 "Photo: Courtesy of Lilli Salerno")
 "Photo: Courtesy of Lilli Salerno")
Local band, The Moviegoers will once again return to The Casbah with its indie rock and pop-infused sound.
Adding both a feminine and masculine touch, lo-fi elements and a creative flair makes The Moviegoers a definite set to watch. The Daily Aztec recently approached band members Richard Hunter-Rivera, Jordan Heimer, Jessica Monday and Carlos Robles to discuss its influences, direction and its love for the San Diego music scene.
Be sure to catch its live show for a mere $5 next Wednesday as fellow locals Roosevelt and The Paddle Boat open the show.
Daily Aztec: How did The Moviegoers begin?
Richard Hunter-Rivera: Jordan, Jessica, and I started writing and recording music together our senior year of college in New York City. I was a music major, Jess an art major, Jordan a creative writing major. We put out a record called "The Code is Obvious" but didn't really gig at all. After graduating we moved around a bit, first to the South, then to Southern California. We met Carlos out here, restarted our band, recorded an EP and started working on new material and playing shows.
DA: Has San Diego influenced your sound or direction of the band?
RH: San Diego's healthy local music scene has definitely helped us develop our live act. There are a lot of great venues, and as a result we've been playing out more than before. You get a better feel for what works and what doesn't when trying material in front of live audiences. It's one thing to write cool songs and put them on a record ... something very different to play those songs live. You have to engage your audience a lot more. Other than that, no I'm not sure San Diego has really influenced our core sound. Although people outside San Diego hear a lot of grimy/seedy/noisy/"lo-fi" music coming out of here, the scene is actually pretty diverse ... punk, indie, folk, americana, reggae, some hip-hop although not enough hip-hop probably. And we've always enjoyed lo-fi/distortion, it's nothing new. We've always loved My Bloody Valentine, Sebadoh, Yo La Tengo, Pavement, and Bob Dylan's "The Basement Tapes" ...
DA: How else has the direction of your band changed over time?
Jordan Heimer: I think the direction of our band has clearly changed in one obvious way and that's the progression from a Pro Tools band to a live band. Our songs have become tighter and we are more aware of momentum and "moments"-thing that you can clearly understand when you're playing a song as a band (especially in front of a crowd), but that can sometimes get lost when you're creating music in a very cerebral way ...
RH: The songwriting continues to improve, and as result we've stopped being so ambitious with our arrangements. Before, when we were a bedroom-studio project, it was always "what else can we add on top?" and now we find ourselves doing more with less because we can't have 64 instruments playing at the same time. To me, it's a lot more fun.
DA: How did you get the name of the band?
RH: We spent a couple weeks thinking about names, sifting through some pretty terrible ones. Then one evening it just popped into my head. Of course, there is a book by Walker Percy called "The Moviegoer," which I read a few years ago, so that's probably why it jumped out at me.
DA: Favorite San Diego venue to play in? Why?
Carlos Robles: The Whistle Stop ¬¬– Intimate setting. Close to home. Good beer selection and smoking area.
RH: Bar Pink – We live in North Park, so it's nice to play within stumbling distance.
JH: The Casbah – Because it's an institution, and 100 percent San Diego.
DA: Favorite local band?
RH: Tough to name one. Calico Horse, Swim Party, Writer.
Jessica Monday: I'm pretty open. If you're not a bunch of assholes I'll probably like you.
DA: Anyone you'd like to collaborate with?
RH: We are part of an artistic collective called The Mangoose Society, (check out www.mangooserecords.com for more info), that since 2000 has recorded over a dozen records. We are cultivating Mangoose into a sort of Elephant 6 thing, where a bunch of like-minded but diverse musicians come together to create a large body of work. So I want to keep collaborating with current Mangoose artists, but at the same time find new musicians interested in joining the Mangoose world.
DA: Most underrated spot in San Diego?
JM: The outdoor soccer courts on El Cajon Boulevard near the water tower. It's a lot of fun to watch games there.
CR: My room.
DA: Best part of the San Diego music scene?
RH: There's lots to love. Local media like CityBeat, FM 94.9, KCR College Radio, papers such as yours ... they do so much in support of the scene. It's nice to have those avenues. Many smaller cities don't have the kind of institutional support we have here. At the same time the scene is small enough that you don't get as lost in the glut like you might in L.A. or Brooklyn (N.Y.). There is some great music coming out of San Diego right now, and it's not hard to find.
DA: Best word to describe your band?
JH: Awesome.
CR: Intelligent.
JM: Moody.
RH: Pet-friendly.
DA: Are you excited for your upcoming show at The Casbah?
RH: Definitely. We played our first ever show there last year, so it'll be fun to go back now that we know what we are doing.
Be the first to comment on this article!