Interview: post-rock act my education discusses EMKA, music industry and pizza

Austin post-rock act my education dropped EMKA today. It’s the band’s first record in five years. The record is the group’s ninth full-length album since 2001. They’ve also released 11 other records such as their collaboration with Theta Naught called Sound Mass in 2011.  That kind of creative output over a 21-year span is impressive no matter what artists we’re talking about. The recordings the band has put out have been great examples of post-rock music across their discography while seeming to improve with each new record.

Today’s release EMKA is a fine example of that creative growth. It is a trans-hemispherical collaboration that culminated in a week of ecstatic sessions at the famed Sonic Ranch studios in Tornillo, TX with Charles Godfrey (Swans, Trail of Dead). For fans of post-rock the record continues the trend from the band’s previous studio effort in that it’s a heavier record than their previous work. Listeners can hear influences as disparate as NYC noise rockers A Place to Bury Strangers to The Melvins.

my education is hosting an EMKA record release party at Chess Club on October 20 with SLKOSS and Psychic Shark. Tickets will be available at the door.

Today’s interview with the band discusses their musical influences, the effect of the COVID pandemic on my education’s recording process and which places have the best pizza in Austin…

                                                                                          

The Cosmic Clash: my education’s previous album, Schipol released in 2017. EMKA represents the first recording after the longest period of time between records (5 years) for the band. Clearly the COVID pandemic impacted that timeline. Were there other reasons why my education waited that long to make another record? 

my education: 

James:  Five years goes by a lot faster these days… I think we always intend to move things along a lot faster, but yes COVID did deflate the tires on everything for a while.  As did Brian’s move to New Zealand. and more and more demands on everyone’s time as we all get older.  That being said, we have been working on material for the next record, and hope that will come out much quicker. We have also talked about putting out some smaller releases in between albums, so that may be a thing.

Scott: Indeed! Our writing process has never been lightning fast, it takes us a while to get songs together at even the best of times, so the lack of any full band practices for two years definitely slowed things way down. Generally we all need to be in the same room together to get arrangements together that are satisfactory to all of us. That being said, I’m pretty happy that we have five new songs that are almost ready to go. Hell, we’ve even played one of them live already!

TCC: I’m aware Brian is playing with a New Zealand band (Swallow the Rat) since moving down there. What about Scott’s work with ST 37? Has playing with those bands had any influence over writing y’all have done on the new record? I’m curious how working on other creative music projects affects what my education does in studio

my education: 

James:  We all have or have had other projects over the life of this band.  I don’t think too much about any crossover in terms of recording or writing these days, although Kirk and I have another long-running project called Cinders Ensemble, and some of our material was incorporated or repurposed for My Education over the years.

Scott– I try to keep the two projects (ST and My Ed) pretty separated musically and mentally, but inevitably there has been some…ummm… leakage, especially lately now that we don’t see Brian as much. I am not that versatile of a bass player, so the bass is inevitably somewhat similar! James has been a great help keeping me focused on what actually needs to be played, so that I don’t play so busily.

Chris– I’ve got multiple projects from Portland,Oregon with the original My Ed bass player Eric Gibbons and second drummer Sean Seagler, to New York with old high school friends, along with another Austin band Baby Robots. None of those projects influence my input with my Ed. It’s actually great to make music that is completely different project to project. I believe it makes a more rounded musician.

TCC: A related question… since Brian is living in New Zealand, how does that affect the band’s live performance schedule? Is a tour in support of EMKA possible or is that off the table?

my education: 

James:  While we would always rather have Brian with us, we adapt our material to play as a 5 piece when he can’t be here.  Fortunately, he has been able to join us several times for SXSW and short tours since he moved.  We had plans for a tour supporting Acid Mothers Temple which got postponed a few times during the pandemic.  That may still happen in 2023, or we may do some other tour.  Fingers crossed.

Chris– We wrote and recorded these songs with Brian and can easily play them with him when he is in town. Since he is so far away and can’t practice with us, we modify our practices to make the songs full and complete without him. Just a little different. 

TCC: What music influences your songwriting these days? Are they the same acts as in 2005 when y’all dropped your first record or have those influences evolved over time? 

my education:

james:  We all have separate but overlapping tastes and influences. I am thinking more about heavier stuff these days – Sleep, The Melvins, Oranssi Pazuzu.  And prog, just can’t break my prog addiction.

Scott – Schiphol was a heavier record for us, and we do seem to be continuing in that direction. However, we all went to see Wet Leg at SXSW, and I just discovered Kitty Wells, so….we are all pretty omnivorous musically!!

                               

TCC: EMKA is described on your Bandcamp page as, “EMKA reflects the terrors of living in a world shaped by the last world war and the cold war that followed it.” That sounds ambitious and perhaps a daunting writing prompt. Can you tell me more about how this idea shaped the record?

my education:

James:  Scott is the historian of the band, and he is good at finding a way to relate historical events and concepts to our music.  Totally valid, although just speaking for myself, I don’t really think of this album in the same way.  For me it’s more about the power of iconography and semiotics.  I went down a little rabbit hole just over the letters ‘EMKA’ and breaking them into components.  EM. KA. MK. The EMKA limousine as an icon of style. And without revealing which one or why I think so, there’s one song on this album that I swear is about a Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

Scott – The WW2/Cold War angle did not become clear to me until we had largely finished the writing of the record and indeed many of the basic tracks. Once we sat down and tried to come up with song titles and a finished concept for the album, the dual nature and inter-connectedness of those two periods and the music we had written dovetailed for me and fit perfectly with James’s discovery of the meaning of the Ka for the Egyptians. And of course we had all been watching Twin Peaks: The Return…mea tulpa, mea maxima tulpa!

TCC: As a band (mostly) living and working in Austin, how has the music community’s changes over time affected your outlook on the ATX live music scene? Has making music in the Live Music Capital been easier or more difficult in 2022 versus ten years ago? 

Scott – The making of the music hasn’t really changed very much. Half the battle is showing up. You have to persist. You have to keep working no matter what. However, I would have to say that booking shows and playing them has become much more difficult. In addition to the mental strains imposed by the pandemic, it now seems that gigs are harder to come by and there is much more competition for what is available… Sometimes I feel like playing shows and going to shows has become like running a gauntlet of psychic warfare! 

Chris– It seems like now in the post Pandemic Austin that we live in, there are more opportunities to play at different venues than pre-COVID for some reason, which is great! No difference in making and recording than 10 years ago I don’t think.

my education:

TCC: Since your manager Ryan has gained a reputation for being a pizza connoisseur, what’s the best pizza place in Austin and why? I’ll go first, Stoney’s (yes, the truck) because it’s the closest to East Coast style pizza like you get in NYC or  Boston. 

my education:

Chris– For me Home Slice on Mondays is the shit (the BEST Sicilian slice in town!) Yaghis on William Cannon has a pretty bad ass New York slice thing going on and for $5 you can get two slices and a can of soda during the lunch hour! 

James:  I’ll defer to Ryan and rest of the true pizza connoisseurs in the band, but I gotta vote Bufalina. For me it’s all about the ovens, the crust and that mozzarella.

Scott – My old school Austin heart belongs to Conan’s, but quite often my stomach is devoted to Home Slice and Via 313.