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Features February 29, 2004 INTERVIEW
MP3 Zone
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Fran Gray Interview February 2004 Z: Who are you and how would you personally describe your music? I have often wondered the same thing and was going to ask you!
Just kidding. Z: When writing, where do you begin? I used to begin with the lyrics primarily. I would start that process by focusing all of my thoughts/feelings regarding the subject I'm writing about and putting them down into about one sentence. Once I did that...the song lyrics just kind of flow around that. As of late however, I've been doing a lot of my own engineering, as was the case on my latest CD release Eclectic Encounter, and that had a big impact on my song writing process in the sense of more songs beginning with a melody and the lyrics coming after. Z: Which groups, artists and/or bands inspire you? My inspirations change constantly because I listen to so much music and what inspires me is always in flux. Lately it has been Aimee Mann and Incubus, Sarah McLachlan, Foo Fighters, and even some classical music. I'm hugely inspired by independent music. I'm always out hearing bands and have a giant collection of independently released CD's. Z: Are you influenced by art and literature at all? Yes I am. I love color and abstract art though I'm not an art aficionado. Z: Are there any songs/tracks that you have heard and thought, I wish I'd written that? Oh man.....you mean like one of those songs that gets played on top 40 radio stations and goes down in history and the songwriter is making a million bucks somewhere, and is relaxing in their yacht with a brand new sports car waiting in the driveway of their mansion like one of the Beatles or something?..........Nah:-) Actually yes. There are many songs that hit me like that, like I wish I had written them but usually....it's because of what the writer was able say. Sometimes I'll hear a Sarah McLachlan song and I'll really tune into the lyrics and be blown away by what she was able to express in so few words. Aimee Mann is like that too. I love Incubus songs for the same reason. Z: Do you push yourself to write, or do you have to wait until you're inspired? This new CD that I just finished I did differently from anything else I've done before. I actually left my house and went to the college I graduated from and used the music isolation booths where I was free from the phone and other disturbances. I wrote all of the songs for this CD together in a pretty short period of time. I found that if I just relax and get away from the pressures of everyday life, there's a million songs inside of me waiting to be written. But in the sense of writing them close together like that, I was pushing myself. Now that the CD is done and it's really new still, I don't feel the same push but still have the need to write songs as an outlet and I can just sort of casually write at will. Z: What was it that made you go into into making music? When I was just about 10 years old, I already had this huge urge to play and was wanting to write songs. I started playing guitar then and had an out of control collection of music. I was compelled to make music. Z: Do you feel the internet is a good way of helping/promoting your music? Yes, the Internet rocks. If not for the Internet, we probably wouldn't be doing this right now. I have friends in the U.K who I got to know through the net and have maintained contact with them for a long time. The Internet is an amazing thing. Z: Has the computer age, and its use in creating, editing and manipulating music helped you in any way? I record digitally now so yes, definitely it has. It's much faster to mix music digitally because there's this great visual element but recording it takes about the same amount of time. My last CD was mixed on 2 inch tape on a Studor machine. It seems as time goes on...the digital recordings are getting warmer and warmer and much closer to that analog sound. I think hard disc recording is a wondrous and miraculous thing. Z: Give me three good reasons why someone should buy your CDs, barring threats of bodily harm? -My dog is hungry....just kiddin' again. -No seriously, my CD is far too intense for the casual listener.....:-) -I suffered years for my art...now it's your turn Let's see, I could go back and read the review you guys did and pick some other reasons from there. Z: Finally, any chance of some 1st class air travel, free drink and drugs and / or accidental touching in exchange for continued good press? For who, you or me? Thanks again Stuart, Phil and everyone at Zeitgeist Magazine
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