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interviews
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Interview with David Bazan of Pedro the Lion (April 2004)
As a Pedro The Lion fan, I was very excited that David Bazan kindly took some time from his busy schedule to answer a few questions for us about his creative process, his inspirations, opinions on modern culture, touring with Death Cab for Cutie, and more. Their newest album, Achilles' Heel will be released May 25th.
Photo by Chris Woodcock
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JH (Jennifer Hall): Interviewer.
DB (David Bazan): Musician
JH: As opposed to some of your very first, more confessional music, the songs on Achilles' Heel have been fictional stories from different voices, in parable form so the listener can take his or her own interpretations.
DB: Actually, though it seems more confessional, It's Hard to Find a Friend isn't any less fictional than Achilles'. Since the first e.p. (Whole), I have been writing mainly fiction. Occasionally there will be a song that hangs around the truth a little more than the rest, but
even with those I end up fudging the facts just to keep it from going stale.
JH: I've noticed in a lot of articles and reviews that people will have some pretty different interpretations of the same song (I've read three different interpretations of "Rapture" for one), and I was wondering if you think to yourself, "wow, they totally missed the boat," or if you are glad different people took different things from them, because sometimes there seem to be several layers in a lot of the meanings,
DB: Early on I was frustrated when I would hear of someone's "wrong" interpretation of a song, but I very quickly realized that the whole endeavor was quite subjective and I began to enjoy the different takes that people had. In fact, like you said with "Rapture," often there were many different interpretations. With Achilles' Heel, I leaned on my sub-conscience alot more than on previous efforts so even for me there are many layers to each song lyrically that I am still unpacking.
JH: and do you ever write songs with more than one meaning in mind?
DB: actually I can't really [decide] if the song "Rejoice" was meant to be
sarcastic or sincere and I sing from one perspective or the other depending on what mood I am in.
JH: As for layering and meanings, I found the storytelling here and on previous albums to be really masterfully crafted in that way, and I was wondering if you start with a story in mind and then build the music around that, or is it the other way around?
DB: That is very nice of you. On past records I usually did start with a
story or an idea for a song and then write around it, but on Achilles' Heel I would just start writing and try to let the song and my sub-conscience determine the direction. which is a goofy way of saying I tried not to decide before hand what the song and or the characters would do and be like.
JH: Like the title suggests, there seems to be a running theme of vulnerability as well as struggle; mentally, physically, and spiritually; running throughout Achilles' Heel. I was wondering if you thought that any cultural innovations like increasing technological ease or governmental infiltration into our personal lives, or anything else, has made a weaker or more vulnerable culture,
DB: Yes, I do. I believe that the division of labor and commercial television are slowly but surely whittling away our dignity and intellect. I believe we are in grave danger of losing our democratic republic forvever if we haven't already. The ones who know this are either having anxiety attacks or mailing bombs to people while the ones who don't are either arrogant, ignorant, or both, and are being deliberately distracted by the powers that be.
JH: and if that had anything to do with some inspiration for this album?
DB: I would bet yes. It's hard to tell exactly where all the songs come from, but in hind sight a lot of these songs are concerned with various stressors that complicate manhood, which is a bizarre notion anyway. And I think those issues I stated above figure pretty highly into it.
JH: It's now widely known in the indie/rock world that your music contains a lot of Christian themes coming from your strong faith, and I was wondering if you get some negativity or surprising positivity, personally and/or professionally, from an arena that's generally pretty biased against Christianity, even though your music is lauded by many indie music fans.
DB: I constantly hear stories of people who were about to buy pedro record when a friend piped in with "dude, don't buy that, they're a Christian band!" which is funny because I would sooner tell them to go fuck themselves than that Jesus loved them. The whole thing is pretty irritating because all of the scrutiny is based on people's assumptions about a very personal issue that they couldn't possibly have any insight into.
JH: Your faith is obviously a strong part of your life, but I was wondering about other things that inspire you. Do you have anything inspiring in your
work area? What music are you listening to right now? Any books or movies you particularly like at the moment?
DB: Records: Spoon Series of Sneaks, Sleepy Jackson, Deerhoof Revelie and Milkman, Starflyer 59 I Am The Portuguese Blues.
Books: Dosteoevsky The Idiot, Paul Krugmann The Great Unraveling, David Dark Everyday Apocolypse, Harper's Magazine.
Movies: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Punch Drunk Love, The Big Lebowski.
JH: Achilles' Heel still contains serious themes, but has a lighter feel to it, and I must say it's pretty catchy, it's been on my playlist for weeks now. It's very different from some of the slower, darker songs on previous albums. Do you think that since you had more fun making this with T. W. Walsh,
DB: Yes. It was nice to work with Tim and together we decided to have fun
making the record. So we did.
JH: and since you didn't focus on making the album as a whole as thematic as previous ones, that you enjoyed it more?
DB: I certainly did enjoy the creative process much more in writing this album, because I didn't have to labor over the songs as much. I could simply let them be what they wanted to be.
JH: And has that made you think about taking a more fun or relaxed approach to songwriting in the future?
DB: Yes.
JH: Speaking of fun, are you excited about going on tour with Death Cab for Cutie?
DB: Yeah. Those guys are great and we have known them since '98 so it will
be fun to hang out and shit. Also it is sort of refreshing to be the opener and just play our thirty minutes and be done.
-Jennifer Hall 04/07/04
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