SXSW 2007 :: Interview: Menomena

After a day of partying hard SXSW-style we were tired and really didn't want to see Aqueduct. So we took a break from the music and caught up with Brent Knopf, one-third of Portland art-pop band, Menomena.

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Andre (CMG - A): What are you reading?

Brent Knopf (BK): [holding up his book] Oh, it's just Joseph Conrad.

CMG - A: Heart of Darkness?

BK: Have you read it?

CMG - A: Yeah man, high school, eleventh grade.

Craig (CMG - C): Senior year for me.

BK: I'm digging it. Cool language. It's pretty amazing.

CMG - C: I think it's great. I mean English [was Conrad's] third language. I just marvel at that.

CMG - A: If you want to follow up I'd say Lord Jim is the next one. It's super modernist. Ok, I'm geeking out now. So, you guys are on tour?

BK: Yeah we're on tour. We just played San Francisco, L.A., and Phoenix. Now we're here. Then we'll continue up to Dallas then Chicago, the Midwest through Canada.

CMG - C: You guys are on a label now. Have things gotten bigger?

BK: Obviously being with Barsuk…The biggest difference is both timing -- what’s the other word for it...they’re organized. Our San Francisco and L.A. shows were sold-out. And hopefully in New York and Chicago . We’ll see. But overall we’re having a ton of fun so far.

CMG - A: What are you trying to do with your music? What are you guys thinking when you put together your albums, your projects?

BK: Well you know a whole bunch of things for sure. It's complicated because we're all thinking complimentary and contradictory things. I guess I don't know quite where to start. I guess I could compare it to the previous record where we knew we had three songs in it and those were going to be 18 minute songs so we worked under those restraints. This time we knew the songs were going to be a lot shorter so everything was more condensed. I was interested in finding out what it would be like if we wrote, for a lack of a better word, pop songs. I have a really soft place in my heart for pop music and what it could be and should be. So I guess that was in the back of my mind of what to strive for. I don't know if we accomplished it or not. Otherwise, what were we thinking about during the record: the lyrics reflected what we were going through and what are experiences were like.

CMG - A: What were you going through?

BK: Well, it was a weird time because we were all kind of struggling, not getting along so well. We have extraordinary different ways of communicating and getting things done. We have different opinions on things. When you try to work with people like that there's no hierarchy of power. There's no "I'm the boss" or "Shut up" type of dynamic. That's not in Menomena. So there were hard times. Another thing I think I was going through was struggling to accept the fact that more than half of my ideas -- you know, no matter how much I loved them -- were never going to see the light of day because for any given decision there are also two other guys who have ideas. If we're all equals and chance plays out we should each expect our ideas to win out about one third of the time. So I think my overwhelming experience in the making of this record -- I'm going to sound really pretentious, I'm sorry -- I kind of compare the experience to unrequited love. You come up with these ideas. You have the best of intentions and you want them to work so you're always having to watch these ideas get shot down and drop dead. I think that was my experience mostly. And then there was a lot of frustration with how long it took. It was supposed to be done in February but it took longer. I don't know if that's the direction you wanted me to head in or not [laughs mildly]. So what were you thinking when you asked that last question?

CMG - A: I was just trying to get in your head, get in the room of the band to see what it's like you when you guys put things together. What is that dynamic like when you get together? You said half the time or two-thirds of the time you go out there with this great idea, or it's great to you, and you've gotta let it go, but you're still in love enough with the band that you're cool to roll with it.

BK: It's hard to roll with it. The more you know someone the more there becomes a tendency or a temptation to interpret what they're doing not based on the moment but based on the pattern or the framework you've built in your head. That always becomes complicated so there's a dysfunctional wiring of when he says this he really means that.

CMG - C: To switch gears a little bit -- I'd like to know a little more about how rehearsals go...how do you take something from being a really solid studio track to being a great live track?

BK: Well we're still working on it. Rehearsals can be strange because we don't have a manager and we all have day jobs so often business stuff will creep into rehearsal -- you know: we have to get back to this person or that person type of stuff. It's really chaotic. Sometimes we don't practice as much as we should. so how do we translate it live? I dunno. Not very well. He laughs. We will kind of try something out in rehearsal and talk about it, then try it again and talk about it. It took a really long time, in my opinion. With some of these songs [from Friend & Foe] we're still working it out. We toured in the fall with the Long Winters as their main support and I don't think things were gelling. We were playing the new songs but they didn't really flow. So our booking agent was like, "This isn't where it needs to be." Finally we got to a place where we could do it in our sleep. That's when we started to get more comfortable. So hopefully we won't suck too much tonight.

CMG - A: So you're still getting the feel for the new album?

BK: Yeah, we're still struggling to bring a couple of tracks to the stage. For example "Air Aid" is a song that Danny (Seim) sings on and he's also our drummer and so despite how hard I try to convince him to wear the Phil Collins Genesis mic, he won't do it. So then sometimes Justin (Harris) will be like, "Danny I really think you should sing," and so it becomes that Danny plays keyboards and I play guitar and Justin plays drums. We'll do that in rehearsal but it hasn't felt right yet. Whatever.

CMG - A: Any new stuff yet?

BK: I'm kind of the guy in the band that's like: let's go, let's keep writing; maybe sometimes to the detriment of our live show I'd rather be writing new material. That's my favorite aspect of being in a band: creating something. We'll do more when we get home. We need to be working on something. I don't what we're going to do.

CMG - A: What do you do in the daytime?

BK: Like day jobs? Justin is a freelance carpenter. I wait tables and do some math tutoring. Danny works for a printing press and also does silk screens.

CMG - A: Do you like waiting tables?

BK: Sometimes. I work with really nice people. I mean one of these days I'm hoping to quit music to focus on my serving career [everyone laughs]. I have nightmares about other table sections and orders being lost and customers who are mad at me -- I'm not down with the anxiety dreams -- but I guess I'm lucky to work with nice people.

CMG - A: What are you reading next?

BK: Well my friend recommended Einstein's Dreams. or Lonesome Dove.

CMG - A: I hear it's awesome. I've never read it.

BK: What do you think I should read?

CMG - A: Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West.

BK: Really? I've never even heard of it.

CMG - A: Read that book.

BK: Yeah, totally.