MUSIC. I MAKE IT. – Q & A with Sienna and Laura from The Randies

The Randies

www.myspace.com/therandies

The Randies – Thought I Could Change

The Randies are:

Sienna DeGovia: vocals, bass

Laurita Guaico: vocals, guitar

Laura Cataldo: vocals, guitar

Tosha Jones: drums

Discography:

At the Friendship Motor Inn

Saw the Light

To be released: Bye Bye Beautiful

This whole month you’ve been listening to featured Band the Randies on some of the various TRAffIK segments and now we wrap it up with a Q&A with Sienna and Laura.

TRAffIK: How did you come together?

Sienna: Laura and I met at Mr. T’s Bowl in Highland Park where we were both playing with other bands. Her friend was screwing my boyfriend at the

time and Laura witnessed me throw many a drink on that lovely little

ladies’ head. We started a band, recorded an album with a couple of

ill fitting bandmates who quit right after the album came out. Then

we met Laurita at the awesome Kiss or Kill shows where we we’re all

playing and hanging out on a regular basis. We recorded another album

toured our asses off and went of a major quest for the perfect drummer

who we FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY found in Miss Tosha Jones from Indiana.

TRAffIK: Length of time as a band?

Sienna: a billion years! no just kidding….about three years in our current

configuration.

TRAffIK: Have you always been LA based? If not where were you previously?

Sienna:Yup we’re LA through and through…(the

good-east-of-highland-no-fake-titties kind of LA)

TRAffIK: Where does your name come from?

Sienna: Oh god, from the part of someone’s brain that is full of bad ideas.

TRAffIK: When you aren’t playing music what else can we find you doing?

Sienna: Eating mostly. Or playing with food.

TRAffIK: How would you describe your sound?

Sienna: guitar driven, vocal heavy, pop rock with killer harmonies.

TRAffIK:What is the song writing process like for your band?

Sienna: Someone wiill come in with the structure of a song, or the basic

melody or lyrics. Then we will work on it as a group until we all

like it. Sometimes we even finish lyrics for each other. It’s a very

collaborative process.

TRAffIK: What is the recording process like for you?

Sienna: We like to record everything live and then go back in for guitar

tweaks and vocals. Right now the recording process has been

slooooooooow and frustrating because we depend on the kindness of

talented engineers and producers to donate their valuble abilities.

As times get tougher in the music biz and the world in general, free

studio time seems to get more scarce.

TRAffIK: Rumor has it you’ve been working on a new CD when will that be available

to your audience?

Sienna: We are hoping to release it in the next couple of months, so Spring 09.

TRAffIK: Has the making of that CD been any different than your previous ones?

Sienna:We’ve had more time to work out all the songs and to play them live in

front of an audience because we toured a lot before recording. Our

other two albums were very very rushed in that we were finishing the

songs in the studio and had never even played some of them live.

TRAffIK:What has been your most fun show to play so far? Why?

Sienna: All of the Warped Tour shows have been fun in that rock n roll summer

camp way. It’s just an indescribable feeling to be on tour with a

giant group of like minded people. You can begin to feel really crazy

for pursuing a life in music as the years creep by, bt then you do

something like the Warped Tour and you realize there are a lot of

freaky music junkies just like you out there . We also played a

great show in Missouri with a band called Ludo on our last tour. The

crowd was awesome and we are all friends so that was really

fun…..Some of my favorite shows of all time were the Kiss or Kill

shows when that scene was really tightly knit. There was always a

really fun and light hearted feel to the night. Everyone was there to

have a good time and support local music. No attitude, just good

times.

(Since we at TRAffIK love Makeovers check out as the Randies restyle Ludo during last years Warped Tour)

TRAffIK: Worst Show?

Sienna: Too many to mention!!! I have stage fright that will rear it’s ugly

head for no reason at any given moment. I’ve played so many shows

just completely paralyzed with fear. ugh, it’s the worst.

TRAffIK: What is your favorite place to play in LA? Outside of LA?

Sienna: In LA I still like playing at Mr. T’s though I heard they may not be

doing live music there anymore…..We’ve played at the House of Blues

a couple of times and of course that is amazing. When we’re on tour

my absolute favorite place to play is The Melody Inn in Indianapolis,

Indiana. They put on a night called Punk Rock Night and there is

still a great big scene of rowdy music fans. I love it.

TRAffIK: Do you feel it is harder to develop a following in Los Angeles as opposed

to other cities? Why or why not?

Sienna: Yes, definitely. There are just too many bands in LA. You can throw

a rock without hitting a musician in my neighborhood and there is a

general “too cool for school” attitude that pervades every club in LA.

In other cities, people are basically happy and grateful that you

drove all that way to come out and play for them.

TRAffIK: What is the audience like in other cities?  What areas have the best audiences?

Laura: Sometimes its the suburbs and the areas of the states that have absolutely nothing going on for the kids. As an indie artist it is better!  They are genuinely so excited to see live music and we aren’t competing with a gazillion other events going on the same night.

TRAffIK: What are some of the elements that you feel make a great show?

Sienna:I think it’s all about energy. If the band is relaxed and having a great time that really comes across to the crowd. Some of our best shows have happened right after a nasty band fight too. As long as the band is really feeling something (even if it’s just rage at each other!) and not just phoning it in you’re gonna have a great show.

TRAffIK: What do you wish there was more of in Los Angeles music wise (i.e.

supportive fans, better bookers, more venues, more support, etc.)?

Sienna: How about all of the above! It’s really a sad time for LA and the

music scene because Indie 103.1 just went off the air. When Indie was

around there was at least ONE other option besides main stream

corporate crap radio, but now there is nothing but the internet. I’m

also hoping that kids will want to start rocking out again. I’m

really really tired of people being into bands that don’t know how to

sing in tune or play their instruments, let alone write a good song.

It’s gotten to the point where all you need is your grandma’s grey

high heels, a pair of mens socks, skinny arms, a snare drum that you

play with two cucumbers and you too can be the next indie-rock

darling! I don’t want to sound bitter, but it took me a lot of years

and a million shows to get to the point where I can say (with

confidence ) that I am in a great band. It burns a little to see a

newbie with quirky fashion sense and absolutely no talent getting all

the attention. But whatever.

TRAffIK:How often do you play shows?

Sienna: We have slowed down since we got back from the Warped Tour last summer

(trying to finish this next album at long last) but anywhere from 3-8

per month if we’re in LA, to one every night if we’re on tour.

TRAffIK: How many tours have you gone on now and what areas have you covered?

Sienna:I think we’ve traversed the US about 8 times now. We’ve done the warped tour 3 times and we have also done a bunch of mini weekend dates up to the bay area or out to Arizona.

TRAffIK:What are some of the misconceptions that you think bands that have never

toured have about touring (if any)?

Sienna: That it’s always fun. It can get really boring and really lonely and

really fattening. Or that people will be at every show you play. We

have literally played to zero people before. It’s so weird. You can

play a packed club one night and the next night just a few hundred

miles away there is no one at the show.

TRAffIK: What was your experience with booking shows/working with bookers and how

were the shows different if any?

Sienna:  A lot of bookers don’t know how to work with smaller bands. They will

put a touring band on last after all the local bands at midnight on a

tuesday. That is just a recipe for disaster. Laurita has gotten

really good at fighting for what we need to have a great show as a

touring band. It sucks to have to push all the time, but that’s the

nature of the beast.

TRAffIK: Many bands used to (and may still have) the mentality that playing a

festival like Warped Tour would be their big break and officially put them

on the map. What was your experience with playing the Warped Tour stage?

Sienna:  It’s always a great experience to be a part of the Warped Tour, but it

does not a star make. There are so many bands playing all at the same

time that it’s really a daily struggle for the little bands to get

noticed. You have to promote, promote, promote every day. It’s like

boot camp for bands. If you are a small band, you are driving

hundreds of miles every night, loading in tons of gear over hot

pavement every morning at 8 am, passing out flyers and hanging up

posters until you get your thirty minute set, playing, packing up and

then doing it all again. Every day for weeks on end. It’s very

physically grueling but artistically rewarding to be part of such an

awesome traveling group of crazy musicians.

TRAffIK: How did the opportunity to play come about?

Sienna: A friend of a friend of a friend recommended us to Kevin Lyman and he

put us on the Kevin Says Stage for three California dates. The next

year we asked him if we could do more dates and he said yes. The NEXT

year we asked again and he said yes AGAIN! Kevin Lyman has been

incredibly supportive to us over the years. I think he appreciates

that we do everything ourselves with no label support. We will be

forever grateful to him for everything he’s done to help us out.

TRAffIK: What is the lifestyle of a touring band? What sacrifices do you have to

make as a person?

Sienna: Basically you have to be willing to give up every human comfort and

security. Everything most people take for granted is put in jeopardy

by the touring lifestyle. Financial security, family relationships,

romantic relationships, education and physical and mental health are

all put under incredible strain while touring in a band regularly.

There were a couple of years where we were gone at least 6 months out

of the year, living out of our van. I had to sublet my apartment,

give up my day jobs, and try to hold together some semblance of a

social life while I was in and out of town. That was the worst,

because even when I came back to LA I had no place that was my own.

To tour a lot is hard. To tour a lot as an DIY band with no tour

support is nearly impossible. I don’t know how we’ve kept it up for

as long as we have.

TRAffIK: Do you feel bands from other cities have a different mentality than LA

based bands? If so how so?

Sienna: In general I would say there is a more welcoming feeling from bands in

other cities. Usually, just like the audience, the bands tend to

appreciate that you came all that way to play.

TRAffIK: Do you feel there is more of a support system for bands in other cities?

Sienna: Every town is different. Indianapolis has a strong supportive scene.

We’ve never really made a connection in Chicago….The smaller

college towns seem to have tighter knit music communities. New York

is just like LA; everyone is cooler than you and nobody cares.

TRAffIK: Is there anything that you know now that you wish you had known before setting out on your first tour?

Sienna: I wish we had focused more on the west coast first before setting out

on some of our bigger more ambitious tours. It was awesome to see the

country like that, but as a result we have some of our strongest fan

bases in cities that are 2000 miles away. It makes it really hard to

pop in for a quick couple of shows.

TRAffIK: What music do the Randies listen to on the road?

Sienna: Every one listens to different stuff. Laurita, Laura and Tosha are way more with it musically than I am. I tend to stick to the classics and not try anything new. Eventually you get so bored though that anything goes and you’ve run the gamut from Celine Dion to Megadeth.

TRAffIK: What are you listening to these days?

Sienna: I’m listening to early David Bowie.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Laura: I’ve been listening to a lot of old Jazz & Blues Standards to Radiohead(can never seem to kick them)

TRAffIK: What are some of your band member’s (or band as a whole) influences (musical or otherwise)?

Laura: We have a vast array of influences, I know Sienna loves old pop and musicals, Laurita and I share similar PJ Harvey, Metal, Rock N’Roll, to Radiohead. For the most part I think we all share our influences dating back to the first time we heard a Beatles record.

TRAffIK:What are some bands that you think did things right…or that you look up to?

Laura: I have always admired Sonic Youth…Fugazi, Nirvana. Um, Katy Perry for having her face wrapped around her tour bus last summer. You gotta be pretty strong to live through that one. People that werern’t afraid to go against the grain.

 

TRAffIK: Are there any local (or other independent) bands that you are really into?                                                                                                                           

Laura: Haven’t really been able to get out much…but I have seen a few M.Ward shows and I really love his songwriting.

 

TRAffIK: What do you feel are some of the current challenges of being an independent band/artist?

Laura:Its a lot harder to get your music out there without the security blanket of advertisement, airplay, and the ability to be on the road 2-300 days outta the year to travel the world and get your music heard.

 

TRAffIK: How do you feel about the current condition of the music industry?

Laura: It’s losing ground in this economy. Also the way technology is changing so rapidly between digital downloads and CD’s. What’s going to come after downloads?? maybe music will be up at some satellite somewhere and it can literally be transmitted to “soundtracks” in our heads.

TRAffIK:Your first video for “Thought I Could Change” earned you the spot of a Featured Video for a month on FuseTV, how did that come about?

Laura:  We won a contest on Sonic Bids, its a website that helps Indie artists submit their epks to different festivals, and opportunities out there for artists.

 

TRAffIK: What was the experience making that video?

Laura: It was the best time EVER! We were all so excited to be there that day. It always helps when you have an amazing Director (Jesse Grce) and crew.

TRAffIK: How did the idea for it come about?

Laura: Jesse actually came up with the concept and shot it.

TRAffIK: What was the experience like shooting your video for “Freezerburn?”

Laura: FREEZING cold! That is real ice on the walls and we are in real running freezers. Our friend Robbie Stauder is a “documentary” film maker- his idea to shoot this video was to literally put us barely dressed into an ice box in Deer Park on Long Island. It was pretty cool,the behind the scenes experience was almost like being on an episode of the Soprano’s and what its like to be in a real  “meat market”.

Here is The Randie’s video for “Freezer Burn“

The Randies Freezer Burn Music Video

TRAffIK: What are the Randies listening to right now?

Laura:
Death Cab for Cutie - “Transatlanticism”

M.Ward - “Never Had Nobody Like You”

Radiohead - “Nude”

Kings of Leon - “Charmer”

Faith No More - “Epic”

Smashing Pumpkins - “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning”

Eagles of Death Metal - “WannaBe in L.A”

Fugazi - “Blueprint”

And You Will Know us By The Trail of the Dead - “Mistakes and Regrets”

the Bronx - “White Guilt”

Loretta Lynn - “Van Lear Rose”

Queens of the Stoneage - “Another Love Song”

Yeah Yeah Yeah’s - “Maps” (just really love this song)

The Randies - “Bye Bye Beautiful”