ZapTown

For a lucky few and a rare moment in life, all it takes is word of mouth for a band to become successful. For Cymbals Eat Guitars, it was Pitchfork labeling Why There Are Mountains “Best New Music” earlier this year for everyone to stop what they were doing, turn their heads, and go “Huh?”

For Matthew Miller, the band’s drummer, the whole experience has been surreal yet extremely gratifying.

“Meeting everyone at the right place at the right time really worked to our advantage,” he said.

Neil Berenholz, bassist, chimed in, “Everything simply revolved around random occurences. It’s magic!”

Pre-show meditation at The Volrath. (From left) Mathew Miller, Neil Berenholz, Joe D'Agostino, and Brian Hamilton. Photo by Gary Mead.

Magic or not, when Cymbals Eat Guitars — a name that serves as a homage to New York City counter-culture and referenced from a quote Lou Reed was saying about how rock bands should be recorded — they knew no one.

After they established themselves as a band, they knew the first step before pushing themselves out into the public was to have a product to act as a catalyst. So they wrote a collection of songs, went into the studio and recorded Why There Are Mountains on their own.

“We did things backwards in the studio. We had the tools at our disposal to do layer on top of layer. When it came time to do it, we got everything live,” said Berenholz.

With the help of the Wrens’ Charles Bissel, a demo was made, which caught the attention of Kyle “Slick” Johnson (Modest Mouse and The Hives) to record the final product.

With this process, the band did not feel pressured in any sort of way and allowed them to do exactly what they wanted to do with their music.

“Our idea was that the record was completed when we got it done,” said vocalist Joe D’Agostino.

Once the risk was taken and the album was completed, the band did everything they could to get it out into the music world.

“We threw it on a torrent and physically hyped it to practically thousands of people,” said D’Agostino. “Neil worked on getting it into record stores like Rough Trade and Piccadilly Records oversees.”

After these internationally-known record shops heard the album, it practically sold itself. But back in the states they had a lot of work ahead of them.

“From the time up to the Pitchfork review, it gave us time to figure things out and learn how to do things ourselves,” D’Agostino said.

And once things happened, they happened fast. Tours were planned, an official album release date was set beyond their DIY touting, and they had to fill the keyboard shoes with someone who could keep up the pace. Enter Brian Hamilton.

“I’m like the baby in the band,” he said about being the youngest. “I played in other bands around Brooklyn, but one day, out of the blue, I received a call to audition with Cymbals Eat Guitars. I liked their music and thought what the heck, I didn’t have anything else to do at the time.”

The band liked what Hamilton could dish out, and like everything else in the band’s unintentional philosophy, things quickly fell into place.

The band hangs out down the street from The Volrath trying out one of the houses. Photo by Gary Mead.

A summer jam packed with touring both intimate clubs and monstrous festivals, the band members don’t plan to slow down anytime soon and will eventually make it back into the studio to record another album that fits their liking. For now Why There Are Mountains will be released September 22 on Sister Den Records.

“Looking back, the album is really a snapshot of ourselves at the time,” said Berenholz. “We just wanted to make the best possible recording we could.”

Links:

Cymbals Eat Guitars: http://www.myspace.com/cymbalseatguitars