Fun Fun Fun Fest Artist Interview: BJ Warshaw of Parts and Labor

Brooklyn-based Parts and Labor do the kind of clangy tracks that get categorized as experimental, but it's experimental in a way that places it at intersection of rock and noise, listenable even when the blasts of sound are nearly overwhelming. B.J. Warshaw, the band's vocalist, bassist, and electronics expert forked over a few minutes of his time to talk to us about the band's new record, the festival circuit, and what exactly "experimental" means anyway.

What can you tell us about your new album?

It's called Receivers; it's eight songs. We tried out a lot of new ideas, slowing things down in places, spending more time on quieter moments, putting more emphasis on the vocal melodies.  We also asked the world to send us audio samples to incorporate into the record.  We received hundreds of samples and used them all.

You've definitely hit the summer festival circuit hard. What was the most exciting festival you've hit so far? And, what made it so great?

The Siren Festival was fucking amazing; probably the biggest crowd we've ever played for.  The Supersonic fest in England was also fantastic, so many great bands a real community vibe, plus emphasis on noisier and heavier music than you usually find at most indie fests.

Is there anything in particular that you're looking forward to about Fun Fun Fun Fest?

Seeing Deerhoof, Bad Brains, Kool Keith, seeing some friends' bands.  I'm curious about the Dead Milkmen reunion!

You guys have been described – and on MySpace describe yourselves – as experimental. What does experimental mean to you at this point? Has that changed over time?

I take it, and have always taken it, literally.  That we experiment, we try new instruments and electronics, left-of-center recording sensibilities.  It's of course such a vague, broad term (as most genre descriptors tend to be).  But I take it as a basic "try anything and do what sounds rad" approach to making music.

Listening to your previous works, the density of the sound really sticks out, but there's also something minimalist about the structure and repetition. Are there particular instruments or types of sounds that you find particularly satisfying?

I especially love keyboard drones (duh).  I, and Dan, are both fans of bagpipes (duh x 2).  I'm hugely influenced by the minimal German rock bands of the 70s, especially Neu!  I love the sound of a distant highway roaring, almost like the ocean.

And, related to the previous question, when you're putting together a track, where do you start? How do you decide that it's finished?

It's totally different song to song.  Most of ours come at least 50% written, as far as parts and melodies and arrangements go.  Then we flesh out the details as an ensemble, trying out ideas in rehearsal.  Dan writes the lyrics to his contributions, and I write the lyrics to mine (but we help each other out and offer constructive criticism during the writing process).  I don't really consider songs ever finished; we've been lately revising arrangements to older songs to keep things fresh.  As far as deciding when a recorded piece of music -- I don't have an answer... I usually have a list of sounds and things I want to multitrack into each song, and I'll improvise and try out ideas along the way, too.

Who are some of the musicians you'd say have been most influential for you, and what makes them stand out?

Just too many to name.  I started out listening to a lot of jazz, so that's always deep in my mind.  Coltrane especially.  Boredoms have been my favorite rock band for well over a decade now, ever since Super Ae came out and blew the top off how a rock record should sound.  I love Eno's rock records, the twisted turns he takes in his songwriting and his "try anything" approach, oblique strategies.

What are your long-term goals for Parts & Labor? And, what do you want to accomplish musically?

I've actually accomplished a lot of goals... we wanted to find a friendly and supportive record label and Jagjaguwar has surpassed all our expectations on that front.  We've played bigger shows than I thought we'd ever get a chance to play.  I just want to keep making music and challenging myself, finding new ways to revinvent our sound.  And I'm constantly striving to be a better vocalist, and bass player, for that matter.

[Parts and Labor MySpace]
[Fun Fun Fun Fest MySpace]