The life of Tan Vampires frontman Jake Mehrmann has changed incredibly in the past six months. Not long after he and his wife, Julia, relocated to Manchester last November, they welcomed their daughter, Frances, into the world. Earlier this month, they moved back to Portsmouth. Amidst the excitement, Mehrmann and the band have still found time to record a new album. As the group starts to roll out songs from the new disc, The Sound caught up with Mehrmann about family life, big changes, and the only subject that could cause the Tan Vampires to have it out.
How is this recording different from previous efforts?
It’s definitely different, stylistically, than the (“Ephemera”) EP, which was mostly older songs that were more in the folk kind of vein. On this one, we tried pretty hard to approach the songwriting as a group. In the past, I would bring in a full song and then we’d flush out the arrangements together, but I might have a bunch of parts already written for everyone. For this record, I brought in smaller pieces of things, whether it (was) one section of the song or a stripped-down vocal melody and guitar part and we would then mess around with it for a while and see what happened, rather than just, “Well, here’s the song, let’s do something with it.”
So it’s been a more organic process?
Yeah, it feels more like a band, less like somebody wrote a bunch of songs and then the band played on it. There’s definitely a place for that, but for me, part of the reason to have a band is to participate in that group process. Those guys bring so much to the table and it’d be a shame not to let them run free, you know? I think you’ll hear a broader spectrum of the personalities of the band members on this record than in the past. As a result of that, it’s some of the best stuff we’ve done.
As far as the album, I’d say it sounds more adventurous, more funky, more rocking, more experimental, and more fun than what we’ve done before. There’s sludgy, heavy stuff; songs in 5/4, electronic loops, and a possibly surprising amount of guitar shredding, though maybe not what you might typically think of when you hear that term. Weird guitar shredding. And, somehow, I think it’s all still pretty catchy.
How do time constraints and financial pressures affect your idea of music as a profession?
For me, music’s never been my profession. In various ways, at various times, I’ve aspired for it to be. And then, at other times, I feel like the fact that it’s not my profession gives me a certain freedom that I don’t feel the same financial pressure to be like, “I gotta do this or that.” I can say no to a lot more things. I love saying no to things, probably to the chagrin of the rest of the band sometimes (laughs). I like to be selective about what shows we play. There’s definitely been times where we played a lot, at least a couple of shows a week for a year or two. Now, we definitely aren’t doing that for a number of reasons. I have a 3-month-old, (guitarist) Nick (Phaneuf) has an 8-month-old. You know, a bunch of us are married or getting married. …
We recently had the first lineup change in the band. Mike Filitis, our bass player, is going to grad school in Chicago. He’s been super-focused and dedicated to what he’s doing and he’s pursuing that. He finished all the bass tracks on the record. … We have been playing with Greg Glasson — he plays in Mother Superior and The Sliding Royales. He’s been in the area for years. He notably once was Seal’s bass player; he’s a killer bass player. He approaches the bass in his own way, very different from how Mike does, so that may have some effects on future compositions and things. For now, he’s been diligently learning all the new tunes.
How has all this change affected your songwriting process?
It’s definitely changed how much time I can spend in one sitting. (Frances is) only 3 months old, but in those months, we moved, I got a promotion at work, and we’re working on the record, so I haven’t been able to spend time on new material. I have little ideas that I’ll record on my phone, but to actually sit down and shape that into something, I haven’t had a lot of time.
I did recently find my older Macbook that I had recorded hundreds of hours of demo songs on. It had died, but I got it up and running. It’s unbelievable to me how many fully formed songs I did that I have no recollection of. They might as well have been written by someone else, you know? (laughs.) I’ve been gradually going through some of that and thinking, “Hey, I could probably get a few records out of this.”
Has your daughter’s birth affected the tone or lyrical makeup of what you’re writing?
Probably. I don’t tend to write very much with a conscious personal experience in mind. Occasionally I do, or that will be the impetus of something. So sure, unavoidably, there are elements there. In certain ways, it’s made me revert back, or to re-explore societal topics and inner psyche and anxiety. “Ephemera” and the older songs are about interpersonal relationships and their transience, and this (new) one is a little more outward looking.
How does the band name its records?
One of the most intense debates we’ve ever had as a band was over the name of the first record. We had like spreadsheets and people voting and people like, “No, we’re going to veto that!” (laughs). You don’t want to do anything that anyone hates, especially with something like that. It’s part of the artistic statement, but it’s also not the same as (writing) a song. If I was like, “This is it,” and somebody else was like, “I don’t know,” I’d be like, “Too bad, you’re gonna learn to like it over time” (laughs). And, likewise, if the other guys had a part that they really liked, and I was like, “I don’t know,” they’d probably be like, “Oh, OK,” and sneak it on the record anyway (laughs).
Have there been any conversations about the name of the new record?
There’s been a series of joke names that were in that tradition (of the first record, “For Physical Fitness”). We had “For Intimate Business” and “For Critical Success.” So I’m not sure which one of these this is going to be (laughs).
Was there any controversy over the name “For Physical Fitness” being perceived as too jokey?
I think that there might have been some of that. There were other names that we thought were too portentous or really over the top, too serious. If it had been “Music for Physical Fitness,” that would have been too on-the-nose jokey to me.
What did the name mean to you?
It ended up tying into my personal concept of the lyrical themes of that record, like not being able to keep up with life, and especially now, with the overwhelming amount of information and pace of everything.