dreams made good

I did an interview with Philadelphian band A Sunny Day In Glasgow recently for www.agingyouth.com, and the Aging Youth guys are kind enough to let me reprint this here:

Over the course of their two terrific and fairly well-received full-length albums, 2007’s Scribble Mural Comic Journal and the latest Ashes Grammar (2009), A Sunny Day In Glasgow have pretty much established themselves as one of the quintessential dream-pop bands working today. Think of the mesmerizingly fogbound atmospherics of Ashes Grammar as the band’s progression to a newly mined sonic territory without actually ditching the old shoegaze template that has served them so well. The feat is perhaps even more impressive when you consider that main member Ben Daniels recorded these songs at a time when the band lineup was going through a major upheaval: bassist Brice Hickey and Daniels’ siblings Lauren and Robin weren’t able to contribute much to Ashes Grammar – for various reasons that included Brice injuring himself and Robin having to take care of him, and Lauren leaving for grad school – essentially leaving Ben to finish the album with guitarist/drummer Josh Meakim and vocalist Annie Fredrickson, and A Sunny Day In Glasgow currently operates as a six-piece (with newly recruited Ryan Newmyer, Adam Herndon and Jen Goma).

The band members might disagree or decline to comment too much on it, but this backstory somewhat weave itself into the fabric of Ashes Grammar, its chimerical nooks and crannies. Songs unfurl at a lilting psychedelic pace and seem to hollow out ecstatically in the private-space intimacy the band create. (Even though Ashes Grammar was recorded in a dance studio, the songs still largely retain the warmth or that sense of bedroom-pop ambience that we have come to identify with A Sunny Day In Glasgow.) Tunes such as “Passionate Introverts (Dinosaurs)” and “The White Witch” are such indelible pop gems that blend in seamlessly with the loose experimental fragments that circulate Ashes Grammar. “Close Chorus” is perhaps the point of illumination that best serve to unlock the autochrome effects of the album – I get such a rush every time the MBV-like guitar swoon right out of Loveless breaks in at about the 5:41 mark of this song – capturing the sedentary and yet furiously kinetic afterglow of a dream. As such, Ashes Grammar provide for sort of an insular listening experience where previous generations of listeners would have found in, say, the Cocteau Twins, and closer listening will draw you further, almost unconsciously, into the album’s shell of serenity.

We caught up with Ben, via email, to briefly discuss the making of Ashes Grammar and other sundries.

The new record Ashes Grammar sounds more expansive than Scribble Mural Comic Journal, but it also seems like the band lineup was being reshuffled at the time of the recording. Can you share with us a bit about your original set of ideas or plan for how you guys wanted Ashes Grammar to sound like, and how the album has sort of evolved in the six months or so it took for the recording to be completed?

Ben: My original plan for the album was one dominated by vocals. I was planning to work on really intricate vocal arrangements and very minimal musical arrangements. But once it became apparent that both of my sisters wouldn't be around to record it, I abandoned that plan. It's something I'd still like to try some time. But in the end, Ashes Grammar started just like Scribble Mural did – some ideas that I worked on for a while, which turned into songs. This time it was different though, because I didn't finish the demos. I left them really basic, and then Josh and I worked them out in the studio. This was fun to do, but this is also why it took six months to get the album done.

Is there any significance or meaning attached to the album title?

Ben: Absolutely! I'd rather not say what it is though.

People have started to associate the band with a certain brand of "dream-pop", and we do hear and get that sense on Ashes Grammar, where the melodies and atmospheric song elements seem to drift seamlessly from one song to the next. But when you guys are experimenting and putting together the album in the studio, are you conscious of this ambient, dreamlike feel the songs seem to tap into?

Ben: Not so much. I think it becomes more apparent in the mixing process. I knew certain songs were going to go into each other, but the atmospherics don't really become totally apparent to me until I start sitting with the recordings and trying to make everything fit.

I think most of us are aware that you guys are fans of the likes of the Cocteau Twins, Sterolab and My Bloody Valentine, but what are some of the things that have influenced or inspired the band that may not be as obvious?

Ben: It's hard to say and I feel like other people are better at picking out influences for you. I really love Sam Cooke and Buddy Holly and REM and Led Zeppelin was kind of huge for me when I was a kid. Josh is really into Yes and Hawaiian music and the Beach Boys. I think we are all really diverse in our tastes though.

Last question Ben, any chance we'll get to catch your band performing in Asia any time soon, you think? And how does experiencing A Sunny Day In Glasgow live onstage compares to the way you sound on albums?

Ben: We would all love that so much! As soon as lots and lots of people in Asia start buying our records, we are there. I feel like we are maybe a little more loud and rock-oriented live. But we now have six people in the band and we are able to be a bit more nuanced. I think our live show is a good time – lots more dancing than the records might suggest.