dananananaykroyd says...

During their recent Australian tour Dananananaykroyd guitarist, Duncan Robertson and drummer, Paul Carlin took some time out from online activities in their manager’s Sydney hotel room to talk to Kluster’s Editor-in-Chief, Kat Hartmann.

Covered: The role of the internet in the fight to keep their on-tour sanity. Jokes that turn bad only to come good again. Library gigs in Glasgow. Mafia movers in New Jersey. Recording with Machine at the Machine Shop. Finishing one another’s sentences.

Kat Hartmann: Let’s start with the name. Correct pronunciation?

Duncan Robertson: Split it into three parts, so it goes, ‘dana’ and then ‘nana’ and then ‘naykroyd’. Then you’ve got Dananananaykroyd.

'Black Wax' - Dananananaykroyd

KH: Obviously Dan Aykroyd is the inspiration?

DR: We’re fans of his but not as much as you would think - having named our band after him. We just think he’s got a really good name. It is already quite funny so…

Paul Carlin: Basically the name came about by accident. It was a drunken joke gone wrong, or gone right, however you want to look at it.

DR: The joke went wrong but then the band went right.

PC: Yes!

DR: We didn’t think the band would do as much as it is doing.

PC: We were not meant to be this successful [laughs, then with mock sincerity]. But it’s too late to go back now.

KH: That it is; too many fans to disappoint. Tell me a little about the band’s conception. How did it all begin?

DR: Do you remember a website called Live Journal? We were all quite geeky; we were all on that about four hours a day a couple of years ago. David and James - James is not in our band any more – there were in a band called Multiplies. They did a lot of stuff around Glasgow. They were quite successful but not outside Glasgow - we were all big fans of the band. So, they started this band and we were the front row of their gigs, pretty much. Then there was David and James. And that is pretty much how the band [Danananananaykroyd] started.

PC:  We’d be talking about these bands, we all knew about each other. Duncan and I did a gig in a library when we were both 15, in different bands, and it was only years later… I didn’t speak to him for about 10 years after that because the gig was that bad! But it turns out that all these years later we are in a band together. It’s kind of a cross between being geeky and being into the same music, the same things, and the sweet hand of fate.

KH: The sweet, sweet hand… They have gigs in libraries in Glasgow?

DR: In Largs; it’s a small town outside of there [Glasgow]. My mother was a librarian. They started having CD’s in the library. They were trying to encourage kids to go and use them so they organised a gig.

PC: Duncan’s band dissolved and my band, the Joy Farmers, got together to rock the library. And there wasn’t anyone shushing us either.

KH: You have been inspiring some pretty impressive descriptions of late, “the best fucking live band on the face of the fucking planet” by Clash being one of them. What is your response to all the hype?

DR: Stop swearing.

PC:  Yes, be nice. It’s really nice to hear people saying things like that about you but we know that once you begin to believe your own hype, you are in a bit of trouble. I think we’re a good live band but it is strange to hear people say things like that because we can do so much better.

DR: Shhhhhhh!

PC:  I still think we have got a wee bit to go…

DR: ‘Aye.

PC: … before we are completely fulfilling our potential as a live band.

KH: Maybe then you will be the best fucking band in the fucking universe.

PC:  Our set’s evolving. Playing live is the main reason we do this. We try to bring everything we’ve got to playing live. When I joined this band I was told, “You have to play as hard as you can, every night.” That is the only real rule in this band.

DR: It’s all or nothing, and you are not allowed to give nothing.

PC:  Exactly. But it is nice that people say that. It makes us feel a bit more justified in what we do.

DR: Especially because sometimes touring can be a bit hard. Knowing that people actually care about you playing shows always helps.

KH: It’s your first time out for the Splendour experience. How did you find our muddy little version of Glastonbury?

PC: It was a terrific festival! It really was. We were treated so well. We were treated better than we ever have been for a festival back home. Really well organised, well-run, friendly people. It was a total zoo out there, walking out amongst the fans; everyone was having a really good time. There was no trouble! It was just a fun, joyous experience. One of my favourite shows we have played, I think. Just looking at that crowd, that early in the day. Backstage was really nice as well. They had gone to a lot of trouble. Wipes the floor with Glastonbury, put it that way.

KH: I see you went swimming in the ocean during your first day in Oz. I know you’re from Glasgow and all but it’s winter! Are you crazy?!

PC:  It was cold and all, but you could do it.

DR: I love swimming in the sea and I’ve not done it for years!

PC:  Duncan is like a big Labrador. Imagine a big Labrador splashing around...

DR: …I did kind of shake off after a bit.

KH: So just you went in Duncan?

DR: Everyone went paddling. I just got a bit over excited and went right in. It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

KH: And the Slovakian show? What happened there and how was it that John came to end up in a wheelchair?

DR: Ohhhh, John.

PC: This is the second time…

DR: …of our career that John has ended up in a wheelchair!

PC:  Was it the same ankle?

DR: No it was the other one.

PC:  I think because of this ‘all or nothing’ rule. John actually takes it seriously. Literally. The actual story itself wasn’t great: he just went over on it funny, but he did this thing in Luxemburg earlier this year where he jumped off this speaker about 20-feet off the ground and strained his other ankle. So he has done the double whammy: he’s been in a wheelchair twice. I think it’s just that he gets over excited and does something stupid. We just tend to get quite excited during shows.

DR: It’s hard not to get carried away, especially when you are not trying to stop yourself.

KH: I am rather interested to find out a little more about your processes in the studio. Tell us about the live/studio fusion you have going on Hey Everyone!

PC:  We recorded in a room - always in a room – at the same time. We recorded a bit separately, to get a take, certainly for the drums. John and I recorded our drums simultaneously. Machine, who produced the album, was not so much about technical progress.

DR: It was nice to be in a studio where the guy running the studio tells you that he hates the way that bands play in studios. He hates that mood that you get into. You are standing there with your guitar and your kit and you’re thinking, “Oh my God! I can’t mess this up.” But you can mess it up. You can do it as many times as it takes. So once you start thinking like that and once Machine is in your face, like a total cheerleader egging you on, you play like you are playing live. It’s easy and fun.

PC:  It does take a lot to learn, though, how to do that. Musicians do have inhibitions in the studio, which is ridiculous because, as Duncan says, they should be the opposite. But he [Machine] got into the mind, certainly of John – our drummer and singer; he really got the best of him. But yeah, we did it a song at a time and he just wanted us to sound as together as we could, which works.

KH: Prior to going into the studio were you a ‘jump into the studio and see what happens’ kind of band or a more planned-processes group?

PC: The songs were always together before we got into the studio, but the recording we’ve done before, for Pink Sabbath, was always about calling in favours from friends, jumping into the studio and recording six songs in one day. Really turn it out. We’re not a jam band.

DR: I think we have only rehearsed about three times in the last year. Honestly. We don’t rehearse very often because gigs are rehearsal for us.

PC: When new songs come around whoever is involved does their thing on their laptop and then sends it around. Then we come with it to the rehearsal room. Most of the time it just works pretty quickly. Everyone has an idea of what they want to do. We have all been in bands for long enough. A few of us before have worked with six folk. You would assume it would be really hard but everyone handles it ok.

KH: You touched on it before but tell me a little more about working with Machine in New Jersey. What was that like?

PC:  He is an interesting guy. He has worked previously with metal bands a lot. Every Time I Die and the lot. I think that he thinks the idea of working with an indie band is kind of funny. I think he had a different effect on everyone in the band. John, in particular, got on great with him. The experience of going over there, though, and making the record in his studio in New Jersey was great. I am very proud of the record. Going forward, I would probably want to record differently next time. Just for a new experience.

DR: Oh, the drive to the studio every day! Our initial plan had not worked out so we had to end up getting a car. Because it is America they just give you a car and say, “You can all drive, can’t you?” No, just me and Paul. Next thing we are the ones doing all the driving.

PC: That was stressful driving around New Jersey and New York early in the morning and late at night. Not having a clue. We had the GPS but she lied. The tiny little woman that lived in the GPS just lied to us at every corner. So that is not a good way to start your day, arriving at the studio every morning going, “Shhhhhhhsssh” [draws breath], when you have to record some crazy songs. I kind of digressed a bit there. What were we talking about again?

DR: That she-whore of a GPS.

KH: Digression often leads to the best places.

PC: The studio had a hotdog machine.

KH: See.

DR: The coffee there was amazing too.

PC: True. Machine basically just knew to keep us fed and watered and it would be fine. It was a great place to record. They had some really great gear. Duncan played the J Mascis Dinosaur Jr guitar.

KH: And that’s Machine’s own space?

PC: Yeah, it’s called the Machine Shop. He’s got a new studio. Well, he did have a new studio but the building got condemned two days before we arrived so he had to hire all these mafia guys to retrieve the gear from it. It was a bit of a strange start.

DR: We travel to New Jersey and our only real knowledge of that is watching Sopranos and the whole mafia thing. We didn’t have run-ins with the mafia or anything but we were involved with them, kind of…

PC: It was strange. And we didn’t get to see Bruce Springsteen either. I was sure we were going to bump into Springsteen at some stage in Jersey but no.

KH: You seem pretty actively involved in the online medium. Do you enjoy being able to communicate so directly with your fans and the world at large?

DR: Yeah, of course. I mean, if they are actually crazy enough to like the crap we’re putting up online then, great! [laughs] You have to do it because I think it kind of ties in with what we are doing live. I really feel like we are going to these gigs and we want to find out who came and hopefully that’s what other people are coming to; the mindset we come in with. There is not too much difference [between the band and their audience], there is a stage but that is about that. Other than that we are coming together for one thing. I think that is what we are doing online as well.

PC: Being on tour as well, you experience so many different types of brain wrong that sometimes the only salvation - the therapy - you can get is putting a picture of a transvestite on the internet somewhere. Or you make a video of Dave and John farting, or something like that. It’s helpful for us to have something to do. It’s therapy more than trying to connect with people, maybe.

KH: How has the internet impacted your development as a band?

DR: It enabled me to work an online job as the band got bigger, which was pretty flexible. It was very important in that sense!

KH: And in terms of reaching your fans?

DR: MySpace is the big one. We watch our MySpace hits get bigger by the week. Australia has been great to us. We didn’t quite know what to expect when we came over here. We were pretty much flabbergasted by the whole thing - it’s been a great experience – and MySpace pretty much allowed us to do this.

PC: The difference between ten years ago, when we were in other bands, you had to give someone a CD of your band. You couldn’t just tell them, “Just check out the MySpace”. That’s just fundamental. It’s hard to think what we did before. Even Twitter and Facebook. Everyone is into it.

DR: We spend all day on Facebook. I think we are way more geeky than your average band.

PC: Every time we are in a van on tour there are six laptops, all on at the same time.

KH: So you have a pretty interesting tour through Europe coming up after you leave our shores. Any shows you are particularly psyched about?

PC: I can’t wait for Rock En Seine. Just to see Paris.

DR: Either side of that we play Reading and Leeds Festivals. Faith No More are playing all three of those dates so we are pretending we are touring with them.

dananananaykroyd