Please introduce a little bit about yourself MB: I’m originally from El Dorado, Arkansas. It’s a very small town in the deep southern region of the States. I started playing guitar when I was 13 and
I became obsessed with playing my guitar. I felt very disconnected and a bit lost during the time that I lived in El Dorado. I don’t think I really fit in… After my best friend died in a drug related fire I moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas and then to Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve been here for a long time now and I feel like the city has changed/is changing for the better…
AT: I am a native Tennessean, raised on a farm in the middle of nowhere. That
environment ended up having a huge influence on me. It was an education that I would never have been exposed to if I had been brought up in a more urban setting. The love of space & time for me is a direct result of the time I spent on that farm. That being said, it took moving to a major city to be truly exposed to most of the music that I still hold dear. My college roommate in art school, who was a basically a musicologist, had a profound influence on the wide range of music that ended up informing my formative years as a musician.
Things you must do everyday? (you'll feel weird if not doing） MB: No matter where I am or what I’m doing I need to speak to my wife, Christine, every day. She’s the one who keeps me grounded, especially when I get stuck in my own head, alone with my thoughts.
AT: I try & run every morning if the schedule allows. It helps me keep a clear mind set for the day.
You’ve spent such a long time working together. Do you two people still hang out together in your free time? If so, what would you do? MB: Yes, we do. We go to restaurants, shows, movies, etc. We also travel a lot together. A stand out weekend for us was when Andrew, Thomas Petillo, Matt Slocum and I all went to New York to see The Book of Mormon on Broadway. We had many epic culinary experiences and an overall great time.
Besides Byrd and Thompson, who else is also in this band when live performance? Coolest venue or city you have ever performed? MB: Matt Slocum plays cello. Right now we’ve only performed as a three piece
but are planning to expand the line up this fall. We’re going to have some amazingly talented people playing with us. As far as the favorite places we’ve played--The Wordless Music event in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge with Stars of the Lid was very special. Also the Gatherings concert at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia was nice.
In 2007, you performed with Jonsi and Alex. Is that Hammock’s first-ever show?What did it feel like playing with other artist for the first time? MB: We actually didn’t perform with them… we performed for them. Riceboy Sleeps came over stateside to put on an art exhibit and we were asked to perform at their after party. It was surreal. We had never performed live as Hammock and our first show ended up being this intimate setting with Jonsi and Alex in the audience. It was just Andrew and I using our loop pedals, etc. We wrote mostly all new material for the event that just the two of us could pull off live. When we returned to Nashville we recorded the material we wrote for the after party to create our record “Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow". The title of the record came from a piece that Riceboy Sleeps had on display at the exhibit. We asked them for permission to use the title and they said we could but they also asked if they could create the artwork for the record. Of course we said, YES!
AT: So here is some breaking news in the world of Hammock. Taylor Deupree just finished remastering “Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow". He also remixed the title track. The reason for this is because the version that ended up on the original recording was bounced at the wrong bit rate and changed the key of the song. It’s actually not in a true key. But now we have an amazing new mix of “Maybe” and a record that sounds super warm and beautiful. The remastering is just incredible! It’s like the record is in 3D now. We are also releasing “Maybe” on vinyl as a double gatefold 150+ gram virgin black vinyl set, and it includes a free CD version of the album, immediate download, and a two-sided, full-color insert. Everyone will now be able to see Jonsi and Alex’s artwork up close in a large format.
Tell us something you've never told an interviewer before. MB: Occasionally, I still listen to early Iron Maiden… specifically, “the Number of the Beast” and “Piece of Mind.”
Allow me to me explain… I was raised by a very religious mother, I’m talking Southern style Charismatic, Pentecostal, talking in tongues, running through the sanctuary, faith healing brand of Christianity. (She’s not like that anymore…) After she married my stepfather he made my sister and I burn all of our rock music and comic books. So I used to hide my music under my mattress. When I was probably 13 or 14 I was attempting to hide my music under the mattress when my mom walked in on me. I turned around and probably looked like someone who had just been caught stealing candy from a starving orphan. She asked me what I was doing. I had to make a choice… I had a pack of cigarettes in my pocket and I had all of my music under the mattress. I would be punished for both--BUT if I confessed to having the music she would look under my mattress and make me burn or destroy all of my CDs. I chose to reveal that I had a pack of smokes in my pocket. I was punished but at least I still had music to escape into. One of those CD's under the mattress was “Piece of Mind” by Iron Maiden. I was young and took Maiden serious because my mother took it all TOO serious. Now I listen to them and hear so much silliness and dude drama in their music but it also reminds me of the defiance of youth and my unending love of music.
AT: Since we are already talking about Maiden, I will mention that IM was my first concert way back in the day. I will also mention that my mother insisted that I wear a sweater vest & dress pants on that occasion. Having grown up in New York, she was of the mind that one should “Dress up nice” if you were going to a concert. It’s a wonder I survived that show. Sad, but true.
Something about music
I have read that you described your music as“ Stargazing”、“Southern Ambient”. Can you describe the city you live? What kind of landscape you see everyday？ MB: In my hometown I had a very outdoor oriented childhood. I loved the woods and lakes although the overall landscape was flat. When I moved to Hot Springs National Park I fell in love with nature, watching sunsets/sunrises and the mountains/hills. It’s a beautiful place. At night when I would get off work from my restaurant job I would drive up this hill where I could watch the stars free of light pollution. Those nights on the hill continue to stay with me. Today I have a great view from my deck where I live now. I’ve posted a few photos of the sunsets I get to enjoy while I’m grilling or whatever.
Fans in Taiwan guess that you are a songwriter with a sensitive and steady mind.
Do you think you are?
MB: Definitely sensitive, probably too sensitive but not always steady… Some fans said that they listened to your music during their bedtime or while they were drunk. When (or in what kind of situation) will you listen to your music?
MB: People listen to our music in all kinds of life situations. Studying, Painting, Writing, Traveling, Love Making. People have played it for their newborn babies-wanting our music to be the first sounds they hear when they enter this world, another person played our music for their father as he was dying. Our music has also been used for silent prayer, meditation and massage. We have also received messages from people that have used it to accompany them while partaking of certain chemicals. It’s probably easier for people to create their own unique listening experience since our music is mostly instrumental. I personally listen to our music a lot while we’re making a record, especially in the mixing, mastering process. But after a recording is complete I probably won’t listen to that particular record for many months so I can return to it with fresh ears and a new perspective. I listen to our music primarily with headphones out under a starry sky. When we first started out I would come home from the studio land listen to the material we had recorded during the day while lying in my hammock in the backyard. That was fantastic. Unfortunately I lost that hammock in May 2010 when our house and neighborhood were flooded.
This is your first double album. What are the different concepts about Disc One and Two? MB: I’m not sure there is a big difference between the two discs. The theme stays pretty much the same throughout both discs. We do start Disc One with the title, “Cold Front” and ended Disc Two with “Tornado Warning” emphasizing the fact that there are certain things that are completely out of our control and can overtake us in an instant.
It Called《Departure Songs》 , the lyrics is about lost and sadness as well. Did you leave someone? Or someone left you? MB: Well I’ve had several friends and members of my family commit suicide. It’s a very shocking experience due to the loss being so sudden. I’ve also had other friends who died in rather tragic circumstances… fires, plane crash, auto accidents, drug overdose, etc… In 2010 my stepfather died suddenly on Good Friday. Shortly after that Christine and I lost the entire first floor of our house in a flood and had no flood insurance. It was a rough year. “Departure Songs” became a way of unpacking and dealing with loss. We have a song/video from our “Maybe” album called “Mono No Aware.” The simplest translation of this Japanese phrase means, “The sadness of things.” I feel like “Departure Songs” is our expression of the experience of “Mono No Aware.” I do think and feel that ultimately all of us are writing our own songs of departure just by living our lives. I guess the question is, “What will it sound like when it’s all said and done?”
We think《Departure Songs》 is lighter than other previous albums, lot more drums and vocals. What does it mean to you? Does it become the best work of all your albums? Or a transformation? MB: I think a better way to describe “Departure Songs” is that it’s our most “accessible” record so far. We got tired of people saying that they either finish their homework or fall asleep while listening to our music. So we reacted and made a very conscious decision to make a record that, I guess is more engaging, for lack of a better word… The theme is very heavy but I agree the production is more in line with a traditional pop/rock approach. Our next record is a reaction to that approach. We have begun the mixing process in England already. We know that our records can have different approaches regarding production but there is always a signature sound that I think always comes through. I’ve always wanted to be in a band that has a signature sound.
Let's talk about Cover Design．The Women on front cover seems to be the same one on your EP《Chasing After Shadows…Living with the Ghosts》? You have same style on every Cover , did you design by your own ? MB: The original version of “Chasing After Shadows… Living With the Ghosts” has two figures floating in the water. The “Chasing” outtakes EP has one figure floating in the water. “Departure Songs” has a model in the artwork as well. They’re all different figures but styled in a similar fashion. What the albums have in common is that they were all shot by Thomas Petillo in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Thomas is one of my best friends in the world and really “gets” our aesthetic. He has a great style and we’re lucky to have him in our lives.
AT: Other news in the world of Hammock… We will be releasing a deluxe version of “Chasing” with a bonus disc that includes “the outtakes EP” along with two new songs from the “Chasing...” era that were mixed by timEbandit Powles and mastered by Taylor Deupree.
Your music is kind of untouchable and isolation. Is being alone/ Silence important to you? MB: Yes… Silence is very important. I don’t sit in silence enough these days but when I do I’m much more centered. Not that getting centered is the point of practicing silence. Silence itself is the point; it just so happens that there are great benefits from being silent. I practiced sitting in silence for 25 minutes in the morning and 25 minutes in the evening for about two and a half years. I’m not that consistent right now but I still try to reserve a cabin once a year in the mountains in order to isolate myself and stay in silence for four or five days. I think silence is a powerful counter-cultural tool in the sense that it enables you to change, and right now, it is absolutely necessary if we are ever going to face ourselves. I love this quote from Max Pricard:
"The sound of music is not, like the sound of words, opposed, but rather parallel to silence. It is as though the sounds of music were being driven over the surface of silence. Music is silence, which in dreaming begins to sound."
AT: The run for me is the time that I am able to have complete solitude. I don’t listen to an iPod or anything. I use the time not only for the physical aspects, but for the meditative aspects as well. There have been many times that songs will come to me while I am on the greenway, & that happens only because I am willing to allow myself the mental space & quiet during that time.
Who or which band influence each of you most ? MB: Mostly older bands: the Cure, the Church, the Smiths, Joy Division, New Order, Brian Eno, early shoegaze, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, early Low, Red House Painters, Idaho, Spiritualized, Cocteau Twins, Sigur Ros, early U2, etc… All of these bands/artist have a sound that is unique to them. We also love A Winged Victory For the Sullen, Greg Haines, Olafur Arnalds, Arvo Part, Stars of the Lid, William Basinski, Eluvium, Helios, Max Richter, Johann Johannsson, Clint Mansell and my favorite classical piece—Symphony No.3 by Gorecki. Don’t get me wrong I like a lot of newer music. You can see my favorite records of 2012 listed on our website (here: http://hammockmusic.com/marcs-top-albums-of-2012) and there is a lot of new music on that list BUT… I am growing tired of gang vocal “Oh, Oh, Oh’s” and “Hey’s” a long with the occasional foot stomp thrown in for “dramatic” effect. It seems everyone likes to dislike Coldplay these days but the current gang vocal style permeating the airwaves was lifted from them and they lifted it from U2. We’ve borrowed a lot of things from other artists and we’ve never apologized for it nor have we hidden it but at some point bands/artists have to find their OWN sound and voice. Otherwise it’s just a popularity contest trying to look, sound, act like the cool kids. That’s boring…
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