Local Rock Musician Visits School

The Northwest Academy iJournalism class interviewed Marty Marquis, a multi-instrumentalist in local indie rock group Blitzen Trapper, this January.

People love to compare Blitzen Trapper to Pavement, another indie rock band that combines a slacker persona with concentrated guitar fuzz and jagged riffs; however, this comparison falls apart under close inspection.

Pavement share Blitzen Trapper’s sense of creative chaos but rarely stray from the “three minutes or less” indie rock formula that defined the ‘90s and only boast musicianship through their subtleties.

Blitzen Trapper has released eight studio albums and two live albums. Wild Mountain Nation, Furr and Destroyer Of The Void in particular have garnered massive critical acclaim. After five years on Seattle label Sub Pop, the band is currently signed to Vagrant Records.

Before they were Blitzen Trappers, the band released four albums under the name Garmonbozia. Their early output was eclectic yet grounded primarily in psychedelic prog soundscapes; it lacked the bluegrass, country and folk pop elements that would define their mid-2000s opuses.

Marquis’ major influences when he formed Blitzen Trapper were Sonic Youth and Stereolab, one an abrasive guitar-oriented group, the other masters of glitchy, lush electronic landscapes. A recognizable trait shared by both is their sprawling, yet compelling, song structures.

“We wanted to make music that would never repeat the same part, and give you something new and interesting every time you heard it,” Marquis said, when asked about Blitzen Trapper’s unique approach to song structure and arrangement.

Sonically influential acts, such as Led Zeppelin and Neil Young, add the punch and nostalgia to Blitzen Trapper’s timeless sound: ‘70s rock is an obvious influence, despite the intricacy of their arrangements. As if to hammer this point home, the group played Young’s 1972 roots rock classic, Harvest, live in its entirety spring of 2015.

The band’s guitarist, singer & songwriter Eric Earley says his playing style is influenced by Joe Walsh, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Page. These influences are are not only essentials in every rock guitarist’s DNA, but are wholly visible in his approach to the instrument which values intriguing dynamic shifts and repetitive muscular riffs.

The influences he draws from when writing are similarly rooted in classic rock, if slightly more eclectic.

“My songwriting draws from Townes Van Zandt, R.E.M., Dylan, Thin Lizzy, Queen, Willie Nelson,” Earley said. “My idea of a perfect song is “Angel from Montgomery” by Prine or “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Petty.”

Blitzen Trapper’s harmonies are reminiscent of late ‘00s indie rock acts such as Fleet Foxes or Grizzly Bear though Queen is a nice comparison for critics wishing to simplify their overall aesthetic. Marquis however stresses that they are simply “rock”.

“Just call us rock… or indie,” Marquis, when asked what genre his band could be categorized as, said. “I don’t really know how to explain it.”

Marquis is also the picture perfect member of an indie rock band: he listens to cassettes, not due to an antiquated idea of audio quality but because his friend recorded a record onto tape so he bought a Walkman. He approaches the word “website” with equal amounts of intrigue and disregard. He loves jamming, a currently underrated art form.

A man with Marquis’ vintage values might be opposed to streaming services, such as Spotify or Tidal. Marquis, however, grudgingly accepts their promotional value, while Earley is less optimistic about its effect on recorded music.

“It has made the touring musician the only musician in my opinion- you can’t exist on recordings alone or at all anymore, there’s no money in it,” Earley said. “The live shows are where the money is and where the real life of music exists.”

Earley’s views, however, may be slightly influenced by his more recent preference of live music over recorded music.

“I used to really love recording and the studio the most but now I’m really enjoying the stage,” Earley said. “The road is hard but the performances are worth it.”

The contrast between his appreciation of natural sound made from a collective of musicians, and Earley’s strong pop sensibility encapsulate the majority of their mass appeal.

“I just like making music,” Marquis said. “Eric’s more into writing songs that our fans will like. He’s the more technical one.”

Earley, however, believes his writing style to be anything but technical.

“I generally don’t have a formula,” Earley said. “Songs just sort of happen- maybe from a single line I come up with, or from amazing, bizarre or tragic things that happen in my own life. Sometimes it starts with a riff or a picking pattern. It’s always different for each song.”

Another conspicuous feature of Blitzen Trapper is their ability to piss off major music publications.

“Eric made some comment to Pitchfork Music about hipsters,” Marquis said. “Pitchfork still give us good reviews, but wouldn’t give us their Best New Music label for any album [after Wild Mountain Nation, 2003].”

Marquis said that he “had little training in music” and rarely wrote his songs for anyone besides himself. Instead he embodies what indie was about in the ‘90s, what punk was about in the early ‘80s, what metal was about in the ‘70s and what jam bands were embodying in the ‘60s: “rock.”

There is truthfully no better way to describe a band that marries harmonicas with lo-fi synths, employs Dylan-esque narrative, utilizes lush harmonies and can play the crap out of an electric or acoustic guitar. Their timelessness makes them one of the most compelling and unique rock bands in the Pacific Northwest.