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Had I not gone to the Duran Duran concert on August
3rd in Portsmouth, Virginia I might have missed out
on a really awesome band. I describe Dragonette's music
as synth pop but I probably should have asked them how
they describe their music. Their songs are very pop
and very catchy. They have some really great tunes.
They have only been performing together as a group since
January. Although only a group for 8 months they were
able to open for Duran Duran on the last leg of their
Astronaut tour--which exposed them to a huge audience.
My Dragonette interview took place on a hectic Thursday
when I think I had 6 interviews but this one was the
coolest because Dan and Martina are real cool down to
earth people. You can check out my review of the Dragonette
EP here.
You can check out my Duran Duran concert review at our
sister site Imissthe80s.com
here.
 The
Dragonette interview was cool. It took place in two
parts. I interviewed Dan in the A.M. Martina was busy
getting her nails done so I interviewed her in the evening
while she was on holiday at a cottage. I can't wait
to hear more from this group!
Dorrie -www.sparkledoll.com
& Thabiz.com
webmaster
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Dragonette Interview
Part 1-Dan
Dan, what is your role in the group?
Dan-I am the bass
player and I guess you can say I'm the producer.
Oh okay. How long have you all been performing as a
group?
Dan-Since January.
Are you serious? That's all!
Dan-Yes. The first
show I think like the first week of January.
Oh! You seem pretty polished though.
Dan-Yeah? Cool.
We put a lot of work into it. If you get an opening
show with Duran Duran you don't go out and like put
on a mediocre show. You work your ass off. The band
basically moved into our house and we rehearsed a lot.
Do you also write music?
Dan from Dragonette-Yeah.
I've written, well the singer is my wife. She and I, I
guess wrote most of the tunes and we've written with the
guitar player and the drummer separately and together.
So it's still a band.
It's a collaborative effort.
Dan-Yeah.
Who were some of your musical influences growing
up?
Dan-I mean it depends.
If you take four people's musical influences and put
them together it becomes pretty enormous. We've been
listening to and paying attention to the past music
we all grew up with. Like for some of us it was 80's
music. For the younger people in the band it's 90's
music. So I mean it's everything from The Cars to Daft
Punk to Blondie to Madonna to ELO.
What about Missing Persons?
Dan-Missing Persons?
The group you're not into them?
Dan-I don't even
know their name.
Oh yeah? They were a real popular group in the 80's.
They had that song "What are words for when no one.."
Dan--I gotta pick
that up.
You all remind me of them. As a matter of fact the
guitarist from Missing Persons he was with Duran Duran
for like 15 years Warren Cuccurullo.
Dan--Oh yeah. Cool.
I know him from his Zappa days. I will have to check
out Missing Persons that's good to know.
How did you all get the cool opportunity to open
for Duran Duran?
Dan-I'm going to
be really naïve and say we just got a phone call asking
if we wanted to do it. No, it definitely had to do with
people. Both our agents and managers had something to
do with it.
So how was it for you all? I know it's wrapped up
now.
Dan-It was really
great. A lot better than I expected many levels.
For the most part it was a good experience.
The Christian Right had a problem …
Which show are you talking about?
Dan-I think Dayton,
Ohio there was a little back lash on this one guys website.
I was at the last show in Virginia.
Dan--That was amongst
our better shows. We had a good time.
I can't believe you have only been a group since
January.
Dan-We played 14
gigs.
Who did the producing on the EP?
Dan from Dragonette-Me.
What's your name again?
Dan from Dragonette-Dan
Kurtz.
You're a good producer.
Dan from Dragonette-Yeah
I think there's miles to go with the production. When
you start a band you don't know yet about who you are
or what you are to take it to the very limit. So it's
a little safe sometimes. So I am looking forward to
not feeling like I have to be so safe with the production.
Not to say it's a sugar coated pill to swallow but I
think there is a lot of muscle inside of Dragonette.
How did you all come up with the group name?
Dan-We were having
a really hard time coming up with a name. Martina, the
singer had just gotten an Ipod and for some reason whatever
connected it to her computer asked her what she wanted
to a call it and she just called it Dragonette and I
looked at it and said, "That's a really good band name."
It kind of works for us. The close rationalization is
like a dragon fronted by a little sweet girl. There
is a lot of punch in the band with Martina in front.
Dragonette Interview
part 2 Martina
How long have you been singing before you got in
the band
Martina from Dragonette-I
had a solo project before. I was doing that for 7 years.
What name did you record under?
Martina from Dragonette-Martina.
Whats it like being the only female in a group with
all guys?
Martina -I'm kind
of used to it. I have a twin brother and I'm always
the one girl with a bunch of guys. It's always been
that way. I've always been the tom boy. Having a twin
brother it's the same way with me and my husband. We
have a lot of guy friends. We have more guy friends
that girls. I love it.
I can't believe you all have only been together since
January and I told your husband the EP sounds so polished.
How was it opening for Duran Duran.
Martina -It was
amazing. It was way better than we thought. We were
excited to do it, it was way better than we thought
it would be. The Duran Duran people were really nice.
When I got there, there were a bunch of people I knew
from another tour. I was on tour with Bryan Ferry solo
so I guess cause it's the UK there were a bunch of people
I had known before. The Duran Duran audience for the
most part were receptive. When people have to watch
an opening band before they see the group they paid
money to see some people can get annoyed. We went to
play with New Order and they had no time for our shit.
The audience was not as welcoming as they could have
been.
So you've been performing for a long time. I was
going to ask you since Dragonette's been together for
about 8 months how do you get over stage fright if you
have any?
Martina-Uhhh..I
don't know how to get over it.
You seem pretty confident.
Martina-And I am.
I was nervous before these shows because it's a new
project. With my old stuff I rarely got nervous unless
their was some person in the audience I know is there
and I have to be great. But it's positive nervous energy.
I can rectify that pretty quickly. I'm never like paralyzed,
but with these shows because we are so new I haven't
got my full confidence up and I get a stomach ache and
I can't eat so I just drink beer.
What are your favorite songs from the EP to perform?
Martina -I think "Competition."
My four year old likes that song. We were listening
to the EP and he said, "Number 3 again!"
Martina -It's a good
song.
I like the whole CD.
Martina -Me too. I'm
excited to finish the rest of the record.
Do you know when you all might have the record finished?
Martina -Oh God who
knows. Like all those songs were written fairly quickly.
We have some more finished songs. We have to write. We
have a bit more writing to do. You never know how easy
it's going to come. Some of those songs like that 3rd
song "Competition" it was like immediate and written literally
in two days. Some of them it's like pulling teeth. I have
no idea. Maybe the next three songs we write will just
fly out of us. I don't know it could take a while. It
shouldn't be much more than in the new year.
Have you all secured a deal yet?
Martina --There are
a bunch of people….we all come from backgrounds in Canada.
The music scene is very insular. We have all played successfully
in Canada and we have all had record deals with labels
that are either here or in the states but the Canadian
scene is very small and there is a finite amount of playing
and popularity.
Yeah I have interviewed a few Canadian people who
expressed that. Here is a Canada question. The biggest
Canadian show here in the states are the Degrassi shows.
Did you ever watch any of the Degrassi shows?
Martina -No, I didn't.
All my friends watched it but I didn't really have a
TV. My parents were very protective. I didn't watch
Degrassi I didn't watch 90210.
Tell me about the see thru skirt. What made you decide
to wear it on a couple of shows?
Martina-I don't
know.
It's cute.
Martina -I think
it's totally cute. I think….as far as what people …people
go pretty far with costumes these days they can be pretty
revealing. I think the outfit was not ..it kind of reveals
everything. I'm kind of standing in my underwear. I
don't know. I think it's classy in away. The actual
reason I wear it is because I come from a background
in Canadian music, you play safe music and you don't
over dress or be overly outrageous and we are sick of
it and that outfit is outrageous and that's part of
it.
Who are some of your musical influences? You said your
parents were kind of strict you still listened to music
right?
Martina -I remember listening to a lot of
Cyndi Lauper when I was really young and went into folky
country, Kate Bush, Bjork the music I played before
this was much more acoustic. Hooking up with my husband
brings in the electronic side of things. I think our
backgrounds are very different and where they meet....
Are you going out on tour any time soon or are you
going to finish up the album?
Martina-We are really
going to try to finish the record. We have a couple
of shows semi confirmed for Sept and October but that's
not our focus at all. Our focus is to finish the record.
How many dates was it with Duran…6 dates?
Martina-Yes .
Are you surprised that in just 6 dates you have gained
a whole new US fan base?
Martina-Yeah. I
mean you expect that when you are playing for that many
people you are going to reach some people and we would
come away with a couple of fans but we were blown away
by how many CD's we sold and how many emails we've got
from people.
I looked at a lot of forums when I was getting ready
for the interviews and it seems like you all have made
some new fans. People were saying good things. For the
record can you tell me the names of the members of the
band. I know you're Martina and I talked to Dan and
I remember your introducing a Simon.
Martina-And there's
Stu K.
Related interview--Key Word
Degrassi
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