Interview with Menomena’s Justin Harris

Last week saw the release of Menomena’s third full-length album, Friend and Foe, a stunning collaboration of fevered musical ideas, encapsulating the worlds of downtempo, avant garde, and post punk. Not only has this record had music fans around the group’s hometown of Portland buzzing with anticipation and glee, but if the early critical notices that have been published in the wake of the CD’s release date are any indication (including a sputtering 8.5 review on Pitchfork), the rest of the country will shortly be following suit.

BWC’s intrepid reporter, Will Thompson, caught up with Justin Harris, part of the braintrust that makes up Menomena, to talk about the ins and outs of the band’s history and how three seemingly disparate men find such brilliant common ground.

From what I’ve read, the process of being Menomena, other than shows, seems kind of fragmented. Would you say that’s true?

Sometimes more than others. The recording process is a bit fragmented. We don’t have an official studio that we go to or own, so we do a lot of home recording out of our respective basements and apartments. We tend to work isolated a lot and sometimes we get together and collaborate. Fragmented would be a good word for it.

You met Danny [Seim, Menomena’s drummer] in a “Christian Pearl Jam-sounding band” right?

(chuckles) Danny and I went to high school together, before the band. And yes we were in a band right out of high school that he likes to describe as a “Christian Pearl Jam-sounding band.” [We were called] Bede. We disbanded in 2001.

Did you have recordings or get very far?

Not too far. We were together for five years. We were all happy with it at the time and we thought it was good. Listening to the recordings in retrospect, maybe sonically it was good, but musically, it was all over the map. It was a very schizophrenic-sounding band, but we were young.

How do you get from Pearl Jam to Menomena?

I don’t know. It just has to be the right mix of people. I was talking about this the other day with someone, how that old band was a four-piece. Danny was the singer and played a little guitar; he wasn’t the drummer. It’s funny, because he and I weren’t really friends at the start. I was best friends with the guitarist and [Danny] was best friends with the drummer. And through the course of that band, he and I became closer friends and when that band broke up we decided we still wanted to work together. Brent [Knopf, Menomena’s third member] saw our old band play one time and liked us enough to introduce himself to Danny. They kind of became pen pals with Brent going to school on the East coast. The year that Brent was coming back from college was when [Bede] broke up. We thought, “Let’s have Brent play with us.” It sounded good. I guess that was the right combination to take you out of a Pearl Jam-esque band.

Was Brent the factor that took you from point A to point B?

I don’t know. I think by the time that band ended Danny and I were already headed in a way different direction. So, I mean, he’s definitely a factor. It’s weird because all of us are vastly different, personality-wise and musically. Our tastes our extremely varied, but I think it’s good to have Brent, who is way different from both Danny and myself. In my opinion, that’s one of the things that I appreciate the most, that all three of us do have such different sensibilities. We’re similar, yet all interested in very different things.

You said you all have very different tastes, like in music?

Yeah. Different and similar. I’d say Danny’s the most accepting, he listens to the broadest variety of music. I would say I’m more at the opposite end of that spectrum, the most picky of the three. Brent is somewhere in between. We have places we line up in terms of what we like, but there’s parts of us that are way different and that’s never so apparent as when we’re recording.

Where do you overlap the most?

It’s hard to pinpoint that in a direct answer. I think we all just understand what we are looking for in music or a particular song or in a band, I guess. Knowing that helps each of us accommodate the other. Not that we’re compromising all the time. In the end, I think we have a similar aesthetic that we’re going for. We’re heading towards the same goal even though we approach it very differently.

Would you say there’s a disjointedness that keeps you guys together?

One could say that. It’s something I’ve given a lot of thought to over the last year just because of the process of recording this album was so tumultuous. It was some of the worst experiences I’ve had of my life and some of the best; this constant barrage of pain and elation. Looking back on it, I think I can realize that that’s what it takes for us, I don’t know if it’ll ever not be that way, you know? So I think that there is this disjointed aspect that makes it work. It’s a hard pill to swallow think about that ‘cause hopefully at one point it won’t be such a hard thing to record an album, but in the end, whatever it takes to get the end result is worth it.

What’s the Portland scene like right now? It seems that indie rock is on a big popular upswing right now.

Portland’s a great scene. As of late, it’s such a vibrant one. So many bands coming from here are doing well. The Decemberists are one of them, and obviously the Shins. There are so many good venues to play and everybody knows everybody. Everyone’s very supportive: everyone wants everyone to succeed. It makes for a nice environment to grow unlike NY or LA where there,s just thousands of bands and the majority of them all doing the same thing. People in Portland might be doing the same thing but for now there’s less of them. You might get more immediate attention, which is encouraging for new bands. It was for us. You have immediate feedback, positive or negative, that you can use.

Are there any bands that you’re friends with that you’re taking on tour?

Our last tour we went out with 31 Knots. They’re certainly one of my favorite Portland bands right now. We’re also good friends with the Helio Sequence. We’ve been threatening to tour together for years now. The only requirement I have with touring with bands is that they’re nice. It’s such a good experience when everything’s going well and everyone’s fun to hang out with. Touring is fun, but it’s also hard work, so adding personality problems that aren’t in your own band can make it a nightmare.

Who are you touring with this time out?

The majority of the dates are Land of Talk and Field Music. I think Land of Talk’s from Canada and I’m not sure where Field Music is from. I haven’t actually heard either of those bands. Our booking agent and label thinks it’ll be a good pairing.

I read you guys have normal jobs and family and stuff like that. What’s everybody’s status?

Brent and Danny are both married with mortgages. I don’t have either of those things. Luckily, nobody has kids yet and I don’t know if there’s any plans of that anytime soon, so that’s probably a good thing. We know lots of bands who do have kids. Barsuk refers to those bands as “bands with children” because it makes touring a different situation. You know Mates of State? I guess they tour and take their baby with them and it makes it so they have special conditions for certain things. I’m glad we don’t have that yet. As far as day jobs, that changes from year to year for me. This last year I did finished carpentry, specialty finish work. Brent is a waiter at McMenamins. Danny does a handful of things. He works at a print shop doing screen-printing and letter press right now. We all try to find stuff that keeps us flexible to tour and do things when we need to. But it does make everything a little more difficult.

So everyone’s status doesn’t hamper touring yet?

Not yet. I would go out on a limb and say that if Danny and Brent didn’t have spouses, they might be apt to longer tours. But our last tour was three and a half weeks and tested my tolerance level. This next one is going to be a little over a month. But both Brent and Danny’s wives are supportive so I’m grateful for that.

What’s the pinnacle of success for Menomena?

That is definitely an individual question. I think we all have different opinions on that. I don’t know what my pinnacle of success would be. It would certainly be music in general and [that’s] what I would like to do with my life’s career, and I’d enjoy doing it with this band. It’d be great to get to the point of doing this band and not working our daytime jobs, which hopefully we’ll be able to get to that soon.

To purchase a physical copy of the new Menomena album, go to Barsuk Records. For a digital copy, click on the button below: