One of the most pleasant musical surprises of the year thus far for yours truly has been this hip little 5-song EP by the quirkily named New York band Individual Fruit Pie. The EP was produced by Ultra Vivid Scene wunkerkind Kurt Ralske, and I.F.P. actually share a lyrical obsession with the UVS leader, that being an intense preoccupation with the fetishistic side of sexual experience, and the emotional side effects of intense states of desire. Songs like "Creature of Habit" and "Blatant Sex" detail the simultaneous attraction and repulsion of the romantic outsider in an artily fragile, blackly humourous manner that brings to mind the work of David Bowie on his groundbreaking album, Low. British transplant and I.F.P. singer/lyricist J.C. croons like he's on the edge of a nervous collapse, as fellow Brit Gary Thomas punctuates the sentiments with ringing guitars, elevating tunes like "Still-Death" into mini-masterpieces of soaring emotion. I.F.P. understand that irony and emotion can, and indeed must, mix: that being funny doesn't entail a lack of seriousness, a point sadly lost on so many of today's "postmodern" rock bands.
Intrigued with this mysteriously monikered bunch, Consumable e-mailed them a list of questions, and here is the result, courtesy of Head Pies J.C. and Gary Thomas. Consumable: First, the band's name: Is it Dadaesque?
Or does it actually mean something? JC: That's your one Gary. GARY: Is it mine? Oh, why is it mine? You came up with it. JC: Out of hunger, yeah pure hunger. GARY: No, it was actually the most ludicrous name we could come up with. C: JC was in a band called Contact Obsession, and that's a theme I hear in IFP's music, cf. "Creature of Habit," "Blatant Sex," and "My Opportunity, My Foot." Is contact obsession a constant theme in your music? JC: Um, that's actually a good question, I reckon it is, a theme in my whole life. And i'm hoping to get some contact tonight. GARY: That's cause he actually hasn't had much contact (ha, ha). Most of the songs are about sexual inadaquacy. JC: I didnt write any of the songs (ha, ha, ha) GARY: They're just drawn from life experience. JC: Rich experience. C: Kurt Ralske of UVS I think did a great production job in terms of dynamics. What was it like working with him? GARY: Well we're still working with him. We havent fired him. It was very, very easy working with him. He's like another member of the band. He *is* another member of the band. Things just clicked with Kurt. JC: We work very quickly together. GARY: We know everything we're doing when we go in to record. He's particually good with arringing the strings. JC: Yeah, he came up with the string melodys. C: Do you think Ralske is a kindred spirit, in that he writes about fetishistic sex and desire as a kind of basic theme? JC: Yeah, absolutely. GARY: That's what drew you together. JC: I loved his first album and it drew me to him. There was a likeness in what he was experiencing, something in his lyrics, a sort of loneliness that I was attracted to. GARY: JC thought he needed befriending (ha, ha) . I never really heard kurt's music that much. I knew him as a person, but didn't know his music too well. But as a person, I knew it would work. C: Your press release doesn't list him, but I hear echoes of Bowie at his most blackly ironic. True or false? JC: It's interesting cause a few radio stations said some songs reminded them of Bowie. I hadn't actually considered it, but I guess, yeah, maybe from his early music. GARY: I think it's the Englishness of it. We may have drawn upon similar life experiences. I think people find it hard to pin our sound down. It runs from Joy Division to Rex Harrision, it's there. I suppose if that's what people are hearing I guess its there. We don't want to be pidgeon-holed or part of a scene. JC: No scene would want us. GARY: We've been sort of picked up with this easy listening sound. I guess anything without a guitar is being lumped with lounge music. C: In "Blatant Sex" you sing, "I'm in a sense of bliss right now/ Cause I don't know who you are." What's more important: desire itself (and imagination), or its actualization? JC: I wouldn't know about actualizing. You must have listened very carefully to that line. Someone thought that was "I'm innocent in bliss right now" - it could have a double meaning. And by the way, it's encouraging that an interviewer would actually listen to the lyrics. GARY: Yeah, it's quite flattering. JC: I think imagination is important, but it can be rewarding to have it actualized sometimes. GARY: And sometimes it can be a disappointment. Sometimes the fantasy is better. C: So what about sucking toes (detailed in "My Opportunity, My Foot")? Is this a 90s trend? JC: Ha, ha, ha! Well, i wont mention names... GARY: That was based on reality. Sucking toes has been a trend, but it goes back futher than the 90's. JC: But in our circle I don't think there are many toes that would be good to suck. GARY: What was that film, a surrealist film with a woman sucking the toes of a statue? That could be an unconscious influence in that song. JC: If anyone is interested in the "toes sucking revival".... GARY: Yeah, just come to our shows! (ha, ha)
