Pitchfork: Gang Gang Dance's DeGraw Talks Album, EP, Films

Gang Gang Dance's DeGraw Talks Album, EP, Films

Last time Pitchfork chatted with Gang Gang Dance's Brian DeGraw, he was filling us in on how his Gang's powers transcend those of a mere band-- and mulling over some appropriately ambitious extra-musical activities for the bunch: plays, restaurants, automobile design, and a freaking gorilla sanctuary, to name a few.

DeGraw and company haven't ruled anything out yet, but from the sound of it, the Gang is going to stick to a certain tried-and-true pursuit for the time being, one popularized by more conventional bands. They're going to release some records.

"We're just too busy right now," DeGraw told Pitchfork last week. "We're really still working on the record."

That record, the follow-up to 2005's God's Money, won't reach completion for a little while though, as GGD have "about six hours' worth of material" to sort through.

"We record all our practices," said DeGraw. "[We] then go back and listen to the tapes, pick out some parts, and then compose new songs using all these different parts stuck together. So when we're recording we'll do the same thing: we'll roll tape for a few hours and just improvise, then pick out all these really sweet spots and try to make them into something."

This reductive approach of course leaves many enticing musical paths untrodden, but Gang Gang Dance hope to try a few of them on an as-yet-untitled EP that will proceed the album. "We have all this extra stuff...so we figured we'd just take some of the stuff we knew we weren't going to use on the album and just put it out." The Social Registry will deliver that EP Stateside, while Young Turks will serve it up in the UK.

"Sound-wise," offered DeGraw, the album is "going to sound like a Gang Gang record. I think it's maybe just a lot tighter, [with] less improvisation and more composed songs."

The percussion-heavy band has a new weapon in its arsenal now too: a sequencer. "Recently in practices," said DeGraw, "I'll just throw some drum pattern on for fun; then we start realizing that we're really into it. Tim [Dewitt] started stepping out from behind the kit and just grabbing a mic, and it's sounding pretty interesting. I think it might become a big thing in the future for us, using less drums and more drum machines."

Dewitt, as DeGraw added, is "actually a really great singer-- but he never does it! So I think he's easing into that, hopefully. Everyone's rooting for him to do more vocals."

All this time spent practicing and in the studio has certainly kept DeGraw from a goal he cited last time, the founding of a gorilla reservation. But DeGraw still loves the animals and genuinely hopes to help their cause however he can. "I'm always super interested in that. I'm sure I won't ever have the means to actually found [a reservation], but...it's something I definitely want to work on in the future."

The Gang Gang Dancer will contribute some solo material to the just-launched Social Registry singles club, although he hasn't yet decided how to approach it. "Part of me wants to just do what I normally do, which is just use the equipment I use in Gang Gang-- but then I was toying with the idea of doing a really straight, traditional bass-guitar kind of thing."

In addition to GGD's Retina Riddim DVD-- out at last May 22 via Social Registry-- DeGraw will also use the merch table at upcoming gigs to sell copies of another film he put together: Monkey Damage 2. "I used to make these little compilations called Monkey Damage," he explained, "that were just edited with two VCRs-- kind of really intentionally crappy looking. A lot of [Monkey Damage 2] is using the same footage from those things I used to make, but putting them into Final Cut and making it a little less crappy, while still maintaining some sort of shittiness, which I like."

That footage includes live performances from DeGraw's old Washington, DC haunts, including shots of Quix*o*tic, the Monorchid, Chromtech (featuring Mick Barr), and Brian's old band Cranium.

So okay, how about the big question? "I don't know what would happen if the gorilla watched the DVD [Retina Riddim], man!" said DeGraw "I bet whoever was the caretaker of the gorilla wouldn't want that to happen [laughs]. Might damage their brain or something."

Gang Gang Dance:

04-28 Berlin, Germany - CFA
06-08 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
06-09 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle #
06-11 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
06-12 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
06-14 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe !
06-15 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards on Richards !
06-16 Portland, OR - Holocene !
06-18 San Francicso, CA - Independent !
06-19 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater !
06-22 Austin, TX - TBA
06-23 Baton Rouge, LA - TBA
06-24 Atlanta, GA - TBA
06-26 Washington, DC - TBA
06-27 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's

# with Ocrilim, Teith
! with Ariel Pink