Kristine Capua and Lisle Mitnik, multi-instrumentalists

www.verytrulymusic.com
www.myspace.com/tinymicrophone
home.comcast.net/~lisle.mitnik/fireflies
www.eardrumspop.com/2010/10/10/epop005-tiny-fireflies/

You both play many instruments (guitar, keys, clarinet, voice). What was your original instrument?
Kristine: piano.
Lisle: Like Kristine, I started playing piano at a young age. Unlike her however, I mostly stuck to "the great composers" like Bach. Looking back, I probably played everything at half the speed it really was supposed to be played at. Perhaps, because of this, it's the "largo" type pieces with slowly unraveling melodies that I love these days. Overall, my piano/keyboard skill-set is quite different than Kristine. Where she has much more skill with jazz and blues scales and with electro-mechanical keyboards, my sluggish playing has made my skills more rooted in the synthesizer / organ tradition.

2. How did you two meet and decide to start making music together?

Lisle: We met through a mutual friend of mine in college (in Southern California), who was from Chicago. After finishing school, I moved out here. It took us quite before we actually started making music together, though I suppose it was a somewhat natural process. At first, I mainly was just helping with engineering-related things for her recordings. When The Lorimer Sound needed a drummer, I was a known quantity, and an easy replacement...and it just sort of grew from there. Being that I have a separate outlet for my (sometimes questionable) musical ideas, my goal with our collaborations has always been to try and support her musical endeavors where she feels necessary, rather than to try sail the ship, creatively.
Kristine: It was kind of due to convenience. Lisle likes recording, I like songwriting. Lisle likes playing music, I like performing.

If you could have access to any musician or studio or piece of equipment, what would you want to include on your next album?
Kristine: I'd love to record at the Brill building, with a bunch of French session guys in the 1960's or a turn of the century church.
Lisle: I really love somewhat quirky old gear. I'm not usually a big fan of many modern production techniques and so I have very little interest in acquiring / utilizing equipment which may be "the standard" in modern studios all over the world. My dream would be to have access to a typical late 60's / early 70's small studio with a rack of old Telefunken pre-amps, lots of German mics and a proper dedicated space to record in.

Do you have any hidden talents?
Lisle: While I'm probably no better than your average 11 year old, I do quite like playing Nintendo games, and I'd like to think I'm reasonably OK at them. I could at least probably tell you where most of the heart containers are in any given Zelda game...If only had a talent with more practical real-world applications! Which reminds me, I'm pretty OK with fixing computers as well, but again, probably no better than your average 11 year old. Kids make me pretty obsolete I guess.
Kristine: Not really.

What do you hide under your bed?
Lisle: Old clothes that I'm too sentimental to get rid of, but that I really wouldn't ever wear anymore.
Kristine: Towels and duvet covers.

Kristine's favorite songs:
(listen over here)
1. for getting through a tough day at work - Dirty Dream Number Two: Belle & Sebastian

2. that I was part of the recording - You Disappear: Tiny Microphone

3. classical piece - Mozart Serenade No 10 In B Flat Major

4. to listen to at high volume - Pulled Up: Talking Heads

5. by an mostly or all-female band - Right Now and Not Later: Shangri-Las

6. that has the sound of jingle bells in it - Hit the Snow: Aislers Set

7. from a lesser-known artist - Amy Needs a Vacation: Saharan Gazelle Boy

8. sung in a foreign language - Si Tu Ganges Au Flipper: Chantal Goya

Lisle's favorite songs:
(listen over here)

1. from before 1970: The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning

2. that has the sound of jingle bells in it: Asobi Seksu - Layers
3. in an odd time signature: The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun
4. that I was part of the recording: Tiny Fireflies - Don't Wait Until I Fall Asleep
5. classical piece: Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathetique"
6. by an mostly or all-female band: Tiger Trap - Sour Grass
7. to listen to at high volume: David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
8. in a foreign language: Françoise Hardy - Voilà