Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes Learns to Play With Others on 'Paralytic Stalks'

If there's one thing that's defined Kevin Barnes prolific and sonically diverse output as Of Montreal since 2004's Satanic Panic in the Attic is the musician's decision to write, perform and produce his records alone.

"Back in the day, Of Montreal was more collaborative," Barnes tells Spinner about those formative years when each Of Montreal member wrote the parts for their own instruments.

"We all lived in the same house together. I got to a point where I found all that kind of limiting. I didn't want to have that dynamic to the recording process... I didn't want to deal with the tension and stress, so I started working alone."

Barnes continued that way over the course of the next four full-lengths -- Satanic Panic in the Attic, The Sundlandic Twins, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? and Skeletal Lamping -- inviting guests to contribute sporadically, but never allowing their contributions to dictate the music's course.

"I have a really strong concept of what I want to do," he says.

Yet a chance meeting with multi-instrumentalist Kishi Bashi turned his working method on its head. Barnes met the musician backstage at a festival, where Bashi was performing with Regina Spektor.

"He said, 'I have a studio if you ever want me to add strings to something.' At first I thought, 'Yeah, that probably won't happen.' Then I thought, 'Well, I won't lose anything if I just send him the song and if he comes up with something cool, then awesome.'"

The song Barnes sent was "Casualty of You" from 2010's False Priest.

"It was a revelation," says Barnes. "I heard that and I thought, 'Holy shit, this guy's for real.' It's not just someone doing weepy strings. He was doing interesting, effected strings. And the way he approached it was really unconventional and really creative."

Bashi's arrangements ended up on three of False Priest's tracks, and as Barnes found himself drawn into the world of avant-garde composition, Bashi was the first person Barnes turned to when he started working on 2012 album Paralytic Stalks.

"He has more of a music education than I do," says Barnes. "He's sort of like my professor, telling me where to go where to look for things and educating me."

While Bashi and Barnes were never actually in the same space together while working on the album -- they sent files back and forth via email -- Barnes says that their collaboration helped Barnes realize that there are limitations to working alone.

Of Montreal, who'll be part of AOL Spinner's big free NXNE concert on June 16 in Toronto headlined by the Flaming Lips, just released Paralytic Stalks in February and are still on tour promoting the record. But already Kevin Barnes is looking ahead to his next release.

"It's still early days," he says. "I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do. I've got a couple songs that aren't that different from what I've been doing -- poppy dance songs."

Yet as anyone who's been paying attention to the prolific musician's catalogue over the years can attest, Barnes has never been one to repeat himself.

Over the years, Barnes has taken some lumps from critics and fans for his inability to settle on any one sound. But for him, that's the entire point.

"[I have a] desire to create things that are unpredictable and avoid clichés as much as possible and have as much heart and emotion injected into everything," he says. "It's not a detached, phony thing. For better or for worse it's what I'm passionate about at the time."

Perhaps that's why collaborating with Bashi has been so invigorating for Barnes.

"[Bashi is] the only one I've worked with in a long time that I would allow to shape the songs," he says.

"There was no reason for it to be this big ego trip to me. The most important thing is producing interesting art."

Of Montreal play Spinner AOL's free concert at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto at 7 p.m. on June. 16.

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