Wunky Zine #2: Teenage Moods Interview

We are excited to again bring you the electronic version of the interviews from the locally created Wunky Zine. Erica Krumm is back with a 2nd edition of the great Zine (the first edition can be found HERE) that finds her chatting with some really great local bands. Read the interviews all week and pick up the Zine for only $4 at Treehouse or Yeti Records and support our local scene! Check back tomorrow for her interview with Skoal Kodiak.

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July 5, 2011

On a candle lit back porch in uptown, I hung out with friends Teenage Moods. Gordon (guitar and vocals) Jillian (bass and vocals) Taylor (drums and vocals) and Kyle (keyboard). Elliot (guitar andvocals) was not present. Over beers, around a picnic table, I asked them about their favorite TV shows and their laundry habits. It was exciting to interview one of my favorite Mpls bands, some of the nicest people in the scene. Check out the  music of Teenage Moods HERE.

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Erica- When you guys go to a show, do you usually drive together or separately?

Gordon- Traditionally, three piece Teenage Moods fits in my 2 door hatchback….

Erica- Now is a good time to ask about the lineup- I’m super confused (laughing)

Is Elliot playing with you guys sometime, too?

Gordon- Yeah, him and Kyle both have lots of other musical projects.

Kyle- Yeah, we come and go as the auxiliary guys, but the great thing is that Teenage Moods will still be Teenage Moods whether or not me and him are in the band, it’s just like, I’m there and he’s there to take their good ideas and support them in the best way possible… and present them in the best way, so, sometimes Elliots not there, sometimes I’m not there, sometimes Teenage Moods is a three piece and sometimes they have a Casio keyboard.

Erica- So, who is the biggest party animal in the band?

Gordon- I don’t know if there is one! (everyone laughs)

Jillian- I feel like maybe I get a little wild sometimes (laughing) I like, ripped our money in half! (everyone laughs)

Erica- What?! (laughing) Oh, tell that story!

Jillian- I just ripped it!

Gordon- She ripped it, a twenty dollar bill? (everyone laughs)

Taylor- I want to say it was a twenty….

Everyone- Yeah.

Jillian- (giggling) And then I threw your [Gordon’s] keys in the snow!

(everyone laughs)

Jillian- Now I just sound really mean.. but if you were there…It was funny, not mean!

Erica- Yeah!

Gordon- Yeah, she was smiling she was laughing…

(everyone laughs)

Taylor- We all party here and there but I think for the most part Jillian is the party animal. There is break dancing contests….I don’t know…

Jillian- (laughing)

(A friend pops her head out the door and invites Jillian to a party)

Erica- [to Jillian] You’re so cool that you just got invited to a birthday party while being interviewed!

Taylor- (laughing)

Gordon- She’s the most popular in Teenage Moods!

Kyle- Damn.

Jillian- Not true!

Erica- Would she be prom queen of the band?

Taylor- (laughing) I think Gordon would be prom queen.

Jillian- Yeah! (laughs)

Erica- Oooh, I like this question. Did the tooth fairy visit you guys when you were kids? (Everyone giggles)

Gordon- Yes.

Taylor- Did they visit you, Jillian?

Jillian- Uhhh, I think once it did, but I remember finding my teeth and being like, ‘What?!’ Not knowing what it meant. I was creeped out, like, ‘Why does my mom have teeth in her drawer?’ (laughs) Like, ‘Maybe they’re mine!’

Gordon- ‘Why is Santa’s beard in the garbage?!’

(Everyone laughs hysterically)

Taylor- I still have an envelope, because I put mine in an envelope, I didn’t put just a tooth under my pillow because I thought they’d get lost, you know, I put it in a sealed envelope with this tiny little tooth, in pencil,

looks like I wrote it with my left hand, “TAYLOR’S TOOTH.”

Erica- That’s adorable.

Taylor- I still have it…

Kyle- I was super freaked out because I didn’t like the idea of someone, like, sneaking in while I was sleeping and reaching under my pillow…

(Jillian laughs)

Erica- But you did it anyway?

Kyle- I did. My dads a dentist (everyone laughs) so….

Erica- Really?

Jillian- How much money did you get?

Kyle- A dollar, but there was glitter on the quarters.

Erica-Cool!

Jillian- Awesome!

Kyle- Like, nail polish and hairspray or something, so it was magical!

Jillian- That’s a really good touch!

Erica- Did your dad do that, do you think?

Kyle- That’s definitely a mom thing.

Erica- That’s a really good idea.

Taylor- I don’t like the idea of mythical creatures coming into my house. When I was young, I set a trap for Santa Claus, one time, with string.

(Everyone laughs)

Erica- So, what was your guys’ favorite TV shows as kids, and then also, of all time?

Gordon- Well, as a kid I was pretty much just into cartoons.

Jillian- I liked Ren and Stimpy.

Gordon- Yeah.

Erica- Yeah, that’s a good one.

Gordon- I was probably into the Ninja Turtles for the longest time. That was probably my most intense childhood obsession.

Taylor- As a kid, definitely Muppet Babies. I watched it all the time.

Gordon- (laughing) Yes!

Erica- I watched a lot of Muppet Babies.

Kyle- It had a killer theme song, too.

(Everyone starts singing the Muppet Babies theme song.)

Taylor- They had clips from other things like other, you know,like they had a Star Wars episode and that kind of stuff… And they would go off on adventures and still be back in the room or whatever it is.. daycare.

Gordon- Nursery?

Taylor- Also, Real Ghost Busters as a little kid. I was obsessed with that, and the movie, Ghost Busters. Anything Ghost Busters I had to watch.

Erica- I have to tell you that I’ve never seen Ghost Busters.

Gordon- Oh my god.

Taylor- Really? It’s a masterpiece.

Kyle- I just watched that with a five year old and a nine year old and it was their favorite movie, like, right now.

Erica- Really?!

Kyle- It’s still blowing little kids’ minds. It’s awesome.

Erica- So, your favorite tv show of all time? Can you guys commit to one?

Gordan- Northern Exposure.

Erica- Really? O.k.

Taylor- Columbo.

Erica- Columbo? (everyone laughs)

Taylor- Colombo. I could watch it twenty four hours a day, at least the first seven seasons…It’s amazing, I dropped out of college for Columbo.

Erica- Jillian?

Jillian- Um, well, (laughing) I’m going to have to say, Martin.

Gordon- (laughing) Yes!

Erica- Oh my god! Are you serious? That’s amazing! I watched a lot of that.

Jillian- Yeah, I thought it was funny. I only own like, one or two movies but I own-

Gordon- Four seasons of Martin?

Erica- Was it on for four seasons?

Gordon- It was on for longer than that.

Jillian- It was on for awhile. But they were selling it at Target for like, eight dollars or something. I was like, ‘I’m going to re-live sixth grade.’

Kyle- That’s how I feel about my favorite TV show, which is The Simpsons. Just re-living sixth grade, it was my favorite show then, I don’t have TV, I don’t like movies, but whenever I’m like, super lonely at like, two o’clock in the morning, I look up a free episode of The Simpsons on the internet.

Erica- And it comforts you…

Kyle- Yeah, it’s like my one thing…

Erica- How often do you guys do laundry?

Kyle- Shit.

(everyone laughs)

Gordon- Once a week.

Erica- Really?

Gordon- Yeah.

Kyle- Really?

Gordon- I work in a warehouse. I only have so many pairs of pants, and I gotta keep them clean.

Erica- How about you guys?

Jillian- Like, maybe once a month or once every month and a half.

Erica- Yeah, me too.

Taylor- Well, I probably have never done laundry here, when I was living here…. I just have so many boxes and boxes of [t-shirts] and stuff, I can kind of wait a long time before I really need to have a laundry day… And I just don’t really care if my clothes are kind of dirty, you know. I’ll go a really long time.

Kyle- I just wait until all my socks are like, so, they’re like crusty when you put your feet in them.

(everyone laughing)

Erica- O.k. last question is what is your spirit animal as a band?

Taylor- Wow.

Gordon- Jillians got it.

Jillian- A big bunny?

Taylor- Geo, [Jillian’s cat] might be the mascot of the band.

Gordon- Yeah, we have a mascot.

Taylor- “Hardship Eyes” was written about him…

Gordon- “No place for a Tiger”

Taylor- “No place for a Tiger” is about him crawling into our practice space and it being no place for a tiger…

Erica- (laughing)

Taylor- Then you kick the kick drum and he freaks out and runs back up the stairs…that kind of inspired…just the look on his face, the way he moves, it’s like the funniest thing.

Erica- I like finding out that certain songs are about animals.

Taylor- A lot of our songs are animal songs or flower songs (laughing)

Gordon- Helpless little things, yeah, our spirit animal is something completely helpless.

Taylor- (laughing)

Erica- A cat or a bunny?

Jillian- Yeah, I was going to say a bunny as big as that garage

(points to the garage in backyard)

Gordon- A giant baby bunny.