Love and Pain: An Interview with a Place to Bury Strangers' Oliver Ackermann

Listen Up Toledo | 05/22/2013

There are rock bands, and then there are rock bands like A Place to Bury Strangers; the few and far between artists who use the basic tools of rock n’ roll to create something perhaps not entirely new, but wholly original and special. Formed in New York City in 2002, APTBS quickly earned the reputation of New York’s loudest rock band and garnered accolades from the likes of Pitchfork, the Village Voice, The Washington Post, and the New York Times following shows sharing the stage with influences and contemporaries like Jesus & Mary Chain, Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Despite their hailing, the sound is not quite what you think when you’re told APTBS is another band from Brooklyn.

Trudging through the dark underside of ‘80s new wave with a washed out wall of guitars, fuzz, drone, and feedback, this band blends a wealth of musical influence ? from punk and goth to psychedelic and experimental noise to early industrial, and so much in between ? to create a unique, driving force of psychological and emotional exploration, riffing on the strange, uncomfortable place between love and hurt. What’s more, the music is composed via countless tools and electrical gadgets hand built by APTBS mastermind Oliver Ackermann, who in his spare time runs Death By Audio, a company/extension of the band that creates and builds a slew of unique petals, pre-amps and other sonic musical tools.

Approaching the band with a strict DIY attitude, everything you see and hear has been built and orchestrated specifically for the audience to experience, from self recording and producing their own albums to their much heralded, out-of-this world stage and light shows ? which must be experienced to be explained. Simply put, A Place to Bury Strangers is one of the most unique talents in contemporary rock n’ roll, and a band well worth your time to explore if you haven't already. If you have, you know.

In light of the group’s upcoming performance at Frankie’s this weekend, Toledo.com caught up with APTBS brainchild, Oliver Ackermann for a chat. Check out the interview below for raps on how David Lynch inspired the band, the best bands from NYC you haven’t heard of, and the all-important question, whiskey or LSD?

A Place to Bury Strangers plays Frankie’s Inner City (308 Main St.) on Sunday, May 26. Local psycheelic rockers 33 1/3 and SVHS open the show. Doors are at 8pm. Tickets are $10 advance at Culture Clash Records and Ramalama Records. $12 at the door. For info, www.frankiesinnercity.com

One of the most defining and electrifying parts of this band is the live show, including the lighting element. How did that aspect develop, was it intended to be a part of the experience from the start?

I was really inspired by the look of David Lynch's work and how he would transform the nice and usual into something scary. It would switch so fast. A Place To Bury Strangers is focusing on the scary part.

Is there a difference between what APTBS does live and how it approaches recording? Do you view these as two separate forms of the art or are they one in the same? [meaning is the live show a direct application of the recording, and/or the recording a direct record of the live show? Or, do you intend each to be a separate experience?]

I always view them as separate things because the medium is completely different. I like creating something that takes me someplace, a mood, a vision, anything that makes me actually feel or think. On recordings I use sounds and found sounds to create something that brings focus to pain, love, and combines that with experimentation of the medium and what sound does in a stereo spectrum. Live we have control over the mood, lights, direction of sound, volume of sound and we are creating everything in front of people so it is a forced event.

One of the really amazing things about this band to me has always been the technical aspect, the Death by Audio end of things, where the band has created unique instruments for its own use. On Worship, it seems you've taken that to the next level. Can you explain what elements, instruments, tools and/or gadgets compose the fabric of this record that are unique to this band and this project in particular?

I really don't know any other way. I feel like composing and creating music is so tied in with production. When I hear that people didn't record or produce or at least help produce their own record I can't really believe it. I have built many preamps, compressors, reverberators, and a multitude of other effects to get the sounds that we got on this record. Also understanding how these effects are constructed gives me the knowledge to use effects and understand the concepts of what can and is being be done with sound.

There are a few common "go-to" influences with APTBS, such as Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, etc., but it seems to me there is a lot of both punk and pop aesthetics to the band that makes fans respond so well to the music. What would say some unexpected or surprise influences might be, be they directly reflected in the music or not?

I lived in Providence, Rhode Island for a while and really fell in love with the noise warehouse show scene, which had a huge influence. My parents influenced me as well with pop bands like the Beatles and the Stones and my brother with 80's punk like Minor Threat and the Dead Kennedys.

Brooklyn is well known for a slew of recent "indie rock" bands, its a community you've been a part of for the better part of 10 years. Is there still a coherent music community happening? Are there any particular bands there that stick out to you people might not know about that have impressed you?

The way in which New York is coherent is that you can count on nothing being coherent. Everything is constantly changing and that is what is appealing about NY. There are tons of rad bands around that I can think of from NY like Grooms, Oneida, Guardian Alien, Black Dice, Japanther, Obits, and if you haven't heard of these bands you should check them out. All solid gold.

The general state of music has changed drastically in the past ten years. For instance, this band has been able to establish a significant presence and to be successful with a pretty straightforward DIY ethic. It seems the days of getting picked up by a major label and enjoying that kind of success are long gone for most bands. What advice do you have for bands hoping to make their own way?

Focus on creating something that you are really into and not focus on making it or making money doing it. This is the world that we all live in. I will pay for something that is completely unique and inspiring and if I pay for some piece of junk I feel ripped off. If you're not ripping people off with some processed bullshit I feel like you will be inspiring other people to do better and find fulfillment in your art.

This is a question I've been considering of late regarding most recent bands with psychedelic elements: What's the bigger influence, LSD or whiskey?

LSD

To getter a greater scope of the world of Death by Audio, check out this cool 2009 documentary touring the home/shop/studio in NY!