Interview
Stiletto Formal Interview
- Author:
- Review Date:
- 12/06/2007
Can you introduce yourself to our Bandnation readers?
My name is Kyle and I play in the stiletto formal.
I read you’re producing your upcoming album Renaissance with Darrell Thorp. You guys have worked with him and have two unreleased songs already, some I have heard; how was it working with him, and what can fans expect from the new album?
First we might not call it Renaissance now because that name was for a record we were previously working on that members changed and we formulated a new band, so it might not be. It was amazing working with Darrell, it was almost intimating at first, but he’s a geek like us so he was really laid back about stuff. He talks about our band the way I want people in the music industry to talk about our band. He likes our live show, he likes the fact that we can be kind of crazy live and I might hit my drums off beat for fun, and he likes it. When we did the first two songs, he had us go in the room and had us try the weirdest shit just to make us feel comfortable. He’s worked with some bands that I respect so the fact that he respects our band, its almost like one of those things where you’re like, oh man, A) it’s a compliment and B) you can say, “Darrell, is this too weird?” and he’ll tell you, “Nah, needs to be weirder.” I get a lot of complaints working with him.
What can people expect from your live shows?
We like to have fun; we like to play for the crowd as well as ourselves. Every venue is different. It’s one thing from 3, almost 4 years of touring; you have to find the fun in every single venue. We really like what we do, especially on our worst days, when we’re sick and haggard, somehow we do our best. We really like putting as much forth as we can for every show, and I’m not going to promise it’s going to be good, I’ll probably screw up a lot, but we’re going to have fun doing it. If I’m playing my keyboard above my head, I’m not going to play it right, but we’re going to have fun. I once saw a band play in front of 5 kids and they put on one of the best shows I have ever seen, and that meant more to me than, say, a band playing in front of 300 kids, because you’re just like “Oh, they have heart” and that’s all that matters. That’s all I want for us, I just hope we have heart, and I feel that we do, and our shows may not be the best all the time but we won’t care.
You guys recently toured with Jimmy Eat World (one of my favorite bands!); how was that?
It was amazing actually. At first it was intimidating, because it was more of a pop tour and we are used to playing venues like Chain or venues where we play on the floor; it was a more punk rock element, so at first it was intimidating. Their crew was so nice, they were so nice. The last day we played Reno, they barely knew us because they were on the bus with their families, by no means rude, and they came out and hung out with us for a bit and gave us free stuff. Well, the last night we were there, they told us we could take their suite and we were like, “You don’t know us,” and they said, “Don’t charge anything, don’t use the phones, but you guys can have it.” We ended up going down to play blackjack with them. They played the big money table, we played the dollar tables and they come over. They genuinely were just nice guys. Their crowed received us well. It was encouraging because I always wanted to be the band that can cross genre lines, and it showed me that it is possible.
What is a band you want to tour with in the future?
I can go dream style or bands around the smaller size. I would love to tour with The Black Keys. They are a two-piece: guitar and drums, they are really cool. Then a dream ideal band down the road I would like to tour with would be The White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I love all bands like that. There are a lot of bands I love that are a little more obscure, but I think if you’re not a grind band or a noise band playing with a noise band it doesn’t get perceived well sometimes. I mean, we played with Hella once in Phoenix. It was so good. We weren’t expecting a non-grind band. It’s one of those things where you compromise, and then it’s usually the best tours. I love playing diverse bills.
What would you consider your most artistic song that fans like or you personally like?
I think my favorite of the new ones is “FIESTA FIESTA FIESTA FIESTA”. We are opening with it tonight. It’s very all over the map but it’s the one that bands we tour with, it get stuck in their heads first, which is kind of neat. The first song off our first EP, “Murder At The Stiletto Formal”—I love playing that song live and how we sort of made our own song structure out of it. I think a lot of the new stuff we are coming out with, it’s more original in the ways we are fusing different kinds of music together and we are kind of pouring out a new writing styles for ourselves, so I think “Fiesta” is one of my personal favorites. I really like writing songs differently every time.
Why did you guys decide to add cello? Because I played violin for six years so I love those instruments, but most bands don’t go any further than the normal guitar, bass and drums.
When we were in high school, Paul, Jimmy and I were in a suto hardcore band and we had two guitars and bass, I played keys, sang and we had a drummer; then that band broke up. We couldn’t find a guitar player that meshed with us, we couldn’t figure out anything, and we wondered if our sound would be full enough with just a guitar player. We really wanted to make sure if we wanted to get heavy we could, or mix it up if we could, but not do a guitar. And I knew Sunny and she had told me in the past, “Hey, if you ever need someone to play on your record, I can.” So I called her up and asked if she remembered saying that, and asked her thoughts on being in our band, and she said she would give it a shot. We tried her out for a long time because when we try out new members we don’t want anyone to end up hating each other on tour or bringing in a member and going “Ohhh…” Sunny had never written anything but classical, so she came in and learned how to do the whole band thing and it ended up working out. It was very fortune almost, we’ve had a lot of fortunate risks: “Hey, let’s try this chick out who has never been in a band; our drummer Pat, let’s fly him out from Nebraska; I think I remember him being good.” The way people talk about music, you have to trust them; if they’re passionate they will figure it out.
Do you guys have any funny stories from recording or touring recently?
Yes, I’ve got a lot. We recorded with Darrell and he’s used to working with Beck and Radiohead, so we went out to L.A. to record two songs, and he wasn’t thinking, “Where are these kids going to sleep?” We didn’t want to put him out but we couldn’t afford a place to stay because we’re broke as hell. We get there on our first day of recording and our van is out in the studio parking lot in the middle of Hollywood by the Beverly Center--high traffic Hollywood. It’s one in the morning and he was, like, “Later, guy,” and we’re thinking, “We don’t know where we’re going.” So we had this van that couldn’t hold all of us comfortably, because we borrowed our buddy’s van, which is smaller than ours. Also, we were in a parking lot in L.A. where we weren’t supposed to leave our van. But our guitar player decided he is just going to sleep in a sleeping bag in the parking lot, and the doors are all open and we’re crashing out, and the security kicked us out two hours later. So Darrell comes back and says, “I heard you guys got kicked out of the parking lot, why didn’t you say you needed a place to stay?” and we told him, “We don’t know,” and then he let us stay at his place. He is used to working with people who get put up in the Hyatt and all that, and here we are sleeping in the parking lot. We have some other crazy stories but probably not interview worthy.
Do all of you guys participate in the writing process? How does that work out for all of you?
It usually starts off with Jimmy and I coming in with an idea, maybe a riff and a philosophy, or three riffs and a structure, and we kind of go from there. We all work on it, but usually Jim and I are the main part writers but everyone participates. For instance, if someone is playing something cool, we make a new part out of it. Paul comes up with a lot of good drum ideas because he is a bass player. We all kind of work with each other, the main premise ideas are from Jim and me because he and I always feed off each other.
I had this teacher who is against burning CDs. What is your opinion on fans burning your CDs—do you think it helps you out, or would you rather have them buy them?
I think burning CDs is 100% cool. The only thing I care about is people at shows. If you’re really into a band and want to support them, buy their CDs on tour because then you’re not paying [a store] money, you’re paying the band and their label. Right now bands are making money, so we are trying to figure out how to do it. I want to put out a vinyl because if someone buys it they have something substantial. It’s moving to a digital age, so to get our music out, all I care about is people hearing our stuff, and the thing is I don’t care if you come to our show and don’t buy anything, just come to the show. You can burn our CD for anyone and everyone and I’d prefer that, especially if someone is like, “Hey, I like this band, check them out.” I’m stoked on that and it’s really cool because you need people like that especially if you’re going to get D.I.Y. You need people like that to get your name out. People coming to shows—recently the numbers are down on just people going to shows. Apparently, I don’t know who I heard this from, but every fall tour is doing less than expected and I’m down with everyone burning everything, just come to the shows. If you want to sing along, sing along; if you want to stand in the back, stand in the back. Live music is really wide, you get into it, that’s why I started doing it because I just wanted to play live all the time and I just want people to experience that with me. Even if someone can’t afford the show, come up to me and just be like, “Hey, I know this is a weird question, but are there any spots on the guest list, because I want to see you but can’t afford it,” and I’ll be like, “Okay.” Just be nice about it. I want a person to come see us, that’s why I do this.
For more, check out a review of their latest show here on Bandnation
My name is Kyle and I play in the stiletto formal.
I read you’re producing your upcoming album Renaissance with Darrell Thorp. You guys have worked with him and have two unreleased songs already, some I have heard; how was it working with him, and what can fans expect from the new album?
First we might not call it Renaissance now because that name was for a record we were previously working on that members changed and we formulated a new band, so it might not be. It was amazing working with Darrell, it was almost intimating at first, but he’s a geek like us so he was really laid back about stuff. He talks about our band the way I want people in the music industry to talk about our band. He likes our live show, he likes the fact that we can be kind of crazy live and I might hit my drums off beat for fun, and he likes it. When we did the first two songs, he had us go in the room and had us try the weirdest shit just to make us feel comfortable. He’s worked with some bands that I respect so the fact that he respects our band, its almost like one of those things where you’re like, oh man, A) it’s a compliment and B) you can say, “Darrell, is this too weird?” and he’ll tell you, “Nah, needs to be weirder.” I get a lot of complaints working with him.
What can people expect from your live shows?
We like to have fun; we like to play for the crowd as well as ourselves. Every venue is different. It’s one thing from 3, almost 4 years of touring; you have to find the fun in every single venue. We really like what we do, especially on our worst days, when we’re sick and haggard, somehow we do our best. We really like putting as much forth as we can for every show, and I’m not going to promise it’s going to be good, I’ll probably screw up a lot, but we’re going to have fun doing it. If I’m playing my keyboard above my head, I’m not going to play it right, but we’re going to have fun. I once saw a band play in front of 5 kids and they put on one of the best shows I have ever seen, and that meant more to me than, say, a band playing in front of 300 kids, because you’re just like “Oh, they have heart” and that’s all that matters. That’s all I want for us, I just hope we have heart, and I feel that we do, and our shows may not be the best all the time but we won’t care.
You guys recently toured with Jimmy Eat World (one of my favorite bands!); how was that?
It was amazing actually. At first it was intimidating, because it was more of a pop tour and we are used to playing venues like Chain or venues where we play on the floor; it was a more punk rock element, so at first it was intimidating. Their crew was so nice, they were so nice. The last day we played Reno, they barely knew us because they were on the bus with their families, by no means rude, and they came out and hung out with us for a bit and gave us free stuff. Well, the last night we were there, they told us we could take their suite and we were like, “You don’t know us,” and they said, “Don’t charge anything, don’t use the phones, but you guys can have it.” We ended up going down to play blackjack with them. They played the big money table, we played the dollar tables and they come over. They genuinely were just nice guys. Their crowed received us well. It was encouraging because I always wanted to be the band that can cross genre lines, and it showed me that it is possible.
What is a band you want to tour with in the future?
I can go dream style or bands around the smaller size. I would love to tour with The Black Keys. They are a two-piece: guitar and drums, they are really cool. Then a dream ideal band down the road I would like to tour with would be The White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I love all bands like that. There are a lot of bands I love that are a little more obscure, but I think if you’re not a grind band or a noise band playing with a noise band it doesn’t get perceived well sometimes. I mean, we played with Hella once in Phoenix. It was so good. We weren’t expecting a non-grind band. It’s one of those things where you compromise, and then it’s usually the best tours. I love playing diverse bills.
What would you consider your most artistic song that fans like or you personally like?
I think my favorite of the new ones is “FIESTA FIESTA FIESTA FIESTA”. We are opening with it tonight. It’s very all over the map but it’s the one that bands we tour with, it get stuck in their heads first, which is kind of neat. The first song off our first EP, “Murder At The Stiletto Formal”—I love playing that song live and how we sort of made our own song structure out of it. I think a lot of the new stuff we are coming out with, it’s more original in the ways we are fusing different kinds of music together and we are kind of pouring out a new writing styles for ourselves, so I think “Fiesta” is one of my personal favorites. I really like writing songs differently every time.
Why did you guys decide to add cello? Because I played violin for six years so I love those instruments, but most bands don’t go any further than the normal guitar, bass and drums.
When we were in high school, Paul, Jimmy and I were in a suto hardcore band and we had two guitars and bass, I played keys, sang and we had a drummer; then that band broke up. We couldn’t find a guitar player that meshed with us, we couldn’t figure out anything, and we wondered if our sound would be full enough with just a guitar player. We really wanted to make sure if we wanted to get heavy we could, or mix it up if we could, but not do a guitar. And I knew Sunny and she had told me in the past, “Hey, if you ever need someone to play on your record, I can.” So I called her up and asked if she remembered saying that, and asked her thoughts on being in our band, and she said she would give it a shot. We tried her out for a long time because when we try out new members we don’t want anyone to end up hating each other on tour or bringing in a member and going “Ohhh…” Sunny had never written anything but classical, so she came in and learned how to do the whole band thing and it ended up working out. It was very fortune almost, we’ve had a lot of fortunate risks: “Hey, let’s try this chick out who has never been in a band; our drummer Pat, let’s fly him out from Nebraska; I think I remember him being good.” The way people talk about music, you have to trust them; if they’re passionate they will figure it out.
Do you guys have any funny stories from recording or touring recently?
Yes, I’ve got a lot. We recorded with Darrell and he’s used to working with Beck and Radiohead, so we went out to L.A. to record two songs, and he wasn’t thinking, “Where are these kids going to sleep?” We didn’t want to put him out but we couldn’t afford a place to stay because we’re broke as hell. We get there on our first day of recording and our van is out in the studio parking lot in the middle of Hollywood by the Beverly Center--high traffic Hollywood. It’s one in the morning and he was, like, “Later, guy,” and we’re thinking, “We don’t know where we’re going.” So we had this van that couldn’t hold all of us comfortably, because we borrowed our buddy’s van, which is smaller than ours. Also, we were in a parking lot in L.A. where we weren’t supposed to leave our van. But our guitar player decided he is just going to sleep in a sleeping bag in the parking lot, and the doors are all open and we’re crashing out, and the security kicked us out two hours later. So Darrell comes back and says, “I heard you guys got kicked out of the parking lot, why didn’t you say you needed a place to stay?” and we told him, “We don’t know,” and then he let us stay at his place. He is used to working with people who get put up in the Hyatt and all that, and here we are sleeping in the parking lot. We have some other crazy stories but probably not interview worthy.
Do all of you guys participate in the writing process? How does that work out for all of you?
It usually starts off with Jimmy and I coming in with an idea, maybe a riff and a philosophy, or three riffs and a structure, and we kind of go from there. We all work on it, but usually Jim and I are the main part writers but everyone participates. For instance, if someone is playing something cool, we make a new part out of it. Paul comes up with a lot of good drum ideas because he is a bass player. We all kind of work with each other, the main premise ideas are from Jim and me because he and I always feed off each other.
I had this teacher who is against burning CDs. What is your opinion on fans burning your CDs—do you think it helps you out, or would you rather have them buy them?
I think burning CDs is 100% cool. The only thing I care about is people at shows. If you’re really into a band and want to support them, buy their CDs on tour because then you’re not paying [a store] money, you’re paying the band and their label. Right now bands are making money, so we are trying to figure out how to do it. I want to put out a vinyl because if someone buys it they have something substantial. It’s moving to a digital age, so to get our music out, all I care about is people hearing our stuff, and the thing is I don’t care if you come to our show and don’t buy anything, just come to the show. You can burn our CD for anyone and everyone and I’d prefer that, especially if someone is like, “Hey, I like this band, check them out.” I’m stoked on that and it’s really cool because you need people like that especially if you’re going to get D.I.Y. You need people like that to get your name out. People coming to shows—recently the numbers are down on just people going to shows. Apparently, I don’t know who I heard this from, but every fall tour is doing less than expected and I’m down with everyone burning everything, just come to the shows. If you want to sing along, sing along; if you want to stand in the back, stand in the back. Live music is really wide, you get into it, that’s why I started doing it because I just wanted to play live all the time and I just want people to experience that with me. Even if someone can’t afford the show, come up to me and just be like, “Hey, I know this is a weird question, but are there any spots on the guest list, because I want to see you but can’t afford it,” and I’ll be like, “Okay.” Just be nice about it. I want a person to come see us, that’s why I do this.
For more, check out a review of their latest show here on Bandnation