Explosions in the Sky: "We definitely don’t want to do any sort of George Lucas tinkering with the past"

Twelve years is a long time in the music business; long enough to break many a lesser band. Thankfully, Explosions in the Sky haven’t plummeted through the trapdoor, but with the writing of their latest album they came close enough.

“We did a lot of touring behind the last record and we’re not a band that can write when we’re on tour, it’s just impossible for us,” drummer Chris Hrasky explains of the time since 2007’s All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone. “But then there were other things; I had a family member who had gotten sick so I was dealing with that and it derailed us for a while; one of the guys in the band had a couple of kids so obviously that changed his life. Then a lot of it was just us working on stuff and not really coming up with anything we really liked. There were several months spent frustrated, like ‘whatever, we’re done’; not even that depressed, just ‘well guys, it’s been fun. We had a great run.’”

All of this transpired to be a bump in the road for the Texan outfit. “We just took a few months off to not even think about music and then got back together, says Hrasky. “Over the course of a few months we wrote the record so the little hiatus seemed to work for us.” The result is Take Care, Take Care, Take Care – an album which aficionados may come to regard as a significant turning point in the band’s catalogue, still as emotionally wrought but possessing a new, more focused musicality or, as Chris aptly puts it, “it’s a little less obvious.”

”I think that’s something we’ve maybe fallen into in the past,” he elaborates. “For this one we tried to make a more dense record, one that was more mysterious. But also, we tried to make a more layered record. Before, it’s always been just the four of us playing in a room, setting up some mics essentially. This one was a lot more of a studio record, where we made some kind of foundation and built from there; there’s a lot more going on.”

With this new dynamic and a revitalised spirit, the quartet decided that not only would they be taking new risks musically but also visually, marking the first time they’ve given the green light to making a music video. “We were just opposed,” Hrasky reasons against the industry standard. “I still feel a little weird about music videos. After I’ve seen one, I can’t help it but when I hear the song again, that’s all I see.”

Despite this avoidance of more obvious ubiquitous media, Explosions in the Sky’s step into the big leagues came in 2004 when prolific music supervisor Brian Reitzell (The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation) contacted the band to ask if they might be interested in assisting his score for American football drama Friday Night Lights, which many have now come to align with the band in lieu of any music video.

Hrasky is clear to draw a distinction between the two. “We were actively involved and were excited to do [that soundtrack]. It’s a little weird, because a lot of people then associate us with that movie and [subsequent] TV show, particularly in the States, which has its pluses and negatives. It’s been a way for a lot of people to find out about us, which has been great. It’s something we did almost 7 years ago, so it seems like ancient history to us but it’s still something people talk about.”

Then there’s the other bane of any band working with what’s perceived to be ‘atmospheric’ music (see Mogwai and Massive Attack’s IMDB.com profile for evidence), the creature that strikes revulsion in the hearts and bellies of independent artists the world over: scoring adverts.

It’s almost possible to hear Hrasky’s voice shuddering on the other side of the Atlantic at the mention of the subject. “We certainly don’t have a problem with soundtracking,” he affirms “but having songs in commercials is a little weird. Sometimes we were embarrassed with that stuff, in that this is our job. We have kids, it’s a way to make a living but it’s definitely a weird feeling; hearing your music that was written for a completely different, and much more personal, purpose being used in some other form is awkward. But it’s up to us, it’s always our decision.”

Despite an understandable reticence to see their music manipulated and contorted for commercial ends, Hrasky was fully behind the remix album that accompanied limited copies of the band’s previous full-length – an individual entity within its own right with artists as esteemed and varied as Four Tet and Jesu trying their hand at working with the Explosions blueprint.

“I love that remix record! I guess this is real bad to say, but in some ways I actually like the remix record more than the actual record”, he guiltily laughs, “Which is weird, ‘cause I’m not usually a big fan of remixes, but the people we got to do them changed the songs completely. The Four Tet mix, there was so much stuff; there were these crazy beats over it. We were huge Four Tet fans so it was a big deal to us.”

So, any plans for a repeat performance? “I don’t know if it’s something we would necessarily do again. It just depends on who wants to do it, it’s got to be someone we’re excited about. The idea hasn’t really come up for this record; we actually thought about remixing it ourselves, that could be a fun little project.”

It’s their devotion to spotlighting forward-thinking talent that has seen Explosions in the Sky touring with so many daring new bands ahead of the pack, from fellow collaborators Eluvium to multi-instrumental experimentalists Lichens, who’ll be joining them on their upcoming UK tour. So what makes a good touring partner? “Obviously we want to take someone along whose music we really respond to,” he patiently explains, “and it’s important that if you’re spending a lot of time with people, hopefully you’re going to have a support act that you get along with well. We’re lucky enough to have people who are extremely talented and who are also good friends of ours.”

Unanimous critical acclaim is a rarity in 2011, for all the polarising efforts of the blogosphere’s cool kids, but in Explosions’ case the critics are all too willing to reach a general consensus on an international level. This had led to statements ranging from the complimentary (“To speak emotions without words is impressive, and no band is better at it then EITS” – Redefine Magazine) to the noticeably more poetic (“a band whose music is as dramatic as finding hope” – Pitchfork). Can they do no wrong?

“The first record, half of it’s out of tune – we didn’t even know how to tune our instruments!” Hrasky reveals. “It’s a mess, just weird stuff going on in that record but that was what we were doing at the time. We definitely don’t want to do any sort of George Lucas tinkering with the past and trying to improve it because, as evidenced by him, that sort of thing never actually works.”

Music videos, film scores, George Lucas…we all know where this is going: the inevitable ‘cinematic’ tag. “These songs seem like they’re little stories, little soundtracks for movies almost, admits Hrasky “It’s rare that we can say ‘Oh, this song is actually about this.’ We keep it vague – the hope is that people make up their own stories.”