TAS in Session: Blitzen Trapper

Well, no one has ever said that Blitzen Trapper's singer and songwriter Eric Earley is a loquacious guy; in fact, he ranks as one of the most laconic musicians we've ever interviewed in Studio A. However, all that Earley and his bandmates really need to say is found in the Portland, Oregon band's eloquent fifth album, Destroyer Of The Void, which dropped on Sub Pop in June.

The band played the Newport Folk Festival and Montréal's Osheaga Music Festival this past weekend and over the next handful of days they'll weave their way through Toronto, Detroit and Indianapolis, landing at Lollapalooza by the weekend. In November, Blitzen Trapper will support a reunited Guided By Voices for a few gigs, including their stop at New York's Terminal 5 on November 7.

Before they set off on their long summer trek, all six members of Blitzen Trapper - Earley, keyboardist Drew Laughery, bassist Michael Van Pelt, guitarist Eric Menteer, drummer Brian Koch and guitarist Marty Marquis - visited The Alternate Side's Studio A and not only performed tracks from that excellent new release, like the strikingly beautiful "Sadie," but Earley also played a new, not-yet-recorded song, "Taking It Easy Too Long."

The Alternate Side's persuasive Alisa Ali even coaxed Earley to say a few sentences in a row:

Alisa Ali Can you tell me a little about "Blow The Hurricane?"

Eric Earley: This is definitely an older song that I brought back for the record. So it had more resonance for me when I was younger. So it’s about my youth ... maybe.

Alisa: You guys have been on Sub Pop for a while but before that, you were self-releasing your music for a while. Has this relationship with Sub Pop made life easier?

Marty Marquis: They serve us caviar whenever we’re in Seattle.

Eric: It makes things easier in some ways and it introduces complexities that weren’t there before when we were running our own show. There’s more negotiation involved, there’s more consensus building because you’ve got a bigger team. We’ve all been together long enough that we’re on the same page to start with. You just have to communicate more. But it’s definitely good for exposure.

Brian Koch: And we’ve all stopped doing laundry.

Alisa: The band’s been together since 2000. What’s changed and what’s stayed the same in your dynamic?

Eric: I think the main difference is signing to Sub Pop and starting to tour a bunch. Touring will always change you.

Alisa: Does it turn you into a harder person?

Eric No, I think it does the opposite. You meet so many people and you have to make so many compromises with the people around you so you start to not worry too much about stuff.

Alisa: More carefree now?

Eric: Yeah, maybe.

Marty: We probably have more grey hair now too.

Alisa: [You've got] two Erics in the band, how do you deal with that?

Eric: There are various nicknames that go around. I don’t have one. I’m the older of the two.

Marty: We call him Dark Eric.

Eric: Yeah, there’s Dark Eric and Light Eric. I’m the Dark Eric.

Marty: Sometimes we call Eric “Timmy.”

Eric: Only girls call me that generally.

Marty: Blond Eric goes by “Tito” or other variations. But we like to name him after the Yugoslavian dictator.

Alisa: I understand that you recorded this album during two winters, two separate sessions.

Eric: Yes. I was just touring so much that I didn’t feel like I made a real consistent record. It just didn’t feel like a record. So I went back in and kept recording stuff and then got enough songs so we could make a record out of it.

Alisa: So at the end of your recording, how many songs did you end up with?

Eric: Maybe 25 or something.

Alisa: What makes the cut and what doesn’t?

Eric: Everybody sort of picking out their favorite ones. There’s a lot of back and forth.

Alisa: A lot of the songs that you brought in for the sessions were songs that you’d been working on for several years.

Eric: A couple of them. They were just songs I’d liked and never really finished so I just came in and recorded them, to see if they worked out. And I was happy with a couple of them.

Alisa: Now Destroyer Of The Void just came out, but since you’re writing songs all of the time, won’t they be old by the time you go back into the studio?

Eric: We’ve already recorded most of them. I write one and then go into the studio and start recording it.

Alisa: Do you ever tire of the song later?

Eric: Sometimes. I know what I like and what I think is solid.

Alisa: Can you do a new song that you haven’t recorded yet?

Eric: I could. You really want me to?

Alisa: Yes!

Brian: Go ahead, do it Eric.

Eric: Should I do “Taking It Easy Too Long?”

Marty: Yeah, that’s nice. Okay, this is a world premiere. Well, that’s not true. There’s a country band in Portland called Denver that plays this song. (Ed.) In early July, after this interview, Blitzen Trapper began performing "Taking It Easy Too Long" in concert.

Alisa: Can you tell me one thing about each of the band members, their habits, things you’ve noticed? Does someone have a nervous twitch or stand like a little teapot everytime he’s about to explain something?

Marty: It’s kind of private. Well, Drew does stand like a little teapot all of the time, but I think you have to hang out with us for ten years to get access to that kind of information.

Alisa: Eric, what’s the first thing you think about when you look at Drew [Laughery] or Michael [Van Pelt}?

Eric: When I look at Michael? Well, we grew up on the same street so that goes back really far. I picture him carrying his old amplifier on a skateboard, pushing it over to my house, when we were sixteen.

Alisa: Brian, tell me something about Marty.

Brian: Something deeply personal and revealing?

Marty: Go ahead, do it.

Brian: Honest to God, I can’t think of anything.

Marty: Brian’s beard was once wizardly.

Alisa: And now?

Brian: A shadow.

Eric: Avuncular.

Marty: Yep, it’s avuncular now. We don’t know if that’s good or bad for our brand (laughs).