So how did everyone first get into the underground-pop style of music, especially being in New Jersey, which I feel like isn't necessarily a hub for that as opposed to somewhere like Olympia or the UK, and how did those discoveries shape the music you make today?
Cynthia: I originally got into 1970s all-girl group rock bands and then gravitated towards shoegaze, and then found The Pastels on YouTube. So that introduced me to twee/indie.
Stephen: Yeah, I guess the internet for sure. But we also have a scene in the basements of New Brunswick and Rutgers that was pretty strong with some bands coming through. I met Expert Alterations, which was a Slumberland band that had Paul from The Smashing Times in it and Alan from Le Pain. So yeah, being at Rutgers and having some bands roll through… Then I lived in the city like every red-blooded New Jerseyan and moved to Brooklyn for a little bit and moved to Manhattan for a little bit and caught a lot of really good shows back in the day from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and people like that…I guess [Gavin and Madison are] not from New Jersey. Well, [Madison’s] not.
Madison: I’m from California and here…I grew up buying CDs at Tower Records every Friday with my mom. I heard a lot of really good pop music on TV and in films I loved and those were really influential on me and I would look up the lyrics to the songs on Google to find out what they were and then I would go buy them at Tower Records and I started with Belle and Sebastian and as I've gotten older I've just kind of rolled back and back and back on what I listened to and what they were inspired by, like 60s and 70s girly pop and soul. Really good pop songs are timeless.
Gavin: I did not grow up in New Jersey either but I did grow up in Omaha, Nebraska and I had access to the internet and I was over-exposed to a million things at once and then reverse engineered some understanding of how those things were inner-related and what was influenced by what. But I would say hearing “Turn, Turn, Turn” in a documentary about the 60s when I was seven years old probably changed my life. But I can't say much otherwise. My dad played The Apples in Stereo a lot when I was a kid too...
Stephen: But even the reverse engineering thing– I like bands like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart because they would do interviews and talk about Orange Juice or talk about Felt–
Madison: That's how I got into music! I would just follow back the bands that I loved and read interviews and I would search for them to find out what they loved and then I would listen to that and then it was this spiral…
Stephen: –And when you like Slumberland or especially K Records, that stuff's pretty well documented, so it's really cool to go back and find sweet photos of The Softies or influential videos of Beat Happening…So yeah again having the reverse engineering with the internet.
What has your experience been having grown up with all these bands and then starting to actually play with them like Heavenly or The Softies?
Cynthia: I think I died. I'm not completely sure that I'm actually alive right now. I'm living in a dream.
Stephen: I agree that it's a surreal feeling... I think that Cynthia and I both find it hard to appreciate and take in sometimes because it is really special. If you told us a few years ago that we'd be doing this stuff, we almost wouldn't believe you. We would have sold our souls for this stuff. It does feel like the Slumberland connection opened up so much for us. It just feels like family, especially now being on Amelia [Fletcher]'s record label–they just take care of us so much and in a way that again, like Cynthia said, it feels like you died sometimes.
Madison: It's actually hard to process because these are bands I've looked up to my whole life basically, especially the female fronted bands, playing with Heavenly was crazy. Well I guess I played with my own band (Trinket). But these are crazy moments that are impossible to process. And then joining Lightheaded…Lightheaded is music that I love and the fact that it gets put in this world with other bands that I've looked up to my whole life is actually so surreal.
How did you two [Gavin and Madison] end up joining the band?
Madison: We met on stage at the Sharp Pins show! Stephen and Cynthia were like, “we have this new drummer, this guy Gavin. He's going to be doing some shows with us here and there.” I was like, “oh, cool,” and we never got to rehearse together before the show. We got up on stage and the show, the guitars were set up and I turned around and we were like, “Hey I'm Madison. Hey I'm Gavin.” and then we just played the whole set. That's legitimately how we met. It was awesome.
Oh wait, I was at that show! That’s when we all met too.
Gavin: In retrospect, I feel pretty self-conscious about the way that I played that set. I had played one show with you guys prior and it was at that brewery…
Stephen: Who was there again?
Gavin: Susan Sarandon! I got up on stage and Susan Sarandon was like, nice, good job Gavin. I was already really overwhelmed, so I'm just proud that I didn't faint, but anyway...
Could you talk a little bit about the new record and the process behind it? Was there anything you learned or any experiences you’re taking with you?
Stephen: Starting out, Cynthia and I really did everything ourselves–the recording, the writing… This was the first time that we really opened up with including our friends and other people. It's definitely our most collaborative set of songs and material so far. We had a lot of help from Jo and Adam from Starcleaner Reunion and again, Madison from Trinket. We also recorded it with people who were very inspirational to us like Gary from The Ladybug Transistor and Alicia from The Aislers Set. So again, just the collaboration, the inspiration, having friends and idols in such close proximity… I think that it's our most lively recording. It’s the most excited we sound on a record so far.
Madison: Wait, I recorded vocals for two songs? One song? Two songs… And I did them in my bedroom! We had just gotten back from tour and I was really sick because I got this evil cold and I recorded the background vocals for two of the songs and Jo did the other two. Cynthia had written all the parts out on keyboard and I did them from home.
Stephen: You also wrote the guitar solo for “The View From Your Room,” which I thought really made that song and wrapped it up. Madison's contributions are all over the record.
Around here we got sidetracked and Cynthia beat me at chess and the check was being paid and the fries were running out and Madison saw the ghost of Frank Sinatra roaming down MacDougal St.
