by Max Vernon
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players cross a lot of borders. They’ve been startling and delighting audiences with their multi-media hybrid of music and slide photography for nearly seven years, and while their songs may recall Raffi in their naiveté, a closer listening reveals shockingly astute political and social observations. From their inspiring, one-of-a-kind performances, and grueling touring schedule of around 150 shows a year, The Trachtenburgs have built up a dedicated fan base and a mass cult popularity. Which brings an inevitable amount of attention from the society they’re critiquing. They’ve been covered by publications such as Spin, The New Yorker, and The Village Voice, to name a few; and in addition to playing shows with musicians such as Regina Spektor and Nellie Mckay, The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players were the first ever non-signed band to appear on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. But beyond that, and probably the main thing, is that they are also really friendly, articulate, down-to-earth people who make their own kombucha and delicious vegan cookies that I couldn’t stop eating.
As their band name suggests, they are a family band, with Jason taking on the responsibilities as head singer songwriter. His wife, Tina, is the conceptual artist behind the band’s vision, costume designer, and slide projector. Daughter Rachel is the drummer of the band, although she plays several instruments. She’s also 13, and yes…she IS cooler than you.
The Trachtenburgs are performing their show for the Edinburgh Fringe Fest from August 2nd until the 26th. After they finish, they have an engagement at the Soho Theatre in London, performing “The Complicated Life” for the first half of September. If you ever get the chance to see them perform, go. Their live performances are transcendent.
[Editor’s note: and EAP totally agrees with everything the Tractenburgs say about cell phones. Double agrees. TRIPLE agrees.]
Max: Can you say a few things about your background? Where are you from, how did you and Tina meet?
Jason: From an early age, I realized this was going to be my contribution to this world. As a young lad in Liverpool, I was a fan of FM pop radio in the late seventies- such bands as Steely Dan, Abba, and The Bee Gees left a pretty permanent mark on my consciousness. I wanted to have an impact on music the way these acts do. I started writing songs at about the age of 13 or 14, and have been perfecting the craft since then. So I’ll jump forward to 1989, when I was in Greenwich Village at this club called The Speakeasy. It doesn’t exist anymore but I was there doing my craft when I met my to-be partner Tina Pina. She wasn’t there for her music, she was there with a singer-songwriter named Carlos.
Max: Did you have to abduct her?
Jason: No she took care of that herself. Then she went back to San Antonio, Texas, and then later I bumped into her on St. Marks totally coincidentally.
Max: But she was never writing her own songs?
Jason: No Tina isn’t a musician. And she’s not a performer. To do the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players is kind of a stretch for her. She’s more of a visual artist, and a folk artist. Also conceptual as well. Being on the stage isn’t her thing, whereas for me if I’m not on the stage that’s the problem, I can’t get off it!
Max: Wait were you actually born in Liverpool?
Jason: Yeah I started out in Liverpool, then had a brief stint in Hamburg…(laughs) no I’m just obsessed with The Beatles. They’ve taken over my reality. My reality has become their reality… I was actually born in Syracuse, NY. Then my family moved to Philadelphia.
Max: Okay, so can you explain to the unacquainted how the whole slide concept began?
Jason: So I was perfecting my craft of songwriting. The quest for the perfect three minute pop song. And I think I’ve done it! But at the point, the rest of the industry was not agreement; I’ve always said I’m about six years ahead of the industry. But anyways, I was hosting these open mic nights in Seattle and I met all these musicians and got comfortable on stage. But I still was unable to really make a living in the arts, no one really got what I was doing, got horrible reviews, horrible singer, songs don’t make sense, the worst reviews you can imagine. So Tina eventually said, you’re writing catchy songs, but people obviously aren’t getting them. So she suggested we buy an old slide projector and take pictures to illustrate my sociological, topical pop songs. Initially I thought it was a bad idea, cause the Beatles didn’t do it. But Tina followed through with it, and she bought a box of slides. I didn’t really think much of it at first, it just kind of seemed like an art project but those slides ended up becoming Mountain Trip to Japan, 1959 (perhaps their most well known song). Each slide illustrated a line of the song. So we decided to do this slide song as the last song in my solo show and the response was overwhelming. Tina’s idea was like firecrackers. So we kept writing these slide songs, but it was such a weird thing so we decided to make it even weirder and get Rachel involved too.
Tina: Our act has never been one where you try to be weird or be cool. We’re just being ourselves, and if that happens to be cool or weird then great. People always ask me, what is Rachel really like? She seems like this happy little girl…sometimes, but how is she really?
Max: I feel like the issue of Rachel’s happiness comes up a lot. What’s the deal with that?
Tina: Well you know- people like to tear things apart. Look for the negative. Especially with showbiz kids, a lot of things have happened.
Jason: Yeah I mean, Danny Bonaduce.
Max: How old was Rachel when she joined the band?
Tina: (laughs) She actually wasn’t born yet.
Max: She was a fetus.
Jason: She was six. And she’s very good now. But she was really good then too. It was really incredible to see.
Max: Rachel, do you feel like you have a natural affinity for the drums or is there something else you prefer to play?
Rachel: Well I’m teaching myself how to play the ukulele now. I like that a lot. But yeah, I like the drums.
Max: I heard you had a side project developing, The Oh My God Girls, how is that going?
Rachel: Well I don’t really know any kids my age in New York. They’re in Seattle, Australia, Texas. All these places, so it’s not really going anywhere. But when I’m older I guess.
Max: I love tangents, they’re great. But back to the slides: It sounds like the first song kind of flowed out of you like an epiphany. Is that the process for all the songs or it a more meticulous process.
Jason: I like to do it in little blasts. Usually a couple days or a couple years even some times. The images we find are completely random, I try to find things in common and then it’ll become the catch phrase for the song. Generally the slides interpret the theme. The theme tends to be about our cultural excesses.
Max: A lot has been said about how your music has a political or socially conscious bent to it. I love how the songs are seemingly innocuous and playful while the lyrics could be critiquing religious fundamentalism. For instance, songs like “Religion is Killing this World” or “Christian Terror”. Do you have a particular agenda with your music or just in general?
Jason: Yes, all songs I write have to have a purpose otherwise I’d have to ask what’s the point of even doing it. It can be political, psychological, if need be, writing something in lieu of a therapy session. Outside of music, we’re into supporting small local health food stores. There’s some famous footage of me protesting the Whole Foods opening on bowery. It was on Gawker.com. I’m an advocate of a lifestyle that has the least long-term impact on the environment: using non-disposable cups for example. People too often take for granted where their trash is going.
Max: Do you feel like your act is locked into slides? Tina, do you think you’re going to introduce any new concepts into the act?
Tina: It’s not locked into slides. We’re always doing something creatively and we could eventually do something different.
Jason: I mean maybe thirty years from now it’ll be the Trachtenberg Family PowerPoint Players. But we won’t be doing movie, or home videos anytime soon.
Max: That’s another thing I was wondering. So much of the striking aesthetic of the band is due to the fact that Rachel has always been, and is still younger than any drummer in a popular band out there. What are you going to do when she grows up? Do you think you’ll still be playing shows fifteen years from now?
Jason: I’ve been at some pretty high levels of entertainment where we’re the hottest thing going, and other times when I’m playing the worst show that no one would ever go to. I think we’re going to keep playing for as long as we’re relevant. As long as each show keeps getting better than the last. And hopefully writing new material- but I think eventually we all have three different directions to go into. We’ve been doing this for six or seven years, but our individual directions will ultimately surpass anything we did together, Tina’s artistic concepts, my psychological concepts, Rachel has some cool musical ideas.
Tina: It’s helped us do a lot of things. We get calls from casting companies randomly who want us to be in commercials and then all of a sudden we’re actors. So, we have a lot of options for the future.
Max: What kind of art do you do Tina?
Tina: I designed the Trachtenburg logo. I’ve been making these dolls of the band. I also make all the costumes we wear.
Max: I don’t really have a concept of how a family band works. Do your creative energies clash at all?
Tina: We actually work extremely well creatively. We do our own things so we don’t clash. I think Jason is really good as an artistic collaborator. Otherwise, on a normal day, something out of place might totally throw him off (Jason: Yeah what is this bag on the table?). But with music he’s totally great.
Max: I know you’ve been really supportive of other artists in the scene, you’ve cooked for your audiences before. Do you think this speaks to a larger purpose for music?
Jason: I mean a show should be an all-encompassing experience: A mental trip to the amusement park, but without all this Disney-fication. I love talking to the audience and have questions and answers. I say more to an audience in my set than most of these big shots do in their whole careers.
Max: I know you guys are about to go on a huge marathon of around fifty performances for the Edinburgh fringe fest. How does your reception in Europe compare to America?
Jason: I like it all. We only have a problem if the country doesn’t speak English. Cause then they walk out.
Max: What are your plans for the future. Do you have new recordings?
Jason: I have some solo stuff I’m working on. We’re actually going to Major Matt Mason’s on Monday to record the theme song for our Edinburgh show- a play on the simple life, we’re calling it the complicated life. Our show is going to be like a variety show, we have skits, songs, and a laugh track. And if people don’t like it, I have the laugh track and hilarity will ensue regardless.
Max: Is there something, a thought you’d like to leave the readers with?
Jason: We have several messages we’d like to leave but one in particular: everyone who’s reading this interview should re-evaluate their relationship with their cellular phone, they were supposed to be for emergencies, not idle chit-chat. Maybe get a headpiece. People take that for granted that they’re safe. Convenience shouldn’t get in the way of health. And if you’re walking down the street and talking on your cell phone to the same old people over and over again, and so am I, and you walk past me on the street without saying something you’ve totally just missed your chance for me to change your life. And that’s what’s great about NYC– the possibility of new connections. Don’t cover it up with your ipod and your iphone. I I I- it’s all about you. I mean, get over yourself.
www.myspace.com/slideshowplayers
http://www.slideshowplayers.com/