Pitchfork Music Festival 2007: Saturday
Mon: 07-16-07

Pitchfork Music Festival 2007: Saturday

Story by Pitchfork Staff

Wow. It's a long way down from this past weekend's euphoric highs, but to help ease everyone back into the day-to-day we present to you, faithful readers, a photo-happy, interview-accented set of features, our capstone to the three-day weekend bonanza that was the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival.

From Slint to Sonic Youth, the Twilight Sad to Yoko Ono, Deerhunter to De La Soul-- and despite a few more sound problems then we'd have liked-- the event once again proved momentous, and we couldn't have done it without all of you. Thanks to everyone who came to the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival. We hope you had a weekend to remember, and we look forward to seeing you again next year.

Thanks also once again to our Friday night partners in crime, Barry Hogan and All Tomorrow's Parties (and their Don't Look Back series), as well as all the sponsors, vendors, and volunteers whose tireless efforts and contributions help keep this festival pretty ridiculously cheap. Thanks to our photographers as well-- Jason Bergman, Jana Green, Leigh Ann Hines, Karra McDonald, Joseph Mohan, Akmal Naim, Jen Reel, Nolan Wells, and Kathryn Yu-- whose shots you'll see below.

And for even more multimedia festival coverage, check out the official Pitchfork Music Festival podcast, featuring interviews with Sonic Youth, Stephen Malkmus, Slint, Clipse, Dan Deacon, Klaxons, the Cool Kids, ATP's Barry Hogan, and Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber. Thanks to Anders Lindall for his work on this and the all the previous Backline podcasts.

Finally, our hats go off to Mike Reed and the fine people at At Pluto and Pitchfork's associate publisher Chris Kaskie for orchestrating another landmark Pitchfork Music Festival.

For coverage of Friday, click here.


Saturday, July 14


Photo by Frank Nieto and Jason Swartz

The Twilight Sad [Connector Stage; 1 p.m.]





Photos 1 and 2.2 by Leigh Ann Hines; photo 2.1 by Nolan Wells; photo 3 by Jason Bergman

Interview: The Twilight Sad | [Interview by Tyler Grisham]

Pitchfork: What have you seen so far?

James Graham: Not seen anybody apart from just saw Battles there, and I heard Voxtrot when I was walking around. I heard Yoko Ono's sound check. That was crazy. It was great, she has this really tight band, and she's shouting, "Weeeee."

Pitchfork: What are you looking forward to seeing?

JG: I was really looking forward to seeing Grizzly Bear.

Andy MacFarlane: I'm looking forward to seeing Steve Malkmus and De La Soul, those two are fucking-- I can't wait to see them. But we're going to see the Cubs tomorrow, so we've been promised we'll be back here at half past five, and Steve Malkmus will be on at six, so I hope we will.

Mark Devine: I don't know if I really have the concentration to watch a whole baseball game anyway.

Pitchfork: Are you guys baseball fans?

All: No, no.

JG: We don't know anything about it. Just really wanted to go, just to say, "Oh, I've been to a baseball game." The bass player [Craig Orzel] knows the rules and such. [He's] a big game fanatic, so he bought a baseball game and learned the rules, and then back home we get it on a shitty TV station at, like, one in the morning, and he stays up all night watching it.

MD: I was going to buy a Cubs t-shirt, but I couldn't bring myself to part with $25 for something I know nothing about.

Pitchfork: Have you had different reactions from crowds here, versus at home in Glasgow?

JG: We came over and did a small tour for the EP, and then we came back and did a longer one for the record. And then we went back home and the album, like, just got released, so we didn't think anybody knew us [there], to be honest. In America it seems like we had some help; Pitchfork helped us out a lot, and then we went back home and there was a show at Òran Mór, which is a converted church, and it was our first main headline gig in Glasgow, and we were like, "I don't think anybody's going to turn up." We were quite scared. And somehow it was packed. But to begin in the States has been amazing for us. We're really happy that people are reacting to it, enjoying what we do. That's all we want to do is just make music; we don't expect to get anything back. So it's nice to be able to play at all, and be asked to play things like this festival. I enjoy coming over here, but it's hard work.

Pitchfork: What's the hardest thing about traveling?

JG: Just traveling!

AM: Sitting in an uncomfortable van. Some of the drives you do during an average day on an American tour, you could drive the whole length of Britain.

Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound [Balance Stage; 1 p.m.]





Photo 1 by Jason Bergman; photos 2 and 3 by Karra McDonald

Interview: Ken Vandermark | [Interview by Dave Maher]

Pitchfork: Did you enjoy performing today?

Ken Vandermark: Yeah, it's a really open situation.

Pitchfork: What do you mean?

KV: Well, so many festival situations I play at are connected to jazz and improvised music scenes, and people in the past have asked me, "What kinds of festivals do you like to play?" And I've always said the thing that would be great is to have a festival where all kinds of music are happening side by side and then let the audience decide, and that's what you guys are doing. Mastodon's playing, and William Parker's playing. Yoko Ono's playing. It's such a diverse thing.

Pitchfork: Is there anyone you're looking forward to seeing?

KV: I'm looking forward to seeing Battles. I know [Tyondai] Braxton's father [Anthony], but I haven't met him.

Pitchfork: It's got to be wild to be in the middle of that kind of generational divide.

KV: Yeah, and it shows where the music is. Anthony Braxton is an incredibly important figure in the world that I work, and then he has this son who's doing this totally innovative stuff too, in a different kind of way. And the way that the ideas feed off each other, that's what I like about the arts.

Pitchfork: You mentioned Mastodon. Are into them?

KV: I like heavy music, and I've heard a few of their pieces. A friend of mine really follows that kind of music. He's played me some stuff, and I was like, "Okay, this is serious." I just like people when they play with passion and they have conviction about what they're into, and I think the majority of things I'm aware of at the festival are people playing music they care about for people who care about it. You can't really ask for a better situation.

Pitchfork: Did you tailor your set at all to try to make it appeal more to an indie rock crowd?

KV: No, and it was interesting to see William Parker's quartet play right after us because I think their approach is pretty similar. It's like, "We do what we do." Powerhouse Sound music is pretty driving and has a lot of momentum, and so I tried to pick a set that showed diversity.

As opposed to narrowing it down, I went the opposite way and said, "Okay, how much can we get across in 45 minutes?" I didn't know what to expect because the music is kind of demanding because it changes a lot and there's a lot of space where there's non-melodic material, and people totally rode with it.

Pitchfork: Since you were a MacArthur Fellow, I have to ask: What is it like to be a genius?

KV: I wouldn't know. [laughs]

Pitchfork: Are there any weird social situations that result from the fact that you won the prize? Are you ever at a party, and it comes up?

KV: Yeah, it comes up, but one of the problems with the MacArthur prize is that it somehow got this tagline of it being a genius award. The truth of it is that, getting that prize, the pressure I felt was from like, "Well, look at who else got it." So my whole goal has been: in the time that I'm here, can I at least come out of it respectably and contribute something? And I've got a lifetime to hopefully do something like Max Roach did or Ornette [Coleman] did or [Anthony] Braxton did or all the other people who won that prize. And they are really, really innovators. And, knock on wood, I've got some years left to maybe move myself into a position where maybe it's warranted. But I mean, it's insane. [laughs]

Pitchfork: Do you remember when you first found out that you had won the award?

KV: Oh yeah. I was on tour with the Vandermark Five. I think we were driving from somewhere in South Carolina to North Carolina. It was this horrible day of driving with rain, like torrential rain, for five hours straight or something. We got to the venue late because the weather was so bad. Everyone was stressed out from the driving. We basically got there when we were supposed to be opening the doors, and it was still pouring rain. Everyone's soaking wet, running the equipment in, trying to set up as fast as possible. People had been waiting for us. I was really stressed out.

Someone working at the venue said, "Ken Vandermark's got a phone call." And we've got to go on in like five minutes. So there was a phone in this hallway. It wasn't a payphone, but it was out in this public space. I pick up the phone, and I'm like, "Hello?" And there's a voice. "Is this Ken Vandermark?" I'm like, "Yeah, you know, I'm really busy right now. I'm supposed to play a concert in five minutes. What's this about?" I was really stressed. [laughs]

They were like, "Well, this the MacArthur Foundation. Have you heard of us?" I'm like, "Yeah." And they're like, "Well we're calling to let you know you won the MacArthur prize." And I was just like, "What?"

It was so from left field. That night I was sleeping on someone's floor, on a rug. It's very secretive. For about two weeks, I couldn't tell anybody but my wife and my family. And stuff started getting weirder and weirder because the word was starting to get out to the media, and the day it was announced, it was complete chaos. We had a gig in Rochester, New York, and everyone in the band was like, "What the hell is going on?" And finally I was like, "Okay, this is what happened."

Pitchfork: You were like, "Well guys, I'm a genius." [laughs]

KV: No, they knew that wasn't true. [laughs] There's no way that was gonna fly.

Califone [Aluminum Stage; 1:30 p.m.]





Photos 1 and 2 by Jason Bergman; photos 3.1 and 3.2 by Nolan Wells

Voxtrot [Connector Stage; 2 p.m.]



Photos by Jason Bergman

Interview: Voxtrot | [Interview by Julian Hattem]

Pitchfork: You said you were nervous, what were you nervous about?

Ramesh Srivastava: I don't know. Playing during the day makes me nervous; it's harder to create a vibe.

Pitchfork: Are you enjoying yourselves so far at the festival?

RS: Yeah, it's great.

Pitchfork: Anybody you guys are looking forward to seeing?

RS: Grizzly Bear, which is happening, Beach House, which is also happening right now...

Pitchfork: We'll be quick, sorry.

RS: The Field, Girl Talk.

Matt Simon: I want to see Cat Power with the band; I've only ever seen her solo. I mean, she just kind of talks through her shows [laughs], so maybe with the band it'll be a little bit more a show.

Pitchfork: I haven't seen her with a band either, but I hear she's cleaned up her act a little bit.

RS: She's still a talker.

Pitchfork: I know your song "Real Live Version" is about Judee Sill. Are you guys big fans?

RS: Yeah, she's amazing.

Pitchfork: Yeah? How long? Forever?

RS: It's Jason's fault.

MS: Yeah, Jason got us into her.

Jason Chronis: I've known about her for three or four years.

MS: We were at band rehearsal one day and it was playing and I was just like, "Whoa."

RS: She's a tour van favorite.

Pitchfork: Do you guys have a favorite song?

JC: "The Kiss". Although I think our favorite album is probably her first album. Every song on there is amazing. Maybe our favorite song is....

RS: The original was "The Lamb Ran Away with the Crown".

JC: That's a great tune.

Pitchfork: Have you guys thought of doing any covers or anything like that?

RS: Yeah, we used to always do them. I love doing them, we just don't have any time anymore [laughs].

MS: We never have time to work with those anymore. Maybe next time we go on tour-- I'd really like to.

Pitchfork: You guys just too busy nowadays?

MS: Too busy, yeah. We don't really get to practice and just hang out and play. Whenever we're together it's just for shows and stuff.

Pitchfork: Do you like festivals or do you think the time restrictions on the sets are too short? Because, as the audience, I like knowing when people are going to go on and not waiting around. But as a band, is that annoying?

RS: Yeah, I think that at a festival the short and sweet thing is good. I don't think I would've lasted much longer [laughs]. I would've probably died actually.

Pitchfork: Were you burning up up there?

RS: Oh, man.

MS: It was really hot.

RS: Plus we move around a lot.

MS: So we get exhausted a lot quicker.

Pitchfork: Yeah, I can imagine. Are you guys working on anything right now, anything you're recording or writing?

MS: We have a few songs that we just recently recorded.

Pitchfork: Any titles or anything you can reveal?

RS: They all have joke titles. Things don't get named until the 11th hour: "Talk to Tree" and "Kindergarten".

Pitchfork: Are there any drastic changes we should look out for?

RS: Not yet.

MS: I feel like it's kind of a cross between what we were doing on the album as far as a little darker and a little more aggressive and also some of the stuff on the EP. It's kind of a blend between the two...

RS: The first song we played today was one of them.

Pitchfork: Oh yeah? Which one of the joke titles was that?

RS: That was "Kindergarten". Which, I actually would like it to stay with that.

Pitchfork: I know you guys have your imprint, Cult Hero. Is anything going on with that or are you just too busy?

RS: Yeah, we just need money. You can never have enough apparently.

Pitchfork: That's what I hear.

RS: It costs a lot. I think we'll put something out in the fall-- oh wait, it's almost the fall [laughs]. What month is it now? It's July. Some "Firecracker" remix.

Pitchfork: Anything else you guys want to add?

RS: No, just hanging out.

JC: Keep rocking out guys, keep partying [laughs].

RS: Keep it going full speed.

DEPART-ment handmade goods fair






Photo 1 by Jana Green; photos 2 and 3 by Joseph Mohan

William Parker Quartet [Balance Stage; 2 p.m.]





Photos 1 and 2 by Jason Bergman; photo 3 by Karra McDonald

Fans







Photos by Joseph Mohan

<!--pagebreak-->

Grizzly Bear [Aluminum Stage; 3 p.m.]







Photos 1-3 by Jason Bergman; photo 4 by Jana Green

Beach House [Balance Stage; 3:10 p.m.]







Photos 1 and 2 by Akmal Naim; photos 3 and 4 by Karra McDonald

Recreation




Photo 1 by Jason Bergman; photo 2 by Kathryn Yu

Battles [Connector Stage; 4 p.m.]




Photos 1 and 2 by Jason Bergman; photos 3.1 and 3.2 by Nolan Wells

Interview: Battles | [Interview by Dave Maher]

Pitchfork: You guys are all really snazzy dressers. How did that happen?

Ian Williams: You have two jobs. You wake up every day, and you get dressed. And the other job is to play music. It's not that hard. I'll wear t-shirts or short sleeves in the daytime, but when I play on stage, I have to wear long sleeves because I like to feel like I'm at work. I wanna feel like I'm doing a job and that I'm professional, so it's important for me to change right before the set.

Pitchfork: John, you sweat right through your long sleeve shirt.

John Stanier: I try to look good. I figure it's better to look good than to be comfortable.

Pitchfork: Why?

JS: It's the lasting impression. Otherwise, you'd be wearing a wife beater and swim trunks.

Dave Konopka: That's why on the side we're working on a line of hemp sweatpants, which look good, but also, they're really comfortable. And all that shit about hemp.

Pitchfork: Well, you guys are big hacky sack freaks too, right?

DK: [laughs]

Tyondai Braxton: Uh...no comment.

DK: How'd you know about this?

Pitchfork: I read The FADER.

JS: Yeah, it's really fucking embarrassing, actually. He's super into hacky sack...

Pitchfork: So it's not all of you guys?

JS: God no.

DK: What's this hacky sack shit?

JS: That's the war within Battles.

DK: To clear the air, it's just Ty and I really. Ian watches. Sometimes he'll walk through, and he'll grab the hacky sack and throw it.

TB: It's funny.

Pitchfork: Is it hard with just two dudes, though?

TB: Not if you're good.

IW: Hacky sack is lame.

JS: Hacky sack is the worst of all worst... it sucks.

DK: Ty catches the hacky sack with the back of his neck, and then he tosses it up in the air and passes it over to me.

Pitchfork: So is there a secret hippie thread running through Battles?

TB: Not at all. I hate hippies... I don't hate hippies. I don't know why I said that.

DK: After you drink 13 beers in Kansas City and you go over to Iowa City and you stop at a gas station, it's a good way to get some exercise.

IW: I prefer football.

Pitchfork: American football?

IW: Yeah, good old American football. We have a football in the van too.

Pitchfork: So is it you and John squaring off in football?

IW: Yeah.

JS: It's Interpol versus Real Madrid.

DK: See, he's got the wrong fucking football.

IW: American football. Bears.

Pitchfork: Are you a Bears fan?

IW: No, Steelers.

JS: Steelers.

Pitchfork: Are you guys both Steelers fans?

IW: Yeah, we're both from Pittsburgh originally.

JS: Hardcore.

Pitchfork: Well I'm from Cincinnati, so I apologize.

IW: That's not good.

Pitchfork: But I'm not a football fan. I'm a baseball fan.

DK: Me too. What's your favorite baseball team?

Pitchfork: The Reds.

DK: Really?! Bronson Arroyo, huh? [Reaches hand out] Yankees.

Pitchfork: Okay... [shakes Konopka's hand] how do you feel about the Yankees right now?

DK: Not too psyched! [laughs]

Pitchfork: How do you feel about Roger Clemens coming back?

DK: I'm happy to see him back.

JS: [to interviewer] Isn't your most famous player [Pete Rose] a cheater and a gambler and a womanizer?

Pitchfork: No, we've also got the guy who turned into a blowhard commentator on TV, Joe Morgan.

DK: He used to coach the Red Sox.

Pitchfork: Joe Morgan?

DK: Yeah.

Pitchfork: No he didn't. He did?

DK: Yeah, back in the early 90s.

Pitchfork: Really?

DK: Yeah, yeah.

JS: Boring!

DK: I'm not sure that's true. There's another Morgan. I think the addition of Roger Clemens is good because he brings a sense of leadership to the team with a pitching staff-- you know, Mussina, Wang, Pettitte. I really think that, number one, to help the pitching staff because the pitching staff sucks this year. Or, they don't suck, but the trainer, with the pulled hamstrings and all that shit. But Philip Hughes, I think Clemens can instill some wisdom in Philip Hughes, and I think that's the real, behind-the-scenes look.

TB: I like skateboarding and fencing.

Pitchfork: Are there people to follow in skateboarding and fencing?

TB: Well, not combined. But yeah, I used to skateboard when I was young. I'm into personal sports because I could never really beat anybody in organized sports.

DK: That fencing dude, Mase, he's pretty dope.

TB: Fencing dude Mase?

JS: What about that guy Zorro?

DK: I saw Mase stick a sword like straight through a dude's face.

TB: Oh, into the mask, in the Olympics.

JS: There's a movie about that guy Zorro.

DK: Antonio Banderas plays him. Oh! I know the movie, it's with that guy, he twirls the bottles around; he's a bartender. It's Tom Hanks, and he's a bartender that plays Zorro.

JS: Wait a minute, it's on the tip of my tongue...

DK: And there was like, dancing was outlawed.

JS: ...Caddyshack.

DK: That's the one, yeah.

JS: Caddyshack with Tom Hanks.

TB: I have a video of Danny Way ollie-ing over the Great Wall of China. That's new, though. That was like last year.

Pitchfork: Really? I thought he did that a while ago.

JS: That was two years ago.

TB: Really? It might have been. I'm a fan of Matt Hensley, Sal Barbier.

Pitchfork: John, I wanted to ask you about the cymbal you have way up high.

JS: It's funny. That's all it is.

Pitchfork: It's not a philosophical, "this is unnecessary" sort of thing?

JS: It's turned into whatever, but it's kind of funny. I still think it's funny.

[Konopka reaches hand out to interviewer. Interviewer accepts, and Battles begin touching interviewer's hand and arm.]

Pitchfork: I'm being accosted by the members of Battles.

All: [laugh]

Pitchfork: Uh, so one musical question I have for you guys...

DK: Iron Butterfly.

Pitchfork: Right, that's the main inspiration...

DK: [laughs] Yeah.

Pitchfork: In-A-Gadda-Da-Battles.

JS: Has anyone ever told you that you have beautiful fingers?

Pitchfork: No.

DK: [laughs]

Pitchfork: With all the interlocking parts in your songs, what do you do when someone gets lost?

DK: We reserve an elasticity to our songs. The people can interpret that as improvising when we play a live set, but because of the tools we use to make our songs, you can't rely on the standard structure or going by measures, like, "You gotta nail it in eight," so we do rely on cues from each other.

Pitchfork: It seems like you guys need to be really locked in.

DK: Yeah.

Pitchfork: So what happens when you're not?

DK: Well you can tell when something ain't happening.

JS: It doesn't really happen that often, but when it does happen, oh you'll notice it.

DK: It's mostly a mechanical thing. There was a show that we played where I couldn't sync up to Ty's Echoplex, and it was awkward for a little bit, but John just played the drums for a while.

TB: The truth is, aside from technical difficulties, the band itself is really tight, so we can rely on our prowess to get through a song. But the machine is only one of our elements. We're not reliant on our machines.

DK: It's the age-old story of man versus machine.

JS: When the machines fail, the human takes over, and that human would be me. That's when I take over, and that's when I get the crowd pumped, while all these guys are fixing their little cords and all that shit.

Pitchfork: Is it exciting for you guys to be part of the robot future? Do you feel like you've found a way to join our eventual overlords?

DK: Actually, we're finding ways for them to join us, because the humans take precedence over the machines in Battles.

IW: We believe in a humanist future.

TB: People consider us this futuristic rock band, but I'm using pedals that I bought in high school. I'm not using state-of-the-art shit. And the laptops people misconstrue as being a really heavy portion of the music when it's really just keyboard, keyboard sounds. So it's a pretty ghetto operation that looks very technical.

DK: Some high school cafeterias have an individual pizza that you can buy, and other high school cafeterias have the Boss PS-3. [To Tyondai] Your high school sounds awesome, by the way. [laughs]

Pitchfork: So are you guys sticking around for tomorrow? Is there anything you're looking forward to?

DK: Cubs game. Alfonso Soriano.

JS: We're going to the Cubs game tomorrow.

TB: I don't think I'm going to the Cubs game, but I'm going to check out Deerhunter. I'd like to see Cat Power.

Pitchfork: De La Soul is playing.

DK: No way! We saw De La Soul at Sonar when we played there in 2005, and I'm telling you man, that was my fucking favorite live show I've seen or will ever see. So fucking good. So good.

Pitchfork: It is pretty rare that you see a good hip-hop live show.

TB: Totally.

DK: Yeah, and they kill it.

TB: Clipse brought it today, though.

JS: They brought the pain.

TB: They did. John's right.

DK: We ran into MC Hammer down on Western and North.

Pitchfork: How was that?

DK: He killed. He was bringing it, but it was at, like, a taco stand.

JS: I really don't think that a newly reformed 3rd Bass could have brought it.

DK: "Gas face given, I beg to differ." [laughs] You got the gas face!

Pitchfork: Well, that's all I've got. Thanks.

JS: Let's all... [puts hand in middle of table]

[Everybody puts their hands together in middle of table.]

JS: One, two, three...

All: Break!

Fujiya & Miyagi [Balance Stage; 4:10 p.m.]





Photos by Jason Bergman

WLUW Record Fair


Photo 1 by Joseph Mohan; photo 2 by Karra McDonald

Fans







Photos 1-3 by Joseph Mohan; photo 4 by Jason Bergman

<!--pagebreak--> Iron and Wine (with Califone's Ben Massarella) [Aluminum Stage; 5 p.m.]











Photos 1, 2, and 4 by Jason Bergman; photos 3 and 5 by Nolan Wells; photo 6 by Kathryn Yu

Interview: Sam Beam of Iron & Wine | [Interview by Paul Thompson]

Pitchfork: You're going on stage in a few minutes. Anything special planned for your set?

Sam Beam: We've been practicing all week. I have a new band, so basically it's the first time we've played. So I had to run through, learn some songs. [laughs]

Pitchfork: Have you seen any other bands today?

SB: Not so much. I watched Califone play, they're good friends, I love to watch them play. And I was watching Grizzly Bear, they're really good too. But I have my family here, so we did lunch.

Pitchfork: Are you able to stick around after your set?

SB: Yeah, I'm gonna stick around, see what Yoko has to say.

Pitchfork: I was trying to find you earlier and people kept telling me that you'd shaved your beard. I was very confused. Any plans for any radical image transformations in the near future?

SB: "Shit, how am I gonna find him?" [laughs] That would be pretty radical! That's all I've gotta do, though, right?

Pitchfork: Yeah! You've got a new album coming out, so you could do something like that and start over new.

SB: Yeah, lotta music out there, you've gotta compete.

Pitchfork: Are you excited about the new record? [The Shepherd's Dog is out September 25 on Sub Pop.]

SB: I'm excited to have new material, because it gets pretty old playing the same songs over and over again. But also I've got a new band, so that makes things fresh for me. So what's new in the Pitchfork office? Any good records lately?

Pitchfork: [laughs] Ha, uh, that new Animal Collective record's pretty good. Seems like they've been building to something, and this might be it. How about you? What have you been listening to?

SB: Honestly, I haven't heard a whole lot of good stuff. I don't have the time as much as I used to to listen to records. I listen to the Joanna Newsom record a lot this year, that was good. Somehow the Beatles records just always stays by the sink where I wash dishes and listen to records, with the Beefheart records. Oh, I did hear that Panda Bear record, I like that record, that was good. But yeah, I haven't heard a lot of new stuff. That's why I keep checking out your site!

Pitchfork: You've spent a lot of time in Chicago before, right?

SB: Yeah, I've done a lot of recording here, played a couple times. I mixed the last record here. I love it here. I've got a lot of friends, good experiences.

Professor Murder [Balance Stage; 5:15 p.m.]





Photos by Jason Bergman

Interview: Professor Murder | [Interview by Julian Hattem]

Pitchfork: Have you guys been around the festival? Seen any shows so far or anything coming up you'd like to see?

Mike Bell-Smith: We were here last night. Saw some of GZA, Sonic Youth, both totally rad. Today...

Tony Plunkett: Who's on now? Is that Grizzly Bear?

Pitchfork: Grizzly Bear's on right now, yeah.

MBS: That sounds fucking huge. But we want to see Clipse. Battles.

Pitchfork: I heard that mixtape you did with Caps & Jones: How'd that come about? Have you been in contact with them for long?

MBS: They've been friends of ours for a while, and we've always been very supportive of what they did and vice versa and they knew that we were interested in making music that maybe didn't necessarily follow a standard rock album format kind of thing. So it seemed like something they were into and we were into also, so it just made sense.

Jesse Cohen: We went into the studio and recorded-- like, we ran tape on a lot of jams. We cut them up into loops and we delivered them the loops and let them do whatever they want.

Pitchfork: I heard this rumor, and I don't know if it's ridiculous, but Tony, that you were asked to play for the John Mayer Trio.

TP: [laughs] Yeah, I got to get that off. That's on Wikipedia.

Pitchfork: Not true at all?

TP: No, I think John Mayer is looking for a bassist who can probably play without looking at the frets [laughs]. I don't know, maybe not.

Pitchfork: You coming back tomorrow too?

JC: I'm not.

Pitchfork: You heading back to New York?

JC: I'm actually driving up to Madison with my girlfriend because we're using this as a vacation. I wanted to come tomorrow but we've got to go see her aunt and stuff. I don't, I'm really excited about this and other things. What else can we talk about with Professor Murder? Oh, we're playing tonight-- an after-party at the Hideout. This didn't really make it into the paper-- Professor Murder's not playing, but a side project called King Oppression. And that's like a live hip-hop cover band for Professor Murder that plays Professor Murder songs over rap and dancehall beats that we like.

Pitchfork: Any beats I would know about?

MBS: We do some of the "85 Riddim", which was the one [in] "Ghetto Story" by Baby Cham, "Chinkuzi Riddim", we put that on the internet, that was an mp3 that was around a little bit.

Pitchfork: Are all of you in King Oppression?

MBS: I think, I don't know. Andy, are you going to play tonight?

Andy Craven: I think I'm going to sit out tonight.

MBS: He might be our Professor Griff. He's just going to stand in the back. He's going to videotape and dance. Like that guy-- I want to be the guy in the GZA crew who just does that [laughs].

Pitchfork: The white dude in the GZA t-shirt in back?

MBS: He videotaped for like half the set and the rest of the time he was checking his phone.

JC: And who are you excited to see?

Pitchfork: I'm excited to see Battles, Clipse I'm looking forward to. I think Yoko will be interesting.

JC: Yoko Ono was like...I work with people who were like, "Where you going this weekend?" Because I'm an archivist, I work in a library, with a lot of older people. And I was like, "Well I'm playing a music festival," and they were like, "Oh, cool, what kind of festival?" I was like, "Well, Yoko Ono is headlining." And they all know Yoko Ono-- better to say her, I don't think I could explain who anyone else that we're playing with is. But they heard Yoko Ono and it was like, "Oh, this is an actual legitimate thing." [laughs] We're not going to Chicago to play a dance bill with, like, nine bands and it's a pay as you go or whatever show. They made the point that it's a real thing.

MBS: But that would be fine.

JC: That would be fine, yeah; it was like last time we went out on the road...

MBS: They didn't know Deerhunter? [laughs] They're like, "Are they gonna play that new shit?" Spiderland, come on, that's so old [laughs].

Festival Emcees Tim Tuten and Damon Locks [not pictured: Kid Sister]



Photos by Joseph Mohan

Mastodon [Connector Stage; 6 p.m.]











Photos 1-3 and 6 by Jason Bergman; photos 4 and 5 by Joseph Mohan

Interview: Troy Sanders of Mastodon | [Interview by Dave Maher]

Pitchfork: Just from seeing pictures of you guys, I thought [guitarist] Brent [Hinds] would be the most savage member of the band, mostly because of his face tattoo. But after seeing your show, I think it might be you. Do you practice making faces or moves in the mirror?

Troy Sanders: No, not at all. Our music and our live show and everything that we embody is basically just every emotion under the sun that we bottle up and channel out through our music. Off the stage, we're four quite normal goofballs. Our music and our stage show is very intense; it's very demanding. But it's basically because we choose to write this type of music that embodies everything dark and deep and brutal about life that we encounter, which are the same things everyone else encounters. We just take all this, and we channel it through what we call Mastodon.

That's why it's like, "Why do you guys scream all the time and play this brutal music that you want to kill yourself to?" It's like, "Well, we don't intend to do that. This is our art form. This is our outlet." If we didn't have this outlet, we would probably be even more disturbed.

But Brent is a savage beast. It depends on what kind of show [it is]. This art form of touring conjures different emotions every single day. I was up there having a great time, glad to be here in front of 10,000 people under the sun. I've had a great weekend, a great year. And it sounded okay to me on stage. It felt good. I was just going for it, getting it all out, sweating out all the bad stuff.

Pitchfork: I saw that your daughter was here. Is she a fan of the band?

TS: Oh yeah. She knows all the song titles; she knows our set list. She's been in two of our videos. She tours with us, small spurts here and there.

Pitchfork: Are you the only member of the band without any tattoos?

TS: Uh... visible, yeah. I'm a freak.

Pitchfork: So I heard you guys went to the restaurant Kuma's Corner last night, right?

TS: I went there last time we played Chicago. The rest of my dudes went there last night.

Pitchfork: So you didn't go last night?

TS: I did not go last night. But I have been there before, and it was delicious.

Pitchfork: They have a burger named after you guys.

TS: I ate it. It was amazing. I really enjoyed it. I felt bizarre ordering my own sandwich, but I figure if your band gets to the point where you have a sandwich named after you, you've done something right. Everybody wants to grow up and be a sandwich.

Pitchfork: What does the Mastodon burger consist of?

TS: You have your choice of meat burger, chicken breast, or veggie patty. It really caters to everyone. I went with the chicken, because I just wanted to try it. It comes on a pretzel roll, which is like half pretzel, half bun. It's amazing; I had never had one before. And the condiments were bacon, barbecue sauce, cheddar, and frizzled onions. Next time I go, I'm going to get the Neurosis burger. They've got the Neurosis burger, the Mastodon burger, the Maiden melt, the Slayer sandwich.

Pitchfork: You guys met Metallica recently, right?

TS: Yeah, we just met them on Sunday.

Pitchfork: And you've played with Slayer?

TS: Oh we've played over 150 shows with Slayer.

Pitchfork: What's it like meeting those dudes?

TS: We're friends, like, "Hey Tom [Araya], what's up?" "Hey Troy."

Pitchfork: Is that weird?

TS: It was at first, man, because those are the people [whose music] I grew up with, but now we're on a first-name basis with them. We've done six tours, over 150 shows.

Pitchfork: What about the guys in Metallica?

TS: They're cool as hell. They told us to keep flying the flag.

Pitchfork: So the torch was passed.

TS: It's not necessarily that the torch was passed, but a piece of the torch was passed. And those guys had heard of our band before. They get to pick their opening bands. They were on stage watching us for the three shows we did last week, and I'll tell ya, that's a little nervous, man. I would not be here today if Metallica didn't exist, and now they're on stage watching our band and then we're hanging out drinking with Lars until four in the morning.

Oxford Collapse [Balance Stage; 6:15 p.m.]






Photos by Karra McDonald

Vendors



Photo 1 by Kathryn Yu; photo 2 by Joseph Mohan

Clipse [Aluminum Stage; 7 p.m.]













Photos 1-3 by Jason Bergman; photos 4-7 by Nolan Wells

Fans





Photos 1 and 2 by Joseph Mohan; photo 3 by Jason Bergman

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Dan Deacon [Balance Stage; 7:15 p.m.]










Photos 1 and 2 by Kathryn Yu; photos 3 and 4 by Jason Bergman; photo 5 by Karra McDonald; photo 6 by Joseph Mohan

Interview: Dan Deacon | [Interview by Tyler Grisham]

Dan Deacon: Things have gotten so weird for me over the past year. So much has changed in my life.

Pitchfork: Like, getting popular?

DD: Yeah [laughs], it's weird. It's been slowly happening, over the past few years. Like, people have seemed into it, crowds grow bigger. That's something I miss: the community aspects of my shows. I would go to towns and see the same people, plus new people, but everyone seemed to know each other. And I still see those same people at shows, but it's just weird.

[Just before our interview, we were interrupted by Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox, who told us that nobody could stop talking about Dan Deacon's abbreviated set the day before, and that he had "stolen the weekend."]

Pitchfork: How do you react to the statement that you stole the weekend?

DD: Well, the weekend's not even over yet. But I'm flattered that anyone would think that. I was going up against Clipse, so I was really nervous that anyone would even be there, and the fact that the space was over capacity, it was a little daunting. I never really stand up on anything during my shows, but I thought, there's going to be a lot of people there; I think people would probably be disappointed if they didn't get to see. So I stood up on this box and the crowd just went so far back, it was just insane. It just felt really cool.

Pitchfork: What song did we miss yesterday? [Deacon's set was cut short because of safety concerns.]

DD: "Wham City".

Pitchfork: I figured. Did you bring the whole crew for the choir?

DD: Yeah. Not the original, I couldn't get the bus for the originals. I made these huge blow-ups of the lyrics for the crowd, and I think 500 lyric sheets. That's why I was most bummed. It would have been the piece that most involved the audience, especially the people who couldn't see, because they would have had the lyric sheets and heard the other people singing the rhymes, and I was really looking forward to hearing that many people, when everything drops and it's just the chanting part. I was really looking forward to that. I was going to open with that, but I thought opening with a 12-minute epic might not be the best idea [laughs].

Pitchfork: What's the biggest crowd you've ever played?

DD: That was definitely the largest crowd, certainly. I mean, I usually play houses and basements and stuff. If there were a basement that large... well, it would be turned into condos [laughs].

Pitchfork: What are you most excited to see at the festival?

DD: I've never really heard Klaxons, but I've just heard so much about them. I'm really looking forward to that.

Pitchfork: What have been your favorite shows so far?

DD: I really enjoyed watching Deerhunter. And Girl Talk-- although I had just gotten forcibly removed from the stage-- I was in the back, and it was crazy. It made me really excited for our upcoming tour. We have a seven-inch coming out, which we're not sure if it's going to be a complete collaboration or a partial collaboration, but we were talking about doing it here: having our sets blend together, like, at the end of my set go right into his set, but...we obviously didn't do that. I don't know if we're going to do that on the tour. I really like starting and ending a set, and you know, Greg [Gillis] has a very definitive introduction to his music, sort of the game show host coming out in his suit to the music, it's amazing. But I think we can come up with something that can match the theatrics that both of us currently have, and mix the floor and the stage.

Something that, as an artist, I've been involved with for a long time, has been recontextualizing show spaces and trying to turn them into a different space. Part of the fun is going to a space where you don't know anything about it and saying, "How am I going to make it not this...brewery. How are people going to be like, "I didn't go see this show at a brewery, I went and I saw this...thing." You know what I mean? Context is so important. So many rap clubs and bars, especially, are just disgusting. And I think that's a big reason why we started [Baltimore venue] Wham City, just to see shows in an environment that you want to be in.

 

"Chic-A-Go-Go"'s Ratso and Miss Mia interview the Ice Cream Man

Photo by Jason Bergman

Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues [Connector Stage; 8 p.m.]




Photos 1 and 2 by Kathryn Yu; photos 3 and 4 by Jana Green

Girl Talk [Balance Stage; 8:30 p.m.]









Photos 1 and 5 by Jason Bergman; photos 2-4 by Joseph Mohan

Interview: Gregg Gillis of Girl Talk | [Interview by Paul Thompson]

Pitchfork: What's going on?

Gregg Gillis: Nothin'! Just trying to maintain myself. I have a 5:30 AM flight, and I have to make it there, so it's all about relaxing until 10 or 12 PM and then unleashing and staying up all night. It's tough, 'cause there's so many fun things to do. Drinking all day doesn't work for me 'cause I just fall asleep.

Pitchfork: I've seen you wandering around quite a bit today. Seen anything really great?

GG: Cool Kids! I'd never heard them before, just heard about them. That was great. And Jamie Lidell, who I've been a fan of since his IDM days. I've never seen him before, so that was great, too. That's all I've seen. I'm excited to check out a little Of Montreal, and De La Soul I've never seen either, so I'm ultra pumped.

Pitchfork: Yeah, you're doing that Of Montreal remix. I know you played a little bit of it last night, mixed with Rick Ross.

GG: They just gave me the tracks last Wednesday or something like that. The song I'm doing ["Gronlandic Edit"] is just unbelievable, the vocal layerings. There's like 17 vocal tracks in the multitrack mix they gave me. So it's really cool on a nerd level to mess around, just to hear it, you know? I really like cutting up the vocals, the harmonics, cutting it up and using the vocals as an instrument.

Pitchfork: Are there songs on the radio that, when you hear them, you're starting to think about what you'll do with them?

GG: Yeah, I mean, some songs I like more than others, but all of the big hits I really like. It seems like once a month there's a Southern rap dance track that's just addictively catchy. I love the simplicity of a lot of it, it works really well for me. Simple vocals-- rhythmically and content-wise-- make it a lot easier on me. Like, I love the new UGK song. "Int'l Players Anthem" is my favorite rap song of the year probably, and I actually played a little bit of it last night. But that's a wonderful song that doesn't 100% mix in with the sets. It happens.

Pitchfork: It seemed nice and loose yesterday.

GG: Last night was actually a fairly experimental set for me, 'cause there were a lot of complications with too many people and then shutting it down. And I thought I had to end about 20 minutes earlier than I did, so I kind of jumped to the end of my set as fast as possible and then started going backwards. I normally have a set that I practice, but last night was actually more of a freestyle session, more so than almost any show I've ever done.

Pitchfork: I kinda got that vibe. It was really good though. You mentioned the potential shutdown-- is it hard to be the artist looking out for people's safety but also trying to get bodies moving?

GG: Yeah. Last night was pretty much a nightmare on that end of things. Everyone is here to have a party and get crazy, and it's my job to do that. Yeah, it is tough, but my favorite shows are where you're approaching chaos. If it's too much for the venue, you know it's awesome. Dan Deacon was the same way before me; complete chaos, but it was amazing. There's so many shows you go see where everyone's so busy not having a good time that it's amazing when so many young people will come together with too much energy for the event. It's great.

Water Supply

Photo by Joseph Mohan 

Yoko Ono (with special guest Thurston Moore) [Aluminum Stage; 9 p.m.]














Photos 1 and 2 by Kathryn Yu; photos 3-5 by Akmal Naim; photos 6 and 8 by Jana Green; photo 7.1 by Leigh Ann Hines; photo 7.2 by Nolan Wells