ISLANDS
The SIS Interview by Eavvon O'Neal

It's commonly said that "the road to success is paved with holes", but few experienced such literacy than those who attend the CMJ Marathon each year in New York's Lower East Side. In trying to parallel the metaphor to reality, Island's front man Nick Thorburn has dedicated time and effort to illustrating how absolutely relative that idea is to gaining popularity, and its derivative, pop music, and how this effects the creation of their next album. Stranded In Stereo was all ears.

CMJ is both a variably awesome musical experience and a networking clusterfuck of glad-handing, cheap-to-free alcohol and displaced, sometimes delusional professionals. It's also an excellent opportunity to get up your interviewing chops, if one so desires, thereby extending the press the flesh mentality of all those concerned. In New York, the music industry community is already so small, in terms of the people actually doing the moving, and tandem shaking, and when crammed into the Lower East Side, vying for space is synonymous with making yourself stand out. It's an environment of eager promoters, labels and writers who are pitted against fans for face time to keep this drunken robot called college music alive. Not everyone can be placated and toes often get stepped on, but in the end, its all about the pop and buzz of musical entertainment – with pop being the operative word. As long winded as this introduction may be, that's really the point. Everyone in attendance at CMJ is there to help make unknowns, semi-knows, and the popular, mainstream. The band Islands have set out to ensorcelled all those within ear shot, to help slingshot them to the top of the pop charts, building on their cult popularity. With ferocious abandon, honed wit and poor punctuality, frontman Nick Thorburn set out to define this ascension, with the best tongue-in cheek demeanor one could expect from a man who's simply trying to make it happen.

While sitting in Piano's Bar & Restaurant prior to my scheduled interview with Nick, I had no clue what to expect. From various interviews I had read with Nick, he seemed clever, sometimes disarming, but usually he kinda came off as a jerk. I was aware that in his previous band, the Unicorns (a connection he wishes to shake), the whole band created a rock star persona. You have to dress for the job you want, I suppose. I went to go meet Nick at the corner of Rivington and Orchard. Once there, I saw him shuffle a woman into a cab, speak to the driver, then pull the woman back out. I called Nick from across the street, and we spoke briefly about our impending interview. "I'm really sorry about all this confusion, I promise you I'm not an ass, let me just grab lunch with my girlfriend, and then I'll call you as soon as we're done. "

I ducked back into Piano's, rushing through the rain that had began to pour on the temporary hip Mecca to wait for his call. After an hour passed, I deiced to text him and simultaneously head towards the Thai restaurant where he was eating. "I'm at R Bar, on Bowery, could you just come over here and meet me?" his text replied to my "You done eating yet?" So of course I booked it the few blocks to venue in the rain, already eager to have this over and done with. I met him and his recently nourished girly inside, then absconded with him outside to try and push this interview out before he pulled another white rabbit on me. "I'm soo sorry again. You must be writing that I'm such a dick,” he clamoured apologetically. I hadn't yet, but there would be time for that later, perhaps.

"This record is going to be huge,” he started off. "It's the best shit I've ever done, and when I release this next record, it will blow any other shit I've ever done out of the fucking water." Yes, that's a grand statement, but it comes from a man who has something to prove, a (hopefully) surmountable chip that the indie community has drop on his small shoulders. Ever since the break up of the indie postergroup The Unicorns, the parallels between the magical Islands and the mythical Unicorns have yet to cease. "If people still want the Unicorns after this, then its just nostalgia, because this album will outlast trends and hypes."

Wide appeal, trend busting, timeless effort -- sounds like the omega of pop albums, or more realistically, the illustration of the conscious effort towards such. In past interviews, mostly with Pitchfork, Nick hovered around topics relating to his dedication to developing his pop sensibilities, almost feverishly. While there are many artists that drive toward pop perfection, Thorburn drives at this idea with an intensity that attempts to be serene, but comes off as lustful. "Ultimately, we just want to be pop. As long as[the music]means something, and this [album]has the potential to me a lot to a lot of people, which is all a good pop song is.

It's about accessibility. “’Can the truest form of pop be created?’ It’s an impossible question to answer, and there is a lot of context to included. It has to deal with misogyny, racism and (all revolves around) three key chords, with those being 1, 4 and 5, (making devil horns with his hands, through the corresponding fingers), it's satanic. Just kidding."

"This new record is a lot more rock and progressive with a large symphonic feel. The last song on the album is actually 12 minuets long and the first clocks in at six. I've tried to make this self-obsessed but still inclusive so that everyone is invited to our party." In trying to add vision with a production quality that binds, Nick had hoped to get Jeff Lynne to provide his talents, but when plans fell through, he searched for a similar style, with distinct qualities. "I just need someone who pushesyou and gives a little tough love. We were just looking for a creative mind in the first place. One who knows when to let it be, but also when to offer advice. I just know this album is gonna be a big step for us, and I'm banking on it being important to everyone. While I realize that there is a lot of backlash for saying that, I stand by it."

Luckily, Islands are a very deep and talented crew who are certainly capable of fulfilling such dreams. Most of the members are classically trained or fresh music school dropouts who chose to peruse making music in exchange for learning how to make music. With this group, Islands could theoretically become the Manhattan Project to pop. "I think we're more capable with the depth, but that's still a platitude."

While trying to make the perfect pop song should be an ambition that resides within the walls of the Brill Building, it’s still a secret hope of many musicians. "It's just an interesting part of me. While all the other side projects I'm working on are purely pleasure based, this is my professional side. I know it sounds like a cop out, but from all of the things I've done, Islands are just different." However lofty it may sound, dreams and dedication do speak to the emotion that Islands have invested in their future. And if it means running all over the lower east side to prove that, then perhaps its worth it. "Everything you'll get will be a part of our soul. It may sound dorky, but I'm not ashamed."