Tag: exclusive
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Hanging out poolside with Astronautalis
Charles Andrew Bothwell- a.k.a. Astronautalis- is one of the most interesting people in the world (right up there with the Dos Equis guy). He is one of those people that always has something to say, and it is always something you want to listen to and know more about. Really makes interviewing him effortless and downright enjoyable.
Andy was in Athens this past weekend performing and MC-ing for the Team Clermont 15th Anniversary Summer Showcase & Prom. While he was in town, I got the chance to reunite with him for the first time since our first interview.
After meeting up at his hotel and getting hooked watching Olympic women’s archery (really intense stuff, people), we headed over to the pool to chill out and get our interview on.
So here it is! Astronautalis talking about what’s been going on since our last interview, new collaborations, musings on Eastern Europe, getting robbed in Atlanta, and his upcoming tour and album (I also think it’s important to note that this is his first ever shirtless interview. Proud.). Enjoy! I know I did…
Tim Riley from Souvenirs- Exclusive interview!
Souvenirs is a 4-man band from Carpinteria, CA, that are here to kick it old school and flat out raw. Being compared to Braid and Mineral, and I personally related them to Jimmy Eat World and a splash of Brand New, they are musicians on the emotional angsty rollercoaster called life and are here to write about it. Their songs aren’t dressed up and over produced, but they are music in its simplest form: music. It’s refreshing to hear a new band on the rise with their simple, raw studio sound. I was supposed to meet them on their tour, but the Atlanta show at the Wonder Root was canceled unfortunately. However, I was able to snag a pleasant phone interview with vocalist Tim Riley and discuss his journey with the band.
JF: How did you decide on the name “Souvenirs”? How long have you played together?
TR: I thought of it when I was starting off and writing songs for the band. I’d been on two U.S. tours selling merch for Title Fight, and I loved truck stops, and I liked the souvenirs. I liked the name because it was appropriate, since everything we have in life is a collection- emotions and being happy; it means something to us. I thought it was an appropriate name for a band that I’m writing for. After the U.S. tour, I went full on Souvenirs, and we’ve been playing together for about 10 months.
JF: What are the band’s influences?
TR: Everyone’s is different, but collectively it’s 90s emo like Jimmy Eat World, Knapsack, and Braid.
JF: You guys have been compared to a lot of those bands. How does that feel?
TR: It’s really flattering, because we look up to them, because they are our influences. Their music plays a heavy role in the way we write.
JF: Did you play any other type of music before? Have you always known you wanted to be in a band?
TR: Yeah, this is the only thing I would ever be doing. We all dropped everything to do this; everyone quit their jobs, some of us moved in with each other to pay cheap rent. This is the most genuine music we can create, and we play what we want to. We just want to play music everywhere and all the time. I feel like that’s anyone’s goal in a band- to play for as many people as possible. My dad played music when I was growing up and I learned guitar from being around it all the time. When I was in 9th grade, I started getting to punk hardcore stuff and it evolved. I got so deep into it. This the only thing I am comfortable doing at this point in my life, to be in a band that tours.
JF: What’s the journey from start until now been like?
TR: It definitely helped that one of our first real shows was on Set Your Goals West Coast Christmas tour, and it was totally nerve wracking. It was our first show playing in a completely packed room. Someone posted online that the lead singer looked nervous, but they (Set Your Goals & friends) were all so cool to us. It’s gone by so fast; it’s only been 10-11 months. We are working really hard, and are 100% into the band. On this tour, we are just putting in the hours for the experience. We stopped going to school to start touring. If we wanted to do this for real, then we had to tour as much as possible. We put everything on hold, and that included college.
JF: What’s the fan feedback at the shows been like?
TR: The shows have been so awesome, especially the East Coast. There hasn’t been a show where people come don’t come up to us, or they want to shake our hands. Some guy came up to me last night [Chestnut House in Louisville, KY] and said ‘you guys touched me’. I was like ‘which one of us?!’ [Laughs] He was just like ‘dude, your set was touching.’ We try to write songs that are very personal, yet those that a lot of people can relate to. When someone comes up and says that to me, I feel like we are doing it right, and it’s very encouraging. We are driving for 8-12 hours, we play for 20-30 people, we are hundreds of miles from home, and just to hear that… it’s amazing.
JF: How does the writing process go?
TR: Vince or I have a bass riff, bring it to the table, and we work on it collectively. For the record we just put out, we just practiced the songs 3-4 hours a day, 4 days a week for about a month… learning them by heart, changing them, playing them, changing them again, and breaking the songs down. We did that so we could just go in the studio and record the songs live, and just so we didn’t have to think about it, we’d just play. After that, we didn’t want to play them anymore!
JF: Are you the only one that writes the lyrics?
TR: Yes.
JF: Any reasoning behind the name of the EP “Tired of Defending You”?
TR: Yes, definitely. I’m not a fan of arbitrary, pointless titles to just sell records. “Tired of Defending You” is a general theme of the songs on the record. It’s the point in time around writing the songs, any time in life, every relationship you have with anyone- girlfriend, mom, brother, friends- it’s such a rollercoaster. People are just… human. Everyone is going to make mistakes. People are just trying to do what’s for best for themselves. But who doesn’t want that? Yet, sometimes that doesn’t benefit those around you. I’ve been in a few situations where I’ve been on the other end. I’m tired of weird, pseudo-personalities, like asking how I am when they don’t care. It’s just small talk, or hearing a fake laugh- you don’t care what I’m saying so don’t pretend like you do.
JF: Why was the Atlanta GA show at the Wonder Root canceled?
TR: We wanted to play in Atlanta so bad! All the local bands dropped. The guy that organized the show told us ‘You guys would just be playing by yourselves.’ It was like, ‘well you promoted it!’ We are on tour, so it’d be just like practicing. Wonder Root is really cool! It’s grimy little basement, but it’s set up really cool. First show I saw there was Outcrowd- it was them and Disengage; it was such a cool show.
Members:
Tim Riley, 23 – Vocals/Guitar
Vincent Amador, 21 – Guitar/Vocals
Nolan Nunes, 21 – Bass
Travis Turpin ,21 – Drums
Exclusive- in the studio with George Boedecker
This was pure chance. A friend of mine ran into George Boedecker (founder of Crocs) in the elevator of our hotel while I was staying in Nashville for the week. He mentioned that he was recording an album. She mentioned that she had a friend with a music magazine (me!), and the next thing I knew, I was sitting in Fool on the Hill Recording Studio hanging out with George and legendary producer Richard Landis. Both of them were extremely gracious and accommodating, and it was a really incredible experience for me. I’m so grateful to have gotten this interview! Enjoy!
Exclusive interview- Time Spent Driving
Time Spent Driving has been in my life for quite some time. They were introduced to me in high school, and I have been kind of infatuated with them ever since. Unfortunately, the band broke up in 2005, which meant that I would have to memorize their catalog without the hope of hearing anything new (which I did happily, I assure you).
But hark! Good news- TSD is back together and making music again! When I heard this news, I did a little dance and then immediately sought out vocalist/guitarist Jon Cattivera for an interview. He most graciously accepted and put up with a lot of delays and problems on my end.
So here it is! Vinyl Mag’s exclusive interview with Jon Cattivera from Time Spent Driving. Enjoy, and then go listen!
EM: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard you?
Jon Cattivera: Believe it or not, it’s harder than you think. I just say it’s melodic post-punk indie rock stuff that has a lot of dynamics with somewhat complex quieter parts and louder heavier parts. Not sure what that means today, but something like that. Or sometimes I just go for “wuss rock” and they kinda know what I mean.
EM: What do you love about music?
JC: I love that it’s something you can do at most any age, and that there are so many different types and endless combinations of what is possible. I love the possibility of finding a new band or song that you love. And for me, playing and writing it is therapeutic.
EM: What has everybody been up to since the breakup (I know that there was some involvement in other bands)? What made you decide to reform TSD?
JC: Right around the same time we originally broke up, I started my own design firm, Sleepless Media – so I’ve been designing websites, starting a family and most recently my wife and I are starting a small farm on the side in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Musically, Kem played with our old bass player in a band called Go Mexico! for a while. I played guitar with some friends in a punk/hardcore band called Crucial Unicorn, played a Fury 66 reunion show in 2011 (which was a punk band I was originally in around ’95) and also started Gentlemen of Japan with Kem and Pete Johnson from a band called Cutlass Supreme. Basically what happened with GOJ is that Pete was writing and singing half of the songs, and I was writing and singing half the songs – and it was the closest thing I’d done to Time Spent Driving since. Then there was some internal personality conflicts that caused Pete to leave the fold, so once it was just me singing and writing, and Kem playing drums, it was more Time Spent Driving than anything else. Friends of our were saying things like “So it’s pretty much Time Spent Driving then, right?” We found a new guitar player, (James Parker) and we made the decision to press on as Time Spent Driving. We just felt like it made more sense, and we missed those songs. We’re having fun.
EM: How does the change in line-up affect your sound?
JC: I think it’s too early to tell on that. Way back when, I wrote most all of the music, it was almost like a solo project in that sense – but you can’t expect that years later one is going to be looking and life and writing in the same way! So it’s still going to be the same singer/songwriter, but I think there’s going to definitely be differences, and I’m not afraid of that. I make the music that comes out, and I’m not too interested in writing the same exact songs again. Plus, we’d like it to be a more collaborative effort writing-wise this time around, so I’d like to say there are going to be some new and welcome elements. We’ll see what happens…
EM: What music did you grow up listening to? How has your taste changed or evolved?
JC: Well when I was a kid my dad was always rocking 50′s rock and roll, and Elvis, country and a lot of different stuff. But I really didn’t get into music much myself until I started hearing cool bands on skateboard videos – mostly punk bands and some metal. I got really into Black Flag, the Descendents, Bad Religion and a bunch of other bands, but at the same time I also was into more alternative/post-punk/indie/grunge bands like Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Samiam, Jawbreaker, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Quicksand, Sunny Day Real Estate, Seaweed, etc, etc – and then later that led to a lot of what were sort of underground bands at the time like Chamberlain, Hot Water Music, Jimmy Eat World, Shiner, Jawbox, No Knife, Death Cab for Cutie, Sense Field and a lot of different bands.
As far as what’s changed – I still like a lot of the same bands that I got into back then, but I’d say I’m much more patient and open to a broader scope of music these days. Don’t get me wrong, I still seek out the best indie bands I can find, but I like a little country, a little metal and sometimes mainstream pop. I still cannot get down with rap or hip hop though, I just don’t get it.
EM: Have you or would you ever consider playing a different genre?
JC: Yeah, sometimes I think about just playing in a more simple alt country type band, something like Drag the River. I’ve played pretty recently in a hardcore/punk band too – it’s just that I don’t have too much free time these days, and playing in a band is a lot of work and a big commitment, even when you aren’t touring or being to serious. So for me, it’s not easy to put all the time into playing in a band that isn’t exactly what you want to play.
EM: Do you have any other creative outlets or passions besides music?
JC: Absolutely. I design websites full time, plus have done a lot of graphic/print design – there’s a lot of creativity in that, and it helped get me by while not playing/writing music as much. Cooking is a big one too – I spend more time cooking than I do playing music by a long shot. Also putting together this farm, we’ve got a lot of design and building decisions to make, and there’s really an art to growing and raising your own food!
EM: Is there any news on the upcoming album (have you started recording? are you finished writing it? do you have any projected release date? are you going to tour it, and if so, where?)
JC: We started recording 3 rough demos before we got our new 2nd guitar player James, but other than that we have not recorded anything yet. We’ve still got quite a bit of writing ahead of us, but we have at least 6-7 new songs that just need to be worked on together. So the plan is to get together 10 songs or so, and hopefully be in the studio by fall – ideally we’d be able to put it out by the end of the year at the latest.
EM: What else is new for TSD?
JC: Well, a lot really! New songs and a new outlook for starters. Kem our drummer just had a new baby girl, I have a new one and a half year old boy, and we’re just really busy with life in general. We also have few new members – my brother Dave is playing keyboards for us now full time. We always had a fair amount of piano/keyboards on our records, but never live.
In the van with The Front Bottoms
Just got back from interviewing The Front Bottoms at their show with Kevin Devine at The End in Nashville. This was a brilliant show. For those of you who have been with me from the beginning, you will remember I interviewed The Front Bottoms back in November. I also met Kevin Devine a few years ago when he opened (with Mansions– see my interview with them as well!) for The Get Up Kids.
I drove nine hours to see this show. The drive got a little rough, and I started to think it might have been a bad idea. However, as soon as the show started, I knew that it was worth it. Completely.
The Front Bottoms are blowing up. The crowd was full of obsessed fans screaming and dancing along. I was one of them. Front row. Knew all of the words. Fan.
So was Kevin Devine. He spent a great deal of the show standing off-stage, singing along enthusiastically.
They played a new song, Twelve Feet Deep. It was completely true to their style and got me mega-pumped for their new album. They’ve definitely got a lot more to offer, and I’m looking forward to hearing it.
After their set, Kevin Devine came on. My friend, Regan, and I met up with Matt and Brian (The FBs) to set up the interview (after we watched Kevin’s set, of course).
Kevin played pretty much all of my favorites (hard to choose- everything that he does is gold), and the crowd was completely enraptured.
Once the show was over, Matt and Brian went to help load and then came back to bring Regan and I into the van for the interview.
It went great. These two guys are what every band should be- they are mega-talented, they love what they do, and they do not take it or themselves too seriously. They are just thrilled to be sitting in their cramped van talking about music and playing shows with great artists like Kevin Devine every night.
Towards the end of the interview, Matt gave me the scoop on what is next for the band. Touring for the summer and recording a new album. Perfect answer- exactly what I wanted to hear. I will be there, even if I have to drive another nine hours (let’s hope it doesn’t come to that).
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.
Junius show review
The Basement played host to a quartet of post-rock and hardcore influenced groups on Wednesday, February 22nd in Columbus. Junius was co-headlining the show with O’Brother. Sainthood Reps and local group The End of the Ocean rounded out the bill.
The End of the Ocean got things rolling, doing their best to engage the sparse crowd with their brand of post-rock, interspered with pre-recorded monologues that served as interludes between songs. I had the opportunity to talk a bit with bassist Bryan Yost after their set, and he mentioned that they are in the midst of self-booking a tour that will travel all the way to the West Coast of the US! Bottom-line: look out for these guys! As hard-working and talented as they are, there is no doubt that some level of success is headed their way.
Sainthood Reps followed with their mixture of alternative indie rock and post-hardcore. This new Tooth and Nail Records band from Long Island wowed the audience with their distorted guitars, sung/shouted vocals, and periodic percussive jamming from the frontman in tandem with the drummer. They opened their set with “Monoculture” and also played what have since become my favorite songs of theirs – “Dingus” and “Animal Glue.” Long story short, this band went from being “meh, I’ll check them out sometime” to “Wow! I need to get their record” over the course of 30 minutes.
Quintet O’Brother next took the stage, and it was clear that they had the crowd ready to rock. The post-hardcore-esque “Machines I and II” started the set and got audience members excitedly shouting all of the lyrics back at the stage. It was interesting to see how much their drummer could accomplish with such a simple kit, and it was entertaining to see the long locks of the Dang brothers (on guitar and bass) flying everywhere as they head-banged in unison. “Ascension” found bassist Anton Dang with a bow in his hand to get just the right effects, and “Lo” found the entire band getting what might be their most catchy set choice across in an impeccable manner. The finale of the set was the back to back “Poison!” and “Lay Down”, which sounded just like they did on the record, if not better.
Massachusetts’ Junius roared to life onstage amidst a backdrop of 4 light towers with “Betray the Grave.” Junius is not meant to be simply amusing – they put their all into shows. Rather than indulging flamboyant onstage actions, the three guys I had interviewed hours earlier in a restaurant chose to simply lose themselves in the music. I could see what they meant by having to experience their music in a live setting to get the full effect. Their sound belongs in a larger venue. As I told Joel, their bass player, I’ll be watching for the day they play arenas and use crazy lazer light shows. Am I embellishing? Maybe, but the potential is definitely there.
Be sure to check out my interview with Junius.
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.