Some unfortunate news...

The scheduled interview postings are obviously off.  Artists have not gottten back to us with their interviews and photos, music, etc.  As soon as we receive them, we will post them.  The Cowboy Indian Bear (www.myspace.com/cowboyindianbear) interview posting has been pushed back due to personel problems with Two Pandas.  Email us at twopandas@gmx.com with any questions, concerns, comments, or recommendations. 

Thanks.
Two Pandas

Little Brazil Interview

Little Brazil is one of Omaha, Nebraska's finest bands.  The newest member of Kansas City based record label Anodyne Records, Little Brazil's third full length album, Son, has been continuously catching listeners ears everywhere.  Climbing into the CMJ Top 50 and being "highly highly" recommended by Alternative Press Magazine, the latest album has fans on the edge of their seats and waiting for the next. 

(The following interview was conducted via email and is posted as was received.)

Two Pandas: First of all, tell us about the name.

Little Brazil: The name represents a neighborhood in New York City just off 45th street and is adjacent to Times Square. Landon first visited the area back in the early part of the decade. He said he saw the name on a street sign and it just stuck in his head. Once the project formed the name came easy. Sadly, it’s not that crazy of a story and it usually disappoints most. I would say we are all fans of the Brazilian Soccer team though. I think Oliver and Dan have some Samba skills. Those stories might work a little better in the future.

TP: You’re five years into this thing. Any regrets? Anything you would change?

LB: No. If any of us ended up changing anything we would have ever learned from our mistakes. That always ends up being some of my advice to younger musicians looking into the professional aspect of the music world; make every mistake possible. It’s the only way.

TP: You’ve just recently gotten back from tour with Weatherbox. Tell us about those guys.

LB: I’ve never considered us old guys by any means. We are all in our late 20’s and early 30’s. But those guys made us feel like we were getting ready to retire. I think the oldest member in that band was twenty three!? They are a fun talented band that re-invigorated being on the road for us. Being from California, a lot of their individual personalities definitely rubbed off each of us. I think I spent most of the tour reciting Point Break references or making Spicoli jokes to Brian the lead singer.

TP: We know Landon has been involved with a few Saddle Creek artists in the past. Is he still involved with these bands?

LB: Socially of course, but on a music level, no. Little Brazil and his solo endeavors take up the majority of his time.

TP: The infamous Saddle Creek records is based right there in Omaha. Was there ever any attention towards you guys from Saddle Creek?

LB: Not that I know of for sure. But we’re friends with the majority of the people that work for the label and we know they support and respect everything Little Brazil does.

TP: You jumped ships before releasing Son, from Mt. Fuji Records to the Kansas City based label Anodyne Records. What was the main reasoning behind the switch?

LB: I wouldn’t say there was a reason but I think we felt it was time for some type of slate change. When we set out to write Son, we never really had any label in mind. Mt. Fuji had been nothing but great for us with both of our previous releases and we are all very close with everybody at the label still. But we wanted to try something different and get away from the business aspect of labels and marketing. We took a step back and just wanted to worry about creating a record first and foremost. Once we had something we were extremely proud of we worked from there. Anodyne came about through friends and acquaintances and showed extreme interests in Little Brazil from the get go. As they say, the rest is history.

TP: Explain a typical day on tour for Little Brazil.

LB: Well, we usually rise about two hours after our wake up call. Then it’s like a zombie march for coffee while we slug each other with sleeping bags to make it into the van for a typical 6 – 8 hour drive. During the drive most catch up on the sleep we didn’t get from the night prior and dive into the DVD collection of Family Guy. We try not to stop on our way to the destination because most gas stations across the US have something that we end up regretting purchasing. We arrive at most venues late but always ready to play. And of course have a drink or seven. Control. Alt. Repeat.

TP: From our personal experiences, there is always a smelly member in a band. Who is the smelliest member in Little Brazil?

LB: I would say Landon is the most mountain man of us all. This is why we are sponsored by Febreze and Glade.

TP: Who is the most entertaining band you have come across over the last five years?

LB: The Photo Atlas. We met these young lads while on our first US tour in 2004 in Denver, CO. We not only love the music they create, which is kind of a cross between At-The-Drive-In and the Faint, but we enjoy their company and have become very close over the years. But that doesn’t mean they are the only entertaining bands we shared stages with. Bands like Tegan & Sara, the Black Kids, Har Mar Superstar, Cursive, and Ladyfinger all hold special places in our hearts.

TP: At this point, what is most essential in life: a beer, a cigarette, your favorite Queen album, or your bicycle?

LB: I figure all are a necessity if you want to enjoy your evening to the fullest. Ride your trusty old bicycle down to the local watering hole. Belly up the bar, order a beer or whatever your favorite adult beverage might be and light up a Camel Light. All you need now is to have to bartender crank the Queen records on the juke box and you can relax and attempt your best Brian May air-guitar windmill.

Check out Little Brazil at myspace.com/littlebrazil or littlebrazil.net

Family of the Year Interview

Family of the Year is a happy band from Silverlake, CA.  I use "happy" not as a description of their music (although their "light-hearted" tunes do give the listener a very joyous feeling) but instead, as a description of their personalities.  Two Pandas caught up with FOTY after their Saturday night show at The Waiting Room in Omaha, NE.  After opening for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros on a short stretch of dates through the south and across to Ohio, the band landed in the Midwest to play a small number of shows on their own.  With quite the personalities, both on and off the stage, Two Pandas was in for quite a Saturday night.

(The following interview was conducted via email.  All text is posted exactly as received by Two Pandas.)

Two Pandas: First off, you travel in a big camper/Winnebago-style RV. Has this always been the “band vehicle” and where exactly did the idea to travel like this come from?
Family of the Year:  Well, considering this is our first national tour, yes it has always been the band vehicle. Reason being... We won this amazing opportunity to open up for Ben Folds and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in Boston and realized we had absolutely no way of getting there. Ha. So we immediately got on Craigslist and started searching away. When Joe and Sebby came into the room to check out my finds, they consisted of 3 RV's, one trailer and a shortbus. I've never done this before. So I had no idea this was not the standard. I just assumed having a home on wheels, whilst away from home was the way to go. Joe and Seb tried for a good 15 minutes to convince me how an RV was by no means economical or smart, and that we needed a pass van... I told them how much sweeter it'd be to be able to shower, cook a hot meal, play some board games, all whilst driving. So we forked over the money, Seb and my dad did a number on it, mechanically, and now Rosie (our nickname for our four wheel-ed friend) is just a much a family member to us as anyone else.

TP: In a “Letter to Friends…” written by yourselves and posted on your website, you mention quitting your jobs and moving in together. Do you all currently live together? If so, why have you chosen to do this?

FOTY: We do. Sort of. Christina and Brent have been subletting their apartments while we've been roaming, and we're all pretty hardup for cash or luxury these days, so it's either living together or the streets. So yes, I suppose we spend all 24 hours a day together. Kinda sick, isn't it?

TP: How would you describe your music? (Genres, feeling, etc.)

FOTY: Silly. Fun. Joy-bringing. Light-hearted. We want everyone to walk away having had a good night. Being affected. But in a nice way. I guess we've been pegged as folk, but I'm not sure that's what we are. Our first review was of our first show where we got dubbed hippies. It was during the summer and I think half of us had our shirts off and shoes. But we love fast food. And I'm pretty sure Hippies are anti. And I hate patchouli oil. But I do like nature. And free love. Now people are saying Americana. Which I googled. And came to the conclusion that I'm not sure I understand what that means either. We have a silly French song buried somewhere in our recording rig. I'd like to think we're all inclusive.

TP: Briefly describe each of your musical backgrounds and how you came together to form Family of the Year.

FOTY: Joey and Sebby and Jamesy have played together for years. They've done the whole schpiel. But what's neat is they're these amazing mentors and super patient to the likes of me, Shrodes, and Bubba. Bubba apparently played the fiddle before when he was in middle school or something in one of the 12 locations he's lived in. And Shrodes took keyboard lessons when she was little. I grew up doing musical theatre. Me and Joe met and he let me go to his rehearsel space and play on Seb's drums. I'd been playing a lot of Rockband lately, so I was pretty sure I could handle the real thing. We started recording during a weird interim of his bands, and well, my life, i guess. and came up with some songs. We put the band together about four or five months ago. And everyone sort of busted their butts or chops depending on who was doing better than who that night. And the rest just fell together.

TP: Tell us about your involvement with CMJ and the opportunities that have come with this involvement.

FOTY: CMJ was great. We played four different shows and four different awesome venues. And also did some podcasts while we were out there. We ran around the city like maniacs and kind of just let the wind carry us. And by wind, I mean Emily, our amazing manager. Who just whisked us away to different things. We met a lot of really great industry people and have been just sort of talking. I guess. Taking time. Figuring things out.

TP: With the way the internet is changing the music industry today, many bands are taking different approaches at getting their music into people’s hands. Tell us about your choice to let people pay what they would like for your Where Is the Sun EP and how it has benefited and hindered the band.

FOTY: I think, at this point, it'd be impossible for it to hinder us. I'm a huge fan of music being free. I mean, we obviously spent a lot of hours on this, but we would have done it whether someone was paying for it or not. We recorded it ourselves, on our little ghetto-rigged setup. And now, it's just a way for people to enjoy it, or not enjoy it accordingly. I'm a self-proclaimed downloader. But I support. I go to the shows. And I buy merch. And I tell everyone I know about great bands, that I wouldn't have found if I had not been able to download things. We're all starving. We're all artists. Why not make it make more sense. By cutting out the middle man, we're able to have people communicate directly with us, and it's awesome, at shows having people come up and tell them they came because of hearing us online. And that aside. You'd be surprised. Most people do pay. And some are even generous. But if you download it for free, and come to the show and bring corndogs for most of us. We'll call it even.

TP: Many people note your incredible vocal harmonies as a strong point for the band. Are the vocals something you base your songwriting around?

FOTY: Not so much. I don't think. Generally, Joe writes all the music and I write the lyrics. By the time he's layed down most of the instruments, then we'll formulate some sort of melody around them, to them and sing them over. Omitting things or adding them accordingly. In all honesty, we kind of just dive in. And some songs we like layering a bazillion harmonies over, and sometime's we'll just sing one rough take. It just depends on what we're feeling like at that minute. I'm sure we'll try other methods in the future, but that's kind of the way it's worked so far. For us, I mean.

TP: Tell us about the song “Psych or Like Scope.” It has such a different feeling then the rest of the EP.

FOTY: Psych or like Scope, Joe had recorded prior to my meeting him. And I was secretly digging through old tracks of his on the computer and I thought it was so cool. We honestly didn't try to do anything cohesive with this thing we were doing. If we liked the sound of a song, we just did it. So I made him let me record over what he had already did. And voila! The folk mold may or may not have been broken.

TP: What is the food situation like while out on tour? Do you bring food with you or constantly stop for fast food and groceries?

FOTY: Constantly stop. Fast food if we're lucky. Mostly truck stop goodies. We have a fridge on board, but it doesn't work currently. We need to take a week off to get Rosie back to prime condition again. The other night we had a night off so we stopped in East Texas at some RV park. It was pitch black and Jamesy cooked us some steaks and mashed potatoes and broccoli. He's the chef for sure. And you have no idea how amazing it was. Good food is crucial. We've also had some angels take care of us on the road and let us shower or sleep at their place and cook us up some grub. Moms are great too. You know if one of the band members mom's lives in a location we're playing, we're set.

TP: What music is playing in the band RV?

FOTY: Haha. Honest Answer. Taylor Swift. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes for sure. Best album in 8 million years and 8 million more. Phoenix. Lily Allen. Sam Roberts. Band of Horses. Fleetwood Mac. Neil Young. Wilco. Bobby Darin. The Flaming Lips. Beach Boys. We actually love love love streaming Podcasts. Right now, Me and Joe are listening to Mysterious Universe. So good when we have late night graveyard driving shifts. Highly recommend it.

TP: You list your influences on MySpace as “Chumbawumba, Barenaked Ladies, System of a Down, etc.” Are these actual influences? Either way, what other bands do you draw influences from?

FOTY: Hah! Yes they are for sure. I hope that's apparent. But besides them, I'm gonna ask everyone right now there top three, okay?

• Joe - Ace of Base, Nirvana, Bob Dylan
• Jamesy - Ride, Flaming Lips, Red House Painters
• Bubba - The Promise Ring, Pedro the Lion, The Magnetic Fields
• Shrodes - No Doubt, Smashing Pumpkins, The Clash
• Sebby - Supergrass, The Lemonheads, The Beach Boys
• Me (Vanessa) - Etta James, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan

TP: November 17th is the release of date of your debut album “Songbook.” What can listeners expect from the album?

FOTY: A serious letdown. No, I kid I kid. Hopefully more. I hope they can listen to it and expect many more albums to come. That are more awesome. Is that weird?

TP: You have just finished a tour with Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros followed by a short run of shows in Midwestern cities by yourself. What is in store for the band now?

FOTY: Oh, bestill our hearts Edward Sharp. We are serious Ed Heads. And melancholy about leaving them. We're gonna do a Neil Young tribute on the 20th at the Bootleg Theatre for a not for profit organization that provides musical instruments to children. We're playing with a lot of really great bands. So we're super excited about that. And we have a few shows on the West Coast through December, but I think we're gonna take a minute to record some more music. We're itching to write some more stuff. We have a house we just got to make into a home. So we're gonna learn some new stuff, write some more stuff, and hopefully get back out after the holidays super aggressively and to more places! We're having a blast out here and everyone has been soooo amazing and wonderful and receptive. So yeah. Wait what was the question again?

Check out Family of the Year at familyoftheyear.net or myspace.com/familyoftheyear. 

Cowboy Indian Bear Interview UPDATE!

Because of some conflicting issues with Two Pandas, the Lawrence pop trio Cowboy Indian Bear's interview posting is postponed until next week.  BUT, because of this, the interview will be MUCH better.  If you have any questions, comments, complaints, hellos, or free things, email us at twopandas@gmx.com

Spread the word. Two Pandas is growing.

So This Is the Beginning.

We thought for the first post we'd give you guys the most recent update of what we have coming up.  The list of interviews we have continues to grow everyday.  Our most recent list looks like this....

• November 12th- Cowboy Indian Bear (Lawrence, KS)  
• November 16th- Family of the Year (San Fransisco, CA) *Featured Artist
• November 19th- Little Brazil (Omaha, NE)
• November 26th- Old Canes (Lawrence, KS) **Holiday Special
• November 30th- The Republic Tigers (Kansas City, MO)
• December 3rd- Roman Numerals (Kansas City, MO)
• December 10th- Little Black Stereo (Lincoln, NE)
• December 14th- The Noise FM (Lawrence, KS)
• December 17th- Thunder Power (Omaha, NE)
• December 21st- Yourself and the Air (Chicago, IL) *Featured Artist
• December 24th- It's True (Omaha, NE) **Holiday Special

That's the list.  What a list!  The website is being developed as we speak.  Until it is finished (and possibly even after) all interviews, show reviews, album reviews, etc., will be placed on here.  So keep reading!

Spread the word. Two Pandas is growing.