You might not expect it after listening to his dark, noisy music, but A Place to Bury Strangers singer and guitarist Oliver Ackermann is one positive guy. Having cut his teeth in Virginia rock band Skywave, Ackermann made the move to Brooklyn, New York in 2003. He tried out on drums for the band that would eventually become A Place to Bury Strangers soon after his arrival (the other members asked him to switch to guitar after the first practice). As various members came and went, Ackermann’s powerful, psychedelic, noisy guitar-rock vision became the group’s driving force.

In 2007, after years of toiling in the psychedelic noisy rock underbelly, A Place to Bury Strangers’ self-titled debut album earned the band an avalanche of press, acclaim, and tour dates with the likes of Nine Inch Nails. Three years later, the band is touring on their sophomore release, Exploding Head, which features infectious hooks and choruses that mold the group’s electric cacophony into something even more memorable.

In conversation, Ackermann; who also runs his own guitar effect pedal company, performance space, and record label under the name Death by Audio; is so full of genial wonderment at his current good fortune and bite-sized advice to follow one’s heart and stick with dreams that it’s easy to forget he’s the mad scientist behind brutally intense music about heads with gashes, heads exploding, and everything going wrong. This combination of sweetness and ferociousness mirrors A Place to Bury Strangers’ method of songwriting; laying vast oceans of squalling noise over deep undercurrents of melody, rhythm, and pop hooks.

Oliver Ackermann recently took some time out of preparing for A Place to Bury Strangers’ upcoming tour with the Big Pink to answer some questions for Each Note Secure.

[Each Note Secure] Your new album, Exploding Head, sounds a little bit like a stylistic shift. It contains fewer harsh or noisy moments than your first one, and more hooks. Is that a direction you’re moving in consciously?

[Oliver Ackermann] It was for this record. I don’t think it’s any kind of overall thing going on with the sound or anything. For this record I tried to focus on recording some feedback a lot more minimally. We tried to make the most of a lot fewer instruments and a lot fewer elements. That was to goal for this record. In the future, I’m sure there will be some things which will be even harsher than the first record. I think as a record, Exploding Head came out great – perfectly for what it is. But they’ll be different stuff to come.

[ENS] Exploding Head sounds like it has more deliberately structured songs than your self-titled debut. There are quite a few catchy choruses and even “hooks.” Was that intentional? When people call you “noise” do you feel like pointing at the song and saying, “Noise?! Look at these choruses and hooks!”

[OA] I’m a sucker for 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s pop music, and even pop music today. I like songs with structure, songs that go places, and that you can hang on to. For some people, I’m sure [my music] is too noisy, so much so that they might not be able to handle it. I like things with contrast; I think it can make things sort of creepy and scary when there’s not something to constantly latch on to. When it’s harsh, and some of the sounds are a little unrecognizable, I think it can be really interesting.

[ENS] A Place to Bury Strangers has also earned the nickname “the loudest band in New York.” Does volume serve a function for your songwriting, in the way it does for groups like Sunn O))) and Lightning Bolt, as an integral part of your musical dynamic?

[OA] I don’t think it’s impressive to be called the “loudest band” anywhere. It doesn’t really sound appealing to be loud just for the sake of being loud. I actually think it sounds kind of stupid. That being said, we’re definitely [playing loud] on purpose, because these volumes are what sound best for the listener. It makes the music more than just sound; the listener can actually feel what’s going on. Being there, you have no option to do anything else than to listen; it almost takes over your mind and your body. We want to make it as crazy as possible.

[ENS] Have you ever had any problems with performing at such a high decibel level?

[OA] Sure. Cops come to shows, we’ve broken tons of stuff, tons of sound guys have screamed at us, we’ve had the power shut off… that kind of stuff just happens. I guess it’s a little funny. You just sort of learn what to say to sound guys so they let us have [the volume] at a level it’s not supposed to be at.

[ENS] Your albums have a lot of piercing drum machines and loud synthesizers. How do you recreate those instruments live with only three band members?

[OA] There’s a whole different thing with a live show than with a recording. It depends on the environment and what you have to work with. All of our shows end up being a little different based on what we have and what’s not broken. But you often have the opportunity to do a little more in a live environment. It’s like suddenly being able to use Dolby 5.1 sound as opposed to just having a two speaker stereo. You can do a lot of things you might not be able to do on recording. You may not have as many instruments, and there are only three people playing, but everyone can be in control of a whole range. It’s nice to have three people who can take the songs and bring them back to a place where [the listener] can grab on to it more, or take songs in new directions. If there are too many [musicians], things might have to get a bit too orchestrated. Some the songs parts [in our live set] will be almost completely improvised.

[ENS] So are there many parts of your songs that were always intended to be improvised live? Are the songs as they exist on your records only one version of how they could potentially take shape?

[OA] Well, when you’re playing around live with high volumes, feedback, and this crazy noise, you can’t really predict exactly what will happen. It’s sort of a beautiful thing how these noises come about, but if you were to try to make it exactly one thing in particular, I think you would lose some of this amazing beauty of sound. So we’re almost playing with chaos.

[ENS] A Place to Bury Strangers seems to have gotten a lot of attention fairly quickly after the release of the first album. What’s it like to suddenly go from “just another band” in New York City to getting a lot of press and touring the world?

[OA] I can’t believe it, really. I’m just used to playing music and having almost no one pay attention at all. I can’t even really believe it. It’s all grown past what I ever expected. This band started around 2003, and, before our first record came out, I had almost given up. I used to really try to plan tours, spend all night making posters, try to get into some sort of magazine or something, and after a while it all seemed completely useless. Eventually, I came to the point where I was just going to make music for myself and enjoy it, and get together with the rest of the band because we like to play. To have this stuff happen … I don’t think I’ve even acknowledged what’s going on yet.

It’s all an example of how if you follow your heart and do what you really want to do, things can work out. So you should always follow your dreams. [Laughs] Right on!

A Place to Bury Strangers will perform at the Southgate House on Monday, March 22nd with the Big Pink and Eat Sugar.

~interview by John Crowell