Interview with Marian Hill
If you haven’t heard of Marian Hill yet, you need to drop everything and listen to their sound, like now. Marian Hill consists of Jeremy Lloyd and Samantha Gongol. Their sound can be described as a little bit of jazz, a little bit of pop and a little bit of electronic all mixed into one. The beat is catchy and one we’re sure will catch on quickly. Also, Drake, are you listening? They’d love to collaborate with you and we think that would be a match made in heaven. Just saying! 🙂
GLITTER: It seems like your sound is a little bit bass, a little bit sax, a little bit pop and a little bit of jazz rolled into one. That being said, how would you describe your sound?
MARIAN HILL: That sounds pretty good! Describing music is a weird and fascinating thing and we like for the most part to leave it to the professionals – but we tend to lead with “electronic R&B” and if pressed, describe it as Drake meets Ella Fitzgerald. Really it’s classic songs with fresh beats.
GLITTER: Do you have any musical influences?
JEREMY: I grew up on Kanye and Pharrell and later got way into Noah “40” Shebib who’s been a huge influence. I also studied traditional songwriting and love all that classic tin pan alley stuff – Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, etc.
SAMANTHA: Whitney Houston, Xtina, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, etc.
GLITTER: Do either of you play any instruments?
JEREMY: I play piano primarily, also a little bit of guitar and violin, and then a bunch of MIDI interfaces when we play live.
SAMANTHA: I dabble with piano and guitar.
JEREMY: You know, we could actually do an acoustic piano/guitar set some day…
SAMANTHA: But we NEVER WILL . 😉
GLITTER: Where do you both find your inspiration?
MARIAN HILL: Songs, stories, lives, relationships, the single life, our friends, great books, excellent television, dark rooms and strong drinks.
GLITTER: What was the first single that you ever released?
MARIAN HILL: “Whisky.” It was also the first song we ever wrote together. We hadn’t written anything else for the project when we emailed that song out personally to a whole crop of blogs – a few weeks later we were charting on hype machine and started taking things a little more seriously 🙂
GLITTER: Where are a few places that people might have heard your music at?
MARIAN HILL: Just heard it out our window coming from some booth at Bushwick Open Studios! We’ve also heard tell of it showing up at restaurants, bars, and the holiday parties of certain consulting firms.
GLITTER: Is there something about you fans would be surprised to know?
SAMANTHA: I had to kiss Jeremy in our production of the music man in 8th grade and I couldn’t handle it. I got super nervous and I turned what should have been a five minute rehearsal into a half hour because I kept laughing awkwardly and ruining the scene.
GLITTER: Best advice you were ever given?
JEREMY: Oh man. I don’t know if I could pick one piece of advice that was the true best. But some recent advice from a mentor has really stuck with me – he told me to never forget that this art is play. You should feel like a kid in a sandbox when you’re making your art, and if you start to lose that it’s important to take stock and try to rediscover that bliss.
SAMANTHA: There have been so many that have affected me at different points in my life. But one that has always stood out: sometimes the only thing that stands between true greatness is ourselves.
GLITTER: What is your definition of self-love?
SAMANTHA: There is always going to be someone smarter, faster, more beautiful, someone who can sing higher or jump farther. Self love is comparing yourself to others while recognizing your own talents as something only you possess. Perfection is boring and impossible so don’t chase it, and don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do something – self love is not standing in your own way. That and eating a pint of ice cream without batting an eye because you f***ing deserve it 🙂
GLITTER: Is there someone you’d both like to work with that you haven’t worked with already?
MARIAN HILL: Drake. Hey, Drake? Have we come up on your Google alerts yet? We mention you in like every interview
GLITTER: Any projects you can tell us about that you’re working on next?
MARIAN HILL: We’ve been going hard writing and recording our debut album all this month. We love the control you have in modern songwriting, because it’s not just music and lyrics – it’s everything. We’re writing an album of pure and focused songs – where every component, from the choice of snare drum to the choice of lyric, is driven by one specific idea.
GLITTER: How can fans follow you? Where can fans find you this summer?
MARIAN HILL: Fans can follow us on twitter, Facebook, Instagram- we’re playing Firefly, London, Paris. But for the most part, relentlessly finishing our album.
You can find Marian Hill at these venues this year:
Marian Hill Tour Dates:
6/18 Dover, DE Firefly Music Festival
6/20 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
7/11 Montauk, NY The Surf Lodge
9/25 Washington, D.C. U Street Music Hall
9/29 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
9/30 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair
10/1 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
10/3 Columbus, OH The Basement
10/6 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
10/7 Chicago, IL Chop Shop
10/8 Kansas City, KN Tank Room
10/9-11 Austin, TX Austin City Limits
10/14 Phoenix, AZ Valley Bar
10/16 San Diego, CA The Casbah
10/17 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
10/20 West Hollywood, CA The Roxy
10/21 San Francisco, CA The Independent
10/23 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
10/24 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
10/25 Vancouver, BC Canada Fortune Sound Club
Don’t forget to follow them online:
http://www.facebook.com/marianhillmusic
http://www.twitter.com/marianhillmusic
http://www.instagram.com/marianhillmusic
http://www.marianhillmusic.com
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Editorial Director | Writer | Tweet me @heatherriccio
