Interview // A Place To Bury Strangers
All photos by Angela Betancourt
New Commute contributing photographer Angela Betancourt had a short talk with Oliver Ackerman, Sandra and John Fedowitz from A Place To Bury Strangers in the wake of their latest EP, Hologram recently released by DedStrange Records, a new label created by Ackermann.
Sandra and John are new to the band, previously having worked together in the group CEREMONY east coast. The three decided to work together after Oliver reached out to longtime friend and former Skywave member John Fedowitz . A few emails sending tracks back and forth set the new collaboration in motion, followed by individual and studio recordings at Ackerman's NYC studio.
The trio's onstage tightness is in contrast to their ease and camaraderie offstage. These are people you'd feel comfortable to be around with no artifice.
How did the new lineup come up?
Oliver: Things with the old band kind of dissolved and everyone was set to do their own sort of thing and I think I messaged John and sent him some tracks.
Sarah: And you two knew each other for a long time and played in bands before that. It just seemed like a dream come true and then we were down to do it. Hallelujah!
Did y'all write or record a lot through the pandemic? How was that process?
John: We did a lot of it separately, but Oliver wrote 40 songs or something.
Oliver: We did write what I think is our best song to date through the pandemic. We were playing that last at shows. It's always like I want it to be a song that melts people's brains into this little gooey mush of Jello, and this song does that.
Which song is that?
Oliver: It's probably not gonna come out for another year in a half.
Aside from the new lineup, what's the new direction for this new record?
Oliver: This record is really a reflection on all sorts of sorrow and pain and all sorts of stuff that was going on in life at the same time as the pandemic was happening. And sort of the weird observance of the strange life in N.Y. Like there's trash everywhere and people are shooting fireworks off all night and it's just this weird lonely war zone or something where you couldn't do things with your friends and the streets were empty but there were all sorts of activities and dealing with friendships having trouble. So just working through that in our songs.
How was the recording process? Did you record separately or get together at the same space?
John: Oliver has his own recording studio, so it's pretty easy to go there in the middle of the night.
Oliver: Some of the stuff was done completely separately. You set up a weird space in your living room and then decide to just play some music.
John: There's this mic hanging on the ceiling and he'd record us without us even knowing. He got some secret video of us by dropping a little camera on the couch.
Oliver: Sometimes you get better results when people don't know they're being recorded sort of thing. (laughing)
Do you feel like you're still navigating a public health crisis, or does it feel normal already?
John: I think it's strange how sometimes it is really strict and then it isn't. I can't get used to it, but it'd feel better if there was one policy to follow.
Sandra: I think it's a mixture. Like we all have to get used to wearing masks every once in a while, especially with every venue when you're setting up and everyone is masked. But then the show starts and everyone is unmasked. And it feels so normal and there's the mixture of when it's time to wear a mask and when you can relax and when you can't.
Oliver: There's a contrast from city to city. In some places everyone is wearing a mask indoors and they barely move it a little bit to have a sip of their beer, while in other cities nobody wears a mask. It would be nice if it were promoted as a cool thing to wear a mask so everyone feels comfortable.
Sandra: I think a mask is just a sign of respect for others and to protect them. It's hard to understand why some people don't see that... to say it in gentle words. (laughter)
This new record is coming up via a new label. How did that happen?
Oliver : We had finalized our last contract with our old record label, Dead Oceans, and you always wonder if you'd have controlled everything. It felt like the perfect idea to have total freedom and get to do what we wanted to do. Not like a record label necessarily holds you back from it because they were super supportive, but there's something about not having to answer to anybody that's freeing and cool. We're established enough as a band that we can afford to putt out our own stuff, so why not? Let's give it a shot!
Purchase A Place To Bury Strangers’ new album Hologram EP out now via Dedstrange Records.