Lights with Pokal - An Interview

Pokal é Arne Barlindhaug Ellingsen, sueco de Estocolmo que produz um certo tipo de música que atualmente não me parece explorada, um pop sofisticado, elegante aos moldes de clássicos como Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera entre outros, que combinavam o que há, como coloquei, de mais elegante e ao mais tempo com um enorme apelo pop sem nunca chegar perto do termo piegas.

Alguns singles e EP foram lançados pelo Pokal, mas eu sugiro que a iniciação se faça pelo belíssimo Lights de 2015.

Pokal é sofisticação e elegância extrema a serviço dos bons sons.

***** Interview with Pokal *****

Q. When did Pokal start? Tell us about the history...
I've been making music by myself since I was 13, but the Pokal project shifted gears 2 years ago when I decided to start releasing music (and challenge myself to finish songs instead of just starting new ones).

Q: Who are your influences?
I listen to music of many genres and have gone through many different phases, but I grew up in a home with lots of Antonio Carlos Jobim and Jazz standards, then I had a long period when I only listened to ambient electronica. Influences include Warp Records artists of the 90's (Aphex Twin, Autechre, Plaid), The Cure, Cocteau Twins but I’m also a huge fan of Milton Nascimento, Arto Lindsay, Suzanne Vega, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Todd Rundgren, Joni Mitchell and Beach Boys and more recent artists like Mac Demarco, and Ariel Pink. So it's a mishmash of all kinds of genres.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
The answer depends on the day and the mood but Prefab Sprout's "Swoon", Jim O'Rourke's "Insignificance", Brian Eno's "Another Green World", Stina Nordenstam's "And she closed her eyes" and Todd Rundgren's "Something/Anything" are some of albums that made a huge impression on me when I discovered them.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
I've haven't played live with Pokal as I never liked being on stage. But I’m going to give it a shot again soon. For me it's strange that you are expected to master and desire both creating and performing since they are so different things.

Q. How do you describe Pokal sounds?
I guess It's a mix of everything I like, combined in different ways. I like working with contrasts, putting together stuff that don't belong together, and to create atmospheres/moods and try to challenge myself in some way to break old habits.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Sometimes it starts with words, sometimes a melody or bass-line pops up in my head on the bus, other times it starts more traditionally with a guitar or piano or simply the mood of the day. Then I build a "skeleton" in Logic and play around with arrangement ideas and add whatever comes into my mind intuitively.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Recent favorites include Lumikide, Vesuvio Solo, Hanne Kolstø, Chairlift, Golden Daze, Marika Hackman, Hälledal, Vinyl Williams, Julia Holter, R. Stevie Moore and Oneohtrix Point Never - although some of these have been around for a while, they escaped my radar earlier on.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
I've created some remakes for fun now and then, but until they add something new to the song they'll stay on my harddrive. My brother and I used to have fun recording covers of a-ha songs from memory and since we didn't remember them correctly they became a bit strange and different. A very fun exercise.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Keep making music and explore new sounds and approaches, and trying to have a good time doing it.

Q: Any parting words?
Take care and thank you so much for showing interest in my music, and I hope to visit Brazil one day where so much of my favorite music comes from!
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Thanks

https://soundcloud.com/pokal
https://pokal.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/pokalmusic

Suburban Gazing with Crème Fouettée

De Paris, Camille, Charles e Cyril formam o trio Crème Fouettée que acaba de debutar com o single Back Home. Um mix de synthpop com verve oitentista entre devaneios dreampoppers e gazers.

Conduzido por uma batida sintético obedecendo muito mais a temática dance cerebral do que o lado shoegaze propriamente dito, sempre com um ar sonhador indefectível.

Um belo cartão de visitas, aguardemos o EP.

***** Interview with Crème Fouettée *****

Q. When did Crème Fouettée start? tell us about the history...
We started Crème Fouettée in 2013, in the beginning we were only two (Camille and Charles, we are brothers), and we produced a few tracks together. The rhythm of production was quite slow because we don’t live in the same city, so it was only when we were together and had time.

About one year ago we began working on the track « Back Home », at the start it was only for fun, we sampled a vinyle, and played with synths and guitars a little bit. But at some point we realized that there was something that could turn out nice in what we were making. So we kept on working on this track for a few months, with long breaks (Charles was living in China in 2014/2015, so it was hard to keep on working together). A few months ago, we decided to work on it again, but more seriously.

At that point, Cyril joined us as a guitar player / singer, and that’s exactly what was missing to the band. He helped us finishing « Back Home », and we worked with Yann Lentiez, a really good producer from the studio Tempo Loco (Tours, France). We released the track after that, and now we are working on a live show, with Alexandre, the new live drummer (we love the cold rhythms of beat machines, but we think it is punchier to have a real drum on stage).

Q: Who are your influences?
Each of us have different influences, this is a hard question to answer. Camille is more of a shoegaze, reverb, noise guy. Cyril is more into electro-pop, folk-rock. Charles loves 80’s synthwave and 90’s techno.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Underwolrd - Second Toughest in the Infants
Air - Talkie Walk
Weezer - The Blue Album
Deftones - Around the Fur
The Notwist - Neon Golden

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We are working on it right now, we want it to be a real live, so no computer on stage, only instruments, guitars, synths, etc. We hope you’ll see us soon !

Q. How do you describe Crème Fouettée sounds?
The sound is a mix of our different influences, so the shortest way to describe would be « you’re a kid, listening to music in your parents car, cruising on a sunny sunday afternoon in the suburbs, and all that during the 90’s ».

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Each of us have ideas, so the base of a sound can come from anyone of us. But for example, if it’s Camille, he will records himself playing something on his guitar, and we will work on that. If it’s Charles, this will be a more synthesizer or drum machines related idea… When we have a constructed idea, we record it properly and add details and stuff.

Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
The French band Future, there also is Bear in Heaven (they are not really new, but they are really good), Nothing, Cheatahs, Film School, Christophe (an old new), Rendez-vous.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Valérie Dore - The Night.
Véronique Jannot - Aviateur

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Play live and prepare our first EP.

Q: Any parting words?
Baguette
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Thanks

https://cremefouettee.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/cremefouetteemusic/

Dreams with Blankenberge - An Interview

Misture o Young Team, Loveless e o Adoration, respectivamente álbuns do Mogwai, MBV e Cranes e você terá a real dimensão do que é a sonoridade dos russos do Blankenberge.

Shoegaze arrastado, doloroso e em tonalidades cinzentas. Seagulls, Feel Alive, Dreams e Still Here as quatro canções do EP homônimo de estreia deles que saiu há pouco menos de 20 dias se entrelaçam entre si propiciando a sensação de uma única canção.

Magnificamente celestial.

***** Interview with Blankenberge *****

Q. When did Blankenberge start? Tell us about the history...
A. The idea of plaing shoegaze music arised in march 2015 and we [vocalist and guitarist] composed some tracks in this time, but the band started plaing in october 2015 when vocalist and guitarist of Blankenberge moved from siberian city Barnaul to Saint-Petersburg. There they met other musicians - second guitarist, bass guitarist and drummer. The name of the band comes from the name of the belgian city where we [vocalist and guitarist] saw the ocean for the first time and it inspired us.

Q: Who are your influences?
A. Sigur Rós, Mogwai, Joy Division, Astrobrite, My Bloody Valentine and The Cure are our favorite bands.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
A. We think it will be...
Mogwai — Young Team
Sigur Rós —Valtari
The Cure — Disintegration
Joy Division — Unknown Pleasures
My Bloody Valentine — Loveless

Q. How do you feel playing live?
A. We really love live performances, because it is the time when we have an opportunity to express ourselves through our music and make a good sound. Musicians concentrate on creating a sound wave. They fall in this wave and follow it to the end of the performance.

Q. How do you describe Blankenberge sounds?
A. We really wanted to make our own sound and hope that we did it. But the basics of the sound comes from our favorite bands and we tried to mix up and create something new. At the same time we wanted to have "classic shoegaze" sound.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
A. Before recording the EP we made a few demo versions looking for the right sound. The process of recording and mastering was much more longer than we expected because we wanted to do our best with our first tracks.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
A. Pinkshinyultrablast, The KVB,Tape deck mountain, A film in color, Kometjakten, Traams, Foxing...

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
A. We think it might be My Bloody Valentine because their music is "the pure shoegaze". We thought about making some cover version and play it live sometimes but made decision that we want to concentrate just on our own songs.

Q: What are your plans for the future....
A. Now we are in process of creating new sogs for the album and we hope that we will record it to the end of 2016. And we want to make a tour in Russia and maybe in other countries in summer.

Q: Any parting words?
A. We are glad to see that so many people like our first EP and we will continue to make our music better. Thank you for the interview!
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Thanks

https://blankenberge.bandcamp.com/album/blankenberge
https://www.facebook.com/blankenbergeband

Daze with The Cordial Sins - An Interview

Quando se escuta um álbum como Daze, a estreia do quinteto estadunidense The Cordial Sins lançado no final do ano passado, tem-se a real certeza que existe sim música pop de extrema qualidade sem ser piegas e pré fabricada.

Daze é um conjunto linear de onze exercícios contendo dreampop, indie rock grudento e pegajoso, pra sair sim cantarolando mundo afora e sem enjoar.

The Cordial Sins e seu "Daze" foram feiros sob medida pra ouvir alto e passeando mundo afora, 

***** Interview with The Cordial Sins *****

Q: When did The Cordial Sins start? Tell us about the history...
A: Corey (lead guitar/vocals), Jeremy (drums) and I began playing together in 2012. We underwent a really big line up change and sound transformation to get where we are now. In 2015, however, we really honed in on what we want to sound like and convey to our audience. This process included me becoming the lead singer and picking up two new members, our rhythm guitarist, Kyle, and bassist, James. We're at a point now where we're getting into a certain work-flow and all have a great relationship with one another.

Q: Who are your influences?
A: I love this question! We all have varying musical influences but a lot of overlaps, too. I'd say that we try to capture the sounds of artists like Danger Mouse (Rome, Norah Jones, Broken Bells), Deerhunter, Real Estate, The Shins, and many others. As our drummer likes to say, we aim to "add to the conversation." Essentially, we want to maintain our own, unique voice but also make music that is accessible to others.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
A: Off the top of my head:
The Beatles -- Abbey Road
Queens of the Stone Age -- Songs For The Deaf
Death Cab For Cutie -- Plans
My Morning Jacket -- Z
Fleetwood Mac -- Rumors

Q. How do you feel playing live?
A: It's my favorite part of being in a band! I always get a little nervous beforehand but there's something really special about sharing your own creation with people that actually want to listen.

Q. How do you describe The Cordial Sins sounds?
A: We generally label our music as Alternative/Indie/Dream-pop. As far as sounds go, I think we have a lot of groove, surf-rock (heavier), and atmospheric elements. We like it to be a little clean (clear) but also impactful.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
A: Recording our first full-length record, "Daze," was a very long but enjoyable process. We really learned a lot about ourselves and the type of music we wanted to play. It was difficult at times, but I don't think any of us could have asked for a better experience. We love our engineer/producer, Eddie Ashworth, who has become a very good friend to us. We were able to record at his home studio, The Oxide Shed, which is basically in the middle of the woods (awesome!). Overall, a great experience.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
A: Local bands in Columbus, OH, that I'd recommend would be Playing To Vapors, The High Definitions, The Worn Flints, Friendly Faux, Fine Animal, Indigo Wild, The Wind & The Sea, and so on. As for national and regional acts that we've recently discovered, we really love The Districts, Wolf Alice, Night Moves, Wild Nothing, and of course new albums by Alabama Shakes, Deerhunter, and My Morning Jacket, if you haven't heard them already!

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
A: Hands down, Wolf Alice. I think we have a lot of similar textures/sounds and they'd be a blast to cover through and through. Other bands whose songs we like to cover include The Shins, Fleetwood Mac, Arcade Fire, Deerhunter, The Raconteurs, The Strokes, and so on.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: Our initial plans are to play out of town. We're working on booking regionally and have also applied to a few festivals. We also plan on recording and releasing a few singles this year, which we're really looking forward to.

Q: Any parting words?
A: Well, we love sharing not only our music, but also our thoughts and ideas with others. So, thank you for interviewing us and getting to know us a bit more. We look forward to playing to a wider range of audiences in the future and are so happy to share what we love with the world.
Thanks!
- Liz Fisher
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/TheCordialSins
https://thecordialsins.bandcamp.com/album/daze

Severance with Alpha Waves - An Interview

Imagine o seguinte, um jam entre o 13th Floor Elevators e Sisters of Mercy, imaginou? Se houve um rebento dessa improvável união, certamente ele se chamaria Alpha Waves.

Psicodelismo negro diretamente de Hamburgo, Alemanha. Olaf,,Chris e Tobsn integram o Alpha Waves e criaram um álbum esplendidamente perturbador, seja por sua acidez em tonalidades escuras, ou por sua aura pós punk envolta a eletrochoques de ruídos. Severance o álbum em questão sucede Path To Nowhere o primeiro deles de 2013. Mas Severance consegue ser mais intenso e caótico do que a estreia deles.

Música para gente grande, e, definitivamente não recomendada a indie kids.

***** Interview with Alpha Waves *****

Q. When did Alpha Waves start? Tell us about the history...
Olaf (Guitar & Vocals) and me (Chris, Drums) started to write songs in February 2011, but it wasn't until July 2011 when we decided to form "a real band". In this time we met Ric, who turned out to be our lead guitarist. We needed a name and Olaf came up with the name "Alpha Waves". It sounded great, and we knew that it described our sound pretty well. Since then, we had some personnel changes in the band, as we wanted to thin out our sound, make it more rough. In December 2013 we
had to part ways with Ric because of that... we wanted to be a 3-piece band. We have had changes in the bass section, Tobsn, our new bass player is with us since August, and he is just a great musician.

Q: Who are your influences?
I would say, at the moment, we like bands that have a dark and rough wave/punk touch to it, bands like Autobahn, Shiny Darkly, Eagulls, RA and many more (I left out all the well-known genre bands, you know who they are anyway :-), recently we discovered Sextile, which I listen to daily, great album. It's really hard to make a list of bands that are responsible for our sound, it's a lot of try & error. Basically, when we hear cool music, we get inspired, we always want to take it a step further and want to form it into a signature "Alpha Waves Sound".. I know that sounds stupid, because every band wants to sound special..

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
That's a hard one. This list is in no particular order.
- A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
- Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Take Them On, On Your Own
- Wipers - Is This Real?
- Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We always love to play live, of course, especially if there is a good monitor sound. But we try not to be too nerdy about that. When we play live, we want to create a world that the audience can merge into. For example we have blue sprayed neon lights from a DIY store, we put them on stage, no other light, just the cold blue light, also we have ambient videos of industrial scenery, we really want to
make these visuals underline the minimalistic approach and our rough sounds. We got a lot of positive feedback for our gigs, so we must be doing something right (laughs)

Q. How do you describe Alpha Waves sounds?
When we started we were a bit more 'psychedelic' than today, we tried to move away from that a bit, because we noticed that some day, we couldn't put new ideas to that sound, there wasn't enough room for what we wanted to do.. also we liked the rough cutting edge of a distorted bass with that twangy sound, and you just can't do that with too much psychedelic ambience... So we worked almost a year to get that bass sound we have now.. we experimented a lot with effects, we recorded it, dismissed it again, same goes for the guitar sound. We try to sound very minimalistic musically, on the other hand, have a wide range of effects... combine instruments, that you don't hear so often. For example Olaf plays two small amps instead of one big amp, or concerning drums: if you listen to "Machines" you hear a metal crasher which I really like, it sounds really harsh, unforgiving, but it really

distinguishes the already minimalistic drum sound.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
When we record, we convert our rehearsing space to a studio. We have built walls to separate the amps and drums, we do it all on our own, we taught ourselves how to record, we bought equipment, so we are pretty much independent and don't need to worry about studio time. This is very important to us, recording takes a long time for us, some of the songs from our new album Severance were written while recording. Some of the stuff we record never makes it onto a record, sometimes a song takes some time to grow, or to... you know.. be shit. (laughs). For mixing and mastering we have a friend, who did a great job with the new record, we really wanted to step away from the big production, we wanted to have some sort of minimalistic sound, that doesn't overload your ears after 2 times listening to it..

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
We really like RA, they are friends of us from Malmö/Sweden, their debut album is called Scandinavia and it's great! Other new bands include (as mentioned earlier) Sextile, Autobahn.. there is a band from Denmark, called Ocean View, they made a great EP, just look for them on bandcamp. There is a band from Berlin called Diät, they are 90% punk 10% wave, their album is also really cool.

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
Chris: I think I would like to cover Johnny Cash's "Man In Black", it's just a powerful song, and it would be very cool to make an Alpha Waves version of it. Although we never covered a song, and it's currently not in our plans at all, since we are working on new material at the moment, but who knows. Never say never.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We try to play in as many different places as possible. We are really looking forward to play at Astral Elevator's Rising Festival in Manchester, which takes place in June. We try too add some more gigs to that to make a mini UK tour. We also try to add France and Austria to the list of countries we played live. Regarding studio time: We currently write new songs which we plan to record in late August, if that goes as planned, we will release a new record in early 2017.

Q: Any parting words?
There is a lot of music out there you have never heard of. Go, create yourselves bandcamp.com accounts and start exploring!
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Thanks

https://alphawaves.bandcamp.com/album
http://www.alphawaves.band
https://www.facebook.com/alphawavesband

El Grand Final with Whyme - An Interview

Dreampop experimental diretamente do México. Pitadas de Radio Dept. e uma certa dosagem de Mogwai só que ao invés de guitarras e os famigerados crescendos característicos deles o Whyme se utiliza de um maciço e colossal uso de synths.

Em sua essência o Whyme é dançante sem deixar de soar cerebral, é dreampop introspectivo para embalar sonhos bem acompanhados.

***** Interview with Whyme *****

Q. When did Whyme start? tell us about the history.
In 2005. I was part of a band of hardcore called Valerie and when I'm trying to make songs for the band I noticed I was creating different sounds so I decided to make my own music, All music in beginning was made by software, recently im working with guitars and bass but 80% are still made by software. I published 3 LP's and many EP's, in my facebook page you can download it for free. Fun fact, many people think Whyme is a "band", actually all music played, recorded and edited is only by me.

Q: Who are your influences?
I have many influences in my life, my dad listened pink Floyd and Alan parsons project, maybe it's the reason that I love pads, synths, and atmosphere and long tracks, but bands as MUM, My Bloody Valentine, The Gathering, Mogwai, God is and Astronaut.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
How to measure a planet? - The Gathering
Happy Songs for Happy People - Mogwai
Animals - Pink Floyd
Before The Dawn Heal Us - M83
White Pony - Deftones

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Me as Whyme only played one time in life. Was in a theatre in 2008 and it was amazing.

Q. How do you describe Whyme sounds?
You can find low, fast, angry and sad rythms always in same track, when friends and people describe whyme, opinions are very different. I really love to say is a honest music, i think is like a soundtrack of your everyday, no matter how you feel in a specific moment.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
I try to make music until I feel it's necessary to make it. Always I start with drums, then guitars to make a structure and work above that. I love make this thru the night, is good to think and you have much time without distractions.

Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
Recently i discovered Jennie Vee and her voice is a blowmind, Spying is a hymn!... pinkshinyultrablast are other incredible band, i love it. i need to say im a big fan of local bands, and The Fi Fai Funkers are a great band of my local town, sounds great.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
The Gathering, always when i need some inspiration, Gathering appears in my playlist. So i think would be awesome make a cover of them, i love long tracks, Specially and definetly would be "Travel". is a masterpiece.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Recently im working with other people to make a show in my local town for September or October, we're thinking in some Interactive show, many ideas yet, but i think it will be awesome for Whyme and other bands.

Q: Any parting words?
Thanks for Sharing Whyme music, is cool to be part of your project and your work is amazing, i really appreciate your interest and thanks again for all incredible support.
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Thanks

https://whymerock.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/whymerock

In My World with Maybelleen - An Interview

Maybelleen é um duo formado pelos irmãos Peter Camiré e Charles Camiré que soltaram seu mais novo EP, In My World e vão cair por uma bela turnê na Europa, já que os caras são canadenses é muito, muito provável que seu mix de Madchester com Crocodiles faça a cabeça da galera.

Tem tudo pra pegar, música dançante, pegajosa, por vezes barulhenta, mas sempre bem dosada, o lance do Maybelleen é construir canções com um apelo pop inegável e injetar sutis doses psicodélicas.

Perfeito pros Dj antenados soltarem nos inferninhos e a galera cair pra pista. 

***** Interview with Maybelleen *****

Q. When did Maybelleen start? Tell us about the history...
Well, Maybelleen is two brothers growing up together, surrounded by a lot of music and a father quite musically active. I believe it was obvious to us that one day, we'd pick up a guitar in the house and start writing melodies and stuff... that's what we did and we naturally decided to form a band out of it. Our first gig was in 2012, we were 14 and 17 year old at the time.. The rest is just us evolving through the years and making music an everyday lifestyle.

Q: Who are your influences?
Our dad made a big impact on us since we're very young... inspiring us to become song-writers and sing about what we live... his music is the root of our inspiration. He's born in 1967, I guess you can imagine all the bands and artists with quality melodies he transmitted to us.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Alright, that's a hard one, we'll certainly forget some brilliant stuff. Here's a list in no particular order:
Boston - Boston
R.E.M. - Automatic For The People
Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery
Radiohead - The Bends
Rush - Moving Pictures

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Well, playing live is a totally different world from writing and recording.. It's funny to deal with the sound you'll get in different venues... It literally feels like performing a motivational speech every day, if you're on tour. But playing live is just like having a good time with everyone, sharing some music and enjoying the present moment.

Q. How do you describe Maybelleen sounds?
We believe that our sound is a mix of all the bands we liked as kids but at the same time, we don't want to copy a sound that already exists. I guess we are really pop for a psych band... you can refer Maybelleen's sound to the late 70's new-wave, mixed with something new and up to date.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
First of all, we're picking up the songs we wish to record, which has been written acoustically. Some songs were written 2 years ago and some 2 hours ago... We just build up around an acoustic track and start composing all the instruments. Everyone in the three of us can do the bass or anything, if we've got a good idea, we just try it and see how it goes. When we think the songs are really sounding ''complete'', we do a great mix and listen to it really loud in a car with good speakers.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
I don't know how new they need to be but the most recent music I found, which is really good is Misty Miller, great pop rock. There's also Computer Magic which is a very good mix of electronic pop.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
We'd love to make a cover of Rush... Maybe 'New World Man' or 'Fly By Night' but I don't think it would be as legendary as the originals haha.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We're currently planning a non-stop tour in Europe and we are constantly booking as many gigs as we can. It might just turn into a world tour, who knows? Haha, we'll keep on recording on tour as much as we can, being active is the best thing we can do.

Q: Any parting words?
Well, thanks to the blog for the interview and we're really looking forward to play in South America soon! Spread the word about the band, Maybelleen is alive. It's only the beginning of a great adventure.
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Thanks

https://soundcloud.com/maybelleen
https://www.facebook.com/maybelleenmusic
http://www.maybelleen.com/

Ekzodia with Pink Pots - An Interview

pic by Thomas Calhoun

De Charlotte, Carolina do Norte, Estados Unidos vem o caldeirão sonoro, que não deixa escapar qualquer vestígio de improvisação, experimentos, ou ruídos, tudo em uma bem torneada criação lo-fi que por vezes nos remete ao Pavement ou ao Grandaddy ou ainda ao nosso querido The Cigarettes, só que mesclando a lógica lo-fi com synths e os acelerando, este é o resultado de Ekzodia, debute dos freaks do Pink Pots.

Daquelas bandas que se qualquer desavisado ouvir, vai dizer que já ouviu isso em algum inferninho nos 90´s, só que não.

Música chapada para chapados.

***** Interview with Pink Pots *****

pic by Phil Pucci.

Q. When did Pink Pots start? Tell us about the history...
Pink Pots unofficially started in May 2015 when I got bored and recorded "Corner", which is the sixth track off of my first record under this name, Ekzodia. The song wasn't meant for anything, and I just made it because I got bored and I was listening to too much synthpunk, but I ended up using it for Pink Pots.

 So I officially came up with Pink Pots in July, when I had released my second album under the name Hyperultra. Although I liked the songs a lot and the album was generally well received, I couldn't perform anything from the album because of how complex it is. It has SO MANY LAYERS. It's crazy. So, I went on a quest to write an album that is simple enough for a band of four to perform. And thus, Pink Pots was born.

 It's weird too, I didn't expect this to become a live thing. I only did it because I got invited to play a house party with a different band, and two members of that one couldn't show up. So I assembled three others (Evan, Phillip, and Lauren) to play with me, and we rehearsed the day of the show and did a decent performance. I have that performance recorded, and it's sitting on my external hard drive right now.....

Q: Who are your influences?
John Maus is my favorite musician ever. So much influence comes from him.

Others include Grandaddy, The United States of America, Silver Apples, Aphex Twin, Suicide, R. Stevie Moore, Daniel Johnston, The Units, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, The Caretaker, Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan, The Screamers, Jay Reatard, Baths, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Black Moth Super Rainbow, C418, The Avalanches, Crystal Castles, Teen Suicide, LCD Soundsystem, Kraftwerk, The Velvet Underground, Shellac, Dan Deacon, Thinking Fellers Union Local 182, Sweet Trip, Tonetta, Sparks, Hella, Death Grips, Perfect Pussy, AnCo, The Postal Service, Olivia Tremor Control, The Music Tapes, Venetian Snares, Neutral Milk Hotel, Nervous Gender, Merchant Ships, Joe Meek, Japanther, Joy Division, Jean-Jacques Perrey, The Gongs, Fishmans, FlyLo, Beat Happening, Half Japanese, and Lemon Demon.

I'm not sorry for listing them all.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
I could only narrow it down to 7, but that's close enough....maybe....
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
John Maus - Love Is Real
The Postal Service - Give Up
Sweet Trip - Velocity : Design : Comfort
The United States of America - The United States of America

Q. How do you feel playing live?
So far, I've only played live with this band twice, so there's that. But both times were fine.
In general, I don't get nervous, really. I'm used to it, and the performances are in front of like, 50 people at most. Not that big of a deal for me. I love doing it, though.

Q. How do you describe Pink Pots' sounds?
I try to not to sound like anyone else - that's the main thing. I've seen that the main problem with most decades in music is that no one really does anything new towards the middle of the decade, and whatever that sound is dies out in the end. However, towards the end of every decade, there's always this "new" sound happening (1960s - psychedelic rock/pop, garage rock; 1970s - punk rock, new wave, hip hop, post-punk, synthpop; 1980s - acid house, shoegaze/dream pop, twee pop, lo-fi indie). I hope to be one of those bands....nothing is original anymore, but we can at least try to be as original as possible. That's my goal with Pink Pots. Same with Hyperultra, but different genre and story.
But by general terms, I just say that we're a punk band.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs.
I recorded and finished Ekzodia between May to September 2015. Corner was recorded first, without actually aiming it for a project. I came up with song titles via stream-of-consciousness and I wrote and recorded (most of) the album in a month. The album art was also stream-of-consciousness. Every song was recorded in my house except for "Play Stupid Game, Win Stupid Prize", which was recorded in a mountain home near the North Carolina-Virginia border. This location was also the inspiration for Alienation in West Jefferson, which was like 30 minutes away from the home.
Flowery Purple Onsra (which had the only "credited" feature on the album) was recorded in June with Earn Raku with an aim of using that for a different and scrapped project. I asked him if I could use it, and he was fine with it. Good Night, My Friends was kind of the same thing, except that I had recorded the entire track myself and I asked if he could do something crazy at the end. I hated the result at first, but then I loved it when I mixed it in right.

 True Love is a completely different story....I made this idea for making an EP on a floppy disk, and so I recorded like 5 songs in 30 minutes and True Love ended up being one of them. I gave three copies to my friends, and they still have them....

 I recorded and arranged everything in Audacity (except for I Fell In Love With a Demon, some of True Love, and I'm Jealous You're Living In the Future, which were recorded with an iPhone), and mixed everything in FL Studio 11.

 And if anyone questions the album title, it's some word that I made up when I was like 5 or 6. Some friend told me it was a Yugi-Oh! card after I released it and now I get asked that occassionally. I used to watch Yugi-Oh! at around that age though, so maybe I got it from there....

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Grow House by Tangible Rays is an awesome shoegaze record by a dude who's somewhat obscure. I love this record, and it was one of my favorite finds of last year. - https://growhouse.bandcamp.com/album/grow-house

Prismadoll is a one-person project that my friend is doing right now. The entire point of the project is to make a plunderphonics record out of bad alt rock/nu metal/post-grunge records from the early 90s to mid 00s. It's an absolutely hilarious idea, but there's actually been some good songs out of it, like this one. Pris is planning to do a double album with this, and I'm very hyped. - https://soundcloud.com/prismadoll/i-love-my-dolls

City Lights by Jackson Wilson and (The Artist Formerly Known as KL Lublin). Jackson Wilson is another friend of mine who makes progressive electronic music, and he's getting better by the years. I haven't heard this album yet, but I'm excited for its release. I also know KL Lublin, and he's a nice guy too. - https://jacksonwilson.bandcamp.com/album/city-lights

Phantasmagoria by Abelian. Abelian is a dude I know who makes some weird mixture of ambient house and post-rock. This record was pretty tight. - https://abelian1.bandcamp.com/album/phantasmagoria

Q: Which band would you love to do a cover of?
We almost did a cover of "Everything Beautiful is Far Away" by Grandaddy at our most recent gig at Snug Harbor, but we got told there was a no cover policy. So we at least have that planned out.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Release a second LP (which is like 65% finished) on a label, and do a mini-tour in the summer. Play more gigs. Et cetera.

Q: Any parting words?
Thanks for the opporotunity for me to do this interview.

ALSO DOWNLOAD MY ALBUM PLEASE THANKS
https://pinkpots.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/potsthatarepink/
https://soundcloud.com/pink-pots
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The Hurrier We Go, The Behinder We Get with The Star Charts - An Interview

Ej Hagen e Martin Sleeman cometeram um dos discos que mais tem rodado aqui no TBTCI desde seu lançamento, isso em fevereiro desse ano, o nome da preciosidade, The Hurrier We Go, The Behinder We Get, um primor do início ao fim, shoegaze aos moldes do MBV só que não soa uma mera cópia, existem alguns motivos que fazem do álbum um caso a parte, existe uma conexão sem pretensão de ter ocorrido com os noruegueses do Serena Maneesh, algum sonhador e sônico com fortes doses cintilantes de inspiração.

Fica explicando o que o The Star Charts criou soa redundante na verdade, o mais importante é simplesmente dar play, abrir alguma bebida, e ouvir alto, alto mesmo, em todos os sentidos, e preferencialmente de headphones, assim certamente você vai absorver melhor.

O The Star Charts criou um pequena grande preciosidade e eu aconselho não a deixe perdida, pegue-a pra você e desfrute sem moderação.

***** Interview with The Star Charts *****

Q. When did The Star Charts start? Tell us about the history...
The Star Charts didn’t really start until Martin agreed to be the singer otherwise they’d just be songs sitting around my house. I just looked it up and I mention about it in an interview with When the Sun Hits blog in later 2010 so that was probably early 2010. The earliest song was “Belshnickel” which I think I wrote in 2006 and gave me the idea of the Star Charts.

Most the songs are basically just stuff that didn’t fit my other bands because they all use heavy amounts of reverse reverb as a basis or theme for the sound. MBV gets tagged with using reverse reverb, popularizing it in a way, but really they didn’t use it that much at all. Like 4 songs maybe? Anyway, I became really into figuring out that sound in the mid ‘90’s and would spend obscene amounts of time in my University’s computer lab on those little green screen computers trying to figure it all out and other things on the BBS forums.

I did find and acquire the units back then, the Midiverbs and the SPXs. But the technology over the years has gotten way better with high resolution stereo reverse reverb so those units I don’t use anymore. They just sit racked and I use them pretty much only for outboard reverbs for vocals and drums. I just wanted to make a record that more fully explored the capabilities of reverse reverb just because… no one else has that I’ve heard, somebody had to!

Plus I wanted to mix it up in a variety of ways not just “reverse reverb > overdrive > bend Jazzmaster arm > shoegaze song” which has been done so much that it is just boring to me. Like I wanted to write a song that’s maybe a bit more 60’s and popish (stealin’ the sunshine) but have that big swooping reverse reverb guitar carry it. Or something more tribal/world-ish (outen the light). Or in an insane Amish space odyssey dealing with them embracing technology so to travel through a black hole to farm a new world (the hurrier we go, the behinder we get).

The album has some variety to it musically and very much on purpose. But it always sounds like the Star Charts. It's Martin's vocals and the reverse reverb that tie it all together and gives it its identity.

Q: Who are your influences?
There’s so many really. All the usual suspects really: Spacemen 3, JAMC, the Boos, Ride, Slowdive, Lush, Chapterhouse, MBV, Bowery Electric, Stereolab, Adorable, early Verve, etc. Love the Stone Roses and Charlatans and such. All those bands influenced me musically in some way. I listen to a lot of music from the 60’s mostly stuff a bit more obscure like the CA Quintet, the Smoke, the Pretty Things, etc.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Again I go in phases but my classic list would include the Stone Roses, Loveless, Going Blank Again, Rownderbowt, and Against Perfection, but that’s rather boring isn’t it?

I’ll do another 5: the Smoke “It’s Smoke Time”, Rollerskate Skinny “Shoulder Voices”, the Swirlies “They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days”, Bowery Electric ” Bowery Electric”, James Brown “Hell”.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
I like traveling around playing live yeah. It’s really tough though even for bands with a following. Touring with the Morning After Girls, we’d be playing mostly 500 capacity clubs with great turnouts and really only breaking even at the end of the tour. When you’re on the road for 3+months at a time and basically just breaking even/getting by, you need money coming in from somewhere unless you are completely nomadic to begin with. I have a house and a mortgage. That needs to be paid so I’d have to work on the road or save up beforehand, have a job that is super flexible to let me come and go as I please as long as I get my work done, which I do.

The last time I played out live was 2013, took Highspire out on tour for a few weeks. Me and Martin were going to tour as the Star Charts back in 2011-12 but then Martin’s US visa time was up and he hasn’t been back to the US since. Since then it’s been more a visa issue than anything. There are a lot of things (and money) that come into play with visas.

But yeah, I love touring in general. I like playing and at least seeing the scenery of places if nothing else. It’s just really expensive for medium-smaller bands. US/Canada and Europe are great because there are so many cities to play within reasonable proximity that it’s easier to keep your costs down. Australia, for example is much harder as there’s only like 5-6 cities to play really and Melbourne or Brisbane to Sydney is like a 9-10 hour drive. In the Northeast USA (where I live), Boston to DC is like an 8 hour drive and during that you can play Boston, Providence RI, a couple NYC gigs, Philly, Lancaster PA, Baltimore, DC. You can play like 8 cities within less driving time than playing like 2 cities in Australia. Then there’s England where you can probably put together a 2 week tour without even driving for 8 hours..

Q. How do you describe The Star Charts sounds?
I think its more upbeat and just slightly introspective overall. Closer to probably the Boo Radleys and Lush realm in that sense. Not musically or singing wise so much as the vibe. We got a lot of great harmonies and our vocals are very present and to the front compared to most bands. We got nothing to hide and it's a strength!

Most the songs are written based off a 2 guitar system, alt tunings that when played simultaneously produce a dominant 7th chord on crack so to say. One guitar (Jazz/Jag) is the reverse reverb guitar and with the bending the whole piece will basically glide in and out of a major and minor dominant 7th. This was a theory I had on how to accentuate the gliding and give the music a sense that it's always slightly shifting. Probably more work than necessary but I don't like caveman-ing about. These little details, subtleties are why I play music.

The real trick was to make it all musical as this doesn't help the vocals at all haha! Like Adele going out of tune cos a mic hit the piano strings even though she was singing in tune that happen recently? Yeah, our songs do that the whole time on purpose! Martin's a fucking legend though, he learned all these fluctuations and would sing in and out of pitch just so the music overall was dead on. Bloody brilliant!

Other than that I guess some people would call it a bit eclectic, but we've got our own sound, no one sounds like us. All the first wave bands, they all basically had their own sound and journalists lumped them all together cos it was easier for them to describe a group of likeminded bands in that way instead of describing them individually. It's different today. Truly unique bands seem to be frowned on in favor of bands who all sound pretty similar.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
I can’t force myself to write songs. If I force writing it’ll sound forced which equals shite to me. Or at least I hear it and it bothers me. So I just play and whatever comes out comes out. It's gotta flow. If it’s good, I’ll usually loop the bit and start adding the other instruments to see if it’s still good. If it is still good I’ll record a demo of it into ProTools or Cubase.

Then I’ll sit on them for a while, revisit all the demos randomly, see if something starts flowing from the revisit. Usually if nothing comes in the first 5 minutes of tinkering I just move on to the next thing. And repeat.

This process sometimes takes a long time, years even. But this is how the Star Charts album was made. Just songs collected or created over years. It’s just a very organic thing. No time schedule, no pressure.

Once the song and structure is pretty much hashed out I’ll do a full demo skeleton, drums and all except usually for the vocals. Then off that skeleton I retrack the songs piece by piece, all the instruments. Sometimes, once the vocals are figured out some editing to the song structure needs done but at that point it’s gridded out and doesn’t take too much time to redo whole sections depending.

I do a lot of mixing/mixes. The whole album was recorded in my studio in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Basically a glorified home studio that can handle most my needs. It took well over 2000 hours to write, record, edit, mix the album. So it really could only be done there by ourselves. If it was a $50 an hour studio that would be like $100,000! We don't even have a record label (not that most record labels give their artists any money to record these days anyway!)

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
I go through phases where I might hear very little newer stuff for a year or two because I don’t like to be too influenced by anything. I rely on what’s already in me usually when I’m writing songs. Once I’m in between things I dive in and listen to a lot of what’s been going on. I’m in that “dived in” phase right now.

I must say, I almost don’t have to do this anymore. SO many bands sound the same these days it’s crazy. Seriously, I can’t tell one band from another in some cases. I’ll hear something and be like “yeah that’s alright” then listen to some other bands that are really close over the course of a month or whatever. Then I’ll get something in my head, a bit of melody someone had that I heard and try to find the song. Then get stuck looking for it for ages haha! "Oh it’s this band" (listen through all their stuff), nope not that one, must be this one, nope, next, nope, next, still wrong band! Drives me nuts.

Also, what is truly odd is that 15-20 years ago Skywave, the Emerald Down, Highspire, Malory, Airiel, people would slag these bands off for being derivative. I’m naming these bands specifically because I played shows/toured with these bands and they’re friends of mine. We’d all get slagged off for being derivative. There were like maybe a few hundred shoegaze influenced bands around the world at the turn of the century. And they all took aspects of the sounds of the records they loved and grew up with to help keep the banner alive and waving so to say.

Fast forward 15 years, there are literally 10’s of thousands of shoegaze/psych/dreampop influenced bands now and most of them sound the same to me I can’t lie. Even stranger is that some are finding success being way more derivative than any of the bands I mentioned above AND being praised for it! It’s crazy.

Anyway, newer bands, try some of me mates bands: Chatham Rise, the Lightfoils, uh, I like painting walls in my house to a Welsh band White Noise Sound, I keep meaning to see a band near me from Baltimore called Wildhoney, they’re good. Not really sure how new any of them are. Last 5 years or so which is still new to me.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
We (Star Charts) did do a cover of MBV’s “Don’t Ask Why” that I put up on youtube probably 5 years ago. I don’t think it has many hits but it should still be there. There’s like no guitars in it but a bit of acoustic in the end. It’s basically just Martin’s vocals, a homemade Theremin I made, a little piano, some tambourine… and an Orchestra haha!

I don’t really like covering other people’s songs unless I can bring something different to it. Cookie cutting, making a song sound as close to original as possible without bringing something different to it is just pointless to me.

Like I can bust out some crayons and colour inside the lines of a colouring book and make it real pretty following the numbers. Does that make me an artist? No. I just coloured inside lines and followed the numbers. If you do that right OF course its gonna look ok. But that’s just following instructions, not creating something original.

Now toss out the colour palette and make a new one that looks cool, add to the lines, change it up, then ok. Cover away. I guess.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Drink some beer, watch some Champions League, shake me head in disbelief at the current US and World affairs…

Actually I need to retool my studio a bit and get some music projects I’ve started but been sitting on moving. I’ve been pretty slow on all that of late, need to get moving. They’re all a little more psych influenced at various levels and ideas. Maybe do something derivative ha!

Q: Any parting words?
This record "the hurrier we go, the behinder we get" was finished in 2011. We've been sitting on it for all this time trying to find it a home (maybe not as hard as we could have). We got tired of sitting on it and released the digitals early this year.

You can have it for FREE (or donation) here cos, we cool like that: https://thestarcharts.bandcamp.com/releases

We're still trying to find a home for it to be released on vinyl. I'd do it myself, but am still paying off the debt accrued to make this album... 5 years later... But I'm really proud of it and don't want anyone to not hear it. The last song, the title track, is perhaps my favourite piece I've ever worked on for any band ever. It's an insane space-themed rollercoaster of music.

Cheers all!
X EJ
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/TheStarCharts/
https://thestarcharts.bandcamp.com/releases

Album with The Sun Days - An Interview

Acaba de vir ao mundo o debute dos suecos do The Sun Days. "Album" é o nome da pepita, um rara preciosidade do mais belo e elegante exemplo de que fazer música pop ainda vale, e vale muito a pena.

O pop perfeito em oito canções ensolaradas e cativantes, vocais belos e cristalinos realçam ainda mais a beleza e a doce elegância do The Sun Days.

Para dias ensolarados e preferencialmente estando bem acompanhado.

***** Interview with The Sun Days *****

Q. When did The Sun Days start? Tell us about the history...
-The Sun Days started when i sat around in my room listening to Diiv. I got some sudden inspiration and jumped into the studio made a couple of demos. Then i asked the others if they wanted to start a band with me and not long after that we released our first single.

Q: Who are your influences?
Beatles, Ventures and good Gothenburg pop bands from the 90's until now.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
-I'm not a big fan of making favorites but i'll give you five good ones.
1. Until We're Dead by Star Fucking Hipsters
2. Peach Kelli Pop by Peach Kelli Pop
3. Stuck in the never ending now by Strawberry Whiplash
4. No Gods / No Managers by Choking Victim
5. Abandon all life by Nails

Q. How do you feel playing live?
-We've said no to most bookings i think. I both love and hate it. I'm always really drunk and i always make the most mistakes on stage. I have a problem being looked at. Whenever we do play live we tend to have a great time but it needs to be the right set and setting for us to actually take an offer. Our release party was a complete disaster. The two later gigs were great! I'm always really proud of the others. I like the things surrounding the gig more than actually playing. Packing, going in the car, sound checking, getting free beer, meeting fans etc.

Q. How do you describe The Sun Days sounds?
-Perfect pop.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
-Basically me and the drummer, Erik, has been doing most of the recording. We always change the songs here and there whenever we go into the studio to get the best out of them. For the album, we went to Kalle Von Hall from Bad Cash Quartet (great fucking band) to record vocals. Mixing was done by Hans Olsson. Great dudes!

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
-Oh shit. Ain't many out there as i see it. Our lovely siblings Agent Blå is definitely one to keep an eye on. But yeah, sorry. I can't really give you anything else on that point.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
-Dreamphone by Peach Kelly Pop is one for me personally. Best song ever!

Q: What are your plans for the future?
-We're talking about making one last gig together as a band. We'll se what happens, but right now that's how it looks for us as a group.

Q: Any parting words?
1. Fuck the police. Fuck the state. Stand up for your rights and demand the ones you should but don't already have.
2. This interview is solely answered by Joe and does not necessarily mirror the opinions and thoughts of the other members.
3. Thanks for your interest. How lovely to hear that you like our music!
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https://www.facebook.com/thesunSPACEdays
https://thesun-days.bandcamp.com

A Real Thing with Love The Unicorn - An Interview

Novamente a Itália dominando as páginas do TBTCI, desta vez o quinteto de Roma, Love The Unicorn

O motivo é seu mais novo trabalho, A Real Thing, uma delicioso e pegajoso exercício de como fazer música pop de extrema qualidade sem cair para o lado piegas da coisa toda. O disco saiu em Janeiro pela espertíssima WWNBB ou se você preferir We Were Never Being Boring.

A perfeita trilha sonora para momentos ensolarados e dica, escute de headphones e alto, contemplando a vida, porque não?

***** Interview with Love The Unicorn *****

Q. When did Love the Unicorn start? tell us about the history...

Love the Unicorn officially started in 2013 with our 1st EP Sports released via WWNBB. There’s no much to tell before it! The last important episode of our band life is when Emiliano (Marco’s (singer) brother) left the band. After meeting Lorenzo (new member, organ keyboards) we got in studio recording stuff together and here we are!

Q: Who are your influences? Our influences include a lot of things. From classic rock band from 70’s to indie-pop band from Cherry Red Records. But also recent american indie-rock bands such as Girls, Smith Westerns etc.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
I am the cosmos - Chris Bell
The queen is dead - The Smiths
Album - Girls
Fire of love - The Gun Club
Hounds of love - Kate Bush

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Playing live is always exciting. We really hope to bring our music everywhere in the next months/years!

Q. How do you describe Love the Unicorn sounds?
In one word: blurry!

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
In the making of our last new album ‘A Real Thing’ we decided to go to a north-italy based studio. We worked with Lorenzo Caperchi, one of the best sound engineer in Italy. Everything was natural. We recorded all the songs together like we’re on stage and then we focused on vocals and other back stuff.

Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
Sheer Mag absolutely! and Brothers In Law (label friends)

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
We’d like to cover all the songs we listen to the van. Maybe we gonna arrange a cover version of Viva Forever from Spice Girls

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We’ll continue our tour til the death and we hope to play some shows in Europe this summer

Q: Any parting words?
Listen to our new album and follow us!
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/lovetheunicorn
https://wewereneverbeingboring.bandcamp.com/album/wwnbb-073-a-real-thing

The Kasbah Experience with Babylon K - An Interview

O quinteto italiano de neo psych/garage esta de volta, sim o sócio de carteirinha do TBTCI, Babylon K.

Depois da primeira passagem deles por aqui, (leia aqui), os caras retornam para conversar e explicar como voltaram ainda mais ácido e barulhentos, através do segundo petardo, The Kasbah Experiente, o novo EP, é ainda mais pegajoso e barulhento sempre com o amargo sabor do ácido pairando sobre as cinco canções que servem de trilha sonora para qualquer trip.

Perfeito para ouvir no volume máximo preferencial viajando em alta velocidade pelas estradas mundo afora.

***** Interview with Babylon K *****

Q. Hello guys, first congratulations on the new ep, it's really brilliant, what is your analysis after conclusion The Kasbah Experience? Are you happy with the result?
1- Hi Renato, and thanks for this interview !! It’s always a pleasure to talk about music with you. The Kasbah Experience is our second EP, born at the end of 2015 and completed in january 2016. I’m very happy with the result of this EP because we had a lot of changes : i’m talking about sounds, point of views, and above all two members, the drummer and the guitarist. Yeah, we changes two members in two different periods, and that sounds weird and strange. As you know it isn’t too much easy to go on when you got something new on your shoulders ; I mean, you have to develop another sound , you have to “teach” something new to the new member, and you have to do many rehearsals. So i’m very happy for this EP, the result is a very good psych garage product, and i hope you will enjoy it !

Q. How was the process of creating the new ep?
2-There wasn’t a proper process of creating this EP : we created songs as usual : first the music, and then the lyrics . Usually we create songs at my bass man headquarter Emoticon smile The recording session started in october 2015, and finished in january 2016 . In that period we had a few gigs. I hope we have given an own identity to that work.

Q. What are the main differences between The Kasbah Experience and the 1st ep?
3-There are lots of differences between our two works. The Kasbah Experience has a psych identity, mixed with garage and rock n roll roots. It ha completely another soul . The first EP was a good product, with a brit soul. That music helped us to improve our future works.

Q. What were the influences for creating the new ep?
4-Our musical “tastes” and influences have changed with time, and we had printed this change in the recording studio. Our influences are various, like The Black Angels, Night Beats, BRMC. But We don’t like to compare our music with bands who live in the Eden of rock n roll eheheh Emoticon smile

Q. What are your plans for 2016?
5-Our plans for 2016 are to play and bring our music around the countries. I hope to tour Europe soon with my band , especially France and Germany : there is a different way of thinking, a different way to consider music and artists. Keep on keeping, as usual.

That’s one of my main plans for the year but it’s difficult, there are lots of bands, and you always have to bring something new on the table in order to have possibilities, to have more grip.
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Thanks

https://soundcloud.com/babylon-k/sets/the-kasbah-experience-ep
https://babylonk.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/Babylon.K.Official

Ghosts with New Age Healers - An Interview

Owen Murphy é o criador e a mente sofisticada por trás do New Age Healers. Em Ghosts, o debute, Owen toca todos os instrumentos, faz e acontece num mix de shoegaze, pós punk enérgico, recheado de peso e ao mesmo tempo altamente cantarolável.

Como ele mesmo exemplifica em suas referências algo como se o Love & Rockets se misturasse junto ao NoMeansNo e mandassem um bela e arrastada jam.

Impossível ouvir apenas uma única vez. Viciante.

***** Interview with New Age Healers *****

Q. When did New Age Healers start? Tell us about the history...
NAH: Late 2015. A few things came together to kick this project off:
1- Time: my work is seasonal and so I had a few months to solely focus on this. Also, listening to Seattle station KEXP was massively inspiring as they presented new, twisted pop music that blew my
head off. They truly rekindled my love of new music.

2-I had been talking songwriting with a pal, famous pop-punk singer who favors standard song structures, and I decided to follow his blueprint for songwriting. It worked, the songs sounded really good and thus inspired me to write, and write and write.

3 - Sound: The sound of my voice was so different than anything I had ever done before so I got swept up in it. Plus, GarageBand is incredible in terms of the toys one has to twist pop songs into something new and hopefully different.

Tell us about the history...
NAH: I was in post-punk/noise bands back in the day and had not touched an instrument in 15-years. By following my pals blueprint, and most importantly singing instead of screaming, I was able to create stronger melodies than I ever had in the past. This hooked me.

Q: Who are your influences?
NAH: that's a long list. When you listen to the album, clearly one can hear The Jesus and Mary Chain, but that's purely coincidental as I admire their originality but was never really into them. I'm more of a Love and Rockets guy also enamored with artists like Gary Numan, My Bloody Valentine, NoMeansNo, Screeching Weasel, Arcwelder, John Lydon, Big Star, Death Cab for Cutie, etc.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time:
NAH: I'm not really someone who likes entire albums, so instead, here's 5-songs I have always, and will always, love:
The Clash - This is radio clash
My Bloody Valentine - Soon
DCFC - Soul Meets Body
The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows
Big Star - Thirteen

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Well, touring alongside Steel Pole Bathtub 20+ years ago was amazing while playing in front of tens of people in other bands sucked. I am now slowly putting a band together with some great, fairly well know musicians. We’ll play out 2-3 times a year at most. The criteria for each member is they have to have “the look,” “chops” and a winning attitude to “make it.” I kid. Talented, no drama folks who are fun to spend time with.

Q. How do you describe New Age Healers sounds?
I suppose an updated mix of shoegaze, Britpop and post-punk, but fuck if I know. You tell me.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
NAH: Alone in my house. I played all the instruments (guitar/bass/keys/singing) except I used a drum program as I didn't want to torture my elderly neighbors by banging on my old Rogers jazz kit.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
NAH: So much great, new stuff! First and foremost, I LOVE Sam Simikoff’s (Le Loup) new stuff, called Primitive. You can find it on Soundcloud. I also love Best Coast, Deerhunter, First Aid Kit, Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, Metric, Goodbye Heart and the new Lush song Out of Control is fantastic.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
NAH: Devo, Uncontrollable Urge.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
NAH: Getting my pals involved in this project. I'm working on a new song write now with Dave Klein (Screeching Weasel/Black Flag/They Stay Dead) and Mike Hoffman (The Styrenes/The Wobblies/Year of Dragon). This excites me as they are both incredible people and amazing artists.

Q: Any parting words?
Thank you for taking time to listen. Oh, and tell everyone to go to https://newagehealers.bandcamp.com/releases and buy this sucker. I think it's great and hope you do, too.
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/NewAgeHealers

Signs from Celestial Sphere with Das Raumpiloten - An Interview

Algumas veze palavras tornam-se supérfluas, desnecessárias e completamente redundantes.

Esta máxima aplica-se perfeitamente aos alemães do Das Raumpiloten e a sua música. Uma trip intensa passeando por caminhos krautianos e psicodélicos sem haver limites para experimentações das mais intensas e pesadas.

Uma discografia complexa, inúmeros singles, EPS, participações em coletâneas, tributos e álbuns delirantemente viajantes.

Recomendo sofrer a iniciação através de Raum, compilação de 2014 e ótimo cartão de visitas para o mundo particular e freak do Das Raumpiloten.

Boa viagem.

***** Interview with Das Raumpiloten *****

Q. When did Das Raumpiloten start? Tell us about the history...
Dec. 21.2012 ! First as one man show, later in 2014 as a two man project with a little help from some friends.

Q: Who are your influences?
Can, Neu!, Agitation Free, Brainticket and some other sixties-seventies krautrock and psychedelic bands

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
Can-Tago Mago,
Aphrodite's Child-666,
Agitation Free-Malesch,
Neu!-Same,
Brainticker-Cottonwoodhill

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We don't playing live

Q. How do you describe Das Raumpiloten sounds?
A potpourri of various genres with a big pinch of psychedelic krautrock

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Most of the time the tracks are already in our leaders mind, and we have to implement them. Or we jam and rehearse and find some new vibes

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
We recommend any band from Aumega Project

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Can

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We plan to make good music and make some people happy with it

Q: Any parting words?
Music is the universal language and the key to be happy !
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Thanks

https://dasraumpiloten.bandcamp.com