Morrissey walks into a bar with a pocket full of change – but there’s nothing funny about sounding like a badass.
Half-baked jokes aside, it’d be impossible to ignore the Smithy undertones of Ski Lodge, or not see where countless blogs are coming from when they drop the “jangle-rock” bomb. The thing about these New York locals is that they manage to both fuel and resist such categorizations.
There’s something instantly identifiable about the broody, post-punk surf twang, but this is definitely some next-generation melancholy. If you’ll allow me, this is what a ski lodge might sound like in the summer when no one’s around to take in the woefully pretty views with you. For those of you who are in a better place, I’m not the first person to say this is summer soundtrack material, but that doesn’t make it wrong either.
When they’re not showing us how to dance to the tune of life’s mild heartbreaks, Ski Lodge knows how to keep a conversation going (that’s Jared O’Connell on bass, John Barinaga on lead guitar, Jake Beal on drums, and Andrew Marr doing guitar, vocals, and the vast majority of the musical masterminding). See below, and be sure to look out for their new album Big Heart, out this August.
This isn’t your first band by any means, so let’s put this in terms we can all understand. Describe your previous project, The Clementines, as a TED talk.
Andrew: What’s that?
Jake: You don’t know what a TED talk is?
Andrew: No.
Jake: Just talk about something that’s influenced you and how it’s made the world better.
Or you could describe it as a BuzzFeed article.
Andrew: I don’t know what that is either.
Good for you.
Jared: You could just describe it using Jurassic Park GIFs.
That was awful.
Jared: That was the worst BuzzFeed article I’ve ever read.
Andrew: I really have no idea.
That’s okay – just tell me about it.
Andrew: It was basically the same setup – I guess the style of it was a little bit different, but I changed the name because I was recording stuff outside of the band that was a little bit different than what I was doing with the band. The band basically fell apart, so I continued with the stuff I was doing on the side, and it was only a band for six months or a year. Nothing really happened. No releases. There’s not much to say about it. It had been a while since I’d played in a band, so it was good to experience [that] again – being the singer of a band, which I had never done.
Also, I just wanted to clear one thing up. “The Clementines” is a plural name for a solo project?
Andrew: Well, yeah, I guess you could call it a solo project.
How would Ski Lodge compare to what you were doing in the past? Or was it sort of a clean break?
Andrew: It’s kind of the same thing, just a different name. It’s like a weird hybrid version of a band/solo project thing, ’cause I write everything and I recorded everything in LA by myself with a producer and a couple hired musicians. Ideally I would have had these guys come with me, but nobody could. Jake wasn’t in the band at the time – the other two recorded one song.
But how does that make you guys feel?!
It’s fine.
Haha, okay. What bands have you guys played with that you really admire?
John: Born Ruffians, that was really cool.
Jake: Ex Cops was good. Craft Spells was fun. Chad Valley – he was awesome.
Was this your first year at SXSW?
John: Yeah.
How was that?
John: It was wonderful. We had a great time.
Andrew: It was good. Personally, I was pretty exhausted by like the second day. And we got kinda sick.
Was that also your first time getting food poisoning from beef jerky?
Jared: First time, yeah.
Andrew: First time for many things.
That was you?
Jared: Yeah. Every other time I got food poisoning in my life I think it was seafood, you know? This was the first time from a terrestrial creature.
Jake: I got food poisoning once from a grilled cheese sandwich.
Jared: Yeah. And we had to play a show at Pianos that night.
So this was also during your tenure at Ski Lodge?
Jared: Yeah. I think Ski Lodge is mostly associated with stomach discomfort.
Do your fans throw up during your shows?
Jake: They should. That’d be a way for them to really understand – and get it. I’m not really joking.
John: I mean, that’d be cool. If you can make somebody throw up with your music, that’s how you know you’re really effective.
I have to ask – is “Ski Lodge” a cocaine reference?
Andrew: No – I’ve actually never been asked that before. I mean, no – I’m into it, but…I’m into the association.
Jake: You should just say that. What’s “Ski Lodge”? Coke.
I see Pitchfork did a little writeup on you guys – congrats. How do you feel about all the Morrissey comparisons?
Andrew: I feel okay about it. I mean, he’s one of my favorite artists, so it’s flattering to be compared to him. And I think it’s different enough that I’m not trying to completely rip off Morrissey, so I’m alright with it. Are you guys alright with it?
Jared: It sounds similar, but I guess now that we’ve played these songs a few times, I could see how someone could [draw that comparison].
Jake: If it means Morrissey fans are gonna like Ski Lodge, then that’s cool.
Everything anyone’s written about you on the internet uses the word “jangly.”
Jared: I think that has more to do with the fact that once somebody says one thing about a band, they use a word on the internet and everyone else just copies it.
That’s sort of what I was getting at – that must get kind of redundant, even if it’s flattering.
Jared: Once a band comes out, there’s a few words that get associated with them, and then it’s like everyone just copies what everyone else says and uses the same words. Not saying there’s anything wrong with that.
Jake: Everyone wants to know, “okay, what do you guys sound like?” or “who do you sound like?”
Jared: What does jangly really mean though? What is “to jangle?” How does one jangle? I think it’s like, when you get really sick to your stomach and throw up. That’s what “jangle” means.
Ha! So have you all had as much success with Craigslist roommates as you have with Craigslist band members?
John: I’ve never done the Craigslist roommate thing.
Jake: I actually had a Craigslist roommate for one summer. I guess I was 23 and he was 19 – he was a nice kid, and it worked out. So yeah, I guess it was sort of the same thing as a band. Except he was kind of a nerd.
Jared: My girlfriend has a subletter for the summer that her roommate picked through Craigslist and she just like, you never see her. She’s always in her room.
Jake: I think people should be less afraid of Craigslist though, right?
Andrew: Yeah, I think that’s the moral of the story. Missed connections and uh, what’s the other – casual encounters? Let’s get on there. Have you ever used it?
I used to read missed connections.
Jared: Did you post any?
No. Actually, that’s a lie. I think I did once.
Jared: Did you connect with anyone or did you just get a bunch of dick pics?
Nah, I didn’t get anything. But okay. From what I gather, you [Andrew] write the songs yourself initially and then take it to the rest of the board members. Has this creative process always worked for you?
Andrew: I think it works well. I think it definitely allows for consistency, and I feel like it’s more productive. I haven’t had too much experience trying to write in a room with a band, but I imagine it’s difficult. Honestly, we just don’t have the time to get together for an hour.
Jared: I think there’s a clarity to the songs that results in the fact that Andrew kind of takes the lead on all of it. I think that makes everything really focused.
It’s almost like you guys are a long distance band even though you live in the same city. You don’t practice that often, right?
Jake: Yeah, we don’t really see each other that often.
No one in New York does. How long have you guys known each other anyway?
Jake: Since 2011? Two years at the most. We spent two weeks together on tour where we never left each other’s sight. I mean I guess it worked out – we found out that we could go on tour with each other. I think we’re all pretty easy going.
So you all have day jobs I take it?
Jared: Yeah. Sometimes night jobs.
What do you guys do again?
Jared: I’m a sound engineer and audio book director.
John: I work in retail.
Where?
John: Urban Outfitters.
Niice.
John: Yeah…no, not that nice.
Jake: I work for an architecture firm. I spend my whole day at the Department of Buildings, which is just like, if you’ve ever spent time at the DMV.
I just spent three hours there on Friday.
Jake: Yeah. I get paid to wait in line. That’s my job.
Andrew: I’m an inventory coordinator at the School of Visual Arts.
Jake: John’s is so much cooler than all of ours.
John: No, no, mine’s not cool.
Jared: You’re a stock boy, right?
John: Oh yeah, I stock.
I filled out one of those applications when I was a freshman in college. They make you list all the music you listen to and stuff. Congratulations on passing the test?
John: I actually didn’t pass the test – my ex-girlfriend got me the job. She got me the interview, so I just sat down with one of my managers, who was holding a cigarette, and you could tell she just wanted to smoke one. My interview was five minutes, and I got the job pretty much on a whim.
So I notice in some of the interviews – you guys talk about (or maybe it’s just you, Andrew) being a little impatient with the progress you’ve made. Has your experience tempered that a little, or do you still feel like things aren’t moving quickly enough for the band?
Andrew: Yeah, no. Things are still not moving quickly enough, I’d say. But I guess that’s just the way it is. The record comes out August 20, and we’ve been waiting for this to happen and that’s gonna be here before we know it. And once that comes out, we’re gonna be like, “What the fuck? Let’s start making the next one!” There’s always going to be something I’m waiting for – I’ve learned to deal with it.
Interview by Steph Koyfman
Photos by Jenny Regan
