#will yates

TSH: Heading into the studio for the making of your most recent album ‘Lucifer in the Rain’, what was the level of focus like?

Will: We recorded the album over multiple sessions at our studio in Detroit. Since our time together is usually limited, we try to set goals for a given session. Sometimes we end up falling down a rabbit hole of experimentation nevertheless.

Daniel: Our first record was recorded in a rented room at the Russell Industrial Center, where we built a temporary studio. Since then we’ve done all of our recording in our current studio (also self-constructed), and in some respects our methods of songwriting and arranging have changed to suit the new space. With 'Lucifer in the Rain' we taught ourselves to write in a new way. The focus was on pursuing whatever course seemed to suit each individual song best, which resulted in a heterogeneous mix of styles.

Trevor: In the past, I think our focus was on getting “perfect sounds”… to an almost OCD level. But as we age and our tastes change, we’re hearing our music in new ways and accepting imperfection—which leads to a breezier vibe. I can only speak for myself here, but as my life gets more and more structured (which I feel it is); the less I care about musical structure and good sound quality. More on that when the new record comes out.

TSH: What kind of sounds/instrumentation were you working with that was different to previous work?

Will: More electronics and synthesizers, and less of an emphasis on traditional band instrumentation.

Daniel: Along with that, a greater emphasis on using the studio itself (and Collin’s fantastic collection of gear) as a way to shape the songs.

TSH: How do you feel your collaborative partnership has developed over the years as a band?

Will: Earlier on, we practiced and performed live regularly, but these days we are essentially a studio project. Not to say we won’t tour again someday.

Daniel: I miss playing live with the fellas, but if we have had to set aside that particular sort of collaboration for now, we’ve developed a lot in terms of how we work together. We’ve always butted heads over the music, and we still get into passionate debates, but on the whole we’re all much more relaxed, and working in the studio together has never been more enjoyable for me than it is now.

Trevor: With bands or working partnerships, it’s common to expect or anticipate what your comrades are going to do, what they’re going to play, what their style is, what they won’t like, etc. But I’ll be damned… we don’t operate like that. It’s like we each have our own deck of Oblique Strategies. Maybe that’s why we bicker so much. When one person wants to record underwater, the other person is moving equipment into the desert.

TSH: I’ve read that you guys also took on the role for recording and mixing for the record, what was this experience like…

Will: Our drummer Collin Dupuis has always recorded and mixed our music. The rest of us are grateful for his abilities and experience.

Daniel: It’s allowed us to work entirely to our own satisfaction, but that hasn’t always been easy. Having an outside opinion, working with a producer or an engineer, might have sped things up a bit. I hasten to add, however, that I can’t imagine having done anything differently.

Trevor: We’ve always had this luxury for each record. Actually, prior to hooking up with our label, Time No Place, we did everything ourselves. From the recording down to the manufacturing, the PR, all that. Time No Place is amazing and we’re really lucky to have their support.

TSH: I’ve read in a previous interview that you guys have a ‘perfectionist streak’…

Will: That can certainly come out sometimes!

Daniel: We tend to work slowly as a result. We’ve loosened up a little with our most recent recordings, but at this point I think our habits are set.

TSH: Trevor was responsible for the album artwork, what was the primary thinking with the cover itself?

Trevor: Growing up Protestant, I sat in a lot of churches that had mid-century modern interior design, even 70s and 80s design. Very simple and plain, cheaper. But far eerier to me than gothic-style churches. I was trying to capture that aesthetic with the cover. I’m also fascinated with the idea of future religions (imaginary religions that don’t exist yet), so the visuals have a connection to that as well. The only text on the cover is a small sign on the wall that reads: “TERRACE → PATIO TABLES.” And I liked the thought of Lucifer sitting out in the rain, enjoying the bad weather.

TSH: Let’s talk about some of the great material on the album. Firstly, the sweet melodic sounds of ‘Above the Air’ during which you say – ‘it’s been a long long time’... ‘easy than easier’.. ‘hopefully come over to stay a while’.. What’s the story behind the song?

Trevor: It’s an older song, melodically speaking. I have a cassette of us playing a “rock” version of it back in 2007. It didn’t have lyrics until 2012. So these lyrics, well… at the risk of sounding heavy handed, they were mostly inspired by death. When Dan and I sit down to pen everything out, we usually have a rough sketch of the subject matter or the subject develops as a result of bouncing ideas around. It’s like a lyrical Ouija board, we both steer or are steered by some miraculous spirit. But, yes, death was the thing in this song. Basically, wanting so badly to see someone again, to spend time with them again, and accepting that it’s an impossibility.

TSH: ‘Open the Wine’ is another catchy track, can you tell us about the impetus for a song like this...

Trevor: The goal was to make a song that sounded like Broadcast, but for some reason we can never really pull that off right. It’s one of the few songs on the album that incorporates samples. It’s one of those “frustrated lover” songs.

TSH: Furthermore, the song ‘I Went to Shapeless in the Night’ has a great tempo switch, how do you go about structuring a song like this?

Daniel: In general, we try to preserve enough of the verse-chorus structure of a traditional pop song to keep everything coherent, while also trying to avoid covering ground we already visited in other songs of ours.

TSH: It’s been mentioned that the narrative of your songs are last to emerge, why is this?

Daniel: The lyrics are almost always the last element of the song to be completed. When we start work on a song, it may have a general shape, a chord progression, a melody, a few phrases that set the mood, but only after the arrangement has developed do we settle on the vocal sounds that will best complement the music. When Trevor and I are working on the lyrics, we’ll gradually sift through a lot of ideas until something emerges; it may be a narrative, or more likely a set of images and phrases that suggest a narrative, but it is seldom planned consciously. Partly it’s what sings well. Some words just work better than others, and some words can’t be sung at all. And, partly it’s what suits the mood of the music, or works against in an interesting way.

Trevor: I like what Dan said better than my “lyrical Ouija board” bit.

TSH: Zoos of Berlin have often been praised for mixing elements of glam, jazz, Afrobeat and post-punk. How do you compress and relate such distinct influences into your sound?

Will: I think we just play what we like. We’re not setting out to combine a certain pre-determined set of influences.

Daniel: In a sense the songs decide for themselves what they want to do. It’s like the four of us all have our hands on the planchette, and it moves over the Ouija board without any of us deciding on our own where it’s going.

Trevor: Dan, are you re-appropriating the Ouija board analogy!?

Will: I learned a new word today: planchette.

TSH: Is it important not to be too self-conscious about the creative process?

Will: Probably, but we are certainly guilty of being too self-conscious sometimes.

Daniel: Yes, very guilty. I don’t know if it’s possible to be without self-consciousness at this point, with so much music, so much media saturating our lives. It’s hard to make any kind of art without being conscious of all the art that’s being made, and that’s already been made and being conscious of it will tend to make you self-conscious. But then, I don’t put much stock in the idea of making music instinctually, as though this were a guarantee of authenticity. There’s always going to be artifice involved.

TSH: Do you still keep up to date with the Detroit music scene?

Will: At this point, three of the four of us have moved away from Detroit. We do not do a very good job of keeping track of the local scene and new bands, though we do keep tabs on some of our friends’ bands.

Daniel: To be honest, I don’t trouble myself with keeping up to date. Perhaps I did a little when I was younger, but you know I’ve got a wife and two kids, all of us have adult lives, we’re still making music as Zoos simply because we need to make music. And, it may be a rather myopic view, but the most important aspect of the local scene for me has always been my friends, and the support and encouragement we offer each other. We never put together a manifesto or anything like that. It’s just a very casual sort of esprit de corps.

Trevor: I get seriously jealous watching other bands play. I’m finding it harder and harder to go to shows in general because I can’t help but think about how badly I want to be up there.

TSH: What’s the hardest thing about touring?

Will: For us, it’s finding the time and money to do it.

TSH: What was your verdict on the reimaigned version of ‘Above the Air’ by Casimer and Casimir…

Will: We love it.

Trevor: We think it’s great.

TSH: With the layers your songs entail, what do you feel is the most important sentiment they echo?

Daniel: I suppose the dominant emotion in our songs is melancholy. Mind you, I don’t mean mopey. But even the brighter songs are cut with bittersweet. Pop music does that kind of sentiment best of all, I think, even better than raucous, free-spirited celebration.

TSH: Whilst conceiving of the record were there certain subjects on your mind that crept into the music?

Daniel: Indeed, certain subjects seem to return again and again in our lyrics, on this record and in everything else we’ve done, but I’ll leave it to the listener to decide what they are. I’m not being coy; it’s just that I’m not sure why it happens.

TSH: What’s next for Zoos of Berlin?

Will: We are slowly working on our third full-length.

TSH: If you could form a super-group, who would it consist of?

Trevor: This is obvious, but… Bruno “S” Schleinstein on accordion, Neil Peart on drums and Tommy Wiseau on vocals.

TSH: Is there a one particular album you’re most emotionally attached to?

Daniel: Tom Waits’s Swordfishtrombones.

Trevor: Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On.

Will: It’s not technically an album, but Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

TSH: What’s the best live show you’ve attended?

Trevor: Child Bite.

Zoos of Berlin - “Electrical Way”