[CULT TALK] Corners Make Pretty Post-Punk, Are Also Probably Liars

 

(photos by Alice Baxley)

are an LA band who make pretty post-punk music with a serious ghost-of-Ian-Curtis vibe. They are also definitely liars, as evidenced by the below interview where they (almost) all claim to never ever social media stalk. Their new album Maxed Out On Distractions comes out tomorrow October 7th via Lolipop Records, and even though they clearly have a loose relationship with the truth, they wear fun pants and made a fun record that you should absolutely check out.

Here’s our interview (if you can call a bunch of lies that):

 

Which one of you guys does the most cyberstalking? You know, like creeping on people on Instagram or whatever.

Robert Cifuentes: I don’t think any of us are too into that. Maybe someone else has to answer that question.

Rick Maberry: I may have been an internet baby, but that’s definitely not me. I don’t really go on any of that stuff.

 

Do you have a flip phone?

Rick: No I have a smart phone. I don’t use the internet like most people do. I use my computer to record, that’s about it. I check email.

 

So if I took your guys’ phones and went to Instagram and clicked on that part where it shows the last people you searched, everyone would be okay with that…

Rick: I don’t have Instagram.

Tracy Bryant: Yeah, I don’t have a personal Instagram. I just run our band one.

 

You’ve been really quiet Jeff.

Jeffertitti: No comment. Maybe star, not stalker.

 

I think anyone who says they haven’t done any cyberstalking in this day and age is definitely lying.

Robert: I mean you throw out the word stalking…and no one is gonna say yes!

 

Like if you met a girl at a bar, and you just knew her name, you wouldn’t go home and check her out on the internet?

Rick: She’s have to be pretty rad when I met her.

 

Yes of course, it doesn’t apply to someone you feel only lukewarm towards and you don’t care if you ever see them again.

Rick: Sure, if you want to know more, then that’s the way to do it.

Robert: I have kind of a stalking story. There’s this girl, can I say her name? Actually I won’t say her name. I used to be more active with the band’s Instagram, and we played Origami Vinyl and she made a post like “Oh I like this band Corners” and I checked out her Instagram, for no reason at all. And she had pictures of herself going around the world, and she was totally my type of girl.

 

Wait, was this me?

Robert: (laughs) And I had this huge crush on her and she it turned out she was really good friends with a lot of people I know and hangs out at Lolipop all the time. So I think actually that helped start our relationship.

Jeff: I try and avoid that stuff. For example there’s been times on Facebook or whatever, whoever wants to be “friends”, I’ll accept them, but just recently I’ve been kind of freaking out about that, and trying to erase everybody that I don’t actually know. Or some people, I’ve only met them once and do I really need to be bombarded with them inviting me to things, or seeing what their digital thoughts are? It’s an easy pitfall to fall into in this day and age, but I think for me it’s something I’m trying to avoid. It doesn’t seem healthy.

 

It’s interesting that you are the one that falls most squarely in pre-internet generation but that you’re the most active with Internet and social media stuff.

Jeff: That’s what they said! Not what I said. I wouldn’t want to be one of those people who is disgusted by the present moment, even though sometimes I fall into that pitfall too. Like, “oh technology is ruining music” or whatever. In reality they’re all tools and it’s pretty amazing what we can do with them. Like have a conversation with someone you know in Europe instantly, and make plans to go see them. They’re all tools, and you can abuse any tool. Like coffee is a tool. Water is a tool. People have died from drinking too much water.

Tracy: Can you die from too much cyberstalking?

Jeff: Yes.

 

You can probably go to jail.

Tracy: I’ve learned recently a lesson about giving out my phone number to people. Because I have a girl story too recently. The last show we played, there was this girl, she takes good photos, I’m not going to say her name. She was like “I want to come to this show you guys are playing in Orange County and take photos.” And I was like “yeah sure.” And she says “well, can you put me on the list? Why don’t you put your number into my phone?” The show is in like three weeks, by the way. The other morning I get a text from some random number and it just says “Hey sweetheart, how are you?” I didn’t respond, and that’s probably the last time I’m going to give out my cell phone number to someone I don’t know.

Jeff: Yeah you definitely have to have the courage to be straight up and keep your boundaries.

I’m sure it’s difficult with fan situations because you want to seem accessible and not stuck up.

Jeff: I’ve kind of lost patience for all that stuff lately. If I’m DJing in particular and people are coming up to me wasted trying to make requests or even just small talk, I think I’ve gotten pretty good at just being kind of a dick. When it’s necessary.

 

You have to develop that I think. Especially with things like DJing where anyone can come up at anytime. Sometimes I just want to ask them “Where do you work? Oh Subway? Do I come to your work and tell you how to make a sandwich? Don’t come to my work and tell me how to do my job.”

Jeff: Yeah! Or come up to bands like “Can you try this other fret?”

 

The only thing I read about you guys before this interview was the LA Record piece, and they point out that you don’t have much mythology or back story available online. No bio. Is that intentional?

Tracy: Yeah pretty much. I mean I think it’s still unraveling, it’s still being written. We don’t want to be like “oh we’re this or we’re that.” I feel like we’re just barely getting to where we want to be, so I don’t think a bio or anything is totally appropriate. It’s kind of silly.

Jeff: The music should kind of speak for itself I think. It’s also kind of going against that whole thing where everybody thinks they’re s star because of the internet. Why talk about yourself, why don’t you just do something and let other people debate it?

Rick: Somebody else can talk about it.

 

Unless of course you’re a blogger, and your job is basically to talk about yourself.

Tracy: That’s exactly why we’re here. You can help us build our story.

 

Mostly I’ll probably just talk about myself and include a few short lines about you guys.

Robert: You’re really making the story for us, because we don’t have much out there right now.

 

You guys are fucked then.

Tracy: It’s way more real for you to ask us a question and us to sit around and candidly talk about it then for us to sit around and think about how we are going to write about ourselves.

 

Yeah writing about yourself is horrible, for anyone. I’m a writer and I can’t even do it. It’s miserable, unless you’re going to be self-deprecating. That’s easy. But writing about yourself in an earnest, celebratory tone? That’s incredibly difficult. Unless you’re a douchebag.

Jeff: Totally.

 

Back to wanting the music to speak for itself and all that. You guys definitely have a look. You guys all dress a bit different, but there’s definitely a look. Especially you Jeff. Do you think people sometimes draw conclusions about what your music is going to sound like based solely on how you guys dress?

Robert: People probably do that all the time.

Jeff: Well, David Bowie is on right now (at the cafe we are at), and he’s a perfect example of how image is actually an expression. It’s a form of art in itself. I don’t know, if I hear an amazing band and I see them on stage and they look like a bunch of bozos, that don’t give a shit…I think image is an important part of the show. It’s important to use all the tools available.

Tracy: Especially for the music we make. I think we make semi-serious songs about semi-serious things, so I would expect us to look sort of serious…

 

Jeff looks really serious.

Tracy: I mean, we have fun with it.

 

Sure. I mean, at the end of the day, you guys are performers. And that’s part of the package.

Jeff: It would be like playing a show and there’s no lighting guy. That’s part of the show.

Tracy: I mean you can make music and record and stay at home and never play live, if that’s how you want to be. But if you’re going to put yourself on stage, you better play the fucking part. I mean not into a band that doesn’t do that.

 

A band can be really good, technically speaking and what not, but at the same time be really boring. And I find that so much more offensive than a band who is actually just really bad. Because at least that’s interesting, and less offensive, because you feel something about it.

Jeff: It’s like Brian Eno wasn’t a musician, so when he was making music at first he wasn’t technically proficient, but he was doing something so interesting and new that he became more famous than the other Brian he was playing with. He had this long lasting career that is still going on now.

Tracy: I think all those bands are going to just eventually disappear because they’re just not interesting in any way.

 

Where do you guys see yourselves in ten years?

Tracy: I don’t know what we’ll be doing in ten years.

Jeff: Or ten days.

Tracy: I don’t think any of us want to put out anything we don’t think is really good, so I imagine everything is just going to keep getting better. It better, otherwise we’re doing something wrong.

 

Okay everyone go around the table and tell me a few artists people might be surprised you listen to.

Jeff: I’m really obsessed with pop music right now. Whatever it is. I love Cyndi Lauper. When I’m djing I’ll put on “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” or something like New Edition, and sometimes people will love it, and start freaking out and screaming, but other times I’ve cleared the dance floor. In that case I’ll just get out there and start dancing.

Robert: I listen to a lot of Madonna. I think she’s really sexy, and she produces all her own songs. I don’t know how she does it, but has the most amazing rhythms. Every era. I loved it when she was wearing the ponytail and playing weird clubs in New York, and I love her now. I saw her at Coachella a couple of years ago and loved it.

Rick: I like a lot of folk. Cass McCombs, mellow stuff. I’m not so much of a punk rocker or a popster. I like mellow music. I don’t have a radio in my car or anything.

Tracy: I think Tom Petty is really good. I like the B-52s, I think they’re really underrated. I like pop music. That song “Hey-Ya” by Outkast blew my mind when it first came out.

Jeff: Oh I love all that 90s west coast rap like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

Tracy: I actually have Eazy-E’s autograph. It’s this photo of him in an NWA hat, My mom knew someone who worked with him. I think he thought I was a girl because of my name, because my brother’s says “To Justin, keep rolling hard” or something and mine says “2 Tracy, stay smooth, Love ya.”

You can find Corners on , on , and at whatever store sells really neat vintage pants of all eras. You can pre-order their new LP Maxed Out On Distractions from Lolipop Records, and catch them at their record release show in LA at The Echo with Froth and Mr. Elevator & The Brain Hotel, and Wyatt Blair on October 10th.