So Sister
Your favorite foul-mouthed bird, Annie Hardy of Giant Drag, is back. That is, sort of. After a successful run of opening a series of shows for the illustrious (and recently reunited) 80's scalt (scottish alt) duo the Jesus and Mary Chain, Annie Hardy is getting ready to take some time and work on her forthcoming album on Interscope Records. We talked former bandmates,
Kit L.: There have been rumors that Micah Calabrese [former bandmate] is in Giant Drag still and there have been rumors that you two parted ways. Can you set the record straight and if he left the band, can you give us a clue as to why?
Annie Hardy: Well, I posted that he quit on our website and have done a couple interviews about it. Micah quit shortly after we did a couple shows in Paris. He was never passionate about having a career as a drummer in a band, he loves music but I think he loves the producing/creating aspect and not so much the touring/hard work/bullshit aspect of things. It's understandable, if you aren't totally passionate about it and it's all you've ever wanted to do with your life. It makes the business, touring and work end of it pretty unbearable. Its all i've ever wanted and I have trouble with the business end constantly and every 28 days i want to quit and go live in the mountains.
KL: Can you give me the band’s brief history for readers not sure where you're coming from?
AH: I tried taking lessons twice, when i was ten and again when i was twelve, but I hated them. It felt like school which I hated a lot. I finally learned to play guitar and sing (more than one song) when I was 14 and was in boarding school. My best friend there was being taught by her dad and she would show me what she'd learned and vice versa, except none of my family is musical so i learned to play from reading chord charts in Beatles books. My early influences were mostly classic rock. The Beatles (obviously, how orignal!). I also loved Cat Stevens and Fleetwood Mac a lot and thats what i played when I was just learning. Then I realized punk was much easier and learned every Misfits and Descendants song, which introduced me to power chords. But i think Guns N Roses was the band that really started it for me. When i was real young, I just felt attracted to them and would listen to their tapes and stare at the album art for hours in my room, totally mesmerized.
Guns N Roses' Appetite For Destruction album cover
KL: How do you feel about the band being deemed as “nu-grunge” or "post-grunge"?
AH: Having the words "nu" or "post" in front of any genre bums me out sort of but I understand the need to pigeon hole, I guess. I just try not to read reviews.
KL: Were you flattered by being compared to PJ Harvey, My Bloody Valentine, and others?
AH: I like and respect both of those artists but i really don't feel that influenced by either. Micah was the one who brought the MBV influence into the recordings with the layered guitars, but don't think there will be any of that on the new record. I don't want sound like anything else in an obvious way but lucky for me i am not talented enough to say "I'm gonna write a John Lennon-esque song" and be able to do it. Whenever I have tried to sound like something it ends up sounding like something totally different. John Lennon sounds more like John Legend when I try to do it so I don't try. I think it works to my advantage.
KL: You’re well known for your long, cheeky monologues and standing up to hecklers. Is that a part of what you think makes the band’s whole package unique?
AH: I guess so. At the first show I realized it took Micah almost a minute to change the settings on his synth between songs so i had to fill in the awkward silence by talking and people laughed so it became part of the live show out of necessity. People have always told me I should do stand up since grade school but I dont think I'd be good at it, short ramblings between songs is the closest I'll ever get.
KL: You’ve collaborated with some different artists including the Deftones. Can you tell me a little about that?
AH: I love working with other musicians and working with Chino [Moreno] on the Deftones album was really cool because it was so different from anything i've done. Though I was very surprised when he kept my dumb rant at the end of that song. [that song is actually called "Pink Cellphone" and you can buy it on itunes].
KL: What instruments do you play, outside of vocalizing?
AH: Guitar, bass, drums (though not very well but I love it), xylophone, piano and tambourine which I've recently learned is much more difficult than it looks. I have a whole new respect for Stevie Nicks after playing tambo with the icarus line.
KL: Do you think that your blunt song titles (ex. “Kevin is Gay”, “YFLMD”, etc.) offend anybody?
AH: Yes, but those people don't have a sense of humor. I didn't think of the fact people would be reviewing and analyzing all these things when I thought them up, I was still doing things from a natural and free place then. I wont be having anything as harsh as "You Fuck Like My Dad" on the new album because journalists seem to concentrate on that instead of the music but I think serious song titles like "oh how my soul aches" are way dumb so I will still have some silly titles going on.
CL: What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen happen at a show?
AH: A UK fan named Rob got mine and Micah's characters that i drew for the album artwork tattooed on his arms and that was pretty incredible. Also, last week i got to sing "Just Like Honey" onstage with the Jesus and Mary Chain for their first show in 9 years the day before Coachella and looking around at them on stage and the people in the crowd was pretty much one of the highlights of my whole life. Too bad the sound guy didn't turn my fucking vocals up loud enough and unless people were close to my side of the stage, they couldn't hear me.
CL: Was there anything special about the recording space?
AH: Yeah, it was a real shit hole. We recorded in a place called Downtown Rehearsal, which is where half the bands in LA have band practice. Very small and uncomfortable and i could hear the metal band next door through my headphones while I recorded vocals.
KL: Quick, three songs that changed your life.
AH: This is hard...
KL: What are you working on now?
AH: New songs for the new album which I start recording next month [which is now this month]. I've also been playing with three guy friends of mine from a band called the Adored because I got that Jesus and Mary Chain show offer at the last minute and had to put a band together super fast. We played that show and a show with the Lemonheads the day before and they both went well, I was very nervous because I've never played with a full band but it went better than i could have imagined and I am really happy about it. I think from now on I am just going to use my friends' bands that aren't signed to labels to back me up. That way each version will have a different flavor and they can get free tours out of it since bands without tour support can't really afford to go overseas. It seems like a win-win situation to me.
More later,
Kit
Kit L.: There have been rumors that Micah Calabrese [former bandmate] is in Giant Drag still and there have been rumors that you two parted ways. Can you set the record straight and if he left the band, can you give us a clue as to why?
Annie Hardy: Well, I posted that he quit on our website and have done a couple interviews about it. Micah quit shortly after we did a couple shows in Paris. He was never passionate about having a career as a drummer in a band, he loves music but I think he loves the producing/creating aspect and not so much the touring/hard work/bullshit aspect of things. It's understandable, if you aren't totally passionate about it and it's all you've ever wanted to do with your life. It makes the business, touring and work end of it pretty unbearable. Its all i've ever wanted and I have trouble with the business end constantly and every 28 days i want to quit and go live in the mountains.
KL: Can you give me the band’s brief history for readers not sure where you're coming from?
AH: I tried taking lessons twice, when i was ten and again when i was twelve, but I hated them. It felt like school which I hated a lot. I finally learned to play guitar and sing (more than one song) when I was 14 and was in boarding school. My best friend there was being taught by her dad and she would show me what she'd learned and vice versa, except none of my family is musical so i learned to play from reading chord charts in Beatles books. My early influences were mostly classic rock. The Beatles (obviously, how orignal!). I also loved Cat Stevens and Fleetwood Mac a lot and thats what i played when I was just learning. Then I realized punk was much easier and learned every Misfits and Descendants song, which introduced me to power chords. But i think Guns N Roses was the band that really started it for me. When i was real young, I just felt attracted to them and would listen to their tapes and stare at the album art for hours in my room, totally mesmerized.
Guns N Roses' Appetite For Destruction album cover
KL: How do you feel about the band being deemed as “nu-grunge” or "post-grunge"?
AH: Having the words "nu" or "post" in front of any genre bums me out sort of but I understand the need to pigeon hole, I guess. I just try not to read reviews.
KL: Were you flattered by being compared to PJ Harvey, My Bloody Valentine, and others?
AH: I like and respect both of those artists but i really don't feel that influenced by either. Micah was the one who brought the MBV influence into the recordings with the layered guitars, but don't think there will be any of that on the new record. I don't want sound like anything else in an obvious way but lucky for me i am not talented enough to say "I'm gonna write a John Lennon-esque song" and be able to do it. Whenever I have tried to sound like something it ends up sounding like something totally different. John Lennon sounds more like John Legend when I try to do it so I don't try. I think it works to my advantage.
KL: You’re well known for your long, cheeky monologues and standing up to hecklers. Is that a part of what you think makes the band’s whole package unique?
AH: I guess so. At the first show I realized it took Micah almost a minute to change the settings on his synth between songs so i had to fill in the awkward silence by talking and people laughed so it became part of the live show out of necessity. People have always told me I should do stand up since grade school but I dont think I'd be good at it, short ramblings between songs is the closest I'll ever get.
KL: You’ve collaborated with some different artists including the Deftones. Can you tell me a little about that?
AH: I love working with other musicians and working with Chino [Moreno] on the Deftones album was really cool because it was so different from anything i've done. Though I was very surprised when he kept my dumb rant at the end of that song. [that song is actually called "Pink Cellphone" and you can buy it on itunes].
KL: What instruments do you play, outside of vocalizing?
AH: Guitar, bass, drums (though not very well but I love it), xylophone, piano and tambourine which I've recently learned is much more difficult than it looks. I have a whole new respect for Stevie Nicks after playing tambo with the icarus line.
KL: Do you think that your blunt song titles (ex. “Kevin is Gay”, “YFLMD”, etc.) offend anybody?
AH: Yes, but those people don't have a sense of humor. I didn't think of the fact people would be reviewing and analyzing all these things when I thought them up, I was still doing things from a natural and free place then. I wont be having anything as harsh as "You Fuck Like My Dad" on the new album because journalists seem to concentrate on that instead of the music but I think serious song titles like "oh how my soul aches" are way dumb so I will still have some silly titles going on.
CL: What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen happen at a show?
AH: A UK fan named Rob got mine and Micah's characters that i drew for the album artwork tattooed on his arms and that was pretty incredible. Also, last week i got to sing "Just Like Honey" onstage with the Jesus and Mary Chain for their first show in 9 years the day before Coachella and looking around at them on stage and the people in the crowd was pretty much one of the highlights of my whole life. Too bad the sound guy didn't turn my fucking vocals up loud enough and unless people were close to my side of the stage, they couldn't hear me.
CL: Was there anything special about the recording space?
AH: Yeah, it was a real shit hole. We recorded in a place called Downtown Rehearsal, which is where half the bands in LA have band practice. Very small and uncomfortable and i could hear the metal band next door through my headphones while I recorded vocals.
KL: Quick, three songs that changed your life.
AH: This is hard...
KL: What are you working on now?
AH: New songs for the new album which I start recording next month [which is now this month]. I've also been playing with three guy friends of mine from a band called the Adored because I got that Jesus and Mary Chain show offer at the last minute and had to put a band together super fast. We played that show and a show with the Lemonheads the day before and they both went well, I was very nervous because I've never played with a full band but it went better than i could have imagined and I am really happy about it. I think from now on I am just going to use my friends' bands that aren't signed to labels to back me up. That way each version will have a different flavor and they can get free tours out of it since bands without tour support can't really afford to go overseas. It seems like a win-win situation to me.
More later,
Kit
posted by Kit "Blanche Deveraux" @ 4:45 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home