Interview with Andreza

On a typical hot day in July I met with Andreza’s lead singers and guitarists Jackie French and Josh Dutton at the newly-opened Cafe 153. We settled in an out-of-the-way table in the corner of the cafe, where we talked about everything from Amy Winehouse’s untimely death, to their growing fan base in Central and South America, to what it would be like to have band named after me (The Schrenk Experience was suggested), and in the middle of all this Jackie and Josh gave me a little insight into Andreza. Having met through mutual friends and jam sessions(for different bands?, Andreza is a Huntsville-based post rock band that frequently plays at Planet Avalon in Decatur (different places?) and consists of Jackie French and Josh Dutton on lead guitar/vocals, Brian Steele on bass and Ruben Burgos on drums

So, since not everybody could make it today, how many people are in this band?
Jackie: There’s four. I’m the lead singer and guitarist.
Josh: And I sing and play lead guitar also.
Jackie: And then we have a drummer (Ruben Burgos) and bass player (Brian Steele). It’s just your basic setup, like the Beatles! (laughs)

What genre of music would you put yourself in?
Jackie: Post rock

What other bands are in the post-rock genre?
Jackie: Well there’s Toe, they’re a post rock band, and Josh knows some others.
Josh: There’s also Enemies and Rooftops.

Are there any post-rock bands that have had any mainstream success?
Josh: I think the most popular band that is usually associated with the post-rock genre is Explosions in the Sky.
Jackie: Sigur Ros is more popular too, but they are a little bit different.

Did y’all hear Amy Winehouse is dead?
Jackie: Yeah I was like, what the heck?!
Josh: I wasn’t really surprised.
Jackie: Me either, she was always singing about not going to rehab.

So I know in the past you had trouble deciding on a band name. How did you come up with Andreza?
Josh: It was totally random; we found the name on a cardboard box in our practice space, which was my studio apartment at the time. We all jokingly suggested it as a band name so we decided to use it when we played our next show, and it stuck.

Does it actually mean anything?
Josh: Well I think it’s actually a Brazilian girl’s name, but I don’t know the exact origin of it; South American girls named Andreza keep adding us on facebook. The box was actually a shoe box from a Brazilian company, and Andreza was the style of the shoe.
Jackie: And the South American girls that added us will write on our wall, but it’s in another language so we can’t understand what they’re saying! (laughs)

If you could name a band that has the most influence on your music, what would it be?
Jackie: I think for all of us it would be different. It used to be that Paramore was one of my main influences, but now I would say it was Hillsong United.
Josh: Probably Rooftops and Toe. We don’t really sound like them, but it affects our writing style.

Does everybody in the band participate in writing songs?
Jackie: Its usually me and Josh that come up with the main structure of the song, like the underlying part, but then the rest of the band will come in and add their own parts to it.
Josh: We usually come up with the premise and let the rest of the band add a little direction.

So how is the relationship between the band members? Do you guys ever run into any conflicts?
Jackie: Sometimes it’s hard for us to communicate when we are playing a song, because I have a musical background and I can read music and the rest of the band members can’t, so when I try to explain something in musical terminology they don’t know what I’m talking about. When Ruben talks about drums using drum lingo the rest of us don’t know what he’s talking about, and when we talk to Ruben about guitars he gets confused too.
Josh: It’s definitely hard to communicate in any group atmosphere because everybody’s perspective is different and everybody is in a different place, so it is hard to get it all together sometimes. But usually just playing is the best way to communicate, just having everybody play their parts is the best way to work it out, until someone doesn’t like what somebody else is playing and it’s hard for that person to explain what their doing.
Jackie: Its a little bit cold-sounding but sometimes I like to think of it as a creative work atmosphere, like Pixar studios or something. I think their office is awesome! That’s how I think of Andreza, and it would be nice to eventually make money off of it you know, because it could be that fun creative atmosphere.

Okay so this question sounds kind of cliché, but does the band have any sort of ritual they do before they go on?
Jackie: We always seem to watch a funny youtube video together before we play to release the tension, at least that’s what I do! I tend to get more nervous than then guys, I think because I am a perfectionist.

Alright, so thanks for letting me interview you guys!
Jackie: No problem! It was fun!

If you want more info or to listen to their music Andreza has a facebook (facebook.com/Andreza) and a myspace page (myspace.com/andrezaband). You can also check them out on my reverbnation page.

This post is also cross posted at hsvmusicleakage.blogspot.com.