Talk with frontman

Duluth, Minnesota seems like the last place in the country where you might find rock stars…. Duluth, Minnesota seems like the last place in the country where you might find rock stars. But surprise, surprise: The home of scenic wonder, natural beauty and an all-around great place to get away (or so says the city Web site) is also home to indie-rock trio Low.

In fact, although singer Alan Sparhawk and his wife, drummer Mimi Parker, have lived in the snowy town of almost a hundred thousand people since childhood, the 2005 release of their latest album, The Great Destroyer, marks the first point at which Low has been hailed as a rock band at all.

The album, Low’s seventh since 1994, denotes a distinct change from the band’s previous sound, shifting from syrupy slow dream-pop to a Sonic Youth-worthy barrage of rumbling guitars, deadpan vocals and lumbering basslines. And on Feb. 8, Mr. Small’s Theater in Millvale will be hit by Low’s wall of sound – bassist Matt Livingston, Sparhawk and Parker. The couple’s two young children, however, will be safely asleep in a hotel by the time their parents’ aural assault begins.

That’s right – Low is a family affair. Sparhawk met his future sweetheart after moving to Minnesota from Utah while in high school. “We were those kids in the ’80s who listened to all the weird music,” Sparhawk said.

The budding romance carried through high school as Sparhawk played in countless local bands. Though Parker was supportive, her husband remained cynical of all of his bands’ relevance. Three years after the couple wed in 1990, Sparhawk finally decided it was time to settle down. “I quit banging around locally in bands and decided I needed to stay home and get a real job – playing music with my wife. I was sick of running off on tour, beating my head against the wall playing music that other people were playing much better.”

Listening to Low’s delicate lullabies, it’s hard to imagine that the music he eventually quit playing was the hallmark of early 1990’s rock – grunge. When the band’s debut hit in 1994, many critics went so far as to peg it as the anti-grunge. The next few years brought several albums, as well as the band becoming pioneers in a new movement in independent music – slowcore – a label that Sparhawk says is far from the truth.

“It was always something we fought,” he said. “We played with those noisy bands, that was the groundwork. But Low was such a contrast – not too many people pushed for the idea of punk rock being at the other extreme.”

And for the record, this supposed leader of the anti-grunge movement is anything but. “I still have that Alice in Chains record with the rooster on it,” he chuckled.

Relentless touring for a young couple – even if their music is more conducive to a nap than a mosh pit – is a tiring endeavor. But after nearly a decade of touring, a new face entered the band with the words, “It’s a girl!”

Now with a daughter in kindergarten, a son in diapers and a traveling nanny, Low’s tour van is a lot fuller than in 1994. While touring with a rock band may sound like a dream to some kids, Sparhawk and Parker try to give theirs at least some sense of normalcy. “Our kids get to sleep in a hotel, get up, ride in a van, eat food and go back to bed. Meanwhile, we play the show, try to get to bed before 2 or 3 a.m.,” Sparhawk said.

“There’s always variation on tour, but one thing kids need is routine. If you can get them to sleep, a lot of things fall in place,” the proud parent added.

Though the band has gained much of its popularity through playing live, touring has never been easy for Low. Opening for acts with vastly different sounds than the trio, Low’s earliest tours were less scenes of rock ‘n’ roll debauchery than debasement.

“Maybe it’s my own general paranoia, but from the beginning it’s been a hostile decision every time we get onstage – who’s gonna get in our face? Every time I get onstage I feel like I’m in a combative situation,” Sparhawk said.

Thankfully, this talented trio soon found their niche – a fan base that has grown and followed the band for all of its 12 years. Sparhawk is the first to admit that his early touring anxiety isn’t easy to overcome.

“By the time people pay 12 bucks to come see us, I should realize that they’re probably on our side,” he said.

Low’s current tour could be the one to finally cure Sparhawk’s fear – The Great Destroyer has garnered positive reviews from critics and fans and signifies a drastic change in form. Listeners will quickly be humming a handful of the album’s 13 tracks, for which ‘eclectic’ would be a modest description.

The songs range from an eerie, driving rock dirge that could be heard in the filthiest, darkest New York City clubs (“Everybody’s Song”) to a painfully slow-building meditation that begins with whispered guitar and ends with a full-blown sonic attack behind Sparhawk’s chant, “Lovers sleep alone” (“Pissing”).

Sparhawk, on the other hand, describes the record as simply “confused.”

“The album is filled with songs where I’m in the moment of not knowing what’s going on. The songs are born out of not knowing, or anger because some reality or truth had been pulled out from under you,” he explained.

Such uncertainty, though spawning some great songs, caused Sparhawk to take some time off before the band returns to the stage this month.

In a letter posted on Low’s Web site last May, Sparhawk wrote, “I have not been very mentally stable for the last while- My current problems and instability create undue and unnecessary stress for everyone close to me.” He went on to explain that diagnoses for ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder were all laid on him.

Sparhawk promises this tour will be a return to form, with Low playing a mix of new rockers as well as the tunes dubbed “slowcore” many years ago. And with his health back in order, his family quickly growing up and his band better than ever, Sparhawk is optimistic about the future.

“It’s just a matter of doing what you’re doing and trusting you’re next step will be worth taking,” he said.