23 December 2011 (Music Interview)

Words: John Balfe

Tamer Animals, the second album by Oklahoma band Other Lives, was written by chief songwriter Jesse Tabish mostly in the back on vans, on long eight-hour stretches in between gigs. Perhaps for some the metal interior of a van wouldn't be the most conducive environment for creativity, but something clearly clicked for Tabish as this album is filled with lush, deeply imaginative instrumentation and has been selected by our panel of judges as the best album of 2011. 

#20 is Washed Out - Within and Without
#19 is Holy Ghost! - Holy Ghost!
#18 is Bon Iver - Bon Iver
#17 is Lisa Hannigan - Passenger
#16 is Cashier No. 9 - To The Death of Fun
#15 is Feist - Metals
#14 is Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
#13 is Tieranniesaur - Tieranniesaur
#12 is Patrick Kelleher and his Cold Dead Hands - Golden Syrup
#11 is Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
#10 is Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
#9 is   The Black Keys - El Camino
#8 is   Jape - Ocean of Frequency
#7 is   And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs
#6 is   White Denim - D
#5 is   Le Galaxie - Laserdisc Nights 2
#4 is   St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
#3 is   tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l 
#2 is   The Horrors - Skying
#1 is   Other Lives - Tamer Animals

Other Lives originally began life years ago as Kunek, a band whose music was purely instrumental, before electing to eventually add vocals to the mix. Jesse Tabish's time served as a composer of instrumentals though is evident in almost every track on Tamer Animals. Songs like 'As I Lay My Head Down' and 'Woodwind', with their wide array of instrumentation - bassoon, cello, French horn and more - weave their way through the songs as Tabish's vocals, ethereal and reverb-heavy, hangs heavy above them like a spectre.

Tamer Animals by Other Lives

'For 12', a particular highlight, is one of the more conventional tracks on the album with it being primarily guitar, vocals, string and just a hint of piano showing that Tabish is adept at working with whatever is in his toolbox.

The title track, 'Tamer Animals', is a master-class of song structure. Its low-key intro teases you into listen to more before the eventual bass, and the other elements, surround the mix like a warm blanket. Truly one of the best songs of 2011 so far. Other Lives are just beginning to make a name for themselves outside of the South Central United States. Tamer Animals will mostly likely be the knock on the door, just wait until it opens fully wide. Expect big things. 

John Balfe recently caught up with Other Lives frontman Jesse Tabish to talk about Tamer Animals.

The album sounds great, there's really a lot to it. Was it difficult to arrange and put it together?

I wouldn't say difficult, but definitely it took a long time. From where I was coming from previously with just working with a few instruments - piano, guitar and cello - this time it was arranging for upwards of ten or twelve instruments. I had some of the songs and the melodies but it took a lot of hours not only to write it, but then to get the right tones to fit in with the actual recordings.

You wrote a lot of this record on the road. How creative an environment is that? Being in that sort of situation, does it influence the sort of songs that you write?

I think so. I don't know if it actually affects the music but it definitely affects the process. You're working within a confined space and very limited use of instruments, but through those limitations once can find a lot of inspiration. I was primarily working on keyboards and a laptop, but sitting in a van for eight hours there is a lot of time there to write. It gave me an opportunity every day to wake up and have that much time.

So it was almost like a 9-to-5 at the office?

Yeah, exactly. I actually look forward to eight hour days sometimes because I can get a lot of work done!

How would you define the growth or evolution between the first album and the second?

I would say [Tamer Animals] is more dimensional. It's a matter of pieces fitting together, rather than just a medium of just guitar/piano. It's more of a sphere and less linear. That was the kind of underlying goal of this record - to build upwards. That's probably the biggest progression, or at least the one that I feel happiest about.

Kunek, a previous incarnation of Other Lives, was a purely instrumental project. How did you graduate from that to the lush vocals and harmonies that are on this album? Was it inevitable?

Maybe so. It was just another challenge to see if vocals could fit in with the instrumental idea. I always come from an instrumental place, first and foremost, and then slipping in vocals or vocals co-existing, if possible, with the music.

How beneficial do you think a background in instrumental music is to the awareness you have of song structure and craft?

Because I primarily did instrumental music, it is the basis for what I do. I think it's maybe given me a unique perspective on how to build a song.

Tamer Animals, the title track, is one of my favourite songs released so far this year. What's the story behind that song and how did it come together?

The actual name Tamer Animals is from one of my very best friends, it's a book of poems. I instantly loved the name and said 'you have to let me use that in a song'. I didn't know when or where that would happen but eventually I had this tune and it just magically worked in this chorus, I was really happy with it. The name and the song, not to go too far into it, but it's basically looking at the human species. The tamer animal is basically an animal that is not living in accordance with nature, that's why we have all these weird paranoias and anxieties. So that name really fit in with the themes I was interested in with this record, our relationship to our environment.

Is it another challenge to play this album in a live setting? Do you ever take that sort of thing into consideration when you're writing a song?

We actually made a point, when we first started this record, to be as idealistic as possible. To not think about any live setting at all, which actually did present quite a challenge when we were done with the record. But, at the same time, not thinking about it allowed us to make the kind of record we wanted. But as far as live, you know, it provided a roadmap to how many instruments, and what kind of instrumentation we'd do. People are playing three or four instruments but it's really fun. We were kind of scared at first!

In that case, once you've completed the album and have it done and in your hands do you have to learn the songs again so you can play them live?

Yeah, yeah. When we finished the record we hadn't played any of the songs. In fact, I don't know if we had been all in the same room for a long time! The good thing about that is that it breathes some new life into the songs and you get to know them in a new capacity, which I think has kept it really fresh. We're still building on the songs and what we can do with the live setting. It's a new look at the tunes, which is really nice.

 

 The judging panel consisted of: John Balfe, Nay McArdle, Elaine Buckley, Edda Fransiska Kjarval, Ciaran Savage, Barry Bracken, Ian Maleney and Patrick Conboy.

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