We spoke to Attached Hands about the process and current projects, including a film score. Read on after the jump.
How did the two of you meet, and how did Attached Hands form?
We have been playing together since 2008. We have been friends for years as well as admirers of each other's previous musical outputs, and it just made sense to work together on a project. It just kind of happened organically. With a similar taste for abstract sounds, it was easy to sculpt a sound that translated to our first Post Records release, the "Versatility of Movement" cassette single.
How did you get involved with Post Records?
We have known the owner of Post for a few years, and he liked what we were doing, so it developed from there. Post Records is extremely easy to work with and seems to really be into our ideas.
Could you describe a typical recording session for you guys? I want to know what goes through your head when you create these soundscapes.
Tough question. There are many different routes a piece might take before ending in a finished song. We pretty much constantly record, rerecord, and then sample that to create entirely new pieces. Early on, the project was very focused on texture -- obsessing over the feel of the sounds, if you know what I mean. We really don't have one specific method to writing and recording. We use field recordings, home recordings, and studio recordings. And it's always interesting to take a recording and all these layers of sound and then sample it and turn it in a completely different direction. Some songs start as an idea, and some start to take shape through process.
Yeah, I know what you mean about the focus on texture. I hear that on the seven-inch with Truman Peyote. Speaking of which, how did you get involved with Truman Peyote to put out the split, and what was that process like?
We have been friends with those guys -- now I think it's just Caleb -- for several years via the internet. And we just proposed the idea of doing a split, and Chris from Post Records loved the idea, so it happened. The first two songs those guys sent us were great. However, one of them contained a sample from a Shirelles song, and because they didn't have the rights to use it, United, the company who pressed the record, wouldn't press it. Chris tried to acquire the rights, but it was way too expensive, so they had to submit another song. I think that track is available on the download. I think it worked out for the best, because I love the songs that are on the seven-inch. Our friend Emily Reo did some vocal work on "Turn Into Feathers," which made it feel even more like a family affair.
You guys live in Orlando, but you're by no means restricted to where you're from. But I'm curious about the local scene there and the ways in which you feel connected to it. I know you worked with Emily Reo, so is the "scene" very familial? Do you feel connected to South Florida's music scene as well?
The music scene and family in Orlando is diverse. Florida, we feel, as a whole has been growing and connecting so much in the last couple of years. There are a fantastic amount of people making and doing some really interesting things. We are happy to be a part of that. We have never played Miami, so if you're asking if we feel a connection to South Florida, I would have to say no. Not in a negative way, because we have friends that reside there, and we are fans of some of its artists and bands (Dino Felipe!). We have just never been approached or made a connection with anyone there. Lake Worth has been really good to us, and we have had some really fun shows there. Is that considered South Florida?
Yes, that's South Florida! Can you tell me all about what you're working on right now -- an EP, an album? What's going on during the summer?
This summer, we have been writing and recording new material to be released in September -- on what label, we still aren't sure. We want to release the album with corresponding videos, and that takes time as well. In other words, it might be October before it is actually released. We have also been working on a film score, our first one. It's been exciting and somewhat of a challenge. Although film scoring is something we really want to do more of, it can be challenging because we are dealing with someone else's vision. Even though we aren't being told what to do, we are being told what does and doesn't fit. That is frustrating at times, but it's part of what goes into the overall process of a film. We still aren't sure how it will turn out, but either way, we have learned a lot. We love making sound, and we love recording, even if it drives us insane.
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