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Exclusive Interview With Actress (The Band, Not Chick)
- Author: Vivianne Lapointe
- Posted on: Monday July 27, 2009 at 12:00 PM
- Filed under: music, exclusive, interview
Something's in the air for Tennessee-hailing rockers, ACTRESS. A little over a year since the brother duo Josh and Aaron Ficchi were first featured in (and then signed to) indie music and record label, RCRDLBL, Los Angeles-based duo is prepped to release a new EP, titled In Motion. We got the inside scoop from the band about the truth behind their non-googlable name, growing up in the South with Nomadic Gospel singers, and their upcoming EP. One thing we guarantee? They ain't shy.
What’s with the name? Was it a drunk decision after an actress broke your heart? Did you purposefully not want to be Googlable?
Josh: You google Ficchi + Actress and usually get Angelina Jolie.
Aaron: Well, yes about the actress, and not exactly a drunken decision at the time... the drinking came later. I actually remember being quite infatuated with the name when I first heard it, I was toying around with different names, like 'antidote', and one of my good friends at the time thought I said 'ACTRESS' instead... We went along with it.
Josh: It's a great name! Always reminds me of powerful, feminine band names like Queen or Blondie.
You are brothers who hail from TN like Justin and live in LA like Justin. Weird coincidence? What’s one thing that instantly reminds you of the South if you see it?
Aaron: Justin.
Josh: Jack Daniel's Whiskey for sure reminds me of the south so when I see it (or drink it), it takes me back to summer field parties in TN. Just like Justin, we have great taste.
Aaron Ficchi in Los Angeles
Your music has been categorized indie electro-rock…with 80s flair. However, since we're not big fans of categories and labels, we’d like you to draw a description of your music below:
Josh: I'll draw you a picture... ACTRESS headlining the Hollywood Bowl.
You say you grew up with “nomadic gospel singers.” Translation please?
Josh: Our folks moved around a lot, ya know from town to town, church to church singing and helping the congregation.
Exactly how many cities did you grow up in?
Aaron: The number keeps growing…
Josh: I'd say about a baker's dozen :) We stayed in TN the longest though.
Josh Ficchi, growing up by the river.
How did your parents meet?
Josh: They met in church under a giant crucifix.
A lot of sing-a-longs growing up?
Josh: Oh of course, before ACTRESS, we had a family band (like the Partridge family)
Aaron: That’s how we learned how to chant!
Did you have to sneak listening to other music than gospel as a kid?
Josh: Oh no, our parents listen to a lot of other music too. Classic stuff like the Eagles, Styx, Boston- that sort of thing.
Aaron: I remember listening to a lot of piano-based music; jazz, gospel, rag-time, which I still love to this day... Around 13 or 14, I started really getting into The Beatles, Beach Boys... Bee Gees for sure! A friend of mine played me Suede's - Animal Nitrate and I thought it was brilliant - that really kind of ushered into what we were looking for in terms of a musical/artistic approach.
Let’s talk about your New EP coming out called 'In Motion.’ What’s the main theme?
Josh: The main theme I'd say is our lives inside and outside the band moving into different forms all the time: new challenges I suppose.
Aaron: Well, it's the idea that things are moving all the time around us that we never notice, like the earth... you don't feel it, but it's moving along, gradually making changes.
A Southern landscape.
Favorite go-to pump-up song - for working out, speeding in car?
Josh: 'Acquiesce' by Oasis
Aaron: 'Don't Feel Like Dancin' by Scissor Sisters.
Song that always gives you goosebumps?
Josh: 'Still Life' by Suede
Aaron: 'Sleepwalk' by Santo and Johnny
Aaron rocking the shades.
Guilty Pleasure song/singer. Barry White? Barry Manillow? Who?
Josh: Guilty pleasure song: 'Rollout' by Ludacris
Aaron: I actually like Manillow (my mom is a huge fan). Guilty pleasure? Definitely the Spice Girls.
Favorite Justin Timberlake song?
Josh: I liked that 'Cry Me a River' song, but his latest stuff on SNL is pretty damn funny.
Aaron: D**k in a box!
Top 3 music videos of all time:
Aaron: Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody', such a first of it's kind, Blur's 'The Universal' or David Bowie's 'Space Oddity'.
Josh: 'Taxloss' by Mansun, 'This is Hardcore' by Pulp, 'The Universal' by Blur.
A few people have been whispering that pop is dead since Michael Jackson's passing. What are your thoughts on MJ and his influence on pop?
Josh: I don't think so at all- MJ stopped putting out decent pop 20 years ago.
Aaron: Are people really saying that? Wow. Umm...I think pop is always evolving to fit what the general population like as a whole. I mean, The Beatles were pop, Nirvana and grunge became pop. Indie-rock is "pop", right now, and people will try and capitalize on that popularity.
You had this Hunter S. Thompson quote on your MySpace page: "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There is also a negative side.". Tell us how you really feel.
Josh: Haha, gah that's a good one, especially for Aaron and I. We've been playing so long in the trenches trying to 'make it' we have a funny/cynical view on the business side.
Aaron: It seems like there is no rationale to it. It's funny...I once had a conversation with Kiefer Sutherland and he said, "The entertainment business is the only industry where having talent and drive will make you no more successful than not having talent and drive. Do I believe that?...not exactly, but to make it work for the artist, (it's cliché, i know) it has to be built on love for the art, then it doesn't matter how successful you are...I mean let's face it, to be unknown is not that tragic, but making great music that no one hears is.
Josh, daydreaming in Los Angeles.
You're still driving an old-school, beatup van that is quite honestly pretty charming. Are you tweeting from there? Lol ;-)
Aaron: Ha...We have before!
Josh: That van has been with us since day one. Her name is Rose. She's a full-figured gal, but has never let us down.
Actress is {fill in the blank}:
Josh: the best pop group since the Bee Gees.
Aaron: A band. A brotherhood. A New Generation.
Check out more on Actress online at myspace.com/actress and twitter.com/actresstheband.
Interview conducted by Vivianne LaPointe.
NEXT POST: Memphis Rap Singles Summer 2009
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COMMENTS
“"I actually remember being quite infatuated with the name when I first heard it, I was toying around with different names, like 'antidote', and one of my good friends at the time thought I said 'ACTRESS' instead... We went along with it." 'YEAH IT'S A FABULOUS BAND NAME. That's why it's been in use since 1981 & service marked by the L.A. Glam band "Actress". Not these guys. http://www.musicmight.com/artist/united+states/california/los+angeles/actress ”
“During the interview, Aaron and Josh refer to a lucky bunch of a truly *exclusive* music - when talking about their fave-lists. Thanx for that. Plus, the interviewer, Mlle Vivianne LaPointe, has baked a truly deliciously-structured and readable article - nice pictures, good questions and all the dance. (separate credit - for a pretty funny title - exlusive interview with actress - The Band, NOT CHICK......especially, when you look a bit to the right of the page and see justin's latest status avatar - as if he spells out this Not Chick title - with that the title goez extremely funny...) ”
