Saturday, July 30, 2011
Rock / Roots Roots/Rock: catching up with whoa!tiger
Posted by Rob Nichols on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 7:31 AM
On their website, the guys descibe their sound as "kitchen sink rock" - classic rock and roll hinting of funk, blues, and reggae. Lots of jammy, bluesy, Allman Brothers grooves - a sound fans of the Dave Mathews Band, the Dead or anyone raised on 70s rock would recognize.
Bandmembers: Jack Barkley: vocals, guitar; Jon Knight: guitar; Erik Nelson: drums; Eric Tullis: bass
We caught up with the band's bass player Eric Tullis to pose a few questions.
NUVO:You guys are an original music band. Does that mean you have a batch of new songs is always floating around?
Eric Tullis: We're always writing new material - it's one of our favorite things to do. We have a running "hopper list" of ideas that we’ve each brought to the table, as well as ideas that we just fall into while warming up at practice. The beauty of our writing process is that we can take any one of those ideas at any time and morph it into a workable song. We tend to discard no idea unless we collectively decide we just don't like it. We currently have about a dozen songs in the set that we haven’t recorded yet, and are debuting a couple more in August.
NUVO: When you get the band together to record your new music, where do you do it?
ET: We do very simple room recordings during practice just to capture ideas. But nothing beats being in the studio. For one thing, it’s really liberating to turn the controls over to a good engineer and just immerse in being musicians, rather than trying to wear all the hats at once. Also, the studio allows us to put the final sound from our minds onto the recording. It's where we can layer in parts that we just can't create on stage, and get each song to the point where it represents our vision the best. There's nothing quite like the feeling of popping that completed CD into your car, turning up the volume, and getting to play listener instead of musician for just a little bit. It’s a very cool and satisfying feeling.
NUVO: How's Indianapolis treat you, with more original music?
ET: That does pose some challenges here in Indy. There are some really great local original bands, probably more than there are venues to accommodate them all. So one of the tricks is to find those bands whose music will mesh well with ours, and perform shows together. That opens up our music to their fans, their music to our fans, and really helps to network and to grow that community. Those outdoor festivals are one of the best places for all-original bands to truly show their styles and variety, and to get their music into lots of new ears at once.
NUVO: Any shows coming this summer that you think are extra special?
ET: We’ve been hitting the outdoor festival events this summer, which we love. We play in Lafayette on August 13 for the Mosey Down Main Street series - our first time playing there. We play the Linton Music Festival on September 4, which is one of the largest free music festivals in the midwest. We are back indoors at Local's Only on September 16. Then we will be back at the Rocky Ripple Festival again this year on September 24.
NUVO: What have you been listening to recently?
ET: I think we're all excited about much of the local talent we've been able to see and connect with at our shows. There’s so much talent and originality in Indy’s own back yard. We listen to is truly all over the map, from Led Zeppelin, John Coltrane, No More Kings and Bela Fleck to Phish, Stevie Ray Vaughn, James Brown and Miles Davis.
NUVO: What's do you hope the next year hold for WHOA!TIGER?
ET: Our goal every year is to do things we didn’t get to do the year before. So far this year we’ve already released a music video, performed on television and are booked in several of the summer fests that we wanted to be a part of, so we’re ahead of the game and still have six months to go. We also have a whole bunch of music in the set (and) we’re looking at all our options for the best way to get that out to folks. People can always find out what we're doing by checking www.whoatiger.com for dates and events.
NUVO: Any other info to pass along?
ET: We just encourage everyone to check out the local talent in Indy, especially those doing original music. If everyone went to see an original band just one time each month, they are probably guaranteed to find something they like, something that jives with their tastes. Because while becoming rich and famous and touring the country is something most of us can only dream of, sharing our music with audiences is what we love most. And having someone walk up to you and say, "Hey, you guys sounded great!" can make you forget about the tour for a minute, and focus on the reasons we do this in the first place.
VIDEO: "Three Coins"
Friday, July 29, 2011
DJ & Dance Review: Lemi Vice, 'Lemons/Let's All Fall in Love'
Posted by Kyle Long on Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:05 PM
"Lemons/Let’s All Fall in Love"
Rad Summer
3.5 stars
Chicago-based producer Lemi Vice’s first effort for Rad Summer — the second overall release by the label — is a definite winner. The digital-only single features two Vice originals — "Lemons" and "Let's All Fall In Love" — plus remixes for each track.
"Lemons,” every bit as sour as the name suggests, unleashes 4 minutes and 37 seconds of well-composed acidic dubstep noise on the listener. Glitchy high-pitched squeals battle it out against raw low-end wobble as a vocal sample — a single word, "lemons" — echoes constantly in the background. Definitely worth a listen for those who like their dubstep loud, aggressive and dissonant.
Indy's Action Jackson provides the remix for "Lemons", transforming Lemi's dubstep sludge into an uptempo Baltimore club stomper. Jackson is no stranger to B-more beats; in fact, nearly every track or remix I've heard from the young producer has utilized the genre's familiar fast paced rhythms and handclaps. All that experience must be paying off, as this is his strongest work to date. That said, it would be nice to see Jackson veer off into some unexplored territory in the future.
On to the B side, which features another well crafted slice of dubstep . Built around a sample from British R&B artist Estelle's "Fall in Love,” Vice's "Let's Fall in Love" manages to strike a pleasing balance between the singer’s sweet soulful voice and a cold, hard thump typical of dubstep.
Chicago's Vyle handles remixing duties for "Let's Fall in Love", reworking the track in what may be the most unlikely new style to have emerged in club music in recent years: moombahton (a combination of Dutch house music and reggaeton). Probably the weakest link on the EP, Vyle's mix fails to channel the moombahton beat in an effective manner, leaving the track to meander aimlessly and effectively bringing an otherwise strong EP to a somewhat lifeless end.
Download: "Lemons," via Rad Summer
Hear: A full stream of "Lemons/Let's All Fall in Love," via Soundcloud
Lemi Vice - Lemon's / Let's All Fall In Love (RS002) Out NOW! by Rad Summer
Rock Review: Hypocrite in the Hippy Crypt, 'Tweaker'
Posted by Daniel Brown on Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Tweaker in the Park
Gulcher Records
4 stars
In a post to his band's Bandcamp page, the anonymous Bloomington-based songwriter behind the band Hypocrite in the Hippy Crypt describes his band's debut LP, Tweaker in the Park, as an album about crazy people, oceans, and murder, recorded in the basement of a dorm, spawned from craziness and late nights.
And, indeed, the conditions of the record's creation certainly inform the finished product, though the lyrics have a certain timeless wisdom — Tweaker doesn't sound like the product of a dorm basement, in other words.
In terms of sound design, Tweaker has an out-of-whack quality. Melancholy, reverberated vocals float over simple, often intentionally out-of-tune acoustic accompaniments. Jangling surf rock guitars offset that organic mix, occasionally taking the forefront. Piano and guitar solos sometimes jump to the forefront, giving the proceedings a woozy, unpredictable feel.
Lyrically, Hypocrite offers sing-song rhymes on life as music ("I hope you take the time to count all of the memories / Take note of the melodies that strike you"), the future as literature ("I’ll write a book that will blow your mind / I’ll chase a girl that isn’t worth my time") and waning youth ("Now is the time you realize all the times you compromised / Who gets Player One / And who gets to watch the door").
Some tracks on Tweaker gesture towards '60s rock giants: The lazily-swinging “Heaven in the Hideaway" pays tribute to The Beach Boys, and The Beatles provide the blueprint for “Poptimistic.”
The album is at its strongest when lively, dance-y percussion offsets the lead singer's subdued vocals, as on “The Town Crazies,” “Thoughts Collected,” and “The Down.”
Initially released in December 2010 by Bloomington’s Tree Machine Records, Tweaker in the Park was re-issued this June by Gulcher Records, the Orlando-via-Bloomington label that has released work by The Gizmos, Kurt Vile and John Cougar Mellencamp.
Hear: Three tracks from Tweaker in the Park, via Bandcamp
Review: Dude Fest, Day One
Posted by Nick Selm on Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 8:51 AM
July in Indianapolis is always an oppressively humid affair. There are plenty of ways to cool down: Bud Lite Lime, central air, frozen yogurt, etc. But there is only one surefire way of heating things up further: Dude Fest.
This year’s installment of the semi-popular hardcore/metal gathering was no exception. Organizer Derek Black incorporated the touring package of Helm’s Alee, Torche and Big Business into the opening day lineup.
Several bailed rides left me with transportation issues, but I eventually arrived at The Hoosier Dome just in time to have missed phenomenal local act Still. Still’s combination of songwriting precision and brutally heavy tunes made them a perfect addition to the progressive metal bill. I’m bummed that I missed them.
Next up was Helm’s Alee. The Seattle-based three-piece pummeled the audience with insanely heavy, mid-tempo metal, complete with dueling male/female vocals. Aside from a few slow-motion headbangers towards the front, a majority of the crowd just stood still and perspired profusely in the unmoving heat of the venue.
Stepping outside to catch a breath while Helm’s Alee was tearing down, I was able to observe the diversity of the crowd. In attendance were familiar faces from the local DIY punk, indie, hardcore and metal scenes. Dude Fest was a homegrown spectacle and missing it was clearly not an option.
Torche finally took the stage around ten and exploded into an inspired set of riff-filled bliss. The second their music started, a faint yet unmistakable smell of marijuana wafted through the crowd. They're labeled as “Stoner Metal” for a reason.
Guitarists Steve Brooks and Andrew Elstner are both amazingly skilled metal guitarists, but their talents are best used when applied to a power-pop approach. The droning, melodic “Across the Shields” from 2008’s Meanderthal, was a highlight of the set and showcased their songwriting mastery.
In between blocks of songs, Brooks would heckle the crowd with ironic rock ’n’ roll slogans. At one point, he found a pair of Bibles near the stage and attempted to “crowd surf” them around the venue.
The band played a few gems off of their latest, greatest EP, Songs For Singles including the epic, U2-inspired “Out Again”. Oddly enough, the band finished their set without playing the anthemic “UFO” but the smiling crowd seemed fulfilled nevertheless. As the throng poured out into the Fountain Square air, shirts sopping against clammy skin, it was obvious that Dude Fest had retained its cultural relevance. Let's hope that there's a Dude Fest 2012 in the works.
Weekend Nachos ready for a fourth Dude Fest
Posted by Nick Selm on Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 8:00 AM
Weekend Nachos are no strangers to Dude Fest. The guys in the Chicago hardcore act might even be considered veterans.
“This is actually our fourth Dude Fest,” Weekend Nachos vocalist John Hoffman said. “As a matter of fact, Dude Fest is the whole reason that we started playing shows in Indianapolis in the first place. We owe a lot to [Dude Fest organizer] Derek Black. He’s definitely a fucking weirdo but he is such a great guy. He’s just super nice.”
While Chicago has an almost infinitely bigger scene than that of Indianapolis, Hoffman always looks forward to playing here.
“Sure, there’s always a lot more going on in Chicago,” Hoffman said. “it’s the center of the Midwest. But Chicago goes through different eras of whether the scene is good or not and it’s sorta dead right now.”
Outside of their Dude Fest appearances, most of WN’s Indianapolis shows had been organized by Scott Kilcoyne, frontman for local hardcore act Picked Clean.
“Scott’s a really cool dude, and he's our connection to the DIY hardcore scene in Indy,” Hoffman said.
Weekend Nachos and Picked Clean share a certain bleak brutality in their music, but Hoffman insists that the negativity is only skin deep.
“My band is made up of a bunch of weird dudes,” he explained. “We want to express ourselves collectively but we can’t do it with silly, happy songs.”
With song titles like “Shot in the Head”, “Acceptable Violence” and “Reason To Die,” it’s obvious that WN won’t be appearing on Yo Gabba Gabba anytime soon. Still, they confine any brutal behavior to their work.
“Yeah, we write heavy, brutal music with hateful, pissed off lyrics, but the negativity doesn’t extend beyond our songs," Hoffman said. "No one should force themselves into being unpleasant. You can express yourself without being a shithead.”
Catch Weekend Nachos Friday night at The Hoosier Dome with Iron Lung, Coliseum and Coffinworm. Go HERE for more info on Dude Fest.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Soundcheck: Weekend edition
Posted by Scott Shoger on Thu, Jul 28, 2011 at 1:00 PM
Mojostock 2011
When a concert adopts the name “fill-in-the-blank Stock,” it has some pretty big shoes to fill. IndyMojo, the titular sponsor of the jam and EDM-centric festival Mojostock, aims to live up to those expectations by going all out — maxing out their venue’s capacity and adding out-of-town performers. Performers include Cyberoptics, Twin Cats, Adam Jay, Disco Aliens and nearly 50 other acts. For more, take a gander at Emily Thompson's feature on MojoStock and IndyMojo, my profile of MojoStock act Max Allen Band and reviews and photos from the festival next week on nuvo.net. At Sleepybear Campground, across the street from Verizon Wireless Music Center. July 29-30, $35 weekend pass; July 29, music runs from 5 p.m.-3 a.m.; July 30, 11 a.m.-3 a.m.; all-ages
Dude Fest
This year’s Dude Fest, the ninth, is notable not just because a DIY hardcore music event has thrived this long in a city not known for appreciating such art, but because it also marks the end of an era for one important band, The Dream is Dead, whose guitarist, Jared Southwick, died in June at age 34. For more, check out Wade Coggeshall's feature on The Dream is Dead's final show, Nick Selm's interview with the lead singer of Torche and reviews and photos later this week, right here on nuvo.net. July 27-30 at the Hoosier Dome, 1627 Prospect St., all-ages; aftershows July 29 and 30 at Vollrath Tavern, 118 E. Palmer St.; tickets range from $10-$25
Thursday
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists at Earth House
Ted Leo is a dependable guy. You can expect him to be out there on the road more often than not. And you know what you’ll get with his records — aggressive, upbeat, politically-minded pop-punk. NUVO talked with Leo this week about politics, social media, revisiting old work and writing one’s epitaph. With Tweak Bird and Freddie T and the People. 6:30 p.m., $13 advance, $15 door, all-ages.
Gaelic Storm at The Vogue
Santa Monica-based Celtic rock band Gaelic Storm survived an unplugged stint as house band on James Cameron’s Titanic, playing for third-class passengers as they sank into the solitude of the sea. They’ve gone on to become fan favorites at Indy Irish Fest with a repertoire very much appropriate to the event, equal parts folk songs with authentic Irish trimmings and originals that challenge the idea of authentic Irishness. 9 p.m., $20 advance, $22 door, 21+.
Shotgun Party at Melody Inn
Anyone who cares for or knows what western swing is will likely dig on Shotgun Party, an Austin-based trio that sounds a little like Austin, with its mélange of honky-tonk and indie-rock, executed with effortless talent and plenty of style. Café jazz is also a touchstone for the group, comprised of a fiddler, guitarist and upright bassist. With Church Shoes, a rough-around-the-edges Austin-via-Fort-Wayne garage band. 9 p.m., $5, 21+.
Friday
Bella Latina at The Cabaret at the Columbia Club
ISIS of Indiana, an affinity group for female musicians from Indiana, continues its year-long collaboration with the Cabaret at the Columbia Club this week, this time with Latina talent taking the central stage in front of that gigantic window overlooking the Circle. Featured performers include vocalists Stacie Sandoval and Elizabeth Souza and dancer Ana Lucia Cavalcante. The show is directed by ISIS co-founders Monika Herzig and Heather Ramsey. 8 p.m., $15-$35, all-ages.
Taking Back Sunday at the Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
Taking Back Sunday got the old band back together last year, jettisoning two members who had joined since the post-hardcore band’s 1999 founding and bringing back the original two they had replaced. The first album by the reunited original lineup, Taking Back Sunday, was released this June on Warner Bros. Reviews have credited the band with going back to their core sound, back before they sold out and stuff. With Thursday, Colour Revolt and The New Regime. 7 p.m., $27.50 advance, $30 door (plus fees), all-ages.
Chris Robinson Brotherhood at The Vogue
A solo project by Chris Robinson, lead singer of the currently-on-hiatus Black Crowes. One Black Crowe, keyboardist Adam MacDougall, has stuck around for this ride; otherwise, Robinson leads a five-piece band comprised of long-time touring musicians and friends. This is early in the run for the group; the Black Crowes finally went on official hiatus this month after completing a run of European shows still on the itinerary when they announced they would be taking some time off. 8 p.m., $18, 21+.
Mic Sol & ACE ONE present The Connection at Locals Only
Inseparable local hip-hop duo Mic Sol & ACE ONE suggest in a press release that this “will possibly” be their last performance in 2011. Not that they’re pulling a Black Crowes and going on indefinite hiatus. Rather, they just need to put in some studio time, and it won’t do to mess with live gigs while deeply engaged in the creative process. With Hinx Jones, Phenonmonal 1, Stakzilla, Blake Allee, DJ Deadrisk. 9 p.m., $5, 21+.
Dominick Farinacci at The Jazz Kitchen
Chris Botti-esque trumpeter Dominick Farinacci plays the late show at the Kitchen, touring in support of his second domestic release as a bandleader, Dawn of Goodbye, which follows on seven albums made for Japanese labels. Farinacci made his way to his current home of NYC after being featured on a Jazz at Lincoln Center special at age 17, having been hand-picked by Center bigwig Wynton Marsalis. 10 p.m., $15, 21+.
Saturday
Punk Rock Night with Joe Jack Talcum at Melody Inn
A very special Punk Rock Night featuring Anthony Genaro, aka Joe Jack Talcum, who made his name as guitarist and vocalist with goofy Philadelphia punk band The Dead Milkmen. Genaro will perform two sets: one consisting of Dead Milkmen songs; the other of his solo work, which he’s been releasing without fanfare since his Dead Milkmen days, sometimes under pseudonyms (“Halvin’ My Baby” by Butterfly Fairweather, for instance). With Gay Black Republican, The Bassturd and Danny Thompson. 10 p.m., $8, 21+.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Torche gears for Dude Fest 2011
Posted by Nick Selm on Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 6:00 AM
Formed from the broken bits of several well-loved stoner and metal bands (including the beloved Floor), the Miami-based band Torche has blazed new trails for rock music, partly by making music that's difficult to classify.
Frontman Steve Brooks acknowledges that his band’s sound is hard to define but doesn’t seem too hung up about it. “Stylistically ,“ explained Brooks in a phone interview, “we’re kinda in limbo.”
The band, whose sound conjures up the best memories of Black Sabbath, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters and Sleep, attracts for the same reasons that it repels.
“Our sound is a really cool mix," Brooks said," but I have literally seen people roll their eyes and walk out of our shows. Some people just don’t get it but I’m more interested in the people that do get it.”
Last fall, it was revealed that one of the people who “got” Torche was none other than former Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee. During a 2010 installment of Fox News’s late-night satire show Red Eye, host Greg Gutfeld brought in “resident doom metal expert” Huckabee to read a hilarious dialogue about Torche’s awesomeness.
"We had nothing to do with that," Brooks explained. “Greg Gutfeld is a big fan of ours. He wrote that dialogue and asked Huckabee to read it for the segment. Apparently he initially asked Sarah Palin to read it but she refused. She thought Greg was making fun of her.”
By reading choice lines like “Torche is the world’s greatest band, and if you haven’t heard of them you’re a probably racist homophobe," Huckabee stepped outside of his safety zone, having a little fun in the process. Calling out racist homophobes, however, was a risky move for Huckabee, considering his less-than-flattering comments directed towards the gay community during the 2008 presidential campaign.
As a member of the gay community himself, Brooks was a little confused by the whole Huckabee endorsement. Luckily for Brooks, the climate of the underground doom metal scene isn’t as rough as that of the national political scene.
“To this day, I’ve never faced any problems because of (being gay)," Brooks said. "Everyone seems to know but nobody seems to care. I just wish there were more guys who came out to shows who wanted to have sex with me.”
Torche will kick off this year’s Dude Fest along with Big Business, Helm’s Alee and local Torche enthusiasts Stilltonight at The Hoosier Dome in Fountain Square.
"This will be our third Dude Fest, I think," Brooks said. "We're really good friends with Derek [Black, founder of Dude Fest and Phoenix Bodies frontman] and we always have a good time at Dude Fest. It's hot and stinky. We love it."
For more info on Dude Fest, click HERE.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Punk & Metal Interview: Indie-punk stalwart Ted Leo
Posted by Daniel Brown on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 12:10 PM
For the past couple decades, the politically-minded singer-songwriter Ted Leo has been out on the road almost non-stop, engaging audiences with lengthy, high-energy stage shows, punk melodies and catchy falsetto hooks. A South Bend native who grew up in Jersey, Leo made a name for himself playing in a slew of punk bands during the early half of the ‘90s, notably Citizens Arrest and Chisel. After Chisel broke up in the late part of the decade, Leo went solo, releasing an experimental punk reggae album before recruiting guitarist James Canty, with whom he still performs today, and the rest of a backing band that would become The Pharmacists.
Six albums with the Pharmacists later, Leo is once again on tour, this time in commemoration of the ten-year anniversary of Tyranny of Distance, arguably the band's best album. Leo and his cohorts will swing by the Earth House on Thursday night (7 p.m., $13 advance tickets, $15 door, all-ages). We caught up with Leo last week, just as he was getting ready to leave his New York City home for the road.
***
NUVO: Will you ever stop touring?
Ted Leo: Yes (laughs). Unequivocally, yes. I mean there is no way I can continue to tour at the rate that I’ve been touring. In fact, we’ve already scaled back a lot in the last few years. I look at touring schedules from, you know, ten years ago and easily nine months out of every year we were out on the road. But these days it’s scaled down quite a bit.
NUVO: What keeps you motivated?
Leo: Well I still make music. It’s not that I don’t like to tour, it’s not that I don’t like to play live, in fact those are both some of the greatest things you can do. It’s just that as you get older there are other things that you have to give time to (laughs), you know? So it’s not that the desire to get out there and play is any less, it’s just that the desire to have some sort of a life that isn’t quite as vagabond-ish grows as well.
NUVO: You recently played Tyranny of Distance in its entirety at a tenth anniversary show in New York City. How’d it go?
Leo: Yeah, yeah it was great. You know it’s funny. Over the course of the last ten years since that album came out we have added a lot songs to our potential catalogue. But there are very few that we have dropped or stopped playing. So even though I can look at the back of the record and count up three songs that we never really play on it, the idea of approaching the record as a whole record still felt like it was going to be more daunting or more like, weighty and momentous. But actually, once we got out there and played it, it was kind of like, ‘Oh we play most of these songs anyway,’ (laughs) so it wasn’t quite as heavy for me as I expected it to be. But for the people in the audience, hopefully it had a desired effect. The greatest thing was that we played a few songs first before we started the album. I didn’t make any announcement that we were going to start playing the album, but when I started playing the riff to the first song on the album (Biomusicology), the crowd really rose up and from then on it did feel kind of ‘magical,’ if I can use such a ridiculous word.
NUVO: Did the show bring back fond memories?
Leo: Oh yeah, definitely. I actually spent the whole week leading up to that show doing a series of blog posts on my website going through a lot of those memories. And actually I needed to take a bit of an Internet break after that. But there is a lot more that I have to say about that era and I think that as the rest of year continues I am going to try and keep putting out some of those remembrances and stories.
NUVO: Speaking of the blog and the Internet, you seem to be a pretty big fan of social media.
Leo: My relationship to the entire idea of what I do is based in the idea of a conversation. You know, in the pre-Internet days that meant literally talking to people all the time on tour. Then when email came around I really used it very well. Before the social media things came down the pike I had my own website that I was coding in HTML in the late ‘90s. And I would set aside one night every week to answer every email that I got, and I would do it and it was fun. Then MySpace came along and I got involved in that. The pressure from all of these social media things really got to be too much. A lot of people are more engaged with their MySpace and Facebook pages that I cared to be and I kind of ran from those of those things screaming. Now I really just use them to get out information. But I do interact pretty heavily on Twitter and I don’t know what it is about that particular format but I think because it’s so limited in your ability to carry on anything extended, it just makes it freer and more fun. You can blast out information, you can answer questions quickly, and if it requires something deeper I can say to somebody ‘Hit me up on email.’ That was long winded but the point I was trying to make is that…these days there is a necessity factor to it. It is just part of the job at this point and it’s wise to maintain some sort of presence. But really each step of the way I have really enjoyed these new ways to interact and it’s been an extension of my desire to keep a conversation going between my audience and myself.
NUVO: Recently the digital music service Spotify launched in US. You tweeted: "Spotify! Psyched to get back all the dough I’ve lost on downloads over the year’s by playing my songs 200,000,000 times each." Have you broken your mouse yet?
Leo: Well the joke about that is on Spotify… artists only get paid something like 0.000029 cents per stream (laughs). So my point was that in order to make any money off of those songs I would have to click each one 200,000,000 times (laughs).
NUVO: So I’m assuming you haven’t downloaded Spotify.
Leo: I have actually! I pay for premium membership. It’s a great service and a great way to explore stuff. Then I’ll go buy it somewhere when I can actually, uh, buy stuff. iTunes or Amazon or whatever.
NUVO: Who are you listening to these days?
Leo: Over the last week I’ve backed down into a deep hole of kind of glam era proto-punk. Everything from Suzi Quatro to Sensational Alex Harvey Band and the Doctors of Madness, stuff like that.
NUVO: Let’s backtrack a bit. Your latest release Brutalist Bricks had some fire behind it. Were you feeling particularly inspired during its process?
Leo: Um, yes. Yes. But not in any way that I haven’t been in making any other record, do you know what I mean? By the time we make the decision to get in the studio and make the definitive versions of these songs that we’ve been working on, um, I always feel very excited and energized.
NUVO: You have been known to add political insight into your songs. Did the Bush Era spark any of the songs on Brutalist Bricks, say for example “Bottled In Cork”?
Leo: In all honesty I don’t really consider that to be much about the Bush Era. I suppose in some ways it’s a coda or an addendum to “The Ballad Of The Sin Eater,” which is another kind of travelogue epic that was very much a part of the Bush Era landscape. But, “Bottled In Cork” is a little more from the time it was written, which was you know, in which things had transcended and Bush being the focal point of everyone’s energy. And the idea of finding both common cause and community out in the world and also finding the ways in which one remains a person apart from the rest of the world under any American leadership, which really doesn’t change that much.
NUVO: Anything in the news fueling any new recordings?
Leo: (laughs) I mean there is always stuff going on. I am largely, like, so ridiculously dejected by the state of political discourse. If you thought that it was bad during the Bush years, it’s just a sideshow right now. And I don’t really find much to even get angry about. I am just kind of disgusted and good songs don’t really come from disgust (laughs), so you know I am waiting for something to get angry about.
NUVO: Do you feel obligated to write political songs for other people? Those you feel are being wronged?
Leo: Well it depends on what you mean. When you say, ‘those who are being wronged,’ I would see that more as like inspired to write political songs about something like that. The people who are being wronged are usually just people like you and me and I have felt like I owe a song to that. The flipside is that I think sometimes people put too many expectations on other people to give them what they want at a particular moment. There have been times when people have been like, ‘How come you haven’t written a song about this or aren’t speaking out about that?’ And what are you gonna say? It’s like, ‘Well, you’re fired up about it, when don’t you write a song about it?’ (laughs) I’ll get to it eventually; I’ll get to what’s firing me up eventually.
NUVO: Any new recordings in the works?
Leo: I’m writing a lot but as far as recording goes the answer is technically no. But that’s coming down the pike. I am trying to figure out how we are going to do our next record, but there will be something.
NUVO: You recently played a long string of solo gigs. Do you have a preference between going out solo or playing with The Pharmacists?
Leo: I don’t really have a preference. I mean, well, it’s tough to say because I really really really love many things about both formats. I just did a three-week tour solo during the spring and it was one of the most fun trips I think I have ever done in my life. A solo show for me is usually a lot more conversational and it’s really fun for me to re-approach my songs. I naturally have to play them different when I am not playing in a band. And there is a freedom for me to stretch out and do different things that I don’t really have in the band context. Having said that, if I was ever faced with a choice with not being able to play with a loud rock band behind me, I would not want to lose that. If I had to choose between one or the other, there are very few things for me that I get as much of a high from, than playing with my awesome band that I love.
NUVO: What kind of setlist can we expect on Thursday?
Leo: Um, well I don’t know, that would be telling wouldn’t it?
NUVO: I think it would be.
Leo: Generally the answer is a shitload of songs, probably more than most people would want to hear (laughs), spanning the whole time we’ve played music together. We haven’t really decided whether we are going to do the whole Tyranny of Distance album again. We have to kind of get back out on the road and see how we feel about that, but maybe that will happen.
NUVO: When it’s all said and done, how do you want to be remembered?
Leo: Hmm…Not many people ask that usually. Interesting. (long silence). I don’t know. I suppose there is one side of me, the kind of defiant punk kid that’s still in me that really just wants to be remembered as the person who never gave up. Never sold out, never gave up, just kept pushing into the grave, you know? That said, it would also really be nice to hear, ‘Well that guy wrote some great songs.’ (laughs). If I get approached by one or the other at some point, that would be nice.
Rock Review: Cass McCombs at White Rabbit
Posted by Grant Catton on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 12:00 PM
Cass McCombs, Lower Dens
July 24, White Rabbit Cabaret
3.5 stars
Baltimore-via-everywhere-based singer-songwriter Cass McCombs opened for himself on Sunday at the White Rabbit, due to the fact that scheduled opening act Lower Dens had some travel issues. Perhaps for that reason, the show seemed to get off to a slow start. Or maybe it’s just the subdued, opaque quality of much of McCombs’ work. His songs have the lyrically-rich, laboriously-instrumented quality of contemporary indie/folk music, but there’s a wild card that makes McCombs unique. It is a darker, more moody, vibe which seems to evoke a “morning after” kind of feeling. At the same time, some of his songs are free-strumming and loose, with enough of a grass-roots twang to them that they could seemingly slip into Grateful Dead-like jams at any moment.
Case in point: opening song “Prima Donna,” from McCombs's 2009 album Catacombs, a chorus-less ramble that employs careful percussion behind a free-strummed acoustic guitar, thus feeling more like the prelude to an extended guitar jam than a stand-alone song. continues with McCombs’s characteristically disjointed, inscrutable and sometimes simply unintelligible lyrics. McCombs moved right on to “Lonely Doll” from his latest album, Wit’s End: a sweeter, sway-inducing song with brushes providing the rhythm, and a high, tinkling keyboard melody that follows McCombs's voice and adds a lullaby-like quality.
A few songs in, McCombs moved on to the opening track from Wit’s End, the carefully measured and moodily sentimental “County Line.” The song has a charming, keyboard-driven melody that almost sounds like its being played on a child’s Casio. While his rendition of the song was spot-on with the album version, it lacked a little bit of life. It seemed slowed down to the point where the crowd seemed in danger of falling asleep.
The audience didn’t really seem to get involved until McCombs played a driving, surfy version of “Dreams Come True Girl," on which it finally seemed like McCombs let the band’s leash out a little bit, letting his keyboardist close with a dusky, prog-rock feeling solo.
From then on it was as if McCombs found the appropriate pulse for the show: every song after that found its way to a sort of tightly-controlled jam, and it also seemed like the band was having a bit more fun. This was especially evident on songs like the “Bobby, King of Boys Town,” an homage to male adolescence (“Where’d you learn to smoke, cause you’re doing it all wrong…”). The song is such stripped-down, American rock- and-roll that it’s trance-inducing: it’s the kind of riff a bunch of teenagers might stumble-upon while jamming in the garage one afternoon. And that’s precisely what makes it so perfect.
Still, one can’t help but feel that — last night at least — McCombs wasn’t letting the leash out far enough, and that both he and his band could’ve pushed the envelope a lot further both in terms of the energy of the performance and the technical flourish exhibited by the band’s jams. They just seemed to be reining themselves in for some reason, as McCombs seemed to cut the songs off just as they were getting interesting.
When Lower Dens finally made it to the stage, they played to a somewhat diminished but considerably more enthusiastic crowd, making one think they had some serious fans in attendance. Their bass-heavy psych-rock carries an eerie, “graveyard at midnight” kind of quality to it (their song "Tea Lights" being a prime example), with minor chords that seem to bore directly into one’s emotions.
Rock Review: Bon Iver at Murat Theatre
Posted by Micah Ling on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 9:44 AM
Bon Iver, The Rosebuds
Murat Theatre at Old National Centre, July 26
4.5 stars
“Oh, hey.” Justin Vernon, bandleader for Wisconsin indie-folk outfit Bon Iver, greeted the Murat crowd as if he had just happened upon them in his living room.
Sometimes it’s energy that makes or breaks a show, and there was definitely something going on between the band and audience Monday night. They were quiet when they were supposed to be, and they clapped and sang along as if it were all choreographed. One of the band’s camera guys even came out to document it — capturing the packed Murat with all hands up, making “J’s” as per Vernon’s request, for their label, Jagjaguwar, out of Bloomington
The music sounded refined, despite a few technical glitches. Vernon’s trademark falsetto sounded as good as it does on the album, starkly contrasting with the deep speaking voice in which he cracked jokes between songs. The band managed to isolate sounds — first silence, then a beat and a bell, each in its proper place.
If anyone was worried that Vernon had lost his Wisconsin roots, he hasn’t. He looked a bit like a pioneer. These guys were clearly seasoned at performing, but they kept things fresh, jumping back and forth between older stuff and songs from the newest album, Bon Iver, released in June. The audience knew it all.
Bon Iver jammed a bit on “Michicant,” which made for a more rocking, danceable version than the original. Same with “Blood Bank,” the full sound of which — two drum kits, horns, strings and synth all working at once — may have taken some by surprise.
“Holocene” cast its trance, but they rallied the crowd’s energy back with an encore that included a Bjork cover and an audience-participation version of “Wolves,” from Bon Iver's debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. This show was beautiful.
By the time Bon Iver had finished their set, it was hard to even remember that there had been an opening band. That’s not to fault The Rosebuds: they earned their keep. Their vocals were muffled, but “Woods” was memorable, and Ivan Howard even managed a rock 'n' roll kick.
