Telepathe – So Fine from Paul Tao on Vimeo.

Donna: Hi guys, so lets talk about your new album that was recently produced by Dave Sitek. How did that come about? I heard that he (Sitek) approached you? Did he hear your work,  and think I really want to work with these girls…?

Busy: Yeah its true, he approached us, he casually heard our MySpace songs, he was hanging out with a mutual friend, and she just put on our MySpace songs. And he heard it and he really liked it. A few days later we met him and he offered studio time for an entire month. Literally two weeks after we met him, we were in his studio for about 12 hours a day.

– Melissa arrives soaked to the bone and attempts to get a little cover from our umbrella –

Donna: We are just talking about your album produced by Dave Sitek, how have you found that has affected the way your album has been received? I mean obviously it generated some great publicity for you, having his  name behind it. But did you find it in anyway detrimental, perhaps people thinking it was his work, or was it entirely beneficial for you?

Melissa: Well it’s a little bit of both, it goes both ways, there has been some assholes that are convinced that Dave Sitek wrote all of our music.

Donna: There’s always going to be some of them though isn’t there?

Busy: It’s always men by the way.

Melissa: And it’s funny because we actually wrote the music before we went in to the studio and we just took those files and reworked them. No but it’s been awesome, other than that majority wise

Busy: besides from a few closed minded people I feel like his help and his influence has really helped our band a lot, and we really appreciate it and we love him and he’s a really good friend of ours

Donna: So you have guys have quite good working relationship with him?

Busy: Yeah he’s amazing; we get along with him really well

Donna: Do you come from Brooklyn or do you live there?

Busy: I come from LA originally but I have lived in Brooklyn for a few years

Donna: So coming from a place like Brooklyn, it’s quite an artistic community, how do you find that aids you; do you find it nurtures you as artists?

Melissa: I think it did for a short while, it was really inspiring, and then it was inspiring in the way for us to go off and be like ok we don’t want to sound like anyone else on the Brooklyn music scene and now let’s do something else.

Donna: In somewhere like Scotland the music scene is much smaller, so to generate publicity you have to work a lot harder; whereas somewhere like Brooklyn there are gigs all the time, there is an abundance of places to play…

Melissa: I can’t keep up with it, I don’t even know what they are anymore

Busy: Yeah there are tons of venues, tons of bands and there’s a built in audience, like if you started a band and you wanted to play your first show next week, there would probably be 50 people there at least and there are so many people there willing to go out and see new bands.

Donna: Going back to your music, in recent years there has been a resurgence of women fronted band, why do you think that has come about? Because the industry has become more accepted of women fronted bands? Or do you think its women aiding women? Do you think this will carry on?

Busy: I can’t say why it’s happening exactly, but i hope that it carries on and I feel like it has a lot to do with women musicians supporting other woman, and helping them get up, giving them opportunities….

Melissa: I am really dark about that I just don’t believe, we live in a patriarchy, and I just don’t believe things are going to change, I think things happen in phases, but I still also feel like it’s still very marginalised, there’s not a lot of like… there’s just the stereotypes, ‘look there’s a lead female singer in a rock band’

Donna: But it’s moving away from that I think?

Mellissa: yeah I want it to move, im like fuck that

Donna: Yeah, its great to see women doing it on their own, with electronica bands like yourselves,  indie bands like the Vivian Girls. And I just think its great that they are doing it without men, just doing it off their own back..

Mellissa: yeah no guys allowed (grin)! Girls club!

Donna: So what does the future hold for Telepathe? Obviously you’re going on tour, and you’re doing a lot of festivals in Europe, what’s next?

Busy: Some time off in the fall writing new music.

--The downpour gets ridiculous–

Mellissa: Guy’s I’m sorry I’ve gotta get some cover somewhere…

Understandably, the girls decided they couldn’t bear the downpour any longer , and rushed off through the driving Jersey rain, drinks in hand. Only if we had a larger umbrella…

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