Vienna Teng
9th Annual Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album Vox Pop Winner
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Genre: Folk/Singer-Songwriter
Zoë/Rounder
www.viennateng.com
BAND NAME: Vienna Teng
WEB SITE: www.viennateng.com
ARE YOU SIGNED OR SELF-RELEASED? Signed
NAME OF LABEL: Rounder Records/Universal Classics & Jazz
HOMEBASE/COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States: San Francisco, CA and New York, NY.
NOMINATED ALBUM: Inland Territory
ARTISTS ON THIS ALBUM: Vienna Teng & Alex Wong
WHERE WAS ALBUM RECORDED? Various studios in New York and Southern California, a church and an old house in San Francisco, and a basement in Indiana. Making the album was a year-long road trip!
WHICH GENRES BEST DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC? Singer-Songwriter, Chamber Folk.
WHAT/ IF ANY UNUSUAL INSTRUMENTS, SONG STRUCTURE/WRITING TECHNIQUE, RECORDING METHOD DID YOU USE? We used a lot of orchestral and “found” percussion sounds—artillery shells, giant chimes, marimba, sandpaper, pots and pans, the crackle of a record-player needle hitting vinyl. We also recorded a few songs live, all the musicians together, in the parlor of a Victorian house built in 1894.
WHERE IS YOUR MUSIC AVAILABLE? Amazon, iTunes, Borders, Barnes & Noble… And at shows of course!
DID FANS HELP FUND THIS PROJECT? They’ve offered to, which is amazing. Fortunately we already have a label supporting us for recordings.
DESCRIBE YOUR AUDIENCE: Wide-ranging in age (we’ve seen toddlers, college students, businessmen and grandmothers singing along at shows!); thoughtful and open-minded; they care about lyrics. There are perhaps a disproportionate number of Asian-Americans and tech geeks, probably because I’m Chinese-American and a former engineer and you don’t see too many of us becoming singer-songwriters.
WHAT MAKES YOUR FANS UNIQUE? They’re the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Even when they disagree on internet forums, they’re nice about it. It’s almost spooky.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO PLAY? Old historic buildings in Europe, tiny clubs in New York, theaters in the Midwest, living rooms—anywhere there’s a warm vibe and people are ready to make music with us.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE BAND’S MOST MEMORABLE ACHIEVEMENT TO DATE? Either appearing on NPR and The Late Show with David Letterman in the span of two weeks, or driving from San Francisco to Austin nonstop on tour (28 hours). Neither is likely to happen again…
WHAT’S IN THE WORKS FOR 2010? A live album! Alex and I recorded some shows in December 2009 and will be releasing the recordings sometime this spring.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS…increasingly not an industry, but a community. Harder to make a living now, but you meet a lot of great people who are passionate about their art.
WHAT’S ON YOUR IPOD THAT WOULD SURPRISE YOUR FANS? Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. And Patton Oswalt.
NAME SOME ARTISTS YOU’RE CHAMPIONING: The Paper Raincoat (Alex Wong’s project with Amber Rubarth), Elizabeth & The Catapult, Carney, The Spring Standards; all fabulous musicians, fine songwriters and good people, deserving of your fandom.