Emma Cramer

SXSW 2014: Guitar Center Sessions with Phantogram and Snoop Dogg

Posted on by Emma Cramer

It had finally arrived. My last night of South By Southwest.  The lineup was as stellar as the venue. The stage was set up on top of the rooftop of the Starr Building in downtown Austin and loomed high above my head, an impressive structure that looked like it belonged on TV.

And on TV it will be, thanks to Guitar Center and DIRECTV who collaborated to film three entire days worth of great music not to be missed. The shows filmed at SX will be shown for the 8th season of GC Sessions, to air Sunday nights at 8 p.m. on DIRECTV’s Audience (channel 239) starting May 4.  And they were certainly ending with a bang, stacking the Saturday night bill with Phantogram and Snoop Dogg.

Up first, Phantogram dove right into what they know best — pop-synth rock at its most infectious and surreal.  The duo opened their set with “Nothing But Trouble,” the headlining track off their new LP, Voices. Sarah Barthel immediately grabbed the crowd’s attention with her stone cold power stare as she sighed, “I’m nothing but trouble, I’m losing my mind,” echoing into the crisp Austin air. The drum beat of “Black Out Days” sped things up a bit. Barthel’s voice rang out powerful yet eerily beautiful; she looked almost as striking as she sounded as her jet-black bob rocked along to the music. Her breathless vocals rang clear over the synth beats of the single off Voices, “Fall in Love.”

Yet, Barthel was not the only one singing. Josh Carter showed of his vocal chops on “I Don’t Blame You” resting effortlessly over a trippy back beat and the ethereal back vocals of Barthel These two shared a moment when Barthel’s mic failed, and Carter came to the rescue; the chemistry and tension was palpable. These two claim they are only friends, but I am not so sure….but whatever they are doing, we at Vinyl Mag hope they continue because it is certainly working.

There was a dramatic change of pace when Snoop Dogg took the stage.  Beats no longer swirled around the stage with smoke spewing from machines but came at us full force with a heavy dose of bass. An unexpected headliner for a show put on by Guitar Sessions, yet I can say that the most fun I had all week was three rows from the front of the stage on that roof singing along as Snoop rapped, “Bowowow yippy yo yippy yay.” Working both the crowd and the camera like a professional, Snoop Dogg (or should we say Snoop Lion, no Snoopzilla…ugh, we will just refer to him as Snoop for the sake of clarity), strolled across the stage with an ease that reflects his many years of experience.

The crowd sang along in full force as Snoop D-O-Double-G took it all the way back to 1993, “sipping on gin and juice, with my mind on my money and my money on my mind.” Snoop continued to keep the crowd going with his early 2000s hit, “Drop it Like it’s Hot,” as he danced with the life-size dog flaunting a rather large joint as he boasted, “I roll the best weed, because I got it going on.”

Snoop ended with quite the bang and crowd favorite “The Next Episode,” leaving us grinning ear to ear for what was the best possible way to end South By.

*Check out our Instagram video of Snoop emerging from the “backstage” area below!

If you weren’t actually present for the show, don’t feel bad – you’ll be able to experience it for yourself when it airs on DirecTV! Schedule below!

 

Guitar Center Sessions Season 8 Episode Schedule:

May 4, 2014                  Soundgarden

May 11, 2014                Damon Albarn

May 18, 2014                Phantogram

May 25, 2014                The Wild Feathers

June 1, 2014                 Snoop Dogg

June 8, 2014                 The 1975

July 13, 2014                 311

July 20, 2014                 LP

July 27, 2014                 Dawes

August 3, 2014              Alice in Chains

August 10, 2014            CHVRCHES

August 17, 2014            Cage the Elephant

 

*Check out the incredible Soundgarden performance at the Sessions here!

SXSW 2014: The Bright Light Social Hour at The Main II

Posted on by Emma Cramer

11 p.m. rolled around, and the crowd was getting anxious at The Main II in downtown Austin. This city’s own The Bright Light Social Hour were set to take the stage for their official SX showcase, and they were running slightly late. Even with several other notable acts set to perform later that night, including up-and-coming indie rapper Chance the Rapper, Bright Light had a packed house thanks to their solid local following.

The moment Curtis Roush hit that first note on guitar, the crowd began to move. And they never really stopped, as a wobbly reverb could be constantly heard between songs creating an atmosphere where one just felt the need to dance. And despite the ache in my feet, my converse high tops continued to move to the bluesy psychedelic rock, reminiscent of The Black Keys. Not to mention, the trio of vocalist Curtis Roush, bassist Jack O’Brien and drummer Joseph Mirasole certainly looked the part, all sporting long hair and clothes straight out of the grunge era.

A constant of the performance was the solid drumbeat paired with lovely guitar melodies that build and build, then crashing into lovely drawn-out reverb. The crowd was certainly not disappointed as Roush yelled “Thank you, Austin!” and responded with a resounding roar after the group ended their set with the well-known favorite “Back and Forth.”

The three rockers also debuted a solid amount of new material from their upcoming album out later this year. We like what we have heard so far, so be sure to check it out, and check out our SXSW 2014 interview with the band here!!!

May 08     Pisgah Brewing Company w/ Charles Bradley,…    Black Mountain, NC
May 09     Shaky Knees Festival     Atlanta, GA
May 10     WMNF Tropical Heatwave Festival     Tampa, FL
May 24     Sasquatch! Music Festival     Quincy, WA
Jul 11     Rock The Shores Fest     Colwood, Canada
Jul 12     Rock The Shores Fest     Colwood, Canada
Jul 13     Rock The Shores Fest     Colwood, Canada

SXSW 2014: Hundred Waters x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emma Cramer

We here at Vinyl are not quite sure how to classify Hundred Waters. Are they indie? Are they electronic? Are they alternative? Perhaps their unclassifiable and refreshing sound is why we like them so much. Based out of Gainesville, Florida, all four members completed their self-titled album while attending the University of Florida (I guess we will let that slide this time. Go dawgs). This debut album garnered a significant amount of buzz, as producer and artist Sonny Moore (Skrillex) took notice and signed the up and coming group to his label, OWSLA. We met up with Nicole Miglis, Trayer Tryon, Paul Giese, and Zach Tetreault on the quiet third floor of the Austin Convention Center one sunny afternoon during SXSW to chat about their past year, their bucket list, and their evolving sound.

VM: 2013 was a big year for you guys, touring the US and the UK with acts such as Alt-J and The xx. How was that experience?

Nicole Miglis: It was a super incredible experience, and you learn a lot too, because you are opening for a band. And you are also like, this thing that you made in three months – this record that we made – we have had to stand behind for so long and learn how to adapt it to different situations. But meeting them was super inspiring, and they were really inspiring people to know and be around. It was incredible.

VM: You guys have a really unique sound that doesn’t really fit under a genre title. How would you guys describe your sound?

Trayer Tryon: Smart Dark.

VM: Has your sound evolved since the beginning?

Paul Giese: Yes, quite sufficiently. Our first album was made before we knew that this was going to be our everyday and before we knew we were going to be playing it live especially. This new stuff comes from two years of only thinking about music and only thinking about what it means to be doing this and meeting all of these inspiring people in music, instead of having to divide between school and work and what not.

NM: Yeah, it’s a full time thing now for sure.

PG: We are like 100 percent into it, whereas before the world was dividing us.

VM: How did the band form?

Zach Tetreault: We have all played music in different projects like for forever. Trayer and Paul were in a band in early high school, and I started playing with them at the end of high school.

PG: Awesomely, we were called Awesome.

ZT: Yeah, their band was called Awesome. Then we had a little project called We Are Trumpets, and then in college we met Nicole at university, and I would always go see her do solo shows, because she has an awesome solo project that no body knows about.

NM: Top secret.

ZT: Because she doesn’t let anybody know about it. And then we all joined this group together in college called Levek and toured with that, and then it sort of evolved into this. That’s the short of it, but yeah school and music bound us.

VM: So you guys have already performed here in Austin, TX for South by Southwest. How was that experience?

TT: Yesterday was great.

PG: Yeah, it was fun. We drove a long way and then flew and almost missed the flight. The show was all the people that were around most from where we drove. It was kind of funny, but it was good. It was a good beginning show, because it was really hard and rough, so it made us feel alive.

TT: It was our label showcase, which is OWSLA, which is like a lot of dance music mostly. And we don’t get to do a lot with them, because we aren’t really similar to most of the acts. This is one of the few things we have done with that family, so it was cool to be a part of it.

NG: Tonight, we are playing the Portal Showcase with Angel Olsen and Mark Kozelek, who I was obsessed with in high school, so I am super excited to play a show with him. He was like my first real music crush. I am super honored to be on that bill.

VM: Any particular show later in the week you are really looking forward to performing? Or anyone that you have already seen that really impressed you?

PG: Yeah, we really want to see Mark Kozelek.

NM: We are trying to see Empress Of, but she is playing right now.

TT: We wanted to see Ms. Gaga, but we just missed her. We are standing right where she was.

VM: If you guys could perform at any venue, what would it be?

NM: I don’t know. I don’t really know enough venues to be honest. I feel like the most exciting thing to do would be to play at your own venue, like set up your own thing somewhere. I don’t really have any venues that I idolize or anything like that.

TT: You don’t really know venues until you play them.

VM: Who would you say your main influences are?

TT: John Petrucci, Quincy Adams, Michael J. Fox, Rick Wakeman.

VM: If you guys could perform with anyone dead or alive, who would it be?

ZT: Nicole.

TT: Yeah, Nicole.

NM: I don’t know to be honest. The people that I know are the people I enjoy most being around and touring with and watching, because I know about their life. It means more to me when I see them perform.

PG: Let’s pick one. Let’s pick a dead fella. But how about watch instead of play. I think John Coltrane would be great, because it would be kind of sacrilegious to stop any time spent with him talking.

SXSW 2014: Lime Cordiale x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emma Cramer

Quintet Aussies Lime Cordiale came quite a long way from their home of the northern beaches of Sydney to play at the massive and chaotic live music scene of SXSW. With a voice and sound that can’t help but bring up comparisons to Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and The Kooks from us writers at Vinyl, this group is definitely deserving of your undivided attention with their up-beat indie rock distinctive of the land down under.  We caught up with brothers Oli and Louis Leimbach midway through they week at SX to talk about their experience in the USA, working with Daniel Denholm, and their biggest influences.

VM: 2013 was a huge year for you guys, touring all across Australia to promote your second EP, Falling Up the Stairs. How was that experience for you guys?

Louis Leimbach: Amazing! We all felt solid about that EP and the shows went splendidly. We started the year with an amazing festival on the east coast, so that defiantly pushed us a lot, and we also supported some bands that we adored.  We were super vibing on all of the shows out of our hometown, which had great turnouts.

VM: How did you come up with the band name Lime Cordiale?

LL: Our last name has ‘Lime’ in it, and we stole the ‘Cordiale’ from a French musical festival ‘Musique Cordiale’ we were attending when we first started playing together.

VM: How has it been performing and making music as brothers in the same band; does that ever cause tension or disagreements within the band?

LL: I can’t really imagine doing this without a sibling. There is never any backstabbing, and we can read each other perfectly. Sure, there is tension, but that makes for something good to write about.

Oli Leimbach: Despite being brothers, we get along really well. We have similar vision.

VM: How was the experience of having the EP produced by Daniel Denholm?

LL: Daniel is a strange guy. One of those wackos that would be naked under his trench-coat playing music all night long in the dark by himself. But a musical genius who totally gets us, and we fully respect him. We worked hard finding a sound that mimicked our personalities and presence for about six months. We put down about 20 tracks and picked out the best five.

VM: Being from Sydney Australia, how has that influenced your sound?

LL: There is definitely a distinct sound coming out of us at the moment – maybe that has something to do with it? We come from a surfy town that like to party and dance so we’ve definitely adapted our sound to its groovers.

VM: Are there any particular musicians or bands that shape your music? 

LL: A lot of old soul, deep house, reggae and psychedelic music. Some of our favourites are Bonobo, Citizen Cope, Charles Bradley, Amy Winehouse, Tame Impala and Crowded House.

VM: How has your music evolved since the beginning?

OL: When we first started out we were playing much smaller venues and mainly just acoustically. But as we started playing bigger places, we had to adjust our sound to less of a sit down and listen and more of a stand up and dance type of feel. Its all about playing something that people can dance to.

VM: Anyone who you guys would love to play live with?

LL: Citizen Cope, Charles Bradley, The Growlers, The Strokes…

VM: Do you guys have a favorite song to play live?

LL: ‘Bullsh*t Aside’ is pretty fun the play live. It seems to get everyone grooving pretty hard.

VM: What bands were you most excited to see at SXSW this year?

LL: We had no plans, and that was the best plan. We just hopped from venue to venue, and because of that we now have a list of about 30 great bands we previously had never heard of. We made friends with a couple of them and now have some good U.S. connections and friends.

VM: How many shows did you play at SXSW? What was your favorite?

LL: At one showcase we played, the guitar amp blew up in the first song, so Oli just danced around for most of it. When you stuff up that hard at the start of your set, you just loosen up and stop worrying, because there’s nothing else to loose.

VM: What is next for Lime Cordiale?

LL: We’ve got a bunch of new songs we want to lay down when we return to [Australia]. Then head back over to hit the USA with some fresh new tracks.

 

Apr 08   ‘Play Us Your Hits’ Showcase @ MUSEXPO Los Angeles, CA
Apr 09   Casa Costa Mesa, CA
Apr 21   Bluesfest Byron Bay Nsw, Australia
Jun 11    The Catalyst Santa Cruz, CA
Jun 17   The Crocodile Seattle, WA

SXSW 2014: Night Riots x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emma Cramer

What would you get if U2 and The Killers had a baby?  Night Riots – that’s what. Hailing from central California, this rock band has such an infectious sound that both MTV and Rolling Stone have taken notice. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to chat with them during their stint in Austin during SXSW, so read on to hear about how the band formed, their influences, one band member’s premonitions, and what’s in store for Night Riots down the road.

Vinyl Mag: So you guys have playing together since you were teenagers, how did the band form?

Travis Hawley: Well Matt and I met in middle school, and then the rest of us started playing together when we were little kids. We grew up playing music together and it has just been that way ever since.

VM: Comparisons have been drawn between Night Riots and big names such as The Killers, The Clash, and U2. How would you define your sound?

Nick Fotinakes: Sort of like a mix between The Killers and U2. I don’t know; I like it. I think it has the nostalgia of U2 or maybe some 80’s stuff. But, we also grew up listening to a lot of punk music, so it still has a lot of angst and darkness. I don’t know; it’s just rock with a listenability.

VM:You guys had to change your band name due to copyright infringements. How did you guys settle on the name Night Riots?

TH: It came to Mikel in a dream.

NF: Mikel has a lot of premonitions. Like on the flight over here, he thought we were all going to crash.

Matt DePauw: No, he saw a ring of light, and it was hopeful. He grabbed my wrist and was shaking, and then his eyes went completely white, and he saw a vision…

VM: You raised the money to put out your EP Young Lore independently. How was that experience?

TH: It was fun; it was a actually a cool way to give back to our fans. You know, they would donate surprising amount of money, and then we just tried our best to make worthwhile things to give back to them. So, we just had a bunch of cool little perks.

VM: Who would you guys say are your biggest musical influences?

TH: I like INXS.

NF: Travis.

MD: Dr. Dre, 2001. I mean it, it’s a great album. It inspired me a lot.

VM: So, welcome to the heaven that is South by Southwest! Any really cool experiences yet? Or anything you guys are really looking forward to?

Rico Rodriguez: South by Southwest is just pure chaos. You have people throwing up on people, Lady Gaga flying around on meat, barbeques.

MD: Pretty much in the streets, too. She’s throwing up on stage, then you walk outside. Mikel saw that one in a premonition. He saw us eating gyros later, too…

VM: What is your favorite venue you guys have played?

TH: I like the Great American Music Hall in San Fransico; that’s pretty awesome.

NF: I like this place called Humphrey’s by the Bay in San Diego. It’s like a big outdoor amphitheater. You saw people on their boats pull up and watch the show.

VM: You were featured on Rolling Stone and on MTV Buzzworthy in 2011 and 2012. How did that feel to get that exposure?

NF: Pretty cool – like surreal. It’s something you never really think is going to happen, but then it does, and I don’t know. It doesn’t really click in until someone tells you it’s cool, and then you think it’s cool. I am really peer-pressure-influenced.

VM: How would you say your music has evolved since the beginning of the band?

TH: Since the beginning of time. It has just evolved. It has all been pretty organic, and I think recently we have been exploring a lot more textures and sounds and rhythm, so I think that’s the biggest thing. But also, just pushing ourselves to be a little bit more outside of the box.

VM: If you could play a live show or collaborate with any band or artist dead or alive, who would it be?

MD: Freddy Mercury. Or that guy Death Grips.

VM: What can we expect from Night Riots after SXSW?

Mikel Van Kranenburg: Lots of gold, gold rings. That’s what I saw.

TH: We are going to come home, and then we are actually just spending a couple of months just writing music, get[ting] a couple of music videos done. A bit of touring, and then we are going to start it all over again.

SXSW 2014: Bert McCracken x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emma Cramer

As frontman of the well-known rock band The Used hailing from Orem, Utah, Bert McCracken is far from inexperienced in both performing and interviewing. During SXSW, we were lucky enough to sit down and talk with the veteran rocker for a few minutes of his jam-packed schedule. Despite his experience, we chatted about how he still gets nervous to perform, his fondness of Australia and the new The Used record that’s coming out this month.

VM: The Used manages to combine heavy rock and roll with strong, catchy melodies. [What is] your main focus when writing a song?

Bert McCracken: My main focus is the lyrics first, then melody second. I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Neil Diamond, and so I appreciate pop melody and pop sensibility. I want to write a song that I want to hear.

VM: You have a new album, Imaginary Enemy, coming out in April. What can we expect from your sixth studio album?

BM: It’s really a more selfless record than we have ever written. We wanted to ask some big questions about some really serious issues facing the world, inequality, and love and humanity, and what are we all doing not treating each other with respect…these kinds of things. So, we really keep the writing general enough so you can take it for what it means in your own personal life. But this record is going a bit deeper than we have before, and just like your typical Used record, I think there are a lot of colors that paint this canvas. So you have your heavier songs and your lighter songs and your more experimental stuff, but I think the focus is more on the consciousness of the message.

VM: How do you feel like you have evolved as a band and stayed relevant since starting out 13 years ago?

BM: I think the relevance is in part to do with our passion, and also directly a product of honest, pure love of music…there are a lot of bands out there like The Used that are just truly passionate about what they do, because they love music. And I think that is the most important thing for us – status aside, money aside, attention aside, everything else aside – other than this unadulterated love for music.

VM: Let’s talk about the heaven that is SXSW. What’s your favorite part of the Austin festival?

BM: My favorite part of SXSW is just the camaraderie and the freedom of music. There is a band here, there’s a band there, there’s a band there, there’s a band there – how great is that? Purely for the music.

VM: What’s the coolest venue or event that you’ve ever played?

BM: The Gorge in Washington is really awesome. It’s this outdoor venue that’s right in front of this cliff.

VM: What has been your most outrageous experience with a fan?

BM: There is a fan that has this fake leg that he always throws up on stage, and we always talk about it. He’s got a beer keg in his leg, so there’s a tap, and he’s got drawers, adult cigarettes and all. But we also had a Make a Wish Foundation cancer victim who chose to come spend a day with the Used in 2005, and we became super close. We talked on the phone all the time. His name was David Smith, and he lost his battle with cancer about a year ago. But that was the most outrageous fan experience.

VM: Do you still get nervous before you perform live?

BM: Very nervous. And if I didn’t, maybe I would need to re-evaluate my passion a little bit. I care a lot about what I do, and I want everyone to have a really amazing time. I want that healthy escape to be as enjoyable and memorable as possible.

VM: How have you managed to preserve your voice after years of recording and performing?

BM: I don’t know. I don’t think I have. I just take it easy, really really easy.

VM: Who are some of your biggest influences?

BM: I would say a Brazilian Revolutionary named Paolo Freire is one on my major influences. Noam Chomsky, T.S. Elliot, Umberto Eco, Charles Dickens…George Orwell is one of my main influences. I would say authors influence me a lot more than other artists. I am a writer first.

VM: If you weren’t making music, what do you think you’d be doing?

BM: Writing.

VM: So you have a pretty sweet set-up living in Australia. What is your favorite part about living in the land down under?

BM: I love the Australian way of kind of protected market systems. They have really strong protection for family-owned independent business. I think the whole world should feel that out.

SXSW 2014: David and Olivia x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emma Cramer

This was alt-country duo David & Olivia’s second year at SXSW and we sure were glad they decided to return. Receiving three nominations this past year for OC music awards, this is definitely a duo to pay attention to. We had the pleasure of chatting with them at the Chuggin’ Monkey in downtown Austin about their SX experience, how they met, and who are their biggest influences.

Vinyl Mag: This is your second year at SXSW. How is it going this year?

Olivia May: It’s wonderful; better this year than last, so that’s all we can ask for. We already played this morning at noon, and we are playing 10:30 tonight at Wahoos. We have a busy day on Saturday but a little bit more fun for Friday.

VM: Are you guys looking forward to performing any particular party or showcase?

OM: Wahoos tonight, because we have a lot of friends out there from “the OC” supporting.

David Rosales: Yeah, we are from Southern California, and Wahoos is a Southern California-based company, so we are looking forward to that.

VM: How did you guys meet and form the band?

DR: We met through Craigslist on a chance encounter.

OM: No, he’s kidding.

DR: Yeah, she was just singing in a club I was playing at, and I was smitten with her voice, and I knew it would work. But we didn’t meet that night. We met in a studio in North Hollywood. Basically the producer locked in this room for like 45 minutes, and…it was a really good vibe.

OM: He had a song he wanted me to be the duo part on, but yes – it’s been very very good.

VM: What would you guys say your main influences are?

OM: I grew up listening to my grandmas radio, so like Patsy Cline, and anything classic from the 20s, 30s, and 50s stuff. Classic country was really in my ear. Celine Dion’s voice was a huge thing – Fiona Apple, a lot of female voices had influence on me. But I was a rocker, too, so like Gwen Stefani as well; I have that nice belt because of that.

DR: I got a lot of hand-me-down music, so whatever my brothers and sisters were listening to, I was listening to. So that included anything from Motley Crue and Guns N Roses to Jimi Hendrix from that point on. We both kind of come from that rock background. But lately, I have been listening to a lot of Ray Lamontagne, Ryan Adams, the Bahamas. I am just really impressed by good songwriting, and I have been influenced a lot by the great songwriters, like Johnny Cash.

VM: If there was any venue anywhere that you could play, what would it be?

OM: The Grand Ole Opry! I think that would be really amazing. And I think we had a similar experience to that when we played at the Grove in Anaheim in California. We were nominated for three categories at The OC Music Awards, and it was an awesome whirlwind performing right in the middle of the award show to perform the song that started it for us.

DR: Old theaters. In downtown LA, there has been an uprising of the refurbishing of these old movie theaters that old Hollywood used to use, and now they are having live music in there. I think anything with some history, something rusty, is awesome. Where you can smell it in the air almost.

VM: So you guys have gotten some buzz from KROQ lately – how does that feel?

OM: Yeah! I didn’t ever really have that on a bucket list but now that it happened, it should have been on a bucket list.

DR: I grew up in LA, listening to KROQ, so to be on it is a real honor and definitely one of those mile-markers in an un-mile-marker type of industry.

VM: So any new music in the works?

OM: Oh yeah, we are excited about the downtime we have tomorrow so we can just be here and absorbed in it. We are feeling all the inspiration.

DR: Last year, we wrote a song, and we always seem to just write a lot and respond to the places we are. We have been writing a lot of blues stuff lately, so we are just blending that in.

SXSW 2014: Cheers Elephant x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emma Cramer

With an obscene total of 12 shows in five days, it’s a miracle that Cheers Elephant was still breathing when I saw them on the last day of SXSW at the PBR showcase. But they weren’t just conscious – vocalist Derek Krzywicki, bassist Travelin’ Mat, lead guitarist Jordan del Rosario, and drummer Robert Kinglsy were all full of energy when they played on the outdoor stage at Easy Tiger like this was their last (though far from it – they still had two more to go that same night).

I was certainly glad they were playing so many different events, because otherwise I would have never gotten to see what might be my favorite discovery of the week. Okay, I admit describing a band as having a “happy sound” is incredibly cliché.  But honestly, I think that might be the best way to describe this four-piece group originally from Philly. The crowd, including myself, smiled all the way through their creek-side set that was brimming with psychedelic pop rock guitars and Beatles-esque vocal harmonies that were like candy to the ear.

The crowd favorites “Leaves” and “Doin’ it Right” are testaments to the talent this group has of making quintessential road trip songs that can be played over and over without growing old, and sounding even better and more full of energy live than recorded. A contagious blend of The Strokes and The Kooks, this band is a must for any indie rock lover’s music collection. We had the great opportunity to hang with the band earlier in the week to ask important questions about their hairstyles, the origin of their band name, and more important stuff like that. Read on.

Vinyl Mag: You guys relocated to LA from your home in Philly. How has the transition gone? Has anything been particularly better or worse?

Derek Krzywicki: Around there, yeah. But it’s wonderful. We don’t have winter, so that’s great. [Leaving friends behind] was definitely a downside to moving though.

Robert Kingsly: We had a really close group of friends back in Philly, which we still have. That’s probably the biggest thing we miss about the east coast is our friends and family that are over there, but other than that everything’s been wonderful since we have been out on the west coast.

VM: You guys just dropped the lyric video for your song “Peoples.” Who was the visionary behind the project? How so?

Travelin’ Mat: It was just footage that our manager was taking on our tour last summer through a couple of really nice places like Maine, and the island off Maine. So it was just a lot of beautiful shots strewn together with lyrics on top of them.

VM: You guys have been at SX a few days now. Any other artists that have really impressed you guys?

Jordan del Rosario: Black Angels were really cool last night, but I think that is the only band we have really seen. Oh, and J Roddy was cool. We hope we see Train Conductor as well.

DK: But we are performing so much this year that we don’t really have a bucket list of bands that we want to go see. But if we do have free time, who knows, we might be trying to get some sleep.

VM: Any favorite moments yet of the festival or any showcases you guys are super pumped to perform?

DK: Oh yeah, tonight is going to be great, at 1 a.m. at the soho lounge – that’s our official showcase. But we are also playing Rachel Ray’s Feedback that has free beer and free food.

VM: Would you say your music has evolved since the formation of the band, and if so how?

JR: It’s gotten more mature and polished throughout the years. We were pretty young when we first started and didn’t really know what we were doing. But now we are pros.

VM: How did you guys agree on the band name Cheers Elephant?

DK: Kingsley is good at telling the story. But we didn’t all exactly agree.

RK: It all came down to the first elephant to come over to America, and along the way the boat ran out of wate,r because they underestimated how much they would need. All they had left was barrels of ale, so they gave that to the elephant. But once it got to America, it refused to drink water anymore, and it would only drink beer. So, of course, it turned into a Coney Island sideshow where you could pay a nickel and come watch the elephant uncork the beer, put it back. Hence Cheers Elephant, America’s first alcoholic elephant…

VM: What is your favorite venue you have ever played?

Travelin’ Mat: Summerfest was a fun festival that we played…it’s two weeks long, so its technically the biggest rock music festival in the world.

VM: What would you say your biggest influences are?

DK: Beatles, The Kinks, but everything and all sorts of music. Ethiopian Jazz to Train Conductor; it’s all the there.

VM: So you guys have won all of these really impressive awards, including best indie haircuts five years running. So how do you manage to keep your hair looking so not mainstream all of the time?

RK: You know, the key is to not over think it. Just let it happen.

TM: What everybody else is doing – just don’t do it.

VM: I know all of your loyal fans in Philly are dying to know – any chance you guys are headed back anytime soon?

DK: Maybe when it warms up a bit we will consider going back.

SXSW 2014: Emily Wolfe x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emma Cramer

Austin singer-songwriter Emily Wolfe has caused quite a stir in the music scene as of late, with national recognition on both NPR and MTV’s Buzzworthy in the past year. We had the distinct pleasure of being able to sit down and talk with Emily and her band including keyboardist Hannah Hagar, bassist Sam Pankey, and drummer Jeffery Olson, and chat about their experience at SXSW and what is next in store for the rocking quartet.

VM: You put out your EP Mechanical Hands last year. How was the experience of working with Mike McCarthy as producer?

Emily Wolfe: We love Mike. He is so cool but in the weirdest way. He always wears the same exact outfit, which so do I, so I get it. It’s just easy. He is really good at helping us explore our creativity.

Hannah Hagar: He makes us all feel very comfortable and brings out the best performance

EW: Yeah, exactly. And he knows what to say to get us in the zone, because I remember this one time I played this guitar part, and he said, ‘hey, you can do it better than that.’ And I was like, for some reason, that’s very motivating.

VM: You were just recently featured on MTV’s Buzzworthy for your new single”Swoon.” How does that feel?

EW: Man, I was at work on my computer on Microsoft Outlook – boring sh*t – and I got this Twitter notification that MTV followed me. And I wondered if that thing was up, because I knew it was going to happen. I saw it, and I texted everyone.

VM: “Swoon” seems to have more of an edgier rock ‘n’ roll feel than your earlier work. Why the change?

EW: I feel like, as a band, we have been evolving in that direction for a while, and “Swoon” had such a sass factor. I was just jonesin’ for some sexy rock plus roll.

Sam Pankey: It also reflects the musical aesthetic that we all kind of wanted. We listen to a lot of the same music now and really dig people like White Denim and White Rabbits, Jack White – all the ‘Whites.’

Jeffery Olson: I also feel that this has been the first song that we have recorded where we felt like this was a band, not just a song-writer with some hired guns. And we have been trying to get out of that and prove to people that we are a band. It’s the band that works hard together and creates the music.

VM: So you have already preformed at SXSW this year – how was that experience?

EW: Great, it was so fun, man. We have done two shows so far, and tonight we have our last one. The first one was really great and a lot of fun, and the crowd was really into it. It was super sunny; it was like beaming – almost like Satan was breathing on me – hot. Like I was inside a dog’s mouth, but it was a blast. And the second was awesome, although it was really early at like 6 a.m. for KGSR, but when we all get on stage together its like a party.

VM: Any bands that you are excited to see or have already seen at SXSW that have really impressed you?

EW: They’ve got a list.

HH: I really want to see Policia.

EW: Young the Giant.

HH: But then there are also the bands you kind of stumble upon accidentally that can also be amazing.

JO: We are going to see White Denim too. That’s a given.

VM: How is the song-writing process for you? Do you follow a routine, or does it vary?

EW: It has definitely started to vary. But normally, I’ll write the lyrics, the melody, and the guitar part as well and then we will jam it out in rehearsal and out it together that way and fill in the rest.

VM: Is there any particular venue that you would jump at the chance to play?

HH: I think Red Rocks in Colorado.

Sam Pankey: Anywhere in New York; we did Brooklyn Bowl, and that was awesome.

EW: Oh, ACL fest; that is like a dream.

VM: Any artist dead or alive that you would collaborate with if you could?

EW: Ryan Adams, Jack White, Dan Auerbach, Jeff Buckley, Prince.

VM: So where can your fans and soon to be fans expect to see you after SX?

HH: We have a couple of shows in Austin, and then this summer we are still planning a few shows outside of Texas, but nothing is set in stone yet.

VM: Any new music in the works?

HH: In April, we are recording five songs, and then in October we are going back to do another five or six.

EW: We are playing mostly new things at the show tonight.

SXSW 2014: Sol Cat x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emma Cramer

Sol Cat grooved all the way to SXSW from their home base in Nashville, Tennessee, and boy are we glad they did. Filling the airwaves with explosive psychedelic guitars, Sol Cat made an impressive showing at the Austin music festival with several showcases. We were lucky enough to get to sit down with the Johny Fisher (guitar) and Taylor Craft (bass) of the band and talk about their sound, funny stories from tour, and what is next for them.

Vinyl Mag: So you guys have an eclectic sound that brings together different elements from such a range of genres; how would you define your sound?

Johny Fisher: I would say we have a rock ‘n’ roll sound, where we really just like to get funky and groove. There are six of us, and we all have pretty simplistic parts, but we are fooling everyone with so many of us. We really just like to play music that we can groove to and bob our heads. The groove defines us.

VM: You guys have been touring for quite awhile now – any favorite memories or funny stories?

Taylor Craft: Every time we go on tour is great, but we have a running joke where we call Tom, our drummer, anything but Tom. One time we had the people at Chick Fil A people call him Toby, and he had no idea that was him. He is the newest member of the band, so we have to give him a hard time.

VM: So you all played last night at the Thirsty Nickel. How did that go?

TC: Yeah we did; it was our first gig of South by [Southwest] for Big Picture Media. It was kind of nutty, and the sound was out of wack where you couldn’t hear much. But we had an absolute blast playing for a packed crowd.

VM: Any showcases you guys are super pumped to perform?

JF: Yeah for sure! The Big Picture Media showcase yesterday was awesome, and we are really excited to play all of the others, but especially the Audio Tree party tomorrow night.

VM: You guys have been at SX a few days now; any other artists that have really impressed you?

TC: Well, we saw Snoop Dog hanging out, which was really cool. He is such a crowd-stopping guy. But as for bands, most of us are friends, and it is tough to discover new ones, because we are trying to support the ones we know. Also, we roll about ten deep everywhere we go, so that makes it kind of difficult to move around too much.

VM: Do you guys have a favorite city or venue to play?

TC: Laredo, Texas has definitely been one of our favorite spots.  It’s almost like a little mini festival before South by Southwest every year. We are always treated like family there.

VM: What is the song-writing process like for you guys?

JF: We usually write songs part by part; no one writes each other’s either – we all just write our own. When we find something good that we can all agree upon, we build it up from there part by part. It is impossible to go into the studio and record a good record in a week with everyone rushing. Nothing great is made quickly; it’s about sitting on a track and seeing what comes to you with fresh ears.

VM: Would you say your music has evolved, and if so, how?

JF: Yeah, our music has most definitely evolved. We started with two and now we are a six-man group, so that has definitely changed the dynamic of the band. I would say our sound has changed as we have grown up, but if you don’t evolve as a band, you are doing something wrong. We really just focus on not being anything we aren’t, and if something isn’t turning out well, it is helpful to have five others telling you that it sucks and being honest with you.

VM: If you guys could collaborate with anyone dead or alive, who would it be?

JF: Wow, it’s really hard to narrow it down to only one. We are all influenced by such a variety of artists and genres. Our keyboardist really likes hip-hop, and the rest of us are so different as well. But if I had to narrow it down, I would say Willie Nelson, Herb Alpert..really anyone that’s real.

VM: So, what can we expect next from Sol Cat? Any new music in the works?

JF: Yep! We have a whole slew of new tracks sitting in our computer at home. Probably 40 or 50 tracks that we are just sitting on, tweaking. And we probably have about 50 more that we are in the process of making.