Midlake is both out of time and way ahead of it. The Denton, Texas band's 2006 release, The Trials of Van Occupanther, was not only an inspired set of sadly gorgeous psychedelic pastoral rock, but also got both fans and bloggers re-evaluating dormant sonic ancestors like Fleetwood Mac, America, Crosby Stills, Nash and Young and Bread"music that has been embedded in the indie world's unconscious (Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear) ever since. On their third album, The Courage of Others, Midlake are still themselves and yet completely reinvented, so much so that between the time they started working on the record and the time they finished it, the title track was re-recorded down to every note, simply because they'd turned into a more accomplished and ambitious band. "It didn't sound like us anymore," says frontman and songwriter Tim Smith.
Produced and recorded by the band "Smith, guitarist Eric Pulido, drummer McKenzie Smith, bassist Paul Alexander and keyboardist Eric Nichelson"at their own studio (and mixed by Centromatic's Matt Pence at The Echo Lab), The Courage of Others is a stunning distillation of Midlake's gift for heartbreaking melodies and ornate soundscapes"songs like "Winter Dies' and "Core of Nature" have both the epic sweep of early prog-rock and the fingers-on-guitar-strings rawness of acoustic music. To call it "eagerly awaited" is an understatement"the disc appeared on Under the Radar's "Most Anticipated Albums" list for both 2008 and 2009.
After coming off the road behind ...Van Occupanther, "we spent probably a year just trying to figure out what we wanted to sound like," says Smith. New influences took hold, both classic and contemporary, from British folk to Russian cinema. The Courage of Others' cover art was inspired by Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rubleev. "Art is born and takes hold wherever there is a timeless and insatiable longing for the spiritual, for the ideal," Tarkovsky once said. And the ideal, well... it doesn't happen overnight. Or easily.
Like a lot of bands in Denton, which is just a little north (but certainly not part) of Dallas, Midlake had its genesis at the University of North Texas music program"Smith was a trained saxophonist with no history of playing rock or punk"then followed their own muse. "Probably some of the guys in the band would say they feel like they've gotten worse technically," says guitarist Eric Pulido, who didn't have the formal training of his cohorts, having attended more stodgy Texas A&M. "You come up here and there's just people setting up shop in houses playing music"just a community of artists. It's very magical to me." The Denton scene has caught the ear of Bella Union boss and former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde several times; Midlake were first recommended to him by Lift to Experience, and their friend and collabator Robert Gomez is also on the label.
Once out of school, Smith discovered less is more when it came to writing rock'n'roll. Despite the band's intricate sound and painstaking recording process, his goal as musician is quite simple. "What we're always trying to achieve," he says, "is a sound that I feel really emotional about." It's a paradox of being in the studio that you don't necessarily get the most natural sound in the most "natural" way"i.e., by recording live. But after Smith brought in a few songs on his four track"a process that, improbably, still makes him nervous"the band did set up all together in a room to start. Pulido says they were able to relax un-self-consciously into the music because they knew the finished versions were still many hours and days away.
"We set up the mics, work up the songs and then it's like, 'ok, sounds cool, now let's go do the real thing,'" he says. "Then you start adding more and before you know it"that's it, that's the track... and we've recorded it 15 times." he says. This perfectionism is more metaphyiscal than technical"Smith has no problem leaving in a musical mistake or going back to something from a demo if it contributes to the truest version of the song.
But because of the band's arduous approach, it wasn't until January of 2008 that The Courage of Others really came together"and it took leaving the studio for that to happen. "We just needed a breath of fresh air," says Pulido. "When I was young, I used to go out to this farm (the Sand Hill Ranch, in Buffalo, TX). We'd hunt and fish and cook out. I called up the family that owns it and they let us come hang out." They brought their instruments and some recording gear, just to fool around. "We worked on one song, "Core of Nature," kind of by accident," says Smith. "I didn't really have it all written, but it just turned out." The song title comes from a Goethe quote that Smith had been using as both inspiration and a kind of placeholder for melody and chord progression. "Then I realized I would never write a better phrase." After returning from this little field trip, the entire record came together"a seven or eight month recording process after what you might call 18 months of "pre-production"
While some bands play it coy about their influences, Smith remains an unabashed lover of music who considers new discoveries a vital part of his creative process. He never shied away from Fleetwood Mac comparisons, and, with increasingly more flute on The Courage of Others (a proxy for Smith's saxophone, which he doesn't think fits into Midlake's sound) he'll own up to Jethro Tull as well. When you're making confident music that achieves its own originality and beauty, you're not afraid to give credit where its due. British prog-folk bands like Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Amazing Blondel and the Strawbs also caught Smith's attention as he woodshedded before writing and recording. Attempts to incorporate mandolin, dulcimer and autoharp into the record ultimately didn't happen, but the folk vibe meant Nichelson barely ever played piano or keyboard (opting instead for more guitar and TK?).
While Smith says he didn't even know it at the time, the song "Winter Dies" echoes a lyric by James Spheeris, the late 1970s cult figure (and brother of director Penelope) best known for Isle of View. "My favorite album of all time," says Smith. "Nothing can top it. "There's just something special about it to me." All the lyrics have an abstract quality, the way they feel as much as what they say, "A lot of times for me there's certain words that sound good when I sing them, but also lots of physical and geogaphrical rooting: rain, land, woods, valley ground, skies. What people heard as Americana-ish on Van Occupanther, Smith thought of more as the Bavarian Forest or the British countryside. But one song on the new record, "Small Mountain," is inspired by his parent's old place in Bandera, Texas, just outside the Hill Country.
Guest musicians. Violinist Fiona Brice briefly on "In the Ground," Stephanie Dosen, vocals on "Bring Down" (did it in person which made a difference). The band has also added another guitar player Max Townsley, as well as Jesse Chandler from Robert Gomez's band"he played harpsichord on The Courage of Others but will pick up many of Smith's flute parts live. Midlake also remains tight with actor Jason Lee, who directed the "Balloon Maker" video and has been working on documentary about the band, possibly for a DVD or limited edition version of the album.
The opening song, "Acts of Man," was an anomaly, as it was reoorded in a mere five days. "That never happens for us!" says Smith. "I guess on average it took about a month per song, but that's who we are. That's how long it takes us to arrange the songs and figure out the best way to make something beautiful."
Produced and recorded by the band "Smith, guitarist Eric Pulido, drummer McKenzie Smith, bassist Paul Alexander and keyboardist Eric Nichelson"at their own studio (and mixed by Centromatic's Matt Pence at The Echo Lab), The Courage of Others is a stunning distillation of Midlake's gift for heartbreaking melodies and ornate soundscapes"songs like "Winter Dies' and "Core of Nature" have both the epic sweep of early prog-rock and the fingers-on-guitar-strings rawness of acoustic music. To call it "eagerly awaited" is an understatement"the disc appeared on Under the Radar's "Most Anticipated Albums" list for both 2008 and 2009.
After coming off the road behind ...Van Occupanther, "we spent probably a year just trying to figure out what we wanted to sound like," says Smith. New influences took hold, both classic and contemporary, from British folk to Russian cinema. The Courage of Others' cover art was inspired by Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rubleev. "Art is born and takes hold wherever there is a timeless and insatiable longing for the spiritual, for the ideal," Tarkovsky once said. And the ideal, well... it doesn't happen overnight. Or easily.
Like a lot of bands in Denton, which is just a little north (but certainly not part) of Dallas, Midlake had its genesis at the University of North Texas music program"Smith was a trained saxophonist with no history of playing rock or punk"then followed their own muse. "Probably some of the guys in the band would say they feel like they've gotten worse technically," says guitarist Eric Pulido, who didn't have the formal training of his cohorts, having attended more stodgy Texas A&M. "You come up here and there's just people setting up shop in houses playing music"just a community of artists. It's very magical to me." The Denton scene has caught the ear of Bella Union boss and former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde several times; Midlake were first recommended to him by Lift to Experience, and their friend and collabator Robert Gomez is also on the label.
Once out of school, Smith discovered less is more when it came to writing rock'n'roll. Despite the band's intricate sound and painstaking recording process, his goal as musician is quite simple. "What we're always trying to achieve," he says, "is a sound that I feel really emotional about." It's a paradox of being in the studio that you don't necessarily get the most natural sound in the most "natural" way"i.e., by recording live. But after Smith brought in a few songs on his four track"a process that, improbably, still makes him nervous"the band did set up all together in a room to start. Pulido says they were able to relax un-self-consciously into the music because they knew the finished versions were still many hours and days away.
"We set up the mics, work up the songs and then it's like, 'ok, sounds cool, now let's go do the real thing,'" he says. "Then you start adding more and before you know it"that's it, that's the track... and we've recorded it 15 times." he says. This perfectionism is more metaphyiscal than technical"Smith has no problem leaving in a musical mistake or going back to something from a demo if it contributes to the truest version of the song.
But because of the band's arduous approach, it wasn't until January of 2008 that The Courage of Others really came together"and it took leaving the studio for that to happen. "We just needed a breath of fresh air," says Pulido. "When I was young, I used to go out to this farm (the Sand Hill Ranch, in Buffalo, TX). We'd hunt and fish and cook out. I called up the family that owns it and they let us come hang out." They brought their instruments and some recording gear, just to fool around. "We worked on one song, "Core of Nature," kind of by accident," says Smith. "I didn't really have it all written, but it just turned out." The song title comes from a Goethe quote that Smith had been using as both inspiration and a kind of placeholder for melody and chord progression. "Then I realized I would never write a better phrase." After returning from this little field trip, the entire record came together"a seven or eight month recording process after what you might call 18 months of "pre-production"
While some bands play it coy about their influences, Smith remains an unabashed lover of music who considers new discoveries a vital part of his creative process. He never shied away from Fleetwood Mac comparisons, and, with increasingly more flute on The Courage of Others (a proxy for Smith's saxophone, which he doesn't think fits into Midlake's sound) he'll own up to Jethro Tull as well. When you're making confident music that achieves its own originality and beauty, you're not afraid to give credit where its due. British prog-folk bands like Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Amazing Blondel and the Strawbs also caught Smith's attention as he woodshedded before writing and recording. Attempts to incorporate mandolin, dulcimer and autoharp into the record ultimately didn't happen, but the folk vibe meant Nichelson barely ever played piano or keyboard (opting instead for more guitar and TK?).
While Smith says he didn't even know it at the time, the song "Winter Dies" echoes a lyric by James Spheeris, the late 1970s cult figure (and brother of director Penelope) best known for Isle of View. "My favorite album of all time," says Smith. "Nothing can top it. "There's just something special about it to me." All the lyrics have an abstract quality, the way they feel as much as what they say, "A lot of times for me there's certain words that sound good when I sing them, but also lots of physical and geogaphrical rooting: rain, land, woods, valley ground, skies. What people heard as Americana-ish on Van Occupanther, Smith thought of more as the Bavarian Forest or the British countryside. But one song on the new record, "Small Mountain," is inspired by his parent's old place in Bandera, Texas, just outside the Hill Country.
Guest musicians. Violinist Fiona Brice briefly on "In the Ground," Stephanie Dosen, vocals on "Bring Down" (did it in person which made a difference). The band has also added another guitar player Max Townsley, as well as Jesse Chandler from Robert Gomez's band"he played harpsichord on The Courage of Others but will pick up many of Smith's flute parts live. Midlake also remains tight with actor Jason Lee, who directed the "Balloon Maker" video and has been working on documentary about the band, possibly for a DVD or limited edition version of the album.
The opening song, "Acts of Man," was an anomaly, as it was reoorded in a mere five days. "That never happens for us!" says Smith. "I guess on average it took about a month per song, but that's who we are. That's how long it takes us to arrange the songs and figure out the best way to make something beautiful."
