The modern art-pop Populuxe have always been restless in nature, finding new ways to reinvent themselves with each subsequent release. It’s fitting that the term “Populuxe” was coined to denote the demand for inventive design between the end of WWII and the assassination of Kennedy. It also sounds a bit like ‘deluxe pop’ which certainly reflects the bands aesthetic; mashing Piper-era Pink Floyd with 60’s garage pop and late 70’s Bowie. Their uncompromising 6th full length LP, Uneasy Listening, is a post-pandemic arrival at reality. These grown men don’t operate under any false pretenses or empty dreams; their sole interest at this point is in making new work that captures an honest and challenging artistic vision.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Populuxe, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Aaron: Hi! Thanks for having us. I’ve been singing longer than I’ve been speaking. I got into music initially through my parents, both music lovers, primarily folk & classical. At age 10 I happened upon a copy of AC/DC’s Back In Black and it quite literally changed my life. I got a guitar and I still have one.
Rob: also, hi! (that leaves us collectively one up) Nice to chat with you, too! For me, and I think a lot of us, more than anything it was that music was the lingua franca of the world around us, the constant — radio, tv jingles, cartoon theme songs and incidental music, ballparks, elevators, school. Everywhere. Sang all the time, loved harmonies and listened intently to the radio. Plus, my mom was a pianist, and her mom could play any instrument she came across. I played piano, violin (both really badly) and trombone (somewhat competently) starting in elementary school until becoming obsessed with guitar at 12. And I always wanted to write.
How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?
Aaron: For me, it used to be day job by day, music all the rest of the time. Now that I make music professionally, it has become important to maintain some kind of schedule or everything else falls by the wayside. So, aside from when touring, I work a fairly normal day and spend evenings with my wife, who, also and conveniently, is a musician.
Rob: I’ve geared my whole life around making noises into microphones (I’m also a voice actor and audiobook narrator). The studio is part of the house, so when I get an idea or am working, it’s a short, often pajama-clad commute. Plus, insomnia. That said, the last record (Beauty in the Broken Place) took so much concentrated effort that when I was playing the masters in the car and told the kids that this was it, my son said “yay! Now you can do stuff with us again!” Felt horrible. Balance is tough sometimes.
Your latest release is 'Uneasy Listening'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
Aaron: I guess the first unusual thing is the one that happened to all of us: COVID. I may not have been able to be a part of this record to the degree I was without the lockdowns. Otherwise, it was a process of Rob imparting his ideas for the songs to a great group of players and each one bringing something unique back to the songs. We recorded the bulk of the material in two days of live tracking, as a band, again an indulgence that we may not have been able to pull off without the relative quiet of the COVID year.
Rob: this was much more of a group effort, which I really wanted, as this was/is a very intensely personal set of songs — having the support was important both in production/arrangement and emotionally. Plus, like Aaron said, a great group of players. And friends.
Where did you get the inspiration for this album?
Rob: several big storms broke at once — the pandemic, my mother’s death, real personal life-and-death binaries. The material sprang directly from those and their inevitable fallout.
How long did you work on the 'Uneasy Listening'? Was it an easy process for you?
Aaron: it was both easy and not. Working with the band took some time, as these are not basic songs, but it was all creative all the time and could be described as seamless. It was what to do afterwards that presented some challenges, be it sonic quality or needing to rethink certain approaches to songs and starting again from scratch. Fortunately, neither Rob nor I are dogmatic creators. We both enjoy reacting to a song and a performance and seeing that those things inform us, and building from there, or tearing down and re-building. And if we needed to bring in other people to get us to the right place, we did, as with Andy on the drums in Alphabet and Paula Kelley, whose string and vocal arrangements brought “Congratulations” to a place beyond any of our individual reaches.
Rob: I found it incredibly easy, but I’m a big fan of “it’s not working; smash it! and start again” which Aaron, who coproduced with me, also seems to like. That willingness to toss something labored over and loved and trust that you’ll come up with something better is tough to find, in others as well as yourself. It’s lucky that we have it in common. Timing-wise, the first session was in December, the last mix was finished in August.
Is there a hidden meaning in any of your music?
Rob: intentionally hidden meanings, no, but definitely undiscovered things in the layers (even to me!). That said, it’s very specific work — everything is a choice, and every choice balances out. Or tries to.
What interests or hobbies do you have outside of music?
Aaron: I’m an enthusiastic and decent cook. Love reading.
Rob: old cars, comedy, history—political, social, cultural— literature, vocabulary, acting, word games, boxing. It’s kind of endless.
How do you find yourself in the music business? When you started out in music, did you know it would be like this?
Aaron: I always knew I’d be playing music, from when I joined my first band at 15. Doing so professionally has definitely come with its share of surprises (wow, touring can be REALLY BORING!! No wonder them classic rockers abused drugs.) But the real takeaway is, “oh yeah, I’m going to keep doing this til I die, no matter whether it’s a source of income."
Rob: I’m in the music business?! Oh no!
Ultimately, like Aaron, this is what I do, irrespective of income and balance sheets. And there’s a fantastic freedom in that.
How do you nurture your own creativity?
Aaron: I listen to other — and largely these days non-rock -- music almost constantly when not working. And lately I’ve gotten back in to practicing rudiments and alternate styles of playing. Keeps the ideas coming.
Rob: reading, playing with the kids, watching, listening. Identifying the pieces and trying to put them together. Realizing I screwed them up. It’s all kind of an improv with the fates. And then just writing and things fall out.
What are your plans for the future?
Aaron: many more records! But first, really hoping we can take the Populuxe show to more audiences.
Rob: seconded; we presented this record live as a piece of theater at the end of the year, and we’re hoping to tour that.