I've Got a Sweet Tooth

Oh boy, I love Twitter!

Allow me to explain.

One day my ex-host G|M created a twitter account, and I happen to play with it too, on occasion. Recently, I've begun following various people through a trail of retweets and half understood conversations. And even more currently, I stumbled upon a sweetly seductive smoky croon that is a rare find in this day and age.

After watching a video for Everybody Wants to be in Love and retweeting, I was soon whisked away to many different clips on YouTube from this White Stripes-like electroswing outfit, Sweet Tooth. They describe themselves as a "film noir shangri-la" on MySpace.

With only two members at the helm, Fleur Gilbert and Gavin Hammond hark back to the days of big band and bootlegged booze, updated with a decidedly digital sound. It's an audio chocolate silk pie. My favorite song so far from them is "Venus in Hollywood," a track that reminds me of an alien starlet in search of fame and fortune.

The first video, too, piqued my interest not only musically but lyrically. Not only was there mention of a rat, but also a list of many other personal observations by Miss Fleur.

Besides these two things, it's also a pleasant to watch artistic animation.

^{(found here)}

‘Everybody Wants To Be In Love’ ~ Sweet Tooth
(Hammond/Gilbert)

Muddy old man, hiding in his hood.
Hunched in the shadows, reading a book on Marilyn.
Smiling to himself.

Pan-stick punk in black on black,
Big buckled boots and a little pink rat called Josephine,
Always by his side.

Everybody wants to be in love.

London lad, he’s all loved up.
Lying face down in the rain and kissing the sidewalk,
So passionately.

Teenage mama, pushing a pram.
Dragging on a cigarette, hollers at her boyfriend
“Johnny, were have you been?”

Everybody wants to be in love…

Two sweet boys, so entwined.
Make time stand still in the middle of Hoxton Square,
Kissing in a wheelchair.

High Road Rasta man, waiting for a cab.
Sings to his lady in the chill of a crazy night,
“Don’t give up the fight…”

Everybody wants to be in love…

I begun conversing with Fleur via Twitter, asking if she wouldn't mind if I put some of their music in a podcast. Awesomely enough, she was delighted by the idea and wouldn't mind if someone did.

I was going to record a special episode of Megatronic Space Broadcaster Radio, but a certain unpronounceable volcano had to rain down ash on my parade so I couldn't teleport her to the studio and ask her some questions personally. You guys know how the AcmeCo's Mr. Teleport hates static in the ionosphere, so you can imagine how angry I am that I don't have access to the Brundel 3000 with dual in-line re-carbonators. Then again, I heard it has problems too.

So, I settled on sending her a few questions by e-mail and she was kind enough to send out a response. I asked a total of ten, but the last three are more from k@ri. So I'm only sharing the first six:

1. How did you get into music? And have you always enjoyed singing?
I've always loved to sing - I come from a musical family and so it's always just been a natural part of my life. My mother says that even as a little girl I used to sit in the back of the car in my safety seat and sing harmonies to the radio!

I was in bands as a teenager (of which I'm VERY glad there are no recordings!) but it was getting together with Gavin (Hammond - producer and my musical other half) that got me back into performing as an adult. Firstly it was doing backing vocals for him and other musicians/bands, and then we gradually progressed into having me as the lead singer, and therefore writing songs for my voice. It was then that Sweet Tooth was born, as it's really the perfect melding of both of our musical tastes and creative styles.

2. When are we to expect a full album release?
We're putting the finishing touches to the mixes now, so we hope it will be later this year! Our first single was released independently on our own label, so we're still in process of figuring out exactly how to go about getting the album out…

3. Do you believe in aliens?
Wow… I had to think about this one for a moment!

I don't necessarily believe in aliens as dangerous 'little green men' who abduct humans to experiment on with probes (eek!), or who are watching our every move, just waiting to invade. But I am definitely open to the idea that there is life on other planets in other galaxies - I can't see why Earth would be the only planet in the Universe to have the right conditions for life (nor am I arrogant enough to think that humanity is the only intelligence). I do, however, suspect that if other beings were anywhere near us in our galaxy they would have made contact by now, considering that humans have spent enough time and money trying to communicate with them over the years (indeed many international scientists are working on SETI research programmes as I type).

We live in hope though, wouldn't it be exciting if one day they answered back!

4. I noticed some really progressive lyrics in the song "Everybody Wants Love" relating to homosexuality. I'm an advocate of humanity in general, where do you stand?
Well, some of my best friends are gay (no… really! Sorry, I couldn't resist the terrible cliche, but it's true!). My mother was a single parent until I was about 5 years old, and so I used to be looked after by many of her friends, family and neighbours so that she could earn a living. In the mix there were gay couples, elderly folk, more 'conventional' family units plus those of different backgrounds and creeds, and to my child-like mind they all seemed completely normal. That's the problem with the idea of 'normal' - there is no such thing! We learn to accept people and attitudes by example, and because no one told me these lovely helpers were strange/odd/wrong/sinners it never occurred to me to think that way!

With the lyrics to our song, each vignette came from something that Gavin and/or I have witnessed in London. One evening out we really did see "two sweet boys" kissing in a wheel-chair, and because we were in an area of East London that's very tolerant, the most lovely thing was that no passers-by even batted an eyelid! That's the way it should be, in our book.

5. Do you venture artistically out of music?
My other creative outlet outside of music is fashion, and I enjoy sewing from scratch and also modifying vintage clothing. The aesthetic of Sweet Tooth has definitely come from my own style - I've been dressing in a mixture of modern and vintage since I was a child.

As well as him song-writing and producing, Gavin in a talented photographer and writer - you can see a selection of his Lomo shots on our Flickr page, and also used as the imagery for some of our clips on Youtube. So together we make a good team!

6. What are your plans in the future?
Getting our music out into the world! We'd love to hear our tunes in adverts and/or films as well - having strived to get a cinematic sound we hope they lend themselves towards that.

Following on from that, we'd like to tour our show throughout the UK, Europe, the US… and wherever else will have us!

Well, that's all I've got out of Sweet Tooth for now. Hopefully when a full album drops (which best be soon!) and the weather clears I just may be able to cobble together a podcast interview for you guys later, with questions I have yet to ask.....Do you have any?

Anyway, be sure to check out their music on Amazon. You can download it from the website, high quality and in MP3. You'll even have access to it anywhere from Amazon's digital locker.

Venus in Hollywood and Everybody Wants to be in Love is on an endless loop in my CD player as I type this.