Texas band Explosions in the Sky have been churning out brilliantly arranged, soul touching post rock melodies for the last twelve years, and with their sixth album out and an Australian tour in December, they have something to say. Tone Deaf’s Tom Gaffney had a chat with lead guitarist Munaf Rayani to discuss the success of the album, among other things.
Hey Munaf. I’m a massive fan of your work, especially Explosion’s latest album. How did you find the reception?
So far, so good! We just had an enjoyable tour around America to promote Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, and we were mostly greeted with warm hearts, which is very special to us.
I’ve heard that you guys don’t label your music ‘post-rock’, contrary to how most listeners would describe you as. How would you describe your sound?
Yeah, that’s true. For a while we just said we were under the ‘rock’ genre, but I want to change that. More recently, I’ve been thinking we’re ‘soul music’.
I can see how that’s fitting. It seems like you guys have really taken off over your career and are now cited as one of the most popular instrumental bands. Did you ever imagine this to happen?
Not in a million years! When we were 16, 17, 18 years of age we just started playing the music we together agreed we really wanted to play. We were maybe hoping to do a US tour later in the band’s life, but we never imagined that this would happen. I wouldn’t say we’re one of the most popular. Bands like Mogwai and Mono are pretty popular too.
You guys are playing the Meredith Music Festival at the end of this year. Are you guys excited to play in Australia?
Yeah, absolutely. I’ve had a look at Meredith and it seems like a really interesting festival. We can’t wait.
What are your favourite festivals to play?
Ahh, we have so many. There’s a festival called Primavera Sound in Spain. That festival is beautiful. There’s also one called End of the Road which is based in the United Kingdom. That’s a three day festival and you can just walk around and see all these really amazing artists. There’s definitely something special about that festival.
Your latest album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, was released with a really nice special edition that folds out into a flatpack of sorts. Is this Explosions’ way of combatting piracy?
Not at all. We work with an artist who we’ve all been friends with since childhood. He had this amazing idea for the album artwork and we all developed it together.
– Tom Gaffney
Explosions In The Sky will tour Australia in December (check the dates here) while they’re in the country for the sold out Meredith Music Festival. Their new album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is out now on EMI.
