Point Juncture, WA: Heart to Elk
One year ago today Point Juncture, WA released MAMA AUTO BOSS, their first full-length. Over the past 12 months this Portland band continued to shape their sound playing weekend shows, opening a show for Stereolab, working on their next album, and touring for the first time.
Point Juncture WA didn't wait long to begin working on their next album, recording just six months after MAMA AUTO BOSS was released, but decided to scrap the songs and start over since they "sounded a little too smooth, kind of unpassionate."
Skyler Norwood, guitarist for Point Juncture WA, is beginning to make a name for himself as a producer. Horse Feathers recorded their Words are Dead album under his guidance as a producer, released on Lucky Madison Records. Words are Dead has been nominated for a Plug Award 2007 Americana Album of the Year, so congratulations are in order.
Since Skyler's studio, Miracle Lake Studio, is an hour away and the band members have schedules to work around, they decided to build their own Pro Tools studio, using the popular Digi002 from Digidesign. Jesse Studenberg, bass player for the band, shared with Puddlegum, "It's hard to really focus on a project when the studio's about an hour drive." The new setup is working well for the band, since the studio is in the apartment basement that half of the band members rent.
"When we made MAMA AUTO BOSS, many of those songs had existed in various forms for as much as a couple years, written when Victor Nash & Amanda Spring were trying to hack it as a two-piece. This is the first time all the songs have been written if not by the entire band together, then at least with the entire band and all our tricks in mind."
The new album is tentatively titled Heart to Elk, and at this point the band has nine songs with filler tracks. "We'll likely write a couple more before we're finished, and we just love the weird little interludes and instrumentals." The album will be released independently with local distribution… unless the right offer comes along.
Victor Nash explained the story behind the name Heart to Elk:
"Amanda had a dream that she was in a band that only toured Elks clubs across the nation. The name of the band was Heart to Elk and when she woke up she designed a little emblem -an Elks head inside of a heart. It was so adorable that it became sort of our secret society. We had buttons made and the wearer had to be able to flash the sign: Fist over the left breast twice then two-finger peace sign in front of the forehead. One night we all went out and got it tatooed on our arms. Amanda's is on the back of her neck."
As for the sound of Heart to Elk, Jesse uses these words to describe the diversity that the songs on this album will bring: organ drones, noise guitar explosions, crazy time-signatures, joyous trumpets, bells, borderline funk-bass, and slide guitars.
So far, the song titles are Fleet & Small, Stray Bear, Bones, The Kings Were Good, Mellonbird, Once First Tasted Ever Wanted, Sioux Arrow, Easy Winners, and an as-of-yet named ballad.
"Ultimately, I think we're going for high-fi tones with low-fi feeling. A few people I've talked to have really appreciated the raw 'what the hell are we doing?' sound of Juxtapony compared to the 'we've got free studio time and really nice gear' sound of MAMA AUTO BOSS. We're trying to find the middle ground."
Point Juncture, WA – The Siesta Movement
Point Juncture, WA – Comments in Jars
Point Juncture, WA – Cardboard Box
Point Juncture, WA – Happy Ending
Point Juncture, WA – Cello
Point Juncture, WA on:
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