Carrot Carrot continues to grow, thanks Gardner | Q&A

Carrot Carrot is constantly growing, changing and redefining it look and sound. Now they have something they like. Hear the new sound at an early show at Duffy's on Sunday with Woodsman and Machete Archive.

Carrot Carrot is constantly growing, changing and redefining it look and sound. Now they have something they like. Hear the new sound at an early show at Duffy's on Sunday with Woodsman and Machete Archive.

Carrot Carrot is constantly growing, changing and redefining it look and sound. Now they have something they like. Hear the new sound at an early show at Duffy's on Sunday with Woodsman and Machete Archive.

by Casey Welsch

When we last spoke to Carrot Carrot frontman Dave Ozinga, he had just expanded his experimental two-piece into a much richer, much more layered, much harder to describe 5-piece project of sound, and he had plans.

Ozinga’s plans were to unveil the new crop at Duffy’s, then play the Nebraska Pop Festival, then play a third show at a secret location, but that’s not happening. Instead, Carrot Carrot dropped its spot in the NPF to play Duffy’s once again, all because Dave loves the headlining act.

He talks about his reasons why, his favorite Lincoln musicians and thanks his good friend in song in this interview.

Hear Nebraska: Alright man, so you’ve changed the sound or the line-up or the overall direction of Carrot Carrot quite a few times so far. Will the show at Duffy’s be the five-piece we talked about, or will it be something completely new?

Dave Ozinga: We’ll be the five-piece.

HN: Well, that’s good to hear. How are you liking playing with these guys (Joe Foreman of Green Trees, Mike Elsener of Shipbuilding Co., Mark Myers of Big Language and Jim Schroeder of UUVVWWZ), now that you’ve been playing with them for some time?

DO: I feel really great about it. I’m surrounded by some of my favorite Lincoln musicians. And only some of them, I can’t have a 20-piece band. And they’re all such fantastic musicians.

HN: You’ve only really played two or three shows so far this year, right?

DO: Actually we’ve only played one, and this might be our last of the year.

HN: Oh, well, why do you play so few shows?

DO: Most of my other bands, old Carrot Carrot especially, just play the hell out of Lincoln. When you play so many shows, it’s less special each time you do. You start feeling less enthusiastic about playing. When you do fewer shows, or even just one or two, each one is more special. You put more into it. More people tend to show up, too, so that’s a plus.

HN: Are you going to have any new material to unveil at the show?

DO: We’ll have at least one new song. I wrote it kind of inspired by Jake Gardner (Black
Hundreds, Professor Plum, Scroggins & Clarf) my long-time collaborator. It’s kind of a thank you to him for letting me use his stuff and his talents.

HN: Is it a fitting tribute for him?

DO: It’s got great melodies, inspired by his stuff, and lots of jangly guitars.

HN: Perfect. Now, what has it been like moving from a two-piece to a kind of Lincoln super-group?

DO: It’s getting more comfortable, and really, just better all the time. We’ve locked into some songs really well now. They all feel pretty good. Joe and Mike have been blowing me away with the stuff their doing on guitars. Just going back and forth, learning each others’ styles. They play more amazing stuff together each time.

HN: Are you sure there aren’t any secret changes to the band you’re not telling me about?

DO: Uh, we got a new practice space? It’s this bright green monstrosity of a room. You could shoot greenscreen in it. It’s pretty cool actually.

HN: Now, I hear that you dropped a spot in the Nebraska Pop Festival to play this show. Why?

DO: I really, really wanted to play with Woodsman.
HN: Why’s that?

DO: I’m a sucker for texture, man. I’m not a good guitar player, I’ll admit that, but I can layer sounds together. So can they, and I really love what they’re doing. I’ve been following them for a while, and I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to play with them. Honestly, I just want to look at their setup, so I can copy it.

 

Woodsman w/Carrot Carrot & Machete Archive
Duffy's Tavern, 1412 O St., Lincoln
6:00-9:00 p.m., all ages

Casey Welsch is the editorial intern at HearNebraska.org. He has Dave’s old job. You can contact him at caseywelsch@hearnebraska.org.