Interview: Elena Siegman

1. How long have you be writing music?

I’ve been singing, honestly, since I can remember, but I started writing songs and playing the guitar at about the same time, when I was about fifteen or sixteen. This is probably more of a question for Kevin, though, since I didn’t do a lick of writing for Lullaby or for The One!

2. What kinds of things inspire you?

For these songs in particular, I was really inspired by the vision and the focus that Kevin had. By the time the songs got to me, they were nearly complete, and he had a very clear idea of what he wanted to do.

When he’d give the songs to me, with lyrics and a guide track, I’d listen just a few times and suddenly would be REALLY eager to just get in the booth and start singing it.

Singing someone else’s song requires a totally different form of inspiration than songwriting does. I just won’t be able to do a very capable job of it if I am not excited about the song or am having a hard time understanding what the songwriter wants to hear. For these two songs, all I had to do was listen to the music and imagine the vocal track a few times before I was completely excited. I’m sure Kevin could tell you about how I’d listen, go over it with him once or twice and then leap up and go “OH MY GOD THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!” and run toward the recording booth.

5. Have you performed on stage?

Does Karaoke count? Ha, just kidding.

Sure have. When I was younger it would be at open mics with my acoustic guitar, and then gigs where I’d play my own songs to a room full of about 40 people max.

When I moved to Boston, I joined an all-girl punk band called Vagiant, in which I was not the singer, but the “lead guitarist”. I put that in quotes because I want everybody to understand that I am a pretty terrible guitar player. We played a bunch of shows, to some pretty decent-sized audiences in my mind (nothing special in the scheme of things, probably).

Kevin and I haven’t performed these songs live, that would be interesting. It would be hard enough for me to sing all of the parts at once, but I have no idea how Kevin will play all of the instruments at the same time. I am pretty certain that I will never be able to hit the high note at the end of “The One” again. That was a miracle recorded on tape.

6. Haha! Vagiant, eh? That sounds like a pretty hard core chick band right there. So, what were the most challenging aspects of creating this music?


It was a little bit of a challenge for me because these songs are so different, stylistically, from what I normally sing. “The One” in particular was difficult for a couple of reasons. When I first heard what Kevin wanted to do, with the whispering/growling of the verses, my first thought was, “Is he crazy? He does realize that I am a giant dork and I will never be able to make this sound cool, right?”

However, he had such a clear idea of what he wanted to hear, and is really so good at giving direction and suggesting different ways of doing things, that it didn’t take many tries for us to eventually get it right. The end product is something I’d never be able to pull of on my own, in a blazillion years. So the big challenge there, I think, is in being brave and trusting that I can try some things I’ve never tried before, and maybe it will work out!

7. Nice, a little self degradation! You were also a singer on some of the Perks-a-Cola jingles…how does singing on those differ from performing songs like “The One”?

Jingles are fun and easy – all you have to do is imitate what you’ve heard on the radio, or in television or movies, a million times over. You can be campy and silly, in fact, the more over the top the better. I am kind of a giant dork, as mentioned above, so I feel really comfortable doing that.

However, too much imitation in a song like “The One” and you’re going to ruin the song. My instinct was to do that at first with both of those songs, because it’s not a style I’m particularly well-versed with, but again, Kevin directed me really well. Pretty much all of my instinct for the first takes of those songs was totally wrong.

8. Are you doing anything musically in the future?

In fact! I’m currently working on my own album, which is ridiculously different from these songs. I don’t want to say too much about it stylistically because it’s still evolving, but I can tell you it is really, really different!

I’m also currently in a band started by another fella at Treyarch, Gary Spinrad, called Elviss Simmons and The Memphis Strutters. There are 11 people in this band – including a four-person horn section and a stand-up bass player. I am one of three female backup singers. We should start playing around town this summer.

8.a. Yeah I can’t wait for the Elviss Simmons project to go live. Gary is an amazing guy. (We’ll probably get him doing one of these, too one of these days).

9. So, where can I buy your album(s)?

Well, the where I can’t answer at all yet. My EP is currently in progress and should be done by the fall.

As far as Kevin’s album goes, well – I think he needs to make one. And stat!


10. You guys should come up with a band name for the zombie music!
Thoughts?

Well, I ran this through a band name generator with the seed word “Zombie” and this is what I got:

• Zombie Of The Keen Dolphin
• Zombie Service
• Through Zombie
• Zombie Of The Pygmy Puff
• Zombie Puddle
• Tacky Zombie
• Decently Zombie
• Zombie Inside Fear
• Shooting Scarlet
• Change Canadian
• Kink Of The Zombie Breed
• Zombie Underwear
I kind of love “Zombe of The Pygmy Puff”, “Zombie Puddle” and “Zombie Underwear”.

11a. Lol! That’s a brilliant idea. Maybe it’s because I’m a Miami Dolphin fan, but I think I like Zombie of the Keen Dolphin best!

12. Elena, game producing or singing?

That is a hard question! Don’t make me choose!

Honestly, up until very recently I have always thought of myself as a video game producer who makes music on the side. Right now I’m focusing on music full time, so it’s a bit of an adjustment. I love making video games and can’t wait to get back to it when I’m ready.

The other thing is, too, when you are a producer, when you are on a project, you are ON THAT PROJECT. You can’t go on tour, you can’t really leave early to go to band practice, etc. You really dedicate your life to the game you are producing. I don’t mind that at all, but when you do several projects back to back, your music can start to suffer. It’s still possible, though. The entire time I worked on Guitar Hero 2, I was in a band and we played several shows and practiced weekly. So I will never choose a favorite! Never!!

13. Which song is your favorite?

I think “The One” is my favorite. “Lullaby” is really fun, but it was our first time out of the gate, so I had just no idea what was going to happen. When we finished “Lullaby” and listened to it, I know I was really surprised at how great it turned out, I think Kevin was as well, and so when we went to work on “The One”, I think we both wanted to see just how far we could take it.

When “The One” was totally done and mastered and I listened to it the first time, I could not believe it. I still can’t listen to it without thinking, “wow, is that really me?!”

14. Who are you favorite artists?

Ok, we’ll be here all day. I am really, really passionate about the music I listen to. I love metal (in particular, Metallica, Megadeth, Mastodon and Iron Maiden), and I love punk (particularly hardcore, rockabilly and garage punk, too many bands to list), and country music (I’m serious. Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash and Porter Wagoner), and I love pop music (Prince and.. um, Kelly Clarkson, and I mean it) and I love rock music (Zeppelin, AC/DC, Queens of The Stone Age) and Hip Hop (Missy Elliot, Ludacris, Public Enemy) – I have a LOT of favorites.

15. Anything else you'd like to say?

Ok, well first and foremost, I just want to give mad props to Kevin for being a musical genius and writing some incredible songs on insane deadlines, performing all of the instrumentation himself, and producing and directing these songs to pure awesomeness. I can’t say enough about his talent and how much I respect him, and also how grateful I am for getting the chance to be part of it!

Also, Collin Ayers, who is the best engineer ever, and Brian Tuey, of course, for making it all happen, and the entire COD team for making such an incredibly fun mode (it really is amazingly fun – I feel extremely lucky to be part of it at all!).

Wait, is this the part where I plant an unexpected kiss on Halle Berry?

15a. YES! Haha! Thanks Elena.