This married double act from Connecticut known as Pocket Vinyl incorporates live art into their performances–Eric Stevenson hammers the piano keys and sings while Elizabeth Jancewicz paints a painting to be auctioned after the show to an audience member. The Murfreesboro Pulse was interested and wanted to hear about the duo’s creative process before they make a stop at Liquid Smoke on Wednesday, March 19.

Murfreesboro Pulse: How did you two meet and start playing music together?

Arts House, Lancaster PA

Elizabeth: We met while I was in college, and Eric had graduated but still lived in the area. He came and modeled for some figure drawing I was doing. Long story short, we began dating right as he started to book his first tour. I wanted to come along, and since I’m a painter and not a musician we decided to give live art a try, and it worked out much better than expected.

Eric: We liked each other’s faces and wanted to hang out more, basically.

Why name yourselves Pocket Vinyl?

Elizabeth: Eric’s band before Pocket Vinyl was called The Series, but right before our first album was released, we discovered another band also out of New England called The Series. We had to change our name within a few days because of booking issues on tour, so we picked Pocket Vinyl. Eric thought “vinyl” was a handsome-looking word, and after playing around with a couple different word combinations, we settled on our current name. We just like how it looks and sounds; there’s not much else to it.

Eric, how did your playing style with the piano develop?

Eric: I hated playing the piano for the most part until 10th grade, when I started jamming with friends. The piano is kind of a quiet instrument when compared to an electric guitar or drums or something, and when playing with friends, we couldn’t hook up a piano to a PA really, so I just learned to try and play as loud as I could so the others could hear. Plus, some of the bands I loved (Radiohead, Ben Folds Five, Beck) would use the piano in traditionally “un-pretty” ways. The piano is kind of an uncool instrument as is, and I enjoyed slamming it. It somehow gave it more credit in my mind. Over time I guess I just learned how to slam it methodically, and now people tell me I have a style, but I still just hit it in my mind. It’s weird to call it a style because it sounds planned or something.

Forum, Buffalo, NY

Is songwriting a collaborative effort?

Eric: Yes and no. Not directly. I’d say we both influence each other with conversations, experiences we share, jokes, etc., and those things make their way into paintings and songs. I almost always run lyrics by her, and she’ll tell me if they suck or not (same with the music).

What is that process like?

Eric: Usually I come up with the music first. Sometimes I’m trying to rip someone off, sometimes I’m trying to learn another song and come up with something during that. Sometimes I just try to make my fingers move nonsensically on the piano to get warmed up, and a riff or chord progression comes through. A lot of songs of mine often take a year or two (or more) until I feel like I’ve figured them out completely with lyrics and everything. Other times songs come much faster for reasons I don’t know. This one song called “Potential” took me a few weeks to write, from conception to completion, which is very fast for me, yet many have told me it’s their favorite on the new album. It’s flattering and frustrating all the same, especially since another song called “Salem Witch Trials” on the same album took about three or four years to write! There’s no formula, but I guess I try to just be aware when I sense creativity and then try to write while I have it.

Does being a couple create a challenge or make the working process easier?

Cafe Nice, New Haven, Conn.

Elizabeth: I think it makes things easier. We both care about the other person and the other person’s respective art forms and want to see each other succeed. We can bring thoughts and ideas to each other and know that we’ll not only receive support, but also an honest opinion about whether or not to continue in any given direction. Plus, when we’re on the road experiencing stressful and exhaustive situations, it’s really wonderful to have emotional support.

Eric: I can’t imagine touring half the year with anyone else. Being in a van with three other people sounds very stressful to me. I can see why a lot of bands break up after tours at this level.

Elizabeth, why did you decide to incorporate the painting process into the performance?

Elizabeth: I’d done a few live art gigs in college, so I had the experience. And as I mentioned earlier, really we just both wanted to hang out more.

Do you have an idea of what you want to paint prior to a show or do you decide that on the spot?

Elizabeth: For the first two years of performing, I would purposefully not think about what I’d paint and go up on stage with a completely blank slate and see what happened. It was an interesting and abstract approach, but I began to discover that I would continually fall back to similar themes over and over again. I was painting what I knew I could accomplish, so I wasn’t challenging myself on stage. I started getting really bored with my paintings. So about a year ago I decided to begin doing some sketching before each show. I brainstorm ideas onto paper, and that way if I have an idea that might be more challenging to execute, I can figure out the difficulties before stepping onto the stage. I’ve found sketching beforehand really frees me up while I’m working on the actual painting and allows me to make more bold and interesting (at least to myself) choices. It’s all about keeping myself engaged.

Homegrown Cafe, Newark, Del.

Ever not finish a painting in time?

Elizabeth: Once I did ask Eric to perform an extra song so I could tighten a few things up. But typically I know the exact length of each song and I know what I can physically accomplish with that time. We decide on a set list before starting, so that I’ll know if I should work on a longer and more complex painting or on something a lot quicker.

Does the music inspire the painting, or are the two separate?

Elizabeth: We get asked this all the time, and the answer is yes and no. The paintings are not directly inspired by the exact song or songs that are being performed during any single show, but rather are inspired from touring together, listening to Eric practice and figure through pieces at home, events on the road and people we encounter.

What’s the last thing Pocket Vinyl saw, read or listened to that was influential to your art/music? And why?

Elizabeth: Like I said, influences for each of our arts come from every aspect of our lives. We might see a particularly stark group of trees along the road, listen to a podcast interview that expresses an idea we’ve never considered, enjoy a steaming cup of coffee, have a sleepless night on a hard floor; any of these things can inspire any number of thoughts and imagery that make their way into our live show. It’s tough to separate everyday life from artistic creation.

Morrisons Art Collective, Torrington, Conn.

Eric: What Elizabeth said. In terms of recently, the new Beck album sounds amazing, and I’ll probably try to steal many, many things from it for future songs. I’ve also been thinking a lot about sexuality and gender and how it influences people’s decisions religiously, politically, socially, biologically. I think there might be a song or two in those issues for me.

Catch Pocket Vinyl at Liquid Smoke, 2 N. Public Square, Murfreesboro, on March 19. For more information on the group, visit pocketvinyl.com.