The Future Is Black
by Chris Long
photo by Ben Fox
by Chris Long
photo by Ben Fox
There is a reverence that surrounds Black Mountain that most bands can only fathom after counting sheep at night. The Vancouver five piece is nothing if not credible; their self-titled debut emerged early in 2005 and over the course of that year, the buzz around their murky take on classic rock unfolded into a full blown wave of critical acclaim. Their appeal is broad; the chin-stroking cooler-than-thou worship them, but play "Druganaut" or "Don't Run Our Hearts Around" for your dad, and chances are he'll get it. And despite "blowing up" enough to open for Coldplay in 2005, the band has managed to discreetly sidestep the ludicrous amounts of hype and subsequent backlash that suffocates many groups in their position. Consisting of Stephen McBean (guitar, vocals), Amber Webber (vocals, percussion), Matt Camirand (bass), Joshua Wells (drums) and Jeremy Schmidt (keybords), Black Mountain are one of few bands around today who seem primarily concerned with really only one thing: the music.
On January 22, Black Mountain will release their new album, In The Future. Its gestation was a lengthy one. False starts, scrapped songs and other touring obligations (OK, here we go: Wells and Webber are Lightning Dust; Schmidt flies solo as Sinoia Caves; McBean often takes Webber on the road with Pink Mountaintops; Camirand heads up Blood Meridian… phew!) filled in the three years since Black Mountain. But it’s well worth the wait. Shedding the debut’s minimalist Velvet Underground-esque cloak, In The Future is a mind-blowing, expansive journey to the heart of rock & roll. It’s a heaving ode to the music of bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and evokes the energy, wonder and mystique of much music from the same era as those bands.
“We just naturally headed in that direction,” says McBean. “We had a few more toys to play with. We were having fun and just ran with it and this is where we ended up. No one was yelling ‘More Deep Purple!! More Deep Purple!!’ though that would've been comical.”
The band bears no delusions of grandeur about reinventing the wheel. Black Mountain are unapologetically referential, but there is no cheesy aping or poor posturing here; the band are an authentic 2008 continuation of classic rock’s storied lineage.
“The age that we are”, Schmidt explains, “we just grew up listening to [classic rock], so it's just kind of ingrained. It's part of our sensibility naturally. It's not like we're going out & saying 'let's try and sound like ______’; we just sound the way we do because it's an amalgamation of the music that we were brought up on. Its just part of our nervous system.”
Camirand continues, “I don't really listen to contemporary music. I could count on my fingers how many newer bands I'm into and that's not cuz I don't wanna hear good music it's cuz I just don't hear shit I like. I love that when I listen to our music, I don't hear any of the trappings of modern indie-rock. To shed that is so great.”
In terms of production, In the Future is a hefty leap for the band. Aside from upping the ante in terms of writing, the band decided to use John Congleton (Modest Mouse, Explosions In The Sky) to mix the record. “John was badgering us,” explains Camirand. “He was the one person who for a year and a half was like 'you gotta let me mix the record!' He's mixed a lot of weird stuff, but I was drawn to him because he’d worked with The Roots. John went mad scientist on the shit. We would sit down, talk and throw ideas around like what we wanted the drums to sound like or whatever, and then we would leave the room. After three hours, we'd come back in, John would play us the mix and we'd be like 'holy fuck!' It was shocking how monstrous the sound was. It was a real eye-opener in terms of 'this man is a professional'.”
No doubt, through 2008, In The Future will be critically-lauded, blogged/written about and whispered over. Dudes will marvel at its sprawling prog and epic arrangements. People will air-guitar to it (unashamedly) and guys and gals will make out to it. But most importantly, people will actually spend time listening to In The Future. It embodies and exemplifies the idea of the album as an adventure, an sensory experience unique unto itself, which is something that McBean bears a fondness for. “I’m a fan of records that symbolize the beauty of albums, records like Pink Floyd’s Animals.”
So sure, what’s old is new again. Again. But all of Black Mountain’s reference points are rock and roll lynchpins; archetypes that we return to over and over again. Steve McBean and co. have one foot firmly planted next to these icons of the past; the other is fixed in the future, where Black Mountain are looking back at you and everything you love about rock and roll… they love it too.
On January 22, Black Mountain will release their new album, In The Future. Its gestation was a lengthy one. False starts, scrapped songs and other touring obligations (OK, here we go: Wells and Webber are Lightning Dust; Schmidt flies solo as Sinoia Caves; McBean often takes Webber on the road with Pink Mountaintops; Camirand heads up Blood Meridian… phew!) filled in the three years since Black Mountain. But it’s well worth the wait. Shedding the debut’s minimalist Velvet Underground-esque cloak, In The Future is a mind-blowing, expansive journey to the heart of rock & roll. It’s a heaving ode to the music of bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and evokes the energy, wonder and mystique of much music from the same era as those bands.
“We just naturally headed in that direction,” says McBean. “We had a few more toys to play with. We were having fun and just ran with it and this is where we ended up. No one was yelling ‘More Deep Purple!! More Deep Purple!!’ though that would've been comical.”
The band bears no delusions of grandeur about reinventing the wheel. Black Mountain are unapologetically referential, but there is no cheesy aping or poor posturing here; the band are an authentic 2008 continuation of classic rock’s storied lineage.
“The age that we are”, Schmidt explains, “we just grew up listening to [classic rock], so it's just kind of ingrained. It's part of our sensibility naturally. It's not like we're going out & saying 'let's try and sound like ______’; we just sound the way we do because it's an amalgamation of the music that we were brought up on. Its just part of our nervous system.”
Camirand continues, “I don't really listen to contemporary music. I could count on my fingers how many newer bands I'm into and that's not cuz I don't wanna hear good music it's cuz I just don't hear shit I like. I love that when I listen to our music, I don't hear any of the trappings of modern indie-rock. To shed that is so great.”
In terms of production, In the Future is a hefty leap for the band. Aside from upping the ante in terms of writing, the band decided to use John Congleton (Modest Mouse, Explosions In The Sky) to mix the record. “John was badgering us,” explains Camirand. “He was the one person who for a year and a half was like 'you gotta let me mix the record!' He's mixed a lot of weird stuff, but I was drawn to him because he’d worked with The Roots. John went mad scientist on the shit. We would sit down, talk and throw ideas around like what we wanted the drums to sound like or whatever, and then we would leave the room. After three hours, we'd come back in, John would play us the mix and we'd be like 'holy fuck!' It was shocking how monstrous the sound was. It was a real eye-opener in terms of 'this man is a professional'.”
No doubt, through 2008, In The Future will be critically-lauded, blogged/written about and whispered over. Dudes will marvel at its sprawling prog and epic arrangements. People will air-guitar to it (unashamedly) and guys and gals will make out to it. But most importantly, people will actually spend time listening to In The Future. It embodies and exemplifies the idea of the album as an adventure, an sensory experience unique unto itself, which is something that McBean bears a fondness for. “I’m a fan of records that symbolize the beauty of albums, records like Pink Floyd’s Animals.”
So sure, what’s old is new again. Again. But all of Black Mountain’s reference points are rock and roll lynchpins; archetypes that we return to over and over again. Steve McBean and co. have one foot firmly planted next to these icons of the past; the other is fixed in the future, where Black Mountain are looking back at you and everything you love about rock and roll… they love it too.
