Every week, Medium will post a story or review from the vault, #tbt style. This week: a Future Islands Q&A from former Assistant Diversions editor Elizabeth Byrum. Originally published on the Diversions blog on Oct. 31, 2012, this Q&A is in anticipation of the Future Islands' 1000th concert this Sunday.
Future Islands, the Baltimore-via-Greenville outfit, packs live shows with emotion, inviting the audience to fully engage. The band juxtaposes the delicate with the extreme, mixing intense songs filled with heavy lyrics with relatively simple and profound instrumental means. Assistant Diversions editor Elizabeth Byrum talked with bassist William Cashion as the band prepares to launch its tour this Friday at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh.
Diversions: Compared to In Evening Air, what were some the changes you all made in On the Water?
William Cashion: It wasn’t really a conscious decision, but the music ended up a little bit slower on this record. It’s kind of what just happened. I play a lot of guitar, like electric and acoustic guitar on this record, and I never really played too much electric guitar on any of the other albums.
Our friend Denny (Bowen) played drums on the record. Jenn Wasner came in and sang a duet with Sam (Herring) on “The Great Fire.” We kept thinking what kind of textures we could bring in and what kind of new life we could breathe in this album.
Chester (Endersby Gwazda), the producer, arranged and wrote out sheet music for violin and cello for a couple of songs. We had some friends come and sing backup vocals. We were just trying to see what kind of extra sounds we could throw in there to try and make it sound a little fresh.
Dive: Do you want to continue these collaborations?
WC: Oh yeah definitely. We love working with our friends, and I think we need to do that for future recordings down the road.
Dive: What has encouraged you guys to release many of your EPs on 7 inch? What makes it different than a digital release?
WC: I think it’s just like being able to hold an art object, actually hold something that is real and tangible. It’s just special I think. I really enjoy listening and I like releasing stuff that is only available on a vinyl release that you can’t find online.
Dive: Do you consider yourselves more of a studio or live-oriented band? Or do you try to strike a balance?
WC: Definitely a balance. We’re gearing up right now for this tour and right now I’d say we are more of a live band, but after that we are going to be buckling down and focusing on the next record and planning and recording that. We’re hopefully going to become more of a studio band during that time. I think there’s a kind of balance to it and there is a different kind of energy that you bring to the stage and I think sometimes the songs can be a little more tender in the studio than they are live.
Dive: You all tour quite extensively. How do you maintain the energy?
WC: Be sure to drink a lot of water, stay hydrated. A little bit of beer never hurt once in a while.
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