Best of 2012 Round-Up: Songs to Escape the Desert By by Onboard Balloon

I know it’s been a while since we put up our Best of 2012 list, but there’s still a few albums I want to talk about from my list that I, nor anyone else on the blog or the internet, has really talked much about. I’ll get to them all eventually, but for now, enjoy my thoughts on the young-ish up-and-comers, Onboard Balloon.

If you remember from a while back, I ran a review on their last album, Mixtape, and did an interview with them. If you’re interested, I really suggest you go back and read that. If you’re lazy and don’t care too much, just know that these guys are friends of the blog, and make some interesting music. OBB is a pair of brothers working out of Colorado, making music in their shed-turned-recording-studio, and it’s not like much you’ve heard before.

Songs to Escape the Desert By sees them take on a variety of sounds. It sounds like it’s just kind of a collection of songs they’ve had around since Bad Sleep, which was released in 2011. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they’re bad; there’s a good mix of songs on here from my favorite album of their’s, Mixtape, along with a few tracks mixing in more of the traditional OBB sound.

The first few tracks, however, are a good introduction to what’s in store for the next hour. The opening track, “We are Slaves”, gives marching orders against the 1%-ers and the capitalist system in America that favors the rich and punishes the poor. It’s a hyper-liberal track that anyone over at Pitchfork would jizz their pants over. It’s also a great way to be introduced to the idea of Onboard Balloon, and what they stand for. Later on, “Starbender” takes a similar stance of hating on pop musicians with angry lyrics and hard bass line and angry guitar riff. Plus the pauses in the lyrics allowed Keegan to really do some fun, angry, and interesting instrumental stuff.

The next track, “Admittance”, smacks you in the face with the schizophrenic lyrics and beat. It frequently changes pace, and at multiple points the entire beat is completely dropped for some new instrumentation. But it’s strangely appealing; you have no idea where the song is going, but every new turn is something new and exciting. On top of that, you have Lee’s refrain of “my brain hates being trapped in me”, over and over and over again during one of those beat changes, and it just gives the song a whole new level of meaning and insight into the band.

“Barleywine Bucket Babies” shows off how weird and folksy they can get. And I’ll tell you what, this song gets weird. It’s only a banjo, and Lee’s voiced creepily doubled and letting that redneck drawl shine through. The banjo has this tin-like, twangy, clipped plucking to it, as though the musician didn’t know how to hold it properly. And the lyrics – “I was boooorrrrrnnnn in a bucket”. It’s about as backwoods as you can get without picking up a mason jar of moonshine, firing your shotgun into the air, and having sex with your cousin. It's weird, it's strange, and it's fantastic.

The rest of the songs feature these aspects in various degrees, with varying success. There’s a few songs in there that you kind of glaze over, as they meld into one another, especially given the random fade outs and beat changes that pop up from time to time in the middle of a track. This could be seen as a good thing; there’s nothing like having a well structured album with songs that sound related. But, at the same time, there aren’t too many truly memorable tracks. Sure, you can remember a line or two here and there, but you mostly glaze over those tracks.

However, there are a few tracks towards the end that really catch your attention. “Reflected” is a favorite of mine. It’s towards the back of the album, where Songs starts to drop off a bit, but it really picks the album up and drop it on your head. Much like the rest of the album, it’s essentially a spoken word poem. But instead, there’s just a simple accordion breathing, then a piano comes, then a guitar chord or two – the focus is on Lee, and on his words. And my oh my, are those words powerful. “Extremely pretty/Extreme these things”, “Close to spring time/Imma watch the Earth grow/For the 26^th time/And it’s funny, this time/It feels a little different”, “Didn’t need a receipt to release the dream”. The best part is that the poem is folded upon itself; after getting to the middle of the song, Lee then goes back and repeats each line in reverse order. Even though it’s the same path you just took, it looks different after seeing the end of it, and to see it coming from a different angle. It’s a testament to the power of words and poetic structure that tends to be lost in most music today.

“On the Roof” just sounds depressing. I have very little idea about what’s going on in the song, but the narrator is on the roof, writing about a suicide and how there aren’t any bells ringing to mourn that death, even though people are talking about it. It then delves into the narrator’s interactions with a girl who killed herself, and how he wants to kill himself too. But the hook just sounds so good, so real, so honest, that you can’t help but pay attention and listen in close.

As a whole, the album is a bit of a mish-mosh of songs and styles, but it’s still uniquely Onboard Balloon. I think they have their sound, between the tracks off of Mixtape and half of the tracks on StEtDB. They just need that one album that distills that kind of music, and a little luck. Trust me, if you like new things and mindfucking lyrics, put Onboard Balloon on your list of bands to check out.

If you want their album, you can buy it on Amazon, iTunes, or wherever you want because it’s everywhere. You should also like them on Facebook, and while you’re at it, like us Frogs on Facebook too, because we’re just as cool as OBB. At least I think we are. You decide.

A Gentlemanly Conversation with Onboard Balloon

Last weekend, I sacrificed, sleep, food, social interaction, and my sanity in order to get out my latest New Jersey White Boy article. I do that on a regular basis anyway, as becoming insane is great when you need to drop a few extra pounds for swimsuit season, but I did it special for Onboard Balloon (which you should totally check out if you haven’t read it yet).

Anyway, if you know anything about my articles (which, given the stats, you don’t), I like to put a lot of background info on the artists I cover. This becomes a problem when the guys you’re writing about are more obscure than a parent’s face during a game of peek-a-boo with a baby who doesn’t have object permanence yet. And is blind. So, I did an interview with them in order to get that information. Also, they’re pretty cool, down to earth people, which is ironic, given the name of their group. If you suck and haven't read the article yet, Lee does the vocals while Keegan does the beats, and they each submitted their own answers to my interview.

How did Onboard Balloon get started?

Lee - Me and my bro were pretty heavy into music, all kinds of music. One day we just started recording our own.

Keegan - Well it kind of just oozed out of us slowly. It got started because whenever we would hang out (we lived in different towns) a lot of the conversation was about music, and I had been pelunking around on a guitar for awhile. You know, pickin and a grinnin. Then I went to audio school in phoenix and started sending him some beats. Then we bought Cakewalk and recorded some songs with some pre-recorded beats/live guitar, in a very small kitchen in a duplex in Paonia, CO (that has since burned down and turned into a Dojo) using a fold-out lawnchair/vacuum extension as a mic stand.

Why the name “Onboard Balloon”?

Lee – We made a huge list of band names when we started and picked the one that was weirdest and would make people ask us “why did you name your band that?” [We were] flipping  pages and pointing at words in an Edgar Allen Poe book [and that’s] we got that name.

Keegan - It was one on a big list of names we had picked to choose from. We did the 2^nd and 3^rd album names the same way, with the list idea. That name came from flipping through an Edgar Allen Poe book and pointing. I think it was in the story “The Balloon Hoax” but I’m not 100% on that. Other names on the list came from our minds and our friends minds. There’s not really an underlying meaning like, we’re gonna touch the sky or anything.

OBB formed back in 2007, but were you guys making music before then? And did you always dream of being hip-hop stars?

Lee - We were making music before that. Some lo fi recordings of random crazy shit. I have always dreamed of making experimental hip hop since I knew what hip hop was. But as far as the star part goes, that’s never really been a goal.

Keegan - We were making music before then, if you want to call it music. We actually recorded this CD we call Stupidest Shit Ever in the studio when it wasn’t the studio at all, just a dirty shack. It’s called that because that’s exactly what it is. I have thought about [being a hip-hop star] yes, but it’s not something we strive for. If it happens it happens. We like to river swim, go boating, and drink beer, not dream about being famous.

What’s it like working with your brother?

Lee - It’s awesome, everything just kind of falls into place in the studio.

Keegan - Most of the time it’s hilarious and there’s a lot of beer. We built our own studio (Remodeled/built inside of and old farm house) when I got back from school, so we are never rushed or paying for time. Which is probably why it takes no time at all to make a song, if that makes sense. Basically complete artistic freedom/agreement on both our parts. Did I mention beer?

Have there been any times where you and your brother gotten into a heated argument over the music?

Lee - Nope… maybe here and there we bicker back and forth for a couple minutes about certain little details but that’s about as far as it goes.

Keegan - Not that I can recall, minimalistic bickering like an old married couple maybe, but no heated arguments. Usually things move right along.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, have you felt like you’ve grown closer?

Lee - We have always been close. Onboard Balloon is a part of us forever…

Keegan - Well yes of course. It’s been a long time since we started, and it’s what we do together most.

Growing up, what artists and musicians did you guys listen to?

Lee - Me, mostly old skool hip-hop like Run DMC and the JVC Force. Anything that had a rapper saying what he thought on the mic over some beats. 

Keegan - Growing up for me my favorite was probably Nirvana. Other bands I listened to were mostly 90’s Alt. Rock bands that had the hits you know Third Eye Blind, GooGoo Dolls, Marcy Playground, etc. And of course the music that was played in our home by our dad, from the big speakers hanging from the ceiling: Queen, Styx, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Supertramp and so on. Also my dad really liked Bag-pipe music. Any hip-hop that I heard was from my brother showing it to me. I never really pursued hip-hop artists until recent years. We also listened to our Grandma Cathy play a lot. She is a long-time folk musician, since I can remember memories.

Who do you take inspiration from now?

Lee - Well now it’s totally different. Instead of bobbing my head to whatever, I really listen to what kind of message or thought or feeling the artist is trying to put out. With that said you know I don’t listen to the radio at all (unless it’s NPR). I listen to Buck 65, MF Doom, Atmosphere, Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, Mac Lethal and a lot of Modest Mouse.

Keegan - The bands that I’ve been sticking with since high school with a few new ones. Primus (saw them play in Grand Junction a month ago, blew me away), Radiohead, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, The Shins, and Blind Melon. I listen to Robert Johnson and Leadbelly, along with other blues guys like James Cotton. Pink Floyd has been a huge influence for me, probably the biggest out of the old fellers named above. I also love Tony Furtado, the Barenaked Ladies, Laura Viers, John Mellencamp’s more recent stuff, April March..this list could just go on. I want to mention I love Celtic music, my favorites are Lunasa and The Old Blind Dogs. Some hard rock like Tool, System of a Down, and Korn. As for hip-hop: Sage Francis, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, Eyedea & Abilities and Crudbump? And my Grandma who still plays to this day, as well as my whole family, musician or not.

I know that Lee has a few solo albums. Do you guys like working on your own or with other people, or do you guys prefer working together?

Lee - We love working with other musicians! Anytime we can get a new flavor into our music we are all over it! We are as experimental as it gets.

Keegan - We just do what we can between our fulltime jobs, etc. I might prefer working with my brother because we move so fast in the studio, we’ve been doing it for so long and projects don’t take long at all to finish. BUT that does not mean I don’t like working with other people, new musical experiences are great and an awesome way to learn new aspects of what we do. Where we live musicians are few and far between.

Very few rappers have come out of Colorado, and the ones that have are generally based out of Denver. How has growing up and living in small towns influenced your sound and lyrics?

Lee – Well, I think growing up out here was a blessing. If we were in the city we would probably be dead by now. I think that growing up out here has giving our music a certain kind of twang. Call me country…

Keegan - This is a very hard question, because I can’t really compare my upbringing to a big city upbringing, because I don’t know what that feels like on a direct, personal level. So I will answer it this way: The radio in our area is just awful. And when we were younger we didn’t have access to the great spectrum of online stations, music sharing websites etc. There were absolutely no independent radio stations around, every damn station played the same damn songs over and over and over and over. There was never any variety, and to this day around here the only stations that play different stuff is the college station (which barely reaches us) and public stations. I think this had a big influence on both of us to the point of anger and disgust. Which made us strive to produce something different to the best of our ability. We never actually lived in town, always about 10 miles out. So there weren’t a lot of distractions, we had the time and place to hone our craft.

How do you guys feel your music has changed over the last 5 years?

Lee - The only thing I would say has changed is the quality. We have had basically the same goal the entire time - make good music for people to listen too. It keeps getting better and better…

ONBOARD BALLOON!!

Keegan - Our music has changed for the better, big time. I mean just listen to a couple [of our] first album tracks compared to what we are doing now (both can be found at soundcloud.com/onboard-balloon). We are constantly trying new things, instruments (non-conventional & conventional), new concepts, song structures. Our live show is quite different than our albums, because it’s just us two, and we would need 4-5 people on stage to play some of our songs off the albums. It has change drastically and it will keep changing/evolving.

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