The Art of Shooting
rock-out marksmanship
by Andy Keller

Since their inception a few years back in a Brooklyn basement, The Art of Shooting have undergone a few slight changes and an EP release that has brought them to where they are today: a serious emerging BK band that is a force to be reckoned with. Kelly Corson (vox, guitar) Oliver Revera-Drew (percussion), and Jessica Jurgens (bass, backing vox) create a nasty art punk that is oft compared to Erase Errata, Siouxsie Sioux, and Sonic Youth. Like an early review of the band states, "Arty and dope as fuck!"

Where does the band name come from?

Kelly: I spent a summer in the American Kennel Club library doing research on 150 year old men for a book I helped write about a famous salmon river in Quebec. When researching I noticed the remarkable amount of machismo that went into the recreational journals. Every illustrated adventure featured a man on horseback chasing a tiger with a machete while picking his teeth with a twinkle in his eye and a bag of dead geese trailing from his belt. The Art Of Shooting, written in 1862, was the most legendary of those journals at the time. The marketing was fantastic.

How long have you been together? Line-up changes?

K: The band has been in its incubation stages for almost three years. We've been a revolving door for sure. It seems that the three piece thing is just where its at for us right now. But ya never know. Next time I get a mood swing we'll have another guitar player or man in a penguin costume on stage with us for ambience. Amy Barrett and I were the first to conceive of the band from the get go and she left in January to pursue her painting career. We picked up Oliver right after he left the Cloud Room about two years ago. In April, Jessica joined us straight from Phoenix, AZ.

Oliver: She likes it when you call her "The Jurgs".

Who does the song writing? Is there a certain process you go through to craft a song?

K: In the beginning, I wrote most of the songs, but we've always been open to other peoples ideas and have gone for them. Some are old songs dropped, picked apart, and reassembled into new creations. The new group ones are generally a hungry sort of pleasant miscommunication clusterfuck. If one of us likes an idea enough to fight for it, then it stays.

O: We have a program that catalogues the 10 most listened to songs on internet radio, creates a composite of these songs, and then presents us with a regionally stylized version-similar to an idiot savant version of mapquest, only for musicians.

What records are you listening to now? Do those have a direct effect on what comes out in your music?

K: When we picked up the Dead Meadow album in August of last year, all we wanted to do was loud heavy shit at 80bpm. It was oppressive and we're not subtle. Then there's Death In Vegas, Vaz, Skeleteen, Cocteau Twins, Don Caballero, McKlusky, Sabbath, Blonde Redhead, Kate Bush, A Place To Bury Strangers, Other Passengers, Tricky, Joy Division, Sundays, Print...I think if I could play by ear, our thievery would be more apparent, but not even our friends notice when we rip 'em off. I guess we're doing alright.

O: Yes, I constantly steal from local bands. Some of my favorite groups to steal from are: Proton Proton, Limbs, Asobi Seksu, Broadband, Gold Streets, Blood On The Wall, Erase Errata, The Dresden Dolls.

When's the new record come out?

K: We have big dreams to start recording a full length in fall. Big, expensive dreams my friend. If all goes well, we could have a new machine by January.

O: Buy the "Tyrant's Black Eyes" EP From Ace Fu's Family Business. The cover is hand printed and there are only 12 left.

Why is it that whenever the Deli is mentioned on the web site, it's crossed out? I think it's kind of funny.

K: Who's the Deli?