“It was like a long, 9-month musical pregnancy!”
Volcano Choir’s Repave is the sound of a band discovering itself. The Wisconsin-based group, an amalgam of Collections of Colonies of Bees, Bon Iver, and All Tiny Creatures, could be considered somewhat of a “supergroup,” but you won’t hear the band call themselves that.
With strong personalities can come strong conflict but, despite featuring already well-established musicians, ego is no part of Volcano Choir. In fact, this was by design. Tracing the group back to their debut record, 2009’s Unmap, their work ethic stemmed from a desire for equal contribution from every member. Unmap was created thanks to file-hosting sites, where the group would post skeletal loops, leaving members to layer and layer different bits until songs were deemed complete. The process made Volcano Choir’s debut an interesting but fragmented listen. With gorgeous tracks like “Island, IS” and “And Gather,” it was evident that the group had massive potential; but with the exception of a few one-off gigs in the Midwest and Japan, Volcano Choir remained pretty quiet after Unmap‘s release due to scheduling conflicts (Bon Iver ramping up, day jobs as biologists and publishers, etc.)
Fast-forward to 2013 and Volcano Choir are back with Repave, a strong contender for year-end lists. Unlike Unmap, Repave was recorded in a fairly cohesive, conventional fashion at singer Justin Vernon’s April Base Studios with all members in the same room. As a result, the album finds Volcano Choir sounding like a band. A damn good band. Songs like “Tiderays” and “Dancepack” feature the beautiful instrumental serenity found on Unmap but with more direction and accessibility. But, unlike their debut, Repave boasts colossal anthems like “Byegone” and “Comrade,” nullifying any criticism that the group is some sort of meandering side project. With an east coast tour and unbelievably awesome performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon under their belt, Volcano Choir is gearing up for additional shows in the Midwest and West Coast.
Volcano Choir guitarist Chris Rosenau and keyboardist Tom Wincek, speaking by phone from Middleton and Milwaukee, respectively, were nice enough to chat with me last week about Repave‘s genesis in advance of their appearance at the Orpheum this Friday.
You recently finished a short East Coast tour, the band’s first dates since early 2011. How did things go? In what ways do you feel you’ve improved as a live band since 2011?
CHRIS ROSENAU: “Things went unbelievably perfect and great. The sound exceeded expectations, and both the joy that we had playing and the joy from the audience was out of control.”
TOM WINCEK: “I think we’ve improved from a technical standpoint. We have our rig figured out much more than in the past. In rehearsal, we had to essentially learn to play the songs live without being able to play every overdub on the record. Personally, my current set-up is pretty unique and I’m running a lot of weird technology to make things happen. We really had to step it up! Two of the other guys [Rosenau (guitar) and Dan Spack (baritone guitar)] are playing guitars running through the computer along with Justin’s voice. And I’m playing my keyboard lines while managing those other things, so it’s fun!”
ROSENAU: “When we had to play the Unmap songs live, there was no roadmap. There was a studio record and we tried the best we could but going forward, with this record I think we’ve really nailed it.”
WINCEK: “Yeah.”
ROSENAU: “We’re trying to figure out how to replicate the record without using any backing tracks, just using personnel and talent. We knew what the songs could feel like and what we could accomplish, and we’ve spent a long time, really since February, letting the songs gestate and breathe. It was like a long, 9-month musical pregnancy.” (laughs)
There seems to be a huge sense on camaraderie in Volcano Choir. Would it be fair to say that your conflicting schedules and locations play a role in appreciating each other more?
ROSENAU: “It’s kind of an elusive thing but I think you nailed it. A lot of us kind of see each other; for example, I live about five blocks away from Dan. But in a lot of ways we are very separated. And even when the Madison and Milwaukee crew get together, it feels special.”
Repave has only been out for a couple weeks and you guys have already toured and done more press than you did for the Island, IS. You even have a band Instagram and Twitter! Does it feel more rewarding or more annoying to be talking to people like me constantly?
WINCEK: “I am grateful that anyone is paying attention to anything.” (laughs) “I’ll gladly sit on the phone and talk about my life. It’s not why we do music, but for me in ATC [All Tiny Creatures] and for Chris in Collections of Colonies of Bees, we want people to hear that music. With Volcano Choir it’s especially crazy when this many people are paying attention to something we put so much effort into.”
ROSENAU: “We’re just happy to have a warm reception to something that we’re really proud of. It’s very humbling. None of us think of it as annoying whatsoever. If there’s a resonance within the crowd, it fuels us.”
Like a bit of a back and forth between crowd and band?
ROSENAU: “Yeah! It’s pretty much like a huge, awesome feedback loop.”
Can I name each person in the group and you can each spit out words that best describe their contributions to the group?
BOTH: “Sure!”
Jon Mueller [drums]?
ROSENAU: “Bombast, lateness, direction, captain.” (laughs)
Chris Rosenau [guitar]?
WINCEK: “Real captain.” (laughs) “Core.”
Matthew Skemp [keyboards/bass]?
WINCEK: “Robot brain.”
ROSENAU: “Total direction. He knows where to go.”
Daniel Spack [baritone guitar]?
WINCEK: “Cool guitar lines. He’s my foil.”
ROSENAU: “He’s a total… I don’t know… comes through in a pinch!”
Justin Vernon [vocals]?
ROSENAU: “Grounded inspiration. That’s it.”
WINCEK: “Yep.”
Thomas Wincek [keyboards/computer processing]?
ROSENAU: “My brother.”
It’s hard to verbalize the images that Repave evokes, but personally it feels Wisconsin-y to me. I suppose I don’t really know what that means but I think bucolic, winter landscape and being at peace with one’s situation. Can you comment on how living in Wisconsin has shaped your music, sonically and thematically if at all?
ROSENAU: “We’ve been asked this one before and I’ve always given a similar answer. The kind of way that people approach music specifically but also each other, in general, in the Midwest fosters a sense of freedom and I guess not freedom but approachability. The way we grew up, we’d walk up after seeing a band and say, ‘hey, we should work together!’ There’s no cliquishness or hierarchy and it fosters a really comfortable, free place for musicians to do whatever they want and, when you have that kind of environment, it has to come through in the aesthetic.”
Let’s chat a bit about Madison. Tom, you’re based in the Madison area and, Chris, you’re a UW-Madison alum. What are some of your favorite things about the town and what can we expect when you play the Orpheum on Friday?
WINCEK: “I live in Middleton, which I like. It’s its own small town and it’s nice to go into Madison which isn’t too big either. Middleton’s got everything I need without all the things I don’t need.” (laughs) “I was in New York City the other week and you think for a second that it might be cool to live there, but then when you think about it there’s a lot to put up with in such a big city.”
ROSENAU: “Madison was the place that taught me how to not take myself too seriously musically. Everything I learned about what music should be I learned in Madison. It’s something between friends and, ultimately, no matter what you’ve done you’ll always have [your music] for yourself. I’m hopefully gonna repay that at the Orpheum with this show. You can expect a bunch of guys who never expected to be playing in the Orpheum looking proud to play the Orpheum.” (laughs)