Interview: Marvelous Toy on Not Moving

by Joe Fielder

Indie pop band Marvelous Toy reinvents itself more often than the weather changes in San Francisco -- but breaks the analogy by always turning out nice. 

We recently were gabbing around the water cooler at the RFSL corporate offices about where the act's latest album Not Moving should place on our LA's Best Albums of 2011 list.

Then we realised that it didn't come out until 2012. Earlier this week on Tuesday, to be specific, and the album release show is at The Bootleg Theatre later tonight.

We asked group lead Jordan Hudock to tell us a little bit about the making of some of his favorite tracks on the album. Here are streams from it, followed by Jordan in his own words.

"I HAD THE MATCH"

This is the opening track of the album... I originally wrote it as a folkier countryish song but it was boring so with the help of the whole band, we completely transformed it into a loud rock song and i'm much happier with it this way. Raymond kicked his bass into overdrive for the whole song which is why you have that loud fuzz bassline throughout the song... I love the way he recorded it, too... kind of flat and crisp and loud.

"EL INFIEL"

This (along with 'Match') was the last song we recorded for the album... I wrote it quickly and we assembled it and arranged it during a rehearsal... I like that we were all able to contribute something to the arrangement... It was a real band effort. And I'm very happy with the way it came out in the recording... We were able to really capture the live energy of the song onto the recording. I really believe that the less time you have to think about a song, the more energy you capture in the recording, especially when it's new and fresh.

"THE THIEF AND HER RIBBONS"

This song is our shortest one... under 2 mins long... I like its brevity and that i was able to say everything I wanted/needed to say in short minimal lines... Franck is doing his best Motown beat and Raymond is playing a really difficult bassline i wrote. My favorite part of that song is his solo... I told him I wanted something similar to the solo on Elvis Costello's "I Want You" and I think it comes pretty close.

"NEW MEXICO"

One of my favorite songs on the album... (Side note: The photo on the cover of the record is of the tent rocks in new mexico... They are pretty breathtaking when you're standing next to them.) I woke up with this song in my head and I asked everyone I knew if it was a song... turns out it wasn't (that I know of... if you wrote this give me a call and I'll take it off the album). Anyway, I love the way it was recorded... the drums are really loud and tight and we just went into the studio and nailed it in two takes. It was originally a bit more straightforward in terms of its arrangement but we pulled a lot of instruments out of it to give it a sparser feel...

"I MISSED SO MUCH"

This is another one of my favorite songs on the album... I debated whether or not to put it on but I couldn't not. It's long and rambly but lyrically it's a really important statement (to me). Again, this was a song that I had arranged in a more straightforward alt-country way and then realized it was a little too boring so between Raymond, Franck, and myself we were able to pull instruments in and out of it to make it a little more interesting... Raymond used an echoplex on it which is that swirling sound that runs throughout the song. 

It's worth noting that after the song ends, there is about 30 seconds of silence and another song begins. This is a song that was written and recorded by my father in the 70s and I love everything about it. I took his demo and overdubbed some drums, bass, and a little keyboard line and this is the final product. It's him singing and playing the guitar. He was a fantastic songwriter who never got a break. I wanted people to hear his song and thought it closed the album perfectly.

Comments

[Jake Gideon]

Really looking forward to this album. Jordan promised me a trade for a breakups CD so I'm going to wait until I can hear the whole thing at once.

I love that he put his dad's song on the record. What a guy!

[Gretawells]

Great album. Looking forward to the show tonight!