With the release of Crystal Antlers new 7″ Little Sister/Dead Horse just released this past Tuesday March 9th, we got on the horn with their people about getting the band to make a Playlist for us. Jonny Bell stepped up for the band and gave us the goods. On a side note, we are sorry but we couldn’t find most of these songs to stream. But please go check them out.
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1. Tuxedomoon – 59 to 1 Notes by Jonny: Michael Belfer produced our second 7″ and played in Tuxedomoon, though mostly uncredited. They were way ahead of their time. -
2. Tangerine Dream – Invisible Limits
Notes: Fits perfectly after Tuxedomoon, but pre-dates them.
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3. Sun Ra – The Code of Interdependence
Notes: The name says it all…
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4. c4am95 – Don The Atmosphere
Notes: Met these guys when they played at a house in my town when i was just a lad. they introduced me to Tangerine Dream.
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5. Ink Spots – We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)
Notes: One of my favorite vocal groups of all time, and the finest art direction.
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6. Thelonious Monk – Bright Mississipi
Notes: A bit of Jazz sounds nice next to a bunch of electronic stuff and noise.
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7. Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band – One Red Rose That I Mean
Notes: A real tear-jerker, especially for an instrumental with just a bass and guitar.
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8. The Birthday Party – Wild World
Notes: I bought this record (the Bad Seed EP) at an antique store that was going out of business for 25 cents.
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9. The Sleepers – Linda
Notes: Another of Micheal Belfer’s bands. They had a 5 song ep on a 7″ that came out in 78′ and is one of the best punk records of all time. The guitar playing on this track is super creepy.
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10. Leonard Cohen – The Stranger Song
Notes: From his first record. I just saw a documentary made right before the record was recorded called “Ladies & Gentlemen:Leonard Cohen.” He was amazing long before he ever picked up a guitar. Go see it.
In the time that its been since Daughters released “Hell Songs”, I have become accustomed to Sonic Youth’s feedback drenched droning, which makes the newest Daughters self-titled album even more enriching. Nicholas Sadler (who has since left the band and is playing in the lame indie band Fang Island) really knows how to get his guitar to tremble violently and lurch forward in the most disgustingly awesome way possible. I wouldnt call it a solo, but the musical bridge in “The First Supper” is something straight out of Steve Albini’s playbook. It pulses and pummels as if KMFDM partied with the Meat Puppets and “Family Man” era Henry Rollins took LSD and married them over a human sacrifice. For the second album in a row, vocalist Alexis Marshall croons and slowly drawls over the face pummeling noise attack, as compared to the throat shredding screams of his contemporaries and his own work for this band earlier in their career. He sounds like Tom Waits if he took hallucinogens instead of spent all of his time at the bar.
To call this grind music would be a total lie, and to call it noise rock would be to sell it short. Its some sort of hybrid that makes you feel like you got punched in the stomach. Even (comparatively) slower tracks like “The Hit” and “The Dead Singer” twist higher and higher until they collapse into broken down noise freakouts that I cant really wrap my mind around yet. “The Theatre Goer” riffs like a Black Sabbath track, but the guitar effects make it sound like its trapped in a tornado, which leads perfectly into the absolutely ridiculous opening guitar part to “Our Queens”. Pardon my lack of journalistic integrity here: holy shit. Daughters have once again created a noise rock masterpiece. This is a must hear.
N.A.M.B. bandleader Davide Tomat’s came up with a Playlist for us. He calls the list his “Detachment Session” and put notes to each song. The band is from beautiful Torino, Italy and recently released their debut album BMAN on February 23rd.
David Tomat “What am I listening to right now (detachment session)”:
Sufjan Stevens – Year Of The Dragon (with Osso)
I love that song from “Enjoy your rabbit” but this new version taken from “Run Rabbit Run” is really amazing. That song played by the New York string quartet Osso is really, really cool!
Broken Social Scene – da da da
The pads..those voices, that feedback, those noises, that piano and all… the fluid stuff together with the punchy drums! A real cool contrast all throughout the song….
The Flaming Lips – The Ego’s Last Stand
Amazing…bass panned on the left with that slap delay on the right…strong punchy in line bass..really good sound…and the outro makes me fly nailed on the roof…reminds me of Pink Floyd
Steve Reich – Pulses (Music For 18 Musicians)
What can I say? I think there aren’t so many music pieces that can describe nature developments better than this. Nature pulses!
Ravel – Gaspard De La Nuit; 1. Ondine
Again..what should I say?…if someone hasn’t heard that music before, it’s time to do that… But I’m sure you all know about that! You know what I’m talking about!
The Beatles – Blue Jay Way
My favourite Beatles song ever! The mix is great! Voices on the left, drums and organ on the right…reverse effects and strings in the middle. Really psychedelic!
Grizzly Bear – I Live With You
It reminds me of old film and atmospheres…directly from old motion picture soundtracks but with punch in the middle! Really cool!
Boards of Canada – Music is Math
Since I bought this record (Geogaddi) I had to listen to this song at least one time a month… it’s something that brings me up in the universe. I had a car crash once listening to it…it was late in the morning…only me and the street…I was totally absorbed in it..and didn’t realize I was driving and that there was only a car waiting for the green light!
David Bowie – Subterraneans
Right now I’m still asking myself how could Bowie sing that melody at the end of the song…it’s like a melody coming from another song…like an outake voice.. but it sounds perfectly in it and perfectly out when it comes after more then 3 minutes of space super music…and then the voice goes away as it came!
Ennio Morricone – Un Uomo Da Rispettare
From the film “The Master Touch”. I never saw that film..I’ll do it for sure… but I made hundreds of films in my mind with that piece of music going around and listening to it again and again! Unbelievable.
Jonny Greenwood – Moon Trills
Pure music! No words! Love those tremolo strings!
La Monte Young – Day of the Antler [The Obsedioin Ocelot]
26 minutes of supreme musical meditation. Each time it starts I can’t stop it.. and it’s a big problem when you don’t have 26 minutes and it comes up on your iPod shuffle!
How goes?! TheLaw hail from the city of Dundee on Scotland’s’ east coast. We released our debut album in the autumn of last year and have been touring the UK & Germany since then. The record itself is a collection of songs to celebrate everyday life. Recorded in the Sawmills studio, Cornwall, the main objective was to capture the energy of our live shows on tape – the result is ‘A Measure Of Wealth’!
2. Have you ever been fed up with playing music or with band members, why?
This is the best job in the world – music has so many tangents and avenues, it would impossible for even the closed-minded among us to get bored! Band members are the opposite – they tend to have a multitude of deviations and vices so complex that without an open mind, most of them would be grossly misunderstood!
3. What was your first concert experience? Do you remember how you felt once the concert was over?
Yeah, I was 15 in the old Westport bar in Dundee. The band I was in at the time played a mixture of original material and Doors covers. When the gig was over, I stood in the audience to take the total number of bodies in the room up to 5!
4. Did you grow up wanting to play music, or when did the whole making albums thing come about and how?
We all found a certain sanctuary in music from an early age. Playing music is something we all love and making a record is just the next step up the ladder if you want to carry on writing and performing for a living!
5. What qualifies you guys to be in a band?
Marti and Si’s (brothers Martin and Simon Donald, Drummer and Bassist) granddad played the spoons…
6. Do you have a favorite song you have ever written? Why?
For the groove of the tune – Television Satellite from the record! Everyone has a vice, in one form or another, they should really just give up – we chose the squeaky clean subject of Television as apposed to relationships, drugs etc. for this number!
8. What qualities should a successful label or manager have?
A successful act always helps!
9. What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you in your life?
Our bass player and motivator is, as is every red-blooded male, partial to a drink. Simon isn’t biased, in fact he is quite open- minded when it comes to the type of said liquor. However, a drink by the name of vodka can cause this gem of a man to turn… During these spells of madness, Simon is, and i quote “neither drunk nor wrong!” These are the scariest moments of my life…
10. What’s the first thing you do when the band arrives in a new town while on tour?
We unload the van, set up the stage and sound check. After all that we usually check a local pub and chill until stage time.
11. Have you ever had an audience member give you the willies because they kept looking at you all weird?
We are of the mindset that if they buy the record, they can look at us whatever way they bloody well want! It would actually be more fitting to ask our audiences, “Have you ever had member of TheLaw give you the willies because they kept looking at you all weird?”
12. Have you ever cried while listening to music? If so what were you listening too?
Every time our old tour manager picked up the guitar it brought a tear to my eye. Having to watch someone disgrace such a beautiful instrument in that way is quite emotional. He was chronic!
13. If you could re-record, or re-write any song of yours what would that song be?
We put a lot of hard work into seeing that the tunes sounded the way we imagined them to. I don’t think any of the band has any desire to move backwards by revisiting old turf. Onwards and upwards!
14. What’s the worst place you have ever played a show at, and why?
Something this band has always been good at is making the best out of a bad situation… or is it, making a bad situation worse?! I forget! Anyway, sometimes the places that look the worst on the face of it all are turn out to be the landmark gigs for your band. It’s a combination of the band and the audience all knowing that things could be a hell of a lot better and just saying, ” F**k it, we’re here now, let’s get on with it!”
15. In a perfect world how many albums would you have to sell to be happy?
None. In a perfect world, commercial success and the cold grip of cash would hold no restraints over the wonders of music. You could pick up CD’s of your favourite groups or download them legitimately for free and gigs would be on a first come first served basis… “Who’s paying us again..?”
16. What do you guys have planned for the future?
We’re currently rehearsing for a US tour that starts on the 15th March. There are a few showcases in New York & L.A. with a mini tour of SXSW in the middle of it all.
17. What music do you listen to when you are having a bad day?
Bad days usually come up when I haven’t listened to music for a couple of days due to one reason or another. It’s just your body’s way of telling you that you need your fix. A heavy dose of Rubber Soul usually sets you on feet again!
18. If you had your life to live over again, what one thing would you change?
Nothing. Ask me in another 40 years… Thanks very much for your time. Hopefully you can make it to one of the shows soon enough.
Get to know The Law and check out their tour info!
Aloha’s latest album “Home Acres” is in stores today! We had three of our contributors all review it on their own and since they were all great reviews we had to post them all. So here our the thoughts of three seperate people that span 3 different locations including another continent. Don’t forget to check out our Aloha Contest to win the albm which ends soon. Click Here To Enter.
Review #1
Written By Barry Moore
Score 8.2/10
Aloha’s recent release “Home Acres” is upbeat to say the least. There are few moments of down time and although it doesn’t quite inspire me to jump up and down and dance, it does at least keep my head bobbing. It’s nonstop rock and roll in the most classic sense of the word. Not so much in the “classic rock” sense of the word, but in the sense of the word that the 90’s are beginning to be a part of what is considered “classic” these days and it’s making me feel old. There are moments when Aloha is reminiscent of R.E.M. or perhaps, Dinosaur Jr. but, really “Home Acres” just has a distinctively late 80’s/early 90’s “alternative” feel to it.
“Everything Comes My Way” and “White Wind” are the slowest tracks on the album and comprise a nice break in the middle of all the motion throughout the adventure of exploring “Home Acres”. It also allows the listener to focus on the lyricism a little more rather than just feel absolutely brainwashed by the driving drums and guitars. But it immediately picks back up again with “Cold Storage” in the kind of interesting dichotomy that makes up the album.
Lazy melodic vocals laid atop the fist pumping drums seem to be the most consistent aspect of the album. Each track differing with guitar tone and delivery and sometimes accompanied by piano, or organ, it has a very similar theme throughout the whole experience which ties each individual song in nicely to what makes Aloha so welcoming. It’s very lovely album construction.
On their first four records, indie rockers, Aloha have earned a reputation for their experimental style that references eighties luminaries like The Cure and Joy Division. On their fifth record, “Home Acres” other key influences have been added to the musical melting pot with the band producing glorious harmonies like The Beach Boys and going off on a few experimental tangents à la The Velvet Underground.
“Building A Fire” is a great song awash with keys, cymbals and the kind of dirty guitar riffs synonymous with a blistering Queens Of The Stone Age anthem. The result is one hell of a trip on the back of a pick-up truck through a bright cloud of purple haze.
“Moonless March” is yet another catchy indie pop song to add to an already burgeoning genre. Sure it’s a little interchangeable and plenty of bands spew out this kind of music with gusto, but few manage to elicit such a feel good sensation in the process.
“Microviolence” boasts some of the best xylophone heard since Radiohead’s “No Surprises.” But Aloha also keep things funky while also delivering a love letter of sorts. “Searchlight” meanwhile, is sunny indie pop reminiscent of The Drums’ music about surfing and the summertime. It’s clear that the latter haven’t got the market on contemporary musicians referencing The Cure in a light-hearted yet modern way.
“White Wind” contains harmonies that reach for the sky like The Shins, while the beat in “Cold Storage” instantly conjures up images of flamboyant eighties acts in fluoro spandex. And capping things off is “Ruins,” which boasts more keys than a locksmith. Okay perhaps not, but it does reference New Order’s “Love Vigilantes” while offering some organ that sounds like it has been derived from a hymn. Praise the Lord!
On “Home Acres” Aloha aimed to turn the energy up to eleven and equal the dizzying heights they had reached in their previous work. It’s fair to say they delivered, due to their excellent throwbacks to the best elements of the sixties and eighties, not to mention a modern twist of lime for added juicy goodness. Basically, Aloha will leave you wanting to dance around smiling in the sun and if you can’t enjoy participating in this silly kind of sport than you’re just a killjoy.
Review #3
Written By: Wells Sinclair Score: 8.6/10
We’re all assholes really. You me and everybody else who goes to web sites like IRR to find the lesser-known bits of delight in music. We don’t want our favorite musicians to have massive followings. We feel like the music is contaminated once some douche (I usually picture him running a finger over his cowry shell necklace and listening to a Dave Matthews mix on his iPod while having his teeth professionally whitened) also owns an album by a band that we personally cherish.
Aloha fans are likely to be in for that disappointment sometime relatively soon. The Prog-Rock/Post-Rock (fill in the the blank with your arbitrary genre label here ____ ) quartet can only put together so many quality albums before the fan base bulges and a few starry-eyed main streamers start calling their sound home. You don’t think so? Well nobody thought it would happen to Modest Mouse either but by the time Good News for People Who Love Bad News came out, the days of romantic obscurity were long past.
I’m not saying Aloha sounds anything like Modest Mouse or even appeals to the same set of cochlear implants, but it’s a quality album – a quality album coming on the heels of four other quality albums and two EPs.
I’d recommend you get the album now so you can at least have a tinge of superiority when, 3 years from now, your 13-year-old cousin from a farm in Eastern Washington tells you their favorite band is Aloha. “Yeah,” you can say with your manufactured nonchalance, “Their earlier stuff was cool, I guess.”
C’mon man, your cousin is only thirteen. You’re such an asshole.
Here’s how the record label accurately and fluffily describes it:
“Home Acres pushes tempos and dials up the guitars, with the band’s slow-burn intensity sometimes overflowing into huge moments. But even as the energy surges, Aloha casts an otherworldly glow, serving up ambiance and attack with equal measure.”
1. Tell us about the band?
Hey battlefield is pretty much a rock band. Jason has a real bluesy approach. While Michael brings more of a jazz and rock attack. We don’t tailor the sound in any one way but I feel like we both give each other enough room to play our parts. We really try to focus on a guitar/vocals, drum, and bass lineup to keep it simple. We don’t believe in tons of effects, loops or what we would call noise. We try to keep it pure and simple with more subtle nuances that we hope come through in the songs.
2. Have you ever been fed up with playing music or with band members, why?
Being in a band is like any relationship. There are always issues about commitment and ego that are constantly popping up. Like being married but to 2 people instead of one!
3. What was your first concert experience? Do you remember how you felt once the concert was over?
Jane’s Addiction, I think it was at the Ritz, I was 14 and I was mesmerized, I needed to be up there!
4. Did you grow up wanting to play music, or when did the whole making albums thing come about and how?
I studied music from the time I was 7 with my grandfather who was a jazz trumpet player. Then I picked up the drums and guitar when I was around 11. It is something I have always done. Recording was a natural progression because it gives you the ability to control exactly how your sound is portrayed.
JR: I’ve been writing songs for as long as I can remember, and when I was very young I taught myself how to play the guitar and the piano. I don’t know how to read sheet music; I just play what sounds good to me, which gives me a lot of freedom to experiment. Being in the recording studio is always an education, I find it to be a hard process breaking down the songs like that into pieces, but its an important part of the journey, getting the music down and available for people to listen too.
5. What qualifies you guys to be in a band?
MS: I’m not sure that one can be qualified to be in a band. I think if you enjoy it or you NEED to do it then you do. That’s the only prerequisite as far as I’m concerned.
JR: Playing music isn’t really a choice for me; it’s just something that I have to do.
6. Do you have a favorite song you have ever written? Why?
They go in and out of favor all the time. Sometimes we love certain songs and later we will hate them and not play them for a while. It’s really about what kind of mood we are in I think.
7. What is your greatness weakness as a band?
This will sound cheesy but it might be that we take things very seriously. That has become a problem for Jason and I sometimes because we expect anyone we work with to have the same level of commitment. I think it can be hard for people when they come in to play with us though, feeling included can be an issue.
8. What qualities should a successful label or manager have?
They should be clever, beautiful and never take no for an answer (in a nice way) you can ask Maya our manager about that… she’s perfect for the job!
9. What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you in your life?
MS: I’ve had a few close calls. Probably surfing related for me.
JR: Being shot at one crazy night in Queens.
10. What’s the first thing you do when the band arrives in a new town while on tour?
Have a look around, put up flyers, find out where people are and promote the show if there’s time. Maybe see who else is playing or if there’s anything cool to check out. If we don’t have time, it’s straight to sound check and a beer.
11. Have you ever had an audience member give you the willies because they kept looking at you all weird?
There is this one person who shall remain nameless that shows up sometimes who gives us the creeps and acts like they are Jason’s best friends. Usually they take off after the beginning, which is also weird, they don’t always stay for the show…. a bit stalker vibe really…
12. Have you ever cried while listening to music? If so what were you listening too?
MS: Too many to count…. JR: Tom Waits gets me every time!
13. If you could re-record, or re-write any song of yours what would that song be?
All of them, recording are an ongoing process. I don’t think I ever listen to something we have done and think PERFECT! There are constantly changes happening in your head. It’s actually hard to settle in the end.
14. What’s the worst place you have ever played a show at, and why?
I think there are some terrible sound guys out there, wouldn’t blame it on the place. We’ve been pretty lucky.
15. In a perfect world how many albums would you have to sell to be happy?
As many as it took so that we could all be comfortable and felt like people really liked the music we made… couldn’t give a number. If we did this for accolades we would’ve quit years ago.
16. What do you guys have planned for the future?
Just really to keep playing and writing songs… more touring and playing more shows. That’s what we love to do.
17. What music do you listen to when you are having a bad day?
There’s actually a song that we do (Jason wrote it) that I listen to sometimes lately called “hell bent on you”, it’s actually very soothing to me. There are a couple though.
JR: Anything by The Pogues.
18. If you had your life to live over again, what one thing would you change?
I don’t believe in thinking that way… what would you change? If I lived thinking I wish I had or hadn’t I’d miss out on what was happening now. No regrets… what’s that line from the Butthole Surfers song? Its better to regret something you have done than something you haven’t done. And by the way….
IRR: Tell me a little bit about Nouvelle Vague. How did it come about?
Marc Collin: It’s a long story. It’s like… I was a fan of new wave when I was young. And after I became a composer, and an artist myself. So a long time after, I just went back to all these songs and just realized that they are really beautiful songs. So I wanted to prove that by keeping only the skeletons of the songs, the lyrics and the melody, and remix it completely differently. In order to prove that songs are timeless somehow.
Most of the time when you do a cover, it is something that is already known as a classic somehow. So I thought it was interesting to cover something that is normally not covered. Like Marian from Sisters of Mercy, Bela Lugosi’s Dead from Bauhaus, Friday Night Saturday Morning from The Specials. Those bands are not covered really. So I wanted to do a tribute to all of these bands in this era, because I wanted myself, to hear these songs differently.
IRR: What has been the biggest struggle with covering some of these groups?
MC: Most of the time it’s really easy because the songs are really good, even if you take I’ll Melt With You, with only two chords, it’s kind of easy. Sometimes, the struggle is that there is a song that I really love, for example Bella Lugosi’s Dead, that it’s not really a song actually. It’s just a little melody, almost no chords, so I have to struggle, and I have to really be imaginative and inspired to completely reinvent the song and try to find the different arrangement, or something completely different.
IRR: When you’re completely reinventing a song, what steps do you take to reach the goal you’re looking for?
MC: I’m trying always to start from something, like an idea. For example, Bella Lugosi’s Dead, suddenly I just get in my mind ‘okay… let’s do this song that could have been recorded ten years before for a movie, maybe a sci-fi aura movie’. And suddenly I get all of these images, the black and white screen… you know. So I just took the song and put the arrangement like the soundtracks of the 70’s.
I just get things in my mind, and suddenly I’m doing it, because I have a lot of things in my studio. It’s not that difficult to take the sound and attack one point, and it’s works like that. And if it works, I start looking for a singer.
IRR: Do you have a favorite song that you want to do?
MC: I’m a big fan of Japan, and their song Ghosts. But I don’t know exactly how to do it now. I’ve tried one or two different times and I wasn’t really happy, so I failed. I gave up. Not too many songs. It’s just a matter of an idea. One day I think ‘Oh! I have to do it like that’. I have to find some links between genres in many ways.
Ghosts, if it had been recorded before in the 20’s with a jazz singer, and we try it like that. It’s just a matter of ideas. There are a lot of bands that I like that are not on the album. There is no Madness, and I’m a big fan of Madness. I did a cover of Enola Gay from OMD that I didn’t put on the album. Also Devo… a lot of songs.
IRR: Aside from the songs that you cover, which artists do you gain inspiration from?
MC: To do a cover, I have to gain influence by something else, otherwise I will do the music like the original. The first album was really Bossa Nova, so I took my inspiration from Bossa Nova of the 60’s from Brazil. The second album I did a lot of research of the Caribbean sound, the mento, the calypso, reggae, ska, all this stuff. Also I’m a big fan of all the soundtracks, John Barry, Moriconi, etc. This new album we’re more into south country and western sound, bluegrass, Johnny Cash, this kind of thing. This is our reference.
IRR: The tour is wrapping up tonight. Do you have any memorable experiences this time around on tour?
MC: Probably the thing that happened that was incredible was Melanie, that is one of our singers, couldn’t come because she was pregnant. She was supposed to have her baby at the end of March. The bass player of the band is her husband. He thought that he’d come do the tour and that it would be okay because it would end on time.
Finally, in the middle of the tour in Seattle, he got a call in the middle of the night saying that his wife will have the baby, so he just quit the tour. So we did two gigs without bass. But it was nice, and went okay.
IRR: You’ve worked with various different artists for the songs on your albums. Are there any favorite artists that you’ve paired with and learned from?
MC: For sure. The members bring me inspiration for sure. When we recorded with Phoebe on the second album, she was already into this bluesy and dark thing. So I knew that she could perform Human Fly, and Bela Lugosi’s Dead, and this kind of track. It brought me inspiration as I adapt my style for artists like this.
IRR: What’s your plan from now since the tour is wrapping up?
MC: The idea is to go back to France and record a new album. We have now an idea to do a special album for America. Telling a bit of the story of punk, from New York Dolls, and maybe even from Iggy Pop, through The Talking Heads, Black Flag, and all of this stuff. We will start soon I think. The idea is to release that next year. So we’re going to tour with this album next year. There are a lot of things to say about American music.
When I was young, punk was English for me. It was in the British movement you know. It was a long time after that I discovered that punk was born in America finally, and that Malcolm McLaren was the manager of the New York Dolls, and that took everything from Richard Hell and imported it to England, with all the science of marketing, invented punk. But he just invented how to sell it in a way. But the roots are really from America, from Iggly Pop and all these bands. Nobody knows it. But it would be nice to say that.
IRR: How come France produces so many brilliant artists? It seems there is a huge influence from France by just the artists that come over here.
MC: We are a bit special, because we’re trying not to copy the English band and the American band, so we’re trying to have our own style. I think we have the audacity, to dare to do things a new way. Nouvelle Vague is a good example of that. I don’t think an English band can do that in the same way. If you think of Daft Punk, and Air, they have this ‘we’re going to do it!’ attitude ya know? We’re going to put these rock beats, and the synth, and we’re going to invent something.
I think in England and here in America, there’s a style, like R&B, Blues, Country, Rock, and you follow something. I think we are more open to try different things, because we don’t have these roots. We don’t have blues and such… maybe just jazz and some things. We don’t have the things to follow, so we just try our own new things and go after it like we have nothing to lose.
IRR: If you had one message to share with the world, what would it be?
MC: That’s difficult to say. Try to keep inspired by music and everything around you somehow. Keep on with inspiration. Because the inspiration that music is bringing to you is really important, even when you’re really young.
1. Tell us about the band?
Well, there’s a lot to tell. We’ve been doing this together for a while now. Going on 5 years I think. Let’s just say we are four relatively average, slightly eccentric, wildly excited guys that get together at least once a week to play rock songs. We also get in a Ford Van (by Ol Elegante) and drive to rock clubs all around the U.S. We record new songs when it’s time to do that. Then we call Travis at the record label. He helps us a lot.
2. Have you ever been fed up with playing music or with band members, why?
There was this guy in my band one time. He was a dick.
3. What was your first concert experience? Do you remember how you felt once the concert was over?
Billy Idol. At the end of it I cried Monk.
4. Did you grow up wanting to play music, or when did the whole making albums thing come about and how?
When I was ten, I put two boom boxes face to face, covered them with pillows and made a copy of my sister’s Billy Squier tape. That’s the first thing I ever tried to record. It was exciting.
5. What qualifies you guys to be in a band?
I was the Captain of The Pinafore in 5th grade. Keelan was a great pitcher at Clanton high school. Lester had a mohawk and a reverse mohawk at the same time. Jake’s mom is originally from California.
6. Do you have a favorite song you have ever written? Why?
Country Roads by John Denver. John and I wrote that one after a long day of cross-country skiing. And there was a basset hound sleeping on the porch. I was talking to Yoko Ono the other day and she said sadly “I really miss John.” I know how she feels.
7. What is your greatness weakness as a band?
Folk music. We are NOT an alt-country band godplamit!
8. What qualities should a successful label or manager have?
A hard working, well intentioned, big tittied, people person who knows how to make things happen and believes in those he represents.
9. What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you in your life?
Keelan had a near death experience one time due to anesthesia complications while having hand surgery. He said that he saw the light. Seriously.
10. What’s the first thing you do when the band arrives in a new town while on tour?
Go to Ho Jo.
8:30 Leave HoJo to go to the club.
8:45-11:30 Standing around shooting the shit waiting for our turn to play.
11. Have you ever had an audience member give you the willies because they kept looking at you all weird?
David Baker. Before I knew him. And Trey from 13 Ghost. After I knew him.
12. Have you ever cried while listening to music? If so what were you listening too?
I have cried during many movies. I feel that the emotion that the music adds to the scene is one of the main jerkers of tears of all the elements in a movie.
13. If you could re-record, or re-write any song of yours what would that song be?
I put out a solo album in 2003 called “Chandelier”. It was a “learning experience”.
14. What’s the worst place you have ever played a show at, and why?
There have been many shows that we’ve had to chalk up to paying our dues. But, what makes any bad show worse is a.) You’ve traveled a long way to get there and b.) If the people at the club are flatly unfriendly. There are certain places that we’ve really grown to love because the people at the club are so great to us: The Hummingbird in Macon Georgia, The White Water Tavern in Little Rock, Arkansas, and The Bottle Tree here in Birmingham, AL all come to mind.
15. In a perfect world how many albums would you have to sell to be happy?
Happiness is complicated.
16. What do you guys have planned for the future?
SXSW parties in March, including the Birmingham party on Friday the 19th. We’re touring to Chicago at the end of March. New York in April. Then taking some time to record our 3rd full length.
17. What music do you listen to when you are having a bad day?
18. If you had your life to live over again, what one thing would you change?
I would not have kicked that kid in the balls when I was in fourth grade. Wherever you are, I’m sorry.
1. Tell us about the band?
I write the songs. My brother and father are pretty much the main stays as the backing band. The other backing members change for each record and live.
2. Have you ever been fed up with playing music or with band members, why?
Surely. Bad show. Small crowd. Bad performance. If on tour, if someone becomes a liability it can be annoying.
3. What was your first concert experience? Do you remember how you felt once the concert was over?
The first I remember was Weird Al and the Monkeys. Complete.
4. Did you grow up wanting to play music, or when did the whole making albums thing come about and how?
My brother and I started our first band in 94. That’s when it really started.
5. What qualifies you guys to be in a band?
Nothing
6. Do you have a favorite song you have ever written? Why?
That’s like asking if you have a favorite child. Just kidding. I have three kids. Wish I could remake two of them. Again. Kidding.
7. What is your greatness weakness as a band?
We don’t play the game.
8. What qualities should a successful label or manager have?
Depends on your definition of successful.
9. What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you in your life?
Passed out drunk in the middle lane of the Verrazano Bridge. Driving.
10. What’s the first thing you do when the band arrives in a new town while on tour?
We have no routine
11. Have you ever had an audience member give you the willies because they kept looking at you all weird?
If I did, I don’t remember
12. Have you ever cried while listening to music? If so what were you listening too?
Yes. Creed
The bird and the bee have teamed up with IRR to offer their fans a chance to win their upcoming cover album Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates, which is basically a love letter to famed “rock and soul” duo Hall & Oates.
Singer Inara George and multi-instrumental/producer Greg Kurstin, will release Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates, on March 23 courtesy of EMI’s Blue Note Records. The record will feature eight classic covers along with the original song “Heard It On The Radio.” the bird and the bee will also showcase the record with a performance at The El Rey in Los Angeles on March 5th.
To enter simply just fill out the form below. We will pick one of our followers at random in two weeks as our winner. Simple as that.
Track List:
Heard It On The Radio
I Can’t Go For That
Rich Girl
Sara Smile
Kiss On My List
Maneater
She’s Gone
Private Eyes
One on One
Marching Band was started by Erik and Jacob when we met our first year in college. We called ourselves Second Language back then, and played more acoustic stuff, but the focus on melodies and arrangements were there from the start. We released three home made albums before we got signed in 2007. Right now we’re about to release our second album with U&L Records.
2. Have you ever been fed up with playing music or with band members, why?
Music has been a natural part of our lives all our lives. Jacob had been playing in many bands before and had been recording stuff for several years. And we both have always liked, and still like, the process of making an album. When you get the final CD in your hand it always feels very rewarding and that it’s been worth the trouble of making it.
3. What was your first concert experience? Do you remember how you felt once the concert was over?
Jacob went with his family to a Manhattan Transfer concert i Stockholm when he was about 4 years old. It was held at the big amusement park Gröna Lund and Jacob got lost. It took an hour for the family to find him by the police office because they couldn’t call out for his parents during the concert. He was reading black and white comic books when his family found him. It was probably his strongest experience of feeling rejected and had a deep impact on his personality; always wanting to make sure everyone’s happy and getting along…
4. Did you grow up wanting to play music, or when did the whole making albums thing come about and how?
See #1 and #2.
5. What qualifies you guys to be in a band?
Nothing. We just try hard being one. But we’re OK at dealing with conflicts at least. You have to be when it’s just the two of you.
6. Do you have a favorite song you have ever written? Why?
Our first song “Car” is a really sweet country ballad about a car crash. That first record it’s on will become a collectors item.
7. What is your greatness weakness as a band?
We’re great at not allowing any weak parts in our songs. That’s how we made it this far. Our weakness is probably that our live band members have to tell us to rehearse.
8. What qualities should a successful label or manager have?
Be really, really good with people and no BS. You have to have a great music taste and business sense at the same time.
9. What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you in your life?
We’ve both lived very comfortable lives. In South Africa we had to reverse our way away from a flock of elephants standing in the road. That’s the only scary thing we can think of right now. But it was more exciting than scary actually…
10. What’s the first thing you do when the band arrives in a new town while on tour?
Feel confused. Grab whatever free food there is.
11. Have you ever had an audience member give you the willies because they kept looking at you all weird?
No. Only pretty, nice, middle class, well behaved boys and girls at our shows…
12. Have you ever cried while listening to music? If so what were you listening too?
In church when Jacob was about 5 years old he cried when an American gospel choir visited the church he grew up in. It might have been a spiritual experience or just the overwhelming atmosphere they managed to build up in the room.
13. If you could re-record, or re-write any song of yours what would that song be?
Jacob regrets he ever recorded a song called “Waiting” on our first demo. It’s a just a huge cliché.
14. What’s the worst place you have ever played a show at, and why?
We played a night club in Sundsvall in northern Sweden once. There were 800 people in the building, 20 of them were staring at us 30 m away at the bar while the rest were dancing to “Cotton Eye Joe” in the basement.
15. In a perfect world how many albums would you have to sell to be happy?
Just enough to make a living out of it. Real happiness comes from other things. Like friends. Or Swedes winning Olympic gold medals.
16. What do you guys have planned for the future?
The new release with the supporting tours.
17. What music do you listen to when you are having a bad day?
Anything that doesn’t make it worse.
18. If you had your life to live over again, what one thing would you change?
We sing on our new album that we “have no regrets, it’s so hard to accept”. Maybe do some more things we’d regret? Just to know how it feels.
IRR – Sorry for interrupting your breakfast, what are you having by the way?
Krista – Oh, no problem. Well we were going to be having pancakes but the batter came out a little different so we turned it into savory crepes.
IRR – Wow, very impressed. Sounds slightly McGuyverish. Glad to hear that you didn’t require any gum or hairpins.
Krista – Nope, no hairpins or bomb detonators required.
IRR - Speaking of gum, hairpins and bomb detonators, YSP!WSD! is going on tour soon, right?
K – Yeah, we are starting on March 8th. First show is in Seattle. That tour is going to be about 5 weeks. Than we are home for a little bit and than we are off again. We are going to be on tour more or less for the rest of the year. But, we made some new rules for touring. We have to come home for 2 weeks after every 8 weeks of touring. That rule came about after a 4-month tour and we nearly lost our minds. We did a full Canada tour, than a month in England touring nonstop in a station wagon.
IRR – Wait, 5 people in a station wagon for a month?
K – Yeah, and we were touring with our friends, Los Campesinos! Than we went over to continental Europe for another month and than back to Canada and toured for 2 weeks back across Canada in the middle of Winter.
IRR – That is a long time on the road. What were some of the highs and lows from that period?
K – Well it became a blur so it’s kind of tough to remember all the highs but we had some great shows with Los Campesinos! And Sky Larkin. The lows would have to involve the fall out we had in Berlin. That was definitely a low point. That was the culmination of a lot of stress and we almost weren’t a band anymore. But we pulled it together for the rest of the tour.
IRR – Do you think that was due to the tight quarters and extensive tours or was it something that had been building up for a while?
K - It was a lot of things. We were pretty stressed from being on the road for so long and we were broke. I mean I had spent most of that month in Europe with wet feet because I couldn’t buy shoes. Being broke is pretty stressful. It was close quarters always and some personal issues got compounded in all that environmental stress. But after we worked it all out it has made things better. We are actually better friends and more like a family now.
IRR - So it actually became a positive thing than?
K – Yeah, we’ve come to a really positive place from it. And I think the whole driving force of this album is us coming through the hard times.
IRR – And with the release of the new album …… you are all embarking on a lengthy and huge tour.
K - Yeah, we are going to do the first 5 weeks in the US, than back home, than over to Europe, than over to Asia. Hopefully Australia. We are really excited to be going back to Asia though. We did a couple shows in China in 2008 and it was totally amazing. We spent about 2 weeks just in China. China has incredible excitement in the audience because it hasn’t been that long that bands have been coming over to China. I don’t think we were the first by any means but we were among them. The excitement and enthusiasm is so energizing and so incredible. And all the bands we played with were great. They were local Chinese bands.
Its not that often that all the bands you play with are great but they really were. It’s a totally different tour experience. You take trains everywhere. And every show involves borrowing whatever equipment you can to make it happen. It was a very renegade method. It was the experience of a lifetime. And I think we are headed back in spring.
IRR – Are you taking any other bands back with you?
K – As of right now it looks like it’s going to be just us playing with the local Chinese bands.
IRR – And who are some of the bands that you are touring with in the States.
K – We aren’t really touring with a set band. It looks like we are playing with different bands every night.
IRR – And how does the music selection in the vehicle on tour work? Is it pretty democratic or totalitarian rule by the driver?
K – We are pretty democratic but the driver does have veto power. We listen to a lot of different stuff. Anything from SaltnPepa to Grizzly Bear to Neil Young to Metallica. Our tastes are pretty varied.
IRR – What new music out there right now are you into?
K – Well, I’m really really really into the new Beach House album. I love that song Gila. I can listen to it over and over again. I get like that with songs and albums. I think last summer I listened to Hounds of Love by Kate Bush for about 2 months straight. I get into them.
IRR – Well, let’s go even further back and talk about the formation of YSP!WSD!.
K – I think it was just before Christmas 2003 when we started jamming. That was just wintertime in Abbotsford. Super rainy and boring so we just started playing in Becky’s parent’s basement. Most of us had never been in a band before and didn’t know what we were doing. Stephen kind of led us through most of that. I had played piano before as a solo thing but being in a band was new to most of us. So we just played in basements and than played our first show the following April in Abbotsford where we all grew up.
We’ve all known each other forever being from Abbotsford. I think Devin and Darrin have known each other since birth. Becky knew them in High School, and I knew Stephen in High School so…
IRR – That is quite a while. Now we have heard that a lot of Vancouver is having split feelings over the Olympics. How is the band reacting to the Olympics up there?
K – Well, like most bands we are quite a mix of opinions and thoughts. It’s pretty rare when all 5 of us feel the same way about something. But what we decided to do was play some Olympic events and give some of our earnings to a local downtown organization that is helping those that are not profiting from the Olympics. And we aren’t trying to toot our own horns about that; we just want people to see that the Olympics aren’t helping everyone.
IRR – That’s great to see that you are giving back to the community right there. Well I feel like I have eaten up all your time since breakfast so I will let you go but looking forward to seeing you guys soon on the tour. Thanks so much!
Upcoming Tour Dates:
09-Mar – Seattle, WA – Chop Suey
10-Mar – Portland, OR – Doug Fir
12-Mar – San Fran, CA – Bottom Of the Hill
13-Mar – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
15-Mar – Phoenix, AZ – Rhythm Room
17-Mar – Austin, TX – Canadian Blast Party @ SXSW
17-Mar – Austin, TX – Pure Volume Showcase @ SXSW
18-Mar – Austin, TX – Casablanca Publishing / Maggie Mae’s @ SXSW
18-Mar – Austin, TX – Paper Bag Records Party / Speakeasy @ SXSW
19-Mar – Austin, TX – Consequence of Sound Party / Black Sheep Lodge @ SXSW
19-Mar – Austin, TX – Lose Control 2010 Party / Vice @ SXSW
21-Mar – Memphis, TN – Hi Tone
22-Mar – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
23-Mar – Charlotte, NC – Snug Harbor
24-Mar – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
26-Mar – New York, NY – Knitting Factory
27-Mar – Boston, MA – TT The Bears
29-Mar – New York, NY – Piano’s
30-Mar – Detroit, MI – Pike Room
31-Mar – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
Aloha’s latest high fidelity achievement Home Acres debuts across the globe this Tuesday, March 9th of 2010. The album crashes louder than past releases and yet still has that unique brilliance that makes up what is Aloha. So without further ado, we have partnered up with the ever righteous Polyvinyl Records to give away Aloha’s last three albums, which include: Home Acres, Light Works and Some Echoes. The winner gets to decide if he wants the albums on Vinyl or in a CD format.
To enter simply just fill out the form below. We will pick one of our followers at random in two weeks as our winner. Simple as that.
Then make sure you are following us on Twitter, @IRRmusic, and Facebook to find out about more exclusive contest and content!
