Work In Progress is a zine dedicated to showcase the work, lives, views and artistic expression of a group of friends from all over the world. It’s a scrapbook of sorts, a medium the lets us express our thoughts and ideas using music, writing, photography, drawing, painting, text and sound. “Work In Progress” focuses on the process vs. the end result. It documents the beauty of those series of events, which eventually become the bigger picture. In our case it’s the twentieth photo it took to finally capture the moment, it’s the broken guitar string we broke half way through the first song or the seventh sketch we drew in hopes of getting the final result perfect. None of us are perfect and this zine is dedicated to those imperfections and moments in between.

The zine exists in both printed and online formats. The printed version is used as part of our catalog while our online version hosts featured artists, guests, friends, online auctions, a store and any other news or information we find relevant or interesting. In this issue of our holiday 2009 catalog we bring you the work and music of the Constantines.

All Photos are taken by our friend and photographer Jermey R. Jansen, during the "Too Slow For Love" sessions in Bath, Ontario.

We had a chance to sit down with Bryan Webb of the Constantines.

 

First off, what was the motivation & inspiration behind revisiting these older songs for Too Slow For Love?

I'm thinking now that making records as The Constantines is an ongoing process of trying to figure out how to enjoy being in a recording studio.  We've always celebrated the idea of playing in as many different spaces as possible, but mostly that was about playing live, with an audience.  Often when we've gone into a studio to make a record, I think we've been so self-conscious and hyper-aware of the minutia of sounds and phrasing and all that, it gets to the point where we aren't aware of how a song is just a momentary, temporary thing.  That's when the life starts to disappear from a song.  Overdubs, editing, recording a hundred different takes; all these things can be counter-productive if you value a song as a celebration of a particular, fleeting moment.  For me, doing Too Slow For Love was a way of stripping away some of the over-thinking we did in the process of making the album versions of those songs.  This stuff was recorded all live off the floor, in no more than a few takes, everyone playing together for the most part.  And it was fun.  



How was the process in terms of stripping the songs down? Was it something you’ve been doing on the road for a while?

We revisit these songs every night on tour, so they've been changing steadily since we started to play them.  It would be hellish to try and always play a consistent live representation of the album versions of our songs night after night, forever.  I know that we're a better band live than recorded.  In some ways, the songs re-arrange themselves, or the way certain parts sound in certain buildings lead to new dynamics each time they're performed.  But willfully re-arranging songs is a good exercise too, because it sometimes lets you find the real core of the song.  Sometimes you find something you didn't realize was there, though you've played the thing five hundred times.  That was the best thing about working out these new versions:  Being able to hear the songs again.    



How was the experience going back into those older songs? Did you guys have similar recordings or demos like this before recording each album?

We demo a lot of the songs before going in to record an album, but the most productive part of writing is still playing those songs live.  That's when the dynamics start to sort themselves out.  For us, recording demos of new songs is usually just a way to remember how to play them the next time we get together.  We used to have a little tape deck that we recorded practices on, which was the best tool ever.  I think our songwriting changed significantly when that thing broke down.  If anyone out there has a Panasonic RX-5030 boombox they want to sell, I'll pay top dollar.  I loved that machine.

How do you guys approach each song from the early stages through to the final recordings?

It's just slow and organic, like any other decision we make.  One song at a time, bashed out until it feels good to play all the way through.  Lyrics usually come afterward, but we really don't have a strict system of writing or arranging these things.    

How many songs did you get out of the past sessions? How long did you take to record the album?

Usually we have a few songs left over after a record is sequenced.  The Too Slow For Love stuff was all just recorded and mixed in one weekend in Bath, Ontario.  Everything we recorded that weekend is on this EP.  As you can probably tell, it wasn't about releasing something as polished and formal as a full album release, it was just about getting together to enjoy the process of making something again.    

I’ve always been more interested in demos and the recordings that revolve around the process. Those points that document the build up to the final recording or those moments when the band or person is still playing with arrangements. Similar to a way an artist uses references and sketches before their final works. Is this something that interests you guys as well? I remember listening to some old Springsteen recordings where the sound was pretty bad but it somehow added to the atmosphere of the room and to me at least made the song a little more meaningful in the end.

I love those kinds of recordings, too.  Its more about making a raw representation of the idea for yourself, rather than a clean, presentable item for market.  The new Attack In Black record has that beautiful, uncorrupted feel and sound.  It's good to see people with such confidence in their own vision.  I find the process of honing an album version of a song interesting, too, but the earlier part of that process is more cathartic.  That's what I hear in the demo recordings of Michael Hurley, Daniel Johnson's cassettes, and The Basement Tapes - a great catharsis.



Are you constantly writing or does it come in increments? Where do you need to be to write typically when working on an album or ideas for a song?

I write very slowly, but I have no system.  Any time I think I have a system I can rely on, I start to dislike what comes of it.  I often need to catch myself off guard to make something that I'm excited about.  Writing on the road is impossible for me, because I need a good amount of privacy to try and sort out what I want to say.  Honestly, writing is how I try to understand the world and everything I come in contact with.  It takes time to sort things out, and usually there just isn't enough time, so things get left in ambiguity, which probably speaks more truth about the human condition anyway.  Maybe that's why those incomplete demo recordings sound so right on, most of the time.  

What inspires your writing? Are their specific interests when dealing with subject matter or does it vary quite a bit?

Mostly I write about the people I know, and the incredible ways they manage to survive.  I'm wondering if maybe, as people in the world, we're united in our confusion, disorientation, and the inconsistencies in our individual perspectives. I just saw Synecdoche, New York, and I was really moved by it.  I identify with this idea of creating a massive totem to confusion as the common part of the human condition - a grounds for community, if only temporary, in a small room full of strangers - that's all I ever wanted to do.

Will you be bringing some of these arrangements into the live shows?

Maybe.