Black Mountain Discuss the Creation of 'Wilderness Heart'

Ryan Walter Wagner

A cursory look at Vancouver's Black Mountain would have you easily believe that you fell through a time hole that sends you back to 1974, a time where double denim is nothing to be ashamed of, where cheese and pineapple chucks on a cocktail stick are the very height of cosmopolitan sophistication and hair conditioner has yet to seize the public imagination.

And while their riffs evoke the sub-industrial sludge of Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd's cosmic exploration, Black Mountain are a band definitely finding their own voice. Indeed, the band's evolution over their first two albums -- both 2005's eponymous debut and 2008's 'In the Future' were full of celestial explorations that make rolling papers such a wonderful invention -- has arrived at the compact though no less engaging third album, 'Wilderness Heart.'

As Black Mountain pull into Rome, Italy on the European leg of their tour, keyboardist Jeremy Schmidt takes time out to speak to Spinner about the creation of 'Wilderness Heart.'

Why have you jettisoned the extended wig-outs of your previous releases for more streamlined material?

It kinda ended up being that way really. One thing we wanted to try and do was to see if we could fit all of those essential wig-out elements into a three-minute form. So certain songs, like the title track, we have all these different kinds of elements that you might find in a more sprawling epic but the arrangement is condensed into that shorter time frame. It wasn't really a conscious decision; it's just that the songs ended up being that way unlike the ones on previous albums. Maybe there was less jamming when it came to arranging things and coming up with ideas. We just distilled a lot of the elements from those past records. That's not to say that this is a new mission statement or new direction because maybe the next record will have just 20-minute jams that'll take up a side of vinyl each. But we're making up for it in the live shows and doing extended versions of some of our songs.

But we like doing that and it's one if the musical motifs that we're drawn to where there's a repetition that allows for certain instrument to take off.

The album contains a few bucolic moments. Did the Californian climate affect the writing and recording process?

Definitely the sunshine which probably shone in on the proceedings and it added a little Vitamin D! I think it had a roundabout affect on things but I think that despite our love of driven songs we do also like doing songs that have a more folk feel and if we can put the two together and create a juxtaposition where the two sides compliment each other then that'll keep us pleased.

You used outside producers for the first time -- how did that affect things?

That was a change of pace but it was good to have an outside force having a hand in things and also some objectivity towards the songs that we obviously wouldn't have the luxury of having. And they also brought a certain level of expertise that isn't always at our disposal. All those kind of things informed how the album ended up being and it was a learning experience and I think we came out with a good record.

To Spinner's ears, 'Wilderness Heart' has the feel of a 'stepping stone album' -- it's almost as if you're consolidating what's best about Black Mountain before moving into other territories.

Sure, it's perfectly fair but that wasn't the case on our part to have consciously done that. I don't look at it as a stepping stone into a new field but it's difficult for me to look at from an objective stand point. But if that's how it looks to you then that's fair. We just set out to make a third album and it turned out the way it did but I do think that there is a certain aspect to it like having outside producers and recording in different studios that imposed themselves in a nebulous way. But we're not waving a flag saying, "Here's the new Black Mountain," it's just Black Mountain album number three. There are a lot of the familiar hallmarks that we established for ourselves over the course of the other two records as well some new stuff there too.

Is 'Wilderness Heart' the moment Black Mountain break through to a wider audience?

It's hard to say; I really have no idea. We don't really now the science of popular culture -- we just make records and put them out there and see where they take us. The fact that some of the shorter and more concise arrangements and some of the stuff that we did vocally is slightly different than before may have an impact and be viewed as more accessible but who knows?

How much of a part do your influences play on the creation of the new album?

We did our Black Sabbath absorbing a long time ago and it's now just a part of our musical vocabulary and an innate force within us. It's something we've been familiar with a long time as well as the other things that people compare us to. We grew up on that stuff and we don't make any point in trying to avoid these things. We don't have an agenda that way.

What was the last thing you learned?

Just little things to help pass time when you're on the road like occasionally we'll do an interview! But there's a lot of hurrying up and waiting when you're on the road. That's the thing learned but I kind of already knew that; it's just one of the laws of modern life.

Black Mountain's 'Wilderness Happiness' is out now through Jagjaguwar. The band play London Shepherd's Bush Empire on Thursday, then tour the US. Tour dates can be found here.