Whether you consider them to be psychedelic pop, experimental rock, progressive funk, or art rock, Of Montreal is, at its core, a swirling and vivid indie outlet filled with twists, turns, and musicality.
“I think it’s going to be fun and cool because it’s obviously not a traditional show, in that we’re playing an album in its entirety, plus some extras from around that time period. It’s kind of like a once in a lifetime kind of experience,” says Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes.
He’s referring to the band’s March 23 show at Brooklyn Steel in New York City, at which they’ll celebrate the 20th anniversary of their landmark album The Sunlandic Twins. “It’s a common thing, I guess, to want to look back on a milestone like that – just to reoccupy that space again is fun and interesting for ourselves, and hopefully for the audiences, as well,” he says. “The energy that’s generated when you play songs that people know is really powerful, so it keeps it fresh in that way.”
Barnes adds that Brooklyn Steel is also a big reason why he thinks this performance will be extra special. “That’s a great venue, and there’s a lot that we can do visually in that space that we’re excited to explore. It’s going to be the full package of performance artists and psychedelic visuals, and the whole thing is going to be kind of like a circus.”
Since 1996, when Barnes formed Of Montreal in Athens, Georgia, the band have been lauded for their live shows because of the uninhibited performance art aspect that enhances their surreal brand of psychedelic rock. This, Barnes says, “definitely evolved over the years. You have to dive in and start experimenting. We knew we wanted there to be a pretty strong visual component to what we were doing.” He cites David Bowie, Kate Bush, and Prince as musicians whose theatrical approach to their art were particularly inspiring to him in this regard.
Barnes during The Sunlandic Twins era / Photo by Dave Barron
Of Montreal songs have been particularly noted for their lyrics, which are often non-linear and abstract, but also deeply introspective. For inspiration, Barnes says he looks to poetry and novels – but a lot of it comes from his internal world. “I have a pretty wild internal dialogue going all the time that I can pull from, and I’m very much aware of that side of my mind and wanting to document it, and wanting to understand my reality through that lens, and also wanting to be as open and non-self-conscious as possible, because I feel like those are the kind of lyrics that resonate the most with people.”
Barnes estimates that he was 14 or 15 years old when he started writing songs. “I was just compelled to do it,” he says. “It came pretty easily because it was something that I really enjoyed. I loved to explore songwriting styles and chord arrangements and harmonies and countermelodies and layering tracks and all that stuff. It’s just infinitely interesting to me, and exciting. That was my dream when I was in high school: finding like-minded musicians and getting a group together. Then touring was extremely important to me, and playing as many shows as possible. So in this way, I was driven.”
That sustained him through the long slog Of Montreal had to endure before they started getting any substantial recognition: “We were touring for maybe six years or so before we had any success at all. It kind of felt like we were just doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, like the definition of insanity or whatever, but eventually it started growing, and it was like a magical thing that was probably connected to the zeitgeist at that time.”
Released in 2005, Of Montreal’s The Sunlandic Twins album marked the moment when Of Montreal finally started becoming more commercially successful. Their albums Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007), Skeletal Lamping (2008), and False Priest (2010) continued the band’s upward trajectory.
The Sunlandic Twins (20th Anniversary Edition)
So far, Of Montreal have released 19 studio albums (most recently, 2024’s Lady on the Cusp), and have remained one of the more popular bands on the indie circuit – but Barnes says he’s not interested in dwelling overly much on past successes.
“The old songs are fun and cool, but I don’t really get that self-esteem blast from having written a song that people have liked,” he says. “I only get that self-esteem blast from writing a new thing. It’s so important for me and my self-esteem for me to continue to make music that’s different from things I’ve made in the past, and feel like I’m still growing as an artist.”
He’s also been working hard on his personal growth, which gives him insight into his creative process. “I just started psychotherapy, which I never had done before, and realizing through that that writing lyrics and writing music and engaging with reality through my art was because I’m very emotionally avoidant – it was a way for me to express my emotions that I was kind of fearful of sharing in just a conversational way. So it wasn’t necessarily, obviously, the healthiest thing to do, especially if that’s the only way you’re expressing yourself, but I could see how now that it’s always been a tool, and a way for me to access those emotions in a safe space that doesn’t feel threatening or dangerous or toxic.”
Barnes adds that he has started writing a new album with six songs that he has in different phases of completion, b but he doesn’t have any particular objectives in mind as he proceeds with his work. “We don’t try to follow trends. We might be influenced by trends, but the goal was never to be the most successful band in the world. The goal was really just to find our own voice and our own personality and let that evolve over time, and always keep it fresh and don’t try to reproduce something just because it was successful. I feel like for me, it’s the same spirit that’s guiding my creativity now as it was when I first started when I was 15 or 16 years old; it’s just that same chasing that magical feeling when you create something that you’re really proud of and really excited about.”
More than anything, Barnes is simply grateful that he’s able to create music for a living, just as he’d always dreamed of doing: “It’s something that has sustained me over the years, and something I get a lot of fulfillment out of, and I get a lot of mental health out of it. I can understand my mind better through the process. It functions on so many levels for me, and that’s probably why I’m a lifer and I haven’t thrown in the towel yet.”
FOR TICKETS & INFORMATION ON OF MONTREAL’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT AT BROOKLYN STEEL THIS SUNDAY, CLICK HERE!
