Turn You On...: Interview... Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog

Interview with Dr. Dog

Words: Ashley Marie Sansotta

Photos: Ashley Marie Sansotta

Appearing:

The Social – Orlando

February 26^th, 2007

With such obvious influences such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Neil Young, Dr. Dog has successfully molded together the music of decades past with the future of indie folk-rock. Their catchy, whimsical melodies rang within the walls of the Social in Orlando Monday night. The boys have been extremely busy with touring and promoting for the anticipated release of their record We All Belong. But, their laid-back demeanor and tranquil attitude is sure to keep anyone’s head on their shoulders… or up in the clouds. I sat down with Philly’s finest before the show to discuss the new album and what life is like on the road.

REAX: First, I want to talk about your new record that comes out tomorrow. You took a very different approach with recording it on a 24 track, as opposed to the 8 track you guys are accustomed to. What made you guys decide to do this?

Scott McMicken: It was sort-of a natural decision to make, just because we would have recorded on a 24 track years ago, but we couldn’t afford to. So, this being the first album we ever made where a record label gave us money, the first thing we did was buy that. In the past we always just recorded on what-ever we could get our hands on, that usually just happened to be an 8 track or a 4 track. So, now given the opportunity to be able to, we’re totally psyched to do that.

REAX: With your song writing, two of you guys write the lyrics. Scott, you write more of the “dream-like” songs and Toby is way more direct with his lyrics.

Scott: Yeah, I suppose Toby and I really fit that description, don’t you guys think? I would definitely be more on the dream end of the spectrum.

REAX: What inspires you to write like that?

Scott: Well, I’ve always really loved dreams. I mean, I’ve had dreams in my life that were some of the most powerful experiences I’ve ever had. So, pretty quickly I got obsessed with that. And there’s such a nice sort-of lyrical quality to dreaming. It actually blurs the line between dreaming while asleep and dreaming while awake. I feel like there’s quite a lot you can do with it. I’ve always really paid attention to my own dreams. I’ll be going to sleep and hoping for an exciting dream.

REAX: And you guys are playing on Conan on March 12^th. I read that you were going to try to convince Max Weinberg to sit in on his band for the show. Any more word on that?

Toby Leaman: Well, we got their horn section.

Scott: Yeah we got the horns.

Toby: I think they have the right horns, don’t they? They have the trombones and the 2 saxes.

REAX: So, you guys are playing Bonnaroo again this year. Are you guys excited about getting to play at a festival again?

Scott: Oh yes! It’s cool. It’s really fun. And it’s a free ride to Bonnaroo, too, which is great.

REAX: With all the touring that you guys do, you’ve been able to play with tons of different bands. Like My Morning Jacket, The Black Keys, and The Raconteurs, just to name a few. How is it like getting to play these venues with so many different musicians? Who do you think that you guys meshed the best with musically?

Toby: That’s a good question.

Frank McElroy: I liked it when we played with The Black Keys. That was just a really great tour.

Toby: But, it’s so tough to say. It’s like all the bands have such really great music, you know? And we all became really close like really quickly. Because these are people that your touring with everyday. So, at the end of the day, your not really thinking about what the implications are or whether a band really works with you or not.

Juston Stens: But, we shouldn’t really pick any bands. Because then some bands might feel bad we didn’t say them... I’m going to stay quiet on this one.

(Everyone laughs.)

Scott: And another thing too, you could be playing with a band that you really admire and you can feed off of that and use that to affirm what is that you do. Some of these bands are really cool and come from somewhere really unique. You see that more when you play with them, and when you really get to hang out with them. They use that to make you feel good about what you do and the fact of being in a band to begin with. And really when you’re sharing the stage with a band that you have like zero respect for, and no interest in, what that’ll do is give contrast which helps you to stand better with what you are as a band, too. In fact, I’ve felt more aware of what we are as a band when we plays shows like that.

Toby: When we did the Cold War Kids and Elvis Perkins tour, that was awesome because we were all sort-of off the same level, and that was cool. As opposed to just being the opener for some band. There, everyone was treated the same. That was just an awesome vibe. That whole trip. All three of our bands just had it. We knew each other before, and we all just got along really really well... playing in on each other’s sets and everything. By the end of that tour, it was like - wow.

REAX: I listened to the Seattle KEXP broadcast during that tour. You guys all played together and it sounded like all of you were having more fun than anything.

Toby: Yeah, that was amazing. That was a really good time.

REAX: Do you guys have any crazy stories that stick out in your head from touring?

Juston: Do we ever! Hmmm... just one story?

Scott: I ran into Neil Young once. It was at South by Southwest. That was a highlight for me. It wasn’t so much meeting him... he was actually just walking down the street and I just grabbed his hand. To me, that was really really cool.

Toby: There’s a lot of stupid stuff. I mean, we had our van get ripped off before.

Scott: I think we’ve just been lucky. And we’re also real conservative on tour. We don’t try to get ourselves into too many predicaments. You’ve got to be really careful on tour because you have to keep showing up at shows. You also have to be really aware that you have a show to play every night.

Frank: We did stay with a lot of crazy people though.

Toby: Yeah, with this tour we got a lot more hotel rooms. But with every other tour before, we were just staying with people that you never know until you get to their house. You didn’t know whether they were on point or not. Most of them were cool, but we came across some interesting people, that’s for sure.

REAX: You guys have pretty much been on tour non-stop for a while now.

Scott: So-so... I mean, we like to keep it to like 4 or 5 months in a year. And we’ve been successful doing that. I mean, we haven’t toured more than like 5 months in a year, so that we can try to have some time at home.

Juston: It’s just better like that when it comes to being on tour.

Scott: That’s what’s so weird about touring. I mean, when you look back on yesterday, you’ve got this whole warped frame of reference. It’s a weird way to live. You know you’re not going to be somewhere very long. And sometimes you can attach yourself to the club very quickly. It’s really weird. It takes a lot to jog the memory of your thoughts.

Frank: It’s like... where you were the next day. I mean, where was yesterday? It could have been any day.