Saturday, September 3, 2005
An interview with Chris Piuma of the Minor Thirds
Phony Nowhere September 3, 2005
As you have read in my earlier post, I have found out about an awesome band - The Minor Thirds. I have now found out, not only do they have awesome music, but Chris Piuma (pronounced p-yoo-mah), the lead singer and guitarist of The Minor Thirds, is an awesome guy. He almost immediatly responded to my proposal to do an interview, and answered the questions in a neat, informitive fashion.
CP = Chris
PN = Me (Phony Nowhere)
CP: First off, thanks for asking me for an interview. These are mostly very "first date get to know you" questions. I hope we can progress to "second date trying to get you in the sack" questions at some point.
PN: Can you give us a brief background on the members of your band and your history together?
CP: If you come to one of our shows these days, you will most likely see a four-person line-up: Me, strumming the heck out of a classical guitar and singing; Charlotte, also singing and occasionally playing an accordion; Jake, bouncing away on his upright bass; and Calvert, tappa tappa tappa on a snare and cymbal. But we often play with other people, especially when recording, and the dozen or so other people who have recorded or performed with us also count as members of the band. Because why not?
We've been recording since 2002, and we have three albums and several EPs, most of which tell stories, more or less. The Zealot's Curse (2002) is about a guy who feels romantically doomed and worries he will die alone; Saskatchewan (2003) is about a guy who dreams of escaping his humdrum Boston job for the exotic prairies of Canada; Dishwasher Thief (2004) is a crime story.
PN: What is the story to the Dishwasher Thief, your last album?
CP: A guy says to this woman, "If you really loved me you'd commit this crime with me. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." He plans to have her take the fall. She is cleverer than he realizes and has him take the fall instead, without him ever realizing it!
PN: What inspired it?
CP: Damned if I know. I didn't want to write the album. I was working on a different album, but this one kept interrupting. Finally I finished writing and recording it so that it would leave me alone.
PN: What does your band's name come from?
CP: A minor third is an interval, the distance between the pitches of "Hey" and "Jude" in the opening of the Billboard #1 Hit of 1968. The name evokes many different resonances and it would ruin the fun for me to tell them to you.
PN: Were there any other names that you were choosing from?
CP:"Not For Nothing" was a name we quickly rejected.
PN: Who does the artwork for your albums?
CP: Seth Mahoney did the fantastic artwork for the first album; I've done the artwork for the rest, and let me tell you, I am tired of it. I mean, I'm happy with the simple Dishwasher Thief artwork and I think it fits the album well but come on, I do enough for this band. Someone else should design the covers.
PN: How is the new album coming along?
CP: I have three albums that are nearly written, and hopefully someday we will get around to recording them. Maybe by the end of the year, but I'm not putting money on it.
PN: Are there any songs you are really proud of so far?
CP: Of the ones you can download from our website, I'm most proud of "The Revolutionary's Love Song". I tend to be more proud of the songs which (I think) capture complex situations or relationships or emotions in their three minutes. The ridiculous ones, like "I'm Staying Home!", are good too, though, I will admit. "Mail Fraud" off Saskatchewan is one of my favorite songs, and perhaps my favorite video as well!
PN: Is there a story behind the new one coming out?
CP: There is, but it's probably going to be more oblique. It's another album of songs about relationships, with a bunch of our city songs. So, perhaps, relationships and travel.
PN: How did you get into the world of recording music?
CP: I... made recordings of myself until I could get someone else to record me. I hate recording myself.
PN: What bands inspired you?
CP: The band that the Minor Thirds are most clearly ripping off is the Mountain Goats, but I think we're less obvious about that these days. Nowadays, though, I'm more inspired by the fact that people -- some people, at least -- want to hear our music. That makes us want to play it for them, or create it for them.
PN: What are your favorite albums of all time?
CP: Here is an incomplete list:
* Ed's Redeeming Qualities, "More Bad Times"
* Morton Feldman's "For John Cage" (played by Marc Sabat & Stephen Clark)
* The Shaggs, "Shaggs Own Thing"
That's very incomplete!
PN: What are some of your favorite albums of the year?
CP:This is what I have been listening to this year:
* Lectures produced by the Teaching Company. Anything by Daniel Robinson or Elizabeth Vandiver is completely worth grabbing.
* KKAD, Sunny 1550am, "The music of your life". They have a website where you can stream it. Lots of 40s and 50s music. If you listen for a few hours you will hear the phrase "When I fall in love, it will be forever" but if they play Doris Day's "Secret Love" you will win the jackpot, especially if they follow it up with Dolly Parton's "9 to 5".
* Old radio shows, especially The Burns & Allen Show and I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
* Music made by friends and people I know. An incomplete list includes: Celesteville, Atole, The Mouse That Roared, Minmae, Sauvie Island Moon Rocket Factory, Ross Beach (with or without the Hellpets), whatever Jack Tuftee's latest project is, luv[sic], Per Se, Natural Bridges, Red Pony Clock... really the list could go on. Oh, and the Mountain Goats. That all said, I can't remember who among them released something in the past year, but the new Mtn Goats is pretty dang good, the Mouse that Roared's "Laws of Physics" is probably their best yet, and Celesteville's "Spirit Duplicator", which surely came out last year, is not to be missed (and can be downloaded for free!)
I don't in any way keep up with the current music scene. Things are better once they have some dust on them. That's why we put so much dust in our albums to begin with.
PN: Are there any blogs that you read regularly?
CP: Well, a few. Ron Silliman (ronsilliman.blogspot.com) and Geof Huth (dbqp.blogspot.com) about poetry; Veiled Conceit for its humor (nytimesweddings.blogspot.com); Language Hat (www.languagehat.com) for language; Slacktivist (slacktivist.typepad.com) for his skewering of the "Left Behind" books and his fantastic writing on religion and politics; and assorted friend's websites, most off which are personal. The best music blog that I've read is easily Tom Ewing's Popular (www.freakytrigger.co.uk/popular) which has been reviewing every UK #1 hit ever, in order. (The page has links to an American version and an R&B version, which are also worth reading.)
PN: Well thank you for taking the time to do this interview!
CP: Thank you for asking me!
***
You can all buy music from The Minor Thirds at their website.
