They're a three-piece Brooklyn-based, all-keyboard, all-girl band that will have the keys to your heart in no time. Fused caught up with Heather, Annie and Erica to talk about how it all started.
How did the three of you get together?
Heather: I threw sticks at people in the street, and happened to hit both of them - or whatever Annie says.
Annie: I got to be friends with Erika and she brought up the idea of us playing music together. It sounded like my dream come true and it was.
Erica: Heather hit me with a stick. We've had a love-hate relationship ever since.
Did it take a while to develop your sound or did it come quite naturally?
E: Writing songs and playing has always come very naturally, but I didn't realize we had developed a sound until we completed our album. We've been developing it ever since.
Your album is called 'Verses of Comfort, Assurance and Salvation', how do you go about comforting, assuring and saving?
H: I assure, Erika comforts and Annie saves.
A: I comfort and assure myself daily and really work on saving everything I can at all times.
What inspires most of your song writing?
E and H: Boys. (Sigh)
A: Gosh. I guess it's personal relationships, between friends and boys and dancing. Not with each other, on their own.
Was it intentional to all play keyboards or did you just happen to?
H: It was intentional enough.
A: Definitely intentional.
E: Yes, I guess you can say it started as a concept band. Keyboards for all!
Have you ever committed a fashion crime?
H: I'm committing about five right now.
A: There's no such thing if you can rock it.
E: I've been told to stop dressing like I'm 14.
Do you find it an advantage to be an all-girl band?
H: If there are advantages to being in an all-girl band we certainly don't exercise them.
A: Not really. As long as you are in a band with nice people, it doesn't matter. Except for the part about talking about clothes.
E: Band mates double as fashion stylists. Lots of open communication is plus.
The music scene in Brooklyn has been talked about for a few years now, is it an exciting place to be?
H: It’s non-stop excitement, like a carnival, or more specifically, like being on the Gravitron at a carnival and finally being pinned against the wall enough to turn upside down.
A: I like it. I wouldn't say I am excited all the time by the scene, especially since I spend most of my time learning html code and reading about cooking, but whenever I am exposed to a great band, which happens quite frequently, it really inspires me.
E: I heart Brooklyn.
What was it like recording the album in a converted shower?
A: Cozy. It was covered in quilts.
Your song, ‘Through The Backyards Of Our Neighbours’, talks about sneaking out of the house 'through the windows of our bedroom', is it an autobiographical tale?
H: Yes, it chronicles a naughty day in the life of my childhood.
What could you not live without?
H: Erika and Annie. I think it scares them actually. Oh, and my inhaler.
A: Water.
E: Sunshine and a bit of sleep.
Which TV programmes do you always switch off?
H: Fox news.
A: About all of them except New York Noise and anything on PBS. I am also fascinated by the Home Shopping Network in a ‘stare-at-a-car-accident’ sort of way.
E: Anything violent.
What are you like after six beers?
H: I can't make it up to six beers. But if I did somewhere between dead and bloated.
A: I'm either dancing or sleeping.
E: I usually stop after three, at which point I'm dancing by myself in an empty room.
When was the last time you were star struck?
H: David Byrne came to our show and I got all weepy from nerves. It was embarrassing.
E: We saw Claire Danes before our show once. I used to try to dress like her when she was on My So Called Life.
A: I saw Gilbert Gottfried once on the sidewalk. That was cool.
‘Verses of Comfort, Assurance and Salvation’ is out now on Moshi Moshi Records.