The Ladybug Transistor

Plays Well With Others: Gary Olson on Farms, Friends, and Fame

words by Veronica Meewes
photos by Randy Cremean

Gary Olson makes creating a great album sound as easy as lounging with friends on a lazy afternoon: “I have a big house and, since it’s in New York, I wound up having…a lot of music friends pass through town. That’s how we got a lot of the people who are guests on the record: like Alasdair from the Clientele, some of the people from Architecture in Helsinki…Jens Lekman sang a little bit on it…” He trails off thoughtfully. The house Olson refers to is a large Victorian getaway dubbed Marlborough Farms. It’s situated in Ditmas Park, several yoga breaths south of the “cooler” parts of Brooklyn. Olson and his band The Ladybug Transistor have used the space as their headquarters and recording studio for years, and now the house has become somewhat of a music hostel/oasis for Olson and his extended posse of touring friends. (There is even a MySpace page for “People I’ve Met in Gary’s Kitchen”!) “Things seem to come naturally when you’ve been playing as long as we have,” explains Olson. “You build these friendships with all the traveling we do, and it’s kind of nice to see what comes around the corner.”