a third and make it a limited 10,000 copy thing.

David : Now that the new album is out, what expectations do you have for it ?

Matt : All my expectations have been met already.  I’ve been blown away with all the reviews and our last tour in the fall was already ten times better than before so I can only imagine that the tour starting this week will only be better.  I am pretty happy right now.  I don’t know what anyone could do to ruin my time right now... ah shit I shouldn’t have said that !  Now something bad’s gonna happen !

David : I was talking today to someone about why I was not a fan of the Juno awards.  How they seem to miss the mark and not give credit to bands like Black Mountain.  How do you see the Juno Awards ?

Matt : You know, I don’t pay attention to the Juno awards.  It seems like some kind of adult contemporary thing.  It seems the Polaris award they have here now seems like a more important thing.  That award seems to give credit to the underground and breaking artists.  I don’t think I have ever paid attention to the Juno awards my entire life.

David : What’s the plan now for Black Mountain, and will we have to wait 3 years for another album ?

Matt : I don’t know.  We will be on tour for most of this year, until Christmas.  And we have plans to go to Europe and a couple of big U.S. tours and to Australia.   We’ve written a couple of new songs for the next album so I hope we keep that in the front of our minds, so we don’t have to wait 3 years for a new album.  Maybe a year and a half and I think if our heads are in it, we can pull it off.

Black Mountain

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