She Wants Revenge

0:00Talking with the guys here from She Wants Revenge, I want to start the show off the song, Red Flags. Why does it open up the album? Because it's got a long intro already there. You choose to put it in because it was the first song in the record. It was already there and it was one of the first songs that we had ever written. Oh really? And in going through all the songs, I think it just felt like a good way to set up the mood that the album will become. It does have a long intro and we start our live show off with the same song. Cool. Every night? Most every night, yeah. It's awesome. I'll start the show off with it too. She Wants Revenge, Red Flags, Long Nights, Talking Here with the Guys at the Air Canada Center, opening for De Pash Mode tonight.

5:45You guys have to play with them, I guess, in a way at the Coachella Music Festival a couple of weeks ago we were talking about before. We started recording here. Now you guys actually ended up closing the first night. De Pash Mode played and then you guys played. How did that all come about? Oh, we were fortunate. They just told you too. You guys are playing here? Yeah, I think that they make the decisions based on a band's presence in Southern California. Like who's going to draw, who's going to have a certain amount of attendance at what time slot. And we were honored to be playing it because we love the Coachella Festival. And when we found out that we'd be headlining the second stage, it was like a dream come true because, I mean, we don't think so highly of our friends. We don't think so highly of ourselves that we think we deserve to be on the main stage. It's our first time playing it. We are just happy to play it at all.

6:32But I think that they chose us to close that stage because, I mean, I guess, of all the fans on that stage, we were going to be the ones that draw the biggest audience. It seemed to be that way. I think it's a hometown thing. Yeah. Cool. How does it work for you guys? The songwriting process. How did it all come about? Do you come with the synth part, do you come with the guitar part and then just kind of mold them? How does it work for you guys? It's not so piecemeal, really. Generally, the writing happens where we'll program a beat and then we will write the song over it together. And then that's it. It's not like a traditional songwriting kind of way. It's kind of just playing and seeing what happens and then recording that and then maybe restructuring or rethinking.

7:23But it's pretty instinctual. How long ago was this record recorded? Wildback? It was a pretty recent. Two years? Oh, really? I think the majority of it was written. Or Jory had a visitor in three years ago. Wow. But we finished writing the album too. You guys tired of playing the same songs? No. No. Awesome. You writing anything new? Slowly but surely. Yeah. Not a lot of time. Oh, really? Yeah. I figured you guys would have a laptop on the road and kind of program beats and stuff like that. Isn't that simple? No. We do have those tools. But I mean what we're doing here with you now. It takes a long time. It's not a one-off thing. We end up doing this and sound-shacking and going to radio stations and going to TV stations and trying to find time to eat and do your laundry and have a life on the road when you have one day off a week usually.

8:20Must be tough. Yeah, but there's nothing worse than like somebody who's living out the dreams of millions of people and complaining about it. It's a good point. You guys aren't complaining though. No. Not at all. It's a plain other song. What do you guys want to hear off your record? I'd like to hear killing time. Okay. Just because I don't really get to hear it very often. You don't play it? We don't play that song live. And it's just something I don't think a lot of people play on the radio. So it might be interesting for people out there that haven't heard it yet rather than playing something that everybody else is playing. You should be the one guy that plays Killing Time. No, I will be then. He's losing the film and starting to change the plans.

10:37And trust me with his love, I could kiss him when I change the plan. At She Wants Revenge, the bonus track off their self-titled record, songs called Killing Time.

16:39If you go all the way to track number 66 on the record, you can listen to that tune again. And as Adam said before, we played it. It could be the only time we were going to hear that tune on the radio. So pick up a CD in stores right now. I want to talk about the internet and downloading stuff like that. How do you guys feel? You think it's helping your harmony more? I feel like the illegal stuff people just grabbing your tunes for free. It hasn't really hurt because we've sold more records than we ever thought we would. And we've never been one to deny the kids their right to make their own choices. We had songs available on MySpace way before the album, the years before the album came out. And when the record company was taking their sweet time with putting out the album, we considered putting it as a free download just so people could have it.

17:25That's awesome. Our company probably wouldn't have been too pleased. Right, but I mean at the end of the day, they want to make money and we want people to hear our music. And so we found a happy medium wherein we released it to iTunes first. People were able to grab one song or a whole album and then the album followed suit. But I think people were already able to download that free and never affected us. You think it's changed the whole thing? I mean we're not going to really have albums anymore, five, ten years down the road. I think we'll always have albums. Yeah, I hope so. But I mean kids, I don't think they have the patience to sit there and listen to a full record anymore. Some, but you know, kids only comprise so much of a record buying audience. And there will always be albums available for people who want to hold it in their hand and look at the artwork that they didn't take off a printer.

18:15Fair enough. Yeah, still DJ clubs at all? As often as possible. Yeah. Nice. When was the last time? It was less than a week. Oh really? Where? Last place I believe was somewhere in Texas. I think it was Dallas. Just kind of do it after a show. Yeah, a lot of times we'll go through cities that we've been through before and I have DJ before and no one might be back or us back to come spin a set. You know, coming from somebody who's been DJing for close to 15 years, four or five nights a week, not being able to do that. I tend to Jones to get on the turntables. Every opportunity that somebody gives me, I'll go down and spin or just the myself will both go spin.

19:07We're going to spin tonight actually. All right. Mod Club. Yeah, nice little place. It reminds me of all the venues in LA. It's small and just kind of cool. It's weird because up here all the venues are like a thousand people, two thousand people. There it's all like the troops, 400, stuff like that. I love it. Those are better. I mean, yeah. What's your favorite place to play in LA? It's just like any kind of small bar where all your friends can come. You don't really have to worry about weekend warrior type people or virgin tunnel people that want to hear the same kind of mundane songs all night. I just like playing little bars where you can kind of play whatever you want. Are you talking about DJing or a band? Either or. What's your favorite place to do for a sea of concert maybe? There's a change for you.

19:55I agree with him about DJing. I mean, I don't really DJ so much. It's more just for fun for me. But Adam's more the serious DJ. But I think that I totally agree with him about DJing in small places where you don't have to cater to like a secretary who wants to get wild on the weekends. But for me playing shows, I think my favorite venue in Los Angeles, the place that feels like home is Space Land. Nice. I mean, I probably played there more than any other club in the last like six or seven years. But we unfortunately haven't played there in a long time. So it would be nice to be able to go back and play some little secret show there or something. That would be cool. Because it's comfortable. You guys are going back to California soon aren't you? You got a couple of shows coming up there? Yeah. Europe, Japan. You guys ever been over there yet?

20:40In Europe, have not been to Japan. I've been to Japan. I've been to London. It's the only place I've been. Is it exciting thing? Or is it like you said, you know, it's just work all the time? Do you have time to sit? It's very exciting. I mean, we don't really have time to sit here anything, but it's not so much about that. It's like we get to see the country and eventually the world through the people who come to our shows. And we get to get something to eat and walk around the area of the venue. And that's about the extent of it. But the fact that we get to see kids from all over the world is pretty amazing. Oh, and for sure. The fact that they're united by music that turns them on or captivates them in some way. And the fact that it's our music is pretty amazing still to this day.

21:28So the idea that we get to go to Japan and experience that or Australia or, you know, Spain and Portugal and all of these places and play music, just as we were just in Mexico City, it's amazing. It was Mexico City like I heard it's just massive. There's 30 million people that live there. Bigger in LA? A lot of people. And it was amazing for us. I think it was definitely the biggest crowd that we had ever played for. Was it a festival or just like club shows? What's the passion mode? Oh, it's a lot of opening for them. Share the stage with like I guess someone you guys listen to way back in the day. Still do maybe. Is it like a dream? It's got to be a dream come true?

22:14Absolutely. I mean, the passion mode for myself, I can say that Prince and the passion mode have been the soundtracks to my life as far back as I can remember. Once I started discovering music on my own, that wasn't my parents' music. And Prince and the passion mode, I think the passion mode even more than Prince has been my biggest influence musically. So to be able to go on stage with them and learn from them, you know, for the few weeks that were out with them has just been kind of one of my favorite times. I think I can ever really remember. That's cool. Let's play another song. What do you want to hear? What do you think, John? I think Stripped would be a good one. I have.

22:59The passion mode. Oh, coming back.

23:44It's such a good one. Let's get it. And Jessica.

26:55She wants revenge. You just heard the passion mode. It's not called Stripped. Requested by Adam from the band. Maybe this thing. Five questions. Five quick questions. One word answers. I put her CDs. iPod. Leonard McCartney. Well, I know. I know. Same answer. Alcoholic marijuana. Neither. Song you've written your most proud of. Couldn't say. I'd say. I don't think I could really say. That's it. One word. She wants revenge. First thing pops in your head. When you think you're a band. Music. I haven't heard that before surprisingly. I'd say love.

27:43Good answers. And one song closed out. One of your tunes. How about if we listen to out of control? Cool. First thing. Way back. It was the B side of sister. Which was our first single we did a video on our own for. Cool. Thanks so much guys. Thank you. Thank you.