story by Cliff Berru
Andy Herod asks the world to "help me make this go away"
in the opening verse of Conductor, the charming fall release from
one of the more dissident bands of this millennium: The Comas. This
irritation Herod makes light of might be caused by the threads of
pain wrapped around his heart. A heart once embraced by "Dawson's
Creek" star Michelle Williams, whose separation from Herod provoked
a record full of metaphoric loss and emotional drudgery.
The phrase "break up record" will automatically discourage
emotions into many different directions - some things are better left
up for interpretation. Herod successfully scales those ready-made
expectations by painting metaphors full of emotional potentiality,
along with music soaring on ambitious eclecticism.
Conductor has a flowing elegance that's difficult to ignore, but
it's each song individually that causes the music to surge gracefully
into your ears. Sometimes, within a song, it's the duty of the chorus
to adjust certain pieces of the melody. The Comas transcend this theory
by seducing each note into the other. When the chorus comes it already
has friendly support, but with the excitement of new love. No matter
how explosive or thrilling the music materializes to be, it always
has purpose.
|
HEROD'S INNER VIEW
|
|
"A lot of it is imagery from my life,
meaning it is fairly personal…It's just a break-up
inspired record."
|
|
 |
Chicago Innerview caught up with Comas lead man Andy Herod to see
where these space rockers from the "dirty South" are really
headed.
Chicago Innerview: Conductor was released early this past fall on
Yep Roc, home to your second record [A Def Needle in Tomorrow] as
well. What happened to that hot shot major record deal I read all
about?
Andy Herod: Def Needle got into the hands of some people….who
started a management company in London. They wanted us to be the guinea
pigs for their now American-based management company. We were actually
starting a record with Yep Roc at the time, but instead we used what
we were working on as demos and passed them onto a Warner [Bros.]-based
company in London. They signed us and gave us the money for Conductor.
We were being pushed into the alternative rock direction…we were
almost trying to record this thing for them and it was embarrassing.
They were disappointed with our intentions and ended up licensing
it to Yep Roc, who loved it.
CI: Did that switch to Yep Roc change the entire focus of the record?
AH: Well, we scrapped the previous work, cut our losses and took the
rest of the money we had and went to Sound of Music [studio] in Richmond.
We started over from scratch, but it wasn't difficult because I realized
the finished product is something I was going to have to deal with
for the rest of my life.
CI: Conductor reveals a very personal situation in your life. The
theme is that of a 'break up' record…how does it feel to share
these feelings with the rest of the world?
AH: A lot of it is imagery from my life, meaning it is fairly personal…It's
just a break-up inspired record.
CI: The only reason I ask is because that's how Conductor exposes
itself as a whole…
AH: There was no attempt to make it a concept record, but I thought
it was important when the bio was being made to step back and reflect
on the theme. I thought it was important to give someone a reference
point when listening to it. It sheds more light onto it from the beginning.
CI: Several of the new songs seem to have rock intentions but possess
more of an electronic flare than those on A Def Needle in Tomorrow.
Are you enjoying that new aspect to your sound?
AH: A lot of the stuff on Def Needle was influenced by a former band
member who was really into the drum machine and beat production. The
synth and keyboard stuff has always been a part of me though. I just
love the ambience it adds and the doors it opens. It's definitely
something we will continue to explore more of on the next record.
The Comas :: with Vietnam :: Empty Bottle :: February 18.