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Main >> News Listing >> June 2004 >> Article ID 5130
 Midnight Movies Makes Moody Melodies | Type: Internet Article |
| | Midnight Movies Makes Moody Melodies | Jun 10, 2004 |
Summary:
"She doesn't work there anymore, but she did," says Midnight Movies guitarist Larry Schemel, calling from L.A. to discuss Gina Olivier, the band's drummer and vocalist. "She was receptionist/client-service girl, which means she would have to make peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches for Christina Aguilera and Kelly Osbourne."
Read on for the whole article. |
Fixing sandwiches for pop princesses paid off for the L.A.based trio's singer and her cohorts
One of the best-known recording studios in Los Angeles, the Record Plant isn't usually an early stop for a new, unsigned band. Unless one of its members mans the front desk.
"She doesn't work there anymore, but she did," says Midnight Movies guitarist Larry Schemel, calling from L.A. to discuss Gina Olivier, the band's drummer and vocalist. "She was receptionist/client-service girl, which means she would have to make peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches for Christina Aguilera and Kelly Osbourne."
The humiliation of feeding millionaire brats paid off. One of the bonuses of working at the Plant was free studio time; the group recorded its darkly textured, melodically moody self-titled debut EP there. It was almost as if Olivier had ulterior motives when she took the position. "Well, she sort of had a plan," Schemel says. "She also worked as a nanny and the music was definitely the thing she wanted to do, so getting the job at the Record Plant was a good way of meeting people and being around a recording studio and stuff."
The songs on Midnight Movies may have been recorded in sunny L.A., but they are more filigreed Cocteau Twins than neon-lit Velvet Revolver. Schemel alternates between minimalistic keyboard fills and arpeggiated guitar chords, while Jason Hammons contributes rumbling bass lines set to Olivier's rudimentary yet delicate drumming. Most striking is the ex-receptionist's voice, an instrument as hollowed-out and lost as Nico's. This combination adds up to eerily pretty tracks like "Persimmon Tree" and "Strange Design" that are the aural equivalent of watching frost form on a window.
For the 35-year-old Schemel, Midnight Movies is his most fulfilling musical experience so far. "For me, I almost feel like it is my first band," says the former Seattle resident, who played in mid-'90s Emerald City pop/punk outfit Kill Sybil with his sister, ex-Hole drummer Patty Schemel. "I'm in love with everything we do. This is finally the group I've wanted to be in."
Of course, Schemel might just be saying that because Midnight Movies is the only act he's been in that can claim to have been heard by both Jay-Z (at L.A.'s Sunset Junction Street Fair) and Stevie Wonder (at the Knitting Factory). But tastemakers LA Weekly and the Emperor Norton record label also agree the trio's chemistry works. The former nominated them for best pop/rock artist in its annual music-award issue, while the latter is releasing Midnight Movies' debut full-length in August.
For this record, the group had to shoulder the cost of studio time. That was a small price to pay, however, considering its members have been able to quit their day jobs thanks to their recording contract.
"It's like a fantasy," says Schemel, whose band opens for the Von Bondies at Richard's on Richards on Tuesday (June 15). "Now we have more time to take care of photo shoots and things like that." |
 Source: straight.com | |
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