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mmm
(Across from Super Wal-Mart)
(In front of Comfort Suites Close to Downtown)
706.583.4066 706.543.0005
PERRY’S STORE #1
1195 Cedar Shoals Rd.
706-353-0057
PERRY’S STORE #2
4390 Lexington Rd.
U-Haul: 706-353-0630
NO I.D. - NO BEER. DRINK RESPONSIBLY.
11 am- 10pm Mon*Wed • 1 1 am- 1 1hm Thu Sai • 12PM 11 pm Sun
leader of long-running rock
group/ sonic godhead Earth—
formed in 1989—Dylan Carlson
has done what great artists are supposed to
do: innovate and move on. Operating along
side myriad luminaries of the Pacific Northwest
scene in the early '90s, Carlson essentially
created an entire genre out of sheer sound,
and then, 10 years later, almost completely
abandoned it.
"I've always tried to do something different
with each record. I don't know why the idea of
doing the same record over and over has never
appealed to me," says Carlson from his home
in Seattle. "It's weird, because my writing
style has never really changed all that much.
It's just that I was trying to do something
more; I wanted to see if we could get the
same effect without all the extra overdrive and
dirt and whatnot."
The "effect" Carlson is speaking of is
encapsulated on Earth's first full-length
album, Earth 2: Special Low-Frequency Version,
released on Sub Pop Records in 1993. Three
cuts, an hour plus in duration, that defined
a sound—drone metal or doom metal,
depending on what kind of semantic trip
you're on—and inspired legions of imitators.
Incorporating the principles of minimalist
composer La Monte Young (who claimed as a
Midwestern youth to be inspired by the high,
lonesome sound of power lines) with the thick
depth of Black Sabbath (from whom Earth
cribbed its name), Carlson and his collabora
tors found a combination without any true
precedent. With nearly no percussion, and
even less vocals, Earth's original goal seemed
to be to bully the air through brute wattage.
"We didn't have a lot of stuff going on
onstage," says Carlson. "I sat down to play;
there was one or two members, sometimes
three, so the volume and the speakers were
sort of part of the show. Now that we're an
actual band, we don't need to (be so loud]."
Which brings us to the contemporary state
of Earth. After three albums' worth of full-
on drone punishment, Carlson went through
a period of personal reconciliation, putting
down the guitar and committing himself to
rehabilitation from drugs. ("I had some down
time," he laughs). He returned to the instru
ment with an infinitely nuanced approach to
the same goal of existing in a realm of both
saturation and space.
"I think you can be full-sounding without
having to, like, hurt people," he says. "When
I came back to playing guitar again, I got
really obsessed with Tele(caster) players like
Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, Roy Nichols and
those guys. I had improved as a player once
I started practicing agafn, too; that's what I
like about the Tele, it sort of forces you to be
more on your game. It's not a super forgiving
guitar."
Eschewing his band's seemingly signature
element—oppressive overdrive—Carlson was
able to wipe away tonal distractions and find
a Zen-like peace in his newfound country
influences. The resulting album, 2005's Hex;
or, Printing in the Infernal Method, staked a
new claim for Earth, one that the band has
occupied with increasing comfort ever since.
Taking a page from Cormac McCarthy's novel
Blood Meridian, the landscape Earth inhabits
now is a barren but beautiful one, with all
the tasteful negation suggested by its drone
work but with an added cinematic component.
Carlson has been joined since Hex by drummer
Adrienne Davies, who sustains an impossibly
glacial pace that always seems to hang in
mid-air while underscoring a sort of implicit
heaviness—without the excessive volume.
On their latest album, Angels of Lightness,
Demons of Darkness, Pt. 1, Carlson and Davies
are joined by bassist (and Microphones/
Mt. Eerie member) Karl Blau and cellist
Lori Goldston. The addition of the acoustic
stringed instrument further necessitated con
tinued notches towards sound moderation.
"My attitude is: one, I don't like carrying
about that much equipment anymore. And
two: let the P.A. do the work. Especially now,
since we're playing with a cello—she does
play it through an amp, but there's a certain
level of volume that she begins having prob
lems with. I still think we're loud and a loud
rock band, but sometimes I have to convince
soundmen: 'Okay, we're not SunnO))), we're
not doing "Earth 2" anymore.'
"And plus, it's just like—it's done, you
know what I mean?" Carlson continues. "I did
it, and I liked it then, and I like SunnO))),
more power to 'em, but I don't feel the need
to compete in that arena. When I started
Earth, all the bands were trying to be as fast
as possible. And now it seems bands-are trying
to be as slow as possible. When you put that
ahead of anything, it sort of, to me, turns
music into a sporting event instead of a musi
cal event."
Jeff Tobias
For more on Earth, visit Homedrone at Flagpole.com. where
Carlson breaks down a list of his favorite guitarists
WHO: Earth, Mouth Eerie/The
Microphones, Dead in the Dirt
WHERE: Caledonia Lounge
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 10,9 p.m.
HOW MUCH: 58(21+), $10(18+)
V )
16 FLAGPOLE.COM • SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
