The Somber Side of Beauty—O’Death

By Jeanette Madden
Contributing Writer

In late July of 2010, New York quintet O’Death—Greg Jamie [singer/guitarist], Gabe Darling [ banjo and ukelele], David Rogers-Berry [drummer], Jesse Newman [bassist] and Robert Pycior [violin]—returned to the stage after a year-long hiatus to play a critically-acclaimed set at the Newport Folk Festival. In many ways it was the perfect start to a new era in the band’s existence, and a logical precursor to their upcoming third LP “Outside,” set for release on April 19. After endless touring on the rollicking one-two punch of their debut “Head Home” and sophomore barnburner “Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin” the band was sidelined in the midst of their 2009 tour when Rogers-Berry was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma. Ten months of chemotherapy and a shoulder replacement later, the group returned to the studio with a new outlook on life and began work on their most fully conceived project to date. You can catch O’Death’s new outlook when they play the Aquarium Thurs., April 7.

O’Death recorded “Outside” over a two-month period, easily the longest they’ve spent on a production. Producer/Engineer Billy Pavone, who was also behind the board for “Head Home,” came along for the ride. The extended recording time allowed the band to write in studio, as well as cultivate the organic noise for the record in an intimate setting.

“Creating the album in the recording, and not in the mix, was a leap of faith for me,” Pavone said. “It was challenging to let go and allow the album to breathe a bit, and be its own creation – unique and very different from some of the sounds we hear so often in the world of digital manipulation.”

Violinist Robert Pycior answered a few questions for the Reader, filling us in on the band’s history and explaining how “Outside” is different from their first two albums.

High Plains Reader:  Where did the name O’Death come from?

Robert Pycior:  For us O’Death came from a recycled concept and image conjured up most prominently in traditional Appalachian folk music. It was largely popularized by the Stanley Brothers.

HPR:  How did you all meet, get together?

RP: We met in college at SUNY Purchase (outside of NY City). The band was started by Greg and David in 2002. We mostly performed at the school. When most of everybody graduated we played regularly in NY City. That’s where we acquired a following.

HPR: How do you describe/define your music?

RP: We have difficulty doing that sometimes. I guess: Melodically intense acoustic music. We often land on the somber side of beauty.

HPR: Who and/or what are your Influences – individually and as a band?

RP:  Neil Young, Texas Chainsaw Massacre

HPR:  And your writing process?

RP:  It varies, but Greg and Gabe usually present music to the band and the rest of us work out our parts and refine the arrangement and form of the music. Greg largely writes the lyrics but Gabe has his hand in that too.

HPR: I read that you said you were ‘using the recording process as the writing process’ on “Outside.” Can you explain that?

RP: We hadn’t performed the music from “Outside” together as a band until after we recorded the album. Gabe and Greg recorded demos then emailed the recordings to David who added his parts. Then the demos with percussion were sent to me, and I added strings. Newman added bass lines at Gabe’s place. We came into the studio with a process already figured out. In the past we used recording as a means to capture our strong live performance. For “Outside” we used the recording process to its strengths by layering sounds and textures. The percussion was done piece by piece, strings were layered. Different spaces and recording techniques were considered for the vocals, guitar and banjo were from song to song.

HPR: How is it playing the new songs on the road?

RP: It’s a different approach for us as we are used to working out a song for live application first but changing our approach has been a healthy alteration of the creative process.

HPR: What can fans expect from your live show?

RP: People at our show can expect to dance. It’s a high-energy experience where the band and the fans feed off of each other. It feels spiritual sometimes as the crowd goes from loud and crazed to quiet and intimate with us.

HPR: Where’s your favorite place to play?

RP: One favorite is Roisin Dubh in Galway, Ireland

HPR: How are you all feeling on this tour? Is it any different from your other tours considering what happened health wise with David Rogers-Berry?

RP: If anything, we’re just older so we’re trying to eat healthier, drink less and sleep more comfortably. We feel good though.

HPR writer Paul Olson has listened to a track from “Outside.” Here is his review:

“The single I listened to from their upcoming album “Outside” was a nice little number called “Bugs.”  “Bugs” starts off sounding like a sad, minor keyed, folk ballad. Then out of nowhere, the drums come in and a small sounding song booms into something you would want to dance to. As I listened, I was trying to get my bearings. The walking basslines really make the song step along and give it its “bluegrassy” sound. At times it sounds bluegrass and folk, but then becomes upbeat indie with tambourines and the drums giving it some pep. Its like a formulated mash up of bluegrass, indie, folk, Irish and medieval sounds. Put an up-to-date spin on those older sounds, and you’ve got it.

“You can hear the mandolin licks, stomping and clapping and the bassline flowing into a nice groove that makes you want to stomp and clap along. The music seems to be haunted by the sorrowful melodies over rhythm section like they have a looming ambience instead of being the focal point of the music. Everything was really organic and roots-feeling, but it also moved into powerful tom pounding retro-indie rock vibe. The vocals are chorused a lot of the time, which gave it a group sing along effect, making you want to sing along.

Listen to O’Death’s “Bug’s” here: http://www.ernestjenning.com/images/odeath/MP3/Bugs.mp3

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