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Interviews
Led Bib: It's Not Lady Gaga
Bruce Lindsay
Bruce is the author of the blog Delicious Hot Disgusting Cold, and the photoseries "It's Not How It Sounds".One tune in particular, "Hollow Ponds," shows a different side to Led Bib: a more organic, reflective side. Donin's double bass playing is superbly lyrical and reflective. "That whole bass-and-drums introduction was improvised in the studio. I think that's where the magic of that track comes from: we're both playing like we don't know what the other person is doing—it's a nice contrast for the record."
"Hollow Ponds" counters the view held in some quarters that Led Bib is simply the producer of scary sounds. It's a view Holub is aware of, and disagrees with: "Sometimes we receive a really positive review, but it seems like the writer doesn't quite get it. A lot of the time, they'll write something like, 'This is the most terrifying music you'll ever hear'—and I don't think it is. I think it is quite listenable, quite accessible. Okay, it's not Lady Gaga, but I hope people get it, approach it with open ears."
Led Bib is also a band with a keen eye for visuals. The band's publicity shots for Sensible Shoes portrayed the members as tweed-clad English country gentlemen; those for Bring Your Own show them dressed as intrepid Victorian explorers. The cover art is similarly intriguing: Bring Your Own features a seemingly random collection of objects, each given a number that appears to correspond to an album track. Holub is happy to explain the artwork's concept, at least in enough detail to add to its attraction: "The people who did the artwork, Imagist, also did Sensible Shoes and the live album, so we've been working with them for a while. I asked them for something quite bright, because I think this is a cheery record, and they came up with the idea of a sort of science diagram—like lots of bugs in a tray, and each one has a number. So they took each track, thought of an object that could be associated with it, then thought of something associated with that object. So it's like two degrees of separation. With some of the objects you can pretty much see the link, but with others it's pretty hard." There are clearly hours of fun to be had trying to work out those links.
The same could be said of Led Bib: sometimes it's easy to see the links, sometimes it's hard, but it's always fun trying to work them out.
Selected Discography
Led Bib, Bring Your Own (Cuneiform Records, 2011)
Led Bib, Sensible Shoes (Cuneiform Records, 2009)
Led Bib, Led Bib Live (Self Produced, 2008)
Led Bib, Sizewell Tea (Babel Label, 2007)
Led Bib, Arboretum (SLAM Productions, 2005)
Photo Credits
Page 1, Top: Matt Crossick
All Other Photos: Bruce Lindsay
