With early influences of Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys, a name spawned from a band name generator, and their debut album, Love Sick Commotion just released, The Expensives are here to take over the world.
I guess I'll just start off with some background information first- How did The Expensives come to be?, where does the name come from?, and all that good stuff.
Well, we first started in 2005. Fawn (the guitarist) and I went to middle school together and we both had this identical passion for music. So we were like, "Hey, let's start a band!" So for like 6 months, we were running around looking for a drummer. We finally found our current drummer Bean in May of 2006. She originally was the second guitarist but it wasn't working out. so we started writing songs with her on drums. At the time, we didn't even have a drum set. We ended up using pots and pans for about two months! and then we went through millions of ridiculous band names (i.e. The Above Average Goldfish, The Hickups) before we went online to a band name generator and found "The Expensives." It was an instant hit.
That's amazing. (Laughs.) You probably knew this question was inevitable, so we might as well get it over with: What's it like being an all female band in a mostly male dominated industry?
(Laughs.) I was expecting it! We obviously have to face extra challenges being an all-girl band. It's harder to be taken seriously. For example, it gets ridiculous when you're about to go on stage and this amazing guy band just gets finished and then you go up there and the crowd is like, "Oh, take your tops off!" like we're just some joke. But we try to stay headstrong and keep the music the most important thing. We know how to handle situations like that. We've prepared for it.
Are there any common misconceptions people have about all female bands that you would like to put to rest?
I guess some people still view most female bands as "whiny little girls" who have nothing better to sing about but boys. Honestly, some of this may be true. We do write about getting our hearts broken and falling in love. But situations like that are very drastic and relatable, which is why it makes perfect sense to sing about them. We base our songs off of personal experience. Whatever comes to mind at the moment gets jotted down, whether it be about finding a new boyfriend to ripping someone's head off. (Laughs.)
Right. right. What would you say makes your band stand out from all the other girl bands out there?
We have this discussion a lot within our band. We often find ourselves wondering where we stand in comparison to other local and well-known artists. All we can really agree on is that our music is far from anything we have personally ever heard before. I mean, we try to incorporate our influences in our music but it still comes out completely unique. Just recently, we had a guy from one of our shows tell us that we sounded like Tegan & Sara mixed with Tsunami Bomb. Up until then, we couldn't even pin-point what bands we sounded like. I guess that's what makes us stand out.
I’ve got a question about influences in just a moment, but we'll save that for after this: You gals recently released your debut album Love Sick Commotion, can you tell us a little about it? Sound wise, the recording process, how it feels to release a debut album, anything to give an insight into the cd.
It feels INCREDIBLE to finally have a full-length CD out. Some of the songs on the album are way old, like from three years ago. And some are brand new. It has a mix of different time periods and various emotions, which is where the CD gets it's name. A lot of the songs are about love and pain. We kind of recorded it all in a rush but we've had most of this material for so long and we felt as though it needed to be heard. Over all, it's amazing knowing that we can finally show everyone what we've been doing for the past three or four years.
Speaking in terms of the past, how do your childhood heroes/earliest influences compare to your current heroes/influences?
Personally, I grew up listening to Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys! I was a total pop-star since day one. But as I grew up, I started to get more into hip/hop and then mainstream rock, which eventually led me down the road to more underground punk/alternative. Although, I still listen to a lot of mainstream rock. But I think I can speak for the entire band when I say we are obsessed with Paramore.
A large variety never hurt anyone! Finally, is there anything you'd like to conclude the interview with? maybe tell the readers where they can find love sick commotion or a message to your dedicated fans?
We love our fans to death! They should know that by now! Love Sick Commotion will be on iTunes, Napster, and Amazon very shortly, but fans can message us via MySpace for a hard copy. We will also be touring the East Coast this summer hopefully with our friends Subjunk, The Fallback, and maybe even Forgotten Fall for a couple of dates. So make sure you keep checking our MySpace for updates!
No comments:
Post a Comment