It’s Monday, and I don’t feel good. I’m cranky. My birthday was the weekend and I feel a year older and none the wiser. Riffing on my angsty vibes, yet pulling me out of my I-don’t-wanna-work lethargy, is Nashville’s The By Gods with their first single “On the Radio.” A trio made up of George Pauley (vocals, guitar), Natalie Pauley (bass), and Tye Hammonds (drums), the “no frills” rockers give it to you straight with a 90’s-alt attitude and just the right amount of ass kicking so you might actually accomplish something today.
Listen to “On the Radio” below and shake off your moody blues. Their upcoming album Get On Feelings will be out January 22nd.
LA electronic project, YACHT (Claire L. Evans (vocals), Jona Bechtolt, (vocal & programming), Rob Kieswetter (bass)) headlined a sold out show with supporting act Larry Gus in celebration for the band’s latest album, I Thought Future Would Be Cooler (Downtown Records) at Rough Trade.
With a huge LED screen on stage and the band’s dancey tunes, YACHT turned the venue into a giant club. Throughout the set, Evans left the stage several times, to sing, dance, and shout with fans. YACHT played tracks from both their previous albums and the new one, including “Ringtone,” “I Wanna F— You Till I’m Dead,” “L.A. Plays Itself” (The first music video the band released for this album, but could only be viewed when Uber in LA begins to surge pricing), and title track of the new album “I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler.”
For the rest of November, YACHT will be touring in Europe.
Opener Larry Gus also put on an impressive show. His set was full of movement, energy, strength and sweats. The Greece-born multi-instrumentalist just released his new album, I need New Eyes (DFA Records), and has been touting with YACHT.
When Audiofemme last spoke to The Harrow in February, they were working on an upcoming LP Silouhettes, which was mixed by Xavier Paradis, was released last week, and it’ll give you chills: the moody, atmospheric music creates a shadowy world for Vanessa Irena’s drawn-out, longing vocals. Intricate drum machine programming is provided by Irena, Barret Hiatt and Frank Deserto (Hiatt and Deserto also play synths, and Deserto contributes a steady undercurrent of bass as well), and Greg Fasolino plays haunting guitar parts.
The Brooklyn band cites artists like The Cure, Cocteau Twins, Massive Attack and Portishead. Like Deserto said in their Band Of The Month interview, “We generally err on the dreamier side.” In songs like “White Nile,” that means a gentle, chime-like melody, but on songs like the ominous “Darling,” it sounds a bit more like a nightmare. They take a break from the dreamy sound with “Feral Haze,” a bouncy, almost-playful track with a spoken-word chorus that insists “Animals, we’re animals.”
One of the album’s best tracks is “When The Pendulum Swings,” which contains the line that gives the LP its name: “Speak softly, I hear laughter/Step gently, I see silhouettes.” The bassline is heavy and driving yet melodic, and sparse flourishes of guitar lighten the track’s brooding mood just slightly. With this song, and the rest of Silhouettes, The Harrow shows us that darkness can be beautiful. And as Hiatt said in their interview, “Darkness is way more interesting. And real.”
You can check out “When The Pendulum Swings Below,” and purchase the album here.
Just a few years ago, if you talked about the Brooklyn DIY scene, you’d likely focus on a stretch of Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. There was the tiny but true-to-its name Death By Audio, the more spacious and artsy Glasslands, and of course, 285 Kent. But now that the waterfront street has succumbed to Vice offices, condos and rising rents, musicians, along with their venues and fans have moved East. More specifically, to Broadway in Bushwick. There’s Palisades and Silent Barn near the Myrtle/Broadway stop, and a few stations away on the J train, a brand new venue: The Gateway.
The trio behind the venue are Ned Shatzer, Nelson Espinal, and Robert Granata, who spent the month of September renovating and painting the space before its October 1st opening. A few weeks later, I got to take a look. Having heard and seen nothing about The Gateway, I showed up to the venue expecting to be led into some kind of dark basement, but that wasn’t the case. Before the three musicians transformed it, The Gateway was a fully-functioning nightclub called St Lucian Paradise. And while it does have a (huge) basement, it’s receiving some finishing touches, so the upstairs is the main attraction: dimly-lit, with most of the light coming from a beautiful stained glass panel above the bar (it and some leaf-like spirals are meant to be reminiscent of the Italian horror movie, Suspiria, according to Ned).Above the register hangs a single red, high-heeled boot that they found inside of a podium downstairs, and a sword that Nelson’s brother donated. You can see why after playing there, Pepto, the vocalist/drummer of the local band Psychic Selves, described it as like a “Chinatown karaoke bar, but with a real welcoming vibe.”
On October 15th, the Philadelphia psych band Creepoid headlined at the venue, now filled with listeners and smoke from a fog machine. Even though the show took place during the CMJ festival, a time when music fans were scattered all over the city, there was a sizable audience. Even better, everyone was close to the stage, listening attentively. The shape and size of the room seems to naturally force focus on the stage – as Pepto says, “The second floor is tight enough for the audience to be engaged with the band.”
And since it’s run by musicians- Nelson plays in the local band Stuyedeyed, and Rob in The Makeout Club – the venue focuses on what matters to music lovers: not just looking good, but sounding good and giving all bands an opportunity. “He loves music and wants other bands to play and be given a chance to be heard,” Pepto said about Nelson, who currently books for the venue. “That’s what it’s all about.”
How did it all begin, exactly? Check out a Q&A with the trio below.
AudioFemme:How did you begin booking shows?
Ned: I said, “Nelson, I want you to book Thursdays.” And within like two hours he had all of October booked for Thursdays. So I said, fuck man, why don’t you just go ahead and get moving on this and anyone else can go through you. So, within 48 hours he had 17 shows booked.”
Nelson: I’m in a band, I’ve played a whole bunch of shows, and it’s just a community you become a part of. “Hey man, you wanna play a show? I’m booking at a venue now.”
Do you consider The Gateway a DIY venue?
Rob: We built all this, this was four guys. We did it all ourselves, it’s very much the definition of that. But we’re focusing on giving the illusion that it’s not DIY, that it’s bigger than life. Like, you can escape and get out of here. We put a lot of thought and time into it, so it has a cool feel. We put a lot of time into the sound, too, because we want the bands to sound good, and be happy with the sound. DIY spaces do that too, but we really focused on it hard here.
Nelson: All the bands I’m booking, we all come from playing house shows. A lot of the kids that play here, they’re like, “We just played a basement last week!” Well, we wanna bring you out of the basement and put you on a nice stage. We want to be that hand, that brings you into a bigger playing field.
Rob: I feel like this place has a little of what Glasslands had, where you can have smaller bands and also mid-level bands play. A lot of venues, it’s just mainly mid-level bands. We’ll try to get some bigger bands in here, too, and give an opportunity for local bands to open – that’s your goal as a band anyways, to open up for bigger bands.
Nelson: I think for us this place, is kind of the best things about all of the places we’ve played at. The things that we like, and the place that we’ve always wanted to play. My band played the opening night, and I walked off stage and was I like, this is what I’ve always wanted to do.
How did you find the space?
Ned: I was looking at this area for a long time actually, and I had a spot across the street that I was going to take. That fell through because they didn’t want to build another fire escape. The realtor that I was speaking to and I kept in contact – he’s from St. Lucia as well, like the owner of this building – as soon as it came up he called me first because he knew I was looking for a spot. And this just happened to be what we wanted, but a lot more stuff. But this place just happens to have the right zoning, all of the stuff you need to have a venue. We can be loud here. As soon as he told me about it I was like, we can’t not do this. I don’t know how we’re gonna do it, though… (laughs). And the first people I called up were these two guys.
What kind of changes are in The Gateway’s future?
Rob: We want to be able to do seven days a week. When we open the downstairs, you’ll be able to come in, have a beer, and hang out when there’s no shows. There’ll be something going on every night. We just want people to come and have fun too. Not feel like they’re at a club, or at a bar, or anything. Get lost and wander around. Up here will have a crazy French disco tech vibe, and downstairs will be totally different so you’re not stuck in one environment all night. We’re going to get a pool table too, probably. We’re kind of just building as we go… it’s kind of like a massive space.
Nelson: We’re all kind of crazy, so we have all these crazy ideas.
To stay updated with The Gateway’s eclectic events, including a Bernie Sanders benefit on December 10th, follow them here.
It all started when I was a kid. My dad taught me that if I want to meet the band, I should wait by the tour bus after the show. I never abused this knowledge and I never became a groupie (even though the thought of becoming one was a strangely enchanting dream of mine; I was too sheepish to ever make it happen). My hours of waiting at backdoors and waving my hands at tour bus windows were completely innocent out of admiration for the artist. I drove around various parts of the midwest as a teenager, with my best friend, to follow Phantom Planet and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with the only intention of snapping a photo or snagging a setlist. But never once did we make onto a bus. Fast forward to today. I am typing this in the back lounge of a matte black tour bus while the drummer and bassist sleep in their respective bunks, while the rest of the remaining members tackle a radio interview somewhere outside of Columbus, Ohio. I’m living out multiple fantasies via multiple realities and all I can think of is how this is not at all what I expected.
JR JR (Yes, once called Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr and no, we don’t want to talk about it) hails from Detroit but has gained impressive momentum across the country with their single “Gone” off their latest self-titled release on Warner Bros. The album is truly reflective of the band’s new trajectory into new territory, and an infectious collection of pop anthems that is relatable to anyone who has ever shed a previous self. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to answer the question, “What band are you with?” and when I respond, more people know who I’m talking about. Comprised of Josh Epstein, Daniel Zott, Bryan Pope and Michael Higgins (my ticket onto the bus and the key to my heart….awwwww), JR JR is not just a flash in the pan, forever-on-the-verge band. They’ve affected people. I’ve been lucky enough to see proof of this. And I think even the band would agree that this is the most coveted goal of being a band.
I first stepped aboard the bus when I kissed the drummer good bye, wishing them a safe and happy tour. This was at the end of September. Not five minutes after watching the bus disappear into my rear view, I remember pulling into a McDonalds parking lot to cry into my steering wheel. I was going to miss him. Everything I had ever known to be true about touring musicians (the girls, the parties, the general debauchary, the girls) fed into the fits of sadness that followed their departure. Despite knowing that these boys never once fit the description, I was haunted by films like Almost Famous. There was jealousy, too, that I did not anticipate. He would get to travel the country while I was forced to work my shitty 9 to 5 and live in my shitty apartment with my shitty cats (just kidding, I love them). This was shaping up to be the most challenging two months of my life. We talked every day, though I would often shut down and not answer texts or calls because I was too scared to know if he was having the time of his life without me. I can be selfish, sometimes. After a few weeks we decided in time and in tune that I would join the last leg of the tour. This solved several curiosities and satisfied my deprivation since his departure. I told my boss (never did I ask permission) that this was something I needed to do, and that he had no choice other than to be okay with it because I already bought the plane ticket to New York City and had already arranged for someone to care for my cats (see, I told you I loved them). I was warned of a few things while packing and frantically rearranging my life for this temporary escape. Packing was impossible as I realized I was at the mercy of the tour bus, the tour schedule, and that I had absolutely no control over anything that would likely happen. I had to let go and say yes, advice I have spent years giving other people would forcibly become my wayward mantra.
I landed in New York City last week. JR JR was gearing up to play Webster Hall and all I cared about was being reunited with my person. I had no idea that my life would forever be changed. My path was being unknowingly rerouted and my goals were silently one-uping each other. I was no longer a voyeur to a life I once dreamed of, but an active participant. This was more than tour. This was more than music. This was an adventure.
Things you might not know about tour:
1. There is no pooping on the bus.
This might not seem like a big deal (and it isn’t) until you have to actually go. Pissing is fine, as long as your aim and balance are in check. You are at the mercy of whatever city you’re headed to next and the speed of the driver. Sometimes it’s best to sleep through the discomfort and pray you can hold it another 5, 6, sometimes 8 hours. Once we’re parked, we usually collectively spend the first part of our morning/afternoon looking for Starbucks bathrooms (for which I would like to publicly apologize for the havoc we have wreaked in aforementioned restrooms).
2. Sleep. Is. Everything.
Before I joined the crew, I would get so pissed at Michael for sleeping until two or three in the afternoon, as I had already been awake, at work and productive for hours before him. Now that I am a bus rat, I find it easy to sleep undisturbed until early afternoon because I know that load in (the literal loading of equipment into the venue) is going to be brutal, and the day is non-stop from the moment the tour manager shakes us awake. This leads me to point number three.
3. Bunks are NOT comfortable.
The size of a coffin, perhaps with a bit more leg room, the bunks are not ideal for anyone. Period. Even though I have my own bunk (I use it for storage mostly) I have chosen to cram into Michaels and it took three days to find our Tetris-like synchronicity during sleep. I’ve bumped my head, kneed him in the ribs, rolled out and off and on night one I had a panic attack induced by claustrophobia. I thought I was dead and had been buried. This is a common feeling while on tour. On the rare occasion that a real bed is available to us, we take it. We nap in it. We spread our limbs and jump on it. Beds are a luxury. Despite the stiff necks and sore limbs, the bus is our home and our bunks, most nights, are heaven. The curtains provide pitch blackness so that sleep at any hour is possible. Waking up disoriented is normal and actually grounding, if you can believe that.
4. You will get fat on tour.
I had a plan going in. I’m going to eat healthy and light and find ways to exercise along the way. This made no sense considering I don’t even do those things in my normal life. Well, it’s day seven and my clothes are fitting tighter, my face is noticeably a bit puffier and we even Uber’d from our hotel to a Taco Bell because, well, dinner wasn’t enough. It’s not that tour makes you fat, more so tour makes you hungry. You’re forced to think ahead every single day. If we woke up at 3pm, load in is at 3:30, soundcheck is at 5, that means we won’t have an opportunity to eat again until we load OUT sometime after 11. And of course there are bus snacks and green room hospitalities (booze, pizza, and cupcakes to name a few) all of which are contributors to this few extra pounds. A huge part of it, for me, is wanting to eat food in every city we go to. We ask the locals where the best tacos are or where their favorite pizza joint is. We indulge and are thankful for our generous per diem that allow us to be fat, happy, and well, fat.
5. There’s no time to party.
I think it’s a universal image. The band. The bus. The parties. Girls waiting to fuck you. We have been fed this story time and time again and in a lot of instances it’s true (if you’re Motley Crue and it’s 1987). Not only do I know the JR JR boys personally enough to know they do not fit this description, I have learned that there just isn’t time to be bad. Half the band is married and the other half are in relationships, and as a whole the shared goal is always the music. Between promo and press visits with radio stations, gigs and meetings with managers, and long bus hauls, we are lucky if we get enough time to wash ourselves in venue sinks (because showers are just as rare as beds and pooping opportunities). With rigid tour schedules, most of the time sleep is valued over night life exploration. Playing Xbox in the back lounge is preferred over drinking with fans. And visiting local museums and zoos is more appealing than Tinder’ing and scoring drugs. I can’t speak for every band, but I can speak for JR JR. We like burritos and nature walks, when time permits.
As I said earlier, I am somewhere in Columbus, Ohio. The bus has finally stopped near our venue for the night, and the boys are in search of breakfast. In just a few days my life will return to its normal speed and I will be forced to apply what I’ve seen and what I’ve learned to making my life back home more exciting. I will undoubtedly miss the lulling sway of the tour bus and the excitement of waking up somewhere other than where I fell asleep. I’ve walked the steps of Harvard and played drums during soundcheck at 9:30 Club in D.C. I’ve felt the vibrations of the roaring fans from the green room and I’ve watched hundreds of people sing along to every word. Beyond everything I’ve learned I’ve fallen even more in love with Michael, music, and this strange country than I ever thought possible. Tour is not what you think, not for a minute. But it’s that shift in perception and these sweeping realizations that have brought me closer to myself in ways that are still unfolding, still indescribable. The tour wraps in a few days in Chicago. We are all excited to go home and to sleep in real beds and shower for as long as the hot water allows. Collectively I know we will miss this strange, ever moving adventure…until the next time the bus pulls up.
Emi Meyer‘s debut album, Curious Creature came out in 2009 and reached #1 on Japan’s iTunes Jazz Charts, and lead her to be crowned as iTunes Japan’s Best New Artist. Now America has caught up to speed, and AudioFemme is here to premiere her new track, “Galaxy’s Skirt (Soul Catalyst Remix).” It’s jazz, but with the most delightful tropical pop twist which makes it the best song to dance to, alone out of happiness or out with a lover, that we’ve heard in some time. Emi comes from an interesting background full of accolades. Born in Kyoto to a Japanese mother and American father, she moved to Seattle as a child, and went on to win the 2007 Seattle-Kobe Jazz vocalist competition. Now, she’s kicking ass with her music being featured on the likes of MTV’s “Awkward.”
Her upcoming album Galaxy’s Skirt: Deluxe Edition is out December 4. You can catch her before then playing New York’s Club Bonafide Friday, November 13.
Upgrade your work day with the dance-infused jazz track below.
Canadian art rock trio BRAIDS collaborated with animator Stephen McNally on a music video for their track “Bunny Rose”, off their record Deep in the Iris, released in April.
It’s impossible not to be entranced while watching the veins of a person gradually metamorphosing from dust to water. The animated likeness of frontwoman Raphaelle Standell-Preston gracefully makes her way through the city before finally making it home in human form. Dense beats along with Standell-Preston’s delicate vocals seamlessly carry the character through the scenery.
The stunning animation conveys the lyrical meaning of the track with ease, which as described by the band themselves, is: “the desire to be loved yet a longing to be whole on one’s own.”
Sometimes you just want to listen to something beautiful. For this week’s New Music MondayTom Powell‘s “I’ll Be The One” delivers just that. With one of those choruses that stirs something inside even the most jaded city dweller’s soul, “I’ll Be The One” will have you canceling any clubbing plans to run home to the one you love and unearth all the emotions you’ve been burying. Cambridge-based Powell reminds us of the powerful use of music as a method of story telling and expression of emotion, told through soothing guitars, Powell’s piano and warm vocals. Check out the debut track below.
Micky Blue is dropping the fourth single today, off her new EP Wild Things – a collection of five songs that she disaggregated and released track-by-track, building momentum and buzz along the way. “Firebird”, is a gleaming bubblegum pop gem, showcasing soaring, anthemic top lines and infectious beats. Of the track, the artist waxes personal: “Years ago a close friend gave me an out of print copy of my favorite children’s book The Firebird and other Russian Tales. Long story short I wrote Firebird for her. She is gay and struggled (like so many) with coming out and self acceptance. The story of the Firebird is a long and difficult journey trying to capture something elusive and beautiful. I think everyone has put something or someone up on a pedestal, and you let your journey get in the way of claiming your firebird which to me is self acceptance and self love.” We can’t wait to hear the follow-up fifth track from her, but in the meantime check her out below for a first listen to “Firebird”.
What does the new release by Palm, Trading Basics, sound like? A machine: many parts weaving in and out, around and over each other, starting and stopping suddenly. Sometimes it’s smooth, and sometimes it sounds like the gears need some grease. On the dizzying track “Crank,” the vocals are like steam, rising before evaporating in the atmosphere. On a song like “Ankles,” where the words “I don’t need you anymore” are repeatedly choked out, they’re more like heavy exhaust. And like any well-built machine, Palm has an endless, relentless energy. It’s fascinating to watch (well, listen) but don’t get too close – some of its parts are sharp.
Trading Basics comes out today, and while it’s not exactly an easy listen, it’s worth it to be exposed to Palm’s amazingly abstract and arty form of rock. Take “Second Ward,” which starts off as a more straight-ahead rock song but suddenly introduces a creeping bass line, a dissonant, busy guitar line and low moans. The track abruptly breaks into a delicate section before switching gears again with snarling guitars and brash vocals reminiscent of Sonic Youth. You can never quite get comfortable with the track, which feels several songs in one. Then there’s the short and sudden “Drawn Straws,” which teases a hint of a bluesy guitar riff, played in a way that sounds like the strings are melting off of the instrument.
Palm’s musical ideas are bold, and seem endless – On Trading Basics, they’ve traded up to a sound that’s way cooler than your average rock band. The album is being released via Inflated Records and Exploding In Sound, and Palm will be playing an album release show tonight at Palisades along with Palberta and The Cradle.
End the work week with a synth pop track from Brooklyn-based The Rungs. Teen movie guitar rock aligns with lyrics of shared secrets, romance, and running away sung by Mandy Gurung, joined by husband/bandmate Diwas Gurung for harmonizations fit for a Julia Stiles romance. “Whispers” is a catchy song of light-hearted trouble making set to jump off your weekend.
In the basement of The Delancey in the heart of LES, The Harpoons quickly got the groove going late on a Saturday night. Music export initiative Sounds Australia put together an edition of their Aussie BBQ, a showcase of Australian bands, right here in New York City.
Funk and R&B vibes with a techy-modernized twist is the best way to describe the way they warmed up the dingy little room. Clad in a relaxed white power suit, gorgeous lead singer Bec Rigby swooned and crooned while the energy from brothers Henry and Jack Madin and Marty King’s harmonies get the crowd to melt right into the beats.
The Aussie BBQ showcase put each band on a pretty tight schedule, as all day, they had each of the twenty-one acts coming out one after another since 2 pm. Still, by midnight, the crowd had plenty of energy up until the last song of the set, where we begged for one more, and The Harpoons were happy to oblige. It was a quick set, but the band were around to chat and enjoy the other Aussie bands up next, like Pearls and friendships, both of whom I really came to enjoy.
The Harpoons are headed back home to Melbourne soon for Melbourne Music Week, and will be playing a few shows around Australia to close out the month. Check out their latest music video for the single “Ready For Your Love,” made to accompany the video diary for their Japanese tour:
If your band practice doesn’t include hazy shadows, falling feathers, slinking felines and unbridled pain, you’re doing it wrong. Or, you’re just not on the same level as Toronto’s Dilly Dally (which would be admittedly hard to achieve). Led by long-time friends Katie Monks (vocals/guitar) and Liz Ball (guitar), the band has been bursting through unsuspecting earbuds everywhere after releasing their debut album Sore in early October and making waves at New York’s CMJ music festival.
Now they’ve shared their music video for “The Touch,” a song that Monks revealed was written with a very specific, urgent purpose: “I wrote this song for a friend of mine who was having suicidal thoughts… the song attempts to reach him in his dark place, and then lure him away from there.” Monks makes his pain her own in the black-and-white video by yelling, practically swallowing the mic, and holding onto her guitar like a life preserver. In the background, there’s a calming influence via her bandmates, their heads down as they focus on their instruments as feathers float and swirl around them.
As the band plays the heavy, fast beat and snarling guitars, the video occasionally cuts to a figure dressed in black, brandishing a whip: some sort of dominatrix superhero. While Monks sings about healing someone with a “woman’s touch,” she knows that sometimes, a soft touch won’t cut it. Sometimes, it takes a figurative slap in the face.
Wolf Eyes reemerges with their Third Man Records debut (the label created by Detroit’s own prodigal son, Jack White) with I Am A Problem: Mind In Pieces. After an aggressive and perplexing takeover of Third Man’s Instagram account last week (they lost over a thousand followers as a result, which warranted a regretful apology from the label), Wolf Eyes is doing what they do best: making noise that is as jarringly tragic as it is sonically eruptive. Considered the “kings of U.S noise” and pioneers of trip-metal, Nate Young, John Olson, and Jim Baljo have not departed from their signature nuance of dismal, distempered dystopia on I Am A Problem as explored previously on their exhaustive, extensive catalogue. But don’t assume that Wolf Eyes are wading in stagnant waters. In fact, this time around they’ve managed to turn their chaos into discernible, tortured transcendence. Although celestially despondent, I Am A Problem never runs away from itself; each track cascades into a cosmic rawness that warps, wraps, and entangles you. From start to finish (and back again) it’s difficult to put a finger on what makes this album seem like it’s on the precipice of undiscovered territory, yet remaining familiar simultaneously. Perhaps it’s the vocally palpable despair paired with the bombastic layering of intergalactic pulsations reminiscent of both heartbeat and heartbreak. Wolf Eyes finds a way to make abstraction relatable and intoxication desirable.
Brooklyn based electropop siren, Jojee, is releasing a new single today, “Claim”, which describes “a toxic relationship where I felt like the person never really loved me but just wanted to claim me.” The track, which will be part of a forthcoming EP due out early next year, is exquisitely composed, balancing insanely catchy electronic beats with hook-y melody lines and glittering synth. Jojee’s vocals stand out among the host of female-fronted electro R&B artists who are cropping up these days, due to the heavy punch she packs with the distinct alto register in which she sings. Differentiating oneself from such a prolific genre is no small feat, and Jojee accomplishes it over and over again with increasing persuasiveness and gusto. Keep your eyes out for what’s to come from this project – we expect big things in 2016! In the meantime, get the first listen of “Claim”, below.
Jojee will be releasing an EP in the early spring leading up to a full length, later next year. Get to know the rising star below, in her interview with our new beauty columnist, Clare Murphy aka Witchbabywho curates Loud And Tasteless. Loud And Tasteless is our brand new monthly Youtube column chronicling the style and beauty habits of up and coming female artists. Watch below to learn about Jojee’s beauty routine, and get schooled on how to recreate her look!
Recently I sat down to chat with one of the coolest and most talented musicians around, Aimee Bessada. Toronto-based Bessada is the force behind the solo project A Dream, A Coast. After being discovered by legendary musician and producer Linda Perry, Bessada was quickly signed to her Custard Records label and has recently released her first eponymous EP. Aimee also happens to be a close friend.
In light of all those fascinating details I figured I’d regale our readership with a candid conversation she and I had on her music, muses, and life.
AF: So Aimee remember when we used to live together in like 2013?
Aimee: When we were on, umm, Willoughby? Yeah.
AF: Yeah. So just to start us out from then until now, you know “What’s happening?”
Aimee: I really think it’s very nice of you to phrase it like we were living together, because I feel like was just sort of sleeping on sheets that were maybe or maybe not washed before, and I did that for like, I don’t even know how long.
AF: I would say if I had to guess it was approximately four months.
Aimee: Oh my God.
AF: But also it was during the time you were filming Make or Break.
Aimee: That’s right, so well that’s actually very helpful to anchor my brain in the timeline that you just brought up. So yeah I met up with Linda Perry through that show Make or Break. And then over the course of like a year living in New York I wrote a bunch of songs for an EP, recorded them, my visa ran out so I moved home, thinking that someone would stop me from leaving New York. Nobody did.
AF: Mhmm mhmm.
Aimee: And since January of 2015 I’ve thought that every two months that like within those two months I would be back in the States. And it is now October.
AF: So you’re right on track is what you’re saying?
Aimee: Oh yes. I can’t see my life further than three months ahead. So I just assume that in three months I’ll be where I want to be, and then if I’m not it’s just like, ok.
AF: And then there’s just the next three months right?
Aimee: Yeah. For the most part though that hasn’t been the worst. It always allows me to be ready to leave wherever I am, to get up and go, or whatever I want. So in that sense it works, but in the other sense of like having backup plans for the future, it doesn’t work.
AF: Right.
Aimee:precious giggling
AF: Around then you began A Dream, A Coast. I remember sitting down with you and writing out lists of names, one of them was Ames I think. Remember this? We were just coming up with all sorts of bullshit and like you were texting them to Linda’s people and stuff. How’d you pick this name?
Aimee: Oh yes! That went on for months. So first of all I will say that biggest heartache with coming up with a name is if you’re not using your own name or you bought a domain in like high school, because you always knew you wanted it – it’s really hard to find. There’s inevitably some band in Sweden or Norway that’s already got it and has 4,000 followers so you can’t do it. Eventually we settled on Deer Sounds, and that was from Linda. And I liked it. I didn’t think it had a super lot to do with me and my project, but it was cool and no one had it. And as we were sort of working towards putting the EP together I had one of the songs that I wrote for it called “A Dream, A Coast” and I always liked the name of the song. I thought I identified more with that and that song than anything else I’d come across on the pages of text messages. So I told them you know what, I don’t really connect with Deer Sounds, I want to be A Dream, A Coast. And they were like it’s too long, it doesn’t make sense, why is there a comma, and whatever. But I think that once they saw the album artwork that I got a friend to do and they started saying aloud more often it was like oh, ok. It just is what it is, which is really all that ends up happening with a name.
AF: I think that one of the only things in the entire world where you can call it whatever the fuck you want, and it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day all that matters is whether or not the music is good and then people will be interested in it. But it matters for you that you believe in it.
Aimee: Exactly, and you know the thing is the cool and the name is cool because it’s what you use to refer to it. I mean I imagine if the name Aerosmith didn’t already exist and I want to my friends today and I was like, and I don’t think Aerosmith is the coolest name ever, well it kind of is, and I was like I wanna call myself Aerosmith, people would be like what are you talking about that sound medieval.
AF: Right – it’s up to you to make it cool. Well if it matters the name does evoke what it seems like you’re going for. Kind of these California nights, not to quote Best Coast, but that vibe and I think even Best Coast isn’t a bad comparison. Totally different. But not unrelated.
Aimee: Yeah Best Coast is one of the bands that I always look to. But to sound like them would be to rip them off. They’ve really captured that sound, but I really respect them.
AF: I guess I’m saying that you’re also capturing a similar motif or vibe, but it doesn’t sound like you’re Best Coast derivative, but it does sound like you’re in a similar world. So that’s cool.
Aimee: Yeah thanks Anne.
AF: How’d you produce this EP. Did you do it all yourself? Or how’d that work with your relationship with Linda?
Aimee: I think this is one of the most interesting things about the EP, because I was living with you and I also spent like a month in like different friends’ apartments who weren’t occupying them for one reason or another. I physically think of which place I was in when each song was written. And a lot of them were done on GarageBand, because that’s all I had. I got pretty efficient at editing drum patterns and putting down bass. Then at the end of the day when I sent all of those songs into Linda and the people at Custard I was sending them full songs in that there was drums, bass, maybe a synth, my vocals as well as all the guitar parts. So when I went into her studio I wasn’t sure what we were gonna do. I guess I thought we were gonna re-record everything. And we did do drums, because the GarageBand drums never survived mixing and mastering and moving into iTunes – not in the way I was doing it anyways. So we went into the studio and we had a drummer come in and trace over the existing drum parts where possible, because sometimes I wrote drum parts where he would have had to have like five hands. So a little unrealistic. But we kept everything pretty much other than that. We do redo some bass lines also. “Tell A Lie” and “Culebra” were pretty much all entirely in Linda’s studio. “Empty Beaches” is all original guitar and original vocals, which is the most funny thing to me, because I recorded the vocals on my Apple iPhone headphones.
AF: Cool.
Aimee: Yeah, sort of weird and the fact that it’s half GarageBand half multi-million dollar studio I never would have had access to otherwise, that’s not to say anything against Linda’s studio. It’s incredible. But yeah you just do it with GarageBand.
AF: It just goes to show that the quality of the work itself, not necessarily the tools you use to create it.
Aimee: I think it works as well with the songs. Something just worked.
AF: Well now that the EP is out what’s next for you?
Aimee: Tour. Hopefully by 2016.
AF: Ok last thing. Since we’re friends, what’s one thing that you know that I don’t know about you?
Aimee: I don’t know if we’ve ever talked about how much fan fiction I use to read as a child. I don’t know.
AF: What do you mean by fan fiction though? Are you talking about creepy like two female characters from a CW show that have a tryst? Is that what you mean?
Aimee: I’m talking about specifically X-men. In fact exclusively X-men.
AF: Ok then.
Look for A Dream, A Coast on tour in 2016 and in the meantime you can find the EP here: iTunes and all of her links here: A Dream, A Coast.
GEMS is the shadow pop brainchild of Lindsay Pitts and Clifford John Usher — two Virginia bred musicians– who met while simultaneously attending the University of Virginia. After years of playing together, their vision coalesced under the moniker GEMS in 2012. You probably remember them as one of the mysterious internet bands whose music was gracing nearly every atmospheric playlist from Silverlake to Berlin and beyond during 2013 with their stellar four song EP Medusa. The duo just released their first full-length album Kill The One You Love (Carpark Records) and are currently touring the country to support the record. The new release unravels R&B sensibilities that were a mere thread in earlier recordings. Pitt’s vocals are as evocative as memory serves and Usher’s production showcases a level of restraint that is astounding in the current pop landscape — as a unit choosing understated to overwrought. Which is equally evident in the stark, often black and white visuals that the band employs alongside their music. I caught up with them while they were barreling towards Denver to discuss the new album and the evolution of the band.
AF: Cliff I see you have a 703 number. So do I. Where are you from exactly?
Cliff: We’re both from the Washington DC area. I grew up in Vienna, Virginia and Lindsay is from Woodbridge. We just moved to Los Angeles four months ago.
AF: How did the two of you meet and start playing together?
Cliff: We both went to University of Virginia. Right around graduation we met. We played music together for years, but we started GEMS at the end of 2012. We knew we wanted to do a band thing the two of us and so we started to lay down tracks as GEMS then.
AF: What’s your favorite fact about one another?
Lindsay: Well I have kind of an obvious fact, but I love it. Cliff is really, really tall. He’s 6’7”. You can’t tell in pictures, but he’s a giant.
Cliff: Lindsay used to play the drums. When I first met her she was taking drum lessons from some old dude who lived in the woods and she would bake him muffins in exchange for lessons.
AF: In listening to the new album your sound seems to be more restrained than on Medusa — how do you see your musical evolution?
Cliff: I feel like for the new album we put a lot of emphasis on trying to carve out our own sound. It’s always an ongoing process, but I feel the new album is more our own thing for better or for worse. I like it. I feel like there’s this thing in music where it’s a lot easier to be successful if you sound like something else that’s already successful and it’s something that’s always frustrated me because I want to make our shit sound like us, you know? I constantly have this thing where I hear some new band thatI’m like this is obviously just ripping off this other thing that is already popular. And every single time without a doubt that band gets huge. I’m not knocking things that sound like other things. I just mean it’s a weird phenomena. I guess people just like what they’re familiar with. So I don’t know, maybe people won’t like it as much. But I feel like we’re doing our thing more.
Lindsay: Sure that’s how it works.
AF: Was there a most exciting moment in production on the album?
Cliff: Not really. It was something we were working on for a long time.
Lindsay: Yeah, I felt like it was a bonding. We also reworked so many of the songs. One of the songs on there I think we re-recorded four times over a couple years. We just kept thinking it wasn’t right yet. Eventually we were like ok. We could have reworked it forever. You’re always reaching for something that’s just a little bit ahead of you.
Cliff: This is the only downside of working ourselves. We do all the recording stuff and songwriting ourselves. Sometimes it’s hard to know when to stop. But I like where we ended up.
AF: Can you describe your songwriting process?
Cliff: We always have a bunch of stuff that we’re working on. Since we’ve been doing GEMS I’ve taken on more the producer role, but we still go back and forth a lot. Lindsay with often start with a song idea where she’s real focused on the emotion and what she’s trying to convey. A lot of times it’s more like about the chords, or the feeling in the chords, or even a non-verbal melody. And I’ll make the beats. We always talk about honing in or sharpening in to the core emotion of each song. A lot of times when we start the lyrics are just gibberish, it’s more about the vibe and the emotion that’s coming through. And then as we rework it we hone in on some kind of thread lyrically.
AF: As a unit you have a pretty chic aesthetic, can you tell me a bit about how visuals factor into the project?
Cliff: Yeah it’s not really a conscious thing so much as it’s all an extension of us in our own weird little world. Actually I think it might also be a product of growing up in the suburbs of DC and living around DC. DC is a pretty cool city, but there’s not really like a lot of cool stuff around. The city is cool especially for the architecture and stuff. But the suburbs of DC, like Fairfax and Tysons Corner, it’s not like you’re growing up in New York or LA and you’re surrounded by cool shit. I felt like we felt like we had to create our own world as an escape from all that.
AF: Are there other projects you’re into?
Cliff: I’ve been really digging the new Autre Ne Veut album. We’ve been listening to that on the road here on tour with them. It’s been fun. I feel like we haven’t listened to any new music in a while. We listen to the radio a bunch, because the aux input on our van is broken, so our options are CDs or the radio– and we can’t even burn CDs now because our laptops don’t have a CD burner. We try to see live music a lot. Like Holly Herndon, we saw her at FORM Arcosanti, this festival that another band we toured with called Hundred Waters put on– that was pretty mind blowing. And recently we went to FYF in LA. FKA Twigs, Mac DeMarco and D’Angelo were some standout acts.
Lindsay: Yeah D’Angelo. He has such control over all of these other musicians. He addresses this group of musicians and they all read each other’s minds everything is so fluid. Great performance.
AF: I know you’re on tour right now, is there anything else exciting on the horizon alongside the release of the album?
Lindsay: We have an apartment in Highland Park right now, that I really like. And I’m excited for when after this tour we go back and to record and make music again. Keep working on new stuff really. Because we’ve been working so hard on this album, getting it out and getting ready for tour, and I’m really excited to sit back down and start writing again.
You can find more on GEMS on their website.
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We’re staying local and upbeat for this week’s New Music Monday. Williamsburg-based Pete Roessler and Severine Casati make up Late Nite Cable, the voice of jaded generation who may piss and moan but still know how to love and live as their 20’s creep into 30’s. “All Nite Girl” sounds like a late night walk home down Kent when the streets are clear and you’ve had a night so ridiculous and wonderful that you realize maybe everything’s not shit.
Bronx-based Bell’s Roar is an artist creating music meant for change. The name of Sean Desiree’s solo project, on her single “Slow (Remix)” off her album Second Chances Vol. 1, she blends soul and synth pop to create an intricate and moving track complemented by soothing vocals. Desiree is a drummer, vocalist, bassist, and producer, a multi-treat creating a sultry and intelligent slice of music. The track opens with pulsating and hypnotic rhythms, and then appears her voice, escalating and chanting “Here it goes…around again…” The energy of New York City is often pure hustle, everything is done and said with urgency. It’s lovely to hear such a calm track with sage words reminding us to “take it slow…” Beyond creating songs you want to listen to on the subway home to clear your head from a busy work week, most of Bell’s Roar’s material on the upcoming EP contains an important political nature, causing many to call the upcoming artist one of the important voices of our time.
Bell’s Roar has a sophomore EP due out November 13th. You can check out Bell’s Roar U.S tour dates here.
Things aren’t quite what they seem in Rah Rah‘s cosmos-themed video for “Chip Off The Heart:” Endless space filled with asteroids and planets are all contained all within an eyeball, a T-Rex exists amongst the pyramids, and a city fits in the palm of a hand. The realistic but cartoonish animation lends itself perfectly to the song’s upbeat, dancey sound, while the creepier elements of the video fit the song’s heartbroken lyrics. The words “Don’t panic, don’t panic,” are chanted as disembodied eyeballs float through a forest and an open mouth turns into a spiraling tunnel. And, an anatomically correct heart drifts through space, circled by planets and pulsing eerily as the band bemoans a betrayal by a former lover. The video ends with the sound of the heart pounding, lost amongst the stars. Thanks, Rah Rah, for reminding us that no matter how bad our heartbreak feels, the universe is way bigger than our problems.
“Chip Off The Heart” is the second single off of the Canadian band’s Vessels, which was released in September through Hidden Pony Records. Buy it here, and check out the video below.
One thing I’ve learned from musicians like Steve Choi from RX Bandits, is that there are entertainers… and then there are true artists. While musicians can intertwine both elements, it’s rare to truly find an artist at core—not focusing on making a brand in music, but rather making music a brand. I’ve discovered Lucas Kozinski (alias Fried Monk) as one of those artists, who like the members of RXB, branch sideways to invent sounds uncharted to their own. But that’s really the artistry in all of this—there are no boundaries to this music thing. Kozinski’s studio in Germantown, Philadelphia gave him a chance to really jaunt out of his comfort zone. Philly is one of the best places to do it, really. There is no shortage of culturally driven neighborhoods and glorious people. The music scene is rad and there’s plenty of people keeping it dynamic, him included.
His studio, Sleepless Sound, was barely running when his latest project, Introduces, was recorded. “The idea of the record came about when I wasn’t super happy with how the instrumentals sounded by themselves. It was also while I was in the process of opening up Sleepless Sound Studio,” Luke explains about the collaborative venture.
Also based in Philly is Moonshine Heather; Maura Mullen and Alex Berenson, committed the vocals to “Heartbeats.” The track is synonymous with downtempo affectionate. Maura has a reverberating voice, only overshadowed by her sultriness — and while she’s not piercing the ends of your auditory canals, she shoots a fiery “There’s a lot of love out there, but none of it’s for me.” And while “Heartbeats” is a condensed version of what the rest of Introduces has to offer, you’ll dig it a hundred times over. Also, the beginning guitar vibrations will bring you back to early 2000’s John Frusciante.
Teen Daze, the ambient pop project of Vancouver-based producer Jamison, played a dreamy full-band set recently at Baby’s All Right.
This past summer the band released a new LP Morning World (Paper Bag Records), on which Jamison worked closely, with producer John Vanderslice in San Francisco. Together, they have brought Teen Daze’s work to the next level, revealing Jamison’s singer-song writer side.
Attending a Teen Daze show was a transcendent beautiful experience. Surrounded by layers of colors, strings, piano, synths, drums, and most importantly, Jamison’s ethereal vocals, the show was pure beauty.
Teen Daze’sMorning World Tour continues to Canada and the Midwest until the end of the month.
A genre can sometimes be a useless, misleading way of explaining what an artist sounds like and allowing listeners to decide ahead of time whether they like them. It’s definitely not the best description to call Beach Slang’s The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us, a straight ahead punk album, though it could be placed under the broad umbrella of the genre. It’s got the energy and general vibe; singer James Alex has a sandpaper-rough voice and a way of singing that makes you think he’s straining as hard as he can against his vocal cords. Though he hardly even gets to the level of a shout, his lyrics convey a generous amount of sincerity. It’s punk rock that never rocks too hard, pop-punk that’s comfortable and familiar without drowning you in nostalgia. It’s dreamy punk, just as good of a soundtrack for contemplating and cloud watching as it is for thrashing around your living room.
It’s also meta-punk, as Alex focuses his the songs he writes and music he plays on the process itself. On “Noisy Heaven,” he finds salvation in being “Way out of tune, turned up to 11” as he admits “ The songs that I make, I barely rehearse them/ They’re hardly mistakes, they’re meant to be honest.” On “Ride The Wild Haze,” he wants to “Make the loudest sounds until we feel something.” “I break guitars and waste my voice,” he emotes on “I Break Guitars,” but he still finds safety and comfort in rock & roll, blurring his pain into sounds on “Dirty Lights.”
And although Alex states an obvious fact by including the track “Too Late To Die Young,” there’s a youthfulness to the album, hammered in by the fact that he also refers to himself as a kid, or sings about being young just as often as he shares his adoration of music. Being a punk implies its own youthfulness – teenage and twenty-something angst, being misunderstood, being an outsider. Did Beach Slang grow up? Yeah. But fortunately, they never grew away from those feelings.
It’s a rainy Wednesday night the week leading up to Halloween. I sit in bed in a sparely decorated Brooklyn apartment. The cold is seeping through the grey cotton sheets, but the comforting voice of Old Sea Brigade make me feel a little bit warmer. Atlanta-based Old Sea Brigade is the product of musical artist Ben Cramer. His debut single, “Love Brought Weight” reflects the vibe and “inner potency” of his upcoming EP. Like a cold room washed out with one big florescent light, when what it needs is candles and a lamp, the heart can feel as sparse and frightening as an empty operating room in times of loneliness. With his ethereal and experimental take on folk rock, Old Sea Brigade sings and strums of that feeling when someone enters your heart and fills you with enough warmth that you don’t care about the room’s temperature, the too-bright light, or the cold rain outside. It’s a beautiful feeling, and a credit to Cramer’s artistry that he is able to express such a distinct human experience in such an equally beautiful song.
