The frenetic pace at which John Dwyer and his band of brothers perform is only matched by the torrent of work they produce. For almost thirty years, the San Franciscan outfit has released nearly as many records as they have had years in the game.
The unyielding drive to work and work hard has resulted in a staggering number of records and an equally impressive tally of frequent flyer points. Circumnavigating the globe countless times and blowing the minds of audiences from around the world, very little of their modus operandi has changed since their inception. In part because art is never-ending and in part because the daily horrors that confront the senses never cease, so throwing art at hate becomes a tireless occupation. And with that perpetual pursuit comes a legion of fans and activists willing to share the same goal.
Hi John, and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology.
Your latest record, Abomination Revealed At Last, couldn’t be more apt in terms of what you confront across its twelve tracks. Highlighting the unfolding genocide in Gaza, the collapse of environmental systems around the globe, abuses of governmental power, and the exponential runaway effect of unmetered technocracy. Each facet derives from a bloated, individualist, and self-driven greed that creates a bottomless well from which you can draw energy and channel those injustices into a suitably motivating battle cry for the world to hear. How did you set about condensing such immense and complex topics and crystallizing that in sound?
Well, I’ve mentioned before about these songs that this is low-hanging fruit.
I’m not on social media personally, and I’m even bombarded by all the abysmal shit happening around the globe and in the states.
Every day you wake up and prepare yourself to take it right in the face and try not to go numb.
So I think all artists right now can empathize with these mentioned atrocities always being over your head.
Always rotating in our minds.
If you are a songwriter, this is how you expunge the darkness.
Trying to rally a call among music fans to be aware and to pay attention within their scope of reason.
I feel like we are living in a time that will be looked back on with much disdain.
So, in short, it’s not hard to harness the disgust; it’s harder to put it in a way that isn’t just whingeing. To offer a solution that I think is just as simple as humans need to pay attention to themselves and be empathetic to others. But that feels like a dying art right now. Selfishness is peak right now.
As you mature as individuals and evolve as artists, how has the subject matter you tackle – and your attitude towards it – changed, and what aspects have remained unchanged from the inception of the band?
Well, I’m a grown ass man now
So it is inevitable that I stop watching cartoons and start watching “the news”.
It sucks, but it is what it is.
As an adult, your plate should be more about everyone and less about me, me, me.
But not so much the case these days, I’m afraid.
What underlying principles have you stuck to that help foster the creative propellant to keep making new music?
Well moderation. And I say that with a pinch of salt.
I have always been and will always be an addict.
Whether that’s drugs or booze or work.
I’ve moved fast since I was a kid.
So now it’s time to try to pay attention to my brain and body and make sure I can keep it up.
Prolly not.
But worth paying attention to.
It’s easy for me to make art because I still love to.
Art is a real-world representation of an emotion expelled, and I think that it is beautiful and cathartic.
It’s like excessive.
The more you keep it in your life, the more you are likely to be able to deal with all the horse shit.
With a bewildering back catalogue, your prolific output is akin to Guided By Voices or King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, and in producing such voluminous works at such a prodigious regularity, do you see each work as a tiny snapshot of you and your world at that given moment or more so an attempt for music to simply keep up with your racing creativity?
It’s always about the next thing for me.
So yeah, they are stills from a time.
It’s always interesting to look back and think, “God I was such an idiot a week ago”.
The energy each member brings to the stage and the band as a whole is immense. How does that individual drive feed the Osees machine that makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts?
We try to be comfortable on the road.
Not being kids anymore, no one wants to be totally hungover or sleep on a floor.
Needless to say, Holiday Inn loves me.
Every part of the band is absolutely necessary to perform this set of songs live.
If that were to change the band would have to mutate again.
Are there other areas along the artistic and creative spectrum that you enjoy, which, although not directly related to music, stimulate you to return with new directions and apply them to the next album?
I love it all.
Cinema, visual art, literature.
I’m a total nerd for all the things
I’m so grateful I found this out young before I became a total tool.
Tirelessly touring and performing a staggering number of shows each year, in what ways have you noticed the micro changes in your stage craft over the years, compared to the broader approach you take in performing and touring on the back of a new release?
It’s always baby steps.
We’ve grown so slowly, like a tree in the breeze.
We always say “slow and steady”.
I’m not tripping to make it there fast.
That always seemed like the shit way to do things.
Fame seems like a weight to me.
So I’m happy we’ve managed to stay afloat in our fan base and do these shows year after year.
We’re fortunate to be where we are.
Given the number of artists and musicians you have worked with over the years, have there been any words of wisdom spoken to you during that time which really resonated with you that in turn altered the way you approach your craft?
Ha not really.
But its always good to meet someone you admire and they aren’t a shit.
Happens sometimes.
No names.
Can you share with us some of your touring highlights and performances that rank high in the all time memorable gigs you have performed and the reasons that made them so special?
Coachwhips played a lot of whackadoo joints.
On top a pile of rubble at The Smell in LA years ago.
Bathrooms, rooftops, in vans.
I have fond memories of these shows, but glad they are over too.
What you give to music is clear but what does music give you that nothing else does?
Relief and a purpose when all else fails.
