Allo Darlin’ (left) and America HeartsAmerica Hearts and Allo Darlin may be playing on the same bill tonight at the Black Cat, but the two bands have never met before. Awkward, huh? We decided to facilitate the introductions by letting the London twee pop act and the local lo-fi stalwarts each ask the other five questions. Read along as they ruminate on touring Europe, eating out in D.C. and downloading.
Jess Matthews to Allo Darlin’:
The warmth and the heart-bending lyrics in your music bring to mind bands like the Aisler’s Set and the Ladybug Transistor. Any influence or connection?
We have some connection with Gary Olson in that we’ve stayed at his house and he sings on “Dreaming” when we play NYC. So, he’s a friend. Linton lives with him so I guess that’s an Aisler’s Set connection. We’re also good friends with Yoshi who used to drum for that band.
Musically, I adore the Aisler’s Set. I think they were an awesome band. Ladybug, too. Both bands were released on Fortuna Pop in the U.K. as we are, so that’s another link in the chain. Everybody kind of knows everybody else and helps everyone else, which is a really great thing about indie pop at the moment.
You are from London, but seem to tour on the continent a lot. How do you feel about Europe?
Haha, that’s the opening line of our song called “Europe”. We love playing on the continent — it’s certainly a lot easier than touring the U.S. or U.K. in terms of boring band things like money and food and places to stay. It’s also amazing to get out into little towns in Italy or wherever and find that people know your songs — maybe one or two. It’s astonishing.
Your song “Woody Allen” lists some actors that can’t play the song’s subject. What actors would play each of your band mates in the Allo Darlin’ movie?
Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Anthony C. Hall and Ally Sheedy.
What happened with the visa situation? Barack is said to have helped Extra Golden get visas. Was he any help?
Oh, it was a disaster. Made more frustrating by the fact that we did all we could, but for reasons beyond our control, they were held up. We can cope with disasters pretty well as long as we can manage them ourselves, but when you’re relying on bureaucracy…
We had to rebook all of our flights and ship all of our merch from Seattle to NYC. We’ve lost a lot of money. But, at least we get to come and do the East Coast. And we will re-schedule the other shows, but it’s just such a bummer because we’ve never ever cancelled a show before — not even when the van was full of carbon monoxide and towed away on a truck in France and we had 4 hours to get to a show in Belgium!
I know you guys have been through D.C. at least once before. Have you been to Ben’s Chili Bowl?
No, but it sounds like a local secret. Last time we went for Ethiopian, which was delicious. Tell us about the Chili Bowl!
Elizabeth Morris to America Hearts:
So Jess, tell us about the pop scene in D.C. Obviously, it’s famous for hardcore, but is there another side to DIY in D.C.?
It is still kind of fragmented, but things are happening. Our label, Yeah Gates, started almost a year ago and brings a different pop/lo-fi sound to the city. And Sockets Records has been doing interesting things in D.C. for years and is putting out our new 7″ that is a split with Cotton Candy — Mark Robinson, the founder of Teen Beat’s current band. Unofficially, we will be releasing the White Socks 7″ at the show!
Do you think it’s easy to be in a band in the U.S.?
It is hard to say having not been in a band in another country, but from touring in Europe, I have a sense of a few of the trade-offs. It is much cheaper to buy instruments here and it is probably cheaper to record. On the other hand, it is a lot harder to tour; the distances between cities are greater, there is almost never a dance party after a rock show and no one ever cooks you dinner and asks you what you think about fate here.
Just by looking at our website, which member of Allo Darlin’ do you like the most?
I’ll go with Michael, because he drums and wears aviators.
Would you rather fall down on stage or have equipment failure?
Fall down on stage. Totally.
To download or not download? Discuss.
Oh, I dunno. It is a little like buying food. Of course, buying from the farmer’s market is better than purchasing a Hungry Man frozen dinner. It is more work to go to a show and pay a cover and the musician may smell a little like a farmer, but I think it is best to buy records directly from bands whenever possible.
America Hearts and Allo Darlin’ play the Black Cat Backstage tonight with Jonny Corndawg. $10, 8:30 p.m.
