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A Real to Reel Interview: Band of Horses

By Dan Ochwat

The latest in the line of “squeaky voice dude” bands, and one of the hottest bands of 2006, Band of Horses is playing three upcoming dates in Chicago, June 5-6 at Schuba’s and July 27 as part of the Pitchfork Festival bill.

These three dates are the most in any city on the Band of Horses’ summer tour, in support of its debut album “Everything All The Time.”

Ben Bridwell and Mat Brooke, founders of the band, first worked together in a Seattle band called Carissa’s Weird, a much more mellow outfit where Ben played drums and Mat was the frontman. After Carissa broke up, the two started Band of Horses and have grown beyond the regional success they previously achieved. I spoke with Ben about his tiring comparisons to My Morning Jacket, porn and his aversion to gifts.

Q: First off, I was doing some research a couple weeks ago, and on the Sub Pop Website there was a link to your MySpace page that actually directed you to a porn blog — milfhunter.com.

A: No shit? That’s crazy.

Q: Yeah, the MySpace page was for some guy from Kazakhstan.

A: Oh, yeah, yeah, I know what that is. I guess the URL on the Sub Pop site was wrong. It said bandofhorsesmusic instead of bandofhorses, and I couldn’t figure it out forever. I was like, “What the f is this guy doing here?”

Q: And now he’s plugging milfhunter. And not that I dislike your page, but...

A: Well, yeah, milfhunter is definitely more interesting.

Q: And it had live video (laughs). Another thing I wanted to bring up is that in all of the photos I’ve seen, it’s you and Mat and a dog. Who’s the dog?

A: That’s Cassius. Right now, he’s next to me on a bean bag.

Q: Does he tour with you?

A: No, we’ve tried. We’d like for him to just hang out on stage and chill, but it’s too loud. Or, if he’s in the back stage area, he’ll start whining and look all sad. He’s like the saddest dog in the world, I don’t get it. We treat him so great, but he looks so sad.

Q: You’re coming to Schuba’s in June for two shows — have you played here before?

A: Yeah, we played in Chicago with our old band (Carissa’s Weird), and we played at the House of Blues with Iron & Wine as this band. We were on tour with them last summer for the Midwest and South.

Q: I’ve heard live versions of “The Funeral” and “Wicked Gil” off an early demo, and they were very stripped down, like Carissa’s Weird does Band of Horses. Is that what we can expect at the Schuba’s shows?

A: No, it’s five dudes now, so we’ll be a lot louder than that. You know, just as the album has its peaks and valleys, I’d say our live show does as well.

Q: In July, you’re playing the Pitchfork Festival, which was the single best event in the city last year. Have you played any of these newly-fashioned indie fests?

A: It’s funny, we haven’t. We’re starting with Sasquatch up here (in Seattle). Then we’ll go on tour and come back to do the Pitchfork thing. We’ve done the conferences like South By Southwest, but never an outdoor fest. It’s more a European style instead of having your traveling Lollapalooza tour. This way, it seems safer for promoters.

Q: The album has been getting great reviews, and I love the album, but every review compares you to Jim James of My Morning Jacket.

A: Yeah, that shit’s getting a bit overplayed.

Q: Are you as tired of hearing it as I am?

A: I’m totally tired of it. I’m tired of lots of shit, but I’m definitely tired of that. You know, you don’t want to think too much about it. You can’t help the way you sing. For the most part, it’s a compliment. The dude sounds great.

Q: At the same time, you’re compared to The Shins and Rogue Wave because you’re labelmates with them. And you do sort of fit that sound. It seems like Sub Pop is building a certain sound; would you agree?

A: With those bands, there’s definitely that sound going on. As far as Rogue Wave is influenced by the Shins, who is influenced by the Fruit Bats, who knows? Sub Pop has come after those bands. But it is strange that you don’t hear any of those squeaky voice dudes over on Merge Records or Matador, so I guess maybe you’re on to something there.

Q: How did you get signed by Sub Pop?

A: Our old band had talks with them about putting out records, so that’s how I got to know them. Then we linked up through Iron & Wine. Sam (Beam) and I grew up in the same town and have been friends for a long time. I got him in touch with Sub Pop, and I kept bringing them bands that I thought were cool. Then, they came out to one of our shows in Seattle when we opened for Iron & Wine, and it sort of took off.

Q: Around the same time the album was released, you were simultaneously grabbing good reviews for your performance at South By Southwest and for the album. It all sort of helped build this buzz around the band.

A: I wonder if it’s still happening, I can’t tell. Thank God it’s seemed to have subsided a little bit. There’s still a lot of interviewing going on, but it’s calmed down as of late.

Q: And this is different from Carissa’s Weird, because you really just had regional success with that band.

A: Yeah, we were popular in our town, and a couple other places. It was nothing like this.

Q: When you played Chicago as Carissa’s Weird, did you have big crowds, as opposed to going to Schuba’s and playing most likely two sold-out shows?

A: Crowds were not that big. We definitely had our struggling times in Carissa’s Weird. Whatever money we made got spent that night. Now it’s nice, it’s a little easier to tour in that way.

Q: How did you create the music for Band of Horses? Had you been writing these songs all along while in Carissa’s Weird, and these were just stored up?

A: Not at all, actually. Once the band broke up, everyone had their fingers in their butts and didn’t know what to do. We were all sharing this two-bedroom apartment, four of us, and our practice space wasn’t getting used. So just to have some private time, I would go down there and start getting some of these songs together.

Q: Now in Band of Horses, you’re sort of the frontman, whereas in Carissa’s Weird, Mat was lead vocals. Was it strange to sort of switch roles?

A: Mat still does sing, but it was definitely a new thing for me. The recording process was pretty intense. It’s one of those things where you gain confidence and try and believe that you can do it. It was definitely tough at first, and it’s taken some time, but I’m closer to it. At the same time, dealing with people constantly telling you that you sound like someone else, it gets to the point where I’m like, “How much harder do I have to try to distance myself more?”

Q: Every time I hear the song “The Funeral” I go crazy. I love that song. What was the inspiration behind it?

A: There are definitely hints of the mortality issue, but for the most part, the song is about people making a fuss over buying presents for people’s birthdays. I can’t stand my birthday. Thank God I just got through one last week. I don’t tell anyone about it. I try to slip by. Christmas, birthdays, I hate the fuss people make about occasions.

Q: That’s my philosophy: Don’t buy me a gift, so I don’t have to buy you one.

A: Exactly! We can make this so much easier on everybody if everyone would just f---ing quit. But in general, the song is about the fuss, and without being too direct on that topic, obviously. The song dances around some other subjects as well. I do that for most of the record, not be too direct and dance around multiple subjects.

Keep sending me your music or anything else on your mind at danochwat@hotmail.com. I’ve also joined the MySpace army, so give The Real Chicago some love at http://www1.myspace.com/danochwat

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