Low

by Squid

Low is a very interesting group of people. Read on to find out more, but their music is definately worth checking out. Be sure to see them live whenever you can.

RAD: Where are you from?
mimi: Duluth, Minnesota.
RAD: Have you always lived there?
mimi: No, we haven't always lived there. Zak grew up there, and we've been there the last 8 years or so. it's home.
RAD: So have you just had two albums out?
mimi: Yeah.
RAD: How did things get started for Low?
alan: Mimi and I are married, and we started doing songs, and we met someone else who we thought would be interested in playing those kind of songs. So we just started playing in the basement, mostly for fun and maybe to bother people or something.
RAD: In what way did it bother people?
alan: Its so slow and quiet, we thought it would really annoy people.
RAD: So is that your name?
alan: Sometimes.
mimi: Mostly not...
alan: Mostly not, no. But originally we thought it would bother people, and we were pretty excited about that because we really didn't think this was going to be anything. It was just something to do.
RAD: How did you make it onto a record label? How did you get a recording deal?
alan: We recorded a tape of some songs and sent it to some people in the business. It wasn't so much of, "hey, give us money." It was more just, "hey, we like what you do. Here is some of our stuff and listen to it, and then laugh and throw it away" kind of thing. But one of them was Kramer, who liked us and invited us out to record at his studio. They passed on the tape to Vernon Yard; there's Brooks, she wanted us to be on their record company, doing records.
RAD: And so...
alan: So they and we went and got a lawyer, and then a lot of paper was wasted.
RAD: But you are happy were you are.
alan: Yeah, yeah it's very nice. They don't put a lot of pressure on us to be big hit makers, which is good because we're not. It's nice that they recognize that. But yeah, they kind let us do what we want, more or less, much like an independent would do. Yeah we like it there, they are nice to us.
RAD: Do people ever fall asleep while they are watching you, your live shows?
mimi: Sometimes they close their eyes, so I don't know.
RAD: Does anyone try to mosh, start a pit going?
alan: Yes they do, all the time.
mimi: No, they don't.
alan: They do.
mimi: They yell...the yell thing is big.
alan: We have not had any stage divers yet; our first stage diver gets a prize.
RAD: What kind of people do you attract to your shows?
mimi: Oh well.
alan: All kinds.
mimi: All the way from...
alan: ...13 year old pot-smoking kids to 50 year old judges, literally. It's quite a range of people, it's not a specific crowd. We get the whole...
mimi: ...gamut.
alan: A few people from everywhere which is good because if were attracting a certain crowd, then we would be doomed to either be by them or follow them all the time.
RAD: What were you doing before you happened to get a recording contract?
mimi: Working menial jobs.
RAD: ...like waitressing, garbage man...?
mimi: I was working in a department store.
alan: I was the master of driving. I was a courier for an office in town, just drove around all day building up mileage on my truck. Zak, what did you do before you were in Low?
zak: Made T-shirts.
RAD: So did you make this one you are wearing?
zak: I wish.
RAD: What does it say?
alan: Help stamp out gringo food.
RAD: That is an important cause.
zak: Everyone has got one.
RAD: I hope you'll indulge me in this rumor. I've heard that you are Mormon?
mimi: We are, alan and I.
RAD: Like you are not chain smoking and drinking?
mimi: No, no, no.
RAD: Do you get a lot of crap for it?
mimi: No, not really at all.
alan: Not really. To be honest with you, Salt Lake is the only place I feel uncomfortable about being a Mormon.
RAD: Which is kind of an irony.
mimi: Yeah, isn't it?
alan: Yeah, pretty much every magazine, everyone has got some kind of anti-mormon agenda underneath everything they do. C'mon, get over it. But I don't suppose anyone knows who we are here. If we were famous and it came out that we were Mormon, then it would become an issue, I suppose.
RAD: They would start comparing you with the Osmonds. And that one guy that does Ford commercials that used to do milk commercials, that was Father Murphy...
hannibal: Oh Merlin Olsen.
mimi: Merlin Olsen, yeah, TV man.
RAD: Back to more music oriented questions. What music do you guys listen to? I know I'm asking a very typical question, but its always interesting to find out.
alan: All kinds of stuff. We listen to anything but modern contemporary country.
RAD: You wish you didn't say much and you were slow. Why be called "Low?" Is there any reason?
alan: It was just a real simple word that described a lot of the things I guess about what we were doing. Low quality, low morals, low standards. No, I don't know, low speed, low volume, and low ambition. Yeah, low ambition...
zak: Low expectations.
alan: Yeah, that's a good one. No expectations of any of this.
RAD: So, are there certain things we'll experience hearing you live as opposed to just on the CD?
mimi: Less effects.... don't expect a big production or a lot of movement.
alan: Not a lot movement, that's for sure. And you get to see our smiling faces. And Zak's butt.
RAD: We get to see Zak's butt, his naked butt???!!!!
alan: He plays with his pants around his knees.
zak: If all goes well, no one will see my naked butt again.
mimi: He stopped doing that a while back.
RAD: Are you going to keep very minimal in your sound?
mimi: Mostly I would say...
alan: ...there is always stuff to try, but we don't have any big plans of cracking out any new stuff or adding stuff. We still see a lot of possibilities using what we have. I don't know.
mimi: We are writing new songs...
alan: ...and they feel good.
RAD: So do you have any philosophies about your music?
mimi: Less is more.
zak: Less is less, trim the fat.
alan: Take out the trash, skin the cat, leave the campsite cleaner then when you found it. We like to explore the minimal, it's our corner of the world.
RAD: Who would you like to tour with, who would your band go well with?
alan: We want to tour with Nick Cave, and godheadsilo.