Despite this interviewer's valiant (read as: half-assed) efforts, Hutch Harris refused to bare all for an indie rock cheesecake calendar. Or, in his words: "I won't be posing for any calendar unless you get me in bed with some fine ass nude ladies, thanks" and "Sorry no, no one wants to be in your damn softcore indie-porn calendar." Also, sadly, Harris no longer dances around in his underwear at shows.
In that case, I probably should have followed up with "would you be interested in doing a hardcore indie-porn calendar?" This is Portland, after all, and it probably wouldn't take me long to convert my apartment into a bondage dungeon (although I doubt I'd get my deposit back). Don't worry I keep everything SSC = safe, sane and consensual. Although I sort of prefer the term Rack = risk-aware consensual kink).
If getting pretty indie rock dudes in various states of undress is wrong, I don't want to be right.
Anyway, much to my chagrin, the point of this was not to get Harris naked. The point was to promote the new album by the Thermals, titled Now We Can See. So, I caught Hutch Harris (lead vocals/guitar) and Kathy Foster (bass) via email and prodded at them.
Now We Can See is a slight departure from the highly political The Body The Blood The Machine. However, like TBTBTM, it was not necessarily drawn from personal experience, despite lyrics that reflect life changes such as in the song “When I Died.”
"Not written from experience, no, sorry. This album, like our last, is a work of fiction. I'm not writing what I know, thankfully," said Harris. (Since this was a web interview, I prefer to think of the following as being taken with a grain of salt... the irony salt you put on soggy fries from the pub you get your Pabst Blue Ribbon from, even though much better beers exist.)
"And no, the song is not a metaphor - take that shit point-blank, baby! It's a story of when I tried to de-evolve back into a fish. I crawled back to the sea from whence I came, but I drowned; that's right I DIED!"
All amusing snark aside, The Thermals don't forget that it's supposed to be fun. People are supposed to enjoy listening music, just as people should have fun while making music. Even a "bad" show is still a good show, at least from the perspective that they bring the same amount of energy to every show they play.
"Luckily, we really haven't had many bad shows. The most fun shows are the ones where people are super into it and going crazy, dancing and laughing, and we're all partying together at once," said Foster. "So, our bad shows are ones where the audience isn't as responsive, and that energy is missing. It has gotten especially bad on some opening tours (where we open for another band). We're trying to be all energetic and exciting, and the audience is looking back at us like they're watching a play or something (and not a very good one). That is not fun. Another time, we were playing a show and someone in front of me kept farting the whole time! Dang! That was brutal."
The same goes for making nice with other bands and touring.
"I love traveling, making friends in different cities, long drives, camaraderie, random road stops, unexpected experiences, and of course rocking for/with people," said Foster. "I really enjoyed touring with The Cribs, The Hold Steady, The Big Sleep, Death Cab for Cutie. All of those people are really sweet and fun. And they rock."
However, it's not all wacky stories and group hugs.
"I don't like: not getting enough sleep, too-long drives, not being able to find healthy food (we're spoiled in Portland), feeling burned out and not being able to go off and do something else for a while, border crossings, moodiness," said Foster.
Of course, there's no place like home. Despite the creeping gentrification that puts up monstrous glossy condominiums, which cause landlords to hike prices, Portland is still a great place for musicians to live, have dayjobs, and of course, play shows. There also isn't any sort of "this town ain't big enough for the two of us" bravado causing shootouts between rival bands in the street (not that that happens anywhere else, although that would be interesting to see).
"This city is like 90-percent musicians! Our friends include All Girl Summer Fun Band, Panther, 31 Knots, The Shins, Reporter, Helio Sequence, The Joggers, Pseudosix, E*Rock, The Jicks, Sleater-Kinney, Quasi, Modest Mouse, Spoon, Shaky Hands, and tons more," said Foster. "The scene is very supportive. Everyone goes to everyone else's shows when they are in town. Everyone's always going in and out of town on tour."
"The other night we were hanging out with The Cribs, Quasi, The Jicks and Sleater Kinney, all in one room," said Harris.
While in Portland, Foster keeps busy enough to prove she has so little time that she couldn't possibly be a superhero with an equally kickass bass-playing alter-ego. Either that or she's doing a damn good job of hiding this fact from the rest of the world.
"Yeah, I usually DJ about once a month," she said. "It’s really fun. I play whatever happens to strike my fancy that night: old soul/funk, 80's R&B, underground pop/rock. Sometimes it’s mellow, sometimes it’s bumpin'. All vinyl of course. None of that digital nonsense. I also make art: paper collages and paintings. And sometimes play with my other band, All Girl Summer Fun Band."
Regarding my old home state of Illinois, I had read an article in Pitchfork previously where Harris had stated that The Thermals had a rather lukewarm reception. Foster and Harris were quick to correct this erroneous statement on my part.
"Yeah, I don't remember saying that," said Harris. "Don't believe anything you read. Chicago treats us like fucking royalty now; we love it!"
"Yeah, actually Chicago is one of the most fun places to play," added Foster. "The audience really gets into it, and thus, so do we. The more we play and tour, the better response we get."
Indeed, do not believe anything you read. For all you readers know, I'm just part of an indie-magazine conspiracy set to spin the words of earnest musicians out of context to forward an evil agenda.
Speaking of political agendas, despite the less political focus of Now We Can See over The Body The Blood The Machine, the band still does its part to encourage political dissent. The band has been described as being "post-punk," and I was somewhat at a loss as to what that actually meant, so I asked the old question "is punk really dead?"
"Yes, punk is dead, and if there's anyone that cares, I don't know them," said Harris. "It's fully possible to be post-punk; it's way easier than being punk. You don't have to go to hot topic as much. If kids want to be anti-establishment, they should do two things: not work and not buy anything."
Also, regarding the state of things, we've heard it from pundits and politicians, but what about the post-punk set? Exactly how fucked are we?
"Pretty fucked, but not as fucked as we could be," Harris said.
Well, there you have it. This is the sort of pragmatic optimism we have come to expect. Now get out there and don't buy stuff.