TLOBF Introducing // Cloud Nothings

Meet Cloud Nothings. They formed (properly) in 2009 when a then- eighteen year old Dylan Baldi decided to drop college, bring in some extra band members and pursue the lo-fi indie pop music he had created in his mum and dad’s basement.

Since then they (Dylan plus TJ Duke, Jayson Gerycz and Joe Boyer) have left the basement and released a number of tracks, a video called ‘Hey Cool Kid’ which features a man with huge teeth and toured the whole of Europe.

I ask Dylan of Cloud Nothings lots of questions from my bedroom, and he sends back these replies from a ferry…

Hey Dylan, how it’s going?

I’m doing pretty good.

Where are you right now? Describe it to me…

Right now I’m on a ferry headed back to the UK. It’s…boring.

I understand you’re in the middle of a European tour. How’s that been for you? Any highlights so far?

It’s been really fantastic…first time in Europe, so I’m trying to see as much as I can. I saw the Eiffel tower for about 3 minutes before I had to hop on a train to sound check – it’s redder than I thought it was.

I see that you had two trips in London on the bill. How do you like the UK?

The UK has been good so far. Our music has a very “American” sound, so I wasn’t sure how audiences here would take to it, but the reception has been pretty positive overall.

Is it a lot different from playing shows in Cleveland?

Way different. Shows at home start around the time the last band finishes over here, usually. And everyone here has accents.

It’s nearly been a year since you first started as Cloud Nothings, right? Tell us, how did it all begin?

I recorded the first album over the course of two weekends home from college. I would write songs all week and record them in my bedroom that weekend. Then i got an offer to play a show in New York, which I used to convince my parents to let me leave college and give the band a shot, and everything slowly took off from there.

Did you set out with a particular aim when you started creating your songs?

No, I’ve been writing songs for a long time. These songs seemed the same as any to me, I wasn’t trying to make something more important than I had before.

Who/what were you digging music-wise at the time?

Pretty much the same things I like now…Archers of Loaf, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements.

Which comes first: the instrumentals or the lyrics?

The instrumentals, always. The lyrics aren’t exactly important to me. Melodies are, but not the lyrics.

Where did you get the name ‘Cloud Nothings’ from? It’s an odd one…

It was my mom’s maiden name.

Now that you’re on tour you’ve had to bring in some extra band members. Does it feel weird not being in control of all aspects of the songs now?

Not really. These guys are my friends, and we all love playing music, so it basically feels the same as it always has. And it sounds better.

Is Cloud Nothings still just you? Or are the new band mates a permanent feature now? I see they played with you at SXSW and for Record Store day this year…

They’re a permanent fixture. Any release that comes out after the self-titled will have these guys playing on it. It’d be a little unfair to ask them to devote so much time to this without letting them really be a big part of it.

What are the advantages of playing with other musicians?

It makes it way easier to have dynamic shifts in the music, and it’s more fun, honestly. Music isn’t really meant to be played alone.

Did you ever see yourself having to expand?

Of course. I knew I couldn’t play everything at once if we ever played live.

You’ve released a number of tracks now, one on a cassette. But you said in one interview that you didn’t actually listen to tapes when you were growing up… How come you chose this format for your recordings?

The format chose me. How’s that for a philosophical answer? Really, though, some people offered to put my music out on tape, and having music out on any format was exciting to me so I agreed.

And now you have an EP which makes it easier for people to collect up your tunes, and a debut album on the way after Christmas. Is this how you imagined it would all pan out?

Well, I planned on the debut coming out before Christmas so people could get it as a Christmas gift, but things don’t always work out the way I want them to.

What can we expect from your debut album? Will it still have that distinctive lo-fi sound? Or are you scrapping that?

It’s definitely not hi-fi, but it’s way cleaner than Turning On. The songs are more energetic as a result.

Will you still be in charge of the lyrics and the instrumentals of future releases?

I think I’d like to be the one who makes final decisions on things, but I want the song-writing to be a bit more of a democratic process, sure.

I really like the video for ‘Hey Cool Kid’ – was that an idea of yours? Who’s the guy with the teeth?

It wasn’t an idea of mine, actually. It was all Allen Cordell, the guy who directed it. No idea who the guy with the teeth is. Though I did meet someone in New York who told me they were in the video. Maybe it was him?

What do you think you would be doing right now if you had chosen school over music-making?

Skipping class to make music.

Where, do you reckon, you would be sitting? Who would you be talking to?

I was always a back row kind of guy. Not because I was an idiot or anything, but any other row just made me uncomfortable. And I would probably be talking to anyone who seemed like they knew something about music.

Any big plans for the next twelve months? Or will you be relaxing post-tour?

Just more touring, recording, and writing. Wish i could say relaxing would be part of it!

Any mottos that are sitting well with you right now?

“Just Do It.” -Nike

Oh, and just before you go, any other cool Cleveland bands we should be keeping our eyes open for?

Of course!

Library Time: www.myspace.com/librarytime
Emeralds: www.last.fm/music/Emeralds
Rockets of Proportion: www.myspace.com/rocketsofproportion

Cloud Nothings’ debut album will be released on Wichita on January 24, 2010. This follows previous releases on CDR, MP3, vinyl and even cassette (if you look hard enough).

Cloud Nothings: ‘Understand At All’

Cloud Nothings: ‘Hey Cool Kid’