Interview: Protomartyr

Detroit punks Protomartyr are the musical equivalent of a cold stare. Their music is as uncompromising as it is unsettling. Tonight marks their third show in Bristol after supporting the likes of Eagulls and Metz, it’s also their first headline in the city. We sat down with frontman Joe Casey on a harbourside bench while soundchecks rumbled from deep within the giant steel boat.

Welcome back to Bristol, how does it feel to return to our city?

I like it here and every tour we have to play that one boat so it’s good to be at Thekla. I think it’s named after one of the saints that was considered a Protomartyr so that’s a nice little tie-in. Our record release show for the last album was on a boat in Detroit that was moving around, it was called Boatomartyr.

We came into this show thinking it was in support of the last album but then yesterday news of the new EP dropped – you guys must have been pretty busy?

Well what happened was we finished recording the last album and we didn’t have anything to do for a couple of months because they take quite a long time. So we thought okay let’s keep recording and that’s how it started. It was done quite soon after the album.

So it was quite natural getting back into the studio so soon after? 

Yeah, I think we were pretty tight by that point because we’d practiced quite a bit. The songs that we have on the EP were ones that were going to be on the album but didn’t quite fit in. So we went down to record with Kelley (Deal) and Mike (Montgomery) in Kentucky and it was a really fun weekend.

Each record so far has been true to your sound, did it shake things up working with Kelley Deal?

I can’t pick Greg’s brain, but I know from singing. For instance we have one song from an old album on this tour, it’s like there’s three choruses in this thing and that’s ridiculous. Usually we try to avoid chorusses so I think that adds to the tension. Also because I have a limited ability to sing, I try to spit out a bunch of things then have to take it back and spit out a bunch of things then rest. I think that adds to that tension building.

Also your vocal is quite understated, it’s angry without shouting… 

That’s the weird thing when we record it’s fine, but when we play live a lot of the time I can’t hear myself so I have to start shouting. The trick I learnt once we’d done the first couple of albums was that I don’t have to shout all the time and that I could take little breaks.

I’ve heard that you weren’t a writer before the band – have you found yourself developing in that sense?

I hope I’m getting better at it. The problem is that I’ve tried to write since we started the band and when we’ve got extra time I try to write longer things. I’ve now forgotten all my high school and college education, so I don’t know the rules of writing anymore, I use way too many commas. I do like being able to write for the band though, it’s easy.

You’ve got the luxury of choice with the setlist, will we be hearing a mixture tonight?

We try to, I would like to mix it up every night but the musicians like getting into grooves that connect songs. It’s also practical for them with tunings and stuff. As the tour goes on the setlist gets locked in but I’d say it’s a lot of Relatives In Decent and a couple of songs from each of the others.

Your last shows in the city have been utterly compelling – you feel very relatable as a frontman…

It started from sheer panic, nervousness and drunkenness to get over that. Now I’m still panicked but I realise that’s part of the show. It’s the same reason why Greg doesn’t do a lot of guitar solos so I’m not going to be dancing around. I started so late that I can’t start dancing now because I’ll only have three years to do it before I’m too old. So I might as well take the stage like an old man now so I can be an old man for a little longer.

This is your third show in Bristol and it keeps getting bigger with each one – how does it feel for you guys?

We feel like we’re in a great position. It’s been a slow progression, we didn’t become overnight sensations. That’s kept us humble and appreciative of anything we get that’s a little bit better. We know that it can easily be stripped away. So the slow growth thing has definitely kept us excited going forward. Coming to Europe was one of the first goals we had as a band, before I joined I kept pushing it onto the band that they needed to accomplish that. Now we’re on Domino that’s helped up our profile quite a bit as well. We’re very excited.