American Princes

Wach the music video for "Real Love" from Other People

Each has spotlight moments that make it clear they could hoist an entire band on their own shoulders wondrously, for Kilgore the twitchy Talking Heads-ish pop gem “Watch As They Go” for Slade the sinister world in shambles fist pump inducer “Real Love,” which only makes their decision to join forces that much more impressive. Working with producer Chuck Brody, most notable for helming albums from hip-hop luminaries like the Wu Tang Clan, American Princes heretofore prickly and slightly southern indie-rock is retrofit with sleeker sonics and tauter rhythmic sensibility on Other People. Their press bio jokingly refers to Other People as their “’80s record” but one listen to “Gravel” will show this is true in the best way possible. American Princes has a knack for coating Reagan-era collegiate underground sounds with a shiny pop sheen in a way that hasn’t been pulled off as nicely since the Psychedelic Furs were riding “Pretty in Pink” to the top of the charts.

Bolstered by the recent addition of yet another singer/songwriter, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Will Boyd, American Princes’ musical Cerberus is currently roaring through the country and tearing the roof off joints, showcase the sheer joy of high voltage multi-part vocal harmonies and leaving guitarmageddon in their wake. David Slade, a founding member of the band and its lone singer when American Princes formed in New York City back in 2002, talked with Reveille about sharing the spotlight, the importance of community in keeping indie music alive, and why he’s no longer a Pixies fanboy amongst other topics.

Reveille: To a degree every record is a document of a certain time and place. How much was Other People impacted by returning to New York City for the recording and working with Chuck Brody?

Slade: It was definitely eerie to go back to New York, this place we had originally left after never really even playing any shows there with the first iteration of the band. It was a bit of a homecoming for me and Matt and interesting to think of where we started and where we were now, it book ended things for us in a way that didn’t feel coincidental. Working with Chuck Brody was really instrumental to the whole album, his studio was incredible and we had the opportunity capture sounds we never had before. I think when we were doing Less and Less we were still too green to understand how to properly utilize studio time. Chuck’s know how and his spread really helped us get a much better record sonically. He has great instincts and wasn’t afraid to jump into the mix with suggestions. He pushed us to trim away the fat and shore up the parts of the songs that weren’t strong enough.  

Reveille: What’s really appealing to me about American Princes is that it sounds like a band, and not just one dude with faceless backing. With the addition of Will Boyd you now have three different singers all active in one group [Slade sings lead vocals on 6 of Other People’s tracks, Kilgore 4 and Boyd 1]. What appeals to you about this power sharing structure? I would think most songwriters prefer leading a group solely devoted to playing their songs but American Princes takes the opposite approach [every song on the album is credited as a group co-write regardless of who’s singing the lead].

Slade: It’s funny because even though there are only five members in the band there are about 37 different visions for the band at any given moment [laughs]. Each of us really enjoys the contributions that others bring to the table. Of course we argue pretty heatedly about the directions of songs, of albums, but we ultimately know it’s the right model for us. Having multiple songwriters in the band raises the bar for each of us. In a non-competitive way we end up challenging each other every day. I would never want to disparage the solo vision either and imagine in the next year or two some of us might make solo records but right now it’s a very nice structure that we’ve really lucked into.

Listen to "Son of California" from Other People 

Reveille: My favorite song on the record is “Where I’m Calling From,” it’s the sort of simultaneously poignant and pragmatic love song nobody seems to write and talks very plainly about the challenges of keeping a relationship together in a  messed up world. Could you talk a little about the writing process behind it?

Slade: Going into making this record I found myself listening non-stop to both Tom Petty and LCD Soundsystem, which are sort of two different ends of the musical spectrum in some ways, but I felt like both of them nailed a certain style of songwriting that managed to make somewhat poignant existential statements without being condescending or obvious. I really gravitated towards that, particularly as I was feeling a little adrift in my own life at the time. So when it came time for me to write songs for Other People I really wanted to take my own stab at that style. With a song like “Where I’m Calling From,” that was really inspired by getting married three years ago, and sort of recognizing the profound importance of that commitment, knowing that you’re not going to walk away regardless of all the bad things that may happen during the rest of your life. I’m probably too whiny to write a real love song but I think that’s the closest I’ve come.

Reveille: From reading your SXSW blog it’s clear you’ve befriended a number of similarly striving independent bands throughout the country over the years. How big a role do those relationships play in keeping you pursuing music and staying motivated and positive in what can be a difficult career choice?

Slade: Those friendships are a huge influence, personally and musically, and definitely help us keep going. There’s a great sense of community that happens over the course of touring for four and a half years. We’re close to some of the Minneapolis groups, Middlepicker’s a great band; we love all the Royalty Etc. folks. One of the things that can make touring not miserable is running into friends again during your travels. We’ve taken a lot of clues from Lucero and how they conduct themselves. We’ve benefited from their patronage and so have a lot of other bands. Just witnessing their behavior has reinforced for us the importance of a sense of community.

Listen to "Auditorium" from Other People

Reveille: I would think it’s always easier to be inspired musically by touring with friends whose music you respect and seeing that first hand versus sitting down in isolation and throwing on The White Album or some equivalently totemic pop album.

Slade: It’s funny I remember wanting the Pixies to reunite for almost all of my young adult life, until the past three or four years they were my favorite band. Now that they’ve reunited and are playing big venues and that opportunity is there I don’t know how much of a desire I have for it anymore. Just based on what I value about music and performance now, and what it means in the greater context of the social fabric, I kind of can’t really see myself getting psyched to go to some giant arena rock show, regardless of how seminal the music is. I’d far rather see a show by J. Roddy Walston and the Business in a living room than a resurrected Joe Strummer.

Reveille: The band is at an interesting point career-wise right now. How do you balance trying to make music for a living while still enjoying it?

Slade: When we first signed to Yep Roc we all hoped it would open many doors for us because we didn’t understand a lot of the music business and then when some of the stuff we thought would happen didn’t we definitely felt a little crushed and like we had failed. It was a hard thing, every band, regardless of their successes, will almost never have things play out like they anticipate. You have a set of expectations you’ve created out of thin air and in reality there all these other factors that go into meeting those expectations. Even getting signed to Yep Roc was a total fluke, we had sent out CDs for consideration and people weren’t getting back or were interested and then out of the blue we got back from a tour and there was a record label deal on the table. For me a great deal of wanting to be an entertainer is just the chance to interact with people and find other like minded souls who just love music and enjoying talking about it. Fundamentally I’m a music geek and it’s really nice to share those geeky proclivities with others.

COMING UP: American Princes play the Hexagon Bar on Saturday, April 26th, with Askeleton and Togetherness. 10 p.m. Free. 21+.