THE OCEAN DOESN'T WANT ME

PHOTOGRAPHY BY UNKNOWN
WEBSITE: www.theoceandoesntwantme.com
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Alternative / Progressive / Experimental

YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN BUSY SINCE I LAST INTERVIEWED YOU. YOUR NEW NINE TRACK ALBUM TITLED “WHICH I HOPE TO LIVE FOR” WAS RELEASED A WHILE BACK. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO FINISH?

We had a bunch of songs by the end of 2007, enough to go into the studio. The idea was to jump into the recording with the new-year. Then we split ways with our guitarist, and we had to rework a bunch of tracks so as to fit our new setup as a three piece. From reworking the songs to shoving the finished product into a fan’s hand took eleven months, with about a week of that time spent in the studio. We basically had the music done and recorded by end August, and after that we focused on packaging and printing. We launched it on the 13th of December.

WHAT WERE YOU GUYS INFLUENCED BY THE MOST DURING THE WRITING PROCESS?

Lots of our inspiration comes from random small interactions with the world, like a random film clip somebody saw, or a line of text in a book. Whether we have a huge discussion about it, or just mention it while plugging in a guitar amp, it always seems to relate back to some small interaction. Listening to various types of music always contributes to our head space. During the rewriting process, we took in a lot of doom, jazz, electronic, drone and instrumental music.

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO DO DIFFERENTLY MUSICALLY WITH THE SONGS FOR THIS ALBUM COMPARED TO YOUR OLDER MATERIAL?

Our biggest focus was on writing for the album. The music is much more cohesive, and contributes to a whole. We believe that an album should be viewed as a unit, not a bunch of random songs. Our music has become more introspective, in that we are even more focused than before on what we, as musicians, want to do, as opposed to what people would want you to do. With the style of music that we’ve involved ourselves with, it has become more and more apparent that we answer only to ourselves. Wait. That does not sound marketable: rather, we are now considered Afrikaans Pop-Punk.

DID YOU USE THE SAME EQUIPMENT THAT YOU USE LIVE TO RECORD THE ALBUM AND WHAT TYPE OF AMPS, TUNINGS AND GEAR TURNED OUT TO PRODUCE THE BEST RESULTS?

We do not see the point in writing studio only songs, so, in essence, we have used the same gear that we use live, except maybe for a different amp for nuances here and there.

CF: Ibanez Artcore guitar, through a Boss DS20 distortion, to an Electro Harmonix Holiest Grail reverb, to a Boss DD20 delay pedal, to a Boss loop station, into a Peavey Classic 50 2*12 amp. He also uses his voice.

Robin: 2002 Tama Rockstar Custom 5piece, 2 snares (one mahogany, the other brass), one with snare on, the other with snare off. Zildjian Cymbals. Selection of A Customs, K’s and Oriental’s. Electronics wise: a Roland SPD 20 percussion trigger pad and a Korg Kaoss pad 2.

Beastie: Ibanez EDB 400, Boss GT-6B, Boss Bass Overdrive, Behringer Ultrabass BX1200, additional electronics done with Korg Kaoss pad 3.

WHO PRODUCED THE ALBUM AND HOW BIG OF A ROLE DID THIS PERSON PLAY IN THE OUTCOME OF THE FINAL PRODUCT?

Bernard Cronje from Groundlevel studios did the engineering, and to a point, also the production although he does not really see the merit in a production credit. He is an awesome guy to work with, and listened to all our needs. We are quite a fussy bunch, and we never clashed heads. We specifically wanted a rawer sound, and he met us halfway. He also has a tendency to see different solutions to problems.

WHEN WRITING SONGS DO YOU GUYS AVOID MAKING THEM LONGER THAN A SPECIFIC TIME AND DO YOU THINK THAT IN THE “SINGLE” DRIVEN MUSIC INDUSTRY OF TODAY THAT THERE IS STILL A PLACE FOR SONGS THAT LAST EIGHT MINUTES AND LONGER?

No, we don’t ever put any time restraints on our songs, the song’s message or mood dictates the length of the song. Ben-hur, Godfather part one, Godfather part two and Deerhunter were all slow, long films, and people never question their legitimacy. Besides, it is not that we’re exploiting a verse-chorus repetition for 20 minutes. We’ve never really expected any air play, so we’ve never try to fit that mould, and thus we’ve been refused air play.

THE COVER ART FOR “WHICH I HOPE TO LIVE FOR” LOOKS VERY COOL. WHO DESIGNED AND ILLUSTRATED THE COVER AND HAS THE LOOK OF THIS ALBUM GIVEN YOU GUYS ANY NEW IDEAS ABOUT THE VISUAL DIRECTION YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE FOR ANY FUTURE RELEASES?

Thank you. The artwork was done by the brilliant Shotopop design. The visual direction was very strongly focused on our ideas for this specific album. For future releases, we’ll definitely be looking in a whole different direction, whatever we feel suits the concept best.

YOUR WEBSITE LOOKS GREAT AND IT CERTAINLY SETS A GOOD STANDARD FOR OTHER LOCAL BANDS TO FOLLOW. ANYBODY THAT DOES NOT BELIEVE ME VISIT http://www.theoceandoesntwantme.com/, MY QUESTION IS; DO YOU THINK THAT PEOPLE ARE RELYING TOO MUCH ON MYSPACE AND OTHER NETWORKS TO PROMOTE THEIR BANDS?

Social networks are a very accessible and viable way to create an online presence. It requires virtually no skill to create and maintain, whereas a website does. Even if you do have a website, these days, it is crucial to have a social network presence as well.

We’ve always had a site, so we just tried to do something special on it. Getting back to your question, I think that bands only rely on it because there is no cash lying around. We are lucky in that we’ve got some web development experience.

ARE YOU GUYS EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITIES OF A NEW MUSIC VIDEO, SHORT FILM OR DOCUMENTARY, AND IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT MAKES A GREAT MUSIC VIDEO?

We are currently looking at the feasibility of a music video, and we have a few friends in mind to assist us. We’ve recently learned that it is not advisable to work with people that do not understand your viewpoints. At the risk of flying off at a tangent, we generally do not care for concept driven videos about televisions in industrial areas, and cameras following girl meets boy scenarios. A great music video compliments the music, it does not try to dissect and explain the music, or try to expose and market it either.

WITH A NEW ALBUM COMES A NEW SET LIST TO PERFORM LIVE. ARE THERE A FEW SONGS THAT YOU GUYS ARE PUTTING ON “ICE” FOR A WHILE AND WHICH ONE OF THE NEW SONGS ARE YOU GUYS MOST EXCITED ABOUT PERFORMING LIVE?

All the songs have been written to be performed live, but logistics and set-lists sometimes don’t allow you to perform certain songs. “We watched them come” is one of our favourites, but we’ve only played it once or twice as it is a bit of a downer. If time permits it, we do play the whole album from start to finish. We are currently in the process of writing a new release, and we can’t wait to perform that, but we’re also holding out on that until we’ve finished the biggest part of the work. Our shorter set always contains “You’re yellow not golden” and “While you were away, I forgot to stay the same”. Between the two of them, there is always something to excite us.


WHAT OTHER CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE IN THE LAST YEAR TO IMPROVE YOUR LIVE PERFORMANCE VISUALLY AND SONICALLY?

When the venue permits it, we move the drums to the front of the stage, as Robin is an exciting visual component, and it levels it out that all three members feature equally. It is the way that we write our music. Sonically, we are constantly looking for new ways to create noise and texture. So we introduce new toys and play around with ways in which to use our current equipment.

THE OCEAN DOESN'T WANT ME PERFORMED IN CAPE TOWN A WHILE BACK ARE YOU GUYS PLANNING TO HIT ANY OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY AS WELL DURING 2009?

I think we’ll play a few other spots. Generally, we aren’t that focused on spreading any gospel, but rather to enjoy ourselves, we’ll visit our friends in Cape Town again, maybe via Durban this time.

ANY LAST COMMENTS/ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Thanks for the questions and keep up the genuine journalism. Thanks also to Shotopop design, Entropy Management and Jacques de Klerk for their continued support.

We’re playing a very exciting gig with The Watermark High and a Skyline on Fire on the 3rd of April at Cafe Arc in Pretoria. We are involved in all three bands, so it is a gathering of music that we appreciate, and promises to do something a bit different.