New Wave with Dialogue From A Silent Film - An Interview

                                     

E o TBTCI ataca novamente, apresentando em primeirissíma mão o primeiro single do Dialogue from a Silent Film, diretamente do Brooklyn, New York, os caras atacam de post punk a´la bandas da Factory nos 80´s, o inicio do The Wake, The Cure, A Certain Ratio e ecos de The Auteurs, são a fonte para o Dialogue from a Silent Film.

All Your Friends é frenetica, as vezes lembrando The Prids porém mais acessivel vamos dizer que é um cruzamento de Prids com Auteurs, o fato é que a musiquinha gruda e sem mais você esta ouvindo no repeat e começando a marcar o compasso. When You´re Gone, é altamente sexy, um lado b grandioso e eloquente para uma grandiosa e prospera estreia.

Para não perder tempo, o TBTCI já saca de cara uma entrevista com o Dialogue from a Silent Film, já dissecando e dizendo qual é a dos caras.

***** Interview with Dialogue from a Silent Film *****

                                                      

Q. When did Dialogue From a Silent Film start, tell us about the history...
Daniel - I've always been writing songs, whether it was while riding trains, staring at the fluorescent lights of hospital waiting rooms, or waiting to get off a plane, so eventually I wanted to play them. These guys came into the picture late 2011. We are Dialogue from a Silent Film - Daniel Kasshu on vocals/ guitar, Brian LaRue on bass/ vocals, Jon Chapman on drums and percussion. Everything is great now.

Jon - I actually met Daniel through a musician forum on the internet when I first moved to NYC. without knowing anything about the guys, I met them for an audition. it sounded great and nobody tried to rape me, so I joined up!

Q: Who are your influences?
Brian - I have a lot of influences, but playing bass with Dialogue, I keep coming back to Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), Clint Conley (Mission of Burma), Mike Watt (The Minutemen, etc.), Craig Bell
(Rocket from the Tombs) and Spector's Wrecking Crew. Also, I've realized it's taken conscious effort to avoid simply copying the bass line from Black Tambourine's "Black Car" every place it might possibly
fit.

Jon - My dad used to be a drummer and he had the biggest influence on me growing up and learning to play music. Musicially speaking, I've got one foot in the prog rock door, one in the jazz door, one in funk, a little latin, some classical training.. Lots of stuff! And of course all the musicians and bands I've played with.

Daniel - Influences are wide and varied. I can guarantee, though, that at most times I am certainly under the influence of something or other.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Brian - My "Top Five Desert Island" discs would probably have The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle, The Kinks' Arthur, The Smiths' Hatful of Hollow, The Stooges' Fun House and I don't even know what the fifth
would be -- maybe a good recording of Bach's Magnificat in D or maybe whatever my favorite Elvis Costello album is at the time or maybe Black Flag's Damaged. I can't make a list of what I think are the five
BEST albums ever, straight-up. I need to listen to more albums.

Jon - I'm sure my list is very different than others, but here's three albums that I've obsessed over at one point or another - Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Wayne Shorter Quartet - Footprints
Live!, Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom.

Daniel - My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything, The Make-Up - Untouchable Sound, David Bowie - Scary Monsters, At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command. The fifth album is a giant question mark, I think. It would have to be more important than the other four combined.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Daniel - Sweaty. Uncomfortable. I've never been a fan of bright lights, or light in general. I think I'm a little out of my element,so I just take it out on the guitar. Occasionally, I break it by the
end of the set.

Brian - Playing live is the reason why I play in bands. It has a narcotic effect. When I have long stretches between performances, I feel anxious and depressed. Playing bass with Dialogue is really exciting in a live setting. Jon is a very gifted and versatile drummer, and it feels great locking in with his kick drum and just
digging into my bass, wailing on the beat like it owes me money. Plus there are all of these more melodic or more delicate passages I play with Dialogue, and I like how that engages a different part of my brain than the "rhythm beast" part. In a live setting, all three of us give the impression that we believe in ourselves, and I think people in the audience tend to notice that and respond positively to it.

Jon - It depends. Sometimes everything comes together and it's like the music is playing itself and I just let it happen. That's the real magic, when you just let go and suddenly start playing shit you didn't know was in you and you're like, "Wow, did I just do that??" Other times, if the sound is tough, I just gotta focus on playing everything with good time and conviction, even if I'm not feeling it.

Q. How do you describe Dialogue's sound?
Brian - Melodic post-punk wearing a shoegaze jacket.

Daniel - Dialogue has two sides - studio and live. Live, we're loud. More aggressive than you may think. We tend to have quite a bit of restraint in the studio because we concentrate so much on dynamics and

perfection. On stage there's the combination of kinetic energy, the electricity in the air, the reaction of the audience, and some degree of inebriation that give way to us unleashing some reckless abandon Literary references and layered metaphors can still be abrasive. Dress a punk in a suit and he's still a punk.

                                 
Q: Tell us about the process of recording the new album?
Daniel - I began writing most of these songs in 2010, and they've all kind of grown since then. My friend and the band's producer Peter Mavrogeorgis (Sharon von Etten, The National) heard some early versions of a few of the tunes and we went into the studio shortly thereafter.

It was all long nights, sweaty days, trips out for coffee, and take after take after take. But, Dialogue from a Silent Film has a body of work that we're really proud of now. Over the next few months keep an eye on our facebook and bandcamp, we'll release it and you'll get to hear why.

Jon - I came into the group late, so most of the tracks were finished. I rerecorded some older drum tracks and played on a couple new tunes. So a few of the tracks on the album are me playing, but there are others with different drummers also  For my drum parts, I'll listen to the song and get an idea of what I want the drums to sound like. Then I'll tune them and the engineer andI will talk about cymbal choices, mic positions, and effects applied to the drums after the recording.

Then I'll record to a click track, and that drum part becomes the foundation for the rest of the instruments.

Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
Brian - I don't even know who's new anymore. Among bands here in NYC, I like to go see bands made up of people I know who are also really good at music. So, those would be, like, EULA, Fake Babies, The
Planes, Slam Donahue, Wojcik, Gold Streets, Clouder, Life Size Maps, Clouty... A lot of those bands aren't actually new, but they're all doing new things, and none of them are famous.

Jon - I'm sure there are good new bands out there. Alas, I haven't heard any! I mean, there are some bands doing great stuff, but as far as stuff that turns me on, it's been a while.

Daniel - I have a hard time finding new bands to listen to ever since independent rock in NYC became totally dependent on who does your hair, whose clothes you wear, whose table you drink at, and what
scene-trash of the week you're sleeping with. Where did the music go? That much said, we've actually shared the stage with some bands keeping rock and roll alive for real such as Kids at Risk (from
Australia), Sursum Verbo (from NYC), Farewood (from CT), The Tennis System (from DC/LA), and a few others.

Q: Which bands would you love to make a cover version?
Brian - The Monks (though I'm not sure if Dialogue is the right band for that) or early Pere Ubu.

Jon - "Machine Gun" by Jimi Hendrix, "Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benetar if I got the electronic drums right. If I had a horn section, I could make a rockin' arrangement of the Ghostbusters theme song.

Daniel - It would be really fun to cover Japan, Strawberry Switchblade, or Kas Product. It seems more likely, though, that we'd cover Shiina Ringo. Or not. I don't know. We have so many songs to put out and so many upcoming releases, I can't even imagine having the time to do a cover, aside from the b-side of our debut single.

Q: What´s the plans for future....
Brian - Drink plenty of water.

Jon - I want to smoke more cigars in 2013.

Daniel - I plan to begin chain-smoking even while I sleep. It's part of my self-improvement regiment.

Q: Any parting words?
Brian - No.
Jon - Yes.

Daniel - …Maybe. Oh, and thanks for reading.

http://listn.to/dialoguefromasilentfilm
http://dialoguefromasilentfilm.bandcamp.com/
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Thanks guys

Star Crossed by Her Vanished Grace - An Interview

Sócios de carteirinha do TBTCI o Her Vanished Grace acaba de lançar mais um album em sua extensa e excitante discografia, e o novissimo Star-Crossed mais uma vez acerta em cheio o album.

Shoegazer épico com trejeitos sonhados, o HVG muda um pouca em relação ao ultimo See The Moon e vem mais rápido e shoegazer do que nunca, mais com momentos mais pos punks, na realidade com toques mais modernos e pegajosos que remetem meio que imediatamente ao Joy Formidable, o que de fato é excitante, porque o TBTCI adoraria e torce para os amigos Charlie e Nance sejam finalmente reconhecidos pelos serviços prestados desde 1991.

Uma mini entrevista rapida e rasteira com o HVG para explicar Star-Crossed e quais os proximos passos de casal que inspira o TBTCI.

***** Interview with Her Vanished Grace ****

                                   

1. How was the process of recording the new album?
It was a lot of fun but complicated. Nancy and I started late last summer. It was kind of informal as we sketched out ideas in Logic and included some contributions from musical friends; LG from Dead Leaf Echo, Daniel Cousins aka The Invisible Kid and Andee Blacksugar from Blacksugar Transmission. Then the rest of HVG, Maria and Billy, added their contributions in the fall and winter. We also wrote several songs with them in rehearsals as they worked out their parts to the material we'd started.

The sessions were all over the place; at home in HVG Studios, in our rehearsal space, Astoria Soundworks, and in the Greenpoint studio where we usually do our albums, Capture Sound. Lots of different vibes and layers were stirred in. We knew that the Mesa Boogie Rectifier stack at our rehearsal spot was perfect for feedback with Nancy's Jazzmaster. That sound became a character an a bunch of the tracks. I got hooked on my Danelectro Baritone guitar and that colored a lot of the record too. The drum session was challenging as usual, with Billy's explosive unorthodox style filling the big room at Capture Sound. We loved doing Maria's bass afterward, the way The Beatles tracked Paul. It gave her freedom to explore and find great counterpoint. As always it was pleasure to work on the vocals with Nancy. She was loose but focused and we had a great time whether things came together really quickly or not so much. 

The music came from a lot of different places and it was an interesting engineering job to polish all those layers. By the end it became really cohesive. You can view sessions with all of the members of HVG on our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1DE7E632ACF41138&feature=edit_ok).

2. Tell us if there are some differences between Star Crossed and the other albums.
STAR-CROSSED is still the melodic pop that we love but in a more abrasive setting. Our previous albums were, with some exceptions, tracked mostly as a group in order to capture the chemistry of HVG as a unit. This time we wanted to extend the scope of our sound with more aggressive textures. We left some space so the songs could breathe and course with noise. The sketches that Nancy and I started with actually evolved into the band versions so if we liked something from the beginning, it stayed in. That's how these tracks became so dense. A lot of sculpting went on in the mixing process to bring out the dynamics. In "Break Down" you're hearing an avalanche of guitars from different parts of the process coming in on the bridge and the last chorus to get that bruised blossoming. "Fade Away" is a classic HVG ballad enveloped in sheet after sheet of cacophony. 

We think STAR-CROSSED is very cinematic. The songs mirror the joy, confusion and waves of emotion we've all been experiencing. We took risks by simplifying our writing and sometimes letting noise tell the story. This was evident in "Bridge Of Sighs" which absolutely boils with sound. This track is also the first time we used lyrics from outside HVG. Nancy loved the poetry of the chapter titles of the novel BRIDGE OF SIGHS by Richard Russo and used all of them as the lyrics of the song. We obtained the permission of Mr. Russo and he is now the co writer of an HVG track. 

We also used electronic drum textures alongside Billy's drums in songs like "Hungry" and especially in the closing track "Earth Stood Still", which features some really cool rhythmic and synth elements courtesy of The Invisible Kid. It's almost like film score with an eerie chill wave tension that comes to a glorious crescendo.

                                      

3. What´s the future plans?
We'll be playing the STAR-CROSSED material out and writing new stuff with Maria and Billy. But we also have a side project that's an acoustic/ambient hybrid. Nancy, Maria and I will be working on it this fall so we can hopefully have an EP ready by year's end.

4. Any parting words
We so appreciate all of the kindness and support of all the old and new friends and fans. Our dream is to keep making our music and we want to show our gratitude to all those who make it possible. Thank you.
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Thanks Charlie & Nance

http://hervanishedgrace.com/
https://www.facebook.com/her.v.grace
http://hervanishedgrace.bandcamp.com/ 

Victorialand with Ummagma - An Interview

Contatos imediatos da mundo com o TBTCI tem se tornado mais e mais rotineiros, o dificil é saber separar o joio do trigo, muitos são dispensáveis outros são preciosidades que engrandecem mais ainda a saga do TBTCI.

Ummagma, é uma dessas preciosidades, o amor uniu Shauna e Alexander, Canada e Russia uniram-se através do casal e o Ummagma foi concebido, candura, sonhos, folk psicodelico climatico, dream shoegazer, tudo resume a uma musica sonhadora e tranquilizante, synths e loops unem as guitarras que em cascalhos cristalinos criam a atmosfera perfeita para os sonhos, claro a voz de Shauna sobrepõem-se a tudo, logicamente que Shauna é uma devota seguidora de Cocteau Twins, fica evidente na audição do belissimo Antigravity o segundo album da banda.

O TBTCI e Shauna viraram amigos e admiradores mutuos, e a mais nova entrevista do TBTCI somente poderia ser com mais uma das trilhas sonoras dos anjos, Ummagma.

Ah detalhe, Shauna tem interagido com Robson do The Concept / Robsongs e ambos tem estreitado futuras boas novas.

***** Interview with Ummagma *****

                                                     
Q. When did Ummagma start? Tell us about your history...
Alexx – On my part, Ummagma pretty much originated when I accidently annihilated our radio at home when I attempted to plug my electric guitar into it… Something magic in that moment.

Shauna – Well, that’s not my story, while it rings true for Alexx, because that was like plugging the stereo in to the socket and just waiting for the right moment to turn it on. The right time for that came in Moscow when we hooked up (literally) and finally gave each other the time of day musically because we hooked up (funny, it usually works the other way around). Neither one of us took each other seriously as musicians until we decided that it could be a good way to spend time together – and it just took off from there.

Q: Who are your main influences?
Alexx - All that I see, hear and feel goes through my mind. Then my consciousness determines which of these thing hold any personal value. It’s through such a filter that I let things into my heart and I reflect what’s happening in the world and talk it over with my friends. That’s the way it happens with music too – I don’t compose it in the traditional sense, but rather find it in the language of my heart – these are the sounds and the music that I love most.

Shauna – Well, that’s generally how it works with me too, but I’ve got a critical mind so I soak up a lot of stuff before I finally spurt it out and that’s how it happens with the lyrics. I promised myself that I need to be in a positive headspace when writing lyrics, and that means connecting with my higher self I suppose. The melody comes from above in any case, so I definitely don’t attribute that to anyone. What I can definitely say is that the loveliest music I’ve ever heard (in my own personal view) has to be music created by and connected to the Cocteau Twins and David Sylvian.

Q. Who would be in the list of your 5 favorite albums of all time?
Alexx – Its really difficult to answer about concrete albums. There’s just so much goodness out there. I can only mention the music that has affected me deeply – J.S. Bach, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd and Celtic Music.

Shauna – I bet Alexx would also like to add Joe Satriani if he could list 6 influences. For me, I also can’t limit my answer to specific albums, but I can speak of artists who I adore immensely. Among them are the Cocteau Twins, David Sylvian, the Cure, the English Beat (only known as The Beat in the UK) and Radiohead. Of course it all sounds better on vinyl, but that’s not always possible.

                                   
Q. How do you enjoy playing live?
Alexx – Until now, we have primarily been investing ourselves in composing and recording music and there’s many reasons for that. This approach has offered us definite advantages as opposed to focusing on live performances and such experiences in the studio are rather diverse, which is attractive for me.

Shauna – We’ve been as intimate with the music as we can get through our work in the studio, so that’s been our focus so far. Even so, we aren’t ruling out the possibility of performing a bit in the near future, at least on a more local or regional scale, but the studio will still take the spotlight for us.

Q. How would you describe Ummagma’s sound?
Alexx – It’s like musical landscapes of a sort, like a series of self-portraits or heading on a journey of sorts with every single song, only with very good seats. I know that the music’s form prevails, but maybe we will manage to meet with and find useful companions through this music, as if engaging in gratifying conversation.

Shauna – I try to be a bit more pragmatic when it comes to defining our music because many musicians love to claim “we can’t be or must not be categorized”. Why not? People love labels or tags that give them a point of reference. So I’d say our music is ‘hexagonal’. I mean, our music is rather diverse but can be found in a space somewhere between six key pillars: dreampop, ambient/ethereal, post-rock, post-punk, shoegaze/nugaze and progressive rock. Some people say we are beautifully schizophrenic, musically speaking and I think they’re not far from the truth there, but who wants to live in a box? The musical mind certainly doesn’t… I love it when people point out the folk element, stemming from my Celtic roots or Alexx’s Slavic roots. I guess I see that somewhat in songs like “BFD”, “Balkanofellini” and “Beautiful Moment”, but I don’t see it as a strong influence, perhaps because I’m in the middle of this experience – still, it’s wonderful to understand how others perceive and internalize this music.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the new album.
Alexx – Shortly after we met, we started living together in a small rented apartment on the edge of Moscow. We finally got a computer and I installed Cubase and, using an inexpensive microphone, we recorded everything we used to play in the kitchen. We also had a guitar amp, a midi keyboard to play sounds through the PC with a Halion sampler, and some libraries with a mass of accumulated sounds we never previously had.

The process of our initial recordings was so exciting that I’ve had the fortune of letting this thrill continue. We have moved many times – between different cities and even countries – but we have always kept several key things with us: at least one microphone, our guitars, at least one laptop and a sampler. Recently I put together a recording system based on Pro Tools Mix 24. We have classic FX units such as Eventide and Lexicon. We have good dynamic processing equipment, which doesn’t always have to be top class. We use U87, EV re-20, re-15 and 666 microphones, as well as some classic Shure and several “Russian beauties” from Oktava. We were among the first to use the Roland RC-50, which is an amazing tool that allows you to capture some pretty amazing sounds. The recording process entails superimposing one instrument overtop another. I tend to use both old hardware and new native tools. I often beat out the drum parts with my fingers through PadControl or combine this with samples and, not infrequently, I also use an analog Rhythm Box. The midi editing is handled in Logic, using a simple synchronization with Pro Tools, because the Pro Tools Mix 24 works fine with audio but works too modestly in regard to midi. We only ever use plugins as an edging filter or surgical EQ.

I do all the mixing and mastering for our own songs. Well, maybe that’s not entirely true, since there exists the perception that a mixing engineer’s ears are radically different from those of a mastering specialist. Despite this, in some cases, I think it is important, where possible, for someone to see the music you have made through to the end.

Q. What represents the shoegazer classic era to the band?
Alexx – Shoegaze is an offshoot branch of the psychedelic genre and, in my opinion, it’s quite a self-sufficient genre all on its own. Of course, I love both!

Remember the song “Cirrus Minor”

”In a churchyard by a river

Lazing in the haze of midday

Laughing in the grasses and the graves…”

Shauna – I was more into shoegaze in the early 1990s and I’m glad to see a kind of revival happening these days, but the most attractive thing for me is the fine line this genre shares with dreampop, and both of these terms were slapped on a lot of bands post-factum anyways – take Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz and Jesus & Mary Chain for instance – in their heyday, nobody was saying “Oh, they’re shoegazers”, but now we are. Really, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, Ride, Chapterhouse, House of Love and some (but not all) My Bloody Valentine mark the epitome of a lovely lacey shoegaze/dreampop that I personally identify with.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Alexx – I must admit that, since 1995, I generally look on the music I prefer as one huge compilation for an intangible yet pronounced record. The content of this collection is growing and everyone is producing music that is unique in its own way and no less beautiful than other bands’ music. You cannot really embrace that which is non-embraceable, but you can do your part to help the best of this massive collection to reach other listeners more often.

Shauna – I appreciate Foals, the Arcade Fire, Her Vanished Grace, Echodrone, Drowner, Jane Woodman, Chatham Rise, Clarence Mayhew, All American Girl, The Volta Sound and Blonde Redhead. More and more I am finding that I enjoy music created by my friends’ bands and that net keeps growing wider. I quite appreciate some very talented East European bands right now – mainly shoegaze, borderline psychedelic rock and dreampop – including such bands as Nameless, Aerofall, Echo Gardens, Sounds of Sputnik, Plastic Drops, Suffering Astrid, Red Cardinals, BeBoBul and Zapaska. We both love Ivan Smirnov, Art Ceilidh and Boris Grebenshikov from Russia – they are not necessarily new bands, but they will be new to the West. I am also enjoying some South and Central American groups that I’ve recently been introduced to, like the Cleaners, The Concept, Robson Gomes’ solo project (Robsongs), Space Mantra, Joaquim Barato and Bela Infanta. I think that Eastern Europe and South/Central America are going to surprise the world very soon, musically speaking.

                                                    

Q: Which bands do you like to do cover versions of?
Alexx – Actually, we really don’t play covers, professionally speaking.

Shauna – However, just for fun, Alexx does a nice version of the Smiths “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want”. I always figured that if I were to do a cover, it would be something from Split Enz or something traditional. That’s the Celt in me calling.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

Live happily, live fully and record plenty of new music. Everything else is just details…

Q: Any parting words?
Thanks very much. We are honored that you have bridged this gap between Ukraine and Brazil and all your readers wherever they may live. Peace!
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Thanks Ummagma

https://www.facebook.com/ummagma

http://ummagma.bandcamp.com/album/antigravity

ROCKERS NOISE FESTIVAL

O FESTIVAL DO ANO

Fora do Eixo, Fora dos Padrões, Novos Conceitos, Novos Rumos...isso é Grupo Rockers

Transient Random Noisebursts with This Scarlet Mourning - An Interview

Skylight lhe diz algo?! Para os iniciados no inicio dos 90´s Perry Pelonero e Brent Martino estavam a frente desta preciosidade que chama-se Skylight, uma daquelas bandas que infelzimente sucumbiram a si mesma, por inumeros motivos dos quais a grande maioria das bandas entram em colapso, o principal frustação, por ter talento e materiais tão espetaculares e ao mesmo tempo rejeitados.

O tempo passou e Perry tomou um novo rumo ao lado de Kim Welsh e montou inumeras bandas dentre elas bliss.city.east, Morpheme e A*Star, enquanto Brent dedicou-se a seu mais novo interesse This Scarlet Mourning, e depois de muito trabalho chega a nós o debut Spinning, uma enorme e grata surpresa, principalmente porque para o TBTCI é com extrema felicidade e retorno de Brent ao mundo shoegazer ainda mais com a qualidade e a exuberância de Spinning. Uma das caracteristicas marcantes do debut é a voz d Rachel Drucker e o emaranhado de guitarras estridentes que por oras urram e em outras cristalizam todos nós.

Há tempos o TBTCI vinha namorando junto a Brent uma entrevista que em conjunt haviamos decidido que soltariamos assim que Spinning estava liberado, e finalmente a hora chegou.

O TBTCI recomenda a todos audição imediata desta preciosidade que mantem a aura do Skylight viava e pulsando até hoje.

***** Interview with This Scarlet Mourning *****

Q. When did this Scarlet Mourning start, tell us about the history...
Brent: The band started after the end of my former band Skylight. Perry (Skylight, Bliss.City.East, A Star) and I were looking for a singer and another guitar player for Skylight, He found Kim out in Chicago and I found Pete in Massachusetts. We wrote several songs but it was eventually decided we all wanted to work on projects that would allow us to play live, so Perry and Kim Started B.C.E and Pete and I started This Scarlet Mourning.

After a little more than a year of trying to find bass, drums and vocals we found our first singer and drummer Katie Bunting and Aaron Chase, then added Don Barry on bass. We began writing and eventually parted ways with Katie and Aaron replacing them with Patrick Barry and Rachel Drucker. This line up seemed to come together quickly and between august and October of 2011 we wrote enough material for a live set and started hitting the Boston area clubs.

Rachel: In August 2011 I met these fine gentleman and we have been making music and playing shows since then.

Pete: Brent can answer that one:)

Pat: My personal history/introduction into the band: My brother Don(bassist) asked if I knew of any drummers as their old one quit/exiled himself from the band. I was interested in getting back into drumming after focusing primarily on guitar for the past 8 years, and volunteered to try out. Apparently it went well.

Q: Who are your influences?
Brent: My influences are all over the place, I think the ones that have had the most impact on my playing are, Robert Smith, Adam Jones, Neil Halstead, Toni Iommi and Dave Navarro.

Rachel: Too many to name, but a few are Portishead, Imogen Heap,** Depeche Mode, Sarah McLauchlan and The Birthday Massacre. Pete: My personal influences are David Gilmour, John Fahey, Bob Mould, Jimi Hendrix, Kevin Shields. My influences for this band are, My Bloody Valentine, Sugar, Sigur Ros, The Pixies, Stereolab.

Pat: My drumming is specifically influenced by Matt Cameron, Mike Bordin, Dave Grohl, Jimmy Chamberlain, Steve Shelley, Stewart Copeland, Phil Collins, and Bill Bruford.

Outside the realm of drumming, I am extremely influenced by the likes of Mike Patton, Peter Gabriel, Josh Homme, and Roger Waters.

Being a former band geek and multi-instrumentalist, I have a lot more abstract influences that affect what I contribute to each song, including being trained in classical music, jazz, and some world music. I don't really consider myself the greatest drummer, and am more interested in coming up with rhythms that suit the song in a melodic sense rather than being flashy and technical.

                                   

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Brent: Not sure these are the best of all time but they certainly expanded my musical horizon. The Cure: Disintegration, The Sisters of Mercy: First and last and always, Slowdive: Souvlaki, Black Sabbath: Paranoid, and Tool: Aenima.

Rachel: Poem by Delerium, Violater by Depeche Mode, The Book of Secrets by ****Loreena
McKennitt, The Doors by The Doors and Looking Glass by The Birthday Massacre.

Pete:
1) Pink Floyd: Dark side. May sound cliche, but the album is absolutely perfect.
2) Stereolab: Transient Random Noisebursts with Announcements. Perfect combination of drone, pop and layered walls of sound.
3) The Orb: Orblivion. Quite possibly the trippiest album ever made.
4) Hum: You'd Prefer an Astronaut. Heavy, spacey, and we all love the song "Stars" I mean, come on now!
5) Sublime: 40 oz. of Freedom. Amazingly executed album. Great players, great music, fantastic production. The album flows together like no other. Always have a smile on my face when listening to this one

Pat: Faith No More - "Angel Dust" : My favorite record of all time. I am extremely influenced my FNM's attitude towards songwriting; which seems to disavow lazy writing, and with the mentality of a rock band who is sick of writing rock music. It manages to encapsulate everything I love about music: Dark/brutal guitar tones, ethereal keyboards, juxtaposed with precision poppy hooks and tight funk rhythms. It's like they knew I loved goth, metal, funk, pop, and prog rock and found a way to forge them all together. This of course intertwined with Mike Patton's brilliant vocal work(who can switch between R&B crooning and grindcore squealing at the drop of the hat), which of course is unparalleled… and his David Lynch-ian lyrical content to boot. I think they were the first to sort of push me to "think outside the box" in terms of songwriting. I could go on and on about this record.

Peter Gabriel - "III(Melt)": I think what I love most about Peter Gabriel's sound is this sort of dichotomy between electronic and world instruments... like a sort of industrial/primordial cacophony. The percussion on this record is simultaneously relentless and minimalist, but what really stands out is the melody and songwriting on its own.
Soundgarden - "Superunknown" : An album from the formative years of my music absorption. Still love it to this day.
Queens of the Stone Age - "Songs for the Deaf": What a fantastic sound these guys have. I think what I found most appealing about this record is they manage to indulge in certain styles without letting themselves get pigeonholed. They delve into metal without sounding over-macho, prog-rock without sounding pretentious, stoner-rock without sounding lazy, and straight-ahead blues rock without sounding generic. Much like FNM, these guys avoid lazy songwriting and keep you entranced for the whole ride. Plus, Dave Grohl plays drums on for them on this record; your argument is invalid.
Yes - "Fragile": One of the best recordings put to tape circa 1972. These guys wrote the rules on prog rock as far as I'm concerned. Only Steve Howe could make a hollow-bodied barely distorted guitar rock.

                                   

Q. How do you feel playing alive?
Brent: I enjoy playing live, but I am naturally introverted, I don’t like to be the center of attention so when I play live I feel like I’m in kind of a bubble, I am focused on what I’m doing and have no recollection of the audience or anything after we are done (unless I mess up, I always remember that).

Rachel: Each song to me is like a different act in a play. Sharing that with the audience, drawing them and and holding their attention is something I live for.

Pete: Alive. Playing live is the only time I feel like I know what I'm doing. Every other aspect in my life is a constant guessing game. " How should I act now?" "What would this person think if I..." "Do I really Need that?" "Which one of these products that are exactly the same thing should I get?" And so on. On stage I'm me. I don't need to guess, I just know. I'm no longer the shy awkward guy, I beat the crap out of my guitar, let my demons fly around, and become myself.

Pat: Easily much better than playing dead.

Q. How do you describe This Scarlet Mourning's sounds?
Brent: That’s been hard for me to describe, there are definite shoegaze/dream pop elements but some of the heavier influences work their way into it as well. I think that we all have such diverse backgrounds in music that our approach has been to just let things go in the direction they naturally go in. Sometimes it’s shoegaze sometimes it’s more rock.

Rachel: To me, our sound is a mix of all the good components of ambient, shoegaze and in your face rock music.

Pete: Heavily influenced by shoegaze, with a touch of Radiohead, and a splash of Motorhead.

Pat: A mix between Cannibal Corpse and Fine Young Cannibals.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the debut?
Brent: We had spent several months working the songs out so we all came into it with a good idea of what was going to go where. We spent one very long day at The Space in Lowell MA putting down the basic tracks with scratch vocals then took a couple weeks to live with the tracks, then we went in and fixed or replaced what we didn’t like and then added the final vocals. We had a great engineer (Brian Redmond)and used protools for the recording. I use all line 6 gear and went direct to the board, Pete used a vintage Fender amp and Don ran the bass into two channels, one direct and the other through his pedal board.

Rachel: Recording is always fun for me. I love to play around with harmony and percussion in the studio, and try to come up with ideas to enhance our sound. *

Pat: I tried to stay out of it for the most part. As much as it's a group effort, I respect that TSM is not my baby and left a lot of the decisions regarding sonic textures on Brent and Pete.

Q. What´s represents the shoegazer classic era to the band?
Brent: To me the classic era was between 88 and 94 or so. So much great music from then, MBV, Slowdive, Catherine Wheel, Swervedriver, Galaxy 500, Boo Radleys, Kitchens of Distinction, to name a few. I like the early years of a scene like that because even though people eventually force a genre on it the beginning is very organic, the bands sound different, look different. The look and sound happen naturally. We are now in a “revival” period, tons of great bands but for some shoegaze is a style now that has a look. It’s less organic and more calculated at least as far as the more mainstream bands go. On the other hand I am constantly amazed by the number of really good, diverse bands out there, and thanks to blogs like this and several awesome communities on the internet (The Shoegaze Collective, Ambient Airwaves, When the Sun Hits to name a few) I rarely listen to mainstream bands anymore.

Rachel: I recall sometimes while working on a song, I hear "Hey! That sounds like it could be a (insert shoegaze band here) song" from either myself or the guys.*

Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
Brent: It’s hard to narrow down, but off the top of my head, Screen Vinyl Image, The New Highway Hymnal, Bloody Knives, SPC ECO and pretty much everything Tom Lugo puts out on Patetico.

Rachel: Not sure about new new bands, but bands/Artists that I recommend are Plumb, Florence + The Machine and Imogen Heap.

Pete: Exit Music, The Joy Formidable

Pat: Four Point Restraints: Just an all around solid alt-rock group also based out of Boston, MA. Elements of the Pixies, Tom Waits, Radiohead, and Joy Division seem to combine into a completely original sound that should render them pretentious hipsters, yet they remain completely devoid of that downfall.

Exitmusic: Saw them open for the Joy Formidable last April(with Pete, actually) and they killed. Reminded me of a mix between Jefferson Airplane and Sigur Ros with a gothic twist. Sonically, melodically, and even aesthetically they just nailed it.


Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
Brent: Our track record with covers isn’t great, we have so many we would like to do so we usually can’t decide. We have toyed with the idea of covering Ceremony by Joy Division or Stars by Hum.

Rachel: Portishead and Dead Can Dance

Pete: We always try to come up with cover songs but we never decide which ones to do. In the Past we've covered The Misfits "London Dungeon" and My Bloody Valentine's Only shallow.

Pat: I've always really wanted to cover Peter Gabriel. He's always been really good about somehow combining sparse instrumentation with intricate songwriting which really leaves it open for anyone to put their own personal stamp on it. "I Have The Touch" comes to mind as one that I think TSM could pull off.

Q: What´s the plans for future....
Brent: For right now the plan is to build as much of an audience as we can, Boston is an oversaturated market so for a new original band it’s really hard to draw. Could be an EP at some point we are starting to have a good sized catalog of material.

Rachel: Future plans include would be to keep making music with This Scarlet Mourning, having it reach as many people as possible and having lots of fun while doing it!

Pete: Keep playing, keep writing, try to get our music out there. There may be an E.P. in the future, stay tuned!

Pat: Hopefully writing more great music, and playing more shows!

Q: Any parting words?
Brent: I’d like to thank you for your support of us and the other musical projects I’ve been a part of.

Rachel: It's hard for me personally to relate with the old "Dance like no one is watching Sing like no one is listening." Even though it may not be meant to be taken literally, I want to share music and dance with the world and see that everyone is watching, listening and hopefully enjoying it.

Pete: To quote Hunter S. Thompson,
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

Pat: "We think we understand the rules when we become adults, but what we really experience is a narrowing of the imagination." - David Lynch
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Thanks Brent and all This Scarlet Mourning

http://thisscarletmourning.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thisscarletmourning

Dopamine 50ª Edition - Another View

Dopamine 50ª Edition por Cicero J.

Dia 11/05/11 houve show do Teenage Fanclub aqui em Sampa,há tempos não saia em baladas por motivos pessoais,enfim,encontro com um irmão que há um certo tempo não nos viámos,e entre uma conversa e outra ele me diz: VOU ROLAR UM SOM NA SUA QUEBRADA E SE VOCÊ NÃO FOR...(essas reticências são os furos que dei com ele ahahahahaha)

O irmão em questão é nosso querido Plínio,que dispensa apresentações, e a balada era  a DOPAMINE, o engraçado que sempre vivi praticamente do lado e nunca tomei conhecimento.Quando entrei senti um vácuo dos anos 90 dando um tapa em mim e dizendo: PORRA!!!! POR QUE VCS ESTÃO ADORMECIDOS?

Atmosfera provocativa e escura,ruídos estourando pelas caixas sonoras,uma fauna de pessoas...pensei PUTA QUE PARIU!!! Pra que ir no centro de SP se aqui rola o que eu gosto,alem dos drinks com preços honestos?

Desde então não tenho pudor algum de dizer que o DOPAMINE  nasceu de três românticos,três sonhadores,pessoas que fazem com que todo esse resgate de outrora reviva e continue acontecendo no extremo da zona leste !!!!!!

 E o acaso,destino ou coisa que o valha fez com que outros românticos,sonhadores se encontrassem nessa atmosfera negra,suja, e os tentáculos  do amor a causa geraram outros frutos.

50° bagunça/edição/festa/evento/confraternização...escolha sua opção e venha.....

Esqueci apenas de um detalhe: COXAS sempre serão bem vindos,afinal o DOPAMINE sempre foi e sempre será a democracia que sempre foi

Uma ode a DIMITRY UZIEL/KA UZIEL/ROBSON GOMES....sonhadores e românticos que estão criando asas...........

Robsongs at Dopamine - The 50ª Edition

50ª Edição da festa mais underground do underground deste pais, a inspiração para todos os desmembramentos da junção TBTCI/Dopamine e seus criadores, é fato que as mentes por detrás do Dopamine (Dimitry e Robson, e a linda Ka) serviram de inspiração máxima para que este que vos escreve adentrar com os dois pés ao sagrado mundo da música de uma vez por todas.

A Dopamine é assim, inspiradora, exuberante, secreta, misteriosa, excitante, podre, provocativa, e te incita aos mais secretos impulsos serem expurgados, eu sou talvez o maior exemplo do que o poder do Dopamine pode fazer com uma pessoa, acha pouco?Vai se foder então, continue sendo esse ser conformado e não entre mais no TBTCI, ok? Ah você concorda, então faça um favor a si proprio, amanhã, 04/08 havera a 50ª Edição desta epopéia chamada Dopamine, e simplesmente haverá o lançamento do tão aguardado debut de Robsongs, a alma em forma de guitarra por detrás do patrimônio chamado The Concept.

Sitar Song é nome da pérola, sedutora, psicodélica, sonhadora, totalmente o oposto do trabalho do The Concept, em seu debut Robsongs cria um espectro inspirado  em suas influências mais pessoais, leia, Koolaid Electric Company, Dalai Lama Rama Fa Fa Fa, Black Angels, Brian Jonestown Massacre, VU, Spectrum, esta tudo contido na canção, porém com a selo de qualidade Robsongs.

Não perca este lançamento, integro e especialissimo onde somente na Dopamine, o lugar correto para a importância do evento.

Vida longa a Robson e suas Robsongs.

Shot by Both Sides with Free Electric State - An Interview

                                         

Free Electric State é um nome certamente desconhecido até para os mais descolados, mas o TBTCI em parceria com a Custom Made Music tem revelado ao mundo bandas daquelas de se impressionar a primeira audição. É o caso do Free Electric State, comboio pos punk com grandes influências d kraut condensando suas influências e esporrando canções esquizofrênicas e densas.

Monumental Life é o album dos caras, uma cacetada literalmente, noise tenso e com tons curtidos em cinza, distorções intermináveis em contra ponto com aquele baixo tipicamente ritmado e durissimo, tipicamente aquele lance Gang of Four, Magazine, PIL que é motivo de adoração aqui no TBTCI.

Dave Alisson o chefão da Custom Made Music mostrou a banda ao TBTCI e não houve como não se render a Free Electric State, e obvio que a entrevista era uma questão de tempo, e não demorou nada absolutamente nada.

Corra atras do seu exemplar deste Monumental Life porque é uma preciosidade sem tamanho.

***** Interview with Free Electric State *****

                                        


Q: Who are your influences?
DK: Most of the bands from the Post-Punk era and Krautrock. Bands like Joy Division, Magazine, The Cure, CAN, NEU!, Kraftwerk, etc...
SH: Motown, Post-Punk, World Beat. Also, Patti Smith and Radiohead.

Q: 5 Albums of All Time?
DK & SH:
CAN – Ege Bamyasi
Gang of Four – Entertainment
Joy Division – Closer
John Coltrane – Blue Train
Radiohead – OK. Computer

Q: How do you feel when playing live?
SH: Like its the most fun thing to do ever.

Q: How do you describe Free Electric State's sound?
DK: Psychedelic Noise Rock.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the new album, 'Monumental Life'.
SH: It was a pleasure working with Rob Girardi, who has produced Beach House, Double Dagger and Arbouretum. He really helped us to strip away unnecessary sounds or ideas. Also, we wrote one song while in the studio, from scratch. That was very exciting to do.

DK: We spent 5 days in Baltmore tracking and 3 days of vocals. We then let Rob have his way with mixing the music. We ended up mixing the record twice to get the final result which we were quite pleased with. Rob used vintage mics and unconventional micing techniques to capture our expansive sound.

                                    

Q:Which new bands can you recommend?
DK: Shirlé and I recently moved back to Baltimore and have really been soaking up the music scene here with such great bands as Lower Dens, Beach House, Roomrunner, Dope Body, Lands and Peoples, Celebration, Arbouretum.

SH: We've also been listening to Disappears (Steve Shelly from Sonic Youth's new band), Liars and Peaking Lights.

Q: What bands would you like to do a cover of?
DK: We've often talked about covering Brian Eno's “Baby's On Fire” and also Romeo Void's “ Never Say Never”.

Q: What are your future plans?
SH: Since David and I have moved back to Baltimore and Tony and Nick are still living in North Carolina we will be focusing on trying to be a dual-city band. Writing long distance is going to be a big factor in how and what we create over the next year, that and playing shows to promote 'Monumental Life'.

Q: Any parting words?
DK & SH: We would LOVE to play in Brazil! Let's make that happen! Thanks so much for listening to our music.
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Thanks FES and Dave Alisson

https://www.facebook.com/freeelectricstate

The Sight of You with Presents For Sally

O que dizer do novissimo 7" do delicioso Presents for Sally? Eu poderia logicamente, escrever que é daqueles compactos que se tornarão prediletos, dreampop dos anjos, cantarolante, assoviante, delirante, emocionante, e mais uma cacetada de adjetivos que enalteceriam Anything Anymore e A Thousand Ways to Say Goodbye, o peso das guitarras chega a ser tão leve e pungente que qualquer maior comentário seria desnecessário, daí pensei, já que meu amigo Matt Etherton me enviou o material, pedi a ele que fizesse exclusivamente ao TBTCI um track by track para ai sim, as explicações sobre estas duas perolas do dreampop sejam melhor explicadas. Amigos Anything Anymore por Presents for Sally.

Track by Track
Anything Anymore 7" by Matt Etherton

Anything Anymore: An instrumental version of this was first demoed quite a while ago, it was mainly just improvised over a loop of the delayed guitar you hear at the very beginning which plays behind the whole track until the end.

After the rest of the instruments were added it was a few months again until we went back to it. I think it always felt like it had a lot of potential but was nearly scrapped as we were working on new things but once Anna put her vocals on it automatically seemed like it should be the first single to proceed all the new stuff.

People often ask what the lyrics are about of songs but I don’t tend to write about just one subject per song. Usually there’s a few lines here and there which mean something and the next few will be about something completely different, I don’t think I have ever written lyrics and then wrote the music for them, it’s always the other way round, music first and then words.


A Thousand Ways To Say Goodbye: We had messed around with the opening chords on this for a while just playing them over and over and when recording it struggled to get it to sound as noisy and raw as it was sounding live. In the end we ended up recording 3 or 4 guitars all playing the same thing but made sure all the levels were turned up so they were kind of competing against each other which created the sound that some were cutting out and clipping but it worked and was the closest it got to the sound I had in my head. We also shortened the breakdown in the middle which at times went on for about 10 minutes just building up with noises and sounds but I think we got it right in terms of shortening it for the single.

Once all the music was recorded I literally sung a vocal over the top live so I had it recorded and wouldn’t forget how I wanted it to go but it sounded ok so it was double tracked again in one take and that was literally what you hear on the record. It’s definitely a harder and rawer song that anything we have recorded before I think but as we have been told, it still sounds like Presents for sally which is the most important thing. It’s hard to have a sound all of your own these days so it means a lot that so many people say we have found one.

https://www.facebook.com/presentsforsally
http://soundcloud.com/presentsforsally/anything-anymore
http://soundcloud.com/presentsforsally/a-thousand-ways-to-say-goodbye

The Perfect Kiss with ShiShi - An Interview

Tom Lugo é simplesmente uma daquelas pessoas dignas de todo tipo de admiração, e serve de inspiração para qualquer pessoa que acredita em seus sonhos e em si mesmo, é fato que o TBTCI é fã declarado deste  cara fenomenal, não somente pelo trabalho a frente do patrimônio chamada Stellarscope bem como seu alter ego o Panophonic, e não contente com tudo isso, Tom resolveu se juntar musicalmente ao lado de sua esposa Jamie e nos brindaram com o ShiShi, um mix de dubstep, new wave, dreampop, darkwave e shoegazer, jogo ganho, a começar por Tom, mas o que impressiona no debut Nick of Time é Jamie, ela literalmente rouba a cena numa interpretação tensa e caótica, desde já uma das músicas do ano.

Logicamente o TBTCI em conjunto com Tom e Jamie armamos uma entrevista para melhor sabermos as intenções do casal, e que casal!!!!

***** Interview with ShiShi *****

How did shishi come to be? Quando surgiu a ideia de montar o shishi?

Tom- My goal was to create music with a different approach than what I had done before. The concept was to blend elements of dance music (dubstep, hip hop, etc), indiepop, and shoegaze sounds. Once I had all the compositions written and recorded, I approached my wife, Jamie Lugo, to see if she would be interested in singing on them. I had discussed doing a project together for some time but never came around to it until now.

I chose the name ShiShi because it symbolizes the duality of yin and yan, male and female, heaven and earth. Guardians and protectors of what is housed inside.
Jamie- what tom said

How was the process of recording the first single? Como foi o processo de gravação do primeiro single?
Tom- We had fun recording together, it was Jamie’s first time recording and she did awesome. I let her tell you more about it…

Jamie- I listened to the music and wrote about what it made me feel. Tom re-wrote the lyrics to go with the melody and taught me how to sing it in time. It took a few takes but was pretty easy actually.

What is the inspiration behind the lyrics? Qual a inspiração das letras?
Tom- Jamie wrote the lyrics;)


Quais as influências do Shishi?
Tom- MGMT, Matt and Kim, Screen Vinyl Image, The TingTings, New Order

Jamie- Jem, Dido, life experiences

What are your upcoming plans? Quais os próximos passos ?
Tom- We are working on completing our EP with hopes of releasing it in early fall. We would like to release the EP on vinyl so we’ll need the help of the fans to facilitate the process. If all goes well, we should have a full length release in early winter. Just in time for the holidays… it’ll make a great stocking stuffer…lol


Any additional information… Alguma informação adicional...
Tom- We appreciate the support we are getting, please continue to check out our facebook page. Contact us with comments, inquiries, etc. at panophonic@yahoo.com Renato, I would like to thank you again for being a friend and supporting me throughout the years! Many blessings to you all!

Jamie- Tom is in charge. I am just the talent. :-P
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Thanks Tom & Jamie

https://www.facebook.com/pages/ShiShi/257449944356585

http://pateticorecordings.bandcamp.com/track/nick-of-time

http://www.last.fm/music/SHISHI/TBA/Nick+of+time

http://www.indieDarkroom.com/Shishi

http://soundcloud.com/pateticorecordings/shishi-nick-of-time-demo

http://www.reverbnation.com/shishiband

Things Never Be The Same with The Modulated Tones

                                         
Spacemen 3 é um patrimônio das druggys sounds, nada até hoje chegou próximo da sonoridade criada por Peter "Sonic Boom" Kember e Jason "Spaceman" Pierce, mesmo em seus trabalhos após o rompimento do Spacemen 3 seja no Spectrum ou no Spiritualized, tato Kember como Pierce não atingiram a perfeição de um Perfect Prescription ou um Playing with Fire.

O Spacemen 3 tem uma legião de fervorosos fanáticos, o próprio TBTCI é um desses maniacos pela obra encharcado de blues psicótico misturado com drone, psicodelia da pesada e stone rock drogado.

Toda a introdução serve de pano de fundo para a mais nova adoração do TBTCI, o The Modulated Tones, fanáticos pela obra em vida de Kember e Pierce, Gina e Kevin ou The Modulated Tones abordaram este que vos escreve via e-mail dizendo que eram assíduos frequentadores do TBTCI e no contexto mencionaram que certamente eu iria me interessar pela banda sendo que suas influências são Spacemen 3, Spectrum, Suicide, Silver Apples, J&MC, etc, etc, etc....

Para quem me conhece e óbvio que fui ouvir na hora e chapei, chapei sem medo do The Modulated Tones, drones arrastados, barulhentos, dissonantes, druggys freaks, como reza o bom seguidor de Spacemen 3, obvio que o album de estréia Turning On, virou disco de cabeceira do TBTCI, e uma entrevista tinha que ser feita imediatamente para gritar ao mundo que o The Modulated Tones pode e deve ser sua mais nova banda favorita, não há outra saida, se é que você me entende....

                                       ***** Interview with The Modulated Tones *****

                                  


Q. When did Modulated Tones starts, tell us about the history..
Gina. The Modulated Tones came together in 2010. Kevin & I had already known each other for a very long time and had already established a band together previously. We wanted to start over, so we did and here we are. It's a simple project; we're best friends that live to stone-trip and make psychedelic music.

Kevin. We started playing around the beginning of 09. Gina started on the drums with me on guitar and vocals. We had no experience making music or any equipment so it took us a few years to get things rolling. We played over 120 shows before our first EP was written and recorded, in the shadiest corners of western Pennsylvania and Ohio. We had no way of recording any of it so a few albums worth of material will never be available. The goal is to create the ultimate psychedelic band. We want to cover all of the different styles of music that we love: psychedelia, krautrock, garage rock, dub, gospel, soul, shoegaze.

Q: Who are your influences?
Gina. Spacemen 3, The Warlocks, The Velvet Underground, Sonic Boom & Spectrum, Spiritualized, Harmonia, Jesus & Mary Chain, Singapore Sling, Suicide... I'm influenced by all the music I love.

Kevin. Anyone who interests us. Spacemen 3, The Velvet Underground, Suicide, The 13th Floor Elevators, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Syd Barrett, Cluster, The Jesus and Mary Chain, tremolo, repetition, lots of grass

Q. Made a list of 5 albuns of all time…
Gina.
1. Spacemen 3- Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To
2. Spectrum- Soul Kiss (Glide Divine)
3. The Velvet Underground- Peel Slowly & See
4. Spiritualized Electric Mainline- Pure Phase
5. Harmonia- Live 1974

Kevin.
Spacemen 3 – Playing With Fire
The Velvet Underground –White Light/White Heat
Spacemen 3 –Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To
Suicide – Suicide
Silver Apples – Contact

Q. How do you fell playing alive?
Gina. It's usually a good feeling, because I'm happy to share my vision with other people.
 

Kevin. Like I’m winning

Q. How do you describe Modulated Tones sounds?
Gina. Devoutly psychedelic.

Kevin. Like a tremolo, what isn’t there is just as important as what is. Music to empower. Repetitious spiritual vibrations; mixed with feedback and tremolo for this EP, but our sound is always changing

                                    
Q: Tell us about the process of recording the abum ?
Gina. We recorded over a period of two months. We had just begun using our studio and were both new to the process, so it was a trial and error process, and it worked out incredibly well. We both recorded our songs separately, with the exception of one. I really enjoyed playing all the different parts myself, that way I could make the song what it needed to be. It was a good time.

Kevin. We both worked pretty much by ourselves. We bought our own home studio in April and took two months to write and record about sixty songs. I picked four of mine, Gina picked two of hers, and we picked one song we worked on equally. For my portion of the record, I just laid down some drum beats and looped them, then layered two guitars, drones, feedback and whatever else I needed. I tried to get a song a day done as much as I could. We were working with a horribly small room and very limited equipment, but made it work.

Q. What´s represents the shoegazer classic era to the band?
Gina. I like to listen to some shoegaze music, but I don’t hear much of that element in our music

Kevin. The experimentation and vision.

Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
Gina. To be honest, I don't keep up with new music as much as I could. I’m always looking for good records though.

Kevin. Follakzoid, The Psychocandies, Secret Colours

                                   
Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
Gina. There's no way I'd start up a covers band. Covering songs I dig is another story of course.

Kevin. Songs I plan on covering; Cluster – Hollywood, The Jesus and Mary Chain – Never Understand, Spacemen 3, That’s Just Fine – Spacemen 3 - Ecstasy Symphony, The Velvet Underground – I heard her call my name.

Q: What´s the plans for future....
Gina. We are going to start playing live shows very soon. Then we will put out another EP. Right now, I'm starting to work on new songs and I have such a positive feeling about them. Kevin and I are going for it, no questions. This is what we love to do and we’re pretty relentless in our pursuit.

Kevin. I want to record as much music as possible. I think we’re going to put out two more EP’s by this year’s end, then work on an album and heavy touring next year. I want to start a couple of other bands too, maybe start a psych label. Big things for The Modulated Tones!

Q: Any parting words?
Kevin. Thanks so much for interviewing us!
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Thanks Gina & Kevin

http://themodulatedtones.bandcamp.com/

Under an Impressive Sky by Echodrone - An Interview

                  

Para iniciados, o Echodrone não é nenhuma novidade, muito pelo contrário, são cultuados e tem no curriculo uma discografia irretocável, mas o novíssimo Bon Voyage alça voos até então somente ensaiados pela banda.

Bon Voyage é daquelas obras cristalinas e etéreas que vislumbram o paraíso por completo, uma verdadeira ode com a benção de Robin Guthrie, Neil Hastead e Rachel Gosswell, o Echodrone, presta uma homenagem aos icones máximos das canções ofertadas aos deuses e ao anjos, mas não confundam com uma mera cópia, Bon Voyage é mais alias muito mais do que isso, se o APTBS atualiza J&MC e MBV, o Echodrone atualiza Cocteau e Slowdive sublimemente, engrandece a cada cristalino acorde de suas guitarras, a paz, o isolamento, a candura, todos os sentimentos fundem-se e geram uma leveza, que satisfará aos anjos mais sedentos de delays.

O TBTCI recebeu o album em vibrações de euforia, e propos a banda uma entrevista o que gerou em contrapartida uma nova euforia, condensando ambas gerou-se uma extensa e maravilhosa história de como se faz música para a alma credenciando-se para a trilha sonora do paraiso.


                                                    ***** Interview with Echodrone *****

                                       
1. When did Echodrone starts, tell us about the history...
Eugene - Echodrone started in 2005 when I put an ad up on craigslist to start a shoegaze/ambient band with like-minded folk. I had never really played in a band before, except for a brief stint with some of my high school buddies back in the 90s. Anyways, I think Brandon saw All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors as one of my influences in the craigslist post. He was looking for a shoegaze band after playing in indie bands for a few years. He immediately e-mailed me and we hit it off from the start! We spent the next several months practicing throughout the Oakland/San Francisco area at various rehearsal rooms. Craigslist also brought us the original 2nd guitarist and drummer, who were replaced by Mark in 2007 and Meredith in 2008.

Meredith - I was in another project at the time when I fell in love with Echodrone. I invited them to play a show which ended up being practically empty, but I was so happy to see them nonetheless. I joined up after my last project fell apart when they asked me. I had to drive an hour from SF to the Oakland ghetto to practice with them once a week, but it was worth it.

Mark - I remember looking through a ton of Craigslist ads hoping to find something that would appeal to me and stumbled across a post that made me want to investigate further. I then checked out some music and instantly knew I’d found something special so I jumped on board the summer of 07 and we started writing a bunch of new material and redefining the sound. The main difference to me is the production side of it... especially the vocals! I love engineering when it’s time to do the vocals for Echodrone!

2: Who are your influences?
Eugene - I think everyone in the band comes from slightly different musical backgrounds. It might be best for all of us to go into our individual influences. I guess some of the biggest influences on my songwriting and guitar playing are Sooyoung Park (Seam/Bitch Magnet), Glenn Branca, Jim O’Rourke, Stars of the Lid, Swirlies, Steve Reich, Stockhausen Talk Talk, Arvo Part, Briano Eno, This Heat, American Analog Set, Godspeed You Black Emperor...there are a lot of other ones that I can’t think of right now :)

Mark - I pretty much listen to everything. I enjoy a good song that affects me emotionally or gets me to feel happy, sad, or in the mood to have fun. I'm always searching for new music and enjoy the classics as well! As far as influences growing up I was way into The Cars, Led Zepplin, Prince, Pink Floyd, The Police, Tortoise, Stereolab, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Echo and the Bunnymen and many others I can't think of right now. Lately I've been digging Hooray for Earth, Beach House, and Ulrich Schnauss. There are endless influences for me and I try and borrow bits and pieces from everything I feel is good listening.

Meredith - I listen to a ton of genres, but most often get inspired by stuff that sounds raw. I like my distortion dirty and I like hearing people play loose and singing without autotune.

Brandon - I’m influenced by a ton of shoegaze and post-punk bands. Some notables are The Smiths, Talking Heads, Gang of Four, Slowdive and Medicine.

3. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Mark
My Bloody Valentine / Loveless
Ride / Nowhere
Soul Coughing / El Oso
Ulrich Schnauss / Far Away Trains...
Engineers / Three Fact Fader
(also the records on Brandon’s top 5...this was a hard one!)

Eugene
Can / Tago Mago
Stars of the Lid / The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid
eam / The Problem With Me
Glenn Branca / The Ascension
Steve Reich / Different Trains, Electric Counterpoint

Meredith
Low / Things We Lost in the Fire
Wilco / A Ghost is Born
Beck / Sea Change
Radiohead / Amnesiac
Elliott Smith / Figure 8

Brandon
Slowdive – Souvlaki
Gang of Four - Entertainment
The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
Talking Heads - Fear of Music
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

4. How do you feel about playing live ?
Brandon - I am always too nervous to enjoy playing live as much as I’d like to. But, you get immediate feedback from the audience afterwards which i always appreciated. It would be nice to be able to play some of our newer material in a live context - it would be interesting to see how the stuff would change and how we’d be able to translate the music to a live audience and see the impact.

Meredith - It’s sort of frustrating because it never sounds as good as in the practice space to me. Nerves are higher and the sound is all weird because you are playing forward instead of in a circle. There tends to be less risk-taking and less magic. At the same time, it’s the only time I ever get to really share music with non-band members, since nothing is more awkward than sitting next to someone while you both listen to your recording. Where are you supposed to look? And then I feel sorry for the person who has to comment and say the perfect thing.

Eugene - Live shows are strange experiences for me. As a whole, Echodrone has always aimed to get huge, intricate sounds where everything integrates smoothly. It’s easy to hear this integration in a practice setting because we could completely engulf smaller rooms with our sound. Essentially, you could hear every aspect of our compositions regardless of where you were standing in our practice space.

But we lost this perspective a lot of times when we played on stage. Part of it was the separation of our instruments (I was on one side of the stage while Meredith, Brandon, and/or Mark was on the other side). And, as Meredith said, the other part of it was due to the directionality of our sound in a live setting. All of our sound was directed out toward the audience and away from us. This meant we had to trust each other completely. It also meant that we had to trust the songs themselves, since we couldn’t actually hear each other or perceive the details on stage. In essence, we had to believe that, as long as we played our own parts, the song and the integration of details were actually coming together and existing as we intended out in the audience. It was a leap of faith, for sure, and one that we took with every show.

Mark -I am the black sheep on this one... I totally love playing live and feel having an audience makes me play better and makes me strive for my best. The studio is fun too but doesn’t allow for instant gratification, I always enjoy the moments after the gig is done and the dust settles hopefully leaving our family and friends in a good state of mind. Right now Echodrone isn’t able to play live since we all live in different parts of the country, but once everyone graduates from school I bet there will be a resurgence and the gigs will be flowing again! I love playing for new audiences and experiencing new things so a tour of the world would be a dream come true.

5. How do you describe Echodrone sounds?
Mark - echo-y, reverb drenched and layered in a swirling, drug-induced dream
Meredith - epic but pretty
Brandon - a bed of delays and reverbs, with ethereal vocals laying on top...
Eugene - All the above :)

                                   

6: Tell us about the process of recording the new album ?
Brandon - We spent several months passing musical ideas back and forth online, becoming familiar with the verses and choruses if not the structures themselves. When we were able to set up enough time together, Mark Eugene and I spent a week together recording basic tracks and finalizing song structures. It was amazing how quickly the album came together, honestly. Eugene and Mark spent another week or so with overdubs and then Meredith came and recorded her vocals over 3-4 days.

Mark - We recorded it at my work/live loft in Emeryville CA where I had a lot of gear set up to track us live with us all in the same room while using headphones. The rhythm guitars and bass were recorded direct so there wouldn’t be any bleed from the amps going into the drum mics and vocals were done later. We used a click track and essentially learned how to play the songs while we were in the process of recording and like Brandon mentioned it went very quickly considering the only pre production rehearsals we had were in the form of listening to rough demos we passed back and forth via emails. We were all very surprised how well it came out considering the variables and limitations! The first five or six days were spent tracking the instruments while the last five days were primarily vocals and a few instrumental overdubs. I ended up moving out of the work/live studio so I had to mix the record in various locations, mainly Starbucks because I needed to have an internet connection to be able to use Reason 6 since the software makes you either have a dongle or sign on to their public server for access to use it. I went into a more proper studio at the end to reference everything and make sure the mixes were able to stand up on their own, and of course the rest of the band would give me feedback so it was very much a democratic process like everything we. Oh yeah...Skype was a very important tool for us!

7. What represents the shoegazer classic era to the band?
Meredith - My Bloody Valentine / Loveless to me is the perfect representation of that big, dirty, lovely mess that I have come to know and love as shoegaze. The shoegaze band I probably have the most personal connection with though is Cocteau Twins.

Eugene - I think Slowdive / Souvlaki really encompassed the classic shoegaze sound. It was such an amazing album - experimental sounds mixed with melodic sensibilities. Other bands seemed to emphasize either the experimental side or the melodic side, but Slowdive / Souvlaki was really the only classic shoegaze album that joined these two aspects together into a cohesive unit. But the coolest album, by far, was Lilys / In the Presence of Nothing. I used to play that every morning on my drive to school and I always associate it now with morning dew and the sunrise.

Brandon - 1991-1992 cover the era for me. Lush, Curve, Chapterhouse, Slowdive, MBV were all being played on my local radio station and there was so much good music that it took me 5-6 years to find out about bands like Lilys who were fantastic but not receiving quite as much notice at the time.

Mark - Definitely the early 90’s! It was a great time for music, and like Brandon I enjoyed a lot of the same bands. Swervedriver and MBV were always being played as well as a ton of other good stuff.

8. Which new bands do you recommended?
Meredith - I always jump onto trends late, but some newish bands I like -- Lower Dens, Bowerbirds, Engineers. If you haven’t heard these bands yet do yourself a favor.

Eugene - I really enjoy Solar Powered People...umm, that new Snoskred song is pretty awesome! I’m listening to a lot more ambient and experimental music lately, so if you’re interested in that, check out A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Kyle Bobby Dunn (Runge’s Last Stand is an INCREDIBLE song), Tim Hecker, and William Basinski.

Brandon - I love Drowner, Dead Leaf Echo, 99millionmilesfromthesun, Charmparticles, Daysleepers, Highspire, Resplandor, Engineers...

Mark - Engineers, Solar Powered People, Silversun Pickups, Simon Scott (love the Bunny record!), Ulrich Schnauss.

                                               

9: Which bands would you love to make a cover version of?
Meredith - I don’t know. Suggestions?

Brandon - Three songs I’ve always wanted to do shogazey covers of: “Live To Tell” by Madonna, “Sailing” by Christopher Cross, “Time” by The Alan Parsons Project

Mark - “Praying for Time” by George Michael, “No Quarter” by Led Zeppelin, “Echoes” by Pink Floyd

Eugene - “Are Friends Electric” by Gary Numan, “Hot Fun in the Summertime” by Sly and the Family Stone, “We Are What We Are” by The Other Ones, “Love System” by The .

10. What´s the plans for future....
Meredith - Evolve as a band together. That would be awesome, considering the journey so far.

Brandon - Mere stole my answer!

Mark - Continue to make great music and have a fun time doing it!

Eugene - Mark stole my answer.

11. Any parting words?
Meredith - Thanks for listening to our music!

Brandon - We appreciate the opportunity to speak with you and your readers!

Eugene - Thanks to everyone who has supported us throughout the years! We’ve hit some rough spots in the past, but our love and appreciation for you all has kept us going!

Mark - If you read this much you rock and deserve a HUGE THANKS for taking the time to learn a little about Echodrone. The band is excited to keep growing. We look at our fanbase as our good friends so those of you who have been following since the start, you know it’s been a fun ride and we look forward to the future and what it’ll bring. If you aren’t following us on Facebook it would be great to see y’all there...stop by and say hi.
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Thanks Echodrone

www.echodrone.com
www.facebook.com/echodrone
http://echodrone.bandcamp.com/album/bon-voyage