Musical duo bursts onto Athens scene

Indie-pop pair rises to unexpected fame with music

By: LINDSAY OBERST

Posted: 1/7/08

Experience the bright sound of hopping along in a peaceful pastel cartoon world as you listen to the visual pop recordings of Telenovela.

According to its MySpace.com profile, this local band sounds like "what 'Yoshi's Island' looks like."

The indie-pop duo of Zachary Smola and Stephanie Clayton placed at No. 5 on National Public Radio's "Top 10 Great Unknown Artists of 2007." Also, Flagpole recognized its album "Saffron Songs" as the number one local album of 2007.

"We thought comparing our sound to something distinctly visual would be the most effective way to describe it," Clayton said, addressing its "Yoshi's Island" description.

Telenovela has a love of drum loops and The Carpenters, according to NPR, while Flagpole writer Michael Barthel says its album provides "little bursts of sunshine intruding happily on your dreary day," although he also said that many of their songs ask difficult aesthetic and spiritual questions.

But neither Smola nor Clayton expected to be recognized, or to be known as a band at all.

"We're both really kind of shocked," Smola said. "It was almost more like a hobby. We never planned on playing live until we were asked to play for WUOG 'Live in the Lobby.'"

Noah Koon, a senior and cellular biology, Japanese and history major from Lilburn, has been a friend of Smola since his freshman year of college. He said he remembers the first CD Telenovela recorded in Smola's bedroom.

"They played it for me in a portable CD (player) in the parking lot of Agua Linda. (Zach) acted as if he never intended for anyone besides his friends to hear, but we were all amazed at just how great and different each song was."

Music has always been a part of Smola's life, he said. Both he and Clayton had many musical friends in high school, which led them to each other.

"The starting point was music from the '60s and '70s," Smola said. "And also Brazilian music. Our sound reflects what we listen to, and we like to play with detailed recordings."

Koon describes the music as darkly cynical pop songs about love, diners and the American dream.

"I once heard someone call them cuddle-core," he said. "Although Zach described their later songs as 'dad-rock.'"

About a week before the band began, Smola said, he and Clayton began dating. Smola admits that their relationship complicates things sometimes.

"In any business with a friend or someone closer to you, you have to treat the band as a separate business," he said.

"The biggest difficulty is that we are less productive. Sometimes when we are supposed to be recording, we decide to go watch a movie instead."

Clayton said she views their relationship as a kind of Venn diagram.

"We both love music, we both love each other, and at times those two things affect one another," she said.

As for the future, Smola hopes to play more and send out more demos.

"We'd still like to continue making music together for as long as we are able," Clayton said.

The next live performances both in Athens and in Atlanta should be in February, both said.

"I'm always hesitant, but I think we are getting more ambitious," Smola said.