Los Feliz band The Airborne Toxic Event has risen through the ranks of indie pop glory in a short space of time. Their song “Sometime Around Midnight” made history as the first song by an unsigned band to be added to KROQ’s A playlist receiving as many spins as major label acts. They have since gone on to sign with independent label Majordomo Records and have played TV shows, made radio appearances and toured with Scottish rockers, The Fratellis. More recently, they undertook a grueling 40 day tour of the United Kingdom. I had a chance to catch up with a jetlagged front man, Mikel Jollett, to talk about the amazing year 2008 was for the band.
MishMash – Hello Mikel, congratulations on your song, ‘Sometime Around Midnight’, being voted iTunes Number One Alternative Song of 2008!
Mikel – Thank you very much. Yeah, that was pretty cool.
MM – When you wrote the song did you think it would become the big smash hit that it did?
Mikel – No, I certainly did not. Everything that happened in the song actually happened. I remember writing the song and just locking myself in my room for three days and writing the lyrics and arranging the parts and was just totally consumed by it. I remember finishing it and just thinking “Holy shit”, (laughs) but I honestly never expected other people to hear it.
MM – The song has a very similar content to another song on your album ‘Does This Mean You’re Moving On’ Was it written at the same time and about the same relationship?
Mikel – Oh yeah, it’s about the same girl! They were written about nearly a year apart. You think I would have had it figured out by then (laughs). It was about the same girl, it’s funny – don’t think I have ever been asked about that. It was actually written first but is a more upbeat take on the situation I guess.
MM – The band recently undertook a pretty grueling 40 date tour of the UK. How did that come about?
Mikel – It is overwhelming to look back on. The whole point of this band is we are a travelling art project disguised as a rock band. The point is to get in a room with people and play our music. We thought if we are going to go to the UK we should do it properly and play every little city and town that wanted to see us. It is also one of the first other countries that has also really taken to us.
MM – Were there any high points from the tour?
Mikel – The London shows were totally mental and a lot of fun and craziness. Some of the small towns were great we went to Cornwall and played in this tent on the cliffs. It was by the ocean and was windy and stormy and late at night but all these people showed up. Once we started playing it became a real memorable moment. We played in Glasgow with a band we really like called Frightened Rabbit which was great. Our last show was in Fife. We played this small Inn in a frost covered town and all these kids showed up and the place was packed. We did a huge encore and then hung around after and drank and signed posters, was a great way to end the tour. The small towns really make you feel welcome because they don’t get many international acts and they really appreciate it. I think a lot of people came because the poster said something like “from California, USA” so half the selling point was because we were from really far away (laughs).
MM – The album came out at the end of summer, was it as well received as you hoped? Or did it exceed your expectations?
MIKEL – It is pretty hard to tell from the inside you know? We were just a local band and we made a homemade record and released it on this tiny independent label. We just never expected it to take us all over the US and to the UK. We made it in our friends’ living room so we never thought that would be the case.
MM – What about the open letter the band wrote to Pitchfork Magazine in reply to their scathing review of the band’s album?
Mikel – We just felt that the review was so far out of left field. If we had any criticism remotely like that before we would not have cared as such but we had nothing like that before. So we spent an hour and wrote the letter because we thought he (the writer) crossed the line. It seemed to be more aimed at Los Angeles and some weird partisan thing in indie rock.
MM – Your reply summed up a lot of valid points. Did the writer ever get in touch with you?
Mikel – No, it’s not exactly Watergate you know (laughs). He had an opinion and it’s fine that’s why there are different flavors for everybody. We actually meant it when we wrote that we would love him to come to a show and see what we are all about and have a talk with him. We actually believe he was not really talking about us and was misinformed about who we are and honestly did not know. I think he just heard we were on KROQ and thought we were a certain type of band. But we are the only indie band in the US top 40 on an independent label with a homemade and home funded album. He made some point about marketing and we turned down major labels who were telling us to change choruses for marketing purposes so it seemed a stupid comment and felt he should have done a little more research.
MM – He did seem to have a stick in his ass about the Silverlake Scene and talking about hipsters and such.
Mikel – I know. I am not a hipster; I’m 34 and a writer. I came to this when my mom got sick, and I got sick and in response to it wrote some songs. But at the end of the day he is entitled to his opinion and it really isn’t that big of a deal.
MM – I hear you’re playing a show at Knotts Berry Farm soon?
Mikel – Yeah it’s a Christmas Benefit show for Toys for Tots. The idea is you bring a toy and they will let you in for free and the toys all go to children who are in foster care and hospitals. Were playing pretty early so we will maybe learn a Christmas carol to play and put on Cosby sweaters, who knows!
For more information on The Airborne Toxic Event go to www.theairbornetoxicevent.com
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