Album comes slow
William Seidel of Decibully tells Decider what happened to World Travels Fast
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After releasing two well-received albums on independent label Polyvinyl Record Co., 2003’s City Of Festivals and 2005’s Sing Out America!, Milwaukee’s Decibully seemed on the verge of bigger and better things with its follow-up, the yet-to-be-released World Travels Fast. But the Decibully camp has been strangely quiet for nearly three years. Decibully’s William Seidel told Decider about the complex history--and possibly tenuous future--of World Travels Fast. (See Decibully Dec. 13 at The Onion's "5 LBs. Of Christmas" party.)
Decider: What have been the chief causes of the delay?
William Seidel: We have spent the majority of our adult lives in Decibully. I feel as if we came to a crossroads after the end of the Sing Out America tour cycle and we each needed to reclaim a little bit of our individual lives. We started on new adventures, fell in and out of love, began new careers, and basically rediscovered ourselves outside of the group identity. We continued to work on new material and we played the occasional show, but slowly and with broad strokes. Now, with the record finished and without a label to release it we are looking into alternative routes to get this record heard. And the delay continues.
D: What happened to your relationship with Polyvinyl?
WS: This is what they told us: “At the end of the day, we aren’t going to be able to put it out. I don’t think that we could find the proper budget and time to dedicate to the record to give it the full attention it deserves.” I guess that is kind of label-speak for “It’s not you it’s me” and “You should be with someone who really deserves your love.”
D: What was the process behind the creation of World Travels Fast?
WS: The bulk of the songs on World Travels Fast started out in a farmhouse in Door County in early 2006. We spent a week up there being dudes and concentrating on writing. Slowly, over the course of the next two odd years we pieced together and eventually recorded the material in various locations throughout Wisconsin. The most interesting recording session came from a day spent in an abandoned and supposedly haunted malted milk factory in Racine, which also happened to be some sort of street gang headquarters. We were able to set up and record live some of the more epic transitional pieces that have been mixed into the record. I think the loss of two players from Sing Out America and the addition of two new members for World Travels Fast has been the biggest influence on this record. It’s all about group chemistry, really. I think many Decibully listeners will hear a bigger rock influence on World Travels Fast than they did on the two previous records. We kind of let loose and took advantage of having four guitarists. At the same time, I think that after seven years as a group we have finally found our own voice.
D: There is something very Midwestern about Decibully’s aesthetic and sound on your previous records, and the band itself has always seemed very rooted in the city of Milwaukee. With this new record it seems like you’re trying to move away from that a bit. Is there an overall theme or feeling to the songs on World Travels Fast?
WS: I would say that the theme of World Travels Fast is the globalization and shrinking of our planet. Here we are in Milwaukee, but on a computer or a phone we can be communicating anywhere at anytime with anyone. Words travel fast, as they say, but it’s not just words anymore, it’s the whole world. When I first started playing music we set up our tours by cold-calling people on land lines. Now we don’t even have to talk to those people that are setting up our shows. We can just email or text them and it’s done. And while the world gets smaller and many things get easier, it’s interesting to reflect on what it means to both grow up and get old in such a climate. I think about how my great grandmother was born in a time without basic plumbing or electricity and how she must have felt watching this world grow up alongside her. And I wonder if my grandchildren, looking back at this moment, will think the same about me.
D: After all is said and done, will the wait for World Travels Fast be worth it?
WS: All I can say is that good things come to those who wait.
