Dana Falconberry has been on our music radar for quite some time now. Hailing from Michigan with the goal of music on her mind, Dana has become an Austin native with a music repertoire rivaling the greats. Her ethereal voice captivates, and her stage presence is nothing to be messed with. With the convenience of the Austin music scene at her fingertips, Dana goes into overdrive during SXSW, and this year was no exception. Lucky us, we were able to pull Miss Falconberry away from her duties to answer a few really fun questions. One thing is for sure… if this year’s festival was any indication, it is quite obvious that this band is on to its next big adventure: taking over the world.

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Serial Optimist: If you could introduce yourself to our readers in the most unique way possible, how would you do so?

Dana Falconberry: I would totally dress up as a unicorn and drop from the sky with glitter and rainbows and then when I got to the ground I would be surrounded by 10,000 French horns all playing the same note and then I’d take off my unicorn costume and underneath that would be an eagle costume and I’d start flying around in all the glitter and rainbows and then the French horns would turn into hot lava and I’d take off my eagle costume and there would be a snake costume under it and the hot lava would turn into flowers and I’d fall onto them and then I’d take off the snake costume and it would be me wearing some super awesome outfit and I’d be all, “Hey guys what’s up”.

SO: That is the best run-on sentence we have ever read. EVER. You are originally from Michigan. If you were a travel agent listing the five best things to do there—be it touristy or not—what would you choose?

Dana: Well basically all you have to do is look at the track listing off my latest record and go to all of those places. But here are some more specifics:

-Go thimbleberry picking in the UP.
-Walk along the ridges of Pictured Rocks.
-Pick Petoskey Stones from my favorite pickin’ spot on Lake Michigan (no I’m not telling you where it is).
-Run down the Sleeping Bear Dunes and jump in the lake.
-Walk along Lake Michigan in the dark… First look up and see the Milky Way, then shine your flashlight along the sand and see all the sand spiders’ eyes glowing back at you.

SO: What’s your favorite film/clip/music video?

Dana: Shoot! Favorite? I’m not sure, maybe Labyrinth if I can only pick one. Or those babies arguing on YouTube.

We know you are super involved with your music. What is your favorite part about the writing process?

There are lots of little moments that feel like victories. You can struggle over something and twist it around forever, and then sometimes there’s a moment when you twist it just the right way out and it works. That’s the best. These moments also happen when the band is learning the song too, and it’s really cool.

SO: You played SXSW pretty much all week. The Antenna Farm Showcase, Break Thru Radio Party, Deli Magazine Party, Riot Act Party, and Nine Mile Records Showcase are just some of the events you performed at. What’s it like playing such an incredible musical event?

Dana: Exhausting and super fun! I love it. We get to play our songs many times a day and it’s a blast.  

SO: What’s #1 on your bucket list?

Dana: I think I’d like to go to Italy and eat a bowl of spaghetti carbonara the size of my head. I also want to see Machu Picchu.

SO: YUMMM. We love carbs. You are very beautiful and your style is wholesome and graceful. What/who inspires you as a person?

Dana: Aw thank you! I think I’m inspired by my friends and family mostly. I couldn’t survive without them, and I’m constantly amazed by how awesome they are.  

SO: That’s so sweet! What is it like collaborating with Matt Bauer?

Dana: Super hot!! 🙂 He’s awesome, and I love singing and playing with him. His banjo parts are always incredible, and I love harmonizing with him too. We just recently played a show together in a bath house in Hot Springs AR for the VOV fest. The acoustics were amazing and I could really hear his parts, it was great.  

SO: What an original (and sexy) venue, to say the least. How did you get involved with Echotone and what was it like working on it?

Dana: The producers approached me about being in the film, and at the time I didn’t really know them. Now they are very good friends of mine. Working on the film was such a great experience. It really brought a lot of musicians together in a solid way. I was part of the Echotone tour with some of the other musicians in the film and it was really incredible to get to know everyone so well. Nick, Vic, and Nathan from the film team are really inspiring to work with, too. They are very hard workers and persevere through the toughest of times.

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 Official Echotone Trailer

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SO: You recently toured with the Heartless Bastards as a backup vocalist for some of their shows. What was that like?

Dana: It was really great to tour with them. I consider Erika to be not only a friend, but a really great role model in the business. They are one of the hardest working bands I’ve ever met.

SO: And that’s saying a lot, I’m sure! If you could choose any one artist/act to tour with, who would you choose and why? 

Dana: Whoa this is a hard one. There are about 10,000 bands we’d like to tour with. Shearwater has been at the top of our list for a while now. We just played a bunch of SXSW shows with our label mates Social Studies and we totally want to tour with them too. I think it’d be pretty rad to tour with David Byrne. Or Leonard Cohen. Or if the Olsen twins went on a duo tour singing their old hits about pizza, that’d be pretty baller.

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The Olsen Twins – “Gimme Pizza” // The Best Music Video Ever

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SO: Those Olsen twins would be at the top of our list too, as a matter of fact. What are the top 10 must-haves on your playlist?

Dana: This is what I’m obsessed with right now:

Lightning Dust – Antonia Jane
Social Studies – Terracur
Matt Bauer – Blacklight Horses
Joanna Newsom – Baby Birch
Here We Go Magic – Alone But Moving
Shelley Short – June
Nina Nastasia – Superstart
Heartless Bastards – Low Low Low
Good Field – Tell Me Ida
Judson Claiborne – Seeing Eye Ponies 

SO: So now we are actually obsessed with your taste in music as well. Great. Something else to ponder. We LOVE your video for Lake Charlevoix (as well as many others). How did the idea for the video come about, and how involved are you in the process of it all?

Dana: Thanks so much! That video was filmed by Matt Bauer, actually. We drove out to Big Bend and filmed non-stop for 3 days. It was awesome. We came up with the idea together, and some of it was based on some filming Matt had done earlier with balloons. We took tons of footage and then came back and filmed the band in a dance studio here in town. Matt has a really great eye and composed all of the shots. We did all of the editing together and we were only able to use about 10 percent of what we filmed! It was a really fun process and we’re thinking about doing another video soon!

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Dana Falconberry – “Lake Charlevoix”

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SO: That’s awesome! Alright… most important question: Koala or Panda? Substantiate your claim.

Dana: Panda. I think Koala might taste a little gamey.

SO: We are quite shocked that you would actually consider eating either of those two creatures. But also astoundingly intrigued… Anything else you’d like to share with our amazing audience?

Dana: I just want to say thanks for listening/reading! We are touring a lot so we’re probably coming to your neck of the woods soon and we’d love to meet you. 🙂

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SO Note: Follow @DanaFalconberry to keep up with the band!