Liz E.

[editor's note: Rchrd Oh?! recently interviewed bigstereo friend Liz Enthusiasm of Freezepop fame. They touched on a-ha, new material and of course favorites...]

Listen: Freezepop – “Stakeout” (mp3)

Rchrd: First off thank you for taking a little time for bigstereo, and sorry again for being so late with this. How have you been?

Liz Enthusiasm: Well, Monday I saw the first U.S. a-ha show since 1986, so I really can’t complain…

R: I see you are working with Gordon Merrick again. How is that? Tell us a little history of you two, how it all started, etc.

L: Gordon and I are friends from wayyy back when. Oh, he’s calling me right now! Hold on…

(One phone call later)

That was weird. Anyway, we met when we were working on the yearbook in college. He was the editor and I was the designer. Then we became roomies and then he moved far away. Then we started making music, and then we started making music together. So we pretty much record when I go visit him. It’s always really fun and thrown together at the last minute.

R: Have you done any other projects with other people apart from Freezepop?

L: Little guest spots here and there. I’m also in lot of fake bands, since I really have the most fun just thinking up the names and designing the logos.

R: How is Freezepop doing? What are you guys working on?

L: We’ve cut way back on our touring schedule so that we can concentrate on writing/recording new material. It’s kind of slow-going at the moment, since day jobs and summertime and real life are all pretty distracting, but we are making some progress.

R: Tell us a little about how you and Freezepop got together? It has been a really long time for you guys now.

L: Over six years now! Well, it basically started when the Duke decided to start a synthpop band, and he wanted a female singer. He asked around, and a mutual friend recommended me. So he called me, but Sean ended up answering the phone, and the two of them knew each other just from being in the Boston music scene. And it just made sense for Sean to join too, seeing as he was the obvious choice for someone-to-join-your-synthpop-band. And the rest is history.

R: You guys constantly have some fun remix competitions and even include your favorites in remix E.P.’s do you guys have a lot more plans for that sort of thing?

L: Eventually, nothing concrete yet…

R: It seems you guys have constantly battled with what to label your style. Is it difficult, especially
considering its in the Electronic genre? I mean it seems there is a new label for music put out everyday. Did you guys finally stick with ElectroPop?

L: I’m pretty happy with Electropop. You kinda need that “pop” clarification in there, since we are so much poppier than a lot of other electronic bands.

R: There are some people that seem to have a hard time coping with synth music, some say its “gay” or “too happy” (i guess those are both the same right?). Have you ever had a bad experience, like let’s say someone saying they don’t like your music, or been boo’d onstage? If yes, what was it like?

L: Well, our view is that if you’re provoking an extreme reaction with your music, that’s an OK thing. Because what makes one person totally hate you is going to make someone else love you just as much. And that’s better than someone being like “Oh yeah, they’re OK I guess…”

We’ve only had one show where the audience was on the hostile/indifferent side. We played to a bunch of hipsters who stood there with their arms crossed the whole time. It was confusing, because it happened right after the greatest show of our tour, where the whole audience was going crazy. I guess you just never know.

R: Are there any other sort of projects you have apart from music?

L: Well, I’m a freelance graphic designer/illustrator for my day job. And I do all the design for our website, CDs, merch, etc. Sometimes I attempt to make clothing, with varying degrees of success.

R: We know you love Ebay, or did at some point. Do you still have the addiction? If yes, how many feedback points do you have?

L: I still check it out from time to time if I’m looking for a specific something, but I generally prefer to do my shopping in person. I am up to 226 points though.

R: Now the fun stuff:

Name some favorite and some not so favorite (if applicable).

Foods:
Thai green curry with tofu.
Grilled veggie burritos with guacamole.
Pesto broccoli pizza.
Desserts in general (with preference given to chocolatey items over
fruity ones, except for raspberries, which are always awesome).

Colors:
Hot pink, orange, grey

Magazines:
I read a lot of stupid magazines. This is my guilty pleasure. I subscribe to Cosmo and stuff. It is pretty embarrassing. I used to really love Might magazine, but they went away. So yeah, now I pretty much stick to lowest-common-denominator stuff.

Movies:
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Delicatessen, anything with Crispin Glover.
I don’t really watch many movies though.

Websites:
Achewood.com

Stores:
Thrift stores: Amvets in Buffalo and Urban Renewals here in Allston
Chain stores: I’ll go with the Swedes here- H&M and Ikea
And of course I’d love to go shopping in Tokyo again…

office supply(ex. stapler):
I can tell you my least favorite office supply is our postage meter.

Celebrity crushes:
Well, Simon LeBon is my all-time #1. After just seeing a-ha, I have to say that Mags is looking mighty fine too.

R: Ok now time for some random questions.

R: Whats been blasting out yr speakers?

L: I just got the new Lovemakers album, and it’s sooo catchy.

R: What you wearing today?

L: Grey skirt, purple shirt, polka dot flip flops.

R: What do you do on spare time?

L: Thrift shopping, dancing with my friends, cooking, “the internet”

R: Do you have any pets? If yes who?

L: Swedie is still hanging in there. He’s sweet 16 now!

R: Ok well thank you for taking some time with us. We love you here at bigstereo. Can’t wait for some new stuff. Keep us updated!!

L: Oh, you know I will…