This week we’re featuring New York indie-rock band, The Dig. Following their 2010 debut record “Electric Toys”, Emile Mosseri, David Baldwin, Erick Eiser, and Mark Demiglio are back with their lastest full-length album “Midnight Flowers.” The band has been on the tour circuit since the release of the record back in May, even playing a record release show at The Dunes in Columbia Heights with a local favorite of ours, The Young Rapids. And they aren’t stopping any time soon. The Dig are on the brink of a new Fall 2012 tour, making DC’s Red Palace their first stop on the tour. We spoke to the guys about being a band from New York, Midnight Flowers, DC, and more!
Get to know The Dig below and be sure to catch them at Red Palace on Wednesday, 10/03!
Who are The Dig?
David Baldwin: The Dig is part band, part dog walker, and 3/4s guitar teacher. Emile plays bass and sings, Mark is the drummer, I play guitar and sing, and Erick plays a bunch of instruments that all weigh over 150 pounds.
How would you be able to describe your sound for those who haven’t heard you yet?
Emile Mosseri: I would say we are a rock n roll band with some synths and ambient sounds
How did you all decide on “The Dig” as your band name? Any special back story behind it?
Erick Eiser: Emile David and I were living in Boston and at the there was a big construction project called the Big Dig that ended up being a failure and was sort of contriversial. There was also a local Magaizine called The Dig and we had recently seen a documentary called Dig about the Brian Jones Town Massacre and the Dandy Warhols. So it was kind of floating around in the subconcious and someone mentioned it and we thought it sounded cool and fit our music.
New York is filled with nonstop talent, who are some new york bands (past and current) that inspire you guys to make the music you’re currently making?
Mark Demiglio: Ooh… For me it might be very different than everyone else. Bigger bands would be The National, The Walkmen, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s and Sonic Youth. Locals like Buffalo Jump, Indian Wife and Psychobuildings have all been fun to see and hang out with after shows. All really good bands that hopefully won’t be under the radar for too much longer.
You all released your first album Electric Toys back in 2010, an album that was filled with catchy pop-rock hooks, melodies, and fluid lyrics. With that said, how did you all, as a group, decide to approach this new record, lyrically? Tell us about your songwriting aspect for Midnight Flowers.
David: I think we focused on lyrics a little more while we were writing Midnight Flowers than we did on our first record. A lot of the songs on Electric Toys were made up of fictional stories, so unconsciously we probably wanted to write some songs that were a little more personal or closer to us. “I Already Forgot Everything You Said” was the first song we wrote for Midnight Flowers, and it seemed to set the tone for the record.
As far as the songwriting process goes, a big difference between this album and Electric Toys is the songs on it were written much more collaboratively. Someone would come in with a riff or a title or some chords, and we’d all finish it off together. We also switched instruments a lot while we were writing and recording, which helped keep things interesting.
Leading up to the release of Midnight Flowers, you all put out a limited amount of cassette tapes with the albums first two singles. Where did the idea come from initially to bring it back old school? How did fans react to them?
Mark: My brother Jon was filming us in studio playing a live version of Animal Screams, track 6 from Midnight Flowers, and we were all discussing interesting ways to get new music out to people. Jon suggested we transfer some of the songs over to tape. Since the album was recorded on tape it gives people the chance to hear some of the tracks as they were meant to be heard. Some of the sounds and feelings from the recordings get lost transferring from analog back to a digital medium. Does this make us sound nerdy? Good. Cause we are.
You had your CD release show here in DC not too long ago, playing at The Dunes with one of our favorite local bands – The Young Rapids. How was the experience for the band that night?
Erick: It was great! We all thought the Young Rapids sounded great and the show was intimate and high energy. DC is one of our faorite cities to play in.
You’re back in DC next month to start off a new American Tour. What do you most look forward to when coming back to our city as well as the cities you’ll be playing? Any memorable stories from your past tours?
David: We always look forward to hanging with our good friend Chris Naoum in DC, so it’ll be fun to see that jolly good bloke. Some of our more fun shows have been in D.C., so it’ll be a great place to kickoff the tour.
We’re psyched to see you back in DC soon! Any last words for the readers?
Mark: Don’t do too many drugs and stay in school. Unless you have class on the night of October 3rd, then cut class and come out to The Red Palace to hang with us.
For more information on The Dig and their upcoming tour, vist their website www.thedigmusic.com, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter @thedigisup!
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