A Conversation with Nightmare and the Cat’s Sam & Django Stewart – HuffPost 8.22.11
Mike Ragogna: Sam and Django, let’s start with what it was like growing up as part of the Dave Stewart dynasty?
Django Stewart: Growing up, I was half at my mum’s in Camden and half at my dad’s in the countryside, it didn’t bother me. I enjoyed it very much. London and my friends and my brother were always very important in my life, now I would say I have other friends and LA which are important to me too.
Sam Stewart: It was normal for us because we didn’t know any different. Django and my Dad moved to L.A. when I was around 16. So, I spent my latter teens without seeing them all that much, but that’s when Django and I really became close because each time we did see each other, it was like forming a new friendship with a different person with many shared life experiences.
MR: Were you creatively influenced by your father over the years in your songwriting styles, vocals or musicianship?
DS: My influences stem from my musical heroes which are T-Rex, Bowie, Arcade fire, and Iggy Pop, Nina Simone, Jeff Buckley, Jimi Hendrix…the list goes on forever. My father has told me you must be fearless in your creativity and never be afraid to fail, and my mother has shown me you must indulge in literature to be a great poet. As for as influences of our sound, the list would go on forever and my dad wouldn’t be on it.
SS: I wouldn’t say that my Dad has influenced our music really, more just encouraged us to feel confident in our own skills as musicians.
MR: How long have you been working on the material for this EP?
SS: We wrote most of the EP within the first week of writing, right after Django arrived on a plane from London following a phone call, which resulted in the forming of Nightmare and the Cat.
DS: It all came about like a bottled-up sound waiting to get out. We wrote our first EP rather fast, maybe within a week or so. This next EP, we have taken our time on writing as we want an entire catalog of garage band demos to pick and choose our favorites from.
MR: How did you hook up with Dan Burns and Glen Ballard and what was the dynamic like in the studio working together?
SS: Dan is a good friend of ours who we met through our friend and compatriot, Carina Round. She is an amazing talent and Dan produced her EP, which we were very impressed by. Glen’s studio was right next door to our old demo/practice space and he would hear Django and I jamming our first songs out. He asked if we would like to work with him on a couple of songs and we were like, “Hell yes!” Both experiences were completely lovely and very laid back.
DS: Recording with Glen was so incredible, aside from him being such a sweet guy and having known him for years, having someone of that caliber tell us he was confident in our sound and asking to work with us, I think really encouraged us to keep writing together. Dan Burns is also a really great guy and has been working with Carina Round, one of our good friends of phenomenal talent, and we really loved the soundscapes he managed to accomplish with both our works.
MR: Live, you have the album cover’s artist, Gary Baseman, creating artwork on stage while you play, emphasizing a performance art element. How does that work and does he have a mission at the start of the performance to create a particular piece or is it spontaneous inspiration?
DS: Gary Baseman is another local LA character, you can tell upon meeting him he has an alternate, very active reality going on in his head. He told us he gets very inspired by our music and I think we often express ourselves in a similar way, expressing dark or heavy subject matter and coating them in loving and attractive ways. Whether it is beautiful harmonies or a lovable, cuddly friend with some serious problems, Gary works on many mediums and we are bringing more and more into the live show. The aim is to invite the audience into our world.
SS: Gary is a genius and a true visionary who lives completely within his art. I think that our music provides him with a soundtrack to his world. When he gets on stage with us to paint, what comes out is about as predictable as our performance… No one really knows what’s going to happen!
MR: How does Claire Acey fit into the mix?
SS: Claire is a fantastic singer and multi-talented individual. She is part of our gang and an invaluable asset to our live performance.
DS: She fits in on the left, or sometimes the right. Either way, we are lucky to have her ethereal presence gracing our stage.
MR: Which brother belongs to “Sarah Beth”?
SS: No one belongs to Sarah Beth. She belongs to us.
DS: Well, the real Sarah Beth is probably soaring into the heart of a hurricane, but she will swoop through the center up to the top like an eagle. We have lost her for now though.
MR: (laughs) What happened during “The Missing Year”?
SS: The missing year was not really a year, just a period of time when Django and I were unable to communicate with each other the way we wanted to.
DS: I have no idea what Sam is talking about, we communicate just fine.
MR: Ah, brothers! (laughs) And what did you do to poor Sonny that you need forgiveness? And Is “bending spoons ’til dawn” a metaphor for something anyone should worry about?
SS: Sonny is an enigmatic little dreamer who means well but does not really accomplish anything despite his big talk. We are asking Sonny for forgiveness for being unable to share his wild vision, because deep down, we wish we could be more like him. No, neither us nor Sonny is on heroin, if that’s what you’re asking.
MR: No, I’m a sci-fi nerd and was a fan of Kreskin.
DS: Sonny is a wild one, but has a very good head on his shoulders. He chats big and means well but forgets to translate the smaller to larger picture.
MR: What advice do you have for new artists?
SS: Don’t play anyone your music until you’re totally happy with it because everyone has an opinion and in the end, it only matters what you think.
DS: Do it because you would love it even if you had nothing left to lose and you were just screaming on a street corner. It’s your soul that song allows you to vocalize, and if it comes from an honest and good place and is purely of your vision and faith, it will take you where you need to go. Also, work harder in every aspect–lyrics, dancing, playing instruments. You can ALWAYS learn more.
MR: Nice. By the way, where is the tour taking you?
SS: Well, we just came back from a short excursion to New York and London, then Chicago for Lollapalooza, which was so much fun. At the moment, we are preparing to record our next EP later this month and planning our next tour of the States.
DS: The tour allowed us to settle on some business options and of course allowed us to reach fans we don’t usually get to play for. This was a great fulfillment for all of us, I think. We made some strong bonds with a couple of bands also like The Belle Brigade who are fantastic.
MR: I love The Belle Brigade, I got to interview them a couple months back, they’re great. Sam, do you miss performing with Blondelle?
SS: I do miss my friends, Will, Rory and Mike. But we’re still very close, so it’s all good. Nightmare and the Cat is too exciting for me to miss being in another band!
DS: I miss watching Blondelle and getting jealous in the crowd!