Purveyors of: Shaman Beat
File next to: Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective, Prince Rama, Pocahaunted, Brian Eno (the ambient records)
Play #WL13 Saturday, February 16 @ The Great Hall Upstiars

Doom Squad is a shadowy gathering of melody invokers, made up of Trevor Blumas and his sisters Jaclyn and Allie. Their songs draw out in cavernous echo, swathed in cricket tune and firefly hum, the disembodied voices of interdimensional demi-gods, tendrils of sopping, blackened vine coiling up from a murky swamp. The Montreal/Toronto trio have devised a strange blend of psychedelia, garage rock and New Age, which has resulted in a vibe they would describe as “Shaman Beat,” a more than fitting designation. Adam Bradley caught up with Trevor telepathically.

Carl Jung said, “when an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside of you as fate.” So if the bad, buried stuff gets out of hand, do you think it can manifest as doom?

Sure. Doom can manifest itself in many ways. That's why we try desperately to contain it in song, in art. For the good of the people, of course! We also subscribe to the notion that a healthy dose of vitamin D(oom) in the morning is important for remembering the ravenous beasts that lurk behind us, and it acts on the body by positioning us into a
heightened state of awareness where we’re actually able to do something about it. Slay the beast! Or shower it with love! Or outsmart it! Or befriend it! Maybe even kiss it, I mean nobody wants to live in a constant state of fear right? Well my friend, that fear is simply a phobia of the unknown. So we choose to invoke this spirit of doom as a ritual exercise in transcendence.

In an alley by my work, I found a bunch of fridge magnets stuck to a wall and it read “Out On Doom Patrol.” There’s also a hip-hop group called Doom Squad, it seems. Are you guys part of a larger organization?

Perhaps. But that's all we can really say about that. For fear that they might come get us. But you’re on the right track, young Padawan. Look for the markings of doom everywhere! Although, I suppose I can give you a hint in three words... Heretical Objects Cooperative.

Does Doom Squad have a mandate or a manifesto? I can sort of imagine it being bound in a ratty leather tome and hidden inside a heavy stone box engraved with
runes.

We do. And you’re half right. Except, instead of it being bound in ratty leather, it is bound in a rare ancient strain of forest moss. Our manifesto is what helps to guide the projects Doom Squad embodies. The manifesto is closer to a rhythm, state of mind, and ritual. We live by the book. We swear by the book. In fact, the book is the one answering
these questions right now.

Your songs are really well-concocted. How do you manage to flesh them out when you don't all live in the same city? 

Well, our songs start either as an idea or a pattern. By idea, I mean sometimes, it’s an attempt at expanding upon a single image through sound, or creating a voice for something voiceless. Sometimes, it begins with a narrative and we just jive back and fourth on that and talk about what this idea might sound like in Doom Squad terms. Or sometimes, it begins with a musical pattern which we'll sit with for a while until it just begins to seep into in our bloodstream. Then we just expand outwards from there. That's why our music is often repetitive but densely layered. We never send recordings back and forth between cities though, just streams of dialogue. We always schedule time to actually work on the songs together as a group in one room. Wherever that room may be. 

How do you find being siblings affects your song writing process and live performance? 

It actually makes it all incredibly less difficult for just that reason. We have been writing music together since we were wee tots, so we know how to finish each other’s musical sentences. There is a great sense of understanding between us, so when its time to run free and feel creative, there is no fear. I think the “no fear” part is the biggest
thing. Like those T-shirts from the 90's, we wear that mantra proudly. Although it may not seem like it, our music is deeply personal, deeply expressive, and for us that can really only come out of a situation where everyone feels 100% fearless.

“The Cools” is such an intense and hypnotizing track. The video is long, suspenseful and shrouded in dark mystic imagery, but eventually ends in a revealing close-up of a shrine built around a grinning headshot of Sarah Jessica Parker. It's hilarious. Whose idea was that and what does it end up saying about you guys?

Trev directed the video. We had just finished obsessing over Michael Snow's Wavelength(the 1968 experimental film classic, that is – ed.), and wanted to make a video with a similar structure — essentially one long zoom. And we had this concept to slowly push in on a shrine to S.J.P., the goddess of consumerism and vanity, instead of a picture of waves, like in Snow's film. Of course, it obviously didn't end up like that at all. [Laughs] The video kinda loosely introduces some of the predominant themes which occupy us: spirituality, culture, politics and identity. It’s ultimately about the destructive force of consumerism, and how it interferes with all four of those things.

Disturbing juxtaposition and comedic contrast can be a pretty powerful tool for expression, but now, in a time when “authenticity” seems to be a highly valued gauge of artistic merit, do you think they can sometimes be conflated too quickly with pretense and aimless irony?

Hmm.... Perhaps. But, isn't that still “authentic” just the same? I mean, if that was the case, then what kind of “authentic” truth does that reveal about both the producer and receiver of such an act or gesture? I don't think authenticity is really the right word anymore. I mean, even a “karaoke” experience of culture has authenticity, but aura… that's another thing.