Following on from our review of their latest single, ‘Gift Or A Curse‘, we spoke with New York band, Porter Block.
What keeps you drawn to looking back at older eras of music instead of chasing trends?
I only draw from my own experience to write music. It naturally moves you down the road of self-knowledge and experience to when music really had an impact. For me, like most, it was primarily the music I listened to as a child and young adult. Music from the 60’s and 70’s and music from the 1980”s.
You’ve been at this since 2003 in New York. How has that environment shaped the way you write and create together?
We’ve changed it up over the years for a bunch of technical and logistical reasons. Initially, I was working out of a studio in Lower Manhattan called The Engine Room. Then I built my own place in Gowanus, Brooklyn and we really spent huge periods of time writing and then recording our material.
We could spend months jamming and writing songs like on “Off our shoulders” (2007) and then bring in a friend like Steve Holly to play drums, and then start over and build masters from our jams with him because he’s such a great drummer. We used Pro Tools mostly as a recording device. Very little if any, editing. Full takes are mostly cut live, and then lots of overdubs. We’ve done stuff on tape purposely limiting ourselves, and it usually improves the song and quality.
Once Caleb moved to Nashville, we started using his place (Cygnus Sound) almost exclusively, except during the pandemic, when I recorded Piano and vocals in New York City at the Engine Room, and Caleb would fly those into the master he was building on his computer in Nashville.
Your sound pulls from artists like Neil Young and the Eagles. What keeps those influences meaningful?
We both grew up listening to those artists, so it’s hard to shake. For me, Neil has always been an inspiration as a songwriter and as a recording artist and as a live performer.
Your recent albums touch on themes like isolation, relationships, and uncertainty. How do you usually decide what story you want to tell next?
The music generally comes first, and it always suggests something. That’s what I love about writing music. Just a single chord or sequence of notes says so much, it’s really a wonderful surprise what comes next. Characters, confessions, emotions, and things from inside.
Gift Or A Curse” looks at how quickly things in life can shift. What sparked that idea for you?
I’m not really sure. Certain phrases can really lead you down a treacherous path. I once wrote a song called “The well’s run dry”, another abbreviated form of speech. You could take it several ways. “Gift or Curse” just came out of my mouth. That’s what led to the duality of “Maybe gets good tomorrow, maybe it just gets worse”.
Gift Or A Curse” looks at how quickly things in life can shift. What sparked that idea for you?
It’s not a new revelation. I think the whole world thinks it lives day by day based on reinforced narratives that things are binary. You’re either good or bad. Moral or immoral. Black or White. There’s a tragic comedy that lies in between, in the grey areas not so easily explained. “Gift or curse” exploits that paranoid delusion in the name of a good rock song.
How do you usually build a track together from the first idea to the final arrangement?
At this point, as soon as the demo process begins, the master recording is in process. On our last EP, “Pinball Hideaway,” we took a different approach. We finished the demos and then recorded again, rehearsed live with a rhythm section. We did it in 3 days. Whatever works best for the song.
The video has a very classic performance feel. What made you want to keep things simple and focused on the band?
We tried to build in a tightly wound kind of sound with some modest amounts of aggression. Using the band playing in a generic TV studio seemed right.
Was there any reference or inspiration behind the visual style of the video?
Yes to be honest, we tried to achieve the spirit of the Knack video for “My Sharona”, which also loomed large in my childhood musical memory box.
As you head toward a new album, what direction are you exploring next?
We’re considering options. In over 20 years, we’ve made many albums. The idea of it is a little daunting. Maybe playing live now has a more lasting impact on people. That experience seems to garner more value than streaming another album for free.
You can lose yourself in the nostalgia of the video for ‘Gift Or A Curse’ below, and find out more about Porter Block and their music online on their official website, YouTube, and Instagram.
