Quick Q and A with Friction Farm
 by Kathy S-B  ·  1 July 2008

How did you come up with the name Friction Farm? It sounds like there’s a story behind it.

We discovered years ago that we enjoyed writing our own music and lyrics. It was spontaneous, and a surprise to us that we could do it. While the friction in our lives — you know that stuff that gets under your skin, makes you stop and think for a while - may be an annoyance to many, for us it is the stuff of songs. We use it to fuel our creativity — or we farm songs from that friction.

Your bio states that you were in a rock band that attained a certain amount of success but you discovered that you weren’t having any fun. What is it about playing in this duo that brings joy to your lives?

When we first started playing we played rock covers. I did my first show after about three months of teaching myself how to play bass and havingnever sung in public before. It was great fun and even better when we began writing. We played often, really great shows, had record companies coming to see us. As we started to ponder making music as a career, there were a lot of things that we realized we didn’t like. The interested labels wanted some changes in our band, some changes in our music (we weren’t quite rock enough), some changes in how I dressed (I wans’t girlish enough)! It felt kind of like a day job. The rock community didn’t seem all that friendly and supportive. So we gave it up. But, found ourselves still writing and playing at home because its part of how we communicate with eachother and enjoy eachother. Finding the folk community has been great. The musicians are nice, the audiences listen, they are engaged and involved with the world around them . . . just a better fit for us.

How would you describe your sound?

the two of us sitting around the house having a conversation. Our songs really spring from the things we talk about every day. We usually write while I make dinner and Aidan noodles around on the guitar (to keep him from trying to help in the kitchen). I think harmonies are an important part of our sound — and that goes along with the conversation because like most couples we talk over each other all the time.

What’s the coolest thing that has ever happened to you on stage?

Aidan likes the big shows, and he loves when a good sized crowd sings a long and drowns us out a bit. I like the small shows, like to see people and talk to them, like when they get my jokes. One memorable moment — we once changed a song a bit while on stage, both hitting an unplanned break and dynamic change at the same time. It sounded great, but we can’t seem to play it that way again.

What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened on the road?

we love being out there together. We’ve met most of our closest friends on the road and seen great, weird places ( a guy has reconstructed a minature Graceland on his front lawn in VA) . There is a place in North Carolina called shangrila; a man just build this idyllic town out of stone and found material and put it on his lawn and I wanted to see it. But we weren’t sure exactly where it was. Stopped at a gas station and Aidan went in to ask. The place went dead quite when he walked in — not used to strangers! When he asked about the man, the response was ” oh he’s dead, he’s been dead!” but we could still see shangrila — just go to where the volunteer fire house used to be, the road isn’t really there anymore but you can still see it until it ends and then a little further is shangrila. those are southern directions, surprisingly accurate!

Who’s your favorite Beatle?

George (for both of us)

What’s next for Friction Farm?

We are having fun exploring NYC — first time either of us has lived in a city. its already inspired a couple of new songs, and we plan on a new CD this year.