Fresno Famous

Fresno Famous: Bolex Rex recently recorded an EP now that it is all done, how do you guys feel about it now?

Mark Moore: We recorded a demo EP with our friend Aaron Estes about a year ago? 2 songs turned out good the rest sucked ass...We have really tightened everything up since then, so the songs sound very different.

FF: Are you planning to record again soon? What about a tour?

MM: I really, really want to record...but I want someone else to engineer it (beside me and Pam doing it ourselves) cause I don't know that much about recording. There is a guy with a studio here in Visalia who has promised us recording time, but always gives us the run around...so i think we need to find a new avenue to record....any ideas????

Pam Moore: We have tried to plan tours several times, always seem to fall through or end up as one out of town show.

FF: How did you guys meet?

MM: I was playing in a band called Thumbscrew at a mutual friend's 21st b-day party. Pam was there and was coming onto me the whole time. Then she invited me to smoke some grass and it was all over.

PM: I showed interest...I wasn't exactly showing off my cleavage or anything, he likes to think I was all over him...he also tends to grant himself a little extra flattery...either way, I am happy with the results.

FF: Is it ever strange being married and playing in a band together? Does your personal life ever bleed into the practice studio and into your songs?

MM: Ironically it was a little bit worse when we played in a guitar rock trio called 100 Bucks...our poor bandmate Bryan had to endure many a bicker session in practice...But maybe I have mellowed in my old age but our music feuds tend to be pretty small nowadays. Our personal fights don't really come into play when we are playing music...its almost gotten to be a separate entity when we are playing than when we are "living"

PM: It has made for difficult babysitting situations at times.

FF: Had you guys played in many other bands separately before teaming up?

MM: I have played in a few bands over the years (Bolex Rex is the first where i play keyboards)...I played in a band called Phlegm Candy when I was about 19 or 20...we did mostly Sex Pistols songs and we all played very badly....I was also in a folky guitar and harmony project with 2 others called NRA...all originals and all the songs were about dying and hate and lonesomeness and unrequited love....it sucked.... I played in a band called thumbscrew for a while (it was Super-superchunky) and then when I met Pam we soon began playing in 100 Bucks with our buddy Bryan. 100 bucks was kinda like Modest Mouse, Pavement, BRMC...that sort of thing

PM: I had played drums a couple of times before and new it fit my personality but never had anywhere to play or anyone to play with. When Mark moved up to Humboldt to live with me, he left all his band making friends. I came home one day from school and he was in a side room in our house, playing guitar and he had a drum set too. I didn't want him to get homesick so I would play with him. I was very intimidated and new, he was very supportive and just loved watching me improve...So I guess that's no. Since then, I got the honor of playing backup for Matt Suggs at a friends wedding party, it was weird not playing with Mark for a change, I was insecure all over again, but it was awesomely fun.

FF: How do you write songs? Words first? Music First? Or is it like spontaneous combustion?

MM: Usually when we are getting ready to practice I will warm up and play little improv repetitive jams to get my fingers going...every so often Pam jumps in and starts structuring the jam with her DEF beats....if it is going good we keep it up 'til it falls apart...then we will revisit it and try to dial it into something. Its hard for me sometimes 'cause, in all honesty, I am a crappy keyboard player, and it is EXTREMELY difficult to remember the top key part and the bottom key part and the foot pedal part...so our songs are like minor miracles if they make it to life.

FF: Is there a lot of collaboration in your work?

MM: yep. Pam does whatever on drums because her style is so freaking rad....sometimes I get to the end of a song and wonder how in the hell she came up with some jazz fill in the middle of a 4/4 march beat, but she does it! She has her own style for sure. She comes up with her own singing parts too. I write the words and the key parts... So every finished song is 50% her 50%me.

FF: Does anyone hold veto power when it comes to songwriting?

MM: No...not really...sometimes I will say lets drop this song from the set or vice versa, but it really is a 50/50 project with us.

PM: We hear each other a little more objectively than we hear ourselves, so it helps us improve each other's parts if we have ideas or concerns. Just about every song has pieces that either one of us may have added.

FF: Do you think you guys work well together?

MM: Yes. We have played together for so long that we can follow each other easily. And I think our styles meld well together...I like playing dark, heavy droning and she likes playing spastic jangle pop...the result is pretty original, I think.

PM: That sounds scary to me, but it's fun. Playing together all these has created an interesting band language that I recently realized others don't follow sometimes.

FF: Bolex Rex is a type of camera or lens or something (I think). Does film play a role in your songwriting? How did it end up as the band name?

MM: I was a Film Production student at Humboldt State. There was one 16mm camera that everyone hated except me, so i never had to worry about it being checked out if i needed to film something. That camera was our trusty Bolex Rex. I shot my entire Senior project on it. When we were naming our band the name just popped into the discussion as i was so immersed in film at the time...it stuck right away. I don't think my experience in film effects my songwriting, except for the fact that they both come from some creative part of me.

FF: Of the two members in the band, who is the most camera shy?

MM: I would say that we are both equal...although we are definitely NOT camera hogs....I wouldn't say we shun the camera

PM: It's a litter harder for me if I know it's on...

FF: Who's the better singer?

MM: coin flip, but neither of us are very good!

PM: couldn't put it better