The ‘Spray Q&A - Oh No! Oh My!

It's rare for us to get excited about anything much here, so when Oh No! Oh My! blindsided us with their magical tunes, we staggered about for a few minutes before falling over in a dribbling heap.

The recently self-released Oh No! Oh My! album is one of those rare treasures - a collection of pop songs so heart-burstingly pretty that you end up torn between wanting to keep it your special secret and wanting to yammer on to the whole world about it until everyone likes it as much as you do.

In Walk In The Park, Oh No! Oh My! have crafted one of the most perfect summer pop songs we think we've ever heard, a song which is already soundtracking every single TV commercial in a number of parallel universes. And Oh No! Oh My! are unsigned, a fact that keeps us awake at night.

We caught up with Oh No! Oh My! to discuss pirates, zombies and loving girls that don't love you…

Who are you, and where are you?
(General statement from everyone): Oh No! Oh My! is Greg Barkley, Daniel Hoxmeier and Joel Calvin. We just moved from Austin TX to Nashville TN. The reason we moved was because Greg and Daniel are going to an Audio Engineering school until the end of September. After that we don't know where were gonna be. Thinking about Portland. Who knows?

Describe yourselves for us, would you?
Daniel: A little bit happy, a little bit sad… a little bit hungry… a little bit mad.

Hey, didn't you used to be called The Jolly Rogers? Why did you change your name - was it because pirates are shit?
Greg: Well I think we came to the realisation that Samurai are cooler. But we couldn't think of a clever name about Samurai, so we settled with Oh No! Oh My! That and there were at least 37 bands with The Jolly Rogers as their name.
(Daniel notes that most of these bands are comprised of 40-year-old men that like to dress in drag.)

The Internet is flipping out about Oh No! Oh My! How has this affected the band in real life?
Greg: None whatsoever. We won't really see any difference until girls start throwing themselves at us.

Daniel: Which we're anticipating to happen… any day now. Is the internet flipping, really?

Greg: It'd be nice to someday get to the point to when someone cuts in front of me in line for the theatre to look appalled and say "Do you know who I am?!" then have the guy thrown out.

Daniel: Hopefully its a really good movie… and he'll be extremely disappointed that he missed out on a such an amazingly spectacular… and even more disappointed that he missed out on seeing it with such awesomely cool guys like us… especially since we like amazingly cool movies.

Walk In The Park is just about the catchiest thing these ears have ever heard. There's mention of it being "a nice day for a drive-by shooting." What would be the ideal conditions for a drive-by?
Greg: Sunny. Sunny sunny sunny. We don't condone random acts of violence.

Daniel: Hopefully in a very hilly park, with very green green grass, and a nice little dirt path going along the sides of the hills. With college girls with big rimmed glasses walking their dogs, kids flying kites, a man selling balloons, and lots of smiles to go all around. It should be so nice, that the man doing the shooting tips his top hat as he peaks his head and tommy gun out the window of his black, tinted-window SUV. He would most likely be wearing sunglasses, as the sun is so bright, and would need the extra eye protection having just rolled down the tinted windows, and his eyes can't adjust that fast, so in order to better see the man talking to the college girls, who he's about to shoot. And most likely the man about to be shot while talking to the college girls, would have a bigger smile than everyone else. In short… lots of mutual smiling going around.

You're big friends with The Robot Ate Me. What's that all about?
Daniel: I wouldn't say big friends… I'm a big fan. A Mucho Grande Fan. It's because of my fandom that I asked him to master our CD, and in turn, we're also playing a show with him now… so its like one small dream of mine come true. He's a very nice person, Ryland, and I'm looking forward to meeting him, as well as being super nervous about playing our music in front of him…

A woman has five potatoes to feed three children - how can she give them equal portions without fractions?
Greg: Mashed potatoes with gravy.

Daniel: Kill two of the children.

Joel: I eat all the potatoes.

You're releasing a single in England soon - does that mean you'll be flying over and playing here any time soon?

Greg: Possibly. There are whispers and rumours floating around the dark streets at night, but nothing is finalised.

Daniel: Time will tell. I think it would also depend on how well the single sells… so… people should buy it… a lot.

Preach about something you love (not related to the band) in 100 words.
Greg: I love Zombie moves. Its probably borderline unhealthy. I've seen every zombie movie worth noting so if anybody knows of any good unknown zombie movies let me know. I'm hoping someday I'll have enough money to finance my own zombie movie. It'll most likely be a blood-bath without the slightest room for any sort of plot. I saw V for Vendetta last night, and the part they played Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, where the cannons go off the buildings blow up gave me the idea of playing that song while somebody shoots a zombie with a shotgun, and when the cannons go off their heads blow up. It'll be awesome.

Daniel: I love girls that don't love me. And that pisses me off. x8.33 (to equal 100 words)

Joel: I love new inventions. I think its awesome that with all the technology we have today there are still people out there that want to feel important. So they invent the craziest stuff that you would never use in real life but they sell them on late night infomercials and because you are half awake half asleep you are convinced that you need it. But there is this one invention that i think is ingenious. It's a toaster but it also cooks an egg and ham at the same time as the toast so that you can have an egg and ham sandwich in the morning. How awesome is that?

What's on Oh No! Oh My! iPod?
Page France
Midlake
The Robot Ate Me
Everything Belle and Sebastian has ever put out.

Daniel: I'm the only one that doesn't have an iPod… how sad. I do have a Shuffle… but I use it as a flash drive, and don't have music on it. I suck.

Favourite movie soundtrack?
Joel: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Greg: The Virgin Suicides-Air
Daniel: Lost in Translation

Motorhead have Cheese And Chive Ruffles on their rider. What's on yours?
Greg: We are confused on what you are trying to ask us?

Daniel: Uhh… I don't really like chips (crisps, whatever). But… I would have to say that whatever would be on whatever you're asking me, would be…

Say something rock and roll.
Greg: Drugs are bad. Beer is good.

Daniel: I need more guitars. Give me some. Now.

Joel: Yeah!! (more of a grunt)

What are you going to do right now?
Greg: We're fixing to start playing shows, its exciting.

Daniel: I cant decide if you're asking us this so that we'll say something clever… or if you really want to know what we're doing. So I'll say nothing. Except what I've already said.

Joel: Well right now I am about to go eat a half a gallon of Neapolitan ice cream. Will I finish it? I have no idea. Most likely not.

(Daniel notes that Joel did indeed, not finish it…. not even close.)

Walk In The Park/The Party Punch by Oh No! Oh My! is released on 7" on July 3

You can buy the Oh No! Oh My album from the Oh No! Oh My! website for a painfully small amount of money

Still need convincing? Listen to Oh No! Oh My! songs on the Oh No! Oh No! MySpace page  

[interview by Stuart Heritage]