Earth

Slow, Steady and Heavy

originally published April 30, 2008

The planet Earth revolves around the sun at 107,000 kilometers each hour, but on Thursday, Dylan Carlson will play no more than 20 notes on his guitar in that time. Since 1990, his Seattle-based band Earth (named for Black Sabbath's original name, rather than our lovely terrestrial home), has been soothing the underground rock masses with its droning, ethereal sound usually structured around one or two gargantuan riffs, decontextualizing the common notions of songs and rock all the while.

There have been two phases of Earth, of which Carlson is the only original member. From 1990 to 1996, Carlson and friends recorded a heavy metal-influenced brand of lumbering riffs, if you can imagine bands like Motörhead or Black Sabbath played at 16 RPM. Recording for the Seattle indie label Sub Pop brought an underground celebrity for Carlson, if not massive record sales. He spent 1997 through 2002 living quietly in Los Angeles, sorting through personal and legal matters. He became fond of the American Old West and the rootsy country music it begat. Returning with a new lineup in 2003, he started recording a new take on the now popular drone-metal genre, injecting that twangy, clean Americana into the same massive, circuitous riffs. Now recording for the niche metal label Southern Lord, Carlson is happiest for the time being with his current lineup.

“It feels like more of a band at this point than previous incarnations,” he says by phone from his Seattle home.

Forty years old now and painfully soft-spoken, Carlson has a knack for recording with the best and brightest. An early lineup featured heavy metal bass journeyman Joe Preston (last seen in Athens playing with Harvey Milk), and some early recordings feature Carlson's close friend Kurt Cobain. On this year's The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull, legendary jazz guitarist Bill Frisell contributed to three tracks. “[Frisell] is one of those people that is so good, everything they do is hyper-musical. He plays so effortlessly; it's an honor to watch him.” The collaboration came about when sometime organist Steve Moore gave Frisell's friends a copy of the 2005 album Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method. Carlson deems recording and playing live the two rewards of being in a band, but, he says with a laugh, “I don't know how much longer albums will be a method of distribution.”

Moving from one of the largest independent labels in existence (Sub Pop) to a label that sells many records, but is still very much a niche label (Southern Lord), hasn't been too difficult for Carlson. He cites Southern Lord's good distribution and generosity for his happiness, and can't think of any complaints about the label run by Earth devotees, drone band Sunn O))). Still, there are a lot of things the band does itself, like print t-shirts for tours. “There's a level of self-efficiency a band has to have now,” Carlson says. Finally, he says it: Southern Lord is better to Earth than Sub Pop ever was.

The fact that Earth is not only playing in Athens but is also playing 12 consecutive nights in cities as small as Birmingham and Asheville has fans ecstatic, but also scratching their heads. This is the band known for flying across the country to play for two nights in New York City and not playing again until the next year. “We're on the road more now than we ever were back in the day,” he says. “Sometimes we'll go play in Europe for awhile just to offset costs of touring the U.S.” The band even has a West Coast tour scheduled for June that will reach small cities just in Washington, places unknown to many of us Georgians like Ellensburg and Tacoma.

Being deeply influenced musically and personally by the 1985 Cormac McCarthy Western novel, Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, when I mention the upcoming Hollywood adaptation, Carlson says without pause, “It's going to suck. Ridley Scott is not the director to do it. Besides,” he continues, “there's no way anyone could do it without horribly offending a lot of people,” citing the extreme animal cruelty and depiction of Native Americans.

Carlson, a lover of the outdoors, is looking forward to playing the South. Though in the past the band generally played what ended up on the studio albums, he promises there will be some improvisation as the band has been working on incorporating that into sets. Having only played as far south as Lexington, KY, Carlson claims this tour will be a new experience for him. Given the band's storied history and the excitement brewing for its debut performance in Athens, one can really only say "same for us."

This show is likely to sell out, so head to www.ticketalternative.com to get advance tickets.

Scott Reid

WHO: Fur Elise, Madeline, Earth WHEN: Thursday, May 1 WHERE: Caledonia Lounge HOW MUCH: $8 (21+), $9 (18+)