Deerhoof: One Man's Journey Into the Magical Forest

In an interview before the release of Holdypaws, you mentioned that you're new goal was to write songs that were about composition and not sound, and that you wanted to write stuff that anyone could play on any instrument. Is that still an aim in the band? It seems that the newer material is a bit more complicated at times, and perhaps a little more sound-based, with some of the electronic stuff.

Well that was just a theme we had for Holdypaws. We didn’t really succeed anyway, although we might have come close. Our guitar player at the time, Rob [ed: Rob started Deerhoof], has taken the idea further since then with Badger Lore and Seven Year Rabbit Cycle.

Rob's split from the band was amicable, right? I know he moved, and you've mentioned a few new bands he's in... Do you see the re-synthesis of Rob into the band as something that could possibly happen in the future, of has your creative spark w/ Rob, after Nitre Pit and Deerhoof, run its course for now?

Neither, because Rob and Kelly didn’t move away because of our creative spark. They didn’t like the weather. We still get along pretty nice. Actually Badger Lore isn’t new – it’s a duo of Rob and Ben (Six Organs of Admittance).

Another thing you mentioned in that interview was a desire to make people feel "weird and itchy all over." What do you think accounts for the intangible weirdness that exists in your music? Is it a facet of the "experimental" part of the band or more a sense of playfulness that fuels it?

I’m not sure there is an experimental part of the band, except maybe for John's fashion. "Music the outcome of which is unknown" – isn’t that experimental music, you know, John Cage, Christian Wolff, Fluxus? For better or worse, like most bands we sweat and sweat over getting it just so. It's the antithesis of experimentalism really. It doesn’t make me sad that you think Deerhoof is weird, but of course to me it's the most familiar music there is. What's weird is when anybody puts that much time and effort into something as inconsequential as art or music, especially when there's no $. How has the change in guitarists changed the way the band writes and performs? Well at first I thought our fashion was going to improve, but alas I was mistaken - not to say that John dresses worse than Rob, but that they dress equally poorly, but in a different way.

But don't you think that there's a certain uniqueness to Deerhoof's music that sets it apart compositionally from the rest of, say, the stuff on Kill Rock Stars? Perhaps you're not experimental in the way that Cage was, but do you think you tend to experiment with the common compositional techniques?

I think my favorite compositional technique is the most common – creating a melody in your head. It could be deliberately making something up or lucking out and having something pop up from nowhere. Either way, that technique is hot stuff if you ask me. As for whether that sets us apart, some music is made that way and some not, but even if it’s not made up that way Quix*o*tic is one of our faves.

Do any of the members of Deerhoof currently engage in any active music extracurricular activities? Are you still doing any classical composition? Do these other projects, if there are any, add to or detract from Deerhoof?

What’s classical composition? Deerhoof has Satomi, John, Chris and me. Barefoot has Satomi and Jamie. The Curtains has Chris and me and Andrew. Gorge Trio has John, Ed and Chad. The Natural Dreamers has John and Chris and Jay. The Nervous Cop has me and Zach and a harp player whose name I do not know. These other bands detract from Deerhoof. If classical composition means wearing a bow tie, I don’t still nor did I ever do any classical composition, though it’s not a bad idea. If it means being artsy and pretensious and wanting the audience to listen my little symphonies, then yes I do it all the time, in Deerhoof. If it means reading and writing music on staff paper, I do, and John and Chris don’t, although they can tune their guitars faster than anyone I know. Satomi is familiar with the do-re-mi system.

What's the reason for the release of your last two albums so close together? Was Menlo Park simply late in their release?

I'd say Menlo Park delayed Halfbird for about one month to coincide with two of their other releases, and the other 3 years and 10 months was Deerhoof trying to get all those overdubs right…

Both new records seem to be doing really well, and I know that Halfbird hit #1 on WFMU's charts. How do you think this might change the band's near future? More touring? More albums? Better clothes?

See John, Im not the only one offended by your fashion sense!

The good old "no wave" tag got thrown around a lot in your earlier days, and still swirls around a bit now. Was that ever a goal, to be "no wave" or simply "difficult," or has Deerhoof always been about making something more pop, even if it is a little askew?

Deerhoof has always been about LOVE not any of that other stuff.