Name: PRINCESS GOES
Members: Michael C. Hall (vocals), Peter Yanowitz (drums), Matt Katz-Bohen (keyboards)
Nationality: American
Current release: The new PRINCESS GOES album COME OF AGE is out October 6th 2023 via Silva Screen. They are also currently on a European tour:



Recommendations: The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler is a must read. I would also recommend diving into Hania Rani, a new indie-classical-experimental composer from Poland. And of course, “For The Roses” by Joni Mitchell (as a bonus). - MKB

[Read our Hania Rani interview]

If you enjoyed this PRINCESS GOES interview and would like to stay up to date with the band and their music, visit their official homepage. They are also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

My body resonates with whatever waves it's absorbing. And the best music definitely creates kaleidoscopic visuals.

No hard and fast rules about the eyes, though closing them can focus and intensify the experience of both listening to and making music. - MCH

What were your very first steps in music like, and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

An artist trains by living. it’s not a formula. There’s no handbook or instruction manual. if you’re compelled to create, then do it.

My first musical experiences were singing first soprano in a boy’s choir. Choral singing is a good way to learn to listen to the whole. - MCH

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

It was a private personal realm. a singular and secret world. and remains that. Making music now is sharing a secret. - MCH

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Stay open and accept mystery … Ultimately, a question like this is an invitation to name something unnamable. - MCH

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Both? Neither? Are you the idea’s discovery? Or the creation’s idea?

Reductive semantic games. - MCH

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

Our sound can be varied, but there is a through line and that is the 3 of us. We use whatever equipment we can get our hands on, or whatever is in front of us in our studio in nyc. It’s eclectic, and sometimes lo-fi.

Our records don’t have the greatest and latest production gimmicks, or the most up to date production value. But we love what we do, and hopefully it shows in the outcome. - PY

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

We try to add in as much ambient, or real life sound as we can. On all of our records there are crickets from upstate New York, or dogs barking, wind.. natural noises like birds. I can sit in nature and listen to the symphony of sounds and be as fulfilled as I am listening to music.

We try and incorporate as much of these real life samples as we can. - PY

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

In PRINCESS we seem to like our dynamics extreme. We go from quiet to loud a lot in songs. we like those peaks and valleys. I suppose our inspiration for some of that is the Pixies, or Nirvana, or the Boredoms from Japan.

It’s fun to use the verses as a lulling pasture, and then slam the shit out of stuff in the choruses. - PY

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

We are looking for songs everywhere ... under the bed, in the refrigerator, in our pockets. Songwriting is illusive. It’s hard to pin down where it comes from.

We’re always looking, or sometimes we’re not, but more often than not, in PRINCESS we are open to it if a song is in the air. Matt and I like to improvise in the studio. A lot of our songs come from those jams (which we record).

Mike has his own process of writing lyrics. - PY

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

Sometimes we’ll go down a certain road on a song ... and live with it for a while ... and then play that version of it live and try and get a feel for it.

On our song “BLUR” for example we started the song with a completely different production ... more like a U2 song. And after playing it live it wasn’t getting the response we imagined, so we stripped it completely back to just Mike’s vocal and one synth line and we rebuilt it as more of a dance/pop track.

It was completely rhythmically and melodically different than the first version. the original version was dope, but the second and final version was pure magic. So, I guess you could say we do experiment, or we’re not afraid to get a song wrong and then try again.

We rarely give up on our ideas, and our songs seem to be strong enough to handle the reconfiguring and experimentation. - PY

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

It’s all there, if you are paying attention to it. I have learned most of my life lessons by listening to music. There is something about music that integrates the entire brain without seeming to, or without us having to make a conscious effort - intellect, intuition, emotion, the Reptilian brain, rational thought.

This is the best kind of learning. - MKB

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I try to express emotional and deep feelings / thoughts through brewing coffee ... just expounding philosophically as I spoon the coffee into the French Press, to whomever happens to be in the room with me.

I have done this at 7-11, Denny’s, many places along highways in the greater US. - MKB

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

I, too, get emotional upon hearing numbers and values, set to luscious synths. Joni Mitchell’s “For The Roses” always reminds me of my childhood.



This is in spite of the fact that I never heard the album in my childhood (except possibly in passing). It feels like it has always been with me. - MKB

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

A return to Gregorian chanting in our schools, and a return to the harpsichord in every home. People crafting ornate acoustic instruments themselves using whittling skills. - MKB