ABE VIGODA
The SiS Interview by Rusty Roberts

Abe Vigoda is a band. No longer will we just associate the great actor with such crucial roles as Detective Fish on Barney Miller, or more importantly, John Travolta's Grandfather in Look Who's Talking. The name will now forever be tied to an album, Skeleton, which is a near masterpiece. In the 32 minutes it takes for one to get from start to finish, the music is so intense, so fresh, so menacing, and so much fun that this writer has already declared it The Album of the Year.

While cavorting across the US on a coast to coast tour with their pals No Age, AV guitarist and vocalist Juan Velasquez spent his 4th of July answering some questions that I would find in my inbox a short time later.

SIS: Upon first listening to the album, I was automatically intrigued by the sounds and textures
and was wondering about your recording methods. How did you guys go about getting the sound that you have made on Skeleton? Any interesting in-studio tricks you can give away? Is that really a cowbell I keep hearing, or empty cans or random things clanging on the spokes of bike
wheels?

JV: The main trick to this record I suppose was adding lots of reverb and room sound to the whole thing. We just recorded onto protools so it wasn't
anything too fancy. There are lots of guitar overdubs and some keyboard layers on it too to add ambience. That is totally a cowbell nothing tricky there, haha. (Singer) Michael Vidal doubled up on his vocals on just about every song, and I sang most of my vocals with a short delay and through an amp which made it sound sort of like talking through an intercom or something.

SIS: You guys are getting ready to hit the road with No Age. What are some of
your favorite and least favorite aspects of hitting the road?

JV: Some favorites would be night drives, eating new foods (especially in the south!), going nuts in the van and having weird talks. We also like meeting new people and visiting our friends in other cities, and of course, bro-ing out with No Age! For least favorites, waiting around for things and figuring out transportation is tough. We're all under 25, so it's hard to rent a van.

SIS: Outside of this tour, what else does Abe Vigoda have in store for 2008?

JV: Well our record is out and I believe next month it will be out in the UK and a little after that in Europe. There is another US tour in the works for the fall and we are planning on heading out to the UK for about two weeks after that. Also we hope to make a video.

SIS: Skeleton was my introduction to the world of Abe Vigoda, but I know this
isn't your first album. What would say makes Skeleton different from your
first album, Kid City?

JV: It's definitely more polished and we worked longer on this record than the
previous one. I think there is more melody and more poppy as well. We are
really excited about these new songs and are super happy on how they turned
out on the record. Also the vocals are a bit more prominent than on previous
recordings. I think vocals and lyrics are becoming much more important in the
band; before I think we would mask them and distort them, maybe we're more
comfortable with vocals and harmony and all of that.

SIS: If any members of the band would brandish the cover of a tabloid magazine,
who would it be and why would they be featured on the cover?

JV: Actually Michael has been on TMZ, which is that celebrity sittings sort of
site. He works at Fred Segal in Los Angeles and was helping Selma Hayek into
her car and there is a video of him telling the paparrazzi to back up or
something. I think thats the closest to a tabloid that any of us will ever
get close to.

SIS: Is it a bad thing that within the first five days of having Skeleton, my
total plays for the week on my LastFM account were at 149?* (BTW, second
place had 31) (*At press time, the count was well over 200)

JV: Not At All!! That's amazing I hope everyone else shares your enthusiasm.
We are glad you're not tired of it yet! HAHAHA