A Naturally Coloured Pleasure with Prince Vaseline - An Interview

Tente imaginar o seguinte, se em algum momento da história Mr. Leonard Cohen enveredasse pelos caminhos psych, por exemplo, Se o Love e Cohen se unissem para uma mega jam, certamente o cruzamento improvável disso tudo seria o nascimento dos ingleses do Prince Vaseline.

Pois então, o Prince Vaseline é exatamente isso, lirismo, psicodelia, envolta a fumaça fuzz e um clima por diversas vezes brigando entre o pastoral e o mântríco.

"A Naturally Coloured Pleasure" álbum lançado em 2015 é o debute dos caras, e cruelmente passou despercebido por muita gente inclusive pelo TBTCI, mas antes tarde do que nunca chegou o momento de corrigir este tremendo equívoco.

O Prince Vaseline simplesmente criou, como diria Fábio Bridges, um "pequeno clássico perdido".

***** Interview with Prince Vaseline *****

Q. When did Prince Vaseline start? Tell us about the history...
I was playing in a band called Milk and Biscuits and I had written a bunch of demos at home. Initially, we tried to work them into milk and biscuits but decided that they needed their own platform, so Matty and Snowy from the band joined on bass and synth respectively, both adding backing vocals as well, and Evan from the band Vile Imbeciles joined on drums.

We recorded an Album, “A Naturally Coloured Pleasure” a year later and released it ourselves on cassette which we sold at gigs. Matty later went off to live abroad, so we recruited our friend Marc (also of the bands Milk and Biscuits, as well as Brakes, Rex Speedway and Thee Fortune Tellers and Tenderfoot) and started playing in this new format. We recorded a second bunch of songs earlier this year, and Matty came over to put down some backing vocals on that as well.

Q: Who are your influences?
When I was writing the first batch of prince vaseline demos I was listening to a lot of this guy Dirty Beaches as well as Suicide records. I liked the ghostly sounds and lo-fi recording techniques. When we started to play the songs as a band, we were into stuff like The Sea And Cake and Stereolab, so a lot of how we arranged the songs was to have big spacey outros or unusual ‘verse-chorus-extended middle-chorus-end’ type arrangements. There were obvious things that we liked anyway like the Velvet Underground and the Byrds, but we all have things we’re particularly into individually as well, which I think lends itself to arranging songs as a band.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
1. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground
This was probably the first album I remember hearing when I was younger and being really into. I think I was about 7 or 8 and it had been re-issued and came free with a newspaper. The song, ‘European Son’, has this bit where there’s a huge smash of glass before Lou Reed’s guitar playing starts up, frantically going up and down and left and right. hearing that blew my young mind.

2. Histoire De Melody Nelson - Serge Gainsbourg
Everything about this record is incredible. Jean-Claude Desmarty’s string arrangements and overall production are like nothing else. I’ve heard it a million times and still get a rush of pleasure when the strings cascade and swell up out of nowhere and then disappear again.

3. Songs of Love and Hate - Leonard Cohen
This was the first thing I’d heard by Leonard Cohen. The opening song, Avalanche, drips and spits it’s way through disdain and anger. Leonard Cohen’s voice is perfect.

4. Sketches of Spain - Miles Davis
Listening to this record from the start, themes keep reappearing at odd times, changes happen and the mood will transform only to change back again in a moment, the music flows so seamlessly.

5. Black Monk Time - The Monks
This was a punk record made in 1966 by a group of demented G.I. Joes stationed in Germany. They shaved the crowns of their heads and made an album heavier than anything to come for a long time.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We like playing live. We used to play a 50% heavy songs, 50% of the more sensitive, although recently it’s been more fun to play louder and louder. We tend to finish our set with “Walden Pegasus”, a song off our first album, as the ending can take any direction, sometimes into a slow dissonant throb and other times into a discordant rendition of “Gloria”. It’s never the same twice.

Q. How do you describe Prince Vaseline sounds?
Pastoral-fuzz

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
We’ve recorded everything so far with our friend Matt, whose great. We’ll record bass and drums live, and then over dub the the guitars and synths and then vocals. We tried not to overproduce anything, as it’s easy to get carried away sometimes and you lose sight of the original idea. Saying that, in the future I definitely want to build more production into the songs we write. I used to make cassette tapes called U.F.O 1, U.F.O 2 etc. which were all guitar loops and recordings of birds, I can imagine incorporating stuff like that would be really fun.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
The Bin Bags
Piano Wire
Grimm Grimm
Static Palm
Purple
Octopuses

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We have an EP out on Love Thy Neighbour Records end of September, but at the moment we’re writing new stuff which we’ll hopefully be able to start recording end of the year.
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Thanks

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

No One with Bondage & Discipline - An Interview

"No One" é o EP de estreia do Bondage & Discipline, diretamente da Filadélfia para as páginas do TBTCI.

Ecos oitentistas são percebidos aos montes no decorrer das quatros dançantes, cerebrais e sofisticadas composições do trio. Algo como um soft goth, feito sob medida para se enfiar em algum inferninho e dançar até o amanhecer.

A música do Bondage & Discipline é feita especialmente para seres da noite.

***** Interview with Bondage & Discipline *****

Q. When did Bondage & Discipline start? Tell us about the history...
The project started in 2014 when we recorded our first song "Only Your Love". Hugh, Lynna, and Buddy had previously been in a band together and decided to start a new project with Todd who Lynna had been friends with since high school. He was supposed to just produce and engineer the album at his studio but ended up playing guitar with us live since we started doing so many guitar overdubs.

Q: Who are your influences?
We had some very clear goals in recording this album as far as what bands we were emulating. The ones we talked about most were The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Slowdive, New Order, and The Smiths. We really wanted to capture the dark but poppy songwriting style of these classic 80's bands because Todd and I had recently kind of rediscovered them and felt pretty excited about bringing those sounds into the 21st century.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
Echo and the Bunnymen: Ocean Rain
The Cure: Disintegration
The Smiths: The Queen is Dead
New Order: Power, Corruption and Lies
The Knife: Silent Shout

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We're actually feeling pretty disenchanted about performing live right now. We really enjoy the act of performing and feel that we can create some beautiful things in front of an audience but the venues are just so hard to deal with. The sound system is often really bad, the sound engineer doesn't care about the show, and the promoter just wants to get paid without even stepping foot in the venue. We usually just feel disappointed and exploited by a lot of the places at our level where we perform.

Q. How do you describe Bondage & Discipline sounds?
Pretty simply it's an 80's-indebted, romantically-themed pop music.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
I generally begin demo-ing a song at home on my computer starting with a synth and a drum machine and then adding vocals that are just sounds without any lyrics. Generally, after a few weeks the verse and chorus parts emerge and I finish it with lyrics. The band will start to rehearse it a bit before we get to the actual studio at which point we'll really hone in on the sounds of each instrument and also sometimes completely reinvent the song if necessary. Because studio time is sometimes hard to come by, it can become a very long process as some of the songs on the album have been worked on for over two years.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
I really haven't been into "band" oriented stuff recently. I've honestly been more focused on American pop music like Drake, Rihanna, and Kanye. It's just so exciting and creative to me in the way that they use very simple elements to create great sounding songs that, although dealing with limited subject matter, the lyrics still really connect with me on an emotional level.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
It's a little bit of a secret but I've been pushing for a Rihanna cover for a while. Haha

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We still have two more parts of the album to release and we're working on bonus material that will come out along with it. It should just be a few months before everything is out there. Beyond that it's hard to say.

Q: Any parting words?
Stay goth
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Thanks

https://soundcloud.com/bondageanddiscipline
https://www.facebook.com/bondageanddisciplinemusic

Melt Into the Ocean with Wildcat Apollo - An Interview

Austin, Texas, ah, sim, a cidade da água mágica!!!

E ela, a água, continua mais mágica do que nunca, certamente jamais saberemos o que existe nela, mas folclore a parte, eis que novamente Austin nos apresenta algo absolutamente fabuloso, o quarteto Wildcat Apollo, que dou a mão a palmatória, chegou tardiamente aqui nas páginas do TBTCI, visto que os caras estão no segundo álbum, motivo este desta adoração repentina por aqui.

"Melt Into The Ocean" é uma verdadeira pérola do submundo dos bons sons. Psicodelismo, dreampop, shoegaze, indie, são apenas alguns dos possíveis rótulos para situar por onde o Wildcat Apollo transpira sua música, mas assim, esses rótulos são supérfluos, acredite, a força de "Melt Into The Ocean" é milhares de vezes mais poderosa.

Não faça como eu, escute e apaixone-se imediatamente pelo Wildcat Apollo.

***** Interview with Wildcat Apollo *****

Q. When did Wildcat Apollo start? Tell us about the history...
We got serious about legitimately establishing the group while living in Brooklyn in 2012. But in many respects, since the band is a family affair with two brothers and friendships dating back to growing up in Austin, Texas, it feels like the band has been progressing for decades. We still have cassette tapes from bedroom jam sessions from the 90's. Grunge baby, grunge!

Q: Who are your influences?
Sting... The music he's created over the years, we don't really listen to it, but the fact that he's making it, we respect that.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip
The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Radiohead - Kid A
Ghostland Observatory - Paparazzi Lightning

Q. How do you feel playing live?
The greatest gigs have a way of leaving you feeling jubilant. They become thrill rides. As the music waxes and wanes, it pulls the crowd through the wake of the music, but it also feels like it is pulling you as the performer. On stage, you feel more like you are riding the moment rather than directing it. Playing live is magical.

Q. How do you describe Wildcat Apollo sounds?
We pull from many different sounds from within the psychedelic umbrella. We call our genre psychedelic pop, because we are drawn to dense, intertwined arrangements, but done in such a way as to not lose the arc of the songwriting.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
We love making recordings and squeezing every last bit of magic that we can into any given song. We definitely go through many iterations of demos, mixes, and arrangements before we get to that place where we feel we can let the song remain. A lot of bands thrive on translating a more raw live sound to their recordings. We're more into making the songs sound different than anything we've heard before, to make them sound surreal and maximized. It's the whole studio as an instrument approach. We also want to make sure that a song translates into a promising, presentable demo before really investing the resources into a final product.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
There's a lot of tremendous talent here in Austin. Some fresh local bands we're really in to are Pale Dian, Magna Carda, A/B, and Christian Bland and The Revelators. We're happy to see old friends from Brooklyn Haybaby and The Adventures of the Silver Spaceman continue to make great music. Mac Demarco, Thee Oh Sees, and Parquet Courts are also definite must-sees when they come to town.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
We almost never play a set without covering The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Anton is a hero of ours. It would be rad to do some real covers of their music in the future!

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We can't ever imagine not making music. It's rock and roll as a lifelong commitment, as Thom Yorke says. We're happy playing in Austin regularly and making albums on a rolling basis and getting better at our craft. We are hopeful to connect with a broader platform at some point. Every artist wants to reach as many people as possible!

Q: Any parting words?
It's a great time to be a musician and an artist. Technology has democratized the playing field. If you can dream it, you can build it.
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/wildcatapollomusic/
http://www.wildcatapollo.com/
https://wildcatapollo.bandcamp.com

Summer Storm with Vox Celeste - An Interview

Novamente ares mexicanos aportam nas páginas do TBTCI, desta vez em tons ruidosos e densos, mesclando influências dispares como Mogwai, Black Box Rebellion e Placebo, sem pender para nenhuma das direções de suas influências mas sim condensando-as e criando uma atmosfera melancolicamente sonhadora.

Este é o Vox Celeste e eu digo o seguinte, você deve e precisa saborear sem pressa "Summer Storm", fabuloso EP dos caras que exprime basicamente em música o que estas palavras tentam explicar.

"Summer Storm" e o Vox Celeste é certamente uma experiência intensa.

***** Interview with Vox Celeste *****

Q. When did Vox Celeste start? Tell us about the history...
A: We talked about starting this project in the last month of 2010, but we consider the project officially started in 2011, when we composed our first songs. It took some time to reach the sound we were aiming for. Anyways, we always knew we wanted to make something noisy and incorporate some ethereal textures. We played some shows here and there and finally decided it was time to record some songs. With the help of nowadays technology we were able to record all by ourselves our ep Summer Storm. We have continued writing new songs preparing the next material; and that's voxceleste's story so far.

Q: Who are your influences?
A:All four members listen to a wide variety of music but we could name The Boxer Rebellion, Mogwai, and Deerhunter as influences since we all agree on those.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
The hardest question, absolutely subjective. In no particular order here are some albums we praise high:
The Boxer Rebellion - Union,
 Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People,
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights,
Placebo - Black Market Music,
Deerhunter - Halcyon digest.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We feel so alive, thrilled. It's like a dream. We simply love it.

Q. How do you describe Vox Celeste sounds?
Warm, noisy, dreamy, human; we like to think they are the everyday sounds, the soundtrack for your days.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
As aforementioned, we recorded "Summer Storm" by our own. We had been playing those songs live and we knew them quiet well. So we laid drums by using a software and with a simple interface and using cubase and some plug-ins we recorded bass, guitars and voice. It was a nice experience to be able to listen to our songs, let's say, from the outside. Thus we were able to listen carefully and work on some details. And that's how we recorded our EP, It didn't take a lot of time, and we must add, it was a rewarding experience.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Wild Nothing, DIIV. Camilo Septimo and Vaya Futuro from our country.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
The first time we played live we covered The Beatles and Placebo. Definitely we'd like to do The Boxer Rebellion. Mogwai and Tame Impala would be very interesting to do.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
To continue working on songs and sounds, release more material, tour our country. Going abroad would be rad.

Q: Any parting words?
Thanks for getting in touch and for this nice interview. And whomever may read this, we wish you peace and love, and tons of music. - vxc
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/voxcelesteband/
https://soundcloud.com/vox-celeste
https://voxceleste.bandcamp.com/

CYEP with Cupid Youth - An Interview

Matt Allen é o criador e a mente por trás do Cupid Youth.

Algo como a versão estadunidense do The Cigarettes, explico, tal qual Marcelo Colares, Matt Allen, cria suas canções com nítidas influências da class of 86 e Yo La Tengo, e as dedica para "sadboys & sadgirls", claro que existem conexões com os contemporâneos Wild Nothing, The Drums, e isso coloca o dreampop em foco as criações do Cupid Youth.

Experimente o viciante e ensolarado "CYEP" certamente seu dia ficará bem melhor.

***** Interview with Cupid Youth *****

Q. When did Cupid Youth start? Tell us about the history...
Cupid Youth officially started in November 2015. The name came to me as I was writing poetry in a love letter on an overnight flight to Los Angeles. I remember gazing out the window of the plane and seeing all the lights from the stars and cities. I felt so removed from everything just floating in air. It made me realize that time moves so fast and life is but a daydream. That's when I wrote a poem that would become "Letters To Julia". "Up above miles high, our youthful lives, they drift goodbye". I felt the poem encompassed the project. I chose "Cupid", from classic mythology referring to the god of desire and attraction (as well as Sam Cooke reference) and "Youth", referring to someone in between childhood and adulthood feeling in between - not young but not old.

Q: Who are your influences?
My influences change very rapidly, I grew up on '70s powerpop, punk, and mod singles so I generally gravitate towards major tonality pop tunes/pop progressions. I enjoy the classics like JAMC, Richard Hell, Smiths, Cocteau Twins, Velvet Underground and some of the newer groups like Diiv, Beach Fossils, and Yumi Zouma. Though my favorite songs are all those '90s pop songs like Sheryl Crow - Soak Up The Sun, any Ace of Base single, and New Radicals - You Get What You Give. Though specifically, my song writing style changed drastically when I heard "Only Heather" by Wild Nothing. From there, I started to write jangle guitar music and wrote "Roses".

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
1. Wild Nothing - Nocturne
2. Drums - Portamento
3. Strokes - Is This It
4. Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
5. Clash - London Calling

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Still developing a type of live show - I don't really want to do a traditional live band but more of a multimedia show.

Q. How do you describe Cupid Youth sounds?
I tell people CY is a pop/dreampop project with jangley guitars and reverby vocals.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
I recorded the drums with engineer Jon Alvin in Pilsen, Chicago with two drummers Connor Spurgeon and Dan Jullian. Jon then sent me the drums tracks to me where I then tracked bass and guitars in my apartment over them. I then sent him the stems where he pieced the project together. We then tracked vocals and Jon played synths on the EP.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Star Tropics - Chicago guy/girl indie pop jangle group, they have a new LP coming out soon too!
Soft Candy - Chicago psych quintet group, hazy melodies with mod over tones
Archy Marshall latest record/project "A New Place 2 Drown"

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
I've always wanted to cover Heroin by Velvet Underground otherwise Champagne Coast by Blood Orange or Continuous Thunder by Japandroids.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
I'm hoping to develop some type of live act, with or without a band. I have plans for releasing a single this fall/winter too-I'm excited!

Q: Any parting words?
Be the artist you want to be. Don't let others vicariously live through you!
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Thanks

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

Even If with Inner Scent - An Interview

"Even If" é o debute do trio italiano Inner Scent. Um verdadeiro mix alucinante unindo, Siouxsie Sioux, Babes in Toyland e Lydia Lunch sem dar trégua alguma durante as oito músicas do álbum.

Talvez fazendo conexões com Savages, Jessica 93 e Belgrado, as meninas do Inner Scent merecem toda a atenção, principalmente pela insanidade nonsense de "Even If".

Um disco absolutamente matador, e preparem-se porque logo menos as meninas apresentarão o sucessor de "Even If" e aí meu amigo, o buraco é será bem mais embaixo.

***** Interview with Inner Scent *****

Q. When did Inner Scent start? Tell us about the history...
Daniela: In 2012 2 girls meet at a rehearsal room in Milano: Daniela (bass and vocals) Marlene (drums). We both have communication problems, feel invisible, deal with a everchanging identity. Through music we find a deeper relation to ourselves, that’s why we became channels for 8 songs and looked for our third person. It took months of hope and perseverance to meet Matteo Bennici, a unique cello player. We decided to call ourselves Inner Scent, a perfume inside where everyone can return to heal their wounds, a scent that reveals our infinite interconnection.

Q: Who are your influences?
Probably all the people who don’t appreciate us

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
Kyuss “ Welcome to Sky Valley”
Black Sabbath “ Black Sabbath”
Frank Zappa…you pick one
Patty Smith “ Radio Ethiopia”
PIL “ Metal Machine”

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Depends on the set and setting, means depends on our mood and the people around us, we are too empatic and true

Q. How do you describe Inner Scent sounds?
Grunge, post punk, hard rock

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
We played all instruments together in order to achieve a sound of immediacy, we recorded all the songs in 2 days and worked hard on the mixing and production. Luca Ciffo (the sound engineer from Fuzz Production) did a wonderful job.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Fuzz Orchestra - http://www.fuzzorchestra.it/

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
The Doors : “ when the music’s over”

Q: What are your plans for the future?
A new record (with a new line up: Daniela, Marlene and Annalisa!), we’re working on it

Q: Any parting words?
Be yourself, read Dave Eggers “ The Circle”, love nature
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Thanks

https://soundcloud.com/inner-scent
https://www.facebook.com/InnerScent3

Ordinary People with Good Morning TV - An Interview

Faça o seguinte, dê play no debute homônimo do Good Morning TV imediatamente e prepara-se para se apaixonar.

Conexões com expoentes do presente como, Melody´s Echo Chamber, Deerhunter, Autolux e também do passado, como Broadcast e Stereolab, dão a dica do que o Good Morning TV cometeu em seu primeiro EP.

Deliciosamente envolvente, climático e ruidoso em doses certeiras, sempre sonhador, simplesmente não há como se render a beleza da banda.

Uma estreia gigante que deixa um saboroso gosto de querer mais e mais. O Good Morning TV representa exatamente o que o TBTCI faz, conectar o presente e o passado. Perfeito.

***** Interview with Good Morning TV *****

Q. When did Good Morning TV start? Tell us about the history...
Good Morning TV started in 2015. I had a band called Talkie Walkie. For some blury reasons, we splet up. After that experience, with no regrets, i decided to start something new, with less compromise and a clear vision of what i wanted to do. Barth and Thibault joined the band quickly.

Q: Who are your influences?
There is a lot ! We feed ourselves with a lot of different kind of music and always try to discover new things. I can mention Broadcast, Stereolab or Unknown Mortal Orchestra but also more unexpected artists such as the Fuggees or Elvis Costello. Good Morning TV is a big shaker.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Oh… What a choice ! I’m not very good at listomania. These albums are certainly not the 5 « albums of all time », but those which changed my musical approach.
Broadcast – Haha Sound
Autolux – Future Perfect
Connan Mockasin - Forever dolphin love
Orval carlos sibelius – Super Forma
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest

Q. How do you feel playing live?
It’s not something recent for me, because i start playing music when i was 6 years old. I’d got to do many little concerts. It keeps being very impressive to be on stage. But it’s a completly different experience when you are defending your own compositions. The best is when you manage to drive the audience on your mind’s mood. And we love to share it as a band.

Q. How do you describe Good Morning TV sounds?
The idea of dreams is recurrent when we talk about the project. This idea results in our sound. Barth (Bouveret), who produced the EP and which is a member of the band (as bassist) gave to the EP this very organic and textured sound. We defined the kind of music that we make as weird pop : Sometimes catchy, but often eearie !

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Most of the time, i come with the backbone of a song. Then we try to make it relevant for Good Morning TV's direction; until the first and the last version, it could be long and testing. For this EP, everything was in its right place before we began the recording. But for our future album, we are going to experiment and explore more and more, create together as a band.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Homeshake (we were glad to play with them on may), for their groovy indolence J. Fernandez, for his emotional accuracy Faith Healer, for their continuous treat

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

Covers had to offer a new point of view on a track. Sometimes, a song is melodically perfect but the production needs an update. Would be a great challenge to cover someone like Gilbert O’Sullivan ("Alone again" for example) …


Q: What are your plans for the future?
We’d love to tour in Europe and then in the world… We long for recording a new album, and we already have plenty of ideas !

Q: Any parting words?
Thank you for sharing and enjoying our music.
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Thanks

https://soundcloud.com/good-morning-tv
https://www.facebook.com/Good-Morning-TV-171236273217803/

Terminally Chill with Powerslacker - An Interview

Aos indies festivos um aviso: esqueçam Mac DeMarco, aliás cá entre nós, vocês nem deveriam ter dado tanta atenção assim não é mesmo?

O ponto é que, mesmo citando Mac DeMarco como influência, o Powerslacker é imensamente mais inventivo, criativo e instigante. Uma psicodelica mistura de Flaming Lips, Kinks, Beach Boys e Pixies em ambientação lo fi.

"Termanilly Chill" debute do Powerslacker é simplesmente um verdadeiro docinho sonoro. Good vibes total.

***** Interview with Powerslacker *****

Q. When did Powerslacker start? Tell us about the history...
I started producing songs by myself at the beginning of 2016 as a means to channel my music without the influence of other people on it. I was in some awesome bands beforehand but it was becoming difficult to organize sessions so I thought I'd do everything myself. It gave me the opportunity to have complete creative freedom with my music so I just wrote about introspective, personal matters. 'Welcome to the Wind Tunnel' and 'Anatomy Park' were the first tracks I put out under the name 'powerslacker', the songs were pretty lazy and depressive so the name rung.

Q: Who are your influences?
I always say Pixies and Mac DeMarco. One time I got laughing gas at the dentist while they were operating and put Doolittle by Pixies on my earphones to distract myself, I've had a personal attachment to the album since, I feel I share their experimental approach to songwriting and their punk rock ethics.

The Beach Boys are pretty great too, all amazing compositions, arrangements and performance in everything they've done and they're still going! I also love the recordings, pretty inspiring hearing sounds from the 1960s of that nature with the limitations of the number of tracks they could use, the fidelity of the production and the effects possible.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Pixies - Doolittle / Nirvana - Nevermind
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's
Mac DeMarco - Salad Days

I think that covers it

Q. How do you feel playing live?
I haven't actually played a show yet as powerslacker. A couple of my friends have offered to help perform the songs live which is super cool of them, I hope to have some kind of arrangement for when I drop my album! Played a lot of live shows with bands when I was younger though, most interesting thing we did was be an opening act for Buzzcocks when they came to our town.

Q. How do you describe Powerslacker sounds?
Lazy, psychedelic, lo-fi, depressive, introspective, dreamy, abstract, pop

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
When I get inspired I'll write a few buzz words or phrases down which'll serve as an anchor for the vibe of the song or form into lyrics, I'll write a hook or melody and stem the track from there, I'll produce the song as I'm writing it so my projects get quite busy and complicated, I usually just declare my track finished when I think it's close enough or I'll get lost in it and probably ruin it or go crazy

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
There's a bedroom-pop artist from London called 'Oscar' who's just put a record out who I think's pretty cool

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
I get around by the Beach Boys is pretty fun

Q: What are your plans for the future?
I'm starting production on a full length studio album in September, but I'll have an EP and a few other releases before that gets put out!

Q: Any parting words?
Yeah, thanks for your interest of you read this far!

powerslacker.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/powerslacker

Casa Anonima with DUVVII - An Interview

Eis que o México aporta novamente nas páginas do TBTCI, desta vez sendo representando pelo quarteto DUVVI.

Shoegaze climático, ecos de pós punk e fortes doses de dreampop guiam o belíssimo EP do DUVVII, intitulado "Casa Anonima".

O DUVVI vem reforçar a recente linhagem de grandes bandas mexicanas como Lancastell, Clan de Venus, Car Crash Sisters, e muitas outras.

Que venha mais material deles rapidamente, porque se faz mais do que necessário.

***** Interview with DUVVII *****

Q. When did DUVVII start? Tell us about the history…
Euler and Mario had a project before it was called Hvmans , but passing some tests,they gave a break and then they recover it and start DUVVII.

The band’s official line-up was completed in December, but we started playing in January (2016) and our first performance was in June.

Q: Who are your influences?
The sound of some bands from 80's, 90's and 00's; we do not have a main band to follow, is more like a mix of everything we hear.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Ari: Norte - Little Jesus
Euler: Supreme Dream Blue -Winter
Alejandro: I bet on sky - Dinosaur Jr
Mario: If you wanna die then i wanna die - Cosmonauts

Q. How do you describe DUVVII sounds?
Like a walk on the beach in a cloudy day.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
It was definitely in a very amateur way, practically one day we decided to record a rehearsal, that’s why there are many details that we need to improve for the next time. But at the end we were very happy with the result and the style of the songs.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Ari: Budaya
Euler: Sailawway
Alejandro: Los Migues
Mario: Disorders (mx)

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Ari: Little Jesus
Euler: Winter
Alejandro: Vaya Futuro
Mario: Warpaint

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Recording two or three songs in a professional way to start spreading our sound and love, and maybe being in the line up of a (small) festival would be great.

Q: Any parting words?
We hope you enjoy our sound, we made it with lots of love <3 br="">
Thanks! :)
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Thanks to you guys

https://duvvii.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/DUVVII
www.soundcloud.com/duvvii

She Sung Oceans with Jellyskin - An Interview

Pouco mais de quatro meses de atividade tem o trio inglês de Leeds, Jellyskin, e já impressionaram os mais atentos graças a duas pérolas, primeiro "Grey Glass Hat" e a mais recente e altamente inspirada "She Sung Oceans" com claras referências a Slowdive, Toy, Lush e MBV.

Não há como fugir das conexões, mas uma aura de talento eminente credencia o Jellyskin a uma da mais belas revelações desse 2016.

Aguardamos ansiosos pelos próximos passos.

***** Interview with Jellyskin *****

Q. When did Jellyskin start? Tell us about the history...
We formed in the Spring of 2016. We all met at university in Leeds and decided to start a group. We thought we might become the new thing.

Q: Who are your influences?
The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Cat’s Eyes, NEU!, TOY, The Shangri-Las, Goldfrapp, Daniel Johnston to name but a few

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Goo by Sonic Youth,
The Velvet Underground & Nico,
Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing by Soft Cell,
Loveless by My Bloody Valentine,
and NEU! by NEU!

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We haven’t played live yet, but we hope to start around October time. We can’t wait to start though, performing is something we all love doing.

Q. How do you describe Jellyskin sounds?
Like having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
We’ll record the drums in a separate home studio then record guitars, synths and vocals in our own little box. Usually, the main ideas are recorded very quickly, and the song appears almost immediately. After that comes a very long period where things are tweaked, and parts are painstakingly arranged and produced. We can usually tell when a song is as finished as it will ever be, as it just sounds like brown sludge and we all hate it.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Heck, Sealand, and Girl Sweat.

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
We’ve always wanted to do a cover of a B-52s number, we’re considering a cover of ‘The World’s Green Laughter’. Their music is so interesting and unique that it'd be a challenge to try and interpret one of their songs. It’s always a temptation to cover your favourites, like Bowie or the Velvets or The Doors, it's impossible to pull them off. If you’re going to do a cover you can’t just copy the original but it can’t be too different – you’ve got to find a good balance.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Short term: Release more music and start doing as many gigs as possible. We’re releasing our next track, ‘She Sung Oceans’ online on the 10th of August. Check our Facebook page for news about that.

Long term: Achieve cult status, play at loads of festivals, keep writing music and meet John Cale.

Q: Any parting words?
Keep the faith and listen to Girl Sweat.
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Thanks

https://soundcloud.com/jellyskin
https://www.facebook.com/jellyskinband

Wash Away with Teen Brains - An Interview

Atualmente existe uma grande quantidade de bandas que se alimenta do legado que Robert Smith deixou cravado na história aliado ao shoegaze e também aquela parcela de andas que enfiavam barulheira entre seus devaneios melancólicos, vide Sunny Day Real State entre outros.

E é exatamente desse elixir sonoro que o quarteto britânico Teen Brains concebe suas criações mas, inclua nesse caldeirão de referência uma que salta aos ouvidos, Anton Newcombe e seu BJM, principalmente a fase Methodrone. A mais recente o single "Wash Away" e daqui um Mês aproximadamente os caras soltam ao mundo "Translucent", novo EP deles. 

Por hora o TBTCI recomenda a audição imediata do primeiro EP, homônimo, do Teen Brains, uma chinelada melancólica e ruidosa na medida certa.

***** Interview with Teen Brains *****

Q. When did Teen Brains start? Tell us about the history...
Teen Brains started in 2014 as a side-project from another band me and Tyler were in. It was originally just us two, we never really had any intentions of taking things seriously we just wanted to record some fuzzy/surfy tracks every now and then, stick them online and leave it at that. So one night we wrote and recorded our first single 'Annabel' in Tyler's bedroom, we stuck that online and got a really cool response. Harry from Beech Coma Records got in contact shortly after asking if we wanted to contribute a song to this cassette compilation he was putting together so over a couple of days we recorded our second single 'Flume' and from there we started to take it more seriously I guess. We started working on our self-titled EP right away and during that writing/recording process we decided to flesh out into a full band and start playing shows. Now Teen Brains is me (guitar), Tyler (guitar and vocals), Harley (bass) and Chob (drums)

Q: Who are your influences?
We're definitely influenced by that early wave of shoegaze/psych bands like The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Ride, A Storm In Heaven-era The Verve, My Bloody Valentine etc etc. There's probably some influence from newer bands like A Place To Bury Strangers, DIIV, Splashh, Toy and that sort of stuff too. We never were like 'right lets make a record that sounds like X band and Y band' that's just the stuff we were listening to a lot when writing so the influence sort of came through naturally I guess.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
(sorry I really can't answer this one, way too difficult, my answer probably changes everyday haha)

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We love it! Me and Tyler write and record pretty much all the tracks in his bedroom and before we both moved to London we used to practice in my shed so it was always really cool getting to hear the tracks 'properly', through a decent sound system and with a technician there to make us sound better than we actually are haha. And obviously it's always so cool watching people get into our set and have a good time when watching us. That being said though we're always slightly nervous when we play, not nervous about actually playing, more because we're just genuinely cursed.. we have the worst luck when we play live, things are always dying on us - pedals, guitars, amps, we seem to break literally everything. My Big Muff and Cathedral both died on me during one set which, being in a shoegaze band, was a total disaster. So there's always that fear in the back of my mind like 'what's going to break this time??' bit other than that playing shows is great.

Q. How do you describe Teen Brains sounds?
Psych-pop I guess? I always find it pretty difficult to answer this because our sound generally varies from track to track but I guess it's somewhere between shoegaze/psych and surfy guitar-pop, that's what other people usually go for anyway

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
We usually write and record our songs at the same time, we've always done things pretty DIY because we like to have total control and freedom to experiment, also Tyler studies music production at university so we never felt the need to fork out on going into a proper studio. But yeah usually we'll spend a day or two locked in his bedroom writing and recording as we go. Typically we'll turn up with a bunch of riffs and ideas that we'll flesh out into a full track and build on within the recording software. We like doing it this way because it allows us to sort of build on the track as we go, trying different things that we wouldn't usually think to try. It's never really a case of writing a song in a practice room then going into the studio and recording it. Our new EP is so much more experimental than our previous stuff and has a much bigger sound because of this, it's a lot more noisy than our previous releases because we tried a bunch of new techniques and experimented with samples and other stuff. It's a blessing and a curse though because as I said there's a lot more freedom to try new things when self-recording the tracks but it can be a curse because it'll end up taking us ages and ages to record things because we'll constantly be changing or adding bits and we always end up scrapping versions of tracks and re-recording them until we're totally happy with them. That's why our self-titled took so long to get out, there must have been like three/four different versions of that EP before the final one.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
There's too many to name! Our hometown Norwich is killing it at the minute, our good mates Claws do really good surfy garage-pop, there's a new Riot Grrl band called Peach Club they're crazy good, Dazy Crown are great too if sun-soaked guitar-pop is your bag. New Horror are unreal too, they're a northern band who do stupidly good lo-fi post-punk/shoegaze sort of stuff. I work at Fuzz Club Records and we're putting out an EP from this new Italian band called My Invisible Friend who are just ridiculous, they do a really dark, mind-blowing mix of shoegaze and kraut, definitely worth checking out. I've been listening to a lot of Witching Waves, Magic Potion, Dream Wife and Chain of Flowers too, they're all wicked. Too many good bands to mention !!

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Erm I'm not really sure, we've joked a few times about covering 'Message In A Bottle' by The Police, I'm not really sure why but I guess we always thought that would be pretty cool. Maybe a track by The Cure, there's been a couple tomes where we've thought about covering Lullaby or Just Like Heaven but we don't really do covers.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We've got a new EP coming out in September called 'Translucent' that we're really stoked about, I feel like all bands say this but it's so much better than our older stuff. We took a little hiatus from playing shows to finish recording the new tracks and because we were all super busy with various other things, but when the new EP comes out we're going to get back into playing a bunch of shows. We were talking about doing a UK tour later in the year and maybe an EU tour in 2017 but that's just talk at the minute.

Q: Any parting words?
Our new EP is going to be released in the UK via Witchgirl Recordings, which is a new independent label I'm starting up so follow us on Facebook if you want to be kept in the loop with the new EP, we'll have some news on that very soon (Facebook.com/witchgirlrecordings)
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Thanks

https://teenbrains.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/teenbrainsuk

Another Summer Song with Малыш Камю - An Interview

Com um nome basicamente impronunciável os russos, leia-se Малыш Камю, são uma das mais belas descobertas recentes do TBTCI.

Musicalmente eles se aproximam muito da temática do Pia Fraus e do Drape, elegância, sofisticação, melodias épicas sempre permanecendo entre o shoegaze e o dreampop sem nunca pender para um dos lados.

O Малыш Камю é daqueles casos de amor a primeira audição.

Beleza resume tudo. Obrigatório.

***** Interview with Малыш Камю *****

Q. When did Малыш Камю start? Tell us about the history...
Evgeniy: It starts when i had wrote some songs and tried to record a first EP of my own project. At one moment i thought that my vocal sounded not very good and ask Kate to sing some vocal parts. We both liked this process and result and it was a day when my own project was finished and Малыш Камю was started.

Q: Who are your influences?
Kate: All things around us is our influences: people, movies and all sounds that we listen every day.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Kate:
The Cure – Disintegration;
Ifwe - Вся моя радость;
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless;
Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas;

Evgeniy: + The National – High Violet

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Kate: Not very confidently. Because we are very domestic.

Q. How do you describe Малыш Камю sounds?
Evgeniy: Hmm… I think our sound is still not formed. But it would be great if someday we could transmit by our sound an atmosphere of the moment when you walk across a misty forest and the sun light flows through the branches of trees.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
Kate: One of us writes song with guitar or ukulele, and after it Evgeniy starts to record arrangement. All our songs were recorded at home, we use only simple stuff: PC, basic sound card, guitars and mic. That’s why our music sounds not «professional». But DIY method gives us a big freedom for working.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Kate: Спасибо; / The Mysterious Town of Oak Hill;

Evgeniy: Lucidvox;

MMYI; Синекдоха Монток.

Some of it is not very new, but we think you didn’t listen itJ

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
Kate: Mazzy Star. It’s beautiful!

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Evgeniy: We want to finish our new EP in this year. After it we want to make some songs in english.

Q: Any parting words?
Evgeniy: We wish you and your readers to discover more beautiful music from all around the world! Music overcomes any borders! Peace!
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Thanks

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

Butterflies with Feels - An Interview

Diretamente de Helsinki, Finlândia vem o duo de electro dreampop Feels.

Uma estreia que soa melancólica e ensolarada, mas sempre com um requinte de sofisticação e aquele apelo pop que inevitavelmente te convida a cair pra pista.

Um verdadeiro revival sem soar datado dos áureos tempos das boates, se é que você me entende.

Bela estreia do Feels.

***** Interview with Feels *****

Q. When did Feels start? Tell us about the history...
We started playing together at 2012. I had this gig on a terrace where I was working, and asked the guys to come play with me. That's how it all started! We had a long break 2012-2013 because of members of the group traveling, and after that started developing our sound ​ for real​ . At the end of 2013 we released our first single, Weightless ​, that I had written during my travels.​

Q: Who are your influences?
We all have pretty different musical backgrounds, which I think is one of our strenghts. But there are also some mutual favorites, such as Salem Al Fakir, VETO, Röyksopp, Little Dragon, Alt-J and Laura Mvula. ​I think everything I hear influences me in some way, whether I like it or not.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
Oh man, this is so difficult I'm just going to say the 5 first ones that come to mind. They are stuff I've been listening recently.

1. Years & Years - Communion. I just really love this album and it was great seeing the band live last year at Flow Festival.
2. Salem Al Fakir - Astronaut.
3. Seinabo Sey - Pretend. Seinabo's music is like a hopeful splash of light!
4. Grimes - Art Angels. Ah, Grimes is so special and refreshing and cool!
5. ​Tame Impala - Currents .
​So smooth!
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Q. How do you feel playing live?
It's always an exploration!

​Trying your best to find the right feeling, to be genuine and for the audience to respond.
​Lately we've had the pleasure of playing with visual artists and it gives it a new range of motion. We've gotten the chance to support some very cool artists such as Ronya and Emancipator. Now we have a really special show coming up at the Flow Festival in Helsinki!

Q. How do you describe Feels sounds?
​We want to create epic landscapes and are inspired by for example mountains and the ocean. Often the landscapes of the songs are emotionally epic, as well. ​We combine our backgrounds and influences in our music: my pop-style of songwriting, Myky's love of the 80's and anime and so on...

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
​Our first EP we recorded mainly in our producer Jooel's studio. It's quite small so Mikael would be sitting on the floor playing his synths.. It was fun! Now that we're preparing new stuff we've recorded elsewhere as well, like in our practice space and in this vocal recording studio.
​
Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
​Ah, at least the ones I listed earlier there! One more would be Bantum, it's a discovery I made in Spotify and their album Legion is just super cool.​ ​Kate Boy from Sweden/Australia is amazing!​

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
​Hmmmm! Maybe a Tove Lo song?

Q: What are your plans for the future?
​We're recording new songs and are preparing an album or possibly another EP, let's see. We are doing everything we can and also try to find more people to help us get forward. We want to play lots of shows, more outside Finland as well. It would be great to get to tour with some of our favorite artists!

Q: Any parting words?
​Thanks for the interview! Have a look at our new ​music video, directed by the very talented Joni Helminen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqAaZzc-pLc
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Thanks

https://soundcloud.com/feelsfeels
http://www.feelsfeels.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thisisfeels

Outside The Color Wheel A​-​Side with Sullen Ray - An Interview

Das cinzas do The Never Never, Seth A. Eubanks formou o Sullen Ray, isso já no distante 2012 e de lá pra cá, o single de estreia "Memory Box" deu a deixa do que estaria por vir, e a confirmação deu-se em "Blue Minor" debute do Sullen Ray.

Indie rock sofisticado, encharcado de lirismo e altamente melódico, em alguns momentos sutis doses de dreampop e uma pequena dose de shoegaze, dizem que ao vivo o Sullen Ray é altamente estridente.

Bem, depois de "Blue Minor", o Sullen Ray apresenta o segundo álbum, "Outside The Color Wheel A-Side", mais sofisticado, elegante e melancólico que seu predecessor, Algo em "Outside..." me remete a Elliot Smith, o que deixa a obra ainda mais intensa.

Wspecialmente recomendado a pessoas de bom gosto.

***** Interview with Sullen Ray *****

Q. When did Sullen Ray start? Tell us about the history...
Sullen Ray started August 2012, after my precious band The Never Never had disbanded! We were recording a full-length album and we didn't make it through it! So completely defeated by the breaks up, and after some time I decided to move forward. I had come up with the name Sullen Ray because people had always commented on how no matter what the music sounded like, there always seemed to be a Ray of Sadness running through it! So I checked to see if Sullen Ray.com existed and it didn't so I bought it and started writing music again.

Q: Who are your influences?
My Favorite bands are My Bloody Valentine, Warpaint, Tamaryn, IOecho, The Cranberries.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time?
The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds"
Warpaint "Warpaint"
Tamaryn "Tender New Signs"
My Bloody Valentine "loveless"
The Cranberries "Everybody else is doing it so why can't we?"

Q. How do you feel playing live?
I love playing live, for me that's the point of all the recording I do. All I'm really trying to do is get back on stage to play, not because I want attention, but dimpling because I love playing, and playing live is really the only place you get to know your songs better, as well as honing in your playing skills. Playing live for me is the point of music!

Q. How do you describe Sullen Ray sounds?
Well, I think it comes across as a little more poppy than I'm shooting for, but one of the biggest things I wanted to do with Sullen Ray, was basically take Shoegaze (which I love) and turn the reverb off. What would Loveless and Tamaryn sound like without all the reverb, I think it would come across as bluesy 60's pop, so I wanted to achieve that, and to always make sure the beat/drums are at the forefront off all the music. Not in a mixing way, but more in a style way, like you hear the beat and thats what makes you recognize the song. Also playing Shoegaze for so many years before with my band Sway, we would drone on and on with the songs, so I wanted to create some structure to the music, give them time lines, so that it wouldn't go on forever. But people say the live version of all the music is actually more shoegazey than the albums.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
For me it's all about the drums, I first spend a lot of time trying to get the right feel or beat first, then I slowly start putting together the music. I work with the guitars along with the drums trying to find some interesting sounds and rhythms, then I build melodies off the rhythm with a second guitar part, and start working with structure and formation. And then when I have something that I seem to like, I burn it to CD (a rough rough mix) and listen to it like crazy over and over coming up with vocals and words as I'm driving around or right now mainly as I'm driving to work! And then I start building an album off the songs that work together. Right now I'm working on the B-Side version of Outside The Color Wheel, and I've written over 30 songs for it, but I pulled the 7 so far that I like out of those 30. Again the songs are rough mixes, after I have the ones I like, like now, the 7 I like together, I go back and open those projects and start re-recording parts or find better sounds for things and re-work it till it has a more professional sound to it, or whatever the song may call for!

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Some great new bands right now that I love listening to are "IRIS" (Los Angeles) , Psychic Love (Los Angeles), Winter (Los Angeles), Romanda Hammer (Los Angeles), Wolf Alice, just to name a few!!

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
I would love to cover Warpaint and/or The Cranberries actually if I do throw a cover song in the set list its most likely a Cranberries song.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
My plans are to keep writing songs and putting them out! The more I practice writing and recording, they say the better you will get, so I'm trying that out! But ultimately I want to play live shows. So again the point of all this recording for me is to play live, if I get to do both that would be a dream come true! Right now I'm just recording because I just moved from Los Angeles, up to the Seattle Area, so I'm finishing up the music and then I will start working on putting together a new band, so that we can play the new album live!!

Q: Any parting words?
Well, a lot of what I do I had to learn onmy own, I played drums for 15 years in a Shoegaze Band called Sway, and after it disbanded, I wanted to start writing my own songs, so I picked up the guitar in 2008 and started trying to figure it out, then I wanted to record so I started working with garageband in 2009 and now I'm using Logic Pro 10. The point is and the actual point to my music, is that anyone can do it! If you really want to play and record and all that stuff, you need to just start. Everyday I learn something new, and the most important part is everyday I'm learning. I'm not the best or care to be, I just want to be able to put out music the way I hear it in my head, and I want to have the skills to achieve what I have in my head. I just want people to know that if I can do it, you can do it! There's no great mystery to it, it just takes time and the ability to make a fool of yourself sometimes! No matter what keep pushing for what you want, good or bad, keep going it will eventually work itself out!! But more importantly you'll stay true to your art, which is true to yourself!

Thank you so much!!! Seth Eubanks (Sullen Ray)
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Thanks

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

Made of Fire with Fire to the Stars - An Interview

Sublime, exuberante, angelical, elegante, magistral, estes são alguns adjetivos que podem e devem ser atribuídos aos australianos do Fire to the Stars, tamanha beleza de sua música.

Para situar sonoramente o FTTS, tudo poderia se resumir a uma gravadora e seu atestado de qualidade, no caso a emblemática 4AD>

É exatamente da matriz 4AD que o FTTS extraí sua essência, e tudo pode ser captado em "Made of Fire", álbum de estreia deles.

Tentar explicar a beleza de "Made of Fire" em palavras é simplesmente desnecessário, eu apenas aconselho, se desligar de tudo e de todos e apenas sentir cada uma das dez maravilhas desse, que é, certamente, um dos mais belos álbuns desse 2016.

Feche os olhos e bons sonhos.

***** Interview with Fire to the Stars *****

Q. When did Fire To The Stars start? Tell us about the history...

Half the band had played in various groups previously whilst the other half we met semi-randomly in airports or over the internet. Usually a recipe for disaster but for some reason this worked really well. A nice combination of familiarity and new influences I think which has been instrumental for developing our sound.


Q: Who are your influences?

That’s tough! You could ask any six of us and I’m sure you’ll get six very different answers. But in terms of general influence shared across the entire group I think pretty much anything on 4AD (Cocteau Twins, Pixies, Dead Can Dance) would be a good starting point. There are a bunch of great soundscape type artists coming out of the Kranky label (Grouper, Stars of the Lid, Noveller) which I like to think do colour our approach to composition in addition to more neo-classical types such as Agnes Obel, Olafur Arnalds and Sophie Hutchings. And being antipodean, we cannot discuss influences without referencing New Zealand’s Flying Nun records –probably the best label in the world!

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
That’s even tougher! Alright, I’m not even going to pretend I’m representing the band here so here are my top 5 (in no particular order):

1) Doolittle – Pixies
- In terms of overall influence, this is unsurpassed. Totally revolutionised my idea of what songs should and could be, typically in less than 3 minutes! Until Doolittle I had never thought songs could mix absurdism with unrestrained delight so effortlessly. Sounds as utterly contemporary now as it did back in 1989.

2) Vespertine – Bjork
- I always struggle to separate Vespertine from Homogenic – I love them both. While the latter probably has the better songs, Vespertine to me is the more complete album. The track order, orchestrations and flow just make it one of the most beautiful things ever created. It is almost impossible to listen to tracks in isolation, it demands to be listened to as a complete piece – and this is why it succeeds as a record.

3) Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill – Grouper
- Listen to Heavy Water, the second track from Liz Harris’ record – this should explain why this album is on my list!

4) Aventine – Agnes Obel
- My new favourite. It’s perhaps not surprising when you listen to Fire to the Stars that we are fans of both indie pop and darker, more classical influences. Agnes Obel combines both brilliantly – the depth and feeling of classical composition with the economy of a pop song. No one does this better and I cannot wait for her new album out in October!

5) Daydream Nation – Sonic Youth
- I have no idea how I can possibly defend leaving Loveless off this list but if I’m being honest Sonic Youth have to appear somewhere on this list. Sonic Youth is the critical pivot and shared influence between Jim (guitarist) and myself and is probably the reason why FTTS exists in the first place. I think it’s their use of noise primarily as something beautiful first, rather than necessarily abrasive that gets me. Hyperstation still gives me shivers!

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Love it. This is actually surprising as we originally a little sceptical that FTTS could be translated live, which is part of the reason why it took as so long to move from being a studio band to the live setting. But now we have worked out how to do this we are really enjoying the live dimension to FTTS and I think it is beginning to influence, perhaps not surprisingly, how we write.

Q. How do you describe Fire To The Stars sounds?
I’m probably the worst person to ask – suffer from horrible observer bias. So this is entirely subjective but we like the term “haze-pop” which I think conveys that sense of ambience, mood and the cinematic all within a pop format. I think….

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
It’s messy. Generally we have the band split up over at least two continents at any one time so by necessity take a somewhat stepwise, piecemeal approach to recording with tracking done across Melbourne, Stockholm and Los Angeles. Probably not the best approach and I think the more we play live the more we can coordinate to record altogether in the same room.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Not necessarily new as such, but certainly emerging – I’ve really been enjoying listening to Soley’s Ask the Deep record and Sophie Hutching’s brand new Wide Asleep album. Apart from that there are some great new Australian bands like Waterfall Person, Totally Mild and the Ocean Party.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
This one is easy – Cocteau Twins. Never dared attempt this in the past, thought it would be way too difficult given how unique their songs are. But we have literally just recorded a Cocteau cover which we will soon be releasing in some form, perhaps an EP.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We’re back home touring Australia in October and then Europe over the northern winter. Working on our second album as we speak – we have the nice problem of far too many tracks but it’s getting there.

Q: Any parting words?
Obrigado a todos pela leitura. Espero que continuem a gostar da nossa música!
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/firetothestars
https://soundcloud.com/firetothestars/sets/made-of-fire-full-album