Tell Me Where You’ve Been, Boy: An Interview with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

A Parallel Planets piece by Kannika Pena

or: Sure, I Love their Songs, But I  Also Have a Longer Explanation 

That Does Justice to their Band Name

But first, a confessional on my love for this band, and then an interview:

I missed out on a lot when I was a child. Not because I was too sheltered or we didn’t have money or anything dramatic like that.  As a child, I was the odd combination of shy, unfiltered, and self-aware.  I suppose all children are, at some point, but I sort of never got over that.  As such, I never really enjoyed being part of all the action - I was always just content to observe, and then watch things unravel and reveal just how tragicomic the world is/was.  And so I missed out on all the adventures that people my age seemed to be having with their friends.  And that’s it - I missed out on having a “crew” of friends whom I could just go hang out with for no reason.  I never had that ‘sneak out of the house in the middle of the night to go and look for fun’ type of experience with people. I was always conscious of running my mouth and saying the wrong things and hearing the wrong things I said play in my head over and over again, and so it was always hard for me to talk with people (today, it still is).  

But what does that have to do with my love for Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin?

original photo by Shay Rainey

(Now, I’m trying very hard to condense how it feels for me when I listen to their songs.)

It has nothing to do with one specific aspect of their music.  On a surface level, I love their hooks, the playfulness of their songs (“Think I Wanna Die” from Pershing is so fun, funny and yet so endearing and not at all mocking - it’s more self-deprecating, if anything, about how we jump to hyperbole about our emotions all the time), the sweetness of Philip Dickey’s voice, the unexpected turn of phrases in some of their lyrics, and many more. I suppose in some way that’s just to say I enjoy their pop songs.  I love that their songs are earnest and not at all trying to be cool.  

And then there’s the feeling I get from their tunes, especially when I play an album like Broom, their first record, in order and on loop.  It isn’t that they take me back.  Maybe it is as if they allow me to imagine a more carefree past for myself.  Their songs sound familiar to me, like I’ve always known them - not like they’re derivative or anything - but more like childhood friendships, which I never really had.  Their songs sound like what I imagine it would've felt like to be those kids that I watched having fun, taking chances, and making memories.

Now, it’s 2015, my favorite pop band is back with The High Country, which, from the preview and the first song “Step Brother City” sounds more raw and edgier than 2013’s Fly by Wire.   Right now, I feel so joyful, like, hey, my friends are back in town!  I asked Philip Dickey, vocalist-guitarist-drummer and Will Knauer, guitarist-and-now-vocalist a few questions, and they were kind enough to humour even on the weird ones.

Fly By Wire came out in 2013 and saw the departure of John Robert (Cardwell, who shared vocal duties before with Phil, and played bass and guitar as well) left the band in 2013. What has changed since then?

Will:

Well I had to start singing, which is arguably the riskiest move we've ever made.  Jury still out on this one.  A lot and not much has changed...it's hard to explain to be honest.  We are still doing what we love, but just with a slightly different line up now.

Not that it would make a difference,  but “Unearth” was my favourite off of Fly by Wire.

Will:

Thanks!  “Unearth” is such a weird one, came out a lot different that I had first imagined so 
glad you like it! 

Whatever happened to the video documentary about your trip to Russia?

Phil:

Our friend Brook Linder (the director) made a really cool trailer for it. Then he moved to Los Angeles and we had to go on tour. So we never got around to finishing the movie. I hope we'll get to work on it someday. We shot some pretty crazy footage in Russia. 

Describe the process involved in the making of this new album. 

Will:

One of our most raw and driving attempts at making an album.  After 2 months of trying to put these songs together in early 2014, we set everything aside and then made plans to record at a studio.  This forced us into a bootcamp-like scenario where we had to practice almost everyday in the one month we had until going to the studio.  We practiced the songs live, then went in to the studio and recorded them live, and finally added vocals and additional instruments.  When compared to Fly By Wire, where we hadn't even played the songs together before we started recording them, this is a stark contrast and will make for a perfect compliment in our discography. 

Who shot the footages for the preview? You always make such awesome preview videos!  Will you ever release like a "behind the scenes" video for this new record?

Phil:

Thanks! I shot most of it on my phone. We made one of our friends (Nathan) go to the studio with us so he we could hang out and have fun. I made him take some videos when we were recording. Will shot some footage too, but he lost his camera. Some random person in New York has all our whole album and studio footage on a stolen iPod touch. They probably deleted it to have extra storage.

I have a couple more videos, including a Nirvana cover that I'll try to post out someday. I don't think we have enough footage for a full behind the scenes movie.

Congrats on your cute baby boy! Any chance of creating a lullaby album? Or maybe a whole album featuring songs like “Phantomwise" and “The Clod and the Pebble” (songs based on poems and other literary stuff)? Are there any other poems that you would want to turn into songs.

Phil:

Thanks! I never thought about doing a lullaby album. I think I'd like to do punk versions of songs like "The Wheels On the Bus" and "The More We Get Together." I play piano and acoustic guitar for him all the time, but I haven't been recording anything yet. 

Haven't thought of any good poem songs in a while. But I'd like to try it again someday. I really like this poem that was in the New Yorker a few weeks ago. 

Speaking of being a new father: I know that if I ever become a parent, I have a list of things that I will want my kids to be into at a younger age - like Hayao Miyazaki movies, Judy Blume novels, pop-up books, and of course, your music.  What are the top 5 things that you missed out on in childhood that you would want your child to be into as a kid?

Phil:

Wow! That's the deepest question I've ever been asked.  I'll just say the first 5 things that pop into my head.

1.  Jonathan Richman. He's one of my favorite songwriters.

2. Go to more art museums. 

3. Climb more mountains and find more waterfalls. 

4. Comic books. 

5. Learning about other cultures and languages. 

How did the Wes Anderson tribute album, I Saved Latin, come about? (PS: I love Rushmore - and your cover was awesome!)

Phil: 

Thanks! We were contacted by a record label on the East Coast. They said we could choose any song and we happened to be the only band that picked an instrumental. My sister chose the song because she's a huge Mark Mothersbaugh fan and she's really good at piano.

In your discography, what song do you think would best fit a Wes Anderson movie, and what movie would it be, specifically?

Phil:

We have a new song on our new album called “Madeline”. I think it has a Nico/Velvet Underground vibe. I think it could fit in Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums. 

With 5 full-length albums under your belt, what have you all learned about yourselves as a band? 

Will:

Ummmm I've learned that we:

- got lucky

- soared at the perfect altitude as a band to avoid overly negative backlash, as well as overexposure and collapse

- stayed true to ourselves

- still don't know how to act or look cool

Are there still things you would want to do as a band that you haven't done yet?

Will:

I want to play on a good late night talk show. 

You make such awesome covers, so maybe you'd be thrilled to have a favorite artist of yours cover one of your songs, right?  So now, choose a song each from your records, and then choose an artist that you would wish to cover each song, and tell us why.

Phil:

Cool question. 

Broom: “Oregon Girl” cover by Tony Molina. He sounds like Weezer and Thin Lizzy. I think he would do a rad guitar solo. 

Pershing: “Dead Right” cover by A Great Big Pile of Leaves. We toured with them and I remember they really liked Dead Right for some reason. They come up with crazy guitar parts and rhythms. I'd like to hear what they could come up with.

Let It Sway: “Animalkind" cover by Phoenix. Always thought this had a Phoenix vibe. They'd probably make it way synthier. 

Tape Club: “Yellow Missing Signs” cover by Depeche Mode in 1982. It would be way sexier. 

Fly By Wire: “Lucky Young” cover by Free Energy. I think they could make it sound like a 70s song in a good way.

The High Country: “Trevor Forever” cover by Nirvana. We recorded this in the studio where they recorded Bleach. We kinda modeled it after “Territorial Pissings" and “Drain You”.

***

Guys, I want you to meet your new friends, SSLYBY: Phil, Will, Jonathan, and Tom.  Their new record, The High Country is available for pre-order at Polyvinyl Records and comes out on June 2, 2015.

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