Gregory and the Hawk

Meredith Godreau of Gregory and the Hawk was nice enough to answer some questions for us over here at Fanterview. Gregory and the Hawk is a indie/acoustic ‘band’ out of Brooklyn, NY, although Meredith insists that it it be categorized as “blues” : D

 Visit her Myspace 

&& Purchase the Boats & Birds EP

Where did you come up with the name Gregory and the Hawk? Who is Gregory? What does his hawk have to do with it? 
I picked the name because in addition to having  a personal meaning for me, it has a sort of storybook quality to it and i liked that.  Then people started thinking I was two people.. and one of me was a boy!  But maybe there’s some truth to that.  I’ve been thinking of just shortening it to GATH.  That’s what I call it in my head.

How have websites like myspace and purevolume affected your popularity?
First they asked for my name and location.  Then they asked for my email.  Then they asked me my favorite foods.  When I told them “cinnamon and sugar,” they baked a pie and gave everybody a piece.

Are you currently trying to find a label, or going to stay independent?
I try to keep enjoying guitar, playing shows, sharing my music, and going to see my friends play no matter what.  And then I try to stay prepared in case an opportunity comes around.  It would have to be a very small label with other musicians I respected because I’m not about to do it for the money.  I think about it a lot though, and I honestly don’t have an answer.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

I recently conducted an interview with Owen Ashworth of the one-man band Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. CFTPA is definitely worth a listen, as the Seattle Stranger notes that “CFTPA is the solo moniker for Owen Ashworth’s sentiment-soaked, deceptively simple keyboard pop–chronicling in straightforward vignettes the middling malaise of adult mediocrity.”

CFTPA- Young Shields
CFTPA- Bobby Malone Moves Home
CFTPA- Lonesome New Mexican Nights

Visit his website at http://www.cftpa.org

&& Purchase “Etiquette”

How did you come up with the title of your one-man band, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone? The “Casiotone” part is kind of self-explanatory, but how did you come up with “for the painfully alone”? Is that a self-descriptive title?
A lot of my favorite songs growing up were sad country and blues songs that my parents would listen to in the car or whatever. I liked the feeling a truly miserable, desperate, tragic, pathetic story gave me. Sad songs could be comforting in a way that happy songs weren’t. I liked the idea of there different music for different times and moods. When I started writing songs, I wanted to give other people that same sort of miserable and comforted feeling that my favorite music had given me. It only seemed fair to let people know they were getting themselves into, though. Casiotone describes the music, Painfully Alone describes the listener. If you’re in the mood for something cheerful, you should probably put on something else.

How would you categorize your music? I’ve seen labels from “indietronica” to the God-forbidden “emo”.
I don’t think I would categorize my music. That’s someone else’s job.

Why did you first start creating music?
I started making sound collages with a hand held tape recorder when I was 15 or so. It was a few more years before I tried to sing in front of anybody.

things I’m listening to right now

Whiskeytown
Thrushes
Middle Distance Runner
The Softies
Sunset Rubdown
The Streets
Silversun Pickups
Rufus Wainwright
Rock Kills Kid
Let’s Go Sailing
The Good Life
Earlimart
Beirut
Darker My Love
Antony & the Johnsons
Asobi Sesku
Ferraby Lionheart
Man Man
Jaymay
A Shoreline Dream

talk a little magic

In the “Cheesy 1990s Pop With Completely Pointless Lyrics That Is Still Somewhat Catchy” category, we have “La-di-da” by the Murmurs. You should understand the depth of the poem from the title. The Murmurs– the duo Leisha Hailey and Heather Reid– got together in 1991 and got signed by MCA. They morphed into the band Gush [yeah... I don't know why they chose that title either] which was more indie-y and less pop-y, and then they broke up in 2005. Heather Reid is part of Redcar now.

The Murmurs- La-di-da

In the “As Angry as I’m Going to Get” category, we have “B is for Brutus” by the Hives. As you probably know, they are Swedish.

The Hives- B is for Brutus

In the “Just Because I Like It” category, we have “Found Out About You” by the Gin Blossoms. Some of their stuff is too twangy for me, but not this one.

Gin Blossoms- Found Out About You

In the “Amazing, The End [except that also, as a footnote, they have an awesome band name]” category, there is This is Me Smiling with “Feelin’ the Time Pass By”. They’re local, from Chicago, and I’ve interviewed them and seen them live and they are quite good

This is Me Smiling- Feelin’ the Time Pass By

buy the album Blender by the Murmurs

purchase Gin Blossoms

purchase the Hives

Emiliana Torrini

I love Emiliana Torrini. Her music is mellow and it’s perfect for falling asleep or just relaxing. Her songs are part of my “ceiling fan” playlist because I lie on the floor and stare at my ceiling fan while listening to it

To download these songs, click on the link and then click on the button that says DOWNLOAD. The songs were taking up too much space in my account so I decided to use YouSendIt instead.

The file will be available for SEVEN days only, so be sure to download quickly.

Emiliana Torrini- Sunny Road
Emiliana Torrini- At Least it Was
Emiliana Torrini- Heartstopper
Emiliana Torrini- Today Has Been Okay

 >> Purchase Emiliana Torrini

Other artists for you to check out:

Viva Voce
Thee More Shallows*
Say Hi to Your Mom
The Monolith
Joanna Newsom*
Half-Handed Cloud
Joshua Radin*
The Go-Betweens
Sia
Language of Flowers
The Motifs
The Long Winters
Benoit Pioulard*
Sarah Harmer*
Stars in a Coma
Tilly and the Wall
Ghostland Observatory
Amy Millan*
Dar Williams
Espers
Nellie McKay*