|
 |
| |
You'd think a million records would be blowing our minds right now. Could you imagine if Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barrett had Pro-Tools? I think a lot of people just want to succeed. They just pick other bands that have succeeded... Mainly they just don't want to have a (normal) job.
-David Sitek |
|
|
| |
|
Photo of David Sitek by Sid at www.toomuchrock.com
That Name
TV on the Radio (Malone & Adebimpe) |
Before I'd heard a note (or seen a short, blistering in-store performance at Amoeba Music in San Francisco a couple years ago that completely converted me) their name immediately lit up my brain. Just saying 'TV On The Radio' made me smile. It inspires us to create our own unique set of images to go with the sounds. As the music industry works hard to tailor every aspect of a band's image these days, stifling individual imagination, TVOTR pushes control back to the people.
"I think commerce spoiled that. Most of the people funding music hate music. They're concerned with getting their returns back," laments Sitek. "The better albums, unfortunately, are often ones that lose a lot of money. Or they don't get wrapped up in tremendous costs. You see albums with these high, heavy-handed producers, and you know that guy is just hanging out, doing blow on a beach, works a half-hour a day, and he's got no real musicians there. But his recording budget is like a million dollars. You take a band like Gang Gang Dance – who's fucking amazing – and they practically have to have a kissing booth to make their records."
Traveling Iceland
TV on the Radio by Pieter Van Hatten |
TV On The Radio is a band that comments on modernity while being a total product of it. It's difficult to imagine them existing in any other time than now. For Sitek this dynamic stems from what he calls "the timelessness of humanity," a realization that came to him during a recent trip into wild country.
"It took me going to Iceland in the dead of winter by myself - becoming cosmic, recognizing my position as a particle of dust in the grand scheme of things – to take the pressure off. They're not going to name a bridge or a school after me," says Sitek. "It's not really about what our band is called. And this really isn't about me, Dave Sitek. It's about humanity documenting its experiences together and historically recording our relationship as human beings. That's ultimately what art is. Craft is something different, but we hopefully stay on the art side of things."
I point out that parts of Iceland are virtually unchanged from the way they were millions of years ago. All attempts to terraform them have failed, serving only to remind us of man's place in the universe.
"Which makes you realize, 'I'm just nothing' [laughs]! I'm just part of a grand process that's so much bigger. It's wild," muses Sitek. "I think you're supposed to be intimidated by it. That's the whole reason to go through it. Being intimidated by it and running away from it is the problem."
The time that you've been afforded
May go unsolved, unrewarded
Some nameless you cannot know, may be coming to show you
Unbridled love and light
JamBase | Worldwide
Go See Live Music!
|
