CC: Describe your sound to the uninitiated. What is Marnie Stern all about? Introduce yourself, your music, and how it all came together in the beginning.

MS: It took a really long time for my music to come together… A lot of years of trying to find my own voice. I guess my sound is a mash up of a bunch of different musical tastes I like, along with some ideas and questions I’ve had about life thrown in there for good measure.

CC: What are some of your biggest influences? What bands do you like to listen to? Do you find yourself emulating other artists or mostly doing your own thing?

MS: I try not to emulate other artists. I never learned people’s songs when I was learning to play the guitar. I think often times when you do that, you end up trying to get into the mind set of someone else and really that’s impossible to do, so you have a harder time of expressing yourself on the intsrument. It’s different for everybody though. If I really like something I will try and absorb the essense of it and incorporate my own style into what I’m doing. There haven’t been many bands that I have gotten into over the past few years. I’ve been dissapointed by that because I like feeling a healthy competitiveness where I hear a band and it challenges me to do better work. I do like Ponytail very much.

Whaddya know? We love Ponytail too! Great minds think alike! Read more excerpts from the interview below and stay tuned for the complete version in our third issue of Cannibal Cheerleader Magazine, out during SXSW 09!

Marnie Stern – “The Crippled Jazzer”
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TV ON THE RADIO RETURN TO AUSTIN
By some misfortune we managed to miss out on catching TV on the Radio’s last jaunt through the Lone Star State, but we’re in luck as the band will make their triumphant return to Stubb’s on May 15th. Get ready all and check this awesome TVOTR video below!

TV on the Radio – “Love Dog”
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MARNIE STERN INTERVIEW (CONT’D)
CC: Your last album garnered a lot of attention and positive praise, even more so than your debut. What was it like being thrust into the limelight like that? Was there a sense of relief or added pressure?

MS: Is that what happened? How exciting if it was!! To me it felt like an extension of what happened when I released my debut. There were positive reviews and I went on tour, but I couldn’t really tell a big difference from the release of the first to the second. I guess when you are in the middle of it, you can’t really tell.

CC: Starting with influential online outlets like Pitchfork Media and Stereogum and trickling all down the blogosphere you’ve been given a lot of attention over the past year from this new form of music journalism – what do you feel about the online music community and how has it affected you?

MS: I love it!!!! It’s been very positive, so what’s not to like? Ha! Seriously though, the online music blogs are the only place I go to read about reviews and what’s going on. I never look at rolling stone or other music magazines, so I couldn’t be happier about that. Of course when you open yourself up to a blog, you are always left with the negative comments that people make, but I guess all press is good press and you just have to ignore the nasty things people say.

CC: Do you feel like the rampant torrent usage of these sites negates their positive influence? I’ve heard you were particularly unhappy when your album leaked, can you describe that situation to us?

MS: Well it is a very very tough situation. It’s great that so many people get to hear it, but from a business angle (or rather the angle of trying to make a living) it’s really bad. An album that sold 5,000 copies this year would have sold 15,000 copies 10 years ago and that’s a huge difference. I think prople have this misinterpretation that if you are getting attention, that you are making money..and that just isnt the case. I’m 30,000 dollars in debt from subsidising tours etc, and it’s really scary. On the otehr hand, I am doing what I love to do, so I really shouldn’t be complaining. A shift is going to come at some point in the music industry, but it might take 5 or 10 years and that is probably the span of my career, so more likely than not I missed the boat on money.

CC: The kissing booth clearly started as a joke and became an online sensation, but do you feel it detracts from the music or simply gets more people interested in your shows? Do you have plans to retire or continue the smooch-a-thons? Have any particularly smelly fans been denied a kiss?

Comments? Any huge Marnie Stern fans out there like ourselves?

This coming Monday we’re going to be making a huge Cannibal Cheerleader announcement. Here are some hints – it involves SXSW 09 and it rhymes with ‘ARTY’. Rock out this weekend folks, seeya Monday!