Interview: Geographer
Geographer’s show at the Independent on Saturday was something of a homecoming celebration for the San Francisco trio. Their second LP, MYTH, was released to rave reviews last week, and their friends and fans all came out to celebrate. Before the show, we sat down with Mike, Nathan, and Brian to talk art, myths, and music.
We’re all about telling stories through art. How does MYTH fit into your story? How is it a snapshot of where the band is now?
Mike: I guess lyrically it’s just where I was at at the time, just thinking a lot about how confusing life is, and how no one seems to pay much attention to that on a day-to-day basis. So I was thinking about all the things that people do to unconsciously deal with that, and the fact that we live with a lot of myths in mind. We think that we live in a mythless society, that we’ve explained everything away with science, but really we still look to those impossible goals and things to comfort us in our times of existential need.
And then musically, we’re just…we feel really proud of it, and really excited about the kind of music that we made with this album. I guess it just shows how we’ve grown, and our musical trajectory.
At Hipstamatic, we like to inspire and be inspired. What do you guys do to stay excited and keep creating?
Nathan: Well, it’s a question that sometimes I feel unable to answer, because sometimes I don’t feel inspired. It comes and it goes, but I would say that inspiration alone is not enough for us. We’ve had to combine inspiration with just consistent work. It’s not like we’re just sitting around like, ‘I’m totally inspired!’ A lot of times it’s like, we’ll meet at 2:00 and go work on music.
Brian: Me, personally, I get inspired when we do something we’ve never done before and it kind of just sparks a note. A new sound, for example, or something we’re creating from the ground floor, or a new musical idea that’s brought to the table. We all kind of grab that idea and run with it, and take it in different directions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but when it does it’s truly inspiring to do stuff that we haven’t done before, and cover new ground, and yet be true to each other.
Mike: I like movies, and thinking about them, and they inspire me to think further about them. The song “Shell Beach” is inspired by Dark City, and I was really inspired by artist Jesse Langille, who I eventually asked to do the cover ofMYTH. I was looking at that painting all throughout writing and constantly revisiting it, and I just think it’s amazing and beautiful.
San Francisco feels like a place where art, music and technology all intersect more than any city in the world. How has the city and its history influenced the band and your sound?
Nathan: When we rolled in this morning from driving overnight from Portland, we were like, 'Oh, that’s right, we love to live here.’ It’s like a feeling.
Mike: But like, the support of our fans and the people who put on those huge shows [like Treasure Island Festival], the fact that they would pick us for those shows, and the fact that people really like our music here…that’s what keeps us going when we’re driving overnight from Portland, you know? We’re driving here, and people are going to go crazy at the show and they’re going to love it. We think about that whenever we need a little pick-me-up…just that people care. That means the world to us.
