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May 17, 2012

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Chaz Bono

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The Bird And The Bee

11/01/2010

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This indie synth pop-alternative duo has had songs on the original 'Sex and the City,' 'Funny People' and 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' soundtracks, and their recently-released tribute to Hall & Oates has gotten lots of buzz. "The Bird," Inara George, answers your questions here.

The Bird And The Bee
Q: How did you get together with your partner and form The Bird and The Bee? - dancingangel
A: Well, Greg [Kurstin] and I met through our mutual friend Mike Andrews – he produces my solo stuff. We were making my first solo record together, and he brought Greg on, and one day when we were recording everyone kind of left the room, and Greg and I just kind of played jazz songs, and just kind of had fun, and I didn’t even realize it, but we had started writing. We wrote a bunch of songs, and I didn’t even realize it, but we had a record.
Q: Your music is influenced by jazz. What is it you like about it? - llamatongue
A: Yeah, I like jazz. I’m like an amateur jazz appreciator. Greg’s kind of the real thing.
Q: What's the origin of the name of your name? - Sandy
A: We had a different name, but it turned out someone else had that name -- The Falling Leaves, which is a line from this song "Autumn Leaves," a jazz song. We found out someone else had that name, so we had a song called "Birds and The Bees," and I thought, “Why not The Bird and The Bee?” It just sort of happened. There wasn’t very much thought put into it.
Q: Were you surprised by the kind of instant success you've had? - Sandy
A: Yeah. I knew before we released anything that people were really responding to the music. Mostly my friends, but I’ve been playing music for a really long time, and all my friends like my music, but they probably wouldn’t buy it if it wasn’t me. But I got a sense that people were really enjoying this. And you’re always surprised, but of anything I’ve done, this seems to be the most universally liked.
Q: Your music has been picked up by so many TV shows, commercials and soundtracks. Why do you think that is? - mikeyp
A: I think that there’s something about the music that makes people happy. I don’t know why necessarily. But I think that -- I don’t know why exactly it works so well in an entertainment element -- but I know that people enjoy the music, and I think that when things are enjoyable it translates well to other mediums.
Q: Were you surprised that your single "Fucking Boyfriend" was as successful it was, given the name? - mikeyp
A: No, because I think people are fond of profanity. It wasn’t played on the radio; the most success it had was in dance clubs -- there was a remix of it. I wasn’t surprised that people liked that song because there’s a shock element to it.
Q: What's the story behind your single "Diamond Dave"? - MelanieS
A: I always loved David Lee Roth, and I always loved Van Halen, but I wasn’t like a huge fan, and my husband and I got tickets to see them play again in L.A. at the Staples Center. I was so blown away by David Lee Roth. Just his showmanship. I thought that if Greg and I wrote a couple days later, it would be fun to do an homage to the great David Lee Roth.
Q: You’ve also done this cover album of Hall and Oates. Why did you pick them? What spoke to you about their music? - MelanieS
A: We’ve always wanted to do a cover record. We hadn’t decided on Hall and Oates, but with Hall and Oates it seemed like a good time to kind of pay them a tribute. We think that they’re such great pop-song craftsmen. So we thought it would be a fun idea, and we went with it.
Q: What was your tour with Lily Allen like? - Ishita Singh
A: Well, that was about three years ago or something. It was great. She’s a really talented girl, and Greg had worked with her. He produced all of her last record, and the record that we were on tour with her for, was her first record, and he produced a couple songs on that one. But she’s a lovely girl, very spirited, super smart and sassy.
Q: For your live performances, are there specific environments you prefer performing in? Do you like small venues, or do you prefer something bigger? - Chris Sansom
A: We’ve been lucky enough to play some really cool places. We got to play Carnegie Hall, which is kind of a big intimate venue, but I think with our music, what’s fun is to have an environment with a lot of people, because it’s not an intimate show. It’s much more like a party, we like to think of it as a party. We’ve never played huge venues, like stadiums, I don’t know how I’d feel about that, but we’ve played larger venues. I think it works a little better, with a little more people.

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