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Damon & Naomi

In a rather frank encounter, Subba chats to one half of dream weaver duo Damon & Naomi about a career in music, touring and the re-release of their entire Galaxie 500 catalogue.

Damon & Naomi have been touring as an acoustic duo since 1995, long before "freak" went with "folk", but it seems things indie may have finally caught up with their patented style of low-key yet emotional song. Now, with the reissue of the entire Galaxie 500 catalogue back in March, Subba thought it was fitting to catch up with one half of the legendary dream weaver duo.

SC: So Damon, how are you guys doing? And where does this Q&A find you?

Damon: We're just back home from a UK/European tour -- last stop was Helsinki, which was a new one for us!

SC: For those of us who may be unfamiliar with your music, tell us a bit about yourselves; who are Damon & Naomi?

Damon: Not to be too cliché, but I'd say listening to our music might be the best way to get to know us. And in a way, that's exactly what we do on tour -- go around introducing ourselves to people by singing. It's an odd occupation, I know.

SC: In addition to your work as musicians, I understand you have both founded Exact Change, a publishing house dedicated to avant-garde literature and artists' writings? Do you feel having a life away from just music has helped with your longevity and love for the industry?

Damon: I wouldn't say we have any love for the "industry" of music, but we do have a great deal of respect for many of the people who make it happen -- the promoters, sound engineers, fanzine writers, record store owners, etc -- of course any of those jobs might be occupied for the wrong reasons, musician included, but at the level we work at these tend to be people who simply love music and do it for that above all. So no, we don't need a life away from that to appreciate it; we just happen to do more than one thing to make our art and earn our living.

SC: Speaking of the music industry, having been around as long as you have you've obviously seen the music industry change. In what wasy do you think it has?

Damon: Well, to counterpose what I said above, I'd say the "industry" -- the part that's after commercial success, and all that goes with it -- hasn't changed a drop since we first encountered it.

SC: Would you say it was for better or worse?

Damon: That part starts out bad and only gets worse the more you know about it!

SC: What do you think it takes to makes a good song?

Damon: Besides fairy dust, you mean? I guess I'd say emotional honesty, and a physical encounter with an instrument.

SC: You've recently re-released the entire Galaxie 500 catalogue, How did the boxed set idea come about and why did now feel like now was the right time to do it?

Damon: That was simply because our contract with Rykodisc had expired and we needed to rerelease the catalogue through another label -- Ryko is no longer the independent company we originally worked with, they've since been bought by Warner's and no one is still there whom we know, or who seemed to know the band.

SC: Do you think there could ever be some sort of reunion on the cards, especially now with the re-release?

Damon: Actually Pitchfork just published a long "oral history" of Galaxie 500, interviewing a number of the people involved with the band, and it probably explains best what happened to it, and why we are not interested in a reunion.

SC: I’ll ask no more...

SC: Obviously, you've played all over the world to many an audience, but throughout your years of touring, what's been your most memorable performance and why?

Damon: It might be a place with a broken sound system, but a lovely promoter who gathers a special audience. It might be a night when everyone on stage finds the same song surprising for the same reason. It might be in a city or a venue that seems haunted or charged to us in some way. It might be because of a musician who plays on the same bill, or who joins us on stage. We never know, really, when things are going to come together in that way on tour. And often they turn out the opposite of what we expected, for better and worse.

SC: You've just finished your tour of the UK, how was it for you?

Damon: We had a good time, especially in London and Glasgow where we had friends opening for us -- Alasdair Maclean in London, Richard Youngs in Glasgow.

SC: You're known for having a relentless tour schedule, well when can we expect to see you touring again?

Damon: Relentless? I don't imagine our booking agents would agree! But we enjoy touring, so we'll likely be back again soon, perhaps even before the end of the year.

SC: What does the future hold for Damon and Naomi?

Damon: We're working on a new album, which we're hoping will be done in time for release in 2011.

SC: Thank you.
DamonandNaomi.com

Michael Ajayi