…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead’s Jason Reece picked up the phone for a long-distance interview with GreenShoelace this weekend. The band is in the middle of the US leg of their worldwide tour in the wake of their latest release, Century of Self.
GSL: Where is Trail Of Dead as we speak?
JR: We’re in San Diego. We’ve been touring for about seven months now.
GSL: How has the tour been going so far?
JR: It’s been great. There have done some amazing shows, and we’ve been all over the world, literally. We went to Europe a few times, then to the US and Canada, and then to Australia and New Zealand, and now we’re back in the states. It’s been wild. We’ve had some…adventurous and interesting moments. We had the chance to go the White House and hang out behind the scenes with this diplomat, and meet Obama’s dog, Bo.
GSL: No way! How did that happen?
JR: Well, there’s this diplomat, Ben Chang, and he’s a DJ and a fashion and rock photographer by night, but a diplomat for the National Security Council by day. So he just does that for bands; if they want to go behind the scenes and check out the West Wing and meet ex-actors like Kal Penn, who I guess is now the head of Asian-American Affairs. You know Kumar, from Harold and Kumar? He quit acting and works for Obama. We were walking down a hallway in the White House, and out pops Kal Penn, and it’s like, “That’s the guy who smokes weed in that movie.” But he had a suit and tie on; he’s a busybody now.
Then in Australia we got to visit Steve Irwin’s zoo, which is more of a nature preserve. So we got to hang out with some wallabies, kangaroos, wombats, some koala bears. All these crazy Australian animals. So, we’ve been lucky to see some cool things while we’ve been traveling.
GSL: How’s your fanbase overseas?
JR: I think that we’re more popular over in Europe; it’s just that way. If we play in Europe we’re playing to 2000 people, or at a music festival. In American it’s different; you’re more popular in some places than others. America’s pretty vast, though, so I think that’s why.
GSL: The Trail Of Dead live show seems to have a reputation following it around. Can you describe what it’s like?
JR: We definitely let ourselves go and submit to playing the music. It’s a very visceral approach music. I think a lot of that stems from listening to the bands we grew up with; they’ve inspired us not just to stand around and play your music perfectly. It’s more about somehow conjuring up a moment in time and losing all grip with reality. That’s what we try to do. It’s like when you think of James Brown. If you watch some early videos of him, he’s just dancing his ass off, losing his mind. Or Fugazi. Watch Instrument, by Fugazi, it’s a really inspirational thing to see. It’s more important to be caught up in the music than anything.
GSL: Speaking of which, who else did you grow up listening to?
JR: The Who, The Sex Pistols, Iggy and the Stooges, Public Enemy. I’ve always liked people that put sweat into their music. When I see bands that are reserved on stage, it just doesn’t move me. I like bands that rock, and I want our band to be that way too.
GSL: Do you guys have a haunt that you like to come back to and play shows, or a favorite place you’ve played when touring?
JR: It depends. Sometimes New York City can be really great. Or Berlin. Sometimes we’ll have a really great show in a surprising city. Chicago last summer was great. I think it depends on the circumstances. We played a festival in Austin in the pouring rain a week ago—Austin City Limits—and it was crazy. The stage was flooded and we didn’t know if we’d be able to play, but we managed to keep the instruments away from the water. It made the show even more intense. And a lot of people who were watching didn’t leave, they came and they knew there was going to be rain. So everyone was wearing these multicolored raincoats, and you’d look out and see 20,000 different raincoats and umbrellas while it was pouring.
GSL: What were the circumstances surrounding Trail of Dead’s leaving Interscope Records?
JR: I think there were a couple of bands that were in the same boat. Nine Inch Nails were fed up with Interscope, and it seemed like all the rock bands on that label were. Interscope didn’t really have their priorities set on promoting rock music, to the point that Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Queens of the Stone Age are the only worthwhile bands that are on there now. We were sick of the bureaucracy of being on a major label. It’s a system that takes 200 people to make a choice, so to get anything done requires you to go through a huge amount of people. On an independent label, there are fewer people involved, decisions get made a lot quicker, and it becomes your responsibility. On the one hand, a major label is kind of like a cash machine, which can be great, but once you’ve released three albums, you realize that they don’t really care. A lot of the people who did care had left or been fired by the time we left. Why would you want to work with people who are promoting the next Pussy Cat Dolls or Gwen Stefani album? Is that really who we’re competing against? It’s fucking ridiculous. And I hate to say that we think we’re better than these bands, but in a way we feel that we are.
It’s a decision that’s worked out so far. We’ve distributed our album around the world. The only problem I have with it is that we haven’t put out a vinyl version of Century of Self yet.
GSL: Are you looking into getting that pressed anytime soon?
JR: I’m hoping that we will. It would be nice to get it done this year, but we’ve been focusing on being on tour.
GSL: Did being on an independent label again change the way you went into the studio to record ‘Century of Self’?
JR: That part was never really a problem. When we would make records, we had a pretty hands off approach as far as Interscope was concerned. They didn’t meddle in our recording process and they left us alone. We’ve been doing what we’ve always been doing: trying to make a really good record. There were elements of budget issues, but that makes you get creative. We used Logic a lot to build tracks and make demos.
GSL: How have you changed your approach to playing music over the years since the S/T album?
JR: I think it’s always going to be different. We’re always going to be working on new ideas. When we did our first record it took us a week. Same with the second record; we basically snuck into the studio. We were stealing studio time. The engineer would have bands in the studio all day to make money, and at night we would sneak in and do some illegal recording. So that was a little different.
But of course every album’s a new experience. We recorded Century of Self half in Austin and half in New York. There was a real contrast between being in the middle of the Lower East Side, where everyone’s rushing somewhere, and the really relaxed, slacker vibe that Austin has. So it depends on the context.
GSL: What are you listening to these days?
JR: Iron Maiden. Siouxsie & The Banshees. The Somewhere In Time by Iron Maiden, and a lot of old footage of live Siouxsie shows. The drumming on it is crazy; Budgie from Siouxsie & The Banshees is really great. You should check that out. Also Flight 666 by Iron Maiden, where they fly all over the world, and Bruce Dickinson is the pilot of the plane, carrying the equipment and the band. It’s so funny.
Here’s the rest of Trail Of Dead’s North American tour:
10.12 — Portland, OR — Dante’s $
10.13 — Seattle, WA — Neumo’s $
10.14 — Vancouver, Canada — The Venue $
10.16 — Edmonton, Canada — The Starlite Room $
10.17 — Calgary, Canada — The Warehouse $
10.19 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Urban Lounge $
10.20 — Denver, CO — Bluebird Theater $
10.23 — Oklahoma City, OK — The Conservatory $
* — with the Secret Machines
$ — with Future of the Left
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