CMJ 2011 Preview: An Interview with the Milkman's Union

CMJ's 2011 Music Marathon is drawing closer, and The Milkman's Union, one of the bands featured in the Portland Music Foundation's CMJ showcase, sat down to answer some questions. The indie-rock outfit has played alongside Deerhunter, Ben Kweller, and The Morning Benders, and have a brand new 7'' out, "Texas Hold Me." Henry, Peter, and Jeff weigh in on Britt Daniel, coming up with band names, and what's next for The Milkman's Union (after CMJ, anyway).

 

Peter: Henry and I met in college, at Bowdoin in Brunswick, Maine. We formed more or less like most boys form rock bands. "You play guitar? I play drums! Do you know anyone who has a bass?" Over our four years of college, we matured to the point that we actually released a LP and toured for two weeks during our senior year. Since college we've gone through a couple more bass players, before landing on the strong and steady, Jeff Beam . He's about as good of a contributor as we could ask for. At the moment we can call ourselves a union complete.

Henry: I made it up when I was 16 and recording alone in my room. I wanted to shake the "singer-songwriter" label by fully arranging songs and hiding behind a name that implied a group. But I also always intended to eventually form a band under the name. As for the meaning, I mostly interpret it as having something to do with the infinite and the individual's relationship to it. That's not the final word on that though. It's whatever it is to you, which might just be... bad. That's okay too.

 

Are there any bands and/or artists you're particularly inspired by?

Jeff: Tons of Spoon, Britt Daniel is the king of cool. The album "Field Rexx" by Blitzen Trapper really made my head spin. The last two Steven Malkmus and the Jicks LPs are rather tasty.  Early-ish Of Montreal really got me thinking about how to structure a song, and all the wacky twists and turns a song can take and still remain catchy. Portland, Maine's own Herbcraft. There's not a day that goes by where I don't feel blessed to be surrounded by such an incredible music scene here in Portland.

 

Peter: It's hard to pick out particular influences, because I think it all melds together at a certain point. But recently I've been listening to a lot of friends' music, it seems. The new Milagres album, Glowing Mouth is worthy of WAY more attention then it's gotten (and it's getting a good amount). Maine via Texas songwriter Wesley Allen Hartley should be a household name. Jacob Augustine has one the most powerful voices in contemporary folk music. If you don't know Lady Lamb the Beekeeper's music yet, you will soon. Also I'm obsessed with this Alice Coltrane album, Lords of Lords. Journey In Satchidananda is a classic as well.

 

Henry: When I try to get high-minded about it, I think of my harmony world as an attempt at something like a Debussy Nocturne shot through with Bartok's Mikrokosmos. But I mostly listen to Sam Amidon, Wild Beasts, Deerhoof, Laura Marling, Dirty Projectors and Spoon. As Peter said, the most inspiring people to me, in the end, are our friends and acquaintances. Lady Lamb, Milagres, Wes Hartley, Jacob Augustine, The Toughcats, Jakob Battick... 

 

Your last LP came out in 2009 -- what projects have you been working on since then? 

Peter: We just released a 7" vinyl single on Eternal Otter Records. The A side features our friend, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper on some guest vocals. We've got an EP in the works too. Early winter release? Unclear at the moment...

 

Henry: I have a solo EP, called Telos, which was released in the Spring. All of those songs have since been fleshed out and will appear on one of our next two releases. We've been figuring out the line-up, tweaking arrangements and settling into the new material, but I think a vision of the next full-length is starting to emerge. 

 

Jeff: I actually have a pretty active solo music career outside The Milkman's Union; this band is rather new to me. I've released a handful of albums & EPs in the past few years, on which I play all the instruments. I'm currently working on album #5. The past few albums have sounded like me trying to sound like a more psychedelic version of the Beatle-y side of Elliott Smith, but this new one has me stepping outside that box a bit more towards some krautrock influences.