TV on the Radio Pick Up Award, New Band Member
James Gregory reports:

Can we now officially name TV on the Radio, "the underground Santana"? Because at yet another indie-centric awards shows, the band recently walked away with Album of the Year for their 2004 effort Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes-- this time at last week's Plug Awards. The Plug Awards were held at New York's Webster Hall on February 9 and saw the band up against a group of 10 other artists, including !!!, Ted Leo, Joanna Newsom, Tom Waits, and Sufjan Stevens. Since 2001, the Plug Awards have become one of the indie scene's most prominent soirées, with voting handled by fans in such forward-thinking categories as Avant Album of the Year, Record Store of the Year, and Internet Radio Station of the Year.

The Plug win marks the second major indie-level award for TV on the Radio, who picked up the Shortlist Prize late last year. But the fun and adulation doesn't stop there, as the band is also nominated for "Top Musical Artist for 2005" at WIRED Magazine's upcoming Rave Awards. Designed to shed light on innovators in fields as diverse as music, business, architecture, and video games (among others), the five finalists for each category are selected by the magazine's editors and will be awarded on February 22. According to the Touch and Go's website, WIRED editor-in-chief Chris Anderson recently claimed: "TV On The Radio is among an eclectic mix of people who are changing the world by doing something truly new. They are innovators who have thrilled and inspired us and shown us what is possible." Other nominees up for the award include Björk, Prince, Danger Mouse, and the Streets.

Perhaps to dilute all this unfettered praise, TV on the Radio have also recently taken on a sixth member, according to the Touch and Go website. Robert Lowe, who is best known for vocal/bass duties in Chicago-based outfit 90 Day Men first joined the band for a live set opening for George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Apparently, he'll be a full-time contributer, both live and on record. The site also has a bit of info about the follow-up to Desperate Youth, which may be coming a bit sooner than we thought: "The band is currently in New York City working on new material and plans to have the album finished in time for a Fall 2005 release."

As they toil away on the new disc, TV on the Radio have yet to announce any touring plans for this year. But seeing as how the band headed a massive world tour late last year (obviously bribing awards show judges in their spare time), this isn't the biggest surprise. We'll keep you updated on the album and dates.

A new album this year? 2005 keeps getting better and better!

j.

Formed in 2001 as a duo of David Andrew Sitek and Tunde Adebimpe, Brooklyn’s TV on the Radio first burst on the scene in 2003 with their Touch-and-Go release, Young Liars EP. Almost overnight the band became the new indie-darlings from New York with their undeniable dance-floor hit "Staring at the Sun", making their debut album, Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, one of the most anticipated indie releases of 2004. At this point there was a lot of NME-type hype, perhaps too much hype surrounding a band that had released so little. Yet their debut LP did not disappoint, making its way onto many 2004 year-end lists, including our very own Dr. Heinrich Odom’s, with its post-rock, experimental/eschatological anthems. Proving that the cream usually rises to the top, TV on the Radio enter 2005 with optimism to sell, as they ended 2004 with expansive tours across our country’s blue and red territories with the Pixies and the Faint.

Truth be told, however, the history of the band goes back much further than their short-lived fame may lead you to believe. They should not be mixed-up with some other bands who immigrated to New York in hopes of being confused as New York scenesters or others who just look the part. If any band is responsible for creating a "scene" in the big city, which is itself up for debate, it may very well be TV on the Radio. Both Sitek and Adebimpe were fixtures in the bohemian Brooklyn hipster scene long before, though interestingly enough not as musicians, but as visual artists, with the former specializing in abstract painting and the latter in slow-motion animation. In true Goethe fashion, the multi-talented Sitek even found inspiration to produce the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Machine EP and their first full-length, Fever to Tell.

Heraclitus phoned Sitek as he was visiting a music store in Brooklyn to discuss all things ranging from their origins, the so-called NYC scene, and most importantly, 19th century hermeneutic Friedrich Schleiermacher, and the idea of translation (Philosophie der Übersetzung) as related philosophically to concepts of music production. Incidentally, due to his lack of understanding of modern recording technology, the interview left Heraclitus scratching his head wondering why the band curiously omitted the 30 second vocal intro of "Staring at the Sun" found on the Young Liars EP from the LP. Weren't many of you wondering the same thing?
___________________

Heraclitus: I saw you guys play in Greensboro, NC last year, and your performance was very different from the music that you’ve released on record—almost like the band has a split personality, one live and one on record. Do you prefer playing live or recording?

Dave: Um, I don’t know if I prefer either. I appreciate aspects of both. With playing live you can get away with driving a song through people’s heads with a giant brick whereas recording is more time consuming, but with more freedom. But I have to say I don’t have a preference, per se.

Heraclitus: Compared to your live show, which had gospel-style energy, your albums sound restrained (though still excellent). Why do you take such a different approach to performing live and to working in the studio?

Dave: I think the studio albums are more subdued., at least "desperate youth". But I think to go to a smaller club and hear slow songs is kind of lame. The next album could be different, who knows? But we wanted a higher energy live show because we were playing smaller shows.

Heraclitus: I’m not sure if other fans of your stuff feel this way, but both your EP and your album appeal to me, in part, because they sound like they only could have come from a New York band. Have you guys always lived in New York, or did you move to the city fairly recently? How did the band get together?

Dave: I moved in with Sunday in 2001. I moved from Baltimore. Everyone else has been in New York longer than I. Everyone else is from Pittsburgh, Louisville, and long island. Sunday and I just started making music in the kitchen--Young Liars was recorded in the bedroom. Young Liars was just the two of us, with Sunday. Now there are 5 of us.

Heraclitus: New York has already been home to what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest movements in 20th century art, the CBGB’s scene in the late ‘70’s—not to mention bands like the Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls before that, and Sonic Youth later on. All these bands were avant-garde rockers in one way or another—as a young, arty band from NYC, do you ever feel the weight of this history? Do you feel like you have something to live up to?

Dave: I don’t think u can live up to those bands, that’s just too much. But even if u could it would take 20 years for people to appreciate it anyway. People wouldn’t say that you’re the greatest band since Television even if you were, it would take the passage of time for it to sink in. Either way, we don’t think about that now. That would be too much to consider. We’re just doing what we’re doing and not even thinking about it.

Heraclitus: There’s been a lot of talk in the past couple of years about a "revival" in New York rock, with bands such as yourselves, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Strokes, Liars, Interpol, et al leading the way. You’ve produced the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and members of that band and Liars played on your EP. Do you think of TVOTR and these other bands as a movement of sorts? If so, could you share your thoughts on why this movement is happening now, and/or what you guys and these other bands have in common?

Dave: Well I think the only thing we have in common is that we’re all pretty good friends. I would say all of my production work with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Liars are completely different sounding entities. Each is adapted to their own unique sound. As far as a NYC movement, we’re just in close proximity to each other. I don’t know, I think what’s going on in New York is that press is now starting to pay attention to it. I think the whole NY revival is a product of the press. There have always been great bands in NY they just didn’t get on a label all in the same year.

Heraclitus: Now we’re going to get into some of the heavier stuff, more specifically about your role as producer with TVOTR and other bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Do you think of the producer as someone who is basically a technician at the service of the band he/she is recording, or do you see the producer as more of an artist in his/her own right?

Dave: Um, well I think a person who is a technician is an engineer. A producer can and does interfere/enhance the recording process. I’d have to say I’m a royal pain in the ass as a producer. I definitely think there is an interference--whether it’s a positive or negative that remains to be seen. For instance, I’ll hear things a different way and sometimes I’ll trick the band into hearing it my way. I think its mainly out of curiosity, ‘what would happen if ____’ I’m a lousy engineer, haha, I have a tendency to break equipment because I don’t know exactly what I’m doing.

Heraclitus: In his work on hermeneutics, 19th century German philosopher/jack-of-all-trades Friedrich Schleiermacher claimed that the best interpreters can understand an author better than an author understands himself—in other words, they bring to light "hidden" meanings in the author’s work. In a way, the producer is an interpreter of a band’s music, especially when it comes to a ferocious live band like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. When you produce an album, do you ever feel like you’re trying to bring out a "hidden" aspect of a band’s sound? Are you trying, in effect, to understand the band better than they understand themselves?

Dave: I don’t know if I’d say "better" than they understand themselves. A lot of times you don’t want them to be misunderstood. Sometimes they might be a little ‘gun-shy’ in a static studio environment. You’ve got to push that aspect. I think it has to do with making it so they don’t "overlook" some aspects of their work. Regarding my work with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs went on tour with them and was their guitar technician. I knew what their live sound was live, how they were personally. I knew there was quiet moments, which you wouldn’t get from just reading their press releases, and wanted to make sure that was translated. I think a lot of that comes from being trapped in a minivan with them going around from city to city.

Heraclitus: The development of recording technology over the past few decades has been astounding. I had a friend at college last year who took an electronic music course, and one time I visited him in the studio the class used to record and edit their music. I remember being amazed at the sheer number of options they had at their disposal—the synthesizer voices, effects, filters, equalizers, etc. How do you approach the recording studio as an instrument? Do you place constraints on yourself regarding what kind of technology you’ll use when you record, or do you take an "anything goes" approach?

Dave: I will definitely say an anything goes approach. I started on a 4-track then 8-track, then 16-track digital, then Pro Tools. I think the affordability of the home studio allows access to this equipment to people who wouldn’t otherwise have access. But it’s a double edged sword because some artists won’t get "developed" by the big labels from a financial standpoint if you can ‘finish’ an album in a home studio. They won’t invest like $15,000 in making your record if some other bands are already handing them the final product. You can now record an album in your bedroom. I think it’s the greatest thing ever. These new technologies have liberated music. Now you don’t need coke and a limo to be a rock-star. You just need intuition.

Heraclitus: Do you ever use pitch correction on vocals?

Dave: I never use pitch correction on vocals. Mainly just on symbols. I would say it’s impossible to have a singer sound natural on vocals with pro Tools. But I don’t play favorites–if it works Ill use it. But generally it sounds awful. Then again, it sounds really cool on some other stuff.

Heraclitus: This question is just a bit of curiosity on my part. "Staring at the Sun" is my favorite songs of yours, and I was wondering why you decided to scrap the 30-second vocal intro on the EP version when you put the song on "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes."

Dave: Uhh, minutes per side on vinyl. Cuz’ once you get over 23 minutes a side u lose the bass response on vinyl.

Who has listened to Ok Calculator ?

me
"on a train" is very good

I just downloaded that song yesterday...I still haven't found all the songs
from that album...but Freeway and Say you do are pretty cool.

I've only heard the ones included on the Staring At The Sun single. I'd love to have the whole set.

j.

it isnt that hard to find

Perhaps, but given that I don't use P2P software you can probably imagine the difficulty I've had to this point.

j.

Heraclitus: This question is just a bit of curiosity on my part. "Staring at the Sun" is my favorite songs of yours, and I was wondering why you decided to scrap the 30-second vocal intro on the EP version when you put the song on "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes."

Dave: Uhh, minutes per side on vinyl. Cuz’ once you get over 23 minutes a side u lose the bass response on vinyl.

Wear you out. Sexy.