Friday, July 25, 2008



::CAPTAIN SQUEEGEE::
(CD Review Edition)

::NOTHING vs. EVERYTHING::

"Nothing vs. Everything", the third release from Arizona rockers Captain Squeegee is, quite possibly, one of the best releases Arizona has seen in some time. The album leaves nothing unsaid, no empty corners unfilled, and no ears unsatisfied. The band, continuing on their quest to break any boundaries that come by being classified into a specific genre, have crafted the perfect antidote to the mediocre, unimaginative poison that fills half of the current music scene.

The album contains two halves: the "light side" (tracks 1-6) and the "dark side" (tracks 7-12). Leading off for the Light Side is the energetic instrumental track appropriately titled "The Execution", flowing perfectly into the sarcastically rocking track, "Laughability". The next track we encounter along our experience is "Liplock", a poignant song written about a relationship gone wrong ("Forced to liplock, I've got no defense/Against the unbearable truth that our story ends"). Next, we find possibly the catchiest track on the album in "Gimme a Break". The instantly memorable chorus begs you to sing along at the top of your lungs, while the "la da da"s get you dancing in your seat faster than you can say "Gimme a break!". Slowing things down (while adding meter changes and a considerable amount of dissonance) is "Shovel". Complete with recorded shoveling in time, this track is a prime example of the new and improved Captain Squeegee. Finishing off side one of this dualistic record is the incredibly upbeat and optimistic track "By the Light".

Now that we have become encompassed in this journey through the album, we find ourselves at the crossroads of light and dark, about to embark on a much more somber path. Starting off with the appropriately titled "Dip Into the Dark", preparing us for the remainder of the record ("So dip into the dark with me/I'll show you how to sing while your heart is crumblin'/Get afraid and down with me/Together we can laugh as the tracks start rumblin'"). The next track is the piercing track "Real Father", followed by the near majestic sound of the gloomy "Just a Reminder". Next, we find "The Puzzle", a wonderful declaration to those blinded by the lies of society ("How does it feel, you are safe from the trouble/While the work of their hands turns to rubble/How does it feel, you are strapped in the muzzle/Pulling tight 'til what's right is just muffled/How does it feel, you are stuck in the bubble/While they're dumped in a grave that you shoveled/How does it feel you're a piece of the puzzle now?"). Finishing off the album we find "Somethin'", followed by "The Plan", which has been described by singer Danny Torgersen as "possibly our darkest work ever". The track only builds upon itself from start to finish, and is as good a finish to any record that you'll find.

Instantly jumping to the number one spot on my list of "current favorites", Captain Squeegee's new album "Nothing vs. Everything" looks as if it's staying there for awhile. If you have heard anything from this record (whether it be via MySpace or a friend), you will have already found out that the album is worth purchasing...what's the delay?



::INTERVIEW with DANNY TORGERSEN of CAPTAIN SQUEEGEE::

I'm here to give you a first hand look into the head of Danny Torgersen, the brains behind the Arizona band Captain Squeegee (ex-"and the Soap Suds"...read on to find out more) and mastermind behind their new release "Nothing vs. Everything". Enjoy.

TP: Thanks for letting me come talk to you, man. First off, what happened to the Soap Suds?

DT: We removed it. It was, uh, assimilated back into…nothing.

TP: Any reason behind that?

DT: Yeah. It’s like, when I looked at the sticker for our last CD and it said “Captain Squeegee and the Soap Suds / Behind the Metal and Metric Pace”, it was like, Jesus Christ, this is almost a full paragraph. (Laughs) And this time around, it’s like, and I just…putting in the Soap Suds just makes it so much more goofy. So, I just wanted to axe it. You’ll actually see, I’m working on it right now…I’m making the Soap Suds into something else.

TP: Oh really? Can you give any hints onto what that’ll be?

DT: Well…you’ll probably be a part of it (laughs).

TP: That sounds so…mysterious.

DT: Exactly! I’m all about a good mystery. I’m just giving you small snippets of my idea for now.

TP: Right on. So, for the recording of your new album, “Nothing vs. Everything”, I’ve heard it had some major setbacks. What were they and how did they influence the record?

DT: Well, the main setback was that we decided to go on tour while we were recording it, so…(laughs). But I was actually glad we did that because there was still some music that I knew we could work out. Music that I wanted to work on in the van, where they couldn’t escape my grasp (laughs). I don’t know, there weren’t that many setbacks, like, big ones, it’s just that it always takes way longer than you think it will to make a CD. Especially, you know, because we had so many instruments to record. ‘Cause like, I even wanted to do more with the album, but…there just wasn’t time. It’s probably a good thing that I didn’t elaborate in the way I wanted (laughs).

TP: Yeah (laughs). You’ve said that the first half of the CD is kind of like the “light side” and the second half the “dark side”. What inspired this sort of concept?

DT: Well, that’s kind of how everything is. It’s just duality, ying and yang, positive and negative, and how like, the idea of how it relates to the ying and yang idea, or even quantum physics. You know, light matter and dark matter, it’s always like that. It’s like, they both need to be there so that you can compare, because that’s the only way they exist, you know? Like, you can’t be positive without the negative because then you’d just be neutral, and that’s never fun. And it’s like, you just return, it’s a big cycle. It’s almost like you get sad on purpose so you can appreciate how happy you can be.

TP: Agreed. Now, for the recording process, what song took the longest to record?

DT: Hm…I’m going to have to say “Wired to Delete”, I mean, “Just a Reminder”…sorry, (laughs), it’s just that we all call it that. I just didn’t want to call it that [on the CD], just because it was too…weak.

TP: Why did it take so long to record?

DT: We actually had a lot of technical difficulties while recording it, like that keyboard beat at the end of it. We had a few different takes, and we finally went with the last one, but it was definitely a group effort. I made Austen do most of it, he was like the percussionist, ‘cause he’s so good with that kind of stuff. So, I let him use the keyboards to his will. So, that took awhile, and we also kept losing data…mysteriously. Yeah, it just took us a long time to finish it.

TP: I can understand that. So, what song, lyrically, means the most to you? Like, which is the most personal to you?

DT: Hm…probably…I’ve never actually thought about this before. It’s like choosing children, you can’t really just pick one. Probably, lyrically, I really like “Just a Reminder”.

TP: Would it be too much to ask why?

DT: It was kind of inspired by my grandmother. I grew up with her and my mother, and my grandma had dementia. It was really bad, like, ever since I had known her, she was just crazy…all the time. She didn’t even remember that her husband was dead sometimes, so I had to kind of tell her. So, that’s what the second verse is about.

TP: Wow, I’d have had no idea.

DT: Yeah.

TP: Well, how often do you guys practice? And for how long?

DT: We primarily try to practice three days a week, though, we have a new space which is open 24 hours, so I would love to lobby for more practicing. And it’s a 3 hour…experience (laughs). But I don’t know how much of that is music and how much is, I don’t know, talking about the music or jerking around or…getting drunk (laughs).

TP: (Laughs) So, I was looking through the CD booklet, and it says that all the music was written and arranged by you. How much artistic input do the other members have?

DT: Well, I kind of just give them the parts…it’s really just more like arranging. I don’t know, I don’t really write it out all the time, we’ll usually just kind of work on it together. I just come to them with a part in mind, and the idea is that they’ll just screw around with it after. Like, I try really hard to try and encourage people to change things, ‘cause I like to see what happens.

TP: So, it’s kind of like you give it off to someone else and they bring it back completely different, but it still rocks?

DT: Yeah, that’s what I want. Dude, that’d be amazing, it’d blow my mind, ‘cause it was mine once, you know?

TP: Kind of like your brainchild, so to speak.

DT: Right! Like, I envision it in my mind a certain way, they go off with it, then it comes back as this totally different, evolved, more awesome version.

TP: Right on. So, on the CD, it doesn’t sound like the horns, guitars and such are layered entirely too much. Is that because you want the album to sound more like a live performance, or what?

DT: Yeah. I only wanted to produce things if it was a creative endeavor. Like, I understand that with a lot of producing, you can make an album sound amazing, even if the music isn’t that great.

TP: That’s how it is with about half of the bands out there now.

DT: Exactly. And so, I did want to do a lot of production, but I wanted it to only be things that added to the music, not just something that sugar coated it. And, I don’t know, some of my favorite albums don’t sound produced almost at all. Like, there are some awesome Cake albums and some older alternative rock that don’t sound produced at all, that just rock.

TP: Totally. As a fellow writer, I know that most artists have their own way of writing songs, so what’s the way that you go about writing or structuring the things you write?

DT: Usually what happens is that something happens to me, and I think, “I should write a song about that”, you know? Try to consume the negative energy that’s being shot at me and try to regurgitate it as something positive. So, usually something bad has to happen, I mean, that’s a catharsis, and then I’ll make it into a song. I try to make the music sound like whatever it is I’m writing the song about. That’s why my music almost sounds thematic a lot of the time, it’s because each song relates back to the point of the song.

TP: Gotcha.

DT: Oh, sorry, but I just realized…getting back to what we were talking about earlier about getting the music to the band…especially Mat. ‘Cause I don’t play drums, everything else I can figure out and play slowly enough so they can play it faster and better, but I don’t play drums at all, so he helps out the most. I mean, I try to mimic what I think it should sound like with my mouth, but obviously that takes a really skilled interpreter.

TP: Definitely. So, are you guys set financially? I mean, I’ll look up on stage and see some great gear, so I was wondering if you guys are pretty set or if it’s more of a “I’m going to invest almost everything I’ve got in this band” type thing.

DT: Yeah, that one…the second one (laughs). We don’t really have as much money as you’d think.

TP: Ain’t that the truth (laughs). If you had to pick one song on the new CD for someone who’s never heard Captain Squeegee, which would it be and why?

DT: Um…I think I would want people to hear “Laughability”, just because if you hear that song first and then hear the rest of it, that song is kind of like a comment on all the rest of the songs. That’s why the CD plays like it does, like, “Laughability” is the solution out of all the variables. And what’s weird is that it’s not necessarily the main idea of the rest of the CD, it’s kind of just what comes out of the rest of it.

TP: I understand. So, what, to you, is the function of being in a rock and roll band? The lifestyle? The ability to make a statement? The chance at becoming the next big thing?

DT: The function? Like, mathematically? Like, if I were to make a function of my life and it made a graph, it would be kind of like the Chaos Theory. It’s pretty smooth at first, but then after time, it just kind of spirals out of control, until you just have a “blah” and you can’t discern if the line is going up or down. It’s kind of like that. But, there’s the side that you’re trying to just make music for people who are kind of in this counter culture, and I mean, there’s a lot of partying involved, but that’s not what’s important. It’s always about the music, so that’s why you’ve got to balance yourself out.

TP: So after all is said and done, it just boils down to the music?

DT: Exactly.

Photo Credits: Janet Zhou (http://www.janetzhou.com)