PREMIERE: déCollage release fearless new single ‘Womb Of The Dawn’

If Salvador Dali’s paintings came to life, they would sound like déCollage; a kaleidoscopic avant-pop band creating space for imagination. Called the “grandchildren of Elephant 6” by Impose Magazine, they’ve brought their playful surrealism to stages shared with Animal Collective, of Montreal, Dan Deacon, and Deerhoof since their inception in 2009. 

At Red Rocks & Meow Wolf they handed out a seemingly infinite supply of googly eyes and fed oysters to the audience. The band’s previous album was released in partnership with Misra Records and Sub Pop Licensing. Charting at #16 on CMJ Radio, Magnetize is a spirited, collaborative album spanning over 20 artists across multiple genres. Like a space blanket, their live shows warm any heart. 

KM: Hello guys, I hope ya’ll are cosmic and getting excited for your upcoming release in late June. So, how did déCollage all meet? 

déCollage: We’ve had about 50 people play in déCollage since we started 8 years ago and for the past 3 years it’s been a consistent lineup. Our projectionist, Max Geimer, is our oldest member of 7 years. However, it’s not what you would think of as projections. He has a camera and films himself painting and using legos, puppets, and all kinds of found objects in order to tell a story. He also shucks corn and serves oysters to the audience during the mylar flood scene (dressed as Anubis). Andy Ininns is our other projectionist and he maps his projections onto diamonds or moons. Ben Weirich plays in 4 of my favorite bands: Retrofette, The Other Black, Dandu, & Definitely Ma

ybe. He knew Adrian Wright our drummer from Jazz camp. Sean Culliton fronts the band Retrofette and plays sax. Kris Becker was in The Flobots and now plays with Raven & The Writing Desk. The Denver music scene is super tight and we’ve all been friends for years.

KM: So, your tagline for your latest release, Womb of The Dawn is “maximalist future-jazz imaginings of music for an underwater bouncy castle” –  pretty interesting. Can you tell us what genre the track and band fall into? 

déCollage: Last year we put on a Finding Nemo themed play during our show and flew flying fish blimps with motorized fins around during the set. Max brought a guppy inside a fishbowl onstage. He put a helmet on it and pretended to blast it off into space and that’s when we realized that we had to keep exploring things that are underneath the water. We wanted Womb of The Dawn to sound like it’s coming from under the sea during that time and started recording it for the 4th time. Half way through recording it we realized that we wanted the whole album to sound like bouncy castle music. Something playful. Filled with micro-adventures and unexpected twists. Sometimes we joke that we’re a band of excess because we want everything to sonically happen all the time in a clashing maximalist sort of way. 

KM: What’s your song writing process? 

déCollage: The song has been through a gamut of unreleased phases over the past 7 years. We’ve re-recorded it 4 times at 4 different studios and finally we’re totally cloud nine-ing about it. Our friend Ryan Bell at Oryan’s Bellt was shooting Snooki from Jersey Shore’s reality TV show and we hit him up to make the music video two years ago. We’ve been sitting on the video ever since and it’s finally coming out early August! We’ve had a lot of members and up until a few years ago they all added an element to it that somehow stuck with the song in a tiny way. The songs got stale and bogged down. Then Ben (synth/bass) and Adrian (percussion), Kris (Synth/GTR’s), Sean (Sax) came in with their hyper distinct meta flair and turned it upside down. For this record, I had a batch of songs and brought them to the rest of the band and then they took the ideas as far out as they could and added their own spices.

KM: ACTUATOR is the name of your new album. What’s the story behind the name?

déCollage: At one point we thought it could be called Music for Bouncy Castles. The album is a concept record about breaking through mental barriers. Our barriers are mostly mental. Another song, “aSeaZoo”, is about fish escaping from an aquarium. ACTUATOR is a semi-made up word that could mean to actualize or act upon something. In real life an Actuator is a “mover” that requires a control signal and a source of energy.

KM: Who would you say your biggest influences are as band?

déCollage: Frank Lloyd Wright, Tic Tac Toe (Spoken out loud and played with your eyes closed), and Charli XCX!¡!

KM: What’s one of the best things that have happened to you as a band?

déCollage: We played Red Rocks last summer and put on a play during the show, the videos are on YouTube!

KM: Do you guys have any live shows coming up or new singles coming out?

déCollage: We’re playing the UMS (Underground Music Showcase) in Denver the last weekend of July along with my other band Moon Hammer. I’m also about to launch my solo House/Dance project as Reed Fox and the first single drops mid July. Moon Hammer’s releasing a soundtrack to the film Lily N Rose late July too. Stay tuned for the Womb of The Dawn music video and remix album!

KM: Thanks for chatting to us! What’s the best way people can keep up to date with you all?

déCollage: On Instagram @decollagemedia and @moon magnet are the best places to start. We’re also hyper-active on Spotifyand FcBk.