Wet Wings Produces Cheerful Notes From New Zealand

Wet Wings is a pretty sweet duo from Wellington, New Zealand who just released a full length album, Glory Glory, this past summer. Their music is a lovely cross between folk and electronic and is quite pleasant to listen to. They kindly agreed to answer some questions about music making and music listening for me.

1. How do you go about creating a song? What’s the first step?

Darian: The same way I imagine a lot of people make songs: noodling around on an instrument, finding a mood, finding a lyrical story to fit that mood, maybe making that story rhyme, play the song a few times with Lucy and me, record the song, add extra layers, keep the layers if they work, delete them if they don’t, add effects here and there, mix and master! 

2. Who do you look up to as artists?

Darian: Owen Pallett, for his orchestral instrumentation finesse, pop sensibilities and lyrical fun.
Lucy: Joanna Newsom. 

3. What’s the indie music scene like in New Zealand?

Darian: We’ve not been outside of New Zealand much, apart from Melbourne, but the ‘indie music scene,’ however you define it, is probably alive and helpful for bands wanting to play shows, find similar-minded people, and so on.

4. If you weren’t producing music what do you think you guys would be doing?

Darian: We already do some things apart from music (I am an analyst for Government’s Treasury and Lucy studies Art History at university) but we often find ourselves watching movies when we’d arranged to practice.
Lucy: Studying more.

5. What are some recent songs that have caught your eye? (Or ear, rather).

Darian: Grimes - “World Princess,” Jeans Wilder - “Light Sleeper,” Linda Perhacs - “Parallelograms”

Lucy: The XX - “VCR (Four Tet remix)”

Thank you!

No, thank you! 

Wet Wing’s album, Glory Glory, is available at their BandCamp page. Be sure to check them out!

“Feeeel It” [MP3]

Liptease Brings Fresh Electropop to the Indie Crowd

Liptease is a great electropop band based out of both New York City and Paris, and to my pleasure agreed to an interview. If you like Fischerspooner, Dragonette, Adam Lambert, and similar artists, this group’s sound would be perfect for you. Read on!

1. Firstly, how did you guys meet?

Michel and I (John) met at a party three summers ago in Boston while were going to Berklee College of Music. A mutual friend (who we actually were in a band with for a year), introduced us like “John my favorite singer, meet Michel, my favorite guitar player! Let’s be in a band.” I (John) remember being a little drunk. Michel had on white pants… I was an RA with our drummer Tom and one day a year and half ago, we asked him to audition and it was a perfect fit. Tom has three dogs.

2. Do you compare your work to popular music, or do you prefer to define yourself as indie?

Stylistically, we relate more to Pop. However, at this stage we are kind of “indie” just for the fact that no one really knows about us. We all are big fans of top 40 “popular” music. Some of the songwriting and production is incredible and we are inspired by that. We are also inspired by less mainstream music that we would have never been exposed to if not for living in NYC.   

3. What are some musicians/bands whose work you find inspirational?

We all have a thing for Prince. He is the man.  Michael Jackson, Queen and Justice are up there too.

4. What’s in your future after this solid EP release? A debut album? Concerts?

What does the future hold… Hmmm. We are already working on another EP. It should be out sometime in September 2011. Our number one priority is to get our music out there and see if anyone is interested, whether it is a label, management company, or publishing company. Second, we like to set up occasional local NYC gigs to see how the songs fare live and not get too rusty (we love performing as much as creating).

5. How did you come up with the idea for the album cover? I love it!

Thanks! The album cover actually was one of four different photo shoot themes that we did for our EP. As far as the lipstick theme goes, last summer we took our own pictures with this idea and it wasn’t half bad, but the execution was weak because it was me (John), taking pictures of Michel and Tom. Professionally, it came out so much better… (Duh.) We wanted a Terry Richardson type of picture that was literal to our name but with a bit of a shocking twist… Most people would think of a girl when they hear the word “Liptease”, but God didn’t give John those lips for nothing.  The team we worked with was awesome and we are very proud of the finished product.

Liptease’s EP is streamable from their website and available for purchase and preview on iTunes. Check them out and support them if you like their stuff! The whole EP is wonderful so it’s worth it.

“Ooh Ai” [MP3] 

An Interview With Brooklyn’s Snowmine

The talented Brooklyn-based band Snowmine kindly agreed to answer a few questions for me about their music (and themselves). Their debut album, Laminate Pet Animal, was released this past May and has been on repeat in my library. Without further ado, here are the answers!

1. What are some contemporary artists who have influenced your music?

Bjork mainly. While we are more pop than she is, her integration of orchestration is always so effortless and tactful. You can hear a lot of her influence in our instrumental sections.

2. If you could play at any festival in the world, which one would you pick? (And why?)

Glastonbury — it’s legendary. But if there was ever a festival in outer space, we’d have to play there too, because we could eat wild amounts of astronaut ice cream and see what we sound like in a void.

3. With an album release under your belt, what should we expect from you in the coming months? Working on new material? Planning some shows? Just chilling?

We’re heading back into the studio very soon to do another record. We’re creating a ton of material right now and trying to make sense of it all. It’s definitely heading in a slightly different direction but we’re all really excited about it.

We’re playing this great show on August 11th in New York on a boat with Dinosaur Feathers, and a few surprise shows here and there. In the meantime we’re enjoying this beautiful summer. Next weekend we’re going for a musical camping retreat.

4. Which three artists do you think we should be on the look out for?

I’m really digging on this guy Shigeto. I think Ghostly International has a great lineup in general. I’m also feeling the new M83 and looking forward to St. Vincent’s new one.

5. What’s with the strange album title?

Try reading it backwards!

I included Snowmine’s song “Beast In Air, Beast In Water” on my most recent mixtape, but you should head on over to their BandCamp page and download the whole thing for yourself. This lovely stuff is recommended for fans of Ra Ra Riot, M83-infused Vampire Weekend, or Cults (and perhaps Bjork?)

“Penny” [MP3]