Melody Day

Caribou Brings Its Dream Pop to Athens

originally published April 2, 2008

Through eight years, a name change and a world tour, multi-instrumentalist Dan Snaith has repeatedly guided his project Caribou from the bedroom to the stage. Originally recording and performing under the name Manitoba, Snaith was forced to change monikers in 2004 when presented with an exceedingly strange trademark infringement lawsuit from former Dictators member, and New York DJ, Handsome Dick Manitoba. After quickly switching names, but not gears, Snaith continued on his trajectory.

It would be convenient to make a “math-rock” joke in here somewhere as Snaith earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from London’s Imperial College in 2005. (His dissertation? Overconvergent Siegel Modular Symbols). However, the surprising fact is that his studies really haven't influenced his music in a major way.

“I don't think mathematics plays into my composition style at all," says Snaith. "At least nothing directly, anyway. Music and mathematics are two things I’ve enjoyed my whole life. Mathematics is a lot more creative than most people would think.” In turn, Snaith’s music is a lot more creative than the current glut of what’s passing for creative these days.

Although Caribou’s live shows are full band affairs, Snaith composes and records his shimmery dream pop alone at home. By forcing himself to work within the limitations of a small home studio, Snaith says he ends up finding new, inventive ways to approach his recordings in order to achieve his sonic goals. There’s a lushness, a naturalness, about Caribou’s records that makes them sound as if they were recorded in a very big room or church hall. In any case, they don’t just sound like bedroom recordings. “I’m glad it sounds that way," he responds. "Also, just because the music is written to a hard drive doesn’t mean it can’t sound natural. I’m still recording through microphones and amplifiers like in a studio. It is, though, a fairly limited way of doing things. But, I like working this way as it makes me figure out other ways of doing things rather than being in a studio where, perhaps, all the options would be right at my fingertips.”

What Caribou creates are straightahead pop records. The latest album, Andorra, released by Merge Records in 2007, is a wonderful example of ringing guitars, tastefully applied reverb and echo. It is also intensely composition-oriented as opposed to Caribou’s previous records which are more loop-oriented. When asked about this, Snaith agrees, saying, “I think that’s the biggest distinction between the last record [2005’s The Milk of Human Kindness] and this one. On previous records, I would get excited about a loop, and I was thinking in terms of smaller chinks. The new record has me thinking more in terms of whole structures.” To this end, he readily cites some key pop music influences. “I guess some of the obvious touch-points were the pop bands of the 1960s: The Beach Boys, The Zombies, etc. When I was making the record, it was all about compositional structure - how songs were actually assembled,” he says. “I listened to all kinds of artists and all sorts of different music from Arthur Russell, Cocteau Twins and even Aaliyah.”

While Snaith is the sole composer and mastermind behind Caribou, the live show is very much a group effort. That is, Snaith is no task master. Although it might be tempting to some to have these songs performed exactly as they were conceived and recorded, Snaith is more interested in letting the songs grow. The full band consists of Snaith along with musicians Ryan Smith, Andy Lloyd and Brad Weber. "I definitely let them figure the songs out on their own. We’re free to take the songs apart. A lot of times someone will say, ‘Why don’t I play this?’ or ‘Let’s try this,'” says Snaith. “It’s not the most basic way to play the songs, but it’s the best way. It’s definitely a collaboration and the songs change and evolve as the tour goes on.”

Gordon Lamb