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2011-01-18T07:40:00.000-08:00

DEAD WESTERN PLAINS

“Alta” b/w “Gift Horse in the Mouth” Vinyl 7-inch

This Tucson, Arizona group of artists debuts on Fort Lowell Records with a sweet 7-inch vinyl release of two tracks which form a Jekyll & Hyde persona. “Alta” is playful, wildly swinging for the fences with spacey charm and a kinetic, dreamy feel. The song is frantic at first but molds into something bouncy and anthem heavy, resulting in a tone that’s like a parade just outside your window. It’s built around psychedelic atmospherics, swirling guitar and hollowed out vocals that seem either distant or hiding inside your ear. Its atmosphere is accented by strong lyrics. Take note of lines like “Jesus won’t answer my wicked soul” or “Sometimes we fail/Sometimes we fail/If the heavens won’t hold you tight/The ground surely will.” It’s the last words we hear as the remainder of the song is embraced by swirling guitar winding out playfully, like paper floating on the breeze. Inside this single track is surely half an album’s worth of ideas.

“Gift Horse in the Mouth” is quite the opposite, beautiful in its murky calamity and disjointed beauty. The keyboard playing is bountiful, church-like, as if some aged opera is being banged away at by an unconventional rock star. The playing bears a sixties twangy texture. It’s crazed and punchy, only stopping nearly midway for low slung harmonizing.

Not sure how Fort Lowell is handling this, but the “Alta” track was remixed by three different artists resulting in three wholly different and engaging versions. Jacob Safari’s has a version rich with Casio/video game ambiance and the remix by Fort Lowell label mates ….music video? turn in something more tribal and rustic – a bevy of staccato stick beats against the vocals. Kurt Snell’s remix boasts old school video game effects but the track is primarily drenched in static and soft squash beats as the vocals slip through like a criminal. Don’t know if these three remixes are available but they’re interesting reworkings of the original “Alta” and mirror what Dead Western Plains has created already.

Their focus is rich in mood and texture, and the result is ambitious as it is marvelous. Like Tomandandy, Dead Western Plains seems to be adept at using technology to create more than just ambiance. The music elicits more than, say, clothes on the rack. It conjures up what several floors are carrying – clothes and their varying colors, their fabrics, their genders and designs. The layers here add up to more here than mere catchy music. It’s a neural network.

-Brian Tucker

Available here:

http://www.amazon.com/Alta-Seven-Inch-Western-Plains/dp/B004E2Z794/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294107602&sr=1-1

http://fortlowell.blogspot.com/2010/11/dead-western-plains-is-not-dead.html

NEW MEXICO CD REVIEW

2010-11-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

NEW MEXICO

have you met my friend?

This San Diego trio has a lot to answer for. By no means negatively, but as music makers and fans of music. They wear numerous influences on their sleeves with have you met my friend? Judging by the excellent sounds, and songs, they seem like people you'd want to talk music with at a noisy party. New Mexico sound different track to track, on the seven song EP. Where it fails many bands the variety works here over and over. There's no through line to be found other than a great album with a lot of energy.

"Case Closed" opens with this cool, magnetic, echoing guitar line. The song jumps around, most fun at the chorus and then burns into oblivion by the time it ends. This one song encapsulates the power and aesthetic of the band. So does "Chosen Ones", a Mooney Suzuki-like song that pumps with the vigor of a band from Detroit trashing a warehouse filled with battered car parts. "Abused and Amused" is another crash-and-burn track that recalls The Dead 60's but is completely theirs. There's an early eighties New Wave/rock and roll sound to New Mexico. Its all rather large sounding like European bands with random hit singles and moody like The Psychedelic Furs, namely on "Quiet in the City" where the band harmonizes over slumming and slurred vocals. The guitar and drums bash and fight, making for a fantastic song that feels they could care less. New Mexico could easily become "that band" of the moment. Nothing wrong there. But it'd be a shame to have them lost in the shuffle of hipster fame when they make music that's way beyond trendy.

-Brian Tucker

2010-10-02T11:19:00.001-07:00

MAD TEA PARTY

Rock ‘n Roll Ghoul

7-inch/digital download

Asheville, North Carolina’s Mad Tea Party has found special ways of celebrating the holidays over the last few years. They’ve released either a split single of Christmas music or in celebration of their favorite holiday, Halloween, the uke-abilly duo went all out in 2009 with four spooky and fun garage pop rock songs pressed on vinyl with letter-pressed artwork. Following up on last year’s bonanza Zombie Boogie, Ami Worthen and Jason Krekel have recorded another batch of Halloween rock songs. Called Rock ‘n Roll Ghoul, this special recording is being released as another limited run of 7-inch vinyl with EC Comics inspired art by San Francisco artist Gus Cutty.

The title track is a fireball, rich in hot rod driving jangly guitar and fast-paced vocals. It shakes like a punk tune as if made in the fifties and laced with tambourine and screaming back-up vocals. “Possessed” is a 60’s flavored psychedelic number, think the B-52’s drinking specially laced party punch. Worthen’s vocals are sweet and wiry, the whole sounding like a girl group singing love songs in a cemetery. “Dr. Phibes” laments Vincent Price, part Hawaiian guitar, part Buddy Holly. Covering the Hollywood Flames’ “Frankenstein’s Den” is the real treat, a creepy-crawly throwback to the 1950’s whose doo-wop vocals (with Snake Oil Medicine Show’s Caroline Pond) make the song shine.

The Mad Tea Party has done it again with this release. Here’s hoping they take a shine to other holidays. The 7-inch Rock ‘n Roll Ghoul comes with a download code and can also be purchased solely as a digital download.

-Brian Tucker

www.madteaparty.com

Record release shows planned to date:

October 2 - The Pour House - Raleigh , NC (with the Straight 8's)

October 15 - Stella Blue - Asheville , NC (with Mark Sultan)

October 16 - Double Door - Charlotte , NC

October 16 - The Cave - Chapel Hill , NC (part of Blackbeard's Lost Weekend)

October 29 - Uketoberfest - Aberdeen , NC

2010-10-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

DARLING

Lights That Last Forever

Chicago's Darling have continued to evolve, re-shaping their sound with each album. On their new album, Lights That Last Forever, they've added a variety of styles - funk, garage rock and early nineties college rock. Throughout two EP's (2005's Ground is Sound, 2009's Burned by the Sun) Darling has shifted, as if wholly trying new things out, from blending moody and soft-assault ambiance to songs that are more catchy, more radio friendly, than before. There's sweet melancholy to Jeff Schneider's vocals, sounding like a teenage David Byrne. Lights That Last Forever shakes up the band's old ideas, giving them more heft, more color.

Lights really sounds like a '90's album, its strangely catchy, obtuse and more playful. The proof is the introspection of the songs, the album lending itself to the autumn season versus the rejuvenation of spring. "Move In Move On" makes no bones about getting down, the bass noticeably at the forefront. Bass notes noodle and swirl, the guitar jangly and rusty. "In the Ground" blisters like a Superchunk number, aggressive and fun. Lights doesn't stay settled, from the trippy bass on "Bad Dream" whose quick chorus and closing moments is rich with fractured guitar playing, first mimicking erratic rainfall then the world falling apart, to the travelling bounce of "Bicycle Ride" which gleefully sounds as if it should be sang with cast of The Muppet Show.

Darling sounds less romantic, slightly less idyllic about it in the music than before. The band now ebbs closer to an indie version of Matthew Sweet trying to be ELO. That's not meant as derision, Darling play songs simply that just happen to sound large.

-Brian Tucker

www.cardboardsangria.com

www.amazon.com/Lights-That-Last-Forever-Darling/dp/B003V0G1CM

2010-10-02T11:16:00.001-07:00

THE BLACK CROWES

Croweology

It's interesting to see a band years into to their career still making something new out of old material - be it live or on the typical "best of" album. Many artists find gold in reworking their songs, be it creative exercise or contract fulfillment. John Mellencamp did well with Rough Harvest, turning old songs into new ones. The Black Crowes have done something similar. Having already released a "greatest hits" album a few years back the band has released Croweology, a collection of largely acoustic and gently reworked versions of the band's staples.

Twenty years on in their career, The Black Crowes laid down enough tracks to support a double album - some expected and some surprises. Taking a cue from last year's ...Until the Freeze the band recorded these quick and live. The result puts forth a band, once derided as a throwback to the seventies, as a multifaceted and genre shifting one. Croweology is proof that the band's songs are like clothing that can be re-stitched and worn again and again. The songs here are generally remade with different dressings, a little harmonica here, the crunch of guitar removed there.

The real gems are "Morning Song" a Sunday church reworking of a song that was written that way in the first place, just heavier on guitar. It's the rave-up at the end, its blast of energy that gives the original version a run for its money, replacing bombast with spare playing that reaches the same ceiling. "Sister Luck" feels like a totally different song than on 1990's Shake Your Money Maker and 1992's "Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye" is wonderful, sounding like a ghost form the past. Some tracks that were born in acoustic beginnings ("Good Friday", "Downtown Money Waster") seem familiar yet still shine. "Girl from a Pawnshop" sounds more melancholic, more deliberate now, but loses the huge wall of sound. "Wiser Time," always a magical number, rolls on for nine minutes, still resonating as it did in 1995, paired with the equally lengthy "Ballad in Urgency."

The only real disappointment is that, as the band currently tours for the last time before taking a lengthy hiatus, is that they haven't released a collection of songs that's never seen the light of day. "She" and "Cold Blue Smile" are the only evidence here of it. The band apparently has a lot of original material stored, hopefully it will see release during the band's hiatus. Croweology doesn't sound like closure, more like a hint of what's could come down the road.

-Brian Tucker

2010-09-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

John Mellencamp

No Better Than This

Rounder Records

Since 1989 or so John Mellencamp has been shedding the label-induced "Cougar" moniker and all the crap that came with it. At the same time he's been making indelible, serious and fun music ever since. People were confused or turned off by Mellencamp's "Pop Singer" (from 1989's Big Daddy), a thrown gauntlet to cats off his manufactured namesake. Perhaps fans felt he turned his back on their good times, their lives. They should have seen it coming with 1987's Scarecrow.

It was easy to misinterpret. Mellencamp was asserting his power as a songwriter, not wanting to be part of the pop music assembly line, one far worse now in 2010. He continued to craft earnest songs ("Martha Say, "Jackie Brown") while delivering catchy ones ("Key West Intermezzo", "Get a Leg Up", "Your Life is Now"). In truth, Mellencamp has never really made a bad record since hitting big in 1982. He's been talked about with Guthrie and Dylan but derided for writing hit songs. He's had albums that wandered, Freedom Road, Trouble No More, and struggled the last decade with record labels, jumping from Mercury to Sony to smaller labels (Hear Music, Universal Republic).

The singer once said that men weren't worth a damn till they're forty. Maybe Mellencamp was talking about richness with age, attaining wisdom. His last album, 2008's Life Death Love and Freedom, produced by T. Bone Burnett, seemed to be the distillation of age, wisdom and creative countenance. It was, perhaps, an album he's been working towards since the mid-nineties, if not earlier. It's spare and raw nature was perfect for the album's subject matter and Mellencamp's coarse, much older voice. No Better Than This, also produced by Burnett, follows up on it, the singer still sounding like a young man adverse with the world around him.

No Better Than This was recorded at historic locations - the hotel room where Robert Johnson recorded, Sun Studios, the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Ga. Those locations are interesting, poignant, but what's relevant are the songs and how they were recorded - a single microphone and a 55-year old Ampex tape recorder. Mellencamp once thanked The Rolling Stones for keeping the "living room on the record." He was recalling the feeling of wonderment of sitting in a room and hearing a record - before an overabundance of TV and the Internet. With No Better Than This, we're alone in those rooms with him.

The sound of the record is important. It's thick and unpolished. It feels real, it feels dirty and tainted. For all the grittiness and sparseness the songs are inviting and at times as catchy as anything else the man has ever written. Each is an individual story, all worth taking in. I'm as much of a fan of Mellencamp's early work as his most recent. we've probably only begun to see the watershed of work by a man in his later-years prime. Years from people and critics alike will probably look back at these years and albums as the beginning of something far more prolific in Mellencamp's catalog.

-Brian Tucker

2010-09-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

WET & RECKLESS + TRACY SHEDD

Split 7-inch

Fort Lowell Records

Black and white. Yin and yang. North and south. You get it. That's how disparate this split 7-incher is. Selecting the raw power-pop of Los Angeles' Wet & Reckless and Tuscon-based Tracy Shedd works significantly, eschewing the notion of placing similar sounding bands on a single platter simply just to sell. Wet & Reckless, a dubious and exciting name for a band if there ever was one (its a term for an actual DUI charge in California), and Shedd have songs that are polar opposites in terms of emotion and surrealism. They are textured and honest songs, anything but overtly polished but are seriously songs that stick. Wet & Reckless' "New Guy" is retro and electric, its jangly surf rock sound coupled with Emily Wilder's sugar coated vocals, as if The Breeders tried on The Beach Boys. It's an energetic song of guys and relationship uncertainty. Wilder sings, "I'd rather be burned and left in the dark/Than Durafalmed with a tiny little spark." Regardless, it's a great rock song that lasts much longer than its actual three minutes. Shedd's "Tear It Up" is haunting and moody, built upon lilting western styled guitar playing. The song is about going out and dancing and whose lyrics are brief but weights the song like a novel. Shedd's vocals are magical and hypnotic. She sings the words in a soft cooing fashion and the effect is nothing short of ghostly. This split 7-inch is solid, an no-brainer teaser for looking into work by both artists.

-Brian Tucker

$6 Limited to 500 copies this 7-inch Candy Bubblegum Red vinyl comes with w/download code. Out October 5th, 2010

www.amazon.com/Reckless-Tracy-Shedd-Split-7inch/dp/B003VC6EWM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1283882928&sr=1-3

2010-09-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

Lost in the Trees

All Alone in an Empty House

Anti- Records

Success, by varied definitions is measured by hard work - through sacrifice, perseverance and unintended suffering. Art tends to walk a similar path, the really good art which prevails and continues to resonate. Lost in the Trees' All Alone in an Empty House has become more affecting, and remains just as sincere an album in the time since originally released in 2008 on the Chapel Hill, NC label Trekky Records. Quite simply, its power as an album of music remains.

Lost in the Trees signed to Anti- Records in February 2010 and All Alone in an Empty House was reworked by producer Scott Solter. Two new songs were added to the original album sequence ("A Room Where Your Paintings Hang" and "We Burn the Leaves"), enhancing and extending the experience of Ari Picker's musical collective of folk and classical music.

The material is born from the heartbreaking and dysfunctional household Picker grew up in. Lyrics are taken from arguments in his home and the situations, the abuses, are anything but contrived. Picker sought to harness them into something productive, something creative. An admirer of classical music, Picker endeavored to bring classical and folk music together, injecting melancholic and sometimes catchy folk songs with a style traditionally overlooked by many under thirty. "A Room Where Your Paintings Hang" is a perfect example these two styles meeting with marvelous results.

The album is built upon gentle acoustic guitar and vibrant string playing and underneath exists a patchwork of hard memories and ascetic relationships. The album is awash in grey cloud sentiment and raw honest emotions, all thrown against a scarred canvas. The result is endearing and beautiful. Not knowing about the heartache, one listening would still walk away thinking something is broken here. While All Alone in an Empty House bridges folk and classical music, it transcends what an album is and can be. It operates less as novelty but as an innovative way to communicate stories, to better elevate a listener's emotions.

Haunting stringed instrumental songs serve as a means to pause. "Mvt. I Sketch" and "Mvt. II Sketch" clock in at under ten minutes but their placing feel like moments to reflect, to breath. The title track is tempered with the added sounds of footsteps on leaves, adding tension to a song already taut given its subject matter of sexual abuse. Picker sings "Where is the baby?" repeatedly and the way he sings, in a soft, almost female voice, is haunting and beautiful simultaneously.

All Alone in an Empty House feels like incessant climbing before finally reaching the top, finding a place in which to be comfortable. For all its melancholy there are symbols of strength - wooden walls, artists, paintings, and love. The most prominent is love. In his singing Picker exudes it in the face of heartache. He sings of a painter who's lost their hands on "Song for a Painter" and there's the memorable and radio-ready "Love On My Side" where Picker sings "We're all going to get old and buried in a hole/But my mortal love I give to you." Given the pain adrift here this one song cements humanity, and its ability to love, as the victor. Picker sings, "I never heard someone say love is not an option." No matter how those sentiments came about, in the end, its a moment of light eclipsing dark.

For all the somberness and austerity at work here there is something uplifting about it, perhaps its knowing that Picker won out over hardship or its simply the transfer of the music's power to the listener. All Alone in an Empty House, in the end, feels like a rural storybook with symphonic muscle.

-Brian Tucker

2010-08-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

Jared Grabb & Wesley Wolfe

Jared Grabb & Wesley Wolfe Split 7"/digital

Chicago's Jared Grabb and Carrboro, North Carolina's Wesley Wolfe will release this split 7-incher September 7th, 2010 on clear vinyl and digital download from Thinker Thought Records. Both songs, "La Salle" by Grabb and "Climb Up" by Wolfe are captivating in their own right, but act as yin and yang when played back to back. On their own both would be strong singles, but their volume is equal even as they are different in terms of delivery.

Paired together they elicit a shorthand of storytelling in the listener's mind. Musically, they play aesthetically as a fictional past and present, "La Salle" as an energetic and vibrant moment in time and "Climb Up" many years later as reflection and illumination. "La Salle" is an upbeat number, built around acoustic guitar playing that ascends and descends with a subtle Latin feel. Grabb sings with twisting vocals, "We're young and poor and different," a lyric that sticks around even as the song ends. His singing is warm and inviting, layered with a crooner's sensibility.

"Climb Up" is, to a degree, dreamlike, due to smooth and crystallized vocals matched with the song's strolling nature. The song's initial gentle acoustic picking is met with heavy-handed electric guitar strikes that are fuzzed and reverberating. The effect is powerful, echoing in the background like emotional alarm. Its plodding tempo works like a trance - lulling and hypnotic, delivering comfort more than as an effort to dislodge. Its a complex song, but comes off as quite simplistic - a handful of musical ideas placed together with elegant effect.

While Grabb's song is memorable for its catchiness and hook, Wolfe's is for emotional resonance. The split single from these singer-songwriters should serve as an invitation to dig deeper into their respective catalogs.

-Brian Tucker

www.thinkerthought.com

2010-08-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

SECRET COLOURS

SECRET COLOURS

While Secret Colours may be carving out their own space in the Chicago music scene they have a solid asset in their superb self-titled debut album, a polite mix of psychedelic, fuzzed out guitar accompanied by a whispered vocalist, Tommy Evans. For all their confessions of fondness for The Black Angels they do well in holding back, by not being coarse and bombastic. Secret Colours finds gold in playing it restrained for the most part. The music here is mostly laid back way, think T.Rex crossed with certain aspects of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's gentler material, namely from Howl. Secret Colours as an album maintains a spacey quality, at times bridging blistering guitar licks with cooing vocals and subtle acoustic guitar. Unabashedly, it plays like really good make out music from a lost decade, rich with an older music texture and it could be mistaken for being recorded across the pond. It could also be misread as a copy of a copy of a copy. That may be true, but in this case it matters little, as Secret Colours, make affectionate and fine rock music. Secret Colours may be a by-product of times gone by and bands alike (Oasis, Brian Jonestown Massacre) but bless 'em for doing so. They've recorded a solid of album songs that burns at a slow pace and curls up alongside like a promising date.

-Brian Tucker

www.secretcolours.com

WISER TIME - Beggars & Thieves

2010-08-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

Beggars & Thieves is the album Carmen Sclafani has been working towards making the last several years. Wiser Time has, for two albums, There and Back Again (2006), All For One, 2008, been churning away at rootsy soulful rock music in the shadow of bands like Free or The Black Crowes. With Beggars & Thieves Wiser Time moves away from that history, hitting a stride and comfort zone, recording songs that are seasoned and catchy without overdoing it, without trying to sound catchy. Simply put, they sound like their own band, not like a band trying to fit in somewhere. They sound so at home here, writing songs that are from the gut and the heart. Its as if they just rolled tape and the band poured out music that didn't result from over thinking or writing music that was purposely genre specific.

Sclafani's voice has always been superb, but here he gets in good head space, singing in a way that exceeds prior work. With it Wiser Time places displaces bravado for wearing sincerity on the band's sleeve. This is a good choice, there's far less bombast here compared to the last two albums. On "Take Me Back Home" Sclafani is utterly believable, easy to feel his distance from home, the distance from the lover in the song. He paints solid imagery, like scene directions, with lyrics like "I could see you were acting a little/Sweet smile, then a tilt of a bottle."

The piano heavy "Its Hard Letting You Go" is a ballad that centers the album, slowing things down but with absolute purpose. "Keep it On" is a slightly slower number too, albeit one with guitar breaks that crunch and jerk. It's a subtle affair but begs the question what it would sound like if it were awash in a raw electric wall of sound. They keep it spare here, and it works solidly. "Seagull" closes the album, an interesting choice to cover given Bad Company's original spare acoustic construction. It's a beautiful song and Sclafani is right at home with it, affording it a subtle Middle Eastern feel. There have been few singers since the early seventies that can share space with soulful rock singers like Paul Rodgers. Here, Sclafani isn't overstepping his bounds at all. Wiser Time isn't coy about influences, from The Grateful Dead to Bad Company. The difference is that on Beggars & Thieves the band and Sclafani have moved beyond sounding like a particular style of rock music to being a band carving out its own trail. Here's hoping Sclafani digs even deeper, perhaps taking a detour like John Mellencamp has recently, recording fast and loose with older and cruder equipment. Its highly probable that Sclafani will continue to get even better with age, outshining each previous effort.

-Brian Tucker

http://www.wiser-time.com/

Interview with I Was Totally Destroying It's John Booker & Rachel Hirsch

2010-07-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

The band released in July 2010 a special 7-inch release called Get Big which is an ode to '80's music.

By Brian Tucker
photo: Jason Arthurs

What was the impetus for the 7-inch released this summer and why choose Big Country?

JOHN: We usually like to add a cover song to our repertoire before we head out on the road, so for our album release tour last October we decided to learn one of my favorite songs of all time, "In A Big Country". I had wanted to cover "In A Big Country" for most of my musical life, and it turned out really well, everyone in our band was well-suited for the individual parts. We had a bunch of people telling us there was a special energy to our rendition & we should record it, so we did. We told our label we wanted to release the song as a digital single with a b-side, and they encouraged us to go ahead and go all out with a 7", which we were dying to do, but too hesitant to suggest ourselves. It's pretty amazing to be on a label that says "simple and cheap? No, let's spend a lot of money and make something a lot more special".

The b-side “Big Rock” is like Faster Pussycat doing a Warrant cover. Was En Garde a rock outfit entirely or is this just fun being had?

JOHN: "The Big Rock" is easily the most tongue-in-cheek, over the top, silly song I've ever written. My old band, En Garde, was supposed to be a pretty balls-out, no frills hard rock band. It was mostly a big party of old friends and we tried to be as loud and hyper as possible - sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It was basically a project for me to learn to be a songwriter, though. I'd been playing music for years but I'd never been the main writer. It was the learning time I needed before reigning in my chops & ideas for IWTDI. When we decided on the concept for the new 7", "The Big Rock" was a leftover from the En Garde days, and seemed like the perfect contender for a b-side that was hopefully likable but hopefully people would know not to take too seriously as well.

Many bands record an album and wait and wait between new material, even now in the digital age. Is it your intent to keep putting out new material?

JOHN: I guess I see it both ways. I feel like most bands release a full-length every 2 years, and so far we're on track with that method. The stuff in between adds up to a lot (2 EP's, a 7" and a couple spare tracks here and there), but even that material feels spread out by nearly a year. So yes and no, we like being prolific and trying to stay active both for the sake of our own creativity and to let people who like our music know that we're still going strong; but at the same time, the time that has elapsed between projects often feels much longer to us than it is in reality. It's hard to believe Horror Vacui hasn't even been out a year at this point.

What resonates with the band about the 80’s and its music? It’s a generation behind some band members. Is it more inspiring to discover music outside your generation than what’s current?

JOHN: I grew up in the 80's, so for me it's nostalgia mixed with a genuine, un-ironic love for the songwriting and production values that were typical of so many of the hits of the time-period. There's an adventurousness, creativity and originality to new wave that is often underrated. People forget that the 80's sound spawned from punk, into post-punk, and out of that came new wave and in many ways new wave was the most innovative of all three of those movements. Among many other factors, the rise of the synthesizer and the advent of the sampler opened a lot of new doors to musical creativity and expression, and essentially defined new wave and so much of what is insular about the sound of the 80's. I consider myself a completist and a musical librarian/historian. I like to collect an artist's entire catalog. I don't care if there are bad songs, or even bad albums, that's actually a much more interesting story than immaculate consistency. So for me, it's definitely a bit more of an adventure to immerse myself in music from past generations, to see the whole drama play out, and try to understand what it meant when it was current. I love how artists like Neil Young have all these crazy left turns in the 80's. I want the full story, not just the legendary stuff.

RACHEL: What resonates with me the most is how creatively and heavily the synthesizer was utilized. This was the first decade in which more user friendly and affordable synthesizers were available to the public, and the outcome was a colossal amount of really interesting and compelling new music. I love thinking about how the people who had never heard such inorganic sounds must have reacted to them upon first listen.For myself, I find that music recorded outside of my own generation inspires me more. As a millennial, it’s hard for me to fathom that before, say, Laurie Anderson, there was nobody that sounded like Laurie Anderson. There are a lot of new buzz bands that I really like lately, but it’s hard not to hear the influence of other artists in their music. So while I might love this new band, I also love the artists that they’re drawing from. You guys seem to record a lot, having material leftover for special releases like the 45 and the vinyl release prior to Horror Vacui.

Do you have more material that hasn’t been released?

JOHN: We just issued a bonus track, "Mona Lisa Overdrive", available to people who buy our new 7". That song was originally going to be track 1 on our most recent album, Horror Vacui, but it got bumped at the 11th hour. "Mona Lisa Overdrive" was the last remaining track that we had yet to release from the various sessions of 2008 and 2009. As of right now, there is only one song that we have officially recorded that has not been released, it's called "A Boy + A Girl". We tracked it during the sessions for our first album, in 2007. It is the worst song we have ever written and we vehemently hate it. It's quite embarrassing. I can say with a lot of certainty that song will never see the light of day!

Is the new album material you’re working on different than the last album? Are more songs being written outside the scope of personal themes?

JOHN: After completing Horror Vacui, Rachel and I both agreed we had no interest in writing more "breakup songs" or any of the general romantic-relationship stuff. We played that stuff out for ourselves, and likely for anyone else listening. So it's been very difficult finding inspiration sometimes on the new material, since those themes are so comfortable in pop music. We haven't really said this publicly yet, but over the past year, Rachel and I have become wrapped up in Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower, and many of the new songs are loosely based on some concepts from those books. It won't be a "concept album", and we're shying far away from any of the supernatural elements that would turn things cheesy very fast, but we've definitely pulled some themes and inspirations from the characters and emotional content therein, and found ways to relate the material back to ourselves and our own experiences. As for the music, it's too soon to say what we'll end up with, but we definitely set out to make something drastically different than anything we have done previously.

The original plan was that I would take this bulk of acoustic-based, stripped down, singer-songwriter type surplus of material I had accumulated and make a solo album while the band explored new songs and sounds based in dance and electronic music. We recently experienced a big shift in that plan, because while we like some of the dance-influenced stuff we've come up with together, it was proving to not be as fulfilling as we had hoped, and often we were sacrificing fun for some higher concept that didn't always work. Rachel and I had some songs that we were holding back on because they didn't fit the plan, and the band heard those tunes and decided that they were more promising than some of the stuff we'd been pursuing. So what we've done now is add all the songs I'd planned to keep for a solo album, all of Rachel's various experiments, as well as keep the best songs the band had composed together during the first half of the year. So we suddenly jumped from a pot of 8 or 9 songs, to 30-plus and growing. I think the final album will end up being a mix of our experiments with dance and electronic music, alongside some pretty down-tempo acoustic ballads. It seems like it'll be a cleaner, less loud rock album, and possibly a bit more melancholy.

RACHEL: To write any more songs about my personal relationship with John would be beating a dead horse. We’ve analyzed and written about each other about as much as we (and probably anyone listening) can stomach.We’re discovering that writing about subject matter outside of our own personal experiences is actually really uncomfortable for us. I’m a 20 year old and therefore am obsessed with myself, so the easiest thing for me to do would be to write about my self-actualization or self-discovery…but honestly… it’s been done. And done. And done.

Like John has said, we’ve been reading Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series and have been vaguely incorporating some themes from that into our lyrics. It has been really fun to assume different characters and to write from their perspective and then relate that back to myself. Lately I’ve been reading about abnormal psychology and an encyclopedia of the world’s worst murders… so I don’t know where that will take us. Sonically, I’m very hesitant to say what I think the album will sound like. We have the luxury of having no set deadlines, and we want the sound to continue to evolve until we’re actually in the studio. For the first half of 2009, John and I had this really set idea of it being a more electronic and structurally complex album…but we simply weren’t happy enough with our results to keep going that way. I had been writing a couple of songs that I didn’t want to get that treatment, so I withheld them from the band. Same goes for John, who had gone through dozens of cassettes he’s recorded demos on over the years, but didn’t want them to turn out the way that a lot of our songs had been. So now we’re kind of “starting over” and taking a new approach. We don’t really care how we get it done, but we want to write the best songs we can.

Was any material written/conceived while on the road touring in the last year?

JOHN: We rarely write new music while on the road. For me as an individual, I find musical inspiration hard to come by when in that strange, foreign situation of touring- and as a band we rarely start from scratch with a jam idea or anything like that. Most IWTDI songs usually start with me sitting on my bed alone at 4am with an acoustic guitar, or Rachel sitting at her piano in her room, plinking out a new idea.

RACHEL: We really don’t write on the road. For me to write songs, I need to be left alone. I get so self-conscious if John or someone else is in the next room…so I usually wait until everyone is out of the house. I really check to see if there are any cars in the driveway.

The band always seems to be in good spirits, either at shows I’ve seen or from videos posted online. How is it you seem to be having fun in the midst of all this work making records and playing shows to support them?

JOHN: This band has a strong family dynamic. We actually fight a lot, and some of us can be not-very-fun-to-work-with at times, but no one takes anything personally and we're able to squash disagreements very quickly, and five minutes later act like nothing happened. We're all stressed out a lot of the time, but the band is a labor of love for us, we're all super committed to writing the best music we can and constantly trying to grow the project to its full potential.

RACHEL: Like any group of close-knit people, we don’t get along all the time. We all do things that annoy the shit out of each other, but for the most part we like each other enough to forgive the flaws. We have a common goal, and that definitely unites us amidst our squabbling. There are things I love and hate about every member. We wouldn’t be a band if we didn’t like doing it.

Your last record bore a lot of relationship strife and persevered. How is your and Rachel’s relationship today, after all that you guys went through and what was put out in the public through music?

JOHN: Rachel and I get along better than ever, these days. We have to remember to separate issues within the band or songwriting disagreements from our relationship, and if we do that, we get along swimmingly. We needed the time off and as awful as 2009 was for us and the rest of the band, it's left us in a better place and taught us some good lessons. 2010 has been fantastic so far and Rachel and I are back together and have none of the old issues this time around. As for all the drama being aired out in public, I'm fine with that. I'm far from an exhibitionist, but I'm a pretty blunt and open person. I don't really have secrets. If people want to talk about or know about something, I don't really deem anything as too personal or taboo, and I hope knowing where our lyrics are coming from can open windows into a deeper understanding of what we're trying to express and convey to the listener.

RACHEL: Out of everything that has happened, I have found a lifelong friend in John. It was really weird and surreal to put our issues out there the way that we did. I mean, there was everything from journalists analyzing our breakup, to my parents reading about it on the internet, to me screaming at John at shows…to be honest it was all really hard. For a year it felt like I was somebody’s ex-girlfriend and not really a musician. I don’t think I’m going to open up like that again.

Where does the band name come from?

JOHN: The name comes from a stupid conversation I was having a long time ago. I was describing how I was breaking up a slate walkway with a pickaxe, and the words "I was totally destroying it" came out of my mouth. The name stuck because of its ridiculousness, and because I knew we'd never run into the problem of there being another IWTDI.

The band has embraced tech in all fashions to distro the music and communicate with people. Has there been any surprises since you’re communicating and making fans all over the globe?

JOHN: It's important to us to utilize all the resources of internet promotion, communication, and social media, as much as I often lament the disadvantages of the era and long for the way things used to be when I first started making music. The primary reason we try to do lots of video updates and use other online resources is because we've been exposed to a lot of new fans who we aren't able to play in front of regularly- whether it be support from folks in what feels like our second home of Minneapolis, or the millions of people in Brazil who've heard our song in a cell phone commercial. I can't tell you how often people think a band has broken up simply because they are between projects, so blogging, vlogging, etc., gives bands a way of letting fans know they still exist and are still creating.

RACHEL: I am a child of the modern age, so experimenting with different mediums of social media doesn’t bother me one bit. You have to love the instant gratification! We have met a lot of people on the road and people have stumbled upon us from all over the world thanks to the internet, so social media is a great way for us to keep in touch with everyone. There have been a few weird things I’ve found. I will admit that I have Googled myself twice. The first time, I found my name in some Japanese music database. There was a picture of me, and links to iTunes for I Was Totally Destroying It. The second time, I found a stranger that left a comment on one of our pictures somewhere that said that they had sex with me. I stopped searching after that.

The 7-inch is the second vinyl release for the band. When are you expecting the new album to come out and will you press vinyl again?

JOHN: The new album is taking us a lot longer to write than we originally planned, but we're determined to let it take as long as it needs. The money and producers and studio are all in place and ready when we are, so we could easily jump the gun and make an album that we wouldn't feel 100% about but we're going to keep writing until we feel we have 12 songs that are absolutely worth all the effort that will be put into recording and releasing the project. The album is currently slated for a fall 2011 release, and while we will continue to plan specifics during the interim with our label, we have already confirmed that the album will be released on vinyl, among other formats. Since we keep pushing back the date, and because of our recent influx of songs to choose from, we'll be releasing an EP in the spring of 2011. We plan to record six or seven new songs which most excite us at the time, but don't quite fit what we hope to comprise the full-length, this fall.

RACHEL: The safest thing to say about the new album is that it will be coming out in the second half of 2011. We want to get it right.

BEST IN SHOW by Phil Juliano

2010-07-26T10:26:00.001-07:00

DAVID DONDERO - INTERVIEW

2010-07-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

Singer-songwriter David Dondero talks about his new album, getting older and living on the lam.

by Brian Tucker

photo: Josephine Heidepriem

You’re an inspired songwriter, regardless of location or environment. What’s been a more peculiar place or situation that’s lent itself to a song?

Any place you go has certain peculiarities and unique qualities. In the latest album ( # Zero With a Bullet) I condensed a lot of them into one song called "Wherever you go". Like finding the frog on the skull on the wall in Salamanca, Spain or hearing the javelina's foraging through the brush at night in the Gila Wilderness out in New Mexico. I remember when I was out in Hawaii and a fella said "choke food broke da mouth" meaning there was a great big feast. Or hearing another guy in Australia say "wrap your laughing gear around this one mate." meaning, take a bite of this sandwich.. these moments have all crept into the songs. Fragments of detail.

You’re 40. Do you look back on your early 20’s with a particular fondness or nostalgically?

Actually, I turn 41 on June 24th. Man, I wish I had the energy to jump around and scream like I used to. I used to dive into the audience and bite people’s ankles. Pour beer all over myself. Go nuts. I do it a little more thoughtfully now but I do miss the days of being 20. My body hurts a lot more now and the recovery time is a bit longer but the heart breaks a little more softly.

I miss punk rock before Nirvana and I miss alternative music when it was truly alternative. I miss indie rock and most of all I miss music before computers, the days of sending cassette tapes in the mail. On the other hand it's a hell of a lot easier to put music out and promote. It no longer costs hundreds of dollars in long distance phone calls and sending out packages to book tours. It's a free click away.

You describe travelling, the road, as a “holy unforgiving blacktop sanctuary that’s become wife and family”. How long have you been touring and could you see life without it?

I first started touring in 1993 and have been doing it on and off since then. It hasn't been non-stop though. I spent a good part of last year installing solar systems out in San Francisco and the last three months landscaping in Austin, TX. I've done almost every shitty job imaginable through the years to make ends meet. I like to work but...I got that travelling itch again last summer when I saw some sticker on a garbage can in the Mission. It said "Don't forget your Dreams" with an arrow pointing down into the trash. I knew it was time to hit the road again. I don't really want to install solar panels forever or do landscaping forever or bartend forever. But I do want to keep learning the guitar and writing down words and songs so I prefer to tour around and sing songs to people who want to hear them. Touring a lot has taken away many other possibilities that go along with settling down which I sometimes wish I had, seeing friends in nice homes with their kids and safety nets. Then again that life can suffocate and take the spirit. Watching TV and living vicariously through others makes you fat and lazy. So can drinking in bars every night. This living out on the fly can be pretty frightening though...knowing that I'm one step away from being homeless but then again I'm trying to look at the entire world as my home. Luckily I've got a lot of friends in many places who help me out. I am thankful to them and feel I owe them a great debt. Fred Champion (owner of CD Alley, Wilmington, NC) has helped me tremendously through the years, letting me stay in the back room in the loft. Thank you Fred. People like him have provided lifelines to me. I know sometimes I overstay my welcome and I regret that but I do want to reiterate my thanks and appreciation for these places of refuge for the downtime stretches.

The title track of the new album seems like a state of the union address in terms of the world and your place in it. What’s your philosophy / thinking on where you’re going given the state of music now?

Well, music has pretty much been hijacked and given away, devalued by the internet. It has a direct impact on me and people I know who do write and perform music. People don't sell records anymore. It's getting harder and harder to make a living at it if it's given away. It's a shame to see landmarks like CD Alley close. It seems that people no longer have the patience to listen to an entire album. Attention spans have diminished. They just buy one song on iTunes and listen to part of it, shuffle through; many don't even know the title, just a track number. The flavor of the week is now the flavor of a moment. On one hand the internet has been great for promoting and booking. On the other hand it's not because it has flooded the system with excessive info and mediocrity. Maybe it's coming full circle. I think it was Woody Guthrie who said that the jukebox was the death of live music. Perhaps the internet is the rebirth of live music because people are going to want something real eventually and those that have the chops will rise up.

Do you think performers are not themselves enough now on records or are they just afraid to be?

Maybe they really are themselves. Maybe they have been Auto-tuned since they were babies. Maybe they are the TV shows they have watched their whole lives. Maybe they are a Hollywood writer’s rendition of what they should be, therefore, they are copying what they see as themselves on the TV and taking that to the stage. So that really is who they are as they see themselves in their mind.

Actor John Hawkes described to me his years moving about as a gypsy lifestyle. Would you agree and what influenced you to live more freely than your peers as a musician?

Jack Kerouac influenced me in a huge way... and Henry Miller, EddyJoe Cotten, Woody Guthrie's "Bound for Glory"...DIY Punk Rock...friends like Rymodee and Terry Johnson from This Bike is a Pipe Bomb...Chris Clavin from Plan-it-x records. People like that showed me the way into the possibilities of creating something out of thin air and taking it around the world, doing what you want, finding a way to live freely using your own gumption. The main thing is not to be scared of being an unemployed transient. Don’t be afraid of being broke because "Money comes and goes and rolls and flows through the holes in the pockets of your jeans..." like Bob Dylan says.

Where do you call home these days? What is comforting about not having permanent ties to traditional anchors – mortgage, apartments, jobs, etc?

I call Austin, TX,,, San Francisco, CA, New Orleans, LA, Pensacola, FL, Omaha, NE,,Duluth, MN, Anchorage, AK, Fort Mill, SC, Asheville, NC and Wilmington, NC my homes these days. The most recent place I paid rent for three months this spring was Austin but now I've moved into the Honda Hotel on wheels, a rolling bubble of steal, glass and plastic. It's an efficiency apartment and it only costs $250 a month plus insurance. What's comforting about it is I have this amazing ever changing view from my living room. I find comfort in not knowing what's going to happen next.

What do you hope to leave behind for anyone finds you, listens to you?

An interesting picture.

BEST IN SHOW by Phil Juliano

2010-07-26T10:09:00.001-07:00

DAVID DONDERO - # ZERO WITH A BULLET review

2010-07-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

David Dondero
# Zero with a Bullet
Team Love Records

No one could say David Dondero doesn’t wear a heart on his sleeve, or bears a habit of pointing out what he sees all around him. The singer-songwriter has spent a career of nearly two decades writing and recording about his travels and the people he’s come across. He doesn’t bear the moniker of social commentator or is burdened by the responsibility of doing so – one of the gifts of not being terribly famous. He writes what he knows, paints pictures through words and melody with seemingly little effort, as though songs poured out of his mouth and fingers like a sudden conversation about the day.
# Zero With a Bullet finds Dondero singing songs about people and things you and I know and can relate to, of bosses, money troubles, strippers and good eating. Dondero’s voice is more beautiful, richer now with age. There’s ache in his timbre, sounding perfectly imperfect. He crafts songs with firm command of an energetic acoustic and electric guitar, playing with twinges of folk and country - from the Marshall Tucker Band flavored title track or the crash and boom of “Jesus from 12 to 6”. There’s a bit of tomfoolery on “Don’t Be Eyeballin’ My Po’Boy, Boy” where the guitar playing stumbles up and down and Dondero sings of the Crescent City. On “Job Boss” the music has a stuttered, manic construction – fitting given the story’s tale of a work crew taking the boss hostage. “All These Fishes Swimmin’ Through My Head” is a driving song with smooth vocals and a gospel church feel, a loud and triumphant finish to the album.
Dondero may well be one of many unsung heroes in our American catalog of singer-songwriters. Given his body of work, and especially this new album, it’s probable that the music’s timeless quality will lead to constant rediscovery.

*new album out August 3rd through Team Love Records or on Amazon, iTunes. Released in cd, mp3 and vinyl formats – vinyl comes with cd/mp3 code. Vinyl on Team Love’s site is $13 – a steal given you get a cd/mp3.

-Brian Tucker

www.teamlove.com

WE ARE HEX - HAIL THE GOER - CD REVIEW

2010-07-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

WE ARE HEX
Hail the Goer
Roaring Colonel Records

If you want something frothy and cute look elsewhere. We Are Hex’s Hail the Goer is a frantic and scorching follow up to Gloom Gloom. It’s abrasive and boggling in every way, buried in scratchy, end of the world guitar playing and hollow throated wailing and singing. Lead singer Jilly is a crossroads of PJ Harvey and Jim Morrison. That seems weak and lazy to write but Jilly is a vocalist that a listener experiences and witnesses, a memorable and indifferent singer difficult to clarify in a handful of words. We Are Hex are relentless in some of these songs, the result tribal and forceful. Every song seems born from a different mother. From tense opener “Birth of the Mystics” whose Psycho-esque guitar punching drives the song, to album closer “We are the Goer” the band doesn’t let up or consign itself to one through-line musically. “Gold/Silver” is driven by heavy bass lines and guitar notes that spike and echo while “Singer/Tastemaker” is musically nightmarish and gypsy-esque. Jilly seems to choke and grapple with her own vocals here, as if fighting with the music. Hail the Goer is a fantastic album, music that is combustible and hypnotic. Sounding disagreeable and in-your-face unpretentiously really works, a creative blast of dark rock and manic energy.

-Brian Tucker

*Out August 3rd on cd and Vinyl. For fans of Can Can, The Black Angels.
http://www.wearehex.com/

...music video? - 7-inch release

2010-07-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

…music video?
I’m Afraid of Everything 7-inch

Knowing …music video? is from Tucson, Arizona has little to do with the feeling that these two tracks on clear vinyl from Fort Lowell Records (also out of Tucson) sound like what a cool breeze across a heated desert night must feel like. I’m Afraid of Everything is perhaps a primer, a proper tease, of where the group is heading after two full length albums. On this 7-inch release songwriter and keyboardist Paul Jenkins and multi-instrumentalist J. Lugo Miller have crafted two airy and serene tracks of music that blend ambiance (by way of squash beats and lilting keys) with immediacy. “feelgooddesperation” represents the latter even though it opens up with gentle piano notes surrounded by phone connection sounds and subtle synth. On it Jenkins displays his soulful abilities, delivered with cool and near-pop delivery. He can coo and strain notes without crossing the line, always maintaining identity and emotion without overdoing it. “I’m Afraid of Everything” is one step beyond chill/electronic music. The group finds their groove here, taking electronic music and giving it more to do than mix and shuffle beats and noise. Jenkins’ vocals float in and out, like a narrator floating above drama. Blending pop melodies and electronic music is nothing new. Making it interesting and enjoyable is something else. …music video? succeed. With this second vinyl release its clear Fort Lowell is sincere about releasing good music in quality packaging. If you’re a vinyl hound this is a solid purchase.

*The vinyl release is limited to 500 copies and is available on iTunes for $1.98. Vinyl comes with download code and poster and can be purchased through Fort Lowell Records or on Amazon for $5.65.

-Brian Tucker

www.fortlowell.blogspot.com

http://www.amazon.com/Afraid-Everything-7inch-music-video/dp/B000WB6YBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280163667&sr=1-1-spell

THE FUSTICS CD

2010-06-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

Brad Heller and The Fustics
Beyond This Life

Brad Heller and The Fustics make music that radiates from an earnest, and honest, place in the heart. If Heller isn’t singing songs that echo a good time he’s painting pictures of life many can identify with. The singer’s heart-on-the-sleeve style is wrought with people he’s met during a life of travels and influences ranging from Son Volt to Woody Guthrie or Bruce Springsteen.
Beyond This Life is a mix of friendly rockers for the bar crowd and laments on the common man’s life and struggles – from relationships to the war overseas. Energy levels rise and fall throughout - the title track shares a punk-blues feel to it and “Bloodstained Streets” has a college funk vibe, recalling Dillon Fence with a New Orleans Zydeco feel. “Brothers” is Heller alone with a guitar, spare and brooding. “I’ll Walk with You” is radio-ready, a jumping song with a catchy melody and a fiery saxophone solo. Piano player Mark Schomaker adds another layer to the mix, adding carnival atmosphere to some songs. Heller has an everyman quality to his vocals – warm and rustic which adds depth to the more intimate songs. Barren and ghostly images are evoked in Heller’s music, like the beautifully brooding “Western Skyline” where he sings “I can almost feel the arid wind choke my lungs” against faint acoustic guitar strumming and harmonica playing. It’s a vivid song, a memorable track born from train rides and Midwest atmosphere. The train imagery recalls explorers during America’s growth spurt, when travel was done on foot and horseback. Much of the songwriting is road inspired and Beyond This Life strongly sounds like Middle America rock. Other times it’s spare and tempered; the whole moving along like revolving energy. Its earthy tenacity shares a kindred spirit with the common man. But for all its up-tempo energy Beyond This Life finds gold in slower songs, those that deliver more with restraint and introspection. If music is about the translation of experience then The Fustics’ new album delivers.

-Brian Tucker

ALO INTERVIEW: STEVE ADAMS

2010-06-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

Interview with bassist

Steve Adams

of the band ALO

interview by Brian Tucker

What were those early nineties years like making music as college students at UC-Santa Barbara? Was the music more user friendly, more party-type songs? Did the crux of the band’s sound exist back then?

Making music at UCSB was great. We were young, studying music, living in Isla Vista. We had gigs nearly every weekend, often at porch or driveway parties on Del Playa, the street along the beach cliffs. Being able to play so much surely contributed to our development as musicians, particularly in jamming and learning how to stretch songs out. Our early original music definitely took some influence from the music of the times – Pearl Jam, Black Crowes, Spin Doctors. And collectively we’ve always had a soft spot for oldies and classic rock, so the music of Motown and The Beatles and The Stones were definitely filtering through us as well. And having the party be one of our main platforms for playing kept our sets most of the time pretty upbeat and fun, which could be said to possibly be a core character to what we still produce today. Obviously, over time you grow up a little more and have thoughts about other things, but I think ALO definitely continues to celebrate the fun side of music in our songs and shows.

You worked towards a degree in Ethnomusicology at UCSB. He’s putting his degree to work. Has his choice in academia influenced the band’s direction in any way?

Dan and I both took degrees in Ethnomusicology. And Zach and Dave were also pretty involved in a lot of the classes and ensembles. UCSB had a great department for that, and probably still does, and our studies definitely had an influence on the band. We were all living together back then too, so everything we were individually getting into found its way home in conversations and band practices, etc. I think the biggest thing the Ethnomusicology department did for us was open us up to just a ton of new music and get us thinking about how music and culture relate. I don’t think any of us have really followed the academic study as much since then. In a way, maybe we have become more like possible subjects of the study. We often find ourselves in long conversations analyzing what we do and how we relate to our community and culture. So maybe we’re a little bit subject and a little bit student. I bet Ethnomusicology students of this decade are getting into some pretty fascinating studies about the shrinking world, recycled influences, technology and communication. These are interesting times.

Man of the World was almost entirely recorded live, seemingly rare these days. What was the thinking behind recording live? Was it to leave room for spontaneity in the songs or because the band works so well as a live act?

We definitely wanted to approach this record in a more live way. We wanted the songs to feel like they came from jams. Those spontaneous and inspired moments when playing often produce some of our most treasured bits of music, and that was something we really wanted to tap into and explore.

The album is laid back and jam band friendly without leaning too far towards either. It also musically bears flavors like a large Jelly Belly gift box. Were there too many ideas to fit on one album?

There were certainly a lot of ideas. Our band in general has lots of ideas. We really try our best to fairly sort through all of them, and pick the ones that people are into the most. One great thing in making Man Of The World was that we had Jack in the producer’s seat which really allowed us to let all of our ideas flow and use him to make more direction calls. It was a liberating experience for us. Of course, every once in a while, there were ideas we had that we knew we wanted to pursue, maybe something Jack would’ve done different if it was his own thing, but he did a great job supporting us in those moments as well.

“Gardener’s Grave” sounds like Pink Floyd and Jack Johnson recorded in St. Croix. “Time and Heat” is carnival-esque. With so much variety on the album, are these new songs dying to be played live?

Yes! We haven’t found a good spot in the set for “Gardener’s Grave” yet but I really do love how that track turned out on the record. “Time & Heat” is another we’re still working up and I think will be a great live moment. “I Love Music” has really been feeling good, gets the dance party going, a fun one to stretch out. “Suspended” has had a few good turns in the set, another fun one to just let breathe and go as long as it needs. One thing about the new record is I feel that there is a fun ALO side to it but also a little more of a serious side, songs like “States of Friction” and “Big Appetite”. We didn’t really set out to cover such a range, it’s just sort of what came out. But I think people who give the record a few good listens will appreciate that range and find the little connections between songs that we were discovering and riffing on as we were making it.

In what ways did producer Johnson mix things up from your previous records? In what ways did he help step out of familiar patterns?

Jack was super helpful in many ways. He’d point out spots in our lyrics that he thought could be a better. He helped us develop the story of the songs and the record. He kept things pretty positive in general and inspired us to just have fun with the process. We’d often be jamming through something, trying to figure something out, and he’d come into the room and pick up an instrument and be like, “Oh just keep playing...” and then he’d sneak some cool part into the jam that would open it up even more. He was great at keeping the ideas and flow happening.

You spent a great deal of time in Hawaii making the record. How hard was it to leave and how has it changed how you live life or view it now?

We’d been to Hawaii a few times as a band before making this record. The first time made a real strong impression for sure. It’s an irresistible place. The people are super nice and the landscape is paradise. Warm weather, beautiful beaches. The lifestyle is laid-back and there seems to be a real appreciation for community and nature. It was a little hard for us to be there inside the studio all day knowing what we were surrounded by, but it made every break outside so much better than anywhere else I can imagine. And the mornings and nights were the same. I think we all got a few little moments of exploration in, but for the most part we stayed pretty focused on the record. We knew our time there was limited and we really wanted to walk away with something we all loved.

Brushfire Records seems very much like a family as a label. What’s the atmosphere like at a place that appears so artist-centered?

Brushfire is very family oriented for sure. I feel like it probably trickles down from Jack himself. He’s a pretty family-oriented guy. So maybe he attracts artists, or artists attract him, that are similar in that way. I feel like all the musicians on the label are pretty connected. We’ll do shows together, hang out at festivals, invite each other to jam with each other, etc. It’s a good vibe, and I feel like it gives strength to a little scene of players. We all support each other and help each other however we can.

The band was once called Django. Why the name change to Animal Liberation Orchestra?

Django was the band Dan, Zach and I had back in high school, and for a bit of college. The drummer in that band left half way through college which put us on the path of looking for new drummers every couple years or so it seemed. Animal Liberation Orchestra & The Free Range Horns was the name we took at the end of our college days with our jazz band director behind the drums and helping us arrange parts for a five-piece horn section. It was what we were feeling in the moment, a funk orchestra that encouraged you to come liberate your inner animal, come dance and sing and be free.

The band has morphed over the years, such as adding/losing a horn section. Do you see the band as in constant evolution?

For sure, the band is always in a state of change, slight or great at different times, but always interested in discovering new things.

STRIPMALL ARCHITECTURE

2010-06-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

STRIPMALL ARCHITECTURE
FEATHERONSGS for FACTORY GIRLS

Ryan and Rebecca Coseboom, members of San Francisco’s Halou, craft dreamy and scratchy Casio music on this new release, five songs of multilayered and lofty dreamy pop music that seems to care more about ambiance and emotion than force-fed ideas. In Halou, working with DJ Shadow and Cocteau Twin’s Robin Guthrie, has paid off. On ‘Sing Along, My Children’ its easy to hear the beats ok UNKLE and DJ Shadow tracks from the past. Feathersongs is rich in texture and Rebecca’s singing and spoken word cadence wraps the whole like a pretty, worn blanket. Rebecca has a sinewy, computer and candy coated vocal style that feels unnaturally mirrored to the synth and staccato mechanized beats and melodies on Feathersongs. This music has been worked before – think Portishead by way of PC Kahuna. There’s no slight intended – Stripmall Architecture has delivered something that’s meaningful and memorable, definitely music to be embraced and replayed. ‘There’s Only So Much Light’ is a highlight among the five great tracks here. She sings, “There’s only so much light…There’s only so much love/You take more than your share.” For dreamy pop its saying a lot, while doing it in a way that raises the bar.

The cd/album is part one of a two disc offering. Part 2 will arrive later. Can be purchased on amazon.com for $7.95.

-Brian Tucker

Young Mothers

2010-06-01T10:14:00.001-07:00

YOUNG MOTHERS
Come On, The Cross b/w Good Swords
7” release limited to 500 copies

Young Mothers’ debut single on Fort Lowell Records is a hearty and fun surprise. The seven incher, pressed on nuclear green vinyl, is a delight. Its a yin and yang of emotion rich in catchy melodies and grounded efficacy. On “Come On, The Cross” the band delivers an atypical pop song that is both feverish and sugar laced. It echoes artists like Matthew Sweet and the monochromatic backbeat of T.Rex. On “Good Swords” the track segues from tender Elliot Smith balladry to guttural vocals the likes of Dave Grohl. It’s a tender song that attacks and heals inside just a few minutes, like sudden rage in the midst of trying to hold back tears. Singer Zachary Bennett Toporek does a lot with small amounts, like ending an uplifting lyric like “So lift up your voice and sing for me” before growling through the rest of his sinewy vocals. It’s a beautiful song that belies genre typing. Toporek pours it on, making the b-side somewhat more engaging and memorable than its counterpart. Young Mothers released Arts & Crafts in 2008 to much acclaim. But these tracks show something interesting on the horizon for the band.

-Brian Tucker

Limited to 500 copies, this 7” vinyl can be purchased at Fort Lowell Records for $5.99 or at Amazon.com. Release date: June 8, 2010

fortlowell@gmail.com

http://www.amazon.com/Come-Cross-7-Inch-Vinyl/dp/B003BWQE5O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280165132&sr=1-1

PANDA RIOT

2010-05-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

PANDA RIOT
Far and near EP

The syncopated and manufactured sounds on Far and Near push beyond a simple defining metaphor - of leaving the world, floating away to someplace better. But it works. For all of Panda Riot’s ironic namesake the truth is the triumphant singing that penetrates most of ‘Julie in Time’ and much of the album feels uplifting, devoid of irony, devoid of anything harmful. Chicago's Panda Riot achieves something beyond shoegaze and ambiance/synth harmonics. It’s peaceful and cool simultaneously, a dreamy trip that ends too quickly but needlessly wants for more spins. Far and Near is at times angelic, vocals that are delightfully unearthly and music that echoes The Cure if they played completely uplifting melodies with restraint. The six songs at work here seem to flow into one long piece, the whole like a brilliant moment in time, the imagery brought about by the imaginative listener. Choice cuts: ‘When You Said/When I Said’ and ‘Julie in Time.’

Set for release May 11, 2010

Brian Tucker

DIAMOND CENTER Q&A

2010-05-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Q&A with

The Diamond Center's

Kyle Harris

How long has the band been together?

We started writing Jan of '07

You’ve grown from a duo by adding Brandi Price’s sister. Is the bandcontinuing to grow/add new members?
It is. In fact since moving to Richmond, (Jana didn't move) we have a bass player (Will Godwin), and 2! drummers (Tim Falen & Willis Thompson {also of Thao & the Get Down Stay Down}) both playing in the standup/ no cymbal style that Jana started. If I had my way, we'd be and 11 piece!I’ve read The Diamond Center began as a project in Athens, Georgia.

Were Kyle and Brandi attending college there at the time and why was it viewed as a project?
We were both living in Athens, I (Kyle) had been in bands in and around Athens/Atlanta for several years including one with Brandi. We had mostly been bass players in other groups. Upon writing, we realized we both wanted to play more guitar. We wrote 10 songs in Jan-Feb and recruited some friends in Athens to play and record with us. By March, we had a cd-r only release- CLAWS & FLAWS.

To what degree is The Diamond Center different from its earliest incarnation? How did areas you’ve lived in – Lubbock or Athens, influence the music that you’ve made?
For the first batch of songs, we were just trying somewhat different styles. It's a little more erratic. Moving to Lubbock really helped us find our sound. The landscape is very flat. Scrub desert, high winds, tumbleweeds, prairie dogs, the whole west Texas bit. We spent time in New Mexico and Marfa, Tx., just exploring. That really influenced our creepy, reverb-y sound. After incorporating Jana on drums, with her stripped down set and playing style, it really solidified. The heartbeat behind the haze.

What did you draw on or were taken by as an artist and as musicians?
Again, the landscape was a major role in our sound. There is desolation when you are away from big cities and trees. I grew up in Ga where there was always a canopy of trees and hills. It really changed me for the better.

What prompted the move from Lubbock, Texas to Richmond, Virginia?
Brandi got accepted into the grad program for Graphic Design at VCU. Plus, we're drifters. It was time.

You recorded My Only Companion in Kyle Harris’ home. How did thecomfort and close quarters help craft the album?
I couldn't imagine capturing those feelings in a studio. There is so much pressure, time is money. It was my first venture into recording other than demos. I figured, why try to explain things to someone else. We considered going back to Athens and recording with Joe McMullen (who did our first cd), but it wasn't financially feasible. He mastered it for us. I did it all in Garageband. For our lo-fi psych layers, it worked out just fine, I think.My Only Companion is incongruent in terms of production. It sounds as if Phil Spector recorded a western folk album with psychedelic shades yet it also sounds lo-fi and at-a-distance.

Did you know specifically what you wanted going in to record the album?
I did. I was listening to a lot of Spector and Joe Meek recordings at the time. I wanted it to be lush. I believe there is strength in ambiguity. I don't want to hear every little nuance. You wouldn't hear it live like that. I'm the same way when I look at a painting- Isquint. Also the way I cook. I never use recipes. I don't like straight lines. The sound was very intentional. I basically took what I like about other recordings and applied it. If you listen to an old Stax recording, you don't hear every kick drum beat, it is a wholesound. Echo and reverb make my head turn.The album has a carnival/travelling vibe to it.

Is life on the road more attractive than settling down? How does travel and those experiences shape your artistry?
Travel is a huge part of our lives. We try to get out as much as possible, playing or otherwise. Both Brandi and I are stimulation junkies. We love meeting new people and seeing new things. We take field recordings and video on our phones all the time. Our music and art is a direct reflection of our surroundings. Nature and society's impact is much more interesting to us than boy meets girl blah blah blah. Not that our music isn't personal, just vague, like life. The album is marvelous at conjuring imagery via its complex soundscape. The tribal beats and echoing music bring to mind empty fields, David Lynch films and sixties-era love songs.

What were you trying to create with this album? Were there themes you specifically wanted to invest in?
Thank you. We actually get the Lynch reference a good bit. In fact one of the songs on the cd was written with a character from Twin Peaks in mind. We did try to create an album. Period. Front to back. We spent a great deal of time with the sequencing of the songs. I think they can stand alone, but I always recommend a front to back listen. Maybe in the dark, or when it's raining. Or a Sunday morning. I had one friend say she was listening while driving and damn near wrecked from being caught up in it. Wonderful compliment. Glad she was safe.

Have you performed the album at shows in Richmond? Are you able to recreate the ethereal and spare qualities of the album at live shows?
We have started to play in Richmond. Brandi's school schedule is pretty hectic, so we have to juggle that. We try to create the ethereal sounds live, but when it boils down, we're a rock band. I get into what is referred to by Tim (drums) as a trance state when we play. I kind of just lose track and space out. Luckily, the others know what’s going on. The songs take on a life of there own, for sure. Never the same twice. Is that good or bad? That's why it's important to surround yourself with good players.

The album’s sound is familiar to bands like Spindrift or The Love Language. Is this type of sound a move by musicians to a more accurate sound, one less produced in a world of AutoTune and overly slick production?
Perhaps and thank you. We love those bands. I personally use music as an escape. So, let’s get way out there.

How is My Only Companion available - as cd, downloads or vinyl?
Cd, and digital download. Hopefully we can put it out on vinyl one day. I'd love to see the artwork that big.

tom mcbride

2010-05-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

Tom McBride & The Whig Party
Like a Lion

Like any good soup the flavor sets it apart from just being a bowl of soup. Tom McBride likes his with varying stocks – Midwestern rock, southern soul and vocals that deliver heart with guttural personality. McBride and band The Whig Party come on strong with Like a Lion, a rich and moody collection of reserved rock numbers that trade in excess and bombast of the rock genre for outright storytelling. Like a Lion is stark stuff, rich in imagery, the craftsmanship insistent on being atypical, and graciously more than verse-chorus-verse stuff. But for as much as McBride and his material sounds middle of the road or a little like Bruce Springsteen or Rob Ronner the group finds its own voice in serious ideas (“Cutting up L.A.”, “Fisheries & Swine”). McBride’s lyrics invade the music versus accompanying them. It’s written as a stream-of-consciousness delivery, as if recalling as much imagery to someone as fast as possible. Each song bears individuality, the album’s musicality continually morphing a little song by song. “Natchez (Southern Odyssey)” blends slide guitar and horns like a tempered Muscle Shoals recording. “Everybody Plays Their Role” strolls along just right, gentle guitar plucking and scratchy percussion layered for delicate atmosphere. Both are album highlights - more internal, more personal, standing out from the album’s core sound. Like a Lion is a reserved and focused album that isn’t interested so much on catchy numbers. McBride is adept about putting the listener on someone else’s home front.

Brian Tucker

acrylics

2010-05-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

Acrylics
All of the Fire

Record labels started by musicians always happen with the best intentions. It used to be that a more famous band would help another favored band to a label. These days, the do-it-yourself mentality takes on a whole new meaning. Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear, along with Ethan Silverman, has formed Terrible Records and brought exposure to Class Actress and Brooklyn’s Acrylics whose EP All of the Fire was released October 28th as a 10” vinyl and as mp3’s (iTunes, Amazon.com).

The band name alone couldn’t be more appropriate as it denotes a massive color scheme and bright hardened finish. Original founding members Jason Klauber and Molly Shea met in college and started a band that dissolved. The two kept it going and have since added players Sam Ubl on drums and Travis Rosenberg on keyboard and pedal steel. All of the Fire was recorded over a week’s time in a church that Taylor himself uses. The result is beautiful and stark, fussy and cosmic. The sound has a faint echoed feel and a crystallized feel to the vocals and music. The EP is passively sonic, never browbeating the ear but grabbing it hard to whisper into coolly and sweetly. Jason has a gutsy voice, whiskey soaked like a mid-western Steve Kilbey. Molly Shea bears an angelic quality, whether holding back or letting loose. It’s the perfect mixture of two distinct voices, partly aggressive and partly sincerely playful, that never clash when put together. On the EP we get more of Jason, which is fine, but it will be well-served to hear her more on her own.

All of the Fire is reminiscent of Eighties music in terms of melody and song construction, yet painted with a rough Nineties veneer, like Cutting Crew or Big Country mixed with Baby Animals and punk flourishes. “All of the Fire” feels lifted from 1985. “Avenue I” unfolds like The Church covering Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire.” “Honest Aims” fires like mid-west eighties rock with Euro flavoring and a blistering finish. The songs are evidence of why there’s a lot of talk about Acrylics. They have distilled and put forth much at once: Americana bathed in eclectic shades of rock music, subtle melodies and psychedelia.

Brian Tucker

ADRIAN

2010-05-04T14:19:00.000-07:00

Adrian and the Sickness
B.F.D.

Austin, Texas is seemingly never short on musical diversity. Adrian and the Sickness, an Austin stalwart since 2004, have a new album that hugs very hard. It’s a mixed bag of tricks. More so, the female trio is a powerhouse rock and roll band that drops guitar riffs and drum beats like a cute kid driving a Sherman tank around town and firing wildly. Sometimes blistering, sometimes heavy handed, and consistent on saccharine laced vocals, the band deliver loads of explosive energy on their fourth album B.F.D.

Fiery and melodic as late eighties metal (think L.A. Guns, Fastway) and funky as seventies-era AC/DC mixed with the jump-up-and-dance feel of The Go Go’s the band shoots from the hip, clear-cut and fast. Influences are evident – the album was produced by Kathy Valentine of the Go Go’s and lead singer/guitar player Adrian Conner plays in AC/DC tribute band Hell’s Belles. Conner’s playing is Angus Young-tinged, notably on “Loser” and “Rice N Bean.” “Modern Freedom” opens with heavy sonic crunch, boogie flavored “Rice N Bean” keeps the album solid and “Turn It Up” is an album highlight in which Conner’s chorus is on fire and Melodie Zapata’s drumming hammers away. But instead of lingering in one area B.F.D. reveals a few surprises like its title track which could easily be mistaken for a Bangles song and a cover of “Radar Love”. The album makes a complete left turn with, gasp, a fantastic pop song – “Listening,” which soars like a great radio rock anthem and vocals like a teen queen. It takes the form to respectable, and renewed, heights.

For all its sonic boom there’s an off-balance quality to having sugary vocals placed against ragged rock music. It does not detract or sound out of place, except maybe for “Loser”. If anything, it adds an indifferent layer to the whole by a band is not stuck delivering all-out rock tunes for an album’s length. The result is a confident rock album by a band content to play around.

Brian Tucker

nite nite

2010-05-04T14:17:00.000-07:00

nite nite
How to Touch the Moon

Nashville is as good a place as any for a band to call Siouxsie Sioux as an influence. The proliferation of love for Sioux or The Cure and near-heartland geography are found buried within nite nite’s How to Touch the Moon. nite nite exemplify a new, and better, trend of modern music that channels styles from bands from nearly thirty years ago. In the simplest terms, they smartly blend old with new. That said, nite nite make moody, emotional fun. Even with the easy comparisons to darker pop music, nite nite is nevertheless catchy and accessible. It bears little baggage of the Goth label and if one were to not look at band photos it would be easy to compartmentalize How to Touch the Moon as a dance and synth-pop laced album graced with a unique lead singer – Sarah-Brooks Levine, and a band adept at mixing driving rhythms and crashing ambiance. Levine is a raspy and ghost-throated singer – she can play as much as she can howl, smile less than gnash her teeth. nite nite’s sound may appear new wave but it fits nicely along the lines of Franz Ferdinand or Class Actress, just more serious.

Brian Tucker

BEST IN SHOW by Phil Juliano

2010-05-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

CFCF

2010-05-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

CFCF
Continent

What’s exciting and pleasing about Continent is its capability to bridge dance music and ambience. Michael Silver, the Montreal DJ known as CFCF, has stylishly crafted an album that serves the dual purpose of dance music or something to relax to. Throughout it unfurls with energy, vibrancy - all on its own terms. Continent sounds like an artist trying to please themselves and we’re lucky to be along for the experience. The result is partly bipolar in fine glorious fashion - sultry and emotional yet patient early on about not having to give everything up for one style. It is hardly a chill album, but still lends itself to intimate encounters.

Silver draws on the eighties, from dance music to electronic game sound bites - done far from obvious, begging thoughts of where have I heard that? But references are sparse, texturing them from the eighties as much as the nineties, combing those periods to craft something relevant for the next decade. But it’s more than catchy memories. Silver is adept at dreaming up atmosphere, think of sound layering Peter Gabriel used to make music. Silver finds tribal heart in “You Hear Colours” and scratchy echoes on “Monolith”. “Raining Patterns” conjures up visuals of water drops falling all around. CFCF’s working of Fleetwood Mac’s 1987 hit “Big Love” sounds familiar to the original, feeling right at home here and reminding that the original felt more akin to the future than its late eighties birthplace. “Come Closer” is seductive, ripe for an MC and “Snake Charmer” sounds like a brilliant mid-eighties one-hit-wonder sans lyrics.

Where an artist like DJ Shadow delves into beats and copious amounts of samples the result is less about forming a music environment. CFCF succeeds at that, at building worlds and massive atmosphere with his music. At times it feels like noir-ish pop or recalls art film scores. Continent broods and jumps, moving with grace and electricity. It’s as if Vangelis detoured into synth pop territory and made scattered usage of squash beats. The whole seems an interlude between the current and the future, a world where Blade Runner may come to pass but with a lot more color.

Brian Tucker

CLASS ACTRESS

2010-05-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

CLASS ACTRESS
Journal of Ardency

Class Actress have made pop and dance music with intelligence, and especially for those who normally may not enjoy it. For all the posturing, and the far-worse embarrassing imagery of the eighties, it’s refreshing to hear groups today echoing the better flavors from that decade. Brooklyn based Class Actress lands here, delivering Journal of Ardency, an EP that is fun, moody and eye-raising. It’s built around sensual singer Elizabeth Harper and synth music crafted from big-beat samples lifted from vinyl. Though the electro-pop heavy EP gives nods and winks to the likes of The Human League, New Order and Debbie Harry, Harper is less a pop songstress than one who accidentally comes off as one while singing sullen, sexy vocals both breathless and bated. She holds back for effect – tempting, not teasing. There’s keyboard rich songs (“Careful What You Say”, “Someone Real”) playing with squashed beats and ghostly vocals and “Let Me Take You Out”, a song that could easily be a U2 cover. Journal of Ardency is dance music for people who want to get down without having to get dirty. If Harper is aiming to be a diva then she’s the new kind, one that is less loathsome while still delivering the goods.

Journal of Ardency is out February 9 on Terrible Records and available digitally and on 10" vinyl.

Brian Tucker

MARIONETTE

2010-05-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Marionette
Facing You

There’s nothing temperamental or self-effacing about Marionette’s first full-length. Facing You plays out beautifully, like a thorny night of sleep interrupted by threads of a person’s bemused and amusing life. This emotional ride is supported by the album’s atypical construction where songs are built on ideas, not hooks. It’s about tempo, melody and mood. It’s is an emotional album, one that induces feeling because it’s simply drowning in music that is tangible, sonic and well-paced. Singer and drummer Kevin Cornell compliments the band, and vice-versa. There is a connection between his vocal sound and what the band is creating that is quite fitting, even as it teeters at times on pleasurable melancholy and brazen frustration – mostly as interjections and not elongated themes.

In conception and delivery Facing You is absolutely striking, heavy on driving rhythm from Marshall O’Leary’s keys to Cornell’s up-tempo drumming. It’s a world of sound, built on ambiance from varying genres. There are strong ideas built from multiple layers and textures - a gentle bell, a sound bite or a crunching guitar riff injected at just the right moment. It’s also the juxtaposing of Cornell singing and Kerri Helsley’s ethereal vocals.

‘Four Voices’ is an example of the band using straightforward melodies and uncomplicated playing - fusing them together to make one mountain of a song. It strides along and then showered with Adam Rose’s guitar and O’Leary’s lilting keys. Similar could be said of ‘Facing You’ which makes great use of horns. ‘Disappearing Act’ is tedious and creeping, graced with Helsley’s cooing vocals. ‘Orchid’ is a haunting carriage ride where Cornell sings like whispers in a hallway and Helsley gives it an icy, albeit dangerous, vocal quality. ‘All You Need’ and ‘Wavering’ give Facing You the explosion it needs – the former a driving, hectic track and the latter serving as a chant that explodes magnificently by song’s end. The album closer, ‘Over the Radio’ is epic, a fitting finale to a moving album of material. Facing You feels seamless, one that could be viewed or mistaken for one long song about the ebb and flow of emotions and sights in the mind’s eye.

Marionette plays elegantly moody and emotional music with a variety of sounds and instrumentation. The material is dreamy, textured, haunted and methodical. With Facing You the band delivers a complex album comprised of ethereal song construction and unexpected mood enhancement. Marionette bring much to the table, and seemingly never too much too handle.

Brian Tucker

LIBBY JOHNSON

2010-05-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

Libby Johnson
Perfect View

There’s plenty of singer-songwriters trying to rise above the swarm that fill the hours at numerous coffee houses and after-dinner crowds sipping overpriced drinks. It’s a tough climb, and if the throng of loud talkers quiet down enough one gets to hear a singer with a lot to offer. With a seemingly simple, yet intrinsically far reaching vocal ability Libby Johnson does much with little. That’s not meant to detract from Johnson, but merely to highlight her strong delivery. Emotionally she digs deep with seemingly scant effort, able to tap into the heart with grace and ease, sounding like Sarah McLachlan and Gillian Welch singing the same song simultaneously.

Her voice is striking; deep in timbre yet remains smooth. For much of the album Johnson lays low, singing sincerely and with restraint, like a serious conversation or gut wrenching confession – all done with grace and ease. “Perfect View” is soft and slow and “Being Your Stranger” is reflective, descending and breathless vocals against rocky piano playing. “Be Your Revelator” is country-tinged with a little funkiness. It isn’t until “Coming Up for Air” that Johnson lets the hair down, strutting like Fiona Apple sans the guttural vocal crush. Johnson croons over slinky piano, taking her time. On “Sister You’ll Be Back Again” Johnson sings against slide guitar, making some hair raising acoustic music. But on the spare acoustic “I Know You Know” Johnson seems to bare the most.

With Perfect View Johnson is somewhere between singer-songwriter and caregiver - her voice warm, soothing and at times angelic. For a musician who’s performed at CBGB’s and seen her music used in film (Trust the Man) it’s evident her qualities as a singer translate beyond the norm.

Brian Tucker

THE LIONS RAMPANT

2010-05-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

THE LIONS RAMPANT
It’s Fun to do Bad Things (2010)

It’s been far too long between Lions Rampant albums. It’s good to know that a band out there still gives a damn about having a good time, getting fucked up and playing great rock and roll music sans pretension and corniness. The Burlington, Kentucky band fires on all cylinders, doing what the music world really needs - stimulation and liveliness, music that makes you feel alive, like a kid downing a handful of sodas the first time. Their album It’s Fun to do Bad Things is a non-stop party, meant to be played loud as a dirty concoction of neo-soul crashing head on with brazen old school rock music when guitars were plugged in and played as is. It’s a rush - a head shaking, hip quaking explosion laced with delicious grooves that drags feet to the dance floor.

Judging by the intensity of It’s Fun to do Bad Things their self-propelled gnarly party never stopped between 2006’s Play Rock n Roll and 2007’s Freedom. It’s Fun sounds authentic, as if recorded at a house party with the partygoers and noise removed. The recording sounds bare but comes off monstrous, like an old record found in your parents stash. Its simplicity, its knock-down-drag-out bare knuckled delivery, is akin to the rawness employed on recent albums by The Love Language or The Diamond Center. It’s Fun sounds recorded with guns to the band’s heads - it’s fast, soulful and blows mercury out the thermometer. They fuse blues and punk through a sixties metallic filter, its heavy grooves are brash, hypnotic and fun. Think The Isley Brothers by way of The Standells and the J. Geils Band. It’s hard to point to specific tracks as gems because the whole album is fucking great. ‘I’m a Riot’ and “Cocaine Anne’ are choice listens, but there’s not a single bad song on the album. It’s Fun to do Bad Things is one of the best party records in years. Buy it, download it, invite your friends over and play it loud. Warn your neighbors.

Brian Tucker

ISSUE 22 - MAY 2007

2008-02-25T15:46:00.000-08:00

ISSUE 22 - EDITORIAL

2008-02-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

While it’s here

With all of the rejuvenation outside currently the opposite is on my mind. The trees are flush with green and azaleas are ripe in near fluorescent pastels but I am reminded of loss.
Silly as it sound, but this began with Brewster’s Millions. If you’re not familiar, it’s the story of a man who must spend thirty million dollars to inherit three hundred million. The task must be completed in thirty days yet tell no one and be penniless at the end of thirty days. It’s a very American film, highlighting the best and worst of people when money is involved.
The 1985 film starred Richard Pryor and John Candy. For Candy, it was the early stages of a movie career but for Pryor it seemed a lateral move. While the film did little to further or embrace Pryor’s comedic talents, it worked because Pryor is likable as Brewster in the film.
In a scene between Pryor and Candy it dawned on me, that both of these actors are dead. Pryor passed last year, Candy in 1994 at the age of 44. Pryor’s reputation unfortunately surpassed his film work; squandering acting roles in lieu of huge paychecks (Eddie Murphy has done much of the same over his career). Candy tended to play the same guy, a reliable comedian in the buddy role or one in which he’s the butt of the joke. However, we all know who they are; we all remember them for many reasons.
It happened again watching 1987’s Good Morning Vietnam. A scene in which Robin Williams gets lambasted by J.T. Walsh and Bruno Kirby happens mid way in the movie. It dawns on me that both Walsh and Kirby are dead as well.
Each of these films is twenty years old and twenty years is a long time but it was a strange realization that these actors were gone, hard to wrap my head around. It wasn’t a connection between age and mortality. Then it made sense, as people we get used to things, get comfortable in knowing they’ll always be there. We all know the average life span and generally act accordingly.
A close friend recently attended the funeral of his ninety year old grandmother. Repeat, ninety years old. By all accounts that’s a long life. But she wasn’t sick, she fell and struck her head and died because of that. My grandparents passed at an early age so it was hard for me to assimilate but the way I related was the fact that she’d always been there. I met her once, long ago, and was a very kind woman, the image that occurs when you think of grandmothers.
This boils down to appreciation and creating in the face of living. Mothers have children and become grandmothers, bringing life into the world and opportunity, more chances. Women and men creating life is by far the most creative act of all. Some of these children grow up to be amazing. Creative people add more color to the world, adding life to life, whether through film, painting, literature or music.
Especially music. Like photos, music is an important cataloging agent for anyone’s life. One Sunday evening years ago the news broke on television that Joey Ramone died from leukemia. The Ramones were gone. No one would ever get to see them play again. All those years of non stop touring, they were always there. You went to high school and they were touring, you went to college, they were touring, you met someone and started planning a life, they were still doing it. Then Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone died. That was it. I couldn’t believe that band did not exist anymore in the world. It was one thing to disband but hard to imagine they weren’t around anymore. I lived in a world where the Ramones were gone.
We get so comfortable, knowing that someone will live a long time, always be here. But does that necessitate treating them with such a laissez-fare attitude? We should value it while there’s time. Nothing should be so expendable. It recalls a line from a Blind Melon song, And I can’t understand why something good’s got to die before we miss it?

- Brian Tucker

ISSUE 22 - CARTOON

2008-02-25T15:44:00.002-08:00

HOW DO YOU SMOKE A CIGAR WITH A MOUTH LIKE THAT?

BY TODD CARIGNAN

ISSUE 22 - SEX & THE PORT CITY

2008-02-25T15:44:00.001-08:00

How to say NO! To moochers

Out-of-work-by choice, users, mooching friends . . . it's time we learned how to say no. If you can't, you may find your money drained along with your time and emotional energy.

We all have them in our lives, those people who choose to be unemployed. They are our friends, lovers, brothers or even a next-door-neighbor. I have an overstocked number of them in my life for some reason. They choose unemployment for philosophical arguments. They avoid a regular job because it takes away from their poetry writing. I know a user friend who once said to me after I suggested she find a job, “Oh no, that would kill me.” They always manage, so why bother punching in at the time clock now? They get by on the kindness of strangers, the reliability of over-giving parents and taking advantage of everyone’s politeness. They ask me to drive them all over town since I have a full tank of gas and I have an auto that runs or heck that I have a car. We aid them because we feel we must give alms to beggars, even those who choose the impoverished life. I could forgive them and even admire their work-free lives if they actually made a living from the poetry “Ode to a toad” writing or if it wasn’t the double standard they live in, “Money is the root of all evil, don’t sell out to the establishment, may I borrow $200.00?” By grace, there are church’s in the Wilmington metro area that have funds set aside to help the needy, particularly people who are down and out without choice. I have a friend who makes the rounds to these churches and asks them to pay her bills and sometimes she gets them to pay her mortgage. She promises to stop asking and donate a return once her movie script is sold, right after she writes it and may she borrow my computer, or until the pine cones hand dipped in gold paint sell for big bucks!

The users also try to take up our free time, we the overburdened, underpaid slave to industry laborer. The moochers not only ask but sometimes expect us to give up our days away from the salt mine to run long distance errands for them, or in an acquaintance’s case, pick up stones lining her flower beds. “It would take me all day if you don’t help,” she woes. Let me think on that? Give up a beautiful perfect Sunday afternoon at the beach to recuperate from the week’s stress or schedule an appointment with a chiropractor to fix vertebrae I strained from bending over for 8 hours picking up 5000 stones? I am a sucker for a pretty face or a teary sob story but enough is enough.

Liz, my long term friend, tells me that among the relationship skills we should learn early in life -- but usually don't -- is the ability to say no. Saying no is essential if we want to preserve relationships with many of the people, including loved ones, who are trying to get us to say yes.

Take a minute to think. The person who's making the request (or demand) probably spent a lot of time mulling over all the reasons why you should agree. You, on the other hand, may have been hit out of the blue. You can put up your hand, say "I need a moment" or even walk into another room to collect your thoughts.

Don't make a sucker's choice. In our panic, we may think we have to choose between two bad alternatives: "I have to give her a loan, or she'll never speak to me again!" (Practiced moochers are, by the way, experts in backing people into this mind-set.) The reality is that we usually have far more alternatives than we initially think. Taking a moment to consider those, and what we really want out of the situation, can keep us from grabbing a bad choice.

Go public. Tell the other person where you stand as soon as you can. This is also known as "articulating your boundaries," and tells the listener that "you're now driving the conversation," Instead of responding to their arguments, you're setting out what you will and won't do. Most petitioners "will see the answer coming" once you've gone public, and if you stick to your guns will shorten or end their attempts to persuade you. "Don't just say no," "Soften the blow by telling them why." Make it clear that your reasons aren't a personal reflection on the petitioner, but are instead solidly held beliefs. They will either choose to remain friends or move onto the next gullible party and that is all I have to say because right now I have some gold painted pine cones, I just bought, to hang up somewhere.

ISSUE 22 - DISTRICT ONE SURF COMP

2008-02-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

photos Brian Tucker

ISSUE 22 - MUSICIAN STEPHEN SELLERS

2008-02-25T15:01:00.001-08:00

by Brian Tucker
photos Ava Bock

Two years ago Stephen Sellers lay in the top bunk in a Connecticut correctional facility, his face eight inches away from the ceiling. Long before he began his twenty five day stay in the Connecticut prison a previous inmate drew a circle on the ceiling, a bare circle, nothing more. Sellers stared at the circle, feeling the way he’d felt for a long time, feeling sad, confused, depressed, thinking about how much it sucked to be locked up.
Sellers had lived a life fueled by self doubt and self medication, a life where music, alcohol, anything filled the void. There were no more second chances. He’d finally been handed a possession charge there was no way to get out of with money and lawyers. The road led him here, locked up. He was in a minimum security prison, safe away from the five days spent in a holding facility where all types of inmates shared space, with dangerous men. Sellers was lucky, luckier than the young man running his mouth and subsequently held down and raped not twenty feet away.
Sellers lay in the bunk staring at the ceiling, at the circle drawn by someone else. And a switch flipped inside him, as efficiently as the clock going from the ninth hour to the tenth. He figured it out. He knew what the problem was.

In the spring off 2006 Sellers left a CD behind a tiny Buddha at the front door of my house. The CD was Beatific Star and it was the start of the longest gestation of anything I’d write about. The CD is magnificent, a collage of music styles and, I would learn later on, a hard look into his own life. It is an album I’d return to frequently, play again and played loudly in the living room as I worked. I struggled with Beatific Star trying to review it for Avenue, it was so thick musically, so strong thematically, I honestly didn’t feel I could do it justice. I didn’t think I could tell a reader what I heard, how beautifully varied the album is. It is a collection of music you could listen to and craft a novel at the same time. Moving along like a soundtrack to something heart wrenching and hopeful, it offers musical shades of Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails and Roky Erickson. It’s acoustic and bombastic, the production spare and elegant, a Mercator Projection of music.

Sellers sits at the edge his front porch off Orange Street smoking a cigarette, looking content, bemused almost. His silence could be interpreted as someone sitting and stewing. I walk over and upon standing up he flashes a wide, tight smile. His blue eyes glisten and get small from smiling so wide. He’s in his late thirties, tall with a face textured and interesting, lined and angular. Seeing the smile I believe he may be the only person I know who looks his age and yet seems like a new born child, happy with what the world can offer.
“You want to see the new van?” he asks excitedly. I realize then that he was not staring out into space when I drove up but looking at the new white cargo van out on the street. Inside the van he points out work he’s done on it. There’s a storage area built at the rear doors to keep musical equipment from being stolen and the thick carpet on top for people to sleep while driving. It is a large van able to hold a lot of people and Sellers is planning to tour this year.
Back inside the house he plays a new song. It pours through the speakers reeking of psychedelic tones. It’s ethereal with a subtle groove.
“I’m trying to find a way to get that psychedelic country thing going and have parts in that are real tripped out,” he explains.
Placed center in the living room is a dark blue drum set. There are two small tables he made from nice, thin wood that look like a cross between the Jenga game and Frank Lloyd Wright. The room is filled with music equipment. Seller’s second album, Getting Born, was recorded in this small room decorated with photographs and diminutive pieces of art. There is no television, only furniture, music equipment for playing and recording and several shelves of books, CD’s and cassettes. That’s right, cassettes, many homemade from bands that have disbanded. It’s symbolic of the time passed since Sellers played in the Roanoke, Virginia band The Wanderers, living in a band house and going to college.
The road that began in Roanoke is long and winding and ended in Connecticut. Roads anew, life began again moving to Wilmington. It would be straightforward to talk about redemption, but perhaps rebirth is more appropriate.
Sellers played drums in The Wanderers, a serious touring band in which the members lived in a house together. At seventeen Sellers and a friend were digesting a lot of punk music. They bought an album by the Big Boys that on the back said START YOUR OWN BAND.
“We had been listening to all this music and thinking to ourselves this doesn’t sound that hard. It doesn’t sound like Rush or Black Sabbath or something we can’t do. We sat around one day and said, ‘we’re a band.’ All we have to do is get instruments and learn how to play. Starting today we’re a band.”
The friend said he wanted to play drums and Sellers agreed to play bass. Walking home from the friend’s home that same day he came across a drum set a family had thrown to the side of the road. It was so little and so light he carried the drum pieces home. He called up the friend telling him about the drums he found.
“I found a drum set so I’m the drummer,” he boasted. The friend agreed, went to a pawn shop and bought a used bass guitar. Sellers recounts the story, remembering the humble beginnings, animated and excited as if it just happened. He mimics playing an instrument.
“We got together a few days later and played dunh dunh dunh and we were a band, man! We went and got a guitar player and guy who could sing. But we couldn’t keep a singer. Then we found this guy named Jim who was in another band but got on board with us. We became The Waltons. And Jim could write good songs and was the drive behind the band. He was the guy who said we’re really gonna do songs, we’re gonna record, make music and play live shows. Do what other punk bands are doing. That was really exciting.”
For two years The Waltons played punk but morphed into playing psychedelic surf rock. The band became The Wanderers whose members ended up staying together, living in a house together, buying a van and touring. The band garnered some play from record labels. The Wanderers lived in a downtown neighborhood in Roanoke, Virginia where there was a bevy of musicians. The house was a functioning band living space and practice house for several bands. It was then Sellers met Pat Starkey.
“There was a lot of coming and going. Pat and his girlfriend broke up and he moved in the band house. We new he had music equipment and played in a band. Jim eventually went on to do another project years later and started a band called Vim Vigor Vitality, that had a cool, complex rockabilly sound.”
In Roanoke, Sellers attended college as did other members of the band. Everyone went to college within driving distance of Roanoke so The Wanderers never broke up.
“We all drove from whatever college we were going to into town on the weekends and played gigs or practiced. The thing slowed down but never died, always ramped up during the summertime. We would do these loops, playing Outer Banks, West Virginia, Tennessee and in North Carolina. We played Raleigh, Charlotte.”
All these Roanoke musicians were in respective punk bands in Roanoke. Mary Huff from Southern Culture on the Skids was in a punk band, NMP, and Sellers describes them as the best hardcore band in Roanoke. They also made it big, serving as inspiration for any band in the area.
“Mary was their bass player and not only were they the best punk band, but they had a girl in the band. The Walton’s were inspired by that and got two girl singers. Mary and Dave moved to Chapell Hill and started playing,” he says.
Time passed and Sellers reconnected with Mary. “We would get notes about them and then all of a sudden I’m talking with Mary and she says ‘We’re on Geffen records.’ I was like, Get the fuck outta here, man!” After Southern Culture on the Skids first release, Too Much Pork for Just One Fork, he started seeing CD reviews everywhere. “I think I saw a blurb in Rolling Stone. They got big in Australia. And then they started touring the world. I remember thinking, holy shit, it happened to some people from Roanoke. It can happen. At that point I didn’t know anybody who was signed to a major record deal and somebody was footing the bill for their tour. Look at their tour schedule; they’re relentless, over 200 gigs a year. They inspire me, for playing and sticking together,” he says and pauses, thinking for a moment, “because it’s hard.”

The Wanderers eventually grew apart. Sellers and Pat Starkey loaded up a car full of stuff and moved down to Austin, Texas. The pair was a “wrecking crew together” and subsequently their lives split, selling everything they owned down there, music equipment and all and moved away. Starkey stayed in Virginia and Sellers went north.
At thirty, Sellers moved to Connecticut where he took on a job with ESPN and it was his first job, having spent his twenties playing in a band as a moderate living. “I wouldn’t call it a living,” he says without humor.
Seller’s life advanced but problems still existed, there was now an influx of money working a good job for ESPN. But money meant material things, cars and nightlife which led to continued drinking and then cocaine. Money from a high profile job at ESPN made it much easier to fill Seller’s personal voids.
After six years in Connecticut and numerous arrests to his name, things hit a wall. A lawyer couldn’t save him anymore and without help he wouldn’t be able to help himself. But prison didn’t do the trick as one might think; it wasn’t incarceration per se, or the horrors of concrete confinement. He finally figured something out and it just took longer than most people. Spending thirty days there - five in a holding area, surrounded by men far more dangerous than him, and the remaining twenty five in a minimum security prison, something happened that he finds it difficult to explain to people.
“I’m laying in bed one night on the top bunk and the roof is only about eight inches off the top of my nose. I’m laying there basically the same person I’ve been for the last twenty years, very sad and depressed and confused and really not thinking about anything but how much it sucks to be locked up. And I’m staring up at the ceiling and some dude had written a circle on the ceiling and laying there staring at the circle but it was like somebody flipped a fuckin’ switch. And all of a sudden it dawned on me that the problem was not the world, that the problem was me, and how I see the world. And I know that sounds like a really simple thing and I think most adult people know that, that how you view the world is how good or how bad your life can be. That was the first time that had ever dawned on me.”
He pauses and looks straight ahead, thinking hard about his next sentence and then smiles.
“I woke up the next day it was like I was walking around in a new skin.”
Leaving prison nearly a month later Sellers knew substance abuse was going to be a problem, a large hurdle. For the first time in his life a request for help was made. He knew he had a problem, because he kept getting locked up over and over again, kept ending up in front of judges, getting DWI’s, possession charges, possession with intent to distribute charges. He knew there were all these problems – police, judges, the lawyers and parents and friends, everybody knew, including him, he just didn’t know how to stop. He ended up saying words that were difficult to say. Help me.
“Ask and you shall receive. That was the first time I asked for some help. Everywhere I turned, my friends, my family, as long as I was willing to ask for help. I got it. That hurdle became a little easier to get over. Then it was about how to be happy, how to have some confidence in myself. How to figure out who I am. Those are tough questions, those are tough questions for someone in a natural state of development I think. And for someone whose growth gets stunted as a teenager because you’re not asking the difficult questions, you’re not trying to move forward into adulthood and figure out how to be happy and productive.”
That combination laid groundwork for drugs and alcohol. Sellers was in a vicious and repetitive circle in which he needed to have people around him. He felt uncomfortable alone, needing to always have a girlfriend. Everything that made him feel deficient was replaced with something to fill the void – girlfriends, music and all the people who were interested in him because he played in a band.
“I thought that made me something. Made me cool, made people want to be around me,” he says, knowing it delayed the inevitable. “When I look back on that period of time it’s like looking at someone else’s life. If someone had told me four years ago that I could buy a guitar, that I could write one song, that I could be the guy to put together a band. I would have told them they had the wrong guy. I used to get tanked by myself during the day and daydream about, ‘am I the kind of guy that could start a band? Because wouldn’t that be cool, to be in a band again? That was something I look back on fondly. Wouldn’t be cool to front a band? I’d look at myself in the mirror and say I’m not that guy.”

Gary Anderson, a member of The Wanderers had heard of Wilmington. After the band split up, Gary moved to Wilmington and formed the surf band called The Derailers. The Derailers came back and played Roanoke and told his old band mates, Sellers included, that Wilmington was awesome, that they should move there. That was ten years ago.
After release from prison in 2003 and going clean, Sellers knew he needed to take a period of time, a long look at his life and figure out what he wanted to do with it. He asked what did he look back on and have good memories about, what made him happy, what is viable? It wasn’t material things or substances. His thoughts led to playing music, something that always made him happy. Creating music, practicing, touring, recording – all things he had great memories of and made him feel creative and alive.
Sellers was living in Roanoke, having lost his job, with a drained bank account from legal fees and without a driver’s license. He was at square one, in his mid thirties and without direction.
But he’d always wanted to write a song. He wondered, could he do it? Playing in a band for a long time taught him how to put one together. But he didn’t know.
“I thought I’d go out and buy a couple of guitars,” he says. “An acoustic and an electric.” Initially he bought a set of drums thinking he’d play in a band again. While looking for drum heads he saw a guitar that matched the blue in his drum set and put money down on it. He said, “I’m gonna kill myself if I don’t get the guitar that matches the drum set, even if I don’t learn how to play it.”
Buying a guitar was beneficial, was really for healing and purging. He didn’t know if it would work or not. He surmised that if it didn’t work that’s okay, but if it did, what would happen? It was an idea that started to grow and there was a reason it continued.
“I needed to focus on connecting with people. These were all problems that I had in the past that led me into substance abuse, that lifestyle. I think it was a lot about self confidence. I felt very out of place everywhere I went, never really developed. I never took the time to figure out who I am and develop that, which is why I decided to figure out something to do with my life that makes me happy,” he explains.
Sellers could look back on his life and recognize that he was unhappy for a long time. He figured, there were times when he was happy, so, was it possible to get back to that place? That was the catalyst for a return to creating music.
“It has taken my life in a direction that I thought; wouldn’t it be nice if my life was like that? It all has to do with trying to get out of bed in the morning and trying to connect with people, trying to be a loving person wherever I go? That’s difficult for me, that’s not natural. For twenty years of my adult life I really didn’t live that way. I lived as a scared person, scared of the world and other people, and success and failure and relationships and not having relationships. Just a very conflicted person.”
But he now owned an electric guitar and set about seeing whether he could write a song. He wrote one that ended up on Beatific Star. Some time passed and others taught him how to play chords. He bought simple recording equipment and found there was much to write about, emotions viable for songs.
“It started happening and I spent a lot of time doing it.” Listening to other artists helped him see possibilities in crafting music. Wilco had a lot of impact on him, how Jeff Tweedy put a song together, what was allowed and what was not allowed, what could be done in the middle of a song.
“It blew me away that you could have noise and nothing but feedback in the middle of a song and make it more beautiful than an E chord. Then I stared listening to this weird Miles Davis CD On the Corner.”
After learning two chords “on that thing,” referring to the guitar in which he wrote a song, having enough words to fill in all the verses and choruses. Knowing how to play the drums led to getting back into recording. Sellers attended engineering school so he knew how to record. The problem was that even though he once recorded bands, he’d never done so as a one man operation. But a fire was lit under him, creatively and spiritually. He recorded a five song demo, the only five songs he’d written. “I needed to record them and see how they sounded.”
At the same time he was trying to form a band in Roanoke but nothing came together like he wanted, not a single practice. Months went by and practices still weren’t happening. A friend needed help moving to Wilmington and once in town he looked up Gary Anderson. Sellers found a phone book and Anderson lived not far from the apartment Sellers would eventually move into. Anderson answered the door to find Sellers standing outside. Anderson was a father now, doing well. Sellers asked if he moved down would Gary like to start a band. Yes. Sellers said he’d be back in a month.
Sellers packed his things and moved down, setting big goals. In a year he promised himself that he’d have a full length CD. With only the five song demo he began to hammer away at the first full length. Upon nearly finishing that first CD and spending so much time practicing every day, he searched for other musicians. He went places people were hanging out, people he thought he might have something in common with. He was steadfast in looking. Sellers was reaching out to people, making contact. E-mailing.
He e-mailed me when Bootleg was Avenue. The e-mail was simple: “I moved down, I’m a musician.”
Everywhere Sellers went he did what he’d never done before. He asked. He met the people at the Independent Art Company by walking in the front door and saying, “I don’t know anyone in town, I play music, what are you guys doing in here?”
“I met a bunch of musicians at the Juggling Gypsy or did so walking up to musicians after a show at the Soapbox and introducing myself. A friend of mine is on the roller derby team and one of the girls she skates with, Missy, plays drums.”
He asked for her phone number.
“I called her and said I’m from Virginia, I played in a band in Virginia, I live here now and want to start a band. She said ‘I’m from Virginia, I played in a band in Virginia and I wanna play in a band.’
Two of the first people he met after moving to Wilmington were Rich and Shawna at Rebel Books. “I was shooting the shit with Rich one night and Rich said, “I’m a bass player, I’m from Virginia, and I want to be in a band.’
So it was three Virginians hanging out in Wilmington who played in bands with mutual friends, had passed each other on tours, playing in different places, all these bits and pieces in common. And soon they were sitting in Seller’s living room getting ready to make music. Missy, Gary, Rich and Sellers were now Revolution Summer.

The four would park stools in the middle of the room and sit and sing to each other. “I always think its great as its happening ‘cause I’m so happy to be doing it,” Sellers says. He recounts a story of people hanging out at the house, singing and playing. The next day a neighbor spoke to him, practically for the first time, saying “Ya’ll sounded real good last night.”
Sellers describes this as a ‘payoff’ for all the hard work in trying to create. The payoffs are far and few but hearing something like that, something earnest and simple, makes all the effort worth it.
Sellers’ songs for Revolution Summer were fairly simple, comprised of A,E,G, and D chords or just power chords. Rich was a quick study and Missy had played in bands and they all knew how songs were put together. Gary brought his lap steel guitar and added to the band’s sound. Missy and Stephen sang together and something clicked.
“The combination of the lap steel, the combination of the instruments or the simplicity of the songs,” he explains. It was something Sellers, for a long time, believed would happen – he just didn’t know how. And now it had. By meeting people and asking. That was a year ago.

Beatific Star was recorded in Sellers’ apartment on Castle Street. He did it all himself, playing, recording, completely DIY and homemade. The process can’t be anymore hand crafted, hand crafted like the beautiful tables in his home made from scraps of fine wood.
“The first song I wrote was ‘One Love’ off the first CD. Laura Spencer and Addie Wuensch sang on it. It’s nothing but A and E the whole time.”
The song is about the worst day Sellers ever experienced, the day the door slammed shut, in which all the ways out of trouble were used up. There was another charge and knew he would be going before a judge again. His lawyer told him to quit his job because the lawyer couldn’t save him this time.
“He told me I was going to jail.”
Stephen felt broken, depressed and lonely. Pulling all the curtains in the apartment, he locked the door. Hiding. He sat quietly with a fifth of bourbon and a refrigerator of booze. Some grass. Sitting alone in a dark apartment getting tanked. While it was happening he began to think about what a sad existence to live, to be so scared that someone will knock on the door.
“I’m in there with the only things that I trust to make me feel good,” He says, “and I just felt so defeated.”
‘One Love’ is about that day. The song sounds like it’s about a girl but it’s about booze. It’s about being locked away, about how obsessed he’d become, how trusting of substances much in the way a husband might confide in his wife. Writing the song was in part cathartic. It seemed to feel good to write the song so that now he can be honest about it, can tell people about it. To feel naked and be more comfortable. And he tried another song about a past relationship to see if he could feel better about it as well. And it did. This led to thinking about specific things, markers in his life that encompassed a life falling towards substance abuse.
Take the first song on Beatific Star, ‘Page 91,’ about an eighteen year old Sellers starting to discover drinking and grass, being able to do whatever he wanted to do when he wanted to do it in the first year of college.
“I discovered that this stuff temporarily solves all my problems. If I’m worried about something alcohol makes that go away. Grass seems to make that go away. This stuff is kind of a solution. ‘Page 91’ is about being 18 and the entire CD runs up until ‘Away to the Sun’ about coming out on the other side, of finding a way to be happy.”
Addie and Sellers worked opposite shifts at A Little Bit Hippy at the Cotton Exchange. He worked when Addie didn’t, never really meeting. Addie came in to work for a check one day and they finally spoke. The conversation was about art and the jewelry she made. Music came up and Addie mentioned that she and her friend Laura hang out and harmonize together. Stephen invited them over to his apartment.
On a Wednesday about five o’clock Beatific Star was given additional flavor. Until then he wrote and played all the parts, the only person involved in everything. That Wednesday was the first time he heard anyone else interject in his music. Addie and Laura came up with a harmony on ‘One Love’ and it was a revelation.
“I didn’t know that anything I wrote could sound like that,” he says. “On that CD the vocals are very tentative; there are some moments where it sounds like I’m sneaking up to the microphone and trying to figure what’s gonna come out of my mouth when I take a breath. That got a little better on Getting Born. But when I heard them sing, they sounded like angels or something. So beautiful.”
After the Beatific Star album was finished - cases, inserts and the discs all made at his apartment, Sellers felt there was more to do.
“I’ve had more. I’m not done. I still have a bunch of songs ready to start.”
That next project was Getting Born. He loved the way Laura and Addie sounded, the way their voices harmonized together. He offered it to them to work on. Addie had recently moved back from New York and jumped on it. They sat in Stephen’s living room and hammered away at Getting Born, both of them adding a song each to the album. “The whole thing came together in less than eight weeks.”
They were all interested in playing the material out live, doing so last winter at Bottega to a full room, playing the songs sparsely, with just vocals, acoustic guitar and tambourine. It was a throwback to how people may have played in the sixties or during the early thirties, acoustic and heavy singing. By then, Sellers had two full lengths completed, a band and the upcoming project with old friend Pat Starkey, Aardvark.

Aardvark was born out of the RPM (Record Production Month) Challenge. It’s a contest put on by two guys in New England, an open ended contest encouraging people to get involved in the artistic process, to create an album of music during the 28 days of February. The only rules are that, you’re on the honor system, that it all be recorded in the month of February. In part, it’s to get people that have been hanging onto songs and not doing anything with them or half completed projects, to make an album of music. Artists can use older material but they encourage people to do a project from square one, beginning to end, in those 28 days.
A third of Aardvark was recorded in Virginia in Pat Starkey’s basement. Sellers made the trip with different ideas about what the album would be. Nothing was written until the pair got together.
“I thought he had a bunch of music ready to record and was counting on me to record about twenty minutes worth of stuff and then go up there and record his stuff and then pile it all together onto one CD.”
Sellers thought they were going to start making noises and turn them into songs. He returned with pretty basic guitar and drum tracks. “It was a scramble and that’s why there’s some filler on that thing.”
Starkey and Sellers reconnected years ago after both of their lives had been in a tail spin. Sellers was living in Connecticut and getting out of prison. He returned to Virginia and heard a rumor that Starkey cleaned up seven years ago and was doing well, having a good life.
“So I looked him up and asked for help. That’s how we reconnected and he helped me start the process of getting clean. Then there we are four years later in a basement playing music again, both clean. That was the amazing part of that process, that me and this guy that had played music in Virginia, we’re back together in his house recording this project and I wrote some lyrics around that experience. But it lit a fire under Pat because after I left he called me two days later saying he ordered microphones, a 16-track, a keyboard, and musical equipment. The whole process, Pat wanted to keep doing it.”

The members of Revolution Summer have been going in different directions lately. Missy is working on another movie, Rich and Shawna are moving back to Los Angeles and trying to sell their house. Everyone wants to get together.
Sellers likes to stay busy, he likes to and probably needs to. But is it potentially harmful to take so much on? He doesn’t necessarily think so.
“I have a tendency to take on too much stuff. I also have a tendency to underestimate myself. I’ve wrestled with it all of my life. It’s back to not having enough confidence in my own abilities. I’m at a point where I’m willing to take on a lot of responsibilities. Sometimes it’ll be three o’clock in the morning and I’ve been up 24 hours and I’ll have three more days of stuff I’ve got mapped out to do, obligated, or want to do. I’ll think, I’m doing it again, I have too much to do, but to this point I’ve managed to get all that stuff accomplished. I think in some cases I underestimate what I can do but then a lot of people do. It just depends on where your passions are, where your heart lies. People who take on artistic endeavors, people who have a deep need to create, and are uncomfortable when they’re not creating are willing to make almost any kind of sacrifice to do that kind of stuff. What I’m finding out is that this is the stuff that makes this a cool and happy process for me. I can get wrapped up into my ego but the thing that really makes me happy is that I’ve connected with friends and what happens when all of us get together.”

Sellers sits atop an old stool in his living room, the sun setting casually and air moving coolly through the open front door. He sits up straight, eyes always seeming to be somewhere else yet focused on the moment. I wonder if he is merely looking out the window or at the house across the street he may help paint this summer. Or maybe, he’s just thinking of a new song idea. I think Sellers has been doing the same thing in the last several years, constructing songs as he reconstructed his life. I know when he gets inspired he knows to put on a pot of coffee. It’s a tremendous feeling, no substance can give you that type of energy. The best drug is creating; the need to do something that inspires you. It has to be synonymous with peacefulness and a stilted calm.
“I’m already in a place I never thought I’d ever be anyway. So for all those things to happen...everything else is like icing. It feels like I have this awesome cake and everything else that happens is extra.”

The last Saturday in April I walked along Front Street to a friend’s apartment to attend a birthday party. Crossing Chestnut Street, I saw someone standing just outside Bottega in a bright white dress shirt. It looked angelic, glowing as if the contrast were turned way up loudly. The shirt burned bright on the sidewalk against black trousers.
There were a number of people outside and I realized it was Stephen Sellers. He was talking to a woman. We talked a few moments and he was smiling ear to ear, looking incredibly happy. He had just finished playing a set of music minutes before. A homeless man was approaching everyone asking for change or something. Sellers and I were talking about few things for this story, a few clarifications. The homeless man approached Sellers, interrupting our conversation. Sellers stopped momentarily and turned to the homeless man and said he’d speak with him in a just a moment.
From the outside it seems like what anyone would do, maybe to blow someone off. Sellers turned his attention back to me and we spoke a little longer. I said I’d call him the next day.
As I walked away Sellers turned and spoke to the man, saying, hello, how are you, man?

For more, check out:

Myspace.com/revolutionseason
Myspace.com/giantmediamusic
Myspace.com/gm2music
Myspace.com/lowvictorecho
www.rpmchallenge.com

ISSUE 22 - DRAGAN

2008-02-25T14:57:00.001-08:00

by Josh Spilker

Dragan (pronounced “dragon”) has an African Grey in his living room, and it’s staring me down. It has large eyes on either side of its head and glances at me cautiously, in its bird sort of way. The bird is silent for a moment, a rarity in its life. She does not know what to make of me, a stranger. She has become content in this home, flying in peace, in her own recognizable surroundings, and I’m an intruder.
But I know more about the bird than she knows about me. Maybe she knows that we are talking about her, that Dragan is sharing intimate details about her life with me. The bird’s name is Lola. She’s a tropical bird, the African Grey. Her head is the size of a small cup, and fully feathered, but her body is mostly bare, too bare for a bird.
Lola looks at me and then back at Dragan. She needs reassurance from him about my character. Dragan tells me not to touch her, that she’ll snip at me. Dragan is Lola’s savior, and she trusts him. Dragan rescued her, driving five hours from Wilmington, NC to Virginia Beach to get her. To bring her here, a safe place in which Lola can be herself, and talk to whoever she wants.
Dragan picks up Lola from her perch and brings her over to the couch for a conversation. We are in Dragan’s home, a paneled house near Monkey Junction. His home contains three aquariums, all of which he built. There’s a large bird cage for Lola and another perch.

As we sit down on the couch, Dragan tells me Lola doesn’t just mimic, she listens and responds in words. Like how a dog barks, except with a vocabulary. Dragan says she can pick up as much language as a three year old. So if Lola is thirsty she asks for water. If she wants Dragan to take her down she will ask “Where are you?” The bird is not much different from a child who needs care and attention, which Dragan says many people don’t consider before purchasing such a bird. That’s why he had to rescue her.
“For three years, the lady didn’t take care of her. She fed her peanuts, and that’s it,” he says. Dragan compared it to a human eating only bread. The woman didn’t know how to care of her, Dragan explains and Lola is still naked from the stress, missing many feathers.
Dragan is certified as a tropical bird rescuer by Phoenix Landing, an animal rescue shelter for tropical birds. Based out of Asheville, N.C., Phoenix Landing will contact Dragan if there are birds from pet stores or delinquent owners who don’t want them anymore. Once Dragan retrieves them, Phoenix Landing will put them up for adoption. Dragan decided to keep Lola as his own.
Apparently, they’re not the most considerate of birds. African Greys demand affection and attention, just like a member of the family. They also live a long time, and may need assisted living.
“People don’t think that these birds live 50-70 years,” Dragan says. “You need to think that the bird will be with you for your life. That’s a decision for your life. You need to think that if something would happen to you, who would keep that bird, who would take care of that bird?”

Dragan Zeljkovic is in his mid-thirties and currently a cab driver. Originally from Bosnia, the town of Gradiska on the Sava River, he came to America surviving much of the fighting in his home country. Gradiska is split into Bosnian and Croatian sides. He lived on the Bosnian side and his house was bombed by Croatia in the Yugoslav Civil Wars during the early 90s. It was a civil war that broke up Yugoslavia.
“First, in speaking about the war there is nothing nice to say. Really, most don’t talk about it, but there were three different religions fighting for territory, around Croatia in that area,” says Dragan.
We stepped out from his back porch where Dragan lit a cigarette and showed me another piece of his handiwork, the decorative garden pool. It’s covered with rocks and he said he wants to put larger fish in there, if he had more time to care for them. He later shows me pictures of one similar pool and patio that he installed on Oak Island. The conversation returns to his homeland.
“I chose to go with the UN Peacekeepers, two sides fighting - you go in the middle,” Dragan continues. “I was with a special border police, because I had a lot of friends in that area, and I had friends that were Serb, Croatian and Muslim.”
As a member of the border police, Dragan watched different groups, like UNICEF, coming in and out. He checked paperwork and checked what was inside the various cars.
“That war was a very nice cover for people to take advantage of the war, and make it a business and make a lot of money,” he says.
In 1993, in the third year of the war, he lost “everything,” he says. He was a jack of all trades, having gone to school for metalworking, raised tropical fish to sell and even had a pet shop or two around town. “No good side,” he says about the war. “Everyone lost something. It’s been a waste of time.”
After displacement from his home in Gradiska, Dragan went to Belgrade, the largest city in Serbia. He found work doing odd jobs, one of which was supplying angelfish to a local general mercantile store. He still raises angelfish. In addition to the three large aquariums in his home, he tells me he sold a few others recently.

“Too much upkeep,” he says. We look at a few of the fish, and he shows me pictures of others.
“I grew up on that river (the Sava River), fishing and stuff, and now you can’t go fishing on that half,” he says.
Dragan arrived in the U.S. and then Wilmington in 2003. He came to Wilmington because he had people here willing to “sponsor” him, Winter Park Baptist Church of Wilmington. From what I gather, he was here for twenty days, and was able to find a job, and start out on his own. He’s been a manager for Chuck E. Cheese, he’s built countertops, worked at Mayfaire Cinema, bred angelfish, constructed elaborate rock ponds on Oak Island, drives a cab and sometimes delivers flowers. Now, Dragan can go fishing whenever he wants, or raise his own fish. His choice. And choices were very few when he was stuck between two or three warring factions.
“It’s ridiculous,” he continues. “There’s a bunch of hardcore stories, and I can’t take it. I want to live my life and I want to have peace and that’s it.”
Actual peace on land and peace on pieces of paper are different things. Peace may have been achieved to a degree between countries in Western Europe for the time being, but that doesn’t mean peace has occurred with its occupants. Dragan said that Gradiska was a good city until the war made it unbearable.
“War destroyed the middle class of the people, so it’s very hard to find a job,” Dragan says. “If you have a job, it’s like $200 a month, not like here.”
Such a common occurrence spread his family over three continents. His parents are in Australia, he’s in America, and his daughter is back in Belgrade. It’s a situation he doesn’t see changing, though he would like his seven year old daughter to one day make it here.
“I survived and I lost everything and I don’t want to do it again,” Dragan says. “America is pretty much a secure country, and I like it. And I think I’ll stay right here where I am.”

Dragan’s demeanor is pleasant. He is friendly and easy to talk. His openness is enjoyable and he’s always favored work with the public. The openness has a positive side effect in that he has more time to speak English which is accented, but pretty flawless.
“I learned Oxford English, but when I came here I didn’t understand 50% of what people were saying,” he says mentioning a particular British form of English. “I spent nights and nights on the Internet learning grammar and spelling. You can’t translate word by word, you must take the meaning of that sentence, and put it inside my head, translate it and put it another way backwards and put it out. So my head has been like a freaking computer. Sometimes, by myself, I have headaches talking to people. It’s been very hard for me, translating for people.”
Dragan may struggle with American English, but it’s different than dealing with translating rude American behavior. He recalls a cab story involving a drunk girl he picked up from lower Market Street in downtown Wilmington. He was picking up some of his regular customers from downtown, and the girl stepped in front of his cab because she thought he was ignoring her. He was ignoring her, but to pick up somebody else. Then the girl grew angry and began yelling at him from outside the cab. He picked up his customers and then returned for this girl. Upon returning, the girl didn’t understand how he would still be nice to her.
“If I help you, because it’s my pleasure,” Dragan says. “What you need to see is that if I help you, you help someone else. And if everybody acts like that, this world would be a lot nicer place to live.”

www.phoenixlanding.org

ISSUE 22 - WE FEST 2007 & KENYATA SULLIVAN

2008-02-25T14:50:00.000-08:00

WE FEST & KENYATA Sullivan

by Brian Tucker

Kenyata Sullivan has been involved with WE Fest, or, the Wilmington Exchange Festival, since before its inception in the mid nineties. He helped found the band Pandora’s Lunchbox in 1990 and formed a second, The Majestic Twelve, several years ago. He could pass for Jeff Tweedy, a head full of messy black hair and a voice that is genteel southern and a tough Texan.
I spoke with him in the low light of The Cellar downtown last March and again at his home near the beach. On both occasions he talked openly and at length about his life around music while smoking a cigarette or two. Sullivan is passionate about what he does, passionate about his family and life’s opportunities.
The annual festivities begin Thursday May 24th and last until Monday May 28th at the Soapbox in downtown Wilmington. Three floors of music and entertainment all for a buck a day. That’s right, a shit load of music for a DOLLAR a day. That means more cash in hand to spend at the bar or buying merch from something new you discovered.

W.E. Fest is several days of do-it-yourself, volunteer-run entertainment that always takes place during the week of Memorial Day Weekend. Only indie-label and unsigned bands are allowed to play W.E. Fest; no major acts allowed.

How long have been involved with music in Wilmington and what are you known most for?I don’ know if I’m known at all. I’ve been involved in Wilmington music since 1991 when I started my first band. I had fan ‘zines and was part of the scene, went to shows. I started Pandora’s Lunchbox in 1990, 1991. The scene was vibrant, different back then. Very few bands left Wilmington to. Bands expect to tour now.

What did you learn from your experiences with Pandora’s Lunchbox that has helped with WE Fest?
Dealing with clubs, learning how to get around having to deal with clubs. That’s when I became part of the underground, for real, as in corresponding with people all over the world. Trading things with people all over the world, realizing how much wonderful stuff was out there that people didn’t have access to. This is pre-Internet underground. I think it’s hard for people from this new generation to realize how hard it was to find something that you really liked. There were very few choices in your local scene. There weren’t that many local bands, not many choices on the radio. It was hard to hear an unsigned band in another part of the world. It’s different now that it’s hard to grasp how hard it was to make friends with somebody in a band in D.C. It took maybe a year, because you’re dealing with the mail, before you got an idea of how much was out there that was just genuinely unknown.

How did the underground music scene influence WE Fest?The underground, the one thing that defined it for me (back then) was that all of us were different. The one thing we had in common is that we were interested in experiencing things that were new to us. But we were all very different, we had different political opinions, we like different kinds of music and we ended up cross pollinating and exposing each another to things that we individually believed in.

What was the catalyst for W.E. Fest?I was talking on the phone with Jehn Cerron who didn’t even play W.E. Fest until 1999, performing what I think is the single most memorable set by any musician. Jehn is about five two and gets up onstage with a series of repeat pedals and she builds her voice into these huge soundscapes by using the repeat pedals and then she whittles them down into songs in real time. It is breathtaking. After the set, one of the regulars, a punk rocker with twelve inch Mohawk walked up to me and said Kenyatta, I just heard the voice of god. Jehn and I were talking on the phone and she said when are we gonna get together? All of us fucking lunatics in our little corners of the world who are convinced we’re important. That was the impetus.

(After the conversation Sullivan’s previous band, Pandora’s Lunchbox , played the Philadelphia Music Conference. They stayed at one of the organizers’ house, Rick D’Angelo, who was fed up with the whole thing. He said he’d move down to Wilmington and do W.E. Fest. He still lives here, in Oak Island doing real estate. That was the beginning.)

It was very Little Rascals, C’mon guys let’s put on a show. I know a band from the Netherlands! It’s gonna be great! If you don’t get it, fuck you. The first year it wasn’t very well attended so I thought I sucked. I can’t ever do this again. I was in bed for a week. Then the press started coming in. People from fanzines started writing about it. Bands started calling and mailing thank you notes. Saying this is the best thing I’ve ever been to. This is the best thing I’ve ever been to because of this. I actually made real friends. I am booking tours now because of the people I met. People went from not being to get a show to playing up and down the east coast because they had all of these other bands who had in’s at all these clubs. Bands booked a whole a tour from the people they met. That’s what W.E. Fest is supposed to be.

What’s attendance like and when do shows begin?I would say that we’ll have over the course of the week, 700-1000 people. But who knows really, you just don’t know. We have nights where we couldn’t squeeze another person in the door. The music starts in the evening at eight usually and runs until two. We may start a littlie earlier. There are certain artists that have a specific crowd who’d want to see them at five or six. The bottom line is that everybody who plays, plays to a good crowd. We’ll have at least six bands a day, some extra on Saturday. Bands come and play for free. Everyone volunteers their time, pays their own way, from organizers to the artists which is why we can keep it so cheap. Because everyone volunteers we can keep it so dirt cheap it keeps it high quality, the essence of DIY. W.E. Festival isn’t for everybody. If you’re a cooler than thou hip indy kid you’re not gonna like W.E. fest. We don’t judge you by your t-shirt. For a buck you can discover a lot of music. That’s the goal, to discover things that will have real meaning in your life. The Soapbox has opened their doors, all three floors, for all five days.

Do you think that e-mail and the Internet, has taken some of the excitement out of discovering new things?
Some people do but I don’t know that I do necessarily. It’s just different. I think there are things that have been lost. There’s a personal aspect that’s been lost. It took so much effort to do it back then that it weeded out the weak, the people who really didn’t care, who weren’t willing to make that kind of effort to experience new and different things.

How much time goes into preparing for the Festival?Months. I try and start before January. Right now I’m waiting on confirmations, fan ‘zines for the kids, getting films locked down. It takes months and months to put together. We’re talking three stages of event, five days. That’s a lot of people and stuff to coordinate, a lot of events for a dollar a day. Some people don’t understand that it’s the idea that we’re going to get together and show each other what we’re doing and get drunk. The thing that’s really a whole lot different is that I’m dealing with a lot more managers than I’ve ever dealt with before. As a whole there’s a whole glut of would be management where a lot of people think they know what they’re doing and have no idea. That’s a mess. I’d say to any band don’t let anyone be your manager unless they have an established track record. Don’t sign anything even its from your friend. Have a lawyer look at it. A lot of people are calling themselves managers and they have a clue to what the job entails. A lot of people who contacted me for W.E. Fest are really bad at it, are clueless. And some of them are becoming known among people who book as people they will not deal with.

Are bands generally enthused about playing the festival, even though they foot their own bill?
Yeah. Next year we have to start not letting bands who played before play again. We have a huge recidivist rate. One band who played, broke up, but are coming this year to hang out for five days. We encourage bands to come play and not leave, hang out for a few days. The best part about W.E. Fest is about how bands work together over time. Get to know each other, share booking contacts, help out with shows here and there – all kinds of stuff. There’s so many ways bands can help each other. That’s how you build communities. The guys in the Dismemberment Plan still say that the W.E. Fest show was one of their best show ever they ever had. They played at three o’clock in the morning in a basement with three kegs. It was fantastic, everyone was up there with the band, exuberant, excited and into it.

In the loosest sense, what is WE Fest or if it had a mission statement what would it say?
That’s changed over time. When we first started there was a clear cut indy versus major kind of battle going on. You were on one side or the other. A lot of the bands that most every day kids think of as underground are no where near underground. There’s an upper tier of indy music that has all the resources, kinds of management that major labels have. They just don’t have a major label but for all practical purposes they have those things. So the distinction isn’t the same. But I think it’s all been nebulous what we do. For me, the best part of WE Fest is what happens afterwards, what bands do after.

Is there still a crowd for W.E. Fest? That’s the big fear. We don’t attach ourselves to any one click. It’s very hard to get people from these various clicks to come out because why do they want to mess with those other people? They don’t like those other people. We’re looking for the one or two of you that are real, that are individuals that genuinely have your own opinions and don’t let other people tell you what to think. If we can get a room full of people who actually believe something then that’s fantastic. You will be exposed to something different every night, not just different types of music but different ways of playing music.

Do you plan to continue the DIY aspect of W.E. Fest?I don’t foresee us accepting any corporate sponsorship because we don’t have to. And if WE Fest does stand for something is that you can do this over and over again and you don’t have to kiss anyone’s ass to do it. Our job is to make sure that everyone who pays their dollar leave thinking ‘I can’t believe that was only a dollar.’ And also that the bar makes money because it makes it easier next year. That the bands that play and all the people who travel feel glad they made the trip. We really focus on the bands as opposed to the festival. It’s the bands that make the event not the other way around. They’re doing us a favor by coming here. We’re not doing them a favor by filling a slot.

It’s a community service in a sense, exposing people to things they wouldn’t normally see.
That’s what we thought in 1996. We wanted to expose our town and our scene and our community to all the fantastic things we were finding in the underground. I remember on the very first day of the first WE Fest and I saw this girl, a five foot three hard bodied blonde walking down the street like she built it, wearing nothing but thigh high leather boots and a G-string with electrical tape on her nipples and she’d written with magic marker down her arm Fuck You I’m From Syracuse. I was, like, we win. You know, we win. She was the dominatrix who traveled with 99 Cent Special. She’s in California now.

Why did you pick Memorial Day weekend for the Festival?We chose it because it was arbitrary and no other event was going on then. We worked around all the major conferences. We were supposed to be an option. An option where you didn’t have to spend all this money to be considered. We took all the money out of the equation. Where nobody got in because they were somebody’s brother. A lot of those events, that’s how they work. This year we’re letting people do showcases – Trekky Records from Greensboro, Organic Entertainment is doing a showcase, Eskimo Records.

What else will the festival have besides music?Small press, fan ‘zines, indy comics. Traveling art. The Big Art Show is coming down from New York. The Yard Art people. All forms of indy culture, cross pollination, where the filmmakers are meeting the bands and the visual artists are meeting the people who are writing about them. Everybody getting to know one another. And beer. Beer is a big part of We Fest. We like beer. We started off doing microbrews but I don’t about this year.

Is the live streaming going to be a go?Yeah, it looks great. If you’re home you can watch it or if you’re parents won’t let you go to a rock show, which we understand. Listen to your parents.

Is W.E. Fest for everyone?It’s not for the people who don’t give a shit. People who don’t give a shit - stay home. The people who do give a shit, you will be in a room with a whole a lot of other people who love music, who love saying fuck you to the man, who love building things as opposed to buying things. People need to be exposed to this. But it’s really for people who are interested in seeing things that are interesting and different. And a lot of people aren’t. A lot of people they just want to listen to their 311 record again. And that’s fine. Good for them. But they aren’t going to have any fun at W.E. Fest.

ISSUE 22 - ESKIMO KISS RECORDS

2008-02-25T14:46:00.001-08:00

Eskimo Kiss Records: Kim Ware
By Josh Spilker

Eskimo Kiss Records was started in Wilmington in 2000 by North Carolina native, Kim Ware. Now in Atlanta, she has released over thirteen albums, basically all on her own. The Eskimo Kiss lineup is geared towards indie rock/electro pop with a Southern twist. We talked about her providential trip to Vegas, drinking beer with her bands, and the lack of money in record labels. For more info on Eskimo Kiss Records, check out www.eskimokissrecords.com or myspace.com/eskimokissrecords.

Bootleg: How and why did you want to start a record label? Kim Ware: Back in ‘99 or 2000, I was playing in a band called Pacer at the time. I’m a project manager at work my day job I was always the one who did the planning, booking shows, and doing the organizational stuff for the bands I had been in at the time. I had been talking to a band at the time called Lookwell about just trading shows with them and stuff, and when they sent me their CD, which was unreleased, they had just recorded about 5 songs with jerry key, and they were just sending it out to get shows and stuff. When I heard it, I thought I wanted to start a record label.

I got that CD and the wheels started turning a little bit more. We went to Las Vegas that November of ‘99, which was actually a trip that my ex (husband) had won. We thought it was like a scam, we were saying when they sent us the $500 cash that they’re saying we’ll get, then we’ll believe it. Well, they did. It was legit. We won this trip to Vegas, we didn’t have to pay a penny to go, and we got money while we there. While we were there, I won the jackpot on a corner slot machine, and so I won four thousand dollars. And I was like well, we were wanting to start a record label, and we didn’t have the money, and now we had the money to.

Bootleg: So the label is not your full-time job? KW: The label is an expensive hobby. I would love it if it ever turned into a full-time job, but it’s pretty hard to sell music these days. I think it takes a lot money behind records, to have everything in place to have promotion and radio. And the band needs to be touring as much as possible. I think having everything in one place at one time can take a lot of money.

Bootleg: What type of sound are you looking for now? KW: I’ve always liked indie rock and indie pop that sort of has a Southern influence. I sort of do different things, I don’t want everything to sound exactly the same. Hopefully, the common thread is indie pop with a Southern influence.

Bootleg: What is the hardest part of putting out a record in general? KW: From a small label standpoint, the hardest part for me is having the money and the time to do it at the same time. There are times where I save up a lot of money, so then it’s time for me to put out the next record. It really is a lot of work, and I basically do it by myself, so coordinating it and being able to do it along with my full-time job, and I play in a couple of bands, and trying to make it in a relationship, take care of my house, all of that is what’s hardest for me. Having the money and having the time.

Bootleg: What’s the budget like for putting out a release? KW: The Glaciers was the first time I paid a company to do radio promotion for it. It takes so much time to do radio well, even though it was a lot of money, it was about 1400 to get a company to promote it for six weeks. It got played, we sent it out to about 300 stations, and it got played on about half of them, which was so much better than what I could do on my own. If you include that in the budget, that’s about three or four thousand dollars. You could spend a lot more money than that.

Bootleg: What do you think is the role of the small label today? KW: Well, I think it can be a big deal just to have someone spend their time as something that we’re doing. I like to think of it as an extension of the band, as well, I’m really big into the whole grassroots, community event and the way that music is marketed has changed so much with blogs and everything. Which is really cool, it’s just one big circle of different people helping each other out. I like to think of it as an extension of the band, like a family. I think if you have a label like Sony, you won’t have as many people like, oh, the new record that Sony put out is out today and I’m going to get it, because I’m interested in everything (Sony) puts out. I have people, who buy every Eskimo Kiss release, who want to support what I’m doing. It’s just a small handful of people, but still I mean it’s cool, and everyone has their favorite label.

Bootleg: How do you go about finding your bands? KW: When I first started the label, I definitely wanted to focus on the Southeast. And the Glaciers, they’re really the first band that I wasn’t friends with already. They had heard the stuff for Citified, and wanted to get in touch with us. I’m starting to branc out a little more with it, but at first I was trying to do bands from the Southeast.
It’s such a personal thing, anyway, if I can’t sit down and have a beer with you, and get along with you, I probably shouldn’t put out your music. And I’d want people to consider me a friend as well.

The Vital Stats for Eskimo Kiss Bands

The Glaciers: Alt-country layered pop featuring former members of The Mendoza Line
Location: Queens, NYC
For Fans of: Beth Orton, Cat Power, Ben Folds, piano-driven shoegazing.
Release: “The Moonlight Never Misses an Appointment”
www.theglaciers.com

The Preakness: Catchy but calming lo-fi basement rock
Location: Atlanta, GA
For Fans of: The Shins, Beulah, Viva Voce
Release: The Preakness S/T 7”
www.preakout.com

Citified: Slightly spacey guitars, distinct bass lines, and haunting vocals with good allowances for reverb and introspection
Location: Greensboro, NC
For Fans of: REM, Red House Painters, Snowden, stripped-down Echo and The Bunnymen
Release: Citified S/T
www.myspace.com/citified

Jane Francis: Defiant folk in classic singer/songwriter mode
Location: Saxapahaw, NC
For Fans Of: Lucinda Williams, Joni Mitchell, Denison Witmer, Forget Cassettes
Release: “Skeletons For Tea”
www.myspace.com/janefrancis

ISSUE 22 - LASER TATTOO REMOVAL

2008-02-25T14:37:00.001-08:00

LASER TATTOO REMOVAL
By Brian Tucker

Johnny Depp sported a tattoo in the early 90’s that read ‘Winona Forever,’ referencing his engagement to actress Winona Ryder. When the relationship ended the tattoo was altered to read ‘Wino Forever,’ blocking out the ‘n’ and ‘a’ with black ink. Today, he could go the way of Danny Bonaduce, having it removed by laser.
Technology has come a long way it seems. Tattoo removal is as commonplace as hair removal or ridding noticeable spider veins. In an effort to clean up the image of marines, the Marine Corps began limiting tattoos last March, banning large tattoos below the elbow and the knee (the Army is not following the same pattern, allowing tattoos above the neckline). This led to many marines getting tattoos before the deadline. Still, what about removal?
In Wilmington tattoo removal is available at Atlantic Dermatology and now Lucky Seven Tattoo, the only tattoo shop in the area with a laser removal machine. Now, you can return to the tattoo parlor for removal or alterations if you’re in Johnny Depp’s predicament. It’s relatively painless and takes anywhere from four to ten treatments. But people enter into removal for a variety of reasons.
Laura, the nursing supervisor at Atlantic Dermatology said, “Usually we get people who get a tattoo on a weekend and realize they don’t like what they’ve done. People call and see what they can do to get rid of it.” She says that clients range in all ages, those who got them years ago and don’t want them anymore. But it may be work related as well. “Jobs require employees to not have them, they can’t cover them up.” Or it’s familial. “Spouses don’t like them for whatever reason and they feel like they have to get rid of them.”
But for those expecting removal to be done in a drive-thru fashion it’s not quicker than when the tattoo was originally inked. Removal of a tattoo is dependent upon several things, the colors used, the type of inks, which laser machine used for the removal and time. Most tattoos take between four to ten treatments. Between these treatments the skin has to heal and that period of time is different for the individual.
Atlantic Dermatology uses a machine that is in rotation between offices and they utilize different lasers for removal, depending on the tattoo. They have found that their Gentle Laze laser used for hyper pigmentation and laser hair removal treats them (tattoos) also. They allow up to three months between treatments but is dependent on the rate of healing.
“We evaluate everything at the consultation and if we feel they’re a good candidate - if they’ll get good results, if they’re tattoos are either, we call them jailhouse tattoos or if they’re professional tattoos. Because we don’t know the inks that were used,” Laura says. The homemade, or, jailhouse tattoos, might be harder to get rid of or easier to get rid of. The doctor or physician’s assistant don’t know what inks were used. These are the factors involved in evaluating and removing the tattoo and then there’s healing of the skin.
“It depends on how the tattoo is healing,” Laura says. “There may be blisters, almost like a burn. You put polysporin on it, covered till it heals. Sometimes we switch them over to a different laser to so they don’t have to wait that full three months. It may take six to ten treatments depending on the color. Dark colors work better. Oranges red and yellows and greens are harder. Dark blues, purples are easy. People don’t say it’s any worse than getting a tattoo.”
Atlantic Dermatology has been doing removal for nearly ten years and the number of clients is steadily growing, becoming a lucrative business. So it only makes sense that that tattoo parlors get involved in the business. Enter Wilmington’s Lucky Seven Tattoo.

I arrived at Lucky Seven Tattoo April 9th. While one staff member was preparing to ink a tattoo for a customer no one else was around. It was unusually quiet except for the faint, tiny sound of slaps coming from a small room near one of the inking areas.
I stood outside this particular room normally used for piercing, waiting to speak with shop owner Brian Price. In place of a door is a tan curtain and now closer I was better able to hear the tiny snapping sounds, like a whip cracked by a Smurf. The sounds were repetitive. They were the sounds of the laser being used to remove a tattoo. Price has been using the machine on himself to remove a tattoo in order to show customers in addition to correct part of another.
Piercer Mike Page and Price used the laser to remove tiny moles and page used it for some veins in his nose. “We’ve been practicing on ourselves,” Mike says, showing me the work underneath his shirt and left side of his nose. By doing so, they have experienced how much to use the laser for removal. Another staff member in training, Tracy, had peach fuzz on her lip removed in addition to two small moles that will require a few more treatments.

“I was thinking about tattoo removal for a few years because so many people come in for cover up’s,” Price says. “Just about everyone I know has something they want removed or covered up.”
Price also wants to work with the gang task service in Wilmington in regards to tattoo removal.
Paul Cenac, MD was in Wilmington from Atlanta that day to install a Q-Clear laser machine and train Lucky Seven staff members. The machine is the size of an old fashioned typewriter or cash register and resembles a prop from the Jetsons cartoon show.

I listen to Paul describe other uses for the machine, hair removal and spider veins.
“Seventy per cent women have spider veins,” he says. “Caused by weakening from estrogen”
Paul used the machine to remove hair on his left hand three years ago yet his right is still covered with black hair. He did so as a testament to his belief in the process and refers to the one hand with hair as ‘monkey knuckles,’ a walking billboard for hair removal. Removal is relatively painless and the process for hair removal works by the laser killing off blood supply to the hair. I asked them to use the laser on a sunspot/freckle on my right hand. It took longer to prep for the work than to actually do it. We put on protective glasses and Paul offered a cold compress to numb my skin. I declined.
Paul placed the laser ‘gun’ above my hand and using a red light as a guide, ‘fired’ a few times over the sun spot. It looks like this; pulses of light hit the ink, vein or sun spots to remove them. The gun looks like a laser pistol crossed with a Makita heat gun. It happens very quickly. The snapping sound happens and the light hitting my skin feels like a mosquito that’s landed and trying to dig in.
Photo-acoustic is the term for that snapping sound. Paul refers to it as a sonic boom at the cellular level.
“The sound of the pulse hitting the ink under the skin. That’s the sound of the pigment breaking up, when you hear the popping sound,” Paul explains.
I was left with what looked like faint spots of ash on my hand. It didn’t hurt and the area eventually scabbed over a little and fell away. Less than two weeks later the sunspot is completely gone. I have a spot of new skin that needs to catch up on its tan.
As further demonstration, Tracy sat down and used this process to have peach fuzz removed from her upper lip. Paul applied color to the area above her lip and began using the laser. It looked strange, tiny bursts of light above her lip, as though she were being subjected to something you’d see in a Terry Gilliam film. But she sat calmly until Paul was finished. The end result was that she now had a smooth and shiny upper lip, free from facial hair.
Brian’s arm is a little more complex. He has a detailed, all black Celtic tattoo that wound halfway around the upper portion of his arm, approximately three inches tall. He has been removing it over time to show customers. One half is disappearing, appearing as a murky light grey tattoo and the other half is still solid black.
After a first treatment there is scabbing and must heal before another treatment. It is no different than when you scratch your arm, scabbing over and eventually falling away leaving new, fresh skin. Here’s how the treatment process works;
The laser strikes the skin and ink underneath. It breaks it up the ink allowing the body to absorb the ink particles. At a microscopic level ink is like a basketball and the macrophage (cells that ingest a wide variety of particles in our body) is a tennis ball sitting next to the basketball. The macrophage can’t absorb the ink because it’s too big. The laser acts as a bullet hitting the basketball breaking it down so the macrophage can absorb the pigment. Then, the macrophage internalizes the pigment thus digesting it in the cell.

Different laser wavelengths are absorbed by different colors. Black and blues are absorbed by 1064 nanometer wavelength. Reds and purples are absorbed by 563 nanometers. Greens by 755. Those are three main wavelengths used for tattoo removal.
“It tickles at 532 wavelength nanometers and at 1064 feels like mosquito bite without the sting,” Paul says.
All tattoos are the full thickness of the skin, usually, and have to be removed in layers. Depending on the amount of ink initially injected, and depth, it will determine how many treatments necessary to remove all the layers. It takes usually 4-10 treatments. That may seem excessive but bear in mind that during the 80’s and 90’s a tattoo would be cut off leaving the shape of that tattoo.
“In twenty three years of laser advancement we’ve gotten to the point where the tattoo is removed from the skin,” Paul says. “We use the normal processes of the body to remove the ink.”

Paul Cenac has been involved with lasers since 1983 and the first lasers he worked with were for cancer surgery. Over the years he has worked with lasers that don’t damage tissue but work with living cells to accomplish desired results. They are thirty eight different medically effective lasers. There are three wavelengths used for tattoo removal, using two of those wavelengths at Lucky Seven Tattoo in a non-destructive manner.
The technology has only been available since 2004, what is called a quartz switched laser, so the on-off switch works at the speed of light through a quartz filter. This is recent in the history of lasers. Albert Einstein theorized lasers (light amplification by the stimulation emission of radiation) were possible in 1910 while working as a post office clerk. Writing his idea on the back of an envelope, it was nearly 35 years before mankind was able to recreate his theory and make the first laser in the 1940’s which was essential in the development of nuclear weapons that ended World War II.
That technology is the building block of nuclear power plants and medicine so laser technology and nuclear technology parallel one another. Advances in computers and solid state electronics and chips now allow users to have a laser the size of bread box that once was the size of ten by ten foot room and switch it on and off at the speed of light versus having to press a pedal manually.
Paul works with lasers in various clinics and Light Age Incorporated developed the Q-Clear laser machine. The owner of the Light Age Incorporated made Alexandrite-Laze in 1983, taking it commercial in 1986. It is the basis for all laser hair removal.
“We want them to use what we consider to be the safest lasers on the market. Even the safest laser on the market can be harmful if not used with proper training,” Paul says. “The company feels it’s really worthwhile to not only put a good instrument in the hand of the end user but to give them the training so they give the best results and in the safest manner.”
I ask Paul about spider veins, another application of the laser. He says that generally women have thinner skin and thinner vessels and capillary walls. Their capillary walls break easier resulting in more bruising since the walls are more fragile.
“With that thinness they dilate from pressure over time. As the vessels dilate and get bigger they become more visible through the skin. They occur frequently with more estrogen pulses women have, occurring more during pregnancy,” Paul explains.
The laser works on spider/varicose veins by coagulating the blood in the vein in which the body comes along and absorbs that coagulated vein, removing the unsightly appearance. In addition a person will have about 40 times more venus outflow from the skin. Removing those visible veins allows the skin to look clean and still be healthy.
But how is it that a tattoo parlor can use a machine one may only associate with a doctor? Technology has made it more accessible and treatable for one. Second, staff members at the tattoo shop are trained to use the machine and are overseen by a medical director.
Lucky Seven Tattoo has a local medical director, who’s about two blocks away, that oversees their. In North Carolina the rule is the medical director has to be within a half hour of the clinic.
“That person is the medical umbrella, the medical supervision of the process,” Paul explains. “Even if this machine was in his office it’s usually the tech’s who do the treatments so we train the tech’s how to use the equipment to do the procedures. This is like the tech’s are not in the office they’re here (Lucky Seven) but still under his supervision.”
This is similar to what Laura explained at Atlantic Dermatology where Dr. Stephen Crane does most of the treatments. “The physician’s assistants can do them,” she says. “There’s no scarring, some people, you can see a faint image. Some just have clear skin,” Laura says. What is left behind may resemble a light birth mark.
Costs of the procedure are varied and worth investigating. It may be more efficient to go to the tattoo parlor than a doctor’s office. That is dependent upon the person. It may be cheaper. A tattoo shop has more square footage than a typical doctor’s office. To some, it’s more comfortable and less clinical.

But tattoo removal is becoming much bigger. Dr. TATTOFF is a name that is getting around. During the mid-nineties James Morel and his brother published the magazine Pop Smear in New York City which resulted in a healthy, five year run. The magazine’s vibe was sex, drugs and rock and roll. Morel won’t disclose the tattoo, but he says one he had it didn’t exactly fit the magazine’s attitude.
“I had to have a tattoo removed,” he says, “a ridiculous tattoo.”
Morel went in search to have it removed. That experience eventually led to another business venture, one that is very successful in Beverly Hills, on the corner of Wilshire and La Cienega. As CEO of Dr. TATTOFF, he and his business partners own three stores in California under the name Dr. TATTOFF. In August they plan to open four Dr. TATTOFF stores a month and with backing from those with experience in chain stores, plan on building ninety across the United States.
It’s good business. Morel thinks so.
“Think of all the tattoos put on in nineties. That style is not particularly popular right now. Think of all the changes recently with technology. People’s personalities are changing so fast these days that what you thought was cool even two to three years ago you may not believe in. You know, maybe it’s time to have that removed. Get your Soul Asylum tattoo removed,” he says with a chuckle.
Dr. TATTOFF uses a Q-switch laser, he says is the best on the market. “The lasers they used before was a ruby laser. The problem with those lasers was they got the tattoo off but left scars. Before that were argon lasers but that was even worse.”
The lasers used now use wavelengths that are specifically targeted for certain ink colors that do minimal damage to the skin. “So basically you can have the color taken out and it doesn’t take your pigment out or damage the skin.”
Morel said that yellow ink is tougher to remove and that a nice black tattoo or dark color on light skin has a very high chance of being removed. Morel says it doesn’t depend on the person, that the general rule of thumb is a person wait 6-8 weeks between treatments and that you’re looking at six to eight treatments also. Dr. TATTOFF’s patient’s age range runs the gamut, people that are adults who as kids went to their friend’s garage when they were thirteen and got homemade tattoos.
“Generally 25 – 35 years old and the majority of them are women,” he says. “Homemade tattoos are easier. The professionals use so much ink and they do a good job with their coverage that it takes longer to break up the ink. Generally, those homemade tattoos they can’t get the ink in far enough.”
Even in Beverly Hills Morel says that less than ten per cent of patients are celebrities but does their fair share of work for them. “Just being in this town, my business partners are guys in the entertainment industry, who own clubs in town. The word gets around quickly, Grammy winners, Oscars winners. They (the movie industry) do a good job of covering up tattoos and putting them on in this town.”
One celebrity was Danny Bonaduce who got a black ring tattoo on his ring finger to demonstrate the strength of his newfound fidelity after sleeping with another woman. His wife disliked it because it reminded of him cheating every time she saw it. Enter Dr. TATTOFF.
Removing the ring was different not that it was close to the bone but because of the location on his body. Tattoos that are further away from your heart, more towards your extremities, your fingers or toes, take a little bit longer to remove because there’s not as much blood flowing through there and your system can’t work to get that ink out after it’s treated. It doesn’t go away as well as on an arm. It takes longer.
“Not a lot of people think about that,” Morel adds, that it’s harder for the body’s macrophages to work to remove the ink.

For more information check out
www.luckyseventattoo.net
www.atlanticdermatology.com
www.DrTATOFF.com
www.lightage.com

ISSUE 22 - DJ YUMMY

2008-02-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

ADRIANA/DJ Yummy

What types of music do play/prefer? My favorite is House music, especially house remixes of old songs. I am known for playing what's called "Baltimore house" or "Baltimore club." It's a mix of hip-hop beats at 120 to 135 beats per minute. Usually the music has low production quality, giving it that old-school rap sound. Lately the crowds have been asking for a lot of mash-up stuff. I put my own spin on it by playing a popular record for a few bars, then dropping a Baltimore house beat on top of it. I do spin some hip-hop but it’s a shame what has happened to that form of music. It started out so fun and original and now it just plain sucks. There are no new decent artists. It’s just all crap shoved down out throats by MTV. I miss the old days of rap.

How did you get into dj-ing? I started in the business as a bartender in a beach/party town in Maryland called Ocean City. My favorite thing in the world to do is go out dancing, but I was always frustrated that the DJs in the area were not as entertaining as those in bigger cities. I always wondered why DJs would just sit quietly behind the booth like a human jukebox. I felt that DJs should be as energetic and animated as bands are on stage. The crowd feeds off the performer’s energy. Motion creates emotion. Finally I had someone teach me the basics of music and equipment, and I took it from there. I really think that dancing had a lot to do with me grasping the concept of pitch, tempo, and mixing.

What separates your local scene from others you've been to? I actually am part of a couple of scenes. In the summer, I live in Ocean City MD. The rest of the year I live in Baltimore. The scene in Ocean City is a blast. I play to enormous crowds every night and do a lot of outdoor parties on the beach or at pool bars. It's just such a fun crowd to play to because everyone is drunk and on vacation. Musically, this area hasn't caught up with the rest of the world, but that's just part of the laid back lifestyle here.

Do you create your own mixes? Yes, I work with a producer and we've been working on original stuff. I've been contacted by some record companies who are anxious to get my stuff on the shelves already.

What’s the most exciting thing so far in your career? The first time I saw my name on a billboard. I called my mom right away. I also just recently saw my face on a T-shirt. That was pretty cool. Bud Light is my sponsor, so actually getting paid to drink good beer is another high point! Truthfully though, the greatest is seeing a packed dance floor when everyone is dancing and smiling and having a great time. It's very rewarding when people tell me that they came to see me again because of what a good time they had with me the last time. I work very hard when I'm performing, including jumping out of the DJ booth to dance in the middle of the crowd.

Lastly, what about you no one knows or would be surprised to know? When I spin at clubs it's all house music and hip-hop, but when I'm alone...I belt out the country music at the top of my lungs!

ISSUE 22 - FICTION

2008-02-25T14:29:00.000-08:00

CONSTITUENT
By John Hunter

Pullum Frontonianum, or chicken a la fronto, is a tricky little dish. You have to fry the chicken first. Not bake, but fry. And this works for the whole chicken. This recipe was one of literally two hundred or so that I collected that year. Sarah called my collection “a clear symptom.”
“Make sex to me, Errol.”
Like an aide memoire, her passion started as a low, breathy flow of lust, originating in the bedroom and extending from her lips, wrapping around the hallway and ending in a barely audible proposal in the kitchen.
Of course it can’t be that simple. Then all you have is fried chicken. Nothing calls out a boring menu more than fried chicken. Find a nice wine, perhaps Madeira for its longevity, and coat the chicken with it. Also add dill, fresh leeks, cilantro and a little olive oil. Liberally add saturei; that is if you have a good dose of it.
“Make sex to me, Errol.” Her pining swelled above an undertone, simmering above the room temperature whispers of the previously broadcasted yearning. Her nightly routine.
As soon as you season the chicken, you discontinue the frying and place the chicken in the oven on bake for about 60 minutes on 200 degrees. This gives you enough time to deal with the bedroom situation.
I always knew that I would fall in love.
“Ohhhhhhhhh...Errol!”
Through time, she always changed in my mind; the ideal woman I mean. Sometimes she was blonde, sometimes brunette. The small details. But somewhere between the cookie-cutter notion of what the ideal woman should be, the lines became distorted. The hourglass figure, the angelic face with no laugh lines, the well adjusted, All-American pin-up from Everywheresville, Nebraska; the masturbatory pipe dream that I was throwing my self into; all of those prerequisites are just the set-up.
“MAKE SEX…TO ME!”
You’ve seen her before. You couldn’t forget her. Even through the endless rotation of recycled emotions spread thin on the daytime television that you watch, you couldn’t take your eyes off of her. When she was on the model-turned-talk show host’s mid-afternoon extravaganza, you tuned in. You probably chuckled to yourself. When she made the local news, you were there. Your eyes were peeled. When she had her own one hour special hosted by the best selling author/psychologist, you watched. And when she got her own show, you glued yourself to the screen.
You watched every minute of the sensationalism. You watched as the audience members pretended to wipe the tears from their eyes, the tissues conveniently placed under their seats, careful not to stare at the camera upon cue.
You can’t be held responsible. It is tough. No, it is impossible to look away from my wife. In fact, it is preposterous to think that anyone could avert their eyes from anyone who weighs 814lbs.
“ERROL!”

Errol was Errol Flynn. If Jesus was resurrected, he would have become an actor named Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn, according to her.
Because of her condition, she was bedridden. The bedroom became a virtual home theater. Stacks and stacks of movies, any television channel from here to London, the universal remote, anything that would distract her from remembering that she was who she was.
It was The Adventures of Robin Hood that did it for her. That was her favorite Flynn movie. He was the archetypal hero. At that exact moment, there was nothing more appropriate that she needed.

“There’s no need to be jealous,” she would say to me. “We have all had something taken from us. We all need someone to steal it back.”
So while Errol and his Merry Men were saving the day, I was busy taking care of the dirty work.
Between treating her outbreaks of cellulitis or changing her soiled sheets, along with cooking meals or changing movies, I barely found time to eat. “Starvation,” Sarah called it. I always found that little things like eating and sleeping got in the way of time that could have been spent with her. Despite Errol’s best efforts, even he couldn’t steal back wasted time.
It all becomes a routine. The recipes are the same. You look for something more exotic, something you can work with. You seek out the ingredients, you mix them together and you work your life around it accordingly. But then, just as life happens, something occurs. It’s not in your cookbooks or your self-help, one-shot fix everything cd’s. Its something that you can’t find on your instructional, idiot’s manual to life.
“Oh! It is perfect!” Those are the first words I remember her saying. Well, she was in fact screaming at the top of her lungs.
She was in a dressing room of a higher end department store. I was searching for new pants or a clever tie or some other article of consumerism that would fill the gaping holes in my life.
The door opened and the six mirrors outside of the dressing room paralleled something so lovely, so exquisite that the incessant desire to fill the gap was gone. The holes were sealed by the beautiful mess dressed in a hideous evening gown.
“My god! It’s just the thing,” she continued. She waived her arms out by her side and spun around in miniature circles. The old, rich housewives gawked. The store clerks were either too apathetic or too afraid to stop her. Every movement drew me in farther.
Her face was plastered with a sarcastic leer. It was all a production. We were the joke. Our expressions were the punch line. I wanted in.
I carried a camera everywhere I went then. I wanted people to know that I was a high profile photographer, damn it. I was the one that captured the images on the covers of the magazines that told women how to lose the pounds and gain a man. The spread of the actress with her newborn twins; that was mine. I was an artist who deserved their curiosity. I helped manufacture that masturbatory pipe dream. Now I have never wanted anything less.
Click-click-click! The snapping and the flashes from the camera drew even more attention to us. “So lovely!” I shouted. “In all my years as a professional, I have never…”

She pouted her lips and put one hand on her hips, the other on her head. “It’s not even so much me, darling,” she said in a mock French accent. “It’s this fabulous dress.”
She wasn’t always obese. She will tell you herself. In fact, she was a perfect size four the day that I met her. She will probably tell you that she was overweight as a child. She could even tell you that she often would go home and laugh herself to sleep thinking about the slight pandemonium that she caused. “At least they will have something to tell their bored husbands,” she would say.
But without a doubt she would never tell you about her Uncle Bruce. The words would stop in her throat and nearly suffocate her if she talked about Bruce, who was no blood relation but rather a family friend. She could never bring herself to tell you that he took her to the old theater downtown every Saturday afternoon to watch the matinee of the old classics when she was around eight years old.
While watching The Philadelphia Story he put his arm around her. When Gene Kelly was dancing to the title song in Singin’ in the Rain, they giggled. And when Jimmy Stewart was introducing everyone to his giant rabbit in Harvey, Uncle Bruce was forcing her to do terrible things.
“That’s what pretty girls do,” Bruce would say. “And you are such a pretty girl. You’re like one of those fashion models in the magazines, so special to me.”
“So you can’t tell Mommy and Daddy, because then Uncle Bruce would have to do something really mean to them.” His words were breathy and crisp. “You understand?” He was the kind of serious that she knew not to test. But she would never tell you that.
It would stir it all up again if she were to tell you how it only got worse. She couldn’t tell you that she hated being pretty. Anytime someone even suggested that she was beautiful or gorgeous or even cute, she would lose control, sometimes scream, and sometimes hide behind her mother. Reticent is how her parents described her.
She wouldn’t tell you that. She would never tell you that she ate. That was her way of fighting back. She ate and ate. She was swallowing her way to freedom. She didn’t want to be just chubby. She wanted to be grotesque, fat, obese. She couldn’t be that pretty girl anymore.
And it was until that Saturday, the one that she came home wearing blood soaked panties, her legs smeared with red streaks, the day that she first saw The Adventures of Robin Hood that it continued. Enter the hero, Errol Flynn, taking back what was once stolen. But you would never know.
She almost stopped eating all together when Uncle Bruce after Bruce’s sentencing.
A year into our marriage, Bruce was killed in prison. He was serving time for molesting a mailman’s daughter.
It all came back. The guilt poured in. She was responsible for his death, or so she thought. She ate. She didn’t stop. But you would never know. I never did. She wouldn’t tell you. Not until years later. All you would see was an 814 lb. woman.
Thus became my formula for life. But everybody always wants more. A steady routine of an even mixture of love and pain can cause even a man on top of things to miss the obvious.
For example, you spend a day out gathering the ingredients for minutal marinum and running errands. Routinely you lock the door. It isn’t even a routine. It has become a biomechanical reaction, as if breathing or coughing. But today you come home and there it is, not only unlocked but slightly open.
What do you do? Panic, right?
So here you are, scurrying through the house, looking for signs of an intruder. What you are really looking for is a trail of blood, a barely recognizable corpse, one with a wedding ring. Her wedding ring.
But even more horrifying, even more sickening, you find absolutely nothing. No sign, nothing to stop the brutal murder imagery from punching and kicking your head until it causes a throbbing pain right above your eyelids.
So you head to your bedroom. But as you hit your heroic, gallant stride, you crumple like a piece of paper. You grab your stomach and writhe on the ground. You feel like you are going to shit yourself, but you can’t.
How embarrassing. Your wife is missing and all you can do is collapse because your body is eating itself. And you bought the wrong broth for the minutal marinum. Sarah calls it “poor insight”.
In a sick, desperate move, you crawl to the bedroom. The room, her bed, is empty. Nothing. And right before the inevitable blackout, you notice the enormous hole in the bedroom wall.
The beeping sound is the first thing that I heard when I awoke. A heart monitor. The stinging feeling in my hand was an IV. The hospital.
“That was your wife on the news tonight.”
My mouth felt like a wasteland.
“What? Who?” I asked.
“She was lifted from your house with the crane. They rescued her, you know.”
She read the monitors in the room and took notes on her clipboard. Her hourglass figure was draped in all white attire. Her name tag read SARAH.
“That guru, the fitness guy, he found her. Apparently one of your neighbors called him. Said they were concerned,” she continued.
“Rescued? What happened?”
“You collapsed. You haven’t eaten in, oh, probably six days. Your wife, they took her away. They are going to help her.”
I wanted to rip out the IV and run clear of the hospital. I wanted to scream. But I was almost too weak to speak and the catheter in my urethra had me chained to the bed.
She turned on the television. Every channel showed the same scene at different angles. My wife was being “rescued”. Everything went dark again.
For the next week and a half I spent time in or around the hospital talking to doctors, shrinks, dieticians and nurses. They all saw her on the news, my wife. I know this because they found it necessary to tell me.
Sarah walked me out the day that I was cleared from the hospital. “It’s not your fault. You can’t save everyone. I have tried,” she said. She handed me a card with a telephone number written on it. “We all want to feel needed. Call me.”
For the next year, I tracked my wife through the daytime television. When she filmed the “very special” weight loss episode with the fitness guru is Seattle, I was forbidden from the premises. During the special hosted by that balding, mustached psychologist, I tried to find which hotel she was staying in.
Calls were never returned. Letters were never answered. Doors were closed. I was floating at the bottom.
For weeks I watched as she had her stomach stapled, as she lost weight, as she crusaded to help others. Months and months on end I watched. I was helpless.
“We have all had something taken from us,” my wife would say. “We all need someone to steal it back.”
And as I watched, I ate. And I ate more. For days, weeks, months, I ate. I stared at the screen everyday, eating my way back to her. I needed her to save me.
Yeah, you have probably seen me too. I am the house ridden man from the viral video on the web, the giant orca who can’t get out of bed. I too have made my way through the day-time television circuit. I have had my own half- hour, heartbreaking segments. But all you saw was a humungous man who has eaten himself into a death sentence.
Sarah calls it “a serious attempt at romance.” She has been taking care of me for a few months. While my wife is saving the some obese mother of three, Sarah is busy taking care of the dirty work. “Mental health days,” she calls my time in bed.
“You know, its funny,” she said. “God set us free with that apple. He gave us the ability to choose, to make decisions. We have to decide what color socks to wear, what the best type of toilet paper to use, what to eat, what to watch on television.”
She climbs into the bed beside me and grabs my hand.
“But the most important of all decisions, the one we want to control…you can’t choose who you fall in love with. You can only choose how you deal with it.
She holds my hand tighter and lays her head on my chest. For the first time in a year, I turn the television off.

ISSUE 22 - DVD REVIEWS (SURF)

2008-02-25T14:23:00.000-08:00

RIDING GIANTS

Just as the title says, this disc is about big wave riding. Directed by Stacy Peralta, world renowned skater and director of the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, Riding Giants focuses on pioneer Greg Noll and traces surfing from the fifties to the present with Laird Hamilton. Not the ordinary surf film, it’s a particularly uncommon documentary, tracing the ascent of surfing’s appeal to young males and the history of big wave surfing.
The first third of the film centers on Greg Noll and the early days of surfing until the eighties when pro surfers brought personality back into the sport and shorter boards were more common. Much is focused on Waimea surfing and the huge waves surfers ride.
Next is a section on Mavericks, a surf spot held secret for fifteen years by Jeff Clark. It’s an area he found in his backyard off the coast of Northern California outside San Francisco. Looking out from his school he saw a huge wave breaking consistently in the distance. One day he set out to ride it and kept it a secret until 1990. It is an area surfers have to paddle forty five minutes to get to, a trek in rough, cold waters with treacherous rocks near by. The waves rival Waimea, in size and complexity, a sight to behold. Clark describes how he “never had water move so fast under a board before.”
The section doesn’t ignore the dangers of the spot, noting the death of Mark Foo and discussing the pros and cons of using a leash in waves over twenty feet tall. The leash can tie surfers to a rock below or be used to climb back to the surface to return to their board.
The final act focuses on Laird Hamilton, the best big wave rider in the world, taking a look at tow-in surfing that allows surfers to catch enormous waves up to eighty feet in size. Hamilton explains that it isn’t so much the complexity of the wave but the struggle to catch it since the wave is moving terribly fast. Getting out there begat jet skis that towed surfers out to the wave where they caught it sans paddling.
These waves are tremendous in size and surfers travel on them at thirty five miles an hour, they almost disappear on the face of the wave. It’s like man being able to play on the filed with dinosaurs. This relatively new way of riding is another step in the evolution of surfing, taking the leap with on one of Mother Nature’s greatest thrill rides. Riding Giants illustrates humanity’s capability to express wonder and embrace it to the fullest

- Brian Tucker

STEP INTO LIQUID

“Once you surf, you’re in the club,” says six time world champion Kelly Slater. “It’s like the mob. You can’t get out.”
Dan Brown’s Step Into Liquid showcases the soul and spirit of surfing. His camera travels all over the globe, from Hawaii to Vietnam, Wisconsin to Tahiti, telling a spot on story of surfing and its lifestyle. Brown, son of Endless Summer’s Bruce Brown, follows surfers over and under waves, catching their success and falls. One spectacular shot follows a surfer diving under a wave, beautifully capturing the roll from the below the surface.
In Hawaii, Laird Hamilton rides waves of incredible size, so large he’s towed out to them by Jet Ski, leaving one to wonder what drives someone to take such a risk. The answer is the fulfillment of passion for surfing, something that is genuinely lost on much of popular sports today. But surfing is more of a way of life than a sport.
“Can you describe a color to someone?” asks Hamilton. “No, you can’t. You have to see it to understand it.” You have to do it, be an active participant.
Surfing was a rebellious past time that exploded during the early sixties into mainstream culture. If surfing is a sport, then it is one still misunderstood and looked upon with a strained eye. Philosophical as it is daring and dangerous, surfing is displayed in. Step Into Liquid as much for its individuality as well as its fervor. Much of the blame for surfing stereotypes rests with modern media and movies. Step Into Liquid does well to squash the sound bites of ‘Hey Dude’ and Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Especially with the fact that necessity is the mother of invention when it comes to catching waves, any waves. In the absence of an ocean or acceptable waves, surfers have a knack for finding a solution. In Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan, locals wait for winds to emerge and then take to surfing the resulting waves. It may not be Hawaii but the excitement is evident on their faces, enjoying each wave as though it were the last. In Texas, surfers take a boat ride into the ocean to surf the wake of a super tanker.
“You can ride the same wave for a long time,” says one of the surfers. The men ride continuously, while the super tanker moves along in the distance. It’s a fantastic and outlandish sight captured on film.
The Malloy Brothers return to Ireland where their family hails from to surf. The locals come out to watch, uncertain whether the brothers will head into the icy water. Later, they bring boys and girls from Northern Ireland, Protestants, and they surf in the same ocean as Catholic boys and girls. While the rest of the country is at odds over religion, these children find a common ground in the water with surfing.
The film also follows a veteran of Vietnam back to Da Nang to surf again and chronicles a paralyzed surfer. And then there’s Dale Webster, who’s surfed everyday since 1976 in which to set a record of surfing over 10,000 days. In Tahiti the film focuses on three female surfers who embody the precision and enjoyment of surfing. In a field that once shunned female surfers, these women show off their talent.
“Who’s the best surfer in the world?” Keala Kenelly asks rhetorically. “The one that’s having the most fun.”

- Brian Tucker

UNTIDALED

Oh what fun it must be to hit the road for some great surfing footage, from the United States east coast to California, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Untidaled is a straight up surf film, complete with non-stop footage occasionally interrupted by tomfoolery and bikini shots. It is essentially all surf action, beneath the curl of the waves and over the back of them.
Surfers are filmed shredding and toppling waves big and tall, bursting out of the sky blue colored barrels, foam blowing out just behind them. In New Jersey surfers tackle green surf that is rough and mushy, careful to avoid industrial pilings in the surf. Their ability to ride and avoid pitfalls is pure fun in itself, showcasing how far surfing has come in the last fifty years. Some scenes capture how amazing surfers are on a wave that they have no control over, sliding, twisting and slipping over the lip of a wave. It’s an elegant dance they do, maintaining balance and form on moving water.
The waves at Cape Hatteras are the most interesting, super fast, clean and crisp, propelling surfers out like shot through a gun. But they are no match for the big waves of Hawaii, skyscrapers themselves that are breathtaking but brutal and unsympathetic.
The forty five minute disc hosts a ton of surfers, from Jason Reagan to Tom Curren and Kelly Slater. It’s a fine disc of all action surfing. However, depending on what you like in a surf video it may or may not appeal.
Untidaled is less a documentary and focuses strictly on action. There’s no interviews with the surfers or comments from spectators or the filmmakers. It’s all action, which many may prefer. The footage is accompanied by established popular music from The Cult, Marilyn Manson, 50 Cent, The Bravery and Danzig. It would have been more interesting to have the scenes accompanied by lesser known artists (like bands on the film’s soundtrack TSOL and Social Distortion). Given that surfing, at its heart, is still an underground activity, the music used would have been more compelling were it lesser known.
Untidaled is a welcome addition to any collection of surf films. Watch it with your own tunes or as is, it’s still a lot of fun to watch.

- Brian Tucker

ISSUE 22 - CD - REVIEW - THE SO SO GLOS

2008-02-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

Those vested in categorizing everything as cool, or already over, will not like anything for more than its perceived short shelf life. That attitude causes the swift music fans to miss the gold nugget in the silt. Their perception that something is ‘cool’ overlooks the fact that it’s good. Their loss.
Some bands get labeled as the momentary cool thing, which is dangerous when they’re good. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen to New York City’s The So So Glos. They are good, they are cool and say something as they play music that puts the New York Dolls, The Clash and the sparseness of The Strokes in a cab careening down a dark alley collision.
Mixing up a sometimes overlooked genre of rock and roll and brash swagger, The So So Glos have recorded one of the best collection of songs (four to be exact) to come along in a while. You can feel and smell the city on their EP, dripping with attitude, fun and angst. The tracks are thick with rhythm and gut deep sentimentality, criss-crossing bombast with gentility.
Beginning with a singular siren guitar riff on ‘Black & Blue’ singer Alex Levine belts out The cops put a black boy in back of the car/The pretty people watch it as they strut into the bar. He sings as if being dragged away by thugs, his delivery soulful, like a staggered rally cry. The guitar is playful and pointed, moving along and then going quiet, making a point, supplanted even further by the drumming and a howling chorus of have you got it all figured out? It is fucking blissful, hoarse and brazenly Joe Strummer to boot.
‘Seventeen’ opens with harmonica, hand claps and ‘Used to Love Her’ descending guitar strumming, Seventeen and closet queen/Flashing purple on the screen…You’d rather bite the bullet than to take a chance/You’d rather be a mouse than be a man…It’s a biography with a Beggar’s Banquet feel, a wall of sound that hits hard.
There’s the New York Dolls driving strut of ‘Broken Mirror Baby’ as the band namedrops themselves. ‘Low’ is a rave-up, sounding thirty years old and new at the same time. Four songs and the band have produced something more meaningful than some say with a whole record. It has power, wildness, and a vibe and elicits the promise of something more.
The band contentedly echoes The Clash, The J. Geils Band or the swagger of T.Rex. Thank god this style of playing lives on; fun and dangerous just the same. They’re telling stories with a superb soundtrack. It may seem like they don’t give a shit, the playing is energetic and seemingly effortless. But the band does give a shit, wanting to put teeth back in music, demanding that an audience listen, dance and participate.
This is the type of band that would get airplay on SNL back in the day, a band with something to say, a little reckless. Now all you get is Avril Lavigne. Take this to heart from lead singer Alex Levine:

“I live amongst the apathetic generation. We think that we're something special, when in fact we are all beautifully mediocre. Incredibly so-so. We stand for nothing, care about nothing, talk a lot, and do nothing. Apocalyptic beings waiting for the end, and exploiting what’s left while we are still here. Making sure we look good as the world crumbles in devastation. I am as dim as the lights from the city, a fucking SO SO GLO. Just like you. Change Something.”

-Brian Tucker

myspace.com/sosoglos

ISSUE 22 -CD REVIEW - POWDERCAKE

2008-02-25T14:20:00.001-08:00

Pure, raw sugar and ferocity describes their sound. The all girl trio from Raleigh, N.C. pound out old school punk chords with catchy hooks, L7 crossed with Veruca Salt. ‘Meant to Fit’ mixes a straightforward guitar riff and a catchy chorus, mixing up grinding guitar with nasally sweet vocals.
‘Past Life’ is the opposite, acoustic strumming and fuzzed out guitar with deeper vocals. A drawer full of memories/Pictures of a younger me smiles masking strife/Pictures of another us/Evidence of a past life. A slower track that comprises a moody and reflective narrative of time lost and people removed, Take your time/stay within the lines…it always hurts now you’re gone. The song is later complimented by low key electric guitar.

‘Inside Out’ is a shotgun ride out of town, a repeating guitar riff and sometimes snarling vocals, Inside out and broken bones/Inside and shattered hope/Now I know I’m never coming home. Then there’s the realization of ‘Only One,’ of being yourself in a relationship.
The band seems intent in making old school rock mixed with pop flourishes. The music is straight up and slightly tongue-in-cheek, vocals that contradict the music’s raw power or the band’s name with umlauts above and below the letter O and C like Shout at the Devil era Motley Crue.

- Brian Tucker

Myspace.com/powdercakeband

ISSUE 22 - CD REVIEW - PIEBALD

2008-02-25T14:19:00.001-08:00

Piebald “Accidental Gentleman”
Side One Dummy Records, 2007

Piebald was much maligned after 2004’s All Ears, All Eyes, All the Time for its introspective lyrics and piano ballads. They were castigated for having a normal life, for growing up, for thinking about different things in 2000 than in 2004. Fans wanted the hooks of ‘We Are the Only Friends We Have’ and the spontaneous liveliness of the double-disc Barely Legal/All Ages.
From the latter perspective, Piebald may be trying a retreat. ‘Accidental Gentleman’ has more of their post-hardcore fusion than the last, with vibrant goodness in ‘A Friend of Mine’ and ‘Oh, The Congestion.’ ‘Getting Mugged and Loved It’ continues Piebald’s penchant for the sardonic; this song is their response to a mugging against them. ‘Shark Attack’ is a concoction of dirty punk rock chords and desperate vocals that re-establishes Piebald’s punk relevance.
‘Roll On’ is a horrible joke track that describes lead singer Travis Shettel’s love of biking. To the uninitiated, it would sound like a poorly recorded jingle for a children’s album. The piano is too repetitive, the melody too simple. ‘Strangers’ is the same way, and it has a cheesy friendship chorus that sounds like a Billy Joel ripoff. Shettel’s voice is horrible and disingenuous. And maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be. Shettel’s voice is oddly atonal, and it only fits with the music he creates. Therefore, there is a wry sarcastic quality to it, and also an everyman quality to it, that embodies the spirit of punk rock.
Accidental Gentleman is better Piebald than their previous, and the Massachusetts’ boys seem to still have some life in them after ten years of punk rock frantic madness. The songs that are supposed to rock do, those that are supposed to be jokes may be lost on new listeners. But punk rock without an insider’s club would be pop, so Piebald keeps Accidental Gentleman in line with their fans - those that want Piebald to never grow up, and to never go pop.
-Josh Spilker

ISSUE 22 - CD - LIPBONE REDDING

2008-02-25T14:18:00.001-08:00

Lipbone is the past and a whole new breed of musical performer all at once. Now, Doug E. Fresh and the Fat Boys may have made music using their mouths, beat boxing in the mid-eighties, but Lipbone uses his to makes more distinct music. The sounds he makes are those of a trombone or trumpet. If you didn’t know before, you wouldn’t know while listening. All the horn sounds on Hop The Fence is made by Lipbone’s voice and lips.
Magnificent musical uniqueness aside, the songs on Hop The Fence are a striking combination of music from the past and present; Cab Callaway, Dr. John, Paul Simon and Fats Waller.
It has the feel of world music, New Orleans jazz and Delta soul. The album was recorded live (and in three days) and the feel is loose, yet electric. All those years playing and traveling the world probably helped since it’s evident in the music’s swagger. To be blunt, the album is just cool.
‘Closing Time’ is a funky number where Lipbone sings in a raspy, laid back vocalization. The title is adequate, the energy loose and fleeting. ‘Dogs of Santiago’ recalls Paul Simon, smooth vocals with a funky world music feel. ‘Sixteen Tons’ shows his musical heritage where ‘Hollywood An’ Vine’ is a delight, capturing the essence of a casual slow dance song. The vocals are talkative at first, like a subtle Gil-Scott Heron and then sweetly passionate like Fats Waller. It is laced with elegant guitar and percussion, strutting along like a couple fresh in love.
‘Old Flame’ is a country ride done right, crooning like Ross Bon from The Mighty Blue Kings but without the bass in his voice. It is a tender song ripe for a Saturday afternoon stroll.
Lipbone and his fellow musicians bring our parents and grandparents music into the present while offering it up fresh and new. Hop The Fence isn’t trapped in a particular genre in the way that pigeonholed groups such as Squirrel Nut Zippers or Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in the mid nineties. The album displays not just excellent musicianship but the ability to craft songs that are catchy and timeless.

- Brian Tucker

ISSUE 22 - CD REVIEW - 910 NOISE

2008-02-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Art arrives, thankfully, in all substances. So why not noise? What is easily described as a collection of music based on noise is more than the sum of its parts on of 910 Noise Volume One. Combining noises found within the 910 area code and ambiance, the collection serves up something between the realms of otherworldly, manic and seductive.
These sounds are toyed with, manipulated to create music. Perhaps what could be dismissed as background or incidental scoring in a film soundtrack, the artists have molded the common into something strange and elusive.
Barefoot Machete’s ‘Hello Halloween’, works like a concoction of techno beats and computer infiltrated voices, layered with scratchy sub textual sounds and reverberation. Barefoot Machete’s ‘Thrown’ stomps and commands, mixing analogous high tones of Portishead with the strange orchestrations of the 1950’s Forbidden Planet soundtrack. Double Suicide’s ‘This Is How I Want You to Remember Me’ is dreamy, think UNKLE’s ‘Bloodstain’ without the beats and vocals while adding Title Ceremony’s strumming tension. Puke on Mike’s ‘Puke Wars’ is electrical energy out of control, Ministry without using wild guitars. The spurts of energy pause briefly and electronic voices choke in the background, sounding like HAL-9000 drowning.
There is undefined energy to the composing and certain tracks carry a hidden sexuality to them. That could be one person’s interpretation. Perhaps each composition simply lends its own moods, producing an emotion or story. Some tracks are just eccentric but nonetheless intriguing.
The disc is an experiment for sure, but it’s well worth the spin if you are interested in a different musical voyage. It is ethereal and at times moody and hypnotic.

- Brian Tucker

For more information contact:Myspace.com/910noise or
e-mail Obscuraproductions@yahoo.com

ISSUE 22 - BOOK REVIEW

2008-02-25T14:13:00.000-08:00

The art of storytelling through comic books is generally overlooked and dismissed as the realm of cute fuzzy animals and superheroes. Comics are also generally associated with kids. This is a common misconception, especially in the case of Blacksad.
In this film noir Philip Marlowe inspired story, John Blacksad is a detective in New York trying to solve the murder of an actress, an actress he used to work for as a bodyguard and was involved with romantically. The closeness gets the detective removed from the case but he continues anyway, no matter where the manhunt for the killer takes him.
Yes, this type of story has been done before, in book, film and comic book form. It is also told through flashbacks and first person narration. However, what makes this creation new is its brilliant artwork and that the characters are not portrayed by people but upright walking animals.
Each character’s personality and traits reflect the animal the creators selected. The police chief is a German shepherd, a blackmailer is a lizard, a boxer is a gorilla, a sleazy bartender is a pig, a thug is rhino, and Blacksad is a panther. You get the idea. It may seem odd, but it works.
The artwork is a hybrid of The Secret of NIMH and Heavy Metal. The colors are washed-out, story panels are visually cinematic and characters emotions are illustrated as being completely human. The use of light and shadow in the novel also heighten emotion, adding a mysterious element. It’s a gritty, stylistic, new take on an old standard.

Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido created the graphic novel and both worked for the Disney Animation studios in France during the nineties. Their experience with animation is reflected in the novel’s cinematic approach. The artwork is so good, so convincing, that they make it seem easy to do. The story may not be new but the artwork’s approach certainly is. It has drawn raves from Will Eisner, Stan Lee and Joe Kubert.
The second volume deals with racism and a missing child. While these booms have been out for quite some, they are worth taking a look at. You won’t be disappointed.
Check them out at a comic book store in town.

- Brian Tucker

ISSUE 22 - BOOK REVIEW

2008-02-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and The Invention of Murder
By Daniel Stashower

The title of this book is a bit of a misnomer—it is not about the invention of murder, because Cain and Abel do not make an appearance. A murder however, does occur. The setting is 1840’s New York city, and its bounds were fillings it rudimentary seams. Immigrants were filling in not just from overseas, but from across the country.
Enter Mary Rogers. She comes from Connecticut with her wealthy widowed mother looking for a fresh start after the death of their primary breadwinner. Mary’s mother opens a boardinghouse and Mary finds employment at John Anderson’s Tobacco Emporium. She is the counter clerk, eye candy to complement the sweet cigars.
Mary becomes a recognized figure because she is the only woman ever in the cigar shop, and Anderson’s becomes the hangout for politicos and newspaper people. There are even a few odes to her printed in a few of the many papers of NYC, before she achieves her most famous and revered status as a dead woman that winds up on the shores of Hoboken.
Sensationalist journalism is also examined, and Stashower uses the record of the newspapers to both reconstruct the elements of the Mary Rogers murder, but also to examine its own being and effect. Stashower describes an atmosphere that is vaguely reminiscent of journalism in our current Internet age---ethic standards were lax, so the newspapers featured prominent rumors or gossip. Copyright laws were non-existent and newspapers routinely reprinted stories from Europe or other newspapers with no attribution.
But beyond this story, and in the same vein as Erik Larson’s modern genre-standard “Devil in the White City,” Stashower introduces another fascinating personality to complement the pretty girl tragedy: Edgar Allan Poe, the master of dark fictional trauma.
The startling thing about Poe is how little respected he was in his own lifetime, and especially his American literary contemporaries. It took European masters such as Dickens and Lord Tennyson to convince Americans about the wonderment of Poe’s works, after his death of course. Poe’s biographical story is filled with his own missed opportunities and blown chances. He was orphaned at a young age, then adopted into a wealthy family, but then wasted his privilege, which is a reoccurring part of Poe’s personal and professional life. Poe did write several stories that received some acclaim, but he died before the age of 50, barely having enough money to pay his bills.
Poe intersects with Rogers’ story, because he constructs a narrative to solve the bizarre case around his fictional French detective hero, Auguste Dupin. Poe’s answer to the mystery does not lead to the actual solution in the case, but brings light to previously ignored reasoning.
Stashower’s story compels because of the contrast in modern day perceptions of the stories of Rogers and Poe. Rogers, at the time was a fixture that added to the character of a local neighborhood who blossomed into sensational mystery and then faded into history. Poe was perceived as a normal, overly obsessive hack with no apparent value that went from ignored to admired after his death.
Stashower mentions at least three other high-profile murders in addition to the Rogers case. It’s a reminder that voyeuristic interest in glitzy death is nothing new in modernity, that it’s always been an ingrained function of our humanity, or at least our American humanity. Also, the case of Poe proves again that artists are more appreciated after their death, even for someone whose work was widely known and accessible. But beyond the under appreciation of Poe in his own time, is that his own death is still unsolved, a fact that Stashower chooses to ignore, but would connect Poe and Rogers even more intricately. Poe’s mysterious death is given its own fictional detective in Matthew Pearl’s “The Poe Shadow.”
Stashower’s book dives deep into the seedier side of the American myth; our fascination with the macabre, our abuse but continual support of the free marketplace of ideas, and the artistic underdog will always be simultaneously mocked and adored. “The Beautiful Cigar Girl” shows the reflection of a forever young America—every time it looks in its past it realizes it is still in the same, sad shape.

-Josh Spilker

ISSUE 21 - APRIL 2007

2008-02-19T17:54:00.000-08:00

COVER ART BY MATT GAUCK

ISSUE 21 EDITORIAL

2008-02-19T17:53:00.001-08:00

I have a good friend who, from time to time, will phone me and say Two words: Flaming Amy’s. I know what this means. This is like a junkie calling you saying; Crack Run. He says if they opened one downtown he’d eat there all the time, no need for a grocery store visit. I believe him. He’ll order a burrito at the restaurant and one to go. In an era of constant homogeny it’s good to have a place to go and feel comfortable, in your head and in your stomach.
There are numerous businesses in which you feel that you’re on an assembly line. Your items are scanned and the cashier, salesperson, whomever, barely says a word. The whole situation is impersonal, like a scene in THX 1138 or any futuristic, cold view of society. Worse, you can be made to feel unwelcome in the establishment.
Here are a few examples, or moments, that happened recently, easing my belief the whole world has been malled into apathy and homogeny. The first is simple. My girlfriend and I are passing a Dunkin Donuts and I have a sugar fix to sooth. I’m a Krispy Kreme guy myself but we’re right there. We get our half dozen and are about to leave when she says she can’t wait to eat one before getting home. So I look at the cashier and ask for a donut hole, can she have one to hold her till we get home? The cashier doesn’t give me a line, some company dialogue. She’s cool, smiles, and asks what kind?
Second, I’m putting out mags all over the city one day and end up on Oleander. Hunger hits like a Balboa punch. I’ve seen Firehouse Subs for weeks now, one of many businesses in a building that used to be the location for the old Krispy Kreme. I used to go there late to get doughnuts when there was a large round table filled with old guys drinking coffee and talking about the world. I wonder where they are now, where do they sit and discuss things. Hopefully not the Internet.
So I go in. I order, feeling like I’m in a strange place, nostalgic. Everyone is nice, talking and friendly, doesn’t sound phony. I sit down to eat, a man and woman sit across from me reading over job applications. They don’t notice me for a few moments and I hear them discussing possible hires, concerned with driving records. I’m overhearing this and thinking I’ll hear something bad. We’ve all worked somewhere and applications get ridiculed for something. All is hear is them addressing important concerns.
An employee comes into work and the two owner/managers talk as if he were their son, discussing a game he played in. I was honestly taken with this behavior. To be certain I finally asked if this was their place. They recently opened and asked what sandwich I ordered. We talked briefly and it wasn’t pleasantries. I came back two days later to eat again and the woman manager recognized me and asked if I wanted the Italian sandwich again. Yes. It was a cool Sunday afternoon and I ate at a silver table out back. I tried to ignore the mall that was taking up much of the view.
Last, I rent DVD’s sometimes. It comes with the territory and it’s a winter thing, renting movies. You go in stores and much of the time you are up-selled and trafficked right out the door. Two guys who work at the video store I go to have done what is sometimes rare, befriend their customers. They are usually there when I go in. It’s simple really, being a human being, but we forget sometimes. Chad and John are two of these people, those who work but have the ability to be personable and make you feel like you’re not just a customer. It makes the business of doing business a lot more comfortable in a world becoming more detached. It’s not just about keeping customers, I see it as being decent to one another, getting along, sharing a positive experience with people versus animosity.
I commend these people on the ability to work and maintain civility in a manner that the divide fades between you and the person behind the cash register, for making it feel a little more small town and friendly. There are many other places and instances like this in Wilmington but I felt compelled to point these out.
So, on that thought I will prepare to make my own Crack Run, for one of my favorites, Trolley Stop, which recently opened a new store near my house. Now if there was a beach down the street I’d never travel further than a few miles from my home.

- Brian Tucker

ISSUE 21 CARTOON

2008-02-19T17:52:00.000-08:00

Hey, it's not your fault Santa's got a better gig

ISSUE 21 SWEATY ALREADY

2008-02-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

by Brian Tucker

Not much dance music is played live anymore. Most bands that do it are in New York or Europe. With technology it’s easier to do it smaller. But something is lost in the translation, in the feel of hearing the music performed in front of crowd. Some bands perform without sequencers and drum machines. LCD Soundsystem is garnering attention currently.
Seth Moody has played in a many different types of bands, from surf music to rock. And now he’s trying to create something you don’t find much anymore; live dance music. He and wife Courtney have written ten songs, lengthy ones like you’d find on old 12 inch record remixes. For a back up band he enlisted Billy Joe Murphy, brother Tripp and drummer Matt Barbour.

“For a disco thing you gotta have good vocals, preferably female vocals,” Moody says. “Courtney was into it and all I had to do was write a few songs with her. I played a gazillion shows with Murphy boys so I figured they owed me one. I roped em in.”
Moody owned a studio for five years and one of his first clients were Barbour and Tripp who wanted to record songs when they played together as Boogie Lip. Moody asked where there bass player was but they didn’t have one.
“You can’t make demo without bass,” Moody told them and ended up playing bass himself. A few gigs came about from the recording in 1993 and a fight broke out at their second gig, a Christmas party. “There was a brawl on the stage with Matt and Tripp hitting someone’s head with a guitar. It was so nutty, so I said I was in the band.”
Boogie Lip eventually became The Black Sox with Scott Russ taking over on bass when Moody grew too busy with other projects. But the disco funk thing is something he always wanted to do and he’s grown restless of all the serious music.
“I don’ think this town has enough of that - out there, fun, crazy dance music. For the time being I’d like to see Wilmington get a shot in the butt.” The city will get to come May 18th at The Whiskey in downtown Wilmington.
“Seth married Courtney and they started noodling around at home on this funk disco music and decided to call it Sweaty Already,” Barbour says, talking up a new band he’s in over a slice of pizza downtown. “We’re a mish mash of the same group, sort of an extended family that continues to morph into different bands,” referring to the new project, The Black Sox and Yesterday’s Love Song.
Moody wants to set it up as the atypical band show in which they’ll play an early set, pump classic tunes for about an hour through the bar’s sound system and then come back on and do another set.

“I’m trying not to layer the songs with solos, we want to keep the groove going the whole time,” Moody says confidently of the band. “Matt’s always been an amazing groove drummer. His timing is really good and he has a good sense of rhythm. He doesn’t mind sticking on one beat for a long time. Tripp has a tone on the bass that is real old school, 60’s mid range, a low end tone. I think it’s that giant Gibson bass he’s got or something.”
Billy Joe Murphy fronts his own band but is playing keyboard and percussion in Sweaty Already. “I think Billy Joe can use a break from being the front man of his own band and giving him the task of playing keyboard parts and percussion. I’ve always enjoyed being a sideman in other people’s projects and I wanted him to experience that. He can have some drinks and play the keyboards.”
The show is not going to be a cliché ridden performance, Moody’s ambition is to have a show that embraces what was good and fun about that type of music before big record labels strangled it.
“It’s serious. If we wanted to be goofy we’d just do a bunch of covers.” He bought some old Roland electronic drum pads off eBay that have an 80’s sounding clap, sort of Prince electro percussion noise.
“We like the nostalgia feel but we’re not going with the whole money making angle that happened to that music by music execs.” The plan is that if people dress in that type of disco gear and show up to the show you get in for free. “We want that type of atmosphere, fun, letting loose.”
Song ideas are no different: partying and going to clubs. Some are tongue in cheek. Take ‘The Snow’ for example. “It’s about if you want to mack on the ladies you shouldn’t do a lot of blow because your schlong gets small, you know public service announcements like that, and then maybe we’ll do a song about staying in school,” Moody says with a heart laugh. “Laid back and random lyrics. We’re not trying to make any big point with the lyrics. It’s about the melody and something that stays in your head.”
The germination of the idea and recording is fairly simple, inspiration and ideas. “We go get a bottle of Jager or something and I have an old machine, Courtney comes up with a beat and I come up with a bass line. Then I’d go over with a guitar part while she comes up with lyrics. In an hour or two we have a song.”

ISSUE 21 A SICK MOVIE SUMMER

2008-02-19T17:44:00.000-08:00

by Brian Tucker

2007 shaping up to be a summer sick with sequels

Perhaps not since 1989 have there been so many sequels in one year, let alone, a particular summer. All this crass repetition suggests a desire for safety in Hollywood. Or, perhaps, a lack of new ideas. This statement is not new, but the release dates this year are loaded with sequels and it’s alarming.
Several years ago there was a flood of scripts derived from novels. Books have always been a staple of source material in Hollywood, but it was evidence of the deficiency in original screenplays. The real risks still come from independent and privately financed productions outside of Hollywood or the U.S. 2006’s The Black Dahlia was financed with overseas money but released by Paramount Pictures. Warner Brothers was skeptical of 300, especially after the domestic box office take on Troy and Alexander. But, while 300 is a familiar concept, it is a fresh take. Therein lays its success.
But the risks are seemingly few. Where is this year’s Three Kings, Being John Malkovich or Crash? Instead this year we are handed more safe bets by the studios in the form of sequels and franchises such as (and this is a long list) Hannibal Rising, Van Wilder 2, The Hills Have Eyes 2, Are We Done Yet?, Spiderman 3, 28 Weeks Later, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Ocean’s 13, Shrek the Third, Fantastic Four 2, Evan Almighty, Die Hard 4, Rush Hour 3, The Bourne Ultimatum, Hostel 2 and the continuing adventures of Harry Potter. Slated for release soon also includes Resident Evil 3, Alien vs. Predator 2, Bean 2 and a remake of Halloween. Add to that those films taken from established television series (Simpsons, Transformers, Reno 911), comic books (Ghost Rider, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and other remakes (The Hitcher, Prom Night, Hairspray – from the successful play). Where is there room to create, film and promote original ideas?
With all these films taking up screens at the local multiplex it leaves little room for other projects to get noticed unless Shrek sells out and you choose something in a smaller auditorium. Sequels aren’t always a bad thing, some are quite good nor is this a defense for smaller films by the likes of Ken Loach or Henry Jaglom either. Without the larger films there would be far less screens to show them. But it would just be a far better experience to view those mainstream Hollywood films if they didn’t constantly repeat themselves.
A first step by moviegoers would be to not frequent them, leaving studios to filming sequels as direct to video projects where they have become quite lucrative. Studios produce fewer films each year for the cinema and many are sequels. But all good things, sequels included, are best in moderation. Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions could have easily been The Matrix 2. I’m still waiting for The Matrix Re-Edited.
People still enjoy going to the cinema to see films on the big screen even with the prices of tickets and snacks. Hollywood shouldn’t take for granted its audience by giving them the same old thing year after. Eventually, people will tire of it. If not, there’s always 2008 which will boast a new Indiana Jones, a new Star Trek, Batman, Jurassic Park and National Treasure.

ISSUE 21 (ARTIST) MATT GAUCK

2008-02-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

by Brian Tucker

Matt Gauck, at the moment, lives in Chicago but has his sights on Savannah, Georgia. A native of Cary, NC, Matt attended Appalachian State University, graduating in 2003 with a degree in graphic design.
But his love for illustration and painting outweighed that of commercial art and design. He has since created pieces of art deep in meaning and strong enough in its imagery that some could become short novels.
Matt’s work is playful and numbing at the same time, fusing shaded colors and joyful characters surrounded by surrealistic or ominous scenery. The pieces are positive and sad simultaneously, pulling diverse emotions from the viewer.

He has done work for bands and steadfastly supports the DIY (do-it-yourself) crowd, eschewing much of the mainstream lifestyle that corporations have helped to anchor in American culture. He recycles, rides a bike instead of a car and finds food from dumpsters.

You were raised in Cary, NC?
Yep. If you’ve ever been to Cary, and met me, it’d be really hard to make sense of how that worked. Most suburban, strip-mall, homogenous town on the planet.

Attended Appalachian state for graphic design and a master’s at Savannah College of Art and Design. At what point did you realize that was what you wanted?
When I was almost done with high school, I decided I wanted an art-related career, and both my parents were really encouraging. At that point, it seemed like graphic design was the only artistic career path that made any money at all, so I got my BFA in that, but immediately realized I 1) don’t care about money, and 2) prefer drawing and painting to a computer ANY DAY. So after one summer, I went back to grad school. It was all pretty fast, I was done with my MFA when I was 24.

Did you draw/doodle a lot as a student?
All the time. The sides of all my notes in every class, from 3rd grade through college were just drawings. Not really serious stuff - I never went places with my sketchbook or paints or anything. Just doodled.

What is the appeal of horror films? The gross-out? The scariness? Or just strange nature of it?
Oh jeez, that’s freaking impossible...haha – well, at first I think I was really interested in stuff that scared me, a lot, because that was such an interesting emotion to have to deal with. I mean, you just don’t get scared that often in real life, unless it’s when something really awful happens, like a friend gets really sick. Horror movies are the ‘fun’ side of being scared, and I'm all about fun. That’s my m.o. But, I’d be lying if I didn’t laugh every time somebody’s head gets blown off, or someone gets hacked to pieces. The blood is just funny, seriously. I can’t explain it, but after awhile (and I have seen a LOT of horror movies) it just gets funny. Black Christmas, Night of the Living Dead (b/w), I Spit On Your Grave, Re-animator, and Cemetery Man – that’s my top five. I think.

Are you self professed bike rider?
I love my bike. That’s the only way to get around, seriously. I’ve biked over 3000 miles on long distance trips, state to state kind of stuff, and I also get all my food (dumpstered) on my bike. For me, bikes are just the best possible answer – you can fix everything on your own (DIY), there isn’t a cost beyond the bike and the parts itself (I really hate money), it doesn’t pollute the environment (I still bike all my recycling 2 miles each week), AND you stay in good health doing it.

Really like Quicksilver (the 1986 bike messenger film)?
I freaking love that movie. My roommate keeps claiming that every time I watch that it negatively effects our friendship. Ha. The part in the middle – the bike trick section – it’s amazing! I watch the biking parts of that like once a week – kind of like a ‘bike messenger highlight reel’. I'm really into “Rad”, too. Aunt Becky from Full House. Crazy.

Cartooning? Who do you admire?
Bill Watterson, hands down. Calvin and Hobbes was easily some of the best art to come out of cartooning. I like Daniel Clowes now and again, too, but more for the story. Watterson is dominating the draftsmanship category.

Do you write little books or cartoon panel series?
Not really, I did when I was younger, but I find I can create better stories with just one image. You have to trust your audience, but also sort of ‘guide them’ in the right direction.

Do you find confliction between graphic design and cartooning or do they come together?
There’s a ‘happy middle ground’, for sure – you wind up designing all art, and I think graphic design is just like any other art form, where you would arrange aspects of the picture into a ‘visually pleasing’ manner. There’s an undeniable link there, but it’s sort of hard to pin down.

Is graphic design done for smaller entities or do you do work for larger companies?I’ve done work for both – I’ve worked for independent firms of 5 people, I’ve worked for IBM, and I’ve done everything in-between. IBM was weird, but I learned a lot…Like not to work at IBM anymore. Design, in general, has become a strange subculture to itself, one in which you can get wholly sucked into, and convinced your work matters more than it really does. A lot of people get very caught up in graphic design as a lifestyle, and then aren’t able to focus on real life, going on around them. You can use graphic design to help fix problems, raise awareness, you know, “sell” social change…but most people wind up doing posters that promote things they don’t MIND, but still aren’t exactly what they want to ‘end up’ doing.

Does the graphic design work fund your art or is a full tie job?Right now, I do the occasional logo, or help layout a cd or record or something, but that’s about it. I prefer staying away from the ‘straight graphic design’ stuff. Most of my money now comes from illustration. That’s what I wanted to do, so I figured I would keep at it.

Series dvd? How did you get involved?I am really good friends (through high school and hardcore shows) with one of the guys who started series, and I got asked to do the Bunnyfest DVD cover and the logo. I think my friend isn’t with the series anymore, but it’s still going on, from what I understand.

What is the best environment/location for an art show?
That obviously depends on what you want to happen – sell all your art, or just get your message out to a public audience. I'm more of the second crowd – I just have ideas I like, and it’s nice to see when one inspires someone else. So, keeping that in mind, I'm a believer in the co-operative run spaces, or the ‘bookstore with space in the back’ type places. Coffee shops are nice too, but I still hate coffee. Anywhere that people can come and not feel like they’re in the “art world” or at a museum. Art is about reactions as much as it is the art itself, so the space matters.

How many cd/album covers have you done? Hmmm. Overall, I’ve helped on about 15, at this point. Some of those were full illustrations, some were just design help. Maybe closer to 20, now that I'm thinking about it.

What medium do you prefer, oil over acrylic?Oil, hands down. Acrylic is too plastic-y. It’s really gross.

What specifically do you find appealing about Magritte? Surreal qualities? The colors?
Honestly, I just like his stuff ok – the painting quality is good and all, but I think the ideas are the important part. That pipe bomb piece I did was really just a clever idea I had. Well, kind of clever.

Do you prefer smaller pieces to large canvas pieces?
Small! Art that’s big is impressive and all, but I will always prefer to paint things you can get close to, and have some personal time with. The intimate details are much more interesting to me. I will admit I have a great deal of respect for those who paint really large and do it well. You have to understand, though, that you don’t have to paint on a large scale to get an idea across.

What is the genesis of your ideas? Is it always commentary related or is it merely your imagination at its best?
I have no clue where these things come from. I really don’t. I’ll have an idea, something simple like “something going against impossible odds” or like “contradictory problems”, and then I’ll just start sketching stuff. Everything I paint has some aspect of me in it, and from my standpoint, I think it’s super obvious. But that’s me. They’re all comments on life – I think anyone who is creative derives their ideas from their life experience, and then their output is a direct response to their input. This is my lifestyle, the things I’ve seen, the books I’ve read, and the friendships I’ve made, all rolled into one creative ball.

There’s a wonderful collaboration between the themes of horror, innocence and reality in these pieces, as well as inventive and playful characters along the way. Some are sad and cute, is this purposeful or just the natural flow of your creativity?
Some of this just makes sense to me – the horror themes are just reactions to the movies, I think, but they still have a tongue-in-cheek quality to them. The characters are usually based on kids, because I think a kid’s manner of seeing the world is about 100 times more interesting than anyone else’s. That mentality you have when you’re a kid, and playgrounds are the coolest thing in the world – that stuff was so much better than concerning yourself with minimum wage, and all that ‘adult garbage’. Anyway, back to the question, yes, it’s all very deliberate choosing, the characters are the types of things that make sense in their given situations. I’m aiming to paint stories, not paintings. And these characters are part of the story.

If you could illustrate any book, which one?
Hmmm. Probably a Mad-Libs book a first grader finished. That would be awesome. Lord of the Flies would be fun, too.

Are there any philosophies you are trying to get across within your art? In ‘Remorseless’ there’s that image of a human who’s controlling a robot who’s trying to grasp at a heart, sort carrot and the horse. What’s the story, if there is one, behind that piece?
That piece was developed for a contest, where you were asked to ‘visually define’ a word. My friend picked (at random) remorseless for me (I picked, at random, ‘earwax’ for her…she actually won first place) – anyway, I was trying to come up with something unmistakably ‘remorseless’, and that came out. I use a lot of strings and rope in my work, something stemming from my experience with my younger brother, building things, making things work on our own. That one falls into my ‘contradictions’ category too, because when he moves closer, it gets farther away.

What do you believe is the power of art or its inherent strengths?Art, to me, inspires its audience to strive for something creative and (hopefully) positive. The act of making art is a creative one, in that you create something from existing things. Not so much like paint and pencil, but rather the ideas that go into them, or the news you just heard about something awful, or whatever. Art is a direct response to the world we live in, and, on some level, it’s a call that we can perhaps do something about it.

How much do you write compared to painting? What do you like to write about?Writing is a little, little hobby at best. At some point I thought that some of the experiences I had were too funny to go untold. I'm very wary about writing, because it asks a lot of people, to sit down and read about my life for a couple hours. I'm really not that important, but there was some stuff that happened to me, involving a long bike trip, that was really funny.

How many ‘zines have you done and how do you produce them, at home? Kinko’s?
I’ve only written that one, it was sort of a ‘toe in the pool’ kind of curiosity toward the ‘zine world. It’s done fairly well, in that I’ve gotten compliments and I understand that people find it funny, and it’s sold out a couple different places. I’ll probably try writing a second one, and I'm debating doing a little black and white art ‘zine, too. We’ll see. And I sometimes print at Kinko’s, but I greatly prefer the ‘hookup’, which involves my awesome, supportive mother, using her IBM privileges to further the DIY punk movement (go mom – thanks again!), or, well, whatever. Kinko’s is kind of a ‘last resort’, in my mind. I mean, they charge MONEY for copies. What is that? I’d honestly sooner get a job there, copy all my stuff when I could, then quit. Much easier.

In many of these pieces there’s a theme of tiny things at the foot of larger things, sometimes winning out over them. And images of non-human objects that are full of life, are you being reserved or implying a greater premise?
Let’s see…I think it’s all about hope, and impossible odds. Anything impossible, to me, is interesting, because it’s considered off limits by reality. It’s all a fairly romantic vision of life, but I prefer it that way. Where there’s life, there’s hope for something better.

ISSUE 21 30 DAYS IN ST. JOHN'S FOR FREE

2008-02-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

by Cody O'Connor

This is a story of how to go to St. John’s for a month and not pay for a place to stay, well not with currency anyway. I heard about it from my friend Joe Van Dyke which is also the name of an island down there. Joe did it for a month a few years ago. It is a program in which you work part of the day maintaining the resort on the off season. I was there during the month of October. The program is only during the months of May to November.
I applied for the program between December and April and you can only apply online. On MahoBay.com there was an application that was user friendly, asking your employment history, interests, education, hobbies and the positive effect you’ll have while working there. In smaller print it said the following:

Almost all work at Maho is outdoors in our 90-95 degree, full sun
high humidity environment and day-to-day living involves lots of steps.
(162 between registration and the beach, over 2900 total steps in camp)

But it wasn’t that hidden from the applicant, I mean, it is a island after all. But perhaps the best selling point is the following introduction to any applicant. It’s not hard to imagine trading a month of your life working for free in exchange for a little paradise.

This is an economical way to experience the Virgin Islands and its gorgeous surroundings. In exchange for free lodging, we ask for a commitment of one month of work in one of our various departments. Your placement will depend upon our needs and your skills. We look for enthusiastic people (or couples) with skills that will help us keep Maho Bay Camps up to par during the off season and help prepare for the high volume winter. Apply on-line today!

I started out early morning, last October 1st from Wilmington. I arrived just after six a.m. at the airport in Wilmington with new luggage, a few books and a portable DVD player. I brought some discs to watch on the long flight. As luck would have it, my flight was diverted from a twelve hour ordeal to a six hour pleasure flight. But shortly into the flight the DVD player caught on fire and became a useless piece of on-flight luggage. I could imagine the plane going down mid flight and wishing that I had brought something more floatable than a DVD player. But the short flight I took as a good sign. For the most part it was.
The plane landed safely in the afternoon and I exited the terminal looking for transportation to the ferry which would take me to where I would reside and work. It would be a while for the cab ride to the ferry. First thing off the plane I see a bar and head in.
Then my cab arrived. A friend told me I would need Dramamine for the ride, but didn’t really understand until I was holding down airplane food. Inside the car I bounced around and felt the force of winding curves on the road. I managed to keep everything down. Years of practice paid off from drinking too many Jager shots and trying to remain vertical.
We arrived at the ferry to St. John with barely a minute to spare. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough cash on me. In the frenzy I drop my bags like a Spring Breaker and rush to an ATM. I get the needed cash and luckily return to find my bags are still there. I am the last person to step foot on the ferry, but I am happy to have made it. After arriving from the ferry onto St. John I pull out the phone numbers to call for the ride to Concordia Reserve, where I was to stay for the next month.
It was before five p.m. so I look at the number and pull out my cell phone. I dial the area code and stop. The prefix is not there. I call the other number for after five o’clock. No answer. It’s a good thing as soon as you get off the ferry there are a surplus of bars. I make for one with barely a thought. I meet Erin and she takes my order. After a delicious burger and a few rum drinks at a place called at High Tide I call the after five number speaking to the person who would pick me up.
She was thirty minutes away so there was plenty of time for another beer. Jennifer picked me up. Everyone called her “Nif” and so did I. She is a tiny little woman. They only call her part of her name, Jennifer. There were other Jennifer’s where she worked so that was another reason. She is the director of the resort and an incredible person. She was better then any tour guide, pointing out everything and gave great advice as we drove the exhaustingly winding roads. It seemed as if we were adrift in a boat, rising and falling on the hilly paths.
Any nausea I felt quickly left and was replaced by awe, awe from the scenery. After thirty minutes we arrived at Concordia. I was given a quick tour and run down of the work share program. I would be working six hours a day, and doing whatever Nif the director tells me to do. To her credit, she is smart about new workers. She finds out what you do in real life and puts you doing something you would enjoy. There are plenty of tasks in varied disciplines to be completed. I met the only other members of the program, French and Wendy, a couple from Maine. They both are retired and have been to a number of countries doing volunteer work.

After a quick meeting the next morning, I was free to explore. I got some info on the VITRAN, the public transportation on St. John. I grabbed a dollar in change and waited for the bus. My first stop was Cruz Bay, the most commercialized part of the island. Nif, the director of Concordia, is going to bring me and two other workers to Maho Bay to get some groceries, which is key at Concordia since you have almost a full kitchen in your eco-tent. You can prepare a variety of meals, all you need is imagination.
After waiting and waiting for the VITRAN I catch the bus and make it to Cruz Bay. Not knowing anyone or where to go I see a bar and head for it. I order a rum drink, the special and begin to people watch.
Island life is something I am still in awe of. Stating that it’s laid back is an understatement. St. John is overly laid back. The weather is always just right for drinking. People walk by and are more interesting than anything they can drum up on television. The bartender where I’m drinking drinks faster than me and that really sets the tone for this place. I finish my food and have a couple of beers, pay and start out walking.
It seems that every bar I pass by has their own collection of regulars complete with a weathered bartender. I have to get back to Concordia, so I track down where I can grab the bus. It finally arrives and I get one. But, as usual, the bus leaves late and is dead set on taking it’s time. There’s no doubt I am going to be late.
Nif drives past the bus, seeing me on board. She turns around to pick me up. I get off the bus. This turns out to be great because I am hungry again. And I have no groceries yet.

We make our way to Maho Bay through the winding and hilly roads. Goats and donkeys are milling around at every turn. Stopping at a market I am concerned at its size but it has the basics. After some shopping we are off to get dinner. Nif and I place our orders and take in the pavilion while we wait.
Shortly thereafter names are called for food pick up. The name Cosly gets called out, again and again. Trying to help I yell it out.
“Cosly!” I yell a few times. I lean over to a couple that are waiting as well. “Are you Cosly?” Their names aren’t anywhere close to that. After saying Cosly a few more times the bartender decides to tell me it’s my food order.
“My name is Cody, not Cosly,” I say figuring the order isn’t mine. The chef calls me over to read the name. I do and it looks like Cosly and from there on I am to be known as Cosly. I get my food and sit down with the other and it tastes excellent, because it is and because I am hungry. We all get to talking. And the conversation is better then the food. We make several friends during dinner easily. This isn’t really hard because everyone is so friendly. There is a vibe to the place that seems to put everyone at ease.

After eating my first stop is on the beach, Salt Pond Bay. Seeing a trail I begin to walk it. After walking nearly twenty minutes I keep hearing movement every few minutes. I stop and look behind me, thinking it might be small animals or something similar. I walk again and there’s the sound again. Is something in the brush following me, curious as to who I am and what I’m doing here alone? Finally, after closer inspection, I see that the erratic and scratching sound is definitely something within the brush. After close inspection I discover the source of this sound. As I am walking by dozens of hermit crabs are withdrawing into their shells and falling down rocks. What a strange way to escape.
The trail is relatively easy to continue and nothing else happens of importance. On the beach I lay out a towel and take in the crystal clear water and the blinding reflection of the white sands on the beach. Amazingly, the beach is nearly empty, mostly a few people scattered about and taking in a day of snorkeling. Salt Pond Bay is apparently the best place in the Caribbean to go snorkeling. It was so good I most of the day.
I step off the beach and suddenly a car stops besides me. From inside the car a woman yells to me.
“Where are you going?” she asks.
“Maho Bay,” I reply.
“That where I’m going. Hop in.” One day in and I am already privy to happy coincidences.
Upon arriving at Maho Bay I head straight for the beach which was just as awe inspiring. The water is beckoning and I drop my towel and head in. It seems as if time has stopped here. It has for me because I don’t have my watch. But, aside from modern structures, it seems like a forgotten place, which may be the allure of St. John. Not so much for tourists, but for those who seek it out to stay and work a while. Here, the world is a different place, devoid of traffic noise and crowded aisles at Wal-Mart. Like being a cast away on a deserted island with decent amenities, it is a place to slow down. There is no use for a cell phone here. Internet service can be slow at coffee house. I send a text message to everyone back home and send two e-mails. It is as though things were set in different motion to purposely slow a person down. Swimming in the nearly invisible water I forget where I’m from for a little while, bask in the appeal of being a cast away. A stranger in a strange place that is almost too beautiful to describe.
I step out on the beach and stay as long as I can. It’s October and I am resting on a beach far away from Wilmington, far away from the Brooklyn of my youth. I remember leaving for the airport and it was cold at six that morning but I know that October there will be different from here. My only contact to back home will be a few text messages and a few e-mails. I will be working soon to pay for my room and board.
I turn around a look at the island behind me and my curiosity gets the best of me. With a map of the island and no sense of direction I set off to explore. I walk for about an hour or so, passing greenery and brush. After nearly an hour I realize I went in a complete circle. It seems so predictable. Like in the movies when people are lost I do the same thing. The sad thing is I’m on a fairly small area. I survived New York City for twenty-four years; surely I can figure this out. Then I discover where I went wrong. I start off again, this time making it back to Center Line Road, a path of thoroughfare that crudely intersects the nearly seven mile island.
The irony is weighing on me and I laugh internally. In the Marines for eight years I hiked a lot with packs and gear and here I was getting winded. Trudging forward I make it to the bus stop and within a short time get on the bus. We are riding along soon after, in a bus back towards my new home and I feel far way from the world. The roads are so curvy, way too narrow for two cars to pass let alone a bus and a car. The only thing keeping my breakfast down is the fact that the scenery is amazing, Bay after Bay of picture perfect vistas.

My job consists of working six hours a day, doing general maintenance throughout the resort. The coordinator, Nif, found out what we liked to do in order to assign work tasks. I have experience in building so I built cabinets and made sure the power stayed on or changed out light bulbs. Six hours a day is not a long day but it was hot everyday and could be taxing. The sun really beats down and there was water at different locations.
Concordia Resort is an eco resort. All the water used there is rainwater and has to be filtered in order to drink. Basically the whole resort survives on solar power. There are no hot water heaters. The resort utilizes the sun to heat water and it gets so hot you have to add cold water to it in which to shower. A large black barrel contains rainwater and it heats up with the sun blaring all day reaching temperatures of 70-80 degrees. It’s October and the temperatures reach into the 90’s and drop between 60 and 70 degrees at night.
You work a lot during the day; it’s so hot its taxing on the body. Without transportation I walked everywhere. It was hot and humid hot. The strange things is its 90 degrees but you’re not sweating your ass off, getting used to it quickly, but you’re not sweating unless you’re working,

I stay in what’s called a tent but is more like a small condo made of wood and the roof is canvas. It has a wood frame with a loft in it and a full kitchen, there’s no stove but there’s two burners, a refrigerator and pots and pans. There are two beds, its one of the rooms you’d stay on the resort if you went there. There are bigger places to stay if you are a tourist that are nicer with ceiling fans. During the season these ‘eco-tents’ can range from $155 to $175 a night and off season are $95 a night with “amenities that combine simplicity with the most up to date, sustainable and site sensitive technologies that are redefining ecotourism…(providing) more creature comforts and conveniences with private toilets, showers, solar energy and more elaborate kitchen facilities in each unit.”
It’s a small island with plenty to do but after a day of work people drank. Rum is real cheap and food is not. Buying groceries or eating out is where I spent the most money. For example, a can of Hormel chili in the states is 89 cents it would cost 1.89 on the island. Food is generally two to three times more expensive than in the states, the most expensive bulk of my money spent was on food. You can pay dollar a drink but fifteen to twenty bucks on food.

There’s a grocery store in Cruz Bay which is 45 minute ride but you don’t buy anything too perishable. If you buy milk you buy Parma lade which stays good on a shelf forever. I got really lucky in meeting Jeremy who was in between medical school. He was 24 and showed me the island. We went hiking and saw the different Bays whose crystal clear white sand beaches glowed under the hot sun, making the blue water higher in contrast. Jeremy showed me this market in which to buy goods. We’d get coffee, shop, then go somewhere and drink and take a bus back. Outside of work there was a place we called home, Woody’s. It was a tiny little bar, most are on St. John’s. They had a great happy hour, serving dollar beers and dollar mixed drinks.
Time alone was good. I read a lot. The sun went down early, around six, and by seven it was so dark you couldn’t read. I’d turn on a few lamps to get enough light. Alone time was great, listening to the ocean crash on the waves.
Night life is no different wherever you go but everyone here is from somewhere, primarily the States. One person I knew was there for thirteen years, most of the others around three years. As I met people no one asked me a game score or political questions, everyone could care less. No asked about back home and it wasn’t because of the Internet access either. Using that was akin to smoke signals because it was real slow and cost a lot at the Internet Café. People there are cut off from the world on purpose and they like it that way. Island culture is the best way to describe it. Let your mind wander at the thought. It was good to be an outcast, to be lost for a while, even if it was on populated island.
There were people hiding out from the world, with sordid pasts and that’s why they were there, to not be found. I’m not talking murderers, but people with problems in their life and intent on getting away from them. The people are so far away from wanting to live anywhere like back home in the states. They prefer the simplicity and minimalism, the small community they create for themselves. But it’s no imagined utopia either. The main source of revenue is ninety per cent tourism. A couple of tiny farms exist but you can’t grow anything substantial.
Ad like anywhere there’s people there’s corruption. There are cops but they’re shady. There’s the island mafia in which every bar pays protection money. Politicians are bent too. The same no matter where you go.
But for anything that’s bad there’s more than enough to make up for it, the cheap drinks or the wild life around every turn. I liked the donkeys in the middle of the road on a hair pin turn or the goats crossing the road randomly. They were exemplary of the essence of freedom on St. John’s. People drive fast but people on a road don’t care if a car is coming, they don’t move. It’s tricky because the roads are tiny dotted with hair pin turns. They barely fit two cars. It’s crazy, I would never want to drive there. The flipside is that anyone living there will gladly pick you up and drive you at least close to where you want to go. So, there’s a lot of hitch hiking but you can’t put your thumb out for a ride because it’s an obscene gesture. I never asked why but it’s analogous to giving the middle finger. When a car comes along you have to point in the direction you want to go.
Everywhere along the island its history is on display, from a plaque at the ferry depot or at the bays where there’s info about the wildlife. Most of St John is a state park with many protected areas. Along the roads there are remnants of old brick structures and homes. And then there’s the animals.
Donkeys, chickens, and goats are everywhere. And bushcats, who are wild but tame. They’re quite shy, a little different than regular cats but with longer legs. They may be descendants of house cats brought over and now run wild. Some hang around Concordia and they get fed regularly.
There’s a lot of rocky mountainous terrain - trees, dirt, rocks and an abundance of spiders, insects and little tiny ants. The ants are so small you can barely see, the size of a needle’s eye, really. If you have any piece of food, any crumb from your mouth that falls onto anything there’s a thousand of them in seconds. It’s imperative that you clean up really well, removing any food from your person.
The people running things don’t want you to throw your food in the trash. If you don’t finish your meal we didn’t throw it in the trash cans. We were told to throw the remaining food on the ground, just throw right out of the eco tent a la the Middle Ages. There’s so many animals on the island they’ll eat. Especially hermit crabs, thousand and thousands of the little creatures. They’ll basically eat anything being scavengers, especially coffee grounds. They love them for some reason. I’ll put them in one specific spot and leave for my six hour work shift, come back and the coffee grounds are gone. There will be forty hermit crabs there eating away, cleaning up. Eggshells, bread, anything that’s not trash, the animals running around the island will make it disappear like the most efficient of garbage men.
And then there’s scorpions.
Thursday. Let me state it differently. I woke up to a beautiful Thursday morning. Today is the day I am going to do my last load of laundry on St’ John’s. And this is a kicker in case it was mentioned previously. The washing machine and dryer are next to the pool.
I have plans to go to happy hour at Woody’s. The plan is to have a relaxed day, getting things together and wishing others well and saying goodbyes. As I am getting things together I feel a pinch on my forearm only to look down and witness that a scorpion has stung me. I was moving a bag and the scorpion was underneath. I didn’t know what to do so I just washed and washed it, hurting badly. It just stung like hell, taking fifteen minutes before the pain eventually went away. It was as though someone stuck me with a needle and moved it around while still in the skin and muscle. For those curious, it doesn’t tickle. Imagine a magician putting that big fat needle through his arm and gasping in phony pain.
But the fight wasn’t ending there. I reach for my flip flop and make towards the scorpion that looks up at me and I swear it is grinning. The scorpion tries to move but I drop down and get to work like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. The result is something barely worth sweeping out of the room. Running cold water on my arm and cleaning the wound I discover the hard way I am allergic to scorpion bites.
I finish getting my stuff together to continue laundry detail. After setting up a load to wash I show my arm and tell my war story to Nif. I stand by the dirty road waiting for VITRAN taking me to happy hour one last time. The cost is only a dollar, but the trip should come with Dramamine tablets.

I get calls every so often from Concordia, with job offers to come and work full time on the island. It is tempting, the allure of bright blue water and sunny temperatures and those with the same shining disposition of island life far away from the hustle and bustle of this world. I think of that sign on the wall behind the bar I frequented too much, drank too much cheap rum. We’re all here, cause were not all there. This is the unofficial motto of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

ISSUE 21- Gustav Haggren and Helena Arlock come to America

2008-02-19T17:24:00.000-08:00

by Brian Tucker

Gustav Haggren and Helena Arlock saved up last autumn in Sweden working three jobs to tour the United States. They landed in New Jersey in early February and planned to travel the east coast through New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North and South Carolina. Before heading to Canada in April they will play three shows in Wilmington; The Juggling Gypsy on April 5th, Folks Café April 6th and Port City Java on April 7th.
Back home in Sweden Gustav plays with a six piece band The Seasick Sailors, music that is described as melodic indie-rock, but is contemporary and smooth. He is twenty two years old, never toured the U.S. before and plays guitar with a specially designed artificial hand since he was born without a right hand.
Once landing they encountered freezing weather that quickly reminded them of home. Their plan was to buy a car in which to travel but hasn’t panned out yet. Their first show was in Ithaca, New York in which Gustav took in his first American breakfast and was none too happy.
They are befriended by a couple who drive them to Clinton before continuing on to Boston. Before leaving they play a radio station at Ithaca College. Pictures are taken with a cell phone and uploaded later to the Internet, Gustav lying in the deep snow, his head covered by a large black hood.
Once in Clinton they purchase hats and gloves to combat the cold weather. They stay at the house of Nick and Jennifer who operate Melodic Revolution where Gustav and Helena will perform. Helena will make her first appearance as a solo artist. Gustav is proud.
In Clinton they try out things like Burritos, Subs and, of course, pizza. Nick showed them a store in which to buy Hummus, Bulgur, Yogurt and other vegetarian goods. In town Gustav receives his first masque ever, a good thing as the cold air is hard on his skin. Walking down Main Street a man approaches to sell Gustav a flashlight with a radio in it.
The Valentine’s Day show is cancelled due to heavy snow, the worst since 1992. They depart by train and head to Albany without a clue as where to stay. They find a cheap Econo Lodge that reeks of urine and vomit but it suffices since they’ve been running around in the cold for hours. The lodgings improve greatly the next day when the owner of their next show, Ralph at the Bayou Café, helps out.
Hanging out with Ralph’s business partner John leads to another gig perhaps. John wants to hire them to play three ABBA songs for a friend but doesn’t believe that Gustav doesn’t k know the song ‘Fernando.’
Latte, broken fingernails, aching backs, one dollar buses, disgusting hotel food, ABBA, Russian, Fat Tuesday, hangovers, doggy bags…..notes from the road.
Onwards to Hudson Valley Community College which happened after meeting a professor of psychology. The professor invited them to play and talk about their adventures so far, teaching the students there’s more to Sweden than ABBA and that polar bears do not freely walk the street..
On to Washington, D.C. where they sit idle in traffic for nearly eight hours. Once in the city they have breakfast and go open-mic hunting. It is almost March and the city is a welcome visit. Staying at a house with musicians and a studio they perform at IOTA and make new friends. Gustav spends the day buying a pair of shoes, walking a lot of miles and sees the White House. There is talk of going to Texas and Gustav is tired from travel and constant drinking.
Travel is greatly aided by generous new friends and lodgings from strangers who let them pass out on couches. They perform several songs at a pirate radio station called CPR, sharing the studio with the band These United States. At Wonderland they play together with Rose and The Great White Jenkins. Concerns about how to get from Catskill the next day with no buses, no trains. Car rentals are expensive because they are not 25. It will become a source of frustration with Gustav. Then there’s the library to visit, to print Map Quest directions.
There are more stays at new found friend’s homes and American breakfast’s to turn down since they don’t eat meat. Gustav jokes that he won’t break the ten years as vegetarian for good manners. It’s time to leave the Catskills for Connecticut, renting a smelly and expensive Ford Focus and later wishing to have taken the bus. Arriving, the two are greeted with orange juice and a college radio station.
Driving north to Kingston, which is close to Woodstock, the pair seems happy. They meet Paul who appears to be old enough to have been around during the first Woodstock. He says that Gustav and Helena look like two people he knows; Magnolia and Valentine and that he once sold a painting to Stockholm and wondered if they’d seen it. They shake their heads, thanking him.
Returning the car to the rental agency it’s a short wait before another train station. While eating disgusting food at a Mickey D’s Gustav sells a record to an employee. The employee saw their instruments and was determined to buy a record. At the train station it’s a two hour wait and some lyrics are written. Then, north again.
It’s March 6, 2007, cold as hell and it’s a day off. Gustav has coffee and thinks about the four shows in a row coming up. There’s many after that. The tour is really expanding and he is enjoying it. He types a quote from a travel friend, Alina by St. Augustine, into a computer:
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page”
The road has carried Gustav and Helena a long way, creating music and recording five demos in Maine at Brown Dog Studios and recording a live show back in Clinton. They played The Bitter End in New York City, do laundry and a little sight seeing, cruising around the big apple with friend Linus who is half Swedish, half Korean and raised in Australia but born in Helsingborg. Imagine. Arriving at a guesthouse in Queens, Gustav meets a guy who left Gustav’s hometown in Sweden at the age of three.
It really is a small world.

How long before coming to the U.S did you plan to tour?
6 months or so. I and Helena must have sent out around 500 emails to different venues on the east coast. We explained to the venues that we were traveling on our own small budget.

Were there a lot of dates set up prior to arriving?
Yeah, I guess we had 15 shows scheduled when we came but that expanded quickly. We met people and they set us up for more gigs and so on…after a while we had to turn down offers because there simply were no days available. That’s kind of cool.

How long before you bought a car here in the states to use? Was that the plan all along?
Well, we tried to buy a car from DAY 1 and I still don’t have a car. You don’t want to get me started on this; I’m still pissed off about the whole thing. We can’t buy a car because we can’t get insurance…we can’t get insurance because we’re not US residents…we can’t afford renting a car since we’re under 25 years old.

Jake Melnyk said you were using a Greyhound bus to tour.

Yeah, sometimes that, sometimes AMTRAK. We’ve been lucky getting a couple of rides actually. We got a ride from Troy, New York to Washington, DC then a ride back to Catskill, New York. Helena is carrying a huge cello so we can’t fit in all kinds of cars.

How much of a culture shock has it been?
All these food commercials...eat this, eat that, grease, triple pork and so on…I don’t know…the sad thing is that it hasn’t been much of a culture shock since Sweden is losing its own culture and is becoming more and more Americanized. We’ve seen a lot of snow so it has felt like home.

Have people been generous and curious about the shows?
Oh yeah. We’ve met amazing people. We played this show and we were suppose to sleep on couches at the place and these two women were driving home then they turned back to get us. We got a king-size bed! One great part about this trip has been meeting all of these amazing musicians that I would never have heard over in Sweden.

How many shows so far? Too hectic?
Let’s see…according to my Sonic Bids we’ve played 25 shows since we arrived 6 weeks ago so that’s not too bad. Its’ been hectic but not too hectic. It’s been a great ride.

Did you like the invite to speak at the college? What types of things did you discuss?
Oh, yeah, that was really cool. We talked about putting yourself out there, give up your apartment, work 7 days a week just to be able to challenge yourself and the things you love to do. Then we discussed my view on Americans…they laughed when I said we picked the East coast because I thought they were smarter…haha.

Has there been any impromptu gigs?
Oh yeah, open mics, gigs booked the same day as we played, private parties, studio sessions.

What has been your impression of Americans, the culture, the hustle and bustle of the cities?
I’ve met so many kind and inspiring people so there are a lot of good impressions. What is interesting is that I haven’t met a single person that seems to agree with this country’s politics. New York City has a great pulse that just hits you walking down the streets at night. It seems like everyone is trying to make it big here which is kind of funny. I’ve met actors, opera singers, burlesque performers, midnight saxophone players etc...I love it, I really do. I really like the multicultural feel to it as well; you can find extraordinary food for cheap money.

Are you homesick or just enjoying yourself completely?
Well, I gave up my home so no, I don’t feel homesick at all. It feels like I’m only in the beginning of something great that is going to change everything.

What types of things have you done to save money? Besides the library to print maps, what other resources have come in handy?
Gorgeous friends. Text messaging on Wal-Mart phones...cooking Swedish dishes for people who let us stay at their houses…long walks…doggy bags…Subway – eat half for lunch and the other for dinner…we saved two stray cats today, I hope that will save some of my bad karma and give me some good. We call them Seymour and See Less since one of them can open only one of his eyes (Seymour) but the other can’t open any of them (See Less). I thought I was going out tonight but I’m cat-sitting. Hopefully we can find them an all-American home tomorrow.

LIVE CLIP: :http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1392549132

MYSPACE.COM/GATSS OR WWW.GATTS.COM

ISSUE 21 - Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou

2008-02-19T17:21:00.001-08:00

photo: Josh Bender

By Josh Spilker

I was walking down Wilmington’s Front Street in early March, going to meet Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou. They were playing that night with Sparta and Aloha for an emo/modern rock and roll show. A larger than average bus was idle outside of the Soapbox with the words “Altus, OK Bulldogs” in intimidating typeface. Oklahoma. Which of the bands were from Oklahoma? The license plate, however, was the indicator. Pennsylvania. The home of mewithoutYou, and its front man Aaron Weiss.

Aaron isn’t sure how or why they ended up with this bus, but they have remade it into their own image. He invites me up into it for a second, and I enter into their homemade motor home. There is a long counter for cooking, a dinette table for eating, and a couple of couches on the side with a clear center aisle leading to their back bunks. The bus is also retrofitted to use biodiesel fuel, i.e. vegetable oil.

“When we got it it was diesel,” says Aaron. “It’s run to rig on straight vegetable oil. There’s no need to convert an engine to run on biodiesel.”

For a touring band, this is a large undertaking. Vegetable oil is not exactly available at every gas station, unless you hit the ones with the McDonald’s or Taco Bell.

“At Philly we have a couple of places that we collect it from, we just have a handshake agreement, and they’ll set it aside for us and maybe once a week we’ll pick it up,” continues Aaron. “When we travel, we’ll just stop at restaurants and knock on the back door and say can we pump it out your dumpster.”

We approach the intersection of Front Street and Chestnut, and I almost ask Aaron if he wants to go to the library. I figure it’s not a bad place for a former English major and a guy who studied to be a teacher. But as we approach the intersection, Weiss makes a beeline for a trashcan. He pulls off the lid with a loud whoosh. The lid clangs against the side of the can.

“I look into these for napkins or condiments, anything that people throw away,” explains Aaron. He rifles through the first one, but only finds a few napkins from Kilwin’s Ice Cream which he places inside his ratty, brown corduroy hoodie with patches on the elbows. His version of a professor’s tweed coat. “You can use this for any number of things, you don’t have to buy paper towels all the time if you find enough of these.”

Most fans of mewithoutYou are taken because of Aaron Weiss. Later that night when the band starts into its Fugazi-inspired melodic rock, Aaron nods, waves, spins, twirls and wildly bounces. These are the elements that define a mewithoutYou experience. Aaron’s cryptic lyrics are punctuated with his trademark spoken word poetry slam shouting. He flings the tambourines against his head. He vibrates with a pair of maracas like a buzzing cell phone. Weiss is not a loose cannon, he knows exactly what he’s doing. He is mesmerizing all of us. It’s not the aloof elitism of a lead singer rock star, it is the action of a man who wants to entertain, even if it’s himself.

photo: Lesle Ann Bond

Talking with Aaron outside of his stage self, music seems more like a job than a hobby, which of course it is. He is at a job, a job at which he excels and never expected to be in. And sometimes he likes his job and sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he likes the young suburban core of the band’s fans, and sometimes he wishes there was a more diverse cross-section of people and ages. Like any job, Aaron is finding a way to balance his views with the greater good. Though their level of success isn’t gargantuan, it’s enough to let them tour with acts like Thursday, Brand New, and now with Sparta. All bands that fly just under the radar of modern rock radio. But Aaron’s unique philosophies and interests add to his lore. One of things we talk about is communal living, and his experience with a Christian-based commune in Philadelphia called The Simple Way.

“They decide to live in a rugged neighborhood on purpose, and try to reach out to help their neighbors by passing out food or passing out blankets in the winter or like having people over, and treating people with respect and things like that,” explains Aaron about The Simple Way. “I think those things are for everybody, taking care of people, and trying to become lower rather than trying to climb a social ladder and become richer than other people and have nicer things, and being willing to humble yourself.”

Stop here. At the risk of crossing whatever journalistic lines that were once real and now possibly only imaginary, I need to say that Aaron Weiss was one of the most humble people I have ever met. Weiss is not humble for a “rockstar” or for a person who performs in front of 500 people every night that pay to see what he does, his humility and kindness is striking for anyone. His persona is one of caring and meekness, where his personal needs and attributes are in deference to those around him. When I first met him at the Soapbox, he asked me if he was late. For the uninitiated to the world of rock journalism that I by no means really can claim to be a part of, this NEVER happens. The rock stars are ALWAYS late. ALWAYS. Even the ones who aren’t really rock stars, perhaps such as Aaron. Continue on.

But the essence of communal living, especially in the Christian sense, which The Simple Way is a part of, focuses on helping others and sharing common goods. This is different than any free love hippie associations, but that doesn’t mean that all Christian communes look the same.

“Some of the communities I’ve visited, they have different ways and looks,” continues Aaron. “Sometimes they share all their money, sometimes there is a common fund and everyone has a personal allowance that they could do what they want with you know, sometimes there is one person in charge of finances…it can look a lot of different ways. Sometimes everybody lives in one house, or sometimes it’s in a neighborhood and people are scattered. I don’t think that there’s a prescription for how people should live or how it should look, but I think the important thing outside of anything—“

At this point, we stop walking. We are along the water, just to the right of the Coast Guard docking area. Aaron approaches a trashcan, and its lid makes the customary gonging sound as it falls. Aaron shifts the bag around.

“What is that?” Aaron asks peering down into the folds of the bag. “I’m always stoked when it weighs a lot. OUUUGGGGGGGGGHHH,” Aaron exclaims “What is it?”

From the tips of his thumb and forefinger, Aaron unveils a pack of slimy translucent globes. “It’s like squid or something.”
“Should you leave that?” I ask.
“No, this is dinner,” Aaron responds.
“Do you ever worry about germs?”
“Um, no, maybe I should, but I don’t.”

Aaron also reels in a pack of mullets, with a label that reads: “Not Fit For Human Consumption.” Aaron dumps the mullet into the river, noting that someone or something should be able to eat it. This time he finds a grocery bag also in the trash, and carries the squid with him to take back to the bus. By the end of our journey, Aaron also finds one Twix bar left in the original wrapping (“Why would they leave the second one, they know what Twix tastes like.” Aaron says).

All of the talk of communes, finding and sharing leads us to the next contention of conversation: God. This is not necessarily a standard topic for bands, but to mewithoutYou and to Aaron it’s essential. Not only is their label usually affiliated with Christian bands (Tooth and Nail Records), but also because Aaron’s lyrics glean from many Biblical allusions. I begin by asking him about what he thinks are the most common misconceptions about God.

“It’s hard to speak on behalf of God,” Aaron begins. “I mean, I know I have a lot of misconceptions about God. I don’t know, who God is, I can’t tell you with any real authority. I’m in a rock band, and I’m 28 years old, and I haven’t figured out hardly anything. I guess, the most misconception---The point on which I disagree with most Christians seems to be the idea that, at least most Christians I come across is the idea that Christians go to heaven, and non-Christians go to hell. The sense of how this is how you get saved. You become a Christian by saying this prayer and going to church and reading the Bible. Whereas to me, saying that particular prayer that people believe will get you to heaven, or going to a church, or memorizing the Bible, or doing any of the things people say that Christians do, has nothing to do with rather or not you’re actually following Jesus.”

Aaron wants me to understand that he doesn’t necessarily speak for the band on all issues, and that each of their relationships with God is different and that each of them may believe a different thing about God and Christianity. They may also disagree with his views on commerce, lifestyle or eating habits. What is clear is that Aaron is very concerned about the life people are actually living compared to the one they are claiming to live. It’s a life of accountability.

“To me it’s much less relevant what a person says and what building they go to than what they do,” says Aaron. I don’t just mean that if you sell all your possessions and give to the poor, then you’re a Christian. It’s like I said, it’s the state of your heart. You could do those things to try and show off or try to one up somebody else or even be seen in your own eyes as really holy and wonderful. The common thread that I’m inspired by in the Scriptures is that of lowliness, and brokenness and humility. I just want to keep an eye on my motivations---“

We make it back over to the bus, the Altus Bulldogs mascot emblem still growling away. No one in the bus is interested in the squid, they’re all a little freaked out by it. Aaron offers the squid to Penny, the dog, but it’s soon agreed that Penny does not need the squid in case her diarrhea comes back and I don’t ask any questions about Penny’s medical history. Aaron also passes on the squid. He leaves the squid on top of a trashcan outside of The Soapbox, in case anybody wants it.

For more info on Mewithoutyou, visit their album website, www.brother-sister.net or www.myspace.com/mewithoutyou.
For more info on The Simple Way in Philadelphia, visit www.thesimpleway.org

ISSUE 21 - LABEL 228 PROJECT

2008-02-19T17:07:00.001-08:00

by Brian Tucker

Art is anywhere, anytime; it just depends on your viewpoint. Subway cars in the Seventies and Eighties became mobile murals in New York City. Not every artist can afford a canvas to create on; some people’s imagination exceeds their grasp. Sometimes to canvas is bigger than ourselves. Look at Banksy or Michelangelo. Sometimes the canvas is really small.
And free. Complimentary of the U.S. Post Office.
Local artist Camden Noir lived in Wilmington about seven months when the idea arrived one night; to create a book project based on artwork he’d seen drawn on Post Office mailing labels numbered Label 228. The project is composed of street artists, post office stickers, and a common interest….art. The book will be a conglomerate of Label 228 stickers from the post office, recreated and hand done from people all over the world. Camden created several years ago, sticking them up at school “and local downtown shit holes where everyone could see them, but I never actually dedicated myself to doing them.”
The idea came about last March and has found its way around the world via the Internet and MySpace. Having mailed labels to places as disparate as Austria, France, Germany, the U.K. and California, the furthest submission came from Australia.

“Its funny how art brings everyone together.”
Camden is currently working with Gingko Press and “hashing out ideas” he says, hoping to get the book published by late August. “Right now it’s in the air.” The book seeks to collect as much of the artwork possible and present different voices.
“I would see the Label 228 stickers and wondered why people would waste artwork on a stop sign or streetlamp.” As a graffiti artist he understood but wanted to create something to showcase the artwork instead of random chances when someone walks by it.
Street art appeals to Camden, having been a stencil graffiti artist for several years. “You go to a museum and see a painting and admire the brush strokes and textures but with street art, you admire the drain pipe the person climbed to showcase their work.”
Considering it lost art, since few people consider street art legitimate, Camden is interested in graffiti not only for its artistic qualities but the personal risk involved in addition to the emotion behind the work and its meaning.
“I’m interested by the type of spray paint they used or how long they were there and if any cops drove by a street down and couldn’t see them.” Near the parking deck on Front Street there was a piece of an eight foot tall underage kid with a gun signifying the problems in Africa. It moved him to the point he cried when it was covered up.

Peel Magazine has aided in furthering the Label 228 project. The founder agreed to sell the book on his site and do a write-up. “He respects the arts and cares about more than money and ad space, which I respect immensely. It’s going to be a pleasure to work with him.”
Obtaining the labels online has been become harder than it once was. Years ago anyone could go to USPS website, make up a fake name and receive the stickers, a thousand, for free. Now, after seeing how many stickers were being dispersed, the post office has made it more difficult to get them. “You can still go to the local post office and get them by the hundreds.”
Interesting submissions have come in from artists Downtimer and Zoso as well as two collaboration stickers from Downtimer, Matt Linares and Daniel Fleres. But submissions are welcome from everyone, not just big name artists. Everyone is welcome, as are the variety of artistic ideas.
“I received a submission from someone who wrote an anonymous love letter to an unknown person on the postal sticker and sent that in. It was beautiful. Its funny how many words you can fit on a 4" x 5" surface.”

In preparation for an art show June at ArtFuel, Inc. Camden has been preparing large canvas pieces. Doing mostly stencil graffiti on canvas has led to exploring the streets of Wilmington to locate new wall space. The art show is comprised of Camden and two other artists in which the theme is “in your face, open-eyed, political statements and television.”
I ask about being an ‘outsider artist’ and if that’s a fair description. Having met Camden on the street downtown and elsewhere I am a little surprised by his answer. “Most people would consider me an outsider. This is about as sociable as I get,” referring to the interview by e-mail. But the artist is friendly and conversational, yet remains steadfast concerning his privacy, recently ditched the use of phones.

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/LABEL228BOOKS