No Journalists Allowed: Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale talks to noise-pop musician Dan Friel

Black Pus: All My RelationsBlack Pus: All My Relations (Thrill Jockey, 3/19/13)

“1000 Years”

Black Pus: “1000 Years”

Taking noisy and experimental music out of the basement and into the mainstream has been a long journey. From Brian Eno and Lou Reed popularizing it in the 1970s to the current generation performing at large festivals, we’ve reached a point where it’s not only critically praised but a genre with a serious following.

Dan Friel and Brian Chippendale (Lightning Bolt, Black Pus) — creative souls each with challenging yet accessible new solo albums — recently sat down and talked about the freedom of solo work, performing on the street in the United Arab Emirates, and drunk viking synthesizers.

Dan Friel: Total FolkloreDan Friel: Total Folklore (Thrill Jockey, 2/19/13)

“Thumper”

Dan_Friel_Thumper

Brian Chippendale: You just made a super pop record that opens with a 12-minute song, and you didn’t have to bounce the song order or album direction off any band members! Do you feel mega-liberated by that? Or trapped because you had to make every decision?

Dan Friel: 100% liberation. Zero trap. And the track order was an especially fun call to make. With that said, I always end up bouncing ideas off of the same few helpful friends as my solo-project research panel (even if I reserve the right to then do whatever I want).