Dan Deacon

The first thing I want to ask about is your compositional process. As far I know ‘Bromst’ is the first record that you’ve had other musicians (drummers etc.) other than singers on your records, or at least aside from vocalists it was just you playing on ‘Spiderman Of The Rings’. How did working with people change things for you and at what stage did you begin to bring people in? Did you start by jamming with people from the off and seeing what happened, did you bring demos to people and work from there trying out different things or were your ideas pretty much fully realised when people came in and you just told them what to play? How did you find working with people as opposed to your previous solitary process?

The performers were brought in as the recording process went along. The parts were already written and in most cases sheet music was printed out and given to the performers. There are only a few sections in the drum kit parts that were structured improvisations (the fills in ‘Woof Woof’ and the b section of ‘Of The Mountains’ has a few layered drum solos buried in the mix).

Working with people is great. It was a really good re-learning experience and taught me a lot. I definitely approach composing a little differently now. After years of writing for a computer I had to relearn how to write with in the restrictions of human abilities, which is a lot more fun and a lot more challenging (for me anyway). For example, when writing for synth drums, it doesn’t matter if there are 6 drum kits at the same moment because the synth drummer doesn’t need to worry about arms and feet. When writing for a real human, clearly there is a limit to the amount of sound events that can be created at a time.

There’s a far more organic tone to the album than on the last one, I’m thinking in particular of the live drums or even the glockenspiel that closes out ‘Snookered’ and opens up ‘Of The Mountains’, was that sense something you were aiming for right away? I’ve always thought that there was a really warm feel to a lot of the synth tones you’ve used in the past, particularly the single note stuff that underpins some of the older songs, is the feel of ‘Bromst’ a natural progression of that?

I think so. Beyond the acoustic instrumentation I think a lot of it has to due to the recording process and mixing process. SMOTR was recorded in a week in my bedroom with one mic. ‘Bromst’ was recorded over a 9 month period and mixed in an all analog studio. I still love lo-fi sounds but I wanted to try working in hi-fi. The studio we worked in, snow ghost, was just amazing and it added a lot of character and quality to the album.

On the subject of natural progressions there’s songs on the new record that if I heard without being told who it was that I never would have guessed were yours, ‘Wet Wings’ in particular would fall into that category but there are parts of the record that make it sound unmistakably like a Dan Deacon album; the drums exploding into the mix about 3 minutes into ‘Build Voice” or some of the arpeggios you use, or the pitch shifted vocals. In particular one song,”Baltihorse”, sounds like a distillation of some of my favourite parts of your last record, but it seems to me to be more concise and more focused. You’re now on your 8th or 9th album since 2003 and I’m wondering if you find it easier to accomplish what it is you’re trying to achieve with your music as time has gone on or is it more of a trial an error thing? Do you have a vision of what you want to do with a song when you start composing it?

Each song starts differently. Sometimes it’s already written in my head and I just need to figure out how to get it out. Other times it’s a slow battle between me and an idea, trying to hash it out into something. Other times it comes from improvising or jamming or fooling around. I don’t think its’ getting easier. I hope it doesn’t. It would suck if it did.

The reason I ask the last question is that at odds with what the widespread perceptions of you might be in that you’re a wacky pied piper character with a bunch of crazy ideas and a table full of gadgets that makes for a sweaty fun time for the folks that come to your gigs whenever I read interviews with you or your MySpace blogs and bulletins you strike me as being very thoughtful and serious about your music. Do you on occasion feel frustration at not getting enough credit for the sophistication of your music?

To be honest, yes, I do get frustrated. But I realize that I shouldn’t. People’s perceptions are their own to make. It’s not like I am not any of those things they say I am. I just wish they would also see the other side as well. The juxtaposition between the serious and the absurd is an important dialog for me. It’s much easier to latch onto the later and ignore the rest. That’s what gets frustrating. But again, I shouldn’t let it get to me. There so many amazing musicians that never get a chance to share their music with anyone and I’m insanely grateful and humbled by how many people like my music. Complaining about my “image in the media” is like saying “there aren’t enough sprinkles in my ice cream cone! I wish I could have more cake! etc, etc”

You’ve built quite a reputation as a live act and you’re coming back to Dublin in June, this time you’re bringing an ensemble of musicians. How is this going to impact on the live show, are you planning on staying on the floor or playing on stage. Will the games/dance offs/etc. still be a part of the gig? Will the band just be playing ‘Bromst’ material or will they be playing new arrangements from older songs?

I live show will certainly have gone through a transformation by the time I get to Dublin. I don’t plan on removing any of group activities from the show. I’m not sure if I’ll continue to play on the floor. The main reason I started playing on the floor was to communicate to the audience (which used to be really fucking small). Now that its gotten to the point when I need to ask people to step back and I can’t face the audience because I need to block off my equipment, it seems like that communication aspect has been lost. I like being in the crowd and I’m trying to come up with a way to make both worlds work. I also need to make sure I can see the performers and give cues and some of the instruments I play are on the stage because they are being shared by others. So I’m not exactly sure what the setup will be but I’ll have 7 weeks in the US before coming cover to the EU to figure it out.

Entirely self indulgent and geeky question. What’s your favourite piece of musical equipment?

Most likely these two modified whammy pedals I have just built. My friend Karl Ekdahl is an electronics wizard and turned them into really amazing instruments.

Following on from that in general what sort of gear do you use most when making music?

I compose mainly with the program Reason but I’ve been using Sibelius as well. I used to do everything by hand but it took forever and since I compose mainly on the road using the computer makes it earlier. I promised myself I’d soon compose at least two large pieces (or albums, whatever) of music made with out computer. I use it to much. I think its a great tool but there are a lot of other great instruments out there that I should be giving attention too.

One of the more surreal things I’ve seen in the internet in the past 12 months was a link to a video on YouTube featuring you that a friend sent me. How in the hell did you wind up on an NBC morning show in Ohio at 5:30 AM?

The world works in wonders in weird ways.

Bromst is out now on Carpark Records. Foggy Notions presents Dan Deacon & Ensemble in Andrew’s Lane Theatre on June 3rd.Photo used above by John Sisk.