A few weeks back, igDana was listening to Audioasis and heard local band Mono in VCF play live. She liked what she heard, so she contacted the band via My Space, and an interview followed shortly thereafter.

Mono in VCF is a five-piece from south of our fair Seattle city, consisting of Jason Falk (drums), Mike Krushka (guitar), Hunter Lea (keys and guitar), Jordan Luckman (bass), and Charles Perales (vocals). igDana caught up with Hunter, Jordan, and Charles before their recent Vera show with LongView and Love Hotel.

See what they had to say, and remember: the Mono in VCF EP release show is this Saturday, April 30 at El Corazon {with Common Heroes, Mon Frere, The Phenomenauts, and Mortimer}. The show is early and all-ages, with Mono in VCF going on around 4:30.

Hey there, Mono in VCFers. How's it going?

Jordan: Quite well thank you!

Hunter: Tired, just played Bremerton last night. No sleep.

Are you all coffee drinkers? What's your favorite coffee drink?

Charles: Yes. Caramel Frappachino.

Jordan: I drink coffee usually when I need to kill time.

Locally, who brews up the best one?

Charles: I dunno.

Jordan: I had a brew from Uptown on 4th a couple weeks ago and was very impressed.

Hunter: Starbucks, cold coffee only. Every time I get a hot coffee anywhere, it's either magma-hot or lukewarm.

The Voltage Control EP is your first release, right? What about it makes you most proud? Do you have plans for a full-length in your near future? 

Jordan: Yes, The Voltage Control EP is our first release. I'm probably most proud of the first track "Modern Nocturne" and the artwork. Hunter hated the cover art at first, arguing it was too simple, but then Charles and I convinced him on it.

I'm also proud of how hard we worked on it and that we're finally getting something into stores. It's been a long time coming. Weve h'ad the songs for too long. We don't necessarily have plans to record a full-length record, but if we get a record deal off this EP we'll certainly be thinking more about what we're going to do then.

Charles: For me it was writing the melody for "Modern Nocturne" in a stressed, limited amount of time.

Hunter: I'm proud that the sound quality is pretty good. It was recorded in our bedrooms. We have no specific plans for a full-length yet. We have the songs ready for an album, but first we're just going to see how the EP does.

Your website lists many bands you've played with before. Who was the best band to play with?

Hunter: We always love playing with Idiot Pilot. Also, The Turn-Ons are great to play shows with.

Jordan: We have loved being on a bill with bands like The Turn-Ons, Idiot Pilot, Kuma and our friends from Tacoma, The Elephants who are quite good.

Who would you be completely awed to share a bill with one day in the future?

Charles: PJ Harvey.

Hunter: I would be completely awed to share the bill with David Bowie, Radiohead, U2, Lee Hazlewood, Pulp, or Portishead.

Jordan: If we could share a bill with any band around today, for me it'd be Portishead or maybe Depeche Mode or something. They'd waste us but it'd be a dream.

You're all cute fellas. Do you have any super fans or stalkers yet? If so, share an experience with us. 

Jordan: Nope, no super fans or stalkers really. Just some crazy chicks that enjoy the mysteriousness of Charles. His voice is seductive and that's about all the girls know. He's a tough guy to get to know but he's a nice guy once you do get to know him.

Charles: I'm not. The only stalkers I have are Helen Keller types.

Hunter: We're hoping to get the Three Imaginary Girls to stalk us!

Ahh, cool. That could probably be arranged; I have an in with those girls. But first tell me: who are your musical influences?

Charles: John Barry, The Verve, Radiohead, Thomas Newman, The Doors.

Hunter: The Beatles, David Bowie, Scott Walker, Phil Spector, Ennio Morricone, Serge Gainsbourg, Radiohead, Kraftwerk, and Lee Hazlewood, to name a few.

Jordan: Too many influences really. It all stems from The Beatles and then goes through U2, The Verve, Radiohead and so many other bands.

Who have you been listening to lately?

Charles: Interpol, The Verve, John Barry, Queens of the Stone Age.

Hunter: I've been listening to a lot of Dave Clark 5 and Donovan.

Jordan: For me it's been New Order's new disc, The Arcade Fire, and Talk Talk.

How about locally — who have you been digging lately?

Jordan: Locally I don't pay much attention. We just received the Turn-Ons' East, which I like.

Hunter: I've been listening to Elliot Smith, if you count that as local.

If any band in Seattle were gonna be huge superstars one day, who would it be, and why? (and yes, you can name yourselves)

Charles: I have no idea.

Jordan: Well Idiot Pilot is on the way, aren't they? I think Mon Frere could do some cool things. Hopefully us, if people take note of the EP and radio likes it enough. I think we're doing something different than anything in Seattle right now and I hope we can get people interested with this first release.

Hunter: I agree with Jordan.

If you were on a boat with Thom Yorke and Richard Ashcroft and both fell overboard, but you had only one life preserver ring, who would you save?

Jordan: You could ask Charles on that one. That'd be more difficult for him. I'd save Thom Yorke although I love them both. Ashcroft has lost it with his latest solo album but he's still great. who would you save, and why? 

Charles: Neither. I'd render the preserver useless and then I'd call it a day.

Hunter: That's a tough one. I like Thom Yorke's music more, but that doesn't do me much good on a boat. I think Richard Ashcroft would be easier to get along with. I choose Richard Ashcroft if he promised to not sing any of the songs off of his last solo album.

What's it like living in Tacoma?

Jordan: It's okay. We didn't necessarily choose it over Seattle in any way. Last year we were planning to move out of our houses in Puyallup and Tacoma was more in our price range. Now we get flak from Tacoma bands saying, "Why don't you just move to Seattle?"

Charles: It's like living in Chehalis.

Hunter: I think it's like living in a geo dome. Permanent rain, the industrial gotham city feeling, and that smell. I feel like we are all test subjects in a gloomy controlled atmosphere. But I like it.

Do you hate it when people from Seattle ask, "What's it like, living in Tacoma?"

Jordan: No, it's fine. But I don't think there really is much of a difference. I mean, when anyone outside of Seattle asks us where we're from we tell them Seattle. I certainly prefer Seattle, but I don't look at it as a problem that we began in Tacoma. There are the few indie kids that want to talk shit about us because we want to do bigger things than just stay where we started.

Hunter: I don't really consider us a Tacoma band, I consider us a band from the Northwest. We all grew up in Puyallup. We've only been Tacoma residents for a year.

Charles: I hate it when people from Parkland ask what's it like to live in Tacoma.

What's the Mono in VCF five-year plan? 

Charles: To eat three meals a day.

Hunter: Things I would like to do in the next five years include: playing Europe and Japan, recording at Abbey Road Studios, getting to meet and play live with some of my idols, and most importantly, making good music.

Jordan: Our five-year plan would be to get at least a larger independent deal within one year, record our debut album, tour for it, and repeat. We'd want to tour Europe because I think people would especially enjoy it over there. After that, anything would be icing. I just think that the songs must be heard and are good enough to be on radio all over the world.

When you were on KEXP, you explained the origins of your band name really well. I hate to ask you to repeat it, but I think the imaginary readers would like to know. That said — tell me about your band name.

Jordan: Hunter can answer this one best.

Hunter: Basically, the name is the combination of our influences. Charles is really into the late 70's/early 80's sleek Roxy Music, David Bowie, and John Barry albums, and I really love 60's pop a la The Kinks. VCF stands for voltage control filter from a synth. Imagine the mono records of Phil Spector put through a Moog synth, kind of a collision between two eras. "Mono in VCF"

MySpace or Friendster? 

Jordan: Myspace is much better. It's gotten huge since we first signed up over a year ago. It's a great place for bands and it makes me think, why does Pure Volume even exist?

Yeah, we love our MySpace account. We may or may not have communicated with Graham Coxon through it, and that excites us. Anyhow, what do you think: HoHos or Yodels?

Jordan: That's tough, but I'd go with HoHos I suppose.

Charles: Ho's or models? What kind of question is that?

An irreverent one.

Hunter: I prefer crumb donettes or tiger tails.

Delicious! Now tell the nice people in imaginary-land where they can buy your EP, and where they can see you play live in the near future.

Charles: Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle.

Anyone have a more specific answer...?

Hunter: I'm going to let Jordan handle this question. He's the business mogul.

Jordan: Let's see, we're consigning the EP in both Tower Records (U-District, the one near Queen Anne), both Easy Street locations, all Sonic Booms, all Silver Platters, and other record shops in between too. It'll also be on iTunes and other digital services within a month or so. We'll be doing our Seattle EP release on Saturday, April 30 at El Corazon with Common Heroes and Mon Frere. All-ages, $8. We're on first at 4:30pm. Buy our EP discounted to $5.00.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Jordan: Thank you, Imaginary Girls. You're doing good things and we're delighted to be included.

Thank YOU Mono in VCF. Have a kick-ass CD release show on April 30th! We expect big imaginary things from you!