How did you decide who sang lead on each tune?
A lot of the songs come from a certain place to begin with. Someone would sing a part they came up with-it’s never-ending. Everyone has their own style to bring to the table and we weed through it and figure out what’s good.
How’d you decide to have the same long hair, same clothing style, and similar slim-size dresses?
(laughter) We get asked if we’re sisters and kid around by saying we’ll only hang around people who look like us. Honestly, it’s like a marriage where you start to look like each other. We always had long hair. The fashion stuff has become more homogenous ’cause we’re constantly asking each other if something looks good. But we are very different people.
I found it remarkable that The Bird Of Music’s ‘Sad Song’ video, where you bake cookies, had half a million Internet hits despite the fact you’re a relatively new indie band.
It’s a great song. (laughter)
(Jokingly) Wow! That’s informative. ‘Fallen Snow’ (with an amazing one million hits) benefited from a Beach Boys-like Pet Sounds synthesizer groove with Heather’s soprano taking the silky lead. In the video, you’re at a bucolic stream in the country.
That was done up near Woodstock. We heard it was pretty up there. That had a retro vibe.
Is Still Night, Still Light getting more critical attention due to your past successes?
People like it better. There’s less silliness and more cohesion. It’s all about the textures.
Are you aware of Bats For Lashes’ Natasha Khan? She’s a cryptic Goth artist whose keyboard synthesis has a correlative tone.
We played with her at South By Southwest two years ago. We’re in the same world. We have a lot of friends in common. Her new LP, Two Sons, really tricked me sounding like Kate Bush. She’s from London but lived in Brooklyn for a few months.
Notwithstanding all the keyboard swells, Au Revoir Simone’s songs have a striking folk feel.
That’s what Thom says. It’s a folk album without folk instruments-which is what we wanted and why we wanted to work with Thom (whose ’90s band with Joe Pernice, the Scud Mountain Boys, crafted rural alt-Country material).
Have you thought of adding guitar or neo-Classical orchestration to beef up future endeavors?
We thought about using strings, but we didn’t need it. We didn’t go there. We started as an all-keyboard band and that’s what we do. But we’re open to those ideas and up for the challenge. Annie’s a big fan of Bach and I’m into experimental music by Phillip Glass.
Catch Au Revoir Simone at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC on June 27. For more info, visit myspace.com/aurevoirsimone.
