In advance of their performance at the Music Now Festival this week, I had the opportunity to chat with Nick Zammuto, one half of experimental music duo The Books. It’s been a while since any news came out of The Books camp, as Zammuto and his musical counterpart Paul de Jong took 2008 off to focus on other things, namely their families. I discussed the importance of family, their return to the stage and studio, and what drives the duo to create the soundscapes for which they are now widely known.

ENS – I know 2008 was a restful year for you guys, so I wanted to see what you were up to last year?

Zammuto – We’ve basically been spending time with our families. Last year went beautifully, as we’re both more in love with our families than we have even been before, and things are really solid for both of us on that front. I relocated with my family just across the border in Vermont, and my wife and I are a bit of homesteaders now. We live on 16 acres of open fields, so we’ve been doing a lot of farming and construction work, and refreshing my compositional mind as it relates to music.

ENS – So living on the farm has given you a break, so to say, from the city life and you’ve been able to relax and come to the music more naturally.

Zammuto – Definitely. It’s something that my soul really craves. Like most people, I have trouble dealing with noise. So, it was a natural move for us and has really helped in terms of getting me back on track with music. I renovated an old tractor garage to create a music studio, so the peace and quiet of the farm has done wonders for my ability to rehearse, record, and play music free from distraction. Practically speaking, my commute is 40 footsteps now, (laughs) so that’s kind of convenient.

ENS – And I know that you were also involved in some other projects during your break from music. Could you talk about those?

Zammuto – I edited a film about the Biosphere 2 Project near Tucson, Arizona. The Books were writing the soundtrack for the documentary, and I took over the editing of the film this year, which has really developed a new set of skills for me. The new work that we’re doing, of which we’ll debut about five or six new tracks at our visit to the Music Now Festival, is a bit of a departure from our earlier work as we’re conceiving of the video and audio simultaneously. It’s a bit of chicken and egg concept, as it’s not like music video and not like writing a soundtrack. They’re conceived together from the beginning now which has been an amazing experience to combine those two media. The results of which have been really satisfying for us. Our show has evolved over time and the visual component has become like another member of the band on stage.

ENS – With your approach to music you use a lot of samples from a wide variety of places. What is your approach to video like, now that that has become such an important part of The Books?

Zammuto – The approach is actually identical. Rather than expressing something personal, we’ve always searched for universal themes and elements in the samples we use. We’ve been compiling video tapes from thrift shops all around the country, and we have a massive library that we use as the basis for our video, similar to the audio side of things.

ENS - You mentioned debuting new tracks. So does that mean a new record is in the works?

Zammuto – I think that’s safe to say, though we’re not 100% finished with all of the work on it. And we may work on a DVD later, incorporating some of the visual elements I was talking about. But, for now, it’s a record that will hopefully be strong enough to stand on its own. (laughs)

ENS – I’m sure it will. You also touched on the Music Now Festival, which is a very important part of the music scene in Cincinnati every year. From outside the performer’s perspective, it seems like there is a certain collective energy about performing at this Festival. Having performed at it before, and with your upcoming performance only a few days away, can you touch on that aspect of the Festival?

Zammuto – There is most definitely a collaborative feel to the Music Now Festival. The way we got there a few years ago was through the Dessner brothers and their band Clogs. We had done a collaboration with them where we had played a double bill all across the UK. We played on some of their songs and they played on some of ours.

The Music Now Festival seemed like a perfect place to bring some of that spirit to the stage, and it turned out to work exceptionally well in that environment. So when Bryce asked us to play again this year, we were very excited, especially when we found out we would be sharing the same stage with the Kronos Quartet. To be opening for that outstanding group of musicians is really a lifelong dream that will be realized for both Paul and I.

ENS – The Music Now Festival also seems like the type of environment that truly values artistic expression. So you guys will certainly fit right in.

Zammuto – The whole zeitgeist in this country has changed over the last year for a multitude of reasons. The spirit of the moment right now is just completely different, which is obvious to everybody. Artists are really searching for the role that they serve in society. Personally, Paul and I have experienced radical change in our lives at the same time that our music has found a truer audience.

To experience that was simultaneously refreshing and frightening, as our livelihood is now tied to our art. We have more riding on this now than our own personal stake. We have families.

And so, as artists, we feel exceptionally driven to create something meaningful. Our performances show us that there is a purpose we can serve, that there is an audience and a community we’re speaking to. That will undoubtedly continue to evolve, but as long as we’re open to it, we’ll survive.