Thao Nguyen Interview

AoS: We Brave Bee Stings and All combines somber words with upbeat music. What attracted you to writing in this style?

Thao: I think I’ve always had an affinity for it as a listener so as a musician, or as a performer I prefer upbeat music, but my songs are incredibly autobiographical and when I write it’s probably because something is wrong. I think having both one-way would be too much, I think it would be overkill. I, personally, want the anchor of a more melancholy concept, it makes it more realistic, and I like sad things. My personality is more inclined to the melancholy…it makes it more interesting.

AoS: Do you actually sometimes play with a toothbrush or sharpie as your pick?

Thao: Mmhmm, yeah, there’s a song called “Moped“, which is the last song on our first record and when we do that I use, well it depends, normally I have forgotten the toothbrush, but ideally I would have that. I’ll keep it for one tour and then I’ll lose it and then I’ll have to go get another one but if I don’t have that then I just use my drummer’s wire brush, I just use the handle ‘cause it’s rubber-coated.

AoS: You have this tour for the next couple of weeks. What are you doing for the summer months?

Thao: I have about three weeks off after this Rilo Kiley tour and then we have a headlining tour of the U.S., and that’s about a month. Then we’ll be doing college touring and one-offs through ‘til mid-October. Then we’re taking off until January. I have to write the new record and then we’re going to start recording the new record in January.

AoS: Sounds like you’ll be busy for quite awhile.

Thao: Yeah, we’ve been on tour since late-January and it shows. Normally I’m more energetic but it’s kicking my ass. (laughs)

AoS: You worked with Clyde Petersen and Forrest Baum on the video for “Bag of Hammers”. Were you involved in the construction of the claymation characters for the video?

Thao: No, I was not. They are amazing and incredibly talented. They made that in Seattle and I was in San Francisco and the most I contributed was the Super 8 footage in the background of San Francisco. Clyde gave me a Super 8 and I just went around and filmed different stuff.

AoS: If you could have guest vocals on a song of yours, whom would they be by?

Thao: Well, I’ve always loved Lucinda Williams’ voice. I don’t know, maybe Erykah Badu.

AoS: What is your first memory of music making a strong impact on you?

Thao: I had my brother’s Yamaha keyboard where you have a set amount of pre-programmed beats and you could play on top of it, and I was seven or eight and I had figured out how to tape record it and do it all. I tried to rap over it; it was a disaster. (laughs)

AoS: Sticking with the subject, how do you want to affect people with your music?

Thao: I think any impact that it may have is incredibly fortunate and I want however they interpret it to be in the most sincere way because we try to be as sincere as we can with the presentation of it and with the creation of it. If they like it that’s awesome, how they like it is not up to me. Just as a fan I don’t know if how I interpret these songs, the meaning of it, if that’s correct or not. If people can claim what they can from it and form any connection to it, I think that’s remarkable.

AoS: What was the best film you’ve seen as of late?

Thao: When we were in Europe we had a DVD player in our van so we watched a lot. Fargo was really good. I had seen it before but I was too young to appreciate it. We had a Coen Brothers box set.

AoS: What haven’t you accomplished yet in your music career that you feel you need to?

Thao: (laughs) Everything! We’re young, I mean, we’re small potatoes. I would like to be able to choose when we tour. The reason we tour so furiously now is so we can gain enough leverage that we can have more discretion. It’s just that being on the road, well this sounds cliché, but I don’t think it’s a natural way to live. It’s just a totally weird existence. I love it but I hate it, so I would rather just love it and have a real life. Umm, what else? To become a better musician and, I don’t know, I’m pretty self-critical, maybe to not be disappointing. To continue to improve our live show, and, oh, I want to learn to play the drums.

AoS: What or who are the top three most overrated things in modern day pop culture?

Thao: (laughs) Being that we are in a van all day long, everyday I think I’m pretty disconnected now. Good-looking people, factory organic food. I say that because I do believe in organic food but the way that it is now I don’t agree with it, it’s just industrial, and whole food. Even though we go everyday, because it’s either that or gas station food, and if they wanted to sponsor us I still would consider it but I do think that they’re a little bit overrated.

AoS: Any last words for your fans or anyone reading this?

Thao: (laughs) Could you maybe put that you said “fans” and I started to laugh?

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