quinta-feira, 28 de fevereiro de 2019

Rewind with Cat Inside - An Interview


Punk, Post Hardcore, Art Noise, grunge, indie rock, barulheira em geral, filmes B, tudo é alimento sonoro para o trio ucraniano, Cat Inside.

Uma metralhadora carregada e programada único e exclusivamente para atirar continuamente em tímpanos, despejando doses de barulho em ambientação de baixa qualidade.

Os caras não são novos de cena, já estão por aí desde 2010, mas somente agora, sete anos após o debute homônimo é que resolveram compilar todo o material desses anos todos de esbórnias estridentes, e o resultado é "Rewind".

O cheiro noventista é evidente, por vezes os caras parecem ser sido cuspidos de alguma espelunca fedorenta e escura dos 90´s, mas só parece, porque é tudo novinho em folha, mas com uma nostalgia que faz bem pra mente.

Despretensioso e saboroso, feito sob medida pra escutar bem alto.


***** Interview with Cat Inside *****


Q. When did Cat Inside begin? Tell us about the history...
L: Me and Arsenii met each other in the dark hallway of our university, soon we started writing songs together. We wrote our first song lyrics sitting on the slopes above the railway, watching electrical trains below our feet. In the fall of 2008 Pavel joined us, he was a bass player then and didn’t really know how to play drums. One month later, we recorded our first demo and played our first gig. Back then, most bands in Sevastopol and the whole Crimean peninsula played heavy metal, and we felt a passion to enlighten the public with something different — like shoegaze and post rock. When we first got into a professional studio, our sound was pretty much established and we felt comfortable with it: the guitar played melodic lines, and the chords were played by heavily distorted bass instead of a rhythm guitar. Pavel drummed as fast as he could, which suited his personality well. Arsenii wrote many of the lyrics, I’m responsible for the most riffs.

We dreamt about New Zealand, about moving down there, and listened to lots of kiwi indie rock. So Arsenii befriended a guy from NZ on Last.fm, and it turned out he was also in the band and was recording an EP. So, we did a split release with this band from Dunedin called The George Kay Experience and made them superstars in Ukraine (no, we didn’t). We glued the CD boxes with our own hands and printed the cover art at a friend’s house. As a joke, we wrote on a sleeve that the CD was released by Prick Records. Many people liked the record, we made friends in other Ukrainian cities and started releasing their records on our half-imaginary label. It all went on for a number of years, but then we graduated, started taking jobs and dealing with adult life problems. The band was something we had to sacrifice for that. We played our last gig in September, 2011.

P: Cat Inside began at 2008. I played bass guitar in some band, knew nothing about good music, but was in love with drums and had thoughts about switching to another instrument. One day my friend recommended me to join those two guys as a drummer, so I agreed.

My mind was far enough from the guys whose preferences I didn’t really understand at that time. Btw, I've been forced to listen to Pixies, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine, as well as to think twice about my fashion style. After a few weeks, we began to understand each other much better, and not only in music, which is good.

Cat Inside became more than just a music band. We started changing our weak young minds and growing up together with the help of a huge number of events, friends, nights that we spend in garage doing some music and sure a lot of talks. I’m really thankful to the guys for who I am now! Once we released this old new album, I definitely realized that it was the time of change.

A: The years with Cat Inside were formative on so many levels. History of Cat Inside is a history of who we were and who we became, and because now «Rewind» exists, this history is kind of written and told, not just remembered.

Q: Who are your influences?
P: Context that surrounds me.

L: Pixies were always the most important and beloved band for all three of us. When I met Arsenii, we were into the same stuff, like Big Black, Fugazi, Dead Kennedys, Meat Puppets, Wire, Buzzcocks, many other 77-punk bands. Later, I leaned towards grunge and stoner rock, and Arsenii got into folk music and art rock. I wasn’t able to sing the folksiest songs Arsenii wrote, so on «Rewind» he sings those himself.

A: I have to name first Sevastopol indie/shoegaze band, which was called I’ll Be Your Wire. Some more musical influences which I immediately think about when I listen to our record are: Hüsker Dü, Verlaines, The Clean, Dinosaur Jr., (early) Brian Eno, New Order… Also some books and movies, definitely Russ Meyer’s «Supervixens» in «Napier» and Joyce’s «Finnegans Wake» (which I haven’t read and probably never will) in «Breathing Troubles».

Of course, the name of the band is also influenced by the book, «The Cat Inside» by William S. Burroughs. It’s a great book and, I still believe so, an awesome band name which Langusta came up with.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
L: Right now, my all-time top 5 is:
• Erik Truffaz — Bending New Corners (1999)
• Bad Brains — Bad Brains (1982)
• Sly & The Family Stone — Fresh (1973)
• Kool Keith — Black Elvis / Lost in Space (1999)
• Shuggie Otis — Inspiration Information (1974)

A:
• Miles Davis — Get Up with It (1974)
• Wire — Pink Flag (1977)
• Badfinger — Wish You Were Here (1974)
• Bob Dylan — Blonde on Blonde (1966)
• Pixies — Surfer Rosa (1988)

P:
• Pixies — Come On Pilgrim (1987)
• Air — Talkie Walkie (2004)
• Fugazi — The Argument (2001)
• АукцЫон — Девушки поют (2007)
• Suuns — Images du Futur (2013)


Q. How do you feel playing live?
L: It’s high adrenalin and it’s a challenge to oneself, which is really exciting. There were some venues we played though, where there were more people on stage than in the audience.

P: Each time like the first, so sure I was nervous and made many mistakes. But maybe if I remember well from the top of my head, later my technique became much better.

A: Some people enjoyed our live shows and I’m so grateful for that, but I think that on «Rewind» we sound much better than we ever sounded live. Except maybe for DIY gigs which we played in our own rehearsal spot in the garage. That felt awesome, and, for me, was the peak of our not only playing, but creating a feeling of local scene or community around music.

Q. How do you describe Cat Inside´s sounds?
L: I guess, we sound similar to American bands from early 90s, like Dinosaur Jr. or Love Battery. Unlike those bands, we never could make our songs short and simple enough. In our songs, there are lots of patches, unconnected fragments, instrumental breaks. While writing a new song, we were always overstuffing it and then getting rid of monstrous extra parts, some of which evolved into separate songs later.

A: Above all, neurotic. Whatever song I’m writing now, however frustrated or angry I am, I think it turns out calmer then it would’ve back then, when Cat Inside existed.

P: The sound as it should be. As is, unvarnished. If the guitar began to fade, don't stop it. Do not try to hit the notes if you prefer to sing off key. Play the drums so that everyone dances, including yourself.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
P: Just a set of music sessions with our friend who recorded us + one fishing session with three fishing lines.

L: «Rewind» was recorded into a 4-track Tascam postastudio. We played live, all instruments at a same time. After that, for four years we were coming back to the recording, adding something. Some songs we had to record again from scratch: we did a really bad take of «Alien Ships» in the studio, so I had to cut the drum samples and play the percussion part again on a Roland SP-808 sampler. After which we overdubbed the rest. And in «Whispering» you can hear an old Yamaha RY10 drum machine instead of drums. Ed and Maksym from the band Shadazz helped us to record some of the special effects.

A: It was weird, I think. In 2013, we started getting in a studio, playing songs which we already forgot, and which corresponded much more with who we were two years earlier than who we were now and what music we were into now. It’s a weird feeling to go on rehearsing with the band which no longer exists. It was worth it though. In the end, we sort of overcame the «Sevastopol scene curse», which is when you live in Sevastopol and you play in a good, promising band, and nothing happens, and then band breaks up and your songs which people deserve to hear vanish into non-existence.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
L: Lately I’ve been listening to 70’s records mostly. In recent years, I liked whatever was released by Brainfeeder label, and also The Internet, Suuns, Chinese guy named Fishdoll… Lord Echo and Skinshape are also cool.

A: I won’t speak for the whole world and can give you only some local names — not precisely new, but I guess they will be new to a foreign listener: Karr, Mandarinaduck, Shadazz. Kyiv duo named Pustosh are about to release their first record this year, and it should be great. Also, everyone should check out stuff by Yrstruly (formerly Phooey!), who is one of the most amazing songwriters you’ll find anywhere. As far as Ukrainian mainstream goes, ONUKA’s latest singles are great.

P: La Luz, Pinkshinyultrablast, Ty Segall, Parquet Courts, DBFC.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
L: Back when we played live, we did lots of cover material: Hüsker Dü, The Cure, Sonic Youth, Pixies. Now I play songs by John Frusciante, Brian Eno, Tom Waits, but only quietly, so that no one will hear.

A: Song I enjoy playing now is Prince, «When You Were Mine». With Cat Inside, we sometimes played Underworld’s «Born Slippy» live, it was kind of cool. I also enjoyed covering The Cure’s «Jumping Someone Else’s Train».

P: Cat Inside for sure!

Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: To finish watching The X-Files, which is a chore when you get to season 9. In more distant future, to record some good songs and, if possible, even tour a little with new projects — Kurl and Oodkind. Both already have some stuff out on Bandcamp, check it out!

P: My plans are far away from the music atm, but maybe I'll still make some noise.

To be honest I'm just doing what I think I should do and what I feel is making sense for my family and me. Basically, just always do something and do not do bad.

Q: Any parting words?
A: My father is a huge fan of all things Brazilian, so I think he’ll enjoy the fact of our music featured in a Brazilian blog, and it makes me feel good. Hi dad!

P: Listen to the music, don’t close yourself.
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/catinsideband/
https://catinside.bandcamp.com

terça-feira, 26 de fevereiro de 2019

Forma with Boar God - An Interview


Uma das gratas surpresas atuais foi o contato com o trio canadense Boar God.

Essencialmente o Boar God poderia ser descrito como uma banda de guitarras. Essa descrição há tempos atrás era utilizada para descrever bandas como Band of Susans, Sonic Youth, Feedtime, A.C. Temple, entre outros.

A dissonância é o fio motriz que direciona a sonoridade dos caras. "Forma", debute deles, lançado há pouco mais de um mês, parece ter saído diretamente do catalogo do SST ou da Blast First.

Art noise com tendências soturnas, ou drone punk como eles próprios se auto definem, independentemente de qual seja a porra do rótulo, escute alto, bem alto.


***** Interview with Board God *****


Q. When did Boar God begin? Tell us about the history...
A: (Eric: guitarist and singer) The band as a performing and recording entity started more or less around 2016, but I came up with the name and idea around 2009-2010, I don’t quite remember. It stayed in my head for a while as I didn’t really know how to write songs, but then I started experimenting with different guitar tunings and that’s what really kicked the whole thing off. I recorded some demos with the help of a friend and after a VERY long time of playing with various people Sabrina (on bass) and Rene-Olivier (on drums) came aboard, and now here we are!

Q: Who are your influences?
A: A huge influence early on was Killing Joke, but most of our influences are from the noisier/darker bands of the post-punk era: Swans, Sonic Youth, Husker Du, Comsat Angels, the Chameleons, the Banshees, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Live Skull,, Band of Susans, Feedtime…. But there’s also a lot of influence from shoegaze bands like Slowdive and Bailterspace, and even stuff outside of that like Unwound, Discharge and Big Black. We like to take bits and pieces from everything right now.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
A: Sonic Youth-Daydream Nation
Band of Susans-Love Agenda
Feedtime’s first album
Killing Joke-Night Time
The Stooges- Fun House

Q. How do you feel playing live?
A: Pretty good. We’ve become much more confident with our live shows and we are having fun with the visual aspects as well (projections, props, .etc.)

Q. How do you describe Boar God´s sounds?
A: Drone-Punk with ambient elements. Like a big beast chasing you down in the woods that occasionally stops to catch its breath.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
A: A close friend of mine named Shane Watt has a recording studio right below our practice space where he’s recorded a lot of great albums for other bands, so it was kind of a no-brainer to ask him. He understood our influences right away and had ideasof how the album should sound that were pretty much exactly what we had in mind. Overall it was really fun and a good learning experience, considering it was all the member’s first time recording a real album.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
A: There’s a band that we have played with quite a bit called Nuage Flou, who also just released their first album and it is amazing (noisy post-punk). Granted there is no shortage of great bands in Montreal: Body Break, Beep Test, New Vogue, Traces, City Gates, Blood Skin Atopic. Our drummer Rene-Olivier also plays in a folksy gypsy swing band called Scrap Matou who are also well worth checking out.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
A: Comsat Angels, but after we finish writing more songs

Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: Write more songs and do some more recording. Also we want to press the album on vinyl or on CD at some point, but that process is quite expensive for us at the moment. We are planning on doing our first tour sometime in the spring/early summer so stay tuned.

Q: Any parting words?
A: Thanks for having us and glad you enjoy the album! It means a lot to us (and buy it if you can!).
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Thanks

https://boargod.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/BoarGod/

Hi Pressure with Twin Drugs - An Interview


Em algum lugar entre o caos negro do APTBS e a brutalidade electro noise do Bloody Knives navega o trio de Richmond na Virginia, Twin Drugs.

"Hi Pressure", o segundo trabalho dos caras é notadamente muito mais denso, estridente e soturno do que o EP anterior "Uzi", onde o shoegaze, digamos, mais clássico dava o norte. Aqui o shoegaze do Twin Drugs fica negro, mas sem os extremismos das duas bandas citadas no parágrafo anterior. O Twin Drugs é menos agressivo, porém, não menos intenso, apenas as doses de insanidade são menores, não que isso seja um problema, pelo contrário, pode ser apenas o princípio do colapso.

A evolução do Twin Drugs vai se lapidando trabalho após trabalho, aguardamos o próximo capítulo desta saga auto destrutiva. 


***** Interview with Twin Drugs *****

Q. When did Twin Drugs begin? Tell us about the history...
Sometime in early 2016, Blake, our guitarist and main songwriter had an idea for a "dreamy" band that incorporated more noise-rocky elements. He very quickly put together a couple songs showcasing what he meant, and that evolved into our first EP, Uzi.p.

Q. Who are your influences?
Pretty diverse. All of us listen to so many different genres, from jazz to IDM, to zydeco and hardcore, and they all trickle into how we play. For Twin Drugs though, we take a lot of influence from 90s acts like Catherine Wheel, Swervedriver, Lush, and of course MBV. We also take influence from noisier groups like Metz and Young Widows, and various weird electronic artists like Boards of Canada and Andy Stott.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
This was a pretty controversial one so we are gonna do a top 5 for each of us:
Alex (drums):
1. Boards of Canada - Music has the Right to Children
2. Stars of the Lid - ...And their Refinement of the Decline
3. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
4. Cult of Luna - Eternal Kingdom
5. Advent - Naked and Cold

Blake M (guitar): (I have the musical taste of a college freshman)
1. Toto - The Seventh One
2. Jonsi & Alex - Riceboy Sleeps
3. Boards Of Canada - Geogaddi
4. The 1975 - The 1975
5. My Bloody Valentine - MBV

Blake L (bass):
1. The Soil & The Sun - Meridian
2. Radiohead - Kid A
3. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
4. Braveyoung - We Are Lonely Animals
5. Tom Waits - Mule Variations

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Blake M goes crazy while Blake L and I (Alex) just focus and count for fear of losing whatever odd time signature Blake M has condemned us to.

Q. How do you describe Twin Drugs´ sounds?
The sound of a sinking cruise ship's fog horn, fed through a fuzz pedal.

Q. Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
We are spoiled to have Blake M as a talented studio engineer, so he will usually demo something out and Blake L and I will come in later to fill in the gaps. Our practice space is also conveniently our recording space, so we do it all in one place with minimal friction.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
This may be a surprise to hear, but we are all shameless evangelists of The 1975. Their frontman and drummer are incredibly tasteful and talented producers, and are making intelligent pop music in a very relevant and meaningful way. Prison Religion are friends from Richmond who seem to be reviving the “power electronics” genre in a rap context and its super wild. They're touring Europe right now and are doing super well. Blake's buds in Pout House are doing some cool indie pop. MSC is a loop-based neoclassical/drone duo out of Portland who just released a dual EP which we’re all in love with. We could go on forever, there’s so much good stuff out recently.

Q. Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
We always joke about doing shoegazy covers of the most unsuspecting songs (Faith by George Michael), but we also have some ideas that make more sense (Broken Head by Catherine Wheel, Untogether by Lush, etc). Recently Blake M has mentioned wanting to cover Mr. Brightside by The Killers, and we can't tell if he's serious or not.

Q. What are your plans for the future?
We're in the process of writing a full-length at the moment, but we do have some cuts that didn't make it to Hi Pressure. Maybe we'll throw those on a little 2 or 3 songer sometime this year. We all work full time so we'll try and sneak a few short tours in too.

Q. Any parting words?
Thank you so much for interviewing us!
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Thanks

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

sexta-feira, 22 de fevereiro de 2019

One Thousand Lights with Mellow Drunk - An Interview


Leigh Gregory, Ricky Maymi, Stephen Cavoretto, Daniel Dietrick e Patrick Harte, formam uma daquelas bandas que todos deveriam ouvir, adorar, etc, etc, mas infelizmente esse privilégio é para poucos.

Vamos a história resumidamente, o Mellow Drunk começou lá no distante 2001 como projeto solo de Leigh Gregory, que em 2001 lançou "Always Be Drunk" com participação de Steven Roback do patrimônio chamado The Rain Parade.

Depois disso a coisa tomou forma, e Leigh se juntou a um time de respeito, que inclui toda a galera citada acima. Ricky Maymi, você conhece, faz parte do BJM só pra registrar.

Os caras ainda tem mais dois álbuns, "Never Sleep At Night" de 2003 e "One Thousand Lights", que diga-se de passagem é um verdadeiro primor.

Sonoramente, pegue a verve sonora da Flying Nun, a música independente australiana dos 80´s, a cena Paisley Underground, e o lirismo de Peter Perret e seu Only Ones e você terá a noção exata do brilhantismo sonoro que o Mellow Drunk produz.

Bem, tendo situado você, falta acrescentar que, todo o catálogo do Mellow Drunk vai ser relançado em vinil, e show virão, ou, como diz o próprio Ricky Maymi na entrevista, vamos ver o que acontece.

Deste lado, apenas fica a torcida que estes caras sigam com suas melodias perfeitas e que, novas pérolas possam nascer.


***** Interview with Mellow Drunk *****

Q. When did Mellow Drunk starts, tell us about the history.. .
A. Mellow Drunk started in 2001. Initially as a recording project of Leigh Gregory's. There was a CD called 'Always Be Drunk' which featured Steven Roback from The Rain Parade on harmony vocals. Leigh and I (Ricky Maymi from Brian Jonestown Massacre/Imajinary Friends) met, and I had been in a band called Smallstone at the time, from LA. I approached Leigh about turning the project in to an actual live band, so we did. We then made two more albums, Never Sleep At Night (Ochre records 2003) and One Thousand Lights (Vollwert records 2008) and a couple EPs as well. We opened shows for many touring bands in San Francisco. Luna, Supergrass, Trashcan Sinatras, The Clientele, Lilys and a few others. We stopped playing for a while due to other musical commitments and our own personal lives taking our time, etc. but we are currently looking at reissuing the back catalog on vinyl and to do a new album as well.

Q: Who are your influences?
A. Australian 80's indie music, original glitter rock, The Only Ones, British post-punk, Flying Nun records. These were the original commonalities that convinced us that playing together was a good idea back in 2001.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Born Sandy Devotional by The Triffids
Starfish by The Church
Melt by Straitjacket Fits
Electric Warrior by T.Rex
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We always enjoy performing

Q. How do you describe Mellow Drunk sounds?
Like a cross between The Only Ones and The Church with a dash of English glitter rock and second wave Flying Nun bands from the late 80's

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
That varies from song to song. Some happen quickly and some take more time. We are usually pretty clear on what we want to do before we begin. Do it live in the studio as much as possible.

Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
Death and Vanilla The New Lines Lake Ruth The Left Outsides Alpine Decline Birdstriking Flavor Crystals Michael Savage Marley Wynn The Black Heart Death Cult

Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
We’ve covered The Orchids’ Long Drawn Sunday Night, The Go-Betweens’ Boundary Rider and also use to play The Cuddly Toys’My Commando

Q: What´s the plans for future….
Reissue the back catalog and make a new record. Do some shows in California and see what else we can do from that point.

Q: Any parting words?
Thank you for your interest ion Mellow Drunk!
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/MellowDrunk/
https://mellowdrunk.bandcamp.com/

Candle Wishes with Frozen Nothings - An Interview


Tallahassee, Florida, local que abriga o projeto Frozen Nothings.

Informações sobre do que se trata basicamente inexistem na rede, e esse mistério ao redor da sonoridade melancolicamente triste e sonhadora só poderia ser desvendado, modéstia a parte pelo TBTCI.

Pode parecer prepotente, mas, infelizmente até mesmo os "meios de comunicação" especializados muitas vezes simplesmente ignoram a existência de projetos/bandas como o Frozen Nothings, e, em muitas vezes mesmo, um ótimo e promissor trabalho acaba por ficar completamente escondido e reservado a meia dúzia de pessoas.

Esse é o papel do TBTCI, cavar profundamente nesses terrenos virgens e deixar você saborear estas preciosidades ocultas.

Aqui, o Frozen Nothings, é composto por Ian, o cara que traduz sonoramente seus instintos sonoros. Shoegaze, em sua essência, sem devaneios extremos, apenas uma linha levemente encharcada de reverberações sonhadoras.

Especialmente recomendado a iniciados.


***** Interview with Frozen Nothings *****


Q. When did Frozen Nothings begin? Tell us about the history...
Frozen Nothings is a project I started in April of 2017. There are hardly any bands where I currently live which is in Tallahassee, Florida and there are not many people around who do anything musical or creative here. Also a problem is that Tallahassee is a college town, and the few bands that are here don't want someone as old as their dad playing with them, so my age is a factor, and I understand that. I realized that if I wanted to play music again I had to do it all myself. I've done other solo music in the past but nothing serious that I wanted to share. Frozen Nothings is a project that allows me to do this.

Q: Who are your influences?
 I am a huge music fan and nerd of every genre , and I find joy in so many diverse artists. Frozen Nothings is sort of my love letter to different time periods, for example on this first e.p. the track Beyond You is my "late 80s Dinosaur Jr. / Sonic Youth meets 90's My Bloody Valentine" song. I think of the last track Candle Wishes as my " Pink Floyd meets Joy Division" song. I don't ever think my music will ever escape my personality though which is that of a often depressed middle aged American trying to keep my sanity in our horribly fucked up country.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
1) Queen - The Game. My first rock record given to me by my Great-Grandmother! on my 8th birthday.An amazing introduction to rock & roll.
2) Joy Division - Closer. I was introduced to this by the first girl who I ever kissed, who then quickly left me, and it's been the soundtrack to my heartbreak ever since.
3) Mercury Rev - Yerself is Steam. My modern day Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
4) Sonic Youth - Evol. If I want to feel like a screwed up teenager again Ill put this on.
5) Duran Duran - Rio. DD were my first live concert , and I still have yet to witness another concert that matches the energy of that show.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
I wish I could play these songs live, but there is not any musicians or audience for this kind of music around me. I'd have to travel several hours to Tampa ,Atlanta, or Orlando to play a show that might have any type of friendly audience.

Q. How do you describe Frozen Nothings´ sounds?
Dreamy,sad,noise

Q. Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Well it's slow because I'm alone. I always start with electronics first, putting in a simple keyboard line , noises , and a drum machine. Then Ill put guitar overdubs over that, and then vocals. Once I know what I'm singing Ill replace the drum machine with live drums, and then fill out the rest with whatever.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
 Astari Nite - hes from Florida too,very cool. Drab Majesty, Actors, Preoccupations,Cherry Glazerr, Minuit Machine, Studded Left, Boy Harsher..I could go on for a while.

Q: Q. Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
 Something from my youth probably. A version of Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown might be cool.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
I've been looking at some older tracks of mine and finding some stuff I'd like to redo to make them better. I'd like to have something finished by the end of summer,but there is no rush. I'd like to release a few tracks every year and Ill be happy. I throw a lot of songs away before I get to the ones I can stand haha!

Q: Any parting words?
Thank you so much for reading this and checking out my music! Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this amazing blog, it is a really cool way to find new music and I am huge new fan! I would love to play or even visit your beautiful and amazing country someday - greetings from U.S.A!
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https://frozennothings.bandcamp.com/releases

quarta-feira, 20 de fevereiro de 2019

Rapture with The Ocean Boy - An Interview


Não é novidade pra ninguém que por aqui existe um vício absurdo em música, até aí, nada de novo. Muita gente acha que somente se atinge o público com os formatos padrão, vinil, cd, digital, mas, atualmente existem gravadoras especializadas naquele antigo e charmoso item chamado cassete.

O tape é consumido, e muito, por sinal, principalmente no submundo dos bons sons é claro, e quando recebi o contato da italiana 1Q84 Tapes, sobre seu cast, foi amor a primeira audição.

A 1Q84 Tapes, como o próprio nome diz é focada em lançamentos no formato K7, e podem anotar ai, muitos nomes desse cast aterrizaram pelas páginas do TBTCI, e o debute sera com o duo italiano The Ocean Boy.

Sonoramente o debute deles, o EP, "Rapture", segue uma temática que vem sendo exaustivamente seguida, culpa de gente como o Nothing e o Whirr, aquele shoegaze melancólico, metalizado e pesado.

O The Ocean Boy abraça a causa e endossa a avalanche de melancolia estridente dessa galera, e o fazem com propriedade.

Pra escutar alto, preferencialmente com fones de ouvido.


***** Interview with The Ocean Boy *****



Q. When did The Ocean Boy begin? Tell us about the history...
My roots are in the metal and punk scene, even if I always loved The Smiths and 80's new wave since childhood.

At the end of the 90's, After spending years touring everywhere, Diego (one of the bosses of 1Q84 tape label) called me for an indie rock/shoegaze project.

We played something like Swervedriver or Catherine Wheel, and we joined The Locust for the italian tour.

Don't remember why we splitted up, but I realized that I wanted to play this kind of music.

So I started listening to My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive , Ride and a lot of different stuff from punk... even if I continued touring and playing in that scene.

In 2008 I joined The Jersey Line , an italian indie rock band, and I definitely abandoned my old bands.

I focused myself on finding the right sounds, I sold all my guitars and amps to buy a Fender Jazzmaster, a Fender Deville amp and... a lot of pedals... ahahah.

After The Jersey Line's break up, I wanted to do something completely mine ..

One night I was totally drunk listening to "The Ocean" by Richard Hawley... the morning after I woke up and said "ok... the band's name will be The Ocean Boy".

Afterwards, there was an horrible page of my life... I suffered from depression and I had alchool and psychiatric drugs issues. My life was unmanageable and I was in the merge of dying.

However, after an year of rehab, the first thing I really wanted to do was playing again... So I recorded the first song "Scars" in 2014, playing all the instruments... it tooks 4 years to find the right people to play with...

I knew Andrea, the drummer, during the recording sessions of a side project, Cross Empire...

We spent hours talkin' about shoegaze music, and when he knew about The Ocean Boy he was really happy to help me... it was great, he's an open minded musician with a past in many shoegaze and new wave bands. He also plays with a sludge band, Otus.

The greatest thing is that he works as a sound engineer... so... bingo! In the meantime Diego and Fabio (1Q84 Tapes) proposed to me a tape version of the upcoming mini album we were working about.

We recorded "Rapture" in a very short time, as a duo (I played all the guitars, vocals and all the bass lines) and now we have found a bass player, Daniele, a long time friend.

This is the boring history of the band, ahah.

Q: Who are your influences?
Besides the most common shoegaze bands as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive , Swervedriver and many more, I think that our sounds pays respect to Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth...

It's really hard to do a list... for example, at the end of "Dragons" you will hear a black metal blastbeat...

Everyone of us listens to a lot of different things... by the way, I think we are very similar to bands like Nothing or Whirr... all their records are great.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
This is the hardest question, but I try ahah:

1) My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
2) The Smiths - s/t
3) Duran Duran - Rio
4) Slowdive - Pygmalion
5) Carcass - Heartwork

and I forgot too many records from Cocteau Twins, Aphex Twin, Neurosis, Joy Division, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Napalm death, New order, Death In June...

Q. How do you feel playing live?
I think I played an infinity of shows... I spent an important part of my life in the van, and I know that every gig is different from others for many reasons.

I was a very shy boy, so life on the road was the only way to express myself.

However, we are working to play live as soon as possible... We finally have a line up to play some concerts .

Q. How do you describe The Ocean Boy´s sounds?
SuicideGaze.. but you can simply consider us as a Shoegaze/NuGrunge band.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
I was very lucky to have a drummer and a sound engineer in the same person ahah.

I am the main songwriter of all the music and lyrics... we usually start playing some easy riffs, without using pedals or effects. I think we have a Grunge approach about the songs.

When we find the right melodies and harmonies, I usually improvise some notes with a good glass of red wine... a lot of delays and reverb sounds of Rapture coming from solitary night sessions at home.

I wrote the visionary lyrics of Rapture in one day, the mini album is a concept about my experiences with psychiatric drugs and depression.

Andrea, the drummer, is really able with musical arrangements, and he suggests me good ideas... When you are a "shoegazer" and a guitarist is easy to fall in the "too much" mode... ahahah...

Concerning the recording sessions, we recorded drums in one session, one line of bass and 4 guitars... the crunch one, the fuzz one and two guitars with the "wall of pedals"...

Finally, we can consider the voice as the "wine session", ahahah.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
No Sun , Slow Crush , Snow in mexico ,

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
It's hard, but I think Piero Ciampi, an italian singer and poet of the 60's 70's.

Otherwise it could be cool to "destroy" a Beatles one.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Play some gigs and record new stuff.. we are working on new songs and I hope to press something on vinyl with the ocean boy .

Q: Any parting words?
Tnx a lot for the interview, I'm honoured , not jokin'...

I also want to thank Diego and Fabio (1Q84 Tapes) for trusting in me, and Life... to gave me a second chance.

That's all.
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Thanks

https://theoceanboy.bandcamp.com/ (complete streaming and download version of “Rapture” EP)
https://1q84tapes.bandcamp.com/ (limited “Rapture” EP edition on blue cassette)
https://www.facebook.com/The-Ocean-Boy-1917972021584439/

Science Friction with Scar Polish - An Interview


Pense em um híbrido envolvendo Peter Kember aka Sonic Boom com o os malucos eletrônicos do The Shamen.

A era psicodélica as avessas, conduzindo por blips e bloins, e arrastadas fritações experimentais. Assim é o projeto de Robin Fisher, ou, Scar Polish para os íntimos.

Flutuando por entre texturas sonhadoras e o universo eletrônico, o Scar Polish concebeu um álbum fritante, "Science Friction" nasceu no primeiro dia de Fevereiro e agradará aos amantes tanto do mundo sonhador quanto dos apreciadores de eletronices sem exageros.

Encha o copo, pegue seu psicotrópico predileto e, boa viagem.



***** Interview with Scar Polish *****


Q. When did Scar Polish begin? Tell us about the history...
My name is Robin Fisher and Scar Polish was never meant to exist. Let me explain.

I just escaped Brexit and moved from UK to Berlin with the idea of being an acoustic songwriter. The Berlin housing situation is very difficult and I lived in some strange places for while. This one time I was living in the student halls of a Turkish speaking university, where some guys broke into my flat and stole my music gear/instruments. I was broke and basically they left only this little sampler (Korg Volca Sample), but because it was all I had I hyper-focused into it. It was the first time I really started making electronic music. At one point it occurred to me that I could sing over the beats and then everything just started evolving and I knew something interesting was happening but I didn't know exactly where it would go. Added some delay pedals, drone synth and a pawn shop guitar and it was Scar Polish and suddenly people were at my shows. It was pretty fast and unexpected.

Q: Who are your influences?
I really like Sun Araw. I think the song 'Horse Steppin' went deep into my head at some point and stayed there. There's strong surrealism there. Certain tracks I get very obsessive with. Another is Implog's 'Holland Tunnel Dive'. Spun that a lot. Generally I like mood more than hooks. John Bender is also good, like that kind of weirdo lo-fi outsider art thing. Then there's Panda Bear, Beach Fossils, also No Age I really love. The album 'Pleasure' by Pure X I played on repeat for months.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
Modest Mouse - Building Nothing Out of Something
The Microphones - It Was Hot, We Stayed In Water
Adam Gnade - Run Hide Retreat Surrender
Trouble Books - Gathered Tones


Q. How do you feel playing live?
Like I'm on the edge of losing control of all my machines but on purpose at the same time. I get completely lost in them, in a good way. It's quite a visceral feeling. The live rig consists of a bunch of samplers, noise boxes, synths, effects, guitar, mic and I'm operating everything at the same time so there is a lot of very fast knob twisting, button pressing and guitar playing. Sometimes I spin the gear into crazy settings and then have to reset everything really fast before the next section. It's a feeling I like, that everything might fall apart at any moment but I can keep it on that edge, like it's not quite safe.

Q. How do you describe Scar Polish´s sounds?
Somewhere between lo-fi psych rock and glitchy live electronica, with a kind of dreamy dizzy surrealist edge. I'm trying not to belong totally to rock music or electronic music, I want to keep a foot in both sides. It's more interesting.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
I never write while doing proper recording. It's generally the very last thing I do. I always write while jamming with my gear first. Often I will record hours of jam, splice together the good pieces and generally that's how I'm writing the songs. Then I'll play the song live a bunch of times until it fully evolves. Then I'm going to record it at the last possible moment. Also, all my gear is carefully chosen so the sound on stage is exactly as I want it. Special microphone, special pedals, special effects etc. The studio recording sounds just like the live version because of this. We don't do anything special in the studio apart from level and EQ balancing. There's no studio trickery, its all my gear.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
I really like Blithe Field's lo-fi ambient noodles and electronica. I could listen to it for days. And American Wrestlers self titled record, that record is magic.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Always wanted to cover Born Slippy by Underworld.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
The debut EP just came out. I'm booking a European tour. And then I'd like to go to the USA. Also, working on my visuals more because the visuals are important to me.

Q: Any parting words?
My debut EP 'Science Friction' is out now. It put the full release on YouTube for everyone to enjoy, I found a lot of great music like that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7ntnB4cxaA. You can also buy the tape from http://www.octubre.tv. You can follow Scar Polish in the usual places. Thanks for the interview Renato! Appreciate you reaching out :)
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Thanks

https://www.musicglue.com/scarpolish/
https://scarpolish.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/scarpolish/

segunda-feira, 18 de fevereiro de 2019

This is Kenna's Song with Cupidcome - An Interview


Pode até soar como um clichê, mas pegue décadas de boa música, a primeira era psicodélica, kraut, pós punk, class of 86, shoegaze, alt rock em geral, centrifugue tudo bem, seque, e o resultado enxuto sem excessos é o que representa o quinteto de Salt Lake City, Cupidcome.

Aos mais chegados, é óbvio de onde o nome surgiu, "Isn´t Anything", terceira faixa da bíblia criado por Mr. Shields, mas as comparações podem parar exatamente por aí. Sem experimentalismos ou devaneios excessivamente fritantes, o Cupidcome flui mais levemente, deixando suas melodias falarem por si só.

Os dois últimos singles são pepitas, "This is Kenna´s Song" e "Your Ride", ambos lançados no final do ano passado, mas ainda tem o soturno e pegajoso EP, "Sweet Heart".

Aperitivos para um pessoal que soube incorporar infinitas referências e soar fresco.

Aguardemos os próximos capítulos da saga do Cupidcome.


***** Interview with Cupidcome *****


Q. When did Cupidcome begin? Tell us about the history...
- We’ve all been friends for over 10 years, so it was very easy for us to come together and form the band once we decided that music was what we wanted to do. Us already having that chemistry as friends really helped form the band dynamic. Cupidcome originally started in 2014 as an electronic Suicide-esque band with Mario and 2 other former members, but that version of the band didn’t last long and we only played a couple of shows. In March 2015 we formed the current lineup with Mario on guitar/vocals, Bailey on guitar, and Micah on bass. We originally did not have a drummer and instead used a drum machine that Mario operated with a foot pedal. Our drummer Spencer joined later playing keyboards originally, but moved to drums since that's what he's good at. Playing with live drums after using electronic drums for almost 3 years was a welcome change. We had a girl named Malory playing keyboards and doing backup vocals for a couple of years, but she moved away and isn’t currently with us. She’s pictured on the cover of our first EP and helped write a lot of our early songs, she brought a lot to the band that we miss. Our most recent member Sam started playing keyboard with us about a month ago and he’s already added so much depth to our sound, we’re really happy about it.

Q: Who are your influences?
- It sounds cliché but there’s almost too many to name, we listen to a wide variety of stuff from many different eras. We’re big fans of everything from 50s and 60s rock n roll, to the psychedelia and avante garde of the 60s and 70s, to early electronic music like Kraftwerk and Neu!, to glam rock, to new wave and 90s alternative. The biggest influence for the band’s sound is definitely the British indie and shoegaze movement of the 80s and early 90s. Bands like The Field Mice, The Chameleons, The Stone Roses, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Happy Mondays, early acid house, The Cure, and My Bloody Valentine of course.

Q. Make a list of your top 5 albums of all time…
- Script of the Bridge – The Chameleons (Mario)
- White Light White Heat – The Velvet Underground (Bailey)
- Duty Now For the Future – Devo (Sam)
- Self Titled – The Pains of Being Pure At Heart (Micah)
- California – Mr. Bungle (Spencer)

Q. How do you feel playing live?
- There’s usually some element of humor in our live shows, we like to laugh on stage. We’ll play less than serious songs in our sound checks and as closers. We’ll play funny sound clips that we find on the internet by putting our phone speakers up to our guitar pickups in between songs. We like to play as loud as we can get away with, it adds a lot of energy and texture to our sound that you don’t really get in our recordings. Live shows in general should be loud, otherwise you might as well listen to music at home or in your car. When you see your first few shows as a kid the most memorable thing is how loud and wild everything is, it’s a staple of rock n roll and it’s essential to the live experience as far as we’re concerned.

Q. How do you describe Cupidcome’s sound?
- Although we borrow our name from My Bloody Valentine, we've make it a point not to sound like them very much in our music and we think we’ve done a good job of that. The best way to describe our sound is somewhere in between shoegaze, dream pop, post punk and twee. We like our music to have a sort of edge to it so that it doesn’t sound too boring or quaint. If there’s anything that we do want to borrow from My Bloody Valentine in our sound it’s the trippy, upbeat and heavy pop that characterized their early EPs, as opposed to the lusher soundscapes from “Loveless” that they’re most known for. We try to put as much emotion into our songs as we can, we feel that emotional content is the most important element that any band can have no matter how technical the music is, otherwise it’s just empty and uninteresting. Usually this translates into sadder and more melancholy songs, but we’re fine with that. Most of our favorite songs are sad songs, that’s just what we connect with.


Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
- We try to keep it as simple as possible. We record digitally in our own studio for now because it’s cheaper and easier to work with, we bought all of our own gear and we do it all ourselves. We try and stay away from getting too crazy on the software end of things, we don’t really use plugins and our post-production is very minimal. Instead we try to make our instruments sound the way we want straight from the amp. We record vocals using a tube pre-amp plus a few pedals instead of touching it up on the computer.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
- Most of the bands we like are older bands to be honest, but there are still quite a few newer acts that we enjoy. We love newer 60s revival bands like The Allah-Las, Thee Oh Sees and White Fence. We love Part Time, Chastity Belt, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. There are a couple of newer singer songwriters we like named Doug Tuttle and Kevin Morby that are excellent, they’re like if Mac Demarco actually took himself seriously. Fat White Family is gnarly and amazing. Some of our local contemporaries are fantastic as well, bands like Lord Vox, Choir Boy, Super 78, The Nods, and The Eleventh Door.

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
- It’s hard to settle on a single band. We’d really enjoy doing an Al Stewart cover band, playing “Year of the Cat” with a full ensemble would be quite an experience. We also think it would be interesting to make a Charles Manson cover band, he wrote a lot of good songs and it would help to keep those alive.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
- We’re trying above all else to stay busy and put out as many songs as possible right now while maintaining our live chops and playing shows consistently. We have a lot of new material floating around, but working around everyone’s schedules and personal lives is difficult sometimes. We have plans to move to a bigger city eventually when we have the resources for it, in the meantime we’re trying to put out as much material online as possible. We have a lot of faith in ourselves as a band and we want to see how far it can take us.

Q: Any parting words?
- We’d love to play in Brazil when it’s possible for us, it’s the fastest growing culture in the world right now and we think it would be exciting to experience a bit of that through our music (not to mention the beautiful scenery). We’re trying to build a fan base online and we love that people are listening to us all around the world. You can find us on most major streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Youtube, etc… we’re on BandCamp and Soundcloud as well. We plan on releasing a lot of new material in the future so keep an eye out for that.
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Thanks

https://cupidcome.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/cupid.come/

quinta-feira, 14 de fevereiro de 2019

Never Know with Author of the Accident - An Interview


Allison Chhorn é a mente por trás do projeto Author of the Accident.

Um certo intimismo abstrato conduzindo-se por cintilantes estruturas cinzentas e melancólicas dá o norte para o trabalho.

Dois álbuns no currículo da prolífica Allison, "Accidents Remain" de 2018, e "Never Know", lançado em Janeiro. Não contente, um novo single já conheceu o mundo neste Fevereiro, "Hikikomori".

A intersecção entre eles é exatamente uma estranha beleza que exala de algo que dói imensamente por dentro. A candura lutando contra a amargura e, nada mais.

Para momentos solitários e intimistas, desde que sua estima, esteja elevada.

***** Interview with Author of the Accident *****



Q. When did Author of the Accident begin? Tell us about the history...
I started writing songs when I was 18 and released music under various different names. But it was maybe around 2015 when I started honing my sound and making music which became “Accidents Remain”, my first album release under the name Author of the Accident.

Q: Who are your influences?
I've always been inspired by indie artists who started DIY like Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, Soccer Mommy, (Sandy) Alex G and Long Beard. Mica Levi – all her musical projects, including her soundtracks. Shoegaze/Dream pop – Tanukichan, Hatchie, Beach House, Lush, Alison's Halo, Blonde Redhead.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
I don't have enough musical knowledge to name 5 albums of all time, so I'll name 5 I keep coming back to:

Yuck – Yuck
Warpaint – The Fool
Portishead – Dummy
Grouper – Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
Elliott Smith - Either/Or

Q. How do you feel playing live?
I haven't played live since I was a teenager. I remember dropping my guitar pick after hitting the first chord in a high school performance, and that's an embarrassing moment I still remember. But maybe enough time has passed where I can experience stage fright and that nervous feeling all over again, if given the opportunity.

Q. How do you describe Author of the Accident´s sounds?
Dark undertones hidden under indie pop/rock song structures. Like a bruise, something that may look abstractly pretty on the surface but hurts underneath.


Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
My process for recording is really long-winded, DIY and sort of backwards. For this last album, it took me about a year or so to write and refine the songs, record demos onto Garageband on my ipad, then transfer the drum tracks to my PC laptop, re-record the guitar, bass and vocal parts, and constantly refine the mix. But all of this is spread out because I'm usually working on film projects, so it takes a long time. I'm conscious of the fact that I can't sing, but I do it anyway. But I like layering vocals and harmonies (which hopefully also hides the fact that I can't sing.)

I'm not really happy about the mastering results, but it's something I'll have to learn to do better in the future. It's all part of that DIY ethos - learn as you go.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
The Hidden Shelf. I think she's super talented with an amazing voice and her songs are beautiful. I was fortunate enough to meet her after I made a music video for her song “Too Bad It Was All A Dream”. I really hope the best for her.

https://youtu.be/EnYS_IIyKQw

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Yuck – Stutter.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
To make more music and films, but with better production.

Q: Any parting words?
This is more of a reminder to myself, but whenever you're feeling stuck, have writer's block or are just too much inside your head and room (becoming hikikomori), go do something different. See some people you haven't seen in a while. Travel, go to a place you've never been to.

Playing music has always been something I could do in solace, but sometimes you have to break out of your cycle so that when you return your mind will be refreshed and you'll have new ideas to bring.
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Thanks

http://authoroftheaccident.tumblr.com/
https://authoroftheaccident.bandcamp.com/

terça-feira, 12 de fevereiro de 2019

Skinny Dipping with Dreams of Empire - An Interview


O duo britânico Jane e Andrew, ou, Dreams of Empire para os iniciados, tem, não com o Dreams of Empire, mas ambos uma trajetória que vem desde os 90´s. No currículo, colaboraram com o mestre Kramer, além de terem tocado no Luminous.

Um belo dia Andrew acordou com uma ideia, se inspirando em seus anos de adolescente e a efervescência gaze da época e assim surgiu o Dreams of Empire.

Sonoramente é algo como se as Shangri-las fossem uma banda shoegaze, ou se Debbie Harry enveredasse pelos ares do dreampop.

Tudo suave e cintilantemente concebido para embalar sonhos. Assim é a belíssima, "Shinny Dipping", segundo single deles.

A promessa é que uma série de singles venham em breve, e se depender da beleza de "Shinny Dipping", o amor e a beleza vencerão.


***** Interview with Dreams of Empire *****


Q. When did Dreams of Empire begin? Tell us about the history...
I literally woke up one day and said to Jane, “hey let’s start a band again". I was so inspired by the new music coming from bands I loved in my teens like Ride and Slowdive. Jane thought I was crazy. It was quite a while since we last performed together, in Luminous a band which made a record with Galaxie 500 producer and Shimmy Disc legend Kramer in the 90s before vanishing into obscurity. So I wrote a bunch of songs over the summer and we agreed it was a good thing to do.

Q: Who are your influences?
Hmm, lots of influences, but we don’t really sound like any of them! You’ll hear guitars influenced by Dean Wareham (Luna, Galaxie 500), Johnny Marr (The Smiths) and Andy Bell (Ride). Our vocal sound is pretty unique. We love an angst laden harmony and moody female led bands like Drugstore, Mazzy Star and PJ Harvey.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
Wow, impossible task. 5 albums that we’ve loved forever would include…

Today - Galaxie 500
The Queen is Dead - The Smiths
1969: The Velvet Underground live - The Velvet Underground
Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
Doolittle - Pixies

Oh and so many more…

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We know from the past that playing live is special, exhilarating and usually ends with carrying heavy boxes up stairs. We’re really hoping to play our first Dreams of Empire shows this year, ideally somewhere small and dark where we can make a lot of noise.

Q. How do you describe Dreams of Empire´s sounds?
Luscious female vocals drenched in reverb and layered with gorgeous harmonies, surrounded by car crash guitar mayhem. It’s sort ofshoegaze, it’s sort of dreampop but it’s something else too, but we haven’t worked out what.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Everything is homemade, in our attic. We love recording at home. We’ll lay down 3 or 4 guitar lines, add the vocals and then add too many extra guitar tracks and too much reverb. It then takes us forever to get the sound just how we want it - it’s hard to resist the temptation to keep mixing it.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Seems like anything out of Melbourne is worth listening to right now. The Stroppies are very cool and we’re obsessed with Lowtide. We’re hoping to catch some of these bands at the Great Escape festival in Brighton in May.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Something krautrock would be fun

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Right now we’re trying to finish recording and mixing a bunch of new songs. There’s some really dreamy stuff as well as the more driving indiepop of our first singles. Self publishing is really tough so we’re looking for people to help us put an album out. We will definitely play live this year, maybe just in Brighton, maybe further away... we’re open to invitations.

Q: Any parting words?
Can we get some more reverb on that?
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/dreamsofempireuk/
https://dreamsofempire.bandcamp.com

segunda-feira, 11 de fevereiro de 2019

Idealista with Knives - An Interview


Kevin Cervera é um daqueles caras obstinados com o que ama e acredita, no caso a música. Assim nasceu sua nova banda, o Knives.

No mesmo dia que o Hexagrams, banda anterior de Kevin encerrou as atividades, nascia o Knives. Com idéias sonoras bem diferentes. Sai o pós punk clássico com tendências mais soturnas e entre um certo dreampop climático, com nuances oitentistas. Algo como se o The Wake se entrelaçasse com o DIIV, ou algo parecido.

"Idealista" é a estreia dos caras. Um EP que conheceu o mundo no último semestre do ano passado e que tardiamente chegou aos meus ouvidos, mas o delay não foi capaz de acabar com a magia das canções, pelo contrário, elas soam puras e intactas a cada audição.

A pureza do dreampop em sua excelência.


***** Interview with Knives *****


Q. When did Knives begin? Tell us about the history...
Knives begun the day that our last band ‘Hexagrams’ ended, It started in my room again, making some noisy riffs but kind of lo fi feeling, i wanted to keep it bedroom like i did in the past and later adding some reverb in everything.

Q: Who are your influences?
Definitely (Sandy) Alex G, 107 Faunos and Chastity.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
1- Elliott Smith - Either/Or
2- Ryan Adams - Love is Hell
3- Bob Dylan - Infidels
4- David Bowie - Hunky Dory
5- JAMC - Psychocandy

Q. How do you feel playing live?
It feels awesome et awkward.

Q. How do you describe Knives´ sounds?
Noisy pop in spanish simple lyrics.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Everything is homemade, Miguel our guitar player récords every instrument, guitars on my roland jazz chorus, bass and synths in digitals, after that he mixes every instrument and voices and then mastering, a very common way to récord songs nowadays.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Sister Ectoplasma, Todos tus tanques soviéticos..

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Maybe something more latín like any songs of El mato un policía motorizado

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Recording a new álbum, something very digital, full of synthetizers, homemade again.

Q: Any parting words?
“It’s ok to ghost if yr making art”
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Thanks

https://knivesdotcom.bandcamp.com/album/idealista-ep
https://twitter.com/Knivesdotcom

sexta-feira, 8 de fevereiro de 2019

Deathlist, "A Canyon" - Track by Track


Jenny Logan é a mente por trás do trio de Portland, Deathlist.

Se você acompanha o TBTCI já a conhece obviamente. Agora, a novidade, é que Jenny e sua gangue acabam de presentear aos mortais seu novo trabalho, o intenso e devastador, "A Canyon".

" A Canyon" nasceu exatamente hoje, 8 de Fevereiro e já vem com o selo de clássico. Acham que estou exagerando? Ok, vamos ao fatos.

O disco é de forma resumida, angustiantemente desesperador, ou se você preferir, raivosamente melancólico, ou ainda, sedutoramente perigoso. Os motivos, bem, experimente a audição e perceba desde os primeiros momentos de "I Want To" até a derradeira "Selfish", que Jenny, incorpora os fantasmas de PJ Harvey misturados com Trent Reznor, tendendo para uma faceta quase Siouxsie.

"A Canyon" não navega em um território sonoro específico. Classificá-lo por rótulo e sub gêneros é um erro grotesco, a obra expande-se para além de nichos pré determinados.

A melhor forma de tentar compreender "A Canyon" é ler atentamente o "track by track" que Jenny concedeu especialmente ao TBTCI.

Os segredos e mistérios de "A Canyon" estão mais próximos de você do que você imagina.


***** Deathlist, "A Canyon" - Track by Track *****


1. I Want To
That opening riff sounds like a baritone but is actually a guitar pitch-shifted down an octave. Harrison thought it was too short - it's under 2 minutes - and kept trying to get me to make it longer. But eventually I won. That line “I wrote your name like I want to” refers to me writing my best friend’s obituary but it could also be about writing down the name of your love like you want to start over again.

2. A Canyon
We finished this song and something still felt missing so we set it to a synth loop that comes in in the intro. The ending, where it breaks into acoustic guitar, was a fragment from another song that I never finished so I stuck it here because I thought it fit with the concept - a canyon is something defined by an absence, so it's whole and empty at the same time.

3. Sandstone
I demoed this song before going in to the studio and didn’t think it was finished and almost didn’t record it. But I recorded the basic riff and then just started layering improvised guitar tracks over it, and then we added some strange harmonies in the background and a creepy melodica, and it’s now one of my favorites on the record. It didn't have a title either so I called it Sandstone - a solid thing composed of a thousand tiny pieces.

4. 8 Eyes
I had the guitar breakdown for this song written a long time ago but just couldn’t fit it into a song. Then 8 Eyes came along it just fit right in. This song is about inhabiting multiple selves and how it’s frightening to be seen as you really are. It’s not actually about spiders.

5. Dream Legs
Dream legs refers to trying to find your legs in an alternate reality - like "sea legs" but in a dream. In the last few years that I started to get this persistent sense of unreality, like "can this really be the real world?" It feels like a fucked up dream. So the song is about trying to find your way around a weird reality before you die and forget about everything you once had figured out.

6. Ocean Plastic
This one is about psychic trash that you try to throw away but keeps washing back to you and ruining everything like plastic that gets dumped in the ocean. Harrison played that gnarly guitar solo at the beginning. I wanted that instrumental guitar fadeout at the very end to make you feel like you feel when you’re watching the tide go out.

7. Seek
This song is actually from the session I spent recording my last LP, but it didn’t fit on the record and something was always not quite right with it. Like the original ending sounded like the theme from Terminator 2. But I really liked the song and wanted to fix it so a year later I changed up the drums and bass and now here it is.

8. Repeater
Here’s another song that decays into an instrumental jam at the end. It’s basically about deja vu from encountering the same person in different forms over time. But it’s also about getting fed up with losing everything and becoming self-reliant. Seek has a similar theme, like what if I can light up my own life and stop looking for someone.

9. Red Breeze
It was Harrison’s idea to add that triumphant slide guitar in the bridge, he was worried it would sound too hair metal but I love it. We also played the intro guitar backwards - it’s subtle, but I think it fits.

10. Trees
My best friend’s ashes were lost so he doesn’t have a regular grave - his name is inscribed on a plaque on an oak tree in the cemetery. I was thinking about that and about Twin Peaks when I wrote this song. Like there’s some force living in the woods and when the trees fall we’re all going to see what’s been hiding there forever.

11. Selfish
We put delay on the drums here and I was worried it sounds too much like the 1980s but I love the way it turned out. This is another song I almost didn’t record because I thought it was too simple - the whole thing is just one guitar part over and over. I thought, “this isn’t really a song.” But we messed around with some melodica and taking the bass line in and out of the verses, and it came together. It’s a love song about losing everything you love, coming back alive in the next life, and losing everything again. And it’s worth it.
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/deathlistband/
https://deathlist.bandcamp.com

I Want to Be Your Robot with Keepers At Noon - An Interview


Inúmeras bandas nascem em busca da canção perfeita, elas crescem, e muitas, infelizmente, morrem sem alcançar o objetivo. Todavia, algumas, simplesmente possuem o dom natural de conceber naturalmente pérolas irretocáveis, verdadeiras preciosidades, que, em muitos casos estas obras de pura magia florescem já nos primeiros momentos de vida.

Caso dos italianos do Keepers At Noon. Apenas um single, que no mínimo contém, duas destas maravilhas da música pop perfeita. Mais precisamente a faixa título, "I Want To Be Your Robot" e "Again".

Seguindo a tradição da geração C86 e seus desmembramentos, leia-se Sarah Records e afins, o Keepers At Noon, simplesmente encanta de forma sublime com uma perfeição de rara beleza.

Adjetivos soam como meras palavras para mensurar a sensação de satisfação plena ao saborear sonoramente o quão majestoso é a audição destes italianos.

Bem, palavras me faltam no momento, apenas sugiro apreciar sem limites a mágica criada pelo Keepers At Noon.


***** Interview with Keepers At Noon *****


Q. When did Keepers At Noon begin? Tell us about the history...
(Paolo) I started recording demos a couple of years ago, just for fun. The idea was to publish one song every week on Soundcloud, but after the first demo a very small label from Austin, Texas contacted me and offered support for releasing my stuff on music cassettes, so I thought there was a potential to the songs and I decided to start a real band, and here we are. Later the label decided not to produce the cassettes anymore so the single is our very first record.

Q: Who are your influences?
(Paolo) I like melodic bands with an edge to their sound, like The Jesus And Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine and all those British bands from the ‘80s and the ‘90s that were influenced by the ‘60s. I love the Smiths and almost everything by Sarah Records. Adriano and Fabrizio had previously played in a post-rock band which shifted towards more of an electro-math sound, and felt that they wanted to go back to a more traditional sound, and this was the right project to do so.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
(Paolo) The Queen is Dead - the Smiths, Pet Sounds - the Beach Boys, Loveless - My Bloody Valentine, La Voce del Padrone - Franco Battiato, Screamadelica - Primal Scream.

(Onny) Soft Machine - Volume II, Nick Drake - Bryter Layter, King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King, Radiohead - Amnesiac, The Beatles - Rubber Soul.

(Adriano) Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd, Disintegration - the Cure, The Great Escape - Blur, either Outlandos d'Amour or Reggatta de Blanc - the Police (can’t choose), Emozioni - Lucio Battisti.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
(Adriano) Playing live is always exhilarating and it's nice to see the audience respond positively to your music.

Q. How do you describe Keeper At Noon´s sounds?
(Adriano) It's hard to say, when arranging our songs we sort of take inspiration from a wide variety of bands spanning a few decades, but basically, apart from a tendency to avoid using modern electronic sounds, anything goes

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
(Adriano) We decided to record and mix the single ourselves, as our bass player had some recording experience and we figured that it would be cheaper and, most of all, easier to achieve what we were looking for, without the constraint of time and money. We did ask a few friends for a few microphones and other equipment, but we mostly recorded everything with stuff we already had in our rehearsal space, which is little more than a shed. This meant that recording right in the middle of the Italian summer was total torture, haha, but we feel that the result is worth our sweaty efforts! Also because we did take our time, we didn't rush things through and had the opportunity to rethink and re-record stuff when we felt it was necessary.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
(Fabrizio) Temporex, Ela Minus, Ibeyi.
(Paolo) The Zoltars, Lancashire Hustlers.
(Adriano) Boy Pablo, Hooveriii.
(Onny) Nu Guinea

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
(Paolo) I’d love to cover New Order songs and fill them with jangly guitar sounds.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
(Adriano) Well, the single is of course just a taster, we decided to focus on fewer songs just so that we could have something to show around. Hopefully we'll get a record label to support us and then our next step will be to record a full length album. In the meantime we'd like to play as many gigs as possible and showcase our music, hoping to build up a fanbase and achieve some recognition maybe.

Q: Any parting words?
(Adriano) We'd like to thank Renato for contacting us and showing interest in our music, and the blog's readers, hoping they like our tunes. We can't wait to show you more!
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/keepersatnoon/
https://keepersatnoon.bandcamp.com/releases
https://soundcloud.com/keepers-at-noon

quarta-feira, 6 de fevereiro de 2019

For The Rest To Rest with Veda Rays - An Interview


Definitivamente o trio do Brooklyn, Nova Iorque, Veda Rays, não é uma audição que pode ser considera simples.

Buscando em suas conexões a base da estrutura sonora, leia-se o pós punk clássico com tendências mais soturnas e melódicas, exemplificando, cito, Comsat Angels, Chameleons, Psychedelic Furs entre outros. James, Jason e Maria Joanna criam bases intrínsecas e extremamente cantaroláveis. Por vezes as canções pairam por outros ares, chegando a incitar a presença dos Soft Boys ou R.E.M., bem tudo soa como referência, apenas servindo como um norte para o caminho que o Veda Rays dá a cada uma da pérolas contidas no álbum.

Um ar épico perpetua "For The Rest To Rest", último trabalho deles lançado no ano passado, que tem agora uma pequeno preview no TBTCI de seu último suspiro o vídeo de "Close Range", faixa que abre o álbum.

Música para ser apreciada sem pressa, em doses controladas para sentir e intensificar cada detalhe escondido.

Fabuloso.

***** Interview with Veda Rays *****


Q. When did Veda Rays begin? Tell us about the history...
James Stark (vocals and guitar): The group as it currently exists began around 2014. There were several different formations, as well as some early material released as “The Veda Rays”. The history stretches way back to when I started writing songs and making 4-track recordings with Jason Gates (Veda Rays drummer) in our early teens.

Q: Who are your influences?
JS: I started out as a guitar player striving to produce and record my own material, so, people like Jimmy Page and Robert Smith were big influences. The thought that one could create one’s own sonic vocabulary, and, by extension, one could evoke one’s own particular inner landscape of mood, atmosphere, tone and texture, was always very inspiring to me. It is something I chased for a long time and still kind of chase now. As I grew into becoming a singer and songwriter, people like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Nick Cave became huge inspirations. I must of course mention Scott Walker, David Bowie, The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones, The Doors...all very standard stuff but what can I say. It is what it is. I may as well say The Beatles, at this point. The Beatles. There, I said it. Bob Marley, too. And my laundry list would not be complete without T. Rex, Roxy Music, Joy Division, Siouxsie &The Banshees, Bauhaus, The Fall, PIL, The Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins, REM, Depeche Mode, The Psychedelic Furs, The Chameleons, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, Sonic Youth, Swans, Jane’s Addiction, Pavement, Modest Mouse, The JMC, Interpol, Pulp, Suede, Radiohead, The Pixies, Deerhunter, The National, PJ Harvey...I’m sure I’m forgetting lots of important stuff. Factory Records. Mute, 4AD, Creation...you get the idea…

Maria Joanna Bohemia (synths, samples): From a keyboardists’ standpoint, my biggest influences are Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade / Sunset Rubdown / Moonface), Dave Formula (Magazine), and Ron Mael (Sparks). Not that my playing is all that similar to any of these people, but they are all inspirational to me in their own special ways. As an occasional lyric-writer, my biggest inspiration is probably Luke Haines (The Auteurs, Black Box Recorder). Again, not very similar to him at all, but I admire how concise (and subversive) his lyrics are while also being very detailed. As a daily life influence, David Lynch is someone I look up to in virtually every way (including hair).

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
JS: I could never seriously answer this as my response would change from day to day, but, here are five that come to mind right now (in no particular order) -- REM - Fables Of The Reconstruction; VU - The Velvet Underground &Nico; Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue; The Smiths - Meat Is Murder; Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads

MJB: As James said, this is unanswerable, but here are five albums I could listen to all the time and never tire of: Scott Walker - Scott 3; Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man; Mick Harvey - Intoxicated Man / Pink Elephants; Suede - Sci-Fi Lullabies; Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary

Q. How do you feel playing live?
JS: For me it is like meditation. You put in so much time and effort to maintain your practice. You hone your ability to simultaneously focus and let go. You think about it a lot when you are not in the act of doing it. You wait around for it a lot. The moment finally arrives, you squirm in your chair and try to settle. You go through all of this in the hope that everything will at once come together and fall away, and you will transcend, if even for only a brief moment.

MJB: I had never played in a band prior to VRs and my live set-up has been through many changes, so I’m still struggling to get my bearings as far as playing live goes. It can be hard to move while playing the synths, so I feel like that at least gives me an excuse to be aloof on stage!

Q. How do you describe Veda Rays´ sounds?
JS: Apocalyptic lullabies.

MJB: I’d say there’s more to our sound than may immediately meet the ear. On a casual listen, it’s easy to pick up on the post-punk and goth influences, but there are a lot of textural and atmospheric touches (sample manipulations and the like) that tend to get overlooked. So maybe goth-inflected post-punk, very rich in sound design and with some early REM thrown in for good measure.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
JS: Lately, the demos and beginnings of ideas eventually develop into the fully formed tracks. We record and produce everything ourselves so it’s all very close to home. Basically, initial passes get updated as the pieces evolve, until they get to where we feel they are right.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
JS: Some of these bands are by no means new, but maybe not super widely known: Protomartyr, Preoccupations, IDLES, Shame, Bambara, Shilpa Ray, Big Bliss...to name a few, off-hand.

MJB: Bodega - it was wonderful to witness Bodega’s 2018 breakthrough and I look forward to their future. Parrot Dream likewise put out a great album last year. And, there’s not much or any recorded material out there yet, but be on the lookout for Toyzanne and Gustaf.

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
JS: I’d love to do something by The Chameleons or Psychedelic Furs, perhaps.

MJB: Every year around Halloween, different bands around Brooklyn will do cover sets of a particular artist they admire. We had a half-serious idea of doing The Boatman’s Call - style covers of different Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds songs. That didn’t happen, but I still think it would be fun to do a Nick Cave cover. Maybe “Are You the One I’ve Been Waiting For,” but something from an earlier album would be cool too (James already has “Sad Waters” down!).

Q: What are your plans for the future?
JS: We’re working on new material...shooting for another LP in 2019, maybe some between-album singles or an EP. We are also hoping to release a few more videos for songs from our most recent release For The Rest To Rest, as well as play some shows outside of New York in support of that album.

Q: Any parting words?
JS: Thanks very much to the readers and to TBTCI for your interest in Veda Rays. Dear readers, we currently have no paid publicity agents or anything like that: we are completely independent/ DIY, so, if you like the sounds, please remember...sharing is caring! <3 p="" style="text-align: left;">*
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