Showing posts sorted by date for query video. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query video. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Friday, December 2, 2016
POINT BLANK- 'Life's Too Short' At Montclair, NJ's The Meatlocker
I'm still reeling from the fact that I wasn't able to make Point Blank's show at Montclair's Meatlocker. Having reviewed their CD demo and the 7 inch that followed. It's easy to say I've been trying to get my aging ass to a show. Being that they played so close to my own home base only makes the sting of missing out hurt a bit longer. Lucky for me lead singer Ken E. Wagner shared a video of their performance of 'Life's too Short'. I really do dig this track. And while I'm not yet sure if he sent it to ease the pain or prolong it. I really appreciate it. Thanks, JD
POINT BLANK NYHC - Live and Loud
Below is a recent video of NYHC band Point Blank performing live at Philadelphia's Voltage Lounge. Old School Hardcore played with plenty of energy and heart. Point Blank currently have a 7 inch EP out on Not Like You Records. Click the link below for info. JD
Not Like You
Monday, September 7, 2015
New Jersey's NGHTCRWLRS Debut Official Video for the song "Smiling"
New Jersey's eclectic indie rockers NGHTCRWLRS have posted a video for the song Smiling. from their 2015 self titled debut LP on Sniffling Indie Kids.
The band is currently working on a follow up that should surface later this year.
Be sure to keep an eye out for it. James Damion
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Aguirre Post Video Featuring Debut Album
New Jersey's Hardcore Punk newcomers Aguirre have posted an impressive video which features the bands debut album. Featuring current and former members of acts such as
Melissa & Paul, Control, Hell Mary, Barcode Youth and many others. The band comes to the table with an impressive pedigree. The band will be playing their first show friday night at Tony's in Stockholm NJ on Friday Details Here and are said to have copies of the album with them the following night when they play at Taps Pub. Details Here Aguirre has a site coming soon. For now you can go support them on their Facebook page. Here JD
Friday, May 29, 2015
New Brunswick NJ's Modern Chemistry Debut Video for the Song 'Cling'.
New Brunswick's Modern Chemistry have posted a video for the single Cling. You can check it out here or visit you tube Here.
Modern Chemistry Bandcamp
Monday, April 20, 2015
Guest Editorial with Richmond's Sadie Powers; When Strobes Attack
No red lights. No strobes. This is the request I make to every sound guy and lighting operator whenever I load in for a gig. There’s always this moment when they look at me quizzically, almost combatively, before I punctuate my request: ‘I get seizures.’
Not exactly, but close enough.
As a musician, there are few things that I enjoy more than going to a show and experiencing people push to be the best versions of themselves through their art. There is something about the honesty that comes through when one is performing, and the conversation that a musician is having with their bandmates as well as with their instrument, an electricity that is not only heard and seen, but also felt in your soul. When a performance is completely locked in and captures your senses and your imagination, and you surrender and get lost in the ‘there-ness,’ and you feel what can be possible through this synthesis of personhood and chemistry and sound waves and vulnerability and connection, one word that comes close to capturing this experience is Beauty. Another is Human.
There has always been some light show element in live shows, even in smaller-capacity venues. Usually it’s just changing the lights from back to sides, blue to green twice, maybe three times per song. But it seems that as of late, more and more bands and venues are integrating more – shall we say -- involved, and therefore troublesome, light shows into your regular run-of-the mill gig.
At a recent Sleater-Kinney show at the 930 Club, I was completely taken aback by the unruly amount of strobe lights, affectionately termed #DeathStrobes.
They were insanely bright, and they were focused directly at the audience’s retinas, and I squeezed my eyes shut,
my face buried in my jacket.
By the third song, my brain felt like it was going to push out through my eyes and ears and I saw spots, and I felt my right arm starting to go numb.
My Positive No bandmate, Tracy Wilson, and I eventually retreated to the basement bar, where we waited out the rest of the set.
You see, I have chronic sporadic hemiplegic migraines (SHM), a rare neurological disorder that is characterized by having both the fun of a classic migraine with aura (thousands of flashing, zig-zagging stars in my field of vision) and the excitement of a stroke –tingling, numbness, weakness, and/or partial paralysis on my right side, lack of muscle coordination, slurred speech, problems with finding words, inability to speak, difficulties with concentration, dizziness, eye and facial twitching, balance issues.
I’m not gonna lie. It sucks. Imagine your brain feels like it’s swelling and is pushing up against the back of your right eye and the base of your skull, and it’s been pressing against your skull for so long that your brain feels like it has permanent throbbing bruises.
This is my normal. In fact, I can’t remember a time when my head didn’t hurt.
The other symptoms, well, they just come and go as they please, sometimes one or two, sometimes all at once, lasting from several minutes to a few days, usually triggered by some sort of stimulus, such as perfume, stress, heat, not enough sleep, changes in barometric pressure, hormones, caffeine, alcohol, and yep, you guessed it, light, especially fluorescent bulbs, sunlight reflecting off metal and glass surfaces, and flashing lights.
It’s really inconvenient.
Only a few people know about the extent my SHM, because it’s kind of a conversation killer, and I don’t want pity, and honestly, I’m not a delicate flower, and I don’t want my illness to define me. It’s something I’ve dealt with for 20 years, and I try not to let it get me down, and on the whole I have a really amazing life. Seriously, you would be totally jealous.
Tracy, a fellow chronic migraineur, and I told people about our Sleater-Kinney experience, and every person has asked us whether we were able to watch the NPR video of their show from the night before. I know they’re trying to be helpful and offer us a way to possibly regain something we lost, but that’s not the point. I mean, would you pay $40 to see Sleater-Kinney on Youtube? I really don’t feel like I should have to say this, but video footage is nowhere near the same as actually living it.
A week later, another friend and I had to leave a Gang of Four show early because of the strobes, which were unbearable, even though I had come prepared with sunglasses.
The strobe phenomenon has even worked itself into smaller clubs. Two days ago, I saw
The Gotobeds, Protomartyr, and Priests play at U Street Music Hall. Killer bill, right? Unfortunately, the experience was overshadowed by pulsating red and blue lights both on stage and overhead, and I left the show with my right side in a sad place: dragging my foot, not being able to make a fist, and my cheek felt like it had been injected with novocaine.
This was not a roller coaster. This was not a rave. This was not a multimedia extravaganza. This was a punk show, with the light board manned by some random employee with an exuberant finger on the fader.
When I think about the best shows I’ve seen over the past couple of years – Swans, Perfect Pussy, Xiu Xiu, Einsturzende Neubauten, Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson, Dirty Beaches, Magnetic Fields, Nick Cave, Deerhoof, Yo La Tengo, Pharmakon – only one of them had any strobes. (Kate Bush, who can do what she wants because she’s Kate Bush. And she only had about 10 seconds of strobes during an entire 2 ½-hour performance.) Why is it, then, that so many other bands and venues feel the need to inflict seizure triggers on the rest of us? On some level, I understand: One of my bands, Dead Fame, had a DIY light show that we built (and tested, to make sure I was okay) in order to ‘enhance the performance’ and ‘give the audience something exciting.’ Maybe that’s it. Ticket prices are increasing, and perhaps bands and venues are feeling pressure to make it ‘worth it’ to someone shelling out $25-$50 per ticket. Perhaps there is some sort of unspoken competition to be
Bigger, Faster, Brighter, Louder.
By the way, Dead Fame eventually got rid of the lights when they got to be too much of a hassle and got in the way of the performance. We realized that we spent too much time worrying about the lights on stage and not focusing on the music. And isn’t the music why we go to shows? Isn’t it through that music that we truly connect and the reason why we’re willing to shell out some cash? Isn’t that what got people together in a room with instruments and ideas to begin with?
The bands that really touched me were just that: people, on stage, with their instruments, their tools, telling us their stories, showing us their truest, inner selves, going on an adventure and taking us with them, with passion and honesty and heartache and joy.
It was just us, together, in that moment. Any extensive lighting would have detracted from that connection, and honestly, would have felt disingenuous and contrary to the spirit of the bond between the audience and performers; it would have created a veil.
I accept that light shows are not going anywhere, but bands should be aware that they have fans who want to see them perform the music they love, who also happen to live with serious neurological conditions, which cannot always be controlled with medication. You can’t easily pick us out in a crowd, because our ailments are, for the most part, ‘invisible’ to the untrained eye, and because we are badasses who keep on living. But I ask that you please be more proactive to help us make informed decisions concerning our health. While neither is ideal, it’s far better to pass on a show than to have to leave three songs in. If the venue has a capacity of less than 500, don’t use house strobes. There’s no need for them in a venue that small, and it’s usually controlled by someone who’s just kind of fudging buttons to do whatever they thinks looks cool. If you have a contract, include a provision that states that the venue post signs stating that your show contains lighting that might induce seizures. Better yet, have the venue post it on your event’s page on their web site. Post it on your personal site and on Facebook. Instagram a venue’s warning sign. And maybe, just maybe, you could cut back on the #DeathStrobes just a little?
Because you don’t need them. What you give us is so much more than some flashing lights. Your music helps us get through the bad days, and we are forever grateful, and we’ve got your back.
Sadie Powers
Not exactly, but close enough.
As a musician, there are few things that I enjoy more than going to a show and experiencing people push to be the best versions of themselves through their art. There is something about the honesty that comes through when one is performing, and the conversation that a musician is having with their bandmates as well as with their instrument, an electricity that is not only heard and seen, but also felt in your soul. When a performance is completely locked in and captures your senses and your imagination, and you surrender and get lost in the ‘there-ness,’ and you feel what can be possible through this synthesis of personhood and chemistry and sound waves and vulnerability and connection, one word that comes close to capturing this experience is Beauty. Another is Human.
There has always been some light show element in live shows, even in smaller-capacity venues. Usually it’s just changing the lights from back to sides, blue to green twice, maybe three times per song. But it seems that as of late, more and more bands and venues are integrating more – shall we say -- involved, and therefore troublesome, light shows into your regular run-of-the mill gig.
At a recent Sleater-Kinney show at the 930 Club, I was completely taken aback by the unruly amount of strobe lights, affectionately termed #DeathStrobes.
my face buried in my jacket.
By the third song, my brain felt like it was going to push out through my eyes and ears and I saw spots, and I felt my right arm starting to go numb.
My Positive No bandmate, Tracy Wilson, and I eventually retreated to the basement bar, where we waited out the rest of the set.
You see, I have chronic sporadic hemiplegic migraines (SHM), a rare neurological disorder that is characterized by having both the fun of a classic migraine with aura (thousands of flashing, zig-zagging stars in my field of vision) and the excitement of a stroke –tingling, numbness, weakness, and/or partial paralysis on my right side, lack of muscle coordination, slurred speech, problems with finding words, inability to speak, difficulties with concentration, dizziness, eye and facial twitching, balance issues.
I’m not gonna lie. It sucks. Imagine your brain feels like it’s swelling and is pushing up against the back of your right eye and the base of your skull, and it’s been pressing against your skull for so long that your brain feels like it has permanent throbbing bruises.
This is my normal. In fact, I can’t remember a time when my head didn’t hurt.
The other symptoms, well, they just come and go as they please, sometimes one or two, sometimes all at once, lasting from several minutes to a few days, usually triggered by some sort of stimulus, such as perfume, stress, heat, not enough sleep, changes in barometric pressure, hormones, caffeine, alcohol, and yep, you guessed it, light, especially fluorescent bulbs, sunlight reflecting off metal and glass surfaces, and flashing lights.
It’s really inconvenient.
Tracy, a fellow chronic migraineur, and I told people about our Sleater-Kinney experience, and every person has asked us whether we were able to watch the NPR video of their show from the night before. I know they’re trying to be helpful and offer us a way to possibly regain something we lost, but that’s not the point. I mean, would you pay $40 to see Sleater-Kinney on Youtube? I really don’t feel like I should have to say this, but video footage is nowhere near the same as actually living it.
A week later, another friend and I had to leave a Gang of Four show early because of the strobes, which were unbearable, even though I had come prepared with sunglasses.
The strobe phenomenon has even worked itself into smaller clubs. Two days ago, I saw
The Gotobeds, Protomartyr, and Priests play at U Street Music Hall. Killer bill, right? Unfortunately, the experience was overshadowed by pulsating red and blue lights both on stage and overhead, and I left the show with my right side in a sad place: dragging my foot, not being able to make a fist, and my cheek felt like it had been injected with novocaine.
This was not a roller coaster. This was not a rave. This was not a multimedia extravaganza. This was a punk show, with the light board manned by some random employee with an exuberant finger on the fader.
When I think about the best shows I’ve seen over the past couple of years – Swans, Perfect Pussy, Xiu Xiu, Einsturzende Neubauten, Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson, Dirty Beaches, Magnetic Fields, Nick Cave, Deerhoof, Yo La Tengo, Pharmakon – only one of them had any strobes. (Kate Bush, who can do what she wants because she’s Kate Bush. And she only had about 10 seconds of strobes during an entire 2 ½-hour performance.) Why is it, then, that so many other bands and venues feel the need to inflict seizure triggers on the rest of us? On some level, I understand: One of my bands, Dead Fame, had a DIY light show that we built (and tested, to make sure I was okay) in order to ‘enhance the performance’ and ‘give the audience something exciting.’ Maybe that’s it. Ticket prices are increasing, and perhaps bands and venues are feeling pressure to make it ‘worth it’ to someone shelling out $25-$50 per ticket. Perhaps there is some sort of unspoken competition to be
Bigger, Faster, Brighter, Louder.
By the way, Dead Fame eventually got rid of the lights when they got to be too much of a hassle and got in the way of the performance. We realized that we spent too much time worrying about the lights on stage and not focusing on the music. And isn’t the music why we go to shows? Isn’t it through that music that we truly connect and the reason why we’re willing to shell out some cash? Isn’t that what got people together in a room with instruments and ideas to begin with?
The bands that really touched me were just that: people, on stage, with their instruments, their tools, telling us their stories, showing us their truest, inner selves, going on an adventure and taking us with them, with passion and honesty and heartache and joy.
It was just us, together, in that moment. Any extensive lighting would have detracted from that connection, and honestly, would have felt disingenuous and contrary to the spirit of the bond between the audience and performers; it would have created a veil.
I accept that light shows are not going anywhere, but bands should be aware that they have fans who want to see them perform the music they love, who also happen to live with serious neurological conditions, which cannot always be controlled with medication. You can’t easily pick us out in a crowd, because our ailments are, for the most part, ‘invisible’ to the untrained eye, and because we are badasses who keep on living. But I ask that you please be more proactive to help us make informed decisions concerning our health. While neither is ideal, it’s far better to pass on a show than to have to leave three songs in. If the venue has a capacity of less than 500, don’t use house strobes. There’s no need for them in a venue that small, and it’s usually controlled by someone who’s just kind of fudging buttons to do whatever they thinks looks cool. If you have a contract, include a provision that states that the venue post signs stating that your show contains lighting that might induce seizures. Better yet, have the venue post it on your event’s page on their web site. Post it on your personal site and on Facebook. Instagram a venue’s warning sign. And maybe, just maybe, you could cut back on the #DeathStrobes just a little?
Because you don’t need them. What you give us is so much more than some flashing lights. Your music helps us get through the bad days, and we are forever grateful, and we’ve got your back.
Sadie Powers
Friday, April 17, 2015
Music Log Day 1; Orange 9MM - Dry (For Gina)
Welcome to a new feature on United By Rocket Science. One that I give full credit to my Aussie friend Ted Dougherty who recently started one under the same name on his Facebook page. Each installment will feature a song, video or album. (Most likely a favorite of mine at one point or another) and a personal story or anecdote relating to it. Being that this is my first installment. I really can't say how this will evolve. There is no timeline or genre relation for these posts. I'll just post when the spirits are willing. You know, keep it loose. Thanks for the inspiration Ted. All proceeds go to a charity of your choice. James Damion
While I'm not sure if I was living in Hell's Kitchen or was still commuting to work from
Staten Island. At the time of Orange 9mm's debut release on Revelation Records I was working at a Jazz label that also booked floating Jazz Festivals with my best friend
Gina (Last Daze) Lawson. At the time, we were both still heavily involved in the NYHC scene and major fans of bands like Absolution and Burn. On the rare occasions we managed to gain control of the offices stereo, we'd blast everything from Sick of it All to Sheer Terror to
Eye Hate God. One one particular day, my lunch break took me over to nearby
St. Marks Street where I picked up a copy of Orange 9mm's Revelation Records debut.
The four song EP had some stellar tracks, with Dry being my personal favorite.
My good friend Gina died some years back, but her spirit will always live on with me.
Her smile, laugh, generosity and love for the music. How she used to call Sick of it All
"My Boys" and how her burps always smelled like a mix of Heineken and Doritos.
She left behind a son named Kyle whom I have not seen or heard from in years. She was loved by just about everyone, including my Grandmother Veronica. As far as Orange 9mm, the band went on to put out a number of successful albums. None of which resonated with me quite like that first EP. The records 3rd track Decide, is still in heavy rotation some twenty years later.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Looking Back; An Interview with Drummer Samantha Maloney
Samantha Maloney is just plain Bad Ass.
A graduate of the New York School for Performing Arts, she first
earned praise as the drummer for New York Post Hardcore favorites
Shift.
She was later invited to fly out to the West Coast to play with Courtney Love and Hole.
Since moving to California she's kept the beat for rock legends Motley Crue and one of my favorites The Eagles of Death Metal. Since this interview she has become the host for
Mania TV's All Access where's she's interviewing some of the biggest names in the Rock World. Be sure to tune in every chance you get. JD.
She was later invited to fly out to the West Coast to play with Courtney Love and Hole.
Since moving to California she's kept the beat for rock legends Motley Crue and one of my favorites The Eagles of Death Metal. Since this interview she has become the host for
Mania TV's All Access where's she's interviewing some of the biggest names in the Rock World. Be sure to tune in every chance you get. JD.
James : How old were you when you
first started drumming?
 |
| Photo; Stephano Galli |
I Think I was about 12 or 13 when I first became interested in drumming.
I know It was after I heard a cassette tape of "Appetite for Destruction" on my friends boom box on a porch in Queens one summer night.
I remember that as clear as day. At the same time my parents took a chance and invested in a little thing known as cable TV. It was then that I became a MTV Headbangers Ball addict on Saturday nights.
My life had changed as I had known It.
James : What was your first band?
Samantha : I am horrible. I don't remember the name. I was in Sam Ash
in Queens buying some drum gear when I was 14 or 15 and was
approached by some boys from the neighborhood who were starting a
rock band. They asked me to jam with them.
We rehearsed in my basement. I wish I could remember what we called ourselves. I am sure it was a fantastic first. I am proud to say that, when I get recognized as the drummer for Shift. I grin from ear to ear.
We rehearsed in my basement. I wish I could remember what we called ourselves. I am sure it was a fantastic first. I am proud to say that, when I get recognized as the drummer for Shift. I grin from ear to ear.
James : Shift was one of my favorite bands. I still
listen to them regularly. I've even included "Best Song I Ever
Wrote" in my DJ set. Can you tell me about some of the bands
finer moments?
Samantha : Thank You! It is so interesting that
Shift keeps getting brought up lately in my life . Maybe it is time
for a lil reunion? Ha!. I am proud to say that when I get recognized
as the drummer from Shift, I grin from ear to ear. It means more to
me than any other band I have ever been a part of. Shift was my first
"real" band. Finer moments.. Um.. There were so many
moments.. For us it was so great to play shows with bands we had at
the time looked up to like Burn, Quicksand, Into Another, 108, and
even the Foo Fighters. I remember when our Bass player Brandon stuck
his finger in an industrial sized fan at the Tune Inn in Connecticut
and ..show was cancelled.. He is lucky to have that finger today . Or
when Brandon would randomly jump out of our van while it was moving..
he still has his legs.. those were Brandon's less than finer moments.
James : You went to New York's School for the Performing Arts. I
can imagine that was an amazing experience. I was wondering if you
ever had a moment when you spontaneously burst into song and dance on
the streets of NY like in the movie or the TV show.
Samantha: I
found myself doing more of a Mary Tyler Moore thing of flinging my
hat in the air into oncoming traffic on Amsterdam Avenue everyday
when school was over.
Actually.. Fame ...as it is also known as.. Is an incredible high school and I am very proud to say I went there.
Actually.. Fame ...as it is also known as.. Is an incredible high school and I am very proud to say I went there.
James : How did the opportunity to play with Hole come about?
Shift had some downtime in May of 1998 . We had just got off the road and had another album to make with Columbia records. I got a call one night from my rep at Zildjian, my cymbal sponsors. They said that in 3 days Hole was auditioning drummers and asked if I would like to audition for the gig. If I did, I would have to fly to LA . and learn the first 3 songs off of their album "Live Through This". Problem was I had never heard that album. (Side-note: To this day I don't even own a Nirvana album! .. anyway..)
I ran to tower records on West 4th in the village that night.. bought the album to see if I even liked the music.. and was blown away at how good the album was. I thought ..
"Well.. let me just audition.. what do I have to lose besides 600 bucks on airfare."
So I flew to LA 2 days later. And I got the gig that night. They had auditioned over 20 girls and chose me.. took me to lunch the next day, and asked me to fly out the next week
(on their dime this time of course) to be in their video for their first single off of Celebrity Skin. Problem was .. I was still in Shift. So I had to decide what to do. And at that time I thought it was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. And and as bittersweet as it was, the boys in Shift ultimately agreed.
James: I really like
Courtney for some reason. It's like slowing down the car to see Is
she really as crazy as she seems to be?
Samantha : Do I really have
to answer that? I think you probably know the answer.
James : What
about Motley Crue. That seems like an insane situation.
Did you get the feeling you were joining the circus?
Did you get the feeling you were joining the circus?
Samantha : Motley Crue was
my childhood fantasy come true. I used to play along to their albums
in my basement in Queens and 10 years later I was onstage.. in the
band! It was an awesome experience. I was 24 and living in a dream.
James : You stepped into some big shoes. how long did it take before
you felt you were accepted by both the band and the fans?
You know what they say about big shoes........ big socks.
What is so funny is that I met Tommy when I was playing in Hole. He came up to me at a Howard Stern Penthouse party in NYC I was at one crazy night after a
Depeche Mode concert at The Garden and told me that I had beat out his sister in the Hole Audition.
I had no idea his sis played drums. And to be recognized by Tommy Lee... I was floored...
he knew MY name! Motley and Tommy were completely accepting of me being in the band.. They asked me to play for them.. And as for the crowd.. well it took one or two songs before they realized.. holy shit.. this girl CAN play. VH1 did some documentary about it.. and to see the fans reactions before and after the show was hilarious. Fans were skeptical that a girl could pull off Tommy's parts.
James : Eagles
of Death Metal are so amazing live. I saw the band with Joan Jett in
New York City and recently in California with Queens of the Stone
Age. I love his interaction with the crowd and how he makes the
audience feel so special. I was wondering how much of that stage
persona is a show and what's real.
Samantha : EODM is such a fun
band to be a part of. Their nickname for me is
"Hot Damn Sweet Sam". I played with them for about a year. As far as lead singer Jesse's stage persona.. that is all him. ALL THE TIME.
"Hot Damn Sweet Sam". I played with them for about a year. As far as lead singer Jesse's stage persona.. that is all him. ALL THE TIME.
James : You moved
from NYC to L.A. not so long ago. Is that working out for you?
Samantha : So far so good. I miss my family dearly and miss pizza and
bagels extremely.... but other than that.. I am living the good life
out here. (Jokes) You know: the basics.....
Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll.. fast cars, fast men, fast money.. fun in the sun. California gets a bad wrap. But I tell people .. its all about your friends.. your friends are your family out here.. so choose wisely. And they say that out here it is all who you know. But some also say...
It's all about who knows you.
Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll.. fast cars, fast men, fast money.. fun in the sun. California gets a bad wrap. But I tell people .. its all about your friends.. your friends are your family out here.. so choose wisely. And they say that out here it is all who you know. But some also say...
It's all about who knows you.
James : What do you miss most about N.Y.C.?
Samantha :
Family, Friends, My peeps from the hood, Bagels, Pizza, Century 21
(the store) ,The four seasons (not the hotel), the train, WKTU..
Freestyle music, NYC street style .(I am generalizing..
but...seriously.. California girls spend shit tons of money on
bullshit clothes and have the worst style.) Blimpie, Chinese Food,
Zeppoles, Manny from Glassjaw, Josh Swank from E Circuit, Leeway,
Hardcore, Sick of it All and The good ol'e days.
James : Any advice
for musicians looking to get into the ugly business of rock n roll?
Samantha : Don't do it!!! Unless there is nothing in the world you
can imagine yourself doing. And you better have the chops and skills
to back it up. This is unlike any other profession. There are NO
guarantees. There is no money unless you hit it big and work your ass
off. You must learn everything about the business. You need to
surround yourselves with people that are in it that are already
successful . Then you learn from their success as well as their
mistakes and failures. Believe me.. I'VE LEARNED FROM THE BEST. What
to do.. and more importantly what NOT to do.. And only the strong
survive. (didn't biohazard say that?) And you need a bit of luck too.
But you only get lucky when you've worked very hard.
Samantha Maloney
Samantha Maloney
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Dust & Grooves - Adventures in Record Collecting
For close to a month now, I've been going back and fourth about ordering a copy of
Dust & Grooves "Adventures in Record Collecting". The debate, if you want to call it that,
is more of a "When will I?" than a "Should or shouldn't I?" As much as I've become an avid collector again in recent years. I tend to be more interested in what other collectors have in their bins, boxes and monumental structures. Being that I've yet to see a copy in any book or record store. The video below went a long way to further my need to have it.
After viewing this, I felt the need to share it. If not to provoke more interest.
To further position myself to order my own copy. So after a lot of hard work and due diligence. I give you Dust & Grooves. Enjoy. James Damion
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Bedhead 1992-1998: Unboxing
Earlier today I ordered the complete studio recordings of the lesser known 90's band Bedhead. The Dallas, Texas pioneers of what became known as Slow Core released
five LP's during their lifespan. Inspired by my purchases of Numero's earlier reissues of Unwound's Kid is Gone, Rat Conspiracy and Kid is Gone. I became fixated on what
The Numero Group would come up with next. However, it wasn't until seeing this video that
I decided to pull the trigger on the purchase. Check out the unboxing video posted below before ordering your copy. Happy shopping. James Damion
"The complete studio recordings by the Dallas, Texas, slowcore pioneers, every cymbal crash, guitar brush, and whisper, across five LPs or four compact discs. Deluxe box includesWhatFunLifeWas, Beheaded,Transaction De Novo, and an additional CD or double LP overflowing with singles, EPs, and outtakes, alongside a perfect-bound book dissecting the quintet’s nervous slouch through the ’90s. The enclosed 40-page book includes 25,000 word essay, previously unseen photographs, poster reproductions, visual discography, and complete lyrics. Deluxe 5LP box is only available here and limited to 2000 copies."
Numero Group Get it Here
Monday, August 18, 2014
Holy City Zoo's Frank DeFranco Gets the Low Down on New Brunswick's The Dollys
Hi again. This is Frank DeFranco of Holy City Zoo and NGHTCRWLRS. I’ve done this once before for this blog and I’ve been given the opportunity once again to blabber away with a kick ass band who fortunately also happen to be buddies of mine. Dollys (New Brunswick, NJ) are a four piece vintage pop band with a breath of fresh air. They’ve currently finished recording their first full length album and have some fundraising going on to press it on vinyl. Below you’ll hear some jibber jabber on this and a fair share of other things. Enjoy or send me hate mail, either works.
Interview with Jeff Lane and Natalie Newbold of Dollys (8/10/14)
Frank: So lets start with…so you guys want to say the name of the new record?
Jeff: It’s called “Oh Please.”
Frank: Okay, so “Oh Please,” where’d you guys get the name for that? Like what was uhhh, howd’ you go about that?
Natalie: Interesting question.
Jeff: Well, it was an interesting thing for me because I realized that it’s one of those weird phrases that people say all the time, kind of like sarcastically, but you know, you could also take it seriously. Just thought it was an interesting concept because it could be taken more than one way.
Natalie: Yeah, it can kind of be like, ya know “ohhh pleeeasse” or like “oh please buy this record.”
(Lots of room laughter)
Natalie: It’s like, it can be taken either way.
Frank: Oh please keep me alive!
Jeff: I mean, it pretty much always comes down to Paul McCartney. I watched an interview with him and he was talking about how all the early Beatles songs came about, like
“Please Please Me,” “Help,” and stuff like that…he said a lot of that stuff was directly to the fans and I thought that was really interesting. “Please Please Me” is the first Beatles record or whatever, so it’s a little reference to that, but we just thought it was a nice thought.
Frank: That’s cool. No, no, that’s really cool. Mind if I snag another one of these
(pointing to beers).
Jeff & Natalie: Take as many as you want!
Frank: Thank you.
Natalie: That’s what we got them for!
Frank: Well muchas gracious. Okay, so with this record, you did everything to tape, right? I’m curious to hear about that experience, I know you have a lot of affiliation with
Lake House (Recording Studio), so kind of just go off with it, what’s the run down on that one?
(Frank cracks open beer)
Jeff: We really like the Beach Boys and the Beatles and all the records from the 60s and 70s and it always kind of fascinated me how much pop music has changed, and rock music too because back then it was like go in the studio and be a fuckin’ band. And that’s awesome.
Frank: And you had to be good.
Jeff: And you had to be good, because if you sucked everyone knew it and no one bought your record. Or they bought it and then they burned it in hot fire.
(More room laughter)
Jeff: Because it sucked. And we were like “well, lets see how good we are. Ya know?
Lets see if we can do something that is important to us that sounds good but doesn’t make us want to puke.
Natalie: And I think that Lake House was kind of this perfect fit for us because
John, the owner, loves vintage gear. Like so much. He has incredible stuff that is all super old and they wanted to get a tape machine and we just wanted to record to tape really bad, so it just made sense that we went there to record to tape.
Jeff: And Eric (bass player) working there and always saying “yo, you should buy this thing, the Beatles liked it.” And so John would buy it. So we were like, well we like that too, so lets record there.
Natalie: It just was obvious that we were going to do it there.
Jeff: I don’t know where we’ll really end up in the future, but right now it seems like the logical place for us. We’re super comfortable there.
Natalie: We all work there for the most part.
(Chuckles)
Frank: Well it’s always nice to feel comfortable in the recording process.
I’m sure you both know that there’s sometimes when you’re recording and you feel like this strenuous pressure and other times you’re just there just being yourself and feeling it, ya know? So do you have that added pressure, even though you’re in a comfortable place, knowing that you’re doing it to tape, because you have to play it good? Or was it comfortable enough at Lake House that you could kind of let loose and be yourselves?
Natalie: I think that when we first started recording, we did this one song, like seven or eight takes of it. It was getting up there.
Jeff: It was shameful, but it was also one of the more complicated ones.
Natalie: Yeah, and I think we would listen back to it and would be like “no, no, no, no, no, that’s not it.” And then something happened, we just clicked that no matter how many times we do it, it’s going to sound like us and that’s why we’re doing this to tape, ya know?
That’s why we’re doing this, because all the records that we love from the 60s and 70s have those weird George Harrison guitar mistakes.
Jeff: It’s always George.
Natalie: (continuing) that we love! (More chuckles)
Frank: Yeah, I think it’s those things that add character to the record that have kind of been lost or are flaws in the digital era. Like sometimes you hear one of those. (makes fart noise)
Jeff: Like that guitar hero noise.
Frank: Exactly.
Jeff: That’s exactly what it is.
Frank: But like all the weird little hums and guitar hisses.
Natalie: And not so perfect vocals, those vocal takes that give you chills but aren’t exactly like computerized, on point. Ya know?
Jeff: I mean, anyone who knows anything about music wants to hear real.
Frank: The human element.
Jeff: Yeah, not like the bullshit computer synthesized crap. Because it’s just weird.
It doesn’t sound real.
Frank: Totally. So with this album, you have pursued this Indiegogo campaign. So I’d like to hear about how your experience has been with that, how you feel about Indiegogo, and any advice for bands who plan to go about it the way that you have.
Jeff: Don’t just start one. Plan.
(Those faithful room chuckles return)
Jeff: And tell people beforehand and then hope for the best. Keep pushing it, keep telling people, keep working. But don’t let it control you’re wanting to be a musician or artist or however you see yourself, because worrying about money sucks. It can really suck away a lot of your creativity. So I’ve tried to do a good balance of like saying on facebook,
“why hasn’t my mom bought anything yet?” Just kidding, she put money in yesterday.
(I’m not sure if we’re laughing more or talking at this point)
Jeff: She waited long enough to give me the sweats but yeah, I don’t know, it’s hard, you have to do a lot of work.
Natalie: I would say just in terms of advice. If you think you’re going to do it, tell everyone about it before you do it. Like all your friends and family and get them on board with it.
That was something we didn’t realize we needed to do. We kind of decided in the band this was something we were going to do. We made it and made a video and within two weeks of it being up, my mom didn’t even know it was. She was like “what is that, I don’t know what that is!?! You keep posting about it, what is it?”
(Mom quote in Staten Island accent)
Natalie: So its something you kind of have to explain to people. It’s been a very interesting process and the fact that we’ve raised $2000 astounds me, that people
Frank: That’s pretty amazing.
Natalie: Yeah, it makes you feel good about what you do and gives you hope that you can do it.
Jeff: And to answer your first question, Indiegogo is great because they take the least percentage of what you earned. I’d say the only problem with it is that it is not as immediately recognizable as Kickstarter.
Frank: Well I think that’s because Kickstarter was the first of that kind of thing, unless I’m totally wrong about that.
Natalie: No I think they were the first ones.
Jeff: They were the first one to go ya know.
Frank: Viral?
Jeff: Yeah, whatever that means. It’s like Kickstarter is like Starbucks…you could see a store that says coffee and if it’s next to a Starbucks, it’s like Coffee whatever, Starbucks,
I know they coffee.
Frank: And I know what their coffee tastes like.
Jeff: Exactly. But yeah Indiegogo is cool. Everything makes sense on their site.
Natalie: I think one thing that we did differently than a lot of the bands and people we’ve seen use it is that we set it up so that it’s more of a pre-order. It’s not so much of a
“oh donate to us.”
Frank: So we can do this
Jeff: Or else it won’t happen. Because it’s going to happen anyway, we just figured, it would help us get a jump start on it if people can help put money down on it.
Natalie: Yeah, because it’s done. We’ve already put in all the money to record it. A lot of bands will have an Indiegogo to fund the entire project. We already did that.
Frank: We just want that wax baby.
Natalie: Yeah, we set a really high precedent getting our first EP done to Vinyl.
Jeff: And know we’re broke.
Natalie: We probably should do that again for the record. It probably deserves that.
Frank: Cool, cool. I personally know some roots about this band, but for the people who will be hearing about you for the first time, just throw me a little bit about the background of how Dollys came to be and what has guided you to where you are now.
Jeff: Oh man. That’s all you dawg.
Natalie: So we were recording a record as Green Paper and things weren’t really panning out the way that we wanted them to.
Jeff: There were a lot of differences creatively.
Natalie: A lot of creative differences, arguing about where the record should have gone. When you’re in a band and not everyone has the same goals, obviously at some point you’re going to have some differences that aren’t going to be fixed. So, Eric, who was engineering the record, and was our close friend at the time.
Jeff: He’s a sick bass player.
Natalie: He’s a sick bass player and an awesome musician.
Jeff: He gets along with us really well, and it seemed like the logical choice.
Natalie: And it was the right thing to do. We were like “hey do you want to start a band?” We really wanted to take this band in a different direction than Green Paper. Green Paper was a lot more Garage Rock, kind of psychedelic elements and we kind of wanted to do this very poppy but still a little modern interpretation of the Beatles and the Beach Boys.
Jeff: I think the Garagy kind of feel to it was mostly just inexperience, ya know? I had never recorded actually, and then when we started doing Water I was like “I kind of get like a good feel for this, I want to work with someone who can translate my terrible ideas.”
(More good time hang laughs)
Frank: I don’t know if I’d call them terrible.
Jeff: Well, like weird like “I want it to sound like trees shaving” ya know what I mean? I want that to actually make sense to someone and Eric for some reason seemed like the logical person, probably because he’d be like “whatever dude, I’m just going to make it sound good, okay?” But yeah, it was a long weird trip in Green Paper. We didn’t try to do anything too poppy, we just wanted to write a really good record that felt right and made people happy instead of sad, that’s kind of what we shot for.
Frank: I mean I loved “Fire” (Green Paper full length) and I enjoyed the singles and stuff, and then I heard the Dollys EP and when I heard it, it had this chilling feeling because it was something that felt familiar, but there was also this kind of fire (whoops) behind it, like this is born out of the ashes of something else and we need to do this. It had that sense of urgency to it, and it was really cool. You can feel the emotion that was put into that record.
Jeff: It was a bummer.
Natalie: Having Green Paper break up was probably one of the worst things that ever happened to me.
Jeff: It was one of those things where the band falling apart was pretty sour…it was one of those things that you have to be devastated and not let anybody know.
Natalie: But because of that happening, now I am a much happier person. I love the music that we are making and I’m so excited for the future.
Frank: That’s where it’s at.
Natalie: Yeah. For us to get to this point, that had to happen.
Jeff: I don’t even like music.
(Insert you know what goes in the parenthesis here)
Natalie: Just end the interview with that.
Jeff: My boss says that all the time and he owns a music store.
Frank: Soooo you kind of covered this partially in what we were just talking about, but is there a general message you are trying to send as Dollys, or with this record…
Jeff: 4:20 weed everyday. Just kidding. I don’t know. What message did the Beatles send?
Natalie: Peace, love, understanding?
Jeff: Not even, because like John Lennon beat wives.
Frank: I love John Lennon as a songwriter.
Jeff: Oh hell yeah.
Frank: But everyone is always like John Lennon, Hair Peace, this hippie man…back in his Liverpool days, you cross him the wrong way, that guy would fuck you up.
Jeff: Yeah. But, umm, I don’t think we particularly have a message yet?
Natalie: I think that one thing we’re trying to bring back is
Jeff: Is write good music?
Natalie: Is getting back to this idea of great songwriting or just always trying to write the best songs that you can and this idea of real musicianship again. Having pop music not be the thing that people think about and be like “pop music sucks” because it’s bad or because it’s easy or because it’s not technically difficult because those things don’t equate. Like we’ve all heard “I Want You Back” and that is CRAZY! From start to finish I’m like “what’s happening?!?” ya know?
Jeff: One time I was working at a place and this guy came up to me and was like “I really like Lady Gaga” because this one song she used a diminished chord. And I was like you could use a diminished chord any fucking time you want, you just got to do it right. And fuck you because you’re stupid.
(Beer belly laughter)
Jeff: I mean, I think that being in the right band and having the right attitude and being cool is important and is something you should work on. And ya know, playing your instrument well and being able to shred the gnar is important and you should practice that, but I think the most important thing, and this is time tested and proven, is just writing songs that are good. And are approachable but not fucking lame, like Monkees or something. Even though the Monkees are cool now, back in the day they were not because they were so bubble gum.
Frank: Okay, I’m almost done here. Have you figured out where/when you will be doing the listening party and release show or anything like that yet?
Jeff: I think Eric did, but we have no idea. We were actually doing interview questions the other day and Eric was saying that we should probably do some of this stuff early 2015.
Natalie: Uh, yeah, we’re timing how it’s going to take it to get mastered and pressed so we’re either thinking early 2015 or towards the end of 2014.
Jeff: And really the most important thing is making sure that everyone who is invited to the listening party can make it. Because that would be really stupid if they couldn’t.
Natalie: Listening party is at Lake House. Release show is probably going to be at the
Court Tavern.
Jeff: It makes the most sense for us because that’s where I feel like people know us from since the Beach Boys cover set.
Frank: Which by the way that was fantastic. Actually, lets talk about that a sec. What was it like paying tribute to a band that you love so much?
Jeff: It was great. It was really hard.
Frank: Now I love my fair share of the Beach Boys. I’m definitely not on your level but...
Jeff: We’re stupid about it. I’ve read stupid books on Amazon, like this book is stupid, but I should read it anyway. I’m sure there’s some information in it that’s important.
Natalie: We had a really great time.
Jeff: It had it’s ups and downs practicing it.
Natalie: For me personally, at that point in time, I was still a little unsure of myself vocally. The transition between Green Paper and Dollys was partly me becoming more of a lead singer and there was still a lot of confidence issues I was tackling in doing so, but that Beach Boys set made me practice, practice, practice on vocals, so much that it made me so much more confident in our own material, singing backups, singing leads, whatever it may be, and playing the drums. So it really helped me personally.
Jeff: I had more fun fucking up those songs, than fucking up any other thing. It was like really fun just being like I practiced this for three months which is waaayyy more than I’d spend writing everything. And then you know I just go on playing “Good Vibrations” and I’m like a whole step off and everyone’s like “Hello” and I’m like “Yeaaaahhhhh” and then all of a sudden I snap into it and I’m like, oh I can actually hear my guitar now, the cymbals have died out, oh I’m totally wrong, cool, this is the last part of the set and I blew it. And I just found it hilarious instead of like panicking and being like “god you’re awful.” It was a fun show.
Frank: Jeff, Natalie, thank you for your time. It’s been excellent to catch up with ya.
Dollys Band Site
IndieGoGo Donate Here
Interview with Jeff Lane and Natalie Newbold of Dollys (8/10/14)
Jeff: It’s called “Oh Please.”
Frank: Okay, so “Oh Please,” where’d you guys get the name for that? Like what was uhhh, howd’ you go about that?
Natalie: Interesting question.
Jeff: Well, it was an interesting thing for me because I realized that it’s one of those weird phrases that people say all the time, kind of like sarcastically, but you know, you could also take it seriously. Just thought it was an interesting concept because it could be taken more than one way.
Natalie: Yeah, it can kind of be like, ya know “ohhh pleeeasse” or like “oh please buy this record.”
(Lots of room laughter)
Natalie: It’s like, it can be taken either way.
Frank: Oh please keep me alive!
Jeff: I mean, it pretty much always comes down to Paul McCartney. I watched an interview with him and he was talking about how all the early Beatles songs came about, like
“Please Please Me,” “Help,” and stuff like that…he said a lot of that stuff was directly to the fans and I thought that was really interesting. “Please Please Me” is the first Beatles record or whatever, so it’s a little reference to that, but we just thought it was a nice thought.
Frank: That’s cool. No, no, that’s really cool. Mind if I snag another one of these
(pointing to beers).
Jeff & Natalie: Take as many as you want!
Frank: Thank you.
Natalie: That’s what we got them for!
Frank: Well muchas gracious. Okay, so with this record, you did everything to tape, right? I’m curious to hear about that experience, I know you have a lot of affiliation with
Lake House (Recording Studio), so kind of just go off with it, what’s the run down on that one?
(Frank cracks open beer)
 |
| Photo Credit; Andrew Holtz |
Frank: And you had to be good.
Jeff: And you had to be good, because if you sucked everyone knew it and no one bought your record. Or they bought it and then they burned it in hot fire.
(More room laughter)
Jeff: Because it sucked. And we were like “well, lets see how good we are. Ya know?
Lets see if we can do something that is important to us that sounds good but doesn’t make us want to puke.
Natalie: And I think that Lake House was kind of this perfect fit for us because
John, the owner, loves vintage gear. Like so much. He has incredible stuff that is all super old and they wanted to get a tape machine and we just wanted to record to tape really bad, so it just made sense that we went there to record to tape.
Jeff: And Eric (bass player) working there and always saying “yo, you should buy this thing, the Beatles liked it.” And so John would buy it. So we were like, well we like that too, so lets record there.
Natalie: It just was obvious that we were going to do it there.
Jeff: I don’t know where we’ll really end up in the future, but right now it seems like the logical place for us. We’re super comfortable there.
Natalie: We all work there for the most part.
(Chuckles)
 |
| Photo Courtesy of Cool Dad Music |
I’m sure you both know that there’s sometimes when you’re recording and you feel like this strenuous pressure and other times you’re just there just being yourself and feeling it, ya know? So do you have that added pressure, even though you’re in a comfortable place, knowing that you’re doing it to tape, because you have to play it good? Or was it comfortable enough at Lake House that you could kind of let loose and be yourselves?
Natalie: I think that when we first started recording, we did this one song, like seven or eight takes of it. It was getting up there.
Jeff: It was shameful, but it was also one of the more complicated ones.
Natalie: Yeah, and I think we would listen back to it and would be like “no, no, no, no, no, that’s not it.” And then something happened, we just clicked that no matter how many times we do it, it’s going to sound like us and that’s why we’re doing this to tape, ya know?
That’s why we’re doing this, because all the records that we love from the 60s and 70s have those weird George Harrison guitar mistakes.
Jeff: It’s always George.
Natalie: (continuing) that we love! (More chuckles)
Frank: Yeah, I think it’s those things that add character to the record that have kind of been lost or are flaws in the digital era. Like sometimes you hear one of those. (makes fart noise)
Jeff: Like that guitar hero noise.
Frank: Exactly.
Jeff: That’s exactly what it is.
Frank: But like all the weird little hums and guitar hisses.
Natalie: And not so perfect vocals, those vocal takes that give you chills but aren’t exactly like computerized, on point. Ya know?
Jeff: I mean, anyone who knows anything about music wants to hear real.
Frank: The human element.
Jeff: Yeah, not like the bullshit computer synthesized crap. Because it’s just weird.
It doesn’t sound real.
Frank: Totally. So with this album, you have pursued this Indiegogo campaign. So I’d like to hear about how your experience has been with that, how you feel about Indiegogo, and any advice for bands who plan to go about it the way that you have.
Jeff: Don’t just start one. Plan.
(Those faithful room chuckles return)
Jeff: And tell people beforehand and then hope for the best. Keep pushing it, keep telling people, keep working. But don’t let it control you’re wanting to be a musician or artist or however you see yourself, because worrying about money sucks. It can really suck away a lot of your creativity. So I’ve tried to do a good balance of like saying on facebook,
“why hasn’t my mom bought anything yet?” Just kidding, she put money in yesterday.
(I’m not sure if we’re laughing more or talking at this point)
Jeff: She waited long enough to give me the sweats but yeah, I don’t know, it’s hard, you have to do a lot of work.
Natalie: I would say just in terms of advice. If you think you’re going to do it, tell everyone about it before you do it. Like all your friends and family and get them on board with it.
That was something we didn’t realize we needed to do. We kind of decided in the band this was something we were going to do. We made it and made a video and within two weeks of it being up, my mom didn’t even know it was. She was like “what is that, I don’t know what that is!?! You keep posting about it, what is it?”
(Mom quote in Staten Island accent)
Natalie: So its something you kind of have to explain to people. It’s been a very interesting process and the fact that we’ve raised $2000 astounds me, that people
Frank: That’s pretty amazing.
Natalie: Yeah, it makes you feel good about what you do and gives you hope that you can do it.
Jeff: And to answer your first question, Indiegogo is great because they take the least percentage of what you earned. I’d say the only problem with it is that it is not as immediately recognizable as Kickstarter.
Frank: Well I think that’s because Kickstarter was the first of that kind of thing, unless I’m totally wrong about that.
Natalie: No I think they were the first ones.
Jeff: They were the first one to go ya know.
Frank: Viral?
Jeff: Yeah, whatever that means. It’s like Kickstarter is like Starbucks…you could see a store that says coffee and if it’s next to a Starbucks, it’s like Coffee whatever, Starbucks,
I know they coffee.
Frank: And I know what their coffee tastes like.
Jeff: Exactly. But yeah Indiegogo is cool. Everything makes sense on their site.
Natalie: I think one thing that we did differently than a lot of the bands and people we’ve seen use it is that we set it up so that it’s more of a pre-order. It’s not so much of a
“oh donate to us.”
Frank: So we can do this
Jeff: Or else it won’t happen. Because it’s going to happen anyway, we just figured, it would help us get a jump start on it if people can help put money down on it.
Natalie: Yeah, because it’s done. We’ve already put in all the money to record it. A lot of bands will have an Indiegogo to fund the entire project. We already did that.
Frank: We just want that wax baby.
Natalie: Yeah, we set a really high precedent getting our first EP done to Vinyl.
Jeff: And know we’re broke.
Natalie: We probably should do that again for the record. It probably deserves that.
Frank: Cool, cool. I personally know some roots about this band, but for the people who will be hearing about you for the first time, just throw me a little bit about the background of how Dollys came to be and what has guided you to where you are now.
Jeff: Oh man. That’s all you dawg.
Natalie: So we were recording a record as Green Paper and things weren’t really panning out the way that we wanted them to.
Jeff: There were a lot of differences creatively.
Natalie: A lot of creative differences, arguing about where the record should have gone. When you’re in a band and not everyone has the same goals, obviously at some point you’re going to have some differences that aren’t going to be fixed. So, Eric, who was engineering the record, and was our close friend at the time.
Jeff: He’s a sick bass player.
Natalie: He’s a sick bass player and an awesome musician.
Jeff: He gets along with us really well, and it seemed like the logical choice.
Natalie: And it was the right thing to do. We were like “hey do you want to start a band?” We really wanted to take this band in a different direction than Green Paper. Green Paper was a lot more Garage Rock, kind of psychedelic elements and we kind of wanted to do this very poppy but still a little modern interpretation of the Beatles and the Beach Boys.
Jeff: I think the Garagy kind of feel to it was mostly just inexperience, ya know? I had never recorded actually, and then when we started doing Water I was like “I kind of get like a good feel for this, I want to work with someone who can translate my terrible ideas.”
(More good time hang laughs)
Frank: I don’t know if I’d call them terrible.
Jeff: Well, like weird like “I want it to sound like trees shaving” ya know what I mean? I want that to actually make sense to someone and Eric for some reason seemed like the logical person, probably because he’d be like “whatever dude, I’m just going to make it sound good, okay?” But yeah, it was a long weird trip in Green Paper. We didn’t try to do anything too poppy, we just wanted to write a really good record that felt right and made people happy instead of sad, that’s kind of what we shot for.
Frank: I mean I loved “Fire” (Green Paper full length) and I enjoyed the singles and stuff, and then I heard the Dollys EP and when I heard it, it had this chilling feeling because it was something that felt familiar, but there was also this kind of fire (whoops) behind it, like this is born out of the ashes of something else and we need to do this. It had that sense of urgency to it, and it was really cool. You can feel the emotion that was put into that record.
Jeff: It was a bummer.
Natalie: Having Green Paper break up was probably one of the worst things that ever happened to me.
Jeff: It was one of those things where the band falling apart was pretty sour…it was one of those things that you have to be devastated and not let anybody know.
Natalie: But because of that happening, now I am a much happier person. I love the music that we are making and I’m so excited for the future.
Frank: That’s where it’s at.
Natalie: Yeah. For us to get to this point, that had to happen.
Jeff: I don’t even like music.
(Insert you know what goes in the parenthesis here)
Natalie: Just end the interview with that.
Jeff: My boss says that all the time and he owns a music store.
Frank: Soooo you kind of covered this partially in what we were just talking about, but is there a general message you are trying to send as Dollys, or with this record…
Jeff: 4:20 weed everyday. Just kidding. I don’t know. What message did the Beatles send?
Natalie: Peace, love, understanding?
Jeff: Not even, because like John Lennon beat wives.
Frank: I love John Lennon as a songwriter.
Jeff: Oh hell yeah.
Frank: But everyone is always like John Lennon, Hair Peace, this hippie man…back in his Liverpool days, you cross him the wrong way, that guy would fuck you up.
Jeff: Yeah. But, umm, I don’t think we particularly have a message yet?
Natalie: I think that one thing we’re trying to bring back is
Jeff: Is write good music?
Natalie: Is getting back to this idea of great songwriting or just always trying to write the best songs that you can and this idea of real musicianship again. Having pop music not be the thing that people think about and be like “pop music sucks” because it’s bad or because it’s easy or because it’s not technically difficult because those things don’t equate. Like we’ve all heard “I Want You Back” and that is CRAZY! From start to finish I’m like “what’s happening?!?” ya know?
Jeff: One time I was working at a place and this guy came up to me and was like “I really like Lady Gaga” because this one song she used a diminished chord. And I was like you could use a diminished chord any fucking time you want, you just got to do it right. And fuck you because you’re stupid.
(Beer belly laughter)
Jeff: I mean, I think that being in the right band and having the right attitude and being cool is important and is something you should work on. And ya know, playing your instrument well and being able to shred the gnar is important and you should practice that, but I think the most important thing, and this is time tested and proven, is just writing songs that are good. And are approachable but not fucking lame, like Monkees or something. Even though the Monkees are cool now, back in the day they were not because they were so bubble gum.
Frank: Okay, I’m almost done here. Have you figured out where/when you will be doing the listening party and release show or anything like that yet?
Jeff: I think Eric did, but we have no idea. We were actually doing interview questions the other day and Eric was saying that we should probably do some of this stuff early 2015.
Natalie: Uh, yeah, we’re timing how it’s going to take it to get mastered and pressed so we’re either thinking early 2015 or towards the end of 2014.
Jeff: And really the most important thing is making sure that everyone who is invited to the listening party can make it. Because that would be really stupid if they couldn’t.
Natalie: Listening party is at Lake House. Release show is probably going to be at the
Court Tavern.
Jeff: It makes the most sense for us because that’s where I feel like people know us from since the Beach Boys cover set.
Frank: Which by the way that was fantastic. Actually, lets talk about that a sec. What was it like paying tribute to a band that you love so much?
Jeff: It was great. It was really hard.
Frank: Now I love my fair share of the Beach Boys. I’m definitely not on your level but...
Jeff: We’re stupid about it. I’ve read stupid books on Amazon, like this book is stupid, but I should read it anyway. I’m sure there’s some information in it that’s important.
Natalie: We had a really great time.
Jeff: It had it’s ups and downs practicing it.
Natalie: For me personally, at that point in time, I was still a little unsure of myself vocally. The transition between Green Paper and Dollys was partly me becoming more of a lead singer and there was still a lot of confidence issues I was tackling in doing so, but that Beach Boys set made me practice, practice, practice on vocals, so much that it made me so much more confident in our own material, singing backups, singing leads, whatever it may be, and playing the drums. So it really helped me personally.
Jeff: I had more fun fucking up those songs, than fucking up any other thing. It was like really fun just being like I practiced this for three months which is waaayyy more than I’d spend writing everything. And then you know I just go on playing “Good Vibrations” and I’m like a whole step off and everyone’s like “Hello” and I’m like “Yeaaaahhhhh” and then all of a sudden I snap into it and I’m like, oh I can actually hear my guitar now, the cymbals have died out, oh I’m totally wrong, cool, this is the last part of the set and I blew it. And I just found it hilarious instead of like panicking and being like “god you’re awful.” It was a fun show.
Frank: Jeff, Natalie, thank you for your time. It’s been excellent to catch up with ya.
Dollys Band Site
IndieGoGo Donate Here
Friday, June 13, 2014
D. Smith's Video for the Single "Fait Accompli"
Man of mystery D. Smith has just posted an incredibly moving video for the song "Fait Accompli. Available on ShitHouse Records. The track features Bobby Diamond on drums. "Fait Accompli" was at Kenny Lacatena's Homebrew Studios. You can download the album Here.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Modern Chemistry Debut Video for the new single "Never Scared".
New Brunswick's Modern Chemistry have debuted a video for the single "Never Scared". After a couple of years of reviewing outstanding EP's. I finally had the opportunity to see them live at The Court Tavern back in February. Check it out here or go directly to
You Tube to view. The choice is yours. James Damion
Modern Chemistry Bandcamp
Thursday, May 1, 2014
"A Ballad From Hell", "How To Rob a Bank" and More with Those Mockingbirds Tory Anne Daines
With a couple of new singles, a tour behind them and a debut full length on the horizon,
I decided to reach out to Those Mockingbirds violinist / keyboardist Tory Anne Daines
to get the scoop on the band, the music and how the year's been treating her.
James: You just finished a short tour. Where did it take you? Did you head out alone?
Tory: We took ourselves out for a tour of New England and surrounding areas, which subsequently turned into a farewell tour for our guitarist Jon Gianino.
We kicked it off at WDHA with an interview by the fantastic
DJ Lindsay Klein
and ended in our hometown of Montclair NJ.
The road from start to finish was eventful for sure. We played, gambled, and encountered everything from ribbon dancers to goats to sugar gliders to frat guys so drunk all they could do was roll on the ground and ask for ‘Kishes' (Kisses). We lost Jon but we gained a fantastic new guitarist, that we’re set to perform our first show with Saturday March 3rd at Mexicali Live in Teaneck with Trophy Scars.
James: Was Jon’s departure sudden, unexpected? Is there now a contract out on his life?
Tory: No contract but Jon left to pursue other avenues of his life. He told us about halfway through the last tour he was out but he played out the remaining dates with us.
We even made a farewell show for him out of the last show on the run. It's sad but we're all excited for what Kyle is bringing to our writing style.
James: You got sick just days before the tour. How did that turn out? Did it affect you overall performance?
Tory: I got sick far enough out that I was better by the first date but I was still only halfway through the antibiotics so I had to watch my drinking because beer would affect me much differently. I’m glad I caught it when I did because it could have easily affected my singing.
James: The videos you've produced in the past have been impressive to say the very least. While "How to Rob a Bank" showed off the bands sense of humor and ability to make fun of itself. "A Ballad from Hell" exhibited a darker, more sinister side to the bands personality. Can you fill us in on what went into the planning and execution of both?
Our video for “A Ballad From Hell” was initially shot as a music video for “Coast to Coast” that was never released. We didn’t want to simply scrap it so we made it into something just for us, leaving behind the initial plot we shot the video around. I’m going to keep that plot private because it’s interesting to see how this video has taken on a life of it’s own.
With “How to Rob a Bank” we wanted to tell a complete story, beginning, middle, and end.
It wasn’t just us doing everything though we needed someone to help us flesh it out, film it, edit it, and tell us if something wasn’t working; John Komar couldn’t have been a better to work with on that.
We also released a video for “Destroy My Love” that we filmed in a warehouse.
The song is actually the first song Those Mockingbirds ever wrote.
James: You also ran a successful campaign to get "How to Rob a Bank" on MTVU.
In all honesty, I had no idea MTV still provided a platform for music.
How did that opportunity come about?
Magic and a whole lot of fan support. We were up against some serious competition for the spot, including some bands we really liked prior to going into this like Red Fang, and
Steven Wilson. The Freshman competition was the first time I really felt the weight of our fans. They were the ones that tilted the scales for us.
James: Your EP "Fa Sol La" was released by "Star Beat". Are you working with any labels at the moment? When can we expect to see the album?
Tory: We are not working with any labels at the moment but we’re working hard to introduce this album to the world in the right way. We’ve already given away a few secrets, including the fact that cellist Daniel de Jesús from Rasputina guests.
James: "Coast to Coast" had been my go to song for so long, my wife threatened a cease and desist order to keep me from repeatedly singing the chorus.
Is there a song on the new album worthy of taking it's place? What are your favorites?
Tory: There is definitely more than one you’ll like. “Penny The Dreadful” is a different beast from “Fa Sol La” and also one that translates very well live. If you don’t walk out of one of our shows with a new favorite song I’ll sic some ferrets on you.
James: I think it's safe to say, you've had a trying year.
Tory: Oh yeah definitely instrument problems. With the exception of my five string electric, I've been playing on the same instruments for more than fifteen years. The glue dried up on the fingerboards of two of my acoustics and in one great act of defiance they just fell off. The big plus out of this year, were all the Helicore strings D'Addario thrown my way.
I've been making great use of them.
Instrument debacles aside this year has been full of so many highs and lows as a band.
I feel good about it though because most of this year was full of highs. We recorded our first full length album, won mtvU's "The Freshmen" because of our incredible fans, and did quite a bit of touring. We got a new van with working heat & A/C and in the same respect a new practice space with a window and working A/C. It's the small things.
As for personal problems, my cars comes to mind. Back in June, a man with dementia took his family's car out for a spin, only to total my parked car. Ever since then I've been trying to buy a working car. However, the universe had other plans. Including neighbors totaling my next newly fixed parked car and four months of loaner cars. When I sat "loaner cars",
it just highlights the fact that no one seems to be able to sell me one that actually works.
I'm glad to have been mobile and I did get to drive some sweet rides through all this. Including a brand new jet black Dodge Challenger. I recall thinking "Really, you're gonna let me drive this thing?" "That's how it is?" "You know, I do know how much this costs."
Those Mockingbirds will be performing this Saturday, May 3rd at Mexicali Live with
Trophy Scars, Science and NettyRose. For tickets, go Here
You can find out more about Those Mockingbirds below.
Band Site
Bandcamp
Facebook
I decided to reach out to Those Mockingbirds violinist / keyboardist Tory Anne Daines
to get the scoop on the band, the music and how the year's been treating her.
James: You just finished a short tour. Where did it take you? Did you head out alone?
Tory: We took ourselves out for a tour of New England and surrounding areas, which subsequently turned into a farewell tour for our guitarist Jon Gianino.
We kicked it off at WDHA with an interview by the fantasticDJ Lindsay Klein
and ended in our hometown of Montclair NJ.
The road from start to finish was eventful for sure. We played, gambled, and encountered everything from ribbon dancers to goats to sugar gliders to frat guys so drunk all they could do was roll on the ground and ask for ‘Kishes' (Kisses). We lost Jon but we gained a fantastic new guitarist, that we’re set to perform our first show with Saturday March 3rd at Mexicali Live in Teaneck with Trophy Scars.
James: Was Jon’s departure sudden, unexpected? Is there now a contract out on his life?
Tory: No contract but Jon left to pursue other avenues of his life. He told us about halfway through the last tour he was out but he played out the remaining dates with us.
We even made a farewell show for him out of the last show on the run. It's sad but we're all excited for what Kyle is bringing to our writing style.
James: You got sick just days before the tour. How did that turn out? Did it affect you overall performance?
Tory: I got sick far enough out that I was better by the first date but I was still only halfway through the antibiotics so I had to watch my drinking because beer would affect me much differently. I’m glad I caught it when I did because it could have easily affected my singing.
Tory: Both videos were well thought out, but only one of them was intended for release.
Our video for “A Ballad From Hell” was initially shot as a music video for “Coast to Coast” that was never released. We didn’t want to simply scrap it so we made it into something just for us, leaving behind the initial plot we shot the video around. I’m going to keep that plot private because it’s interesting to see how this video has taken on a life of it’s own.
With “How to Rob a Bank” we wanted to tell a complete story, beginning, middle, and end.
It wasn’t just us doing everything though we needed someone to help us flesh it out, film it, edit it, and tell us if something wasn’t working; John Komar couldn’t have been a better to work with on that.
We also released a video for “Destroy My Love” that we filmed in a warehouse.
The song is actually the first song Those Mockingbirds ever wrote.
James: You also ran a successful campaign to get "How to Rob a Bank" on MTVU.
In all honesty, I had no idea MTV still provided a platform for music.
How did that opportunity come about?
Magic and a whole lot of fan support. We were up against some serious competition for the spot, including some bands we really liked prior to going into this like Red Fang, and
Steven Wilson. The Freshman competition was the first time I really felt the weight of our fans. They were the ones that tilted the scales for us.
James: Your EP "Fa Sol La" was released by "Star Beat". Are you working with any labels at the moment? When can we expect to see the album?
Tory: We are not working with any labels at the moment but we’re working hard to introduce this album to the world in the right way. We’ve already given away a few secrets, including the fact that cellist Daniel de Jesús from Rasputina guests.
James: "Coast to Coast" had been my go to song for so long, my wife threatened a cease and desist order to keep me from repeatedly singing the chorus.
Is there a song on the new album worthy of taking it's place? What are your favorites?
Tory: There is definitely more than one you’ll like. “Penny The Dreadful” is a different beast from “Fa Sol La” and also one that translates very well live. If you don’t walk out of one of our shows with a new favorite song I’ll sic some ferrets on you.
 |
| Photo: Shawn Arlington Photography |
James: I think it's safe to say, you've had a trying year.
Tory: Oh yeah definitely instrument problems. With the exception of my five string electric, I've been playing on the same instruments for more than fifteen years. The glue dried up on the fingerboards of two of my acoustics and in one great act of defiance they just fell off. The big plus out of this year, were all the Helicore strings D'Addario thrown my way.
I've been making great use of them.
Instrument debacles aside this year has been full of so many highs and lows as a band.
I feel good about it though because most of this year was full of highs. We recorded our first full length album, won mtvU's "The Freshmen" because of our incredible fans, and did quite a bit of touring. We got a new van with working heat & A/C and in the same respect a new practice space with a window and working A/C. It's the small things.
As for personal problems, my cars comes to mind. Back in June, a man with dementia took his family's car out for a spin, only to total my parked car. Ever since then I've been trying to buy a working car. However, the universe had other plans. Including neighbors totaling my next newly fixed parked car and four months of loaner cars. When I sat "loaner cars",
it just highlights the fact that no one seems to be able to sell me one that actually works.
I'm glad to have been mobile and I did get to drive some sweet rides through all this. Including a brand new jet black Dodge Challenger. I recall thinking "Really, you're gonna let me drive this thing?" "That's how it is?" "You know, I do know how much this costs."
Those Mockingbirds will be performing this Saturday, May 3rd at Mexicali Live with
Trophy Scars, Science and NettyRose. For tickets, go Here
You can find out more about Those Mockingbirds below.
Band Site
Bandcamp
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Darryl Norrell Talks Science with Tomasz Garnek
Their single "Any Waking Moment" awaits you on their Bandcamp HERE. They'll appear live at Backroom Studios on March 1st for a Lamplighter-hosted show with The Sound Is Fine and Impossible Voyage, and with Reese Van Riper on March 9th at the Cake Shop.
Tomasz: Oh man, that was a great show, and definitely a turning point for us establishing ourselves in the local scene at that point. This was not long after our original guitarist left and we were trying to reconfigure our band as a 4 piece with Evan taking on lead guitar. Adam Bird of Those Mockingbirds was kind enough to get us in on that show, which was a Tiny Giant Showcase, and we were very lucky to have our sound heard and to network with a lot of great musicians that we are still very close with to this day. I think that show in particular, and the great reaction we got, gave us the confidence we needed to really push our band forward.
Darryl: What influences are at work in your new music? Is there a direction towards which you feel you're steering your sound on the full-length?
Tomasz: Well, I think one of the biggest influences in our new music and just the overall development of our band has been the acquisition of our current bassist, Andy Longo.
In early 2012, one of our original guitarists left and we were forced to restructure our songs as a 4 piece. We were definitely struggling to find our sound and were leaning more towards pop punk. However, towards the end of the year, we started jamming with Andy, put Alex on guitar duty, and something just clicked.
Andy and our drummer Steve had a really good vibe off the jump and, being the highly skilled bassist that he is, he really made everyone in the band step their game up. We started writing new songs with him and moved away from our pop punk origins toward a more progressive rock sound.
We didn't lose our roots, but I can easily say that Andy was the missing ingredient in this concoction that we call Science.
Darryl: What was the recording process like?
Tomasz: We did the demos for the album at North End Studios, which is kind of like home to us. We have our practice space there and Ed Auletta, the owner and main engineer there, has been extremely supportive to us, almost like a father figure to this band. We've done plenty of demos with him, and he recorded our single "Any Waking Moment", which is currently available on our Bandcamp HERE. (Shameless plug)
However, for the actual album recording, we went back to Backroom Studios where we recorded our first EP "Don't Panic!" in 2011. All of us have done several different projects with Kevin Antreassian over there, and we really wanted him involved on this recording.
We were lucky to have Ed come up to Backroom during our sessions as well.
We are very grateful to have such a high caliber of engineers and producers involved.
Darryl: What have you found yourselves writing songs about?
Tomasz: Alex generally writes most of the lyrics for our songs. What I personally like about Alex's song writing is that the guy can write a hell of a love song. I'm a sucker for pop, so I always appreciate a good ol' fashioned love song. However, one common theme in our band is that we're all huge nerds. So with the new record we have definitely delved into everything from Sci-Fi themes to life and death, and all that's in between. There's a loose concept of our new record about a man, in an undefined future, witnessing his world being destroyed, and the adventures of his life and death thereafter. It's very much open to interpretation, but there are songs on the new record inspired by things like MegaMan and World of Warcraft, so you can kind of see where our heads are at. Haha
Darryl: Has playing on the road been kind to you so far? How necessary do you think it is for a band to tour these days?
it is definitely not something we can tour with. Last year, we had a choice to either invest in a van or invest in a new record, and we chose the latter.
The next step, after the release, will be to get a good van and finally start spreading our music further. Even with the ability to get your music heard by more people due to the internet and social media, I think touring is still integral to a successful music career, and we very much look forward to it.
Darryl: Here's a chance to let it out. What's one thing we can all do to make New Jersey's music scene a little better?
Tomasz: That's a tough one, but I would say that the New Jersey scene is still thriving. Obviously, times have changed and everyone says, "it's not like it used to be, man", but it's not supposed to be how it used to be. The scene is supposed to evolve and change, and every generation of bands coming out has the responsibility to build on it. We came into this band thinking, "fuck it, there are all of these awesome bands in NJ, and all of these little sub-scenes, we're just gonna play with everyone", and that's what we did. We never pigeon holed ourselves into one genre; we've played with pop-punk bands, folk bands, metal bands, indie bands, rap artists, etc. It's amazing how many connections you make and what kind of camaraderie you start to feel. On our new record, we have several guest vocals from popular local bands, including additional horns and strings from other NJ artists. We wanted everyone to be a part of this record because the NJ scene made us who we are, and we wanted the record to reflect that. So, that's the one thing I could say we can all do.
Work together. Power in numbers.
Darryl: What's next, once the album's release is behind you? What do you guys want for the band going forward?
Darryl: Time to get serious. Stanley Cup predictions?
Tomasz: Haha, well this is definitely more of Alex's forte, as he's the big hockey fan in the band. He is predicting Chicago vs Rangers in the Stanley Cup, with the Rangers getting that W. So, I must say, Go Rangers!
Science NJ Website
Science Faebook
Free Download of Those Mockingbirds New Single "A Ballad From Hell"
Montclair New Jersey's Those Mockingbirds are streaming the first single
"A Ballad from Hell" from their upcoming, yet to be titled debut full length on Soundcloud Click Here to listen and download. For added visual stimulation, be sure to check out the song's You Tube video. James Damion
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Stuyvesant - "Duel" (Swervedriver Cover)
High praise for the new video featuring Stuyvesant's cover of the Swervedriver classic "Duel." The studio recording can be found on the Dromedary Records 20th Anniversary covers compilation "From '93 'Til Infinity". My Review
Available on CD or download on Dromedary Records
Directed by Brian Musikoff.
Edit and assembly by Bill Hamilton, Beel Media.
Recorded and mixed by Tom Beaujour @ Nuthouse Recording, Hoboken, New Jersey.
New Video 'Euphony' from All Sensory Void
Check out the video for the song 'My Euphony' from All Sensory Void's
'Relax Man…You're Actually Just Energy Condensed to a Slow Vibration.'.
A.S.V. will be releasing a new full length album in late Spring/early Summer entitled 'Everywhere You Go…There You Are'. Self described as Van Morrison meets Husker Du. Let's hope Mr. Morrison bought the band a round or three soon after.
James Damion
Video - (Join The) Hate Wave b/w Captivity
I had feared that Video may have broken up after the release of 2011's Leather Leather Lp which was a 2011 year end top ten of mine. You can read the Lp review HERE. Anyway, I am thrilled to see that Video is still going, and going strong at that. The brand new 7" ep (Join The ) Hate Wave b/w Captivity contains all the hall marks that landed Leather Leather on my year end list. The music moves straight ahead at a mid tempo but the guitars are angular and interesting, the vocals are simply song with a bit of a snotty detachment (in the best way) at times. The two new songs on offer here are immediately memorable and command immediate repeat listens. Man, I really dig this band, here's hoping there's a new full length coming in the near future...Dave G.
Sound cloud
Purchase
Act quick band has only 30 copies left.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
I Am Heresy Post Video for a Track from their Upcoming Album and Debut on Century Media
I Am Heresy, featuring Boy Sets Fire's frontman Nathan Gray and his son Simon, have released their first lyric video for their song "Rahabh." The track will appear on their Century Media debut 'Thy Will 'out March 4, 2014
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