Cold War Kids:
Standing This Close To Pathos May Result In Devotion
20 August 2006
tell your friends...
Words by Sean Moeller (originally published on http://www.daytrotter.com,
listen to Cold Water Kids Daytrotter sessions here),
pix by Steve Bateman, May 2007
This is a story about a band that cannot be considered
a mock-up or precursor, but the whole she-bang, a font of penetrating
pathos suitable for framing. Cold War Kids is a collection of four men
who write and play songs as if theyre burning from the inside
out, involving themselves so utterly and completely in the stories of
their faux characters that to see them in-person, you find yourself
checking your own clothes for holes caused by the descending embers
of whatever powerful stuff is in the air. They can turn water into wine
and battery acid, it seems, pumping the mixture through us and their
songs and it is undoubtedly felt, as anyone whos been privileged
enough to take in one of their performances knows. Its finding
a religion in a secular way. Its feeling things again for the
first time, with wonder and exhilaration, even if its just with
borrowed hands and hearts or for a limited time the spell to
be broken when the cigarette smoke clears out and the night gets let
back into the room. Lead singer Nathan Willett, who could be mistaken
for a Wild West outlaw in the right garb and with a six-shooter holstered
to his hip or a younger Miles Kurosky of Beulah semi-fame, creates sketches
of wretched people, beleagured people and almost heroes trying their
damnedest that are stocked with vagaries and participles, details and
estranged particulars. They are all compassionate attempts at definition
and embracing the common things that people encounter every day whether
they want to or not. Willett sinks himself into the belly of these characters
and is a thinking man a caring man when he paints them
for all to see. A few weeks ago, he and the rest of his bandmates had
Common walk by them as he was going to the stage to perform, giving
them a chest thump in response to their wish of good luck. They said
it was a highlight and when Willett was asked about that experience
last week, he combined his answer with another answer to a question
about the prevalence of religious connotations in his lyrics, staying
somewhat ambiguous on the latter front.
He was talking about love and loyalty and becoming a person who
cares about himself and makes a difference in the lives of people around
them, Willett said of Common. And its like, Wow!
Theres no irony here. No degrading of women, yada yada.
Are you allowed to stand for that stuff these days and still be an artist?
Its something to think about.
Willetts found a different way to tell stories about people bowing
in the middle, teetering between choosing despair or the opposite and
getting more from life whether its the man poaching bills
from the collection plate during Sunday masses or the little prodigy
who is miserable hearing his mother poking him to admire the Grand Canyon
out the station wagons window.
I like how (Nathan) can deliver these stories and characters that
are very vivid, yet vague, to the listener, bassist Matt Maust,
who coined the name of the band when he started a website of the same
name years ago that was used for posting his graphic design work and
the writings and poetry of his friends. There are so many people
and characters in the songs, and theyre really funny and serious
at the same time. A lot of the characters in the songs remind me of
the Peanuts characters. All those kids were so young and small, but
they all acted like adults. His concepts really remind me of the way
Charles Schulz is at times.
Its interesting that Maust brings up Peanuts as Id just
come upon a paperback copy of Robert L. Shorts 1968 book The
Parables of Peanuts, which goes into great detail to explain how
Schulz took great pain to infuse notions of the gospel and religion
into his long-running comic strip. Many writers have a hard time not
suggesting a degree of gospel living inside Willetts songs. They
just cant do it, if only for the grand power that steams off the
stage and out of headphones. These songs arent religious. Not
in the least. They arent the works of a reformed John Davis or
Half-Handed Cloud or anything remotely similar to that, but guitarist
Jonnie Russells father happens to be a preacher and as often as
churchy and moralistic situations arise in the songs on the EPs Up
In Rags and With Our Wallets Full some of which
are currently being re-recorded for a full-length release on Downtown
Records, the home of Gnarls Barkley and Art Brut the theological
bent is too interesting and prominent to pretend doesnt exist.
In The Parables of Peanuts, Short spends nearly three chapters
explaining and defining a method that Schulz used regularly to dispense
his ideas. Termed art-parableor the strategy of wounding
from behindas Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said,
its a method that Willett seems to use in reverse, touching on
religion, but craftily using it to make greater gains in art. Short
makes sure to differentiate art from entertainment and it seems appropriate
here to quote him.
All art involves entertainment of sorts, but not all entertainment
is art, Short writes. Mere entertainment leads us away from
reality; indeed it can even be considered an escape from reality. Entertainment
wants to live our lives for us. We are simply caught up in a dream and
left there. Hence it is possible to have TV addicts as well as drug
addicts and alcoholics. Art, on the other hand, can also entertain us,
but it goes further. It leads us through its dream back to a reality
that perhaps we had not seen before or to a reality that we now see
in a new light. It helps us to see our lives as they really are and
frequently provides suggestions as to how those lives can better be
faced and accepted without the constant need for escape.
Its easy to see what the Cold War Kids are doing as art of the
highest regard, a form that doesnt couch itself at all with biblical
notions or piety, but it does make you believe. In what? It doesnt
really matter.
The Daytrotter interview
Sometimes you look mean and aggressive on stage. Is that a personal
tactic? Has anyone ever been hurt by you while youre on stage?
Matt Maust: I didnt know I had the mug of a meanie. I dont
want anyone to think were angry and cowardly. As far as injuries,
I think Ive hit Jonnie a few times in the head with my bass. Nathan
told me once or twice that I hit him too hard, and manager Brett and
tour manager Beeman are always afraid Im gonna break the Pellegrino
bottle with the stick. Its never happened yet, although I think
Jonnie broke a wine bottle once at Silverlake Lounge. I think it cut
his hand too. Now thats something to be angry about.
Tell me a little about the Cold War Kids website before there was
a band of that same name. You briefly told me about it, but Id
love to hear some more detail.
MM: Cold War Kids the website was similar to what it is
now at the beginning stages about seven years ago. I had artwork/design
stuff that my (other) friend Nathan and I had done. There were also
journal entries, and short stories written by my close friends. Ive
always tried to include others in the website. The name dawned on me
while I was in Eastern Europe with my brother traveling and playing
music. Well, he played, and I sang. Thats really when the Cold
War Kids idea started, as far as a name. Thats when I started
taking pictures of everywhere I went, and really noticing graphic design
in other countries. Since I couldnt read anything I saw, I started
noticing more of the typographical aesthetic side of words and designs,
rather than the meaning and content. The website was just a vehicle
to put my work up for others to view. It turned into a design firm,
which then turned into a band, but it kept the design side of things
after we became a band. Lately, Ive been showing my work in galleries
too. My next show is in Los Angeles in December where Im displaying
all the raw album artwork for our first record.
What do you guys hope happens on stage every night? Has the live
show always been an easy thing for you guys to do or has it taken some
work?
MM: New songs for the first time live are usually pretty clumsy. I
hope that we play off of each other as good as we can. If all four of
us are meeting each other where were at, were usually bound
to have a great show. It doesnt mean that there are not any blemishes
in the set and things might not even go smooth, but if we have a good
time and let mistakes bounce off our backs, we usually walk away feeling
accomplished. At first, playing live was really awkward, and it still
is a lot of the time. Every room is different, and every crowd is different,
were starting to notice. It can be tricky if there are things
in the room that are working against you, or for you. A lot of it depends
on the weather.
Most bands are fucking lucky to have one dude with charisma. How
did you end up with four?
MM: Thanks so much. We all had really happening moms. Moms are where
its at.
Jonnie Russell: Thats a nice thing to say. This question has a
rhetorical ring to it, right?
Matt Aveiro: I think the charisma of the live show comes from our writing
process. Since the songs are written and structured together, everyone
spends a lot of time developing their parts and finding how and where
they fit. More often than not, that comes from playing those parts over
and over and letting them find their place within the song. I think
because everyone is involved in the creation of the song, everyone has
to be involved live to make it translate. I usually find drummers detached
from whats going on with the rest of a band live which really
makes the show as a whole suffer. I try not to be trapped by my kit.
Theres a lot of reference to vacations. How were your vacations
as a child?
NW: I didnt do any driving around the states vacationing growing
up so (the song God Make Up Your Mind is) not my story.
I like the idea of a sophisticated kid whose parents dont get
him, didnt foster or develop him, being in a crappy station wagon.
The vacations that I did go on I always hated and I never really knew
why at the time. I love traveling now more than anything, but I think
I would get overwhelmed with newness and just wanted to be home.
Does Nate know anything about hospital beds or Italian opera?
MM: I dont think so. He hasnt been to Italy yet, or the
opera. What do I know? Maybe he has. He stopped skating though because
of the lack of hospital insurance. Maybe that has something to do with
it.
JR: Certainly. He spent years in Florence after he left grammar school
kind
of a classical conservatory thing.
What did you learn today that you didnt know yesterday?
NW: Today, I learned that I cant sing our own songs the same
way twice, even when I try hard.
How do you find the time to do all the diary updating every day?
MM: Theres a lot of dead time in the van. You gotta find something
to do while you kill the time between El Paso and Houston. Remember,
no gas till El Paso a wise Texan named Springle Pants told me.
What do you guys hope happens on stage every night? Has the live
show always been an easy thing for you guys to do or has it taken some
work?
MA: The live shows have progressed a lot over the past year and half
since we began playing together. Id love to see footage of our
early shows. Some of them were pretty rough. There has been a constant
growth in the way we play and react to each other live. I think we are
all really sensitive to what each other is doing on stage and hopefully
every night there is the energy coming from everyone else to feed off
of.
JR: Vibe and connection. The room has to like you. That makes it a lot
easier.
How are you able to play so well moving all over the place like
that? Lots of practicing?
JR: I think weve just tried to play a lot together and are learning
how we move together.
Can you tell me about how you grew up, what your childhood was like?
How long have you known these guys?
JR: Im the son of a preacher man. Known the other boys for years.
Boys and Girls Club or something.
Have you all always lived in California?
JR: California, Baltimore, and Malawi, for a stint.
Have you guys been surprised by the praise thrown at your recently?
MA: The response to the EPs has been pleasantly surprising. Especially
because they havent been that easy to get. We just finished our
third tour in the last four months and its been really amazing
to see the growth in the amount of kids coming out to the shows.
What was the Midlake/Sound Team tour like? Your favorite moment?
MA: The tour went really well. Both Midlake and Sound Team are great
bands and we got a lot time to hang with the Sound Team dudes, which
was awesome. The Southpaw show in Brooklyn was the highlight for me.
Reprinted with permission from http://www.daytrotter.com
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