Rising from the ashes...
A house fire usually means the end of a musical project, but then there’s nothing really that ‘usual’ about Oberhofer. Forced out into the big, wide world after the house above the basement he used as a base of operations set on fire, it seems that there is nothing like being homeless to give you the motivation to get off your arse and make a move.
Originally from Tacoma (which may or may not be the same place of the famous bridge disaster) Brad Oberhofer’s musical progression feels a bit like the Beach Boys' whole career on fast forward. When I first came across him it was on the back of a track called ‘Away Frm U’, which while being really fun, was really just another shit gaze/indie pop jam in the year that gave us Wavves, Women and the Soft Pack.
After fading almost immediately back into obscurity, a few years on and he’s not only recorded an album with the legendary Steve Lilywhite, it’s also the complete opposite to his early work, replacing the bedroom-produced lo-fi with kaleidoscopic chamber pop that features piano, strings and gyrating keyboards in almost orchestral arrangements.
HEART - Oberhofer by Glassnotemusic
I met up with the band just before they were about to play the Lexington, as part of their current European tour. There was still time to introduce them to a bit of British cuisine though....
Right, ready when you are...
Brad: Yeah, just lemme eat two more crackers. Is there any hummus?
Doesn’t look like it. There’s this jar of Branston pickle?
What’s that? Is it like relish?
What? You’ve never had it! It’s a proper British delicacy...
(dipping cracker into jar) I’m gonna try some right now...
Wait! You’ve gotta have some cheese on it!
I’ve got some Boursin?
No! Not Boursin. Here, try it with this weird Dutch cheese...
(Tasting pickle for the first time) Ummmm, it’s pretty good, actually.
Yeah, you can also have it with ham or corned beef if you’re more of a meat guy.
I’m not much of a meat guy.
Cool, well apart from the pickle, how are you finding the UK?
Yeah, last time I was here I had a really good time. There weren’t many people at the shows, but those who were seemed pretty into it. But, yeah, I love the vibes here, and the whole history of the place – it’s a shame I haven’t been able to see more of it....
Have you not had a day off?
There are no days off!
Can you tell us a bit more about the house fire?
Yeah. I’d built a recording studio in the basement. I’d saved up a lot for it, and put a lot of work into it, and I had a bunch of hand-written orchestral scores and musical equipment. Unfortunately it was the basement, and it was all burned. I mean nobody was hurt, I just lost a lot of stuff.
But in some ways, the fire was a good thing right?
It’s been totally great, honestly. It was the impetus for sending my music out. I was living in a shitty apartment in New York, in a pretty cruddy situation, and although no one was hurt, the house has been completely remodelled and I still have a home to go to, at the time it really felt that I had nothing. I sent my music out so I could get myself an apartment and get some new musical instruments. So it’s totally been a blessing in disguise.
You were doing that whole lo-fi thing a few years ago, and now you’re creating these Beach Boys-y orchestral pop songs. Why the change?
Well I’ve always been doing the orchestral thing, but I just thought that the whole indie thing was what was cool and that people wouldn’t really been into the chamber pop stuff as much.
After playing alone for so long and suddenly having to play with a group of talented musicians on tour, it has sort of inspired me to improve my musicianship a lot more. I mean, nothing’s really changed, there has always been both sides, it’s just now I’m more in tune with what I really enjoy.
So how do you see your music developing? Should we be expecting a full blown Polyphonic Spree-style psych band the next time you come to the UK?
I don’t really like to speculate on the future, we’ve got a pretty decent four-piece right now, with a really good dynamic on stage. I mean, I like going to orchestral performances where there are like twelve violinists or whatever, but, y’know, having fifteen people on stage just filling parts is slightly less impressive that having four people playing those parts.
Last question: Oberhofer is quite a cool surname, what would you have called the band if you’d had a crappy surname like Smith or Evans?
Ha, well I always wanted to call the band Teeth...
Ahhh, but there’s a band in London called Teeth.
Yeah! We know, there’s one in Portland too, we played with them.
Pete: Weren’t you going to call it Hands?
Brad: Yeah Teeth or Hands.
Dylan: But not after the movie Teeth...
Brad: I’ve never seen it
Dylan: (wincing) Don’t....
Oberhofer is supporting Zulu Winter on Monday 27th of February and will be returning to the UK in June.
Add an event
Review: Disgraced at Bush Theatre
Writer Ayad Akhtar is a peculiar tour guide taking us through very familiar territory, intent on showing...