The Angry Orts -- from our first listen to their self-titled full-length, we knew we wanted to record this band. Our hopes will be realized later this month, when they will record in secret here at the 'Stand.

To help you get to know The Angry Orts, we interviewed frontwoman Sara Hernandez via email.

Banana Stand: How long has the band been together in its current form? How did it come together?

Sara Hernandez: In its current form, the band has only been together for about 3 months. Our former bass player (with whom we’d played for the last 3 years) went his own way in the spring, so it was great that Dusty could jump right in. Matthew, Aaron and Sara have been playing together in the band since 2007.

Aaron and Sara met 8 years ago and played with a myriad of musicians before they met Matthew via an ad they’d placed for a drummer. When James (our former bass player) returned from Ithaca, New York, we all started playing together. We recorded two albums together (one put out in 2008 and one put out in 2010) before parting ways.

BS: How would you describe your sound? What are your key influences?

SH: I think our sound is best described as garage-pop. It definitely has some pop-y accents to it, but I feel like there’s also a grit that most pop bands don’t incorporate. Key influences include the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gossip, Jack White, Sleater-Kinney and a ton of other bands that we’re into at any given moment. Our influences are pretty fluid and we like to incorporate bits and pieces of them into our repertoire without just mimicking the original. We like to put twists on our influences and create something new but familiar.

BS: Tell us your thoughts about recording live. What makes you interested in recording live at the 'Stand?

SH: I think recording live sounds like a great challenge. I feel like it has the same vibe as going into the studio – you have to practice even harder than you usually do to make sure that everything’s tight and cohesive and perfect. Plus, there’s just an energy in live shows that is really difficult to capture when you’re sitting in a room with your other band mates listening to the same line over and over again to make sure that every beat is in place. The audience really brings something to a live performance that you can’t get in the studio.

We’ve had friends in multiple bands play at the ‘Stand and all of the recordings we’ve heard sound tight and well mixed, so we were really interested to get in. Add that to the fact that it’s a show in front of people who really love the band and want to interact and it makes the deal even sweeter.

BS: What's your favorite memory of a live show? Least favorite?

SH: Aaron, Matthew and Sara all went to see Sharon Jones when she came to the Doug Fir a few years ago and that show was absolutely amazing. She’s so powerful and energetic onstage and her band is so tight and they flow so well with her. Aaron’s also seen the Budos Band a few times and has said their show is pretty awesome as well. Some of Sara’s favorite shows are house shows or local band shows she’s been to: World’s Greatest Ghosts, Jared Mees and the Grown Children CD release at the Doug Fir, Sleater-Kinney’s final show at the Crystal Ballroom. Matthew and Sara both saw the Arcade Fire when they came through the Arlene Schnitzer for the Neon Bible tour, which was incredible.

As for shows that haven’t been so impressive, mostly it’s bands that just don’t seem to give a fuck about their stage show. Arctic Monkeys and the Wallflowers (yes, Sara actually paid to see them) both played super lazy, uninvolved sets and hardly even looked at the audience. Why the fuck do bands think people want to pay fifteen or thirty dollars (or more) when all they’re going to get is a limp-dicked performance (can you tell this annoys us)? I’d rather just stay at home, drink a thirty dollar bottle of wine and listen to the record.

BS: What are your favorite live albums?

SH: I know it’s totally cliché, but I think Nirvana’s Unplugged album and Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison album are some of the best live albums out there. Matthew and I (Sara) also really like Radiohead’s I Might Be Wrong album (Aaron can’t stand Radiohead).

BS: What other projects are you all involved with?

SH: Currently, Aaron is the only other band member involved with a separate project. He plays in a band called The Honeycuts that blends soul, funk and hip-hop. I’d like to do a solo side project, but right now I’m super busy with a bunch of other stuff (launching a booking and management agency with my friend Tim, fixing up the house Matthew and I bought a couple of years ago, working on writing for the Orts) so I’m not sure when I’m going to get around to it. We buy really cool little instruments for birthdays and Christmases (toy piano, glockenspiel, melodica, ukele, baby accordion) and I’d really like to incorporate all of those. We’ve also got an old organ and a piano that’s badly in need of tuning that I’d like to use. Now I just feel lazy, thinking of all the cool things I could be doing, but I’m not.

BS: What are you working on lately?

SH: We’re just about to take a few months off (November through January or February) to focus on writing. We’re hoping to get back into the studio come late spring or early summer, so we’ve got some work ahead of us. I think that we’re really hitting our stride when it comes to writing – we’re all finally happy with what we’re producing and our influences increase every day, creating a bigger pool of ideas to pull from and a better idea of where we want to go (and not go) with our music. Hopefully we’ll have a new album out at the end of next summer/early fall.

Thanks a ton to Sara for participating in our interview. The Angry Orts is Sara, Matthew Hernandez, Aaron Ettlin and Dusty Brooks. They're recording live at the 'Stand, in secret, later this month.

For more from The Angry Orts, check them out at TheAngryOrts.com, and on BandCamp and Facebook.