Dappled Cities Interview - Photos - MP3

The latest Dappled Cities' album Granddance sat on the floor next to my door for a good 6 weeks before I ever opened the packaging. As is the fate of many CDs from bands I am not familiar with as they show up on my doorstep, I might have never opened it at all except that I accidentally stepped on it coming in very late one night, picked it up, cursed it, and then laid it in the chair in front of my desk. When I sat on it the next morning as I plopped myself down to check my email, it seemed the disk was begging me to listen to it. And so I did.

At first listen I was very surprised. It didn't sound like the same old indie rock I have grown accustom to over the years, and I was enthralled. Now, don't get me wrong, the music is definitely an experimental hybrid of this thing we have all agreed to classify as "indie," but it was more soaring, more lyrically interesting, more complex, more, can I be so bold as to say "avant-garde."

And so with one spin the record got what, in my house, is the ultimate upgrade - dropped into the CD player in my bathroom. Why is that an upgrade? Because I am not a morning person, at all, and if I am going to listen to something when I first get up, it has to be something I love, that is going to set the tone for the day, that is going to be uplifting and get the little gears in my head juiced up, it has to be something that gets me thinking and gets me excited - Granddance does all of this.

When I found out the band was not booked to play anywhere near my southern home, I knew a trip to NYC was in order. On July 13th Dappled Cities was booked to play a show at Mercury Lounge with The Jealous Girlfriends and Baresnard Lakes. Before the show I met the band at Max Fish on the LES for a drink and to chat them up - yes, my job rules...



Although the band, Hugh Boyce on drums, Alex Moore on bass and Tim Derricourt and Dave Rennick sharing guitar and vocal duties, have been playing together for a decade, with the more recent addition of Ned Cooke on keys, I was immediately struck by their youth, everyone in the band is 24, except for Alex who is the eldest at 25. I guess I was surprised due to the vast amounts of albums I listen to from bands in the same age range playing Brooklyn-style dance punk about taking drugs and trying to fuck Karen O. I can honestly say I still haven't figured out what the album Granddance is about and I actually really like that about it. Figuring it out is part of the fun! Of course, I'm not saying that the album is not a swirling drug reference in itself, I just get the feeling that it was more likely written within the comforts of a mushroom down comforter in a green field of grass rather than a paranoia fueled coke binge in a dirty bathroom.



Even the name Dappled Cities seems to imply a drug reference, however the band claims it's actually just a misheard Bjork lyric. The band's original name actually had the word "Fly" on the end - an additional implied reference, however, if the name is somehow derived from some sort of hallucinatory experience, the band is keeping mum about it.

"We came up with it when we were quite young, we were listening to Bjork song and we stole it, we don't actually know what it means" explains Dave.

"It was Bjork's poor pronunciation that spawned it" adds Hugh.

Granddance is actually the band's second album, although their first to be released in the states on their new label Dangerbird (which so far has my vote for label of the year!). According to Wikipedia:

Dappled Cities Fly's several early single and EP releases were critically well received and played Australia-wide on various radio stations. Their first album, A Smile, after several years in the making, was released in late 2004 and featured as album of the week on radio stations FBi and Triple J, in most of the Sydney street press and in various other media. Sydney Morning Herald reviewer Bernard Zuel wrote of A Smile that it "weaves between lo-fi indie rock, oddly bent pop and a kind of big-emotion, big-gesture music that seems refracted through a vaguely hallucinogenic mirror".

While the band started out playing Nirvana songs, in a relatively short period of time the band were, in their own words, able to "hit the ceiling" in their home country of Australia. A decision had to be made to move to the band to England or The States in order to further their world-wide domination. So, of course, the band chose NYC as their new home, they arrived a mere three days before we sat down together. With their previous visits the band admits they fell in love with America culturally and realized the positive aspects of signing with a mid-sized label like Dangerbird.

"Just the whole music scene here in America appeals to us more also" says Alex.

"Australia just copies America culturally anyway" says Dave.

"There's definitely more American bands that we want to play with that English bands" adds Tim. "Oh, and we wanted to move to America because of the movie Money Train featuring Wesley Snipes."

I have no idea what that means and I am not going to mention drugs again...

So, back to the music:

"With the new album we wanted to make an album instead of a collection of random songs" explains Dave. "We didn't discuss much we just rolled with the punches. This is our second record, the first record was songs that had been around since the beginning, but the second one was one that we spent time working on."

It was actually a chance meeting their manager had with Jim Fairchild, formerly of Grandaddy (which had nothing to do with the name of the album, btw) in a bar in Los Angeles that brought them to where they are today. Demos were passed, interest was taken, and Fairchild ended up producing the album during two sessions in the states funded by their new label (which also happens to be the home of Fairchild's own new project All Smiles - which has nothing to do with the title of Dappled Cities last album either, I assume).

The result is a soaring, romantic roller coaster ride full of cryptic lyrics and lots of fantastic melodies.

"I think we are more kind of a ponderous band that's inspired by things that go around us" says Tim. "A huge inspiration for us is live performance, what motivates us to write is how it sounds live."

Seeing the band later in the evening seemed to prove this point. Tim's and Dave's voices almost act as a 6th instrument, blending together beautifully at times, while also formulating an intricate call and response at others. While most of the crowd hung back with arms folded, I danced in the front not being able to keep myself from bouncing to the beat. Of course, that's NYC for you, but Dappled Cities was able to win many of indie's most jaded critics over as the crowd inched slowly closer to the stage and began to have their own trouble deciding whether to hold their posture or give in to the boisterous beats.










In the end, it was a very exciting night, for both myself and the band. The band was extremely cool and even invited my friend and me to come over to Brooklyn later to hear the band DJ at Galapagos. Just a few days later they were scheduled to go on tour with Tokyo Police Club and The Frattelli's - whoever booked that line-up should get a raise. It was quite energizing to see a band "on the verge" who seems to not be ashamed to be excited. Want to know what they are so excited about?

"We have some places we definitely want to see on tour, for instance outside of Indianapolis is the largest ball of paint, and in Texas there is a museum of menstruation and in Philadelphia we are all gonna visit the museum of bad art - so yeah, we're excited."

I said I wouldn't mention drugs again...


Dappled Cities - Within Hours - MP3

Product Description
Described variably as a "cross between Pavement, The Flaming Lips, and an episode of Sesame Street" as well as "some kind of weird s**t that just rocks." "Granddance" was produced by Jim Fairchild (Grandaddy), Peter Walker, and Jacquire King (Modest Mouse, Tom Waits, Kings Of Leon). "Fun exuberant indie-pop that's weird enough to be interesting and familiar enough to be indelibly catchy" - Rolling Stone.





Want more? Listen to my interview with Alex and hear 5 tracks from the album Granddance

The Bloggeratti: http://www.breakthruradio.com/index.php?show=1551

More Photos by Drue Diehl

"Vision Bell"


Read Tim's version of the evening

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