“We have a rule that as soon as a song hits the rehearsal room, it no longer belongs to you. And you can no longer have any emotional claim over it. The aim really, is to try and get the ego out of it. The theory is then that you won’t get defensive about it.”
But one could get understandably defensive about their latest single, “Of Walls and Teeth.” Equal parts stomp and groove, it’s reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac. When asked about the conflict and tension filled lyrics, James slowly reveals a side of himself that gives the song added depth.
“Conflict is really easy to write about because it’s something that people are a part of all the time. But [Of Walls And Teeth] is a very personal song for me. It’s more about the fact that I don’t like that I cannot argue with people. I freeze up, I freak out and I can’t deal with it. Whether I’m right or wrong, I don’t know what to say. I can’t deal with the emotional response and I just want it to stop.”
What was once a simple radio single has now become an enigmatic slice of modern, paranoid life. James is still unsure however if “Of Walls and Teeth” has allowed him to come to terms with his frustration.
“I don’t know whether writing a song is cathartic or not. I think [Of Walls And Teeth] is a way of expressing my own frustration with arguments. We live in a society where pushing your point across in an argument is becoming more important than what the actual point is. On a global/political scale, just pushing points seems to be more important than what’s good for the greater good of people.”
And the actual point of Drawn From Bees could not be more evident: they are storytellers.
“We’re trying out one song live for the first time ever at Yah’s Yah’s. It’s called “Whistle and Burn” and it’s about a group of serial killers that lure people into a cave, trap them and then mount their heads on the wall. It’s dark, but I think about it more as storytelling. A lot of times we try to approach our songs as stories. That way, we never run out of material.”
James is quick to reference Chekov and how imagination affects the band’s somewhat morbid approach and how separation can be attained.
“Chekov just used his imagination, because your imagination is limitless. As band members, we’re all avid readers and total nerds. And I just love to think up story ideas. We’ve got another one about a girl named Ella, who falls down a well. She’s now a ghost and she wants to play with the other girls in the orphanage, but they’re too scared of her. I just love the idea of telling really imaginative stories.”
A truly limitless imagination means Drawn From Bees have never been content to rest on their laurels. Constantly shifting artistic foundations from one release to the next, Dan James and the other members of Drawn From Bees have established themselves as true sonic revolutionaries. While the contents of their next full-length may remain a mystery for now, James cannot help but give some perspective on the band as only he can.
“To be honest, I don’t think we’re ever going to go down the hip-hop road. That’s something I’m totally shit at,” he chuckles. “But I like to think about [David] Bowie. When he was around, you never knew what he was going to do next. And I’ve always thought of our band as Clint Eastwood and David Bowie, sitting on a meteorite during the Ziggy Stardust era, having a conversation while watching the world slowly collapse from space.”
BY JOSHUA KLOKE
