Akron/Family (Photo: Deborah Samantha)
Exclusive Interview: Akron/Family
January 14, 2012
by Chuck Norton
For the last decade, Akron/Family has been making some of the most unique, experimental folk in North America. As anchors of the Brooklyn music re-birth in the mid-2000′s, their impact on this generation of musicians can’t be understated.
The band has released a half-dozen albums in the last nine years, beginning with 2005′s self-titled debut full-length. We reviewed the band’s last album, Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT, a couple of months after its release in 2011.
Over the years, Akron/Family has been joined by a number of musicians – including members of Megafaun and Angels of Light – that saw the band performing with as many as seven on-stage musicians. The band is now playing as a three-piece, consisting of original members Dana Janssen, Seth Olinsky and Miles Seaton. All three provide vocals and multi-instrumentation to their live performances.
The band – known for their unique, and often interactive live shows – is on tour now with Bad Weather California, including a show in Atlanta on January 14. Complete January 2012 tour dates below.
01/14/12 Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn
01/15/12 Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge
01/17/12 Chicago, IL – Hideout
01/18/12 South Bend, IN – Subkirke
01/19/12 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
01/20/12 Philadelphia, PA – Blockley Pourhouse
01/21/12 Brooklyn, NY – 285 Kent Ave.
For more information on the band, visit their Web site or their Vimeo page.
DeadJournalist.com brings you this exclusive interview with Seth Olinsky of Akron/Family.
Happy New Year. How did you spend the holidays? Catching-up on some rest before your upcoming North American tour?
SO: Happy new year to you. With my family in Pennsylvania catching up on eating, playing apples to apples, and hanging with friends at local dive bars, pretending in my mind its the Cedar tavern and we are the abstract expressionists.
How does this album differ from your past albums, creatively? Was there a point of inspiration for the album?
SO: I think the biggest difference was how we started and created the record. Rather then just starting from songs that we had all written individually, we all got together and really dreamed up the sound and feeling of the record – creatively/musically/emotionally. I feel like it contributed to a more group-minded record.
Akron/Family (Photo: Ian McNeil)
As you have matured as artists how has your song-writing process changed?
SO: I think we write more directly about our lives and emotional experiences, rather then heady detached abstraction.
What have you learned about the recording process throughout the last decade that you have applied to this album?
SO: Ribbon mics sound amazing on guitar amps (and lots of other things).
Having just finished up a European tour, what are the biggest day-to-day challenges you have while on the road overseas?
SO: How did people ever live without their cell phones?
When performing live, do you try to maintain consistency from show-to-show or does the mood of the band and the energy of the crowd effect an individual show?
SO: Even when we play a similar set list from night to night, the mood and energy of the shows can be drastically different.
Who inspires you most as artists? Do you look for external sources for motivation/inspiration, or do you try to extract it all from personal experience?
SO: Speaking for myself, I’m really into Cy Twombly right now. And Bob Dylan. Listening to a lot of Dylan.
“Cast A Net” by Akron/Family from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.
With the rapid evolution of social media and marketing bands have faced since the advent of social networking do you find that promoting the band is a 24/7 process?
SO: Honestly it’s hard for me to keep up with the times in that way.
Have you seen benefits or detriments from the intimacy your fans have to the band because of Twitter, Facebook, etc.?
SO: We have always been fairly open – coming out after the show to meet and talk to everyone. So that aspect feels natural. But the “virtual” part of it still feels a little bizarre to me. I guess I’m old fashioned with the term friend.
Is there an artist that you’ve encountered recently that you’ve been recommending to your friends?
SO: Been listening to the War on Drugs’ and Kurt Vile’s records.
What were you listening to in 2002?
SO: Gastr Del Sol, Peter Brotzman, Ayler, Arvo Part, Jug Bands, 68/69 Grateful Dead shows.
Which do you prefer: MP3, CD, Tape or Vinyl?
SO: Xmas carols and sing alongs.
Web site(s) you read regularly?
SO: Gmail
One Drink. One Movie. One Album.
SO: Jameson on ice. ‘James Bond Casino Royal’. Astral Weeks.
