“It’s a process that we’ve refined over the years,” says vocalist, guitarist and primary lyricist Peter Silberman. “Part of that is just the process of practice. We have a bit of a method to what we do, but strangely enough it’s that which allows us to experiment a lot more. We take certain parts of the process that we see as a given and then do the opposite of that. The songwriting process, for us, is something that is constantly evolving; but it all stems from a structure that we have assembled for ourselves.”
It may well surprise some listeners upon entering the private universe of The Antlers’ music to find the band’s comprised of but three members. The dense layering and deep-running arrangements that shimmer and ultimately swell through the band’s finest moments certainly suggest far more hands at work. It’s simply a matter, however, of the band being greater than the sum of their parts. Silberman stresses the consideration of executing the bigger moments when it comes to the live environment has never been an issue when it comes to writing them in the first place – at least, not until Familiars.
“On past records, I think I’ve tried to specifically avoid that,” he begins. “It just seemed strange to me to not want to record something on the basis that I wouldn’t be able to do it the exact same way when we were playing it live. We’ve always been about putting the songs together first. With that said, the thought of playing these songs live did creep into the back of my head when we were making this album – particularly because I was only playing guitar on the record. I was planning to only play guitar when we played live, too. It came down to questioning whether I wanted to make two different versions of the same album. I felt that there was a way that I could practice these parts to the point where they became second nature.”
Even with this in mind, Silberman follows this up by clarifying this was not necessarily expressed on behalf of the entire band. As he explains, it’s the different motives and methods of the core trio that makes what The Antlers do so unique in the first place.
“I might have had that approach, but the other guys in the band could have definitely seen it differently,” he says. “They might be looking at what they’re doing on the record and viewing it in a different context as to how they might perform it. It might not necessarily make sense to do both in the same way. That’s one of the great strengths of this band. Things don’t have to be a certain way. Things can change. Everyone is on their own path, headed to the same direction.”
The band have been touring on the back of Familiars since its release in May last year, and reception to their most recent live shows have been some of the most positive of their entire career. Silberman speaks of their current live show with a great sense of pride, noting its growth and development into something that excites even him.
“When we first came to Australia, you guys essentially saw what the first incarnation of the live band was,” he says. “There’s a lot more horns happening now, and there’s more of a gradual pace to the whole thing. We have a horn player taking care of most of the parts, and [keyboardist/bassist/trumpeter] Darby [Cicci] is playing horns on a couple of tracks as well. There’s some pretty cool horn and keyboard symmetry that’s kind of neat. Those two are on either side of me, and there are moments in the show where they’re playing horns with one hand and keyboards with another. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a pretty eerie sound. People are really receptive to that part of the show, in particular. We tend to have patient, curious audiences – they seem really stoked to see and hear new things.”
After just over four years, The Antlers are set to return to Australian shores for their first ever headlining tour. The band hopes to play a substantial portion of both Familiars and their extensive back catalogue – if only to make up for lost time.
“It’s such a shame that we’ve only managed to come out the once,” sighs Silberman. “It was one of the best touring experiences we’ve ever had. I remember the crowds being really great and the festival audiences being really receptive to what we were doing. It’s difficult to get a festival vibe going when you’re touring such a glum record [Hospice], but Australians were all willing to give us a chance. It was honestly one of the most rewarding tours we’ve done – ever since, we’ve wanted to come back.”
BY DAVID JAMES YOUNG
