catalog and that’s what that interaction is about. It’s about feeding people more and more information. So we needed to figure out a way where we weren’t doing that. ANP: Well that kind of happened with Sisterworld, but not to the same degree. Angus: That was all done in hindsight. We had already come up with the album title and the visual direction. We created the online element after everything was already made. Then we had to try to translate it into a visual web thing. So it was much lighter. It wasn’t like with this record where we were recording at the same time. Julian: We had to figure out a way to let people into our world without doing what Angus was talking about and subscribing to some cliché idea. We weren’t interested in putting our personal lives out there. We didn’t want to give that away. But at the same time you want to let people in, so the challenge was how to do that in a way that was interesting for us as well. ANP: When you are in the process of making an album I know you guys are very cautious about letting anyone get an early listen. Are you the same with the visuals? Angus: As far as I’m concerned the visuals are the same issue as it is with regards to music. Traditionally we make full songs before we give them to each other. That helps us establish the zones of confidence in what you’ve personally done. Instead of saying, “Oh I’ve got this vague idea.” For me, it’s the same with the visuals. Just trying to take it as far as you can yourself before you want to show it to anybody. That’s why we sometimes run into troubles with things like this. On this record we really made a point that we wanted to be more collaborative. We wanted to show each other things a lot earlier. But it’s not easy. It actually makes it a lot harder. You have to allow for other opinions. ANP: The other way allows you to present something in a more finished state. Angus: Yeah. You are at a point where you can say, “I’m super happy with this!” So then I’ll show it to
Aaron and he’s gonna know that I’m super happy with it and there’s a small discussion about maybe doing this or that—but it’s not like a complete structural discussion. When you do it the way we did it on this record it turns into a real thing where maybe it doesn’t need to. When Aaron is talking about the first album cover, it’s like, just sort of allowing for that thing to happen and not getting too far caught up into the discussion of it. I think in some instances that is beneficial. Definitely in hindsight on this project it has been beneficial to be more collaborative. In the end you do feel more comfortable with the work. But it doesn’t make the process easier. ANP: You have to be willing to kill your babies. Angus: Exactly. Which is hard. Julian: Visually it becomes difficult to try to create one image to represent all of our ideas. There are all these songs to think about and then you’re doing everything yourself so it becomes even more difficult. ANP: It would be an interesting experiment to see if you released the same exact record with completely different packaging if your audience would hear it differently. Angus: Obviously it again brings into question how much the visuals matter. ANP: I like to see a similarity between the visuals and the sound. When a band’s identity can be influenced by both factors. That said it seems with you guys that there is always a germ at the beginning of a project that kind of influences everything else. Would you say that the initial process of developing that grain of an idea is pretty much the same on every record? Angus: It’s always a very natural process. It’s not like we ever need to sit down before everything starts and really decide on everything. It mostly happens naturally over the course of touring the record before somehow, and it’s pretty remarkable, I think that our interests all start to point in a similar direction.
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Julian: I think you’re right and it’s pretty incredible. Angus: Take for example our last record. We were like, “Ok, we’re gonna make a record now for the first time in Los Angeles.” We were in Berlin before that. It wasn’t like we said that we needed to make this record about Los Angeles. But when we started to write separately and then subsequently started to talk about what we’d done it was obvious that we were all really interested in that. So we took that further...kept going with it. Then with this record we were all ready for a stylistic and sonic change. If there was any method to the madness it was mostly in a reactionary way to what we’ve done before. ANP: It seems like that’s a consistent idea from record to record to make a stylistic and sonic change. Aaron: There’s like a moment that I can usually pinpoint on each record. We’ll go through some kind of similar experience at a time. Then we’ll have a quick conversation and it kind of sparks. We actually have a conversation like this before every record and that allows us to continue forward in a particular direction. This time we were in London and we played this big festival and I remember just this brief comment. It was only like a couple of sentences long. Something like, “I’m sick of microphones” Oh really? “Well I’m also sick of this.” This conversation happens every record and it’s quick, but once it happens we know. Then we can start writing within those parameters. Because we have common interests but then we also are different. So I try to write with Angus’ input in mind. I’ll write what I like but then I think about what can be added. So yeah, it’s just a short conversation, but it happens every time. ANP: Is that a nerve-wracking process? Angus. No, it’s actually really exciting. Like Aaron’s saying those conversations really are so brief. They’re just like opening a door. After that you know that the whole landscape is available. It’s never any pressure. It’s more like the possibilities are exciting. Aaron: It’s after that I think it gets more difficult. When those conversations happen it’s like “Wow!