Interview: Winter

Last week we wrote about Boston shoegaze outfit Winter and their newest single, that we can’t get enough of and this week we’re excited to share our e-mail interview with leading lady Samira Winter. Check the interview below and be sure to check out the band.

TGE: How did you and Nolan come to originally form Winter?

Samira Winter:  I knew Nolan from his band Infinity Girl and was their number one fan. We became friends and even started a art zine. After a disappointment with a professional producer I asked Nolan if he could produce/record my songs. This was fall of last year, right after he had graduated from Berklee College of Music. So he had free time and said yes. I sent him over home recordings of my songs and he gave them life in the “Daydreaming” EP released last December.

TGE: Now, you’ve added Kyle and Ana, so how has that changed the band or your sound?

S: Kyle adds awesome bass lines and groovy dance moves. Ana, because of her long time experience in the Boston music scene, helps us with booking and adds backing vocals. She also helps with coordinating the outfits so we can all match!

TGE: Your new single “The View” is gorgeous! What new material do you have planned next or what can we expect from Winter in the future?

S: We are working on a new fun song and possibly an EP by the end of the summer.

TGE: Your Facebook and Bandcamp describe your sound as dreampop or “dreamy star projecting music”. I’m always interested in how a band decides what they want to sound like, so how did you all realize that was what you wanted to sound like?

S:  I guess the “dreamy” came naturally. It’s a big part of my personality and a big part of Nolan’s taste in music with his Kevin Shields influence. We didn’t really decide to be dreamy but found that our love for reverb, chorus and phasers gave us that label.

TGE: Is it hard to recapture that same dreamy essence during live performances?

S:  No, it’s not hard at all. I love getting into the dreamy zone, specially if the show has projections over us. We usually bring christmas lights and flowers. Ana and I wear flowers on our hair to get into the vibe. When we play, we sway and dance to the songs. It can get really dreamy.

TGE: Thinking about your Daydreaming EP, what would the members of Winter typically be daydreaming about?

S: We daydream about bike rides in the summer, platonic loves, and wrapping ourselves in christmas lights.

TGE: You covered “Time” by Pink Floyd for the Rock N Beats Comp. What are some other songs you’d love to cover? Or bands you’d want to collaborate with?

S: We’ve covered at shows the song “With My Eyes Closed” by The Raveonettes. WE haven’t really talked about covers but I’m guessing we would all love to cover early 90’s music such as Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, My Bloody Valentine or Pavement. I would love to collaborate with Matt Mondaline from Real Estate and Ducktails or Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley.

TGE: I wrote about your “Bedroom Philosophies” video for The Le Sigh and it reminded me at least of an 80’s prom. What were you guys envisioning with that video?

S: We bounced around a lot with ideas. We wanted it to feel somehow retro and intentionally look like a t.v set. I’m a big fan of visualizing colors with music and so is Joe Holcomb, the maker of the music video, so we ended up thinking more about the colors and the lighting than anything else.

TGE: I always have to ask for a fun fact or something fans might be surprised to know.

S: In band practices we always ask the boys about updates on their love life.

Ana and I are half brazilian so we speak in portuguese and bond about Brazilian food.

Nolan is secretly the funniest person in the band although he seems very serious.

We call the bridge part in “The View” the James Bond line.