JamBase Questionnaire: Arbouretum
By Team JamBase Mar 17, 2011 • 12:39 pm PDT
One need not be told that The Gathering (released February 15 on Thrill Jockey) is a deep piece of business. It’s hanging right there in the notes, attitude and far, far reaching lyrics of the fourth long-player from Baltimore-based Arbouretum. This is rock with heft, rock that believes in the trundling power of this music to bust through to greater truths and personal understanding, and if this ontological surge can happen with a spot amp rattling and distortion then all the better.
In their eighth year, this band – Dave Heumann (guitar, vocals), Corey Allender (bass), J.V. Brian Carey (drums) and Matthew Pierce (keyboards, percussion) – bears a striking resemblance to prime Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Red House Painters (with a thicker drawl and more boogie instincts) and even My Bloody Valentine jamming with early Sabbath (see corker “Waxing Crescents” on latest LP). The atmosphere is thick ‘n’ heady enough to satisfy stoner rock fans but the imagery is a good deal more vivid and well etched than usual weed-hazed fare. The Gathering finds Arbouretum tapping into Carl Jung’s Red Book, and fittingly big concepts, classic archetypes and inner oceans abound. Yet this is still unmistakably a monster rock slab, not just an intellectual exercise, and thus a gut level pleasure that rewards the head on repeat visits – in short, one of the early standouts of the 2011. (Dennis Cook)
Here’s what Dave Heumann had to say to our inquiries.
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I saw that someone else had answered this with “sincerity”…I was going to say that! Damn. OK, how about “someone there to hear it”? Like a tree falling in a forest sort of thing…
2. The first album I bought was…
Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced, when I was in 8th grade. I was proud of it and brought it to school to show my friends, and I accidentally let it slip out of the sleeve while walking with it. I watched in slow-motion horror as it fell onto a concrete step outside, taking a chip out of it. I still played the record over and over until the grooves were worn out, though, just had to avoid the first song on each side.
3. The last song or album to really flip my wig was…
Not sure what it was exactly, but it happened last night. There was a party I went to where the guy from the Awesome Tapes from Africa blog was a guest DJ. Amazing.
4. When I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be…
At different points I wanted to be a scientist, a filmmaker, and a writer. I settled on being a musician somewhere around age 14 after I’d gotten my first guitar and found I’d had more of an aptitude for it than anything else I’d tried to do. I suppose it helped also that at that point I didn’t actually do anything else, including homework.
5. My favorite sort of gig is…
On a small stage in a small club. We’ll be cramped, you’ll be cramped, and in the end everyone will be sweaty. Good times.
6. One thing I wish people knew about me is…
That I am usually not up for doing shots. Seriously, save your money.
7. I love the sound of…
Thunder, when heard in a forest. The three-dimensional imaging you can get is incredible…one of the most naturally psychedelic experiences one can have. Running in the direction of the car you came in to avoid getting soaked or struck by lightning only adds to the fun of it all.
8. One day I hope to make an album as fantastic as…
Handful of Earth by Dick Gaughan, Garcia (also known as “The Wheel”) by Jerry Garcia, and Live at Roadburn by Earthless. I’ll stop at three.
9. The best meal I ever had on tour was at…
As far as inexpensive food from a venue goes, it doesn’t get much better than the Tin Roof in West Ashley, SC. It was so cheap and so good that the last time I was there I ordered way more than I needed and wasn’t able to move for a little while.
10. I always find the coolest audiences in…
Small, out-of-the-way towns where there’s nothing much to do. People in those kinds of places tend to be really appreciative when a band comes through, and they’re not afraid to show it.
11. The worst habit I’ve picked up being on the road all the time is…
I’m more the kind of person to bring his habits to the road than vice-versa. Road, make way for me and my habits!
12. The Beatles or the Stones? Por qué?
I’m inclined to say the Stones, because they understood rock more. They were definitely able to swing in a way that The Beatles never could, but then, their lyrics never bowled me over like The Beatles’ lyrics have in songs like “Because” or “She Said, She Said.” So, in some ways, it’s a toss-up, but if I feel like getting a groove on, it’s the Stones all the way, especially Exile on Main Street.
13. The craziest thing I ever saw was…
Hmmm, well there was this one time, many years ago, when some friends of mine and I, all quite young at the time, were high on some really strong acid and we ended up at this really creepy dude’s house. The place had a “condemned” notice on the front door, the only source of heat was one of those red heat lamps you see in hotels, and that show Benson was playing on a small black and white TV, with the image flipping constantly from not having the vertical hold adjusted right.
The guy whose place it was at one point rather casually announced that he’d killed all the dogs in the area under a full moon, and pointed to a bloodstained medieval battle axe he had that was hanging on the wall that he said he’d done it with. We were pretty freaked out. Years later I had heard about these murders in the area that had never been solved, which apparently had involved aspects of satanic ritual. I figured it had to have been this guy…
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