The Exclusive Les Savy Fav Interview

Like many other bands, New York Art Rockers Les Savy Fav speak their own special language together. Built around shared loves of music and arts, Les Savy Fav constructed their own coded dialect in the mid nineties, while all studying at the Rhode Island School of Design in, you guessed it, Providence; Rhode Island! “It was a small school,” reflects their bass player, Syd Butler. “So, we kept on bumping into each other and started hanging out and playing music together.” The result was an asymmetrical blend of guitars, bass, drums and vocals, one with an artistic cut’n’paste intent and the dynamics to elevate dance floors everywhere, once they were fully formed and on the same page that is.

Bringing together a mixture of trained and untrained musicians, when Butler hit the studio with cohorts Tim Harrington (vocals), Harrison Haynes (drums), Seth Jabour (guitar) and Andrew Reuland (guitar), although everyone wasn’t on the same level musically, as Butler continues, “We had this language of going to art school together, being in a band together and how we relate to each other.” It was this shared dialogue, one peppered with the hallmarks of an artistic background and silly jokes (“when a band emotes too much, we call it not funny diarrhea music,” he laughs), which allowed them to write their songs, leading to a career which has seen them release five studio albums and extensively tour the world. “We were just in Scotland for the four hundredth time,” Butler enthuses, in a serious, yet slightly jokey manner.

Completely aware that secret languages can we completely baffling to outsiders, when he isn’t playing in Les Savy Fav, Butler finds himself sharing another secret language with an artist friend of his, when he takes part in his second love, playing Ice Hockey. “Yes, I am obsessed with Ice Hockey,” he admits. “Compared to it, everything else seems to be slow and boring. I’m the only one in the band who is a fan of it though. When I talk about it, they roll their eyes.” As he continues, “Me and a friend of mine, we play hockey with all these investment bankers and old guys who played in college and are trying to recapture their youth. We just love the game, while we’re playing, me and my friend talk about art and all this conceptual shit, and the rest of them have no fucking idea what we are going on about.”

As dense as it gets though, there was one time recently when Butler got beaten at his own game, on a trans-coastal plane flight no less. “A year ago I was lucky enough to be moved up to first class on a flight from New York to LA,” he reflects. “The entire first class cabin was The Wu-Tang Clan and all their friends. It was just a phenomenal experience, just hearing the way they talked to each other on this plane. The Ebonics was incredible. I mean, I grew up in Washington, DC and I understand Ebonics, but I barely had any idea what they were saying. By the end of the trip they were really sweet and really friendly. Actually one of the guys got together with a flight attendant in the bathroom. By three hours in the flight attendant and the guy went into the bathroom and did their business and when they came out, everyone was clapping. It was funny to be part of that moment.”

Although you could end up visiting Scotland for the “four hundredth time” or in a first class cabin with “The Wu-Tang Clan” by chance, in Butler’s case, most of his amazing experiences seem to either relate back to membership in Les Savy Fav, or through his role running their record label Frenchkiss Records. Through the Les Savy Fav side, a big part of the bands success has been their stage show. A stage show powered by the insane antics of lead singer Tim Harrington. “Tim is really good at creating an environment where people feel comfortable and engaged,” Butler explains. “He is really good at managing the space around him and the audience. Each show is unique and special. There is no identical Les Savy Fav shows in the world. Every show is different and Tim is one of the best in the world at doing that… The audience has a good time, so it forces us to have a good time. Tim is the preacher and makes sure the two are married. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy.”

Of course, a stage show of this magnitude couldn’t just be formed in a practice room. For Les Savy Fav, another key factor in their development was their location of origin, and the possibilities it afforded. “When we started playing all the time, there was this amazing warehouse space that was owned by, or rented by the guys from Lightning Bolt,” Butler recalls. “They had an eleven thousand square foot loft above a flea market and when we went to school, all the bands played there, and they were really supportive with local bands or any touring bands that were coming through Providence and they would throw parties for those bands. So it was a great place to play and a very inviting place for bands to get support as they started their careers playing music.”

Fifteen years on, on February the 2nd, Les Savy Fav will be bringing the party to Wellington, at The San Francisco Bath House. Having previously signed kiwi band Cut Off Your Hands to Frenchkiss Records, Butler and the band are looking forward to performing in New Zealand very much indeed. Reflecting on their career to date, one of the few annoyances Butler can think of is their art rock genre tag, and even then, it’s not really an annoyance. “I think over the years it rings true, but it’s pretty annoying,” he admits.  “It is better than alternative [rock] though. I’d rather be art rock than alternative [rock].”