It’s a hot summer day in Austin, Texas when Tone Deaf’s Rebecca Martin chats to Conrad Keely from …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead. “It’s only 106 degrees” he scoffs, which for those of us accustomed to the metric system, is about 41 degrees celcius. Maybe not that hot by Australian standards, but if you’ve ever experienced the scorching heat of a Texan summer, then you’ll understand why Keely has retreated indoors to begin work on the next Trail of Dead album.
Keely is holed up in an apartment overlooking the University of Texas campus with the band’s co-founder Jason Reece and new member Autry Fulbright who are on their iPads when Tone Deaf calls through. Reece logs onto the Tone Deaf website and the interview is peppered by his updates about Caleb Followill’s melt down, the makeup of Les Savy Fav’s frontman and other tid bits from the site.
Trail of Dead first toured Australia on the back of the Livid Festival in 2002 and starved local audiences for 7 years until their return to our shores in 2009. Fortunately, the band will be back down under in September this year, showcasing their new album, Tao of the Dead, alongside songs from their previous albums, including Source Tags and Codes which Pitchfork rated 10/10.
Many critics have called Tao of the Dead a concept album, but Keely insists the album in fact has multiple themes. Fulbright elaborates: “you can’t say that something is or isn’t a concept record. Every record is a concept record and every record has concepts or ideas that are combined, so I feel like the music that we’re making is kind of in line with visual art that is coming forth from Trail of Dead as well, so I think you can see a parallel when it comes to different textures that come visually to mind is the same way.
“That’s how the record was conceived, I felt like there were certain pieces of Conrad’s art that we were looking at that was inspirational. I think that is what good art is, it is kind of like a multimedia experience.”
While commencing work on Tao of the Dead, much of Keely’s art that adorns the album was in its embryonic state, including the Warrior Priestess piece which can be seen on the cover of the ‘Summer Of All Dead Souls’ single. At the time, Keely was based in New York City where Fulbright also lived. “I felt like when we first started writing in Conrad’s house that piece was really inspirational. Conrad’s place was surrounded by a lot of his art work and it felt natural to create in and transfer that visual art to musical expression.”
Trail of Dead have always married music with art, and Tao of The Dead comes with a graphic novel created by Keely himself and part one of a story entitled ‘Strange News From Another Planet’. As for the next instalment of the story, Keely says “I’m going to publish a couple of chapters on our website when they are done, and by the time the next album is released, I should have the full collection.”
Recorded in Texas and upstate New York last year, Tao of the Dead is essentially two long tracks or sides, in two different tunings. Part 2, in the tuning of F, is a 16 minute track divided into five movements and was inspired by a copy of the classic Chinese text Tao Te Ching which the band found in the studio. “I think lyrically the Tao Te Ching was a nice tool for us to use and be inspired by and to help us find some truth,” Reece explains. Keely pipes up: “To say it was inspired by the Tao Te Ching is a little bit of an understatement because we completely plagiarised it, as much as you can rip off something that is out of copyright,” he laughs.
When asked why the band has reverted to a four-piece line up for the album and subsequent tour, after previously having five or six members, Keely points out that it isn’t a reversion at all. “We started as a two-piece, then became a three-piece, and by the time we were a four-piece that was three incarnations into the whole thing.” Joining Keely, Reece and Fulbright on tour in September will be Jamie Miller on drums and guitar.
While the support bands for the tour have not yet been announced, Trail of Dead fans are in for a treat, with Reece promising that there will be a good lineup playing with them. Meanwhile, Keely has promised to cultivate an Australian accent and bring his artwork on tour which will be available for fans to purchase at gigs.
… And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead 2011 Australian Tour
Tickets on Sale Monday July 11.
Wednesday, 7 September 2011 – Corner Hotel, MELBOURNE VIC
Tix from www.handsometours.com; Corner Box Office (57 Swan St Richmond 11am-8pm Mon-Sat),
03 9427 9198 or online www.cornerhotel.com & Polyester Records (City & Fitzroy).
Friday, 9 September 2011 – The Hi-Fi, BRISBANE QLD
Tix from www.handsometours.com; www.thehifi.com.au, 1300 843 434 ;
Kill The Music; Butter Beats; Gooble Warming; Atlantis Music Southport.
Saturday, 10 September 2011 – Manning Bar, SYDNEY NSW
Tix from www.handsometours.com, www.manningbar.com (ph 1300 762 545 ) & the venue.
Sunday, 11 September 2011 – The Rosemount, PERTH WA
Tix from www.moshtix.com.au, BOCS & 78 Records.
Further information available from handsometours.com
