altopalo Conceptualizes Dynamic Relationships in Their LP frenemy
Photo by Christopher Fenmore
Altopalo’s new LP frenemy breaks down a decade of their friendship filled with falling apart and binding back together. The four members of altopalo - Rahm Silverglade (vocals), Mike Haldeman (guitar), Jesse Bielenberg (bass), and Dillon Treacy (drums) - create a textured, genre-layered, guitar-driven atmosphere in their new musical project. In the summer of 2020, the world witnessed the murder of George Flyod. Drummer, Dillon Treacy, decided he needed to take a step back from the band as the only black member of the band only until they all had time to reflect. Dillon’s leave from the band was what made the group realize they truly needed each other. Each member holds their own opinions on what type of music they want to make, and they’ve learnt to listen to one another even if they may be pulling in different directions. The goal with altopalo’s frenemy was that each member needed to feel like they were heard as a musician.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What’s the meaning behind the name frenemy for the title of the LP?
[altopalo:] In the last few years, there has been a lot of development with our friendship along with a lot of reflection on ourselves. We uplift each other a lot as friends but also in the ways in which we can kind of be a pain in each other’s ass. When you’ve known people for a really long time, you really know what sets them off. You have this definition of intimacy from knowing someone really well. When we were sitting down thinking about what the hell to make a record about in 2020, the thing that felt the most obvious was telling the story about us and our friendship. We’ve just built up a bunch of beautiful feelings combined with simple dynamics and brotherhood, along with pain and anger. That’s the story behind this concept of frenemy. The idea of being frenemies with someone is just like the realistic and honest look at a friendship that encompasses all the beautiful things, but also the hurt and pain that goes into knowing someone really well.
[UNPUBLISHED:] The first track on the LP, “Altopalo” starts with a simple drum beat from Dillon, then we can hear the rest of you build your parts on top of it. Can you tell us about how this song marked a shift in your creative process as a group?
[altopalo:] In the midst of us conceptualizing this album, there was a lot of discussion internally about who we are as people and how that allowed us to express ourselves in ways that we feel comfortable. “altopalo” was the first track that we turned into an actual song in our recording process. Usually, the way our songs work is that somebody has an idea, someone presses record and then we all start playing along to it. We’ll improvise for a solid hour and then pick out certain pieces. I just played that drum beat that you hear on autopilot. That whole drum performance was just on repeat for at least an hour and then the rest of us came up with our parts in real time.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Since you’ve had a relationship with the musician, Bartees Strange for years, can you walk us through how the collaboration on “love that 4 u” came to be?
[altopalo:] Back in 2018, I got lumped into a group chat with some friends on Facebook and I had never met Bartees before. In 2019, I started talking to him in real life and he said he’s been a big fan of altopalo for a minute but he really hadn’t started his career yet. Later on that year, he had asked me to come up and help record his first album called alone. Then we were just hanging out one day and I was like ‘I really want you on the next altopalo song’. It’s nice to call Bartees a friend foremost before a collaborator. The whole thing just happened organically and naturally.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How did you feel you have grown as a band while creating frenemy, are there noticeable changes in your dynamic since your last album release?
[altopalo:] We’ve gotten way better at communicating with each other. I think a lot of that was in parallel with what Dylan was saying about how his voice didn’t feel as present on the last album, his drum voice specifically. I remember establishing a little rule that was like you’re not allowed to suggest a part or idea until that person has finished their own contribution. This is something that has been an issue before because we don’t even get our own voices out there. We’ve all grown individually and we’ve really learned to understand what each other needs.
[UNPUBLISHED:] I really enjoyed listening to the relationship between “time together” and “time apart”. Can you tell us about the production and writing process between these two songs?
[altopalo:] I mean, I hate to burst open a bubble here but a lot of the time when we are making something, we just make it and then realize that it marries well with another piece. “Time together” was this little chunk of audio at the end of the song “frenemy,” and we were wondering if we wanted to add this part to the song or make it a separate thing. “Time alone” was a completely different process. It started with a bass loop then we just started improvising together. It was a combination of us playing the same thing with our individual voices. They are like the little interludes in the album.
[UNPUBLISHED:] If this album could tell your audience one message in particular, what would that be?
[altopalo:] Although the album is about our friendship with each other, we don’t want it to be explicitly about our friendship because we think a lot of the things that we say are applicable to any type of relationship. With your parents, partner, sibling, friends or a person you just met. Life sucks and it’s hard but it’s amazing when you can work with wonderful people. You have to love people even when they’re a pain in your ass.
Photo by Christopher Fenmore