COLLEGE!

    Yes, the inevitable is closer than we expected. Mikaela and I will be leaving for college this week. EEP is what we say to that! We have been preparing for this moment since the beginning of our junior year, and we still beg for just a little more time. Total bummer that right when our band is getting out there, we gotta split up for 9 months. But have no fear! The wonderful, wonderful Demos have promised to come up and visit an unreasonable number of times throughout the school year to help us complete our album! Also, hopefully I'll be able to keep this blog going to keep you guys wanting more! And of course we will be back next summer to woo the public market crowd once again. Until then, here's where we'll be:

Mikaela will be going to The Crane School of Music up at Potsdam where the weather is chilly and the students are silly. (Silly students are not a cited fact) She will be going for classical harp, OBVIOUSLY.

I, Alison, on the other hand, will NOT be going to school for ukulele! (Gasp! ) I will be attending Pratt Munson-Williams-Proctor up in Utica. Bleck, right? Anyway, Pratt is an art school and I will be majoring in Communications Design, which is a combination of Illustration, Graphic Design and Advertising. Funny thing, Pratt Institute is actually located in Brooklyn, NY, but I am attending the Utica campus for 2 years because it's roughly $20,000 cheaper per year. Then in  2012 I will be moving to Brooklyn to finish it all off. I can't wait to live in Brooklyn, even if it is dangerous. It will be a hell of a contrast to Utica.

So please stay interested in our music while we are away, and we will love you forever! (Our songs are wicked cozy in the winter-time, too)

Love,
The Girls

FAQs about Mikaela's Harp

#1 MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION ABOUT MIKAELA'S HARP: Do you play that thing?
ANSWER: Yes.




We are quite often approached at the Public Market (sometimes in the middle of a song) and asked questions about Mikaela's harp.  We figured we should probably clear some things up for you guys, just so you can stop wondering.

Carrying the harp up a mountain, which Mikaela does often

Q: How do you move the harp?

A: We put it on a little dolly and strap it in good then roll it all around. Mikaela has had much experience with this, and can now roll it off curbs and down steps.


Q: How much does that thing weigh?

A: A standard harp usually weighs around 85-90 lbs.


Q: What do the different colored strings mean?

A: All of the C strings are red, and the F strings are black. This is done just so the harpist can find a chord easily by looking, just like black keys on a piano.


Q: How long has Mikaela been playing?

A: 10 years. She began through our elementary school, Indian Landing, in 3rd grade. So she's pretty good.


Q: Does she do weddings?

A: Yes, but that is more her business than that of The Girls. E-mail Mikaela about weddings/events at mikaelarosedavis@yahoo.com.

Any other questions? Email The Girls at thegirlsonline@yahoo.com 

We love you!The Girls

Sisters?

    Seriously, people keep coming up to us at the public market / starbucks / the world and asking if we are sisters! We must assure people that we're just good friends. Once a woman asked us if we were best friends, and I (Alison) as a joke said "eh, medium friends" and was later punished by Mikaela. For real, though. Do we look alike?

Mikaela: Round eyes   Alison: Rectangle eyes

Mikaela: Heart shaped mouth    Alison: Circle shaped mouth

 

Mikaela: Little, round pea-sized nose    Alison: Indescribably sharp, angular, somewhat medium nose

Just saying'.

    I tend to think that if we were in fact sisters, we wouldn't be in a band together. Two very similar people don't work well together in my experience, just because they have the same weaknesses and strengths which in turn could cause conflict. But what do I know? There have been many brother/sister bands that have become quite successful... anyway my point is WE'RE NOT SISTERS, OK??

Hrmph,
The Girls

Other people's art

So, as you may or may not know, I (Alison) have been posting some of my illustrations with each blog. Yes, I draw them myself. Cool. But today I thought it would be nice to post some other people's art. So I have asked a few close friends and family to draw pictures of The Girls for me and here's what I got:

Alison by Caela Moore

Mikaela by Caela Moore

by Cal Saunders

by Barb Cote

by Laura Wilder

Alison by Alex Cote

Mikaela by Alex Cote

by David Cowles

by Clayton Cowles

Thank you for these drawings, all. If you want to send the girls some fan art, send it to thegirlsonline@yahoo.com, and maybe I'll post up an "Other people's art II"

We love you!

The Girls

Our friends, The Demos

   We have recently been fortunate enough to befriend two of the nicest men in the world, Jay Milton and Cal Saunders of The Demos. These guys are absolutely terrific. Their music is inspired greatly by The Beach Boys with heavy harmonies, and a creamy lead vocal by Jay that sounds not unlike Julian Casablancas of The Strokes. The songs are pop-y and wonderful, and we love them so much :) They have been kind enough to produce and record our next album. Really, our first official album. These guys know the biz, and they're gonna help us get places, I guess.
     Go buy their album off iTunes, or if you just want to hear a little bit of their music first, go visit their myspace!
    Guys, if you are reading this, we love you so much and are so thankful for all you are doing for us.





Flowers,
The Girls.

Have you met our boyfriends?

Hello I am Alison and my boyfriend's name is Alex Cote'. He is a drummer in a band called The Absolutes and they are very good. The Absolutes are a 60s-garage-rock style band, influenced by such bands as The Kinks, The Animals, The Sonics and the early Rolling Stones. And of course The Beatles, who The Girls are also heavily influenced by. Alex also play a lot of jazz and some of his favorite jazz musicians include Hank Mobely, John Coltrane, Roy Haynes and Philly Joe Jones. We have been dating for two years, and in the fall Alex will be going to SUNY Purchase. I love him.






Mikaela's boyfriend is also named Alex, except his last name is Patrick. He is also in The Absolutes and sings and plays lead guitar. He ALSO plays jazz guitar on the side. Some of his favorite jazz musicians include Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Oscar Peterson and Barney Kessel. Mikaela and Alex have been dating for slightly over two years. In the fall, Alex will be going to the Eastman School of Music. Mikaela loves him.







Here's a silly drawing by Alison:

We love our boyfriends very much... SO BACK OFF!!

Love, The Girls :)

Are you wondering how we write our songs?

It's actually quite an interesting process. I imagine most musicians don't write quite like we do. For instance, I think many people think of what they want the song to be about and then write it acccordingly, when we do it in somewhat of a reversed order. Here's kinda how it goes:

• Mikaela or Alison will come up with a little chord progession that we think sounds cool. We tend to have a lot of E minor chords in said progressions. We loves the E minor. 

Next, we make artichoke dip.

• Then we'll usually kind of make up some melodies by singing "aah's" along with our chord progression. 

• After we come up with a basic melody, if it was a ukulele song, Mikaela will bust out a wicked awesome harp part to go with it. If it was a harp song originally, Alison will struggle to learn the chords and strum or pluck along.

• After that, we figure out a bridge and a chorus and arrange it how we like. 

• We dread writing lyrics. We have a common fear of being cheesy when we write our lyrics. What usually happens is one of us will have a very small revelation and come up with one line that isn't cheesy. Then our challenge is to write the rest of the song keeping the theme and trying to rhyme. You'll notice that in many of our songs, we neglect this stage and just throw in some "la's", "ooh's", or "na's".

• Next comes my FAVORITE part! (Alison's favorite part) I get to come up with the harmonies! I love harmonies! They're sort of my thing. It seemed that in the beginning, I did the high harmonies and Mikaela did the lower melody like in our song "Cake Song". Now it seems that Mikaela has been doing the higher melody and I have been doing the lower harmony. Or sometimes I sing the melody and Mikaela sings the harmony like in "Sweatervest Man". Great fun!

I just came up with a little thing-- "What makes a Girls song?" "The two H's--Harp and Harmony"!

Until next time!
We love you,
The Girls