_Zachary Carothers - Portugal. The Man (27/11/2011)
_
Portugal. The Man are making the trek down under in
2012 for the St. Jerome's Laneway Festival. In a very special interview, we
chat to Zachary Carothers about their sixth record In The Mountain In The Cloud
and of course, their upcoming Laneway appearances.
Hi Zach, where are you at the moment?
Right now I am just outside of Paris, France.
Ok, nice! Well, first of all I would like to know more about your band name. What made you decide to name your band Portugal. The Man?
Well, it’s kind of of a long story but I will chop it down for you. Portugal is an alter ego just as David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust. It is a fictional character that we made up and we wanted the persons one name to represent our whole group of people because we were not just a solo artist like David Bowie or James Brown or something. We wanted the one name to represent our whole band and we figured a country is a name that represents a whole group of people with one voice in the world. And so we thought that Portugal would be a really good name for a guy, so we decided to name our fictional character Portugal and then the period pretty much states that this is a man.
Yes, it is a very different name so it must get some attention?
Haha, yes! We got a lot of shit for it over the years I think.
Well, do you have a front man in your band?
Yes, we do or um, sort of. We have our singer and songwriter John but he is a pretty shy boy. I would not say he is much of a front man. It is a group and when you see us play live it is definitely a band. There is no one person that is standing out and you know, really connecting with the crowd. We just play music and I think that everyone can tell that we just love to play music together.
Oh, ok. So can you give me a brief story about how the band came together? Just a very short story about how it all started. What was the original idea?
Yeah, John and I are from Wasilla, Alaska. We met up there and after I left to go to college down in Portland, Oregon, we started a band with another group of friends, which broke up after about two years. So we did not play music for a while and then John and I decided to start Portugal. The Man. We started in 2005 and did some touring, very, very poor touring and we recorded our first record in 2006 and we have released about an album a year ever since then.
So do you feel like you have a lot of support from your hometown and from Alaska?
Oh yes. We definitely do. Alaskans are very proud of anything that comes out of Alaska, no matter what it is and we do have a lot of local supporters. It is pretty nice to go home. We are going home pretty soon, in about three weeks and then we will play our biggest show we have ever done up there. We are excited!
Yeah, I figure that! Well in 2010 you decided to transfer to Atlantic records. How did this affect your music?
Well, it made it better as far as I am concerned. Atlantic did not use to come into the studio and tell us to change our songs or anything like that, but they opened up a lot of doors for us that we did not have before. You know, we got the opportunity to just go into better studios with absolutely amazing gear, unbelievable equipment and working with producers that we could have never gotten on our own. We got Andy Wallace to mix our record and you know, he mixed Nirvanas Nevermind and Jeff Buckley’s Grace albums and those are some of my favourite sounding albums ever! It has been really amazing. They are really cool people.
Yeah, because I read that you wanted laser lights in your show. What did they say about that?
Oh, they have always liked that you know. When it comes to that kind of stuff they trust our judgment completely and we have been doing lasers and fog and smoke forever and on this last tour that we just did, we got some really crazy LED warps that we had somebody to fabricate and I have never seen anything like them. They are completely custom and really, really cool. Unfortunately I don't think that we will be able to take them to Australia. They take a lot of power and they take a lot of space and usually when we go to places for the first time we just can't afford to bring them and there are places that just can’t power them. But we will bring our whole light show over as soon as we can.
Well, lets talk about your last album, your sixth studio album, 'In the mountain in the cloud'. How would you say it differs from your previous albums?
Well I think sound wise it is the best thing we have ever done. Like I said we got to work with such amazing gear and such amazing people. We really focused more on tones that we ever had before. You know we really made sure that every little thing was right. We refined every sound making sure it all fit together. You know, it was the hardest record we have ever done. When we first went into the studio things were falling apart. The band was fighting. We were not communicating well or we were not communicating with the producers. It was a mess.
How long did it take to record?
It was recorded over the span of about eight months but we did a lot of touring in between that. So we were only actually in the studio for a little over two months. It took a long time because we did tours in between. Because of that we over thought everything and in the end we had to reflect back to the list of the first demos that we did at our buddy's house or up in Alaska with our parents. We listened to what we recently did and we were like "forget about all that stuff that we have been tossing around our backs for weeks". What we first did is right and we just went back to that, practiced and it was us.
So you feel like it is your best album so far?
Yes, definitely. It was the hardest record to do but it was the most rewarding you know. Now that I listen to it, all the pain that went into that record, I think it really was worth it!
So about your music, are the lyrics important or is it more about the music and the rhythm in the songs?
It is about everything. Words are very important to me but I have a weird view of lyrics. I like lyrics that are a little more vague, like our lyrics are a lot of times. John, our singer, writes all the lyrics and he tends to write a lot of metaphors. It is a little cleaner on this record but still for the average music fan it is pretty weird lyrics. Most of the time, since I know him very well, I know what he is talking about but even when I don't, generally I don't want to know what they mean. I like lyrics like Kurt Cobain’s lyrics, which can be taken in many different ways. I don't really want to know what he meant by them you know? They mean something to me and they mean something specific to my life and it makes me more part of the music as a fan. So I think lyrics are very, very important and music is important. I think it all is. I think album artwork is, I think videos are, and photos too. There is so much more that goes into it than just the music, I think. It is all equal parts.
Ok, I see. Well, the future is looking bright for your band. Next year, in February, you are performing at Laneway Festival, in both Sydney and Melbourne. The Laneway Festival is seen as Australia's most unique music events. Are you excited?
I am very excited. I have never been there before so I am really looking forward to it. I love to travel.
Do you think you have a good fan base here in Australia?
I think it will be pretty ok. We have received a lot of emails over the years of people from Australia wanting us to come over there. This is our first opportunity to really get there and you know, the Laneway Festival is big. We have heard about it before and everybody knows about it. So it is really cool and we feel very lucky to be able to come over there. So I think it will be ok. And especially since we posted the days we have been getting a lot of emails, a lot of Twitters replies, a lot of Facebook posts from people that are excited about the show, so hopefully it goes well. And we appreciate people like you giving us a little help to get more people to hopefully come to listen to us.
I hope so too. Well, moving on I have read that your songs sounds very different when you compare the album version of the song and the way you perform them live? Why is this?
I think it is just a little more fun for us and more fun for everybody in the crowd. It is a completely different element to the band. You know, we have our studio version but when we play live we like to improvise and to extend songs, we like to jam in the middle of them and to change them up a little bit. Every tour we change our songs so that people want to come back. If somebody has seen us already on our tour, next time we come back to their city it will make them want to come back. It won’t be the same. It will be a different light show and it will be different songs, and the same songs we do play will be completely different. We add different covers and we like to make it a different show so that people wont have to see the same thing every single time.
I think that is a very good thing for a band to do and something unique.
Yeah and it is just much more fun for us! You know, I don't see how Aerosmith can go out and play dream on for 25 years. You know, that would kill me. All the feeling would be sucked out of it. I think you have to keep things fresh.
So about fresh I was thinking, I like some of your old music like the album Censored Colours. What can the crowd expect to hear at the Laneway Festival? Only new influences or older songs as well?
Oh yeah. We will play a little bit of everything. It will lean a little bit more against our last two records, towards In The Mountain, In The Cloud and probably Satanic Satanist, but we play a little bit of every record.
Well, with more than 800 live shows you have been touring for a while now. What are your best memories and favourite gigs from the tour?
There are so many over the years. I would say my favourite part has always been seeing new places. I always get excited about it, you know. Going places we have never been to. That is why we are really excited to come to Australia. None of us have ever been there before, on vacation or in a band, or anything. I have heard wonderful things about Australia.
Ok, so we are running out of time but to end this interview: What are your hopes for the upcoming year? Can we expect a new album release in the coming year? Are you maybe already working on a new album?
We have already started working on a couple of new songs now that we are on tour and we will do more when we are home for Christmas in Alaska. And then hopefully when we get back from Australia we will be able to go into the studio. I am not sure yet, but that is the plan. We are going to record some more, tour some more and see some new places and we are just going to keep on doing what we do!
Portugal. The Man will play at the Laneway festival in Melbourne 4th of February and in Sydney 5th of February.
They will also play three sideshows in Australia with GIVERs.
Tuesday 7th February @ Metro Theatre, Sydney
Wednesday 8th February @ UC Refectory, Canberra
Thursday 9th February @ Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Malene Aakre
Hi Zach, where are you at the moment?
Right now I am just outside of Paris, France.
Ok, nice! Well, first of all I would like to know more about your band name. What made you decide to name your band Portugal. The Man?
Well, it’s kind of of a long story but I will chop it down for you. Portugal is an alter ego just as David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust. It is a fictional character that we made up and we wanted the persons one name to represent our whole group of people because we were not just a solo artist like David Bowie or James Brown or something. We wanted the one name to represent our whole band and we figured a country is a name that represents a whole group of people with one voice in the world. And so we thought that Portugal would be a really good name for a guy, so we decided to name our fictional character Portugal and then the period pretty much states that this is a man.
Yes, it is a very different name so it must get some attention?
Haha, yes! We got a lot of shit for it over the years I think.
Well, do you have a front man in your band?
Yes, we do or um, sort of. We have our singer and songwriter John but he is a pretty shy boy. I would not say he is much of a front man. It is a group and when you see us play live it is definitely a band. There is no one person that is standing out and you know, really connecting with the crowd. We just play music and I think that everyone can tell that we just love to play music together.
Oh, ok. So can you give me a brief story about how the band came together? Just a very short story about how it all started. What was the original idea?
Yeah, John and I are from Wasilla, Alaska. We met up there and after I left to go to college down in Portland, Oregon, we started a band with another group of friends, which broke up after about two years. So we did not play music for a while and then John and I decided to start Portugal. The Man. We started in 2005 and did some touring, very, very poor touring and we recorded our first record in 2006 and we have released about an album a year ever since then.
So do you feel like you have a lot of support from your hometown and from Alaska?
Oh yes. We definitely do. Alaskans are very proud of anything that comes out of Alaska, no matter what it is and we do have a lot of local supporters. It is pretty nice to go home. We are going home pretty soon, in about three weeks and then we will play our biggest show we have ever done up there. We are excited!
Yeah, I figure that! Well in 2010 you decided to transfer to Atlantic records. How did this affect your music?
Well, it made it better as far as I am concerned. Atlantic did not use to come into the studio and tell us to change our songs or anything like that, but they opened up a lot of doors for us that we did not have before. You know, we got the opportunity to just go into better studios with absolutely amazing gear, unbelievable equipment and working with producers that we could have never gotten on our own. We got Andy Wallace to mix our record and you know, he mixed Nirvanas Nevermind and Jeff Buckley’s Grace albums and those are some of my favourite sounding albums ever! It has been really amazing. They are really cool people.
Yeah, because I read that you wanted laser lights in your show. What did they say about that?
Oh, they have always liked that you know. When it comes to that kind of stuff they trust our judgment completely and we have been doing lasers and fog and smoke forever and on this last tour that we just did, we got some really crazy LED warps that we had somebody to fabricate and I have never seen anything like them. They are completely custom and really, really cool. Unfortunately I don't think that we will be able to take them to Australia. They take a lot of power and they take a lot of space and usually when we go to places for the first time we just can't afford to bring them and there are places that just can’t power them. But we will bring our whole light show over as soon as we can.
Well, lets talk about your last album, your sixth studio album, 'In the mountain in the cloud'. How would you say it differs from your previous albums?
Well I think sound wise it is the best thing we have ever done. Like I said we got to work with such amazing gear and such amazing people. We really focused more on tones that we ever had before. You know we really made sure that every little thing was right. We refined every sound making sure it all fit together. You know, it was the hardest record we have ever done. When we first went into the studio things were falling apart. The band was fighting. We were not communicating well or we were not communicating with the producers. It was a mess.
How long did it take to record?
It was recorded over the span of about eight months but we did a lot of touring in between that. So we were only actually in the studio for a little over two months. It took a long time because we did tours in between. Because of that we over thought everything and in the end we had to reflect back to the list of the first demos that we did at our buddy's house or up in Alaska with our parents. We listened to what we recently did and we were like "forget about all that stuff that we have been tossing around our backs for weeks". What we first did is right and we just went back to that, practiced and it was us.
So you feel like it is your best album so far?
Yes, definitely. It was the hardest record to do but it was the most rewarding you know. Now that I listen to it, all the pain that went into that record, I think it really was worth it!
So about your music, are the lyrics important or is it more about the music and the rhythm in the songs?
It is about everything. Words are very important to me but I have a weird view of lyrics. I like lyrics that are a little more vague, like our lyrics are a lot of times. John, our singer, writes all the lyrics and he tends to write a lot of metaphors. It is a little cleaner on this record but still for the average music fan it is pretty weird lyrics. Most of the time, since I know him very well, I know what he is talking about but even when I don't, generally I don't want to know what they mean. I like lyrics like Kurt Cobain’s lyrics, which can be taken in many different ways. I don't really want to know what he meant by them you know? They mean something to me and they mean something specific to my life and it makes me more part of the music as a fan. So I think lyrics are very, very important and music is important. I think it all is. I think album artwork is, I think videos are, and photos too. There is so much more that goes into it than just the music, I think. It is all equal parts.
Ok, I see. Well, the future is looking bright for your band. Next year, in February, you are performing at Laneway Festival, in both Sydney and Melbourne. The Laneway Festival is seen as Australia's most unique music events. Are you excited?
I am very excited. I have never been there before so I am really looking forward to it. I love to travel.
Do you think you have a good fan base here in Australia?
I think it will be pretty ok. We have received a lot of emails over the years of people from Australia wanting us to come over there. This is our first opportunity to really get there and you know, the Laneway Festival is big. We have heard about it before and everybody knows about it. So it is really cool and we feel very lucky to be able to come over there. So I think it will be ok. And especially since we posted the days we have been getting a lot of emails, a lot of Twitters replies, a lot of Facebook posts from people that are excited about the show, so hopefully it goes well. And we appreciate people like you giving us a little help to get more people to hopefully come to listen to us.
I hope so too. Well, moving on I have read that your songs sounds very different when you compare the album version of the song and the way you perform them live? Why is this?
I think it is just a little more fun for us and more fun for everybody in the crowd. It is a completely different element to the band. You know, we have our studio version but when we play live we like to improvise and to extend songs, we like to jam in the middle of them and to change them up a little bit. Every tour we change our songs so that people want to come back. If somebody has seen us already on our tour, next time we come back to their city it will make them want to come back. It won’t be the same. It will be a different light show and it will be different songs, and the same songs we do play will be completely different. We add different covers and we like to make it a different show so that people wont have to see the same thing every single time.
I think that is a very good thing for a band to do and something unique.
Yeah and it is just much more fun for us! You know, I don't see how Aerosmith can go out and play dream on for 25 years. You know, that would kill me. All the feeling would be sucked out of it. I think you have to keep things fresh.
So about fresh I was thinking, I like some of your old music like the album Censored Colours. What can the crowd expect to hear at the Laneway Festival? Only new influences or older songs as well?
Oh yeah. We will play a little bit of everything. It will lean a little bit more against our last two records, towards In The Mountain, In The Cloud and probably Satanic Satanist, but we play a little bit of every record.
Well, with more than 800 live shows you have been touring for a while now. What are your best memories and favourite gigs from the tour?
There are so many over the years. I would say my favourite part has always been seeing new places. I always get excited about it, you know. Going places we have never been to. That is why we are really excited to come to Australia. None of us have ever been there before, on vacation or in a band, or anything. I have heard wonderful things about Australia.
Ok, so we are running out of time but to end this interview: What are your hopes for the upcoming year? Can we expect a new album release in the coming year? Are you maybe already working on a new album?
We have already started working on a couple of new songs now that we are on tour and we will do more when we are home for Christmas in Alaska. And then hopefully when we get back from Australia we will be able to go into the studio. I am not sure yet, but that is the plan. We are going to record some more, tour some more and see some new places and we are just going to keep on doing what we do!
Portugal. The Man will play at the Laneway festival in Melbourne 4th of February and in Sydney 5th of February.
They will also play three sideshows in Australia with GIVERs.
Tuesday 7th February @ Metro Theatre, Sydney
Wednesday 8th February @ UC Refectory, Canberra
Thursday 9th February @ Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Malene Aakre