Here’s our chat with Sarah from Omaha, Nebraska’s very own Icky Blossoms. We discussed working with Dave Sitek from TVOTR, and other fun stuff. Their self titled album is out now on Saddle Creek Records.

NT: How did the band come together? You guys seem to come from different backgrounds. Nik is a film director, Derek was in Tilly And The Wall, and was Sarah was with another group.

Sarah: Derek and Nik had known each other for awhile through the arts scene in Omaha. Because Nik is into film, he did a bunch of music videos for local bands, including Tilly and the Wall. Nik started playing guitar in Flowers Forever and I moved to Omaha to go to school. They met me through a mutual friend and asked if I would practice with them. So the story goes…

NT: Your new record “Icky Blossoms” was produced by Dave Sitek from Tv On The Radio, how did you guys hook up with him?

Sarah: When we were writing the album we wrote up a list of “dream producers” that we wanted to work with. We sent some emails , made some phone calls, sent out some positive energy and as soon as Dave called us back with a ‘yes’ there was no question—LA BOUND.

NT: The band’s sound is really catchy, yet at the same time a bit experimental. Was this a result of you all bringing different influences to the table, or did you find some different grooves in the studio?

Sarah: I think the sound was born both in and out of the studio. Sitek had a knowledge and a gear collection that were invaluable to us, but we had pretty much established the skeleton of the sound scape before we recorded. Yes, we do have different styles but are all open to trying things outside of our natural realm of thought/style. One thing we tried to focus on while creating each song was what it would sound like in a huge club setting.

NT: Icky Blossoms has built a reputation as a great live band. The crowds seem to really feed of your music and energy. Do you get excited about seeing how people totally react to your music?

Sarah: Oh yeah— our whole goal is to get the crowd moving. If we even get one person to freak out it just amplifies our stage energy even more and it’s this cycle of freaking out with the audience. We all go into our separate worlds on stage but I know for a fact the audience has a huge impact on what kind of world that will be.

NT: Your song “Babes” was described as a “girl-power anthem”, what do you think of that description?

Sarah: I think it’s fitting but it isn’t anti boy-power or anything like that.  Basically it was just a drunk idea that was inspired by one of our many spirit animals, Madonna. The idea developed so quickly we knew we had to run with it. You could generalize it to be about anyone ever around – being a bad ass- and taking care of business .

NT: The video for “Perfect Vision” clocks in at 6:34, it’s more like a short film. How much input did you guys have, was alot of it improvised?

Sarah: We had a lot of impact but when breaking shit is the main focus you can’t really micro manage–all you can say is go fucking ape-shit with this bat and these breakables–channel your child hood dream of destroying your house.  Nik’s directing history and Derek’s visual expertise did play a huge role in the creation of this apocalyptic vignette.

NT: Which five records will you listen to forever?

Sarah: I’m not speaking for Derek or Nik hear but mine can go as such: Broadcast’s “Tender Buttons”, Paul McCartney’s “Ram”,  Pavement’s “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain” , Harry Nilsson’s “The Point”, Siouxie and the Banshees  “Juju” the list could go onnnnnn

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