"I just wanted to cut to the chase this time," Ryan Olcott says of Separation Anxieties, 12 RodsΓÇÖ captivating new album of swirling, melodic pop, engaging guitar rock, and clever, yet emotionally direct lyrics. "I wanted to write a pop record, but it was a time of great solitude for me. I got out of a relationship, and it was the first time in probably five years that IΓÇÖve been without somebody close to me. So I wrote a record that reflects that-- being alone, being broken up, and experimenting and dabbling--trying things that, you know, a bachelor tries."
For 12 Rods -- singer/songwriter/guitarist Ryan Olcott, his brother, known simply as Ev, on synthesizers, guitars, and vocals, bassist William Shaw IV, and new drummer David King (replacing Christopher McGuire, who played on the record)--Separation Anxieties reveals a deep devotion to the classic pop sounds and high-energy spirit of the past two decades, but also some firm ideas about how to push things further in this new century.
Rather than record the new album in their own Minneapolis digs, as they did with their self-produced debut album Split Personalities and the EP, gay? that preceded it, the band opted for a more exotic approach, working on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, with legendary producer Todd Rundgren.
"I actually didnΓÇÖt know that much about him," Ryan admits. "A lot of my friends were baffled that I wasnΓÇÖt a complete fanatic. TheyΓÇÖd say, ΓÇÿYou mean you do this and you arenΓÇÖt into Rundgren?ΓÇÖ But he blew every preconceived notion we might have had about him. He made us sound like a live group and not an overproduced studio band."
Adds Ev, "It was cool that Todd never really gave us answers. He simply presented issues to us and said, ΓÇÿOkay, you solve it.ΓÇÖ That allowed us to make the record we wanted to and that sounds like us."
On Separation Anxieties, that means songs about sex, impossible relationships, and trying to cope with the vagaries of modern life. Ryan usually fictionalizes the raw material he draws on so as to make his songs universal, but they can occasionally cut too close to the bone for some.
"ΓÇÖWhat Has HappenedΓÇÖ is a song where I just told it like it is," Ryan says. "The first verse, where my girl leaves me for a guy ΓÇÿWhoΓÇÖs in a band that sounds like Korn/But pretentiously aggressive/Not too impressiveΓÇÖ--IΓÇÖve almost gotten into a fight because of that already. HeΓÇÖs not amused, but I can deal with that. I have to be confident about what I wrote and why, and let the chips fall where they may."
As for the girl? "There are some other songs on the record that balance things out so she can forgive me."
Indeed, the album fans out in a number of directions, from wry, energetic rockers like "Kaboom" and "Marionette" to the lush pop of "Radioaction" and trippy, latter-day prog-rock-style pieces like "Astrogimp," "I Think IΓÇÖm Flying," and the noirish "Your SecretΓÇÖs Safe With Me."
Ryan and Ev grew up in Oxford, Ohio, where their father teaches college-level courses in jazz and classical music and their mother is a musical director for community theater. The brothers took up instruments when they were barely more than toddlers and received a formal music education throughout their teen years.
They, of course, just wanted to rock.
"We got sick of trying to regurgitate what was taught to us all of our lives," Ryan says. "We were too influenced by pop and punk and what was happening with popular culture that we decided to let go of our training and see what came naturally. 12 Rods is what happened."
Original drummer Christopher McGuire completed the group, and in 1992 they started playing parties and the local teen center. 12 Rods was relegated to the back burner, though, when Ev graduated from high school and moved on to the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he studied music performance and audio engineering. Ryan, in turn, left Oxford to study music at DePaul University in Chicago.
Ev finished his degree and wound up doing some freelance engineering in Minneapolis. Ryan hadnΓÇÖt given up on the band, so he moved there as well. Eventually McGuire followed, and 12 Rods--the name, incidentally, is a random phrase pulled from a childrenΓÇÖs Bible--became a part of that cityΓÇÖs legendary local music scene. "They definitely accepted us with open arms," Ryan says. "It was a blessing that we started from here."
They released the EP, gay? in 1996 and became the first American act signed by V2. Split Personalities followed in 1998, earning them kudos and comparisons to a startlingly wide array of bands, from Radiohead and My Bloody Valentine to Morrissey and (thanks to RyanΓÇÖs occasional vocal timbre) Ozzy Osbourne. "ItΓÇÖs a coincidence," Ryan says, laughing off his likening to Ozzy. "I donΓÇÖt hear it."
With Separation Anxieties, the 12 Rods story continues. No small part of that is the new rhythm section of David King and William Shaw IV. King came to the group via Happy Apple, a Minneapolis band that has achieved considerable acclaim on the underground jazz scene. "David is simply the best drummer IΓÇÖve ever played with," Ryan says. "He understands harmonically what weΓÇÖre doing. He didnΓÇÖt play on the album but has already contributed a lot to our live sound."
Shaw (who can be heard on Separation Anxieties) comes to 12 Rods from a vast musical background as well. Growing up listening to barbershop quartets and performing death metal at an early age, Shaw seemed the obvious choice for the bass position. William makes his home in Minneapolis playing music and hustling pool to pass the time in between 12 Rods tours.
Perhaps the most intriguing angle on 12 Rods is also the most obvious: a band featuring brothers who actually get along? Believe it. "I couldnΓÇÖt imagine it working out much better," Ev says. "Of all the musicians IΓÇÖve worked with, hereΓÇÖs a guy who has the same background as me, and we have this way of working together. We talk, but we donΓÇÖt always have to--thereΓÇÖs sort of a code between us. We get on each otherΓÇÖs case--weΓÇÖre brothers, after all, but itΓÇÖs a working relationship and then some. ItΓÇÖs a family relationship, too."
Separation Anxieties will be released on June 20, 2000.
