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Olympic Hopefuls
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Darren Jackson, Erik
Applewick and a handful of songs not suited for their
"other projects" Vicious Vicious and Kid Dakota:
that's how the Olympic Hopefuls came to be. All those
songs put together form "the Fuses Refuse To Burn",
possibily one of the best pop records of 2004, enough
to make the Hopefuls eligible for every "best new
act" award in the Twin Cities.
Some time later, the Olympic Hopefuls are a full band,
they wear track suit and they're finally ready to take
over the rest of the world. The future looks bright for
what started as a part time side project.
Erik Applewick, well known to indiepop.it readers for
his excellent work with Vicious Vicious, has agreed to
answer some questions, while Darren was busy touring Europe
with kid Dakota in a support slot for Low. |
It seems the OH are a way to explore
some aspect of your sound that you couldnot develop with your
existing projects. How do you set boundaries for yourrespective
projects? What makes you say "this song doeas not fit in with
the rest of my work"? Is it just a musical matter (i.e. more
pop hooks) or is it also lyrical?
I suppose the one thing we are consciously trying to do with
the OH is just put out songs that are fun to listen to. At
this point in the game it's hard to say this VV song does
or doesn't fit with the OH's whereas the KD stuff is so incredibly
different that it's normally a pretty easy call to make. As
a rule, if the expression "out on the prairie" is in the song
it ends up being a KD song.
You both play in each other's band, and have a musical
bond that goes deeper than the Olympic Hopefuls. Is it also
a personal bond? Where and how did you meet?
Well, the current lineup of KD and VV don't actually include
each other as we spend enough time together driving around
the midwest playing shows in OH. Darren and I met in South
Dakota in 1997 as we had a mutual friend that Darren had grown
up with in Bison, SD and I knew the guy from being at college
at the University of South Dakota. Said guy, Justin, actually
played on the 1st song of the VV album Blood and Clover. Darren
was out east and here and there between 97 and 2000 but then
I moved up to the Twin Cities in September of 2000 and we
became roommates at City Cabin where we lived with mix master
Alex Oana and where countless albums were recorded including
The Replacements "Let it Be", VV "Blood and Clover" and KD
"So Pretty".
Both Vicious Vicious and Kid Dakota are very personal projects,
meaning that they give out a lot about yourselves. Did you
have to sacrifice a part of this for the OH?
I"m not at liberty to divulge that information.
There's a strong tradition of american power-pop that OH
relates to, yet you seem to bring something different to it.
Do you feel "the fuses&..." follows in some way a tradition
of American Power-Pop? And if so, what are/have been your
favourite artist in that genre?
I've never been a fan of the label power pop as the bands
you typically see under that genre aren't usually very powerful.
Seems to me it relates more to the number of chords you play
in a song. I have always liked Weezer though especially the
Blue album and Pinkerton got a lot of spins back in the 90's,
but normally I don't listen to anything remotely affiliated
with power pop. Maybe there is the "something different".
Although the songs are lighter than your usual "solo"
output, they're definitely moodier than the average power-pop
album. It seems to me that "the fuses…" it's power-pop
for grown-ups, quite bittersweet and double-faced. For example,
a love-obsessed song like "Stoned again" it's quite far away
from a sun-drenched pop song. And I feel this could just be
what makes the OH special. What do you think about it?
Well, I think Matthew Sweet is the first that comes to mind
of people who juxtapose bittersweet (or just plain bitter)
lyrics against fun pop/rock music. People can listen to that
type of song and on the first couple listens they'll just
be hearing the music and then maybe a chorus hook but after
repeated listens it sinks in that this song has more to it
than just happy-time-dance-in-front-of-your-bedroom-mirror.
I believe that this juxtaposition is what allows people to
come back and listen again and again.
Still, power-pop has often been associated with losers,
lost occasions and so on since Big Star. Don't you fear you
may have a taste of that too?
I have always thought so as well. Hence my distaste for the
label "power pop". And, no, I don't fear the bitter taste
of loserdom. Nor do I fear the reaper or the Easter Bunny.
I frequently have a dream where I"m sitting in class and suddenly
become terrified to realize that I"m wearing only my underwear.
I suppose I'm afraid of that... however it seems unlikely.
Erik, winter was all over the last Vicious Vicious record,
whereas this is a definitely a summery record. How much do
you feel seasons affect your writing?
hmmm. I always thought people thought Blood and Clover was
a summery record. If memory serves, the majority of both albums
were recorded during the winter. This makes all the sense
in the world because in Minnesota there isn't too much else
to do during the winter aside from making records. So, if
this "pining for summer" thing comes across in the records
there is a legitimate reason for it.
This record sounds like a greatest hits, there are no fillers.
Now that you've gained some distance from it, what do you
think of the album? What are your favourite songs on the record
and why?
Well, one of the downsides of producing and engineering and
performing a record all yourself is that you listen to it
so many times while you are recording it that once it's done
you just have to put it away for awhile. For me, this record
is still "put away". I suppose my favorite secion of the record
is the stretch from Holiday through Motobike. I like those
4 songs together a lot. I think Darren and I were firing on
all cylinders on those songs.
From what I've read, response in Minneapolis has been very
strong. How's been in the rest of the US? Is the momentum
of OH still high?
This has been difficult for me to gauge because we haven't
done an all-encompassing tour. . .we've stayed pretty regional
up to this point. Judging by CD sales via the internet and
the responses we get when we do play out of the Twin Cities,
I can say that the response has been really positive. Momentum,
high.
I believe that OH are a full band only when it comes to
live shows. How have the OH evolved since the CD was recorded?
Are you turning the Hopefuls into a proper band or will you
leave it as a side project?
Darren and I were aware that we would need a band to get this
rolling and so I got in touch with Heath and Matt for the
rhythm section and then Johnny came aboard shortly after to
provide synth licks and killer back up vox. We have written
a pile of songs together with varying degrees of collaboration
and it's really broadened the scope of what we are capable
of doing. This is not a side project.
(photograph by Kii Arens)
Salvatore
Links:
Eux Autres Website: www.euxautres.net
Eux Autres@indiepop.it: bands/euxautres.htm |
