Odonis Odonis at World Famous, Athens, GA

Posted on by Aubrey Mascali

On their tour’s sixth stop , musical trio Odonis Odonis of Toronto Canada made their way down to humble ol’ Athens, GA to grace us all …well, all 50 of us or so…with their very polite presence. Okay, I might be postulating here, but they did seem like a very nice bunch – and well dressed, I might add. The drummer’s hat/sock combination was on point.

Anyhow, we the audience were on the winning end of this deal. Though the weather wasn’t so welcoming- it was the annoying kind of rain that evenly mists your entire body until you’re just uncomfortable enough – the bartender at the warm and inviting venue known as World Famous fixed me up a drink, and I forgot all about my soggy socks. The line-up consisted of a dynamic list, starting with Athens based band Muuy Biien, and also including Vincas and Gorgeous in addition to Odonis Odonis.

Word is Odonis Odonis, consisting of members Jarod Gibson, Denholm Whale and lead by Dean Tzenos, is a band that has been progressively moving through a series of changes to soften their hard edges since the release of their 2011 album, Hollandaze; I speculate this hearsay has something to do with their new album’s name: Hard Boiled Soft Boiled, which was released April 15th through Canadian label Buzz. Their music has been described as being anywhere on the spectrum of  “a punch in the gut” to “sunkissed shoe gaze” to “euphoric”.

Regardless of formal categorization of their genre, it was clear to us that Friday night caught them at just the right point on the continuum- I’ll just say that the ratio of head swaying to head banging was pretty perfectly balanced.

As for my personal experience, I’ll start by making up some phrases to classify the feelings I had while listening to and watching Odonis Odonis under the warm red stage lighting (it was consistent for all the bands but somehow felt perfectly catered to Odonis Odonis’ performance). The band started rowdily and worked up to my personal favorite track titled “Are We Friends,” a super catchy, colorful, head-nod provoking club tune that gives you an anarchistic attitude. By the end of it, you’ll feel way cooler than you are. At least I did.

They must have figured they’d lead us slowly into their heavier material, because the early impressions I garnered included notions of what would call “glamorous zombie rock” – think the melodies of The Strokes times 10 mixed with notes of punk, a little synthesized screaming and isolated lyrics that undulate between forceful and serious and then return to a melodic echo.

The moments of pure synchronicity in the audience, largely brought on by electronic waves, promoted some major body flow movements by the guy behind me who was NOT afraid to hit me repeatedly with his long flowing locks. Needless to say, Odonis Odonis provided a good time for us lucky bunch of Athenians. If word spreads like I think it will, the next time they roll through, we should expect a pretty big crowd overflow.

The tour has Odonis Odonis in Arkansas next, then Illinois, and then over to Europe. This may be a far stretch, but after seeing them live I wouldn’t be opposed to a short backpacking excursion to catch them in France. Anyone want to tag along?

Hard Boiled Soft Boiled is available on iTunes , but you can hear several tracks as well as tour info on their website or catch them on Soundcloud . Don’t forget to scroll down to enjoy a super-sick video titled “Order in the Court” from the new album, where some serious geniuses have paired the track with animation from Netherlandish painting master Hieronymus Bosch’s most ambitious painting titled “Garden of Earthly Delights.” Props to Odonis Odonis for their use of this monumental piece of art history. God, they’re so cultured.

 

Vinyl Giveaway! Aloud’s ‘It’s Got To Be Now’

Posted on by Emily McBride

Who else is sad that Record Store Day is over? No worries – we’ve got you covered! We’re giving away Aloud‘s newest album It’s Got To Be Now here!

Three ways to win.

Follow us on Instagram, and then comment on this picture!

Follow us on Twitter , and tweet @thisisvinyl #vinylgivesvinyl

or Like us on Facebook, and comment on this picture there!

We’ll pick a random winner next week!!

The Menzingers share new video

Posted on by Katelyn Stanitzke

Today, The Menzingers are sharing their new video for “I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore.” The track is the first song on their album, Rented World, which was released today. The video is pretty entertaining and features a serial killer who decides he wants to try and switch over from the dark side.

Check it out.

 

SXSW 2014: Bonzie x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Mary Frances Dale

Nina Ferraro (Bonzie) isn’t your typical young college girl. While most girls her age would choose to spend their Spring Break on a beach somewhere taking Jell-O shots (I know I did), Bonzie chose to spend hers at South by Southwest, playing shows and pursuing her music career.  Par for the course for someone who started booking her own shows at age 12.  We sat down with Nina to talk about how awesome she is, as well as her experience at SXSW and her plans after the festival. Check out our conversation below, and be sure to give her music a listen – it’s more than worth it.

Vinyl Mag: How are you liking Austin so far?

Bonzie: I love it! I love it! First of all, I like the warmth. It’s a nice break from Chicago. I like the weather in Chicago.

VM: Chicago is freezing!

B: It is freezing. They got ten inches of snow a couple of days ago. Aside from that, I like the southern hospitality. Granted, most of the people I’m interacting with are not from Austin. It’s nice that you’re from Austin; I’m finally getting to talk with the locals. I like it a lot.

VM: When are your upcoming shows for South By?

B: I’ve got the Nylon show tomorrow. I love Nylon magazine; it’s one of my favorite magazines. I have a Hyde Park showcase.

VM: Hyde Park is awesome. It’s just a solid, classic restaurant to go to. Good food, good people – you’ll have a good time. Tell me a little bit about how you got into music.

B: It’s interesting; I don’t have a musical family. I didn’t have anyone in my life who was really musical to look up to. I’m not really sure, honestly. I started playing piano when I was very young, and I took piano lessons, and I didn’t really connect with it. I didn’t really like piano lessons like any other kids. I picked up the guitar when I was nine and started writing music, and it just felt pretty natural. It wasn’t something I really thought about or had conscious decision to do. It just started happening, and I went with it. I didn’t tell anyone about it for a while. I would write songs and play them for people and tell them that they were covers. I started booking my own shows.

VM: How old were you when you started booking your own shows?

B: I was 12 when I started. Granted, the first shows that I booked were very, very small, like coffee shops.

VM: And now you’re playing things like Nylon.

B: Yeah! It’s been great! It’s been amazing how it’s progressed, how I’ve progressed. It’s felt very natural.

VM: So you just released your full-length, debut album. Can you tell me about that process?

B: It’s an interesting thing, because I do write my songs by myself. So, I write them in my room with my guitar, just thinking and writing. Sometimes it sucks, sometimes it’s slow, but it’s always alone. So, when it comes to making a record, or even arranging a band, I have these very specific ideas in my mind about what I want to happen: this is part should be this, the drum should do this, this is a keyboard solo here. The record was a matter of – for me – playing with different musicians, seeing how they interpret my ideas, listening to it, recording it, and if it’s not right, doing it again. You know, doing it as many time until it’s as close as I think the material world can get to what I envisioned. That’s the way I did my album. It was nice, because I didn’t really have a time frame, so I really spent time on it and made it what I wanted it to be.

VM: And two of the guys from Milk Carton Kids played with you?

B: Yeah, Joey Ryan and Kenneth from the Milk Carton Kids. Joey sang on “Felix” and Kenneth played the guitar. They were super cool; they were really nice guys. Joey has the most beautiful voice. When I made that song, I wanted a male harmony part that was sort of like the voice of Joey Ryan from the Milk Carton Kids, and he ended up doing it, which was amazing. And Kenneth is really cool; he does this amazing, almost Spanish, guitar part over “Felix.” It’s beautiful. They’re great musicians.

VM: What about school? Have you graduated high school yet?

B: Yeah, I graduated high school. I’m in college. I’ve just made it work. You have to really be self-motivated. I know that’s so easily said and not easily done, because we have the Internet, and we do write essays on the computer – it’s just the worst combination.

VM: There’s this awesome app you can download, and it’ll block everything you want it to block for you.

B: Oh no, but why would you do that?

VM: So, it’ll keep you from getting on Facebook for two hours.

B: I’m not promoting myself here, because I just said you have to be self-motivated, and now I’m talking about all the ways I procrastinate.

VM: I’m sure you’re studying Music?

B: No, actually I don’t study Music. I’m doing more like Sociology.

VM: Does that inspire your music at all?

B: Sort of, yeah. I feel like I get a lot of my inspiration just by existing and meeting people, but I think anything you can add to your mind is good, for the most part.

VM: How did you pick your name?

B: Bonzie was a word that I made up but I started associating with creative outputs that I did. I had been releasing music under my own name and performing under Nina Ferraro. There’s something that just felt too personal about me as a person, which my music is not. When I’m in my music, I just think about the music, and I sort of lose my body. I just felt really natural and comfortable to go under Bonzie.

VM: It has a life of its own it sounds like. So you said for your songwriting, it’s more of a solo process. That’s unique for a lot of the people I’ve been talking to this week. Do you talk to people while you’re writing? Do you ask for advice from anyone?

B: I do write the songs on my own. When it comes to performing and playing with other musicians, it’s such an amazing type of connection, because it’s taking a singular idea and meshing it with other ideas, and that’s the sound that comes out. The song remains the same, but it’s a matter of how it evolves and the sound that comes out. That’s been fun with my band, especially playing the South By shows. Since we’re playing so many venues, you start to get to the core of what it means to be done and what the feeling is of the songs. It’s been really cool at South By, because we’re playing so many shows so close together that we feel very connected.

VM: Who are you performing with right now?

B: Right now, my band is Lucas Gillan on drums, Packy Monhelm on keys and guitar and Anton Catwich on bass. They’re all from Chicago. I play with lots of different musicians.

VM: Are y’all having a blast down here?

B: It’s so much fun!

VM: Have you hit up any of the parties? Have you let yourself breathe and relax yet?

B: Yeah, a little bit. I haven’t had much time. I had two shows yesterday, and I had a show the day I came in on Tuesday, so I’ve been sort of in that zone. Today was my day off. I’m thinking I might find Ellis Leone’s band, San Fermin. I’m hoping to go see that. I went to the ATO Records party, too yesterday, which was fun. Honestly, I have the most fun when I’m performing and on stage, and when I talk to people afterwards, but I love going to see shows too.

VM: Can you tell me about your craziest experience at South By?

B: I feel like every moment has been crazy. I got lost once; that was interesting. That was a little crazy and wild. Let’s see…we were unloading the car, and one of the guitarists pulled forward and put the car into drive, and it started rolling down a hill. That was kind of crazy!

VM: How did you stop it?

B: By running to the front seat and grabbing the wheel! That has nothing to do with Austin though. I did see the line for a Lady Gaga show that was absolutely insane and that horrible, horrible tragedy with the drunk driver. A lot is happening here. It’s a lot of people, it’s a lot of enthusiasm, so it’s pretty intense, but it’s fun.

VM: What projects are you working on that you’re really excited about for the future?

B: Right now, I’m working on this music video for my song, “Data Blockers.” I recorded it in Brooklyn with this group called APK Productions. It was fun to record; we’re just working on finishing it and getting the editing right. I’m looking through footage, and I’m being as collaborative as possible.

VM: I can’t wait for the release of it. Do you know when that’s going to be?

B: I don’t know. Hopefully by the end of this month. It’s going to be soon for sure.

VM: You’ve got a lot going on.

B: I’m doing some recording, too. I’ve been recording slowly for my next record.

VM: Do you record in Chicago?

B: Yeah, so far for this record it’s been mostly in Chicago. I put out a single that I did with Steve Albini in Chicago recently, but right now I’m recording more and working on the video.

VM: Do you think Chicago itself has affected the way you approach music in any way, because it’s a unique place?

B: It is a unique place! The more I travel, the more I realize that. I grew up in Wisconsin, and then I moved to Chicago when I was in my early teens, so it’s still in the Midwest.

VM: Midwestern girl deep down.

B: Yeah. I mean, when I come to a place like Austin, there’s just a different vibe. It’s really cool!  The people are really nice and really interesting, just very kind and open, not that we’re not that way in Chicago.

VM: It’s so cold in Chicago; you’re like fending off the wind.

B: Yeah, there’s totally something to that! I always talk about the weather.

VM: It does affect you; I mean, you have to live in the weather.

B: For sure. Anthropologists, when they go to somewhere like Antarctica, they study those people. Those people are different…I don’t know.  I just came up with that place, but anywhere, even like Alaska, even in the U.S.  There’s a different culture depending on the environment.

VM: It is true. I’ve noticed what you’re saying. Like in the North, people act a little more insular.

B: Yeah, more focused on their body.

VM: Then you get southern people, who are just crazy.

B: Yeah! It’s fun; it’s awesome; I love it! But Chicago has probably influenced me in some non-descript way. I guess you can never really know how much something influences you, but the more I go places, talk to people, I guess it does.

VM: Can you tell me a little bit more about the shoot? I was Googling you earlier, and I saw the cover of your album, and you’re very stark and isolated. It’s a beautiful photo. Who did that?

B: Oh, are you talking about on my website? That was Jim Newberry in Chicago.

VM: So, you work with a lot of Chicago photographers and recording people?

B: Yeah, he does a lot of musicians. It was fun to do that. That was a while back. Thank you about that picture. I’ve worked a lot with Shee Sinsong; she’s a photographer in New York who I just became friends with, and we did a photo shoot out there. It was really fun. It was she and all of her friends; she had just graduated college, so she’s super young, and she and her friends just got the wardrobe together. I mean, the APK Productions felt like a similar thing, but it was just she and her friends doing the wardrobe and super inspired about how the backdrop needed to be. It was fun!

VM: Awesome! This is fantastic. I’ll have so much to write about.

B: Thank you for having me! I talk too much.

VM: No, this is wonderful!

 

*Bonzie, you’re just a delight.

Tour Dates:

May 09    Joe’s Pub    New York, NY
May 10    World Cafe Live Philadelphia    Philadelphia, PA
May 11    Sixth & I Historic Synagogue    Washington, DC

Listen: Small Sur: “Wild Geese” for Singles Club Issue 2

Posted on by Vinyl Mag

So, this is pretty cool.  Jeffrey Silverstein (of Secret Mountains) from Brooklyn, NY just launched an interesting project with his close friend and bandmate.  Singles Club.

Singles Club is a quarterly publication releasing exclusive 7″ records with a digital journal to go along with.

In December, they premiered the first track from Daniel Bachman over at the FADER.

The second single, Small Sur’s “Wild Geese,” hit on Friday.  Head on over to the Singles Club website to check it all out!

SXSW 2014: Black Lips x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Emily McBride

Happy Birthday to me. I got the chance to wake up on my birthday at South by Southwest and drive straight to an interview with The Black Lips.  Not a bad start to a day.  We sat down at their hotel on the fourth day of SXSW to talk about BL’s latest album, Underneath the Rainbow, their Middle Eastern tour, their favorite Georgia venue and what’s next for the band.

VM: We’re really excited for Underneath the Rainbow; it comes out March 18th. How is different from your previous album releases?

Jared: It’s not really that different; it’s not really a radical departure. We have our sound and everything. We just keep recording songs; they’re just in different studios sometimes, but mostly the same process.

Cole: We’re just tightening up what we have always done.

VM: Who does all the writing?

Cole: We all do some.

VM: What was your inspiration for the album, or do you just write all the time?

Cole: We kind of just write all the time and let things gel together naturally.

VM: Tell us about your video for ‘Boys in the Woods.’

Jared: It was just a vision we had of a redneck odyssey in the woods. I guess it’s supposed to be about crankcuts and weirdos that live differently than most people.

VM: Where was it filmed?

Joe: Conley, Georgia.

Jared: I think it used to be a hospital or maybe a school. It’s like an abandoned place, and one of our friends has a horror studio there with props and everything. So, we had a lot of space to work with and sources.

VM: How many shows do you have at ‘South By’ this year?

Cole: Ten.

VM: It’s Friday; how many shows do you have left?

Jared: Five.

Joe: We have three tomorrow and actually three tonight, so six.

Cole: We have DJ gigs as well.

VM: So, 10 shows plus DJ gigs; that’s intense. When did you guys get in?

Jared: Tuesday night, or Tuesday afternoon.

VM: Who have you seen? Have you seen anybody good?

Jared: OFF! played before us, and we saw them.

Joe: We saw Perfect Pussy last night.

Cole: We saw Sean Lennon’s band, Ghost of the Saber Tooth Tiger [GOASTT].

Joe: We saw Natural Child, right?

Ian: Pretty much if they played before us, we watched them.

VM: So you’ve seen a lot! Was there anyone you really wanted to see this year?

Cole: No.

Jared: I personally gave up on trying to see shows a few years ago, because you get your hopes up about a show you probably won’t be able to go to. If I happen to be somewhere, then I’ll watch it; sometimes you get lucky.

Joe: I agree 100 percent.

Cole: I second that.

VM: So can we expect some typical Black Lips antics on stage?

Cole: You never know what you’ll get.

Jared: Depends on what’s in the water, and the mood, what time of day it is; you have to feel it out.

Ian: We’re like a Ferrari; the years might change, but we’re still fast and smooth.

VM: Well said. Tell us about your Middle Eastern tour.

Jared: Well, it was really unprecedented. We took the first step, and – to our knowledge, and no one has disputed this since – we were the first western band to do that full circuit. It sounds crazy. Like, we went going to Iraq and Egypt at this time when it looks crazy over there, but it really couldn’t have been more normal. The shows were really well attended, it was organized, and everyone was really nice to us. No running over borders in the middle of the night or riots or anything. It was just like your average tour. Actually, it was one of the more wholesome tours we’ve ever done. We had a lot of families there and a lot of little kids. We didn’t really party. It was very wholesome and special.

VM: So did you go on that tour intending to be the first, or did you find out later that that was the case?

Jared: Well, it was there, and we were like, ‘why not go play?’ We started meeting bands that were from around the region and different people, like filmmakers, and it just started to become more of a reality. So, we were like, ‘why not go there? We haven’t been.’

VM: Do you have any other places you want to go?

Jared: Malaysia, Indonesia…

Cole: Cuba.

Jared: I guess at some point, we’ll have to go to China. It’s hard to avoid.

VM: Do you want to go to China? You seem a little ‘meh.’

Jared: I’m sure it will be cool, but if I had to make a list of places, that’s not super high up.

VM: What would be your number one?

Cole: We wanted to go to Antarctica, but not anymore, because Metallica did it. We want to be the first in some things.

VM: What’s your favorite venue to play in Georgia?

Jared: If you could fill it up, I really like Variety Playhouse. Actually, now that they’ve redone the Georgia Theatre. I really like the Georgia Theatre.

VM: It’s awesome now! There’s no bad place as an audience member. Wherever you are, you can see the stage.

Jared: I’ll go ahead and say Georgia Theatre. There’s Nintendo backstage, restaurant and bar on the roof, and good sound.

Cole: Giant bands.

Ian: The food’s good.

VM: The food is good.

Cole: My dream is to play the Fox Theater in Atlanta. It’s gigantic! We’d have to be lucky enough to open for somebody, probably.

Jared: I think to put on a show there is just thousands and thousands of dollars.

VM: Bill Cody from Athens directed the documentary, ‘Kids Like You and Me,’ for your tour. How did you get connected with him, and why did you decide to do a documentary?

Jared: I can’t remember how we met him. I think he just started coming to our shows in L.A. Over the months and years, we found out he was a filmmaker, and I was a fan of ‘Athens, Georgia Inside Out.’ We would always talk sh*t about playing in Iraq but not in the green zone. He said, ‘well, I used to teach film there.’ So we were like, ‘well, if you actually have some contacts there…’ and he actually took it seriously. Three years later we were there with him, but it just started from that one little ‘I want to play in Iraq’ and snowballed from there.

VM: What is your favorite part about playing at ‘South By?’

Joe: Seeing friends.

VM: After ‘South By,’ what are your plans?

Jared: We’re hitting the road for a while. We’re going to the West coast from here, going to do a little circle up and down the coast and a little, quick dip into Canada, then the East coast, then Europe and a bunch of other stuff.

VM: Thanks for talking to us.

Jared: It was a pleasure.

Get More:
www.mtvu.com

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

Posted on by Emma Cramer

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

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

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

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

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

SXSW 2014: Little Daylight x Vinyl Mag

Posted on by Mary Frances Dale

One of my favorite interviews of South by Southwest this year was with Little Daylight. I sat down with members Nikki Taylor, Matt Lewkowicz and Eric Zeiler to discuss their love of remixes, the power of caffeine and their future plans.  Please listen to this band. You will like them as much as we do. Vinyl Mag seal of approval!

Vinyl Mag: How are ya’ll doing? How is Austin? What do you think about everything here?

Nikki Taylor: I mean, I love it, we were here last year, so this is our second year, and it’s such an awesome, fun time of year. We’re playing a lot of shows this year, and doing a lot of stuff, so it’s busier than last year. It’s a little less party and see lots of bands vibe, and more of a play a lot of music vibe, but either way it’s fun.

VM: Cool. What have ya’ll been up to?

Matt Lewkowicz: We just got in yesterday.

VM: And you flew in from New York?

Matt: No, we drove from New York.

Nikki: Three days of driving.

VM: That’s crazy!

Eric Zeiler: We’re starting our tour after this, in Houston, so we had to drive here to get everything. Oh no, Dallas  – we’re starting in Dallas.

VM: Keep it in Texas. Texas is like a country in and of itself. Could you each tell me about your role in the group and how you work together?

Nikki: We’re a democracy in how Ancient Greece is a democracy, but with women.

Matt: Right, we allow women.

Nikki: Right, a band of the people. For the people. By the people.

Matt: And waving it towards women’s rights…but yes, in terms of individual roles, we just kind of mush it all together to one patty and then just fry it up, slice it up and see what happens.

Eric: We do have instruments that we play, though, live, and those are distinct roles. For the stage. For the studio, everything is very egalitarian, and everyone is playing different instruments and writing together…but live, I play bass and keyboards.

Matt: I play guitar and keyboards and percussion.

Nikki: I sing and I play keys. and we have a drummer. He’s not here right now, but yeah – it’s the four of us onstage.

VM: When you’re creating a song or a track, how do you approach it? What is your ultimate goal, and how do you reach that goal?

Nikki: We just finished recording our album a couple weeks ago. It was over the summer and the fall, and we all just kind of brought in a lot of ideas. The first day we were working on the album, we sifted through everything we had all been thinking about. And as soon as we had an idea going, we just all workshopped it. Literally, the three of us, just like sitting here talking about what kind of thing it should be. And the end goal, I would say, is just to make the song its best version of itself. We don’t have this thing of, ‘oh this song needs to be this type of thing.’ We had a song that started out on our album as a four on the floor, electronic kind of thing and ended up being a ballad. So it evolves.

Eric: The electronic stuff – the fact that we do most of our creation in the studio – we have all sorts of tools that are at our disposal. Guitars, acoustic guitars, instruments, drums, and then like electronic stuff. So, depending on the song, those elements might come to the forefront just because the song demands them. Because we’re in the studio, and not just in a rehearsal space, we have those at our disposal. We all love that. We are all into having that kind of music, so we were excited about having those sounds in the songs.

VM: Didn’t you have your EP before you ever performed live?

Matt: No, we didn’t release the EP, but we had recorded some of the songs.

Nikki: We released our first album last year, and then our first show was actually last year at South By. So this is actually our one year anniversary of playing our first show here.

VM: What are you excited about at South By? What shows are you most excited to be playing?

Eric: Of ours? We’re probably most excited about the Filter one; it’s with the four-band lineup, and they’re all great bands. It’s with Washed Out, Temples, and Eagles, so it will be exciting to play with all the other bands…

Nikki: And Mr. Wise is playing, and we like him a lot so that will be a good show, too.

VM: You’re performing today right?

Nikki: Tonight. Midnight.

VM: I want to come to that!

Nikki: Yeah, you should!

VM: I’ll have to make it. So…you definitely incorporate remixes into what you do. You released a whole remix album when you also released Tunnel Vision. Does that change the way you approach anything, with the intention of creating remixes?

Matt: Yeah, remixing has been a part of us since making music has been a part of us. From the beginning, we were doing both at the same time. And the remixes have always been a good place for us to practice our studio skills. A lot of times when we write a song, what we do is we workshop things and work on chopping things up and approaching them differently every day until we see what sticks and what works well. With remixes, that’s what we’re doing from the beginning…there are parallel paths to us. So, that’s why remixing and writing originals has been a very similar act.

Nikki: And then getting remixes back from other people.

VM: Yeah, I mean people are remixing your tracks all the time. How is that? That’s got to be really cool. I feel like it’s really flattering, having people be like, ‘I want to rework your track and make it part of this new creation.’

Nikki: Yeah, definitely. And it’s so cool, as the originator of the song, to hear people’s take on it. There are so many different directions you can go with it, and it’s really great when you hear something you never would have thought is in the song, and someone saw something and created something around it. It’s so cool. I remember we did…who was the remix you got stuck in your head?

Matt: Twice As Nice.

Nikki: Twice As Nice did a remix of “Overdose,” and it was so cool. The chords were so different and awesome and catchy that for a while Matt would get the song in his head, but the remix version in his head.

Matt: Yeah, I would be taking a shower and singing our song and realize I wasn’t singing our song the way we wrote it. I was singing the song the way it had been remixed, and that was just a surreal moment.

VM: That’s so cool, like the cultural collaborative effort of people when you work in remixing.

Eric: Yeah, we’ve been back to remixing after being off of it while we’ve been making our album, about eight months. But we’ve been back at it and a couple of them, we would love to perform live someday. Like remixes of other artists we’ve done that we’re so excited about that we imagine it would even be fun to perform it. It’s basically like writing a new song for us, based around someone else’s vocals.

Nikki: It’s almost like the line becomes very transparent or something. Like remixes and originals, and people remixing you and you doing other stuff and performing it live – yeah, you’re right, – it’s like this community effort, sort of group thing that you’re just taking pieces from stuff.

VM: That kind of plays into your whole vibe, like you were saying earlier. Like you’re very egalitarian – you’re kind of always co-working a democracy. I feel like the remix falls into that vibe – that democratizing impulse you have. What projects are you working on as of now? I guess you’re about to release the new album.

Eric: The project of going on tour for two months!

Matt: Our project is learning how to drive for long amounts of time on single cups of coffee. We’re trying to get one cup of coffee to stretch for at least five hours, or something like that.

Eric: Caffeine matters.

Matt: And also stretch our bladders out so we can go without stopping and peeing. I mean, that’s a big project for us. I guess it’s liquid management.

Nikki: Liquid assets management.

Matt: Which in a socialistic-egalitarian-democracy, is something important we all have to vote on and think on and discuss ([aughing]. But that really is the project right now. Truly, it’s being on the road. We did the six-to-eight-month album block, and now we have risen again, and we’re in the real world, and we have to play shows and go to cities we’ve never been to. That’s kind of an exciting thing that is happening on this tour for the first time. We’re going to places like Columbus, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky.

Nikki: New Orleans.

Eric: Where are you from?

VM: I’m from around Nashville.

Matt: Cool. We’re playing there also, in the summer! Mercy Lounge.

Eric: Do you know the band Coin?

VM: I don’t.

Eric: They’re from Nashville, and they’ve become friends. They’re here –  they’re playing a bunch. You’re about to hear a lot about them. They’re doing great. They’re awesome. They represent Nashville well.

*Catch Little Daylight up on their tour!!!!

MON 21 APRIL
The Independent      San Francisco, CA, US

WED 23 APRIL
Troubadour      West Hollywood, CA, US

THU 24 APRIL
5th Avenue Side Stage      San Diego, CA, US

TUE 20 MAY
Rumsey Playfield, Central Park      New York, NY

THU 19 JUNE – SUN 22 JUNE
Firefly Music Festival 2014      Dover, DE

 

Wide-Awake Makeup Tutorial

Posted on by Kate Foster

Ahh, nothing like forthcoming finals to make you remember that your skin is not invincible. The stress, lack of sleep and crappy food can all add up to a big, ruddy mess on your face. But I’ve devised a face makeup routine that will totally cover those purple bags, dull skin, and any blemishes you may have acquired. All it takes is a little careful coverage.

1. Start with clean, moisturized skin.


2. Dot a liquid foundation, like Flower About Face Foundation with Primer, on the back of your hand.


3. Starting from the middle of your face, use a Beauty Blender sponge to apply the foundation. Use a dabbing motion, and utilize the sponge’s tiny tip to target areas that get ruddy easily: your nostrils, in between your eyebrows and right below your mouth.


4. Use that same tip to apply the foundation under the eyes, making sure to get as close to the lower lash line as possible.


5. Blend the foundation into the neck so that you have even color all over.


6. Use a concealer/brightener duo, like Benefit Boi-ing Eyebright Compact. Start with the concealer, applying it under the eyes in a triangular shape down your face. Make sure to blend well!


7. Dab the brightener part of the duo in the inner and outer corners of your eyes, blending upward into your brow bone. This makes the eyes look lifted and less tired.


8. Use a concealer to cover up any blemishes with your finger. I prefer a powder formula, like BareMinerals Broad Spectrum SPF 20 Concealer.


9. Apply blush to the apples of your cheeks using any blush brush. A peachy shade, such as MAC Honey Jasmine Blush will make you look the most awake.


*Many tend to include highlighter in a wide-awake makeup look, but I think the shimmer draws attention to bags and sallow skin. Skip it!

Done! Now you look like you’ve gotten a full eight hours of sleep, even if it’s a downright lie.