USの凄く良質なインディーポップロックを聴かせてくれるブルックリンのMeneguarのインタビューです。ギターとかメロディーとか哀愁漂いまくりだけど、どこかキラキラしててほんとに素敵です。もうこういう生真面目なバンドは現在ではとても貴重だと思います。また新譜出すようなので、興味持った方は是非聴いてみてください。半ば諦め気味ですが、絶賛翻訳家さん募集です。
Meneguar myspace
Q1:How did the band start?Please introduce the band.
Jarvis (vocals. gtr) and Xtian (whammy bar) had met as Freshmen at
Suny Purchase. When I (Justin - bass) started to play music with them
they had already been playing in various bands together for about 2
years. I joined a band, originally started by Jarvis in high school
called "Sheryls Magnetic Aura". I had really liked the band in
college. One day Jarvis stopped me walking on campus and asked me If
I could play Keyboards at all. The truth is I wasn't and am still not
a very good keyboard player but I guess it all worked out either way.
SMA always had a revolving cast from the time I joined and I suppose
if you spoke to Jarvis, that's the way it always was. Anyway after
three different bass players and two drummers (Jeremy being the 2nd
drummer of the band during my time with them. The third drummer over
the whole span of things) There was a time after we had all graduated
or left College when only Jeremy and Jarvis would get together to play
music. Jeremy lived with a bunch of people in an old studio/practice
space in Portchester, NY. Jarvis lived about 20 minutes in Hawthorne,
NY. Xtian in Danbury, CT and I was living on couches in Bklyn. Soon
enough none of us could stay away so we started to make trips up to
Portchester which is about an hour train ride form Brooklyn and I
think about an hour form Danbury by car. None of this seemed too
permanent until we were asked to do a spit 7 inch with another band
that we were friends with and fans of. This 7 inch led to a small tour
which got us very motivated to write more Material. After a while
without any line up changes and some relocating we decided we needed
and deserved and clean slate b/c what were were doing at that time was
not what we were doing when we started. We changed our name and
recorded a demo in our practice space on my pro-tools rig (100 copies
on Fuck it tapes). This led to the magic bullet release, so on and so
forth.
Q2:Is there a band with a good relations?What kind of band are you in your town?
We all live in a Rear Tenement in Bushwick, Brooklyn. We have a cheap
drum set in the living room A recording ring in my room on the other
side of the wall. This is "Rear house studio". We also watch movies
and eat our meals in this room. Upstairs where
Jarvis, Xtian, Jeremy and our friend Meredith or who ever is
subletting her room live is were Jeremy runs Fuck it tapes and
woodsist records. There are a lot of boxes and empty sierra Nevada
pale ale bottles lining the hallway. We practice at our Friend
Marks studio (Emadee studios). .
As far as telling you about what kind of band we are in our town or
neighborhood it's hard to say. There are a lot of bands and young
people where we live. It seems every one plays in a band. We stick to
playing shows in lofts, dive bars Polish dance clubs , BBQ's and
festivals. We stay away from clubs that ask you to "Build you fan
base" before you can play on a certain night. We are not interested
in that sort of thing. We would never go see a show at a place like
that, we don't want to play them. I feel very sorry for the bands in
New York that gave those clubs and people the power and control that
they have. It's not very punk. The truth is that we don't make the
music we make and do what we do for places like that to tell us where
and when we can play and who or what age can go see it. I don't
think it's fair to be Ranked by some one who is not in your position
and doesn't know anything about you personally or what your coming
from as far as your standards of this topic. There really aren't any
bands that sound like us in our town. we play with Friends and other
bands we really like for the most part. this is a broad question so I
will leave it at that.
Q3:The origin of band name?
The Name "Meneguar" comes from a time when we were on tour as SMA and
some one pronounced that name wrong. We came up with a spelling for
the mispronunciation and that's that. Perhaps were are trying to
create history by having this name that's only associated with one thing.
Q4:what did you influence? is it the same for all members, are there favourite bands, etc?
All the memebers of Meneguar have extremely independent music taste.
There is a lot of common area in our music taste but we are all
obviously individuals and it shows in our music taste. If I named all
the music that each of us listened to it would be too long of a list
for you to print so that's all I'll say. I also think it doesn't
matter what we listen to. We are not making an attempt to re-create
the music that influences us. . We are just doing what we want to do.
we play what we like. Usually if we see our songs start drifting
toward an influence we go back and change it all. We find this to be a
good thing but it is very time consuming and takes a lot of patience.
this is something we are still working on.
Q5:I know you release the record from magic bullet at first.
how do you release the records from troubleman unlimited(i love this label very much.)??
Putting the record out on Troubleman just knocked
down a lot of the walls surrounding us and got the record to more
people. It was also re-mixed and re-mastered. As far as which one is
better I wish we could put out a third release that is a medium BTW the
two but that will not happen.
Q6:What do you sing about?
I never ask Jarvis what he writes the lyrics about, and I'm not sure
if I understand exactly what he's ever saying but I can consistently
relate to the lyrics as he sings them. I think most of them are about
what a weird or interesting place this world really is and he just
comments on some of these things from his perspective. You can listen
to the record or read the lyrics and interpret them how ever you would
like.
Q7:what is expressed most through your gigs? In what ways do you think your gigs and recordings differ?
Shows are very different from recordings. Even recording done at home
without high expectations are very different than recording done in
the studio for "The Record". The shows are in places full of people.
There is energy we give off there is energy the crowd returns. The
Audience can really put a show over the top. Also when your playing a
show there is no worrying if the vocals are too loud or
if there mistakes b/c you play it and that's it. All that stuff is out
of you hands. It's for
everyone to have fun. It's not just about how perfect we play our
parts, it's about over all feel and energy.
Q8:What did you buy the records at first time?(your first time records)
Justin (bass, Vocals) -
Roxette - "look sharp"
Jeremy - (drums)
Guns and Roses - "Appetite for destruction"
Xtian (whammy bar guitar, Vocals)
Huey Lewis and the News - "Sports"
Jarvis (vocals. guitar)
Motley Crew - "Too Fast for love"
Q9: What is a recent favorite?
Justin
New Kids on the Block - "Hangin tough"
Jeremy
Steven J. Taveniere- "Moments with a heart"
Xtian
Freschard "Click Click"
Jarvis
Wizz kid and Earl-"He'd wizz"
Q11: Please give the message to Japan.
Do what you want, but be nice!