Introducing: The Analysts

The Analysts is the IRL band from upcoming drama series "The Chlorine Bible." Teetering on the cusp of fiction and reality, Davyn sits down with member Jake to talk inspiration for the show and the mystery behind the duo.

Q: What do The Analysts represent to you?

I think my favorite artists definitely have some sort of air of not really knowing much about them. The whole point of it is to make people not really know that much about me. And, that’s why it’s plural [the band name]. The point is to kind of try and confuse people with whoever's on stage.

You did it well! The entire time I was thinking that it was a duo.

The duo aspect of it comes in with the show that we're making about the band. So to me, I guess it's kind of just trying to emulate that sort of Daft Punk-y mystery. Not really giving that much of yourself.

I think that I've always wanted to try and experiment with making music like that. I’ve made music under my own name, and it's a lot harder to express certain things. Versus kind of hiding behind a persona. Makes it easier to talk about things that normally would be a lot more uncomfortable to talk about.

It’s kind of like a veil. So you don’t have to show too much of yourself.

Yeah. One hundred percent.

Q: Do you find it to be a form of letting go?

A little bit. Yeah. When you're releasing stuff under your own name, you get that creeping feeling like, “Oh, I bet my friends from high school are listening to this and just making fun of me.”

You kind of have that veil, like you were talking about [when releasing music under a persona]. Anyone can approach the music in the same way. When you do that, people go into the music with less or fewer expectations.

Q: How long have you been performing under this name? Do you find The Analysts to be more of a temporary project or will you be sticking with it long term?

I don't know. Definitely for a good while as long as I'm enjoying it. You know, it's kind of where I'm at with it.

Q: The Chlorine Bible is not only the title of your new album but also the name of the accompanying series. Why did you choose that title?

It came about through writing the scripts for it. There's just a line about someone cleaning something with chlorine. The show was just called The Analysts for a while. Originally, it was more of a band documentary sort of thing and not about the album specifically. The title just came from writing the script and its songs.

There’s a song called Chlorine–wrote that from the script and it just felt very fitting to the themes of the show. Like something being used to clean but it can go to the point of damaging.

I thought that sort of idea goes with the theme of religion and being raised differently. Both of my parents had very different religious views–so growing up in the middle of that drives you away from them.

Shout out religious trauma!

That’s the theme of the show laughs. If we’re talking motifs.

Q: Considering that the show originally started out with a documentary format, what made you go towards more fiction? Is it semi-autobiographical? Or full fiction?

The things that happen in the show are a fictionalized version of real events that have happened with the band. There’s a lot of people in the show who are different in real life. I talked about this a little in the last answer, but I’ve always loved music-based tv and film.

Working in film is a day job thing and I’m doing music on the side. I wanted to do something that merged the two.

I thought that no music is true to actual events–if you write a song about an event, what happens in the song isn’t what actually happened in real life. I thought that taking that idea and applying it to the documentary could enhance [the show] the same way a song enhances a moment.

You can have those honest moments that are close to real life but also have weird moments. The show gets wild and very out there.

Q: You have a mysterious edge to your persona. It was very hard to find information about The Analysts. With ongoing discussions about privacy amongst musicians, what are your thoughts on the subject?

I don’t know. There’s a lot of pros and cons in making music now. Going back to the whole identity thing, it’s really hard to be successful in the music industry without having yourself at the forefront of it. Posting daily videos of you playing your music, showing stuff from your personal life, and it’s like, “Why the fuck do people need to know about my personal life?” I’m not going to their account to hear about what they did that day, I want to hear their music.

Part of the idea of The Chlorine Bible as well is trying to grow music in a different way while using the same tools. Going back to the fictionalized versions of events, it’s a lot more fun to create entire characters that represent the show and the music and make content about them instead of trying to put yourself at the forefront. I feel like it keeps sort of…

A barrier?

Yeah. There’s a line there. Like you said, it was hard to find information about me. I don’t want to be at the forefront. I want the band to be something to recognize but not a face they immediately think of.

Would you categorize The Analysts as a character then? Like The Weekend or Gorillaz?

Yeah, like I loved how Bowie had different personas for his albums and Geseffelstien with his chrome mask. It’s sick. I played around with the idea of wearing a mask for a while.

I mean, you still can. You can wear the NASDAQ as a mask. You could make that a thing.

Laughs Yeah. I think being able to control a character’s persona adds to the confusion. I’m credited on songwriting and production, but I’m not credited as a member of the band. Being able to control the lore makes all the difference.

Q: Are there any shows or films that have inspired The Chlorine Bible?

Yeah, for sure. Barry–that’s very much in vain of the craziness of the show. Where just weird shit happens. Making the show’s world on the edge of surrealism, you know? Mainly making it very grounded but every now and then something really fucking weird happens.

Atlanta was a big inspiration when it came to that. Like the invisible lamborghini, that’s my favorite part of the show–it’s the funniest thing.

That has to be my favorite episode from the show. That and the creepy Micheal Jackson episode.

Oh my God. I think that’s the scariest episode of television I’ve ever seen. And then when he [Donald Glover] went to an award show dressed as him?

That scared the fuck out of me!

That’s the whole idea of The Chlorine Bible right there. Doing some shit like that.

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Also the Justice: Across The Universe documentary, a lot of the music inspiration came from that. And the bridge between reality and fiction I got from Control, the Joy Division biopic. I love that movie so much, it’s so good.

Is that why you first thought of doing a documentary?

Kind of, yeah. I love the Justice documentary and I sort of wanted to make a tour film. But then, I read Debbie Curtis’s book that she wrote after Ian Curtis died. Control is based on that. So watching how that was adapted and slight changes that were made for fictional purposes, seeing that was really cool.

Chlorine Bible started off as a movie as well, it was just going to be a film that goes along with the music. But then the film was way too long.

Q: Your sound is heavily influenced by early-2000s electroclash. Are there other genres you’re interested in exploring?

The album itself dabbles in some other directions. I love electronic music and that genre is my favorite to dance to–it’s party music. But making singles versus making an album was something that I was messing around with a lot.

I feel like not a lot of people listen to back-to-front albums any more. But I still like doing that. I love Dark Side of The Moon and how everything flows together. It’s like an entity that’s an hour long and is just cut up into songs.

For Chlorine Bible itself, the first half is very electronic, tech house. Very french touch-y, there’s some samples in there and a lot of distorted synths. Then it takes a break and there’s an all acoustic song, then the second half is very rock focused. The music evolves through the album as the show evolves, which is really fun.

I like albums that have distinct sides to it–like Blonde. Having that exact point in Nights when the whole tone of the album shifts. That’s so cool and I think that very few people take advantage of that.

Most often when I’m disappointed by an album is when I’m not surprised by it at all. I like having those weird, random turns in them that you don’t see coming. Like, going from a super crazy, techno song to guitar strums – it peaks my ear in a weird way that I like.

Q: I usually ask everyone this question because I want to know where people feel like they’ll be musically and success wise – where do you see The Analysts in ten years?

10 years?

If you want to shorten it, we can do five.

I’ll do five–I feel like five is easier. I’d love to tour. That’s all I want to do. If I could just go around in a bus with my friends, play music, and get to make the show, that’s the goal.
Five years? Hopefully being on tour, let’s say that. Probably doing the second Analyst tour. Playing music for people, making people dance, that would be a nice time.

Do you have any dream venues?

World or in New York?

Anywhere.

In New York, I would say Public Records. Best club in New York. It’s fucking stupidly expensive, which is why I don’t go that much. But for shows, it’s the best sound system I’ve ever heard.

You could literally sit near the speakers, clap in front of yourself, and the entire room is completely echoless. So if you’re just talking, you can hear people at a normal volume. But then as soon as you stop talking, the music is insanely loud.
Red Rocks in Colorado too. I’m from there, so that would be my top–actually, I’m going to change my answer to that. I want to perform there within the next five years.