Brightest Young Things

Beach House sounded like I had opened the gates to heaven when I saw them last.

This is the reaction I got from Erik, when I told him we need a feature header for our "Beach House" interview, and it pretty much describes the tender, tender feelings I have for this band. I listen to "Devotion" the way other people turn to pharmaceuticals: to ease the pain, to relax beyond what I thought was naturally possible, to curl up in a sonic blanket of joy and never want to leave the bundle.

Everyone should have a band that provokes that kind of peace in them, and Beach House is that band for me. So, when I saw they're playing Whartscape this weekend, I promptly (and for the 4th time probably) attempted to set up an interview with them. And this time-it worked. It all happened over lunchtime in between two meetings and four deadlines and just talking to Alex, who just seems perfectly content and but in a decidedly non-stepford or new age way (which I something I was a little worried about-I admit) had a positive effect on me.

+++I (and you) don't need a life coach, I (and you) need more Beach House in our lives.+++

This is what I am talking about:

Hey, is this Alex?
Yes it is.

This is Svetlana, we're scheduled to do an interview around noon today.
Yes, I am ready.Victoria is not here though, sadly, but if you have some special questions for her I can give you her number.

Oh, thank you, we'll see how this goes, and if you are unable to answer some of our pressing questions, I may call her
I will try my best.

That is all I need to hear. So, are you guys back in Baltimore now?
Yes, we just came back from our (second) European tour. We're just relaxing now, working a little.

Are you guys officially, and full-time "Beach House" now?
Well, we still work a little on the side. These days, with the internet and no one buying music anymore, you kind of have to.

What do you do?
I am a carpenter, and Victoria just does some service industry stuff. But you know, I am cool with that, musicians were never meant to be really rich, you know. And Baltimore is a pretty cheap, chill place to live, so it works out.

True. And you guys are sticking to your local US label as well...
Well, it is a DC label actually (Carpark) but I guess they mostly put out Baltimore stuff these days. We like them.

How was the tour? I saw that video you guys made in Norway, on a train, that was pretty wonderful. I should warn you, I will use the word "wonderful" quite a bit during this conversation
Haha, well, the tour was great, we went out with our friends, The Fleet Foxes, and they are really terrific...

They were just here last week
Yep, I was at the Cat for the show

I saw them last time they were here, opening for Blitzen Trapper backstage, and now, just a few months llater...sold out mainstage show
They ARE pretty great.

Oh absolutely. This actually brings me to what I wanted to bring up, and that was the whole involvement of the internet in band development these days. I read somewhere you "didn't even know what music blogs were before your first record came out" and obviously, you are not a fan of music sharing but...
Oh, I have nothing against the internet itself. And internet has been good to us. I just hope, you know, that people realize that MP3s, especially the diluted MP3s, sound just plain bad. As sound carriers go-you can do so much better

So, does Beach House prefer the sound of vinyl?
Absolutely

But you cannot deny that, and a lot of people agree with this, that while the file sharing is obviously bad for the artists, the word of mouth makes it really amazing to be a touring band right now, because no matter where you go, people, if they wanted to, could listen and find out about new music
That part of it is great. And I do hope people continue to explore and find music that way, through the underground. It is just amazing to go places where you don't necessarily expect to have fans and to have them.

Speaking of fans, when I heard (barely two hours a go) that we were to do this interview, I asked a few people, who I know are Beach House fans (I am looking at you Aaron, I am) to propose a few questions for you guys and they all kind of fell into the following category: "How does it feel to have people fall in love with you every where you go?" Because lets admit it, people that love Beach House, REALLY love Beach House.
Haha, well, to me it is incredibly flattering. We don't really have any insane fans but every once in a while someone does something amazing for us because they just feel the music that much: like, once this guy transcribed our whole album and wrote it down in classical arrangement and brought it to the show. And to me, that is the most wonderful thing, because if I love a record, that is exactly the kind of thing I would want to do about it.

TRUE LOVE
Exactly, and this is the kind of fans you want to have. I don't care if we are never the really, really famous band everyone knows about, that is totally cool with me, but I just want to keep our true fans. I don't want no fairweather fans, with short attention spans. Because sometimes it takes a little time, but once you get the record, then it becomes yours.

I know, my friend Rachel always used to say: "A record just has to happen for you". You can have something, and this happens to me all the time, for months, and even years, and like it, and then one day, you are riding you bicycle or even just at a store, and that record comes on-and all of a sudden, everything about it makes perfect sense. And you go from like to love. That is my favorite feeling about music.
Oh man, exactly. That is exactly what I am talking about. All my favorite records still give me the goosebumps even years later, the same way they felt that first time I really loved them. So so so good.

And you guys do a great live show. I saw you last time at RNR
I am so sorry the sound was so bad there.

It was pretty bad, especially since so much of your music hangs in the delicate balance, but I still thought you guys were pretty amazing. Victoria has that super soulful voice that kind of kills me. And you guys wore those...how would I call them? ....ABBA like outfits
Hey, I am totally down with ABBA

I didn't suggest anything was wrong with ABBA
Nothing at all. Some of my favorite stuff in the world is random tschotcky stuff that other people may not quite get how awesome it is.

So, how did you decide to be the band that dresses up for shows...I mean, it is relatively rare these days
I don't really know what triggered it, but we just didn't feel like being one of those non-descript bands in jeans with blank stares, just there, projecting no particular idea and no particular energy

Yeah, the all white and crystals I saw you guys in last, definitely contributed to the cosmic feel of it all. Do you design it yourself, or pre-plan it in any way?
Mainly, it is random stuff we find and it is almost always entirely spur of the moment stuff. However it is we feel.

I have read in multiple places that you guys take a very visual approach to song writing. Which reminded me of being in art school and drawing my notes, instead of writing them, and how liberating that whole process was...
YES. I mean, we are working on this Queen cover right now, and we haven't actually put any music on a sheet yet. All we do is sit around, draw and talk about what the song is going to feel like. I love the process of making music almost as much as I love music itself.

That sounds so wonderful. Speaking of love, I try and make all bands tell us about some of their favorite things, that way our readers can pretend we are all friends and they get to pick your brain a little
Oh man, I don't know. I have not been listening to anything particularly new lately and it has, sadly, been a while since I've done some serious reading but how about this: what I am really, really into lately is just random junk around my house. I have all these trashed guitars and really shitty keyboards and I am just really loving them right now. They don't make any right sounds but every once in a while they make one amazing one.
So, my advice to your readers is:
LEARN TO LOVE YOUR JUNK.
Sometimes, the most amazing new stuff is the stuff you already have.

Which really IS Great advice. Very "learning to love you more" of you. I will just copy and paste your favorite bands and movies from your Pitchfork guest list feature then....
I don't even remember what I said in there, I swear.

Well, the one thing I do remember about it is you saying how much you love (Emir) Kusturica...
Oh man, he is a genius....

And since I am from former Yugoslavia, I grew up on his movies. He is like a God to us
He needs to make a new movie.

He does. I think he is cooped up in Paris somewhere now, and not filming anything, as far as I know.
Every movie of his I see, I love

I love "Underground" and "Black Cat, White Cat" but I think "Arizona Dream" is my least favorite
You SERIOUSLY don't love that movie? (even when shocked and appalled, Alex Scally is relaxe-ed)

I don't know, it is just too American. Like, he left us, and went and made this crazy movie and got Johhny Depp and Iggy Pop and Faye Dunaway to be in it. Actually that sounds pretty cool.
Because it is. You should watch it again. Give it a chance.

Yes, maybe it will happen for me.
It really should.

I promise. And as we are (SADLY) wrapping this up, tell me, aside from Whartscape and learning to love your junk more, what is next for Beach House?
Well, we are making some more, new music for us and for everyone, which feels great, since I get to do what I want and that is all I ever wanted in life. And in imminent plans: it is getting kinda warm around here, I am going to go for a swim, maybe meet some people, have fun....

Love life.
Exactly. Love Life

want more:
befriend them here
and make it out to Whartscape this weekend. No regrets.