May 24, 2024 |
Brooklyn-based rock band Diiv don’t stop working on their sound. Despite being in the game since 2011, lead singer Zachary Cole Smith, guitarist Andrew Bailey, bassist Colin Caulifield and drummer Ben Newman, continue to push themselves to create work that feels fresh, whilst staying true to their core ethos and style. Influenced by rock pioneers like Nirvana and My Bloody Valentine, the group’s grunge-infused melodies and emotive lyricism have attracted a fanbase that’s stayed staunch for over a decade. Now, those loyal followers have something new to sink their teeth into – the band’s most recent album release.
Frog In Boiling Water, released to roam freely across playlists from today, focuses increasingly on philosophical and political viewpoints over former forays, marking a significant shift in the band’s approach to music-making. Inspired by Daniel Quinn’s 1996 novel The Story of B – a seminal work chronicling a priest who starts to move away from religion – the 10-part odyssey is a haunted journey that looks oblivion straight in the face, before opting to find hope.
Featuring tracks that swell and slump with a rousing resonance and moody aftertaste, the work deftly intertwines the DNA of ’90s British rock with Diiv’s personal, smouldering style. It’s an atmospheric encounter that touches on frontman Smith’s personal experience with fatherhood, as well as more far-reaching issues relating to the contemporary socio-political landscape. Oscillating between slow-chugging, sombre tracks like ‘Brown Paper Bag’ to ‘Fender on the Freeway’, a rejuvenating song with stirring instrumentals, the release is a not-so-gentle-reminder that Diiv are still at the top of their game. We sat down with guitarist Andrew Bailey to talk about the track he’s the most proud of, the craziest thing he’s seen on tour and what we can expect from Diiv in the future.
1. In a nutshell, who is Diiv?
Diiv is a small tribe of humans who have found a way to entertain large groups of other humans, so they travel around doing that in exchange for resources.
2. Your new album name Frog In Boiling Water, where did that come from?
A book called The Story of B, by Daniel Quinn, which is about the consequences of the human race’s adoption of agriculture. He uses the frog in boiling water metaphor to describe the experience of people in modern civilisation.
3. What track are you most proud of on the album and why?
‘Everyone Out’, because it was rejected at first, but it persevered and worked really hard, never giving up, overcoming adversity, truly earning its spot on the tracklist. We really thought it was just going to give up and go home, but it proved us all wrong.
4. If your band had a superpower, what would it be?
Resurrection.
5. What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to your band on tour or at a gig?
In Tijuana, Ben was walking to the hotel from the venue with all our merch money in his pocket, when a cop did a stickup on him with a taser and took the stack of cash. We’d left our van in San Diego because it wasn’t registered, and the next morning we had to walk across the border the San Diego carrying all our gear across that mile long sky tunnel thing because the promoter who’d offered us a ride was too hungover to drive.
6. Where are you guys most excited to tour?
Iceland, if they invite us again.
7. Who or what influences your most recent music?
Late-stage capitalism.
8. Any party tricks amongst the band?
We can get any number of people to talk about absurd conspiracy theories in under two minutes.
9. What’s the strangest place or circumstance you’ve found inspiration for a song?
The astral plane.
10. What can we expect from you in the future?
You can expect us to keep making music and traveling around playing it for people because that’s how we survive.
Photography by Coley Brown.
