The Love Language is no stranger to buzz. Since the band’s self-titled debut emerged in 2009, it’s been a constant presence. With the release party for Libraries, the band’s first release on Merge Records, just days away, Diversions Editor Linnie Greene met with three Love Language members — Stu McLamb, Missy Thangs and BJ Burton — to talk about time, the future and why musicians love silence.
Diversions: Where do you see yourself in a year or two, ideally?
Missy Thangs: I want to play a show in Japan. I want to tour the world.
Stu McLamb: Maybe we’ll be in — maybe Pittsboro. Where are we going to be next year? In what way? Personal-wise, or the band?
Dive: Both.
SM: I don’t know. In two years, I think I’d love for us to be able to all focus as much as we can on our own individual lives and let the band sort of be a thing we can all meet up to do and tour on. I’ve heard of scenarios where bands could even live in different cities and meet up to rehearse. I’d want the band to be a vehicle for us to have a living.
MT: Yeah, my vision’s to be able to support myself through music. We’ll see if it works out.
Dive: I know you’re all working and BJ, you record other artists. How do you manage your time?
SM: We’re getting the hang of it, but we don’t have the hang of it yet.
BJ Burton: I’ve been having some kind of like, not really breakdowns — but I’m surrounded by music, because I’m at the studio when I’m not playing shows. I don’t know. I actually just left Flying Tiger a couple of days ago and got another engineer to take over the reins pretty much, so I can freelance.
I’m looking at Chris Stamey and Brian Paulson’s studio in Chapel Hill next week, so I can do some work out there and finish the Rosebuds record out there, and Lonnie Walker as well.
Yeah, from time to time — sometimes I need a whole week of just chilling, like drinking lots of water and napping and not listening to anything. I’ll get in Missy’s car and Missy will blast the B-52s or something, and I’m like, “No! I can’t listen to music right now!”
MT: For a long time after they finished the record, I would be like, “Oh, you guys ride with me.” And I’d put on this mix that I’d be all stoked on, and I’d try and be like, “Guys, check out my new songs.” They’d be like, “Turn that shit off.” They’d be like, “We don’t want to hear music for weeks.”
BB: Silence is my secret of getting stuff done. Just to be out of the band, laying in silence.
SM: Yeah, you deal with music kind of like that awesome hotdog eating champ deals with hotdogs. You’re just shoving it in all the time, as much as you can.
MT: Trying not to take time to think about how full you are.
Dive: Do you ever feel burned out, like the pace is wearing on you?
MT: Stu’s horoscope actually told him to step it up, so I don’t think it matters how tired we are. We’ve just got to step it up.
BB: Every time I’ve felt burned out, or I felt like the band might be burned out, something exciting happens, and we totally just go to the next level of being burned out. We haven’t been burned out yet.
MT: We’re not burn outs!
