If the names and faces of Nate Eiesland, Alissa Ricci, and Ryne Estwing sound and/or look familiar, it’s likely because they were three-fifths of dreamy, folk-inspired, often minimalistic Chicago indie poppers Scattered Trees. However, they recently left Scattered Trees behind and currently exist as ON AN ON, a project that’s equally dreamy, but quite a bit more sonically quirky. They are quite sing-along-able, with a sound that tends to pleasantly haunt listeners. Their debut album, Give In, has been out for the better part of a year now, dropping January 29th on Roll Call Records.
I recently got a chance to chat with ON AN ON’s Nate Eiesland about the band’s brief history and what they have planned for the future. I ask him to compare ON AN ON to Scattered Trees and he tells me that, despite the three constant members, nearly everything else about the process and outlook of the two bands is different.
“It’s really night and day. We started that band when we were teenagers, during pivotal parts of people’s lives. Every record sounded like a different band. Scattered Trees was methodical and very thought out, which was beneficial and detrimental, but probably more detrimental. We were young. We were writing parts ahead of time, like studio musicians. It was important for us to nail it in one take. It was important that people thought we were really good and the habits of sound that we made weren’t something the three of us were really excited about. We had kind of gotten over that. I mean, I love that band and so many things that we did in Scattered Trees, but it’s that way of working that makes records sterile, that neuters the art. In ON AN ON we’re enjoying the act of exploring and discovering the art.”
In addition to dropping their debut LP, ON AN ON have spent much of the year touring, both stateside and overseas, and Eiesland says that their highlight of 2013 has definitely been touring Europe: “It was really surreal. When there’s someplace that’s culturally on such a different level and they’re interested in what you’re doing, it’s such an honor… The world got really small for us this year.” The band are currently in the middle of a monthlong US jaunt which concludes with Cincinnati’s Midpoint Music Festival and Champaign, IL’s Pygmalion Music Festival. Despite the fact that the band have no regional stops (although they did provide World Café Live with 2013’s best Free at Noon concert earlier this year), I did ask Eiesland about ON AN ON’s live show, which is apparently a little different, both in process and product, than what you get on the album: “For us, we had to re-approach the music. We made the record with no concern for how we were going to do it live. We would ask ourselves, ‘How are we gonna recreate the same vibes and the same moods?’ But I think if you’ve really spent time with the record, you’ll get the same vibes.”
During downtime between several upcoming runs of live dates, Eiesland says that ON AN ON will be working on new music: “We’re gonna have a few weeks off and do some more writing and see how the sophomore album comes together. We’ll try to get into a room and see if we can just come together. We just follow what’s creatively exciting.” But on their current round of dates you can pick up ON AN ON’s recently released cassette of the band’s covers of Hot Chip’s “Boy From School” and Bjork’s “Unison.” (For those of you in the 215 and/or who just can’t make it out to the shows, you can hear the songs digitally on iTunes.) Eiesland tells me that “Boys From School” is actually the first cover ON AN ON ever attempted.
“We had a list of covers that we could do and listened them and [“Boys From School”] really stood out. We could imagine maybe doing justice to this song. It has so much kinetic energy, which is something we really go for. And Bjork, especially for Alissa, is a really big influence and we saw the opportunity to re-imagine it as if we had written that song. I mean, it’s just an amazing song and it’s kind of a deeper cut. Not everyone might know it.”
“We are living in an interesting time. There’s a resurgence of a physical medium,” Eiesland tells me of the push many artists are making to release their music in physical formats: “It’s a really cool time in music. It’s been a long time and there are starting to be some shifts. I mean, you can have this thumbnail in your iPod or this 12×12 thing that you want to frame because it’s a beautiful thing.” He also tells me that he thinks physical releases force listeners to engage with the music on another level: “You can make a choice to step into a deeper understanding of musicians and artists. You’re a part of it when you buy an album and go to a show. You’re joining in and becoming part of it. There’s currently a passive kind of music consumption, but I sure hope more people become engaged in the arts in this way.”
