The High Water Marks – Per Ole Bratset (formerly of Oslo’s Palermo), Hilarie Sidney (formerly of The Apples in Stereo), Jim Lindsay (Oranger), and Mike Snowden (Von Hemmling) – have just released their second album, Polar, on Happy Happy Birthday to Me. It’s a lean, rocking album dangerously stuffed with ultra-catchy pop songs. The band has also just released an EP, the first in a projected series of home-made releases, which you can purchase directly from them (contact High Water Marks for more info). Per recently spoke with Optical Atlas to discuss the new album, his collaborative approach to songwriting with Hilarie, and the key differences between Oslo, Norway, and Lexington, Kentucky.
Can you define a key moment in your past which started you on the path to writing and performing your music?
The first record by the Norwegian group a-ha was the first record I obsessed over, it didn’t make me want to write music though. But it made me get a bizarre haircut. I guess the first bands that made me want to make music myself were bands I heard from late 80’s/early 90’s skate-movies, like Dinosaur and Sonic Youth and other SST acts. After hearing You’re Living All Over Me by Dinosaur Jr, I went out and blew all my money on a Marshall amp stack. I think that was a key moment, I still listen to that record all the time.
How would you compare your work in High Water Marks to your work in Palermo? One seems to flow really naturally into the other when I listen to them. Do the bands have different goals?
Palermo was me and three of my buddies in Oslo. I guess it was a lot different because we didn’t record much, but we practiced all the time. In HWM we rarely practice, but we record a lot, which suits me better. Practicing too much sometimes makes you grow tired of the material quicker. Songwriting in Palermo was also shared between me, Ola Flatvad and Christian Spro, and we all have very different styles, so while my songs were poppy, Ola’s were more rocking in a Devo sort of way. In the High Water Marks, the songwriting is done by Hilarie and me and we agree pretty much on everything so we sound more like a unit. The songs happen way more naturally and we often record the songs even before practicing them together.
I don’t think any of the bands ever had specific goals. We just want to make music and we want our records to be out there for the people that are interested. We are all passionate about music, but not in the business around it too much.
How do you think Polar stacks up against Songs About the Ocean? Do you think the band has developed a better sense of what it wants to sound like?
Songs About the Ocean was me just me and Hilarie, we wrote and recorded the whole thing. We also listened constantly to Chrome, Black Flag and Royal Trux at the time, so the sound ended up being raw. Polar is all four of us, so the two records are naturally very different. On Polar we worked together as a band and I think you can hear that on there. More arrangements and fancy stuff. I don’t think we know what we want to sound like, though we know what we don’t want to sound like.
How do you and Hilarie collaborate on the songwriting?
Hilarie write most of the lyrics, she is so good at that. We write most of the instrumental parts seperately and then we put them together while recording or when we are just jamming around the house.
Is a song like “Polar,” in which you both sing, composed differently than one which is just one voice?
I think that “Polar” used to be two songs and they just came together as one, while practicing in Jim Lindsay’s garage. I don’t think it was composed differently than other songs. We did this sort of thing much more on the first album. We like to cut and paste.
The final three tracks on the album are a kind of suite: “For Sirkel,” “Sirkel,” and “Etter Sirkel.” Okay, for the record, who is Sirkel? (The tracks are quite lovely.)
Thank you, I’m glad you like them. Sirkel was and is a film production company started by Ola Flatvad of Palermo, one of my best friends. It has been years since he made any short films, but the ones he did was great. Sirkel is dedicated to Sirkel Film. Sirkel means “circle” by the way. I didn’t know this at the time we wrote the songs, but another friend of ours started a Sirkel record label, inspired by the same film company.
I thought I heard that the vinyl for Songs About the Ocean is mixed differently than the CD, is that true? Will there be a vinyl for Polar?
The vinyl version of Songs About The Ocean was mastered in a completely different way than the CD. It just sounds so much better. It suits the record really well. There was going to be a vinyl version of Polar but it didn’t turn out. If there is anyone out there with a vinyl press and a big heart…It’s up for grabs.
What music is inspiring you these days?
I mostly listen to the classic stuff. Spacemen 3, Stooges, Ramones, etc. But I love a lot of new stuff too like, Wooden Wand, MV & EE and Astroburger. I also listen to tons of jazz.
What’s better, Norway or Kentucky? Or, if that’s too difficult, who would win in a fight?
I think that Norway is better. But I love Kentucky too and we are able to live very comfortably here. We even bought a house. If there was a fight, Norway would of course win. Then Norway would be all humble about it and say that it wasn’t really a beating when in fact it was. And Kentucky would claim it kicked Norway’s butt, when it really didn’t.
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