Assisted Living On The Edge

If there’s one thing Brooklyn-based, New Jersey-bred band Food Stamps knows, it’s that words can be misleading.

“Don’t make us sound too serious,” says guitarist and vocalist Tom Brian, laughing. “Cause we’re not.”

Clothed entirely in black against the backdrop of a frigid fall morning, Brian, tambourine player and keyboardist Amy-Lynn and drummer Ann Gaudet look like a gang of Gareth Pugh models and act like slumber party buddies, laughing and finishing each others' sentences.

“We just talk for, like, ever, and it just comes out like one sentence. Like, ehhhhhhh… the end,” says Amy-Lynn.

“But it’d be a good, strong sentence,” Brian offers.

In the year that Brian and Amy-Lynn have been performing under the moniker Food Stamps, they’ve gotten steady gigs at Don Pedro’s and Bushwick’s Party Expo, released a self-titled EP—eight tracks of catchy gutter-pop chased by synth and ghostly wails— and earned one newspaper’s nomination for worst band name in New York City.

Indeed, calling your Williamsburg-based band Food Stamps is practically an invitation for backlash. According to the group, however, the name choice is not meant to be a snub at those receiving benefits. “Sometimes it’s misinterpreted by people thinking that we have a lot of money and that we’re making fun of people with no money,” says Brian.

For the band, the name Food Stamps is more a reflection on what’s going on in the world around them. “Just like, everyone around us… like, my dad has food stamps, my grandma’s on food stamps,” said Brian. “This place we were living at, with this other band, was a squatter kind of place [with] people, like, hanging on the couches, and some people paying rent some people not paying rent. [Amy-Lynn and I] were a little bit of both at times: we were living on the couches there and sometimes we were paying rent.” In that atmosphere, Brian says, discussions about food stamps were fairly common. “It feels like it’s very relevant to current times, in so many different ways,” he adds.

The term the band coins to describe its sound and overall vibe is ‘recession pop.’ “It’s almost like we feel like we’re making pop music, but making it with, like, really cheap gear and, you know, in like a basement and stuff like that,” says Brian. “So I feel like our music comes across like that to a certain extent, like it feels poppy yet at the same time it feels low-fi, gritty…”

“Yeah,” drummer Gaudet interjects. “And it’s pretty dark.”

“And the word ‘recession’ fits all that kinda stuff, too,” Brian says

“Depression, all those kinda vibes…”

“Recession, depression, obsession,” Gaudet adds. “Compression.” They both laugh.

The band’s marriage of dark, grainy gloom with melodic hooks comes from their diverse influences, which range from Top 40 songs to Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra to riot grrrl, as well as local bands and close friends like White Ring and Total Slacker.

The term ‘recession pop’ extends to the band members’ lifestyles, as well. “I don’t know, we’re kind of against money a little bit,” says Brian, laughing. “Like, it’d be awesome if we could live in a world where there wasn’t money, maybe. I don’t know, I guess we’d have to think about that a little bit more, but… it’s just a big headache.” While Gaudet currently works in retail, Amy-Lynn and Brian do various odd jobs—including DJing, bartending and booking bands at the very venues their band plays. The band members also say they pawn a lot of things and sell a lot of clothes. “Yeah, everything’s like duct-taped together, we get a lot of our stuff from flea markets, and [it’s] just, wherever-we-can-find-it kind of thing,” says Amy-Lynn.

The band also tries to make their shows cost as little as possible. “Yeah, the nights that we throw [host] shows, the nights that we play, we always try to make them free,” says Brian. All this month, Food Stamps is is playing free Wednesday shows at Bruar Falls. “We got to book all the bands for all those nights, so it’s all friends of ours… we’re totally psyched about it,” says Brian.

Money, or lack thereof, seems to be a recurring theme for Food Stamps— but if the group comes up with enough of it, a cross-country tour might be in the works soon. “We have a VW bus in Jersey that’s getting fixed up,” says Brian. “And we’re saving up money right now to fix it up, with all these shows that we’re throwing, and so whenever it’s fixed up we’re just gonna hit the road and get out of here,” he laughs.

Beyond that, the band is dreaming big. “We wanna be on MTV,” Amy-Lynn jokes. After some thought, she gets more serious and adds, “We just want something that’s gonna keep us entertained and keep us excited, constantly doing something and going and trying new things, being in new places. Just really like living life, you know? Something that’s gonna get us out there.”

Food Stamps, Dec. 22, Bruar Falls, 245 Grand St. (betw. Driggs Ave. & Roebling St.), Brooklyn, 347-529-6610; 8, Free.