For you, fellow readers, an interview I did for Examiner.com with Scott McMicken of Dr. Dog prior to this week’s two night stand at The Paradise in Boston.
It looks like Dr. Dog finally found out how to be themselves.
The Philly band has been winning over fans and critics alike with their warm, Beatles and Band inspired indie folk for almost 10 years. But for years they lived dual personalities, one as a studio band prone to sonic trickery and another as one of the indie world’s premiere live acts.
With their latest release Shame, Shame, the Dog’s first for Epitaph subsidary ANTI- Records, the band leaves many of the studio flourishes that highlighted prior albums behind in favor of capturing its live sound more fully. On the heels of upcoming back to back shows Tuesday and Wednesday at the Paradise, singer and guitarist Scott McMicken phoned in from Louisville to talk about writing, preparing and touring behind the new disc.
Examiner: This is your first time road testing these new songs before fans. Do you find playing new material live for the first time nerve wracking? Exciting? Both?
SM: It’s a little bit of both, but overall it’s exciting. I really love our new batch of songs. When we were writing and putting them together, we were thinking ahead to the live shows more than we usually do. We sort of built them and catered them to the kinds of things we like to do live, so they were pretty road ready as it is. But there’s definitely those nerve wracking nights when you’re doing them the first couple of times and you don’t really know what to expect.
Examiner: You’ve said in interviews you’ve always considered Dr. Dog to be a live band, but Shame, Shame is the first time that’s really come across on record. Was it a work in progress, creating an album that reflected who you guys are on stage night after night?
SM: Yeah, yeah. Definitely it was something where we were all kind of aware that we couldn’t ignore the live element any longer. In the past we’d make it all about the recording process and the studio craft and just get really playful with that. We’d set aside the sort of things we were doing live, but we’ve been playing live together now for so many years that coming into this record, there was a lot to work off of there. For the first time I think we were all fully aware of that and more confident about it, just having found an identity for ourselves as a live band. We just put one foot into a different door this time around, and we look forward to pursuing that more. We still have a couple more records to do before we really sink our teeth into a more live aesthetic on record.
Examiner: Was it difficult at all to let go of those studio touches that have come to define some of your earlier records?
SM: No, because in the end what ended up happening is we spent a month out of our studio with a producer and another two months after that back in our studio on our own. Ultimately all the songs got pushed through the same filters they’ve always gone through. We got the tapes back from New York and ended up just messing with them the way we always have. The experience of making the record in New York was a departure for us, but it was nice to bring it back home and make it feel like us and sound like us. It still reflects our sensibilities sonically.
Examiner: Some of the songs on the new record are actually songs that have been sitting in the vaults for seven or eight years. What made this the right time to unearth some of those old songs?
SM: Basically that was sort of a logistic thing. A song like “Station,” that’s a song we recorded several times over the course of a few records now, just trying to get it right and it never really got right. We went back to the drawing board, slowed it down and tried some different things and it finally started to sound right. It was just a matter of trial and error. Some songs just fly right out the gate and some songs for some reason really fight their way out. That’s always an unpredictable part of the process.
Examiner: How many songs did you write for the album, and what was your process for dwindling the number down to 11?
SM: That was a real challenge to be honest with you. So far with every record we’ve had an abundance of songs, usually enough for four or five records. This time around that was certainly true. I think we had 45 songs. A good handful, about half, I think everyone unanimously agreed on, and then as we progressed we had everybody take a vote and calculate some formula for figuring it out. We tried to be diplomatic, but if everyone doesn’t agree it becomes a case of ‘Well, who feels really strongly about one song or has a conviction about it?’ If someone has a feeling or a vision about a song you’ve got to respect that. So we got down to about 15 or 16, and then there were a handful that just weren’t working. We wanted to do this record kind of faster, so if it wasn’t working we sort of let it go. It was just a combination of things that allowed us to whittle it down.
Examiner: This is your first album for ANTI-, which is a really diverse label and seems like a good fit for you guys. How did you end up settling with them for this record?
SM: Basically it had a lot to do with what you just said. It was our first choice for sure, and we took the time to work it out with them, got everyone involved and they ended up giving us such an amazing deal that it was already kind of a no brainer. They just gave us a deal that was full of gestures of good faith and support, and so far through the recording process and the press and being on the road it’s been incredible. It’s been nothing but a happy story so far.
Examiner: You have two shows on Tuesday and Wednesday here in Boston. Are you looking forward to the shows at the Paradise?
SM: Yeah. We always love playing the Paradise. It’s also cool to stay for two nights and do back to back shows, where you can post up and hang out longer. That’s really cool, so yeah, we’re excited.
RB
