VIDEO INTERVIEW: 65daysofstatic (Paul Wolinski and Joe Shrewsbury) at the Beat Kitchen, Chicago

"65daysofstatic is 65daysofstatic."

Anyone with whom I've talked has probably experienced my compulsion to over-examine  every thought that I express (usually at the expense of a conversation's natural flow), carefully assembling literal and figurative language to ensure that each thought is conveyed as efficiently and accurately as possible.  Well, during the past three weeks, England's ......... *sigh* "instrumental post-rock" band 65daysofstatic has been a damn baffling spouse, putting my expressive skills to the test.  I have listened to their entire [studio] discography multiple times, shuffled as well as chronologically, and read almost every written piece concerning the group.  But after a long, unsuccessful voyage through a labyrinth of rhetoric and a several botched elaborate metaphors, the best description of 65daysofstatic that I could find is the tautological statement found at the beginning of this editorial as well as written in the liner notes of their Wild Light album, released this year via Superball.  

Sure, 65day plays "instrumental post-rock" and have all the qualifying characteristics:  dramatic crescendos; grandiose soundscapes synonymous with the word "epic"; having at least one Godspeed or Sigur Ros album appear in the "Customers Also Bought Items By" section with their supporters frequenting Amazon.com. However, explore the 65days catalogue and you will find that these attributes only comprise a relatively small percentage of their musical prowess.   It's everything else that guards them from the casualties of a regrettably overpopulated corner of post-genre art.  The meticulous juxtaposition of live and programmed drums/percussion produces a sound that ranges from an Air, or even Delerium-like pulse to a relentless drumandbass mania that probably has a genealogical connection to Ed Rush & Optical somehow.  The quartet's constant love affair with odd time signatures and rhythmic syncopation (their use of rubato being a personal favorite) spices a thick  atmosphere with enough solid progressive technicality to firmly place them in the "math rock" niche.  Meanwhile, a persistent sense of melodic familiarity keeps the craziness accessible, whether articulated through the guitar-driven rock of earlier 65days albums or the more synth-focused electronic style that roughly began with their 2010 album We Were Exploding Anyway (which even features Robert Smith of The Cure providing vocals for the track "Come to Me").  All this, as well as their stated intention of writing music that can be reproduced on stage with the same frenetic intricacy as the studio, was quite apparent as they performed such favorites as "Radio Protector" (One Time for All Time, 2005) and "Taipei" (Wild Light, 2013) for a sold-out crowd at Beat Kitchen in Chicago, before which I was given the opportunity to interview Paul Wolinski and Joe Shrewsbury of 65daysofstatic.

Cinematographer/Costume Designer/Key Grip - Coy Scottberg

-DMJ