Coldplay: “Adventure Of A Lifetime”

Posted on by Camren Skelton

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After teasing fans with a mysterious poster in the London Underground, Coldplay is back with the official announcement of their new album, A Head Full Of Dreams.

The record, out Dec. 4, will be the band’s seventh and possibly last–a bittersweet release for Coldplay fans. In an interview last year, Chris Martin said: “It’s our seventh thing, and the way we look at it, it’s like the last Harry Potter book or something like that.”

The album will feature several guests including Beyoncé, Tove Lo, Noel Gallagher and Merry Clayton. Listen to the album’s first release, “Adventure Of A Lifetime,” below.

CMJ 2015: Quaildogs x Vinyl VIDEO

Posted on by Emily McBride
Quaildogs CMJ interview
Photo and Videography: Maria Uminski

Atlanta six-piece Quaildogs just released their first LP, The Getting Old Factory, back in September, but they’d already made a name for themselves prior to the release.  The alt-country band has opened for the likes of Moon Taxi, Roadkill Ghost Choir, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and they recently played multiple shows at New York’s CMJ Music Marathon.  We caught up with them at their show at Leftfield NYC to chat about their record, studio time (shout-out to mutual friend and Glow in the Dark Studios audio engineer, Ben Etter), and how they unknowingly ended up in Counting Crows’ Adam Durtiz’ house.

Penny Lame: ‘Penny Lame’

Posted on by Maria Lewczyk

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Girl-pop is getting a makeover.  Athens singer and songwriter Jianna Justice is cultivating a sound that stands entirely on its own, starting with her act Penny Lame.  With only two EPs and eleven songs total, Justice hits all the right notes with a sweet voice, minimalistic and upbeat.  Penny Lame, released on Nov. 4, 2015, is already a must-listen for those of any age.  The tropes of teenage troubles combined with elements of sarcasm and deprecation reflect a very honest image of millennials growing up in a college town surrounded by people that may or may not be growing up with them.

Starting off with the light “Party Song”, Justice says all the things that everyone has been thinking but not saying out loud.  The combination of simple pop guitar riffs and lyrics like “I’m the saddest girl at this party” set the tone for the rest of the album: sad acceptance for how things are, with resilient optimism for better things to come.

“Boys & Girls” shows playful comparisons between girls and boys, that create interesting back and forth dialogue between expectations and cold realities of young romance (or lack thereof), while being put down by the even harder reality: “that’s just how it is, cause boys and girls are just kids”.  

Sounding like a stripped down Radiator Hospital, Justice is a venus of the avenue with “Penny Lame”, a personal favorite from the EP.  With soft backing vocals accompanying the initial lyrics, “Penny Lame” stands out for the growing genre of girl-pop.  

“Night Swimming” brings a slower and darker angle towards the pop, then “Slushies In a Target Parking Lot” picks up the pace and offers flutters of the ‘what if’s.  To end the EP, “Scumbag City” is refreshing and honest.  Billy and Joey do sound like scumbags, and are pretty much relatable to most of the ex-partners we’ve all had.

Without gushing on too much about how great this release is, a quick summary: Penny Lame shows the best and worst of being a teenager or young adult, while navigating that line between growing up and staying young.  Penny Lame strikes a chord not just because it’s catchy as hell, but because it’s chronicling a place we’ve all been.  


Penny Lame can be found on Bandcamp here: http://pennylame.bandcamp.com/releases

Gretchen and the Pickpockets x Vinyl Mag: The New Soul of Music

Posted on by Jessica Troland

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Once in a while, a person will walk into a bar, hear a live band, and fall in love instantaneously. For the lucky crowd at New York City’s Parkside Lounge on October 24, this was exactly what happened when Gretchen and the Pickpockets stole their hearts.

The lights are present only on stage and a twinkling disco ball spins overhead, centering Gretchen perfectly at the microphone. She steps up and with a steady inhale, dives into the first phrase of “Sweet, Sweet Love,” a Gretchen and the Pickpockets original. Her voice is clear and rich with an alto tone that cuts through the center of the room. She glides from note to note and her sound bounces off the rat-a-tat-tat of the drums and swoon of the horn. The blend makes its way to the deep and full bodied sound of the base and rounds off with the metallic strum and pluck of the guitar.

The band of five – singer Gretchen Klempa, bassist and brother of Gretchen, Mike Klempa, Tom O’Connell on drums, Richie Smith on guitar, and Ryan O’Connell on trumpet – calls the New Hampshire seacoast their home base but have no problem taking the New York music scene by storm. Their sound is original, refreshing and – in the endless circling of synthetic pop songs in modern music – a welcome chance to revisit the real heart and soul of music.

Described by band members as “alternative rock with jazz” the G&P sound is one that leans heavily on the wails of smooth jazz trumpet paired perfectly with the pep of classic rock guitar. Their songs, such as the signature “Sweet, Sweet Love” and “Break a Sweat” offer lighthearted energetic beats while “Confident,” “Don’t Let Go,” and “Swimmin’ In The Sea” show a more mellow side of the group, treading in lower tones and building to mid-song breakout crescendos.

Kick-starting their music career three years ago, the then group of University of New Hampshire students found common ground in their dorm building’s common room where they would gather to cover their favorite songs. Eventually covering turned to writing and the common room turned into a stage.

“It kind of just happened,” said Gretchen. “It was me and Mike’s idea to start the band and then we kind of like rang in these hooligans,” motioning over to the rest of the guys.

“We wrote some crappy songs and then Ryan came in and fixed them,” added Mike.

There’s a playfulness and ease to the group that shows through in their presence on stage and can be heard directly influencing the sound they seem to so effortlessly create.

Their sound, something fans would be hard pressed to find anywhere else, is pulled from a smorgasbord of inspirations, ranging from punk rock, hip-hop (both 90s and modern) and jazz, to name a few. The proclaimed favorite as far as other bands are concerned is D’Angelo and the common ground for favorite genre is soul music and R&B.

“It’s just a culmination of everything that we like, you know, we all have different backgrounds,” said Richie.  “It’s so hard to pinpoint exactly where this comes from because we all have so many different interests.”

“We even had a keyboard at one point,” he added.

“Yeah … for like a week,” Gretchen tacks on with a hint of wit.

Something that stuck a bit more permanently than the keyboard, however, is the band’s name. Keeping on track with originality Gretchen and the Pickpockets as a phrase is just as catchy and unforgettable as Gretchen and the Pickpockets as a tune. The name can be attributed to Gretchen and Mike’s upbringing on Pickpocket Road where they held band practice and their father’s persistence when he heard a good thing.

“For like a year their dad was like, ‘You should be The Pickpockets,’” said Ryan.

Three years later, and here they are.

The future of Gretchen and the Pickpockets is one that, just like the range of inspirations, fans and notes in their songs, has no limits. According to the band, their sound will continue to develop and their reach will continue to grow.

As for the sound, Ryan has high hopes to “experiment with bigger horns sections.”

“In some of our locals shows our friends will just jump up on stage with us and we’ll have like a six part horn section and it sounds really cool,” he said.

“We would just bring, at first cover songs we all liked then we kind of figured out what kind of music we wanted to play,” said Mike.

As for location, the group is hoping to do a Southern tour in the near future but for now is content with their native region of New England.

“I think you can make it big wherever you are if you have talent and know the right person. It doesn’t really matter where you are, to me. We want our hometown to be Boston,” said Gretchen.

The band currently holds the title for “Best Band in New Hampshire” and it’s inevitable that this is just the beginning.

“It’s like you know being in this band, I feel so lucky. Like, these are cool people, and they’re kick-ass musicians so like, you know, you couldn’t ask for a better way to be creative, said Richie, “I’m just happy to be in this group. I think what’s cool about being in this band is since we all really dig jazz and that sort of thing, there’s a lot of room to improvise but even though we have our set song forms, we can push it a little bit. If we want to change tempo a little bit, we go into a different harmony, everyone’s really good at listening and really goes with it.”

“We’ve all invested a lot of time the last few years and we’re all ready to invest a lot more time too,” added Mike.

The hard work is in no doubt paying off.  With fans in New Hampshire, Boston, New York and even a “small cult following in Milwaukee” (Richie would like to give a shout-out to Reggie), there’s nowhere for this down to earth band to go but up.

“I think we sort of go by the mantra of, you know…don’t be a jerk” said, Mike. “Be nice and don’t suck.”

To top it all off, G&P are avid food lovers, with a specialty in tacos. As if it couldn’t get any better, fans can follow the band’s food escapades on their website and Instagram.

And so, tacos in tow, G&P left New York for the New England soundscapes once again. On Nov. 5, they will open for Low Cut Connie at Great Scott in Allston MA and plans for a full album are in the works.
For Gretchen and the Pickpockets, there are no signs of slowing down. We couldn’t be happier.

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To catch Gretchen and the Pickpockets, check out their upcoming show dates and venues:

Nov. 6 – Thirsty Moose, Portsmouth NH
Nov. 7 – Blue Mermaid, Portsmouth NH
Nov. 25 – Zorba Room, Lowell MA
Nov. 27 – Press Room, Portsmouth NH

Marian Hill x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Michelle King

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Marian Hill are a jazzy synthpop duo from Philly who introduced themselves to the world with their debut single “Whiskey” in 2013, leading up to the release of their excellent Sway EP earlier this year. Touring, writing, and recording all along the way, the band are picking up steam and readying their full-length for early 2016.

I sat down with Jeremy and Samantha after their 12:00pm set on Sunday at ACL Weekend 2 in the Austin summer heat (shaded area, thankfully) and talked about pros and cons of big festivals, their roots as a band, and how far they’ve come in such a short time.

Michelle King: Thanks for taking the time to talk; I know you guys probably have a busy schedule this weekend. I also know you weren’t here last weekend, but did you come straight in from Philly?

Jeremy Lloyd: We’re in the middle of a tour, so we played Dallas last night and we’re playing Phoenix in a couple days with ACL right in the middle.

Samantha Gongol: We had to drive straight here, so we only got like two hours of sleep.

MK: And then a daytime show after that, that’s gotta be tough for you guys.

JL: Yeah it’s been a crazy day.

MK: Have you gotten to see anything since you finished your set?

JL: No, haha. We went straight to a radio set and then to eat some lunch, and now we’re here.

MK: So staying busy then!

(both): Yeah.

MK: Are you planning on seeing anything else while you’re here?

JL: Yeah, I’m very excited for a few bands later today. We’re going to try and catch Chance the Rapper, alt-j, The Decemberists.

SG: I’d like to catch Halsey.

MK: So you’re on tour right now; have there been any stand out shows?

JL: I mean the stand out for me on tour is just that every show has been such big, excited crowds.

SG: We’re playing to bigger rooms.

JL: We’re selling merch for the first time, and we’re just having a lot more fan interaction than we’re used to. Every show we’re out there for an hour after meeting people, taking pictures, signing autographs.

MK: That’s awesome! So the reaction has been significantly better than it was last time you toured?

JL: Yeah, it’s been another level. It’s really had an escalation from the last tour which is really cool.

MK: And you just put out your first EP this year; what were you doing before that? When did you start touring as a band?

JL: We put out our first song ‘Whiskey” in July 2013, and at that point it was the only song we had written together. And then people got excited about it on the internet, and were like “great, so what else are you guys working with?” and then we were sort of building everything else up. We played our first live show in February 2014, we put out a little independent EP around the same time, and since then we’ve been playing one-offs and writing more and more and we signed and put out the official EP, the Sway EP. We’ve been touring and writing our album since, and now the album’s ready to go and we’re just waiting on the release and everything.

MK: About your first song “Whiskey,” I read that the way you introduced it to the world was emailing cold-emailing 60 blogs… what did that email say?

JL: Haha! Ohhh, I was actually pretty careful about it. I got the blogs because I went on Hype Machine and looked at songs like ours and looked at blogs that posted them and found the contact info and made a big spreadsheet. And then in each email I found a song that each blog had posted that I liked, and personalized the email saying “I found this artist through you guys, so I wanted to share this song with you” and then there’s a little blurb about Marian Hill and the track.

MK: That’s smart, you should be a publicist!

JL: Noooo, but it worked! We got picked up by three amazing blogs and the rest is history.

MK: Have you guys played Austin before?

SG: We did SXSW.

MK: How do you feel that ACL compares to SXSW? I know they’re completely different animals, but…

SG: I’d have to say, I mean SXSW has a lot of shows, a lot of smaller shows. You know, it’s a city festival and this feels very much like Firefly, you know, just bigger stages. It’s great.

MK: What are some of the best things about playing a bigger festival like this?

JL: I think the opportunity to see other bands, because as a band we’re always playing shows, we never get to go to shows. It’s really cool to be like “oh wow, Chance the Rapper is playing today, I’ve been wanting to see him, let’s just go!”

SG: And also for a band like us that are still sort of up-and-coming, the stages are bigger, the crowds are bigger.

JL: You get a lot of walk-ups, you get a lot of people that haven’t heard of you and we were the only band playing at noon so we have a lot of people walking over as they hear it, and those are new fans.

MK: Great exposure, yeah. What are some challenges of playing the bigger shows?

SG: The heat.

JL: Playing in the daytime is always freaking gross, not only because we have very night-time vibes but because my controller uses a lot of light and if there’s sun shining on it I can’t read it, so we have to construct shade so that I can see what’s going on. Festivals, book us at night!

MK: I heard that you met in middle school doing a play together. How did you reconnect after all that time?

JL: I mean we were always kind of connected, we were always in the same friend group, and we both started writing songs on our own around the same time and we were kind of aware of each other and sharing stuff and trading tips and stuff like that. When we would catch up over breaks, as you would do with old friends, and in college we would write stuff, and that’s how “Whiskey” came around.

MK: And how do you guys share songwriting duties?

SG: Jeremy handles production, and we write melody and lyrics together.

MK: What would you say inspires your music?

SG: I’d say relationships are a big thing.

JL: I mean definitely other artists, and music in general. I always think that I’m making the music I want to hear, and I’ll get into the slumps where “I don’t like anything!” and that’s a lot of where the impulses are coming from. I also love Drake, and he’s a huge inspiration.

SG: And I grew up on jazz so…

MK: Yeah I can definitely hear a lot of that in your music. And you have a live sax on stage!

JL: I grew up on hip-hop and she grew up on pop and you kind of bring the two together.

MK: So you pull a whole lot of elements into your music.

JL: Yeah, a lot of it’s about bringing old and new together. Making electronic music still feel live and human and exciting. Because it’s easy now that everything’s so electronic to make stuff that’s just completely canned.

SG: And the nice thing about “Whiskey” is just that sort of organic, really simple evolution. We didn’t have any designs, we didn’t set out to make the song in a particular style.

JL: We aren’t trying to be anyone else. So when “Whiskey” worked, we were just like “Woah, what is this? Let’s be like this.”

MK: And you said you’re putting together a full-length now?

JL: Yeah, it’s together! I’ve got it on my phone!

MK: How would you say it compares to Sway?

JL: I think it’s a greater expansion. It’s like Sway we were defining our sound and on the new album we’re totally fleshing it out. It’s a lot broader, we explored the different places we can go emotionally, musically, sonically.

MK: When’s it coming out?

JL: Early next year.

SG: Early 2016!

MK: And you guys are just going to keep touring and hustling in the meantime?

SG: Yes! We finish at the end of October, and then we’ll have a couple one-off dates. And from there we’ll see! During the holidays things kind of shut down and then after the new year we’re back!

MK: Looking forward to it! Is there anything else you guys want to add?

SG: First time at ACL and we loved it!

MK: Well we’re glad you’re here, it was an awesome show!

Foxing: ‘Dealer’

Posted on by Maria Lewczyk

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Calling the St. Louis band Foxing an indie band doesn’t even begin to do them justice.  Starting from humble beginnings in 2010, Foxing released their first album The Albatross in 2013 and was immediately put on artist radar.  The Albatross was a success, with notable favorites from the album being “The Medic” and “Rory”.  Their sound can be described as many different things, but I like to group them in with what I call “New Wave Emo”, which combines elements of math rock, emo and post-rock with additional instruments that aren’t the typical guitar and drums.  Foxing fits right in with the likes of The World Is A Beautiful Place, Algernon Cadwallader and The Hotelier, all of which have claimed stakes in the Emo Revival of the 2000s.

Dealer, the second studio album by Foxing, is bound to follow the same standard set by The Albatross, meaning more punches of emotion and more lyric confessionals.  Dealer also brings forth a heavier, darker sound than prior recordings.  The album carries a weight that guarantees the listener will remember it afterwards.  

“The Magdalene” was released ahead of the album, and it was met with praise.  Foxing tackles the intricacies and difficulties of balancing religion and human impulses.  Conor Murphy elevates his falsetto to higher heights and keeps it bouncing up and down with the bopping guitar riffs.  For such a pretty voice, it’s ironic that the lyrical content is so dark.  Met about halfway through the track with soft choruses in the background, guitars and drums take over allowing a harsher, more in-your-face tone for the remainder of the track.  

“The Magdalene” can be used to summarize Dealer in the best of ways: it starts off with smooth and concrete vocals with instruments slowly inkling into the mix, but never diluting what Murphy has to express.  Although the album starts off sounding similar to The Albatross, it changes about halfway into something completely new.  With more ballads and less filler songs, Foxing is blending into an all-consuming sound that hits home runs more than it strikes out.  The changing sound allows Foxing to explore a new territory with Dealer that it hasn’t done before: a surreal, existential side.  While still retaining the heart-breaking depths shown in The Albatross, Dealer manages to have moments of tenderness, self-revelations and gut-wrenching pain.  


Dealer was released on Oct. 30, 2015 and is available for $8 download on Bandcamp.

JR JR and the Teragram Ballroom

Posted on by Colby Pines

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“I bet those blink,” my lady-friend and I muttered to one another, pointing at the giant JR JR letters that provided the backdrop to an otherwise barren stage. This was just the second in a string of underestimations about the Detroit-hailing, genre-defying (Dale Earnhardt) JR JR. My first misconception came long before I arrived at the Teragram Ballroom that night.

About a month before the show I learned that Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott, the talented team that comprises Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, were trimming the bearded racecar driver from their name in favor of the shorter, simpler moniker, JR JR. Initially, I was worried that the name change signified a shift from their Indie roots to a more mainstream, marketable bubblegum pop. I don’t know why I was so worried about a name change. Maybe it was because I, like many others, was drawn first to the name before being moved by the music.

I set out to do some research on the name change… and when I say research I mean a light, leisurely Google browse. I found that the band penned a letter in regards to the name change and posted it on their official website. In the note, they talk about why they chose the name in the first place:

“Band names are a weird thing to begin with, but we figured if we named our band Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr there would be no expectations for what we were meant to sound like. Something that bizarre would just have to be listened to and judged without preconception.”

This is exactly what drew me to JR JR. How could I not check out a band named after this guy… But it turns out that their plan worked a little too well. Their music gained well-deserved recognition and as their audience expanded, so too did the confusion revolving around their name:

“We’ve had people drive long distances to shows only to be disappointed when they realize it’s a neurotic Jew and a wild-haired gentile from Detroit they’ve paid to see. A number of times now we’ve received hope-filled inquiries from people who have dying relatives that only want to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr. (the driver) before they pass. Those sorts of interactions feel a little voyeuristic and eerie, and even attempting to simply clarify the situation means you’ve added a moment of embarrassment to someone’s day when they’re already going through a lot.”

Touché, JR JR… one way to shut up a guy who questions your name-changing intentions is to hit him with the most logical, sensitive explanation imaginable. Another way is to put out a catchy, endearing album that manages to build upon past projects… and that’s just what they did with the newly self-titled album, JR JR.

In a lot of ways, the new album is tied to time. Sure, this might seem obvious considering the first track is called “As Time Goes,” but the entire project deals with time spent, time wasted, and time wanted. Songs like “Gone” deal with the past and creeping nostalgia. In “Philip the Engineer” JR JR use a dystopian story arch in order to convey the idea that “time makes grown ups out of kids.” And then there’s the personal favorite, “James Dean,” which manages to capture catchiness while conceding that “I’m not dumb, but I’ve wasted time.”

In fact, every single track on this album (and their albums of old) somehow manages to remain incredibly catchy while dealing with meaningful things like the idea of time. It’s weird to find yourself swaying and singing along to a song about divorce (“A Haunting”), but it’s also refreshing. JR JR take heavy thoughts and emotions and balance those feelings with catchy choruses in order to capture specific moments in time. Everything they’ve done feels like an honest pursuit of artistic and emotional expression. I think that’s one of the reasons why JR JR has not only found success, but also been able to create catchy, enduring songs. It’s their honesty…

Which brings me back to the Teragram Ballroom on October 10th. Fair warning: I’ve loved JR JR since I first heard them a couple years back, but I really didn’t know what to expect from their live show outside of some inevitably amazing whistling. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed.

First off, I’d be a buffoon (I knew I’d be able to sneak the word ‘buffoon’ into something someday) not to mention Hippo Campus, who opened for JR JR. Their set was strong and they looked like they were having more fun than everyone. What do you do when you want an encore from the opener? Well, you write about the concert and hope that said opener sees said article and agrees to get drunk with you someday.

As the Teragram Ballroom pulsed with Hippo Campus’ energy, I noticed how much it reminded me of 40 Watt Club in Athens. Before the Athenian nostalgia set in too hard those JR JR letter lights started doing far more than “blinking,” as Josh, Daniel, and the band took to the stage, opening with “As Time Goes.” I was blown away by both the sound quality and the light show. I mean I really can’t express how much I underestimated those damn letter lights.

JR JR weaved their way through new material as well as old. They had the whole room dancing during songs and laughing in between. At some point after their cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” but before they highlighted the different Detroits (Kid Rock, Insane Clown Posse, Eminem, and them), I realized that JR JR is able to do what they do not solely because they’re talented, but because they’re honest and passionate. It’s who they are, and it shows on stage as well as on their albums.

Not to get too “Hallmark-y” here, but it’s pretty rare to find a band that creates catchy songs that actually say something of worth. Don’t get me wrong, bubblegum pop has its place, but I’ll forever prefer the sweet, soulful sounds of JR JR. After a brief exit from the stage, JR JR answered the crowd’s calls for an encore. They returned wearing these incredible jackets. As they ended the night with “Nothing But Our Love,” it was clear that that’s exactly what they had from the tightly packed audience at the Teragram Ballroom.

CMJ 2015: Slow Down Molasses x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emily McBride

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Slow Down Molasses is a quintet hailing from Saskatoon, Canada.  And I’m newly obsessed with them.  Reminding me of another Vinyl favorite, PacificUV, SDM is a shoegaze pop dream, and their recent album, Burnt Black Cars, definitely can’t be listened to just once.  The band is made up of members Tyson McShane, Jeanette Stewart, Chrix Morin, Levi Soulodre, and Aaron Scholz.

Post-CMJ madness, we grabbed a few minutes with Tyson to talk about the festival madness as well as future plans for the band.  Read on, and then go listen immediately.

Vinyl Mag: How was your CMJ? Did you get to see any other shows?

Tyson McShane: We had fun. It’s always great to get a chance to get to New York City, and as we always do at these types of festivals, we definitely made sure to catch some other bands. A personal highlight for me was seeing Mercury Rev and Ezra Furman at the Bella Union showcase. The Rev were stunning as usual, and Ezra fantastically delivered on all the hype I’d be hearing for him and his band. Otherwise, we played four shows, a couple of which were really great fun. You never know who’s around at these festivals, so it’s always a bit of a mystery as to whether the shows were a success or not, but we love to play, so no matter what, we enjoy playing the shows, and people to seemed to appreciate them.

VM: What was your favorite moment of the week?

TM: The end of our last show of the festival, a 1:15am set at Arlene’s Grocery, was really fun. We’re all big Sonic Youth fans, so we figured we’re playing New York’s Lower East Side, let’s end the set with a nicely destructive cover of their song “100%.” It was a nice, cathartic way to end our time at the festival. We then went straight from the venue to the airport and flew home.

VM: What was your favorite show that you played?

TM: The first show we played was easily our favorite. It was a show for #ImagineOct20th, put on by a bunch of Canadians in New York to motivate people to get out and vote out (our then) Prime Minster, Stephen Harper. The Canadian federal election was October 19th, and unfortunately we’ve had a very cynical, mean-spirited man as a Prime Minster for the last decade, and we were really happy to get to play a show to do our small part to encourage Canadians to get out and vote him out. The show was wonderfully fun to play, and it was great to connect with some fellow Canadians right as soon as we landed in New York. Also, I’m happy to say Stephen Harper was voted out, and I’m cautiously optimistic about the new Prime Minister, so I’d say the show was a success!

VM: How did working with Jace Lasek come about for Burnt Black Cars?

TM: Working with Jace was fantastic. We couldn’t afford to fly out and mix it with him, but it was a very easy process. We love the way his records sound, so we basically told him to do what comes naturally, and as a result the mixing was quite painless. Some songs on the record are his first attempt at a mix, with no revisions from us. It’s sort of incredible to start to learn how much of specific sound and personality the person mixer can have, and Jace has a pretty specific sound that we quite love.

VM: Do you have a favorite track from the album?

TM: Overall I’m really happy with every track on the album, but for me personally, “Resurrection Blues” was really exciting to do. I had not played that song for the band, as I had a pretty specific vision for it and I had all the parts laid out, but I’m pretty useless with recording myself and demo’ing things, so I’d never actually heard all the parts played at the same time. I was a bit nervous that it would sound like utter crap and we’d end up having to re-write the song or cut it altogether. Fortunately that was not the case, other than some minor editing that Jace did and tiny bit of glockenspiel that Ryan [drummer] added, it’s all the parts I had bouncing around my head.

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

TM: This album was a big change for us. Previously I’d write most of the songs and bring them to the band in a fairly finished state. This album we collaborated a lot more, either with me bringing in more skeletal ideas, or all of us being in the same room improvising around little ideas. So in general it is much more a band album. As a result I spend much less time just playing rhythm guitar, instead of playing more interesting bits to support the songs. It also meant the songs were a lot more refined going into the studio, so we all played a lot less on each song, but I think ended up with much stronger songs and a much better sounding album.

VM: Are there any collaborations that you’re dying to do?

TM: Despite touring in support of Burnt Black Cars, we’ve been writing a lot lately, so we’ve been pretty inward focused on that side of things. That said, I always have the in the back of my mind that I want to take a lot of the songs in a noisier direction and leave opportunities for the songs to go more out there. For something like that it would be amazing to collaborate with someone like (Swedish saxophonist) Mats Gustafson or the Dirty Three’s Warren Ellis, or some of the guys from Oneida. I’ve been really indulging in my love of more avant garde, improv based music the last couple years, so I could see that creeping in to some of what we do in the next while.

VM: What is next for Slow Down Molasses?

TM: We are heading back into the studio soon. We have a bunch of new songs, and we started recording a few of them at the end of August at our friend Barrett Ross’s studio. As I mentioned, we’ve been writing a lot lately as well, so I’m excited to get working on arrangements and get a few songs tracked, then figure out what we are doing for mixing them. We’ve got a few ideas on that.

Cardiknox x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Camren Skelton

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New York electro-pop duo Lonnie Angle and Thomas Dutton got their start in a pretty unusual way—they met while working on a musical. After dabbling with their sound in the studio on the side, they decided to really put all their effort into making music, and Cardiknox was born. We sat down with the duo as they returned to NYC to talk inspiration, songwriting and plans for the future.

Vinyl Mag: Tell us about your single, “Doors.”  Where did you get the inspiration for this song?

Lonnie Angle: “Doors” actually started as a dream. All songwriters have had this happen. They wake up in the middle of the night after dreaming of what seems like the world’s greatest melody. They fumble for their iPhone and record a sleepy, mumbled version of the melody, and go back to sleep. Usually, though, when you listen back in the morning, it’s a horrible melody that makes no sense. Not with “Doors,” though!

The initial dream also saw the song as more of a hip-hop song. On the production side, Thomas is hugely inspired by the simplistic power carried by a Drake or Kanye beat. So we tried to keep the music really simple and anthemic. Lyrically, it’s all about perseverance. Not losing self-confidence in the face of adversity. Believing in the outcome.

VM: What is your greatest accomplishment as a band so far?

LA: We just finished a few weeks of touring in Europe, which was a dream come true. Belgium, Amsterdam, Paris, and all over England. We didn’t know quite was to expect, but the shows were incredible. The kids at these festivals go nuts! It was so fun to play for crowds who have so much energy. It makes the performance so easy, because you’re just feeding off them.

VM: How was playing a festival like CMJ different than playing small clubs on a regular night?

LA: CMJ is always a whirlwind. In the best possible way. As long as you go in knowing that everything is going to be a bit of a mess, then you’ll be fine! There’s always twice as many bands on the bills, and there isn’t always a strong connection in the overall sound of the lineup — it’s a bit more random. But unlike playing a normal show, the whole city feels alive and electric (even more than normal). There’s this buzzing in the air, and you’re running around from show to show, not getting any sleep. It’s the best! Though I’m glad it’s only a few days every year…

VM: What was your favorite moment of your CMJ week?

LA: We haven’t played NYC in a hot second, so seeing all the familiar faces and all our friends come out was pure joy for us. We got to play some of our favorite spots, too — Webster and Brooklyn Bowl. Mmm their fried chicken… so good. Honestly I don’t know if there’s one singular moment that sticks out. It was just so great to be back in NYC, in full swing. Such a magical place.

VM: Any upcoming releases?

LA: Yes! Our next single, “On My Way” … [released October 30!] We’re really excited about releasing this song. We’re shooting the music video for it in a few weeks, too. We’ve been putting a ton of work and energy into the video, so we’re really stoked for that as well.

VM: If you could play any venue in the world, where would it be?

LA: Well, a few months ago I would have said The Gorge, up in Washington, but we got to play there at Sasquatch Festival. On second thought, that’s definitely up there on our list of biggest accomplishments. Thomas and I grew up in Seattle, so playing The Gorge has always been a dream.

Other venues on our bucket list are Red Rocks and Madison Square Garden. Hopefully someday soon!

VM: What is your songwriting process like? Do you draw inspiration from any other artists?

LA: We normally start with a certain lyric or concept that we want to write about. That’s often the hook and we’ll build a simple progression around it on the guitar. From there, sometimes we write the verse or pre-chorus and create a full skeleton of the song. Once the song is written, Thomas builds a beat around it, and starts creating the soundscape. Obviously it’s not always that linear. You never know when or where inspiration is going to strike.

VM: Do you prefer to play live shows or be in the studio working on something new?

LA: I love performing. It makes me feel completely alive and uninhibited. There’s something magic that happens when I step on stage—all my fears and anxieties about the world … all of the noise and chaos just falls away and it’s a kind of bliss.

VM: What artist would you most like to collaborate with?

LA: Thomas would probably say Drake. I’m pretty obsessed with Christine and the Queens. I’d love to collab with her in some way.

VM: If you could describe your sound in a single catchphrase, what would it be?

LA: As addictive as truffle fries.

VM: Do you have any pre-show routines or rituals?

LA: I always have a whiskey and jump up and down for about five minutes to get the blood moving. Thomas gets quiet and introspective … mapping out the show in his head.

VM: What is next for Cardiknox?

LA: World domination. J

VM: Anything else you want Vinyl Mag readers to know?

LA: We <3 u!

Grimes: “Flesh Without Blood” and “SCREAM”

Posted on by Nikki Smith

Vancouver’s Claire Boucher performs under the alias of Grimes. Since her start in 2011 with a split EP alongside D’Eon, who’s known for his experimental electronic style, Boucher has evolved into her own electronic pop style. One of Grimes’ most popular albums, Visions (2012), gave us contemporary electronic melodies like “Genesis” and “Oblivion.” With flawless baby bangs and an equally flawless and baby-like voice, Boucher has graced us with yet another upcoming album in December, Art Angels.

Her two newest singles “Flesh Without Blood” and “SCREAM” exhibit two very different sounds, possibly hinting at the new album’s diversity and evolution from her signature style. “Flesh Without Blood” stays consistent with that familiar electronic dance style that has a way of attaching itself to the listener. With metallic beats and subtle punk riffs, Boucher’s ethereal “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” offer a complex balance between sharp and soft sounds.

“SCREAM” moves away from the familiar spacey sounds to an industrial style. The track features Aristophanes, a Taiwanese rapper. The vocals still adhere to Boucher’s high-pitched style and seem to resemble the eerie sweetness of Die Antwoord.

Boucher is a pioneer of the new age sound, and we can’t deny her fashion sense is just as vibrant and unique as her music. Catch her at the Buckhead Theater, November 11th.

4/5