MUEN: HI, 2007 MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY BUSY YEAR FOR YOU: TWO TRIPS TO ENGLAND TOURING AND MAKING YOUR UPCOMING LP! LETS TALK ABOUT ENGLAND FIRST. WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO GO OVER THERE TO TOUR AND WHY TWO SEPARATE TRIPS IN ONE YEAR?

JULES: So I 'll get started on your questions until Juliette kicks me out of the seat! I'm Jules. Yeah, the UK has definitely been very kind to us. We have seen our fan base grow quite a bit over 'the pond' especially in the last year. It really all began last May when we were invited to headline an outdoor music festival in Southwest England called Urban Lawns. They had us on for two days, and we managed to launch a mini tour off of it with shows in London, Sheffield, and Exeter. Our second UK tour was much different as we went there as an acoustic duo 'UNBUGGED' Our friend Niki Portus booked that for us. We met her from the Urban Lawns Festival and she's really great. We had 3 London shows and traveled all over the Midlands and Southwest England. This tour lasted for about a month back in October / November 2007. We really had a blast touring! Of course there's nothing like having the full band with you all the time, but because of a tighter budget we couldn't do it twice in the same year.

MUEN: DO YOU FIND THE BRITISH AUDIENCE TO BE MUCH DIFFERENT FROM AN AMERICAN ONE?

JULES: I think that the Brits really go crazy about new bands, especially if they offer a fresh sound. It's like a religion over there! Our very first show @ Urban Lawns, we look out and see all these kids going insane! singing along with Juliette. I mean for an unsigned act coming over for the first time, it was an amazing experience. Not to say American audiences don't get just as excited, we've had some great shows here in L.A.There are so many good bands in the USA that just don't get the exposure they need. In the UK, there is more promise of exposure because of all the local and government support for the arts.

MUEN: CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE SHOWS YOU PLAYED THERE, WERE THERE ANY MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES? ALSO WHERE WAS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO PLAY AND WHY?

JULIETTE: The first time that we went to the U.K. with the band we played at an outdoor festival in the SW called Urban Lawns. It was a real rush because all of these kids were mouthing the lyrics to our songs; we were like, whoa, this is pretty cool; we felt like rock stars. We also had a really good experience at the Rock Garden in London, and in Exeter.. The 2nd time, Jules and I came back as an acoustic duo; that went over pretty well too. We played back at the Hub in Exeter again. There were some pretty heavy bands playing that night, and we were wondering how well the acoustic thing would go over. Much to our surprise, it was a success. Oh, we also played at the Half Moon Putney, the Rock Garden again, and the Rhythm Factory in London....The vibe was very supportive.

MUEN: DO YOU THINK YOU'LL GO BACK THERE AGAIN? I THOUGHT I HEARD THAT LONDON WAS A PLACE YOU HAD THOUGHT ABOUT MOVING TO AT ONE POINT- IS THAT STILL A POSSIBILITY. ALSO I COULD REALLY SEE YOU DOING WELL AT THE GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL.

JULES: We most definitely intend to go back again....and again.. We haven't made any plans, as of now, to move there, but you never know. We are an American band, so we like to see some success here at home as well. Of course we'd love to play at the GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL! Do you have any connections?

MUEN: YOUR NEW ALBUM WILL BE OUT VERY SOON! I KNOW I'M VERY EXCITED, I HAVE YOUR EP AND 4 SONGS JUST ISN'T ENOUGH. WHAT IS IT CALLED, WHEN IS THE RELEASE, AND HOW WILL IT BE AVAILABLE TO US?

JULIETTE: The title of the new album is "Season For Change". We're having a release party at the Double Door in Chicago on Jan. 22nd. We will have physical copies available at our live shows as of that date . We'll also have it available for download via Snocap on our MySpace page (www.myspace.com/firebug). It should also be available on iTunes in early February. Technically, we're still shopping our record for a wider release in the near future.

MUEN: WILL YOU BE DOING A CD RELEASE SHOW IN LA FOR YOUR FRIENDS AND FANS THERE?

JULES: We're working on that. There are a few venues that we have in mind.

MUEN: ARE ANY OF THE SONGS THAT ARE GOING TO BE ON YOUR NEW CD CURRENTLY ON YOUR MYSPACE PAGE, OR ARE THEY ALL NEW AND UNHEARD SONGS? ALSO WILL THEY EASILY BE ADDED TO YOUR "UNBUGGED" SET?

JULES: There will be both. Most of our songs can be applied to our "UNBUGGED SET"; there are a few though, that just don't gel without the full band thing.

MUEN: I REALLY LOVE YOUR SOUND, IT'S VERY UNIQUE. I HEAR A LITTLE VELVET UNDERGROUND THERE. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC? IS THERE ANYONE IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU THINK INFLUENCES YOU?

JULES & JULIETTE: There are many influences....Of course the rock greats such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rolling Stones,and Pink Floyd. Also love the great soul and blues artists like Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, R.L. Burnside. Some of the more recent bands we dig include Black Rebel Motorcycle Club The Verve and Queens of the Stone Age. There really are so many.

MUEN: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AS IT STANDS NOW, BOTH ON AND OFF THE NET?

JULIETTE: Oi! Well it's definitely a time of transition. In truth, it's not the easiest of times. Our industry has been hit by so many different factors simultaneously that it's hard to figure out how to swim. We've seen mass media consolidation, which in turn has made it more difficult to be heard as an artist. This is something that has had a major effect with respect to the bottom line of the majors, which in turn has had an effect on us in the sense that not many people are as willing to take a risk on a new band or artist. Then piracy came along and dealt us all another blow. The upside to all of this is that at least we, as independent artists, can reach people around the world via the web. This is a good thing. Still, we're all trying to figure out a way to be able to put out quality music, while still being able to pay the bills. Ultimately, it's a confusing time. We're hoping that we can continue to do what we love.

MUEN: SO, YOU GUYS MOVED OUT TO LA FROM CHICAGO A WHILE AGO. I KNOW THE WEATHER IS A LOT BETTER! WAS LA A HUGE TRANSITION FOR YOU? WHAT'S THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE, IN YOUR OPINION? AND DO YOU THINK OF LA AS HOME OR CHICAGO?

JULIETTE: The weather is most definitely better. Although, recently who'd know the difference...The other day it was 60 degrees in Chicago ( in January), and 40 degrees in Los Angeles. Hmmm.....Global Warming? The biggest difference was the transition from a street culture to a car culture. I didn't have a car for 5 years in Chicago; in L.A. you'd die without a car. Oh, but it is nice to be able to drive from the Desert to the Ocean all within the course of an afternoon! We'd have to say that Chicago is our birth-home, and Los Angeles is our adopted home.

MUEN: WHAT VENUES HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING IN LA AND WHO HAVE YOU PLAYED WITH THAT'S REALLY INTERESTING?

JULES & JULIETTE: We've played at Spaceland, The Echo, Viper Room, The Roxy, also many loft & gallery party/openings downtown; all are fun in their own way. We played with Donita Sparks (L7) and Abby Travis (Beck) at the Viper Room a while back; that was a rippin' show. We did an acoustic show with Tom Morello of RATM; that was an amazing experience.

MUEN: YOUR VIDEO FOR "WALK AGAIN" IS TOTALLY AMAZING! CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT IT? WHERE WAS IT FILMED? WHO DIRECTED IT ETC? DIDN'T YOU WIN AN AWARD FOR IT AS WELL?

JULIETTE: We're fortunate enough to have two really good friends (Kate Sobol, Matthias Schubert) who also just happen to be very talented fillmmakers as well. They came up with the idea to make a video; the entire concept was their idea to. We went out to the Mohave Desert to film it. We had a crew of 3! There were some obstacles, like when they were trying to dig a hole in the sand for me to climb into. It just wasn't working, but after some improvisation, it came together. We did win an award in the U.K. for it.

MUEN: YOU ALSO HAVE A SONG FEATURED IN A MOVIE! YOUR SONG 'BREAKDOWN' IS IN A NEW MOVIE CALLED 'HEARTBURN'- NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE MERYL STREEP/JACK NICHOLSON LOVE STORY. HOW DID THAT ALL COME ABOUT?

JULES & JULIETTE: We were approached by Laura (associate producer). She contacted us on Myspace and mentioned that they were interested in using our music. It's directed by Julian Chojnacki; produced by Dennis Haysbert, Racheal Seymour (also the lead actress), and Laura Clark. We've been wanting to get our music into film for awhile now, so this is an exciting opportunity for us. You can check out the trailer on our MySpace page, which is www.myspace.com/firebug.

MUEN: WOW!! WELL IT LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE GOING GREAT FOR YOU. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SAY BEFORE WE WRAP THIS UP?

JULES & JULIETTE: Just thank you so much for taking the time to give us this interview!

MUEN: THANKS AND BEST OF LUCK FOR 2008

JULES & JULIETTE: Best of luck to you too!

Interview by Lissy MacMillan