I got a chance to ask The Draco Volans a few (5) questions last year, it’s fun to ask five more to celebrate their second EP. The vibe is great and I’m thrilled to hear that they are playing live shows. Now we’ve just got to get them to the Twin Cities!
Congrats on Fever Dreams, your second EP (as this iteration). We spoke about the debut release a little more than a year ago. How does this one feel different to you?
It feels completely different. The first EP took years to make. I was teaching myself how to record at home while writing the songs. Fever Dreams came about in about 6 months after we put together the live act. Austin our singer/bass player brought in some songs he had. It was much more collaborative. We also got an ARAC grant to record at some nice studios around town. So pretty much every part of the experience was drastically different. That being said, it does still sound like The Draco Volans to me.
In a weird way I feel like Why Is No One Stopping Me (new album) is a follow-up or response to Tripping Up Again (debut album). I could make some guesses but, I’ll just ask if there is any connection.
Similar vibe for sure. Both songs will get your head nodding to the beat. But I wrote TUA and Austin wrote WINSM. Again the production was different but I’m glad there are connections to be found between the two EPs.
Big Tornado caught me from the start with the pace and intensity. Or maybe this seems to have more punk seeds than other songs. What inspired that vibe?
I’ve had that bass riff forever. I honestly don’t remember writing it but I’ll never let go of a good riff. After years of trying to write cool, slick Arctic Monkeys style lyrics to go along with it, I decided let’s just let the guitars do most of the talking. At practice our drummer Antonio made a random comment about what the song placeholder name BT should stand for. I thought it was funny so I ran with it. The ‘lyrics’ ended up being simple and dumb and fun.
Please tell me more about the Sound of Yellow? It’s a chill song and I wonder which came first, the music of the lyrics or was it the idea of the sound of yellow?
That’s another Austin song. The melody came first and then he challenged himself to “write lyrics with a positive vibe for a change.” Being along for the ride of Austin writing songs is so interesting for me. He knows so much about music theory and can play so many instruments. He wanted flute on TSOY. So I said I’d look for a flute player. He was like, “nah I got it.”
Last time we spoke, you thought it might be a hot minute before you were going to be playing live shows. In fairness, it has been a hot minute but it sounds like that’s happening. Can you tell us how that feels? And about any upcoming shows?
It’s been quite the process. It takes a minute to learn someone else’s musical language. Like I’ll bring out basic tabs for a new song while Austin will write out full sheet music. We like the same stuff but our brains just work differently. It’s been feeling better every gig we play. I think now that the pressure of the EP release is off we are having more fun with it than ever. Our next gig is December 6th at this rad venue called The Grodge here in Duluth!
Mostly Minnesota 