Infantree Interview: SXSW 2010

Infantree is an unsigned indie band from Calabasas, Ca. The band features Alex Vojdani on vocals, guitar, keys and lyrics, Matt Keonish on vocals, guitars, banjo and lyrics, Donald Fisher on vocals, keys, synth bass, mandolin, guitars, and lyrics, and George on drums. They will be playing at their first SXSW. Spinner spoke to the band from their headquarters in Calabsas.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

I think we can call it folk, rock, alternative, whatever. We like to keep our options open instead of settling on one name or type of music. We have three songwriters in the band so that gives us a unique dynamic because all of us are so influenced by our own thing as well as what happens when we all get together. One of us will bring in a song that they've been working on and then we all collaborate and it becomes organically us, our sound.

How did the band form?

We all met at a local music program. It wasn't school band or anything like that, it was just a cool place with a lot of musicians always around. I (Matt) met Alex and Don there and we soon realized that we were into a lot of the same stuff so we decided to break off on our own and see what developed. We all had the same guitar teacher and we think it was inevitable that we'd find each other, it was a matter of fate. George we just found about a year ago, he was a really nice guy who could play the drums and we needed a drummer, so it was a perfect match. We're tremendously lucky to have net, because we all really like each other.

What are your influences?

We like to believe that any thing can be influential. We all love Tom Waits, Neil Young, Radiohead. When we first met up we were all into early Pink Floyd. We'll listen to almost anything and try to keep our ears wide open, always looking for new sounds, new ideas.

What's the story behind the name?

At the time, we were going through a lot of different names and the only thing we were really sure about was that we didn't want to be tied down by one definition or another. I (Alex) thought of the name Infantree, I think it stuck mostly because of the double entendre. It was after we had time to relate to the name when we found all the parallels between our collaborative efforts and growing in harmony both literally and figuratively. And now we live our lives by the philosophy of our band, which is; if you can be open minded Like a child, you'll grow like a tree.

Have you done much touring? Any crazy stories?

We haven't really ever been on tour, we've just played local shows. We're looking into setting something up because I think our parents are getting sick of us. Going to South By Southwest will really be our first tour and we can't wait.

What are your goals as a band?

They're as broad as possible. We want to do the same for other bands as bands did for us. That is to say, we want to make music that inspires people, that can make the world a better place, or at least their world.

What are you looking forward to at SXSW?

Just getting there to begin with. We've never been to Texas so we're really looking forward the drive. Once we get there we want to check out as much music as possible. We all love Portugal The Man so we hope to catch that show for sure.

What would be in your festival survival kit?

Guitar strings and cigarettes.

What can't you make it through the day without?

Each other.

Care to own up to any musical guilty pleasures?

Well, Matt's really into the Talking Heads. I don't know if that's embarrassing but I think his level of love is in itself the embarrassment. We like some hip hop stuff that would probably surprise some people. Not really the commercial stuff, the stuff with depth.

You have a myspace page. Do you consider social media to be a vital tool for bands?

Oh yeah, it's almost easy to overlook how important Myspace and Facebook pages are, we always have to make sure that we keep updating. We're learning so much about the possibilities, it's a work in progress, kind of like our music, constantly evolving.

How do you feel about digital downloads? Do you see this as the future of the music industry?

We think it's a good thing that there's a choice but albums are irreplaceable, the physical aspect, the artwork, lyric sheets. Personally, we feel that can never be completely removed. As long as the music is fairly distributed there's really nothing wrong with it but it seems like the speed that technology is evolving there will always be new problems.

James Meyers is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.