Lady Danville Interview: SXSW 2010

Formed in 2005 while the band members were pursuing higher education at UCLA, Lady Danville is a trio that plays acoustic indie pop influenced by the likes of Guster, Ben Folds and Crosby, Stills and Nash (sans Young). Not ones to remain idle, the lads will be playing a whopping six shows at SXSW this year. We caught up with all three members of Lady Danville and forced them to answer our questions.

Describe your sound in your own words.

In our own words: Merboo-snorgin kobbat-froogin-glogle-shmoggle gary. Translated: Harmony-based acoustic-indie-folk-pop trio.

How did your band form?

Dan: Back at UCLA, Michael, Matti and I were taking Intro to Dinosaurs and we had to write a 20-page final paper. All of us being of the procrastinating night owl breed, we waited until the last night to begin. When Matti and I went over to Michael's, we saw he had a keyboard in his room, so instead of writing our paper, we all stayed up until about 4 A.M. jamming. This was good for music but bad for grades.

What are your musical influences?

Guster, Ben Folds, Death Cab for Cutie, Rufus, Sara Bareilles, Crosby, Stills and Nash.

How did you come up with your band name?

Lady Danville is named after our very influential Danville Preschool teacher, whose identity shall remain anonymous.

What's your biggest vice?

Whopper Jrs.

What's in your festival survival kit?

5 feet of duct tape, wrapped around a ballpoint pen.

Who was your first celeb crush?

Michael: Alex Mack [from The Secret World of Alex Mack]
Dan: Esmerelda [from Hunchback of Notre Dame]
Matt: Liza Minnelli

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Michael: T-Pain
Dan: *NSYNC
Matt: Titanic Soundtrack

Beatles or Stones?

Beatles.

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

On our way to Spokane last year, our van got a flat tire. We didn't have a jack, so we flagged down a car. Fortunately, a huge man got out of the car. He was able to lift our van while we changed the tire.

Joseph P. Larkin is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.