Crib Notes

The Andalusians craft a sound that is more akin to the Pixies, Throwing Muses and the freewheeling alternative rock of late night MTV circa 1989 than any of their Dischord Records peers. The group is the main vehicle for songwriter Basla Andolsun, and her debut “Do the Work” 7-inch is out this month on Dischord Records.

There is sharp and womanly punk fire implied between the lines of songs on the three-song 7″ (+3 MP3s) such as “Do the Work” and “Religion,” and the gut-wrenching hooks — specifically in “Do the Work” — go straight to the pleasure centers of the brain. The band wields a sense of chemistry that’s casual, and vocalist/guitarist Andolsun pushes the art of pop song writing to a place that is distinctively her own, and that is delivered with subtlety and poise.

The Andalusians play at WonderRoot on Thurs., Feb. 12th.

You are the main songwriter behind the Andalusians, correct?
Yes. Generally the song writing process for the Andalusians is that I’ll have an idea and mess around with it for a while on my own. A lot of times I’ll use my 4-Track to lay down the basic idea. I usually put guitar, bass and vocals on it. I’m a bass player first and foremost although I mainly play guitar in this band. Consequently a lot of my song ideas start with a bass line, although sometimes I’ll start off with a vocal melody that’s been running through my head, or I’ll stumble across something that I think sounds cool on guitar and build a song around that. After I have the skeleton of the song down I’ll play it for my band mates and they’ll help me flesh it out until we’re all happy.

How does your role in this band differ from what you did with Beauty Pill?
I joined Beauty Pill after my old band Del Cielo recorded at Silver Sonya with Chad Clark. I had never heard Beauty Pill (or any of Chad’s music at that point) but he played me the Cigarette Girl From The Future EP and I was really into it. A few months later their bass player quit and they asked me to join.

Beauty Pill was actually a model for me for how I wanted to organize the Andalusians. I work well when there’s an established band leader. In Del Cielo Andrea was clearly the main song writer, in Beauty Pill Chad is, in Edie Sedgwick Justin is, and in the Andalusians I am. In theory I actually think having two or more people as the main creative force is ideal. It causes creative tension that often serves to strengthen the songs. When you have a couple of people who come from different places introducing ideas and putting a check on each other it can make for stronger music. The problem for me is that I don’t like hashing things out like that. I’m pretty non-confrontational and really dislike arguments, even productive ones. I’ll almost always defer to the other person to avoid confrontation. Being the clear band leader makes it possible for me to express my ideas and see them through as I envision them. That being said I have a tremendous amount of respect for my band mates, so when they make suggestions I listen.

“Do the Work” MP3

Who is playing in the group for the current tour and what are they playing?
Kristin Forbes is playing bass mainly, although we do a guitar/bass swap for a few songs, and Sammy Ponzar is playing drums. The original idea of the Andalusians was that I’d play with a rotating cast of people. That was partly because everyone I know plays in at least two or three bands and it’s hard to get people to make a significant time commitment. That way I could play shows/tour with whomever was available. I started playing with Kristin Forbes and Sammy Ponzar with the idea that they’d be part of my rotating crew. As time went on though, I fell into having them as my main line-up. We match up really well musically, and while both of them are in other bands they always make time for the Andalusians. It’s great feeling like I’m not twisting anyone’s arm to get them to come to practice.

Can you tell me about the decision to press a three-song 7″ and include additional songs for download? It makes me wonder about the environmental benefits, the technological benefits and the financial realities of it all…
Sure. It wasn’t my intention to make it a 7″. I was getting really antsy to record some of the songs we had been working on and booked some studio time with a friend of ours. I wasn’t sure what I would do with the songs, although I figured at least we’d have something to put up online. Actually, originally I was thinking it would be cool environmentally to just put them up online. After we recorded them I was really excited about how they turned out and I gave Ian [MacKaye] (my boss at Dischord) a copy. He was into them too and offered to put them out on Dischord. It’s pretty hard to turn down an offer like that.

It was Ian’s idea to do it as a 7″. He thought it would be a good idea to do it on vinyl, and pressing an EP would have been too expensive. Plus, having an extra three songs to give as bonus tracks is pretty cool. Dischord started offering a free digital download with the purchase of every vinyl release on the label recently when you order directly from us. As a result more and more people are buying vinyl from us as opposed to CD’s. Vinyl’s cool, because you get the big art and the warm sound. It’s also just kind of neat having something so physical and interactive. Listening to a 7″ is a very intentional act. You don’t have to flip over a CD or a MP3, you can just put it on as background noise and forget about it. But if you’re listening to a 7″ it’s somewhat of a commitment. It almost forces you to pay attention. I think that’s why you have people who are so loyal to vinyl as a format. It’s almost a statement about their commitment to music. On the other hand, I consider myself to be a music lover and I don’t always want to have to get up and flip a record over. Sometimes I want to listen to something while I’m cooking or at work or in the car or outside, and having a MP3 download makes that possible. You get the best of both worlds.

Do you have a favorite songs on the single?
I like each of the songs for a different reason, but I put “Do the Work” as the title track because I thought it had really good energy. I was listening to a lot of Otis Redding when I wrote that song, so hopefully some of that vibe comes through. Some songs are a struggle for me, but that one I literally wrote in a dream. I woke up and grabbed my bass and recorded it with a little tape recorder I keep by my bed. Fleshing it out with guitar and voice was a total pleasure. Writing songs is like putting a puzzle together, and on that one each of the pieces just seemed to fit. It was really satisfying. My only regret is that I didn’t find someone to put horns on it. I always hear horns during the chorus. I’d love to do that live some day.

There is a certain weight that comes along with a band that has Dischord’s name attached to it. Do you feel any unfair expectations are placed on you because you are working with a label that has such a rich history? … and on the flipside, do you think that you receive more attention because you are working with Dischord?
I haven’t felt that pressure yet, but we’re also really new to the label. The official release date for our 7″ is February 16. I know with Beauty Pill we don’t fit the aesthetic some people have in mind when they think about Dischord, which can be a drag. Dischord’s been a label since 1981, and in that time it’s put out a lot of different sounding music from Lungfish to Autoclave to Faraquet to Antelope. The iconic Dischord records are the early hardcore ones though, so that’s the reference point for a lot of people. If people are expecting a hardcore record they’ll be disappointed. I like a lot of bands from that era like Minor Threat and Bad Brains and Black Flag, but I also like Bill Withers and the Talking Heads and Fela Kuti and James Brown, and hopefully all of those influences are coming through.

The Andalusians play WonderRoot Thurs., Feb 12th with the Wild and Paper Knives. $?. 8 p.m. 982 Memorial Dr. 404-254-5955.

(Photo by Nestor Diaz)

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Tags: Chad Clark, Del Cielo, Dischord Records, Eddie Sedgwick, Ian MacKaye, Minor Threat, Silver Sonia, the Andalusians, Washington D.C. Beauty Pill.