Tag: interview
Warning: Attempt to read property "post_id" on null in /dom375187/wp-content/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/classes/ecp/Enhanced_Category.php on line 143
Warning: Undefined array key 0 in /dom375187/wp-content/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/classes/ecp/Enhanced_Category.php on line 232
Q&A with District Attorneys
The District Attorneys, a band comprised of Atlanta and Athens natives, have quickly established themselves in the Athens music scene and is undeniably a musical force to be reckoned with. Formed in 2009, these guys have made continuous strides in the right direction not only in making music that people want to hear, but also in being easily accessible at the click of a mouse. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed, and just months after releasing their first full length album in April of 2012, the band went on to win Best Album Artwork, Best Album, and Artist of the Year for the Flagpole Music Awards of Athens, GA. We recently spoke with Drew Beskin of the District Attorneys just days before the band was gearing up to play Athfest ’13, and this is what we found out….
Vinyl Mag: How did the bond with This Is American Music form?
Drew Beskin: Ah, Payton Bradford of the Futurebirds is a good friend of mine and he is friends with Cory, who is one of the founders of This Is American Music. After I moved to Atlanta and started working on our first full-length album, he suggested I reach out to him.
VM: Your music has frequented XM’s station “The Loft”; do you personally feel that is a fitting station for your sound?
DB: Well, I don’t really much listen to XM- not that I have anything against it- I just have my iPod, CD’s, and podcast’s that I listen to. I’ve heard The Loft tends to play a lot of really random stuff sometimes, but I’m friends with Mike Marrone [programming director for The Loft] on Facebook, and I see what he recommends all the time, and like his taste. I’m no authority on XM or anything, but it’s cool enough for me!
VM: How do you feel that your experience at SXSW this year differed from your last, and do you feel that it has been beneficial for the band?
DB: We’ve only gone two years; we toured up there last year which was a lot of fun. We really didn’t know what we were doing, and we kind of just said yes to anything we were offered. For a lot of the shows, they had paired us up with emo-punk bands, so some of them weren’t that great. One of the best parts of going two years in a row was that the first year we learned a lot about the area, but also just that we had been a band another year longer this time, so we had more fans to come out to the shows. This year we played a show every day, and each show was a really good time with some really cool guys.
VM: Who does the primary song writing?
DB: I do, for the most part. I write about 80 percent of the songs, and our keyboardist – and sometimes guitarist – write the remainder of the songs.
VM: Who runs your social media sources? Do you keep up with them yourselves?
DB: We are all owners of our Facebook page, but I would say that I maintain Facebook for the most part, and Frank [bassist] maintains Twitter, for the most part. We all have access whenever we want. We’re definitely in charge of it.
VM: Why was the decision made to release your first two EP’s for free via Bandcamp?
DB: We knew what we were doing when we released them for free on Bandcamp; we wanted to go ahead and have it out there. Now, all of our stuff is on iTunes and whatnot, but we put our first out for free just to get it out there for anyone to hear. We just generally wanted people to listen to it. We released our second EP on there, because we were working on our album and it was taking us a little longer than planned, so we decided to record a few songs on our own just to have something out to hold us over. You never want too much time to go by between releases.
VM: I noticed that the Gillian Welch cover of Wrecking Ball has a ton of plays; whose idea was it to cover that song?
DB: Well, it was my idea, because I love her; I take full credit for that. I’ve always loved her, so I was very excited to convince the band to do that, and I’m glad everyone took to it well.
VM: In a previous interview you did, you mentioned that “Cherry Glow” was your favorite off of the new album- what was it about that song that struck resonating chords with you?
DB: I think at the time what I loved about it was that the whole song was recorded live. Everything that you hear on that song was done live. Not necessarily in one take, but it was very natural and raw. Next time around, we want to leave space to do something cool like that again and make it more organic, I guess.
VM: What are your expectations for the upcoming Athfest?
DB: It’s going to be our fourth Athfest in a row, and I think the first year we were just this new band, and we played on like, the very last stage. Each year since we’ve played a different stage, and this year we will be playing the Pulaski stage which is really exciting. As far as expectations go, we’re just happy to continue being a band that’s invited to play. There are always a lot of fun things to do and a lot of cool shows so I know it’s going to be a good time.
Phone Chat with Lemuria
After catching their set at SXSW, Lemuria stuck in my head and grew as an unshakable interest in my mind. Lemuria was formed in Buffalo, NY and have since spread themselves around the country. With the release of their newest album The Distance Is So Big, we figured now we would be a good time chat about the past, the present, and the personal in regards to Lemuria. A big thank you is in order for Sheena Ozzella and Alex Kerns for being so gracious and forth-coming and making this happen. After checking out this super rad interview, head on over and have a listen to Lemuria’s “Oahu, Hawaii”, which can be streamed here.
Vinyl Mag: Whose idea was it to name the band Lemuria, and is it directly related to the lost land theory?
Alex Kerns: It was my idea. At the time I was reading a lot of mythical books about lost continents like Atlantis and Lemuria. I kind of just picked the name, and Sheena liked it so it stuck.
Sheena Ozzella: We knew we wanted it to be a one-word band name.
AK: We were kind of hoping it would be a name that no other band had, but we later found out that there was a band from Belgium that had the same name and the same kind of idea that we had. We actually got to meet a couple of guys from the band, and they were wearing their Lemuria shirt for their band; they came up and talked to us and were super nice. We’ve kept in touch with them over the years.
VM: How was the connection made with Kind of Like Spitting for the split you did “Your Living Rooms All Over Me”?
AK: I just kind of randomly met Ben, and we became friends. When we put out our first demo, he got a hold of it and liked it a lot. We just stayed good friends ever since we first met, so we decided to do a split LP and a full U.S. Tour together. Still today we’re friends. We’ve been talking about doing some UK shows together and stuff like that.
SO: Kind Of Like Spitting was one of my favorite bands for a really long time before he met them, so when he met them, and I found out that he had met Ben I was really excited. One thing led to another, and when we decided to do the split together it was definitely one of the coolest things to make something with a band that was actually one of your favorite bands.
VM: As far as the lyrics go, is it a group effort? Who does the primary lyrical writing?
SO: I would say Alex writes most of the material for Lemuria. Alex is a man of many words; he’s really good at summing up what he’s trying to say. His lyrics are very straightforward and very simplistic, but they tell stories, and they do a lot more than you would think in just a small amount of words. Alex also tends to write a lot faster than I do. But yeah, I write maybe one third of the lyrics, but I don’t say sh*t as good as Alex.
AK: For the record, I love Sheena’s lyrics, and I wish she would write more, but I just write faster, I guess.
VM: [To Sheena] How does it feel to not only be in a band with such talented musicians, but to also be dating one [guitarist Chris Moore]?
SO: Ooooh, a question about my boyfriend! It’s awesome. I’ve known Chris for a very long time- maybe close to 10 years now? We started dating four years ago, and since then we’ve both been in full-time touring bands, him in four bands. It’s awesome because in so many ways understand each other, but in other ways it’s kind of sad, because we don’t get to see each other very often when we are actively touring. But, I love him and I support him, and he does the same for me, so it’s working. We’re about to embark on three months without seeing each other, and that’s about the longest we’ve ever gone. But its good, and we’re both good and doing really exciting things. I’m very happy.
VM: Is the title of the new album The Distance Is So Big symbolic to the geographic location of the band members, or is it something bigger than that?
AK: Kind of. It’s actually a lyric from one of our songs on the album called “Oahu, Hawaii”, and in that song it doesn’t really have to do anything with the band, but it’s more so something to do with a relationship. But overall, that line kind of sums up a lot for the band. Internally with the band, we’re all in different places. But also, we all – in the past – and even in the present have been in long distance relationships. It just seems like it’s always been a big factor for our band.
VM: Leading into my next question- being that everyone in the band does live in different states, how do you feel that affects the writing and recording process?
SO: I think we’ve been more productive than we’ve ever been; it’s made the time we are around each other ‘go time.’ Whenever we would get together, we would have 8-hour long practices and were very much structured around writing an album. It feels a lot more focused now that we all live in separate places.
VM: How did you find your home at Bridge 9 records?
AK: We just heard that they were listening to our first album, Get Better, at their offices through mutual friends. So when we were recording Pebble we figured we should send them an e-mail and see if they were interested. It was an oddball signing, but I think that it really made sense mutually.
SO: I think it also opened up Bridge 9 to signing other bands that were like us. I know that from talking to Chris [Wrenn, starter of Bridge 9] that is has been a really positive thing for them in regards to him putting out things that he really enjoys, and that’s the point of a record label.
VM: Would you say that your first released track off of the new album, “Brilliant Dancer”, is a good depiction of the sound you’re going for with this record?
AK: Yeah. The album is pretty upbeat and optimistic. It’s a long album and little more epic of an album for us.
VM: How was your experience at SXSW this year?
AK: I thought it was a lot of fun. It was exhausting, because it’s one of those things where you can’t just drive your car up to the venue, unload, and play – you have to find parking and walk a mile and all of that. But overall, it was great and a fun festival, and we had a really great time. We played four shows altogether, and all four were worth the trip.
SO: We played for a lot of new people, which is always really exciting. I think we were one of the smaller bands who played SXSW, and I felt like at every show I really appreciated the amount of people who came out to see us. We felt welcomed, and it meant a lot.
VM: Last question- you’re noted for playing “The Fest” in Gainesville, FL every year; will you be playing again this year?
AK: Yeah, we’ll be there. If we didn’t play The Fest it would be a really bad year for us. It’s kind of the weekend we look forward to the most.
Phone Chat with Flobots
Flobots emcee and vocalist Jamie Laurie recently agreed to spend a little phone time with me to talk about their new release, their tour, and their plans to record. I’ve generously embedded the video for the track below so that you can listen while you read our interview. Immerse yourself and enjoy.
VM: Where are y’all?
Jamie Laurie: We were just [in Georgia]. We are in Chicago.
VM: How is the tour going?
JL: It’s going good so far. We are getting close to done.
VM: You’ve got like a week left?
JL: Yeah. Five more shows and a lot of driving.
VM: Do you have a show tonight?
JL: Yeah. A show tonight in Chicago and tomorrow night in Cleveland. Then a day off in Milwaukee, Minneapolis. Then a day off in Kansas City.
VM: What are you doing on your day off? Just driving?
JL: Probably sleeping…it’s the best time to sleep.
VM: Have you had any sight-seeing chances?
JL: Yeah actually. We get a few hours each place to walk around for a little bit, but sometimes we go way out of the ordinary. Like we actually went to an oyster farm outside of New Haven. A friend of mine runs a sustainable seaweed and oyster farm. So we went out on a boat on the Thimble Islands and like ate oysters, had some tequila in the sunlight. It was pretty nice.
VM: Yeah that’s pretty cool. So is that the highlight?
JL: You know, the highlight may have been that. The rest of the tour, I forget. It’s just too long ago…I am sure I did something in California, but I can’t remember it. It’s all a blur.
VM: So what were you doing between [this tour and your previous tour]?
JL: We did a little bit of songwriting. Then we got back and pretty soon afterwards, and then it was the holidays.
VM: The line up has evolved a lot since formation…
JL: Well…I use to be in a solo thing called Onomatopoeia, but it wasn’t really a Flobots thing. We just used the Flobots website. Really the band started in 2005, and then Brer Rabbit and I were both in it then. Then pretty soon after that, it came to be Mackenzie, Jesse, and Kenny in it. It’s changed a little since then, but [it’s pretty much the same].
VM: So do you prefer touring to recording?
JL: I like them both a lot…we recorded a song that we just released called “Bradley Manning”. Personally I love songwriting, but I still love performing. They both are just really different experiences there. One of them is a lot of alone time, and the other one…you are with crowds of people every day. One can be social, and one is anti-social.
So, do you have anyone that you would really want to collaborate with?
JL: You know, I think the thing with collaborations is that you want to make sure you do them because the song calls for it. I actually…kinda had the experience where all these people you love are doing a song together, and you listen to the song and it sucks. And you’re like, ‘Man, I waited my whole life for them to collaborate, and the song is not good.’ And so I think it is important to make sure that first and foremost it is about what the song calls for. So, for us, yeah I am a hip hop guy but, when we were making that song ‘White Flag Warrior’ it was like the song asked for Jim from Rise Against, and we reached out to him, and he really brought the missing piece to the song, and so I know that collaboration was the right thing to do. So I think there are tons of artists I love that would be fun for me to collaborate with, but I think we try to put the song first.
VM: So I heard your van broke down?
JL: Yeah! How did you hear that?
VM: Just through coordinating this interview.
JL: Yeah, the transmission is no good. So now they are fixing it, and it just so happens that our tour schedule was really weird and has us going back to Cleveland today after Chicago. After we have already come that way, but it actually ended up being perfect, because we are basically backtracking, and we will be three hours away from where our van broke down.
VM: So how are you getting around now?
JL: We rented a minivan and a truck.
VM: So after this tour wraps up, what is next for y’all?
JL: Record songs.
VM: Have you written them already?
JL: We have a lot of ideas on the whole themes of the songs, and we just have to water them and give them the proper sunlight and let them grow into beautiful new plants.
VM: Sweet! Well thank you for talking to me!
JL: Absolutely, thank you for taking the time. Thanks for caring!
Pre-show Chat with Pretty & Nice
I was recently hanging out with Pretty & Nice before their show at Flicker Bar in Athens, GA. And because I love you guys, I recorded our conversation. Go ahead and listen to us talk about their current album, their awesome merch, and their future plans.
And then go ahead and listen to their newest release, Golden Rules for Golden People, streaming below.
Finally, to P&N – thanks for the poster! All up on my wall!
On the Lawn with pacificUV
We met up with pacificUV before their show at the 40 Watt in Athens, GA. Looking for a quiet place to interview, we ended up crashing the lawn of a frat house to talk about their new album, The Album Leaf remix, and upcoming tour. Enjoy!
In the Dark with Ryan Graveface
So I saw The Casket Girls at South by Southwest, and I kicked myself for not getting into them beforehand so that I could interview them there (dudes, you should see this band live. It’s quite an experience). Lucky for me, it wasn’t even two months later that they showed up in Athens to play at the Caledonia Lounge. I guess they believe in second chances.
I met up with CG member Ryan Graveface (yes, the same Ryan Graveface from Black Moth Super Rainbow), and we had ourselves a nice little interview (it is important to note that this interview took place in a stationary van that sits outside of the Caledonia Lounge and serves a backstage area…and the power was out, so we were completely in the pitch black dark for the duration…appropriate). So turn off your lights and have a listen.
Backstage with Deadstring Brothers
Listen up. I got to hang backstage with Nashville-by-way-of-Detroit-based Deadstring Brothers at their show at the 40 Watt, and now you get to listen in and pretend you were there.
They’ve been compared to 70’s-era Rolling Stones. They have been called a country band. They’ve been called a blues band. Whatever they are – I’d say a cocktail of all of the above – it works, and we are ready for more.
I sat down with Kurtis Marschke (the original Deadstring Brother) and J.D. Mack to talk about their new album, Cannery Row, as well as Nashville’s influence on their sound, their experience at South by Southwest, and their upcoming album and tour. So have a gander, and then go stalk their music.
SXSW with Hunters
Hunters was my last interview at SXSW, and I have to say, I couldn’t have asked for a better one. Because it was the last day after a long week of running around frantically like a headless chicken, I was feeling a little fried, and forming full coherent sentences was getting a little complicated (more than usual).
Fortunately for me, Izzy Almeida and Derek Watson – Hunters – are two of the chillest, most conversational interviews I got all week. To cut to the chase, these dudes are just plain cool (cheesy? Deal with it). It was one of those interviews that felt like just hanging out rather than firing questions and receiving formulated answers.
We found ourselves a quiet little place to sit and talk, and we had ourselves a nice little chat about their SXSW experience, their influences, and what is next for them.
If you haven’t listened to Hunters, you’re in for a treat. Be sure to check them out. The duo has just signed to Mom+Pop and announced a tour with Bleached. So check out this interview, check out their tunes, and then be sure to hit up their tour.
VM: So, [how has it been at SXSW?].
Izzy: I’ve been having a lot of fun, even though I’m super sick – I have horrible allergies, I can barely breathe and I have no voice. But I’m still having a lot of fun!
VM: How has the audience response been?
Izzy: It’s been great, actually, yeah. I think it’s been a good opportunity to meet more people and see a bunch of bands. And it’s nice out and we’re coming from New York – it’s so cold there, so I’m enjoying it.
Derek: We’ve been running into friends in other bands, you know, all playing in one place…
Izzy: And you play some pretty weird shows, like playing after a rap group, and it doesn’t make any sense, but somehow the crowd’s into it and you’re like, ‘okay, cool!’
VM: It’s a really mixed crowd, but it’s fun. It keeps you on your toes, you know? So do you have a favorite venue or show that you’ve played so far?
Derek: I think maybe Mohawk.
Izzy: That was fun, yeah.
Derek: I’m trying to think what else… it’s kind of all a blur… oh, no! The Gypsy! That was the best one.
Izzy: Oh yeah, the Gypsy was awesome; it was like a house party. It was really cool. It was really packed and small, really cool. It was really fun; I didn’t really have a voice, but it didn’t matter.
Derek: Yeah, there was one monitor, and it wasn’t really working, so we couldn’t really hear ourselves, but it made us feel comfortable. You know, it made us feel like we were doing something we always do, so yeah, that was probably the best one.
VM: So I read you met at your job, and then you never went back.
Derek: It was a horrible job. It was one of those things were you’re in New York and you have to get a job quickly.
Izzy: It was definitely a temporary job, like, ‘okay, I’ll do this for now, and then I’ll go find something else,’ you know, but then we found each other. That’s really cheesy.
Derek: Wow. You should write Hallmark cards.
Izzy: I do actually, that’s what I do on tour!
Derek: That’s her next job! She just comes up with different cards and then sends them into Hallmark (laughs).
VM: So, did you find your sound the first time you ever played together?
Izzy: No, it was really weird and easy for some reason. I don’t know why. Well, I think the reason why is we had an adventure, playing together…we had talked about music before and had a lot of similar tastes and backgrounds.
VM: You’ve been compared to the Stooges and Sonic Youth. Do you like that comparison – do you think that’s accurate?
Derek: I don’t know if it’s accurate, but it’s nice. I mean, those bands are awesome.
VM: Izzy – I read that you’d had a bunch of bands in your head since you were a kid. Was it always the same genre?
Izzy: Oh, when I was way younger, it was really cheesy stuff, like…it’s embarrassing. But then when I started getting more into rock and stuff, that’s when I started trying to write rock songs, but they were really bad because I was really young. I still remember them because, wow, they were awful. They’re going to the grave with me (laughs).
VM: No sharing?
Izzy: No way. It’s definitely one of those secrets you have to keep.
Derek: And I think maybe the Sonic Youth thing comes up, because we use tunings for our guitars and stuff, so maybe in that way I could hear it. And, you know, since it was a guy and a girl, I think people gravitate toward stuff like that automatically. In that way it makes sense.
Izzy: The Stooges and Sonic Youth were definitely a big influence for me, especially coming from Brazil where it was hard to find out about bands. So for me finding out about the Stooges and Sonic Youth was already a huge thing, like, ‘oh my God, I found it!’ And there was a scene in Rio that knew about those bands, but I wasn’t part of it. Like, my brothers and sisters were listening to stuff that’s just not good, and I was just trying to find stuff out on my own, you know?
Derek: Yeah, and they’re really good intro bands, bands that you can start to dig with.
VM: So how did you get put in touch with Nick from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to mix you?
Derek: We just knew him from around, and the timing was just such that they were on a break – like they had just finished touring, and they were kind of taking a break to sort of regroup and have a little time for themselves – and he was down; he was like, ‘oh, I’m kind of interested in doing stuff with you.’ And we didn’t have any money, so for someone to offer to do it for free was kind of, you know, from the heavens. No matter who would’ve asked us we would’ve said yes, to be honest. It was just a really lucky situation. And he was super cool about going back and forth with mixes and stuff like that, so that worked out really well.
VM: Wow, that’s awesome. So, [Izzy] what was it the Village Voice said? Did you read that? They said that when you’re on stage, you’re the world’s most rhythmic stroke victim.
Izzy: I feel like that makes sense actually, because sometimes when I see a video of a show or something, I feel like I’m just not even in rhythm, like I don’t even know what’s happening. I think it’s funny; it’s cool. I don’t care.
VM: So I know we’ve talked about your favorite show, but who’s your favorite person that you’ve seen at SXSW?
Izzy: I haven’t been going to that many shows, because I’ve been so sick!
Derek: Wow, I’ve seen a bunch. Believe it or not, I think Riff Raff was kind of awesome. I wasn’t expecting that. I wanted to see the dude from Hawkwind – he was doing Space Ritual, but I couldn’t go – I think we were playing at the same time. That was kind of a bummer. We saw Pangea and FIDLAR – that was good. We saw like a song of Bleached.
VM: Aren’t you touring with them?
Derek: Yeah, almost as soon as we get back we’re leaving.
Izzy: Yeah, we’re recording and then we’re going on tour.
Derek: It’s hard to say though, I feel like you just see so many things here. I might wanna see Waka Flocka tonight, if that’s possible. It’s like a guilty pleasure.
VM: Do you wanna see JT (laughs)?
Derek: Oh, is that tonight? I didn’t have any plans to do that, but that could be kind of funny. Where is that?
VM: Is that that MySpace secret show or something?
Derek: Oh yeah, doesn’t he do MySpace now or something? They’re like revamping it or something?
VM: Yeah, every time I hear about MySpace now it’s associated with him.
Izzy: Maybe it’s an urban legend or something, because I don’t know how I found out about that, but that’s all I hear.
Derek: Yeah, it’s like I think of them together, which is weird, because I haven’t thought about that website in so long.
VM: So, you’re touring, and then are you coming up with anything new?
Derek: Yeah, we’re finishing our record as soon as we get back. We’ve got a bunch of days where we’ll finish up everything. I think we record the day after we get back, so we’ll be nice and refreshed for that, right (laughs)? But yeah, we record for a bunch of days, and then we leave a few days after that to go on tour with Bleached, and then we’re out with those guys until the end of April… and then we’re back, and then we have another tour after that.
VM: And you’re coming to Atlanta?
Derek: Yeah! Are you gonna come?
VM: Yeah, I’m from Athens, which is right there.
Derek: Oh, that’s pretty close?
VM: Yeah, it’s like an hour, so we’ll be there.
Derek: I’m not sure where we’re playing but…
VM: The Earl.
Izzy: Oh, I’ve been there before, it’s fun, I like it!
Derek: Oh, that’s cool. Yeah, we played the Drunken Unicorn there once, and the Masquerade.
VM: Did you play upstairs there, or…?
Izzy: Yeah, upstairs.
VM: Yeah, the Masquerade has Heaven, Purgatory, Hell…
Derek: So we were Heaven-sent? But the backstage was like Hell. It felt like jail, like a holding cell…
Izzy: It was like a green room, for real – everything was green.
Derek: Yeah, it had a high ceiling, but there were no windows, and there were these really weird, greasy chairs. It was fine. I mean, it was actually really funny. I actually liked the stage there. You could really get to the audience.
VM: Yeah, that’s cool. The floor though, if you’re in the audience, I always feel like I’m gonna fall through. It freaks me out every time.
Derek: Yeah, that’s kind of scary.
VM: Well, cool, we’ll see you in Atlanta then!
SXSW with PEACE
You’ve probably heard of PEACE by now. This British quartet are making serious waves in the music world, and we can’t get enough of them. They’ve been called the future of indie rock – although, as you’ll see in this interview, they don’t consider themselves to be “indie.” Either way, they are “the future of something.”
I was able to catch up with them for a few minutes after a morning showcase at South by Southwest to talk a little bit about what drives the music, their boredom, and who they enjoyed most at SXSW.
They are men of few words, but honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. They are the perfect caricatures of true rockstars- they give the impression that they genuinely don’t care, and it’s not a facade. They prefer to let their music speak for them. PEACE is a group of musicians, and they don’t feel the need to be anything else.
Their album, In Love, just dropped yesterday, and we’ve already run through it several times. Be sure to check it out right after you check out this interview.
SXSW with The Staves
You can’t not love The Staves. As someone who is prone to more than my share of girl crushes (I’m talking about you, Sarah Balliet, Alice Glass, Carrie Brownstein, Missy Gilbert…), I gotta say…these ladies are awesome.
The Staves gained popularity in the US through their tours with The Civil Wars and Bon Iver, and they recently released their debut full length Dead & Born & Grown in November. And since it’s been on repeat on my iPod since it was introduced to me, I was super pumped for this interview.
I met up with Emily, Camilla, and Jessica Staveley-Taylor in the convention center in downtown Austin on the third day of SXSW. I was greeted with genuine friendliness and free chips and salsa (give me food, I will love you). After a little bit of chit-chat, we got our interview on. So go ahead and live variously through my hangout session with The Staves. Enjoy.
Vinyl Mag: I read that you grew up listening to Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Beatles, which is kinda what I grew up with, because my mom was always listening to it. So, how does that effect your writing? Does that have an influence on you?
Camilla: Yeah, it definitely does in terms of the structure, vocal arrangements and stuff of The Beatles and Crosby, Still & Nash. When you think harmonies, you think Crosby, Stills & Nash more than The Beatles. But The Beatles have amazing harmonies, amazing arrangements, backing vocals, lines…I think that influenced us a lot.
VM: So, this is just a pattern that I noticed. I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not, but you’re playing St. David’s and then you’re playing St. Mary’s, and then you’re playing – what is it, St. James? Is that just me noticing a pattern or is that a thing?
Jessica: We are very holy people. We like to think of ourselves as the Holy Trinity. We always try and play saintly locations.
Emily: I hadn’t realized that there were so many churches.
Camilla: We should do like a saints tour.
VM: I was like, that can’t be a coincidence, but apparently it is.
Jessica: St. David’s here we played last year, and it was like the highlight of the week for us, so we’re really excited to play there again. It was so cool.
VM: So, you’re all sisters?
Camilla, Jessica, Emily: Yes.
VM: So how does that [work for you]?
Jessica: It’s definitely not [the normal sibling dynamic], but it works for us though. We get along really well; we always have. We always hung out together at home and had a shared group of friends and shared tastes, so it was never like a question really. We work well as a band, so we always have so much fun together.
VM: So what are your ages?
Jessica: (Points to Emily) She’s the eldest, I’m the middle, and she’s the baby (points to Camilla). Can I just say that?
Camilla: We’re all 21.
Emily: Yeah, we’re all 21.
VM: So you’ve toured with bands like The Civil Wars; how was that?
Jessica, Camilla: Great!
Camilla: It was really fun. That was like our first US tour, so it was really cool…mostly in the south. We were on the tour bus with them, and that was like a whole experience in itself. It was like ‘ah it’s our bus’ it was so cool!
Emily: I don’t know; it really felt like one big family. We didn’t have anyone with us…like, we didn’t have a band; we didn’t have a manger or anything, so it was just like us in there – such a small little unit.
Jessica: We just kinda said, ‘do you have room in your bus? Can we come on with you?’ Otherwise we’d have to drive a car, and they were like, ‘yeah, come on with us!’. Which is really nice of them…luckily for them we were really cool (laughs), and they were really cool.
Emily: It was lovely. We got to play some cool places.
Jessica: And we played here at the Paramount.
Emily: Yeah, it was crazy.
VM: So do you think crowds or fans are different here in the US than in the UK? What are the differences?
Emily: I don’t know. I think audiences are different, like [there are] ifferent audiences depending on who you are playing to…I don’t know if there is a huge cultural variety. Back in the UK, I guess our experience has been that Americans have been more instantly vocal with their reaction.
Jessica: On that tour with The Civil Wars…[the American audience] would just be like so friendly as we were on stage. They’d be like, ‘you guys are great!’
Camilla: ‘Welcome to Texas!’
Jessica: It was just so nice. I think maybe English crowds are a bit more reserved.
VM: So do y’all all write, or does one person do the writing?
Camilla: We kinda take turns.
Emily: Some songs will be more one person than the others, and some songs I couldn’t really remember who wrote which line. It’s just kind of all three of us. It depends on a lot of things. When we first started, not living in the same place, there were quite a few miles between us, so we would write individually and then come together and as we learned the parts of each others songs, they’d change and become a ‘Staves’ song rather than like a ‘Jess’ song…it’s basically pretty collaborative.
VM: So you just released your debut album, Dead & Born & Grown. How did you come up with the name?
Jessica: Well it’s title track. It’s one of the songs on the album, so we called the record that because that song was one of the first songs we’d ever written together years ago…so it was kinda the beginning of everything, so it’s got a really special place for us. It’s got a really nice..what’s the word…
Camilla: It’s got everything from the beginning to now…so it’s kind of like a compilation of everything – some of them were written knowing we would make an album and needed more songs, and some of them we’ve had written for ages, so it’s sort of like a ‘best of’…
Jessica: (Laughs) We were gonna call it like the ‘Greatest Hits’ but we thought maybe that wasn’t the best title for it.
Camilla: ‘Best of the Staves!’ (laughs)
Emily: We just saw someone while we were trying to cross the road, and we were waiting for the lights and this guy in front of us just started walking, so I started following him, and he just turned around and said, ‘don’t follow me – I’m drunk!’ And sure enough cars just kept passing ahead, and I thought that would be a quite good album title.
Jessica: (laughs) ‘Don’t Follow Me, I’m Drunk.’
VM: So I’m getting an exclusive preview for your next album title.
Jessica: (jokingly) Oh, yeah- we’re always inspired by everything around us.
VM: So The Guardian compared you to Mumford & Sons. How do you feel about that?
Jessica: I think that Mumford & Sons fans would be very disappointed if they bought our album. Especially bangers. No bangers on there.
VM: I’m actually not a huge Mumford & Sons person, so that was kind of a surprising thing for me too. It just seemed a little random.
Emily: It’s strange, because then people put Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons in the same category. They’re so different..like what? I think it’s just because they come from the same time, and they are kind of in the same group of people, but musically, I don’t get it.
Jessica: I think because Mumford have done so well there is kind of like an umbrella term for those types of bands – which we’re happy to be under. They’re great, and it’s always great when there’s a band that gets the success it has, and it kind of opens the door for people that are doing harmonies and playing acoustic guitars…something that’s not super pop or R&B. We’ve been doing this for so long, we’ve always listened those records like The Beatles and Crosby, Still & Nash, and for a long time that wasn’t cool. We were just kind of rattling around at home loving that music, but no one else was really into it. It seems like now there’s a real awareness I think of that whole thing. So bands like that have done a really good job. It’s cool.
VM: So who are you most looking forward to seeing?
Camilla: Alt J. Really wanna see them.
Emily: Mikhael Paskalev.
Camilla: Mikhael Paskalev, yeah. Make sure you get a chance to see him.
Jessica: I don’t know who else is playing!
Camilla: It’s so tricky when you’re playing. You [know that there are] all those people that you want to see, but it’s quite hard to actually find time to get to the places.
VM: How many shows are you playing here?
Camilla: I think it’s three. Not like a horrendous amount.
Emily: And then there’s like a session or so.
VM: So what is next for you after SXSW?
Jessica: After this, we go home and we do some laundry, sleep for a bit, and then we’re going to go on a UK tour…so yeah, that short run around the UK and the rest of Europe, and then we’re going to come over here in May and do our first headline tour in the US, which is May into June, which is really exciting.
VM: Are you coming to Georgia?
Jessica: I hope so!
Camilla: I don’t think the routing is 100 percent finished yet.
Emily: Every time I see it, it’s changed.
Camilla: If not, we’ll probably be kind of close by. I think it’s going to be a short tour, like six weeks or something.
Jessica: Your country is massive. Touring at home is like two weeks, max. You scratch the surface each time in America, which is kinda the exciting thing about it.