“Two” wurde schon in der Radiosendung gespielt. Bald wird hier auch das Album “Hospice” besprochen. The Antlers mischen die Bedroomdisco ganz schön auf. Völlig zurecht! Es besteht ja auch nicht immer die Notwendigkeit der Dancefloor-Eroberung. Spread Love For Great Music ist das Thema und das heißt, gefühlvolle Musik findet hier auch Gehör.
Und gefühlvolle Musik wird bei The Antlers ganz groß geschrieben. Begonnen als Solo Projekt von Peter Silberman, bestehen The Antlers nun aus Peter Silberman, Michael Lerner und Darby Cicci. Und diese Band macht mehr als nur eindimensionale Musik: schon beim ersten Hören ist man hingerissen und kann nicht genug bekommen. Um den Wunsch nach mehr zu befriedigen haben wir hier eine gute Nachricht: das Interview.
Also ab gehts, und bitte nicht vergessen die CD mitlaufen zu lassen!

1.) Band facts

– Name: The Antlers
– Band members: Michael Lerner, Peter Silberman, Darby Cicci
– Founding year: maybe 2007.
– Residence: Brooklyn, NY
– Current album: Hospice

2.) Questionnaire:

– How did you come up with your band name?
Peter came up with that. I don’t think there was a ton of thought put into it. He told me it was from the Microphones song called “Antlers”. It’s just a name now and we don’t really think about it. It just is what it is.

– How did you become a band?
Peter was playing solo for awhile and we were all involved in other music projects. I was asked by the old bass player if I’d come play trumpet at some shows with some other guys Peter knew. It kind of evolved from there and ended up just me Peter and Michael about a year and a half ago.

– How would you describe your musical style?
Ethereal, transcendental dream pop.

– Which musical influences do you have?
My laptop right now says I have 3,686 albums currently on it. I’ve listened to about 70% of those and have been “influenced” positively by about 20% of them. So it’s complicated I guess, but right now I listen to a lot of electronic music and IDM, but I still listen to a lot of indie rock and post rock and classic stuff. Right now I’m obsessed with the Modeselektor/Apparat/Moderat trifecta, but I’m just as obsessed with the new the new Broadcast, Beach House and Flaming Lips records.

– What are you as a band/musician doing at the moment?
Right now I’m listening to Beach House on headphones and riding in the van from Glasgow to Manchester and it’s raining pretty hard outside. Very gloomy and moody. On a grander scale, we in the middle of a three week European tour that ends in Ireland. Then we go home to Brooklyn, play at Bowery Ballroom, and then we have about a month and a half of recording a new record until we go on tour again in February.

– It took two years for recording “Hospice” – why did it take so long?
Is that a long time? It’s not really a long time I don’t think, especially when you have the time and you record it yourself. You have time to get it exactly right. It’s not like you’re in the studio 12 hours a day or anything. You piece things together over time, recording layer after layer and making lots of changes. Somehow it ends up done one day, and you’re really lucky if you can then still listen to that record the next morning.

– How differs this album from “In The Attic Of The Universe”?
Well Peter made that one by himself so Hospice includes the work of four more musicians. The songs are broader in scope, the album flows better as a whole, it is more dynamic sonically, the lyrics tell more of a story, and the album is about twice as long.

– What was the reason for writing such a sad and depressing album?
I don’t think it’s a sad and depressing album. I don’t think any piece of music is depressing if it’s beautiful. Sad and depressing is the opposite of music in a way. I think anyone who is depressed by this record is really missing the point. It’s not about dying, it’s about overcoming guilt and moving forward with your life – about figuring out how things fit together and becoming a more confident person.

– When dealing with such topics like cancer and death – did this album change your way of living and thinking? In which way?
You always learn a lot through the making of a record and the discoveries you make affect your life in a dramatic way. Just the finishing of a big project is a cathartic sort of release and you’re suddenly moved into a new era so to speak. You’re sort of reborn in a way and you have to make new discoveries now.

– What do you think is absolutely necessary for writing / recording a good album in your mind?
A lot of patience and very little sleep. And lots of coffee. A willingness too to just experiment and try things and kind of just run on instinct. Don’t make any goals other than to finish it, and don’t think about how people are going to react to it once it’s done. And don’t get hung up on what the music reminds you of, or something else you think it sounds like, as it will inevitably change so far beyond recognition that those thoughts just get in your way.

– The Antlers is in fact a solo project – is it possible that the band “The Antlers” will still consist of the active members or will it become a solo project again?
It’s not a solo project. That ended with “In the Attic.” And it’s come so far since then and we’re all writing together and I can’t really imagine it existing without just being the three of us. The music now and the style and the scope and the goals musically – I just don’t think it would work as a solo project.

– 3 top albums 2009? Why?
Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca is the best by far. So many risks taken and so much mind blowing beauty resulting from it. Nothing else comes close.

– What did you learn 2009?
How to drive across the entire United States in 2.5 days. It takes about 45 hours.

– Your best personal experience in 2009?
We got a call at 18:00 to play a sold out show opening for The Walkmen and Beach House at Webster Hall at 20:00. They are two of my favorite bands and that pretty much made my year.

– Your plans for 2010?
Finish the next Antlers record.
Finish my mostly electronic solo record.
Go to Japan and Australia.
Fall in love.

– What is on your rider?
Towels, water, hot sauce and whiskey.

– What do you associate with Bedroomdisco?
Wikipedia says it’s the first album by synthpop group Schmoof, released in 2002. I also see that you’ve written about our friends The Black Atlantic recently. We’ve played a few shows with them back when I only played trumpet and banjo in the band.

– Who did fill out this questionnaire?
Darby did.

Thanks Darby Cicci for the interview!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsXKa97J6pM