KAXE / KBXE, Brigid's Pub, and Keg N’ Cork are presenting a full day of free live music at the Beltrami Block Party in downtown Bemidji, featuring artists like Erik Koskinen and David Huckfelt, beginning at 1 p.m.
It will also feature the Minnesota indie rock band Little Fevers, which has been making music together for over a decade. Lead singer Lucy Michelle joined KAXE Producer Andrew Dziengel to talk about the block party, how Little Fevers formed, and when to expect a new album.
Edited for length and clarity.
Andrew Dziengel: Before you got into music, were you interested in any other arts?
Lucy Michelle: My mom, she was a teacher for a really long time, so, I've always really been into visual art. Actually, my other job besides being a musician is [being] an illustrator. I illustrate children's books and do lots of other freelance work in that realm, too.
AD: So how did you get into music then?
LM: Music was just always a big part of my life growing up. I was in a lot of school bands, like in junior high and middle school and high school. I played the tenor sax so, I was in jazz band and all that. Then when I went to college, I was in my dorm room, and I got yelled at for practicing my saxophone in my dorm room. Kind of loud.
I had been listening to a lot of Cat Power at the time. And I was like, you know, I just really want to learn some songs and sing them and learn how to play a quiet instrument. My grandfather sent me a ukulele and I learned a couple Cat Power songs and some [Bob] Dylan songs and then I started just writing my own music and putting it up on MySpace — when MySpace still existed — and then I just kind of met some musicians through there. I had a lot of friends that were musicians and that's kind of where everything started.
AD: So how did Little Fevers form?
LM: Well, Little Fevers formed because Lucy Michelle and The Velvet Lapelles, my previous band, partially disbanded in a way where two of our musicians moved across the country, so, we were kind of left with myself, Eamonn [McLain] and Geoff [Freeman]. We didn't feel like the three of us could continue doing The Velvet Lapelles, so we decided we'd make more of a rock band-type thing.
Also, I think Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles always felt like me plus the band and we wanted to have a band that felt like just a band. We've still been playing to this day. That was about 10 years ago now. Well, actually no, more than that, 12 years ago.
AD: So besides you, who makes up Little Fevers?
LM: Me plus Geoff Freeman, who's on the drums, Eamonn McLain's bass, and now we have Paul Puleo and he plays guitar.
AD: Now that it's more of a band type project, how does the songwriting process work, because there's multiple songwriters in the group, correct?
LM: Well, typically how it works is I will kind of bring the skeleton of a song with a few main ideas, and then I'll bring it to the band. Then we all kind of form the song, the spirit and the feeling of the song together. Sometimes, the dudes will add some lyrical parts.
Also, Geoff, our drummer, wrote a song on our previous album, and then Paul, our guitarist, is working on some songs, and Eamonn has got some songs. It's kind of like an ever-changing way of writing songs that's kind of exciting because it makes what we do different every time.
We're kind of working on a new album right now, and it's a sort of mix of everyone working on stuff.
AD: You also have some solo work. So, I've always been curious about this with someone who has a solo career and a band career. How do you determine which songs are going to be ... OK, this is one for me, or this is one that I should bring to the band? How do you make that call?
LM: Yeah, that's a good question. And what's really funny about that question is that I was at a really intimate Jeff Tweedy show in L.A. and I asked him the same question. And his answer was funny because it was like, it just depends on who's there in the moment.
For me, it's a little different, where I think with Little Fevers, I have this idea around my head of what that specific sound is, and it feels more sort of poppy and indie. Then with my solo stuff, it's a little bit more Americana-driven and folky.
I think when I write a song, I don't normally sit down and think in my mind, "I'm going to write a solo song. I'm going to write a Little Fevers song." It just depends on how it turns out at the end.
AD: For me personally, when I first discovered Little Fevers, it was during the summer and it felt like such good summer soundtrack music. So, I was just curious, is that something that comes across in your mind at all when you're creating music? Like, OK, this is for like an outdoor party music kind of thing?
LM: Not typically. It may just be our sound. I think, however, it sounds just formed by the four of us in that way. But I don't think we're very intentional about, like, if it's going to be like a summery, outdoor vibe. I think that's just what comes out.
AD: Well, I'm excited to catch you live out on the summer day for the Beltrami Block Party this Saturday. Is this your first time performing in Bemidji?
LM: I think so. We may have performed up there as Velvet Lapelles, but it would have been ages ago, and I just have a terrible memory for so many things [laughs]. But we're looking forward to it regardless. It's going to be fun.
AD: A block party has a specific vibe to it. So, I'm just curious how the song selection process works for you as a band, as opposed to doing it in an indoor venue-type show.
LM: I think we try to do a lot more sort of upbeat, fun songs that people can move to. It's kind of our vibe. We don't do a whole lot of super contemplative, slow songs for this sort of outdoor event like this. So, that's kind of the direction that we go.
We may throw a few in there that are a little bit slower. It's not just like a constant power rock the whole time, but yeah, we just try to keep the vibe relatively light.
AD: You mentioned that you're currently working on a new album. Do you have a timeline of potentially when it'll be ready for the listeners to hear?
LM: I think we're hoping by winter, if we can get our act together. If not this coming winter, early in the year, next year.
When you're an independent artist, it really depends on if you have enough funds to make it happen, because you don't have a record label or anyone else paying for you to record or to make your albums. So, we're kind of in this place now where we have to raise all the funds ourselves and put it out ourselves, and it just depends on the budget.
AD: How long do you feel you need to be working on a song together where you're like, OK, this is ready to be recorded? Is it just kind of like, you know it when you feel it kind of thing?
LM: Yeah, I think for us, we know it when we feel it. Then if we decide we want to work longer on it, the song feels overworked. I think we have to know when to stop. And it's the same with visual art too. You have to know when to stop, otherwise, it won't be good.
AD: I'm always fascinated by this idea. Because there are art pieces I create that I'll look at and I'm like, "Oh, I wish I could just change this one little thing about it." But that's kind of the fun. It's like a snapshot of that specific time, too.
LM: Right. It's like you've sort of captured a moment, which I think is ultimately the coolest thing about recording.
AD: Where can people follow along to keep up to date on the latest releases?
LM: We have an Instagram, we're on Facebook and we have a website. All of those places you can find us. We're also on all the streaming platforms and everything. So yeah, you can find us all over the internet.
The Beltrami Block Party is made possible by the citizens of Minnesota through the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
