Q & A with Bedtime for Toys

Interviewed by Lisa Haviland (via email)

Close your eyes; beddy bye, tin soldier.
Mommy says that it’s time for sleep.
If my folks were wiser and older,
They’d know kids and toys don’t need sleep.

Don’t be bad little cotton dolly.
See how nice Mickey Mouse sleeps now?
Even my brass drummer boy has stopped all his noise,
‘Cause he knows it’s past bedtime for toys.
Stevie Wonder, “Bedtime for Toys”

In their current, L.A.-based, pop/rock/R&B/funk incarnation Bedtime for Toys noise is generated by Marchelle Bradanini on vocals and lyrics; Toussaint Christophe on keyboards, beats, and vocals; Samuel Jacob Chatez on guitars and beats; Jenni Tarma on bass; Kenan on drums; and VJ Phi Phenomenon, video DJ artist.

Photo © Shadowscene.com

What are your top five albums and/or musical influences?
Prince because he’s a punk.
Talking Heads because they are The Funk.
Bad Brains because they are they are the O.G. crunk.
Shalimar because they are the actual Sound of Los Angeles.
Afrika Bambaataa because we want to live on Planet Rock.

Since getting together, you’ve collaborated with Har Mar, signed with Trash Aesthetics, been remixed by Le Tigre, and featured on Rolling Stone‘s “Best Bands on MySpace” list. How has the band changed in the course of touring and performing?
There have been obvious things that have changed, like adding band members and musical arrangement choices, but our original mission—to see a million faces and rock them all—has remained unshakable.

Speaking of Le Tigre, how did you hook up with them for the remix?
Sammy discovered that MySpace messaging can be used for something other than staying in touch with friends from summer camp.

How do you go about writing as a group? Is there a certain sequence or structure you adhere to in terms of composing songs together?
We share a creative kidney. The toxins get filtered out and we keep what’s left to nurture the system.

The line “L.A.’s the place that will drive a girl crazy” from “Mona Lisa Part 2” feels like a page right out of my own experience there. Your lyrics for this track, as well as for “White Fur Coat” and “Chandelier,” bring to light a Los Angeles paradox—pose becoming person—and an array of specific imagery versus sonic distortion, which strike me as very particular to that environment. Your front woman, Marchelle, seems to have a lot of fun with this paradox, alternately mocking and deriding its power. For me, the most vivid example would be her tearing up a photo of Marilyn Monroe in the “Chandelier” video or the mannequins that served as the accompanying photo for “On the Shelf” on your MySpace page. How would you say living in the shadow of Hollywood/TV Land has impacted your process?
We’ve learned that rather than trying to break through the front gates, our takeover will be most effective by becoming members of the royal court and secretly poisoning the king and queen.

I understand you work with a visual projection artist, VJ Phi Phenom, at your live shows. How did you come to collaborate, and what sort of images do you showcase?
Marchelle discovered that posting ads on CraigsList can be used for something other than selling furniture. To the contrary, Phi Phenom creates images in real time from a variety of sources and came with his own chair.

In that vein, and because your music is multimedia-oriented, what are some major film, literary, art and/or fashion influences for Bedtime for Toys?
Film: Akira Kurosawa, Jean-Luc Godard, Adolfo Quinones
Art: Keith Haring, Banksy, Drew Struzan
Literary: Charles Bukowski, Bret Easton Ellis, Benjamin Hoff
Fashion: Phil Knight, Paul Fireman, Adolf Dassler
Note from the band: If you don’t know who these people are, use Wikipedia just like we did.

Politics, too, rears its often-ugly head. What, if anything, are you interested in conveying about the times we live in?
If Toussaint and Marchelle can work together for the greater good so can Hillary and Obama.

Word Association
Sign o’ the times: House Quake
Axis of: Bold as Love
Stiletto: Weapon of Choice
Schwarzenegger: Van Damme
Revolver: something like Velvet

According to an article published in Fact Magazine in July 2007, you are poised to become “Pitchfork [Media]’s darlings.” Do you feel cheap? You can tell us.
Nah. We welcome all forms of “darlingism” and getting the quote cost us a lot of money.