Song Exploder - ODESZA - Kusanagi

Episode Date: June 14, 2016

In September 2014, Odesza put out their album In Return. It debuted at #1 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic charts, and spent 13 weeks in the top 10. But the song Kusanagi isn't a dance track. It slows down the pace of the album, and in this episode, Clay and Harrison of Odesza explain why. They tell the story of how they made the track, along with their friend and collaborator who they named the song after, Sean Kusanagi. This episode was recorded live at Moogfest in Durham, North Carolina.

You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece tell the story of how they were made. I'm Rishi Kesh Hirwe. In September 2014, Odezah put out their album in return. It debuted at number one on Billboard's Dance and Electronic Charts, and spent 13 weeks in the top 10. But the song Kusanagi isn't a dance track. It slows down the pace of the album, and in this episode, Clay and Harrison of Odessa explain why. They tell the story of how they made the track, along with their friend and collaborator,

who they named the song after, Sean Kusanagi. This episode was recorded live at Moogfest in Durham, North Carolina. My name is Rishi Kesh Hereway. You're listening to Song Exploder. I am Clayton Knight, one half of Odessa. I'm Harrison Mills, the other F. We had been playing, like, a lot of heavy electronic music festivals, where it's a DJ act, and they're playing these just bangers, after bang, after bang,

and he just beats you up. And we're just, like, kind of burnt out, kind of, like, beating over the head with this heavy electronic sound. for like for so long we're like God I wish we could just make something that's the opposite direction completely really low-key and basically ambient we were in L.A. at Sean Kusanagi's house. Sean's extremely important he's like the secret third member of Odeza he introduced me and Clay back in college I've known him since 16 that he's played guitar on every single one of our albums this is Sean Cusinagi and I play a guitar in Odessa Clay and Harrison were on tour

staying on my couch in L.A. And I was just messing around playing some chords on acoustic guitar. Yeah, when we heard those chords, we knew we needed to do something with them because they sounded so beautiful. We just kept talking about how we'd love to take that. We didn't have our equipment with us, really,

to record too much. So that was just the beginning of the idea. Since we were on tour, we waited until we were off. and we decided we'd go to a very comfortable space to keep working on it. So we went back to Clay and Sean's hometown, which is Bainbridge Island. It's right outside Seattle.

It's a ferry right away. And we went to Sean's parents' house, and they have this kind of side house next to their home. It's right on the water in the rainy northwest. So it was very, very inspiring. And we, yeah, that was the first thing we wanted to start working on them with was that song. When it came time to go into the studio, that's where we lay down the full chords that you hear in the track.

So those main four chords are actually guitar swells. I played all with a volume pedal. So you can kind of hear, if you listen really closely, you can hear the kind of hiss of the amp when the volume gets all the way up. To me, it felt like kind of a distant memory and feelings of longing. That was something we really thought about and how do we keep emphasize. that feeling. Those children vocals, it's actually an old Christmas record

and it's chopped up. So they're not saying words anymore because I think when lyrics are said, you make an instant connection and that's, we're going for more of an emotive tone and atmosphere to immerse yourself in instead of a specific meeting. We had these ideas for these strings,

but it's like we can't hire an orchestra. So we found ways around it in ways to like make these sounds that were kind of corny in the computer and layer them properly to make something unique and kind of special. The electronic music we make, it's important for us to have a very human aspect to it.

That's us dropping stuff on a table. I think we've had some sticks for a break out too. Yeah, it's like a plank of wood. I think there's like ripped paper. Yeah, a lot of weird stuff. I'm just thinking of how stupid we look. Yeah, watching someone just drop. quarters and look at you like, that's the one.

Did we get it? That was pretty funny. One of my favorite parts of the track is the guitar sweep. That's when you hear that. I actually can't take any credit for writing that part because it was all done by Clay and Harrison when they took single guitar notes that I played and then they record it, play another note and record it. And then put that on this sampler. And then with the sample, you can kind of play out.

Stuff that you wouldn't be able to play on guitar, basically. That would be really hard. And what we're able to do is you're able to create this really percussive sound with each individual note. It sounds like a guitar, but it's played in a fashion that almost is unplayable. It's also fun to kind of limit yourself, like you have this sound.

You need to make something completely new out of it. Taking an actual sound, a human sound, and trying to manipulate it to make it a melody or a pad or something is a fun process. That was a field recording that we took It was just a playground Every time I hear that I just think of Sean's house

And the ferry ride over And like just being at home Which is such a nice nice thing And around that time We had been touring so much At home had become this whole new meaning for us And when you're living on a suitcase for that long Don't get me wrong

I can't complain about being a musician It's the best job ever But those things become so much more powerful to you And seeing your friends and family Have so much more meaning when you get pulled away from it. And now, here's Kusanagi by Odezah in its entirety. For more information on Odeza and their music,

visit SongExploder.net. Special thanks to Mogh Fest for hosting the taping at their festival. I have a new album of my own coming out on April 24th. It's been about 15 years since I last put out a full length, and this is the first one that'll be out under my own name, Rishikesh, her way. I started making Song Exploder when I was feeling lost in my own music career. And then for over a decade, I've gotten to have these incredible conversations about the process of making music, talking to other artists. And it made me completely rethink my relationship to music and my way of writing songs.

And this album is the product of all of that. It features contributions from some of my favorite artists, including some folks that you may have heard on this podcast, like Iron and Wine, Kevin Morby, Vagabon, Fenlily, and the producer Phil Weinrobe. I'm going to be on tour playing in cities across the U.S. starting in April. And I'm trying to bring the spirit of the podcast with me. So every show that I'm playing will begin with a conversation about the album with a different amazing guest moderator in each city. Like Adam Scott, Samin Nasrat, Jason Manzuchas, Josh Molina, Minjin Lee, Ken Jennings, John Roderick, Austin, Cleon, and more.

They're all going to be my conversation partners on stage. And then I'll play with my band. The album is called In the Last Hour of Light, and the first couple songs are out now. You can listen to the music and get tickets for the shows on my website, rishikash.co, or just go to songexploder.net slash live. That's songexploder.net slash live. Thanks. Next time on song exploder churches.

Follow Song Exploder on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. My username is at SongExploder. You can find all the past and future episodes of SongExploder at songexplotor. or on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you download podcasts. Song Exploder is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary story-driven shows. Learn more at Radiotopia.fm. This episode was edited with help from Christian Coons.

My name is Rishi Kesh Hereway. Thanks for listening.