Interview: Cloud Nothings

Despite being touted by many music critics as one of the bands to categorically watch this year, Dylan Baldi, the young man behind much-lauded Cloud Nothings could not be any more unassuming. Sat quietly wearing a beanie and tapping away on his Mac as techies run around the room chaotically and his bandmates joke loudly in another corner, first impressions are that he cares little for rock-star pretention or any glare of spotlight on his personal being that might arise as a result of his career choice. Laughing amiably throughout their meeting, Dylan spoke to me about the reasons as to why he prefers to work on a solo basis, the benefits of recording at home, and why you probably shouldn’t pay too much attention to his lyrics.

Your debut EP Turning On had a very lo-fi, almost grainy kind of sound, whereas your self-titled LP is a lot crisper and more evidently produced. Obviously this is because the first was recorded in your house and the second in a studio. Were you pleased that the newer material has shed this more lo-fi sound or is that something you’d have liked to have kept, or would want to bring back?

When I made it I was certainly happy with that because I wanted to get away from the whole lo-fi tag, but if I was to make a record right now, I’m back into liking that sort of music again. So if I made something now it would be like that but I’m happy with the way it came out because that was the record I wanted to make.

Which environment did you prefer working in and why? I mean obviously a studio has all the equipment and some amazing facilities, but did you feel you had a sense of freedom at home that was lost when you went into a more professional environment?

I kind of like working at home more because I like working alone more, really. Not that working with someone proved to be hard or anything, it went really well with [producer] Chester. But when you’re at home you feel more comfortable doing it.

Would you want to go back to recording at home or is that something management wouldn’t let you do?

I don’t have management, so I would let me do that, yeah! I might do that on the next one, actually.

The overall style in the tracks between the two releases is noticeably more different; the self-titled release has a more punky feel to it. What caused or influenced this change and development?

Kind of playing with the band, actually. I was really getting into that kind of music when I was going into recording that album [Cloud Nothings] so it kind of just came out that way. It was just sort of an accident.

Despite having a band that tours with you, I gather that you view Cloud Nothings as more of a solo project.

Yeah, through recordings at least, I like to do things on my own. I also write everything on my own and then show them how to play the parts. But it’s kind of becoming more of a band, just on its own because at the minute we’re not recording, it’s just tours. I would like to keep recordings more to myself.

Does it not get lonely recording on a more solitary basis?

(Laughs) No, it doesn’t get lonely, it’s what I like doing, so it’s ok!

If you did decide to record with a full band in the studio, what kind of effect do you think that would have on the sound? Do you think it would change it, or would it still very much be you?

Erm, I would say “do this, do this” but it would never happen so I’d just get frustrated. Not that what they do is bad, I like everything they do a lot but with the recording, I’m really kind of anal about all that stuff. So I would just get really frustrated.

Your ascension from recording in your parent’s house to being signed and now touring internationally happened pretty quickly and I’ve heard the words ‘cult following’ being banded about as a result. Would you be happy maintaining this more underground appreciation, or is cracking the mainstream something that you really want to do?

I’m not really concerned with it. You know, if we never crack the mainstream it’s not a huge deal to me, because all the stuff that I really like is not the kind of stuff that you’d say would crack the mainstream. If we do, I wouldn’t mind because it just means we get paid more! (Laughs) And that’d be fine. But I’m not too upset about the fact that we might not.

What’s the difference in response to your music in the UK and back home? You’re garnering quite a bit of attention over here but are you still fairly unknown in America

It’s pretty similar to over here, actually. The last tour especially you could tell that people were coming out just to see us specifically. So it’s just kind of steadily growing as things go on, it’s going well.

Pretty much every single article that I’ve read about you makes a significant point…

…that I’m only nineteen? (Laughs)

Yeah! I’m very aware that bringing it up now makes me a bit hypocritical but does it bother you that it seems to be such an important factor that people take into consideration?

It doesn’t bother me really, I don’t really think about it. I mean, going around and doing all these things that I’m doing, it doesn’t feel like I’m nineteen because it’s pretty crazy for someone my age to be doing. Everyone that you meet generally in this field doesn’t take it into much consideration, so it hasn’t really bothered me. It’s just something for people to write about and start an article with, that’s what usually happens!

You don’t view yourself as a ‘figurehead’ for younger musicians?

No! No, I should never be that! I don’t want anyone to look up to me! (Laughs) That’s ok if they do and if that ends up happening then cool, but I don’t view myself in that way.

Who were your biggest influences when you started writing and what bands are having the greatest effect on your style at the minute?

Hmm. When I started writing I was probably listening to a lot of Guided By Voices, and stuff kind of like that. But when recording the latest album and at the minute a lot of my favourite bands are acts like Hüsker Dü, The Replacements and Television Personalities.

I’ve read a lot of interviews where you stress the point that you don’t care much for lyrics and would much rather focus on the melody of a track. A lot of music critics and fans alike would argue that the lyrics are a substantial part of making up a song, so what would you say to people who might suggest that as a result you’re not producing the entire package?

I guess that to me, it’s the whole package. I don’t really care about the lyrics because they’re just words to me. I care about reading a poem or something, when there’s nothing else going on and you’re just sitting there reading and that’s really important and I really do like words. I took a lot of English classes in school and I read a lot. But within a song I don’t find it that important for some reason. I just never really think about the lyrics and have always focused more on the melody. The first thing that I listened to that was kind of breaking away from it, was listening to the radio that my parents listened to. It was actually really weird, like minimalist classical music. Generally there’s no lyrics in a lot of them and the way it all works is that there’s not even usually a melody, it’s all just kind of black chords, so the harmony sort of is the melody. That kind of got me away from really caring about lyrics to just focusing on sounds and things.

So would you ever consider releasing a purely instrumental record?

Erm… no. (Laughs) Maybe eventually but not in this kind of style, just because with this sort of music the element of the human voice really gives it more of a push and authenticity, more feeling. I took music composition classes in college but not with this kind of stuff.

What do you think separates you from all the other emerging indie acts out there at the minute?

I think… hmm. I think I’m the only one in the band who wears skinny pants! I don’t know. We just kind of have a rock band sound that’s more traditional and that’s not something that’s really around too much right now or too popular, which I think is too bad. And we have a real drummer!

If I was introducing someone to Cloud Nothings for the first time, which record of the two you’ve released so far should I tell them to listen to in order to get a feel for what the band really represents?

Hmm. I would say the first one actually. But then tomorrow I might say the second one, you know? No, probably Turning On just because it was me on my own, not really thinking about what anyone else would think of these recordings because I didn’t know anyone else would care. So probably that one is more of a genuine view of… me.

What’s up next for the band? With the last two recordings being released pretty close to each other, are you going to leave it a while before you release another record and just tour for a bit, or do you want to push out another record quickly?

I want to put out something else really quickly. We’re touring a lot but we have a month off in April to May, so I’m hopefully going to maybe record an album then. Maybe get it out in the Summer, or before 2012, definitely.

Are you going to be back over this way playing any festivals?

Yeah, Primavera in May and then I think a couple of ones in August but I’m not entirely sure which ones they are.

Finally, name three songs you wish you’d written.

Oooh. That’s such a hard question. There’s this song ‘Chartered Trips’ by Hüsker Dü that’s real good, I really like that song. It’s just going to end up being my favourite bands again! There’s a Replacements song called ‘Androgynous’ that is really good, I’d like to have written that. And there’s a song called ‘Rhythm of the Rain’ by The Cascades, who are a ’50s, almost like vocal group. That’s one of my favourite songs too, so we’ll go with that.

This interview was originally published on www.culturedeluxe.com