Your New Favourite Band: Beach Fossils interview

Dustin Payseur isn't just another Brooklynite armed with a fuzzed-up guitar and a penchant for lo-fi recording. His self-titled debut album as Beach Fossils - a three-piece on the road, but just one man in the recording studio - is a seriously accomplished piece of work that will particularly please fans of Real Estate's woozy indie pop. Before Beach Fossils comes out on can-do-no-wrong indie label Captured Tracks next Monday (May 24th), Dustin kindly answer a few emailed questions.

Hi, Dustin. Beach Fossils doesn't sound like the work of just one man. Was it really just you writing/recording the album?

I definitely approach each instrument with a new style, and those styles grow. The way I play bass is totally different from the way I play the rhythm sections of the guitar, which are totally different again from the way I approach the lead lines. I think it's important to play with different textures. The album was all me except for the last two songs, which John (the bassist) helped me out on. 

Is there any secret to making that jangly guitar sound so crisp? Any recording tips you could share?

I wish I could share, but I don't technically know what I'm doing! I just play with the sounds until it harmonizes with what I envisioned it should sound like.

There are a lot of bands making their guitars jangle at the moment - the likes of Real Estate, Woods and, to a slightly different extent, your labelmate Wild Nothing. Is that good company to be keeping? Or is there a danger of that particular niche getting oversaturated with like-minded bands?

I'm not too worried about it becoming oversaturated; I think it's an appealing style because there's a lot of room for creativity outside of the limitations of playing chords all the time.

I mention the label - you're signed to Captured Tracks, who seem to be on a real hot streak at the moment. As well as putting out your stuff, they're also a home for Wild Nothing, Girls Names, The Fresh & Onlys... Are they good people to work with?

Mike, who runs the label, is just the nicest guy. He's so easy to work with and he genuinely loves what he's doing.

Were you making music as Beach Fossils for long before Captured Tracks became interested? Were you making music/in bands before Beach Fossils began?

I've been playing music since I was a kid. I started collecting instruments and recording materials early on because my parents are musicians and, luckily, supported my drive.

People may naively assume you spend much of your time listening to old C86 tapes. Care to surprise us by sharing a few hidden gems in your record collection?

When I was recording the LP I closed myself off to a lot of pop music on purpose so I wouldn't take too much influence. Mostly I was listening to psychedelic, free jazz and krautrock music. Random picks would have to be Ant Trip Ceremony, Red Krayola, Amon Düül, early Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Don Cherry, Anthony Braxton, and on and on and on...

Do you have any plans to tour Europe, or will much of the summer be spent concentrating on the US?

This summer we'll be touring North America, but we do have plans for Europe come Autumn. Nothing's set in stone yet, but we promise we'll have some dates soon. We want to get out there as soon as we can!

Time for a purely selfish question! I'm heading to New York in a couple of weeks time - any Brooklyn record stores/bars/venues you could recommend?!?

Record Grouch is an amazing record store, probably my favorite in the whole city. It's so cheap, and the guy who works there carries all of your dream records that you've been after forever. As far as bars and venues go, I usually go out based on who's playing rather than visiting the establishment. As long as the music is good your night will be great.

And finally, who are some of your new favourite bands?

There are so many, this is always hard to pick... Future Islands, Wild Nothing, Eternal Summers, Toro Y Moi, Reading Rainbow, The Beets, Total Slacker.

Beach Fossils' self-titled debut LP is due for release on Captured Tracks this coming Monday, May 24th. You can pre-order it here.