Crack

Teengirl Fantasy have burrowed themselves into a perfect little musical hole.

Members Logan Takahashi and Nick Weiss have produced a quite incredible first electronic artist album – 7AM. In the eyes of critics and commentators it has received almost universal praise, but at the same time it hasn’t been bundled on the club dates/remixes/hottest producers in the world gravy-train that often signals the beginning of the end for a lot of producers wanting to retain any degree of originality.

Taking a year out from their college studies in order to pursue their musical adventures, Teengirl Fantasy hail from Ohio and make hazy dreamlike music that roughly sounds like the ending of a great musical night.

Sexy, lo-fi and washed over in beautiful sonics, Teengirl Fantasy is probably the closest descriptive term to best represent their music. In a similar vein, the title of their debut album, 7AM, is more or less an instruction as to the most apt time to listen to the record. As exposed as one often is at 7am, the record invites the kind of intimacy you often get at this hour, minus the dickheads.

It’s an astoundingly assured debut, one free from cheesy house music cliché and one that embraces all the facets of quality house records and then spins them on their head. From the euphoria that embraces the soaring Cheaters, to the closeness and intimacy of slowjam, Dancing In Slow Motion, this album invites those who think house music is about attitude and wearing sunglasses in the club to take of their cool and embrace the richness it can often herald.

As people, Teengirl Fantasy doubtlessly don’t give a fuck about the house music scene and the music it heralds. Their attitude is as slow-paced, as their live show is noisy and improvised. Their gig at Start The Bus recently saw them recreate a number of their album tracks with added tension and noise on a whole host of electronic equipment for a very full live experience.

Their rich sound was rewarded hugely at the end of 2010 with the highly respected FACT Magazine end of year album list voting 7AM as the fourth best album of the year and Cheaters the number one track of the year, an incredibly impressive accolade for two students having a ‘year out’. Crack caught up with Logan and Nick after their gig at Start The Bus and kicked off with that all-important question.



Firstly and foremost, does the name Teengirl Fantasy relate directly to the music you guys are creating, or does the name relate to a particular fantasy either of you harbour?

Logan: I think you could draw some connections to the dramatic quality of the name and also to the idea of sincerity, but the name doesn’t really relate to the music in any direct sense. The google-ability of the name was a humorous after-thought.

Nick: It’s not really about our own fantasies. I’m gay and even if I weren’t I think I’d avoid teenage girls. It’s kind of more about the emotions a teenage girl could hold in her own imagination...that sparkling excitement/apprehension.

How long have you two known each other, and how did you have your first musical hook up?

Nick: Since we started college at Oberlin almost four years ago. We started jamming in the first few days of school in the basement of one of the school co-ops.

And who is bringing what particular talent to the table?

Nick: I’d say we are pretty even-keeled, we have different sensibilities and interests, but both love playing synthesizer and samplers. Maybe occasionally I’m into harder, bangy stuff and Logan is into more dubby/ambient/experimental music, but I’d definitely say we both go both ways.

Logan: We may have come to electronic music via different paths. For me I really got into techno via things like Kraftwerk and Basic Channel when I was in high school, whereas I think Nick had more experience with straight up pop production. That said, we are open listeners and both love pop and all types of music, so ultimately it’s about sitting down and making something we both are into.

Nick: Well, I grew up working in a hip-hop and R’n’B studio... helping out with little things and learning some production tips from the producers there. There is a definite youthful sincerity and sensual feel to your music. Is this something you have consciously engineered into your sound?

Nick: Nothing in this music is consciously engineered. It all comes from live jamming and very little talking or preparation.

Logan: It’s more about making something we immediately respond to.

Where on earth did you get that soulful sample for Cheaters –it’s incredible!

Nick: A friend gave it to a friend…who gave it to us. It’s certainly true a number of your tracks have huge house music influences, yet as a recording duo you far removed from the house music scene.

What does house music mean to you in 2011?

Nick: Hmm...house is such a huge term that can include so many different types of music. I’d say we both love house music but never sit down and say, “let’s make house music”, it’s kind of more just “let’s make music.”

Logan: Certainly there are house influences, but I’ve never just wanted to make house music. Equally as important and also falling under the fourto-the-floor category are the genres of Detroit techno, German kosmiche music, minimalism, pop, and then also styles that have their own specific soundscapes; like dub, lots of experimental, and adult contemporary.

Your live show is a huge sounding affair with lots of noises colliding, maybe more so than the record. How long has it taken to arrange?

Nick: The live show grows along with the songs and we improvise a lot each night so it’s always different. There was never a ‘building’ of the live show because the songs were pretty much all written live.

Logan: We like our live experience to be different from our recorded experience. It keeps things more exciting for us and for listeners.In credible music circles, 7AM was lauded as one of the records of 2010.

Has its success surprised you at all?

Logan: Getting #4 track on the end of year FACT album list was definitely a huge surprise. So crazy.

Nick: Haha definitely...it’s a weird little record, I’m glad people enjoy it. Is the album designed to be listened at 7am?

Logan: It was loosely intended to create the feeling of listening to it at 7am, although this works best when it’s actually 7am.

Nick: I have before...it enhances a lot of its more obscure sounds.

There is a real hazy beauty to the album. Has 7AM been influenced by some very late nights and some extremely early mornings?

Nick: For sure. Those are our favourite kind.

Logan: Yeah, people’s mind-states are different at that time. They are usually more sensitive and responsive to things like music.

The depth of influence on 7AM stretches through house, into soul, hip-hop and even gospel. You are clearly two very musically educated young chaps. Who is responsible for the musical upbringing of Teengirl Fantasy?

Nick: The Internet??? hahaha. It sounds nerdy, but really it has been an incredible tool for finding music.

Logan: Definitely the Internet and going to lots of shows.

How was the gig at Start the Bus the other night and how have you found the UK?

Nick: Start The Bus was crazy, Bristol in general is insane...lots of party people wearing nothing on freezing cobblestone streets. The UK is funny, such an incredible musical history. It was great going to Timbuk2 after the show and hearing some old school garage, breaks, and house at 4am.

Logan: Bristol really knows how to get down. It felt natural for me, being from New Jersey.

What is your Teengirl Fantasy?

Nick: River Phoenix

Logan: Smoking salvia with Miley Cyrus. mmmhmm.

Where will we find you next year?

Logan: We’re graduating school this spring, so that will give us a lot more freedom to focus in on band stuff and to travel. Planning on recording lots of stuff.

Nick: Hopefully with a new LP that pushes us into a different dimension....



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Tune: Cheaters

'http://www.myspace.com/teengirlfantasy'

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