The Brooklyn NY band’s unique sound and solid first album have put them in the spotlight, igniting the New York scene and soon sharing the stage with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, shoe-gaze heroes The Jesus and Mary Chain and recently, Nine Inch Nails. A Place to Bury Strangers’s self titled album landed on many best of lists last year, and with good reason. Those who have had the pleasure of seeing them live can attest to the fact that these guys are much more than a great album, they expand upon and amplify the songs live.

The sound is dense and layered for a three piece, with almost danceable groves, slick guitar work and mountains of carefully constructed distortion. Drummer Jay Space is possibly some kind of robot, delivering pulsing drumbeats with mechanical precision. He and bassist Jonathan Smith aka “Jono MOFO” (seriously) make for a tight rhythm section, giving guitarist and vocalist Oliver Ackermann a solid foundation to experiment upon. Eerie, almost deadpan vocals compliment an array of custom-built guitar effects pedals at Oliver’s disposal, which he uses to orchestrate lightning storms, seemingly on the verge of sonic self-destruction. Behind all the style is substance, it’s clear from the melody and harmony coming through all the noise, and the song structures, that a great amount of energy has been put into the music itself. Through the gritty twist they’ve taken on psychedelic, industrial and shoe-gaze aesthetics, they reference their influences without imitating them. They do all this at an insane volume that might be unbearable if it didn’t sound so fucking good.

If you haven’t yet, buy the record and come to the show on Sunday August 17th, you won’t be disappointed. Oliver was kind enough take some time off to indulge us with an interview on the phone on a Friday afternoon.

LMC | Oliver, most people who have heard of A Place to Bury Strangers know about your company Death By Audio. Out of all the pedals you’ve created, do you have a favorite?

OLIVER | Well, I don’t know it’s always changing as time goes on so it’s hard, but right now maybe the Interstellar Overdriver Supreme.

LMC | I love all the names you have for these things man, with a name like that I don’t even have to know what it is, I want it.

OLIVER | (laughs) Awesome.

LMC | So the band’s been touring pretty heavily since the release of the self-titled album last year, how has life on the road been for you guys?

OLIVER | It’s been really great. surprisingly it’s been a lot more relaxing than when we have time off. Living in new york can be pretty fucking crazy, it’s been pretty nuts and it can be tough to get a handle on things, so being on the road a lot has been fantastic for us, it’s almost like going on vacation … all the time. It’s been really good, it’s great to meet people and have a good time.

LMC | What’s the perfect day for you off work, on or off the road? Have you met anyone in particular that stands out?

OLIVER | Lots of people man that’s hard to say. Recently we met some girls while we were in France, Vanessa and Chevon, from Germany. Really nice, they showed us around and were really cool people. But there’s lots of people of course, there’s tons of cool people you get to meet in tons of places, too many to mention. That can be the best part of all this, traveling around, meeting people and seeing what all these interesting people are doing.

LMC | Yeah it seems like that could be the best part of touring, the opportunity to meet all kinds of people.

OLIVER | Oh definitely, that can kind of be the reason to create music, to get out there and share it, meeting people and all that. Initially you might want to do it solely to create, but sharing it and playing it and traveling… that becomes a big part of why you do it.

LMC | When you’re on tour do you use projections and light shows to accompany the music? I’ve seen you guys with some crazy stuff going on visually. Can we hope to see that on Aug 17th here in Austin?

OLIVER | We try to as much as we can, I mean there are some venues like say outdoor festivals where that isn’t an option obviously but we want to use that. I see it as a integral part of creating this… fucked up scene - you know? Take the environment you’re in and do what you can with it, change it.

LMC | Who usually runs the projections and visuals?

OLIVER | Our friend Spencer does live 16 millimeter loops, we’ve made some other videos and movies that we project, usually the person running it will be someone who’s come along with us on the road, Steve or Darrel or someone…

LMC | What influences of yours have shaped sound and what you’re doing musically?

OLIVER | I guess a lot of things. Back in Virginia, the scene there, being out there, some of our friend’s bands were pretty awesome, this band Stardog used to play. The people we played with back then, I think that was really good for us. Paul and John, some old friends, we were in a band called Skywave which has been a big influence on everything. And that music was influenced by music we listened to when we were younger, bands like the Jesus and Mary Chain, The Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine.

LMC | What about your live performances? I’ve seen a few shows and at some points, you just go ape-shit really, it’s intense stage show. Where does that come from?

OLIVER | I think it comes out the music and energy that we’re trying to create, it starts to go hand in hand. So, when you’re really feeling something, you just go for it, that’s what comes out. We’re also, through our equipment, light shows, loud amps and such, kind of disorienting ourselves, it can drive you into a frenzy a little bit.

LMC | Is there any new music out that you’re listening to that you’d like to share with our readers.

OLIVER | I really like the Sian Alice Group, we’re about to tour with them in the US and Canada. They’re awesome. I mean there’s a ton of bands with good stuff going on right now, like No Age, and other band around here like, Dirty On Purpose, Sisters, all awesome bands. The Muggabears. There’s a lot of other bands up here in New York and there’s a ton of shit going on that’s worth a listen.

LMC | What’s the songwriting process for A Place to Bury Strangers, how does it typically evolve?

OLIVER | You know, it’s all really different. Sometimes, because I’m making my own effects pedals, I’ll hear sounds while I’m messing around with them that will give me ideas for songs. Other times, you could be really just… anywhere and suddenly you have a harmony or melody in your head. And then you try that and it may work out it may not, then you’re messing around with that - you might try to force it to work and something completely different will come out of that, that idea is usually better. A lot of it is, You can’t be afraid to throw away parts, looking at it and seeing what works and focusing on what works together, and what comes together in interesting and surprising ways. We try to be open minded. I think there can be a lot of conflicting interests in a band, you have to be open and focus on what is working, get the best ideas out. A lot of things can get in the way. I think a problem a lot of people run into is, you can’t be afraid to destroy your stuff, change it.

LMC | What’s the perfect day for you off work, on or off the road?

OLIVER | Man, I guess it’s just been so long. Just relax, that doesn’t really seem to happen much these days though. I like to go swimming, the beach … you know, do something outside. It’s been crazy though, it’s hard to find the time.