Exclusive Interview: Brandon LaPlante

By Brady Bredell
Contributing Writer

Fargo’s music scene has been generating notable talent for decades. As many cities our size lack any musical diversity, Fargo’s music scene has always thrived and is well known for it. Groups such as The Deaths, godheadSilo and Battlefields-just to mention a few, have all done their part to continue this legacy.

The latest band to join these ranks is Sleeping in Gethsemane, an instrumental trio who have recently announced a European tour with the legendary Aussitot Mort of France.

As they prepare for two major tours, HPR caught up with Sleeping in Gethsemane to get the lowdown on the big announcement and to learn more about their creative process.

HPR: Sleeping in Gethsemane lacks what many believe to be the most important element of a successful band-a vocalist. Why did you decide to be an instrumental group and take such an unconventional approach?

Brandon LaPlante: There are no “correct” ways to think or feel about music. It is all relative to the person who is listening to and enjoying it at that moment. That being said, we do not lack anything by not having a vocalist. We do not use vocals as a focal point in our music because our music does not call for it. If we would have started playing together and felt that our music was lacking something we might have looked into getting a vocalist, but we love what we do and how we do it.

Shane Heilman: Being instrumental is like anything that’s different, the more you dwell on it; the more people start to focus on what they aren’t used to about it. It has opened the door to a lot of opportunities to play with bands that a lot of other bands in our genre wouldn’t have gotten the chance to play with. Which is a very big upside to not having vocals. It allows us to fit in well with almost every genre of music.

Brandon Schiwal: Simply put: we play what we want to hear, not what we think other people want to hear.

HPR: Does being an instrumental group give you more flexibility when writing or recording material-or does it pose an extra challenge?

BL: We have never been anything but what we are as a band. So the only challenges we have with writing and recording stem from our internal make up. We all think about music differently, so what comes out of working together is something completely different than what would have been done if only one of us had written the entire song. It definitely makes for a more interesting outcome, but it also makes for a lot more frustration. In the five years we have been making music together we have been forced to learn a lot about compromise.

HPR: Your latest album “Burrows,” is arguably your best work yet. What sets this record apart from previous releases?
BL: In the process of writing “Burrows” there was a point where everything just clicked. All three of us had the same vision of what “Burrows” should be, and we put a lot into making that vision come true. When we finally released our first record “The Great White North,” we already had a good chunk of “Burrows” written. This allowed us to nitpick it and make sure it was up to our standards. I personally feel it is my crowning achievement so far.
HPR: Is their a particular meaning to the title “Burrows”?

SH: Burrows” was originally thought up after we came home from our second tour. We all have separate lives when we aren’t on the road. The best way to describe them was as a burrow. Life on the road for us can only be explained as constant, and when we get back home we tend to hide ourselves to get away from it all, hence “Burrows.”

BS: “Burrows” is essentially our story about hiding from the outside world, hiding from each other, and hiding from ourselves. We all have a tendency of psychologically digging holes, and this record is the story of why. Each song has its own meaning to us about what makes us go off into our own little world and not want to come back.

HPR: You’ll be on an American tour from April 30th thru June 4th. What excites you most about this tour?

BS: We are covering a lot of ground we have yet to travel. We are playing better venues, with better bands, in areas we have never played before. I would expect our first tour in an area to be different in a less successful way, but it’s shaping up to be our most successful tour to date. This is all thanks to Brandon L. He has been doing a great job getting everything locked down.

BL: I am excited for the tour to finally start, so I can finally be done with the business of setting it all up. It is an exhausting process to say the least. Other than that, I am extremely excited to see the entire half of the country we have never played before. It will prove to be different than any of us imagine it will be, but it will prove to be amazing one way or the other.

HPR: You’ll also be leaving on a European tour this fall. Who will you be touring with?

BL: We have had the chance to tour the United States many times in the past 5 years. We have toured and played with some of the most amazing bands we have ever heard. We all listen to the bands we have toured with more often than any other bands in our collections. That being said, our European tour has become our most anticipated tour for more than just a few reasons. First off we are touring Europe, which is every musicians dream. Secondly we are touring with bands that we have listened to for years. For the first leg of our European tour we will be playing in Spain, Portugal, and France with Aussitot Mort. A band that is so inspirational to me that it is hard to explain. Then our second leg of the tour we will be playing through 10 other eastern European countries with Sugartown Cabaret. We will never be able to express the amount of gratitude we have to the people who are setting this up for us.

HPR: Will this be Sleeping in Gethsemane’s first trip to Europe together?

BL: This will be our first trip tour Europe as a band and as individuals. We are getting the chance to visit 13 countries, experience all of their unique cultures, and share our music with them. We could not be more blessed than we have been with this tour.

HPR: The official kick-off to your American tour will be in Fargo on April 30th followed by a homecoming show on June 4th. Where will these shows be at? Who will you be playing with?

BL: Our tour kick off show is at the Red Raven Espresso Parlor on Friday April 30th at 7pm. The cover charge is $5 and the bands that are playing are as follows. “Tiny Moving Parts,” local technical indie masters! “Sunrise Sunset,” The most amazing 9, 10, & sometimes 11-piece instrumental rock orchestra anyone will ever have the chance to witness.

“Badass Magic,” Las Angeles rockers in the vein of a more electronic sounding At the Drive in. And us, Sleeping in Gethsemane. Our homecoming show is also our fundraiser for our upcoming European tour. It is at the Aquarium on June 4th. The Show will start at 10pm. It will be a free will donation at the door. So if you want to give us a lot of money go ahead, but if you don’t have anything to lend us except your ears we will gladly accept that as payment. The Bands will all be instrumental so come out ready to dance and have a good time. The line up will be Sleeping in Gethsemane, Nomia, & Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.

HPR: When can our readers expect to see a new album?

BL: Though we feel that “Burrows” is our most solid representation of who we are as a band, we are all very excited to move forward on writing and recording a new record. We are concentrating more on touring than writing at this time.
We do have a concept and a name for our new record, but you will have to talk to us in person to get it out of us. Our upcoming US tour and our Fall Europe tour will keep us from really buckling down and writing our next record until 2011. We can’t speculate on a release date yet, but you can expect it to be our best work yet.

BS: We don’t have an ETA for our new album just yet. We won’t release the new record until we are proud enough of the material to show other people. A lot can happen between now and then, but we will try to have it out before the world ends!

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If You Go

What: Sleeping in Gethsemane, A District of Evolution, Sunrise/Sunset, Tiny Moving Parts
Where: Red Raven
When: Fri, April 30, 7pm
Info: 701.478.7337