In an ever evolving social climate currently dominated by apathy, North Carolina's Bowerbirds represent a deviation from an unhealthy social criterion. When the band graces the stage at the Iron Horse Music Hall Saturday Night, they will be accompanied by not only their music, but also their advocacy for hopefulness and social awareness, concepts that are the archetype for their respective lives
When I first was exposed to Bowerbirds, I was immediately astonished with the trio's ability to use largely minimalist instrumentation to create an overwhelmingly powerful yet intimate listening experience. The band's stripped down lineup of guitar, bass drum, and generally violin or accordion serve as a catalyst for songwriter Phil Moore's artistic vision, while his lyrics are an instrument of progress and compassion.
After conversing through email with the band, I discovered that this profound minimalism is an extension of their very being. Drawing from their constant interactions with nature and their collective distress over the current state of the planet, the band has crafted music that aims to lend support towards a more sustainable and less destructive culture, while additionally endeavoring to model their own lives in a manner that mirrors their musical ambitions. Beth Tacular, who plays a variety of roles within the group, was kind enough to take time out from their current tour to answer a few questions regarding the band, their music, the future, and life off the stage before their performance in Northampton.
For starters, who are the members in the band and what roles do they play?
Phil Moore is the songwriter, and he writes the guitar and lead
vocals, and plays guitar and high hat at live shows. Mark Paulson
plays violin, piano, percussion, and sings, as well as records the
albums. I play accordion, autoharp, and percussion and sing.
If I'm not mistaken, a bowerbird is an animal known best for its elaborate theatrical mating rituals. Which forces me to ask, how did you all land on the name "Bowerbirds" and what kind of significance does it hold for you?
I found out about bowerbirds from a children's encyclopedia I was
reading to get ideas for paintings, during the summer when Phil was
starting to write the songs that would become the basis for our new
band. I couldn't believe they existed. They were so amazing. And
we liked the way they were described in the encyclopedia: as being
these birds who compensate for their sort of unassuming looks by
building intricate art to attract lovers. Also, bowerbirds sort of
represent the genius of evolution to us, and our not even having
known they existed represents to us how many species we will never
know ever existed, because this civilized culture is currently wiping
them out way too fast, as part of this Great Extinction we are causing.
Being a three piece with very stripped down instrumentation, I envision the creative process being a very communal shared experience. Could you be so kind as to take us through your typical song writing process?
It's not really all that communal, or at least it isn't that we sit
around jamming out together or something until we have a song. Phil
starts the songs each time. He plays them around me, and I may have
some feedback or think things should change, but in general, he has
complete creative control over what happens to them. I usually write
my parts with Phil right there, playing along with me. We do it this
way mostly in the interest of time - because we have been incredibly
busy and haven't really had time for me to take my time writing
parts. Once Phil's part of a song is done, we usually just give
ourselves a couple days to a week to get it ready to play live, and
that includes me and Mark writing our parts. I have to write mine
first, because I live with Phil in the airstream, and then we record
something over at Mark's house, and he writes his part.
Sometimes it works differently, where any one of us will write a part
that someone else thinks would be better a different way, and then we
work on it together. We've all helped each other write each other's
parts. But, from the beginning, the understanding with this band was
that it would be Phil's creative project, and we would be involved to
help him realize his musical vision, and that he would have final
veto power on anything. It actually works really well this way, and
I think it helps keep a similar feeling throughout the songs.
"Hymns for a Dark Horse" was one of my favorite releases last year. The albums title implies a sympathy for those who are under the radar, was a particular "unknown" a focal point or inspiration for this album?
The dark horse (or underdog who has a remote chance of winning) in
the title is the idea that we might be able to stop our civilized
society before it finishes wiping out the rest of the rain forests,
killing the oceans, imprisoning all our young poor people, numbing
ourselves with prescription psychoactive drugs so we don't notice we
are turning all our land into wasteland, lawns or pavement; and
eventually wiping ourselves out (because we can't survive without a
healthy landbase or healthy minds). The songs are hymns -- songs
with deep spiritual meaning to us -- in which we decry the
devastation the culture at large is causing, and with which we
announce our desire to sidestep that culture and be part of the
positive culture that has always existed alongside this destructive
culture (although at times it has had to exist in secret, like during
the hundreds of years of witch burnings in Europe) since the
beginning of time.
But if we don't save these species, and if we don't save ourselves
and the humans who never bought into industrialization in the first
place, the Earth will swallow us, the bacteria and mushrooms will
break down the pollution we left behind, and a million years from
now, the earth will be springing up again, inventing new species and
thriving. We know the Earth will be ok, but we don't really need to
do this to its body - killing all these ecosystems in the name of
profit. This culture is like a smallpox disease that will maim the
Earth and make it suffer, but leave it alive. At least we don't have
the ability to totally wipe out life on Earth.
A good deal of the album's lyrics make frequent references to nature, do you find this to be a constant source of inspiration for you?
Yes. We decided to move out to the country, after having spent a lot
of time in cities and in wilder places, and we finally realized we
feel a lot calmer and more in touch with life with we can interact
with wild plants and animals on a regular basis, and when we have
some peace and quiet. Also, it's a lot easier to not spend a ton of
money, which means we don't have to make a lot of money, which means
there is less reason for us to do work that supports endeavors that
are exploiting people or nature.
It took me, personally, a few years after college to be able to go
into the woods and remember how to just exist there without expecting
the sort of excitement you get from the constant movement of the
city, or of TV or the Internet or something, but eventually I
remembered, and now it's the most thrilling thing in the world to
wake up in the middle of the night and go outside the airstream and
stand barefoot on the dirt under our oak tree and watch the clouds
move over the moon through its hundred and fifty year old branches.
We also like to spend a lot of time in natural places when we travel.
I have read that you were building a home from largely recycled materials without the aid of power tools. What inspired such a rustic project, what have you taken from it, and what's the latest status on it?
We were inspired to build our own home by our friend Aimee Argote, of
the amazing band Des Ark, who told us she was using the money her
grandmother had saved for her college education to instead build a
mini-cabin to live in, so she wouldn't have to pay rent and could be
able to afford to tour and always have a place to come home to. She
started building her cabin right when we had moved back to Durham,
NC, after seven months on the road, and we had been thinking about
buying a house either in town or in the country. It turned out that
we really couldn't afford to buy a house anywhere, if we wanted to be
able to tour and also make mortgage payments, and still be able to
work on art and music as much as we wanted to.
We hadn't really ever considered building our own house until we saw
that Aimee was doing it, even though we had been already collecting
books on homemade houses, tree houses, permaculture, etc. for years.
It was suddenly like, duh, why didn't we think of this? We bought an
airstream and started looking around for cheap land in the country,
and we found some really great land in a cool area with plenty of
interesting people, and pretty close to Chapel Hill and Raleigh.
Then we obsessively started checking books out of the library, buying
books and magazines on building, and got started. We were going to
try to build it sort of normally, until we realized that would cost
us like $60,000 or something. So we are trying to build it for a
sixth of that.
It's really fun to scrounge around for used materials, and we are
saving a lot of money, and the house will have more character. We
started the cabin by using logs from a 100 year old tobacco barn that
we dismantled off someone's property, so it was free. The logs are
old and have a lot of character, including some insect holes. But we
don't care. Then we are building a little addition onto it with
traditional framing techniques. We are totally learning as we go,
but we have gotten some pointers from a couple friends. Like we
bought some Simpson straps, these metal things that make your
structure a lot stronger.
We also caved in and bought a generator, once we realized how long
the whole project was going to take, but not until we had done the
whole downstairs of the cabin. We just used it to run a circular saw
to speed up the cutting of the studs for the upstairs loft thing and
roofing boards. We had been working without power tools mainly
because we are off grid and have no way to plug them in.
Right now we are finishing framing the roof, and then what we have to
still do is: put on the roofing and siding, order wool for the
insulation and install it, finish the whole interior of the house,
install the windows and doors, add the porches and balcony, and like
100 other things. It's kind of overwhelming. But every night at the
airstream, like if it's a day when we worked on music instead of the
cabin, we go out to the cabin as it's getting dark and just sit in it
and feel very, very happy.
It's a very difficult, but very rewarding project. Mainly because we
are trying to build it really solid and strong so we can still live
there when we are old if we want to. Even if we go live in Portugal
for a year or something, we will always have it to come home to.
Also, chiseling logs and driving nails into 2x4's are really satisfying.
I'd say something we are taking from it is it is automatically
simplifying our priorities and slowing our minds down to a calmer
pace. And it's connecting us to the weather more, because we go out
there and work no matter what the weather is like, almost. So we get
to feel what it's like to spend a day outside working in 17 degree
weather with a bad wind chill. And we get to really appreciate
things like long underwear, our tiny wood stove in the airstream,
down coats (we *are* birds) and warm blankets.
Do you see the experience making its way into any of your future music?
Yeah, definitely. One of our new songs is actually a sort of love
song duet between me and Phil, and it's not a syrupy version of love,
but it has more to do with the way we fight but keep coming back to
each other. I think the process of building a home together is much
harder on a relationship than playing in a band together or running a
design business together, but at the same time is an amazing thing to
share.
Also, another new song has a lot of lyrics about being free: "You are
free from the greed of your culture. You are free from the lust for
the luster of the diamond houses in the city's cluster. From your
own ego. From your own blunder. Yes, you own the stars, you own the
thunder, but you have to share it all..." It's not really talking
about us specifically at all, but it must have been inspired in part
from feeling free from the mass culture, having escaped a mortgage,
and being separated from the peer pressure that a city brings to buy
things and live really fast, by a long drive down really nice country
roads.
Also, the house is going to be a good place to write and practice
music. We are building me a separate art studio shack thing, and
Phil will have the airstream, so we will be able to each go to a
secret place to be creative.
I have always been a huge fan of John Darnielle and The Mountain Goats (they are playing two weeks later in March in Northampton as well). What kind of an experience was it touring with him last year?
He was a lot of fun to tour with. He is an incredible performer, and
it was a great lesson to see him transform into his stage presence
version of himself and completely transfix the whole room. He and
Peter, Jon and Brandon were also great to hang out with.
It was also pretty wonderful of John to ask us to tour with him,
because we got to play to much larger audiences than we would have
been able to otherwise, and maybe ever. And most of the crowds that
come out to see him are ready to listen, so we almost always had a
very receptive audience.
Since the Northampton date for that tour last year was canceled at the last minute, have you ever played the area before? & if so what are your thoughts on the city and the musical environment, if not what kind of atmosphere are you anticipating?
We haven't ever been to Northampton before. We have no idea what to
expect!
Are there any plans for a new album in the near future? If so what can listeners anticipate?
We are re-releasing Hymns for a Dark Horse on Dead Oceans, with two
bonus tracks, and it will also be on vinyl for the first time! This
should come out in April or May, in stores nationwide. Then we will
be recording and releasing another album sometime soon, depending on
how quickly it comes together. We are playing a few new songs on
tour, so people can get a sneak preview.
Anything you'd like to add?
We are excited to be touring with Phosphorescent. They are really good.
Buy Tickets @ IHEG Bowerbirds Official Site Have A Listen @ Myspace Buy Hymns For A Dark Horse @ InSound
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