White Cloud's Interests: Taxidermy, Absurd Realism, Psychedelic Art-Pop

White Cloud

​A band with members from Kenya and Argentina -- and whose musical interests include doom metal, blues, and Krautrock -- could only have originated in a hotspot of diversity like the Bay Area. White Cloud's supernatural smoothie of Sonic Youth-influenced squalls, crashing unpredictable time signatures, and otherworldly vocals have set it up to become an abstract art-pop sensation a la Deerhoof or The Dirty Projectors. The band's debut full length, a product of perfectionist tendencies and obsessive mastering, may be the first step in establishing itself among a bigger audience. We sat down with Nick from the band in anticipation for its upcoming show at Bottom of The Hill November 20.

How would you describe your sound without using genres or style names: A grilled cheese with truffle oil. "Simple but as soon as you bite in, you're like what the fuck is this?"

Influences: Stone Roses, Can, Sleep, Joy Division, blues.

World music influence: We used to have a band member from the Phillipines, too. A lot of it is unintentional. The guitarist, Shiv, is from Kenya, and also tends to use a guitar tone that sounds like a thumb piano. And for me, an Argentinian, my exposure to tango and salsa means I bring something rhythmic to the band. But most of us were born in the Bay Area.

How did the band get together: Through random chance on Craigslist.

Inspiration for the band name: No real inspiration, more like desperation. We later realized it was also the name of a couple of companies and a few people when you search for it on the Internet, but we're sticking to it until we get sued.

What are you working on right now? How does it compare to your previous stuff: We've been working on a new record for five or six months with Scott from Clipd Beaks engineering the sound. It's nine songs out of the 30+ that we've recorded as a group together. We spent a lot of time perfecting every track and selecting ones that stood the test of being played live.

Recent live shows vs. old ones: Almost all of the songs we have on the Internet, we don't really play live. it's a little weird to have people coming to your show expecting one band and getting a completely different one with different songs.

Day jobs: We all work, some with taxidermy, others with food, unfortunately.

Worst day job ever: All of them kinda sucked. When I was the keyholder to a video store in the East Bay I got to often close early and just watch movies constantly. One night I watched Norbit and Blue Velvet. That's the only exception; they all sucked after that.

Favorite authors: Jorge Luis Borges, absurd realism, HP Lovecraft.

Favorite painter: Bosch and Goya. I also saw the Chuck Close exihibit when it was at the MOMA a few months ago and really enjoyed his stuff.

Favorite philosophers: Sartre and Heidegger.

Follow us on Twitter @SFAllShookDown