Interview By: Emma Sikes
I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing one of my favorite Savannah bands, Basically Nancy. The girlish excitement with which I blurted questions at Greta and Shea would concern most, but did not shake the musical pair, in fact I believe it made them stronger. So strong, they almost overpowered me, but do not fear I got my licks in, and by licks I mean intrusive questions about their past. Enjoy; Basically Nancy.
Emma Sikes: Where did the name “Basically Nancy” come from?
Basically Nancy (through Greta): My next door neighbor was this old, southern lady named Miss Nancy, loved her to death. I was young and mimicking her, being proper and such and my mom says to me “You’re basically Nancy”. I wrote it in my diary because my mom thought it would make an awesome band name, so I came back to it in high school.
ES: What great stuff to write down and keep forever. In my diary I drew diagrams and play-by-plays of specific games of four square like they were being shown on ESPN or something. Four square was really important to me, apparently.
BN (through Shea): Loved four-square, it’s the best.
ES: It totally is. How did you guys meet?
BN (through Greta): Alayna and I met in high school, we were both in theater, in a couple shows together. I was a fucking loser and brought my acoustic guitar to school, sat in acting class playing Landslide. I used to do open mics at Sentient Bean, we did one together, and I said “Let’s start a band”.
ES: Do you have a favorite venue in Savannah to play at?
BN (through Shea): I’ve only been in the band for a few months but I had the most fun playing at El Rocko.
BN (through Greta): El Rocko has a lot of haters but, I’m a lover.
ES: Listening to your music makes me feel wholly and intensely like a woman, an angry and free woman. Is there an artist that makes you feel that way?
BN: PJ Harvey, majorly and Hole, Courtney Love totally Kim Gordan and Kim Deal too. Takes a few ladies to feel whole.
ES: Do things happen in your everyday life that you think “Damn this would make a great song”?
BN (through Greta): Definitely, we never go anywhere without journals, I’m constantly, throughout the day writing little pieces of something, phrases I can go back to.
BN (through Shea): I have a pocket-sized one, and I try to write 30 things a day, even if it’s a random thought, usually 28 of them are useless.
ES: Has anyone you wrote songs about heard the song you wrote about them? And is it #awkwardashell or awesome because you’re a rockstar and they are lowly audience member/fan?
BN (through Greta): Yes. There’s this one song that is actually very much about someone, but it’s a really hateful song and they’re two really nice people who are good, they really don’t deserve that.
ES: Do they know?
BN: I think if they knew they’d be genuinely startled. But there are songs about ex-boyfriends that we’ve played in front of them, and that’s super fun, super obvious it’s about them too, especially when we were younger.
ES: Why did they come, were they jealous?
BN: That and it was a small town, and the kind of thing where we were seeing each other and breaking up…and then seeing each other.
BN (through Shea): Also with writing stuff you exaggerate things to get it to a humorous degree, sometimes.
ES: Yes, thank you Shea “bad-for-juicy-journalism” your last name. Would you consider yourselves to be “Negative Nancy’s?
BN (through Greta): Totally. Alayna is also a negative Nancy, maybe even moreso than me.
BN (through Shea): I think I’m the most positive. Maybe I’m a positive Paul.
ES: Do you ever listen to your own music?
BN (through Greta): It makes me a little uncomfortable, the old stuff at least, but we just recorded an EP and I listen to that all the time. I’m sure next year I’ll be sick of it but for right now, it rocks.
ES: Have any pre-show rituals?
BN: Drinking. Overeating. Then while playing we’re sick, full, and drunk.
BN (through Shea): Accidentally feasting before we play, we have the band money so we use it to get wasted before the show for some reason.
ES: What’s your go-to preshow drink?
BN (through Greta) : I’m a Tequila person, shots of Tequila, and red wine.
BN (Shea): Unfortunately it’s cheap beer for me, it’s usually at a venue what we can get for free.
ES: I feel that the best way to listen to your (and all) music is in a car, with the windows down, driving at alarming speeds. Do you have a preferred method of listening to music? Where does it sound the best?
BN (through Greta): I love it to be aggressively loud in a car, when you’re swerving because you’re drumming on your wheel too hard. Or in the bath, laying in the bath for a long time, with wine.
BN (through Shea): I love blasting it in the shower.
ES: And I can quote you on that?
BN: Yes, or on a train, through headphones. I only recently got my drivers license, so I don’t really drive at high speeds.
ES: This is a question from a Nancer (my proposed fandom name) who introduced your music to me! Alyssa Bloom: Which song is your favorite to play live and also did the scream in Dear John come naturally from your soul or was it planned?
BN (through Greta): Scream was all natural, I’ll say one of our newer ones, “Wounds”. When it comes in it feels really fucking good.
BN (through Shea): I like Mary-Louise, it’s one we just wrote so maybe it’s a recency bias but I also love playing Kings of Leon.
ES: If you were to compare your debut album to a dessert, what would that dessert be?
BN (through Greta): White vanilla cake with pink frosting, it’s almost too pretty to eat, maybe even in the shape of a heart, with 90 candles on it so it’s a hazard to anyone eating it.
ES: Who’s the best Nancy: Fancy Nancy, Nancy Kerrigan, or Nancy Sinatra (honorable mention; Nancy Pelosi )?
BN: Nancy Sinatra.
ES: Have you ever felt the need to crowd surf?
BN: I would love to crowd surf, someday.
BN (through Shea): I’m only into fully concentual crowd surfing, it’s a tough feat and everybody’s got to carry the weight, you know, distribute it evenly.
BN (through Greta): There would be no beat though, it would be strange to surf to just guitar riffs. I wanna hit the audience with a crowd surf when they least expect it, starting the show with one. Come to the show and we’ll jump on you, right up top, that’s the Basically Nancy way.
If you enjoyed this chaotic and awesome interview, Basically Nancy has recently released three new beautiful bangers, so get to listening! Hurry up, crowd surfing practice is starting!
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