Ever since Fonda's Music for Beginners EP turned up in the Splendid offices and took us all by surprise with its mixture of psychedelic keyboard drone and pure sixties pop harmony, we've been eager to talk to the Los Angeles-based band. Their subsequent records -- in particular their newly-released sophomore full-length, The Strange and the Familiar -- only reinforced our desire to get to know them better.

As it turned out, the opportunity presented itself quite unexpectedly. Shortly after a series of unconnected mishaps left Splendid without a feature for the week, a window of opportunity arose. Fonda's Emily Cook and Dave Klotz were kind enough to make time to answer our hastily-written questions on the eve of a brief West Coast tour. Read on to learn the truth about Emily's addiction to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, explore Dave's movie music credits and find out how Fonda got a song on the soundtrack of the new Robert Rodriguez film, Spy Kids.

David Klotz: I don't know about clever dialog, but I moved to Los Angeles when I was 22 'cause I thought I wanted to be a screenwriter. My first job was as an intern for a UK based film company called Working Title Films. Emily was transferred there from the UK office. We became friends. We had a lot in common. We loved films and the same music. We both adored the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack. Then we had a secretive office romance. our original drummer worked there at the time, too. It never occured to us to ever start a band. Everything kinda happened one step at a time. When Emily and I moved in together, I bought a 4-track and a microphone and I recorded songs after work. I asked Emily to sing on them. Even at that point, we never imagined we would ever play live or let people hear our songs...it's taken us a good six years to get to where we are now.

Splendid: I went through your website rather thoroughly while coming up with interview questions, and one thing struck me immediately. Based on your "shows" page, Fonda appears to have played only about 15 shows, ever, period. Is that the case?

Emily Cook: We've played a lot more than that -- our web site doesn't have every show we've played. We've probably done around 75 shows at least, but maybe only 15 good ones!

Splendid: If that's the case, the tour you're beginning on Wednesday, though small by most bands' standards, must be the most intensive touring some of you (guitarist Dave Newton, who was in The Mighty Lemon Drops, aside) have ever done. Is that the case? I recall you saying that you're all past the point in your lives when you can afford to live out of a van for a year...

David Klotz: Yeah, we're not being snobs or anything, but we do have jobs and other personal life issues to consider. Emily and I have a puppy to raise now. This mini-tour is a big step for us. If it works out well we'll definitely do more shows.

Splendid: The last time we spoke with Fonda (see the links section below), Emily had left her job to write screenplays full-time and Dave had recently been laid off, a situation with which I can sympathize. How are things going now?

Emily Cook: Things are going okay. I'm happier than when I was at my day job but it's scary -- especially as there is the threat of a writer's strike right now, which would mean I couldn't work... I just finished a comedy for TV about showbiz kids and their pushy parents, which I'm proud of... I don't know if it will get made, fingers crossed...

David Klotz: Getting laid off was great, 'cause I don't know if I would have had the courage to just quit! But I got a nice severance package and I spent all my free time writing and recording songs. We recorded The Strange and the Familiar while I was unemployed and I probably devoted more time to it because of that! But now all the money has run out and I'm a workin' man again.

Splendid: In the past, you've described Fonda as a hobby. Are your day jobs, for those of you who have them, reasonably accomodating when you want/need to tour? And is it more creatively satisfying when you don't have to count on your music's popularity to earn you your next meal?

David Klotz: Jobs are tough when you want to tour, but we try and all make sacrifices to do it...using vacation time...calling in sick! I think what we do will always be creatively satisfying, whether it earns us a living or not. I don't know if it's more so, but we don't feel any pressure to do anything other than what we want to do...I wouldn't want that to change.

Splendid: While The Invisible Girl was a decent success nationwide, I recall that you got some very good commercial airplay from the initial EP. Are Fonda huge in LA?

Emily Cook: Ha ha. No, not at all. But it's nice that you think we might be.

David Klotz: Our EP got played on KROQ's specialty show, Rodney on the Roq, Rodney Bingenheimer's Sunday night new music show. He was really, really supportive. He made calls on our behalf and he got us taken out to dinner by someone from MCA. Then other record labels called us to have meetings. Our shows suddenly got really packed...but then all the excitement went away really quickly. It was a stupid thing that only happened because we live in Los Angeles. But we took advantage of the publicity to help promote our EP. So it sounds like a lot more was happening than really was.

Splendid: For Fonda, does touring mean sleeping on floors and eating at truck stops, or is it hotels and mid-range restaurants?

Emily Cook: We've done it both ways... I'm not very good at doing the sleeping on people's floors thing as I never get any sleep. We do it the cheap motel way -- Red Roof Inn Rules!

David Klotz: We've sold enough CDs at our record release party to have a couple nice meals on the road.

Splendid: What CDs will be playing in the Fonda Tour Van?

Emily Cook: Probably lots of mix CDs to try and accomodate everyone's tastes -- at least at the start of the tour when we're all trying to be nice to each other! Probably The Delgados. Blur's greatest hits is a good one for the road -- good for a sing-along. Also some Pavement, and some Madonna if I get my way!

Splendid: Most "hobby" bands, however well-received, run into problems due to the members' varying degree of commitment. Have you encountered this problem, or are you all equally gung-ho for Fonda?

David Klotz: It's been a problem in the past, but I think for the first time we are all way into this. Adam Flanders is officially our new drummer. He's fantastic. And Johnny Joyner from Aberdeen is now playing bass with us. We hope he can stick around play bass for us as well as Aberdeen.

Splendid: Looking back at reviews of your first EP and album, I notice consistent comparisons to Stereolab (I even did it myself). I can see where they came from -- the keyboard drone, mostly -- but in retrospect, they seem way off the mark. The Strange and the Familiar sounds nothing like Stereolab. In your opinion, was the Stereolab comparison ever merited? And did it help or hurt you?

Emily Cook: We NEVER thought we sounded anything like Stereolab (maybe only that one song on the EP, "Exit Five", but not really). Now we get compared to Lush all the time (Yup, I did that too -- Ed.), which we're not sure about either! We like Stereolab (or used to, at least), so it didn't bother us at all.

David Klotz: I don't think those sort of comparisons hurt us. When you are a new band and are just starting off, I think there needs to be some sort of reference to figure out who we are and where we come from, etcetera... It was flattering at the time. But, yes, The Strange and Familiar has about as much in common with Stereolab as it does with At The Drive-In.

Splendid: The Strange and the Familiar sounds to me like a happier, more relaxed album -- the psychedelic keyboards and minor chords that characterized the initial EP seem, for the most part, to have given way to a gentler, more "summery" sound. Is this a reflection on any of the changes in your lives over the last few years? Attributable to your growth as songwriters? Or just the sound you felt like creating this time around? Or have I missed the boat entirely?

Emily Cook: That's funny because I don't feel like this album is very happy at all!

David Klotz: The album definitely starts out very happy. And I think any change in sound is mostly due in part as to what we felt like creating at the time. However, the demos of most of these songs are very dark. I guess as we recorded them in sunny Los Angeles, it kind of had an influence. But "Dance In the Light" is about dying and being able to take only one memory with you when you go. "People and Stars" is about loneliness, but trying to see the brighter side of things. "Sell Your Memories" is about wanting to live someone else's life.

Splendid: Supposedly David Newton had suggested renting a house in Palm Springs for a week and recording The Strange and the Familiar there. Did that ever come about?

Emily Cook: No -- that sounds like a drunken pipe dream idea. We recorded in Dave Newton's studio in Burbank... Burbank, Palm Springs -- what's the difference?

David Klotz: If we were going to start recording an album today, we would totally be packing up and heading out to the desert! But, when we started The Strange and the Familiar back in May, we didn't actually have a full band together. Our original drummer, Aaron, was too busy with work, and bassist Lora quit to start her own punk band. So, Dave Newton and I played all the guitar and bass parts to a click track, and then we had Adam come and play drums. This was before he was even a member of the band.

Splendid: A quick IMDB search turns up one David Klotz, music supervisor on such films as A Better Way to Die, Memento and Wish You Were Dead -- all of them featuring some high profile stars (not to mention Billy Ray Cyrus). Since Memento also lists ex-Fonda drummer Aaron Ryder as executive producer, we're pretty sure this is you, Dave. So, if all three of these movies are on cable at more or less the same time -- one on Cinemax, one on HBO and one on Showtime, say -- which should we watch and why?

David Klotz: That's easy -- Memento. Firstly, it's a great film - very intricate structure. It's the kind of film you have to see twice to really appreciate. Secondly, our friend wrote and directed it. So go see it at your local cinema NOW!

Splendid: Fonda songs have found their way into all manner of TV and film -- I guess I should be paying better attention during Buffy instead of wondering when Willow and Tara are going to kiss again. Your most recent film credit aside, what was your favorite -- or if you'd like, most appropriate -- on-screen use of your music? Where did it stand out best, work best with the imagery, etc.?

Emily Cook: Well, I love Buffy so that was very exciting for me to have a song in a show I've watched and loved for years. The song was "One of a Kind" from The Invisible Girl album and although you can't really hear it that well -- it was used in a frat party scene -- that, to me, is the song use I'm most proud of (especially because Fonda is listed in the Buffy Watchers' Guide too!). No one else in the band is into Buffy -- if you don't watch Buffy you just don't get it! They think I'm mad.

Splendid: So what did you think of the whole killing-off-Buffy's-mom deal?

Emily Cook: Now you've really got me started! I thought that episode was just amazing -- give everyone involved an award or something... It was very moving, very real but still managed to have moments of humor too. I loved it. Don't tell anyone (!) but it made me cry three times...

Splendid: Would you say that you have "connections" that help you get your music into the background of TV, etc. a little more easily? Or are there Momus songs in every episode of Popular and Lali Puna tracks in Felicity and I'm just too wrapped up in myself to notice?

Emily Cook: We do have some friends who have helped us in the past, which is great, but the songs wouldn't be used if they didn't work.

Splendid: Emily...are you still hooked on Dawson's Creek? What's the appeal of these damned WB shows? Why do they seem so fluffy to the non-viewer but prove to be so addictive?

Emily Cook: Here's the thing -- Dawson's Creek is a load of old rubbish but it's just pure entertainment. It's not like I'm all mad if I miss an episode. However, like I said before, I am a bit obsessed with Buffy (which isn't to be lumped into just another one of those WB shows!). The appeal there is it's brilliantly written, funny (I love Spike the Brit vampire so much) and really clever. I get a bit crazy when people dismiss Buffy and you know they've never even watched it... I suppose it looks stupid to the non-viewer and may be hard to get into now (it's been on for such a long time) but I'm telling you -- IT'S GREAT. We're also fans of Popstars in this household!

Splendid: You've been hired to provide a constant alternate musical soundtrack as a secondary audio track for a new DVD reissue of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which is one of your favorite films. You have a large enough budget to do whatever you want. What do you do?

Emily Cook: I wouldn't touch that with a barge pole. I love it too much and Michel Legrande's music is so fantastic - whatever we did would sound horrible compared to it.

Splendid: Fonda has a song on the soundtrack of the new Robert Rodriguez film, Spy Kids. I know that was quite a coup for you. In terms of actual benefits, though, what does it mean for you? For your label?

David Klotz: I hope a lot more people find out about Fonda and maybe seek out our other CDs. It's not going to change things too much for us.

Splendid: So how do you go about getting a song on a major film soundtrack? Is it easier than we think?

Emily Cook: Again, we were lucky because we have a friend who works at Miramax. He was a Fonda fan and as they were looking for a fun, fast, pop song (and thought "Theme from The Operatives" from the EP was in the right vein) they asked us to do a demo -- along with five other bands. They liked ours the best! We were thrilled. Trust me though, it's not easier than you think. Miramax had to battle to get it in there and there were many times that it almost didn't happen.

David Klotz: Actually, it almost didn't happen as of a few weeks ago.

Splendid: Some bands -- mostly those living in their vans and eating 79-cent burritos three meals a day -- would call having a song on a major movie soundtrack "selling out". Would you call it selling out? Is selling out a concern for you?

Emily Cook: Why is getting people to hear our music selling out? That's what we want to happen. It's not like we got paid very much money or anything -- they would have hired a big band if they had a lot in the budget. And anyway, the song is a Fonda song -- it could quite easily fit on any of our albums and no one would think twice about it. We love the song. We love movies. Spy Kids is a fun film. If that's selling out, then that's fine with me. I don't think many people would turn down such a fun and exciting opportunity.

David Klotz: Fonda writing a super catchy pop anthem for a kids' movie is not out of the ordinary for us. So "selling out" isn't a concern.

Splendid: You all saw the film last night. Did you like it? When the end credits rolled and your song came on and people were leaving, did you feel the urge to yell "Hey! Stop! Don't leave! Check out this great song!"

Emily Cook: We really did like the film -- it was much better than I expected. It's sort of James Bond for kids. When people started to leave we yelled obscenities at them and threw stuff at them. Seeing as how they were mostly seven year old kids that probably wasn't a very nice thing to do, was it?

Splendid: Last but not least...what's ahead for Fonda? Another album? More movie music? A larger tour? Any chance you'll make it further east?

David Klotz: Yes, we are going to come East this year and play more shows. I hope to set up a larger tour for the Fall. I'd better tell everyone in the band to start booking some vacation time...