Category: All Interviews
Hanging out post-show with Mansions
I love Mansions. I first discovered them a few years ago when they (along with Kevin Devine) opened for The Get Up Kids. I was completely blown away. Christopher Browder (who is Mansions at its core) is a genius and a genuinely nice guy. I just got the chance to interview him, along with fellow Mansions musician Robin Dove, at The Masquerade.
This was a big one for me. Chris was the first person that I ever asked for an interview way back when the idea for VINYL was just being formed. I approached him as he was selling his merch after The Get Up Kids went on, and he was extremely kind and enthusiastic, giving me his email and telling me to contact him any time.
Finally, now that VINYL has launched, I got to go back and reunite with Chris for an interview. I cannot say enough positive things about him and Robin. They were completely gracious as we ran around The Masquerade trying to find a semi-quiet spot to interview. These two are the kinds of people that you want to meet again.
I had mentioned that I was going to be near Jacksonville the following night, which happened to be where their next show was. The next day, I had an email from Chris saying that he had put me on the guest list just in case I wanted to stop by. Did I ever want to stop by! Unfortunately, I didn’t make it in time- I don’t want to talk about it. I would have LOVED to see them two nights in a row.
From my brief encounter, these are some seriously great people. I could write a whole separate article about it. But I’m getting a little off topic– this show was amazing and worth going to- twice, if possible.
Exclusive interview- Wolves at the Gate
I was promised that Wolves at the Gate would bring a good slab of American hardcore, and bring it they did! This show marked a beginning of sorts for their new vocalist, Nick Detty, who gave what was obviously the performance of his life. During the opening performance of “Tonight, My Son,” the mosh pit exploded, with people hanging from the ceiling rafters and crowd surfers galore. In fact, lighting and half the music power was knocked out for the second half of the song. Luckily, things were able to get plugged back in, and they continued with their hits “Heralds” and “Oh, the Depths.” Clean vocalist Steve Cobucci shared the Gospel message prior to “Oh, the Depths,” which was followed by literally the most hardcore worshipping I’ve ever seen. Oh, and the two new songs sounded phenomenal. The band ended their oh-so-short main set with “No Rival”, which they shot a live music video for during the performance. The inevitable encore brought the five guys back out for a performance of their oldie “Pulled From the Deep,” which served the audience hardcore dancers well.
Call It Karma and The Orphan, The Poet opened the show to mixed audience responses. With the latter having an Ohio heritage and a strong friendship with Wolves at the Gate, they unsurprisingly had the more enthusiastic crowd response. All in all, it was a great evening, and I can’t wait to see where the quintet out to fight the wolves is headed.
I caught up with Jeremy Steckel, lead guitarist for WATG outside the venue before the show and he filled me in on all the Wolves at the Gate happenings. Enjoy:
RG: If you had to sum up the purpose of Wolves at the Gate in one mission statement what would it be?
JS: I would say – as simple as I can make it is that we make music for Jesus. For our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we love doing it in the style of music. Our goal is to have as many people hear our music as possible, but our ultimate goal is to have Christ’s message spread.
RG: You get your name from a verse right? I can’t recall exactly which one it is right now.
JS: It’s Acts 20…verses 24-32.
RG: You want to elaborate on why?
JS: Yeah! Acts 20 talks about – it’s basically when Paul is at the church. I believe it’s the Corinth church, I’m not sure. But it’s at the church. Paul’s at the church, he’s about to leave…He warns the church that savage wolves are going to come attack them in the form of false doctrine, false preachers, and false prophets. And so he challenges them to stand on their guard against the wolves that are going to come in. So we read that verse, and we kind of came up with the idea that we gained from that. Our phrase is ‘We are not the wolves at the gate. We are ones who face them.’ We’re not the actual wolves at the gate. So that’s what our idea for our name came from.
RG: So, obviously things have sped up quite a bit for you guys in recent months. You’ve been on a couple of tours. What’s the most interesting place you’ve played a show at so far?
JS: I would say overall it would have to be Germany.
RG: Germany?
JS: Yeah we flew over to Germany in December for Christmas Rock Night, which is a huge festival over there.
RG: Yeah, I’ve heard about that.
JS: Yeah, so we were there for about 3 days and it was just the trip of a lifetime.
RG: Did you run into any pre-existing fans over there?
JS: Yeah, yeah we did! We had a handful of people who had checked us out when they knew we were coming to the show. They didn’t know who we were, so they would look us up on Youtube – we met a lot of fans, made a lot of friends, and met a lot of cool people.
RG: I’m really stoked you guys got on Solid State (records). I remember hearing about that back in June – I think it was Kep (a mutual friend) that said ” oh, I heard some rumor that Wolves got on Solid State.” So, describe to me a little bit the label- shopping process. What led to you guys ending up on Solid State?
JS: Ok. Well, we got an email from them in April of last year…saying they’d call us – “we want to talk to you guys.” And, they had heard about us a while back, because we had sent our album there to say “hey, this is who we are” – introducing ourselves basically. They waited a while, and then last April they called us and said “hey we wanna talk to you guys,” and we found out they wanted to offer us a deal. And then it took several months. It took like 4 or 5 months of going back and forth, trying to figure out the terms of the deal like how long it’s gonna be and how much money and all that kinda stuff. It took a while to get through it, but they were really really cool through it all, and honestly we couldn’t be happier. We could NOT be happier there.
RG: So they’re pretty on board with your mission?
JS: Absolutely. We made super sure that they were on board.
RG: Ok, now with the whole Tooth and Nail/Solid State group I’ve kinda heard different things. What’s their official policy when it comes to Christian artists? I’ve heard that some people say “positive bands.” I’ve heard other people say that only one – that the main lyricist has to be a Christian. What’s their policy on that?
JS: As far as I know, they don’t have an official stance on that. I know that they’re super super in tune with artists that desire to do what we do, as far as spread the Gospel through our lyrics pretty explicitly. They’re very receptive to that, very open to that, and they encourage that a lot. I mean that’s a core part of who we are, and we told them that, and they said “hey, thats awesome! We’re on board.” So they don’t have an official mission statement or anything like that, but they don’t allow a lot of language or stuff like that.
RG: Since your signing, have you developed any relationships with your solid state label mates? How has that been going?
JS: We’ve actually have not, yet. We haven’t toured with them yet. So, once we do – hopefully in the summer – we’re gonna meet a lot of them.
RG: So its a possibility?
JS: Yeah its a possibility. We’ve met a lot of Tooth and Nail artists, Like Children 18:3, Icon For Hire, I Am Empire, those guys are good friends of ours. Yeah we actually met them over in Germany a lot of Tooth and Nail artists were over there.
RG: Ok, so you’re looking to get out onto some high profile tour this summer?
JS: That’s the goal! Nothings in stone, but we’re working through that.
RG: So you got some behind the scenes negotiations going on, maybe?
JS: Yeah, just starting the process.
RG: When I talked to you at Faithwalkers (church conference last year) really briefly, you said you had a set of songs for an LP ready to go. What themes – musically, lyrically, can we expect from that?
JS: Yeah…I won’t give too much away. Kind of basically, lyrically we’re taking a lot of ideas from the EP, and we’re basically just going to expand it. Because we have double the length on this album to talk about stuff. So we’re taking – every song is a different aspect of our relationship with Christ. Some of it is doctrine. Some of it is going to be our experiences. Some of it is going to be what this means to us, so it’s not gonna be like a concept record where it’s like one theme. I mean obviously the theme is gonna be our relationship with Christ – and musically honestly I do not know how to describe it. It’s all over the place. I think its more hardcore but a lot catchier. But I think there is potential to really expand who digs the band.
RG: Where are you recording?
JS: We are recording in Richmond, Virginia with Andreas Magnusson. He did Oh Sleeper, Haste the Day, Akissforjersey.
RG: Ok, so has he had any input on your writing thus far, or has it been all you?
JS: No, it’s been all us. We just send him what we have done, and he likes it a lot. He’ll have some ideas for sure, but it’s been all us writing.
RG: Awesome! One last thing – for a concert goer that has never seen you beforewhat can we expect tonight? Or just at any Wolves show?
JS: You can expect a lot of loud noises, and you can expect a lot of sweaty dudes, and you can expect… hopefully, hopefully you can hear the songs on the EP the way they were meant to be played. Yeah! I mean we practice a lot. We practice hard and long, and you’re gonna hear a good slab of American hardcore.
Junius interview
Guess writer Ryan Getz recently got the chance to sit down with one of Vinyl Mag’s favorite artists, Junius, at their show at The Basement in Columbus, Ohio.
Check it out below, and be sure to check out his review of the show!
RG: If someone what Junius’ mission statement was, what would you say?
JOSEPH MARTINEZ (guitar, vocals): I don’t know…to push the arts (laughs). I don’t know, its not a political band. There’s no ulterior motives.
JOEL MUNGUIA (bass): To see how far we can take our style.
RG: How far do you want to take your style?
JOE: All the way!
RG: All the way?
JOE: Stadiums, dude. Stadiums.
RG: Does all the way mean to as many people as possible, or more musically?
JOE: Well musically we already got that. I mean, I don’t want to play basements for the rest of my life. I mean maybe some people do, but you gotta get it out to as many people as you can.
RG: What are your influences?
JOEL: 90s, midwestern, also shoe gaze bands – we’re all into shoe gaze bands. People throw around the word spacey a lot.
RG: Space rock?
JOEL: Yeah, heavy space rock. People usually know what that means.
RG: What’s it like being an artsy, space rock band on a label known for signing metal artists?
(they all laugh)
MICHAEL REPASCH-NIEVES (guitar): Its interesting. We’re definitely the oddball in a way, but we never really feel like we fit in anywhere. Our previous label was more of a post-rock label. We got pushed around with that a little bit – we were playing with mostly bands that didn’t have vocals for awhile. That was actually just as frustrating if not more so. At least now, generally there’s a certain camaraderie and open-mindedness in the metal community. We were kind of just starting as a DIY band touring for years in basements and just doing everything on our own…Most of that music is generally pretty extreme, and in circles we’ve come up with mostly heavier metal bands anyway. So somehow it doesn’t seem that weird to us to be honest.
RG: On your latest record you seem really fascinated by this whole life after death thing. Do you want to expand on that at all? Why did you go with that theme, and do you have any thoughts on the matter?
JOE: Well, yeah. After Matyrdom, our last album, was about the life of Immanuel Velikovsky. Last track, he dies. It’s his funeral basically. And then you think about the next concept. He dies; where did he go? It was just a jumping off point looking at that concept…So for example, no one knows unless you’ve died and come back. People who’ve died and come back are the only people who can even say anything about it…About 80% of near death experiences are pretty much the same process…All the characters can be different. The settings can be different, but the process is leaving your body, going to some sort of transitional place, having almost like a life review or whatever. A really basic process kind of in and of itself. [We] just kind of broke that down on each song as one of the steps of that process…The end is- I have no idea, because anybody that comes back hasn’t finished the whole process. So that’s kind of the more abstract song – the very last one. So you just kind of keep it like that, and you work through it logically – and obviously it’s artistic expression, so it’s a balance of the abstract and a logical approach.
RG: Do you guys have any personal beliefs on life after death and if so what are they?
JOE: On this album yeah. There seems be something happening. I don’t know what. I can tell you the process by which most people have died, but who knows? That’s the thing no one knows, based on the statistics and the anomalous instances that have happened where people are able to identify things that have happened after they’ve died – leave their body, traveling to places – and then can report back when they come to. It seems to me there’s something, but that’s just me.
RG: When it comes to the whole life after death theme, I’m just curious- is there a faith, religion, or philosophy that influences your view?
JOEL: I grew up Christian but fell out of practicing at some point, like 19 or 20. Now years later, I pretty much have no opinion – I’m pretty neutral on the whole thing. So the answer is there may be something else, but I have no idea.
MIKE: I believe in spirits and the concept of energy. Our concept of experiencing something doesn’t necessarily go away after you die. Essentially that carries over to the album….I believe in a spiritual journey of sorts that is determined by our actions in life.
RG: Okay, lets change to a less heavy topic. So you’re about halfway through the tour, how has that been going so far? What would be a highlight or a lowlight or any particular events that stood out?
MIKE: We’re only a week in right now. The O’Brother guys are really great. They’re a really good band – they’re good dudes. So far it’s been nothing but positivity, and we’re having a really good time. It’s been exciting to play – it’s our first tour since the album came out in October…It’s exciting to go out and play when people actually know them now, so yeah- it’s going well.
RG: How are the O’Brother guys? Camraderie’s good?
JOEL: They’re hilarious guys – constant jokes.
RG: I got to see them open for Thrice back in October, and I was really impressed.
JOE: Yeah, they’ve been on some really great tours, and it’s paid off. People know their stuff, know the lyrics, and they’re going pretty nuts for them.
RG: You’re a band that’s been around for awhile. From your point of view, what would you say is one positive thing and one negative thing that is happening in today’s music industry?
JOE: The positive is the sense that anything can happen. That people can make it without a label- that’s positive. Negative…it’s still hard to break through without having connections. No matter what, connections are always what matters.
MIKE: Or having a bunch or money.
JOE: Or having a bunch of money, because most of the bands that do really well are generally rich bands already, so they have money to go around. But that doesn’t discount hard work. You can do anything. With the internet, who knows?…It’s a good time [to be in music], but it’s also a bad time if you try to go traditional routes…If you’re younger that’s good, because you know about Twitter and all these things that I have no idea about…Mike’s learning a lot! It’s a really good time for young musicians coming up who already know these social networking things.
RG: I have one last question. If you are a new fan, what should you expect from your performance tonight?
JOEL: Loud!
Mike: Bring your earplugs!
JOEL: You’ll understand why we tour with metal bands.
MIKE: We’ve had problems from day 1 capturing our loudness, our intensity that we have live on the record. The new one is the closest we’ve come, but still, it doesn’t sound the same as we do live. A lot of people are surprised by that. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. It makes for two independent experiences. You can put on your iPod or headphones or blast it through the stereo, and that’s one experience. Then to see us live- that’s one thing you shouldn’t be able to miss. You can pirate music. You can download music. You can have mp3s, but if a band is good enough, that shouldn’t be a substitute for a live performance. I hope we succeed in presenting a performance that makes you feel that way.
Lionize exclusive interview and show review
I just sat down with Mel Randolph, the drummer for reggae/rock band LIONIZE. Check it out!
Ryan: How would you explain what it means to Lionize something?
Mel: To celebritize…I mean that’s pretty much it (laughs).
If you were to explain your music to someone who has never heard you before, what would you say?
I’d say we are classic rock, bluesy, with a tiny bit of spread of reggae.
Would you mind telling what some of your influences are?
Sure, Coltrane, Led Zeppelin, Steel Pulse (international reggae band)
I read that you guys did some recording in Jamaica. What surprised you or stood out about that experience?
The whole thing was very laid back; very relaxing environment. We were really surprised and shocked at the fact that we recorded in Kingston, which isn’t the area where the tourists are…it’s the real heart of Jamaica. So with that said, we were surprised to see that when we got there, there was this beautiful hotel. That’s where we stayed…we had a guy down there that was cooking food for us, so altogether it was a wonderful experience.
Any reason you went to Jamaica other than the obvious reggae vibe?
We got invited down. Do you know Steel Pulse? They’re an international touring reggae band, from Birmingham (UK). Their keyboardist, who has developed a relationship with us, he’s from down there.
Your most recent record is titled The Superczar and the Vulture. Any particular meaning behind it? Or not?
Yeah! Its just the whole, you know, comic book superhero thing.
Any standout experiences from this tour thus far? Any highs or lows?
It has its ups and downs, its perks. You either get enough rest, or you don’t. You eat right, or you don’t. It’s been really good so far.
How far back do you guys go (friendship with Maylene)?
This is our first time touring with them. It’s where we met them.
The music industry is very much in a paradigm shifting stage at this point. From your point of view, what’s one positive thing thats going on right now and what’s one frustrating thing that’s going on right now?
I’ll start with the positive; the thing about the music business is that, of course, you are dedicated. It’s fun getting your name out, especially at a pace where it’s gradually happening. There’s just so many other bands trying to do the same thing. For example, the Warped Tour for us was a huge, awesome experience. The downfall is being broke – you really have to have it set in your mind that this is your passion.
Show Review:
Metal influenced southern rockers Maylene and the Sons of Disaster took their powerhouse live show into Columbus, Ohio with support from Lionize recently.
Local group The Ordnance opened the show with their brand of impassioned hard rock, which at times seemed a bit forced and perhaps not mixed well. However, it is likely that any band with this level of passion and musicianship will only age well, and I’ll be keeping my eye on these guys in the future.
Lionize of Silver Springs, Maryland followed with their unique brand of jam-rock. The quartet played as a unit, no question about it. They kicked things off appropriately with the first track off their latest record, Superczar and the Vulture. They showed off their musical ability gradually, building up things to a point that was impressive but not overindulgent. Lionize was appropriate direct support for Maylene – they kept the overall mood of the evening consistent, allowing fans to simultaneously enjoy some solid jams and save energy for the headliners.
With a name as over the top as Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, one would expect a band’s performance to reflect that. Vocalist Dallas Taylor opted not to say much, instead putting his all into the rock. Southern tinged metal vibes came from the stage, venturing out into, or rather on the welcoming pit. “Caution: Dangerous Curves Ahead” first assaulted the tiny pit and surrounding bystanders, segueing into “In Dead We Dream” off of their newest effort, IV. Highlights of the set included fan favorites “Dry the River” and “Tough As John Jacobs” and their encore, “Step Up (I’m On It).” Taylor dryly acknowledged the mixed reception to their newest record, cracking “post some negative comments on the wall” at one point. All in all, the bands played a show that made the 12+ hours of ear ringing I experienced worth it.
Anthony Raneri of Bayside- backstage at the Where’s the Band? tour
So much awesome in one room. Normally, when I go to a show, there are one or two main bands that I’m there for, and I enjoy the openers as a sort of appetizer, getting me ready to chow down on the main course of some serious, lose-my-cool rockin’.
This show was too much…in a good way. I have hardcore love for Bayside. And Saves the Day. And The Get Up Kids. Stick my obsessions all in a room together with acoustic guitars and make them sing, and you’re basically saying, “Yes, Emily, we read your diary. This one’s for you.”
Anthony Raneri (Bayside), Chris Conley (Saves the Day), and Matt Pryor (The Get Up Kids) were back to back. Each one’s set was perfect. Anthony serenaded us with some classic Bayside (Blame It On Bad Luck, Don’t Call Me Peanut, etc.), as well as one song (Sandra Partial) from his solo EP, New Cathedrals. Chris gave himself over to the audience and allowed his set to be dictated by requests. Matt’s show was a mix of requests (one from his son) and set songs that would have been requested anyway.
Now that that’s out of the way, I want to mention the first two artists, Evan Weiss from Into It. Over It. and Ace Enders from The Early November. They really should not be excluded from this rave. Both of them played an amazing set, and I immediately went home and added them to my music library (don’t berate me for taking this long to discover love for them).
After the show (which would have been enough to make it a perfect night, let me tell you), I headed over to the merch table to arrange my interview with Anthony. Ended up meeting Chris, Ace, and Matt, all of whom were beyond gracious and delightful while I stood there at a loss for words but trying to use them anyway. Teenage me was losing it. But so was 21-year-old me. These bands are still extremely relevant to me today.
Anthony then took me “backstage” to do the interview. I’m sure the last thing you feel like doing after playing a show is get filmed for an interview, but he was super nice and ready to dive in.
The interview is below. Check it out, and don’t forget to get Anthony’s album, New Cathedrals. It’s only five bucks, and it’s golden.
Twenty One Pilots “Regional at Best” review
Twenty One Pilots is cooking up a storm in central Ohio, and is now starting to spread that across the US with their first tour venturing out of the Midwest and the release of their second LP, Regional at Best. The genre of this duo is hard to define. Take some pop, hip hop, rock, and electronic and you get the frenzy that is this band (and frenetic they are, especially live). The album keeps things cheery most of the time (“Guns For Hands”) but occasionally gets dark and introspective (i.e., the spoken word meets techno “Car Radio”). Most of the songs on the record are over 4 minutes, sometimes over 5 – breaking the mold for most dance numbers on top 40 radio. The buzz about this band indicates their live show is a spectacle to behold, and this record serves as a good preview of that. Don’t let the “poppier” tracks on the album mislead you – Twenty One Pilots means business, and that business involves shaking things up in their trademark way.
4/5 stars
Couch time with Space Ghost
VINYL Mag sits down with the guys from Space Ghost to discuss their formation, their influences, and their upcoming debut EP, Museum.
Space Ghost is an Athens-based synthtastic band made up of Justin Belk, Michael Buice, Blake Lewis, and Grafton Tanner.
Be sure to look out for Museum, coming spring 2012.
Check them out at www.facebook.com/spaceghostathens
Also, just wanna thank these guys for letting me hang out and giving me a great interview and some truly delicious candy. This interview was a blast to do, and this band was so much fun to sit down with.
Join us.
Years Around the Sun talk about their new album, Incarnation
I just had the chance to sit down via Skype Chat with Dylan Raasch and Ronnie Dudek from Years Around the Sun about their new album Incarnation, available now.
Years Around the Sun is an indie California band who formed in 2004 (we talk about the band’s history and formation in the interview below). Incarnation is their second full-length album, and let me tell you- it is amazing. I have not stopped listening to it- yes, I am even listening to it right now.
So should you.
I want to thank these guys for doing this interview with me. Skype interviews are a little bit harder to coordinate and get set up, and they were very gracious through the whole process. And just delightful to interview.
So grateful that VINYL was given a chance to feature them and that they were on board with everything.
Check out the interview below:
On the bus with VNV Nation
Got the chance to hang out on the tour bus with Ronan Harris, legendary music producer and vocalist for the band VNV Nation.
Could not have been a nicer or more interesting guy. The show was incredible, and I found myself spaz-dancing despite my best efforts to keep dignified composure (seriously…I was an idiot out there).
VNV Nation are an Irish/English futurepop band. I caught them on the last stop of the first leg of their national headline tour after the release of their new album, Automatic.
Automatic was released in the U.S. on October 25, 2011. It is their eighth studio album. Harris describes process of recording this album, as well as its themes and the future of the band, in the interview below.
Enjoy:
Nick Ghanbarian from Bayside interview
So Bayside/Saves the Day was awesome! The show was grand, even while I was walking around on an untreated broken foot (I did eventually go to the hospital). The entire night was definitely a nostalgia trip, both bands playing songs I have treasured since my high school days.
I got the chance to interview Nick Ghanbarian, the bassist for Bayside.
We started off the interview in the Bayside/Saves the Day dressing room. Unfortunately, we scheduled the interview right during sound check, so I could barely hear Nick’s response to my deep, probing questions. So we took the interview outside. With all the cars whooshing by. Same problem. So listen CLOSELY…very closely.
Interview is worth it. Check it out below.