ROCKWiRED MAGAZiNE iNTERViEWS FUNERAL iN THE MiRROR

APRiL 7, 2010
GOOD CHEMiSTRY
JOSEPH DEROSA AND JAMES PiNKSTONE
OF FUNERAL iN THE MiRROR TALK TO ROCKWiRED
ABOUT THEiR DEBUT LP OLD WOLF THOUGHTS
AND COMiNG TOGETHER AS SONGWRiTERS
iNTERViEWED BY BRiAN LUSH
Mixing two distinct personalities together is a lot like mixing chemicals. I won’t pretend to know what combinations are combustible but I do know that if you can pour this thing and that thing into a beaker and it doesn’t blow up on you, then you’ve won half the battle. If you can get that stuff to glow in the dark then I should’ve been your lab partner back in high school. In the case of the rock-edged electronica duo FUNERAL IN THE MIRROR, the paring of JOSEPH DEROSA and JAMES PINKSTONE is a bit of chemistry that would’ve made MADAME CURIE forget all about that Radium business. The duo’s sound is marked by DEROSA’s innate rhythmic know-how and PINKSTONE’s left-of-center approach to lyric writing and the pairing’s sense of adventure when it comes to melodies. The fruits of their labor in the studio (PINKSTONE’s basement actually) are evidenced on their debut LP ‘OLD WOLF THOUGHTS’ – a recording that is best described as the missing link between THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS and the future. Adding to the duo’s already potent mixture of beats and rhyme surprisingly is DEROSA’s background as a standup comedian. “[T]he reason I stopped doing music (in the beginning) was because I was getting so frustrated trying to be in bands and trying to figure out that puzzle of having four different voices and work ethics fit.” says DEROSA “That was why I loved comedy. I didn’t have to lean on anybody. That’s why I like working with JAMES because he’s got a great work ethic and he’s creative and I can count in him. We’re both going to carry our weight and we’re both good at doing different things. Both of us need the other person to bring those elements to the table. It works.” (READ MORE)