Responsible for one of last year's best debut records which they're now following with a solid new four-song EP, Chicago's Ganser have had a great couple of years, and have rightfully earned our unequivocal appreciation and a place among D//E's current favorites.
Band members Nadia Garofalo, Alicia Gaines and Brian Cundiff answer a few questions about Ganser's present and future. The band's lineup is rounded by guitarist Charlie Landsman.
A simplistic, yet grabbing lyric video for the upcoming EP's title track follows, created by the band themselves. You Must Be New Here comes out November 8th, 2019.
What are some of the themes on the new EP, and how different is it from Odd Talk?
NG: This EP is definitely a little bit of a detour from the bigger themes of Odd Talk. It’s something lighter before we get back into it with the next LP.
AG: You know, light as in… well, daily struggles. To supplement one of the demos that wound up on this, I think I sent Nadia a gif of a man sprinting up a sand dune but staying in place, so like that. I like the idea of an optimistic Sisyphus.
The new EP's production team involves your longtime collaborator Brian Fox and Mia Clarke of Electrelane. How was it working with them, and what do they have to bring to the band's sound?
NG: Mia has been amazing to work with, she brings so much knowledge to the table with her input and she has great energy! Brian Fox is just solid at what he does, he gets what we are going for and knows how to get us there in a way that has never disappointed. We are fortunate to have them both on our team.
Between Odd Talk and You Must Be New Here you released a couple of great singles, Pastel and Bad Form. Why were those standalone releases, and weren't included in the new EP?
NG: We are consistently creating, and sometimes songs just don’t always fit into larger releases. That’s what Pastel was, an in-between. Bad Form is more a taste of things to come...
How would you describe the band's dynamic on stage? You seem like a pretty tight unit.
BC: Alicia and Brian are the anchors, while Charlie and Nadia are the ocean waves trying to capsize the ship.
How was Riot Fest for you this year? Did you catch any other bands' sets that you liked in particular?
BC: Riot Fest was a great experience. We’ve played some pretty big shows before, so we’re viewing it more as another step toward where we want to be, rather than a one-off. That said, it was a bit surreal to be on the bill with some bands that we’ve been fans of for big chunks of our lives. Ride, Bikini Kill, Slayer, The B-52s all together in one festival? What a time to be alive.
Have you ever received any kind of negative review or feedback that has affected you?
NG: It always “affects” in one way or another, we are human. Sometimes it’s constructive and sometimes it’s useless I think we have learned to differentiate the two and let the negativity roll off.
BC: Everyone has an opinion. If we’re true to ourselves, it doesn’t really matter what people who have nothing to do with us think. SubmitHub, used for submitting for coverage on blogs, has a feedback system where anonymous people we don’t know think they’re qualified to tell us what they would have done differently. The truth is most of the opinions come off as naive and nonconstructive, it’s hard to take them seriously.
Is your songwriting process usually planned, or does it come through like something more spontaneous?
NG: a bit of both depending on the song.
BC: The catchiest tunes usually come together quickly, but some of the more involved songs can take several revisions to get to the point where we feel they’re presentable. We live in an era where we’re surrounded by devices that make it easy to catch an idea any place, anytime, and we use that to our advantage.
There is a cinematic impression in all of your videos so far, and you've been very involved in their creation. How important are for you visual components to the music?
NG: The visual components are crucial to the overall project. We spend just as much time and energy developing the look and feel of the videos as we do the music.
What are you currently listening to mostly?
NG: I’ve been digging into the new Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds recently, as well as some new releases from local friends like Facs and Grün Wasser. Aside from that, I’ve been mostly listening to podcasts to mix it up a bit, some of my faves are 99 Percent Invisible, Design Matters and NPR’s Up First, to name a few.
What comes next for Ganser?
BC: In the immediate future, we’ll be playing a bunch of local and regional shows to promote the new EP. Meanwhile, we’re putting the finishing touches on our second LP that we expect to unleash upon the world in 2020.
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