Baroness recently released the much lauded Yellow & Green on Relapse Records; an album which has split opinion like no other record has this year. We were lucky enough to catch guitarist Peter Adams for a little interview whilst the band are on tour in Europe. Hopefully it sheds some light on the Yellow & Green recording process and the impetus for going ahead with such an ambitious project. Check out the review here which the guys over at Scene Point Blank very kindly allowed us to publish.
CVLT Nation: Yellow & Green signifies a slight change in direction for Baroness (although, listening to Blue Record recently I definitely heard a few things that laid the foundation for some of the sounds heard on the new record – more melody, a mellower feel, clean vocals), was that a deliberate move? Or did the shift come about more organically than that? Was it the result of growing as people, and dare I ask, getting older?
Peter Adams: I think it’s a culmination of a lot of these things. We had a lot of new ideas and we wanted to get them out now. In the past, vocals were always an afterthought so we took time for them early on in it. We wanted to start using them as an instrument. The whole process was just as organic as the last. We just sit down and start somewhere and roll with it.
CVLT Nation: I’ve seen a couple of reviews/journalists mention that perhaps this is the band Baroness was always meant to be; would you agree with that?
Peter Adams: No, not necessarily. Every record we write will always be a little different the last while at the same time, we need to keep the music interesting to us. Who knows how we will be feeling when we sit down to write the next one. One thing for sure though, is that we do play these songs with greater ease and comfort on stage which is what we wanted for this album.
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CVLT Nation: Going into recording how much of the album was written and did the double album aspect become apparent quite early on?
Peter Adams: We wanted to do a double record early on in it. We always get ideas and get ourselves excited talking about them. Then do our best to stick to these ideas. We also were just writing a ton of music too. We had completely written and demoed everything on the record before the studio. We had the time to do it and we didn’t want to sit in the studio trying to hammer out any of it.
CVLT Nation: The two sides of the record have some similarities in tone and feel, but they also seem quite different; could you talk a little about the themes and concepts behind the two and how the split of the tracks was decided?
Peter Adams:Very simple. We wrote all the songs for both and then we had to decide how to sequence them. We did a lot of experimenting and just decided some of the more “experimental” songs should be what Green is made up of.
CVLT Nation: Obviously the artwork plays a large part in the overall concept of your records, both now and in the past; would you, as far as possible explain how the cover art for Yellow & Green connects to the work as a whole? Do you have clear ideas of what you want to portray via the art before you record or is it something that happens afterwards/during the recording and writing process?
Peter Adams:Well John (Baizley – guitar/vocals) is really able to get a good vision of what he wants when he starts to put his mind to it. But the art doesn’t happen till after the record is made. There is an obvious theme and it’s more for a flow and aesthetic feel.
CVLT Nation: There’s quite a range of styles to be heard on the record, from the quieter tracks to the more bombastic songs; we’re you listening to any specific artists/bands during recording that you found influenced the sound of the album at all?
Peter Adams:Nope not for me. We all listen to so much music and it all comes out when we write. You’ll notice the same on everything we’ve done prior to Yellow and Green. What influenced us was a need to add more dynamics to our live set.
CVLT Nation: There’s a couple of tracks across both Yellow and Green that stand out in particular:
“March to the Sea,” “Twinkler,” “Back Where I Belong,” “Eula,” “Mtns. (The Crown and Anchor)” and “Collapse,” are some of the most incredibly heartfelt and forlorn tracks on the record, would you maybe give a little detail about each and the way they came about (if it’s not too personal)?
Peter Adams:They are very personal songs but the way in which John writes means that you can relate to it in your own way. Life is dark as hell and full of struggle. That is something we all know and can agree on. The songs came together just as they always do.
CVLT Nation: Awesome, that’s all from me, thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions. If there’s anything else you’d like to add, go right ahead!
Peter Adams:Come out to see us live!
If you’d like to catch Baroness live, check out the tour dates on their official website.
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