Formula Indie Sessions : Interview with The Band Famous
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
From what I’ve been told from family and loved ones, I have always been able to sing almost anything I heard recited back in perfect key. I really did practically come out of the womb singing and dancing in this lifetime, as though I’d done it in all my previous lifetimes. One of my earliest memories is singing and playing the “drums” aka pots and pans on the floor in my grandfather’s home to Sheryl Crow – “All I Wanna Do” when I was about four years old. I also have some fond memories of going to some Baptist churches in North Carolina when I was even younger, with memories of songs like “This Little Light of Mine” and “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands”. My mom was and still is a rock-n-roller. My dad loved music, too. They were into rock bands like Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Blondie, Prince, the Pretenders, Aerosmith, Jefferson Airplane, and Motown like Al Green, Jackson Five, the Temptations, the Chi-Lites and more, while my grandfather influenced me with his love of classical music and classics like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louie Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. I grew up on a wide variety of music.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
My passion for creating music probably began around the time I was teaching myself the drums on pots and pans. For sure it further developed when I discovered groups like En Vogue and the Spice Girls. Ever since I was a little girl, I would dream of singing from stage. And in case you want to know, I always identified the most with Ginger Spice. Dawn Robinson of En Vogue would actually make my inner child jump for joy when years later she would vocally support my singing voice and music project. I also have memories of “breaking in” to a nearby church by my grandfather’s home in northern Wisconsin – but is it really breaking in if there’s an open door, though? But when I was around five years old I would go to this church all the time and I remember no other adults were there, but I would play the piano for hours to entertain myself. I believe I’ve always had a sort of Suzuki style method with music and with my creation process – be it singing, or playing on a piano or synthesizer, guitar, flute or something else.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
It’s three-fold.
The Band Famous – Past, Present & Future
Honestly, one of my long-time dreams was to form a band and for a while there I was held hostage in my own music project that I didn’t even have a say in naming when it because my project had been hijacked and infiltrated by an enemy posed as a friend. I had permitted some bad company around me, which was counterintuitive to my music goals. All I wanted to do was pour my heart and soul into my music. They wouldn’t let me work on music unless I sold it and even when I was selling my music they continued to oppress me and held me back from working on music when and how I wanted to. It was a hard learning lesson but I claimed my dream back now and did a little house-cleaning, and now that I’ve learned it, I’ll never let another human being control or dictate how I am to live my life. When I severed ties, I released “Champion Mindset”, which you so graciously picked up and played on the radio! I was surprised at just how much success and warm reception the track received. It played on the radio and was written about and featured in multiple different countries, from the USA (Connecticut), to Portugal, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Canada and more. While it is admittedly a bit weird, like me – in fact a fan lovingly nicknamed me “Queen of the Weirdos” and it’s a crown I wear proudly – I knew it was just a sign that the best days and the best music was yet to come! Present day I am the sole singer-songwriter and member of The Band Famous.
Secret Project #1 – TBA
I am working on some very special collaborations and have a couple of brand new tracks that are more rap / hip hop / pop as part of one project where me and one collaborator are working on getting some music licensed together.
Secret Project #2 – Dream Girl Band, TBA
I am also in the process of starting my dream girl band with some badass bodacious babes. I have been writing all kinds of new music, and have done many freestyle jam sessions with a couple of creative friends, and I’m very inspired for the music that I am contributing to right now.
As Glorilla said, “let me cook”!
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
Some comparisons have been made over the years by fans of my music and some of them have really stuck with me. It’s amazing how your influences can be picked up by others in listening and exploring the music you create! My music has been compared as “Fiona Apple meets Nine Inch Nails; Nirvana meets Adele; Björk meets Rage Against the Machine”. I’ve also had some friends who have heard some sneak-listens to some new music in the works, such as some of the rap songs I’m working on and they’ve compared me to Qveen Herby. I find all of these to be huge compliments and often joke that Fiona Apple and Qveen Herby are my spirit animals, but I’m serious.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
I learned just how powerful lyrics are. I noticed how I felt after listening to, say, a bunch of grunge rock (love it), like Nirvana and Alice in Chains, and then noticing how I felt after listening to something generally more upbeat, like some alternative music such as the Shins or Arctic Monkeys.
At one point, many years ago, I had an entire notebook of poems and songs, some that even fellow musicians complimented me on; however, these particular poems and songs were more therapeutic for me during some particularly traumatic times in my youth and you could feel the angst and frustration practically spilling off the pages. I was once challenged by an ex to burn the entire notebook. I did. I decided there were enough songs out there by Alice in Chains and Soul Asylum, that I didn’t need to make anymore sad or angry songs, not necessarily. Don’t get me wrong, I may have a couple I’ve written since then that have more attitude and warrior spirit, but I aspire to inspire and uplift with my songwriting process. I write much more than I actually adapt to music, but not everything needs to be said or sung, in my opinion. In retrospect, I believe I was manipulated into burning that notebook because it represented a part of my identity, but sometimes when people move with ulterior motives with you, or even send you bad energy, it has a way of alchemizing and being transcended into a blessing in some way. As I burned a bunch of my earliest songs, I thought of one of my heroes, Kurt Cobain, who lost an entire notebook of songs in a fire, but in a way it was liberating and therapeutic to let it burn and start again, and I think that’s a great analogy sometimes in life. Sometimes you have to do that.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
I use Garageband a lot for the production side of things, and sometimes Adobe Audition. I’m transitioning to Logic soon. I’ve also been known to livestream on Twitch with Streamlabs and have captured freestyle tracks in that way, though it’s been a while since I’ve done any new music on a live stream. I’ve sorta taken a bit of a hiatus from streaming the creative process to protect some of my newer song babies and work on them in silence. My Boss RC-505 loop station is my favorite tool in my music studio. I can do so much with that piece of equipment and a microphone alone. It’s the same loop station that Marc Rebillet uses. My Moog Subsequent 37 analog synthesizer is another instrument I love to work with, and my hero Tom Green has the same one as me. I have a Fender Mustang electric guitar and a fun pedal I like to play with, and if I run that guitar through my Boss RC-505 loop station there is even a feature where I can turn guitar to bass and just like that I’m playing bass guitar. I have some drum machines, like a Moog Mother-32 sequencer and Moog DFAM (drummer from another mother) that are fun as well. I just had a great jam session with a couple creative friends of mine. I have some other tools I enjoy but those are some of the bread and butter of my creative process. I do require lots of sun as well, as my music studio runs off of solar power where I live and work off grid.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Qveen Herby, who actually a couple music fans of my work introduced me to. The first song they shared with me is “Nah”, which they found fitting when it was revealed what a narcissist I had been tethered to for so long. The song literally references the “gray rock method”, which is essentially about starving the narcissist of their supply – your energy. Next up is “Obitchuary”, which I definitely feel this song is my spirit animal in song form, along with “My SZN”. I love the Qveen! I am forever grateful to my fans who put me on, and I’ve been putting others on to her ever since. I have a DJ friend who will always play her for me when he sees me because he knows I will start a dance party by myself. It always gets me just vibing and in the moment, fully present.
I also really love “Touch Tank” by an artist named Quinnie, another fan put me on to that one.
I have a lot of great indie artists I feature on my website in the Hall Of Fame and TBF Radio, too. Some are even friends of mine, and artists I’ve shared the stage with before, such as my good friend Dakotah Faye. I’ve been putting a lot of my friends onto his music and other music that I feature in my Hall Of Fame.
Check out Dakotah Faye – “Do What I Want”. Oh and there’s a fun open-verse challenge of his that I jumped on, you can find the video, Dakotah Faye x The Band Famous – “Gymnastics” (Open Verse Challenge), on my YouTube channel.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
I have alchemized so much pain into power in this life, which has directly influenced my song writing process. I’ve transcended traumas, frustrations, and my life experiences into the music that I make. Once, I wrote songs with more angst and frustration and anger, when I was upset at God at a time because I didn’t understand how he could love us all so much yet stand by and let so much evil and horrors persist… But now I’m mature enough to realize that he is the most loving father, it’s just that some of us are spoiled rotten brats out here with all this free will. But I don’t need to make more angry music, even if it felt good to write it. We already have music like Alice in Chains. I love them, but I felt more depressed if I listened to “Down in a Hole” too often… So, I made a vow to myself one day that the music I would create would have the intention behind it to inspire, to uplift, to encourage, to promote positive feelings and emotions in those who cared enough to tune in and listen. I have found that gratitude has been key in making it through some things I otherwise might not have, and that gratitude influences my music and artistic vision. I don’t want people to feel too sad when they hear me sing, I want them to feel reason to celebrate. I want people to feel less alone. I want my music to heal, probably because music has been so healing for me, so I want to give that gift back in return.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
My hope is that they will never give up, that they will never let their bad days, or even years, or any of the bad experiences they’ve been through define them; that rather they would let those experiences refine them, and forge them into a stronger, better – no best – version of themselves. I wrote a mantra many years ago that sums it up, if my music could have this sort of reaction in my listeners I would be satisfied. It goes “I am a strong, capable vessel, I am healthy, happy, and successful”. It’s sort of like that saying by Henry Ford that goes “whether you believe you can or you can’t, you’re right” and I want people to hear my music and believe that they CAN. I hope that people will identity with my inner warrior and that it will give strength and help them to connect with theirs. Just like what I say in the intro of my trip hop song, “Emotional Scatter”, my message I hope listeners will take from my work is: “Don’t give up, keep going.”
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Pain can be turned into power. Some of my most heartbreaking life experiences have been utilized as fuel, I have transcended that pain into power and made something beautiful out of something ugly. I am an alchemist. I have healed myself and as a result I am able to also heal others.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
Great question! I’m really not too picky, any chance to perform my original music for fans and have their excitement there with me energizing my performance is a dream come true. I ran my own venue and co-produced a super amazing little festival in Los Angeles prior to the covid pandemic. That was surreal and a dream come true. I would love to perform in some historical venues in the USA and Europe and the sky is the limit, really, but again any chance to perform and have my music move and impact people in a positive way is a literal dream come true. It doesn’t matter the venue or festival to me so much as the energy, the impact.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Of the past? My heart wants to say Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell, and Freddie Mercury.
My inner child wants to add Spice Girls and En Vogue.
Of the present? I have four at the top of my list: Fiona Apple, Lauryn Hill, St.Vincent, and Qveen Herby. I wouldn’t mind collaborating with Trent Reznor, Brandon Boyd, Arctic Monkeys, Kanye or Mario either. I have a great amount of respect for all of these artists and more. I just feel creatively, and intellectually, I could hit it off with all of them.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
Thank you so much for asking! They may find me and The Band Famous almost everywhere, and to stay updated on my girl band project I’m working on as well as my other special top secret music project in the works, bookmark https://bandfamous.com as I’ll definitely make the announcements when the time has come to unveil them with the world! I would love if listeners would subscribe to my YouTube at https://youtube.com/thebandfamoustm, and follow on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/artist/41C0RnD7mbITT4JzX3RcUt and Bandcamp at https://bandfamous.bandcamp.com. I welcome your listeners to follow me on Instagram at https://instagram.com/the_band_famous (same handle for Threads and TikTok), and https://Facebook.com/TheBandFamous, X at https://x.com/TheBandFamous, and Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/thebandfamous,
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
I am excited for the collaborations I will soon get to share with music lovers everywhere. I look forward to celebrating more dreams coming true, such as getting a couple songs licensed in commercials. One day I will wake up and it will feel so surreal just how many people know my music by my voice and songwriting; that my lyrics and melodies will one day have a greater impact on a worldwide scale and I will be living all of the dreams I dared to dream as a little girl in real time.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
I hope that listeners will discover a lifeline if they need one, as music has always been one for me when I needed one. I hope that the music that I produce and share can begin to give back in the ways that music has given to me, in the ways that music has saved me. If someone somewhere hears a song I created and they feel less alone than they did before my melodies hit their ears, then I feel I am doing my service and sharing my gifts in the most benevolent way possible. I hope that my music will touch listeners in their soul, and awaken them to gifts and dreams within themself that might be lying dormant, waiting for a little nudge to come along. I aspire to inspire and uplift and if a listener discovers even something as simple as a better mood, or an enlightened perspective, I would feel grateful to have impacted them in this way. I want my music and singing to heal others as music and singing has always healed me.
