Forget the Motor City / The Von Bondies - V28 Mar/Apr 2004

Little Darlings

With only one indie label release under their studded belts, The Von Bondies have managed over the course of the past three years to transform themselves from a little-known motor-city bar band to a much-loved, much-hyped and highly sought after alt-rock phenomenon. The two boy/two girl band went from playing basements and tiny clubs to opening for the recently re-formed Iggie and the Stooges, headlining tours and widespread adoration in the UK, and now, after a tumultuous year of touring, recording, and a much-publicized bar brawl between lead Von Bondie Jason Stollsteimer and the ubiquitous Jack White, the band are poised to release Pawn Shoppe Heart, the record that will hopefully elevate them from the ranks of indie-darlings and catapult them into the big time . Armed with a slick new major-label record that effortlessly blends garage, punk, and a healthy dose of soul music, The Von Bondies uphold the torch passed along by other great Detroit bands like the MC5, the Stooges, and even, dare I say it, the White Stripes. In 2004, The Von Bondies are ready to bring the rock.

TCR: Hey Jason, I'm calling you from my mom's house in Oklahoma, where are you?

JS: L.A. Are you in your teenage bedroom?

TCR: Yes! I feel like I should be secretly applying some black eyeliner I stole from my mom's make-up drawer and listening to an old Sisters of Mercy record or something.

JS: Oh god, I know.

TCR: What was the soundtrack in your teenage bedroom?

JS: I was into stuff like Brainiac and Nation of Ulysees, Don Caballero and the Pixies. Lots of Pixies...

TCR: So, you recorded your first record, Lack of Communication, in two days, right?

JS: Yeah, and with going from that record to this new one, we get this much bigger sound. People asked me if this is our new "major label sound", which it isn't. But we did definitely take more than two days this time around.

TCR: Time for the age-old question then, for being such a popular indie band, what made you decide to jump to a major label? Did you have "sell out" anxiety?

JS: Well, we started realizing that the bands who were opening for us were on major labels and we were like, wait, we've been doing this for about three years, we're breaking even on the tours, which is good, and we have all these friends in bands who are signing to majors and apparently getting whatever they want...but what do we want? Do we want to do this for the rest of our lives or is this just for fun?

So, we sat down over dinner and decided to just see what we could do, and how far we could go with it. We already had the record written anyway, at least in our heads, so we just needed a record it and we needed a label to put it out and get it into stores. Our first record was on a tiny indie, so it was next to impossible to find unless you were in New York or California. It was always on back order, places were always sold out of it...so we were selling out shows at places that big places that major label bands couldn't sell out, but no one could find our record! We needed a way to get it out there, basically.

Then, we played the South by Southwest festival two years ago and did this big show. All these labels came and all these bands around us got these multi-million dollar record deals. . . and then nobody called us. Nothing. We were all depressed about it, you know? Like, what did we do wrong, we thought people loved us! So, finally we asked somebody at a label why they didn't call us back, and apparently everyone in the industry thought we were signed to V2, which we weren't. It was so weird. . . so then we spent a year explaining to everyone that we weren't already signed, and finally people started coming around with offers.

TCR: And has the major label experience been positive so far?

JS: Yeah, our people are nice. Every other label wanted us to change something, or do things like wear matching outfits or have all of us wear matching ties...

TCR: Oh no, seriously?

JS: Seriously. Or they'd say, "We think it would be a good idea for you to work with this producer," and that was weird too, since I didn't want to be assigned a producer. We wanted pick our own. We also had labels suggest little things like, "So, would you guys be cool if we got someone to come in and help you write songs.?" I mean, are you fucking kidding me? Like who, Burt Bachrach?

TCR: That's outrageous.

JS: Yeah, offensive. A lot of labels were after us because of what they'd heard, and the fact that we had a good buzz about us. "They have two hot girls in the band, let's dress em up, get someone to write some more radio-friendly tunes, and use what they got" So, we ended up with Sire and Seymour Stein, who is so cool and was so nice to us and really respected us. It's been great.

TCR: And you ended up working with Jerry Harrison as a producer?

JS: Yeah, It was interesting. We met with probably six or seven producers in LA when we played a show at the Troubador. And a lot of these guys have done much bigger records than Jerry and done records that were much more like how we sound. Jerry had done records with bands that sound nothing like us at all. . . but he knew that. We had our sound down already, so it wasn't about trying to "discover" what it was, it was about just getting our sound down on tape, which is what he is all about. Plus we really hit it off with him.

TCR: And he was in Talking Heads, which is fucking awesome.

JS: Yeah! and you know, you really have to earn the respect of someone like him. You can't just come in like a bratty kid and say "Yeah, yeah, I can write songs." You have to know your shit, or he'll call you on it.

TCR: What is the dynamic within your band like? Are you a dictator?

JS: Well, see, that's the thing...for the past three years since the band started I've been trying to get everyone else to write stuff. When we did the first record, I wrote 99% of everything. We'd only been a band for about 4 months. With this record I only did about 90%.

TCR: I would think it might get burdensome at times, always having to be the front guy.

JS: Weirdly, when we first started playing, which was like in house shows and basements and whatnot, I wanted to be roadie. And I wasn't even singing then, just playing guitar. So when I got stuck singing it was weird being in the spotlight all the time. I don't talk that much between songs, even now, and I often don't open my eyes. I'm still getting used to the crowd. . . it takes about five or six shows in a row before I start to get comfortable.

TCR: Well, you should probably get used to it. I have a feeling this record is going to get a lot of attention.

JS: The fact is, this is our chance. We're really, really proud of this record. We're definately gonna make the most of it.

- T. Cole Rachel