Bearing the Smear of Madness: An Interview with Autodrone

Popshifter: How did you meet? Mutual appreciation of the same bands or through friends?

Angel: I went to high school with Katie [Kennedy, the current singer] and I’d known her since I was about 14 years old. I actually went to high school with Rachel [Luria, who sang for the band at one point], too.

Jeremy: Susanna left before we did our first proper EP, Panic. The drummer at the time, David Parmeter, I worked with at Billboard Magazine, doing web design stuff. David left after Panic and we met Dennis [Lehrer, current drummer]. He was also drumming for Pratique, the band we share a studio with. They’re really awesome.

The Zombies’ Odyssey and Oracle album

Dennis recorded Strike a Match with us [Autodrone’s latest release]. He joined on a temporary basis but went on tour with us in L.A. and we were hanging out all the time, so it seemed like a natural thing for him to join the band full-time.

After Rachel, there was Emily [Varlas] who we absolutely adore, but it didn’t work out in the long run. And now there’s Katie, who Angel went to high school with as well.

Popshifter: What inspired you to play music, was it a particular band or event?

Jeremy: For me, I guess it was because I grew up in the NYC suburbs and NYC was the city I went to for shows. I saw what was going on there and wanted to be a part of it.

Angel: I grew up with a lot of my parents’ music, like the Zombies and Beach Boys. Those were the bands that made me really want to play bass. I still love them and I still think that the Zombies are a major influence for me.

After that, as far as playing noisy keyboards and stuff, I started going to Goth clubs when I was 14 years old and there was a lot of [music with] that 80s New Wave sound with the heavy keyboards. That’s when I started playing keyboards.

Popshifter: Do you prefer one to the other?

Angel: They’re equal, but I go through phases. Like right now, I want to play bass all the time. But it definitely switches off; from show to show, I’ll be complaining that I want to play more bass or more keyboards. I think I’m the only one in the band who has such a huge difference in what they’re doing.

Popshifter: Are there any bands influencing you that perhaps people wouldn’t expect? You mentioned the Zombies, but are there any surprising ones?

Underworld

Angel: I don’t really know what people think when they hear us, like, I know I’m influenced by Wire, by Bauhaus, but also things like Kate Bush. Maybe that’s all the same genre in a way? Maybe some Britpop: I don’t know if people really get that I love Britpop. I used to love bands like House of Love and Suede.

People are usually like, “Oh you sound like My Bloody Valentine.” But I never really listened to them!

Popshifter: (laughs)

Angel: I don’t even get it! Somebody played it for me and said, “Your band sounds like this,” and I was like, “Really?!”

Jeremy: I like MBV and I think Kevin Shields is an important musician, but as far as the people I’m inspired by I would say Underworld and also Coil. Especially the way they approach song writing and their recording. I think they’re both really important bands.

Angel: Oh definitely! Yeah, I agree with that.

Click to read more from Autodrone on. . .

Inspirations and influences
Futurists and filmmakers
Recording versus live shows
The importance of theatrics

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