A few months ago Portugal. The Man were the most famous group of folks to call Wasilla, Alaska home. Now that they have been totally eclipsed by the Palin clan, the group can truly ignore their modest indie-rock fame and concentrate on touring. (They are currently in Europe and will be in St. Louis on November 11, performing at fubar.) Cadenza recently spoke with John Gourly, Portugal guitarist and Wasilla hometowner, about his band’s music, their unusual artistic process and his suddenly famous former mayor.

How’d the band get together?

Zach [Corothers, Portugal. The Man’s bassist] was in a cover band that used to play at our high school, and to all of us, being from a small town, it was the greatest thing. They would play Rage Against the Machine, Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura, things like that. Zach and I started hanging out at parties. I would go to his house, and he would show me bass lines. We just kind of met everyone else along the way.

Did you have any goals for this album?

We never like to set goals or expectations. We’re really happy to be able to write and record music and not feel limited in any way. We’re all just happy to have come to the point where we can play in Zurich. When we left [Alaska] for the very first time to play shows in Portland and Seattle, that was huge for me.

How would you describe the sound of your new record, Censored Colors?

I’m so big on copouts. I say it’s rock and roll, and it is. It’s heavier, but I would compare it to what I grew up on. There’s a definite Beatles element, as there is with everyone in the world who’s ever put out music. We had some great friends playing with us—strings, trumpet trombone, cello. We played with all our best friends from Seattle and what came out was exactly what you would expect from a bunch of friends hanging out and having a good time.

Did you have any trouble incorporating all those different styles?

The hardest part was that I’d never really written a chord progression. I know it’s a really backwards way to look at music, but when we’ve gone into the studio, I’ve just written riffs. I would chop those up and put drum machines to them and let Zach play on top of that. So it was all built up from nothing. On this record, because I knew we’d have strings and all these amazing players on the record, I felt like we should focus a little bit and have some great cohesive songs that had a good base, so that they could really benefit from the strings. It worked out really well. It was an amazing task for my brain to take on. My brain does not work like it should. I have no memory; I can’t play a song from start to finish. That’s why we jam so much. Ninety percent of our jams are me trying to figure out where the lyrics go.

Do you find yourself going in directions you didn’t intend to at first?

Every single record we’ve made, we go into the studio and say, “Okay, we’re going to make a soul record this time.” We’ve said soul record every time we’ve gone into the studio, and we have not made a soul record yet. “Church Mouth” may be the closest to what we were going for, but only because we named the record “Church Mouth.” Going into the studio this time, we said, “Let’s make a record and send it to somebody At Dub-Reggae and have them mix it just completely free of our criticisms and ideas and have them put on all the reverbs and delays and just go nuts and make something cool and fun with it.” Obviously we don’t know anybody in reggae, so once we hit the studio, it went from there. It made so much more sense to make this record than to make a Dub record.

Not to switch gears violently, but what was it like growing up in Wasilla?

Very much similar to Superior, Wyoming, or middle-of-nowhere Montana. It’s the meth capital of Alaska so the drugs are pretty heavy there. It’s just a small town. It’s a really conservative place. There’s underlying racism and other things you find in a small town. That being said, it’s an amazing place—the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to. It’s just so sheltered; people have no idea what happening outside of this town. Now the internet has promoted some forward thinking. Some of the best people I know are from Wasilla. Sarah Palin just doesn’t happen to be one of them, in my opinion.

Do you know her well?

No. I was 14 or 15 was when she came in as mayor. I was never really interested in politics. I remember as soon as she came in as mayor, everybody, even adults, was saying, “Yeah, our mayor’s a babe.” Even being totally disinterested, I remember thinking, “What’s going on? Is she really a babe? What does she have to go on other than being a babe?” It’s a really small place so I know people that have known her and know her kids.

Do you think the attention she has gotten is fair or unfair?

The only reason I’m saying anything about this is that she’s from my hometown, and I’ve been around people like her and families like hers my whole life. It’s amazing how attached everybody has become to this idea of this gun-toting mother of five from Wasilla, Alaska. When it comes down to it, I’ve been around so many of these sport hunters, and they’re, like, reading their kids the Book of Revelations before bed—and then going out and shooting a bear because they want a new rug. It’s a total lack of respect for the environment and the people that actually survive from hunting and that way of life. Sarah Palin has been making $120,000 annually for the last couple years as governor of Alaska. How does it make sense that we need more people going out and killing for the sake of killing? It’s just silly. And the aerial hunting thing…I remember that when that opened up, my friend’s dad went out in a helicopter and shot three wolves, because there was a bounty on wolves that were killing caribou. Yeah, poor sport hunters can’t get their caribou. He came back with these wolves, and they were just massive; wolves are the craziest thing I’ve seen up close. Alaskan wolves are just huge. Did he really have to kill these animals? You know. his family was rich; there was no need. He just went out and did it.

Do you feel a camaraderie with other Alaskans?

Alaska’s small. If you run into somebody from Alaska outside of Alaska, you’re hanging out. You guys are best friends; you’re together until you leave. You’re always rooting for Alaska.

Just not politically?

Yeah. Most bands lean pretty far in the direction of…you know, we just want everybody to be loved, man. It’s kind of the obvious response from us. It’s just really about the lack of respect for the community. So many people live in the woods and survive off that land, and it’s sad to see somebody have such a total lack of respect for the people.

Do you appreciate all the attention Wasilla is getting?

Sarah Palin could be from Superior, Wyoming, and it would be the same. It’s just silly to think that she could have some insight on the rest of the world. She grew up in Wasilla.

So are you saying you’re not prepared to be vice president?

Yeah, that’s for sure. I don’t think she’s capable. We listen to Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly and a lot of right-wing radio; it’s amazing to see how close-minded they are. But I remember when Barack was on it, they were pushing this thing: “He’s just a celebrity. He’s just a face. It’s a joke that anyone’s putting any hope into something that’s just a face.” And that’s exactly what I feel like the Republicans found in Sarah Palin. It’s just silly.

Do you see any way out of that sort of blinded political thought?

*Laughs* It blows my mind. It’s not funny, but it’s funny to me that we have such a divided country. Right down the middle. How’s anybody supposed to win an election at all by just maintaining what they truly believe? It’s always going to be like that. It’s hard to avoid. It’s sad. Where’s the middle ground? I feel like there’s no middle ground.

Well, do you have trouble finding middle ground in music? Do you reach it by giving so many people a say in how it turns out?

I think that’s what it’s all about. It’s all about handing the music to other people. If we ask our friends to play on the record, we’re not going to tell them how to play.

Same with Paul Kolderie. He’s worked with Radiohead and the Pixies. Who are we to tell him how to mix our record? It was a big deal with other bands. They were saying, “I can’t believe you handed off your music and didn’t say anything.” But that’s what we thought the best part was.