By Adrienne Yeung
Beirut’s latest album, The Rip Tide (released September 2011), is a distinct departure from their previous records’ literal-interpretations-of-world-music-mixed-with-indie-rock. Apparently, the upbeat, pop sound of this album was a natural and deliberate next step. Stylus made a phone call to bassist Paul Collins in New York to chat about touring, favourite tracks, the members of Beirut, and how they put their new sound together.
Stylus: So how did you get involved with Beirut?
Paul Collins: I actually saw Zach playing very early on – it was him with a laptop computer. It was that kind of live show. He was 19. I remember being really blown away by his voice, and the songs. I approached him after the show, and eventually helped him to start a band, and then he invited me to be in the band. So, here I am now.
Stylus: How many people does Beirut consist of on this tour?
PC: We have an accordion, three horn players (including Zach), myself on bass, and our drummer – so that’s six.
Stylus: Wow, and we never really get to hear about them. Could you give us a bit of a description of each person?
PC: Well, when Perrin Cloutier started in the band, he was playing cello. But after being on tour with A Hack and a Hacksaw, he came to realise that the accordion could work out. [It was] a piece of shit accordion, like so terrible. It was from an antique store, really out of tune, and it just sounded really awful – but he started smashing it together and making it play! He has been pivotal in helping arrange and write all the music. I mean… Beirut, in the recording studio, is first and foremost Zach. But the next tier of that is Perrin, and Griffin Rodriguez, our producer.
And the ideas that the three of them throw around is really what’s at the core of Beirut. Nick Petree is really the tight drummer that can just do anything. Also, if you ever see us play live, he is just the heart of the band. He’s all smiles. People just love Nick. They’re always shouting from the audience that they love him. And now we have Kyle Resnick playing trumpet for us, but he has a lot of work with The National. But it’s a very solid lineup. We’ve all been friends for a long time. Ben Lanz, the trombone player, he’s a doctor of the trombone. . . . That is no joke. He’s just a great trombone player. He’s played all forms, whether it be classical music, or free jazz, or pop. But he adds a really calming, consistent, mature sensibility to the band. It’s been really great. And, then of course Zach. What hasn’t been said about Zach?
Stylus: I think there’s a lot about Zach out there.
PC: Yeah. [Laughs]
Stylus: So you said that in the studio, it’s Perrin, Griffin, and Zach who put things together. How far do they get songs, usually, before the rest of you guys start adding things?
PC: The one thing I would say is that Zach has to know that something’s going to work before he even brings it into the studio. Like whether the chord progression is just stuck in his head, or whether he has a whole song laid out. Him, Perrin, and Griffin just tend to format the melody or the chord structure into a song. At which point, the band can be involved right away, or weeks later, or we can be involved not at all.
Stylus: Which song on The Rip Tide would you say has the most group involvement?
PC: I would say “Port of Call.” On Rip Tide, we all pretty much play on everything – except, “The Peacock” is all Zach. But with [this song], Zach came to the studio – I want to even say we were working on another song – and he went, “Okay, let’s just try this one more thing.” And he had a ukulele chord progression. And immediately the band just ran with that. I think Perrin just jumped on the piano – and it just completely changed the character of the chord progression, and it turned into a song. It was the last song we did.
Stylus: And what was the first song that you recorded?
PC: “Well, East Harlem.” We’ve been playing it for a long time.
Stylus: I’d heard about that! He’d written it when he was 16? Does it sound very different than the original? I guess it must, since this time there’s a whole band behind it…
PC: Yeah, the original was kind of an electronic thing. I think it was a RealPeople song, and it was a total Stephen Morris, synthpop kind of thing.
Stylus: How did the pop sound of The Rip Tide form? I mean, there are definitely less obvious Mexican, French, and Balkan influences. Was this a conscious decision, or did it happen more organically?
PC: It was a bit of both.
Stylus: I mean, did Zach come into the studio and say, “Ok, let’s make this a pop thing”?
PC: Yes. That absolutely happened. With the other stuff he was finding music as a touchstone, a jumping off of point. Like the Balkan music, or Jaques Brel for The Flying Club Cup. But this time it was just like, “Okay, I just love Motown. And I love, like, old Beach Boys stuff, and Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen. So, let’s do something from there and see where that takes us.”
Stylus: Which track do you think speaks to you the most?
PC: Different tracks speak in different ways to me. But I’d say the one that just cuts me and really makes me emote is “Goshen.” I don’t know. I remember when we were at the studio, and it was really late, and we were really, um, drunk, and we were listening to the tapes of “Goshen.” And there’s no vocal track, but Zach just starts singing over it. And it was just amazing. It’s something about a melody being able to make you cry, as opposed to the lyrics or something. The fact that Zach has always been able to do that is very inspiring to me.
Stylus: And which song do you think is the most fun to play?
PC: I’d say, out of the Rip Tide stuff, probably “Santa Fe.”
Stylus: The music video for that song is awesome! Did you guys come up with the concept together?
PC: The video is all the people at Sunset Television who are all these weirdo kids who I think went to Columbia.They make these crazy videos on the Internet. Zach always thought they were hilarious. When we were looking for someplace to get a video, we were getting a lot of responses like, “Oh, so you’re a band, so we’re gonna film you guys, ‘cause you’re a band. Like crying, and you know, here’s a rose.” All very kitschy kind of stuff. But then Sunset Television sends us this treatment that says, “Okay, so there’s this dog. And it gets hit by a car. And they run to a beach and they’re eating pizza.” And you know, it’s this total upside down interpretation of what our song is, and that was really refreshing to see. And we thought it was funny. They did a good job.
Stylus: So have you guys been to Winnipeg before?
PC: We have not.
Stylus: Does having your own record label (Pompeii Records) give you the autonomy to explore smaller cities?
PC: I don’t know what we’re doing in Winnipeg. I don’t know what makes us pick where we’re gonna go. But yeah, [we’ll embark upon a] summer tour through Winnipeg, and all these parts of Canada we’ve never been to. It’s gonna be fun. I look forward to it. I love Guy Maddin. So I’m glad to go to his hometown and play.
Stylus: What do you guys like to do the day before and after you play a show?
PC: Gary and I are always looking for coffee. Taryn’s constantly practicing. Zach’s trying to sleep, and you know, get rest. Ben is probably riding his bike around somewhere. We’re all over the place, I would say.
Stylus: Well, I hope you find all those things in Wininpeg, when you come.
PC: I hope so too, I hope so too.
Beirut plays the Burton Cummings on July 23, 2012. Last time I checked tickets were still available!