In advance of their date tonight at the Southgate House, I had the opportunity to talk with Alex Even of White Rabbits about their relationship with Spoon, their new (brilliant) album It’s Frightening, and what it’s like to be making music in New York City.
ENS: Thanks for joining me Alex. I know you guys performed a couple of shows a few weeks ago with Spoon, sort of as warm-ups for the tour. So, how did those go and how did the new material go over?
Even: Well, our new material is great, but Spoon’s, just not for me (laughs sarcastically). No, it was great. Those guys are awesome performers and great road companions. We played a couple of benefit shows a few months ago to get used to testing this stuff live, and after the Spoon shows I can definitely say we’ve improved drastically. We are much more used to our roles with the new material and it’s beginning to coalesce. By the time we hit Southgate, we should be in full touring mode and completely comfortable with the stuff.
ENS: So I’m guessing you guys are ready to get out and road-test the new album?
Even: Yeah, well we haven’t done a full blown tour for about six months, so I think we’re all starting to get cabin fever sitting in our apartments here in New York. Plus we just want to see how the reaction is going to be to the new album. I mean, we put a LOT of energy into this recording, so we’re just really anxious to get out there with it.
ENS: Speaking of the album, it’s great. I wanted to get your thoughts on where you guys were when you recorded this record. What kind of head space were you guys in when entering the studio?
Even: Thanks. I appreciate it. It always means a lot to hear that people appreciate the record. We recorded the album in kind of a tight-knit four week period. When we went in, we had an idea of pretty much what the album was going to be. We had fleshed out about 15 songs, and went in thinking that about 10 would make cut. Most of the work was actually done prior to even entering the studio, as far the creative process goes. The last record had very distinctive influences in terms of what we were listening to and the sound we were going for. With It’s Frightening we had far less inhibitions about trying new things and incorporating new sounds. There was more of a democracy of influences. Just think of how diverse a group of influences that can be brought by six different guys sitting at a table together? We knew, though, that we wanted this to be a more cohesive record than Fort Nightly [the band’s debut record], and we had a definite renewed sense of focus and determination with it.
ENS: A lot has been made of comparisons to Spoon and The Walkmen, in particular with your guitar work and Britt Daniel’s production on this album. Do you guys see yourselves as part of a certain scene, or gravitating toward one audience or another?
Even: Actually, I get asked this question a lot. Especially being in New York City, we always get asked if we’re influenced by our peers here. I think it is a little different living where we live, as we’re not really part of the Brooklyn/Williamsburg scene. And, not to sound offensive, we really don’t care about it.
We certainly appreciate the music coming out of Brooklyn, and in fact have a strong affinity for it, but it doesn’t really influence what we do. We always have been and will continue to be our own band, doing our own thing, making our own music. If people compare us to other bands, and lump us into some scene, that’s their doing, not our own. We just like collaborating with each other, and making our music, whatever that is and whatever that may end up becoming.
White Rabbits play at Southgate House tonight in Newport, KY and are also in the WOXY.com lounge this afternoon at 4:30 ET.
White Rabbits – It’s Frightening album review
White Rabbits – Percussion Gun
