Margaret BauerIt’s easy to think of indie rock as the glamorous world of “OC” guest appearances, vintage t-shirts and “dive” bars where you have to be on the list to get inside. But not long ago, there was a time when “indie” meant “independent”: below the radar of the record-buying populace. For the last decade, the Wrens have been this kind of indie band. After struggling with the commercial pressures of a label that wanted “hits,” the band ended their contract and went on recording their next album, “The Meadowlands,” with no outside financial support. After four years, the album was released through Absolutely Kosher Records in 2003 to near universal critical acclaim. More than just another David and Goliath story in the record business, “The Meadowlands” is an excellent record from a band that deserves every bit of success that they get.
Cadenza got the chance to speak with guitarist/vocalist Charles Bissell about “The Meadowlands” and the unusual circumstances of being caught between an enthusiastic press and a largely unaware public. The band will be playing Saturday night as part of KWUR Week at the Gargoyle beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are free for Wash U students and $5 for everyone else.
I understand that you’re the only full-time member of the Wrens?
Well, it wasn’t necessarily by design. I mean I got laid off last spring but it was kind of right when things were really … you know the last year’s been so good for us and by spring things were really busy, which is actually one of the reasons I got laid off … you know, I used up all my vacation time playing.
It’s worked out just fine though. We’re best friends and it goes back so far, like fifteen years or more now, so it’s kinda like everyone does their own thing, and we just make sure that it works. Like my situation is very easy compared to Jerry’s [the drummer]; I still rent, I don’t have a house, I’m not married, don’t have kids, all of which he has going on, so even if he would like to go full-time Wren, the pay isn’t …[hesitates]… quite enough for three young’uns and a mortgage.
So how does having three fourths of the band tied down with families and day jobs affect your touring schedule?
It’s the same thing as when I was just as tied down. The logistics are, we basically only play on Fridays or Saturdays. We do a little more than that sometimes, and people will use their vacation time for that, but so far we’ve gotten by this past year just playing on weekends. It’s kinda become a running joke that we’re like our own cover band. But it works out OK. I could tour more, but at the same time, between everyone else’s work schedules, we do pretty much as much as we can, and it works out for everyone; like Jerry doesn’t have to be gone from the family too much, at the same time, I’m making enough to pay the rent and the bills.
It’s just kinda bizarre, as well as things have gone in the last year, it’s gotten to the point where a lot of times, either if we’re doing well in a certain city or in this case, a university that has a budget set aside, we can actually afford to fly in with most of our equipment, play the show, and fly home. So that’s what we’ll be doing on Saturday. Really bizarre … it’s like you’re a tiny, tiny little rockstar, and you fly in and you play your show, and then you get back on a plane, which still sorta boggles my little pea brain.
How has it worked recording all your material at home instead of a professional studio?
I’m kinda in the process of setting up the studio and setting up the basement now actually, really thinking about looking ahead to the next record, thinking about better ways to work. You know, because if you record a song and you want to come up with a guitar part, and then you change the bass part, and then you want to change the chord progression, and then you have to go back and change the guitar and the bass again, it’s always hard to make a judgment because it’s like, ‘Well, this guitar part would work if the bass was doing this one other thing,’ and when you’re sitting there and doing overdubs and you have to try each one it becomes painful. Whereas if everyone’s actually playing in the basement, which is how most bands work, you can make those decisions immediately.
Does anyone take a more active “producer” role in the process or is it more democratic?
It’s actually both … I end up doing all the stuff, and yet everything’s subject to band approval. There’s nothing really that goes out that anyone’s unhappy with … that’s why it says ‘produced by pedalboy’ which is me; it’s a way of taking credit without actually having to take credit. It’s not as clear-cut as it might seem … it’s not Brian Wilson shouting out ‘more horses in the studio!’ or something.
There’s really no difference whether I come up with a guitar part or not. There’s a basic vocabulary of indie rock guitar parts, of which you come up with a million, and what counts is which one you pick … It becomes more like interior decorating than writing or composing or whatever, so when you get to the endpoint it’s all kinda the same thing … the ability to edit is almost what counts more than anything. It’s that ability to pick the good ideas from the bad ones. So what would end up happening is that I would overdub a million things, and I’d be lost and confused, and somehow in the very act of playing it for those guys, different as our tastes are, instantly I would know what I liked and didn’t like about it. That was just as important as coming up with guitar and bass parts.