[Photo: Roger Collins]

As you can see from the posts of the past, I’m pretty into Cryptacize. I had the opportunity to catch up with Chris Cohen (guitarist/ex-Deerhoof) for a few questions via E-mail from their busy schedule on the road. In the wake of the release of their excellent new album Mythomania, here’s what they had to say:

FBM: On Dig That Treasure most of the songs built to where it seemed you eventually wanted to take them. On Mythomania [April 21/Asthmatic Kitty] it seems like the songs begin fully figured and go through a process of deconstruction as the songs flesh out. Being that this is your sophomore album did you guys just have a better understanding of how you wanted to work together, and how each song might sound?

CC: No we had a worse understanding – we had no idea how the songs even went! Maybe just hearing more instruments at the same time makes it seem more solid or something? A lot of our writing happens in the form of us editing and rerecording different parts. I don’t know about de-constructing anything.

FBM: The press release describes your music as being ‘pragmatic’, but your style seems pretty far from the most practical ways of going about making songs.

CC: Yeah, you’re right – I only think we’re pragmatic in terms of traveling light when we tour, and recording ourselves. But otherwise we tend to do things in the most roundabout ways. Nedelle and I especially are not the most practical people…

FBM: Do you find it hard to describe and define your sound to those who may not have heard you?

CC: It’s hard to describe any music. If someone asks me what kind of music I do, I just say ‘rock’ – or maybe ‘folk’ if I want to seem like I have taste.

FBM: Do you find that genre distinctions such as the often thrown about ‘avant-pop’ are suitable descriptions of Cryptacize? Are they necessary?

CC: Oh they’re fine, people say anything they want, and that’s how it should be. Genres meaning nothing to me. I mean maybe people within genres share some ideas, but often times not at all, and then most of the time they have more in common with something totally else. To me Cryptacize is not in any genre, so avant-pop’s as good as anything else. I’m not a fan of any genre. They’re all full of good and bad.

FBM: Now two albums in, is Cryptacize how you wanted or expected to sound starting out?

CC: What we want to sound like is always changing, and we never reach it 100%. But we are happier than ever with what we’re doing.

FBM: It’s funny that you mention people within genres sharing ideas because every time I read about Cryptacize its in relation to some other band that I consider to be very much within the same sense of style. For instance, I just saw Parenthetical Girls on their tour with No Kids, and I always considered them to be stylistically related, and on that tour I picked up Nick’s ‘In The Yard’ musical which you and Nedelle are featured on. Now I read that you guys will be touring with Casiotone, and its all very overwhelming and exciting as a fan of all of your collective and individual efforts.

CC: I want to clarify what I said before – I don’t think genres are real. There’s no absolute criteria that everyone can decide on. Also genres are imposed from the outside. Those guys you’re mentioning are friends of ours, but we haven’t actually been informed by what they’re doing.

FBM: How have you all managed to find each other and if not simply musically, what is your relationship with No Kids, Parenthetical Girls and Casiotone besides all being sort of affiliated with Tomlab?

CC: We met all in different ways – No Kids we haven’t known for too long but we love em. I met Owen in Berkeley in like 2000, and the Parenthetical Girls shortly after when the Curtains first played in Portland. It was funny though when I realized they all knew each other. American independent music is a pretty small world once you’ve been in it a while, I mean I feel like we all practically know each other.

FBM: Can we expect some kind of supergroup project between you all, or are there plans of collaboration beyond Nick’s musical in the future?

CC: No, just a super-friendship.

FBM: The press release for Dig That Treasure made note of your touring in a Corolla, and you reiterate your tendency to tour light. Your live set-up seems pretty simplistic compared to say Parenthetical Girls who have mentioned their desire to tour with a full orchestra. Is it more or less challenging to tour with less equipment than you used to create the sounds on your records?

CC: Touring with less equipment is less of a challenge on our backs (which are bad) and our wallets (pretty empty at this point!). But it’s more of a challenge in other ways, obviously.
Trying to make music that will satisfy the listener without having a powerful instruments can be hard.
Mostly, we just do it this way because it would be impossible otherwise. I mean we just couldn’t tour.
But we’re not attached to doing anything any one way – orchestras or whatever – it’s all good.

FBM: How important are live shows to you guys as far as recreating your recorded material?

CC: We don’t care at all about re-creating recordings. The show just needs to be good, in its own way.
It should be appropriate for the time and place and the musicians playing it.

FBM: To shift gears a little, your blog serves a typical purpose of documenting your travels and experiences as a band, but also you’ve posted some mixes of artists you’re interested in. Are these mixes compiled of songs you would cite as influences for particular facets of Mythomania, or only in so much as they are songs you enjoy?

CC: These are definite influences! If you wanted to define a genre in this way then we are in the same genre as any of these artists. We wanted to give people some clues about where we coming from. It seems to help people relate.

FBM: Also, besides donuts cake and “Scrapple”, what are you guys privy to eating while on tour? Do you have a glorious staple recipe you’d like to share with the world?

CC: Well, it’s not quite as bad as we’ve made it sound – it’s not all sweets – we eat as much Vietnamese pho as possible. That’s the ultimate food. It hydrates you, heats you up, and is delicious.
But it must have basil, lime juice and jalapeno peppers, for the medicinal qualities. Plus every once in a while I go to a supermarket and get some kale and just chow down raw. That’s good.

FBM: Your schedule seems pretty restless in the coming months, and Mythomania isn’t even out yet, but is there anything else you guys might be working on that you’d like to report?

CC: Yeah we’re busy! but we did just finish a 7″ for the German label ‘Slowboy’ – it should be out in time for our European tour. And we have a new video for the song “Tail & Mane.”