"They got a big heavy sound with Annie's light delicate voice floating on the top..." - Matt Adams (The Blank Tapes)
At the
crossroads of ambiguity, escape, emotion and subtlety you’ll likely find San
Francisco based Annie Girl.
Wearing her
history on her sonic sleeves with almost haunting and poignant honesty to the
point you may have no choice but to fall into the storied tracks like a late
night soap.
In a vocal
style reminiscent of Hope Sandoval mix in faint echoes of Margo Timmins and
lyrical openness of Clara Luzia and a good blend of awe and tactile ‘plot
lines’ there is no doubt this is an artist who’s coming EP Pilot Electric (Out
May 2nd) should and will have your attention.
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| Annie Girl (Photo by Karen Doolittle) |
Bottom line,
Pilot Electric is one of the finest set of tracks I've put ears on so far this
year. Chock full of thick airy arrangements complimenting the almost angelic delivered vocals from the leader of the band.
I recently
had the chance to chat with Annie about the new EP and a bit of her back
story...
Your back story intrigues me to no
end. Can you tell me about how you found yourself in San Fran from Denver?
San Francisco
had always been part of the plan for me.. I told myself wild stories growing
up, and once I hit junior high I realized that I was standing on a dot that I
was too young to connect.
The first
time I came here I was sixteen. I hadn’t found my voice and I was coming out of
a rough period.. After ten months I left, went back to Denver and got a little
apartment on capital hill, started attending community college and telling
myself new stories that involved a rigorous education and a degree in English
Literature. After a semester I wanted to transfer to the state school but the
dean gave me the wrong application deadline.. Due to the timing it meant I
would have to wait another full year before I’d be able to get into a
university. I didn't feel right about staying in my hometown another year, and
realized that the entire plan was something I’d come up with when I got scared
and tried to let go of my dreams.
I couldn't continue on that path so I bought a one-way ticket to San Francisco.
Your journey in music started at an
early age, was this something that was sorta put on you or has this direction
always been of freewill?
My dad’s a
musician so I grew up in a house with instruments in it. I’m not sure if my
parents asked if I wanted to take piano lessons.. I was three – I don’t
remember. I do remember that I loved
playing piano, and I loved going to the lessons.
When I wanted
to play saxophone and stopped paying as much attention to the piano they were
both supportive. They’ve always been supportive of me, and the way that music
fits into my life. I started playing
guitar in elementary school and had my first band.
On a recent
trip back to Denver digging through pictures I found one of me at two or three,
hands wrapped around a microphone singing.. Music has always been a place where
I can be free.
Learning any instrument at an early
age is a grand accomplishment for anyone; you learned several and started
dabbling in songwriting.
I figured out
at a young age that through songwriting I could say anything I wanted, no
matter how personal or extreme. All I had to do was remove a few words here and
there so that the lyrics didn't totally expose my heart.. Still the words say a
lot and I think the simplicity leaves more room for others to relate, and keeps
the songs private and personal for me which adds to the energy of my
performance.
Back to San Fran, how did you find
yourself with The Ark and what exactly is it?
The Ark was a
collective located in a SoMa warehouse. Cristian brought me there. (Cristian
run’s Calar Music, put out our first record, and is doing the Vinyl release of
Pilot Electric.) I ended up in Delores park at the tail end of a three-day
party. One friend introduced me to him and another prompted me to play a song
on his guitar.. I happily obliged and he listened. Even then he believed in me
- before I found my voice, and before I believed in myself. He brought me to
The Ark. I fell in love with it. All these people from different parts of the
world practicing different mediums.
We did some
of my early recordings there and soon after I joined the Family Folk Explosion
they invited us to move in.
What’s an interview without speaking
of influences… Who would you say you’ve modeled your direction after the most?
(And, does it change as your music does?)
Since moving
here my biggest influences have been the other local bands and artists. Bands
like Ash Reiter, Everyone Is Dirty, FpodBpod, Lee Gallagher and The Hallelujah,
Li Xi, Michael Musika, and so many more.
I see (and
hear) them on a regular basis and they push me to be better.
How did Annie
Girl and the Flight come to be?
I'd been
playing with the Family Folk Explosion, more of a meeting of the mind’s then a
band.. It had three main songwriters -
Mark Matos, Matthew Welde and myself. They both had bands separate from
the FFE and The Flight spawned out of that situation.
Joe and I had
already been playing together in FFE and I'd see Josh performing with various
bands around town. I'd never heard anyone get a guitar to make the sounds he
does and was totally wowed every time I saw him. We ended up playing in the
same band at GAMH (Mark Matos and OS
Beaches) and I eventually got up the nerve to ask him if he wanted to play with
us.
Then I got to
share a bill with one of my favorite musicians Emily Jane White. We exchanged
albums and Nick (her boyfriend who she lives with, who also plays with her but
wasn't at that gig) heard it at their house, ran into Joe who said we were
looking for a drummer and that was it.
You have a new release coming out, why
did you decide to release an EP? Do you dislike long albums?
Not at all!
Each record is a story and this one just happened to be short.
Superbly laid out arrangements. I have
to ask how much is how you envisioned them during writing and how much is
studio hashing?
We knew most
of the songs well before going into the studio but they changed a bit once we
were in there.
With your last release you had some
pretty good critical admiration. Am I safe to assume that none of that affects the
way you work on new material?
Yeah, the
songs are just me purging bottled up feelings or weird thoughts I’ve been
pushing away or holding onto – it’s a mix of both.
You could easily make mainstream pop
albums or ride the wave of the neo-folk scene, has it ever crossed your mind to
go for the bucks over making what’s personally right? And/or what do you think
of the current state of the music business?
I’m terrible at containing myself categorically and have
failed to do so in most areas of my life… Keeping things in is not my forte.
Recently I started this side project called Dooms Virginia for the other half
of my songwriting-self and will probably release something under that moniker
before the end of the year..
As for the
music industry – it’s a wild west.
How much of your life do you hope
always stays a mystery?
Most things
before I was sixteen.
What would you like the world to know
about you?
I’ve got big
plans.
Who should play you in your future bio-pic?
Hopefully
someone who hasn’t been born yet!
When will you and the band be in
Europe?
As soon as
possible!!
Dankeschön
From The New EP Pilot Electric
Dankeschön
Annie Girl & The Flight: Facebook. / Website. / Twitter. / SoundCloud.
From The New EP Pilot Electric
'Classic' Annie Girl & The Flight
Fresh Tour Dates
- Wed Sept 24th - Reno, NV @ The Loving Cup
- Thurs Sept 24th - Boise, ID @ The Crux
- Fri Sept 26th - Seattle, WA @ Rendevous
- Sat Sept 27th - Tacoma, WA @ Mystery House Show
- Sun Sept 28th - Portland, OR @ Secret Society w/ The Love and Stress Compound
- Tues Sept 30th - Hood, OR @ River City Saloon
- Wed Oct 1st - Bend, OR @ Volcanic Theatre Pub
- Thurs Oct 2nd - Redding, CA @ Bombays w/ Belda Beast
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