Teenage Hotelcoming

So before the Teenagers kicked off their North American tour with a live show at 1/2ALIVE in Vancouver B.C., they'd previously been chillaxing and getting acquainted with the time zone shift in good ol' Vancouver for a few days. Day of the gig, Meg and I descended upon their hotel room for an interview and photoshoot for the next issue of URB magazine coming out in March - the "Next 100" issue.
In the lobby, their tour manager greeted us and we shuffled upstairs via the elevator. Who's their tour manager? Why only Kristin - she of Deerhunter tour management fame! Seriously - I was like "OMG - yr the one [frontman] Bradford [Cox] is always writing about on Deerhunter's blog (where she blogs too), yr the "den mother," you take photos of them with sunsets in the background." Indeed she was. She's also tour managed fellow Atlanta band Black Lips. So how did she get the Teenagers gig? Cos "they were looking for someone cool" and she was in XL's (the Teenagers' label) speed-dial for the description.
Oh and she gets some photo love from No Age in a post on their blog.

Moving along - she noted that the girls of the band are a bit press shy, so it'd be only the boys keeping us company.

The interview was one of my best ever! And by best ever, I mean seemingly lost in translation. Not only due to language, but in personality differences too. Once the piece runs, the audio is going up here. Quentin (who's lived in England longer than the other two by nearly 3 years) didn't want to do the chat and instead played Zelda on his bed. There were two beds in the room, so a mellow Michael and Dorian plus me hunkered down on the other to talk some Soko, street life and screaming. Awkwardness was abound! Crickets could occasionally be heard. A bit of interestingness - what blogs do the French expats read? I found out. While Quentin lingers regularly on Flou Kids, Dorian prefers Big Stereo! I wasn't expecting an American blog to top his list. Awesome times!

After 20 minutes of conversation it was time for photos and boy can those boys turn it on! I have wanted to have a band pose with heart shaped twisted balloons 4eva - since hearing the song "Lust In The Movies" by The Long Blondes. The chorus refrain includes "I just want to be a sweetheart! I just want to be a sweetheart!" I visualize EVERYTHING and set about trying to figure out how I'd visualize that and those balloons that clowns twist into animals and swords was what I came up with. Many girls that I shoot don't want to appear too feminine, so using the balloons with the Teenagers seemed perfect, especially given their semi-heart throb status of late... kinda like in the Kinga Burza directed video for "Homecoming."

During the photos, we also shot them eating cupcakes as I'd had the idea for them to have a cupcake food-fight. That concept didn't quite materialize, but Quentin did get a brutal sugar rush.

Quentin:

What else came of our hour in the Teenagers' lair? The knowledge that Dorian films his life in great detail. Not only the still style which is showcased on his flickr, but video style ala Dev aka Lightspeed Champion. He was unaware of Dev's documentary dalliances, so I quickly informed him of them. Then we got to chatting about youtube comments and such and the fact that as of now, Dorian is unlikely to make his live-action reels available to the general public. I got some brief screen time hahahaha

Dorian:

We also talked about the fervent reaction that they sometimes is produce in their crowds unintentionally i.e. - when I saw them in London with No Age at Amersham Arms in December. It was semi-miserable because girls behind me were screaming at me, hitting me and pulling my hair because I was closer to the band then them in terms of rows inside the audience (I had to be close to the stage, I was taking pics... that I never posted). Both Dorian and Michael said they didn't notice that mania.

Michael:

Anyway, when we were packing up they asked to keep the heart balloons which was enjoyable :) What a task it was to track those down! Meg's mom saved the day after I was unsuccessful. Our scavenger hunt ended on Granville island at a gag store in a children's emporium that I'd last visited on an 8th grade border-crossing class field trip.

"Homecoming" The Teenagers MP3

I would hope this track is already in yr itunes. SO BRILLIANT! Am I going to admit something? Yes. I was so turned off by the first few lines the first time I listened to it in the beginning of 2007 that I didn't make it much further. So I didn't quite understand why girls were getting up on stage to sing at the concert  - I'd never made it far enough to know they trade vocals with a girl, a vocalist who I can absolutely not track down. Anyway - this song is a masterpiece. Later that night Meg and I are sitting there and I'm making comments such as "So deep, so smart, so true." It is. SO honest! Not just about boys vs. girls, but the witticisms including the "massive car"/"SUV." Cue my itunes up to repeat for this track and my day is made. Especially when I'm singing (or rather talking) along. I find a way to weave it into any conversation I have with people lately. Slices of pizza on Hawthorne? Let me bring my laptop and play it for you hahahaha. True story... that actually happened this Saturday hahahaha. I also sent it to someone on myspace last week. I think it scared them away, but when have I ever not in their case? hahaha

Teenagers Myspazz

Comments

[Greg]

I hate you so much, Nilina. So, so much. Why don't I have a camera to take cool pictures with? Ugh.

P.S. Come to SXSW

P.P.S. I would've expected both of them to say they like Panda Toes best and Not on the Guest List next. Duh.