Velcro: Are you excited about your first European tour? Excited about touring with Justin Broadrick`s Jesu?
Trevor: I feel good about going to Europe. We may never come back if we are invited to defect. The emails we�ve received from over there lead me to believe that people take bands and live music very fucking seriously � I don�t know, like less flippantly than people treat it here. We�ve already been flattered to death by the fact that we are privileged enough to witness Jesu�s live premier. It�s going to be bizarre � I�ve grown up completely idolizing Justin Broadrick�s guitar playing and song writing, and now his band is going to open for us! I feel like it�ll most likely be like the time we headlined over the Japanese instrumental band Mono� they were so good I simply felt embarrassed playing after them. It was an honor AND a travesty� I anticipate our stint with Jesu to be the same. I haven�t heard Jesu yet, but I�m led to believe that they sound like Selfless-era Godflesh, but much longer songs and live drumming.
Larry: Sooo excited to see Jesu and meet Broadrick. I`ve followed most of his projects: Final, Techno Animal, God, Curse of the Golden Vampire, and, of course, Godflesh. He is so creative and always dipping into new genres and creating something totally unique. As far as Europe goes, well I`ve never left the country so I can`t wait. I think it�s all going to be amazing. The band`s covering a good amount of ground, but Bryan and I are staying for another two weeks to travel and backpack around Europe with our girlfriends.
Velcro: Can you give me a hint of what the next record will be like?
Trevor: It will be four, maybe five songs. There will be a season theme to the art/song titles, but it will have little or no similarity to Vivaldi.
Laurent: It sounds like Starcastle, Eloy, and Helmet mixed in a brown paper bag.
Larry: There`s a lot more dynamics. I think the new songs have more drive to them compared to the last batch on Australasia. The older ones were slower and plodding. The new songs are a little quicker and have more life to them. I personally am a lot happier with how these songs have turned out thus far.
Velcro: Has the band changed its writing process at all since the last record was written? And have the other two bands you are in had any influence on Pelican?
Trevor: Two other bands? At a minimum there are four other bands, maybe more (Tusk, Lair of the Minotaur, Bionic Rat, Chord, and more). None of them have had any effect. None whatsoever. Procedurally, the song writing process is essentially unchanged. I think the longer we play together, the more each individual feels motivated to inject their own personality into the music. So, the songs are starting in the same place, but ending up a lot more diverse by the time the arrangements are finished.
Velcro: You guys are all well rounded musically and like all kinds of different bands; here`s the place where you can show us a glimpse of your record collection, dork out over a band you love, or talk about a trend you`d like to see some of the people that like your records get into.
Larry: The new Neurosis record is fantastic. They just keep getting better at their art. Took me a few listens but it grew on me so fast. Floor`s Dove LP is also great. Also, we played two weeks ago with this band Jakob from New Zealand. They were amazing; both of their records rule. Other new stuff that`s great: Battles, Black Dice, Akimbo, Boris.
Laurent: I wish more people got into prog rock. I`d like to see more bands like the Mars Volta, and less bands like the Strokes. These days I rock a lot of Styx; I can`t believe how awesome the combination of really metallic guitars and CSNY-styled vocals sounds. I wish there were more bands where everyone could sing!
Trevor: I wish this question were framed more negatively. I can�t think of a whole lot of trends I want people to be into, but I can think of a lot of shit I wish people WEREN�T into. �80�s revivalism would be top of my list. It was the worst decade in recent history. Everything went down the toilet � music, fashion, recording aesthetics, television. The only decade that�s worse is the �00�s, where the culture is so dead people are now bent on reliving the dire �80�s. If our future is our past we may as well pack it up and burn it. Retroism is just a sorry excuse for people who are too lazy to make something new. Right now I really love Cecil Taylor. I would like to see more people rocking Great Paris Concert or Unit Structures.
Laurent: The �80�s had fantastic sitcoms - a great decade for comedy, because what else could you do besides do your best to escape the Reagan and Bush eras?
Trevor: That`s exactly what was wrong with the �80`s - it was a decade of complete escapism. The more things got fucked, the more people looked for ways to escape reality. That`s the most negative aspect of �80`s revivalism... it`s not just an escape from the fucked reality of our culture, it is an escape to and escape from the fucked reality of our culture`s past.
Laurent: The �80�s also gave us thrash metal, death metal, Motley Crue, L.A. Guns, the Police, John Hughes, etc. Not that bad! But on the political end of things, I must say it was an atrocious decade.
Velcro: OK, lets break away from the �80�s for a second before I start arguing about how you all forgot to mention Eric B and Rakim and Biz Markie... lets talk about Tusk�s new record for a little bit, I love the new track I heard, "Tree of No Return;" it�s really good. I like the non-linearity of it.
Trevor: The new Tusk record, Tree of No Return (Tortuga Recordings), is a concept album - over five songs we chart a lone wanderer�s descent into insanity as he starves under the spell of an ancient cursed tree. The non-linearity of that song is hard to account for without the lyrics in front of you� the music was actually written to mirror what�s going on in the lyrics. I can�t believe we did it, but it worked. Grind-prog insanity. The feature length film is still to come. We are the new Pink Floyd.
Velcro: And how about Lair of the Minotaur? Is the record completed?
Larry: The Lair stuff is finally finished. We tracked two new songs to add to the six completed ones. Sanford Parker (Buried at Sea) tracked them all and mixed them. We had Stan Wood finish them up with mastering duties. He engineered the Sweet Cobra material, another Chicago band worth checking out. We had Tom Deeney do a new piece of art for the cover and gave the rest to Stephen O`Malley to finish up the layout. It looks pretty rad, pretty metal! Should be out mid September on Southern Lord with a limited LP version! We`ll be playing some shows in early September out west with Goatsnake, Khanate, Thrones, and more.
Laurent: LOTM rules because they are sincere and damn good at what they do.
Velcro: I think that they are the best metal band in Chicago. Along with American Heritage, they could probably take out 1/3 of the population with just a few riffs. But who cares what I think! Here is where I`d usually ask the band to ask the questions they wish I had the good sense to do in the first place. I know you get asked the same shit all the time, so here`s an open slot for Pelican to say what ever the hell Pelican wants.
Trevor: I thought there was a liberal bias to the media, right? That�s what I hear Rush going on about all day� How come not a single music journalist has grilled me about voting for Nader in 2000? Guess what? I have no remorse � you "liberals" can stick it! Democracy and capitalism cannot co-exist! Remember, in 2004 you can vote corporate funded Democrat or corporate funded Republican; either way our lives are going to be governed by people who have a vested interest in profiting beyond what any person reasonably needs at the expense of the physical and mental health of workers WORLDWIDE. It is an international chain of exploitation with a very few people holding the far end of it. Let me tell you this � there�s a fucking LOT more of US than there are of THEM. Those bumper stickers the liberals are rocking� "Regime change 2004"� they are right on, but they need to realize that in our country the regime is way bigger than just one man. It�s time to clean house.
Velcro: What`s the best metal record to ever come out of Chicago?
Larry: Cyanide - Death, Doom, Destruction.
Velcro: Agreed! What`s the last good movie you saw?
Larry: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy - brilliant!
Velcro: Once again, good choice.
...and with that said, head to Europe, see Pelican tour with Jesu, and then head to Three Days of Darkness in San Francisco to see Lair of the Minotaur play the Southern Lord showcase.
Pelican:
Bryan Herwig - bass
Laurent Lebec - guitar
Larry Herwig - drums
Trevor de Brauw - guitar
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