Here’s another interview, which never made it to print. It was a phoner conducted back in January. I have to say, both Inara and Greg were lovely and their record is fantastic….
At first glance, American duo The Bird And The Bee might appear to be just another two dudes who are too cool for school, but one look at their CV will show you how serious they are about music.
Inara George is the daughter of the late, great Lowell George, of Little Feat fame and Greg Kurstin is one of the hottest producers and keyboard players around, having worked on hits for Lily Allen, Beck and Kylie Minogue, among others.
They might not be the likeliest pairing in the world, but together they are creating some of the greatest and sweetest pop music at the moment. The Bird And The Bee have taken the best of 60s pop and bossa nova, and melted them together with modern beats to create a truly unique sound. Lounge music has never sounded so hip and so Californian.
Their first self-titled album in January 2007 on Blue Note Records created a real buzz, and several EPs and collaborations with other artists later, they are back with a new CD Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future.
Their first CD has a strong bossa-nova feel, but with Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future they have expanded their shaken-not-stirred James Bond-esque sound even further.
Inara’s sweeter-than-sugar voice continues to soar, enveloped in Greg’s arrangements, but despite their credentials, Greg says he can’t tell which songs will become hits.
“I can never tell,” he insists. “It always amazes me. It’s always the last song I would have thought would be a hit. It’s so difficult to know. I really don’t have a clue as to which song will be well received.”
The brilliantly titled ‘Love Letter To Japan’ has already been released as a single from their second CD to great acclaim.
“We didn’t see ‘Love Letter To Japan’ coming at all,” says Inara. “We weren’t even sure it was going to be on the record. “
It is unlikely to be the last single from the record, which also boasts ‘Diamond Dave’, a tribute to the legend that is Mr David Lee Roth.
“I love Dave,” says Inara. “It’s weird that I know someone’s full career, but as I kid I thought he was pretty cool. His solo stuff was so over the top and theatrical. After he reunited with Van Halen, I thought it was appropriate to give him an ode to David Lee Roth,” she laughs.
“I think he really liked it,” she adds. “We wanted him to be in a video with us, but he couldn’t make it, so instead he sent us a yellow top hat that he wore on the last tour with Van Halen and an autographed photo of him wearing the hat.”
Two of the record’s songs ‘Polite Dance Song’ and ‘Birthday’ have both appeared on EPs. Sadly, their cover of the Bee Gees’ classic ‘How Deep Is Your Love’, that appeared on the soundtrack to the film Sex In The City didn’t make the cut for the new album.
“We have played that sung live since the beginning, even before we had finished the first record,” says Inara. “We had audiences of 50 people and it was an interesting cover to do. I had to think about how to sing it. I think The Bee Gees actually went higher in terms of the male register than I do as a female. Their range was amazing. I think once you have covered a song a number of times it becomes your own. At some point, you just jump in.”
Greg and Inara first met while working on her debut CD All Rise in 2006 and bonded over their love of jazz standards, and they have been writing and performing ever since.
“I was just playing keyboards and piano on that record,” recalls Greg. “My friend Mike Andrews, who was the producer of that record, introduced us. “
“I think we were excited about what we came up with together,’ says Inara. “What’s great about this is that things have been defined as time goes on, like dressing up for shows or the photo shoots. We’ve made decisions as questions were proposed to us. It all happened naturally. “
In between releasing two albums, three EPs and the odd extra track on iTunes, Inara and Greg have also found time individually to work with other artists.
Last year, she sang one of her father’s songs ‘Trouble’ on the Little Feat album Join The Band and Inara also released An Invitation with Van Dyke Parks.
“It was amazing working with him,” she says. He is a very eccentric person, very loveable, very knowledgeable and extremely funny. It’s an entire experience just to spend time with him. I’ve known him my whole life.
“He was some amazing stories of people he’s worked with. People in the music business really respect him and I can understand why. He takes things really seriously and he understands music in a way that not many people do. “
And Greg also found time to work with the shy, retiring Lily Allen on her second album It’s Not Me, It’s You, which has also just been released. Ms Allen may be a regular in the tabloids, but he was full of praise for her, having first worked with Lily on her first album Allright, Still.
Looking back to when he first met Lily, Greg said: “I had been working in England, producing different things, and I knew her A&R person. He said he had this girl and did I want to listen to her. It was before it got crazy with her on MySpace. I met her and we tried to write a song together. I liked what we did. She came over to LA after that it all happened to her.
“I think she’s great,” said Greg. “As far as pop artists go, she is definitely one of my favourites. Lyrically, she has such an interesting point of view. There are a lot of artists who play really good pop songs and sing them, but she has just such an individual way of doing things. I don’t know anyone quite like her. I think she’s a great singer too. She is definitely recognisable and she has opened up a door for a lot of other people.”
The retro lounge sound of The Bird And The Bee is also matched by their image. In all three videos they have shot, Inara and Greg have sported a series of suitably stylish outfits.
“I only have two suits that I wear in the videos and both were freebies,” Greg laughs. “I just wear the same dark suit in every photo. I don’t know. Inara definitely has more variety than I do. “
“I like to look through old photos and think about ways of incorporating ideas from the past,” says Inara. “I have some amazing fashion photos from the 60s and 70s. It’s fun to recreate them and do your own take on them. Photo shoots can be really harrowing, unless you have a real focus. Sometimes getting dressed up makes it more fun, otherwise we’re just standing in front of a brick wall trying to look cool.”
Sadly, Lowell George passed away when Inara was quite young, but what does she think the man behind such songs as ‘Rock And Roll Doctor’ and ‘Fatman In The Bathtub’ would make of The Bird And The Bee.
‘I think he’d like it,’ says Inara. ‘Van Dyke Parks really loves The Bird And The Bee. All of his peers have really enjoyed it. In his time, the Bee Gees were the least hip thing ever, but now we look back at them in a different way. “ JH
The next issue of R2 (formerly Rock N Reel) will be out next week and features a couple of features by myself.
My review of the classic Daredevil series ‘Born Again’ is now live at Den Of Geek. You can read it 