Windy and Carl - Slower and Quieter

Related links:

• Windy and Carl's homepage
• Stormy Records

Carl: We still haven't figured out the final track listing for the new album and the mixing should be completed within the next couple of weeks. We are also supposed to be doing a split single with Electroscope pretty soon. Our friend Greg (5WM) recently joined us for a 2 days of recording and we still need to listen to those tapes...also been working on a song for our friends' Patty Duke "tribute" 7" w/ 'zine.

Windy: New projects...well, we have been trying to get our latest lp mixed, and we need to pick a song to cover for a split 7" on Phil from Norman Records label, and I'd like to record a long beautiful guitar and keyboard piece with lots of bells in it. We also both have new part time jobs. Mine is doing ebay listings for an antiques store. I hope we get some cool furniture out of the deal. Plus there is the Ochre Records comp we released as a way to promote Ochre in the U.S. at a budget price.

FJ: How and when did you and Windy meet?

Carl: I was hanging out with my friend Jason at this record store in the mall, which was probably the only big chain store to have a great selection of import records. Windy worked there & she would come over and ask us if we were finding everything OK. Soon after, we bumped into each other a couple of times and I ended up over at her house through one of her friends taking me over, having no idea we knew who the other was. I got her number from one of her friends, she asked me to dinner and now it's more than 10 years later!

Windy: We met at a record store I was working at in the summer of 1989. I thought Carl was really cute! We kept running in to each other and after a while he asked me out. Actually, I asked him over for dinner, and we've been together since.

FJ: How long have you been playing music together and how did you start out?

Carl: We began working on our own songs together in the spring/summer of 1993. I think we started out because we were seeing our favorite bands play - we were the same age as them. We thought of how great it would be to play for people & write and record our own music.

Windy: Carl was playing music with his cousins (cover tunes) and I knew he was capable of so much more, and I was jealous he was doing music with someone else, so I said I wanted to start playing. I bought a bass and we started writing together. ...We wrote songs in the park with an acoustic guitar. Thinking about that summer reminds me of how much I love Carl. (I'm mushy like that).

FJ: Who were your main influences when you first started out?

Carl: When I first started out, I was into bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC (hey, I was 14) and stuff like that. I guess another influential point was when I first heard the Cure + Joy Division, and then MBV, Spacemen 3, Bark Psychosis, the Telescopes...especially when I stumbled on a used copy of the first Slowdive Ep.

Windy: My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Sonic Youth, Durutti Column, Verve, Bark Psychosis, etc...

FJ: How does your song writing process work? How do the songs get created?

Carl: We each write individually-especially on DEPTHS. I think we only collaborated on one song. We also write together, although not as much now as we used to (like on Drawing Of Sound). I would like to get back more collaborating, but sometimes it's hard for us to compromise and not easy to always find the time. Almost always, the music comes first and then the lyrics.

Windy: Often it is spontaneous. We sit down with our instruments and play, and see what comes out. Sometimes Carl writes first, sometimes I write first, sometimes we both write at once (an incredible experience, being that intimate and connected with someone). Antarctica happened all at once, as did the songs on the Emerald 7". I love it when that happens!

FJ: Tell me about you your recording situation. What do you use - type of equipment, etc.?

Windy: We record in our house...sometimes upstairs, usually in the basement. All our instruments and amps are in a room, all hooked up and ready to go whenever you want. It allows for a lot of freedom if you have an idea. Carl usually is the engineer. He is so much more patient than I am. He can tell you more about the technical stuff.

Carl: We currently use a Tascam 1/2" reel 8-track & mix on a Mackie board - almost always at home. Basic mics - Shure, a PZM, some direct recording. I use a delay and reverb unit for mixing.

FJ: Do you both set time aside to record or do you individually work? Is recording a main part of the writing process or are all songs ready before recording?

Carl: I wish we could get ourselves together enough to have some set time for working on music! Most of the music I've written over the past 3 years has been written while in the recording process. The more 'song' structured recordings of ours are almost all written and planned out before recording, unlike the more spacey and long instrumentals, which almost all were written while recording or adding over dubs (especially Antarctica which was a 45 minute one-take).

Windy: Oh boy, this is a mixed bag answer. It's been different for every release. Portal was done musically before I added the words, but the extra tracks on the cd were written and practiced before recording them. Drawing of Sound was totally rehearsed before recording, Depths was mostly live to tape (pieces recorded as they were being created), Dream of Blue was all Carl and then my voice after, Antarctica was like Depths. We do work independently sometimes due to time constraints, but I like when we write together. This past year has been hard to do work because of my family situation and the time and energy it has demanded from me. I feel I am ready to get back into it now and I'll just have to learn how to sleep less. Our friend Jerry says I should meditate, that I could accomplish more mentally & physically by having better breathing control and deeper relaxation. hmmmmmm.......

FJ: Of all of you records, which was your favorite to write, record, or work on?

Carl: I really like Portal (because it was our first) and Depths too. I also really enjoyed writing and recording all of the singles we've done - I'll be happy with our singles compilation when we finally put that out. I'm pretty satisfied with most of our releases, although there are a few things I would mix a little different or change slightly.

Windy: I don't know. Probably Antarctica and Depths. I love drawing of sound, but I already want to remix it. Maybe some day I'll want to remix them all. I'll have to wait and see. I like to sing, but I'm afraid to listen to my voice. I love to write words, but I am afraid to have people hear what I'm singing or writing about.

FJ: Which songs are your favorites?

Carl: Green, Whisper, Antarctica, Dream Of Blue, Christmas Song. I love Windy's singing & it embarrasses her when I tell her.

Windy: That changes all of the time.

FJ: What hobbies do you both have when not writing or playing music?

Carl: I Like to listen to a lot of music, obsess over the Beach Boys, play with our dogs and try to keep our life as organized as possible. I'm also reading a really good book called "Please Kill Me: an oral history of punk rock."

Windy: I love to paint and write. I like children's books. I like to walk our dogs, going to parks, being outside.

FJ: What music currently influences you the most?

Carl: I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately - from the avante/free-jazz, to the more spiritual, droning and rhythmic style (mostly recordings from the 60's + early 70's). I've been listening to quite a bit of the Beach Boys (Smile and Friends era) and I'm really into some of that instrumentation and sparseness. I can hear Windy shrieking already...

Windy: It seems I listen to a lot of electronica lately (Boards of Canada, Pan American). Although I have started liking Built to Spill and the new National Skyline is great. I have a 2 cd collection of flamenco guitar by Bola Sete that I adore, and I would like to learn to sing opera because some opera is just amazing to me. I guess lots of things. I still love the Durutti Column. There is always a tape of the DC in my car stereo.

FJ: Tell us about your record store (history, etc).

Carl: Our store is called Stormy Records & it's been open since the middle of last summer. We are the only employees there (with the very rare exception) which probably explains why it's taking us so long to get our next record done. We specialize in new independent and import releases, some new and old jazz, used cds, used records...I never realized how much time it takes for both of us to run the store, but it's going pretty good so far.

Windy: I have only worked in record stores (this ebay antique thing is the first time I've had anything to do with items other than records) and I've done it for 12 years. We love music. We travel a lot and see stores that impress us and we wanted to offer that here in the Detroit area. We want to offer a good mix of indie and electronica, strange stuff and noise, jazz, used records that are collectible but affordable (we believe in caring for our customers, not screwing them over). We wanted to open a store we could be proud of, one where we would know our customer's names and their likes, a place where we could order items with people's particular tastes in mind, a store with a close relationship between us and our customers.

There are not many stores in Michigan where a customer is treated well, and that is of huge importance to me. I look for many strange and hard to find items, and I wanted to have a store that would be the kind of place I'd love to shop - no snootiness, no rudeness, just a good feeling where you're well taken care of. Carl totally agreed with all those things, so we knew what we wanted. I have done management of other stores, so I'm familiar with all the banking and budgeting and organizing stuff. I usually also order all the new items and Carl takes care of the used albums. His mind is a sponge for information when it comes to records, and he loves to know the label colors from what years and all the different pressings and all sorts of stuff I cannot seem to remember. Carl is an awesome business partner because we can each hold our own end up and still cover things for each other and fill in the grey areas. I guess I just realized how much I know about this, which makes me happy, because sometimes I feel I only know lots of little bits and not enough about any one thing.

FJ: At a recent show you played in Michigan, you played a new piece of music that you said was an kind of an "experiment." Please tell us about it and what inspired you to write it. Are there future plans to release that song?

Carl: Every time we get a new piece of equipment, we feel obligated to write a song based on it. A friend tipped us on this early 70's Yamaha synth with oscillators and stuff (it's really big), we got it for a really good price and Windy immediately came up with the basis for that song. She also used some bells which we got a long time ago, but haven't really done much with. Aside from a live recording we have of it, we still need to properly record it. It might get used for the new album (if that's the case, we better get to it right away), or maybe a cd ep or something like that.

Windy: Well, without giving away the whole thing, we heard a piece of music that was all sampled voices. We had bought an old synthesizer and one day I discovered it made a very similar sound to voices, sort of high operatic choir voices. I started messing around with those sounds and Carl added guitars, and then the thought of the bells came in. I love bells. I have lots of brass bells and a collection of beautiful and diverse wind chimes, and I wanted to incorporate some of those sounds. It is sort of an idea of the day - the sun comes up and sounds start rising from the earth. The day moves on and things get fuller, the sun is warm and the world is busy near the middle of the day, and then things get slower and quieter, and the world goes back to sleep. I really like it. I am proud of the ideas and sounds that come through. I would like to record it and put it out. It's very uplifting and soothing at the same time.

FJ: How is the new album shaping up? Tell us about it.

Carl: The next album is slowly progressing - definitely will be released this fall. A few months ago we had a mix finished, but we decided we wanted to change a few things and Windy added vocals to one of the songs. I guess it's a bit similar to Depths, but not as dark...mostly instrumental and probably a single album length. I think it has a more peaceful and tranquil feel without being too muddy and the overall sound is going to be much brighter than on Depths.

Windy: I sing on a little of it. A song I listened to on a tape in the car for 4 or 5 months while driving around. I really like it. I sang to it over and over and came up with a pattern to go exactly with the music. The words are special, and rather metaphoric. It makes me happy to sing it, and Carl likes it, too. The rest of the album has neat stuff on it, new sounds. It's obvious to me that it is Carl's guitar, but there are new sounds on it.

FJ: Please also tell us the Five Way Mirror album that was recently put out.

Windy: I am glad this is the last question! I've been writing forever! Well, we met Greg many years ago at a coffeehouse in Detroit. He liked the darker, stranger music that we like (Coil, Vidna Obmana) and he suggested we try writing together. He has lots of awesome analog synthesizers and a great sampler and we just spent a few sessions writing and playing together. It ends up that when I was in high school and I went to Toledo to see the Legendary Pink Dots, I actually saw Greg perform! 5 years before I met him, I saw him on stage with his synth collection. He is interesting to work with because we don't usually work with percussive sounds. He has neat ideas and working with him allows us to create music we would probably never do on our own. I'm glad we record with him, because it opens new opportunities for all of us creatively.

Carl: 5WM is a project consisting of myself, Windy, and our friend Greg who lives in Toledo, OH. Greg has an incredible assortment of synths, samplers, keyboards & electronics. He has also been releasing and recording his own music for something like 15 years or so. We met him when he came to see us play in Detroit in 1994 and we began collaborating through the mail onto 4-track cassette. We'd occasionally get together and record and play out once in awhile in Detroit and Toledo. Our first CD was released earlier this year on Burnt Hair Records.

The recordings spanned almost 4 years, some being recorded live to one track. There is also a 7" single out. We play out about once a year, if even that. We recently got together and did a bunch of recording, but I haven't had a chance to listen to those tapes yet.