Interviews: Aloha

I'm in love with Aloha. First I reviewed their amazing sophomore effort "Sugar" [read here], then I caught them in concert in Iowa City and was stunned [read here]. Now I got the chance to pick the brains of the band. Click READ MORE to find out what that thing is on stage, what the worst band in the world is, just how they write their songs, and more. For more info on the band, go here, and visit PolyvinylRecords.com to buy Aloha-related merchandise.

SCOTT: State your name and what you play.
MATTHEW: Matthew Gengler. I play bass.
S: Describe Aloha to my grandparents.
M: Loud, or more precisely, not something you would like.
S: If you can sum up the history of Aloha in an overly cliched phrase, what would it be?
M: Can I have more vibraphone in my monitor please?
S: What has been the most exciting moment for you as a band? Most dreadful?
M: Recording is always fantastic, we hear the songs for
the first time in the speakers and everything starts
to come together. I'd prefer not to talk about the
most dreadful moments, except to say we have nearly
broken up a couple of times, and we didn't.
S: Name the top 5 CDs receiving heavy rotation from you right now.
M: In no particular order:
1. the unreleased Saturday Looks Good To Me and
Flashpapr records(fred thomas will always be my hero)
2. Judah Johnson "Kisses and Interrogation"
3. any one of five or six Steely Dan or Thin Lizzy
records that I own
4. Matt Pond PA "the Nature of Maps"
5. Q and Not U "Different Damage"
S: Do you ever get sick of people asking "what is that thing on stage?"
M: No, I get sick of people calling it a xylophone or a
marimba.
S: Speaking of the vibraphone, I am really curious as how it gets from show to show. Please explain.
M: In three boxes, in the back of our van.
S: When I saw you guys live in Iowa City, I was amazed at your cohesion and the lack of a set list. Do you all go into a show knowing more or less what will happen with songs, or do the performances take on a more free-form jazz feel?
M: there are free moments within certain songs, and
certain players take a more liberal approach to
playing the songs, but they all have structure.
segues are all improv. but for the most part we play
five to seven songs from the twenty that we like to
play at any given time.
S: Have things ever gotten too out of hand on stage, where you can't even tell what song you're in anymore?
M: no, though I have improvised well into a song, only to
realize it is actually the song and not the segue.
S: It seems like bands like you would need hours and hours writing songs as each instrument tends to do it's own thing, yet they all blend together overall. Can you explain your songwriting process to me, so I can sleep easier at night?
M: usually someone has kicked a part around a while and
presents it to the rest of us. we learn it and refine
it. often this happens in the studio, during
recording, as it is easier to write when you can hear
all the parts. for sugar, some parts were finished in
ten minutes while the rest may have taken days. there
is no actual process, it is different every time.
S: Do you mind if, when my friends ask what you sound like, I say "think the Dismemberment Plan with a vibraphone?"
M: no. but I would recommend spinning the album for them
instead, to avoid spoiling the first time listener
with a set of requirements. hear this, don't hear
that, etcetera.
S: Who is the worst band in the world, past or present?
M: aloha. they don't practice, they play too long and
too loud. and they never play the songs the same way
twice.
S: Could you take them in a fight?
M: yes and no, I am a candy ass with a chip on my shoulder.
S: Without vibe mallets?
M: vibe mallets are actually pretty soft, covered with
yarn and all.
S: I consider packaging to be incredibly important to a band's recorded material, and a lot of times if a good band has really bland artwork I just can't get into it as much. All your Polyvinyl releases have unique, lush artwork - is this a concious goal of yours? Do you view the art in the album as an extension of the music? Who does your artwork for you?
M: for sugar, we relinquished complete control of the
album cover to the artists who created it. the
photographer Scott MacDonald took the photos he
wanted, the artist Zach Buckner submitted the pieces
he liked the most, and the designer Gregg Bernstein
manipulated them as he saw fit. there were
suggestions made, but mostly it was there call.
musically, drew peters, our engineer had the same
privelidges with our mixes. the key here is
collaboration. on a related note, the album cover has
won a design award from Communication Arts magazine.
In addition, Zach and his work, the same pieces we
used, were featured in New American Artist recently.
S: You recently toured with Q and Not U, a band who's style differs greatly from yours. Would you rather tour with different sounding bands than the same old "indie rock" sounding groups?
M: I actually thought we shared a lot in common with Q
and Not U, with both bands adopting improv and rhythm
at their base. when you tour with another band, you
hear them ten times or more, it is good to pick
someone you admire and like. but we are not like
sounding to very many bands. thus, we often tour with
bands that are different than us. if the band is
great, like Q and Not U, it is fantasic. if the band
is not, we can be a bit overpowering a presence.
S: What's one band you wish you could tour with for the rest of the band's career? More succinctly, who are Aloha's musical soulmates?
M: I quite enjoyed our time with Q and Not U. Cale
played with them on a song almost every night, and
when we lost our vibraphone player for a few days,
John played with us. I also enjoyed our many past
dates with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.
S: Do you ever play your song off the Makoto split 7" series live? That song is ridiculously good.
M: Yes, every night for the past thirty days. Thank you,
it is also on Sugar in a different version.
S: Do you consider yourself closer to jazz or rock?
M: I consider myself closer to jock.
S: Do you consider yourself closer to god or satan?
M: Neither, I am politely agnostic.
S: Can you tell that I'm typing this up on 3 hours of sleep?
M: Not really. Hey, at least you didn't ask us how we
got the name for the band. it is by the way my
mother's maiden name.