Interview With No Age

We all have the conversation with friends…who’s the better band. One person will argue how this person is more talented, and another will argue how nobody can play that instrument like they do. Then one person brings up the “it factor” and everyone shuts up. It ruins every debate, it can’t be fully described and it can’t be denied, some people just have “it.” The common misconception is that the ones where creativity comes easy, live life easy, where they sit around and let genius come to them while everyone else does the work. That may happen somewhere, but I’ve never heard of it. As Dean Spunt of No Age said it in the interview below, “The easier it gets, the harder we work,” and they do work hard. No Age’s fame has been skyrocketing since their release of their sophomore album, Nouns in 2008. Their beautiful blend of punk rock put them on top of every critic’s top lists, getting press from every top publication, and even a Grammy nomination for their amazing 68 page, full color booklet that came with the cd. With all that success the band still has the same DIY mindset they always had. They book the shows, they drive themselves, they make shirts, posters, etc. For all their success, it is only equal to the amount of work they put into their craft and it shows. Members Dean Spunt and Randy Randall are just as well known for their music as they are for their honesty about their views and their craft. Whether or not you like their music, they are a band where you cannot deny their “it factor.” Their work ethic and attitude is a model for all creative people to learn from which is why I was so grateful for Dean Spunt to be able to take some time away from their busy tour to do an interview.

Hello, Last I checked, you guys just finished playing in Japan, how were the shows? What kind of venues did you play?

The trip was epic. We played two shows one in Tokyo, and the other in Osaka. The venues were pretty normal rock type venues, but very cool. It seemed difficult to go the DIY route; it translates different over there.

You guys always seem to play at these great locations when you tour. For instance, whenever you come to Portland it seems that your show is at some really cool place that I didn’t know about and I’m from the area. How do you guys find these places, or decide where to play (like playing by rivers, bridges, etc)?

We try and do our research, ask around and see what the fun place is, or the unexplored. That whole process is more fun for us and we hope more fun for people in the audience. It is a balance of trying to keep pushing boundaries but also not being too exclusive so that the dude working in an office that likes us can see us play as well as the punker.

At shows you’re well known for your accessibility. Because of that I assume you must get more demo cd’s from fans than most bands. Do you have the time to listen to all of that music and are there any of those acts I should know about?

Wow, yeah I never thought why, but we do get a lot of demos and stuff. We try and listen to all of it, there is a lot of good stuff out there and I always encourage people to make demos. It is a long leap from making music to making a demo, so that is pretty awesome. Well, I got a WAVVES demo in my mailbox one day, a long time ago… a band MARIA was good… a lot of good stuff.

When I was younger I remember one of the biggest things about concerts was the build up and expectation of seeing a band. When you were a teenager, what were you hoping for when you went to a concert? Do you think you live up to that at your shows?

I would hope so, or even more. Like, we think about that stuff all the time, putting on a good show, it gets a little difficult with just two of us because there is so much we want to do, it gets a little hectic. But yeah, we try to live up to the image in our heads. When I was a kid I was just in awe of anyone on stage, or when I was 16 and went to The Smell for the first time, on the floor.

I know you know this but No Age has some of the best fans I’ve ever seen, the only reason I got into your music is because of your fans insisting that I needed to, and they were right. Weirdo Rippers was great and I think Nouns is a masterpiece. What are some of the grandest gestures your fans have shown you?

Thanks, that is great to hear. Fans are always coming up and telling us how our records are so good, and the shows, and actually people have turned vegan because of reading interviews we did… it is very flattering and we are still getting used to it. People have made us vegan cookies, let us sleep on their floors, got a pinata made for us etc.

Is there new music on the way?

Yes. Currently we are finishing mixing our new EP that will come out in September, and also recording for the new LP that will come out early 2010. I am so excited about the new songs. Also we are scoring a movie called “The Bear” at the Seattle International Film Festival and also at the ICA Museum in Boston, those will be primarily sample based live shows, but we are going to record it, so perhaps that will come out too. ALSO I had this other limited 12″ idea series, but I wont go too deep into that, but yes, more shit coming and more interesting ideas to push it all forward.

What are some things now that influence your music or your process that weren’t present before Nouns? Or has your mindset stayed relatively the same?

Um… I would say the mindset has been pretty similar. Always looking to make fun and interesting music. The main difference is that we are getting to be better musicians, for better or for worse… Trying to really conquer but stay simple.

Ok, to end the interview I want to change it up a little. One of the reasons I wanted to do this interview is because your attitude towards your art. Unlike a lot people who say one thing and do another, you guys have become famous for just saying what you do. You have found success by creating what you wanted and being honest with your fans. I wanted to ask you some questions from my position as a young artist, still making the transition from college to professional life. A lot of my readers (self included) are young, creative professionals who have to learn the ropes kind of on the fly without much access to advice. I want to stop asking you questions as No Age but just as guys who were able to make their work into a success.

Well, as an artist it is important to just make and create. So many times I meet people who ask us about making music or art and asking us how to get started in music and that should never be a question. You just start. Make as much as you can so you get good at your craft and just go from there and don’t stop. The avenues, whatever they are will open themselves up to you, but get out there and do your thing super hard. We ate slept and breathed No Age from the inception. I made art posters, text and silkscreened and shirts long before our first show, I had no money so I stole the photocopies and did as much stuff for free as I could and didn’t want money, because money is what makes us lazy. It is funny our first show we made our own shirts and sold them for $3. I was just proud of the design and wanted people to have them and gave them out, just exercising the ideas and creating and practicing. Our first thing was a DVD-R with video art kinda stuff, you know, we just kept running and making stuff and never questioned it. If we thought it was good, then it was good ya know? You have to believe in your thing more than anyone.

One of the biggest things I had to learn out of college was effective self-promotion, getting my product into the right hands. What kind of strategies did you have in the beginning? How much did having a community like The Smell help?

We used design strategies at first; text being so universal is essentially the best tool, and understanding the needs and wants of our audience. Like for instance, shirts are kind of whatever, ya know? Just cotton, BUT kids love them, fans love them. So we decided to flip it around and just use huge text, like an obvious NO – NO to most people IS self promotion, it can be easily misread as being desperate, but we used it to our advantage… it seemed fairly obvious to me because you buy a shirt from a band you love to show off that you like them, so it just made sense. Another thing was after the DVD we wanted to put out the 5 ep’s and the idea behind that was these songs, we recorded 20 or so, were too many as a record and didn’t work as one piece, but broken up into sections they were more powerful and a step further was getting five different labels to release them. This made a bigger impact because it was 5 small releases all over the world instead of one record in one part. So ideas are the most important thing, and then having good art to back it up, a win-win combo.

Half of my day is spent working with special needs children. One of the things I like about working with kids is that I don’t have to think about me or my career for a while, I kind of get to live life at their pace which is at a different rhythm from mine and it’s really taught me how to manage my time and not get caught up in things. Now that you are in the music business full time, how do you find your breaks? How do you find ways to manage your time and refresh?

Well, this is my life; I am here all day every day. I do take vacations and days without the computer and cell phone and stuff, but music and ideas are always there, I won’t take a vacation from them.
My younger brother is a special needs kid, and when I was younger I managed a baseball team for special kids, it is still one of the biggest accomplishments in my life, so kudos to you.

I’m approaching the point where I can be a full time artist and it’s very exciting but I’ve been cautious about it because I feel like the transition should feel more organic than it does. I know transitions are different for everyone, but I was wondering if you could describe that transition from having a day job to being able to make a life out of art and music?

Well, I definitely do more work now than I ever have before. When I had a job I just did music every moment I wasn’t working, now I run a label and do the band full time, and I am always working, but I love it, I love to work. It is awesome to get to do the stuff I love and make money at it, but Randy and I were talking about this just yesterday as we were driving home from the airport. The easier it gets, the harder we work, and we are at this point because we work hard; because we silk-screen the posters, book the tickets, drive ourselves to the airport, we manage ourselves ya know? We just try and work as hard as we can because we love to, and we work cheaper than anyone else we know, ha ha.

You are involved in a lot of other things besides music. You have your hands in fashion, art, design, etc. You get to see and work with a lot of different creative types. What do you think the great ones that you’re around and influence you have in common?

I have noticed that most people we really like to work with have a similar work ethic, and love for what they do. Like Brian Roettinger, who we collaborate on design stuff with, we can easily sit there for 12 hours messing with stuff, the ideas never stop ya know? Working with Altamont on catalogs and clothing stuff is fun for us as well; we get to exercise that part of our brain.

What mistakes do you often see people make when trying to find success?

Just that, trying to find success instead of trying to make mistakes, we like to make mistakes so we can learn how to fix them.

Ok well the last question is kind of random but right before I started this I heard that some old punk legends like John Doe from the band X has an album of country covers out and Iggy Pop is releasing an album of jazz covers. What American music tribute will you do when you get old?

Ha, well I can’t say for certain, maybe the American Noise Scene, that
Would be a fun concept record.

Well thank you for taking the time to do this and let me know the next time No Age is in Portland, I’d love to buy you guys a drink, some falafels, take some photos and enjoy your show.

Thanks man, keep it up.

(No Age is a rock band from Los Angeles California. You can find out more about them by checking out their Myspace page and their blog)

Listen to tracks from No Age:

Cappo

Impossible Bouquet