Death Threats, Police & Fires: A Place To Bury Strangers

Fires? Death threats? Police shutting down shows? A Place To Bury Strangers guide us through life on the road, as we prepare our ears before 'The loudest band in New York' head to British shores. “We didn’t say that, but whatever. I don’t even know if that’s true,” protests Oliver Ackermann, front man, guitar maestro and one-third of APTBS, as he laughs at the above statement, which was reportedly self-proclaimed.

It's 3pm in the afternoon and APTBS are presently en-route to the next stop on their US tour, a tour that has seen the Brooklyn based trio already suffer a set back, when their vehicle caught fire, resulting in the band having to cancel shows. Oliver explains: “People were waving at us to pull over, and we were just driving along thinking, ‘ah, no big deal’. Then we saw smoke, so we pulled over and there was fire shooting out of the bottom of it [the RV]. We were in the middle of nowhere, in Arizona, in the desert.”

The band and RV survived, and although this situation had the potential to be catastrophic, Oliver seems calm in his recollection of the event, “It was ok, it could have been way worse. No injuries, everyone’s alright.”

This apparently blasé attitude is a contrast to the band’s musical character - a multi-layered racket, courtesy of Oliver’s self built guitar pedals. APTBS’ noise-mongering stage presence has seen their reminiscently shoegaze sound compared with the likes of Joy Division, Jesus and Mary Chain, Nine Inch Nails, and My Bloody Valentine, among others. “I don’t really care, anything anyone wants to say is fine,” says Oliver with an air of indifference as he reflects on the many comparisons. “I mean, I like those bands, I think they’re good but it’s not any conscious decision to sound like those bands”.

Reactions from crowds at their live shows have been equally mixed, including particularly memorable scenes from the band’s London shows earlier in the year where people just stood and stared, either in awe or shock. How do these reactions fair with the band? “I like it when people are going nuts and jumping around, it’s a little more intimate. I think that playing in proper clubs, warrants that kind of behaviour where people stand around and looked shocked. It’s kind of nice too though, as long as people aren’t running out of the room in fear!”

Never mind the audiences at shows, do APTBS receive complaints from the neighbours, when Oliver, bassist Jono Mofo and drummer, Jay Space get together to practise? “We have a place in New York where it’s just businesses around us. We’ve built a cement wall surrounding the entire thing. I always try to live in a warehouse where there’s nobody around, so then we can build our own studio inside and have our own practise space which is also where I live. I’ve realised that I need that for me to be able to live, to have a space where I can make as much noise as possible.”

APTBS’ music can certainly be described as noise, and an attack of some sort; 'To Fix The Gash In Your Head', a track featured on the band’s forthcoming UK debut (released this month) is especially brutal. But when faced with Oliver’s humbleness and the seemingly ordinary appearance of these three on stage (in the quiet before the live onslaughts), it’s hard to imagine where the more hostile elements of their music come from. Is this the true essence of the band, or, is it simply cathartic release? “Yeah it’s some kind of release. Sometimes, you have that feeling where you want to stab a pencil in someone’s eye or something, but we’re generally happy-go-lucky people.”

This “happy-go-lucky” approach is even present when asked about low points in APTBS existence: “Nothing too bad has happened, I’ve had my life threatened multiple times and stuff.” Wait, what? Was this through the band? “Yeah, not from other members of the band,” laughing he adds, “but from venues and what not, and we’ve had people shut down the power.”

The origins of the death threats he refers to are unclear, however a year before Oliver uttered these above words, the band were forced to end a performance prematurely when policemen attended their Loisaida show, in New York (on October 18) in response to noise complaints from the locals. The gig was shut down only three songs into the set. So, it’s not just the fans who will need to brace themselves (in anticipation) then when these boys hit the UK to with their tour later this month.