We Barbarians

PHOTO by MATT WIGNALL

When We Barbarians started making music together way back in . . . what, July? . . . the Long Beach trio was best known for its time in The Colour, an anthemy band that ended its run in . . . what, June? Starting a new band is a tough go, of course, and so it’s not surprising that We Barbarians didn’t start working on their first EP, In the Doldrums (available at Fingerprints), until . . . what, August?

You see where we’re going with this, right? We Barbarians are a tight outfit—Davey Quon (vocals/guitar), Derek Van Heule (bass) and Nathan Warkentin (drums)—that works really hard. Witness the fact that by the end of the summer they were doing shows with the likes of Cold War Kids and Delta Spirit, two bands that have lent key support lo these many . . . what, months? The band plays at the El Rey Theater, Dec. 15, with Les Savy Fav.

The Barbarians’ music has been described as atmospheric and ambient, but that puts me in the mind of Air and Mazzy Star. I’ve listened to them and they’ve got more, I dunno, spine to them; more like Coldplay or Cold War Kids or just about any other band with the word Cold in their name and yes I’m including Jimmy Don Smith and The Cold Cuts though not Dre and Ty and The Cold Crush Cru.

We caught up with the Barbarians via computating machine while they were preparing for a Chicago gig with Cold War Kids.

The three of you have been distinguished by your work ethic. Still, starting up a new band must have turned up the commitment level another notch. How taxing—physically, emotionally, artistically—has the change been?
Honestly, everything about this band thus far has been very natural. We haven’t had to toil over writing songs. Opportunities arose, and all three of us have a unified vision. Obstacles will surely arise, but for now we’re just enjoying ourselves. We realize that the beginning of a band, like anything else, is a tender process that needs nurturing. It’s a liberating experience, having no history as a new band. It allows you to start from scratch and do things just as you please. There’s not much we aren’t all on the same page about. In most circumstances there are people always pulling in different directions emotionally and artistically. This situation is a lot more simple and unified.

What is it that you are saying artistically that you weren’t able to say with other ventures? 
What we are doing now is a lot more stripped down and I think people can relate to that. Our music is naked and honest. We’re still a fresh band and have a good amount of growing to do artistically. Hopefully it will be a more realized version of what we have started.

The reviews of your first Barbarian shows have been effusive in their praise. Are you surprised how quickly and well this all came together?
In the past, most of our musical ventures didn’t represent a clear vision, but a simple desire to write and play music. In starting this new venture we had a distinct vision of what we wanted We Barbarians to be. The three of us have realized that writing good songs is the foundation to any great band. Ultimately it was nice for us to not confine ourselves musically, write what came naturally, and then record it. The pace of this whole thing has been quite surprising and puts a decent amount of pressure on us to make major strides, but the reality is that we have just been hanging out and making music with good friends. One of the biggest things we learned from playing in other bands and pursuing opportunities in music is to do things in appropriate proportions. You have to always embrace exactly where you are at and never take things more seriously than you ought. The whole ‘eyes bigger than stomach’ thing comes to mind.

WE BARBARIANS WITH LES SAVY FAV EL REY THEATRE | 5515 WILSHIRE BLVD | LOS ANGELES 90036 | THEELREY.COM | SAT 8PM | $19

Tags: cold war kids, Music, we barbarians