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Where does the name Syme come from?

KETIL: It’s from the book 1984 by George Orwell. He’s one of the minor characters, in a way. He’s a guy called Syme who’s an expert in the language “Newspeak.”

How did Syme come together as a band?

BEN: The last day of high school we played a cover song – we were asked to play a cover song – so then we played this Swedish song. I played the drums, he played the bass, and he played the guitar – had a great solo with it. And that might seem completely irrelevant to some today, but the fact is that after that concert, or that one song, the whole summer, this was the last day of high school, and the whole summer we played together.
KETIL: Cause we started playing together
FREDERIK: Yeah, we started playing together and that’s…
BEN: And the whole summer we were together almost every day playing in the basement of his house, and 4 years later we came together in Bergen.
FREDERIK: We knew this guy, Eyvand, our guitarist, we knew him from our home town. He was a friend of ours. He liked our band and he played guitar so it was natural to ask if he would join our band. Then we were four, and we needed a drummer, so we had an audition in Bergen five years ago…
VIDAR: Still haven’t paid me!
FREDERIK: Shutup! So three guys showed up and this was the best of the three so we picked him.

How would you compare Syme to the other bands you guys are in?

KETIL: The other bands we’re working with are slightly different, but I would say Syme is the band where everyone comes together with their own influence, in a way.
FREDERIK: It’s the band we’ve been working on the longest. We’ve been playing together, more or less, as this band for five or six years now. I think it’s a good thing to have other projects that are different so that you can have an outlet for musical perversities, or whatever.

Why do you sing in English?

KETIL: In Norway you grow up and you learn English from your first year at school, and all your influences in culture and music, especially, are from English speaking artists. So in that way it’s kind of normal to sing and work in English, and most Norwegian bands do actually. Within Norway there aren’t too many people and we’d like our ideas to go further than just Norwegians, I guess.

Why is Syme touring in the US and how is the tour going?

FREDERIK: We’re here in the us because we’re trying to sell our syme product, which has grown strong in norweigh and playing in the US has been a really good experience. It’s just that we get better and better every time we play a show, and playing five or six shows in a row just, yeah, makes the band stronger. So it’s got nothing to do with how many people show up to the gigs, it just has to do withwhat we put into it. From my point we put 110% all the time, and that’s real important.

Why does Syme make music?

KETIL:Music is definitely the most beautiful artform there is, so we just want to make great art. ….And get free chips backstage at concerts.

Now that we’ve got that over with, some easier stuff…Is this everyone’s first trip to America /NYC? If so, is it what everyone expected it to be?

KETIL:Vidar (the drummer) has studied medicine in atlanta for 6 years, and I’ve been to New York for a holiday two years ago, but the rest of us are nubies. Personally I really love New York, and think it’s one of the friendliest towns I’ve ever been to.

Have you guys had some really great or terrible experiences yet?

KETIL:The squirrels in Central Park, the Planetarium at Museum of natural history and some transvestite-heavy parties are highlights so far. We were really worried about bringing our tons of musical instuments through costums, but when we got there they treated us like kings. One of the costums people just couldn’t believe we were not the Beatles.

In Norway, if I’m not mistaken, you recently headlined many tours. How are you dealing with being an opener again?

KETIL:Being an opener is just like being a goalkeeper at a penalty shootout in the world cup, you have nothing to lose.

How do you feel about the bands you’re set to open for? Had you heard of any of them before this tour?

KETIL:I sat hidden under my desk at the record shop were I work the other day, listening to some Middle Distance Runner.
Think they’ll suit our music just fine!

Are you excited about the Montreal Pop Marathon and CMJ showcases?

KETIL:We’ve been hearing some really good things about Montreal, so I think that festival gig will be one of the highlights. Great bill as well, and I get to practice my french
between the songs.
I expect CMJ to be more chaotic as we’re playing two shows on one day, but still it’s hopefully going to be some people with golden
handshakes cheering at the back.

Is making it big in America one of your main goals? If so, why?

KETIL:Focusing on the American market seems like a win-win situation for us right now, as this first US-tour has started a nice little Syme-buzz in Norway as well.
For some reason both american friends living in Norway, american magazines (like you!) and US labels have flattered us so much with their
praise that we just couldn’t resist giving you back some love.

What sort of a fan base do you have in Norway? Do you want more Norwegians, Western Europeans or Americans to like your music? Why?

KETIL:See above

I heard a rumor about another album in the works. When do you guys plan to release it?

KETIL:We’ve been playing quite a few new songs on tour now, so we can’t wait too long before we hit the studio. Our goal is to get things on tape by the end of the year.

Do you think you’ll ever hit the Midwest or west coast?

KETIL:We’ve already been talking about coming back to the US early next year, so I think we’re very likely to try out some other parts
of the country then.

Like anything in the book, I wouldn’t say it means any one thing. I work pretty instinctively, and the Bird-man just seemed to want to blink. Sometimes it’s for communication’s sake – in one story, I felt like the Bird-man blinking was like Lassie barking to say Timmy had fallen down a well. Sometimes it means more than that, but I’m not sure I could articulate just what that is in words (hence, comics).

Did I really just mention Lassie?

Besides the Bird-man himself, there is heavy bird imagery all throughout The Aviary, not to mention the obvious in the naming of the book. Is there a certain mythology or specific meaning to birds for you?

As I worked on these comics, the bird imagery crept in there pretty organically. As the book started to take shape, the birds just felt important, so I followed that imagery where it seemed to want to go. Can’t say I’m an expert on birds or anything, but they are fun to draw. As for the title, I liked it not only because it connoted birds, but also cages, another theme that found its way in there.

What about the other recurring images of water and amputation?

Much like the bird imagery, these developed organically as the book took shape. The majority of the book wasn’t planned so much as it was “found” as I went along. Certain images and themes naturally took on more importance, so I kept coming back to them. For some reason, amputation’s always cropped up in my work – I feel like I’ve been drawing severed limbs for years. Maybe it’s just a deep-seated fear of mine. And the water imagery initially started probably because I enjoy drawing all those waves. But as those waves made their way into more and more stories they took on more significance.

Not to be vague or anything, but I do want these things to be open to interpretation, I like that there’s ample room for the reader to bring him or herself into the book. I think David Lynch called it “room to dream”, or something like that. These comics are questions more than they are statements – there are plenty of answers to be found if you look closely, but I hope readers have their own answers, too.

The game “Are you there, Kelly?” is fairly disturbing in a way I can’t quite put my finger on. Is this something you came up with, was it inspired by something, or just meant to punctuate the Funnyman’s dilemma?

I found the description of that game on the back of an old photograph and thought it applied to the Funnyman’s situation pretty well. Not in any literal way – like most things in the book it just felt like it belonged in there. Also, it meant drawing girls wrestling, weirdly.

The first words in “Always in Love” (“I’m worried—I’m always in love.”) are the same lines from a song on Wilco’s Summerteeth. Deliberate homage?

Yep. I’m a Wilco fan, and was particularly crazy about them around the time I drew that story. Something about that song just got me thinking and led in part to that odd story. There’s another Wilco lyric elsewhere in the book, too – that Jeff Tweedy’s a pretty terrific writer if you ask me. Which I guess you did.

What does the ‘J’ in Mr. Organ’s name stand for?

I don’t know. Any suggestions?

The panels read much like a movie and the words are a language buff’s delight. Any academic background in Film or English?

Well, I took lots of film and literature classes in college, but not for academic reasons, just for my own enjoyment. I just love to read and I love movies.

I understand this is a collection of stuff that you’ve been working on for awhile. Do the stories appear roughly as they were written, or were they more out of order when you first wrote them?

They don’t appear quite in the order they were written, but they’re not too far out of order. They were written and drawn over the course of almost 6 years, and there was no overall plan for how they’d fit together so I had to change things as I went. Chronological order isn’t really that important in the book anyway, what was most important in sequencing the stories was the order in which certain things would be revealed about this weird little world.

And as for “What are you working on now?”

I just finished a story for the Indie Spinner Rack anthology that’ll be out in October, called “The Accommodations of Old Man Small”, about a strange old man and his mutating house. This will likely be the first in a loosely-themed group of short stories I hope to work on in the next, I don’t know, year or two. I’m also in the very very early stages of working on a graphic novel, but it’s really not even formed enough to discuss yet. Right now I’m concentrating on promoting The Aviary. I’m going to a bunch of conventions over the summer to try to get the word out, and I made a little promotional website – www.aviarybook.com

Review of Jamie Tanner’s graphic omnibus: The Aviary

Interview by Timothy Garso

Can you describe the feelings and emotions the first time all four of you got together in a room to rehearse for the reunion?

Hmm…mostly, for me personally, I’d say a little bit scared and a little bit confused. I mean, we’ve all been really close since the band broke up. Scott and Chris were roommates for a long time; Scott and [I] are roommates now; we were in a band together after Texas, me and Scott. We all have been part of each other’s lives for the past ten years in one way or another, if not in the capacity of really, really good friends. And so hanging out was never, you know, it was never subconscious; when we hung out it was never, “Oh, we’re Texas Is The Reason.” After some time, you forget and just become friends. But when we actually got into a room with instruments, that’s a totally different thing. All of a sudden we weren’t just friend’s hanging out, we were Texas Is The Reason. I guess I was kind of scared about how that would affect our relationships where our relationships went in the past ten years, which were all very good. But I guess, at the same time, that level of excitement when we finished playing the first song, and thinking to myself how great it was that we could play a song that was ten years old and it doesn’t feel irrelevant. That was a huge realization for me. And that is something I would probably equate to some of the happier moments in my life.

It’s always been known that one of the main reasons the band broke up was because you wanted to maintain the friendships, rather than continue on and possible ruin those friendships. I find that very noble and really rare in an industry like music. Has the way band ended, that you’re still friends, has that made the reunion even more sweet?

Definitely. Because now, every practice is exactly the way it was when everything was great within the band, within the ranks. I have to say, this band (and I think I can speak for everyone when I say this) is that the chemistry we had was not just musically, but personally. It’s something that I don’t think we’ve ever really been able to repeat in subsequent attempts. It’s special and natural and fun. I personally can never anticipate coming into a chemistry like that again, it’s just one of those things that happens or it doesn’t. So to come back into it and feel like all the good things about Texas Is The Reason are still here, and all the bad things have gone away. That’s just super empowering and I think it makes me feel like after these shows are over, I’ll be able to have complete closure with this band.

Texas Is, and in particular your album Do You Know Who You Are?, are hailed as iconic and legendary. And with the years that have passed and the way the band ended, this legend has only continued to grow. What would you say is the single item you are most proud about with your time in Texas?

Oh…that’s interesting. [pause] I think one of the best things about Texas Is The Reason, and one of the things that kept us relevant over the years, is I do feel the decisions we made were very uncompromised. We were almost stoic [laughs] about the decisions we made, in terms of keeping the band together. I spent probably six months after the band broke up dealing with people asking the same question over and over, which was, “What, are you crazy?!” And yeah, to the outside eye, it seems totally crazy to break up a band who is clearly, I mean, it’s hard to say if we were peaking at the time when we broke up because…we broke up. [laughs] but we were clearly on a rise: we were making a living, we were playing great show and we were about to sign a seven figure record contract. And to say, “Nah, forget it,” that does seem crazy to some people. But one of the most satisfying things about it is over the years I feel like time has kind of vindicated that decision as probably the sanest decision we could have made. A great decision even, because it kind of allowed Texas Is The Reason to be what it was and kind of give it that quality of it never got old.

While recording Do You Know Who You Are?, did you have any idea to just how lasting and special that record would become?

None. [laughs] None. I mean, I remember being ridiculously proud of it. I remember finishing the record and feeling as if…well, let me go back a little bit. I think that one of the things that people don’t always realise about the band is that clearly, we were completely entrenched in the hardcore/punk scene. That’s where we grew up. The bands we played in before Texas were all hardcore bands. And you know, hardcore is a great style of music, it’s a great community, and I love it. But, at the same time, as you develop as a songwriter or develop as a player, sometimes it feels very confining and limited. And so, to make a record like the one we made, which for a bunch of kids essentially (we were 22, 23 years old at the time) it felt very ambitious for us at that time. And I feel like, to hear it back after we finished recording it, for me personally there was almost this sense of surrealness [sic] to it. Because it felt like after all these years, it sounded like a “real record”. [laughs] So it was kind of a personal achievement, on a level of 1) this was the first band that I could definitely say was our creation as opposed to one person’s vision that I was just playing with, like with Shelter or with Resurrection. Those bands weren’t mine, you know. And I think with Chris Daly, having just come out of 108, that was clearly Vic’s band. There was something extremely gratifying about making this record and saying, “This is our band. And if you took anyone out of this equation, we would immediately disband.” That was pretty much the law in our group.

You just don’t see that in today’s scene. Instead you see so many over the top front men who take the attention away from the rest of the group and it becomes their bands. And I think when you have that family mentality that Texas, it shows in the music and makes it that much more accessible to fans.

Yeah, I would agree with that. I think one of the things about Texas that separated it from the other musical projects I’ve been in is that it really did feel like a concentrated mission. It felt like we were trying to accomplish something, not just musically but personally. It felt like every show was it’s own little…thing [laughs] that we needed to accomplish. I can’t explain that, really, in a cohesive way I guess, but I never felt it again, I’ll just say that.

You mentioned the bands you’ve gone on to do, one of the most prominent of which was New End Original. And of course, the front man of that group was Jonah, and while he’s not an over the top or out there kind of guy, but at the same time, he seems to have more control over the projects he’s involved in, as opposed to that “family” mentality. Do you feel like that maybe somehow limited the enjoyment you were able to get out of New End?

When we started New End, we had a lot of conversations about how New End was going to run. Because he had done and was doing onelinedrawing all throughout New End Original, he was totally game to do something on a completely democratic platform. And ultimately, we had conversations where I said that’s pretty much the only way I roll [laughs]. And he was totally, totally cool with that. So that worked out on some level, but there were just a lot of extraneous circumstances that made that project not work out. None of which were really between me and him. It was definitely our project and obviously I have no hard feelings because last year I did a Gratitude tour last year for fun. You know, it was more like, they had lost their guitar player and I was friends with them and it was like, “oh yeah, let’s go on tour, that’ll be fun.” So yeah, Jonah and I are still good friends and there was definitely nothing weird about it. I think there was just that point where you kind of feel like this isn’t what we wanted it to be and there’s no sense in kicking that around any longer.

You originally announced the one reunion show and it sold out insanely quick so you added the second one, which also sold out fairly quickly. Despite the fan reaction, have you ever for a second since you’ve announced the shows regretted the decision to reunite, has it ever felt like a hassle that you don’t want to deal with?

Um…I wouldn’t use the word regret. There have definitely been moments where I feel like, “Oh my god, what did I get myself into?” and you feel a little over you head. But most of that is coming form the production stand point. Basically meaning, these aren’t just shows to us; as far as we’re concerned, these are events. These are the only two times we will ever play again, period. So we want everything about them to be thought out, and that involves a lot of preparation and a lot of production work before November 25th even happens. Even aside from just practicing music, there are a lot of other we’re trying to put together for the show to make this a special experience for everyone who comes. So on that level, it seems to get overwhelming because since we’re not a band, we don’t really have a machine working behind us. We don’t have management or a record label or anything like that. We’re pretty much doing everything on our own. And that sometimes is a lot. But as far as regret, no not at all. I’m totally excited to play these shows.

You have fans like me who were never able to experience the band when you were first together, so being able to attend one of these shows is just a really cool experience. But I can imagine that on November 27th, I’ll look back and wish I could relive it again and again. What’s the day after the show going to be like for you, how will you be able to reconcile yourself to that fact that it’s done forever?

Well, it’s not going to be too far from the feeling I had after the last show we played in 11997. At least, that’s what I’m thinking right now; it’s difficult to say exactly how I’ll feel on November 27th. But, you know, at our last show in 1997 it was a combination of sadness and relief. And I say that because…I think one of the reasons why the members of this band have stuck with each other on a personal level for so long, so tight was this was probably one of the most intense experiences for us on any level. We pretty much grew up very fast in that short period of time together and that period of time completely changed our lives without a doubt. So that’s good, but at the same time, I’m 32 now, I have other things I like to do; I still make music and I’m happy about the new songs that I’m making. So I’m excited about that too.

Well, I know I’m definitely counting the day and it’s only a month away, so I know it’ll be a crazy time for you. I really appreciate you taking time out to talk to me. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Hmm…that’s always the hardest question. I guess the thing that I always try to say is that, if anything, we’re super grateful that so people have maintained the kind of interest in our band that allow us to do these shows. Honestly, I think that if we were just going to play the Mercury Lounge to 200 people, we would have done that as well. As much as we’re psyched to play for everybody, this idea came from just hanging out night, just four friends just saying, “Hey, lets go into the studio and play.” So, while we’re really happy that the interest is there, I think it means something to say we’d be doing this if the interest whether or not it was there. We’re doing it because the band is special to us and we just want to end it the right way.

Well, your fans appreciate it too.

Thank you.

Again, thank you very much for talking to me and I wish you luck over the next month, I know you’re going to be preparing a lot of stuff.

Thank you very much.

The internet cites The Best as your band for the songs on the new album, but no more information on the band is available. Are they the ones backing you up on Tonight? What’s their story?

Yes. The Best is Joe DeGeorge, Juliet Nelson, Gregg Porter, Djim Reynolds and David Sapienza. They are some of my best friends and some of the best musicians I know. Thus the name, which started as an endearing joke, but, like all band names, stuck. I love these people. They’re amazing! Such solid people, and awesome players!

The mood of the album, musically, is obviously upbeat, but the lyrics can sometimes give a sense of longing. Would you say this a happy or sad album?

Much like life, I’m hoping that it’s both. Triumphant and melancholic, hopeful and cautious, joyous and wistful. There are lots of songwriters who just write sad songs, and some who are only happy. I think my favorites, though, are the ones that capture both. I’m still learning as I go, but I’m proud of these songs. I think they turned out okay.

You have created a distinct lo-fi sound (not far from Elliott Smith) in the past. Why the change to a more polished (and faster) sound?

Well, I think like anything one does, the way I write and record music has changed through the years. With this album we were simply trying to capture a certain feeling, and put the energy of the live shows into a recorded project. It worked for the most part. I’m pretty psyched with it. Thanks for asking.

The past two albums were definitely more “wintery”, making Tonight feel even more like Spring than it does on its own. Is there a Summer album in the future?

I’m glad you noted the winter elements! Thank you! That’s exciting to know it came across. Actually, with New England, I was going for autumn–my most favorite season–but, yes, The Wreath is straight snow. There is definitely a summer album coming, but also another winter one, that I hope will be released by December. Thanks for asking!

I have to ask: how does it feel being part of one of indie music’s first “wolf” bands?

Awesome question. Well, you know, it is weird to think I picked the Wolf Colonel name in 1996. That’s so long ago! Weird! I can remember making a poster for my first show, ever. I was a little apprehensive of going under my own name, so I tried to think of a weird, heavy metal sounding band name that would mislead and possibly distance people. Then I wrote down “The Wolf Colonel” and it seemed funny. And it lasted. A while, anyway. But, yeah, weird to see all these wolf names. It’s cool, though. It’s not like they are ripping me off. I don’t think many people have heard of Wolf Colonel. Haha. And that’s okay.

You are getting a considerable following and a lot more attention. Why stick to the smaller venues?

You are being generous here–and I thank you for flattering me–but, to some extent, yes, I suppose anyone is likely to make more friends when they tour full-time for five straight years, which is what I’ve been up to. When I play solo I don’t use a microphone, so smaller rooms are better. But regardless of size, I simply prefer art spaces and houses to bars. But I have played bars, also.

You obviously love putting on shows and connecting with the audience. Do any shows stand out in your mind? Good or bad.

Every night for the past five years has felt like the best show of my life, the first show of my life, the only show of my life. It’s absolutely impossible to pick a highlight. Either alone, or with the band, I give 600% regardless of how many people are there. It’s my favorite thing to do, and I feel immensely lucky to do it. Live music RULES.

You’ve mentioned going to a lot of shows when you were younger, and the importance of a show being a time when people can really connect to each other. What is one of the best shows you went to?

Gosh. So many pivotal moments as a kid. Seeing Green Day on the Dookie tour playing UMASS; then seeing FUGAZI at a medium-sized gymnasium in Vermont. The juxtaposition was incredible and inspiring. I think the show that has left the biggest impression on me, though, was being eighteen and seeing Elliott Smith play a coffee shop–Umbra Penumbra–in Portland, Oregon. It was stunning. Also, seeing Unwound and KARP play Olympia, Washington in 1996 was mindblowing.

Is touring more of a solitary experience, or do you usually carry an entourage of friends with you on tour?

I’ve done both, and I enjoy both. When you’re alone you have more time in the drives to be introspective, think about life, listen to music and make random pitstops. But with a group there is the awesome potential for conversation, jokes and mini-golf trips. It rules.

Are you working on any other projects?

Sure, always. I love playing with my friends. I have had the utmost pleasure of getting to back up my friends Mara, Guy and Gregg. They are all incredible songwriters from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. I just love making music; and I’m just as happy playing with friends as I am playing my own show. Oh, also Brian Michael Roff. I’ve been playing a little bass with him. He’s great. I’ve also played some drums for Harry and the Potters, and some guitar with Mount Eerie.

After dropping the Wolf Colonel name, your sound definitely slowed, but with Tonight it has come back up to speed (though definitely more poppy). Do you feel like you have come full circle at all?

Well, I think it’s always been the same, and always a mix, you know? Wolf Colonel actually started as a solo-acoustic projected, heavily inspired by the Elliott Smith show I saw. Then I went full band, but then dropped the name, then went acoustic again, and now have explored both, touring solo and then touring with the group. So it’s always changing and always the same, if that makes sense. Sorry for the confusing answer!

What do you think is the biggest difference between the music you made as Wolf Colonel and the music you’re making now as Jason Anderson?

No difference, really. It was just a name to hide behind. I think maybe the concerts are different because when I first started Wolf Colonel, as it were, I was more shy and not as comfortable with myself and thusly not as comfortable in front of others. But now I feel awesome about life and just love playing music and connecting with people SO MUCH!

So when are you coming out to Pittsburgh again?

Hopefully sooner than later. I love Steeltown. Thanks so much for the interview, man! It’s great to talk about this stuff. Excellent questions.

No, no, thank you.

Interview by Miles Dinnen

Daniela, why did you use the title “Body Without Organs” for your film?

Daniela: BWO is the way DK Joro-Boro described the party in the Bulgarian Bar in the interview that he gave me for my movie. It refers to a concept used by Deleuze and Guattari in their book A Thousand Plateaus. Body-without-organs is a body before identity, it that doesn’t have sex or color; it is not defined but constantly changing. It is a body that incorporates as supposed to separate and breaks the opposition of “self and other”. I hope that it is clear. In the film, I juxtapose the “state philosophy” of the Bulgarian Cultural Ministry that used to control the Bulgarian Culture with the “nomadic thought” coming from immigrant experience and created an alternative hybrid culture. The meeting point for these two tendencies is the Bulgarian Bar in NYC that is also called “cultural center”. So the title fit very well. It is about this hybrid body/identity that I also experience myself.

What is the history of the Bulgarian Bar?

Daniela: I am giving the microphone to Joro-Boro who knows the history much better than me. I came later in the process, but I should say that I am always amazed by the fast paste life of this place. The place now lives its second life in a new place at the Lower East Side.

Joro-Boro: It was started by the owner as a place for Bulgarians to hang out. Wasn’t intended as a club, began as a restaurant then he started getting bands to play every now and then (some but not all of them Gypsy), then some DJ’s (all sorts of music), and eventually Eugene [Hutz, lead singer of Gogol Bordello] and I started doing nights there. In the beginning we were doing our things independently and unaware of each other, so each had a more distinct sound (Eugene with more emphasis on punk, Russian stuff, and Balkan Brass, me with more Arabic, Indian and Gypsy) but inevitably we found out about the other’s gigs and influenced each other’s sound. This was going on for about 6-7 years until the place shut down to free space for a Ramada Hotel.

Is it really true that if you have sex in the Bulgarian Bar, you get a free bottle of vodka?

Joro-Boro: See the sign (right). This is the second version of the sign (painted over the first one which was falling apart). It’s signed on the bottom by the first couple that followed it to the bottle. Unfortunately, somebody loved it so much that they stole it from Mehanata. There’s another one with Venus de Milo and a manga girl currently replacing the stolen one.

Is Mehanata the name of the Bulgarian Bar? What does the name mean?

Joro-Boro:Yes, but a lot of people couldn’t pronounce it, so they nicknamed it the Bulgarian Bar. Not to mention it’s confusingly close to Manhattan, and there is a restaurant called Manahatta (or something like that). Mehanata means ‘the tavern’ – very, very typical name in Bulgaria.

What is the music scene like in Bulgaria? As compared to America?

Joro-Boro: Haven’t been back in awhile, but when I left in 1997 the soundtrack to Bregovic’s “Underground” was in pretty heavy rotation at every party, so it was inevitable to bring that to the States. When I last went, the club scene was pretty deep into all sorts of electronica; then there were places that played only chalga, then some alternative spaces with a mix of things from Detroit techno to Bulgarian punk.

Daniela: We’ve both lived in USA for quite a long time, and it is hard to say exactly what is happening [in Bulgaria]. The problem with countries like Bulgaria is that they often develop a secondary culture that borrows from already established Western models. This tendency is very strong in the pop scene, but there is something that is different: the folk element. I really appreciate the folk music that comes straight from “the people”, but the mix with the pop is making it scary. It becomes commodified by people with power and money and turned to a wallpaper. Otherwise, we have great talented musicians. Some of them you can hear even here in NYC, people such Iuri Younakov. Of course, there is a rock and roll and electronic music scene over there with some good groups in it, but there is not much experimentation or an alternative scene that could give birth of really new sound. This is just my opinion.

What is “Chalga” music?

Joro-Boro: Thank you for this question, by the way. Chalga is the urban form of folk, a modernized version of traditional songs about love, money and drinking. It’s danceable, a lot of times rhytmically similar to cocek. Drum machines galore with, oftentimes, amazing instrumental solos and absurd lyrics (my personal favorite: “stones are falling, falling from the sky, a drop fell on my heart; i’d like my dear lenche ( a girl’s name) to live with you and while with you to sing you – that stones are falling, falling from the sky…”). chalga is associated with street culture, the ghetto, the working class, lowbrow taste. in this way it has equivalents in a lot of other cultures – let’s say, baile funk in Brazil. Today in Bulgaria, chalga is facing its biggest competitor in pop-folk: a more recent genre heavily influenced by western production values. Pop-folk only has a ‘flavor’ of folk, its essence is pop. It’s closer to MTV, Starbucks, putumayo. chalga is closer to traditional weddings, rakiya (bulgarian grape brandy) and dirty jokes.

What do you think about what the young woman said in the film about how the Bulgarian Bar used to host more of an “international” crowd as opposed to a mostly American crowd?

Joro-Boro: I’ve heard this complaint in one version or another a million times throughout the years I’ve been there: “It’s not the same anymore”. Truth is, it was never the same – it was one thing when Eugene was bringing a bunch of his artist and model friends from eastern Europe to avoid the New York club scene; it was another when I was spinning to a mix of Bulgarians and international students desperate for a hit of nostalgic sound; it was another when movie and music stars started coming to the parties; yet another when yuppies heard about it from third-hand accounts and went to see what the fuss was all about; and another when Daniela decided to make a documentary about it. Just like New York, the place has never been the same: one can only maintain the intensity by continuously reinventing. If you try to keep it the same, you die. Even now, with the new place open, people will be saying that it’s not like it used to be, but nobody was trying to recreate what used to be. The point is to make it even better.

Joro-Boro, when did you become active in music? Have you always been a DJ? Have you played in bands?

Joro-Boro: I’ve never been active in music. Always was out there collecting cassettes (vinyl wasn’t very popular in my circles in Bulgaria) from Dead Can Dance and Siouxsie And The Banshees to Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson, Diamanda Galas, but never with the idea to play them to others. In New York, I used to go to Mehanata pretty often – there were a couple of Bulgarian DJ’s spinning Bulgarian and Euro Pop, electronica and rock. I wasn’t too crazy about the music, but most of my friends went there. For some reason, the DJ’s wouldn’t play any chalga or brass (maybe because it’s considered kitschy in Bulgaria), so when the owner invited me to try to do parties there, it was only natural to spin different kind of music. It was an interesting process of learning – I have some DJ friends who gave me some pointers, but overall I was left on my own to figure out how to work with a crowd of people for 6 hours. Never been in a band – didn’t see the need to since my instrument was the CD deck, but now I’m finally putting a project together.

Why did you decide to come to Pittsburgh for the show? What are your impressions of Pittsburgh, the venue, the show itself?

Joro-Boro: I was invited by Pete Spynda (thanks Pete). Pittsburgh is an amazing city, love the layout, the architecture, the bridges, the steel, the lofts, the galleries, and most of all, the people. Everybody was very open and felt like a regular crowd at Mehanata. The space – BrilloBox – rocks. It feels almost like a clone of Mehanata: not in a negative way, it has an indentity entirely its own. Love the new royal psychedelic wallpaper, turns out it makes excellent backgrounds for photo-ops. Can’t really say anything negative about a city that has converted several of its churches into bars.

Daniela: Pete approached me some time ago with the idea to show my movie in Pittsburgh. I am not sure how he found out about it. He told me about the Pandemic festival and all the amazing groups that he brought to Pittsburgh for each edition of the festival. I was thrilled and decided that I want to be part of it. I love to show my movie together with a party made by DJ Joro-Boro, this is how initially we started doing it- theory and practice. Joro embraced the idea and here we are in Pittsburgh. We loved it: the people, Brillobox, Pete, everything was wonderful. Once again, I want to say how much I appreciate the great job that Pete is doing for introducing this particular music and lifestyle to the local audience, and to bring these amazing musicians over there. I also learned that Pittsburgh has huge eastern European community and long traditions related to it: tamburica (?) orchestras and others. Joro and I went only for a night, but we both want to go back.

Pete, If you could describe pANdEMic in a sentence or three, what would you say?

Pete Spynda: It’s an international dance music night. I hate the term “WORLD MUSIC”. We play contemporary dance music from around the world, such as Baile Funk, Bosnian Hip Hop, Bhangra, Bollywood, Ukranian Dancehall, Turkish Reggaeton, Bongo Flava (Swahili Rap from Tanzania), Gypsy Brass and more… It’s a night where we play music from around the world that is new to people. At first, you don’t know how to dance to it, but then you realize the music is so good you don’t care if you know how to dance to it. You just do. It’s an opportunity for people to dance to something new, and to just let go and have a good time.

How did you all meet?

Pete Spynda: I met Joro-Boro last year the the NYGYPSYFEST. Air Guitar Magazine (my band) was included in the first gypsyfest, and we played the Mehanata Bulgarian bar. It’s a little bar; well, you konw about it now. Anyway, we played, then Joro-Boro spun a dance party. He hosted us there and was great. We had alot of fun, and at the time i was talking with Caulen Kress and Justin Hopper about starting one here in Pittsburgh (a world music dance party). Then i emailed Joro a couple times about music, and I told him once we got things rolling (if it worked), he could come out and dj a night. And there you have it…

Joro-Boro: As he said, I met Pete at last year’s New York Gypsy Festival. He came with his band Air Guitar Magazine and I loved what they did. Apparently, they liked the party after their concert, and we were in touch more or less regularly exchanging music and info. Then Daniela told me she was going to do a screening of BWO in Pittsburgh, and asked me if I’d like to go with her and do what was already established as a pretty successful formula. I didn’t know any of the other DJ’s, but loved their sets as they were playing very open mixes. Anytime I hear Brazilian funk, South African house, Turkish dancehall, and Bosnian hip-hop in the same night, I am not complaining.

Daniela: This was my first meeting with Pete Spynda and the other guys involved in Pandemic. They are all great and built a dedicated community around the festival and Brillobox. I truly believe that the festival has a future, because everything they make is with passion and enthusiasm. Pete knows so much about Gypsy and Eastern European music and has great collection. He is also a very good photographer, and I hope to have him throwing a Pandemic party in NY in the beginning of the next year, yeee!

Chrys Senon of Senona

It seems that the story of Senona is integrally linked to the story of Chrys Senon—so tell us a little about yourself and your own musical background.

I started singing when I was very, very young and then started picking up piano at age 6. I started writing songs at age 10. I was always into choir and putting together my own singing groups in high school.

But I had to take it serious and approach it from a more classical aspect when I went to college. When I went to PLU (Pacific Lutheran University), I had a music scholarship. And then while I was at PLU, I met this producer from Atlanta. His name is Christopher Stewart, and he put me in a girl group named Mia Blaze. We were signed to Arista Records. We just never were released.

Can you tell us a little more about Mia Blaze and your time with that band?

I always looked at myself as being diverse anyways, so being in a pop/R&B group, I guess I was able to fit in somewhat because I like all types of music. But being in that group, I was limited; I wasn’t able to write or take my creative level to where it could go.

How long were you with Mia Blaze?

Four years.

What did you do after leaving the band?

When the group broke up, I got into a lot of yoga and a lot of meditation and being at the piano by myself. I got to feel for the first time, as an adult in my early 20s, how it felt to be alone…because I was always in girl groups or in choir or in college or around people, but when the group broke up and I was still here in Atlanta, I was able to really dive into creative channels that I never knew I had. I started writing a lot of songs on the piano and then eventually started playing guitar.

In 2003, you met with music executive Ian Burke. What prompted that meeting?

Ian is well known in the Atlanta music scene. He has really helped a lot of artists in consulting, management, etc., and I met him when I was in the girl group. He liked the music [of Mia Blaze], he just felt that my look and my personality was a little too funky to be sitting at the piano and making people cry, you know? He said, “I really could see you in a band.”

Was that what prompted you to start pulling together a new band?

We didn’t go into it right away. It was just the idea of it, and I still did a lot of writing on my own and preparation before we found the band members. I wrote a lot of music, went to the producers on my own to try to develop my sound even more, and played guitar even more. And when the time felt right to post an audition call on MySpace, then we did that.

What was the response to your audition call?

It was certainly low-key, because not a lot of people showed up. It was just the band.

Tell me more about your fellow band members.

Each one of us is formally trained in music, especially Justin. He went to school for music—and so did Brian. They actually teach, as well. Actually everybody teaches…I teach piano.

Who does the writing for the band? Is it a joint effort?

I do the bulk of the writing for the band. But now we’re starting to collaborate on a lot of songs.

Are the lyrics largely confessional? Straight from your own experiences?

The EP Lost in Translation is definitely from my experiences, from when I had a lot of experiences I went through and relationships after that girl group. I was writing as I was going along personally.

Can you tell me a little bit about the song “Only Blame Me?”

“Only Blame Me” is a song I wrote about a girl who spent a lot of time and energy in a relationship and really lost a lot of time that she could have put toward herself and her own goals and aspirations. So when the relationship didn’t work out, she only blamed herself for being alone and for being unhappy, because she never really put the energy toward herself.

Tell me about your love of butterflies.

Well, I have a tattoo—in the middle of a butterfly, there’s a music note. And so I’ve incorporated the music with the butterfly symbol, which kind of shows that I have progressed in my life and that music has helped me.

That’s awesome. Now, I have a sort of personal, sort of serious question for you. Feel free to decline if you don’t feel comfortable answering. I’m just wondering, if you could have any superpower, what would it be?

[Laughter] I feel like this is a Miss Universe question…If I could have any superpower, I would be able to heal any disease.

Good safe answer. I think you just won the crown…so, anyways, when you’re not recording or performing, what do you do? Give us a glimpse into an average day in the life of Chrys Senon….

I LOVE to cook. And I love to spend time with my friends…and with my dog.

What’s your dog’s name?

Misu. Like tiramisu. It’s a little Pomeranian. He sings. He actually sings. I taught him how to sing! Sometimes he’ll sing along when I play piano…a little howling thing…it’s really cute.

What about America’s favorite pastime? Do you watch TV?

Actually, I don’t watch a lot of TV. I watch movies every so often, but because I’m in a creative space all the time, I don’t really have a lot of time to watch television.

Except when your band’s on TV, of course…I heard you guys on ABC’s One Ocean View last night. That was awesome.

Yeah, it was really awesome. We were there at Mid City Café [in Atlanta]. And everyone was cheering. It was great….We had a listening-viewing party where we did an acoustic show, and also CD sales, gift bags, giveaways…and we got to talk and mingle with people. It was great.

How did that whole thing come about? Did you guys send a demo into ABC?

LaunchPad Records, our label, submitted the music to a friend in LA, who submitted it for us and got it placed. Which is really good for a new band, I guess.

Definitely! So you guys are all from Atlanta, right?

We’re an Atlanta-based band, yes.

Atlanta’s pretty well known for producing a wealth of musical talent. How do you see Senona fitting in to this pantheon of artists and bands?

Well, I see our band actually helping in the music revolution because we’re so different from what Atlanta is known for currently. I believe that Atlanta is mainly known for a lot of rising R&B stars, such as Outkast and TLC. I think we bring a different aspect to the table by being a rock/pop band.

I also feel like me being female and being Asian-American definitely allows us to bring something new to the scene. You know there hasn’t been a band like us, from Georgia and coming out of this city, with a pop/rock focus and a female, Asian-American lead singer. This is definitely part of the music revolution.

On August 4 you guys released your first EP, Lost in Translation. How was the whole recording experience? And what was it like working with Jason Andrews, producer for the EP?

I had so much fun with him. He is extraordinary. He’s easy to work with and so talented. He’s great. He has a great ear, and he’s open to our ideas.

So where does the band go from here? What’s in the future for Senona?

Senona right now is going through a promo tour. We’ve been doing radio shows and an FYE tour. The FYE tour is where we go to malls and we sit in FYE record stores, do acoustic shows, and autograph and sign our CDs. It’s a good way of meeting people, like our friends on MySpace, and we’re able to get our faces out there. It’s been going really well, and we’re really excited.

How far ahead do you have the storyline planned? It seems like it could be quite an epic.

That’s because it’s based on one of the most epic stories one can tell. I mean, how many are there? The Mahabharata? The Iliad? I mean, we can call Tolkien epic, but he wrote it over the course of decades – not centuries.

But the beauty of using the Bible is that, however “epic” it gets, it always stays on the level of real people. It’s really the story of humanity’s relationship with deity, told on the level of personal interactions. Even matters of state are told through the tales of competing brothers, star-crossed gay lovers, or guys who find out their wives are pagan sorceresses. The source material I’m working with scales better than anything I’ve ever read, working on both a human character level and a highly metaphorical level at the same time. It’s a great lesson for those of us who might otherwise get lost in the “meta” stories of our series. Keep to the people.

I’ve got the first four years of the story planned, but that only takes me through the first two books of the Bible. And even then, I’m barely skimming the surface. You have to remember, almost every sentence of the Bible can be pulled out and turned into a story richer than most of what passes for a 22-page comic book nowadays. For instance, in Exodus, God says, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.” What the heck does he mean? He’s saying that Pharaoh isn’t a good enough enemy for him, so he’s going to strengthen Pharaoh’s evil will – make a better adversary. And, at the same time, he’s taking Pharaoh’s free will away from him. Think of the story possibilities there… I know I’ll be using it.

Is Liam Sharp committed for however long the story continues? You play off of each other in an interesting way; what is your collaboration like?

Yeah – Liam says he was born to do this project, so my guess is he’s in it for life. When he got tapped for the project it all became kind of a fate thing, if you know what I mean. More than anything, Liam brings heart to this project. I do the plot, the intentions of the characters, the historicity and the allegory. Liam brings the personhood of both the characters and the gods.

He’s drawn a few of them way, way different than I imagined them. But that’s given me the opportunity to redesign the story arcs around who he came up with. Some of the characters are playing *different* Bible people than I had originally cast them for. But it turns out that it’s going to be much better – and more Biblically accurate – the way Liam has forced my hand.

What I’m saying is that by working from an emotional center, Liam has forced another kind of truth. And that truth has led me to do things that are actually more faithful to Bible. That’s how good the Bible is when you really click into its logic. Everything in there makes total sense, but you’ve got to approach it both intellectually and emotionally.

In going from novel and nonfiction form to sequential art, what have been the pitfalls and advantages?

Well, if I may be candid, the biggest disadvantage is financial. If you got a decent name and track record, book publishers will still throw a ton of cash at you upfront to write a book for them. I mean, nice money. Comics get you paid by the page. And doing just one of them won’t pay the rent. So you can’t just dig into one project and make that your life – which is the way I’m used to working.

But the advantages far outweigh that petty complaint. Sequential narrative lets you tell story from within and outside time, simultaneously. I’m amazed how few comics storytellers take advantage of the medium – but maybe that’s because they were never saddled by the extraordinarily linear limitations of regular book writing. Having spent ten or fifteen years writing text from left to write, I had accumulated a long list of narrative dynamics that I wanted to explore in a more dimensional medium. Just putting gods outside panels, for instance, is something I’d wanted to do since seeing the [Sergio] Aragones sketches in the margins of Mad. I kept asking myself why people hadn’t played with the convention before – created worlds around the very premise of sequential art.

The other difference between the literary world and the comics world is that the writers in comics aren’t assholes. Really – they’re just as smart, just as well read, and just as articulate as any of the New Yorker Magazine worshipped literary heroes on the “scene,” but they’re nice people. You tell them something you’re working on, and comics people voluntarily offer substantive suggestions for making it better. I mean, they share their actual ideas with you, for you to use. The people I had gotten used to in the book world simply nod and then steal the idea you’d asked for help on.

I think it’s because sequential art works more on an abundance model than a scarcity model. Everybody is happy on some level, so there’s a bounty of ideas. More ideas than any of us possibly has time to get on paper. So we all share with each other and – of course – end up with a much more fertile culture with yet more great stuff to share. It’s not a zero-sum game.

You seem to have a lot of trust in the readers’ intelligence. This is a rare thing in comics and very refreshing, but do you worry about being considered too academic?

No way. They say in the movies that you can never go wrong underestimating your audience’s intelligence. In comics, I think you can never go wrong overestimating your audience’s intelligence.

Sequential narrative is a cool medium, not a hot one. That means it’s participatory. Readers should be engaged, not immersed. They need to be comparing panels to one another, making sense out of sequence, finding patterns in the chaos.

Instead of fighting the alienating elements of comics, we need to be embracing them. Comics readers are both within the story and outside of the story watching the storytelling itself. That’s how this medium works. It’s why almost everyone who reads comics on some level knows they can write them. Why? Because they are already participating in the story making through their collaboration as interpreting readers.

That’s the only aspect that’s academic about it: me explaining how comics work as a medium. Hell, don’t trust me – read Scott McCLoud [author of Understanding Comics]. He’s totally right. It’s just that not enough of us are taking advantage of all that he told us about this medium.

So, no. I think readers appreciate a book that gives them more than just 22 pages of plot. Far too little happens in most comic books for the – what is it – $2.99 we charge for them.

I think we should pack these pamphlets with as much as they’ll hold. Give a straightforward experience for the kids who just want to flip through and find out who is screwing who or who got blown up and how – but then communicate on an entirely allegorical level, as well, for readers who want to experience the real possibilities for sequential narrative to wrestle with the themes of our age.

This graphic novel follows in the wake of Nothing Sacred, a book that caused you quite a bit of religious controversy. Out of the frying pan and into the fire?

Yeah, well, what I learned with Nothing Sacred was that the people who claim to be most interested in Torah or Bible are actually more interested in avoiding it. Nothing Sacred – a book that looks at the true core values of Judaism – was only controversial with the self-proclaimed protectors of the Jewish “race.” And they’re so committed to understanding the Bible in terms of race and nation state that they have lost all access to the stories and what they tell us about the illusion of race and the fiction of nation state! It’s all pretty sad and ironic.

But as I did the book tour for Nothing Sacred, I found very eager audiences everywhere I went that wasn’t a synagogue or church. People in bookstores were very ready to engage with these myths on a level much closer to the one in which they were intended. And that’s when I realized that a comic book might just give me both the ability to share these stories in the camouflage of a “non-serious” medium – and the storytelling tools I’d need to do it in a way faithful to the multi-dimensional tale I was telling.

Moreover, comics were a way to take the ideas and apply them to two storylines at once – the one that’s actually in the Bible, and the one we are living as a civilization, today.

It occurred to me that the comic is allowing you to tie together a lot of your previous media, youth, religion, and culture themes. Did it just happen like that or was it a conscious decision?

That’s just me. I mean, I’m one person so the things I’m concerned about tend to show up in everything I do. I’m talking to Vertigo about doing another book, though, and that one is more consciously attacking the problems facing young people living within a corporate-controlled mediaspace.

In Testament, these themes are part of a bigger picture. You have to remember, though, corporate advertising is the modern equivalent of religious proselytizing. Both are about spreading a particular set of memes, by any means necessary.

Will current events shape the story–is it malleable–or are you planned far into the future? I’ve read that you have four years worth of story, is that true?

Sometimes I fear that my story is shaping current events. I wrote about those riots in France just a few weeks before they started happening. And the showdown with Iran, as well as the new Mid East conflict are prefigured in there, too. If anything, I’ve been going back and changing things to make them *less* like what’s happening in the world around us.

But that’s the problem you always face when you write about a future taking place basically the day after tomorrow. If you’re really in the groove about it, you end up predicting a whole lot. It’s the kind of thing that would earn me a lot of money if I were a stock market type. But it’s unnerving as a writer, because in the six months between the time I write something and the comic actually gets published, stuff that would have seemed so “prescient” just looks ripped from the headlines.

Still, the object of the game for me is not to prove my own ability to prophesize, but to demonstrate the Bible’s ability to so accurately reflect what’s going on right now. And to the extent I can do that, I’ll be proving its writers pretty damn prophetic, at that.

ME : So Brent, you’re venturing off on your own with this new collaboration with
Monster Squad & Marty Schnapf. Please compare and contrast your experience of making music by yourself with making music as part of Menomena.

BRENT : There are two big differences. The first is that working solo is a heckuva lot quicker way to get things done. It had to be. I learned about the “Island Desk” project in November, I think, and now it’s January and the performances start on Thursday. That’s a very quick turn-around time to get to a finished piece. The second is that the music for “Island Desk” sounds to me like my own diary entries. Therefore, it feels like I can’t be objective about it — in terms of feeling confident that it’s good enough to be shared, or that it’s quote-unquote “finished.” It feels like more of a shot in the dark, despite Tahni’s and Marty’s reassurances. I hope people like it.

I definitely prefer the music that results from collaboration with Menomena, but I’m thankful for this opportunity to try out some solo work.

ME : Interesting! How would you classify the music you’ve created for the piece? What are you going to do with it after the performance is over?

BRENT : It’s very melodic, loop-based, and largely the result of personal Deeler Sessions. When these Portland performances of “Island Desk” conclude on Sunday, my number one priority will be finishing the 3rd Menomena LP, no matter what. I haven’t really made any plans beyond that.

ME : I see. Is the music going to be pre-recorded for the performance, or are you going to play it live like we did for the first Menomena / Monster Squad
(“Under an Hour”, out now on FILMguerrero Records. Copyright 2005. Do you like it? We hope so. Let us know, ok? We’re self-conscious) collaboration?

BRENT : Both and Neither. For “Island Desk,” I wrote about 7 songs, comprised of over 25 loops. Each loop is a finished recording — one loop might be Xylophone together with Acoustic Guitar, for example. These loops will be triggered and layered in real-time using a new little computer program I wrote (again using Max/MSP). In other words, these pre-recorded loops will be performed live via a computer. So, I guess this qualifies me as a Laptop performance artist. Does that make me avant-garde? (Fingers crossed…)

ME : As long as you make sure you hunch behind your laptop, bobbing your head, closing your eyes, and clenching your teeth with just the right amount of angst and alienation to reflect your inner turmoil over being a technologically advanced social outcast.

So how does one go about witnessing this marvelous event?

BRENT : “Island Desk” debuts in Portland this Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Jan 19-22). 8pm. At a venue called “Ghosttown” at 338 NW 6th Ave (at Flanders) in Portland, Oregon. Prices are $14. Tickets are best bought in advance. Please arrive 15-minutes early, etc. For tickets : www.disjecta.com or call (503) 708-5801. The full name of the piece is “Island Desk : my teeny tiny knowledge of nothing.” It’s a collaboration between Monster Squad (dance), Marty Schnapf (set/art design), Emily Bulfin (media/video), Disjecta (non-profit), and Jayme Hansen (costumes). It’s Monster Squad + Marty Schnapf’s first performance since “Under an Hour” at T:BA04 over a year ago. “Island Desk” will also be performed in Seattle in February 16-18: http://www.ontheboards.org/

Thanks for caring.

ME : No, thank YOU! Changing topics a little here, how are you feeling about the upcoming Menomena album?

BRENT : I’m so very excited to get back to working on our 3rd LP. Really truly.

ME : Ok, I believe you! Any general predictions for 2006?

BRENT : I’m no psychic, but my gut tellls me that 2006 will test us. (Insert foreboding “Dun-dun-DUN!” music here). What are your predictions?

ME : My predictions? Hmm. Well for starters – and only because you were kind enough to ask – I predict that my “other” band Lackthereof (“Christian the Christian”, out now on FILMguerrero Records. Copyright 2005. Are you feeling embarrassed for me yet? I hope so… At least someone should be) will play THIS FRIDAY, JAN 20 at DOUG FIR in lovely Portland. Compared to that, 2006 will be largely uneventful despite the collapse of the global economy.

Thanks for your time, Brent!

Now onto Justin. Justin, you spent five weeks in Australia last October and November. You had a successful instillation of your amazing Theater for One project in the prestigious Melbourne International Arts Festival alongside many of the world’s most respected performance artists. I hear you also had some free time on your hands to tour up and down the beautiful Sydney shoreline, surfing, hiking, and indulging yourself in rich Aussie culture along the way. So tell me, what is the most fascinating discovery you made over the course of your exotic travels?

JUSTIN : Toilet water swirls backwards.

ME : Uh… Fun trip, huh? So do you like INXS more or less now?

JUSTIN : Less is more. so I guess… More?

ME : How was that whole Melbourne Arts Festival in comparison to T:BA?

JUSTIN : It was T:BA on steroids! Which then of course leads to hemorrhoids, which then of course leads to brown astroids.

ME : Great analogy (minus the “ogy”, of course. Two can play this game) Do you have any plans to release the music you did for your Theater For One project?

JUSTIN : Yes. I released it on MySpace… Or should i call it MyLife!

ME : That’s a bit sad, yet strangely familiar (you can still freely download “Yeah” – one of Justin’s songs – here*). And how are you feeling about Menomena these days?

JUSTIN : Very good. Today.

ME : Any funny/depressing recording stories?

JUSTIN : Depressing – I do more Menomena recording by myself than with you guys. Funny – I do more Menomena recording by myself than with you guys.

ME (noticing Justin’s incredibly sexy facial hair) : So, is cunnilingus** easier with a beard?

JUSTIN : For me, yes. For them, no. Does it matter? Either way you’re wearing a beard.

ME : Wow… Um. Yeah, uh, totally. And finally, Joaquin Phoenix: Scar or harelip?

JUSTIN : Harelip, definitely. is cunnilingus easier with a hairlip?

ME : That’s supposed to be spelled “H-A-R-E”, as in rabbit… Wait, you knew that, didn’t you? (sighing audibly) This interview is over.

——-

ANYWAY, we’re still taking a break from playing shows while trying to get this record finished. As always, you will be kept well informed. Thanks always for your support!

Love,

Danny / Menomena

*http://www.myspace.com/mmmenomena

**naturally, in reference to the Aboriginal definition of “cunnilingus”, loosely translated as, “to hunt and consume the raw flesh of the Dendrolagus, i.e. Tree Kangaroo”

What Made Milwaukee Famous only entered into my small world at that Arcade Fire show, but I knew they would be good before they played a note. How? Michael was wearing a Crooked Fingers t-shirt, only one of the bands I love most in the entire world. I’ve only seen them play once since then, but it wasn’t from lack of trying. They played as part of Austin music scene Emo’s free week last Saturday, and I showed up and waited in line only to have the show sell out right before I could get in. Yes, doors were literally shut in my face. Fortunately, as a resident in their hometown, I will have many more opportunities. So, without further babbling, I give you the results of my first interview attempt ever.

The bio on your website talks mostly about the background of your music and each of your influences. What about the history of you as a group? How did you guys get together?

We basically all met through ads in the Chronicle. I placed a series of ads for bass, drums, and keys in the Austin Chronicle back in 2002?, I guess? And once we all got in the same room with each other, something just clicked and the music seemed to come pretty easily. Right away, we had about 7 songs to demo and things fell together pretty quickly.

I know from the Chronicle that you spent your first year together really laying low and getting to know one another. Has this base served you well?

Well, we wanted to make sure that we were presenting ourselves in the best possible way when we finally got out there in front of audiences, so we made sure to get everything within the band up to speed and solidified before we played our first show. It wasn’t necessarily a taxing undertaking or anything, but we’re all pretty meticulous about the music and how we deliver it. We all came from different musical backgrounds, so we just made sure everything meshed well before we started playing out. We were all really anxious to get out there and play, but I think that it was well worth the wait.

Michael, I’ve read that you’ve attributed much of your vocal style Jeff
Buckley. Could you talk about that?

Ever since I first heard Jeff Buckley, I was pretty blown away by the sounds that he was making. I really strive to sound like as many different people and noises as I can. I just think that you allow yourself a little more variety when you do it that way. I don’t necessarily try to steal anybody’s thunder, but I think that it helps you find out exactly what your voice is capable of by trying to emulate a certain sound that you’ve heard made before. When I first heard Jeff Buckley’s version of “the Way Young Lovers Do” on Live at Sin’e, I was really taken by his abilities to sound like other instruments at times. There was a portion where he sounded like the spitting image of a muted trumpet and I remember thinking that was so awesome. He was pushing the envelope of what was acceptable musically during the time and doing it with such class and style that I was really inspired by it. There are plenty of other people that have taught me a lot about singing, but he definitely opened a lot of doors for things that I’ve experimented with vocally.

I haven’t read a single bad thing about Trying to Never Catch Up. Everyone who has heard it seems to like it. How does that make you guys feel?

It’s always great to see another good review of the album. As of yet, we haven’t had the label or distribution push that we’ve needed to get the album out in front of people in the US or overseas so that they can buy it. So, every good review that we’ve gotten online has been a great introduction to the people living outside of Austin that we didn’t have the means to be playing shows for.

When you opened for the Arcade Fire this past September, you said
your label had just dropped you. How has that worked out?

I think that I might have said something about the label situation. I feel like I’m always lamenting about it in some capacity. But we’ve yet to be signed to a label, so I probably mentioned something to that effect. Just in case, someone in the crowd just happened to be looking for a band to sign, eh? We’ve been talking to a few labels and trying to figure everything out. We’re just really ready to get the album out there in people’s hands and get on the road to promote it as much as possible.

If you could be signed on any label you wanted, which would you
choose?

There are plenty of great labels out there and it’s hard to pick just one that would be a favorite. We’d really just love a situation where we would be able to experiment musically and try new things out without being saddled by trying to fit songs into a certain formula that panders to the big sound du jour. Of course, the biggest prerequisite is that the label is really into what we’re doing and where we’re headed.

There seems to be a general consensus that you kicked Franz Ferdinand’s ass in your Austin City Limits taping. What do you guys think?

Ha! That’s great to hear, but we were just talking the other day about never wanting to be in a battle of the band’s fest. We never really thought about it that way. We were so lucky to be able to take part in such an awesome musical tradition like Austin City Limits. It was just great to be able to share a stage with them.

I personally think that your music video for “Selling Yourself Short” is
brilliant. Whose idea was it?

Yeah, it actually is really brilliant. The video was thought up by our good friend Stephen Huff. He worked really hard to make the video look as great as it does and we’re all really proud of it. In fact, there were a lot of people that really helped make that video as great as it is. Stephen actually storyboarded it based on the movie Evil Dead 2 and it really turned out nicely. I always get really excited when I see it come on. It’s really fun to watch even if it wasn’t us on TV.

Will you be playing SXSW again this year?

Yes! We can’t wait to. It’s always such a fun part of the year for us with all of the great bands coming through town. Plus, when we’re lucky enough to share the stage with some of them, it’s always an added bonus.

You’re named after the Jerry Lee Lewis song “What Made Milwaukee Famous.” Why did you guys choose this name?

Basically, we went back and forth over names for about a week or so. We had like 4 or 5 pages full of them. The bottom line is that almost all of the great band names are taken and the best that you could ever hope for is to really grab someone’s attention and get them interested. I think that the name has really opened some doors for us because it’s pretty original and that’s really all we ever wanted it to do in the first place. The song’s great, too, though.

How do you like being based in Austin? Has it worked out for you? Do
you find it conducive to your music, and do you intend to stay in Austin in the future?

Austin has been really great. It’s such a wonderful music scene here and there are always so many great bands to go see on any given night. We love sharing bills with our favorite local bands and being a part of the music scene here. As for staying here, I don’t think that we have any immediate goals to move away. I’ve always felt like the city that you’re living in and your surroundings, in general, play such a big part in the kind of music that you’re writing. I’d love for us to have a New York or a Chicago album or to record an album up in the mountains of Colorado, snowboarding every day and downing wine and playing music all night. But, I don’t think that’s really in our near future or anything.

What are your ultimate goals for the band?

I used to always say world domination, but that’s such a limited vision!!! We really just want to continue having the kind of successes that we’ve been lucky enough to be a part of, as of late, and to keep making music that we love to play and that people love to hear. We all have those bands that we love that have had these stellar careers that we’d like to mirror in duration and accomplishments. But it always happens differently for everybody. We really just want to stick around and play for as many people possible and make as many albums as we can.

What were your favorite bands/albums from 2005?

Man, there were so many great one’s this year. As far as I’m concerned, as long as Spoon releases an album in any given year, it’s most likely going to be one of the best. The Zykos self-titled record was ridiculously wonderful. I loved that the Fiona Apple album finally surfaced, though I was a bigger fan of the Jon Brion version. AC Newman, Richard Buckner, Doves, Brendan Benson, Okkervil River, Iron & Wine, and the Constantines, all had great albums that I couldn’t stop listening to. I’m not sure if they all fall under the ’05 umbrella. I’m really looking forward to Midlake’s and Cat Power’s new ones coming out in ’06.

What’s the most bizarre thing that’s happened to you guys since you
started making music?

Well… there was the time that… actually, I’m drawing a blank. We haven’t had too, too many crazy, weird things happen to us. Just being on the ACL taping and getting to open up for the Arcade Fire and the Black Keys was other-worldly enough for us to last us for a while. I’ll get back to you on this one after the next tour, eh?

LINK: What Made Milwaukee Famous Home Page