January 12th, 2015 
Brian Leak 
Phoenix, Arizona’s The Oxford Coma released their most recent EP, Morphine, just last month, but the three-piece is already set to drop a followup full-length in 2015, which is already near completion.
The band recently took some time to speak with UTG about the Morphine EP, details regarding their upcoming release, and how much they hate Lars Von Trier and David Lynch, along with several other topics in which they provided a balance of genuine, informative responses and brief, smart-assed ones. Follow us through the jump to get the scoop from The Oxford Coma and be on the lookout for the band’s new material in the months to come.
Unless it’s completely obvious, I always like to find out where a band’s name came from. So what can you tell me about The Oxford Coma? Any story behind that?
No.
When did you guys form and how did the original lineup come together?
2011. We met on OK Cupid.
It looks like you went from being a five-piece to a trio? Or was TOC always a trio and you just have two different members now?
Always a trio, except for that one time we weren’t. I’m assuming you’re basing that off the “past members” thing on our FB page. Casey and Anthony were both drummers for us at different points in time.
Do you think the lineup change had a specific effect on your sound or style at all?
Yes. We now sound like we have a different lineup.
What would you say are some of your most important influences, collectively, that have helped shape the way you write and the sound you’ve taken on?
Mainly Debbie Gibson and Wham. And drugs. Not anymore though.
Let’s talk about the Morphine EP a bit. Now that it’s been out for a while, how has the response been?
It was the #2 added record on CMJ last week. That may turn into nothing or be a huge deal. My sister said the EP gave her anxiety…so…varied.
Do you already have ideas in mind of how you plan to expand from it on your next release? Anything specific that you want to explore or do differently?
Already recorded it. It’s nearly ready for release. We recorded live again, this time with two drummers (at the same time). It sounds quite large. We deliberately recorded this faster and with less prep time as sort of a purge of ideas. There’s a lot of stuff on this new record that is based on ideas I’ve had since high school. Some of it’s straight up heavy metal. Some of it is improvised jamming. Some of it is quiet psychedelia. I think it’s gonna be pretty cool when it’s all put together.
As you mentioned, you’ve been recording live, which is something I personally love and admire. Why did you choose to go that route and what do you think you got out of it that you wouldn’t have had you tracked it normally?
It’s more honest. We couldn’t record our first album live because we weren’t prepared for that recording. This time we were. We practiced like hell, and had been playing these songs live for almost a year. Plus I think live records sound less sterile and more interesting. I’m glad we did it. As a side note, it takes a lot less time and costs a lot less money, too.
I noticed that you’re pressing the EP on a beautiful blood red wax. Was releasing it on vinyl something you had always planned to do or did that come about later? And why did you decide to do it?
That’s still in the works. Pressing vinyl is pretty pricey, and we’re a little too far outside of the genres that people are snatching up like crazy on vinyl recently for the pre-orders to have been paid for them. That or we suck, or we have no fans. I’m not ruling anything out.
Can you explain the reasoning for using the Sam Harris sample in “Infrastatic“?
I like Sam Harris and he said it was OK.
I like it even more so when paired with the intro to the video for it and “My Riad.” It makes it really sort of creepy. Where did the ideas for that video come from?
That asshole director Lars Von Trier. My roommates made me watch Antichrist and Melancholia which, as plots go, I found totally obnoxious and artsy for the sake of being artsy. Then again, I fucking hate David Lynch too. They were, however, quite beautifully filmed. It was like every single frame of those movies would have made an amazing still photograph. He also shoots at ultra-high frame rates to create these really hypnotic slow motion sequences. So, I came up with a costume idea and a location, and I dressed James up and filmed some stuff. There wasn’t really any specific plan going into it.
And now that we’re into the new year, what’s TOC have in store for 2015?
We’re releasing an LP soon. No name yet…I should probably get on that. Tour this summer. Record again. I want to do a fully improvised album. There are some Phoenix venues we aim to pack. I want to start trying to get us on some larger festivals; I think the radio stuff is going to help with that. Otherwise, just become the biggest band in the world and then start writing the horrible innocuous crap we’ve always wanted to.
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Thank you for doing this interview! We appreciate it, smart-assness aside.
No problem! Thank you as well!