BY: Sanita Saengvilay
White Denim is a new and upcoming band from the city of Austin, Texas. They play a mixture of classic rock, mixed in with spastic experimental quirks, but keep an overall a well-managed raw sound. Creating much buzz since their appearance at SXSW, they made a last minute decision to go on tour to promote their EP. Being that this was their first tour, they probably had no idea what to expect of St. Louis, let alone The Billiken Club specifically, or where the rest of their tour would take them. The week prior, with the insistence and recommendation of Red Hunter, I sat in front at scrabble dining table with my pen and tab in hand ready to interview James, Josh and Steven of White Denim.
So how has your tour been going?
“It’s been good, exciting, fun. We played at Schubas (Chicago), last night. They gave us delicious sandwiches.”
Your concerts have been known to be quite energetic and entertaining, what keeps you guys going every night?
“Coffee, water, the expectation, and trying to keep the high energy. The songs are fast and we need to be excited.”
Like your concert, you guys have had a lot of buzz around since SXSW; do you guys feel any pressure to live up to it?
“We are talked about being high energy, but we’re having a good time and we try to take that attitude into all the shows. We are just starting (as a band) so there is not too much to prove or show. We want to keep it simple and have fun.”
Well, I interviewed Red Hunter (Peter and the Wolf), last week and he told me that I should interview you guys. It sound like the Austin music scene is a big family where everyone knows each other. You guys ever think about forming an Austin, TX super group and being the American version of Broken Social Scene?
“Maybe. We’re open to collaborations. It’s a tight community, but we’re just trying to get through records, for now. We’re always in the studio, every weekend just always recording and writing.”
If you weren’t in the music business, what do you think you’d be doing right now? Or what do you wish you were doing right now?
James: “Working in a plant nursery business (specifically a truck driver). “
Steven: “Probably a full time student.”
Josh: “Yeah, probably school and working.”
Complete this statement. I have too many _________.
James: “bills”
Steven: “ socks”
Josh: “The same as bills or mostly responsibility in general.”
Socks? I guess I would much rather have too many socks than bills or responsibility.
Steven: “ Yeah, it’s just that I have a lot of mismatched socks. I guess I should just throw them out.”
If you guys didn’t know I’m moving on from the strict music questions, do you guys have any movie recommendations?
Josh: “hmmmm, I guess the last movie I saw was Agueri which is a about a conquest to South America.”
Steven: “Thin Blue Line, which is a documentary.”
James: “ West Side Story*.”
Did you memorize all the songs and dances from West Side Story?
James: “Actually no, this was my first time seeing it. I don’t usually watch musicals, but I really enjoyed this one. I highly recommend it.”
*Note James later wanted to change his answer to Mortal Kombat 2: Annihilation.
If you could be any instrument, what would you be?
Steven: “An oud. I’d break over a while and no one would mess with me.”
Josh: “An oboe because I would give people problems especially junior high kids who couldn’t play me. I like the idea of causing problems. Actually can I just be a whole junior high wind ensemble? Yeah that’s what I want to be.”
James: “A keytar, just because.”
Any shameless promotions?
“Buy the EP, its on iTunes. Shoot us an email, we like people saying ‘hey’.”
