jeff fasano

01 Givers “Up, Up, Up”
02 Grouplove “Gold Coast”
03 Animal Collective “Brother Sport”
04 Simon and Garfunkel “The Only Living Boy in New York”
05 Brendan Benson “Metarie”
06 George Harrison “Run of the Mill”
07 Sam Roberts “This Wreck of a Life”
08 Beach House “Silver Soul”
09 Black Flamingo “Black Heart”

Indie-folk rock six piece Family of the Year all live in the same house and spend their evenings singing, songwriting, and recording. They took a break from this idyllic existence of making music to collectively answer these questions and put together a mixtape. This interview by Kristina Benson.

Do you feel that living in Los Angeles informs your band’s approach to writing or performing music at all, and if so, how?
Living anywhere will probably shape your approach one way or another, and we all live in L.A.!
What was the first show you ever played as a band? Where was it and when?
It was at the Mountain Bar in Chinatown in July of 2009… We had a pretty good turnout despite the fact that no one really took us seriously until they saw us play… our name at the time was Bogie Ogreton and I think they thought we were some kind of joke band. No one even knew how to pronounce it. We got Bogie Au Gratin, Ogre Tron, Ogie Boger-ton… Soooo we decided to go with Family of the Year.
What’s the weirdest show you ever played?
A basement frat party in Minneapolis. After a show, some kids coaxed us into it with free beer, but when we got there the kegs were tapped. We still played some Dylan and Sabbath covers til some kids tried to start a fight with us on their way out.
I see that you guys have a unique approach to selling Songbook and your EP in a digital format. Can you comment on that a little?
Well we are still a pretty small band and we don’t wanna get too big for our britches here, so we offer most of our music for free on our website. We kinda just want people to listen to it, whether or not they pay for it. You have the option to donate to us directly and I think a lot of people call this “the Radiohead model” or something along those lines, but the idea is just to get people to listen to our songs. None of us have loads of cash lying around to spend on music—we need to save it for the dollar menu and cheap wine. We have our new EP Through The Trees online for four bucks and I think after doing all the math, we did better with the optional donation thing.
What song do you like to play first in your set and why?
Lately its been “Stairs” cause it’s the shit. Gets us pumped up!
If you could cover one L.A. band’s song, whose would it be and why?
“Good Vibrations” by you-know-who. For one, it’d be such a challenge to try and pull off anything those guys did, to do it our way of course but to also keep all the crazy harmonies, vocal arrangements, and instrumentation that they had going on. Someone would have to learn the theremin of all things! But just what a great song—when growing up I could remember hearing that song and closing my eyes and all you could see is the southern California sun shining in the waves.
If you could work with any L.A. producer—living, dead, or incarcerated—who would it be?
Working with Paul Rothchild would’ve been pretty cool. Starting his career off in Boston where a lot of us did as well, then moving his life out to California, I think we would have some things in common—the Red Sox, the harsh winters, etc. His body of work speaks for itself and working with many artists that have been heavy influences on us over the years, it would have been an honor to work with him and interesting to think what might have been able to come out of the experience.
What kind of gear would you buy for use in this band if you had an unlimited budget?
We would just buy a Guitar Center or some other Wal-Mart-ish mega store that would have anything we’d ever want to play, learn to play, record us and whomever we wanted, put on our own shows, and then sponsored by all those companies that would find themselves in such a mega music dealer.
If you could go back in time and hear the music of any era before recorded music, which era would it be and what place would you be in?
To be in Vienna in the 1800s at some amazing opera house hearing Mozart would be incredible.
If you had to be in a different L.A. band besides this one, what would be your first choice? The band can be current or past. For example, you could say you would want to be the Doors’ bass player or whatever. No fair saying “this one”!
The theremin player in the Beach Boys.
If you could play a show at any California venue, which one would it be and why?
We’ve been very fortunate to play at some great venues in California thus far, but we’d say the Bowl or the Greek. Just beautiful prestigious surroundings listening to some of the best musicians of all genres from around the world.
How do you define “success” insofar as your music is concerned?
To never think back with regret and always be moving forward.

FAMILY OF THE YEAR IN RESIDENCY EVERY MONDAY IN SEPTEMBER AT SILVERLAKE LOUNGE (SEPTEMBER 6 SHOW AT BOOTLEG THEATER), 2906 SUNSET BLVD. SILVERLAKE. 8:30 PM / FREE / 21+. FOLDSILVERLAKE.COM. VISIT FAMILY OF THE YEAR AT FAMILYOFTHEYEAR.NET.