by Zach Fraley
Photo by Hera Chan
The world has gotten smaller over time thanks to the invention of so many reliable and fast transportation mechanisms. This has not only allowed bands to travel great distances in one day to play a show, but it has allowed new bands to form that could never have existed in the past. Ought is a geographical melting pot, containing two members from the Northeastern U.S., one from the Northwestern U.S., and one from Australia. Once formed as a band, the four men moved out to Montreal, Canada as a base of operations. Tim Keen, drummer for Ought and the aforementioned Australian, believes getting out of Australia was necessary for his career to take off. “I definitely enjoyed growing up in Melbourne, but there aren’t many places to tour in Australia. There’s an oppressive state and cultural opinion towards music making. I can’t imagine not living in Montreal at this point.”
Ought is currently touring the U.S. at the head of what will be an international tour in support of their new album, Sun Coming Down. With two EPs and two LPs under their belt in three years, Ought is on their way to creating a long and powerful discography. Keen has noticed substantial growth in the way Ought sounds when recording, even if the act of recording their songs hasn’t differentiated that much. “It’s interesting, because our process hasn’t changed very much. But in terms of sound, one thing I’m happy with is a more developed style. Each song has a more defined aesthetic now. Each instrument compliments each other better than it did on the first record. I’m proud of the way we’ve pushed into new territories with this record as well. In terms of songwriting, I think we’ve just spent a long time writing with each other. There’s a certain immediacy to the way we write.”
With almost four years of living together and recording as a band, Keen believes Ought operates similar to a family unit. He even has proof of just how much time they’ve spent together. “We read each other’s minds at this point. We’ve been playing this game where I try and guess what Matt [May] will say next, and I have an 80-85% success rate. We’re very close, and we get along really well, which helps out with songwriting.”
Keen admits that the music he plays with Ought and the music he listens to throughout the day don’t line up, and there’s a strong reason for that. “Honestly, we meet in the middle of a combination of our influences and capacity. None of us are really listening to the type of music we play. I listen to a lot of varied music myself. We were making small compromises on what we played, and it all veered into the sound we have now.”
Photo by Colin Medley
The band loosely operates under the post punk genre, but Keen states that genre isn’t as concrete as some people make it out to be. “I am wary of becoming a band that’s embedded in a genre, and I will make a conscious choice to not allow that to happen. Genre is something that follows from an idea. You don’t start by having a sound you want to make. Who knows what will happen to genres later?”
This year has certainly been a busy one for Ought. On the heels of a European tour, the group traveled to North Carolina to play Hopscotch Fest. Though it was their first time at the festival, Keen notes that the band enjoyed the time they spent there. “It was awesome. It was super strange though. We got off a plane from Europe, 24 hours later we were in North Carolina to play, and then we drove back. The programming was really, really good with a deep list of bands. The audience was supportive and the town was cool. I had a wonderful time.”
Ought stops by Philadelphia this Monday to play Boot & Saddle, whose website contains a quote from Constellation records, describing the band as a “righteous and humble young band, fiercely dedicated to their friends, their politics, and their music.” While Keen doesn’t want to outright call himself humble, he hopes the statement proves true to anyone they happen to meet. “It’s difficult to describe yourself as both humble and righteous, but I am dedicated to my friends. Dedication is a complicated thing as well.”
Nevertheless, Keen has big plans for the band’s brief stop in the city of brotherly love. “Philly is home to incredible bands, so hopefully we’ll see a couple friends, and I’m really excited to see the bands we’ll be playing with. There are a lot of parallels between Philly and Montreal music-wise.”
