Interview Testa Rosa takes II

It’s been four long years since Milwaukee band Testa Rosa released its much-loved self-titled debut, but II makes it seem like it was yesterday, boasting the same big, reverb-laden vocals and indelible pop songcraft that made the first record so inviting. If there’s a difference this time, it’s that Testa Rosa sounds a lot fuller on II, which is due in part to recently expanding to a fourpiece. Guitarist/keyboardist Betty Blexrud-Strigens remains the focus with her striking, girl-group-inspired vocals, and she’s backed ably by husband and guitarist Damian Strigens, bassist Paul Hancock, and drummer Bill Backes, who provide an appropriately dreamy backdrop for Blexrud-Strigens’ breathtaking reverie. The A.V. Club recently spoke with Betty Blexrud-Strigens and Damian Strigens about II before Friday’s release party at Club Garibaldi.

The A.V. Club: It’s been a while since your last record. Did you change your approach at all while making II?

Betty Blexrud-Strigens: The first album—we wrote a lot of it in the studio and we had a bunch of layers. But now, instead of trying to replicate the album when we play out live, we write songs now that we can actually play live. That’s the biggest difference to me.

AVC: You’ve always had a full sound, but it sounds even more realized now.

Damian Strigens: Our songs have always been very vocally driven. We try to support Betty’s vocals and Betty’s songs. They’re not all hers, but the majority of them are. We want to make sure that our sound supports that. Betty has different variations on approaching the vocals, which really forms the way the melody turns out.

BBS: We don’t really jam—like, let’s keep cranking this out until it turns into a song in practice. It’s more like, here’s a layer, let’s sit with it, and when you play it in your car and you sing along, come up with a guitar part. It’s kind of like that drawing game where you draw something, then fold the page over and give it to the next person, and they can just see certain lines and they have to continue the drawing.

AVC: Along with recording at Howl Street Recordings, you did parts of II at Madison’s Smart Studios before it closed. You had a history there, right?

DS: It was like our second home for a while, recording there. We were all a little choked up about it. One time when we were talking to [engineer] Beau [Sorenson] and he said, “Yeah, it’s really hard and everybody is so shocked, but I’ll be honest with you—the only two people that aren’t shocked are me and [studio manager] Mike [Zirkel].” And I guess it was true. Everybody was like, “Oh, it’s always gonna be there, like the big studios.” But, really, it was just like a hole in the wall. Yet you look at places like Muscle Shoals, and that place is half the size of Smart.

AVC: Betty, your vocals are really classic, in a ’60s, girl-group sort of way. Are you emulating any singers from that era?

BBS: I do like reverb, so that always implies the ’60s sounds. I’ve always been a big fan of ABBA and The Pretenders and The Carpenters, and even Shirley Bassey; a lot of those singers are just very studio sounding and reverb is a big deal. And harmonies have always been a big deal to me; I like recording harmonies. I’ve had people sing harmonies with me onstage, but I’ve never had a full-time singing partner, except for my sister when we were little. In Damian’s other band, Conrad Plymouth, they all sing backup. I think it’s rare that you can find a musician that can sing as well as they can play their instrument. It just seems like one is going to suffer.