Going local: Get to know… We are the City.

By Jennifer Reynolds, photo by Kristen Berlie 

 British Columbia has produced some amazing musical talents. Maybe it’s the unpredictable weather; maybe it’s the laid-back west coast lifestyle. Either way, the whole world is benefiting from this amazing group of musicians. One such band to emerge from the interior of BC is We are the City.  After winning last year’s The PEAK Performance Project, a local competition to help develop BC bands with a first prize win of $150,000, We are the City has quickly become a band on the rise.  I met up with the band on a sunny Saturday evening before their show at the Biltmore Cabaret in Vancouver. Here’s what they had to say:

You’ve had a couple Canadian tours under your belt now and you have documented a lot of it on your YouTube channel. What has been your favourite experience or memory from touring so far?

Cayne: Walking on frozen Lake Superior.

David: We went out so far we thought the ice would break.

Andy: Montreal and Quebec City were really awesome. I loved all of Quebec.

David: We collected sap water to make maple syrup in Drummondville, Quebec wearing snowshoes.

We are the City has a Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, YouTube channel and you’ve done some live Ustream videos. Have you enjoyed promoting your band, the interaction with fans and the ability to showcase your personalities that these channels allow you to have?

 Andy: Yeah, I think it’s the best way to do things. I think for all of us the reason why we’re in the band is to be close to people and make new friends. Doing that at shows is one way to do it but I think also to connect with [the fans], it’s really awesome that we can do that on a day-to-day basis.

David: It’s made it more of a way your band isn’t so disconnected. It’s like everyone kinda knows who you are if you do stuff like that.

Cayne: These days you can’t really be a band that’s like when Led Zeppelin came out. It was like no one knows what they’re like. You couldn’t touch them. You couldn’t go near them. Now you can really go near every band so why not fully open the floodgates and let them in.

In a recent interview you talked about how you were working on writing songs for your next album. I believe it was David that said you were looking forward to getting to do a record in a ‘cooler’ way. What did you mean by that?

Cayne: Before the first record we had just graduated high-school and got second jobs, saved up a little bit of money each and put it into recording. We had a super limited budget. 

David: Now thanks to The Peak and Music BC we can do orchestration and not have to worry about being super rushed.

Andy: We just have a lot of time now or we could have a lot of time to do what we really want to do and to experiment in the studio

Cayne: I think all of us are really excited to try wild and different recording techniques and stuff we didn’t get to do before. Hopefully we can write good enough songs. [laughs]

There are some great bands coming out of BC. Many of whom you have worked with or been on tour with such as The Zolas, Said the Whale and Aidan Knight. Are there any other BC bands you guys are really excited about that you’d want to tour with or BC Bands that you’ve been listening to a lot lately?

Andy: One for us would be Mother Mother. They’re in the studio right now. We were really into ‘O My Heart’ when it came out and I think we played that album like 20 times.  So now we’re eagerly awaiting their next thing and of course we would love to play with them or be better friends with them.

Cayne: There is another band called Yukon Blonde that we have done lots of things with but they have been out touring in the States so we haven’t seen them in a long time. I’d love to reconnect.

David: There are also smaller bands that I’m excited for them to get bigger like Fields of Green from Kelowna.

Andy: Treelines from Kelowna

Cayne: Kingdom Cloud from Kelowna

The video for ‘Astronomers’ features the three of you running away from a Zombie attack. What was it like filming that?

 Andy: For me I’ve always wanted to do something with zombies. I love all zombie movies…. 

Cayne: Well you had about 4 times a year a legit zombie night terror.

Andy: Yah that’s kind of faded away. I used to almost every month have a dream that lasted the entire night about zombies. I was running away from them, a zombie apocalypse type thing. So anyways about filming, it was kind of like a dream come true for me in a small way. When we were running away from them, I was actually scared.

Cayne: The whole video is actually one shot. It’s in slow motion and the field wasn’t long enough to run it full speed for the whole time so we kind of had to run in slow motion and really exaggerated.  It was really funny. It was cold and started snowing right as we were filming so it was perfect.

If you were in a real Zombie attack would you succumb to the same fate? You all died in the end.

 All: Definitely not!

Andy: I’ll let you know why I’d be really good [pulls out a book from his backpack]. I have a zombie survival guide. It’s got every way to attack them, what the best vehicles are….

David: Yeah you don’t want to be in an open door jeep.

Andy: Tank is the best.

David: Obviously, or a submarine.

Cayne: Submarine is cool!

Andy: No.

David and Cayne: Why not?

Andy: Why would you be in a submarine, you could only live down there for like a week.

David: Dude, you could live under there for way longer than a week. You just have to stock pile food or something.

Cayne: Yup, there’s no zombies in the water.

David: Unless the sharks became zombies!

Cayne: No that would be crazy!

Andy: Yah that would be wild. But anyways, I think I’d do pretty well.

To learn more about We are the City check out their website and be sure to follow their tour dates on their Bandsintown profile, so you don’t miss out when they’re in your city!

Tagged: interviews, local, vancouver, bc, submission, .

5 (or so) Questions For Tom Williams & The Boat!

By Levina Duivesteijn

In a music industry which is so competitive and dominated by major record labels, it is great to see that the efforts of the young and upcoming band Tom Williams & The Boat are being rewarded. With their self contained EPs they managed to get Huw Stephens and Steve Lamacq of the BBC interested and soon they hit it off at the BBC Introducing Stage at various UK festivals in 2008. Since then the band has been busy recording, playing more gigs, made it recently to the final of the Emerging Talent Competition of Glastonbury Festival, and just released their single “Concentrate”. The launch was celebrated at the Old Blue Last here in London last week, and Tom was being so kind to give up Subway sandwiches just before the gig in order to have a chat with us. Sweet!

Let’s go back to the beginning, it’s about two years ago, a local gig-night in Tunbridge Wells - what happened?

There is a gig-venue in Tunbridge Wells called The Grey Lady, where about three of us played in different groups. I had been playing solo acoustic shows there for about two years from 2006, and I was getting sick of playing acoustic nights because I felt some songs could definitely be expanded in certain ways. So it was Geri, Ant and Josh from other bands and the rest was actually friends of friends. We still play at that venue every six weeks – Paul [Dunton], who runs it, has been amazing for the acoustic music scene there.

So you all weren’t complete strangers to each other?

Well, we had seen each other play, but we hadn’t really talked to each other.

Any personality clashes?

No, [laughs] everyone is really nice.

Soon afterwards you already started playing at the BBC Introducing Kent festival?

Yeah, we actually released our first EP called “The Penquin EP” already in the summer of 2007 and that started being played on the BBC Kent Introducing show on Radio Kent. It was then when we got our first Radio 2 feature with Steve Lamacq and started playing a lot of the BBC Introducing stages.

Heard in an interview with Likesounds.com that you prefer the London-gigs?

True, it’s usually whether my parents are there or not. They love to go to as many as possible but the London-ones they tend not to.

But they are here tonight I assume?

No they are not actually, so I’m gonna go mental [laughs].

The Emerging Talent Competition of Glastonbury Festival - out of 1600 entrants you made it with 11 other bands to the final!

Yes! But I entered the band and didn’t tell them about it actually, because I didn’t want to jinx it. Whenever someone calls me up to say “so and so are going to be at your show tonight” I just don’t tell the band because I don’t want to jinx it. And it’s been really good, because everything in the last 3 weeks just happened - we got to the final of that Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition, we confirmed a tour with Stornaway, and we just got confirmed for a big festival in the summer. So when I phoned up the band I was like “Hey! Eh, there is a competition, which I didn’t tell you, but we entered and… we’re in the final!” And they were all like, “huh, oh, hooray!” [laughs].

Tonight is the release party of your single ‘Concentrate’, what is the story behind it?

We released four EPs from October 2007 up to February 2009. The last one is called “Doing My Best EP” and follows the story of a character. “Concentrate” was more or less the beginning of the story unfold and was written about two years ago. There are definitely more catchy tracks which we could have chosen, but we wanted the first one to be really on our terms and it’s a track which the band really enjoys playing.

And it’s also released on vinyl - do you listen a lot to vinyl yourself?

Yes, we are MASSIVE vinyl freaks. That has been one of our major life goals, to get the single out on vinyl. All we’ve got left now is Glastonbury and Jools Holland - and then we might as well give up [laughs]!

Tom Williams & The Boat at the Old Blue Last from Levina on Vimeo.

Many thanks to Tom for the interview and the whole band for the gig. Visit their MySpace for their tour-dates and to listen to more of their tracks. You can buy their single digitally on iTunes or get it on 7” vinyl from their site!

Tagged: Interviews, Gig-footage, .

5 (or so) Questions For… Steve Pilgrim!

By Levina Duivesteijn

Liverpool-based musician Steve Pilgrim has recently been busy doing acoustic solo shows all over the UK as part of the Ocean Colour Scene-tour and will soon be drumming again for Paul Weller, whose band he joined in 2008. I had the pleasure of seeing him play live last month at the Ocean Colour Scene concert in Sheffield, where he beautifully sung songs like “The Man I’ve Become” and “Lover, Love Her”. Despite his busy schedule he made the time to talk about his recent and upcoming gigs, and of course about his fantastic (independently released!) album Sunshine.

You have been incredibly busy supporting Ocean Colour Scene during their tour around the country, how has it been?

Good, it’s great being on the road again, to be going around the country and to be playing for different people.

What was the best gig for you this tour?

Ouf, I couldn’t tell you - there have been so many you see. Can’t even tell you where we went [laughs].

Have you missed playing with the band?

Yeah, I have a little bit. But it comes down to money really, sometimes you just can’t afford to take a whole band with you. It’d be nice to have other musicians with me all the time, but obviously you’re not always able to.

You released your album Sunshine completely independently, which must have been a lot of work for you - worth it?

Absolutely. I’d recommend it to anyone who’s thinking of what else is going to come along or waiting for a major record deal. To scrabble around for some money in order to do it yourself. It pays off - if you believe in what you’re doing, then all the work will pay off in the end.

Is an album for you more or less a collection of the songs you happened to write and play at that particular time, or are you very conscious of the album you are going to create at the time of writing?

I suppose I follow my nose really. I have no idea how it’s gonna end off at the beginning. I tend to start writing songs, like most people I suppose, with a few chords and a few lyrics and it tends to build from there. It’s not until I have finished a few tracks that I start getting a better idea of the bigger picture – how it’s gonna fit together and what the end result will look like.

When you played in The Stands you already had some great musicians around you, Noel Gallagher (Oasis) and Bill Ryder (The Coral) both played at the debut album All Years Leaving for example. Was that luck or do you have some amazing network-skills?

It was luck really. I have been playing in bands from a young age, so it was a case of getting out there and playing with as many good people as I could find. Your name then just gets around I suppose, and you figure out who is good to work with. I tended to just find as many possible gigs I could play at, who ever it was with. When Howie [Payne] from the Stands came along and called up for a rehearsal it all happened very quickly. Very soon we were in the studio doing demos and before we knew it we were on the road doing support-tours. Again, it’s about following your nose but always trying to get out there and do what you do.

What is for you the best thing about playing live?

It doesn’t happen to me that often, but when there is that moment of a perfect relationship between the crowd and the musicians. That mutual respect. I think it doesn’t happen particularly a lot in an acoustic set, but more often in the traditional rock set, when you have the full attention of the audience and you can feel they are enjoying the live experience - then it is at its best.

Do you go to any gigs yourself?

I don’t have a lot of time unfortunately, and because you’re already often in a gig-environment you don’t really want to spend your time off there as well. But when we’re on the road and doing festivals I definitely try to use that to see as many other musicians as possible.

Plans for the coming few months?

This month I’ll be playing a Haiti benefit gig with others on the 18th at the Leaf Tea House and Bar in Liverpool. And in April I’ll be playing the drums with Paul Weller again. He has his new album Wake Up The Nation coming out in the middle of April so we’re gonna be out promoting that.

Many thanks to Steve Pilgrim for his time. Visit his website to sign up to his mailing list and is where you can also buy his excellent albums Sunshine and Lover, Lover her. As Rikki Wright said in a review: “once you’ve heard this music, you just won’t be able to do without it”. I couldn’t agree more.

Photo top by Chris Norman via Steve Pilgrim’s MySpace page

Photo bottom of the NME Awards 2010 via Steve Pilgrim’s Facebook page

Tagged: Interviews, .

5 (or so) Questions For… Allison Weiss!

By Matt DiGirolamo - Photo by Lauren Farmer

The DIY music scene is tough to be a part of; you must persevere to get your music heard, and even then rallying your fans and getting booked is extremely difficult. All of this, however, seems to come relatively easy for singer-songwriter Allison Weiss from Athens, GA. Her ability to use social networking and the internet to promote herself, her impeccable talent and smooth vocals and guitar have made her an instant celebrity on sites like Tumblr. She is currently on tour with Jenny Owen Youngs and Bess Rogers for the Spring Break Forever Tour. The three women stop at the Great Scott in Allston, MA tonight!

Tell me a little about yourself, how you got started in music, and how you got to be where you are today?

I started playing guitar around age 14 to impress a punk rock boy in my creative writing class. Somewhere between then and now, I wrote a ton of songs, played a ton of shows, and discovered that my hobby had become my purpose. In addition to loving music, I’ve also had an innate love for marketing and promotion, so I’ve gotten really good at doing things for myself. Basically I work hard and I play hard and will continue to do so forever!

You used a website called Kickstarter to help raise money for your album. What was it like going through that process, and how can it benefit other musicians?

Kickstarter has done amazing things for my music career. Not only did I raise enough money to pay for my whole record and then some, but I learned a lot in the process about how important it is to build a supportive fan base on the Internet. I had no idea how successful the project would be, and the results amazed me. It just affirmed my beliefs that the Internet is just as important as real life and it’s a great place to meet fans and create real honest relationships.

What is your favorite part of being on the Spring Break Forever Tour?

Bess Rogers and Jenny Owen Youngs are two of my favorite people on the planet. Also, performing music is the number one source of joy in my life. Combine these elements together and you’ve got one incredible couple of weeks. I’m pretty much living the dream right now and loving every second of it.

If you could collaborate or perform with any artist (living or dead) who would it be and why?

There aren’t really any artists that I put up on pedestals like that. I don’t have one single band I’d want to play with or collaborate with. I suppose it’d be cool to do something musical with some of my personal favorites like Jenny Lewis or Tegan and Sara or The Avett Brothers, but I think right now, playing songs every night with Jenny and Bess is at the top of my list. If I could keep doing this for as long as possible, that’d be great.

What is currently spinning in the MP3 player of your choice?

The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism

Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers

Tegan and Sara - Sainthood

…and a whole bunch of mixtures I’ve been making. It’s springtime. Warm weather is about long drives and good play lists.

You have a very close relationship with your brother AJ. How has he played a role in your music career?

AJ has been my sideman for the past couple years. Not only does he rule as a musician, he’s been super supportive of all my goals and aspirations. He’s always willing to play a show at the drop of a hat and will drive pretty much anywhere with me to do so.

What was the writing process like for “…Was Right All Along” ?

I wrote most of the songs on the album between 2008-2009 without an album in mind. They just happened as they happened and when it was time to put something together I just picked what I had been playing live and hadn’t recorded yet. All of the songs are pretty much just me working out my problems in my head. They’re all based on the trials and tribulations of failed relationships. Don’t let that scare you away though. The music still sounds really happy.

You use a lot of social media tools, how has it contributed to your success?

Since I’m still in college (I graduate in May), social media allows me to be “out there” and doing things without actually having to physically be on the road. If I could be touring constantly I totally would, but for now I’m stuck in Athens doing my homework. Luckily, thanks to the Internet, I can stay active and work from home.

If you could give one bit of advice to aspiring musicians that want to “do it themselves” what would that be?

Embrace the Internet. Play as many shows as you possibly can. Don’t be afraid to scream your own name from the rooftops. If you don’t do it, nobody will!

—

Want to know more about Allison Weiss? Follow her on Twitter here, or visit her snazzy homepage here.

Tagged: Interviews, .

5 (or so) Questions For… Dawn Landes!

By Levina Duivesteijn

Exactly one week ago, Dawn Landes played a wonderful solo-show at the Monto Water Rats here in London. With her new album Sweet Heart Rodeo she has been busy touring Europe and will soon brighten up Toronto, Montreal, and several cities in the States with her fine tunes. But it’s not only her beautiful voice which made the show so wonderful and enjoyable - without exaggeration, Dawn Landes simply charms you away with her presence. She engages with the audience, got us to sing along with Straight Lines, and delivered a wonderful encore of three songs (of which one was my favourite song Twilight - yes Dawn, that was me instantly shouting “Twilight!” when you asked the audience what to play next!). I had the honour to have a drink with her in the pub before the show and we talked about living in France, her new album, and her fantastic blue-grass cover of Peter, Bjorn and John’s Young Folks which became a hit on YouTube - and is how I got to know her music in 2007!

You have been touring the US, Paris and Holland these last few weeks – how has it been?

It’s been good, the US-stuff was with my band. I have been touring a lot with the band since the record came out, so I was a little nervous to do solo-shows but it’s going well.

You lived in France for a while, how was it to go back recently?

Living in France was amazing, many new different experiences and it was great to go back, see my friends, and play. I can speak a little bit of French, so that was fun. I have a couple of French songs too. On my very first record I did a song called the French song, which apparently has terrible French pronunciation in it [laughs].

Why did you want to live in France?

I had been touring there for a while, and there is something about touring in another country and having a relationship with people you can’t understand, and who can’t understand you. When you are playing in foreign countries you are often crippled in a way, because you can’t really communicate in between the songs. I wanted to explore that a little. And also, they are just so cool. I wanted to see what they were talking about at the bar, simply go up to them and say “hey what are you talking about, it looks like you’re having such a good time,” just wanting to be part of the conversation. And I love the sound of the language too.

Your recorded your new album in your own studio - which you built yourself?

Yes! Together with some friends we built it over the summer last year.

Something you wanted to do for a long time?

Definitely. I have been working in studios for about 7 years, before Steve [Salett] and I started building this place. I don’t know if you know the politics of working in a studio, but you more or less start working as the runner, who goes and gets the coffee, stays around, gets the food, and slowly you pick up bits of knowledge of how things work. So yeah, I guess I always wanted to be my own boss and just record the stuff I want to record.

Your new album – how much does it differ from your old album?

For me, I don’t start out to make an album – I just have a bunch of songs and it becomes its own thing by the fact that it’s created at the same moment in time. It’s like a photograph, my favourite engineer Steve Albini always says he is a sound capturer or recordist, like the photographer of a band - you’re trying to capture what they’re doing at that specific moment in time.

The way I got to know you was through your cover Young Folks, how did that song come about?

I played a few times at the music festival South by SouthWest, and the first time I was there I found myself at a barbecue restaurant and saw this group of old blue grass musicians playing. They played there every Sunday night for over ten years and I just loved them. They are so much fun and quirky, and I decided to ask them to play as my band when I would go back next year. Which was crazy, because I didn’t really know them and they are all in their seventies. But I did and they agreed to do it. I then heard that song Young Folks at the festival and thought it was a great song. For them it didn’t really matter which song we did since they mostly do covers and had to learn some of my songs anyway. It was such a fun song to do, especially as I always feel a bit out of place at these kind of places, because it’s all about being cool and being the next best thing. These people have been playing music their whole lives, so for me it was like saying “fuck you” to everybody, “THIS is cool, THESE people are the shit”. And it was a great show, everybody loved it.

Any exciting plans in the near future or too busy touring?

Well, I started a girl-band! The band is called The Bandana Splits and it’s just me and two friends goofing off. We made a small EP and it’s really good but I haven’t really had time to focus on it since, so hopefully I’ll get that out more in the summer.

Many thanks to Dawn Landes for her time and such a wonderful show. Watch some video-footage of the gig below, check her out on MySpace for some sweet tunes and track her on our site for future gigs - highly recommended!

Dawn Landes at Monto Water Rats in London, March 2010 from Levina on Vimeo.

Video footage of the gig of Dawn Landes on the 1st of March 2010 at the Monto Water Rats in London. Thanks to Dawn Landes for such a wonderful evening.

Tagged: London, Interviews, .

5 Questions For… Stay!

By Ashley Maceli

Stay stands out as a gem of the unsigned artists out there. With one listen to their EP “Games With Girls” it is clear to see that Stay will become much bigger. For now the boys from Bean Town are enjoying the journey and are looking forward to what this new year means for their band. Steve Akles, guitarist of Stay was kind enough to talk to us at Bandsintown and let us know what Stay will be up to in the future.

How did all of you guys meet?
“I think the main thing was that we were all in other bands and we all sort of just met through playing with other bands. Those bands broke up along the way and we stayed in contact with each other and then the singer and I kept in contact with each other, and the drummer and I were friends prior to the band. Then we met the bass player that my singer knew so it was a combination of mutual friends and being a part of past bands as well as being from the area”

So you guys are from Boston. What venues did you start playing at when you first got started?
“We started out with a lot of just playing any show we were offered. So we were doing halls and churches or just a bar or something like that. Our first show as a band was in Revere, Massachusetts at a hall. As things went on we got invited to play at bigger more legitimate venues like that. It just sort of happened as time went on.”

You recently made the number #8 spot on the top 20 unsigned artists of 2009 on Pure Volume. That must of been a big accomplishment for you guys, how did that make you feel?
“Yeah! We were really pumped about that. It’s cool having a lot of momentum moving us into 2010. We really are strong supporters of Pure Volume. They help us out a lot and we really like them so it was really cool to be recognized for our hard work. We were really excited about the whole thing.”

Do you have plans for signing on with a record label anytime soon?
“I think at sometime in 2010 we are hoping to get signed to a record label. Right now we are playing it by ear. We have been presented with a few offers but they were contracts we weren’t all excited about. If we are going to sign something we want the whole team to be excited about the label and the contract. We aren’t in any rush but one of the goals is to get to that level. Last year was mainly a building year for us where we played a lot of shows and recorded new songs. I think this year would be the most appropriate year to do that and to reach that level.”

What are your plans for the future? Any more CDs or perhaps a tour coming up?
“Right now we are working on some new songs and then we are planning on heading into the studio in March to record some songs. Then we will probably do some touring in April. We also right now we have the 3 EPs up on our website and they will probably be up for a while. We will be releasing a new song in March hopefully too. Right now though we are just enjoying being at home before recording in March and touring again.”

Tagged: Interviews, Boston, .

5 (or so) Questions for… Steven Smith!

by Matt DiGirolamo

If you’re like me, you were never really into starting your own band, but you loved music and wanted to get involved in the scene anyway. The same can be said of Steven Smith, well known for his now defunct “Steven’s Untitled Rock Show” on FUSE. Steven has interviewed many bands and contributed much to what music journalism means today.

Steven was kind enough to chat at length with Bandsintown about his story and anything that came to mind; where he came from, what happened to SURS, and all about music or what he might have done if he didn’t get his big break.

What is the story of Steven Smith?
It’s a tale as old as time. The long and the short of it – and I don’t even think Wikipedia has this right – I was living in California trying to be an actor and not being very good at it. I was dating a girl who was a swing dancer who was also a host… I was like ‘I can do that!’ and when I was asked if I had any experience I said yes – I lied – and auditioned for a music hosting job for VH1. I was 26 and they said I was too young, but they remembered me. So about 4 years later they hired me and I started working at VH1. Then VH1 stopped playing a lot of music and my deal ended there. Then I went over to FUSE which was MuchMusicUSA at the time… then I went from there and started freelancing, doing different gigs here and there. I did one for Myspace, I did some stuff for FUSE last year, and now I am doing what everyone else is doing, lookin’ for gigs. It’s a free market!

What ended up happening with FUSE?
That’s a good question, I don’t know. A couple of years ago when I had ‘Steven’s Untitled Rock Show’ we got moved from our timeslot after school to during school so that nobody could watch. We were confused, we were like ‘why did you do that?’ and the people then running the network didn’t like the show and basically killed it. They got fired and we were like ‘cool, rock on! The show is coming back!’ but since the show got moved to 2 o’clock the ratings tanked and the new people came in and said ‘we’re not doing it.’ That was the end of 2008 and then in 2009 we tried this show ‘Distortion’ and it didn’t work and it wasn’t any fun… that got canceled last November. I’ve been doing a couple of things since then, but if they need me I’d more than happily be there.

What was your first concert experience?
Oh god, you won’t even know them. I bet you your parents or grandparents might. They were a band called Sha Na Na, I was 7 years old… at the time – late ‘70s early ‘80s – they had a TV series that famously known for having The Ramones on. They had a concert and my parents took me because they watched the show. I didn’t go to a concert again until I was 14… that one was The Monkees.

What was the best and worst interview you’ve done?
There were so many that were really good. One comes to mind, an interview with Jay Bentley of Bad Religion which was amazing. I did a great interview with [the whole band] in which Brian Baker called Ian MacKaye… it was hilarious. Almost everybody I talk to is really, really cool. I’ve had very few diva moments… I’ve actually only had one in recent memory with a young women named Lady GaGa. She was quite a diva and I was very bummed because I am a huge Lady GaGa fan. I guess you just have to separate the artist from the interview… maybe she was having a bad day, but it bummed me out.

You have done a lot with music journalism, but have you done any performing before?
I was in a band in college, and I was a very bad drummer. That’s why I do this stuff, I like talking to bands! But yeah, I played drums in a band called The Ice Cream Socialists. We had a lot of fun, but that was it for me. Being in a band is the hardest thing you’ll ever do, unless you want to be a standup comedian.

What are you currently listening to?
Motion City Soundtrack at the moment, their new album [My Dinosaur Life] is really great. Before that Banner Pilot’s “Collapser” [off of Fat Wreck Cords], Strike Anywhere’s “Iron Front” – that was really good, I played the shit out of that – definitely Lady GaGa, and NOFX’s EP “Cokie the Clown.” That has one of Fat Mike’s catchiest songs on there… “Straight out of Massachusetts” [is the title] as a matter of fact.

Do you have a favorite venue?
Bowery Ballroom in NYC for sure.

If you didn’t get into the music journalism stuff, what would you have done?
Teacher. I was a substitute teacher while I was auditioning for parts. A few of my students found me and were like “Holy shit, you taught me, remember?” and I say “Yep, you were a prick, remember that?” I would probably teach English since I love to read.

What advice would you give to aspiring music journalists looking to get their foot in the door?
I would get a camera and just start taping yourself talking to bands. Talk to bands you know, talk to bands that are opening for bands you love, put all of it on a website and just go from there. I have said this to a lot of people and have said to friends, wrote it in my Alternative Press column, and I would meet kids and adults backstage at the Warped Tour in the press corps area and their like ‘I heard you said to do this, so I’m doing it!’ and it was the coolest thing. Then you start to establish credibility, and the bands begin to trust you.

For more info about Steven Smith: Follow him on  Twitter, or add him on Myspace!

Tagged: interviews, .

5 Questions for… Like the Stars

Interview by Alex Mason

Out of Point Pleasant NJ, an ambitious powerpop band was formed.  Like The Stars began in January 2008 when founding member, vocalist and lyricist AJ Hoenings called on friends to help create original material “from the heart”.  Bassist Nick VanderMaas and guitarist  Nick Kaelblein were the first to join the band.  Joey Trala on drums and Connor Appleton on guitar were the last members to help round out the aspiring 5 piece band.  With the exception of Nick V, all played in prior bands and knew what they were looking for musically.

While the band was hard at work playing shows locally & regionally, they had also been focused on writing and recording.  After a year and a half, their long awaited LP was released on May 22, 2009. “Don’t Tell Secrets, I Won’t Tell Lies” received high appraisal from both old and new fans alike.

Their influences vary greatly but bands such as All Time Low and Mayday Parade help bring forth their passion for music while creating a sound all their own.

Q: New Jersey is a haven for influential bands to sprout from. With more modern acts such as Thursday and Midtown to more classic acts such as Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi, what has it been like trying to make a name for yourself in a music scene that has seen so much?

A: New Jersey is a great place to be a starting musician because of all the super influential artists and song writers that have come from here. It also gives you a lot to live up to. We really could not ask for a better place to be based out of.

Q: Pop Punk is becoming, if it already isn’t, one of the bigger genres out right now. With that comes the positives and negatives.  Many people complain of pop punk bands all being the same and being unoriginal. What are you guys doing to separate yourself from the pack? Why should people listen to Like The Stars over other similar artists?

A: Our biggest thing is trying to put on as much of an entertaining live show as possible. You see so many bands who walk on stage with a very apathetic attitude. We’re really against that, we all have an extreme passion for music in general and it shows in our live show.

Q: I was fortunate enough to see a few songs from your set at The Bamboozle festival this past May. What was it like being able to play such a big event like Bamboozle? Were there any opportunities you were able to gain through playing Bamboozle?

A: Bamboozle was a dream come true for us. It was really an experience likeno other.  We were able to be a part of something that all of our biggest influences were a part of as well. So that was really cool. As far as opportunities go we’ve been offered a bunch of shows due to Bamboozle, which has been really awesome as well.

Q: Was there a point during your band’s life that made you just go, “Wow, this is why I make music” ? If not, or even if so, what is something you think you can change or aspire for to get to that point?

A: I think we all agree that being on stage for Bamboozle was huge for us, either then or going on our first tour. We really took a step back and said, “Wow”.

Q: Recording could be a tedious yet fun process that may cause some of the members to become delusional, are there any fun stories you have from the studio? What about past tours?

A: There’s a lot of stories! We were on our first tour with our friends in Arizona Lives! (check them out, awesome dudes!) But they managed to break into our van, un-hinge all of our seats, put them on top of the van, and then proceeded to cover our van in a bunch of stuff. Anything from flour to mayo to duct tape.  All kinds of stuff.  It was really bad.

Tagged: Interviews, .

5 Questions for … Hays Holladay! (+ Bluebrain @ Comet)

Post by Emma Norman

Bandsintown had the pleasure of asking Hays Holladay, former guitarist and vocalist for the Washington, DC based electro-pop band The Epochs, five questions about concerts. We talked about the perks of playing in Seattle, his most memorable shows, and the anomaly that is the NYC music industry, among other things. With achievements such as winning multiple major music contests, playing with bands from The Walkmen to Spank Rock, and embarking on their new project Bluebrain here in DC (see show notes below), we foresee an epic future for the Holladay brothers.

BIT: With your growing success, what was it like to transition from playing in front of crowds of mostly familiar faces to a more public audience?

HAYS: It’s cool because you sort of get your first honest reaction and sometimes that can be negative. But mostly it’s positive and I feel like when you play with a bigger band (like The Walkmen or any band that’s nationally recognized) I think people go to those shows wanting to hear the opening band whereas if you go to a smaller show, people are there to see the band they came to see. It’s almost like a sort of instant respect for you. Then after the shows, people wanting to get on your mailing list, it feels very rewarding, like it’s all paid off a little bit.

BIT: You have moved throughout the music scenes of Washington DC, Seattle, and Brooklyn. Was there one city that you prefer to play live in, and why?

HAYS: Seattle has a very good music scene. I think people seek out things they haven’t heard. It’s less of a blog culture, not in a negative way, but I think in New York people are just inundated with music and they need somebody or something to point them in a direction of what to check out. I think in Seattle there’s more of a culture of “let’s go to this place because they usually have good bands.” And so a lot of times people would come and say “we’ve never even heard you but that was cool, I’m glad I got to see you.” And the venues are very cool there. But that being said, New York has some awesome places like Bowery Ballroom, great sound and really cool people. Also smaller places like Silent Barn.

BIT: Bandsintown has an interest in deconstructing the music industry and doing away with the negative aspects (like unnecessarily high ticket prices) while uplifting the good. How you think that your preference for playing in Seattle reflects the local music industry?

HAYS: I think out there there’s more of a connection between bands and fans. Because I guess there aren’t too many labels out there, whereas New York is sort of the de facto hub for pretty much any label in the U.S. but also fraud. I guess nobody’s “from” New York and as such I think there aren’t many bands that people really take pride in as being a local band. I think places like DC and Seattle, you know they’re smaller so if there is a local band people really get behind it. But there are so many bands (including ourselves) that sort of transplant to New York and as such you can’t really say you’re a local band, but more like a band that plays locally. New York is so diverse in terms of it’s got DIY stuff but also a lot of major label-type showcases, so it’s an anomaly in a lot of ways.

BIT: Is there a certain persona that you adopt during your shows in order to create the energy that you wish to achieve, or are your performances more based on spontaneous expression?

HAYS: I think we try to set up the variables. Ryan (Hays’ brother and keyboardist/ vocalist in The Epochs) has always been a big proponent of playing to your strengths. We just try to set up the show in a way that we feel comfortable and can really let loose, and from there we’re just sort of spontaneous and try to feel the energy of the crowd and music. But we always try to make sure it’s high energy and engaging. (The performance) stems from the music you make, and when you’re making that music, it’s still you but it’s not too many degrees removed from acting in that you’re playing a side of yourself. Usually we tend to move towards a persona that’s almost like a public speaker- we use podiums when we play live, someone that rallies the crowd, somebody very captivating is what we try to aspire towards as opposed to a more shoegaze approach.

BIT: And lastly, is there one show that stands out in your mind, whether it was your own or one that you were in the audience for?

HAYS: I would say one recent show that really impacted me and changed my view on live music was when I saw The Knife. They were just a duo as well and it was less about seeing somebody play a guitar solo or rock out as it was a multimedia experience. We use visuals as well, and that show broadened my boundaries of what I interpreted as a great live show. But then I also remember seeing Elvis Costello at Wolftrap, a solo show when I was in high school, and there was a point where they just turned off the whole sound system and it was just him singing with no microphone. Incredible; he was just filling up the whole place. Yeah so there are two ends of the spectrum, both of which Ryan and I are interested in doing. But I like that you can have multiple takes on what live music is and it doesn’t just have to be this intimate experience or a multimedia extravaganza.

***

It was a dark and stormy night last Saturday when the Holladay brothers packed the back room of Comet Ping Pong in Northwest D.C. making one of their first public appearances as Bluebrain. Formerly of the band The Epochs, the brothers have returned to their native city bringing an exciting multimedia project home with them.

After an opening set by Wilson Kemp, Ryan and Hays took their traditional positions at podiums on either side of a screen. As soon as the room went black, things got loud. The layered tones of Bluebrain’s music could be felt from the inside out as the screen became a canvas for projected images that ranged from morphing faces to helicopter footage tumbling toward a landscape. The images complimented the dynamic aural mix- a frenetic but totally danceable wave of beats, samples, and vocals that encompassed Comet like a tsunami. Over-stimulated by the visuals and crowd, the lightning through the shabby skylight in the ceiling, and the Holladay brothers twiddling at their twin podiums, it was like being involved in an experiment that went very very right. There’s something wild in the works, and any time you get a chance to dive into a Bluebrain show, go for it- you’ll love the sensation.

Their album entitled Soft Power will be out this fall on Lujo Records. In the meantime, listen here to singles from their EP Ten By Ten, available now on iTunes.

For other coverage of Bluebrain check out:

• BrightestYoungThings Listening Party
• PunkNews
• DCist
  

Tagged: Concerts, interviews, .