‘I am sure that there are louder bands’ — the ever-modest Oliver Ackermann of shoegazers A Place to Bury Strangers

Brooklyn-based rockers A Place to Bury Strangers have a reputation for being loud. Very loud. In fact, the Washington Post has described them as “the most awesome, ear-shatteringly loud garage-shoegaze band you'll ever hear.” However, Oliver Ackermann, guitarist and vocalist in the band, exhibits much more modesty.

“I am sure that there are louder bands,” confesses Ackerman. “Take Dinosaur Jr., for example. We are probably only perceived to be louder, because we are playing smaller venues. There is only so much you can get out of four 12- and 15-inch speakers. I think that a lot of our loudness comes from the frequencies that we use in our music. We break a lot of speakers and ruin PAs because we use unconventional effects that don't have the proper electronic protection.”

A Place to Bury Strangers take their dangerous frequencies very seriously. On their self-titled debut, they manipulate sounds to create moods and atmospheres that reflect the dark images and feelings contained in their songs. The style may be a bit redolent of other New York area acts like Blonde Redhead, but with a tough cyberpunk edge (remember the tech-noir nightclub scene in The Termintor?).

The effects used to create these sounds are the key to the bands’ musical approach. Despite not having any formal technical background in electronics, Ackermann has dedicated years to reading books, breaking pedals and amps and experimenting hands-on with sounds in order to create the specialized effects that his band uses. He even founded a business called Death by Audio that makes custom effects pedals.

“We use almost all of the Death by Audio effects, and they are crucial to creating what we do,” explains Ackermann. “That is not to say that if we did not have these effects that we would not play — you have to take what you have and make the most of it. In this band, you have to be able to play guitar, you have to be able to play with one string if the rest break and you have to be able to play with no strings at all, if necessary.”

It would seem that A Place to Bury Strangers routinely take a page out of the playbook of Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini — he was known for playing tricks on his audience by playing incredibly complicated pieces of music on one string after intentionally breaking the other three.

“We always try to keep things fresh by playing different songs, using different effects and experimenting with what we have available,” Ackermann says. “Creating interesting textures is necessary for keeping ourselves satisfied. I think all of our shows are quite different, so if people are expecting something we are usually able to surprise them.”