Bradford Cox and Deerhunter headline this year's F*** Yeah Fest
(Credit: Kranky )
A listen to their most recent releases, including full-length “Cryptograms” and the “Fluorescent Grey” EP would bear out the band’s champions. Dense, sprawling, and overrun with more ideas than many bands come up with their entire careers, both discs are loaded with raw, visceral songs that work double-time to maintain an equal balance of chaos and beauty.
But it’s the band’s live shows that have made them the talk of the American indie scene. When I caught them opening up for the Ponys earlier this year, I saw something I hadn’t seen in a very long time: an audience genuinely shocked by what they were seeing. Deerhunter’s imposing frontman Bradford Cox appeared wearing a flowered housedress and a massive, spidery black wig that looked like an exaggerated take on Patti Smith’s haircut from the cover of “Horses.” The music was nothing short of a maelstrom; a whipping whirlwind of layered drones and Cox’s reverberated incantations. With the band headlining this year's F*ck Yeah Fest, it was imperative that I get with Mr. Cox for the truth behind one of the year's most provocative contenders.
The most recent news out of the Deerhunter camp is the story of you and guitarist Lockett Pundt getting robbed at gunpoint outside of a show at Atlanta club Lenny’s. Is it that bad of an area, or were you guys just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
It was wrong place, wrong time. It is a bad part of Atlanta, but the club Lenny’s itself is not unsafe, and ever since the robbery they’ve had cops patrolling every single night. I don’t blame the club. The show was sold out, and we had to park far away.
Does Deerhunter stand out in the Atlanta music scene, or do you have other kindred spirit bands to run around with?
We run around with the Black Lips, make out with them and stuff.
Your live shows have become quite notorious. What’s your inspiration to get onstage every night?
Someone like Patti Smith. A lot of times it’s just personal stuff that I dredge up. It’s like when I go bowling with Lockett, which we do every Sunday night. Before we bowl, I’ll think of something that really hurts my feelings. It gets me all emotional, and I’ll usually throw a strike.
It’s funny that you mention Patti Smith. When I saw your show, the wig you had on reminded me of her.
That wig was my Patti Smith homage. I’ve stopped wearing the dresses and wigs, though. I want to see if people are still interested in seeing me perform just as myself.
What inspired you to wear the dresses and wigs in the first place?
It was just fun. I’ve always worn dresses, ever since I was a little boy. I just like how tall, awkward boys look in dresses. Plus one of my best friends Kristen and I would go shopping for the dresses, and it was just a fun thing to do with her. It wasn’t about shocking people or anything.
What surprised me was just how shocked that audience was by your show.
It’s really funny how easy it is to shock people. I think it’s overestimated how much joy I get from it, though. It’s not my life’s work to be a freak, you know?
I hear from lots of your fans that it took them awhile to “get” your music. Do you feel like Deerhunter is difficult?
I think it’s easy to not get us. I don’t try to make it that way. People think we’re going for one thing, when actually we’re going for something else. Plus what I’m going for changes all the time. We’re an ADD-type band, with so much happening at once. I can understand why people can have a hard time with it. People like things that are easier to digest.
How would you characterize Deerhunter’s sound?
I think it’s pop music.
What is it that you’re going for that you feel people are missing?
The pop element. The friendliness and fun of it. We’re not trying to be pretentious rock star dickheads. We’re just awkward kids. I’m not shy, but the other guys are. But they’re cute, and I’m kind of not, so it’s weird. If the cuties weren’t so shy, we’d be mega-taking shit over. I’m totally just kidding, by the way. It kind of keeps us in check.
I’d never heard of Marfan Syndrome [characterized by elongated limbs and cardiovascular issues], which you were diagnosed with as a child. Is it rare?
It’s not rare at all. Lots of people have it. I have it pretty severely, though.
Is it something you deal with on your own, or do you talk to other people that have it?
Since it’s come out that I have it, lots of fans have come up to tell me that they found out they had it because of me. This one kid emailed me to say that after reading about me, both he and his dad got tested and they both had it. So that kind of thing has been pretty gratifying. Joey Ramone had it, too.
Is it difficult to live with?
It hurts your self-esteem. I look pretty ugly because of it. There are heart issues, too. I don’t feel sorry for myself.
There have got to be plenty of people that find you attractive.
I’ve never met them. Maybe someday, you know? There are people attracted to the conceptual me, the character. But the way I am onstage is not how I am in real life. I’m definitely not a sociopath sitting around my house in a dress jerking off to child porn.
Scott T. Sterling is Music editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
