By Jodi Root

I heart me The Thermals. I caught them this past March in Austin and was stoked to hear that their live performance is even stronger than their albums. This trio is loud and proud–rocking their addictive pop sound hard with actual instruments and musicians vs the latest synth drum machine trend of the week. Flat out solid stuff. With next week’s release of Now We Can See, I am confident you will be hearing much more praise on this trio in the very near future. You can catch this gang live in Madison at the High Noon Saloon on April 28th and again in Chicago at the Bottom Lounge on the 29th. Hutch Harris was kind enough to partake in our latest installment of 5 Questions . . .

Could you lend some information on the recording process of Now We Can See? Where and how was it recorded, and were there any lessons learned that you’ll apply towards future recording sessions?

Kathy and I demoed the whole record on 4 and 8 track cassette machines at our practice space in portland. We flew out Producer John Congleton (Explosions In The Sky, Polyphonic Spree) and tracked at supernatural sound in Oregon City, where we tracked our last record. Kathy played all the drums and bass and sang, I played guitar and sang. Then Kathy and I flew to Dallas and we did overdubs and mixed at John’s studio, Elmwood. Every record we make is a learning process. Kathy and I have had a great time making these last two records just the two of us, but it’s a lot of work. I’m really looking forward to making a record as a three piece again, and play live in the studio.

You guys killed it at SXSW this past March. My only regret was catching just one set, which was at the Onion day party at Radio Room. What were your highlights of the fest? Was this your first time playing SXSW? Did you get to catch any bands as a fan?

Thank you! And yes you should regret it because although it was a lot of fun it was one of the more mellow shows, seeing as it was around noon, fucking hell. We played sxsw in 2003 and 2005, but we had the best time by far this year. Our best shows were at the Kill Rock Stars and Insound parties, both at Club Deville, at the Red Eyed Fly, and at Mess With Texas. The best shows I saw were by bands i’ve seen 20-30 times already, Cursive and The Hold Steady. Go figure.

With your upcoming tour are there any particular cities or venues that you’re particularly looking forward to playing? Are there any past tourdates that have been especially enjoyable or memorable?

The best venues we’re playing are the Triple Rock in Minneapolis, the Bowery in NYC, Black Cat in DC, Troubador in LA, Bottom of the Hill in SF, Bottletree in Birmingham, Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland. One year at the Beachland the audience pelted us with beer and shaving cream and toilet paper the whole set. The next year the owner cracked down and people just yelled “sellout” at us. It’s always interesting there.

We’re always looking to uncover new favorite artists, are there any band(s)/record(s) that you could recommend to our readers?

Seriously I’m the worst person to ask about new stuff. I would tell you some bands but you’ve definitely heard about them already. I try to keep up but lately all I listen to is old ska, dub and dancehall shit. I would recommend the Skatalites.

The internet has dramatically altered the way artists can reach an audience. With things like blogs/myspace/etc, what are your thoughts on the power of the internet in terms of helping (or hurting) your music?

It helps us because it tells people about our records. It hurts us because it tells everyone where to get our record for free. There’s an episode of Futurama with the best quote: “The internet is all about the free exchange of other people’s ideas”.

Buy: The Thermals – Now We Can See
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Myspace: The Thermals
MP3: The Thermals – “Now We Can See”