The Stills are four NYC-adoptees of French-Canadian descent, peddling their danceable dark-pop to a crowd that's about to get much, much bigger. How big? Well, they've only released three songs officially at this point [the Rememberese EP], and already they've graced the cover of Fader and been mentioned as a band-to-watch in Rolling Stone. The Rememberese EP is so good, in fact, that I wanted to interview them, willingly placing my chips on the "Worth the Hype" bet:
Keith Daniels: Have you finished the album yet, or are you still working on it?
Dave Hamelin: Still working on it.
KD: You've said in other interviews that you don't want this album to sound '80s, or revivalist.
DH: A lot of the "the" bands these days, people write them off as being revisionist bands, and period things. We didn't want to do that. If we're just some period, revisionist, post-modern band, then we won't survive more than a week after our record comes out, and we don't want to do that.
KD: Do you think that that was a flaw with Rememberese? Do you think it was too nostalgic?
DH: Maybe. I like the songs on that EP. It's kind of nostalgic; that's why it's called Rememberese.
KD: Maybe the way you recorded it, or the arrangements.
DH: Maybe a bit, but that's where our heads were at the time we recorded it. So, I think I'm pretty happy with [it], but with the record we took a completely different approach.
KD: Now, "Still In Love Song" is two years old, or something, right?
DH: Yeah, actually, it's probably older. I wrote that tune in 2000, or something like that. Yeah, 2000. It's really, really old, and Tim's song on the EP, "Killer Bees", is really old too. All of them are like three years old on that record.
KD: So why did you feel like you needed to put out an EP before you put out a record?
DH: Because we actually have a lot of material. We've put eleven songs on the record, and we still have another eleven laying around that we didn't put on the record - on top of six new ones that we've written since we started recording. So the amount of material that we have is abundant, so we just want to get as much out as we can.
KD: What about some of the live favorites: "Turn On", "Love & Death"?
DH: Those are on the record, and those two are pretty old too. Those are like a year and a half old. They were both written before there was a band.
KD: Is it hard to put out of your head the influences that you grew up with, and try and start...
DH: Fresh? Singular thoughts... I don't think anybody does it. Yeah, you can put it out of your head, but I think you're always trying to reference something, you know what I mean? Even if it doesn't sound like it, I think a lot of people who write are always trying to reference something. If they're not necessarily referencing a certain sound they might be referencing an emotion, and I guess that's what I do a lot of times. Sometimes. I don't know if I do it all the time, I'm not sure.
KD: What is "Still In Love Song" about, really? I mean, obviously you're still in love with somebody. [laughs]
DH: Um... I dunno! Y'know, I guess that's about it.
KD: Well, what inspired that song?
DH: Somebody that I had a relationship with, and that person was... I dunno what to say. That person was just a person, and... I don't know how to describe it. To me, it's obvious. I think it's obvious to everybody.
KD: It sounded like someone who drove you nuts.
DH: Yeah, yeah, they kind of drove me nuts.
KD: One of you said, "You can't be a working Anglo band in Montreal". Does that mean a band that sings in English in Montreal?
DH: Yeah, because Montreal is in Quebec, right, and it's a French province. It's the only French place in Canada, and so there are hardly any English people in Montreal. There're probably thirty thousand English-speaking people in Montreal, which is not a lot when you consider all the English bands that have come out of there. Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, all kinds of stuff.
KD: Is English your first language?
DH: Yeah.
KD: What did you think about Quebec trying to secede from Canada?
DH: It was pretty fucked up. I was pretty young the last time they had a referendum -- I was fourteen. It was actually... my dad is French, my mother is English, and I guess I sort of understood why they wanted to separate from Canada at some point in time, but not in the 80s. I would've understood it more in the 60s, or 70s. The reasons that they want to separate now are a little different than they were then. I think back then it was more of a socialist revolution, and now it's a political thing. It's strictly upper-crust individuals wanting that. Just politicians.
KD: Do they have laws in Quebec similar to the ones they have in France, to where, for example, a store could not have a sign in English?
DH: Yeah, and that came about only ten or twelve years ago, so they just had to change all the signs.
KD: [laughs] That seems to be a peculiarity among French-speakers. Why do you think it is that they're so hardcore about it?
DH: Well, I can speak for Quebec, I can't speak for France, but I know in Quebec it's because they're surrounded by Anglos everywhere. [laughs] There are no French people around; it's all English people! And the American empire is closing in on everybody, on every culture, and they don't want to be a victim of the American empire.
KD: Growing up somewhere where you had such a strong local identity, did the U.S. surprise you when you actually started working there, and going there frequently?
DH: Well, I'd been going there my whole life, so it wasn't that different, and I'd been elsewhere in Canada a lot. A lot of French Quebecers go to Maine [laughs], and so I went there when I was a kid on vacation with my parents. A lot of Quebec is very sheltered, but you get out of it. It's not that big of a deal; because I speak English it's not really that different for me to go somewhere else. New York is actually a lot like Montreal.
KD: Very metropolitan.
DH: Yeah, very metropolitan. A lot of people drink espressos, [ed.-by which I think he means New Yorkers have adopted many aspects of French culture] it's that kind of place.
KD: What did you think of "Freedom Fries" and all that bullshit?
DH: Oh man, I don't even know where to start. [laughs] I don't understand. I don't understand. There're maniacs at the helm. The lunatics have taken over the asylum. Fuckin' Christ. Terry Hall... do you know that song? He was the singer in the Specials, and he had a weird band called the Colourfield after and they did a song called "The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum."
KD: Is it a little odd to see yourselves on the cover of Fader, and to be mentioned in magazines, when you haven't even put out a full album yet?
DH: I guess it's pretty weird... I dunno, what do you think?
KD: It would put a lot of pressure on me.
DH: [laughs] The pressure for the record is pretty hard, but we're actually OK with it. I don't think we would have went and done all these things if we weren't sure that our record would live up to that pressure, and more. Now everybody's expecting fuckin' Sgt. Pepper.
KD: Who do you have producing this one?
DH: A friend of ours.
KD: Someone who has worked with any other bands?
DH: Hardly, just basically with us. Just a buddy of ours.
KD: What's it going to be called?
DH: It's called Logic Will Break Your Heart. It's gonna be out on October 22nd, specifically.
KD: You guys have been adopted into the New York scene. I've been reading live reviews, and it seems like they really dig you guys.
DH: Yeah, more than anybody else, more than the jaded Montreal kids, or Canadians. Canadians think we're ex-pats now. We're traitors! New York is so nice... I can't believe it.
KD: A little intimidating at first?
DH: Yeah, sure, you think everybody's going to be a jerk to you; they're going to think we suck, and that's going to be the end of it, y'know? But everybody here has been really warm, and accepting, and encouraging. It's been really strange.
KD: Now this is New York City you're talking about, right? [laughs]
DH: Yeah, I know, it's so fucked up!
KD: You also played Southwest by Southwest. How was that?
DH: That was less warm and encouraging. [laughs] At one of the shows there we played with a band called Broken Social Scene, and they were so fucking good. They were so good. They went on before us and we were shittin' our pants to go on after them. They just took the house down. Have you heard their record?
KD: No, I've never heard of them!
DH: Oh, you should check it out. Broken Social Scene. They have a record that's out now called You Forgot It in People. It's really, really fucking good. It takes like four listens to get the gist of it and then it's the best thing you've ever heard. I didn't like it at first, and then after I saw them play I was like "Fuck, I gotta listen to it."
KD: So what did you do after they played?
DH: Well, we gave it all we had. And we met Alan McGee there! He signed Oasis. That was strange.
KD: Y'know, I haven't read a whole lot information on you guys.
DH: Yeah, there's not much information about us.
KD: What sort of things would you like to talk about? I want to make sure you get a good interview.
DH: I dunno, what kind of things do you think are important?
KD: Well, do you know what Suicidegirls is?
DH: My girlfriend was telling me what it was last night. It's like a goth, alt-girl run...
KD: Porn site. Yeah, you bet. So obviously, you wanna talk about sex, you wanna talk about porn...
DH: Uh... not really. We're not really a porn band. [laughs]
KD: [laughs] Well, for example, what age were you when you first saw a porn movie, or magazine?
DH: Actually, I was like maybe eight or nine. Our bass player had some at his place.
KD: You knew him when you were eight?
DH: I knew him when I was four. As the Stills we've been playing together less than a year, actually, but we've all played in bands together for many years. So it's really not new. These are not fresh faces. [laughs]
KD: So what was the magazine? And what did you think the first time you saw it?
DH: I can't remember. I was just like "Whoa, what the fuck is this?" I'd never seen a girl spread her legs before, so I was like "Whoa, what's that thing?" It was pretty weird, but then I found some at my place. Some old Penthouses.
KD: Your dad's stuff?
DH: Yeah, 70s, that kind of stuff. It was a lot different then. Girls didn't look like twelve year olds, y'know with the shaved... twats, so you felt less like a pedophile.
KD: Who were some of your favorite bands growing up?
DH: The Specials, the Clash, the Beatles, the Pixies, the Cure, the Smiths, Tom Waits, Nick Cave.
KD: So, aside from Tom Waits and Nick Cave, those are pretty much the perfect three-minute pop song kind of guys.
DH: Yeah, I try and do those.
KD: When you're driving in your car, and you hear a great pop song, the rest of the world disappears. What is it that does that?
DH: I don't know. I think it's scientific. It's like chemicals in your brain reacting; it's like serotonin, it has to do with vibrations. I have no clue. The Cure have a lot of songs like that, it's fucking insane.
KD: Yeah. A lot of people call them a goth band, but really they were a great pop band too.
DH: Yeah, I know. Originally that's what I wanted us to be, but we wanted to be a bit more experimental. That doesn't come across on the EP, but it might a bit more on the record. We wanted to be a bit patchier, but also a bit poppy.
KD: Did you get the new Cure Trilogy DVD?
DH: No. I'm not like a huge, huge Cure fan. I'm a huge fan of their singles, but not necessarily of their whole records. Some of their records are good, like The Head on the Door, but some of them I really don't like. They're really not a band that I listen to constantly. Not something like the Beatles where I get into the records, all their records, or Tom Waits, where you listen to whole records and there's cuts that you like. It's not the same deal.
KD: Have you ever met anybody who didn't like the Beatles?
DH: My girlfriend hates the Beatles.
KD: That's hard to comprehend.
DH: Yeah, I know. I think she's reacting against me. [laughs] I talk about them a lot. I'm just obsessed with how they changed history, and how their evolution/devolution was in juxtaposition with the world changing.
KD: What's your favorite Beatles album? I would guess it would be Revolver.
DH: Yes, it would be! Revolver or the White Album, and then Sgt. Pepper. And I like Magical Mystery Tour, it's fucking awesome.
KD: Yeah, it's got a couple of duds on there, but then are some really great songs.
DH: "I Am The Walrus"? "Strawberry Fields Forever"? Fucking Christ! That's heavy... So you're a porn site? Like, what kind of porn? What is it?
KD: Yeah, it's very softcore.
DH: Oh, is this the girls with the tattoos and stuff? That's the thing! Oh, fuck! I think I saw it! Somebody the other day was like "Check this out. This is cool." I think it was our bass player. Wow, that's crazy.
KD: Yeah, it's only girls. They just do what they feel like doing.
DH: It's cool that it's all girl run.
KD: Yeah, there are actually a few guys involved in running it, but it's very girl-centric.
DH: Wow, that's great. That's awesome.
KD: How many interviews have you done so far? And are you ready to do five a day?
DH: Yeah, sure, I guess I have no choice. Whatever. When I'm sick of it I'll say. We're allowed to say that.
KD: It's interesting that you're the drummer and yet you write some of the songs.
Do you play guitar as well?
DH: Yeah, I play guitar and piano, all that stuff.
KD: I can't really think of another parallel for that... [ed.-Phil Collins?]
DH: I know. It's weird. We didn't have a drummer, and the singer and I started the band. We didn't really have a band, just these songs that we had. We couldn't find a drummer, and I was like "Well, I know how to do it. So I'll just play drums for a bit and then we'll find a drummer." I'd played drums before, but at that point when I was writing songs I was learning everything else. I was learning guitar, and I was really into it, and singing, and piano, and doing all that kind of stuff. I'm way more into that than I am into the... drums, I guess.
KD: When you write a song, and then you have to let the guitar player do it, is it hard to let go?
DH: No, because I can't do it as well as he can. [laughs] Maybe three years ago I picked up the guitar and started writing songs. My guitar playing only serves me writing songs; I have no skills as a guitar player. Y'know? I suck.
KD: So I guess it would be kind of nice to hear someone with skills break it out.
DH: Yeah, exactly. I don't mean skills like John McLaughlin skills -- I mean just decent playing. [laughs] I'm not talking about being a virtuoso.
KD: Which isn't that important, anyway.
DH: No, no bands I like have that, so I don't care.
KD: In a way I think that being a virtuoso gets in the way of your creativity.
DH: Oh for sure. The most songs I wrote was when I didn't even know how to do bar chords, and just be struggling, and so into it.
KD: Let me see how much is left on my tape here. Oh, I totally got enough!
DH: I'm really happy. I thought it was a really good interview. Great change.
KD: Well, thank you very much!
DH: They always ask us the same questions, and they always ask us about fashion, and we don't even care about fashion. At all. We don't talk about clothes.
KD: Well, you guys are pretty skinny. [laughs]
DH: Well, we don't work on it. [laughs]
More on the Stills, including videos for "Still In Love Song" and "Killer Bees" at The Stills.net.
Keith Daniels: Have you finished the album yet, or are you still working on it?
Dave Hamelin: Still working on it.
KD: You've said in other interviews that you don't want this album to sound '80s, or revivalist.
DH: A lot of the "the" bands these days, people write them off as being revisionist bands, and period things. We didn't want to do that. If we're just some period, revisionist, post-modern band, then we won't survive more than a week after our record comes out, and we don't want to do that.
KD: Do you think that that was a flaw with Rememberese? Do you think it was too nostalgic?
DH: Maybe. I like the songs on that EP. It's kind of nostalgic; that's why it's called Rememberese.
KD: Maybe the way you recorded it, or the arrangements.
DH: Maybe a bit, but that's where our heads were at the time we recorded it. So, I think I'm pretty happy with [it], but with the record we took a completely different approach.
KD: Now, "Still In Love Song" is two years old, or something, right?
DH: Yeah, actually, it's probably older. I wrote that tune in 2000, or something like that. Yeah, 2000. It's really, really old, and Tim's song on the EP, "Killer Bees", is really old too. All of them are like three years old on that record.
KD: So why did you feel like you needed to put out an EP before you put out a record?
DH: Because we actually have a lot of material. We've put eleven songs on the record, and we still have another eleven laying around that we didn't put on the record - on top of six new ones that we've written since we started recording. So the amount of material that we have is abundant, so we just want to get as much out as we can.
KD: What about some of the live favorites: "Turn On", "Love & Death"?
DH: Those are on the record, and those two are pretty old too. Those are like a year and a half old. They were both written before there was a band.
KD: Is it hard to put out of your head the influences that you grew up with, and try and start...
DH: Fresh? Singular thoughts... I don't think anybody does it. Yeah, you can put it out of your head, but I think you're always trying to reference something, you know what I mean? Even if it doesn't sound like it, I think a lot of people who write are always trying to reference something. If they're not necessarily referencing a certain sound they might be referencing an emotion, and I guess that's what I do a lot of times. Sometimes. I don't know if I do it all the time, I'm not sure.
KD: What is "Still In Love Song" about, really? I mean, obviously you're still in love with somebody. [laughs]
DH: Um... I dunno! Y'know, I guess that's about it.
KD: Well, what inspired that song?
DH: Somebody that I had a relationship with, and that person was... I dunno what to say. That person was just a person, and... I don't know how to describe it. To me, it's obvious. I think it's obvious to everybody.
KD: It sounded like someone who drove you nuts.
DH: Yeah, yeah, they kind of drove me nuts.
KD: One of you said, "You can't be a working Anglo band in Montreal". Does that mean a band that sings in English in Montreal?
DH: Yeah, because Montreal is in Quebec, right, and it's a French province. It's the only French place in Canada, and so there are hardly any English people in Montreal. There're probably thirty thousand English-speaking people in Montreal, which is not a lot when you consider all the English bands that have come out of there. Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, all kinds of stuff.
KD: Is English your first language?
DH: Yeah.
KD: What did you think about Quebec trying to secede from Canada?
DH: It was pretty fucked up. I was pretty young the last time they had a referendum -- I was fourteen. It was actually... my dad is French, my mother is English, and I guess I sort of understood why they wanted to separate from Canada at some point in time, but not in the 80s. I would've understood it more in the 60s, or 70s. The reasons that they want to separate now are a little different than they were then. I think back then it was more of a socialist revolution, and now it's a political thing. It's strictly upper-crust individuals wanting that. Just politicians.
KD: Do they have laws in Quebec similar to the ones they have in France, to where, for example, a store could not have a sign in English?
DH: Yeah, and that came about only ten or twelve years ago, so they just had to change all the signs.
KD: [laughs] That seems to be a peculiarity among French-speakers. Why do you think it is that they're so hardcore about it?
DH: Well, I can speak for Quebec, I can't speak for France, but I know in Quebec it's because they're surrounded by Anglos everywhere. [laughs] There are no French people around; it's all English people! And the American empire is closing in on everybody, on every culture, and they don't want to be a victim of the American empire.
KD: Growing up somewhere where you had such a strong local identity, did the U.S. surprise you when you actually started working there, and going there frequently?
DH: Well, I'd been going there my whole life, so it wasn't that different, and I'd been elsewhere in Canada a lot. A lot of French Quebecers go to Maine [laughs], and so I went there when I was a kid on vacation with my parents. A lot of Quebec is very sheltered, but you get out of it. It's not that big of a deal; because I speak English it's not really that different for me to go somewhere else. New York is actually a lot like Montreal.
KD: Very metropolitan.
DH: Yeah, very metropolitan. A lot of people drink espressos, [ed.-by which I think he means New Yorkers have adopted many aspects of French culture] it's that kind of place.
KD: What did you think of "Freedom Fries" and all that bullshit?
DH: Oh man, I don't even know where to start. [laughs] I don't understand. I don't understand. There're maniacs at the helm. The lunatics have taken over the asylum. Fuckin' Christ. Terry Hall... do you know that song? He was the singer in the Specials, and he had a weird band called the Colourfield after and they did a song called "The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum."
KD: Is it a little odd to see yourselves on the cover of Fader, and to be mentioned in magazines, when you haven't even put out a full album yet?
DH: I guess it's pretty weird... I dunno, what do you think?
KD: It would put a lot of pressure on me.
DH: [laughs] The pressure for the record is pretty hard, but we're actually OK with it. I don't think we would have went and done all these things if we weren't sure that our record would live up to that pressure, and more. Now everybody's expecting fuckin' Sgt. Pepper.
KD: Who do you have producing this one?
DH: A friend of ours.
KD: Someone who has worked with any other bands?
DH: Hardly, just basically with us. Just a buddy of ours.
KD: What's it going to be called?
DH: It's called Logic Will Break Your Heart. It's gonna be out on October 22nd, specifically.
KD: You guys have been adopted into the New York scene. I've been reading live reviews, and it seems like they really dig you guys.
DH: Yeah, more than anybody else, more than the jaded Montreal kids, or Canadians. Canadians think we're ex-pats now. We're traitors! New York is so nice... I can't believe it.
KD: A little intimidating at first?
DH: Yeah, sure, you think everybody's going to be a jerk to you; they're going to think we suck, and that's going to be the end of it, y'know? But everybody here has been really warm, and accepting, and encouraging. It's been really strange.
KD: Now this is New York City you're talking about, right? [laughs]
DH: Yeah, I know, it's so fucked up!
KD: You also played Southwest by Southwest. How was that?
DH: That was less warm and encouraging. [laughs] At one of the shows there we played with a band called Broken Social Scene, and they were so fucking good. They were so good. They went on before us and we were shittin' our pants to go on after them. They just took the house down. Have you heard their record?
KD: No, I've never heard of them!
DH: Oh, you should check it out. Broken Social Scene. They have a record that's out now called You Forgot It in People. It's really, really fucking good. It takes like four listens to get the gist of it and then it's the best thing you've ever heard. I didn't like it at first, and then after I saw them play I was like "Fuck, I gotta listen to it."
KD: So what did you do after they played?
DH: Well, we gave it all we had. And we met Alan McGee there! He signed Oasis. That was strange.
KD: Y'know, I haven't read a whole lot information on you guys.
DH: Yeah, there's not much information about us.
KD: What sort of things would you like to talk about? I want to make sure you get a good interview.
DH: I dunno, what kind of things do you think are important?
KD: Well, do you know what Suicidegirls is?
DH: My girlfriend was telling me what it was last night. It's like a goth, alt-girl run...
KD: Porn site. Yeah, you bet. So obviously, you wanna talk about sex, you wanna talk about porn...
DH: Uh... not really. We're not really a porn band. [laughs]
KD: [laughs] Well, for example, what age were you when you first saw a porn movie, or magazine?
DH: Actually, I was like maybe eight or nine. Our bass player had some at his place.
KD: You knew him when you were eight?
DH: I knew him when I was four. As the Stills we've been playing together less than a year, actually, but we've all played in bands together for many years. So it's really not new. These are not fresh faces. [laughs]
KD: So what was the magazine? And what did you think the first time you saw it?
DH: I can't remember. I was just like "Whoa, what the fuck is this?" I'd never seen a girl spread her legs before, so I was like "Whoa, what's that thing?" It was pretty weird, but then I found some at my place. Some old Penthouses.
KD: Your dad's stuff?
DH: Yeah, 70s, that kind of stuff. It was a lot different then. Girls didn't look like twelve year olds, y'know with the shaved... twats, so you felt less like a pedophile.
KD: Who were some of your favorite bands growing up?
DH: The Specials, the Clash, the Beatles, the Pixies, the Cure, the Smiths, Tom Waits, Nick Cave.
KD: So, aside from Tom Waits and Nick Cave, those are pretty much the perfect three-minute pop song kind of guys.
DH: Yeah, I try and do those.
KD: When you're driving in your car, and you hear a great pop song, the rest of the world disappears. What is it that does that?
DH: I don't know. I think it's scientific. It's like chemicals in your brain reacting; it's like serotonin, it has to do with vibrations. I have no clue. The Cure have a lot of songs like that, it's fucking insane.
KD: Yeah. A lot of people call them a goth band, but really they were a great pop band too.
DH: Yeah, I know. Originally that's what I wanted us to be, but we wanted to be a bit more experimental. That doesn't come across on the EP, but it might a bit more on the record. We wanted to be a bit patchier, but also a bit poppy.
KD: Did you get the new Cure Trilogy DVD?
DH: No. I'm not like a huge, huge Cure fan. I'm a huge fan of their singles, but not necessarily of their whole records. Some of their records are good, like The Head on the Door, but some of them I really don't like. They're really not a band that I listen to constantly. Not something like the Beatles where I get into the records, all their records, or Tom Waits, where you listen to whole records and there's cuts that you like. It's not the same deal.
KD: Have you ever met anybody who didn't like the Beatles?
DH: My girlfriend hates the Beatles.
KD: That's hard to comprehend.
DH: Yeah, I know. I think she's reacting against me. [laughs] I talk about them a lot. I'm just obsessed with how they changed history, and how their evolution/devolution was in juxtaposition with the world changing.
KD: What's your favorite Beatles album? I would guess it would be Revolver.
DH: Yes, it would be! Revolver or the White Album, and then Sgt. Pepper. And I like Magical Mystery Tour, it's fucking awesome.
KD: Yeah, it's got a couple of duds on there, but then are some really great songs.
DH: "I Am The Walrus"? "Strawberry Fields Forever"? Fucking Christ! That's heavy... So you're a porn site? Like, what kind of porn? What is it?
KD: Yeah, it's very softcore.
DH: Oh, is this the girls with the tattoos and stuff? That's the thing! Oh, fuck! I think I saw it! Somebody the other day was like "Check this out. This is cool." I think it was our bass player. Wow, that's crazy.
KD: Yeah, it's only girls. They just do what they feel like doing.
DH: It's cool that it's all girl run.
KD: Yeah, there are actually a few guys involved in running it, but it's very girl-centric.
DH: Wow, that's great. That's awesome.
KD: How many interviews have you done so far? And are you ready to do five a day?
DH: Yeah, sure, I guess I have no choice. Whatever. When I'm sick of it I'll say. We're allowed to say that.
KD: It's interesting that you're the drummer and yet you write some of the songs.
Do you play guitar as well?
DH: Yeah, I play guitar and piano, all that stuff.
KD: I can't really think of another parallel for that... [ed.-Phil Collins?]
DH: I know. It's weird. We didn't have a drummer, and the singer and I started the band. We didn't really have a band, just these songs that we had. We couldn't find a drummer, and I was like "Well, I know how to do it. So I'll just play drums for a bit and then we'll find a drummer." I'd played drums before, but at that point when I was writing songs I was learning everything else. I was learning guitar, and I was really into it, and singing, and piano, and doing all that kind of stuff. I'm way more into that than I am into the... drums, I guess.
KD: When you write a song, and then you have to let the guitar player do it, is it hard to let go?
DH: No, because I can't do it as well as he can. [laughs] Maybe three years ago I picked up the guitar and started writing songs. My guitar playing only serves me writing songs; I have no skills as a guitar player. Y'know? I suck.
KD: So I guess it would be kind of nice to hear someone with skills break it out.
DH: Yeah, exactly. I don't mean skills like John McLaughlin skills -- I mean just decent playing. [laughs] I'm not talking about being a virtuoso.
KD: Which isn't that important, anyway.
DH: No, no bands I like have that, so I don't care.
KD: In a way I think that being a virtuoso gets in the way of your creativity.
DH: Oh for sure. The most songs I wrote was when I didn't even know how to do bar chords, and just be struggling, and so into it.
KD: Let me see how much is left on my tape here. Oh, I totally got enough!
DH: I'm really happy. I thought it was a really good interview. Great change.
KD: Well, thank you very much!
DH: They always ask us the same questions, and they always ask us about fashion, and we don't even care about fashion. At all. We don't talk about clothes.
KD: Well, you guys are pretty skinny. [laughs]
DH: Well, we don't work on it. [laughs]
More on the Stills, including videos for "Still In Love Song" and "Killer Bees" at The Stills.net.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
anderswolleck:
they just got profiled in Rolling Stone
raechellyn:
i just saw them last night and thought they were really great live. they did a pretty long set. i am glad i braved a big storm for it.