…as we previously mentioned, Southeast Engine just released an excellent new disc, Canary. The band are scheduled to stop in to Canal Street Tavern this Saturday night [with The Motel Beds] to conclude an extended tour. Today, the band issued a video via Paste for the track “Red Lake Shore”. Have a look and then read on to catch our interview with SEE frontman, Adam Remnant, about the new album…
The Buddha Den: It’s been two years since the release of your last album, >From the Forest to the Sea, and things have been fairly active in your camp. How was the tour with Deerhoof last year? How has Leo’s move to North Carolina and takeover of Misra Records affected working conditions for the band?
Adam Remnant: Deerhoof is such an inspiring band. They play with incredible energy and musicianship. I feel like we learned a lot as a band watching them night after night. Of course it was also great to play with a band at that level where you know you are going to play to a large audience every night – any traveling band can appreciate that. Their audience was so welcoming too – despite the difference in our sounds, we were always well received.
The last year has rolled out a lot of change for us with Leo moving to North Carolina and taking over Misra Records. Leo’s moving to North Carolina hasn’t posed too many challenges since we’ve already been spread out geographically for some time with Billy in Morgantown, West Virginia; Jesse in Dayton; and myself in Athens. We always have to coordinate our schedules in advance to rehearse, play shows, and record. We also make sure we work on the songs individually before getting together as well. Leo’s taking over Misra has allowed us to feel more autonomous as a band and able to be more directly involved in the decisions for how to handle our album’s release. I think Leo’s doing a great job – there seems to be more energy and buzz behind the release of Canary than any of our previous releases.
TBD: Tell me about the writing/recording process for the new album, Canary. How long did the album take from writing to completion of recording? You recorded in your hometown of Athens at 3 Elliot Studios. How was that process?
AR: It seems like the writing of the album started so long ago now. A fellow stopped by my home one day in Athens, Ohio and explained that his father had built the house I live in back in the 30’s, and that his family lived just across the street. He was just a child at the time and he described his life at that time in that area. This meeting must of left an impression on me because I naturally started writing songs from the perspective of a family living in Southeast Ohio during the 30’s. After a couple songs were written relatively spontaneously the concept grew into an album’s worth of songs. It was thrilling to take on the life of another character from another time. The album is still intensely personal to me in an allegorical sense. For example, “Adeline of the Appalachian Mountains” and “Ruthie” are both basically love songs to my wife Amanda.
Recording commenced in February 2010. The band had been rehearsing the songs for months so we tracked almost the entire album in 4 days at 3 Elliot Studio. The album was largely recorded live in the studio and to tape. Those initial 4 days were riddled with challenges – a snow storm, power outages, failing guitar amps, throwing my voice out at one point. Despite all this, we kept our heads, persevered, and completed the bulk of the tracking in those 4 days. Overall, we tried to record these songs in a very direct manner with basic production to give the songs an organic feel. Working at 3 Elliot was as natural as ever. Josh Antonuccio, who acts as the engineer and producer, is our George Martin – he’s the 5th gear of the Southeast Engine.
TBD: So the new album is somewhat of a concept piece dealing with an Appalachian town during the Great Depression. Was the album designed around the concept or did it reveal itself during the writing process as a way to tie it all together?
AR: I initially wrote “Adeline of the Appalachian Mountains” and “At Least We Have Each Other” without any thought of an album concept. Once those songs were written I felt like there was more to explore – they were presenting a world that could be developed through the course of a whole album and allowed me to tackle several important themes to me: economic hardship, environmental exploitation, family, local communities, growing up, sustainability, etc. I started to step into the shoes of a young man growing up during the 1930’s in Appalachian Ohio – his struggles were mine and I could write the songs from his point of view as if they were my own.
TBD: Do you feel any parallels between the struggles of the Depression era compared to the modern struggles of a failed economy and vanishing middle class? How do you think the themes of seeking greater meaning to existence, personal reflection and growth, and the connections between individuals set the tone of the album? How do you feel these themes flow through the SEE catalog?
AR: Oh man, what thoughtful questions. Appalachia had already been experiencing economic hardships before the official stock market crash of 1929, and I think the same could be said of Appalachia before the recent economic collapses. I had already started writing the songs for Canary and developing the themes before the national economy took a clear turn for the worse. Once the economy became front page news and a daily reality I saw an added relevance to the songs. I definitely felt a parallel between FDR’s campaign and Obama’s as well. Both leaders symbolized great hope for change. My house mate had an Obama poster in his bedroom during the campaign, which reminded me of stories of people having framed pictured of FDR hanging in their house during the 30’s.
Regarding the themes, the last couple Southeast Engine albums had a very strong spiritual element in the forefront of the lyrics. This time I wanted to keep things more grounded and deal with the interpersonal relationships between family members, communities, and lovers. I also focused on how we relate to our location and sense of place. However, I found in writing about these immediate relationships, that the divine is intertwined with all of them. For example, in “Red Lake Shore” the character misses his mother who has passed and imagines the family reunion in the afterlife – this theme runs through all those old Carter Family songs as well, which was inspiring to me at the time of writing these songs.
TBD: While the band has a long working relationship with Misra, how have things changed, if at all, with this release? Where did the idea come from to make the album available on yellow cassette?
AR: There certainly seems to be some energy behind this release which is encouraging. The yellow cassette idea was Leo’s. We’ve discussed the challenge of getting folks to buy a physical product these days. For the album pre-order we added a limited edition poster so that the fans can get a unique item that they won’t get from a simple online download or stream. The cassette is the same idea – Leo thought to make the cassette yellow as well to represent a canary.
TBD: What plans for touring do you have for the remainder of 2011? What are your hopes for this record, especially now that it’s already been praised as one of the best releases of 2011? Is there anything else you’d like people to know about Southeast Engine circa 2011?
AR: We are currently working on our tour schedule for the rest of the year. We’re heading out west on this tour. We’ll certainly play some more dates east of the Mississippi this year. We’re also thinking about the prospect of going to Europe. Nothing definitive yet though. With every release, we’re just hoping to reach more people – I like the idea of the band growing with each release – the music spreading, reaching more and more people. As a musician, this feels purely instinctual. Some argue that just knowing you made a good album or played a good show should be enough satisfaction on its own – I understand the logic, but I can’t help but want to see it get out there.
