And they have agreed to answer five.
1. Who are you musical and non-musical influences?
We draw lots of inspiration from Motown, Bowie, the B-52s, Devo, the Talking Heads, T-Rex, The Scissor Sisters. Perry (the drummer) is a big Phish-head, though we're not sure that comes out in the music. Non-musically we take inspiration from a lot of 1980s performance art that blurred the line between music and other art forms (Laurie Anderson is one very good example of this).
2. How did the band form?
Kyle (keyboardist) and Travis (bassist) actually started the band as part of a theater piece. After a little while, they realized that the music aspect of the project interested them the most, so they brought on additional musicians and focused on becoming a real-life rock band.
3. The band definitely merges many distinct traditions, from glam to Motown; is genre-bending on your conscious agenda or did it just happen?
Mostly, we just try to make music that we have fun playing and would have fun listening to, since we're all drawing from diverse influences that come out in our music. One thing we were consciously trying to do is bring thick vocal harmonies (definitely a Motown thing) to other genres of music. We also want to make music people can dance too. That's another priority.
4. Just how competitive is New York City for musicians?
It's very competitive. Which can be frustrating sometimes, but most of the time is exciting. There are so many bands out there, and so many venues to see live music on any given night – it results in a really vibrant scene.
5. You are on hiatus now, any words for your fans what to expect in the next few weeks?
Singer/keyboardist Kyle just had vocal cord surgery (he had a benign polyp on his vocal fold) so he can't perform for two months while he recovers. Once he's recovered, though, you can expect some more shows to be announced...
Check out their debut album, “Play Nice Now.”
Track Listing:
1. Theme Song
2. Save Me (Please)
3. Million Buxx
4. Lying Song
5. Midnight Cowboy
6. Hello There Lonely Person
7. Marathon
8. Perry’s Dream
9. Burn the City Down
10. Danger Song
11. Sex Bomb
You can keep up with the band on their homepage or MySpace.
(Photos of the band by Sarah Sloboda.)