Headlights

BRM has done it again. We've hunted down, captured and documented the most innovative and exciting artists to recently emerge on a number of different scenes. All month long we’ll be running interviews with our discoveries to help get you ready for what’s to come in 2010. But to get a complete look at our full list of emerging artists, check out our current winter issue.

Headlights are the kind of indie-pop band you could just hang out with endlessly — and at any given time and any given place. And that's sort of what happened when I met with them during the week of the CMJ invasion in New York City. Initially, the plan was to sit comfortably in a coffee shop in the Village for the interview, but of course an 8-person tour van isn't the easiest thing to park, especially in the Big Apple, and especially downtown.

So, I hopped into the van and we — Tristan (guitar/vocals), Erin (vocals/keyboard), Nick (bass), Brett (drums), and I (über cool BRM journalist) — drove around the Washington Square Park area a couple of times desperately looking for any little nook and cranny that we could squeeze into, while talking about the "rookie mistake" of bringing coolers on long road trips (as they never last too long and gallons of milk will inevitably curdle while on tour and your friends will probably be appalled at the gut-wrenching stench of the van), the fun in keeping a tambourine up on the dashboard (many a song can be made while going over bumpy roads), and the parking advantages that official diplomats get.

By the time we had snuck into a tiny space by a Muni-Meter along 10th Street and 6th Avenue, this is what the conversation looked like:

Tristan: I can't imagine that a parking pass is that difficult to forge. Like if you're really artistic and do layouts and things like that...

Nick: I bet you we can make it happen. If you can get me a picture of a real one, we can definitely make that shit happen. And you know, if you're in New York and you make something that looks official-ish and put a stamp on it, along with some fake expiration dates and stuff, you're probably not going to get a ticket!

On and off stage, clearly these guys are a bundle of good fun. Their most recent release, Wildlife on Polyvinyl Records, is pretty darn good, too. Read on to learn a variety of things: some are serious — like the story behind losing a fifth member, and some are just plain silly — like what it's like to get inebriated with the Polyvinyl folks.

BRM: So, despite the fact that it's crazy CMJ chaos week right now, you guys have got the day off tomorrow. Any big plans?

Tristan: You know, when you're on tour, on your day off you don't want to go to a rock show.

What do you want to do?

Tristan: Get some dinner, have some fun!

Nick: Do some laundry!

So switching gears and looking at Wildlife, can you talk about what happened within the band during the recording process? I heard there were some lineup changes...

Tristan: We had a fifth member who had done a lot of touring with us and he's a really awesome guy and we love him and he's a great musician, but when you're touring, it's one thing because you work with the parts that are given to you. But when you're working creatively, it's a different story, and there were very different expectations of each other. We definitely clashed and butted heads, but then he got married and moved to San Francisco so that sort of worked itself out [laughs].

We had a rough time because we were all in sort of different places of life panic and he was really in a life panic. We were having a really hard time getting along, and then we had gone to Europe and had a really exhausting tour there. And we kind of came home and were just too worn out and pissed off to deal with things in any other way. So we decided on and said, "These songs are working, these songs are not, so chuck 'em..." It became more of an arduous long process than we thought, of course we were also dealing with some personal family issues, too.

The whole record kind of worked in this therapeutic way. We had this weight lifted off our shoulders, no longer having to deal with this guy who was clearly not working out. I think that we went from having a much more poppy, more sugary record to having a darker, more brooding record. And I think that was on purpose, but also magically coincidental.

Was there a lot of stuff that was hard to let go of?

Tristan: You know, we still have a lot of material from those sessions and we might dig back into them and see what's left.

Erin: And we didn't scrap stuff because we had done it with John. Actually there's a lot of stuff on the record that he was involved in. It was mostly just... when halfway through the recording session someone leaves, it gives you the opportunity to think, "Okay, where are we going with this record? What do we want to keep from the first half and where do we want to go for the second half?" I don't think we let go of anything unless we really wanted to.

Tristan: I mean you work on 20 songs over a few months...at the end of the day, you group some songs that just make sense together, and some just obviously didn't [make sense] for this record, even though they are good songs. It wasn't like, "John's gone let’s get all of his shit out of here!" [laughs]

Erin: I mean, usually all band members stay through the whole recording process, so the situation really provided an interesting reflection point.

Disruptive, yet reflective at the same time...

Tristan: Yeah, I mean at the time it was really a pain in the ass and we were really stressed out about it. But like Erin said, at the end of the day, it gave us a chance to really evaluate where we were and what we wanted to put out and what we wanted to be doing.

What sort of conclusions did you come up with?

Tristan: Hmm. You can only compromise so much when you're trying to create something. But some would argue that any compromise is too much, like if you have a vision for something you should follow through with that vision and not worry about anything other than doing that.

Are there any songs that you think really embody that whole reflection period?

Tristan: "Teenage Wonder," maybe. I don't know...

Nick: It's hard to pick one song. It was such a long process, stopping and starting. There never really were places where I could be like, "This is the point where we were feeling this way!"

Tristan: One of the songs we wrote after John had left was "You and Eye." That was sort of one where we were all in our practice space and it kind of materialized out of thin air, and I think we all kind of gravitated toward that sound. I think that song, for us, or at least for me, looks like a direction I'd like us to pursue.

How long did the actual recording process take?

Tristan: Too fucking long! Two months! Gimme two weeks.

Erin: I'm actually really looking forward to recording again and having it be a clean slate.

What contemporary bands were you listening to during that time?

Tristan: I have a hard time listening to a lot of contemporary music when I'm trying to write or record. You can accidentally rip shit off easily! We are always influenced by what we hear.

Nick: I find it very difficult listening to music because you spend all day trying to make your own. The last thing you want to do when you get home is listen to more music.

Tristan: You kind of just want to read a book!

Nick: Or actually I sometimes find myself listening to the polar opposite of what we sound like. I think I almost listen exclusively to hip-hop and weird electronic stuff, because I couldn't record all day and then go home and…

And listen to your own records! [laughs]

Band: Yes! [laughs]

Erin: Exactly —more of us! More of me! [laughs]

What's the writing process like for you guys — or has it evolved with the changing of band members?

Tristan: Well, I write songs and Erin writes songs, and we try to demo and put it all together. But Erin is much more prolific than I am.

Have you reached your peak? [laughs]

Tristan: Oh yes, it's all downhill now.

Erin: My theory is...I like to make myself sit down and finish through an idea, and hope that one out of five is something I'm really into.

Tristan: You're much more disciplined about writing. I live with her so I know. [laughs]

Erin: Tristan just has these weekend bursts, and I'm mostly just banging on the piano all the time.

So it's complementary? You're like, "Tristan! Sit down..."

Tristan: and I'm all "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" [laughs]

Erin: I'm like, "Do you wanna work on songwriting?" and he's all, "NO!" [laughs]

What would you say is the difference between Some Racing, Some Stopping and Wildlife?

Tristan: This is the first record we wrote with Nick. Our last record was just Brett, Erin, and I. When we wrote it that way, it was difficult without a bass player to really flesh out our songs before recording anything. There is more of a live energy on this one than the previous one, which was more of a cozy affair.

It's all you, Nick. [points]

Tristan: It's all you homeboy!

For some reason, I'm starting to blank out on questions. Do you have anything you want to talk about?

Tristan: Let's talk about free trade.

Hmm. Okay. Are you guys excited to be playing on Friday [the Polyvinyl CMJ Showcase]?

Tristan: The people at Polyvinyl are crazy cats and they will bring it hard! And... we will probably be hungover the next morning. But we also have a delicate acoustic performance the next morning!

Erin: Yes, very delicate. We must be very delicate.

Is it hard to be? Is there is no delicacy to Headlights?

Tristan: Well, I'm not the most gifted singer and I have to really work to make it happen, and if I'm trying to not fucking throw up... it's really tricky. [laughs]

Erin: Singing in the morning even when you're not hungover is tough — your vocal chords have barely been able to warm up!

Words by M.Geslani

Photo by Kyle Timlin

myspace.com/headlights