.HOLIDAY MEMORIES.

Angels We Have Heard On High by Sufjan Stevens
Have Yourself A Merry Little Xmas by Judy Garland
Silver Bells by Tony Bennett
Warm December by Julie London
Baby, It’s Cold Outside by Dean Martin
Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) by Darlene Love
Funky Christmas by James Brown
Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley
War is Over by John Lennon
Last Christmas by Wham
Exotic Night by Martin Denny
I’ll Be Home For Christmas by Doris Day
The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole
Carol Of the Bells by Harry Connick Jr
Silent Night by Enya
Snowfall Cha Cha by George Shearing & Billy May
The Secret of Christmas by Ella Fitzgerald
Peace On Earth/Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby & David Bowie

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Please feel free to share this holiday collection with your family and friends, as it comes with the hope of bringing back special memories that are filled with the warmest greetings of the season, and every good thought and wish for the coming new year.

Originally from San Francisco, CA, The Lonelyhearts are Andre Perry and John Lindenbaum. Together they create soft acoustic rock that gently brings to mind the tranquil sensations of how a Sunday morning should feel and sound. Although Andre now lives in Iowa City, IA and John remains in the Bay area, throughout the distance of making music from far away, they are still as close and complete in creating as ever. Recently, The Lonelyhearts were kind enough to contribute to MIA’s 2008 interview and questionnaire series project. Please enjoy their music and answers below!

New Virginia
[Disaster Footage at Night, 2008]

MIA: Musically, how did the band form, what past experiences do you carry with you? ANDRE: We formed as a side project when we were playing in other San Francisco bands. The band name (from a Nathanael West’s Miss Lonelyhearts) and the original sound were inspired by our years as part of the urban landscape. We also listened to a lot of Grandaddy and older classic rock stuff like Neil Young. Eventually, we both moved away from San Francisco to more provincial towns (John went to El Cerrito, east of SF / I moved to Iowa City). We still carry our time in San Francisco with us, though – It certainly shaped our musical aesthetic. In those years, SF featured elements of darkwave synth-rock and alt-country anachronism that we probably internalized. Also, the joy//despair of being young and free making music in the city never really leaves you.

MIA: Describe the feeling of living and making music in your city, feel free to share a memory or a certain place that makes you feel like home. JOHN: There are several cities that could be considered “our city” at this point. I will always think of the practice space building in Balboa Park where he had band practice for years. It was on the edge of San Francisco — there wasn’t anything hip out there. Just real families living in real houses. It was almost desolate. But nowadays, when I see people getting off the Balboa BART stop with guitars, I get nostalgic for 2am load-ins on work nights. ANDRE: Making music in San Francisco was always cool, especially when I was really young. It was always inspiring, walking around that city — and yeah, it’s a real walking city — with hoodie up around my ears, dodging the wind and fog, listening to rough tracks of songs on my mp3 player, moving from one neighborhood to the next, drinking beer, soaking it all in. I really felt — and yeah, I know it’s cliched — that anything could happen. It was life in the city and it all crept into the music. Plus there was a big scene. Everyone’s in a band in San Francisco whether they’re a lawyer or a bartender by trade. Iowa City’s a bit different. Iowa City is the writers’ city. People read books here and talk about art. Music is big too but the scene is much more art-rock, noise, experimental pop, or deep alt. country. These are all things that I like but things are just more conceptual out here. So much more internal. You see someone at the coffee shop and they’re all pent up, all tightened up, because they’re working on their “big novel” or trying to figure out how they can redefine the avant garde by playing a show with a collection of field recordings they did. All of this is fine and good and cool, but just different from San Francisco. Even the art kids, the noise kids seemed a bit different in San Francisco. Geography changes things.

MIA: Do you enjoy to perform live? How does the band like to get ready and is there a favorite song that you like to play for your audience? JOHN: Our 2008 tour season already happened, but yes, we enjoy performing live quite a bit. Our live show is just the two of us (vocals, guitar, keyboard, the occasional tambourine) so it gives the songs a chance to be more intimate and the lyrics a chance to be heard. We can also put more energy into a live performance than a multi-tracked bedroom studio creation. To get ready for a live show, I generally tune my 12-string guitar several times and Andre disappears to get a beer or glass of water. ANDRE: Since we live so far away from each other we usually don’t practice much until it’s time to tour. I’ll fly to California or John will come to the Midwest. We’ll practice for a day or two and then hit the road. Our favorite song to perform live could be “Ntozake Nelson” off of our first full-length album. It has a lot of words and energy and a fairly convoluted narrative arc, and at this point we’ve played it enough that people will sing along. We also dig writing new stuff on tour and playing it at shows.

MIA: What has been the most impacting compliment, or criticism, your band has ever received? Home