Recently I was wrapped up in a busy week, which is nothing new, but this week seemed particularly crazy to me. And as usual I spent part of my day hounding managers and publicists of killer bands I love to try and set up an interview to plug their latest project or just because I’m such a music geek that I really wanna meet the band. So when I got a last minute e-mail about interviewing one of my new favorite bands, Uh Huh Her, I jumped at the chance. The one real problem was getting Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia on time. The final details came in so last minute I had just enough time to make it to Union Station and board the train. In fact the train was boarding as I ran to print my ticket from the kiosk. Thankfully, I made to Philly in time, although half an hour late, to interview the lovely and talented girls of Uh Huh Her Camila Grey and Leisha Hailey and see their show later that night.
Common Reaction, their debut album, is available right now so run to that favorite place where you buy music and get this CD. It’s one of the best pieces of music I’ve picked up all year. For more info about the band first read the interview below then check them out at their site www.uhhuhher.com or on MySpace at www.myspace.com/uhhuhhermusic.
EM: So how did you girls get together? How’d you put the group together?
Leisha Hailey: I took a break from music for about five years and was missing it very badly and I heard a lot about Cam (Camila Grey) through some friends and I went to see her play in her old band Meladrome…fabulous stage presence [laughter ensues]. She seemed really great and I knew she was talented and her personality was really great and I called her up and was like “I don’t know you don’t know me but do you wanna start a band…wanna get together and see what happens?”
EM: And what did you think when she called you?
Camila Grey: I was kind of coming out of the Meladrome situation and I kinda had nothing to lose and I was like yeah great. We had met before on a couple separate occasions but really briefly. I was like yeah come over, hang out and we’ll tell each other what we like and get to know each other and the rest is history.
It was really good timing. The timing was right
EM: (Directed to Leisha) I know you’ve been on The L Word for the last five going on six seasons. Has that held things back at all or is it working out in your favor?
LH: It would be hard to say if it held anything back because I didn’t know anything outside of the situation that it was. So if I wasn’t on the show maybe it would have gone faster or something…I don’t know.
CG: We probably would have toured a lot more.
LH: We would have toured more. Writing a record would have been easier, I don’t know if it would have been better or anything different would have happened. It just would have been faster.
EM: What was it like putting this record together?
LH: It was choppy!
CG: It was very detached. There really wasn’t time to conceptualize…to make a concept because our time was so sparce with actually being in the same place at the same time so I was having to fly there she was flyng back. But also in another way it was kind of inspiring because we weren’t stuck in this one kind of situation with this one mood and this one vibe. Maybe that’s why the record has so many different kind of moods to it because we were in one place doing it then over here, over there. We ended up recording it in about three and half weeks?
LH: Yeah.
CG: It was really quick.
LH: Recording was quick but we had a lot of pre-production done that Cam had done. I think the time was spent…it was very concentrated so we really took advantage of the time we had together which I think helped.
EM: Did you write the music together or separately?
LH: Yeah we did it together and separately.
EM: Who are some of your musical influences?
LH: Well we definitely have some we share in common. We’re both Bjork fans, The Cure. Outside of that I like alternative music more, it’s just different.
CG: Mine’s more British influence, The Eurithmics…stuff like that. Late 80’s Madonna.
EM: Is there anyone in particular you’d like to work with in the future?
CG: I’m totally blanking on his name right now. It’s gonna drive me nuts! We’re trying to get Lil’ Kim to do a remix of some of our stuff right now. Daniel…he’s a British producer [looking to Leisha for some help only to get a blank stare]
LH: Daniel?
CG: …he works with David Bowie a lot…umm…
LH: I don’t know who she’s talking about!
EM: I’ll have to look him up and see if I can find him.
CG: It’s gonna come to me. I’m gonna shout it at you in the middle of another question.
EM: That’s just fine!
EM: So you guys have been popping up all over the place like The CW’s One Tree Hill. How did it come about?
CG: Our record label has a great licensing department. We work really closely with them, with one of the main people that shops music out to the supervisors. They’re really good at that, getting music into films and television.
EM: It’s been pretty crazy over the past few years where a lot of really good music has come out…
LH: I think that’s one of the various ways that bands break these days. It’s just the right song in the right situation.
EM: Because I’ve heard that certain bands take issue with putting their music on certain shows. Does it really matter to you?
CG: To us it’s simply a marketing tool. It’s a way to get people who wouldn’t otherwise hear your music to hear it.
LH: It reaches a wider audience.
Interview by Tiffany N. D’Emidio
Fantastic interview. Really opens me up to this band. Have to get a few songs from I-Tunes.