02/19/04

The Sugarplum Fairies

Interview by Doug Lane

The Sugarplum Fairies are slated to release their new album "Introspective Raincoat Student Music" on Starfish Records, February 24th. This LA based duo made up of vocalist and lyrical entrepreneur Silvia Ryder, and Ben Bohm, responsible for the often melodic and fluidic guitar endeavors. The Sugarplum Fairies have a back up band that is forever changing, growing, and providing the band with new sounds helping them become a diverse act on the indie checklist. I had a moment to talk with Vienna-raised Silvia Ryder and Ben Bohm about the album and where they feel they are coming from individually and as a group.

Sidewinder: We'll start with something cliche and totally unoriginal, How did The Sugarplum Fairies come up with an expansive title like, "Introspective Raincoat Student Music" and what does it mean?

Silvia: The title "Introspective Raincoat Student Music" refers to a quote by a British journalist attempting to put a stylistic label on Nick Drake's release "Five Leaves Left". We thought it would be an apt title for our CD since it is solely comprised of slow and mid-tempo songs.

Sidewinder: Silvia, what was it about Ben's style that made you want to work with him and vice versa, Ben what was it about Silvia's vocals that made you think this was a good match?

Silvia: In retrospect there seemed to be not an immediate artistic chemistry between the two of us but quite the opposite; we actually thought our musical styles would not match at all but we were giving it a try anyway. Ben has a rather systematic approach to songwriting and draws upon pop stylistics whereas my lyrics are often abstract to the point of fragmentation. We soon realized though that our diverse styles contribute to a certain complexity in our songs in a way that leaves room for multi-layered interpretations.

Ben: It was more like trying to find a style in my songwriting that would feature her vocals. So it wasn't a "good match" to begin with - we had to work long and hard to create our style.

Sidewinder: With an ever-changing musical accompaniment for the 2 of you, do you find it hard to make a style consistent with how you originally write the songs?

Silvia: Since it is only the two of us writing the songs we have a pretty good idea of how we want everything to sound before we go into the studio to record. I believe the majority of songs kind of "dictate" the overall structure and arrangements up to the point of the actual recruitment of musicians.

Sidewinder: There are comparisons to Mazzy Star every which way you look at this album, and now you’ve added Keith Mitchell as well, do you feel these comparisons are accurate, was it intentional (As in was Mazzy Star a big influence?)?

Silvia: Mazzy Star was only an influence in the sense that The Velvet Underground influenced them. I do believe though that there are obvious similarities between Hope Sandoval's and my singing technique that is very breathy and detached. It was rather coincidental how Keith Mitchell came into the picture. I am personally not a fan of the big drum sound and in quest of "a drummer with understatement that kind of sounds like Keith Mitchell of Mazzy Star" I ran into someone who actually knew "the real" Keith Mitchell. It turned out that Mazzy Star happened to be on hiatus around the same time we recorded "Introspective" so everything worked out perfectly.

Sidewinder: Indie rock and especially females who are willing to speak their mind and produce a style all their own is well accepted if not encouraged on college campuses and dorm room stereos, What is it about this record that you think would appeal to college students?

Silvia: Maybe the fact that this album is unique in the sense that it utilizes a 100% DIY approach. For other than economic reasons we intentionally made an effort to minimize the number of participants in the making of this record. Our goal was to create as pure a transition as possible from the initial visualization to the final product with the two of us simultaneously working as writers, musicians, engineers, producers, art directors and photographers.

Sidewinder: The album seems to develop and produce one complete type of feel, by this I mean it seems you wanted not just the music to speak for the band but also the artwork and the way in which it was presented, would you agree with this, or was it more coincidental?

Ben: I think it is coincidental in the way that we would start out with a few songs and kind of develop a feel from those and then fit more pieces in that puzzle. We left a number of songs by the wayside - Silvia did all the artwork and the great thing is nobody had to explain to her what we were looking for. It was a very organic process all in all.

Sidewinder: Silvia, what about your lyrics do you feel makes them "yours"?

Silvia: There is kind of a contradiction in the way I approach lyrics. On one hand they are very personal in nature but I tend to use words in a rather abstract way and that naturally leaves space for a variety of different interpretations. Also, since English is not my first language I occasionally combine words in an unexpected fashion.

Sidewinder: So with this album done and the whole year ahead of you what do The Sugarplum Fairies have planned for the rest of this year?

Silvia: We are taking the year off while Ben works on his solo album which I am going to be producing.

Sidewinder: Thanks so much for sitting down with us and good luck with Ben’s solo album and the release of "Introspective Raincoat Student Music".

Silvia: Thanks.