On Juggling Designing Pedals With Band Commitments

"I've been more and more into younger bands," Oliver Ackermann of A Place To Bury Strangers observes. "I really like tonnes of old music of course, but there's something that's completely new and refreshing when you're seeing something unlike anything you've ever heard or seen before. Some of these bands are really making something cool happen and I think there's a bunch of underground bands that are doing that kind of stuff. 

"Obviously there's people rehashing some sort of old ideas, but the stuff which excites me the most is something [whereby] you're just completely surprised and floored by something that's new. Hopefully that's what everybody's kind of searching for. [However], I'm not really excited about a band who is just as wacky and weird as possible, just for the sake of it. It has to have some sort of direction." 

"There's definitely times when I don't have any time to build effects pedals 'cause the band is really busy."

It's the innate belief there are perpetually fresh phrasings and interpretations of long-held notions to be uncovered, or a new energy that can breathe life into convention that helps spur on the Brooklyn-founded outfit. Their psychedelic-infused, shoegazing rock can also be inextricably linked with the outfit's other ventures, namely effect pedal company Death By Audio and the associated, now defunct DIY venue/artists' workspace.

When he takes The Music's call, Ackermann's been working on pedal designs. "I get to just do whatever I want," he marvels, "make crazy stuff and people want to buy it. But it's been a long time coming. We built it from the ground up... Playing in the band and all sorts of stuff, at least we get to do what we love to do, so it's not bad work. Both of those things sort of feed off of each other and help each other out. I still get the opportunity to do both, but there's definitely times when I don't have any time to build effects pedals 'cause the band is really busy. But that helps and is fun, to be a change of pace."

The band's uncompromising reputation for sheer eardrum-punishing volume when performing live precedes them, which must be troublesome to maintain on a nightly basis. The frontman admits there's often "resistance between venues and shows". "That's what's exciting," he continues. "If you feel, like, worn down and messed up or something, that's what strives you; pushes you to go further and keep things exciting. I guess when things sort of get to be comfortable is when it's, like, you get bored of it or something. So we try to just keep it as non-comfortable as much as possible."

Was performing at near-deafening decibel levels an early objective? "Not really, it was really just creating music to be what we just liked to listen to. I guess I just played in a lot of loud bands and at some point discovered that was what I really loved. I loved to hear the sound of crazy, loud bass and tonnes of feedback. It wasn't necessarily such a goal [so] much as a taste that was just enjoyable. So you run with it and go with those things, and as time goes on I guess you like things even crazier and more insane."