Pitchfork

Now that we've finally caught our breath, cured our collective hangovers, and dragged our sun-whooped asses back to the world of internet publishing, the time has come to share, at last, a multimedia cavalcade of memories from the inaugural Pitchfork Music Festival. 36,000 fans, 41 bands, 90-odd degree temperatures, two sold-out days-- whether you were there for it all or just want to be consumed with jealousy for those who were, it's our pleasure now to present the second installment in a two-part feature recapping the fest in all its glory, with a slew of artist interviews and more than 100 (!) photos.

Again, enormous thanks to all who came together to make this monumental event possible-- to the fans, to the artists, to the sponsors, to the volunteers. Doubleplus thanks also to Biz 3 publicity, and last but certainly not least, to everyone at At Pluto, without whose unflagging dedication and hard work the Pitchfork Music Festival would still be but idle fancy. Until next year, friends!

Tapes 'n Tapes [1:00pm; Aluminum Stage] | [Photos by Jen Reel]

Interview: Tapes 'n Tapes | [Interview by Tyler Grisham]

Pitchfork: Last time we spoke you said winter weather made you a little crazy. How's the 100-degree Chicago summer treating you?

Josh Grier: It’s hotter than shit. I just about passed out on stage so I’m re-hydrating right now. The Midwest in general-- Minneapolis and Chicago both-- get a lot of really cold weather and then really hot weather, so not enough fall in my opinion. But you deal with what you got.

Pitchfork: What are you gonna do the rest of the day?

Josh: I’m really excited about Mission of Burma. I’m super excited about Liars. Devendra [Banhart]. Oh, Glenn [Kotche]-- I didn’t realize he was playing at 6:10. So Nels Cline was playing early and Glenn Kotche is playing later? Huh. Yeah, Spoon, Os Mutantes, it’ll all be pretty awesome.

Pitchfork: What are you working on right now?

Josh: Touring until our faces are blue. We’re with the Futureheads for about another week, then we’re home for a little bit, then we go over to the UK to play a bunch of festivals. Hopefully in January or February we’ll start working on the next record.

Pitchfork: One of my favorite things on any band’s website is your Jennie mixer. Do you get to hear the results from that or is it just for fooling around?

Josh: It’s still there, but it’s just for kicks. I made it like three years ago. People keep emailing me and telling me I need to put a new song up there. The problem is, we don’t have any of the rough tracks from any of the songs, and it also took me so long programming it that it would be a nightmare to go back and do it again.

Matt: Those days in the band, we spent time making things up to do. Mostly because…

Josh: …we didn’t have anything else to do. I’d spend an hour or two a day on the website back a couple of years ago. Now if I get an hour in once a month, that’s pretty good.

Jeff Parker/Nels Cline Quartet [1:00pm; Biz 3 Stage] | [Photos by Michelle Harris]

Danielson [1:30pm; Connector Stage]
[Photos 1 & 3 by Michelle Harris; Photo 2 by Jen Reel]

Interview: Danielson | [Interview by Ryan Schreiber]

Pitchfork: Hey, Daniel, enjoying the festival today?

Daniel Smith: Oh yeah, we've had such a good time. We're excited that we got to play at 1:30. Now we can just relax. We're gonna hang out all night.

Pitchfork: Great! Who are you looking forward to seeing?

DS: Mission of Burma, for sure. I just saw Jens Lekman. I thought he was great. I'm curious about Liars, Devendra [Banhart], Yo La Tengo, Spoon I know is good, and Os Mutantes. I'm really excited about hearing them.

Pitchfork: How long have you been a Burma fan?

DS: I wouldn't say a long time, but the past couple of records I got into right away, and we're friends with Bob Weston and he's involved in that whole circle. In fact, the past couple of nights, we've played a couple of shows. It was Cleveland-- Mission of Burma and ourselves-- same town, same night, two different clubs, and we were kind of wondering if we stole each other's crowd. I just saw them a little bit ago, and was like, "We should have done this whole tour together!" Maybe in the future.

Pitchfork: What have you been listening to lately? Any new bands that aren't getting their due?

DS: Well, some Sounds Familyre bands, but I don't want to turn it into a club. Just friends of mine we've been recording-- this couple from New Jersey, Ben and Vesper, that we're super excited about. I just finished mixing their EP. But you know what we've been listening to a lot? It's this comedy show on WFMU.

Pitchfork: Oh, [Tom] Scharpling? Yeah, he is truly amazing.

DS: We're addicted to that stuff! My little brother Andrew was calling into his show, and then we started calling in a little bit, you know, because we're kind of local, and Scharpling started plugging our shows and stuff. Even this week, he's been playing our stuff. He's really cool. We do the Scharpling & Wurster podcast each week-- we've got Internet in the van.

Pitchfork: Wow, I didn't know that was even possible.

DS: With the label, I need to do e-mail every day. I'm in the van with a laptop, and we've got XM Radio. So between listening to the Bob Dylan show and the Scharpling stuff, we're pretty fired up about it. But the Dylan show, he plays a lot of great music. I don't know if you've heard it.

Pitchfork: I don't have XM, but I'm curious about it. How is he as a DJ?

DS: He's wonderful. Really dry humor, real clever. I like hearing him talk just as much as I like hearing him play music. I think he's the most important figure in pop music...ever. I really do. You know, fair enough, he had some slumps, but look how many records he's written. And he's still interesting. He's still fascinating.

Bonde do Role [1:55pm; Biz 3 Stage] | [Photos by Jen Reel]

Jens Lekman [2:00pm; Aluminum Stage]
[Photo 1 by Jen Reel; Photos 2-4 by Michelle Harris]

Interview: Jens Lekman | [Interview by Kati Llewellyn]

Pitchfork: Welcome back, Jens. I heard you went off to take a nap after your set.

Jens Lekman: Yeah, I'm trying to relax and not do too many things. That's what I always do when I go to festivals, and I usually hate festivals but this is amazing.

Pitchfork: Well, you've added a touch of class with the all-female backing band.

JL: Well, I had a band that was half good. Tammy [Karlsson] and Terese [Nordström] who play bass and drums were in that band. I fired the rest of them and [Tammy and Terese] recruited a new band, so they put it together. There was no idea behind it, but we've gotten many reactions from people. Some people think it's a cynical thing that I have a bunch of pretty ladies on stage, but it's not-- it's the best band I've ever had.

Pitchfork: I heard you had some passport issues getting into the U.S., though.

JL: I don't know that much about how that works. I heard that it's gotten really hard lately trying to get in here and work here, but we were ripped off by this guy, so it had nothing to do with the country. It was kind of scary. I hate sneaking in. I always do that.

Pitchfork: Last we heard you were working on a new record. How's that coming along?

JL: It's pretty good. I took a break for the U.S. tour, but I think I'm going to try and wrap it up as soon as I get home. I don't know-- maybe I'll erase all the songs again [Laughs]. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm feeling good about the songs. At least I have that.

Pitchfork: I still can't believe you completely erased 200 songs.

JL: They were weighing me down. I [didn't] even know what they were about anymore. I just wanted to clean out the closet. I've written like millions of songs since then, so...

Pitchfork: So no more Bingo halls?

JL: No more Bingo halls.

The National [2:35pm; Connector Stage] | [Photos by Jen Reel]

<!--pagebreak-->CSS [2:50pm; Biz 3 Stage] | [Photos by Michelle Harris]

Interview: CSS | [Interview by Matthew Solarski]

Pitchfork: Hey, Lovefoxxx, how's the festival experience?

Lovefoxxx: Well, I was a bit scared before touring because we'd only played in Brazil and this was our first time playing outside [the country]. We started his whole tour [with Diplo and Bonde do Role] in July, and all the gigs are really amazing, but this was one of the best gigs ever. This was really remarkable, with everyone doing choreography. [waves arms]

I really like playing here because Pitchfork did some tough reviews on us, and uh [makes punching gesture] No! [laughs] You know, I'm very critical myself. I know a lot of things I like and don't like in this record. But I really like our live show. I think it's very different from the album, because it's way heavier. We make it sound more like what's going on right now with us. It was really great to play so that [sing-talks] You. Could. See Us Live.

Pitchfork: I was in the tent most of the weekend. People were going crazy for a lot of the bands, but I don't think I saw a stronger positive reaction than for CSS. Marina Ribatski from Bonde do Role had injured herself stagediving just before you went on, but you still went ahead and did it.

LL: Marina hurt her elbow really hard [after stage diving]. She had to go to the hospital and then, everyone was like, "Don't stage dive!" But I always do. So I jumped, and then when I was coming back there were like six men to get me. So I'm going to stage dive forever because nothing's going to happen. The hard thing is coming back. There's a space between [the stage and the crowd]. This is what happened to Marina, this is how she almost broke her elbow. And I was almost fainting, and just like too hot, and then someone threw a whole bottle of water on my head. That was the best.

Pitchfork: What have you seen this weekend?

LL: I was looking forward to seeing Liars because they put on the best show I've ever seen-- in São Paolo, in 2004. They're one of my favorite bands ever. That was really good. I saw a bit of Spoon, which I liked a lot. And I like Mutantes. That was a nice vibe.

Pitchfork: What's the craziest thing you've seen here?

LL: Oh, I did something but I can't tell. I did something that my parents would not like to hear...but it was really good. You can say it's a secret.

Liars [3:30pm; Aluminum Stage]
[Photo 1 by Jen Reel; Photos 2-4 by Rory O'Connor/Radio Free Chicago]

Cage [3:40pm; Biz 3 Stage] | [Photos by Jen Reel]

Fuze Misting Tent | [Photos by Jen Reel]

Aesop Rock & Mr. Lif [4:20pm; Connector Stage]
[Photos by Jen Reel, except 3 by Rory O'Connor/Radio Free Chicago]

Interview: Aesop Rock | [Interview by Tyler Grisham] 

Pitchfork: So what's going on?

Aesop: It's pretty fucking hot out, but so far so good.

Pitchfork: Who'd you come to see?

Aesop: I'm a big Mountain Goats fan, but I kind of missed it. But I've seen them a million times. Other than that, I'll probably watch Yo La Tengo, and then I'll probably be standing in the misting area.

Pitchfork: What's the plan for your set today?

Aesop: Well, me and Lif are performing together, and we only have 45 [minutes], so we're kind of doing the combo platter, super-sized. I don't know, we'll be doing stuff from Labor Days, Bazooka Tooth, Fast Cars, and Lif's got stuff from his new record, and some of his older stuff.

Those guys literally ended tour yesterday, and just drove here. We kind of wrote out a setlist on speakerphone and stuff while they were on the tour. I think they were a little exhausted, so the main goal today is to get through it, to survive.

Pitchfork: Water.

Aesop: Yeah, water is pretty big today. Everyone's like, "Aww it's supposed to be fucking hotter tomorrow, man! When you play it's gonna suck!" And I was just like, "Thanks, man, that's great."

Pitchfork: At least it's a decent crowd. You enjoy playing festivals?

Aesop: I don't know, there's like tons of these things in Europe; I think the U.S. caught on to festivals a little late. I mean, obviously, there's Lollapalooza, Coachella, but in the U.S. [there's] not as many. They're fun. It's always interesting because it's just everybody getting together, eating corn dogs in the sun.

Pitchfork: There aren't a lot of hip-hop acts here. You gonna turn the place on its ear?

Aesop: Well I guess it's primarily one of these indie rock festivals, which is all right. Sometimes that can actually be kind of a plus to be one of the few hip-hop acts, because then you kind of stand out regardless. So we'll see if they like it or not. Maybe we'll make everyone leave. You never really know.

Tarantula A.D. [4:30pm; Biz 3 Stage] | [Photos by Michelle Harris]

<!--pagebreak-->Mission of Burma [5:10pm; Aluminum Stage]
[Photos by Rory O'Connor/Radio Free Chicago, except 3 by Michelle Harris]

Ada [5:20pm; Biz 3 Stage] | [Photo 1 by Jen Reel; Photo 2 by Matthew Solarski]

WLUW Record Fair | [Photos by Michelle Harris]

Depart-Ment Crafts Tent | [Photos by Michelle Harris]

Devendra Banhart [6:10pm; Connector Stage]
[Photo 1 & 2 by Ryan Schreiber; Photo 3 by Rory O'Connor/Radio Free Chicago; Photo 4 by Jen Reel]

Interview: Devendra Banhart | [Interview by Ryan Schreiber]

Pitchfork: How're you guys doing?

Devendra Banhart: ...Good.

Pitchfork: You seemed kind of tentative there.

DB: There's just so many answers. I figured, why not be honest?

Pitchfork: How'd the set go?

DB: It seemed like a good crowd, a good vibe, all those things, you know. In the Land of the Deaf, the one-eared man is tarred and feathered basically.

Pitchfork: Between you guys and Man Man there's a lot of tarring and feathering going on today. Have you had a chance to check out many of the bands?

DB: We saw Liars. Probably one of the top 10 bands I've ever seen live. Really. Consistently, too-- I've seen them in Spain, New Jersey, at ATP in England, in New York, and in California, and honestly, they're one of the best bands I've ever seen.

Pitchfork: Yeah, I hadn't seen them since 2002, on the They Threw Us All in a Trench tour, and they were a totally different band, but such fucking incredible stage presence. Today was fantastic. I knew they were gonna be good, but I didn't know it was gonna be like that.

DB: They inhabit an inextinguishable and all-encompassing rodeo of sound. You can't really avoid getting roped in. In that way, that's so un-chafing, soothing. They're an incredible band, one of the best.

Andy Cabic (Vetiver): You feel kind of like that thick guy whose job in the rodeo is to incite the bull but then get the hell out of the way before it tramples all over you.

DB: Yeah, they call him the Mayo because mayonnaise is always the middleman of condiments, so he's sort of the mayo. What's interesting about that [is that] "ohm"-- the idea of focusing on a word and focusing on it enough until you reach your center space, your fundamental space, your fundamental essence, is based on the condiment mayonnaise.

Pitchfork: Interesting! Have you had a chance to check out any of the other stuff on the festival grounds? There's a record fair going on, a poster convention...

AC: I went to the record fair. Went to the Sub Pop stand and got a Pissed Jeans 7".

DB: Pretty much 95% of the music that I've ever felt I was honored to be exposed to was thanks to Andy. He knows more about music than I will ever know in my entire life.

AC: Oh, that's a weird feeling.

DB: But it's a fact. So he went to the record fair. I heard about this guitar strap fair. I need one. I have one that's black as night.

AC: How are you enjoying the festival? You look a little winded.

Pitchfork: You know what, it's been two long-ass days, but it's amazing to see this all go off after like nine months of straight deliberation.  I'm really happy we didn't have to do any horrific price-gouging or hook up with shitty sponsors to make it happen.  And then Mission of Burma just blew my mind out a few minutes ago.

DB: We play a lot of festivals, and this is a different trip. A European festival is a different thing, usually sponsored by the cultural branch of government and by some kind of eccentric branch of government as well-- one person who thinks it's a good idea. And then you get America where the main festivals don't work unless they're sponsored by the shittiest products known to man. And then you get something like this, which is sponsored by things that we actually use, things that we actually participate in. Whole Foods-- we go there before and after every single tour, and during every tour, and we make sure we stock up because there's so little food everywhere. So we go there because we can rely on it and it's good and what they do. It's organic and they support fair trade. And this festival is so intimate. You know, you walk in and walk out, and everyone is doing the same thing you are. So be proud of it, it's a trip.

Glenn Kotche [6:10pm; Biz 3 Stage] | [Photos by Michelle Harris]

Interview: Glenn Kotche | [Interview by Kati Llewellyn]

Pitchfork: You’re having a busy summer.

Glenn Kotche: Yeah, some of Pitchfork told me I'm the only one playing all three festivals this summer, because I was on stage with Jon Brion at Intonation, and then Lollapalooza is next Sunday for Wilco.

Pitchfork: And you and Nels Cline played “Alone & Together” last night in Milwaukee. How was that?

GK: Super cool. Nels [also] played solo and it was unbelievable. The sounds he gets out of a guitar... it blows my mind. I'm in a band with him and it still blows my mind. He does so many great drone and wall-of-noise things, but on stage with Wilco, he's my metronome. I love playing off him.

Pitchfork: What have you seen today?

GK: I saw Nels' set which was super great, and I saw the National which was really cool. I didn't know what to expect from that, and I was blown away by their sound. I don't know if I'll be able to catch Yo La Tengo because I'll be packing up then, but hopefully I can catch some of that. And it's been a while since I've seen Spoon, and there's a lot in the tent that I really want to see.

Pitchfork: One of my favorite parts about your solo record was the lengthy liner notes, so I wanted to ask you about those.

GK: Really?! I go back and forth on those. [Laughs] The liner notes are embarrassingly exhaustive. I was hoping that you wouldn't need any information to be able to enjoy the record, but for some people, a solo percussion record... I have tons of them, but many people don't. [Laughs] So I explained the concepts of the record in case that would enhance some people’s appreciation of it.

Pitchfork: It's a bit like a research project. On the Wilco front, I know you're writing now. How's that all coming along?

GK: We've done a bunch of recording. We probably have 30 songs in various stages of completion, and we're getting together again after Lollapalooza for a couple of weeks. Nels and I are touring in September and Wilco will record more right before that, so we're constantly writing and recording. Hopefully by the end of the year we'll see what songs rise to the top, and we’ll start formulating a record.

Pitchfork: How many tracks do you want to get it down to?

GK: No stylistic restrictions. We get in a circle at our loft space so everyone can see each other, and we'll just get an idea, a riff, something, and then just develop it and refine it for three, four hours, tape it, and come back to it later. There's not any “it's going to be this type of a record” thing. I like that we're not assigning any sort of sound to it. If they fit together, great; if they don't, it'll be an eclectic record, you know?

<!--pagebreak-->

Yo La Tengo [7:10pm; Aluminum Stage]
[Photos 1 & 4 by Michelle Harris; Photos 2 & 3 by Rory O'Connor/Radio Free Chicago]

Dominik Eulberg [7:10pm; Biz 3 Stage] | [Photos by Matthew Solarski]

Spoon [8:10pm; Connector Stage] | [Photo 1 by Jen Reel; Photos 2-4 by Rory O'Connor/Radio Free Chicago]

Diplo [8:10pm; Biz 3 Stage] | [Photo 1 by Michelle Harris; Photo 2 by Jen Reel]

Os Mutantes [9:10pm; Aluminum Stage]
[Photo 1 by Michelle Harris; Photos 2-4 by Jen Reel; Photo 5 by Rory O'Connor/Radio Free Chicago]

Interview: Os Mutantes | [Interview by Ryan Schreiber]

Pitchfork: First, I just want to thank you for playing tonight. I haven't seen many crowds that excited before.

Sergio Baptista: It was really beautiful.

Pitchfork: It was. I saw that Devendra Banhart joined you for a song. Are you fans of his music?

Sergio: Yeah, for sure! He's amazing. I forgot that we had decided, "Hey, on ‘Bat Macumba', we'll call you up"-- I forgot! So then finally I saw him over there, and I said, "My God! Devendra, come here!" But! [walks us over to the guitar] Come and listen to the tremolo. Put your ear here. Just put your ear here. [Pitchfork listens to the guitar, note slides out of tune when played]

Pitchfork: Oh, that's terrible. You had to work with this?

Sergio: That's what happened to me there. It was all during the show sliding, like this, because of a fucking screw here.

Arnaldo Baptista: He screwed you!

Sergio: Ha, ha, yeah, I sent this to be fixed because it fell at the Fillmore, and the guy, maybe he loosened it a little, like this, and so it just slowly [he hums a note falling out of tune]. And I'm singing right! What's happening? So I was tuning the poor baby all of the show.

Pitchfork: Ah well, I don't know that anyone noticed-- it actually sounded great from where I was standing. When did you guys get into Chicago?

Sergio: Two days ago. I went sailing on one of those five-mast, you know... a beautiful ship. Oh, it was fantastic.

Pitchfork: What else have you done here?

Sergio: Walked around all the time, you know, looking at the beautiful-- the architecture here is killer. You know, I'm a New Yorker, I was there for 10 years, but goddamn, Chicago kicks its ass. It's such a beautiful town, man. I love it, I love Chicago.

Pitchfork: So it has to feel great to be back together after all this time.

Sergio: Oh, it's a fucking great thing. Just to see [my brother] Arnaldo there, I freak out. And all the band are great, it was just fantastic.

Pitchfork: How did this all come together?

Sergio: Because of the Barbican thing in London. They decided to do the Tropicália expo, and the dude who was the curator of the thing said that there was no sense in doing a Tropicália thing without Mutantes. This somehow leaked to the press in England. So we started to call each other, to say, "Hey listen, do you know anything about this?" And then there was this invitation from the Barbican, so we started considering it. When [drummer] Dinho [Leme] said he would play, that's what really did it.

Arnaldo: That was the really important thing, because he had stopped for 30 years. For a drummer that's very strange. He had surgery.

Sergio: Yeah, the guy worked like a horse, man. He was amazing.

Arnaldo: He plays like nobody else in pop music. He's the best! He has the most peculiar sound.

Pitchfork: He hadn't seemed to age a day up there. You guys left the stage and people just kept shouting for an encore. We actually had to force them out of the park-- we'd already gone past its curfew.

Sergio: Yeah, it was happening at the Fillmore, and at the Barbican as well.

Pitchfork: This was the last North American show you guys had scheduled, but there's another one now in Miami. Are you planning more after that?

Sergio: Ha ha, yeah. We're going to do a show in Brazil for sure.

Arnaldo: Yeah, in Japan they have a lot of bread.

Sergio: A lot of what?

Arnaldo: A lot of bread. Bread! Money!

Sergio: Money! Ha ha! I hope they do because the venues are big. It's a lot of money for the tickets. No, but we were very, very happy. It was beautiful to see this crowd.