Text and Interview: Brian Poirot
Photo: Aaron Rodriguez
If you’ve been to or gotten wind of the Treefort Music Festival, you have a sense that Idaho is coming into its own culturally. For us, discovering Boise-based Oceans Are Zeroes typifies this sense. Often described as post-rock, the mysteriously named Oceans Are Zeroes also recall rock’s great last stand in the late 80’s before the “alternative” revolution a moment typified by the golden era of U2.
Their self-titled album also recalls the golden era of the well-wrought album on which all the songs gel together to create an atmosphere With tracks like “Fugue State” and the moody, introspective “Inside” the album as a whole weaves a tapestry of emotion culled from the band’s own personal tribulations. There is also a sense of the sublime about the album no doubt the result of a musical contact high caught from recording in a cabin deep in the majesty of the Idaho wilds.
We sent a dispatch out to Boise to find out more. And if you’re in the Boise area, check out their album release party on 5/20 Neurolux.
Can you take us through what the music scene is like in Boise and how it shaped you as a band?
The music scene in Boise has some really cool things happening right now. There is a lot of unique music and we have a lot of friends playing in really awesome projects… and Treefort has been such a rad festival right here in our hometown. However, at times it has seemed like a lonely journey for us. While we love the other projects here, we haven’t always felt like we fit in, but that hasn’t always been a bad thing. It’s only caused us to create honestly and to truly dig deep to write songs we truly believe in.
How long have you guys been a band, and what brought you together?
We have all been friends since 2012 and have had several projects since then. We formed Oceans are Zeroes in early 2016.
You created a transportive effect with this album that stays consistent throughout, even though the songs are all innovative in their own right. What was your studio process like?
First off, thank you for such kind words. Our hope was always that these songs would be able to take the listener to a different world in their mind. We are stoked that you were able to take that journey. These songs came from a place of hurt and healing over a long period of time and we wanted to make sure that we captured that feeling appropriately. The perfect place seemed to be somewhere in isolation, somewhere in the beautiful mountains here in Idaho. A friend offered us time at her parents cabin and that is where the album tracking began. After the time at the cabin we captured all the other instruments at The Mix House in Boise, with our friend Jet Marsley engineering. The total tracking took place over a period of 18 months. It was a slow and tedious but beautiful process and we are so stoked about what was captured.
Can you describe the ideal situation or setting when you’d like someone to hear your music for the first time.
Like you mentioned before, we really wanted to make the entire record flow together as one piece, one story. Ideally any place where you can really get lost in yourself and listen to the entire album as a whole will definitely give you the best listening experience.
Do you have a tour lined up to support the album?
We are currently booking for late summer and early fall :).
