ART IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: HEARTSREVOLUTION at The Store!

HEARTSREVOLUTION, an electrical, fantastical threesome based out of Brooklyn, creates adrenaline-pumping music that’s been dubbed “electro-thrash.” Regardless of how you classify them, we were totally psyched earlier this month to see their incredible and energetic live performance at Making Time in Philly! Not only did they play Making Time, they also made time to visit us at The Store for some shopping, relaxing after a frenzied flight from Austin, and chatting about everything from the fate of the universe to Flava-Flav (Yeah, you heard me correctly. So awesome…) Read on for all the details…

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Robin: Who are you and where do you come from?
My name is Ben and I’m from Michigan.
My name is Terrence. I live in New York.
My name is Lo (aka Leyla), and I come from Asteroid B612 by way of Los Angeles and then New York.

Robin: How did you all come together from such disparate origins?
Ben: I came to LA and met Leyla. We moved to NY and met Terry, who is also, coincidentally, from Michigan. And we were born on the same day, so Terry and I have a connection prior  to our reunion.

Robin: Do you believe in fate?
Leyla: This whole thing was fated. I’m a Scorpio. I didn’t believe in astrological jibjab until I met Ben. Scorpio and Pisces is the strongest match in the zodiac. Scorpios have the ability to be the nastiest people on the planet, or rise from the ashes like the Phoenix. The combination of Pisces and Scorpio is unbeatable.

Robin: Where did the band name come from?
Ben: When I first met Leyla, she was in the process of making one of her childhood fantasies come to life…
Leyla: I was “cultivating my fate!”
Ben: So, while she was “cultivating her fate,” she made this ice cream truck. It was part of this whole idea called HEARTSCHALLENGER. She would wheatpaste posters with inspiratonal messages and the HEARTSCHALLENGER symbol. She asked me to make music for the truck. I did, and decided that I wanted to keep doing something with her musically. The music part is another branch of that initial idea, so we called it HEARTSREVOLUTION.
Leyla: I like “Revolution” for a lot of reasons…
Terry: Because it’s an overthrowing or uprising, but it’s also a cyclical thing.

Robin: If fate left you out in the cold, what would you be doing?
Leyla: Fate is not something that you wait around to capture you. Sometimes you have to grab fate by the balls. You really do attract things in this universe. You have your own insecurities and fears and you dance around the inevitable. At some point, when you are ready, whether it’s for love or a job or an opportunity, the universe hears it without you ever speaking it into existence, and then fate comes along.

Robin: Do you believe in God?
Leyla: Totally. 100%.
Ben: I guess so.
Terry: I believe in a god. I don’t think it’s the same god that all these crazy extremists are believing in, but I definitely believe in the idea of a god.

Michael: Would it ever be okay not to know? People don’t seem to be okay not to know.
Leyla: For a long time, every day I would freak out at the idea being human: the feeling that there was a soul trapped in a body on this planet where everyone speaks in absolutes and every relgion knew exactly why everything happened. I would think, “Oh my god! Everyone thinks they know! But no one really knows anything! And how the HELL did we get here?!” That plagued my brain every day since I could talk. I lost that about a year ago.

Robin: If you could have any sort of memorial named after you, what would it be?
Ben: A spaceship! Get it? The Challenger?
Leyla: That’s depressing! I would want a school for girls named after me.
Terry: I would like to have a boulevard named after me. And I want it to be a safe boulevard because they normally aren’t safe. Martin Luther King Boulevard is always the most dangerous part of town.

Robin: What city would your boulevard be in?
Terry: It would be cool if it were in all major cities.

Robin: Talk to me about your will to dominate.
Ben: He wants to take over the world, basically. But what about signature drinks? Why streets?
Terry: That doesn’t stick around as long as a street. Streets have lasting impressions.

Michael: What do you think about all of this Twitter stuff?
Ben: I don’t do it because I don’t have anyone to tweet to. But I have a link on my phone that goes straight to a couple people who I find pretty funny. But Terry loves it…
Terry: It’s one of those things that you just have to come to terms with. You’re gonna be on it. I promise you.

Robin: Do you consider yourself a private person? Does putting your life on the internet bother you?
Terry: If you want to be private, then don’t do that shit. I personally don’t mind because as a musican and artist, you have to market yourself.

Michael: Speaking of privacy…what do you think about people like Bret Michaels or Flava Flav who exploit their celebrity status?
Leyla: They should all be put to death. Who cares if he ever finds love? It’s the worst objectification of women. Thirty of them with fake breasts, looking like Barbie dolls, trying to sell their pussy to Bret Michaels. Thousands of dollars get put into the production of that. Why not take that money and do something good in this world? That’s not entertainment. That’s insulting to my brain. We have a term for that in this band. it’s called B.O.D.
Ben: Better Off Dead!
Leyla: These people are better off dead. They resurrect themselves. I was watching television in the hotel and Christie Brinkley came on, selling Scope. She’s trying to look like she’s 20! Can’t you gracefully age, raise your children, and try to set an example for young girls to not have your face stretched back?

Robin: What are some of the weirder jobs you’ve ever had?
Terry: I used to work the third shift in a sweatshop sewing and operating industrial sewing machines. I liked sewing, though, so I was pretty intrigued.
Ben: After I graduated from high school, I was the janitor at my high school. It was more of a summer job before college. It was the laziest thing ever. You’d go to work 45 minutes late, have coffee and donuts for 2 hours, clean out lockers for a half hour, then take a 2 hour break. Two other kids and I who were part of the summer program would just watch 90210, lounge, and take naps.
Terry: Oh! I thought of another one. I used to work at an apartment complex in the projects, evicting people. When people wouldn’t pay their rent, they’d leave all their shit and skip town. The cops would knock on the door, and I’d go in and put all their shit out on the curb. It was really sad because I’d find kid’s schoolwork and drawings. I actually have a gold chain that I found in one of the apartments. I have it in my pocket.

Michael: What do you think of Art In The Age?
Leyla: This is a very cool space. I like what you guys are doing here. It’s special. I am glad that world today is so different from the world that I grew up in. At that age, I got the shit beat out of me because I liked punk rock music or because the other kids thought I was a lesbian since I cut my hair off. It was just an awful, horrible world to live in. But now, with the types of collaborations that are happening, the diversity, and the internet, and people sharing music and art…it’s really fuckin’ awesome!

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We <3 <3 <3 HEARTS REVOLUTION, and are both pleased and honored that they stopped by the store! I hope they visit us again soon to brainstorm on future fun & projects…(wink wink wink)

Get 7″s and merch from HEARTSREVOLUTION on their MySpace, and check out their latest music vid here…!

(Holler @ The Walrus Music Blog & Don Vincent Ortega for the suh-weet pics!)