New Morningwood interview

New short interview with the lovely Chantal of the band Morningwood (you may have heard their song “Nth Degree” on a recent car commercial)

&& listen to them here

Where did the name Morningwood come from? Was it from…errrr… morning wood, or is there a deeper connection there?
It has multiple meanings, we love double entendres, if you look you will find them all over our place.

Your music has exploded this year, from being in car commercials to MTV. What’s it like having so much exposure?
It doesn’t feel like there is much exposure, perhaps I am in the eye of the storm, but at least I can pay my rent this month.

Where did inspiration for your hit song “Nth Degree” come from?
It’s about politics, just joking, it is about band love or something to that extent.

What is your music process like—from the beginning to the end of a song?
music then lyrics and melody
or subject then music and lyrics and melody.
it varies all over the place.

What was it like being on Capitol Records? How did they discover you?
Being on capitol is like being in the current royal family, for both the negative and positive aspects.

How did you all meet?
from our bio:
Claret, who grew up in New York, is the youngest member of the group at 24. She met Pedro Yanowitz at a birthday party in 2001.
” he spontaneously asked everyone to take turns singing a birthday song on the spot,” remembers Yanowitz. “When it was Chantal’s turn I thought she’d pass because she doesn’t play an instrument, but she launched into a song she wrote when she was sixteen with no accompaniment and her voice just blew everyone away. You could hear a pin drop. I was hooked and Morningwood was born that night.”

What’s the most difficult part of working together as a band?
Well, it is really just pedro and i, and I live in Los Angeles now, so getting together is harder, we have been through a lot together, so as long as we are friends we shall continue.

Chantal, you said in an earlier interview that you’re “out for blood” when you’re in a competition. What did you mean by that?
I try to pretend that I am not competitive but I finally realized I am, when I compete I become strategic, fair, and ruthless, is it impossible to be all 3? perhaps.

Is it hard getting away from all the Wallflowers references, since bandmate Pedro was formerly in that band?
Strangely enough, no one ever mentions the past bands at all, so we never ever had a problem with it or getting away from it. We aquaint old bands like ex girlfriends, they are a part of your life, but now you are in a new relationship.

I heard you formerly attended film school and wanted to direct music videos. What happened to that?
I’m in morningwood. Everything happens in due time.

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.

The Watson Twins

Here is a very old interview conducted on February 24th, 2006, with The Watson Twins, Chandra and Leigh Watson. They are most famous for their collaboration with Jenny Lewis for the album Rabbit Fur Coat, but they have also released their own solo album, Southern Manners. Their music is labelled “indie folk” and they have been featured on the show Grey’s Anatomy.

You are What You Love- Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins

 Shoot the Lights Out- The Watson Twins

>> buy Rabbit Fur Coat

 >>buy Southern Manners

How did you begin your musical career?
We’ve been singing since we were little, started in church choirs and then took some guitar lessons in high school… we had a couple bands in college and then when we moved out to Los Angeles and started a band with some fellow musicians called Slydell. We also sang back-up in that band. The Watson Twins is the first project in many years where we are the main vocalists.

Have you both always loved singing?
Singing is something we have both always enjoyed and it seemed to come naturally for us, don’t know if that is because we are sisters or twins… but some people think that siblings generally have an easier time singing together. We’ve always wanted to pursue music and feel lucky that we’ve met folks along the way who have helped that happen.