Interview with Con and the Mongols

So I know I've been incredibly stingy with updating this but I've been super busy with school and stuff, I've hardly had anytime to do anything. But I've figured out how to manage my time a bit better so I'm back and I have a few bands already lined up.



Con and the Mongols is a four-piece band from Medina, Ohio. I've been trying to get an interview out of them for some time now but their college and recording schedules have been pretty hectic but horray for them for managing to fit me in. They're song Doves on Fire is my most played on my iTunes at the moment and they're way worth a listen. They list Mogwai, Interpol and Modest Mouse as some of their influences and they're good for those who like those bands.


E-Minor: Who am I talking to?

Drew,….

And Sam!

Ben.


E-Minor: So you guys are working on your first album. Where does the recording process start?

Ben: There are three easy steps to recording an album. First, you must write songs. Second, you must sit on them for about three years while being semi-serious about being a band. Third, you must realize that recording in a studio can be relatively inexpensive. Fourth, you postpone the release date of your album for half a year when you realize how long the recording process actually takes (especially with one guitarist studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland while everyone else is in Ohio). Fifth, you write new songs when everyone gets back and put those on the album as well. And sixth, make sure you don’t overplay your own songs looking to improve them to the point where you question whether or not anyone else would even want to hear them. There’s probably some other steps in there, but that’s my definitive guide to making an album.

Drew: Well, after practicing the songs with and without singing numerous times we pretty much dive right in by recording the music once in the studio (we practice the song without singing so that we can lay instruments down as a full band and then overdub the vocals). Despite all the practice, we have on occasion changed things around and added or dropped parts while recording.

Sam: After recording, we sit around in the studio and listen to the same song over and over again until we’re at each other’s throats.


E-Minor: Your myspace says that you change your instrument line up from song to song. Does that mean your all multi-talented?

Drew: I mean we are all kind of a big deal…

Sam: It really just means we like to experiment with different sounds and genres. Whether we’re a big deal or not, the way that I play guitar is different from the way that Ben plays guitar, and each has its place in different songs.

Ben: We play various instruments on various occasions, on the album you will hear mandolin and recorder in addition to the standard four-piece rock setup of bass, drums, guitar, and three vocalists. Our live shows have generally been limited with regards to the number of instruments we’re able to use just based on the quality of sound systems of the venues in the area, how well each sound guy knows the sound systems at the venue he’s working, the fact that more microphones increase the problem of feedback (additional microphones are quite necessary for acoustic instruments), and the fact we have to lug everything around ourselves doesn’t help either (it’s not fun lugging around a bunch of band equipment and then a bunch of other instruments you’ll only use once or twice in a show). You will see various instruments from us in future songs because we’re never satisfied with sticking to a particular genre or sound and we just make music as we hear it.


E-Minor: In a no holds barred battle to the death, who would be victorious: Simon or Garfunkel?

Drew: Garfunkel-his wily shape will be the deciding factor.

Sam: After recounting Paul Simon’s successful solo career, Garfunkel will burst into a fit of jealous rage that will lead him victorious.

Ben: I could only hope that they would stop, and put on another reunion show.


E-Minor: Who is Con, why does he have Mongols and is he single?

Sam: We all would like to think we’re Con, but really each of us is just another Mongol.

Ben: I haven’t been keeping up on my Mongolian politics, but Con is actually an intentional misspelling of the word Khan (meaning ruler, as in Ghengis Khan) which is meant to imply a rather un-clever play on words when you say “Con and the Mongols” fast. So... I cannot tell you if the current Khan is single or if there is even a current Khan, but perhaps some lucky lady out there is in for a surprise.


E-Minor: Jason has a pretty sweet Jar-Jar action figure. Where'd he get it?

Drew: It is actually my little brother’s.

Ben: Our practice space has been Drew’s basement for the past two years. Up until we did some remodeling this past summer, there were a bunch of old toys from Drew and his little brothers in cluttering up the room. Jar-Jar just happened to become one of Jason’s favorite toys to play with while he wasn’t raiding Drew’s family’s cabinets for food.

Sam: I came down the steps one day to find Jason with it, but never any explanation as to where it came from…


E-Minor: So whats up with 'A Lazy Sway' and why did you decide to do it?

Sam: I used to write songs with parts just for my guitar and vocals and then I’d bring them to the band for them to fill in everything else. Mongol songs are still made that way occasionally. I guess ‘A Lazy Sway’ was my outlet for those naked songs- before they evolved with the rest of the Mongols. Langston Hughes coined the phrase ‘A Lazy Sway’ in one of his poems about a lonely blues player; I thought it was apt.


E-Minor: I know you guys keep pushing back the album release date, but as of now, when should we expect it?

Drew: Depending on how quickly the turnaround time is on the physical production of the CDs, we should have our first 1000 done by mid-February.


E-Minor: And how can people listen to your music?

Our myspace (www.myspace.com/conandthemongols), concerts, and of course our upcoming debut album.