Your new album, Some Racing, Some Stopping, hit shelves on Tuesday (February 19th). Q:Are you guys totally amped to see how people will react to the new material?
A:Very! We finished recording it in September so it will be great to finally get it out.
Q:Considering the differences between this and
Kill Them with Kindness, how do you think your older fans will react to the new sounds?
A:I don't really know. This new record is a bit less bombastic. It's a more intimate affair. The main difference is in the production. We did the whole thing at home so it's definitely cozy. We're still all about harmonies, textures and strong melodies. We'll see what happens.
Q:What drove you guys to go in a different musical direction on the new album?
A:Part of it was having more confidence in our song writing. After touring for so long it was easier to let our guards down a bit. We felt as though building layers for the sake of musical density wasn't so much of an issue because the songs stood up just fine without 50 keyboard and guitar overdubs. This time we focused more on vocal layers and simpler structures.
Q:And now listening to the two albums back-to-back do you guys prefer one to the other, or is it the case of the newest is always the freshest in your mind and therefore the best?
A:For now, at least, the newer, fresher record is winning but we all still like 'kill them with kindness'. We were just more focused in getting a sound that we liked and felt comfortable with this time. Last time we just went into a studio, banged it out and lived with the sounds that the engineer set up. We spent a lot of time and energy getting sounds that we loved.
Q:There's a lot more instruments then I can remember you guys using prior to this album, did you handle that yourselves or did you have more musicians come in to record with you? How are you going to handle the additional instruments on the road?
A:We had a couple of friends play strings and horns. Other than that we just picked up instruments and tried to squeeze some cool sounds out of them. Erin picked up a Flute and could magically play it, no problem. That was a bit weird. As far as the road goes we just officially became a 5 piece. Nick has been touring with us for the
last couple of years and John Owen from Shipwreck just joined up. We have more harmonies, guitar, percussion, glockenspiel, keys, accordion, a myriad of musical wonderment. More of everything.
Q:How is the tour going so far? Any interesting stories to share yet? Any dirt you wanna dish on your tour mates the Evangelicals?
A:So far so good. It's only the first week so who knows what will happen before it's over but it's been an adventure. We had our shoes licked by a 'pee drinker' (apparently) in Athens, GA., went to a make out party and wiped out on half pipes in Lexington, KY., stayed in a beautiful historic hotel in Nashville (courtesy of internet manipulation). It's been really fun. We are all getting over the flu so it's only up from here.
Q:What are you guys listening to between stops on the tour so far?
A:Lot's and lot's. The new
Caribou record is great, the new
Bon Iver is great too. Hmmm...
The Snake, The Cross, The Crown's last record has the best song ever written about touring and living selfishly as a musician.
LCD Soundsystem, a lot of
NPR, the new
Megafun record came out the same day as ours and it's great too. We listen to Nick a lot because he has a lot of fun jokes that only he gets. We laugh because we're nice. And because we love him.
Q:As an experienced touring band is there anything you would never ever forget to bring on a tour? What are you most regretting leaving behind this time around?
A:I forgot my song notebook and I feel like sticking a plastic knife in my eyeball because of it. Fuck! Other than that I would never ever leave without a pillow. Ever. And a towel. And a tooth brush. iPod. Books, you need to be able to get away sometimes. Cross word puzzles. Vitamins.
Q:How's the music scene in Champaign, IL? Does it compare to Chicago, or is it a completely different being?
A:I don't know if it compares to Chicago because Champaign has about 100,000 people compared to 6 million. There are certainly less bands. They are also really separate entities. It's a college town so there is a fairly regular influx of new people and ideas.
Q:Any good bands coming out of there, other then you guys of course?
A:There are some really great bands from Champaign.
Shipwreck,
Tractor Kings,
Beauty Shop.
The Living Blue just relocated to Chicago. It's a great little town.
Common Loon.
New Ruins is really good and their guitar player Elzie did the artwork for our record.
Q:Any bands from somewhere else you'd like my readers to know about?
A:Our bass player/joke teller Nick plays in
Decibully who from Milwaukee and are also on Polyvinyl. They are amazing.
Gentleman Auction House from St. Louis are great. There is so much great music that is bubbling in the underground that it's almost
impossible to name a few.
Maserati from Athens, GA.
Via Audio from New York City.
Call Me Lightning from Milwaukee and all the bands from our van selection. And of course the
Evangelicals from Oklahoma. They are ferocious. Not fierce, ferocious. Some of our favorite touring partners are
Page France and
The Cotton Jones Basket Ride from Baltimore, MD.
As you guys probably know, your album leaked a while ago now. What was your reaction to it leaking?
We're fucking infuriated!! I'm working with Lars Ulrich to get justice. Just kidding. I don't mind at all, people listening to our music is a good thing.
How do you handle being a band in this scary, digital age of music? Is there anything that you guys hate about the digital age of music? Love?
We don't worry about it. We are music fans and getting our hands on music however we can is the point. Listening and enjoying is what it's all about. Fretting about turning profits on record sales is distracting and destructive to creativity. We trust our guys at Polyvinyl to do what they do. It's a different industry then it used to be but we all grew up in the information age and can roll with the punch.
After this tour is done what do you guys have planned for the near future?
We are going through canada this summer and stopping by the Sled Island Festival. We're also going back to Europe after that. It will probably be a long year on the road and that's fine with us.
Headlights perform at Union Hall on Friday, February 29th
Some Racing, Some Stopping available on Polyvinyl NOW!!!
Headlights - "Cherry Tulips"Headlights - "Catch Them All"Headlights - "School Boys"
Who: El Perro Del Mar + Lykke Li
Who: Frog Eyes
Who: The Dodos
Who: Devotchka
Who: Ray Davies
Who: Foals 
