Powerful and attention-demanding vocals locked in combat with driving rock 'n' roll is a recipe Phoenix band Fairy Bones has been known for in its two years of existence.
Vocalist Chelsey Louise spoke about her dramatic vocals keeping space open for each member of the band.
You take cues from musicals and find inspiration from Freddie Mercury. How much of that translates to how you sing?
My background is in musical theater so I think I am the only one in the band that really cares about the lyrics. Our bassist Ben Foos hardly knows some of the lyrics. I’m really invested in storytelling. Whenever I write something I ask, “How can I write this better or can I do this differently?"
You have a lot of different styles under your belt. How do you see your sound evolving?
We get compared to No Doubt a lot because of their (album) "Tragic Kingdom," it sounds like a different band on each song and I think we’re similar to that. We’re just a band with a variety of different music, and it shows through.
See more: ‘Push and Shove’ marks return of No Doubt
Has the process changed for writing new material?
We have a new style of how we write. On the last record, I wrote most of the songs and Matt Foos wrote one song, but now we are starting with an acoustic version first. I believe if the song doesn’t sound good acoustic, then it won’t sound good.
@fairybonesmusic has a show 09/04 at Club Palazzo, with @BananaGunBand, and more! #fairybones #8020records pic.twitter.com/DIDza02hIH
— 80/20 Records (@8020records) August 28, 2015
When writing now, it seems like you have shifted from a more organic form to a more thought out style. Is that true?
Kind of. No one writes anyone else’s part. Even if I told someone to do it a certain way, they’d tell me to f-k myself. We lay the bass down and Robert Ciuca takes the guitar and makes it Robert, which is usually more over-driven than if our drummer Matt Foos wrote it, because he’s more of a blues guitarist. It’s a building block method.
The band lived out of a van while touring. How was that?
It’s fricking insane. We loved it. We really love touring. I feel like going on longer tours is a better idea. Maybe two weeks or a month tour is the best. It takes at least a week to let go of your normal life. You wake up, you get coffee and you work out; you have your daily routine.
All of that is thrown out the window and you have to live in a van, eating crap with the same people every day. Every time you get out of the van it looks like the same place, it’s like the Twilight Zone. It’s strange.
I imagine you're glad to be home and get space from the other members of the band.
The moment we get home from tour, we are so relieved to be home and then a week goes by and then we go, “why are we here?” Our band works really well. We don’t hate each other and we live with each other. I’ve lived with them for three years.
Favorite local venue?
Valley Bar is insane. It’s such a great venue. When we played, the audio was so great. It feels like you are in prohibition times. It’s incredibly hard to find. It’s in the back alley. It has this incredibly small sign. Then you have to go down to the basement, and then it’s like you’re in the 1960s.
What other local bands are you into?
Zodiac Bash is a band I’ve been listening to. Our bassist Ben is also in that band and I’m best friends with the lead singer. We really love The Woodworks. Bad Neighbors is really good. They’re spoken word and really theatrical which is really cool.
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