Pitchfork

As you may have read, rowdy Brits Art Brut have enlisted Pixies legend Charles Thompson (more famously known as Black Francis or Frank Black) to man the boards for their new album. Band and producer are currently entrenched at Wavelength Studio in Salem, Oregon, crafting Art Brut Versus Satan, the follow-up to 2007's It's a Bit Complicated. Versus Satan is tentatively due out in April on Downtown; according to Art Brut frontman Eddie Argos' highly entertaining blog, songs slated to appear on the album include "Alcoholics Unanimous", "Summer Job", "Art Brut Versus Satan", "Rebellious Henchman", "Moved to L.A.", "D.C. Comics and Chocolate Milkshake", and "Mystery Bruises".

Though the recording sessions are only slated to last 12 days ("punk as fuck," says Argos), Art Brut have managed to squeeze in plenty of fun during their time in Salem. According to the Salem Statesman Journal, Art Brut have stormed the local bar the Space twice: during open mic night, they played Weezer covers to a bewildered audience, then returned later in the week to play a full set of Art Brut songs.

Earlier this week, we caught up with Argos and Thompson on a conference call and talked about what it takes to make a great rock'n'roll record.

Pitchfork: First of all, let's talk about how you guys got together. How did Frank Black end up producing an Art Brut album?

Charles Thompson: I got a phone call from my manager, and I said, "Yes, absolutely." [laughs]

Pitchfork: You were a fan of the band?

CT: Yes. I had heard them at gigs that we played together. So, yeah, I knew that they were one of the good ones. [laughs]

Pitchfork: Eddie, what's the band's side of the story?

Eddie Argos: People keeep asking, "Why did you ask Charles to produce your album?" I can't see why we wouldn't ask him to! I think he's brilliant. Charles' first Catholics album [Frank Black and the Catholics, from 1998] was almost, like, made on the fly, and that's exactly how I like it.

Pitchfork: How has Salem been treating you guys?

EA: It's been a little scary, but also fun. A man gave me a note, he was on crystal meth, and he thought maybe I'd like to try it. I didn't really want to try it, but he gave me his phone number just in case. On the note he wrote, "Follow the trail of blood back to the hotel," which I quite liked. It was a joke maybe? I'm not sure. [laughs] He was very polite, so I wasn't really scared. I told him I was straight-edge, and he believed me, even though I was really drunk.

Pitchfork: I've heard that the album is called Art Brut Versus Satan. Is that true?

EA: Yeah.

Pitchfork: Is there a particular meaning behind the title, or is it just that it sounds awesome?

EA: Satan is everybody that's against us. [laughs] If you are not for us, then you are Satan, and I am against you.

Pitchfork: Charles, when you went in to record with Art Brut, was there anything in particular you wanted to do with their sound? Did you want the band to make a completely different record from their first two? Or something in the same vein?

CT: Well, I'm not really a visionary type of person, so I didn't really have a lot of clear ideas about what needed to be done. In general, it was the kind of situation that, I think, one wants to kind of make rock history, sort of, you know? That's sort of always the first goal, and sort of the only goal, really, I suppose. But they're a really good band, so when their ideas are really well prepared, all you have to do is record them.

Also, because they're a good band, if they have just very rough, loose ideas, you can kind of say, "Do this!" and "Do that!" and "Jump upside down!" You can tell them what to do, and you pretty much get good results. That's sort of the mark of a real band, where you can say, like, "Play disco" and then "Play reggae", and sort of anything you do with it, it turns into something at the very least interesting. It's been a lot of fun for me, and they have been fairly cool about my sort of bossing them around a little bit, so I'm just really enjoying myself. I haven't really been a producer, a lot, of other people's records, and so I'm really enjoying it, and of course it's always fun to do it with people that are actually good at what they do.

Pitchfork: Can we expect to hear anything really different on Art Brut Versus Satan? Say, some reggae or disco?

EA: We've got an eight-minute song now. That's a new thing.

CT: Yeah, all I can say about that song is that it seems to be very-- like several of the songs on the record-- they seem to be, I don't know, important-sounding [laughs]. Yeah, important.

Pitchfork: As opposed to all the other unimportant songs out there.

EA: [laughs] Yeah.

CT: Yeah.

EA: All of our songs are important.

Pitchfork: Eddie, when you went into the studio, were all the songs written, or were you writing in the studio?

EA: I'm always writing and changing them up a little bit, but much more than last time, this time everything was quite a bit more written. That's what's fun about working with Charles, he's always like, "Play again, play again, play again," and as you play again, you get other ideas, so you're always kind of writing still. But there were more kind of fully-formed ideas this time.

Pitchfork: Charles, did you contribute any writing or play any instruments on the album?

CT: No, no, not at all. I'm just trying to, you know, make sure that people go to the bathroom when they're supposed to, make sure they have a reasonable access to alcohol.. You know, if you're going to make a great rock'n'roll album, someone has to do that kind of stuff. I'm just hoping that the artist is happy.

Pitchfork: And Eddie, are you happy?

EA: Very happy.

[laughter]

Pitchfork: There's a song called "Moved to L.A." on Art Brut Versus Satan. Is that a sequel to Bang Bang Rock & Roll's "Moving to L.A."?

EA: Yeah, well, when I wrote "Moving to L.A.", I'd not been there before; I was just having a guess. But I've actually been there now, and I sort of like it. My girlfriend is there so I've spent a lot of time there. I have sort of moved there. So, yeah, it is sort of a follow-up. All of our songs are true, anyway, so yeah, it is definitely a follow-up. It's the sequel. Maybe I'll write "Left L.A." for the next album.

Pitchfork: Charles, I have to ask what else you're working on, in terms of your own music. There's a box set in the works of your original score for Paul Wegener's 1920 silent film The Golem, right?

CT: Oh, the Golem thing, yeah, a silent film soundtrack. It's just a big chunky box. Like one of those, you ever seen one of those Chunky candy bars? You know the ones I'm talking about? They're square and thick and they got raisins in them? I like those. They're kind of fat, squat little candy bars? It's a fat, squat little project.

Pitchfork: You are also collaborating with your wife, Violet Clark, on a project called Grand Duchy. I've read that you have an album in the works. Is that true?

CT: Yeah, that's all done, and I think that's coming out in February. [According to Clark's MySpace page, it will be out February 16 in the UK and February 17 in the U.S.- Ed. ]

Pitchfork: There's also that Lee Hazlewood project with Isaac Brock and the late Larry Norman. What's the status of that?

CT: Oh, that's really some other people, but yes, I sung on a couple of tracks and my son sang on one of the tracks. It's a cover of a whole record, a Lee Hazlewood record, a concept record that he did in the early 60s. So, I'm familiar with the project, but I'm not the behind-the-scenes mover of the project. I'm just one of the guest stars!

Pitchfork: Are you working on anything else? You've always got a million things, it seems.

CT: Right now the only thing that matters is the Art Brut Versus Satan record. That's the only thing that matters right now. Everything else is kind of... I don't care about it, really. This is happening right now.