Bang On: Explosions In The Sky

Texas post-rockers Explosions in the Sky are currently riding a fresh wave of hype and with the release of their astounding new album ‘All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone’, it’s no surprise they’re suddenly getting the much needed attention they deserve.  Just before they play at storming set at Camden’s KOKO on a bitterly cold March night, Gigwise sits down with bassist and band lynchpin Michael James where we find out his adoration for Radiohead, the mind-blowingly long amount of time it takes for Explosions to write an album and the exaggerated ‘almost break-up’ of the band…

Explosions in the Sky’s apocalyptic music is very venue-specific, meaning wherever they play can either make the show fantastic or ruin it, depending on a number of factors. Sitting in the hallowed surroundings of KOKO, Michael quickly reflects upon his favourite venue: “We played at this place in Amsterdam called the Paradiso, and it’s really amazing. It’s an old church converted into a venue, so it’s really beautiful, but a little on the large side.  When it comes to gigs, it’s always best to play for really small crowds. KOKO has a capacity of 1400, which is getting a bit high, but playing for 400 to 500 people is really great.  The crowd is just right there,” he points in front of him, “and it’s just really intimate and makes the experience so much more powerful.”

But they’ve played in front of crowds in the thousands for some festivals, so why do that if they don’t like it?  “No, no, festivals can be really great.  We’ve played a couple really awesome festivals—the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival here in England is amazing.  We played that in 2004, and it was great.  But yeah, really huge festivals can be kind of weird, especially if we have to play during the day,” he laughs.  “The sunshine and our music… it’s just not very appropriate.”  How very true.

Restricted on the amount of radio play they receive, playing live has always been at the forefront of Explosions in the Sky’s ambitions to get noticed. So the conversation naturally moves on to the pros and cons of being on the road. “There are all kinds of things that can go wrong while touring.  Y’know, we’ve dealt with flaky promoters who don’t pay us. And most of the time our crowds are really demure, but sometimes they can be a bit unruly, and that’s annoying.  But as far as the good things go, there are amazing things about every region we get to go to while touring.  Enjoying the experience of the place where we are is always the best thing.  Whenever we get a little time off before we play and actually get to explore the city, that’s great…” he trails off and puffs on his cigarette.  “On the whole, touring is a good thing.  We get tired, and we’re doing the same thing every day, but for that hour that we’re on stage, it’s so worth it.  I forget everything and just play and have this amazing connection with the crowd.  It’s always worth it in the end, it really is.”

For the uninitiated, getting his teeth stuck into the history of the band, Michael tells us how the three original members first met.  “Munaf and I met while we were playing basketball, just met randomly on the court.  We started hanging out after that, and then he introduced me to Mark, and we all started a band in Midland [Texas].  At first it was just kinda noise-pop stuff—y’know, ripping on Sonic Youth and Pavement.  Then we all moved around the States quite a bit before actually settling down in Austin, which is where we met Chris.  He had put a flyer up at a record store, looking for a band.  We were looking for a drummer, so it just kinda worked out perfectly.  This was in 1999 by the way, and we just hit it off.  Ever since then we’ve been a band.”

And they never wanted a vocalist?  “No.  We didn’t even really talk about what kind of music we wanted to play at first, we just kinda got together and played.  None of us wanted to sing—none of us can sing,” he chuckles, “and we didn’t want to play with anyone else, so by default we were an instrumental band.” We push him further asking if they ever consider adding a vocalist?  “Well, never say never,” Michael smiles and reaches for another cigarette.  “But probably not.”

To ask a band as phenomenal as Explosions in the Sky who they would most like to collaborate with is a massive question, with an equally massive answer.  Michael is able to reply without hesitation.  “Radiohead,” he proclaims.  “We all love Radiohead.  We’re huge fans,” he gushes.  “Also, working with The Flaming Lips would be amazing.” Influences, then – everyone wants to know what kind of music shaped their favourite musicians lives while growing up and what continues to shape their lives today.  “I listened to all kinds of stuff when I was growing up,” Michael says, sipping on his Corona.  “My mother listened to classical music, so I was always around that.  Then I got really into metal, like Metallica and Slayer and all that stuff.  I also really liked punk rock, like Operation Ivy and NOFX.  It progressed from there to stuff like The Cure and The Smiths.  Today…” he pauses and thinks, “I love the new Shins album.  Love it.  And there’s this ambient band called Stars of the Lid, I’ve been listening to their new stuff.  Panda Bear [lead singer of Animal Collective], his solo stuff is so good.”