Interview

Here is the second* interview with Zachary Carothers of Portugal. The Man I conducted via e-mail.


EP: Can you please state your name and position in the band?
Zach: I’m Zach and I play the bass.

EP: How did the current tour with Rx Bandits come about and how has it been so far?
Zach: We've known their manager for a couple years. She’s been trying to get us to tour with them forever. In the past it hasn't worked out because of prior obligations for tours. We’ve met the dudes a few times and always had a blast. This tour has been unreal. So much fun and the RX fans have been very welcoming.

EP: I heard you wrote most of Censored Colors in the studio; is that correct?
Zach: Yeah, we tour quite a bit, so we never really get a chance to write in a rehearsal setting. Johnny will come up with a few riffs and melodies on tour with an acoustic, but besides one or two songs, it was all done on the spot.

EP: Do you feel more inspired creating music organically as opposed to going into the studio with pre-written songs?
Zach: It's not the way you're supposed to do things, but yes. There's something real about it. Whatever we record is like a snapshot of the band at that moment in time.

EP: What is the involvement of each band member in the songwriting process?
Zach: John will pretty much write the skeleton of a song on acoustic. In the studio, he'll lay down scratch guitar and we'll all chip in our parts and build the song from the ground up. We all discuss the tracks and ideas; see what works and what doesn't.

EP: You also worked with Kirk and Phil (of Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground). How did they shape the outcome of the album?
Zach: They were a lot of fun to work with. They had access to every crazy instrument we wanted to use. Phil is unreal on strings and Kirk had awesome percussion and background oh's and ah's.

EP: Did your surroundings [recording in Seattle] have any influence on the sound of the album?
Zach: It always does... but I think it's mostly the people we are around. It was cold and dreary the whole time. I think it sounds like a winter album for sure.

EP: The band constantly changes its sound for each new release. What influenced the sound of the new album?
Zach: I guess a lot of old soul. A lot had to do with the studio and all the strange recording techniques we tried.

EP: How did the idea come about to have a singles side (The Colors) and suite side (The Twenty Five) to the album? Are they meant to tie together or act separately?
Zach: Both. The album works as a whole, but we liked the idea of splitting it up in some way. The first half is all separate songs, and we tied a bunch of shit together for the end. How else were we supposed to use that ridiculous intermission?

EP: Did you approach writing/recording either side of the album differently?
Zach: I wouldn't say so. We had the idea, but kept tracking as we had been. Most of the work for stringing them together came in post production.

EP: While listening to the album, I felt different themes from death and rebirth to references of society. Were there any particular themes you were trying to convey lyrically?
Zach: Those are some for sure. I think a lot of it came from Johnny’s upbringing and his families thoughts on life and death. They are amazing people. There are also a lot of political and religious views as well... as usual.

EP: Do you have any personal attachment to any songs off the new album in particular?
Zach: "New Orleans" is my personal favorite. So different than anything we've done before and I’m real proud of it.

EP: How did recording the new album free of any label ties compare to the previous albums?
Zach: It was much more expensive, ha. We’ve never really had a problem with our labels giving us shit about songs. Fearless [Records] was always pretty cool with us in that way.

EP: What lead you to choose a partnership with Equal Vision Records?
Zach: They have been good friends and huge supporters for years. This is really the best move we could have done. We share in the risk and the reward. We would have loved to put it out on our own, but it would have been an unbelievable amount of work and risk. We’re already busy little bees.

EP: Your last album Church Mouth, and now Censored Colors, leaked before their release dates and you have fully embraced fans downloading them. Do you ever have concerns about walking the line between making your music as accessible to fans as possible versus sustaining a living from music?
Zach: Of course we're concerned, but we trust our fans. I really believe people will get the fact that if they want a band they love to stick around, they have to support them. We’re all about downloading, we make music and we want people to hear it. We don't want to rip anyone off. Try it. If you like it, buy it, and we'll give you a hug.

EP: The band has gone through a few lineup changes in its history, do you feel like this a solid group now?
Zach: I love the boys we have right now. Adding Ryan was an awesome move (don't tell him we said that). He has bought a lot to the table both musically and personally.

EP: I’m finished with the questions I have; is there anything else you’d like to add?
Zach: Thanks so much for the help; represent.


Thanks so much to Zach, John and Ryan for their time and thank you to Heidi Ellen Robinson-Fitzgerald for setting up the interview. Go buy the band’s new album Censored Colors in stores September 16, 2008.

*The original interview I conducted with John Gourley and Ryan Neighbors on August 28, 2008 was lost on tape; this was the smaller (but not lesser) of the interviews as the other had a half hour of conversation.