The Hiss Interview

The Hiss
By alexander laurence

The Hiss formed in 2001 with Adrian Barrera (guitar/Vocals) and Todd Galpin (drums). They were in a previous band, Centipede, from Gainesville, Florida. Florida was a dead end then for music, as it is now and shall always be. There was no future for this band that needed to back out and break all the rules. Inspired by garage rock and Surrealism, the duo moved to Atlanta and hooked up with Ian Franco (guitar) and Mahjula Bah-Kamara (bass). Her name was too exotic for the band so they replaced her with Johnny Kral. The Hiss is dedicated to hard work and sweat.

Recently, the band was picked by Noel Gallagher to support Oasis on their German tour. The Hiss also supported The White Stripes at 99X's Big Rock Festival in June 2003. Their debut, Panic Movement was released in the US in March 2004. I got to talk with Johnny Kral and friends before they took the stage at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles. Anton Newcombe from Brian Jonestown Massacre and Jason from The Warlocks were hanging out backstage.

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AL: When did you record the album, Panic Movement?

Johnny: We recorded it in February of last year. It is just about us in a room. Someone starts playing and then someone else starts playing and we work out everything right there. Once the music is all together, and then Adrian puts lyrics to it. He listens to what we have done on tape.

AL: Where are you all from?

Johnny: We are all from different places. Adrian and Todd are from Florida originally. Ian is from Fall River, Massachusetts. I am from Philadelphia. I met Adrian and Todd when I lived in Gainesville. They moved to Atlanta and that's where they met Ian. I had moved to New York City for a few years. They called me down from New York and asked me to play.

AL: How long did it take to create songs and start playing?

Johnny: Everything happened right away. They had played in a band before called Centipede. We knew what they had been doing. Ian and I were familiar with their material. We were friends with them already. When they finished that band, they started the new band immediately. We were ready to play already.

AL: What is Gainesville like?

Johnny: I lived there for a while. Gainesville is weird. It's a small college town with probably half a million people. But it's really tiny. Everyone is mushed together in this tiny place. It had a really good music scene for a few years. It dwindled down and was mediocre after a while. It's depressing. Everyone left.

AL: The good clubs closed down?

Johnny: There were only two good clubs there the whole time. One of them closed down. They started passing laws like you had to pay one hundred and fifty dollars every year for an entertainment license. Clubs had to close early. That killed the scene.

AL: How did you end up playing in the UK a year later and releasing Panic Movement there first last fall? I thought you were an English band at first because I saw you on MTV in the UK.

Johnny: Yeah. It happened because of James Oldham who used to work for the NME. We sent a demo tape to a friend of a friend who knew James. He passed it on to him. James heard it and said he wanted to do an article on us for the NME. We started talking to him. He was going to help us put out the record in England on a label. Then James got a chance to start his own label. He called us right away.

AL: You had all the songs written at that point?

Johnny: For the most part. Most of them were done. We had other ideas that we worked on while we were there.

AL: Did you tour a lot by that point?

Johnny: Not really. We had played some shows.

AL: How do you know when a song is finished?

Johnny: The way we know a song is going to be good is that we can remember it the next day. If we can't remember how to play it the next day we know it's not good enough to be a Hiss song.

AL: What bands have you played with? I guess that you have played more in the UK than here. What was that like?

Johnny: We have toured with The Sights a little bit. That was okay. We toured with BRMC. We toured with Jet for a little while. That was amazing. They are our best friends. They are super great guys. We had the most fun we ever had in a long time with those guys. We did a few tours on our own with local London bands. There was a band called Razorlight. There was another called Eastern Lane. It was fun. It is always fun touring England.

AL: What do you think of the audience reaction in England compared to America?

Johnny: I hate to go against the hometown team, but England is a lot better for music than the States are. It's not that they have a better ear. They just care a little more. People are not afraid to go out to a show and admit that they like something. When there is a show in England, English people will read the paper about what is going on that week, and if they read something that they like, they will go out to the show irregardless of whether their friends are going, or whether they are not going to seem cool. They don't care. They just like good music. Here in America, they could read something that grabs their attention, but if none of their friends are going, or they show up and there are ten people there, they will leave. They don't give new music a chance.

AL: What bands inspire you?

Johnny: I don't know why I started playing music. I didn't start listening to music till I was in Middle School. The first album I got was Megadeath. I used to listen to that stuff.

AL: Do you like to read books or watch films?

Johnny: Yeah, we all read. I read Band of Brothers the other day. We all like George P. Pelicanos. We love them. The last film I saw was The Pianist. That was good, but you don't want to be stuck on a plane with someone you don't know watching that.

AL: What other hobbies does the band have?

Johnny: I don't know if I can talk about it. We are all into weird stuff. I can't talk about it.

AL: The band has this whole dark side. It's mysterious. What is up with that?

Johnny: Anything I say will make us look bad. Ian is into gardening.

AL: A lot of models and girls show up to see The Hiss. Do you have comments about that?

Johnny: If you have really long hair like I do and you are shy, your hair goes directly in front of your face and you can't see anything. I rely on what Ian and Todd see because they are aware of what is going on. What they tell me may be lies. They told me that it was a bunch of old guys with canes out there.

AL: You are coming back on tour with Electric Six?

Johnny: Yeah. We are playing three weeks, which is a perfect amount of time. The record just came out here so we are trying to do whatever it takes.

AL: What is your set like?

Johnny: We are playing most of the album. Not everything. We have one new song that we play. We have an older song that didn't make it on the record.

AL: Any advice for young people who want to form a band?

Johnny: Don't learn how to play anyone else's songs. Don't ever learn a cover.

(Background noise in the room. Members of BJM, The Warlocks, and Starlite Desperation enter the room.)

AL: We have Anton Newcombe here talking really loud. I guess that means the interview is over. When did The Hiss start as a band?

Anton: I am not actually in The Hiss. I am a fan. I am a fan of really good music. That is why I am here. The show in San Diego last night was really great.

AL: You are following the whole tour then?

Anton: I have my own shit I have to do.

AL: You should be making your next record.

Anton: I am. My records are doing so well that I can come and see other bands and feel inspired. I can bring that back to the studio.

AL: You have this new single "We Are The Radio." Let's talk about that.

Anton: There is another song now. We have shit going off.

Jason: Everyone seems to know about that song.


Website: www.thehiss.com

The Killers interview 2004

The Killers

2004 Interview by alexander laurence

The Killers debut album, Hot Fuss, is the hottest American record of the year so far. The Killers may be the best band from America right now. We have to have pride. We can no longer leave it up to the English for our musical palette because we have the Killers. They combine a love for British music, showmanship, and killer hooks. The Killers are Brandon Flowers (voice/keyboard), David Keuning (guitar), Mark Stermer (bass), and Ronnie Vannucci (drums). This bunch met in Las Vegas two years ago, after Brandon left his previous band. Last summer they are playing shows in England. Now they are a big demand in the UK. After shows at Coachella, CMJ, and Weenie Roast, people are wondering who these guys are. They are well dressed and the bass player looks like Jesus Christ. These guys are what the doctor ordered.

“Jenny “ and “Midnight Show” are songs that make up a murder trilogy. The Killers are the best band that recreates the feeling and emotion of New Wave, while saying something absolutely new. They have a knack for having the best anthems since U2. The song “All These Things That I’ve Done” has a gospel choir breakdown in the middle of the song. Brandon Flowers is an amazing songwriter and frontman. It’s amazing to think that he is only 22 years old. The Killers make the sound of synthesizers something to look forward to. You hear the sound of keyboards on “Smile Like You Mean It” and you think could you ever dream of a band more perfect for KROQ modern rock playlists. “Andy You’re A Star” is more like Suede. “Everything Will Be Alright” is more like early Bowie. This band has come from nowhere and delivered a great album. They will be what we are talking all year. I spoke to Ronnie Vannucci the day the record was released. The Killers will be playing in New York City soon.

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AL: I just saw you guys play at Weenie Roast 2004 just a few days ago. That was good. You went on about 5pm.

Ronnie: Oh yeah. That was hotter than hell. We loved it. The sun really shone on us that day. We are still cutting our teeth with things. It’s good that we can get a good spot on the main stage. We do what we do with every show. It may sound cheesy but we give it our all. We hope people enjoy it. It is a battle being in direct sunlight.

AL: Brandon’s face was projected on the screen quite often. He looked like he was sweating a lot.

Ronnie: Yeah. It’s pretty hot up there.

AL: You grew up in the suburbs of Las Vegas? How has that influenced the band?

Ronnie: Yeah, if you can call it that. It’s a strip in the middle and houses that surrounds it. I don’t know if growing up there has influenced us in any specific way. Las Vegas has established itself with any music scene. You have to rely on what is happening in neighboring cities like Los Angeles. That is where people used to think they needed to go to prove themselves or make themselves known. I think that it comes down to having good songs. It doesn’t matter where you live.

AL: When did you meet each other?

Ronnie: About two years ago. David and Brandon met through an ad. I met them at a gig. They had been The Killers a few months before I joined. They didn’t have a solid lineup. I joined and then we found Mark. We decided that we had to get really serious. We knew we had to practice every day and write songs.

AL: How many shows have you played back then?

Ronnie: We played a few local shows. We have played a shitload of shows in La Vegas. But our first connection with the outside world was when we went to England in September 2003. It is all still pretty new to us.

AL: You went over to England first before playing any big tours in the United States?

Ronnie: Yeah. Our first tour was in England. We had played New York City and Chicago when we were still unsigned. We did a few things here and there, but England is where things started for us.

AL: What sort of shows did you play there?

Ronnie: At first we were playing shitty support acts at no name clubs. Then we got better supporting gigs. People saw us play and thought we were a good band. Things started to happen very fast.

AL: When did you record the album?

Ronnie: The record is half demos. We made a demo first. That led to a single for an indie label in England. That led to an EP and an album. We had a lot of songs recorded already. When we thought about putting the album together we kept a lot of the original demos because they all had certain spontaneity to them. Half of the songs we recorded before we ever went to England.

AL: You made a self-released EP when you played that first tour?

Ronnie: Yeah. It was a four song EP of the demos. It was released through Lizard King who was our label in the UK. When we did the album we remixed the songs. It was a limited edition. It created enough static to make some waves.

AL: When you worked on the final album, did you work with a producer?

Ronnie: We worked with Jeff Saltzman. We gave him credit. But we constructed all the songs and mostly did everything ourselves. We had a guy recording for us. We gave him producing points for recording us.

AL: Did you do live tracks or how did you go about recording the album?

Ronnie: Yeah. No recording was more than three takes. That is what I meant by the spontaneity of the record. We weren’t trying to make a big record. We just tried to write some good songs and play good and try to make it the best we could. We were just recording songs over the course of a year when we had time. The original demos turned out to be so good that we kept them.

AL: Did you do a lot of overdubs and vocal doubling?

Ronnie: No. There wasn’t a lot of production involved. It is almost like a live show or rehearsal. We would like to work in the studio for a few months. We could see where that takes us. Maybe we will do that with the second record.

AL: How do you write songs in the band?

Ronnie: Each song is different. Some songs will come from all four of us. Someone will make up a melody or a line. Some songs Brandon brought in. He had the songs and the changes all written already. It was all there. Some songs had maybe two of us working on it. Brandon and I worked on “Believe, Me Natalie” together. Brandon and David had written “Mr. Brightside” before Mark and I were in the band. We are a band most importantly and we work on all the songs together eventually. It makes it fun because the creation of every song is so different.

AL: Brandon writes all the lyrics too?

Ronnie: Yeah.

AL: What does he write about in his songs?

Ronnie: All I know is half of his songs are half-fiction and half-autobiographical. The songs are about different subjects. If you wanted to know about anything specific you would have to ask Brandon.

AL: There is a lot of romantic longings in the songs. It’s a make out album?

Ronnie: You think so? There is some romantic stuff in there. That description would belong to us.

AL: I was reading the NME. They compared your band to The Smiths. Are you Smith obsessive like they say?

Ronnie: We are not obsessed with The Smiths. The Smiths were among the bands that all four members grew up with. Those were our generation’s bands. Those were some of the first tapes we bought. Those were some of the first things we discovered for ourselves so it’s personal. It’s very easy for us to be in a room and make music because we have a common background.

AL: Some of these articles also mention U2.

Ronnie: Yeah. U2 is a wonderful band. I still really look up to them.

AL: What are some other bands that are definitely influences but people haven’t pointed out before?

Ronnie: We are fans of British music, but we are also fans of American music. We like the Talking Heads, Blondie, and others. We also like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, and Interpol. We like Tom Petty, Tom Waits, and Lou Reed. We like music in general. We just don’t listen to The Cure and The Smiths. That needs to be known.

AL: Does Brandon Flowers have a shrine to Robert Smith or Morrissey on his wall at home?

Ronnie: No! Hell no! Actually we did play some shows with Morrissey. We talked to him and he was positive. That was some good validation of what we were doing.

AL: What other bands have you played with that you liked?

Ronnie: We just recently did three shows with Yeah Yeah Yeahs. We were really stoked to be doing shows with those guys. There are some great bands in England that people should listen to like British Sea Power, The Black Velvets, The Departure, and Surfer Rosa from Norway. We really enjoyed playing with those guys. There is a band in London called The Glitterati. They just finished a tour with David Lee Roth. They are really good.

AL: The song “Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll” is on the UK album but not on the American issue. Why is that?

Ronnie: We decided that England would be more receptive to that song. We wanted to make the albums a little different.

AL: Have you seen any good movies?

Ronnie: We saw Harry Potter when we were in London. Daniel Radcliffe is apparently a fan of The Killers.

AL: He is obsessed with The Killers. I read that interview. I was shocked. He is supposedly the second wealthiest teenager in England. He could buy a bunch of copies of Hot Fuss and keep it in the charts all year.

Ronnie: Wow! Who knows?

AL: What are you up to this summer?

Ronnie: We don’t have a day off until the middle of October. We are playing all the festivals except Reading and Leeds. We will be at Glastonbury, T in The Park, V Festival, Fuji Rock, and a few more. I don’t know exactly where we will be for the next three months.

AL: When will you do a proper tour of the great American cities?

Ronnie: It starts in July.

AL: What is your favorite part about being a musician?

Ronnie: Playing live shows is probably the best for me. What is good about that is it’s true for the most part. It’s a true representation of who we are as people and musicians. We are out there naked. We are giving them a show. That is the best thing about music: going from a hot garage with some songs to a hot stage with people who enjoy the music.

AL: You are really a great drummer. It’s like the second coming of Keith Moon.

Ronnie: Thanks. I haven’t destroyed any drum sets yet.