Q&A: Crystal Antlers Through a ‘Two-Way Mirror’

The Che Café, located on UCSD’s campus in La Jolla, has been a staple spot for live music and social gatherings since its establishment in 1980.  As a venue, it is famous for hosting indie rock and punk bands early on in their careers (e.g. Billy Corgan, Deerhoof, Green Day, Bright Eyes, Animal Collective, Bon Iver), but in recent years, The Che has been on the verge of bankruptcy and closure.  As a response to this threat, the venue has been hosting a series of self-motivated fundraisers in the hopes to survive these tough economic and cultural times.  The most successful and impressive of these fundraisers took place on Saturday, January 7th when the lineup of the 2nd day of I PROMISE FEST included: Lanterns, Weatherbox, FIDLAR, Crystal Antlers, and No Age.

We got a chance to ask Crystal Antlers a few questions about both themselves and The Che Café, which you can read the answers to below.

To check out The Che’s upcoming schedule, or to donate to the cause, visit the venue’s website here.

There isn’t much info on the web about what “I PROMISE FEST” is.  Could you talk a little about that?

Johnny: We actually weren't told a whole lot about "I PROMISE FEST," until a couple days before. As I understand it, the Che Cafe ran into some financial troubles due to budget cuts at the school & costs associated with replacing a stolen PA. The festival is being held to keep the Che alive.
PS/Full Disclosure: I'm actually doing this interview a week after the fest (my bad) and it was a huge success & the Che Cafe will continue to live on..

What is Crystal Antler’s history with the Che Café? How did you get involved with this fundraiser?

Crystal Antlers actually only played the Che Cafe once before this event, but it was one of the most fun shows we'd played in San Diego. They called us while we were in the middle of our US tour with Wu Lyf, & we weren't completely sure we'd be available to play, but we committed anyway. It's not easy to support an all ages venue & we didn't want to loose the Che. I was prepared to play by myself if that's how it had to happen...

From what I hear, Crystal Antlers is composed of a wide variety of personalities. Does this ever cause for any difficulties in the song-writing process?

Writing songs is easy, finishing songs and making them work in the context of "crystal antlers" is pretty difficult sometimes though.
 
Would you consider the sound that results as a sort of ‘clash of the genres?’

No, but I will admit that it's difficult to classify. It's been one of the toughest things for us because no one wants to write about something they can't easily describe. Most of what we get compared to we've never listened to. We're just a bunch of random people from punk bands trying to play everything we can and not be to conscious of whether or not it fits into a specific genre.

 
Tentacles, as an album title, relates brilliantly well to the sound onboard the record. With Two-Way Mirror as the title of the band’s 2011 album, was this one a little more of an introspective, or self-criticizing effort?

Tentacles was an incredibly difficult record to make, recorded +mixed in just a week & it nearly killed us. We approached Two-Way Mirror much differently and really took our time. Most of the record was written while we were living in a barn in Mexico, and we spaced out the recording sessions so that we'd have a chance to listen as we were putting things together. I think having that time especially while in Mexico. gave me a chance to dive pretty deep into what we were doing & question a lot about it.
 
What can we expect to see from 2012 Crystal Antlers? Any worthwhile resolutions?

Hmm, I'm thinking about hiring a hypnotist to help me take up smoking and cancel my gym membership...And put out a lot more music. As a band we're also resolving to keep our website up to date! There will be a new record of some sort (EP or full record) this March before a show at the Echo & a tour around SXSW.