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Spending more time deconstructing that constructing, musical progression through madness and experimentation, Computer Perfection is somewhat of a misnomer. Ambient electro pop unlike anything you’ve ever heard, the Detroit band creates, destroys, tweaks, and occasionally does shit that makes little sense. Creating a beautifully textured sound that deviates from peaceful to abrasive, the group is unlike anything you’ve likely heard in the Detroit underground scene or elsewhere. Comprised of former members of pop outfit PAS/CAL, the new lineup adheres to their poppy past and takes it in an entirely experimental direction, think in psychedelia, divergent from other Detroit underground bands with pop tendencies. Don’t miss their upcoming appearance at the New Years Eve Bash at the Magic Stick.
Detroit Underground: It seems to me that there is one hell of a pop/experimental scene taking shape in Detroit, and/or becoming more relevant. Where does Computer Perfection fit into this equation?
Nathan Burgundy: I’m not sure, though perhaps there is a harmonious convergence of collective desire to strike out past our more traditional rock/pop boundaries & to plumb some newer depths. I definitely like the new spirit of exploration in our tiny music community; it’s stimulating & exciting.
DU:Your LP is one of the best albums I’ve heard this year, how long did it take to perfect every facet of We Wish you Well on your Way to Hell?
NB: I don’t think we spent a second perfecting anything. In fact, I can personally say I spent more time messing things up than perfecting anything.
Gene Corduroy: I’d say we spent about a year learning how to write these songs and then also learning how to record them. Tinkering with the strange synths and pedals and the shitty Radio Shack keyboards in our possession. We’d get bored with a song, then a book or film became a re-motivator. The studio environment (our house) and all of its crannies, the equipment and the effects played their parts as well. Put an amp inside the clothes dryer and then mic the exhaust vent? Messy indeed.
DU: How exactly do you organize so many different musicians all going in different directions and come up with the cohesiveness that the album offers?
GC: We’re just four (and now five) people with lots of ideas, sometimes working all together and sometimes lone-wolfing it. We spend a lot of time together, whether talking about/listening to/making music or not. Every now and then I’d dash off a note to the record label that we were getting close, closer yet – and somehow try to quantify it. There is no organizing… I tried that a few different ways. Lists, email updates, a dry-erase board in the studio. That ended up with a marker sketch of a dog howling at the moon, which remains there to this day. The mortar is this: we’ve been playing together in one form or another for a few years. So our styles, likes/dislikes, musical (and non-musical) references tend to overlap and influence one other. Also, three of us live together.
DU: I myself find it impossible to classify your type of music using specific genres. Do you try to consciously incorporate certain elements, or is your music basically free-form?
GC: To me, that’s a prime position and I’ll take it. Leave the job of classifying the family/genus/species to bloggers, music writers or professional critics, if they’re interested. If a song we write has meaning, and makes us feel a certain way – well hopefully some listeners will latch on to our thematic elements and maybe ascribe their own meanings. I don’t care if we think it’s red and you see green and somebody else sees a test pattern – so long as there’s something that gets you. And that inevitable gap between what we may have initially meant and what a listener thinks/feels/writes… that’s where our songs belong. Personally, I consciously try to incorporate guitar or guitar-like elements into songs.
I don’t think the music is as restrictive (!) as free-form nor is it all that meticulously composed. We definitely feel our way through the writing process. If it’s based on anything, maybe it’s songs we probably don’t even listen to any longer; songs you never put on yourself, but you love it when you stumble across them on a trip through the mountains of Pennsylvania or at a bar in a distant city. Songs you never listen to alone but can really appreciate with a friend. That’s the road map, and it’s totally subconscious.
DU: Tell us a little bit about the upcoming New Years Eve show.
Computer Perfection: 10 bands – all with great names on two stages. It’s only $5, including a champagne toast. Deleano and Marcie from Silverghost put it together, hats off to them. If they’re running a tight ship, we’ll go on shortly after midnight.
DU: I read somewhere that you are currently working on your second album. How is that coming along and when can we expect to see it drop?
GC: We’re talking about a singles collection to be released in pairs over the course of six months, resulting in a second LP. We intend to have five 45s pressed to mark our progress. February 2010 should see the first two songs.
But that was only a passing idea in a series of thoughts on how to go about album number two. Until just now – now I feel like we have to follow through. In terms of new material, we have some demos and lots of scraps and fragments. But we also have two new band members (Aaron & Stevers) that wanna kick in their new wrinkles.
DU: What is your desired direction for your next album and the band as a whole?
NB: For both: messier, more indulgent. More distortion. More discord. More fistfights.
DU: How do you feel about the current state of Detroit underground music and where it’s headed?
NB: I don’t think I’ve ever felt more enthusiasm. I quite honestly consider myself a lovesick fan of a good number of the bands playing around here.
DU: Do you feel that there needs to be more outlets to expose the talent within the underground scene?
NB: Perhaps. Perhaps not. One the one hand, you do tire of playing the same three venues over & over again, the one, maybe two reputable local papers to consult for local music happenings. On the other hand, the scene is remarkably small & quite insular, which gives it a unique & fun character. Who knows?
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