The 25 piece orchestral pop band The Polyphonic Spree are packing their robes and heading out on a brief two-week tour in support of their sophomore album "Together We're Heavy." The Dallas-based ensemble are scheduled to play Washington, D.C. on August 16th.
Tim DeLaughter, singer and founder of The Polyphonic Spree, was online Wednesday, Aug. 11, at 4 p.m. ET to take questions on the group, their new album and their current tour.
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
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Tim DeLaughter: I am sitting in a van that is facing a stage outside and we are doing a sound-check -- just to let you people out there know what is going on right now. My band is on stage and I am talking to you fine folks. I am in Nashville, Tenn.
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Colorado Springs, Colo.:
Great job on the last record. Love it!
Are most people in the band supporting themselves with the band alone or do people have to have "day jobs" to help make ends meet?
Tim DeLaughter: We are able to support ourselves by the band alone because we tour so much, but there are people in the band that have employers who work with them as far as letting them come and go. Hope that answers your question.
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Alexandria, Va.:
Will you have bubbles and balloons at the upcoming show at the 9:30 club?
Tim DeLaughter: No, we will not. We bring enough spirit and festivities to carry away the balloons and bubbles. We don't need no stinkin' balloons and bubbles.
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Woodland Park, Colo.:
I love the new record even more than the first one. I have seen you three times. It's seems difficult to replicate the live sound onto the record. With 25 people in the band, how do you go about recording? Do a bunch of you get together in the studio or is it more of a singular process with each person recording there own part?
Tim DeLaughter: We all get into the studio together as one band and we play together at first to get the vibe and feeling right. We then put down the drums, bass, and piano and gradually bring in other groups separately. We build on it, but initially the whole band is in the recording studio.
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Anonymous:
It looks like you have started to move towards the "artist in residency" status you were discussing on the recent albums DVD - having the band set up shop at a theater for a few nights, instead of traveling to a new venue every day. From a cursory glance at your schedule you have at least two nights in every city except D.C.
1)Why are you not playing a second show in D.C.?
2)What do you see as the benefits to setting down temporary roots in a city and playing more than one night?
Tim DeLaughter: It is logistically a lot easier to set up shop rather than tearing down on a nightly basis. That is why we are hoping to get to that goal.
As far as D.C. - the promoter only wanted to do one show. We wanted two but the promoter thought we could only sell out one. It was really out of our hands.
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New York, N.Y.:
Why the ridiculously monotonous drone at the end of The Beginning Stages of…? Love the album, hate the drone.
Tim DeLaughter: I just wanted to fill the space up of that CD. For me personally I thought, “you know, we are in there, we are in the studio, lets fill up the CD.” That wasn’t intended to be an album, it was just for us to get shows. My wife came up with using four octaves of my voice that were sampled 11 years ago. I actually fell asleep when I did it. I have only heard it all the way through once. There are some people who only like that part of the record, if you can believe it.
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Arlington, Va.:
Tim, I'm really enjoying the new album, and look forward to seeing the show on Monday. A question for you: the new album is clearly meant to build on The Beginning Stages Of... Not only in track names, but by echoing some of the first album's musical themes at various points.
I realize it may be much too early to start talking about your next album, but if you have considered it, do you envision the PS's catalog continuing to build on itself in this same way? Or do you think that continuing to develop the same themes would eventually stop paying off, and that your next cycle of songs is less likely to relate so directly to its predecessor?
Tim DeLaughter: I think we are at the mercy of our own musical evolution at this point. I have no idea what the next record is going to be. I am always going to keep them connected. When I started the group I meant to have documentation of this from the very beginning – and if you were going to own any Polyphonic record you needed to own them all to understand it. They don’t necessarily need to pick up from one record to the next, I think the charm is seeing the difference sonically and trying to figure out the band.
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McLean, Va.:
Loved you guys on "Scrubs"--what a nice surprise that was to see y'all there. Was that a fun experience? Do you think you'd ever do a guest spot on TV again?
Tim DeLaughter: It was a fantastic experience and we would love to do TV again. We will do it anytime anybody asks.
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Dayton, Ohio:
Are you registered to vote and who are you going to vote for?
Tim DeLaughter: Of course I am registered to vote. I have been registered to vote for many years now and I am voting for Kerry.
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washingtonpost.com:
Tim had to step away for soundcheck but will return to continue answering your questions as soon as he is able.
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Anonymous:
How's the sound check going?
Tim DeLaughter: The sound check looks to be going great and I am now back from it. It was fantastic. We sound-checked 2000 Places and We Sound Amazed.
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Arlington, Va.:
What are your feelings on what happened with Lollapalooza this summer?
Tim DeLaughter: I was disappointed. I was really looking forward to playing with all those bands and meeting all the different fans that come with those bands. But it did give us a chance to set up our own residency tour, which we are really trying to get towards.
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Atlanta, Ga.:
What year and make of car do you drive?
Tim DeLaughter: I drive two cars. I have a 1990 Volvo and a 2001 Volkswagen Euro Van for my kids.
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Bowie, Md.:
About the robes... do the colors symbolize anything?
Tim DeLaughter: The robes just symbolize that we are a colorful band and are unified by all these colors.
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Manassas, Va.:
As insulting as it maybe, I have never heard of this band before today. To a first time listener, if you could pick any one song, which would you recommend?
Tim DeLaughter: Section 10 on The Beginning Stages…
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Oslo, Norway:
Are you excited to play the letterman show?
What track are you going to play?
Tim DeLaughter: I am very excited about playing David Letterman and we are playing Hold Me Now off of Together We Are Heavy. Do they get Letterman in Norway?
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Bethesda, Md.:
Do you recruit new band members or do they generally come to you? And do any minorities ever show interest in joining the band?
Tim DeLaughter: Yes, they all come to us. That is basically how the band has gotten together.
We did have an African-American who played Tuba who approached the band and was going to do it, but at the last minute he had to move back to East Texas where he went to teach at a school. But we really don't have that many minorities approaching us to be in the band.
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San Antonio, Tex.:
Any outside chance of the 'spree doing Austin City Limits 2004? I was lucky enough to be up front for the show at ACL '03 and it was incredible! More people need to have the privilege.
Tim DeLaughter: Unfortunately we are not doing it this year, but we did just do the television show Austin City Limits and that should be coming out in November.
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L'Enfant Plaza, Washington, D.C.:
Hi Tim!
I love your music and was wondering if The Spree ever cover Tripping Daisy songs? 'My Umbrella' is one of my all time faves!
Cheers
Tim DeLaughter: You never know, I was tossing around the idea of doing the entire album Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb, but we have yet to do one. You never know.
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Anonymous:
Is ANYONE shooting a film on the group as you tour yet? It seems like a natural subject for a rock-documentary. How strained do relations get when 25 people are crammed in a bus together?
Tim DeLaughter: Well, we have been documenting from the very beginning -- from the very first time we had people over to my house to play. It is very interesting behind the scenes. The fact that we are able to pull this off is a miracle. Maybe one day we will do the documentary for the world to see.
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San Francisco, Calif.:
What have you and the band been listening to recently?
Tim DeLaughter: Joanna Newsom and Percy Faith. I don't know what the other people have been listening to.
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Bethesda, Md.:
What it like working with David Bowie?
Tim DeLaughter: It was an amazing experience. He is very supportive of our group and gets what we are about. He is such a contributing artist and I was in awe to watch him work.
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Music City, USA:
Hey. I'd love to go see you all tonight at the Uptown Mix, but I have a 3-week old baby, and I think my wife would think I was joining a cult if I told her I where I was going. Hope the show goes well and the weather holds up for you. It's looking a little cloudy right now. PS - I like the game on the website.
Tim DeLaughter: You are being good father, so keep up the good work. We will catch you next time. You can always listen to the record. And you are right… it is looking a little cloudy, but knowing our band we will probably bring the sun out.
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Arlington, Va.:
I'm a fan after recently hearing your previous album, but I'm curious how such an unconventional band developed its following without much radio play (at least here). Word-of-mouth? Lots of touring? I must admit I first heard of the Spree from the I-Pod commercial and the guest spot on Scrubs!
Tim DeLaughter: It has all been word and mouth -- living and breathing human beings talking about their experience either listening to the record or seeing us live or drinking the Koolaid.
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Denver, Colo.:
I love the short film on the bonus DVD in the new record? Is that your son ("Little Charlie")?
Any thoughts on releasing a live record?
Tim DeLaughter: Yes that is my son Oscar. And yeah, we are thinking about doing a live record as we speak. So you will probably hear from us. There are also various bootlegs of the band around if you are interested -- just hope it is a good one.
Thank you, I have to go. Appreciate all the questions. Thanks for listening to our group. I am just really happy to be alive right now. Thanks for being a part of it. See you later.
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