Since releasing their first LP Rough Frames on Woodsist Records late last year The Art Museums? have received praise for their uncanny aptitude at disguising brilliant pop tunes beneath the slapdashed haze of lo-fi, a generalization that absolutely diminishes the strength of their craft by mistaking amateurish for a concentrated display of the powers of idiosyncratic production. The interview was conducted from the Reax Volcano Compound in Maui with bandmember Glenn Donaldson via internet, with minimum editing to exhibit those natural imperfections of expression so familiar yet simultaneously distinguishing.

REAX: I write for Reax out of Tampa, FL. I'd like to interview Art Museums. How can something like that be organized?
Glenn Donaldson: Sure! Anytime. Email questions answered rapidly.

RE: I don't know how busy you are, but could I email you a question or two at a time? I think it would be more interesting than sending out a batch of questions for you to answer.
GD: Sure.

RE: Let's get some expository stuff over with. What does the band's name mean? were you purposely trying to make it difficult to search for on the internet? or does the name just ring the right atmosphere?
GD: No. But we don't mind. Calling a band "ART MUSEUMS" gives it an atmosphere of absurdity...a good place to start.

RE: What do you do in the band? How did you guys get together?
GD: It formed as a conceptual summer project with my buddy Josh Alper. The idea was to make pop art songs, melodic songs with a rough frame. I have an old dirty 8-track machine that just has a certain vibe. We both played various instruments on the recordings. We now have a 4-piece band with Virginia Weatherby on electronic drums and Carly Putnam on bass.

RE: Do band members have a common interest besides music?
GD: We've been friends for a long time and we both share an obsession with pop sounds in the punk-era, especially the Television Personalities and the Jam, Swell Maps, the first Cure album...that great era of clever singles and modern art pastiche sleeves. Yeah we all bond over music, humor, hanging together acting silly.

RE: Do you always get stuck doing interviews?
GD: I like doing interviews. It makes me feel like a serious musician for about 10 minutes.

RE: What was the desire to set your music in such a "rough frame?" Have you always leaned toward making "blown-out" music like that? Aside from what was just released on Woodsist, I'm unfamiliar with any of your previous projects.
GD: It's cheap and you can be in charge instead of some studio goon. That's why people record on these old machines. Not to mention we can't afford to spend $300 a day experimenting in a studio. Digital recording is really interesting too. I've been incorporating that more on newer tracks, but it doesn't sound as good to me yet as the old tape machines. Hi-Fi is an affectation too, all that studio trickery and effects. Why is that better or more legit? It's just a matter of taste.

RE: How special or important is the machine you record on? What were the circumstances behind finding that piece of equipment? If you return to that moment, was the decision haphazard to acquire that specific 4 track? and what were the chances you'd find some similar other old recording equipment... would that have altered the output?
GD: I bought this 8-track reel-to-reel machine (it's not cassette, though I love cassettes too) 10 years ago. It's called a TASCAM 388 and it's the same machine used on certain albums by a lot of people i know, Thee Oh Sees, The Fresh & Onlys, Woods...but I bought it because I read that East River Pipe used it to make Shining Hours in a Can, an album I still love. It has a certain warmth to it and yeah for sure that influenced the music on Rough Frame. Lo-fi as a "genre" has been around for 20 years or more. It's not at all new. We try to make our music sound good to our ears, fun & a little dirty, but it's not blown-out. Our songs aren't intentionally distorted so much as compressed by analog tape. Some people actually add distortion to the mix, we do not!

RE: Have you ever had the opportunity to record on newer equipment? Do you have a desire to now or in the near future?
GD: If someone wanted to foot the bill for a 2" tape studio recordings, we would gladly do it!

RE: Are you confused by the ever-growing umbrella that many constitute as "lo-fi?"
GD: Not confused. It's just funny how it's still an issue these days. I suppose that's do to its rise in popularity. People are now making indie/"lo-fi" records with the idea of maybe becoming mainstream, that's new.

RE: Do you feel pigeonholed when lo-fi is tossed around, even when in it's not used in any sort of pejorative sense? do you think such "matter of taste" is slowly slouching alongside the zeitgeist?
GD: I'm not worried about that. People are free to categorize us however they want, but there are some misconceptions about lo-fi vs. hi-fi that are worth pointing out.

RE: On your myspace page there's a post called "Creationism" that reads "how can we satirize modern lifestyles when Pitchfork kinda likes our record? Definitely a paradox. We will be working on this and other quandaries." What's so paradoxical?
GD: Oh those blog posts are tongue-in-cheek. We are trying to portray ART MUSEUMS as a band of dilettantes. Which I suppose we are in some sense! We had an idea that some writers might pay attention to this record, so we built in some self-conscious humor.

RE: Does the band, since receiving praises from a widely read blog like Pitchfork, have higher expectations for the future? Have you guys noticed a rise in popularity or sales? More people at shows?
GD: We have no expectations. We just love having a creative project. We're music fans first, so we are making records from that perspective. Internet notice usually doesn't translate to anything really, unless you sweat it out touring. People hate on these artists that get too much hype, but it's not like they get rich off it. You'd do better getting a job. It's a lot of depressing hours in a van or in a bar at 4pm waiting for your show.

RE: How old are you guys? Glenn, how long have you been making music? Is the Art Museums a completely new endeavor of style? or have you been slowly leaning toward "making cheap music for cheap people?" Do you have any formal training? What was the first record or records that made you go 'holy shit I need to start making some music?’
GD: Shit, we're old. Josh and I are mid to late 30's! We've been making cheap music for awhile in different bands/projects. Art Museums is just us indulging in a DIY pop style we love. Some of the bands I discovered in elementary school like The Byrds, The Jam, 80's punk stuff, are still influencing me. In the 90's I got into the Television Personalities, Beat Happening, The Verlaines, The Fall, Siltbreeze records etc. that changed everything. I have little to no formal training. When I was a kid, I wanted to be in a punk band and I still am.

RE: How long did it take to make the album?
GD: I guess about 10 days, spread out over about 5 months, working on a song or two each time.

RE: Now that the album is finished, what are the band's plans for the time being? do you continue to write new material?
GD: We're writing a new album right now, we've got 3 or 4 songs we're kicking around. Also we're intending to make a single for Slumberland with a bicycling theme. We're working on a west coast tour in June, with our friends the Mantles and Woods, actually deciding on that today if people can get time off from work. We're open to doing shows & touring, but it's tough out there in the cruel world of indie rock.

RE: What's a normal day like? you're not touring right now. How do you fill the days?
GD: Regular stuff, we have jobs, girlfriends & rent apartments. I like to go to the library & walk in the park. We make music when we can.

RE: What things have you been checking out at the library?
GD: Our local branch just got remodeled, and it rules. I usually check out artist monographs, lately William De Kooning & Keith Haring...also they have a ton of good music, all this San Francisco punk stuff & contemporary pop. Today it's Chrome's Blood on the Moon and FLIPPER’s GENERIC. They have like 6 Scott Walker cd's there.

RE: What's your job?
GD: I work for a non-profit that raises money for national parks in the bay area. Basically I'm an office clerk. Josh is a librarian down in Santa Cruz. Virginia works for AAA, & Carly works in a restaurant.

RE: Where do you guys live? does the place inspire any aspect of Rough Frames?
GD: I live in the Richmond district of SF, it's near Golden Gate Park, down the street from the De Young Museum (where there is a sculpture garden). Josh lives near downtown Santa Cruz...it's a sketchy beach-town full of free spirits, intellectuals, tourists and thugs. The song ROUGH FRAME is sorta about getting chased by skinheads in Santa Cruz...yeah we are influenced by these places, the whole Northern California thing you hear about, some of that is true.

RE: Can you talk more about the cruel world of indie rock, or was that just hyperbole?
GD: Haha. I don't anymore what is hyperbole and what is not. An interview is a weird place to be & I tend to bullshit a lot. Yeah I mean you make the music in the spirit of fun and art & then you release the record cuz you think you should, then people start analyzing it. It's not an easy process. The internet is full of good & bad vibes, it's overwhelming.

RE: Any plans for coming to Florida? I mean come on.
GD: Yeah I dig Florida, a couple of my best buddies spent a good amount of time there, Shayde from Fresh & Onlys and Chris from Soft Abuse records. I've been there a couple times separate from music. The wetlands & beaches are so beautiful, love the Spanish Moss too, so atmospheric. I'd love to go back.

RE: Did you fool anybody yesterday? (this portion of the interview was conducted April 2.)
GD: No. But I feel foolish everyday.

RE: Ok, so I'm not from Cali and when I was there I was a kid. What do you mean "the whole Northern California thing you hear about, some of that is true?" I'm confused. I'm not asking for an essay.
GD: Isn't Northern California perceived as being full of delusional free-thinkers, weirdos and commies? The history is colorful isn't? summer of love, arty punk bands, new age cults, radical politics, gay pride, mass suicide, freak-outs, assassinations...those things must still resonate. Those people are still around. I was recording the new Mantles EP at a practice studio, and Jello Biafra popped his head in to see what we were up to. That was surreal.

RE: Have you received negative feedback about the album? Is it something you see? or do you try to avoid it?
GD: I do read a lot of the reviews. It's a bad habit. Some are great, and a lot of nice people from other bands & labels I admire have written to say they liked it, that kinda makes it fun to put out a record. If a review is bad it's usually cuz they don't like the lo-fi sound or think we are being intentionally amateurish. We are actually doing our best!