Meric Long (Vocals/Guitar) & Logan Kroeber (Percussion), the driving creative forces behind San Francisco’s much adored Indie band The Dodos are solid, sincere and genuinely candid individuals who create fantastic music together. Currently on tour to support their 4th full length studio release No Color, the guys took time out after their soundcheck at The Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver, BC to document a small part of this tour, this period in the history of the band and to help the fans get a better idea of who these guys are and where the music is ultimately coming from. Enjoy!
Michael Caswell (SCENE): How are you guys doing today?
Meric Long: Very well thank you.
Logan Kroeber: Um, unusually sleepy.
SCENE: Is that from all the touring?
Logan: No. (laughs)
Meric: It’s from Red Wine-Orange Crush Soda Spritzers.
All: (laughs)
Meric: They give you like, a super energetic sugar high for about 10 minutes and then you have a major crash afterwards.
SCENE: Well, sounds like fun.
Meric: It is for 10 minutes.
All: (laughs)
SCENE: I guess we’ll get the typical stuff out of the way first. You guys just released No Color, March 15th so a couple weeks ago now. You’re on tour for that, how’s the tour going so far?
Meric: Tour has been good. We just criss-crossed over the middle of Canada, which was the first time for us. It was a little bleak at times, there was a lot of snow, a lot of driving. But it’s been super fun, the shows have been good, can’t complain.
SCENE: What has the reception been like for the new album?
Meric: It’s been really good man, people have been requesting songs from the new material which is super like, good and welcoming and also surprising because we’ve had like, we’ve had trouble shaking off the Visiter, uh, spell, you know? Like those are the songs that people usually request and uh, we’re pretty much playing an entire set of new songs and so far I haven’t heard any complaints.
SCENE: You said people are requesting songs? Is that through your website, or Facebook etc?
Logan: Just through yelling (laughs).
SCENE: So just the good old-fashioned way! I’m kind of cheating on this one because I saw your sound-check but, you’re typically known as a two-piece, what is your stage setup like for this tour?
Meric: We have 2 electric guitars and drums now, which is completely new for us. We used to be, well we were a three-piece with a Vibraphonist but because there’s a lot of, sort of, guitar stuff happening on the new songs, we recruited a Canadian for other electric guitar duties.
SCENE: You mentioned the vibraphone, which I didn’t see on stage, how is that going to factor into playing those older songs that incorporate it?
Meric: Well with the vibraphone we kinda tried to make it sound like an electric guitar a lot of the time with the pickups and the pedals and the sort of electronics that we put it through. So it’s actually really not that hard, and a guitar, it’s much easier and lighter and quicker to put together than a vibraphone (laughs).
SCENE: Easier to tour with.
Meric: Easier to tour with, yeah there hasn’t really been any weirdness or difficulty doing the older songs without the vibraphone so far.
SCENE: You started this tour in Nevada and you’re going pretty much all over the world, to Europe soon, obviously right now in Canada. What is that like, what sort of affect does it have on you, do you even notice you’re going to amazing places or is it just a blur?
Meric: It’s been our, 3rd year? Or 4th year doing it? I think we’re kinda down to like, this is our job, this is like, our system and we know the places that we’ve been and it’s, I mean, I don’t know I don’t like, pay attention to it, as much as I did before. It’s not as much of a novelty, now it’s like, okay we gotta do this and focus on the show.
SCENE: So the music is always the primary focus for you?
Meric: I think it’s become more so, just as the more tours we do, you know? The food’s good (laughs) but the only thing that’s going to keep it fun is having good shows and focusing on that and it’s like, partying gets old, sitting in a van gets old, all the other shit gets old.
SCENE: You’ve been here at least a couple times before right? The last time was at the Biltmore?
Meric: Yeah.
SCENE: You guys sold that one out I actually couldn’t get a ticket.
Meric: Sorry, but yeah we were stoked. (laughs)
SCENE: How is this show going to differ from that last one? I mean, apart from the new material obviously.
Meric: Um, I remember that place has a really low ceiling, so there’s a lot more room to jump in this room (laughs), I don’t know if that will make a difference. (laughs) Probably not, but… at the Biltmore, they put the Green Room right next to the bathroom and it really like, you catch some gnarly wiffs coming out of there. Unfortunately, (laughs) this whole place kind of smells like that bathroom (laughs).
SCENE: And at the Biltmore it’s the guy’s bathroom that’s close to the Green Room so you’re not getting any benefits from it whatsoever.
Logan: No (laughs) definitely not.
SCENE: Are you aware of your popularity, does it have any affect on you? At what point did you realize, hey, people like this stuff?
Logan: Doesn’t work like that (laughs). I mean, we obviously realized that people liked the music enough to come out to shows and buy records and what-not but, you know, we just put an album out like you said and we’re still in the frame of mind of like, we’re gotta, try to show these songs to everybody, and like Meric said it’s really surprising and awesome that people are calling out songs from the new record because that’s kinda like, where our heads are at, we’ve gotta share these songs with people and familiarize them, so it’s really cool, on our premiere tour for the record that people are already getting into the songs. So I think we’re a little guarded as far as like, our confidence in the new material.
SCENE: Well it sounds like it’s going well.
Logan: It is! It’s like, very few clunkers as far as shows…
Meric: (laughs)
Logan: Very few.
SCENE: (to Meric) Do you have something to add to that?
Meric: I um, no, if I, no, I won’t start…
All: (laughs)
SCENE: We’ll leave that for another time.
Meric: I won’t name names. (laughs)
SCENE: Is music your life then? Obviously you have other passions apart from this?
Meric: No (laughs) no passion.
SCENE: No passion at all huh?
Meric: (laughs) Right now this is it you know, we finished the record in October and we’re going to tour our little hearts out (laughs), and then, I don’t know, I’ll take up sewing or something.
SCENE: What were the first records you guys remember buying?
Meric: Um, Billy and Ted’s Excellent Adventure Soundtrack, that was the first vinyl I ever had, mostly because it had an Extreme song, it had the Nuno Bettencourt solo (laughs) that Mozart plays in the movie. It’s pretty cool. (laughs)
Logan: Do you… You talk about Extreme, now and then, but are you familiar with like, Get The Funk Out?
Meric: Is that off, Pornograffiti?
Logan: I don’t know. Me and Michelle just ran across the video recently.
SCENE: “Get the funk outta my face?” Or a different one?
Logan: No, “If you don’t like what you see here, get the funk out.“
Meric/SCENE: Ohhh.
Logan: And homeboy, the lead singer is like, he’s doing this like, Red Hot Chilli Peppers shit.
Meric: Really? Oh man…
Logan: He’s got like, the overalls with one of them off, and he’s doing this crazy legs dance, it’s really weird.
Meric: That is weird.
Logan: And then Nuno, sings, like, the verse and the other guy sings the chorus.
Meric: Oh so this is like, new Extreme stuff?
Logan: The video is super-dated. But I don’t know from when.
Meric: I mean I guess the tank-top thing was definitely happening, I remember that, but their stuff was like, I don’t remember anything funky, I just remember, it was like…
Logan: Well it’s not funky, they just say the word Funk.
Meric: Ohh, ok ok. There was this one song called He-Man Woman Hater. (laughs)
SCENE: (laughs) Sounds like a good one…
Meric: It had, it was a horrib… not very good, but it had like, a 2 minute guitar intro solo that was all finger tapping that I loved.
SCENE: Do you feel like that might have influenced you in any way?
Meric: No, I mean, if I could do that I would probably do it… I’m just thankful I can’t. (laughs)
SCENE: Did you guy go to a lot of shows growing up? Do you remember any first shows that really influenced you and you thought, hey I could actually do this?
Meric: (pause) Um… There was a band that played at my junior high school, and like, they were a bunch of nerds and after they played that show, everybody liked them. (laughs) So I remember in my brain thinking, like “I better take up the guitar”.
All: (laughs)
Meric: So yeah, it wasn’t a good show or anything, but I just remember that was a thought I had.
SCENE: Do you go to a lot of shows now? Is that something you care about now as performers?
Logan: Not as much as I used to, you know? It’s weird, I’ve got a big stack of ticket-stubs, and they’ve really stopped growing. But, I do end up at a lot of friend’s shows and free shows, but I don’t like, check the paper and check what’s coming to town as much anymore, which is kind of a shame but we do end up at festivals and at South By South West (SXSW) or whatever and get to see stuff, but it’s more like happenstance, you know, something happens to be at the same place that we’re at, I don’t seek it out as much the same way.
SCENE: Yeah I was going to mention festivals, if you guys have extra time you must kinda wander around and check out the other artists.
Logan: Yeah for sure.
Meric: You can’t help it. Our sound girl was on the phone the other day in the van and she was making a joke about how like, the last bit of real estate in all of SXSW where there’s not a show happening is like, the bathroom at Stubs. (laughs) So they’re gunna start like, having shows in the men’s bathroom. (laughs) So like, the band will finish and be like “Thanks! Come check us out tomorrow in the bathroom at Stubs!” (laughs)
SCENE: That’d be a pretty exclusive show, or is it a big bathroom?
Meric: Yeah (laughs), I don’t know, can’t remember that one. Smelt like the Green Room at the Biltmore though (laughs).
SCENE: Favorite places to play so far? You guys have been around the world now, so anything that sticks out?
Logan: Amigos, in Saskatoon.
SCENE: That was recent then yeah?
Meric: Yeah… (laughs)
SCENE: Interesting story there?
Logan: The Aquarium in Fargo?
SCENE: I want to hear about this Aquarium show.
Meric: Fargo… Well… Yeah… The Aquarium is a great place in Fargo, we love Fargo and Saskatoon was a good show too…
SCENE: I guess the same question now for festivals, I know you played Sasquatch 2009, I’m wearing that shirt right now actually; how was that for you guys? Any other festivals that stand out?
Meric: That one stood out (laughs) but not for good reasons.
Logan: It was really weird, in the performance.
Meric: Yeah yeah…
Logan: We saw Nine Inch Nails, that was pretty awesome.
Meric: Yeah, on their last tour too.
SCENE: The NINJA (Nine Inch Nails & Jane’s Addition) tour. Dude, that show blew my mind it was so fucking good.
Meric: Our Vibraphonist at the time, didn’t, it was his first show ever.
SCENE: Oh, not just first show with you then, first show ever?
Meric: First show, yeah.
SCENE: Pressure huh?
Meric: What the hell were we thinking?
All: (laughs)
Meric: Jesus, and his stuff came unplugged… And he’s like a classically trained, musician, so the idea of plugging in a Vibraphone is completely foreign to him. So, when it came unplugged, we played like, half the set with a Vibraphone that wasn’t plugged in…
SCENE: Critics… Do you care at all? Do they have any affect on you?
Logan: They have a lot of affect on us. (laughs)
SCENE: Can you elaborate?
Logan: Yeah, they sort of, tell people what to think about us (laughs) you know? Of course they have an affect on us. But I mean, are you talking abour our personal/mental health or, what do you mean?
SCENE: Just if you question the way you’re going, maybe you want to mix it up after you read a negative review. I don’t know, so far from what I can tell the critics have been really good to you guys, they seem to really like you a lot.
Meric: We had some, fallout, with the critics, I think that, if I read something that’s bullshit (laughs), it doesn’t affect me. If I read something that’s true, then I’m like, errrr, But like, yeah I mean, the only thing, like Logan said, critics tell people what to think, and unfortunately people like to be told what to think, so yeah, critics have a lot of power.
SCENE: Well I’m honestly not a critic, at all, more of a journalist than anything I guess, I’m just here to document but I have noticed that some people’s opinion was that Time To Die (The Dodo’s 3rd full length release) was a bit of a misstep. What is your opinion on that, do you feel like it was, is that accurate?
Meric: I have, many thoughts on the matter (laughs), but in response to the idea that it was a misstep, I think that’s one of those things that we’ll just, it’s very contextual, it’s very… people thought that it was our 2nd record and it was actually our 3rd record and for us it was like, it came at a perfect time, it was a really like, it was necessary for our growth as musicians, as a band and it is in our minds, certainly not a misstep, and I think that like, in the greater picture of things, once you know, we finish more records, and once you listen, like, when that record is, once it’s taken out of the context of what peoples perceptions was, I think that that will be… those misconceptions will be alleviated.
Logan: A lot of folks, thought yeah, that it was our 2nd record and that we took this like, calculated step to you know, work with this bigger name producer, that it was sort of this ‘step one’ ‘step two’ climbing up the ladder like, make a slick pop record sort of thing, and yeah, for us we had already done 2 records with our previous producer and we had the opportunity to do something different. So yeah, I think that’s one thing that annoys me the most, that people thought it was this calculated grab, for popularity for something.
SCENE: When really it was this organic evolution of what you were doing?
Logan: It was just like, our label boss knows Phil Ek, and do you guys maybe want to work with him? Yeah, it just came about.
Meric: He wanted to, it was thrown at us as an option and an opportunity which we couldn’t refuse, but I will say that you know, to those listeners, like, go back and listen to that record after listening to No Color, because I think that it will make more sense, I think that peoples expectations, the problem with that record was that it didn’t meet, it didn’t match up, with what people’s expectations were, but it’s just another record, you know? If you listen to it on it’s own, it’s a good record, I’m certainly proud of it. I would just implore our fans especially to go revisit it after listening to, buying the newest release. (laughs)
SCENE: As far as I can tell you really dig playing live, is that accurate, do you enjoy that more than recording, how do they compare?
Logan: I think playing live is a less consistent good time, recording is like, it’s more percentage wise, a fun time, but it’s more of a stable thing, like, playing live can sometimes be laborious, you know, you’re hurt or you’re not prepared or you’re tired. But the highs are higher than recording.
SCENE: When did you decide you wanted to be musicians, did you have any goals in mind during those first stages or was it just a creative outlet for you?
Logan; I didn’t really have a lot of specific goals, but they’ve all been met, whatever they were, like, whatever vague grading system of musical goals I had, I’ve achieved more than I thought I would, so I’m in a pretty good place as far as goals go.
SCENE: So do you have any new goals in mind?
Logan: I would really like to, get like… I got good at playing the drums over a long period of time of just like, fucking around, and I’d really like to, apply more thought to an instrument, even if it is just drumming, but like, maybe learning like a whole new instrument and really trying instead of just fucking around.
SCENE: How do you create your albums? Do you set aside some time and say “ok now we’re going to do this” or are you just writing songs everyday?
Meric: Uhhh (laughs) uhh…
SCENE: I stumped you (laughs) it’s gotta fall somewhere in the middle right?
Meric: It’s been different every time, we’ve taken time out to record songs before, and other times we’ve toured and kinda just, I mean, to make it relevant to now, there was a lot of (unheard word over the sound of the opening bands sound check starting – weed) involved in the latest release…
SCENE: A lot of what?
Meric: A lot of, marijuana (laughs) involved in the latest release. So, at least there’s that! (laughs)
SCENE: Does that mean that you’re going to be recording your next album in Vancouver then? It’s a pretty good place for that.
Meric: Uh, Yes!
SCENE: I’m going to hold you to that.
Meric: With John Collins. (New Pornographers/Destroyer/Evaporators) (laughs)
Logan: (laughs)
SCENE: We talked about the Vibraphone earlier, and you’ve been known to incorporate you know, certain instruments once in a while. Are you actively seeking out new sounds or is this an organic, when it finds us we give it a go, sort of deal?
Meric: I feel there is definitely going to be some time in the future where I’m going to geek out on some stuff. I share Logan’s sentiment of learning an instrument and applying more thought to an instrument and so I think that that will be like, just, yeah I’ll set aside some time to discover new sounds, coming out of, my body. (laughs)
SCENE: How’s that Drum-Guitar working out of you?
Meric: Uh… (laughs) Uhhhh….
SCENE: As you shake your head. (laughs)
Meric: It’s, it’s a difficult horse to ride, you know? You gotta let it, it does a few things, and that’s what it does, and forget about trying to make it do anything else. (laughs)
SCENE: Has it been incorporated at all into your albums so far?
Meric: There’s one lick, one guitar lick, that originated on that thing. That’s about it.
SCENE: You said there were only 2 of those in the world? Is that true, if so do you know who has the other one?
Logan: Didn’t we just find out?
Meric: Yeah, actually our touring guitarist has the other one (laughs) and we didn’t even know that until we started touring. He was like, talking about this instrument he had, and I was like “I’ve got one of those!” (laughs)
SCENE: “I have the other one”.
Meric: Yeah. (laughs)
SCENE: So why No Color?
Meric: It’s…
Logan: Do it.
Meric: It’s got more to do with Logan’s, uh, Acid flashbacks than anything else. (laughs)
SCENE: Well, that sounds interesting.
Logan: I uh…
Meric: I’m on acid! (laughs)
Logan: Right now! (laughs) It’s hard not to sound like, fucking crazy, but… I see, certain colors and I see certain images when we play certain songs. And when we were recording the new record, I saw (laughs) I saw stuff when we were doing the new songs but it was all like, really bleak and like ashy and grey and like, no colors. And it was kinda freaky, and I like, I shared it with Meric and the Engineer/Producer guy, and uh, and it sounded really bad at first, everybody was kind of like ‘uhh… that’s not a good thing’, but it’s just the way it was, it looks bad and it sounds bad but it isn’t, like, it’s just a different take on it, and since then like, a few colors have sort of seeped into the picture, but at the time, that was like, in the studio listening to the songs everyday, that is what it was all about, for me, and it just, after talking about it with Meric is seemed like a good way to encapsulate the record, you know?
SCENE: Where did you guys get the album artwork from?
Meric: My old roommate Matt Kennedy, go to MattKennedy.com (Editor’s Note: URL needed – this is not currently correct) he’s a photographer, really really solid dude and solid artist. When Logan was talking about his color thing (laughs) it was actually Matt’s photos that came to mind immediately. When Matt heard that record he was stoked and it all worked out. He’s a very curmudgeon man and the fact that he was kind and generous to let us use his photos but also that we was stoked on the idea of, that the photos matched the music, or whatever, as what we saw as matching.
SCENE: Well we will definitely plug that link so the fans can check it out that would be really cool. Do you ever feel like you’re going to evolve into a ‘Full Band”, with quotation marks, because what does that really even mean anyway? But, do you feel like that’s the way things are heading, like you’re going to evolve and incorporate more, stuff?
Meric: Um, no (laughs) but we’re definitely like, pawing at the model of a regular band right now. This is probably the closest we’ve been and will ever be to a, regular band. (laughs)
SCENE: When people are describing you, or referencing you, they’ve brought up names like, Animal Collective, Led Zeppelin. How does that make you feel? Are those bands you listen to, do they influence you at all, or is that just some sort of a random thing?
Meric: Um…
Logan: Yes!
Meric: Yes, the answer is yes. (laughs)
Logan: I mean yes, we listen to both of those bands, I think that that’s a really, uh, just those two, next to each other is a kind of interesting juxtaposition. I don’t know, I kind of like that.
Meric: They’re also the two like, Led Zeppelin is probably the most influential rock band ever (laughs) and Animal Collective is also the most influential band of the past like, 5 years.
SCENE: So it’s kinda too easy to pick those 2?
Meric: Yeah I don’t think you can find a band that’s not influenced by those two bands. (laughs)
SCENE: That’s a fantastic point. I can’t end this interview without asking you about Neko Case. What’s the story there?
Logan: Well we were on tour with The New Pornographers last summer, and uh, Neko likes to play cards, and so like, they had a huge crew backstage and like, everybody after the show likes to get into something, and I brought a desk of cards with me, and uh, so she actually ended up owing us a bunch of chips or whatever it was going to be at the end, and so instead we were like, how about, you know just joking, how about you uh, sing on the new record, instead of paying the bet? And you know, like, whatever fake debt that she had, like, it was just a good reason to ask the question and she said yes!
SCENE: That’s awesome! Ok one more I actually forgot earlier. If you could open for 1 band, who would it be?
Meric: Led Zeppelin! (laughs)
SCENE: Ok fully living/touring band?
Meric: Dread Zeppelin!
All: (laughs)
SCENE: Sounds good! Well hey, it was a pleasure to meet you guys, you seem like really nice dudes and I wish you all the best for the future.
Meric: Thank you.
Logan: Thanks.
Meric: Good luck, in the futureee!
SCENE IN THE DARK EXCLUSIVE SHOW CONTENT
CHECK OUT OUR CONCERT REVIEW HERE
CHECK OUT OUR CONCERT PHOTO GALLERY HERE
