In less than five years, Akron/Family has gone from freak folk rockers with weird beards to a premier band hell bent on creating the most luscious racket around. Set Em’ Wild, Set Em’ Free, off their new label Dead Oceans, is their latest and best album so far. On Sunday, August 9, experience the folk/psychedelic quartet at a Heeb sponsored performance at Other Music in New York City.
Guitarist Seh Olinsky talked to Heeb about the new album, new homes, and Gimmie! Coffee.
This is your first album on a label that isn’t Young God, what prompted the change to a new label?
Ultimately we were just ready to move to a bigger label. YGR is just Michael Gira. This enables him to be way more hands on and only work with things that he is passionate about, but we were just in need of a slightly bigger system. Inevitably, because he is so hands on with everything he works on, switching to a different label has been somewhat of a change for us, but in general we are all happy with it.
Are you guys going to continue working with Michael Gira in any capacity? For example, like you did with the Angels of Light (Gira’s band, A/F have been his backing band) on stuff?
I know that Michael is writing new songs for an Angels of Light record. We are no longer officially in the band, but I have told him several times that I would love to work on the stuff. We will see. Michael is always putting together new combinations of musicians to realize his material. And it is always growing. I hope to be involved in some capacity in the future as I really like collaborating with him.
Was it some sort of statement using a tie-dye American flag as the cover of Set ‘Em Wild, Set Em’ Free?
It was not a political statement. It was more about the object itself. A friend made it for us. Also about the way it looks and maybe a little about the poetry of America, but nothing about politics.
I was always curious what the story behind the name Akron/Family was?
I wish I had an exciting answer for you like Lebron/James.
Gotcha. How much of the album is improvised? For instance, the ending of "Sun Will Shine (Warmth of the Sunship Version)" with the horn section playing "Auld Lang Syne" seems like it could have just come about during the recording.
Not much of the actual album is improvised. Some of the songs were written that way. We actually planned on recording a version of "Auld Lang Syne," but the take was improvised after the horns tracked "Sun Will Shine". It was also my drum debut. I wish that I could say I was channeling Milford Graves, but it was more like I was picturing him and just banging the drums. Ah well. But really, I highly recommend that everyone go out and discover all of his recordings!
I find it interesting that a tune associated with New Years, and time changing leads into the last track, "Last Year," that includes the lyrics "last year was such a hard year for such a long time…" Was that intentional? Was last year a hard year?
Well there were a lot of changes for us. Our long time band member Ryan left the group, we changed labels, and also took time to really examine how we worked together and what we were doing, etc. We took a wide-angle view of what we were up to. As anyone who does this in their life every few years would attest to, this often leads to complicated discoveries. I don’t think that topically every song on the record relates to this, but I do see all of it as coming out of this time. On some level, the ending ties that all together. So if that is what you mean by intentional, then yes, we did consider it. Of course, last year was wonderful too. And if done right, hard times can lead to better ones.
But you guys are okay now?
Feeling better, thanks for asking. And you?
I’m alright. Moving on, I had heard you (Seth) had made the move from Brooklyn to a more rural spot in Pennsylvania. I had heard you were looking to get other artists to move there and start a community, is that true?
I was living in Williamsport, PA, which is where Dana and I grew up. It is quite beautiful out there, and a little slower and simpler than NYC life. At first, I thought it would be fun to have friends out there, but it maybe too slow out there for most. There was no intention to starting a commune or anything like that, if that’s what you are implying. No yurts in Williamsport. But I did have a very nice garden.
Does the rest of the band still live in Brooklyn? Does the distance complicate things?
We have all been living all over the place for a while now. In many ways it’s not always ideal, but we’ve always found time to come together and create when we can. Someday, we’ll probably be around the same place again, but for now, we’re just waiting for Google Wave to come out so we can collaborate over the Internet.
On your Wikipedia page it talks about how you were the "hub of a scene" around the Gimmie! Coffee shop. Do you guys still go there, or find somewhere else?
We all do certainly love coffee. I worked at the Gimme in Brooklyn for 3 or 4 years and we all used to live over there so we spent quite a lot of time hanging out around there. I still always go there when I am in town. There is also one on Mott Street too. We also frequent Grumpy Coffee in Greenpoint and Chelsea, Joe in Union Square and the West Village, and 9th Street Espresso in the East Village that serves the always-wonderful Intelligentsia beans.
I’m so there.