I’ll keep this short(ish) since, you know, and I know, we’re here for the music.

After deciding to do this feature I sat down, did some basic math and realized: Somehow, Telograph is probably the band I’ve seen the most over the last few years I’ve lived in DC. I’ve seen them at DC9 (including the first time ever when pre-Georgie James Laura Burhenn opened for them and none of us knew what to expect and ended up picking up our jaws from the floor on a sleepy Tuesday), at Velvet Lounge, at all sorts of Cat stages, at RNR a couple of times.
And every time they were better than the last.
In the meantime they’ve played also arena rocked at the D.A.R. and Merriweather Post Pavillion too, and I will now venture boldly to say that they’re probably the most polished, produced (in a good way) DC band out there.
“Beneath your Feet” was one of mine (and Michael’s) favorite DC songs of 2007.
Just ask him.
And while they’re indie in that “influenced by britpop and some Radiohead and sounding like early Strokes meet the Interpol” kind of way, they are also not indie in that “we’re gonna work every single song out till we are 100% sure it is the best it can be” kind of way. Plus, they layer their sound so well (with everything and maracas and the kitchen sink) and Andy’s voice is, well, as big as a house, that if there is a “wall of sound” band in DC (and I am not necessarily talking about it in a strictly Phil Spector sense) that that is Telograph. And that is a good thing.

They are releasing their EP (with some old, some new, all spruced up) songs this Friday at the Cat, and you should seriously go.

This is, in Andy’s own words what you can expect to hear.

The Fever – We wanted to create a high-energy arena-ready rock song that was just as atmospheric as it was danceable – and it’s really fun to play live. A friend of mine told me they could see this song in a car commercial. You know… the ones where they’re driving really fast around mountainous curves to demonstrate the superior handling capabilities.
We used several unique instruments on this track: a child’s set of plastic bells, a Glockenspiel, a Celeste, as well as “spoken word” read through a vocal modulator on the break. Not all of our ideas made the final mix, but they were fun to record nonetheless.

Beneath Your Feet – We completely restructured this song since our last EP. We made the old verse the new chorus, and the old chorus the new bridge - complete with French horn, trumpet, Mellotron strings, and sing-a-long ending.
It’s our oldest song on the record, yet it’s my favorite. I think it’s Gary’s bass line that does it for me.

Caught in Headlights – This song is about the build. When we originally wrote it and started playing it live, it was slower with a different drumbeat. While recording, we thought it should be a little more driving. Arash’s drumbeat really helps hold the song together. Our friend and wonderful musician, Katie Chambers, recorded the cello and violin parts.

Eye for an Eye – The verses have a nice drone to them, but we really wanted the chorus to jump out each time. The Mellotron sort of helps the chorus “explode” without getting too heavy. We kept some nice synth stuff in there too to keep it atmospheric. The layering of atmosphere took the longest. We didn’t want anything to take away from the core of the song and finding the right sounds and levels for that was difficult. We’re quite pleased with it.

We Won’t Settle Down – We restructured this song as well and made it our big “ender”. We took out some verses and made part of the chorus the bridge. We felt it worked better to keep the verses and choruses shorter and then really bring it home with the ending. The end has lots and lots of layered guitars and generous use of the ebow. Once again, Katie played violin and cello on this one. Having the string section sound gives this song a lot more depth. Ironically, we will be starting our set with this song on Friday.

all photos: Shervin Lainez
want more:
befriend Telograph on MySpace
and catch them with the Sketches and The Red Romance at the Cat Mainstage this Friday (they’re headlining)
Godspeed.

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