A complicated web of human interaction and emotions has never sounded so fun and playful as it does with Thao with the Get Down Stay Down. Thao’s music is indie rock at it’s finest with elements of chamber pop and alternative folk.  It’s  catchy, quirky, and everything you’d expect from a band that sounds like they could be your best friends.  Thao’s voice and lyrics are laced with an innocent sexiness that enhances the fun and fresh melodies of the band while bringing the music to a balance of being relate-able and still danceable.

Their latest album release Know Better Learn Faster boasts songs like “When We Swam” that makes an audience instantly want to sing along as well as the title track which highlights their ability to produce an escalating progression of sound and emotions.  The music portrays a kind of human quality that lets us know that this is a band that has lived their lives like the rest of us…just trying to figure it out as we go along, but enjoying the ride the whole time.   Thao was gracious enough to take some time out during the current US tour to answer a few questions for us.

RA:  At what point in your life did you know that you wanted to be a musician?

Thao:  I think i knew very young, around 13, that i wanted to be a musician. I didn’t fully commit to the idea until i the end of college when i intentionally left myself no other option. (by this i mean i refused to even consider going to grad. school  and did not have any other kind of job lined up.)

RA:  Along your journey, have you always felt supported and confident that you were on the right path or have you met with a lot of roadblocks along the way?

Thao:  I think in this realm i have walked a very charmed path and am incredibly grateful for how things have seemed to fall in place without much grief.

RA:  Your music has a very playful sound.  Will you tell me a little about your writing process?

Thao:  well first i like to have incredibly complicated interactions with humans and then i like to make questionable decisions and then it helps if they do too, and then i cry, and then i write a song.

RA:  Haha…very cleverly put.  I’ve always heard that being in a band is like having many relationships at
once, what is the group dynamic like with your band?

Thao:  Adam and Willis are dear friends of mine and we are very familiar with each other’s living habits. It’s like living with your co workers in a van on a weird extended business trip. we are a tight-knit bunch when we are together, which is very frequently, for what seems like unnatural amounts of time, in closed spaces. but off tour we try our best to tend to our regular lives. we’ve known each other for a few years now but in touring time that’s about 17 years.  We are a goofy bunch with very tame tendencies like watching the food network in hotel rooms after shows. and the discovery channel. we love Man vs. Wild. Do yall watch that in Montreal?

RA:  Actually, I live in San Diego, but I’ve seen the show a few times. It sounds like you guys have a lot of fun on the road, do you have any really great/funny stories that stand out?

Thao:  Once at a Super 8 (terrible hotel/motel chain) in the midwest, adam woke up and his leg was in what we thought was drying blood (not his own!)  and while he was in the shower trying to scorch off his skin i went to talk to the people at the desk and i said ‘um, we have blood on the sheets’ and the woman at the desk took it into the back room and then returned and said matter of factly:  ‘it’s not blood’ and i said : ‘what is it’ and she said: ‘ fecal matter.’

RA:  Wow, that is definitely memorable!  I was supposed to go to the San Diego show at the Casbah but ended up having to work that night and missed it;  I was so bummed.  What could we expect at a typical show?

Thao:  thank you for even considering coming.

you could expect a lot of dancing around and hair and me almost falling over too much (because of the moving around and the cables, not because i am drunk) and willis wearing this necklace full of tiny plastic and rubber animal toys that he made himself and adam wearing this necklace with just ONE rubber horse head from the same place and us succintly recapping events of the day/ week FOR INSTANCE on that drive to san diego I was very concerned that an SUV ahead of us had a part of itself dragging on the ground but we got closer and it was just a black pair of those plastic balls hanging from the hitch. you know what i’m talking about? the ball-sac ornaments? i think they are called truck nutz or some such. terrible. those things are terrible.

RA: I have actually never seen those…I will consider myself fortunate.  What’s coming up in the near future for you guys that you’d like to share with the readers of RockAngel Music?

Thao:  well we are all flying to Tokyo tomorrow because our new record is being released over there. and then we are going to Europe in jan for tour. and then we are going on a west coast tour with the Thermals in feb. and then we are going to sleep.

RA: Sleep that I am sure will be much needed!  Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Thao.  I expect that you guys are going to make a big splash in the music world and we are very grateful for getting a chance to get a little peek behind the scenes.

Thao on Lala

Thao on Myspace

The Official Website