Interview – Conveyor – Sloucher.org

The music of Conveyor oozes happiness (and some longing). It also sports some cool odd time signatures and a some rather catchy chorus. So when an email interview was offered, we took it. Here it goes!

Hi! I’ve been hooked up with your music thanks to those musical drug pushers of Paper Garden Records. Here’s a bunch of questions that might not be terribly interesting, but I’m socially awkward:

1) Conveyor. Why this name for the band?

We essentially compiled a list of potential band names and went with this one because we liked the way it felt and sounded coming out of our mouths. It also makes us sound way more metal than we actually are, which is cool I guess.

2) Can you share a bit of history in the creation of your self-titled album? I really enjoy how it’s both happy and introspective (with that tropical sound).

Comparing the recording experience with that of our first release, the Sun Ray E.P., this was far more involved and collaborative. As a result, it was an extremely exciting and fulfilling time for all of us. We recorded the entire thing on our own in our tiny little Brooklyn practice space (“Outer Space” as we refer to it) over the course of about eight months, spending many long days and nights in there; it really became our second home in many respects. In regard to the simultaneous yet distinct sounds, I think that in many ways it reflects the wide variety of personal experiences and feelings we encountered throughout the process.

3) A lot of people think that current pop is overproduced, compressed soulless stuff. You seem to have a counterargument in your lovely sound. What’s wrong with the pop being played on radio and what would be your ideal solution? It doesn’t have to be realistic/feasible (a sonic screwdriver is an acceptable answer).

I think we have really come to enjoy the contrasting relationship between raw and organic sounds versus those that are perhaps a bit more ”produced” or polished. I feel that it’s all about finding the balance in that relationship really. Maybe that is largely what people are responding to negatively in regard to a lot of the pop music on the radio, that is, a lack of contrast and balance, which is often at the expense of the flavour and “soul” I think people are often seeking. My favourite flavour anything is salted caramel; it works in a similar way I think. I tend to think of most things in terms of food.

4) There’s two tracks that I really loved and I’d like to know more about the meaning behind the lyrics : ‘Short hair’ and ‘Mom talk’.

I’m going to quote our singer, T.J. Master’s, on this one:

‘Short Hair’ is “a heavy-handed metaphor for the importance of timeliness in strategic life decisions, but: after all, it grows back anyway, right?”

‘Mom Talk’ is “a dilemma in which the retelling of significant events inevitably begs the question: how much information is too much information? One suggested solution involves subtly shifting the responsibility for dissemination of information to the other party.”

5) The spacey ending to ‘Anne’ made me an instant fan of your band. Do you plan to create more experimental ambient pieces in your next releases or will you be splicing them together with “normal” tracks?

I can’t imagine that we’ll be abandoning the more ambient/experiment stuff any time soon. It keeps things interesting for us and I think adds a bit of tension that we really like to explore.

vinylconv — Conveyor’s self titled on beautiful vinyl.

6) I’ve seen a couple of pics of the vinyl edition of Conveyor. What’s your take on the recent resurgence of vinyl releases? Is tape waiting on the sidelines for its turn to come back?

We’re all big fans of vinyl for sure and couldn’t be more thrilled about the resurgence. I feel there is something really important and meaningful about being able to physically hold a piece of music in your hands, so it might as well be the biggest and most beautiful piece of music you can get, right? Tapes are fun, but I can’t really imagine them making a comeback in in quite the same way that vinyl has.

7) Any response from Bill Murray’s camp? On that subject: fave Bill Murray film (or moment in a film)?

Only in our dreams unfortunately. I think Stripes might have been the first Bill Murray movie that I saw as a kid. I’m sure the majority of it was well over my head, but I’ll always have a soft spot for that one.

8) How was your Daytrotter experience? It seems to be a rite of passage amongst bands nowadays!

We ended up recording our session at their satellite studio in San Francisco, which was cool. The studio was quite large and we essentially each had our own isolated rooms to play in, which was kind of strange for us as we’re accustomed to to making a lot of eye contact on stage, but we were able to adjust just fine after warming up a bit before recording the actual session. It was a great experience and most definitely a very exciting moment for all of us.

9) I glibly compared your music to something Hulk Hogan would be listening to in Thunder in Paradise. Totally unrelated: what do you miss from living in Florida and what made you make the move to Brooklyn (and stay there)?

I really miss the slow pace of Florida life, particularly that of Gainesville, Florida. We all moved to Brooklyn for different reasons before beginning to play together as Conveyor; a couple of us came up here for school, a couple of us for work, and I think Grimaldi’s Pizza may be most responsible for keeping us here.

10) With the myriad of options a band has to promote their music nowadays (Bandcamp, Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud), what made you choose a label like Paper Garden Records?

Upon hanging with the folks at Paper Garden, it quickly became very clear that they were really great people who truly believe in the music they get behind. There’s not much more you can ask for in a label.

Bonus) Let’s say you are performing in a rooftop and one of the Beatles magically appears (alive or as a ghostly projection). This Beatle can play any instrument perfectly and asks you to play a Beatles song. Which Beatle appeared and which song do you play?

Beatle: John Lennon

Song: Happiness