03.06.07
Interview with: THE SOMNAMBULANTS
By Stacy Sardelli
Editor in Chief

Electro / Pop / Indie

The Somnambulants are: Joseph White (Bass, vocals, synths, programming) and Channing Sargent (Synths, vocals).

Partial official description: "Contrary to their title, The Somnambulants are anything but sleepy. Their music is best described as electro-pop, though for them, the secret formula is to avoid writing “electronic music,” and to write instead great songs that just happen to use electronic instruments."

Interview

Babble & Beat - Why, when, and how did you two come to form The Somnambulants?

Joseph - The Somnambulants actually started long ago before Channing got involved. It started with myself, Lorraine Lelis (Mahogany), and Eva Han (Logo Moi) when I was in film school at NYU. I had begun turning some of my sound design and film scoring projects into electro-pop songs and recording at the studios at Tisch. Once all that was gathered up, it became the first album, 'Fabrication & Productivity.'

For the second album, 'Evacuation,' I worked mostly with Stephen Vesecky (Poundsign, Strega) and Lorraine Lelis after Eva moved to Los Angeles. After Lorraine and Stephen went their separate ways to work on their respective musical projects, Channing and I teamed up. When Channing joined, it became more of a true partnership whereas before the project was more like a serial collaboration with different members. We continue to collaborate with other musicians, but the two of us now make up the core.

Babble & Beat - How would you describe your style and sound right now?

Joseph - It’s becoming more stripped down as we move forward as a two-piece band, and the music is still composed with electronic instruments. But, the songs, at their heart, are not necessarily electro songs. Most of the songs on the upcoming album 'Paper Trail' seem more like converted rock or blues songs that happen to be arranged using synths.

Babble & Beat - If you could suggest only one song to introduce people to your music, which one would it be?

Joseph - 'Take it On,' from the upcoming 'Paper Trail' CD. It’s very simple and stripped-down, but with nice catchy danceable rhythm. It best represents the direction of Somnambulants songs moving forward.

Babble & Beat - You’re a featured artist on the Half Nelson soundtrack. The film Half Nelson was a Sundance favorite.

Please tell us about that experience and how it came to be.

Joseph - I happened to go to film school at NYU with Ryan Fleck and spent several late nights and weekends working on film crews with him. I re-connected with him a couple of years ago to do some animation work for the title sequence of his documentary film about Cuban hip-hop. At the time, he had just won an award for the short version of Half Nelson (Gowanus, Brooklyn) at Sundance Film Festival and was still finishing up the script for the feature-length film. I gave him a copy of our CD in exchange for borrowing one of his DVD’s. He needed a song for the dance-club scene in Half Nelson, so we were inserted into the background. If you aren’t paying attention to the music in the scene, you might miss us, but we are on the soundtrack release on Lakeshore Records.

Babble & Beat - What’s the plan for your band this year? You mentioned that you're working on new music!

Joseph - Look for 'Paper Trail' to come out before Fall of 2007!

Channing - We plan on releasing our new album in August, and doing a slew of shows and tours to promote it.

Babble & Beat - What specific instruments do you play (model & maker)?

Channing - We’re writing on several synths: A Yamaha SY-95, a Yamaha CS1-x, a Korg MS2000R, and an Alesis Micron.

Joseph - I play Fender basses.

Babble & Beat - I read a very complimentary concert review that also noted how stylish you two are. How important is it to you what you wear on stage? Is it far off from what you wear everyday?

Joseph - We accidentally coordinate very well and tend to get compliments for doing so. Dark neutral tones are safe and neither of us is allowed to wear cargo pants or ironic t-shirts.

Babble & Beat - Wise choices!

Channing - It’s important only in that we try to look good. Sometimes we coordinate, sometimes we don’t. Whatever.

Babble & Beat - Tell us about some of the highlights you’ve experienced as The Somnambulants?

Channing - My favorite experience is opening up the Village Voice and seeing a listing complete with mini review for a show we weren’t booked to play.

Joseph - The best moments are when we’re playing on a stage to a room full of people we don’t know. It’s always nice to see people react and respond to the music.

Babble & Beat - Any advice you can offer to other musicians about the industry, your experiences?

Joseph - Pick a band name that’s easier to spell and explain than "The Somnambulants."

Babble & Beat - Fairly recently you relocated from New York to California. How are you liking San Francisco?

Joseph - I love the city itself, and the music scene is incredibly rich with talent and support. We’re constantly comparing the overall energy to NYC, which is the largest difference between the two cities. Our time spent here has been great for writing and recording new material. Our shows out West so far have been great, but San Francisco could stand to open up several more music venues to help accommodate the large number of undiscovered bands here.

Channing - Compared to New York, it’s much calmer, sunnier, quieter, prettier. We love that we can just hop in the car on any given day and drive to wine country, or Big Sur, or Yosemite. It’s incredible. As for the music scene, SF’s is every bit as vibrant as New York’s. As for the art, theatre, and film scenes go, though, New York is better. In fact, as far as metropolitan cities go, New York is the better city. But drive for an hour in any direction from NYC, and the best you’re going to get is Jersey, or Queens. So, it’s a draw.

Babble & Beat - Have you done the whole tourist-thing yet, by going on a glass-bottomed boat ride, visiting the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, and Alcatraz?

Joseph - Actually, no. But we’re no strangers to free wine tasting rooms in Sonoma.

Channing - Nope, nope, and nope. We’ve focused most of our sight-seeing outside of the city.

Juicy Tidbits Section

This is where we ask personal questions for the fans. Yeah, they're often stupid questions. We like reading the answers though!

Babble & Beat - Name something you’d love to put on your "rider" but don’t?

Joseph - A frozen margarita machine.

Channing - Massage services.

Babble & Beat -You have just been assured that you lived a past life. Who were you?

Joseph - Elvis. He died the year I was born, so it’s very possible. Don’t ask me why I can’t play guitar or sing as well as he could.

Channing - A Russian ballerina in the 18th century. That or a Nantucket whaler in the 19th. Not that I advocate the killing of whales; I just love “Moby Dick” so much.

Babble & Beat - Very interesting!

You own a collection of...?

Channing - Pig figurines. Really. And I’m not embarrassed about it.

Joseph - Standard 8mm silent films.

In Closing

Thank you both for talking with us. We are really looking forward to the release of 'Paper Trail!'

So, you've read the interview. Now you need to make it over to their MySpace site to have a listen to brilliant songs like 'Beat Down', 'Water Colors', and 'Comforts of Absence.'

Links:
Official site
MySpace - music clips!