<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?><rss version="2.0"><channel>
<title>indieworkshop.com | interviews</title> 
<link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/</link> 
<description>indieworkshop.com | interviews</description><pubDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 08:40:55 -0400</pubDate>
<language>en-us</language>
<copyright>2006</copyright>
<managingEditor>jake@indieworkshop.com</managingEditor><item><title>Precious Fathers</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=155</link><description><![CDATA[

Precious Fathers' debut self-titled LP made an impact on the IW end-of-year lists and won widespread acclaim for its canny use of… shh, keep it quiet… melodies! In Post-Rock! Amazing. But then their drummer broke his arm, other members started touring with Destroyer among others, and it all went quiet. What the hell's been going on? Paul Goertzen from the band gives us a few clues. 

You are a mysterious band. Your website doesn't exist as such. You very rarely play live. Why? Do you like the anonymity you've constructed? 

PG: Ryder of the Whale (from White Whale records) won't like this question ‘cause he works hard for all the bands on his label. If we've constructed anonymity, that's fine. It's a time-tested approach to worldwide success. Any major dude will tell you. We have a Myspace page what else do we need? I don't know, we have a way we do things and right now playing shows isn't happening too much. It'll pick up in January.

How do you compose your songs? Is there a tried and tested process to it?

PG: One of us, usually Tim (Loewen) or Jaret (Penner), comes to practice with a riff or most of a song and the rest of us fill it in. I wish I could say we just whip them off but we tend to take a long time with each song. It's fun though, I always look forward to our practices, hashing out songs.

Was it an insular experience to record the album? Did you shut yourselves off from any other musical intrusions or were you open to other influences?

PG: I don't think we were aware of any influences, I'm sure they were there but we never said ‘let's make this part more like this band or that band'. We do what comes naturally. When we're playing it feels to me like genres don't exist. It's music. 

Does the Vancouver climate play a part in your sound?

PG: I was asked a very similar question just the other day. Do other bands get this question a lot too? Vancouver is a beautiful city. We get a lot of sun and a lot of rain at times. 

How is Josh's arm?

PG: Getting better. It's going to take some time to get all the feeling back though.

Is there any new material to speak of? Your MySpace speaks of a new album in the works…

PG: We just finished recording. Tim's mixing the new songs right now actually. It should be done by the end of  November. Check our myspace or whitewhale.ca for more info on release and tour dates. We'll post when we know.

Could you tell us about the numerous side-projects/other bands you are involved with? Is Precious Fathers a side-project in itself?

PG: Yeah, we're spread pretty thin these days. Josh is drumming for The Awkward Stage, Jaret's playing guitar for The Battles, and Tim's doing bass duties for Dan Bejar in Destroyer. This is another reason we've constructed such anonymity. 
Precious Fathers were around before all of these involvements with other bands. People just keep stealing us. 

The artwork on your album is cool. Tell us about it. 

PG: Thanks! Jaret does a lot of visual art. He's hooked up with a collective called The Human Five here in Vancouver who are doing really well, getting shows all over the world. The art on the CD itself was something he did and we all just liked. The nuns cracked us up.

How do you think Precious Fathers fit in to the musical climate around you? Things like the White Wale roster, the current penchant for more melodic Post-Rock etc…

PG: We don't really pay attention to that. We work hard to write good songs and people seem to like what we do so that's good enough for us right now. 

www.myspace.com/preciousfathers


]]></description><author>verysmallmonkeys@hotmail.com (Daniel Ross)</author><pubDate>2006-10-05</pubDate></item><item><title>Slumber Party</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=154</link><description><![CDATA[

Slumber Party, from the far away land of Motor City, has time and again shown their determination to fill the world to the brim with beautifully nostalgic rock n' roll. Their latest release /Musik/ continues the tradition with variations on the theme of energetic, dreamy, mysterious, and simultaneously lulling tunes. I wanted to hear what front-lady Aliccia Berg had to say about it, so here's her two cents.

The Slumber Party lineup has shifted a bit since "3," how, if at all, have those changes affected the record? Who's in the band now?

Alia Allen, Raquel Salaysay, Naomi Ruth, Me… Other ladies who we work with participate when they can, namely Frances Reade, Leah Retherford, but the band proper are the four named first… And they've forced plenty of changes on the sound of the band.  With their proficiency and approach.  Obvious change is the use of Synthesizers.  Naomi plays synth.  Before her I was the only one who played an occassional organ riff.  Now I play guitar a lot less, and synths and keys more.  Also, they encouraged me to write the songs (Naomi helped, too), as they were unfolding the way they did lyrically and stylistically – part of me knew this group could handle what I was presenting (it is more challenging than the material for the past records) and they eagerly without question took it on.  Nice.

Where will your upcoming tour take you? 

Oh, around the u.s., we are leaving soon to play cities in the northeast and north-midwest and in the next month or so, we'll be doing a trip to the west coast (we are flying to save ourselves some time so we unfortunately miss the west states like colo. And mont., it's just such a long drive, ref. Q. 12) and a stint in the middle and middle southeast states.  To play all the cities we'd like may keep ourselves busy into spring though, we have to accommodate a trip to Australia that is being planned for winter.

How do you feel about Detroit? Is there magic in the air?

Yeah magic and pollution.  Both. Both literally and figuratively.  

Would you ever leave?

Sure, but no plans now.  You have to understand that sometimes I can't help but feel I'm only visiting.  Even though I've been in Detroit for about 8 years and live in my house.  There's got to be a reason that it isn't the kind of city single women move to generally.  And it has been a little rough at times trying to find my way here.  I don't have family here. I'm really simple like that.  I think it'd make me happier to know I had family nearby.  Or better restaurants at least.

Are there any bands currently off the radar out there that we should keep an eye out for?

Way off the radar:  Chinese Beatles, Spiderbite, Mountains and Rainbows, Tranzistors (those last two, they are probably considered on the radar now I suppose).  Oh yeah, and pretty far off the radar, my solo project.  I'm planning on getting around to making that record sooner than later.

If I need to get some good records there, where do I go?

Easy: Record Graveyard, Car City Records, Stormy Records

What if I'm hungry?

That's a little rough.  Don't expect too much, but it'll be fun to go to Los Galanes in southwest Detroit I like it better than other mex rest. Considering both the table arrangement and service and the food for no meat is a little better here among them. I end up at Sala Thai couple times a month, I do generally like the spice combinations there, especially this basil thingy, though the tom yum soup isn't what I'd do but I like it.  I almost forgot, great sushi and tables at Musabi.

What if I need a new shirt and/or pants because I've spilled some of that delicious food on it?

You can borrow something from me.

I hear they don't have much of a snow removal program there. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? 

I suppose it is saving a city that has no money, some money.  Anyway, it typically all melts within a week of the snow.  
 
Do you and the other members have day jobs? What are they?

Day jobs yes, yes. Alia advises university graduate students on their schooling matters, Naomi is a designer, and Raquel bakes and decorates cakes. I'm a biomedical (cancer) research scientist. 

What's in the future?

Ummm. Well. Unrest in the Middle East. A new democratic president.  Less reality T.V.

Tell us what we should go and listen to right now.

I'm not telling you that you have too, but if I could put something on right now something by…Laura Nyro, Alice Coltrane, The Godz (the ones on ESP).

In one word or phrase, describe what's happened to Slumber Party since your previous release.

More of the essentials and a lot less of everything else (and a hot live show on top of all that).

What advice do you have for all the little children out there?

Listen, evaluate, and don't care too much about too many things]]></description><author>ctr@closettrekkie.com (Paul Bredenberg)</author><pubDate>2006-09-26</pubDate></item><item><title>Snowden</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=153</link><description><![CDATA[
I first heard of Snowden about a year or so ago while listening to some internet radio site.  The song was &quot;Kill the Power&quot; - a moody yet danceable, instantly catchy post-punk number - and I was hooked.  Further investigation led to the Atlanta-based band's Web site (www.snowden.info) where I found the entire self-titled EP made available for free download.  Fuzzy guitars, driving beats, thumping bass lines and a droning voice combined for an intriguing first listen that just begged to be expounded upon.

Thankfully, the four-piece soon followed up with Anti-Anti, their debut full-length available on Jade Tree.  The 12-song disc is a dance-happy meets cool gloom blur of smoke and fuzzed-out melodies, powerful and thought provoking lyrics and flat-out strong song writing.

Jordan Jeffares, vocalist and main brain behind Snowden was kind enough to take time away from touring, marketing and setting up the release of Anti-Anti in order to answer a few of my inquiries via e-mail.  Here's what we discussed:         

So first, the boring, typical – How did you all come together?  How long has Snowden been around?  Did you have any common interests that led you to form a band, etc.?

The band began when I was graduating from college in 2003.  I'd been working on songs for years but only at that point did they ever get to anything decent.  My brother helped me meet up with the first line up.  We played for a year under that line up before vacation time started to run out for some of the guys so the line up changed to its current state the summer of 2004.  I met Dave (Payne, guitar) through our first drummer and bassist.  They were all jamming in a practice space.  

When the other guys ran out of vacation time, Chandler (Rentz, drums) had gotten wind that we were looking for a drummer from other people in the local Atlanta scene.  A friend in Austin turned me onto Corinne (Lee, bass).  

And of course the dreaded &quot;How would you explain your sound?&quot; question.  What are you trying to do with your music?  Where are you now musically, and where would you like to go in the future?

I'm trying to stay flexible and open to my view of Snowden and where it's going or been.  There have been periods, especially in the very beginning of the band where I was trying really hard to make the music really different and it ended up making things too complicated.  I constantly feel like good music is innovative, and since I want to make good music, I feel like I should always innovate. 

I feel like I've finally found a style but I'm very wary of even thinking of it that way because I don't want to lock myself into any paths.  I don't want to have to worry about a song fitting on an album.  I want every song to belong to itself.


What are thoughts on &quot;rock ‘n' roll&quot; right now, and how do you separate yourselves from other bands out there?

The line between indie rock and ‘rock rock' used to be so clear, now there are ‘indie' bands on major labels and bland rock bands on ‘indie' labels.  The terms that used to help you weed through music to get to the good stuff have fallen apart.  

There's only so much you can do to try to separate yourselves.  You try to do it with the music. Then we try to do it onstage every show.  I used to be of the mindset that you should get on stage and let the music speak for itself, until one day we started going nuts and then people started responding like they never had before.  

What's your live performance like?  What can fans expect to see when they check out Snowden?

We go nuts.  We all stomp and jitter to the music.  I have lots of nervous ticks that my brother always makes fun of.  At the end of the show we're soaked through.

Is there any message or theme behind your music?  What do you hope people get out of hearing your stuff? 

There are messages in every song, both introverted and extroverted.  A lot of them are collages of situations or feelings.  There are stories about places, disappointment, and revolution.  I try to be dynamic with my lyrics.  I never want to be a boring songwriter who writes about love all the time.  

What was it like writing and recording your EP?  What are your thoughts about it?

The EP was a learning experience that should have been done better, but I'd only been doing music seriously for about 6 months at the time and there was no one looking out for us to make sure we didn't mess up.  So, I did everything wrong.  We worked with a horrible engineer who ruined the first attempt at it.  Then I did the best I could mixing it with a friend from out of town and pressed it up, only so that I would remix it 8 months later and start giving it away for free through the website.  

I learned a lot from that EP.  I learned not to rush things.  I learned that an EP can be your ticket to bigger things if you can just wait and do it right and get people behind it instead of just trying to get something to sell at shows.

You decided to let people download the whole thing for free, how did that decision come about?  

It just occurred to me that a band starting out has to give their music away, especially if they're unsigned/unmanaged/unconnected.  The measly few grand that you could make off selling your music is nothing compared to the exposure you can get by giving it away.  I tell all young bands to give away at least half of their songs if not more.  Especially in the blog age, it's possible to do a blog campaign one week and have 50,000 people with your album on their hard drive/ipod the next week.  You give it away today so that 1) people can learn about you and 2) so that you can sell them your debut LP next year.

You recently signed with Jade Tree, how did that come about, and what is it like now working with label support?  Did it make things easier/harder when recording the full-length?

Jade Tree is about as indie as it gets.  They're very responsive and active but we still decide on everything and do most stuff on our own.  We have a publicist now, and college radio will get serviced, but we do our own Web design, our own recording, I'm booking the support tour right now, we do our merch, everything.  

What are your thoughts on the full-length?  How would you compare it to the EP?  If someone takes one thing away from this album, what would you hope that to be?  

It's more mature than the EP.  Sonically, there's more space between things and I learned how to use my voice.  Like the EP it's still moody.  8/12 are upbeat and the other 4 on the record are my favorites, the slow stuff.  

&quot;Victim Card&quot; and &quot;Kill the Power&quot; are both songs on the EP which made the full-length as well.  Was there anything particularly special about those two songs that helped them make the cut?  Does it indicate what sort of direction you might be heading with your sound?

Those are both songs that really characterize our sound.  Those songs are where we are right now, no question.  &quot;Victim Card&quot; was originally a slow song that I rewrote because we didn't have enough upbeat stuff for our first show.  On the full length it's the slow version and we close almost every show with this version.  &quot;Kill the Power&quot; most indicates the direction we're going.  It's got that weird powerful rhythm and the distorted bass line and all that.  

What is next for you guys, and is there anything else in particular that you'd like people to read about?  

I want people to read about our European tour and how we're blowing up in Turkey and why hasn't America caught on yet?!?!
]]></description><author>Han0026@aol.com (Nathaniel Deas)</author><pubDate>2006-09-18</pubDate></item><item><title>Daughters</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=152</link><description><![CDATA[

Hells Songs is the picture of a band in the midst of growth.  Their debut, Canada Songs, was eleven minutes of fury.  Like a lit oil line, the songs shot out of your speakers and tore the ears off of anyone in the room.  But on their new album, the band dials it back enough for you to get your bearings and actually enjoy a song before it's over.  

At the beginning stages of their 4-month tour, I put a few questions with Alexis Marshall.  Everything from the change in approach to his vocal delivery, to life on the road, and secret handshakes. 

If you haven't heard the monstrosity that is Hell Songs, I highly suggest you seek it out.  With a touch of everything you can toss in a blender, the quintet have birthed some sort of mutant that will both rock your face off and scare the crap out of you.     

You guys are in the middle of a pretty extensive tour.  How do you keep the energy up when you are on the road for 4 months?

I'm already out of energy.  One week into this. I want to go to sleep.
 
How did you hook up with some of the Kayo Dot tribe for this album? 

We've known various members of Kayo Dot for many years. The chance to work with them came up while in the studio and it seemed like a good idea. They're extremely talented and did a great job on that song.
 
What inspired you guys to come to the realization that screaming is "boring"? 

I've been doing it for more than ten years. It's not challenging for me. The easy thing to do is scream a mess of shit, call myself a singer, bullshit myself and everyone else. I don't have any interest in doing that.  I want to use my voice as an instrument, not just something to do so I can be in a band. Anyone can scream. Fuck anyone.
 
On Hell Songs, the songs are longer and the compositions less chaotic.  Is this just "growing up" or growing into your own sound?

I wouldn't say less chaotic. This record has been composed in a fashion that is both interesting and different from all the other bullshit that is poisoning people's lives. Nothing was toned down or sacrificed. These are real songs, not thirty seconds of crap for dim-witted fucks to bang their heads to, not that we don't promote that in the same breathe... the head banging part. 

Were you conflicted at all about your exclusive t-shirt design in Hot Topic? 

No. Why should we? This is our band and we will do whatever we want to do with it. We love mall goths.
 
Punk and hardcore seem to becoming more and more mainstream and even accepted by kids and parents.  Is the danger of the scene dead? 

You're asking the wrong person. It doesn't matter if hip assholes or moms enjoy what we create. It shouldn't be about some exclusive club where you get a decoder ring and are taught some secret handshake. Fuck scene politics and the like. That is not why we do this.

There was internet buzz when the first single was revealed on-line.  most people seemed to enjoy the music but seemed split 50 / 50 on the new vocal style.  Is that something you guys care about, or is this the direction you want to take regardless of what past fans think?

When we start caring what people want to hear is when we stop caring about what we want to hear.
]]></description><author>jake@indieworkshop.com (Jake Haselman)</author><pubDate>2006-09-05</pubDate></item><item><title>Mew</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=151</link><description><![CDATA[

Before the US release of their latest album, And the Glass Handed Kites, Mew was enjoyed in the States by a select few who were lucky enough to discover this Danish foursome.  But now, after the Columbia Records release, the band has steadily been gaining momentum and gaining new fans left and right.  Straight off their first US tour (and on the eve of another set of dates in the states this fall) we got to put some questions to singer/guitarist Jonas Bjerre about the history of the band and what may be coming up on the horizon.

Mew - Special - MP3

Is this your first US tour?

It is indeed. This is something we have been looking forward to for some time. I think touring in the US is a sort of European dream for bands.

This is your first album to get a proper release in the US, are there plans to re-release the other ones here?

I'm not exactly sure yet. I certainly hope so!

How did you guys first come together?  What is the story of Mew?

Bo and I went to school together since we were 6 and 5 years old, respectively. It was a real hippie school, you know, with African chanting and drumming, Gössel gymnastics and stuff like that. Around the 7th grade, we were maybe 12 or 13, we were sat in groups each designated to create something "artistic". At that point I didn't really know Bo, but during this experiment we discovered a common interest in alternative music and film. We ended up making a 15-minute long pretentious art film shot on Video8, most of which consisted of us introducing the film itself over and over and over again in slow motion. When we started high school we decided to form a band.

You list some pretty diverse influences, are all of the favorites shared by all the members of the band?

Not really. But we definitely have some common ground. In the beginning it was the indie rock scene, bands like Pixies, Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine. But at the same time growing up in the eighties did leave its mark on us, Prince and Prefab Sprout I would say were equally influential on us. But we do have separate inspirations as well. For example, Silas likes a lot of African music, which the rest of us can enjoy up to a certain point but after a while, not so much. 

This album was a concept record of sorts right?

It's definitely been called a concept album, but not by us. I guess there is a "concept" in stringing the songs together the way we did. And lyrically there are themes of fear, dreams and hope present throughout.
 
How long did it take you to create And the Glass Handed Kites? 

We toured pretty extensively with our last album Frengers. After the last gig we did on that tour we went directly into writing, which suited us fine because we were hungry to make new music. We spent around 2-3 months writing in our house in London, based on ideas that we'd been playing around with on tour, then went to LA and recorded it over a 4-month period. We then eventually ended up mixing the album three times(!) because of a few technical experiments that went awry. So it took a long time.

Does the title of the album have any meaning?

Yes, it has several meanings. The most apparent one has to do with the image of the kite, made of fragile canvas but soaring majestically into the air regardless. We like the dualism of that. The hands of glass are symbols as well, but they are more obscure and have references in different parts of the lyrical content.

You guys are a fairly large band in your homeland of Denmark, is it weird to have to start over in a different country?

No, it's not weird. We tour many different places and there are many levels of success. We recently did a show in Rome and the album had just come out there as well. It's a very enjoyable experience playing to people who may know the music but has never experienced it live before.

The album is actually a year old, are you currently working on new music for a new album?

We tend to always write when we have a bit of time off. Even if it's only four days, there will probably be some ideas emerging. Right now it's hard to say how long we'll be touring until we finally go into complete writing mode.

How did you guys get to work with J. Mascis, and with him being such an influence how was it to work with him?

Bo met him years ago when he performed in Copenhagen. This was when the band had just started out and we were beginning to get a little buzz going in the underground. Bo helped out J because J had lost his luggage in the airport or something. He also gave him a Mew shirt which he wore that night. That was a big thing for us!  
He did a show at the House of Blues while we were recording there, we spoke to him after the show and he agreed to come into the studio and do some recording. It was great, we had a lovely time. J is a brilliant guy and has a sublime sense of humor. 
 
Your sound is very full on record, is that something you strive to recreate live?  Or is the live show a completely different thing?

We do strive to sound as dynamic live as on record. It varies how much stuff we can bring out though, at our fullest we have a trumpet player with us live but that's usually not the case. It's a tough question for me to answer because I have never seen a Mew show from the audiences point of view. But based on what people have told me we do sound close to the record, it's certainly not a completely different thing.

The rest of the Scandinavian scene seems to get more press than Denmark, is that fair?  Are there fewer worthy bands coming out of there?

Well we were always standing in the shadow of Sweden who had great music export since Abba. But in recent years I think Denmark has been gaining on our neighbors ever so slowly. The labels in Denmark are a part of that, new indie labels and that sort of thing. Also, it seems like the labels have finally realized that they should sign bands that sound original rather than the ones that are ripping off the UK scene from 4 years ago... I think there are some amazing bands in Denmark, most of the really good ones though, are still unknown.
 
Most Scandinavian bands sing in English, is there ever any worry that part of your culture is being left out of your music?
 
Actually there is a big trend nowadays with Danish singing. Some bands pull it off nicely but sadly most of them don't. There is a tendency for the lyrical content to become really low brow stupid, almost too similar to daily speech and that doesn't make for very poetical content. For our part, we chose to write in English mostly because that's our second language (taught in School from the age of 6) and because we grew up listening to English and American music. Although most of the lyrics are less a direct narrative than a string of images that are up for interpretation, we do want people to understand them and by writing in Danish we would alienate a lot of people. I enjoy the fact that I can blatantly play around with the English syntax, being a foreigner and all. I'm kind of excused ha ha. But we've also written songs in gibberish and in Japanese, we're not forced to write in English. I wouldn't say that Danish culture is present in our lyrics per say, except for, perhaps, a relation to the fairy tale feel of H.C. Andersen. 

Was Columbia the first label in the states that expressed interest in the band?

Before we were signed in the UK we had interest from a bunch of different labels, some of them from the US, but it's hard to say for sure how much of that interest was really real. In the beginning when you start getting noticed there will be a lot of people expressing interest, but you have to take things with a grain of salt.

]]></description><author>jake@indieworkshop.com (Jake Haselman)</author><pubDate>2006-08-28</pubDate></item><item><title>Intronaut</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=150</link><description><![CDATA[
Intronaut might not be the biggest headline grabber in the ever-expanding world of metal, but they are a heavy hitting up and comer. With ex-members of Uphill Battle, Impaled, Exhumed, and Anubis Rising on board, Intronaut unleashed a well received EP earlier this year (entitled Null) and now continues with their pummeling force with their debut full length, Void (released on August 22).  While the Isis/Neurosis clones still seem to be popping up everywhere, there are very few bands that are creating something new in the world of bone crushing monoliths.

Void is a captivating mixture of textures and sounds.  Touch points would have to include Kayo Dot and Mouth of the Architect, but really only in the sense that they could share a bill together. Their closest metal relative would probably be Old Man Gloom, but OMG never had this sense of atmosphere and scope.  It's a unique and ambitious mixture of space and force.  At one moment it's busting at the seams with tremendous guitars and deafening drums, the next is tranquil peace with an ever-present feeling of impending doom.  

The CD has been in heavy rotation around here.  The car, the stereo, work… wherever I can fit it in, I have.  Besides the new Mouth of the Architect full length, I haven't heard another album in this vein this year that has drawn this kind of effect from me.  I love it.  So I figured I would try to track the band down as they traveled back and forth across this continent, and guitarist Sacha Dunable was nice enough to take some time out from locating bassists Joe Lester's shoes to answer a few questions.  

Intronaut - Gleamer - MP3
Intronaut - Iceblocks - MP3

The name, I know it's a cheesy question, but you have to explain it.

Well it's a cheesy name!  Like, an astronaut travels in outer space, and an intronaut travels in inner space.  The inner traveler, if you will.  Yeah.  Deep huh?

The shape and state of underground metal seems to be changing to me more excepting of experimental bands, where do you think you guys fit in with this new crowd?

People are definitely more accepting of more forward-thinking stuff these days, and I'm not sure what that is due to.  Music evolves and peoples' tastes evolve along with it.  I'd say we fit right in to whatever that is.

Your EP seemed to garner a bit of buzz, how are people responding to the new songs?

We haven't really received a response from press or anything yet, but people I've played the CD for are generally into it.  Probably just saying that to my face though.

With all the other bands connected to Intronaut, did you guys worry about being able to establish the band as its own force rather than just being another project?

Yeah, and in some ways we still have to deal with that.  Flyers will list off all our old bands or whatever.  I wouldn't say it really hurts us, it probably has its positive and negative effects though.  People will mostly expect something totally different than what we are doing, and depending on their tastes, they will be surprised in a good or bad way.

Who do you guys look up to or look to for inspiration?

Well… musically I guess its all over the board.  Personally, Yes, Dystopia, and like Slayer are my all time favorite bands, but I mean, we've all been playing music seriously for over 10 years a piece, and at this point we're sort of set in our own ways and are really just inspired by our own dumb retarded ideas.

How is the tour going?  Any horribly embarrassing stories you feel like getting off your chest?

Joe has lost his shoes like three times on this tour!  I'm actually embarrassed for him!  I mean what a fucking dumbass, right?  Other than that, this tour is going great.  All the shows have been lots of fun.  Cincinnati and Pittsburgh were shitty.  Don't ever play there.  We've been on tour with Mouth Of The Architect and Century for two weeks, now we're in Canada about to meet up with Fuck The Facts and later on Black Cobra.  All these bands are amazing and we are totally stoked!
  
How do you describe your sound?

When people ask, I just say "metal".  I guess there's lots of ways you could describe us, but asking a band member to do that usually makes them uncomfortable.  We (musicians in general) just don't like describing our sound to people, because its too revealing of what is going through our head, and, basically being as insecure and lame as we are, we don't want you to know what we're thinking because you will laugh at us.
  
When you were recording the LP, was there another album or band you wanted the sound to emulate?
 
Leon brought the Boss HM-2 pedal so we would sound like Entombed's Left Hand Path, but we didn't end up using it.

With so many ex-members of a million bands, how does the writing process work for the band?
 
Most songs on the new record are a collaboration of ideas we come up with, at rehearsal or individually.  A couple songs I did myself at home with a drum machine and just presented them to the band.  That's really how I prefer to write, but a big collaboration has its benefits.  It's a much more painful process though.
 
Have you gotten feed back from bands of your past bands?
 
Fans of our past bands?  Yeah, I think most are into it.  Maybe some Exhumed or Impaled fans don't like it because its not 100% derived from Carcass's Symphonies, but that'll happen.
 
Prog has become less and less of a dirty word, who (or what) caused that shift in?
 
I have no idea, though I totally agree.  I still hold back describing something as prog to some people because it's not totally cool yet, but yeah.  I think that a lot of people think of that lame, noodley, 4/4 shred metal as prog, at least I did when I was younger, and they don't realize that you might be referring to the cool shit from the 70's.  I think once bands started busting out expensive effects pedals or playing in a variety of time signatures, kids might have gone and checked out older stuff that did the same thing.
 
I've heard from some other heavier bands that Canada is easier to tour than the US (turn out and merch wise), has that been the case for you guys?
 
Nope.  In some cities up there, we had our worst shows of the entire tour.  Some places are just behind still.  Also, you've got crazy ass drive times up there compared to most areas of the US.  It didn't all suck, but I wouldn't say there is anything easier about it.
 
What music have you guys been listening to in the van?
 
Wesley Willis, Kool Keith, Rotten Sound, Flaming Lips, and old metal have all been spun numerous times.
  
Who in the avant-metal scene isn't getting the respect they deserve?
 
I think the whole new crop of forward thinking bands deserves more attention, and some bands probably will get it.  I find some bands more interesting than others, but there is a lot of validity around.  We've had the pleasure of playing with bands like Genghis Tron, Mouth Of The Architect, Rosetta, Black Cobra, and a shit ton more on this tour and I think each of those bands has something awesome to offer.  As far as getting respect, with music like this that's still pretty underground, you really have to go out and earn that shit.  So with that being said, I think the bands getting the most respect right now probably deserve it.]]></description><author>jake@indieworkshop.com (Jake Haselman)</author><pubDate>2006-08-14</pubDate></item><item><title>Plants</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=149</link><description><![CDATA[
Josh Blanchard's and Molly Griffith's romantic relationship begat their musical relationship. Both have been very active in the Portland music scene for year now, but it wasn't until the release of the debut album from Plants (The Mind is a Bird in the Hand) on Audio Dregs early this year that the two combined forces to create music together.  And if you are in anyway a purveyor of spacious psychedelic folk, you'll be happy that they did.  Their album is a shinning example of haunting themes and melodies pieced together to create something that is all at once familiar and new.  

Joshua was nice enough to take some time out of his busy schedule (which was compounded due to a recent move for the couple) to answer a few of my questions about the project, their music and this album. 

Was it easier or harder working with your significant other?

A: Well, I'd say a little bit of both. It can be very convenient for creating music "on the fly" since we live together. It can also be a little difficult to separate the music from other issues like, "Why didn't you do the dishes" or "why were you a dick to me last night". It's largely for those reasons that we recently added our friend Jesse Stevens into the mix, to keep us on task

Did it help or hinder the writing process?

A: I'd say it mostly helped the writing process. I'm very prolific with creating songs and ideas and Molly is good with arrangements and cutting out the weaker bits of what I dream up, so we balance each other out well.

What made you guys choose such a drastically different style than either of you had done in the past?

A:  Plants aren't inherently that much different from other things we've done in the past. Both of us have such broad tastes in music and have played in such a variety of bands that we don't feel like we had a specific musical identity to stick with, either individually or as partners. I've written many of my songs on acoustic guitar over the years, even with Point Line Plane, and just transposed them into different instruments and styles.

How do you feel The Plants stands apart from a lot of the psych/folk bands?

A: I think we're capable of embracing darker themes without getting too melodramatic. We're interested in leaving a lot of space in our music and sucking the listener in slowly. Much of our newer music barely even fits with the 'psych folk' tag, just kind of all encompassing psychedelia.

Do you plan on making The Plants your main focus?

A: Definitely. I'm all about integrating music into all parts of my life anymore; relationships, vacations, get-togethers. Point Line Plane was the closet thing to a 'rock band' that I've done and is definitely the last as well. Since we recorded "The Mind is a bird in the Hand" we've expanded the scope of what Plants can sound like to us tremendously so we can throw whatever works into the mix to keep our interest.

Who would you consider your influence for The Mind is a Bird in the Hand?

A: Hmm, do you mean as far as other musicians? Its a real hodge-podge of things but we both love Can, Faust, Donovan, Flying Saucer Attack… much along those lines.

You can't mention Flying Saucer Attack to me without me geeking out a bit. I love David Pearce, why do you think he never really hit here in the US? And with the recent explosion of the noise scene, he still doesn't seem to get the respect he disserves.

A: Now that I think of it, you're right. Those records have been my rainy day soundtrack for years but no one talks about David Pierce much these days. There's a bunch of 90's Northwest space rock bands that were very influential to me that should get more props as well. Bugskull, Jessamine, Magnog…

You got to work with a bunch of people on this record.  Was it just a matter of getting friends together who were available, or did you have specific people in mind when you starting writing.

A: A little bit of both. We're fortunate in that our friends our also great musicians with very similar open-ended aesthetics to us, so it was kind of a no-brainer who to ask to come in and play with us.

What other projects are you two currently working on?

I put together a monthly event called "The Church of Psychedelia" that plays host to a lot of local acid folk, free-rock and drone music. Molly is getting her Master's degree in Sociology right now, so that eats up most of her extra time. After years of having two or three musical projects at all times I'm enjoying throwing all my energy into one outlet. We just went to the Oregon Coast and recorded a bunch of improvised acoustic jams in two yurts and an abandoned bunker that we're going to call "Totem". We also are starting work on an e.p for a British label, 'Paradigms' and are almost done with a conceptual ambient album called "Photosynthesis". It's fun to be keep busy!

While the psych/folk scene has been gaining a lot of steam over the past few years, it still seems to only be enjoyed by a small faction of the music listening world.  Why do you think the scene seems so exclusive?

A:I think that Psych folk demands a certain kind of patience and introspection that few music fans posses. I wouldn't call the scene exclusive per say as I've found folkies to generally be friendlier and mellower than say, noise musicians or punks. I think these musicians have had to create their community and networks since trippy, acoustic music just doesn't fly in the normal rock & roll, bar circuit. 

the album seems to have a lot to do with light and love, was it your intention to write such a positive album or did it just happen naturally?

A: Interesting. We both find the album to be pretty dark in tone, a lot of it is centered around death and catharsis. The record definitely starts out more morbid and subdued and then builds slowly to a more optimistic ending. Still, most of the music is very gentle and melodic. We both used the recording process to work out some of our personal demons so it was a positive experience for us.

You've been at this for a long time (the whole music thing), have you ever gotten to a point where you were frustrated and wanted to quit?

A: Oh yes. I had all of my instruments stolen about at one point and seriously considered giving up, but I couldn't quite do it. Music is such an innate compulsion for me that I couldn't ever truly stop. Even, if I'm not recording or twiddling around an instrument there's always music playing in my head. I wish I could turn it off sometimes (especially at night!) but I guess that's just my lot in life.

Are those recordings you've finished going to be coming out soon?

A: Yeah, The release for the Paradigms label is scheduled to come out in September. It's going to come out on our friends' label, Collective Jyrk, before we tour in August.

Are you already working on a follow up album for Plants?

A: I guess the closest thing to an 'official 2nd full length' would be the Photosynthesis recordings which are 90% done. We've been talking to a couple labels that I'd be really excited to have it released with but nothing's set in stone yet. Believe it or not we also have a full album's worth of poppier songs written and ready to record, but we're holding out on those ones for a while.

Do you try and work lyrical/musical themes into everything Plants records?

A: I think every album should be a "concept album" on at least a certain level. I'm not talking about double album epic fantasy volumes or anything (though, I love that shit) just keeping material for each record on the same thematic wavelength; be that lyrically, inspirationally or even what key the songs are in. I definitely have a lot of self-restrictions when I write lyrics for Plants. No direct mention of current culture or events, no technology, etc… hopefully that keeps things timeless and a little bit mysterious.

Plants - The Mind is a Bird in the Hand - MP3
Plants: Myspace]]></description><author>jake@indieworkshop.com (Jake Haselman)</author><pubDate>2006-07-31</pubDate></item><item><title>Voxtrot</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=148</link><description><![CDATA[

Late last fall I had a swing at an e-mail interview with Ramesh Srivastava, lead man of the Austin five-piece indie-popsters Voxtrot. We just now completed this interview and it's time for it to be released to you, the world. Currently, the band has released two EP's, two 7&quot; singles, and has plans to cut a record for the UK label Play Louder Recordings. His comments offer some valuable insight into the mental machinery of a group who, seemingly overnight, turned a lot of heads. So how does the primary songwriter of this band think anyway? What turns those wheels? Here's a little peek: 

PB: As of right now, you guys have been on tour quite a bit. How is that going? Have you been well received so far?

RS: It's going fairly well, though it's always difficult when you are not supporting a band with a much larger fan base than your own. Still, I'm definitely noticing differences from previous tours. People are coming to see Voxtrot specifically, and seem to be familiar with the songs, which is always a good sign.  The size of the audience is not necessarily the most important thing but it's much more rewarding when people seem to have some kind of personal connection with the music.

PB: So far so good. I understand you're from Austin, which is a cool town. Was it easy starting a band, and getting things moving in the "music capital of the world?"

RS: The whole live music capital of the world thing is a bit of a misunderstood thing because, although there is a remarkable amount of live music going on, the majority of it is catered to a slightly older, more "Texan" audience.  However, the more I am away from Austin the more I realize how great the youth/music underground culture is there.  My band was formed so that I could record demos to take with me when I moved to Glasgow three years ago.  However, things just seemed to work out and that's why I decided to move back to Austin and try to do this full time.  In a way, it was kind of a happy accident, but once things started moving they seemed to go rather quickly.  The hardest part was probably finding the band members, particularly a bassist.  To do this, I went to a party in Austin and decided that I would ask the person with the most 'twee sixties' sensibility if she/he played bass guitar.  Thus, I found Jason Chronis and we talked about the Field Mice, I thought he was a lovely guy, and we decided to work together.  It's kind of really embarrassing and shallow, but sometimes evil pays.
 
PB: This may be going off on a tangent, but do you mean "twee" as a genre, or a state of mind, that is, as far as Voxtrot goes? Your songs do convey the same feeling as do the field mice on one end, TVP on the other, and a lot of other bands in between, but how do you feel about it?

RS: I suppose I was referring to twee more in the aesthetic sense to emphasize the shallow nature of my search for a bassist.  Musically, I would like to avoid being placed among the twee canon, because I think there is always something lost when a band strives to fit into any genre.  In my mind the term 'twee' always translates as 'harmless,' which is not necessarily a good thing. The Field Mice are okay, as are a lot of other bands from that era, but it's not really music that I am particularly passionate about. Once again it's more of a stylistic appeal than anything else. The Field Mice, TVP, etc... these are great bands to be placed amongst but, without sounding too wanky, I would hope that the emotional content of our music would override the style.

PB: Favorite place you've visited so far? Why?
 
RS: With the band? It's a tie between San Francisco and New York. I can't believe San Francisco even exists; it's too good to be true. Incidentally, there's a myspace group of which we are all members
Entitled "Voxtrot should move to San Francisco." Oh, Myspace...

PB: Did you ever stop to enjoy the scenery?

RS: We usually leave two days in LA, New York, and San Francisco.  I guess I left LA out of the previous question. Utterly surreal, that place.

PB: Awe-inspiring or interesting tour stories?

RS: We broke down in Worcester, MA, got stuck for four days, and had to cancel the entire remainder of the tour. Then I wrote a song about it called Four Long Days. At least something good came of it. I suppose there is also a really embarrassing karaoke video, which is not entirely useless.

PB: Tell us a little about Scotland. Any good stories from your time there?

RS: Oh, plenty of good stories, but most of them can't be repeated in a public forum. Glasgow is a den of ultimate debauchery, but in a really nice way... kind of. People are a bit more daring and a bit more dangerous, which has its advantages and disadvantages. Basically, I went to find indie music, found techno, and ended up listening to techno with other indie fans. It's like the perfect sandwich.

PB: What's going on with the new album? You'll be re-recording some of the songs I hear, but how do you like the new songs?

RS: It's hard to really measure a song until it's been performed live and recorded. A lot of song worth to me has to do with reciprocal energy between either the band and the audience, or the band and the producer/recorder. Really, I guess what I'm highlighting is the relationship between performer and listener. The real emotional value of a work is often revealed by the reactions of others.

PB: How do you feel about venturing over to the UK with the band?

RS: It's like returning home... again.

PB: Any plans for the rest of Europe?

RS: November... fingers crossed. I love Europe, and have never really made it to those northern reaches. If Voxtrot can play in Reykjavik, I will be thrilled.

PB: What's songwriting productivity like for Voxtrot? (IE: Pace of songwriting, searching for inspiration, refining, re-writing, how you get it done.)

RS: I have a daily regimen of writing at the University piano rooms near my house, and then doing guitar work in the afternoon. Well, most of the time.  Then we gather at three to run through everything. One thing I'm learning, or rather always knew but am enforcing, is that one can't force inspiration. If you try to be moved, you will not be able to budge forward.

PB: Last question, if Voxtrot could play a show with any musician or band(s), active or not, living or dead, who would that be?

RS: Paul McCartney, hands down.]]></description><author>ctr@closettrekkie.com (Paul Bredenberg)</author><pubDate>2006-07-24</pubDate></item><item><title>Asobi Seksu</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=147</link><description><![CDATA[
With press from coast to coast buzzing about their sophomore release, Citrus, Asobi Seksu seems poised to take on the world.  With lush, full forged walls of guitars, this NYC foursome have refined their shoegazer influences into a pop fanatics wet dream.  With a full US tour on the horizon, guitarist James Hanna took some time to answer a few questions I had for him about the album, the band, and the city they live in.

The band seems to be continuously growing into their sound, is that by design or are you guys just naturally tinkering with your music?

I would say it's been natural; we put a lot of effort into this record but never mad a conscious effort to go for a certain sound. We are pretty hash judges so a lot of songs were cut along the way. The main concern was that they were all songs we were proud of before we built them up and arranged them.

When the debut first started getting covered in the press did you guys worry about being pigeonholed as another My Blood Valentine worship band?

We really try not to think about things like that but the MBV comparisons are getting really played. I think writers are having a contest on Citrus to see who can name drop the more obscure dream pop band. Although I must say that the press has been surprisingly positive and usually pretty flattering.

What is the most freeing part about being in Asobi Seksu? And what is the most constricting part?

I need to be in band making this kind of music so I can't really see not being in Asobi Seksu or something else as an option. It's been a natural outgrowth of our personalities and influences. Yuki and I have been writing songs together for a while now and we pretty much feel like whatever we are into writing at the time is what Asobi Seksu's going to be.

Is it flattering to be compared to past shoegazer type bands, or does it frustrate you to be lumped in with a past scene?

I do love that stuff but we love a lot of other bands too, it's overblown. Somebody said that Lions and Tigers was a ride rip off, I know my Ride and if we have ever sounded like them it sure isn't on that song. Than again another gifted writer said that "Nefi and Girly" sounds like Banamarama, so maybe I need to spend less time on the internet!

Is writing lyrics in both English and Japanese a way to stand out or was it just a natural way to express yourself?

Both, we did it for fun and realized it set us apart later. It sets us apart but also alienates some people from us. Especially like when your relatives ask you your bands name and their like nodding "oh ok great" just cause they don't want to ask you to repeat it again.

Who would you guys love to tour with?

BJM, Spirirtualized, Stereolab, Mogwai

How do you guy envision the typical Asobi Seksu fan?  What other bands are they into, and what does their record collection look like?

Its weird cause we draw a pretty diverse crowd age wise, and its usually pretty good with the boy girl ratio, which is good because you don't want be a dude band. Unless you are playing extended psychedelic freakout guitar solos in which case your audience will be predominantly male.

How long have Yuki and yourself been working together?  Did it start before Asobi Seksu?

Not long before AS. I was in other bands and we were writing some stuff together casually that was better than the other stuff we were doing so, AS just evolved slowly from that.

With shoegazer the message of the music can easily be missed or misunderstood, is their any certain thing you are aiming to get across with your music?

Definitely not, the music suggests what it suggests there is certainly no agenda. The lyrics are just another part of the music they are no more important that anything else as far as we  are concerned.

Are there any big tour plans for the band?

We are going to be touring like mad starting in September across the US. The album is being licensed on a few overseas labels as well so hopefully that will bring some new touring with it.

New York is such a big city/big scene, do you guys have a core group of friends/bands, or is the scene pretty open?

I've always felt kinda alone in NYC, we have friends in bands and bands that we are friendly with for sure, but I have never feel like we fit into the NYC scene. It seems like everybody in NY are just stressed out and looking after themselves for the most part. This is certainly not an easy place to be a band. The high price of living and just the competitive nature of bookings and promoting make it sort of hard for there to be any feeling of cohesion amongst the bands.

Is there anything on Citrus, now that's out, that you wish you could change? 

Sure, I can't listen to it at all. I just obsess over details and kind of miss the whole when i hear it. So I just try and trust that we made a pretty good record and shut up about it.

What's the best restaurant in NYC?

Tomoe sushi on Thompson street, affordable and ridiculously good.]]></description><author>jake@indieworkshop.com (Jake Haselman)</author><pubDate>2006-07-19</pubDate></item><item><title>The Danforths</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=146</link><description><![CDATA[
Hey kids!  I'm back with a great new band for you to do the twist to!   From the mountain of coal that is Minneapolis, we've found another set of diamond headphones.  I'm not a real music reviewer, but I think if The Danforths would have been the opening band on that Flaming Lips / Beck tour, everyone would have gotten along.  
 
Nick Meiers - Have you seen any good movies lately? 
 
Chris Danforth – Yeah, I'm really into Italian horror movies form the 1970's. Jesus Franco is really great. But to be honest the most recent movie i just saw that i really enjoyed was a Ken Burns Documentary called Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.
 
NM - What albums are you currently spinning?
 
CD - 
- An Alan Lomax field recording from 1962 called Caribbean Voyage.
- The Ramones End of the Century
- O.M.D. Dazzle Ships and Junk Culture
- Colla Voche by Ernst Reijseger (he does sound tracks to Herzog documentaries). 
 
NM - Do you currently have any active magazine subscriptions? 

CD - Just my free subscription to TapeOp. 
 
NM - How is the Minneapolis music "scene" these days? 
 
CD - From what I hear it's doing just fine. Tapes and Tapes had a great year at SXSW (but everybody knows that!). There are a lot of inspiring bands right now doing some really strange and inventive things. Skoal Kodiak is currently tied with BFF on my list for must see/hear Twin Cities bands. 
 
NM - My pal J. Michael Ward mentioned Tapes and Tapes as if they were popular or there was some kind of buzz about them, but I've barely seen their name anywhere.  What is last show you went to?
 
CD - We practice above this metal bar in Lower Town St. Paul. Usually we head down to the bar after practice for a pint or a pounder of PBR. There is always live music there and we usually try and catch a couple of the bands. I can't recall any of their names, its mostly local hard rock and heavy metal acts. It's a hoot. 
 
NM - You're part of the Fargo contingent, no? 
 
CD - Yes I am. I moved to St. Paul in the summer of 2000. I am originally from the Twin Cities Metro but went to school and lived in Fargo for about 6-7 years. Fargo is a great place to learn about music and really is a comfortable, nurturing environment for the creative process. 
 
NM - I was at Moorhead State University in 1995/1996.  Were you around then?
 
CD - Yeah... I started school around then. I lived on the 7th floor of Nelson Hall, aka The Beer Can.
 
NM - Are you a member of the Fargo Street Hawks?  I heard they were 
number 2 behind Al Qeada on the government's watch list.

CD - Hmmm... I've been know to roll with The Hawks on occasion. But all Street Hawk questions really should be directed to Tom Kemmer, the drummer for The Danforths. 
 
NM - I don't mean to focus so much on Fargo, but what were some of the local bands around then?  Was Hammerhead still around?
 
CD - No, Hammerhead had already moved to Minneapolis and God Head Silo had just moved to Olympia. The bands that were playing back then were just local bands... very few even toured. But they all were really great... bands like the Sweet Hearts, The Trans Ams, and Orange 17. They all had their own sound and style. 
 
NM - Is your latest CD a Modern Radio release? 

CD - Yeah, a limited run of 200 were hand made and screen printed for modern radio. Plus, it was also put out on essay records.
 
NM - Do you write the songs and then bring the other guys in to help you perform them? 

CD - In the past that's how we did, but lately Neil and Tom have been bringing in ideas and we have all chipped in on the finish product. 
 
NM - Do you have any touring plans or aspirations for the future?
 
CD - We hope to get out on the road again real soon. We will probably head out east and someday, maybe head out to the northwest. 
 
[more on the The Danforths at www.essayrecords.com]
]]></description><author>nickdminor@gmail.com (Nick Meiers)</author><pubDate>2006-07-05</pubDate></item><item><title>Secretary</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=145</link><description><![CDATA[
Here is your internet introduction to the wonderful Paula the secretary, AKA Moist Paula of the band Moisturizer, and many other projects including the one woman creation known as … well… Secretary. If you don't already know her, of her, or you haven't seen her in action… you're missing out. Please take the time to read this interview and learn more about this multi-talented musical wonder-woman. Not only is she always dressed to the nine, she's also strapped with a saxophone, a sexy accent and a tractor trailer of talent. She may very well be the most interesting and talented person in this whole damn city (NYC).

ATS: So... You have how many musical/artistic projects going on at the moment? Tell me a little about them.

PAULA: Right now I'm in four committed relationships and have a couple on the side.

Moisturizer is the instrumental rock trio I started with Moist Gina Rodriguez 8 years ago; just bari sax, bass and drums.  We play out in New York about once a month and we have about 80 original tunes.  Part of the practically unlimited fun Moist Gina and I have with this band is that we always have a dress code. Over the years we have had some insane outfits, but my favorite was when we dressed as our native bears -- I was a koala, our former drummer Moist Tomoyo was a panda and Moist Gina was a North American brown bear. People find this band puzzling to classify because of the line-up; it's like Morphine but with no vocals, but much more upbeat.  We definitely rock out, even though we have no guitar or chordal instrument, but I'm mostly influenced by soul singers, funk & r&B.  We also love the songwriting of Burt Bacharach and I think he's been a big influence in our writing.  We rehearse twice a week in a reggae studio in Bed Stuy and I never want to play hookey.

I have a weekly gig in Williamsburg with the astonishing Reverend Vince Anderson -- every Monday we night we play wild gospel music at black betty until 2 in the morning.  I've been playing with The Rev for 9 years -- the band is made up of people I've been friends with the whole time I've lived in New York, so Monday night is family night.

Burnt Sugar, The Arkestra Chamber is an amazing musical experience on both sides of the conductor, Greg Tate.  There can be anywhere from 12 to 34 people on stage -- electric bass, stand up bass, 2 or 3 keyboard players, up to 8 horns, 5 vocalists, a couple of rappers, sometimes 3 guitarists, a string section and on some occasions a dance troupe. It's conducted improvised music and every show is a journey which can take up to two hours.  With this band I've had the opportunity to play at some amazing venues, including the Blue Note and The Apollo Theater.

And my latest project is a solo affair, Secretary. On New Years Day I figured out how to use GarageBand on my iBook and within 6 weeks I'd recorded an album. I just started burning CDs and printing out a little cover I made with some stolen clip art and giving them away to people.  The response was really great and I was offered a gig at the Urb Alt Festival at the Schomburg Center in Harlem.  At that time I had no idea how to present the material in a live setting, but serendipitously my friend Xaviera Simmons offered me the use of a gallery space downtown where she had made an installation and wanted to incorporate live music.  I went there every Saturday and worked out the live show and now I'm ready to take it to the stage.
( click here to see the indieworkshop review of secretary )

ATS: Will Moisturizer ever come out with an album?

PAULA: Oh God, I Really Hope So. 

ATS:  What would you say separates all these endeavors of yours? Meaning, how do you feel they differ in how you  express yourself through them and what you put into them?

PAULA: Each of the four projects I just mentioned expresses a very different side of my personality.  I even dress very differently for each band.  Like, I wouldn't wear Reverend Vince Anderson dress on a Moisturizer show. In Moisturizer I feel very athletic and powerful.  In live shows I move around a lot -- because there's no singing I'm blowing really hard for the whole set, the music is very intense and I usually am drenched with sweat and feel like I'm about to have a heart attack after the show.  I usually wear streamlined clothing and platform shoes or boots.

Reverend Vince Anderson's show is easier; our full band is a six piece, and while the band is very unique, the music is essentially American roots music. On most songs I'll play a simple horn part and then take a solo.  In this band I like to wear very bright colors and loose comfortable clothing.  Sometimes I take my shoes off.

Burnt Sugar is the high culture, sophisticated band. Because it's conducted there's a lot of standing and waiting for an instruction from the conductor.  I like to get very dressed up for this band but have been known to take off my shoes.

Strictly corporate attire is what I'm going for in Secretary.  I've worked part time for 7 years at a law firm as a legal secretary, and the hardest part of it for me (apart from getting there before noon!) is trying to dress like a proper secretary.  Now in my new music project I'm investigating Secretary outfits and I keep my hair really neat in a bun. For years I've been at odds with having a day job and I feel like my new project is about accepting it, saluting it and incorporating it into my creative life.  In fact the way I make the tracks in GarageBand incorporates an invention called Musical Typing which gives you a QERTY keyboard to play your software instruments on. So all of the music includes saxophone blowing and typing.  It makes me feel very integrated.

ATS: What is your definition of the perfect night?

PAULA: That's easy because I just had it.  Last Friday I played with Burnt Sugar at the Apollo Theater.  I arrived around 6 for sound check, hung out with different combinations of the 20 or so band members backstage (at the Apollo!), went for a walk in Harlem & got some West Indian food, came back, watched some of the other acts on the bill from the wings (at the Apollo!), played our set on this incredible stage where so many of my heroes have performed for decades, mingled at the party (this show was part of an awards ceremony and the party was very glamorous), then after it was all over went with a a bunch of people who'd performed on the bill and took over the top floor of Amy Ruth's, a soul food place in Harlem and ate chicken & waffles til 3 in the morning.  Not very sex & drugs & rock n roll, I know, but I felt completely fulfilled.  Falling in love would have been the icing on the cake, but that doesn't, of course, happen every week.

ATS: OK finish this sentence: 
If I found a jellyfish in my cup of tea_________________

PAULA: I would switch to coffee

ATS:  What do you think is the hardest part of balancing all these things
that you do?

PAULA: Making sure I get enough sleep and enough money.  I do make some money from playing music, which I'm grateful for, but it's not enough to eke out a living, which is why I have my secretary job.  But I guess most women my age have a family to contend with, which is probably much more demanding than playing in half a dozen bands, and many of those women have to go to a day job too, so I try not to indulge in self pity. But of course, like everybody, I wish I had more time -- really I wish that playing music was the only job I had.  Like, if I had to go to a 7-hour rehearsal 5 days a week, that would be GREAT.

ATS:  What's your most embarrassing moment? (I mean, one you haven't forever erased from your mind due to trauma)

PAULA: Many years ago Moisturizer played at Arlene's Grocery -- I think it was our fourth show, so it must have been 1998 or early '99.  We were playing with this band Gunga Din which was very popular at the time and the place was packed.  There was a staircase leading down to a dressing room near the stage, so we planned that Moist Gina and Moist Tomoyo would go out ahead of me and play the intro to the first song and I would enter via the staircase.  So they were out there playing, I walked up the stairs with my saxophone wearing a gold superhero outfit and when I got to the top of the stairs I bumped into the banister and knocked the top of my saxophone off.  The neck just
snapped.  So after my grand entrance up the staircase I had to walk up to the mic, ask if anyone had any gum, stand on stage trying to fix my fucking saxophone with chewed gum in front of 150 expectant people.  I seem to remember attempting to fix it with a rubber band in silence for a few minutes before I asked the sound person to put the house music back on.  It didn't work.  I ended up going downstairs and Bill Bronson from Gunga Din brought gaffa tape and taped the whole thing together.  We went back on and played 4 songs with my saxophone sounding like shit and for years people would say to me, yeah, I've seen your band, I saw you at Arlene's Grocery.  You guys were great.

ATS: I know it's too hard to answer those 'who/what's your favorite....' Questions so instead of that, what music have you found yourself listening to lately?

PAULA: No question, my latest fave is Keziah Jones.  I'm late to discover his 2003 album, Black Orpheus, but it's one of my favorite records ever.  Keziah moved here not long ago from Lagos, London & Paris, where he has a great career.  I met him a couple of times and checked out his stuff on myspace and was amazed how good it was.  I bought the album and was blown away. I listen to it almost every day and walk around New York with his songs in my head.  I was siked when we asked him to do a solo spot at a Moisturizer show recently and he said yes.  He was a completely amazing performer and it was a beautiful night in Moisturizer history.   Also on the bill was a local band called Faith which I love.  Faith has been playing around NewYork for many years and I can't believe they're not hugely famous.  Felice the vocalist can sing like Nina Simone and the music is kind of dubbed out heavy rock.

ATS: Also... I know you're a bookworm/geek like me. Which have you read lately?

PAULA: Well, as you know I've been on an Augusten Burroughs craze -- LOVE HIM.  This year I've been reading books by a lot of young American writers, people around my age living in or around New York.  "The Divine Husband" by Francisco Goldman is a fiction masterpiece; "Breaking Open The Head" by Daniel Pinchbeck is a great book about the psychedelic botany of shamanism; Livingroom Johnston writes edgy Bronx & Brooklyn novellas and sells them out of a briefcase, but recently had his first novel "I Don't Want to Think About It Right Now" published through Magic Propaganda Mill, and Augusten, well, I just can't get enough.

ATS: Other than the above mentioned, do you have any other hobbies/pastimes?

PAULA: I love yoga and there's a yoga studio I would go to every day if I had time, but lately I'm so busy I'm lucky if I can go once or twice a week.  So I do a mini yoga routine at home each morning, which helps make me late for work.

ATS: You're one hell of a snappy dresser and you look 1/4 of your age, what's your damn secret?

PAULA: Moisturizer!!

ATS: damn, I should have known that! Ok so…. If you magically could change from yourself to some inanimate object, at will, what would that object be?

PAULA: Limousine.

ATS: Any particular reason?

PAULA: Hmmm.  It's not like I've always wanted to be one.  I just had a dream about being in one a couple of nights ago, which I really liked and the image stayed with me very strongly.  It was the first thing that popped in my head when I read the question; I guess it somehow symbolizes abundance and getting from place to place in luxury and comfort.  In the dream the limo was being driven by one of the lawyers I used to work for and she took me to this fantastic gourmet deli with the most delicious freshly baked bread ever.  It was a giant loaf and you just tore off as much as you wanted.  I tore off a big soft piece and also put fish and eggs in my basket.  I'm sure this dream means I'm about to really, really rich. 

ATS:  What are your main goals you'd love to reach someday?

PAULA: To make my entire living as a musician and to have to travel all over the world as part of my job.

ATS: What event(s) in your life do you think have shaped you the most?

PAULA: The list is long, but I'd have to put moving from Australia to New York at the top.  I come from the most isolated city in the most isolated country in the world and have lived in New York for 13 years but still feel excited to be in the thick of humanity.

ATS: What was it like for you making that transition from Australia to New York City?

PAULA: Well, I moved here twice and both times it was fantastic.  The first time I came was only for 10 days and I was dying for more so just over a year later I came back intending to stay for 2 months.  I ended up staying 2 years, abandoning my kitties and my band in Australia and replacing them with a husband in New York.  The husband and I finally went to Australia and stayed for 4 years, during which I was hopelessly homesick for New York every minute. So when I finally came back it was like this giant homecoming.  I remember glimpsing the city out the window of the plane and being beside myself with joy, crying.  On the Belt Parkway, or whatever that thing is called that you ride on from the airport, I looked at every person in every car like I was gazing at the long lost faces of my own flesh & blood.  I moved to Chinatown, which is one of the most fun neighborhoods on earth to live in (the other one is Fort Greene), worked secretary jobs and found people to play music with.   I've always been lucky with music in this city.  When I lived here in 1990 and 1991, I played in some punk  and art bands -- Lubricated Goat and Motherhead Bug.  I kind of got off the plane and marched right onto the stage at CBGBs, which was exciting at the time.  The last time I came back in 1995, one of the first bands I landed a gig was James Chance & The Contortions, which was quite an incredible experience.  I played with James for a couple of years and I think a lot of people gave me gigs on the basis of that connection.  I did answer a lot of ads in the Musicians Wanted section of the newspaper and had some funny experiences as a result. I once played in this all female band called Goldie & The Gingerbreads which was a reformed 60s all girl band with a bunch of older lesbian ladies.  We played at Le Bar Bat and I met Buddy Miles.   I met Reverend Vince Anderson through an ad -- he'd placed an ad for a drummer in a band called Leopold & Stange's Jangletown, who said they liked Nick Cave and Tom Waits.  I thought they sounded like fun (funny name!) so I called them and asked them if they'd settle for bari sax.  That was in 1996, and the Rev is still settling for it.  But I still wanted my own band.  In Australia for a short time I had this band called Modesty Panel with two other girls, Miriam and Jenny Pineapple, which was bari sax, tenor sax and drums, a kind of punk rock jazz thing.  We used to busk in the street and make a ton of money -- Australia has $1 and $2 coins and they add up fast!  I wanted to make a band like that when I moved to New York, all girls, drums & two saxes.  I used to put ads week after week in the New York Press and nobody ever responded, and then I just forgot about it.  Then I met this German woman when I was a cocktail waitress in Tribeca who'd had a burlesque club called Blue Light Lounge.  She found out I played bari sax and asked me to put an all girl trio together for her new burlesque club.  I'd met Moist Gina in a band I played in for a short time in '96 called Koolade and wanted to do it with her and Jaleel, the original drummer of that band (and now the drummer of TV on the Radio), but the German woman was adamant that it should be all girls.  I was having trouble finding a hot girl drummer (obviously the drummer had to be hot) and was standing in Max Fish one night ruminating on the problem when I realized that Tomoyo, a beautiful Japanese girl I'd known since I first moved to New York and who was standing in front of me, used to bang a timbale in Motherhead Bug. I asked her if she wanted to do it.  She said she couldn't play the drums but she'd try it.  She, Moist Gina and I went into a studio that week & instantly made up the first two Moisturizer songs.  We went to check out the new Blue Light Lounge and all
unanimously decided we hated burlesque and that was the beginning of all the Moistness. 

ATS:  Who would you love to meet/work with that you haven't already?

PAULA: Well, right now I'm fantasizing about working with Keziah Jones, who I mentioned earlier.  I used to want to run away with George Clinton & the P-Funk Allstars until I met them when I was playing with TV on the Radio opening for them at BAM.  George Clinton is my all time musical hero, but being in proximity to that band made me realize it's not for me.   I'd actually like to have more opportunities to work with TV on the Radio because they're brilliant and they're my friends.  Same with The Dirty Three.  I sat in with them a few times when they were starting out in a corner pub in Melbourne, but now that they've come such a long way I'd like to jump in with them at one of their illustrious international sell out concerts. The Roots -- love them, and I did have the opportunity to blow with them once; it was amazing, I want to do it again.  Mos Def.  Martin Luther.  Cody Chesnutt.  I could really go on and on.  Basically if I hear or see a band I like, I can't help wanting to join, if only for a day. And Andre 3000.

ATS: Ok... Now the skinny. Where can all our readers get more info on how to hear your work, see your shows... Learn more about what's coming up for you? 

PAULA: On the world wide web!  The Moisturizer website is at  moisturizer.tv and you can join the Moist Mailing List right there.

And of course, myspace -- I have three profiles:

moisturizer on myspace 
secretary on myspace 
personal myspace page 
and

ATS:  Anything else you'd like to add?

PAULA: Being a Secretary is really not so bad.  But being a rockstar is MUCH MORE FUN.]]></description><author>the.ats@gmail.com (Amanda Spadaccini)</author><pubDate>2006-06-12</pubDate></item><item><title>Rocket Surgery</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=144</link><description><![CDATA[Rocket Surgery is Joel Kennedy and Mark Ludas. As a mathematical equation it would have at least 4 square roots, some sine and a little bit of a velocity equation in there... in other words, they create a fun and beautiful mixture of scientific sound and flyaway thoughts complete with cool artwork and a strong artistic work ethic. These guys are truly dedicated to moving ahead and trying whatever new things come their way. I'm hoping through this interview, and an upcoming review of their self-released album that some of you out there will take the time to check them out on your own. 

They can be reached at: deltasource@gmail.com 
and you can get their CD by email ordering it for $6 at the above email address

ATS:  Tell me a little about yourselves, where you grew up, where you are now, what your other musical endeavors have been and side projects you might have etc. 

Joel: I grew up in quite a few different places, namely Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina and New Jersey. I spent my adolescent years in NJ, and that's where I started performing – by myself and in a high school rock band. I met Mark in high school as well - he was leaving the high school rock band just as I was joining it actually. We would jam, and that was the start of our musical relationship. I did solo stuff for a while, and still write/record in that vein occasionally, but am most focused on Rocket Surgery. As far as where I've been as a musician – I appreciate epic or exaggerated music – things with feeling but also with irony. As far as where I'm trying to grow as a musician – I'm interested in understanding polyrhythm better on both an intellectual and biological/non-thinking level, and being able to improvise in an unrestricted way. I'm very interested in what Milford Graves does and his understanding of this.

ATS: Milford graves the um.. 60's jazz drummer?

JOEL: Yeah – he's still alive and well. He teaches up at Bennington College, where I went for a couple years, so I got a chance to study with him a bit there. He's doing really awesome stuff, like studying the polyrhythmic & musical aspects of heartbeats, and relating that to drumming and healing. Listening to him perform live is an inspiring experience – the polyrhythm he creates is incredibly fluid and organic. I would love to study with him again.

MARK: I grew up in Middletown New York for eleven years before moving due to a job transfer to Upton, Massachusetts, where lots of bad people live, and thence to Montclair New Jersey , where my musical existence really began. I have been living in Montclair for eight years now, and I hope to soon live in Brooklyn (like everybody else hopes) or Jersey City, but away from home is where I want to be right now. I have been playing the drums since I was eight when my Dad sat me on his knee behind our Gretsch four-piece drumkit and taught me my first rhythm, which was, of course, the rock-and-roll rhythm. Rocket Surgery allows me to create as a drummer more than any other of my past bands, although I have loved something about all of them. Presently, I am extremely interested in exploratory improvisational music in the style of Miles Davis's fusion jazz period, or Ornette Coleman's Free jazz period. At some point or another, I want to have a side-project, perhaps just for fun, called Insanity or maybe Klitschko Insanity (named after my favorite boxer) in which myself and some extremely talented and expressive musicians (Joel, you're invited) get up on stage and improvise something completely insane, mind-blowing, loud, energetic, and amazing.

ATS: Sounds cool. Ok so…  What's behind the name 'Rocket Surgery'?

MARK: Paper… mwahaha. Usually. Sometimes, CD-Rs. What's behind something on a computer screen? You tell me! Microns?

ATS:  Ok ok I get it. No but really did you know David Lee Roth was recently quoted as using the term 'rocket surgery' instead of rocket science? And actually someone from iw.com pointed this out: "To me, it's not rocket surgery. It's very simple to put together. And as far as hurt feelings and water under the dam, like what's-her-name says to what's-her-name at the end of the movie ' Chicago' -- 'So what? It's showbiz!' So I definitely see it happening."

JOEL: Well of course we didn't invent the term. That'd be crazy talk. You can find a pretty good definition + citations at http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/rocket_surgery/ I like it because it's goofy and to be totally boring, it implies on one hand the dissemination of us as an organic species, and on the other the dissection of us as an organic species. Also it's goofy. 

MARK: It has an interesting image, people say.
 
JOEL: It's self-deprecatingly pretentious. And it sounds cool. p.s. Retro-rock is out? Futuro-rock, that's us?

ATS. When you get ready to make music, or are thinking about it.. What's your ultimate goal? What kind of goals do you set for yourself when you start working on a new song or project?
 
JOEL: Things aren't usually planned out beforehand – songs arise out of improvising together and coming up with something that strikes well, or something one of us brings to the table that comes out of a strong feeling. After the initial energy of the sketch is laid out, we work on making it as interesting as possible, fine-tune it. The best songs often seem to come out of us having a really great sort of musical/emotional dialogue, and experimenting with different things, like vocal techniques. It's awesome. Some practices are totally crazy and can never happen again the same way, but they're very very very happy things. 

MARK: I may just be repeating Joel, but when I am creating something, I don't have a set goal for it because I am in the process of creating it which means that there is feeling and passion going into it, and to think about the goal of expressing feeling or emotion while doing it distracts me from those feelings and emotions and passions and shit. When we are just freely making music, creating and arranging at the same time, and nothing else exists except for the music and not even my body exists, okay, maybe that is what I want to have present in all the music that I create: that sense of infinity that goes along with the suspension of mind and body. There is absolutely nothing like it. That can't be pre-conceived or contrived, or "hoped" into the music. It must be organic.

ATS:   If you had to choose between being a squid or a starfish, which would you be? Why?

MARK: I think I would be a starfish, because while they are weak and immobile (most of the time) no other fishes want to kill them.

ATS. Where do you play shows? Where would you like to play? Who would you like to play shows with?

JOEL: We play shows, at venues and houses, with other bands that'd like to play with us mostly. Sometimes we play art collective type shows, which are often the most fun. My favorite show is the Brooklyn Art Collective, because there are a lot of people and they really get into us. I would like to play wherever we're welcome, and where people enjoy going. We really liked playing with Leaders at Glasshouse. We just played in Philly at Danger Danger House and that was quite grand. We'd love to play with Time of Orchids, and we're in the process of organizing a show with them now. It's hard to find a niche. Hmm… we need bigger shows. It'd be really cool to play with Ratatat, Hella, or The Fucking Champs, or Dillenger Escape Plan. Playing with the reunited Kraftwerk or Os Mutantes someday would be dreamy. I really love the Tzadik and Ipapac scenes. Hopefully our music can be interpreted in a few different ways, song by song, and this will lead to variety in opportunities and interest in us as far as live stuff & label relations (we hope!) go. Pop is at the core of some songs. And at the core of others, pop is not. Wait am I Yoda?

MARK: We've played in all the boroughs except for Bronx and queens, and I would love to play either of them. I especially love, as Joel does, playing to a bunch of artists with no abandon or care about anything except what they are immersed in. I also like playing to people who watch us intently. Such was the case at Otto's Shrunken Head, and it makes me feel like the music is being studied and thought about. I would like to play with Sharks with Wings, The Redcoats are Coming, and the Beatles.
ATS. Are you shopping around for a label?

JOEL: God yes. We need financial backing to finish our full length, and we have a bunch of new songs we'd love to record. We need the distribution and promotion as well – so that more people at least have the chance to know our stuff exists.

MARK: You bet your booties, Grandma. A label would be sweeter than your Aunt Christine's butter cookies.

ATS. What music/bands have you been listening to in the past few weeks? 

JOEL: I've been listening to earlier Butthole Surfers, Finger 5 (Japanese equivalent of Jackson 5), Christian rock from my childhood, Daniel Johnston, Messaien… and that's all I can think of right now. 
 
MARK: Can, a little Faust, Os Mutantes, Caetano Veloso, John Coltrane, Erik Satie, Holst, and Kool Keith.

ATS. Ideally what would you want to be doing in 5 years?
 
JOEL: Making awesome music, understanding many more things. Writing music for animated videos (hint)?
 
MARK: Feeling the effects of being five years wiser. Also, living a wholly creative life, with lots of love and happiness.

ATS. Do you consider music to be more emotional, or more calculating? 

JOEL: It seems like a lot of the best music is both. One can be emotional about their calculations or calculative about their emotions… but er, yeah I'd say that music is inherently both, although if one was to venture into purely one or the other, I'd definitely go emotional – where the calculation, if there is any, is subconscious. 

MARK: I consider music more emotional, but it requires a certain humbleness to be so, to find emotion within you that bears expression, and yet sometimes merely expressing it is not enough because it is not as easily understood or accepted, as in insane jamming, and then calculation is needed. But I also feel that calculation can be done while one is expressing, particularly while drumming, and as soon as the calculation is made, the emotion is allowed to come out more freely.

ATS. If the song 'eyes in the walls' suddenly turned into an animal, what animal would that be?

JOEL: The human animal. An ape.
 
MARK: it would be a large ram, with those cool horns. Possibly part machine, if possible.

ATS: I like Mark's answer more. Because of the horns.

JOEL: Dammit.

ATS. If you suddenly turned into an animal, what animal would you be? 

JOEL: I would be a lynx. Possibly a sting-ray. Quite possibly a blue whale. There are too many to choose from. Or a… I forget the name but I saw it on TV once. I'd like to live in the sea, under the desert, or in a forest.

MARK: An egret, a rabbit, or perhaps a dinosaur.

ATS. What sort of things get on your nerves?

JOEL: I'd sound like an asshole if I told you honestly (it has nothing to do with this interview though if that sounded implied). I guess feeling like I'd be an asshole if I told people what pissed me off is one of the things that pisses me off the most.

MARK: Feeling like everything important in my life is happening on the same day, feeling like I have to give up all my time to one thing or another, feeling like I can't decide, and wanting things that SEEM out of reach, when I know they actually aren't.

ATS. Anything you want to add? 

JOEL: Don't litter, brush your teeth, stay in school.
 
MARK: It is the claimant's responsibility to stipulate the necessary admonitions as imposed by the court.
 
 P.S. You can check out rocket surgery and some music samples (and message them for info on getting a cd at: their myspace page ]]></description><author>the.ats@gmail.com (Amanda Spadaccini)</author><pubDate>2006-06-06</pubDate></item><item><title>Finlay</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=143</link><description><![CDATA[Why do all the best interviews take place on park benches? Christ knows. But I shared a glorious, if slightly chilly, afternoon on a park bench outside the Railway Pub, just down the steps out of Waterloo Station, with Finlay. Finlay, the band to whom the term ‘major label' means potential creative destruction, preferring instead to work at their own speed, in their own habitat of East London and gigging whenever they feel like it. Arty? No. Pretentious? No. Capable of rendering your bollocks internal organs after one show? Oh cripes, yes. 

I met up with Anamik, Giles and later Chris from the band to talk in-depth about the perils of those major labels, Mariah Carey and old women falling over. 

IW: According to Piccadillyrecords.com, readers should buy Finlay's new album if they like Sonic Youth, Pavement and Yo La Tengo. Reactions?

Anamik Saha (Drums): Yeah, that's fairly standard, lazy journalism! Obviously with the first record [2003's ‘I Dreams and Visions' on Fortuna Pop Records] that was made quite apparent. And yeah, we listened to all those bands when we were teenagers. We get that a lot, and it's correct, it's accurate, but I think with the second album [‘The Fall of Mary', released April 2006 on Fortuna Pop] we've developed something we feel comfortable with, something unique to us. 

IW: How else do you think you've progressed between the two albums, apart from being much bigger in sound?

AS: With the first one we weren't really that experienced in the studio, and it was a whole mish-mash of styles. Basically, that was a mix of stuff we did at Truck Studios in Oxfordshire and stuff we recorded at home as well. 

Giles Littleford (Bass): On the eight-track, was it? Or the four-track? 

AS: Yeah, really tinny four-track stuff. Fortuna Pop got in touch with us while we were recording, and we didn't have the resources to go into a proper studio. Then we pretty much pieced it all together, songs we were working on, songs we already had. With this album, we became really interested in production. So after ‘I Dreams And Visions' we stopped gigging and started thinking about recording techniques and where we could do it. We started recording it at home, but then we met this great guy called Simon Trought, from Tompaulin and various other bands. His studio, Soup Studios, was ideal because it was cheap and it was round the corner from where we lived. He was on exactly the same wavelength as us. We'd been burning studios, we'd experienced recording in a fucking shed with two nutters. One time these two guys approached us after a gig and said ‘can we record you', and it was a fucking plush studio, fucking awesome place if you're Embrace! It just made us sound like Genesis. Anyways, I found this amazing book called Tape Op [edited by Larry Crane]. Do you know it?

IW: Sorry… 

AS: This is really sad (laughs)! It's dedicated to music production, but more experimental, innovative, interesting stuff as opposed to the usual ‘high-end' kind of stuff. Check it out on Amazon! It's got interviews with Sonic Youth…

GL: Built To Spill…

AS: …and all these weird bedroom-type producers. And they talk about Steve Albini, of course. So we decided we were going to take our time recording this album, we're not particularly ambitious, we just wanted to do something… yeah… bigger. 

GL: It's made the recording sound a bit more coherent, in that we recorded it all in the same place. 

AS: It was a really cool space and that totally, totally helped. If we hadn't have found that place it wouldn't have sounded the same. And it was fucking cheap!

IW: Were you frightened by the heritage of Simon Trought, seeing as he produced Television Personalities and Comet Gain, among others? 

AS: Man, you should meet him! He's the least intimidating guy, he's just a really sound bloke.

GL: He was really sweet. I think he'd heard our records before and was a bit scared. He said he really liked what we were doing, and we were like, ‘oh shit!'

AS: ‘Cos we didn't like what we were doing! (laughs)

IW: So you didn't like the sound of the first record?

AS: Oh God, man, I really love the first album! I would have changed it. If I could go back, I would do it differently. I think it's definitely poppier than the new one. But the thing with Simon was that he was just starting out as well, so we learnt a lot of stuff from each other as well. And Adam [singer/songwriter/guitarist, doesn't like doing interviews] is pretty much the crucial factor here. Obviously we all contribute but he is, for want of a better word, the leader. But at the same time, he's the most disorganised and probably the most aloof about the music! Me and Giles probably daydream about it, about the band and the record, but you get the impression that Adam's like '…shit, yeah, the record'! I think he was really reluctant to go into the studio because…

IW: He has a four-track ethic?

AS: Exactly! And he's got everything in his head, he knows how he wants it to sound and he's never really had the chance to explore that. We had a great time in Truck Studios in Oxfordshire [where the band's debut was recorded], but at the same time I got the impression that Adam wasn't that happy. But this time, Simon allowed him to have that space. There were some really surreal moments. The middle bit on Mary IV [nine-minute epic from the new album], Adam had conceived the whole theme. I would have liked to have thought that it would be improvised, but it wasn't at all. He knew specifically how it was going to go, there was this surreal moment where we had about five tracks of feedback and he was really meticulously pulling them in and out. And I'm like, 'what the hell? I can't even hear it!' But Adam was there for hours…

GL: Conducting white noise!

AS: It's funny because, out of all of us, he probably has the least ambition. I mean, we at least daydream about it, but Adam's never had that interest in being a star. 

IW: So in that respect, would you say that Fortuna Pop is the perfect label for you?

AS: Absolutely. 

IW: Do you feel at home there? There are some alt-rock bands on there, but it is famed for being a bit twee…

AS: Yeah… I had this conversation with Sean [Fortuna Pop boss], and he thinks he has quite an eclectic roster. And it's true – if you look at stuff like Butterflies of Love and Cannonball Jane, and then it goes all the way to the indie-pop end. And in that sense he's right, it is pretty diverse. We have such a great relationship with Sean, I wish we could sell him some more records! But he really is doing it from the heart. He doesn't make money from it, he doesn't put records out to make money, which is kind of stupid! (laughs). You've got to admire him for it.

GL: I don't know if he's running at a loss, or just breaking even…

AS: I think certain things have done really well for him. Butterflies of Love really helped out. We kind of harboured ambitions of being on a slightly bigger label, and we even had a brief meeting with City Slang records, which didn't work out. But they were really into it, which makes you feel really positive about everything. I don't know what would have happened of we'd signed to City Slang, because I don't think we could really have committed. I mean, you'd give up your day job to do it, wouldn't you Giles?

GL: Yeah. I think at that stage we would have. We were in a really good position. 

AS: Right now, I wouldn't. All of us are involved in stuff we really enjoy outside the band. 

IW: What do you all do for a living?

AS: Giles is a designer, I'm doing a PhD at Goldsmiths College. Lorna's got an amazing job, she works for a photography archive. Adam's a lawyer! (laughs) And Chris works in the city (laughs even more). I think Chris is the other person who would drop everything to go on tour. 

GL: We're all a bit grown-up, we've all got quite decent jobs.

AS: I've got a nice little life, man!

GL: And I don't really want to spend too much time away from home. 

IW: I read that you supported Death Cab For Cutie?

AS: Yeah, they played at the fucking Dublin Castle [tiny Camden venue]! 

GL: It was one of their first shows when Fierce Panda, brought them over. I like to think it was them supporting us!

AS: That was probably one of the best gigs we ever played. There was a queue going all the way to the end of the street. That was our most packed gig ever!

IW: Finlay-mania?

GL: Probably not for us…

AS: Back then we were between controlled chaos and just… absolute chaos. 

IW: So you've gotten more controlled as you've gone on?

AS: Yeah, you see, it's because we don't practice! But with the last few gigs that we've done something's clicked with us all. We're playing so much better, which is ironic because we're not gigging as much. 

GL: Maybe because we actually focus, we play a bit slower! And we're slightly podgier… 

AS: Exactly, we can't bounce off the walls like we used to! 

IW: I saw you play in Chichester a couple of years back, and one of your guitar players used the curvature of the ceiling to play his guitar…

Both: That was Adam!

AS: He did that at the Brixton Windmill the other day, kinda climbed on the PA… Yeah, I don't know where he gets it from! He confuses me, just because he clearly loves doing it when you see him on stage… this isn't an issue, by the way! It's just that he clearly really fucking enjoys it, he puts everything into it. The last gig we played, he was so enigmatic. Basically me and Farmboy [Giles] organise the gigs and everything else so that Adam can just turn up. And even then, sometimes he doesn't! (laughter). 

GL: It's not a case of him relaxing… I don't know if any of it would happen unless we arranged it so he could just turn up and do it. 

AS: I think he's a fucking genius, but at the same time… (laughter). 

IW: The other live element that people seem to talk about is Lorna, your keyboardist, and how bored she looks on stage. 

AS: Yeah, that's quite a funny contrast… I think she genuinely is bored! When we first gigged as a three-piece, we were about eighteen I think. We realised when we gigged that we should try and fill out our sound. So I literally just called a couple of mates, like Lorna, who we hung out with. And she was playing with us a couple of weeks later. I don't think she ever had any aspirations to be in a band. But I'm guessing she has fun. And at the same time looks really bored! 

IW: So half your band can't be bothered to be there?

AS: It's a perfect dynamic, because we've never had any stress from it, and we've put out two albums, we've played a show in the states, we've toured around here, it's fucking brilliant! When I started I always said I just want to be able to release a 7-inch single, and we've done it! So everything else has been a bonus. 

IW: You played in America? 

AS: Yeah, it was a show in Boston through some bands we know out there. It was great. 

GL: Kind of like a holiday with a gig in the middle. 

AS: They seemed to like to like our English stylings… 

GL: We would have liked to have played in New York. 

IW: Explain what you mean when your press release says you have 'minimal commitment'.

AS: Not spending any time away from home. 

Guitarist Chris telephones Anamik at this point… 

AS: …what was I saying? Oh yeah. The thing about The Fall Of Mary was that we, without sounding pretentious…

GL: Well, we're all getting a bit more involved in our jobs and stuff.

AS: Yeah. I think right at the beginning, gigging excited us. Developing that element of the bad was the most exciting and most natural to us. We felt that we could do it well. But then, when you've got the kind of commitment we have, you can be quite selfish about what we like doing and what we don't like doing. We haven't got a label saying 'oh, you've got to go and promote yourselves'. Which is cool. The Fall Of Mary came at precisely the point where we were kind of like, the live thing's great, but this way we can explore this other thing, actually produce some music. Before, it was just about going into the studio and trying to capture the live sound. But we've got more depth than that, I think. So this recording, we took our time over it. It was great being able to do it at our own pace. We weren't burdened by other stuff that comes from being in a band. We're going to be gigging more this summer… it's nice, the way things are going at the moment. 

GL: It isn't a full-time thing. We can still kind of get shows when we want to play, so I guess it's just not having that pressure to do something. It makes it more enjoyable. 

AS: To be honest, I really want to work this album. I'm really proud of it and I want people to hear it. I think we've gone off the radar a bit because we took a year and a half off. But it's been getting brilliant reviews. Some of those songs were recorded about two years ago, so I've got no perspective on it! 

IW: Do you think it'll be the same for any further albums? Are you going to take more time off? 

AS: I don't know, I'm kind of inspired by the way all the Fortuna Pop guys go about things, because…

GL: No-one seems to stress about taking two years off.

AS: It really is… this sounds incredibly pretentious… it really is for the art. And I don't know, if we took three years off and did a gig… I wouldn't expect anything! (laughter) I expect Sean's sick of having boxes of Finlay CDs. 

GL: I went to his birthday party on Friday, had a few beers with him and a chat with his Fortuna Pop entourage. Sean was actually feeling quite guilty about not doing more, press-wise, not pushing it as much. Previously we had our mate, now good friend, Emma Hogan who works at Stone Immaculate and has done press for Sonic Youth and Belle and Sebastien. She really liked it, she gave the impression that it was a bit of a pleasure for her. I don't know whether they would have formally taken us on. 

AS: I don't think we made her much money. I think that sort of thing sums up our relationship with the label, where the label manager is apologising to us and we're apologising to him! 

IW: Would you say that you're better off being in an independent band nowadays, so you can have that freedom? 

AS: Man, we knew from the outset! I read too much Steve Albini! But in the first year there was a real buzz about us, we had Universal and Parlophone calling us up. I can understand how that sell-out attitude can be a bit naïve, but seriously, we could have done whatever the fuck we wanted. Like I said, we were doing it just because we really loved doing it. Maybe Adam's indifference is the reason why we're still here, ironically! 

GL: Quite a few people comment about Adam and the way that he sings, the way he can be compared to the Pavement lo-fi thing. He sometimes kind of deliberately screws up some of the tunes. The way he does stuff in the first take, deliberately veers off. 

AS: Yeah, you could do some really bad cod-psychotherapy on him, because it is kind of a front. The thing with the new album, I don't know if people have picked up on it, is that he's definitely thought more about the words. He's expressed them and articulated them properly. But even then, he'll do that and have a really annoying guitar part in the background. Chris's guitar parts in Mary IV, God man! I had to listen to that over and over again while we were mixing it. But the guitar part is deliberately really atonal off-notes. I think that was Adam feeling a little uneasy with the sugariness of the melody, and wanting to fuck it up. Before, he would have done it by singing off-key and hiding the words.

GL: He does that a lot, he does smudge the edges, roughs it up a bit, deliberately chucks in a few bum notes. There are some vocals on there that possibly could have been done again…

AS: This is a bit of a sore point for Giles!

GL: No, not at all! But if he's happy with it…

AS: Good soldier, Giles. 

IW: There's an unreleased instrumental track on your website called Club Series. It's much more textured and clean-sounding than most of your other work. Care to discuss?

AS: There are two versions of it, actually. The one you heard, Giles really loves it, but Adam didn't like it. We did an alternative version which was much more stripped-down. There were a lot of effects on the other one. 

IW: There's some mad screaming at the end, I recall…

GL: That's a case in point for Adam, have a really lovely instrumental melody, then he has to scream over it. 

AS: We did that live few times… I don't know why we didn't do anything with it. Why wasn't it a B-Side to Home [single from I Dreams And Visions]? Have you heard the B-Side to Home? I think Sean said it's pretty much the worst thing he'd ever heard in his entire life.

GL: Sean wanted a B-Side for the single and kind of trusted us, thinking we must have something. 

AS: And we didn't have anything. Adam literally wrote it as he recorded it [performs explanatory mime, to much laughter]. 

GL: It is the worst thing ever. Sean didn't hear it until he got it back from the pressing plant.

AS: I think Club Series suggests where we were going, because The Fall Of Mary has kind of got that big, ambitious…

GL: I think it's kind of different, almost like a post-rock experiment. And it sounds a lot lusher than anything we've recorded. Maybe that's just because of the instruments. When we add the vocals, everything tends to get… mushed up. But when it's just the raw guitars, it actually sounds really nice. 

AS: It's interesting you say that, I'd honestly forgotten about it. Adam has said actually, I don't know if he means with Finlay, but he wants to do something a lot looser, more experimental…

IW: Do you think it's fair to say that Theme (penultimate track on I Dreams And Visions) might as well have been put on The Fall Of Mary?

AS: Yeah, that's absolutely true. 

GL: That was kind of a live favourite.

AS: Obviously Adam's into a lot of post-rock, but we also really dig the straight-up pop. We try to fuse the two. I think on the first album it doesn't work – please don't get me wrong, I really like it! But I think you'll have a song that follows that style, then a song that follows the other style. I think the new album is more successful at fusing them. Like on Phantasmagoria, it's quite poppy, but then there's a mental ending. We had to pull ourselves back a bit from mental endings. 

IW: Are you writing new material at the moment?

AS: We wrote a song the other day actually, we did it live. It was really good. We could give Adam a call now… At the moment we're concentrating… just concentrating! (much laughter). 

GL: I remember that Chichester gig now, and the drive down. There was this beautiful stretch of road, winding down beautifully. And Chris wanted to stop to take a piss. It was really scenic, this sweeping valley, and there's Chris having a piss. 

AS: That was a good gig though. Help She Can't Swim [support band now signed to Fantastic Plastic Records] were genius. They're great, fucking brilliant. Really nice guys. They were first on the bill, man!

GL: How things change!

AS: But that suits us. I like to be one of those bands that people discover. You can create a stronger relationship with people. 

GL: I always like bands to look older, actually. Who look about thirty! (laughter)

AS: That's the exact opposite to the ideology of rock! I like my bands the younger the better. 

GL: But older bands feel more comfortable in their own skin... 

AS: Yeah, I was thinking about this the other day, about over-exposure. Of course, the whole guitar thing's coming back, Bloc Party and all those guys. They tour for about ten months in the year, and when they're not touring here they're playing in the states. I saw the Killers on TV today. They've only got, like, four songs! That can't be good for the artistic process. They're all regimented into this schedule that is not conducive to making good music. I feel sorry for all those boys. 

GL: They're a lot richer than you! A lot of bands, like Supergrass after their first album, write in the studio.

AS: And even doing that, forcing yourself to write because you only have that much time… But that's the way labels operate nowadays. These aren't even majors, either. 

GL: In that sense I don't really feel like we deserve the 'fame'. Because we don't put the effort in!

AS: That's the reason we're still together and haven't got disillusioned with it. Because we haven't invested anything in it! Don't get me wrong, obviously we take our music very seriously. We're not a bunch of jokers, we're really proud of what we do. Honestly, we really rate ourselves! We think we're really great!

IW: What other London bands have you been gigging with?

AS: Giles excluded, he grew up on a farm somewhere, we all grew up in East London. We're still London, but a little bit more suburban. There's an amazing… not scene, but there's a few of us. Very different, actually, there's a band called Father of Boon who we've played with for years and years. They do this mental art/jazz/punk… and out of that has come two bands. One's called the Bleeps and the other's called Dark Captain Light Captain. They're fucking great.

GL: There's another band called Nosferatu D2… At this point, Chris Allison (guitarist) finally arrives, only to pop inside to buy another round of Kronenbourgs. 

AS: I kind of like that little scene. We're kind of different to them. 

IW: How does the song-writing process go in Finlay?

GL: Ninety-Five percent of them come out of Adam's brain, relatively fully-formed. He'll turn up to practice with a pretty good idea of structure, how the drums might sound, a vague idea about keyboards. Then we'll jam on it, we might change bits.

AS: I think Adam would be more open to jamming and stuff, but we just don't have a chance. And we're not very good! I think he especially enjoys playing with Chris, because Adam can play and Chris can't! I know that he gets a lot out of it.

GL: Some songs are born out of white-noise wig-outs. 

Chris Allison (guitar): Yeah, bits and bobs. It's all Adam and me, of course! (laughter)

AS: You wrote Theme and that was it! That's all you've contributed!

CA: It's a good tune. 

AS: I've got to go! Anamik leaves to meet someone…

GL: I've been trying to get rid of that drummer. (laughter)

IW: Is that the band's dynamic? The drummer says all?

CA: That's basically how it works!

GL: Anamik's very good at talking… and drumming…

CA: Well, he's alright at drumming.

GL: I guess Adam's reluctant. Anamik's the one who speaks to all the promoters and organises the gigs. He's a lot more media-savvy, I guess. 

CA: I don't do anything. When we started, y'know, I wanted to be in a rock band. You obviously like the music, but you also get the girls, you look cool on TV. But Adam's never been about that at all. Which, in some ways, is quite irritating!

IW: What do you each bring to the band individually? 

CA: Err… (long silence descends) I don't really bring a great deal. 

GL: You bring the rock 'n' roll! 

CA: Well, I'm the only single member. And I can't play the guitar very well… Maybe I'm like the band totty. 

GL: I bring the… (more silence)

CA: Country.

GL: Yeah, I bring the middle-England. I guess I bring the bass. 

CA: When we first started out, we were a lot younger. Me and Adam were very much the stupid idiots throwing ourselves on the floor, going crazy. Adam still does that, I think I'm a bit too old! That's how it used to be.

GL: But now it's just Adam doing it, we just stand back! 

IW: Speaking of the old days, you were a trio to begin with. What inspired you in the first place? 

CA: There was a band called Cornet Joyce that Adam and Anamik were in with some other guy from their school. One of their guitarists dropped out, so I joined when I was about seventeen. I'd only been playing guitar for a few months. We did one gig, mainly covers, a few of our own songs. We did a gig at an all-girls high school. I think I got a groupie that night… she was really ugly. 

IW: If you did sign to a major label, how do you think it would affect you?

GL: The City Slang thing was probably the closest we were to thinking this was genuinely going to happen. The single, Little Dancing Solos which we put out on our own vanity label, Growl Wow, got played by John Peel, and then repeated on the BBC World Service. It got heard by Christof, the head of City Slang in Germany. He contacted Wyndham Wallace, the head of City Slang in the UK. Then Anamik got an e-mail from him saying he wanted to come and see us play. As it transpires, it was the Deathcab For Cutie gig. He turned up with his press guy, they were obviously really interested. We played out of our socks, for once! I think we were the right side of wonky, in an entertaining way…

CA: You've totally not answered the question!

GL: …it was getting to a good stage, to the stage whereby he was asking us who we wanted to produce the album, who he could put us on tour round Europe with. From their roster, that would have been Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, which would have been awesome. But it fell through because of the whole Mariah Carey Butterfly thing! It lost people a lot of money, so City Slang had to fold their subsidiary label.

CA: Mariah Carey ruined my life! 

GL: So if it had happened, I guess being on a major label would certainly have been interesting. At that point, we would have all definitely considered ditching our jobs and doing it. It would have been stupid not to have the experience. 

CA: I think I'd be in rehab by now! Maybe three or four-day tours around the UK. It would be constant, no sleeping, drinking too much…

GL: That's nothing, really! 

CA: That's what I mean. If I had to do that for a long time…

IW: With that in mind, would you say that you're at the happiest point of Finlay's life so far? 

GL: I don't know, it kind of seems to be working. It was on the verge of fizzling out, but we've been able to make it work in a really stripped-down and infrequent capacity. We've been able to record without too much hassle. I guess it's the fact that we put in the leg-work, we've been at it for so long we've made contacts in and around London. And having a record out, you get a bit of kudos, I guess. If we're looking for a gig we can probably get a gig, so that makes it easier than when we were starting out. That's probably the only way it would work at the moment.

CA: It's always worked out, gig-wise. Our first ever gig was in the Laurel Tree, which doesn't exist anymore. It was fucking shit. It was really good fun, but it was shit. Our second one was at [seminal underground indie venue] the Bull & Gate, and they loved us there. They'll put us on whenever we want them to. I think our fourth ever gig was downstairs at the Garage [www.indieworkshop.com/articles.php?id=261]. 

GL: That's when Anamik started fielding calls from labels, there was a bit of a buzz.

IW: There are some references to I Dreams and Visions on The Fall of Mary. Can you talk about the intertextuality between the two albums? 

CA: The thing is, the new album actually contains some songs that were written before the first album. The last track on the new album [which contains a spoken-word refrain referencing I Dreams And Visions] used to be the end of a song on our first EP. And the words were different then, we changed the words for the album. The old words used to be absolute nonsense. It was about walking in a park, getting mugged. It said 'I only want your money, didn't have any money…'

GL: 'So I ran!'

CA: 'I only have a cigarette'! Something like that, complete nonsense. 

GL: The last track on I Dreams And Visions is called Falling… I think Adam draws, from what I can understand and he is quite vague, from the same lyrical pool. I think they cross over, and that inter-album contextuality refers back. I'd be quite surprised if that isn't a reference to The Fall Of Mary. The album's actually based around some incidents that I wasn't party to.

CA: It wasn't a particularly remarkable incident, but we wrote a whole album about Mary. It was back when it was the three of us, pissing around in Anamik's living room. And all of us simultaneously looked out the window, we were sat on the floor, and we saw this old woman stuttering along. And all of a sudden, she just disappeared! We were like, 'where the fuck's she gone?!', so we went outside, she'd obviously fallen over, hence The Fall Of Mary. She'd cut up her head, she was really old and frail. So we asked if she wanted an ambulance, if she had any family around. She said she had a son round the corner, so me and Adam went round and knocked on this guy's door. 'Hi, are you Mary's son?', he said 'yeah', we told him that she'd fallen over and we'd called an ambulance. And he just said 'Cheers' and shut the door! 

GL: Obviously he was writing about this bizarre social thing, and he kind of builds on that and adds a lot more personal stuff.

IW: Are the songs always experience-led?

CA: I think they generally are. They're very cryptic. I think if you asked Adam, depending on what sort of mood he's in, he'll say they don't mean anything. But sometimes if he's a bit drunk or something he'll try and explain what it's supposed to be about. 

GL: Maybe it's easier for Adam to just say that the album is about a woman falling over. Something New, on the new album, is obviously pretty Leonard Cohen-esque, but it's got really great lyrics. And on the first album you couldn't really hear a lot of them. 

CA: Our last gig, the first three songs we did were just quiet ones. I thought it went down really well. I really enjoyed playing them because it was quite a difference from what we normally do. You're sitting there playing guitar thinking, 'this sounds like it should mean something'. I'm sure it does, but I've no idea what it does mean. 

IW: Has your sound calmed down?

CA: I think it's more matured than calmed down. When we started, it was good fun to play loud, be stupid, break shit-loads of strings every gig. Adam's always had that mature sort of song in him, but hasn't really wanted to do it until this stage of his life. It's more fun being a twat when you're 21, going crazy. 

IW: What separates Finlay from other bands of your ilk?

GL: Ineptitude.

CA: We have better songs. We do. That sounds arrogant, and I'm not taking credit for writing them, but I think we have better songs. We're more interesting to watch, we put on a good show. There's a lot of energy involved. Too many bands turn up, get their money and go home.

GL: I think our songs are very diverse, almost like different styles. We've got fast heavy ones, stupid dumb punk ones, long drawn-out post-rock epics… In that instance we're not a one-trick pony.

CA: If I wasn't in Finlay, I'd still listen to the records. It's impossible to be objective about this kind of thing. I genuinely think they're good songs.

GL: That's why I was chuffed to be in the band. When I saw you play in the Garage, albeit from the wings, there was something about the shows that made me have a slight grin on my face. It felt like I was visually engaged by all the members of the band, they all had their own characters. 

CA: It's nice when bands are genuinely friends. You can see they're having a good time, enjoying what they're doing. Just having fun. 

GL: When they play it's not just flippant, going to the other extreme.

CA: We used to be on the knife-edge between madness and genius! 

GL: More often that not, it was a shambles. Not madness. Madness would at least be entertaining! The two recent gigs have had more character, probably a bit more sober. We were worried about our first gig after a year and a half off. Chris was obviously drunk from the moment he went on stage, it couldn't happen any other way, but the rest of us were more restrained. We had a meal beforehand, it might as well have been a cup of tea. I think we felt more nervous than we'd ever felt before. 

IW: Let's wind it up, shall we? Imagine the scene – you've just had dinner, it's time to do the washing up. Who washes, who dries, who puts away?

CA: I'll dry. 

GL: I quite enjoy washing up. 

CA: Anamik won't do anything.

GL: I don't know whether Adam would do anything, he'd be on the phone. He'd agree to it, but he'd be on the phone. Lorna would help with the washing. Anamik would be on the phone as well, but sort of pretending.

CA: Anamik would just be breaking stuff. He's an absolute klutz. 

GL: Anamik is the biggest klutz in rock 'n' roll. It's a good job he's behind the drums. When we swap instruments occasionally, he will stagger across the stage and unplug every single thing. Dislodge mics, unplug instruments… That's why he's behind the drums. Preferably behind a huge shield. But he's a very good drummer. 

CA: He used to be shit! It's only in the last year or two that he's gotten good. 

GL: He doesn't spin his sticks or anything…


www.finlay.org
www.myspace.com/finlaytherockband
www.fortunapop.com]]></description><author>verysmallmonkeys@hotmail.com (Daniel Ross)</author><pubDate>2006-05-30</pubDate></item><item><title>Michael Neault (Snore &amp; Guzzle Press)</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=130</link><description><![CDATA[More than a few months ago I received a package in the mail from Michael Neault in Upstate New York. Inside there was a copy of his latest book, The Best Cure for A Broken Heart. It is comprised of stories of broken hearts and soup recipes and came with one of the best mix CD's I'd ever heard. 

So despite the fact that he is a very busy guy I got him to do a little interview with me. Not only is he a very inspiring and creative guy, he's got a great philosophy. 

What inspired you to start your own publishing company?

Snore & Guzzle had a natural progression. I toyed around with a variety of zines in high school, but I never got to the point of distribution. I was very secretive, mostly because I was insecure. It wasn't until I did a book called Maps in 2001, when I was 20 years old that I felt comfortable actually distributing. The concept of the book was that there was a food critic and misfit reporter named Oliver C. Graves working for the local paper. He would write food reviews that were too strange to actually print in the conservative daily, but the writer is related to the publisher, so no one could fire him. The book is a compilation of his collected writings. Essentially, it's a directory of offbeat places to visit in central New York State: secret 24-hr diners, a chessboard carved into a tree trunk, a Greek store that home-cures their olives; that type of thing. In order to print the book, I got a job at a copy center with the express purpose of using their resources as my own personal print shop. 

To get back to your question, there was no direct inspiration; no mentor or anything like that. I lived in a small upstate town where there was no zine culture, and I wasn't friends with kids who were doing creative things. I never even saw an indie publication until I was 18. 

What are your goals for Snore & Guzzle?

There are no real long-term objectives for Snore & Guzzle. I have about four grocery lists worth of short-term goals, but I don't plan on going public anytime soon. I'm working on a pro-bono graphic design project that re-configures design work for unsuspecting entities. There's an old-timey country music jam that I'm working on a poster for, and I redesigned an ad for blueberry muffins at Billy's Homestead Diner. They didn't ask for it and they still don't know who did it, but the ad is framed and posted. I'm envisioning Snore & Guzzle as much more than a printshop; I'd just as soon mow your lawn with a reel lawn mower, or help you project old 16mm home movies, or DJ your parent's anniversary with their favorite oldies.

Have you tested all the soup recipes included in The Best Cure for A Broken Heart?

I haven't, but I trust all the folks who contributed the recipes. The soups are functional, but there's a lot more time and effort that went into the stories. I recommend trying the Wild Rice and Mushroom soup with local baked bread after having a good cry. 

Snore & Guzzle definitely has a distinct look as far as Graphic Design goes. Who is your designer?

I've always done my own design. I've never been formally taught. And it shows. Most of my design is dictated by how cheaply I can print it. I can probably make 100 different books for what it would cost a filmmaker to make a short film of comparable professionalism. My favorite designs are those that are done cheapest: once I printed a poster for Jem Cohen and Kelli Shay Hicks that essentially cost me zero dollars. I used found brown construction paper (it was brittle and fading, but it had a lot of character), and then I printed the main text with a simple letterpress set-up, but then I was able to do 2-color by xeroxing the background image very lightly, so it looked grayish. I did 50 prints using 19th century woodtype and the production costs were literally zero dollars. It cost far more to ship them to Brooklyn than it did to print. 
	
Aesthetically, I'm much more influenced by the philosophy of someone like Edward Tufte than by an artist who does design for design's sake, and who doesn't really care about substance. 
	
Here's the most recent Snore & Guzzle design:



The Electronic Word Preservation Guild (EWPG) is such a brilliant idea. Can you give our readers a rundown of what you're doing with that?

The EWPG is an ongoing project to preserve and appreciate all forms of electronic correspondence; emails, Ims, text messages, etc., in a printed format. My mother has shoeboxes full of correspondence from her youth. A lot of the correspondence from my teenage years has been completely lost. There were some IM conversations between my first girlfriend and me that I would trade body parts to be able read now.
	
I'm planning on doing volume 3 of the EWPG by the end of June. The bulk of the work is done; I'm just trying to get some capital together to print it in a run of more than 65 (which was the circulation of the previous two).

Was there an original email that inspired the idea?

There wasn't a single email in particular, but what happened was that in the days before unlimited storage for email, I had an inbox filled to capacity, and I couldn't figure out a way to pare it down any further than I already had. All the letters were great, and I didn't want to lose them. So I decided to print and package some of them to share with others. So, it was that inbox load that became the foundation for the 1st EWPG. Since then, the Rochester alternative newsweekly got a hold of it, and took a risk by making it into a weekly column. I was a little suspicious when they claimed they would pay me for it. I got a lot of great letters from readers, but I think it's an idea that needs time to catch on. Attitudes towards emails are still maturing. A lot of people don't really get the EWPG. 

You have a page on your website dedicated to "all things upstate New York". What's special about the area to you?

What is special about it? I like the hills and the green grass and the sky and the apple orchards and the diners and the schizophrenic weather. There's something magical about this area. It's wonderfully under-appreciated.
	
Let me just clarify when I say &quot;upstate&quot; I'm talking about the Finger Lakes region of New York State. For the folks in New York City, it just means &quot;anything that is not New York City,&quot; but I'm talking about a much geographically specific place.  
	
You should come visit sometime. I'll make you blueberry pancakes in the morning. Here's a picture of me that was taken just a few days ago in front of a reservoir in Upstate New York:



How long have you been taking pictures on Polaroids?

I've only posted a fraction of my Polaroids at the Snore & Guzzle site. I started out taking photographs with my father's old Pentax, but it broke, and I was too young to pay for its repair, so I switched to taking Polaroids. I've been using them ever since. I use both SX-70 and 600, depending on the circumstances. I like the constraints of Polaroid film. All you can really do is to position yourself and click to expose. There are no other variables. And even though this seems really simple, it actually takes a lot of experience to capture something I would consider a worthy photograph. I'm still working towards that myself. Hopefully, they won't discontinue the stock before I get there. 

Can anyone contribute to the 1,000 Things That Quicken the Heart project?

Yes, anyone. Would you please contribute a list? I'm looking for a diversity of ages and occupations, so would you ask your grandmother to write one as well? It's a good excuse to learn something new about someone. This project was inspired by Chris Marker's SANS SOLEIL where the narrator explains that writing lists of &quot;Things That Quicken the Heart&quot; is a tradition in Japan that helps one meditate and re-appreciate life. It's very easy to do and it only takes a few minutes. 

What are your plans for when the list reaches 1,000? Are you going to publish a book of them?

I'm certainly going to print them in some fashion, but I haven't decided the final medium just yet. I've been tinkering with the idea of printing all 1000 Things on a long scroll, rolling them up into an old wine bottle, and tossing it into the ocean. The #1 on the list will be: &quot;Finding an old bottle on the beach with a list inside of 1,000 Things that Quicken the Heart.&quot;

(In case you're curious, I did send Michael a top ten of my own and Chris Marker was right, it felt great.)
]]></description><author>steph@indieworkshop.com (Stephanie Haselman)</author><pubDate>2006-05-22</pubDate></item><item><title>Aloha</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=129</link><description><![CDATA[
Note to self: Never let drunken friends mess around with a tape recorder before transcribing what's on there first.  
 
I learned this lesson the hard way after interviewing Aloha's vocalist/guitarist Tony Cavallario, drummer Cale Parks and multi-instrumentalist T.J. Lipple while touring in support of their latest album, Some Echoes, along with the Appleseed Cast.  The three were nice enough to sit down with me before taking the stage on April 21 at the Common Grounds in Gainesville, Fla.  Unfortunately, that interview was lost the next day in a sea of bourbon, beer and clumsy fingers.
 
Gone forever are tales of new T-shirts, Lipple's birthday cupcakes and alleged orgies held in the Appleseed Cast's van after each show.
 
But as I mentioned before, these guys are pretty nice, and Cavallario was kind enough to take some extra time out of his schedule in order to answer a few more questions over the phone with me during an off day in Chicago.  Here's what came about:
 
The last time we talked, you mentioned that this tour was probably your best one yet.  Do you still feel that way, and what factors contributed to the tour's success?
 
It's still going really well.  For one thing, it's nice to be out while our record is new and while just things are happening.  There's a lot of energy, and we've been playing with amazing bands – like we just did the Appleseed thing, and now we've just come off three shows with Pinback.  And we felt like we did what we wanted to do, which was play in front of people who have never heard us before and try to let them know who we are.
 
Your songs seemed to take on a new life on stage.  Do you ever think about how a song will turn out live during the whole writing and recording process?
 
Most of our songs we'll record them just all of us playing them live.  Maybe like little bells and whistles will be added, but nothing too significant.  It's mostly like we design our set around songs we feel like we can play the best, so it works pretty much that way.  We never really think about playing it live when we're recording, but when we look at it in retrospect, the songs that we're gonna play live are the songs the most live when they're recorded.  So basically we're gonna get together and play, and the songs that sound the best are the songs that are probably the ones that are the least reliant on the studio.  Most of our songs are pretty independent, like most of our songs are just four of us playing and me singing, you know, pretty simple, even though it sounds like there's a lot going on.
 
The four of you live in different cities scattered across the country.  How exactly then does your writing and recording process work?
 
Well most of the time we'll just say, &quot;Okay, we're gonna get together for a week and write some songs,&quot; and we get together.  So it's not too much different than what people do except it's more intense time wise – like it's more like all day every day for a week or so rather than for a couple hours a day.  But I don't know, I've been saying this to a lot of people doing interviews that the thing about Aloha is that, you know, there's times when we're off and we're all at home writing little songs, and then when we get together, like everyone gets really excited to see what's gonna happen next.  So when we get together it's pretty easy for us to come up with music ‘cause there's a lot of excitement, and there's a lot of energy and we just have chemistry that's been built up over the years.
 
Do you ever feel like it might actually be beneficial to not be right next to each other every day?  Like, so you'll never really get sick of each other while off tour?
 
You know, I think it is because everyone has a totally different life when they go home.  Like everyone draws from their own experiences, and we try to have like everyone bring something to every song.  So when you're living four totally different lives when you're not together, I think there's just more to bring to the table.  You know, music is a lot about translating your life into music, like when I write lyrics and stuff, I'm always pulling stuff from my life – like imagery from my life that fits the music, and I think the idea of us living four different lives just allows us to bring a lot of different stuff to the table.    
 
Was the writing and recording process any different for Some Echoes than it was for previous releases?
 
It's pretty much the same thing, like, I mean, I think we had a pretty serious mental state when we were writing and recording the record. We really wanted to make a really focused, sort of like cohesive album, but I don't know if it's really something you could set out to do.  But I feel like everyone was really focused this time around, knowing we really made something that was sort of lucid, like not something that's like a bunch of different stuff that randomly happened.  There just seemed to be some sort of momentum pushing us toward the finished product.
 
What are your thoughts on the finished product?
 
There's something very clear to me about it, like it's not muddled by anything.  Everybody in the band was contributing to one thing.  I don't know, to me it has a more immediate impact than any album we've done before, and I think that's good.  I think that's the kind of record that we needed to make at this time.  We just want to put something out there that people have to react to.
 
And what's the general reaction been like so far?
 
It's been really good.  Like, the label was totally psyched about it when they got it, and we're happy with it.  And most places – if it's out of a five – people are giving it like a four and a half, or out of 10, people are giving it like eight and a half.  I feel like people are responding really well to it and I think it's just a matter of time before like – I think it's gonna be a slow roaster that's gonna hang around for a while and people are gonna like it.
 
Is there any particular message or theme behind your music?  What do you hope people take away from Some Echoes?
 
When we write music we want people to sort of listen to the music and apply it to themselves rather than getting any certain message from us.  We want people to react to it as just like images and sound, and they can sort of interpret their own life through it, like it's more useful to them that way.  Like I don't have anything that I'm trying to preach to anyone, but as far as the theme of the album, I don't know.  I feel like communication was sort of like my big theme for the album, like just a bunch of moments of life in which you think communication is being disrupted or there's something being shared and communicated that's like coming across really well.  Those are like the two types of themes behind a lot of the songs.
 
I can definitely see that, especially on the first track, Brace Your Face.
 
Yeah, and it definitely comes from my life that I live and the people I'm in relationships with.  But it also is a kind of interesting metaphor for the band, you know, because only the art communicates, and our message is like, not a message, but like our medium, like the music that we make – it's not something that everyone understands right away.
]]></description><author>Han0026@aol.com (Nathaniel Deas)</author><pubDate>2006-05-15</pubDate></item><item><title>OM</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=128</link><description><![CDATA[

OM is Al Cisneros (Bass/vocals) and Chris Hakius (Drums).  In 2004, the duo, originally the rhythm section for the legendary Sleep, reunited to release "Variations on a Theme", a three song LP clocking in at forty five minutes.  The record was a rude awakening to those who wanted a rehashing of Sleep, or even wished to pigeon-hole the group into the "stoner metal" section of their record collection.  The songs, all more then ten and one over twenty minutes long, combine the tempo and loose feel of 'Holy Mountain' -era Sleep, but stretch themselves out into beautiful, distorted dub mantras.  Melodies and rhythms are subtly tweaked and refined, the monotone, chanting vocals riding on top of the mix, making an album that doesn't really sound like anything you've ever heard.  Recently, the band opened for Current 93 in their only US appearances for 2005 in San Francisco as well as several European shows.  OM just this month released a new album, "Conference of the Birds", their second for Holy Mountain, and in the coming months will release a split 10" with Current 93 and a split 7" with Six Organs of Admittance.  They are playing two shows in New York at the end of April, and if you live anywhere on the east coast, you should be there.  (www.omvibratory.com for more info).  I had a chance to ask Al Cisneros a few questions about OM via E-mail.

IW- How long have you and chris been playing together and what brought you back together for OM?

Al Cisneros- Been playing together since 8th grade elementary school, which was the 86-87 school year. In between the last Sleep practice in 97' and the first OM rehearsal I'd just been going to school, working, and trying to get my head together following the bad experience with the London situation; just observing, watching and thinking about life. Since I was a youth I've had riffs, themes, ideas, lyrics/concepts invading my headspace. During this period, the frequency and intensity of their visitations increased to where I had to start documenting the material, humming parts into answering machines, recorders…writing stuff down. About three years ago, I just called up Chris. That afternoon we were sitting, talking in his yard and already we felt that something (OM) had been formed. We drove over to a rehearsal space, I hooked up my bass, and we started locking together instantaneously. We both had chills and laughter simultaneously. We knew we had something there.

IW- What led to the shift in lyrical content from the more fantasy based lyrics of 'Holy Mountain' era Sleep to the OM records with their concentration on eastern spirituality and mysticism?

Al- Ultimately just looking at life from a different vantage point than that of the years 90-95. The verses have always just spewed out from where I am at the time/moment. If singing about weed and dragons was still where I was at we'd reform our old band.

 IW- What have you been reading lately?

Al- Encyclopedia of Chess Middlegames / Combinations. Published in 1980 by Chess Informant, Belgrade.

 IW- What have been the major influences on OM, musical and otherwise?

Al- People, scenes, time. Thinking about and contemplating life's movement. For me the work is inward driven – not so much influenced by what's out there – in comparison to Sleep where there was direct inspirational tutelage from early Sabbath. 
 
IW- What do your lyrics mean to you?

Al- They are obviously rendered as fragments, not in grammatically sound form. That is not the point to me. They are cathartic. Comprehensively, the verses are allegoric suggestions of release, or freedom from the physical body casing and its constituents. The lines also examine the sameness of things, the reality, what is death? the structure of the things. Is there a beyond to the states of happiness? of sadness? They are thoughts in word-lyric form.  

IW- How did you get hooked up with David Tibet? 

Al- We were contacted by him after Ben Chasny was discussing our work with him one day. 
 
IW- Were you Current 93 fans prior to Ben Chasny's introduction? 

Al- Chris and I had heard their work many years ago, I believe I was 16 at the time – and it was in a much different phase in comparison to the work they have been putting forth over the last seven or eight years.  I really love their more apocalyptic folk approaches. It can bring washing tears. It drives in both its content and emotion. Respect. 
 
IW- What current artists do you feel an affinity towards? 

Al- There are artists everywhere. Anyone that focuses and harnesses their heart into the outer world. It could be any field of life. As long as it does not hurt others in that process. You can see it if you go out for a walk. But you have to look.

IW- I've read that you make your living teaching chess to kids.  How does this relate to your music?

Al- Chess is not a game and music is not just sound. They are both arts with a scientific in-road. In one sense they are parallel studies to the universe itself. In both one can learn about themselves and their thought processes. They are also both microcosmic models of balance, and a study of oppositional forces. And in both music and chess there is beauty. In a riff on the fretboard or in a combination on the chessboard.

IW- What is the songwriting process like for you?

Al- Like being stopped by a surprise storm and all has to be put on hold until the thing you're hearing can be documented. It's really scary until you know it is logged and can then be calmly revisited to work out its fine points. 
 
IW- How did you come upon the combination of amps that you now use?

Al- Some of it was from the experience in Sleep – knowing what valve amps can sound like when they're about to catch on fire without actually catching on fire. The rest was a dialing in of both the technologies available in amp manufacturing with the sound I always hear in my head. I had to test until I got that tone where I said to myself &quot;There, that's it&quot;.

IW- What did you hope to evoke with 'Variations on a Theme'?  How does this differ from 'Conference of the Birds'?

Al- Nothing pre-conceptually – the goal was to get it off the internal desk to make space for the next creative cycle. Conference differs from Variations in a couple of ways: in production, we went to superior studio than that of the first album. For songwriting, the difference between the two albums lies mostly in the a-side, At Giza. That song was something that we felt, differed from our usual canon, the song threw out a different color spectrum; it did although build the same end-atmosphere, which is why we proceeded with it. 
 
IW- I love 'At Giza', is there a chance of us seeing more of the softer side of OM on future recordings?

Al-Thank you. Time will tell. There is always stuff happening in the songwriting department. 
 
IW- What do you see in the future for OM?

Al- Recordings and shows.]]></description><author>gedgengras@gmail.com (Geddes Gengras)</author><pubDate>2006-05-08</pubDate></item><item><title>John Hughes III</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=127</link><description><![CDATA[With the label he started turning ten years old, John Hughes decided to make a year long celebration out of this milestone.  And well he should.  In the independent music market today, ten years is quite a feat.  I got a chance to catch John on the phone recently, and we talked about the history of the label up to this point, his love of music, and busting out as a respected label in a city that is full of them.    



Is it weird that it has actually been ten years?

Umm…

Or does it seem longer?

No, it seems about right.  But I can say that I kinda have been looking forward to the ten year.  Not for any self-indulgent, label reasons.  But because it seems like a good milestone for labels.  It seems like if a label makes it ten years they will stick around, you know?  We're kinda already feeling it a little bit.  People have been saying "Oh, ten years?  I can't believe I haven't been paying attention".  A lot of people that have gone in and out of our records have starting to get some new interest in the old stuff or whatnot.  And it's cool to present the label again in this perspective of ten years.  And it's cool for me to look back too…  but yeah, it feels like ten years to me.  (laughter)

I mean, I was like 18 when I started.  Me thinking back to when I was 18 seems like forever ago.  

Has the anniversary, and the parties, brought more awareness to all your releases?

It's a little early to say, but it's a great way to approach distributors and say, "hey, let's knock off a few bucks on these old titles.  Let's re-solicit all this stuff."  So in that sense a lot of the people that we work with have been coming up with ideas to push some of the records that are in the back catalog.  

And I would think that some of the press, as a result of that, are going to go back a take a look at some of those records and see how it all ties together.  

Have you had to talk a lot about the Bill Ding stuff because of all this?

Yeah, actually that's been coming up a lot. 

I've even had people lately that I didn't think knew about Bill Ding signing your praises.

I know, it's kinda like, "where were you when I needed you?" (laughter) That's how I always feel with my stuff.  I'm like, "wait, you were not listening to Bill Ding! Because if you were…"

"..maybe I'd still be doing it."

(laughter) No, that record… well, both records were just kind of slow burners for some reason.  I don't know.  It found… really random people are into those records.  Somehow they just got passed around to the right people and became these cool little cult records.  The sales weren't amazing on them, but obviously in time they got copied and passed around and that sort of thing.  But yeah, it just randomly comes up and I'm always shocked by who tells me they are a Bill Ding fan.  

Well that's good that it's still making the rounds years after…

Yeah.  Actually, I just did a photo shoot for some tenth anniversary promo pictures and the photographer was a really cool guy.  He had an assistant come and he introduced me to him as, "this is the guy who runs Hefty.  They've put out..." and then he says some albums, whatever.  Then he says "and the Bill Ding records" and the guy's like "oh dude, I smoked opium with the Bill Ding guys" (laughter) And I was like, "no you didn't" (laughter).  

So he lied right to you.

Well, apparently he did smoke with one half and some guy claming to be the other half.  So it's always weird stuff like that when it pops up.

But at least you got to call him on his shit there.

Exactly.  Neither of them suspected that I was in the band.  That's another thing that comes up a lot.  I'll introduce myself as running the label and no one realizes that that I record for it as well.

Do people still get confused with the Slicker name?

Yeah, it's like people don't put two and two together that Slicker is the same thing as me… and I don't know why.  

So with all this old stuff being brought back up do you ever get the urge to do Bill Ding, or something like it, again?

Yeah, I do.  But that thing is literally like a time capsule for me at this point.  That project was really like a 50 50 kind of deal.  I brought my side and he brought his.  But yeah, I get nostalgic about certain past projects and want to do things similar to them… I definitely want to experiment with more acoustic sounds in the future. 

I'm building a studio right now, so that will certainly help that.  

I guess the better question would be do you ever get the urge to go back to a straight up live instrumentation type thing, or…

No, not really.  Because really, Bill Ding was the only project I've ever had that was like that.  And for me, personally, I just feel more comfortable making electronic music you know?  And just because I make everything thinking like a producer first and not as much as a musician.  I'm pretty comfortable with the way I work now.  But, at the same time, I'm always wanting to push myself.  

You seem to have you hands involved with a lot of the artists on your label, is that something they appreciate… you not just being the label guy, but a fellow producer and musician to bounce things off of?

Yeah, because I think they come to Hefty knowing that that's part of what Hefty is.  I think they know that part of what the label is about is my… tastes (chuckle), my vision, you know what I mean?  I can't put out a record unless I love it 100%.  So everyone's got to feel good knowing once the record is done that someone really loves it and is behind it you know?  Yeah, I think for the most part people appreciate knowing that that's an option.

You guys don't have the huge numbers as far as amount of releases you put out a year.  You sometimes keep it to two a year.

Yeah, I know.

Is it ever frustrating on your part.  Do you ever wish that you put out more?  Or is it that you spend so much time an energy on each individual album that you couldn't…

Well, these last several… or last couple years, it was more of a result of mishaps with distribution.  And just wanting to focus in on the records we did have and make sure they were covered properly.  But it's also… I mean, I know the way to go is to have a steady stream of records out, but if I don't have records I'm not going to put out half assed ones.

Do you ever think that you get too picky with some stuff?

Yeah, I'm sure I do.  But at the end of the day I think our catalog is really solid and I think that's what people remember.  But this year is a different story, were planning on putting about fifteen records out so we are trying to address that weakness we have.  But at the same time our US distributor just went belly up so…  it's like… being in our tenth year you'd think we'd be able to sit back and let these records roll and have some fun… but it's always something you know?  And that's why it's hard to stick around.

When you first started the label, I'm sure you had the goal and the idea that you'd still be doing it, but did you ever think that it would be how it is today?

What, the industry or the label?

Just the label.

No, because I started the label with absolutely no… or I don't remember having any ambitions for it.  it was really just an insecurity with my own music and really just wanting to put my music out the right way.  I had been making music since I was a kid but I finally felt ready, but I was still just 18.  And some of the early stuff that I almost put out, and the first record that I did put out on Hefty… I'm sort of embarrassed by. (laughter) But I was ready.  I wanted to start throwing my music out there.  I felt like I had finally had something together, I felt like I had my own personality on the stuff. 

I mean, I had sent demos around and stuff like that, but I really settled on wanting to do it myself.  I really hadn't thought about other artists… that just kinda happened.  I had met people through the Bill Ding stuff, and people knew I had a label so they started to hit me up (laughter).  It just worked out that way.  

It doesn't take long for people to start sending in demos.

(laughter) Yeah, exactly.  

Now that the label is established, and you have bands on your roster that have received critical praise and have a good fan base, do you feel like you are past having to field questions about being the son of a famous director?

Nah, I mean, that's one of those things.  I totally understand… if there is a musician who has a kid… or somebody famous who I like that has a kid, I'd be interested too you know?  It doesn't even bother me any more honestly… the only thing that bothers me is when people make a joke about it in a review.  You know, like, somehow tie it into ripping on my music (laughter).  Because it's usually just so fucking corny.  

Nah, I mean, it's been mentioned enough… I don't think people even care anymore.  

I've actually never really heard anyone make a deal out of it.  And have actually met more people that didn't even make the connection.  But I wondered from your point of view if you ever just got upset and thought "stop talking about my Dad…

No… I'm pretty secure.  Well, I used to be really insecure about it, and totally refused to talk about it.  And then when you get like that people want to know even more and would even get antagonistic about it.  So my attitude went to 'fine, whatever, just don't ask me a stupid fucking question about it, and well be cool' (laugher) I'll talk about it for three minutes and then that's it.

So it was harder for you and the label… when you first started…

Yeah, but it was also because I was an 18 year old kid hanging around Chicago were Tortoise was running the show.  I mean, there were heavyweights all over the city.  Steve Albini and these types of guys that everyone looked up to.  and I started a label at a time when Chicago had totally blown up already.  So I felt kinda small and intimidated by what was going on around me, and the last thing I wanted to do was be the son of a director putting out Chicago bands.  So I was really, just, not comfortable with it.  I'm still… it's not like I'm comfortable with it, I'm just kinda used to it.  It's cool, you know, whatever. 

 Did you ever think about not associating your name to it?

No.  I went through a phase where, 'do I go with John Hughes III or John Hughes' (laughter) and I still go back and forth on that one.  But no, I never thought about that.

But you are right, right as you were starting the label, that city was just blowing up.  I mean, people actually cared about all those Chicago bands.

Yeah, it was a great time to start a label (laughter).  

From that point of view did you ever kick yourself thinking, 'I probably picked the worse time to try and stand out in this town..'

No, it was just like… man, if I could have just started Hefty… if I was just three or four years older I think I would have been in a lot better shape.  But no, it was just one of those… Chicago is one of those working class, no ego, just put your head down and get your work done kind of town.  So it's sort of hard… you are not going to catch much praise here.  So what was going on in Chicago at that time was pretty unique.  So I just wanted to blend in.  I ran the label really humbly… I didn't set my sights too high.

So how is the label's status in the city now.

People pay attention now.  I mean, we do a couple nights every other month and people come out.  I mean, we get four or five hundred people easy.  

For DJ sets?  Or do you have…

We have live acts… we tie it into the whole Immediate Action thing.  It's called Immediate Action Nights, we do it just here and there.  

Do you get a lot of non-Hefty people… just friends to come in?

Yeah, yeah.  Just anyone who fits the aesthetic… friends.  

Have any of those nights been recorded? Have you thought about releasing them as DVD's?

We've recorded a couple of them… they didn't come out that well though (laughter).  Yeah, the sound didn't come out very well.  But we are certainly thinking about that stuff, for sure.  

What do you enjoy more; working on the label or working on your music?

I'd have to say working on my own music.  But, I pull myself away from that a lot.  That's because part of what Hefty's about is me letting other people work on their own music.  So they get the most time to work on their own records and that sort of thing.  So really, it's kind of like I'm letting my group or artists act out what I like to do the most.  To give them a home and give them the freedom to do these records.  I always have to make enough to time for me to make music, but luckily I have really good people working for me where I can trust what's going on.  And they know how I like things run, and how I like things to develop as a label.  ]]></description><author>jake@indieworkshop.com (Jake Haselman)</author><pubDate>2006-05-01</pubDate></item><item><title>Rahim</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=126</link><description><![CDATA[
Sounding like survivors of the imploded DC scene of yore, New York's Rahim picks things up where Q and Not U left off and takes them to new heights.  Made up of Phil Sutton (drums, tour chauffer), Mike Friedrich (vocals, guitar) and Ryan McCoy (vocals, bass, keyboard), Rahim features an off-kilter, jagged approach combined with urgent yet melodious back-and-forth vocals.  Currently embarking on a nationwide tour in support of their debut full-length (Ideal Lives, released on April 4), all three members were kind enough to chat before rocking the faces off all who attended their show last month at Common Grounds, Gainesville, Fla.'s version of CBGBs.  Here's what resulted:   
 
How's life on the road treating you?
 
Mike Friedrich: Ryan's miserable.
Ryan McCoy: I'm not that miserable.
MF: Well, Ryan's acting miserable.
RM: (laughing) You asshole.  I just miss my girlfriend.
 
Why isn't she here?
 
MF: We pee in bottles in the van.  Seriously though, we miss home, but the shows have been great.
RM: I don't miss work.
Phil Sutton: Yeah, I don't miss work, even though this is a job pretty much in itself.  We all have like certain duties and responsibilities, like I pretty much drive everywhere.
MF: We pretty much sleep.
PS: I'm kind of like the dad figure.
MF: That's Phil's role.
PS: Besides holding down some fucking tight jams.
RM: My role is to freak out every once and a while and sleep a lot.
 
In two words, describe each of your roles in the band.
 
RM: Adult baby.
MF: Ugly woman.
PS: Safety turtle.
 
Your debut album, Ideal Lives, is coming out soon.  What are your thoughts on it, and what expectations do you have for it?
 
MF: We're really happy with the way it came out for the most part, aside from the normal qualms you have parting with your own songs.  But in general, we're a lot happier with the direction than we are with the EP I think.
RM: We definitely had a good variety because that was one criticism we got a lot of for the EP, and we felt that too.
PS: And that's the point of like a full-length.  I mean, like an EP is just like, you know, it's to put us out there, and the full-length is gonna show like what we really are.
 
Speaking of the Jungles EP, the first three songs are pretty similar, but the fourth track, &quot;Enduring Love&quot; really stood out in my mind.  This is also the only track to make the full-length, was there any particular reason why this track made the cut over the others?
 
MF:	Well, we knew we were gonna use something from the EP and…
RM:	And I think that because that was like the standout – that was the different track.
MF:	Well, it's the most recently written.
RM:	I think it meshed more with our current sound and direction that we're going with.
MF:	The other thing is that song sort of, for me, I used it as sort of a springboard for certain themes that I wanted lyrically, and some of the other songs – 	&quot;KlangKlangKlang&quot; is related to it and &quot;Only Pure&quot; is probably another one.
RM: Dude, it's totally a concept album.
MF:	It's like a prog-rock concept album.
 
Well, there did seem to be a theme throughout one particular stretch of the album – like in &quot;Desire&quot; it seems you are seeking &quot;someone to satisfy you&quot; while in the next track, &quot;Forever Love,&quot; it seems like you found her.  Is there anything behind that?
 
RM:	It's funny that you mention that.
PS:	I never thought of that.
RM:	The lyrics to &quot;Desire&quot; were pretty much written in the studio – like we had the music done for that song – we didn't really have any lyrics.  It was the only song we had unfinished at the time if recording.  And I sing that part, so it's completely unrelated to the lyrics that Mike sings on &quot;Forever Love.&quot;
MF: I think the sequencing works in that sense where it is like that harsh thing and that sort of unresolved thing and something that resolves much harder in &quot;Forever Love.&quot;
RM: That was completely unintentional.
 
What was it like working with J. Robbins [who produced both the jungles EP and the Ideal Lives full-length]?
 
PS:	Wait, who?
MF: Well both times we did it with a really limited number of days.  
RM:	Like Mike was saying, with the limited amount of time we had to record, it was 	good to have someone who's just been in the game long enough and he sort of knows – especially from the EP and that experience he knows – it seems like he's on the same wavelength as us.  He knows exactly what we expect of the record. Very little explaining had to be done.  It was kind of like a mind meld really, it was weird.  But he knows where we want to go with stuff, and it seemed really easy to record with him – I don't think we would have been able to do it with another producer, honestly, in the amount of time we had.
PS: Plus there's two other songs that we recorded that aren't even on the record.
MF:	But you don't get to hear those Nate.
 
Damn.
 
PS:	They didn't make the cut, but they're good songs.  One's really old – we were 	forced into recording it – it was the first song we ever wrote.  We play it live	sometimes, mainly in New York where some people know it, and we were kind of 	told that we should probably record the song.
 
You've been described as post punk by some people, and you've got some real off-kilter melodies and jagged time signatures, how would you describe your sound?
 
PS: We've been described as many things, like &quot;hard art pop&quot; and &quot;angular post 	punk…&quot;
RM:	We've been called &quot;math rock…&quot;
MF:	People have a lot of titles for things.
RM: Exactly, well, I think it's almost a good thing that people can't describe us as one thing.  We've been described in so many different phrases that nobody can actually figure out what it really is, which is cool.  But at the heart of it, what we're trying to do is write good songs.  We want to be different.  We want to do our own thing.
MF:	And also we're really interested in rhythm and creating something rhythmically and interesting.
PS:	Like something jagged but also being very pretty at the same time.
RM:	Pretty in that we want to be catchy.  We want to be able to stick in people's minds, but we also want to be different.    
MF:	I think for us it's really important to realize that no matter what we're doing, no 	matter how kind of jagged something might be, at its heart, the songs are pop songs, you know, and the things that have always really stuck with us and made an impression with us are things that have that pop sensibility and have just like that human voice and the staying power of a hook.
 
What are your goals for the band?
 
MF:	I'd like to make another record.
RM:	That's a nice goal.
MF:	I don't know, we don't have a lot of goals in terms of like success.  I think we'd like to be able to play music and have it be a living.
PS:	I'd just like to break even.  Seriously.
RM: If I could go on tour and not have to worry if I'm gonna be able to pay for my apartment when I get home…
MF:	But I think the thoroughly important goals are the creative ones, and I think we've already got ideas fermenting for sort of new material.
 
Such as?
 
RM:	Juicy, face-melting riffs.
MF:	Possibly some more piano.  Slower, less dancey.
RM:	I'd like to get to a more like moody atmospheric.  That's sort of where it feels like it's going.]]></description><author>Han0026@aol.com (Nathaniel Deas)</author><pubDate>2006-04-24</pubDate></item><item><title>Euros Childs</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=125</link><description><![CDATA[
Euros Childs is a man with a simple gift for writing beautiful songs. With Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, he showed audiences everywhere the glory of experimentation mixed with traditionally gorgeous tunes, all whilst making dog noises and crying over patio fires. And after being with one of Wales's most well-loved musical family members since about 1991, Childs stumbles into the limelight with an album of his own, ‘Chops'. I spoke to him the day before his sell-out show at London's Bush Hall…

Friday 10th March 2006
Has the lo-fi feel of ‘Chops' been something you've wanted to explore for a while?

No, not really. It's the sort of album that wasn't really done as an entirety, and the whole thing lends itself to starting with something like Billy the Seagull. If it had been an album about horses or something then starting with a song like Billy the Seagull probably would have been misplaced!

The album is very whimsical, was it fun to write and record? More fun than a Gorky's album?

Haha, whimsical! Well, it's not a Gorky's record. Obviously Gorky's were a band and this is just me on my own, so there are no reference points and it's not a continuation of Gorky's. It's completely on its own. The only relation was that I happen to be in Gorky's!

Did it feel a bit alien, though, to be recording without everyone else?

On the whole it didn't, not really. I started at home doing it on a 4-track, so by the time I got into the studio I'd demo'd it all and I knew it was all OK. I'd pretty much mapped out what I was going to do.

Donkey Island sounds like video game music. Was that on purpose?
I don't know what you mean, really! A lot of people have said interesting different things about that song…

Do you miss having a band around you?

It's not too bad, we're touring at the minute and I've got Pete from Gorky's on drums for me and Alan Tan Lan as well, so we're a three-piece as well a five-piece for some bits.

I've been reading your tour diary, and is this the very same Alan Tan Lan mentioned there? (He is described as a maniacal rabbit-eating man, furious with Euros for having killed his horse, and is paid in manure, working out to be about £7 a day).

Yes, that's him.

Is it all entirely true?

Well, what do you think?

I'd like to think yes…

(Laughs) I think maybe not. I've certainly never killed a horse.

I hear you've recorded some brand new songs for the next single, what are they like?

Err… very whimsical! There's one that's a different, re-recorded version of Billy the Seagull, and then there's one called Where Is My Cake? 

Will there be another solo Euros Childs album?

I've no idea really! We're in the middle of just playing live and doing as much as we can with this record. 

Why did you feel the need to go it alone?

It wasn't a case of me sitting down and saying ‘Gorky's aren't doing another record because I want to make my own record', it wasn't like that at all. We all sat down and decided as a band that we weren't going to go straight into another album, which we had done for the last I don't know how many years. Apart from that it was just me, I always write anyway and I decided I could probably make a solo record.

So it's a continuous thing. You don't just feel the need to write specifically for any one album?

Not really, no. I continuously write the songs and sort of pool together the ones that might work. That's the way it is. As I'm writing I hopefully get a feel for the whole thing, even if the style of the songs are really different. That's why there are songs on there like Billy the Seagull and Donkey Island. 

Does it feel strange to be at the forefront of a folk revival at the moment?

I don't think so, no. I don't really even see myself as a folk artist. Gorky's did sort-of do that folk thing, obviously it was an influence. And folk is probably an influence on this record as well, but I'm not sure. 

I've just bought my ticket for the Green Man Festival where you are due to play, are you looking forward to the festival season?

Yeah, definitely! We did the Green Man Festival last year, and that was our first gig playing as a three-piece. I think everyone was supportive. It was a great gig, although it was a case of it being quite daunting. I'm hoping that this time it won't be quite so daunting! I'm looking forward to it.

What music are you enjoying at the moment? In-between all those Jethro (absurdly old-fashioned sexist and racist British comedian that Childs frequently refers to in the tour diary) DVDs , of course…

Haha, I've never seen a Jethro DVD, honest! That came from when we used to be on tour buses and the driver, nearly every time, would have his little video collection and Jethro would usually be among them. We watched one, and I remember being confounded by what we saw! Apart from that, I like Animal Collective. And a Welsh combo called Radio Luxembourg. 

Is the Welsh scene still as strong as it has been in recent years? Any new artists coming through that you like the look of?
Yeah, definitely. There's a band called Bog [I think that's what he said, apologies if this is incorrect] that are coming through right now. There's always something happening. For such a tiny country, there's still a hell of a lot going on!

Saturday 11th March 2006

The next day, I make the short train journey to the Bush Hall in London for Euros Childs's gig. I've never been to the Bush Hall before. It has a particularly resonant sound, probably due to the massively high ceiling, with several chandeliers dangling from it. It was, from what I gathered, built by a very rich man in the early 1900s as a gift to his three daughters. The ornate plasterwork and sculptures on the walls certainly reflect a decadent time, unknowing of the remarkably diverse range of rock ‘n' roll artists that were to stumble through its doors upon its re-opening in 2001. Since then it has been a low-key venue for R.EM, Grandaddy, Kings of Leon, even Nick Cave. But tonight's show is probably unlike any of those.

I arrive for the last few songs of Emmy the Great's support slot, it seems rather nice. The songs are plaintive and pretty, gently wrapping up the people in the room and turning their heads to the front. The majority of the audience are sat on the floor, gazing upwards with relaxed appreciation sloshed on their faces. It's a lovely welcome.

Next up, the Semifinalists - three kids, one of them extremely excitable. Their set is beautiful and invigorating, the audio manifestation of a cold shower on a summer's morning. The drummer has headphones on throughout, studiously listening to the laptop perched on a chair next to him which is blurting out sonic surprises of optimum energy and wonder. Over the top of this, the vampy girl singer cradles a tiny keyboard and sometimes the lone guitar in the band. The extremely excitable kid's hair droops over his eyes, seemingly stemming directly from the back of his head. He shouts and wails a lot, desperately and rather sweetly. They are how I would imagine the children of Pink Floyd to be if they made a band – experimental and innocent. Their set benefits from lovely background projections of babies and unicorns, complementing their slightly mad but charmingly sincere mesh of prog and new-wave-lo-fi shambolica. 

Euros Childs happily wanders about the venue, looking slightly sheepish and staring at the stage. He seems a little concerned about the stage, staring intently from many angles around the room. After the supports are finished, he potters about helping the other members of his band set everything up in no massive, cider-swigging, roadie-fashioned hurry. A brief soundcheck. Fine. Straight into that re-recorded version of Billy the Seagull we spoke about yesterday. It's a bizarre transformation. What was originally a half-asleep, unaccompanied, endearingly nonsensical ramble becomes a powerful stomping folk workout. And then, joy, into Donkey Island, a deliriously silly but enjoyable song about, not unreasonably, being stranded on an island with a load of Donkeys. 

The audience prances for the stomping songs, they gape at the pretty songs, they laugh at the monkey impressions, and they applaud on cue for, as Childs terms it, ‘the first ever representation of a church bell in popular music' using only a guitar and a ride cymbal. It's like a family show, heart-warming and… just warm. We are shown the majority of ‘Chops', lurching from Welsh-language barn-burners to murderous balladry, both of which styles contain the eternal virtue of a simply sweet melody. The real highlight is album climax First Time I Saw You, a loosely electronic casio folk singalong, in equal measures endearingly lo-fi and convincingly widescreen in scope. 

After a rapturously received encore, Childs informs the audience that he will be selling copies of ‘Chops' by the front door of the venue. And he does! The DIY ethic continues! No drunken aide to the band is short-changing people, it's actually the famous Euros Childs selling his own records!  A touching evening, celebrating the talents of a little man's pop quest ends in a suitably affectionate gesture of unity. Whether his next outing is with Gorky's Zygotic Mynci or just himself, it's guaranteed to make you feel like a part of the family. ]]></description><author>verysmallmonkeys@hotmail.com (Daniel Ross)</author><pubDate>2006-04-20</pubDate></item><item><title>Maritime</title><link>http://www.indieworkshop.com/interviews.php?id=124</link><description><![CDATA[
Ok, so, by now, most everyone should know that Maritime is (or rather was…read on) the band that the lead singer (Davey vonBohlen) and drummer (Dan Didier) of the Promise Ring formed with the bassist (Eric Axelson) of the Dismemberment Plan shortly after the demise of those two highly influential acts.  And if you didn't know, now you do.  

Well, Maritime is releasing their second LP, the harmonious Indie-Pop future classic We, the Vehicles this week, so I decided it was a good time to check in with Dan and chat about the new record, the Promise Ring reunion, and the amicable departure (No Drama!) of Eric from the band.

The new album is great, but seems a lot different than your previous output.  Was the change in sound part of a natural maturation process or were you guys going for something new with this record?

Well, I guess there are a few factors that ended up changing the sound of this record. The one that I feel is the most directly responsible is the fact that Eric was involved from square one. He would fly out to Milwaukee and we would lock ourselves in the studio and work on the We, the Vehicles songs in more of a live setting. Which is the second reason the sound has changed. Glass Floor, our first record, was basically written using Pro Tools. Davey would come in with an idea. I would record it. Then I would get some sort of beat and then start layering the heck out of it with organs and strings and horns and whatever else I could squeeze in there. That basically meant that the first time playing the bulk of these songs were in the recording studio. That also meant it was almost impossible to play some of these songs in a live setting with out hiring a string quartet and a brass band. So, We, the Vehicles was meant to be a little more direct and straightforward in arrangement.

Glass Floor received really mixed reviews from critics, despite the fact that many fans of TPR (and to some extent D. Plan) seemed to enjoy the record.  Does critical opinion matter to the band or do you tend to just make the music you enjoy without concern for how it will be received by critics?

All I ever want to do is make a better record than the one before. Whatever happens as far as critics and reviews and opinions is uncontrollable and out of my hands.

What happened regarding Eric?  Is he officially no longer in the band or just not touring anymore?

He is officially out. We have Justin Klug from Decibully in on bass and we have Dan Hinz as our permanent guitar player.

What was your label situation?  I heard this album was finished and released in Japan for some time before you guys were picked up in the states?  How did you hook up with Flameshovel?

Oh, yes, the label situation. A certain plague on the house of Maritime. Well, we recorded the record for Kim Coletta at DeSoto records with full intention of her putting it out. So, after all was said and done and with the record ready to go (mastered, artwork, et al.) she decided to not be a label anymore. She said she would still put the record out and work on it, but we didn't want to be in a situation where someone had one foot out the door. We decided to take the record elsewhere. However, our labels in Japan and Europe already had the record and were booking tours for us to come over to help promote it. The decision was then made to release the record over seas first while we find a label domestically. So, I shopped it around and through David Lewis, our publicist, I came in contact with the Flameshovel guys. Ironically Jesse (Woghin, co-owner of Flameshovel Records) used to do a Promise Ring fan site WAAAYY back in the day, so it was a "come full circle" type of situation for me. They are amazing guys and I look forward to working with them for a while.

Is Vermont still an active/future project?

Vermont is on the ever-proverbial back burner. I think that is the best way to describe it.

Tell me about the TPR reunion.  How did it come about and what were the circumstances?

Tim Edwards, our booking agent, came up to Davey and I at a Maritime show in Chicago with the idea of The Promise Ring getting back together for the Flower 15 festival. I was into the idea, but all I said was "if you can get Jason (Gnewikow, Promise Ring guitarist) to say yes, then I am in." I thought Jason would never agree to it, but he did, so we got the ball rolling. It was a great experience. It felt good to do Tim such a big favor for all of his work throughout the years booking The Promise Ring. It made it more about playing the festival, which was a charity, and less about us "getting back together."

I am aware that Davey writes the lyrics, but would you be able to provide any insight into the bittersweet tone of many of the songs ("No One Will Remember You Tonight", "Young Alumni", etc.)?…or concepts on the album like all of the driving/vehicle allusions evident on "Tearing up the Oxygen", "People, the Vehicles", and "German Engineering"?

To me, it is very clear that Davey is influenced by the symbiotic relationship that home life and touring have. When you are on the road all you do is think about home and vise versa. I mean, touring is intrinsic to inspiration. So is home life. But there is the push and pull between them.

Davey seems to become a better (in the traditional sense) singer with every release he puts out.  Has he worked with vocal training/coaches or just experimented himself with new styles and melodies with every new record?

He is a better singer now than in the past. I think that has to do with the fact that he now has a better grasp of his limitations and writes melodies around those limits making for an easier performance. Well, not easier, but more in his range.

Now that you've been doing Maritime for some time and can reflect a little, what are the major differences (personally, musically, or otherwise) between this band and the Promise Ring?

They are totally different beasts. The major difference between the two is the age at which I was and am in them. I'm not a young whippersnapper anymore; I'm not an old fogy either, but I can't throw caution to the wind and tour two thirds of the year. Musically, I feel better about what Maritime is doing now, but that is only natural to enjoy what you are doing at the time and not what you did in the past. I am looking forward to the next record when we have Justin and Dan from square one. That should be interesting.
]]></description><author>incognitowriter@hotmail.com (Jacob Claveloux)</author><pubDate>2006-04-17</pubDate></item></channel>
</rss>