Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band have trekked across the U.S. much of 2009 and rocked many an ear along the way. The group’s self-titled debut LP is one of the best albums of the year (read the review here), showcasing the group’s loud, jaunty, and rhythmically interesting songs which transition smoothly across many different musical styles. All in all, it’s fair to say the band rocks in a wonderfully straightforward way without having to dumb a single thing down.
I caught up with the group’s lead vocalist/guitarist Benjamin Verdoes (pictured right) after the last show of their tour in Spokane (October 10th) and he was generous enough to answer a few inquires.
What are the details on the new album? Do you have everything written and when are you going into record it?
Benjamin: We have it written and we just have to make some last minute edits and make some revisions. We go into the studio about a week from now. It not going to be all of us, it going to be done in sections over the next two and a half months.
Bands often say that they have a “family feel,” but it’s a bit different for you guys since you actually are a family (keyboardist/percussionist Traci is Benjamin’s wife and 14-year old drummer Marshall is their adopted son). How does that change things from the “typical” band experience, be it touring or otherwise? What are some advantages and disadvantages?
The benefits are that I for sure don’t feel guilty when I go on tour and it doesn’t destroy my relationships in that way. In my opinion, from what I’ve seen around me, it’s more damaging if you leave the people for long periods of time. Especially in our case, cause Marshall lives with Traci and I, and so it’d really bad for me to leave her or him individually, but especially together. It would be a major blow to our marriage and to Marshall’s upbringing or whatever.
The disadvantages, are that we’re on the road as a band with a 14-year old, which you know, some people wouldn’t wish that on themselves. But you know, I think that by in large the benefits out weigh the negatives of it.
Are there any atypical squabbles that you get into because you have that family dynamic that you wouldn’t get into otherwise?
Well, I’d actually rather fight with Traci, like if we get in a squabble, because we’re really good at resolving them and we have a really intimate relationship, where as sometimes when you’re fighting with dudes it’s a lot easier to reach that level where you can stay away from them and harbor things.
With Marshall, a lot of times, it’s over stuff that you’d never encounter [in a typical band}, like over homework and over being respectful to people and not yelling at them when we're on stage and saying, "Hey you need to do this." You know, stuff that people don't usually need to be told. But I guess I've talked to bands that have grown men that are on a similar plane.
Yeah. I think it's not like a bed of roses, but it's been really good so far.
How did the show at Mt. St. Helen's come about? (The band played at the formerly erupting peak on August 15th.)
The institute has a director who was putting together programs for the year, and everytime she would google the Mt. St. Helen's Institute our name would come up. And she kind of got this idea and she wrote our manager. We were gonna do a benefit somewhere in Portland, but somehow they brainstormed and they asked. We were kind of all thinking about it and it evolved into "let's play at the actual site and raise money for their institute." We hadn't done much benefit shows before that, so it was kind of a good way to get involved in something.
When you get to a "buzz-y" band level, people often throw out comparisons and weird things like that. Have you encountered that are just laughable or you're like "where did that come from?"
Yeah, I got a really funny one the other day actually. I mean a lot of them are similar, like people say Modest Mouse or Thin Lizzy or whatever. Those are some common ones that we get. But the one I got in New York just recently was someone said it was a cross between Spoon and Captain Beefheart, which I thought was the most curious and odd thing I'd ever heard as far as comparisons go. But he'd really thought about it a lot, so I didn't discount it, I just wasn't expecting [it]. I was really waiting for Wolf Parade. It’s funny because people would compare us to them early and I hadn’t actually heard them when the record was recorded so then I went back and listened to them.
So what have been some of the highlights for the band this year?
Umm…festivals. They’ve been fun. Like Bonnaroo and Sasquatch; Bumbershoot. Things that like, you always want to play when you’re young; things that are really exciting. And we played with bands that I’m obsessed with. We’ve played with The Walkman recently. We’ve played with them twice now and I’m a really big fan of that band. We’ve played with Man Man; and a lot of the bands we have met at the festivals have been really cool.
What type of stuff are you listening to currently?
I’m trying to think…Traci listens to this Indian artist named Prabhu [Deva], he’s kind of like the Michael Jackson of India. So I’m kind of into that, we listen to it a lot. I’ve been listening to this one song by this lady named Estelle. I get it stuck in my head and so I listen to it. I’m trying to think what I’ve been obsessed with…I’m really into that band Maps & Atlases. So stuff like that. The Walkmen, that new record. I like the new Grizzly Bear record, those kind of things.
And lastly, if you had to say what was your all-time favorite album, what would it be and why?
Probably a tie. I would say How It Feels to Be Something On by Sunny Day Real Estate, for whatever reason it’s always been…like…I never get tired of hearing that record. The way it’s crafted, it’s always been something that, over a decade or more, I’ve really enjoyed. And Close to the Edge by Yes is probably a tie or second. And then, you know, it goes on from there. But those are a couple albums that I really enjoy. Or maybe the Ninth Symphony by Beethoven if I had to pick something, maybe I would grab that. But as far as contemporary rock records, defiantly between those.
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