{"id":11712,"date":"2016-11-07T05:30:37","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T10:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=11712"},"modified":"2016-11-06T10:35:22","modified_gmt":"2016-11-06T15:35:22","slug":"of-montreals-kevin-barnes-lives-in-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/07\/of-montreals-kevin-barnes-lives-in-the-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes Lives in the Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Operating just under the radar of the commercial pop landscape, of Montreal<\/strong> nonetheless makes undeniably catchy \u2013 if not truly mass-market oriented \u2013 pop music. Originally part of the Elephant 6 Collective<\/strong> that spawned Neutral Milk Hotel<\/strong>, Elf Power<\/strong> and Apples in Stereo<\/strong><\/a>, of Montreal moved beyond that scene to develop into a vehicle for leader Kevin Barnes<\/strong>‘ artistic excursions.<\/p>\n

\"of_montreal\"<\/p>\n

The group’s 14th<\/sup> and latest studio album, Innocence Reaches<\/i> marks a return to the dance- and synthesizer-focused sounds of the group circa 2004. But Barnes says that direction was as much a product of necessity as anything else. \u201cThe studio I was working at in Paris only had synthesizers and drum machines,\u201d he says. But he’s a willing participant in making that kind of music: \u201cFrom there, I sort of caught the bug again, and started working more with those instruments.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Barnes’ songs are consistently hooky and memorable, he insists that he never sets out to make commercial-sounding music. \u201cI never think about how things will be perceived,\u201d he says. \u201cI never think about an audience.\u201d His philosophy on creating is straightforward. \u201cYou can\u2019t really worry about pleasing people, giving people what they want or anything like that,\u201d he says. \u201cJust do your own thing; do what feels exciting in the moment. Don\u2019t question it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though of Montreal’s current set list features occasional forays into the back catalog \u2013 recasting songs from, say, 2005’s The Sunlandic Twins<\/i> in the more dance-oriented style \u2013 Barnes isn’t especially interested in the past. He acknowledges his Elephant 6 origins only \u201cto put that into some sort of historical perspective,\u201d noting that he hasn’t done any projects with other Collective members in over a decade.<\/p>\n

Barnes’ drive to keep moving, to constantly do something different means that he’s the sole constant among of Montreal members. The group’s lineup is almost always in flux. \u201cThat’s just me wanting to go in different directions and find the right personnel\u201d for each project, he says. \u201cSo if I want to do something more electronic, then I’ll find people to play that style.\u201d He describes the lineup changes as the result of \u201cwanting to find the right people to help me realize the vision that I have at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n