Gaju

Gaju The Limelight Belfast 17/05/07

Comets On Fire Interview

I didn't think anything could top the line up for ATP before Christmas but I have to say Primvera Sound in Barcelona at the end of the month comes pretty damn close. I'll be flying down with a bunch of hallions from Belfast to enjoy the likes of Slint, The Melvins, Sonic Youth, The White Stripes, The Smashing Pumpkins, Modest Mouse, Wilco, Girls Against Boys, Spank Rock, Girl Talk, The Buzzcocks, Ted Leo, Patti Smith and gods knows how many more. Also playing are Comets On Fire who'll be playing the whole of their awesome "Blue Cathedral" album as part of the whole "Don't Look Back" shenanighans so I thought I'd post my interview with Comets when from October last year when the rocked the Black Box in Belfast. Don't forget the pre-Primavera party- Laverys Bunker 25th May, live musics from Delorentos and DJs playing all yer Primavera favs. Here you go:

“You’re not going to beat him up like that Pitchfork guy are you?” asks Comets On Fire guitarist Ben Chasny as I sit down to interview band mate Noel Harmonson. While the thought of everyone’s favourite smug online music snobs getting some comeuppance is not exactly displeasing, a spot of shirts-off with the creators of the kind of wild scorched earth psyche rock of Comets Of Fire is less welcoming. Far from violent however, the keys man is settling into a nice Guinness buzz and keen to talk about Comets and their awesome new LP ‘Avatar’, which tones down the noise a notch and basks in the warm glow of 70s classic rock jams.

“There wasn’t a conscious decision to have a cleaner, more accessible sound but we always try hard not to make the same record twice. We all love all kinds of different music and all those influences seep in. The new record is a reflection of where we were at the time, but not necessarily where we’ll be in the future.”

How big a part does improvisation play in your writing process and live show?

“We write songs so we can play them live and there are set points that you can jam off but then in the studio you have to have the parts nailed down. So it’s a real dichotomy, we feel that once we have the songs documented on the records we’re free to improvise live and take them somewhere else. That’s been a particularly fun with this record, as the reviews have come out saying that it’s a bit more mellow so the thought if someone hearing the record and saying “oh! that’s cool, sounds a bit like The Allman Brothers” and then coming to the show and going “Fuck! These guys are maniacs!” Live we’re still this weirdo aggro freak out, maybe even more so”

Mellow is a relative term when describing the Comets sound, heady mix of psychedelica, garage punk, free jazz and classic rock. Do you all come from different musical backgrounds?

“Yeah definitely, myself and Chasny (also of Six Organs Of Admittance) are the two guys that are most into free jazz and experimental noise. The other guys are more into more melodic stuff, they would listen to The Grateful Dead, or at least tolerate The Grateful Dead and stuff whereas we would just refuse to have The Grateful Dead anywhere near us!”

Mention of The ‘Dead brings up the dubious spectre of the jam band scene. Having been described as an “underground jam band”, Comets have flirted around the edges of the scene.

“That’s a relatively new thing. It’s cool in a way. If someone calls you a jam band there’s a sense that you’ve been around long enough to be able to jam and that you have left some kind legacy or blazed a trail. A new band doesn’t get called a jam band. Much as we don’t have anything in common with the likes of Phish and The String Cheese Incident, if we can get involved in that scene and open it up and make it a bit more daring that’s great. It’s definitely made us reconsider who are fan base is but fans are great no matter where they come from.”

Fans are not in short supply for Comets at the minute with Mudhoney, Sonic Youth and Jello Biafra who reissued the bands debut album before they hooked up with Sub Pop

“Jello found our first record which we released ourselves in a record shop in Colorado and picked it up as it had a screen printed sleeve and he’s big into collecting records. He loved it and called us up and asked if he could reissue it so that was awesome. And we got to know some of the Sub Pop guys through playing in Seattle and they said “no one ever agrees on anything in the office but we all agree on the Comets record” We were like “What? I though you guys just listened to The Shins!” I can’t believe so many people are into it, for a band that started out as just a friends drinking beer.”

Luckily the only violence was that inflicted on the ears of the crowd at the Black Box as Comets ripped a hole in the space / noise continuum. Far out.

Mermaids

A section from "Muscle Beach" by Sheila McCarron