Onze laatste liverecensie.
Onze laatste albumrecensie.
Ons laatste interview.
Onze laatste video.
What's it like working and recording from home? Does it change the way you approach making a
record as opposed to using expensive studio time?
"It's much better recording at home. We take our time and do things at our own pace and without
anyone watching us. But, on the down-side we take a long time writing and recording our CDs."
What's the scene like in Chicago these days, and how much are you influenced by other bands and
musicians from the area?
"There are a lot of bands in this town and a lot of musicians that I love and respect. That's
nice. But it is a crowded, ugly town and not always such a nice place to live. People get sort of
trapped here in the winter when it's too cold and snowy to go out, but too cold and snowy to pack up
and move. Then the spring comes, and you forget how awful it was until the first frost comes again."
Many people who used to play in punk bands are now concentrating on the so-called 'alt.country'
scene... Why do you think that is?
"I'm not sure why but I am one of those people. I guess what used to seem to me really emotional
and raw about punk, one day it seemed stupid and juvenile, and then I heard folk music, and it really
moved me, made me cry at the beauty and sadness around me. Made me want to write songs."
With all of the tags such as 'alt.country' and 'Americana' floating around these days, how would
you yourself describe your music?
"Creepy/sad/bittersweet love songs? Tragic songs of life?"
What do you think of artists such as Marilyn Manson? Do you see any connection in terms of lyrics
dealing with the darker side of life and with death?
"Marilyn Manson makes me smile sometimes, but I wish he really was scary. Maybe if you're
13 he's scary. If Marilyn Manson saw a bug on the floor he'd probably pull its legs off and
laugh, but I'd more likely be immobilized with sorrow at the tiny cruel universe below my feet. So,
in the end we're both lunatics, I guess."
How do you go about writing songs? Do you start off with a lyric, or does the music come first?
Also, are you able to write while on the road?
"Lyrics ususally get written first. That's more of a traditional songwriting approach anyway. On
the road I keep a notebook, and I write down things like "bats circling a motel sign outside Memphis",
and later when I get home I try to make something of it."
Is your live sound different than on your albums?
"Yes, it's a little sparser because there's only two of us."
Is there a big difference in your audiences over in Europe and back in the US?
"Thankfully the entire world is not exactly like the US. If it was I'd have to kill myself. I'm
a typical American in that I both love and hate my country. We're a bunch of anti-intellectual,
anti-art, sports fans so it can be frustrating here, but also a place where weirdo musicians are a
minority and are much-needed I think. But, people in Europe seem better-educated overall and so have
a lot more historical, musical, and poetic references to understand our music with. For a lot of
Americans, we're their first taste of anything folk-influenced. I'm amazed and very happy that we've
been able to go to Europe so many times and that our music means something to people there."
In the past you've played a few festivals, mostly to an audience relatively unfamiliar with your
songs. The reactions can be quite animated, and I've heard that things have even been thrown from
time to time. Festivals - Still a good idea?
"Well, they usually pay well, and you get free food so a few beers thrown at you isn't so bad."
In both your album titles and cover art, you repeatedly use nature as a motif. Is there a
particular reason for this recurring theme?
"I guess because I live in an ugly, dark city with few trees and animals so I have cravings for
the woods, but at the same time I grew up in a rural area, and so all my nightmares take place in the
woods, and so I remain a city-dweller. But, really isn't nature and our place in it, a recurring
theme in everyone's life? If not, you're going to be very unhappy and scared when you start coughing
up blood."
In every piece written about you in the music press, you seem to be portrayed in a very
one-dimensional way. Does this portrayal ever really get on your nerves?
"Well, that's what journalists do. They write a story. But, I do get tired of people focusing on
us as mentally ill and how that feeds into our creativity. I know many, many people who suffer from
mental illness who have only suffered from it and are not writing songs, etc. During our craziest
periods we didn't do anything creative. We were happy just to get dressed and leave the house. The
crazy genius is a kind of myth that has some truth, but not a lot. Luckily you don't have to kill
people to write about murder."
http://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/the-handsome-family/the-handsome-family/482/
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