Mini-Interview: Army Navy

Indy pop superstars Army Navy are among the hardest working bands in Los Angeles, having played here with such varied acts as Irving, The Arctic Monkeys, Wolfmother, and Cut Copy, not to mention being nearly finished with a month-long free Monday night residency at local uber-venue Spaceland.

We’ve seen the band live several times and have been listening to the songs on their EP for months now. Still, we had questions. Questions only that lead singer Justin Kennedy could answer...

How long has the band been together now?

We have been a band about two years and a half years. But about two years at this current lineup.

You started out with a four-song EP, which you recorded with Mitchell Froom, who’s worked with Suzanne Vega. How did that come together?

We actually recorded it at his home studio and used his amazing engineer David Boucher to engineer and mix it. Mitchell has been a friend and a supporter of the band and was amazing for letting us have the keys to the studio!

So you’ve had tracks from that appear on the TV shows NUMB3RS, Weeds, The Mountain, and The O.C., right? How did that happen?

We found out who did the music placement for those shows and sent them some CD's and I guess the right people ended up listening to the EP and liked what they heard!

You’re work on currently recording new songs with Steve McDonald, who founded Redd Kross and has worked with Beck and The White Stripes. Is that right? What’s the process been like there?

We actually recorded with Steve last summer and early fall at his rehearsal space/studio. He's such a fun person to record with! He has so many funny stories and has been in the business for years, so he has a lot of knowledge of the music business and the recording process. We recorded five songs with him and then mixed them again with David Boucher.

What’s the status of those songs? Are they going to end up on a full-length or another cd?

We have an EP that is available on our website and on Itunes and it has three songs from our first EP and two from the Steve Mcdonald sessions.

What’s next for you after the residency at Spaceland?

We want to play as many shows with great bands and hopefully working on getting a deal so we can go record our debut album!

Last question: Who are some of your favorite LA bands right now?

We love The Tyde, The Little Ones, The Like, and Giant Drag.

That’s it. Thanks for your time, Justin.

Army Navy will play their last free residency night next Monday at Spaceland, which is located at 1717 Silverlake Blvd in the -- no surprise here -- Silver Lake neighborhood of LA. Doors open at eight and Youth Group and Glovebox are also on the bill.