Archers of Loaf by Kate Fix
photo by Kate Fix

Archers of Loaf's Eric Bachmann tells us about the inspirations behind their first LP in 24 years

Chapel Hill indie rock greats Archers of Loaf have been back together for a decade, but they took their time on making new music. “It’s not about responding to the past or whatever our bullshit legacy is,” Bachmann said. “I just wanted to work with these guys because I knew the chemistry we had and that we still have. I knew that was rare.” Reason in Decline presents a somewhat less raucous and noisy Archers of Loaf, but they are no less pissed off. It’s a terrific record (read our review) and you can listen to it below.

Eric Bachmann told us about some of the things that influenced Reason in Decline, a list that includes music (polka?!?),  books, home improvement projects, TV shows and more. Check out his list and commentary below.

Pick up the swirled Peak Vinyl edition of Reason in Decline and other Archers of Loaf albums on vinyl in the BV shop.

Archers of Loaf will be on tour later this fall, including a Brooklyn show at Warsaw on December 2 with Weird Nightmare (aka Alex Edkins of METZ). They’ve also got West Coast dates in early 2023 — check out their full schedule below.

ARCHERS OF LOAF’S ERIC BACHMANN – 10 INFLUENCES BEHIND ‘REASON IN DECLINE’

Antiquated technologies
For some unknown reason there are a lot of references to old audio communications equipment on this record: A citizens band radio on “Breaking Even”; “Surface Noise” referring to phonograph vinyl static; the inspiration to the lyrics on “Aimee” was lifted from an old answering machine cassette I found in a box of my father’s stuff I received (he passed away during the pandemic). Maybe it’s a subconscious yearning for a time where information moved at a slower pace?

War Is A Racket by Smedley Butler
I had to read this in high school for a history class. I guess its impact on me finally found its way into a song via Mama Was A War Profiteer.

war is a racket

Walter Ostekek, the Canadian Polka King
What can I say? My 5 year old kid has developed a deep passion for polka. It creates an absurd atmosphere when the world is falling apart as cheerful polka is incessantly piping throughout your house. 707 Polka is my favorite Ostenek jam. I also enjoy Trompetten Polka by Gebroeders Brouwer. Check it out, aging rockers.

Stephen Fry In America
Saturation and Light is a song about self pity and how it can destroy you. I watched Stephen Fry In America during the pandemic, and while he doesn’t really touch base on that particular topic in that show, he has said many intelligent things about self pity on other platforms that helped me get through dark days of the pandemic: “Certainly the most destructive vice if you like, that a person can have. More than pride, which is supposedly the number one of the cardinal sins – is self pity. Self pity is the worst possible emotion anyone can have. And the most destructive. It is, to slightly paraphrase what Wilde said about hatred, and I think actually hatred’s a subset of self pity and not the other way around-‘It destroys everything around it, except itself.’ “Self pity will destroy relationships, it’ll destroy anything that’s good, it will fulfill all the prophecies it makes and leave only itself. And it’s so simple to imagine that one is hard done by, and that things are unfair, and that one is underappreciated, and that if only one had had a chance at this, only one had had a chance at that, things would have gone better, you would be happier if only this, that one is unlucky. All those things. And some of them may well even be true. But, to pity oneself as a result of them is to do oneself an enormous disservice.”

The Midnight Special
My son and I watched every goddamn episode of The Midnight Special on YouTube during the early days of Covid. Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell and The Cisco Kid by War got the most views. We met down on the fort of Rio Grande. Eat the salted peanuts out the can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvYODVTHC2I

Manu Dibango
His passing due to complications caused by Covid 19 struck me particularly hard. I listened to “Africadelic” and “Manu 76” a lot during the writing of the record. I’m not sure if anything from those found it’s way on our record, though? I just love his music.

Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans by Louis Armstrong
I read this autobiography again during the pandemic because I knew that Louis Armstrong mentions the “Spanish Flu” a few times in this book and how it took away his ability to perform back then. I thought it’d be interesting to read and of course it was.

attachment-Satchmo- My Life in New Orleans by Louis Armstrong

Home Improvement Projects
I built a retaining wall, filled it with 32 tons of #4 and #89 gravel; then built a carport over it. Anytime I do big home improvement projects like this it helps me write songs. Here is how it all went down:

Social Distancing
Man, I really loved that idea at first. Such promise…

Matthew Gentling, Mark Price and Eric Johnson
I wouldn’t have wanted to look backwards and make another Archers record at all if I didn’t love and respect the people in this band so much.

attachment-archers of loaf tour

Archers of Loaf – 2022/2023 Tour Dates:
Nov 29 – Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
Nov 30 – Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA
Dec 1 – The Sinclair – Boston, MA
Dec 2 – Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY
Dec 3 – The Broadberry – Richmond, VA
Dec 4 – Grey Eagle – Asheville, NC
Jan 10 – Thunderbird Music Hall – Pittsburgh, PA
Jan 11 – Lee’s Palace – Toronto, ON
Jan 12 – El Club – Detroit, MI
Jan 13 – The Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
Jan 14 – Delmar Hall – St. Louis, MO
Jan 15 – Basement East – Nashville, TN
Feb 7 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA
Feb 8 – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
Feb 10 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
Feb 11 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
Feb 12 – Neumos – Seattle, WA