Interview with The Band Famous
How did your project come together? What is the story behind its formation?
It all started when were invited to meet up with a friend of ours we hadn't seen in some time, who was Zander's friend first and became mine as well. He wanted us to meet a friend of his based on shared passions of music and software. We met him at his friend's house and there was some ambient background music playing gently. Our new friend of a friend had a full-blown music studio, including a variety of synthesizers in his St. Paul home, and I asked if we could jam. He obliged and I played a little on the keys, but mostly sang freestyle improvised music, and Zander was doing some awesome instrumentation as well. Around 30 minutes go by and our newly introduced friend goes "that was just live-streamed on the Internet and we had about 30 people tuning in." One of the people tuning in was Adobe After Effects co-creator, Greg Deocampo, who was also Special Agent G in Emergency Broadcast Network and has been involved in many other projects. He was one of the first people that compared our sounds to Björk. We honestly filmed our own birth and didn't even know it, which was a fun surprise that we had an audience able to witness and enjoy and take in the magic created that day with us. Some of that music, like "Climax," made it on to our debut app album! Being musicians as well as software developers, we naturally decided we wanted to make an app by which to release our debut album.
Zander had known that it was my dream to be a singer in a band; it was my dream to make music in a band, and life just sort of aligned and then there we were doing just that! I had always supported Zander with his art—as one of his biggest fans and also as a muse and canvas when he's needed me—so he was happy to reciprocate the love and support of my dreams in return. We sort of married his art with my music. But I'm not the first band he's been in, he actually played violin in a band in high school. I sang karaoke and did open mics with a guitar player for a while, and was in various choirs throughout my life, but aside from a couple original songs I did as a solo artist under Norell, The Band Famous was my first real attempt at my dream of being in a rock band, and first real dive into my soul bringing original music from the depths of me in combination with Zander doing the same and seeing what could be when we bring those elements together.
On our first album and our second album there were some additional collaborators, such as "the man" (Terry, the friend of a friend) and "the man behind the man behind the machine" (the friend who introduced us but wishes to remain unnamed), as well as guitarist Edwin P. Scherr on tracks like "Sea of Wonder," "New Machine," "Autotune Appreciation," and "Lazer Eyes." And, actually, the song we improvised in studio together called "Ink & Feather" is a tribute song featuring guitar that Edwin composed for his good friend who had passed away and lyrics that I wrote in tribute to my godfather who had passed away. It was a beautiful synchronicity when I paired those lyrics to that specific composition. Then there are songs like "Because," which was written and composed entirely by Zander who did all the instrumentation and wrote the lyrics in under 24 hours because I had awoke one day in NYC and he hands me coffee and goes sing these lyrics like this "…". Naturally, I obliged, and I'm grateful I did because that song went on to be picked up when a radio DJ for 6 Towns Radio, Simon Edwards, bought our 2nd album, the Awakening EP on Bandcamp, and played "Because" on the radio broadcasting to Newcastle, Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove in England, and then later that radio show was picked up by Radio Wigwam broadcast to Cardiff, Wales, then on Fasching Web Radio in France, and on Radio Lantau in Hong Kong, China!
I think we could describe our musical style and sound as original, experimental, alternative, industrial, soul, pop, rock - all kinds of things, really. We are genre-bending and genre-defying in that way. Tom Green warmed our hearts when he described our sound in such a way that we knew he had listened to quite a few of our songs. We had connected during his Webovision days, and later I had called in to the Tom Green Radio Show on CBS Radio and he said, "your band is exciting, you have an exciting—would you call it an industrial metal band? What is it more of a pop industrial alternative band?" We aren't quite sure but that sounds about right, Tom! I think that describes our style and sound quite well.
Fans have also made us smile with their comparisons such as the nickname I was given, "Miss Björk Against the Machine", after singing "New Machine" on our debut album. Our music has also been described as "Nirvana meets Adele" and "Fiona Apple meets Nine Inch Nails". We've also heard our music compared to Pink Floyd, St. Vincent, Muse, Crystal Castles, Fischerspooner, and even Enya.
What makes our sound unique is perhaps a combination of the vast and versatile musical influences we have individually and collectively, and also our unique and tumultuous life experiences makes producing songs a fun way to transcend through the hard times and make something constructive from the debris. Perhaps some of the hardships have added a bit more character and soul. We have been told that our music can raise vibrations, and many have said our music is healing and that I have a healing voice. I have also been told I have a character voice, with a bit of blues and jazz and torch, and lots of soul. Not to mention that individually, Zander and I are unique, but together we alchemize something special.
Who are your biggest musical influences? How have they shaped your music?
We have so many musical influences! Zander has always been a huge Nine Inch Nails fan. When I was a little girl, my very first concert was BJ Thomas and the whole band signed memorabilia for me that I have to this day, took photos with me, and the bass player babysat me for a while so the other adults could hang for a bit. They were so kind and true humanitarians, beautiful inside and out. BJ Thomas was my very first concert, and he definitely made a positive impact on me. Years later, I shared my band with him and the photo he took with me when I was a young girl—which is on our website—sharing with him that he was my first concert experience. What he did next blew my mind, and Zander's, too. BJ Thomas not only downloaded our debut album with our free app, The Band Famous, but he wrote us a five-star review of our app, and years later publicly tweeted that he still stood with his statement. We are grateful for his support, and that we got to share a kinship with him, and we send our love to Mrs. BJ Thomas. He is missed, but will never be forgotten.
Another huge musical influence for me personally is En Vogue, but specifically Dawn Robinson of En Vogue. I am grateful beyond words that she also has shared supportive words of our music—that she loves us and she loves my voice! We have been inspired by many musicians and genres including everyone above, RATM, Prince, Michael Jackson, Massive Attack, Al Green, Blondie, The Cars, Chris Cornell, Spin Doctors, Bush, Lauryn Hill, Mario, Musiq Soulchild, and many more. I think that some artists have maybe shaped our music more than others, but all of these great artists and more helped us make The Band Famous.
What is your songwriting process like? How do you collaborate on creating new music?
Sometimes it comes on sporadically like a creative wave that hits one of us. I get lyrics all of the time and I'm often recording melodies and lines that come to me out of the blue. Lately I've had a lot of electric guitar in my head before I get to my guitar to track it out, such as when I'm driving. I'll be looking at the clouds and then – bam – lyrics, melodies, electric guitar and some other instruments orchestrate in my mind's eye.
"Sea of Wonder," for example, off our debut [app-exclusive] album, the last Words in The Band Famous apps came to me as lyrics when I was in the tub. Later, I got together with my band and a Minnesotan guitarist who collaborated with us on the track, Edwin P. Scherr started playing some cool guitar and I just started singing my lyrics freestyle, directly from my soul.
Some of our music is completely improvised and sometimes I bring lyrics to the table and have an idea of what I want to create and I pass it to Zander and sometimes he'll be like, "try singing it like this," and I do, and we vibe and just get in this beautiful creative flow.
I feel that most of the time the lyrics tend to come first, and later the melodies and instrumentation will follow. Sometimes the music will come first and sometimes it all comes at once in ultra-inspired moments. We collaborate in person or by sharing files remotely with friends and fellow musicians.
What are your goals and aspirations as a band/musician? Where do hope to be in the future?
We want to make music that inspires and uplifts people, music that empowers people, and also music that is controversial and makes people get outside of them, to think outside the box. We want to break the matrix with our music, we want to help people unlock hidden aspects and potentials within themselves, possibly even awaken them to dreams that have been yearning to be pursued. We want our music to heal, we want our music to help people dance and move and shake off residual energies. We want our music to affect people and the world around us positively, to create a positive domino effect.
We have a special documentary project we are finishing, which when the time is right we will be sharing more details and how people will be able to see and support the film and the proceeds of that project will go into something special.
We are running an animal rescue and sanctuary on our ranch where we make music and do all of our productions off of solar power. We hope to grow this movement and have more support and more patrons. Proceeds that we make from our music and merchandise sales helps us continue this work, as well as with support of our Patrons at our Patreon.
It would be incredible to have someone reach out from the movie film industry and petition our music for one of their films! As gamers ourselves it would also be amazing to have our music featured within a video game.
Where we hope to be in the future, is having regular shows at Apple Fest and other venues and festivals in Arizona, and a west coast tour. We will be making an appearance at Apple Fest every year and will be walking around sharing art, selling CDs, signing autographs, and doing fan meet-ups.
We are working on Twitch Partnership and we've already made it as Twitch Affiliate so this is well within reach. If people want to help us reach this goal sooner, they can join us on twitch at https://twitch.tv/bandfamous where we live-stream music and games. You can follow for free, or subscribe to enjoy perks like no commercials or advertisements and access to past archives of live-streams.
We are growing our talent roster and recruiting talent for KamasutraCandy Productions. We are working on cultivating a group of talent that we work with once a month to make new content for our fans on the 18+ side of the spectrum.
We are looking for an agent or band manager. We want an agent to help us book live shows.
It would be fun to collaborate with more artists on future music video projects as well. We have produced every one of our music videos that we've released and think it would be interesting to see our music interpreted visually by another pair of eyes than our own.
Are there any upcoming projects, releases, or shows that fans should look forward to?
We actually have more music than we can fit onto one album, so are working on moving songs aside for our 4th music album. We will be doing more regular live music streams and also fun game streams on Twitch as well. We love interacting with our fans on Twitch and have to give them a shout out, because it's because of them that we made Twitch Affiliate! We have performed and live-streamed in-app concerts in Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as Union Square Park in NYC, Capital One Café as well as Fix Coffee in Los Angeles, and of course at The Band Famous venue in Los Angeles with our "Party for a Purpose" benefit events and music festivals.
Aside from these amazing shows and memories, we have been working on a tour. We had seven states lined up but sadly covid shut it all down, and was also part of why we adapted and closed our venue that was our dream in Los Angeles, and moved off-grid to build on a homestead ranch and start an animal rescue and sanctuary. We have worked very hard and are fully solar-powered by the sun! So no matter what, shows or not, tour or not, our fans can always catch live performances on our Twitch! Archives of past music performances including freestyle broadcasts are available when you become a subscriber on Twitch (it's free to follow) and also are available when you become a Patron at our Patreon.
Also, as we mentioned, we are working on our 3rd and even 4th music albums, so those are some upcoming projects and releases to look forward to! We are also going to be sharing a special documentary project as well that we filmed in Los Angeles, and we are editing and doing all post-production off-grid in the high desert of Arizona powered by the sun!
Some of our Midwest fans will have a chance to meet and greet with us during Apple Fest later this year as well!
Can you discuss any challenges you've faced as a band/musician and how you've overcome them?
Censorship is the biggest challenge we've faced. We do believe that we have faced the amount of censorship we have because we did not accept label offers that were extended to us after we released our debut album and trademark. We have been approached by and turned down record deals with Sony, Interscope Records, Rock the Cause, and more. Some people might think we're crazy, but the truth is, if we had signed we would have given up much if not all of our creative freedoms. We like being able to tweet what we want and not have to get a team of suits' approval to say what we want to say.
We knew that turning down the suits would have its consequences, but we never anticipated the amount of censorship we would face as a result. We like our freedom of speech. We like being in charge of the lyrics we decide to produce our music around, and of the type of album art, song art, music video concepts, and all of the creative processes that go into making and sharing music with the world. We care about the messages we convey. There are no ghostwriters here, at least not yet, and some have offered that as well! We have not only turned down big labels but we have turned down opportunities of having "hit makers" (Billboard credibility) write songs for us and having us be the faces of the project. We like expressing ourselves, not what other people want to express through us, but that's not to say we wouldn't consider it for the right project if the respect is mutual and our combined vision works well. We would even sign to a record label if we could get a good contract and maintain our creative freedoms but that has not been our experience so we remain independent throughout all of these years, our 10 year anniversary being July 26, 2023, 10 years to the date we formed over an improvised live-stream.
As a result of remaining independent, however, we have faced insane censorship, everything from having our internet networks attacked on dates that we advertised we were uploading / premiering new music videos, to having our Wikipedia pages trolled and shut down by government C.I.A. operatives—this was told to us by a Wikipedia expert at ReputationX. Not one, but two separate Wikipedia pages with plenty of press and credibility to be considered "noteworthy" on our band, and also a page for Jacob Alexander Figueroa. Zander's page was up for years before the trolls were able to shut it down, it took longer because he was a renowned artist before he made The Band Famous with me so he had much more press. Either way, both Wikipedia pages should be up to this day, but unfortunately there are C.I.A. government trolls that censor certain "political figures" or anyone they deem a threat to their agenda.
A tech-forward band like us who trademarked our in-app concerts before Facebook Live and Periscope existed might pose a threat if we aren't willing to submit and let the suits tell us how to make our music, especially if we are yet another example proving that a musician does not need to "sell out" and sign over their rights to a label to achieve success and recognition, and build an audience. So that's where they target us is in audience building. For example, I did a Twitch stream the other day and 37 people were watching the whole time, but later it said only 5 average viewers when it held at 37, so they are playing with the numbers. We know we have at least 50 die-hard fans over the years for our music videos and the views don't reflect how many people have actually watched our music video and sometimes comments never appear and the views never show up from people who clearly watched it. They can do backdoor entry on any platform they want.
We've also had other YouTube channels, and Facebook pages, and Instagram pages either completely shut down and removed. For example, with our very first Instagram page (@TheBandFamous) we got locked out after a post we did on the Museum of Death in California.
We are the original live-stream band, the first "instant band" improvising music on live-stream that we started in 2013. Not every band is going to release their debut album as a mobile app for iPhone and Android either, that made us unique, and our debut album remains an app-exclusive. Either way, by standing our ground we are rebels in a way just because we didn't sign to a label. We would, of course, love to have support from a label but it would be circumstantial to the integrity and history of that label, and also entirely dependent on the stipulations. We will not give up our creative freedoms. We are going to make the music in our souls.
There have been many other obstacles and hardships as well, from being blacklisted from media writers that didn't get what they wanted from us (such as sleeping with one or both of us). There was someone who promised Zander our band would be given front cover of Business Weekly and People Magazine, but the catch was Zander would have to [perform a sexual act for] him. He wouldn't even settle for Zander body painting me in front of him, which we countered him with as an alternative idea.
We did get a big feature on 89.3 FM The Current and Minnesota Public Radio after we left Minnesota and lived in New York City for a year. Right away there were slanderous comments and then an outpouring of support for us in the comments as a rebuttal to the trolls. Then, all of a sudden, the comment thread was closed. That article could have gone viral just by the amount of comments popping off on it. Someone who worked within the organization—perhaps even one of the writers—was able to go and shut off the comments so the conversation could be stopped. These are only a couple of incidents as an example.
We also get censored on social media hard. We have thousands of followers on our 2nd Instagram (@the_band_famous) but only a handful of them are shown our content in the algorithm and often we we will post something that is not in breech of any terms or conditions, such as a photo in leggings, or a bikini photo as I'm a brand ambassador of Malibu Strings and our photos will be immediately flagged and taken down by the trolls working inside the social media (yes, more C.I.A.) and treated as though it were pornography. Meanwhile other videos of girls twerking, and you can nearly see their booty holes, are allowed to go viral and get millions of views but anytime we have a post start to go viral it gets taken down by the back-end trolls because this ass isn't for their agenda.
We also have been denied verification on many platforms despite meeting verification requirements. That is censorship right there. We have the press but if they verify us that would validate our algorithm and works against their censorship agenda. Also why do record labels own private prisons?
We will not give up. We are not quitters. They have tried to discourage us over the years but we have been through hell and back; we've dealt with toxic and abusive family, all kinds of theft and sabotage, including identity theft that made my life severely harder and it happened when I was a minor with a Capital One home mortgage being approved to my name and social security number? It then defaulted for years and destroyed my otherwise good credit I had been building. I've lost a couple of cars that Zander and I together paid our hard-earned money for because they weren't in my name because of the identity theft. Is it a strange coincidence that years later we perform at Capital One Café in Los Angeles on Santa Monica Blvd and when we tried to do another bigger show—and people were tweeting out about it and calling the bank / café about it—that management submitted our request to corporate and the show was shut down? They, the suits, told us that we—an app-forward band—did not mesh with them—an app-forward bank—despite Capital One being a sponsor of SXSW Music Festival and having other live music at their café locations in California. That goes with their censorship agenda to block us from doing a show there, even when we have an audience.
We have been a target to trolls because of what we stand for, which is freedom, free speech and freedom of expression, and being your authentic self. The truth has been unveiled about all of the secret service C.I.A. and F.B.I. working within Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social medias, even YouTube and Google. Up until recently people would laugh at us when we would tell them that, and now it is public information and you can see a listing of names of government workers working deep within Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social medias.
Our news articles on Medium and all of our news are censored out of News results on Google, while other search queries with articles on Medium will show up under News on Google. That's the level of censorship we have faced. Google The Band Famous and look at the results, then look at the results under News. Then visit https://bandfamous.com/press and see that we have been on CCTV, Minnesota Public Radio and many other press and media organizations, yet they don't want you to read our story, so they censor it out of news results.
Those who are in control of agendas and programming do not like that we made and make The Band Famous without their hands pulling the strings in some way. No one is making money off of us but us and they hate that. Aside from this, as we have shared in great depths in past interviews, we have been screwed over by friends that we thought were family, and by our own flesh and blood. All forms of sabotage imaginable, we have battled it. Many life circumstances could have burned us to the ground, but like the phoenix, we stay rising. Just like in our own personal anthem, "Emotional Scatter," to keep going through some of the more trying times we've persevered through, we remind ourselves to "rise up, be strong, and move along."And we surely aren't the only original and outspoken artists that have faced censorship, yet we haven't met anyone who deals with censorship to the levels that we do. We have strategized ways to break the glass ceiling they try to keep above us and it's getting easier to fight back as the truth is coming out.
Want to be a part of the movement? Here are some ways in which you may help the cause:
- Call into your radio stations and start requesting our music.
- Buy our music online and start playing it on your own podcasts and radio stations.
- Become a Patron.
- Follow or subscribe on Twitch.
- Download our Android app The Band Famous and leave a review.
- Like and comment on our music videos on YouTube.
There are many free and paid ways to support us and we are so grateful for each and every avenue of support. We couldn't have made it this far without the support of our fans!
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians or bands trying to break into the industry?
We would say to be careful and guarded because the industry is corrupt. Sad to say there are many evildoers in high-up places. We would always caution aspiring musicians and bands to read the fine print of any contracts before signing. We would caution them to copyright their music as we have. We have still had some of our music copied by the likes of Fergie as even pointed out by fans, our song "Who You Are" inspired one of her songs that came out years after both versions of "Who You Are," the industrial as well as acoustic versions that have been loved by many fans.
It's not unheard of when we've had celebrity endorsements and bands like the Spin Doctors, Chris Barron, Bush and Gavin Rossdale, Nancy Sinatra, Garbage and many others that have followed our band and or our personal Twitters where we've also promoted our band's work. With endorsements from BJ Thomas (R.I.P.), Dawn Robinson (En Vogue, Lucy Pearl), Scott Page (Pink Floyd), and many others following our work, including our hero—comedian and multifaceted artist and legend—Tom Green supporting and following us, it's not farfetched that other people in the industry might look at our work and find inspiration. I met Colin Farrell in Los Angeles and he signed an autograph for Zander and I with The Band Famous and told us to "keep rocking." The moral of this story is, protect your work!
Also, stand your ground. I have lost friendships because I didn't agree to let them release a song we jammed together with my original lyrics on their personal YouTube channel. I didn't agree to start a "side project" like Jack White with the White Stripes and Raconteurs with this person and coincidentally that friendship fizzled out not long after.
Speaking of friendships, another thing we would share is your friends are not your fans. Sometimes, sometimes, there will be exceptions to this and your friends will be amazing humans and will love you and celebrate you and support you as you do them, but sometimes, people will get uncomfortable if you start to blossom too much too soon, or just grow bigger in your garden of life than people expected of you. I had a friend block me because my sharing my music was giving her anxiety. I don't know how that makes any sense but my point is if you allow yourself to shine and follow your heart and pursue your dreams, there are some people that will inevitably have their eyes burned and feel discomfort, and you can't feel bad about it. Whatever you do, don't dim your shine, just send love and compassion and understand that you might be too much for them, and that's okay. Your real friends and truest friends will support you no matter what your life goals are. True colors will be revealed, just as the truth is always revealed. Don't get stuck with rose-colored glasses on. Don't allow yourself to be taken advantage by those that would wish to piggyback off of and reap the rewards of your hard work.
Give your energy wisely, give to those who are deserving of it, and this applies outside of the industry, too.
Also, I would caution aspiring musicians or bands from working with any publicists. We worked with one while in NYC and after we told her about our body painting, it wasn't long before Miley Cyrus was being body painted, and on our wavelength all a sudden, and we noticed some of our traits bleeding over into other industry artists. They were copying us while trying to get us to change our style and more, it was so bizarre. Then when we came to LA after Tom Green invited us to play live on his show, we met with the publicist we worked with remotely while in NYC, as she was based in LA. She said something about a movie premiere we were invited to watch on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, but said it was a love story between a grown man and a young girl. The stories you've heard—while some might be exaggerated—on the pedophilia and child trafficking is a very real sickness in our world. Even Kick Kennedy, activist and daughter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom we connected with in NYC before we moved to Los Angeles, echoed this advice to us and told us "all publicists are snakes." So, don't just take it from us, take it from her, too.
We were given excellent advice from someone in Beverly Hills who worked for NASA, and her daughter is an entertainment lawyer. She told us she doesn't know one good person in the industry, and cautioned us not to accept food or drinks from just anyone, especially at parties and outings. For general safety reasons and truly wanting the best for others, it feels right to pass this bit of advice along. She was there and witnessed when we turned down Interscope Records, it was at a Laundromat that a snaky woman from the label had approached Zander. Suffice to say, just because it glitters does not mean it is gold. Some things really are too good to be true and nothing is worth the price of your soul.
Pay attention to your intuition, your inner guide, and if you get a bad feeling about someone or something in the industry, don't dismiss it, trust it. You have to believe in you before anyone else will. It all starts in your mind. If you believe you can make music that will change the world, that's the first step, and you just might be crazy enough to make it happen. The next step is having the drive and determination to create. You're not going to get it "right" all the time, but know that failure is only failure when you cease creating, when you cease trying.
And also, to add to this and pass on another bit of advice that was once given to us by Bobcat Goldthwait, "Never stop creating."
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