Interview Cloud Nothings: Dylan Baldi

Artiest: Cloud Nothings

Geïnterviewde: Dylan Baldi

Interview afgenomen op: DOK

Label: Carpark Records

Gent, 23 augustus. Cloud Nothings bestijgt de planken van DOK en beloont de toehoorders met een korte maar zeer stevige einde-van-een-lange-tour-show. Geen franjes, enkel een strakke rechttoe rechtaan stroom van getormenteerde indie, noiserock songs. Zanger Dylan Baldi liet zijn restjes energie over voor de nummers en was bijzonder zwijgzaam en gereserveerd richting publiek. Nogal verschillend van hoe hij enkele uren daarvoor ons te woord stond tijdens een interview waar hij niet van op de hoogte was gesteld. Geen enkel probleem: “I don’t have anything else to do” was zijn goedgemutst antwoord. Al bleek hij voor zijn roadie nog naarstig op zoek naar de bekende Gentse Cuberdons. Zeer aangename en flexibele kerel, die Dylan Baldi, een spraakwaterval net iets minder.

First of all, thank you for the interview on such a short notice.

No problem.

I’ve seen an interview that took place at the beginning of the tour, a couple of weeks after the release of the new album ‘Here And Nowhere Else’, where you said: “Touring is easy”.  4 months later, how do you feel now?

It’s been a long time and I’m tired (laughs). I need a break, but there are only two more shows on this tour and then we’re done for a couple of weeks.

But you still have enough energy left?

Yeah sure!

Have you had any time to visit Ghent today?

No, actually we arrived too late, we just arrived at DOK, which is a cool place though.

Did you know DOK is a hangout for everyone, but also a platform for creation and a work area, where organizations or individuals are looking for cooperation? It’s like a perfect DIY place for a Cloud Nothings show?

It’s awesome and it fits us.

Do you remember the last time you played in Ghent?

Yeah, I do. It was like two years ago, we played at a smaller place. I don’t remember the name [Café Charlatan], but it was in the centre of the city. It was nice. Had a walk around that day.

 ‘Here And Nowhere Else’ came out around April, you guys have been touring constantly since then. As far as I know all the reviews from the critics were great, as well as the live performances. How do you look back at those couple of months?

It’s just crazy. You know it goes by really fast. Like, if I think about yesterday, it seems that yesterday is a really long time ago because we are in a different city every day. But it’s cool (laughs) It’s more fun than sitting at home and doing nothing, like I would do.

So you’re a lazy ass, while you’re at home?

Yeah totally. I try not to be, but I get depressed when I stay at the same place for too long.

Is that one of the reasons you moved to Paris?

Well, the only reason I moved there, is that my girlfriend lives there. So that’s good. I don’t know how I feel about Paris really, but I like her.

You’ve played the songs over and over again, does the feeling of the songs change after playing them so often?

It does. You have to, for us at least, change things in the songs to keep them from getting boring. It’s not like a huge change, but little parts are different. If you play the same things over and over again, you like playing something else.

You said in an interview at the Bonnaroo festival  that, since you only play songs from the last two records, you can’t play more than an hour, with two albums that last only 30 minutes. Are you looking forward to have 5 or 6 albums to choose from?

That would be nice. We’ll see if we get to that point. But it would be cool (laughs).

After ‘Attack On Memory’ guitarist Joe Boyer left the band. Being a 3 piece band now, does it affect playing the songs from that album?

It does, they sound different. But I almost think they sound better. You know there’s a little more space in the songs instead of every part of it is taken out by something. Now it’s a little more open, I think is kinda cool. It does change the song, but not in a bad way at all.

Did it change the recording of the second album. Because to me it sounds like the drums of Jayson Gerycz are more in the front than they did on ‘Attack On Memory’.

Yeah he is, it’s just that he played that way. He just played more and I was like “alright”.

It’s not like you guys planned it that way?

No, he was just doing that. But it sounds cool.

You guys recorded ‘Here And Nowhere Else’ live, but on stage the music sounds a little more aggressive to me. How do you prepare yourselves for live performances.

Playing live has a different vibe to it. Playing in the studio is very like almost clinical. But playing a live show is more exciting. Seeing those people, it’s more unpredictable. The studio is more of getting the perfect thing together. Live is more like: “okay, let’s see what happens.”

Making mistakes doesn’t matter playing live?

No, there are even mistakes on the record. There are mistakes live, like there should be. We are not perfect, being perfect would be boring.

You said in a previous interview that ‘Here And Nowhere Else’ has a different angle on the same themes as ‘Attack On Memory’. Saying “if you include the positive and negative and everything in between –which you are still learning- that’s what makes music real”. What do you still need to learn then?

Everything I guess, I don’t think I’m very good. It’s great that people like the band. Every time I write a song, I have to learn how to write a song again. It’s just like every individual song has its own weird learning process. It’s like when you ride a bike and then forgetting how to ride it. You have to learn it over and over again. But it gets you going.

That way, it keeps it attractive to write new songs.

It keeps it more fun, because every time you do it it’s like I’ll do something new. Something I didn’t do on the last song, that’s what I try to do.

Will you always be a guitar band?

Maybe, I don’t know. I like playing guitar, for now.

Did something happen that made you look more positive to things? Or has it something to do with growing older?

I guess so, I wanted the songs to be more fun. ‘Attack On Memory’ is pretty dark, you know it’s depressing to listen to. So I wanted the new songs to be a little more fun to play and listen to.

Does that positive approach give you more satisfaction?

It did at the time that I made the record, it’s what I wanted to do. Every record is what I feel like a week before we make the record. I don’t plan ahead really. So with this one I wanted to make one more fun and positive.

But tomorrow you can make a really dark album if you feel that way at that time?

Yeah, exactly. That’s the way it works.

Does living in Paris has an influence on the music you make?

I think so, because my music is influenced by what I do. It’s not influenced by other music, just by the things that I see or do. Living in Paris is cool, especially because you can travel to other places quite easily.

Will we be seeing you at the Pitchforkfestival in Paris? With Cloud Nothings or just as a visitor?

I don’t think we’ll play there. But I went there last year as a visitor, it’s just a great festival.

Living in Paris, one of the art capitals of the world, and considering the black & white photographs on the 2 latest album covers, is art (literature, photography, paintings,..) important to you?

It is, I like art. For me it is the best way to explain yourself. It’s fun getting stunned by that kind of stuff.

Do you, except from music, create other forms of art?

I used to draw a lot when I was a kid, but I think I’m bad in it.

You find yourself a bad musician as well

You’re right, maybe I’ll start drawing again (laughs)

Maybe you’ll get rich drawing.

I wish!

You once said in an interview: “Don’t drop school”. Being a rather successful dropout yourself, why do you give that advice.

Actually I don’t know why I said that. I think I was joking, school just didn’t work for me at that time. But hey, just stay in school. If I had completely failed with this band and then would not be at school, I would have nothing to do. That would be so depressing. So don’t drop school. It’s the easiest. (laughs)

Something completely different. You were a saxophone player when you were a student. Since you are in Belgium and Adolphe Sax was born here, I have to ask: will we ever hear you playing the saxophone on a Cloud Nothings record?

Probably not. I played at some of my friends’ records. It’s just noise stuff, and that’s fun. But with Cloud Nothings it would just sound weird.

You didn’t play the sax on the collaboration you did with Nathan Williams of Wavves?

 Definitely not! (laughs) But I could be fun.

 I heard you saying you would want to go to Africa, already plans?

Yeah I would love to go. But not with the band, I don’t think we could do a tour there. There’s probably no tour market for bands. But I like to go and just visit, it’s just one of the places I haven’t been yet. And I was always very interested in it.

You’ve seen so many places already. Are there places you definitely want to go back to, maybe to live there?

Well I have to move from my house in September, actually. In one week I don’t have any place to live, so I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I like Lisbon a lot, it’s really beautiful and a lot of Holland as well. Maybe I’ll move to there, we’ll see.

Is there a band we might not know off, we should definitely have to check out?

There is probably a lot! Lately I’ve been listening to a band called The Bachs, they made one record in the sixties. They are like teenagers making really great garagerock. Check them out!

Do you check your support acts while on tour?

Yeah, I have nothing else to do you know. It’s just sitting there and thinking: “when do we play?”. So I have time to go and watch.

Allright, thank you for the interview and have a great performance.

Met een Gentse Strop in de hand zitten we nog wat na te kletsen over verhuizen, de vete tussen de twee cuberdonkramen op de groentemarkt, Belgische bands. Al blijkt hij daar geen kaas van te hebben gegeten. Hij kent enkel BRNS omdat deze hem eens was aangeraden, maar wist niet dat ze het voorprogramma gedaan hadden tijdens hun show in de Charlatan. Toch kwam hij ook met het nieuws dat er nog een korte Europese tournee op het programma stond in november en dat ze daarbij ook Trix zullen aandoen. Allen daarheen en vergeet vooral geen Cuberdons mee te nemen!