Tag: vinyl
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Minus the Bear interview: Tales from the Tour Bus
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 10 years (and even then I’m not sure it’s a valid excuse), your personal playlists should, by now, delightfully be acquainted with Minus the Bear. If for whatever (unfathomable) reasons you’re not familiar with the five- piece, Seattle based indie-rock band that is Minus the Bear, fret not and consider this your formal introduction. Minus The Bear formed in 2001 and have since released five albums and four EPs. What that says is that their longevity is immeasurable, and their creative juices are constantly flowing. Earlier this month they kicked off the “second leg” of their headlining tour (showcasing their new album, Infinity Overhead). I had the pleasure of sitting down with front-man Jake Snider and pick his brain for a few; feast your eyes on my revelations (and then continue reading for an over-cap of the show):
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VM: Can you explain to me the meaning behind the lyrics for “Steel and Blood” vs. the story line of the music video?
JS: The video is kind of the director’s interpretation of the vibe of the song. I always thought that the lyrics were about relationships that have been going on for a while- you end up fighting a lot. So I felt like the lyrics were basically about the contentious part of the relationship and how that can lead to sexual tension and all of these other overall problems in a relationship. The video I think just works well with the song, but that was mostly Dan’s concept [the director] who came up with the whole punk kids, the father, the murder, etc.
VM: In a lot of cases, song titles are taken directly from lyrics or concepts in the individual song, but not so much with MTB’s previous albums- who comes up with names of individual songs?
JS: Anybody, really. It’s always been fairly random. These days we try to get them a little more exact. But yeah, people would say something crazy and it’d be like, “huh, that’s a funny song title…”
VM: For MTB, what does the songwriting process entail?
JS: Usually Dave and Aaron [guitar player and drummer] come up with the basis of a song, and we all work around it, rearrange it, and add/subtract stuff. Then, usually the lyrical content comes once the song is completely flushed out.
VM: Was there any major reason behind leaving Suicide Squeeze Records and ultimately joining Dangerbird Records?
JS: No. I mean, the contract with Suicide Squeeze was up. So we did Omni on our own- recorded it and finished it without a label and kind of shopped it around, and Dangerbird seemed like the right place for it at the time.
VM: Speaking of Omni– that album has a predominantly softer sound of its own [in comparison]. Was that just where the band was at musically and personally at that time?
JS: Yeah, basically. We had a different producer at the time and that kind of fed into the tone of the record, as well. He was focusing more on synthesizers and getting more sounds via artificial means rather than making a guitar-rock record. But most of the recording was live- the basic tracking and whatnot, which did carry over to the new record. We wanted to make sure it sounded live. So it was some of the same techniques, but we just didn’t want to have the synths be such a predominant role because it does soften things up a bit.
VM: Were there any previous affiliations with Cursive before this tour? How did this collaboration come about?
JS: I think it was 2003 that Cursive took us out one of our first opening tours, so the connection has been there since then. We’ve played with The Good Life (Tim Kasher’s other band), so we know those guys pretty well.
VM: How was working with Matt Bayles (former band mate) as the producer for Infinity Overhead? Was it a feeling of “home”?
JS: Yeah, that was the whole idea. We wanted to just lower the inherent waste of time that can happen when you have a new producer and you have to get to know each other. There’s a lot of accessing of the sounds, but Matt just knows us so well from the past. We felt like that was the direction to take and he’s just been so easy work with and very in tune with what we’ve got going on.
VM: Are there any plans of another remixed album?
JS: We’re not quite sure what we’re going to do with that; we have some remixes in the works on some of the songs, but we’re not sure what we’re going to do with that. We’ll probably end up doing another acoustic record beforehand.
VM: After this tour wraps, what are the immediate plans for the band?
JS: I think we’re going to put out a new video for the song “Listing” off of the new record. But the next thing we do, I think, will probably be that acoustic thing we talked about.
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Following up the set of Cursive, Minus the Bear struck pertinent chords with the audience by kicking off their set with “Steel and Blood” from their new album. The flashing of the strobe lighting, crowd members each dancing to their own beat, and the heaviest of energies became the building that was simply the Florida Theatre of Gainesville just hours before. “Lies and Eyes” and “The Game Needed Me” were next on the set list, each musically heightening the already palpable vivacity in the room. The set went on to incorporate four more songs off of Infinity Overhead, leaving the rest of the set room to bust out plenty of the favorites of MTB appreciators all around, such as “Throwin’ Shapes”, “Knights”, and “Pachuca Sunrise”. From my experience, it’s safe to say that Minus the Bear does something extraordinarily beautiful to a crowd in a way that I have never seen before.
MTB will be touring through early November- experience the energy for yourself in the nearest available city, and purchase your copy of Infinity Overhead online today.
REVIEW: …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead’s Lost Songs
Would you like the V8 or the hybrid? The bacon burger or the salad? No, sorry, you have to choose. And since we’re already forcing you to make difficult decisions: Do you want your rock refined or raunchy?
… And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead have no problem dealing with this eternal conundrum. While 2002’s Source Tags & Codes stubbornly insisted on delivering real hooks and interesting compositions, it didn’t pull nearly enough punches to qualify as not hardcore. While you couldn’t call the album typical of the genre, you also couldn’t ignore the fact that any time a chance for understatement arose, the band took it into the alley behind the club and rearranged its face – reaffirming, in resolute and polarizing fashion, their own scene cred.
While Trail of Dead did go on to explore some other options, most agree they missed a signpost along the way, privileging extremity and caginess over focus and precision. Now, ten years after Codes, they present Lost Songs [out Oct. 23 on Superball], a record that recalls not only the sound, but the ethos of the band circa 2002.
Frontman Conrad Keely still sees the world through the same intensifying lens; every breakup is an apocalypse, every memory a 2×4 to the solar plexus. But Keeley is forty now, so instead of blotting out the sun with stories of failed relationships and professional frustrations, he’s more concerned with the zombified indolence that keeps people from taking action as the world falls apart around them.
“We’re catatonic, looking for something new,” Keely wails on “Catatonic,” sounding like a football coach trying to rally a team of seniors still hung over from last night’s prom. Fortunately, Trail of Dead have a way of making themes resonate both lyrically and sonically, bolstering the lyrical frustration of “Catatonics” with spazzy guitar lines that evoke the persistent itch of a hard-to-reach rash. Throughout the record, this same theme of destructive inertia resurfaces over and over; on “Open Doors”, Keely laments the ways in which hardship nudges us all down the easiest, least effective routes, everyone “[w]aiting for the answer/Walking through open doors.”
Closer “Time and Time Again”, with its acoustic strums and surprisingly melodic bass line, is Lost Songs’ greatest departure, and maybe its greatest achievement. Instead of turning inward and clawing at the walls of his skull, Keely gives us a melancholy anecdote buoyed by resignation instead of rage. “Drifting through the crowd I saw you glancing away/Terrified to meet my eyes,” he sings, the plain fact of his failure uncharacteristically speaking for itself.
The one sad takeaway from “Time and Time Again” is that it doesn’t belong; that, no matter how well done, that kind of song on this kind of record – a record otherwise so consistently vicious – is destined to be known as the runt of the litter. Until Trail of Dead work up the courage for another, more thoroughly considered reinvention, they’ll be captive to their own insistence that you simply have to choose.
REVIEW: Love This Giant
Crushed By the Giant
It’s not too farfetched to imagine that when David Byrne found himself in a studio recording Love This Giant (released September 11th) with the angelic, guitar shredding Annie Clark, he may have asked himself “Well, how did I get here?”
The two come from two different genres, two different generations, and two different devout followings. At surface level, the dots connecting the music of Clark’s moniker, St. Vincent, and Talking Heads’ former frontman David Byrne seem scarce.
However, the duo’s foundation for Love This Giant didn’t completely start from scratch. In 2010, Byrne and Clark actually collaborated on a less-than-impressive track for Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s score, Here Lies Love — now forgotten in the depths of mega-fans’ comprehensive music collections (with good reason).
Regardless, with their praised solo albums and collaborations ranging from Byrne’s works with Brian Eno to Clark’s notable heart-racing and body-warming INXS covers with Beck, both Byrne and Clark are deserved icons prolific in emphasizing their styles and talents with other musicians.
The thought of St. Vincent & David Byrne collaborating on an entire album seemed surprisingly sensible, and after the release of their single, “Who,” many fans assumed it likely that Love This Giant would be a hit.
“Who be my valentine?” Byrne asks between trumpet blows and drum beats on the catchy single and album open. With the Siren-like Clark seducing Byrne’s classically strained yet strong vocals strung across a melting pot of jazz melody and sleek guitar-playing, “Who” is by far the boldest, catchiest, and most well-received track on Love This Giant. The track introduces the album with the initial reaction that it will be the ideal collaboration — something incorporating the original qualities of both musicians, while allowing them to evolve in new ways.
But that is not the dynamic of Love This Giant. Despite the natural assumption after hearing “Who,” the album isn’t the result of the two musicians intertwining distinctive characteristics while breaking out of their comfort zone. Rather, it’s the result of two well-known and adored musicians abandoning their golden backgrounds for something chaotic and built of brass.
“Who’s this, inside of me?” Byrne shrieks midway through “Who,” kicking the track with a jolt of sudden passion and a foreshadowing the remainder of Love This Giant’s nature — Byrne and Clark’s unrecognizable soul possessed by a jazz spirit haunting their music with what sounds like a circus of brass directing a structure-less album.
Drastically different — as each song on the album is — “Who” transitions into the funky “Weekend In The Dust,” utilizing a sassy side of Clark’s vocals amongst what sounds regrettably similar to a high school marching band during practice. It’s an immediate step down from “Who,” even though it’s one of the more accessible and interesting tracks on Love This Giant.
Throughout the album, Clark’s vocals differentiate expansively. Ranging from the spunky, funk style in “Weekend In The Dust” to a pitch and tone only suitable for a Disney princess on the tracks “Optimist” and “The Forest Awakes,” Clark comes off as both flat and schizophrenic.
Clark’s vocals aren’t the only schizophrenic aspect of Love This Giant — the whole album is overwhelmingly hectic with sudden transitions and high highs barely balancing low lows. More is less for Love This Giant; perhaps with use of steadier transition, loyalty to style, and a more polished cornucopia of brass, it could have been a culturally important album.
It seems unlikely that many musicians would refuse working with the talents of Byrne and Clark. The amateurish brass on Love This Giant would have been completely avoidable with the help of more skilled trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and horn players. If the duo had approached a musician like Beirut’s Zach Condon, who has a pristine talent in the realm of brass, the genre shift could have been an evolutionary milestone for the artists. But as symbolized by the track “I Am An Ape,” Byrne and Clark didn’t quite evolve with the shift of genre — they regressed.
It’s really hard to love a giant too big to notice that it let two idols fall flat. Combining a new and an older icon, Love This Giant had high potential to be a timeless album weaving together the sounds of two generations. Instead, Byrne and Clark created something so busy and identity-confused that its emotion and meaning are lost.
INTERVIEW: Crashing practice with Tumbleweed Stampede
Hanging out in the practice room with Athens-based Tumbleweed Stampede. If you don’t know these guys, you should really learn how to use the internet and look them up. In the meantime, enjoy the interview- these gents are lovely.
Also be sure to check out their show tonight at the 40 Watt if you’re in/next to/around Athens. Gonna be a good one.
Backstage interview with Anthony Green of Circa Survive
Pre-Show Treat
My friend, Marissa, and I were amongst the growing mass of fans that showed up early to hang outside of the Center Stage venue in downtown Atlanta to see the sold-out Circa Survive show (she and I were probably a little more giddy than the rest, because we were waiting for a one-on-one interview with Anthony Green himself). Everyone’s eagerness paid off- all of a sudden, on the front steps of the venue, there appeared all of the guys from Circa to play a mini acoustic set for a website called NervousEnergies.com. Some reward. They played “Sharp Practice” and “Suitcase” from their new album, Violent Waves, and everyone, including me, was taking videos and snapping pictures like mad. Shortly after this, their tour manager, Jeffery, called us in, and we waited to interview Anthony in a small room in the basement. More on that later.
The Show
The first to kick off the show was Balance and Composure, and they immediately got into it. The lead singer even got a little “over-animated” and knocked over a couple of the drummers’ symbols. If you haven’t listened to them before, you need to, and you need to see them live (side note: they remind me a lot of Brand New).
Next up was Touché Amoré, and they threw down a little harder than B&C. The lead singer was all over the place getting the crowd hyped up. For those who are unfamiliar with them, they sound a great deal like La Dispute (which might explain why they have a split record with them).
Bottom line: these bands are touring with Circa, so you know they have to be legit.
And finally, what everyone had been waiting for- Circa Survive. Anthony Green walked on stage. Everyone (including the men) started screaming like little schoolgirls. I was super lucky to have a photo pass, so I got to be right in the photo pit. The place was packed. Frantically crowd surfing, everyone hoping to get close enough for a handshake from Anthony, who was working the crowd as hard as he could (including some seductive gestures and comments that sent everyone into a frenzy).
Their set was beautifully lit with tall, rectangular boxes of light and mirrors backlighting the band. They played new material from Violent Waves, such as “Suitcase”, “Birth of the Economic Hit Man”, and “The Lottery”, as well as a few older favorites like “The Glorious Nosebleed”, “Strange Terrain”, “Stop the F*ckin’ Car””, and “The Great Golden Baby”. Right before Anthony got down, I raised my fist and got a fist bump from him (as if the interview wasn’t enough). They encored with “Get Out” and “Lazarus”, to the delight of the entire crowd.
The Interview
VM: Why did you choose to write the album [so quickly], then self produce it?
AG: It was written over a couple months, but it was definitely the fastest-written album that Circa’s ever done, and the self producing thing…whenever we write songs we just demo them ourselves, and it got to the point that the demos were sounding really, really good…so we just decided [to] try to find a studio in the area, and we have buddies of ours that work in this great studio…called Studio 4…all these legends have recorded there, and they let us get some really cheap time and we went in… they managed to do the record in like two and a half weeks. So it was like the best thing ever.
VM: I bet it was kind of hell trying to do that all [so quickly] though.
AG: I mean, it wasn’t that hard…We worked really long hours, just because of all of our attention spans. I felt like we had to do that. We enjoy it- it wasn’t like, hellish. Not doing this with a producer sort of gave us the freedom to try a bunch of different things, and we were on our own dime, so if we stayed real late, or if we needed to we didn’t feel reluctant to keep going.
VM: I’ve noticed that you guys are definitely trying to hone in on more of the raw sound, like how you would sound live versus studio-produced. Has there been any kind of fan reaction that you guys have noticed?
AG: Nobody’s really said anything about the quality of the record being bad. I’ve heard a lot of people just say that it sounds more like us than most of the other records. The other records were glossier. I feel a producer does a record, and they are almost more concerned about how it’s going to sound to their producer buddies than it’s going to sound to the artists’ fans. I think our fans are used to coming to the show, and they hear the vocals a little flat or a little sharp at times, because of whatever reason…that’s what makes it feel good, you know…that’s what makes it feel warm. It’s the same reason why people listen to vinyl, because it’s not a perfect sound.
VM: How do you feel about the sound on this album compared to your others?
AG: It’s hard to say, because I feel like every album is a different, newer chapter in your life, so you go back to the thing you were writing about when you were 22 or 23, and you were like…. ‘Yeah, I was 22 or 23. I love everything.’ There’s not one song that we’ve written that I can’t sing that I feel is not cool. Obviously this album feels closer because it’s dealing with stuff that’s going on right now. But then in a year’s time the songs will all take on a different meaning, and that’s just how it grows. It grows, and it changes.
VM: I know you alluded to it, but what was your motivation and inspiration for the album?
AG: So many things…my dad got real sick- that’s kinda what “The Lottery” is about… I kinda hate it when people are like ‘what inspires you?’, because there are so many things. It’s such a hard question to answer, because there are so many things that inspire me- like my relationships with the guys in the band, with my family, just with you guys, the people that come to the shows and stuff- that’s all what this record is really about.
VM: That’s awesome. I guess we will take it back a little bit- what kind of music did you grow up with?
AG: Bands like Touché [Amoré] and Balance [& Composure]- listening to music like that.
VM: Can you list a few?
AG: Aw man… Quicksand, Handsome, Burning Airlines, At the Drive In, Cave In… Cave In was a huge band… Braid, The Get Up Kids, Falling Forward, Code 7, This Day Forward. I loved Nirvana…loved Nirvana. The first album I actually got was a Metallica album. The second album I ever got was Nevermind. I was 15 when I got Nevermind; it was a music thrift shop, like a used CD was 15 bucks… so much money.
VM: So how did you become involved with music? Was it just through those bands/did you have any family members that were musically inclined?
AG: I was just hanging out in places as a kid. We would just go places to hang out, and I found this skate park near my house that bands would play out of every weekend, and we started going there…wherever there would be a show- a local show or local bands- I was there. And then [I] just tried starting a band. I met some people and put a band together and made, like, a grindcore band, where we just made noise. We wrote stuff- there were songs!
VM: What was it called?
AG: It was called Audience of One. Then that band started and sort of became like a grindcore, hardcore band until it had songs and singing and stuff. I don’t know how it shifted. It was never one thing. It was just like…we started out with this one drummer, and he was a crazy metal drummer. He couldn’t be in the band anymore, because he couldn’t go out like past 11. So we had this other guy come in that liked more of the music we liked- like indie rock and stuff, and we just started jamming. It was awesome.
VM: So from there, how did you transfer into Circa?
AG: I don’t know. I really don’t know. I just played music all the time with people I knew…Somebody in California had heard some of my stuff- the guys in Saosin had heard my stuff that I had done at home, and some buddies of mine that were out there were like, ‘Yo, you should come out and try out for our band.’ So I went out there and tried out, and then within the next four days recorded that EP that I did with them. Then, moved out there a couple months later to start touring. I was like, ‘this is great. These guys wanna start a band and go on tour, and there’s record labels, and there’s California and stardust.’ I just wanted to go out there and be a vagabond, and my parents were like, ‘the f*ck’s the matter with you? You can’t sing. You can’t do any of this. You don’t know what you’re doing.’ And I was like, ‘yeah, I know, but I’m gonna do it anyway…if you guys are really supportive, then I’m gonna go do this. You have to trust me.’… I was 20. And I moved out there, and ever since then I’ve been doing music.
VM: That’s awesome. [Marissa: That reminds me of us, just always going to local shows].
AG: Yeah, that’s the best. You just go…and… have you guys ever read The Celestine Prophecy?
VM: No, but we probably should.
AG: You ought to just follow your heart; follow your instincts that lead you down good paths of beautiful things and light and all the stuff you want. You’ll get it.
VM: It’s true. So what made you want to come outside and play a mini acoustic set for us? I know most bands don’t do that.
AG: Ryan [Russell] has a website where he has this thing called Nervous Energies…he films bands playing, and he asked where we wanted to do it, and we were like, ‘let’s just go outside and play for the kids.’ He was like, ‘no one’s ever done that on the site before,’ and I was like, ‘then we are definitely doing it now.’
VM: I think that is really awesome, because that breaks the barrier that some bands have with their fans. It’s kind of like ‘we are too good, too untouchable’. You guys playing outside made it personal.
AG: It’s weird. I think if there’s anything that we as a band have to people is that we are just working class dudes that are able to continue to play music for you…There’s not some difference between you and your favorite band… But they worked really hard and sacrificed whatever they had to get to where they are…you’re going to have to cut comforts or whatever. I know I slept on so many floors with so many weirdos and crashed in people’s houses and was such a pain in the ass to deal with…but it was worth it.
VM: So true. What do you enjoy besides music?
AG: My kids… I hear guys with kids say, ‘oh, once you get married and have children, life’s over…you won’t have a life anymore. It’s all about their life,’ and I couldn’t disagree with them more. I feel like I never really had a life until them. I just love them so much. I miss them so much…When I’m here I don’t have to worry…about anyone but myself, and I’m pretty low maintenance. I’m smelly; I might not be clean for a couple days. I don’t have to clean anyone’s diaper or anything like that…. And I would rather be cleaning people’s diapers.
VM: I imagine you’re kinda tugged both ways. Like when you are touring, you miss them, but when you are home, do you miss traveling and playing shows?
AG: I love playing. It’s my favorite thing in the world. It’s the only thing I’ve ever really loved like that before I had the children. It gives you this insane high that I still haven’t found anywhere else. It’s way harder than any drug I’ve ever done, and I’ve done a LOT of drugs. I love it, and I feel no pain when I’m doing it…It’s awesome…I still get that adrenaline rush from it. I still feel incredible about it. Right now, today, I’m having a little bit of a rough time being away. My perspective on it is a little bit skewed, because I feel things with an intensity with a manic type of feel…You just have to not be a f*cking weirdo about it, and I’ve just been being a weirdo about it today. When I hear people complain about being on tour or missing people or whatever, my normal reaction has just been, ‘f*ck you. You can get out of the way and let like the thousands of millions of other people that wanna do it and have that commitment- you can let them do it’. I’m sure there’s a bunch of people that would leave their kids alone for six weeks to go out and do this.
VM: Well we are really stoked to see you play!
AG: I can’t wait. I f*cking can’t wait. I can’t believe I have to wait until 10 o’clock…
Backstage Beers with Jimmy LaValle of The Album Leaf
The Album Leaf just came to the Georgia Theatre (if you’re from Athens and you didn’t go, just…seriously?) on their tour with Tycho. And guess who got to interview them? Damn straight. Me. And it was awesome.
This was another big one for me. I have been a mad fan of TAL since some forgotten-but-much-appreciated friend of mine introduced me to In a Safe Place back when I was 14 years old.
The interview took place after their set (which was crazy good—they put so much into their shows, and experiencing it is extremely rewarding). My videographer and I headed backstage to wait for them immediately after they finished up. While we were waiting, we may have run into Scott Hansen (Tycho). NBD.
So, Jimmy LaValle- nicest, most patient guy. He was perfectly happy to let us wait around backstage and chat while Tycho and everyone got ready to go on. There was no sense of “let’s get this over with” from him, which would have been totally understandable considering that he had come straight from giving a killer performance.
I could seriously go on about this for another couple of pages, but I’m just going to let the interview speak for itself. Go ahead and check it out, and be sure to hit up The Album Leaf and Tycho on their tour if you haven’t already!
Being able to hear Tycho in the background during this interview really sets the mood
Photography/videography by Amy Anderson
Tour Dates
Sep 21 Black Cat Washington, DC
Sep 22 The Trocadero Philadelphia, PA
Sep 23 ATP “I’ll Be Your Mirror” New York, NY
Sep 25 The Waiting Room w/ Mono, Chris Brokaw Omaha, NE
Sep 26 Fox Theatre Boulder, CO
Sep 28 Artiface * VENUE CHANGE w/ Drew Andrews Las Vegas, NV
Sep 29 The Satellite Los Angeles, CA
Sep 30 Bottom of the Hill San Francisco, CA
Post-show chat with Nick Diener of The Swellers
Sundays for me are usually a day of an embarrassingly large amount of inactivity. Coffee, breakfast, and nothing- and that usually works just fine for me, but this past Sunday was a day full of music that brought me right back to the prime of my youth. Continue reading “Post-show chat with Nick Diener of The Swellers”
REVIEW: Sick/Sea’s debut album Moral Compass
Self-defined “jazzy rockers” Sick/Sea will be releasing their first album, Moral Compass, on the 16th of next month.
Moral Compass feels like an extended juxtaposition—an album with a resonating youthful lyrical basis, and yet a definitive level of harshness/roughness in its melodies and overall sound.
The childlike nature of the album is ever present and emphasized when evaluating the track titles. The names of the five songs on the upcoming release are “Parasite”, “Robot”, “Master Splinter”, “Mermaid”, and “Blinked.” Many of the stories told in the lyrics are based on childhood novels like Treasure Island. Their love of youthful fiction resonates loudly throughout the lyrics of each of the five tracks on Moral Compass.
Yet each of these tracks carries consistent dark melodies covered in heavy vocal echoing and alterations to original sound. When comparing Sick/Sea’s live videos with the sound from this album, it is difficult to recognize that they are the same musicians. Lead singer Audrey Scott’s enticing, raw sound is masked by the heaviness of the recording reverb on Moral Compass. Despite their deep Texan roots, Sick/Sea avoids the clichéd country sounds of their home state for a more trending, indie vibe with bluesy vocals.
Audrey is accompanied by her brother, Cameron Scott. Cameron adds original and energetic drumming to the dynamic sound of Sick/Sea. The base guitarist sprinkles a certain level of jazzy rhythm to the overall vibe of the album (although Sick/Sea is still defined more by their harder indie rock sound).
This debut album, produced by Atlanta-based recording company Autumn + Color, has a fairly cohesive sound but lacks a definitive originality that keeps toes tapping. On the other hand, the track titled “Mermaid” has a catchy chorus and a more seasoned rhythm.
To promote the release of Moral Compass, Sick/Sea will be heading off on an American tour beginning on the 20th in Chicago, Illinois. Live footage of Sick/Sea shows the band’s wider range and serious potential in the music industry. By taking away some of the heavy recording sounds, the true promise and talent on Moral Compass may be able to ring more true.
Sick/Sea’s awaited debut album feels like an impressive first step in a long artistic journey. While Moral Compass’s recording may alter some of the original musical talent, it represents a band that is cohesive and, most importantly, young at heart.
Dead Ellington Q&A
You’ve read our rave reviews of Dead Ellington‘s Refuse EP (I’m speaking to the Vinyl loyalists here). You know that they are on tour starting today (I’m speaking to the Dead Ellington loyalists here). Now, get pumped- I have a gift for you. A little chat with DE’s Jason Caira, Sal Medrano, and Brandon Phillips. I know, I know- I shouldn’t have. But here it is. Enjoy. And be sure to head over to one of their live shows if you are in the area (or the area adjacent to the area).
Vinyl Mag: Can I get a brief history of the band? You guys are from around Boston? And you recorded this EP in New Jersey- how did that happen?
Jason Caira: The band actually started with just Sal and myself writing songs in his parents’ basement. At the time, Sal was drumming, and our friends Andrew and Greg were singing and playing bass. We only played about five or 10 shows before we had to make a lineup change, which put Sal on lead vocals and our friend Brian on drums. This was the real beginning of Dead Ellington. After a handful of lineup changes that brought us Brandon, James, and Craig, we have what you now know as Dead Ellington.
Sal Medrano: We’ve grown up around the Allston/Brighton/Cambridge area, which is really the core of the Boston music scene. As far as how New Jersey happened, I kinda just reached out to Pete [Steinkopf of the Bouncing Souls] through e-mail. One of my first shows ever growing up was the Bouncing Souls. I have always looked up to that band in terms of musicianship, management, and ethics. So when the opportunity to record with Pete came up, it was a dream come true. Over the years we had met each other in passing and have some friends in common. So I sent him some demos, and he was down for working with us, so we set sail for Asbury Park. Since the studio is in Jersey, we aimed at recording the record in a weekend. We had to work hard to get everything done, because driving back from Boston wasn’t really an option. In February, Asbury Park is completely dead, but it was kinda nice to see it that way. It’s almost how bands go out into remote areas of the wilderness to record a record, but for us it was in an urban environment.
Brandon Phillips: When I joined the band in 2004, I added another layer of raucous riffage, and things really turned up for the band… in the best way. I give much thanks to Sal for hooking us up with Pete Steinkopf. “Maniacal Laughter” was played the f*ck out on my discman when I was 13-14 and over a decade later, getting to work with one of the Souls (in K8’s basement!) was something of a lucid dream. We worked super hard the three days we had allotted, and Pete was really awesome to work with. Super nice guy and helped us GET SH*T DONE. We all have somewhat severe A.D.D.
VM: How did you end up working with Stephen Egerton? I completely geeked out when I read that.
SM: With Stephen it was a bit different [than it was with Pete]. I have worked for a number of bands and met people who worked for ALL/Descendents, and we have always been a huge, huge fan of both. I might be more of an ALL fan- people think I’m crazy for that, but I am. One Halloween I made an Allroy pumpkin that came out awesome…I e-mailed it to Stephen…He replied, and I mentioned I have a band. He told me to reach out if we ever wanted to record or master. Almost two years later, I saw an ad for another punk band’s record that said it was recorded by Pete and mastered by Stephen. I figured, ‘Why not do the same?’ So I reached out to him. I shot him an e-mail, and we talked on the phone. It kinda blew my mind a bit when we were talking, and the guy from two of my favorite bands said he would master our record. I feel it’s so important to work with people who have a similar sound and have been doing this for a long time.
JC: Pete is one of the most patient people I’ve ever met. He worked us to the bone, but he got what we consider to be the best record we could have made. He kept everything light-hearted, but was focused and on point the entire time. He also ate most of my cheese curls, which I wasn’t thrilled about, but I guess I know what to get him for his birthday now.
VM: Who designed the logo/how did you come up with it? Even that is reminiscent of old school/90s-ish punk to me. I really love it.
SM: One of the most creative and underrated artists I have ever worked with is Yosef Glushien at trashpop.com; he’s done the layouts for so many of the Asian Man records back in the day and currently has done bands like Larry and His Flask, Dropkick Murphys, Bosstones, The Drowning Men, etc. We have known him for a long time, and he’s a great friend. During the first record, I told him that I wanted Dead Ellington to have a logo that was similar to an old school hardcore logo. Everyone knows the logos of Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Bad Religion. They’re so simple that you can draw them in a second on a notebook. I also wanted to tie it into Boston somehow, so I said ‘What’s something that everyone has to use regardless of class, gender, sex, or race?’ He said ‘The Boston T, and it sucks.’ Next thing I know, he shows me an upside down MBTA logo with an arrow symbolizing progression. It was perfect, and since then he designs everything. He has a lot of freedom with us in terms of design, because he we just love his work and he gets it.
BP: Yosef rules. If you get to do one thing before you die- Meet Yosef.
JC: There really isn’t an adjective to describe Yosef. He’s very Larry David-like in the best possible way. He’s one of the most creative people I’ve ever met, and every time he shows me a logo for something he’s working on, im honestly blown away. Everybody needs to work with Yosef for at least one project.
VM: What was your Kickstarter project about?
SM: Anyone can release a record. It’s difficult to stand out, so we wanted to do something with a little more thought. All of us are computer nerds, and we’re always on our iPhones. I started using the Hipstamatic app and really enjoyed taking pictures with it. It gives your photos that retro look but with a lot of other options and filters. The cool thing with them is that you can order prints right from the phone in square sizes. They arrive in a cool cardboard package that opens into a frame. I ordered a seven-inch picture pack and had the idea of seeing if a record would fit. It expanded into wanting to put out a record in their packaging, with a different seven-inch picture in each one. We contacted them about giving us 300 packages for our idea. They said yes and gave us a discount on prints. It helped cut the cost for our packaging, but we still needed to pay for recording, mastering, distribution, and artwork. We decided that the idea was cool enough that we could probably just post a Kickstarter and make at least half of the total amount. Since we don’t have the support of a label, we’re forced to do everything ourselves. We made our goal and were very happy about that- and super thankful for everybody that helped!
VM: The Refuse EP dropped last May, and it is the first of a three-part series. I’m guessing that the next is going to be called Rethink? Where did you come up with the concept of “Refuse Rethink Rebuild”?
SM: The concept came about when we were going to record our first record. We needed artwork and I’ve always loved concept albums. Our songs have always had a message of doing things yourself and standing up for your beliefs. It was only natural for us to have a title that would incorporate that mentality. I was really into Rocket from the Crypt, at the time and their record was called Scream, Dracula, Scream. I wanted something simple like that. I don’t remember how I came up with the words “Refuse, Rethink, Rebuild”, but I kept thinking about it and saw how much power that movement could have. We don’t see it so much as a concept album, but more a life concept of Refusing the present, Rethinking the past, and Rebuilding the future. From that point, we realized that we can call any full-length Refuse Rethink Rebuild, because there will never be a point when that isn’t still important. The EP seemed like a good way to put out our songs as they are being written and keep the concept alive. We have a lot of future plans to spread the message.
VM: What was the inspiration behind “College Credit”? I love the gang-chant(ish) quality of the chorus.
SM: College Credit was written while I was going to Berklee College of Music. It’s a song about being kinda confused with the state of affairs. I was so surprised by the lack of interest in anything that wasn’t blues or jazz in the institution and by the musicians that went there. It was almost like you felt people looking down on you once they found out you play punk rock. It was even hard to find members when we need them, even though it was a music school. I spent so much time outside of school touring with other bands and playing shows. I felt like I was taking advantage of all the chances life was giving me, and all they did was act like each other. Living day in and day out with their noses in the air and just being content with how things are. After awhile, you start to question if maybe you’re wrong and you start to question what you’re doing.
VM: “Breaking Down” is a pretty intense video. But I have to ask, as someone who has smashed a few TVs before…how fun was that to make?
SM: So dangerous!
JC: Yes! So Dangerous! I had to do a lot of running, which, to begin with, is the most dangerous thing I’ve done in a while. But smashing those TVs? I don’t know what was worse- breaking the TVs, cleaning up the mess, or disposing of 20 shattered CRT televisions… Our lungs had seen better days.
BP: I think we all had the most fun smashing all those TVs. And we followed the proper procedure in regards to disposal. Promise.
VM: About the “Feed the Scene” project- it’s all over your Facebook, and I checked it out. It’s pretty awesome. Tell us about it.
SM: I met Rachel while working for the Bosstones. She brought them desserts after one of their shows. I later read on her Facebook page that she feeds any bands that come through her town, at no charge. It’s something she doesn’t have to do, and it’s very honorable of her to do that for people she doesn’t even know. We shared her page on our Facebook and have told a lot of people about it, because it’s good to spread the word about things like this. She was gracious enough to invite us to play her one-year anniversary a couple weeks ago, and were very happy that we were able to be a part of it.
VM: What is next for Dead Ellington?
SM: We want to start working on the Rethink EP before the year is over and release it sometime next year. We want to be on the road more and go to places we’ve never been. We have a small tour with our friends, Break Anchor, (Jay from Suicide Machines new band) in the next couple weeks, but we’d love to go to Europe and back to Canada. They have poutine, and that’s good enough for me.
JC: I’ve always set personal goals for me with this band. Venues that I wanted to play, cities I’ve wanted to travel to only to play music, and bands I wanted to share the stage with. I’ve met a lot of the goals, but there’s just one more- I want us to open for Nickleback. You hear me, Chad Kroeger?!
BP: Super psyched about our upcoming Midwest tour, doing a few dates with Break Anchor this month. Excited to be on the road. As for more long-term plans…personally, just to keep writing, touring and playing as constantly as possible. A lot of people don’t realize how much of a privilege it is to be able to play the music you love with people you love (kinda). We’ll be around for awhile.
REVIEW: Grievances and Quiet Hands split
I got a dual split record for you guys, and between Grievances and Quiet Hands, this is some hard and extreme punk. Grievances’ home state is Georgia, and they’ve been kickin’ it for about a year now. They are currently secluded away and generously writing more for you listeners. Quiet Hands is from Gulfport, Missouri. Judging from the date they joined Facebook, they’ve been around for about two years.
On to the album- the two bands recently released a split in June, and you should check it out- granted it’s a little rough, but it definitely has potential. Grievances’ recording is a little cleaner; the standout song is “To Kill a Titan” (they have the first three songs on the album). I giggled a bit to the outro of “Occupy the Ocean”… the excerpt states “They don’t give a f*ck about you… they don’t give a f*ck about you/ They don’t care about you at all, at all… At all… and nobody seems to notice/ Nobody seems to care.” For those of you who didn’t get it, the excerpt is a distorted clip from “American Dream”, a speech by George Carlin.
Quiet Hands has the next four tracks, and the recordings are a little more raw. They are all relatively short, except for the last song, “But It’s Far From Over”, which starts off slow, melodic, and calm, then gets heavy, (I love it when bands do that), and then finally fades out quietly. “Now It’s Time” has some great guitar riffs and harmonies, and it feeds into “But It’s Far From Over”, (put the two song names together…could this be a statement?). After listening to this EP, I do have to say that I wish the tracks weren’t so muddy. They have some great potential in their music- all it needs is a little spitshine.
Both bands stem from each other (which makes sense for a split album). How this dual album came to be and how these guys met each other, I couldn’t tell you. Yet they both ended up under Divine Mother Recordings. Both bands have heavy, heavy guitars and blast beat drums in their songs, along with some br00tal screamz. If you can handle the raw quality of these tracks, you should give them a listen.