Vivian Girls are coming to Lawrence, KS. This Monday, May 4th the girls will play with Ponytail, Fag Cop, Expo 70, and Tracer Face at the Jackpot Music Hall (943 Massachusetts). In hopes of informing you, our readers, and to discover a little more about the band ourselves, The Rathaus scored an email interview with guitarist/vocalist Cassie of Vivian Girls. Read on to learn about their take on all-girl bands, how they formed their sound, and some secrets behind their true dorkiness.

How did you all become interested in playing music? Is it something you feel you were born with, were there certain influences in your childhood that sparked the curiosity, or has this only become a passion as of late? We all took music lessons as kids, so we've been playing music for a while. Ever since I was a teenager being in a touring band was kind of my dream job, though. We've also all been in bands since we were teenagers, so I'd say music has been a passion of all of ours for a while.

When you first formed Vivian Girls, and later added Ali to the lineup, was making and keeping the band an all-girl group a conscious/planned decision? It wasn't a conscious decision but that is the way it worked out. We were actually considering having one of our guy friends join as the drummer, but Ali was a better fit.

What advantages or disadvantages do you see to being an all-girl group in the music world in this day and age? The advantages are that the media pays attention to you, because there aren't that many all-girl bands around today. So more people get to hear your music, which is a good thing! The disadvantage is that people pay attention to you for entirely the wrong reasons - rather than focusing on the music, they focus on our gender, and then the meaning behind the music often gets lost.

How do you think this compares to the all-girl groups of the 60's you've been inspired by? It's a totally different ballgame. In the 60's there were way more girl groups than there are today. Few of them wrote their own songs, and many of them had a cookie-cutter image, and downloading and blogs didn't exist, but the music, in my opinion, is way better than a lot of what's out there today (by artists male or female). The girl groups of the 60's were part of a pure pop movement. Now when you think of women in pop you have Rihanna and Katy Perry, for example. We (Vivian Girls) are not a part of a female-oriented pop movement, because most of the bands that make music similar to ours are guys. So being in an all-girl rock band today is more of its own thing rather than part of a bigger scheme.

You seem to steer clear of the stereotype that chicks in bands are way into fashion and need to be fashion icons. Is this something you try to avoid? Do you feel that this categorization is a hindrance to women looking for credibility in the music world? The way we dress is what it always has been; we have neither sought out nor avoided the need to be "fashion icons." I don't think fashion icon status is as much of a hindrance to women playing music as is the need to be considered beautiful. You can see a band of a bunch of average looking guys and no one cares, but with a female band there are always people talking about whether you're attractive or not, which is a problem, because it's totally irrelevant.

How did you find your sound? When you began writing music was there a certain audience you were hoping to attract/impress, or do you feel that people are just responding well to your personal vision? Are there specific musical influences you would site? When we started out our audience was basically our friends at living room shows and DIY spaces in Brooklyn. Our idea was to have all our songs be really fast and short and fuzzy. The Wipers were a huge influence, as were 80's hardcore bands. As time went on we added reverb and harmonies and slowed some of our songs down.I read on your blog about your sarcastic comments being misinterpreted by the public. How is it dealing with the fact that your voices carry a lot more weight in the media than ever before? Do you feel that you are more conscious of your everyday choices and how these influence your fans? Yes. We weren't trying to talk down to anyone in those interviews, but in retrospect we can see why people thought we were jerks.

You've claimed to be truly dorky. Give me some examples. We'd like to compare nerdiness. Yeah, we're all pretty big nerds. We were all very unpopular in middle school and got made fun of a lot. Ali and Katy like video games a lot. They're also really into Twilight and Harry Potter. I like collecting all sorts of stuff. My bedroom is like a shrine of shitty culture, because the stuff I collect is bottom-of-the-barrel junk that I for some reason think is really cool. We're all record collectors too. Katy loves computers and the internet. She also got her bachelor's degree in Physics. I get mad when I see a billboard with really bad graphic design, unless it's REALLY bad in which case I think it's amazing. Ali is also a connoisseur of stand-up comedy. And Katy and Ali love keeping up with TV, and the only show I watch anymore is Friends on DVD.

Although it's been said you picked your name more by chance than as a fan's reference to Henry Darger and The Story of the Vivian Girls, do you feel that having to talk about and defend the name has brought you closer to the work of art? Yeah, definitely. We didn't pick the name by chance: our old drummer came up with it. But having the name Vivian Girls has definitely brought us to appreciate Darger's work a lot, we think he's really cool.

In this ever-growing, interconnected world it is hard to completely separate music from other forms of art. What is influencing you right now outside of the music world? Visual art, literature, film, fashion, science, politics, etc…? I try to get cool art zines at independent bookstores as often as possible. I just got one at Ooga Booga in LA that has all these funny drawings of Cathy. We also brought Ali's old video camera on tour, we're trying to get more into filming and possibly make our own music videos. Katy reads CNN.com on her BlackBerry every day, so we always know what's going on in the world in our van. But overall, traveling is probably the biggest influence. After going all over the place it makes you see things in a different light.

interview by: Tricia Rock illustration by: Scott Starrett" />Interview: Vivian Girls | The Rathaus

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Artist Interview: Vivian Girls

May 4, 2009 Art, The Rathaus

Vivian Girls Illustration

Vivian Girls are coming to Lawrence, KS. This Monday, May 4th the girls will play with Ponytail, Fag Cop, Expo 70, and Tracer Face at the Jackpot Music Hall (943 Massachusetts). In hopes of informing you, our readers, and to discover a little more about the band ourselves, The Rathaus scored an email interview with guitarist/vocalist Cassie of Vivian Girls. Read on to learn about their take on all-girl bands, how they formed their sound, and some secrets behind their true dorkiness.

How did you all become interested in playing music? Is it something you feel you were born with, were there certain influences in your childhood that sparked the curiosity, or has this only become a passion as of late?
We all took music lessons as kids, so we’ve been playing music for a while. Ever since I was a teenager being in a touring band was kind of my dream job, though. We’ve also all been in bands since we were teenagers, so I’d say music has been a passion of all of ours for a while.

When you first formed Vivian Girls, and later added Ali to the lineup, was making and keeping the band an all-girl group a conscious/planned decision?
It wasn’t a conscious decision but that is the way it worked out. We were actually considering having one of our guy friends join as the drummer, but Ali was a better fit.

What advantages or disadvantages do you see to being an all-girl group in the music world in this day and age?
The advantages are that the media pays attention to you, because there aren’t that many all-girl bands around today. So more people get to hear your music, which is a good thing! The disadvantage is that people pay attention to you for entirely the wrong reasons – rather than focusing on the music, they focus on our gender, and then the meaning behind the music often gets lost.

How do you think this compares to the all-girl groups of the 60′s you’ve been inspired by?
It’s a totally different ballgame. In the 60′s there were way more girl groups than there are today. Few of them wrote their own songs, and many of them had a cookie-cutter image, and downloading and blogs didn’t exist, but the music, in my opinion, is way better than a lot of what’s out there today (by artists male or female). The girl groups of the 60′s were part of a pure pop movement. Now when you think of women in pop you have Rihanna and Katy Perry, for example. We (Vivian Girls) are not a part of a female-oriented pop movement, because most of the bands that make music similar to ours are guys. So being in an all-girl rock band today is more of its own thing rather than part of a bigger scheme.

You seem to steer clear of the stereotype that chicks in bands are way into fashion and need to be fashion icons. Is this something you try to avoid? Do you feel that this categorization is a hindrance to women looking for credibility in the music world?
The way we dress is what it always has been; we have neither sought out nor avoided the need to be “fashion icons.” I don’t think fashion icon status is as much of a hindrance to women playing music as is the need to be considered beautiful. You can see a band of a bunch of average looking guys and no one cares, but with a female band there are always people talking about whether you’re attractive or not, which is a problem, because it’s totally irrelevant.

How did you find your sound? When you began writing music was there a certain audience you were hoping to attract/impress, or do you feel that people are just responding well to your personal vision? Are there specific musical influences you would site?
When we started out our audience was basically our friends at living room shows and DIY spaces in Brooklyn. Our idea was to have all our songs be really fast and short and fuzzy. The Wipers were a huge influence, as were 80′s hardcore bands. As time went on we added reverb and harmonies and slowed some of our songs down.

I read on your blog about your sarcastic comments being misinterpreted by the public. How is it dealing with the fact that your voices carry a lot more weight in the media than ever before? Do you feel that you are more conscious of your everyday choices and how these influence your fans?
Yes. We weren’t trying to talk down to anyone in those interviews, but in retrospect we can see why people thought we were jerks.

You’ve claimed to be truly dorky. Give me some examples. We’d like to compare nerdiness.
Yeah, we’re all pretty big nerds. We were all very unpopular in middle school and got made fun of a lot. Ali and Katy like video games a lot. They’re also really into Twilight and Harry Potter. I like collecting all sorts of stuff. My bedroom is like a shrine of shitty culture, because the stuff I collect is bottom-of-the-barrel junk that I for some reason think is really cool. We’re all record collectors too. Katy loves computers and the internet. She also got her bachelor’s degree in Physics. I get mad when I see a billboard with really bad graphic design, unless it’s REALLY bad in which case I think it’s amazing. Ali is also a connoisseur of stand-up comedy. And Katy and Ali love keeping up with TV, and the only show I watch anymore is Friends on DVD.

Although it’s been said you picked your name more by chance than as a fan’s reference to Henry Darger and The Story of the Vivian Girls, do you feel that having to talk about and defend the name has brought you closer to the work of art?
Yeah, definitely. We didn’t pick the name by chance: our old drummer came up with it. But having the name Vivian Girls has definitely brought us to appreciate Darger’s work a lot, we think he’s really cool.

In this ever-growing, interconnected world it is hard to completely separate music from other forms of art. What is influencing you right now outside of the music world? Visual art, literature, film, fashion, science, politics, etc…?
I try to get cool art zines at independent bookstores as often as possible. I just got one at Ooga Booga in LA that has all these funny drawings of Cathy. We also brought Ali’s old video camera on tour, we’re trying to get more into filming and possibly make our own music videos. Katy reads CNN.com on her BlackBerry every day, so we always know what’s going on in the world in our van. But overall, traveling is probably the biggest influence. After going all over the place it makes you see things in a different light.

interview by: Tricia Rock
illustration by: Scott Starrett

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