Fashion goth punk

And you will know us by the trail of dead

FROM A LONG TEXAS TRADITION comes a band with a long name and an even longer vision. Kevin Allen, Neil Busch, Conrad Keely, and Jason Reece comprise ... And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Jason explains the name: "It's from a Mayan glyph. It predicts the end of the universe--it's part of a Mayan prophecy. They somehow had seen the future." Whatever they saw, they no doubt heard these guys' new Interscope gem Source Tags & Codes.

Jason's explanation contradicts what Neil Busch told a yo-yo from Mojo: "There's a place in San Antonio where apparently in the '70s this bus full of school children was hit by a train. If you go there at the dead of night and park your car on the tracks and put it into neutral, you car will slowly roll off them. And they say that if you put baby powder on the trunk, when it gets pushed off the tracks there are several little hand prints of the children saving you from the fate they came to. And that's where the name comes from!"

The point is that the name's history fades into the mists of antiquity. Its length and grim message might conjure images of four forlorn goth Wannabes, or four death metal scowlers. In fact the band is none of the above--they are a quartet of cosmic cowboys.

Fashion-wise, they present a unified image, their individual styles blended into a happy whole: four gunslingers in black, about the same height, same age, with the same purposeful demeanor--an inseparable team. They all grew up together in the same remote stretch of the Lone Star State. They've got a great look. Conrad Keely, are you aware of this distinctive look? "We don't play it up, but I think we're drawn to one another not just because of our similarities in taste but also by the fact that we all kinda look similar to each other." Jason elaborates: "It just sorta happened. We all had similar interests in music, art, and politics, whatever--it all ties in together. The fashionable aspect of the band is a subconscious decision to be unified. We like black--that's how it happened. We were around each other so much that it sorta rubbed off."

The predominance of black evokes spookiness. Jason, is this gothic? "You know--yes and no." Could you comfortably play a goth club? "No, I think we're a little too punk rock for goth." Conrad? "Gothic? Okay. We're definitely influenced by that, too. We like to call it Southern Goth--the eerie Flannery O'Conner Midnight-In-The-Garden-of-Good-And-Evi1-type vibe of New Orleans et cetera."

In the music business, cognoscenti consider this kinda music "Hard To Categorize." Right, Conrad? "Yep. We don't fit in. We aren't trying to be like any of the other things that are going on. Ideologically, we have a lot of differences with some of the other forms of pop music that are popular right now." What would you call it? "I really hated the term 'post-rock' because it assumed that now that rock is over, there's something after it." But rock ain't over, is it? "It certainly isn't. But I've met a lot of bands that are called 'post-rock,' and I like falling into their category" Like who? "Explosions In The Sky--they're not trying to be a rock band, but they're definitely loud and emotional." (Here's a shout-out to some other Trail Of Dead peers: At The Drive In, Spoon, Recover, Lift To Experience, and Knife In The Water.)

The vibe evokes earlier Tex-Ass acts--especially the beloved Butthole Suffers. "Yeah, you can't forget about them," Jason says. When the Buttholes came out they certainly didn't sound like "Texas," did they? "Well, in one way they did--it is Texas, like this psychotic, looney, crazy-people-that-live-on-a-ranch LSD-type of music."

Conrad: "I'd say there's a little bit of them in us, sure--yeah--there's a diversity in the Austin sound. A lot of the bands around here strive to sound different. It's a challenge. The Butthole Suffers tried not to sound like anything else. We've tried to do that as well. There's so many bands in Austin that are so different from one another that the only way to stand out is to be even more different. Our music evolves with a mind of its own. We just allow it to do what it needs to do. We're influenced by everything that we get into--and we're sometimes influenced by things that we're not into." Like what? "The music I'm not into is the whiny white-boy rock that's being called 'emo' right now. I remember being into Fugazi and being told that was emo. I thought it was cool, but it has gone in a strange direction. You know, we've been called 'emo,' so I don't know who to believe."

Jason: "Sometimes our music sounds energetic and sorta brutal; other times it's more pastoral and contemplative, and sentimental."

Conrad: "Heavy emphasis on rhythm is a big part of the Texas sound."

Jason: "We tried to represent a side of Texas that a lot of people don't see--a more progressive, intelligent side. Everybody thinks of Texas as being this conservative, sorta backwards hickoid place. A lot of music coming out of Texas right now is the opposite of what you'd assume Texas to be about."

What fuels it all? Jason: "We appreciate anything that's psychedelic." Do you, smoke herb? "Oh yeah. Everybody does--we've been known to take ecstasy before a show. It adds a whole new world of experiences." No complaints from the audience? "Nope. We actually managed to stay in tune with one another." Conrad, do you smoke herb? "I do. Kevin will never do it." How about psychedelics? "As a child I did many. I did mushrooms when I was nine. With parental supervision. My stepfather believed in ritualistic drug-taking, and he raised me with a really good attitude towards drugs as something that can help to expand one's mind, but as something that should be avoided as an addiction or a crutch. And, all the ways that psychedelics can expand one's mind can also be achieved without them--definitely. You can achieve great levels of thinking."

Prior to Source Tags & Codes the band put out two albums: an eponymous debut on Butthole King Koffee's Trance label in '97. then Madonna on Merge, and now this here Interscope extravaganza. These guys have arrived! Conrad: "Interscope has a unique spot in music these days in its ability to take chances. They're more willing to take chances on weird things." Do you consider yourselves weird? "I would think that everyone else is weird, If that's normal, maybe I am weird,"

Conrad, a half-Thai whose original surname was not Keely but Sobsamai, did the cover of the new album with his painter partner James Olsen. "He paints, I draw. I'm an illustrator. I drew the picture on the inside of the jewel case. I did the cover--it's a composite of three works. Also I did the band logo, which is pencil on bristol board."

As for skating, Trail Of Dead has seen it. Neil ran a Houston skate park with his dad. Jason did his time on the board: "I briefly lived in Hawaii and I skated Walos. Ulu Watus was another place. Christian Hosoi skated there, and so did Johnny Kop." Were you good? "Not really. I had fun. We'd bring our boom box and listen to hardcore bands like Minor Threat, JFA, Suicidal Tendencies. We were into blasting hardcore and skating."

Jason explains the band's target demographic: "Only the highly-intelligent girls that are studying to become doctors and lawyers and scientists go to our shows. Only the MENSA girls go to our shows. They have to be a genius before they step through the door. Whereas the guys don't need any brainpower to go to our shows. They just need to know how to kick it and rock it. They just need to get bloody and bruised and cut their hearts out and set them on the stage." Mayan style!