AU
Au Are They?
On a calm Wednesday night in September, in the basement of the unassuming Brooks Center for Spirituality in downtown Denver, Luke Wyland, seated behind a stout red synthesizer and lap guitar, tilted his head back, opened his throat and let out a brassy animal cry. A grinning howler monkey, bouncing happily on his stool, he began tickling the keys, and as drummer Dana Valatka entered the fold the room was filled with a luminescent strain of sound. The music, while part of a deft performance, was a symbolic breaking of bread with audience members. Many in the crowd were congregation members—the eager opening acts cycled like a youth group talent show—and they accepted the offer wholeheartedly. Au wasn’t halfway through their first song when nearly everyone in the room took to their feet and started dancing in strangely ancient ways. The duo was touring behind the album Verbs, but a short while later, as Wyland and Valatka rattled scores of bells held between their knuckles, creating an oceanic blast of harmony, the last thing it felt like was a pitch. [Tyson]
You sought out the Brooks Center Arts as a venue, right? Luke Wyland: Yeah. We had been scrounging to get some dates to get us from Portland to Baltimore, where we’re meeting up with The Dodos, so I started asking around. We felt very lucky to be there. I prefer to not play in bars, it changes the band/audience dynamic. It seemed like a lot of the people at the Brooks Center Arts were part of the congregation, which made for a very intimate setting. We got there in the evening and did yoga and there was a free meal, which was great—I think food, even more than music, is a real strong community binder. That space seems like it’s doing great things. I think Laura [Golhamer]—who booked the show—has a lot to do with that. From what I gathered she’s kind of the artistic director. We slept there. I got to play the pipe organ, which I’ve never done before. I’ve been dreaming of playing a pipe organ. I don’t know if it was just me being influenced by the setting, but it seemed like your music was trying to tune into a different wavelength. I don’t want to say speaking in tongues, but it was a different language than I’m used to hearing. That’s very nice of you to say. A lot of our music comes from a background of free improv. The hope is to relax enough, or be present enough to let the music kind of channel through us—that’s on a good night. These are pop songs, but I’m always hoping to write the music loosely enough that it can adapt to the performance. As we tour, songs will sound very different. I think on Wednesday were riding it pretty high. For the recording itself, I felt very lucky to utilize the community of people I have in Portland. It’s a lot different now, because there’s only two of us. Not everybody can travel this way. I was surprised how rich it sounded for just two people. The fullness of the record didn’t diminish at all. Good. I’m nervous. We going to start playing with better-known bands in lager venues and I hope it translates well. I generally feel a little ill at ease in churches, but that wasn’t the case at the Brooks Center. I was born and raised in the church, but I have definitely left its beliefs years ago. But I still think that a community binder is an important thing. In a bar, people are paying to come and drink and be entertained. In the basement of a church or in an apartment, there’s more room for you to be spontaneous. I think that’s a powerful thing and it’s lacking in a lot of people’s lives. Coming together and sharing an experience without really having strong ideals or beliefs going in. Taking out the meat-market aspect has some impact. Yeah, so true. That’s a hard one. I don’t go to many shows at bars anymore. I always get tired, and crowds are usually too cynical to enjoy themselves. I would agree. It’s sad that it’s kind of the standard. Bars tend to be where you can make more money, so I understand why it’s become the standard, but people are conditioned to act certain ways in bars. All ages show are by far the best. Kids are a lot more excited about listening to music and there’s less of that need to play it cool. The more one can blur the line between the audience and the stage, the more immersed everyone can become in the experience of the night. That goes for me as a performer and for the audience. au-au-au.com myspace.com/brookscenterarts
30
:: THE NEW SCHEME ::