by Amy Rowe (@bathbinch)
Live music suffered a giant blow because of the pandemic -- but the veteran noisy genre-less stalwarts Deerhoof persevered, dropping an album the members recorded apart from each other that is meant to capture the frenetic energy of their live shows. Drummer Greg Saunier, guitarists Ed Rodriguez and John Dieterich, and bassist/singer Satomi Matsuzaki pulled out an eighteenth record, Actually, You Can, that doesn’t shy away from being political and truly sounds like the band laid down the album together in a studio.
Post-Trash caught up with Satomi to discuss the process of recording while the world was social distancing, her favorite tracks off Actually, You Can, and how the band is weighing touring concerns ahead of a live set taping at Ed’s house that will air on December 12th via Bandcamp.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected Deerhoof?
It was hard. We couldn't get together at all because we all live in different cities. We released three albums during 2020 and there was no chance to play them. We are currently together in Ed's house in Portland to videotape a live set. We are excited to play together.
How did the pandemic and the civil unrest in 2020 influence some of the political subject matter of Actually, You Can?
People didn’t stop listening and making music even though many businesses closed during the pandemic. Music is fun. It makes me happy. My pupil opens up. Actually, You Can is about embracing who we are and we are moving forward.
What was it like being apart from your bandmates to record the album? Where were you based while recording your parts?
A lot of sending files action happened. If we were in one place, things would have been easy. Not just that they can give me feedback instantly and play sound engineer roles but we can chat and laugh. It's fun to have real time communication. I missed that when I recorded vocals by myself in Navy Yard, Brooklyn, where a friend's art studio is located. The Brooklyn Navy Yard is a restricted area where you don’t see people walking around. There was snow outside. It was quiet. Once in a while, I saw a drone flying by. I felt focused and fired up during recording but when it was time for me to pack up and leave, I felt chills, like a ghost came down to haunt me. I recorded bass at home.
Why do you think it was important to keep the album down to the Deerhoof basics like two guitars, drums and bass?
I liked the idea of everyone getting involved in this project. For example, Ed made up two guitar parts and a bass part for a song [“Scarcity Is Manufactured”]. He played all the instruments. The demo was perfect. We could have just used it, but I wanted to get hands on with it. I wanted to take part in it. I wanted to know more about Ed’s song. I am happy with how it turned out. This album sounds like we were there together in a studio.
Are you mostly responsible for writing the lyrics or does everyone give some input?
Everyone in the band writes lyrics. Greg often writes lyrics and I do, too.
What are a few of your favorite tracks on Actually, You Can? Why are they standouts?
I love every track of course. I pick a few that have fun background stories.
In “Be Unbarred, O Ye Gates Of Hell”'s middle section, I sing "harrowing of hell" repeatedly along with a melody that sounds like it’s descending into hell and freeing prisoners. Then prisoners ascend above the ground. The music video by Geoff Hoskinson is exactly how I felt when I was singing. It feels good inside me.
“Scarcity Is Manufactured” is my other favorite. Ed made up those crazy catchy but hard to pull off riffs throughout the song. He talked about how it was an influence from Richie Valens’ "La Bamba" and how he connected to him because he was raised as an "American" but his Mexican background is always there and all the notes he plays are Mexican. I thought that was great. We are a culturally diverse and open minded, free-from-genre band.
How does it feel to have released Deerhoof’s 18th album? That’s a lot of albums.
Yes! A lot! I feel great about it. I joined Deerhoof in 1995 so it's been 26 years of "hoofistory.”
The album certainly has the energy of a live Deerhoof performance. The one thing that’s missing is your killer dance moves! Can you tell me about your dancing a bit more -- is it choreographed or improvised? Do you have any background in dance?
Thanks for liking my moves. It’s improvisation. I test it out in our live shows and kind of sophisticate it over time. I guess sometimes an improvisation turns into a fixed move. I have absolutely no dance background. It’s all street, freeform Satomi style. I like singing and dancing. It’s my yoga.
How does the band feel about touring right now, while the pandemic is still going on? Are there any plans to play these songs live next year?
We aren’t quite ready to go on tour. I live in Brooklyn and I know people who are fully vaccinated that caught COVID. Their symptoms were mild but they isolated themselves. I have been to shows here and almost no one was wearing masks. If you go to a nightclub where they serve drinks, you take off a mask to drink. We are hoping to tour next year.
We are currently videotaping a live set in Ed’s basement. It’s going to air in December!