Dan Boeckner puts most indie musicians to shame as far as his energy and sheer output. The Canadian musician co-founded the pioneering indie band Wolf Parade, fronted Handsome Furs and collaborated with Spoon’s Britt Daniel in Divine Fits. His new project is Operators.
The band came to OpenAir on the release day of its debut album, "Blue Wave." Boeckner continues to work in the world of synthesizer-driven pop sounds getting contributions from drummer Sam Brown and keyboardist Devojka.
OpenAir's Jeremy Petersen spoke to the group about how they got together, challenges of recording the album in a 150-year-old barn in Ontario and how Boeckner balances his time between his musical projects.
Stream the session above and read interview highlights below.
Boeckner on making electronic music:
"When I started I had no real understanding of it. I just knew that I wanted to make songs that sounded like stuff that I liked. So I bought the most idiot-proof sequencer and a microKORG and just winged it.
"Over the next half decade or whatever, I kept working on it and I think getting better at programming."
Devojka on how the difficulties of making 'Blue Wave' made the album better:
"I got a lot of mosquito bites making this record. We didn't really have any closed quarters. We all just sort of slept in this barn that was transformed into an open concept loft. Which is great if you're a bachelor serial killer and live alone. But when you're sharing it with three, four other people I think it was a little bit maddening.
"This experience, I think because it wasn't so great meant that the record came out way better ... the more miserable I am, the more sure I am something good is coming out of it."
Songs performed:
- "Control"
- "Blue Wave"
- "Space Needle"
