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Publication: mtvU.com
Title: The Hot Seat -- Featured Artist: Meg & Dia
Original URL: http://www.mtvu.com/music/the_hot_seat/
Meg and Dia Frampton were raised on a steady diet of radio rock by their DJ dad in Draper, Utah. Over the years, the girls divided their time between singing in county fairs, learning guitar and playing in high school bands, where they honed their edgy singer-songwriter style. After separating briefly during their college years, Meg and Dia reunited in Salt Lake City, added a second guitarist and a drummer and recorded their first album, Our Home Is Gone. Within a year the sister act was signed to Doghouse Records, they recorded a new ep and they headlined the MySpace stage on the Warped Tour.
We turned the mtvU Hot Seat into a settee and sat the pair down for our usual chat...
Q & A with Meg & Dia
Q: Tell us about your craziest touring experience.
Meg: The entire Warped Tour experience forever changed my perspective on tours. Before that we had done smaller scale tours that we booked ourselves. We drove two days and a night to arrive in Maryland the day before the "circus" started. The production trucks, band buses, crew and bands began arriving. Quickly the vast empty field became so crowded with amped individuals, any and all forms of transportation, tents and stages, there was hardly a square foot of pavement to put down our suitcases. The first day we had to relocate our equipment four or five times just to be out of the way. You can just imagine us green little rockers all sweaty and pouty on the first day after dragging our amps and setting up the tents that first day.
Our tour manager, a veteran of Warped tour, laughed and displayed a curious smile whenever he saw our eyes become wide or when we asked stupid questions. We had no idea what the summer would hold for us. Needless to say, we didn't come out of this tour "green" ... we came out of it all in more of shades of brown and red, with flip-flop tan lines, slightly more defined limbs, a greater tolerance for six packs and a forever changed perspective of being on the road.
Dia: When we were on the Warped Tour, we accidentally got screwed [on] $20,000 because the bus company that we ordered [from] didn't actually exist. That's right! It was a bogus company that took our down payment and ran with it. We ended up hitching rides with generous other bands for a couple days until we found a new bus to share. For a while we were known by all the "Warptourians" as the "homeless band.
Q: What type of college class would you most want to take and why?
Meg: Aside from courses having to do with music being offered at say... Berkeley, I would love to take philosophy. I did take a few philosophy courses from some amazing professors while I was going to school. Philosophy is the basis of knowledge. Knowledge is life. Without a full understanding of the basics everything after that can never be as clear.
I read about classes that Aristotle or Plato taught. Whoever wanted to listen would simply come sit in front of these brilliant individuals. The philosophers would just speak and everyone would hold discussions. I can imagine the wind blowing in the students hair as olive leaves are weaved in between fidgety fingers and grapes are being passed around the circle. Sounds amazing to me.
Of course, the classes offered now would be sans olive leaves and grapes on silver trays but the classes wouldn't be any less enchanting.
Dia: I would like to take English or Creative Writing because I love literature, books, and poetry and would like to expand my knowledge on the subjects.
Q: What city in America is the most fun to visit and why?
Meg: The pace and scent of New York City can be a bit overwhelming to most of us Middle American folks, but I still dub it my number one. Everyone always talks and writes about New York City, so I was already extremely curious before I had the opportunity to go there. There are piles and piles of heritage, history and culture crammed into that place. It's busy. Busy with completely different individuals, ideas, architecture. Not only can it boast Broadway, incredible pizza, coffee and the Statue of Liberty, it is a breeding ground for great song ideas. Hell, last time I visited I wished I would have slipped a notebook and pen into my purse before our evening stroll because even the New York City bathroom stalls speak volumes about life.
Dia: I would have to say New York. Not only is it home to amazing restaurants and music venues, but it also has many different Broadway productions going on all the time. I have been listening to [musicals] ever since I was little, and it would be amazing to live in the heart of it all. New York just has so much culture to it.
Q: What's some of the best advice you were ever given?
Meg: Somebody once told me about the "10 year" rule. It said something along the lines of: You can't ever just be amazing at something. It takes years and years (10 years in fact, and it has scientific basis) of consistent practice to get to be a master. And not just any type of practice. For example you can't just hit a golf ball 300 times and call it good for a night. You have to concentrate on everything that goes into that swing and then analyze it EVERY TIME.
I love advice like this because it's not like: "Oh, so you haven't practiced in eight months? Well, that's fine, it's all in the mindset. Just try to get it in your HEAD that you'll do good and you will." Ugh! That sounds reassuring... NOT!
Dia: One time when I was having a really hard time adjusting to becoming the person I wanted to become, my friend looked me square in the eyes and said, "Just become." He didn't say anything else, and I never asked him to enlighten me. It made perfect sense at the time and still does. Whenever I start to feel [the] mounting pressure of things that I need to "portray" to other people, I imagine myself far down the line, and see where I am and what I am representing by just being me.
Q: What's in heavy rotation in your mp3/CD player right now?
Meg: John Mayer's new record and Cursive's Happy Hollow.
Dia: So many different things, but mostly Cursive's new record, Happy Hollow, as well as Mew's And the Glass Handed Kites. Jimmy Eat World, Danny Elfman and The Mars Volta are also in heavy rotation.
Q: The last good book you read or TV show you're addicted to?
Meg: Book, Forever Amber.
Dia: I am quite addicted to all Ernest Hemingway books and I honestly don't think I'll ever overcome that addiction.
Q: What's the first concert you ever saw and how was it?
Meg: Jimmy Eat World. I've never been so utterly consumed. (It was also the first time I went crowd surfing.)
Dia: The first legitimate concert I ever saw was Jimmy Eat World and The Promise Ring playing on the Plea For Peace tour. It was amazing and I still remember being in absolute awe of Jimmy Eat World.
Q: What are three items you can't live without on tour?
Meg: Blank paper, water and underwear.
Dia: Pictures of my family and friends tucked away in my journal... which leads to the next item: my journal. And last, but not least, my favorite pink pillow with an embroidered monster eating a kid on it.
Q: Who are your major musical influences?
Meg: Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eat World, Queen, Paul Simon, Death Cab For Cutie.
Dia: I would definitely have to say Danny Elfman and Queen. My dad listened to a lot of Queen when I was younger so it always kind of stuck in my head. I also really look up to Cursive and Sufjan Stevens.
Q: Any random messages or tips you'd like to give to mtvU watchers?
Meg: Everyone has bad, boring, depressing days sometimes, no matter who you are or what you do. Go grab a couple of cheesy, mind numbing movies and a bucket of mint chocolate ice cream. Watch them, drown yourself, relax. Wake up the next day and smile because you really do love being alive and would never give up the game.
Dia: Don't drink and drive. It's absolutely ridiculous. You can fall in love many times, so don't waste time over a broken heart. Life happens once. |
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