The United States of Whatever
It really infuriates me that a lot of people see a band from New York and automatically think they’re cool. Yep, Brooklyn has given us the Vivian Girls, The Strokes, Hundred in the Hands, Animal Collective and Dirty Projectors in the last few years, but it’s a big place and like most scenes, for every good band there’s 4 or 5 that suck balls. I think everyone agrees, so why, whenever a marketing person says that a certain act has been ‘ripping up the Big Apple recently’ does everyone act like Television has just reformed or something?
If you think I’m going off on one, then I challenge you to ask any kid hanging around a UTR show or sitting drinking coffee outside Rough Trade who Mike Sniper is. Chances are they’ll excitedly tell you about this semi-mythical figure from New York whose not only the brains behind seminal indie label Captured Tracks, but is also the faceless driving force behind super-cool garage rockers Blank Dogs who are so lo-fi it’s as if they’re trying to sound crap on purpose.
The strange thing is, Sniper never really intended to be one of Brooklyn’s ‘most mysterious musicians’ in the first place – things just ended up that way. Bored with the constant standing around at photo shoots he decided to screw with the program by wrapping his face up with scarves, giving rise to all kind of crazy rumours like the ones that claim that he plays live dressed like a rag doll and is even Steven Malkmus in some crazy disguise. The whole sounding shit on purpose is equally daft: Blank Dog’s early recordings sound like they were recorded in the bottom of a well, because he didn’t have the means at his disposal to make them sound like a slicker version of ‘Let It Be’, that’s all.
However, like most myths, there’s a nugget of truth underneath all of the hear-say and fabrications. Armed with a disarming and quite brilliant blend of no-wave, New York punk and roof – raising garage rock, Blank Dogs have built their reputation on music that sounds like Wavves partying with Lou Reed. Now finally able to afford some decent kit, his latest album ‘Land and Fixed’ sees him flirt with a little cold wave, a bit of jangly c86 indie pop and even a hint of Human League-style new wave, while pasting it together with the gut-punching indie punk we all know and love. It’s as if he’s looked at all the music on your Last FM page and decided to make a absolutely bad-ass record out of all out of it.
Blank Dogs - Northern Islands by Le CD est mort
About to embark on a UK tour, I caught up with Mike as he was about to hop on a plane at JKF. In retrospect, it could have been a bad time.
How do you deal with Trans-Atlantic air travel, I was climbing the walls by the time I got back from the states? Any tips for getting over the jet lag?
I'm horrible at flying. I just drug myself into oblivion.
You were due to play the UK last year, but had to cancel. What happened? Can we expect something extra special this time around?
We had some passport issues, unfortunately in the 'States, you have to wait two weeks until you leave with proof of travel before you can get an expedited passport issued, last time they were unsure it'd get approved, so we cancelled instead of paying a couple grand for flights without knowing if we'd even get to board the plane. Pretty inane story, but that’s the truth.
So expect nothing special, or extra.
Great. Moving on, what kind of stuff influences your music?
Probably my ego, mostly
Captured Tracks have signed quite a few British bands recently. Are you pretty impressed with the state of UK music?
Yeah, we’ve signed quite a few recently, but on the whole I think there's good and bad bands over here, just like there is in the States.
The only real difference is that every band in the UK with a demo or 7" has a manager, which is definitely not the case in the US. It's a bit of a turnoff, actually, but I guess the industry is different over there.
What's the best thing about making/playing music? From most people we talk to, it can be pretty stressful/hectic most of the time - what keeps you hooked?
I have no idea why I do it. No one cares, unless it's to make fun of you or whatever.
I noticed you're playing the Luminaire on Halloween this year. Can we expect a couple of Misfit's covers?
Nope. Definitely not.
Bummer.
Blank Dogs are playing CAMP Basement on the 9th October, and the Luminaire on the 31st. 'Land and Fixed' is out now.
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