10/27/09
Text: Nik Mercer, Julian Grefe
Pink Skull's press release for their second album, Endless Bummer (RVNG International―pre-order it now!), reads like the synopsis of a Philip K. Dick novel, something very appealing to us Anthem staffers. "The dystopian frontier is near, but never fear. In the new era of endlessness where we hide ourselves as humans among androids, there is hope." Now, the narrative of the LP isn't quite as explicit as Dick's work, but there's an aesthetic similarity that underscores the whole thing. Recorded live to 8-tracks on 1" tape at Alex Ounsworth's 200-year-old-barn-cum-studio on the outskirts of Philadelphia, the record positions itself as a sort of dance album for the apocalypse. Imagine the merging of the dense kraut of Cluster & Eno, the mechanized grit of PIL's Metal Box, and some of the Orb's choicer electronic efforts and you've approximated the tone of Endless Bummer.
We talked with Julian Grefe, half of the producer duo, about the release, it's killer (and laboriously crafted) artwork, where he got his awesome voice from, and how they come up with such nutty song titles. Afterward, Grefe asked us some unusual questions, which we urge you to check out as well.
In addition to getting all cerebral with Pink Skull, we're delivering to you the exclusive debut of "Endless Bummer" one of our favorite jams on the disc. Be sure to pre-order the gem right here too.
Pink Skull - Endless Bummer (MP3)
I love the name of your new album, Endless Bummer. It's immediately understandable and funny, but I wonder what personally drove you two to name it such.
I'm glad you like it. I was going for both immediately understandable and funny―a bit of a break from the more obtuse references of yore. And it summed up the last year-and-a-half of my life―my car got stolen; my girlfriend got attacked by a pitbull; I sort of overdosed (long story); and someone dropped an air conditioner out of a second story window, which grazed my head (and which would have killed me for certain) and then smashed on the sidewalk; working my dead-end job. Blah blah... But, I did want to give it a little wistfullness―didn't want to be construed as some sort of super downer.... plus it kinda sounds like Endless Summer―a bit like our lives (without the surfy part).
Relatedly, I love what you did with the album art. To most people, hand typesetting every cover would be ludicrous, but you decided to go for it. What was the motivation behind that?
We left the art up to Kevin O'neill and Matt Werth. I was really excited to have the record come out on RVNG and i love Kevin's aesthetics. They came up with the concept and went for it. Really impressive task and they look super cool. You'd have to ask Matt himself about the motivation behind it...
Okay, on to the music! You use a lot of heavy, deep vocals on this record that give it an almost intimidating feel. Can you tell me a little about how you worked on that aspect of the music and how the approach is different from your previous work?
Hrm... intimidating, huh? After a lot of dicking around with other vocalists and effects and that kind of shit I just kind of went for it. That's just my register, I guess. I mean, its not like Type O Negative― maybe a little Bowie/Eno-ish?
We cut the basic tracks to tape (on a 1" 8-track courtesy of handsome Quentin Stolfus from Mazarin at Alex [Ounsworth]'s place and then i went back and did vocals at our studio to digital. I spent alot of time thinking about how to accent the vocals without going overboard and decided that it would be nice to use different backing vocalists to work with on different songs (my friends Mike Robinson, Joe Tagg, and Rose Luardo). They provide the higher harmonies on the tracks to give them a more uplifting feel, as lower register vocals can be perceived as sinister or brooding or just plain too masculine to be poppy. Sinister and brooding I am not. Nor is Justin [Geller―the other half of Pink Skull]. Maybe a bit of a "dude," though. Totally. And some people find that intimidating. Previously, I just kinda mumbled/whispered. There's too much of that in the world already.
There's something very uplifting about the album (the melodies, the pacing, the arrangements). What sort of mindset were you in when you wrote and recorded it? Why were you at this place and how did it affect your output?
Just wanted to here some uplifting-ish stuff, I guess. I find electronic music to be oddly, uh, at the risk of sounding like some sort of shit-wig Goa enthusiast, spiritual. Shit just kept piling up as we worked on this record and maybe it was just me keeping my head above water, subconsciously. I guess it all just kind of seeped out. But, I might point out, a couple of the songs are almost three years old. I finally was able to record them the way I wanted, with a live band.
You still have really weird song titles. What's the deal with those!? (I love them... )
They just kind of fall out of my mouth all day and J.G. keeps a list of them. When the time comes, we'll go through and pick out the best ones. Some suck, some rule―and some really rule! Many are puns, some are just plays on assonance or alliteration, some are just exactly what they say they are.
I can imagine it's tough for you to do live shows considering the complexity of these tunes. What's your plan for touring and all?
We do play live, and have for the last year-and-a-half... it's a bit complex―both live and [in terms of] programmed instruments. A four- or five-piece band, laptop, and sometimes visuals... but, lately I've tired of the video show. It's too distracting and everyone in the audience just appears to be watching TV from our standpoint. I'm working on fabricating a more interactive light rig with actual lights, as the light-play interacting with the audience and the band allow everyone to be part of the same experience at the same moment. Watching a video made weeks before projected on a two dimensional screen [doesn't do that]. You [can] just stay at home get stoned and watch Fractals on VHS if that's what you're after.
Oh, yeah, tour... yeah, for now, some small weekend jaunts... if something proper comes along we'd definitely take it. But I'm not about to load up a van with five grown men with families and jobs and schlep across America for weeks at a time playing dumps to "get the word out." I don't mean to sound like a prima donna of sorts, but fuck that. We do love playing shows, otherwise we wouldn't be in a band.
A lot of artists visualize an audience or a feeling or a scene or something when they work on music. Do you? If so, what place are you in with Endless Bummer? What party are you playing to?
Interesting. That has never crossed my mind. Ever. I do like small-/medium-sized capacity venues―like 200 people. 200 really stoked people. Dancing. 200 really stoked people dancing in a small, dark venue. Who want to give me drugs and money and not talk about fucking techno for four hours at a clip.
