IfIHadAHiFi
Interview
8-8-8
Milwaukee WI, it's where beer comes from.
Unbeknownst to many it is also home to an intriguing cadre of rock bands (white, wrench, conservatory, Quinn Scharber and the...) among them the lovely & talented IfIHadAHiFi.
The disco dollies in the 'Fi (as the kids like to call 'em) were recently bribed heavily to answer a few questions from us...
- MrAlarm: Somebody else decided they'd help us with our records, thank thee gods. We seem to keep being able to fool people into it...as for vinyl, it's still in the works, but hopefully it'll happen. Possibly with a bonus track!
- DrAwkward: Dan and Latest Flame Records came calling as soon as we started planning the new record. Instead of “shopping” the thing around, which is, of course, a humiliating and pointless affair every time anyone attempts such a thing, it made much more sense to go with someone who’d actually be excited about promoting it. Dan really believes this record’s gonna lead to big things. It breaks my heart thinking about how disillusioned he’ll be in about a year!
BP: How many songs off "Fame by Proxy" are going to have videos?
- YaleDelay: 2000, We are genius.
- MrAlarm: We're on track for having a video for every song on the album. Then, it'll be a video-only release, like Green Jello. Remember them? Yup. Green Jello. Just like that.
- DrAwkward: Little tip for any band vain enough to put their music to video: there are a lot of aspiring filmmakers in Milwaukee. Move here and make friends with them, then exploit away.
BP: Who's Dixie Jacobs and why are you guys worthy of playing with her?
- MrAlarm: Among many other things, Dixie Jacobs is the singer/keyboardist of a wonderful band called white, wrench, conservatory. She's also my roommate. She's a purty purty girl with a purty purty voice, and adds a nice contrast to our wholesome Midwestern potbellied-ness.
- DrAwkward: We’re going on tour with WWC in late September/early October. At $4/gallon for gas, it’s sure to be the most fun we’ll ever have metaphorically setting a pile of money on fire.
BP: It's been awhile since Milwaukee churned out a famous band, what keeps local bands from the national spot light? What are you doing to fight the problem?
- DrAwkward: I actually have a really huge rant in my head that answers this question. It has to do with how most major music publications are based in New York and LA, and how most journalists are lazy and don’t notice anything new unless it pops up in their own backyard. This is why you see long-time Midwestern staples like trucker hats and Pabst Blue Ribbon become hot trends only after idiots in Brooklyn start using them ironically. This is also why mediocre crap like Vampire Weekend becomes popular.
- MrAlarm: Some people don't even know where Milwaukee is, or assume we're a suburb of Chicago. That's a shame, isn't it?
- YaleDelay: The last band we turned out was the GUFS; I can't blame the world for not paying attention with that track record.
- MrAlarm: Our plan is to do as we've been doing, and tour as much as our day jobs will let us.
BP: Other than you guys what Milwaukee bands should we keep an eye on?
- MrAlarm: Well, people do love the Call Me Lightnings. And Juiceboxxxxxxx continues to blow up on a national basis, which is cool. And there's Terrior Bute, and the New Loud, Quinn Scharber and the..., our friends King's Horses, and again, a little band called white, wrench, conservatory. They're the best band that practices in my basement, and I swear, that's really saying something! I'm pretty sure the epicenter of the new Milwaukee scene is my house.
BP: Ok, let's say I'm trapped in Milwaukee for 25 hours... what do you have me do?
- MrAlarm: Consume beer, meat, and cheese. What else?
- YaleDelay: Drink mostly, you could eat a brat also, isn't that enough for you? NO, NO IT’S NOT ENOUGH? What are you from Chicago or something? FUCK OFF! And oh FUCK THE CUBBYS ALSO...
- DrAwkward: Um, you should also drink many many beers at the Cactus Club and go buy graduated cylinders at American Science and Surplus.
BP: Did MrAlarm's Iggy Pop TShirt ever get him laid?
- MrAlarm: Y'know, it still hasn't directly. But I think it has, spiritually. A man who wears a naked purple Iggy Pop on his chest is a man with confidence, whether he's got it on at the time or not.
BP: You guys always seem to get into a fight right as you start to play. Is this just a shtick to make you look cool like the Kinks?
- MrAlarm: Hey, c'mon now. We get into fights after the show, during the show, in the van on the way to the show...as I've often stated, a band that never fights is probably dull.
- YaleDelay: It's no shtick at all--you might see a fight at any time during a HiFi show, you may see blood (more often than not you will see blood)…it normally starts with arguing over the set list, where we each are going to set up on stage and rolls from there. The anger we spew at the audience can very easily turn on the band and get violent, people have lost teeth, people have gotten concussions, and it could happen at any show... collect them all kids...
BP: How many different ways has DrAwkward destroyed a piece of his drum kit?
- DrAwkward: You expect me to have kept count? Cripes. There’s accidentally setting parts on fire, there’s smashing parts into the ceiling of the club…
- YaleDelay: He once threw his drums in the river after a show... TAKE THAT SHIT KEITH MOON!
-DrAwkward: Oh yeah, there was that, too. Man, I was really sick that night and that stand had been pissing me off the whole mini-tour.
- MrAlarm: A-one, a-ta-whooooo, a-three! (crack!) A-three.
