1.I
believe Charlie and Chris are from D.C., so what were the
circumstances surrounding your forming The Happy Hollows?
SARAH-Chris and Charlie were in the same high school band but at
different times. Chris was leaving to go to college as Charlie
entered high school and joined the band. So they knew each other
through these strange circumstances.
Well, it gets even more magical, as four years ago, Chris moved
out to LA from DC for a job. This very same year, Charlie moved
out here to go to college but they had no idea they had both
moved to LA! One night through a mutual friend they reunited at
a bar, and decided to form a band, so they put an ad in
Craigslist for a guitar player. I answered the ad!
2.And what about you Sarah? Had you played in bands before?
SARAH-The Happy Hollows is my first band. There was one band in
high school, but I don’t count it because all I did was play
tambourine and sing a bit of backing vocals. I was wayyy too shy
to even attempt to show the boys in it that I played guitar and
wrote songs, lol!
They were totally shocked when they found out about me and The
Happy Hollows. It feels really good to think about how far I've
come, especially in terms of overcoming my severe shyness!
3.Sarah...you've undoubtedly one of the most eccentric styles of
playing I've heard in many a year. What were you listening to as
you grew up?
SARAH-My mother was a drummer. She played in a few rock bands
and some Latin bands too. So as a child I always heard drums
throughout the house……..and a lot of bongos! I think that from
birth I just became so drilled in with the sound of intricate
rhythms and that translated over to guitar because once I
started playing I couldn’t help but pick the strings, or play
the chords really fast and I naturally gravitated to
constructing intricate rhythmic patterns.
Also when I was a little girl I became extremely obsessed…as I
still am… with 70's rock musicals like Tommy and Hair, stuff
like that. I used to write my own weird musicals in elementary
school, and cast all the neighborhood kids, and there was like,
a huge production in my bedroom every couple months. :)
I think those two things, despite my other influences, are the
biggest foundations for my writing music. I like to create mini
worlds with each song. There are a dozen little characters in my
head, and they all want their time in the spotlight. I have to
please them all……… OK so now I just sound psycho. :)
4.How about Charlie and Chris?
CHARLIE-Television, Pixies, The Who, Deerhoof, Elvis Costello,
Gang of Four, Daft Punk, Fugazi.
CHRIS-Influences are much like Charlie's...The Pixies and The
Who definitely, Deerhoof, Fugazi, I'd add Sonic Youth, Nirvana,
and The Ramones to my list too. .
5.The two of you lay down some pretty intricate rhythms.
CHARLIE-Bass is all about taste. I think that if you are in any
way naturally inclined towards music then you will be a good
bass player. It is not a technically difficult instrument but it
is hard to come up with that perfect bass line.
CHRIS-As a drummer, I've obviously learned to lock in with the
bassist. Charlie's amazing because he doesn't just throw down
root notes. He's so melodic as well as rhythmic, and it really
gives me a lot to play around with. It's great cause I can
choose rhythms within the song to follow. Sometimes it's the
bass, sometimes it's the guitar. What's even better is that both
Sarah (as she's mentioned) and Charlie are VERY rhythmically
minded, so suggestions are always welcome from them and it
becomes an amazing collaborative effort at times!
6.Sarah, are you self taught? I'm guessing that to some degree
you must be, as your playing style is totally without
convention, in fact at times its completely off the wall!
And what about the guys?
SARAH-Yes, I am self taught
CHARLIE-We are all mostly self-taught. I've had three guitar
lessons in my life. In those lessons I was taught a bunch of
scales, which I practiced relentlessly for about a year ;). That
really helped me when I made the transition over to bass.
7.Do you write as a group or do you each turn up to rehearsal
with completed songs of your own?
CHARLIE-Sarah writes about 80% of the material. I edit her
songs, add sections, and arrange them. Chris plays the drums.
Drums are always the LAST part written for our songs.
8.As I think you know, I've heard the latest recordings that
you've laid down and...without wanting to feed your egos...it
has to be said that you have really raised the bar with these
songs.
CHARLIE-All credit to Dave Newton!
9.He is an excellent producer who should be a much bigger name,
his work with The Little Ones is just about perfect. Have you
always used him?
CHARLIE-Dave is great! We have used him on all our recordings
except the first demo EP, Bunnies and Bombs. We are in the
studio again in February. In the last eighteen months we have
put down something like 25 songs with him.
10.Traditionally the music industry in Los Angeles...rather like
its counterpart in film...is viewed as somewhat plastic and
faceless. But i sense a whole new breed of bands coming through
that completely buck that trend. Is that fair?
CHARLIE-L.A. definitely has some "phonies," to use the diction
of J.D. Salinger. But it is just such a vast and sprawling city
with so many good aspects that you have to try ignore the bad
stuff and focus on all the great underground bands that play at
places like Pehrspace and that you hear on KXLU.
11.Last year you played with Deerhoof, one of your favourite
bands. Is there anyone else you would like to share a bill with?
CHARLIE-Playing with Deerhoof was a great experience. They are
amazing live. Another band I would like to play with is...hmmm,
maybe The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. That would be fun.
12.Have you ever thought about doing some gigs in the UK, or
would work/study commitments make that impossible at the moment.
There is no doubt that, given the right tour support, you would
go down an absolute storm over here.
CHARLIE-We will hopefully tour the UK in the next year or so. It
is a dream of ours……...the wheels are in motion!
Mad Daddy
2009
http://www.myspace.com/thehappyhollows
Happy Hollows
main article |
