SCS: How and when did Robot, Creep Closer! form as a band?

Cory: When I moved back to Lincoln from Ventura in early 2005, Jaimie had an idea that we could get some of our friends together and start this huge, crazy, rowdy, party-rock band with yelling and things. We added our final member Jesse on drums in November of 2005.

SCS: How would you define your band or your sound to someone who’s never heard or seen you

Cory: Again, really rowdy with a lot of attention to energy and melody and fun, and probably less attention on being super technical or precise.

SCS: The music in this band is significantly different from your songs in Shacker, both more rocking and more pop, Why the need to go in a different direction?

Jaimie: A summer ago I saw SOJH and the JV All*Stars play a show together. I was impressed, and charged up, by how their fans reacted to the music. I mean, everyone seemed to be having fun, rocking out, and really getting into the music. At that point I knew I wanted to start a band that could get a crowd reacting to the music in a way that would give us a crazy charge of energy.

SCS: Cory You also play/write for Benjamin Axeface, that’s your folkier outlet?

Cory: Yes. That’s my “serious” folk music. It holds a different place in my heart than R,CC!, and it’s a lot more of a personal outlet, but I’ve never had more fun playing live than I have with R,CC!

SCS: How would you describe a R,CC! show? -- If people come to see you live, what can they expect?

Jaimie: A super-duper neat atmosphere. A rocking, concise set. A girl playing keyboards. Most likely my aunt.

John: Rowdy rock riot with strobes and fog.

Gina: A chance to meet our parents.

SCS: What do you think sets R,CC! apart from other rock acts on the local scene right now?

Jaimie: This is a loaded question! I really have no idea. I mean we have two fog machines, some sweet lights, and a pair of totally rad strobes lights. We enjoy playing shows and I think that comes out when we’re on stage.

John: Well, yeah, we have sound activated strobes and a fog machine. From the other local bands that I’ve seen, most of them don’t go the extra step with the visual aspect of their performance, and that may be because we are the only band lame enough to think strobes and fog make us cool!

Gina: Robots. And we have an exclamation point. That rocks!

SCS: Well Prints of Apple Island has a Robot too, so that doesn't count. What types of music and which musicians/groups influenced the band members?

Cory: Some big inspirations for this band were Spoon, Cursive, The Faint, Weezer; basically bands that rock and focus a ton on pop-structure and melody.

John: For me it’s all types: Weezer, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, Green Day, The Get Up Kids, Mercy Rule, Ben Folds, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, Deftones, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Blink-182, MxPx, Bjork, Rage Against the Machine

Gina: I would say Fuel, Stone Temple Pilots, Matthew Good, Death Cab for Cutie, NIN, Injected, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Collective Soul, Jonny Lang.

SCS: What are your goals for this band, touring, just playing around town?

Jaimie: Touring would be a cool experience - something none of us have done before - but some of us have careers or are in school, so extensive touring is somewhat less practical than maybe doing out-of-town stuff on the weekends. We’re pretty much banking on Andrew Slater realizing his mistake when he signed Yellowcard and in his desperate attempt to find the next band to save rock music (and consequently 3.5 billion people from the H5N1 virus) he finds our Myspace page: www.myspace.com/robotcreepclosermusic and totally pops a boner and signs us.

SCS: You’re about to start working on your first full-length CD with this band. Last time Cory and I talked he said you were going to try to capture your live sound as much as possible. Are you actually going to record it live, or mostly live in the studio?

Jaimie: Yes. Playing live is our strongest suit. Tracking would be a nightmare! We think our “essence” would get lost any other way.

SCS: You’re doing that at Mookie with Scott Dreesen right?

Jaimie: Uh huh!

SCS: Do you have a finished product in mind when you going into the studio, or do you figure things out as you go along?

Cory: I like to have shit pretty much figured out by the time we’re recording, but I’ve gone into the studio with unarranged songs before, fo’ sho’. I think the songs we’re going to record with R,CC! Are pretty much set, though.

SCS:Are there any other local producers/engineers you'd like to work with who you think could help to develop your sound even more?

Jaimie: Cory and I are big fans of THE MATRIX and hear that they have a place above the Rococo Theater. That’s right isn’t it? Well, if that doesn’t work out my brother is married to this woman who has 5 siblings, one of which is the third cousin of the uncle of a woman who used to be married to Rick Rubin’s brother-in-law. I heard he is from Gretna, does that count?.

SCS: Robot, Creep Closer! is an awesome name. Where did it come from?

Cory: Jaimie drinks Steel Reserve, a high-gravity lager with around 8% alcohol.

SCS: Jaimie, aren't you tired of playing with Cory by now?

Jaimie: Not a chance! Cory is a brilliant and gifted songwriter and some of the stuff he comes up with blows my mind. I believe we compliment each other nicely. Above all else, however, he is my bestest friend. What’s better than playing music with your bestest friend?

SCS: AAAWWwwwwww, How have you grown, musically and creatively, since the band first started?

Cory We’ve definitely found our sound. We’ve written a few songs that we don’t play that much anymore, and not because they’re bad songs, but because we’ve found what type of music we create the best and we’re trying to develop that.

SCS: Cory, do you write all the songs yourself, or are you working with anyone else in the band on them?

Cory: Actually, this band is way more collaborative than Shacker or Axeface. Tucci and I split the songwriting pretty evenly.

SCS: When and where was your first local show, and how did it go?

Jaimie: Technically, our first show was in the basement of a house on Halloween. We didn’t have a drummer yet, so we Eagle*Seagulled our friend into laying down beats with his laptop. It was a show only for our friends so it didn’t matter how bad we sucked.

SCS: What was your most memorable live performance and what made it that?

Cory: Scenefest, because of so many people and so much energy and Holy Shit it was great. Strobe-lights.

Jaimie: I concur! It’s unbelievable to play in front of such an attentive crowd and to be apart of such crazy energy. Amazing!

John: Ditto! I alone had about 20 people to come see us play.

Gina: For me, it was when we played a new song, “Buttons on a Track Girl’s Boy Shorts,” for the first time at the Chatterbox. We barely practiced it and yet we played it great that night, which showed me how well our band works together. It was an inspiring moment.

SCS: Most embarrasing moment in a live show?

Cory: This weird drunken encore we did called “Battle of Mathemattaclaxtonia” or something crazy like that. It wasn’t really embarrassing though, because unlike some of my more “serious” musical ventures, this band doesn’t give a CARE.

John: Yeah, we really botched that song. It got so bad we didn’t really know how to end the song. I remember turning to Jesse (our drummer) and saying, “Just stop.”

Gina: Luckily it was nothing I did!

SCS: What do you like and dislike about the music scene in Lincoln?

Jaimie: I dislike the fact that a small percentage of people who are 21 or older go to shows. I think it’s terrific that middle-school and high-school kids go to shows. They seem to be the ones that are supporting local music in this town. Cory and I have played shows with many awesome Lincoln bands-bands that get tons of “critical acclaim”- but not many people come out. The next Maroon5 is playing at Duffy’s or the Chatterbox or Knickerbocker’s on any given night, but not many people give a fuck. I guess it takes a billion spins on top 40 stations and MTV in order to get college kids (and older) to go to a show. That’s just my experience though.

SCS: Have you learned anything in your experiences in a band that you feel newer local bands could learn from, or made any mistakes they should avoid?

Cory: Have the right motivations for wanting to play in a band. Don’t put the cart before the horse. The wrong kind of ambition can eat you alive. And, if somehow you do manage to get a lot of attention or a lot of people telling you how awesome you are (which is great, of course), don’t let it get to your head, and don’t let it make you think that you’re more awesome of a PERSON than you actually are. It’s music, and music is supposed to be FUN.

Jaimie: I couldn’t agree more! The music should be an extension of your self. Also, don’t be a PRICK!!

SCS: Who are some local bands or musicians that you admire or feel should be recognized?

Cory: Strawberry Burns, fo’ sho’. Also, Honorable Mention is the best band ever.

Jaimie: Strawberry Burns and The Show is the Rainbow.

John: My favorite band to ever come out of Lincoln is Mercy Rule. I didn’t start listening to them until a few years after FBC was released. I really wish I could have seen them live.

Gina: I think all local bands should be recognized, just the scene in general. With so little to do in Lincoln, I wonder why more people don’t come out to shows.

SCS: I hear that! So let me ask you this...was there one defining moment which led you to a life of rock and roll?

Jaimie: I Yes. When I was a senior in high school I saw Collective Soul play at Pershing. They were my favorite band at the time and I was completely floored! Even though there was only 2,200 people there the energy was exhilarating and I knew I had to play music.

SCS: Whose music are you listening to right now? -- What other bands would you recommend people check out?

Cory: I’m listening to Spoon, Coheed and Cambria, The Streets, Common, Michael Jackson, and always Elliott Smith.

Jaimie: New Red Hot Chili Peppers, New Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, Rogue Wave, Mike Doughty, Nada Surf.

John: Panic at the Disco, Thursday (A City by the Light Divided) and anything by Coheed and Cambria.

Gina: Brooklyn Run, The Faint, Matthew Good, Injected, Lisa Marie Presley, Iron and Wine, Nada Surf, Greenwheel, Veda.

SCS: What are your 5 favorite albums of all time?

Cory: These are just my top 5 right now.