We are Volcano Choir AMA!

i've been waiting for this day all day.

i'm the mod of the one and only online community of /r/boniver, i talked to thomas a few months ago i'm so happy you guys are doing this. thanks. AND I LOVE DARK CLOCK! i have so many questions.

are guys bringing repave to europe this year?
what is Ticonderoga (Comrade)? why the sea theme for this second album? (i noticed a few references)

ps.:i feel like one of those fangirls inside

DARK CLOCK, yes. All buy that album now.

Ticonderoga is a band that is now defunct that lived in Raleigh when I was there. They might have been the best that never was. I still listen to thier two hard to find albums most months...

Nautical and Open ocean became themes very naturally, without guide and before we knew it, we knew it.

Justin, how does it feel to play with a band you have admired? Also, are there any other bands or performers that you want to play/jam with?

Well, my level of appreciation for Collections of Colonies of Bees back in 2004, was at a higher level than admiration. It was of NEED. But NOW, we are in a BAND together, so the respect becomes actual love and deep connectivity. These are the guys that I want to play with.

Will you just acknowledge my existence?

You are important (this isn't Justin though, so maybe you're not).

!

What are your favorite Wisconsin beers?

Could you talk about the Volcano Choir live setup?

TOM - tell em about our setup! hahaha... its real extensive!

See the above paragraph bro! I extended it! But yeah, it's been a ton of work...

shhhhhh

what deck size is your mower? i have a smaller property but, like you, enjoy the yard for a variety of reasons. Do you like to mow?

Standard mower. Takes me about 1.5 hours to complete the full yard. Last year, listened exclusively to Earl Sweatshirt while mowing. I like mowing.

the whole year you listened to earl sweatshirt while mowing? thats dedication. i always listen to bob dylan's song "born in time" on repeat. "i took you in and i got what i deserved" really sums up how i feel about my lawn.

Deeply into listenining to only Gucci Mangzzz whilst mowing. Large JD mower. 1.5 hours for yard, yah.

Hi Justin!

As a fellow Eau Claire native, the most important question of all:

Toppers, Pizza del Re, or Sammys?

del Re + Sammys

Milwaukee native here. Love All Tiny Creatures, Death Blues, Altos, Bon Iver, Shouting Matches, so on and so on. When all of you come together, it's like magic!

1. When producing new music, do you all try to break out of your respective styles and experiment or does the collection of all your styles comprise the music?
2. Where would you say the most inspiring place in Wisconsin is?

Looking forward to seeing you at the Pabst in a few weeks!

yep. we just ... GO. we dont have the added need to edit ourselves or be apart of some kind of fashion or trend... we care about expression, our expression to be exact.

Just a quick question regarding Unmap. How did the collaboration/remix of Woods into "Still" come about?

like any of the songs off unmap, it was about us experimenting with anything we had laying around. I sent that to those guys WAY WAY earlier than it ever came out as it came out on Blood Bank EP... It was our version.

Hi guys. Love the new album. Just one question:

1) Dancepack is brilliant and I can't stop listening to it, but I can't work out exactly what it's about - so can you enlighten me?

Justin is now in a band where he won't be called their name (seen people shouting 'we love you bon' in Manchester), I don't think people will call you 'Volcano Choir' any time soon!

its about problems. a guy who has problems.

Hey guys! Just wanted to say that I'm extremely excited for you all to come play at UW Eau Claire on October 19! How special is it to come back and play shows at your alma matter/in your home state?

It means a lot to me. Although I didn't attend UW EC, my wife did, and it's actually how I met Brad / Phil / Joey / Justin and all the EC guys when I was living there for a couple of years.

Tom introduced the music of CoCoB to us in EC... changed our life's trajectory in a very serious way!

If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be?

John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together

or

Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians

[deleted]

yup!

Hi guys, big fans of both Pele/Collections of Colonies of Bees and Bon Iver.

What is the writing process like for Volcano Choir? How does the dynamic of your band change when Justin is thrown in the mix?

well, this VC band, is no longer bon iver meets cocob. its just a band now. of new people. we all play in MANY more projects than these mentioned projects... so its not really me being added to an already mixed thing. Not everyone plays together in the other projects with each other either.

Directed to Justin: HI! Enormous fan, I saw Bon Iver in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and it was the greatest concert of my life. I play Wash, Hinnom, and Perth on Piano whenever I see one in the room.

As a young musician, seeing you reach such huge success at your age gives me hope towards achieving my wildest dreams of becoming a musician. The music of Bon Iver has inspired me beyond measure. Putting a band together is extremely difficult, and I can't even imagine making music in the way that Unmap was made.

MY QUESTION: Do you have any advice for a young singer-songwriter? Also, your work on Kanye's past two albums is absolutely gorgeous.

dont be something be you

What is the origin of the name 'Volcano Choir'? Is there some special meaning to it? Love the new album!

its a real turkey-bag-long of a story!!!!

Do you think that music is more powerful to the musician, as it's being created and explored, or the the listener, as it's being received and interpreted?

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to do this. The new record is wonderful.

Equal power, ideally.

yeup. circuitry.

What are your stances on over-production? Does the quote "don't lose the plot" have any relation to over-production? Also I know this is really random but I wanted to know if Justin liked Led Zeppelin, Muse, and Radiohead?

"Don't Lose the Plot" is a note that (I'm pretty sure) was left by our brothers in Field Report after recording there last fall/winter. It just kind of resonated with everyone. . .everyone in VC as well as all those who record at Aprilbase. It has less to do with over-production, and more to do with maintaining focus on what matters: friends, creativity.

Also, I adore Led Zeppelin (I'll let J speak for himself). . .Houses of the Holy is my fave. . .stem to stern. Used to be III. . .but I switched ~ a decade ago. Still love "Out on the Tiles" tho. . .

H of the H is the best Zep record.

this is correct.

I'm way into over-production.

As long as it sounds good in the end, why not pile 6 different basses / synth basses on top of each other in unison? Sounds like fun to me...

tom - shhhhhhh

Ha, it's true man! I understand that the "trend" now is like the Daft Punk press release, but if people really believe that album wasn't spit shined / layered / edited and picked over like hell, they are kidding themselves man... It's just what you do. Why wouldn't you?

i think yer great

-Do you guys get recognized on the streets or are you able to go out pretty easily?

-Is touring actually fun? Or do you get sick of being on the road and miss the lovely state of Wisconsin?

Also please come to Pittsburgh so I can swoon to your sweet, sweet sounds.

if i go out in the streets, its mayhem everywhere I go. J/k

Hey Justin, just picked up "Repave" from the record store down the street on clear vinyl. Sounding spectacular as usual!

How would you describe April Base?

And also, you've said that Eau Claire lacks in terms of music venues, like many other small to medium towns across the country, IMO. What have you found to be effective in fostering a healthy, creative, supportive local music scene?

to answer your last question... we need a venue that has amazing sound and a good stage. THAT is the only thing that fosters better music, is giving the music an actual platform.

its a co-op for recording artists.

we need a venue bad. for all ages. with amazing sound. were working on it for EC... promise

Hey, I am a long time fan. Just wanted to ask you: What got you together? How did Justin and Collection of Colonies of Bees merged into one of the best bands ever made? And why is Unmap so diifferent from Repave and other albums like Bon Iver. Thanks!

thank you we are so blessed to be with each other

1. What are you guys currently listening to?
2. In your opinion, what is the best song you have recorded together as Volcano Choir?

My favorite song on Repave is "Almanac", because I think it represents what everyone in the band does well, in almost perfect balance.

hard to disagree here

1. Lots of 78s.
2. Define 'Best.'

a mix i made of my favorite little dragon songs and james blake songs... new neko case is amazing gucci mane : free gucci mad decent mixtape future's album

First off, thank you guys! Your music is amazing. I only found you guys a few days ago and I what can I say, love at first listen!
I'm a huge Bon Iver fan, and thanks to this playlist of yours I fell in love with Collection Of Colonies Of Bees too. So yeah thank you all for being awesome!

Now for my question (that at least a hundred redditors will ask):

Do you have plans to tour in Europe too? I (and countless of other people fans) would love to see you live, but you're too far. And if you're here don't skip Hungary either; we love you here too! I volunteer to show you guys around :D (or at least Austria, or Slovakia, as those are not that far)

not on the books yet, but were working through when it could happen

I had the pleasure of seeing your first US show at the cedar cultural center in Minneapolis, and it was an amazing experience to say the least.

How has the experience of the band changed since releasing 'Unmap' to where you are all at now? And what does this record mean to all of you?

Cant wait to see you all in October

repaving COMES from unmapping and it makes so much sense... as we grow together ... these metaphors.

I can't even believe you guys are playing with my friends' band Adelyn Rose in October!

Have you guys listened to them and what do you think?

Also, would you want to float down the Chippewa sometime?

i know Addie and Leo well. Im real excited!

Hey guys. I'd just like to say I'm absolutely blown away by how amazing Repave is: you must all be extremely proud of the end result.

I have two questions if that's alright.

1. Was it a very conscious effort to merge the sonic experimentation shown on Unmap with more of a "straightforward" songwriting style, or was it more of a natural progression in your opinion?

2. More for Justin: how do you feel you approached your vocals on this album? I mean more in terms of using the extent of your vocal range and your falsetto. Did you consciously think to write melodies using your chest voice or your falsetto more in your opinion?

PS: Please come to the UK soon. Oh, and Bon Iver's set at Latitude last year was the best show I've ever seen, so thankyou Justin.

we dont think about it too hard. we just react and express.

How much collaboration goes into your videos? Does the director listen to the music and come up with his/her own interpretation, or is there more input from everyone in the band? ... also, LEDs in the forest FTW!

We fully trust Mitchi to do his thing.

yah, he is our visual context

1. Are butter burgers as good and as nasty as they look?
2. I love the growth from Unmap to Repave - And love the similarities with the videos for Island, IS and Byegone - is this pulsing light trend something you plan to keep doing?

if we can get money to pay Mitchi to make videos for everysong, we'll do it

Justin, I'm wondering what is the plan for Bon Iver in the future ? And also are you guys ever going to visit Norway ?

no plans, not sure what I or the world needs from that perspective anymore. We'll see. VC is where my heart is at these days.

1. Are there any plans to bring VC tour to the UK?
2. You've said that Alaskans is a lynchpin of the record - can you give any insight into the writing process for the track and why the Bukowski quote at you used at the end was included?

Thanks very much, Repave is incredible.

the qoute just came to me one night as something that should be there. i have no idea why. it just .... IS. it just explains alot and the album wouldn't be complete without it.

the song was recorded as is and I wrote to it over the course of months and singing improvisation over it and kneading it and kneading it .

Hey guys, thanks for doing this AMA! I've been loving Repave ever since it's been streaming! I have a million questions so just answer which ever you like! Are you guys consider touring the west at all? Specifically Vancouver Canada ;) also would you say that CoCoB has transformed into VC, or is it possible that you guys release more as CoCoB in the distant future? How did the writing process differ on this album compared to Unmap?

One silly question... What are all of your favorite tv shows?

What artists would you say have influenced both the band collectively and also yourselves individually? What albums can you not get enough of at the moment?

Justin I just wanted to say that I'm a huge fan of every single one of your projects, they never cease to surprise me and blow me away. For Emma got me through a lot of hard times. I'm really glad that you're respecting Bon Iver for what it is and letting it take it's course, rather than just trying to pump out albums because it's popular.

How do you go about writing your lyrics? Before Bon Iver you had more traditional style lyrics where as after they became more cryptic and poetic. Do you always know what they mean, or are they more often abstract?

Thanks again for all of your contributions to music and doing this AMA!

i find more meaning when using the subconscious as the vehicle, every time.

According to their website, they'll be playing at the Commodore January 24th!

This just made my day!! ..Unless they respond to me ;)

we'll be there!

Hey guys! no question, just immense appreciation for your craft. Keep it up Jon, Chris, Matt, Dan, Justin and Tom! See you in Burlington!!

Yes! Love Burlington. So glad we're getting there.

Sam Amidon is on the show too, im so very excited!

Do you find it annoying when people unknowingly refer to VC as Bon Iver? Or do you just understand that people get confused and embrace their affection?

it just simply isn't true. if i spent time hating the things that were said that weren't true... id be real upset all the time

What should I eat for dinner this evening?

jicama

Hey, thanks for doing this AMA my question is What is the most fond musical memory from your guy's childhood ?

driving home from my grandmother's burial with my brother and sister listening to "That's The Way That The World Goes Round" by John Prine... thats the one that comes to me.

On a more serious note, I would love to buy you guys a beer this Sunday in Toronto. :)

only if you tell us where they will be showing the Packers game

What are the best bar/pubs to hang out and see good local music in eau claire??

clancy's, joynt, GI

Justin do you ever feel fatigued doing so many projects at once? The other guys, will there ever be another Pele album?

Pele is dead. Long live Pele.

yes!

what was it like to record with Kanye?

fun