Okay, right. I’m supposed to be writing an article. Or is this a column? I dunno. Whatever. I’m writing words for you, Internet, read them and love them and validate my as of yet seemingly poor decision to double major in English and Mass Communications.
Anyway, I guess we should get to know each other: Hi. I’m Mk.
MK
I’m 22, and still in college because I have a problem with the whole keeping my grades up thing. (I’m incredibly lazy. I admit it. I’m working on that.) I’m supposed to be writing about film and television, and was basically told “anything goes.” At first I was all “Awesome! I can write whatever the hell I want!” Unfortunately, that was only awesome until I tried to actually write something and soon began to panic, being at a complete and total loss for any shred of an idea, so I guess this is going to be something we figure out together.
In the meantime, here’s something only vaguely relevant:
If you spend any time on Tumblr, you may have come across the gender-swap meme, wherein the people who make all those pretty little graphics you see all over the place take a popular film or television show and re-cast all the main characters with actors of the opposite gender. One particularly insomnia-plagued night, while well-into a Stargate SG-1 marathon, I was pondering the idea of a gender-swapped cast, and immediately and effortlessly found ladies to be my Daniel/Danielle Jackson and Teal’c/um.. lady Teal’c? The hard part was finding my Boy-Sam Carter and Jack(ie) O’Niell.
I am not one to let go of something difficult, even if it’s trivial especially trivial shit like this, so I pretty much thought of nothing else for a good 48 hours, before finally striking gold when I thought of a male Sam and a female Jack just about at the same time. (See! Insomnia and obsessive fangirling do pay off once in a while!)
Members Katherine Kennedy (vocals), Jeremy Alisauskas (Electrical and Acoustic Guitars/Treatments/Pianos), Angel Lorelei (Basses/Synths/Pianos/Harmoniums) and Terry Taylor (Drums) recently took the time out to talk with Girls With Glasses.
GWG: How did Autodrone come into existence?
Jeremy: Around 2002 Angel and I decided to start experimenting with the use of noise in a four piece band format, from there the band sort of took hold and became part of our lives. We have made every mistake imaginable since, yet still, somehow, we persist. Katherine came a bit later and Terry came later still, but its like they have been there all along, mostly because Angel and I love them so much. They are without question the finest musicians Ive ever played with and the most wonderful people who I have ever spent time with. They are like lovers who I brutally abuse almost daily.
terry: Well I’m the newest member in Autodrone, actually i celebrated my one year in last month. i was kicking around in some other projects that were sort of bumming me out, and i was really looking for something i could fall in love with. so i had kinda started going on this self destructive thing that was really pulling me away from people. i had all this frustration built up that needed a release. i had heard of Autodrone just from being a NYC musician and around the scene. just when i needed it a band photographer friend of mine, who was also friends with them, sent me a text telling me they were looking for someone. i hopped on a computer and gave them a real listen. instantly i knew that i had to play with these folks. they were doing the music that i wanted to do. so Jeremy and i spoke for the first time and totally hit it off. i knew i was gonna love these guys. so i spent a few days listening to the tracks and burning them in my head. i showed up for my audition, and we played one song. they asked me how i felt, i loved it, and i was in. the next day i played my first show with them at Columbia University, and i have loved being part of the family ever since!
Katherine: Angel and I went to high school together, so we’ve known each other for a long time, and I met Jeremy through her. One night we were out together and Jeremy, recalling that I’m a classically trained singer, asked me if I wanted to sing for Autodrone. I already loved their music, and knew it would be a great fit, so I instantly said yes.
GWG: Give us three adjectives to describe your music.
Jeremy: cry for help
Katherine: love without love
GWG: What & Who influences you?
Jeremy: being in constant existential pain, with small bursts of mania.
terry: living to bipolar extremes.
Jeremy: Yeah our emotional problems really shape the way we interact with music, one another, and the world. Its functional though…. I think..
Katherine: Terrible relationships, the unexpected slivers of beauty in the world, Francis Bacon’s art and life. And everything that Jeremy said.
GWG: What releases/shows do you have planned at the moment?
Jeremy: We are still working on the followup to Strike A Match, the writing has been slow and very deliberate, which is how the songs are turning out as well, only they are all very fast but not always in terms of beats per minute. We are trying to really push ourselves as composers, arrangers, and lyricists and that takes time. A lot of it. So far the preliminary results have been very positive judging by the reactions we have gotten at our shows.
Down the road, we are planning a show for July 22nd with our friends Dead Leaf Echo who are make stunningly beautiful music. That one will be at Pianos in NYC. Also, we plan to return to Reykjavik to compose an extremely short opera in collaboration with Andrew Prinz (of Mahogany) and perform a series of concerts. Than later the rest of Europe in which we have been enthusiastically looking forward to touring.
GWG: What are some of the biggest challenges for you as a group?
Jeremy: Paying for things / Getting paid for things. We need money. Help. Im not kidding. Other than that, it is easy and fun. We all get along very well, are totally best friends, things like performing, touring, recording, and everything else is a breeze for us and we love it.
Katherine: Ugh, yeah. Money
GWG: What are you listening to at the moment?
Jeremy: I love The Black Angels, Mahogany, Interpol, Dead Leaf Echo, The Vandelles, [aftersun], The Drums, and The Bang Gang. I have to say though, I am consistently amazed and inspired by The Knife and Fever Ray.
terry: at the moment i have really been listening to a lot of dub step and idm. also, fever ray is mind blowing, as well as the xx, bang gang, agent fresco(who is amazing!). i’m also into a lot of very old blues, and world music.
Katherine: I’ve been listening to a lot of Wagner and Amon Tobin recently, and am getting back into Black Tape For A Blue Girl. I love Gogol Bordello, and I am massively inspired by and in love with Beirut and Devotchka.
And of course I had to ask the band about their eye wear. I mean hello, what is this site called?
Autodrone's Angel & Katherine
GWG: Where did you get your frames from?
terry: mine are a cheap pair of sunglasses that i had re-fitted, but I’m the other guy in the group so I’m not sure that this would pertain to me.
Katherine: Mine are Micheal Kors, from Manhattan Eyeworks in NYC, but Angel is about to give me a pair of vintage black cat eye frames. I am very excited.
Angel: The ones I’m currently wearing are Tom Ford. I am obsessed with his huge frames right now.
GWG: How many pairs do you have?
terry: 1 if I’m lucky. i lose them constantly.
Katherine: One. I tend to wear each pair until I accidentally drunkenly destroy them.
Angel: Probably about 5 that I rotate and 3 or 4 that are retired. Then 3 pairs of prescription sunglasses. (And one pair of prescription goggles for swimming.)
GWG: How long have you been wearing glasses?
terry: Since like 6th grade
Katherine: Since 4th grade, though I did have a brief affair with contacts. It didn’t work out, though, and we don’t talk anymore.
Angel: Since 7th grade, I remember my first pair were red. I hated them.
GWG: Do you prefer to wear your glasses on stage?
terry: If I wore my glasses on stage, I would be blinded by shards of broken glass.
Angel: I can go either way, it depends on the show and what the rest of my outfit is doing.
Katherine: It depends on how good looking the audience is.
GWG: Who are some of your favorite four-eyed musicians?
terry: Jarvis Cocker, Buddy Holly (the o.g. of spex-appeal), of course Lisa Loeb
Katherine: I’ll second Terry on Buddy and Jarvis. I’ve gotten too many Lisa Loeb comparisons (appearance-wise, not music-wise) over the years to even go there. And I’ll add Rivers Cuomo and Yoko Ono.
Angel: I like finding out that musicians I like secretly wear glasses. Like Florence Welch and Madonna, it always makes me like them better. Also, Jarvis Cocker, Skrillex and Buddy Holly.
Check out the latest blog by Spex Club, where they throw together some awesome looks for Bridesmaids (my personal favorite has to be The Bad Girl Bridesmaid ).
You can check out their site here as well as visit them on Facebook and Twitter. Oh! And while you’re there you can also try their Spex Vision ~ which is a totally awesome try before you buy idea.
