When’s the last time you played a CD and laughed out loud? With their satirical skits and punk-rock-comedy songs, Paul and Andrea DeLesDernier of The AnAesthetics will have you giggling like Howard Dean at President Bush’s State of the Union Address.

As their press kit states, they’re on a “mission from ‘Blog’ to find relief in this cluttered, often confusing, super-sized world…The humor on Cornography [their latest CD] is found in reality, in the everyday obstacles we all share. Nothing and no one is safe as Paul and Andrea mock and deconstruct all the overstuffed, overused clichés and imposters that are thrown in our faces every day as we encounter traffic, our jobs, family, friends, and every form of media.”

Last month, we interviewed The AnAesthetics about their marriage, their music, and their message.

How long have you two been married?

Andrea: Sixteen years.

Did either of you make music before you got together?

Paul: I started out on the fiddle and played professionally in Branson, Missouri, when I was a kid. After that I was always in a band playing guitar.

Andrea: I never wrote or recorded anything until Paul and I started playing together. I sang in musicals then converted to rock.

What musicals? Where?

Andrea: The last one I did, I played Hope in Cole Porter’s Anything Goes in Dallas. There are some great songs in that musical like “It’s Delovely” and “All Through the Night.”

Is The AnAesthetics your first musical enterprise or have the two of you collaborated on other projects?

Paul: This is our first musical enterprise together. However, we have worked together in films and plays. And we have produced and acted in a couple of films together.

What films? What plays? Where?

Paul: Our first film together was Slaughterville (a feature length horror film shot entirely on 8mm. It was one of the first 8mm films to go to the Cannes film festival). Then we did The Appointment (a black and white noir thriller). We acted and produced on this one. Both of these films were directed by our long time buddy and schoolmate Todd Wade. I also scored Slaughterville, and as The AnAethetics we wrote two songs for The Appointment which was just released on DVD.

We have done several plays together. But the play that had the most impact on what we are doing now was a version of Edward Albee’s American Dream that I directed my final year at Oklahoma State. Andrea played Mommy.

How long have you been The AnAesthetics?

Andrea: Ten years.

How did you come up with your act’s name?

Paul: It was a name my brother, Peter, and I used for one of our early bands. I always liked the name and knew I would use it again one day. Some people think it’s about drugs, but it’s simply about aesthetics, art for art’s sake.

Andrea: We are not completely about form over content. But we do like to stick with simplicity and honesty and let the content develop from that place. We don’t like to write songs that have an agenda.

So you had formal training in terms of music, acting, singing.

Andrea: Yes. We met while we were both studying theatre in college. We were also both in the voice program.

Paul: I didn't study music formally. I learned folk styles and then moved on to rock. I had been studying acting and voice in college for about a year when I met Andrea in an acting class. During a class discussion she made reference to voices in her head, and I knew I would marry her.

Andrea: The first time I saw Paul he was playing Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. Oh, he was great in the role, made everybody cry. But what attracted me was his cod piece.

Paul: We also studied improv for four years with Bob Koherr.

Where’d you get the idea to add comic audio skits between the songs on your CD? Why did you decide to do that rather than put those ideas to music as well?

Andrea: A few years ago, we had a band, and we were in an improv troupe. We reacted to a club scene that had gotten pretty stagnant. We knew in order to stand out we had to be different. We wanted to do something original. So we decided to combine the two (music and comedy). When the acts integrated, it was just natural to have both songs and scenes.

That’s a great idea. I’ve never seen that before. Where do you perform?

Paul: Rock clubs, comedy clubs, coffee houses, theatres. Before we combined the music and comedy, we would be at the Comedy Store one night and the Whisky down the street the next. So we continued to play both types of venues.

Andrea: We love to show up in places where people least expect us. We recently played some Borders Books & Music in Arizona where we sold a lot of CDs, but were told we wouldn’t be back because we said things like “Jesus and Attention Whore.” We got a big kick out of that. We like to travel. In addition to playing Los Angeles, our home, we play in San Francisco, Berkeley, San Diego and Phoenix.

When you perform live, do you do rehearsed skits between songs?

Paul: Everything we do live between songs is improvised. Even some of the songs are improvised. We record every live show and often make the recordings available on our website at www.punkrockcomedy.com as Exclusive Content.

Cornography is refreshingly hilarious. Talk to us about musical comedy. Who inspired you? Why do you do it? It’s a rare genre, isn’t it?

Paul: Thank you. We were very inspired by Monty Python who very often broke into song in the middle of a scene. It was Led Zeppelin and other British rock bands that backed Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the only movie I ever memorized every line to.

Andrea: I was in a three act improvised musical entitled You, The Musical. It was directed by Bob Koherr. The reaction we got and the amount of fun I had doing that show inspired me to do what Paul and I are doing now. Bob encouraged us to take the leap by referring to us as the Nichols and May of rock.

Paul: I think we do it because of the thrill of playing and the connection with the audience. It’s a great feeling to see people get excited about what we’re doing and having them walk away with one of our CDs.

Andrea: Well said. On the matter of it being a rare genre: we don’t know anyone who is doing exactly what we are although there are some really talented people doing variations of musical comedy, novelty, parody, and mock rock.

Paul: But, nobody is out there putting the comedy and the music at the same level. We grew up watching it done every Saturday night on NBC. And from that we learned that rock and comedy are one in the same genre. That’s how we approach it.

Talk to us about punk rock. Who are your favorite acts? Why did you choose this style?

Andrea: We chose the style for its simplicity in form, honesty, attitude, and truth. I know I sound like I’m reciting a Girl Scout oath, but those are the musical virtues of a good punk scout. I like the no b.s. attitude of punk. It gives me a clear-cut path to get the message across. To be able to say what I really want to say from a different angle and with some sting.

Paul: We have a ton of favorite bands but our favorite punk bands are the Sex Pistols, Ramones, The Clash, Joy Division, Blondie, X, David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars, Violent Femmes, Siouxie and The Banshees, X-Ray Specs, Devo, Iggy Pop.

Andrea: Bands that might not be considered punk but are top favorites that we take influence from are these two classic bands: The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. And these post-punk bands: U2, Talking Heads, and the Smiths. You can’t beat Morrissey’s wry sense of humor in his lyrics. We also love to listen to all the new bands that are out. Right now we’re listening to Bumble Bees 81, Louis IV, and Arcade Fire.

Punk rock is usually angry, isn’t it? How did you come to put it together with comedy?

Andrea: For me punk rock is also comedy. It’s fun. It’s the misbehaving child who blurts out the truth unaware it’s against social etiquette. Johnny Rotten’s persona in the Sex Pistols was comedic. It’s not a reserved art form; it’s assertive. You can’t lie in a punk song.

Paul: It lends itself to explore the scary premises. It seemed to help us express who we are. We are a no judgment, no agenda band, but we do cut open some bloody sub-context. Some of the songs come from an angry place. We are skewering clichés and laughing at reality.

Would you call yourself societal satirists?

Paul: Now that you mention it, yes, bordering on the absurd.

One of the highlights of Cornography is your skit featuring Dr. Lowconcern who developed her theories through years of “hard work and plagiarism” and believes “no feeling is a good feeling.” Talk to us about the inspiration behind this character and the development of this hilarious bit.

Paul: We knew we wanted to do some kind of bad public radio. I was fascinated by the typical NPR talk show host. Andrea called me while she was listening to the radio and said, “I’ve got it.”

Andrea: I was listening to a “help” show on public radio one afternoon and could not believe what I was hearing. I was laughing so hard. Not at the caller’s misfortune but at the unqualified, misguided advice he was getting from the host and her guest. This guy was about to die from cancer, and they were telling him to find his “happy place.” I believe in well being and focus, but these people were just repeating a mantra they had heard a million times, and it had lost all meaning. I was pleasantly appalled by their lack of genuine concern.

Paul: So, Andrea wrote an outline and then we furthered “Dr. Lowconcern” in the studio through improvisation.

Do you have a favorite song on the CD?

Paul: Track 3, “It’s All About Me.” It was the first song we wrote for the album, so it guided the content for the rest of the record.

Why is it your favorite?

Paul: Because I get to play F sharp minor!

Andrea: It’s cathartic to sing. It’s always a good release for the audience too. To make fun of these self-centered people we encounter in everyday life. And Paul takes this chord break between the first verse and second verse that rocks. I hate to be cliché, but...it rocks!

Who writes the music? The lyrics? The comedy bits.

Paul: Usually I compose, arrange, and produce the music. Andrea is the lyricist. We both write the comedy.

Andrea: However, we did switch it up on this album, and Paul wrote some of the best lyrics. He came up with the lyrics for two choruses: “It’s All about Me” and “Whine like a Rock Star.”

Paul: Yeah, and at one point I had recorded nine tracks of these fabulous, virtuoso, self-indulgent guitar solos for our song “Sucks to Be Me.” Then Andrea came up to me said, “I think it should go like this” and hummed a two note combination. That’s what I played and that’s what we used.

What’s the message you hope to communicate with Cornography?

Andrea: We wanted to give people some relief from all of the things that drive them crazy by mocking and deconstructing all of the overused clichés we all encounter everyday.

You have a great website www.punkrockcomedy.com, tell us about that.

Andrea: Our new website is so cool. We wanted the website to be as “live” as possible, so we keep it updated with material. You can listen to song samples. Get in depth song insights and lyrics. There’s a fan forum and pictures. We often take pictures with audience members and put them up on the site. Best of all, you can purchase our CD directly from the site in our Shopping Cart. We have the same secure shopping that other large e-tailers have. It’s super easy and fast to navigate. We kept the flash content down for that reason. But there are some naughty flashes on the home page. If you watch closely you can see them.

Paul: As I said before, we record all of our live shows. Many of the improvised songs go up on the site in the Exclusive Content section, so people can download them or just listen to them. We have also started posting a weekly commentary in the forum or what we call the “blog yourself” section. We basically blog about whatever is on our minds. There is always some insight there worth reading. John Dawes who owns www.musichosting.net designed and hosts our website. He does a great job as you can see.

Where else can we buy Cornography?

Andrea: www.amazon.com

What’s your next project?

Paul: We’ll continue to promote Cornography. It’s only been out for a few months. And we’re working on a trilogy of short films. Musical comedies with more cornographic material. Soon we’ll put out a CD/DVD.

What are your ambitions?

Andrea: We want to keep doing what we’re doing. It’s important to us that we continue to put out good work, but generate it at a faster pace. Our next move is to take it to screen.

March 2005

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