Spill! Interview with Nona of Dark Dark Dark

Photo by Tim Piotrowski via Dark Dark Dark myspace

Girl About Town had the pleasure of interviewing Nona Marie Invie of Dark Dark Dark after their set at the First Unitarian Church last Friday. The band shared the stage last week with Au and Why?. Oh, and did we mention it was a sold out show? Because it was. We got a chance to find out about Dark Dark Dark's influences, and future, as well as their upcoming film "Flood Tide".

Girl About Town: First off, how did you all meet and form?

Nona: Well, Marshall and I both met in Minneapolis. He played in a band I really loved, and we just started hanging out and eventually started playing music together. We just sort of picked up people along the way.
   
I heard that you guys are 'Travelers' and that you come from all over the 'States. I was wondering how that affected your music.

Marshall and I both come from Minneapolis but we’re playing with Walter who’s from New Orleans and Todd who’s from New York. We travel most of the year, everywhere. I think it influences our music because we’re exposed to a lot of different kinds of fans everywhere. We’re really open to hearing different kinds of things.

Any favorite place in the 'States?

I love New Orleans! I love it. I can’t help it, it’s great!

Do you write most of your songs on the road?

We end up having to, on the road, since we travel so much. But usually, we’ll write songs when we’re able to sort of hunker down somewhere for a while. We were just in New York, upstate New York, for five weeks. Marshall and I were both working on writing songs.

Have you found the touring inspiring? You haven’t been on this tour very long, but generally?

This specific tour just started, but in general, I think traveling inspires us. Whether it’s traveling or just visiting friends or going from swimming hole to swimming hole.

I just wanted to say that I thought your sound was really different and honestly refreshing. You guys don’t seem to follow trends, musically, at all; which is great. Can we expect more of that from you guys in the future or are you changing up your sound?

We’ve just added the trumpet and the piano, which is a pretty big change since our last record. So, that’s the biggest change right now. Hopefully we’ll be adding a drummer for our next record and our next tour and then we’ll see.

Can you please tell me some more about 'Flood'?

The movie is now officially called Flood Tide and you can find it at floodtidefilm.com. It was written by Todd Chandler, who’s our bassist. It’s an experimental narrative film. We all [Dark Dark Dark] star in it [laughs]. We wrote the score for it, that’s what we were doing in upstate New York for five weeks. We were writing the soundtrack and recording it. It takes place on the Hudson River, two summers ago, where 30 of our friends built a bunch of rafts and motored down the Hudson. We played music in towns along the way and had a big performance. The movie isn’t about that! But the movie is in that setting about the people on the boats and on the water. The cinematographer is Ava Berkofksy and she’s really incredible. She has a background in still photography and she has an adapter on her camera so she can use still lenses.

What’s next?

Next we’ll be in Minnesota recording an EP and a full-length this winter. And then tour, and beyond....

What music have you been listening to?

I just love my friends’ bands! I can’t get over how good my friends are. Like, The Callers from Brooklyn are amazing. Walter’s in a band called Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship? in New Orleans. Also, Hurray for the Riff Raff. She’s a really beautiful singer. And I love…Antony & The Johnsons. I listen to mostly my friend’s bands!

A reference legend to the favorite new music of Dark Dark Dark:
Au - band site /aagoo / myspace
Why? - anticon / myspace
The Callers - myspace
Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? - myspace
Hurray for the Riff Raff - myspace
Antony & The Johnsons - band site / myspace

Dark Dark Dark - band site / supply and demand / myspace

Comments

[rama]

Dark dark dark is the best band in america. once we saw god with them. god was in the sky above the water at a lake in Wisconsin. No one else at the crowded beach seemed to notice god, but they did notice Marshall in his pink underware.