Early last month, staff writer Matthew Grannell had the opportunity to speak with Headlights guitarist Tristan Wright via electronic mail. What you are about to read, after the jump, is the full, unedited interview that resulted.

Warning: What you are about to read may blow your mind.

Matthew: Briefly, who are the members of Headlights, how did the band form or in your case, what sort of evolution has the band experienced?

Tristan: Erin Fein, Tristan Wraight and Brett Sanderson. The band formed through a mutual desire to be musicians with the capability to tour as much as possible. We all have played in bands for years but never in outfits that felt right. Headlights came together as the right band for each of us and each of our particular strengths.

What kind of experience has it been coming from a city so close to Chicago where there are hundreds of artists constantly progressing and dying? Has any of that had any influence on your musical direction?

We don’t really have much of a connection with Chicago. It’s a great city and all but none of us feel as though it’s any more important than any other city. We don’t really play it any more than anywhere else when we go out on tour and it really hasn’t had any impact on our musical direction. There are many, many special bands that are in or have come from Chi’ and I’m sure that will never change but the same is true for small towns all over America. Champaign has been a great place for us to be a band. I think the long winters with not much to do have provided healthy doses of depression and creativity.

Polyvinyl Records is the home for quite a few “indie” artists and musicians, so what is your relationship with the label and the other bands?

We have a great relationship with Polyvinyl and many of the bands. They are really hard working and we really feel as though they are behind us. Totally supportive. We consider them our friends. We have played with many of the other bands on the label and we think they’re all amazing. Decibully, The M’s, Aloha, Of Montreal, etc. . . we actually sometimes tour with Nick from Decibully on bass.

All music aside, what other art or artists influence you, or those which you simply enjoy? Favorite films, books, etc?

We love almost any form of creative expression. Books, movies, theater, visual arts. . . I think food is our fave. We really get into a well prepared dish.

I’ve had the privilege to hear your new record (through your label and Invisible Limb, so don’t worry) and there are some unique differences between Kill Them with Kindness and your previous material. It doesn’t sound like a repeat record, but you’ve still maintained the same sound. How does a band successfully accomplish such a huge task– to entertain the listeners while not becoming old?

That’s a really intimidating part of writing music. We never want to repeat ourselves or be predictable but we do have an aesthetic that we want to preserve, regardless of the genre. Good strong melodies and what not. We kind of have a gut level response to songs that we write and the ones that make us feel ill are usually the ones we get rid of.

Was there a specific plan or idea the band collectively had when you started recording the new album?

Not really. We had a group of songs that we tried to wrestle into an album. We wanted to make something fun but also something that had depth and dimension.

What is your motivation to write?

Beautiful things, sad things, happy things, life changes, observations, personal things, impersonal things, experience, relief, stress, hunger, fatigue. . . pretty much anything that we feel or think is relevant.

What is the funniest experience you’ve had while performing?

Brett and I ate shawarma before a show in New York that didn’t really sit well. We almost blew Erin off of the stage with our gaseous emissions. It was rough but she’s tough and has been in bands with smelly dudes for a long time. That may have been funnier for Brett and I than Erin.

What satisfies you as a band and as people?

Doing something/anything that we feel matters.

Have you ever considered having one of those strange lawn-ornamental deer up on the stage with you (deer in the headlights. Lame, I know)?

Arcade Fire had those deer with white Christmas lights that move their heads up and down mechanically up on stage with them. I’d be afraid of having a deer that looked real up onstage, hunting accidents are pretty common in the Midwest.

Do you find it frustrating as an artist in a society where so much rubbish passed off as music is being produced and sold as if it’s gold?

Yes, but as long as crap is being celebrated by the masses, there will always be a fertile and challenging underground.

What are your favorite colors and what does the future of Headlights hold, or is it unknown like most everything in the future?

I’m really into mustard yellow right now. Not the hot dog kind, the deli sandwich kind. As for the future? Hopefully we will be able to write records at some capacity and hopefully none of us turn into Republicans.

http://www.headlightsmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/headlights
http://www.polyvinylrecords.com