PELICAN (Eng.)
– Hi, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with PELICAN?
DT: Great! It has been a busy year for us. We just got through playing a string of record release shows in the US including CMJ in NY and Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. Before that played Maryland Death Fest, Recorded a record, toured Europe including some shows in Russia…
– You have just released your first album in 4 years, entitled «Forever Becoming». How is everything working with its release?
DT: Everyone has been really excited about it, the reviews and response to it have been really really positive. Which was has been a relief being the new guy and all…
– Digging into this new CD; what’s the main concept behind it?
DT: The transition of Life, Death, Rebirth and carrying on would be a strong inspiration for sure, but without lyrics it leaves room for one to make his or her own interpretation as well.
– And what did you want to depict on its cover?
DT: We got Steven O’Malley of SUNN fame to do the layout using to photos from Andrew Weiss. We kind of let O’Malley have at it and when he sent back to us he came up with we all loved it.
TD: We’ve been friends with Andrew for a long time and have used photos of his for album layouts in the past. We specifically chose some photos of his that were from a series he did of decaying abandoned houses. The juxtaposition between the beauty of the photos and the decomposition they depicted seemed to play well into the theme of the album. Death and decay is constantly happening all around us, but there’s a beauty to it when you view it as part of a natural ongoing process.
– After giving this opus some spins I could say this is one of you darkest and angriest albums to date. Is every album you release a mirror of a certain moment in your life?
DT: I cant say for sure for every album, but for this one. Loved ones passing away, Laurent leaving the band, and Trevor becoming a father are big influences for this album for sure.
TD: I think it’s impossible to block out personal experiences as a direct influence on music. The songs are a reflection of the people who create them and we are all shaped by our experiences.
– This is your first record without Laurent Schroeder-Lebec, who left the band to spend more time with this family. How has this affected the final outcome on the new effort?
DT: Laurent was a huge contributor to the songwriting process. Him leaving the band forced Bryan and Trevor to collaborate more with the song writing. For the most part they laid down the blueprint for the album and bounced the ideas and files to Larry in LA, until the bulk of the material started to take shape then they brought me in on the tail end to help flesh some things out and it turned out really well I think. Even though it has been really challenging to keep it Pelican going without Laurent, and it will never be the same, the response that Pelican is still playing shows and recording songs has been overwhelming, which is what has kept the band going. Also Laurent is still around the campfire and it is possible that he will still contribute with Pelican in the future.
– It’s also quite straight-forward and less experimental one, where each songs compliments the other. Was this a chosen path you wanted to take or do you just let things flow naturally?
DT: It just naturally came together. Some of the songs wrote themselves in a way. The Tundra, The Cliff and Vestiges all came together right before the studio which I feel gave them an open and fresh feeling to the record, where the rest of the album was super fleshed out and rehearsed before hand. I think this gave a nice dynamic ebb and flow to the sequence of songs on the record.
TD: The sequence of the songs was really important, it’s intended to start somewhere dark and get increasingly darker until there’s a shift toward the lighter mood the closes out the album. It’s intended to give the album the sense of a narrative or experiential flow, which probably makes it a little easier to take in.
– Anyway you still have a quite complex and really diverse sound so, do you keep broading to new influences, getting new ones with the years, or are they the same as always?
DT: We all listen to so much different kinds of music. For me it is always changing. Especially in the digital where it is hard to keep up…So there is no excuse to be unable find good new music. I can always return to Thin Lizzy, The Jesus Lizard or High on Fire if I need some inspiration. But luckily all I have to do is go out to shows here in Chicago and see local bands such as Electric Hawk, Anatomy of Habit, Lord Mantis, Indian, Bloodiest, Bongripper, War Brides, Oxblood and countless others if I need a kick in the crotch to get busy…
TD: I’m an obsessive music consumer and try to keep up on new music as it comes out. It’s been a dizzying last few weeks as I’ve tried to catch up on all the 2013 albums I haven’t heard yet. It’s been a big year dense with awesome albums. I’m sure the influence of all this constant music consumption is buried somewhere in my subconscious, so it’s hard to hone in on what specifically is influencing me.
– All this about «Forever Becoming»; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
DT: Tight, Focused, Transitional.
TD: for me I’d say Introspective, Assured, Expressive
– And finally; what are your near-future plans?
DT: For 2014, Play as many shows as our busy schedules and global economy will allow. We aiming for the US west coast and Australia first, and then how knows….hopefully getting in to writing mode and record some more songs.
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
DT: Hey thanks so much! Let us know if you need anything else! Hope to see you on the road!
