An Introduction
"We wanted to destroy our own music...wanted to destroy indie rock, all the pretentions of indie rock. . ."
-- Folk Implosion interview, FRANTZINE #5, 1995
The Folk
Implosion is Lou Barlow (left) and John Davis.
They have been writing soungs and recording together since the fall of 1993, when they recorded their debut album Take A Look Inside at John's house for the Communion label.
Since then, the Folk Implosion has scored the Larry Clark film KIDS and scored a top-40 hit with the song "Natural One", which was lifted off the aforementioned soundtrack. They also released a self-titled collection on Communion in 1996, consisting of the import "Electric Idiot" and "Palm Of My Hand"/"Mood Swing" singles.
Lou also plays in Sebadoh, who have been around since 1989, and just finished a six-month tour of North America and Europe this past March. It was in support of their most recent album, Harmacy ,on Sub Pop Records.
John has been releasing solo material since '91, with three albums out on the Shrimper and Communion labels. In January '97 he concluded a short tour in support of his latest album, Blue Mountains. The Folk Implosion recently concluded its first tour (with Gary Held on drums and Tom Flynn on bass) of North America and Europe.
In addition, the Folk Implosion periodically join forces with the Boston band Deluxx to form the Deluxx Folk Implosion.
. . . released two singles and an album on the Communion label between February and May 1997. John Davis (left) discusses the Dare To Be Surprised album and the events leading up to its recording.
In the summer of 1995, after recording the KIDS soundtrack, we began working with engineer Wally Gagel at his Bliss studio. Located amidst the din of a practice space in the bottom of Boston's South End, Bliss's clubhouse atmosphere and low hourly cost encouraged us to take our time. . .and we proceeded to do just that. We averaged three days of recording a month over the next year before arriving at a finished product. This snail's pace was not just due to the merciless serenades of the neighboring metalcore bands-- everyone involved in the recording had tight schedules because of other commitments. And our "Natural One" single had resulted in significant promotional and emotional distractions.
Perhaps it is because of this drawn-out recording schedule that Dare To Be Surprised is the product of more than one phase of intentions and interests. We started off in the summer and fall of 1995 with the idea of building on the sounds found on our first record, Take A Look Inside-- particularly the 60s garage/new wave influences. We began working with that in mind, but the winter and early spring of '95/96 also found us following through with some of the groove-oriented sounds we'd hit upon while working on the KIDS soundtrack. We soon made our peace regarding any lingering ambivalence over "Natural One"'s success as a single-- hearing it pop up in such unlikely places as Karaoke bars, fashion runways and Yankee Stadium did a lot to lighten our mood.
Late spring and early summer '96 were spent writing lyrics and working out vocal harmonies. The singing became the theme that tied the disparate (and widely spaced, chronologically speaking) sounds and influences together-- and the record began to stand on its own, apart from what had come about before-- and during-- its making. Dare To Be Surprised emerged a album for all seasons (despite all those pumpkin pictures). . .and, though we love the final product dearly, all involved have vowed never to make a record under such an insane schedule again.
[Other things happened in 1995/96, as well. Lou recorded Harmacy with Sebadoh in the fall and winter, and John recorded his solo album Blue Mountains in February and June '96. In the latter parts of 1996/early-'97, Lou toured the US and Europe extensively with Sebadoh, and John did a short tour in January '97 in support of his album, playing a half dozen West coast shows with the Double U and opening for Sebadoh on four of their East coast dates].
After spending most of the last six months of '96 apart, we hit the road together in support of Dare To Be Surprised-- beginning with a month-long promotional tour of North America and Europe during the months of March and April, and some Northwest dates in early August.
Thanks for listening!
John Davis
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