Interview with Sara Eugene of
20GOTO10 conducted via email August 2005
Q1. In your bio notes,
Matt mentions the ability to add on or edit sounds on the fly when playing live. I
recently saw another electronic band that had pre-programmed everything for their show.
When the crowd cheered for an extended encore they were unable to oblige.
Even though pre-programming may streamline the flow of a show do you find playing live
gives a show a unique and better energy vibe for the total experience? Does it allow
you more flexibility to respond to the audience's request?
A1. Primarily, the ability
to edit sounds live helps us respond to the energy of the crowd in the songs that we
perform. We're able to really get into the performance and add little things that
reflecct the moment. Some nights we get kind of carried away with the improvisation
other nights it's more toned down. The instruments we use give us that latitude.
We've got our drums
pre-recorded. So if people request a song we don't have the drums for, they might be
out of luck. Unless we're feeling particularly energetic and want to give an
all-analog rendition, which has been known to happen (especially with our cover of Ronnie
James Dio's Rainbow in the Dark).
But yes, for the most part, when
the crowd wants more, we're able to deliver. If it's 20goto10 you want, it's
20goto10 you'll get.
Q2. For Bill and Matt, to
complete the band line up with a female vocalist in order to give 20GOTO10 it's warmth as
mentioned in the bio notes. Was it always the vision that it had to be a female
vocalist? Typically with many synth, electronic, analog bands the basis is usually
male due to the stereotypical "only guys like to fidget with gadgets" mentality.
Sara definitely adds to the beauty of 20GOTO10's music so was this decision to make
the band a little more distinctive among the other electronic bands?
A2. The boys were on the
prowl for a singer for a LONG TIME before I found them. I believe they had their
hearts set on a female vocalist, but I think they had something a little different in
mind. Something a little less...I don't know...prominent? Something more
stereotypically "girly"?
But now we're really ahem
synthesized into a team. We all work together and capitalize on each other's
strengths.
Q3. Also in the bio notes,
Bill mentioned the difference of playing drums and keyboards. The liner notes of the
CD "Tears From the Electric Eye" lists the array of instruments including
Korg_MS-10, Moog-Rogue, and the Yamaha RS-7000. Were any other traditional
instruments incorporated or programmed for making the CD?
A3. What do you mean by
"traditional"??? Just kidding. We use a live bass on Corvette.
Q4. Based on the track
listing order, was there an intended idea or theme you wanted your listeners to convey or
experience? Do the tracks tell an overall story? Or are they all to be
absorbed as individual entities?
A4. We wrote the songs as
individual pieces, and they seem to work well on their own (in compilations, for example).
But due to the nature of time/human emotions, there is an overall theme in the
songwriting. Because of what we were all going through while writing the songs,
there's some flow and consistency.
We're going into our next album
with a much stronger sense of "concept". We'll see where that takes us....
Q5. Are any videos or
visual arts to be incorporated with the live shows? Are there any plans for a Music
DVD to accompany "Tears From the Electric Eye"?
A5. A friend of ours is
planning on making a video shoot about one of our songs. But beyond that, there are
no solid plans to have an accompanying DVD or visual presentation. One of the
advantage of playing the instruments live is that there's more of an actual performance to
watch.
Q6. Are the songs written
as a group effort or start as the brain child after some experimenting with sounds on an
individual basis?
A6. Typically, Matt will
compose the basic structure of the song-the drums and a few key melody lines. Then
we'll brainstorm about lyrics and themes (Bill and I write the bulk of the lyrics) and
then I'll play off the existing melodies or write a counter melody for the vocals and Bill
and Matt will layer on the synth parts.
It's not a etched-in-stone
forumula, but it's a good thumbnail sketch of the process...
Q7. What are the current
goals for 20GOTO10? Any plans to collaborate with other electronic artists besides
the duet with Dan of VanityCrash?
A7. Goals? Besides
world domination? We'd like to get signed to an indie label and tour regionally.
Maybe have some help paying for our next album. And some support booking
shows, etc. We're not expecting to go platinum or anything, but we love what we do
and we'd like to see how far we can push it.
As far as collaboration goes,
it's just a matter of seeing what opportunities come along. No definite plans at the
moment.
Q8. Are there specific
tracks that have meaning to the each of you? Why? (i.e. lyrically or simply
enjoyable to play.)
A8. "Without
You" is extremely fun to sing. "The Difference Between Complacency and
Contentment" is probably the most meaningful to me.
I'm not going to put words into
the boys' mouths, but I know neither of them cares for "The Machine Stops" all
that much-it happens to be one of my favorites. The lyrics are based on a 1909 short
story by E.M. Forster.
Q9. You have received some
very note worthy positive remarks concerning the album and your live performances.
How much have you had to deal wtih any backlash concerning electronic music in your
endeavors? Have you run into brick walls of opposed mentality concerning electronic
music versus the traditional band configuration? Or are you strictly in a vein of
the music industry that only caterers to electronic musicians and it's fan base?
Having been influence by rock bands, etc. does this allow you to understand both points of
view? Since the liner notes include a quote from Isao Tomita I have to assume this
point has been brought up before.
A9. This is a very good
question. Gear heads like us because we use really good stuff that's kind of rare in
modern music. But a lot of our fans don't know or care about analog synthesizers.
They just think it sounds good.
Also, since there's not a huge
electronic scene in the Northeast Ohio, we tend to get reactions like "I've never
heard anything like THIS before" or "this isn't really my scene, but I dig
it".
Usually when we play, we're the
"odd girl out" sonically. The lineup will be, for example, two indie-rock
bands and us. Or 3 hardcore bands and us. Or 4 accoustic rock bands and us.
Recently, though, we've been able to set up some of our own shows and select
artists that are a good fit with us.
Q10. Final Fun
Question.....I'm sure you knew it was coming. For each of you what is your favorite
film with Winona Ryder? Why?
Probably Edward Scissorhands.
She looks better than you'd expect as a blonde. The boys will probably have
strong feelings about this question....
For additional information concerning 20GOTO10
please click on the link to their website on the links page.
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