Newcity Chicago: Pillars and Tongues
Published by: Newcity Chicago
Date: March 13, 2009
Format: Web (www.music.newcity.com)
Type: Music Feature
Tongue Lashing: Pillars and Tongues and open space
“There are certain moments in art or music that are beyond good, beyond incredible, that are sort of like magical things or things that seem to be beyond the people creating them,” says Mark Trecka of Pillars and Tongues, regarding influences of various artistic mediums that can be attributed to shaping the band’s sound.
There is an organic feeling that resonates in Pillars and Tongues’ music. The band uses mostly acoustic instruments, among them upright bass, violin, clarinet, shakers and many more percussive elements. The use of natural reverb and the lack of compression and effects lends to a sound that I can only describe as a more natural one, like walking barefoot down a dirt road.
“Protection,” the band’s latest release and debut on Chicago’s Contraphonic label, was recorded in just three days, but was a much longer time in the making. “Some of the songs that we recorded for that record were a year old, and some of the stuff that was on that record was improvised in the studio,” says Trecka. Much of the elements that, when put together, make up Pillars and Tongues’ songs are “something born out of improvisation. We’ll play it. Then, we’ll play it in various contexts and eventually its mate will come along in the form of another scene or another idea, and we’ll have a little ceremony and marry them together.”
On Tuesday, Pillars and Tongues will play at the Empty Bottle, a show that will kick off a tour in which the band will open for Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. “Some of the venues that we will have the opportunity to be performing at will be like big, beautiful halls with high ceilings,” says Trecka. “I think we’re really quite excited about that. I’ve also never played in the wilds of western Canada.”