Where in New England did you grow up? What do you remember most about your childhood?
I grew up in the fishing town called Gloucester. It’s a sleepy town north of Boston on Cape Ann. I spent a lot of my time by the ocean. It’s definitely one thing I miss out here in the Midwest.
What instruments did you learn as a kid?
I grew up playing the piano. My family moved into a new house when I was just starting grade school and when we moved in, the previous owners had left their upright piano. My parents started having me take lessons. I learned the standard regiment of classical faire and continued taking lessons all the way through high school. My playing has gone downhill since then without the discipline of steady lessons.
What was your first exposure to music ? Did you parents play records in the house?
Most of my earliest exposure to music came from my piano playing but I also credit a lot of my sensibilities from playing lots of video games. I still jump for joy every time I hear the “Excitebike” theme. My parents had a great collection of old records from when they were growing up, but they hardly ever played them. The only memory I have of listening to their record collection was when they sat me down one day and played “Revolver” for me. I remember being quite awestruck; staring at the record jacket of The Beatles all in sunglasses..
First record you remember buying with your own money?
I was somewhat of a late bloomer when it came to pop music. I had some cassettes of popular stuff (Green Day, Nirvana) that my parents bought me, but the first album I remember consciously buying for myself was “The White Album” in 8th grade. A friend of mine had let me borrow his copy, saying something like, “I think you’ll like this.” I freaked when I heard it and was instantly hooked. I spent most of my high school and middle school days from then on listening to Beatles CDs every night before going to sleep.
First concert ever?
2001: Dido with opening act Travis.
Where did you go to high school? College? Good or bad experiences in your life?
I like to think I had quite amicable experiences in both college and high school. My high school was fairly small. I was friendly with most people in the context of school, but I mostly kept to myself outside of school because I wasn’t really into the party scene. My college experience was much different. I went to a progressive school in Southern California (a far cry from New England in itself!) where all my fellow students and I designed our own majors and lived together in a communal kind of way. Getting away from the world I grew up in really helped me find out who the real me was and allowed me to jettison the parts of myself I didn’t really care for anymore.
When did you form fireflies? Did you have a "band" in mind for it?
I was very fortunate to be around a lot of talented musicians in college…and it allowed me to explore playing music for myself..rather than just for my lessons. At first, I called my project “The Next Life” after the Suede song of same name..but as I started to discover my “style,” the dramatic connotations of that name didn’t seem to fit. I picked the name fireflies after a combination of The Magnetic Fields’ 100,000 Fireflies and The Cat’s Miaow’s “Firefly.”
What was the first fireflies song you wrote?
While it wasn’t the first song I ever wrote, the first one that I would consider to be ‘fireflies’ was what ended up turning into “The Dunes” on Goodnight Stars Goodnight Moon…though the original had completely different lyrics about a girl I had a crush on at my school. It clocked in around 5:00 and had a borderline “country” beat…
How has the response been to GOOD NIGHT STARS, GOODNIGHT MOON? How did you originally hook up with the labels, Lavender and Music is my Girlfriend?
The whole idea of my having an album out in the world is still very strange to me. From what I have read, it seems to have been received fairly well for the most part. I have been extremely flattered by the things I have read. I originally was contacted by Jyrki of MIMG back in the summer of ’06 about doing a possible 7”. It sort of evolved from there and Lavender got involved through Andreas (of Celestial, who put out material on MIMG) and it turned into doing a whole album.
Were the songs on the SNOWSTORM ep the same recording session as the full-length?
Actually, most of Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Moon was finished by early ’07. The songs were originally part of my masters thesis project..which happened in May of ’07. The Snowstorm stuff is much more recent. Some of the ideas had been around, but it was mostly recorded during the Autumn of ’07.
Will you be playing out live?
No I really haven’t really ever played much live. I much prefer crafting things in my little bedroom studio to the pressures of playing in front of people. I’d think it might be rather boring for the audience anyway!
Top 5 band dream bill?
I think the most inconceivable concert I can think of would be as follows: The Velvet Underground is the backing band for sets by Nick Drake, Françoise Hardy and Björk and then the VU plays a set of their own material at the end.
Top 10 desert island discs?
I hope I would be able to leave and depart the album from time to time to trade, because it changes all the time, but here’s where it stands at this moment. In no particular order:
Nick Drake – Brighter Layter
Björk – Vespertine
The Beatles – Help!
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground
Françoise Hardy – Comment Te Dire Adieu
Beethovan - Piano Sonatas: “Pathetique,” “Moonlight” and Für Elise
Belle and Sebastian – Tigermilk
The Kinks – The Village Green Preservation Society
John Cale – Paris 1919
The Beach Boys – Today!
What's next for the band? A new record?
Well, I’m always working on new songs and trying to get closer to being able to create the sound that I hear in my head. I’d love to be able to have something new out for the fall of ’08. I also recently upgraded my recording equipment arsenal, so I’m hoping the next set of songs will be even better! .
Anything you'd like to send with? Closing comments? Words of wisdom?
Only you can prevent forest fires.
