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Artist Interviews
Q&A: The Dodos
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 3 September 2009
As they become more and more visible on the indie radar, The Dodos have resisted going too wild with their new found fame. However, they have upped the ante a little, adding vibraphone player Keaton Snyder to the duo of percussionist Logan Kroeber and guitarist Meric Long, and hiring indie producer du jour Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, The Shins) to produce their third album, ‘Time To Die’, which is fresh on the shelves this week, courtesy of Wichita. The band play Bush Hall in London tonight, and will be at the End Of The Road festival on 13 Sep. We spoke to Logan Kroeber to find out more.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
My dad played music a lot when I was a kid, and there was always different equipment around the house – he would later own a music store. I also grew up when American public [state] schools still had a few art and music classes.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Musically, I think the inspiration came from playing [previous album] ‘Visiter’ material for so long and feeling like there was so much new stuff we could be writing if given the time. When that time came around I think we were a little paranoid that we would fall on our faces and come up with nothing at all, but it was a lot of fun just writing all the time for a couple months and I’m hyped on the record.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Meric and I usually work on getting the guitars and drums to a point where we think they would sound good live, and then he has a strong place to start his vocals from. It’s never like he comes in with a stack of lyrics and tells Keaton and I to “play something funky in the key of G”.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Meric and I listen to a lot of stuff that may influence a lyric or a beat, but by the time those congeal into a song we’re probably just thinking about friend’s bands like the Ruby Suns or Thee Oh Sees. And whether the song would stoke them if we played a show together.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
I’d steal a line from Tupac: “Only God can judge me”.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
Well, I want the record to sell a few copies so Mr Phil Ek can keep going to the dog track every day, and in all seriousness I think we all just want to maintain or improve upon our ability to tour and bring friends on the road. Also if we could get a song in a Tom Cruise movie…
MORE>> www.dodosmusic.net
