Alice Magazine NYC - Chapter 3

ALICE Magazine: Both your shows at Elvis and Rough trade were amazing. Elvis
maybe even better, in your environment.
Dani Miller: Thank you! Yeah big shows are weird I’m like what the fucks going on?!
The sound is too nice I can hear myself!
Sean Powell: I like being close to people.
DM: I like being on the ground. I love dancing with people, it’s fun.
AM: So obviously you guys as a band are very real, open and truthful which is rare to
come by, especially in the time we live in. What do you think ?
DM: About being real?
SP: Auto tune makes me sick.
DM: I think mental illness is super real, and depression. So just meeting people and
connecting with other humans - it’d be weird if I wasn’t real to others. The shows are
to hang out, work sucks so might as well get together with people and release your
crazy pent up emotion.
AM: Exactly. So how did the band begin? How did you find you wanted to do the
same shit and communicate the same message?
DM: I saw Charlie had a guitar in her room and I don’t know about music or anything
I was just like yo lets start a band I want to scream shit and dance to music.
AM: How did you guys meet?
SP: We met at a show where another band I was in was playing.
DM: I ate a whole burrito before the show and I didn’t drink anything but half way
through the set I was like oh shit I’m gonna puke! And then I puked, and then we fell
in love!
AM: Thats cool. Were you like whatever keep going!
DM: The band kept playing so I wiped off my mouth and kept singing, and the next
band that played was like “this mic smells like shit!”
AM: Did you decide there was something you wanted to capture with the band or it
just happened?
SP: Organic.
DM: We kind of started the band as a joke. Our friends from LA wanted to play this
house show and we named our band for it after Beyonce.
AM: Do you find it funny that its got serious and everyone loves you now?
DM: Haha it’s still a joke! I’m happy to meet new people and dance with my friends,
it’s basically just laughing with them about the end of the world. I hope it never gets
serious.
AM: But do you want to help instigate any change in the world or how people think?
DM: Definitely. It’s like a sweet mixture of having a platform where I can say shit
that’s important to me and bring up how fucked current politicians are, and we have
songs that are about saving the environment, but we try to put humor into it as well.
Everything is so fucked up its pretty hopeless! But the other day we were playing
with this band and they were like “I hate it when people mix music and politics.” I’m
like dude really like fuck! I enjoy some music that’s just to make you feel good but I
would rather have something to say.
AM: Yeah what else are you going to talk about when all this shit is going on. But you
definitely keep it playful and funny and talk about everyday stuff which is cool.
What’s the writing process like?
DM: Me and Sean get together at night sometimes.
SP: I’ll just play something on the guitar and just play it over and over until she can
find something she can sing along to - She doesn’t like much!
DM: I get really annoyed with rock n roll psychedelic music. I enjoy it from the 60s or
70s but anything now is just boring to me.
SP: She secretly wants to sound like No Doubt.
AM: Do you consider yourself a punk band?
DM: A freak band.
SP: When you say punk I think of something that -
AM: Happened.. and died right?
SP: Yeah..in the 70s. So if you’re a punk band now you’re like a member of the punk
reenactment movement..
AM: I agree. You guys have definitely reinvented something different.
SP: It’s like civil war reenactment like if you have a fucking flannel butt flap on with
like zippers on your pants and a mohawk and shit and you’re a punk rocker then I
think that you’re a weird person.
DM: Jocks in punk suits.
SP: You know whatever we are, if its jokey or punk or serious or whatever it’s a really
heartfelt band. When I saw them play I knew that it was a big steaming pile of shit,
like it was definitely a really fucked up chaotic loose gnarly band but I really liked it, I
was like woah, this is a real band.
AM: Can you put your finger on what touched you ?
SP: Just really gnarly energy. I don’t mean like roaaaaar..
AM: It’s not like that at all.
SP: They’re real songs. It’s a real fucking band. It’s scary.
AM: Yeah you seem to have this no inhibition chaos but you tame it in a beautiful
way which makes the message and your energy come across even stronger. I don’t
know where that comes from I guess it’s just natural.
DM: Thank you. I don’t know what I’m doing at all!
AM: It’s very truthful which is great. Obviously you give a lot when you perform, all
of you, but particularly you Dani being front woman.
SP: We’re all trying to give ourselves heart attacks.
AM: Do you find it draining? Emotionally or physically, or you feel liberated?
DM: I feel really liberated. Just working jobs and dealing with whatever everyday
issues, I have really bad anxiety and just getting up there and letting it all out with
friends who all have different problems and the same problems, it’s very liberating,
like fuck man! Of course playing a bunch of shows is exhausting but when it comes
down to it it’s just really good therapy.
AM: Do you feel completely yourself when you’re up there or do you enter a different
state?