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| [Dr. Dog w/ Here We Go Magic] [Monday, 9 p.m.] [Waiting Room, Omaha] [$14 in advance, $16 at the doors] |
as seen in the Daily Nebraskan
Philadelphia quintet Dr. Dog has been making albums on its own since its beginnings in 1999.
But recently, with its sixth album "Shame, Shame," released this past spring, the group decided to leave its comfort zone.
The guys put off recording at their home studio to record with Rob Schnapf, a producer who had previously worked with Beck and Elliott Smith.
The band was able to take songs written by Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman to a "clearer" sound level with the professional studio production.
A little inspiration from home also crept its way in.
"Philly has been such a big part of our lives, and I feel like on this record it finally took over and made its way into our music," McMicken said.
McMicken attributes the single from the album "Shadow People" as being "a full-on West Philly diary."
I was able to talk more about the new album and the tour with Leaman while the band was out on the road.
It's a rock show, so we play rock music. It can get kind of hectic. But it's just meant to make you move.
You guys made your new album outside of your home studio. Were you able to do more things with recording being at another studio?
Oh yeah, for sure, for sure. I mean, just the gear alone, the technology. We did not have the technology at our studio, or the gear. And also, when you're engineering your own stuff, what we were doing prior to "Shame, Shame," it eats up a lot of time and, you know, it can get kind of exhausting. So to not have to do that, is great. So it gives us more time to just focus on playing and less time thinking about where a mics supposed to be or what amp we should use, all that kind of crap.
Was the production of "Shame, Shame" less of a challenge, or more of a challenge, would you say?
Well it was tougher initially because we never worked with anybody outside of just our own guys. So it was sort of a learning curve, for sure—just the pace of working and all that kinda stuff. By the end of the month that we spent at the studio with Rob (Schnapf), we got it pretty solid. And then we took the record back, actually home, at our studio, and finished it up, worked about another month there. So sort of the best of both worlds.
How would you contrast your new album "Shame, Shame" to more recent albums like "Fate" and "We All Belong?"
I think the difference in production is kind of noticeable. Certainly like a clearer, less hazy sound. The formula for us, sort of before, had been dark lyrics with bright arrangements. And I think on this record we decided to just — whatever the lyric tone was, was sort of in the instrumentation, so there's a little bit of a difference.
Do you and Scott have very different processes when it comes to writing?
I don't think so. I think we're kind of similar. I think it's a similar process. Just sitting down and thinking and playing and playing the same chords over and over again and writin' and taking a break and thinkin' about it… then writin' (laughs). It's pretty… pretty basic.
So from there, when you have the music and lyrics written, you just take it to the band?
Yeah, usually the song is pretty much done by the time the rest of the band hears it. Sometimes, if we're having trouble spots with lyrics, we'll help each other out. But usually, we write kind of separately.
How would you say Dr. Dog has matured in the sense of touring?
I mean, you tour and you play, and you get better as a band. And we're a much better band than we were when we started, for sure. And, you know, you just learn.
So how is the set shaping up to be? Is it a lot of songs from "Shame, Shame" with a few older songs?
Yeah, that's pretty much it. Right now on this tour we're doing a lot of "Shame" and then a lot of "Fate" and then some old shit. We're doing like 22 songs a night or something. So it's not much off of "We All Belong." We toured that album for a while, so some of the songs are kind of stale to us. But songs usually go in cycles, like you'll be hatin' on a song for like a year or so or not play it at all, and somebody will be playing it at practice and you're like, "Yeah, why don't we start doing that one again?" So, they come in cycles. So a song will go and then come back eventually.
Any music in particular you guys are playing while on the road right now?
I don't know. It seems like whoever's iPod is in there is always on shuffle. We've been listening, a lot, I guess to the new Ariel Pink's (Haunted Graffiti) record. It's been getting' a lot of plays.
Was the production of "Shame, Shame" less of a challenge, or more of a challenge, would you say?
Well it was tougher initially because we never worked with anybody outside of just our own guys. So it was sort of a learning curve, for sure—just the pace of working and all that kinda stuff. By the end of the month that we spent at the studio with Rob (Schnapf), we got it pretty solid. And then we took the record back, actually home, at our studio, and finished it up, worked about another month there. So sort of the best of both worlds.
How would you contrast your new album "Shame, Shame" to more recent albums like "Fate" and "We All Belong?"
I think the difference in production is kind of noticeable. Certainly like a clearer, less hazy sound. The formula for us, sort of before, had been dark lyrics with bright arrangements. And I think on this record we decided to just — whatever the lyric tone was, was sort of in the instrumentation, so there's a little bit of a difference.
Do you and Scott have very different processes when it comes to writing?
I don't think so. I think we're kind of similar. I think it's a similar process. Just sitting down and thinking and playing and playing the same chords over and over again and writin' and taking a break and thinkin' about it… then writin' (laughs). It's pretty… pretty basic.
So from there, when you have the music and lyrics written, you just take it to the band?
Yeah, usually the song is pretty much done by the time the rest of the band hears it. Sometimes, if we're having trouble spots with lyrics, we'll help each other out. But usually, we write kind of separately.
How would you say Dr. Dog has matured in the sense of touring?
I mean, you tour and you play, and you get better as a band. And we're a much better band than we were when we started, for sure. And, you know, you just learn.
So how is the set shaping up to be? Is it a lot of songs from "Shame, Shame" with a few older songs?
Yeah, that's pretty much it. Right now on this tour we're doing a lot of "Shame" and then a lot of "Fate" and then some old shit. We're doing like 22 songs a night or something. So it's not much off of "We All Belong." We toured that album for a while, so some of the songs are kind of stale to us. But songs usually go in cycles, like you'll be hatin' on a song for like a year or so or not play it at all, and somebody will be playing it at practice and you're like, "Yeah, why don't we start doing that one again?" So, they come in cycles. So a song will go and then come back eventually.
Any music in particular you guys are playing while on the road right now?
I don't know. It seems like whoever's iPod is in there is always on shuffle. We've been listening, a lot, I guess to the new Ariel Pink's (Haunted Graffiti) record. It's been getting' a lot of plays.
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