In Their Other Lives

The whiskey drinking, football watching, Steinbeck reading ‘Other Lives’ are here from Montana! If what they do in their other lives is any measure of what’s in store for us, this classical and pop-influenced band is worth checking out. They tell us more…

So tell us who you are and how you came together?
We started playing music together in Stillwater, Oklahoma about nine years ago. We got together in a secluded shack for a couple years before we gave thought to being a band or playing live. We’re a different band in many ways now but our motivation is still the same. We play the music we want to hear.

What got you making music in the first place? What kept you playing?
Growing up with music in our lives made it very easy for us to be attached to it. Once we started listening we couldn’t stop listening, and once we started playing music we couldn’t stop which is why we’re here.

Other than playing Airwaves, have you got any plans for your trip to Iceland?
We’d love to leave Iceland with better knowledge of the people and the place. Iceland has always intrigued us. We’ve been in love with a lot of music that comes out of there so hopefully we can get a feel for what it’s all about.

MOST OF US ARE WHISKY DRINKERS
We don’t want to make you pick a clichéd genre, but how would you describe your music? What music inspires you?
We’re inspired by a mixture of classical music and pop music. Classically we’re influenced by impressionists such as Debussy and Ravel and contemporary composers such as Glass and Reich. In pop music we’ve always loved Neil Young, The Beatles, and The Ramones to name a few.

How would you convince our readers to head to your gig?
We have a sound that is very deep in layers and musicality that is performed by a handful of multi-instrumentalists.

What’s your poison, and what do you recommend as the best beverage to go with your music?
Most of us are whisky drinkers (Scotch or Irish).

STEINBECK IS A CURRENT OBSESSION
What do you like these days? Anything we should know about? What are your current obsessions?
It’s college football season at the moment and what most people don’t know about us is that most of us are big fans of college football. Every Saturday we have to find a way to keep up with our teams whether we have a show or not. We like to read a lot on the road as well. Steinbeck is a frequented author on this tour.

Make a five track playlist for your plane ride over. Tell us why each track is there. Your scenario: you’re just about to land, and you want to mentally prepare yourself for whatever you think is going to meet you.
– The Ramones ‘53rd and 3rd’ – If I’m potentially about to meet my end part of me would want to give it the finger for coming so soon. The Ramones would be the soundtrack to that scenario.
– Mozart’s Requiem – After coming to terms with my futile anger it would probably occur to me that some of the best music ever written was inspired by such an occasion. Arguably the best music about death is Mozart’s Requiem so I would listen to it in a way that only someone who is about to die could.
– Colourmusic ‘Tog’ – An hour and a half later I would realise, despite the peculiarly long landing, I have a better chance of being run over than dying on this plane. In a frantic search through my iPod for something to lift me from my self-pity I would quickly come to a band of my favourite people, playing my favourite song on one of my favourite records of last year.
– múm ‘Green Grass of Tunnel’ – This being our first trip to Iceland it would only be appropriate to listen to one of my favourite Icelandic bands.
– Björk ‘Jóga’ – This song is stuck in my head more than any other song, and I love it. I’ll love it even more if I get to make it to her performance.