Heads on Sticks. The name is slightly intimidating. It conjures images of Willard's arrival at Kurtz's village in "Apocalypse Now". It reminds of you that Norwegian black metal band your cousin was super into a few Thanksgivings back. Come to think of it, you're pretty sure they actually were called Heads on Sticks. (They weren't.)
The name does not scream "psych pop." But then again, Heads on Sticks' mastermind David Mueller doesn't do a whole lot of screaming. The North Carolina musician has an easygoing voice, and it effortlessly floats in and out of his arrangements of sun-kissed pop and punchy backbeats. His primary gig is laying down bass for rock outfit (and BYT faves) Birds of Avalon, but Heads on Sticks allows him to dabble in the world of samples, multi-tracked harmonies, and ambient noise.
From its bedroom origins, the project continues to evolve and expand. This summer's Brutish and Short found Mueller inhabiting a scattershot landscape not dissimilar to Caibou's Andorra or the early Beta Band EPs. We would now sell three copies of the EP, but it's available for free - along with all of Heads on Sticks' efforts - on the band's Bandcamp page.
Heads on Sticks visits DC9 on Thursday night for Monument's concert to benefit DC Vote. (They'll be joined by Brooklyn's Farewell Republic and our very own Jean Pierre le Douche, aka Adrian Parsons.) In anticipation, we grilled Mueller with some hard-hitting questions.
BYT: Between Birds of Avalon and Heads on Sticks, are you ever not making music?
David Mueller: I also have a full time job making drinks
BYT: Where does the name Heads on Sticks come from? Do you have a Heart of Darkness? Are you trying to frighten anyone who might want to Google image search the band?
DM: The Heart of Darkness association is unavoidable but the name really comes from a joke my younger brother made that I wasn't even around to witness. I have a Google alert set up for "heads on sticks." It's surprising how often the concept comes up. Troubling, really.
BYT: Birds of Avalon has toured with some bands that aren't afraid to get a little weird: Flaming Lips, Black Mountain, Monotonix. What's the strangest or most confrontational show you've ever seen?
DM: It's hard to compete with Monotonix in that arena. I remember a show outside Amsterdam where Ami stole some woman's shoe and then drank a beer out of it before moving the entire performance (and audience) into the men's room. But offstage they are very low key, very professional.
BYT: We read that you're working on a new Heads on Sticks album. What can we look forward to?
DM: It's basically a bunch of dog farts over the Amen break. Sometimes the farts are backmasked. I don't want to give too much away.
BYT: Are you planning to give it away for free, like past releases? Relatedly, why do you dislike money?
DM: I don't want to give too much away. I love money. I love the way it smells. The new album will be out on vinyl from the Grip Tapes label later this year. They're collecting the money and I'm going to smell it.
BYT: How would you describe Raleigh's music scene? Several North Carolinians we know hold the city up as a little creative/hipster oasis in the midst of an otherwise conservative state.
DM: North Carolina is definitely a conservative state, but bands don't really play at the legislature building. There's always been a strong and diverse scene in Raleigh, but you could say the same for Greensboro, Durham, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Wilmington, and a lot of other places in NC.
BYT: From a local's perspective, how has the city changed over the years?
DM: The downtown areas have undergone a huge revitalization, like a lot of other cites in the southeast. The areas where all the nightlife is really happening now were fairly desolate, especially at night, when I was growing up here.
BYT: Heads on Sticks brings together a lot of different influences and sounds. Can you describe the band, and to make matters more complicated, do so in form of a Haiku?
DM: illegible list
squishy cathode residue
what’s stuck on this face?
If I could get one more line it would just be "anyway," but whatever
BYT: It's a familiar question, but a revealing one nonetheless: what are your five desert island LPs?
DM: Hate to get technical here but that really depends on how many turntables are on the island. Can we say five? Can I get a crossfade and a Space Echo too? Really depends.
BYT: What is the last great piece of culture - album, movie, or book - that you took in?
DM: I'm currently reading Simon Sebag Montefiore's “Jerusalem: The Biography” and I recommend it highly. It's sanguine stuff, and relevant.
For more Heads on Sticks, take a visit to the band's Tumblr and Bandcamp. Or get off the Internet and see them at DC9.
Previously in BYT interviews:
- 5/18: INTERVIEW: Jasmine Solano
- 5/18: Interview: Richard Linklater
- 5/17: Interview: Penguin Prison
- 5/16: Interview: Brian Regan
- 5/15: Richard Davies (Cardinal) Interviewed by Archie Moore
- 5/11: Interview: Horse Feathers' Justin Ringle
- 5/10: Reflections on a Conversation with Mickey Avalon
- 5/9: Inside the STYLELINER
- 5/8: The Politics of Mastodon
- 5/4: Preview: Mucca Pazza @ The Kennedy Center's "Look Both Ways" Festival
God loves a cheerful giver.
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