“I want to be an artist / Right now I’m a waitress in Ft. Lauderdale.”  Fuck if that isn’t a line pulled from half the twenty-somethings eeking out an existence in this vast wasteland called “life after the industrial revolution”. Michigan rock kids Cheap Girls cover American blight with classic guitar hooks, comfy distortion and a studied ease that comes from youth and a proximity to whiskey and rivers.  With the same easy sound as Promise Ring and other pop-punk bands of yesteryear, CG keep a certain 3-piece tradition alive and poppy.  Like chocolate-covered bacon, like cleat spikes pushing into grass, Cheap Girls have enough salt and crunch in their style to keep their tunes from completely dissolving in the sun.  We sat down with the boys at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn and got involved.

FUN Artists: Who are you?

Cheap Girls: My name is Ian Graham and I’m in the band Cheap Girls, I’m the singer and I play bass.

FUN Artists: Where are you guys from?

Cheap Girls: Lansing, Michigan; all of us live there.

FUN Artists: What’s the music scene in Lansing, Michigan like?

Cheap Girls: The music scene in Lansing is kind of… there’s a lot of local shows, as far as, you know having friends bands; there’s not a lot of bands that do the touring. We all grew up in Lansing, it’s comfortable, and since it’s so comfortable there we end up spending a lot more time playing music cause there’s not really as much to do.

FUN Artists: When did you start playing music?

Cheap Girls: I started playing guitar when I was seven. My brother, who’s our drummer, started playing when he was four and I believe our guitar player started when he was about 10 or 11. Pretty young.

FUN Artists: The new record?

Cheap Girls: It’s been about a year since we finished recording it.  It came out about 6 months ago, but it’s a newer record.

FUN Artists: What do you think are the main differences between My Roaring 20’s verses Find Me A Drink Home?

Cheap Girls: I think My Roaring 20’s is a little more comfortable. It was the first record, and those were the first batch of songs I had ever written. Period. The second one [Find Me A Drink Home] I think was a little more concise. I was living in a house, where I couldn’t really play music because of neighbors and whatnot, so the songs are a bit shorter because of that, it was a knock em out and be done with it. I think I was more focused on the lyrics because that’s what I could do silently and you know, get two and a half minutes of music and then sit there and re-write the words a bunch of times, so it worked out. But, I think it’s a little more focused.

FUN Artists: Do you do the majority of the songwriting then?

Cheap Girls: I write the lyrics and the foundation of all the songs, and then we all kind of build on it.

FUN Artists: When you guys go in to record is it an organic process or do you have limitations set exactly on how you want it to happen?

Cheap Girls: I think going in to record a record we know the songs really well… I mean a lot of friends of ours will write songs in the studio from start to finish on a really loose idea. We generally know what every song is essentially going to be as far as the format of it, but recording wise and things like that; so far, we’ve always tried really new things. Whoever we’re recording with will be like “let’s try…”, you know it’s really open but at the same time there’s still an underlying focus that makes sense.

FUN Artists: Do you prefer the truth or something beautiful?

Cheap Girls: Normally something beautiful would probably override the truth.

FUN Artists: Do you think your music is relevant?

Cheap Girls: This music is relevant to me because it’s honest. All three of us are pretty honest about it. We don’t waste a lot of time… there’s a lot of thought put into it, but there’s not a lot of debate I guess you could say. We just do what we’re capable of and we don’t over think it. I think that’s why I personally like the band. I’m not going to say what’s right or wrong, but that’s what I enjoy.

FUN Artists: Why is this style of music the kind you’re attracted to, as opposed to say maybe electronic music, or folk, or whatever…?

Cheap Girls: A lot of the same reasons: it’s something that we can do kind of on the spot. And, like I said before, I’ll kind of just write a loose foundation; set of words over a few chords. I see more room for… I guess being a three piece band, being a rock n roll band, your limits are set right there for you. You can only do so much with three people and one singer. It’s a good way to keep it open, concise, and quick moving… we like to have a lot of songs. Everything just moves along really nicely, but if you just do it with three of us… I don’t know, all that electronic stuff, I just personally, I don’t think I have the attention span to sit there, I wouldn’t know where to begin.

FUN Artists: Do you feel it’s important to be a part of that three-piece rock n roll tradition?

Cheap Girls: I’ve never really thought about the importance of it, but it’s enjoyable and I’m glad we are.

FUN Artists: Are you happy?

Cheap Girls: Yeah, more or less, I’m getting there. I’d say overall, yeah, I mean I’m essentially doing what I want to do… I’m a lot happier than when I’m at home at work or when I was in college.

FUN Artists: What’s your day job?

Cheap Girls: I work at a liquor store [and smiles].