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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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A Whisper in the Noise: Writing and developing until they get it right
Wednesday 05 February @ 12:44:52 |
 by Louis Lenzmeier
The Pulse recently had the opportunity to talk to West Thordson, the soft-spoken lead vocalist of A Whisper In The Noise. The band will be playing this Saturday, February 8 at the Uptown Bar and Café.
Pulse: Can you describe your songwriting process?
Thordson: Well, the group has two development processes. The first is that there are songs that I will write in its entirety, including orchestration, and then we have another side where we will write collectively as a group. Lately, we are really developing and writing from a blend concept and becoming a band entity. With some of the newer stuff that we are doing, we are trying to develop more in that vein. It is something that we are deliberately doing for the new album just because we find it more successful.
Pulse: Do you prefer to write alone or with other people?
Thordson: I spend quite a bit of time writing alone and sometimes I am never really satisfied with what I come up with. I always felt like I was shooting for something that I could not obtain. I would always try to make the music sound very authentic and I never really felt like I could come close. It left a very impersonal feeling. This is mostly why I think writing with others works so well and why we try to blend everyone’s ideas from the band together.
Pulse: Your process sounds very long, comprehensive, and in-depth. Can it become stressful?
Thordson: I would not necessarily say stressful, but in a sense, it is frustrating. It is frustrating in the sense that you are trying to get everything down and to the point. I don’t necessarily write for the sake of being entertaining, but I would rather write something for people that can relate to a song on a personal level. I mean, I think I write more from the perspective of an audience member.
Pulse: What comes easier in your song riting? Is it a lyric or a sound?
Thordson: I would say it’s a perspective or a melodic idea and it starts to flow from there. It can be a rhythmic idea as well, but I would mostly have to say that it is a sound that I identify with. This is something we are trying to do with the new album is to develop the idea that we have identified and make sure it does not get lost in the whole creative process.
Pulse: How is this new album going to compare to “Through The Ides Of March”?
Thordson: I feel like the mood is definitely going to be in the same ballpark. As we are developing it, it may become darker in mood than our last one was. It’s going to be much more concept-oriented. I definitely want this one to be more thorough and developed more from a song perspective. We are not a band that sits around and jams. Our development process is very comprehensive and the songs take a while to develop.
Pulse: When can we anticipate this new album?
Thordson: We don’t actually have a set date right now. We are looking at label options and seeing what the best fit is. We are going to be doing a tour where we will have an opportunity to look at various labels and see who we can work successfully with.
Pulse: Is there a type of label that you necessarily prefer?
Thordson: We actually prefer more of an independent label just because they tend to be more artist-friendly. Furthermore, it would be nice to find a label with a larger budget just from a resource perspective, just so we can stick to our thoughts and perspective on developing music.
Pulse: What would you say is your band’s goal in a live performance? If someone has not seen the group before, what is it that you want them to take away?
Thordson: I have a vision of creating very personalized songs and giving that to an audience. Even though they may seem personal in nature to me, I want the audience to take away their own interpretation of a song. If someone is seeing us for the first time, I want them to take away a new interpretation that they may have not necessarily thought of before seeing the show.
Pulse: Do you feel like there is room for your type of sound within the Minneapolis music scene? Is it becoming more noticeable that it used to be?
Thordson: At first, I was really surprised to how people reacted to it. I really did not think anyone would notice it that much. I feel like Minneapolis has a sound that is very eclectic in nature and we can fit in there somewhere. Our sound is very much post-rock, possibly post-experimental rock and we enjoy developing it and hope people enjoy hearing it.
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