Interview: Javelin
Meet You At The Show: Your music has a large aesthetic range and is an unidentifiable mix of hip hop, rock and oldies. Javelin has also been compared to Girl Talk and J Dilla. How would you define your sound?
Thomas Van Buskirk: A cop pulled us over once and seeing the stacks of boomboxes, asked what type of music we played. The answer varies depending on who’s asking. Our sound is informed by the recordings that touch us most (including hip hop, girl groups, 80′s New York), and for different releases there are different sounds. The 12″s sound to me like a boombox playing by a public pool. No Más sounds like an abandoned mansion next to a mossy pool. The Andean Ocean Tape took place on the sea, and Canyon Candy has some watering hole effects, so… pool music?
MYATS: How do you differentiate yourselves from all the other electronic music out there?
TVB: With everything we do, we try to steer clear of any group. If that means working in one aesthetic and then changing over, or changing our approach to live performance, we’ll do it.
MYATS: You also use a lot of sampling. What is the composition process for your songs?
TVB: Sampling is a key element to what we do, but as far as the construction of the music, it’s rarely more than like using magazine elements for a visual collage. We generally don’t use computers until the very end of the creative process, either. The songs pretty much pop out fast and then need refining.
MYATS: Javelin uses no instrumentation during live performances. How is your live show different from the experience of listening to your albums?
TVB: Funny you should say that! I am going to start playing bass onstage for the first time this week. I have never played bass seriously until a few months ago so it should be interesting. Our live show is a totally different animal from listening to us on record– which is weird because so much of it is the exact same sound playing from our machines. George’s electronic drum work and my vocal stylings generally take songs to a different place, which is hopefully a nice thing for fans who know our recorded work pretty well.
MYATS: How important are the visual elements to the performance?
TVB: They can be there or not, we ourselves don’t usually notice the difference. As far as the audience understanding what we’re about they may help (or hurt) I really don’t know. Visual elements can take a live show’s energy to the next level, or they can distract. I think in our case they can help, but aren’t really that important.
MYATS: You have recently released a new album, Canyon Candy, which is actually a country songbook. The LP has also been released in two unique formats. Can you tell us more about this unconventional record?
TVB: The Playbutton format is the most ingenious aspect of the release– we have been dreaming of something like this thing for a while. The album is inspired by cowboy records and western songbook stuff, though not Spaghetti Westerns, as they are already so musically “cool” that we decided not to touch them. We wanted to make a lazy cowboy dreamscape to match what we had seen while touring out west… the sheer beauty of nature out there. We hope the film will achieve the same aesthetic goal.
MYATS: Your remixes have also been getting a lot of play around the internet. Do you have any new remixes in the works?
TVB: Yes, all the time. There is one I am about to start work on for papercranes, which is Rain Phoenix’s band (Joaquin’s sister). Their album sounds great.
MYATS: Javelin has been touring pretty extensively with some big names in the indie music scene such as Yeasayer, Girl Talk, Matt & Kim, Warpaint and Sleigh Bells. You’ve also played at Lollapalooza and performed at the Museum of Modern Art. What do you think the next big step is for Javelin?
TVB: I really don’t know– I think when we make our next proper album we’ll be able to see that more clearly.
– Interview conducted by Christelle Saint-Julien
Dont miss Javelin play live on May 31st at Le Belmont with Big Freedia. Tickets are $15.50 and can be purchased here.
