Long Form Band Interview: The Mots Nouveaux (2014)

The Mots Nouveaux at Brokechella (2014)

This interview was done in 2014 with the band. It was conducted in context with the music festival, Brokechella, which is now known as Broke LA. I hope you enjoy:

Notes from Vivace:  I know Emma found Aaron over Myspace.  Can you expand on that?

Emma:  We both went to college in Nashville – though not at the same time.  We had similar Myspace friends.  I was living in Tokyo, singing at Disneyland Tokyo.   I came across his music.  When I moved to Los Angeles, I found him on Facebook and suggested we should write music together.

Notes from Vivace:  Aaron, how was it being on an Olay commercial? 

Aaron:  The commercial was meant for Amanda (his girlfriend and the Olay model in the commercial) to sing and I was supposed to play the piano.  It was written around the story of how we met.  They changed the direction of the commercial.  We met on the rooftop.  That part of the commercial took 20 minutes as they shot from various angles.

Notes from Vivace:  Emma, I was on a plane and decided to watch “In Time.”  I saw you on screen.  Anyway, I did an IMDB and saw that you’re in an upcoming film called “1:30 Train.”  How was it working with Chris Evans, Captain America?

Emma:  It was Chris Evans’ directorial debut.  I played his ex-girlfriend – that one that got away.  (I often play the girlfriend on television.)  It was an awesome opportunity.

Notes from Vivace:  So both of you spent time in New York (Emma filmed “1:30 Train in New York), how was your time there.

Aaron/Emma:  We played at Bowery Electric and Sidewalk Café.  We got to meet New York musicians.  We have folks in place to play with us as we’re going back for the full summer.  We’re going to write a new album while in New York.  It is harder to write in Los Angeles as we usually have shows coming up and it takes time to prepare for these shows.  We can hunker down when out there.  We’ll have fewer distractions.

Emma:  Our most productive time recently was when I was in New York in December and January.  Aaron was out here in Los Angeles.  We’d set specific times to meet and Skype to write our music.  There was nothing else to do in terms of music, no shows to plan. 

Aaron/Emma:  We have 10 to 12 song demos.  We have new arrangements with instrumentations.  We’re trying to be self-sufficient (versus our current set-up with a horn section).  We’re trying to maximize what we do between the two of us.  This guided our new arrangements by default.  It is heavy on vocal interplay.  Stylistically, our sound has changed a lot since 2010.  We’re inspired by soul/funk, late 60s/70s.  Our song has grown sexier in the last year. 

Emma:  My heart was broken in October.  Many of the songs were inspired by man hatred/women empowerment.

Notes from Vivace:  Aaron, I know you have a degree in economics.  Have you found that major totally useless or is there some interdiscplinary benefits that apply to music?

Aaron:  I’ve thought about that.  Both economics and music are highly organized systems.  Both are highly intricate.  Both require intuition and evidence.  Music isn’t something you can take apart, it is the whole.  One needs to analyze music, but there is also something mysterious about how music works.  Finishing a song requires trying different styles, rhythms:  like an economy.

Notes from Vivace:  Aaron, so what is in the bottle/flask that you always have with you when you perform?

Aaron:  Water.

Do you have thoughts on Brokechella that you’d like to say?

Aaron/Emma:  We’ve talked about playing Brokechella in the past.  It just didn’t work out.  We know a lot of people involved with Brokechella.  We’re stoked to play it.

Notes from Vivace:  Any final thoughts?

Aaron/Emma:  We did just release an EP in Decmeber, which you can find on the Internet.  We’ll also have CDs on Saturday.

Emma:  The Mots Nouveaux has always been a passion project.  I wanted to make my own music versus singing music that was given to me [Disneyland Tokyo].  Everything was always done live.  Now we’re shifting to the studio. 

Aaron:  I’ve gone full circle.  I started out without a band.  We then formed The Mots Nouveaux and started performing with a full band.  We’re now heading back to the studio as a duo.

Emma/Aaron:  Thigh highs and whiskey.

That ended the formal interview.  We had a brief conversation about travel.  Emma told a wonderful story about her time in Tokyo.  She was walking in Tokyo and saw this sign.  One English word was there:  Jazz.  She decided to go inside.  She walked up four flights of stairs.  When she got to the bar, it was this tiny space.  There were only 4 bar stools.  Ella Fitzgerald albums lined the walls.  The bartender would play jazz albums throughout the day.  She’d spend her days inside the bar just reading, drinking.