Caspian Keep It Simple With ‘Tertia,’ Plan to Play SXSW

When it came time to name their third record, New England post-rockers Caspian went for succinct with 'Tertia,' a play on the Latin word for 'third.' "We wanted to call it 'Caspian Three,'" guitarist Philip Jamieson tells Noisecreep. He's joking, of course. Besides, the 2009 record is only the Massachusetts quintet's second full-length. But the band never discounts their amazing debut EP, 'You Are The Conductor,' a groundbreaking mini-suite with songs bleeding into one another, forming an instrumental concept record.

"The last thing we wanted to do was give it a cliché post-rock title," Jameson continues. "Like 'Floating on the Wing of a Dove Towards the Sea and Sky of Heaven's Embrace'." He's mocking the beautiful but inexplicably-long titles adopted by post-rock bands like Mono, of course.

Caspian's first album, 2007's 'The Four Trees,' was symbolic of the four founding members. However, now grown to a five-piece, 'Tertia' could be a nod to Caspian's three-guitar lineup. "The concept of threes or trinities is a pervasive aspect of a lot of different spiritualities. And you know what, it just sounded nice," says Jamieson.

The band spent most of last fall touring Europe, where they will return in May. In the meantime, their homeland is due some love. A coast-to-coast tour is inked for March and April that will include an official performance at SXSW. "It'll be cool to get the wristbands and see who we want to see. [South by Southwest] is interesting. Eight or nine years ago, it seems it might have been a lot cooler in terms of the grassroots element of it. Now it's dissipated, and it's just so 'everywhere.' Girls walking around with designer vodka and junk. It's cool, though. There's a lot of good bands, and everyone's in one place. It's a ground zero for great rock."