Listen to Dr. Dog's Mellow New Track 'Buzzing in the Light'
Dr. Dog
Philadelphia rock band Dr. Dog's upcoming album Critical Equation is out April 27, and now, their latest single is premiering exclusively on Billboard.
“Buzzing in the Light” is a laid-back track with soft guitar strumming and “mellow vibes,” as guitarist Scott
McMicken told us. “With every record, we try our hand at a few
laid-back tunes.” The dreamy lyrics -- “Seems to me I’m watching someone
else’s dream, only in the light, buzzing in the light of this world” --
are hummed over a slow drumbeat and keyboard.
The
album as a whole features a handful of relaxed songs, the perfect
soundtrack for the hazy days of late spring/ early summer. We spoke to
McMicken about the single and their album, and what the new direction
means for the band. Listen to their newest track and read our interview
below.
The track is definitely a slower, softer vibe compared to your other music. What inspired you guys to go this route?
In
general, as a band over the years, we’ve been turning our attention
more and more mellower stuff. We’ve been trying to get better at playing
slower and deeper songs, ands till try to find a beauty in that. We’re
accustomed to a denser arrangement, that’s something we’ve been doing
for years. But we’ve been letting in other influences, listening to a
lot mellower artists. With every record, we try our hand at a few laid
back tunes. It’s something we’ve been really interested in as a band for
a while.
Who have you guys been listening to for help getting to that mellow vibe?
Floating
Action, Twain...a lot of our friends. If I were to give you a list of
all my favorite contemporary songwriters, they’d all be in the mellow
realm. The thing I find most exciting about contemporary music is the
more mellow side of what’s going on in music right now.
Is there a reason the band decided to make that mellow shift?
I
think it’s more the natural progression. We’ve been working together
for so long. Every year that goes by, you change, you shift, your tastes
shift, and things that were exciting to you a few years ago, they run
their course. You start to take on new ones. The primary principle
beneath our growth for a long time now, and one that we were able to
explore further with our new album is generally just doing less and
saying more. Simplifying and trying to get to a simpler approach to
making music. The more I go along in life and make music, the more I
realize that overworking is not always what’s best for the music.
Sometimes you’re done [with a song] and you just keep working on it
because it’s fun to do. But we’ve been trying discipline ourselves not
to overwork stuff and over complicate things.
So how was recording this album different than your older stuff? Was it different?
In
many ways it was. We had been making our own albums in our own studios
for so long it’s our place, we don't’ have to book it or worry about how
much it costs. So it allows us to really stretch out and take our time.
But because we went to Gus Seyffert’s place, there was a much
more of a set parameter, like “we’re here now, and in two weeks, we’ve
gotta be done.” Sometimes those deadlines are good for the recording
process. So it was good in that way, to get out of our studio and work
with someone new. We got together for about a month before we went out
to LA, and we just played the songs and worked on the songs as a live
band , so that when we showed up, we were prepared to lay the songs
down. Normally, we just start the process of arranging the song when
we’re recording. So this time, we just made it so we were a lot more
prepared. All in all, it was good for us. It gave us time to focus on
things. Like, let’s know what we’re making, before we make it. [We were]
focused on the live element, and getting the songs defined and able to
be played as a live band. That was a measure of wanting things to stay
simpler, rather than just put down a scratch track and throw a bunch of
songs at it.
What do you want fans to know about this album?
We
as a band are really excited about the work we’ve done. We’re excited
to continue that work by taking the album out on the road. We’re trying
to change and grow, it’s not clear exactly what that means, but there is
a lot of excitement and ambition from within the band to just get out
there. We’re really excited and proud of our album, and really excited
to find out how these songs resonate with people, and how they translate
to the live show.
Do you have any interesting tour stories?
It’s
like 14 years of madness out there. One thing that stands out, one time
we played a show out in Chicago, we were all in our van, and this whole
fleet of cops surrounded us, out of nowhere. It was this really crowded
intersection at like 2 am. It turned out that were on the prowl for
some burglary that had just gone down, and the perpetrators were in a
van identical to ours. They thought we were those guys. They pulled the
doors open, there was all this chaos. It all took like a split second,
once they opened the doors, they were like “oh sorry, we’re looking for
someone in a van just like yours. Bye.” That was intense.
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