Ezra Furman and the Harpoons Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Feb 28th 2010 7:33AM by Kelly Rose
Comments

The sound of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons has been described as a morphing of blues, pop and folk -- more specifically, Bob Dylan meets the Violent Femmes. The band members came together in 2006 while attending Tufts University and have put out two albums to date. They'll be performing their third SXSW this March. I recently caught up with frontman Ezra Furman, who was just getting back to his home base of Chicago after a brief tour in Europe.

Describe your sound.

It's hard to describe. It's get up-and-go music. It's like a kid playing with an airplane. Our music has lots of words and storytelling. And it's nervous.

How did your band form?

In a fiery cataclysm during college at Tufts University. Basically, the Harpoons were together as a different band and went by a different name then. They just wanted to play rock 'n' roll, but they got weary of doing covers. They found me and sometimes I would just open for them. I had a lot of my own music, so they asked me to join. They pretty much implored me to join. So I did.

What are your musical influences?

Green Day, for sure. Punk records. Singer-songwriter stuff.

How did you come up with your band name?

The Harpoons was my idea. We had our first gig and we talked about band names all the time. Finally someone said we have our first gig so we need a name. I was reading 'Moby Dick' at the time. Our music is piercing and I wanted it to be an adventure. The Harpoons fit.

Beatles or Stones?

My intuitive answer is the Beatles. The Beatles have always been far superior in my mind, but then I got turned on to the Stones, who are great too. I like the Beatles' versatility. I like their grittier stuff.

What's your biggest vice?

I don't know. Gossip, maybe? I try hard to be nice to people. Sometimes I talk s--- about things I don't like or other bands. Sometimes I criticize.

What's in your festival survival kit?

A sleeping bag. We crash on a lot of floors and sofas. We just got back from Europe, where we got to stay in hotels, which was a first.

Is Kirsten Dunst still your celebrity crush, or do you have a new one?

There's only one woman I carry a torch for. I have to wait for a response before I can move on. The song I wrote for her is still on YouTube.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

You should never feel guilty listening to any music. I love Norah Jones. She's a hell of a singer. Whenever we're on the road, we're tired, we're out of money and the car just broke down, I listen to Norah. Norah Jones soothes me.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

Once we were driving through rural Missouri. We were following signs to some dingy restaurant. We took a side road and we saw a bunch of kids, like 10 years old, and these kids were covered in dust and dirt, in the middle of nowhere. Their clothes were ripped up and dirty. We asked them where their parents were. They yelled at us that they were a tribe and to get out of there and leave them alone. So we did. I feel like we should have asked more questions or done something.

Kelly Rose is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.