!!! - Bringing the Punctuation Back
The Dwarf recently had the opportunity of a telephone audience with singer Nick Offer from the electro, acoustic, progressive house music outfit !!! (chk, chk, chk) about their latest album Myth Takes and other musical theories. After a somewhat shaky start, The Dwarf proved its salt and even got a serenade out of the deal, not a bad achievement really.
The Dwarf: This interview is going to be a little different today. The questions have been supplied by one of our contributors who can’t come to the phone so I’m a conduit for his curiosity
Nick Offer: OK. So you’ve probably never even heard of us.
The Dwarf: No I have, I have.
NO:(laughter) What like 5 minutes before hand. That’s fine. If you haven’t that’s fine
The Dwarf: Alright well maybe I haven’t…..I want to though
NO:That’s fine I really don’t care
The Dwarf: While I haven't really heard your music I do really like you guys for bringing punctuation back into rock’n’roll. It was sorely lacking but now it’s back
NO:Well we’ve covered that front so maybe you’ll like the rest of the things we do as well
The Dwarf: I’m sure I will. I’ve seen the album. It’s been in our office. It looks beautiful.
NODo you want me to sing a bit for you?
The Dwarf: Can you, will you please? I don’t get serenaded to very often you know.
NO:You know what. I’m not sure that you deserve it
The Dwarf(exasperated gasping)
NOYou act as though you’re shocked. You haven’t listened to our record and you’re trying to conduct an interview. I don’t need to come to you here.
The Dwarf(disappointed sounding disillusionment weeping over the phone line from our beloved Jade which obviously plays on Nick’s gentlemanly nature and he comes to the party)
NO:OK look. We’ll do it like this – let’s see how the interview goes and if I feel like, even though you didn’t listen to the record, we’ll see if you deserve the serenading.
The Dwarf: Ok. That’s fair and I’ll take that. OK, question 1. The reviews for your latest album Myth Takes have been very positive. Congratulations on a great record (that I haven’t heard [laughter from Nick] but the guy who wrote the questions has) with a very tongue in cheek name, have initial sales met your expectations?
NO:Initial sales? Um, it’s only been downloaded. Oh no, yeah we actually did just hit the national top 40 chart in Japan. That was pretty much a shock, sure.
The Dwarf: Speaking of Japan and being big in Japan. If you could get any type of advertising campaign to be big in Japan, and only seen in Japan, what kind of product would you like to plug?
NO:Well it’s one of those legendary things where you can buy those girls panties. That has already been worn. In those vending machines. So I think we’d like to be that line of girl’s panties.
The Dwarf: Beautiful. I think that would work quite well. Now your band name is apparently inspired by the film, ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’. Does satire and comedy play a role in your musical creativity?
NO:Yeah actually it really does. We’re always laughing amongst ourselves and we always, like on the tour bus, it’s always about comedy. We watch a lot of British comedy and stuff. Actually I was reading the other day and you know, Led Zeppelin, no actually George Harrison funded a lot of the Monty Python movies. I thought that was really awesome. I hope we can make a bunch of money and fund a load of comedy.
The Dwarf: What kind of comedies do you reckon you’d fund?
NO:Oh sketch comedies, stuff that we thought was fresh.
The Dwarf: Now the band is spread out all over the states. Does this represent a difficult challenge to the traditional way musicians jam and create music?
NO:Yeah kind of you know. We send stuff back and forth over the internet and such. We get together and jam and then take all the pieces home with us and work on it but I guess so kind of.
The Dwarf: So what are the band politics when it comes to the collaborative songwriting process in that matter?
NO:The current political situation is that you pick your battles and you can’t have everything. All these people throwing in on every single song. So you recognise songs that are more yours and then you kind of fight for those parts and other people fight for more things.
The Dwarf: What kind of music do you think you’d be producing if you were all living in an Amish village in Ohio?
NO:I think we’d do something kind of rootsy African. We’re definitely interested in the rhythm basis. I think we could do that no problems. I think if we had to switch to bongos and acoustic guitars, I think it might be good for us. Maybe that’s what we’ll do next.
The Dwarf: Going back to something we touched briefly before I hit record, The Beatles and the Beach Boys were friendly rivals. Who do you consider to be your rival?
(laughter)
The Dwarf: Aside from journalists who don’t listen to your record before interviewing you.
NO:I really don’t want to name names. I’m more open to things and I like to draw inspiration from other bands. The other guys get very offended when any of our contemporaries get any level of success at all. Everyone is very driven by their own egos. I consider anyone to be our rivals that people ask us about in interviews.
The Dwarf: So who do you draw inspiration from personally?
NO:Everyone. I have personally been very excited about the neo-folk freak-folk groups. Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom and more collective groups like that. Those are the ones that are exciting to me.
The Dwarf: Because they’re doing something very different with a traditional form of music?
NO:But I feel like they’ve all done it with a vision that is they’re own and that’s what I liked about it. Because when everyone started talking about a folk movement I said, “BORING” – that’s what my Dad listens to. But I felt they all had a really fresh voice in it and that’s all that I ask for in a form of music.
The Dwarf: You guys are touring hard to promote Myth Takes. It would seem that you’re invading 20 countries in just over two months. How do you stay healthy on the road?
NO:We play a show. I guess you wouldn’t know because you haven’t seen us but we’re really active. I’m healthier when I’m on the road than when I’m at home.
The Dwarf: What about diet?
NO:I’m also healthier on the road than when I’m at home. At least I have someone feeding me every night. I cook for myself and I’m dreadful at it. So, I’m much healthier on the road.
The Dwarf: Maybe you could write a book about it and start a new diet craze. You could make millions.
NO: Yeah? Start your own band with eight people and travel around the world for 10 years.
The Dwarf: The tour in 2006 supporting the Red Hot Chilli Peppers must have been a career highlight. Were there any special memories that you care to share?
NO:Actually the catering was amazing. And the funny thing was that we told them that the catering was amazing and they said, “Oh, we don’t even eat that”.
The Dwarf: But there are kids starving in the third world! Walk me through it. What would be on your typical rider in that day?
NO: You know I don’t really know what their stuff is. They have a full crew of cooks and stuff who are preparing lunch and dinner every day. You have a few different choices. It’s like a gourmet restaurant for lunch and dinner every day. Different meals – never the same thing. All kinds of fancy fruits and different desserts and pies and stuff.
The Dwarf: I’m sure it wasn’t the catering, but what got you into music?
NO:It’s really funny you ask because I was thinking about it today and I just can’t remember. As far back as I can remember I loved it. I liked it more than anything else. It’s just been what I followed since I was a little kid.
The Dwarf: What were the first bands that spoke to you?
NO:This is a good question because the first tape that I had – I didn’t purchase it. It was a dub. My friend Billy Tyler gave to me was the Bee Gees greatest hits.
The Dwarf: Bee Gees are good. They get a lot of flak but they’re awesome.
NO:They’re really amazing. They are not your average songwriters. They really write a complex song.
The Dwarf: Aside from the first bands you really got into, what would we typically find on your iPod or in your CD collection now?
NO:I still like to listen to a lot of different stuff. I like African guitar music and I just got into the Incredible String Band. The Beatles. A lot of old disco and house.
The Dwarf: So what’s you favourite Beatles album?
NO:Abbey Road.
The Dwarf: Why so?
NO:The second side. It’s so relentless. They have that one long almost medley type thing and it has little short bits. You can tell they’re so good at writing a song they don’t have time to bother repeating a part twice. The parts change so quickly and the parts keep getting better and better. It’s totally amazing and I think it’s the best second side of any record ever.The Dwarf: That’s a big call but a fair one.
NO:It’s got the big epic ending but then it comes back in with that one little 30 second song of Paul’s – just singing and it’s so good as well. It’s kind of like a toss off joke. I think it’s so good that they deliver the big statement, “the love you take is equal to the love you make” or whatever and then drop in this little song, “Her majesty’s a pretty nice girl but she doesn’t have a lot to say”. It’s brilliant.
The Dwarf: It’s always a bit smart arse. Its like, “We’re so brilliant that we can do this in our lunch break”.
NO:Yeah I liked that about them. You know they worked really hard.
The Dwarf: Absolutely. You don’t get that good by accident.
NO:Definitely. I read this book which was like the studio notes from each song and they would do like 130 takes on a song. We can’t do that.
The Dwarf: I don’t think most people would have the patience for that nor the financial resources either.
NO:Definitely not. We’d suck the life out of our songs if we did them that many times.
The Dwarf: One last question before I go. Your label Warp Records seem to be very behind you as your latest singe, ‘Heart of Hearts’ is playing on their website’s homepage. Is you relationship a comfortable one or does it take a real effort to keep the loooooove happening?
NO:I think it’s a comfortable one. We’ll see tomorrow because they’re trying to talk me into this car commercial. In general we respect we’re they’re coming from and what they’re trying to do. And they really understand us and there are a few things that we give them a bit of grief on but they’re really supportive.
The Dwarf: That’s good to hear. I’ve done all my questions and I better let you go so do I deserve my serenade?.
NO:I tell you what. I’m going to serenade you because I appreciate your honesty. So you win. But I’m not promising it’s going to sound very good or anything.
The Dwarf: How can it not?
NO:Really. I’ve been talking all day. My voice is a little worn out but our next single is ‘Must be the Moon’ and it goes like this………….(insert serenading til fade)
Well Nick did serenade The Dwarf and it was unique to say the least. Whilst we can’t give you a sound bite sample of this special acapella version of !!!, the only thing we can say is that let’s hope that unplugged Amish village concept album remains on the back burner for a while
Myth Takes is now available through Inertia
