Interview by Greg Yeti with Jennifer Manganiello (vocals) & Doug White (guitars / keys)
Now that you are onto your second album what did you do to grow without losing your sound?
Doug: Yes, I believe our new CD Different Shade of Beauty does
just that. Growing musically without losing who we are. Working with
new sounds, instruments, tones and textures is something we love to do.
Growing as a musician and writer without loosing focus is always a
challenge. I'm always trying to keep in mind the moods we do best
though. I don't like to stray too far from what I believe TEARWAVE is
about musically.
Jenn: I think we are also figuring out more of a signiture sound for the band at this point with the new CD.
In this day
& age where attention deficit disorder seems the norm, it is quite
ambitious to release such a long album with so many songs – was this a
conscious decision?
Doug: We really wanted to release something that we hope is
epic. Going against the norm of a 45 minute CD seemed like a way to
really give the audience the most for their dollar and download. I
never thought there was such a thing as a CD that was too long since
you can always take it out of your player and return to it another day.
Or in the case these days hit the your shuffle button.
Jenn: The music just kept flowing right out of us and we didn't seem to be able to stop.
When you approach your recordings, do you have it in mind how the songs will translate to the stage? Some bands are stronger as studio bands & some are mightier as a live act – where do you think you fall in there?
Doug: I think we are strongest in the studio. We feel comfortable in that enviorment for sure. Everyone in TEARWAVE has a strong live background so refining the live show is something we have been working on with every show we play.
Jenn: I love playing live and feel it is apart of who I am. It is such a release and thrill.
You didn't play many shows after the release of your first disc, relying mainly on interweb word-of-mouth – do you plan to do anything different with your new release?
Doug: Yes TEARWAVE is a ready set go live band now. TEARWAVE got rolling so fast for us in the
begining we had to do some life arranging before becoming a live band
as well. Also waiting a year for our name to get out there a bit might
have been a good thing for show attendence and recognition as well.
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Jenn: It took us a bit of time to decide playing out live is something we want to put lots of energy into.
Where do you think you fit into the modern neo-shoegazer movement with bands like A Place To Bury Strangers & Airiel making waves? Even The Shins in interviews are proclaiming love for the bands from the 90's in the dream-pop & shoegazer mold (see the interviews in Big Takeover)… And, now that (ex-Slowdive mainman) Neil Halstead is on superstar tours with Jack Johnson & My Bloody Valentine is back with major shows, where do you fit in?
Doug: We hope we fall in the same catagory as these artists. We are still a bit under the radar so far compared to these bands. Shoegaze is such a wide general term that even fans of the genre can hardly define it most of the time. TEARWAVE tries to say within the general shoegaze realm along with having our own spin on it.
I've read that with global warming the northeast snowbelt is going to be warming significantly in the next few decades, thus potentially making Buffalo less dreary – any plans to move to a colder climate so as to not lose your snowy muse?
Doug: I don't think it is so much the cold of upstate NY as much as it is the misery of Buffalo that fuels our music somewhat. Even a warmer Buffalo is a dreary Buffalo.
There are no "young bucks" in your band – how hard is it to plan & organize Tearwave as a functioning business-like band when everyone has jobs & lives outside of the band? What sacrifices are you making & what do you plan to alter in your lives?
Doug: Keeping line of communication open everyday is the only way for us to schedule our lives around the band. Everyones enthusiasm has never been in question so we keep up on things prety well.
Jenn: Everyone in TEARWAVE is really into what we are doing so a lot of sacrifices have been and are being made still for the music and the band.
What music was the band listening to while making the new album?
Doug: We all span the spectrum of listening pretty wide. I have been on a Tearwave for Fears kick and the Cure, Joe probably the Sirius satelite comedy channel, John Led Zepplin.
Jenn: I had been listening to Mazzy Star and Circa Survive.
What is your process for songwriting? Is it a group effort, or more of a songwriting dictatorship with one member presenting the songs to the band?
Doug: After some of John's vintage Ludwig drum sounds and percussion is layed I will put songs together with guitars and keyboards and present them to Jenn. She will usually sit with them for a week and come in with lyrics and we will start trying new melodies and arrangements. After that the band as a whole might come together to do some more bass tweeking or add some extra percussion and ideas.
It seems that the bands who are getting major press always have some story that PR companies & journalists can exploit – so, do you guys have any skeletons in your closet that can be used in tabloid articles about Tearwave?
Doug: There are so many skeletons in the closet in the TEARWAVE camp its like a graveyard.
Jenn: Yikes!
Vinyl is making a mild comeback as a backlash to the lukewarm sounds of Myspace streams & Ipod earbuds – any plans to release some wax?
Doug: It's really nice to see vinly making a bit of a come back. As nostalgic as that is though I think in our genre it could only be for collecting or for serious audio files.
Not even ten years ago it was considered a sellout move to have a song in a television commercial, but now it is one of the main ways for an indie artist to make some needed money and gain massive exposure; how do you feel about this? Can you picture a Tearwave song hocking a Volkswagon? What companies would you want to support in that manner?
Doug: TEARWAVE doesn't have any problems with things like that. For an indie band I don't think it is the company exploiting the bands music. I like to look at it as the band exploiting the company's ad budget to get our music out there.
Jenn: If the music is able to get out to people that is what makes me happy.
Now that, with
the internet, everyone has easy access to every band ever, the gluttony
of music makes it hard to stand out from the masses of bands out there
– what do you try to do to stand out? |  |
Doug: I believe this is the very downfall of the music business over any type of pirating. The selection, access and choice the sheer numbers of bands out there cheapens music. It is overwhelming. Live show attendence is way down as well for indie bands. Why go out when all the entertainment you could hope for is on your computer. I really believe TEARWAVE has it easy becasue I know we are doing something that not many bands do.
Your music is spacey & somewhat trippy – what part of the songwriting process involves intoxication and drugs?
Doug: Tap water and a once a day diet coke for me is about as crazy as we get.
Jenn: Coffee, tea, and wintergreen mints for me.
In what countries are you getting the best reception to your music? Often bands similar to Tearwave have much more presence in the UK and Europe.
Doug: We do get lots of mail from the UK. It's so hard to judge where the best reception might be for us on just e-mails though. I guess we will have to someday go to these places to find out.
Jenn: I should would love to go to the UK or Europe and play. I think it would be an amazing experience.
Where will Tearwave be in 5 years?
Doug: Doing our 5th CD
Jenn: Still going strong.
Tearwave life in Philadelphia at Dracula's Ball, here.
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