Utter Trash--The Volta Sound

Honest Territory

An Interview with Michael Cormier of The Volta Sound

By Bob Ignizio

Local bands come and go, but Cleveland's The Volta Sound has been around for five years and three cd releases. Despite some internal shake-ups, the band recently returned with a new CD ('Dandelion Wine') and some upcoming live shows. Utter Trash's Bob Ignizio recently got a chance to chat with founder Michael Cormier about these things and much more.

Utter Trash: When and how did The Volta Sound get together? Who's actually in the band and what do they do?
Michael Cormier: It started with Ben Gmetro (Dreadful Yawns, New Planet Trampoline) listening to some songs I'd made and wanting to make a band to play it. He brought Cassidy (New Planet Trampoline) and I brought Todd (organ) and Prieto (drums). Geddes approached me in the craziest way demanding to be our bass player at a show. He started the next day. But that was a while ago and things change, of course. Today the musicians are myself, Mike Allan on bass (also of the Dreadful Yawns), Leia "Alligator" on flute, piano and vocals, Erin Peterson on bells, tambourine and vocals and Gmetro is playing drums.

UT: It sounds like you're rooted in a lot of sixties and early seventies music. Is it hard finding fresh ways to explore that musical territory?
MC: We're not rooted in anything. The musical territory we explore is honesty. We don't practice a whole lot. Either you're into it or you're not, during sessions or shows, and that's it. I write a song, we play it, it gets interpreted that way for that day, for that show or whatever, and then we move on. A couple days later, without talking about it, the song will be completely different. That's how the record got made, as well. We just played and if we were all there and into it, it took and got released. If we weren't into it, we often just didn't record anything that day. There's not a lot of discussion when we get together. We just try to express who we are at that given moment and that's it. And that's not 60's or 70's. That just is.

UT: On the bio section of your website it says The Volta Sound has completely reinvented itself in the past 8 months. What were these major changes? Was it just in personnel, or has your sound changed drastically as well?
MC: We were the same 6 guys for 2 years straight. Life isn't that steady, you know? Things change, people change, lives change etc. Cassidy got married during that time, the Yawns and NPT got record deals during that time, people fell in love, people had babies, etc... We met new musicians and added them to the pot, some of the guys left.. So forth and so on. At one point we were did some shows with just me, Todd and Ben, maybe Mike Allan. At another point it was Pete Relic, Leia, Cassidy, Jon Hicks, Erin, Mike Prieto, Todd, myself and a cameo by the It*Men's Ken Jansen. That's like, 10 people? And during those fluctuations, we made a record.

UT: A lot of people think it's next to impossible for a Cleveland band to get signed. Even when bands from here do get the deal, it seems like a lot of them break up or otherwise drop the ball. You've managed to release 3 discs on a respected indie label and you're still around. What do you think it is that you've done right that other bands haven't?
MC: Plenty of Cleveland bands are releasing records. Six Parts Seven, This Moment in Black History, The Dreadful Yawns, New Planet Trampoline, The New Lou Reeds, Infinite Number of Sounds, To Box With Man, the Twilight, Expecting Rain. We're not doing anything right or different.

UT: It can hard getting people out to see even easily categorized local bands in popular genres here in Cleveland. Has it been hard getting people out to see a unique band such as yours, or is there a fairly active experimental music scene here in town that actually supports local bands?
MC: www.experimentalbehavior.com is a good place to start. No, it's not hard to get people to come out. Let them know it's there, make it on a night that's cool at a place people like to go and play good stuff with other good bands. Also, make a cool flyer and poster and be nice.

UT: With all the people involved in VS (ten listed on the CD, anyway), how do you approach the writing process? Does everyone contribute, or is there one person who's sort of the guiding force?
MC: -shrug- A song is written. Either people keep wanting to play it or it disappears and never returns. I write a lot of the song's basic idea but after that, anyone is likely to take the torch. That's the filter. If we keep playing it, it must be good and we like to play it. If it gets forgotten by the side, it probably wasn't a heartfelt song or worth playing in the first place. If you ask me, a song is a song is a song. It's the delivery that's important. You know... like "Everyone has an interesting life, it's just in how you TELL it, that it comes to be seen as interesting."

UT: I'm often surprised that some artists people perceive as making 'drug music' in reality don't indulge. What are your opinions on mind altering substances?
MC: Drugs are alright. For a long time, the Volta Sound was made up entirely of stoners. I'm sure that was reflected in the sound. As for right now, I'm kind of bored with drugs. It comes and goes. I'm not straight edge but I've had some kind of chemical in my body for 17 years straight and now I'm kinda digging being all chemical free for a while. I don't think anyone in the band smokes right now, either. But everyone drinks.

UT: What are your goals, either career wise or artistically, with The Volta Sound?
MC: Just to have a band that people like to be a part of and like to go out and see and to have a means to release a record every year and maybe hit the road once or twice a year. I really like having something that gives people the opportunity to meet and play with bright musicians. We've had some combinations of musicians sometimes that just normally wouldn't have happened and it's been a blast, you know? Like pairing Leia Alligator with Pete Relic, two wildly weird individuals who fed off each other and really made a cool sound.

UT: Anything I didn't ask about you care to comment on?
MC: Just be. Don't let anyone control you (unless you get off on it or something, some people do, you know? Just be careful who you turn that control over to) and don't try to control other people (period).
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