Owen Pallett is into the ‘layered’ look. I mean this musically, figuratively and literally. During his live solo performances under the name Final Fantasy Eternal, Pallett loops live samples of his violin, then tops layer after layer of strings and synthesizers to build songs on stage. Frequently while on tour, not only does Pallett serve as the opening act, but, as was the case with his 2005/2006 tour with Arcade Fire, he also plays with the main band for the majority of the show. Pallett always has overlapping projects in flux--in the last year alone, Pallett collaborated and/or toured with an impressive list of indie-pop acts including Beirut, Artic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, Bloc Party and a couple high profile British pop stars I am unable to name drop here. Socially, Owen’s circles tend to overlap and layer over one another in realms of fashion, art and music. And of course, on a literal level, these days he is into layering cardigans and nylon jackets and has a secret hoodie aversion.
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Earlier this month, I caught up with the musician during a quick trip to New York. Pallett had just flown in from Morocco to perform in the Bang on a Can marathon music festival. This was his first time performing classical music to a New York audience. Just before his sound check, we met up in the financial district for a dip in his hotel pool. As he explained, “swimming with goggles is totally good. You don’t have to think about anything and it is pretty psychedelic.” Unfortunately, the pool was closed and sound check was moved up, so we postponed this interview until his return home to Toronto. Consistent with his relentless multi-tasking ways, Pallett participated in this interview while riding across Toronto on a Bianchi Bicycle.

 

MAURA MCTHRILL:  So, Owen, tell me about the music you have been listening to lately.
OWEN PALLETT:  To be honest, I have been listening to little synth demos that people make and post on YouTube. I’ll get into a mood, like today, where I just want to listen to clips of Gary Numan on an Oberheim synthesizer. I am fascinated by synths. For at least 30 years these machines have signified the future and mystery. People associate synths with mysterious nerds who control the world and can make people dance

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MM:  Over the last year, you have worked on many musical projects- separate from your solo project while still maintaining an intense tour schedule. What has made you most excited about the work you’ve been doing?
OP:  Well, I am excited that I just finished up the new Last Shadow Puppets record with Alex Turner [of the Artic Monkeys] and Myles Kane [of The Rascals]. Last fall while I was touring, I was also working on this Last Shadow Puppets project, so I spent most of the fall in the backseat of a van typing in notes on a laptop and listening to Bernard Herrmann records.

 

MM:  Remind me, who is Bernard Herrmann?
OP:  Berrnard Herrmann was one of the most famous American film composers of all time. His work includes the scores for Citizen Kane, Psycho, Taxi Driver. I always quietly have this fantasy of being like a score composer of the ‘60s, like Herrmann.

 

MM:  Tell me more!
OP:  Being a score composer of the ‘60s is like being an R&B producer today. Wally Scott, Vandyke Parks, Nelson Riddle. Trench coats and hats. To the average poppy visionary, like, Frank Sinatra, these people were wizards who could get orchestras to do anything they wanted! I have these fantasies of being a composer in Laurel Canyon in the ‘60s alongside Judy Phil, smoking cigarettes and doing coke—but the reality is [string arrangement] now happens in the back of tour vans.

MM:  What are some recent musical developments with Final Fantasy?
OP:  I just finished these EPs’. One record was recorded outside to make it sound like a field recording. The other EP is a big band record. I intended for these to be released separately but these will be simultaneously released on August 27th, 2008.

 

MM:  It has been 2 years since your last full-length album, He Poos Clouds. What is the status of your upcoming album?
OP:  It is hard for me to say no to collaborating with people, which is in part why I have not put out an album in two years. [With the new album] I am just at a point where I can now play it start to finish, on piano or violin. I am going to record it in September. It is a narrative, a little bit of a concept album, and I die at the end of the album. I die in all my albums. Actually, this time, I die at some point in the middle and the album continues on without me.

MM:   How else would you say your new LP will be different from He Poos Clouds?
OP:  He Poos Clouds was like a day old sodden diaper sitting in the sun, or a fragrant skunk cabbage. This [new album] is more like a little bullet—a little brasher and a little longer too. I’ve cut down on the screaming a little bit, cut down on the number of syllables I use, keeping things very “Yes ma’am, “No, ma’am.” When I was making He Poos Clouds, I was really trying to make something I felt was new, now I am not so concerned with that anymore. I want to make the sounds that come out of my fingers—that’s all.

 

MM:  You have two EPs finished and a new album soon to be recorded. Explain more to me about what you see as the future for Final Fantasy.
OP:  I want to add someone to the lineup of Final Fantasy but I can’t find anybody. I don’t have anybody particular in mind. I don’t know anything about production. I wasn’t a four-track kid like most people. I know the sound I want, but it takes me a long time to get it. I have had to start saying no to things that I regret having to say no to—like Kelly from Bloc Party—we wanted to make movies together, and Arcade Fire wanted to work with me again but I have no time.

 

MM:  Last question. What are you wearing right now?
OP:  Right now? White Bless shoes, a Kokontozai tank top, secondhand shirt and a Fendi belt with a big F on it.

 

Interview by Maura McThrill

Photographs by Ryan Pfluger