Foot Village

http://www.theendofirony.net/2009/07/interview-with-foot-village.html

Building a band of drummers is one of those ideas that many musicians have probably thought about over the years, but few have actually had the guts to bring it to fruition. Foot Village have not only brought the idea to life but are now going on three albums strong with their new full-length record, Anti-Magic, which will be released later this month on Upset the Rhythm. Three of the four drummers (Brian Miller, Dan Rowan, and Grace Lee) took the time to answer some questions for what may be the silliest interview on this site to date with a discussion about asses, Russian dolls, and PIZZA, PIZZA, PIZZA!

Spill it, what’s the obsession with naked people? I think two album covers have featured nudes, as well as the Foot Village website.
GRACE: I love naked people. It’s cute.
DAN: One thing I’ve learned from being a college radio DJ is that naked people on the cover art catches the eye better than anything. Also, if you had the power to command a small army of naked people, wouldn’t you abuse it?
BRIAN: We knew that the cover art for Friendship Nation would depict foot villagers, but we had no idea what they would wear. When Josh and Dan had great reasons that they should be naked, it seemed like the perfect solution. The viewer should imagine them wearing whatever they want. Just don’t actually look at the nudity. That is gross.

Drums seem to be the under appreciated instrument in most “rock” bands that’s often pushed into the background. You guys push them not only to the forefront, but eliminate all the other instruments at the same time. It may be a pretty basic question, but how did you come up with the idea to do this?
DAN: Normal music is boring.
BRIAN: There are only a few things that can be said, but saying them in new ways is how life is renewed.
GRACE: If I didn’t have a way to bang tight skins with big sticks, I think my life would be so much more violent, and I would be in jail for beating up everyone I know, starting with my baby cat. NO WAY! I would never do that! Really, the idea came out of hanging out with some friends and we needed something to do while we waited for PIZZA to show up. Isn’t that how all good ideas are born, waiting for PIZZA?

This might be a New York City bias, but it always seems hard to find drummers. They are always elusive and hard to find, how did four drummers all together in one band?
DAN: Two non-drummers drafted two part-time drummers to make a band of four half-assed drummers. Four half asses equals two whole asses. Who doesn’t like a couple of nice asses?
BRIAN: It is that very problem that made us hacks decide to take drumming into our own hands.
GRACE: PIZZA! Have a pizza party and see what happens. I have a very special outfit for pizza parties, so invite me to your pizza party!

On the same note, drums always seem to be difficult to transport. How do you manage to get four sets around town and across the country for shows?
DAN: We don’t believe in drum cases.
BRIAN: You ever seen a set of Russian Dolls? We do that with the members of Foot Village to make room for all the drums in the van. We just swallow each other before getting in the car and then all sit in the drivers seat.
GRACE: The dudes never let me drive, so I get swallowed first.

So you guys got a new album coming out, care to share some details?
DAN: It’s awesome.
BRIAN: More nudity, more drums, more sing-a-longs, more insane compositions, more more more. War war war.
GRACE: There’s lot’s of guttural screaming, sexxxy jungle mixes and even airplanes!

Why are you guys releasing the new album, Anti-Magic, on Upset the Rhythm instead of Deathbomb Arc?
DAN: Never pay to produce your own art.
BRIAN: Who doesn’t want to be on their favorite label?

This follows hot on the heels of a B-side collection, Fuck the Future II. I actually haven’t heard it yet, but I’ve read that it stretches expectations of Foot Village–treading into territory like comedy sketches, remixes that often sound more like the remixer than you guys, and so on. Is this Foot Village expanding and growing, or are you just trying to fuck with people’s heads a little?
DAN: Sketch comedy and Foot Village have been friends for quite some time. Fairly certain that every vinyl release we’ve done has some element of radio drama in it. As for the remixes, anyone that can make us into a dance party hit is a-okay in my book. Fuck dancing though.
BRIAN: I love dancing.
GRACE: I hope it’s all just entertaining, even when heads get fucked with. But it’s just entertainment, so don’t get too fucked. Or do a lot of it while getting fucked and then tell us about it.

How did you come up with the “It’s a Small World” idea for “Chicken & Cheese 2?” Also, just as a side compliment, you got some pretty impressive cover contributors there (AIDS Wolf, Anavan, Jason Forrest, etc. etc.).
BRIAN: We had rewritten “Chicken & Cheese 2″ so much since releasing it on the Rock Is Hell 7″ that it just had to be re-recorded for the new album, but we wanted it to be really different. It was also the obvious way to conclude the narrative of the new album. But that plot is still under a bit of lock and key.