Make Believe
For What It's Worth...
2008-01-23
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For far too many pundits of perfection, a product is nothing if it isn’t selling. This shoddy philosophy has emerged as a sort of scab on the underbelly of rock ‘n’ roll music—a misconception so resonant that it thwarts the ambitions of fertile, artistic minds. Yet Make Believe, the latest in a string of influential and conceptually driven bands led by Tim Kinsella (Joan of Arc, Owls), has set out, not so much to ignore the hangups of the music business, as to remain utterly indifferent to any one set of guiding principles. Operating within a self-made, strictly enforced code of operations (no effects pedals, no overdubs, practice everyday) has proven to liberate Make Believe, as well as their outspoken vocalist, in ways that weren’t possible while they were a part of Chicago’s post-punk scene of the late ‘90s. Synthesis spoke about these and other issues with the exceptionally bright Kinsella during the group’s trek through the Rocky Mountains on their latest tour.
In what ways do you feel like Make Believe had to adjust to escape the shadow of Joan of Arc?
It’s hard to say exactly because that was sort of a primary ambition of ours, just to do things differently. Moreso than having people receive things differently, just doing things differently. I don’t know how to distinguish between the two, really. I mean, we want to be a band who writes songs and be a live band primarily, like Led Zeppelin or how bands used to be, and we’d gotten pretty far away from that.
What sorts of goals do you have for each new album that you’re a part of, or do you have specific goals?
I really don’t think in those kinds of ways. Any goal beyond the album just being the best it can be with the resources we have, saying what we want to say, [I don’t think about]. I guess I find it easier to work if I’m not thinking about the benefits of it, and the work itself is the benefit. I enjoy playing music a lot more than I enjoy a lot of the trappings and assumptions of a band’s lifestyle.
Well then this next question may be a bit irrelevant, but how important is it for any of your bands to be viewed as innovative?
We certainly don’t think about that. I guess we’re interested in trying to find new sounds. Make Believe was started with the assumption that we would just have a standard rock band lineup, with no computers or synthesizers. Joan of Arc had become reliant in a lot of ways on a string section. I guess kind of the goal of the band was to try some new sounds that excited us with the same lineup that any other band on earth has. I’d say we’re definitely more conscious of the process of making things. We’re not like “hey, let’s be innovative,” as much as making the music itself. So, I guess we think about it, but in the opposite direction.
Has time tempered your approach to music at all over the 10-plus years you’ve been involved in it?
I would say it has in that, for years I was obsessed and didn’t do anything else, and I felt like if I was anywhere near home I just wanted to run home and work on music. I was really into exhausting myself. I stayed up all night last night, slept two hours and hiked two miles today, so I still like exhausting myself. But I think that we used to sort of work in this furious pace of, if we exhaust ourselves and work fast and work a lot, then we can’t be too self-conscious about what we’re making and it would come out more intuitive and pure. I guess I’m more patient with things now. And I think it takes less time because we’re better at our instruments now. We fought through a lot of mistakes, and we don’t have to make them over again.
How important are lyrics to the whole process or the aesthetic of the band?
I think a lot of entertainment functions are sort of an escape, you know? Whether it’s a Hollywood blockbuster or totally familiar romantic music that is really recognizable, all at once [you know] how you’re supposed to feel. You just pick up the connotations of, “oh, this chord to this chord creates melancholia.” So I think that we’re aware ideally that what we’re doing is creating a trance of sorts where the music is sort of functioning to hypnotize and I’m casting the spells. That’s how I think of it these days, but it’s always sort of changing. I spend a lot of time on the lyrics, and that’s all I really do in this band so it’s a big chunk of it, but on the other hand it’s just one more sound.
The reason I ask is because your new album, Shock of Being, seemed like there was more experimenting with vocalizing as opposed to singing words.
Yeah, that wasn’t really like a conscious thing—just sort of doing what feels right for each song. Our approach to these things is always changing to keep things fresh for us. I like leaving things kind of open, so when people are experiencing us in the primary way we exist, which is live, they’re not gonna catch all the lyrics to the song or what a song is about or a specific message. I would like it if people just caught certain parts or phrases and then had to do the work to piece things together themselves and activate some little part of their brain that will make them not be passive, or a consumer.
In what ways do you feel like Make Believe had to adjust to escape the shadow of Joan of Arc?
It’s hard to say exactly because that was sort of a primary ambition of ours, just to do things differently. Moreso than having people receive things differently, just doing things differently. I don’t know how to distinguish between the two, really. I mean, we want to be a band who writes songs and be a live band primarily, like Led Zeppelin or how bands used to be, and we’d gotten pretty far away from that.
What sorts of goals do you have for each new album that you’re a part of, or do you have specific goals?
I really don’t think in those kinds of ways. Any goal beyond the album just being the best it can be with the resources we have, saying what we want to say, [I don’t think about]. I guess I find it easier to work if I’m not thinking about the benefits of it, and the work itself is the benefit. I enjoy playing music a lot more than I enjoy a lot of the trappings and assumptions of a band’s lifestyle.
Well then this next question may be a bit irrelevant, but how important is it for any of your bands to be viewed as innovative?
We certainly don’t think about that. I guess we’re interested in trying to find new sounds. Make Believe was started with the assumption that we would just have a standard rock band lineup, with no computers or synthesizers. Joan of Arc had become reliant in a lot of ways on a string section. I guess kind of the goal of the band was to try some new sounds that excited us with the same lineup that any other band on earth has. I’d say we’re definitely more conscious of the process of making things. We’re not like “hey, let’s be innovative,” as much as making the music itself. So, I guess we think about it, but in the opposite direction.
Has time tempered your approach to music at all over the 10-plus years you’ve been involved in it?
I would say it has in that, for years I was obsessed and didn’t do anything else, and I felt like if I was anywhere near home I just wanted to run home and work on music. I was really into exhausting myself. I stayed up all night last night, slept two hours and hiked two miles today, so I still like exhausting myself. But I think that we used to sort of work in this furious pace of, if we exhaust ourselves and work fast and work a lot, then we can’t be too self-conscious about what we’re making and it would come out more intuitive and pure. I guess I’m more patient with things now. And I think it takes less time because we’re better at our instruments now. We fought through a lot of mistakes, and we don’t have to make them over again.
How important are lyrics to the whole process or the aesthetic of the band?
I think a lot of entertainment functions are sort of an escape, you know? Whether it’s a Hollywood blockbuster or totally familiar romantic music that is really recognizable, all at once [you know] how you’re supposed to feel. You just pick up the connotations of, “oh, this chord to this chord creates melancholia.” So I think that we’re aware ideally that what we’re doing is creating a trance of sorts where the music is sort of functioning to hypnotize and I’m casting the spells. That’s how I think of it these days, but it’s always sort of changing. I spend a lot of time on the lyrics, and that’s all I really do in this band so it’s a big chunk of it, but on the other hand it’s just one more sound.
The reason I ask is because your new album, Shock of Being, seemed like there was more experimenting with vocalizing as opposed to singing words.
Yeah, that wasn’t really like a conscious thing—just sort of doing what feels right for each song. Our approach to these things is always changing to keep things fresh for us. I like leaving things kind of open, so when people are experiencing us in the primary way we exist, which is live, they’re not gonna catch all the lyrics to the song or what a song is about or a specific message. I would like it if people just caught certain parts or phrases and then had to do the work to piece things together themselves and activate some little part of their brain that will make them not be passive, or a consumer.
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