The Raw and Reflective Themes in The Old Ceremony’s Music

Transmission 095: Interview with The Old Ceremony

The Old Ceremony is a pop-noir band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, formed in 2004 and led by Django Haskins. The band combines dark, cinematic themes with pop melodies. Over the years, they have released several albums, including their upcoming release Earthbound, which features 11 new songs spanning a variety of styles, from intense and raw to reflective and contemplative, while retaining the dark, noir-inspired elements typical of their music.

Over two decades, The Old Ceremony has evolved from a mini-orchestra to a five-piece ensemble, maintaining a strong presence in the music scene and performing with artists like CAKE, Chuck Berry, and The Mountain Goats. Their music explores themes of mortality, human connection, and emotional struggle.

The Old Ceremony’s official site, Facebook & Instagram

Could you describe the early musical inspirations that played a key role in your choice to form The Old Ceremony?

I wanted to create an atmosphere somewhere between Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg, and Astor Piazzolla. 

What led to the concept of creating a ‘mini-orchestra’, and what difficulties did you encounter while bringing together such a varied ensemble of musicians?

It was a very impractical idea, but at first I wasn’t thinking about touring or anything. Over time, we winnowed it down to a five piece but still with the expanded instrumentation of violin, vibraphone, organ, guitar, bass, and drums.

Can you describe the atmosphere of the Chapel Hill music scene when you first started The Old Ceremony in 2004?

Chapel Hill has always had a remarkably active music community — when I moved here in 2002, I immediately met dozens of talented players of every conceivable stripe. It was one of the things that brought me here. But unlike New York, where I had been living prior to that, there was an openness that the relatively low cost of living permitted. If you wanted to play experimental music you didn’t necessarily have to have a trust fund. You still would have to work some crappy job, but at least you could afford a place to practice. 

What was the initial response from audiences during your residency at the West End Wine Bar, and how did that shape the band’s early direction?

It built quite quickly, partly because I think we were offering something that wasn’t the standard guitar rock. I remember the first couple of shows we charged one dollar, just to get people in, and then started raising it as the demand grew.  

Your music has been labeled ‘pop-noir.’ How would you describe this genre, and what attracts you to this particular style?

I think labels are treacherous at best, and asinine at worst, but since you have to offer something, we came up with this (with apologies to our friend Don Raleigh of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, who was probably the one to coin the term). The idea was to imply the dark, brooding atmosphere of noir film, but with catchy melodies and song forms more in line with rock or pop music.  

You’ve shared the stage with a wide array of artists, from Chuck Berry to the Mountain Goats. Which live performance stands out the most in your memory?

We recently played some shows with The Jayhawks — I have a side project with their songwriter, Gary Louris — and those were fantastic. We’ve always had a strong connection with New York audiences, but this was the first time in twenty years of playing that we really connected with a Philadelphia crowd. To be fair, we usually didn’t draw crowds in Philly, so it was nothing against the people. When we opened for CAKE way back in the early days, I remember walking out on stage with about 7000 people cheering. The only problem was, they thought initially we were CAKE. But it was a good start to the show for us.

 What were the key themes or stories you wanted to convey through ‘Earthbound’? “What’s the common thread running through the album?

Well, that’s really up to the theologists to work out for themselves, but I will cop to a couple of them: mortality, human connection, perseverance, and emotional struggle, to start with. 

“Valerie Solanas” is quite an intense track. What drew you to write the intense track about such a controversial figure?

I read an obituary of Valerie Solanas and was struck by the intensity with which she lived. When I dug more into her story, it became clear that her rage was well founded, that, as the song goes, “my life was ruined by the carelessness of men.” Obviously, as a man I can’t directly relate to that, but I can certainly empathize with the intensity of anger and feeling of injustice.  

Your music often evokes a cinematic feel. Are there any filmmakers or visual artists who influence your work?

I am sometimes influenced by individual movies, really by the mood of them. I wrote a song called “Blood and Oil” based on a tiny fragment of the movie “Big Fish.” I wrote a song called “Pennsylvania” based on an adaptation of Macbeth called “Scotland, PA.” But more often, I see visual landscapes as I write, and the band creates their own atmospheres with their parts. I think, after all these years, we are pretty attuned to the mood of songs, and that’s one of the joys of playing with these guys. 

How do you balance the raw intensity of your music with the more reflective and thoughtful themes?

I don’t see it as an issue — I grew up thinking The Beatles’ White Album was a normal album sequence, so jumping from intense to calm feels quite natural to me, both as a musician and as a listener.  

What are some of the next projects on the horizon for The Old Ceremony? Are you already thinking about the next album or exploring new sounds?

We are excited to get Earthbound out into the world, and we have a huge pile of new songs that I wrote over the past couple of years that we will start working on once this album is officially launched. I think we have about a hundred new ones to sort through so I imagine we’ll be moving on to another album fairly soon.

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others