The Buddha Den: PROFILE: The Interiors

...admittedly, we've been laying a bit lower lately than even we're totally comfortable with. For that, we apologize. Rest assured that we are still very much here and still very much tuning in to find new stuff all the time...

...this Friday The Buddha Den Presents series returns with a great band from Chicago, The Interiors. The band's excellent debut came out last year on the 54' 40 or Fight imprint and the band quickly started making some inroads with incessant touring. We took a minute to speak with guitarist Chase Duncan and here's what he had to say...

The Buddha Den: For those who aren't familiar with The Interiors' backstory, how about a little rewind first? How/when did you all come together? What other bands were you involved in previously? What brought the three of you together?

Chase Duncan: In early '04. [Interiors' drummer] Brian [Lubinsky] and I had been playing together for a bit with different bass players but none of them worked out. [Bassist] Collin [Jordan] came in after seeing an ad we were running in the Reader where we name checked Desmond Dekker as an influence. He was really into that as he had not yet heard American music.

Brian played in a handful of bands in Cincinnati and Chicago but he had yet to find his "shining star" until he met me.

Collin had something to do with some kind of free-jazz rock thing that involved copious amounts of drugs and a warehouse. Although no one bothered to document those events, we're confident that they must have sounded glorious.

TBD: Your self-titled debut quickly caught some big attention, i.e. you performed for a Rolling Stone magazine showcase in Chicago last summer. How has the reception of your album compared to your expectations? What has been the general response in performance?

CD: We had no expectations, in all honesty, but we've been very happy.

People love our show. It's hard not to, really.

TBD: Although you're from Chicago, your sound doesn't necessarily fit in with the classic perception of the "Chicago sound". Has that had any consequences for you at home and on tour?

CD: Not really but we do close every show with "Johnny B. Goode" so that everyone knows we're keeping it real.

TBD: We understand you are currently at work on a full-length follow up to your debut. How soon do you expect that to hit the streets? What can we expect from the record? Any sonic surprises?

CD: Not much to say in terms of the 'how' 'where' and 'when'. As far as the 'what' goes, I think it will be a stronger synthesis of our ideas than the first record which was written over a number of years and experiments. This will be over a much more concentrated period of time and, therefore, more focused, streamlined and themed both sonically and lyrically.

Going on the road makes you a better musician in a way that nothing I've ever experienced can. We're way better musicians individually and a much stronger band as a result.

There will be many sonic surprises. I intend to introduce the concept of the 'fade-in' whereby a song is ended by gradually increasing the volume of our 'jam out' until you are forced to turn it off before damage is done to your person and/or stereo.

TBD: How do you see 2009 shaping up for The Interiors? What does the remainder of the year have in store for you?

CD: Writing writing writing

TBD: Is there anything else you would like The Buddha Den readers to know about The Interiors?

CD: We love you!