Do listen to Do Make Say Think

Canadian post-rock collective Do Make Say Think began in 1996, when three roommates started recording musical experiments to an eight-track reel-to-reel recorder. Since then, the band has expanded to a core of five members, released five full-length albums, collaborated with at least 15 other outside musicians and developed a devoted word-of-mouth following.

Not bad for a band that just started out as "something to do instead of watching TV," as bassist and trumpet player Charles Spearin said in an interview with The Diamondback. Do Make Say Think will perform at the Black Cat in Washington on Monday.

"We never expected for this to be a band," Spearin said. "But one day, someone asked us to play a show, and I guess we did something right because people kept asking us to play."

Since then, DMST has refined its cinematic, avant-garde sound, incorporating a smorgasbord of musical influences into their sound. Astute listeners will hear traces of psychedelia, jazz, contemporary classical music, bass-heavy dub reggae, ambient electronic and traditional guitar-based rock on any of their albums.

The release of the band's latest album, You, You're A History in Rust, in February showed the band continuing to experiment with sound. But the album is more straightforward than DMST's previous releases, and - in a first for the band - has lyrics, sung by collaborators including members of Brooklyn's beardy experimental folk quartet, Akron/Family.

"Our music has been described as 'musical landscapes' in the past," Spearin said. "This album seems more like musical architecture. We had a gap of three years between this album and our last [Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn], and a lot of things changed in all of our lives. I had a kid, Ohad [Benchetrit] had a kid. There's definitely a different flavor to this album."

While they started out as a group focused heavily on experimentation, the band has prepared their live show to be very similar to what listeners will hear on DMST's albums.

"When we play live, there's more of a sense of presentation at this stage," Spearin said. "We've become proud of our recordings, and when you're writing and recording, you have more time to deconstruct the music and what your idea of music is - and figure out exactly what you want to do."

Several members of DMST, including Spearin, multi-instrumentalist Benchetrit and violinist Julie Penner, contribute to Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene, known for having up to 19 members onstage at once creating a glorious cacophony. The various members' work in Broken Social Scene is one of the reasons why DMST took several years off from recording, Spearin said.

Despite all the responsibility, Spearin said it's not difficult to juggle the demands of two major touring acts.

"Broken Social Scene has been a major focus of our lives for a long time, and it's nice to be able to get involved with different projects at different times," Spearin said. "The communication between the people involved in both of the groups is very clear. It's a very natural thing."

Although Spearin and other members of DMST play with other bands, DMST itself is fiercely independent, maintaining a control over everything the band does or is associated with. True to their roots as a recording project, the band has recorded all of its releases on its own.

"I can't imagine working with an engineer or a producer with this band, just because we've always done everything ourselves," Spearin said.

Such freedom is granted by DMST's independent record label, Canada's Constellation Records, a Montreal-based label home to many of DMST's contemporaries, including Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion. Constellation is revered among fans for the quality and consistency of their releases, and Spearin said the label is the perfect home for DMST.

"The people who run Constellation Records are dedicated to releasing genuine music, and it's really inspiring," Spearin said. "They let the music be what it is, without worrying about an audience. If we worried about our audience, our music might suffer for it, but if what we play and release is comfortable, we know our audience will enjoy it."

When it comes to audiences, Spearin hopes attendees of DMST's show Monday night at the Black Cat will enjoy the band's spacey, post-rock sound.

"Last time we played in D.C., the audience was very attentive," Spearin said. "I think a capital city has a certain kind of energy in it - last time we played in Ottawa, we had a similar crowd. The people who come out are listening."

Do Make Say Think will perform at the Black Cat in Washington Monday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12.

jcberry@umd.edu