Blonde Redhead Interview 2004

Blonde Redhead

By Alexander Laurence

Blonde Redhead with their unique sound and deadpan vocals have always been, for me, the quintessential New York band. Even though none of them are American. Early on they were compared to Sonic Youth. They have a cult following that is very intense. It all started innocently enough. The band met by chance at an Italian restaurant in New York: Japanese art student Kazu Makino (guitar/vocals) and Italian twin brothers Simone Pace (drums) and Amedeo Pace (guitar/vocals) found each other and formed the band in 1993.

The name Blonde Redhead was taken from a song by the 1980s no-wave band DNA. With Kazu Makino and Amedeo on guitars and vocals, Simone on drums. The band had a chaotic angular sound in the early days. The early albums reflect their interest in no-wave bands and the Dischord label. They grew out of that and turned to more melodic and European influences. Blonde Redhead was a fine band on a small label.

In 1997, their first great record, Fake Can Be Just as Good, was released. The next record, In an Expression of the Inexpressible, was not as distinct, but their fanbase grew nonetheless. A notable less noisy and accessible, Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons came out in 2000. They seemed more interested in song structure and melody. This record was their most successful.

Kazu Makino was thrown from a horse in 2002. She sustained serious injuries when it stepped on her, breaking her jaw. Understandably, the band took some time off and missed out on the New York music explosion of the past years. But they were a band that all these New York bands admired like Interpol and Secret Machines. Blonde Redhead signed to a bigger label (4AD) this year. Their new album Misery Is a Butterfly, was released in late March 2004. I spoke to the members of the band at the beginning of their first big American tour in a few years. It was on March 20th 2004 at the Fonda.

****

AL: When did you record the new album?

Simone: We recorded it at the beginning of 2003. It took a few months. We worked with Guy Picciotto. This was the third record we did with him.

AL: Most of this album is live takes. You went back and did some overdubs?

Simone: Yeah. Every song is different. Some songs we will go in and do it all together. Some songs will be drums first. Maybe I will play with one of them or both. We will put down some sort of track. We want to make sure that the drums are good. We want it to flow nicely. We will then work on it and add things.

AL: How do you write songs? Is there a lot of jamming?

Simone: There is some jamming. Not a lot. We work together on all the songs. First we will bring in the harmonic ideas. Then we will take things from there. We will bring in records. We will bring in old tapes that we have recorded before. We will bring in some old ideas. It is a constant changing of one idea. We develop the sound. We record everything we do and play it back.

AL: There is a lot of listening involved?

Simone: Yeah, a lot of listening. There is a lot of deleting. We will keep little things. We will develop those little ideas over time.

AL: Does Kazu and Amedeo write the lyrics that they sing?

Simone: Yes, exactly.

AL: There was a lot of time between this album and the previous one. Did you have more time to work on the songs?

Simone: We did take a little bit longer this time. We did have some problems. That delayed us a little bit. When it was time to record, Guy couldn't come because his mother passed away. Kazu got really hurt. That gave us more time even though the things that were happening were sad. That extended our time to develop the songs. It was a blessing in disguise because we were coming up with ideas for songs that were more finished and complete by the time we got into the studio. We wanted to record before. We weren't ready.

AL: Last year you played some shows in California. Did you play new songs?

Simone: We played two new songs then.

AL: You played at MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was a street festival and you played at three in the afternoon.

Simone: It was nice to be invited to play that. The Director of the museum took us around and showed us what was going on there. It was great. I like playing museums. We also played at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Both times it was inspiring because you look at art and then you go play a show.

AL: The song "Magic Mountain" on the new album: is that based on the Thomas Mann novel?

Simone: Yeah.

AL: That is a long novel. Shouldn't you have done a twelve-minute song?

Simone: I don't know. You should ask Kazu.

AL: The last album came out and you toured for a long time. Are you going to write new songs any time soon?

Simone: We just started this tour. We are going to play for most of this year. Maybe later this fall we will write some songs and go back into the studio. You never know.

AL: Since the release of your last album and this new one, there are several New York bands like Interpol, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Rapture. What do you think of all these bands coming from New York, many of them influenced by Blonde Redhead?

Simone: It's good to see a lot of good music coming from New York. Because that was always not the case. Because New York is New York, maybe it's the best place to write music and it has the best bands, but it is not like that. To me it is refreshing to like some of the music that is going on there now. I was listening to Interpol today. It's very good.

AL: You were on some indie labels for many years. Now you are on 4AD. Why the change?

Simone: We wanted to do things differently this time. We wanted to license our record. We couldn't do that with all labels. Some labels don't want to do that. 4AD was one of the labels that was interested in giving us that opportunity. We wanted to do a whole new adventure. There were many people interested. It wasn't so long ago. We just decided to do this six months ago. We recorded the album on our own. We didn't have any label. We paid for it ourselves. We said let's do it the way we want and see if anyone is interested in releasing it.

AL: Do you like any new bands?

Simone: We are doing this tour with Secret Machines. I haven't heard them yet. My brother Amedeo really likes them.

AL: Do you listen to a lot of music?

Simone: I do listen to music. Probably not the kind of music you think I listen to. I listen to Classical music, French music, and Italian music. I listen to rock music.

AL: A few years ago you did the Serge Gainsbourg song. Your records sound more like French music than most American pop music.

Simone: Yeah.

AL: Do you read a lot?

Simone: I just got a new Italian book from my brother.

AL: I like Pasolini.

Simone: I have read a few things by Pasolini.

AL: The music of Blonde Redhead reminds me of dreams and watching films. Are there any films that you like?

Simone: I like the films of Antonioni. I love his films. I love the pace of the films. They take their time. I love repetition in music. Sometimes I like to stay with one idea. It's like you become paralyzed by it. I like movies like that.

AL: When people come to see you play this year what should they expect?

Simone: We are going to play some new songs. It's hard because now the album isn't out yet. Most people haven't heard it unless they downloaded from the internet. So for the first part of this tour we are playing songs that people don't know yet.

AL: The record comes out on March 23rd, 2004.

Simone: We are going to play seven or eight songs from the new album. The rest will be a mix from the other albums. We are going to stick it out though.

AL: Is there a secret Beatles influence on the last few albums?

Simone: A little bit. I think we pulled out those records and listened to them. I think it had more to do with the last album than this album. This album has more to do with French stuff and English stuff, like The Cure. We were listening to some Icelandic stuff. We were listening a lot to the Rolling Stones.

://www.blonde-redhead.com/

--Alexander Laurence

The Dandy Warhols Interview

The Dandy Warhols by Alexander Laurence Formed in Portland, OR, during 1994, the Dandy Warhols consist of members Courtney Taylor (vocals, guitar), Zia McCabe (keyboards), Peter Holmstrom (guitar), and Brent DeBoer (drums). They signed on with the independent label Tim/Kerr shortly after their formation. 1995 saw the release of the quartet's debut release, Dandy's Rule OK? While other rock bands may be a bit hesitant to spell out their influences, the Dandy Warhols decided to openly advertise it with songs like "Lou Weed" and "Ride."

Capitol Records soon signed the group, but rejected a second album (it didn't have any "hits"). Disappointed, the group reunited and came up with Dandy Warhols Come Down, issued in 1997. While the album didn't exactly establish the group as a household name, it did prove to be an underground favorite. I remember hanging out with writer, Blake Nelson, in Astor Place, and I watched him get excited, as the Dandy Warhols walked by us at The Starbucks. Of course, he is from Portland too.

The third album, Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, created a larger international audience. Their music was included in a few commercials. The group played many festivals. Their fourth album is Welcome To The Monkey House, named after the Kurt Vonnegut book. It displays a new electronic sound. Recently they were on Conan O'Brien where they played "We Used To Be Friends." In September 2003, the Dandy Warhols are doing an American tour. After that, they are supporting David Bowie in Europe for two months.

The Dandy Warhols are also featured in the film, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, which will came in early 2004. The new album was self-produced, with contributions with Nick Rhodes and Tony Visconti. That led to collaborations with Simon Le Bon, Nile Rodgers and Evan Dando. I spoke to drummer Brent DeBoer, right before some LA shows, including headlining one at the Sunset Junction. In 2005, they are planning to release a new album.

AL: Right now you have just finished this small acoustic tour of dance clubs. How did that go?

Brent: It was pretty fun so far. We have done three or four. They want us to play acoustic. They always say, "We'll have guitars there. If you want to play that is cool." Then we get there and they introduce us to the lighting director and the sound guy. There's a stage with two stools and two guitars and microphones. Everyone is already facing that direction. They were arranged to be record listening parties but some of them ended up being big concerts. We don't really play acoustic guitars.

AL: You haven't played here for a while. Some young people have never seen you play before. So there's some excitement about seeing the Dandy Warhols play again.

Brent: Yeah. It's kind of hit or miss. But the acoustic unplugged thing is not really our focus. They aren't really seeing our live show. It was fun last night. We had the whole audience singing along. It was fun.

AL: You and Courtney were playing guitars and singing together. What is the setlist like?

Brent: Beatles and Dandy Warhols and Kristin Hersh. Whatever. We take requests from the audience. We try to get everyone to sing, "It's a Hard Day's Night."

AL: Peter and Zia don't play you on these shows. It's it odd that Peter is not playing some of these shows?

Brent: Not really. You don't really need three guitars on most of those songs. Some of them we only play one guitar. Both Courtney and I sing, and Pete doesn't sing. Also I don't think that Pete is interested in learning all those chords from all those old songs from the 1960s. Not as much as Courtney and I are. Last night we tried to get Pete to come up and play "Mohammed" with Courtney. He wasn't into it. Pete and Zia are hanging out with us. We have a couple beers. We play a few songs.

AL: You also played songs by Anton Newcombe of Brian Jonestown Massacre?

Brent: Yeah. Anton Newcombe has always been nice to me. He's nice to all of us. Once in a while you read or hear him saying some nasty stuff. I think that it's an attention getting device. I don't think he would do anything to mess with us, and if he did, I think he would be in a lot of trouble.

AL: When you went to New York to do the Conan O'Brien show; that is when the blackout hit. Did you sleep in the NBC studios?

Brent: We didn't do any sleeping. We stayed late there. We had our passes. All the lights were out. The air conditioning was off. All of our rooms were ovens. It was scary when the lights went out at the beginning. The streets were too crowded. People were crying. Then it turned into a snow day. People had barbeques going in the middle of the street. That's how it was all over New York, so everyone was out on the streets. We were walking around for a while with these lamps on our foreheads. We bought them on the street. We were having a good time with the whole city. The show got cancelled on Thursday and Rockefeller Center was evacuated. We felt lame sitting in our rooms, we ventured out. We remembered that we had our passes for NBC. They had all their generators on and their power was on first. They needed them for all the newsrooms. We went back in there and it was lovely. We went back in our dressing rooms and we had a half bottle of tequila. We hung out there until 3:30 in the morning, till security kicked us out. By this time we were running around in the lobby. We went to this bar that was owned Clonan O'Brien. It was a coincidence. We went down in the basement with ten people. We played with these plastic guitars and our headlamps all night. The batteries ran out eventually. It was one of the best and fun nights I have ever had. We were happy to be part of that.

AL: When did you record the new album?

Brent: We started recording in Portland on September 10th, 2001. We had just got the keys to our new building and got everything squared away. We had plans to meet on the 11th around noon. We were starting to plug in gear and start decorating. We knew that we were going to be in there for months. People were on the phone, saying, "Have you checked out the TV? This is really messed up." We went down and turned on the radio and started freaking out about the situation in New York City. That was the first day. We started knocking down walls. We set it up for a few weeks. Then we started recording. We got our friend, Brian Coates, in there. He has really good ears and is the best at music. The five of us were in there for months, from track to track to track, till it was almost done. We had the engineer from the Smashing Pumpkins to help us sift through tracks and be like a cleanup crew. We did some rough mixes and got it to where we wanted it to sound. We were loving it. We also worked with Nick Rhodes in London for a few weeks to polish it up. Only a few songs truly felt finished and the rest were not quite done. When you get Nick in the studio, you get someone who has worked in the studio for over twenty years. You get some fresh ears and a really smart guy. Nick is a cool guy. It makes for a relaxed and easy time.

AL: What do you think that Nick Rhodes brings to the record?

Brent: The record was almost completely done. We didn't know exactly what was going to happen when we headed over to London. We just wanted to hear some ideas. What do you think about this or that? Nick is very good for that. He's really honest and it's impossible to hurt his feelings. He was doing the new Duran Duran record across the hall. So he was jumping back and forth.

AL: How did Tony Visconti become involved?

Brent: Courtney and I had already gone and recorded Neil Young's "Ohio" for this movie. It was a one-day thing. It was really good. It was everything you would hope it would be when you got to meet him. We had this one song with a T-Rex vibe. So we thought we would go all the way and try to get Tony Visconti to work with us again. He was into it. We were at Bowie's studio in New York and Tony stopped by. We hung out. We were tracking the drums. Courtney said to him, "The song needs those T-Rex Ooo Yeans." That high falsettos. Tony said, "Well, I sang all those." So we were all "Get in there, man." So that why it sounds just like T-Rex. Because it is the guy who sang on those records.

AL: You actually played a band in this new movie called Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen? What was that like?

Brent: It was great. We were two days in Toronto. It was one big room. It was set up to look like a rockstar party. It was a Disney movie. These young girls get invited after a concert to go to the singer's party where he has the Dandy Warhols play. They had all these rocker look-alikes there. There are all these supermodels. Then you go, "Oh there's Lenny Kravitz, and there's Avril Lavigne." These girls sneak out of their house to go to the party and we play at the party. We mimed a song about twenty times and they said great. One day we were in the background and the second day we were closer up. I am not sure how it's going to turn out. It stars the girl from Freaky Friday.

AL: What is the Odditorium like?

Brent: We wanted our own studio. That's the dream: to have your own studio. We found a location for it. We shot a video in it. Usually they spend all this money for a set and tear it down the next day. We have a pretty good production company in Portland. We had our friends build the set. Shot the video for "We Used To Be Friends" and the set stayed. We have three decorated rooms. Now it's a photo studio, a kitchen, and a dining room. There's a rehearsal space and a recording space. We put a deck on the roof. It's a great place to have all our scumbag friends over and sit around and watch movies and drink beers.

AL: When did you have the idea to do this new record? You didn't want to do the same guitar oriented record, right?

Brent: Yeah. When we came out with Thirteen Tales, when we came out with that, we went around the world, and you would not hear a guitar on a record. You wouldn't hear any rock records on the radio. You might hear a Travis song, maybe. Mostly it was the Backside Boys, or whatever. We would go to parties and they would play Sticky Fingers and songs by Neil Young. Now there are bands like White Stripes and BRMC. We wanted to challenge ourselves to not just make another lo-fi wall of guitars record that is "cool." Now that is cool to do that. We wanted to see if we could make something that we really dig, that you could stick your head inside of, and had the sound of an Outkast record, but our songs. It's just us: me and Zia, Pete, Courtney, and Coates. They we are going for it. At one point we just reduced it down to bass and drums and Courtney's voice. It was a straight up dub record. We then started to texturize that sound with guitars and blippy keyboard sounds. It was really a lot of fun.

AL: Even though you draw on New Wave music more, "Hit Rock Bottom" goes back further to Glam Rock sounds.

Brent: Yeah. Each song is its own little puzzle that you have to work out. That song wanted to be that. It needed that trip going on. But "Burned" had no choice. It had to be what it is. The song dictates itself and how it's done.

AL: How do you do songwriting in the band? Courtney worked with Evan Dando on one song.

Brent: Courtney was in New York. He had some lyrics he wanted to work on. Someone told him to call up Evan Dando. So they got some beers and sat around. They hashed it out. Evan Dando came up with a few lines in the song. He's a great lyricist. That is not how Courtney works usually. Generally it's more like, poof, suddenly there's a song in front of him. He doesn't really finish them. He's not a craftsman like Paul Simon, with a pen behind his ear and scratching his head. The songs just show up. Sometimes when you are at the end of a song you haven't finished all the words. You can't think of any words that fit in.

AL: How are you going to bring these songs to the stage?

Brent: We have already played thirty shows in Western Europe. We played a handful of shows in Australia. It's been amazing. It's been incredible. The songs play themselves. Most of the songs are three or four chords. We are just singing and playing them. Only a few sound exactly like the record like "Burned." We have been playing together for a long time. If we don't get it together for the first hour, we usually get it together for the last half.

AL: Are you looking forward to the tour with David Bowie?

Brent: Yeah. It's going to be in October and November. It will be like a vacation. We are going on early. We are going to be playing for only an hour. We have to adapt to that. An hour into our set is when the gig starts for us. We are either going to have to play one song or the greatest hits of The Dandy Warhols. Most of the shows are every other day, so that is going to be like a real vacation for us. We are used to playing five or six nights a week.

AL: What is a regular set like?

Brent: We don't exactly know. We usually play the same few songs. Before that we usually jam for a while and get it sounding lovely. The room always changes when people show up. You have to screw around for a while. I love how it is at the beginning of a show. After the first few songs, anything can happen. We try to play every song we know. That's about three hours. We try to make it one thing, a lovely trip of fuzz, drone and hypnosis.

AL: You will play a lot of the new album?

Brent: Maybe five or six songs. We haven't played "Hit Rock Bottom" or the first song. We will play a song for a year and then it sounds contrived or silly. It gets dumb. We will quit playing it till it resurfaces. Somebody in the audience yells for a song. We don't know exactly what we are going to play. We get backstage at the end of the of show. We realize that we forgot to play a song. We don't have a setlist. We just have a list of all of our songs. We just jump around.

AL: If people want to hear a certain song they should get up close to the front and yell it out?

Brent: Hell yeah!

AL: Do you have any hobbies?

Brent: I like shifter cart racing. It's a high performance cart racing. I like skiing.

AL: Have you read any books lately?

Brent: Yeah. Reefer Madness. That is a great book. I am only halfway through it but what a trip, man? Makes me want to move to Toronto. The political system is so backwards in America. It's so weird and repressed. The prohibition of drugs is a new experiment. It will take about thirty years for people to look back on this experiment as a waste of time and money and lives. It's over nothing: it's just a plant. It's no more damaging than legal drugs or what you can get in a bar. More advanced societies in the world have done away with bothering people about weed.

AL: Have you seen any movies?

Brent: I just saw Seabiscuit. It could have been forty minutes longer. It would have been easier and dreamier. It seemed rushed. I liked it. It was cinematic. The best movie ever is Hannah and Her Sisters. Courtney and I watched it the other day. Everybody, you and me, is every one of those characters in that movie. You are just watching yourself. It is embarrassing but it's just so fun to watch.

AL: What is hardest thing about being in the band?

Brent: Just getting sleep. You just end up not sleeping very much on tour. It's so fun meeting people. I just want to stay up all the time.

AL: Do you have any advice for people who want to start a band?

Brent: Musically I could talk forever. I would say, don't invite people into your world, your band, and your life, that you have a notion of not trusting them. Don't let them be your bass player or your manager. Do everything yourself. You can always trust yourself. If you can really trust someone, that's good. Invite them into your gang. If they mess with you, let them go. They are going to create a lot of heartache later. Don't just dream big dreams, plan big plans. Have a plan and stick with it.

AL: Are there any other bands that you like?

Brent: I like Dr. Dre and Johnny Cash. My favorite band in the whole world is Brian Jonestown Massacre. I was listening to The Byrds the other day.

--Alexander Laurence

Charlotte Martin

Charlotte Martin Interview
By alexander laurence
(I did this interview last summer but the editor of the magazine didn't think
it was hip enough. Everyone is a snob and trapped in a cage. Your indie uniform
does not impress me. So I did this interview and it never saw the light of day,
so I decided to ressurect it it here)

Charlotte Martin is from Charleston, Illinois, and now lives in Los Angeles.
She is more like Kate Bush or Fiona Apple, than Franz
Ferdinand. I heard her CD this summer and it definitely stood out from the
pack. Charlotte has a distinct voice and provocative lyrics. She is also very
good looking. That was cool because I get tired of hanging out with sweaty guys
from England.

The 27-year-old Charlotte Martin moved to Los Angeles a while ago to begin
her career. Martin recorded an album with producer Tom Rothrock. Due to label
politics the album never came out and Charlotte waited till the time was right
for her music. She spent hours working on new material and creating a studio.
After a year of live show, she started to build an audience. In 2003, she
released an EP called Parentheses. More people started to notice. Her song "Bring
On the Day" was included on the Sweet Home Alabama soundtrack.

She toured earlier this year with Sondre Lerche and Damien Rice. I caught her
on the Maybelline sponsored “Chicks With Attitude” tour, where Charlotte
played with Liz Phair, The Cardigans, and Katy Rose. Charlotte definitely stood
out among her peers and some fans showed up early just to hear her play. Her
first album On Your Shore came out this past August. She will be playing again
across America in October 2004. I got to talk to her on her tour. Katy Rose
interrupted us a few times who was trying to sleep or something.

******

AL: It’s the end of the tour?

Charlotte: I think we are family. I am getting depressed. There is still two
weeks left. It’s ridiculous. I wish it would continue for two more months. I
love sharing a bus with these people.

AL: You are not an organized person?

Charlotte: Right before I go onstage I get a little flustered. That is why I
have a glass of wine. I have been playing first. I play by myself. Katy Rose
plays after me. She is like punk rock music. It’s cool.

AL: Who are you sharing the bus with then?

Charlotte: Katy Rose and her band. I have my manager. There are two people
with me. Katy has six people with her. There are two Maybelline people.

AL: It’s good that you are first because you can just go on without a sound
check.

Charlotte: I do need a sound check. I am into certain delays and reverbs. I
am particular about what I like. I don’t know if you have heard bad sounding
keyboards and vocals, but it is very possible. It’s a fine art to make the
vocals sound good. It takes about fifteen minutes.

AL: What were the other tours like?

Charlotte: I played with Sondre Lerche. The other tours were all men. It’s
cool to have girls on the tour. I like playing with girls.

AL: Did Sondre Lerche hit on you?

Charlotte: No. He didn’t really hit on me at all. I don’t know what the deal
is. He didn’t really hit on anyone. He is focused on the music.

AL: Who else have you played with?

Charlotte: I played with Five For Fighting, Damien Rice, and Howie Day. I
played with Psychedelic Furs as well.

AL: Since you are in LA do they throw you on a bill at the last minute?

Charlotte: I get to be on the actual tours. I haven’t really been hanging out
in LA. I have been on tour for about a year now. I have my house in LA. I
have my dogs there. I have my boyfriend there.

AL: What is Charleston, Illinois like?

Charlotte: It’s in the southern part of Illinois. It’s boring.

AL: When did you figure that out?

Charlotte: When I was five. People who grow up in small towns usually have
really interesting imagination because they have to figure out things to
entertain themselves.

AL: You didn’t have the internet back then?

Charlotte: No. We didn’t really have the internet until a few years ago. I
read a lot. I still read a lot. I am over the online thing. I don’t go on unless
I have to. I don’t read the messageboards. I don’t want to know if someone
is pissed off at a show or they are being critical. They have a right to be
critical but I don’t have to know about it. I have a few friends who will bring so
mething to my attention if it is necessary. We have a monitor if someone is
being rude for no apparent reason. I like people to have free speech.

AL: Have you read any good books?

Charlotte: I am reading Battlefield of The Mind by Joyce Meyer. I am also
reading The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd. It is about
spiritual feminism.

AL: Did you go to college?

Charlotte: Yeah. I studied Opera. You end up logging in more hours because
you have to learn more languages. You have to do an Opera every semester. I
would study ten hours a week in voice lessons. I would do recitals. You learn a
lot.

AL: You sing in German or Italian?

Charlotte: All of it. I sang in French and Czech. I studied Italian, German,
and French for ten years.

AL: Do you like the more modern 20th century classical music?

Charlotte: Benjamin Britten influenced my album. I like Gian Carlo Menotti’s
“Old Man and The Thief.” Henryk Gorecki is a favorite of mine. I like Iannis
Xenakis. He doesn’t even use score or notation. I had to study that in college.
I have blocked some of that out. I can appreciate John Cage but I can’t get
into it. I like most of Post-Romantic stuff of the early 20th century like
Rachmaninoff and Britten. I like the choral and vocal stuff.

AL: Did you ever play or tour with a proper Opera company?

Charlotte: No. I auditioned for the Met and that is as far as I got. It was
only a regional audition. That was in Chicago. After I graduated I moved to LA.

AL: When did you start writing songs for this album On Your Shore?

Charlotte: I started writing this album two years ago. I did an independent
album in 1998. I sold that on my own. I got signed to an indie label three
years ago and the record got shelved. After that I put out two independent EPs.
After that I put out Parentheses on RCA last year. This is my sixth or seventh
release.

AL: What is the early stuff like?

Charlotte: Shit. Shit. I did a record called One Girl Army for an indie
label. It is a young sounding. It is an interesting record. Anything before that is
not worth your time. It’s not good. It’s like really bad dinner theater.

AL: Was there anything from Parentheses that is on the new album?

Charlotte: There is one song that is on both called “Your Armor.”

AL: How many songs did you record?

Charlotte: Twenty-one songs. They all have been in the tracklisting at one
point. I don’t know what I am going to do with the other songs.

AL: How do you start writing a song?

Charlotte: It depends. I don’t know. Sometimes I will have music or lyrics
first. Sometimes I have both. One thing that I don’t do is “piece” things
together. I know a lot of people do that. They will write something and make it fit
somewhere else. I can’t do that. When I work on a piece I have to have fresh
ideas or I get burnt out. I feel that it is not good enough. I throw away a
lot of stuff. I throw away most everything. If I can remember something it might
be decent.

AL: How good is your memory?

Charlotte: It’s pretty good. I memorized two operas a year.

AL: Now when you are onstage you can break into some opera odyssey if you
want to?

Charlotte: Not so much. You have to be vocally in shape to do that stuff. If
I was in shape I could do it.

AL: What do you like to write songs about?

Charlotte: I write about everything from death, to declarations of love and
spirituality, to finding God, to losing God, to abortion, to anorexia, to
books, to denial, to stalking. I write about anything about human experience that I
need to express. If something moves me I will write about it.

AL: So there is no subject that is off limits?

Charlotte: No.

AL: You mentioned religion. Do you believe in a higher power?

Charlotte: Yeah. I am still searching. I am always searching.

AL: What are you searching for?

Charlotte: Him, her, it. God. I believe in God.

AL: Have you had a divine experience?

Charlotte: Yes I have. It’s through the music. It’s hard to explain. It’s
when you are so caught up in a piece, whether you are a listener, or a composer,
or a performer, where the piece takes you out of yourself, some place else
you haven’t been. That is like a religious experience.

AL: It’s sort of like drugs without the drugs?

Charlotte: Kind of. Imagine doing drugs when that happened. It would be
mindblowing!

AL: Don’t you think that actors and performers have those sorts of
experiences, when everything is going right, that they have those sort out-of-body
experiences? They are living in the moment.

Charlotte: I was watching the news the other day. They discovered that there
is really nothing in space. The chances of life in our galaxy have gone down.
They are pretty sure that there are no other planets in our galaxy or beyond
that can support life. They think the earth is an anomaly. They don’t know how
it happened. I personally believe it was created. I don’t think it was an
accident. I don’t think our makeup is an accident. I don’t think music is an
accident. I don’t think anything is an accident. Somebody somewhere knows what is
going on.

AL: What about people like John Cage? He was trying to create chance.

Charlotte: I don’t think everything is forced and programmed. I just think
that our existence is not an accident.

AL: What about politics? This journal is Free Williamsburg, which is about a
hipster liberal neighborhood in Brooklyn….

Charlotte: I know. It’s one of my favorite neighborhoods. I was very excited
to do this interview.

AL: Some people are very political in this neighborhood?

Charlotte: I am reading My Life by Bill Clinton. I really wish that he were
still President. Does that pretty much sum up my political views?

AL: Okay.

Charlotte: If Hilary Clinton would run, I vote for her in five seconds and
give her all my money. Yeah. I am not really into what is going on right now. I
am not really a party person. My father calls me a “Granola Liberal.” I don’t
like to be classified as that because I think it is lame. I just believe what
I believe in. I will vote for who I think is the most capable.

AL: Your family is …

Charlotte: Republican.

AL: Why do Republicans worry about abortion, gay marriages, guns and
terrorism, when there are other things in the bigger picture that really affect us all?

Charlotte: And the economy is completely crashing and we are at war for no
reason except the oil. Yeah! It’s a hard time for everyone. BMG and Sony just
merged. It hits everyone. Not as many bands can go on tour.

AL: Do you think that people in their twenties are very concerned about
politics?

Charlotte: Everyone is really concerned. I am playing Rock The Vote in New
York. I had a lot of fans email me links of ways of getting involved. I think a
lot of people my age have an opinion.

AL: Do people look to you for style guidance?

Charlotte: No. I have no style. I am not into fashion all that much.

AL: I just asked because some of these magazines that you are in had you wear
these certain clothes in the photo shoot.

Charlotte: The fans seem to be into the music. I haven’t really hit the level
of notoriety where people talk about what hair dye I use.

AL: When you did this album, is it all recorded live?

Charlotte: Yes. I worked with Joey Waronker and Justin Meldal played bass.
They used to play with Beck. It’s all live takes. We did about twelve live takes
of each song and picked the best one.

AL: What are those guys doing now?

Charlotte: Joey Waronker is mostly producing now. They used to play in a band
called Ima Robot. Justin is still doing that. I met those guys because I
recorded One Girl Army with Tom Rothrock for Bongload Records. The label ended and
it never came out.

AL: What do you like to do?

(Katy Rose comes in the room)

Charlotte: I like to smack Katy Rose on the ass.

Katy Rose: We are married. Did you know that?

AL: No.

Katy Rose: I haven’t slept at all. I am going to wear thermal underwear
onstage tonight.

AL: That’s cool.

Katy Rose: I look like a two dollar whore. Let me close the door. I am on a
rampage.

Charlotte: We have a date tonight.

Katy Rose: What are we doing?

Charlotte: We are going to sing at one in the morning. We are silly. We have t
o be. Sleeping on a bunk for a while is like being in a coffin.

AL: Except that you are still alive.

Charlotte: I’m still alive.

AL: Do you have any favorite films?

Charlotte: I like May. It’s a horror flick. I love All The Real Girls.

AL: What is up with the Goth thing?

Charlotte: That is so stupid. I like The Cure. So I am Goth? No. I don’t go
to Goth club.

AL: Do you drink blood?

Charlotte: No. I like The Cure. I like a few Goth comic writers. I have
friends who are witches. That is why I am wearing “I Live Jesus” slippers.

AL: You could be making an ironic statement.

Charlotte: No, it is not ironic. I even go to church.

AL: Can’t you just believe in a higher power without the church going?

Charlotte: I go for the music.

AL: Do you go to gospel churches and try to top the singers?

Charlotte: No, I just watch.

AL: You are missing the Curiosa Tour.

Charlotte: I am missing all my favorite bands: Interpol, The Rapture.

AL: You live in LA. Where are some hip places that we would see you at?

Charlotte: I don’t leave my house ever. I went to Perversion once or twice.

AL: You are Charlotte Martin. You should be hanging out at Star Shoes or
Beauty Bar.

Charlotte: I don’t go to bars. I stay home and read.

AL: What neighborhood do you live in?

Charlotte: West Hollywood. When you spend every night in a club, when you are
sitting at home you don’t want to go to a club. I go to Amoeba Records. That
is my favorite record store. I think The Virgin Megastore in LA is cool.

AL: Do you go to Buzz Coffee?

Charlotte: Yeah, I love Buzz Coffee. I used to go to this place called
Insomnia on Beverly.

AL: What is the rest of the year going to be like?

Charlotte: I am doing a bigger tour in the Fall. I am going to start working
on some demos. I have a bunch of songs written.

AL: I guess we have to go. Your manager is staring at me. You have to go
onstage pretty soon.

Charlotte: I love you. You are so fun. It’s so crazy. This is one of the most
in depth interviews I have done in a long time.

Website: www.charlottemartin.com
Every Time It Rains VIDEO:http://media.bmgonline.com/rcarecords.com/charlotte_martin/video/everytime_it_
rains_v2_128.mov

Gemma Hayes Interview

Gemma Hayes Interview by Alexander Laurence

It was Bloomsday and I had nothing better to do than do an interview with Irish singer, twenty-five year old Gemma Hayes. Usually I celebrate by drinking a few beers and reading a few pages of Ulysses. I had heard about Gemma Hayes from other musicians like Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. I heard Gemma's song "Ran For Miles" and was interested. It was only after I heard the full record Night On MY Side, that I was surprised by her range and scope. She seemed inspired by the disparate music of My Bloody Valentine and Joni Mitchell. Her looks alone are impressive. I was looking forward to an interview. She finally played in America in June 2003 and her live show was even better.

Gemma Hayes played locally in Tipperary and Ireland for years and there was big label interest. But she held off for years until a record label took her serious on her own terms. She finally signed to the Source label on the strength of a demo that lacked any photos, Hayes, released the five-song 4.35AM EP. This EP impressed the critics, and lead to tours with Sparklehorse, Mark Eitzel, and David Gray. Hayes released a second EP that was more electronic and rocking, which confused many people who had her pegged as a singer/songwriter. Hayes began recording her debut full-length with Dave Fridmann in 2002. Night On My Side came out in the U.K. in summer 2002, and it was issued in the America in early 2003.

Gemma is playing at the Troubadour on May 26th, 2005.

AL: The American tour has went well?

Gemma: I like places like Boulder, Colorado. We had to drive around places like Nebraska and half the band are vegetarians. The tour has gone great. I am just happy to be here. I couldn't understand why I was doing a headlining tour even of small clubs in America. Because I was thinking who the hell is going to come along and hear me. I didn't know who was going to travel that far to see the shows. So far we have had a great response to each show.

AL: How did the Field Day event go in Giants Stadium?

Gemma: It was thrown together. I played in the parking lot of Giants Stadium. That was a dream of mine. It went really well. Rain poured down from the heavens, but that just added to the "throw away" feel of the gig. People started to get into it. We made it into a really short rock set.

AL: Did you play under a tent?

Gemma: No. It was pissing rain. The stage was flooded. All our gear was flooded. We just got into the spirit of it.

AL: How many people are in your band?

Gemma: I have a five-piece band. The album is not something I can get up and play acoustically. I could probably play about half of it acoustically by myself. To get the full feel of the album you need a full proper band. There was talk of me just coming over here and doing things acoustically. That would have been very hard. Luckily I was able to bring everyone with me on the road: that is better for me mentally and health wise.

AL: You have grown up with images of America in films and books. How has it matched up to ideas of it?

Gemma: I always wanted to travel across America on a bus from east to west, playing my music. Now that has come true. I sort of pictured more dirt roads. You know when the guy and girl are driving in a convertible and the roads just seem to go on forever. We have seen more highways and petrol stations. I am usually asleep most of the time. I wake up every morning and I am in a different place. It is amazing. I woke up in Chicago and I always wanted to go there. I basically woke up, had lunch, did my soundcheck, did the gig, got on the bus and left. I didn't get to see much of Chicago at all. I wish I had more time so I would get to know each city.

AL: You have been playing quite a while now. You didn't rush into things. Why did you wait so long to sign a record deal and put out a record?

Gemma: There are a bunch of reasons actually. Five years ago when I was nineteen, a bunch of big record labels were interested in me. I think that they were looking for something a bit more accessible and commercial. They talked about changing my image and getting me in with a bunch of pop songwriters. It wasn't where I wanted to be. I had a drive to do my own music. While it might be outright pop, I wanted still to try to carve out my own path. I gave up on record labels because they always wanted to work more on my image rather than my music. At that time I had a few friends in music. They started doing their albums on their own. They would just arrange distribution deals instead. That seemed like the way to go. You could just do your own thing and not have people nag you over radio singles. Then Source came along who are French record label that are known for dance music. They liked what I did and didn't care about image. I took a chance and it worked out.

AL: When did you do the 4.35AM EP? Gemma: That was the first thing I did on Source. I wasn't ready to do an album yet. I wasn't musically or mentally ready to do an album. I was just trying to get used to the idea of having a record out. I wanted to build a foundation up slowly, as opposed to having a record by this girl who nobody knows, then shoving her face on a whole bunch of posters. The first EP was mad. It was the first time I had put out anything. It was the first time I was reviewed in newspapers. I read some of these. By the time the album came out I learned a lot and by the time the album came out I was tougher. I formed a leathery skin so nothing would get to me, which was probably a good thing.

AL: The second EP was very different from the first.

Gemma: Yeah. That's really strange. People used to think that it was a premeditated agenda where you put out an acoustic thing and everyone thinks that you are Jewel, and then you put out a more band-oriented thing. The same band that is playing on first EP is playing on the second EP. The second EP we had more money. I could actually have the band stay in the studio longer so that we could do more songs. It was a money thing. Also, before the second EP I had just written a bunch of up-tempo songs. It was just something that happened. There was not a lot of thought going into it. There was a good mood in the studio. It was more upbeat for me, which is probably more downbeat for everyone else.

AL: You were always doing rock songs?

Gemma: I have been playing with bands for five years. It's been a very long time since I was just an acoustic act. It's always been a mixture of acoustic and rock. Always! The one thing that annoyed me about the record labels at the start was that they told me to choose. You can't be both. You have to either be acoustic and do a folk album, or be rock and do a rock album. I couldn't understand that mentality. Hang on a minute. Music is free. There are no rules in music. Why should I have to do anything? They wanted me to do that I think because they wanted their life easier, so I would be easier to market and be put in a category. The people who I like, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, they did acoustic and they did rock. It's a normal thing. Some songs sound better acoustically. Some songs need a bit of "umpf" to them.

AL: The American version of Night On My Side is split on into the day side and the night side. What was that about?

Gemma: That's right. The album really sticks out and it doesn't fit in comfortably anywhere. People started to have problems. To this day, I don't understand what is so difficult. People would say, "You do two different styles of music." And I would say I don't. I just do songs, some are low key and some are loud.

AL: Some have more guitars.

Gemma: So I said all the songs that are loud and have guitars on them: let's call that daytime music. The songs that are mellow and down tempo: let's call that nighttime music. For those people who find it difficult and the record label who think it's a hard fit, I'll call the it night and day, which are still parts of the same day. It works really. For the American release, there were some songs that I wasn't happy with. So it was a chance to change the artwork and track listing. Maybe we should push this day and night thing even more and actually split it into two CDs? They didn't do that.

AL: What was it like working with Dave Fridmann and Tarbox Studio?

Gemma: It was brilliant and mad. The studio is in the forest in the middle of nowhere. It's in a log cabin. He kept freaking me out. He kept telling me that there was a cult that lived there in the forest. He said that bears come around at night. I had to stay there by myself at night. Dave is a lovely guy and not one bit intimidating. I was afraid because Dave Fridmann has a definite sound as a producer and engineer. I could listen to one of his records and know it is he. Just the sound of the cymbals, drums and mellotron. We had a discussion before we made the album. I said look I don't want this to become a Dave Fridmann project. I want this to be about my sound as well. I have built up a sound with my band. We have really worked hard at it. I don't want it all to be taken away. I think it worked really well. People might think that I went up to Tarbox with an acoustic guitar, and Dave built this sound around me. It's not the case. My band has been with me for years and they need credit for arrangements.

AL: What is biggest obstacle you had to overcome with doing music?

Gemma: For me, it has got to do with confidence really. I was fine for years to play music by myself. It took a lot for me to get up on stage and allow people to have their own opinions: and go, she's crap or she's really good. I feel a real struggle with entertaining. I am very comfortable in the studio or making music at my own pace. When it comes to getting up on stage and playing in front of people, it still freaks the hell out of me. I haven't done a gig where I haven't gotten sick with nerves beforehand. I did some shows recently in New York, and some press was there and the record label was there. Some people from the record label have never heard me play before. I don't understand why they come up to me after the show and say, "Oh Gemma, such and such is here." Why the fuck are you telling me this? I am trying to put in my mind that this is just a gig. Onstage I am crapping myself. Then it wore off and I just get into the music. The other night we were in Minnesota and it was one the best shows we ever did. I just got up onstage and I was full of confidence and full of beans. It was great.

AL: What does your family think of your record?

Gemma: Some of them like it. They have a lot of strong opinions and they always let me know about them. My sister wishes it was more pop. She goes "Come on, Gemma, play the game. Write a bunch of pop songs. Make your money. Then make the album that doesn't fit in anywhere." I have another sister who supports everything I do. She works at a radio station and she is constantly plugging my stuff. My parents are quite old and they like the quiet stuff.

AL: It's Bloomsday in Ireland today. Do you have any experiences of it?

Gemma: Just pick a day in the month and that's an excuse to drink. There are tour buses that go around Ireland and stop around at the pubs and bars where Irish poets and artists used to hang out at and talk. So you go there and sit a the table where they sat at, and you drink, and then you go to another pub. There's a bunch of plaques all over town. There's a tower and it says James Joyce lived here. There is a building right off Stephen's Green in the middle of Dublin where W. B. Yeats lived. Now they're just offices. Because I lived there, I am too close to actually see it. It's like when I went to Chicago, and asked them about a building. What is that museum like? They said, "Oh, I have never been in there. I live here and I don't care."

AL: What was it like being nominated for The Mercury Prize?

Gemma: It was amazing. It actually took me a few months after it all happened, to relax and allow myself a pat on the back. It's something nobody can take away from me. It happened and it was really cool. I was a massive fan of the awards ceremony anyway. It's one of the special nominations because it's not broken up into best band and best female. It's just twelve albums that they chose for the year and people should go get them. To be part of those twelve albums is amazing. To be alongside people like David Bowie did a lot for the old ego.

AL: I can't remember who won last year.

Gemma: I'll never forget. Ms. Dynamite won. I think she is great but I was so jealous. Her table was next to mine. I was just happy to be nominated. No bullshit. But just as they were opening up the envelope I thought: "Oh, come one, wouldn't it be so nice?" Then they announced her name and all the cameras were on the everyone to see their reaction. I had a pain in my cheeks from smiling. Okay take the camera off please. I am happy for her. Website: http://www.gemmahayes-makingwaves.net/

--Alexander Laurence

Blast From The Past 3: LADYTRON Interview

Blast from the PAST 3: I was one of the first people to interview LADYTRON
This happened in November 2000

Ladytron are from Liverpool. They hit the scene about a year ago when they released the single "He Took Her To A Movie." NME picked it as single of the week, as they did their next single "Playgirl." Soon there was a bidding war and international interest. They were signed to Emperor Norton a few months ago. Their first EP "Commodore Rock" was released this summer. Now they just released their first album, 604, last month. I have heard it and it's an amazing record. It expands upon their singles and has many instrumental tracks, showcasing the full palate of their sound. I met Daniel Hunt in New York City during CMJ. I was disappointed that they didn't play, we will have to wait a few months for that. Others members are Reuben, Mira, and Helena.

AL: Do you do a lot of DJ-ing?

Daniel: The label we are on runs a club. I DJ there most weeks. Me and Reuben go out and DJ as Ladytron as well. We did one club in London a few weeks ago.

AL: What's it like in Liverpool? Are you influenced by the city or is the music of Ladytron a work of the imagination?

Daniel: Liverpool has changed a lot in the last five years. It doesn't feel like England. It feels more like a colony. When I go down south I feel like I'm visiting another country. But that is true probably going from state to state in the US as well.

I feel more comfortable in Manchester than in London. Manchester and Liverpool have a complete hatred of each other. A genetic rivalry. The population of Liverpool has gone down every year for the last forty years, but recently it stabilized. There's been a lot of redevelopment. In a way, what we do reflects how Liverpool has changed.

There is also a lineage with the musical past, especially the early 1980s, like The Teardrop Explodes. People in England have a fixed expectation of what Liverpool produces, specifically Beatles influenced guitar bands, which is sort sometimes true but there's a lot more out there than that.

AL: Do you like Liverpool or Everton?

Daniel: People in the band are taken aback by how much I'm into football. It doesn't fit in with the image of the band. It's complete therapy. You can't be doing music all the time. I have looked so long for a place to watch games live in LA, and I found a place in Studio City. I got a fax of my schedule for Thursday from Emperor Norton. It says that Danny watches soccer game at 12. Liverpool has one of the most supported teams in the world, but everyone you meet in Liverpool seems to support Everton. It's weird.

AL: How did you meet the other members of the band? Are they all from Liverpool?

Daniel: Reuben has always been from Liverpool. I've known him for a long time. Mira is Bulgarian and she lives in Oxford. Helena is Scottish and didn't live in Liverpool till very recently. Helena introduced Mira to the band. It was all quite organic. We didn't put up any adverts. We just met people. We fell over each other at a bar. I was working on stuff with Reuben anyway, so it sort of became a band about two years ago. We started working as a band.

AL: Did you write all the songs on this album?

Daniel: I wrote most of this album because I was working on it first and I had built up quite a lot of material. So that everyone has equal input we will make the next album more evenly. It strikes me now why people's second albums are so difficult. The first album has been long since finished. Now there's a bunch of stuff we have to do, and there's a barrier for us before we can record again. We have stuff ready and I want to get on with it. The live shows are not that important to the band.

AL: How many shows have you played?

Daniel: Less than ten. I've been in bands before where they spend so much time rehearsing and carrying amplifiers around that they haven't actually achieved anything. I thought it would be better to sacrifice the physical fitness. We have our own studio. We do about ninety percent of it there, and then take it somewhere else to finish it.

AL: Is the studio near Strawberry Fields or Penny Lane to get that good vibe?

Daniel: No. We took part of the wall and put it in the studio. People actually do that. They take a piece of the gate of Strawberry Fields. Where the fuck do they think they can actually sell it? There's only about three hundred thousand people in Liverpool. There was about a million in the 1930s when it was a thriving port, before we were fucked up by Rotterdam. All the Beatles stuff is south Liverpool and we are south Liverpool as well. North Liverpool is predominantly white and working class. Culturally they're a bit backwards. South Liverpool is where all the immigrant communities are and it's a bit more cosmopolitan.

AL: Ladytron got the attention of the NME right away. How did that happen?

Daniel: It was the single of the week. It had actually been around for six months. It had been sent out and it didn't get reviewed or anything. It was sitting on the shelves for six months and it was re-promoted. Then it landed on the right person's desk, and it became single of the week. That got a lot of attention and we had a load of major labels chasing us. At first we were tempted because it would be an easy thing to explain to my mum and dad. They understand signing to a big label, but wouldn't know what an indie label is. So we resisted that temptation and hooked up with Emperor Norton. I think that if we went with a major label and a worldwide deal, they wouldn't have done as good a job.

AL: Are you more interested in the DJ scene or in being a pop group?

Daniel: Ladytron is supposed to be a pop group. I'm into the idea of subverting things from within. We want to make pop records and not records for pure collectors. The music were into will never come out straight. I think that you can make pop music out of anything. Any instruments. As long as it has a good melody and is regular, then it's pop music.

AL: Do you have Arps and Moogs? What other gear do you have?

Daniel: Yeah. I've been collecting that stuff since I was about seventeen. Liverpool was lucky to have this shop that was only open for a year, because the market was obviously quite limited. About seven years ago they were selling analog synths. I bought loads of stuff from there and from other sales. So I have about ten analog synths. I have had a few stolen. And I've stolen a few myself. I don't have any old ones. Mini-moogs you are supposed to leave on for half a day. They are brittle. I broke two when we played in Spain. They just didn't work anymore. I use pro tools on a Mac. Keeping the programming to a minimum, and play live as much as possible. Someone in Spain described it as Electronic music with skin, because it's not completely pure.

AL: Bands like Kraftwerk and Detroit Techno guys like Derrick May were imagining the future with their music. It was cold, robotic and the human body was close to being eliminated.

Daniel: It's not like we're anticipating the future anymore. It's strange that people associate those sounds with the future. That people said "This is what the future sounds like." There's a lot of Sci-Fi connotations to the sound. There's no reason why the future should sound like that. I have a friend who built me a ring modulator. It sounds a bit like a therimin. It has limited usefulness. Kraftwerk has become a self-parody. They have an enormous influence. But Kraftwerk 2000 sounds like Kraftwerk trying to sound like Kraftwerk. That happens to a band a certain point in their career: they attempt to recycle what they have done "Free As A Bird" style.

AL: How do you feel about Napster?

Daniel: I'm into it. I think it's like playing on the radio and people taping your song. But someone hears about you they check out your stuff straight away. If it does impact record sales in the long term, that's just tough shit. There's nothing you can do about it. I was really pleased to find our stuff on Napster because it was like we were getting played on the radio. I was really pleased that someone had taken the song from the CD and put it up.

I sent an email message to the person who did it and asked them if they had any more Ladytron stuff. They said, "No." Then we had a series of messages back and forth and I told them that I was actually in the band. And they wouldn't believe me.

I checked back on Napster a few weeks later and the content had multiplied. One song appeared off of this Japanese mini-album we had done. Some of the tracks off this will be on the album coming out in January. Well, I saw one track and thought that's weird. Then a few minutes later there were two more songs. So this guy was in the process of ripping off all the songs on the CD. This panicked me because it wasn't out yet. It was out in Japan but we deliberately kept it away from the rest of the world. We didn't want to take any of the impact off the album. I thought that was scary. I felt that someone had gotten into my computer and taken these songs out.

AL: The cover of the Commodore Rock EP makes you look like a Japanese band.

Daniel: Right. Well, Reuben is Chinese and he does the illustrations. We all work on the artwork. We try and keep it all in house. Many people thought we were Japanese because we released our first record over there. We haven't played over there yet.

AL: What is the live show like?

Daniel: Well, there's the four of us with a keyboard each. Then there's these two guys who help us, who do additional stuff. They're not in the band but they play with us. I suppose it looks a little like Kraftwerk as well. I wanted to take it into a whole rock show direction, but I wimped out because the whole sound is based around drum machines. We don't want to confuse people when they first see us. All the keyboards get routed to the two guys in the back, white-coated technicians.