Sofia, August, Amanda, Melanie Photo by Ben Moon
Remember Maria von Trapp, the smiling, singing, fictional Julie Andrews version? It's a hard mental image to look past when first discovering the music of the real Maria von Trapp's great-grandchildren. After all, since 2001, Portland-based The von Trapps have toured the world re-establishing their family name in the classical and gospel folk music scenes.
But after a few listens to their newest EP Dancing in Gold, it becomes clear that these sharp-dressed singers have something more to prove than the legacy of their Austrian ancestors. We caught up with Melanie (MVT) and August von Trapp (AVT) to talk about their US/Canada tour that kicks off in Nashville on November 11 at Exit/In.
You all are famous for performing old-fashioned styles of music (classical, yodeling, hymns). How did you end up singing pop in Dancing in Gold?
AVT: Well, everything really started going in that direction after we teamed up with Pink Martini. We toured with them for years. Thomas Lauderdale, the frontman, has such a good way of using those types of music and turning them into something that wasn't just one style. We knew that we wanted to explore something a little more poppy, and this album was our first endeavor to write and perform our own music, not somebody else's. Working with Pink Martini really helped us figure out how to manifest that desire into music.
What does Dancing in Gold mean for The von Trapps?
MVT: We've finally found a way to reflect on what we've all experienced together over fifteen years. At the start of making the album, we didn't know what it would bewe went into it trying to be authentic and real, and to see what we would come up with. I don't think there was a moment where we consciously thought, 'yeah, let's go pop guys!”
We're all in our twenties, and what we really thought was, 'yeah, let's just be ourselves. Let's write our own stuff, and see where that comes from.” It sounds like nothing people have heard from us before, which is kind of strange. But that's because it's coming from four people who have been in different musical situations.
What do you like/dislike about playing in Nashville?
MVT: I love Nashville. I always have such a great time when I'm there. We've been to Nashville a few times with Pink Martini to play with the Nashville Symphony. It was so fun, and I remember the building was beautiful. Nashville itself is really fun, so I like coming here and seeing everything, especially Broadway.
Other than performing with other musicians, how do you guys enjoy yourselves while in Nashville?
MVT: There's this one restaurant that we always go to. It stays open really late, and we're there almost every night when we come. It has huge glass windows…
AVT: Oh yeah! It's on the main strip. It has like a New Orleans style, and I remember having the jambalaya, which was awesome. I think it's on Broadway, next to that candy shop…
MVT: Merchants! Yeah, it was Merchants, with the Duck Fat Tater Tots. It was so good.
AVT: But there are a couple of ways we enjoy ourselves. It seems like most of my friends are actually moving to Nashville, so there's a lot of people to hang out with. And there's this part of town called the Gulch that they keep telling me about that I haven't explored yet, so I'm excited to see it soon.
Where do you stand with your next two EPs?
AVT: Our plan is to do a sort of sustained release of the EPs every six months. When we started on this project, we thought, 'well, we're changing so quickly, and we want to keep up with our own evolution as artists, so why don't we sort of stretch it out?”
It gives us more freedom to explore. We also have this amazing collaboration going with a fantastic artist from the UK named Jon Fox. He does the most amazing surrealist paintings. We sent him Dancing in Gold and were like, 'hey, why don't you translate this into something visual?” and his interpretation became the cover of this album. But we're still playing around with the theme of the next EP, we'll have some sort of hints to drop soon...