last week at sxsw, as tall as lions rolled through and played a couple of shows, one of which i was able to attend. for anyone who’s been a fan of this band will probably find it settling to know that the new stuff is unbelievable. they played a couple of new songs, which basically sounded like everything you’d expect from a band who is on a progression from their previous albums. they also played a handful of shit off of the 2006 self-titled album, which is probably the best album i’ve heard since 2006.

jerome and i got the chance to sit down with lead singer/guitarist dan nigro for a good 20 minutes, and he talked about everything going into the new album, you can’t take it with you, switching producers and all your other ATAL needs.

read the interview after the jump. it’s a bit lengthy.

-grizzly

Roshan Bhatt, weworemasks: I guess we’ll get started. Let’s state your name and position in As Tall As Lions.

Daniel Nigro, Guitar/Lead Vocals: My name is Dan and I play guitar and sing for As Tall as Lions.

WWM: How has SXSW been treating you? I caught your set last night at the myspace show and you guys played a great set.

DN: Well SXSW has always been pretty intense for us. It’s always full on. I’m sick right now with the flu so it has been a bit overwhelming at the moment. Two years ago, it was easier and I was able to enjoy myself a little better, and didn’t have to worry about being sick.

Jerome Mendoza, weworemasks: Was this before or after the self-titled album came out?

DN: Um, it was 2007 so the one right after the self-titled album dropped.

WWM, RB: Did you get the chance to catch any other band’s sets?

DN: Well I’ve been dealing with the personal shit and the band’s shows, so I haven’t got a chance to see any other bands play.

WWM, JM: Is there anyone you would’ve liked to see?

DN: Yeah, I really wanted to catch Blitzen Trapper and Grizzly Bear (ed. note: little did he know, he did see Grizzly Bear…haw haw), but there was a huge line and we didn’t have that much time to wait in line and see the show. Last time I was here, I caught Patrick Watson’s set, and I had never heard of him. I was there for stars, but that was one of the most incredible things I’ve seen.

WWM, RB: Well I guess on topic of your new album, You Can’t Take It With You, what themes and concepts will be on the album?

DN: Yeah, a lot of the songs deal with letting go of the past. It’s basically what it stands for. People have a tendency to hold on to a lot of things and the album has a big theme around that.

WWM, RB: We heard two new songs last night, along with I Lost My Mind. Could you elaborate on those, maybe give us some titles?

DN: Yeah, yeah. I’m trying to remember what we played last night. We did “I Lost My Mind” and “See the Love.” But I don’t really have official names for the songs yet. They’re working titles. But “I Lost My Mind” is basically about falling for somebody and changing who you are and you’re changing yourself to fit a mold of what they want you to be. The story goes from that to going into losing that person and having only pictures of them, which is in the second verse.

WWM, RB: How far along is the album? Do we have a definite release date?

DN: There’s no definite release date, but we’re done tracking everything. It’s about 90 percent mixed, and it still needs to be mastered. There are still a lot of tweaks to be made. We’re trying to get the record into conjunction into releasing it in different countries. So we’re not trying to rush it, but we’re trying to make everything set in place before we release it.

WWM, RB: Is there a date you’re aiming for?

DN: We’re hoping for July.

WWM, RB: What were your biggest influences going into this album?

DN: Thematically and lyrically, a lot of the record is based on a book called Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Have you heard of it? It deals with the idea that humans are the only species in the world that uses more than it needs. We are the only animal on the planet that does that. They kill because they need to eat and sleep places they need to sleep. Humans create so much more than what’s needed. We have more and more people every year and enables us to grow more as a species. We control our environment and have taken the role of God into our own hands. And a lot of the record is getting away from that, and the realization of that.

WWM, RB: Is there anything you did differently this time around during recording?

DN: Yeah, this record is a lot more percussion heavy. Our last records were groove oriented with the drums and bass. This relies on auxiliary percussion, where there is a lot of percussion going on at once. There’s like four different sounds going on. It took a long time because were having an internal struggle since we wrote so many songs that were all over the spectrum. A lot of it sounded like our old stuff and some not so much, so if we released it right now, it might be a bit lopsided.

It took us a while to find a group of songs that sounded like we made a forward progression, which is when we felt comfortable moving on. The more time we spent writing the record, the more we felt like we needed to grow and we also realized our fans grew too. Fans that were 17 when they bought the self-titled album are now 20, and the 23-year-olds are now 26. They were into the self-titled album three years ago. If we were to put that out now, people might not like that.

WWM, JM: Yeah because you’re not gearing towards a specific market. Some bands just want their fans to grow with them. If not, then they decide gear it towards a market. It’s refreshing to see you guys looking to progress with your fans.

DN: Definitely, and it took us a long time to get the songs to say that we made a progression and it’s cohesive.

WWM, JM: I’ve seen that you switched producers while recording this album. Did you take any songs from those sessions to the current producer, Noah Shane?

DN: We kept two from the sessions with our old producer. We were working with this guy, and we sent him about 20 demos. I guess he liked the stuff that we weren’t that excited about. We had written many segues and interludes to the album, and he liked those. What he didn’t realize was that those pieces were already finished and needed mastering, but he wanted to run with those.

After we started recording, we realized that he was only into that certain aspect of our band, and he was trying to change our sound in every other aspect, especially the songs with the heavy percussion. With him, those were our worst songs, and with our new producer, they ended up being the best. The old producer had no regard for that. He was focusing on 30% of the record, and was only in love with that part of our band. But that’s not our whole band, just a small portion.

WWM, JM: So it worked out for the better?

DN: Yeah, because I mean, [the old producer] made some good changes to some of the songs, but he didn’t share the same vision. There were songs that we felt so insecure about because he was so against them. Someone who worked with U2 and Bob Dylan and was telling us our songs were terrible, so we’re thinking that they really do suck. With Noah, he told us that they were our best songs. And we were just thinking and saying, “That’s what we thought!”

It was bad because the old producer wasn’t into the layers we’re into. We used like 6 vocal tracks on this album, because we just like that. We like doing songs with layers, because it gives the songs a good texture.

So many bands and singers are just like, “Oh rad, I got a voice and I’m good at singing so I will.” Well it’s just like, “whoopty-fucking-do.” We want to make it interesting and have effects and have harmonies to make it sound like something that isn’t a human voice sometimes.

To the old producer, if it can’t sound good on an acoustic guitar and be sung, then it wasn’t good. I mean, fuck that. I understand that concept, but only certain songs of ours are like that. Some just need a four-part vocal with three different drum parts to make the musical sense that we’re trying to make. Our fans like that too. Songs like “Maybe I’m Just Tired” or the children’s choir on Love Love Love (Love Love).

WWM, JM: How did the choir on Love Love Love (Love Love) come about?

DN: Well once we wrote the song, we decided we needed a choir to sing the last bit. Our bass player Julio, had his brothers and sisters come in. They were 8-10 years old, and we had them invite a bunch of their friends to come in and record it.

WWM, JM: What about that interlude at the end? I’ve always wondered what that was.

DN: Well, after they recorded the song, they were still in the studio, so we just had them bang on a bunch of things in the studio and that was that.

WWM, RB: What do you hope to achieve with the new album?

DN: The only problem with today’s music industry is it’s very much centered around instant gratification. Now, you just throw it on your iPod and change albums or songs right away. We just hope music listeners will respect it enough to listen to it the way it’s meant to be listened to.

Our music isn’t meant to be listened to that way. It’s more introverted, so we hope we get that respect. Not to be pretentious or anything, but our music grows in time with people. The more you listen to them, the more you will like them. With other bands, the more you listen, the more you might think that it fucking sucks. We work so hard at layering things, and we think that if you listen to it on headphones and listen to it on headphones, you’ll hear new things every time.

WWM, JM: I can relate to that. A little story: I used to live in Boston and was from Texas and was a 1000 miles from everyone I knew. [Roshan] actually turned me onto the self-titled album. Me and my roommate, who would’ve never been into the type of music you guys play, listened to that albums for 2 weeks straight. We would just lay out on the balcony and discover something new every night. If we were part of that iPod generation, we wouldn’t have gotten to that point. It’s something you definitely see in this band early on.

DN: That’s awesome, good to hear.

WWM, RB: What are the biggest differences in recording and performing?

DN: Well, a lot of people say you should be able to replicate what you do live. But we feel like they’re two different energies. As long as you put on a good show, you can still be a good live band and do whatever you want in the studio. Some of our songs have 100 vocal tracks, so there’s no way we’re going to replicate that. You just have to create that energy in both settings. Both should be treated with equal respect.

WWM, RB: How’s your relationship with Triple Crown? You guys are definitely a sore thumb on that roster.

DN: Well yeah, we were 20 years old when we got signed. We were contracted to make three records and we’ve both known that Triple Crown isn’t the best label for us. But they love our music. And we’re definitely a sore thumb like you said. But since they do love our music, they put a lot of attention into the band. They just realize we’re different, so for Fred [Feldman, owner of Triple Crown Records], we’re like his special child. He’s just got the one band that he looks at differently. It’s probably really pretentious to say, but that’s the way we’ve seen it.

WWM, JM: I can understand that because I’ve grown up with bands like Brand New, who were on Triple Crown bands, so it was definitely a surprise when they signed you, but I don’t consider it pretentious.

WWM, RB: Yeah, and I’ve noticed the recent wave of bands like Fleet Foxes and Animal Collective that get hype from miscellaneous blogs and what have you, and I always thought that if you somehow got those fans, that you guys could be huge. I never understood why your band wasn’t a lot bigger than you are now.

WWM, JM: Oh, yeah. I think music is in a good position right now, but how is ATAL now blowing up arenas right now?

DN: Well, it’s because we’re not cool enough!

WWM, RB: Yeah, I don’t get it. The self-titled album was both mine and Jerome’s album of the year in 2006. It’s just a huge sound.

DN: Right on, that’s so good to hear.

WWM, RB: Are there any other touring plans?

DN: Well we wanna be on a good support tour in May, before the album comes out. Then, definitely a headline tour once the album’s actually released.

WWM, JM: Any bands in particular that you want to take out?

DN: Well, we’re trying to get The Snake The Cross The Crown back together. We just started asking them what it’ll take to make it happen? That’s definitely my first pick.

WWM, RB: Great, man. It’s been good talking. Do you have any last words for the readers?

DN: Please check out the record. We hope you love it.

as tall as lions on myspace.
if you haven’t already, check them out.

-grizzly/weworemasks