Category: All Interviews
Exclusive interview- Joe Michelini from River City Extension
Got to sit down (Indian style) with Joe Michelini (writer/guitarist/vocalist for the band) from River City Extension. Such a nice guy! I love when I am able to talk to people who really have something to say, especially when it is interesting.
River City Extension is an eight-member “lyrical folk” band from Toms River, New Jersey. They recently released their new full-length album, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Your Anger, a record inspired by a darker time in Michelini’s life. Check out my exclusive interview with him below! And be sure to catch them on their current tour!
Tour Dates
July 25 — Toronto, ON — The Opera House *
July 26 — Montreal, QC — Corona Theatre *
July 27 — Portland, ME — Port City Music Hall *
July 28 –Cambridge, MA — TT The Bear’s*
July 30 — Buffalo, NY — Tralf Music Hall *
July 31 — Columbus, OH — Newport Music Hall *
Aug 1 — Cincinnati, OH — MOTR Pub/FREE SHOW*
Aug 2 — Indianapolis, IN — Deluxe @ Old National Centre *
Aug 3– Chicago, IL — House of Blues
Aug 4 — Milwaukee, WI — The Pabst Theater
Aug 5 — Madison, WI — The Frequency
Aug 7 — Lincoln, NE — Rye Room @ The Bourbon Theatre
Aug 9 — Telluride, CO — Sheridan Opera House
Aug 10 — Denver, CO — Hi-Dive
Aug 11 — Boulder, CO — Chautauqua Auditorium
Aug 12 — Bellvue, CO — Mishawaka Auditorium
Aug 14 — Columbia, Mo — Mojo’s
Aug 22 — Athens, GA — Georgia Theatre Rooftop
Aug 23 — Gainesville, FL — Double Down w/ Manchester Orchestra
Aug 24 — Orlando, FL — The Social w/ Mancheter Orchestra
Aug 25 — St. Petersburg, FL — State Theatre w/ Manchester Orchestra
Aug 26 — Ft. Lauderdale, FL — Culture Room w/ Manchester Orchestra
Aug 28 — West Columbia, SC – New Brookland Tavern
Aug 29 — Richmond, VA — The Camel
Aug 30 — Baltimore, MD — Ottobar
Sep 14 — Sayreville, NJ — Starland Ballroom
Hanging outside the Masquerade with The Drowning Men
Everyone should know who The Drowning Men are. Everyone should listen to the song “Rita” (yes, it’s their most popular, but there is a reason– it’s incredible. Repeat repeat repeat…). And everyone should go see them live.
Got the chance to sit down with James and Nato from the band before their show at the Masquerade in Atlanta. Super awesome, incredibly chill guys. No rock star complexes, despite their outrageous talent.
*About the sound…I KNOW that it is hard to hear. Tragic. I swear to you the next thing I buy will be an external mic so we won’t keep having these problems. Bear with me. Underground magazine = tiny budget.
Exclusive- in the studio with George Boedecker
This was pure chance. A friend of mine ran into George Boedecker (founder of Crocs) in the elevator of our hotel while I was staying in Nashville for the week. He mentioned that he was recording an album. She mentioned that she had a friend with a music magazine (me!), and the next thing I knew, I was sitting in Fool on the Hill Recording Studio hanging out with George and legendary producer Richard Landis. Both of them were extremely gracious and accommodating, and it was a really incredible experience for me. I’m so grateful to have gotten this interview! Enjoy!
On Tour! An interview with KYLESA
Kylesa has been turning heads with their very own version of sludge metal for over eleven years. The Savannah, GA based quintet has toured relentlessly in the US and abroad, as far as Australia and Asia. The band is re-mastering and re-releasing two of their previous albums to vinyl this month and has just finished a tour with Heavy Metal icons, GWAR. Kylesa has a very powerful, smooth and expertly produced sound, thanks to the honed producer chops of guitarist / singer Phillip Cope.
I have been touring with Kylesa this year running Front of House sound and decided to take some time during the tour to put together this video interview for Vinylmag.org! Check out Kylesa’s most recent album “Spiral Shadow” and more at Kylesa.com.
Exclusive interview with The Lonely Forest!
The Lonely Forest is a lovely indie rock band based from Anacortes, Washington (I swear, some of the best bands come from Washington, don’t they?) that is relatively new to the music scene. I attended a show at the Georgia Theatre in Athens where they headlined for Portugal. The Man on the Jagermeister Music Tour. The stage had strands of white, unlit, round lights (later to be revealed as an amazing and colorful light show from Portugal), and the stage was set a calm blue. Everyone was itching with anticipation; the crowd was growing. Being up front to take photos was so personal as the guys finally came out and everyone cheered.
They put on a great show, and I vividly remember a guy that shouted out a song request for “We Sing In Time” and John, the lead singer, taken aback, saying, “Wow, someone actually knows our stuff- that’s awesome!” My favorite songs- and the ones that were most profound- were “Woe Is Me… I Am Ruined” and the requested song “We Sing In Time”. They got down like no one’s business, and it was definitely awesome to watch them get so into the song and play from the heart… and as cheesy as that may sound, I’m being serious!
Arrows dropped on March 22 and was produced by Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla on his label called Trans Records. I’ve given “Arrows” a thorough listen, and I must say, if you don’t have it, you NEED it- like, Turn-Off-This-Song-And-Go-Out-and-buy-the-album need it. It’s a great sunny day, sunny summer album.
They have promised to return to this fabulous little town of Athens, saying they enjoyed themselves and the crowd’s enthusiasm. But to hold you over, here’s a little interview I was able to have with frontman John Van Deusen.
JF: What do you love about music?
JVD: I enjoy connecting with the people through music and relating to them. My sisters were involved with classical music, and I was “forced” to listen to it. I grew up with whatever was playing. At age 11, I was interested in drums, piano and guitar, and around age 14 I stared playing with others. During 6-8th grade, I played with my dad a lot.
JF: Was this something you’ve always wanted to do? How did you get signed to Chris Walla’s label?
JVD: It was a childhood dream. I’ve always liked rock, and I wasn’t sure how realistic it was to play music, but I always wanted to do it. It felt right. I was good at it, I guess. I definitely dreamed of this since I was young. It’s fun; it’s a good job. You’ve just got to find the right people and be at the right place at the right time to get signed. I’m a huge fan of Death Cab, and got backstage. I jokingly asked if he’d produce it, and he said yes. There are a lot of terrible bands out there that are popular and get signed just because they are easy to digest. You have to work hard; it’s chance and hard work. You’ve got to know what you’re doing.
JF: What is the writing process like? Specifically Arrows– is there a theme?
JVD: I’ll write out some stuff on an acoustic guitar or piano, like the chorus, then I bring it back to the band, and they write their parts and it got easier. No theme, just a group of songs. The writing process is fast. I wrote quickly, finished them, and the band expanded them. Chris helped with production.
JF: What’s the audience’s feedback like? I know at the show a guy requested a song and you seemed surprised. Is the response not usually this big?
JVD: I didn’t expect that reaction in Athens, because we don’t have one really big song. National feedback is much more laidback. It’s quite unlike other crowds. They usually come to hang out and drink and see shows so they can be kind of quiet. We are used to quiet shows; it’s part of growing as a band, but we also had numerous shows where the crowds were awesome.
JF: How was it collaborating with NOW, NOW for the Record Store Day? How did that come to be/ have you played with them?
JVD: NOW, NOW is another band that Chris is working with. They used any two bands from Trans Records, and it’s got an alternate version of our song “Woe Is Me… I Am Ruined”. We’ve never played live with them, though.
JF: How did the Go Outside Guitar Lesson Video Contest on YouTube happen?
JVD: (laughs) People submitted covers, and we didn’t know it was a contest. It’s the marketing team’s idea; we had no idea it was happening. I made an instructional video to anyone interested in learning how to play it.
JF: What’s in store for The Lonely Forest?
JVD: After the tour, we are going home. It’s all been very tiring! We’ve been selling records and playing for a lot of people and been having a blast. We’ve been doing everything ourselves. I know I will have fond memories of this time in my life.
Exclusive interview- Crystal Fighters
Crystal Fighters are officially in my head. If you haven’t already checked out their recent US release, Star of Love, you should definitely get on it.
While you’re at it, be sure to see my review of their album here.
I got to interview CF (thank you, Atlantic Records!), and you get to read it! So here ya go:
EM: For those who have never heard you, could you describe your sound in five words or less?
CF: Traditional, modern, basque-inflenced, melody, dance.
EM: Give us a brief history of the band– I read that the name came from an opera Laure’s grandfather was writing- can you tell us a little bit about the opera and why you named the band after it?
CF: It was passed down to Laure after her grandfather passed away. He’d been secretly been writing it in his last days. It mentioned all sorts of Basque mythology, instruments and experiences. We started to investigate further and found the culture to be rich and intriguing, and that combined with the personal connection of an unfinished piece led us to make music inspired by these writings. One of the passages was called Crystal Fighters, referring to groups of young people in the opera, which is where we took our name from.
EM: Star of Love came out in the UK in 2010 and is now being released in the US. What has happened in that time for the band? Why the delay?
CF: I guess it takes a long time to get the word out sometimes, particularly having released Star of Love on our own label, Zirkulo, in the UK and licensing it to Europe. Since then we have been doing what we’ve always wanted- play a lot of gigs; we’ve been really lucky to play all over the world, from Poland to Australia, and we really can’t wait to come back to the USA to tour again soon.
EM: What is the theme of Star of Love?
CF: The unfathomable mystery of the universe, the turbulent journey towards being at peace with death, the triumph of love, and the omnipotence of the sun (SOL=Sun). All these themes came from the opera.
EM: What is next for Crystal Fighters?
CF: Now that the album is out in the USA, we can’t wait to come back and play. We are hitting the road May 21 and bringing friends IS Tropical with us. It’s gonna be crazy and can’t wait to hit all the cities we haven’t been to before, as well as our first time in Canada. On top of that, we’re writing our second album now, too.
Crystal Fighters + IS Tropical USA/CAN 2012 Tour
21st May – Philadelphia – Union Transfer
http://ticketf.ly/HCaVWx
22nd May – Washington – Rock and Roll Hotel
http://bit.ly/18BHs6
23rd May – Brooklyn – Music Hall Of Williamsburg
http://bit.ly/I4FJN1
25th May – Montreal – Il Motore
http://bit.ly/HHwBCo
26th May -Toronto – Wrong Bar
http://tktwb.tw/ICl9Vm
27th May – Chicago – Empty Bottle
http://tktwb.tw/Ij79Sv
28th May – Minneapolis – 7th Street Entry
http://bit.ly/JH9DIn
31st May – Vancouver – Fortune Sound Club
http://bit.ly/HCtQAB
1st June – Seattle – Neumos
http://bit.ly/IZXVyc
2nd June – Portland – Wonder Ballroom
http://ticketf.ly/Imd2lv
4th June – San Francisco – The Independent
http://ticketf.ly/ImdhwO
5th June Los Angeles – Echoplex
http://tktwb.tw/Hs1s3C
6th June – San Diego – Porters Pub
Backstage with Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless
Alright. So I just interviewed Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless backstage at The Masquerade. Not gonna lie…I had no idea what to expect when I went into this interview. However, besides the fact that we had to do the interview backstage during the opening act (where is the soundproof room?!), it all went down pretty smoothly.
Based on what I have read about Taylor, the last thing I expected was for her to be friendly (nice, sure…but downright friendly?). She welcomed us (my videographer, Katie, and I) backstage and comfortably chatted with us while we got set up. To put it simply, I really enjoyed myself during this interview.
As for the show…dude. Ok. Everyone talks about what Taylor does and wears onstage. A lot of the buzz seems to be about how scandalous she gets. However, people seem to keep forgetting to talk about the actual music. Which, after having seen them live, I now find absolutely astonishing.
The girl can sing. She gets up there and does whatever moves she does and wears whatever she wears to get the audience going, but the real “wow” moment for me was when she opened her mouth. Undeniable voice. Truly, truly talented. For me, he pure talent of the band and her voice completely overshadowed her stage personality (which, in my opinion, is how it should be).
Go ahead and check out our interview below. I’ve transcribed it as well as uploading the video, so bear with me on the dang sound issues.
EM: First, Hit Me Like a Man– Tell me how you came up with the name.
TM: We tend to title things after songs so we don’t have to think of anything else. So Hit Me Like a Man is the title track of the Hit Me Like a Man EP, so it came from the song. The line is “Hit me like a man, love me like a woman.”
EM: So what about My Medicine? Is that personal experience?
TM: I had my first directorial debut on that video. That was a really fun video to shoot. It’s just a bunch of friends, and we just kind of threw it together very last minute. It’s literally kind of…what you see in the video is what it was with some crazy effects added on the top of it. I try not to talk too much about the songs themselves, because I like to let people interpret them and take them how they want to take them. I think I give enough in the songs themselves, but yes- the songs are very personal.
EM: You’ve been writing songs for a very long time. Are you still pulling songs that you wrote way back then?
TM: No!
EM: What are you doing with those songs?
TM: Leaving them and forgetting that they existed.
EM: You’ve been touring since 2010. Do you prefer being on the road?
TM: I love the road…I love playing every night. It’s awesome. But I love the studio. Right now, we’re in the middle of a headline tour, and then we’re jumping on with Manson for a month, and after that we’re going into the studio to start working on the second record. I’m excited for that. I mean, I love touring, but I love being in the studio, too to take a breather and get back inside of my own head and have some time away from the rest of the world.
EM: Are there going to be any songs from this EP on the record?
TM: Possibly. Possibly all of them, possibly none of them- I don’t know yet. We’re still writing the record, so I think you’ll have to wait and see.
EM: Do you have any idea when that would be coming out?
TM: I don’t. I unfortunately do not control the release of things. I just write the songs and record them and hope it gets released…they’re not all written. You’ll have to wait and see. Believe me, I’m more stressed out about it than you are.
EM: What are you listening to lately?
TM: I heard the new Soundgarden single, which is pretty cool. I’m excited that they’re getting back together. I can’t wait for the new record. That’s what I’ve been listening to- old Soundgarden, new Soundgarden…lots of Soundgarden…Die Antwoord- they’re a rap band from South Africa that is pretty awesome, and they make really cool videos. Check them out. I’m kind of boring. I listen to the same stuff over and over again. You know- Beatles, Zeppelin, Who, Pink Floyd, ACDC, Soundgarden..Audioslave, Soundgarden…
EM: Are you channeling anyone when you go onstage?
TM: No. Me- I’m channeling me. It’s more of a performance aspect of myself, but it is myself. I don’t have some crazy alter ego or anything. It’s very much me. That’s it- I’ve played enough characters.
EM: Speaking of that, are you ever going to act again?
TM: I’m so not even thinking about it. It’s certainly not in my near future. To say what the rest of my life will entail I don’t know, but it’s certainly not even on my radar. I like writing. I like writing records, and I like writing songs, touring, and playing in a band. It’s amazing. It’s awesome, so why would I want to do anything else? Unless Rob Zombie calls, and then we’ll talk about that, because that would be awesome.
EM: Besides your acting and writing, do you have any other creative outlets?
TM: I paint. I play guitar. I sculpt. I sew dolls…I sew rag dolls. Um…I play guitar, write…
EM: What do you miss while you’re on tour?
TM: I miss New York a lot. I love New York, and I definitely miss it.
EM: You seem so nice! Why do you think you have such a harsh reputation?
TM: I think I’m nice! Tabloids spin all that stuff around. But thank you! You’re nice.
Exclusive interview- Time Spent Driving
Time Spent Driving has been in my life for quite some time. They were introduced to me in high school, and I have been kind of infatuated with them ever since. Unfortunately, the band broke up in 2005, which meant that I would have to memorize their catalog without the hope of hearing anything new (which I did happily, I assure you).
But hark! Good news- TSD is back together and making music again! When I heard this news, I did a little dance and then immediately sought out vocalist/guitarist Jon Cattivera for an interview. He most graciously accepted and put up with a lot of delays and problems on my end.
So here it is! Vinyl Mag’s exclusive interview with Jon Cattivera from Time Spent Driving. Enjoy, and then go listen!
EM: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard you?
Jon Cattivera: Believe it or not, it’s harder than you think. I just say it’s melodic post-punk indie rock stuff that has a lot of dynamics with somewhat complex quieter parts and louder heavier parts. Not sure what that means today, but something like that. Or sometimes I just go for “wuss rock” and they kinda know what I mean.
EM: What do you love about music?
JC: I love that it’s something you can do at most any age, and that there are so many different types and endless combinations of what is possible. I love the possibility of finding a new band or song that you love. And for me, playing and writing it is therapeutic.
EM: What has everybody been up to since the breakup (I know that there was some involvement in other bands)? What made you decide to reform TSD?
JC: Right around the same time we originally broke up, I started my own design firm, Sleepless Media – so I’ve been designing websites, starting a family and most recently my wife and I are starting a small farm on the side in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Musically, Kem played with our old bass player in a band called Go Mexico! for a while. I played guitar with some friends in a punk/hardcore band called Crucial Unicorn, played a Fury 66 reunion show in 2011 (which was a punk band I was originally in around ’95) and also started Gentlemen of Japan with Kem and Pete Johnson from a band called Cutlass Supreme. Basically what happened with GOJ is that Pete was writing and singing half of the songs, and I was writing and singing half the songs – and it was the closest thing I’d done to Time Spent Driving since. Then there was some internal personality conflicts that caused Pete to leave the fold, so once it was just me singing and writing, and Kem playing drums, it was more Time Spent Driving than anything else. Friends of our were saying things like “So it’s pretty much Time Spent Driving then, right?” We found a new guitar player, (James Parker) and we made the decision to press on as Time Spent Driving. We just felt like it made more sense, and we missed those songs. We’re having fun.
EM: How does the change in line-up affect your sound?
JC: I think it’s too early to tell on that. Way back when, I wrote most all of the music, it was almost like a solo project in that sense – but you can’t expect that years later one is going to be looking and life and writing in the same way! So it’s still going to be the same singer/songwriter, but I think there’s going to definitely be differences, and I’m not afraid of that. I make the music that comes out, and I’m not too interested in writing the same exact songs again. Plus, we’d like it to be a more collaborative effort writing-wise this time around, so I’d like to say there are going to be some new and welcome elements. We’ll see what happens…
EM: What music did you grow up listening to? How has your taste changed or evolved?
JC: Well when I was a kid my dad was always rocking 50′s rock and roll, and Elvis, country and a lot of different stuff. But I really didn’t get into music much myself until I started hearing cool bands on skateboard videos – mostly punk bands and some metal. I got really into Black Flag, the Descendents, Bad Religion and a bunch of other bands, but at the same time I also was into more alternative/post-punk/indie/grunge bands like Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Samiam, Jawbreaker, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Quicksand, Sunny Day Real Estate, Seaweed, etc, etc – and then later that led to a lot of what were sort of underground bands at the time like Chamberlain, Hot Water Music, Jimmy Eat World, Shiner, Jawbox, No Knife, Death Cab for Cutie, Sense Field and a lot of different bands.
As far as what’s changed – I still like a lot of the same bands that I got into back then, but I’d say I’m much more patient and open to a broader scope of music these days. Don’t get me wrong, I still seek out the best indie bands I can find, but I like a little country, a little metal and sometimes mainstream pop. I still cannot get down with rap or hip hop though, I just don’t get it.
EM: Have you or would you ever consider playing a different genre?
JC: Yeah, sometimes I think about just playing in a more simple alt country type band, something like Drag the River. I’ve played pretty recently in a hardcore/punk band too – it’s just that I don’t have too much free time these days, and playing in a band is a lot of work and a big commitment, even when you aren’t touring or being to serious. So for me, it’s not easy to put all the time into playing in a band that isn’t exactly what you want to play.
EM: Do you have any other creative outlets or passions besides music?
JC: Absolutely. I design websites full time, plus have done a lot of graphic/print design – there’s a lot of creativity in that, and it helped get me by while not playing/writing music as much. Cooking is a big one too – I spend more time cooking than I do playing music by a long shot. Also putting together this farm, we’ve got a lot of design and building decisions to make, and there’s really an art to growing and raising your own food!
EM: Is there any news on the upcoming album (have you started recording? are you finished writing it? do you have any projected release date? are you going to tour it, and if so, where?)
JC: We started recording 3 rough demos before we got our new 2nd guitar player James, but other than that we have not recorded anything yet. We’ve still got quite a bit of writing ahead of us, but we have at least 6-7 new songs that just need to be worked on together. So the plan is to get together 10 songs or so, and hopefully be in the studio by fall – ideally we’d be able to put it out by the end of the year at the latest.
EM: What else is new for TSD?
JC: Well, a lot really! New songs and a new outlook for starters. Kem our drummer just had a new baby girl, I have a new one and a half year old boy, and we’re just really busy with life in general. We also have few new members – my brother Dave is playing keyboards for us now full time. We always had a fair amount of piano/keyboards on our records, but never live.
In the van with The Front Bottoms
Just got back from interviewing The Front Bottoms at their show with Kevin Devine at The End in Nashville. This was a brilliant show. For those of you who have been with me from the beginning, you will remember I interviewed The Front Bottoms back in November. I also met Kevin Devine a few years ago when he opened (with Mansions– see my interview with them as well!) for The Get Up Kids.
I drove nine hours to see this show. The drive got a little rough, and I started to think it might have been a bad idea. However, as soon as the show started, I knew that it was worth it. Completely.
The Front Bottoms are blowing up. The crowd was full of obsessed fans screaming and dancing along. I was one of them. Front row. Knew all of the words. Fan.
So was Kevin Devine. He spent a great deal of the show standing off-stage, singing along enthusiastically.
They played a new song, Twelve Feet Deep. It was completely true to their style and got me mega-pumped for their new album. They’ve definitely got a lot more to offer, and I’m looking forward to hearing it.
After their set, Kevin Devine came on. My friend, Regan, and I met up with Matt and Brian (The FBs) to set up the interview (after we watched Kevin’s set, of course).
Kevin played pretty much all of my favorites (hard to choose- everything that he does is gold), and the crowd was completely enraptured.
Once the show was over, Matt and Brian went to help load and then came back to bring Regan and I into the van for the interview.
It went great. These two guys are what every band should be- they are mega-talented, they love what they do, and they do not take it or themselves too seriously. They are just thrilled to be sitting in their cramped van talking about music and playing shows with great artists like Kevin Devine every night.
Towards the end of the interview, Matt gave me the scoop on what is next for the band. Touring for the summer and recording a new album. Perfect answer- exactly what I wanted to hear. I will be there, even if I have to drive another nine hours (let’s hope it doesn’t come to that).
Drowning in Knoxville with Belle Histoire
Belle Histoire interview with www.vinylmag.org by vinylmag
It’s pouring down rain outsid
e, and I’m sitting in the back of a dingy Knoxville bar[1] with J-14 Magazine’s featured “hot band” Belle Histoire. But I’m the only one in the bar who knows this about them. “I didn’t even know about,” Wes Comer, the band’s drummer, insists. The rest of the band, save frontwoman Jane Smith, who gave the interview to the magazine, seems pretty mystified by it as well. Bassist Mitch Winsett remarked, “I saw someone tweet about, and I was like, ‘Wait, we’re with Justin Bieber now?’” The crowd in the bar, like the majority of Knoxville bar crowds, is a grizzled mix of regulars peppered in with grungy dive-bar clichés, none of whom seem to even know what the hell J-14, let alone indie-pop-rock, is.
But that’s okay with Belle Histoire[2]: they’re not looking to please or cater to any particular demographic. As Jane Smith said, “We just write what we write.”[3] They say that they play “indie-pop-rock,” but Jane sees it as something broader: “I…best describe our music as relatable…We collectively write […] about other people’s feelings, like how everyone feels going through [these human experiences].”
***
The band began as kind of a solo-act, with Jane’s brother urging her to record some songs that had gone unused in her previous band Formulas. From there it grew, with future members Aaron Hunt and Wes Comer adding more musical muscle to the songs that later became the band’s first EP Spirits, a comparatively stripped-down, piano driven collection.[4] After that, Belle Histoire quickly materialized, with Austin and Mitch quitting their previous bands to join the project. “Literally, within a week, we were all just like, ‘Screw the other stuff! We love this!” Jane says.
Their latest EP, I Can Tell, is a fuller, more collective effort, reflecting a more intentional musical aesthetic: the band trades the folk-rock gloom of Spirits for driving guitars, sugarsnap chords and catchier choruses. Aaron Hunt sees the second EP as the band really staking out its sound: “On the first EP, Jane had these songs written, and what happened just happened. And on the second EP, we wanted to take a more intentional route…these were songs that we put together as the band.” The band describes it as a combination of influences ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Coldplay.
The sound of the second EP is also indicative of changes in Jane’s life as well: “every song is about something I go through. You can tell throughout the EPs when I was happy and when I was sad. Like, on the Spirits EP, it’s like ‘I hate my life, everyone sucks’…and then, like, the I Can Tell EP was ‘I hate my life, but that’s okay!’”
The band is currently in the studio recording their first full-length record, which the band said will be a continuing evolution of the sound the band formed with I Can Tell, “pushing the guitars [on some songs] in a more straight up rock direction…combining it with some [more] interesting percussive elements that tie in with our sound.”
***
But tonight, it’s all about Spirits and I Can Tell, with the band deciding to wait to debut the new songs, the setlist even lacking a cover. The band runs through every one of their songs in about 35 minutes. While on record (or audio file or whatever), the songs sound particularly unsuited to a grungy Southern bar, sounding more like they should be played in the background at some hip coffee shop, the band transforms them live. The fullness of the band’s new sound, courtesy of Ausitn and Mitch, infects the cuts from Spirits, elevating their folkish leanings to a more aggressive, spiky, and appropriately, given the weather outside, stormy sound. At the same time, it also brings back the charming bite of Spirits to the newer tracks, the live environment allowing them to be played without the bubblegum production, making them sound a little darker.
While the regulars stick to their barstools for the majority of the show, what started as an empty floor slowly begins to fill as Jane’s voice bounces and shakes off the walls, any strain of the timidity heard in the early recordings gone as she pounds her keyboard and belts her lyrics. While they may paint themselves as a pop-group, Belle Histoire’s live sound, aggressive, charmingly sloppy[5], is just plain rock and roll. The songs are still pretty, the piano still hypnotizing, Jane’s voice still soaring, but in a way that feels more natural and way more interesting. It’s no wonder that they could be signed to a hardcore label[6], be picked as J-14’s “hot band” and still convincingly be billed at a cramped Knoxville bar.
***
It’s nearing the end of the show, and I need a picture of the band from a different angle, so I try to climb on a bench that’s leaning against the wall. As I try to climb up, it creaks; I freak and move away, glancing furtively to make sure no one caught me in such an idiotic pose. Jane Smith sees though, almost laughs, but simply shakes her head. I shrug my shoulders. She likely thinks I’m ridiculous now. It’s a weird moment, one that can only occur at these small dive-y shows with no audience. There have been others at other shows, but this one feels like one I’ll hold onto because it seems like others will likely follow J-14’s lead in the coming months.
***
Belle Histoire’s full-length is expected to be released this summer on InVogue Records. If you want to catch them live, they’ll be touring leading up to the release of the record and in promotion of it thereafter. Check them out in a smaller, rawer setting.
To hear the band talk about their day jobs, what it’s like to be on a hardcore label, and the evolution of “Cougar Rock” listen to the full interview with Belle Histoire here.
Also, a special thanks to actress Angela Morris for the use of her camera to cover this show.
[1] Preservation Pub is a kind of hipster-honky-tonk hybrid, with crazy hallucinatory lighting and a narrow floor plan that shoves patrons toward the stage. The bar caters to acts ranging from minimalist art rock to folk to trashy eighties cover bands, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a straight indie-pop act take the stage.
[2] The name translates to Beautiful History, for those of you who were curious.
[3] Although the band’s guitarist Austin Livingwood feels that he writes music geared toward the, let’s say, more mature female listeners, a genre he likes to call “cougar rock.”
[4] Jane described the first EP as kind of being “singer-songwriter Jane Smith and her backing band.” Think a more fun-loving Florence and the Machine without the indie pretentions.
[5] I mean this as a compliment: rock and roll is not Beethoven or Chopin, it’s not about precision or sounding exactly like the record. It’s about attitude and sound and feeling, which is something Belle Histoire’s live show adds more of to their songs.
[6] Belle Histoire are currently signed to InVogue records, whose lineup includes such bands as City Lights, Famous Last Words, and Before Their Eyes. In other words, bands with a lot more screaming and breakdowns than pretty piano and the word “pop” in their genre label.