popwreckoning

UK trio Fiction Plane has found full-sound as a trio and they’ve embraced their diverse sounds with an even more diverse history of tour pairings. The group has played with dance-rockers The Bravery and rapper Snoop Dogg and even had the opportunity of opening for global superstars The Police on their reunion tour (although that pairing may not be that surprising when you consider that Sting‘s son Joe is the lead singer for Fiction Plane.) With a new Spring album and new tour plans on the horizon for this group, drummer Pete Wilhoit took some time to get PopWreckoning up to speed on all things happening on the Fiction Planet.

Bethany Smith, PopWreckoning: I hear you guys have a new album coming out in the Spring.
Pete Wilhoit, Fiction Plane: Yeah, late Spring, I think.
BS: Talk to me about this album. Is it pretty much done and going through final packaging phases or where does it stand?
PW: Yeah, it’s pretty much done, we’re just mixing it at the end of this month. Hopefully that will go smoothly. You never know. Sometimes, you get hare-brained ideas when you listen to a song over and over and start reconstructing it and reconstructing it: all this ridiculous stuff. Hopefully, it will just go smoothly and we’ll all be really excited about it. I think we’re all eager to get it out late Spring, so we do have a bit of a deadline. I think it is pretty much done: about 90 percent done. We’re all pretty excited about it and we’ll release it in late Spring and start touring it.

Photo by Lana Theo

BS: What’s the sound on it like? Pretty different from previous releases or a natural progression? What can fans expect?
PW: It is a progression. Doing like two and half to three years of touring with The Police all over the world and Snoop and 311, they bring in all the stuff, but that has gelled the band even more as brothers in the band. The trio sound has evolved even bigger and better. We enjoy being a trio and we’ve all kind of grown into that space musically and playing-wise, as far as how you play your instrument. The album has a real ebb and flow of a live show. There are real delicate moments to it, then there are real bombastic, huge, energetic moments to it when you listen to it. I think overall, it’s going to make you move. It’s got real groovy and big sounds to it. The soundscape that we originally used, well we did it in two parts. We did a session number one in studios where we constructed a song and threw everything in the kitchen sink and scaled it back a little bit, but we used a lot of sounds on it from your normal instruments to harmonium and even a music box: all these little tiny things, just to see what we could achieve musically and to push ourselves to try and make something we hadn’t done before. The second session was more going in as a trio and playing these songs live like we would at a show. I think that’s where our strong suit is as a band: our live performance and being able to play to big rooms and small rooms and big stages and small stages as a trio. I think we captured everything that the band is about from every dynamic aspect whether it’s playing in a small room and playing a more intimate feel for people to playing a giant stadium playing as big as you can be and trying to entertain the guy in the last row type of thing. We’re all really excited about the music and being able to perform the album as as live show.

BS: What are some of the potential songs to be on this album? I know you’ve been playing like five new songs recently over the past year and there’s been a lot of speculation?
PW: It will be all new songs, except maybe a couple that we’ve written in the last few years that will make the album. I think we probably have about 15 tunes that we want to pare it down to 11 and maybe release some bonus stuff in different territories, but we’ll see how it all works out. We’ll throw it all out there and see what makes a cohesive album and see what we want this album to be like, you know? There’s certain songs that have a certain genre type sound and have a more reggae, relaxed merit. Others are uptempo rock and others are  groovy, disco/electronica type of feel, so it is all about how you want the album to go really. I think in the end, we’ll have bits and pieces of all that kind of gelled together in song formation. It is hard for me to relay exactly what’s going to be on there, but I think we’ll have one song on there that we’ve definitely played many, many times and the rest will be all new.

BS: Can you tell me the name of the song?
PW: The name of that song is called “Cut Your Brakes,” but we’ve changed the song so much that it doesn’t actually say that in the song anymore, so we may change the title of that. “Cut Your Brakes” is a riff that Joe had done on The Bravery tour so that was early…20…I want to be sure I get this right…
BS: 2007, I think.
PW: Yeah, I think that’s right. So that song evolved from stage to stage playing it on every stage possible. We played it on the Police tour, we played it at Summer festivals in Holland and other festivals. We just played it with Bruce Springsteen and the Killers at des vielles charrues, which is a French festival, which was great. That one we’re really excited because it has taken on new, more exciting form. That’s kind of the only one that might stick on there. There was another one, “Sadr City Blues,” that may or may not be on there. We’re not sure. Some of these songs, you play them for so long that they start to feel old even though no one has heard them, so to speak, on a recorded format. You have to gauge if it is just your feeling or if it is just an old song that shouldn’t be on there.

BS: As you guys do your writing process, Fiction Plane is a UK band, but you personally are based in New York. How does that effect you guys with your writing process?
PW: It just makes you really have to plan on a writing session if we are going to write as a band. We’ve done it all sorts of ways. Joe, sometimes in the past, has brought in full songs and we take our approach to our instrument and add it to the song. Or we’ve done a lot of jamming as a band and come up with a song all together and Joe adds the lyrics. For this album, it was 93 percent getting together for three different writing sessions and just jamming and coming up with the basics in the song format as a band and Joe adds the lyrics. In that way, it was kind of a new page for the band. I think we all feel really excited about fully contributing-except for the lyrics. It is kind of a new face, or at least, an emergence of an old face. It was a small part of the band that is now a big part of the band.

BS: When you guys release the album, you mentioned touring plans and right now you have a French festival announced as your only tour date in 2010. What are you looking at tour-wise?
PW: We’re going to try and do as many festivals as we can during the summer, so we’re nailing those down as we speak. Then there will also be a nice tour in Europe probably for three to four weeks, then it depends on where else the album is released. If it is released in North America, then we’ll do a North American tour. Then if it is released in Japan, Australia, etc, etc. All that stuff is getting nailed down while we’re finishing up the album, so there is a lot going on, but there is also a lot of hurry up and wait. The idea is that we want to tour as much as we can. That’s how you can get your fanbase secured and grow your base is for us to personally go out and play and to cover your internet bases as much as you can. We really enjoy going out and playing the music live and the songs really come to life when you play them over and over. They take on a different form than just a recorded side, so we’re going to do as much as we can within our own schedules, so we’re all excited.

BS: You do have a pretty strong fanbase. I know recently there was this online push to get you guys on the New Moon Soundtrack. Did you see the movie? What do you think of your fans doing that?
PW: We really honored that everyone was so proactive with the band. We have a lot of fans that don’t just sit back. They really think that like, “We love Fiction Plane and everyone else should like Fiction Plane,” so they want to shout it to the world. It is really cool that they are so proactive and it’s rare. Honestly, the three of us are not really like that. We don’t go out and toot our own horn, which is kind of detriment because nowadays as a band, you can’t be overexposed. You have to go out and bang people over the head in order to get anything done, but we’re excited that people are excited about the band. The life of a musician, you have a lot of ups and downs. You come to the realization that things can change for the good and the bad, instantaneously. Your expectations get lowered a little bit in the reality of what it takes to succeed in this industry and it sometimes becomes overwhelming as musicians. It is nice that people have that kind of young enthusiasm about the band. As much as we all do, it’s deeper because we’re in it. It’s our lives and you do as much as you possibly can. I’m excited about this new album. We’re all excited as we’ve ever been about the music and where the band’s at. Thank you to the fans to try and get us on that soundtrack. It was quite an honor to even be considered.

Photo by Lana Theo

BS: You talked about how you planned about a big European tour, but weren’t sure you’d even have an American release. Do you find it harder to break out in the North American market? Do you ever consciously think, alright, we need to tackle America?
PW: America is one of those nuts where it is the crown jewel. If you can make it in the States, it is a huge accomplishment as a band. It’s sort of like it’s its own Europe. It’s not just one market. It’s about 12 different markets and they all take time and they all take money and they all take effort. We’ve always tried to apply ourselves in the States just as much as other places, but now that we have a fanbase in Europe, we’ve tried to focus on that to keep it going. For the States, for us where we’re at in our career, we need to get on the right tour in the States. If you try and go out and tour the States on your own as a headlining act, it can really be detrimental if you’re not accomplishing positive results. It can do more harm than good if you go out and tour for three months and half your shows are empty or not promoted correctly. You just have bad gigs. It is all about the right tour and the right focus and focusing our energy and touring schedule so we feel like we’re getting the most bang for our buck, I guess. You can wear yourself thin and it is a big world. If you’re going to tour the entire world, you better have a plan on how you’re going to accomplish positive results or you’ll just be burned out in a year. If the band gets a proper release in the United States, we’ll definitely tour it. We love playing in the States and we are well-received in certain parts of America and it is just a matter of keeping it rolling. I feel like this industry more than ever is here today, gone today. You really have to be in people’s faces to keep their interests almost. As a band, the amount of stuff we’ve done in the United States is pretty staggering when you put it altogether. The net result of what you feel like you’ve accomplished is a little bit less. We’ve done Jimmy Kimmel, we’ve done the Tonight Show, Craig Kilbourn, MTV, MTV2. We’ve done all these thongs: all the major magazines, touring with the Police, 311, Snoop Dogg and all this stuff, but at the end of the day, we can still go play a show in the States and have a mediocre turnout, which is, I don’t know what it means. You have to keep on if you want to break America. It has to be a focused effort with a smart marketing strategy, etc, etc. Unless you’re 18 year olds that don’t care and just want to get in a van and just play for four people every night. You can do that, too, which I have done for about 10 years. That was  long-winded answer. Haha.
BS: It was a good answer. You have done a lot in the States. I caught you with Snoop and 311.
PW: That was really fun. It was a combination of a big party and just trying to win over a different kind of crowd, playing early in the day and just enjoying it. I would do that tour again.
BS: I was surprised. It seemed like a really random tour, but the I went to the show and I was like, wow, this fits together pretty well.
PW: Yeah. It’s true. I think it was because Snoop had a live band that was really good. They were all really good players and were all really energetic and big. I think if he had gone out there with two turntables or something, it would have been kind of boring and predictable. I think he was the best the part of the tour, to be honest with you. Anyways…

BS: Not going to toot your own horn there? He was good. You have toured with a lot of really diverse people and bands. What was your favorite tour to play with and if you could pick your dream tour, who would you tour with in the future?
PW: Man, I don’t know. Every tour had its ups and downs and every tour had moments where it was like, “I can’t believe we’re doing this.” The Police tour had more “I can’t believe we’re doing this” moments than down moments, just because of the nature of the tour. So much excitement around that tour and that was one tour that I never thought I would see let alone be a part of. That was a really special tour. That one takes the cake for me. It was such a grand tour. It was like a traveling military circus. It was run with real efficiency, but it was still a circus. We got to play stadiums of the world and play in front of a hundred thousand people and be well-received. That was an amazing experience that I would definitely do again. I guess dream tours for me, there are so many bands that I love and would love to tour with. I think we all really appreciate Radiohead. As a band that would be a dream tour, but maybe genre-specific we’re not necessarily the same. I love Foo Fighters, which we’ve actually played with them in L.A. even though it was us and then them and then the Police, but that was a real treat. They were an opening act for the Police and they were the best opening act that I’ve ever seen. That would be a dream tour to play more with them. U2 would certainly be a dream tour. They’re an amazing band that has managed to stay on top year after year. I think we all really love Muse. Muse would be a lot of fun.
BS: Two UK trios.
PW: From one trio to the next, they’ve found a way to certainly fill up the stage. I don’t know. There are tons of bands like that and I could go on and on. We’re open for many things as our track record has show. We’ll play just about any gig within reason. I think we passed on the Ashlee Simpson tour.

BS: That would be an odd tour. OK. For a final question, recently you got to go home and do a hometown show in your high school. What was that like to have a homecoming and be recognized as this hometown celebrity?
PW: It was a bit strange, I have to say, walking around my old high school as a featured artist was really strange. Seeing old teachers and classrooms and all that stuff was definitely a walk down memory lane. Bloomington is a special place because there are actually so many amazing musicians that are already there because of the university and then you have Mellencamp and Mike Wanchek who call it home. There are a lot of very successful musicians that are already from there, so I certainly didn’t feel like I was going to see any super ticker-tape parade for myself. It was nice to go back and having at least been around the world having experienced music and go home and see people I hadn’t seen for awhile and share those experiences. And then to play for the kids in high school at the place that I used to go and see bands play at, I enjoyed the experience. I hope get to do it again and hopefully Fiction Plane will get to play there again and we’ll be as well-received as we were last time.

BS: Alright. Well, that’s all the time I have. I appreciate all your great answers.
PW: Great. Thanks.

The Bravery fans have until this Friday, January. 15 to win Epiphone guitars and deluxe Stir the Blood packs from the group.

To try and win, simply click here and fill out the form.
Watch the video for “Slow Poison”:

Stream a song from the new album:

.“Spectator”

Remember The Bravery? “An Honest Mistake,” “Unconditional”? Their ongoing feud with The Killers when both bands came out at the same time? Well, it’s been a while since something good of theirs has been out, including their entire second album. They released their third, Stir The Blood, just the other day, to atrocious reviews. However, I’m quite enjoying the single “Slow Poison.”

.The Bravery – “Slow Poison”
“Slow Poison” is done in The Bravery’s same fashion: a little rock, a little goth and a little synth. It’s an upbeat number, perfect as a summer’s driving song and pretty fun to listen too, especially the guitar breaks. I also like how the song trails off at the end; you never really hear that anymore.

.Of Montreal Remix
So this is a pretty bad remix. I feature it as just an example (though some may like it). Usually Of Montreal just make music; I’ve never heard a remix by them and this might be why. All the sounds jar together and collide with so much noise and fluidity. The mix is heavier, obtuse, with no real style: A remix gone wrong.

.Drop The Lime Remix
A much fuller remix, with electro thumps and tropical drums. The vocals are allowed to follow through like that of the original, but the music is changed to that of the dancing kind. It’s slower, heavier with little fits of speed. It’s slightly spacey, but one that’ll surely be able to have you shaking that still body of yours.

The Bravery: website | myspace | @ the midland | under cover

While most people came to the Midland to hear the tune “The Underdog,” I was there to hear the underdog band of the night. As is to be expected when a radio station is promoting their holiday show, the bands playing the show tend to get extra radio play.

This was the case for the bands playing 96.5 the Buzz’s annual the Night the Buzz Stole X-Mas. However, while headliners Spoon got several tunes played in regular rotation, the Bravery had some of their older songs return to rotation along with news tunes, and Metric‘s “Help, I’m Alive” was played so often that I kind of wanted to beat my head with a hammer every time it was played, but there is another opener that wasn’t treated to the same luxury: Hockey. Sure, they were played in promotion, but it was only during the night shows. And anyone looking over the station playlist could see that while the other bands were played nearly every hour of the day, poor Hockey was more often than not stuck into the 3 a.m. slot.

I suspect that I might have been one of the few, if not the only one, who went to this show with the main intention of dancing to Hockey. Pre-show the people who had turned up in time to see the first band, appeared apathetic. They were just claiming close spots for one of the later bands. Hockey had a challenge before them with this audience whether they knew it or not.

Fortunately, Hockey’s live show is where they really shine, and while they can sound a little detached on record, live, they’re bursting with energy. Hockey brought the dance party with their synth heavy tunes. If you still haven’t heard of this new buzz band yet, they’re like a toned down Passion Pit without the shrill vocals and a more diverse Owl City minus the cheesy lyrics. In fact, this group would have been a great addition to one of the radio station’s early shows this fall that was supposed to feature Passion Pit and Owl City.

Hockey easily won over the crowd with their charming music and funky haircuts (look at the pictures and I think you’ll understand what I mean). If the hair didn’t win you over, then it was probably the singer surprising the crowd by grabbing some mallets and banging a tom that did the trick. It was a pity that they only had 30 minutes to play because it seemed they had just started the crowd dancing when everyone had to wind down again for a set change. Hockey set the bar high and while the remaining acts have more experience in the music world, they could all do to learn a thing or two about stage presence and audience interaction from Hockey.

Set List:
Work
3am Spanish
Learn to Lose
Song Away
Too Fake
Put the Game Down

When indie superstars Metric finally took the stage, the pick of a slow, dark number “Twilight Galaxy” to start was a buzz kill after Hockey’s effervescent performance. A few spotlights shrouded the band in blue shadows as singer Emily Haines buried her face in her keys. I was getting chills, but not in a good way. When opening, slow numbers are usually left out for a reason, and no one ever starts on one. “Help, I’m Alive” followed and with it came the extreme performance I had heard about that makes Metric great. As much as the song is overplayed, it brought a sense a relief because with it, Haines started tossing her hair and stomping around the stage in her gold boots and encouraging her band to milk their solos for all their worth. Yay for energy at last.

Musically, Metric’s very talented, and that was evident from their set. However, for how much I’ve heard about Metric’s greatness, this was the most disappointing set of the night. Aside from that awkward opening snoozer, the set as a whole lacked album-variety. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the importance of promoting the new material, but Metric has a few albums under their belt and only one non-Fantasies tune, “Dead Disco” off of 2003′s Old World Underground, Where Are You Now, made the set. Seriously, what was the logic with that? I’m glad I’ve finally seen Metric and I don’t know if things are a bit different when it is a headlining, but as an opener, I was left scratching my head as rookie mistakes popped up in their otherwise suave posterior.

Set List:
Twilight Galaxy
Help I’m Alive
Gold Guns Girls
Gimme Sympathy
Sick Muse
Dead Disco
Stadium Love

Now for as much critic hate as The Bravery receives, Kansas City appears to love them. To their credit, it was refreshing to hear the band play an even mix of songs from all their albums that included radio-friendly tunes such as “Unconditional,” “Slow Poison” and “Honest Mistake” as well as some lesser known new songs. They also had a good light show that reflected off their pleather jackets in sync with each pound on the synth. The crowd danced through their whole set and ate up every swagger of singer Sam Endicott and swooned with the swings of his microphone that he unaffectedly held out toward the audience.

I have to give them credit for their warm audience reception. I personally find the band detached performers and Endicott’s vocals hollow. For the most part, their songs all blend together, but occasionally they have a stand out guitar riff like on the end of “Honest Mistake.” Unfortunately tonight, the mix was a bit off, so the guitar mushed into the rest of the instruments.

I did my best with the set list. I might be missing one song and for that I apologize.

Set List:
Unconditional
Adored
Hatefuck
Believe
Red Hands and White Knuckles
She’s So Bendable
Swollen Summer
Time Won’t Let Me Go
Slow Poison
Fearless
An Honest Mistake

Spoon has been around for practically my whole life, but this was my first opportunity to see them. Joined by Kansas City’s homeboy* Rob Pope (also of The Get Up Kids) on bass, Spoon took the stage without theatrics and dived into “Don’t You Evah.” (*I realize it is weird to call Pope  homeboy, but if Spoon can use “evah” in a song, I can call Pope a homeboy.)

After finally seeing this band, I was left scratching my head. Spoon’s set left me conflicted.

On the one hand, you have a group of able-bodied musicians performing smart tunes. Sure the vocal harmonies can be a bit gruff, but the band is all about the music. There are no distracting set pieces. Lights are minimal, but enough so the band is lit enough that you can see what they’re doing. There aren’t any surprise instruments. The set’s comprised of several new songs and a mix of older songs going all the way back to 2002 (they had to draw the line somewhere, I guess). Stage banter is kept to a minimum. The most anyone really talks is to occasionally announce a tune. This is a band playing songs for their fans. It is refreshing to hear the tunes delivered in such a pure form. Spoon sounds just as they do on recording.

But here’s the other hand. These tickets, when you throw in Ticketmaster surcharges, are costing people at least $35. An album costs less than $10 these days. So I have to believe, that people want a bit of a show when the buy a concert ticket. They want some element they can’t get on a record. That’s lacking from Spoon’s performance. And it tears me up that I just can’t accept the band as good for having a clean sound. I just think they could be great if they beefed up the performance a bit. There’s a threshold of success they’re not quite crossing with their bare bones approach to music.

Set List:
Don’t You Evah
Don’t Make Me a Target
I Turn My Camera On
Written in Reverse
Got Nuffin
Rhythm and Soul
The Beast and Dragon, Adored
Black Like Me
Is Love Forever
I Summon You
(The Mystery Zone – listed, but not played)
My Mathematical Mind
The Underdog
///
(Jonathan Fisk – listed, but not played)
Way We Get By
You Got Yr Cherry Bomb

As far as radio holiday shows go, I have to give the Buzz props on the diversity of the line up and for hosting the holiday show at such a beautiful venue that might as well be KC’s own Carnegie Hall. The interns in elf hats handing out Hockey vinyl and Metric and Spoon download cards wrapped in bows were an especially nice touch to end the night.

Band Info:
Hockey: website | myspace | @ lollapalooza | interview with
Metric: website | myspace
The Bravery: website | myspace
Spoon: website | myspace

It’s been too long since our last Under Cover feature, so we’re getting back into the swing of it with this special cover.

The Bravery just released their new album, Stir the Blood, and to celebrate the release, they visited the Yahoo studios to record live their hit single “Slow Poison” and a cover.

They covered their favorite track by the gods of harmony, Fleet Foxes. Here’s the original “White Winter Hymnal” by the Fleet Foxes:

The Bravery added synths, giving the song more of a dance beat, making it their own style, yet they kept the character of the song with the emotions and beautiful harmonies. I like that they kept the original music video playing behind them as an added tribute to the original.

Be sure to check out The Bravery’s latest album on iTunes here.

The Bravery: website | myspace

Although just about a year old and currently unsigned, NYC pop punk group TV/TV is already starting to get a lot of buzz. Their music has been used on several MTV shows and they were recently selected as one of AP‘s “Top Unsigned Acts.” PopWreckoning’s Bethany had the chance to catch up with the group’s lead singer Josh Ocean to learn more about this up and coming act:

Bethany, PopWreckoning: How are you?
Josh Ocean, TV/TV: Good, good.
PW: Well, let’s just start at the beginning. How did you guys meet and decide to form TV/TV?
JO: We started, I started the band in my apartment in the East Village of Manhattan by just kind of writing songs with my roommate [Joe Esposito] and just kind of for fun as like a hobby. We would do music that we wanted to listen to and just combine pop sensibility with that.
We started booking shows around NYC. We got a residency at Pianos on the Lower East Side, it’s a nice little club. We actually searched MySpace and found a drummer and the bass player. The bass player is still in the band, his name is Francois. That’s kind of how the band got formed. We’ve been around now for a little over a year. That was in April of 2007.

PW: Had you guys done any bands before this or is this your first band?
JO: This is really my first real band. I was in small pop punk bands in high school, but nothing like really serious. This is the first serious endeavor.

PW: You’re the singer and do you play instruments, too?
JO: Yeah, I play guitar.

PW: And what’s the story with the drummer, are you guys looking for one?
JO: We have a drummer now, actually, that came on board like five months ago, I’d say.
PW: OK, so fairly new. I hadn’t seen a drummer listed on your MySpace, so I wasn’t sure.
JO: Yeah, we haven’t officially announced it on MySpace because we’re waiting for the new photos and stuff like that.

PW: Understandable, you got to have the cool photos. So what’s your guys’ songwriting process?
JO: Usually it starts with an idea that either myself or the guitar player might have and we kind of just go back and forth between the two of us. We’ll usually do like home demos on GarageBand on our laptops and then we bring them to the band and that’s when they really take shape. We bring the ideas to the band and we get their take on them.

PW: So what are some of your inspirations? You guys have played with The Bravery, would you cite them as one your influences?
JO: Yeah, I mean, they’re definitely a band that we like, admire and listen to often, but the biggest influences are like The Police, The Killers, The Hives and The Rolling Stones. Also like a lot of the classics. We really try to make our music as timeless as possible, instead of doing just what’s cool now, we try and do something that’s good all around and we look to the classics for inspiration for that.

PW: Something to Get Excited About, is that your new EP that’s coming out or is that the already out?
JO: Oh that was released in January of last year. We’re actually going to be releasing a new EP this January 2009. We’re really excited about it.
PW: So, you do have new music on the way?
JO: Yeah, we do. Very soon. And a new music video that will be out probably by February, hopefully.
PW: Oh cool, for what song?
JO: We’re debating, but I think that it’s going to be “Get It, Get It”.

PW: What’s the new EP called?
JO: We actually don’t have a name yet. We’re bouncing a few ideas back and forth, but nothing yet.
PW: But you’re working on it?
JO: Yeah.
PW: You’d be releasing that on your own because currently you don’t have a label?
JO: Yep.

PW: Now, you were just featured in AP as one of their “Top Unsigned Acts”, has that prompted any label interest in you guys?
JO: To be honest, there has been a lot of label interest from the very, very beginning. We do a lot of things right now by choice because we feel they are important to develop the band as organic as possible.
In this day and age it is easy for a band to get caught up and burnt out really quick. We’re trying to do this for the long haul. Yes, there’s definitely been some more label interest from the Alternative Press piece. But, I mean, we talk to labels all the time.

PW: Does some of your do-it-yourself attitude come from your interest in, well I know you guys got your band name from TVTV, the San Francisco video company. Does that sort of play into your attitudes toward labels and releasing your EPs?
JO: I think definitely. One of the reasons why we liked the name, why we picked the name is because it has such meaning and history behind it. We come from that kind of punk state of mind that’s very DIY and that kind of stuff. It does play into it, so yeah.

PW: Do you have an interest in video making as well?
JO: For me, personally, I would say that yes I do. I actually was really into film. I work with a few TV shows every once in a while when I’m back in New York. I’m very interested in the film making process. Where the band is concerned, I’m so busy writing songs that I don’t really get a chance to do that sort of stuff.

PW: Will you play a major role in the video you said you were going to have in February? Would you want to take charge of that?
JO: I definitely will write the treatment for that, but I think we’d have somebody else set it up and direct it.

PW: OK, cool. On one of your songs, “Let It Go”, you have a line that says, “Your mother says not to hang out with guys like me.” Has that ever happened? Are you kind of a bad boy? Do mothers have to watch out for you?
JO: I’d say yes and no. We’re a band that does the heartbreaks, but not the hard core, sort of.

PW: Haha, OK. So what’s the deal with Francois’ name? Is it just Francois or does he have a last name? I saw on a press release he was referred to as Mr. Francois.
JO: Yeah, Francois is kind of like a name that his party reputation gave to him in NYC. And we go back and forth between how to say it, but it’s just sort of a name he uses.
PW: Now, you other guys don’t use stage names? These are your real names.
JO: Yeah.

PW: Do you have 2009 releases that you’re looking forward to or the last month of 2008?
JO: I don’t know what’s coming out. I’d definitely say my most anticipated of 2009 is going to be our new EP in January.
PW: I know it’s not 2009 yet, but since there’s still some time left in 2008, are you pretty excited for the new Killers, since you did cite them as an influence?
JO: Oh yeah, definitely. When does that come out?
PW: The 24th.
JO: Of this month? Yeah.

Due to some techinical difficulties we decided to wrap up the interview here, but be sure to visit TV/TV’s website and keep an eye and ear out for their new EP this January.

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