Brazil
Loud and Proud
2007-11-08
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Aside from his hankering for well-deserved downtime, Brazil’s Jonathon Newby is sick of being quiet. His sextet’s second LP, The Philosophy of Velocity, dropped in early October, and Newby is excited about the band’s transition from their pensive, post-punk givings to sweeping, psychedelic overdrives. Not only that, but he thinks telemarketing sucks, drinking in the studio is cool and that there’s nothing wrong with a little lip gloss. Read on.
How many times did you see the movie Brazil before you decided it would be the band name?
Once. Terry Gilliam is one of my favorite directors. The guys wanted a name that sounded like a city.
The new album seems trippy. Did you get high while recording?
There’s a good percentage of the band that likes to partake in controlled substances. I don’t do that, but I do drink in the studio. There are some songs on the record that I don’t remember singing.
Is it true you’ve recorded old demos in a church basement?
I used to live in an old church that was pretty much abandoned. We lived in the chapel area because the sanctuary was falling in. It had a big complex of basement rooms underneath, and we used one of the rooms as a practice studio. It had pretty decent acoustics and we had an eight-track, so we would record demos in there.
What makes The Philosophy of Velocity a good album?
There’s a lot more of a noise quotient to this one. We’ve cranked everything up to the red, so it’s this pure, vibrant mash of noise that comes out of the speakers. But then there’s a huge dynamic contrast throughout the album; the noise, lack of noise, then noise again… It’s a lampoon of other progressive albums coming out today.
What’s the worst day job you’ve ever had?
Telemarketing for two days. Actually, I went through training, worked one shift, and then I quit. There was another time that I worked at a shop where I had to be there at some ungodly hour. I would come home and work on band stuff until I fell asleep. Then I would fall asleep on the job. They found me one day and sent me home. It’s the only job I’ve ever been fired from.
Any touring rituals?
My personal ritual is I pull up to the club, get into the trailer, change into my vest and tie, put on a little lip gloss, then I drink a 40 and I’m ready to go! The other guys are similar except they smoke a joint…then drink a 40.
Are there any bands you can’t stand?
I don’t mention names. At some level, every band has to make a compromise and do things their own way. And if some bands think they can do it by putting out crap, then I have to respect that.
If you weren’t playing music, what would you be doing?
Probably something in forensics. When I’m not creating or writing things, I tend to get pretty depressed. When I get depressed, I think about morbid things like death and dying. If I were thinking about that stuff, then I’d want to make a career out of it, like becoming a coroner.
How many times did you see the movie Brazil before you decided it would be the band name?
Once. Terry Gilliam is one of my favorite directors. The guys wanted a name that sounded like a city.
The new album seems trippy. Did you get high while recording?
There’s a good percentage of the band that likes to partake in controlled substances. I don’t do that, but I do drink in the studio. There are some songs on the record that I don’t remember singing.
Is it true you’ve recorded old demos in a church basement?
I used to live in an old church that was pretty much abandoned. We lived in the chapel area because the sanctuary was falling in. It had a big complex of basement rooms underneath, and we used one of the rooms as a practice studio. It had pretty decent acoustics and we had an eight-track, so we would record demos in there.
What makes The Philosophy of Velocity a good album?
There’s a lot more of a noise quotient to this one. We’ve cranked everything up to the red, so it’s this pure, vibrant mash of noise that comes out of the speakers. But then there’s a huge dynamic contrast throughout the album; the noise, lack of noise, then noise again… It’s a lampoon of other progressive albums coming out today.
What’s the worst day job you’ve ever had?
Telemarketing for two days. Actually, I went through training, worked one shift, and then I quit. There was another time that I worked at a shop where I had to be there at some ungodly hour. I would come home and work on band stuff until I fell asleep. Then I would fall asleep on the job. They found me one day and sent me home. It’s the only job I’ve ever been fired from.
Any touring rituals?
My personal ritual is I pull up to the club, get into the trailer, change into my vest and tie, put on a little lip gloss, then I drink a 40 and I’m ready to go! The other guys are similar except they smoke a joint…then drink a 40.
Are there any bands you can’t stand?
I don’t mention names. At some level, every band has to make a compromise and do things their own way. And if some bands think they can do it by putting out crap, then I have to respect that.
If you weren’t playing music, what would you be doing?
Probably something in forensics. When I’m not creating or writing things, I tend to get pretty depressed. When I get depressed, I think about morbid things like death and dying. If I were thinking about that stuff, then I’d want to make a career out of it, like becoming a coroner.
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