Lo Times: A quick Q&A with Jared Phillips of Ohio lo-fi band Counter Intuits.
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
For Ohio duo Counter Intuits, the DIY/lo-fi cred runs deep. They’ve got the pedigree: Times New Viking’s Jared Phillips on guitar and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments’ Ron House on the mic. Their music is all fuzzed-out, amped-up and agitated; it sounds like it was recorded on space station Mir right before the fall. But what’s the lo-fi-est thing about Counter Intuits? It’s a tie between 1) The part where they thank Radio Shack in the liner notes of their self-released cassette Sheets of Hits, and 2) The fact that when I asked Phillips to send me some music, he realized he doesn’t have any digital copies.
City Paper : What’s with the Radio Shack hat tip?
Jared Phillips: You try making a lo-fi record and not make 15 trips to Radio Shack just to make one microphone work. It ain’t easy, trust me. They’re actually a rip-off, but what can you do?
CP: What is it about lo-fi recording you like? Don’t you risk chaos on every track?
JP: The chaos is what I like. If not for that, I’d risk just being a shitty pop-song musician. With a four-track, I can at least have a little danger. Also, it makes Ron sound a little better.
CP: Why are you playing so few shows?
JP: I live in Cleveland, and Ron [who lives in Columbus] is almost 60 years old with a family. That should explain itself. I would’ve grown up in the mid-’70s, but I’m trying to remedy that, obviously.
The Counter Inuits play Sat., Jan. 11, 9 p.m., $10, with Watery Love, Amanda X and Taiwan Housing Project, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.
