In all my years of listening to music I’ve never heard a band quite like Aereogramme. Blending elements of shoegazer pop, slow-core, folk and electronica with muscular hard rock and furious post punk, the Scottish quartet manages to traverse the entire modern rock spectrum without leaving many musical touchstones unearthed. As a result, listening to Aerogramme can be a difficult, oftentimes bi-polar experience. The payoff, however, is nothing short of breathtaking. With their expansive rock template and creative arrangements, the band can slip seamlessly from majestic, brooding, harrowing reverie into something utterly brutal, menacing and cathartic. The title of their spectacular new record - Sleep and Release - suggests that this extraordinary duality is no mere coincidence.
But despite the group’s immense collective talent as musicians and songwriters, it is difficult to imagine their songs maintaining the same emotional power and raw sense of urgency without the alternately beautiful and bruising vocals of singer/guitarist Craig B. As an artist, Craig B is incredibly complex and focused, with passionate ideas about hope and hopelessness, love and hate, strength and weakness. A true believer in his work, he doesn’t care much for fame or fortune. His brass ring sits atop a more rarefied stratosphere and requires a much longer ladder to reach. What Craig B craves is power. Specifically, he desires the power to affect and transform people through his art. As such, he is not the type to hold anything back. Not with his music. Not with his lyrics. And not with his opinions, which he expresses with a fierce devotion devoid of fear or hesitation. He does not mince words and he does not pull any punches.
I caught up with Craig B before Aereogramme’s performance at The Social in Orlando, Florida opening for fellow Scots, The Delgados. Looking slightly haggard from the eleven hour van ride from New Orleans where the two bands played the night before, Craig B nonetheless graciously agreed to answer some of my questions. Thoughtful, articulate, and, above all, candid, he spoke about a great many things including the reality of life on the road, the method to Aereogramme’s mad music, and the perils of playing king.
Delusions of Adequacy: I want to start with the new album. Your debut, A Story in White, was - in terms of its general feeling - a very somber and serene record. Sleep and Release is a bit more aggressive and perhaps even angrier. I wanted to know if that is a reflection of what is going on in your life or if that is that is the way it just happened to turn out?
Craig B: I think there is certainly more hope on the new album. On the first one I don’t think there was any hope whatsoever. It was a very dark album. I think there is more hope on this one, but at the same time I think “Wood” is the angriest song we’ve ever written, and I needed that song to be as brutal as possible. We’re not heavy metal, but, whatever, we play a lot of heavy metal. That song, for me, I needed it to be brutal. I needed it to be so, so angry and I’m really glad with the way it turned out. We certainly have a level of angriness, but I don’t think that is an indication of what is going on in my life because I’ve always been angry. I also think there are some pretty big extremes on the album. “Gratitude” is just a total love song, but “A Winter’s Discord” is really angry as well, yet it is the quietest song on the album. Whenever I’m writing, I’m working these things out for myself as well. Now that you mention it, yeah, I think it is an angrier album.
DOA: It’s funny that you say that you’ve always been an angry person. I’ve met you before and you’ve always been very cordial and nice. For someone who has never really met you and only sees the outside, you seem to be a very down to earth person...
CB: Yeah, but when I meet you ...well, I always worry because I don’t give a shit about the rock star thing. I’ve always hated that. I like bands like Aerosmith and AC/DC and all that, but I have absolutely no aspirations of becoming anything like a rock star. That’s not my intention. That’s not anyone’s intention in the band, because I think that - in terms of a rock star - you have to have a huge ego and you just got to be such a selfish bastard to actually get there. I’ve got no aspirations in that, whatsoever. The thing is, when I’m on tour and I meet people such as yourself...I mean, I do go about without worrying about the way that I am sounding, so I never have to hope that it’s going to hit me back. When I’m playing, music gives me meaning. That’s when I feel really good, that’s when I feel great. That’s like an exorcism and you get to earn your name. It’s when you’re at home and you sit in your room that you feel the weight of the world. That’s when it gets really bad.
DOA: What is it about home? Is it the fact that you are not working, that you are not doing the things that you think you should be doing?
CB: Yeah, there is some of that. We have kind of an extreme situation. When we’re out on the road people are like, “Oh wow! It must be amazing to be on tour!” And, generally, it is great. I’ve never been so traveled before; it’s terrific. But there is a lot that people don’t know. When I go home I haven’t got anywhere to live and that is the kind of shit that people don’t realize. They don’t realize that when the tour is done we still all have to work. We don’t survive on this. When we go home (drummer) Martin (Scott) has to go back to digging ditches, and (bassist) Campbell (McNeil) has to back to pouring pints at the bar, and I’ve cleaned fucking toilets before. I do agree that it is an amazing opportunity and it’s great that we’ve gone across America, but the reality is that I’ve got nowhere to live and we don’t have a penny to our fucking names, so I just like to have a balanced view of it. So it’s when I’m at home, that’s when it’s really bad. That’s when I’m a wreck. I’m not happy but I deal with it. My girlfriend is the one with the job. She gets the worst of it. She could tell you more than I could. She puts up with me, basically.
DOA: Does that have anything to do with how you came up with the title of the album – the catharsis of playing and writing music and getting out those emotions?
CB: The idea was that sleep and release were the two states of being that I am most comfortable with. Obviously, when I am sleeping I am not thinking. I very rarely dream so my anger shuts down and I don’t tie myself in a knot or fuck anyone else off. And when I play it’s the greatest feeling that I have apart from love. Sleep and release are really the safest and most enjoyable places for me. That’s what the idea is.
DOA: It’s interesting that the idea mirrors the music where you run from these two extremes of quiet beauty and harsh aggression. Did you think about that when you were putting together the album?
CB: Well, really the extremes are just part of life. I don’t automatically think that it correlates to music, but in retrospect, yeah, it does. But everything that happens in our lives is like that. So you‘ve got this music that is really quiet and then it will just explode. Well, that’s what happens in everyday life. Like we just spent eleven hours in practical silence because we have this rule: unless you have something to say don’t say anything. Don’t just say “waffles” or “Arby’s”. If you’ve got nothing to say then be quiet. So we drive for eleven hours in practical silence and then we’re gonna come in here and I’m going to scream my guts out. That’s a direct relation to what we do in our music. It’s what happens in our lives. In a broader sense, you’ll do nothing for ages and then I’m away for two months playing every night. It makes perfect sense to me that the album title turned out like that because our lives are like that: one extreme to another. It’s either hectic or the kind of boredom that just drives you mad.
DOA: As far as your hometown goes, you’re on a big American indie label - Matador - and you have your name out there. I would think that you would be pretty well known at home. Is that the case?
CB: Glasgow is a great place. I love it; I really love it. But it is one of these things where I know it too well. I think that is one of the problems - certainly when we come to America - is that people perceive us as being on Matador, which we are, but Matador only licenses the stuff. It’s Chemikal Underground that actually finances the album and finances the tour in Britain and Europe. They’re a very small independent label and the budget for the album is absolutely tiny. When it comes to Matador, I think people assume that you have this huge Jon Spencer budget, but it’s not. Having said that, it’s still been really good experience for us, we’ve been able to tour for a month over here and I’m very happy about that.
DOA: I see all the Matador releases at these huge stores like Best Buy where they sell everything, but you can’t seem to find an Aereogramme CD. You basically have to go to the indie shop, to the stores that cater to independent music in order to buy your album. I was wondering what exactly they do other than licensing it. Do they promote it as well? Is there any budget for that?
CB: We don’t really see that, but people have been telling me they’ve seen advertisements in Magnet and Q. Even if it is only two ads that’s still more than we usually get and are used to. Even if we get just a tiny bit of press, that’s more than we are accustomed to. I hope I don’t sound like I ‘m whining, but that’s really closer to the reality of the thing.
DOA: Well, I do think people have that perception. People have this idea that you are on Matador and I think they probably have this idea that you are very successful in England and in Europe.
CB: Touring the island, oh my god! I’m not just talking about myself but the rest of the band as well. You play these places like Scarborough and there’s nobody there. The only people that are there are drunk, we call them ‘meatheads’. You play this gig and your soul is just down in your shoes. But then we’re playing Europe and we go back to Germany and Germany is the best place for us for some reason. We know those gigs are going to be amazing. So once again it’s up and down. We go through England and it’s horrible, but then across Europe it’s brilliant. Whenever we play here, it’s the same way: New Orleans was terrible, Toronto was incredible, Seattle was amazing, San Diego was terrible. It’s up and down, highs and lows. The highs are amazing, but the lows are really bad (laughs).
DOA: But this is your third time here. It doesn’t seem like it’s very long in-between your tours, at least in comparison to other bands from Europe where you won’t see them for long periods at a time...
CB: I haven’t really thought about that. I think it’s because we’re really cheap to tour. When you do it in a van it’s difficult at some points because you’ve got to learn to drive everywhere. But we can all just pile in the van with our gear in the back. All we need is something to put in our bellies. We’re not demanding at all; we’re just kind of happy to be here.
DOA: Does it wear on you at all, being stuck in the van? Is everyone in the band committed to touring?
CB: Certain people do it better than others. It’s weird; I keep on coming back to this light and dark thing. If you were to ask the band I think some members prefer recording, which I think you can hear on the album - I think it’s very well recorded. But that’s really got nothing to do with me, because I’m terrible when it comes to recording. I can’t stand being stuck in a studio. I hate it. Every time I’ve recorded an album I’ve had a cold and I don’t think I’ve actually managed to get down my best vocals yet. Some of the guys prefer the recording phase, but we all enjoy touring. You just have watch out for one another. Every once in a while you actually have to stop and make sure that everyone is still sane. Like Campbell hurt his back. Everyone has been on a bit of a downer because Campbell has to sit on a stool to play these gigs. He has been playing on a stool for the last two nights because he has a recurring back problem and the drugs he has to take got thrown out of the van by mistake. So he doesn’t have any painkillers at all for it. We have to wait until Tuesday for the doctors to get back to work to send him more. When we’re in America we don’t have any health insurance, so he’s fucked. He just has to deal with it. He is in a lot of pain. And as you know, Campbell is usually a focal point when we play live. He’s this hairy beast on bass going crazy (laughs). So at this point everyone is really tired, we’re all ready to leave. Campbell is in tremendous pain.
DOA: How is this tour compared to the others? Have you seen any changes – bigger crowds, more people coming up to you after shows?
CB: I don’t know. There hasn’t been much publicity, but I think it’s really amazing to be on the road. Sometimes we come out and it seems that we’re just playing for the bar staff, the sound guy, and the lighting guy. The audiences have been a little bit funny. I think we have some very aggressive overtones that catch people by surprise and may turn some off. But people have been more than polite; we haven’t had many problems or anything. I think that it varies. There is still a pocket of people that come to see us, but I haven’t seen much of a difference. But I think that it can be a good thing, too. People can come up close if they want to.
DOA: Do you see things pick up when you hit the bigger nerve centers – Boston, New York, and so on? Is that when you see people come out specifically to see Aereogramme?
CB: Seattle is really good for us. I was influenced by a lot of the music that came out of there so it’s a little ironic, I guess. It’s getting there. It’s still quiet, but it’s steadily growing. I like Atlanta because that seems to be the place that we have played the most. We’ve played there three or four times now. But for the most part it’s quiet wherever we go, big city or not.
DOA: How has the response from the media been?
CB: I have this really bad habit when I read reviews. I scan through them looking for all the bad parts. I tend to ignore all the positive things they say and focus on the negative. It’s really stupid. I don’t know why I do it, but it’s not good for my perspective. I haven’t really read a bad review yet, which makes me happy. There are some people that really get what we do and are a hundred percent behind us. But most people have to have it one way or another. They say “be less heavy” or “be less quiet,” but to me that is the whole point of what we do. I think that is the point to our style. That tension is why it works.
DOA: I think that is what makes your music so unique. A lot of bands are really pretty and melodic, but by the time they are done with their set you’re ready to jump out of there. At the same time, it’s the other way around with heavy bands...
CB: I hate it when it’s just heavy! I listen to a lot of heavy bands and they’re a big influence. At the same time, I love my Red House Painters, I love American Music Club - it’s slow and sort of pleasant - but at some point you have to turn things up.
DOA: Are you generally a pretty big rock listener?
CB: Yeah. My music taste is really white. I don’t plan it that way; it’s just what I connect with. I like my guitar, I must admit. I’ve always thought of playing guitar as an emotional state and with electronica you just don’t get that. I love Boards of Canada and I love Aphex Twins, but it never hits me in the same way as a simple vocal and guitar. It’s never the same feeling. It never is. I’ve tried getting myself more into it, but it never gets me. There are obvious moments that are incredible in hip-hop and are incredible in electronica, but it never really hit s me the same as a guy with a guitar.
DOA: Yet, like hip-hop, you have this ‘cut-and-paste’ method to your songwriting where you have background tracks - like phone messages or people speaking - and then you have electronic ‘beeps’ and ‘bleeps’ going on. How does that come about?
CB: The thing I really like about it is that all these things are not some guys playing around with these noises. (Guitarist and Programmer) Iain (Cook) deals with it and he always wants the beat made so that it’s not just a keyboard that clicks a sample. Every beat is made and that’s why I really love what he’s done for us. Campbell especially. All the songs are written on acoustic guitar, and then I bring it to the band. Campbell is the guy that has the best ears, he’s the one that solves the sound and structure, and it’s Iain that executes his ideas. Martin sort of finalizes things; he’s got such a different and unique percussive style. It’s a funny process, but everybody plays a really important part. When it comes to recording and sound and all the electronica things, I think it’s mostly Campbell and Iain that come up with those ideas. But it’s me that has to watch out when I’m coming at a song from a completely different direction. There are a lot of things that you have to take your time. A lot of times it’s like, “Oh, that’s not what I meant.” But usually it ends up that you enjoy it anyway.
DOA: Are the other guys in the band as influenced by rock music as you or are they more into the electronica side of things?
CB: Every single one of us has their fare share of heavy metal. We all grew up listening to Metallica, Slayer and Iron Maiden. Iain is classically trained. Again, it’s just complete opposites because I have absolutely no training whatsoever. I wouldn’t even know what I’m playing on guitar without him, which is kind of crazy. We all have our individual tastes, but we have a lot of rock bands in common. I’m still very much influenced by Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding. You don’t really hear soul like that anymore. The stuff you hear now is pretty horrible. It’s more about histrionics; it’s more about showing off than it is about passion. It’s empty, really. Soul is increasingly harder to find. Like the BellRays. Fuck me! She ‘s got an incredible voice! She’s got passion and soul, I think. And she does it with a rock concept, which is really bizarre, because she’s definitely got soul. I definitely think that it is out there. I think there are artists that have that power, but you don’t see it in a pop setting anymore. You have to look for it in different environments that you are used to finding it, like rock.
DOA: Your music has all these terrific arrangements, these big sweeping string sections and such, which you sequence on a laptop. Have you ever had the opportunity to indulge yourselves and play with a live orchestra or have you always been relegated to the computer?
CB: The way we look at it is that we don’t necessarily get along that well with people. I think that there are more idiots in the world than there are thinking people. If you don’t get along with each other then things can get rough. Adding more people to the band is not what I want. We have four good people and I think we get along well, and that’s enough. I don’t want to be surrounded by an orchestra. I really don’t. That’s just more people that are going to fucking piss me off. It’s too complicated. We have four people in a band that work really well together and I really don’t want to change that. On stage and on record, it’s all us. Everything is done by us; it’s not done by anyone else, so I don’t really need to get some classical string player. Maybe in the future it will be different. We definitely need a piano player. That’s something we can do ourselves, but not in a live setting. But I don’t want to get just any piano player that can play the parts. I would only do it if it were somebody that I knew would spice things up. You have to have a certain balance when you’re on the road traveling in a van and you’re trapped for eleven hours. Certain personalities can fuck everything up. I’ve got many people that I don’t like, many times more than people that I love. The less people the better.
DOA: Do you find it awkward, then, that you are the guy - the singer - that people are focusing on? Does that bother you at all?
CB: If you notice, I never set up in the middle. I’m always off to one side because I don’t think that‘s what it is about. I’m always going to be watched because I am the singer. But I think that Campbell is the one that is watched most of all. He’s actually the better performer, the wild man, and I think that is a really good thing. Our shows are a bit of everyone. We play together, and we play with heart, and I don’t need to stick out. I’m not meant to be a frontman. I don’t want to be the frontman, and I don’t want to be in the middle. I want it to be about the music and the band as a whole.
DOA: Has it ever crossed your mind - “Hey, I’m having financial problems. I have no place to live. Maybe if I assume that position of frontman it will push us that much further up the ladder of success?”
CB: No. I have a healthy understanding of my limitations. It’s not in me to do that. I know what I can and can’t do. You can’t just turn something like that on if it’s not in your character. You have to have such an ego to step forward as the frontman, to be the object of focus when it comes to a band. It would take a lot of acting on my part, because it’s not me to be like that. It couldn’t work. I want to change people’s perceptions. I hear these bands on the radio and, musically, they’re fucking horrible; it’s all about the singer and how cool he is. It’s fucking stupid. It’s so stupid. We’re not that kind of band. It’s not why I became involved in music. It’s no why music changes me. It’s not why I want to change other people. I want a challenge. There’s always hope when you see bands like Radiohead make it. They are a really butt ugly band, but that’s not why they’re huge. They’re huge because of their music. And Sigur Ros are sort of the same. So it can be done. But the majority of the bands are for the masses and the masses don’t want a challenge. The masses want to be told what to buy and what is cool. They’re not going to spend hours in a small record store looking through all the sections, picking out different records and going, “Oh, that’s really good.” It’s very rare. Those kind of people are the minority. The majority of people need to have stuff fed to them. They don’t want to spend the time searching for that hidden gem in the back of the store. The ones who do that want it very bad. But most people don’t want to do that. They want it to be put right in fucking front of them. That’s what people want, and that’s what we get.
Interview courtesy of Delusions Of Adequacy (http://www.adequacy.com