James Yuill Interview

Sat down between a box of mushrooms and a noisy coffee machine in a cafe near London Fields I met up with James Yuill to discuss many things, but for Guilt Free Pleasures, it was remixing (if you want to read the rest of my interview it's on Planet Notion).

So James, you seem to have been busy remixing recently...

I've been really busy as people have contacted me and you know if they're friends, i'm like “yeah ok”, I can never say no really. I'm a bit shit like that. The vast majority of remixes are all free, and I like doing them because the association with the band you're remixing, I did a We Have Band remix and a Trophy Wife remix, they're all for free but its a way of getting to their fans. At least you get a few more people listening to your stuff, so ok its for free but its a really good promotional tool to get your name out there. Also I just really love it, you can take someone else's song and fuck it up and you know, the pressure isn’t there, you can do whatever you want over it.

What about people doing your tracks like Disco of Doom?

They did a fantastic remix, so yeah, my manager and Stephen (from Moshi Moshi) basically get people to remix, in the same vein as me remixing other people, we get people to remix me who will do a good job, but they’re going to be doing it for free too. It works both ways, If I do a remix of someone, then I can utilise their fans, but getting someone cool to do your remixes, I can utilise theirs too, you really win both ways.

What are you up to at the moment? More remixes?

Ton's of remixes, i'm remixing blamanche, do you remember the 80's band (me: no) they had a couple of tracks on adverts, they’ve got a new album coming out and one of them is a fan, and he was nice, so i'm going to do a remix which is what i'm working on at the moment. I start a 10 date germany tour at the end of Jan and basically just building up the gigs. The single crying for hollywood is coming out in march so hope to be having a really busy festival season. Im working on new tracks at the moment but in terms of a new album it wont be for a while. I've got to tour this album a lot more and festival season is so its so busy that you don't have any time, not just festivals in the uk but like all over the world. They go until end of the year. A lot of the summer festivals are having a winter one too. And then in winter you can go to south america, I played the Hot Festival in November and it was baking.

So there you have it, and below, you can have more, as there are a couple of my favourite remixes from James.

Trophy Wife - Don't Weigh Me Down (James Yuill Remix) [mp3]

We Have Band - Love What You're Doing (James Yuill Remix) [mp3]

Broadcast 2000 - Get Up & Go (James Yuill Remix) [mp3]

James Yuill - On Your Own (Disco of Doom Remix) [mp3]

Pattern is Movement interview and NYC ticket giveaway!

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Chris Ward (pictured left), the drummer of Pattern Is Movement. The talented Philadelphia duo is currently taking a much-needed break from three years of nearly constant touring and they are spending their summer in their home town recording their next album, hopefully coming out early next year. This time, they're doing it a little bit differently - instead of lead singer Andrew Thiboldeaux (pictured below) writing the music and then them shaping the songs together, Andrew is already recording most of his parts first and then Chris will be putting down the drums afterward so that he has more than just a shell of the music to inspire his drumming. "During our live show, my drumming is in direct response to his playing, so we felt like we should keep that energy for the record. So instead of mapping out my drums exactly, let's just take some of the emotion that is created by his parts and let's see what I do with it."

Pattern Is Movement has evolved a great deal over the years. They started out as a 5-piece and now there are only two of them. Their sound has also evolved from angular "math rock" to more melodic, emotional rock (that still contains fairly complex rhythms). "When we started the band, we were in our early 20s... and I think we were all into music that was challenging, so we liked the whole notion of 'math rock'... I think, as a young musician, there's just a desire to kind of show off what you can do. But then I think we started wondering if it could deliver an emotional drive. So now we're more worried about delivering that emotional drive, rather than showing off... I don't want to put up any more walls, I want people to see what we're saying. I think that's what make a good song, or a good album, is when you don't put up a lot of walls to protect yourself, you just kind of give them your emotion, give them your heart."

The first time I discovered Pattern Is Movement was when they were on tour with St. Vincent (that's what these photos are from), which I thought was a pretty genius combination. Apparently Pattern Is Movement also toured with her a while back as her original back up band (they played as Pattern and then they backed her up). "Andrew and Annie have such a musical connection. They both seem to want to show beauty but they're ok with the darker side of beauty. And I think that's what breaks [Annie] away from the major label stuff... There's a darkness to Annie's music. There's an underbelly. And that's the same thing with Andrew. He's all about kind of lush, gorgeous melodies, but he's also about kind of the tension that surround those beautiful melodies... And I think that's what they're both geniuses at: exploiting the tension inherent in all senses of beauty. My drumming in some ways is in direct relation to that. My patterns naturally create some tension rhythmically against the beauty."

CONTEST!!!

For those of you in the NYC area, there's still a chance to see them this summer, even though they're taking time off. They will be performing two concert cruises (with optional open bar) on Friday, July 16th (I'm hoping they'll cover "I'm on a Boat" but I didn't think to ask Chris if they would). And we're GIVING AWAY A PAIR OF TICKETS to the 7pm show. To enter, please email us with the sibject line "I'm on a boat!" in the subject line and your full name in the body by 11:59pm on Tuesday, July 6th. The winner will be announced on Wednesday. After they're done recording, Chris is hoping they can tour Europe, and they've also had offers in Asia and Israel, so definitely hit up their few remaining US shows if you can because they may not be around for a while.

Jenny Ono [mp3] - ( Amazon / iTunes )

Drink Up Buttercup at Brooklyn Bowl

The Philly favorite Drink Up Buttercup returned last night to play a free show at Brooklyn Bowl, hosted by Paste magazine. There was a fair turnout for the monstrous space, especially since half the city was out celebrating  Cinco De Mayo, but the fan base somewhat lacked given the band’s recent surge of attention with their debut album, Born and Thrown on a Hook.

The set started with "Gods and Gentleman," a pop-infused song with loud crashing cymbals. Ben Money commanded the stage, freely strumming away on the bass with a maraca in place of his hand. At the song’s  finish, Jim Harvey – the lead singer and founder of the band - gave a cheers to the audience, downing his signature combination of a shot followed by a beer. It was a fitting intro for "Mr. Pie Eyes," a noise-infused track about a drunk man stumbling home at night. With part performance/part reality, the group bounced and stumbled around on stage, bringing high energy and heavy distortion.

The audience seemed confused and intrigued all at once. They finally started dancing when "Young Ladies" came on – a crowd pleaser, despite the fact that the band has received flack about the so-called “misogynistic” lyrics. But for Jim, the music comes first and the lyrics follow. The band likes to tell a story with each song.  People may coin them as “60s psychedelic” or “carnival,” yet Harvey finds that “movies are more of an inspiration for us than songs. That’s what we do. When we’re in the van we don’t really listen to music, we watch old VHS tapes and DVDs and that’s where we get our stories from.”

"Young Ladies" is influenced by his favorite movie Roger Dodger (dir. Dylan Kidd). “It’s kind of obscure,” Harvey admits, “but it’s a dialogue driven movie that is idiotic, yet eye-opening at the same time. It’s a misogynistic movie about some guy being an idiot and he realizes that by the end. But it’s not something I necessarily live my life by [he says this in all sincerity]. It’s just something I enjoy peering in on…because I’ve always been kind of the guy at the parties who likes looking at everybody else because I've never really been friends of everybody who’s at the party. And I'm like wow, the limits and how far people will reach just to hook up with somebody is disgusting in a way.”

The highlight of the night was the release of their new song, "Walk Loud." This dance number conceived by keyboardist Farzad Houshiarnejad (and Harvey’s brother) had surprisingly strong funk rhythms, a seductive refrain,and a heavy build up as the finish. Harvey tells me that it’s influenced by “The Devil’s Rejects, a Rob Zombie movie that’s really about, just you know, this crew of girls that are a family that stomp around and look for people to kill.” He admits that stylistically the song is nothing like their other work and that we can see more of these changes in the future. “For our first album we were kind of like ‘Oh,  this is what Drink up Buttercup is. We’re going to sound like Drink Up' and we tailored everything to sound like Drink Up. For our next album we’re not going to have any restrictions. We’re just going to go ‘whatever, let’s just play everything and anything’ and whatever comes out – it’s still us.”

Harvey’s unrestrained expectations make perfect sense. The multi-instrumental band comes from a background of performance, classical music and, for Harvey, years of listening to hip hop. So what’s his Guilt Free Pleasure?

“The remix of Ignition by R. Kelly. [It] is the best song of all time – in my opinion – and some people might be surprised that I think that’s the best song of all time but that’s my favorite song ever. I mean that is like the masterpiece of modern times. And I don’t give a fuck. I’ll admit that.”

Purchase Born and Thrown on a Hook here!

Up Close and Personal with Sherlock's Daughter

Tanya Horo of Sherlock's Daughter.

With a sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom last night, Freelance Whales’ performance was not to be missed. But in my opinion the real band to watch was the opening act: Sherlock's Daughter. I came across Sherlock's Daughter recently when they played with Neon Indian at Brooklyn Bowl. Based out of Sydney, Australia, the band just moved to Brooklyn two weeks ago. And yet in this short amount of time they have already managed to earn gigs that take other bands years to get. This isn’t to say that they’re complete unknowns. They played at CMJ this past fall, had critical acclaim from Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and are set to start recording their new album with John Agnello next week.

Sherlock's Daughter is a band that likes to experiment, both with sound and physical space. They profess that they have difficulty confining themselves to one genre—and with good reason. With bold, echoing distortions, tribal percussion, and folksy harmonies, they’ve got a full sound. They bring a playful attitude to the stage as well. Tanya Horo (lead vocals, xylophone, percussion) often hops around and on a couple of occasions Liam Flanagan (bass, vocals) finds himself on top of the amps near Will Russell (drums). You can tell they’re channeling the music as they play.*

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Will and Liam prior to the show for an exclusive interview. In search for a quiet spot amongst the pre-show craziness, we met in a dark stairwell by the fire exit. The ambiance was a bit shady but with a true free-spirited attitude, Will and Liam were game to talk.

GFP: Welcome to New York. How’s it treating you so far?
Will: I’m really loving it. We got a house on the first day. The gas came on three days later.
Liam: It’s awesome. It’s easier than we thought. A couple of us got jobs - unfortunately, but a necessity. Yeah, everything’s been great. Everyone’s really nice.

Any favorite bars?
L: We’re so broke at the moment that we have just been drinking at home. But there’s a gangsta that lives on the top floor and he comes down and he pretty much just hijacks our house because it’s nicer than his. So he comes down and he takes our laptop and plays like goochy instrumental off youtube and just raps to it like its his place, and he’s drunk and it’s like [in best American accent possible], “I gotta keep going man!” So I’d have to say that our favorite bar is our house.

Nice. I have to ask: why Sherlocks Daughter?
W: The lead singer [Tanya] is a bit obsessed with Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories and she fancies herself being a bit of Sherlock Holmes. We didn’t have much choice in the matter. She kind of decided the name before. I’m cool with that. I’m in touch with my feminine side.

So Tanya has taken the lead of things. Is she the mom of the group?
L: Well she’s the only woman. It’s definitely a democracy, but you know, like shouty shouty mama [he pumps his fist in the air and I try to imagine what he means]. She’s got pussypower and you have to bow to that. She’s amazing.
W: She’s definitely passionate. It’s all she wants to do. Because we can be a bit lazy.

Fair enough. In your interview at SXSW that you posted on your blog you described yourselves as “Dreampop.” Can you elaborate on that?
L: Dreampop, it’s…well, I don’t know what to call it because everyone wants to categorize the band and I don’t know what it sounds like anymore. We’ve been calling ourselves Chinese Country.

Chinese Country? Is that an Australian term?
W: No, we made it up. We’re all so different. Each one of us has very different styles. I listen to hip hop and I listen to German groups like Kraftwerk. We don’t have any contrived ideas. We just go in and jam. If we like the sound of stuff, we keep it. It’s not like we go in and say let’s do this or that.
L: What would you call it?

It does have a dreamy feel. I hear tribal electric.
W: Tribal electric is spot on. That’s great.
L: Yeah, that’s the new one. Go for it. Tribal electric.

Right on. Which bands would you like to perform with in 2010?
L: I saw this band called Warpaint at SXSW and they were fucking great. I found them really inspiring and I want to do some shows with them. We talked about it and they’re pretty game. So hopefully we’ll do that. I want to do a show with fucking Jay-Z or Madonna.
W: [Laughs]. Or Stereolab would be cool.

Dreaming big. That’s good! I noticed that you guys like to switch off with instruments. Are there any new instruments that you want to learn?
L: I want to learn Banjo so badly. It’s been like this thing ever since I was able to play music. I really want to play piano accordion as well.
W: Piano accordion. Double bass would be nice.

Lastly, what’s your Guilt Free Pleasure?
L: [Starts to roll a cigarette]. Hm, I can’t say heroin? My guilt free pleasure… guilt free? Something that could get printed? They’re all pretty guilty pleasures.
W: Maybe like…dancing to Sinatra naked in my bedroom.

*Other members include Tim Maybury (guitar, vocals) and Jonti Danilewitz (keyboard)

Interview with The Antlers' Peter Silberman

For those of you not lucky enough to have purchased a ticket to their sold out show at Bowery Ballroom tomorrow night, here's a way for you to get your Antlers fix until they're back in January and February with Ra Ra Riot and Editors respectively: an interview with The Antlers' Peter Silberman. Peter wrote Hospice on his own, as it started out as a solo project but then in the recording process, The Antlers became the trio that we all know and love.

GFP: When you first set out, why did you decide to do a concept album? And where did you come up with the concept for Hospice?
Peter: It wasn't really a conscious decision. The songs and ideas were all centered around this one idea, this hospital setting for a collapsing relationship. I don't know that I had much say in the matter.

GFP: How did you establish the sound that prevailed throughout Hospice?
Peter: The recording of the record involved a lot of texture, layering things on top of one another until they became a different material altogether. Sometimes separate sounds come together in a way that makes them seem like one whole, sort of like the way separate songs can join together to make an interrelated whole.

GFP: What's it like to watch yourselves explode into the limelight? Talk a little bit about your journey over this past year or so and how it's affected you.
Peter: Honestly I'm not sure what's been happening for the past few months. I'm not completely lost or anything, but everything that's happened has been surreal and disorienting, and I'm not sure it'll make sense until a few months from now. It's bizarre to feel like people are crawling inside your head.

GFP: Hospice is so amazing but yet so stand-alone and full of such powerful emotions, that I'm really curious as to how you're going to follow it up... I know you've said that you're taking a break from writing/recording for a while, but when you do start writing again, do you have any ideas of what direction you're going to go?
Peter: Actually, the writing / recording hiatus is over. Hospice was exhausting, but it was finished quite awhile ago now. We're dying to make another album, and we're starting very soon. I couldn't say just yet what it'll sound like, but we're a different band than we were when Hospice was recorded. I think it'll probably sound like a different band.

Interview With Republic Tigers' Adam McGill

We've posted about Republic Tigers before on GFP, and I was able to catch their stellar show in Minneapolis at the Fine Line Music Cafe back in April when they opened for Travis (personal opinion? Much better than Travis, plus they did an amazing cover of "Heart of Glass"). Adam McGill was kind enough to take a break from their current busy tour to answer a few of GFP's questions about the band.

Ok, to start things off...if you could only describe your sound in five words, what would they be?

5 words? Hmmmmm.... here we go: decent, alright, pretty good, eh, ok.

What are your top influences/albums/songs of the moment?

My personal favorites are kind of weird. Right now I'm really into old bollywood stuff like Kishor Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Rajesh Khanna etc. I'll always have a soft spot for the arrangements of Ennio Morriconne, Michel Legrand, and Krzysztof Komeda. All of the artists I just mentioned have extremely interesting arrangements that I feel should make a larger impact on modern music than they currently do. As far as bands that exist currently,.... that's a tough one. I always enjoy anything that Air does. I'm still listening to Portishead's "Third." I'm still listening to Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible." I tend to get annoyed with "current" music. I'll listen to a record over and over for a month or two after it's released and then if it stands the test of repeated listening that's a good sign.

How did it come about that you were the first band to be signed to Chop Shop Records, founded by the infamous music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas? I heard something about your Myspace playing a part.

That's exactly right. One of the girls in the Chop Shop office (Brittany Warfield) heard us on Myspace and showed it to Alexandra. She liked what she heard and the rest is rock 'n' roll history.

How did the album Keep Color get its title?

We pulled that title from lyrics to our song title "Contortionists". That phrase "Keep Color" seemed like it had many different possible meanings, and we like the way it looks and sounds when you read it.

Which comes first for you, the music or the lyrics? Or do they come hand-in-hand?

Typically the music comes first. However, Kenn keeps a lyric book on hand and anytime something pops into his head he jots it down. When one of us presents an idea to the rest of the band oftentimes Kenn will remember a page of lyrics that may work for that particular piece of music and we take it from there.

What has been your favorite moment as a band thus far?

That's a tough question. I think my favorite "band moment" was when we were released from being detained by customs while we were on tour in the UK. We didn't have our visas properly worked out so we were being deported. We were actually boarding our plane to go back to the U.S. when security received a phone call that our visas came through. They pulled us off the plane and escorted us into the country. It was such a wonderful moment in part because of the prior 26 hours of terrible despair. However, that doesn't tarnish the overwhelming joy we felt to be free and on our way to tour a new country. That's the happiest I've felt for a very long time.

Any quirky traditions/superstitious rituals that you guys do while on tour?

Hmmmm,... no, not really. The closest thing I can think of is the almost religious morning and evening shower routines of Kenn and Justin.

What can we expect from you in the future? I know there's been desire to release an annual 8-song EP if you could...is that going to become a reality?

Hopefully people can expect a lot from us in the future. We're beginning to work on our next record. So far the new songs are pretty amazing. I feel like many of them in the early stages are better than songs we've written previously and spent a long time developing. That 8 song EP a year idea sounds great. However, that's tough to do while we're touring regularly. If we were another band with less obsessive members we'd have no problems doing that. Unfortunately, we're so obsessive we make Larry David look like the Fonz.

And finally, we have to ask, what's your guilt-free pleasure?

Everything I do is done "guilt free."

Exclusive interview with Previously on Lost!

Last night I headed over to the Lost season 5 finale party at Bell House, at which my favorite recap band was playing. That's right, Previously On Lost. I had the pleasure of seeing them at the season 5 premiere party, also at Bell House, earlier this year. This time they obviously had a few new songs from season 5, so that was fun to see. Man, I really wish that I could see them perform before every episode of Lost that I watch. Anyway, I got the chance to ask the boys a few questions beforehand and here's what they had to say:

What made you decide to form a Lost recap band?
We're wholly dedicated to all JJ Abrams' earthly creations. We could have easily been a band devoted to Felicity as everything JJ touches becomes equal and "as one." But Lost was in our present, so we had to go with it. People think Lost is full of puzzles and unclear plot trajectories, but really it's all pretty simple to explain: they're havin' a blast on an island vacation retreat of a lifetime! Some people feel the need to speculate about things that haven't happened yet, but we like to focus on what's already happened and tell people about it with kazoos and casio keyboards. And we like the leisure luau lifestyle.

If you're wholly dedicated to JJ Abrams, are you going to do some Star Trek songs?
We completed a sci-fi opera about deep space travel last year called Champollion, so Star Trek is territory where we've already boldly gone. Listen to it at myspace.com/champollion. Star Trek is one of the greatest TV shows of all time and it would not be surprising if JJ becomes the first to successfully present a chapter that will be treasured beyond the loyal Star Trek fan base. If Michael Giacchino wants to team up to do Star Trek the animated series with us, we'd have to say "yes." Or Lost the animated series for that matter.

What are your plans for the band when Lost ends in May 2010? Are you going to dissolve the band, live on as a tribute band, or start recapping episodes of a different show?
I think you've received some incorrect information. Lost lives on. Always. If my sources are right, Lost will be the first show ever to run for 300 Seasons. Needless to say, we'll be in business for QUITE some time. Recap rock will always survive, we've got major plans to recap the 2010 World Cup, as possibly some historical educational recaps. We aim to push the boundaries as to what can and can't be recapped. Lost will likely be our only televised fictional subject matter, but anything is possible.

Who are your favorite Lost characters?
Let's start with our LEAST favorite: Jack. He's a crier and his hands are shaky. Dan Farraday is the greatest hero of Lost. Sawyer and Juliette are the smoken-est couple on the show (way hotter than Desmond and Penny no question). Kate and Jack don't deserve true love. Miles and Hurley have the best superpowers. Locke has the oldest soul and the baldest head.

If Dan Farraday is your favorite character, how did you react to his being killed in the second to last episode?
It was sad, for sure. But, as many already know , the sixth season will be the "zombie season" where every deceased character comes back to life for a series of challenges on the island. Whoever has Mr. Eko on their beach volleyball team is going to win for sure.

What do you think the deal is with the smoke monster?
I think she probably has one of most lucrative deals in show business, the first of it's kind for a cast member that is neither human nor animal. It's definitely one that's locked her in for the duration of the show, and really maintains a mandatory character development, which is awesome for her since the back-story is huge and it would be a shame to shortchange such a significant smoky history. I'm assuming there's a pretty solid rider that caters to the smoke monster's daily intake of trees and Lost extras, which craft services no doubt has under control.

How do you know the smoke monster is a "she"?
As with iguanas, it is difficult to tell smoke monster's gender at a young age, so when we first got her we weren't sure. But we started taking her on walks to the park and her behavioral patterns developed among other smoke monsters. People would ask us questions - "Oooohhh, how big does she get?" and "Have you had her fixed?" Finally, we took her to a vet, and had the sex determined for sure to be female. We would never get her fixed though.

What would be your ideal way for Lost to wrap up it's last season?
JJ ended Felicity by sending the college students back in time and reviewing an alternate chain of events, but with Lost...that already happened. So whatever JJ forsees will be done and treasured by all viewers without qualm or question (Carleton and Damon too I guess). For them to bust the space-time continuum beyond repair and have everything dissolve into abstract tropical dream where everyone rides polar bears while drinking Coronas would be fine. They don't have to explain the 4-toed statue. It's ok with me.

I know you guys have other side projects that I've heard are equally hilarious. Talk a little bit about those.
There's nothing funny about a space opera titled Champollion, inspired by the musings of Carl Sagan. There's something a little funny, but mostly endearing about a band dedicated to re-imagining old Disney and children's music, titled Long Live King Richard. There's something really funny about an absurdist hip hop group titled Berzerkulosis, with a single all about Big League Chew.

And on one final note, I (Em) have to say that I am both intrigued and slightly annoyed by the season finale. I can't wait for the new season to start, but that's mostly because they keep posing questions and not answering most of the millions we already had. Great cliffhanger though. Props for that.

Exclusive Interview with Elizabeth & the Catapult!

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the adorable Elizabeth Ziman of Elizabeth & The Catapult. Here's what she had to say.

Where does the band name come from? The Elizabeth part is obvious but I'm sensing a story behind the "and the Catapult"... I just wanted to incorporate something whimsical and a little off kilter- and I really liked the image of a little girl with a slingshot wandering around looking for trouble.

How does it feel to be releasing your first full-length album? And what has it been like to watch your fanbase grow and expand? Please talk about your "rise to fame" so to speak and what that's been like to experience...
It makes me a little sleepy thinking about it, but it's a wonderful feeling. We're all super grateful. We only had an EP floating around for sometime there, so it's nice to know our fans can finally sit down and enjoy a bit more than just 25 minutes of The Catapult....

You said this album was for adults who just never quite figured out how to grow up. Do you think that growing up in NYC, where people simultaneously grow up too fast and don't grow up at all, was a heavy influence for you when you created this album? NYC is a very odd and unpredictable monster. I've been here so long I don't even notice how much it's hot headed temperament creeps into the music....but it really does. There's just so much zany material to go on! When I'm in a good mood I idealize the city, the energy, the amazing people, the opportunities. When I'm in a so-so mood I lock myself in the house, close the window shades and sit down to write a song like "Taller Children".

Elizabeth, how do you feel your classical background has influenced your current sound? Do you try to incorporate classical music into your life/work still?
It's really plays a huge influence on what I do. When I was a kid my favorite "artists" were Ravel, Debussy and Chopin. So whether I like it or not, it's deeply imbedded in the harmonic character of the songwriting. I always try to build an element of surprise or ambiguity in the music, so that it's not always your basic 4 5 1 chords. Although, once in a while, the lyrics will really call for that too:) We had a demo up on myspace recently of a Chopin spinning song that I had set some lyrics too--- I basically took the left hand of the piece and started improvising over it---weaving in and out of the original song. Some people like to improvise over Ellington, I like Chopin.

On your myspace blog, you wrote that some demos posted wouldn't probably make the final album. What is it like to have to cut your own songs? How difficult is that?
It was really difficult. But a great problem to have. We tried not to deliberate too much about the song choice before we recorded with Mike Mogis- but after the sessions there was one song that never made it to the album that was a real heartbreaker...luckily there's always our sophomore attempt!

What's the best/most important thing you've learned on your journey so far?
To keep your music close and your inspiration closer.

What has been the funniest/most outrageous moment on your journey so far? We once played a gig at an installation art show in LA called the Black Pussy- we didn't realize what we were walking into at the time, but when we started playing our song "Devil's Calling" suddenly a bunch of women started taking off their clothes. I think I peed my pants on stage from laughing so hard.

Lastly, what is your ultimate "guilt free pleasure"? Haribo Gummy bears. Sooooo good. I can eat a truckload in about a half hour.

And for those of you who didn't catch it, check out the write-up of their performance at the Deli Magazine Best of New York show at Southpaw on Wednesday for a free mp3 of the title track from their new album, Taller Children.

An Interview with Frontier Ruckus

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Matt from Frontier Ruckus, one of my favorite folk bands of recent times. Here's what he had to say.

I hear you delayed the album so you could release it on Matt's birthday? Why was it important to you that it be released then?
The album kept getting pushed back just for promotional purposes and due to how long we were taking in wrapping up all the little details that go into finishing an album that we hadn't really considered. All of a sudden we were looking at a November release date and I thought, "My birthday is November 6th; I can't think of a better gift for myself than the catharsis of this heavy world called Orion Town--sounds good."


Matt - what is your songwriting process?
My songwriting process is to allow the container of my body to go a long period of time (for The Orion Songbook it was my entire life up until then) where I'm just bloating and becoming heavy with obsession for place(s). I feel like I write mostly about places and that the people are less characters than they are more just extensions and images and contents within the containers of places that won't allow themselves to be abandoned by me. And the places I'm talking about are often amorphous and very hard to define. Orion Town is not one town but many towns touching and blurring--it is the multiplicity within the whole. So I am filled by all this seemingly ineffable stuff and memory when I pick up a guitar and hopefully through music I can somehow organize and codify it all into a simpler, less overwhelming form. The image is the most important thing to me and, in a good song, hopefully a large part of the image remains intact after the transaction between internal unvoiced mythology and song occurs.


Once you come in with a song, Matt, how do you guys and decide on instrumentation and construct the songs from there?
Several of the songs on The Orion Songbook have been around for a long time--since it was just David and I. Back then I would bring a song to David and he would just start playing banjo to it and it would sound perfect--very natural. Now there are several more people and more parts to figure out and everyone just kind of hones them as we go along. We really don't think about it all too much as a group, until we get into a studio. We're kind of lazy like that. Everyone is really good about figuring out what they want to do on a song individually, though, and it's still very natural even with more people. Everyone cares about whatever the core of the song may be and how they can complement it. Ryan will obsess over how an extremely minute difference in a beat will effect a song; Zach has to decide what instrument he wants to play on it, or will spend a long time meticulously arranging trumpet harmonies; and Anna has an ear for harmonies that bring a lot of ease to the vocal aspect.


How does the studio process differ from live performances for you guys?
We recorded The Orion Songbook with all of us playing together live in one room, for the very, very most part. I didn't do a single overdub on the record. And I'm not saying that in a boastful way, in fact I'm sure there are probably many people out there who will find fault in it. But that is just the way we feel most comfortable doing it--we really don't do well tracking the core of a song in a piecemeal way. We like to be able to look at each other as we play and try to remember exactly what it is that we're singing about and convey an image instead of just recording notes. This isn't to say that Zach didn't have fun layering horns, since he was the only horn player, or that we didn't have fun trying different textural things after we had the bulk of the song down, but I just enjoy an honest portrayal of what the band is capable of and thought that that would in turn deliver a more accurate account of what Orion Town means.


Where is your favorite place that you've played so far?
Anna and I sang to a rowdy drunken pub in Dublin once and I barely remember it. That was nice. Our best shows of all time have probably been in Lansing. We had a great time busking outside of a strip club in Washington D.C. once and used all of the tips to fill up a hotel bathtub with ice and cans of beer. That night I slipped down the entire rain-slicked set of stairs of the Lincoln Memorial on my side and ribs at 4 am.


Where is the place you would like to play the most in the world?
We're gonna be overseas this summer, which is thrilling. I would like to sell out the segment of shore of the St. Lawrence River that runs past the town Ogdensburg, New York.


Now that you guys have a record label, where do you see the band going over the next few years? What are your short term and long term goals as a band?
We want to release as much music as possible. I have many songs. And the idea of a seemingly endless tour sounds very nice. The Expansion of the Touching-Towns Touring Recital. I want to make snow globes of Orion Town. We're gonna release an EP of our more countrier songs and, also, The Orion Songbook will be out on vinyl in February with about five extra tracks from the Orion mythology, manufactured with the help of our friend John Krohn.


What's the story behind the tandem bike video?
That tandem bike is half-owned by me, and half-owned by someone who is very special to me with whom I made a pact that prohibited me from riding the bike with anyone other than said person. Needless to say, the evidence that that video provided of my and David's mustachioed joyride put me in the doghouse.


A question for Zach - How did you learn to play the saw and do you have any tips for people who would like to learn how to play the saw?
I learned to play the saw by watching youtube videos of Julian Koster playing the saw. By modeling yourself on a sawyer, you can learn to play it prettily. Though, I've noticed that when some people who've seen me do it for years try it, they'll hold it upside-down or bow it over the teeth at first. Literally, I think the easiest way to play the saw is by keeping the handle between your knees, curving it into an 'S' shape with your non-dominant hand in any way that doesn't hurt. And when just starting, I recommend hitting it with something, like a mallet or a pen, before bowing to find the "sweet spots," which change depending how strong your saw's bent, analogously with the pitch. There are so many important tips. Jiggling your leg (as if you needed to urinate) for vibrato, sweeping the bow along the saw so you don't need to be quite so accurate, to name two. Really, I just recommend watching a fellow sawyer and playing with friends or music. If you play alone on the saw, you're lost.

Orion Town 2 [mp3]
Purchase "The Orion Songbook" on iTunes

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KaiserCartel @ Cafe Du Nord

I had the immense pleasure of meeting the up and coming indie duo of the year the other night in San Fran when KaiserCartel opened for Matt Hales at Cafe Du Nord. KaiserCartel are the dynamic Brooklyn-based duo consisting of Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel, and I've posted about them before. I was lucky to meet them before and after the show and get to know them a bit better, and before I get to talking about the concert, here's some words from KaiserCartel themselves:

How did you two meet?
CK: We met at the Knitting factory in NYC. We were playing in separate bands; Courtney Kaiser band and Benjamin Cartel band. We met in the back stage area and traded cds.....then we saw each other on the street a few months later, and made a date to hang out and exchange songs. Then because both our bands couldn't tour, we did a midwest tour together under our solo names, and audience members were asking us when the KaiserCartel cd would be coming out. It grew from there.

You were both teachers before you became KaiserCartel. With your tours and growing popularity, do you think you'll ever return to the classroom?
CK: We both love children and love teaching. When we're on the road, children find us, and we are able to still get that exchange without being in a formal classroom. I have no idea whether we will both one day be back in the classroom, but I think children are attracted to the music we make as well as adults, so we will be involved in some way forever.

What inspires your music?
BC: We like to watch movies and a lot of the time, and that can be an inspiration. Our song "White Dove" which is on the new EP "Okay and Other Things We Feel" was inspired by a 1960's art film titled White Dove. We are also inspired by everyday events in our lives and in lives of our friends.

What is your song-writing process like?
BC: Sometimes we write together and sometimes one of use will come with bits and pieces of a song and the other will add and change aspects of the song. Our process is all about the collaboration, so no matter how it happens, collaboration is always key to what we're doing.

CK: We use a little hand held tape recorder as well as garageband to record what we're working on. Right now we are focused on writing songs for the new record and writing songs for a friend who is working on a larger project in Africa called "The Art of Conversation."

Where did the cat puppet (displayed proudly on the drums) come from?
CK: I picked Daniel up at the Chelsea flea market. He reminded me of the Daniel from Mr. Rogers only black. His fur just seemed like the same fur. Then, I put my Grandma's watch on him and he just became a part of the show....We have to take him everywhere! We left him at Arlene's Grocery during CMJ and were so worried we lost him. Then we found out the soundman took him home. I heard that Daniel was well behaved, so I am glad about that!

I overheard you talking about how a milk frothier from Target is a nifty musical instrument- care to expand a bit on this?
BC: While we were making "March Forth" in LA with our producer Matt Hales (aka Aqualung), we heard Matt telling a runner to go to target to pick something up. We figured it was more tea. When the runner came back, Matt showed us the milk frother. He started playing it on piano strings, and Courtney started running around the studio using it on everything in sight.

CK: I loved it! It sounded amazing, so we have the sound in various places on the record.

Courtney, you seem to play the guitar a bit differently - you construct the chords mainly by using only your thumb. Any reason for this?
CK: One day, a long time ago, I changed the tuning on my guitar to open D. I was experimenting really, but loved the way that it sounded. I also discovered that I could make really cool sounding chords using my thumb and leaving some of the strings open. I think I used my thumb because my hand is so small.....

You end your concerts in a wonderfully special way by stepping off the stage and singing directly to and amongst the audience. What inspired this decision?
CK: We really like to connect with the audience in a different way. I think we are comfortable singing acapella because we did this as teachers, so really its so easy to do..But as we started doing this in the beginning, we realized were really having an emotional exchange with people and that made us want to do it more. It is my favorite part of the set.

You mentioned that you have written some new songs- any talk of when the next album will be recorded?
BC: We can't disclose that info yet, but we are working on it and will be doing demos at home first.

And because I like to end interviews James Lipton-style, what is your favorite word?
BC: color
CK: Vibration

The concert itself was spectacular. Du Nord is a fairly intimate venue with a Swedish cathedral twist, although you would never guess it from the outside. KC started things off with the favorite "Oh No,"a fantastic choice, as the song builds with each harmonious refrain with new conviction until it finally reaches cadence, satisfying any ear. Both Courtney and Benjamin are fantastic whistlers, as can be heard on "Season Song." The set lasted for about 45 minuets, and the famous "Okay" was sung with Matt Hales himself guesting on the piano. They performed a new song entitled "Memphis" (to my knowledge, it hasn't leaked out yet) and finished the night by stepping off the stage and coming right up to the audience to serenade us all with "Shira." What a wonderful embracing way to end the evening. Once again, I had to leave before I could hear the next act, Matt Hales (just once I'd like to stay for an entire concert!), but I highly encourage you guys to check out his music on his myspace.

KaiserCartel have a special version of Season Song (which btw, really should be on an Apple commercial) out right now on their website in order to encourage people to "Whistle While They Vote." Courtney says, "We are heading down to PA tuesday to entertain people while they are standing in line. The lines are super super long and people get bored and frustrated, so we are hoping that we can keep them there with our music!"

Season Song [mp3]

Support the Artist: Purchase KaiserCartel's other songs on iTunes

Upcoming Concerts for KaiserCartel:
Nov 13 2008 8:00P
Union Hall w/ Mascot
Brooklyn, New York
Nov 17 2008 8:00P
TT The Bears w/ Margot and The Nuclear So and So’s
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Nov 18 2008 8:00P
First Unitarian Church w/ Margot and The Nuclear So and So’s
Philedelphia, Pennsylvania
Nov 21 2008 8:00P
The Pike Room at Crofoot w/ Margot and The Nuclear So and So’s
Pontiac, Michigan
Nov 22 2008 8:00P
The Bottom Lounge w/ Margot and The Nuclear So and So’s
Chicago, Illinois
Nov 26 2008 8:00P
Steel City Coffee House w/ Jim Boggia
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Dec 4 2008 7:00P
The Kent Stage w/ Carrie Rodriguez
Kent, Ohio
Dec 5 2008 8:00P
Club Cafe w/ Carrie Rodriguez
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dec 6 2008 8:30P
Acoustic Cafe
Bridgeport, Connecticut

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