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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Icarus Line
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 24 August 2011
LA punks the Icarus Line formed in 1998, putting out first EP ‘Highlypuncturingnoisetestingyourabilitytohate’ on Epitaph imprint Hellcat Records later that year. Debut album ‘Mono’, released in 2001, was succeeded in 2004 by acclaimed LP ‘Penance Soiree’.
Amongst a spate of line-up adjustments in the wake of the latter release, co-founding guitarist Aaron North quit the band to join Nine Inch Nails, leaving frontman Joe Cardamone to forge on with 2007 album ‘Black Lives At The Golden Coast’. Cardamone and his present bandmates recorded their latest full-length, ‘Wildlife’, in a fortnight, with production input from Ariel Pink and Giant Drag’s Annie Hardy, at Hollywood’s infamous Sunset Sound studios.
With ‘Wildlife’ due out via Cobraside/Roar Scratch on 29 Aug, the self-professed “motivated fuck ups who had no other choice” will be making their next live appearance, the first in a string of UK tour dates, at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach on 10 Oct. Ahead of all that, Joe did our SSQ.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I probably started out making music by listening to all the records my parents played around the house as a child. My dad had a decent record collection and as far back as I can remember there were Beatles records playing in the house. And, according to them, I had a 45 of the ‘Star Wars’ theme score and listened to that relentlessly. I am told that I would hum it loudly on car trips until I fell asleep.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
‘Wildlife’ was inspired by living life. The record is a document of the things that were happening to myself and the people around me from the time directly after touring ‘Black Lives’ until the recording of the album. Although the themes aren’t completely different from any other record I have made, I feel like I am always trying to refine the way of saying them. I have always tried to write about a sect of society that isn’t well documented in mainstream media or just current “rock music”. Rather than ironically doing a parody of rock n roll, I try to have an honest more romantic approach to the genre. The record is more of a Los Angeles record than any of my previous efforts, completely written and recorded in the city.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Only since I have become a producer for other artists have I noticed how my own process is kinda fucked up. My process is a very unconventional approach at a conventional method. It is almost a synthetic organic process. The whole thing is an oxymoron.
I bring a rough idea into the jam room with the band. They are very in tune with what I want to do, letting me conduct arrangement and dynamics as we go. I will usually be playing guitar with them during the writing process to show key and feel. Even though we are jamming as a band, it isn’t a free for all. The band is out of control intuitive, with very little verbal communication they follow closely. As we play, the song develops because I have the best inspiration in the room in my band.
Arrangement lengths, and everyone’s individual parts, will occur to me spontaneously. Halfway through the jam I will hear the right bass part, either from my head or something Alvin does, and stop, lock it in, and then keep going. It happens like this over and over until the song takes shape. I wouldn’t do it any other way. This method has worked for me for years, and it helps to ensure a sound that is spontaneous and not too wrought over. It also allows for a little wiggle room, creatively, because in the early stages every one has a chance to impress my taste. If something great is going on, I will encourage it immediately.
It’s a fucked up way to write, but this is how a lot of my music comes together. I love to be in a room jamming to write complete tunes. I can do it all alone too, but it just isn’t as much fun. There is an excitement, of instant gratification, orchestrating on the fly. And that’s why I chose music in the first place, I can make something great take shape in a hour. What other art forms allow you to do that?
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Lately it has been people like Captain Beefheart, Mingus, Dead Boys, The Move and any other great rock n roll from the past.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Turn it up loud and listen to it again, then once more, and now again.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
My ambitions for ‘Wildlife’ were to make a better record than I had before. Something that gets to the heart of my message more closely. With every tune I am working on distilling the music to a pointier edge. I think that is the only way to remain excited about what I am doing here. I will do it again next time and hopefully succeed. It would also be a great thing to bring these songs to the stage and really do renditions that leave lasting impressions on people for years. That has always been the goal with The Icarus Line.
MORE>> www.theicarusline.org
