5 Questions With: Outer World
The Richmond Va.-based duo stop by to talk about their new record, upcoming tour, and the state of music journalism today.
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Good morning!
Today we’re talking with Richmond, VA.-based Outer World
Who among us doesn’t sometimes use music as an escape? There is no better ride than putting on a good pair of headphones and letting the sounds take you to another universe. Few people are better qualified to take you on that tour than Tracy Wilson and Kenneth Close. Wilson fronted seminal 90s band Dahlia Seed, and she and Close were in post-punk Positive No together.
When COVID hit, it took a little from everyone and a lot from a few. In Wilson’s case, her signature voice was gone, and she and Close were forced to retool/regroup. Outer World’s electronic, future retro sound was the result. It’s a cinematic atmosphere with slinky grooves and style in equal parts.
Last fall, I described their sound as:
Where Dahlia Seed had an edge and shared sonic common ground with groups like Tad, Outer World exists in the same orbit as bands like Stereolab and even The Breeders. This new galaxy is one full of fantastic synths, samples, and post-punk sounds.
That sounds on-brand for a duo of music omnivores and a record whose origin story starts in a room of 7000 (not a typo) records. Wilson also runs the Courtesy Desk record store, writes an essential newsletter, and hosts a killer radio show (links below). They are currently out on a short tour, and if you're on the East Coast or in the Midwest, try to get and support them.
I was lucky enough to talk to the pair during the run-up to the tour kicking off. In our wide-ranging chat, we discussed the record, the realities of music journalism in 2024, and more. I’m sure you’ll get as much out of it as I have.
Enjoy the ride.
(Our chat has been lightly edited for clarity/flow.)
“Aside from wanting people to get some joy out of the music itself, we’d hope that it feels like we are trying to do something a little different. At the end of the day this is still very much pop music, just filtered through six decades of experience and tossed into a blender of influences.”
KA: Congrats on the new record! One of the things I read in the early press releases is that the album got its start in what you call “The Record Womb,” home to 7k records. For anyone familiar with Tracy’s work, that seems on-brand. That said, were there any specific records that had an outsized influence on the making of this? Separately, a few readers have mentioned the cinematic feel of the record. Were there any films that helped steer the direction of the album?
OW: No need to bury the lead, Broadcast will always be our north star. We started this project in 2020 while trapped in our house. International music became our travel during the years that followed. Reggae / Dub was a big part of that, as were African and Brazilian records. We have long been massive collectors of French music, which is probably the most present in some of our songs. It’s hard to pinpoint specific albums, but more songs and weird sounds we were hearing as we spent every minute of our life in the house.
Soundtracks and library music are a big deal in this house. The Wicker Man, Daughters of Darkness, The Prisoner, Dr Who, Children of the Stones, Telemusic, and De Wolfe music all inform what we are doing in some way.
KA: I can hear quite a few different influences on the record- A little Stereolab, a little YeYe styling, and even a bit of early Wire and Missing Persons (maybe that’s just me?). Who would you include here? To piggyback on that a little bit, I love the sound on “Forms of Knowing.” Can you share a little bit about how that track came together?
OW: Broadcast, Stereolab, Gainsbourg, United States of America— all had a hand in inspiring us. I wouldn’t discount Wire, but that is probably more subconscious at this point after so many years of playing really angular guitar parts.
“Forms” was one of those songs where we spent months messing around with bridge sounds and textures and wrote the remainder of the music in one afternoon. There is a song called “Baluba Shake” by Brunetta with a really tense chorus build that we loved and modeled a bit of the vibe off that. Otherwise, just handing instruments back and forth until we were happy with the instrumentation and arrangement. Tracy was reading a book about charnel houses at the time, so some of the lyrics are inspired by how humans have coped with death, dying, and loss over the centuries, but abstracted in a way so the theme feels more philosophical than morbid.
KA: Outer World and Sweeping Promises have many ties (FYI, I found the band through Courtesy Desk). Tracy does some promo work for them, and Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug both help out on this record. Are there any plans for more collaboration with them?
OW: They are one of our favorite bands and it’s been an honor and treat to befriend them and work together. We are about to go to their wedding in Kansas! No current plans to collaborate, but perhaps this question is what the universe needed to figure that out.
KA: What do you want people coming to your music for the first time to take away from it? What should fans of the previous records (Dahlia Seed, Positive No) expect?
OW: Aside from wanting people to get some joy out of the music itself, we’d hope that it feels like we are trying to do something a little different. At the end of the day, this is still very much pop music, just filtered through six decades of experience and tossed into a blender of influences. Our previous bands were very much rock music with little effects. Very direct. Outer World is a departure with parts and pieces of our past, but putting our record collections into the form of song. Some musicians are content to write the same kind of song for a lifetime; that is not us.
KA: You have a tour starting soon. How has getting ready been (logistics, etc.)? It’s always an ordeal, but has anything stood out since the last time you hit the road? Will it just be the two of you, or will you bring along some musicians?
OW: We’ve been at this game for a while, so the actual booking part wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. We are still a few weeks out, so we expect another curve ball or two to arrive before we leave town. The biggest differences have more to do with the cost of tickets going up and pre-sales being much more present at smaller spaces. This seemed reserved for bigger venues/bands the last time we traveled, and it feels like many places have ticketing partnerships these days. We’ll have to report back upon return on any other big changes we notice.
We’ve been playing as a five-piece band since last year, and the whole crew will be coming along. Our drummer Keith Renna played on our album and was also in Positive No (plus he has played music on and off with Tracy for three decades). Nate Rubin and Erin O’hare are folks we have had the pleasure of getting to know through our local music community, and they have helped bring this project to life in ways we could have never imagined.
KA: A bit off-topic, but I’m a fan of the newsletter. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on putting it together, what you think the music media landscape looks like in 2024, and any thoughts on where/ how indie journalism/blogs fit into that.
OW: Oh lord, what a complicated question. It feels pretty grim out there right now. People with far more writing talent than I deserve to be able to make a living wage as a writer, and it pains me that it is nearly impossible to do so in 2024. In general, the war on journalists of all kinds is both worrisome and depressing. We need people to report on news and offer thoughtful criticism/reviews to keep us informed and offer a look at the world or arts/culture through eyes and ears that are not our own.
I am grateful that we have DIY types doing blogs, newsletters, subscription services, and the like to write about music, but we are also preaching to the choir this way. It all feels like a band-aid, and music fans deserve to learn about new music with far fewer typos from someone like me. None of us are exactly reaching the masses with our revelations of favorite new artists. Micro markets pitching to each other is our current reality, and anyone who manages to break out of that tiny bubble should consider themselves very lucky.
I keep writing, doing a radio show, and running an online shop because I feel like I need to do something to help support the independent culture that raised me. I am also trying to support as many writers as I can through their various subscription services. I highly recommend Flaming Hyrdra for those looking to get a daily dose of talented writers from around the world.
Outer World | Who Does The Music Love?, 2024
Click on the record to listen on your platform of choice.
To connect with Outer World and purchase their music, click here:
| Bandcamp | Courtesy Desk Record Shop/Radio Show/Newsletter | Twitter | Instagram |
5 Questions:
1. Describe your music style in one sentence.
Retro-future, crate digger delights, French freakbeats, psychedelic garage-pop, Bond spy themes, space-age post-punk, '80s NYC disco punk, and sensual subtexts.
2. What music played in your house(s) growing up?
Beatles, Beach Boys, Sinatra, The Carpenters, top 40 radio, and Tracy’s brother was brooding around the house listening to Motorhead, The Ramones, and Judas Priest.
3. What are you listening to these days?
Added Dimensions, Perennial, Fleur, Duke Pearson, Cyril Cyril, Jayson Green & The Jerk, Pleasant Mob, Project Gemini, and for Tracy - subscribe to her newsletter for that answer.
4. What are your 5 Desert Island Discs?
You can’t ask two music junkies this kind of question. It would probably be 5 mega-mixes with every type of genre and decade squished together to be reminded the world is a big, beautiful, and complicated place.
5. If you could collaborate with any artist/band, who would it be?
For Tracy, there is only one honest answer. Bjork.
For Kenny - It’s probably Janko Nilović. A favorite composer of the library genre. I'd love to better understand that process.
Related:
Thanks to Outer World for stopping by, and thank you for being here,
Kevin—
Hey neat! I'm a Richmond, VA-based solo.
Starting a project like this in 2020 is pretty much perfect.
Great interview and it's a fun record!