Broken Water Interview: SXSW 2010

Broken Water is a somewhat nascent indie-rock band hailing from Olympia, Washington, with Jon Hanna on guitar, Abigail Ingram on bass, Kanako Wynkoop on drums, and all three providing vocals. The band recently released their first full-length album, entitled Whet, on the Radio is Down and Night People independent record labels. Broken Water will be touring the U.S. in March and April, 2010 to promote the new album and play out. Spinner caught up with Hanna and Wynkoop, ahead of Broken Water's SXSW performance, to learn more about the band's music, influences, and future plans.

When did Broken Water form?

Jon: Kanako and I used to be in another band called Sisters. That band eventually ran its course and we broke up. But she and I still played music for awhile. Our friend Abigail plays bass and joined in with us. We started jamming a little bit and we decided we liked what was going on. That was the summer of 2008 when we started playing. From there, we've just been writing more music and doing pretty well.

What inspired you to form the band?

J: I've always been influenced by Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine and bands like that, but then I started listening to stuff like old New Zealand bands like The Clean and The Chills. I was really into that sound, and we all kind of had that feeling. So we're going for more of this kind of reverby, aggressive noise. We have other influences – some feminist political leanings, and the band's been a good way to get some of that out there.

Any other musical influences?

Kanako: I think the underground music scene in Olympia has been a primary influence. Like from the early '90s to the present, or more like the '90s and early 2000s. There's a big feminist music scene and a pretty radical punk music scene here. I'm also influenced by a lot of rap. I think that some people make that connection when they hear my stick drum and high hat, but our music doesn't sound like rap at all. I do play along to a lot of rap, when I play by myself – so there's just like a different kind of energy there.

How did you come up with the name Broken Water?

J: That was mostly Kanako and Abby's idea, but for us it's sort of like the imagery of birth and water. Also, it has the whole birth connotation with it, and I think we feel like we're creating something – giving birth and life to the music and these ideas.

Describe your sound, in your own words.

J: Swirling, reverby, ecstatic noise. And psychedelic grunge, maybe a little bit.

K: Like your mom giving birth to a 1969 Fender Twin Reverb under the ocean.

What's your songwriting process?

K: Jon's very prolific, so he's writing a lot of stuff. We just put out our second release, and on our first release it was a lot of trying to keep up with Jon. Then me and Abby figured out how to command more time and space at rehearsal. That was a little bit of a process, but on this album there's a lot more songs where Abby was the primary writer. Or they would both write a part and I could write a third part. We each write our parts. Someone comes with a part to practice, and then we like fill around that, or we just do free form jamming. It's pretty organic and it's pretty collaboratory.

What can people expect from your show at SXSW?

K: We plan on bringing a lot of energy and being really present. I also make films that are projected during our performance, so I think that's an element that you don't get when you just listen to our records. Like the visual element.

What's in your SXSW survival kit?

J: Trying to avoid the chaos of it as much as we can, which doesn't really seem that likely. We have sleeping bags – probably we'll be camping out in someone's yard. Headphones, music, trying to stay away from the chaos of the crowd.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced on tour?

J: We had a bus a couple summers ago, when we were traveling down the west coast, which broke down in the middle of Los Angeles. The transmission was gone and it couldn't be fixed pretty much. We somehow were able to buy a van the next day, which we drove from L.A. all the way back to Olympia. There were seven us and it was just a cargo van with only two seats. That was the hardest journey. It was in the middle of the summer and we had seven people.

Beatles or Stones?

J: Beatles. I think they were a lot more influential towards other artists and I appreciate their take on '60s rock a lot more than the Stones.

K: Beatles.

Why?

K: Duh.

What is your biggest vice?

J: Tobacco.

K: I would probably say books or Hot Yoga.

What are your musical guilty pleasures?

J: Listening to Bad Moon Rising on repeat. The album by Sonic Youth.

K: Last night, I was listening to Lucinda Williams' West [album], and I feel like I'm like 65 with a martini sitting in my beach house in Southern California when it's playing. When I hear it, I just feel like it's old people music for some reason, but I'm really, really into her. It's just super-produced. It's not necessarily mainstream, but it's acceptable to a pretty wide audience.

What are the band's future goals?

J: To keep recording, putting out more records, and touring endlessly. This is our first US tour and we plan on doing several more in the future. We're doing it in like four and a half weeks. Usually tours like this are a six week deal, but we're doing some insane driving.


Jamie Owen is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.