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Midway through False Priest, the latest
album from of Montreal, Kevin Barnes sings, How can
we ever evolve, when our gods are so primitive? The
answer may be found in Barnes own artistic career.
In some instances, people want artists to be
predictable, Barnes said. But Barnes art is notorious
for unpredictability. It can be kind of confusing to
people because they dont know what to make of
certain mutations. They can think of you as one thing,
and its what they like and it means something to
them, but then you change and they dont understand
it anymore. If you go to the grocery store and you
always get a certain kind of favorite peanut butter if
all of a sudden it tastes like salsa, youre going to be
upset, Barnes explained.
Barnes creativity is restless, and of Montreals
latest album, False Priest, is yet another unique
offering of spastic indie rock. In the of Montreal
canon, its difhcult to categorize, but Barnes wouldnt
have it any other way, I like to think of of Montreal
as a creative journey through my whole life. I want
to always hnd new inspiration to help me grow
artistically and change. Change is very important to
me.
Change has always been an integral part of
Barnes style, from his childhood interests to his
eventual explosion into glam-pop stardom. Barnes
recalled his initial hobbies as a kid: For whatever
reason I didnt have friends my own age. So Id do a
lot of role-playing, fantasy games by myself. Kevins
imaginative nature revealed itself early, though his
initial inclinations were not in art, but sports. Like for
football Id play by myself-being the announcer, and
the quarterback, and a defender and tackling myself.
His ability to imagine a situation and play
it out in his own head eventually led to music, It
was the same sort of deal. I didnt have any friends
who played the kind of music I wanted to play,
so I just had a cassette four-track and would put
songs together one instrument at a time and make
something closer to my own vision.
<=
Over the course of of
Montreals 15 year existence, it
becomes increasingly difhcult to
guess what new visions will emerge
from Barnes mind next.
of Montreal spent six years
being completely obscure. Wed only
get like 100 people at our shows,
Barnes said, In 2003 I had a sort of
rebirth on Polyvinyl, and came back
to life recording all these new kinds
of songs.
Thus began a new era of the
of Montreal spectacle. The bands
papier-mch and costumed live
shows recall the stage presence
enormity of the Flaming Lips, KISS
or David Bowie. We use tons of
money, but its worth it to us just
because its so fun, he explained.
But as big as of Montreal
has become in recent years,
Barnes is still strongly connected to
independent art. Just because were
a little more successful commercially,
its still not like being as successful
as Beyonce. Its still underground,
he said.
Barnes credits some of the
bands recent success to the digital
music revolution. "When we hrst
started, we were dehnitely as indie
as indie gets. But the only way youd
hear about us was because maybe
two or three magazines wrote about
our kind of music. The music we
were into was anachronistic in a
way. I mean, we were into vaudeville
and the Gershwin brothers; things
that people our age had no interest
in. Sure, maybe there were people
back then who wouldve been into
it, but how would they ever know?
Now with blogs, people are able to
transfer their interests with others
much quicker, and it can spread to
further reaches.
Combine that eccentric
musical style with fashion and
theatre, and of Montreal is one of the
most anomalous acts in the world.
Everything that were doing, we
never want it to seem too common.
Barnes explains his use of fashion
within of Montreal, "I dehnitely dont
want to go out on stage wearing
something that anybody could buy
at Sears But that other side of it,
like people who want to wear Dolce
& Gabbana like it matters to them,
thats so embarrassing to me. I like
to wear outhts by designers who are
working independently, and are just
passionate about what they do.
Barnes surrounded himself
with other talented artists for the
recording process of False Priest. The
album was co-produced by Jon Brion
(Kanye West, Fiona Apple, Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). It
was dehnitely intimidating, because
Im such a hack. Barnes admitted.
I can barely play any instrument,
but [Brion] knows how to play pretty
much any song hes ever heard. So if
I ask him, hey, play God Only Knows
on ukulele he will. Reminiscent of a
21
st
century Amadeus, Brion taught
Barnes about having a musicians
heart, Hes such a soulful player.
Its very eye-opening and inspiring,
it motivated me to become a better
musician and connect with music in a
deeper way.
<>
Just as inspiring to Barnes
was working with False Priests
guest vocalist and current tour
mate, Janelle Mone. I used
to be very suspicious of anyone
who was a virtuoso with their
instrument. Like, instead of playing
from the heart theyre just playing
intellectually, or something. I came
from a more cynical place, but
Janelle is not cynical at all. Its all
about positivity and empowering
ones self, and also taking great
pride in the production and
presentation. So it felt great to
meet someone like that who cares
so much about their art, and it
makes me think, ok, am I doing
that? How can I become a better
performer?
Mones sultry R&B style
rubbed off on Barnes too, My early
stuff was intentionally asexual.
But for the last, like, hve albums,
theyve been more sexually
inspired. I think its because a lot
of the music Ive been getting into
lately like funk, R&B and soul music
is very much a physical and sexual
style of music, so I guess it comes
across in of Montreal naturally.
Themes of sexuality in of
Montreal are more liberating than
naughty though, and Barnes desire
for human connection is propagated
though the spiritual messages
in False Priest. At least for me
growing up, the god of the Catholics
is not enlightened in any way. Its
very savage and cruel and small-
minded. And, this thing doesnt
even exist; its just this invention.
So why dont we care about each
other more? These sentiments
strike most bluntly during the
closing lines of the album: If you
think some prophets words are
more important than your brother
and your sister, youre ill and youre
wrong. The message is that we
care for each other. Thats the most
important thing. The concept of
spiritual obligation to some abstract
creator shouldnt be that important.
Barnes communal life is best
exemplihed in the art he shares
with people onstage. When Im
recording Im all by myself and I
feel like Im not really connecting
with the human race, Im in this
sort of bubble. But when we do
these live performances its very
much communal and collaborative.
Everyone I work with is my friends
and family, like my brother or
friends from years and years ago.
Its great for all of us to have
something to care about and focus a
lot of positive energy into.
Despite whoever happens
to be working with him, Kevin
Barnes of Montreal continues to be
a living work of art. I just really,
really love the creative process
how transportive and empowering
it is to take myself from someplace
mundane and boring, to somewhere
exciting.
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