New York-based band MS MR are composed of Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow. The unique duo signed to Columbia Records and released their debut album in May entitled Secondhand Rapture.
This up-and-coming group has had music featured on the television show Bones and the trailer for Game of Thrones.
Singer Plapinger is co founder of the independent record label Neon Gold Records.
Windy City talked to the two by phone while they were out on tour.
Windy City Times: Hello, great to catch you both on the phone. I am in the airport flying out of the country.
Lizzy Plapinger: Where are you going?
WCT: Switzerland to write a story for the newspaper.
Max Hershenow: Amazing.
Lizzy Plapinger: We were just on tour there. It is very nice but very expensive!
WCT: Oh, no! You are both from New York originally?
Lizzy Plapinger: Yes, we are.
WCT: Now you travel all over the world touring.
Max Hershenow: Pretty much. We are New Yorkers in name only. We still have an apartment there but we are gone the majority of the time.
WCT: I missed meeting you in person at Lollapalooza this past summer but I did take pictures of you from a distance.
Lizzy Plapinger: Awesome, what show were you at?
WCT: Not the after-show at House of Blues but the one at the Grove stage in Grant Park.
Lizzy Plapinger: The REAL show!
WCT: Speaking of the show, there was an amazing picture of you on the cover of the RedEye newspaper belting out a song that day. It was great exposure for the band.
Lizzy Plapinger: What? Please send us a link to that. That would be awesome of you.
WCT: I have been listening to the album a lot, then turned my roommate on to it and he wears it out!
Lizzy Plapinger: Thank you.
WCT: I hear some Florence + the Machine on it but more smoother than her.
Lizzy Plapinger: Comparisons to Florence are so incredibly flattering that we are never disappointed when we get them. We are both fans of hers. People do say we are close in vocals to her sometimes. We do have some tribal sounds like her. She does sound much dirtier and grittier than us.
I think Max and I are always open and trying to hear what artists are compared to us. We always trying to find the direction of the band. We listen to new artists and like to hear who the next generation will be.
WCT: What is your musical background?
Max Hershenow: I learned to play really young as a classical pianist. I was not very good at it as a kid and kind of hated it but I was always really musical. I started producing it when I was in dance school and choreographing. I was looking for music to choreograph but then recorded on my own. That was my first foray into recorded music.
I got connected to Lizzy and she had never really sang for anyone. We just decided to give it a go and see what we could come up with. We found our own place. We were a little naÃŻve in what we could do but curious. We just played off each other and we learned a ton. It has now been three years.
WCT: Where did the name MS MR come from?
Lizzy Plapinger: We had a series of names that we went through before MS MR. We talked about what we wanted. We wanted something formal and grand but also something mundane. We thought of MS MR because we were a boy/girl duo. It just felt right and on an aesthetic level we liked the way it looked in all caps.
WCT: Where were the images for the "Hurricane" video inspired from?
Lizzy Plapinger: Max and I are inspired by pop culture so we have lots of images in our head. That was an interesting situation because we got a call when we were signed for Columbia. They wanted a visual to play at meetings. We said we would be happy to and went out that day to make the video. Max and I already had a huge file of images that we pulled. We thought it would be a great thing and the ultimate collage to set with our music. It is a snapshot of the attention-deficit disorder Internet culture. We really put it together in an afternoon. It really didn't take very long to do but I think it was really effective. The rhythm of the song goes well with it. It has taken on a life of its own and for many people the first introduction to the band.
WCT: In the "Fantasy" video I wondered if it was about cheerleaders bullying other student. Maybe I, being a gay viewer, read Mean Girls into the visual of it.
Max Hershenow: Nothing as concrete as that but again we were putting out the idea of a collage. We are all about having visual content and a clear narrative. People can interpret it how they will. If you saw a Mean Girls cheerleader bullying thing then that is exactly what we meant to do! [everyone laughs]
WCT: Perfect!
Lizzy Plapinger: With each of the videos you know it is about our personalities. ""Fantasy" was the first video we made so we wanted our personality to be in it. We wanted it to be a bit mysterious and tongue in cheek. We hoped that the video would somehow be a mix of David Lynch's Twin Peaks and No Doubt's "Just a Girl." I think when you know those two references they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. When people know that then they know the taste of what we wanted to achieve with it.
WCT: I need to watch the video again and think about that. The track "Think of You" has lyrics like "I still think of you and all the shit you put me through" and seems like the ultimate break up song. Is there a story behind that?
Lizzy Plapinger: Some of the songs on the record are a little more abstract or not linear but with that one there is no gray area to what I am trying to say! There is no secret. It is about a horrible relationship that I was in while I was in college. A boy mistreated me and made me feel terrible about myself. I kept with it longer than I should have. In hindsight it makes me sick thinking about it.
WCT: Lizzy, what color is your hair now?
Lizzy Plapinger: It is neon green.
WCT: Are you changing it again before Chicago?
Lizzy Plapinger: No I don't think so. I am keeping it this way for the next two months.
Max Hershenow: She can't change it too much or it will all fall out.
Lizzy Plapinger: I am blaming on you for dying it while we are on tour since you also cut it on the side.
WCT: Looking forward to seeing you both back in Chicago so soon.
Max Hershenow: As are we. We had a great time last time and we can't wait to put on a show again.
WCT: Well, I have a plane to catch.
Lizzy Plapinger: Have a good flight!
MS MR is flying high with a sold out Lincoln Hall show in Chicago Sept. 30. For more on the band, visit www.msmrsounds.com .
