“We go against the obvious one hundred percent”
It is not usually common to find four instrumentalists of the level of Brendan Canty, Joe Lally, Anthony Pirog and James Brandon Lewis. And even less so that they work as well together as they demonstrate in their live shows and in albums like the still recent “Deface The Currency” (Verve/Universal, 26), second work by The Messthetics And James Brandon Lewis.
The trail that Fugazi continues to draw over the decades becomes increasingly marked. From its idiosyncrasy, the group of Ian MacKaye (vocals, guitar), Guy Picciotto (vocals, guitar), Joe Lally (bass) and Brendan Canty (drums) challenged the rules of the game and continues today to be the “do it yourself” inspiration of an entire generation of artists and followers. Musically, that disruptive, adventurous spirit in which anything is possible is very well represented in The Messthetics, a trio made up of Lally and Canty, plus guitarist Anthony Pirog. The three, together with saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, have released two albums that are excellent proof of the chemistry of the quartet, practitioners of jazz-punk with an infectious groove and experimental soul. It is not in vain that the material sees the light of day thanks to the prestigious Verve label. Although the best thing about all this is that, after performing at the Cruïlla, they will return to Barcelona to take us to very special places on Next November 6th at Marula Café. You can get tickets at this same link.
Brendan Canty takes our video call from his lifelong home in Washington DC and tells us how such a symbiotic collaboration came about. “James and Anthony had played together. Every time we performed in New York, we invited James to come on stage. Then James asked us to be on his album. We really liked the way the result sounded. It had a really beautiful sound, so we thought about inviting him to come to the studio with us. At first he was only going to perform a couple of songs from our new album, but we ended up recording the entire album in two days. And that’s something you always look for when you’re a musician, finding collaborations That they are… I don’t want to say easy, but that they work spontaneously, that we all connect and that we find ourselves able to compose together quickly. It’s much more fun than staying there hammering the songs over and over again until they’re completely exhausted. I think there’s something special about James. His tone, the volume at which he plays… He’s an incredibly wonderful musician and all the melodic lines that both Anthony and I had composed took on a special dimension thanks to his way of playing. start playing together.”
Unlike Fugazi’s creative process, the group composes with classic jazz structures and bases melodic ideas on the logic of the two voices, saxophone and guitar, which leads me to wonder if Lewis is already a permanent member of the band. “Well, I think the next record will be with James. We’re going to work on it this month, but I think at some point we’ll want to make another kind of record. However, when we’re with James we feel like a band.”
The excellent dynamics and organic tone of the quartet’s albums – under the name The Messthetics And James Brandon Lewis – suggest concerts with a very special energy. Canty gets excited about the comment. “It’s a very intense energy and, when we play, that’s what counts. This band, especially when we’ve been on tour for a few weeks, runs like a train. Every show we give it our all and we leave our soul on stage. And I can tell you that, personally, it’s something I love. Often, James turns around and shouts at me ‘Come on!’ And I say ‘Okay!’ (laughs). He really contributes a lot to the band. And the same goes for Anthony. They never shy away from making noise because they want everything to be intense and loud at all times.”
“This band, especially when we’ve been on tour for a few weeks, works like a train”
The crossover between jazz and rock has given countless tonalities over the years. In the case of The Messthetics, the way in which they can mix sophistication with rawness is notable. “The key to this is that we all bring our authentic personality. I’m not trying to act like a jazz drummer. I mean? I’m just myself. And the same goes for Joe. We’re not obsessed with changing to fit the group, it’s a combination of the four personalities. If you don’t show yourself as you are, what’s the point? To me, the rest doesn’t matter. Whatever way you think, whatever your aesthetic or your sound, make sure you bring all that to the session. If we were trying to be “A jazz band, it would be a total disaster. It’s a combination: the Fugazi rhythm section and two virtuosos who can really play.”
Given such a celebration of the human, it is irresistible to ask Canty about what the use of AI in music does to him, to which he responds frustrated. “Every time I hear something like that, I find it disgusting. I mean… I’ve used it myself. I’ve done some testing on the visual side; I used a tool to create an image. And I said, ‘Okay, I want something spacey, but pretty, something psychedelic.'” Anyway, it basically generated images based on the work of a friend of mine, Jeremy Blake (an artist who did all the credit sequences for “Punch-Drunk Love”—. So, basically, what he did was plagiarize his style and give it to me. It really grossed me out and I thought ‘How do you even know I have that style as a reference?’ It’s really sinister and I think it’s the same with music. Ultimately, just look for likely patterns that satisfy you. So our job now is the same as always: create improbable music. Go against the obvious one hundred percent.”
