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Guest List: White Life
We Talk Musical Influences and Favorites with White Life
As hopeless music lovers, musical etymology is always fascinating to us. Learning what made a certain work what it is always gives us a richer understanding and appreciation of someone’s craft.
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“Punk goes pop. It’s fun and guilt slowly dissipates. At the apex of the joy of “do-it-yourself” and the joy of pure pop, this song, its unintelligible lyrics, it’s giddy part-time-singer. “ |
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Jackson 5 (Clifton Davis) – Never Can Say Goodbye “This is Opera. Little Micheal brings the listener in somberly. As his emotions increase, so does the volume of the instruments, the intensity of his voice and the connectivity with the listener. A collision of genius, hard work, viability and undeniable performance. It’s my Mothers cell phone ringtone to boot. “ |
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“Almost stream-of-consciousness, a freewheeling exercise in defying the expected within the confines of the best sounds available. Once the perfect beat is found, whatever else is done inside is permissible, and enjoyed. A song that perhaps was an experiment in creating sonic serotonin; a Petri Dish of the most pleasurable imaginable chords, sounds, words and melodies. ” |
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“Where does this teenage romance meet the jaded singles game?” No, not a dance track, but raw raw raw lyrics and performance that leap out 30 years later. That’s power. I’ve listened to this song 300 times and it’s magic, still compelling. Anyone making songs should strive to this hugeness. |
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New Edition – She Gives Me A Bang “What makes Zappa fringe and New Edition commercial? Get out of the context of Arthur Baker/NY electro-rap hipness/Jackson 5 revival, and this track is a very weird experiment in danceable bubblegum. Speed, key-changes, a universal truth, and a child guides us through. A near-perfectly composed headtrip. Evil genius Maurice Starr knows that we’re all vulnerable children, gettn “bangs,” and his ability to manipulate both his cash-cow performers as well as his listeners, while clearly questionable, is astounding. Is he in jail?” |
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“Modern folk music. My mother didn’t cook while humming Irish ditties, my neighbor wasn’t in the street playing fiddle tunes. Traditional folk music came to me later in life when I sought it out. The music that just arrived in my brain for the first 13 or so years of my existence was radio pop. Before my brain was fully formed I was hearing straight FM sugar. I knew Donny was my favorite New Kid On The Block before I had ever heard "Amazing Grace" (which I heard for the first time on a frequently running infomercial on cable TV). I wasn’t a conscious being when this song, or others much like it were popular or predominant, but between my sisters’ teeny-bopper music fandom of the period and my parents enjoyment of the radio, my unconscious brain learned this song, built connotations and stored them forever. Hearing this song has a very real neurological effect on me. I also like the bassline.?” |
mp3 – White Life – Time Is Wasting
mp3 – White Life – I Just Want Love
Pick up White Life’s S/T album here
Posted by Karl Malone | 2 Comments
Guestlist: Yuck
We Talk Musical Influences and Favorites with Yuck
As hopeless music lovers, musical etymology is always fascinating to us. Learning what made a certain work what it is always gives us a richer understanding and appreciation of someone’s craft. In this guest list we linked up with UK’s Yuck, who released their fantastic debut album on Fat Possum earlier this year.
Catch Yuck on tour with Unknown Mortal Orchestra in the US through July and over seas through out the fall.
We’ve got 5 pairs of tickets to their 7/18 show at Turner Hall to give away.Drop a comment here, on our facebook, @reply us on twitter to win one.
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“The lyrics are so great. pure x are like the new galaxie 500. i think their new album will be incredible.” |
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“An amazing new london band. they just released an EP free with a funny zine. their songs are really beautiful and melodic. the songwriting is actually mind-blowing. i love the perfectly out-of tune guitar solo at the end of this song. and the rest of it. it’s a perfect perfect perfect pop song.” |
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LUCINDA WILLIAMS – BLUE |
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“I have recently been listening non-stop to the album ‘Souvlaki’ by Slowdive, this is my favorite song from that album. I find the sounds and instrumentation of this song so unbelievably powerful and emotional.” (Max) |
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The Velvet Underground – Sister Ray “This track was recorded in one take and sounds so dirty in every sense. Deep pacific love…” (Mariko) |
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Ozma – Game Over |
More on Yuck here:
http://www.seizurechicken.com/tag/yuck/
Posted by Karl Malone | 0 Comments
introducing: Andy Petr
I got an email in my inbox imploring I listen to the young and prolific, 19-year old Milwaukean, Andy Petr, who has recently signed to Brooklyn-based Mixpak records. Naturally the snob in me asked my self, “who? how has this slipped past me? This isn’t the Chester Cheetohs French dude is it?”. hahaha. no. The answer to this could involve the current segregation of music scenes, et all, in our fair town but really, that’s for a different time/post.
Anywho, I got caught up with Andy and asked him a bunch of questions about his music making process, signing to MixPak, and the club scene in Milwaukee.
His debut release Rapper Turned Singer EP will be released on May 10th. Andy also plans to deliver an onslaught of free EPs that include original material as well as the heavy reworkings of some of his favorite rap songs. The first free EP is entitled APD004.
mp3 – Andy Petr – Rapper Turned Singer
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Karl Malone: Your releasing your EP, Rapper Turned Singer, on Mixpak May 10th. Can you tell us a little bit about how this came about? What have your past couple months been like?
Andy Petr: I’ve been in touch with Dre Skull for about a year now. Basically I was sending songs to him all last summer, and in the Fall he offered me the contract. All the trax on Rapper Turned Singer are from this time-frame and reflect that period of my life. The past couple months I’ve been making tons of music as usual. Just finished a piece for piano and tape!
KM: Being from Milwaukee, what are your thoughts on the local electronic music scene? Do you play club shows?
AP: The local scene is basically non-existent. I’ve played two solo shows so far at clubs, one with DJ Dog Dick and Sewn Leather. If anything interesting does happen in MKE it’s almost always affiliated with Juiceboxxx, Vicious Pop Records, or Catacombz. I don’t want to come off as a Milwaukee hater but honestly I’ve been playing shows in various projects around the city all the time I was in high school through now and I’ve just never seen anyone more than a small minority of heads catch on to anything very interesting. People here mostly seem to be content with sterile-ass garage rock Black Lips soundalikes they can get drunk to. There also seems to be a growing audience for god-awful shit wobble dubstep and ultra-corny electro-house. Not going to name any names but I don’t fuk with that, u know…. It really bums me out to be honest…. It’s really discouraging. I’m trying to move away.
Wisconsin had a considerable electronic scene in the 1990s with a number of warehouse parties/raves going on (Daft Punk played their first North American show at a rave in the woods in the middle of WI) but it seems like that all dissipated quite a while before my time.
KM: How has your reception from Milwaukee been?
AP: I know a small number of friends that have always been into what I’ve been doing. It’s cool and I definitely have infinite gratefulness for the people here who are into my music.What is your creative process like? Who/what would you say influences your music?My creative process is complex and ever-evolving but has always been framed by my personal aesthetic vision. The most vital/note-worthy part of my process is that I channel all my feeling, inspiration, technique, etc. through this vision for the final outcome that you hear. A track is a three-dimensional sculpture in my mind, and I sequence and arrange layers for its overall sonic curvature to express maximum sublimity and emotional impact. I intend for my music to be observed as part of a larger canon of artistic achievement throughout the past couple centuries rather than any current scene/movement.
KM: Who are some of your favorite artists? (past/present)
AP: J Dilla, Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky, Daft Punk, Derrick May, Steve Reich, Kraftwerk, Nas, Arthur Russell, Talking Heads, Aphex Twin, Black Flag, John Cage, Stravinsky, Pharrell, Mussorgsky, Kanye, Philip Glass, so many more…What are your plans for the future? (i.e. releasing more albums, playing live shows)I intend to move to NYC sometime this year, hopefully this summer. Still waiting to hear back from a school…. I’d like to start playing as many shows as possible in clubs w/ good sound-systems, promoters get at me!
I’ve got tons of new music coming out through Mixpak, two more official EPs and tons of free stuff too. APD004 just came out but I’m already 8 songs deep into APD009 if that puts it into perspective. If anyone would like to hear exclusive songs/put them on their blog or whatever, they should get in touch because I’m finishing new ones daily.I’ve also done beats for Juiceboxxx’s forthcoming full-length and also Houston rapperFat Tony. Just finished a remix for Death Grips. Collaborations with Sydney’s Dro Carey. I’m also talking about collaborating with harpist Rebekah Raff! Keep paying attention, y’all.
KM: What are your thoughts on the Bronze Fonz?
AP: NO COMMENT
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Hannibal King Interview
We need more dudes like this in hip-hop. This interview felt more like shooting the shit with a friend. Thanks to Hannibal. Be sure cop dudes work and be sure to check out Visual High Life for more of the same caliber of dope-ness. Cop his tunes here.
The Baron (Mike Dupar): So what type of musical environment did you grow up in?
Hannibal King: I grew up listening to a lot of soul music from the the 70′s and late 60′s. My family didn’t really let me listen to a lot of hip-hop when I was young. So anything I did listen to I had to listen to outside, thats why a lot of our music has a real soul edge to it. I sample a lot, everything I do with vinyls and stuff. The soul music I grew up listening to really is the biggest influence on me.
M: For sure, I think that is really apparent in the music. One my favorite things about your beats is that they sound really organic. Do you strive for that or is that naturally how it comes out?
Hannibal: I don’t like my stuff sounding too choppy or too synthetic. I really dig the whole dirty vibe, like making tapes off the radio. When you sample straight from a vinyl or any music from back then you get a lot of beautifulness, it’s a beautiful sound, its heavy, it’s everywhere, it’s earthy.
M: Yeah I prefer that to the crap over-produced shit.
Hannibal: There’s a lot of shit out there. I mean it’s funny cause thats what sells, but I don’t like making that kind of shit.
M: You ever feel like you have to compromise yourself for what you want to do sometimes in order to appeal to certain demographics or to get a little more fame?
Hannibal: I’ve done it before, you know I can’t lie. I’ve worked with artists I normally wouldn’t work with, because I knew it would bring something to me. I had to change up my style/make a beat that sounded like something i’d never do. I’m sure if you look somewhere in my repertoire you’ll find some shit thats embarrassing but thats just how you gotta do it, you know sometimes you gotta sacrifice a few things, cause in the long run more people will hear the type of stuff i’d normally make and that’s what really matters.
M: I feel like right now you get pigeon-holed or categorized as a main-stream or a back-pack dude.
Hannibal: I get called a back-packer all the time.
M: I don’t even know what that really is.
Hannibal: Honestly I just like making music that I can feel. The type of shit I like, I’m not going to make something else to avoid someone calling me a name or some shit like that. It’s hip-hop. It’s dope shit you know what I mean it’s chill shit, it’s something I can smoke to, to be honest with you, thats one of the biggest intimates.
M: So growing up for like everyone there are a few monumental albums that helped define you musically and as a person. You got a few of those?
Hannibal: Yeah, Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest. As I got older stuff like Doomsday by MF Doom and I’m a huge Madlib beat-tape fan but a lot of Tribe. Lost Boyz were coming up too. I grew up on a lot of early G-Unit before they really sold out, it was a lot more raw back then, they didn’t care about how they should sound, they just went into the booth and talked shit for like 30 minutes. I mean its the idea of what they were doing, not really what they were saying but the idea of what they were doing. Coming up from the same neighborhood as those guys it really influenced me. Midnight Marauders is definitely one of the most influential albums and Blu. Blu is one of my biggest influences, I recently got to do some work with his camp, it was really nice working with them, they’re on the same wave-length that I guess you would say I’m on.
M: Yeah what he (Blu) did with Exile was pretty awesome.
Hannibal: Aw man “Show me the Good Life” and “Cold Hearted” those are some of my favorite songs of all time. Below the Heavens may be one of my favorite albums of all time.
M: It’s funny you brought up G-Unit too (laughs) Beg For Mercy is a classic in my book, a lot of people look at me funny but that album is the shit.
Hannibal: Yeah there old shit was really raw, you know thats what was dope about it. But then it got to a point where it was forced and contrived, it’s sad but 50 Cent years ago used to have some real talent. It’s funny cause people wouldn’t expect me to say I like Tribe, Madlib, MF Doom and 50 Cent but I mean thats what it is, its just raw shit. Mos Def is another big influence, I can’t believe I didn’t name him. Black on Both Sides and Black Star, those were dope ass albums too.
M: Did you like the New Danger?
Hannibal: Yeah I loved the New Danger actually! Most people don’t but at the time thats what I was into, you know?
M: Yeah that album’s beautiful.
Hannibal: Yeah he was on that before a lot of other people were. Kanye was producing for them back then it was dope shit.
M: so yeah I should get back to my notes.
(laughs)
M: So whats one of your favorite memories pertaining to music?
Hannibal: Ooh, I guess my first time actually making a placement, it was like 2 years ago, I did a track for this guy, JB. He showed me a lot of love before I really had gotten anywhere production wise. That was one of the most influential things in my career, back then I didn’t know what I was gonna do but he showed me a lot of love and kinda mentored me. JB is a dope artist out from Oklahoma and he really helped me get to where I am. Among other artists I mean my photographer here PDA, without him I wouldn’t be here, he was sort of a manager to me before other people were. Meeting him really helped me get to where I am today. Between the two of those, I can’t really decide between meeting the two of them but meeting one of them is definitely the most memorable thing.
M: So the beat-tape, I can’t remember the last time I was so stoked about one, let alone came across a full tape. What motivated you to do that and how you feel about beat-tapes in general?
Hannibal: I think producers should do more beat tapes. I hear a lot of producers doing compilations now and thats what I tried to follow when I first came out but I started listening to other cats like Madlib and Dilla. Donuts is one of my most influential albums and i’d listen to Madlib’s beat-tapes and Doom’s Herbs and Spices and I was like why am I sitting here trying to get artists on my stuff when I know I can make a style on it’s own just with my beats. Thats what led me to doing that, it turned out a lot better than I thought it would.
M: Naw man its great, I really dig it. Have you listened to Madlib’s Medicine Show series at all?
Hannibal: Yeah I love all his stuff, I wanna move out to LA and get a job with them (Stones Throw), Madlib does shit other people can’t, I can’t even see how he does some of his stuff sometimes, he’s on a whole nother level.
M: Is there anyone your really itching to work with, I feel like I could probably guess who that would be now but…
Hannibal: (laughs) I guess production wise Madlib, but rap wise probably Blu. Blu more than anyone I guess, maybe Mos Def or Doom. They’re just real influential. I’m also a big fan of Curren$y and the stuff he’s been doing is really dope. Better than his old stuff with (Lil’) Wayne and shit. I’m glad he got out of there and finally was able to do what he wanted to do, that whole camp is dope. Blu is definitely one of my favorite emcees, we were supposed to do work before but it fell through, so that was a heart-breaker, but hopefully sooner or later we’ll do something.
M: I think it’ll go down, I see y’all working well together, I mean i’d listen to it.
Hannibal: (laughs) Thank you man, I need to move out to LA. Search him down or something.
M: I’m trying to move to New York within the next couple years, whats the scene like there. I feel like now its west coast or east coast, I got a boy who’s doing his rap thing and I’m always telling him he needs to go to New York but your saying the opposite.
Hannibal: I love the game out in LA man, you got a lot of artists coming up like Blu, Pac Div, and U-N-I, there are a lot of dudes coming out of there doing alternative stuff. New York is lead by a lot cats who are stuck in 10 or 20 years ago and they don’t really experiment or do what they wanna do. It’s commercial without being commercial, know what I mean, it’s kind of sad but I mean there are always a couple new dope things that you find. New York is dope though, you can get shit done, there are definitely plenty of people to meet and get somewhere but I just think the music in LA is just a lot better right now. I’m probably gonna catch heat from some New York rappers for saying that but the music in LA is on another level right now.
M: Well thats interesting…So what are you working on right now?
Hannibal: I have an album coming out with Remy Banks of Children of the Night, that album should be coming out late fall probably around october/ early november and we have a compilation for Villains Gone Bad, I get a lot of remixes in, you know I’m not a huge fan of compilation albums but it’d be nice to showcase some underground artists who hit me up with free-styles who may never get played anywhere else. So if I have the capability to help them get heard somewhere I might as well do it.
M: Anything you’d like to add?
Hannibal: Check out that album with Remy Banks and make sure you go to seizurechicken.com to hear some dope music, your blog was pretty dope man, I saw that you guys had King Khan & BBQ Show, I love that band man.
M: Who else do you fuck with outside of rap?
Hannibal: I got into Girls lately, I know thats weird, I got into Harlem… I love Harlem, Harlem’s shit is dope. I don’t wanna be obvious and say bands like Grizzly Bear but a lot of that underground dirty sounding, 70′s punk rock but still relevant today, that shit is dope. Man, Harlem might be my favorite non hip-hop group out there. I missed them recently due to studio time conflicts. Definitely wanna see them though. They had a song called “South of France” and I thinks thats one of the first songs I heard from them and it just blew my mind to hear that. If I could ever make music outside of hip-hop it’d be something like that.
Posted by Karl Malone | 0 Comments
Interview w/ Happy Birthday + “Perverted Girl” Live @ Cactus Club
[video shot by High Frequency Media - interviews by SeizureChicken]
Kyle Thomas is just about as cool a front man as you can find. We shot the shit out side of the Cactus Club while Kyle and the rest of Happy Birthday mentally prepared for the show (which ended up being one of the best of the tour – one of the best Club show’s I’ve seen in a while).
Big thanks to High Frequency Media for working with us again and producing another great video. Dudes are getting really, really good.
Posted by Avanhizzle | 0 Comments
Interview: Strand of Oaks talks Strand of Oaks, His Great New Record, Pope Killdragon, and His Cool Father-in Law
MP3: Strand of Oaks- Sterling (live at The Nave, August 8, 2008)
About two weeks ago I went to see a friend play in a basement in Madison, WI. Before and after the set Tim Showalter, the man behind Strand of Oaks and I didn’t cover anything too heavy. In a short period of time we touched on the stigma attached to the Grateful Dead, the musical chops of Robbie Krieger, pre and post ‘hair’ Billy Corgan, and Michael Jordan’s retirement speech. And when I saw him the next night we talked about baseball, Lebron James and whiskey. In those two meetings it seems that we talked about almost everything except his fantastic new record, Pope Killdragon, that was set to be released as an eMusic exclusive four short days after his three stops in the Midwest.
Now he may be humble and he might have been excited to be amongst friends, old and new, but I can only assume that he wants Pope Killdragon to speak for itself. An album that blends proggy sytnths with reverb-laden folk drenched in echo can only be expected to recite its own glory. Or I can assume that after telling him that the first interview I ever did with a musician was full of one word responses and awkward silences, that he saw a week into the future and wanted the interview that I had yet to ask him to do to touch many of the bases that we didn’t cover over those two days. And that’s exactly what this interview does.
Meet Tim Showalter, the album that is the result of the ‘hardest work he’s ever done’ and some of the many people that he takes with him wherever he goes.
Can you take us through a brief backstory of’ “Oaks’ and it’s many incarnations. Where it started, what you thought it would be…
Strand of Oaks’ first “official” show was in the Summer of 2003. The band was a three-piece and I played the organ. We didn’t have a vocalist, but we played a Noam Chomsky speech over the music. It was really loud, but I remember it being quite good. I actually can’t take credit for the band name. My friend Josh thought it up.
Then the fire happened and all of my cool gear burned. So this changed my original “post rock” pursuit of the band – not because I liked acoustic more, but rather because that’s the only instrument I had. This began the long journey of writing songs, going on awesome tours, and making records over the past seven years. Honestly, Strand of Oaks has been such a consuming part of my life it’s getting harder to sum it up. It’s just a big chunk of my biography.
The best way to explain where the band started would be to describe it like high school. Initially, I was an awkward freshman with absolutely no clue how to achieve the few goals that I had. Now I feel like a senior. Obviously, I’ve grown in confidence and vision but I’m also constantly aware that I need to move on to college. I’ve reached most of my initial goals but now I have an entire new set of them to strive for. It’s exciting but also daunting at the same time.
There’s a lot of interesting stories behind your new record, Pope Killdragon, can we start with the title and then can you maybe tell us a bit about the rad cover art? Someday I’m hoping to see you play out with the cover of this record as a huge backdrop.
Yes! Now we’re working on the same level! That backdrop would be AMAZING!
Pope Killdragon has been with me for a long time. The title actually first made its appearance way back in 2005 on a cassette I made for my friend Peter. I used to record in the bathroom where the reverb was good. Often I would just make up songs and stories and dictate them into the tape player. The night I made the Killdragon tape I must have felt especially inspired. I wrote the basic structure to the songs, Sister Evangeline, Killdragon, and a few others, all in one pass.
So the concept of Pope Killdragon started from a random place. As the years and songs grew, I think that’s when the idea of Killdragon became much more solidified. It’s all very autobiographical. Listening to the record I’m still not sure if that’s obvious or obscured by the lyrics. Either way, I feel like this one has more room for interpretation than Leave Ruin. I’d prefer to just leave that up to the listener.
The cover art is a perfect example of how this album was created – meeting new people and totally trusting in their talent (often blindly). When I moved to Philly, I struck up an instant friendship with a guy named Morgan King. He lives right in my neighborhood and is the founder of Yer Bird Records. It’s not often that a folk connoisseur just randomly lives down the street from you. As Morgan and I become closer, I got to know his brother Alex really well. I quickly learned that Alex is a quiet artistic genius. As the record started to come together, Morgan suggested that I look at some of Alex’s work. Needless to say, within five minutes in Alex’s apartment, we had the cover art. It was almost scary how perfect his work represented the songs. We are already planning the artwork for the vinyl release. The only clue I can give now is that it will include a map.
Can you talk a little about the recording process and the mixing of it? You know; Akron, OH, synthesizers, and all that?
I approached recording the same way I blindly trusted the King brother’s talent. The only plan I had initially for recording was to do it somewhere outside of my comfort zone. I wanted to really test my abilities in making a record on my own.
The record was recorded in two parts. The initial tracking was done at my friend Nicolas Lill’s studio in Grand Haven, Michigan. I met Nic by chance earlier this past Fall and we both nerded out over Billy Corgan. I instantly loved him for that. I spent one of the most special weeks of my life living and recording in Grand Haven. It was during the Christmas season, so we spent many late nights after recording walking to Lake Michigan and seeing the lights reflecting off the water. Nic is very patient and precise. He is an amazing electronic musician which really complemented the recording. His personality was the perfect counterpoint to my often extremely manic behavior. His quiet but confident taste helped me stay focused through the recording. I ended my time in Michigan with the most beautiful sendoff. Nic’s family invited me to come to their annual party. Usually, I dislike jumping into other people’s traditions, but this was different. At the end of the party, we all sat in a circle and shared what we were thankful for. Hearing everyone share their stories was something too special to describe here. That experience in Michigan healed many things in my life that had been broken for a long time.
The second half of the record was made in Akron. Again, I randomly met Ben Vehorn while I was on tour. My tourmate Joe Scott suggested I check out his studio. Meeting Ben was probably the smartest thing I did all year. Having only the tracks finished, I lacked a clear idea as to how I wanted the finished record to sound. Going to Akron made this record a reality. I’m going to let Ben’s inevitable Tape Op interview describe his approach and techniques to recording (I would never do it justice). I was almost intimidated by how strong of a force he was. In person, Ben is a gentle, wonderful soul. But he quickly becomes a wizard when it comes to sonic exploration. He essentially recomposed the record without playing any instruments. The most important aspect of our collaboration was Ben’s ability to make me feel comfortable with my ideas. He was able to interpret sonically the insane ramblings of what I wanted things to sound like. A typical studio conversation between us:
Tim: “Ben, can we make that synth sound like an angel, riding a comet, while yielding a pink lightsaber?”
Ben: “Sure!”
That basically sums up the genius of Ben. We are already plotting the next record. I want him to play a much larger role in the process next time.
As for synthesizers, we used probably 20 various vintage keyboards on the record. I messed up a take once because I realized I was playing a synth that I’ve been dreaming about for the past 15 years. His studio is equivalent to me visiting the Playboy Mansion when I was twelve – a surreal experience.
SUPER LOADED QUESTION- Moving on to the pulp, content wise, Leave Ruin was the product of incidents and accidents or devastating things in your life that writing and recording about helped you through. It was a major look into just what was going on in your world when you were writing those tunes…How would you say that writing this record was different? Was it more difficult? Challenging? What was your inspiration this time around?
The writing of this record overlapped with Leave Ruin. It took so long to make Leave Ruin that by the time that came out, Killdragon was 90 percent written. Leave Ruin was very singular in content, while Killdragon is pretty expansive. I like to think that both records are sad in nature, but rarely negative.
Actually, making Killdragon was more emotional than Leave Ruin. Killdragon is trying to find healing from much larger topics and issues in my life. There was a certain desperation in trying to find peace in a lot of the lyrics.
I’m still not exactly sure if there was any main inspiration with the record. I would say that a major theme was a desire to be a child again. At a certain point, I realized how terrifying adulthood was becoming. Stable forces in my life were changing rapidly and even dying. Thinking about it now, Leave Ruin seemed to be hell-bent on escaping parts of my life but Killdragon often desires to return to the safe places. If that sounds too self referencing, I’m sorry, I’m crazy.
Did the move from Wilkes-Barre to Philly effect you in anyway?
Absolutely. I really haven’t been the same since I left Wilkes-Barre. It felt like I had to leave a wonderful relationship for reasons beyond my control. Obviously, I will go anywhere my wife needs to be. She is the center of my world. In a way, moving to Philly made us much closer. Our world really just became us then. That is by far the best thing we got out of moving.
It’s very hard for me to go back to Wilkes-Barre though. In a way, it saved me and brought upon everything great in my life now. I enjoy living in Philadelphia, but when the time is right, we will most likely move back the Wyoming Valley.
The addition of synthesizers is quite a fun experience. I feel that it adds depth and dimension to your sound, where does your love for synth sounds come from?
I had a really tough adolescence. I was diagnosed with a severe case of juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was about 12. It was a terrible struggle to even get out of bed in the morning. Certain joints on my body actually started to freeze. I had gotten through intense physical therapy sessions that only seemed to make me feel worse. I was then over-prescribed medication that gave me constant stomach problems. This, on top of puberty, made me sink into some really dark places. The natural cycle of isolation and rebellion was only magnified by the physical pain.
I’m not telling this to garner any sympathy, but to show how much I needed to escape. In seventh grade, I met my friend Dustin Howie. He started giving me all of these incredible acid house, breakbeat, and trance records that just blew my mind. I would put my headphones on and be able to completely escape into the music. After a while, Dustin got a hold of some gear and we started to mess around with making music. He was already light-years of ahead of me, but my main job was tweaking his Novation Bass Station. We spent the next few years playing together and learning more about electronic music. Since synths were very faux-pas in the “grunge” years, it was hard to find much information on them. We eventually got better equipment and actually made some beautiful stuff. But we ended up moving to different sides of the country, so that kind of ended. Dustin went on to make some exceptional dance music, while I started a folk band.
I will always be deeply grateful to Dustin for those moments in his basement. It just makes life a weird game, too. I’m certain I wouldn’t be doing any of this if it wasn’t for Arthritis. It made music something much more important than a hobby. That’s probably why I still take music way too seriously and I always hold in that reverence.
I know that you played a couple of these songs out before you put them to tape; “Daniel’s Blues” and “Sterling” for instance, did these songs go through any changes, major or minor, by the time that they were ready to be put on Killdragon?
I was very sure of how I wanted most of the songs to be structured. My main weakness is rhythm. So the biggest change was the chance to work with a spectacular drummer (see next question). As I said earlier, I had obscure thoughts of what the record should sound like, but no real clue how to get it there. That’s why it was so important to work with Ben. I like to compare it to Mike Ditka envisioning how he wanted a particular offense to be run, only to then see Payton execute it to perfection. Maybe that’s reaching, but I just love the Bears.
Who plays with you on the record?
I wanted to stretch myself for this recording. In the past, I lacked major confidence in my musical abilities. This was a chance to get over that, so I played the majority of the instruments. With that said, the record would have been boring without some key outside help.
When I went to Nic’s studio, I also had the chance meeting with Kevin Depree. At first glance, he looks like he‘s way too young and handsome to be a good drummer. Again, I had this feeling that he was the right person. He was almost too good to play with me. His instincts were so advanced and he was able to judge the mood of each song masterfully. I barely gave any instruction. Kevin also added the bass line to Daniel’s Blues and Giant’s Despair. This was essential because his playing was extremely unique, but paired perfectly with the flow of the record. He was definitely the secret weapon to Killdragon.
I also lucked out by having Nic’s brother Kaja around. The talent in Grand Haven is unbelievable. Kaja studies music theory, so he added brief notes here and there that added an air of legitimacy to everything. I also got him to play standup bass on Alex Kona.
Finally, Ben was the last major contributor to the record. I don’t want to give away too many secrets, but he is going to be credited on the record for, “Echo Composition”. Let me say it again – he is a genius.
You’ve decided to, for now, to only release Pope Killdragon as a digital release exclusively on subscription site Emusic, can you talk to us a little bit about that decision and the process of it?
This entire year has been about jumping into the abyss and trusting that the outcome will be positive. Not putting this out with my label was the biggest of all these decisions by far. La Societe is my family. But I came to a point in my own growth where I needed to see if I could do things on my own. Leave Ruin could not have happened without the help of Lou – no question. I guess it feels like a teenager who has a perfectly loving home but needs to leave it and make his own world.
So after I made that choice, I was then approached by eMusic to sign to their Selects Label. It’s an amazing opportunity and I’m humbled that they even asked me. This allows me to take a deep breath and decide what the next step for the record will be. Obviously, a physical release will happen as soon at it makes sense to do so. But for now, I’m beyond excited for people to hear it.
I know from talking to you that you were pretty excited and a also little nervous about Killdragon before and during the recording of it, how do you feel about now that it’s finished and possibly being consumed right now?
Well like everything else in my life, I’m manically excited right now. But you never know, I could be crying in the bathtub tomorrow.
Making Killdragon was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. I have so many emotions wrapped up into it and I’m just beginning to process it.
What music, new/old, conventional/obscure has been keeping you company on those long drives across the middle west? Is there anything that you’ve discovered that you’re sure that WE should be checking out?
Well I almost exclusively listen to Coast to Coast podcasts on the road. You’re missing out in life if you aren’t a member of the “family”. Recently, I have gotten back into actively listening though.
As for old music I’ve been listening to a lot of Popol Vuh, Tangerine Dream, Steve Roach, Kluas Schultz, and a ton of other old synthesizer music. Mostly, I’m listening to the same music that I’ve always loved like Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, and Led Zeppelin – the records I had in fifth grade.
I’m actually a huge fan of the band Washed Out. I randomly found his EP and can’t stop listening to it. I’ve also really been digging Future Islands, Licorice Roots, The Wailing Wall, The Black Swans, Elephant Micah, The Wooden Sky, Soars, and so on. I think my favorite record by far this year has been Jonsi’s solo record. I’ve loved everything he has ever done. He’s one of my musical heroes.
Lastly, if you were could research and write the biography of ANYONE, who would it be and why?
I would definitely write it on my father-in-law, Bob Gryziec. I‘m shocked no one has yet. He’s secretly been involved with almost every musical movement since the sixties. He started playing bass in garage bands and has gone on to play with almost everyone. He’s invented a style of playing bass that is all his own. Beyond his musical ability, he is a quiet, intense philosopher that doesn’t waste words. He doesn’t say something if it’s not important (which is the opposite of me). I’m not going to say anything more about him, because frankly you should interview him next. If you want to speak with someone who was actively participating in the times that we all view in mythical context, then he’s your man. He and I are going to be hanging at Levon’s Ramble in a few weeks. I’m very lucky to have him in my life.
Posted by tonywonder | 1 Comment
The Greatest Interview Ever, feat. Worrier
Mp3: Worrier -Reverse the Hearse
One of the best things about working for SeizureChicken (and when I say “working,” I mean that the staff makes me shotgun bottles of maple syrup at gunpoint as “payment” for writing for SC) is the insight I’ve gained into Milwaukee music. One of the best Brew City bands I’ve heard in my short time stealing eggs in the Coop is called Worrier, whose quirks are as readily apparent as the undeniable quality of their tunes. Quirks, you say? You want quirks? I’ll give you some quirks: Worrier’s album, Sources Errors Spells, is out…IN JAPAN. ONLY IN JAPAN.
Okay, so that’s pretty much it as far as quirks go – at least, aside from the music itself, which is a fairly quirky (but totally accessible) Mendelian cross-breed of twitchy post-punk dance rhythms, cyclical, minimalist guitar parts, and soothing vocal melodies. The resultant effect is that of several minutes of strangely relaxing bee stings. And so, amidst great ballyhoo and hullabaloo, I do hereby honor Worrier with the first ever SeizureChicken GOOD BAND merit badge, signifying our utmost blog-endorsement. In addition to their various internet avatars – Myspace, Facebook, and my personal favorite, Google Image Search – you can also find Worrier at SeizureChicken’s very own One-Year Anniversary Bash, supporting the Austin-based agent of cool that is Harlem and Milwaukee’s very own recent Sub Pop signees/coolest damn dudes EVER, Jaill. Which is May 3rd at Mad Planet…in case you were wondering or something. And now, without further ado, a very special interview with the swarthy globe-trekking gents themselves…ladies and gentlemen, a li’l bitty interview with a big bad band, Worrier:
Tony Wonder: Your debut album is barely even out yet, but you’ve already got feet in Japan, Ireland, France, planning a European tour (etc. etc…y’all know where I’m going with this)…why did you decide to release an album on a Japanese imprint? Why such an international plan of attack?
Scott- We took the opportunities given to us. As a band were kinda international anyway. Personally that’s how I see us..Weve had interest here too from labels, but throw us in with everybody else scrapping for a deal and i guess we sit on the ‘nice but maybe a little too strange’ pile. None of it has been planned or orchestrated. Plus who wouldn’t want to put a record out in Japan! I’d start a Creed cover band if it meant we could go and play Tokyo!
Chris- We made some (in retrospect) bad label decisions here in the states, turning down offers to wait for one label in particular… who eventually told us to get in touch with them on the next album. So I decided to join Scott’s Creed cover band, only as the Kid Rock role for when he goes wayward, and he will.
Tony Wonder: Any advice or words of inspiration for upstart bands looking to get their feet into the door of the music industry?
S- Dont listen to us, were not exactly there yet! I used to think that the D.I.Y thing was a good idea, and that building a local fan base was good also, but I hear of bands getting signed to big indie labels having never played a show before, Locally it’s who you know, nationally and bigger than that its pure luck. If your band is rad, that cant hinder you either. Thats something we have to work on!
C- Brush your teeth, change your clothes every once in a while, hang out with your pals, and call your mom in between your constant writing, practicing and tweaking of various online propaganda podiums… actually repeat is the only thing to take from all that, everything happens 20 times slower then it should so just keep cracking skulls, and call your mom.
Tony Wonder: How do you feel about the idea of the “local music scene” in the age of the internet, in which everything is easily accessible no matter where it’s been made? Is it fostering a local scene more irrelevant than ever, or more important than ever?
S- Local scenes are important to the people in that scene. Then i guess occasionally other people notice it if it’s raging. Like the LA or Portland thing at the moment. But does anybody in say Houston wonder what the Milwaukee scene is like? Or Vice Versa. I have mixed feelings with the idea of a local scene.Only because I’ve seen people act like total egomaniacs before. And its very easy for it to become elitist, which only defeats the point of having a ‘scene’ in the first place. On the flipside if your part of that you probably dont care that much either. Think locally, aim globally.
C- I hope it’s the latter. Because there is so much out there now it’s nice to be able to associate yourself and be proud when good things happen to “our” local bands. It seems it’s given more a reason then ever for local bands to unite and be mighty together. But like Scott said they can sometimes end up being more like golf club memberships then a union jack attacks.
Tony Wonder: I hear Japan is a strange place if you’re not from around there – any crazy Japanese touring stories? Any cartoon-induced seizures?
S- I hope it’s crazier than a bag of spiders! we should do a tour blog!
C- I get seizures if I watch more then 5 minutes of Yo Gabba Gabba, so Sean acts as my seeing eye dog. Plus he knows every Yo Gabba Gabba song, so if I get the fear he sings quietly to me and let’s me scratch the tuft of his neck.
Tony Wonder: Compositionally, your songs are very interesting – instead of chords and your standard Bob-Dylan-Beach Boys-Beatles songwriting, there’s lots of sparse, prickly interlocking instrumental parts and addictive little chants. Also, there’s two drummers, so…how do you go about writing these songs? What’s a typical songwriting session like for Worrier?
C- I flip’n love all those guys’ tunes and songwriting style, I just suck at it. Also, growing up my dad invaded my brain with an all out 70′s guitar rock assault, then my older brother raped it with Satriani/Via/(may God forgive him)Malmsteem/etc.. When i finally got my brain to myself I crammed as much Dischord/US Maple/Sonic Youth/etc in as i could. I think this tragic story somehow formed the idea that while guitar rock owns you can do it however you want to… and if it ain’t wacky enough throw some vocals on it to make it even more confusing. So ya, we all sit in a dark room holding hands listening to Micheal Angelo Batio and The Talking Heads played simultaneously before every jam, then we fail at both, but succeed at making something that makes sense to us. Then my dad grounds us.
S- The two drummers thing was a one off tour we did with a friend. We only rock the one kit now! Although if Animal from the Muppets wants in, we’d make an exception. Me and Chris wrangle ideas all of the time… sometimes too much for our own sanity, then we try and organize it. Once we have it outlined, we work it out as a band.
Tony Wonder: “Wind the Sails,” “I am the River,” “Lost Ships”…there’s a definite aquatic theme on your record. What’s the reasoning behind this imagery?
S- I cant speak for Chris but, I feel it has a lot to do with the fact his studio looks right out on the lake, here in Milwaukee. So its what we would look at all day when we wrote that album. I’m from England and that lake looks bigger than my whole country! It feels like the sea or the ocean, and I guess it colored the music.
C- Its like I told the good people of Japan: It was kinda unspoken early on that there was a definite nautical theme peeking it’s head in on us, so we said- “Welcome you beautiful sea creature, we will do our best to represent you in the glorious manner you deserve.” and we nurtured that little beast into the album we have now. Their probably gonna think we’re creepy now.
So really, it did sneak in on us unplanned and worked its way up to an embraced theme, which I think created good imagery for the music while still leaving it nicely left to individual interpretation.
Tony Wonder: When I try and google “worrier” or “worrier Milwaukee” or “worrier band,” the only results I get concern stupid bands named “warrior.” How much does this suck?
S- It’s gotta be sweet for the bands called ‘Warrior’ because they might get a little more traffic. Haha.
C- Tell the truth Scott, we started all those bands as a classic diversion tactic, at the appointed time we shall pull the plug on them and watch the search floodgates open with absolutely no regard to all current “Warrior” bandmates (and family’s) to whom we’ve come to know and love in our underhanded double agentry… and we will laugh and laugh.
Tony Wonder: Okay, so, we’re in 2010. You can release an album in Japan, but music is also pretty much free for anyone willing to steal it. The king and queen of the musical monarchy are Pitchfork and Miley Cyrus. If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be? (Ofcourse you can list more than one thing)
S- I’d put Miley Cyrus in charge of the reviews for pitchfork. And then i’d make the people from pitchfork write all of her music and
play as her backing band. Seriously though, the music industry has always been mental. People were copying cassette tapes like crazy in the 80′s. Maybe because pop music has gotten progressively worse and worse it’s now almost worthless, so they scapegoat something for it. I’m in no way advocating piracy. But if somethings worth buying, people will always pay extra for it.
C- Eradicate coke and hookers involvement in record deals and we might get legitimate music back on mainstream radio for the first time since The Doobie Brothers, wait… Ahh hell. F it, you know Miley has the best blow.
Tony Wonder: Say I’m planning a trip to Japan. What is the legal limit of Pokemon that I can bring onto an international flight?
S- Whatever it is, it’s probably not enough!
C - Its 40 personal use, 45 non-personal use and minimum 3 each of the following: Sneasel, Slowking and Pikachu. But I hear it’s pretty easy to mule pack a couple foil packs.
>>> you can get tickets in advance 4 the May 3rd – Worrier/Jaill/Harlem show, here.
Posted by Jack | 16 Comments
Interview: Jaill – Milwaukee – December 19th
Last Saturday we here at The Coup got a chance to sit down and talk with the newest members of the Sub Pop family, as well as proud Milwaukee (Bay View) natives, Jaill. Consider this a video introduction to what surely will become one of the biggest acts to come out of the Cream City. This is what rock n’ roll gods look like before they make it big, mustachioed, in a dark corner on the Club Garibaldi basement, vying for space with a stack of broken bar stools, and visibly overwhelmed by the sudden deluge of attention.
Luckily we were able to snag this interview, as well as two, limited-edition (<200 printed), signed, “There Is No Sky” LPs (which we are giving away) before they became too cool for us. Drop a comment here, mention your favorite style of facial hair – and we’ll get to givin’ these away!
intro tune:
mp3 – Jail – There’s No Sky (Oh My My)
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Posted by Karl Malone | 0 Comments
Interview: The Dutchess & The Duke – Milwaukee – Dec 19th 2009
It’s always great to sit down over a plate of cold untouched chicken wings and rap with someone making good music. Kimberly Morrison, Jesse Lortz and friends, aka The Dutchess and the Duke, have been making honest pop music that sounds like a harvest of landmark chord progressions for some time now, and have toured with the likes of Modest Mouse. Seizure Chicken had the privilege of sitting down with The Dutchess and the Duke and having a basement chat that ranged from, competing with the Indianapolis Colts to how sweet it would be to be able to rip off the music of the future.
intro tune:
Posted by Karl Malone | 0 Comments
