Interviewed by: Jenny Francois
Photo Credit: Adam Saynuk
Date Published: 05.13.05

When Audio Fiction, a NYC based female fronted rock band, released their EP “Songs in the Key of Orange Alert” late August of last year, the timing couldn’t have been more ironic. NYC’s Orange Alert status was declared on the very same day. Described as a cross between Blondie and No Doubt (Fortunately Ferraro’s voice isn’t as girly as Stefani’s) with a touch of The Pretenders, Audio Fiction is set to make catchy pop and danceable songs. Though their first single “Tick Tock” is slightly political, the rest of the album is far from it.

This interview is in two parts. The first was conducted as an email interview. The second part was conducted with members of Audio Fiction in a small restaurant on Cinco de Mayo for great food and lots of laughs.

Audio Fiction is Mimi Ferraro (vocals), Feargal O’Sullivan (guitar), Elexis Pokane (bass), and Mark O’Toole (drums).

Part 1: Bar Mitzvahs and Funerals

Aeki Tuesday: How did this band come about and how long have you been playing together?

Audio Fiction: We originally formed as a five piece just over two years ago. Back then we had an additional guitarist, Anthony Loupos, and Tom Moon on Bass. The name came about while we were in a book store and saw the section called Audio Fiction. It was a good choice because when people hear the name they think “hmmm, where have I heard that before?” Then again, sometimes when we send emails to a new booker in a city that hasn’t heard of us - they think we’re selling books on tape. Since we formed we’ve morphed into the current line up by adding Elexis as our new bassist.

Aeki Tuesday: Who writes the songs in the band? Do you all contribute to writing the lyrics?

Collectively we write them together. Either Ferg will come up with some guitar riffs and hooks and we start to play around that and then Mimi will pick up some lyrics and see what works with the piece while she builds out the melody. In an odd way, we all have written different songs on the EP. Mimi wrote the music and lyrics for Impenetrable, Mark wrote the lyrics for Tick Tock and came up with the bass line for Don’t Do it and Ferg is the musical anchor, consistently tinkering with the sound and coming up with cool hooks. But mainly we all stick to what we do best within the band and everyone accepts that. As a team, we work well together.

Aeki Tuesday: Is there a story about how the song “Don’t Do It” came about?

Yes, it’s actually a parody of life in New York in the recession. Mark had read a New York Times article about kids who were quitting their jobs because they saw how much fun their friends were having being unemployed that summer. Of course the party ended when the unemployment benefits ran out six months later with no jobs in sight. This song is one of the highlights when we play it live. The crowd goes wild.

Aeki Tuesday: How much of the recording process was laid out before going into the studio?

That’s a good question. We had thought long and hard about this before we decided to record in a professional studio. Obviously, we didn’t have the budget of a label act, much less a producer. So we felt that we should spend some quality time rehearsing the songs we wanted to put on the record. Out of the 14 songs we had back then, we agonized over the six that eventually went on there. I still think we made the right choice.

Aeki Tuesday: Do you plan on writing more political driven songs in the future, as “Tick Tock?”

It’s funny you should ask that. There is one group of folks who love that we are perceived as a political band and then there’s another group that is blissfully unaware of any political element to our music. At the end of the day, good music is good music, and we don’t want to pigeon hole ourselves into being one thing and not the other. People get nervous in this country when you even say the word political. They think we’re going to brow beat them over the head and ram an opinion down their throats. In truth, we are as a band, politically aware and socially reasonable. If we could epitomize anything, it would be the Daily Show (there’s also lots of humor in our band - for instance, we believe pigs can fly). Tick Tock is in essence an anti war song, for a war that didn’t need to happen. We are working on some new material for the next record that has elements of politics I guess, but all nicely wrapped in a melody ball.

Aeki Tuesday: Who were your musical influences when growing up?

It’s pretty funny, but we all seem to have a difference of opinion on the bands we were influenced by. Ferg loves Thin Lizzy, Zeppelin, Rory Gallagher, Mark had U2, Boomtown Rats, Pink Floyd, The Cure and the Smiths. Mimi’s influences included the Bangles, various 1908s hair metal bands, girl folk–punk-rockers, and all the music her parents listened to — the Beatles, Motown, Carly Simon, etc. Elexis - A quintessential melting pot of influences from mo-town to pop to rock: Blur, Pearl Jam, Live, STP, Chilli Peppers, No Doubt, Dave Matthews Band, Jamiroquai, Macy Gray, Prince, Skunk Anansie, Angie Stone, India Arie - to name a few… But it’s precisely this difference that makes the Audio Fiction sound unique to us, because it forces us all to meet musically in the middle of all these influences and hopefully create something new and exciting to listen to.

Aeki Tuesday: What do you plan to capture on your next album release?

We are excited about the next phase of our evolution. As a band, we are starting to feel more confidant musically and lyrically. We already have a bunch of new songs and plan to write more over the summer. Generally going into the studio is daunting. You think, “are we going to capture the live sound that makes our gigs so good”, “will we fuck up and waste time and money” “do we have anything left to say?” We learnt a hell of a lot doing “Orange Alert”, so we feel we are better prepared next time around.

Aeki Tuesday: What are your plans for the rest of 2005?

Spring has been very busy for us. We have been playing out a lot to support the EP release. We are on about 85 college radio stations in the Northeast in 12 states. We open the 10th Annual Lower Eastside Festival, NYC end of May. We are planning on playing gigs in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Boston in the coming months. We plan on going into the studio in the late fall to record an album. And if we’re really lucky, get signed along the way….because if we don’t we’re looking at playing Bar mitzvahs and funerals.

Part 2: Cinco de Mayo

Aeki Tuesday: What are your inspirations for the lyrics that you write?

Mimi: For me, I write usually about what comes out of some messed up relationship that I’ve been in or painful relationship. I’ll write a little bit when I’m going through it and then I’ll leave it alone for awhile and then I’ll come back much later and finish it like a year later. I write very slowly but that’s usually my inspiration.

Mark: I think when you write personal writing comes from personal pain.

Mimi: Mark writes a lot faster than I do. He’ll write a whole song on a napkin in a bar one night.

Mark: I actually wrote Tick Tock on a napkin in a bar one night and never ended up changing anything. You know there will be parts when Mimi will be slow and I’ll write real fast and I’ll come back and maybe modify it. Primarily my writing style comes from being affected by what I see around me and whether it is politics or relationships.

Ferg: What you’ll notice with a lot of bands is their first album is always their best album because they’ve got 3 -5 years honing their material they’ve probably written 40 songs, they’ve picked the best 12 for the album, they’ve been playing together live. They know what works and what don’t work. The next album they go into a studio. They close the door and they don’t let anybody hear it until the albums out and then out comes 12 songs that haven’t been tested.

Aeki Tuesday: How do you feel about people downloading music online?

Ferg: Right now we’re delighted.

Mark: We’ve really embraced the whole internet delivery method and distribution because with bands like us who are not signed that’s our biggest way of getting out there. We’re on everything from iTunes, Napster, Musicmatch and Rhapsody. On Myspace we’ve put on a free download of one of our tunes from our EP.

Ferg: If we hand out a CD to somebody out there. It’s a free CD and most of the people at the gig won’t bother taking the free CD. Most of the people that do take the free CD won’t even take it home and listen to it. So it’s actually better to get them to pay 10 bucks for a CD.

Aeki Tuesday: What was the first concert you ever went to?

Mark: The first concert I ever went to was Queen in Dublin. Mu uncle who is a rad fucking music guy dragged me out - I think I was 12 or 13. It was so radical for me you had Freddie Mercury up there. They put on an amazing gig but you had Freddie Mercury up there saying fuck this and fuck that. I was like “Of fucking rock and roll!” That’s what’s it about. I couldn’t say that at home and you wanted to say that.

Mimi: Because I was a very sheltered child I wasn’t allowed to go to a lot of things. So I did go to see Cher when I was in middle school. Fine Young Cannibals opened for her.

Elexis: I think the first one was Prodigy in ‘96 in Vienna. I had gotten into a fight with a girl who was next to me and we couldn’t start brawling because we were so squashed. We shouted obscenities to each other. It was so great. There was also Rage Against The Machine. We were into puck rock stuff.

Ferg: My first gig was The Boomtown Rats. Bob Geldof, the lead singer, was the guy who organized Band Aid and Then Live Aid, which was We Are The World. I was 12 years old and my right ear hasn’t recovered since because I was right up the front with the speaker like that.

Aeki Tuesday: What book is currently on your nightstand?

Ferg: I’m reading a book by Ang Lee about existential life on Long Island. Middle Class life on Long Island and all that various problems it takes.

Mimi: Are you looking into that?

Ferg: (laughs) Not at all. This is just another way to scare me off the island.

Mark: My book is called “When Genius Failed” about the fall of a hedge fund called LTCM that nearly brought down the entire US economy in the late 90’s.

Mimi: I’d say that’s scary.

Mark: It’s a great fucking read because it really fucked us all up and they were a bunch of guys who thought they were too smart for their own good.

Mimi: I’m about to start reading, re-reading, “The Temple of my Familiar” by Alice Walker. I read it a long time ago. I don’t remember it so I want to read it again. But I know I really liked it.

Mark: (to Elexis) And your reading Hustler, right?

Elexis: (laughs) Yeah, any magazine really. I’m too young I can’t stretch myself. I’m not at that stage right now. I’m chilling you know. Hustler, Esquire, Us weekly…I’m just chilling.

Aeki Tuesday: What’s your favorite NYC bar or restaurant?

Mimi: I don’t know if I can answer that. I’m a big eater. I eat a lot of food.

Ferg: The one I go to the most frequently is Le Colonial (57th & Lex). It’s a French-Vietnamese sort of trendy place. The waitresses are sort of nice.

Mark: I like Saigon right now it’s on the upper west side. It’s like Vietnamese food. It’s fucking awesome.

Ferg: Come up with something original. I just said French-Vietnamese.

Mark: I didn’t notice that. I drink all over the place. I like Solas.

Elexis: The lower East Side between Orchard.

Mark: Just her block.

Elexis: Piano’s is not bad. That’s it I don’t go any further than that at the moment.

Mimi: What’s the bar down there that has the bar in the back. It’s starts with a B? I like that bar. Can I pick a restaurant for each kind of food?

Aeki Tuesday: Sure.

Mimi: My favorite falafel is this place Azuri Cafe (51st & 10th), my favorite Indian food is at 46th & Broadway. Amy’s Bread has really good sandwiches. It’s on 9th Ave (46th/47th). Rice ‘n’ Beans, a Brazilian place on 9th Ave. That’s one of my favorites.

Elexis: Favorite bar?

Mimi: I said a bar. The one that starts with a B that I can’t remember the name of with the garden. I like the garden.

Aeki Tuesday: What’s in your iPod or mp3 player?

Mark: In my iPod right now I’m listening to Muse and wondering why they didn’t win the BAFTA. I’m listening to Dona Summer. I’m listening to Dove and the soundtrack to In America.

Mimi: I got some Chaka Khan, some Beatles and Coldplay.

Elexis: R&B, rock bands. Chilling and not liking boys without beards.

Ferg: Baha Men’s “Who Let The Dogs Out”, U2, Danger Mouse, Keane, Franz Ferdinand and The Killers.

Site: www.audiofictionband.com