iNTERViEWED
BY BRiAN LUSH
The amped up electric guitar sound of the Chicago-based trio
THE LOCALS was harder to come by than can be imagined. Ten years ago,
the band
got its start as an acoustic duo featuring singer/guitarist YVONNE DOLL
and
bassist CHRISTY NUNES. In the year 2006, DOLL and NUNES chose to move
away from
their coffeehouse acoustic approach and hired drummer KIRK SNEDEKER to
help forge
a harder, rock-edged sound in the tradition of THE PIXIES or THE WHIGS.
For the bands latest release – the EP ‘SALT’
– THE LOCALS have cranked up the amps and have added a few synth
touches. While
style changes have earned the band new fans at every turn in their
development,
on thing has remained constant – singer/songwriter YVONNE DOLL’s
penchant for
penning songs that are clever both lyrically and musically. With NUNES
and
SNEDEKER giving DOLL’s songs the perfect launch pad from which to take
off from
and production from STEVEN GILLIS (drummer for FILTER), The EP ‘SALT’
will have
listeners craving more than four exceptionally crafted songs.
ROCKWIRED
spoke with YVONNE DOLL, CHRISTY NUNES and KIRK
SNEDEKER of THE LOCALS over the phone. Here is how it went.
How
do you feel about
the CD now that it’s out there for people to hear?
YVONNE: It’s
actually not yet out there for people to hear just yet. It’s coming out
on
April 30th but we are going to be releasing
advance copies. I feel
good about it. We feel great about it. It’s definitely a little bit of
a
departure for us. We’ve used different instrumentation that we don’t
normally
use.
What do you think is
different this time around?
YVONNE: We used a
lot of synthesizers for this project and we don’t normally do that. I
think
that the arrangements are a little more lush. We’re a three piece band
so when
we play we’re really direct and Spartan. In recording this album, we
decided to
add a little more flavor to it.
Describe how music
began for you?
YVONNE: My mom
was a music teacher so I grew up with that. I had music around the
house from
the time that I was a little kid. I would have to say that my love for
music
came from her. I started on piano and in high school I picked up
saxophone and
was always singing.
In forging some sort
of musical identity, what artists spoke to you?
YVONNE: I used to
be into more acoustic stuff. I used to really dig THE INDIGO GIRLS and
then my
tastes moved into some more of the eighties stuff like XTC, DEPECHE
MODE, LOVE
AND ROCKETS and ELVIS COSTELLO. In recent years, I’ve really taken to
harder,
alternative music like NINE INCH NAILS and PJ HARVEY. The more modern
stuff
that I’m really liking right now are things like THE KAISER CHIEFS and
THE
WHIGS – real straightforward guitar-type bands. I really love THE YEAH
YEAH
YEAHS and THE KILLERS.
Talk about the
genesis of this band. How did it begin?
YVONNE: I was
solo for a couple of years then I was putting out my first CD and got a
couple
of players together to play with me on it. CHRISTY – the bass player –
was one
of those people. I liked it so much that I wanted to get something
together
permanently, so it started off that way. CHRISTY and I have been
leading this
band for like the last ten years. That was how it started. We were
really
acoustic for the first few years and when people left the band to do
other
things, we decided that we wanted to do something a little harder so we
started
over again about three or four years ago.
How
have people
reacted to the shift in the band’s sound?
YVONNE: It’s
interesting. The real, hardcore local fans have really stayed with us
and
enjoyed the change. I think for some people, it might not have been
what they
were used to and maybe didn’t care for that type of music but we really
didn’t
lose any fans as much as we had gained a new audience. There are still
people
that I think have a lot of affection for the earlier music but all of
the
hardcore fans really stayed with us.
Explain the creative
process. How does that work in this band?
YVONNE: It varies
from song to song. I have a little recorder that I carry with me
everywhere
that I go and I’ll sing into it and play some guitar to it and I’ll
form the
song after that or sometimes it’ll start with a bass riff. I tend to
bring stuff
to the band and they help me to flesh it out.
Talk about your band mates
and what you think each of them brings to the table musically and
personality-wise that makes it work?
YVONNE: They
suck! They’re so bad!
That’s horrible!
YVONNE: They’re
mean and hateful – just kidding! CHRISTY NUNES is the bass player and
KIRK
SNEDEKER is the drummer. CHRISTY’s style is very melodic and I think
it’s a
nice compliment to my guitar style. Personality-wise she’s very smart
and
down-to-earth and super-funny which is cool because I can be a little
distractible.
She’s really good with the business end of things as well. She’s always
the one
collecting the money at the clubs because I would just be ‘Well, y’know…’.
You’d be collecting
IOU’s.
YVONNE: Yes.
She’s very good with the business. KIRK brings all of the man parts,
which you’ve
got to have. He’s just a really diverse drummer and can pretty much
play
anything which makes it really, really easy for us. We have a similar
sensibility because we all have an affection for eighties new wave.
KIRK is
also very funny. We all get along very well. It’s hard to get through
rehearsals because we go off on silly things. We laugh a lot.
I guess the same
question goes to you CHRISTY. What do you think each of your band mates
brings
to the project?
CHRISTY: I will
agree with a lot of the things that YVONNE said about KIRK. He’s the
silly one
with the man parts. In being a bass player, it is a pleasure to play
with a
drummer of his caliber and style. I think one of the cool things about
KIRK is
that he can really play the drums but he’s not the kind of guy that
overplays
just to show that he can play the drums. When he chooses a fill or a
beat it’s
always done in the best interest of the song and the style and what
it’s
calling for as opposed to over playing. YVONNE is ultimately creative.
She
brings in these sketches of songs and lets us run with it. She’s really
creative and brings great music and is open to surrendering it to us
and
letting us run with it and develop it into whatever it needs to be
which is
something that most songwriters don’t do. That is why I think it works
with the
three of us.
How did music begin
for you?
CHRISTY: I
actually started playing guitar when I was five years old. It was
something
that my dad taught me. We would sit there and play little songs
together on our
guitars and it was a lot of fun. As I got older, I started playing in
bands. My
mom always says that if I didn’t get in trouble so much I never
would’ve learned
to play anything because I spent so much time in my room on restriction
that I
actually learned how to play guitar and eventually bass. I would sit in
my room
at all hours and blare music and try to pick out the notes. I
eventually
switched over to bass and loved it. I started playing bass because the
band
that I was in couldn’t find a decent bass player so I bought a bass and
started
to practice and after a while I liked it better than the guitar.
Is it fair to say
that YVONNE is the primary songwriter and whatever idea she comes up
with you
guys simply fill in the blanks.
CHRISTY: Definitely.
What do you think is
different this time around compared to previous releases?
CHRISTY: This is
the second time that we’ve worked with STEVEN GILLIS as a producer. He
used to
be the drummer for the band FILTER. As a producer, he’s got a different
way of
going about it than anyone else that we’ve worked with. He’s very
fluid. He’ll
listen to the song and then come up with ideas. The first time we
worked
together we didn’t know each other al that well. It was difficult to
get used
to the process but now this is our second recording with him. We go in
and
present these songs to him and we sit back and look at the arrangements
as a
group. We spend a lot of time looking at the structure of the song and
he’s
really good at being that objective fourth member of the band who just
steps
back and says ‘This is the real hook
here! This part is really catchy! We can make more of this!’
I think the
process helped influence and change the direction of this album and
having that
objective person that can stand back and look at it and point things
out that
you don’t see when you are too close to it made a big difference. The
fact that
he is such an accomplished musician in his own right has made it easy
for us to
trust his guidance. Like YVONNE said, we’ve done a lot more keyboard,
piano and
synthesizers on this album than in the past. It’s just been a growth
album for
us.
KIRK, describe
working with YVONNE and CHRISTY.
KIRK: They are
sincerely two of the most wonderful people that I’ve ever met. I really
lucked
out. I came to Chicago
a few years ago and before
that I played drums in a wedding band in Connecticut
for a very long time. When I moved here, I decided that I would find a
band
that I really enjoyed playing with. Not only did I find that. I also
found two
great friends as well. They’re wonderful to be with and to play with.
How long did it take
to record this EP?
KIRK: It took a
couple of months to record it and then we spent another month going
through
mixes and adding other additional parts as needed. It was a very smooth
process. STEVE did a great job.
Describe working with
STEVE GILLIS.
KIRK: Everyone
seems to think that drummers don’t have great ears but he’s got a great
set of
ears. He recognizes the melodies and the hooks of songs and he’s not
afraid to
come out and say it but at the same time he’s very respectful of the
band’s
ideas. When he actually has an idea for the band he’ll come over and be
very
respectful and say ‘Hey! I love this but
can we try it this way?’ He was very easy to work with.
How did music begin
for you?
KIRK: I was eight
years old and I saw KISS ALIVE – the record – at the store and I bought
it with
my allowance. The drummer was PETER CRISS. On the cover he was painted as a cat and I
happened to love cats
back then. I wanted to emulate him and found that it was something that
I
wanted to do. And I’m still playing.
How have audiences
responded to the band live?
KIRK: Live shows
have been going great I think. We’ve been playing at better and better
clubs
with better sound. Sometimes we’ll play at places where we don’t know a
lot of
people and the reception is always great.
On the album, you
guys are utilizing synthesizers and keyboards. How are you able to add
that
component onto a stage seeing as how it’s just the three of you?
KIRK: We’re
actually going to experiment with running all of the additional tracks
–believe
it or not – off of our iphones. We haven’t done that yet. We’re going
to
experiment and see how it goes.
What would you like a
person to come away with after they’ve heard this latest album?
KIRK: I think I’d
like for them to come away with a new heavy rotation on their ipod. I
think
these songs are extremely well crafted and well produced and it’s
definitely a
departure from what the band has done before but not so much that it’s
unfamiliar. I think people are really going to enjoy this. I’m proud of
it and
I’m proud of the girls.
With that being said,
what songs off of the EP resonate for you the most and why?
KIRK: Out of the
four, ‘EVERYTHING MUST GO’ is probably my favorite. I like all of them
actually
but ‘EVERYTHING MUST GO’ resonates with me the most. Musically, the
song is
very interesting, but I really wanted to shake out the willies after
work,
maybe I’d have to add ‘SOUND IT OUT’.
How
about you
CHRISTY?
CHRISTY: It’s
funny because I had a feeling that you were going to ask me that
question and I
was trying to choose one. Each of the four songs represents something
different
for me and I like them for different reasons. If I had to choose just
one, I
would have to be ‘EVERYTHING MUST GO’. For me, it is the most
interesting song
on the album. Musically it’s got a bunch of different moods to it and
angles to
it. For me, it’s a departure from a lot of the stuff that we had done
in the
past. We’re constantly evolving and developing our sound and that is
exciting
to me. I think that is what we’ve done with the four songs on this
album.
What would you like a
person to come away with after they’ve heard this album?
CHRISTY: I want
someone to listen to this CD and have it resonate for them. I want it
to appeal
to them but in a way that is different from other things that people
have
heard. I like to think that our sound is a little different from what
is out
there.
YVONNE, since
starting the band, what has been the biggest surprise for you?
YVONNE: The
biggest surprise! That’s a really good question! There has been a
really big
surprise. It’s been more like little surprises that I get from what
people say
about our music. I ran across some links coming into our site and there
was
this blog where this person wrote about one of the songs on our last
album and
what it meant to her. Things like that are a really nice surprise when
you get
those little insights into how people feel about your music. I love to
play
live and I love to write music but that connection that people have
with it is
always a really great surprise.
APRiL 5,
2010
BRiAN
LUSH (FOUNDER,
EDiTOR-iN-CHiEF)
