En route to Australian shores in February for Laneway Festival, American based alternative rock group Divine Fits will be bringing their best for Australian fans, playing tracks from their 2012 debut album, A Thing Called Divine Fits, live for the first time.
“It’s exciting to know that we can go half way around the world and there’s basically people that have heard the songs before and know the tunes,” reveals Dan Boeckner, co-frontman of the band.
Boeckner, along with members Britt Daniel, Sam Brown, and Alex Fischel, have been in the industry for a significant period of time, making music for numerous years with previous successful bands such as Spoon, Wolf Parade, and Handsome Furs before forming Divine Fits.
With a recent US tour under their belt after their debut’s release last August, the band is starting to feel like exactly that – a band. “I feel like we’re finally a band now, after we hit the road with the record, so writing has been exciting and touring has just kind of gotten better and better.”
Divine Fits initially started out as a faint idea between friends Britt Daniel and Dan Boeckner that, after a phone call one day, became a reality. “The year before last he called me and we’d been talking about starting a band, and he said ‘let’s just do it, let’s just make it happen’. So then it happened.”
Sam Brown soon joined the fold after Mike McCarthy, producer for Spoon (Britt Daniel’s band) recommended him, which according to Boeckner, “was a brilliant move because Sam is fucking great at the drums.”
Completing the lineup was Alex Fischel, who Boeckner confessed to “poaching” in order for him to join. “I was playing shows with Handsome Furs and I had this band opening, and their keyboard player was amazing so I basically stole him.”“You’re in the moment and it’s a good show… You can’t duplicate that. You can’t download it for free… you’re not going to feel the same way you did when you were at the show.” – Dan Boeckner
With each member coming from a different outfit and background to form Divine Fits, the result was a perfect patchwork of experience.
“Musically, everybody has developed their own personal style over our respective careers, so I think it’s good, everybody’s confident in what they do and the music they make,” reasons Boeckner.
But perhaps what makes them the “real thing,” is the fact is they’re cohesive in more ways than just musically. “It’s nice to be in a band with people that all like each other. That’s rare for me.”
With a distinct and passionate love for playing their music live to fans, Boeckner describes performing as absolutely intoxicating. “The best thing about being in a band is being able to play music in front of actual living humans,” he says.
“If you make a record, a video or something like that, anything you do is going to be distributed officially and because it’s so immediately accessible, you can watch it over and over again. The value of it is different then actually being on stage and playing for people, because that moment when you’re performing those songs, you’re in the moment and it’s a good show…” he pauses.
“You can’t duplicate that. You can’t download it for free, maybe you can watch it on Youtube, but you’re not going to feel the same way you did when you were at the show.”
Making music and playing shows to Divine Fits is, in Boeckner’s words, a job. “It’s like building a house. All the moving parts have to work together, you’re giving people something and it’s a job, it’s the best job in the world.”
A job however, that gives as much to the band as well as the fans, “I like listening to peoples’ experiences of songs… because often they interpret them in totally different ways and I don’t know, that makes me happy.”
Blowing off the the ‘supergroup’ title, Boecker says: “We never really gave ourselves the name of supergroup,” revealing that he and the band never felt any added pressure to perform in light of ‘supergroup’ suggestions.
“The only pressure I really felt was the same pressure I feel whenever I’m working with any project, which is just to try and be as true to the ideas for songs that I have and to express them in a way that’s as pure as possible.” “I basically just turned into 13-year-old me, I was so excited. And fucking David Letterman, I mean who could complain about something like [that]!” – Dan Boeckner
From the way Boeckner speaks about the idea of pressure, it is clear that it is something that only marginally affects Divine Fits. “I think if bands put any other external pressure on themselves besides that,” namely, ideals like truth and purity of their music.
“You know, like looking cool, impressing the right people, or if they worry about how people perceive them, then the music starts to suffer.”
Featuring on The Late Show With David Letterman last November not only showcased Divine Fits’ incredible music to a national television audience, but also allowed the co-frontman to live a childhood dream of his: “I remember I used to obsessively get high and watch bands play on Letterman,” he reveals.
“Just sit in my basement and just think about how I so badly wanted to be in a band and play for anybody.”
Fast-forward to many years and many musical endeavors later, and Boeckner was playing with a band, but this time for everybody, not just for anybody.
“When we were actually on Letterman, I basically just turned into 13-year-old me, I was so excited. And fucking David Letterman, I mean who could complain about something like David Letterman!”
According to Boeckner, the process of creating A Thing Called Divine Fits was quite structured, especially the work between himself and Britt Daniel. “I would write something, bring it to him, he would arrange it and I would work on it again.”
“It was very regimented,” he says of their “I really appreciated that, it wasn’t just getting fucked up and, you know, jamming.”
Boeckner says he preferred this strcutre, “I’ve got a lot of respect for that work ethic so I finally found a group that I could do that, and not be ostracized for doing it.”
Creating the record was a worthwhile project to the band as a whole, but most specifically to Boeckner, who had just moved away from Canada and was going through a rough time. “Being in the band really helped me and I just kind of threw myself into writing. It was actually a really positive experience for me.”
At first, finding artwork A Thing Called Divine Fits was difficult, with suggestions being bantered back and forth, until Daniel came forward with his idea. “Britt sent this painting of a cherry…” recalls Boeckner. “I loved it. As soon as I saw it, that was that, it just kind of spoke to us.”
He explains himself, “If you go to the pound, or the animal shelter, and there’s one puppy that’s clearly more adorable than the other puppies? That was how I felt when I saw [it].”
So what does the future hold for Divine Fits? “We’re working on new songs right now and after we’ve finished touring this album, we’ll start working on the next one.”
A Thing Called Divine Fits is out now through EMI, read the Tone Deaf review here. Divine Fits play Laneway Festival this February, details here, and tickets available from lanewayfestival.com.au. They also play two special sideshows in February, dates below.
Divine Fits Australian Tour 2013
Tickets: http://www.handsometours.com
Monday, 4th February – Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Wednesday, 6th February – Manning Bar, Sydney
