Next week, Brooklyn trio Liars releases its sixth album, WIXIW, and recently, Consequence of Sound sat down to chat with multi-instrumentalist Aaron Hemphill. Speaking to the album’s origins, Hemphill revealed that the self-produced album is a far more personal effort, rooted in how the band members deal with their world and creative space, and is also the product of Hemphill and bandmate/songwriter Angus Andrew writing in a far more collaborative manner. In addition to the latest material, we discussed a shared love of all things INXS and collaborating with Beck.
Congratulations on the new album. This is some amazing stuff. I’m really digging what direction you guys are going in. I wasn’t expecting what I heard – it’s all over the place. You have acoustic, you have electronic and dance mixes, and so much more. What were you guys listening to when you were making this? Because when you recorded Sisterworld, you guys said that “we’re interested in the alternate spaces people create in order to maintain identity in a city like Los Angeles.” So what was going on this time?
To answer the first question: We’ve mentioned how we sort of…like with Sisterworld, we made that record devoid of any influence. To clarify that, it’s not that we’re not influenced by music, of course. It’s more that we sort of shut ourselves off. Whatever we listen to during the making of the record, which can vary, sometimes we don’t listen to anything, it generally has nothing to do with what we’re making on purpose, intentionally.
That’s not to say that it can’t, the finished record, the new record, can’t sound like anything once it’s finished, but it’s such a huge process that we dive into that we’re really not capable of incorporating what we’re listening to. Like, if we wanted it to be more like Katy Perry or something, and listened to it during the making of the record, we’re so immersed in the project and how we’re feeling just trying to make the best songs we can that it’s somewhat impossible for us to do that. Any sort of comparisons that can be drawn are really natural, and usually just a mistake.
We didn’t intend for it to sound like something. We just try to make something original based on what we’re going through and feeling. It’s kind of hard for us to really be influenced by a band directly, or an artist directly. When we finish the record we can sort of review… so it’s a bit easier to put the pieces together once we’ve finished.
What was the second question again?
Regarding Sisterworld…
Oh, yes, yes. Sisterworld was sort of us trying to analyze how people deal with the city, and more so their lives, and what’s necessary for people to feel inspired, and just creating a world that is individual to them, and making it work regardless of how shoddy or poor it may look to people on the outside, even how violent it can appear, or perverse.
I think it’s really important that people live their lives feeling fulfilled. Really, it was an analyzation of people on the fringe, where they do get kind of scrutinized socially because, for whatever reason, that doesn’t seem to sit well with mainstream society. Rather than feeling sorry for some people or judging them, it was more empathizing with them, and praising people who can create their own way of living that is their life.
So, this record differs, I think, because it was more internal. We were just in our own space, in our own heads, and it was about us. How do we cope with all of the things that we’re feeling and going through? And how do we sort of open up our world to other people without it being so specific? Leaving it open, hopefully, so that the listener can identify and have their own relationship, which has always been really tricky for us. Trying to reveal the conceptual sensibilities that we have in making the record, but not to a point where we dictate that it has to be received as this concept.
We just want it to be other people’s record once they listen to it, and not a concept where they should feel like they have to get it or understand it. It’s just more, hopefully, a record that people can enjoy or not, or associate to or not. But that’s really the main difference. It was just our world, less observational and more [introspective].
Is that what led you to become producers yourself for this album? I read some early press that said this was the first time this was a full on collaboration between all of you.
Well, to clarify that, we’ve always produced our own records. I mean, we work with producers, and they’re credited, but I think that most people think of producers as people that have a lot of creative input and tell you, “Oh, I think it’d be great to throw some glare on it.” We really never work with producers in that sense. We create finished demos, or somewhat finished demos, and a producer is more like an engineer for us. So, we’ve always really self-produced our own records in the definition by how people use the word producer these days. So, there was nothing different in that.
And the collaborative effort between us all…Angus [Andrew] and I usually write songs and try to finish them as much as we can, so that we can impress each other, and really hopefully inspire each other. What generally happened with the previous records is we’ll do that and meet up when we have a large body of material so that we can work on it. This time, Angus and I shared it much earlier. Rather than trying to finish it and give it to Angus, or him give it to me, it was more like this is how I’m thinking, this is where I’m going.
We were together the entire time of writing this record…like in the same room. We went off to a cabin in Frazier Park, which is an hour north of Los Angeles, and that’s where the writing started. That’s what’s meant by it being more collaborative this time. He and I really just made an effort to share things sooner. It’s about, for me, having the courage to show Angus something that’s slightly unfinished, rather than it being so pronounced or finished and only being able to contribute little touches. He and I really worked on each other’s tracks earlier on, and much deeper. There was a lot of back and forth, and a lot of heavy involvement in each other’s material so that it would be more our thing.
There’s a fluidity to sections of the album, little bits here and there that all just flow into each other. Is there a concept throughout? It kind of felt like there was one, musically. I know you said you don’t want to think of it as a themed album or a concept album but…
In the sense that…basically he and I wrote a lot of material, like 40 songs. There’s a time where we didn’t know which songs were going to be on the record, and we were like, “This is going to be so difficult to narrow down.” As time went on, it was really easy. The album popped out, and it became very clear that these 11 songs are the album, because it’s how we felt. It really resonated with us to have the 11 songs that we chose to go together and support each other, and segue into each other, and really just have them speak for where we’re at at the moment.
The other tracks are finished, and they’re songs that we really love, but the album just sort of appeared, and it appeared very defined. We put a lot of time into sequencing it where it is; hopefully, [it's] cohesive and it does tell a story and take you places. There’s always a very heavy concept when we go to make something. I think through the years we’ve sort of just been trying to be more effective in how much of that we convey or reveal to the public. Again, because we don’t want it to be something that is challenging before you even hear it. I think, not to be secretive or elusive, but we really just want people to feel that concept or the reason these songs go in order. We just want them to listen to it and develop that themselves. There’s no right or wrong answer. We just want it to be an album that has a flow and feels right together.
Since you mentioned secrecy, the album didn’t have any album or song titles for a long time. Is the air of secrecy around it a marketing idea, a way to keep mystery alive, or is it a way to reduce the leak?
It’s a mixture of all of that, to be honest with you. Given our history of concept records and all that, I think, again, [we're] just really trying to figure out a way where we do reveal things to the public, like how we made it, and we don’t appear standoffish in that regard, but retain some excitement, hopefully. Yeah, [there's] some mystery in a positive way hopefully. Not in this sort of bratty or pretentious way… We just want it to be exciting for people who are interested in it. That’s the hope.
You did a bonus disc of remixes for Sisterworld. Are there any plans to do something like that with the new album?
We’re gonna have a few people remix some tracks. But, actually we’re going to do it more traditionally, where they are like what people would think of when you say remix. But the Sisterworld bonus disc we had hoped for like a reinterpretation, which some artists chose to do, and some artists chose to do more traditional remixes. But that also tied into the theme of Sisterworld, where it was like how you process the world, and how you interpret it, and what you create out of what you see. This one, the new album, it doesn’t have that story. It’s more personal, I think. Aside from that, we just wanted to do something different, and just have more, again, traditional remixes. So, there will be some remixes, but not in the way we did it for Sisterworld.
When I saw you guys open for Radiohead, you pretty much maintained a small, tight little space. I wasn’t sure if that was because of the limited space on the stage due to all of the other equipment, or if that was just the way you guys chose to play. How are you going to translate this album to the live setting?
That’s a good question. We’re just going to try and pick the essential elements of the songs, and hopefully try to add some new elements to it, try to change it up a bit where it’s not exactly like the album. It’s always a much more natural process when we do that. It’ll come out sounding different and unique regardless, just based on our limitations of how we can play it. It’s always exciting to see where it goes. We don’t really put the pressure on ourselves to replicate the album. We want it to be different in the same way that going to a live show is clearly different from listening to an album in your house. It’s different for us as well, and just trying to go with that and not battle with that, and just have it be unique and more, again, natural.
[pause] Really quickly. I did a bit of research on you and I saw that your first live show was INXS?
Yeah. I was going to talk to you about the Beck Record Club, but I wasn’t sure if it was just Angus, or if it was all three of you guys involved. It came up when I was speaking with Annie Clark a few months ago. I asked her about the choice of INXS and Kick, and she said Angus chose it. I wanted to ask why. Aside from being countrymen of INXS, what was it about Kick? My connection to it was that that was the first concert I went to where my parents didn’t drop us off or pick us up. It was me and my friends. I was around 17 when it came out and it was my first big show.
Oh, not only is it the whole countrymen connection, we just really like that record a lot. It’s a great album. Yeah, that was a great experience. Beck had chosen maybe ten records to choose from, and Kick was one of them. We just thought it would be fun. And we didn’t really know who we were going to be doing that with. It was all very last minute and spontaneous.
Luckily, there were some incredible musicians. Annie Clark is a schooled musician. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much of a chance to get to know one another, because we literally got to the studio and found out, one, that she was playing with us, and, two, we just started recording immediately. I think it definitely added an interesting mood in the studio to recreate that album in a day. It was great working with musicians who have a completely different background than us, because we’re not trained musicians in the sense that she is, and her band mate that was with us. It was very daunting and scary, but it was a lot of fun. We really love that record. There’s no irony in the selection. We listen to a lot of pop music and just enjoy it, so yeah, there’s no irony in the selection. It’s just an album we really like.
And I just wanted to know a bit more about you. That way I can know where you’re coming from. It just means something different to me when you tell me that you enjoy the record and you also enjoy INXS. It’s really flattering in that regard.
Well, like how you said earlier in the interview, that you don’t intend for the album to sound like anything, but if it happens to sound like something after the fact, then so be it. Without disrespecting your work, there are momentson one of the acoustic numbers on the album that I thought sound like the beginning of the Jam’s “English Rose”. It was just the guitar, and it’s so beautiful and so elegant. And there were other things that I was hearing throughout the whole album. I want to call it a “headphone album” in the sense. I think this is definitely one of those efforts that is going to fall into that category, where you’re going to be able to explore and discover stuff throughout it.
Great. Thank you. You said the Jam’s “English Rose”?
Yeah, from All Mod Cons. It’s a ballad, but the opening guitar…your song reminded me a lot of that song. Hopefully that’s a compliment to you.
Great. No, no, of course. Again, there’s no right or wrong answer. It’s really exciting that you enjoyed it enough to draw parallels. That’s, again, what we try to do with…well one of the things we try and do, with mystery and not revealing too much. We don’t want to cut things like that off. We don’t want to say we were thinking about world music and blah blah blah, because it then sort of scares people away. For us, there’s no guilty pleasure. We just want people to feel more free about that and again, make comparisons like the one you just did.
That’s great. I’ve never heard the song but I’ll definitely check it out. It’s more of a compliment to us that you made a comparison within yourself rather than whom the band is. You could have said it sounded like Primus and it’d still be a compliment because you made that connection. It’s much less about the bands that you’re comparing us to rather than the fact that you had that connection and that’s great.
