On October 29, several [the3st] bloggers attended The Dear Hunter show at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia. While the Annuals were the scheduled opening act, Philly band East Hundred performed first and caught us completely by surprise. Their set made us instant fans, so we are honored that the band took the time to answer a few of our questions. You can catch them live at Johnny Brendas on November 12 and December 11, and at Southpaw in Brooklyn on November 18!

Also, check out their website at www.easthundred.com.

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[the3st]: What are your strategies for building up a larger fan base now that you have a well-received first album under your belt? How do the sweeping changes in the music industry affect smaller bands like yours?

East Hundred (Dave): We finally have our infrastructure in place after years doing the DIY approach. So now we have a manager and a booking to help us come up with and implement new strategies for the future. Right now that includes starting a whole new Internet publicity push and doing a lot more touring in the near future.

The state of the music industry has some positives and some negatives. It is a lot easier these days to record, release and promote your own music then in any other time in history. However, that can only take you so far in your career and record companies may still be a necessary evil. But it is a lot harder to get signed these days and that still doesn’t guarantee success like it might have in the past.

[the3st]: Your website clearly lists Brooke and Beril’s breakup as a major creative influence on the album. Can you talk about how this added tension affected the album’s recording? Is it hard to have to sing such personal songs together over and over again in front of audiences?

EH (Brooke): The overall tension fueled the writing more than anything. It became a focal point to draw from. We had already recorded a few songs, and then after the breakup we wrote another bunch of songs that became the majority of the album. It’s what was going on at the time, so it made its way into the music. While it was a great place to unload baggage, it can be draining at the same time. I’m very proud of these songs, but at the same time I’m ready to move on, and we’ve got some new stuff we’re really excited about. Each time we record it feels like a fresh start, and that’s a great feeling. We’re eager to top Passenger!

EH (Beril): The tension and sadness was definitely tough to deal with when writing songs together. But knowing we had to finish the album was kind of like working towards this light at the end of the tunnel – that was the motivation. We committed to making music together so that was the focus. The actual recording process was more diligent. When you lack time and money, you have to get in the studio, turn your emotions on and just do it. There was no time to think and be sad while recording. We approach everything as professionally as we can. We were also well aware of the “breakup” cliché, so sometimes it helped to step back and laugh at ourselves. Definitely an extreme range of emotions.

Well singing in general (for me at least) is a very physical and vulnerable process, so every show is always hard work, but in a good way – a big release. It’s not really hard to sing personal songs I guess because that’s the whole point anyway, to do something from the heart that resonates emotionally. Yes, there are times where we may be more moved or a certain performance of a certain song on a certain night may carry more meaning… it just depends. So all together it is indeed a bit of hard work but rewarding when an audience enjoys it, and that makes it easier.

[the3st]: This record obviously has a very personal history behind it. Do you think about your audience when you go into the studio to record, or is it more for yourself?

EH (Beril): Probably a bit of both. But first it’s for ourselves.

[the3st]: What is the significance of the album’s title and beautiful artwork?

EH (Beril): Thanks, it is pretty isn’t it? Well we all felt that “Passenger” would work well because of the way we felt collectively… that we weren’t in control of our careers or personal lives as much and life felt as if we were just sitting in the passenger seat of a car or plane or whatever and watching things happen, no matter how much we tried to control things or improve our situations. It works with the album because all relationships are like that. You can’t control the outcome of things or only can to a certain point really. It’s that feeling of watching yourself while living through experiences but without the power to change much, at least in that moment or period of time. You just have to deal. I’m sure most people have experienced that feeling.

[the3st]: Given financial constraints, are you able to commit yourself full-time to the band? And if not, how do you balance more than one thing at the same time?

EH (Susan): We are all committed to the band individually on a daily basis, but being that we all currently work other full-time jobs it’s hard for us to get together as often as we’d like. Sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle, but all in all we want to be doing this as our careers, so we are always putting band first.

EH (Beril): This aspect is frustrating. We all wish we had the means to commit full time. Somehow we balance it – everything takes a little longer than it [normally] would because it’s five people’s schedules all working full time at other jobs to pay the bills. It can be stressful and burn you out, but we’re working hard towards making this our full time gig. So come out and see the shows people!!

[the3st]: We really like the concept and style of your first music video. It came across as very personal and genuine. Who thought up the idea, what was the filming like and do you have any more coming up in the near future?

EH (Will): Well, it was entirely personal and genuine being that it was both conceived and directed by our older brother Macon, who is a NY based filmmaker/writer. We, as a band, had other, more involved concepts, but he really saw the “pillow fort” idea working well. The song has a bit of a nostalgic feel to it, a bit bittersweet, and there’s nothing more nostalgic than building pillow forts with your siblings and friends. And that’s all we did – we invited all of our friends over, spent a weekend in a fort hanging out in our pajamas. It felt very juvenile, which was great. I think in this post-MTV, new Youtube world that videos might be the biggest means for exposure. A clever concept, done well, can reach huge audiences. At the same time, with the affordability of video product and the shear number of folks posting videos, there is still a tough competition as the market, the Internet, has essentially become full of videos. Having one stand out from the bunch is the tough part.

[the3st]: How has the Philly music scene influenced your work and helped you grow as an artist? Do you have plans of trying to break through in other cities as well?

EH (Susan): I think we’ve had a lot more recent support as a Philadelphia band which has been great. I don’t think we necessarily fit into any one scene which was a struggle at first but since has become more of an advantage. In addition WXPN has really given us a ton of support and had us as “artist to watch” for the month of July as well as being part of their amazing xponential music fest. We love to play NYC and DC too and have spent time in other regional cities as well.

[the3st]: There are no lists of musical influences on either your website or MySpace page. Where do you think you fit into the Indie rock scene, and what bands have especially impacted your work?

EH (Will): To be honest, we have no idea where we “fit” into the indie-rock scene. It’s hard to say there’s ever been one defining band or artist we’ve been influenced by. At any given moment, all five of us are listening to sometimes very different music, and it just gets rolled into a greater East Hundred sound. Great bands like the Pixies, the Stone Roses and even sounds of the 80s like Duran Duran we all grew up with. Currently, the National and Fanfarlo have been really inspiring, as well as more electronic acts like The Knife and Empire of the Sun. We’ll constantly be exploring new bands, new music and new ideas.

[the3st]: We loved the use of the toy piano in “Slow Burning Crimes” – it made the song more playful and unique. What other musical techniques have you been experimenting with to differentiate your sound?

EH (Brooke): The lap steel has made its way into a bunch of songs, mostly as a texture, but it’s more upfront on some new stuff we’re working on. We also like to throw in a bit of glockenspiel every now and again. We’ve been messing around with resonator guitars and mellotron sounds a bit. While we like to keep our main instruments the focal point, we like adding in this or that to give each song its own sound and feel.