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From the Oakland Tribune - September 6, 2003
Tremolo discovers how to deal with soundtrack success
ALTHOUGH they've only been together for about a year, Oakland's Tremolo has proven they're quite the up-and-comers. From cutting the EP "You Were Born for This" to being featured in the soundtrack to the Mandy Moore film "How To Deal," the band is making teen girls around the world go ga-ga. Lead singer Justin Dillon, who formed the band after recording some of his songs, took a moment to talk about the band.
Tell me about how things began for Tremolo?
It really came out of doing some recording sessions at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The band was formed around songs rather than songs forming around a band. Still, you have to be able to deliver them. So I ended up looking for guys in L.A. (to be in a band). It took me a while to find the right bandmembers. You can shake a tree in L.A. and musicians will fall out, but it's harder to find guys you respect and want to spend a lot of time with. Once we were together, we did an entire new EP together and new songs came out of that.
When did you realize you were on to something good?
A month after cutting some tracks, I started getting calls from Universal and others who were just kind of sniffing around. The song "Promise Ring" is what got things going from the get-go.
Did you write "Promise Ring" with a particular person/experience in mind?
Two friends of mine were going through divorces and it really got me thinking about the art of a promise and how hard it is to keep a promise. The crux of the song is that promises may be fun to make in the beginning but the work comes later. It's tough to watch the downfall of promises. However, with perseverance comes great reward.
When does your song appear in the movie?
It's used when Mandy's character and her boyfriend are rounding second base on the way to third. Supposedly she is having a teen committment crisis. Mandy's manager is the one who heard the song and gave it a good fit in the film.
What was it like to hear your song on the big screen?
I went into (the premiere) thinking I was going to play it cool, but I didn't know what to expect. It's surreal to hear your music playing in this theater and no one knows that you're the one who's singing. The song plays for a minute and a half. It was the longest minute and a half I've experienced in music.
"Promise Ring" seems like it would be a big hit on the teen scene.
We've recieved e-mails from all over the country with pink font so we're kind of figuring out who's hearing it. I didn't know my computer could do that. Color font. There are all these little acronyms like LOL (laugh out loud) and OMG (Oh my God). I had no idea what they meant. I actually received fan mail from Russia that said "You are the proud owner of the loveliest voice on the planet called Earth."
What do you ultimately want from your career?
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I just want the opportunity to play and write as much as I can. And get more e-mails with pink font.
What influences your music?
Well, I'm definitely drawn to older music. Kind of the'70s rock'n' roll type of sounds, but I really like to see that mixed with a lot of technology. For me the goal for music has been to hold onto the roots but push the envelope. I like to make music that sounds familiar but push it a little.
For you, what's the music about?
I think that for us it's been about the songs. We are so much not about hype. It comes down to "Have we written good songs and do we play them well? When people come and see us, do they walk away stirred?" I want to write and play music that makes people want to be better people. That's how U2 made me feel when I first heard them. That's the goal, that it's touching people's lives. Accomplishing that is better than the seven bucks you'll make from an EP.
For more information about the band, visit
www.tremolomusic.net
-- JoAnna Kasper
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