By Daniel Fryland

The Heartless Bastards and Tin Armor played at the ‘Sco on Thursday night, and I had the chance to interview them.

Heartless Bastards

F+L: With the band kind of having a home in Ohio, but also a second home in Texas, how has geography played into the music?

Erika Wennerstrom: I don’t know if it really has yet.  I mean, I started working on a lot of the ideas for the songs in my head before I ever even moved to Texas.  I went through some things, and I figured out what I wanted to say in the songs once I moved there, but they were more like personal things going on in my life that could’ve happened no matter where I lived.  So, honestly, I get asked that question a lot, and I can’t speak for other musicians, but generally the kinds of things that you like and that you’re prone to like to create, are from what has shaped you growing up in your early youth and early adulthood.  I’m 32 years old now, and I think it’s really rare that I hear anything that’s completely original and I’m not saying that I am either.  I put my heart into what I’m doing–I certainly haven’t created a sound or anything.  I don’t really think wherever I move that a lot of what I create is about what shaped my interest in music to begin with.

F+L: You guys have played with some really great bands this summer like the Decemberists, the Avett Brothers and everybody.  What’s it like being on stage with people like that?

EW: It was great.  Now that I think about it, I do get inspired by bands that I’ve toured with–I just meant where the sound came from is more about where I grew up and things like that. The Decemberists–amazing.  Everybody’s been amazing.  Andrew Bird–have you seen him before?

F+L: I haven’t seen him, but I’ve heard his music.

EW: Oh my God, he’s just amazing.  He’s a force of nature.  He’ll like whistle and harmonize another whistle with his other whistle that’s been looped and then play violin, and then he’ll flip a guitar around his shoulder and start playing guitar to all these loops going on at the same time.  It’s really incredible.  But yeah, it’s great.  What was the question?  What’s it like sharing the stage?

F+L: Yeah, what’s it like to be on stage with those kinds of people?

EW: It’s great, you know, I think they’re all really talented and I feel flattered that we’ve been invited to tour with them and it’s a great opportunity to be in front of people that are not familiar with us.  It’s great.

F+L: On a similar note, you’re going to be touring with Wolfmother this fall.  Are you looking forward to it?

EW: Yeah, definitely.  It’s kinda neat, the opening band’s got George Harrison’s son in it too.  And so I thought that was really neat.  I’m a big Beatles fan.

F+L: Who isn’t?

EW: Yeah, exactly.  Even solo stuff and Traveling Wilburys and everything.

F+L: So you just released The Mountain this year.

EW: Yeah, February.

F+L: Is there anything in particular you want to say about the record?

EW: Well, what do I want to say about the record?  I feel really good about it–I’m proud of it.  I mean, I think it’s got a lot of different kinds of influences and sounds.  I’ve got a lot of different tastes and things.  So, I kinda feel like for anybody that’s not familiar with us, and you put the album on and check it out if you don’t like one song keep listening, because you might like another–not to be negative and positive at the same time.  I just think there’s a lot of different sounding songs on the album and depending on what somebody’s taste is…I have no idea what I’m saying.  I don’t know, what I want to say about it is that people should check it out.  I think it’s a good album.  I’ll keep it simple.

F+L: So is this your first time in Oberlin?  Have you played here before?

EW: Yes, it’s our first time here.

F+L: How did you like it?

EW: It was fun, it was cool.  Are you from here?

F+L: No, I’m not from around here.  I’m from Louisville, Kentucky. This is my second year here.

EW: Oh.  It was fun, yeah.

F+L: So is there anything else that you would want people to know about the Heartless Bastards?

EW: I should really think about these kinds of questions ahead of time.  I don’t know.  Hey Steve! [calling Steve from the hallway]  Do you think there’s anything people need to know about the Heartless Bastards?

Steve:  I have no idea.

EW: Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know.

Tin Armor

F+L: How would you describe your music?

John Umland: It’s a tough question.  It’s kind of like rock and roll music.  Musically, it’s rock and roll music, but we draw on a lot of different influences that effect it that aren’t as musical.

Matt Umland: Usually when I answer the question, I say “rock and roll” because it’s a blanket term for a number of things that I think we would like to be.

JU: We don’t want to necessarily say we are ‘this kind of band,’ because you’ll find so many of ‘this kind of band’ that we don’t want to be like.

MU: We usually just say things like ‘fast-paced’ and ‘melodic,’ but I think that we are a lot of those things, but we’re trying to do a lot of mid-tempo and slower songs too now.

JU: So basically, we can’t answer the question very well.  We’re a rock and roll band–interpret that however you want.

F+L:  What does it feel like to have a full-length album out [A Better Place Than I Have Been]?

JU: Actually, right now we are in the process of recording a demo that we are going to shop around at a few record labels we had in mind, and hopefully within the next year and a half, we’ll have another full-length out.

MU: Right now we have like 15 songs that we’re demoing.

JU: Yeah, that we’re trying to work out into an album of new stuff.  A Better Place Than I Have Been is awesome, but they recorded it before I was in the band.

MU: So John hates it.

JU: You know, we really are eager to get some of our newer stuff out.  But actually, we do have a website, tinarmor.com, and we are uploading songs that we are recording and new stuff we are doing.

Matt O’Conke: And we have released two 7”s after our full length.

F+L: What’s it like playing in a band with three Matt’s?

MU: It’s okay.  It’s kind of like what you just said.  It’s like that.

F+L: What do you mean?

MU: People keep asking.

JU: Yeah, people ask about it a lot.

MO: That’s like the only weird thing like everybody says, “Oh, three Matt’s!” everybody just thinks they’re so original.

JU: Okay, so I’m John, right?  This is Matty (Matt Golightly), this is Matt (Matt Umland), this is Monke (Matt O’Conke), because his last name is O’Conke.  So, I don’t even think of them all as Matt.

MU: I’m also ‘Mummy’ or ‘Mumlin.’

MO: It’s inevitable that people are gonna be like “Oh, three Matt’s!”

JU: I think it’s kind of nice, because it is funny, and it’s the kind of thing that people notice.

MU: It’s a good conversation starter.  But to be honest– this is gonna sound silly– but for practical purposes, everybody always knows our names.  Always.  As long as you remember John.

JU: Yeah, like every time we get to a show, one of these three (Umland, Golightly, or O’Conke) will introduce themselves to the person that booked it, and they’ll be like “Oh, I talked to you on the phone!”  and we’ll be like “No, actually that was that Matt.”

MU: It’s more good than bad.  It is funny though.

F+L: So you’ve been to Oberlin once before…

JU:Yeah, we played at the ‘Sco with the Mad Ones and Ghost Town Trio like, a year and a half ago.

MU: Like, May of ’07 I think.

F+L: Cool.  How do you like Oberlin in general?

MU: We actually were just talking about that.

JU:  I like it a lot.  It’s a really cool city.  We went down to Gibson’s, and that’s like such an awesome place.  It’s got everything a corner store has but a lot more.  I’ve never had anything but fun, and you can walk around all over the place and not have to worry about how you’re going to transport yourself because odds are you can walk to where you want to be and it’s beautiful, and everyone we’ve ever met here’s been really cool and fun.

MO: I mean, it’s no Columbus.  I really love Columbus.

MU: I love Columbus.

JU: Yeah, but you understand when you come from a Columbus, a larger city, to Oberlin, it’s really refreshing.

MO: It’s really refreshing.  It’s small and everybody knows everybody.  There’s stuff going on but it’s not like–

JU: The Feve!

MO: The Feve is also awesome.

MU: It’s probably my favorite place in Oberlin.

F+L:  Is there anything else you want people to know about Tin Armor?  Just anything at all?

JU: Not to push it too hard, but if you want to visit tinarmor.com, that’s exciting.

MO: John loves to push the blog.

JU: I like blogging!

MU: I know you do.  I do too, it’s cool.

JU: But other than that, come see us next time we’re in Oberlin.