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Out of the desert via dark and fuzzy soundwaves is The Sheaves' latest statement, A Salve For Institution (Dot Dash/SDZ). Built on systemic ennui and a fascination with technology, these long-term friends recently embarked on a tour of the East and Midwest regions of the US to spread their gospel of noise. I was able to catch the band in-person for an interview following their show at Mama Tried in Brooklyn last weekend. For clarity's sake, two of their members were wearing big white cowboy hats.
Paperface Zine: I think I need to ask about the hats.
Lucas Aguirre: Yeah, we're from Arizona.
Joe Vittetoe: We only wear them outside of Arizona.
Eric Mudd: Yeah, we bought them in Ohio, but we're trying to represent... something. Not necessarily Arizona, but something.
Daniel Schurgin: I just wanted a bucket hat. That was fitted. I've never had a bucket hat.
Matt Hamel: That's from an actual hat store. that was from a haberdasher in Cincinnati. She was really nice. Right across the street from Feel It Records actually!
PZ: That was actually my next question. Obviously, I want to know how the tour's going and I want to know about playing at Feel It 'cause it's brand new. And Tubby's 'cause you (Dan) got the shirt!
DS: Yeah Tubby's was fantastic.
MH: That was the best place to play on tour anywhere. They have housing for you. They're very cushy, free drinks all night, too.
EM: And Sam from Feel It Records, awesome guy. He let us sleep in his house, even though he had to wake up very early the next morning.
JV: Matt and I listened to frogs.
MH: There's a lot of frogs.
EM: A lot of frogs. Not the band, the Frogs. No, no, not the band.
PZ: The actual amphibians!
EM: Also, regarding Feel It, The Drin was absolutely fucking phenomenal. It was their record release.
PZ: So, do we want to talk about the new album? A Salve for Institution came out June 20th...
JV: That's old news now. I feel like... feels so long ago.
PZ: I guess since it feels like old news, do you think your perception of it has changed in the two months since it's been out?
JV: I'm just excited to do more stuff, I guess.
DS: Yeah, we've kind of just been talking about what the next thing is at this point.
JV: We make a record over a long span of time, so that took like a year to make.
EM: It doesn't really feel like anything, because when you make something for so long, it just feels like... Well, I guess it does feel like something but I'm done thinking about it because it's over. You know, we were almost at the point where we were like "God, we have to keep playing these fucking songs!"
JV: We're gonna make a cover record really quick and then make a proper record after that.
EM: You heard "Wooly Bully." So that's kind of our new stamp town.
PZ: Something really cool about your album, though, is you recorded it across multiple home studios. So, I'm curious if space is important for your process or e can you just do stuff anywhere?
LA: We don't know what we're doing.
JV: Yeah, we're transient. We can move around easily.
EM: Joe and I have been trying to record ourselves for a long time. And I think through a lot of trial and error, have been able to get better as time progresses.
So it's basically because we've moved or something is why I say various home studios because we, it was over like a year where we recorded it and in that time.
JV: We've also been doing this shit for 11 years. Not this band but just playing music, recording music.
PZ: So, then how did this band get together, officially?
EM: I was trying to cover The Searchers' "When You Walk In The Room," great song. And Matt was such a good guitarist, and he was friends with Dan. And I was like, Joe and I had recorded a cover of that with just guitar and drums. And I was like, Matt, will you try to record bass on this song? And then, he did, and I was like, you're a really good bassist, and then after that we just started jamming. So Matt and Joe and I, originally were just playing covers of just a few songs that I had made up. The first tape we put out, like three songs, I had had those songs in my pocket for a moment.
DS: Prior to those first tapes, I would kind of pop in and out, but not really record much.
EM: Yeah, but Dan's always been around and influential doing various things, whether it's percussion or keyboards or synths or whatever.
DS: I guess our deal is just we're all really good friends. We've been doing this for a long, long time.
(Note: For this next question the band called over Tom Hyland who runs Dot Dash Sounds)
PZ: How did Dot Dash get connected to The Sheaves?
Tom Hyland: I became a fan actually through a fellow DJ at WFMU, Creamo Coyl. I love him. He's turned me on to a lot of things. I always take copious notes when I listen to his show. And I think it was when, um, Your Excess Death Cult Time cassette came out. He has a cool thing when he's on his show where he plays multiple tracks and I'm like "What is this band?" I've GOT to check out this band. I was getting into Minimum Table Stacks, the label that put the vinyl out. Great label that came out of kind of nowhere putting out amazing shit all of a sudden.
DS: Yeah, Joe P. really helped us out with that tape release.
TH: And he really boosted their profile with the vinyl release of that. So I emailed Joe and I said, "Hey, I started a label and I think I want to release The Sheaves on vinyl." Cause I'm really into them. And he gave me Eric's email. And there was a guy in Paris, who I knew from years ago, SDZ's Nico. And he's like oh, Nico's actually doing it, but if you want to talk to him. And I figured since shipping overseas is so expensive these days, I said, "Do you want to do a joint release where I do US and Canada, and he does the rest of the world?" And he was into it from the get-go, and really easy going. We did a joint release. It's been great.
PZ: And speaking of WFMU, you guys are playing there tomorrow?
DS: Yeah Paul Bruno's show, right over there.
TH: Paul Bruno is behind me. It's Sunday, July 21st, three o'clock and it'll be archived. So you can go to WFMU.org for the archives where it will live forever. No pressure at all. It'll live on forever.
PZ: Anything else you want to say?
EM: Check out The Shield! We played with them twice on this tour. They're so good. I would definitely recommend it whenever they put something out.
DS: And of course, we had the privilege of playing with Chronophage and Donna three times. Which was wonderful. I'd say just thanks to Tom and Joe and everyone who helped us out!
A Salve For Institution is out now on Dot Dash Sounds and SDZ Records.