Where Are We Now?
American Football
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Dear Steve,
First, thank you for your time. According to its founders and members, what makes American Football music appealing to a wide range of listeners around the world? We’re still mostly in shock that people have shown interest in this music, and so I don’t think that we have many specific ideas about what does or doesn’t make it appealing. Hopefully, people see it as at least a little bit off-the-beaten-path, musically speaking. |
Photo credit: Shervin Lainez |
Can you share with us what is one of the wildest dream you’ve dreamt of and lived collectively as a band?
This whole thing is a pretty wild dream, to be honest. If you’d met us five years ago, none of us would have ever predicted playing again, much less in the way that we’ve been able to play all over the world.
American Football started in IL. Now you’re based in NY, correct? Is that trajectory reflected in any way in your music making voyage?
Mike and Holmes live in Chicago, Nate lives in NYC, and Lamos lives near Denver. Being in separate places makes it harder in some ways to be a typical band: we only practice on random weekends when we can all get together, and we play for hours at a stretch when we do.
In contrast, the first version of this band practiced every Tuesday (or whatever day of the week it was) in between classes at the University of Illinois and whatever TV show was on later that night. That first version was a totally different experience in terms of writing and rehearsing music. But, I suppose that this new dispersed version of the band better reflects how real life works for old people with different families and jobs and lives: LP 2 is very much a reflection of what it means to make music together, using whatever technologies we can, when literally live across a span of 2000+ miles.
Where is American Football today after its resurrection almost three years ago?
Having fun being a part-time band that’s chock-full of old men.
You have been touring extensively around the country and across the globe throughout the entire year. How have you connected with the audiences in the various places you’ve performed so far? What has been the most interesting part of playing for such a diverse group of people in recent months?
We had a couple of especially fun shows during our summer mini-tour. For me, Osaka was interesting, as were both Milan and Mannheim: all of those gigs were in places that I had never been and wasn’t sure what to expect. But, in each, I think that we played well and received an especially warm welcome from fans. Those kinds of gigs were as much fun as I could possibly imagine. Our last trip to the UK was a great one, too, and I’d put the Dublin gig up as one of the most fun that I’ve ever played.
This whole thing is a pretty wild dream, to be honest. If you’d met us five years ago, none of us would have ever predicted playing again, much less in the way that we’ve been able to play all over the world.
American Football started in IL. Now you’re based in NY, correct? Is that trajectory reflected in any way in your music making voyage?
Mike and Holmes live in Chicago, Nate lives in NYC, and Lamos lives near Denver. Being in separate places makes it harder in some ways to be a typical band: we only practice on random weekends when we can all get together, and we play for hours at a stretch when we do.
In contrast, the first version of this band practiced every Tuesday (or whatever day of the week it was) in between classes at the University of Illinois and whatever TV show was on later that night. That first version was a totally different experience in terms of writing and rehearsing music. But, I suppose that this new dispersed version of the band better reflects how real life works for old people with different families and jobs and lives: LP 2 is very much a reflection of what it means to make music together, using whatever technologies we can, when literally live across a span of 2000+ miles.
Where is American Football today after its resurrection almost three years ago?
Having fun being a part-time band that’s chock-full of old men.
You have been touring extensively around the country and across the globe throughout the entire year. How have you connected with the audiences in the various places you’ve performed so far? What has been the most interesting part of playing for such a diverse group of people in recent months?
We had a couple of especially fun shows during our summer mini-tour. For me, Osaka was interesting, as were both Milan and Mannheim: all of those gigs were in places that I had never been and wasn’t sure what to expect. But, in each, I think that we played well and received an especially warm welcome from fans. Those kinds of gigs were as much fun as I could possibly imagine. Our last trip to the UK was a great one, too, and I’d put the Dublin gig up as one of the most fun that I’ve ever played.
The title of one of your songs is 'I Need a Drink (or Two or Three)'. Getting away from the personal narrative, which maybe a connecting point for many, what other recent story lines of a broader spectrum would be good enough reasons to push anyone of us to need a drink or two or three or four?
Checking news headlines on any given day, whether here in the US or globally, answers that question-- don’t you think?
'Where are we now?' is another cool song with a cool title from your most recent album. Can we ask that question to you as musicians looking at the world around us?
Unfortunately, I think that lots of us are stuck in the cycle of checking the news too often and getting a little too depressed about it.
Desire Gets in the Way of many things but not when it comes to …
Bubble gum. I love it.
'My Instincts Are the Enemy' include a verse, 'Days are nights and nights are unbearable.' What are the musician’s go-to remedies dealing with such tiresome thoughts?
Whoever wrote that line must have just had a baby or something.
What has been the most mind-blowing event you’ve performed and what made it so special? What are the most important dates you are all looking forward to and why?
“Mind-blowing” is a strong word: I’m not sure that I can think of anything quite like that. But we recently did a string of three gigs in two days—one in Detroit and two in Chicago—that went particularly well, I thought, given the circumstances. We were all travelling in from different places and the centerpiece of the weekend was a mini-headliner spot at Pitchfork Festival in Chicago: we typically don’t like outside venues as much as indoor ones, and I think that everyone was a bit on edge because this was a kind of spotlight “homecoming” gig for us. (We hadn’t ever played a Chicago festival as American Football before.) Plus, immediately after that gig, we would have to head to a small club for a midnight aftershow: those kinds of gigs have been pretty disastrous for us in the past. The whole thing seemed like it could easily be a disaster.
As it turns out, we played well the whole weekend, and the Pitchfork gig ended up being one of the best outdoor gigs we’ve had, maybe ever: we played in control, things sounded good, and the crowd seemed really into the music (especially for an outdoor performance). That was a real highlight of the AF experience for me!
Checking news headlines on any given day, whether here in the US or globally, answers that question-- don’t you think?
'Where are we now?' is another cool song with a cool title from your most recent album. Can we ask that question to you as musicians looking at the world around us?
Unfortunately, I think that lots of us are stuck in the cycle of checking the news too often and getting a little too depressed about it.
Desire Gets in the Way of many things but not when it comes to …
Bubble gum. I love it.
'My Instincts Are the Enemy' include a verse, 'Days are nights and nights are unbearable.' What are the musician’s go-to remedies dealing with such tiresome thoughts?
Whoever wrote that line must have just had a baby or something.
What has been the most mind-blowing event you’ve performed and what made it so special? What are the most important dates you are all looking forward to and why?
“Mind-blowing” is a strong word: I’m not sure that I can think of anything quite like that. But we recently did a string of three gigs in two days—one in Detroit and two in Chicago—that went particularly well, I thought, given the circumstances. We were all travelling in from different places and the centerpiece of the weekend was a mini-headliner spot at Pitchfork Festival in Chicago: we typically don’t like outside venues as much as indoor ones, and I think that everyone was a bit on edge because this was a kind of spotlight “homecoming” gig for us. (We hadn’t ever played a Chicago festival as American Football before.) Plus, immediately after that gig, we would have to head to a small club for a midnight aftershow: those kinds of gigs have been pretty disastrous for us in the past. The whole thing seemed like it could easily be a disaster.
As it turns out, we played well the whole weekend, and the Pitchfork gig ended up being one of the best outdoor gigs we’ve had, maybe ever: we played in control, things sounded good, and the crowd seemed really into the music (especially for an outdoor performance). That was a real highlight of the AF experience for me!