Spill! Interview with The Dodos

Girl About Town recently talked with Logan Kroeber, of The Dodos about their newest album, Time to Die, as well as touring, musical influences, and Philly.

The Dodos are Meric Long, Logan Kroeber, and (newly added) Keaton Snyder from San Francisco. The band’s second album, Visiter is a vibrant, complex album bursting with African Ewe drumming, elaborate instrumentation, and catchy pop melodies. Visiter got The Dodos a lot of attention, and their song “Fools” has even appeared in a beer commercial.

 For Time to Die, Long and Kroebe added vibraphonist Keaton Snyder, and also worked with a new producer; Phil Ek. Ultimately, Time to Die is a more polished album, loosing some of the raw energy that makes Visiter so attractive. It is however, an album that establishes stability for the band and is certainly not without highlights–tracks like “Longform”, and “This is Business”, are intricate, melodic, and rock out.

The Dodos will be playing at the First Unitarian Church on October 12^th, 2009 with Auckland band, The Ruby Suns.

Girl About Town: How was working with producer Phil Ek (The Shins, Fleet Foxes) on Time to Die?

Logan Kroeber: Fun outside the control room and challenging inside. He has really great ears and never let any of us get away with anything. He could hear the tiniest flaws. Other than that we bonded over food the whole time.

Why did you decide to stream Time to Die on the internet prior to its release date?

The label came up with the idea. It just seemed like a good way to make sure people heard the right versions of the songs and then offer them a way to purchase them if they liked what they heard.

Is there a story behind the title Time to Die? What made you choose that for the title of your record?

It comes from a little catchphrase that Meric would say before going into anything stressful. It's not meant to be morbid.

La Blogotheque has said that your Takeaway show was one of its breakthrough videos. Though the show was filmed some time ago; what stands out to you from the experience?

I don't know if we're talking about the same video, but I remember playing red and purple in Meric's basement and beating on this pipe. Then his neighbor came down and slowly and repeatedly told me to stop from over my shoulder as the pipe went through his living room.

What do you enjoy about touring?

The food, the scenery, the hard to describe feeling of satisfaction you get when you finally feel at ease drifting along with the rest of your caravan.

 What are some albums that have been particularly influential to The Dodo’s development?

Andrew W.K. - I Get Wet

Led Zeppelin - Various

O.M.D. - Singles

How do you feel about the term “indie rock” (and its sometimes negative connotation)?

It's sometimes hard to hear myself say it (like to border guards) but it is a blanket term that helps less musically adventurous people understand what we do.

What is your favorite thing about Philadelphia?

That we're gonna get to see Thee Oh Sees there in a couple of weeks. You should come.

The Dodos - band site / myspace
The Ruby Suns - band site / myspace
Thee Oh Sees - myspace