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| ::Interviews:: |
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| review & interview content, as well as web site graphics & design, copywrite 2003-2004 Euphonia Online. use of materials granted only with reasonable purposes. |
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| interviewed by robby sumner |
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| Interview with Katie, Casey, and Jeff B. June 15th, 2004 |
Katie Stanley - Vocals, Piano, Guitar Jeff Keel - Guitar Casey Robinson - Bass, Vocals Jeff Buckley - Drums |
| E: So guys, Darling Be Rational has an ear-catching sound that incorporates your typical band instruments with piano and female lead vocals. How did this project originally get started? Katie: Well, originally I'd been doing a solo project for as long as I've been playing music, and when I started writing songs on the piano, Jeff suggested we start a band, and it just took off from there. We wrote our first three songs in two days. E: And why the name "Darling Be Rational"? Jeff: I suck at picking names. I let Katie do it. Casey: Katie had it the first time we all played. Katie: It just seemed fitting to the topic of most of our songs, so when a friend of mine, Marki Perez, suggested it, I was all over it. E: With Katie having already composed solo material, was woking the other instruments in a challenge? Casey: I didn't think so. We all worked really well together, and all seemed to know what each other wanted to do. Jeff: I think we have always played well together. It just flowed well, all of it. Katie: I agree. It didn't seem difficult at all. Casey and the Jeffs are really good musicians. Casey: That's why it was easy to write two songs in three days. E: How much of a relationship did all of the members have with each other prior to forming the band? Jeff: I knew Casey, because I dated his girlfriend's roomate... and Katie used to want me bad... but Jeff was new to me. Katie: Jeff Buckley and I were friends, then he was the one who got Casey and Jeff Keel into it. I had never really met them before. I'd just seen Casey play with Here In Tokyo. Casey: Jeff Keel has been one of my best friends since freshman year--we've graduated now--and me and Jeff B. knew each other by dating two girls. Then I met Katie the day before we jammed for the first time. E: How would you describe the relationship now? Casey: We all seem to get along pretty well most of the time. Katie: Agreed. We all get along pretty well, and Casey and Jeff and I do things outside of band stuff sometimes. Jeff K. is usually with his girlfriend, though. *Laughs* E: What sort of mood do you try to capture in the songs you write--not just lyrically, but sonically? Jeff: Kind of mellow, sort of simplistic. Whatever sounds best, usually. Casey: Mellow most of the time. Katie: Most of the lyrics to the songs I write are pretty full of discontent, but we try to make them at least sound a little more upbeat with some of the music we write so everything doesn't come out slow and repetitive. E: How often does the band get together to work on music? Jeff: In the beginning, everyday. Now it's like once a week, but we are going to work on getting more stuff done during the week. Casey: We try to get together once or twice a week. E: Do bandmates tend to hang out together without doing anything musical? Katie: We go to local shows a lot, and Jeff Buckley and I hung out everyday for a while there. Jeff: Yeah... well most of us--Jeff is usually working or hanging out with his lady, but the rest of us like to kick it. Casey: Not a lot where we are all together... maybe two or three at a time. E: How often has the band had the opportunity to play shows? Casey: On average, at least once a weekend. Katie: Yeah, more in the beginning. We had two every weekend for a while... now it's slowing down a bit. Jeff: For a while we were really busy, and booking was out of control, but lately it has dropped off. We aren't that good at booking, so things are calming down. Hopefully the shows will pick up soon. E: Do you think that shows are more essential than demo material in terms of promoting the band to the public? Casey: Yes and no. I've noticed that at the last few shows, it's been to mostly the same group of people. I think that the demo material will eventually draw some new people to the shows. Jeff: Eh, not really. I mean, shows are very important because they can somewhat fund the band, which is much needed, but there are a lot more ways other than playing shows that can get the name out. Katie: I wouldn't consider our EP to be of the greatest quality, so in that case, I think that people would get a better impression of us live. E: How would you describe the chemistry you have onstage? Casey: It's pretty good... sometimes it could use an energy boost, but that will come with time. Jeff: Hmm, I think we play well together, as far as stage show goes, it's about as fun to watch as our emo/mellow music can be. Katie: When we practice, we goof around a lot, but when it comes down to it--we all click when we're playing live shows. It's more passionate than energetic. E: What do you see as being the next step you'd like to take the band to after this? Casey: I really want to get signed and tour. Katie: We'd really like to get more serious and tour, record a full-length album, hopefully get signed. The pace things have been going so far has given us hope for that. Jeff: We are recording a full-length at a real studio soon. Other than that, hopefully a tour, and maybe even talk to some record companies. E: Have you been focusing on the escalation of the band's career? Or are you taking it easy right now and just having fun with it? Jeff: I've been in it for the long run the whole time. As long as my band treats me well, I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep it rolling smoothly. Casey: I think in the beginning it was just for fun, but since we released our demo, I think we have all realized that this is what we want to be doing with our lives. Katie: It started out just to see what it would be like if we got together, but then it started getting more and more serious, faster than I expected it to. People really liked the music. E: What do you find yourselves telling people when they ask you what your band is like? Jeff: Our music reminds me of bands like Straylight [Run] and Copeland--just piano based, somewhat acoustic. Relax, feel sorry for yourself and drive alone music. Casey: I always say it's a lot like Poison. Only the opposite. Katie: I just say Casey is in the band, and they automatically are into it. *Laughs* E: What would you say has been the single greatest hour of the band's life together? Jeff: Driving to our Mt. Morris show the first night. Casey: I'd say when we played in Davison at Hot Pockets Billiards. We all had a great time and played a great show. Then me and Jeff B. ate the same french fry later that night. Katie: I agree with Casey. When we were playing at Hot Pockets Billiards, that was one of the best-sounding shows we've played. And of course Jeff and Casey pulled a Lady and the Tramp with a french fry. E: And what experiences are you looking forward to having in the future? Casey: I really look forward to touring. It seems like the most fun anyone could ever have. Katie: I really can't wait to tour with the band and see where things lead musically. I really have hope for the future. Jeff: I have wanted to tour since I first started to play music, so definitely that. I would just like to take this as far as we possibly can. That's about it. E: Well, thanks for taking the time talk. Anything else to say? Anyone left to thank? Casey: No, thank you. This has been fun. Jeff: Jono Death wants me to plug the Swellers, and he says his feet are cute and... um... something about ham, but that's it. Katie: Thanks for doing this. |