Make Believe

Honesty is the best policy

‘”I don’t do well with big groups of people,” Tim Kinsella admits.

If he met the countless legions of fans he has inspired, he would probably go into cardiac arrest. This is something he either denies or just avoids at all costs.

“It’s not hard for me to NOT think about it,” he says.

Every aspect of his life has been built in such a fashion that he can avoid doing so. His motivation is to keep writing music. It’s what he does for fun, not for finances. His home has been turned into a studio and he lives with most of the musicians with whom he writes and, more often than not, at least one of those musicians is a relative of his. He doesn’t go to parties often and he keeps his socializing to a bare minimum. As a matter of fact, he combines work and play all in one. As a bartender, he makes enough to cover his finances and, as a bonus, all of his friends join him during shifts for drink and merriment.

“People call me and ask me to come to parties and if I turn down the invitation so that I can record, they get mad at me,” he said. “After a decade, they still have trouble accepting that this is who I am and what I do.”

It’s not that there’s an intentional wall being built up around him, it just appears that he’s completely unaware of the impact he’s made on the people around him, not to mention the entire independent music world.

One of the most common sentiments I’ve encountered while interviewing musicians is a statement such as the following one made by Denver Dalley of Statistics and Desaparecidos:

“I’m just like everyone else in indie rock,” he said. “I grew up on and was inspired to write music by that Cap’n Jazz album, ‘Analphabetapolothology.’”

This was Tim Kinsella’s first band. Cap’n Jazz was wrongfully described as “emo,” though it would be accurate to say his cryptic lyrics came directly from the heart. The band pioneered a solid combination of math and art rock, proving that real punk took talent to write. What really captured the essence of this band, though, was Kinsella’s voice. His screechy scream, at that point in time, was unheard of.

After hearing his voice, it’s impossible to deny the effect it has had. That particular brand of screaming has been replicated countless times by many of the bands that have formed since then.

Since the band’s breakup in 1994, the members have formed countless offshoots, including The Promise Ring, American Football, The Owls, Friend/Enemy, Ghosts and Vodka, Vermont, Joan of Arc, etc. The most recent of these incarnations is Make Believe.

Joan of Arc, Kinsella’s artsy rock project, and Make Believe have the same lineup for both recording and touring but the music is said to differ greatly. Make Believe will be picking up where Cap’n Jazz and The Owls left off. It’s a straightforward project bound to rock your face. No effects, no drug problems, no bullshit. Just rock, that’s it.

“What else am I going to do?” Kinsella questioned. He’s soft-spoken and laid-back. He’s does not hold back what is on his mind but he takes his time saying it.

“In the band we always ask each other, ‘What if we had real lives?’ but none of us want to do that. With the amount of work that we do, it’d be impossible.”