When Philadelphia five-piece
Dr. Dog first hit the scene in the early 2000s, they were equally celebrated
and denigrated for their self-recorded throwback psych-pop sound. But after
slipping their 2002 lo-fi masterpiece Toothbrush to Jim James of My Morning Jacket, the Americana icons brought Dr. Dog out
on the road in 2004, leading to praiseworthy press in The New York Times and a slew of new tour offers. Further albums Easy Beat, We All Belong, and Fate saw
the band inch forward, moving from home-recorded analog four-track to home-recorded
analog eight-track, before a deal with Anti- Records and subsequent 2010
release Shame, Shame saw them finally
start to transcend the inevitable comparisons to classic influences like The
Beatles, The Band, and The Beach Boys.
Part of that album’s allure
came from their first outside collaboration with producer Rob Schnapf, of
Beck/Elliott Smith fame, but the main Dr. Dog draw is their infectiously
energetic live show, complete with contrasting lead vocals from bassist/growler
Toby Leaman and guitarist/high-pitched sprite Scott McMicken and some of the
best multi-part harmonies in the biz. But through it all, the band has
maintained their tenacious independence, their love of the road, and their quirky,
eclectic sound. EasternSurf.com caught up with Leaman to talk evolving production values, the band’s slow but
steady growth, new sixth member Dmitri Manos, opening act Floating Action, and
even the power of a simple little request.
ESM: Tell
us a little about this upcoming East Coast spring tour, Toby. Are you guys
hitting the studio to record a new album anytime soon?
Toby Leaman: Yeah, we’ll probably still be touring Shame, Shame into the fall. We’ll probably put out a mish-mash of
songs this summer, but we’re working on a new album. We just can’t get started
until July, because one of the guys is having a baby, which is great. So we’re
putting the brakes on going heavy into the studio for now, but we should have
another album out next year, maybe in January.
ESM: Shame, Shame was Dr. Dog’s fifth full-length album, but the first that featured an outside
producer. What’s the plan for number six?
TL: We
were thinking we might do it ourselves, at a studio in Philly that our buddy owns.
But there’s a producer, Ben Allen, who we talked to for Shame, Shame, and then we couldn’t get it together, but we went
down and recorded two songs with him in Atlanta recently, and that was awesome.
So we’re gonna work with him, and we’re all psyched because he rules. We’ve
never been in a situation where we felt like we were all on the same page all
the time, but we work at the same speed as Ben, he understands us, and we trust
him. He’s got a good ear; we let him take the reins, and even when we set up
the drum and bass he immediately got the tones. On the last record, we were
fighting each other for three days just to get the frickin’ drum sound right,
which is so antithetical to the way we had worked up until that point. We were
like, “It doesn’t even fucking matter as long as it’s audible.” We had these
pro sounds, but that was something we weren’t comfortable with right off the
bat.
ESM: Has
the growth of the band been comfortable? Five years ago, you guys were doing one
of your first headlining tours in tiny venues, and now you’re selling out large
spaces and moving tons of records.
TL: We
always hoped to grow as a band, but we always sort of knew we weren’t going to have
a single or any real radio play — we’re too out there for that. But yeah,
this was the plan. All we’ve ever wanted was to play in a rock band, and we’re
making it happen. I love it. Watching so many more people come to our shows is
so satisfying. We tour all the time, and some towns we’ve played 10 or 15
times over the past eight years, and to see that you’re making strides in those
towns, with more people coming and digging us in general, is a great feeling.
ESM: Back
in the day your tour van was always breaking down. Has your new stardom allowed
for comfier digs?
TL: Oh
yeah, we made the jump to a tour bus about a year and a half ago, which is a
game-changer. It’s not even comparable to riding around in a van; it’s like
camping out versus staying in the world’s fanciest hotel. It rules. But we go
back and forth; for this tour we’ll be back in the van, and we’ll make it
happen. We used to have five, six, seven dudes in one room, with everybody
lying on the floor, and that went on for years. But now when we’re back at the
hotel we get four rooms, which is nice [laughs]. It’s nice to see our growth
and comfort level steadily increasing.
ESM: Has
your fairly new relationship with Anti- Records, one of the few commercially
viable independent labels out there, helped out with that comfort level?
TL: It’s
great. We don’t deal with the business end of things; obviously that gets dealt
with by people who know what they’re doing. But we know Anti-‘s A&R guy
really well, and everybody that works there is great. Not to use an overused
term, but the culture of Anti- has attracted really good people who know what
they’re doing. There aren’t many labels that size that are viable and that really
let the artist do pretty much exactly what they want.
ESM: I
understand you guys recently added a sixth member, a big change after almost
ten years as a five-piece. Did he come from your circle of friends in
Philadelphia?
TL: Yeah,
this guy Dmitri is an old buddy of ours who grew up in Jersey but has been
living in Tucson, AZ, for years. He filled in on drums when we were in limbo, and
he’s such an awesome dude and positive force to have around, so we created a
position for him. We’ve always wanted a sixth man to do odds and ends, weird
percussion and stuff, and he’s taken that role and made it into a psychedelic
monster. It’s awesome what he’s doing back there; we call it the Meatball
Palace. I don’t even know what all is going on with him, but he’s nailing it.
ESM: You
guys play a ton of outdoor festivals. Is there any difference between a bar or
club show and a huge festival performance?
TL: It
really just depends. We like a show based on how we perform; the setting
doesn’t really matter. We can go into a shit situation, and if we have a good
show, then it’s great. We can go into a premium situation, where you get seven
hours to set up and a two-hour soundcheck and the place is packed, and if you
play like crap, that’s a bad show. Usually at festivals you have an exciting
vibe, because you don’t know what you’re getting in to. There’s an element of
excitement to that.
ESM: Kind
of like when we saw you last at the 2010 Harvest of Hope Fest in St. Augustine,
FL, and you guys headlined the Saturday-night slot and got three songs into your
set before it started pouring?
TL: Exactly
— that can go the extreme opposite way and you can get totally fucked. It
really depends on how they’re run; I’ve seen small festivals that are run
awesomely and the biggest festival ever that’s run like crap, with too many
people on stage all trying to plug in the same fucking thing. I know what I’m
doing; let me plug in my own shit [laughs]. It’s a crapshoot. It could be
awesome, and it could be terrible. We’re never going to play an atrocious show,
but vibe-wise you never know.
ESM: Tell
us about Floating Action, the North Carolina band that’s opening for you.
They’re a big favorite here at ESM.
TL: Oh
man, Seth [Kauffman] is sort of our go-to guy on tours — we try to bring
him out as much as we can. We love him. I think he’s making some of the best-sounding
records of anybody right now. It’s such a chill vibe, and he always has really
good players in his band from Asheville where he lives. His recording process
is hilarious; it’s pretty amazing what he does.
ESM: After
10+ years of relying on what many people would call straight ‘60s and ‘70s rock
worship, have Dr. Dog’s musical influences changed?
TL: Right
now, I would definitely say we’re pretty insular. We’re really into our band
and super into where we are with our new drummer and Dmitri. We feel really
confident; we’ve done some recordings together, and I think it’s the best stuff
we’ve ever done. Right now, we’re all excited about being in Dr. Dog — that’s
what the motivation is and where the inspiration comes from. We’re all getting
better as musicians as time goes on, and our two new dudes have definitely
brought new elements and strengths to the band that weren’t there before. Those
new ways of looking at stuff makes everything feel fresh and really inspired.
ESM: As a
longtime fan, I have to ask — will you guys ever play any songs from your
first full-length Toothbrush (2002)
live?
TL: Every
once in a while we’ll do “Mystery To Me” or “I Can’t Fly.” We always say we’re
going to relearn that stuff, because a lot of it we never played live. “Say Ahh”
is another one that’s talked about because it’d be really fun to do. But we’re
always trying to focus on new material; we really don’t even play much off of Easy Beat (2005) or We All Belong (2007). It would be nice to go back and come up with
decent arrangements for some of that older material. I don’t think anybody’s
opposed to it — it’s just a matter of doing it.
ESM: Well,
if you guys play “Jealous Man” on any of your upcoming Florida dates that would
make my whole freakin’ musical life.
TL: That
gets talked about a lot! We used to play it, and it’s an easy enough song. We
could play through that three times and have it down. I’ll make it a goal and
see if we can do it, because we’re glad to be coming back to Florida.
[Editor’s note: One week
after our interview with Toby, Dr. Dog’s Facebook status read “day 2 finished. Played all of fate and
shame and easy beat. But those not attending the spring tour will be jealous…
(hint drop)” — which goes to show that a little request sometimes can
go a long way]
UPCOMING DR. DOG TOUR DATES
4/7 The National……………………………………… Richmond, VA
4/8 The NorVa Theatre……………………………… Norfolk, VA
4/9 Cat’s Cradle……………………………………… Carrboro, NC
4/11 40 Watt Club……………………………………… Athens, GA
4/12 University of Florida (FREE SHOW)…………… Gainesville,
FL
4/13 Freebird Live……………………………………… Jacksonville, FL
4/14 Beacham Theatre………………………………… Orlando, FL
4/15 Culture Room……………………………………... Ft. Lauderdale, FL
4/16 State Theatre……………………………………… St. Petersburg, FL
5/6 Musikfest Café……………………………………. Bethlehem, PA
5/7 Pearl Street Music & Arts Fest………………….. Boulder,
CO
6/24 DMB Caravan…………………………………….. Atlantic City, NJ
6/28 The Independent…………………………………. San Francisco, CA
6/29 The Independent…………………………………. San Francisco, CA
6/30 High Sierra Music Festival………………………. Quincy, CA
For all things Dr. Dog, visit www.DrDogMusic.com
