TIGER BEAT MAGAZINE 1975 style INTRO:
...
Better than the Bay City Rollers!
Hotter than the Records!
Less suicidal than Badfinger!
It’s TINTED WINDOWS from USA!
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With! Taylor Hanson (uber-celebrity) out front, he of honest American earnestness, childhood fame, and plaintive voice clear as his Oklahoma-blue eyes.
On Bass Guitar: rugged New Yorker Adam Schlesinger, putting aside the intricate cleverness that garnished him two (COUNT THEM GIRLS) Grammy noms with his old band (the Oneders) to pen with Sir Hanson a bunch of straightforward good time rock and roll guitar jams about mean girls and how cute they are when they are mean.
The mysterious James Iha on rhythm lead…the man without a past—his smoky eyes only hint of a dark secret, a hurt in his heart that he cannot shake off, which makes him pull eversweeter two minute symphonies of distortion from his sympathetic axe!!!!
Finally, on drums, the Legend, the sexiest man ever to wear gloves onstage, the one who wants YOU to want HIM, who puts the ROCK back in Rockford Il., Bun E. Carlos! Bald is Beautiful! Fab! Gear! Posh! Spit-spot!
Even in an informal chat by electronic mail Adam was utterly dreamboat.
P.S. if you don’t go to see them on Wednesday at the Black Cat you’ll never reach puberty and no boy will ever want to French Kiss you. SO DON’T BE UPTIGHT!
BYT: Did you do any secret surprise shows anywhere to prepare for the tour?
We did a warm-up show in Tulsa, where Taylor lives. It was a tiny bar that only held a couple hundred people but it was a great place to get started.
BYT: Any hilarious reactions where someone just thought you were a disparate group of newbie musicians who all looked really familiar?
We haven't really had anyone mistake us for "newbies"...although we have had a lot of confused reactions about the lineup. Especially when the band was first announced. But I think when people hear the record, the line-up starts to make more sense.
BYT: If you guys were playing in a stadium and someone started to flick his lighter and heckle you, would Bun E. Carlos be the first to jump off the stage and beat the guy’s ass or is that a misconception?
Bun E is pretty nonviolent, as far as I can tell. James, however, is a bit of a loose cannon. You don't want to get on his bad side. (Editor’s note…James Iha more of a badass than whiny former band members when confronted by uppity fans: CONFIRMED.)
BYT: Let’s imagine for a moment that this album’s success is the start of a massive nationwide Powerpop craze and that within a year all the emo and electro bands on the top 40 have been replaced by kids doing their best Superdrag and Holly and the Italians imitations: how much better would the world be for all its inhabitants, serious question.
I actually think that there is a fair amount of power-pop influenced music that's popular these days. Whether it's Green Day, or some of those emo-pop bands, or even Kelly Clarkson doing songs by those Swedish guys, there are a lot of songs that feature heavy guitars and still are pretty melodic. But, anyway, I like lots of different kinds of music...I don't think that powerpop is inherently better than a lot of other types of stuff that are out there. Like most genres of music, it can be good or it can be bad.
BYT: Copout Alert! Just kidding.
OK, When writing was there a concerted effort to strip things down musically? Is it somehow harder to write simple 1-4-5 rock and roll or did it come easily and naturally? Were there fights about putting a fourth chord in anywhere?
We definitely made a conscious decision to keep it stripped down and simple. It's not necessarily easier to write this way. But we wanted the band to be all about the energy and the immediacy, and not overcook it.
BYT: Was there a focus on recording stuff on analogue equipment or playing on vintage gear? If not, since it still sounds really authentic, how did that happen?
We definitely used a lot of vintage amps and old microphones and stuff like that, but the record was recorded digitally, as most are these days. I find that you can't really tell the difference anymore. But the aesthetic of the record is pretty old-school...just two guitars, bass, drums, and vocals. And some tambourine, of course.
BYT: Of course. Is playing what was originally mid-70s teenybopper music after you’ve all been in different sorts of bands that all were very successful with teenagers a kind of revenge or a kind of nostalgia?
I think there's definitely a nostalgic element to the record, in terms of its spirit. But it doesn't really actually sound that retro, I don't think. The guitar tones, the production, etc are pretty modern sounding.
BYT: Are you more of an ELO-style Megasupergroup or the Firm-style? I mean are you going to try to forge something brand-new and lasting or is it purely a side-project to have some NSA fun?
"We’re more like the Monkees!" (Editor’s note…actually they forgot to answer this question or else avoided it because it’s the nerdiest question ever and nobody remembers the Firm who were actually pretty good classic rock for the mid-80s).
BYT: Thanks for your time, see you at the show! I'll be the one with the piano key tie.
Ready for more? Were you ever!
Socialize with Tinted Windows on myspace here and on twitter here
and check out their live show @ The Cat Mainstage (US Royalty is opening) tomorrow!
God loves a cheerful giver.
I LOVE ADAM SCHLESINGER. that fountains of wayne album with stacy's mom on it was my #1 favorite in 4th/5th grade. still know every word to every song.
(Editor’s note…James Iha more of a badass than whiny former band members when confronted by uppity fans: CONFIRMED.)
That had me almost spitting out my tea, it was that perfect.
probably one of the best article introductions ever on byt.
I've only read the intro so far and I LOVE THIS. All hail, Peter.
my band recorded our first EP at the studio james owns in nyc. he was really nice. cool interview.
go USA!!!
Sad, but true: when I was 16 I stole my mom's car to attend a Hanson concert in a neighboring state. That said, if I wasn't going to see Campesinos tonight I would SO BE AT THE BLACK CAT.
(Also, this is probably one of the most entertaining interviews I've read yet on BYT)
This was probably the best Tinted Windows interview I've read so far. It brought the lol.
I will be at the Black Cat but I will not have on a piano tie, unfortunately. (Red & pink striped hoodie shirt though, doing my best to be HIP WITH THA KIDZ.)
Such a funny yet unusual name, that Kendra.
This show was suck.
I admire your honesty Michael. I dodged this bullet.
Well I won't name names but I'm not the only one who ended up in the Red Room or outside after their first couple of songs.
usr won that fight by a mile. i didn't mind tinted windows it was just pop rock. sounded a lot like they sounded online.
US Royalty rocked! Tinted Windows was better than I expected so I'm not disappointed at all. I didn't like the no cameras rule; since when has Black Cat ever done that?
Taylor Hanson's mic shortening out twice was not impressive but it happens.
Kathryn - other times in the past they have. It's always at the band's request.
I came to support US royalty and it was fun as always...but you boys owe me one! My support and hefty $20 ticket went to you guys---definitely not that other terrible "All Star" band. WOW. They were complete shit...but did we really expect anything better? Ouch.
...my apologies to James Iha. Sorry to be a music snob on the last post...god knows it takes courage to play Taylor Hansen. But I know you guys can do better, please try.
Michael - thanks for that. Didn't know it was the band and not the venue that decides.
Nickster - Taylor wasn't bad as a frontman, he's a whole lot better in Tinted Windows than his other band Hanson. James is DA MAN.
PHOTOS and "review" coming first thing tomorrow AM.
U.S. Royalty and Tinted Windows should have switched places on the bill. USR was on fiyah!