The ‘Spray Q&A: Doveman

Doveman is a group of spectacularly talented New York musicians who make music that sounds like a rainy window looks like from the inside of a warm house. Their album, The Acrobat, sounds almost terminally frail - indie without being twee, sad without being depressing. Needless to say, we’re fans.

hecklerspray caught up with Thomas Bartlett, the gentleman leader of Doveman to discuss Bach, Love Actually and jasmine tea…

Who are you, and where are you?
Thomas Bartlett, singer in Doveman. New York City.

Why should people listen to your music?
I’m not at all sure that they should. Just listen to Bach. You’ll be better off in the long run.

People always seem to mention Nick Drake when they discuss Doveman. Is that something you wanted?
Certainly
I’ll never be sad to be compared to Nick Drake, but I think that’s a
bit of a knee-jerk reaction to the surface level whispery boy who seems
prone to broken hearts thing. On a deeper level, our music is really
about punk rock, sexual violence, revolution. And tea.

We hear you’re big in China.
For reasons beyond our understanding
the vast majority of traffic through our website (all of it MP3
downloading) is from China. Maybe somebody discovered coded tributes to
Mao in my songs. Perhaps our music just speaks to the Chinese
experience.

One word people could describe your music as being is ‘woozy’. How premeditated is your sound?
Very.
Its quietness and unruffled calm is, I hope, somewhat deceptive. Step
inside and you’ll find yourself destabilised, even if it’s just by a
whisper.

What’s lamp rock?
That would be telling.

What did Dr. John S. Pemberton invent?
Google says: Coca-cola

Do you find that writing about music as well as performing has helped you in either discipline?
Not in any way that I’m aware of.

Preach about something you love (not related to the band) in less than 100 words.
Love
Actually, the wall of sound romantic comedy, a piece of extreme cinema,
my favourite movie. It takes that high you get at the end of a good
romantic comedy, when everything is working out and the world seems
like a wonderful place, and stretches it out over two hours. It also
introduced me to Joni Mitchell’s orchestral re-recording of Both Sides
Now, which I never would have bothered to seek out on my own, but is
some of the most astounding, powerful singing I’ve ever heard.

What’s on the Doveman iPod?
The complete work of Billie Holiday
and of Björk, heaps of Bach, the four Dylan albums I won’t leave home
without (Blonde on Blonde, Blood On the Tracks, Desire, Love &
Theft), all of R. Kelly’s stepping songs, The Harder They Come,
Bartok’s string quartets, etc. etc.

Favourite movie soundtrack?
Pasolini’s The Gospel According to
Saint Matthew, Neil Young’s score for Dead Man, Ennio Morricone’s
score for Once Upon A Time In the West.

Motorhead have Cheese And Chive Ruffles on their rider. What’s on yours?
I
don’t really see the point in having a rider until we have the juice to
get things we’d actually like to eat and drink (I’m speaking only for
myself here, as the band’s sole food snob). I think our rider should
request simply a bottle of Lagavulin. And the day we show up at a club
to find one, I’ll know we’ve made it.

What makes a good cup of jasmine tea? Bags or loose leaf?
Loose
leaf. My favourite is Dragon Phoenix Pearl, which you can (and should)
purchase here.
Ideal for sipping while listening to our music.

What are you going to do right now?
Take some ambien and go to sleep.

The Acrobat isn’t yet available in the UK. Discerning hipsters can buy an import copy from cdbaby

Visit the official Doveman website

[story by Stuart Heritage]