Meg Frampton: I like it! It’s been really fun. There are a lot of people. Usually there are three bands that go on tour, but this one is a five-band bill – so there are definitely still a lot of names to learn and remember. But everybody is really nice. The kids that have been coming out have been really nice. The shows have been going really well, so nothing to complain about and now we’re finally in warm weather! Like today, the weather is awesome! Today is the first non-cold day of the tour.

You’re lucky! I’m in Seattle and it’s snowing here!

Meg: Oh my gosh! See, I am so completely over the snow. I don’t want any more snow!

Same here, totally done!Anyway, your bio says that you’ve been working the newer songs from Here, Here and Here into your shows. How have the fans been reacting to the new songs so far?

Meg: They're not.

They're not?!

Meg: Nope, they’re not reacting.

Not at all?!

Meg: No, I mean, I don’t really know what it is. We’re playing with these techno bands and bands with different music and everybody’s younger. They all jump and scream when the techno music comes on but when we come on they just kind of look at us. So I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But after the show a lot of people come up and say “I like your songs!” – so I think maybe they just have a funny way of showing it.

What’s the weirdest thing a fan has ever done to you or asked you?

Meg: I think it’s weird when girls ask me to sign their boobs because I’m a girl…I find that kind of weird.

I did sign a tongue the other day. I didn’t know that was possible and I didn’t know why anyone would want anybody to do that, but I did it. And it kind of worked, but then my marker stopped working after that.

You’re new album is coming out in April and I’ve had the opportunity to listen to a couple of tracks and I love “What If”! What inspired that song?

Meg: Thank you! That song was one of the songs that I wrote not in LA. Most of the writing for the record was done in LA. We were living in Oakland in these apartments in Burbank and I wrote most of the record during pre-production while we were talking to our producer. But there were a couple of songs that I had demoed on GarageBand beforehand, before we had even gone to LA. I wrote 'What If' on tour in a hotel that I had gotten for myself alone so I could write. That song started out as a completely different song, and then I liked the catchy guitar part so I took out the whole rest of the song and just kept that guitar part. It started out more acoustic based and slower. As it went through the recording process it became an upbeat power-pop type of song and the melody was retained.

That was one of those songs where the music part was easy but the lyrics part we did a lot of re-writing and working through and we went through a lot of changes. I like playing that song and I think that it’s appropriate because it’s an upbeat song. The lyrics are about persevering and pushing through obstacles even if people aren’t totally supportive.

What about the rest of the album? What kinds of things inspired the rest of your new songs?

Meg: I think that with every artist, their whole life is used whenever they’re writing any song. It’s the accumulation of all of their experiences, everything that makes you a person that you put in every song. I think that we gained a lot of experience being on the road in the past few years. I think we did a lot of growing up as musicians and as people and I think that definitely shows in our music.

What’s the writing process like for you? How do you put it all together?

Meg: I write most of the stuff using GarageBand and I record it. I’ll like an idea and I’ll work on it, add other elements and do my thing. Then I’ll bring it to the band and we’ll work through it and add stuff or take away stuff. If Dia’s the one that wrote the song, then she go through it and add a basic melody line and chorus and then I’ll go through and add insertions. So it’s just working with GarageBand and then going through and listening and re-writing.

Do you ever have times where one of you brings something to the table and the other one absolutely doesn’t like it at all?

Meg: Oh absolutely! I mean, you’re not going to like every single thing that you write. Every single thing that I write – Dia’s not going to like it and everything that she writes I’m not going to like. We’re very critical because music is important, we want to make it the best we can and I go through probably 20 bad songs before I get one that I really like. I’m not like ‘Ah, perfect song, perfect song” [laughs], it definitely doesn’t work like that. ‘I’m perfect, I don’t need any changes made’…definitely not like that.

You also co-wrote a song for the new album that you performed with Tom Higgenson of The Plain White T’s – what was the co-writing experience like for you? Is it something you’d like to do again or not so much?

Meg: I would love to! I do a lot of writing on my own, but I can do that whenever I want, all the time. When you make an arrangement to work with somebody else, it’s really fun because you both go through with your own intentions and it’s a very positive experience because you both agreed to do it in the first place. You get to put your ideas out there and collaborate and learn from each other.

What kinds of changes do you recognize in yourself and your music since the release of Something Real?

Meg: Musically, I’m a much better guitar player. I’m a much better songwriter…a much better singer. I think that all of us have improved and obviously we’ve improved because we do this every single day of our lives. We’re more proficient at our instruments and we’re more professional. We’re more creative because we’ve had the opportunity to listen to and learn from other bands. And I’m more critical when I’m listening to music and other artists – I really try to learn things from it.

Also, working with producers is a great experience.

Being on the road has probably changed me as a person…I think I understand the human psyche a little bit more. I understand the psychology behind people just from hanging out with boys and seeing relationships and seeing how people interact with each other. And I think that I’m a lot more easy going and okay with situations. I’m a lot less quick to judge something as wrong – I’ll go into a situation and look at it more. I’m able to understand things more. And also, I think that I take things less for granted and that I realize how lucky I am and how happy I am. I don’t think that I used to stop and say, ‘I’m so happy today, I’m so lucky’ – and now I say that everyday.

What do you think you’d be doing right now if you weren’t making music for a living?

Meg: I think that I would probably not go back to school. I used to think that I would because I really love learning and I love reading and I would love to do something with literature. But now, I think I’ve changed because of what’s important to me – I want to save up some money, so I’d probably get a job doing something, I don’t know what it would be. I kind of want to go work in Vegas! I know that sounds funny but I want to go work at a casino like Mandalay Bay, some higher-class casino and do something – not be a stripper – but something where I could make some money and where it could be fun and be some sort of nightlife job. Save up some money and then just have my own little house and create my own little life. Actually I’d do the exact opposite of traveling everywhere, I would be really domestic I think, if I wasn’t doing this.

Did you grow up in a really musical home?

Meg: No. It just happened, it came out of nowhere. My parents were in no way musical.

Besides music, you both are into doing some charity work. What kinds of charities or foundations do you support?

Meg: Yeah, we’ve worked with To Write Love on Her Arms. We’ve worked with Peta2, dosomething.org and Take Action now. Sometimes, like on Warped Tour, we participate in the book drives and things like that.

What kinds of books, movies and music are you into right now?

Meg: I love The Boondock Saints…I like that movie Crash. I like CS Lewis books and Jon Steinbeck books and Ayn Rand of course. Music – Copeland, Muse, The Format, MGMT…

For more information about Meg & Dia and their new album Here, Here and Here, head on over to her official website and then check out their page on MySpace! You can also purchase their first two singles off of the album on iTunes today! Thanks for checking this out, I hope you'll come back soon!

And now, to build up your anticipation for the new album even more...Check out the trailer for Meg & Dia's new album:

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All photos are the property of Meg & Dia and are courtesy of Warner Brothers Records. Thank you for not reproducing them!

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