Comets on Fire Interview
VI: There is a vast array of musical bases that come across in Comets on Fire’s wall of sound. What are some of your collective influences?NVH: We're all record collectors who have been passionate about music for years so our collective influences are relatively vast and extend way beyond classic rock records. As far as rock stuff we're certainly influenced by everything from Hendrix and Zeppelin and Procol Harum to more obscure bands like Keiji Haino and Mainliner and High Rise (from Japan).
VI: On the bands Myspace page, you’re listed as the “savage analog electronicist and vocal echoplex player.” Could you go into that description a little more? It’s pretty vivid.
NVH: The myspace page uses the one sheet for Blue Cathedral written by the legendary Julian Cope. Basically, I play pile of old electronics in the way that somebody plays an instrument. A synthesizer would be a good example. The "rig" contains an old tape delay that we send the vocals thru among other things from time to time. I also use a few oscillators and some feedback circuits. These are all intended to color sound of the songs.
VI: There is a solid group of bands sprouting up these days, such as you guys, Brightblack Morning Light, Black Mountain, Ethan’s band Howlin Rain and even My Morning Jacket to name a few, who seem fully intent on bringing back the glory of late-60’s, early 70’s psychedelic rock. Is this just a manifestation of a generation of kids who grew up listening to their parents’ old Pink Floyd records? What do you attribute it to?
NVH: I think I would attribute it to us being record nerds. For some reason it seems that record collectors eventually gravitate to that late 1960's-early 1970's era, whether it be simply rock music or the jazz happening at that time or even some of the new electronic pieces released by classical composers. It was a monumental era for a lot of different reasons, I'm not sure which would be the most definitive. Some of the most mind shattering moments in musical history happened to occur during that era and it echoes effortlessly like the big bang and the perpetual expanding of our solar system.
VI: In your perfect world, what genre would you ascribe to Comets on Fire?
NVH: "Rockin' blues."
VI: I’ve turned a lot of people on to your music, from college-age friends to my 60-year-old dad, and everyone that has given a listen really digs. Do you consider yourself as a band doing something that hasn’t been done as well in 30 years or a band doing something that has never been done before?
NVH: I'm not sure. We don't consider ourselves in terms like that very often. I mean, we're just trying to play rock music that is thrilling and hopefully creates (to a degree) a transcendental experience for the listener. On one hand I would say that we're definitely doing something that's never been done before because we're playing music that is informed by an era from 30 years ago but we no intention to simply emulate it. We try to utilize those influences as foundations in aspiring to something more than emulation. I mean, even if a critic wrote us off as some kind of 70's rock hacks (which I'm sure has happened) doesn't account for the fact that there is a musician who basically plays noise over the top of everything. That coupled with the fact that we've recorded more than a few songs where the vocals are ferociously screamed and howled, unlike your typical "70's rock revival band." But honestly I don't usually like to talk about OUR perceptions of the band because we don't consider it in our creative process, at least not in that way. These things are what critics spend their time doing. Hopefully they treat us gently and all of our albums won't be in the bargain bin in 2 years.
VI: Y’all seem intent on bringing back the 9-minute song, as well as the shorter track-wise, longer length-wise album, which I think is badass. Is this intentional or is it just something that happens in the writing process?
NVH: It just kind of happens. I mean, we're not trying to package a riff, chorus, and hook all into 3 minutes. There is no room for that mentality in Comets; we tend to explore each song immensely before deciding what will exactly go into it. Usually we find more than 3 minutes worth of ideas that we feel need to find their way into the song. Of course, this is also why we will never have a single. We tend to explore as many angles of our songs as possible before calling them "done." That's kind of bullshit because in a lot of ways I don't think most of our songs are ever done. There's just a documented version of the songs the way they were being played when we were in the studio. The "exploration" or jamming sort of continues on...not so much in a jam band kind of way but in a much more subtle way. During the writing process we are extremely democratic which is ultimately rewarding but also very slow and often painful. Ultimately this allows us to arrive at finished pieces that we are collectively proud of and (hopefully) more refined than if we operated on a solo songwriter scenario.
VI: What are some of your favorite bands you’ve gotten the chance to perform with?
NVH: Sonic Youth, The Melvins, Om, Mudhoney, Burning Star Core, Wolf Eyes, Flaherty/Corsano, Caveira, Oneida, Awesome Color, Soldiers of Fortune, Major Stars, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound to name a few, but I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot.
VI: Do you see the band making it back to North Carolina any time soon?
NVH: Hopefully! Our touring schedule has become much more focused on shorter and more concentrated excursions. Of course we all have day jobs, families, and wives or girlfriends so it's not easy for us to be on tour all of the time.
