I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people collectively try to light a cigar as I did the night that Jessie and I wound up talking with MEandJOANCOLLINS in a deserted parking lot in Central Square. Jessie, Bo, Jen, Jen’s girlfriend, Kathleen, and I tried to assist at various points in the lighting of Jen’s pre-show stogey, but sadly the hefty roll of tobacco and paper remained stubborn and all we could do was giggle about it and use the cigar as a prop in the impromptu photo shoot that followed. Bo and Jen, one of the fiercest onstage duos in Boston with a penchant for loud guitars, danceable beats and soaring vocals, are a Cambridge-based outfit who love Central Square so damn much that they wrote a song about it. It seemed only fitting that we were catching them just before a headlining gig at TT the Bear’s Place, and we were blown away by Bo’s stint as a member of the Champagne of Bands at One Night Band this year, as well.

Before watching them belt, shimmy and kick their skinny jean-clad legs on stage at TT’s, Jessie and I got the dirt on who Bo and Jen are listening to, what we can expect from MEandJOANCOLLINS in the coming months, and why the hell all of their catchiest songs have such dirty, dirty names.  They’ll be headlining Upstairs at the Middle East on Saturday, September 12, and the bill boasts several other notable Boston bands so be sure to clear your schedule.

–Hilary Hughes

Can we get names, ages and where you guys are from for the record?

Bo: Oh my God, really?

Jen: We don’t do ages. (Laughs)

B: I’m Bo Barringer and I’m from Cambridge.

J: Jen, and I live in Somerville now but I’m from upstate New York.

B: Me too, actually.  Originally, anyway.

What brought you to Boston?

J: It’s a cool town.  Bo was a Berklee guy.

B: No I wasn’t.  I got in but I didn’t go.

Did you guys know each other before you came to Boston, or did you meet here?

B: No, we did not, actually.

How did you meet and how did MEandJOANCOLLINS come about?

B: This little thing called “Craiglist.org.”  It’s kind of amazing.

J: He had some Brit/Glam pop ad up or something, and I was looking for a project, and we met up at Charlie’s Kitchen for a drink.

B: We had both kind of broken up with our previous bands.  She was in the Steel Ponies; I was in The Collisions.  Jen was like “Oh, whatever, at least if [the band] doesn’t work out I have a new drinking buddy.”  And that worked out, too, that part of the partnership.

Drinking buddies, huh?  What’s your poison?

B: I tend to drink a lot of Miller Lite.

J: My girlfriend. (Laughs)

Take us through the creative process behind the music of MEandJOANCOLLINS.  Do you collaborate when it comes to writing, or do you work independently of each other and then bring your songs to the band?

B: We kind of write independently.  I mean, God, I’ve written so many fuckin’ songs that’ll never see the light of day. I write at home and I’ll write to whatever idea comes in my head.  I’ll work out the rough skeleton of a song and then I’ll bring it to these guys and it becomes something a lot more.  We try to keep it from a stiff, rigid structure because so many good things come when you start playing with each other and the song evolves and becomes more.

Same thing with you, Jen?

J: I haven’t been writing lately, but usually it’s major, life-changing moments when I write.

B: See, I write about going to the bathroom.  (Laughs) Yeah.  One of our new songs which is also one of our more sensitive ballads is called “My Aim Is Terrible” and it came from… (laughs) I don’t know.  I was in the bathroom at home, and I was just like, thinking about something else, and then I realized that my aim is terrible.  I actually ended up writing a pretty tender, heartfelt song from that.  That was the genesis of the idea.  It happened that way.

How does your creative process change once you hit the studio?

B: The first album we kind of played it by our own book in that we just fleshed it out the best we could.

J: We took advantage of the chance to make it perfect [in the studio].

Do you guys tend to record live or do you track it?

B: It’s pretty live.  The next album is going to be full of some ridiculous stuff, just to give you fair warning.

Did you guys record the last MEandJOANCOLLINS record in Massachusetts?

B: We did! We recorded it at Woolly Mammoth in Waltham.

Do you plan on recording your forthcoming material in Massachusetts?

B: Yeah!  There are so many good studios around here.  Why leave?

J: Unless somebody else wants to pay for it.  In that case, we’ll go anywhere (laughs).

Are there any other songs that you feel particularly connected to in the MEandJOANCOLLINS catalog?

J: “A Little Too Much” is getting a lot of radio play.

B: Yeah, that one’s really fun.  That one’s fun to play, too.  We don’t really play it live anymore.  We’re really trying to push “Crime Of The Century” but that doesn’t have anything dirty in the title…

Do you find that your more popular songs tend to have slightly more, uh, “profane” titles?

B: I just wrote a song called “Cock Tease”, actually.  I tend to write whatever and anything can spark a song, but this song was a sort of assignment. My drummer said, “These other songs are getting all this attention!  You gotta write something new.”  And I said, “Alright, I will.”  He goes, “What are you gonna call it?” and I said, “Ah, I’ll call it ‘Cock Tease’.” (Laughs) I wrote it about this girl named Tracey, and there’s another song written about her called “Maybe You Can Breathe Underwater”.  I sat down and wrote that song based on something she said, and that song was done in ten minutes.  The same with “Cock Tease”, actually.

J: We’re debuting a song called “Central Square” tonight.”

B: It’s our favorite place.

When it comes to touring, do you guys have any crazy stories for us from the MEandJOANCOLLINS tour bus?

J: Yeah, totally. (Laughs)

B: We’re not sharing them!  We’re married to each other.  Did you know that?

No…?

B: Yes.  But we’re both allowed to see other women.  (Jen’s girlfriend, Kathleen, winks.) We got married onstage at The Abbey Lounge, actually.  She wore the tux, I wore the dress.

J: RIP, Abbey Lounge.  What a great place.

Well, this is a great point to start talking about your favorite Boston venues, then.  You mentioned that you like the [former] Abbey Lounge, but what other Boston venues do you enjoy seeing a show at or playing a show at?

J: TT the Bear’s Place, of course.

B: The Middle East, Great Scott, too…  They’re all pretty good.

Did TT’s or the Middle East factor into your Central Square song?

B: Yeah, I mean, it’s part of the whole ambience of Central Square.  Central Square has a nice vibe to it.  I don’t do a lot of name-checking.  I’m not gonna start talking about the Cantab Lounge.

J: Even though we love the Cantab Lounge… (laughs)

In terms of people you’re listening to from here, are there any Boston bands or artists that you particularly enjoy?

B: Yeah, definitely.  I’ve really come to love Magic Magic.  Ketman is one of our favorite bands here and we recently played with them.  They’re really great.  Hoag, too, we really love them.

In terms of your connection with your Boston fans, how has your experience been playing for the crowds in Boston?

J: Boston’s pretty loyal.  I feel like they’re really good fans.  They’re really supportive and they actually go out and listen to other local bands, and it’s an all-around good time.

B: I feel like Boston music fans tend to have good taste in music, too.

What defines “good taste” for you?

B: … Stuff that I like… (laughs).  It’s a very hip city when it comes to music and everybody’s kind of educated here.  People are smart in Boston. I got to other cities, and I’m like, “Man, they’re not as sharp here as they are in Boston.”

What about your experience with fans in other cities?  Are there other cities that you love playing, besides Boston?

J: London!

B: … We haven’t actually been to Europe.  We’re planning on it.  One place that I thought was amazing was Morgantown, West Virginia.  Yeah!  It’s the college town of UWV, and it’s kind of, like, this Cambridge set in the sticks.  It’s this redneck yet educated sort of constituency.  People there really know how to have fun.  I love West Virginia.

What are you guys listening to?  If we were to steal the iPods of MEandJOANCOLLINS and look up your “Recently Added” or “Recently Played” Playlists, what would we find?

B: For the last two years my favorite band has been Deerhunter.  That guy, Bradford Cox, is pretty ridiculous.  He’s put out EPs and albums every six months.  He’s got this side project, Atlas Sound, which I’m also pretty into.  He’s great.  He kind of runs the gamut from dreamy, atmospheric stuff to just aggressive… he touches on everything.

J: I use my iPod as a jump drive.  I don’t have any music on it.  I don’t even have EARBUDS for it.

B: She doesn’t listen to music until she gets to practice.   She listens to music there. (Laughs)

Who are some of your favorite artists, then, Jen?

J: I like our music. (Laughs)

B: I told you! (Laughs) We’re the only band she likes.

Who would you say has influenced you as artists?  Give us the laundry list.

B: Oh, shit…

J: I’ve got some college professors.   I hate talking about bands.

B: I LOVE talking about bands.  My first love was Hall and Oates.  The more I play and the older I get, it’s like, shit.  I went through ten years of not listening to Hall and Oates and then I come back and I’m like, “All these fuckin’ hooks come from Hall and Oates!  Or Prince…” I used to be into hair metal, too, especially Motley Crüe.

What about Poison?

B: Meh, Poison is okay.

You’re not a “Rock of Love” fan, then?

B: FUCK no.

It’s not about the connection for you?

B: If Tommy Lee had been on “Rock of Love”, I would’ve watched it.  But, yeah, I’d say Hall and Oates, Prince and then some hair metal bands.

So, what’s next for MEandJOANCOLLINS?  What are you working on now?

B: We’re going to be recording, actually.  We’ll be playing a lot of new songs in our set, and it’s been that way since we released the last record…

J: I know!  We kind of move backwards from a release party: We play new songs instead of playing songs from the album.

B: So, yeah, that’s kind of next.  We’re hoping to get something out by the spring.

That’s great.  My next question for you was actually going to be where you see yourself in the coming months-

B: Mexico.  I see myself in Mexico in a couple of months. (Laughs) Really, though, we want to get back on the road.