CM>>>>Hello Gibby, Hello Troy, before I would like to talk about your new album called “Autumn” I would like to ask you some questions about your common project called “Louderbach“ and about your own musical socialization and career. I hope you aren't upset when I admit that I knew about your musical careers as Troy Pierce at Minus and Gibby as the singer of the band called “Trouble” but I didn't heard about “Louderbach” before, although “Autumn” is your second release. So shame on me... But I really would like to know something about your first common steps as a band or shall I call it project?
From where do you know each other, where have you met first?
Troy>>>We met luckily in New York, we were introduced through a mutual friend and have been hanging out ever since in some way or another.
Gibby>>>…Troy and I met in New York City in around late 2001, early 2002 at a club through mutual friends. We had a lot in common musically so began hanging out/partying together and started making music together around 2004…
CM>>>>... and when have you decided to write and create music together? Right from the start when you met?
Troy>>>No, I think it took some time for us to both find our place. When we first met I was really just starting to make music, I had been dj-ing for some time but never really produced anything until shortly after we met. The decision to actually be a "band" didn't start until after the first record and it wasn't until Autumn that the idea seemed to be turning into reality.
Gibby>>>Our first record was sort of an accidental joke that we did with Marc and Magda called “Wandas Wig Wax” that came out on Underline. It was recorded around 2004 after a long night of partying… from there I did some vocals for Marc and later for Troy as Louderbach.
CM>>>>I know it sounds a little bit silly, but you both come from different musical directions. I know about Gibby that he collects music from different genres and styles, so I could imagine that he knew about you and your music before. But what about, you Troy, have you ever seen Gibby performing as a singer on stage? Or have you never been interested in Punk and Hardcore music?
Troy>>> I was never really super into that style of music although I am familiar with some of it. Minor Threat, 7 Seconds, Token Entry, TSOL... Those bands crossed my path but I was more into stuff like Danzig and The Cult, more rock stuff I guess. I also wasn't really exposed to a lot of the more obscure stuff that Gibby was, he has introduced me to a lot of great stuff that I missed. I did get to see Panic in New York once; it was interesting to say the least.
CM>>>>The music or better say the sound of “Louderbach” reminds me of the poetic and wonderful music of the Eighties by bands like Bauhaus, Kissing The Pink, Joy Division or Coil... is the music of this decade on of the elements that bridges between you? And how do you feel about being compared to these bands – and I didn't meant that you copy their sound I mean that you follow their musical and poetic paths...
Gibby>>> I grew up listening to ALL of that music… goth, new wave, minimal synth, industrial… so for me it is in my blood, it is natural. I am flattered when you say that we remind you of those artists!
Troy>>>It sort of gives me chills that you think that, it's an amazing complement and totally correct I think. We can definitely give most of the credit to Gibby for that, he's the poet. Listening to the album now, ten months after we finished it I really hear it more clearly, and it feels like we did this cool thing (in my opinion) of combining sort of weird dance music aesthetic with post punk/no wave lyrics/vocals. It's exactly where we come from but we made a new version I think.
CM>>>>So what's behind your bands name “Louderbach” - it sounds like a German grounded name? Who had the idea for this name?
Troy>>>It was my idea, it's the title of an older track of mine, it seemed somehow to fit the project.
Gibby>>>Troy used to say it in his sleep a lot when we lived together. So I have no idea what it means.
CM>>>>Gibby, as a singer in bands you get used to the advantages and disadvantages of making music with others – but what’s in your opinion the biggest difference between making music with a real band with different people owning also different characters and working in a duo with only one other person? Is it more complicated or easier? Is it right to say that working with one person needs more things like honesty, trust, maybe friendship like working with three or four different people?
Gibby>>> Working with one person is much more intimate… you absolutely have to get along very well as friends to make it work properly. In a large band its possible to not get along with everyone, but in a duo – its necessary… you must be like brothers.
CM>>>>And for you Troy, what about your feelings about working with another person in a kind of a band. I mean as a DJ and producer you’re used to working and rely on your own. So do you feel more comfortable working with another musician – sharing ideas and the “responsibility” for the project?
Troy>>>It really all depends, with a record like this I feel like it's very intimate and we are both bringing feelings and ideas to the project. I don't think I could do that with many other people. I like to work with other musicians but at the same time I need to feel comfortable with them, I guess I can only work with a few of my friends, Marc Houle, Magda, the guys from Click Box, Heartthrob...
CM>>>>As I said in the beginning, “Autumn” is your second album, when you look back, was it easier to record the second one than the first one, because you are now more skilled and ...hm.... used to work as a duo? Or was the second one more complicated because you shared more ideas and tried out things than during producing the first one?
Troy>>>The second was far more complicated for a few reasons. For one thing we both felt we had to top the last one, which I guess is always the goal so that was looming over our heads. Also it was going to be released on Minus which is a big change from the first record being put out by a small U.K. label. In addition we had this lose concept, we knew we wanted more vocals, we wanted more "songs" and less dancefloor tracks. It is true that my production skills were a little sharper but I had never worked with vocals on this scale so it took some time and experimentation to get things right and some up with our sound.
Gibby>>>The second took longer and certainly was a more intense process because we were doing new things and trying different approaches. We also recorded most of this record in person, which was very different from our first album, which was done entirely long distance by email.
CM>>>>How must I picture myself your working process, Gibby writes some Lyrics and Troy some beats and you try to put them together to a song. Or do you have some kind of sessions or rehearsals were you try out new ideas? Or are the lyrics and the music is written by both of you.
Troy>>>It's either I make a song and tell Gibby to give me some lyrics for it or he has an idea that we build a song around. But we really don't have any rules, I wrote the lyrics for "She" on a plane somewhere and mailed to Gibby... just seemed like a good idea and it ended up working.
Gibby>>> We send each other lyrics, recordings of vocals, recordings of music… we agree on a direction… finally, I get the final “track”, and I sing over it and record and send back to Troy for final editing. If we are together both in Berlin or both in LA we do it live.
CM>>>>Gibby you live in Los Angeles and Troy in Berlin... have you produced all tracks together by meeting in Los Angeles and Berlin or do you also worked by using the Internet, I mean fast data connections?
Gibby>>>We mostly use the internet, but half of the album was recorded in Berlin together, the other half while I was alone in LA and Troy in Berlin.
Troy>>>Gibby was in Berlin for a few days in the beginning of the production process but I guess I work really slow so we didn't get a lot done in Berlin and had to go back to the old was of doing things which meant a lot of ichat sessions and data transfers
CM>>>>What can you tell me about the idea, the concept behind the album “Autumn”? When I looked at the Sleeve and the picture inside the album it reminded me about some classical novels somewhere between broken hearts and Franz Kafka...?
Troy>>>Perfect. It's all about broken hearts and love songs.
Gibby>>>That is certainly the right idea… For me Autumn is the changing season, the dying, and the rebirth. For me it is the most nostalgic month. The smells, the cold air, the memories. We felt this season best represented the “cold” songs of change on the record.
CM>>>>At the inner sleeve you also can read the statement “... this time the love remains”. Why have you chosen to print this statement?
Troy>>>I guess we wanted to plant this little surprise commentary, try to end all the emotionally draining torment on a positive note.
Gibby>>>It was a tongue-in-cheek message of hope!
CM>>>>How would you both describe yourself? Cool guys with a romantic view on things? Broken hearted and poetic?
Troy>>>Hmm.. Truely describe myself, I am not sure if I am a cool guy or even romantic but I am definitely in love and sometimes that ends in a broken heart, which I try poetically… sometimes tragically… to avoid.
Gibby>>> I would call myself a realist when it comes to love, though it took years of chipping away at my romantic idealism through disappointment and heartbreak to achieve it.
CM>>>>´The thing that fascinated my right from the start about “Autumn” is the fact that you made a fantastic high-wire act by dispersing the atmosphere and feelings that artists like Bauhaus or Joy Division did with their music without sounding like them. You used their musical “language” but not their “words”... What do you think about my comparison? Totally wrong?
Troy>>>Again, it's awesome thanks. I would again totally agree but I think we came to that solution naturally. What I mean is, we never sat down and said lets sound like this, this, and this, with a dash of that. We both love those bands and as a result we gravitate to some of the same basic elements they might have used. Spooky atmospheres and love sick lyrics.
Gibby>>>That’s flattering of you… I attribute that to Troy’s production.
CM>>>>Can you tell me how much time you needed from the idea until finishing the album “Autumn”?
Troy>>>God, ages. 10 months I guess from the first ideas to the final product getting mastered.
Gibby>>> roughly two years…
CM>>>>And do you have any plans for representing the album with some shows?
Troy>>>We really wanted to but Gibby has what can best be described as a "real" job and can't take the needed time off. Sad but true.
Gibby>>> Yeah, but eventually... Maybe when we feel ready.
CM>>>>As I said before the album disperses an unbelievable deep atmosphere, very intensive and kind of poetic. So maybe this question sounds silly, but what inspired you to create this atmosphere? A personal experience, a novel or a film? And maybe it was easier to work on an album with the title “Autumn” with such an intensive atmosphere, on a cold spring or autumn day in Berlin than in sunny Los Angeles?
Troy>>>I think the beginning of the idea for the atmosphere of the record comes from my bedroom. At 5am in the winter there is this silence... I was having the worst time sleeping when we first started talking about the record, I would wake up super early just thinking of what it might be like and how to do it. So there was always this sound in my room, but just silence really but the silence of snow falling and the silence of electricity. There was something in the nothingness and I wanted that to run through the record and be the foundation to keep it all together.
Gibby>>>The result of the album is just our natural output I think… Los Angeles weather has little to do with moodswings, though we did just recover from two weeks of rain and cloudy days! I think love songs come natural to us, though our definition of a “love song” is illustrated decidedly on the sadder end of the spectrum.
CM>>>>Who made the wonderful pictures with the girl in the dark wood on the sleeve and also this – I call it Kafkaesque picture of you both lying on the floor? And who had the idea for this wonderful album design?
Gibby>>> We both discussed and agreed on the idea of the girl in the woods. I oversaw the photoshoot and directed it. The photos were done in the forest 2 hours north of Los Angeles in the great pine forests. The photo was taken by Brian Sheffield, the model was Kate Flannery it’s the same girl on the cover of Enemy Love.
CM>>>>Ever thought about making a Louderbach DVD? I mean a kind of musical film or something like that?
Troy>>>Not really, cool idea though.. maybe on #3
CM>>>>... I remarked at the end of the song Notes that you used a filed recording of some city noises mixed with the sound of a – I guess so – German ambulance car. Does this sample or recording fitted perfectly to the song – or maybe was this field recording a kind of inspiration... I really would like to know what’s behind it?
Troy>>>Well, it's there for a few reasons. It was the recorded from just outside my studio window. When I was working on that track I heard that in the background and was like wow! WTF. So I recorded it and made it part of the final version. But also there is a line in the song that says "this town put us together, this town pulled us apart" and that sound is such a Berlin sound to me, which could be the town we are talking about pulling us apart...
CM>>>>The album is released on Minus label, was this clear right from the start? Have you played some ideas or demos to Richie before he decided to release this album?
Troy>>>In the beginning I sort of thought the project was dead after the first record because we were not happy with the U.K. label and I never dreamed Rich/M-nus would be interested in it. I did play Rich and some of the other people from the label an early version of the record just to give them an idea of what we were working on. Funny thing is, listening to that demo now, it's so different from the final product, Rich and M-nus were really great for giving us a chance to do this project.
CM>>>>Can we expect a third “Louderbach” album or is “Louderbach” project set up just for a limited time?
Troy>>>I imagine us to do another one for sure, I feel like we are sort of onto something.
Gibby>>>We will record more music soon…
CM>>>>What about the reactions you received so far? Ever had some people who didn't understood “Louderbach” because they compared the music with your musical background and history as Gibby Miller and Troy Pierce?
Troy>>>It's funny some people don't get it at all. Then there are others, like yourself, who totally get it and maybe even get it more than we do, citing references that we never thought of but that totally make sense. It's cool though, I am very happy with it, there is nothing I would change and that's a big thing to say... I always want to change shit at the last minute.
Gibby>>>The reaction thus far has been great. I think it’s wonderful if people listen, and get something out of it, enjoy the atmosphere of it… I think it should be listened to in headphones, alone in the dark.
CM>>>>What do you need for a perfect day in your life?
Troy>>> To fall asleep on the beach with my girlfriend and a bottle of wine.
Gibby>>> More time.
Photos by permisson of M-nus
Interview Michael Mück
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