band interview

Volcano

Interview by Allen Huang
Tagged 2006 experimental flameshovel records noise psychedelic rock volcano!



Whether it's playing for an unruly crowd of hipsters in Oklahoma, opening for an epic hardcore band with an audience in the single digits, or performing in a cramped smoky bar for a handful of uninterested miscreants, the three members of avant-rock band Volcano! bring an emotional intensity to their performances that never fail to make a mark. Their performances are a genuine reflection their music, which is a hodgepodge of both the beautiful and the brazen, ranging from lush sing-and-strums to schizophrenic dance-punk anthems to claustrophobic descents into guitar-noise and electronic freak-outs.

Volcano's first full-length album, Beautiful Seizure, doesn't pale in comparison to their superb live show. It's an energetic rollercoaster ride from start to finish, with a superior understanding of the loud-soft dynamic that's been used much more crudely elsewhere in recent works. Beautiful Seizure would be exhausting to listen to if it weren't so god damn interesting. Guitarist and vocalist Aaron With, bassist and engineer Mark Cartwright, and drummer Sam Scranton meticulously build compositions that are both melodic and complex. Their coordination is impeccable, and their attention to detail almost immeasurable, but it all makes for an engaging listen.

Meeting in their salad days of college, Aaron and Mark played in an indie-pop band, Planet of the Planets, with another schoolmate. Taking secondary roles in this band, the two began to aspire past the conventional sounds of their current band. "We had just been listening to a lot of different music around that time, and I was just playing bass in that other band," says Mark. "I had been starting to get into programming synths and electronic music… We tried to branch out and do other things, but we didn't have any set goals on what we were trying to do." Aaron and Mark fleshed out the rest of their sound after playing with Sam. Well-versed in jazz drumming, Sam wasn't sure at first whether it would translate well into a loud and rowdy rock band. "I was a little bit worried that I wouldn't be able to play the right beats at all," jokes Sam.

In late 2004 / early 2005, the band recorded and finalized their first album. They later signed to the notoriously progressive Leaf, becoming the record label's first "real" rock band. "Leaf was by far the most persistent," says Sam. "They kept communicating with us and they seemed the most invested in what we were doing."

Mark adds, "At first we weren't even sure about sending it to them. They haven't released anything remotely like us, but we like these other groups on there, so we might as well send it to them anyways. It ended up working out."

But signing to the Leaf label has added some unexpected bag-gage. "People do have some kind of expectation to begin, with because that's how it's kind of been played out -- that we're ‘Leaf's First Rock Band.' That's what it says in the press release and all," says Sam. "I think Leaf has a cult following in that people who like one release tend to like a lot of their releases. So there is some kind of expectation to release something that is similar to their other stuff, but it hasn't really gotten us down." Leaf has been very supportive of the band so far, making the band feel comfortable in their position and not loading them with expectations.

The crowds during their first tour, however, were another matter entirely. While traveling to the west coast, the boys in Volcano! received chilly receptions in more than a handful of venues. While opening for the National in Oklahoma, the crowd was particularly negative about Volcano's performance. "Nobody really liked us," says Sam. "Some even said that it was the worst performance that they'd ever seen, so that was bad."

The band's detractors aren't relegated only to concert-goers. Reviews of Volcano's new album have been mostly positive, but there are definitely some who don't quite understand what their sound is about. "Pretty much every review we [have read] has had the most bizarre metaphors that people can come up with to describe us," says Sam. "I think there's been some decent press, but... there's been some negative press that highlights all the things that I like about our music and then puts it in a negative light, like ‘these guys are crazy! And that's terrible.'"

"It's just kind of funny," adds Mark.

Both Mark and Sam insist that the sound of Volcano! isn't a carefully planned scheme to be avant-garde. "I don't think that any of our stuff was necessarily self-consciously trying to stretch boundaries. It was more that we just started from what we like about music. We like bands that have kinda weird sounds mixed with listenable melodies and that kind of fusion was just something that we were naturally drawn to. We're pretty much doing what we like and it came out how it did."

Volcano! had been writing and reworking the songs on Beautiful Seizure for at least a year and a half before recording the album. "Usually one person will bring in an initial idea, but then we all practice it and think of what should go next and make changes," explains Mark. "It's the process of putting the song together that the songs really form. Aaron always writes the lyrics, but the idea will usually come from some keyboard part Sam came up with on the piano or a guitar part that Aaron came up with."

The guys in Volcano! aren't trying to challenge listeners. Their dense sound is simply a byproduct of many ideas that each member of the band brings to the table. "Even if there is one idea that starts the song," adds Sam, "it sounds pretty much nothing like what we end up with."

Because of the hundreds of flavors packed in each song, the album becomes the quintessential "grower," rewarding repeat listeners with new ideas and themes that aren't always apparent the first couple times through. The band takes the greatest pride in these little flourishes and subtleties that form to make each song. Every snare rattle, every electronic buzz, each and every discordant note is the absolute best possible choice Volcano! believes they could've made.

So when Volcano! rolls into town and you smoke your cigarettes outside as the band kicks in, don't be afraid to enjoy the show. These guys love their music, and you should too.

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