A Conversation With Andrew Kenny

American Analog Set is sort of a big deal. For over a decade they’ve made music that’s incredibly respected by fans and artists alike. Most people consider them to be pioneers of the Lo-Fi/Indie Pop sound that they so effortlessly mastered, and frankly I still can’t get enough of them after all this time. I count Know By Heart as one of my ten favorite albums ever (and I own a lot of albums), and consider frontman/singer/songwriter/guitarist Andrew Kenny to be one of my favorite songwriters ever so this was really a treat for me. The band is on a hiatus of sorts right now, and has been for about two years — which made for an ample opportunity for me to sit down with Andrew and talk about music.

[mp3] American Analog Set – Born on the Cusp
[mp3] American Analog Set – She’s Half
[mp3] American Analog Set – Aaron & Maria

Caleb (HTFAF) : Hey Andrew, thanks for doing this.

Andrew Kenny: Sure thing, how are you?

Caleb (HTFAF): Quite well, yourself?

Andrew Kenny: I’m gonna make it.

Caleb (HTFAF): So I get the impression that AmAnSet is sort of in a weird perpetual state of hibernation over the last few years. Would this be accurate? I mean I’ve read all the announcements but would you care to explain to the good readers what’s going on with you guys right now?

Andrew Kenny: Yeah, I think that’s always been the case in a way. The first two albums were a year apart, but every record since has been at least two years apart. That being said, we don’t have a record coming out in the fall of ’07 so this time it’s definitely different. We’re not touring so there’s no real pressure to release a record or stay on the road.
We’ve talked about recording again; I was in Austin last month for a wedding and we [Andrew, Lee, and Mark: The American Analog Set] played a few songs at the reception for fun. Even before that we were about making another record in Austin. Chris Michaels, who helped us record Set Free, just moved his studio to Austin so that’s going to be the spot for sure. I definitely feel like it’s time to shake things up again.

Caleb (HTFAF): Very cool, this makes me happy to hear!

Andrew Kenny: Me too, I’m a big fan of our little band.

Caleb (HTFAF): I suppose that’s an important thing …

Andrew Kenny: Yeah, it’s overlooked I think, but I believe it to be very important.

Caleb (HTFAF): Ya know, it might not be a bad idea to keep doing that wedding thing: I hear they pay nice. You guys should learn some covers and come up with a cool name like “The Best Men” or something.

Andrew Kenny: [Laughter] Totally! Actually I’ve got another lined up for September. But I should say that these are both people in our family.
My toast was something like: “Suzanne, you are always the most beautiful woman in the room and yet you chose John, and we dig that about you. John, you like really inappropriate wedding reception music and we dig that about you, thanks for having us. Cheers!” I mean, the songs just aren’t very happy, although we had some people dancing during Born on the Cusp.

Caleb (HTFAF): [Laughter] Nice! I think Aaron and Maria would be a fitting wedding song, you could just change the “no one gives a fuck” line to something a little happier and more wedding-oriented.

Andrew Kenny: I thought about that one!!

Caleb (HTFAF):So besides booking and doing press for the American Analog Wedding Band do you have a day job?

Andrew Kenny: Well, my “trade” or whatever is biology; I’m a lab tech. But when I got back from our last tour a year and a half ago I started working for my sister-in-law’s company. She and her man sell iPod accessories and handbags and I run their office for them.
So, I’m not a biologist right now and have no idea how I’m going to put my career back together.

Caleb (HTFAF): Do you think iPod accessories and handbag sales will find their way into the next record’s songs?

Andrew Kenny: God, i hope not.

Caleb (HTFAF): Have you been writing any since Set Free?

Andrew Kenny: I didn’t for a while, I was really worn out after that record and it’s subsequent touring— we got back right at the end of 2005 and I got married the following summer, [and] I only demoed one song that whole time. Last summer I got the wind back in my sails a bit though, and I got my small home studio put together again. I started working on songs that I knew wouldn’t be AmAnSet songs and recorded those songs this spring. I hope to be done in a few months. I also started playing in a friend’s band called Ola Podrida here in Brooklyn as well. I’m really just trying to get them all completed [the songs] and remain proud of them. I’ll pass them around when they’re done though.

Caleb (HTFAF): Sounds great, I had no idea you were involved in Ola!

Andrew Kenny: Yep! i joined up last fall.

Caleb (HTFAF): How did this happen?

Andrew Kenny: David passed his CD around last year to a bunch of friends and said, “Honestly.. I need a lanky, mysterious, bass player that can sing a lot of falsetto harmonies.”
So Lee sent me his old bass, the Thunderbird he played in the AmAnSet for so long, and I joined up.

Caleb (HTFAF): Awesome, that is a pretty magical way to join a band!

Andrew Kenny: Yeah, it’s a good story, so you’ve heard the Ola record?

Caleb (HTFAF): I have yeah, I like it a lot. Did you play on the record?

Andrew Kenny: Oh no, that record was more or less completed before we ever spoke about it. I just “operate” the bass if you know what I mean [laughter].

Caleb (HTFAF): [laughter] I do know. Do you do the old Walkman behind the amp trick?

Andrew Kenny: Totally! With a smoke machine, that’s the “mysterious” part: “Why is only one person in the smoke?”

Caleb (HTFAF): [laughter]

Andrew Kenny: Yeah that’s the mystery.

Caleb (HTFAF): I’ll look forward to seeing that. I’m gonna see you guys open for Apostle of Hustle at Schubas in Chicago this summer.

Andrew Kenny: Oh, cool! I think Whiteman really figured something out on this record,
both in songwriting and in production: they’re both stepped up and married a lot better.

Caleb (HTFAF): Getting back to you guys, is there a particular AmAnSet song you enjoy more than others?

Andrew Kenny: Well, I think the songs we took with us on the last tour were the road tested “best of the best” so to speak. I don’t think I have any one favorite, although I really like the way She’s Half turned out.

Caleb (HTFAF): That IS a great one.

Andrew Kenny: I played in Mexico City last weekend, at this festival and She’s Half was the only song I had to end up bailing on. A word of advice: if you are ever in Mexico City in front of 1000 or so people that REALLY want to see The Dears but there’s about four to five hundred people up front that are pretty jazzed that you’re there: just stick to the upbeat stuff.

Caleb (HTFAF): [Laughter] Thanks for the advice, ’cause there’s a great chance I’ll end up in that situation someday.

Andrew Kenny: I led that crowd into a dark, dark forest with no bread crumbs on the trail back. “Kenny… where’s the crowd?” I LOST the crowd.

Caleb (HTFAF): [Laughter] So there are lots of Indie-rock fans in Mexico?

Andrew Kenny: Oh man … I was shocked. Myspace and blogging have totally turned that scene on it’s ear.

Caleb (HTFAF): It’s always so strange to me when I see pictures of like … Broken Social Scene playing in Scandinavia or something and there are like 1000 little Scandinavian Indie kids singing along. I guess it’s just weird to get used to, that this whole little scene has such a reach now. It’s super cool though, that’s for sure.

Andrew Kenny: Totally. Even five or six years ago it was still kinda taboo to sing in English, I’d love to go back with a whole band … and some bread crumbs just in case.

Caleb (HTFAF): [Laughter] Did you consider doing a mariachi set with some locals? That could have worked nicely.

Andrew Kenny: Oh man, I always get the jeebies with they stand behind you at a restaurant.

Caleb (HTFAF): [Laughter] They’re pretty fearless, those guys. They thrive on playing to confused and unexpecting crowds … sort of like playing at a Mexican Indie rock festival would feel I guess.

Andrew Kenny: Exactly.

Caleb (HTFAF): Okay, time to play fast money.

Andrew Keny: Nice!

Caleb (HTFAF): What are you listening to lately?

Andrew Kenny: The new Feist album, The Reminder; Clipse’s Hell Hath No Fury; Phoenix’s album, It’s Never Been Like That; The White Birch’s Star is just a Sun; and Patton Oswalt, Werewolves & Lollipops.

Caleb (HTFAF): What was the last book you read, and do you have a favorite book?

Andrew Kenny: The last book I read was Chris Leo’s “57 Octaves.”
Man this is lame but my favorite is probably something like “The Giving Tree” or some worldly-wisdom-in-a-kids’-book kinda deals…strategy guides for video games don’t count probably, huh?

Caleb (HTFAF): [Laughter] No, I don’t think so.

Andrew Kenny: Yeah … you’re gonna hate, huh?

Caleb (HTFAF): What was the last film you saw?

Andrew Kenny: In the theater I saw Great World of Sound; if you don’t know what that is, I’m not going to say anything about it because I don’t want to slant you one way or another…but you should see it. Gosh, other than that we’ve been doing the Arrested Development season DVDs.

Caleb (HTFAF): Oh wow, you’re an Arrested Development fan?

Andrew Kenny: I am now. When it was over I felt sad and embarrassed that I didn’t watch when it was around.

Caleb (HTFAF): In all the years of American Analog set if you had to choose one memory as your fondest, what would it be and why?

Andrew Kenny: Whenever I think back, the first thing I think of is that everyone that makes music should get to be in one of their favorite bands or they should get to make music for a decade or more with their best friends. I got to do both and I feel pretty fortunate. That’s hell of lame, huh?

Caleb (HTFAF): Not at all, I shed a single tear just now.

Andrew Kenny: [Laughter]

Caleb (HTFAF): Yeah, just the one: two would be excessive, but that was touching.
So there is no official time table or “Hey we should start then” for anything American Analog Set-related, correct?
Cause if not I’ll just make something up like “American Analog set will release a three-disc collection next week that is exclusively available in BP stations along I-5” to end the article.

Andrew Kenny: Man, BP don’t want none of our mess. Seriously though, not at the moment but I definitely see the guys in my future, as I said earlier!

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