Chillin’ with Freezepop
by stacey dawn
boston @ nite
The fun, slightly quirky, Boston-based synthpop trio who call themselves Freezepop recently took some time out from their busy schedule to answer some of my questions about the band and their new EP "Fashion Impression Function" (Archenemy).
The trio is fronted by, stylish vocalist, Liz Enthusiasm. Liz is joined by The Duke of Candied Apples, master of the Yamaha qy70 (a portable, battery-powered sequencer, for all you synthpop novices) and The Other Sean T. Drinkwater who provides sweet electronic sounds on his synths and vocoder. Both The Duke and Sean provide additional vocals as well.
Now, maybe your asking yourself, "Didn’t synthpop disappear in the 80’s?" The answer is… "Of course not, silly." Back in the 90’s bands like Anything Box, Electronic and Pulsars were keeping synthpop alive. Depeche Mode hasn’t stopped putting out new music either. So, get that notion out of your head. This time around you don’t even have to wear parachute pants, or sport an asymmetrical haircut.
 What’s the story behind the band? How did you get started?
The Other Sean: The Duke called Liz and I intercepted the call. Add one handheld sequencer/sound module and you have Freezepop.
Freezepop is a very cool and totally appropriate name for a synthpop band, were there any names that were rejected before deciding on Freezepop?
Liz: No, Freezepop just seemed to be the obvious choice.
The Other Sean: "The Froze," "Synth-Cool," and "Under-underarm" are the only ones I remember...
Duke, inquiring minds want to know, why are you called the Duke of Candied Apples?
Duke: Well, chances are, since you're asking, you, yourself, are not a Duke.
A Duke is a man who does things his own way, but means no harm to others.
He's cool with anyone and everyone.
Rest assured that a Duke will always be straight with you.
Also, a Duke will never stray whilst in a relationship.
If a Duke has eyes for someone else, he will cut his losses with you, and face the heat.
But a Duke does not go with someone for sex alone.
To a Duke, lust is only existent within a loving relationship.
Dukes aren't usually in possession of expensive material goods.
This is because Dukes tend to spend their money on experiences, as opposed to junk.
A Duke is usually well traveled.
Dukes always have many unusual experiences to tell you about.
Their sense of humor is also often in reference to pop culture.
Dukes don't like fascism, communism, or rednecks.
Dukes also tend to turn a blind eye to girls who think they're "It".
Also, I tend to enjoy the occasional candied apple!
Freezepop is pretty stylin’. What or who are your fashion influences?
Liz: The way I dress is kind of a combination of 60s, 80s, and 2040. Retro-futuristic, yet silly. Much like our music. I'm a compulsive thrifter, and I also sew a little bit.
Duke: For me, fashion is futuristic and minimal, whilst being subtly complicated. Bright colors mixed with black or silver. Tight-fitted combo outfits are all the rage. Lots of straps or buckles with velcro and rubber pads. Big clunky shoes and silver eye makeup. " Logan's Run" meets "Dune".
The Other Sean: I like Duran Duran a lot... no particular period... just a general awareness of fashion. I guess there's a pretty strong 80's aesthetic, but it all comes from a kind of appreciation for space-age things.
What’s your fanbase like? Do you have many fans outside the Boston area?
Liz: We have a pretty diverse bunch of fans. Preteen girls seem to like us a lot. Scandinavians like us. So do Goths. And singing about science and robots has earned us a lot of geeky fans (Which I mean in the best possible way, since we're all rather geeky in some way or another).
We just played a show in New York City this weekend and were quite pleasantly surprised by the turnout. We have a song in this new video game called "Frequency", and a lot of people all over the country are hearing about us through that. And hopefully now that our album has come out in Europe, we'll be getting more fans from there as well.
Duke: We have amazing fans from all over the globe and a dedicated following within Boston as well. I just wish we could make it to all these wonderful places so everyone who has written in to us can see us live!
The Other Sean: It's growing... We'll tell you how our west coast dates go...
Tell me about the typical Freezepop show.
Liz: We show up for soundcheck and sit around for a long time. Then maybe we actually get to soundcheck. Then we rush home and get dressed and go back to the club. Then we play. That part is pretty fun. We give out freezepops and have all sorts of wacky hijinks. Then afterwards, we hopefully sell a few CDs. We chat with people, maybe have some drinks or grab some pizza.
The Other Sean: There's no such thing... Lots of smiles...
Have you ever had a gig gone awry?
Liz: Yes. We played a show in Montreal at this art gallery, which had the potential to be a really cool show, except that halfway through our set, this guy from one of the other bands walked in and was just generally being an extremely drunken belligerent asshole, except in a very passive-aggressive way. Like if he'd started heckling us or something, at least you can be like "shut up bitch," but what can you really do when someone's flailing around on the floor doing an interpretive dance? I think he just had major center-of-attention issues.
Duke: We have had many interesting things happen during our sets. The most memorable one was when we played the WBCN Rumble semi-finals at The Middle East downstairs. We brought 2 bubble machines thinking that would be just right amount until we covered the whole stage in bubble juice, turning it into a slippery ice skating rink and coating us all in soap. So, while trying to not break our ankles we smashed a bunch of gear on stage creating even more havoc! This was all happening while Liz was biting the head off of a stuffed animal and getting covered in fake blood! Fantastic!
The Other Sean: We just played in NYC and there was so much feedback that it pretty much ruined our set.
Last year you played with Cibo Matto, what was that show like?
Liz: That was so exciting! Just the fact that we had a chance to play such a big show was amazing, but on top of that, I've been a Cibo Matto fan for a long time. As for the show itself, it was kind of scary playing in front of that many people, although I wasn't quite as nervous as I thought I would be. You just sort of get out there on stage and don't let yourself think about how many people are out there.
The Other Sean: There were a lot of people there… It was a pretty thrilling night... I'm not being sarcastic.
Your website is very creative. I noticed that you even have "Fan Art" on your site. Is this something you originally solicited or did fans just start sending it to you?
Liz: It started with funny pictures our friends sent us, and then, lo and behold, random people actually started sending us stuff!
The Other Sean: It's eerily real... No solicitations were needed.
Obviously, you’re all synthpop fans. What other types of music do you dig and does that music have any influence on what Freezepop is doing?
Liz: I like Japanese girlie pop like Takako Minekawa, Kahimi Karie, and Yukari Fresh. I think lyrically it does have some influence. But I listen to a lot of other stuff that has no relation to Freezepop whatsoever. Of the three of us, I'm definitely the most indie rock.
The Other Sean: From a writing standpoint I'd say we're all over the map. I've been way into Scott Walker and early Bee Gees this year. Those are probably the "least-like-Freezepop" examples.
Is the songwriting process a collaborative one?
Liz: We don't really have one set method. It ranges from very collaborative to not at all.
Duke: For the majority of the songs, Liz comes up with lyrics and passes them on to me. I meanwhile have been programming ideas and patterns into the qy70. Then I begin to sift through song ideas and see if her lyrics work with any of them. Once I find a good match, we edit the lyrics to fit the song phrasing and I work on the arrangement. For a few songs, "Manipulate" is a good example, all three of us got together and worked through the lyrics and patterns until we had a final product. A big portion of the Freezepop sound comes from the mixing of the songs where I will add FX and additional production to help emphasize the mood or feel that I want to convey. We're definitely not a "jam" band!
The Other Sean: It's becoming more collaborative. I wrote one to get the ball moving and The Duke and Liz pretty much wrote the rest of the album. On the newer material we have been much more collaborative, writing lyrics and music together.
The remixes on the new EP are very cool. Who are the creative geniuses behind them?
Liz: Good question! You can find out more about them at: http://www.freezepop.net/bio/remixers.html
Duke: The remixes all came out splendidly! Chris "Kodomo" Childs re-worked "Tennis Boyfriend", Pete Maguire turned manipulate into a bizarre electro piece, DJ Nebula re-edited the lyrics to "Robotron 2000" to make a new dance song, Commodore Vic20 sliced and diced up "Plastic Stars", and Robotkid made his remix of "Science Genius Girl" using only a gameboy, to show that you really can make music with only a videogame on hand! Check out our website for more info on all these remixers.
 The new EP has two very cool videos. I especially dig the animated "Freezepop Forever". Who was the mastermind behind the animation?
Liz: That was me. I needed to learn Flash. It was a good way to ease myself into it because it was not too complicated, and a fun project that I was really motivated about.
The "Tender Lies" video looks like it was a fun shoot. Are there any interesting stories behind the video shoot?
Liz: I supplied all the pajamas.
The Other Sean: It was a really strong concept, but it got watered down a bit. It was just supposed to be Japanese robots and scantily clad girls pillow-fighting, but everyone was like "No, you guys should be in it! No, there should be a story! No, no, put some live footage in!" How boring. The after-shoot party got way out of control (robots everywhere).
What can we expect from Freezepop in the future?
Liz: We're planning a European tour in April, and doing some West Coast shows in May. And we're already working on our next album.
Duke: More satisfying synthpop, neat music videos, and perhaps a comic strip!
The Other Sean: Songs. You know, Freezepop-y songs.
Any final words for the readers?
Liz: If you see us, come say hi.
The Other Sean: We've had a great year and we look forward to playing for everyone that wants to see us. We hope people like listening to our music.
You can visit the band and check out their music at http://www.freezepop.net |
