Fresh Meet is our bi-monthly interview series that spotlights young, hungry bands — both NYC locals and those just passing through — before the release of their first full-length album. We’ve come to realize that this small window is the perfect time to gain real, raw insights into bands and a special opportunity for them to shape their voice in an already-crowded music scene. Not to mention we have the supreme pleasure of getting you acquainted with the best new music way before everyone else.
College musicians are always fun to interview. Though Fresh Meet is still in its infancy, the young men I’ve spoken to here are mature and wickedly bright, which permeates through their music. Perhaps the most redeeming quality of Fresh Meet is watching young bands grow in their sound, sans cynicism and over-production. Although I am not many years out of college, the subjects of Fresh Meet are inspiring, with vivacious curiosity. Luckily for me, Whitewash fit beautifully into the precedent we’ll try to establish here.
Whitewash, comprised of Sam Thornton (Lead Singer, Guitar), Jon Ben-Menachem (Bassist), Evan Glazman (Drums, Vocals), and Aram Demirdjian (Guitar), groove to a sound they don’t necessarily want to classify as “post-psychedelic,” but they gladly accept my comparison to Syd Barrett a la “See Emily Play.” The boys each bring their own panache to the group. Jon, who studies comparative lit, is sympathetic, well spoken, and blushes with politeness. Sitting together on the couch, Sam and Aram are classically cool. Hailing from California and Chicago, respectively, the boys were born to be in a band. I sit next to Evan, the most talkative and outwardly confident of the group.
Getting to know the boys was an absolute pleasure, and I hope you get to know them just as well with our interview. It’s your lucky day, because Whitewash wants to get to know you better, too. The band wants you to hear their second EP SHIBBOLETH, and by helping out their efforts via a donation, you can receive a painting by Sam, a private concert, or have Evan cook you dinner. The band just released their new single “Tentacle,” listen below.
Lets talk about how you guys got together:
Evan: NYU dorms. Acts of randomness in the very essence of randomness.
Jon: Sam and I met across the hall in the freshman dorm and we played covers of Ween in my bedroom and I was searching out a drummer so we were searching around the dorms.
What was the first gig you played?
Aram: An NYU talent show featuring Dylan Sprouse [laughs].
Oh, I thought you were kidding.
Jon: He was actually there but it was like auditions for a larger NYU talent show that they do every year.
Sam: We didn’t get past the first round
What other kind of talents were displayed?
Aram: The normal shit [laughs]. There was like a dubstep and saxophone duo.
Jon: Singer-songwriter type stuff.
Sam: What was our first real gig though?
Jon: Probably Cameo Gallery 2013.
What’s been your favorite gig so far?
Aram: Knitting Factory was cool.
Evan: Our album release at Knitting Factory was cool but honestly playing in Boston was a lot of fun. It was like a basement and the crowd was really cool. The place was called The White House.
Aram: There were 20 plus people and three squirrels. There were like Blair Witch Project sticks.
Jon: There were trash chandeliers.
You describe your sound as “post-psychedelic.” What does that mean?
Evan: Absolutely nothing.
Jon: Genres are kind of useless.
Evan: I think they’re limiting. I mean there are elements of psychedelia in our music.
Jon: I think psychedelic pop is relevant, or indie rock.
Evan: Or garage rock.
Jon: I think it’s been more developed than garage-y, smoother around the edges. Minimal, but polished.
Evan: It has ’80s influences.
Jon: It’s a lot of different things.
Is there a particular artist or band that has influenced you?
Evan: The four of us listen to such different music.
Aram: I’m a big hip-hop fiend.
Jon: These guys got me into hip-hop. Before then I was more into ambient music
Evan: As far as influences I think I channel a lot of my brother’s influences (he was a generation before me), with sort of grunge and ’80s dream pop and weird synthy stuff and thrash metal stuck in there.
Sam: Ween is my favorite band but that’s not even saying that much because they’re so — doing everything. I like current things like Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segal and White Fence but there’s so much.
Jon: I think a lot of the stuff we first covered was a hold-in, like Tame Impala.
Evan: Tame Impala, Led Zepplin, Thee Oh Sees, Real Estate.
You guys kind of remind me of early Syd Barrett, like “See Emily Play.”
Evan: Oh that’s flattering. We get Pink Floyd a lot.
So you guys have jazz in common?
Evan: Yeah I came here to study jazz and percussion but I was quickly disillusioned. One of my teachers was a money grubbing, stereotypical jazz asshole and I was like “yup, I don’t want to do this.” It was regimented and I wanted to be more creative.
Do you have any favorite jazz musicians?
Evan: I could rattle off a bunch like Elvin Jones, Coltrane’s drummer is one of my favorites of all time, Lee Morgan, Ron Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday.
Sam: Herbie Hancock.
Evan: Steve Vai [laughs].
What do you guys have coming up?
Evan: We’re releasing a new album in May.
Jon: We just finished a tour for the album, then two music videos coming up. We’re finishing up filming for the third music video.
What’s that been like?
Evan: The music video we’re working on now — the guys were super professional.
Jon: The guys are students but it’s always a pleasure working with film students.
So what was the concept behind your video for Tentacle?
Jon: It’s a stop motion video for our song “Tentacle,” which is about Russian expansion, so we shot it with funny images of Putin and Pussy Riot.
Evan: The irreverence of power.
Aram: “Member” is like a cat and mouse, the two of them chasing the two of us.
Jon: It’s a show we’re playing at but we’re acting out characters.
What is your song writing process?
Evan: For the last one we were all kind of in Europe, so it was demo based. We made the instrumentals first and then each meditated on lyrical qualities before coming back and putting it all together. A lot of it came together in the studio as we were recording.
Jon: For those ideas, we had like a year and a half before the album was released.
Evan: “Tentacle” almost made it onto the first one but we held it back.
What do you like writing about or what do you find you gravitate towards?
Evan: At least for me, a lot of lyrical content I write is about mental instability and states of mind and dispositions. But also “Tentacle” is overtly political.
Jon: I was gonna say we write about our experience but now it seems like we’re crazy. But it’s definitely stuff we experience individually.
Sam: I tend to add most of the music parts at the end and then I’ll be like I have this chunk of song, let’s finish it.
Jon: It’s usually Evan writing the ends.
Sam: I’m too hesitant to write words.
Evan: I’m not a very good guitar player but I can write rudimentary things that can be expanded upon and fleshed out.
Let’s go into some trivial things. What books are you guys reading, or are you reading books right now?
Evan: I’m reading a lot of theory for class — it’s pretty boring. I mean as far as the last books I read, I was reading a lot of Czech literature because I studied abroad in Prague, so like Kafka, Milan Kundera. I like a lot of Russian lit.
Sam: I’ve been reading a lot of sci-fi. This Ukranian guy Stanislaw Lem.
Aram: Freud, always Freud.
Jon: I have a pretty healthy mix of stuff, a lot of philosophy now because of class but a lot of Joyce, Kafka. For comparative lit I’ve been doing a lot of theory seminar, so it’s less straight-up fiction and more a page of fiction and 20 pages of theory reading. And my professor is an expert on Kant, so we’re really going into Kant and Levinas and talking about freedom and subjectivity.
I miss college. What about movies?
Aram: We had a double screening of Equilibrium and Cannabis Kid but only because it was on Netflix. A Most Violent Year was on. It’s terrible but we bootleg a lot.
Sam: Nightcrawler was good.
Evan: I haven’t been to the movies in so long. I think the last movie I saw was Her, and that was in Prague.
Sam: In the Shadows from the guy who did Flight of the Concords just came out and it’s pretty funny.
Jon: We’re watching House of Cards, which is great.
Aram: I just put on the first episode of True Detective again.
Jon: Game of Thrones — it’s gonna happen.
If you could take your favorite musician out for a drink, who would you take, where would you go, and what would you get them?
Sam: I’d probably take Dean Ween out. Get normal beer.
Evan: I’d probably take Jim Morrison out for absinthe and ask him where he’s been hiding all these years.
Who would you like to open for?
Evan: Bo Diddley.
Sam: Definitely Ween.
Jon: Ween, Thee Oh Sees, Ty.
Evan: I’d love to hang with Kurt (Cobain) and just be like, “Hey dude, explain yourself to me.”
Aram: Pink Floyd now that we sound like them.
What city would you like to play in?
Evan: Chicago.
Aram: Chicago, and if we’re talking about outside of the US, Europe.
Jon: Chicago, Boston, LA, Austin.
Evan: I went to Austin for Austin City Limits, but it’s a goal for sure.
If you could play any festival?
Evan & Sam: Austin Psych Fest, better than SXSW.
Sam: The lineup for Psych Fest is much strong. Tame Impala, Thee Oh Sees, UMO, at least half the bands are definitely good.
Evan: It’s more of a scene thing, an inclusive group of people, unlike SXSW where it’s a networking thing.
Are you going to any shows this summer?
Evan: We went to Pitchfork last year and the lineup is definitely tempting me to spend my money on that.
Aram: I had to be there.
Jon: FKA Twigs was really good, Siza impressed me.
Evan: Pusha T was surprisingly good. Giorgio Moroder. He’s a dude that worked with Daft Punk — he like invented disco or whatever. But at this point he’s a senile old man and he was just playing his iTunes playlist and fist-pumping.
What’s your favorite concert been?
Evan: I saw Mos Def in Prague and that was really cool because he has a tight connection with Prague for some reason. He was spray painting “Thank you Prague” all over the stage. It was pretty cool.
Sam: I saw Thee Oh Sees and Ty in Brooklyn and it rained at a huge outdoor place and it was a great show.
And lastly, do you have a favorite venue in the city?
Evan: Palisades.
Jon: I would rep Palisades forever. They’re not actually DIY but carrying on Death by Audio. They care about trying to curate with you — I’m really sad Glasslands closed — that was one of my favorite venues.
Evan: Bohemian Grove is a pretty cool place to play because it’s just like a house and it’s free to get in.
Jon : If we’re mentioning DIY spaces Aviv is pretty cool.
Upcoming shows
April 20 – Palisades – Brooklyn, NY
(w/ Modern Vices, Mike Kolb, Linear Downfall & Peace Arrow)
May 8 – Brooklyn Night Bazaar – Brooklyn, NY
(w/ High Hopes, Monogold & Little Racer)
May 14 – Aviv – Brooklyn, NY
(Record Release Show)
Interview and photos by Eva Bandurowski. Follow her on Twitter @ewabando.
