photo by Samantha West

By: Amy Aiello

I’ve found that most good conversations that I’ve had in life end up talking about the Simpsons. When I asked Jessie from The Naked and Famous what it was like to find out the band would be playing Lollapalooza, I smiled at his answer: “Pretty cool. The first impression I’ve ever had of Lollapalooza was the Simpson’s episode where Homer gets shot in the stomach with a cannon. I just thought that [the news of us playing] was amazing.”

Jessie and Aaron chatted about everything from their House of Blues show with Crystal Castles last Thursday night, to living out of a suitcase, to mixing politics with music:

CMG: What’s your opinion on using your platform for politics and such, or do you feel you should just stick to music?

TNAF: I think for us specifically just music. We’re not very good at politics and stuff, so we’re not going to go sharing our opinions on [it]. We stick to what we’re good at. It’s always been about the music for us. We’re not interested in celebrity, limelight or anything.

CMG: With the changing state of the music industry, what are you hoping to do to reach out to more fans and to stay afloat?

TNAF: We try to keep our social networking quite concise and consolidated so that there aren’t like 100 videos or anything, that way when we do release something, it’s a special thing that people notice. When we put something out, it has proper meaning to it. It’s like that down to every single tweet we make on twitter.

CMG: Do you have any practical jokes and stuff to share?

TNAF: Oh there there’s a constant roll of gags on each other, but I don’t think it’d be funny to anyone outside of the circle.

CMG: If you guys could play with any one band/musician that would round out your career, who would it be?

TNAF: Nine Inch Nails. We’re all big fans. We actually got to support them when they came to Auckland in 2009.

CMG: Very cool. Well, I know your time is limited, so I’ll let ya go. Thank you very much for your time with me today!

TNAF: You’re most welcome! Take care!

THE NAKED AND FAMOUS is:

thom powers – vocals, guitar
alisa xayalith – vocals, keys
aaron short – synth/electronics
jesse wood – drums
david beadle – bass