| FEATURES
Imaginary Bill
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Sellout: You get compared to The Beatles a lot. Is that intimidating at all? Imaginary Bill: To us, it's a huge complement. The Beatles were the first and the best and when the huge meteor comes to wipe us all out, the two or three remaining survivors will probably all know at least one Beatles song. We've been compared to many bands by reviewers. We've been told we show influences of Bowie, Elvis Costello, Pixies, GBV, Weezer, Radiohead, et cetera, and anytime we're mentioned in company with such extraordinary talent, we can't help but be pleased. We've often found ourselves on UK and Europe radio playlists alongside such bands and it's a definite thrill. S: You were on a Green Day tribute album. How much of an influence is punk on your sound? IB: Huge punk influence. We have a few (thus far) unreleased tracks that really indicate our love of punk. Not the lame, sterile and frilly punk-light that passes for punk these days, but nasty, dirty, spittled, 70's style punk. Driving, simple, angry. To us that's punk. The Muffs' Blonde and Blonder CD is a great example of angry punk done right with glass-throat screaming and amazing melody. It might be a lighter side of punk but still amazing. As far as the more commercially accepted punk rock goes, I also greatly respect Green Day. Over a decade of doing the same things right again and again. They do what they do very well and have never embarrassed themselves with a trendy breakthrough CD, but just keep doing great stuff within their genre. S: You are big on Liverpool's Shout FM. How did you get exposure in England/Europe? IB: We've been very well received by Europe, Australia, Portugal, Japan, places like that. They seem to pick up on us and place us on their playlists. The UK is very special for us. Besides the obvious genius that flows from such a relatively small place, they've been amazingly kind to us in every instance. The indie scene there is taken very seriously and it shows in their depth of love for the art of music. S: What's your opinion of the hip Brooklyn scene? IB: There are some great bands out there. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a particularly great band. Sexy gal, great tunes, great voice - what's not to like? S: You guys made a video. What avenues are available to get it distributed? Was it worth the price? IB: We've been getting good play on most secondary markets. Folks have E-mailed us and say "I just saw your video here in Buffalo or California, etc." Lots of weird cable access shows and hip underground shows have picked it up. Good play overseas as well, because we always have to scramble to get pal-formatted dupes made. The video cost us pretty much nothing. We had a guy shoot us live w/ 2 cameras at a convenient show in NYC and just dropped the song "Bleed" over that. We like that the video shows us exactly as we are sans cameras. Our only expenses are the PAL/SECAM dupes for overseas, which is good, as we're dirt poor. And I really mean dirt poor, as my pockets contain actual dirt. S: Is the songwriting in the band democratic? IB: It's actually the very definition. One of us missing from a songwriting session is akin to a boxer who fights a bout sans an arm or leg. Each guy here carries as much weight as the next. Mostly it's spontaneous combustion. We'll start playing something off the top of our heads and bang next few minutes...then it's a song. I handle all the lyrics and melody lines myself but all the music is a complete group effort. Sometimes I'll write something on my own, which they'll take and make not suck. S: What are some influences on the band outside of music (movies, books, etc.)? IB: We dig stuff like HBO Sunday Night, Monty Python, Simpsons, Kids in the Hall, Family Guy, 28 Days Later, Shawn of the Dead. As far as books, A Prayer For Owen Meany, Five People You Meet In Heaven, The Stand, 1984, and Watershipdown (my personal favorite) come to mind. S: Any good stories from the road? IB: Tons, but nothing we can go into without doing ourselves great harm. Lets just say monsters lead interesting lives and meet interesting people. S: What bands would you love to play a show with? IB: Radiohead. I leaked a bit just thinking about it... Also Beck, as he's a fuckin' genius, and I'd try to get some to rub off onto me, whereas Beck would probably say "Stop trying to rub against me you freak." Other than that anyone with a huge following would be fine. We've opened for Mike Doughty, and that was pretty cool, as we really dug Soul Coughing. There have been some bands we've been stoked to play with that aren't famous yet, but will be. Teenage Girls, Faces on Film and MyTVs come to mind. We get a real buzz playing with those bands. S: Has the Internet helped you get your music out to the world? IB: Sure has. Absolutely. A radio station in Japan recently made "Breaking the Ground Loop" CD of the Year. We have many fans spread out all over the globe. Some places I've never even heard of. Don't know if they would have stumbled upon us without the Internet. S: If the band got an offer, would you sign to a major label? IB: We've had offers, ... just not the right offer. What most folks outside the industry don't know is even if you're signed, it's a small guarantee for success. In the cash broke and unstable world of corporate record companies, you need people who believe in you so solidly that they're willing to put their jobs on the line. No joke. If you do get signed, and not shelved, you need to have the entire record companies resources at your disposal. The marketing team and the promotions team and every other team has to work in tandem so the band doesn't get lost in the shuffle. And if by chance your first CD doesn't make a profit, then give up all hope of a second CD, as they just don't do artist development anymore. In 2005's music business, someone like Bruce Springsteen would be the guy who just took your order at Denny's, 'cause he didn't hit on his first or second album. A smaller label would probably be a better bet, at least in the short term. S: How often does the band play outside of New York? IB: Anytime we can. We love New York but also love seeing new places, faces and things. S: You've played England. How were the audiences different then US audiences? IB: They all wore funny hats…No, but seriously, it's about the same, really. They showed us much love and I really dig that, I gotta say. Love to be loved. They really got us there and made us feel completely at home. S: What's next for the band? IB: We recently added a fourth member, an incredibly scary-talented cat named Chris Esposito. He left a signed act (the 303's) to play with us. He reminds me of a young Syd Barrett without the acid problems. He's been a huge songwriting asset and the results are giant and immediate. We're easily twice the band we were. We never envisioned another member in this band and now we can't believe we've gone so long without him. He plays guitar & keys in IB but he's also a great drummer and bassist, too. Since the new stuff is so strong, we just recorded five new songs over the course of a day, at Seizure's Palace in Brooklyn. We did all the tracks live in a take or two. Same went for vocals. Boom bang boom badda bing, done. We like how we finally have an indication of what we're really like live, as that's always been the best IB, and we've always been chasing that sound and feel. I can honestly say the new stuff blows everything we've previously done out of the water. Our next step is to figure out a strategy for release. We have about a half million songs just laying around, so material isn't an issue. Just not sure if we will release an EP or a full length. We've recently been lucky and joined up with a very devoted management team who's been making a lot of noise on our behalf, along with our dedicated entertainment attorney who's been working with us for a while now on spec. We're currently shopping the new stuff to find proper distribution and marketing. So far early indications are quite favorable. Things are starting to move fast and we're excited to see that the writing on the wall is starting to say Imaginary Bill. It's their future, baby, you just live in it. Brad Filicky |