Interview with The Echo Friendly

November, 2012 | Jake Rabinbach and Shannon Esper aka The Echo Friendly are definitely one of the most interesting bands in US indie music right now. Their first single "Same Mistakes", which got widely popular after being featured on HBO's "Girls", is both powerful and poetic, expressing that inexplicable feeling of wanting and yet not wanting to grow up. We had the chance to talk to Jake about the band's music, his inspirations and plans for the future and how the dynamic between him and Shannon works for their music.

Note: © myFanbase 2012 - The interview is exclusive to myFanbase and may not be published on other websites or the like. You may share the first 2 questions or up to 160 characters if you link back to this site. Translations other than English and German may be posted with full credit including the writer's name and link to this site.
Foto: The Echo Friendly - Copyright: Chris Strong
The Echo Friendly
© Chris Strong

1. How would you describe your music in one sentence?

We have an album of ten songs that we are really excited about and I'm hoping it will speak for itself when it comes out.

2. Was there something like a light bulb moment when you were young, maybe a concert, a certain song or a record that made you dream about a career as a musician?

I've wanted to do this and nothing else as long as I can remember. There were countless moments watching old footage of Dylan from '66 or seeing Bruce Springsteen with my Dad when I was 10, watching the Buddy Holly story video when I was 5, where it seemed that your job could be playing rock music and that was the job I wanted to have, I couldn't understand why everyone didn't want to do this, but it later became clear just how many people did.

3. Are there any artists that might have influenced you or inspired you some time?

Yeah of course. Shannon and I connected over music when we first met, but more than individual artists or songs, it was more about a shared sensibility about what moved us in music - that sense of dark romantic urgency that's in all the Girl Group songs but also in the Velvet Underground or the Smiths. But also a sense of self awareness and humor within that darkness that defines so much of indie rock like Pavement and the Silver Jews or the Replacements.

4. How do you develop your songs? What part comes first, music or lyrics?

I write all the songs but they are based on real conversations we've had, things that Shannon has said. Everything we talk about is lifted directly from our experiences together. I write the music and lyrics at the same time, usually all in one sitting.

Foto: The Echo Friendly - Copyright: Chris Strong
The Echo Friendly
© Chris Strong

5. What song is most important to you? Why and how did it develop?

The last song on our album which hasn't been released yet is the song I'm most proud of. It's called "Fuck it and Whatever". But "Same Mistakes" was the first time I wrote and recorded something that I felt could mean something to people who never met us or saw us play live.

6. In what aspects did your music change compared to when you started to make music?

I've learned to trust my instincts more and have stopped thinking so much about who I want to be or what I want to sound like. I try to let myself come through by being as honest and human as possible. Now that I am writing and producing my own music 100% I feel like I can do that in all aspects of the music - songwriting, singing, guitar playing. But this is also the first time there is another voice other than my own on my songs and I have to account for Shannon's personality and be true to her as well which keeps me grounded in something other than my own head.

7. What has been the best experience so far, together as a band?

For me, ever since "Same Mistakes" aired on television, we've been able to play packed shows in NYC every time. People have come out late at night in the pouring rain in the middle of the week to see us play and sing along. Playing for people who really care about your music is such a special and rare thing and it's exciting to watch our audience grow and develop a relationship with us and our songs.

8. What can you tell us about your current projects?

We have record called "Love Panic" and we are figuring out when and who will put it out.

9. And what are you aspiring to in the future, what do you want to achieve?

I'd like this to be a career band that takes lots of turns and takes different shapes. I hope we can reach as many people as possible and give them a place to feel at home and understood, but also surprise them.

10. With whom would you like to go on tour?

Our friends in Memphis have a band called Tiger High. It would be super fun to tour with them and play a set all together at the end of the night every night.

11. What record would we find in your CD-player right now?

Before the Hurricane, I bought two LP's: Studio One Lovers on the Souljazz label which is a comp of early Jamaican Rocksteady and The Grateful Dead's Wake of the Flood.

12. What do you think, as artists, about platforms like Facebook, Twitter and mySpace?

I like that our fans can communicate with us directly on Facebook and Twitter. It's been really fun knowing people are listening and hearing their stories or receiving their fan art.

13. myFanbase is a website that is devoted to American television shows. Do you have a favorite show?

The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling, which is a radio show.


Thank you very much for the interview and all the best.

Maria Gruber - myFanbase

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