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: Trampled By Turtles

How could we not choose Trampled By Turtles as this week's featured band? The locally bred bluegrass outfit just released their new album, Stars and Satelittes, and had their own official day proclaimed by the Mayors of both Duluth and Minneapolis as a tightly packed, and very rapt, sold-out crowd at First Avenue looked on.

This tune, Alone, encompasses both the frantic fiddle-heavy sounds and the tender lullaby lyics that frontman and primary songwriter Dave Simonett is known for.



Tune into "Live From Studio 5!" every Wednesday from 10 PM to Midnight on KFAI radio for more Twin Cities musicians making waves on the local scene.

- Erica Rivera

Mayors Crash Trampled By Turtles Show At First Ave

Last night's sold-out Trampled by Turtles show at First Avenue included some surprise guests: Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Duluth Mayor Don Ness. (St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman was also rumored to be in the audience.) After These United States played a crowd-rousing set, Mayor Ryback presented TBT's frontman (and KFAI interviewee) Dave Simonett with a proclamation that declared April 11 Trampled by Turtles day in Minneapolis and Duluth.

Then, encouraged by both the band and concert attendees, Mayor Rybak took a dive into the sea of bluegrass music fans and crowd-surfed. Mayor Ness, who was initially hesitant to participate, dove in the crowd after witnessing Mayor Rybak's brave display of solidarity with Twin Cities music fans. Photographer Erik Hess captured the moment below.

Tune into "Live From Studio 5!" every Wednesday from 10 PM to Midnight on KFAI radio to stay up-to-date on all the concert happenings in the Twin Cities!

- Erica Rivera

Take Five: An Interview With These United States

Photo by Sarah Law

These United States are an Americana act defined by their boisterous sound and energetic live show. The band’s tunes are as lively as they are wistful, as renegade as they are poetic, as rough around the edges as they are sensitive. Like The Lost Boys of indie music, these vagabond wanderers are a little bit country, a little bit rock n’ roll, exuding both a bad boy edginess and an endearing innocence. These United States straddle the line between trouble-making tendencies and old-fashioned Southern charm. There’s an untamable, almost dangerous air about Jesse Elliott, J. Tom Hnatow, and Justin Craig (the band’s core, who have played together for four years) yet they’re the kind of guys your mom would insist on inviting over for a home-cooked meal.

While the band’s previous album, 2010’s What Lasts, leaned toward a more somber, introspective sound, These United States’ forthcoming, self-titled release is louder, more rowdy, and packed with songs that would make the ideal addition to your summer playlist.

I spoke to frontman Jesse Elliott the morning after the band’s tour kick-off at Cause in Minneapolis, during which they debuted two new members, Aaron Latos and Anna Morsett.

I’ve noticed a few themes over and over again in your music: water, mortality, and maps. Could you speak to how they influence your songwriting?

Jesse Elliott: Interesting. I never thought about that. I suppose there are theories about dreams and psychology and how those things are connected. Water and death, how maps relate to life, and the fun stuff, the exploratory side of life. I like to write about the light and the dark being combined. Everyone in the band believes in being honest to the way we feel about the world and I think we are all equal parts optimists and pessimists.

It seems like you guys are perpetually on tour.

JE: Yeah. We started five years ago and since then, we’ve done around 900 shows. We were doing 200 shows a years and scaled back to work on this new album.

Is home a geographical place for you or is it a state of mind?

JE: I think it’s both. For me, I literally don’t have a home address. Home is New York and Denver and Toronto and everywhere in between. For three of my bandmates, Brooklyn is home and Tom’s home is in North Carolina, but we have many geographical homes. At first, I felt homeless, but now I feel like I have multiple homes. Right now, I’m at my sister’s place in Minneapolis. Chicago feels more and more like home, too, as does New Orleans. We have an extended geographical family and our metaphorical family is expanding, too.

Reading over your blog, it would appear you guys are a thinking man’s band. Not to say that other bands aren’t…

JE: Most musicians are pretty damn smart. Maybe people aren’t willing to admit to it or express that because a lot of music is about fun. And that’s great, but it goes so much deeper. I don’t think of us as all that different from other bands. We’re curious about bigger things. Tom is the most strictly literary of the band members. Justin is a serious reader. I have a writing background, but I wouldn’t pretend to be a voracious reader. I like the idea of collage; I’m more of the multimedia person in the band.

Have your bandmates ever vetoed a song lyric?

JE: Yeah, there have been those moments, for sure. I am just as open to that as Tom is open to me commenting on a pedal steel part or Justin on a guitar part. I have the good fortune of trusting their judgment. Every once in a while, one of the guys will say, “That kind of makes me cringe,” so I pull it back a bit.

This spring and summer, you’re touring with Trampled by Turtles, followed by a tour with Heartless Bastards. Does the testosterone ever get to be too much with that many men on the road for such a long time?

JE: It does. Luckily we have our new bandmate, Anna Morsett, who is a more powerful, smarter individual than all four of us guys combined. She will overpower us with her sheer smarts.

Has the name These United States ever been responsible for misperceptions about the band and what you guys stand for?

Yeah, it has. That’s part of the reason why I chose it. I liked that it was open to interpretation. We’ve been accused of belonging to the far left to the far right and everything in between, and I’m fine with it. I like the geographical and the cultural connotations. It’s representative of the big, crazy, freewheeling country we live in. I think it points out the pluralism of our country. How people interpret our name is usually based on love or hate; it’s also a good indicator of how those people view the world.

What is your favorite gas station snack?

JE: [Laughs] That’s an easy one. We all like crazy, spicy, wasabi party mix. We’ve come across so many variations of it, but most of them have sesame sticks and wasabi peas. We’re party mix people.

And what about a beverage?

JE: That’s trickier. The only one we would all agree on is coffee, because we need to stay awake sometimes and it provides a warm, comforting backdrop to look out the window to. Beyond that, we diverge into various forms of alcohol, fruit based beverages, and, once in a while, water.

These United States open for the very sold-out Trampled by Turtles show at First Avenue on April 11. Visit the band's website for a complete list of upcoming tour stops and look for their new album on June 12!



Tune into "Live From Studio 5!" every Wednesday from 10 PM to Midnight on KFAI radio for more must-see local and national acts!

- 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.