BeatRoute Magazine B.C. print e-edition - April 2016

THE ARCS
finding chemistry within the studio
by Jennie Orton
photo: Alysse Gafkjen
Dan Auerbach is moving forward with his new band The Arcs.
always said they put notes on
paper, but that’s not music. What do
“I’ve
you do with the notes? What do you
do with the charts? What do you do with
the chords? It’s what you put into it.” That
was legendary guitar player and session
musician Tommy Tedesco describing the
art of studio session playing.
Singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach
knows that to be true. The collaborative
and improvisational precision that has
created the nearly five albums of material
with his new project The Arcs in the last
year is the result of that studio musician
skill and humble creative camaraderie
that has built so much of the hit music of
the last five decades.
“If you’ve got a good heart and an
open mind, I think it goes really far in
the studio. Because the best music in
man’s history is all done by collaboration.
Always,” says Auerbach. “Interpretation
by different musicians and combinations
is what makes music so special.”
The musicians that make up The
Arcs are a roster of studio greats with
rap sheets a mile long and skill to spare.
Auerbach sits on vocals and guitar and is
joined by Truth and Soul Records founder
Leon Michels, Black Keys touring bassist
Richard Swift, Menahan Street Band
drummer Homer Steinweiss, frequent
Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson
collaborator Nick Movshon, and guitarist
Kenny Vaughan.
“It’s really fun. I’ve never played with a
group of guys like this,” he says. “I mean I am
a decent musician but these guys are pretty
amazing. Phenoms all of them, really.”
The result is an affectionate freeform
jam session of a catalogue that marries very
diverse and well cultivated influences with
impeccably practiced style to create an
effortless psychedelic soul funk rock hybrid
with swagger, teeth, and history to spare.
“We get together, we start fiddling with
our instruments and ten minutes later
we have that recorded,” recalls Auerbach.
“That’s kind of how it works, and it sounds
a little crazy but we’re all in a point in our
lives where we are clicking on all cylinders.”
The rare breed that is the studio
session musician has been a common and
indelible thread in music since recordings
were first pressed. The skill levels required
to sight read and play music within
hours of getting eyes on it, playing other
people’s visions for the love of playing,
and the sake of making a paycheque,
allows for a unique acquisition of a skill
sets most musicians couldn’t fathom. This
explains not only The Arcs’ large amount
of output in the last 12 months but also
the resume of influences on their first
album Yours, Dreamily.
You can hear the time spent by Nick
Movshon and Homer Steinweiss with
The Dap Kings on “Put a Flower in your
Pocket,” and Amy Winehouse’s ghost is all
over “Pistol Made of Bones.” The presence
of every bit of modern soul and rock is
in “Stay in My Corner” ( which is also the
only song all musicians were available to
record together at once). These guys have
brought their resume to this gig and have
created a fun feast of what they do best,
but for themselves for once.
“I finally got to make an album with
these guys that was ours. In some form, this
group has made dozens of records together
over the years but they were never our
records,” muses Auerbach.
“We would make Lana Del Ray records,
or Dr. John records, or whoever we had in
the studio. So it was just that idea of having
ownership of something. It seemed to
bring the best out.”
Tedesco was famous for saying, “there
are four reasons to take a gig: for the money,
for the connections, for the experience,
or for the fun.” It would appear The Arcs
exist for at least three of those.
“We’re just all gonna keep making music
together until it’s not fun,” says Auerbach.
“I only do it because I love it, I would never
do it for any other reason. I feel very lucky.”
The Arcs performs at the Commodore Ballroom
on April 11
WILD NOTHING
solo project becomes a full band effort
For the most part, Wild Nothing has been a
one-man show, with guests brought in to
make touring possible, but Jack Tatum is
becoming more willing to allow other musicians
to participate in the creation of his sonic vision.
Beatroute got a chance to speak with Tatum at
his home in Los Angeles, and he talked a bit about
the beginnings of Wild Nothing.
“The first record I did, Gemini, was made just by
me, writing and recording all of the parts and putting
it all together myself.” This was in 2009, when
Tatum was still a student at Virginia Tech University
in the small city of Blacksburg. “I’d written
tons of songs before that, but that was the first
time I’d tried to challenge myself to make a [full]
record.” His insular approach to songwriting has
persisted: “Part of that has to do with [the need
for] me having a monopoly on my own ideas, and
not being able to easily compromise. I’m definitely
kind of controlling when I hear something in my
head, and I need it to be a certain way, otherwise
I feel frustrated.” But, he says, he’s become more
open to including other people in the process of
recording, as evidenced by the participation of
drummer John Ericsson (of Peter, Bjorn, and John),
guitarist Brad Laner (of Medicine), and others on
his most recent record.
“It’s these small little battles, allowing people to
come in and do stuff on top of what you’ve written,
and seeing how that plays out. I want to keep doing
more of that sort of thing…it would be difficult
to make the kind of records I make now without
getting other opinions, and other players involved.”
Wild Nothing’s third album, Life of Pause, was
released in February, almost a full four years after
the previous album’s release in 2012. “Life just kind
of catches up with you,” Tatum says. “I was working
on this record, but not constantly…before I
knew it three or four years had gone by.” It will be
clear to fans of Wild Nothing’s previous releases
that Life of Pause represents a different direction
for the band, substituting the atmospheric,
dreamy pop sensibilities of 2012’s Nocturne with
more brusque indie rock ambience.
On the subject of taking musical risks, Tatum
cites David Byrne as an inspiration: “It’s hugely
inspiring, because he’s constantly got some new
project he’s working on it seems…he’s not a onetrack
mind guy.” Although he is clearly motivated
by a desire to explore new musical avenues, Tatum
can relate to the expectations of consistency
from fans: “You get used to something, and you
can have really deep emotional relationships with
the music that you love, and you can feel a real
betrayal when someone shifts from what you’ve
come to know them for…but, it’s different as a
musician, like, I’m usually rooting for people when
they try and do something different, even if it
doesn’t pan out. I think it’s better to try.”
Not only is Life of Pause a foray into a different
sound, it also takes a unique approach to the idea
of an album as an artifact. The cover art for the
record is a photograph of Tatum sitting in a chic
1970s-style living room, built specifically for the
purpose of being used for this album. Accompanying
the release of the album, Wild Nothing also
released a music video that encompasses two
songs and features the same room as the backdrop
in a kind of cinematic album art. “Every record
that I’ve done is an attempt to make a small
little world within itself,” Tatum says. “I’ve always
enjoyed the idea that a record can be something
Wild Nothing’s Jack Tatum is learning to let people into his musical world.
by Galen Robinson-Exo
that you step in and out of, that has an identity of
its own, and it was no different with this record.
We just took it a little further and made it a bit
more literal by envisioning this physical space for
the record to live in. It was important to me that
people feel like there was a sort of physicality to
the record.” What worlds will continue to emerge
from Wild Nothing’s ever-changing trajectory? We
look forward to finding out.
Wild Nothing performs at the Biltmore Cabaret on
April 26
10 APRIL 2016 •
Music