The Dandy Warhols - Peter Holmstrom
Words and Photos: Andreas Heuer
“We’re toying around with the idea of bringing it a little up to date, it feels a little small next to some more modern records,” reveals Peter Holmstrom, guitarist and founding member of The Dandy Warhols, when speaking to Caught in the Mosh about plans to revitalize the bands seminal third album, Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia - aptly - thirteen years from it’s original release. “We’ve been holding off talking to EMI about it because they’ve been bought, so we don’t really know who we’re supposed to be dealing with. I guess we should find out”. Holmstrom’s ensuring silence indicates he’s lost contemplating this rather essential and trivial process before he adds “Some of the extra stuff is going to be really cool. Hardcore fans out there may have heard about half of the stuff, but there’s a lot no one’s heard outside the band”.
Presently though, The Dandy Warhols’ attention is firmly focused on there latest release This Machine. It’s a natural progression at record number eight for a band that’s been together for over eighteen years. The recording boasts a more organic and relaxed sound than it’s predecessors. “There’s a thing with recording, when you record a lot of tracks, each one has to be small to be able to be heard, otherwise it just gets confusing. So with This Machine we recorded less tracks making the individual sounds become bigger, consequently each track can be distinguished easily. We wanted to try making a record that way, especially considering the last one (Earth to The Dandy Warhols) had ridiculous amounts of sounds per song. I guess the organic vibe would definitely be something that came about out of that process”.
Presently though, The Dandy Warhols’ attention is firmly focused on there latest release This Machine. It’s a natural progression at record number eight for a band that’s been together for over eighteen years. The recording boasts a more organic and relaxed sound than it’s predecessors. “There’s a thing with recording, when you record a lot of tracks, each one has to be small to be able to be heard, otherwise it just gets confusing. So with This Machine we recorded less tracks making the individual sounds become bigger, consequently each track can be distinguished easily. We wanted to try making a record that way, especially considering the last one (Earth to The Dandy Warhols) had ridiculous amounts of sounds per song. I guess the organic vibe would definitely be something that came about out of that process”.
Earth to the Dandy Warhols was in fact the first album the band recorded after splitting with long term label, Capitol. “You know, when we signed with Capitol, and during our time with them, it was mainly in a time when artists were given complete creative control, and of course, we insisted on it. The only time we kind of let them get involved was in the Welcome to the Monkey House era, just to see if that actually improved relations with them. It didn’t. In fact it was just ugly. It’s almost like we only ended up doing it, and putting up with making it that way so we could release our own version of it later”.
And release it later they did, the result being 2009’s The Dandy Warhols Are Sound. A significantly more spatial mix compared to the former. “They were both such challenging records to make. For me, I don’t even know if I can listen to them now without being biased in a certain semi negative way. The difference between those records is more about the amount of space that was left. We weren’t trying to cram a million things into them like we did with Earth to The Dandy Warhols, but the production on each record is what made them distinct. It’s not about one being more produced or the other being less, it’s about the individual decisions that were made to make them what they are - if that makes sense?"
The Dandy Warhols are currently gearing up for a return visit to Australia as part of this year’s Harvest Festival. Having recently completed a slew of shows across the US the band’s feeling optimistic about how newer tracks from This Machine are coming together in a live setting. “Yeah, there’s a couple that are really working, Sad Vacation and The Autumn Carnival, are especially fun to play, and we’ve put together a pretty cool version of While We’re Gone which is quite different too. Hopefully we’re going to get a couple more new ones out there too, but with festival sets it’s always hard because there’s a large part of the crowd that just want the hits. There are a couple of other songs we throw in too that are more for us and those ones tend to have a bit of a spacey jam thing attached to them too. It works so we can get that stuff we love out of our systems and still please the people that need the well known songs. The limitation is frustrating though, but we’re doing a couple of other co-headline shows with Silversun Pickups so we’ll get to branch out a bit for those. It’s cool to be paired up with the Silversun Pickups too. We played a show with them a few years ago, it was a weird night, but the show worked well. I think the two bands stylistically work very well together, there’s definitely a crossover there".
And release it later they did, the result being 2009’s The Dandy Warhols Are Sound. A significantly more spatial mix compared to the former. “They were both such challenging records to make. For me, I don’t even know if I can listen to them now without being biased in a certain semi negative way. The difference between those records is more about the amount of space that was left. We weren’t trying to cram a million things into them like we did with Earth to The Dandy Warhols, but the production on each record is what made them distinct. It’s not about one being more produced or the other being less, it’s about the individual decisions that were made to make them what they are - if that makes sense?"
The Dandy Warhols are currently gearing up for a return visit to Australia as part of this year’s Harvest Festival. Having recently completed a slew of shows across the US the band’s feeling optimistic about how newer tracks from This Machine are coming together in a live setting. “Yeah, there’s a couple that are really working, Sad Vacation and The Autumn Carnival, are especially fun to play, and we’ve put together a pretty cool version of While We’re Gone which is quite different too. Hopefully we’re going to get a couple more new ones out there too, but with festival sets it’s always hard because there’s a large part of the crowd that just want the hits. There are a couple of other songs we throw in too that are more for us and those ones tend to have a bit of a spacey jam thing attached to them too. It works so we can get that stuff we love out of our systems and still please the people that need the well known songs. The limitation is frustrating though, but we’re doing a couple of other co-headline shows with Silversun Pickups so we’ll get to branch out a bit for those. It’s cool to be paired up with the Silversun Pickups too. We played a show with them a few years ago, it was a weird night, but the show worked well. I think the two bands stylistically work very well together, there’s definitely a crossover there".
This years Harvest Festival boasts an eclectic mix of artists, a number of which Holmstrom is more than a little enthusiastic to catch whilst on tour, “You know, I haven’t seen Beck in years, and I haven’t seen Sigur Ros in years either, so catching them both again is going to be fantastic. I’m always happy to have the chance to see The Black Angels, and then there’s Grizzly Bear”. Holmstrom hesitates, “You know, I don’t really know anything about them, but I keep hearing their name. It’s going to be nice to see what everyone’s talking about”.
So, back to where we started and what’s actually going on with The Dandy Warhols’ Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia. It seems like only yesterday tracks like Bohemian Live You and Get Off were saturating our radios, but thirteen years on, the album still sounds just as impressive as the day it was released. “I think were going to try and tour the record playing it front to back. Do it as close as we possibly can to what the actual record sounds like. It means we’re going to have to re-learn how to play songs like Godless, Get Off and Bohemian Like You, because they are different on the record than the way we play them now. There are parts in those songs that we’ve had to completely ignore because we don’t have enough people to play them live, but this time we’re going to get a couple of extra musicians in for the shows, I think it’s going to be really fun.
So, back to where we started and what’s actually going on with The Dandy Warhols’ Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia. It seems like only yesterday tracks like Bohemian Live You and Get Off were saturating our radios, but thirteen years on, the album still sounds just as impressive as the day it was released. “I think were going to try and tour the record playing it front to back. Do it as close as we possibly can to what the actual record sounds like. It means we’re going to have to re-learn how to play songs like Godless, Get Off and Bohemian Like You, because they are different on the record than the way we play them now. There are parts in those songs that we’ve had to completely ignore because we don’t have enough people to play them live, but this time we’re going to get a couple of extra musicians in for the shows, I think it’s going to be really fun.
“We’re trying to re-release the record too. I’ve been digging around through the archives. I like saying that word “archives”, but it’s essentially a closet. I’ve found a bunch of different mixes and early versions of songs that are really cool. We’re also working on some fancy packaging too, so it’s coming along nicely”.
On the album it’s self, Holmstrom reiterates, “It just needs a few more modern tweaks here and there. Nothing overly major, but the real problem is the guy who originally mastered it died recently and we don’t really want anybody else to master it again. He was a bit of a legend and he worked on so many amazing records”.
Holmstrom is speaking of George Marino, legendary mastering engineer whom, for the last five decades worked on some of the most important records in modern music along with some of the most impressive artists. His passing in June was the result of a year long battle with lung cancer. Holmstrom, who’s voice once again indicates he’s become lost in thought continues, “I think if we did it, you know, remastered it, the record would have to come with an original master too. It was supposed to sound a certain way and it did. If there’s ever to be a newer version, the older one will always have to be close by. It just has to be”.
On the album it’s self, Holmstrom reiterates, “It just needs a few more modern tweaks here and there. Nothing overly major, but the real problem is the guy who originally mastered it died recently and we don’t really want anybody else to master it again. He was a bit of a legend and he worked on so many amazing records”.
Holmstrom is speaking of George Marino, legendary mastering engineer whom, for the last five decades worked on some of the most important records in modern music along with some of the most impressive artists. His passing in June was the result of a year long battle with lung cancer. Holmstrom, who’s voice once again indicates he’s become lost in thought continues, “I think if we did it, you know, remastered it, the record would have to come with an original master too. It was supposed to sound a certain way and it did. If there’s ever to be a newer version, the older one will always have to be close by. It just has to be”.
The Dandy Warhols play Harvest 2012:
Sat 10th November - Melbourne, Werribee Park
Sun 11th November - Melbourne, Werribee Park - SOLD OUT
Sat 17th November - Sydney, Parramatta Park
Sun 18th November - Brisbane, Riverstage
Tickets for Melbourne's second show, Brisbane and Sydney are on sale now from Harvest Festival, Oztix and Ticketek
As well as two very special Sideshows in Perth and Adelaide with Silversun Pickups:
Tue 13th Nov - Perth, Fremantle Arts Centre - tickets from Oztix and Heatseeker
Thu 15th Nov - Adelaide, HQ - tickets from Oztix and Venuetix
