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May 01, 2008
A Brief Moment in New Viking Time...
As Times New Viking's Rip It Off sits very high on the list of things I've enjoyed this year, I was chuffed to be given the chance to investigate the roots of their noise-battered pop songs directly. That was my inappropriately lofty plan, anyway. Of the ten or so stout questions I sent into the darkness with the goal of taming TNV's peculiar appeal, only these six staggered back, bloody-nosed; the rest were never seen nor heard from again. From the omissions, I think it's safe to say that the band is sick of discussing what us plebes may perceive as "noisy" or "off-putting." But, I suppose if this terse Q & A isn't a marvel of investigative journalism, the silver lining is that, as a fan, the band emerges from my close encounter with mystique still firmly intact.
Though the responses were returned in an unmarked brown paper wrapper with no discernible differentiation between respondents, forensic analysts have theorized that the the first few snappy retorts came from drummer Adam Elliott and the latter half from the slightly more zen keyboardist Beth Murphy. Due to the ambiguity, it's all just labeled TNV...
--
Jeff Klingman: I appreciate the high doses of smart ass wordplay in your song titles and even your band name. Do you think underground rock has lost a bit of its wit somewhere along the line?
Times New Viking: Who fucking pays attention to lyrics anymore? Not enough people and definitely not enough blogs. There is more to talk about nowadays then girls and sniffin' glue. I miss fanzines, they kept a watchful eye on all that stuff.
JK: Do you think it's a natural progression for initially noisy bands to mellow out with age? Is it admirable or even possible to soldier on with youthful defiance for a decade or more?
TNV: We aren't old yet, hopefully we fade out just right.
Times New Viking - "Love Your Daughters"
Times New Viking - "(My Head)"
JK: In the lyrics to "Love Your Daughters" getting high only made you nervous, but by "(My Head)" you're desperate for drug money. Have you moved on to a better class of substance, or is this strictly an accrued tolerance issue?
TNV: Just because getting high makes me nervous doesn't mean I don't like it. Some people get off on being nervous.
JK: Sophie's Choice - Ohio rock history edition: Devo or Pere Ubu?
TNV: Shit that is hard! I will judge on who was most punk rock. I liked how Devo were just normal looking dudes off stage and they didn't try to look or sound "punk", that is really punk right there. But Dave Thomas hung out with Lester Bangs so i guess they [Ubu] win.
JK: You're playing the Whitney Museum's Wordless Music series later this summer. Do you have expectations as to what a "complementary classical program" to your music might sound like?
TNV: Hopefully it is akin to Cage's silent piece, get the audience all bored and restless so we sound way more awesome.
JK: What are your feelings on the internet's relation to music in general? Did it mean more when lo-fi 7" records were passed from one intensely interested fan to another? Does the ability to reach so many more people online entirely trump that sort of quaint and intimate relationship?
TNV: We are strong proponents of dissemination yet we still have a quaint audience, internet or no internet, that is just the nature of our band. The only thing I have against the internet's relation to music is the sound quality of the songs. Our stuff is wet with treble already!
--
A treble-slick rendition of the swoon-inducing "Drop-Out" below...
Times New Viking - "Drop-Out"
(live @ Sound Exchange Records, Houston, TX, 03.16.2008 via)
Previously Filed Under Interview:
- Where Nick Thorburn's Head is At
- I Talked With Bradford Cox About the "Eternal Drone"
- I Talked to Liars About Britpop
- Romy Hoffman, MC, Macromantics
- Sounds from a Distant Past-an interview with Mike "Rep" Hummel from Mike Rep and the Quotas
Posted by Jeff Klingman at May 1, 2008 02:00 PM
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