Washed Out deliver the kind of delicate pop interlude that you could swear blind has been in your life for a long time. Googling the artist would yield even more deceptive results as a swarm of bloggers have posted tracks, whispering amongst themselves about the new Memory Cassette, trying to categorise the music that Ernest Weatherly Green is locked in a room in South Carolina making. Yet, Washed Out are but a fledgling concept, living mostly in cyber space and in the sun-streaked mind of the East Coast producer. I didn't really want to be drawn into the debate myself, so I figured that going straight to the source would get me a better idea of what it's all about, and how the project developed. I had a nice long chat with the man himself and was shown a little video that made me feel really sad that I live in London...
Washed Out is a one man outfit, right? How did it get up and running?
Ernest: Yes, I initially started playing music with friends in college...and I quickly realized how stubborn and selfish I was with the whole writing process...so I started doing it all by myself :) the stuff I was doing really didn't translate well to a "traditional" band set up as well. Its sort of built from there.
Sound, and was it at college where you initially started playing music or had you dabbled before?
Ernest: I had dabbled before...It wasn't until right after college - when I started having actual free time - that I started really concentrating on recording
Washed out is a bedroom project, right? What equipment do you use to record?
Ernest: I run everything into my computer and arrange/record with Reason 4.0/Cubase SE...its a pretty stripped-down setup...
Was it very much trial and error with the whole system or did you have a sound that you had in your head that you wanted to achieve?
Ernest: Very much trial and error...I started off making a combination of ambient/hip-hopish stuff...it has gradually been moving more and more into structured "pop" songs. My technique has gotten a lot more refined as well. I've been working on the vocal sound for at least a year or more...
Cool. What are the main influences for Washed Out?
Ernest: I mentioned the hip-hop influence earlier...I loved all the stuff that stones throw put out...especially Koushik...there's a pretty direct influence with him...I love everything that grouper and panda bear put out. I see my stuff as a connection of some of the stuff they are doing, but a lot more structured.
Yeah I'd definitely agree with that...there's an ambient quality that you share with those influences, but your music is definitely more listenable I would say.
Ernest: I try to remove any non-essential element...i guess thats where "pop" comes in...I try to keep the melodies and arrangements simple, though.
Lots of people are lumping Washed Out into the ‘Dreamwave” category – are you comfortable with this? How would you describe the music you make?
Ernest: It doesn't really bother me.I think my stuff sits at a weird place between traditional dance music and traditional indie rock...not quite upbeat enough to rage at a party, but beat-driven enough to turn-off some people.
Yeah, I think that's fair.
Ernest: It seems to me that in the past...as soon as a label is thrown in...a backlash quickly follows. We'll see...everything just moves so fast on the 'net :)
This is true. I think that being compared to Neon Indian and Memory Cassette isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Do you like those artists?
Ernest: Oh yeah...there stuff is great...hold up let me grab something really quick you might find funny. I was bored at the beach earlier this summer with my family...:)
This is one of the best things I have ever seen!
Ernest: haha everytime i would jam that track my little nephew would start rocking out that’s when u know its a hit!
Haha. That is amazing!! Cool - just to get back on track, are you officially signed yet?
Ernest: nah...the record with mexican summer was just a one-off thing...
I'm doing a few more 7" but nothing official yet...
You did some tapes with mirror universe, I read? How did the Mexican Summer thing come about?
Ernest: Yeah...the tape will have a few new songs, as well as a few old songs pre-washed out...Mexican Summer contacted me early on and I'd always loved the records they put out. They've been really great.
Have you played out at all yet?
Ernest: I did a few shows pre-washed out...but nothing with this new material...
Still not sure how I'm going to approach it...I don't want it to be "just another dj set".
Are you going to keep it just under your control, do you think, or will you likely incorporate some more musicians in to play your songs?
Ernest: I will probably have someone else to help with vocals/synths...most of the songs have 2 or even 3 vocal parts and i would rather not sing to a backing track...I have discussed doing some shows with my friend chaz (TORO Y MOI) where we would help each other out...We had a duo a while back called LIFEPARTNERS.
Sick, he's been getting a lot of hype too. He was mentioned in the NME over here as one of the artists to watch in the next year.
Ernest: yeah...he's brilliant...his sound is constantly evolving...
Are there any other bands we should be watching out for from South Carolina?
Ernest: There are some really good groups in columbia - Kid Trails, Plundershop's St. Montana is a really great song...There is this guy Phil from Atlanta called Dog Bite. His stuff is really really good, and he's only 20.
Yeah, he’s been putting out a lot of mixtapes recently.
Ernest: Yeah...i live in georgia now...so we've been corresponding a lot
Choir Quit is another good columbia group.
Their MBUR song is incredible!
Ernest: Yeah...they played a few house shows at my place in cola
Is that the way that the scene in Columbia works - like house shows and stuff?
Ernest: They are my favourite...its normally a bunch of young kids who can't get in to clubs...so they are always nuts. All the lamps at my place were sacrificed that night. Toro Y Moi played a couple of times too
That's price you pay for punk I guess...
Ernest: Haha. I've got some really great pics from those nights. My friend had like 5 boxes of old polaroid film.
Finally then, What records are you listening too at the moment?
Ernest: Chaz just sent me his new record...which is really good...Stone Roses. That Beach Fossils song "Daydream" is really good. I have a mix on my ipod called summer 2009 that I just keep adding songs too.
Top song for summer?
Ernest: "Here Comes Summer", R. Stevie Moore.
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