Shiny Toy Guns' Jeremy Dawson!

Joanna: I'm here.

Jeremy: Sorry for all that confusion and delay, it's just that I have a daily battle with my cell phone to keep it charged and I need its cooperation.

Joanna: I completely understand! Well, this is going to be the best 15 minutes of your life; are you ready?

Jeremy: Go ahead - I'm pumped!

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: Ok! So what's your name?

Jeremy: My name is Jeremy Dawson.

Joanna: What?

Jeremy: What else did you ask me?

Joanna: Oh, I just asked you your name. Only one question. And, um, I didn't hear the answer but I'm sure someone else did!

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: So, um, you're doing this interview for a porn site called BurningAngel.com - are you familiar with BurningAngel?

Jeremy: No, I'm not...I'm out of the loop.

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: And actually, when I posted something on the website saying I was going to interview you guys, a few girls got very excited because they all said that in their strip clubs, they dance to your songs; are you aware that people do dirty things to your music?

Jeremy: Yeah, actually "Le Disko" was a really really really big hit specifically in the strip clubs.

Joanna: And you also have songs that were on children's TV shows, correct?

Jeremy: Yeah, I mean I wouldn't necessarily tie the two together. We've done stuff for nine-year-olds...and we've done stuff for naked 19-year-olds.

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: Do you think that's odd that you've managed to appeal so strongly to both kinds of people?

Jeremy: Yeah, well...I'm not nine...or a naked 19-year-old, so it's sort of - it's a repercussive, reflective thing. We didn't aim, point and shoot. We just wrote some songs. And people who are nine like it. And people who are naked and 19 like it too.

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: And both are equally pretty cool, in your book?

Jeremy: I think everyone is cool, to be honest. The only people I don't like are dead people.

Joanna: Yeah, they can't do too much for you. They're not very good fans.

Jeremy: They're not even warm bodies in a room, you know?

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: So your first record - what label did that come out on? Did you guys put that out yourselves?

Jeremy: Yes and no. The demo version of the record, which is acvailable on eBay for, like, $297 -

Joanna: - Wow.

Jeremy: Really pissed off about.

Joanna: Oh, are you pissed off about it? It doesn't make you feel worthy?

Jeremy: I'm pissed off because I'm pretty sure that they're replicas - they're not real.

Joanna: So people out there should NOT spend the $297, is what you're saying.

Jeremy: No, people aren't buying it - peole are arguing and trying to shut the guy down. He also happens to have 10 or 20 copies of a VERY rare Who album from England, so...it's like, "Come on dude." - like manufacturing rare albums -

Joanna: - it's just bullshit - he's just trying to rape people, basically. That's what he's doing.

Jeremy: Yeah...I mean, that's a...DYNAMIC word for this, but -

[Joanna laughs]

Jeremy: [in a scary man voice] - "He's trying to RAPE you with a CD!" -

Joanna: With his lies, basically. But what happened with this first record?

Jeremy: We put it out ourselves, and then we went on tour by ourselves, and then suddenly the record company feeding frenzy thing happened, and pretty soon we're on Universal, and we went back in, re-recorded some drums and re-put the record out on an international record in 2006.

Joanna: Would you recommend to other people starting a band to just try to do it themselves at first?

Jeremy: Absolutely. I mean you HAVE to.

Joanna: You have to.

Jeremy: There's nothing wrong with any of the major record companies, but in 2010, there are a thousand ways to put out a record. There are 1,000 ways to structure how your band is going to get out there. But none of that is going to happen if you don't do it yourself.

Joanna: You can't be a baby about it.

Jeremy: No, you can't be a titty baby. You can't hang off the nipple. Do it yourself. Take initiative.

Joanna: So what exactly did you do? As a nice inspirational note. It makes it sound in a lot of your websites like you just took a song, put it on Myspace and POOF! That's what happened. So what were some of the extra steps?

Jeremy: Let me give you a few. Let me get my -

Joanna: Your thinking cap on?

Jeremy: Oh - [pause] that's the beautiful sound of my phone dying.

Joanna: Oh...what kind of phone do you have?

Jeremy: A Google phone.

Joanna: I have that too, and my phone is ALWAYS out of battery!

Jeremy: I have a lot of applications on the phone.

Joanna: Me too.

Jeremy: And it just drains the battery all day long.

Joanna: Yeah, I understand.

Jeremy: Ok, cool. No, beyond Myspace - it goes a little bit deeper than that. It used to be that simple, it is no longer that simple. In 2003, 2004, it WAS that simple because you had that virtual, digital outing of who your band was - something that record companies used to spend 100,000 dollars to develop: "This is what we look like, this is what we sound like, and THIS is who we really are as people - as writers." We used Myspace in a different way; instead of it just being a bulletin board or a poster, it was a communicative literal connection between the listener of our music and the creator of the music. We had actual, tangible, touchable relationships with people. People could write in and say anything. You wouldn't believe the stuff that people write. I remember being younger - when you get in a fight or your life just sucks, you lock the door of your bedroom and just put in your favorite CD and disappear. You play whatever music is yours, that you personalized that makes you feel better or worse - depending on how emo you are - that's what you cling to. And one of the amazing things that is is when you can actually reach out to the band and the band actually writes you back.

Joanna: Do you still have time to write everyone back?

Jeremy: We hire people to filter it out - we hire people to scope it out, cause the general thing is "Are you going to play Boston?" or "I got tickets to see you guys in Portland" -

Joanna: - Right, right, right. I know exactly what you mean.

Jeremy: It's like it will say something about a show all over the website - and people will still just write and ask what time the show starts.

[Joanna laughs]

Jeremy: It makes me think of the airport and feel bad for the TSA guys, cause every day they have to deal with a thousand people who have never gotten on a plane before, and they walk through security with, like, seven pairs of shoes on, and they hold up the line, and the TSA guys have to explain the rules and regulations a thousand times, and it bothers me. It's like: People! Intelligize yourselves - I made up a word there -

Joanna: Try to answer a question yourself with all the resources given to you before blindly asking it, is what you're saying.

Jeremy: Uh huh.

Joanna: [Laughs] Ok, so Myspace! Going back...

Jeremy: Sorry - I get distracted a lot. Yeah, Myspace - that's what we did. We made it ours, we made it yours, we made it a telephone. You have a question; call it in and ask the band. Don't go somewhere else for information. And it enabled us to book tours. Literally. We were doing the whole "start a band" thing, and we were living on top of each other in a van that cost $900 with no air conditioning, and we drove around in our van and we would pull up at Starbucks - before wireless Internet access on phones - and we would have all these Mapquest pages printed out of all the closest Starbucks, and we would go to Starbucks cause Starbucks was supposed to have Wifi at the time, and we would talk to kids that were going to shows 9 shows in front of us. And this was back when Myspace was a lot more open, and the Search was extremely powerful. I could find a 16-18-year-old teenager that lived within a mile or two from the venue that listened to The Sounds, The Killers, Fischerspooner, MGMT and literally write them a message. I could get completely nutty with it, cause it was so open. And this was back when people would listen to the band on Myspace Tunes - now they're like, "Get the fuck away from me - you're annoying me!" - and we would play, like, Iowa City, Iowa and they'd be like, "I've never heard of you - you can't play my room." And I could be like, "I guarantee you that we will fill your room, or I'll give you $2,000; here's my credit card." So they'd say ok, and then we would sell the room out, and they'd get all pissed off and not understand - "Well, what you don't understand is that we already told everyone in your town that we're coming, and you don't understand because you're 47-years-old and you don't go on Myspace 'cause you're a moron. Or you would've heard of us. We have a record out. We've never played your city, BUT we have been building a hype machine on Myspace." But now you can't do that anymore on Myspace because of asshole pedophiles. I can't even go to Lincoln, Nebraska and find men in their 40s who like to play golf! So back then, we were a successful entity without anybody.

Joanna: Would you have any marketing advice for someone starting out now, in a social media market that is way more saturated than it was?

Jeremy: My advice is that you have to stay on your toes. Your Twitter and your Kyte.tv are important. Facebook is more of a personal thing, but still useful. And Myspace is still a go-to place to listen and look at photos and check tour dates. The band has to stay on their toes and look into new things like Kyte - you can't just be hot and skinny and wear hair in your face, and unfortunately, you can't even just be an amazing songwriter. There are new bands coming out that are on their shit and they're up with this new technology - you have to be too. Elton John still refuses to sell his music on iTunes. It's like, come on, dude - get over it. And that's ridiculous.

Joanna: So since you do have all this knowledge and you are able to do this all on your own, what is the point of having a major label?

Jeremy: Because you have to have a team. That's like a 12-year-old saying "I don't need my mom and dad - the're assholes." You will not succeed without a team surrounding you. You will not be an International situation without a team around you. If you're happy to play surrounding cities and states because you're good live and you want to make $1000 a day, playing 3 shows a month, and you're happy with that, play a couple of covers - then enjoy your day job. Nobody puts their own record out. Nobody does that. There's only one person that's a great success story - Ingrid Michaelson. She's a soloist, so it's easier. If you don't have a team, you won't be involved in the business. You don't have to be a lame, cheesy guy - let the people at your label be the lame, cheesy guys. But don't be defiant and full of angst - don't be like, "Fuck the system - I'm gonna do it on my own!" Dude, you're not gonna do anything on your own. You're not superman.

Joanna: Well, that was very inspiring! What made you guys want to do an all-animated video?

Jeremy: That's for "Ghost Town"...We had a guy who did all Pixar stuff. He's an animator - a cartoon artist. He is unbelievable. And if you know anything about animation, it's hundreds of thousands of dollars. And so we just didn't think about it cause we didn't think we could afford an animated video. And then this guy contacted us and he was like, "I'm a huge fan - I'm an animator - and I would do one of your videos if you would just let me do it by myself...don't get involved...just let me draw it. I will do a video for pennies on the dollar."

Joanna: That's awesome.

Jeremy: And so that's how that video came about. That was done by Glen Hanson - he's an amazing animator, and it's his interpretation of "Ghost Town" -

Joanna: - of what a ghost town is to him. Do you think it's accurate?

Jeremy: Umm, no - it has nothing to do with what the song is about in any way.

[Joanna laughs]

Jeremy: But I'm cool with it.

Joanna: Well, I will let you go - you've said a ton! Do you have any inspirational words to all the people who took their hands out of their pants to read this?

Jeremy: Um, yeah - tell them - gosh! Let me think about this one. Tell them to wash their hands and - I don't know. Tell them I said: "Don't cheat on your wives. I think marriage should be sanctified and old-school. porn is school, but you shoul watch it with your wife. Mix it up - get creative. Inside the context of marriage. I'm an old-fashioned boy.

Joanna: Ok! Well it was very nice talking to you, and hopefully I will see you guys soon.

Jeremy: Cool - thank you!