April 03, 2008
Taken By Cars Interview.
This is my third Taken By Cars-related blog post -- the first was about a June 2007 concert of theirs, the second was a review of their superb debut album, Endings of a New Kind, my favorite album released in 2008 so far -- and this third post, I am thrilled to write, is an actual e-mail interview with the band!
The "interview" -- I'm hoping to actually see them in the flesh this summer -- took place over email in March 2008. The questions were answered collaboratively by all the members of the band.
And here we go:
1. Where does the name come from?
We wanted to use a name that will stick with us for the long term. So we were thinking of mixing and matching some terms, then Kong came up with 'Taken by Cars'. According to him, this was simply based on the fact that we all spend most of our time listening to music in our cars. We all thought that the name connotes movement and a certain sense of mystery so it was a perfect fit for the sound that we play.2. How did you folks meet? Were you in high school bands, were you classically trained, that sort of thing?
The boys all went to the same high school and were in a band ever since. Back then we were covering 90's alternative rock and even classic rock. Then we met Sarah along the way and continued our stint as a cover band. None of us thought of breaking out really, we were just side entertainment in friends' parties or school events and such. Then by mid-2006, we decided to start writing our own stuff and taking the next step.3. I really like these lines from "Logistical Nightmare": "Hands to the sky / We're gods tonight / A million songs to listen to / Thank the letters / I thank you." I'm thinking they're about the music writing process, or the act of performing on stage -- but what *is* the song about?
It's actually one of the happier songs in the album. It's dedicated to the promise that life should be about being grateful (thus the words "thank the letters, i thank you"), about making mistakes and learning from them (thus the words "kiss the ground where I fall"), about not taking yourself or other people too seriously and acknowledging that life is about the little things that move us sometimes ("out of breath, whispering a letdown, moving smile, signaling a turnaround, candid shot, a face to launch a thousand pieces of a dream").4. What were you listening to while composing / recording the tracks? (I'm hearing Bloc Party, Interpol -- maybe some early-80s stuff?) Was there a particular sound you were shooting for on the record? (I'm thinking as well of the lead vocals, and the synthesizer riff on "Uh Oh".)
We were listening to a lot of Bloc Party and Interpol prior to making the album and during recording also..but we were listening to a lot of other things as well. The energy and the vibe of those two bands inspired us no doubt. But then we all have our individual influences too. The things we listen to change constantly. We never really want to rely on a fixed peg for the sound we're trying to achieve.5. I've always been interested in musical histories, in formative listening experiences -- what were yours? Were you folks listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam like everyone else back in the '90s, or did you have different musical backgrounds? Were there bands you wanted to emulate?
Ya, we were definitely listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam back in the 90's. But, I think there was more to the 90's than grunge..it was also the era of ethereal, dream pop, and shoegaze. Bands like Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Chapterhouse, and Slowdive, among many others, were around at that time. Other than that there's always been the 80's - new wave, dark wave stuff like Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears and Duran Duran. There's so much more to that too though. There were bands like The Ocean Blue, The Bible, The Railway Children... Presently we like the dance rock, electro stuff..that of bands like CSS, Digitalism, LCD Soundsystem and many other things. Some pop ( Madonna) and trance (Tiesto, ATB) and house as well. We could go on and on!6. What's the next project? Are you working on any new songs and trying them out in concert yet?
We're looking to come up with new songs very soon and hopefully be able to play them at gigs already.7. And finally, the proverbial desert island disc question: If you had to be stuck on a desert island with just one album / CD, what would that be?
If you put a gun to my head and asked me that question I still would not be able to give an answer. A compilation maybe! A cd containing one song from all the bands/singers I just mentioned! hahaPosted by the wily filipino at April 3, 2008 03:49 AM