Northern Transmissions got a chance to talk to Horse Jumper Of Love Frontman Dimitri Giannopoulos about the setting their new record Disaster Trick was made in, Touring, Loud Amps and reflecting on the past through writing music. Disaster Trick is out today via Run For Cover Records.

Northern Transmissions: Can you describe the setting this record was made in and any pre discussed intentions the band may have had before recording?

DG: We recorded it in Asheville, North Carolina, which was very different from where we recorded before. Before, we used to record outside Providence, Rhode Island, which is closer to us in Boston. But um, yeah, being somewhere different like that definitely affected the recording quite a bit. I think it put us a little bit out of our element. I feel like I was acting more like a person in a band when we were recording if that makes sense.

NT: Yeah, totally. Your music, especially on this album, always has very well-arranged dynamics and goes from very soft to very loud. Is that something that is written early on in the process, or is it something that’s developed later on in the process?

DG: It kind of depends; every single song I write usually starts with me playing it on acoustic guitar in my room, and sometimes i’ll finish a song all the way through just on the acoustic and record it to voice memos on my phone and it will be really soft really quiet and then I’ll just listen to it throughout the next couple weeks and then ill start getting ideas for arrangements I think that’s when the dynamics stuff kind of comes out when I’m like meditating on a song and thinking of arrangements where I’ll be like keep this part quiet add some heavy guitars in the next part and I honestly feel like it’s Beacause I grew up listening to a lot of nirvana and they do a lot of quiet loud dynamics and I think that’s just how i feel a song should be.

NT: You recorded this album at Drop of Sun Studious with Alex Farrar. To what degree did working with him and being in the studio affect the creative process?

DG: Well, first of all, Alex fucking rocks. He is just such an intelligent musical dude, we would be in the live room, and you could see Alex through the window in the control room, and he just looked and felt like a sweet musical angel watching over us; it was just nice to know we were in good hands and I think that helped me to be less stressed about how the song was going to come out and I could really focus on my performing because I usually feel like I’m a really anxious person in general but in the studio specifically so I’m always thinking about the next thing and the next thing but I feel like with this one I felt really present in my performances, and when I listened back to the album when it was done I think it really showed to me.

NT: That’s really interesting. I know Alex has worked with Wednesday in the past, and you also had Karly and Jake (MJ Lenderman) from Wednesday play on the first track. Is that right?

DG: Yeah, Jake played on a couple of tracks, and I got Karly to do harmonies on a bunch of songs I need, as well as my friend Ella from Squirrel Flower sang on a couple of tracks.

NT: Was that Ella singing on Lip Reader?

Dimitri: Yeah, that’s Ella doing that harmony. Ella and I did a solo tour a year and a half ago, and I had just written that song. I was working it out live, and we would practice it together in the green room. She even sang the song with me on stage a couple of times on the tour, so when we were in the studio recording it, I was like, we have to get Ella to sing on this.

NT: You said before that Gates of Heaven was written around 10 years ago, yet the lyrics and topics in the song feel very cohesive with the rest of the album. How do you think about the song and how do you feel it fits with the rest of the album?

DG: That one was really funny because we had a certain amount of time booked in the studio and we worked so fast with alex that the songs I had ready for the new record were done and we still had like five more days left into the studio and I was like Shit I should go back to the archives and see what I have laying around and that was a song that we tried recording like three times and it just never came out right I remember Alex and the rest of the band was like “do you have anymore songs?” and I was like “ Well I have this one but it probably won’t work cause its never worked before” I Played it for them and Alex was like” Wow thats a really beautiful song lets just go for it and really do it” and I really feel like Alex being so encouraging about recording it and giving it a 100% where for me in the past I would have been like “ well this is a old song it doesn’t really feel like me I don’t want to this one” and like I said earlier a lot of times it felt like I was acting like a guy in the band in the studio and it helps you get out of some insecurities you might be having like If I just act confident i’ll end up being actually satisfied in the song. I recorded it, and it ended up coming out really nice I think it fits and I’m Happy it’s on there.

NT: Each of the songs feels like they have different stories and narratives and feel like reflections from the past or a character’s past. Are there any linear themes or concepts to the album, or are all the songs separate entities?

DG: Yeah, They are all reflections of the past. When I’m going to record an album, I’m not really thinking of any specific themes. I think all the theme stuff comes after it’s like journaling where you will write something ultimately stream of consciousness, and then you’ll hear it a few days later and be like, “Oh, this is what I was trying to say. It kind of feels like that. I think a lot of the tracks have to do with reflections from a slight destructive period I was going through a few years ago where I was touring a lot and playing alot of the songs from the self titled album that I wrote when I was like 19 and 20 and I was getting a little Tired of like living in the past like that Because sometimes it feels like when the performing songs you wrote a long time ago over and over again every night it feels like your stuck at this certain period of your life and my main goal with this album was to try and break out of that for my self I don’t even care if people are like wow it feels like he’s really matured as a songwriter I just want to be able to perform and feel good about stuff thats not like the first album that every one likes.

NT: That’s great. The lead Guitar playing that you do on this record feels a lot different than the other albums, especially in comparison to the first record. With the evolution of the band and your guitar playing, there seems to be a bit more of a tasteful and janky sound to the solos on this album. Was that something that was intentional, or did it just happen naturally?

DG: I think it just happened. I like that you said it was a Janky sound because I definitely really like that. So the way I did all of the solos was at Drop Of Sun studios. They had a Hi-Watt amp, which is like a crazy loud amp, and I went into the live room, and I just cranked the amp all the way to Ten and put noise cancelling headphones on and just went for it. I was really influenced by this band, The Dirty Three, which is Warren Ellis from the Bad Seeds and the band is just guitar, drums and violin, and I was really influenced by the playing on those albums cause it this really janky and loose sound where your like “ Is this guy really good at guitar or Is he really bad” And I love that. It sounds goofy but letting the spirit flow through you onto the guitar I think about Santana at Woodstock where he was like “ My Guitar became like a snake, and I was trying to wrangle this snake” I love feeling like the guitar is like a spiritual tool and I was really trying to get into that when I was recording those solos like I know I’m not the best guitar player but I’m really happy how the solos came out on the album.

NT: Yeah, they are all really cool, man. You guys are doing an insane amount of touring this year. I know you’re opening for Diiv, on your headlining tour, and opening for Alvvays earlier this Year. Are you excited to throw some new songs on the set?

DG: Yeah, Definitely. We tried a couple of the new songs for the Alvvays tour, and we knew we were going to be playing in front of a bunch of people who didn’t know our music, which felt like a good opportunity to play a bunch of new songs. We started the set off with a bunch of songs, which gave us all a lot more Energy to get through the whole set. Before we started playing newer songs I was getting to this point where I was so exhausted where now playing newer songs I have a lot more Energy.

NT: Well, I’m certainly excited to see the new songs live on this tour, and thanks so much for sitting down to talk with me today.

DG: Yeah, Man, Of course. Nice to meet you, dude.

Order Disaster Trick HERE