cloudnothingsinterview
Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings

Dylan Baldi is one of those classic examples of successfully swimming upstream that makes you reevaluate your own risk taking. Short story: he dropped out of college within the first semester and now tours Europe and America via his music. Long story: the young Cleveland native didn’t find audio recording school alluring, began DIY recording in his parents’ basement and caught the attention of Carpark Records, Wichita Recordings and a good majority of the blogosphere with his lo-fi, pop-punk jams. On tour with Toro y Moi, Dylan took a bit to chat with us before heading to SXSW.

Apes on Tape:
So you’re on tour with Chaz and the Toro y Moi band right now. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re actually in Texas currently, but not doing sxsw this year, right?

Dylan Baldi: I’m in Houston, Texas right now, yeah. We are playing SXSW too – 8 shows in 3 days!

AOT: How much of the self-recording process for Turning On was influenced by what you learned during your brief stint at audio recording school versus what you just learned yourself?

DB: I wasn’t really at school long enough to learn too much about recording – Turning On was recorded with basically only what I learned myself.

AOT: For Turning On, were you purposefully shooting for that maxed-out sort of lo-fi aesthetic that really stands out on say “Can’t Stay Awake”? Or were you just making the most of with the equipment you had at the time?

DB: I was using what I had at the time and trying to create some sort of production aesthetic with it. If I had just recorded everything really clean with my bad equipment, it would have sounded bad, so I tried to keep things interesting by adding an extra layer of haze and distortion on everything.

AOT: Speaking of which, you only used one mic for that process, right? Could you explain what that was and what the rest of the setup you used was (interface, program, etc)?

DBL I was recording with a Shure SM-57 mic directly into Garageband on my computer.

AOT: There’s obviously a sonic improvement with the new self-titled album, could you describe what changed in the recording setup there? (Besides for not being in your parents’ basement and having a few more dollars to work with).

DB: Well that was really it – I was in a studio in Baltimore, Maryland working with Chester Gwazda. Chester’s worked on Dan Deacon and Future Islands records, which all sound great, so he knows what he’s doing, and that’s why the new album sounds better than Turning On did.

 

 


AOT: The slacker stigma associated with making music is probably amplified with the “college dropout card”. I know you’ve addressed that before, but in reality, DIY artists are putting in way more work than the typical professional musician. You seem like a pretty good spokesman on that. Any thoughts?

DB: To attach a slacker stigma to the act of making music is pretty ridiculous in the first place. I’ve worked way harder every single day since I’ve dropped out of college than when I was taking classes and in school. Even factoring out the making music part of it, just touring is a really work-intensive way of life, especially when you’re not making much money and you are touring fairly constantly. To succeed in any field you have to put in a ton of hard work, and music is no different.

AOT: Carpark seems like a pretty great outfit to be able to work with. Have you been able to get involved with any of the other artists on the label (aside from Chaz) or what’s that whole experience been like so far?

DB: We haven’t been too involved with any other Carpark artists outside of Toro Y Moi, no. Our sound is a lot different than any other band on Carpark, so even touring with Toro Y Moi is a little out of the ordinary for us, but it works!

AOT: Likewise, I’d imagine being on Wichita abroad has lead to some cool things too, no?

DB: Absolutely. Wichita is run by some great people, and they’ve been infinitely helpful. Touring Europe is something I’d never imagined doing in my entire life, but thanks to them it’s been pretty smooth sailing for us over there.

AOT: I read that while you enjoyed the lo-fi process, ultimately you would like to move beyond it because there are a number of musical nuances that you can’t tackle unless the quality improves. Do you mind discussing what those potential future arrangements might be?

DB: Eh, I don’t know if I still agree with that. After making a more “hi-fi” album, I think I might have realized that I personally prefer a lo-fi sound. Time will tell what the next record sounds like, though – I could change my mind tomorrow. I do that kind of thing a lot.

AOT: I see you tweeted that “interviews are so hard”. Hopefully this did not raise your blood pressure too much.

DB: Did I tweet that? I was probably just kidding.

Cloud Nothings “Should Have”

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