Dotmusic.com Article/Interview With Brent And Peter

Dotmusic.com
by Michele Legge
November 15, 2001

In between promotional manoeuvres in support of their rejuvenated single 'Bohemian Like You' we caught up with Dandy Warhols guitarist Peter Holstrom and drummer Brent De Booer.

Languishing in their London hotel, Brent and Peter told us about their plans for the next album, the influence that working with Massive Attack has had on their plans for a home studio, oh, and their growing passion for British pop music.

Hoping for a summer 2002 release, the Dandy Warhols claim that their forthcoming album, which they aim to finish recording in January, will be a more stripped-down affair than previous outings.

"We've set ourselves a deadline: at the end of January we'll stop and take a look at what we've done and if we need to get a producer in or if we need to start mixing, we'll do it then," Peter says. "And hopefully at the end of spring or summer, that's when the record will come out. That's the plan, nothing ever goes according to the plan, but we'll see."

Brent adds, "It is still, like, years since we recorded the last record, 'cause it took a good three years after we did the record to get it out. All the new material is there, it's just a matter of figuring out which instruments play which parts."

The band will be recording the new album in their own studio in Portland, Oregon, which they finished building this year. Visits to Massive Attack's home studio helped them to gel ideas for how the studio should function.

"We have recorded with them and done a remix, we still have some unfinished ideas, but it was a great learning experience. We were in the process of building our studio, and looking for ideas, and just seeing the way their studio works and the way they operate is going to be really really good for us for our own studio. They were really organised," says Peter.

At least one track featuring Massive Attack is expected to appear on the new album.

"It sounds pretty much exactly like what you'd expect us to be mixed with Massive Attack, it's got that dark quality to it. It also has a really really good lyric, one of the best lyrics Courtney has written, just the kind of thing where you go, wow, where did that come from?"

Brent adds, "At the moment it's going to be us [producing the record], but if we need someone we have a list of dream producers, like Blood and Brian Eno. We might try to simplify the number of instruments to a drastic level. It will probably turn out like a wall of sound, but the goal is to be minimalist.

"It's been quite interesting to hear a lot of pop music over here, I've been listening to Capital FM, which plays some of the most hideous songs, but sometimes the best song comes on, like that Kylie Minogue single, that sounds great," Peter enthuses. "I like these little things, those tiny sounds within the track; there's a ridiculous amount of space in the tunes over here.

"Any time you do anything, it's going to somehow influence you. And brushing my teeth in the hotel room with Capital FM on, it will influence me. I certainly wouldn't listen to that kind of music at home."

Brent adds, "I am just really fascinated by the fact that we get played on the radio between Jennifer Lopez and Michael Jackson, that's not normal, that's something we never planned on. I don't think anyone else in the Top 10 can tolerate smoky rooms."

"We live in smoky rooms for months on end, quite obviously, eh."

One more single will be released from The Dandy Warhols current album, 'Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia', before the appearance of the new album. Slated for release in early 2002, the title is yet to be confirmed.