Til We're Blue Or Destroy

by Adi Anand

http://austinist.com/2009/07/03/interview_preview_til_were_blue_or.php

April 20th, 2005 is the date on the tape Erik Wofford pulls out from his archives. The head honcho at Cacophony Recorders is eager to start from the very beginning as we sit down on the comfortable green couches to discuss what went on in the four plus years since Will Rhodes, also seated beside us, first came into the spacious studio in East Austin. The tape in question contains "Graffiti The Night," a song done by Rhodes four years ago and one that can now finally be enjoyed by everyone. The ever-evolving local indie-rock outfit 'Til We're Blue Or Destroy has finally released their very long awaited self-titled debut and will celebrate by performing at Club de Ville on Friday.

"It's been a while coming," states Wofford. All Rhodes can say is, "It's kinda crazy when I think about it." They're both are quick to confirm what they have now is strong friendship rather than just a professional relationship that began in March of 2005. Rhodes was turning over a new leaf after some tough times a few years ago; Wofford helped him stay focused on creating music. What followed is an adventure that documents the trials and tribulations of Rhodes and his cohorts.


Wofford: It was SXSW 2005, there's where I met you (Rhodes) and we hit it off right away.

Rhodes: We did hit it off really well. I was still playing with The Vacation Gold maybe.

Austinist: So these sessions started over four years ago?

Wofford: We should preface that with there was at least a year where we did not work on it at all. It was after I cut you (Rhodes) off.

Rhodes: Was there? Oh yeah, you said "We're not going to record till I pay you!" Anyway, yeah, we started the record in 2005 -- basically I had a bunch of songs and I'd come into the studio with my ideas. To be honest, this is my favorite studio in town and this is why -- I really like having the light and the view in here. Because in other studios there is no light -- it's like you're in a casino in Vegas and you don't know what time it is. When it gets dark in this studio, it gets really intimate. We would track some basics during the day.

Wofford: And the Sun keeps that energy.

Rhodes: In the night, we'd do vocals and things that make records intimate -- a lot of the melodic stuff. I like it because the day gets divided here. We would do the bass outside and you can hear birds chirping.

Wofford: In the beginning of "Crazy Tigers" you can hear a little bird. This entire record is an accident.

Rhodes: Completely. It even made the band an accident.

Wofford: It started out as demos basically. Will had some songs that didn't fit in with this projects at the time and he wanted a different perspective on recording. He wanted to try something new.

Rhodes: Kyle (Hunt / The Black Angels) was the first person I invited in and he knew you (Wofford) already. We started recording this album together.

Wofford: Kyle was instrumental to this record, during the early demos.

Rhodes: This was before he left to play with The Black Angels.

Wofford: Will would generally write the songs the night before and he would show up in the morning just with an acoustic guitar part and have Travis (Garaffa) come in and lay down a drum beat. And different friends would stop by during the day and make up a part. It was all about being in the moment. It's been one of the most creative things I've been a part of. The songs were not prearranged at all.

Rhodes: That's what made it so special. I just wanted to something different than I was used to doing. I wanted to involve different sounds and that's one of the things I really like about working with Erik -- there were no boundaries. There was no one ever saying, "Well that just ain't gonna sound good." Because half the stuff we did, if we singled out the track, we'd be like "What?" But it worked in the mix and he had the vision to see that. We just learned our record yesterday finally and played it completely through. Because we had to go back and learn what we had played. We have been working hard over the last month trying to bring parts out that are on the record. I remember when I walked in here one time and you were like "the band doesn't know the songs?" This record is weirdly a demo. We would come here, nothing was rehearsed. We didn't know what we were going to do.

Wofford: A lot of bands arrange the songs as a band in rehearsal and really nit-pick everything and perfect everything. But for these guys, all the arrangements were made up in one day.

Rhodes: The Cacophony sessions is where the band formed.

Wofford: All the friends would stop by during lunch or before going to work, and that's who ended up on the record and in the band.

Austinist: So the way it worked out, do you consider it to be a collective of sorts?

Rhodes: At one point it was a collective, we didn't know what we were doing. It started out that way bu - austinist.com

"The phrase "too many cooks spoil the broth" does not apply to Til We're Blue or Destroy. The nine-member act can barely fit on stage, but manage to deliver succinct vocals with a funky electric backdrop. Overflowing with genuine happiness to be performing, Til We're Blue maintained bouncing energy throughout songs like "Crazy Tigers" and "Love in a Coma. The strange combination of brass, tambourine, piano and voice decoder was executed with full quality and beaming resonance. Despite an early set time and some hella winds, this eclectic entourage belted out charming pieces from the bottom of their hearts. -Candace Birkelbach, The Austinist 11/10/08" - Austinist.com

"Will 2009 be the year that This Train finally pulls into the station? The long-anticipated full-length from multi-staffed, electro-flavored dance-poppers Til We’re Blue Or Destroy has been gestating for what feels like years now, and the only ones who seem concerned are the group’s growing legion of fans—the band itself always seems like it’s having way too much fun to notice." - Decider.com

"I saw Til We’re Blue Or Destroy perform at the Mohawk way back in 2007 and have been a big fan ever since. I don’t think it will be long until these guys start garnering some big time press and propel themselves into the minds of the masses. They are way too talented to remain under the radar for much longer. Til We’re Blue Or Destroy really shine in a live setting." - saladdaysmusic.net

http://austin.decider.com/articles/will-rhodes-of-til-were-blue-or-destroy,29905/

It has a beat and you can dance to it—even if it's incredibly sad

By Sean ONeal July 3, 2009
hat dance-pop group ’Til We’re Blue Or Destroy is only now releasing its debut album feels like a clerical error: After all, the band—led by songwriter Will Rhodes—has been a staple on the Austin club circuit for nearly five years now, swelling from Rhodes’ solo studio project to a sprawling ensemble that encompassed nine members at its peak and racked up a considerable following. But the years between the self-titled record’s conception and its completion (with local über-producer Erik Wofford at the helm) have been well spent building a reputation as one of the city’s best-kept secrets, and now TWBOD finds itself in the rare position of releasing an album of songs that scores of fans already know by heart. Before the band’s dual release show with New Roman Times tonight, July 3, at Club DeVille, Decider spoke with Rhodes about the surprising personal drama concealed within his group’s otherwise joyful music, the logistics of wrangling a group that large, and how he feels about laying claim to one of the worst band names ever.

Decider: You’ve been promising this record since spring of ’08. Why the delay?

Will Rhodes: Most of it comes from me being scared to release it, to be honest. It’s the first thing I’ve ever made that I’ve really liked, and the first thing that I’ve felt was really me. It’s a really personal record. You just worry about it getting ripped on.

D: What about it is personal?

WR: When I did this record, I was going through a really hard time. I had to sober up because I lost my son. I wasn’t being the man I should be, and drinking a whole lot. So most of the lyrics are kind of me crying out—I don’t know to who, but they’re all about the things I didn’t like about myself. Making those songs was the only thing that made me feel better at the time. I’d call [Erik] Wofford up and be like, “I need to do this song right now.” There was this sense of urgency to it, to get my feelings onto tape immediately—and that also had a lot to do with who played on it. Whoever I could get to play drums, whoever could do the girl’s part at the time, that’s how it came together.

D: People might find that surprising, considering there’s a lot of joy in the music.

WR: People say that, yeah, but I think they’re happy songs and sad lyrics. Like, there’s a song called “Punk Rock Decisions” that I got from my old friend Dave Dondero, who’s one of my favorite songwriters, and it’s a true story about some friends who were hit by a drunk driver and killed. So when we play it live, I’m singing about that and watching people just dancing away. Half my songs are like that. When I sing, “Dance all night to keep the devil away” [in “Dead Girlfriends”], in my head I’m not dancing around. But when you invoke a happy beat or melody, you can say whatever the fuck you want. “Crazy Tigers” is about that summer six or seven years ago when seven of my friends who worked down here committed suicide: “Seven crazy tigers hung themselves tonight.” “Givin' Up On The High Side,” that’s about me giving up on a relationship, and how it’s hard when you have a kid, because you’re going to continue to have that relationship for the rest of your life. I found a book from the ’70s at the City-Wide Garage Sale that was just pictures—like, a guy doing the long jump, with lines underneath that say, “You can strive for all you want to achieve”—and I found this tearstained letter in the back that said something like, “I used this book all the time after my husband died.” I got a lot of the lyrics from that, and they’re all pretty sad to me because they all come from that book.

D: It’s hard enough scheduling with three people, let alone the 11 people who appear on the album. How did you work around that?

WR: When I started this, it was just me and Kyle Hunt from The Black Angels. I would write the songs and not tell people about them beforehand, and just have them come in and play, so this record is halfway a demo. We’re still learning how to play our record. It started out that way, but it’s gotten to the point where we really get by on a group of six people. We’re about to head out on the road in July, touring regionally every weekend, and it’s down to the six people who can come to practice three times a week. But yeah, having all those people was hard, and that got annoying. It’s hard to get everybody in sync with nine people, and I got tired of people showing up just to play [shows]. We still have Clint Myers play with us sometimes, but he’s out with Sleepercar, and Matt [Bricker] from The Polyphonic Spree will come play trumpet, and Miranda Brown is out with A.C. Newman. Those people come and go—and I love that, because they’re really good musicians who can just hop in and play—but it was never meant to be this big “ensemble” thing.
People u - decider.com

http://austin.decider.com/events/til-were-blue-or-destroy-and-new-roman-times,105245/

Local electro-flavored indie-rockers 'Til We’re Blue Or Destroy have seen far more ups than downs in its long history, swelling from lead songwriter Will Rhodes’ pick-up recording project to an ensemble that counts 11 members among its alumni, and developing a reputation as one of the most effervescent acts in town. The now-streamlined sextet finds new reason to celebrate with its long-awaited, self-titled debut, a collection that includes live favorites like the cathartic “Dead Girlfriends” and anthemic call-to-arms “Don’t Let The Bastards Win.” It shares the joys of childbirth here at this dual release party with noirish danceteria types New Roman Times, whose new On The Sleeve is another angular slice of artfully arranged, airy gloom-and-thrum.

Club Deville
900 RED RIVER ST
512-457-0900
21+
Fri. July 3, 10 p.m.
- decider.com