R: This mysterious front - are the band members reclusive or is the intent to keep people focused on just the music? Or do you just not care?
JR: We've always had a collective identity. We never really decided that there was going to be a frontperson. It's just like, whoever comes up with the song and they can sing it and it sounds good and we all think it's going to work with the band, then it becomes a part of, you know, us. Everybody [in the band] comes up with different ideas and ways of going about them. There's no real set way to make a …Trail of Dead song. We just try to let it come together by the best means possible.

R: Are the many guest musicians on Source Tags And Codes friends or hired studio musicians?
JR: Some are hired, some are friends. We definitely had the budget to hire professional string players and a string arranger. We had the opportunity to do as much as we wanted, whereas in the past, the past two records, we were limited on resources.

R: And is that opportunity a result of moving from independent labels to a major label?
JR: Yeah, mainly because of that. The other two records were done by stealing studio time and working with friends that would take time off of work or whatever. It was real fly-by-night, real haphazard and chaotic, whereas the new recording was done in a more focused and easier environment. We went up to a chicken ranch fifty miles up from San Francisco and isolated ourselves from all human contact and really went to work. We spent a month there. We started to feel like we were in The Shining.

R: Is it true that some record bigwig signed you on the spot after seeing you perform at South By Southwest?
JR: No, that is not true. We were doing well in Europe and we were slugging away in the United States. There were maybe six labels that were highly interested in us, and a lot of them, they're intentions seemed so transparent. It wasn't like they wanted to cultivate or bring out this creative experience more than it was they wanted an instant rock band, some sort of instant gratification. We met Jimmy Iovine and he flew down to see us play this show in Austin. It was a show we set up because we wanted to play for our friends; we hadn't played for our friends in months. So it was kind of a good opportunity for him to come down and see us. It was a very ideal situation - we set up the show with this club and we did all of the groundwork, kind of like we rented the venue ourselves and created our own show. That's how it all started [with Interscope]. South By Southwest really hasn't provided anything for us other than just a show to play, but even then the shows are pretty pathetic. Sure, we played to some A&R bigwigs but in the end they mean nothing to us.

R: So your Interscope deal is set up more like a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, where the label isn't looking for instant cash but is more focused on development?
JR: Yeah. Well, at least that was the impression that they gave us - that they wanted to start a band that would have a strong back ground in the underground and have some roots to build off of, that wouldn't just be a flash-in-the-pan, one-hit thing, that we're actually going to create a cult movement within the music. I think it was a rare opportunity for us and we had to take it. We're very fortunate; I don't think a lot of bands get this opportunity.

R: Who was Lucas Porcell, the person whose memory your new album is dedicated to?
JR: He's a good friend of ours that committed suicide last year. [Around the time of] our second album, our friend Brady got into a car accident. It kind of disturbs me that every time we make an album, one of our friends passes away. I hope that doesn't happen with our next album.

R: The dedication seems a good way to keep someone in your memory.
JR: Especially when that person isn't around and you can kind of forget that they did exist at one point. Yes, definitely, whenever I listen to our album I definitely think of him.

R: What bands do you guys listen to?
JR: Oh, you know, Linkin Park, N' Sync, Limp Bizkit (laughs). No, I've been listening to Stars of the Lid, the new N.E.R.D. record, the Rolling Stones. It depends on my mood and the time of day. I've been listening to some DJ Screw - he's from Texas, he slows down these records and they sound like you're on cough syrup. The beats are really slow and you feel like you're on Quaaludes. We have a diet of many tastes, whether it's Tan or Slayer. We're not music snobs. One of us listens to the Carpenters. I'm into heavy metal as much as I'm into John Coltrane. Whatever has soul.

R: The CD insert artwork for Source Tags And Codes, were the pieces drawn to reflect the songs or did you just match existing artwork to album songs?
JR: The pieces were there to provoke certain images or at least to have the listeners attach themselves to the artwork to maybe come up with their own interpretations. Some of the artwork was done previously, some of it was done while the album was being finished and we were trying to come up with artwork that would apply to the song. You can kind of tell, like [the artwork for] "Heart In The Hand Of The Matter" is a very literal interpretation [of the song].

Sensory Attack!

R: I heard that your stage shows are going to become less violent. What are the chances of that actually happening?
JR: I don't really know. Some nights it becomes violent because it feels good. But then some nights, if we were to get violent or trash equipment it would seem as if we were just going through the motions. We definitely take it from show to show and work with the audience to see how they feel.

June 2002