The Grizzly Owls - Interview

An Exclusive interview with the Grizzly Owls at Artrocker.com

Artrocker.com: Hello there. You guys are husband and wife (at least I hope so – if not, this will be an embarrassing encounter). What’s it like being in a band together? It’s something which I imagine a lot of people will find a bit odd.

Jenny Andreotti: Yes we are husband and wife, although many people mistake us for brother and sister. I don’t know what that says about us, but it happens a lot. We’re not only in a band together, but we’ve worked together in the past quite a bit as well. We’re very attached to one another so it’s not one bit odd for us to be in a band together or work together.

Artrocker.com: We all dream of finding someone that we can be comfortable enough and click with enough to make music together (if you’re the musically inclined) – did you guys meet through music? Or was it a happy discovery afterwards?

Jenny Andreotti: It’s kind of a long story mixed with a strange coincidence, but to put it simply we met in college. We taught ourselves how to make music eight years ago when we met, because we were into the same bands. We were elated to discover that we loved all the same obscure bands.

Artrocker.com: What’s your typical songwriting process? Do you just jam and see what happens, or have some definite structure that you fall into – e.g. music first or..

Jenny Andreotti: We usually discuss what kind of vibe or direction we want to go into. We then look for inspiration in films, music and history. Finally we get together and start writing the song. We aren’t very organic to be honest. We know exactly where we’re going with a song, before we even write it.

Artrocker.com: What’s your recording setup – do you do it DIY entirely, or off in a rented studio somewhere?

Jenny Andreotti: We record all the songs at home. We then send the songs to Raymond Richards, he then adds various instruments on the tracks (whatever he feels would add to the song, we trust him completely), and mixes them down. From there we send it to Kramer to master it.

Artrocker.com: What’s your connection to Western music, and do you think that it’s just a throwback – a nod to the past – or can it have the same relevance in today’s music world? Do you see it as your mission to help that along, or are you content to just do your thing?

Jenny Andreotti: When you grow up in the home of “The Bakersfield Sound” there’s no escaping western music. But really I’ve always really loved country music, when punk or post-punk bands took country or let’s say a blues influence and incorporated it into their sound, thus making it something entirely new. For example Nick Cave has always had that Johnny Cash influence there, but he re-works it into something entirely new. Or I love the outlaw feel to the song “Mother Of Earth” by The Gun Club, but it’s still very punk. As far as relevance of western music into today’s music world goes. All I can say about that is long gone are the days of Hank Williams and Porter Wagoner. Country music has become pop music with someone with a twangy accent signing over it.

Artrocker.com: What made you decide to give away ‘I Am A Shootist’ for free?

Jenny Andreotti: We decided to give away ‘I Am A Shootist’ for free because we are under no illusion that we are at a level yet where we are going to be able to sell enough records to get rich or even make a living for that matter. What’s important to us now is that we spread the word of our band, and try our best to build up a following.

Artrocker.com: p.s. I like your promo photos a lot! Were they your idea or..

Jenny Andreotti: Ty Rose took our promo photos, and he already had a location all picked out and everything. He really really gets us and he’s an amazing photographer. He’s a very talented local photographer.

Artrocker.com: What’s next on the horizon for the Grizzlies?

Jenny Andreotti: We are working on a 7” at the moment. We got a friend to play saxophone on it so we’re super excited. We’re very inspired by Twin Peaks, Elvis Presley, and Jim Jarmusch’s film “Mystery Train” for this one.

You can download various things of the Grizzly Owls for free, including their latest EP ‘I Am A Shootist’ from their site here.