| It’s hard, and kind of hugely
unjustified, to take a meat-cleaver to an entire genre. But as they go emo is
easy enough to parody and poke fun at. It can feel pre-packaged to the point of
uniformity, and giving one genre the blessing of emotion when it should be the
foundation of all just seems daft. But even if we’re wrong (which of course we’re
not) there is reason to give the debut album from Gratitude attention.
That reason being that Gratitude is partly the work of one Jonah Matranga,
who aside from once being in hot-to-drop emo band Far is the sole force
behind Onelinedrawing. ‘Volunteers’ was released last year under that guise
and was a hopelessly deep and exploratory work of great craft. It may have taken
the spirit of emo, its desire to bleed a little, but it stripped it down to its
malnourished bones and built it back up to health, with love. It evoked everyone
from Eels to Bright Eyes to James to Nick Drake. Now with Mark Weinberg, who used
to be in a band called Crumb, he’s stepped things up nearer to what you’d expect,
but that creativity still shows through. We got inside Jonah’s head ahead of the
album release. 1. Where are you now? What can you see?
I'm
sitting at the little desk in my hotel. I can see the laptop I'm typing on, my
mic, a bunch of cables, my recording stuff, a bunch of pieces of paper with scribbles
all over them, a cup of water, my iPod, and the lamp that lets me see al that
stuff.
2. What was the last thing you ate?
Some toffee pudding
with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream, which was the dessert to meal of proper
fish&chips.
3. What was the last album you bought?
Green Day's
new one. I loved the first single from the start, but hadn't listened to the whole
thing, and when I heard a few more, I knew I had to get it. It's fucking brilliant.
They're now officially a timeless, transcendent, great rock band.
4.
What was the last movie you saw?
‘Finding Neverland’. It was gorgeous,
sweet, smart. So much more than you'd expect from a biopic of the Peter Pan guy,
y'know? Johnny Depp continues to impress me with his range and curiosity.
5. What are you most looking forward to?
I'm looking forward to our
country swinging back to the left a bit.
6. What do you hate right
now?
I hate the mood there right now (America). Very scared and polarized.
7. What do you like on TV?
Joan Of Arcadia. When I watch TV, which
is not very often, I seem to be attracted to the really melodramatic, cheesy stuff.
8. Where are you most comfortable?
In small groups of close
friends. So of course my life involves crowds and strangers all the time.
9. What’s your most overused stock answer for interviews?
Even if
the interview has some really stupid questions in it, it's just nice that anyone
cares enough to ask, so thank you for that.
10. Any plans for this
weekend?
Hangin' with my daughter before I head out on the next tour.
‘Gratitude’ by Gratitude is released on June 20. Relevant Sites:
http://www.gratitudemusic.com/
James Berry for Crud Magazine 2005©
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