Kathryn Calder is a member of the band The New Pornographers, whose newest album Brill Bruisers was released this past September. The Chronicle interviewed her in anticipation for the band's upcoming performance at Cat's Cradle on Nov. 23.
The Chronicle: How would you describe the music that The New Pornographers are playing now?
Kathryn Calder: I guess I would describe it as synthy-rock-vocal-spectacular. Definitely a synthy, rock, vocal-heavy band right now. That seems to be where we are right now, more so than with previous records. Well, the band has always been interested in all kinds of synths and sounds, but this record seems to be exploring the synth avenue for sure.
TC: Besides the synthy element, in what ways is the new album different from what The New Pornographers have done before?
KC: I think that the first few records, at least in my opinion, feel they were kind of like, cramming as much stuff as we…well, that’s actually how we always work. Cramming a bunch of stuff together, on top of one another, tying to get interesting sounds. And then I think with Challengers, Carl [AC Newman] and John [Collins] were trying to do something a little bit different, more balanced, but still a rock band, you know, same with Together. And then with this record, Carl and John were just...no balance! So that’s kind of what we did. Most songs are upbeat. So yeah, I think that just seems to be where we’re at. I have no idea what the next record is going to be like, no idea.
TC: I saw Carl said in a press release that Brill Bruisers is a “celebration record.” Is there something specific that you guys are celebrating?
KC: I think Carl just felt that he was in a good place, and that it was kind of like, we had a couple years break, where we hadn’t been playing together and hadn’t been recording. So with that kind of a break you always get a little bit of perspective on what you’re doing, and why you’re making records, and I think he probably just felt—not to put words in his mouth—but from my perspective it felt like we had this new integrated approach to the new record, you know? And that can only be a positive thing, when you’re in the studio and you’re really excited about what you’re doing, just because you’ve had a bit of a break.
TC: That definitely came across. I’m curious about your creative process. It is mostly Carl who comes into the studio knowing exactly what he wants, or is it more collaborative the way you work?
KC: From my perspective, what happened was I flew into Woodstock, and met with Carl in Woodstock, and John was there as well. So I went in, and I basically improvised. I hadn’t heard the songs before. There was no preparation. So I hadn’t heard anything, so I just sat down with Justin and they kind of usually had an idea of what they were hoping I would play. They kind of went “Oh, we’ll try this out like this.” They kind of had a vision, and I was just sort of trying to help play the vision, you know? Which is always really interesting to do, to try and see what somebody else is seeing and make it happen. So I did that for five days, and it was sort of like, “Here are the chords, here you go, just play a bunch of stuff.” And they’d sort through it later and figure out what was going to end up staying on the record, and then I did a bunch of my vocals at the same time, I did most of my singing. And that was it for my part. And then they kind of tinkered with it, for like a couple of months after that—mixing, little tweaks. As far as they work, it always seems like the mixing process is kind of going on from the beginning of the recording process. You know how like a lot of people will divide it into two, you’ve got the recording and then you’ve got the mixing. Because John and his partner Dave in Vancouver recorded and mixed the record, the mixing process is always kind of happening, so even at the very beginning everything was a creative decision about the end mix, the end record. And I think that it’s an interesting way of doing it that I really like. You’ve always got the big picture in mind as you’re doing things.
TC: Does each individual member of the band sort of draw on their own solo careers when you’re recording or is it a completely different mindset when it’s The New Pornographers recording?
KC: I guess I tend to play a certain style or a certain thing and I bring that to the band, my kind of tendencies. And then they’ll sort of guide me in one particular way or another, depending on what they’re looking for. So I guess it’s kind of both. I feel with my own solo project I feel a lot more like it’s my baby, and the pressure of making the decisions. And then with The New Pornographers, I bring my experience from that, but ultimately I’m not the one making the final decisions so there’s a little bit less pressure in some ways. More pressure to actually do something that somebody else likes, but less pressure with the ultimate weight of the record. It doesn’t fall on my shoulders. So it’s sort of in some ways easier, and in some ways harder.
TC: With such a substantial catalogue, when you guys are playing live how do you decide what to play?
KC: Well, right now, because it’s the tour for the new record we’re playing a lot from the new record. And then we’re kind of picking the songs that we feel would be unfair not to play, that we know from past experience that people really want to hear. So we kind of pick those and then we scatter some old songs we haven’t played in a while, or songs we don’t usually play in there, and we kind of change it up depending on the night. Sometimes if we’re playing two nights in a playlist we’ll change the setlist up quite a bit for people coming to both shows, so they get kind of two different shows. So that’s how we’ve been doing it, sort of the setlist has changed, you know there’s sort of an overall arc for this tour, but we’re still just trying to figure out…because when you’re playing new songs you don’t really know where they sit yet in the set, where they work the best. Sometimes it’s like, “oh well, you can’t put this song after this song,” for whatever reason, and it takes a few weeks to get that figured out. Carl really likes the puzzle of the setlist, he’s backstage a lot going over the songs, coming up with set lists every night.
TC: So you guys are touring with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart right now, how’s that been?
KC: It’s awesome, they’re so great. A bunch of lovely people playing wonderful music.
TC: Did you guys know each other before the tour?
KC: I’d heard of them, but I didn’t know them. I’d heard their music but I didn’t know them personally.
TC: Are there any other bands you’ve been listening to a lot?
KC: Well I’ve been really listening a lot to the War on Drugs record recently. The latest War on Drugs record. I tend to listen to a lot of older R&B. Motown is what I mean by that. I don’t know, I guess it just depends on my mood. I have a very eclectic set of very broad reaching moods that I feel I need to listen to certain things at certain times, so I haven’t really been obsessed with a record besides the new War on Drugs record--which I really love. I’ve been really enjoying the new Wye Oak record.
TC: What do you think about the whole War on Drugs vs. Sun Kil Moon thing?
KC: I haven’t really been following it. I don’t really have an opinion about it. I just kind of hear little bits about it, but I think it’s all very lame.
TC: I know you guys are Canadian but have you been following American politics at all while you’ve been here?
KC: A little bit, but not really enough to know what’s going on actually. Actually I take that back—not at all. Is there a Senate race going on right now?
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