Chicago’s Big Science has been together since 2007 and formed after the demise of a band that featured singer/guitarist Jason Hendrix and bassist Jason Richards. Over the years they’ve undergone several lineup changes, though their current arrangement is solidified by guitarist Bob Buckstaff and drummer Marcin Sulewski. Big Science has so far issued two EPs and in May they will release their debut full-length, Difficulty. We spoke with the band and discussed how the new album was recorded, what some of its songs are about, the record’s overall sound and more.

Bill – Where did you record the new album and what was your experience in the studio like?

Jason R. – We recorded this record ourselves in our own studio. Recording a record on your own is rewarding in lots of ways. We were never pressed for time, so we could do things like move microphones and mess with tones and mixes as much as we wanted. We tried different techniques to get the tones and textures we were looking for, like putting a contact mic on the piano or sequencing midi and sending it back out to synths to try out sounds. Doing the record this way also got us all to know our studio in a way we didn’t before. We feel more comfortable in it as a result.

Bill – What’s the meaning behind your new record’s title?

Jason H. – Difficulty is the title of a poem, from a book of the same name by William Logan. It is the first book of poetry that ever had an impact on me. If you have never read it, I hope you will now.

Bill – In what ways would you say the music on Difficulty is different than your previous material?

Jason R. – It’s an extension of what we’ve done previously, but I think it’s more patient and relaxed, or at least that’s the feeling I get from it. We sort of allowed the songs to build themselves and we let them go in directions that we might not have allowed them to go to in the past. It’s a lot more electronic both in sound and in the way we used the computer as a sketch pad, but it’s more organic in the way the songs all came to be.

Bill – Tell me about the decision to self-release the album and how you plan on making it available.

Jason R. – Our friend, Sean, had talked to us long ago about wanting to help us release the record on vinyl, so it’ll be available through us and through him. (It’s available now for pre-order, just email Sean at s2wal@hotmail.com). His new label is called So Say We All. It’ll also be available digitally. The decision to skip trying to get a pre-existing label involved came simply out of a need for immediacy. At a point we decided that we just needed to get this one off our plate. It’s been stewing and it’s actually been done for some time now. We love this record but there’s plenty more in the hopper.

Bill – “All the Heat Has Escaped” is rather subdued and mellow for an opening track. What made you guys choose that song to start the record?

Jason R. – We talked a lot with our roommate Matt Woodward about the track order. In addition to being a fantastic visual artist, (http://mattwoodwardart.com/) he’s also one of the more well-read and thoughtful individuals we know. He talked about the songs corresponding to events in the recent past and so we went for it.

Jason H. – It also is a different kind of way to start a record, everyone always comes out ‘guns blazing’ on the first track. We thought it would be interesting to start with a subdued, haunting melody and then move into something more upbeat.

Bill – The version of “Loose Change Century” that appears on this album is noticeably different than the demo version of the song that was released last year. What sort of things happened that led to the song evolving in such a manner?

Jason R. – That song is slightly different but it’s actually much the same. We changed the mix a little bit. We got an actual hardware mix-bus compressor after we did that original mix. It required us to revisit the song to make it fit more with the rest of the mixes in terms of overall sonics and level balances.

Bill – “Subliminal” is one of the more rock-oriented songs on the record and also one of my favorites. What inspired the writing of this song?

Jason H. – This is one of the only songs in our catalog that was pretty much fully formed and structured in a demo version. Usually, each one of our songs starts off with us all playing in a room together and jamming things out. It started out as a basic little guitar line, then a simple demo version with just vocals and guitar was recorded. From there we just built the song up, with everyone figuring out their parts and layering on ideas. By the end of it, this simple little song had grown into a behemoth. We are really proud of how it turned out.

Bill – Would you say there’s an overall lyrical theme that’s present throughout Difficulty?

Jason H. – The lyrics deal with the overarching themes of our lives in the last year. I would like to say they are about partying and hanging out on a yacht, or living in Paris, or something glamorous like that, but that is not the case. They deal heavily with loss, longing, desire, poverty, exhaustion, love, betrayal, death, city living, and a general sense of alienation and confusion that seems to be all around. It casts a pretty large net, but that is just how I write. If people want slice of life shit then listen to Garrison Keillor, but I don’t have much room for small talk in my lyrics. I guess I just don’t have the same desire to be clever or cute as other songwriters do. If someone wants to play a ukulele and sing songs about birds and sweaters then so be it, I just have no interest in that kind of hunky-dory escapist fantasy. I consider myself a pretty happy person and most people will tell you that if my lips are moving, I am probably making some kind of joke. For whatever reason, my lyrics usually come out pretty dark.

Bill – On your band’s website, you describe your sound as “Here to give thanks to the sounds of the past, action to the sounds of the present, and shape to the sounds of the future.” How did you come up with that description and can you elaborate a bit more on what you think Big Science sounds like?

Jason H. – We were having a real tough time writing our bio, I think all bands do. No matter what you do, at this point in time there have been countless band bios written, so like band photos, whatever you do has been done a million times over. They are unfortunately necessary for press and promoting shows. So, after trying a bunch of different approaches, I just started writing stream of consciousness, like I would if I was just generating ideas for lyrics or a narrative and that sentence just popped up. As for our sound, we are the sum of our influences just like everyone else. One of my main pet peeves are bands or artists that pretend like they formed a totally original idea out of thin air, like they grew up in a bubble somewhere under the sea. I think it is an absurdly pretentious idea to think that you can somehow escape the culture you grew up in. Everything comes from somewhere, originality is an unrealistic fairytale and all art is just an experiment combining different influences. It would take forever to list all the music that brought us to this point, but some key influences would be: Bowie, Eno, Talking Heads, Can, Archers Of Loaf, The Clash, Suicide, Big Country, U2, Laurie Anderson, Joy Division, Aphex Twin, Mogwai, Tears for Fears, Gang of Four, New Order…the list goes on and on.

Bill – In the past year or so you guys have gone through several lineup changes. What kind of things transpired that led to those changes and what do you like best about your current arrangement?

Jason R. – Yeah, we’ve gone through some changes internally. Most of it stems from people having different expectations of the band and of each other. It’s always a bummer, but this lineup has an underlying sense of excitement about the future that is great to be involved with. We’re all excited for new songs and shows.

Bill – What sort of plans does the band have for the rest of 2012?

Jason R. – We have some touring on the horizon. We’ll be playing locally as well of course, but we’re really excited to hit the road. And we’re always writing, recording and working on our live set. It never stops, but that’s a good thing.

Bill – Compared to other bands in Chicago’s music scene, what sets Big Science apart?

Jason H. – We are not a genre exercise. Too many bands, in Chicago and elsewhere, just write music to fit within a specific style of music, usually because it is easier for a potential audience to digest. I understand that a lot of times people just want something they can depend on, no curve balls, etc., but I find that kind of artistic limitation stifling. Too many albums now are all the same tone or atmosphere. They just don’t take any risks. My father has always told me that good art has to have an irritant, something that makes it a little hard to swallow the first time around, something that makes it stick in your mind. In my experience, he is dead on: all of my favorite records had to grow on me. If I like it from the first listen, chances are, I won’t be listening to it 15 years down the road.