“I am dedicating the rest of my life to being called anything other than math rock.” Just before the recording of the meeting starts, Damon Che’s opening remarks on the assessment of his musical career hit us like a beam of sunlight through a church’s stained-glass windows. In that moment, we had a feeling this interview was going to be something special – it also hit us that we needed to remember to breathe before we start choking on our own spit.
Yes, indeed – Yesness did us the honor of sitting down with us online recently, and suffice it to say, we had a pretty glorious chat. There were definitely some moments where Che had us totally in awe with his signature all-encompassing answers, particularly regarding how song titles become arenas of nostalgia and language. We did our best to keep up with these geniuses, but Kristian Dunn also went way down the rabbit hole with us regarding the tangential philosophies of solipsism and how they influenced the title of their debut, See You At the Solipsist Convention.
Suffice it to say, we had a really fun time, and we’re still a bit in shock it even happened. Almost in as much shock as we were when, yet again, Zoom attempted to ruin everything by prematurely ending the session. Luckily, we had every kind of backup running you could think of, and despite the feeling of the math rock gods literally stooping down to slap us in the face, we were ready.
Oh, we also got to preview the record itself, and let’s just say that if you fancy yourself fans of Don Caballero and El Ten Eleven, you have a lot to look forward to. As described before in the writeup for their flagship single “Not So Sorry Now Are You?,” both players voices are obviously distinct, but they also seamlessly rotate between the rolls of the river and the rock as the songs journey towards their destinations. It sounds more meditative than it is, but even at it’s loudest you could still call it entrancing.
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To use one of our favorite words, it’s cohesive, but it also demands repeated listens because the deceptively simple setup makes for constant scans, whether it’s for things you’ve missed, things you didn’t hear the first time, or things you simply want to hear again. One of our favorite moments for the interview is when we briefly go into this with Damon Che and he describes how it’ll be interesting to see how the record resonates with fans of the projects they’re already known for – an idea he seemed shockingly humble about. We know you’re gonna love it.
Anyway, enough words. Without further ado, we present our conversation with the legends themselves below. Grab a stink gum and enjoy.
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Don’t forget to pre-order See You At The Solipsist Convention here via Joyful Noise Recordings.
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