Von
Iva's Becky Kupersmith
They are the glam-rock girl band currently tearing up North American with
their Hell on Heels tour. Von Iva's keyboardist Becky Kupersmith (left)
talks here to Uinterview from the Disney Castle. No joke!
Q: How would you
describe your music?
-Erik Meers
A: Our music is loud and aggressive and fun. We are starting a new genre
called Street Glam. It’s in-your-face glam. It’s fashionable
party music.
Q: The band has
a definite fashion point of view. How would you describe your fashion
sense?
-EM
A: We definitely like to push the boundaries. It’s really fun
to bring it with what you are wearing. It’s all like one kind
of experience when you are on stage at the show.
Q: Do you have a
favorite outfit?
-EM
A: I'm partial to the onesies. I have a little collection going. We’ve
been doing a lot of feathers and fun stuff. The onesie is little and
I’m little, so it works out.
Q: How did you get
into keyboards?
-EM
A: Kelly used to be a keyboard player in her other band and got me into
that whole thing. It kind of evolved over time into being the main instrument.
We used to have a base player, but when she left the band, we were like,
'what should we do?' We wanted to keep everything really simple, so
we stayed with just the three of us.
Q: How did the band
form?
-EM
A: [Drummer] Kelly [Harris] and [singer] Jillian [Iva] were in a different
band. They wanted to start a new band. I was was good friends with them,
so we didn’t really know what we were doing at first. I played
piano as a child, but I was really inspired by that analogue sound.
We put out our first EP in 2005. One person left the band and then we
put out a record with just three of us in 2007.
Q: You are on tour
now. What’s the craziest thing that’s happened on the road
for you?
-EM
A: The craziest place has been Austin–the most drunken mess of
them all. Some girl got on stage and took her shirt off, then security
had her in a headlock.
Q: You have a song
on the Yes Man movie soundtrack. How did that come about? Did you write
it specially for the movie?
-EM
A: Our CD was featured at Amoeba Records in Hollywood. The music supervisor
from Yes Man saw it there and thought it would be a good fit for the
movie. We had the plot and the general theme of the movie but nothing
else. I was really fun working with [co-star] Zooey [Deschanel, who
sings on the track]. She’s got an amazing voice and is a really
good musician. She's very down to Earth and not Hollywood at all.
Q: The band is named
after Jillian Iva's grandmother who was a snake charmer. What does that
say about you?
-EM
A: She was really adventurous and traveling all around. That's us!
Q: What are your
plans for the future?
-EM
A: In the middle of the tour, we are taking a two week break to finish
the record that we started. We have six songs so far so we are going
to write another four or five songs. It will come out sometime in 2009.
We are hoping to do a 10-day UK run. We don’t have a label, so
we are funding everything ourselves.
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