INTERVIEW // LA DISPUTE
L
Can you explain what’s the focus point, lyrically speaking, on “Rooms Of The House”, and why did you choose this title for the album?
et me test your memory: do you remember the time when you played with Sohns in San Antonio, Texas? You made what the Sohns’ guys called a “Battle Set”. It seems like a wonderful experience for everyone involved, the public and artists.
Oh yeah, definitely. That was a long time ago but it was a lot of fun. We’ve been good friends with those guys ever since but that was one of the more unique shows that we ever played.
Did you ever try that again? Doing that “Battle Set” thing?
No, we haven’t. Not since then. That was one of a kind.
You started to work on “Rooms Of The House” in a cabin in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a pretty remote area. It seems that there was an urgent need to focus only on the music, taking away all the distractions. You had any idea of what you wanted to do with this new record and for that reason a remote space was crucial for things to work out? Yeah, I think. First of all, we all live in different places so it was a necessity in that way we had to be in the same place for a period of time to put it together. I think that it shows on record that it was required for us to be isolated in a common space. I don’t think the album would have turned out the same way, sonically or lyrically, had we not been in that confined space.
Being in a remote place for one month, 24/7, can give you more focus but it must be difficult to deal with each other, right? Discussions, no “me time”, no personal space, etc.
Well, we made a point of having personal space. We made a point of, every day, taking time out to do our own thing and have time away from the record, so we didn’t overwhelm ourselves and so, we didn’t put ourselves in a place where you’re likely to be in a tense situation or anything. We did a good, I think, balancing writing with staying healthy, mentally. 54
music&riots
May
Sure. The record focuses on a fictional couple in a time and space and about the events that take place there, how the events remain in memory because of how they pertain and connect to the objects that occupy the space with you so. The title is just a kind of a statement about that, about the environment; about how scenery plays a significant role in shaping your memory and how things happen to yourself. That’s pretty much it.
Describing almost every object and environment seems to make your lyrics way more visual, like it feels like we’re there… It’s almost cinematic, you know? Describing in detail the objects was a premeditated choice to turn the lyrics more cinematic?
Yeah, I think having that is a significant theme on this record. Talking about objects, talking about rooms and talking about spaces; talking about these ordinary things made it a requirement to flush out a scene in its entirety and not just focus on how the characters are affected by each other but also detail the minutiae and all the little things that go along. We really tried to make it seem like something that could happen to everybody – does happen to everybody, by writing about everything from the smell of the coffee maker to the sound of the radio playing. It’s all about everything that happens to everyone involved and everything involved.
I guess it’s easier to relate to these situations because it seems so real, so mundane, you know? Sure, exactly. That was the intention from day one, especially on certain songs. Make it real, like a everyday thing. Those everyday kind of catastrophes and not the really dramatic things that happen to select to focus on. Like you said, the mundane and how everyday things can be devastating.
The April 1956 tornado outbreak works like a back theme in the first song of the album, “Hudsonville Mi 1956”. Why? Well, I wanted to… The fictional relationship, I wanted to happen
“I wanted to sh person but to peo events over a period of time. I wanted to show how common these things can be, not just to one person but to people throughout a course of time so I picked historical events to use as framing pieces to illustrate that. And that one in particular I thought was a really good way to introduce the record, and that’s always been the image to me that has been powerful, the image of the storm. The before and after, and the tension of during; that seemed the perfect way to introduce the tension of that came with the record. And it was something that was close to home, it was relevant that way.
There’s a song, “Themes from Highway 81-09”. Why this period of time? What reflects this