Artist Interviews

Q&A: Darker My Love

By | Published on Tuesday 3 August 2010

Darker My Love

Darker My Love are an indie psychedelic rock band based in California. The band released their first EP, ‘Darker My Love’, in 2004, followed by the release of their eponymous debut album in 2006 and their second LP ‘2’ in 2008, all released via Dangerbird Records.

Although taking their inspiration from bands like The Beach Boys and The Pretty Things, their own sound is often compared to the likes of Can and My Bloody Valentine. With their latest album ‘Alive As You Are’ released last week on Dangerbird Records, we caught up with Will Canzoneri to ask the Same Six.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
My mom picked me up from kindergarten one day and, without telling me where she was taking me, drove me straight to my first piano lesson. Captive, this continued until I got my driver’s license, at which point I started liking it. I bought a drum set in eighth grade from a Mormon kid in the drum line who was moving back to Utah. My dad had a Tascam tape deck with two channels, which I commandeered at some point and started recording songs by ping-ponging tracks back and forth from channel to channel. They were absolutely horrible, but I didn’t realise that at the time, and got to thinking I was onto something. If I’d had an iPhone or my own computer and didn’t have to wait for my sister to get off the phone so I could use the dial-up modem, it’s possible none of this would have ever happened. This century sucks.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
The acceptance that we ultimately have total sovereignty over what we create. Our time is fleeting, and everything has to count. Everything we do has to mean something, and has to bring fulfilment and joy at the end of the day. Running from the grand ennui. Existential shit like that.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Tim or Rob will have a song idea – it could be 90% developed, or could just be a rough melody and some chords – and then we’ll twist it and turn it until it’s a DML song. Y’know, lots of practice. We get really good at playing it, then we record it. On this record, we got to record it all to two-inch tape. The whole record. So on a song, we’d track live as a band, overdub a few instruments, and then put the vocals on top, and most of the time that would fill up all 24 tracks. Not having an unlimited number of available tracks to record on makes you focus on the most important parts of a song and prevents you from getting carried away with heaping extraneous bullshit on top. It kept me from putting sleigh bells on every song, because otherwise I don’t have the discipline not to.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?

Oh, you know, mainstream classic rock. The Beach Boys, Moby Grape, The Dead, The Pretty Things, etc. That and the local competition.

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?

I wouldn’t want to interrupt their listening experience. So, nothing.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
For it to catch on enough to justify continued world travel.

MORE>> www.myspace.com/darkermylove



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