The Books escape to Vermont and find The Way Out

The duo's latest album is inspired by the calm of the countryside and newfound family men status

By Eleanor Whitney
Published: August 20th, 2010 | 10:30am

The Books are good for an escape. Several years ago, while stuck on an overnight train from Berlin to Paris, the discomfort of my discount seat quickly began to negate any sense of European of romance. So, searching desperately for a psychic exit, I found the Books on my iPod, selected “All,” and was instantly transported into a sonic netherworld full of familiar sounds that defied placement … and beats that came and went like ocean waves.

The Books, an intellectual New York City–spawned duo comprised of Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong, have documented their own escapes on their new album The Way Out (Temporary Residence Limited). Created in their new home studios that lies deep in the northeastern countryside, their fourth album is filled with the free ranging, sample heavy, manipulated songs that the Books have become known for. But more than that, The Way Out shows how the Books have reached a sonic and emotional maturity best represented by an upcoming sold-out show at Carnegie Hall in November.

Venus Zine recently caught up with the Books in their former city and discussed how a move to the country has offered the duo greater freedom to create and more time and space to spend with their growing families. The first revelation was just how being new family men has influenced the band, and consequently the sound of The Way Out for more detail, intimacy, and lush backgrounds. It is the product of having time to breathe and think deeply, which has long been important to the band, as de Jong explains, “I don’t think we composed much in the city. To compose music, you need silence and acoustic room. Now, when I go to my studio and close the door I am floating in space, but with direct connection to the land. [The landscape] is good for the mind and for songs.”

Zammuto says he also feels a close connection to the land. He created his studio with his own hands in an old tractor barn deep in Vermont’s Green Mountains. Zammuto explains that he now has the freedom to work day and night—the room of the barn and distance from anyone enabling him to explore harder, harsher sounds as well as compose and mix without headphones.

Zammuto begins to describe each song on The Way Out as a rabbit hole in which one gets pulled deeper and deeper. To demonstrate the depth and craftsmanship that goes into each track, he explains his process for creating the percussion sound on “A Cold Freezin’ Night,” a prominent track on The Way Out that also features found tapes recorded on a Talkboy, the ‘90s toy cassette recorder. By connecting flexible plastic to a speaker, Zammuto says he created low frequently sine waves by carefully dragging a ball point pen across the plastic’s surface to create a buzzing sound. He recorded this sound and then slowed down to reveal unique polyrhythms, which then sound like scratchy percussion.

Such attention to detail is a testament to the Books’ dedication to their craft and to their dynamics as a band. After playing together for nearly 10 years, de Jong describes the collaboration as a “marriage between two partners who aren’t in love.” The Books’ strength as a band and their ability to create strenuously beautiful music together comes out of the fact that the Books are just one important part of the rich fabric of both de Jong and Zammuto’s lives. Zammuto, who also built his house in Vermont by hand, explains, “I don’t like to draw the line between carpentry, playing with the kids, my video work, and my music—it’s all part of the same impulse.” That impulse is well documented and just waiting for listeners to discover on The Way Out.

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The Books official site

The Books MySpace page

Temporary Residence Limited