Name a visual artist and/or author whose work embodies what you do musically:
I’d say at this point in time one connection I see is with Robert Rauchenberg’s work from the 50s with the music of How Bright a Shadow. That’s a hard question though.
Where were you born and where do you live now:
We have a bit of a split in the band. Mallory, Steven and Max are all from California (Mal LA, the other two from the Bay Area) and Rob, Sam and myself are all sort of midwestern (I’m from Pittsburgh and the other two are from Milwaukee). It’s also funny that the half from the west coast have at least some Jewish in them, and the other half doesn’t.
We all live in various Parts of Brooklyn except for Sam, she’s in Philly.
If you had to move, where would you choose:
Even though I’ve never been there, the Netherlands sounds pretty great. But the realistic and practical answer might be Philly.
Name something you miss about your hometown:
My family’s cooking. Damn, I just got rull hungry for some fried chicken liver.
What is your favorite vernacular phrase/device of your hometown:
“Ay duude, ha’ yinz gon go daun’ner lookin like’at?!”
What is one thing you hope a listener takes from your music:
I hope that the listener feels welcome and comfortable taking the music in. At the same time, I hope that they’re challenged in some ways and that they’re having an experience that their mind hasn’t patterned yet. I guess it’s a balance of the familiar and the unfamiliar and how that strikes the imagination’s fancy.
What is your favorite weather condition:
More than anything, weather is about scent for me. At the heart of Fall, that smell gives me hope for the magical.
Favorite food/drink:
Pretzels. Any kind, any place, anytime and with anything on them.
What is something you find funny:
A couple of my friends have some pretty award-winning stories about being in middle school or high school and having to face their folks after getting caught in some sexual or substance related event. Ah, I cry.
What is your favorite sound, musical or not:
1) Garlic simmering. 2) Listening to really high close pitches moving at a loud volume and hearing those low combination tones move around is a really potent sensation.
What is a non musical event that has influenced your music:
Something that has been on my mind a lot recently is a sort of game I used to do when I was very young. Sometimes I would see an object, maybe a toy or anything else around the house, and the view of it would be somehow partially obstructed. For example, I see a red shape that is mostly hidden behind the couch. The ambiguity of this new, abstract object would spark all kinds of imagination. I would sit there and not move until I could figure out what this vaguely familiar object was, that is if I could figure it out at all. There was something really captivating about a foreign object on the homefront.
What do you like best about the internet:
The fact that we can find out any sort of information at anytime is amazing. I am also a bit paranoid about the amount of trust and dependency we have in such a huge power as Google is. I think it’s also interesting that people in their twenties, on average, seem to be the last ones that experienced what it was like without this database at hand at all times. I also fear an electric bomb.
What animal do you most relate to:
Dairy cows? They always seem pretty relaxed, they’re always eating, but always being pretty productive. Actually, that sounds more like my ideal self.
What’s your favorite mode of transportation:
By foot if it’s possible. A slow pace is really nice. For long distances, trains are wonderful.
If you weren’t a musician, what occupation would you most enjoy:
Ideologically, farming. Realistically, and outside of the arts, social work.
What is one song you wish you wrote:
Financially, tracks 1,2,4,7,8 and 10 off of Jagged Little Pill. Musically, mm. Probably the same. Mark Hollis’ record is another option.
