It’s already August, and if you’re like me, a certain kind of panic is starting to set in: Summer is almost over! The descent into crippling cold weather will begin soon! Well, the first day of Fall is September 23rd, which means there’s still over a month left for rooftop parties, iced coffee, and frolicking outdoors. If you haven’t gotten your music fix this summer, here are some of your best bets for concerts in the next few weeks.
Palehound
8/17 at Gramercy Theatre
Ellen Kempner is the creative force behind the MA band Palehound. Though her band often gets compared to Speedy Ortiz and the two groups both have strong 90’s alt-rock influences, Kempner’s guitar-heavy sounds and lyrics full of casual heartbreak are very much her own.
Krill
8/21 at Palisades
Another of Exploding In Sound’s breakthrough bands, Krill gained fans and alt-rock cred after their last release, A Distant Fist Unclenching.
Frankie Cosmos
8/22 at Shea Stadium
Frankie Cosmos, the daughter of Kevin Kline and a former member of Porches, is inspired by the poetry of Frank O’Hara and the NYC anti-folk scene. Though her real name is Greta, the project is the singer/songwriter’s indie alter-ego.
Zula
8/24 at Silent Barn
The local psych-rock band will be playing at Bushwick’s DIY space, the Silent Barn as part of Exploding In Sound’s Extended Weekend series.
Cuddle Magic
8/31 at Baby’s All Right
Cuddle Magic is one of Brooklyn’s most unique bands, who specialize in unexpected wordplay and rhythms. The clarinet, saxophone and trumpet they occasionally include sometimes gives them a baroque-like sound.
The Juan Maclean
9/10 at Bowery Ballroom
We’ve seen Juan Maclean, so we can vouch for their live performance. Nancy of LCD Soundsystem handles the vocals over the band’s mixture of electro/techno/house. Get ready to dance.
Dengue Fever
9/11 at (le) Poisson Rogue
Nothing says summer like going to see a band named after a debilitating disease caused by mosquitoes. (I promise, this concert will be a much, much more pleasant experience). The L.A. band sings in Khmer, mixing their native language and brand of pop music with dancey, psychedelic grooves.
St Paul & The Broken Bones
9/15 at Webster Hall
Looking for something a little more soulful? Check out the Alabama natives St. Paul & The Broken Bones, who have gained notoriety after releasing Half The City last year.
NYC-based supergroup Summer Moon (The Stroke’s Nikolai Fraiture, Au Revoir Simone’s Erika Spring, The Like’s Tennessee Thomas and guitarist Lewis Lazar) played a sold-out show at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right. We caught the gig and snagged some shots of their set.
Prior to the Brooklyn date, the band opened for Father John Misty at SummerStage in Central Park. Since forming in early 2015, they’ve only released two singles since forming in early 2014: “With You Tonight” and “Happenin,” both bouncy and upbeat with tinges of new wave. Rumor is they’ll be recording a full-length album soon, so keep your ears open…
Palehound is Ellen Kempner, a former Sarah Lawrence student. Former meaning she dropped out, presumably because even if the school did have a 90s-inspired indie rock class, there wouldn’t have been much left for her to learn; the 21-year-old played everything but the drums on her new album, Dry Food.
Dry Food is the Massachusetts-based artist’s second release after her 2013 EP, Bent Nail. It gets off to an aggressive start with “Molly,” a track that shows off Kempner’s instrumental skills with two guitar lines: one is wiry and playful, and the other brash, a machine-gun explosion of aggression. This duality continues throughout the album: you’ll hear gentle strumming and fingerpicking, twisting guitar licks, heavy distortion, feedback and nose dives down the fretboard – sometimes all in the same song.
The contrast in her music also applies to her singing. Her lyrics get personal, and are deeply aware, but there’s not so much vulnerability in her voice as a deadpan, matter-of-factness that masks most of the emotion. This works well with her songs – though Kempner isn’t afraid to get loud with her guitar; this isn’t dramatic or overly emotive music. Perhaps this is why she’s developed such a serious knack for imagery when it comes to describing feelings. So, the unwanted makeout session on “Easy” becomes “I’m pushing back your tongue/ With my clenched-teeth home security system,” and the tip-toeing of snobby “healthier folk” is revealed through Kempner asking, “Why don’t they hold me? They just cradle me like a homesick child.”
Possibly her best line comes from the title track: “You made beauty a monster to me/So I’m kissing all the ugly things I see.” Another key track is “Cinnamon,” a song that scatters guitar parts wildly over a smooth, shuffling beat. Kempner’s voice is cloaked in a heavy layer of reverb. By the end of the song she’s practically drowning in it, perhaps a result of a few too many rounds of “mixing water with gin and chasing it with cinnamon.”
If you take Dry Food as it is, it’s a short, but solid album. If you consider that it’s Kempner’s first actual album, and she’s still in her (very) early 20’s, the 28 minutes of casual heartbreak become even more impressive.
Dry Food will be available via Exploding In Sound on August 14th. In the meantime, check out “Healthier Folk” below.
I was studying television production until I got my heart broken and needed an outlet for the pain. I started writing and thus a career was born. From transformative emotional pain to the physical, Anthony Ferraro would have become a classical musician (he trained for nearly two decades) had it not been for his childhood-diagnosed arthritis flaring up while studying music at the University of California, Berkeley. With his hands out of sorts, he could “no longer…play etudes or concertos with the vigor they demanded,” so he dropped out of school. He did not, however, drop out of music. Ferraro began playing music of another variety under the name Astronauts, etc., (apparently he’s a space cadet). He didn’t lose his respect for musical refinement, however. His pop is recorded with a live band of trained jazz players (Scott Brown on bass, Derek Barber on guitar, Aaron Gold on drums, and Doug Stuart on keys and vocals).
In watching the video for “I Know” we must assume that under the skin of Ferraro’s head lies not a skull, but a disco ball, to which we are invited into. It’s pop, but refined pop. Smooth pop, intelligent and perfectly performed pop. It has a soul, and could very easily be classified as indie rock, but for the story of the classical musician who lost his hands and discovered a parallel universe I’ll call it – pop!
Astronauts, etc.’s debut album, Mind Out Wandering, comes out September 18th on Hit City U.S.A.
Watch the video for “I Know” below, directed by Vinyl Williams.
“How Did You Sleep Lady Kite” is the second single from Jesse R. Berlin’s debut album Glitter Lung, out August 14. Jesse R. Berlin first kicked up some dirt in the Tex-Mex blues scene of 1980s Houston, TX. After a rather roundabout series of adventures, breakups, and shakeups, Glitter Lung was recorded by Berlin as he isolated himself in his San Marcos studio for three years.
So about the song. The psychedelic nuances hint at a creation of odd hours – locked in the studio, perhaps with insomniac revelations and Ambien creativity. “Give me your love” the lyrics demand, a sentiment we’ve all felt, but that only come off (slightly) less creepy when sung from a sexy odd artist like Berlin. It thrusts you into that heady space of horniness as disco balls melt and your knees grow weak – ultimately giving way to passion and heading home – but not to sleep. Listen to “How Did You Sleep Lady Kite?” below.
The crowd wears sunglasses until the day gives in to night. The VIP’s are elevated in the front under umbrellas sponsored by Hendricks gin, or in the very back penned off in a Aquacai holding area. Teenage volunteers run around, excited and sweaty in contrast to the stone-faced security guards (well, it is summer in New York- everybody’s a little sweaty). It’s a Wednesday night and this is Summerstage, the outdoor concert series in Central Park where fans can see their favorite bands, communing with nature on a floor of astroturf.
When you’re standing shoulder to shoulder with your fellow listeners, feeling the claustrophobic of the makeshift rock arena inside the huge, open space that is Central Park, trying not to spill your eight-dollar, twelve-ounce cup of craft beer, it’ll never be more clear that while you hate large crowds, you love live music more than almost anything. The music of Angel Olsen seems to come floating down from the trees behind her instead of the speakers mounted on the stage. She is equally impressive live as she is on record, though she lamented that she had “a summer cold for Summerstage.” Her voice is both delicate and powerful, wavering and twisting itself from note to note over the foundation of her band.
Though charismatic, she lets her music carry the performance – her songs are not conductive to onstage antics or theatrics. That’s for the best, because the next act was the complete opposite, Father John Misty. Frontman Josh Tillman crooned his heart out, and left no syllable unaccompanied by a gesture, shimmy, sashay of the hips or another abuse of the mic stand. Just when you think the crowd is too big, and you’re too far to get the full effect of his performance, you hear him sing “You’re the one I want to watch the ship go down with” and feel like he’s talking straight to you. You think that crowds aren’t so bad after all. And anyway, you’re in Central Park on a gorgeous night: if you can’t see the stage, you can just tilt your head back and stare at the fading sunset, letting the music wash over you.
“We went overseas for about two years and became a really good band, and now we can do whatever we want.” Ezra Furman, the eccentric Chicago native who sold out Rough Trade on Wednesday strikes me as someone who’s always done whatever he wanted. He can do such things as wear red lipstick, a striped boat neck shirt, and tiny shiny gym shorts with oxford shoes and still look sexy, for instance.
Furman has just released his third full-length record Perpetual Motion Peopleon the acclaimed Bella Union label, and it’s a true gem. Tossing together rock n’ roll, folk, and delicious sax licks; PMP rests in a unique niche of contemporary music in that it doesn’t sound quite like anything else. I suspect one of the best compliments you can pay a musician is that their sound is truly their own, and true to that: Ezra Furman doesn’t sound like Mac Demarco, or Sunflower Bean, or Foals. Ezra Furman sounds like Ezra Furman.
Lyrically the album is brilliant. Furman not only possesses a knack for writing pop songs, but for equipping them with profound wit, wisdom, and heartache that stretches far beyond his 28 years. A personal favorite comes from the ennui-charged “Ordinary Life”: “way back in our mothers’ wombs, folded like notebooks, we had no idea of all the tote bags and the meathooks waiting out in the world.” A grim remark rendered cheeky when you realize it’s coming from someone who’s endured severe depression and mental illness, as Furman has. In a beautiful letter printed on the album’s lyric sheet Furman confesses that for the majority of his life he was gripped by a fear that he would die at 17. It’s no wonder his songs strike so deep.
Yet there was no shred of a tortured soul on Wednesday evening. Opening for Furman was Emily Einhorn and fellow Chicagoans J. Fernandez. Ezra could be spotted at the back of the crowd, politely chatting with fans and cheering on his supporting bands. You gotta love a headliner who watches the early sets with the sweaty rest of us. When Furman and his band (The Boyfriends) took to the stage the floor was packed out with admirers. They opened with “Day of the Dog” a track off of 2013’s album of the same name. “Well, this is interesting. This isn’t how I remember New York. I remember five people in the crowd at Arlene’s Grocery in 2007.” Clearly absence has made the heart grow wholly fond.
I could gush about Ezra for paragraphs, but his band demands some serious fawning. Not one of them is assigned a solitary task; Ben Joseph swapped between keyboards, guitar, whistling and singing, as did bassist Jorgen Jorgensen. Though he didn’t have a mic, drummer Sam Durkes insisted on mouthing the lyrics and whistling between beats. But the most dazzling to watch was sax-man Tim Sandusky, who produced, engineered, mixed and mastered Perpetual Motion People. He flailed around the stage filling out each song with defining woodwind phrases that congeal Furman’s sound.
Ezra played the majority of Perpetual Motion People as well as Day of the Dog, and the crowd ceased to dance throughout. During “Wobbly” Furman shelved his guitar for a shimmy break. He twisted around the stage with a strange mixture of girlish flirtation and proper sex appeal, though a clumsier side emerged while dancing by the drum kit and accidentally knocking the crash cymbal to the floor.
It was a show no one wanted to end. And though it had to, Ezra Furman was kind enough to gift us not one, but two encores, the latter of which being a smashing rendition of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.” Higher and higher indeed, Ezra.
AudioFemme is having a party. Naturally, there will be a bounty of great music. Tuesday, August 18th at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right we’ll be dancing with some fabulous bands. To get you as excited as we are, here’s a preview of our favorite things about our delightfully odd musical guests. We feel no shame in bragging that we love all our events, but this lineup is particularly special. Tickets are $8 advance / $10 at door – snag them ahead of time here.
The well-dressed Baltimore rapper has the music blogosphere spinning after already securing icon status in his hometown. We love his “post-apocalyptic” sound that blends classic hip-hop beats as well as punk and industrial sounds you didn’t know existed. Keep close to this one, kids.
Brooklyn’s own ZGRT is already freaking people out. Their first single, “HARD POWER” is produced by Zachery Allan Starkey and DFA Records’ synth legend Gavin Russom, keeping LCD Soundsystem alive through his electric touch on the Brooklyn current. ZGRT creates techno, house, and post-punk beats that will make your booty shake and lyrics that will make your head spin.
The avant-garde rapper from Masssachusets leaves you dazed with her heavy beats like thunder clouds ready to pour down poetic lyrics. “These fuck boys tryna get me but I can’t be fucking up,” she drawls on “Super Fragile,” which you can just play over and over until you’re hypnotized.Fuck fuck boys.
As complex as the stars above our heads and equally as beautiful, the New Yorkers (Jordanville) create intricate dance music about some very serious topics, ranging from rebelling against political authority to self-harm. Truly, something for everyone.
Enjoy a teaser video below from Leverage Models, filmed and co-directed by D. James Goodwin.
For some musicians, it’d be a bold enough move to wear their heart on their sleeve with lyrics like “Feeling so confused, don’t know what to do/ Afraid she doesn’t love you anymore” or admitting they’ll“Never believe in a heart like hers again.” On his latest album, Another One, Mac DeMarco goes one step further by giving listeners his home address and inviting them to share a cup of coffee in the track “My House By The Water.”
Though certainly bold and unique, it’s not a completely risky move for the Canadian singer/songwriter. There’s little-to-no controversy in his music; DeMarco won’t have to worry about any irate listeners showing up, demanding explanations or apologies because his music has corrupted today’s youth (he lives in the Far Rockaways of Brooklyn, quite a commute even for most New Yorkers). DeMarco’s music is the chillest of the chill: slide guitar lines lazily trail his vocals, whammy bars are invoked gently, and drums keep a crisp, tight beat. His half-asleep voice invokes an incredibly laid back, slightly-stoned version of Jeff Tweedy. It’s so relaxed, some songs bleed into each other, but this gives the album a consistent, thematic quality. And at only 23 minutes long, mixing up the energy with more upbeat songs like “I’ve Been Waiting For Her” is enough variation.
It’s rare that an album can be so engrossing, yet casual and conversational. Another One feels almost like a high-production jam going on in Mac’s backyard.One might be going on right now, in fact- it wouldn’t be too hard to find out, considering we have his address. Road trip, anyone?
It would seem that Pier 84 is the place to be this summer. With 4Knots boasting an impressive lineup of bands a few weeks ago, Hudson RiverRocks is upholding the more independent side of things, considering the bands and the cost, which is zero dollars. The lineup consisted of Santa Monica’s Weyes Blood, Speedy Ortiz out of Massachusetts, and Alabama’s own Waxahatchee. The shows start around six, and they’re a great way to spend the hours between work and bed. Weyes Blood is a sleepy start to the evening, and for a moment I wonder if the weather is bending to meet their mood. Violet grey clouds hang overhead, and everyone is wondering at the possibility of a downpour.
Natalie Mering, who essentially is Weyes Blood, is wearing a red polka-dot dress under a white trench. Her long black hair is in a low, slack ponytail that lends her a Joan Baez quality. At first she plays solo, singing over her keyboard, but shortly after the first couple of tracks her band mates trickle onstage. Mering’s music is cinematic, almost score-like. Her voice is stunning, sweeping and angelic, but admittedly, depressing. It’s a winter sound, and though I enjoy it very much, I’m not sure it’s fitting for a Pier 84 summer stage. The crowd is mixed, half of them swaying calmly while the rest chuckle. It’s not for everyone I guess.
Speedy Ortiz on the other hand, sound like the headliners at a house party after a long day at the beach. They could be the band playing your prom in an eighties movie, or in a dark club in a nineties movie. In a word, they’re fun. Sadie Dupuis is a powerhouse front-woman who looks a bit riot grrrrl in her pleated skirt and knee socks. You can hear a lot of Sonic Youth and Pavement in their set, but Dupuis’ girlish vocals matched with stern delivery make for a fresh sound. And I can’t take my eyes of drummer Mike Falcone, who’s bang-on and provides quite the punch. Having just made a riotous appearance at South by Southwest (Hannibal Buress sat in on drums) and released their sophomore record Foil Deer, the band is turning out to be much loved by fans as well as fellow musicians. At Happyness’s Cake Shop gig in April, drummer Ash Cooper sported one of their t-shirts. “They’re great!” he beamed. Rightly so.
Towards the end of their set, we all feel a sprinkle. Just like that it’s lights out and go home. There’s fear of a massive thunder and lightning storm, and given the very electric nature of all the equipment on stage, the good people of Hudson River Park decide it’s not worth the risk. The show mustn’t go on after all. It’s sad and unfair news for Waxahatchee.
Be sure to check out the final installment of Hudson RiverRocks featuring Yuck and U.S. Girls this Thursday, August 6th at Pier 84. And don’t forget to bring an umbrella. Just in case.
While last year’s 4Knots was downtown and gratis, the updated version boasts an impressive list of food vendors, top notch sound quality, and a killer lineup. And though you have to shell out a lot more than nothing this time ‘round, rest assured that all proceeds go to benefit Hudson River Park itself.
As you can see from our interview with the Grand Rapids trio, these boys are straightforward and approachable as human beings as well as musicians. They play psych rock straight up. Their set was incredibly tight and focused. It’s always interesting for a band’s sound to be so raucous and raw and their composure so stoic and professional. Guitarist/vocalist Andrew Tamlyn, drummer Joshua Korf, and bassist/vocalist Nolan Kreb all look like they could be in three different bands, but they sure as hell sound like one. Despite a little pestilence from a “Free Bird!” shouting audience member, the crowd loved them, and so did I.
Meatbodies:
In my opinion the most surprising act of the evening, Los Angeles-based Meatbodies kicked ass. It’s a pedestrian description, but an accurate one. They’re a shambolic bunch whose stage banter is far from sophisticated and all the better for it. “We’re sorry we’re sick. We ate too much cheese last night. We’re sick on cheeeeeeeeeese!!!!!” they shout out phlegmy throats. Lead man Chad Ubovich is freakishly talented, and when you consider his resume it makes sense; he was long the lead guitarist for Mikal Cronin and currently plays bass in Fuzz. Each Meat Body has palpable chops, but Ubovich is a real showman and potentially a savant; his solos are wild and wailing, seeming at once impossible and effortless. As his guitar squeals his eyes roll back in his head and his mouth twitches in unembarrassed focus. The lot of them come off like your shithead little brother – that all your friends would rather hang out with.
Happyness:
You may have noticed by now that we’re a bit hung up on Happyness, and that won’t be changing anytime soon. They play a familiar set-at least to someone who’s seen them three times in the past couple of months-but it never grows stale. The thing that continues to surprise and delight me about these boys is that despite their all-too-clever lyrics and flippant interview responses, they perform with an intense and joyous sincerity. Drummer Ash Cooper, though only in his early twenties, comes off like a seasoned jazz session man, mouthing each brush on the high hat, squinting and smiling in a surely unconscious way. Benji Compston and Jonny Allan do all the talking to the crowd, but as a trio they seem to be speaking to each other with a ease and professionalism that typically marks bands who’ve been together much longer than they.
I’ve been looking for Stephen Malkmus all night. Was he in the crow’s nest? Aboard the artists’ lounge? Catching some shade under that enormous prop Deep Eddy Vodka bottle tethered to the bow of the boat? He’d managed to escape my searching eyes until the moment he stepped out from behind the stage (I’m convinced I was the first person to see him). “Hello photographer people” he mutters and leans over the photo pit a bit self-consciously. The Jicks are on the edge of their first song when a resounding ferry horn honks. “Even ships fart,” Malkmus quips, proving he’s still the easily humored dude he’s always been. The band played the bulk of 2014’s Wig Out at Jagbags but no Pavement managed to creep into their set. (I can dream, can’t I?) A particular show high-point peaked during “Freeze The Saints” when Malkmus sauntered over to guitarist/keyboardist Mike Clark to join him on the keys. They plunked away side by side until Malkmus turned to Clark, stating dryly: “You’re stepping on me, bro.”
It’s only fitting that the Super Furries would headline, seeing as they’ve been on hiatus for half a decade. I know that the stage set up won’t be demure (knowing them, and how long it takes for them to come onstage) but I have read the yeti costumes are destroyed, and will therefore not make an appearance this tour. They too find amusement in the ferry horns, pausing after the first and maniacally shouting back at it. SFA fans are not fainthearted, and there is a flock of them. They play all the favorites, mine being “Juxtaposed With You” simply for how much it stands away from their catalog. Their set is long and solid, but of course they deliver a generous encore. And despite all the talk, they play it in yeti suits after all.
It’s surprising to think that after all these years, the above still gets shouted at rock bands who are just trying to finish their set. I personally stopped finding the line funny around age 14, but the same cannot be said for the sad twenty-somethings behind me whose idea of high art is probably the Fast and the Furious franchise.
I digress. The real victims of this sloppy heckle are not my ears, but rather the members of Heaters, a band who has come all the way from Grand Rapids, Michigan to play the annual Village Voice 4Knots Festival. Fortunately the vast majority of the crowd are brimming with enthusiasm for the group, who sound as tight live as they do on their recordings. They’ve recently released their Mean Green 7” on Beyond Beyond is Beyond records and will have a full length come September. Having played SXSW, and the Austin Psych Festival in the past couple of months, the band is still in a perpetual state of momentum. Fortunately for us at AudioFemme, they slowed down ever so slightly to give us an exclusive interview and chatted about the Grand Rapids music scene, playing bass on acid, and stealing other bands’ drummers.
AudioFemme: Welcome to New York!
Heaters: Thank you.
AF: Did you guys just get in this morning?
Nolan Krebs: (bass/vocals) We got in yesterday actually, we had the day off yesterday so we went out to the Rockaways and had a nice ass day.
AF: Are you in town for long?
NK: ‘Til Monday and then we play Boston.
AF: Do you have anything fun planned for the rest of the stay?
Andrew Tamlyn (guitar/vocals): We’re gonna go to Coney Island I think tomorrow.
NK: Yeah, we’ve never been.
AF: I love Coney Island. The Side Show is worth it if they still run it.
NK: Oh I’d be so down.
AF: It’s really good. Don’t go on the Cyclone.
NK: I feel like I would throw up. Is it intense?
AF: It’s not so much the motion sickness, it’s just that it’s made out of wood and it gives you whiplash. Every time you go around it feels like someone’s punching you in the back. So if you’re into that, go on it. So 4Knots! Your set was amazing, I really enjoyed it.
All: Thank you!
AF: Did you hear that guy yelling “play ‘Free Bird’” by any chance?
NK: Yeah, what a tacky, unoriginal thing to say.
AF: Do people still think that’s funny?
AT: I don’t know. It’s kind of like a “your mom” joke, you know?
AF: Who were you most excited to see at 4Knots?
AT: Meat Bodies.
AF: They’re great! I was just kinda like, oh, another band. But then they started playing and I immediately ran to the stage. Their guitarist is fantastic – so animated. I was very impressed by their set.
AT: Most of these bands I haven’t heard of, but I’m excited to see Happyness.
NK: We met them at South by this year and they’re total sweethearts.
AF: Yeah I saw them in April and interviewed them in a tiny bathroom in a venue in Brooklyn, and they’re just adorable. They’re the sweetest guys. So, you guys are from Grand Rapids Michigan; what’s the music scene like over there?
AT: It’s weird, it’s kind of all over the place. There’s lots of metal and folk.
Joshua Korf (drums): There’s a lot of pop punk.
NK: They’re trying though. It’s a cool city and we moved there because we knew there would be places to play. Andrew and I were friends in high school and we kind of split up during college and shit, and then afterwards knew we wanted to try and do something with music so that is the best place in Michigan to try and start something. It’s young and looking for a foothold but it’s trying.
AF: Yeah I was going to ask why you were drawn to that city as opposed to other music hubs like New York…the big ones.
JK: It’s a cheap place to live.
NK: Yeah I feel like we had a little bit of space to breathe there and figure out what we wanted to do and what kind of music we wanted to make. Chicago isn’t very far away and we play there about once a month so sometimes we kind of feel like we’re a Chicago band.
AF: Well I think midwestern bands kind of get slumped into that one category a bit…Chicago and Minneapolis and such.
NK: Totally.
AF: I feel like you guys have recorded quite a lot in the small time that you’ve been a band. I know that the Mean Green 7” just came out in April- are you guys already working on anything new?
NK: We have our first full length coming out in September on Beyond Beyond is Beyond, which is a Brooklyn-based label. Our Mean Green record came out through them as well. When September rolls around we’ll be-we’re on a two month tour right now-but by then we’ll have some space to breathe and probably start working on something else.
AF: How far into the tour are you?
AT: Just like a week.
AF: You guys did another pretty long tour in March?
NK: Yeah, March through May we went down to Texas for South By Southwest and Austin Psych Fest so it was kind of like back and forth driving to and from Texas.
AF: Anything ridiculous happen? Any good tour stories?
(Josh starts laughing hysterically)
AF: Oh, something happened.
(Continual laughter)
NK: I took acid way too late in the night before we played at Austin Psych Fest because we were watching Tame Impala and someone politely asked if we wanted LSD, so I said yes and didn’t end up sleeping that night, which sucks. I had a great time but didn’t sleep before our set…
AF: Did you play while you were high?
NK: Um, I wasn’t really high by the time we played but I remember looking at my bass guitar and thinking, “this feels weird. Something’s weird.”
AF: I can’t imagine performing while on acid. That sounds terrifying.
NK: Yeah, some bands can totally pull it off but personally I get confused.
AF: So you two (Andrew and Nolan) moved to Grand Rapids together, and Josh, you were their next-door neighbor. How did that courtship work? Did you just see a drum kit in a window and bring him a Jell-O mold, or?
AT: Actually, he was playing in another band and after his set we were like, “dude, we really like you! Come play with us!” So we stole him and then we all moved in together and just started hammerin’ out tunes.
AF: So now all three of you live together?
NK: Yep. We’ve lived together for like two years.
JK: It’s really convenient for stuff like rehearsing and practicing and recording in general. Instead of having to go to a practice space we can all wake up in the morning, have coffee and go to the basement and play together.
AT: We’re all brothers.
AF: Yeah, it’s impressive. The dynamics must work so well for you to not get sick of each other.
NK: It’s weird because I actually hate them both, so…..
AF: I can tell. I can sense the steely reserve emanating from you.
(All laugh)
AF: I was reading an interview with you guys recently and I believe Andrew you said that a lot of new music consists of people doing a kind of karaoke vocal track over prerecorded music.
AT: In certain genres, yeah.
AF: Do you feel semi out-of-touch with contemporary music?
AT: I’d say so, yeah. I feel like we’re a little out of touch with most radio/contemporary music, but I mean when it comes to just playing with other rock n’ roll bands, not at all.
NK: Contemporary music is kind of funny for us to listen to as engineers of our own music. We listen to it and we’re like “oh my god, this is so different from what we try to do in our basement.” But, to each his own.
A: I still respect it all. I’m not hating on anything.
AF: Hate on some things.
(All shake heads)
AF: No? All right. Speaking of contemporary music, what are you listening to right now?
All: The Fat White Family, Vocaloid.
NK: They’re a Chilean Psych band.
AT: On Sacred Bones Records.
NK: Amen Dunes, Mystic Braves…honestly the bands we’ve toured with have come to be our favorite bands. Mystery Lights. Wand.
AF: So your contemporaries.
All: Yeah.
AF: What are your goals as a band currently? Are there festivals you’re dying to play, or venues you’re trying to get into or radio stations you want to be on?
AT: I think it’d be cool to play the Fillmore in San Francisco. That’s pretty iconic.
JK: My dream was always to play Psych Fest.
AF: You did it!
JK: Yeah, when we got that email it was so surreal.
AF: It sounds like such a blast.
JK: Yeah, it’s the perfect festival in my mind, because everyone that’s there is there to see music. There’s a hang-out-and-do-drugs thing, but I’ve been to so many other festivals where it’s just about how fucked up you can get and it’s not about the music, and everyone I talked to and encountered at that festival was there to see good music.
NK: It was like, record nerds.
AF: Your people.
NK: Yep, our people.
AF: So my last question is kind of a silly one: do you have any music that you love which is a guilty pleasure? And what is it? But un-ironically, like you truly love the band.
JK: The Strokes (who are currently playing on the boat)
AF: They’re playing this for you!
AT: Grizzly Bear????
AF: Oh, come on.
NK: They make beautiful music.
AF: That’s bullshit. They’re a hip band.
NK: I don’t feel bad about any music…
AF: Not bad but embarrassed. Mine’s The Wallflowers if that helps anyone.
NK: Oh, ok.
JK: Guns N’Roses.
NK: Andrew and I listened to a lot of hardcore music when we were teenagers, so now listening back to that it will make me blush.
AF: Like Alkaline Trio or something?
NK: Yeah that sort of bullshit, but whatever, that got us into a lot of guitar music so…
AF: Oh no, you don’t have to defend it.
NK: haha, thank you.
AF: The blushing part is what I mean. The fact that it makes you blush makes it that category.
Be sure to check out the title track off of Mean Green below:
Apparently, there is a right way to listen to some records, and I got it wrong when playing LVL UP‘s new EP, Three Songs. According to the lo-fi group’s Bandcamp page, listeners should “[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][dim] the lights, burning all candles found within the dwelling. With eyes open toward the ceiling, the listener feels dull heat from the candles in front of them. Eyes closed now, the listener begins to regulate their breathing and in time presses play on their device.” Since I’ve never been one for rituals, and out of fear of burning down my apartment, I just plugged my laptop into speakers and turned them up past the roar of the AC. The result? Still good.
Three Songs is just that, and they follow the general format of their earlier work but break some new ground. “The Closing Door” is a melancholy track with heavy distortion and a slow, steady beat similar to songs on their last release, Hoodwink’d, but fades into and out of a slightly psychedelic jam during the bridge. “Blur” is a bright pop song reminiscent of tracks like “I Feel Ok,” but brings a new energy, particularly in the rhythm section, and a crisper, cleaner sound. “Proven Water Rites” is a mysterious end to the EP, containing most of the release’s angst: “Remember me, when I’m free I’ll be easy /Nothing underneath/ Breathing fire, breathing steam.”
Candles or no, Three Songs is a great listen from a band that has always had talent, but continues to evolve and polish their sound.
New York-based songstress EVVY recently released her new single “Tidal Wave.” The enchanting pop track, a collaboration with Baby Daddy of Scissor Sisters, Mickey Valen, and Chris Wallitsch speaks of the grounding power love holds against uncontrollable and destructive forces. First and foremost, “Tidal Wave” is really fun, which both in the world of songwriting and let’s be honest – love – is rather refreshing. Immediately the distinct feeling of being overtaken by a wave, caught up while body surfing and being tossed and thrown is evoked. It is a lot like love, absolutely terrifying, and there’s a slight risk you’ll become paralyzed for life in the struggle. The key to not only surviving, but having the time of your life – is to just roll with it.
Fortunaut is the moniker of Brooklyn-based musician Ryan Kershaw – joined with an ensemble of his best friends and finest music makers: Robin Buyer, Erik Caldarone, Zack Trahan, and Nick Pope. They recently released their debut LP Press Up Off the Earth July 11, 2015.
Once upon a time Fortunaut was just Kershaw in his Boston bedroom, but now the band spend their time between Brooklyn and Boston. Press Up Off the Earth was composed in four weeks and recorded live in one day at Virtue and Vice Studios in Brooklyn.
My intital listening to Press Up Off the Earth took place alone, sitting cross-legged on my bed with a cup of sleepy tea in one hand and additional herbal relaxation in the other. The opening title track sets the atmosphere, warming you up to what is a thoughtful and cohesive listening experience. Initially I was taken back five years in my memory to sitting on my bed in a similar fashion hearing Band of Horses Infinite Arms for the first time during a final week of college. The comparison’s beyond the shared serenity of proper indie rock; for the record, Fortunaut is far more experimental and less folk. What was responsible for my memory jolt is that you don’t remember the first time you hear each album, but for me Infinite Arms was one of them – and now Press Up Off the Earth is too.
Favorite tracks include the nostalgic “Young” and the heart-acheningly beautiful “Vow.” Press Up Off the Earth feels like a debut album, but not in the sense that they need worry about a sophomore slump. That’s not a backhanded compliment, but simply you can hear them finding their sound, and while the scruff is sexy, I have a feeling in a few years they’ll look even better clean-shaved.
Letting go is hard. Memories can act as a quicksand of sorts, keeping us stuck in toxic relationships or negative situations that make us feel shitty, because perhaps there once was light. They say much of what makes up our experience of love is how someone makes you feel. “Think of Anything,” the new track from New York-based future soul artist Jojee is about someone who makes you feel you can do anything. That’s much more pleasant than being stuck in the mud, isn’t it? Despite its uplifting ideals, the song is far from annoying pop, but a darkly beautiful soul track with smooth hip hop beats, like a sly smile that gradually warms your face when you realize you’ve made it to the other side.
“Think of Anything” is produced by Mickey Valen. Listen below.
Sunday morning begins with Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats giving a sermon that shakes loose the demons. We are knee deep in the Holy Spirit as our fingertips fly towards the overcast sky. Rateliff is nothing if not a proper showman, a blackjack dealer with dust in his beard and oil on his heels. On this good green earth his athletic gusto can only be rivaled by Miss Sharon Jones. We are in the presence of a beast who has learned our mannerisms.
Later we hear the ancient wisdom of Field Report, and wander through their dream stables. One of the girls in First Aid Kit has lost her voice, so their slack jawed goddess blues sound just that much more lonesome. We place our toes in the water and trade secret fears. Hounded by egrets and with pirate flags at bay, we make moves for Shakey Graves.
The fort walls resound with thunder just the way we like. We draw campfire close to hear the truths and schemes of a man whose very name inspires drama, the man behind Shakey Graves, Alejandro Rose-Garcia. This brand of grit grunge is out to draw blood and sighs in all the right places. We quake with fury, no longer sure of foot. We want to tear down the houses and the things within them, leave no shelf unturned, set fire to the doors. This is sure to bother the neighbors.
In a few hours, after the water taxi, the shuttle, the cab, three buses, and two trains we’ll fall into the open arms of our little trash heap of a town; we’ll take special care not to wash the sea salt from our skin. Our toes will grasp at familiar roads. People will seem to recognize us. But for today we are panting with abandon and must wear hats to keep the sun from our eyes.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
This fall, British pysch-rock band Menace Beach are releasing their second project of 2015, an EP. Named Super Transporterreum, the band recently shared the EP’s title track.
What is a transporterreum, let alone a super one? I was hoping that it was some kind of spaceship, but a quick Google search revealed it’s not a real thing. The band’s singer Liz Violet came up with the name from a fever-induced hallucination she had after she caught the flu on tour. Similar to their last album Ratworld, “Super Transporterreum” is a fun three and a half minutes of fuzzy guitars, feedback, and vocal trade offs between Violet and Ryan Needham. Whatever it is, when they chant “Super Transporterreum” during the chorus, I want to sing along.
Super Transporterreum will be available via Memphis Industries on October 2nd. Check out the first song below!
At eleven this morning, Spirit Family Reunion are giving their best sun salutation and we accompany them with hands and hearts. These rabble-rousers make dangerous music, you know the type, the kind that makes you want to swallow a glass of whiskey whole and howl into the night.
Throughout the day Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear sing us regal goat songs, the Barr Brothers serenade with sweet harp lullabies, and Nikki Lane rocks us dirty. When an audience member voices his approval, Langhorne Slim assures us that “you sound good too.” I look around at the scenic harbor and feel a pang of jealousy for every musician that gets to play music where the air smells of raven waters.
Even Sufjan Stevens mentions that playing this festival is a lifelong dream come true for him. His humanity has never been more apparent. He laughs as the audience helps him remember the words to the second verse of “Casimir Pulaski Day” and when he chokes out some of the higher notes he recalls that those same notes were a lot “easier when [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][he] was younger.” We hear in Sufjan’s voice the ephemeral nature of everything; he intones “we’re all gonna die” and we allow ourselves to both recognize and release this simple fact. It is a moment of perfect chaos, heavy lightness. Sufjan plays us out with a hypno-dystopian version of “Chicago” and for the moment we believe in fairies.
Photo by Mery Cheung
The Decemberists, ever professional, come outfitted in suits and make the kids twist and shout. We head out just in time to catch the next water taxi and marvel at how easy it would be to get used to this.
Two trains, three buses, a cab, a shuttle, and a water taxi, amounting to a cool eleven hours of traveling later, we arrive at Newport Folk Fest to some bad news; the skies are flashing ill intent and there’s been an “official weather alert” sent out. We are asked to join in prayer.
Enter Tallest Man on Earth, clad in black and with the Devil in his eye. He croons out a few of what he describes as “breakup songs” and we rock in time to our own lost love. At the end of every song he tosses the pick like a bad dream, then at the fourth song or so something wonderful starts to happen. Hot rays poke through the mist; it seems the Tallest Man has a voice that coaxes the sun awake, woos away clouds. We too have fallen prey to his trademark charisma.
To say that Kristian Matsson, the man behind the Tallest Man, and his frantic gyrations are hypnotizing would be no overstatement. He struts; he balks; his brows flick with each twang. I’ve never seen a man make a photo pit work so hard to keep up.
But for all his stage antics, the crowd keeps a steady calm, unwavering in their sway. I’m participating in what seems to be a meditation in the perverse art of chill, flailing dance heat for flailing heartbeats. I can tell already that this festival might not be for your average attention deficit disorder dudes and diet coke heads. No doubt that crowd would fail to hear the witch songs beckoning you to the furthest reaches of the ocean.
Matsson is this great wilderness embodied, gnawing savagely at his own paws. He sings through his teeth, “oh Lord, why am I not strong like the branch that keeps the hangmen hanging on.” I fear this monster might eat us up he loves us so.
Soon the skies make good on their promise, and the storm begins. Roger Waters still has to play, but I think it might be prophetic that he brought the rain, so perhaps we aught to head back to the water taxi? I’m feeling superstitious today. Either that, or I just really need the sleep.
Since the March release of her first full-length album, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, Courtney Barnett has become pretty popular. Popular enough that on Wednesday she both headlined and sold out a show at Manhattan’s Terminal 5, which has a capacity of roughly 3,000 people. The Australian rocker was supported by Torres and Speedy Ortiz, who recently released their own albums, Sprinter and Foil Deer.
Barnett opened her set with a drawn-out, solo version of “Anonymous Club.” Her endearing voice filled every inch of the venue until even the drunk dudes using the quiet to shout catcalls with fake Australian accents were silenced. When she wasn’t at the mic she reeled around the stage, whipping her hair and strumming furiously. On recordings, her drawl is relaxed, shifting from weary to playful, but on stage, the lyrics come spilling out. At key crescendos she’d replace syllablesand whole words a shout or roar, the only thing that could match the intensity on songs like her encore of “History Eraser.”
The best part of the show (besides the music, obviously) was seeing the huge, three-tier venue completely packed for a show fronted by female guitarists. Not guitarists in the sense that they’re strumming a few chords while they sing- they’re rocking strats and telecasters, pushing their instruments and voices to the limit. Sadie Dupuis (of Speedy Ortiz) forgoes any delicate melodies in favor of harsh guitar lines that leave a jagged edge as they cut through swaggering songs. Mackenzie Scott, aka Torres, accompanies herself on guitar with a steady, loping beat- her tone is serious, focused, and slightly dangerous. One of the show’s best moments was during her song “Strange Hellos.” It’s cathartic enough as a recording, but she suddenly let out a chilling shriek in between choruses: “I was all for being real/ But if I don’t believe then no one will.”
When I saw Courtney Barnett a year ago, her set had energy and charisma, but seemed rushed. This time around, she brought a new intensity and confidence to her performance. Before, I remember her ending her set by disappearing from the stage. On Wednesday, however, she dropped her guitar and walked off as the feedback shrieked and wailed at the audience. Maybe it’s because she wasn’t headlining then or her fame was relatively new, but now, she seems to have settled into a more natural, comfortable position: a total rockstar.
If you missed the show, check out a live version of Courtney Barnett’s “Pedestrian At Best” below!
Capitol Hill Block Party is Seattle’s beloved street party meets music festival. Usually convening at the end of July, this is the block party’s third year running. Taking up over six city blocks, it showcases more than 100 artists. The neighborhood of Capitol Hill, traditionally known for its colorful artist and music fueled culture, will be entirely occupied with parties, DJ sets, and many other events aside from the Block Party itself. It isn’t so often that new local bands have the opportunity to play alongside world renowned acts such as TV On The Radio, The Kills, Father John Misty, RATATAT, Toro y Moi, etc. Below are a few local bands playing that you definitely shouldn’t miss because you’re waiting in line for a festival beer.
“I keep forgetting I’m on a boat!” Huw Bunford, lead guitarist of Wales’ Super Furry Animals, is sitting in a booth on the Hornblower Infinity, 4 Knots’s designated artists lounge for the one-day festival on Pier 84. “Sorry, I just saw the horizon go up and down (laughs).” It is mildly unsettling trying to hold composure for an interview while feeling the slightest swells rock us left and right. All around are musicians snacking on buffet cheeses and crackers, chatting and ordering drinks from the bar. In all honesty, I keep forgetting we’re on a boat too.
Bunford, or as he cordially introduces himself, “Bunf,” is soft spoken, gracious, and exceedingly kind. These are not three adjectives that leap to mind when one imagines a rock star who’s been in the biz twenty-odd years. There’s a lot more ease about him – a casual uncertainty regarding the future that typically marks bands in their first year. Perhaps it’s the well-rested temperament of a man whose band has just emerged from a six-year hiatus.
Super Furry Animals are not only touring again for the first time since 2009, they’re also riding high on the deluxe edition rerelease of their 2000 album Mwng(pronounced Mung as I learned the hard way). The record, sung entirely in Welsh, was anomalous not only to the band (all prior recordings were in English) but also to the U.K. music industry of the time, which was strongly steeped in Britpop. But as opposed to the Beatle-ific, Kink-centric nods from contemporaries such as Oasis and Blur, Super Furry Animals took on everything from funk to psychedelic, to space rock. Their diverse sonic anatomy makes it difficult to solder them to any specific time period – which may be why a reissue and a resurrection is so appropriate.
Bunf was kind enough to take the time to answer a few pressing questions, and chat about iTunes, wltimate painting, and SFA’s biggest fan.
AudioFemme: Welcome back to New York!
Huw Bunford: Thank you.
AF: So you’re back from a hiatus, you just played Glastonbury, and you’ve reissued Mwng after 15 years; what’s it like touring together as a band now? Is there a different dynamic?
HB: No. It’s strange really, it’s just like none of us have been away. It’s a very bizarre feeling. Before we did Glastonbury we did a short tour just to publicize Mwng really-the reissue-and there were about eight dates around Britain, and that was the first time we’d played for six years and we rehearsed before it and Cian [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Ciaran: keyboards, synths, etc] said when he walked in the first day, he looked in and our roadies had set up everything exactly as we’d remembered.
AF: It’s like when you talk to a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while and it’s as if no time has passed.
HB: Yeah, it’s very strange.
AF: What was it about Mwng in particular that you wanted to rerelease it instead of other records in your archive?
HB: Well, one thing about this is that there was no plan, it’s quite shambolic, a super loose idea where we had a few record companies like Sony and Domino who mentioned doing it years ago, and we sort of just never got our shit together and sorted it out. And then for some reason a year ago a guy from Domino bumped into Gruff [Rhys: lead vocals, guitar] and said “oh, we never did get that reissue….”
AF: I’ve read about it and I love that you all just say “oh we just forgot….”
HB: (laughs) Yeah, basically we were all just like (looks quizzical) “oh yeah….” But it just seemed right at the time. The idea of [reissuing] Mwng came out and Domino really jumped on it and was really amazing, and they made a really nice pressing. And Kliph Spurlock, who used to be the drummer for Flaming Lips is a massive fan-
AF: I would assume that the Flaming Lips may have been a fan of yours…
HB: Yeah, Kliph is, he’s a superfan. I first saw him in a gig in Lawrence, Kansas and I didn’t know who he was and he knew all the songs, all air drumming. So he then compiled a lot of outtakes and ATPs of Mwng so [the reissue] has about six sides. So that was worth pushing…worth doing something around it.
AF: I know one of the defining features of Mwng is that it’s sung entirely in Welsh. Looking back do you feel like that’s made a mark on contemporary Welsh music? Is it a thriving tradition or kind of an oddity?
HB: No, no, Wales has got a thriving musical scene, the Welsh language has its own radio station, and a lot of quite amazing bands really…a lot of young bands that really hold their own against anybody. And it’s healthy, you know, it’s not contrived I don’t think in any way, even though it’s a language that you might not associate with pop music, but it doesn’t matter really. In the end in a way, ironically, when we finally played America it was only when we came back and toured Mwng that’s when audiences in America thought ‘oh, these aren’t Britpop then’ because we’d been slightly lumped in by association.
AF: Which is so funny to me because I could not think of a further diversion from Britpop…
HB: It’s probably just because Creation [Records] and Oasis were out then and we came out then…I could see why people would sometimes think it…but not when they heard us (laughs). Once we started playing they were like “Oh, no, right.”
AF: What are you listening to now? Are there any new bands that you’re excited about or do you just go to the classics?
HB: Yeah, I like some new ones. Have you heard of Ultimate Painting?
AF: Yeah! They’re fantastic!
HB: Yeah, they’re amazing. I love them. And um, Van Etten.
AF: Sharon Van Etten? She’s great.
HB: I’m kind of into Soundscapes as well, though they don’t really figure much in the Billboard 100, but yeah, it’s kind of weird…and documentaries as well…that’s what I listen to and watch really.
AF: This is actually paraphrasing something Gruff said from about 2009, but it was regarding the fact that you guys have always been a very album-centric band, and that was a time period when people really constructed albums from start to finish as a whole composition. And now we really are in this era of individual downloads. How do you feel as a band kind of in those two spaces? Do you feel like there’s even a chance for bands to have longevity anymore based on that?
HB: Well, no not really. I suppose to be cynical it’s a completely different business model now. Cuz in a way that’s how everything effects everything in the end, unfortunately. You know peoples’ habits change, technology has in a way pushed that into the way people have changed. There’s a small little niche for vinyl…it’ll never die out, because I think bands love to do albums in the end. If you’re a band you might not want to just stop at one song, even though the record company does…
AF: I know bands will continue to make albums, I just wonder if there are any bands that we listen to now that we’ll still be excited about in 15 years…that I question a lot. I hope, but I don’t know.
HB: Yeah, I know what you mean, because there might not be enough…
AF: Attention span.
HB: Yeah, it’s kinda crazy. I mean there’s so much new stuff and then you get indie music, which is almost quite generic indie music, and then you get other indie music which is really out-there indie music and you can always see subtle differences and I think that’s because there’s just more of it. And I suppose peoples’ tastes become more sophisticated. We keep getting more sophisticated with our tastes.
AF: Some of us do….
HB: Well, yeah, but when you think about it it’s inevitable. Pop will eat itself.
AF: Not to age you guys with this statement, but as a pre-internet band-
HB: Oh, yes. We’re proud of that.
AF: I’m sure, I mean I would be if I had a band. Pre-internet. But, how do you feel about streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music? It’s complicated…
HB: Well, yeah, it is. It’s a minefield really isn’t it? Some bands like U2 totally missed the point spectacularly and put out everything on iTunes and get a separate contracted deal with Ttunes for a zillion pounds but make it look like “hey, we’re giving it away!” and it’s a lot of massive bands that do that, so it must be quite difficult for bands who are starting out now if the precedent is: ‘give it away and something might happen’ it’s a very upside down business plan. You can embrace it as a way of getting something out there. When we were around starting, you’d have to have a press officer, you’d have to have an agency, all these kinds of things which were all parasitic of the record company, but they needed them to be there and the whole apparatus would work and you’d get onto morning shows and TV shows. But now that’s all out the window. I think that people were just too slow to realize it…if you stand still in this game you die.
AF: Yeah and once your standing you’re not even there for that long.
HB: Yeah. That’s hard.
AF: I’ve read interviewers ask you guys about how having kids has affected your careers, but I’m curious to know how you guys have affected your kids with music. What kind of stuff are they listening to?
HB: Well now they’re just about getting to that age where they can really see what we did. Before they were a bit too young. They didn’t get it. So now they kind of, my kids are beginning to see that.
AF: Are they like ‘dad’s cool’ or are they kind of embarrassed?
HB: Yeaaaah, my kid’s eight-they’re all under 10 so still young, but you know, they don’t have any qualms saying ‘my dad’s a rock star’ to the milkman or something like that (laughs) that’s what they see, you know. But it’s funny you know, you try and downplay it but it’s sweet.
AF: I guess my last question would be, what’s next for you guys? A new album?
HB: Yeah, it’s just super loose. We don’t know. We’re taking it a week at a time. Well, not really, we’re doing almost like a festival tour up until the end of the season really. And then after that we’ll do something next year like the festivals and some of the things we didn’t get a chance to do, and that’s about as far as we’ve really stuck our necks out. But it’s good; it’s a nice feeling.
AF: But that’s nice, not being stressed out.
HB: Like I said, you know, people don’t really listen to albums anyway, so wha’ts the point of writing one? (Laughs)
Last week we caught The Family Crest at Madison Square Park as part of its Oval Lawn concert series. The 7-piece SF-based Chamber Pop project is in the middle of a massive North American tour supporting the release of their latest album, Beneath The Brine, which has reached a fever pitch of critical praise. Peep our photo editorial of the show below.
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