In live settings, revealing the melody within the maelstrom of Major Stars is a bit of trick. Barrett tends to get submerged in the mix, and the band can end up sounding like an undifferentiated wall of sound. “Yeah, that’s become a real problem,” Rogers allows. “When you shorten the songs and the vocals are as important as they are now, playing shows where they’re just not heard is really, really frustrating.”
“Every member is so important, and they’re all supposed to be spiking out at you,” Keenan continues. “They’re all supposed to be heard, even if it is a big clusterfuck as a whole. Sandra is supposed to be heard. They’re songs. The vocals are supposed to be way on top of everything, even if everything else is cranked. Six people can make a lot of motherfuckin’ noise when they’re playing as hard as they can for 45 minutes.”
This uncompromising æsthetic has, no surprise, put the band on a collision course with many a soundman over the years. “Yeah,” Rogers says ruefully, “soundmen hate me.” Even at the band’s biggest shows, such as their appearance at last year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in the UK (curated by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore), they’ve met with resistance. One soundman in Europe hurled a glass at Rogers’s head in frustration during soundcheck. “When we play,” Rogers admits, “it just sounds right to me. It never sounds loud.”
“What I really like about this band,” Biggar explains, “is that every individual has a lot of cojones. And they all express their cojones in various ways, but they certainly get it through. And six people expressing their cojones at the same time is a sight to behold. It’s all fucked up, and it’s crazy and wild, but at the same time we’re trying to keep hold of the music. We’ve all actually got a solid understanding of the music and are very grounded in . . . ”
She pauses, searching for the right word.
“Shredding?” Dougan suggests.
“Yes, shredding.” She nods in agreement. “We’re all very grounded in shredding.”
MAJOR STARS + CHRIS BROKAW + THE TURPENTINE BROTHERS + GANJA | Middle East upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge | December 15 | 617.864.EAST
