Friday, 25 Aug 2006

5 Questions with Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s

Here at Muzzleofbees.com we are always excited when one of our favorite bands comes to Madison or Milwaukee. In trying to celebrate that, we came up with a new feature called 5 Questions with Muzzle of Bees. We’re going to do our best to lock down the acts that pass through town and hit them with five questions. Andy from Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s was kind enough to be the first participant. You can catch Andy and the rest of the band at the Annex tonight. Doors open at 8:30 with openers starting at 9:30, best of all this show is the low low price of $8. Hope to see you guys out there, thanks to Andy, and enjoy our new feature.

Q. How’s the tour going so far? You’ve played in Madison before, anything about the city or specific performance that stands out in your memory?
We have played in Madison before. In July we played in front of the lake and last year we played at Mother Fool’s, the coffee shop. I remember there was one person there. And 8 of us. There is video of that on our website at http://www.margotandthenuclearsoandsos.com/video/Sea_Chanty.wmv
Q. Your music video for “Quiet As A Mouse” is really incredible, done by combining multiple pieces of art. Can you talk a little bit about how that video came to be?
We wanted to make a video, but felt that it had to be animated because we were touring and didn’t have time to be actually in it ourselves or even to build sets. The video is based on very specific storyline that Richard had about a war between cat and mice armies. So Stacy Novak made about 75 or 80 paintings of characters and scenes from the story, which we digital-ized with our own proprietary technological process. Somehow these images were animated by a company called Café in Los Angeles, eventually resulting in the finished video.
Q. You’re nearing the end of your current tour, what’s next for the band? Any plans to enter the studio?
We have already started work on our next album, which we will be making throughout the rest of the year at our studio in Indianapolis. Don’t quote me on this… but I think we will be going on one more major tour before the end of the year as well.
Q. Are you able to write while touring or is that something you like to do away from the road?
It’s hard to say. I think writing is a continual process - Richard is always thinking and rearranging things in his head if not planted in front of mics in a studio. I have heard many new ideas and songs sitting in a hotel. Sometimes we soundcheck with new material. But in general we prefer to try to write parts and arrange songs in the studio.
Q. What music keeps you guys company on the road?
All sorts. If you can imagine 8 music nerds with full iPods… it’s a fairly large catalog. Lately some of us have been listening to Mew, which is like this freaky uber-perfect european art rock band that makes me feel weird. We listen to our friends’ bands a lot. I listen to rough mixes and demos more than anything else.
Q. The Dust of Retreat has been a favorite of ours at Muzzleofbees.com and around other blogs/myspace/internet/etc. What are your thoughts on music blogs and the power of the internet in terms of helping your music reach more people?

Well, it’s great in a democratic sense, like I said above. But the problem you run into sometimes is that there is no real accountability on the part of the blogger. So the fact-checking part, the grunt work of writing, often gets eschewed in favor of knee-jerk reaction. Which then gets regurgitated by others as fact. Like a high school rumor mill, except we are conditioned to accept things that are written and published as fact. Blogs benefit from the gravity of the history of the written word without all of the responsibilty that traditionally accompanies journalism. It sort of fudges the line between journalism and gossip in a new and interesting way.

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You can purchase their album from Insound and use coupon code ilovesummer10 for a 10% discount!

Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s on Myspace.


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