theSTART Interview with Aimee Echo

For some, Aimee Echo may look familiar, she was the front woman of Human Waste Project (still absolutely amazing, I suggest you check 'em out!)  I have admired Aimee for years, and I had the pleasure of doing a phone interview with the lovely Miss Echo.   She was a complete sweetheart and helped put me at ease!       the interview ROCKED!!!!!! 

I KNOW THAT YOU GUYS SPLIT WITH YOUR LABEL, I WAS WONDERING IF YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING AROUND, AND IF YOU FOUND ANYONE INTERESTED?
there's actually a lot of people interested right now, its getting interesting right now! there's different types of companies, different types of people actually coming forward. we are putting out (we just came to this decision last week- thats why i've been so crazybusy) we're recording 2 new songs that we're adding to the 1234 EP to make it a 12345 EP. we're releasing it on this record label called Smallstone from Detroit, so we can have a release this summer. if we don't do that now, because we're so picky right now with who we're talking to, before summer, because it takes so long to get those things out, we wouldn't have another release till next year, and its not good enough for us! *laughs* so we're getting this together for the summer and its gonna come out (our target date is) on June 18th for the new 5 songs. you know about the ep right?

OH YEAH.
i was just going under the assumption that you did. that one we sort of hand made and did all the copies ourselves and Jamie did the artwork. Jamie, myself and Dan (our manager) sat around in the wee hours of the morning making them and it was sort of a labor of love experiment, so those are gonna be neat. i was thinking last that we should have signed them all, but i thought that was kind of impersonal to put your signature on something without meeting the person, cuz to me the whole purpose of getting a signature is to remind you of the moment you met the person. so i just answered like 10 questions. I'm a little scattered, i've only had one cup of coffee and i haven't eaten anything yet.

HOW DO YOU GET YOUR LYRICS? PERSONALLY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT SOME OF THE SONGS ARE ABOUT *laughs* I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE ABOUT,  SOME PEOPLE WRITE AND YOU REALLY KNOW EVERYTHING THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT, I ADMIRE THE FACT THAT YOU TAKE THESE DIFFERENT IDEAS AND, SORT OF MAKE THE SONGS YOUR OWN.
i haven't been writing lately, but i've promised myself i'd get into the habit again. for some reason the last 2 years i haven't written a lot lyrically. i used to write every single day, all day long and it would wake me up in the middle of the night. the only event that is major in my life is that my dad died, so i'm thinking thats the only thing i can connect with why i don't write every day anymore. but, i used to just write and write and write. my first goal in life was to be a poet before i wanted to be a musician. so, i just wrote and wrote, for the sake of writing words. when you organize into songs, that makes it really interesting. a lot of times when you're doing it that way when you're not writing from a songwriter's stance, or you write from start to finish, this is going to be your cohesive piece. when your borrowing from poetry, sometimes it doesn't make sense. and i too, am a fan of the mysterious lyric. i like to be able to apply my interpretation and my life to a song. when you're dealing with the underground world and the pop world, i think sometimes the mystery is the best thing. and not that the things that i say aren't sometimes simple, i do purposely throw things in to mix it up. it isn't necessarily autobiographical usually, but a lot of the things i write about really aren't. sometimes i take things from my life, but a lot of times its from the lives of others. "her song" for example was about a few of my friend's experiences and i just put myself into their shoes. i don't experience everything, sometimes when you're a touring musician, you don't really experience much more than the same thing everday, which is getting up, finding your coffee, going to soundcheck, and playing a rock show. as exciting as most people think it is, it becomes much the same everyday. so, its hard to find adventures and inspiration. sometimes its just the traveling that inspires you, other times you have to look into other people's eyes...and sometimes the words just sound pretty.

DO YOU HAVE A PERSONAL FAVORITE SONG OFF OF "SHAKEDOWN!"? IS THERE A SONG ON THERE THAT MEANS MORE TO YOU THAN ANY OTHER SONG?
i think as far as means of quality and sound or just a song-scape, "her song" is my favorite. i love the guitars on that and its fun. just the song and the emotion in it. lyrically, probably...thats hard, they're all so different...oh i'll just stick with "her song"! but live, "shakedown" is the funnest to play live. the last show was so great, everybody got on stage and danced with us, it was so fun.

ARE THOSE THE PICTURES ON THE SITE?
yes, they're must have been 30 people onstage with the band, and everybody was so great because there's a lot of gear up there. everyone was respectful of the guys' equipment, but still having a good time, it was great. although i've never been that crowded on stage! i thought i was going to accidentally punch people just by dancing. usually i don't have to pay attention to other people!

ARE THERE ANY PLACES WHERE YOU'D LIKE TO PLAY THAT YOU HAVEN'T YET?
we haven't gone to europe yet, or japan. actually, we haven't gone to the UK either. i'd like to do that, i'd like to go overseas. i think that that would be really funny. but i've always wanted to go to japan just to see what it looks like. when you do get to tour, you get mini snippits of traveling i guess, cuz you're not really seeing where you are cuz you're working really hard to get the day done. i think it would be really cool to wake up and try to get my day done in paris! that wouldn't bum me out too bad!

YEAH, THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!
i love playing in london. i did that with the band i was in previously. we played rochester in the band i was in previous.

I KNOW! THAT WAS WHO I REALLY KNEW WHO YOU GUYS WERE.
we played their twice. once with deftones and once with coal chamber.

I REMEMBER THE COAL CHAMBER ONE, I WAS SUPPOSED TO GO BUT FOR SOME ODD REASON I DIDN'T.
the deftones show was so funny, it was the night we'd signed our deal, so it was sort of a record signing deal party for human waste project. i had a lot of champagne, then i got up to sing with deftones. i poured champagne all over one of the other bands, and one of the guy's i poured it over was straightedge, i thought he was gonna punch me, but he smiled and was the happiest guy in the whole world. then chino and i were crowdsurfing in the middle of one of their songs and somehow my shirt didn't come back to the stage with me, which at the time i thought was really funny *laughs* cuz i had a lot of people around watching my back. i had bruises, fingerprint bruises on my legs for days. it was really weird, i'd never had that rough of a crowd, but i was still happy about it! *laughs* the 2 shows i played in rochester i had an amazing time.

WHICH IS WHY YOU SHOULD COME BACK!
i know! if i had more control over my life, which i'm working real hard to develop, i think we probably will come back. we're heading out june 18th, and go up the west coast, back down to texas, through the southwest, back to LA, then 5 days after that, we leave for warped tour. which goes back to the west coast and down to the middle to all the cities we're not hitting on our headlining tour. and then, after our final date on warped, we head to the east coast, to do the ny's, philadelphia, baltimore and probably stop there, and head back west. we're starting to book east coast dates within the next week or so. so, we really are going to be on the east coast.

WHAT EVER HAPPEND TO "FLYING MACHINE" & "BE MINE"?
when its not time for a song, sometimes they just go and sit around a few years till they get to have their life. there's a song right now thats finally getting to live, its one of the first songs we ever wrote, its a song i guarantee you've never heard, called "trinity". so you never know. actually, "flying machine" wasn't going in the direction we wanted it to in the studio.

I REALLY LIKE "BE MINE", IT WAS THE FIRST SONG I'VE HEARD OF YOU GUYS
it might, you never know.

THE SOUND OF theSTART IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM HUMAN WASTE PROJECT, BOTH MUSICALLY AND VOCALLY, HAVE YOU EVER, OR WOULD YOU EVER PLAY A HUMAN WASTE SONG?
i think that its the time, that band was from that time. for me, it doesn't feel right to do those songs. i honestly don't think that vocally its that much different, but productionally, that wasn't what i wanted anyway. i like ross's production styles that he did for human waste project, i think he make vocals sound more interesting. he tends to take all the character and bring it up and turn up the volume on the character. other producers squish the character, and every voice sounds like every other voice. thats just my 2 cents on production *laughs* i don't think i'm feeling like i did when i was in human waste project. so it'd be a totally different interpretation of those songs, so we'd have to see. it seems like a strong emotional investment. it takes so much of my spirit to do this band and i wouldn't want to dilute that by doing something else. and i definitely wouldn't want to do anything half-assed. so probably not. i don't know, we talk about it alot.

DO YOU THINK A BAND'S IMAGE IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT TO THE MUSIC?
image..the word image conjuers up some sort of visad to me. i like my rock bands to look like rock bands. but only if they actually are. i think the busniess is corrupt more and more everyday by people to go around and look at what real rock bands look like and then they dress their commercially made pop tarts. because my ideas are continuously ripped off, its really difficult. i think cultivating an image is disgusting, you're either born with style, or you're not. we just do what we do. the funny thing about the four of us now is that we're so much alike that we tend to look "imagey". but the fact is we're a lot alike and have a lot of the same background and whatnot. when anything gets discovered, the fashion magazines corrupt it...i dunno...

WELL TAKE SLIPKNOT FOR EXAMPLE, THEY HAVE THEIR MASKS AND THIS WHOLE "IMAGE"...
...i think thats viable for entertainment, but i think its ludicrous. its almost like theater rock. its never been, to me, theres a trend that we use in touring, when we're late its called a "throw and go". if you can't go just fresh out of the van, then its not worth it, you've got way too much going on. any band that wants to throw on any show when they just wake up and throw and go. theres so much technology that fixes all the mistakes of the human, like computers and whatnot. musicianship is declining, everybody's relying on props, nobody's relying on heart and soul and hard work. i think its bullshit. david bowie, totally appreciate that. thats "art-rock", at its highest, i think if you see david bowie in a tshirt and jeans it would just be as enthralling. so a little bit of both i guess. if you're not capable without the image, then you're useless and should go away!! *laughs*

I AGREE!
if we're late, i'll do a show, and whatever i'm wearing out of the truck. i've done a show in tennis shoes and no make up because the truck broke down. it was the funnest show.

THATS COOL.
its funner for the audience sometimes if theres effort. i think i've always lived my life that way. i wake up and i go 'oh how can i look interesting today?' cuz otherwise i'd be boring and look like everybody else. But thats a way of life, not an image.

HOW'S ENO?
he's good, he's in bed right now. he's been out today, he's been barking a lot lately, which is something he generally doesn't do. he's happy. i think he's going on all the tours this summer. the first tour's going to be interestingly crowded. we're bringing a van and trailer and we're putting ENEMY and theSTART in our van. we're touring with ENEMY and Scarling which is gonna be really great. Jamie's playing drums for Enemy. its gonna be crazy.

IF YOU HAD 3 WISHES, WHAT WOULD THEY BE AND WHY?
thats not a basic question, its a question everybody hopes to answer in their life. we've all seen those movies and how they go horribly wrong! i guess i could some it up for everyone in one wish. that would be happiness for all worlds, everywhere. it doesn't mean everything would be all warm and fuzzy, cuz some people are happy when things are negative. maybe thats where we're already at. material wishes, i'd like to have a lot of property to build a fantastic ranch and studio, with a recording studio and outdoor amphitheater thing, it would be in california, it would be interesting to have all different people coming through and recording. we'd throw wonderful parties, and living in a communal sort of way. wouldn't that be great?

OH YEAH IT WOULD!
an oasis of sorts here. with a guest house, maybe an art gallery.

SO YOU WANT LIKE EVERYTHING!
yeah, i want to create a complex out here. i want there to be horses too. it could be so easily done. thats my goal. its a lot of wishes in one.

WE'LL JUST CALL IT ONE REALLY BIG WISH.
that, and for everybody to stop looking outside themselves so much for whats good. its not outside!

I THINK theSTART HAS A VERY UNIQUE SOUNDS AND IS ONE OF THE FEW BANDS YOU CAN'T REALLY COMPARE TO ANYONE ELSE...HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND?
thank you...we try to do things that are new and unique. we are influenced by people who tried to do things new and unique before *laughs* its stemming basically from post-punk. i guess its the only way to describe it.

A LOT OF PEOPLE DESCRIBE YOU BY SAYING YOU'RE LIKE "80'S NEW WAVE"
if you listen to 80's new wave, unless you're talking about new wave bands like what Pete Shelly did with the Buzzcocks in the later days, the Talking heads, the Cure, blondie, then i agree. but if you talk to people about new wave, they'll name like AH-HA, stuff like that. in that respect, i disagree. i tend to have a purist viewpoint on what new wave is. the next wave, as it happend. after punk rock started to evolve and people started to learn to play their instruments a little bit better. so that yes, i agree with. i don't think you can really pinpoint us to one time, because we do have influences all the way from the 50's all the way to beyond today. the 80's thing is kinda annoying to me. it generally stems from the fact we have keyboards in our music. we had keyboards in our music in the 60's too. its funny. people are funny. when one person says it, everyone says it then it becomes the definition. so we'll always have the 80's hooked on to our name.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D CHANGE ABOUT YOUR SOUND ON THE NEXT ALBUM?
i think our record was a little shiney and over produced. i like things a little dingier. you can only work with what you're working with- what you're allowed to work with. i think this time we'll have a lot more control over what is done. this record should be a little more definitive of what our sound in our heads is. hopefully. when you add another person to the mix, it changes the end result. down to an engineer in the studio. getting something out of your head, into thin air is really - it doens't necessarily come out the way you hear it in your head either. when its just you cuz you're working with whatever equipment. you hope it sounds like what you hear in your head. its crazy. we're trying to get as pure as we can to the sounds that we hear in our heads this time. and we're not going to compromise DAMN IT! *laughs* then i'll let you know if it sounds like anything we thought it would! *laughs*

ANY LAST WORDS?
the revolution is coming. coming fast. i've been saying that for a while now. but we're dealing with one set of ears at a time when you say it. not that i'm single handedly starting the revolution. hopefully we'll be able to collectively with interesting bands and people having writers and speakers and artists and everything. hopefully "politics" will change. (for lack of a better word) it will happen. we're taking the power back! music has been so corrupt and horrible now. the only thing that can happen is for it die a horrible horrible death! and have a horrible reaper. and hopefully some of that made sense! *laughs*

WELL, WE'LL SEE. THATS IT THEN! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR DOING THIS!
thank you for being interested in talking to me!

-Laurie