In-Depth With Caroline Smith

Photo by Amanda Johnson

At the tender age of 18, singer-songwriter Caroline Smith cut her teeth on the Twin Cities’ music scene at the 400 Bar, the West Side watering hole that has served as a launch pad for adored local artists like Mason Jennings.

In 2007, Smith joined forces with Arlen Peiffer (of Cloud Cult), Jesse Schuster, and Colin Hacklander. A year later, the quartet released their debut album, Backyard Tent Set under the moniker Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps. The group has since completed several national tours, shared bills with big Indie acts like Dawes, and received substantial critical acclaim for their quirky, storybook-style folk music.

While the band’s latest release, Little Winds, veers into new sonic territory, loyal fans will continue to be wooed by Smith’s heartfelt and unforgettable lyricism as well as her feisty, youthful energy. Don’t be fooled by Smith’s seemingly precocious nature, however; this chick knows her stuff and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself.

 I spoke to Smith in anticipation of her next big gigs: opening for DeVotchKa at the Minnesota Zoo on July 6, a show with The Jayhawks in Duluth on July 7, and a two-night-stand at the Minnesota State Fair on August 25 and 26.

You’ve said that the making of your latest album was a trying time for the band because you were “in transition.” What about the process made it so intense?

Caroline Smith: We weren’t prepared to write the songs that came out. Everyone talks about how different our first album is from the second album and it’s true that the two are very different, but we didn’t do that intentionally. When we were writing these songs, they were just coming out of us. It was very jarring. We were asking ourselves, “Is this who we are? Is this what we do?” We fought against it, but the songs ended up being a balance of all of our personalities. It was challenging to accomplish everyone’s ideas in one project. There was some fighting, a lot of tension. But we came into our own because of it. No, that’s the understatement of the year. We almost broke up because of it. But we came through and we’ve had an amazing year and we’re all really excited about the music that we’re making and we’re all very proud of this album.

I just saw you play at the Live Letters’ An Evening With Friends Event, and I wanted to ask you, as a performer, how the experience differs when you play in a small venue like that versus a larger space. Do you have a preference between those?

CS: I prefer playing smaller venues. My favorite venue is the 7th Street Entry, but we’ve grown past that. It’s kind of sad. But, yeah, I like intimate, acoustic shows. Playing in a room of people listening is more relaxed and laid back. The stress and excitement of a big show is fun, too, but that’s not really why I write songs.

Photo by Jenn Barnett

At the Live Letters show, you covered a Beyoncé song (“Why Don’t You Love Me”). First, I want to say that I hope you record that, because it was awesome.

CS: Thank you.

And then I wanted to ask you if exes inspire most of your songwriting, and if bad relationships provide better material than good relationships do?

CS: I hate to be the woman who has to say this but, yes. If you’re in a safe, steady relationship, the writing comes harder. I used to write a lot about exes, but I’m in a relationship with a great guy now and I’m happy, so I don’t write so much about boys anymore, at least not from my personal experience. What I’ve been doing is taking from my girlfriends’ experiences, and I get to write vicariously through them. They’re advice-based, empowering songs.

Could you speak to your experience of being a female in the male-dominated music industry, or is that something that you’re not even aware of? Are you just one of the boys?

CS: I am constantly reminded that I’m in the male-dominated music business and it’s really frustrating. I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’ve worked on my craft, not only as a songwriter, but as a singer and an entertainer and a musician. I know how to use my gear and my levels, but sound guys will talk to me like I don’t know what I’m doing and I want to say, “I got it.  I’ve been doing this a long time.” It’s almost belittling because no asks the guys in my band anything, because the assumption is that they know what to do with electronics.

We’re a band that is always on tour, so I see these things all the time.  If I say something gross between songs, people notice, but if a guy were to say those things, no one would care.  I try to rub up against it. I play with aspects of it. It’s very fulfilling as woman to do that, but the reality of touring is frustrating sometimes.

They probably won’t like me saying this, but the dudes in my band are a little effeminate. They talk about their problems and they’re respectful.  They’re in touch emotionally.  They take care of me.

How do you deal with unwanted attention from male fans?

CS: That gets tricky. We were playing a show with Trampled By Turtles—have you ever been to a Trampled By Turtles show?

Yes.

CS: Then you know: their fans get really rowdy. They don’t have a lot of girls open for them or playing with them, so I don’t think they were prepared for this, but we were playing and it was a crazy, drunk, raucous night and there were a group of guys heckling me and saying offensive things, and I was like, “How do you perform through something like that?” I don’t know. My mom taught me to be strong. I don’t take a lot of bullshit. I’ll say, “You’re in my comfort zone” or “Don’t touch me” or “Back away.” I’ll see a guy coming my way and think, “Oh, no, I know exactly what you’re after” and throw the hand up. The creepy Facebook messages are less threatening. I laugh about those in the van with the guys in the band. So let this be a warning: if you send me a creepy Facebook message, it will get laughed about.

Smith (left) with Trampled by Turtles frontman Dave Simonett (far right)

As you mentioned, you’ve shared stages with big names like Trampled By Turtles, but I’m also thinking of Dawes [whom Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps opened for on New Year’s Eve] and soon you’ll be opening for DeVotchKa. Do you ever feel intimated by these artists or is it just business as usual? Do you ever get starstruck?

CS: Trampled By Turtles are my buddies, I mean, I know they’re a Top 4 artist now or something, but I think of them as my buddies. Minneapolis is a really supportive community, but I don’t think I’m above it. It’s great when national artists come through and they get to see the best of what we have to offer. I got starstruck when I met David Bazan. He said, “I really like your music,” and I thought, “I’m going to pass out right now!” I’m the worst at being starstruck. When I met David Groth—he’s my favorite person in the whole world—I almost died.

Where’s the strangest place you’ve written a song?

CS: Hmm… [Pause.] The weirdest place would have to be on the beach, waking up in Crete, which is off the coast of Greece. But I don’t usually write songs in strange places.

Do you have a structured schedule for songwriting?

CS: I do. I usually write in my bedroom. Sometimes in the van, though I can’t do much with a song there. I also have a huge, irrational phobia of writing in front of other people.

Photo by Emma C. Cook

If you were to voice a fairytale character for a Disney film, which one would it be?

CS: I don’t watch many Disney films, but I guess it’d be The Little Mermaid.

What is your favorite State Fair food?

CS: Fried pickles.

Is there anything on your iPod that you’d be embarrassed for people to find out about?

CS: Dave Matthews. Nobody will every understand it. They will just tease me ruthlessly for it. I went into hiding for a while about how much I like Dave Matthews. Then I came out and said, “I am a fan!” and now I’m back to keeping quiet about it again.





Tune into "Live From Studio 5!" every Wednesday from 10 PM to Midnight on KFAI radio for more local gems!

- Erica Rivera

Earworm Of The Week: Dylan Hicks

Dylan Hicks boasts a pair of creative talents that few in the Twin Cities have before: musician and author.

Hicks has three albums under his belt and a recently released novel, Boarded Windows. Hicks is a Minnesota Music Award winner and was included in Da Capo’s Best Music Writing anthology in 2007. His short fiction has appeared in Swink, Dislocate, the Rake, Hobart, and Pindeldyboz, and his essays have appeared in the Village Voice, the New York Times, Spin, City Pages, the Star Tribune, and Rain Taxi. Hicks is also a contributor at emusic.com. Hicks has read at events for Paper Darts, at Open Book, the U of MN bookstore, and Bryant Lake Bowl.

This video for his tune “West Texas Winds” was filmed, in all places, in a K-mart parking lot in Minnesota.



Tune into "Live From Studio 5!" every Wednesday from 10 PM to Midnight on KFAI radio for more local gems.

- Erica Rivera

Take Five: An Interview With The Lower 48

Formed in Minneapolis in 2009, The Lower 48 made the all-too-familiar pilgrimage West to Portland, OR, after releasing their debut EP Everywhere To Go. Now comprised of Ben Braden (Vocals/Guitar), Nick Sadler (Vocals/Drums/Harmonica/Trumpet), and Sarah Parson (Vocals/Guitar/Bass/Piano), the trio makes melodic, lively tunes that evoke bonfires, backyard barbecues, and carefree reverie. The band’s first full-length, Where All Maps End, was released in 2011. I spoke with Ben Braden in anticipation of the band's May 4th show at the Cedar Cultural Center.

Based on the band's name and song lyrics from your latest album, geography seems to play an important part in your music. Could you speak to its influence?

Ben Braden: That's mainly me. I'm fascinated with maps and moving, how you can move so little on a map yet the distance between places feels so far. The band name has nothing to do with geography; I just thought it was a really cool idiom that not enough people use anymore. The record name, Where All Maps End, came from when we moved out here--and by "out here" I mean Portland. We were still stupid kids--we're still stupid kids now, hopefully a little less stupid--and we'd never done anything like that before. I'd always had a map for life: school, summer, school. Moving out here meant there would be no map anymore. This is where all maps ended.

One of your bios describes your band as "organic". What does that entail?

BB: We record ourselves. We don't have a producer. We use all real instruments. We play simple songs and we play them beautifully. The music is not dressed up or fancy. It's not auto-tuned or synth-y. A lot of people can pick up their guitars and play our songs. People can do what they want with the album; learn the songs and cover them.

Many musicians have gone back-and-forth between Minneapolis and Portland. Talk about how the scenes are different.

BB: A lot of people ask this question and I never have a good answer. People expect it's going to be the same, but it's different. The Twin Cities has three good radio stations where it's possible to get your music played or get interviewed on (The Current, KFAI, and Radio K).  Radio is an amazing resource because it focuses on local bands and gets people out to shows.  The Twin Cities has so many entry-level music venues, like the 7th Street Entry, the 400 Bar, the Cedar, the Varsity, the Triple Rock.  There are not as many entry level venues with good sound that people can go to out here and there's nothing you can listen to on the radio--except college radio, with a limited signal--that will tell you about local shows. I think that's just the culture of this town. It's harder to build a fan base in Portland, though our following in both places is similar now. We can get 400 to 500 people in a show in either place, though it took 2 1/2 years out here, whereas it took 9 months in Minneapolis.

Does that ever make you want to move back?

BB: There are other, personal, reasons keeping us here. There's a song on the new album, which we wrote after moving, called "Miles From Minnesota". It's cheerful and upbeat, and while I still like that song, real life, which has been a fun and exciting experience, isn't like that. I pay my own bills now, which was a big undertaking. It's tougher and harder out here. It's not all roses and buttercups.

Have you ever run into a musician that left you starstruck?

BB: There are a lot of big bands in Portland and I've had personal run-ins with big names and it's like "Holy crap!"  But when we're a band, onstage, I feel like we can take on anything, like nothing can faze us, and I don't say that to sound arrogant.  My first instinct when I run into another musician is to treat them like anyone else.  Some people think it's important if a big person likes your music, but it really doesn't matter to me.  There's no quick way to fame; there's no short-cut.  You just have to work.

Are you doing music full-time or do you have day jobs?

BB: I'm doing music full-time. Some of us still have day jobs. We're in a weird, transitional stage right now. [Yawns] Forgive my voice. I turned 21 last night.

As I was looking over your Facebook photos, I noticed a lot of neck ties.  Is that a "thing" for you guys?

BB: Ties, yes. I like ties. It's a burgeoning theme. Me and Nick always want to wear black neck ties.

What was the inspiration for that?

BB: Some bands can pull off that "I don't give a damn; come as you are" thing and look cool, but we can't, so I had the idea to come up with some sort of uniform, some sort of look. It might sound like a cheap gimmick, but I wanted to store that familiarity in our image. It's like the difference between the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The Beatles had the suits, the ties, the haircuts. The Stones looked like "whatever" and it worked for them, but not for us.

What's your goal for the band? Is it fame or to be self-sustaining?

BB: That's a big question for me. I'd like to take it as far as we possibly can. We're really motivated. We're close to being self-sustaining. In a year, we'll be living crappily off of it, like Ramen noodle living off of it. I don't know if we'll ever play an arena, because we aren't that kind of band. I guess we're going to find out.



Tune into "Live From Studio 5!" every Wednesday from 10 PM to Midnight on KFAI radio for more local acts making their way home!

- Erica Rivera

Take Five: An Interview With Dave Simonett

Dead Man Winter, a local outfit fronted by Dave Simonett of Trampled by Turtles, is a quaint and quirky combination of bluegrass, rock, roots, and Americana sounds.  DMW’s debut album, Bright Lights, was released in 2011 and is packed with gritty, addictive tunes like “Nicotine” (Oh, the outside is shaking/Oh, the insides are breaking/And we drink to fall apart/But we are all fucked from the start). 

DMW, while relatively new on the scene, is quickly gaining cred with the in-crowd, as evidenced by their much-lauded performance at The Current’s 7th birthday party last weekend. 

I spoke to Simonett on an unusually balmy afternoon in what should have been the dead of winter.

My first question is one you’ve probably answered several times before: where did the name Dead Man Winter come from?

Dave Simonett:  I haven’t answered it before because I don’t have an answer.  It just popped into my head.  It’s probably from years of freezing in Duluth.

I figured it had something to do with the Minnesotan obsession with weather.

DS:  It probably did, but it was not conscious.                                             

Is Dead Man Winter a continuation of, or a departure from, the music you were making with Trampled By Turtles?

DS:  A little of both.  I hesitate to say it’s a departure because it’s not so different from Trampled By Turtles, but it's not hip-hop either.  It’s a continuation as far as song writing goes.  If it’s a departure, it would be of instrumentation.  Trampled By Turtles is string instruments and Dead Man Winter is electric guitar and amp.

For those who aren’t familiar with Duluth and its music scene, how does it compare to the scene in the Twin Cities?

DS:  I lived in Duluth for eight years and now I live in Minneapolis.  There are more similarities than differences, though one difference is the size.  Minneapolis has a wealth of musicians.  The Duluth scene is smaller, but both have an open-mindedness about them as far as genre goes.  You don’t find someone here or there who only goes out to see one kind of band.  That’s in part because of you guys at KFAI, The Current, and Radio K.  There are so many different styles of music being played and accepted.  What’s also similar is the support between the musicians and with the media.  It’s inclusive; it’s not clique-y, at least, not in my experience.

Outside of Minnesota, where have you felt most accepted?

DS:  That depends on what we’re talking about.  Dead Man Winter hasn’t really gone anywhere.  We went to Colorado and Alaska and that’s it.  [Laughs.]  It went over pretty well, though.  With Trampled By Turtles, it was a lot easier, early on, in the Western states.  Now we go to great places everywhere.  I think we focus energy where we connect.  We connected with Colorado early on and we kept going back, so we didn’t make it out to the East Coast right away.

Who are you excited to hear more from on the local scene?

DS:  I’m really digging Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps.  We also just played The Current’s birthday party with Night Moves and I’d like to hear more from them.

When you’re not making music, what do you do to entertain yourself?

DS: [Laughs.]  That’s a good question.  What do I do for fun?  I try to keep my one-year-old daughter from hurting herself.

Your next opportunity to be blown over by Dead Man Winter is on Feb. 23 at the Cedar Cultural Center when the band takes part in the Real Phonic Radio Hour with Randy Weeks.  Trampled By Turtles' next gig is April 11 at First Ave--but it's already sold out!

- Erica Rivera

Tune into "Live From Studio 5!" on Wednesdays from 10 PM to Midnight on KFAI radio.