Gluttony Is The New

I discovered Dylan Travis and his band at the time, Man/Miracle when I was living in San Francisco in the spring of 2008. I was instantly drawn to his live performance that exuded so much heart, he held nothing back on stage. Not to mention, Man/Miracle plays some extremely catchy tunes that just make you want to smile. This is actually my second interview with Dylan, the first being an unreleased video interview we did last May. Maybe the video will come out one day when he is super famous and a huge deal. Since Dylan’s very first song, his music has touched me so deeply. He is one of those artists that I have wholeheartedly followed throughout his musical career, and a big reason for that is his passion on such a grand scale. He’s not just singing to sing, these songs are his catharsis.

Dylan says ultimately his music delivers positive vibes and dark but reassuring hope for humanity. When you really dig deep, from his Man/Miracle beginnings, to his Otherness project with Dave of Elephant and Castle, and now Some Ember, you can feel Dylan’s energy in all of them, and that energy burns so bright. He gives off an aura on stage, and his voice carries a feeling throughout his songs that wraps itself around you and then melts slowly into the earth until you are fully enveloped. Watching this enigmatic artist develop over the years has been such a pleasure. To have the opportunity to interview him a second time, well it’s really an honor.

If Disney ever made a high budget adult version of Aladdin, I would imagine Some Ember’s tunes are what would fuel the soundtrack surrounding the villainous Sorcerer as he enters the scene, surrounded by a thick, murky cloud of darkness.  A force, cascading down upon the ground.
 
Take a listen to Dylan’s Some Ember project above and below, and take a few minutes of your time to read my in-depth interview with one of the most interesting people I have ever met. I have to say, I think it’s my favorite interviews to date. Introducing Some Ember.
 
AA: So, how goes it?
 
DT: I’m good, listening to Depeche Mode. You?

AA: Nice. Listening to Gang Starr.

DT: Ha! I have some Gang Starr on vinyl.

AA: That doesn’t surprise me at all. So to jump right into things, I have been a fan of your tunes for years now. I have watched your sound get all kinds of weird and evolve and do so many cool things, so I wanted to do a very long overdue deep dive with ya. My goal is to gain some insight into what you have been doing in 2011 and plan to do in 2012.

DT: Right on. I am smoking a THC e-cig right now in 2011 and in 2012 I will likely smoke it again.

AA: Hahahahahaha. YES.

DT: But yeah, I’m down, what would you like to know?

Listen to more from Some Ember and read the rest of the interview after the jump!

AA: Everything. Haha. Well, you have so much range in terms of your projects’ sounds. I love the weird.

DT: Haha. Yeah, umm, that’s kind of all I do. I’ve always just been more interested in music that pushes boundaries. I love pop music, but I can’t stand conventional shit (for the most part).

AA: What do you think of when you say pop music?

DT: I love artists who take pop and deconstruct it.. melodies and hooks set to unconventional structures, or vice versa…. my definition of “pop” is pretty broad. I consider everything I’ve ever done to be pop music.  I have big respect for artists brave enough to sing and make songs that are really exposed and honest emotionally. That’s how i try to be anyway. I don’t like that fake shiii.

AA: That’s why I am a maniac on Twitter.

DT: Twitter is best when you’re just full on stream-of-consciousness. Gotta be like horse_e books.

AA: Haha. We’re all just trying to get to that big horse_e corral in the sky.

DT: Exactly. The Some Ember songs are just direct emotional messages conveyed via the internets. It’s awesome to be able to release music using tools like Ableton. To have that immediacy.

AA: Liberating.

DT: Some Ember is like… evil drones, and doomy synth shit, with a few pop songs in there.

AA: Yeah, I listened to Deep Oceans a million times since it came out. It’s so different from your other projects.  I get a retro/vintage vibe

DT: That’s awesome! I think it came out that way because of the instruments I used, mostly analog synthesizers, and drum machines and stuff. I wanted to get away from guitars completely.

AA: I’m sure I’m not the first to say that comparisons can be made between Some Ember and bands like The Smiths and Depeche Mode.

DT: Oh totally. Fucking love them both. I’m actually a new convert to Depeche Mode. Took me a while to get over what I perceived as cheesiness in their singing, which is funny, because I immediately loved Morrissey.

AA: So where do your song ideas come from? Morrissey?

DT: Ha! Mostly bummer zones. They are direct transmissions. That song [Era of Wind], for example, I came home from some shitty day and my ribcage exploded outwards and the blood spattered on the wall in the shape of a song and I recorded it.

AA: I love that.

DT: Just the stresses of human existence. My songs have always been catharsis, but I think I’ve reached a point where shit feels confident and meditative.

A lot of influence on this album came from weirdo new age records from bands like Tangerine Dream, Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins of course, old 4AD shit.

AA: When did you start making music?

DT: I always sang, but I didn’t start writing songs until I was 19 or 20,
the first song I wrote is called Pushing and Shoving. We put out a Pushing and Shoving 7” on white vinyl and we made the sleeves out of t-shirts.

AA: You have no idea how much I love that song. Superfan right here.

AA: So when you think about 2012, what comes to mind?

DT: End of life. Glorious absorption into the void.

AA: Haha. I think that’s a lie.

DT: Oh, totally. In the event that the world doesn’t end, I will be sad for a minute, but then I will try to release this record and make people understand my bizarro worldview via the power of these jam.

Some Ember is more a platform for me to sort of.. .explain myself, like the yawning depths of the worst kind of despair, but also moments of brilliant limerence, and various meditative states in between.

AA: Swwwwaaaaaaeeeeettttttt.

Some Ember made their live performance premiere a few weeks ago at the Bay Area’s Noise Pop Festival to an overwhelmingly responsive crowd. They will be making their way to SXSW, and have plans to play lots of live shows throughout 2012.

Also, be on the look out for Some Ember’s eight song cassette due out on Crash Symbols later this year. I have been grooving to it all month and can’t wait for you all to hear it.

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