Band: The Laughing
From: Austin, TX
Sound: dirty jungle smut; or, dubbed-out dance-psych-rock
Similar Artists: Yeasayer, Wolf Parade, Talking Heads, Liars, Tapes ‘n Tapes, TV On The Radio
Listen Now: “Canopy”

A total eclipse of the sun. Sometimes the best musical discoveries come from diving right into a band without any prior knowledge, a band that has just recently entered your life in a strange, or perhaps mysterious, way. Often this happens by way of a coincidental cosmic confluence of events where the sky is titled just right, the evil clown that lives within the email in-box has settled down, and the air is thirsty for music. The Laughing landed on my doorstep on just one of those days. Via email.

What was strange and unusual about this particular day of Laughing isn’t need-to-know information. It’s enough to know that the evil email clown was dormant and things were working out well for a new band to arrive in my life. Then one did. That’s when I got The Laughing’s Jungle EP sent to me (via email). I was enthralled… magnetically drawn to the sounds, beats, rhythms, and mindset of the band jumping out of my speakers. Suddenly, here I was confronted with a band who captures the smiling mope of Robert Smith, mixes it with heavy doses of primal thunder, and then turns late-career Talking Heads jungle love inside-out. In fifteen short minutes I’d been thumped in the face by pop songs that got down, and weirded out, while also managing to preserve and cultivate melodies and hooks that were sure to last a little longer. I kept going back for more. The ‘repeat all’ button was even employed (rare).

Without delay I prepared an email of spontaneous questions and sent them off to the band. It felt oddly similar to sending a letter via carrier pigeon. Modern technology reimagined as an old-fashioned correspondence: perhaps I’d hear back and know more, know enough (even) to do a feature on this new band; or, if nothing else, at least I’d have the music to keep me company as I drifted within and let the rhythm and melody of The Laughing take over. I thought little as I typed those questions but I listened a lot. Over and over. And then I waited for my bird to return. Via email.

A few days later the questions, with answers from The Laughing’s singer and guitarist Logan Middleton, returned to me…

EF: Neil Young, Neil Diamond or Neil Patrick Harris?

LM: Pardon me for being obvious, but the first image I am seeing is Neil Patrick Harris lip-syncing to Neil Young playing heartfelt renditions of Neil Diamond songs. I’ll take the first 2.

EF: Neil Armstrong? Lance Armstrong? Lance Bass?

LM: …

EF: I know a lot of bands that come out of Austin aren’t technically “from” Austin, is that the case with The Laughing, or are you guys from Austin originally?

LM: Well, about 3/4’s of the current lineup are from various parts of Texas. Down here it seems that a lot of creatively minded Texans tend to gravitate towards Austin. I personally grew up in the suburbs right outside NYC. I met our drummer Grant while playing music in Boston, and when he and a couple other friends up there were moving down to Austin, I decided to check it out. It ended up being exactly the kind of city I was looking for… that was about 4 years ago.

EF: What brought you together as a band, and what’s the songwriting process like?

LM: As a band we have seen a few incarnations, ranging from playing as a trio at the smallest, to a 6 piece at the biggest. Grant (drums) being the only member I have played with since the begining. On Jungle, which is only our second EP, we experimented a bit with the creative process. Traditionally most of the songs I’d plotted out ahead of time and then its just a matter of arranging it with whoever the lineup happens to be. This time around, half the EP follows that process while on the other half Grant and I experimented in the studio with some percussion tracks that he would lay down first and then we built the song up around those. In either case the process tends to be very collaborative, even with the current linup where 2 of the members had no part in the creation of some of these songs. I encourage them to use what’s been recorded as a starting point when it comes to playing them live, and for them to bring in their own style to the parts and the songs. I like people to find their own parts even if they aren’t actually writing the song. Generally it works a lot better than if one person is dictating every note, and it keeps things fresh with every new set of hands playing the songs.

EF: You have a song called “Danger!” and your band name is The Laughing…… Why So Serious?

LM: I suppose it depends on who is doing the actual laughing, dont you think?

EF: I read that, on your last EP, you had the artwork created while you performed… true? Or did I just expose a factual error in Austin Sound? What brought that about? Also, any special plans for future album art?

LM: Actually, it was for this EP, Jungle, that we had the artwork design recreated live at our cd release as a giant mural that was made up of blank cd covers. The artist, Bryan Keplesky, painted leading up to our performance at the show. By the end it was about an 8×8 ft tall version of the cover, and when someone purchased the EP, it came in one of the covers that had been painted on (with, naturally, only a small piece of the much larger image on it). It came out fantastic, we’ll probably post pictures of it in the next couple of days. That idea was actually dreamed up by Artifact Workshop (the Austin-based label putting out the Jungle EP).

EF: The production on Jungle sounds great. Who produced the record and are those same kinds of sounds and arrangements what people can expect when going to see The Laughing live?

LM: I’d say the record was really self-produced, but we worked with some great recording engineers. Erik Wofford here in Austin has a great studio where he has recorded half the bands in Austin (Black Angels, Brothers and Sisters, Voxtrot’s early EPs, and a much longer list than I can think of). We also did some work in the home recording studio of Martin Crane, who plays in a band here called Brazos.

Essentially I knew how I wanted everything to sound production-wise ahead of time, but these guys helped achieve those sounds and would occasionally offer some ideas about going after the sound I was looking for. I wanted it to have a similar sonic aesthetic of an old dub recording, except using our songs. We also layered many small little percussive instruments, as well as clarinets, horns, dulcimers and a bunch of other things. And in mixing we used a lot of old analogue effects (space echoes, reverbs, delays, etc). Plus, it was tracked initially to tape.

Live we have managed to pull off using a sampler for the little instruments that can’t be heard in a rock club setting, plus I have an extra mic just for ambient delays and echoes of whatever is on stage. It tends to be a little harder hitting live, especially when we play with our percussionist and sax player. We like a big sound whenever possible live.

EF: You’ve got a saxophone in the band, yes? Or is that a synth sax? It’s not listed among the instrument credits on your MySpace page… Anyway, would you say you’re ahead of the curve on another golden age of saxophones in rock music? What are some favorite songs/bands that feature sax?

LM: It is a real baritone sax. Our former bass player played, and still does play with us live occasionally. The current lineup does not have a full-time sax player, as our music does not have full-time sax. But we try to have someone playing it for real live (we used to everyshow). Now, if no one can be there to let it rip, we sometimes have to fire off a sample of the prerecorded sax part to make it work. I love the sax, and I’m not sure why it ever became uncool. Roxy Music use it amazingly well. However, the song “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty, is one of the most smutty sax parts I can think of.

EF: Smutty. Your sound is warm. Dirty. Sexy. Smutty. As if birthed in some secret rainforest tribe’s psychedelic sex ritual. Was your sound a conscious decision/effort or something that came about more by chance?

LM: It came about, initially in the early stages of the band, sort of by just playing around with the ideas. As we felt they worked for us creatively, we explored further. I never considered the sexual part so much, but the warm tribal feel absolutely. I have been drawn to the whole cult, gang collective aspect for a while and would like to continue that. Maybe actually join something.

EF: Are you guys aware/fans of other “world music” influenced bands that have gained popularity recently (such as Yeasayer, Vampire Weekend, Takka Takka), and is this kind of sound a passing trend?

LM: Well we actually opened up for Yeasayer and MGMT when they played here in Austin a few months back. I like some of those bands, and yes there is a common thread in the sort of “world music” influence that has been popping up everywhere lately. I am not sure that it’s deliberate on anyone’s part, as in jumping on a bandwagon, or if it’s more coming from a growing collective appreciation for that kind of music, which really can encompass a lot of different sounds. As a trend I do think it offers a bit more substance and more possibilities than, say, some of the music trends of the last 5 or 6 years. Remember when every band ripped off Gang of Four for a summer? It was fun to listen to for a bit.

EF: I read that you were venturing into the realm of rap-metal in 2007, got any rhymes you’ve been working on that you’d like to bust for us?

LM: HA, actually, we were merely providing beats for some Austin-based rappers at this particular show here in town. They never let me on the mic, but if they did it would have gotten nasty. Rhymes about eating lions and killing people…

EF: Do you have a favorite venue to play in Austin? And how about your favorite spots for BBQ and Tex Mex?

LM: Austin has a bunch of great venues actually, each with their different qualities. The weather here allows for some really cool outdoor stages, in particular Mohawk, and its neighbor Club deVille (where we had our Jungle EP release party). The Parish is great for pristine sound, and then there is always Emo’s for some bigger and louder (kind of noisier) rock shows. All great.

Tex Mex and BBQ I ate way too much of when I first moved down here, but if you are visiting, I would have to say The Salt Lick, which is way south of downtown Austin (kind of in the country). But the decor, in combination with the food, is authentic Texas BBQ. Tex Mex, I like Polvos for a sit down meal, but there are about a half a dozen taco stands that keep me nourished here 6 days a week.

EF: What are your plans for the future? Tour? CMJ? Full-length?

LM: Tour absolutely. I think first East coast and back, hopefully in October. We are planning that but not quite confirmed yet. We forgot to apply for CMJ this year, but we may be up that way around that time. The full length I plan to start working on heavily in November.

EF: Lastly, for the description of your band’s sound at the top of this article, can you give me three words to describe The Laughing OTHER than “dirty jungle smut”? ‘Cos that’s all I got…

LM: Dubbed-out dance-psych-rock! (I guess thats more than 3)
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Listen: “Canopy”

See The Laughing Live:
30 Aug – Austin, TX @ Beauty Bar

Buy The Laughing’s Jungle EP HERE.

Visit The Laughing on MySpace.
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See the list of bands recently featured as EAR FARM’s Band of the Week HERE.