Quilt is a somewhat mysterious and intriguing band from Boston, who make freak-folky, experimental psychedelic jams that swirl around your head and transport you back in time to somewhere in the future. When you listen to their music, somehow that previous statement makes total sense. The trio of Anna Rochinski, Shane Butler, and John Andrews recently answered a few of our questions with some insightfully elevating answers. Turn on their Bandcamp stream of their latest album off Mexican Summer, and read on to learn more.
KK: How long have you guys been making music together? How did you form?
Shane Butler: we’ve been playing together for about 3 1/2 years now. It’s kind of funny to think about how exactly it all came together but for the most part I think it’s been formed through mutual appreciations, guitar riffs and laughter.
KK: How have you shaped your sound and songwriting since then?
Anna Rochinski: rather than letting the yard overflow with weeds and Miller Lite cans, we purchased a lawnmower and put it to good use. If we need to throw a good crazy bonfire now we have a freshly mowed space to do it.
SB: well, if we used to be shaped like a bowl-cut, now we have a little more texture and our split ends are weeded out more consistently. We’re still doing the same stuff, but now it’s different stuff.
Anna: it’s the good stuff.
KK: What do you think makes a good song? When are you satisfied with your own compositions?
SB: the word ‘good’ doesn’t necessarily register with tunes for me. Little kids screaming nonsensical songs at the top of their lungs can be just as good to me as a really well crafted melody, i think heart is really what shapes music. People get attracted to certain frequencies and tones and form communities based on specific resonances and think that certain prescriptions are ‘good’ and all that jazz. I can get down with good musical critique for sure, but when it comes down to ‘judging’ a tune and the satisfaction it brings, I think it’s quite wordless and depends completely on some unknown. For myself, i’m usually satisfied with a composition when it feels good in my chest, haha, it’s as simple as that.
John Andrews: Honesty
AR: the process is not really a verbal thing for me, and that’s why I like writing songs.
KK: If you had to describe your sound in colors and shapes, what colors and shapes would you use?
AR: many moons ago we wrote a song and structured it according to colors and shapes and it made the process pretty cool. In terms of specifics, that’s up to each individual listener. I can’t tell people what to get from the music. That’s an independent experience.
SB: oh man, that’s a pretty difficult one. I think all the songs have their different shape and color to them. I’ve always likened a specific feeling to the colors and shapes of the domes at drop city but I wouldn’t define our music by ‘em.
JA: A Green egg
KK: Looks like you’ve been on the road a lot lately – what are your favorite moments of being on tour so far?
AR: camping in the mountains, seeing loved ones on the west coast, getting caught in lightning storms and dust storms and rainstorms, watching the birds change across the country, etc. We are in Nebraska and just drove past the Kellogg’s factory and the air was filled with the scent of cereal.
SB: we just spent some time in New Mexico in a deep Mesa jumping off cliffs, the color was unbelievable there. We also got to visit the Museum of Jurassic Technology in LA lately, which is a place i have wanted to visit for a long time. We seem to have something bizarre take place about every day of our tours, it’s pretty incredible. I also feel incredibly lucky to see all of my friends across the zone on a semi-regular basis because of traveling, it’s a huge blessing.
JA: My Dad came to our show in Philly with his super crazy friend. His friend started giving massages to some random girls and they totally loved it. They both got really drunk and there was a point when my dad was walking around in the venue with no shirt on.
KK: What do you like to do with your downtown when traveling?
SB: take a long walk and find the cities best parks.
JA: Ride with my skateboard
AR: read, write, draw, occasionally purchase a special trinket or find a gift for someone, and get a feel for the character of (and characters in) each city.
KK: What’s going through your mind when you’re playing on stage?
SB: oh you know, the regular stuff. ‘how many feet away is this microphone from the earth’s core.’…’why is that lady in the back of the room levitating with two grapefruits in her hands’…’Hinoki Cypress is an incredibly shaped tree”
AR: “Will I ever see a live ostrich?”..”the stars looked really nice last night”… it was kind of lame when Hulk Hogan was called ‘Hollywood Hogan’ in the late 90s”..”what time is it in Tokyo?”… “is john peeing?”
JA: I have to pee. I’m peeing.
KK: And what does the future hold for Quilt?
JA: Dogs that make me ice cream, dogs that can talk and a new Quilt record.
SB: hoverboards, teleportation-tours, space ice-cream, robot band-members, post-human dance parties. All the goods.
AR: a new album, building a quilt themed water park, etc. But mostly we are writing new tunes and having a blast.
NYC peeps can catch them in action soon – Quilt is playing Mercury Lounge with Young Magic this Sunday. More details and tickets are available here.
