I went to see the last show of Talk Normal’s recent tour several days before the interview below took place. I had emailed Sarah Register and Andrya Ambro several times beforehand hoping to catch an interview with them that same night. Their answer, draped in exhaustion, was a very polite “hell no.” I went to their show at Secret Project Robot in Williamsburg and approached
them after the performance.

Andrew: “Hey Sarah, I’m Andrew, I’m interviewing you for The Deli.”
Sarah: [Zombie Face]
Andrew: So, how are you?
Sarah: [Black Hole]
Andrew: Um, how was the tour?
Sarah: [Death Shroud]
Andrew: Okay, see you on Tuesday.

The women project that perfect frenzy of energy onstage that bands like Lightning Bolt and No Age have mastered. Guitarist Sarah draws on the harmonic tones of pedals and pedals of feedback to create simple but texturally complex melodies. The drums provide momentum and context through the dense fog of noise. Lyrics about disconnection and disempowerment are coupled with paranoid but beautiful melodies—contemporary no-wave at its best. After an entire month of touring that same power all over the states I imagine they needed a couple days to recoup. The following Tuesday I met with Talk Normal and we had a little chat:

Where did the name for Talk Normal come from?

Sarah: We toyed around with a lot of different names but Talk Normal was from a Laurie Anderson performance. I had had pictures of a performance of hers lying around and one of the posters in the background said “Talk Normal.”

Sugarland makes me think of those sugar-cube castles that nerdy kids made in middle school, are you nerdy kids?

Andrya: Nerdy like Han Solo. You know, cool and direct always pervades in the end.
Sarah: In this analogy I guess I’m Luke. I did once make a sugar-cube castle. It didn’t stick as a hobby.

How’d you get hooked up with Xiu Xiu for the tour?

Andrya: Pretty sure he caught wind of our album and asked? Which, if true, makes me smile very much.

Are you working on any new material? Would you ever consider adding plug-in acoustic jams to your sound? Glockenspiel? When is your Sublime cover album coming out?

Andrya: New material—always. Mentally I like having new songs on the burner at all times. It keeps the creative mind sharp. As for acoustic, I still play the drums. I remain open to the glockenspiel. I played it quitefrequently as teen in orchestra. Hours were spent on a 32 bar excerpt from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Not a huge Sublime fan. If I had to do a cover album it would be Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure, Robert Wyatt’s Rock Bottom, Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak, Coldcave’s Love Comes Close, Gregory Isaacs’ Soon Forward, Abner Jay’s The True Story of Abner Jay, Laurie Anderson’s Big Science, Depeche Mode’s Music For the Masses, Brian Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain or Roberta Flack’s First Take.
Sarah: We’ll consider anything, if it sits right at the time. You never know when the spirit will move you.

Can or Kraftwerk?

Andrya: Can. Never did four German dudes groove so hard. There was a bit of soul in there as well. Think they got me with their repetition. And I love, love Jaki Liebezeit. His drum stylings were very influential. Although Kraftwerk’s Computer World and Mensch-Maschine garnered much respect. They were so collected and down-right weird. Cool freaks.Very captivating to a girl like me.
Sarah: Can. But I remain open.

Four Loko or Joose?

Andrya: Neither. My heart would burst a chamber. But if I had to I’d chose, Four Locko. They say the alcoholic content is higher. EU version contains Absinthe—that’s some serious bang for your euro. Sarah: That’s a mess. Either are a favorite around my household—I try to abstain. I’m allergic to caffeine, and I’m emotionally allergic to wicked sugary hangovers.

Have either of you ever punched anyone? If so, why? If not, why?

Andrya: Not really. Closest I came was chasing after this kid who cheated at kick-the-can. When caught, I picked him up by his feet and swung across the lawn. I was 10?
Sarah: Not really. Maybe an ex-boyfriend. Even then I don’t think I hit him in the face.

If you met Lou Reed shopping for eggplants at your local supermarket what kind of eggplant advice would you have for him?

Andrya: I try to stay away from eggplant these days. Lou would have to fend for himself. I am really into kabocha squash. I’d recommend this instead. Sarah: I have no false eggplant pride... I hardly know a thing about them.

Trip to the moon or trip to the center of the earth or tripping on acid?

Andrya: Moon by default. Center of earth would boil me and I think my spirit would have wild palpitations on acid, I might need a restraint suit.

Sarah: Trip to the moon, for sure. Still a possibility.

What was the last movie you watched on a VHS tape?

Andrya: The Harder They Come or maybe Freejack.
Sarah: Contact. Does this help reaffirm my previous answer?

What’s your first memory of music?

Andrya: When I was roughly 6 years old, my mom, brother, sister and myself were driving back from the beach—we were racing home to watch Return of The Jedi on TV. Stevie Wonder’s I Just Called To Say I Love You came on the radio. My mom turned it up and we all sang along very loudly. I also remember my mother singing the Shel Silverstein poem The Unicorn before I went to bed. Then there was my dad dancing around the room and clapping to the Rolling Stones—not my first memory but definitely one of my favorites.
Sarah: Maybe a memory of being very short (under 5?) and at an outside concert of The Shirelles & The Drifters with my family. Or, music in church? Who knows. My parents listened to pretty groovy stuff, so oldies but goodies are also early in the consciousness.