Like this artist? Click here to tune in to our stream and discover NEW Artists.
KGRL Exclusive Inara George Interview
ReadyMix Music - 11.17.09
One of our most favorite singer/songwriter Inara George sat down with KGRL for a comprehensive interview right after her KGRL FPA Live Session held at ReadyMix Music - 11.17.09.
Looking for the video interview? It is now integrated in our unified flash player.
Click here to watch the exclusive interview along with the live session videos!
Listen to Inara George's responses in High Quality MP3 Stream using the player below:
Alternatively, you can download the responses by clicking the listen icons.
Offered in both High and Low Quality versions.
KGRL: Can you give us a brief introduction as to who Inara George is?
Inara George: Who am I? That's a very intense question. I grew up in Los Angeles in Topanga Canyon, and I started playing music when I was eighteen, nineteen or something. I enjoy to cook. Top Chef is one of my favourite shows. I don't know what else to say.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Some of our listeners are huge fans of Little Feat. Knowing that your father is the legendary frontman of Little Feat, was there any pressure at all for you to become a musician?
Inara: I think in some ways, that he was a musician kind of kept me from going into that, and I think that's maybe why I started as late as eighteen. I just didn't think I had the ability to write songs. I didn't feel the pressure to do it, but then once I got into it it seemed like people were glad that I did. His peers and stuff were always sort of pleased that I was making music.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Did you have any formal music education?
Inara: I took some lessons here and there. I started the guitar lessons and sort of practice and learn, and then I'd get busy and I'd stop. I took some piano lessons. I was never very disciplined with that stuff.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: If you were to describe your music to those who have not heard you yet, how would you describe it?
Inara: I would say maybe it's like more complex, pretty music.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: You had a band back in the '90s called Lode. What kind of music did you guys used to play?
Inara: You really did your homework. Lode was my first band. It was the '90s you know, so try to think of the bands that were big then. We sort of had a funky thing, and then there was also— I don't know exactly how to explain it. It's not at all what I do today. It's very different, so if you can find a Lode record—
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: What happened to the band and why did you guys disband after the release of the first record Legs & Arms (1996)?
Inara: I think it was not really my cup of tea ever, and I didn't know if I really wanted to be in a band. I moved to New York. I was interested in acting as well. I had gone to school for that and so I was thinking that's what I wanted to do, and then I actually ended up, when I really kind of fell in love with being in a band and playing music and writing music, was when I met up with Bryony Atkinson and we did Merrick. That's kind of when I sort of really made the transition to just do[ing] music.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: What got you into music as a career?
Inara: When I started making money with music was probably my solo record. From Merrick on it was like my full career but I always had day jobs. Once I started getting into [doing] my solo record and then The Bird And The Bee it started becoming more of a lucrative scenario for me.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Can you tell us who influenced you the most in your songwriting style?
Inara: That's a good hard question. It's so nice because so many times you get really bad questions when you get interviewed, so I appreciate that. Songwriting influence, I don't know. I think that early on— I think it all depends on who I'm writing for. If I'm writing for myself, probably—because I'm thinking lyrically—good Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan. You know, it's when you really want to delve into the lyrics in a more emotional way. Maybe Bob Dylan wouldn't even come into that category. I was a really big fan of Rickie Lee Jones when I was a kid. Wilco I think really has great lyrics. Musically...I don't know. My peers? I'm not sure. I know that I am influenced by a ton of stuff but I just forget what it is. But then The Bird And The Bee is a different thing entirely from my solo stuff. It's sort of a more singer-songwriter [style].
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: What was the first song you wrote? Did you ever get to record it?
Inara: I did, actually, and it's one of my least favourite songs....I started writing music on a guitar when I was in college. In between my first and second year of college I started Lode during the summer, and I wrote this really dumb song that we ended up calling Watermelon. It was probably a really good pop song, but I never liked it. We did record it but it never got released.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: How long does it usually take for you to finish writing a song?
Inara: It all depends. Sometimes a song can just sort of come at you, and then some songs take a couple days. I don't like to spend too much time on it. I don't want it to get too precious, you know. The last song I wrote was Bottlecaps, and that took in consolidated time a good ten hours or something. But it's like two hours and then you leave then come back for another two hours.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: A lot of your solo materials are collaboration with Mike Andrews. How did the two of you meet?
Inara: We met through my husband. We weren't married then. I started dating him. Mike does the music for his movies, and Mike actually was familiar with Merrick at the time, so he kind of knew my music a little bit before we met and then Merrick disbanded and Mike and I kind of got together...with the idea of making a record, which was All Rise.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Going deeper into your songwriting process for the solo materials, do you write lyrics or music first?
Inara: I do music first. I do music first with everything. I don't know how people do lyrics first. I'm fascinated with that because I feel like you're trying to fit the lyrics into the music if you have the lyrics already. How do you fit it into the music? I don't know.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: From where do you usually draw inspirations for writing music?
Inara: Well, you know, it's funny. [With] solo stuff, weirdly I don't ever come into a song with any idea of what it is. I kind of play stuff and then I'll sort of hear a word. It was a trick that Mike Andrews taught me. You just sort of mumble, and all of a sudden you recognize—Oh, there's a word—and then you take that word and you go. In a way it's like you have a subconscious experience because you write something and then you realize what it's about after it's finished. [With] The Bird And The Bee, it's go in with a concept, you know. I want to write a song about David Lee Roth. So you just sort of get inspired by subjects.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Most of the tracks on Accidental Experimental are on the album An Invitation. We know that the some of the songs, co-written with Mike Andrews, already existed before your amazing collaboration with Van Dyke Parks. What made you want to revisit these songs for the new album?
Inara: Well, here's the thing: it's not really new. Most of these songs were recorded before I'd worked with Van Dyke, and recorded pretty much the way they sound. Mike and I were making my next record and we started it, and then we stopped it, and then we thought Oh, let's do it with Van Dyke. So we got the record company to do that with Van Dyke. And then the record company [didn't] have any more records from me [so] they wanted to put out these songs. When you record anything under a contract with a record company they own the masters, so then we put this out. You know, I don't sell a lot of records as a solo artist, so I think it was more material for licensing and stuff...It wasn't like a real planned record. It was kind of a dusting off of old stuff and putting it out. We worked on it and Mike wanted people to hear it, and I think the label wanted a little bit more material to work with. That's kind of how it happened.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: How long did it take for you to finish the new album?
Inara: I don't know because Mike worked on it a lot. I was out of town and stuff, so he was working on it while I wasn't around. If you added up the time it would be maybe a month long if that. Maybe not even that.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Looking back to your first solo record All Rise, how do you feel when you listen to that record nowadays?
Inara: It's funny. I hadn't listened to it in a long time and Mike and I had a show and so we were listening to it a little bit. I think it sounds really nice. I really like it, and that's nice to go back to stuff. When you tour [for] a record, you get so sick of the songs— "Ugh. I don't want to play these any more." Then, to hear where they came from—because you just remember how you play them—but then to hear how they were recorded is kind of cool. It's a nice thing.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: We were talking earlier about your band Merrick (with Bryony Atkinson). After putting out two records, Merrick was disbanded. Why is that?
Inara: Bands are really hard to keep together, I think because it gets complicated....I hated that we broke up, but it kind of just had to happen. We're still friends and everything.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: You and Bryony recently did a show together as Merrick recently. Is there any chance of doing a new Merrick album?
Inara: I don't think so. I don't think that's going to happen. It was fun to play. We had a really good time. I think Bryony is one of my favourite songwriters. Maybe someday we would record together, but I don't know if that's what'll happen.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: And now we move to your other gig, The Bird And The Bee. Greg Kurstin played keyboards on All Rise. Is that how the two of you met?
Inara: Yes. Yeah. We were thrown together by Mike Andrews. Everything's Mike's fault.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: How did The Bird And The Bee came into existence?
Inara: We were recording my record. We were actually in pre-production. Mike was working on something else so we couldn't record. Greg and I kind of hit it off. I think Greg liked the way I sang and I think he probably liked my lyrics. I don't know what it was, but he plays jazz piano amazingly well and I knew some jazz standards, so we kind of started singing that at the end of one of my shows. All the people that played on the record played shows with me for months before we recorded, so at the end of the show Greg and I would play a standard. Then we started playing shows just as a duo. We started writing songs and then we recorded these songs, and all of a sudden we were like "We should have a band." So we recorded the record kind of on the side. It took us a while to finish it, and then it was really easy after that.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: How is the songwriting process between the two of you (with Greg Kurstin)?
Inara: It's very fast. Greg's super-busy so we have allotted a short amount of time to get together. He'll play something on the piano and I'll find the melody, and he'll work on the track and I'll start working on the lyrics, and that's kind of how it goes. It's quick though. A lot of our songs we wrote in a couple hours, which is fun. The Bird And The Bee is definitely the easiest music process that I've ever experienced, which makes it really lighthearted. It's really fun.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Every year, since 2006, we get a new material from The Bird And The Bee, whether it's EP or full-length. What's in store for The Bird & The Bee for 2010?
Inara: We are going to release a Hall And Oates cover record— eight Hall And Oates songs and two originals, and that's what we have in store. And we're working on a new record now, in between. Greg's a "happening" producer right now so he's working a lot, so whenever we can sneak a moment it will be right.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: One more project you are with is The Living Sisters with Becky Stark and Eleni Mandell. How is the record coming along?
Inara: The record's finished, and we actually just finished up a deal with Vanguard. They're licensing the record. Supposedly it's supposed to come out on March 30th.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: What was your best experience playing live so far?
Inara: I think because The Bird And The Bee has experienced the most success we've had and the most interesting experiences in terms of playing—I mean it's always amazing to play to a huge crowd—we got to play at Carnegie Hall, and that was pretty great. Just to sing in a place like that is an insane experience.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Which amongst the songs you have written so far is your favorite?
Inara: I don't know. I don't know. With The Bird And The Bee I'd have a different favourite song than I would have for my solo stuff. I think [with] my solo stuff my favourite song is usually the last song I wrote because it's just newer, so maybe Bottlecaps is my favourite song right now....One of my favourite songs with The Bird And The Bee is one we never play and no one really knows, and it's called Last Day Of Our Love. It was on an EP. I love that one.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: We heard that you recently announced that you are pregnant. Congratulations! What are your plans regarding your musical career now that you have a baby?
Inara: Well, that is a good question. I don't know. I don't know. I think that it would be unrealistic for me to think that I could do a lot in the next couple of years. I mean, I can definitely write music, but I don't think I can do much traveling. But you know, [with] The Bird And The Bee, we...haven't done any extensive touring in a long time so that's nothing new. But I don't know. [With] The Bird And The Bee we also want to make a new record and we also want to make a kids' record, because Greg has a baby and I'll have a baby, so that's something maybe that I'll get into. I love recording and I love playing but I don't like touring, so...as little of that as possible.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: If you were offered to sign up with a major record label for your solo records, would you take it?
Inara: I don't know. Probably not, because I think that a major label like[s] to put a lot of energy and money into you, and if you don't want to tour it's kind of not fair, unless they're okay with that. But I don't think any label would be okay with that. I don't know. My ideal scenario for my solo stuff is making records, and then licensing them to whatever label wants them at the time. I think that that's kind of a good way to go, because then you're not under contract, and every record will have a label that will like it. It's like you're not stuck with the label and the label is not stuck with you. That's kind of my pipe dream.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: You've already collaborated with a lot of people but is there any other artist that you wish to co-write with someday?
Inara: You know, one of my things right now is I'm trying to get into writing with other people. I love the idea of writing songs for other people to sing, and if I could somehow write a song with Beyoncé— I know that's really crazy. I don't even think that I would be that good of a songwriter for her, but I love her so much. I just think she's so amazing. It would be fun to collaborate with a really big pop star. I think that would be great, but in terms of collaboration just writing for me, I don't know. I think it would be cool to collaborate with a lot of my friends. I think Benji Hughes is a great songwriter, and Charlie Wadhams, and Eleni Mandell. I feel like some of the greatest songwriters I've heard are around me, so I feel lucky like that.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: You already had a lot of song placements in various TV shows. Are you planning to bring more of your music to television?
Inara: If they'll take it, I will give it to them. The Bird And The Bee [doesn't] sell that many records. I don't think anyone really makes money off of selling records these days. It's kind of the way that people make a living with that. I think that it's kind of a necessary thing.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Are there any new artists you listen to?
Inara: I'm trying to think. I've been really bad about learning about new records, new artists. Strangely I've been listening to a lot of classical music. I know I'm getting old. I love Glenn Gould, the piano player-keyboardist. I can't say. I feel bad because I can't think of anything. My last favourite new record was Eleni's record (Artificial Fire).
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: 2005's All Rise is an album that contains a mix of genres, containing rock tracks like Turn On/Off and Genius. In 2008's An Invitation we are plunged into an orchestral overload. With Accidental Experimental, we were treated to a re-envisioned arrangement of some tracks from An Invitation. Do you already have anything planned for your fourth solo album?
Inara: No. You know, Mike and I were thinking of doing a cover record of some kind of more blues-soul kind of stuff. We talk a lot about fun things we're going to do and sometimes we never do them. I feel like I have a lot going on in terms of releases. I haven't been writing at all by myself so maybe I'll just take a little break and see what comes. I don't have any plans.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: If you were to recommend one of your albums to introduce someone who hasn't heard of your music, which one would it be?
Inara: I think All Rise. I think All Rise is sort of a record that kind of can speak to a lot of people, but if I knew you really liked classical music or musicals, I'd say An Invitation. Accidental Experiment, I think, [is] really quirky....I think All Rise is sort of the one that was more focused for a larger audience.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: What do we expect from Inara George in 2010?
Inara: I don't know. A baby. I think that's about it. I don't think that I'm going to be doing much of anything else. I'll be finishing a The Bird And The Bee record and I'll be doing The Living Sisters, and then getting big.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
KGRL: Any last words for the KGRL listeners?
Inara: Thank you for playing me all the time. I don't know. That's it.
High Quality |
Low Quality |
Our deepest gratitude goes out to Inara George, Courtney Knopf and the rest of the folks at Everloving.
Photos by Jeff Koga.
Transcription was done by our good friend, Flour (E.S.).
Inara George Links:
Official Website: http://www.inarageorge.com/
Myspace Page: http://www.myspace.com/inarageorge
-> Click here to go back to the main feature page! <-