For Louisiana fans of the band Of Montreal, now is a special time of the year. The
Athens, Ga.-based psychedelic-rock group plans to return to the popular Baton Rouge venue Spanish Moon, bringing with it a signature performance involving colorful props and a theatrical stage presence.
Before its scheduled Sunday show, The Daily Reveille asked frontman Kevin Barnes about how Of Montreal’s grandiose performance translates to more localized scenes like
Baton Rouge.
The Daily Reveille: Of Montreal has been coming to Spanish Moon for quite a while. It’s something your fans have come to expect each year. Why does a relatively famous band like Of Montreal keep coming back to this smaller bar in
Baton Rouge?
Kevin Barnes: It’s fun for us to play a community like Baton Rouge. It’s very similar to Athens, where we’re from. It’s like an exciting southern college town. We just always seem to have a good experience when we’re there, so that’s why we always come back.
TDR: Your shows are known for pretty extravagant costumes and theatrics. What do you do to condense your shows to fit a smaller venue like Spanish Moon and still maintain that essence of
the band?
KB: The stage production is very modular, so it can be adapted to bigger stages and smaller stages. Whatever space we have, we work with, so we always have some sort of stage production and some kind of visual production. Basically, it’s a little bit different from night to night.
TDR: This past Record Store Day, the band re-released the album “Satanic Panic in the Attic” for its 10th anniversary. How do you think Of Montreal has changed since that album
came out?
KB: We’ve definitely gone through a lot, individually. The lineup has changed a bunch over the years and the style of music has changed a little bit. It’s sort of grown into different areas. There has definitely been a lot of development since then. But it has been exciting.
TDR: Has the band been including songs from “Satanic Panic in the Attic” in the shows to coincide with the reissue?
KB: Yeah, there’s a couple. We’ve added a couple of songs to the set just because we’ve rediscovered them in a way.
TDR: You’ll be touring through Baton Rouge with the Brazilian band Boogarins. How did you determine that was the band Of Montreal should tour with?
KB: We just heard them, and we liked what we heard. We knew that they were going to be over for the Austin Psych Fest, which we’re playing as well. It sort of worked out perfectly with
the timing.
TDR: Of Montreal is an original member of the Elephant 6 collective. Are there any plans of collaboration between the bands to release music currently?
KB: Not on my side. I haven’t really been that involved with the other Elephant 6 bands. It’s been a long time since I was really working with them, even hanging out, but I still like them, and we still like each other. We’re just not involved in each other’s lives right now.
TDR: I only ask because Neutral Milk Hotel, which is from Louisiana, has just recently revived its entire operation and is touring. It raises a lot questions for that whole collective.
KB: It’s great that Neutral Milk is getting some shows together and doing that thing again. I’m a fan, and I’d like to see them create some new music and continue to do it.
Of Montreal will be performing at Spanish Moon May 5. Doors will open at 7 p.m., and tickets are available, starting at $15.