Interviews

Interviews: Edna's Goldfish

This is Brian, the singer from Edna's Goldfish.
They're on Ska Satellite Records, a subsidiary of Moon Ska Records.
They have a CD out now is called "Before You Knew Better" and they will start recording again in late Nov./early Dec.

Check them out at their homepage.

Smother: How big is the horn section in your band?

Brian: We have a 3 piece horn section with 2 trumpets and a trombone. Ian is 6'4, Gary is 6'1, and Dave is about my height which makes him about 5'7... that's how big we are.

Smother: How long have you been together?

Brian: We got this band together in the winter of 1996 going into '97, so we've been kicking around for a little while now.

Smother: You guys have one release out on Ska Satellite Records (a subsidiary of Moon Ska), but your next one will be on Moon Ska. What does this change mean for you guys? (bigger audience, wider release, etc?)

Brian: It doesn't mean much except that Moon throws a lot more money into the album than they do for Ska Satellite, where most of the money comes from your pocket. On Moon they pay for your recording, more promotion, you make more money off the albums.. Stuff like that, which really isn't much different, except that you do reach more people because of the increased promotion.

Smother: I've seen you in concert 2 times now, and I have to say that the show you guys put on is great. There's a lot of energy from you. I did notice that at times the crowd doesn't respond the way they SHOULD be. How do you feel when this sort of thing happens?

Brian: I don't know how I feel. I listen to our music, and it can be considered aggressive. I don't know if slamming into other people is the appropriate response to what we do, but I don't think it is for ANY music.. it's generally stupid. But, If people don't get hurt, what the hell, right? As long as they don't hurt me either. I concern myself with what goes on in the audience to a certain point. I can say whatever to try to get people to respect each other, but when that gets lost on people I get bummed. I hate seeing people go home with bruises from a ska show, but if people aren't going to listen to me, than what can I do really?

Smother: Two of the songs that I've seen you play live , "Veronica Sawyer," and "Avoiding the Swerve," made such a big impression on me when I saw you play the first time, that I had no trouble singing along with you the second time. Will these two songs be on the new cd you guys are releasing? Is there anywhere else to get them?

Brian: Thanks... They should be the upcoming CD. "Veronica Sawyer" may be out a little earlier on a Moon compilation and on the European version of the CD, but that's about it.

Smother: Most of your songs follow suit with the two songs aforementioned. The vocal harmony doesn't follow like most other ska bands, but takes to its own and grabs a really great melody. How do you approach putting your words into music?

Brian: I don't really think about that much. I'm sax and bass player as well. I know that I can write a melody to a song and I have a shit load of melodies that I try out whenever we write stuff. Plus I write lyrics and stories and stuff that I try to fit into songs. One of the things I do is try to write a melody first, like I did for Veronica Sawyer. "friday night, saturday...." was just something stuck in my head for more than 15 minutes... once that happens to me chances are it'll make it into a song somehow.

Smother: Your horn section is one of the tightest and most unique sections I've heard. They also grab a great melody. How do the horns and the guitar/bass/drums work together to put the two parts together?

Brian: Thanks again. Me and Vinnie (guitar) basically sit at home with a 4-track machine and a drum loop and record all our ideas, then we bring them in and things start happening.. Some songs have happened by accident, like "I'm Your Density". But alot of it is thought out as far as guitar, bass and horns go. Things change a little when we rehearse but they maintain the same ideas and stuff.

Smother: Are most of the songs (melodies) written by the horn section or by the guitar/bass/drums? Who is the primary song writer?

Brian: We are all song writers at certain level. Me and Vinnie do create a lot of the ideas that evetually become the songs, but it's unfair to say that one person comes up with any one thing. Except vocal melodies and lyrics. I do 99% of that.

Smother: About how long do you expect to be in the studio this time around, as compared to how long you were there last time?

Brian: Well, provided we get a good amount of time blocked out, we can go for over 2-3 weeks. Last record we did in 6 days and that's with mixing.. It was done super rushed. But, it also came out of our pockets. This time we'll take it slow cuz we'll have money to work with.

Smother: If you met a guy named Carbomb, what would you do?

Brian: Probably try to stay away from him.

Smother: If you had everything taken from you, but were allowed to keep one thing, what would you keep?

Brian: ohhhhhhhh......this is tough. I'd probably keep a pen and notebook and write down everything about my life so that I could prove my existence. I'd probably lose the pen somehow though

Smother: Has making music always been your goal?

Brian: Yes. All my life I knew I wanted to play music or do something in music. So I guess I'm sorta living out my dream.

Smother: Do you have anything to say in general to the readers?

Brian: I wish people would open their minds about music and not worry so much about labels and genres and crap like that. They should listen to good music for good music's sake. There's a lot of great bands out there that no one ever experiences because they just don't want to open their minds.

Thanks for letting me do this...
Brian D. 175 Wright Ave., Deer Park, NY 11729