Q To The A With The Submarines & Jay Sweet

posted in: Artist Features • Exclusive Interviews • Features • Pop

The Submarines are widely recognizable for their jangling pop single,”You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie,” used in the recent iPhone 3G commercial. Others may know them as the artist-turned-producer and singer-songwriter from Boston who fell in love while working on an album, moved to California and started a band. The love story of Jack Dragonetti (a.k.a Jack Drag) and Blake Hazard (a.k.a. great grand daughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald) is really the bittersweet muse of The Submarines. The story goes that the couple broke up shortly after moving out West but Blake continued to record in Dragonetti’s home studio. The duo soon realized that the new songs that they were each writing were filled with sadness and longing for one another. They decided to rekindle their musical relationship which lead to The Submarines and eventually to marriage.

Jay Sweet recently sat down with the lovely Blake Hazard and asked her a few questions about how her solo career influenced her current project and asked her what advise she had for her fellow indie artists.

JS: Before you two formed The Submarines you were both involved in other musical endeavors, i.e. bands, solo projects, composing, producing. etc. What did you learn from that period of time that helped make The Submarines more “successful”?

BH: There have been plenty of frustrations along the way, to be sure, leading up to our becoming The Submarines. We both played in clubs locally, toured nationally and overseas some, and felt things weren’t building quite as we’d hoped. I suppose spending all that time struggling and “paying your dues” can have an amazing flip-side: if you come out the other end with your cynicism in check and still just love making music, you’ve won”no matter how great or small the reward. Not being devastated by every little (or big) thing that doesn’t go as you’d hoped is a helpful result of having spent a lot of time working. We’ve also learned to celebrate the things that do go well.

JS: It seems like your label, Nettwerk, is very progressive when it comes to generating opportunities for it’s artists; I know you have been with other “major” labels, can you explain why Nettwerk has been a good match for The Submarines?

BH: Nettwerk, as a label, has been very adaptive and forward-thinking. They’re always experimenting with different approaches and it seems that’s really served them well in the sort of natural selection process. Terry once told us he only works with people he wants to work with, and who want to work with him and the label”that they’d never keep a band who wanted “out.” As far as I know, most majors don’t operate that way. People who feel they’re working together by choice will usually have a better result. There are also just some great people there, whose company we enjoy.

JS: Knowing what you have learned in the last decade or so in the music business, what would you tell yourself if you were just starting a career in today’s environment?

BH: First, stay in school, if you can! That environment can be so electric”you may never have the time and resources to mess around creatively while being intellectually stimulated that way again. Savor the hell out of that, then throw yourself into your art 100 percent. I’ve spent a lot of time second-guessing, trying to be reasonable and brace for failure, and I don’t think it’s helped a bit.

JS: I know The Submarines are in the studio recording the next project. What are some of the things you are most excited about with the new material? What do you believe is the best way to get the word out about your music?

BH: The shock of the new! Just playing around with something, a melody, some chord changes, until it suddenly takes shape is still really exciting to me. When I write a song or a part, I always think it could be the last one. Collaborating with John and hearing his instrumental ideas for the first time knocks me out and we’ve been going a bit bigger, sonically. I love not worrying about what will happen with these songs when we’re finished. There’s a force field around the studio blocking out any thoughts of the business side of things right now.

JS: Where do you discover new artists?

BH: I spend time on MySpace, chasing connections between bands and music I like to find things they like. I look at blogs occasionally, too. But, friends have sent me me recent favorites, like Noah and the Whale’s “First Day of Spring” and Sam Amidon. John’s a bit better at seeking out new music. I linger with one record I love for a much longer time.