This week I had a chance to ask Chicago-based band California Wives some questions. The four-piece band formed in 2009 after the three original members brought Jayson Kramer in to help them realize a new direction. The band released its latest record in September of last year; a 5-track EP called "Affair" that they recorded in Chicago with Brett Mohr at Gravity Studios. The EP has drawn a considerable amount of attention over the past several months from music blogs and magazines. Thanks a lot to Jayson for taking the time to do this Q&A..
For more on the band check out http://californiawives.net
I started by asking Jayson about the band's style and approach to making music:
>> The new EP sounds really great. I've listened to it a bunch over the past week. Your music has been described as “new wave pop”. How do you describe your style and approach to making music?
First and foremost, we like to think of our music as "pop music." We'd probably be a little more open with using that term if it didn't have such a negative connotation in many of today's music circles. But we really look to the pop genre to solve many of the songwriting issues we encounter. Brevity is important when writing pop music, so we're not trying to take too much time to get our ideas across. I also enjoy the way pop music makes me feel, that feeling you get when you come across a great hook. The brain forces you to sing those catchy melodies to yourself. Those melodies can get you to look past who is singing the song, why they wrote it, or what they look like. It gets to the heart of why we listen to music in the first place.
>> Jayson, I understand you share songwriting duties with Dan. What does your songwriting pocess look like? Is it a collaborative process? How is Dan's process different from yours?
Most of the songs I write come from demos that I send the band. Each song will have a drum part, a few guitar parts, a bass line, synth parts, and a vocal line. Dan's songs also start out very similarly. But I'm always clear that I want each member to take the song and make whatever changes necessary to make it better. I really feel that as a whole, it's a very collaborative process. Sure, Dan and I start the process off, but it takes many practices with all four of us before we get a product we feel comfortable recording or playing live. Each one of us has a hand in making sure those songs sound the way they do.
>> Was there a specific tone or vibe you were going for on this record? Were you inspired by anything specific while making the record?
Well, all of us have been huge fans of New Order for quite some time now, so we really wanted the record to have this verbed-out, echoey kind of sound. There's something mysterious about those New Order records, many of the sounds are given a lot of space to move around and we wanted that feel to carry over into Affair. We also really appreciate the pop mentality of bands like Phoenix, they way they get ideas across so quickly. Lastly, I was going through a huge shoegaze phase at that time. Bands like Chapterhouse really grabbed my attention because I loved they way they incorporated shoegaze with pop melodies. When people write about the record, they usually use a combination of those three influences. That's really interesting to me, because we didn't go into the studio saying "let's make a record that sounds like New Order, Phoenix, and shoegaze." But those bands were probably more active in our subconscious at the time than we realized.
>> The band formed in 2009 when the three original members of the band brought you in to the mix. How did you meet the guys?
I had just moved back from Boston University and was living with a friend from high school. Hans had gone to school with my roommate, so the guys would always be at my apartment. We went to a lot of shows and hung out quite a bit before we started the band. Our musical interests were pretty identical and they knew I played keyboards and guitar, so that's why they asked me to join. I convinced them to take a listen to some of the music I had written and eventually we started sharing the songwriting responsibilities. It felt like a natural progression, adding new instruments and sounds to our mix only when we needed them. It took us a while to get the sound right, but I'm glad we kept growing as a band.
>> Growing up, did you want to be a musician? Did you come from a musical family?
My parents started me on piano when I was very, very young. To be honest, I can't remember a time when I wasn't practicing piano. None of my family members have any real musical training, so I'm not sure why they decided to enroll me in piano lessons. I was very serious about it, playing for 12 years or so. I picked up the guitar around the age of 12 and also played percussion throughout high school. Some of my friends gave me Aphex Twin when I was a sophomore in high school and I was hooked on electronic music from then on. I would sit in front of a computer for hours, trying to make the sounds he made on those earlier records. So by the time I entered college, I had already had made some music of my own. In college, I studied music theory and composition for a while, before choosing to major in biology. I continued to make electronic music on my own, primarily just for myself until I moved back home to Chicago. Then I joined California Wives.
>> You guys are from Chicago. Do you have a favorite local venue to play shows?
First off, Chicago is a great place for young indie bands. All the venues we have worked with so far have been very kind to us. I think Schuba's holds a special place in our hearts so far, as they helped us put together a great EP-release party and have since added us to the Tomorrow Never Knows Festival 2011. But we have yet to play some other great venues, like the Empty Bottle. Bottom line is that they are all great and we are seriously lucky to start our career in Chicago.
>> I know it's impossible to pick a favorite song, but if you could play one song from the record for us right now what would it be and why?
For me it's a split between "Blood Red Youth" and "Twenty Three." "Blood Red Youth" was such a great collaborative experience. We really constructed that song as a group and some of the parts the other guys added are so awesome. "Twenty Three" is special to me because it really reminds me of the way I was feeling a year ago. Every time we play that song, I get a chance to feel that way again.
>> You worked with producer Brett Mohr on this record. How was that experience? What do you feel is Brett's biggest contribution to the record?
Brett has a great working attitude in the studio. When we started the recording, we were way too analytical. It was our first time in a real studio and I think we must have looked crazy during those first days. But Brett kind of roped us back to reality and made sure we didn't go overboard. You don't want the songs to lose that driving force that makes them special, and he is really great at keeping the songs focused. We also just started recording two new singles with him last weekend and his confidence in the songs is always contagious. He focuses on the task at hand, does great work, and is a great source of positivity. We are seriously lucky to have him on our team.
>> The reaction to the record seems to be largely positive. Have the crowds been growing atshows? What would you say have been the biggest challenges in building an audience so far?
The crowds have been really great and supportive of us. It's really awesome to see new faces in the crowd and we are always taken by surprise. It's a totally new thing for us...seeing our name getting out there. Our only expectations with this record were to make the best songs we could make at the time. So anything beyond that always takes us by surprise. It can be difficult getting the record into new hands and the process can be slow for newer, unsigned bands. But we're pretty confident that people can find something to like in our music if they give it a chance...and people seem to be doing that.
>> Anything else you would like everyone to know?
We're going to release a new single and b-side later this winter for SXSW. These songs have some new ideas that we've been eager to try out. We also want to thank everyone for the support they've given us...the facebook posts, messages, tweets, reviews, whatever it is. Never hesitate to send us messages or e-mails and we'll do our best to get back to everyone. It means a lot to us.
