This past May, I sat down with the guys from Dr. Dog at Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, MA. The band prove as refreshingly unaffected in dinner conversation as on stage. It’s easy to see why they’re fast becoming concert favorites. They’re the lovable underdog, the unlikely superhero, and there’s something ecstatic about watching them play that recalls mad dashes down stairs on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. They wear funny hats and sunglasses, and crack wise at every opportunity, but man do their songs have soul. Bassist Toby Leaman doesn’t so much sing as he does erupt, and guitarist Scott McMicken is a mishmash American indie rock Johnny Greenwood. Before the show the band treat fans to a cassette tape demo of the U.S. National Anthem. It sounds like “Because” by The Beatles, and it’s brilliant. Touches like these make Dr. Dog’s live show an essential one. There’s a sense of fun and mayhem in the band that warms hearts and induces fits.

The Daytrotter interview:
I’ve heard there’s a lawyer in the band — is this true? Do you have a business card?

Toby Leaman: Not anymore — that was our friend Andrew. He’s a lawyer who used to be in the band. He lives down the street from me, and subbed in for our original guitarist. He’s not really a guitar player, but a pretty good singer, and a really good friend.

In what ways is “We All Belong” related to “Easy Beat”? In what ways do you see it as a departure?

TL: Before recording Easy Beat, we’d been playing lots of the songs live for a long time — especially “The Pretender” and “Say Something.” In that way, we were making a record built for and from a live environment. With We All Belong, there was a totally different logistical element. The recording gear was vastly improved, and restrictions on time and location were few. We could record whenever we wanted for as long as we wanted. There were no deadlines. So, in our thinking there was a shift from the live environment to the newly expanded potential of our studio setting. Also, we had more songs to pick through from We All Belong — probably 25, instead of around 11 for Easy Beat. We spent a lot more time on each song, especially with mixing, and as a result there’s a big jump in fidelity.

How was your musical influences changed in the time from “Easy Beat” to “We All Belong”?

TL: With We All Belong, we thought about the Motown production team & The Band.

Especially on “Old News,” I take it?

TL: Definitely. The sound was stripped down, yet the band was big. The songs on We All Belong are more fleshed out due to the time we were able to labor on them in the studio. “Alaska” was really the only song on the album we had played live beforehand.

What were you listening to most while recording each album?

TL: I remember listening to Joanna Newsom a lot while we were making Easy Beat. I really appreciate her thinking on the way a song should sound. At the time I was also listening to The Band’s Tears of Rage. That song, Procul Harum’s “Whiter Shade of Pale,” and The Beatles’ “She’s So Heavy” just make me wanna die. The Band sorta run the gamut of reaching amazing moments all the way to trite & lame stuff.

I would put “Easy Beat’s” “Dutchman Falls” in the category of songs that make you wanna die in the same way The Band’s “Tear of Rage” does.

TL: Really? That one was hashed out so fast, and it’s such a shitty vocal. We did that song in a day, and the drummer hadn’t even heard it.

I love the vocal. It sounds utterly spent — shredded like John Lennon’s at the end of a marathon recording session.

Beck included the “Takers and Leavers” EP in a recent Top 5 list. Who are some of our favorite artists at the moment?

TL: We all love Beck — I love Mutations, and Odelay is fucking phenomenal. We’re really into Joanna Newsom — her new album is amazing. Feist…M. Ward — we’ve always been fans, and we’re friends — the new album really fucked me up.

Zack Miller: Deerhoof…Higgins — this pretty cool band we heard on MySpace.

TL: David Vandervelde is awesome — he’s really going for that T-Rex/Bowie kind of stuff

ZM: The 1900s gave me a demo I like…

TL: You just like them cause there’s pretty girls in the band!

Zack: (goofy smile)

What has your experience in the Philadelphia music scene been? How has it changed since the band’s earliest days?

TL: There’s a great scene right now. The Teeth is where it started for us — trying to cultivate that scene. More people are trying to come out and support the scene.

*_My favorite lyric of yours is from “Easy Beat’s” title track:
“Be careful of the judge inside/His gavel and sins collide/But he’s only guilty of what’s wrong.” Can you provide some background here?_*

Scott McMicken: What’s interesting about that song is that I didn’t write it — I heard it from a ceiling fan during an anxiety attack.

So was it prophetic?

SM: Perhaps. And the idea that it’s the supposedly non-judgemental, impartial judge who is really the guilty one is pretty much in line with what I think.

Reference to death, dying, and the dead figure heavily in your lyrics — is this a consciously integrated theme?

TL: Not — it’s not conscious. There’s just not that many good things to sing about — not that many themes worth singing about, that is. If you’re not going to write a love song, death is pretty much the only thing left.

Your lyrics are often darkly humorous. When members of The Smiths were reflecting on what is was like to work with Morrissey in the studio, they said you never knew what he was going to sing until the recording phase, and you never knew if you were going to be laughing or crying. Is there as similar dynamic in Dr. Dog?

TL: Hah hah! I don’t think anybody laughs or cries. We had some hilarious moments with that song “Old News.” We were kind of non-plussed with it by that time in the studio. I guess with Morrissey, it’s a gift.

True of False: Morrissey is the Frank Sinatra of our generation?

TL: So false!

That’s incorrect. The answer is true.

TL: What!

Yes, it’s true.

TL: I have such a hang-up about this about this old girlfriend who was obsessed with Morrissey. It’s taken me years to appreciate him. He’s such a weirdo, and I don’t like his voice.

Because it’s too amazing?

TL: Hah hah. He always seemed like a gigantic deusch — seemed so sure of himself…a fancy boy. I’m always suspect of people who think you give a shit about what they have to say.

How would you describe the level of the band’s political consciousness? Will you be doing anything to effect change in 2008?

TL: It’s there — it’s just not in the music. We talk about it sometimes. I don’t believe John Lennon at all when he sings “Working Class Hero.” Dylan was one of the most insincere people ever, but he pulled it off. Joe Strummer was believable, and it’s the same with Neil Young. It’s a very rare thing to pull it off — you can look like a fool or get pidgeon-holed. I’m registered from the Green Party, but I have no well-formed opinion on a lot of that stuff. I guess I think more about morality than politics. I can’t get terribly excited about any candidate. Nothing’s gonna change for anybody.

Dr. Dog Official Site
Park The Van Records
Dr. Dog’s Daytrotter Session