AGENT RIBBONS
The SiS Interview by Rob Fatal

These interview things usually start with some over detailed description of the environment to immerse the reader in the moment. Not this one, baby. When you are in the presence of the self-described cabaret-garage poppers know as Agent Ribbons, you are immersed in only them: their music, demeanor and words. This interview is to give you a small introduction to one of the most epic, elusive and important bands gracing the underground today. Without further a due, allow me to introduce you to Agent Ribbons.

SIS: This is your first interview with Stranded In Stereo so why don’t you give an introduction to our readers.

Natalie Gordon: OK, we just had our three-year anniversary in March and we’ve been touring a lot. We’ve toured the U.S. a couple of times now. We’re still not on a label, we do everything ourselves and we are about to record a new album; our second album. We met in a record store.

Lauren Hess: Fun, interesting facts? We just added a third band member who unfortunately is not here.

NG: Oh, of course. She plays violin and cello; her name is Naomi.

LH: She lives in Austin, Texas and we are based in Sacramento [California] so logistically we can’t be together always.

SIS: How would you describe your sound?

LH: I think a really simple answer would be garage pop.

NG: With a cabaret twist.

LH: We encompass a lot of different things: jazzy sometimes, bluesy, straight up rock sometimes. It’s kind of hard to say.

SIS: What’s the sound on your first album and how is that shifting and changing or staying the same on your new album?

LH: I think it’s definitely shifting; I like the word shifting, actually. I think we are evolving a little bit as we get more comfortable with our instruments. The first album we just recorded it without thinking about doing any layers. We just wanted to record the songs as we play them live.

NG: Like Lauren said, this album is a lot more thought out. But it wasn’t because we didn’t want to take the time to do it [on the last album], we just didn’t think three-dimensionally like that. The idea of creating parts and thinking, “oh I want to add French horn on this chorus,” or “I think Lauren’s vocals would contrast nicely with mine on this particular word” is really new to us. We’re expanding the way we think about our music. It’s fun to have more to work with.

SIS: You mean the addition of your new strings player?

NG: Yeah, when Naomi came in, we knew we just wanted to add a third member and we didn’t have a specific idea of what that was going to be. When Naomi let us know her band broke up we were just kinda scratching our chins and trying to think of whether or not that would work. We really liked her as a performer and were like, “well, let’s just try some strings on this, it’s better than adding a bass.” We don’t want to be the typical set up.

LH: Yeah, that’s the one thing we were really sure of, is that we didn’t want to add a bass player. I’ve had people come up to me and say, “oh, I heard you have a new member, is it a bass player?” And I’m like, “no, give us more credit than that.” We either wanted strings or someone who could play a couple horns.

NG: Yeah, we’re still into horns. We have a friend [named] Meredith who was supposed to play horns on our new 7-inch but it didn’t work out.

SIS: New 7-inch, eh?

NG: Our new 7-inch is called, Your Love Is the Smallest Doll and it has three new songs. The new title track on that is totally different from anything we’ve ever done and it’s pretty different from anything that’s gonna be on the new album. It’s tons and tons of layering on the vocals of all of us shouting the chorus. It’s toy piano, cello being played like a bass.

LH: And marching band drums.

NG: I wish I could show you the cover.

SIS: Oh, yeah! I know on your past album and 7-inch you were very involved with your album art. What’s the story with that and who did the album art on the Your Love Is the Smallest Doll 7 inch?

NG: A children’s illustrator in France named Marie Caudry did the cover of our first album when we weren’t making handmade ones. Then we had a 7-inch that came out before called Agent Ribbons and the Star Crossed Doppelganger and our favorite comic book artist, Dame Darcy, did that. John Carling did the cover of Your Love Is the Smallest Doll, he’s based in Oakland.

SIS: What is your goal for your music career?

NG: We want to be able to pay rent without totally stressing out about it.

LH: Yeah, just to keep afloat and have money for groceries.

NG: Maybe to save some and…I would like to go back to college someday.

SIS: So, you had a busy day today; a typical day-in-the-life of Agent Ribbons. You were up until the ass crack of dawn the night before, had a very intense music video shoot this morning, are now doing an interview for a magazine and will have a late show tonight. Does it ever get taxing having this kind of life-style?

[Laughter fills the room and then suddenly subsides.]

NG: No! I mean, yeah we both bitch about it

LH: Yeah.

NG: I mean last night I spent the little money I had for rent on drinks for my friends. I mean given that at the time they’d already thrown back a few, but it’s like, you guys I have to buy you drinks because you have to go to a job you hate every single day. Yeah we’re all broke, but I can afford to throw my money around and have a good time once and a while because even if we are broke at least we’re doing what we want to do. We’re pretty darn lucky right now. And if things never change, I mean they would kinda have to change eventually, I feel like this is a time in my life I’m really going to look back upon and appreciate a lot. I live upstairs from Lauren, we have little family dinners all the time…It’s magical living here. Would you like to see the dead baby squirrel I have in my freezer?

SIS: No.

NG: OK, I’ll go get it.