Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

July 12, 2012

Making Noise: Taking name from Dr. Seuss, if and it giving two CDs a whirl

Guitarist Evan Parker talks about releasing two CDs about the same time and the band's sound, among other things.

By Aimsel Ponti aponti@mainetoday.com
News Assistant

Portland indie folk-rock band if and it consists of Chris DiBiasio on percussion, keyboards and back-up vocals, Tim Alan Walker on bass, harmonica, keyboards and back-up vocals, and singer/guitarist Evan Parker. About two months ago, they released "Sparkly Gold" and are already back at it with "Bleeding Moon." GO caught up with Parker to find out about the close proximity of the releases and the band's sound, among other things.

What's the release date of "Bleeding Moon"?

We released "Bleeding Moon" on June 22, but CDs are not available until July 20. You can pre-order them online now at ifandit.bandcamp.com.

Why release something so soon after "Sparkly Gold"?

We started recording "Sparkly Gold" early in 2011, and we started recording "Bleeding Moon" early in 2012; they just happened to get finished around the same time. Rather than waiting to release "Bleeding Moon," we decided to release them around the same time.

What are the ways that the two albums differ?

The songs on "Sparkly Gold" were written over a longer period of time and were more complete as we recorded them. "Bleeding Moon" was a bit more adventurous and a kind of "let's just see what we get and hope for the best." A lot of our individual influences and personalities come together on "Bleeding Moon" in a different and exciting way.

From a more technical point of view, "Sparkly Gold" was recorded at Forest City Studio by Ron Harrity, and we recorded "Bleeding Moon" by ourselves. "Bleeding Moon" uses more digital plug-ins than "Sparkly Gold." Almost all the effects on "Sparkly Gold" are real effects, real spring reverbs, etc.

"Bleeding Moon" utilizes more delays and other digital plug-ins. The average listener probably cannot tell a difference, but "Sparkly Gold" is a bit warmer sounding. All in all, we are very proud of, and happy with, both albums.

How did you come up with the band name if and it?

The name comes from Theodor Seuss Geisel's (Dr. Seuss) book "Hop on Pop." I read "Hop on Pop" to my daughter Coco every night for about three months straight (at her request). My favorite page was always the page that said, "My little brother reads a little bit, little words like if and it," so that is where our name comes from.

How do you like to describe the band's sound? What are some adjectives and/or phrases that come to mind?

Our music has influences from rock, pop, country, alt-country, folk and indie. Most people would say we play indie rock, but we hear all kinds of things, as you could imagine. The first thing that comes to mind is "awesomebadassness" but some other adjectives include: Honest, heartfelt, moving and organic.

Can you tell us a few random nuggets of if and it trivia?

The album artwork on the cover of "Bleeding Moon" is actually a dragon's eye and not a moon. Listening to the title track ties it all together. Also, our album "Sparkly Gold" was almost named "All Dressed" after one of Ron Harrity's favorite flavors of potato chips.

Staff Writer Aimsel Ponti can be contacted at 791-6455 or at:

aponti@pressherald.com

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