Antique Imp A big hello to Danny Fasold from Antique Imp. Danny plays guitar, synth and sings. Leicester Bangs: Tell us a little about yourself, and your band. Danny: Antique Imp originally started as a personal project. For well over a year, it was just me recording out of my bedroom, using an old Roland 4-track that must have been like 30 years old. All of the music back then was really lo-fi, and really limited due to the technological restraints. But after a while I finally convinced my old friend Dryden Van Cleave to join me in L.A. and form a band with me, so we did. We found Oscar Higuera to play drums with us after we posted an ad on Craigslist, and through him we found Wes Hawkes for bass. Wes and Oscar have been long-time friends, so it was kind of interesting, have this dynamic where each half of the band has known each other for years. LB: How did you start out making music? Danny: I got into the game way late, when I like 18 or had just turned 19. I remember I was on vacation with my family in England, and I was listening to a lot of OK Computer, and suddenly it hit me that I wanted to learn to play guitar. When I got home I bought my first acoustic - it was a Yamaha - which I played to death, over and over again, every day. I still have that guitar, but I can't play it anymore because it's got quite a few dead spots from pressing down on the frets too hard. It's weird because I didn't even think I liked music for the longest time. The reason is because up until the age of 12, I'd spend most of my time at my babysitter's house before and after school, and her whole family only listened to country music. I'd hear songs like "Boot Scoot 'n Boogie" on the radio and think, "This is what music is? God, this sucks!" It wasn't until way later where I discovered things like grunge and punk. I don't think I ever listened to the Beatles at all until I was 18. Weird, thinking back on it. Every kid should be exposed to the Beatles! LB: Who did you grow up listening to and how do they influence what you’re doing now? Danny: The first bands I really liked were Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Bush, Tool... '90s bands, you know? I guess I'm still pretty influenced by grunge, even if I barely listen to it these days. A lot of people tell me they hear a strong tinge of grunge in my music. I swear, if I hear another Eddie Vedder comparison, though, I'll have an aneurysm. I always thought Pearl Jam sucked (laughs). LB: Tell us about your latest release. Danny: We just put out our first EP. It's self-titled and has four songs that we all worked really hard on. I've heard from some people that the music is rather depressing, but I happen to disagree. I think some our stuff is quite joyous, depending on how you hear it. LB: Do you get out and play your music live, and if so, what can an audience expect at one of your shows? Danny: Yes. We play live as much as we can, but only in and around Los Angeles. Check our Myspace page periodically to see where we're playing. Audiences can usually expect lots of big sweeping synths and multi-part harmonies and some cool light effects. We just bought a new light machine which is really fun. Our drummer sometimes brings along his fog machine, which maybe is kind of campy but who cares, it's really cool to see that smoke drift along your frame of vision as I'm singing "smelled the smoke in your clothes...". LB: What aspects of playing and recording music do you most enjoy? Danny: Jamming. Finding happy mistakes. Sometimes you can turn a relatively boring lick into something completely mind-blowing by fucking up in exactly the right way. Recording's a whole other entity, I think. These days, when I record, it's usually alone. I don't think I work really well with others in that respect. But it's a lot of fun. It's a great way to go inside my head and find out new things, new sounds, learn up on some software. There's a lot more attention to detail when I'm recording, I think. When I'm playing with the other guys, we're still working to improve our songs, but primarily we're focused on having a good time. LB: Where can people find (and buy) your music? Danny: Our stuff just went up on CDBaby, and not forgetting our Myspace page. www.myspace.com/antiqueimp Antique Imp @ DiPiazzas 12/11/2008