Article with Steven, the day before the Del Mar show: http://www.nctimes.com/entertainment/music/article_755451d3-73c9-5921-9e0d-7328cfce8d61.html
The Airborne Toxic Event is a band of road warriors.
To support its impressive self-titled 2008 debut album, the Los Angeles alt-rock group did 354 shows, including a run of 30 consecutive U.K. concerts.
That final tour culminated with a special hometown performance at L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall in December 2009 with guests from the local Latino and classical communities. All the proceedings were detailed on last year's excellent and beautifully shot documentary, "All I Ever Wanted" and accompanying live CD.
Exhilarating sophomore studio effort "All at Once" arrived this past spring to another ambitious tour schedule: three multiple-venue residencies in London, L.A. and New York.
Doing each city in one week was "surreal," said TATE guitarist/keyboardist Steven Chen in a recent phone interview. "It was really satisfying to go through that whole thing, but grueling."
"We must have done 25 shows in a row without stopping," he continued. "It was a crazy experience."
Formed five years ago, the band came up amid the close-knit and thriving Silverlake music community. After recording several songs earmarked for the first album, "Sometime Around Midnight" found its way onto the playlist of KROQ/106.7 FM (rare for an unsigned group) in early '08.
Once the powerful L.A. station added it and others around the country followed suit, TATE "got a crash course in music that you have to learn quickly." U2 bassist Adam Clayton was an early supporter of the hit single, which went onto sell more than 400,000 copies here, and the debut disc was equally well-received.
This Friday, the quintet ---- also composed of singer/guitarist and sometimes literary writer Mikel Jollet, bassist Noah Harmon, violinist Anna Bulbrook and drummer Daren Taylor ---- arrives at Del Mar and performs after the horse race. Do the members plan on a few wagers?
"Whenever we play Vegas or Reno, Mikel will either stay longer or go on a run at the tables. For a period of time, he supported himself playing poker. I don't trust myself with gambling. I play it too safe in all the wrong ways; he's reckless in all the right ways. He's really good. I wouldn't be surprised if he put money on some horses."
It's a safe bet to assume fans will be enthralled with "All at Once," which boasts more expansive soundscapes than before. The title refers to the deaths of Jollet's grandparents and an uncle during the creative process. He wrote several songs revolving around how your life can change in an instant.
From the electronic textures in "Numb," spirited early Johnny Cash-styled rockabilly of "It Doesn't Mean a Thing," quirky, high-energy stomp of "Changing" (think Modest Mouse) and the breezy, poppy "Strange Girl" to the searing, politically tinged "Kids Are Ready to Die" (revisiting "Joshua Tree"-era U2 territory) and fiery, accordion-led war denouncement "Welcome to Your Wedding Day," the band is in winning form.
"Our rhythm section kicks ass," enthused Chen.
The latter tune was inspired by the Clash and news of Afghan nuptials turned deadly via an accidental American Predator drone attack.
"Mikel was writing towards a theme and trying to create an album that was cohesive," explained Chen. "There's no reason why we wouldn't continue playing with rhythms and genres. In that way, the second album feels more versatile to me."
The Calder Quartet, a frequent collaborator onstage with TATE, finally provided string section enrichment of three new album tracks. "The more we played with them, the more integral they became to certain songs. ... Watching them in the studio was amazing.
"We knew we had to have them on there," affirmed Chen. "The songs are beautiful."
Producer D. Sardy (Oasis, Bush) almost had a "Phil Spector" moment with the guitarist during a minor disagreement. "For some reason, he had a switchblade (knife) lying there. He picked it up and said, 'The first song; let's do that one.' It was a total joke and hilarious, but it made me wonder why he had a switchblade in the production room."
Earlier this year, the band appeared in an episode of the TV drama "Gossip Girl." According to Chen, none of the musicians had any idea what that show was about and hadn't done anything like that before. After it aired, their popularity among young girls ---- and previously oblivious relatives ---- suddenly increased.
"I have cousins who knew I was in a band, didn't really follow us and all of the sudden were like, 'Oh my God, you're on 'Gossip Girl.'"
