Matthew Solberg (guit.) and his fellows in FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES delivered a mind-blowing piece of art with their latest record “On Little Known Frequencies" for which they enlisted two well-known producers. How working with them turned out, how the band found a new drummer and further plans the charming Matthew talked with me. Interview You've currently announced that you've found a new drummer - who's that guy, how did you find him and will he be your live-drummer only?


Francis Choung is definitely still our drummer - but yes, we now have a drummer who is able to fill-in for Francis at live shows or tours where Francis is unable to join. His name is Eric Kuhn. Eric and I met 4 years ago when he gave me a demo for his band Silian Railhttp://www.myspace.com/silianrailmusic I absolutely loved his band and have stayed friends with him ever since. When it came time to find a fill-in for Francis, I knew that Eric had the talent and the dedication to make it work.



So with the new guy on board, are you working on tour plans now?



Yes. We were hoping to come to the EU in June to play some shows with our friends Dredg and to go to some countries we've never been to before. But unfortunately, that didn't work out financially for us. So now we're planning to tour EU in November '09. Between now and then, we'll see what opportunities arise. Maybe another USA tour supporting a band that we like. On Little Known Frequencies is about to be released in Japan on Catune Records -- so we will probably go back to Japan in early 2010.



What kind of bands would you like to go on tour with? those that play a similar style or bands that come from a variety of styles and genres?



We would go on tour with almost ANY band if we thought their audience would connect with our music. We tend to like shows that are diverse musically. Naturally, we've played hundreds of "post-rock" shows and those are great... but there have been quite a few shows where we played with pop bands or strictly electronic bands and even spoken word artists... and those are fantastic. Not only because the music was different, but because the audience didn't expect to hear a band like us, but were interested nonetheless. It feels good to play to folks who wouldn't normally listen to music like ours or participate in this "scene." So while we would love to go out and support a band like Mogwai or some other big name in post-rock, it would be even more special for us to go out and support an artist like Saul Williams, MIA, or DJ Shadow. We'll see what our booking agent can find for us!



Let's get to your latest record "on little known..": you chose ed brooks and matt bayles to work with you on the production. why did you do so and how was working with both of them?



We knew we wanted to try a different approach on this record; we wanted to work with someone who understood our music, who had worked on similar projects before, and who was an expert at digital mixing. During a meeting with Dim Mak we mentioned Matt just as an example of someone who would do a good job, but we never thought we could actually get him. Dim Mak liked the idea and we were able to get a production budget from them that would allow us to work with him. Matt's agent told us that Matt was actually a fan of FMTM and would love to work with us! We didn't know Ed Brooks, but Matt had worked with him for years. Evidently, Ed is the one who got Matt his first big assistant engineer job -- so Matt loves Ed and works with him whenever possible. Ed's an awesome dude and did an excellent job mastering it.


Working with Matt was great and a very interesting process as well. We had never worked with a "producer" before -- he helped us dial in our sound, gave us aesthetic input as we constructed the songs, and pushed us really hard to capture our best performances. He would have us playing one passage over and over and over until we had gotten it perfect. Of course, we were thinking we could just correct our mistakes in ProTools, but Matt wouldn't allow that. He's like a football coach -- always pushing you to improve, never letting you get cocky. You can't fake it with Matt -- he knows band psychology too well. He's like a rock-n-roll diety: omniscient. Ha, if he reads that he'll be pissed off. He's a fairly humble guy.



How much influence did they have on the sound of the record?



Matt influenced the album in some very key ways. FMTM are very meticulous about our composition and structure, but mixing is difficult for us and we tend to argue a lot about little things. Matt saved us so much trouble by getting incredible sounds from the very start, during the tracking process. There was relatively little work that we had to do on the tones -- we were just happy with what he had captured. Then when we went into the mixing process, we were able to concentrate on bigger picture stuff like dynamics and depth. He has a way of showing you what you want, when you don't know what you want. We also had different versions/takes of song passages and he helped us select the performances that best suited the "feel" of a song, which weren't always the ones that we expected. The result is a very polished, very "finished" album that we could not have done on our own.



Howlong did you stay in the studio? do you enjoy studio work at all?



Ha, we actually do enjoy studio work a lot... but unfortunately we can never afford as much time as we want in the studio. This project was difficult because it was very ambitious - 10 songs - over an hour of complicated music - and we could only afford to give ourselves 8 days of tracking and 5 days of mixing! Does that seem like a long time? I don't know, I've lost perspective. We certainly would have loved to spend a full two weeks just tracking. But again, Matt was such an expert at mixing that he didn't need any more than five days to do it... and when it reaches the mixing phase, it's hard to stay patient. For me, the shorter the mixing phase, the better.



And how long did you need to write the songs? Is it easy for you to write and finish a FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES-song?



This album represents about 4 years of collaborative writing, when we had the time. That's not to say that we were actually working on the album for 4 years ... it's just that's how long it took for FMTM to balance life with art and come together to make an album happen. FMTM songs are never easy. Never. The collaborative "workshopping" process that we go through can be pretty exhausting - but in the end, we have a piece of music for which all three of us feel an affinity and accountability.



Is wriiting a song a group effort or does everyone work on his own?



It has varied over the years. It used to be that we would work out songs together during long sessions in the rehearsal room. Nowadays we record and share ideas digitally and thereby work a lot more individually. Nevertheless, we always spend a lot of time together synthesizing things before a final rendition is acheived.



Are you satiesfied with "on little known..."? Did it turn out the way you want it?



Jein. Personally, I'd say it far exceeded my expectations technically. It sounds wonderful to me. Yet I also must say that there is a certain emptiness to it - something within it that doesn't quite satisfy me... but that's the way I feel about a lot of my favorite records. If I feel a record is perfect, then I probably haven't listened to it enough. On Little Known Frequencies inspires me to write a new album that is better.



What are are your further plans for 2009 - are you already writing news songs? What will you record next?



We just returned from a USA tour with Dredg and Torche, which was excellent. We're taking a couple months to rest and we will continue touring in the Fall -- we have tentative plans to return to the EU in late Fall. We will let you know!


As far as writing music is concerned, I am constantly writing and recording new pieces at home. I think Francis and Sergio are as well. I hope that we can motivate ourselves and our labels to record and release another album or EP before the end of 2010. I don't want OLKF to be our final album.



How much time do you commit to the band weekly? (i guess you can't make a living off the band yet)



You guessed right! We scrape a little bit of income from the band, but we are committed to our non-musical careers as well. So time commitments change depending on what we have going on. It has seemed like over the last year, every single day has required some kind of work for the band. We are very hot and cold - we will eat, sleep, and breathe the band for a month straight on tour - and then when the tour's over, we'll try not to think about the band for as long as we can... until the next event comes along.



What are your personal favourite albums of the last months? How much does music you listen to influence the songs you write for FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES?



My favorite recent album is the Faraquet Anthology - which isn't new material, but I guess that's testament to how behind the times I am. I think Francis is really into the new M83 album. I also really love the Bat For Lashes album and the new TV On The Radio album... probably because they both remind me of early Peter Gabriel. We are all in love with pop culture and will listen to anything that's happening - maybe it's not all great, but it's interesting nonetheless. All of it is relevant to what we do - we are products of our experiences, and in our music we try as honestly as we can to turn that theory into practice.



And some final words?



Lars, thank you so much for taking the time to ask us some thoughtful questions. Stay tuned for tour dates! Just keep in mind that ALL art is political art... and we need more artists who are concious of that. Tausend Dank und hau rein. Peace.