NR:  How are those frequent flyer miles coming along?

Ian Moreno of The Little Ones (LO):  Horrible.  They're spread across different airlines.  And then sometimes you forget to add your member number or realize you didn't sign up for one.  Then you have to go back and try to claim them.  Wait, was that a rhetorical question?

NR: The first time I saw any of you guys playing music was in '98 in some shady warehouse in LA.  Fast forward 10 years and I see you again on the main stage at Red Rocks…What did you guys think of playing Red Rocks?  Had any of you been there before at all?

LO: No, never ever been there before.  Any of us.  There was certainly a surreal moment when we walked in at like 9am and looked up at the steps/seating and rock face from the bottom. Then we turn to the right and there's the Flaming Lips in full band with the crew setting up the stage.  That saying "live at red rocks" is one of those that just resonates throughout your life.  It was certainly an honor to set foot on that stage, let alone perform on it.  I think we were in constant awe. The crowd was lovely and it was nice seeing people shakin it in different corners of the empty seating areas.  Two interesting notes:

   (1) Lee (our keyboard/bassist) ran from top to bottom while filming himself doing it.  Upon reaching the bottom a security lady tells him stories of experienced runners hurting themselves year round jogging up and down them.

   (2) There's a tunnel from backstage to the mixing booth.  The entire length of the tunnel is covered in signatures of everybody who has ever played there. 

NR:  If you had to name one thing that you did right to get some attention, what would it be?

LO:  Hmmmmm. A  part of me wants to say that it was that we made the initial decision to do everything ourselves.  Meaning, nobody knows who the eff we are so lets record and release it ourselves.  The other part of me is inclined to say it was giving the music out for free.  As in making them downloadable on our website, myspace, whatever.   I'm sure lots of bands do that.  Hold on lemme check...ok, this is a case study of one, but I went to a local unsigned LA band I know of and nope, they are not giving their tunes away por gratis.  When we initially started this, we were a weekend warrior band.  We weren't trying to make money out of it. Every band sells their music in some way.  And these days you can get a sample, make your decision, and then buy the cd, mp3 whatever.  But wouldn’t it be much easier if you could just right click, throw it on the pod, and listen on the road?  I've had several moments on the road now where someone has come up and said, "I've had that last song you played on my ipod for months and I never knew who it was... and then, you played it!"

NR: If you had children, where would you want to raise them? If you have children, how do you feel raising them in LA?

LO:  Whoa.  Ideally, I would say wherever a bulk of your family is accessible.  It's always important to have support systems and stuff like that.  LA works.  This is a disguised "how do I feel about my city" question. right? There are some great communities, areas that have retained that ma 'n pa atmosphere. Areas where you don't even feel like you're even in a city.  Ups and downs like any other city.

NR:  This whole fun music thing you guys are pushing – How does it work when you feel like crap, you get a speeding ticket, and your close friend lets you down?  Do you just take the day off from writing music?

LO: (Laughs) Actually it works like this: we write what we call angry music, but no one gets to hear those songs but us.  We don't "push" it.  No, it's more of an overall vibe thing.  Fun is one adjective that has been used to describe it.  We're all pretty content people...we're over our angsty years.  And I think that shows in the music.  We have a lot of fun with what we do, thus, smiles are cracked and we occasionally give man-birth to songs that are fun and interesting to us.  And yes, if saw a lil' puppy getting mugged on my way to rehearsal I would probably be a little distraught. But I wouldn't take the day. Maybe dedicate a new song to the lil' guy.

NR:  Best thing about LA?

LO: The Museum of Jurassic Technology- whenever anybody visits I take them there.  No words can describe it. Just look at the name.  There are creations in there where you’re just like, “what?”  And the history of mobile homes is always interesting.

NR:  Worst thing about LA?

LO: Traffic - it takes FOREVER to run errands on some days.  Then again, you get dedicated music listening time.

NR: How exactly does a band get a remixed ep before they release a LP of their own?

LO: Two songs were released in the UK as singles-  "Lovers Who Uncover" and "Oh MJ!."  So the remixes appeared as the 'b' sides of those singles.  But yeah, then we continued to go remix crazy.   And then after a while we were finally able to release all those here digitally.  I think the Stereolab remix was the first we ever heard.  None of us have ever had a remix before so we were blown away. Especially with that one, because it's more of a re-interpretation of the song.

NR: I remember fondly spending my 21^st birthday with Sunday’s Best playing at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco in 2001…that was one of those magical musical nights where everything just sounded so right.  Do you feel you play more to provide these experiences for other people, or would you say you are mostly playing for yourself (results be damned)?

LO: I think that when we started playing again it was for ourselves.  There's a huge chunk of time that elapsed since the end of SB and the start of 5 guys in a studio.  When SB was put to rest, Ed and I went right back into writing mode.  But it took a while for us to figure out what we were doing.  There was a realization we had early on- that there were only two of us now and we could create something new that's ours and do it at our own pace. So in that sense, we started doing this for ourselves. Once you get into the live setting that all changes.  I mean, there's a symbiotic relationship between the band and the audience. The two thrive off each other and vibe off each other. So then in that sense I guess it's for both of us.

NR:  What do you think about adding a banjo to the act?  Any instruments that you guys can’t agree upon adding to the quiver?

LO:  I think a banjo would be great!  For a song, not all of 'em.  In the beginning we went percussion crazy looking for stuff to add.  It was a good exercise because in the end we found things that are part of the constant repertoire- tambourines, shakers, claves.  The approach now, is picking things that make sense in the context of a song.  We'll listen to something and go, "I hear a marimba there."  We're a 5 piece so anything we add has to be pretty scaled down.  I think we would all love to have some brass all the time. On the NME tour we did, the horn players from the Rumble Strips came up and played on a song. So we got a sweet little taste of it.

NR:  Is the full length done? How many songs? Is it going to go platinum?

LO:  Almost done.  It's in the mixing phase right now and will be done shortly.  Gosh, recorded... ehhhhh I kind of lost count. Somewhere around 14-16 songs?  The album itself will be around ten or so, and all new- nothing off Sing Song.  It's been a long road...the record was done piecemeal.  Here and there between tours, some in London, but mostly here in LA.  It's gonna go aluminum!

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