Tell me what inspired you and your sister to form The Traveling Circus Band.

I remember one year, when I was probably about 10 or 11, I really wanted a guitar for christmas because I was listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin at the time. So I asked my parents for one and then forced my sister to ask for a bass, cause she was only about 8 or 9, and from there we pretty much just started playing whatever music we were into at the time in our living room.

 

When I listen to your EP, I hear a lot of Beach Boys influence, namely on Dancing On A Dizzy Edge. Was that on purpose?

Sort of. That specific song was really influenced by the song "Proto Pretty" by The Wondermints which are now the backing band for Brian Wilson and of course, the Brian Wilson influence is always going to be there no matter what type of music we are playing.

 

What were some of the other influences on the EP?

Well...we covered a Velvet Crush so we were listening to that I guess. It's not always easy to hear some of the songs or musicians we were influenced by but, if I can remember back to what we were listening to while writing the album... I know Rachel was really into Chris Bell. When she was writing the lead acoustic guitar on "The Way Back to You", she was trying to write in the same vein as the song "You and Your Sister", but most of the time we write about what we personally think needs to be heard or brought to other people's attention. I really try to write about the things most people are unwilling to talk about.

 

The song "3" is kind of an outlier on the EP. Why did you decide to include that with this set of songs and what is the meaning behind it?

We actually wrote that song earlier than the rest of the EP so that is probably why it sounds a little different. As for the meaning, I have it, but I don't like to tell people the meaning because I know it is different for each person. I never like when musicians tell the meanings behind thier songs because it usually taints them in my eyes.

 

The Velvet Crush Cover... why that band and why the song "Faster Days"?

We kind of related to that song because we grew up in the suburbs. The only difference is, we grew up kind of poor so we didn't really have a car or anything. And the reason we chose Velvet Crush was because I had always wanted to do a cover but we could never find a song we both agreed on. So, I finally gave into my sister and said I would do a Velvet Crush song.

 

How does the songwriting process work between you and your sister?

We kind of just write separately, bring our ideas to each other and then we build from there. We don't really ever write together but that seems to work best for us.

 

What can we expect from the band in the future?

We're definitley going to continue writing new music. It's not ever going to sound the same, hopefully, from each release to the next, but we will always be writing.

 

Lightning Round:

Favorite album of the moment?

Fire of Love- The Gun Club

 

Best concert you ever attended?

Opeth, Mastadon, and Ghost at The Paladium in Dallas, TX.

 

What artist is your guilty pleasure?

I really try my best never to feel guilty about whatever I listen to. So, I probably have one but I just can't think of it right now.

 

First album you ever bought?

With my own money, Black Sabbath's first album and The Velvet Undergroud's debut.

First album I ever owned though was bought by my grandma and it was AC/DC- Back In Black.

 

Favorite power pop band?

Probably The Wondermints.