Document - Where You Are

A couple of years ago I wrote about a very impressive band called "Modern Tapes" and I was recently wondering where they had disappeared. So I was very happy to get a mail from this band which once was Modern Tapes. Document describe themselves as a mixture between post-art punk, shoegaze, new-wave and alt rock. They "tend to write songs with unconventional structures and with a sense of urgency. The music video is a 2013 psychedelic montage of odd and impactful GIFs gathered from across the interweb (some originals were also created)". When watching the stunning video you do get a very strong feeling of urgency as well as chaos. Their sound reminds me a bit of Cloud Nothings (another band who changed their identity) only it's much more rushed and also more complex. With Cloud Nothings I sometimes feel like I would love their music much more if I were, say, 16 but here it's just right for me at this moment and I don't see myself growing out of it anytime soon.

Here's a translation of an interview they gave to a Hebrew blog:

You guys started as Modern Tapes and drew some local attention, why did you change your name?
When we were Modern Tapes playing in the bombshelter, we were sort of creating our own musical landscape down there. Most of that material was written before there even was a complete band. Eventually both our playing environment and the music we were making started to feel very claustrophobic. As we began playing and writing live as a band, we began exploring new creative places. The songs became much more daring, much more free. By the time we moved into the Junkyard the sound and dynamic of the band had changed. We started exploring new writing styles and even new roles within the band. When it came time to record, it was pretty clear to everyone that this would be a new band.

Modern Tapes had a more 80's sound. Would you say you're now more into the 90's thing?
We don't look at it like that. It's not about bring back an era. The evolution of the band has more to do with the fact that we've been playing together for more than 3 years. What interests us now is writing songs that take you through a range of emotions-songs with interesting arrangements that move and twist and turn. From desperation to catharsis, sometimes in the same song. We're looking back, we're looking at what's happening now, and we're thinking of where we want to take things. But in the end we're just trying to write good songs.

What have you been listening to lately?
A lot of Fugazi, Galaxie 500, Neutral Milk, The Clash. 'Yeezus' is probably my favorite record of the year so far.

Why don't you sing in Hebrew?
I grew up in the States so English is really the only language I'm comfortable writing in.

So you moved into the Junkyard. What is that?
It's our rehearsal space in South Tel Aviv. It's surrounded by all these locksmith workshops. There's always a bunch of junk around. At night it gets really sketchy. There are the hookers on the corners turning tricks and a bunch of dealers hanging around. You feel like you're playing to all the sinners and junkies and invalids. And for Sophie [the dog] and her new puppies.

Where did the idea for the video for Where You Are come from?
It's a bunch of gifs we gathered this past year-internet junk really. The idea was to create a sort of montage of the current state of the internet through gifs. We wanted it to have a cinematic or vintage feel but also feel very current at the same time. It seems very appropriate for our distraction-craving culture. For a while we were calling it 'internet head'. We went through a lot of versions of the video to get the feel and timing right.

'Where You Are' is part of a 6-song EP that will be released in early January. Good luck guys!