C=T Interviews White Lies

Every now and then, I get a chance to speak w/some of my favorite bands. Here’s what White Lies had to say about their experiences at SXSW, future plans, favorite producers and directors.

White Lies-Death (Crystal Castles Remix) [mp3]

C=T  I had the chance to catch you guys at the Filter day party at SXSW 2009.
WL We had a great time playing there. Cedar St. is a nice little spot to play.

C=T Was this your first time playing the States?
WL Before this, we’ve done two tours. We hit a couple of spots. New York, Chicago, Toronto. But our first time in Texas. We will be doing another tour with smaller cities, like Minneapolis and other cities.

C=T  Who are your tourmates right now?
WL We’re touring with Friendly Fires and the Soft Pack and having the time of our lives.

C=T Describe your album cover and what it’s all about.

WL  Those towers are located in Death Valley in the Nevada desert. They are water towers specifically built to channel water to the
valley. A train line goes between the trees that grow up and down the valley by the tracks. If they get too dry, there will be a landslide and the roots will die out and they will slide right onto the tracks. They need to get water to them to keep them alive. Otherwise, there’s nobody around to keep in control of things, the tree falls on the tracks, and the trains gonna go down.

C=T How did you guys come upon that?
WL  It’s a photograph by a photographer by the name of Simon Nells. We were put onto his work by the art director we working with and when we saw the photo, we felt it was really appropriate and it fit.

C=T How do you guys identify with the cover?
WL  Well, it’s just interesting that something man made is responsible for saving so many lives. The photo was such a bold visual statement. The three towers and the three of us. The fact that it’s in a valley and our song , Death, felt right, just tied in.

C=T  What are your video plans in terms of what director you would like to use?
WL We’ve used the same director for the last three videos, Andreas Nilsson, who’s a brilliant director from Sweden. We’ve had kind of a trilogy with him. So I guess, moving on, I like the director that just did a piece with the act Fever Ray, another Swede. We’re all big fans of that video. Where that female is on that diving board. Visually it’s stunning, and that would be cool. There’s also the director of Bjork’s video, Army of Me. That one where somebody takes a diamond out of here mouth. It’s surreal and an amazing video all around. I haven’t seen that video in ages, but talking about videos just reminded me of how amazing that video is. We’re open to anything and it’s something we like to get involved in, and a great way to get your music across in a different artistic format. It’s not something we take lightly. We wouldn’t do something we weren’t happy with; at the same time, we’re open to any direction, any ideas, besides the name of the director. This guy Andreas who’s done a couple of our videos , who hasn’t done too many, besides working with us, and that doesn’t matter at all, because his ideas are incredible. That’s why we’ve stuck with him. The three videos he done with us are genius.

C=T  What producer would you like to see remix one of your songs?
WL We’re big fans of this guy, it’s drum and bass, but it’s much more than that. He’s made this album a couple of years ago, using classical music as samples, and other opera written back in the day that caused a record amount of suicides. It’s this amazing industrial sounding, slightly drum and bass, kind of like a mad Aphexx Twin style stuff behind it. It’s sort of Hungarian, the name of the album is…..I can’t pronounce it, but it’s spelled R-O-S-S-N.

C=T   What are your summer plans?
WL -We will be back for a tour later in the year, end of the summer, early September. We’re very keen on coming back, so it’s definitely going to happen.