Kissinger (Chopper) Interview

Kissinger Interview

By C.W. Ross

 

Artist: Kissinger

 

Website: http://www.kissingertheband.com

 

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/kissinger

 

Below is a recent interview that I done with band frontman Chopper.

 

1.For anyone reading this that hasn't heard your music before how would you describe it?

 

We usually describe it as either Indie Pop or Indie Rock.

 

2. You're probably getting a little tired of talking about it but the stop motion video for your song "Sydney Stone" has been creating a real buzz on the Internet about how well it's done. It must have taken a lot of time and hard work making it?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrtTf_qv7hY- (Link to Video)

 

Lots of time. Months of planning and preparation, two months of shooting and one month of editing. It's satisfying, though, to have it done. We love to hear from people who have seen it and passed it on to all their friends. We're excited that the video was accepted into the SxSW Film Festival. We're looking forward to learning a lot more about the craft of film-making during the conference, and use that education in future projects.

 

3. Who are some of the bands that have influenced your music?

 

Definitely the Kinks, Elvis Costello, The Beatles, Faces, Pavement and The Archers of Loaf. Matthew Sweet and The Police both would be influences as well.

 

4. Are you currently out on the road touring?

 

We are currently getting started on making more videos. We've done lots of touring in the past to promote CDs. This time around, we want to try something different. We're going to try to commune with our fans through the internet. Lots of things influenced this decision, but the biggest factor is $3/gallon gasoline. It makes touring less and less practical for independent bands.

 

5. From reading your band's bio. you have been through some sticky situations like being car-jacked at gunpoint. That must have been scary but also offer some good material for songwriting?

 

I did write a song about a car jacking... it's not about my own, but a fictional one. I figured I had the right to write it. It's on a CD that came out a few years back. The song is named after the exact words the car jacker spoke to me: "Get outta the car, man".

 

6. If you could open up for any band/artist who would it be?

 

We've opened for Spoon in the past, but a lot of things have changed since then. We'd love to open for them again now. We'd also love to play with Nada Surf, who I've been enjoying listening to a lot lately. If the sky's the limit, then I'd say U2.

 

7. Where do you hope to see the band at say in five years down the road?

 

I'd like to see us continuing to make records that we're proud of, playing for friends and fans that enjoy the songs, and making more videos, telling more stories, hearing more stories.

 

8. Anything we missed that you would like to tell the readers?

 

We just finished recording a new CD called "Underwater". It will come out in April, and we're very proud of it. We hope that folks will join our friends list on Myspace, Facebook, or our email list on our website and buy a copy of our new CD for themselves and all their friends as soon as it is available!