by Daniel Colussi | A month or so ago I called Tim Presley to talk to him about his new White Fence record, Cyclops Reap. I actually woke him up even though I wasn’t calling all that early. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised as this is a guy who’s put out six full length albums in three years and toured North America and Europe several times in the same time frame. He probably just needs some rest. It was Hair, a collaborative album with fellow West Coast rocker Ty Segall, and its accompanying tour, that introduced Presley to a wider audience, but many were probably semi-confounded by the two volume collection of ramshackle garage rock and sonic gewgaws that Presley followed up with. I’m talking about the cryptic sprawls of Family Perfume Volumes 1 and 2 (I’m a fan of both). Presley’s newest record – which he’s supporting with a show at the Biltmore on Monday – is a much more concise and easily digestible affair. Cyclops Reap may even contain a few bonafide college radio hits (I haven’t checks the charts). Regardless, it’s undoubtedly his best offering thus far. I was pleased to rustle Presley from his slumber to discuss this excellent album and the insanity-inducing tour that follows. Attendance at his show on Monday is highly recommended.

(Waking Tim up and discussing whether to call back of just start the interview…)

I guess you’re not really a 9 to 5 guy lately are you? Well, I have been. I’ve been through all that.

Cyclops Reach is receiving really kind words all over the place. A lot of reviews are calling it the best White Fence album. Why do you think that is? That’s cool, I know what they mean. I think people are saying that because it seems a bit more cohesive. And I forget that there are people out there who like cohesiveness in their music. I totally forget about that shit, you know what I mean? People said that Family Perfume was a stringed-together thing and I kind of understand what they meant but what’s funny is that I think that’s a really together record. You know what I’m saying? But if you’re going off the basis of a Beatles record, Rubber Soul or something, the new White Fence record is more akin to something like that because it’s song, song, song, song with maybe not as much weird stuff going on.

You think some people found Family Perfume 1 and 2 difficult to process? I think so. I always expected those two records to be a slow burn. Maybe the Hair record with Ty got a lot of eyes on the White Fence records, so maybe people wanted something more cohesive. Maybe people were weirded out.

Was there a different approach going into this one, and that’s why it came out different? It’s just how it came out.

But I think there’s more. Weren’t you going to put out an album of leftovers from Family Perfume and then you ended up just writing a whole new album? Alright, where do I even start…I was going through a lot of tapes and stuff that I’d done since the first White Fence record. And then I thought, some of this is pretty good and maybe I should just put out a tape, nothing big. Not a lot of reviews or anything, not the whole review game and write-up gamut, etc., you know? Just a tape of a bunch of unreleased songs that didn’t make the records, because there’s a lot. So I was going to weed through that and take out the best ones. Like, the B-team you know? But meanwhile, as I’m doing this, I’m still writing and recording new shit. And then I had the new “best of” stuff in a separate file, in it’s own folder. And I was like, oh, this is way better. And then Dwyer from Castleface wanted to put out a record and I gave him a bunch of songs and he gave me some notes on what ones he’d want to use, and I came back to him and said that’s cool but there’s no way I can put out something without putting out this song. I kinda went back and forth. I needed to balance out the record because I’d be damned if I put something out that’s more of a singles thing, you know? I need it to have some kind of cohesiveness in my own mind. I like listening to albums from start to finish, you know what I mean?

This is kind of a recurring thing with you – you send your friends a bunch of songs and sort of let them guide what tracks will form the album. Because I know you told me the same thing when Family Perfume 1 came out. Yeah, I don’t know why. I think it’s because I’m so inside. I’m literally doing this every second of the day, you know what I mean? It’s crazy, so I have no opinion on a lot of them. I think I kind of know…I kind of came down to this science where if I have to re-listen to this song a lot then it’s probably not good. It’s kind of weird. To put it in basketball terms, it’s almost like if I can no-look-jump-shot-it then (laughs) then I know it’s a good one! Whereas if I have to keep coming back to it too much then I know that maybe it’s not working out. I know that part of the deal with White Fence, and from what you’ve said yourself, is that you’re always working steadily on all songs, all the time, everyday.

So is there a specific process there? Do you finish one before the other? I’d say mostly it’s like there’s a couple open and I guess that’s what the whole Cyclops Reap concept is about. It’s like I have a bunch of these songs kind of open and they could be finished whenever I say they are. And that’s kind of like the Cyclops as the one with both the vision and as the harvester. The harvester’s vision. And Cyclops’ were known for making swords, they were blacksmiths. Not to decode the record title…I just feel like I’m in there making shit all the time and then I have to harvest it all up into something that’s presentable for people.

Tell me about having Castleface put out the record for you. It seems like a natural fit. Yeah, that’s the cool thing about this whole White Fence thing. Between Castleface, Woodsist, some of these labels that don’t really do a contract, it’s cool. It’s like the cool-dudes club or some shit, I don’t know! I just know that no one’s out there to fuck each other over at all because everybody knows each other, and that makes it a cool thing. There’s a lot of trust involved, but I trust these people. I know where they live! (laughs).

So are there still multiple White Fence cells that you call upon to play in different regions of the world? Or is there now a legitimate single line up? It’s whoever who can do it, a syndicate of sound, yeah. (laughs). I mean this whole thing was designed as…I wanted to record music and that’s all I wanted to to do. And then it turned into a live thing. And I wanted it just to be a fun thing. It gets tricky with booking all these tours and shows. I’d say there’s a couple people who are pretty core at this point.

So how do you feel about it right now, before all these tours start? (Laughs) I don’t know. It’s the weirdest thing. Anyone who’s in a band knows it. It’s fun but there’s a part of it that’s pretty crazy. It can drive you insane. And then you get home and you kind of want it again.

White Fence w/Jessica Pratt & Muzz play Aug. 5 at The Biltmore. Tix at Red Cat, TM & the venue.

————————————————————————-

Daniel Colussi is the Music Editor of Scout Magazine and a contributing writer to Ion Magazine. A veteran employee of Zulu Records and tuneage aficionado, he DJs on an infrequent basis (about four times a year) and is a musician around town who plays in several ensembles.