fun.

Interview by Natalie K.
October 28, 2009
http://www.ournameisfun.com
http://www.myspace.com/fun

Estrella: Can you please state your name and what you do in the band?
Andrew: My name is Andrew Dost and I play piano/keys and I sing some backing vocals.

Estrella: How did you all form fun.?
Andrew: Well Nate (Ruess) was in The Format who Jack (Antonoff) and I both toured with, and I played on their last tour as an unofficial member; I just filled in on some horns and keys. The Format disinigrated then Nate called up Jack and me and said, “Hey, I still want to make music and I want to do it with you guys so let’s go to New York and do this”. We did within a week, and Jack was already there so Nate and I flew out there to join him. Then we stayed for a couple of months and just wrote, recorded and hung out.

Estrella: Did everything work out with everyone else’s band schedules?
Andrew: Yes but it is tricky, Jack cannot always come out with us but he does his best and when he comes it is just a little added bonus for everybody. Rob who plays guitar when Jack is not here is an absolute joy, we love him and he’s completely one of the guys too.

Estrella: How did it come about to put the period after fun in the band name?
Andrew: It was in our logo already because we like periods and That Dog. is one of my favorite bands and I think they always use a period. We actually got an email maybe a month or so after our first tour saying, hey we got Fun first that’s our name you cannot use it. So now legally we have to use it, fun. with a lower case f is part of our name now.

Estrella: Did you guys ever consider changing your name?
Andrew: We had already gotten our album artwork and done national tours. We googled it extensively, fun band, a band called fun, we tried every possible combination to see if there was already a band called fun, and nothing turned up. I think if you do that, well I don’t know, we did not know.
Estrella: It seems to of worked out.
Andrew: I hope it did, I hope those guys aren’t bummed.

Estrella: You guys are on a handful of dates with Taking Back Sunday before heading back on a headlining tour, why did you guys decide to support for a bit before jumping back into headlining a tour?
Andrew: Well, it is always good to do both I think. When you have the chance to expose yourself to as many fans as Taking Back Sunday brings out each show and Anberlin too, they both have massive followings. It is good for us to have their fans hear our music. Headlining is something you have to do as a band, even if the shows are not as big as these shows you just have to do it to prove to yourself and people that you are worthy of the price of admission to just see you.

Estrella: Are you guys surprised at how big your fan base already is; because I know your show at Schubas (Chicago) was sold out.
Andrew: Yeah, definitely, it was a really pleasant surprise so far to just be going on our first headlining tour which was that one, and to have almost every show except three sell out is a really good feeling. Our fans I think are aware of us, so it is a really good feeling.

Estrella: What was the recording process like for your album Aim & Ignite?
Andrew: We went to L.A. and we stayed in a friend/managers house, like a guest house and it was just awesome. It was like going away to summer camp, just magical. We watched Mad Men every night, we built a dollhouse, and we made up games…
Estrella: Wait, you guys built a dollhouse? Did you have dolls to go in it?
Andrew: No, we didn’t but we spent two-hundred dollars on this ridiculous dollhouse.
Estrella: Whose idea was that?
Andrew: I don’t know, I think either Jack or Nate wanted to build a model car, and then it was like, why don’t we build a battleship, than it was like no we need to build a massive dollhouse. It was one of those ideas that kind of…
Estrella: Built?
Andrew: Yeah, because we had a day off and that was the only day off that we did not actually go to the studio. We were like, “Alright, guys day off tomorrow whoo hoo, what time should we go in?” and it was like, let’s go in at 5PM instead of 10AM but we stayed all day and built the dollhouse, well we watched the MTV video music awards which was really great.

Estrella: When Aim & Ignite was released on iTunes it also came with two bonus tracks, how were those chosen?
Andrew: We wanted to pick a couple of songs that we could do vastly different versions of. We recorded those maybe a couple months after, in mid-July we recorded those. We went back out to L.A. and worked with our producer again. We just put a mic in a room and bashed them out basically. “Walking the Dog” was just a completely different version that I worked up on piano and changed all the melodies to the complete structure of the song. We just wanted to do something vastly different.

Estrella: What are your plans for 2010?
Andrew: Touring, a lot.
Estrella: Anything set in stone yet?
Andrew: Nothing yet, well we have a couple of things on the horizon but nothing set in stone enough to where I would be comfortable saying.
Estrella: Headlining at the beginning of the year, or supporting?
Andrew: We are going to do some supporting in the early winter that is our tentative plan.

Estrella: What is something you have always wanted to do but have not done yet?
Andrew: I really want to go into space, and I hope that is a commercially viable thing before I die.
Estrella: Does this stem from when you were a kid?
Andrew: Yeah always, it is always something I have wanted to do. I am very fascinated with space.

Estrella: What is one of your favorite lines in one of your songs?
Andrew: Well the only song that I wrote lyrics to has some nice lines that I like and are especially true for me obviously. But I think one of my favorite lines that Nate wrote for the record is, “It’s a beautiful thing when you love somebody, and I love somebody” I think that is a really nice line.

Estrella: What’s a song that you never get sick of hearing?
Andrew: “M79” by Vampire Weekend.
Estrella: Any particular reason?
Andrew: It’s just gorgeous, it paints a little picture of a fall day for me and I really like the instrumentation and everything just comes together perfectly.
Estrella: I love Vampire Weekend I think they are so talented.
Andrew: Me too, I am so excited for their new record I think it is going to be incredible.

Estrella: If you could see any band or artist perform any song live what would it be and why?
Andrew: Well I think to see The Beatles play a fully realized version of “Strawberry Fields Forever” would be unbelievable. That would be the biggest treat anyone could hope for.
Estrella: Have you always been a fan of The Beatles?
Andrew: Yeah, that is why I started doing anything ever.
Estrella: What was their first album you ever heard?
Andrew: The first one I heard was a collection of hits from ’65-’67 I think, something like that. It was a red greatest hits.
Estrella: Who got you into them?
Andrew: My dad he got me the cassette and from there I just never stopped listening to anything else basically till about tenth grade, just Beatles cassettes.

Estrella: Since we are so close to Halloween, what was your favorite Halloween costume ever?
Andrew: When I was in maybe 7th grade, well I trick or treated for a long time, maybe until I was in eleventh grade. I think 7th grade I did not have a costume and I did not know what to do so I put all yellow clothes on with a hat and mask, and stuck banana’s in the hat and went as banana man. I thought that was so cool, and it made me somehow less embarrassed as a junior high kid out trick or treating with my little brother.
Estrella: Are you going to dress up this year?
Andrew: Yeah, but I do not know as what yet. Tentative ideas are as Zachary Quinto from Star Trek. Not so much as Spock but just as him because he looks great all the time.

Estrella: Do you have any final comments?
Andrew: Watch out for Swine Flu, our record is available on iTunes and I wrote a musical about Christopher Columbus that is also available on iTunes.
Estrella: Did you really? When did you do that?
Andrew: About September of 2008.
Estrella: Cool, Thank you!