10 MINUTES WITH CIVIL TWILIGHT’S RICHARD WOUTERS

On the 27th of November, when most of us were heading off to Happy Hour, Civil Twilight drummer – Richard Wouters – was still busy waking up. one small seed had the first slot of interviews with Wouters and managed to squeeze a lot out in only ten minutes…

Civil Twilight, image c/o we-are-awesome

Originally from Cape Town & now based in Nashville, the four-piece rock band, Civil Twilight, spent the better part of the last year on tour playing the likes of Bonnaroo and Voodoo Fest, opening for acts like Smashing Pumpkins and Florence & The Machine, and headlining their own shows across the country. They have been touring relentlessly, making festivals tops with bands like The Dave Matthews Band, Flaming Lips, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Afghan Whigs.

This December the band will be returning to their home country for a national tour of their latest full-length album, Holy Weather, which was released in March this year. Brought to you by We-are-awesome events, they will be performing in Joburg on the 20th December, Durban on the 22nd December and Cape Town on the 28th December.

Richard Wouters, image: flickr.com/photos/sudnlybeautiiful

In terms of sound, what are the biggest changes you guys have made since your 2009 debut, Civil Twilight, and your 2012 release, Holy Weather?
I think we tried to go into the second record focussing on a few different things, mainly wanting to play out elements of groove and melody – so it’s more of a stripped down sound for us and more thought-out in terms of the arrangements and the sonics on the record. We worked with pretty experimental producers because we wanted to try out a bunch of stuff that we hadn’t done before and tried to push ourselves a bit. Those are the sort of things we had in mind, and the rest kind of came together as we went along; I guess you never really know, going into a project, what it’s going to sound like at the end of the day. Kind of what we had in mind was really thought -out rhythm parts and more alliance on the vocal and the melody than the first record.

The production process was also quite interesting; you guys worked on half the album with producer Dan Carey in London and then John Congleton in New York for the other half. What was this like? Did you find any difficulties in putting it all together in the end?
It was a little challenging I suppose to pull it together, there’s definitely an interruption of flow because you get into the groove with one producer and then you kind of have to start all over with the other. I don’t know if we’d do that again, but it was cool for the variety and keeping things fresh I suppose.

image: Brandee Nichols on phillymostlyvegan.com

You guys reference Radiohead as a big influence; ‘Creep’ was released 20 years ago and the track is still as potent… What do you think makes a track ‘timeless’ and is this something Civil Twilight aims to achieve with the songs?
I think that’s the ideal. What makes it timeless? I think the lyrics have a lot to do with it, and I guess with music it’s ultimately about the emotional connection with people, and if it’s really strong it can kind of transcend time. Sometimes the music just really fits well in a certain time with what’s happening at that moment and it won’t necessarily be as timeless. Ultimately, I think that a great melody and good lyrics is what forms the main components for that lasting appeal.

On your site the band is described as ‘a mystifying blend of atmospheric sounds with swirling guitars and hazy story-telling centered on the struggles and triumphs of human existence.’
Tell me what your biggest struggle has been and your biggest triumph?
I think it would be going to America – I think part of it would be that and part of it would be just staying together and continuing to grow… to develop as a musician and develop as a person and as an artist. Not to become stagnant or stale. You know, to keep things fresh and keep going. That’s the challenge I suppose, and one that I think we’re doing pretty well at for the most part.

Finish these sentences:
The biggest fallacy in the music industry is:
‘…that all rock stars are rich.’

Life, as we know it…
‘… is FUN. No, let me see. Fun, not perfect and a lot of work.’

Are you excited to play on home soil again? What do we have to look forward to?
Well we always love playing there (SA); every time we’ve been back we’ve really enjoyed it. We love the country and the people. It always feels like a kind of home coming, even though we don’t get there that often. So I think that we’d like to put out the best show we can of course, and hopefully people will come out and enjoy it and feel like it’s a bit of a reunion.