Javelin: The New Gay Interview
Javelin have been around for a bit, but 2009 brought them some huge exposure. From hitting pages of the indie haven Pitchfork, to playing shows where Damon Dash shows up, Javelin are having a massive year. They recently released a now out-of-print 12” I covered a bit back in a Weekly Music Round up, on Thrill Jockey records, as well as curetted some mixes for the Luaka Bop label, which they can now call their home. The group made up of two cousins, Tom Van Buskirk and George Langford, are currently on tour supporting The Phenomenal Handclap Band.
Javelin hit the Rock and Roll Hotel tomorrow, Saturday, December 12 here in DC. Tom was nice enough to answer some quick questions about the band, which you can read below.
TNG Rohan: So you guys are cousins. Does being family help make music?
Tom Van Buskirk: Absolutely, yes. To top it off we are both Virgos, which any scientist will tell you means we’re jerks to anyone but each other. But seriously, yes it helps to be cut from the same cloth—fewer arguments, more understanding.
TNG: At a recent show, Mos Def and Damon Dash showed up, how did that feel? If you could work with big name rappers/collaborators who would it be?
TVB: George was galivanting around stage with a cowbell and I was doing a sing-song rap about a cat—then we look up and see Mos Def in the front row vibing to our stuff. It was surreal. Dame was rocking out the entire time, making these expressions when the bass hit like a strong gust of wind was knocking him backwards. He loved it. It was fun.
TNG: Whose idea was the cover project for the latest 12″?
TVB: Well, if you mean the first of two 12″s for Thrill Jockey, it was George’s idea to thrift records and to have someone screen them with our name. The one that is coming out in February you can actually send in your favorite record and have it screened. That was Bettina’s idea, who runs Thrill Jockey, and is a certified genius.
TNG: How did your relationship with Luaka Bop begin? I know you guys created some mixes for them. Why did you choose them as a label?
TVB: We liked their bright covers and history of putting out psychedelic world music. We really formed our allegiance to them back in high school. When we got talking with them and they were cool, it seemed like a no brainer. We both vibe over the fact that neither of us really care what is “cool” at a given moment– maybe strive toward the opposite. The music industry, like nature, abhors a vacuum.
TNG: You guys have a huge amount of releases. What is next for the band?
TVB: We feel constantly like we are underachieving in the releases category (see: Virgos) but what is next is more mixtapes, more albums, more 12″s, a posse cut with These Are Powers, MNDR and friends. Specifically, another 12″ in Feb., our first real album in Spring, and then another album in Fall (that contains material from the 12″s). And tapes. Maybe that is a lot.
TNG: There has been a lot of buzz garnered from your Very Best remix. What other remixes do you guys have in the pipeline?
TVB: We are about to start on one for Go! Team, then Dan Deacon, Lucky Dragons… Neon Indian too. Our friends Future Islands are about to drop a 12″, which has a remix from us, too.
TNG: What can people expect from a Javelin full-length? Will it be much like Jamz n Jemz, or less sampled?
TVB: It will be less sampled, but equally carnivorous when it comes to sound and industry memes (yes, memes). We like the idea of cultural cannibalism where you listen to something enough to the point where you embody it. There is a lot of that on there. That said there is plenty of smart sampling on there as well as sampling ourselves.
TNG: You two started playing your first shows this summer. How has the live show evolved?
TVB: Not exactly, our first shows happened a while ago (2005???) but they weren’t as frequent as they are now… But our set has evolved to include a lot of vocal riffs on the mic. You have to get the crowd going somehow, and the quickest way to do that is to just freak out yourself. The best way to express that freaking out is with your voice. Also George didn’t used to play the drum pads—that is an evolution of the last year. And we are going to throw the boomboxes off a cliff someday, but for now, they are still part of the act.
TNG: Are y’all ready for a huge 2010?
TVB: Ready as we’ll ever be. We’re learning to write e-mails very quickly. I am looking forward to the days when, like Joan Didion, I have a list of items tacked to my door that are required to travel and play a show, say, tomorrow, in Madrid. Paradoxically, I really can’t get enough of home lately. We’ll see how it all works out…
Check out more here.
And here’s a video for “Soda Popinski”:
Javelin – Soda Popinski from Ian McAlpin on Vimeo.
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