Interview: Nico Vega
You just finished a tour in March… How’d that go?
We love the road. Performing live in front of people and spreading
the Nico Vega message is an enormous opportunity. The van has become our home and we’ve made friends around the country now. We have alot of fun.
How’s touring with Soundtrack of Our Lives and Metric?
Such great bands and people. I could seriously watch both bands
every night for another 6 months. Both tours were too short.
What venues did you find the most interesting? The most unorthodox?
We played in a cubicle once at a corporate event. We figured no one
had ever done that before. I wish we had video on that.
You’re just kicking off a tour with Semi-Precious Weapons and Chevelle, right? What stop/city are you looking forward to the most?
We’re doing 8 shows in Texas… crazy. Every city has it’s own
charm. I can’t wait to hook up w both bands. Both are inspiring to watch.
Regarding the self-titled album, you can really hear the range of songs you guys can handle? Did you ultimately sit down and decide to make this type of music or did it sort of just fall into your laps?
We try to do as little thinking as possible. The creative process
in this band is very organic and spontaneous. Most songs are generally written within a single rehersal.
A handful of words you’d use to describe your music?
Intensity, Conviction, Spirituality, Love
How was shooting Gravity and working with Marcus Dunstan?
He is a good friend of the band and when we came up with the
concept I couldn’t think of anyone more qualified to beat the crap out of us. The process was a pleasure and I look forward to doing more together.
I’m sure Aja’s been getting a lot more Grace Slick comparisons… The band as a whole seems to be constantly compared to something else. What sorts of comparisons do you get and how does that make you feel? If you had to… how would YOU compare yourselves?
It’s human nature to put things in categories. It’s how we make
sense of things that are new. I’ve heard Aja compared to every female front-woman in the history of music. I generally think it’s an honor. We never get compared to crappy bands or artists we don’t like.
You probably get this all the time but ever consider getting a fourth?
Absolutely. Would love to eventually build out the band’s live
sound. Our chemistry is so good though as it is.
Each of you have a favorite song to perform live?
Whichever is newest.
Do any of you have a personal connection with a certain song?
With every song. If you don’t connect with a song you have no
business playing it. The audience can tell if you’re faking it.
Any words of wisdom for aspiring musicians?
Be relentless.
Thanks so much! Good luck on the tour!
Thanks you
Interview: Imogen Heap
From sound decks to tweet decks, studios and status updates, Imogen Heap has had monumental success. Recently hailed as ‘The Download Queen’, her latest album ‘Ellipse’ has sent download into overload, making her one of the most successful independent artists in the UK. With ‘First Train Home’ set to storm the download charts once again, the queen herself discusses terrible parties, working with Mika and why Twitter is something to tweet about.
It is with trepidation that I answer the phone; what is there to ask a woman who consistently has thousands of fans monitoring her every moment online? My fears are unfounded, a simple ‘hello’, a brief moment of standard speakerphone misbehaviour and we are on the same page. This is perhaps what has made Imogen the idol for independent artists that she is. A history of youtube blogging and regular Twitter communication with her fans has radiated her charm to the world. Speaking to her over the phone, it becomes clear that the sweetness in her voice merely echoes her personality. ‘I owe a lot to the people following my blogs’, she says of her fans. ‘People have been following the production of the album through Twitter, and they’re absolutely gagging for it. People following every process of making the record has made the album almost like a wound up spring, and people are ready to go and get it’.
It is such acknowledgement of the important influence of her fan base that sets Imogen aside. It becomes clear from listening to her talk so passionately about her fans that their input is almost as important as hers. ‘The thing about Twitter and Myspace is, it makes it apparent how different the market is from even four years ago. Music’s more accessible; people can really follow what you’re doing.’
Where so many artists seek comfort in the care of a producer, Heap has always taken an independent stance. ‘I wrote my first album when I was 17’, she modestly declares, ‘and it’s just been a bit mad since then really. I’ve always done this on my own terms’. On her role as a producer and working with former Frou Frou partner Guy Sigsworth she says, ‘a producer has a specific role when they work with an artist. I didn’t want to work with Guy on my first album because I didn’t want him to smother me, but I ended up learning so much from him. I don’t see myself as producing; it’s just that it all comes together. At the same time as writing I’m starting to actually hear it, it’s not producing the record, it’s making a song’.
Independent she may be, but her collaborations are legendary. Having worked with artists as diverse as Bon Jovi, Jon Hopkins and Matt Willis, it would be difficult one might assume, to pick a favourite. ‘My favourite collaboration I would have to say would be working with Urban Species on a song called blanket. It just felt so comfortable; it’s something I really enjoyed working on. What amazed me about that was finding out that I could actually write without writing for myself, and that was a great realisation to have at 17. Very recently of course I’ve been working with Mika and I just adore him, he’s a lovely guy to be around, and he’s a great artist.’
It would seem that her collaborations are as diverse as her projects; from theatre to film, television to instrumentals, her music has become a hybrid for performance and diversity. ‘I want to make music that’s not just background noise as you drive past cars. I want to make music that leaves space for other things to happen. Pop music just shouts at you, it’s in your face. I like giving it another context’.
If Imogen’s musical style is eclectic and theatrical, it would seem that her newly released album ‘Ellipse’ is to be no exception. On ‘First Train Home’, the first single to be released from the album, she comments, ‘it felt right to release it first; it just feels like a good introduction to the rest of the mix. I was in Brighton for the night, I had been stressed in the studio when my friend rings me up and says “I never see you anymore, please come to my party”. I’d been working all day, and decided to just go, but I just couldn’t have a good time. Everyone was in a good mood, I felt like I was just putting a downer on the party, but I was stuck there. I eventually went to check the train times, and the first train home was at something like ten to six, I just knew I had to get home. As soon as I got back, I started playing the piano and wrote the song. It’s a good introduction.’ Ironic that such sour celebration produced such a critically celebrated single.
As artists as successful as Imogen Heap in the world of independent music know, to have a hit is to eternally live up to it. ‘Hide and Seek’, has become the iconic song of her career. It has become the yard stick to which songs are measured against, and with ‘Hide and Seek Version Two’ and Jason DeRulo’s sample ‘Watcha Say’ to add extra publicity to the song, it was always going to be a challenge to create something with as much impact. ‘Hide and Seek had a complete life of its own’ says Heap, ‘I love hearing it in a different context, and I love the context it was in. The way people responded to that song was so unexpected. It had so many legs, it was unreal. Out of the new album, I think the song that people will respond to, and the song with the most play is Half Life’.
At the peak of career, with over 1,500,000 followers on Twitter and dedicated fans across the globe, Ellipse is set to be yet another jewel in the Download Queen’s crown; and long may she reign over us.
By Rebecca Monks
Interview: exlovers
Hello, Thanks for talking with us, how are you today?
I’m very well, thank you for asking.
I was just looking at some of your tour dates and you hit a number of festivals this summer. How were the crowds?
Very small but very nice, except for V festival which was us basically playing to about 200 lads on tour (apart from the few people at the front who made the whole thing worthwhile).
Was this your first Glastonbury?
Well yes but I was the only one who went in the end. There were complications which I still don’t fully understand that resulted in only being given one ticket, so I went and played a couple of solo shows.
Any funny stories from the road?
I have a horrible story that I’ll tell you. I think it was in Darlington wherever that is and we were playing a gig in this big shopping mall. So we started loading in the equipment and Ben (from The Golden Silvers) and I got in a tiny dumb waiter lift and someone shut the door and sent it up and it got stuck half way. I tried to open the door but there was just a brick wall behind it, our phones had no signal and after about five minutes we really started panicking. I remember Ben saying ‘this is really bad isn’t it’ and I was practically having a nervous breakdown so I kept saying ‘shut up Ben we’re going to get out and everything will be fine’ but really I thought we’d die in there. Anyway, we got out in the end.
Tell us a bit about the new EP ‘You Forget So Easily‘ ?
It’s something I’m really proud of. We really had very little time to record it in and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. There were a couple of really newly written tracks in there as well so it was great to work on those.
It was produced by Stephen Street. How was it working with such a big producer?
Well it was kind of intimidating at first but he completely put us at ease and was really tuned in to what we wanted it to sound like. He’s a lovely guy and he makes records sound amazing.
I am loving the cover art for this release. Who did the art for the EP? Who is that in the shot?
I did it, I’m glad you like it. I can’t really reveal who it is I’m afraid, there were complications after it got released and it was too late to change it, hopefully it’s all cool now but I’d still rather not start naming people.
What band other than yourselves should we all be listening to?
I’m not very clued up on new bands so I’m probably not going to be much help, I’m listening to a lot of Teenage Fanclub and Bon Iver right now, but I guess they’re old news to most people out there. Good bands though.
Interview: Manchester Orchestra – Conducting Honesty
Since starting out in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia the dusty, thoughtful rockers Manchester Orchestra have been expressing themselves with some delving lyrics that are delivered with accessible belief by lead man, Andy Hull. Although, having officially only released two albums, their very first full length ‘Nobody Sings Anymore’, remains the domain of their growing number of ardent fans. Who appreciate the approach of this serious, focused and ranging band.
For their first official album, ‘I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child’ they accompanied it with a collection of videos to help you visual their thoughts and for their most recent album, ‘Mean Everything To Nothing’ a series of concept videos will be used. This highlights their desire to help you understand and appreciate their creative processes, as well as showing that they’re trying to step beyond the boundaries of what’s expected of a conventional rock band.
Latest album ‘Mean Everything To Nothing’, is a moodily melodic flight that covers the woes of a troubled past, but has a positive streak running through it and, if it is a brand of blues that they produce? Then there is an uplifting tinge to it too. The repressed memory of child abuse moulds almost nonchalantly into the fuzzed up, psychedelic tilted ‘My Friend Marcus’ that is already a reflective live favourite.
Guitarist, Robert McDowell takes time out from promoting this new album, to provide an insight into the workings and motivations of one of America’s freshest current rock bands.
1. Before recording your latest album, ‘Mean Everything To Nothing’ did you take time to reflect on your official debut album ‘Like A Virgin Losing A Child’? What in your mind is the main difference between the two albums? Do you agree that you have grown more varied, ranging and searching?
R M; We reflected on the process but focused more on how we could let METN evolve. We had spent 2 years playing Virgin live and saw the way the songs changed. They became more abrasive and urgent. So when we were writing we were able to picture what it would be like to tour on the new songs. Overall I think it was written with more experience, giving it a better feel.
2. Will you ever officially release ‘Nobody Sings Anymore’?
R M; Probably not now. We don’t want to put it out and have people think that is what the band currently is.
3. A topical question; are festivals a good or bad thing for music?
R M; Good. I hate them but there are people who enjoy the atmosphere and the availability of bands. We have had a lot of good exposure through them and I have heard of loads of bands because of festivals. I would still rather see a band in a club or theater, but I see the appeal.
4. Describe the Atlanta, Georgia music scene at the moment, how well do you feel that you fit in with it?
R M; There are a couple different scenes. When we started, we toured and treated Atlanta like any other city. So we missed out on the scene for a long time but over time we have made friends with lot of bands from Atlanta, though we typically meet them in other cities.
5. Do you tend to find that certain songs go down better in the UK? Do you alter your set lists for UK tours compared to when touring the USA?
R M; Nah. If we had a dancey song I’m sure we would try and work our set around that in the UK. But we don’t. We have different set list for different time slots. Typically the fans like the order but they are that way so that Jeremiah’s arms don’t fall off. We also try and make the set flow naturally and make sense.
6. Which of your songs sums up your current mood and why?
R M; ‘Pride’. I have been watching the show “Sons of Anarchy” which is about an outlaw biker gang. So I have been listening heavier music so I can pretend I am a badass biker like Jax. That is our heaviest song so I would go with that. Yeah. Pride. But SOA is awesome.