Slow Children Interview

Are you looking for something a little dif­ferent in the way of popular music? If so, you might want to give a listen to R.C.A. Record­ing Artists Slow Children.

Slow Children is a duo consisting of singer Pal Shazar and singer/guitarist Andrew Chinich. Mad About Town is the title of their latest release, and we spoke with Andrew Chinich about Slow Children and the music business in general.

Q. Pal has stated, "you lose sleep trying to find the perfect song title." Just how import­ant is a song's title in the song's eventual success?
A. What Pal was really referring to in that particular quote is that it's, the lyrics, are a very important part of Slow Children. We come from a background of literary, cine­matic, and artistic endeavors rather than your typical rock 'n' roll, drugs, and sex type of attitude. As much thought goes into our titles as anything else we do. I think that's the essence of that.

Q. Why did you two decide to work together?
A. We just sort of migrated towards each other only because we had very similar interests. If you can imagine being out there in Los Angeles, in the desert, and finding some­body you could relate to, it was really amaz­ing. We started realizing we read the same foreign authors, and that we traveled to the same foreign lands, and that we loved the same foreign films, etc. Pal realized I was very much into music and she started hear­ing some of the things I was doing. We just started working together as friends, and it just grew.

Q. Who do you admire in the music world today?
A. Somebody like David Bowie we look up to just because a person like David Bowie is an artist who is willing to take chance, and go out on a limb. We sort of have that same phil­osophy about our lives and our music. We do new things that haven't been done. There's no point in rehashing what's already been done.

Q. Pal has remarked, "We don't try to be weird."
A. People think we're a little weird here in America, but it's not that we go out of our way to be weird. It’s completely natural. We can't do it any other way.

Q. Back in 1964 John Lennon made the statement, "I don't feel famous, and I certainly don't feel different. I used to think it must be marvelous up there (on stage), but it isn't different. Funny isn't it?" Can you relate to what John's saying here?
A. I can't really empathize with what John says because I don't think anyone can ever attain that kind of popularity again. Being up there on stage and playing for audiences that don't respond to you can be a very horrible feeling, but lately things are different for us when we play now. People are aware of us, and they're thrilled that we're playing. That last show we did, I got off stage with Pal and just said, if I dropped dead tomorrow it would be okay because that was such a pure, spontaneous moment of people enjoying themselves, and doing what you want to do, and people really loving it, that makes life really worthwhile.

Q. Does your girlfriend ever get jealous of the time you have to spend going over material with Pal?
A. She's got her own life to live as well. It’s not a question of jealousy but its just under­standing the person you're with. I've always been doing this and it's really an obsession. Its not like she's secondary in my life, it’s just something that I do, that I am really immersed in. It’s not fun leaving home, going away for months at a time for either one of us, ever, but it has to be done. It’s just the way it is. Life isn't easy sometimes, but if you want to follow your dreams, you've got to sacrifice a lot.