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Interview with Dean & Britta
Interviewed By: Kevin Serra
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Dean & Britta have been very busy last few years. Between working for the Obama campaign (Britta), writing a book (Dean), starting a record label (named Double Feature, both Dean and Britta), touring, and, oh yes, recording some music along the way, is there anything these two can’t do? |
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I read that Britta worked on the Obama campaign this year. Were you thrilled with the landslide victory for the president?
Dean: Did it actually qualify as a landslide? It was cool to see an African-American elected president, and I am glad to see the end of the horribly corrupt and criminal Bush/Cheney gang. And I'm glad the election wasn't stolen by vote suppression or a Supreme Court vote. But the Democrats taking over again does not thrill me. Both parties are responsible for the mess we are in—the war, the economy.
Britta: I drove back from Philly with my brother as soon as the polls closed, and we went directly to Times Square. It was thrilling to be with all those people and to actually feel connected to them via something meaningful. After Obama's acceptance speech, Dean and I took a walk outside. People were going crazy, crawling on cars, stopping traffic. It was wonderful. I realize that Obama has incredible difficulties ahead of him, but think he's the best man for the job.
The band will start a tour with Mercury Rev this winter. Are you looking forward to getting out on the road and venturing up to Canada?
Dean: It's a short trip, just six shows, but we do like visiting Toronto and Montreal. First stop is always Tim Horton's. And it should be fun opening for Mercury Rev. We have been friends for a long time now.
Britta: I forgot to do this interview before we left, so we are actually on the road right now driving from Boston to Philly. It's been fun! Especially last night—love the Boston crowd! This morning, we saw Paul Auster at breakfast at our hotel, and for lunch we stopped at Rein's New York Deli (in CT), which is always a tour highlight.
Tell us about the free Soundtrack EP available for download on your website.
Dean: It's a five-track download-only EP—people receive a coupon for it if they buy something (book, CD, vinyl) at our store at www.deanandbritta.com —consisting of music we have done for film: three tracks from The Squid & the Whale, including my take on Pink Floyd's "Hey You," and a couple more instrumentals from a film called Just Like the Son.
Britta: Some people sent angry e-mails saying they've bought everything already and ‘why are we offering a free giveaway now? No fair!’
How was it being commissioned by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to create a soundtrack for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests?
Dean: It has been great, a thrill, to work on these beautiful little films by Andy Warhol, to delve into that whole world and learn about the lives of the people who lived and worked at the Factory.
Britta: It’s fantastic. I love telling people about it. I still feel like I'm making it up because it sounds too cool to be true.
What was the process like fitting music to each of the thirteen screen tests?
Dean: Painstaking . . . lots of ideas tried and thrown out. You might have an idea of what would work musically, but when you put it against picture, the picture tells you. The picture has its own mood, and we have to figure out what we think that is.
Britta: Yeah, some of the screen tests were really difficult. The more I watched them, the more they had to offer. It took maybe a dozen viewings to begin seeing all the subtle fluctuations in the subjects' moods. You know you've got the right music when it seems to bring out these details on the first viewing. The alchemy between music and screen test is pretty cool.
Which was the hardest screen test to tackle?
Dean: Maybe Ingrid Superstar. She laughs and makes funny faces through her screen test, but by the end she seems to be crying. And you think about her mysterious disappearance in the '80s while living with her mom in New Jersey. She went out "for cigarettes" and never came back. There is a sadness to a number of these Warhol films because five of the thirteen superstars we picked died too young.
You also performed some live shows back in October. Did the music translate well in a live environment?
Britta: Yes! We were so nervous before the first show. We had a terrible dress rehearsal, but when the show started, something happened, and it felt just right. The people from the Warhol Museum were really happy with the show, and that was a huge relief. I can't wait to do the next one.
Will you take the Screen Tests on the road in more cities in 2009?
Dean: It's scheduled in the winter of 2009 for New York City, Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Mass MoCA in Western Massachusetts. There will also be a DVD, but I have to say it's a special experience to see these films projected on a big screen and with live music.
Dean, you released your book Black Postcards earlier this year. Great read, by the way! How was the transition from standing behind a guitar and mic to being in front of an audience reading events from your life?
Dean: Well, it was very difficult. I was out of my comfort zone—writing whimsical little poems that may or may not contain the truth—and doing something very different, trying to figure out what I thought, and trying to weave everything together into a compelling narrative. Getting up to read from the book in public made me nervous too, but now I rather enjoy it.
Britta: Dean's great at book readings. I've got to go through the video and put something up on our website.
How long did it take you to write the book from first conception to it hitting the shelves in the bookstores?
Dean: About two years. But much of that time was spent avoiding writing. The pace picked up considerably when I realized that there were deadlines. But that's how it goes. I would never do anything without a deadline.
In retrospect, was it a cathartic experience writing the memoir?
Dean: It was like a long and lonely therapy session. I suppose it was cathartic; it was also unpleasant at times. Hopefully I learned some things about myself.
Did you hear from any ghosts from your past after the book was released?
Dean: I heard from many people. Some were delighted by what I had written and really related to it; a few were insulted. I don't think it's possible to write a good memoir without offending someone. Actually I don't think it's possible to write any kind of book without someone getting annoyed with you, not if it's going to be at all truthful anyway. Being in a band is about love and friendship, but also about conflict, and I did not shy away from that.
But Neil Strauss told me that the anger would come, not from the major characters, who I thought about carefully, but from some little sentence that I barely considered. And he was right.
Do you have any regrets on experiences you wish you kept off the pages?
Dean: there are a few comments I probably wouldn't make again, places I used the wrong word to describe someone, for example. Everyone says the first book is a killer, that when it comes back from the printer, you open your book and immediately see something you want to change.
What are your favorite albums of 2008?
Dean: Am liking the Crystal Stilts EP (Dean & Britta both later interviewed Crystal Stilts for kevchino.com) and album and Ceduna by the Sand Pebbles. My favorite album was probably Jonathan Richman's Because Her Beauty is Raw & Wild, his best in a long, long time. We saw him play in Pittsburgh (ran over to his show after our Warhol rehearsal), and it was magical. He's a unique performer, always good live.
Britta: He was Chaplinesque!
Who designed the cover art and screen-printed the covers on your Christmas 7-inch? Are there still 7-inches available for the holidays? I haven’t heard the B-side, but I hear Sonic Boom played the Omnichord.
Britta: Sonic Boom did play the Omnichord on "Old Toy Trains." He also mixed it! Chimney Rocks Records got Dan Rugh to do the artwork, and it is perfect! There's a great video of Dan screen-printing the covers on their website: www.chimneyrocks.org
Any breaking news, closing comments, or holiday recipes you’d like to share?
We're going to have the first release (besides our own album, L'Avventura) on our new record label, Double Feature, in February. It is a compilation by Australian "flower-punk" band, the Sand Pebbles. I just started a MySpace for Double Feature Records www.myspace.com/doublefeaturerecords but I haven't gotten very far with it yet.
AND!
Here is my excellent recipe for bread pudding. Great for the holidays or any time of the year.
Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
Preheat oven to 350 F
6 cups stale French bread
4 eggs
1 quart milk, scalded
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup bourbon
1/2 cup raisins
2 tsp. vanilla
Grated lemon rind (Use a very fine grater.)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Soak bread in milk. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Stir in rest of ingredients. Bake 40 to 50 minutes at 350 F.
Bourbon Sauce
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup bourbon
Melt butter and sugar over double boiler. Whisk in egg. Cool slightly. Add bourbon. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Serve warm. |
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