Black Heart Procession - Californian Nocturne

When I arrive at the beautiful art-deco hotel in the center of Milan, where I'll be meeting Black Heart Procession for an interview, Tobias Nathaniel (dressed entirely in black, with long hair and an unkempt beard) is out on the street smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. We start chatting and he tells me he hasn't slept more than 10 hours total over the last three nights.

For my part, all I can do is smile and reassure him: "Relax: he can't say anything to you and he won't say anything to you. Maybe he's just a bit surprised".

Black Heart Procession have just celebrated their first ten years of existence…

Tobias (to Pall): Has it already been ten?!

Pall (to Tobias): Yes, almost.

Tobias: Wow!

Shall we take stock?

…

…

Pall: We've put out five or six albums…

Five or six?

Pall: Five albums and a few EPs and 7"s… Now we live off the music we play, we tour a huge amount and we've set up a recording studio.

So much has happened, you know, and it's all wonderful and exciting, but we've had to work hard to get where we are now.

If we'd been the kind of bad students or bad employees, we would have given up a long time ago, we wouldn't have been able to do all this: we put a lot of effort into everything we do, and we're committed to making things turn out for the best.

Tobias: We could say that we've grown up in general and there's been an overall evolution in our lives: we grow up, and that changes the way we think too.

Was it easy to release an album like "One" in 1997? Do you think the popularity of very mellow sounds like trip-hop helped its success, right on the heels of the grunge era?

Pall: I think "Number One" was a reaction on our part, we wanted to do something that felt exclusively ours. We never seriously thought about recording an album: we started making music at my place… you know, we'd hang around together, drink a ton, and just did this thing… really, we weren't thinking about making a record, but the moment we realized we had seven songs, it was natural to think: "We've got enough for an album, let's make a few more!". At that point we rented the studio for a single day, to record the album exactly the way we wanted to.

The idea behind Black Heart Procession was that neither of us could turn down the other: Toby couldn't say no to my ideas and I couldn't say no to his, and that went on for pretty much the whole first record (they laugh). Then we started saying: "No, what are you doing?" "No, what are you doing?" The initial idea was to make something extremely personal, a record that made us feel completely at ease.

It came out on Cargo Records and we didn't ask for much money, we weren't thinking about doing a long tour…

I'll never forget the moment we listened to our record in full for the first time: we were driving home in my car and it was practically the middle of the night, and when even the last song ended, we looked at each other and said: "We made a great record!" and we decided to make some calls to shop it around, without expecting much. Then, before the second album, Touch & Go got in touch with us and asked if we wanted to make a record with them, and Touch & Go was a label we'd always followed.

It all started very innocently and naturally, out of our desire to do something we felt was different, different and unique, something we hadn't already done, you know? Then it just kept evolving.

Tobias: The intent wasn't to form a band, so if you're asking whether it was easier back then than it is now, there's not that much of a difference. Maybe now we approach things differently, but since the original idea was to not be the usual band, it's always been difficult.

Pall: … I think now — not to contradict what you just said — it's a lot harder, in a way: Toby lives in Portland and writing together has become complicated. The project was born because we used to get drunk together (smiles): there was the piano, there was us, and we started making music. Now we actually have to make a real effort to get together and make a record. From that point of view, it's definitely a bit more complicated, but the desire to make music and the reasons for doing it are the same as at the start, nothing's changed.

I've always been fascinated by the titles you choose for your albums, so I prepared a few questions: why did you decide to end the series of numbered albums right at "Three"?

Pall: Basically "Number Three" was the third album in three years running. There wasn't any deliberate reason, it was more that it naturally ended up that way at that point. Then we started writing "Amore del Tropico" and we realized there was a new situation, and we could have carried on with "Four", "Five" and "Six", but sooner or later we'd have had to change.

Actually we called it "One" because we thought it would be our only record, then "Two" and "Three" came along and we shifted toward something different, while "Amore del Tropico" marked a turning point, so we decided to title the record that way.

With "The Spell"… I think it's a title that fits the record perfectly. We settled on the title when it was almost halfway written: the idea was hanging over a lot of the recordings.

Tobias: … Maybe the next record will be called: "Four".

Pall: You know, with "One", "Two" and "Three" we really had to learn how to count…

Tobias: … we didn't know about the existence of the 4, but now we do!

Pall: I wouldn't have imagined there were so many numbers!

If you look at the artwork of "Amore del Tropico", there's a 4 somewhere. I don't remember if it's on the CD or the vinyl, but there's a 4, maybe in the title. For "The Spell", there's a 5 in the CD artwork. We keep numbering the records, but we've also started giving them a title.

We've already talked about "The Spell", so now I can ask you about "Amore del Tropico". There's a small discrepancy between the title of the album and that of a song: "Tropics of Love", but I'm pretty sure you already know that, I imagine your mother pointed it out to you (Pall's mother is Italian).

Pall: Well, my mom helped me with the translation. We wanted it to be slightly different, so she helped me figure it out.

Let's go back to “The Spell“. I think its sound is closer to the dark atmospheres of the first three records than to "Amore del Tropico". How did you arrive at that sound?

Tobias: We got there by way of "Amore del Tropico": there were so many people involved in making that record. There was a song with thirty people playing on it and…

Pall (to Tobias): There weren't thirty people!

Tobias (to Pall): Of course there were! Think of "Tropics": there were three backing singers, a string quartet… look, there were a lot of them!

Pall: That's true…

Tobias: Anyway, I'm convinced that, on that record, we had a lot of trouble reproducing the songs live, and for “The Spell“ we consciously tried to simplify the songs so we could play them live, even with different instrumentation, but in a way that would recreate the same atmosphere as the record.

Where, when and how did you record “The Spell“?

Pall: We wrote it partly in Portland and partly in San Diego. At first I was the one going to Portland, but then, most of the time, it was the guys who came down to San Diego, where we started writing together, where we have the studio where we also recorded, produced and mixed it.

There's always something played in a peculiar way on your records. The saw played with a bow, for example.

Did you play any object in an unusual way for this record too?

Tobias: "The Waiter"! "The Waiter" has some funny things in it. We used a water tank for percussion and… (beaming) I play a sponge!

Pall: I recorded all the violin parts through an airtight tube to get a very distant sound, like an old tape recorder… We recorded a lot of instruments through that tube for "The Waiter", you know, to get that really old sound.

How did you come up with the idea of playing this kind of objects?

Pall: Well, recording through tubes has been done by various producers and engineers in the past… We needed something that would sound like a scraping noise, so we tried playing a newspaper, but the sponge had a better sound. We just try things out and experiment.

So it’s something the song needs, in your view.

Pall: Well, sometimes you don’t know, sometimes you just try things out: you want to add an element and you make a couple of attempts, and something will come together before long.

Tobias: There’s always some unusual instrumentation, but with a solid, sophisticated melodic progression.

Those are the songs I can’t wait to work on, to play strange objects on, but still let the track stay tangible.

What’s the live line-up?

Pall: There are five of us now.

And what about in the studio?

Pall: Same thing: it’s just the five of us playing on the record. (Looking at Tobias) I don’t think there’s anyone else.

Tobias: No.

Pall: Usually there are four of us, but on some songs there are five.

A dark, depressed mood dominates your songs, tied to a “gothic” imagery. How important is that imagery to you, not just musically but also from a literary standpoint?

Tobias: I think that simply being alive and evolving as people means understanding the darker side of human nature; being conscious of it and staying in touch with it allows you to evolve to a higher level of "understanding", otherwise you'll always stay where you are. I know a lot of people who refuse to think about anything negative, but they'll always remain at the same level.

We make the music we make, but sometimes it's interesting to reflect on what our music means to us, and what it means to me.

Pall: Outside the band we also have lives of our own, and it's right to be happy and enjoy life, you know, but it's also right to be aware of what's happening around us.

Do you think playing sad music helps you get rid of sadness in your life?

Tobias: Absolutely! Yes! It's about being conscious of certain things and stepping outside your routine, and that's what makes you feel better. For example, on tour we play every night, and for that hour of my day I have to get up on stage and release these feelings, whatever they are: sadness or melancholy. I have an outlet to let go of these feelings, and it helps me "clear" my thoughts.

Another element that's very present in your music is the cinematic one. Has anyone ever asked you to compose a film soundtrack?

Pall: Recently, yes. Someone I know is working on a film called "The Tailor", and we're writing some songs for it.

We've scored a few commercials, "Animal Planet" used our music, "Nip/Tuck" used our music, the "Happy Endings" film...

Tobias: I've always thought our music was inherently cinematic, but scoring a film... people tend to hand that kind of job to those who've already done it before, to names they already know. It's a bit of a "political" situation, I suppose.

Pall: We'd love to do it.

Tobias: Absolutely!

Pall: We hope that one day someone with a good film, a good situation, will ask us to score an entire film with an original soundtrack. That would be absolutely fantastic.

Is there anyone you'd like to work with, or a particular kind of film you'd like to score?

Pall: A few directors come to mind, you know. Though they'd probably be the obvious names, like David Lynch or Francis Ford Coppola... (we laugh)

When you're writing songs, does it help to think in terms of particular images, as if they were little films?

Pall: Yes, I think imagination is the most useful aspect when I write songs.

Sometimes the lyrics come quickly and I instantly understand what they need. Other times I have to wait for the music to point me in the right direction. Many other times Toby's piano parts help me. I wait for that moment: when suddenly something starts to appear. Yes, imagination helps a lot.

Tobias: As far as I'm concerned, it's not a matter of imagination, but of "feeling": it's something on an emotional level that makes me understand that what I'm writing is worthwhile. Most of the time I realize it once a song is finished, but during the writing process it's different for me: it's more of a feeling.

Pall, you recently worked with Dévics on their new album: " Push The Heart ". Was it easy to work with a band whose atmospheres are almost as dark as those of Black Heart Procession?

Tobias: Almost as dark as ours! (they laugh)

Pall: They're fantastic people, super-wonderful, hugely talented. Dustin and Sara are super, super nice, very patient and easygoing. We had some technical issues, but working with them was really enjoyable because you always learn something. I always try to learn something from the people I work with, you know, and they're definitely very inspired people.

How did this collaboration come about?

Pall: We've been friends for more than ten years: we've played with them several times and our friendship has grown over the years. What hasn't happened is that we've never actually gone on a proper tour together. We're supposed to be touring together in the United States this year.

(Milan, March 24, 2006)

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google