The Dodos Announce World Tour / US Shows
NYC Northside Festival (June 14th), Los Angeles, CA - Getty Museum (Aug. 8th), Seattle, WA - KEXP Summer Series Aug 14th
San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival (Aug 29th), Austin,TX - Austin City Limits (Oct 4th)
Reveals Details About Forthcoming Fall 2009 LP / Full North American Tour In October To Be Announced
Meric Long Talks To Pitchfork :
“Since the release of their second LP, Visiter, last March, heavy-folk band The Dodos have impressed thousands with their intense live gigs, gained a member in vibraphone player Keaton Snyder, and-- as I learned while watching "The Daily Show" a couple nights back-- their song "Fools" is now being used to sell gimmicky beer. (Hey, it worked for Santigold.)
After taking a break from touring earlier this year, the three-piece are currently in the middle of recording their as-yet-untitled follow-up with producer Phil Ek (Built to Spill, the Shins, Fleet Foxes) near Seattle for a tentative September release. Last week, we called singer-guitarist Meric Long and chatted about the sessions, Huey Lewis, and his trick for making amazing roasted chicken:
Pitchfork: How far along are you with the new LP?
Meric Long: We were just at Bear Creek Studio near Seattle for two weeks doing the bulk of the record. We're going to go back up at the end of the month to finish it. Right now we have rough mixes-- I have to listen to them and decide what sucks and what doesn't.
Pitchfork: How did you hook up with producer Phil Ek?
ML: Phil did the Les Savy Fav record Go Forth and Syd [Butler] from Les Savy Fav also runs our label, Frenchkiss, so he brought the idea to us. Phil saw us when we opened for Les Savy Fav at the end of 2007 and was into it. Then we passed through Seattle last summer and did two days of demoing to see if we'd work well together. I guess we did.
Pitchfork: How is he affecting the sound of the album?
ML: He has a hyper-critical ear-- I spent a whole afternoon just staring at his ears to see if they're shaped differently or something. And he doesn't move on unless he thinks it's sounding cool, so that can slow down the process. But it also makes everything a little more meticulous.
Pitchfork: You added a member to the band since the last album-- is there any temptation to add a lot of, like, kazoo solos or anything?
ML: There are no kazoo solos, to answer your question. There are really no bells and whistles at all. On the last record it was just me and [drummer] Logan [Kroeber] so we were like, "Let's throw a trombone or trumpet in there." This album sounds more like a band.
Pitchfork: What's the biggest difference between this new record and Visiter?
ML: We have a whole new element in all the new songs right now-- an electric vibraphone. That's what's really standing out. It was something I wanted to incorporate a while ago when I heard about this company that made pick ups for vibraphones so you can actually plug it in and really fuck up the sound while retaining that organic element. It's taken a little while to figure out-- it's a very big instrument and, sonically, it takes up a lot of space.
Pitchfork: Did you do anything at the studio aside from recording?
ML: Cooking has been a huge part of this recording process-- Phil said it was like the sessions were being catered. I worked as a cook for eight years, but I never cooked outside of work. It's good to have another project going on that's still somewhat creative but doesn't drain, otherwise your head gets too wrapped around the recording.
So I'll be doing a take while something's in the oven, and I'm thinking, "This song is five and a half minutes long, that's going to be perfect-- don't fuck up!" After the take I put my guitar down and get the pork out of the oven.
Pitchfork: Are you proud of one meal in particular?
ML: We were most stoked about this roasted chicken I made. The key to making a really good roasted chicken is salting a day or two in advance. It was funny because Phil came into the kitchen and I'm putting salt all over this chicken and he was like, "What the fuck are you doing?"
Pitchfork: Any other hot Dodos news we should know about?
ML: I was actually just talking to this guy from Spain, he wants us to contribute to an album of Huey Lewis covers. I'm really stoked on the idea because he said he can get the original sax player involved. But I want to make sure it's cool, especially since it's a Huey Lewis thing. When I was a kid, my best friend and I would dance to the scene in Back to the Future where they play "The Power of Love". I don't want it to just be this novelty thing.”
2009 Summer World Tour
5/24 - Sasquatch! Music Festival - George, WA
6/14 - Northside Festival - Brooklyn, NY
7/1 - Landmark - Bergen, Norway
7/2 - Revolver - Oslo, Norway
7/3 - Tavastia - Helsinki, Finland
7/4 - Roskilde Festival - Roskilde, Denmark
7/9 - Phoenix Theater - Toronto, Ontario
7/10 - Ottawa Blues Festival - Ottawa, Ontario
7/11 - Metropolis Theatre - Montreal, Quebec
7/16 - Plage de Rock Festival - St. Tropez, France
7/17 - Melt Festival - Berlin, Germany
7/18 - Dour Festival - Dour, Belgium
7/19 - Valkhof Affaire - Niljmegen, Netherlands
8/8 - Getty Museum - Los Angeles, CA
8/14 - KEXP Mural Amphitheater Summer Series - Seattle, WA
8/29 - Outside Lands Festival - San Francisco, CA
9/1 - Glee Club - Birmingham, England
9/2 - Thekla - Bristol, England
9/3 - Bush Hall - London, England
9/4 - King Tut's - Glasgow, Scotland
9/5 - Ruby Lounge - Manchester, England
9/7 - Maroquinerie - Paris, France
9/8 - Botanique Rotunda - Brussels, Belgium
9/10 - Molotow - Hamburg, Germany
9/11 - Magnet - Berlin, Germany
9/12 - Melkweg - Amsterdam, Netherlands
9/13 - End of Road Festival - Dorset, England
10/4 - Austin City Limits - Austin, TX
http://www.myspace.com/thedodos
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