|
MK - I know the two of you have played together for awhile in other bands, but could you give me a little bit of history about how Revolution, I Love You came to be?
R,ILY - We met in high school, and played together in the same band all the way up until we both left college. When that fell apart, we took the opportunity to try this new idea we had been kicking around, which turned into R,ILY. MK - I read that "Open Letter to the President of the United States of America" was written for one of your earlier bands. Did it have the Revolution, I Love You sound then or did it evolve to what is on Noise. Pop. Deathray? R,ILY - I actually wrote “Open Letter” entirely in Reason (the computer program we use for drum machines and synths) because I was away at college and didn’t have much else to work with. But our old band didn’t use ANY electronics, so we just played it like a MK - I love the electro country hip hop sound of "...And She Said it With a Straight Face", which to me really sets itself apart from the rest of the CD. Where did that song come from? R,ILY - Hahaha, it came from a country song, of course. That song all started with this Johnny Cash acoustic guitar bit that Jason had written, and one day I decided to goof around with it on piano and add the reggaeton ‘riddm’ under it. Once that was laid down, everything clicked and the rest of the song spilled out from there over the course of one or two days. And more importantly, it’s really indicative of a direction we are planning to move in; Dangermouse-style spliced up hip-hop beats, folk instrumentation and arrangements, and our penchant for horrible noises. That’s going to be another year or two away, though. MK - You cover The Cure's "Lullaby". What made you decide to do that and
do you have any other covers up your sleeves?
R,ILY - It just kinda happened one day, playing around on guitar, having fun with a really dark and serious song. It was another one of those moments where we made one little playful change, namely increasing the tempo, and then everything clicked. BAM, next thing you know we had this whole cover recorded and we LOVED it, so we figure, “hey, let’s release it.” And yes, we do have other covers up our sleeve. We’ve been playing “Frankly, Mr. Shankly” by The Smiths since the very beginning, and we worked out a mash-up of “Just What I Needed” by The Cars and “Robocop” by Kanye West, which we think is hilarious. Covers are a great way to experiment, especially when you pull the songs out of their original context. We stopped playing the Cars/Kanye mash-up because one of the guitar parts, this weird harmonized octave pedal thing in the bridge, ended up inspiring the last half of “Can’t Do This On My Own”, the first track on our upcoming CD. More importantly, though, We Choose to Go to the Moon will feature a really nasty, 7-minute arrangement of “There is a Light That Will Never Go Out” by The Smiths. MK - Since you only have six cuts on your EP what else do you play in your live show?
R,ILY - Mostly stuff that’s going to be on our next release this summer, We
Choose to Go to the Moon. We released Noise. Pop. Deathray. in late
2008, then spent the next couple months banging out some new songs so we
could at least play a 35 minute set. We had enough material to release a new EP
just a few months after we started gigging! By the time we got halfway through
the recording process, we added another whole slew of songs, and I think this
new CD is going to be a full-length album. We also messed around with some of
the songs from Noise. Pop. Deathray. adding extended intros and so forth as well
as composing a few short interludes.
MK - On your EP you have a very unique sound that definitely sounds like
more than two people. How does that translate live?
R,ILY - The common thing we hear from the audience when we finish playing is, “You guys make a whole lot of noise for just two people!” Part of that is because I layer guitar parts using a Boss Loopstation, part is because we both use our pedals to make a lot of horrible, loud, guitar noises, and part is just because we both bounce back and forth between guitar and keyboard and vocals the entire time. We are VERY busy on stage, and no matter what, there is always a lot going on sonically. MK - Are you open to ever adding other band members? R,ILY - I think the most important thing we ever did was give ourselves the very severe restriction of not allowing ourselves a live drummer. A lot of bands over the years have incorporated drum machines: Radiohead, Bloc Party, NIN, Yeasayer, etc. There is absolutely nothing original about us, or anyone else, using drum machines. What DOES set us apart is that the drum machine is absolutely integral to what we do; not one song of ours strays from that. It forces us to think about our songwriting differently, because there are a lot of times when it would be easy to say, “man, this would be a great time for a real drum kit”. It SO easy to say that when you grow up playing in rock bands, with rock drummers, and we don’t want to allow ourselves that crutch to fall back on. So no, I guess we're not to open to adding other members. We're pretty happy with the way things are. MK - You recently played the Millenium Music Conference in Harrisburg. How
was that?
R,ILY - It was wonderful. We met some great people, from local singer-songwriters to Lou from ReverbNation (the single most useful website ever for indie musicians, if you’re not on it, GET on it). We got to hang out with the girl from House of One Accord, which is awesome because we love love love DIY venues. And she’s a total sweetheart, to boot. Most importantly, we walked away from the conference ready to GO. Everyone that we talked to said that we are on the right path, that we have the right idea about how to do this music thing. We needed to hear that, we needed to have it beaten into us so we can finally stop worrying about HOW we should go about this, and recognize that we are ALREADY DOING IT. And we just need to KEEP doing it. MK - You have a new album in the works. What can we expect from that? R,ILY - It opens with looping guitar feedback and 808s. It ends with a 7 minute cover of “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” by The Smiths. There are direct musical references to both “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen and “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes. It's called "We Choose to Go to the Moon", and the tone is generally more ecstatic and anthemic. It has more brit-pop melodies, Interpol guitar lines, and 60s-retro-via-Elvis-Costello pop songs. We’re really excited about it! MK - Is there anything else you'd like to share with readers? R,ILY - Nope. Interview By Geoff Melton |
|
MK – Can you give me a quick rundown on the band’s history?
LK - In the mid nineties, Garrick Chow (bass, vocals), Bryce Connor (guitar, vocals) and Laine Wehler (drums, vocals) were all members of a central Pennsylvania band called The Morris Chair. I (Larry Kennedy) was then playing in a Northeast Ohio band called The Infidels.
When The Infidels disbanded, I found myself planning a solo career, I guess - which was partially instigated by my cousin, Steve Yanek. Steve invited me to come to Harrisburg, PA to record some solo demos at The Green Room Studio. Steve is a singer/songwriter as well as a carpenter, so he'd built an addition onto the studio in exchange for some studio time. When I found myself bandless, and somewhat directionless, Steve invited me to use his time to make some new music. I had a great time at The Green Room, and a little while later, Garrick - who was working there as a recording engineer - heard my music, which was still in need of some bass tracks.
Shortly thereafter, Garrick not only added bass to my songs, but challenged me to move to Harrisburg, with the assurance that if I moved, he'd assemble a band (with Connor and Wehler) to play my songs. This is where The Jellybricks were born back in 1996. We were onstage together within months, and released our debut album, Kinky Boot Beast in 1997. We were lucky then, as we continue to be now, because Garrick, Bryce and myself have now been 'bricks for thirteen years, and we still very much enjoy who we were, and are becoming as a band. The early period was very blessed with success and growth, as one song from Kinky, "Who Is God", became a hit single locally garnering hundreds of spins in one year, and creating the impression in our home region that we were in fact a national act already signed to a major label. We were invited to open for Live at Hershey Stadium, along with a few other fortunate local acts, at the opening of their Secret Samadhi tour, where we performed for 40,000 people. Meanwhile Fuel became a signed act right out of our hometown. We played many shows with them before they took off, and they were very generous and kind to us, even giving us mention in numerous interviews, and throwing our name to industry folks. In 1999, riding much momentum and rumors of an impending major success, we released our second album, Soapopera. Three months after that, our drummer, Laine Wehler, began having difficulty sleeping away from home when we were on the road. At one point he had not slept for days, and upon our return from many days of travel, Laine sought help from a physician, who ordered he take time off from his job, as well as his band, in order to restore his sleeping schedule. Thankfully, Laine eventually recovered, but he never returned to the ranks of The Jellybricks. He parted on the best of terms, and as our good fortune would have it, after swimming in uncertainty for many months, playing shows with fill-in drummers, we invited one of them, Tom Kristich, to become a full-time Jellybrick.
Tom coincidentally (or not) stepped up on stage from the audience to play with us at the very first show we played without Laine, and though we hardly knew him, he really did seem to be a great compliment to Garrick, Bryce and myself from the very start. Despite the good luck of Tom appearing just as Laine departed, it took us several years to rebuild the chemistry and solidity of our act with a new drummer, which is why it took until 2004 for us to finally release our third album, Power This.
By the time that album was released, the momentum we'd earned in the late nineties had mostly dissipated, and to this day, I still encounter folks from our own region who say "I thought you guys broke up years ago!" Amazingly, however, Power This was our most successful record to date, gaining us a wider audience, and a 4-star review from All Music Guide. We were astonished to see ourselves continuing to grow and achieve despite our advancing age and the many incredible changes within the music industry. Indeed, the completely home-grown success of Power This greatly fueled our commitment to undertake a fourth album, the most recently released Goodnight To Everyone. You're already up to speed with much of this I am sure, Geoff . . . and you did say "quick," but the longer we're together, the harder it is to make our history "quick."
MK – How would you say your sound has evolved from your debut disc to now?
LK - When we started we were a little more full of overly-adrenalyzed nervous and angsty energy and spitfire. I love that Kinky Boot Beast kinda sounds like I'm yelling in a very tuneful way, and kinda really irritated with the little imperfections of life - but I'm passionate about it. The band is ambitiously forthright, full of humor and sass, the range of style is somewhat rebellious, and "Who Is God" was the song that almost didn't make the album, 'cause I thought it seemed way more mean-spirited than anything else in the collection. Who knew it would become our best-known song for many people?
I like that we were trying really hard, but we were barely learning how to play together. It was our first time in the studio, and we were heavily guided by our engineer and producer, Dale Epperson. By our second album, Soapopera, we'd had some time on stages to learn how to play together better, and to sing better together, and best of all, we really started writing music together in pairs, threes, fours, and with our producers (again, Dale Epperson, and his partner, Bob Welsh), yielding fun and creative new territories for our outfit to turn into songs. Soapopera is easily our most self-indulgent affair, and we were probably too all over the road to be trying to continue to attract the attention of major labels, but in hindsight, I love the wildness of the album. We tried to expand what we'd done on Kinky and have even more fun with our time in the studio, and I think the record is still very exciting, sometimes whimsical music. Soapopera did have an open emphasis on "pop," since we'd now started being called "power pop" (never our idea, though we've never rejected it either), but that becomes funny when our next effort turns out to be called Power This.
We self-produced for the first time on Power This, with co-producer and friend Cliff Hillis and Engineer Jeff Meglio there to keep us from turning out total garbage. I wasn't even sure what I thought of this album upon release, because it took us so long to finish it, I wasn't even sure if it was any good anymore. Happily, it was received as our best yet - and nowadays, to my ears, it's a pretty special kind of record from us. We rebelled against our "power pop" categorization with a new kind of aggression, but ironically enough, wound up making some pretty overtly "power pop" music in the process. I don't know if this has become a chicken-or-the-egg situation or not, but I think we'll always be thought of by most folks as being a "power pop" band, and I suppose there are worse things. I believe that Power This was unique for being almost 100% our ideas from start to finish - Cliff and Jeff did give us some, and helped us a lot, but we became more self-reliant, and musically-responsible for what we were doing, knowing it was our necks out there waiting for criticism if we did a poor job.
Stylistically, I think that by the time of Power This and continuing through Goodnight To Everyone, we've become more of the idea that our music is our music. There's always some self-concious effort on our part to do some things which sound like our former work, because we figure that's all part of why people like us, but we also are ever trying to find new things to do - both for our own amusement, as well as for our fans' sake. We don't want to dissapoint you too much if you loved our last album, but we're determined to always do things we've never done before.
In some ways I think we've grown, matured, become more serious and ambitious - and in others, I think we're extremely happy to go where we've been before to have some pure, unadulterated fun playing some rock'n'roll music. That's what it really is when you simplify it as much as possible.
MK – The songs on Goodnight To Everyone are credited to several songwriting combinations. How does the songwriting process for The Jellybricks usually work? LK - Most of the time either Bryce or myself is writing on the sidelines, churning out complete or incomplete song ideas, which we eventually bring into the rehearsal room with Tom and Garrick, and figure out what to do with it. Often, Bryce and I will bring unfinished works to the table, and Tom and Garrick will step up to create the missing elements of the song. Garrick is a wonderful lyricist with great musical ability who prefers to add lyrics to musical ideas thrown at his feet. Tom is as capable as anyone in our band of generating a hooky lyric or melody line to add to an unfinished song, and so our songs come about in many different ways. Goodnight To Everyone happens to feature a couple of songs co-written with our co-producer and engineer, Frank Silver. Frank has been a favorite songwriting partner of mine since my days in Youngstown, having co-written "Girl" and "The Last One" from Kinky Boot Beast, and "All Fired Up" from Power This - and a few of our collaborations finding a home on his band's records (ivet, http://www.myspace.com/thebandivet ). "Ruin Us", "More To Lose", and "Heartache Begins" all feature writing from Frank, and Scott Ensign, also formerly from ivet, was very involved in the creation and recording of "Heartache Begins".
MK – I love the more stripped down sound of “Heartache Begins”. Have you ever considered recording some acoustic cuts?
LK - Thanks - same here. In fact, every Jellybricks record has a song which I feel to be "the coolest thing we did" up to that point, and for me, "Heartache Begins" is that track on GTE. We are a pretty cool band when we strip down to acoustics, I think - because I believe that all of our amped-up playing and rocking and layering we do as an electric band actually gets in the way of what we create lyrically, melodically, and vocally in some ways. I always notice that when we play acoustically, it seems like our songs have very comfortable space without so much adornment and flash - so who knows - maybe one of these days, we'll turn our amps down, or off - and allow a bit more of that through. I certainly enjoy the sheer non-two-guitars-bass-and-drums quality of "Heartache Begins" . . . which left so much room for all that singing!
MK – You worked with Saul Zonana on several cuts on Goodnight To Everyone. How did you hook up with him?
LK - A mutual friend and advisor by the name of Randy Spencer who lives in California connected us with Saul, who was then based just outside of New York City. None of us was overly-familiar with Saul beforehand, but we later realized that we'd actually shared a bill and a stage with him in Delaware a few years earlier. As it turns out, working with Saul was a superb idea. He was a fresh set of ears to our band and songs, he liked our music, and had great, confident ideas about how to challenge us into some fresh, exciting results. Saul essentially allowed us to record two songs ("Goodnight To Everyone" and "Broken Record") pretty much the way we'd arranged them ourselves, adding some excellent arrangement and instrumentation suggestions to the mix, and presenting us in a pretty honest, pure way along with some cool studio-slickness and his very catchy moog playing, guitar-playing, and background vocal ideas. For two more songs, ("Try To Be" and "Put It Down"), we presented rehearsal room-meets-live electric band versions to Saul, and then he discarded our versions to allow us some new experimental places to go. For "Try To Be", we eliminated our usual full-electric guitar mash, giving the bass and drums some room to breathe, and instead overdubbed a bunch of weird electric guitar parts, sounds, and textures - all resulting in, I think a pretty uniquely dark but rockin' edition of Jellybricks music. With "Put It Down", Saul did in fact insist that we take our electric pounding edition of the song, and instead start with an acoustic guitar, played to allow for a slower Jellybricks groove, leaving some room for some fun percussion layering, and again showcasing some cool moog sounds. Saul also chose these four songs from a small pile of demos which we sent to him, so at least two of the songs might never have made the album were it not for his input. All in all our experiences from album to album have gotten better and better for us in terms of creativity and production results.
MK - Do you think being from a town like Harrisburg has helped or hindered your career?
LK - We once appeared on a bill at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles with two L.A.-based bands, Phantom Planet and Kara's Flowers. Phantom Planet went on to record the theme from "The O.C." and Kara's Flowers later morphed into Maroon 5.
From time to time, we've wondered if being from Harrisburg might not be the best thing, but at the same time, some of the greatest acts of all time have emerged from places no one previously cared that much about, including Liverpool, ya know? I try not to second-guess where we are from too much. I still consider myself to be a Youngstown, Ohio boy anyway, so I'm still following in the footsteps of bands like The Human Beinz, Blue Ash, Glass Harp, The Dead Boys, and Cleveland's The Raspberries. These are still my personal musical hometown-heroes, so to speak.
MK – I would consider your music powerpop, which is a genre I think is greatly underappreciated. Why do you think powerpop music has never gotten to commercial success it deserves?
LK - Well this is certainly a loaded answer to this question, but I think it may be because "powerpop," though a cheeky and delicious phrase mostly attributed to Pete Townshend, doesn't describe the music it refers to very well . . . at all. Indeed - once you step past the expresssion "rock'n'roll" (granted, a sexual euphemism which became a musical style-description - perhaps where all the trouble began in the first place) and start trying to divide it into styles with names like punk, garage, goth, hardcore, emo, ska, metal, shoegazer, grunge, etc., etc. - there really is very little about these names which will ever tell you anything real about the music they are describing. Everyone has a different idea what "POP" sounds like, don't they? To me, it's still short for "popular," and in the grand scheme of things, we've never been that popular! I think that if a person thinks they don't like "pop" music, (whatever that person thinks that means), then they've already formed a bias about what they might hear before they hear it. Like I said . . . it's a loaded answer, or something like that. I think perhaps also that a lot of "powerpop" music is really music that is tuneful, optimistic, and frequently clever in some way, and frankly, none of that is all that "popular" nowadays.
MK – You were recently mentioned on Rollingstone.com for your “Ruin Us” video. What kind of response have you gotten from that?
LK - It seems to have really given our name itself a little more clout, and within a short period of time, it's already yielded new and better opportunities for us in general. It was exciting to see how many smaller outlets wrote about us and our video after Rolling Stone did . . . indeed, it was interesting to see how many smaller (and uh, even quite regional) press outlets wrote nothing at all about it. We exist in an odd place, where our regional music-oriented press tend to be focused upon either a style that is favored by whomever is writing and/or publishing, or upon whichever bands are spending money to advertise with them. Thusly, much of the regional and statewide music writing winds up being about either cover bands or bands who are very much "of the moment." The long and short of this is that it's quite possible for us to be noticed by Rolling Stone, and yet not by those in our own backyard.
That said - literally every small bit of good fortune which has come our way, RollingStone.com being one of the latest-and-greatest, has helped to raise our profile just enough to make each new release slightly more anticipated . . . by someone or another out there! MK – Can you tell readers how you went about making the video?
LK - Garrick is an avid video-game guy. In fact, he's a true-blue tekkie of some kind, and so if it's fun, and computer-oriented, he's likely to take an interest in it.
The 'bricks would sometimes have a game or two of "
Anyway - Garrick had already created "virtual Jellybricks" within his copy of " The first time I viewed it, I simply said, "wow." He made very few changes at that point. I still love it myself. I believe that we released it for public consumption in under ten days after the idea came into being, and it was being covered nationally within a two-week period. What luck!
MK - Have you had any feedback from the
LK - I think perhaps the day after we appeared on the rollingstone.com site, we had an email from somebody at Harmonix . . . who actually liked both the video and the song. Needless to say we were both pleased and relieved, since we never asked anyone's permission to do a thing in the first place. Since then, there have been no forthcoming offers of any magnitude, as it appears they're already quite busy working on something with some band called The Beatles, but we'd love to have them include one of our songs in the game. It's really a great way for young people to be exposed to music now that commercial radio and MTV are no longer places to do that.
MK - There are several people listed in the liner notes as The Jellybricks Reserves. Who are they?
LK - Ha! Thanks for asking. The "Reserves" in this case are folks who have actually stepped upon a stage to perform with us at one time or another since our last release. Some have occasionally actually filled-in for one of us who had some sort of scheduling conflict, while others have just joined us to add to the party. Up to this point, we've used our liner notes to try to make sure we give all of our supporters a little thank-you back, whenever and wherever possible.
MK – You’ve contributed songs to several tribute CD’s in the past. Do you have anything like that in the works for future releases?
LK - Interestingly, we've recorded some songs for tribute CDs which have never materialized, including versions of The Beatles' "Don't Pass Me By," and of The Vapors' "Turning Japanese" (as sung in English by a Chinese-American). We don't have anythhing officially in the works tribute-CD-wise, but we do have a brand-new original single track called "Beryllium" on the Charlotte Pop Fest compilation CD.
MK – Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers?
LK - Just that if you're reading this, or already like our band, or are just giving us a few moments of casual interest right now, thank you very much for doing so. We love what we do, but in the least conceited sort of way . . . that is to say that we are very aware that we are having a blast being friends, creating and playing music together, getting to go interesting places, and do interesting things, all while being challenged by our own quest to keep getting better, so if you're enjoying what we're doing, we are really grateful for the chance to do it at all.
Interview By Geoff Melton |
|
MK - With Tommy coming from Belfast and you being from New Jersey, can you tell me how the two of you ended up together and can you give me a little bit of background info on both of you? Jim - Tommy grew up with the Rebel songs. He always said that he never heard his father sing an Irish song. It was always Perry Como and the like. He learned the Irish songs from his peers. He didn't start singing until he was about 40. I was also a bit of a late comer to Irish music. My father was a Rock n’ Roll drummer, but musical influences run all over. I got into playing Irish Traditional music about 12 years ago down in Baltimore/DC and Annapolis. Tommy got him on the singing and writing kick.
Doorley (flute) were messing about. At the time I had no idea who these people were, but the impromptu show they put on changed my life. I turned to my wife and said, “I want to learn how to do that!” About a month followed and I had found a Parks and Recreational program out of Howard County MD that taught how to play the Bodhran. My teacher was Deborah Colvin-Brower. It was frustrating at first. I couldn't get it. Then one day while I was home watching TV, I was messing about with my tipper (Bodhran drumstick) and a pizza box and something just clicked. I took about 2 months of lessons in a group setting then I kind of struck out on my own finding sessions wherever I could, often dragging my very supportive wife and three very patient small children along on weekends to small pubs. Tommy - Songwriting for me comes from comes from a few different areas, it's never a structured thing, it usually comes from something I have heard someone say off the cuff, something I've daydreamed about or an image in my head or even from a memory from long ago. Once I have an idea I sit down with my guitar and mess around with chords and words till I here something I like and take it from there. It can be a quick process or long i never know.
Jim – I generally pull from external sources. They are things that I've read or seen that invoke a strong emotional response. Then I finds a common thread that ties that emotion to something in my personal life. Sometimes I write in story format either relaying a story of a single event in sections or mini stories about several people or subjects. Then I string them together to form something they have in common. That commonality often becomes the chorus. I once wrote a song about our old bass player putting his ass in a cake. That one event yielded a pretty fun song and was good writing practice.
MK - Is there one song for each of you that stands out and carries a special meaning and if so, why?
Tommy - All the songs I write do have a strong meaning for me in some way and I do get emotional, the one that I wrote about my father I think a lot of men can relate to. It's called "Match of the Day" and it's about a father and son watching a ball game together. When you get older it seems to mean more.
Jim – I have to say "United Ireland" just because people took to it so quickly but I like the songs that nearly make me cry when I am singing them. "Donegal to Baltimore" was one of them. I have others that still have to be recorded that are very personal to me. Those will take some time to arrange just right and record just right.
Tommy - It turned out to be a lot of fun and we were happy with the response. People did appreciate our music although it was strange to hear that it was hard to find anyone playing Irish ballads anymore.
NUA - Yes, we are planning to do another CD this year. We have a lot of material and we're tapping the right people to get just the sound we want. The first CD was just us. Although we are very proud of our first efforts, we want to take our time with this next one and really craft each song. We hope to get it all together by Summer 2010.
NUA - Rossnareen started up several years ago from another band Tommy was in called "Maggies Leap" and has changed several times over the years. It typically plays the same music as NUA, but just has a bigger sound. It’s more of a Irish Rock show. It incorporates another guitarist, a fiddle player and Jim sits behind a small drum kit for some of the show.
Tommy - Yes, we do covers from artists like David Gray, Paul Thorn, Bob Dylan The Pogues, Christy Moore and a lot more . We had an article written in Flip magazine saying that we do covers that people have never heard so that was cool. We play what we like, whatever catches our ear.
Tommy - Well, The Pogues have been punking up Irish music for more than twenty years or more and have been keeping Irish music alive which is brilliant. Flogging Molly are keep the tradition going may it never end!
Jim - We've heard Irish music as Punk, Jazz and Rock n’ Roll. The more the merrier.
MK - What are your plans for the rest of 2009?
Tommy - To keep playing music, writing music, enjoying music and of course getting our next CD finished.
MK - If you had one thing to say to your listeners what would it be?
Tommy - That’s a difficult one to answer but we hope it catches your ear, heart or soul in some way and just enjoy it for what it is, music!
MK - Is there anything else you'd like to share with readers?
Tommy - Support local music. Support local artists and Support a local business that does both!
Jim - Live music is personal and warm. It’s a lot different than an iPod or jukebox.
Interview By Geoff Melton (NUA - www.poorpaddy.com) |
|
MK - Can you give me a quick rundown of the band's history? |
|
MK - Can you give me a little bit of background about yourself? MK - I love the string arrangements that show up throughout the EP. Have you been able to perform those live with a string section? |
|
MB - Tell me about the beginning of MyLucina?
ML - MyLucina was born with "Bittersüsser Schmerz"...the first song written and composed by ML. The black tear is a symbol of hope...never give up! A tear can be a wish...just a teardrop away...! MB - I saw in your Myspace page pictures of Emilie Autumn.Are you a big fan of her? ML - I´m one of the bloody crumpets! Which means - not a fan - I´m a member :) MB - A wish is just a teardrop away... was your last CD, who composed the songs and the lyrics? ML - Except the music of one song it´s all mine! MB -Have you ever thought of coming to Portugal for a concert? ML - Well, I would love to do that, but I have to record my new songs - that´s what´s on the schedule next!
MB - What do you know about Portuguese music? ML - Hmm, not that much, but I've been many times to Lisbon and Porto - wonderful places - by the way! I think the music is more traditional - but probably there are much more facets I don´t even know...let me know some more! MB - How it is the music scene in Germany? ML - It´s all very different - or do you mean the gothic scene? MB - How was the reaction of the media (magazines,webzines,radios) to your last CD?
ML - Oh, I got so much nice feedback - MyLucina Cd´s have been sent all over the world and the music is also on many online radio stations - also Japan and Canada! MB - What do you talk about in your lyrics? ML - Well, love...wishes...secrets...tears...it´s like little fairy-tales...some with happy endings and some without... My lyrics are emotional and from the bottom of my heart...! MB - When you are composing what inspires you? ML The cruel world! MB - What are your plans for the future, are you already working in your next CD? ML - Actually I will record some new songs - if my schedule allows :) MB - Can you tell me what in your opinion has been the best moment in your career? ML - Oh - many! For MyLucina of course the release of the CD! Wonderful feedback of the people whose hearts and souls I really touched with my music and many, many great moments with Emilie Autumn & Her Bloody Crumpets on tour!! MB - Have you ever thought of having guests on your albums? ML - Not yet..but never say never :) MB - Would Emilie Autumn be one of your guests? ML - Oh, that would truly be a pleasure :) ! MB - What's a dream you would like to come true... ML - No more animal cruelty!! Everybody can do small things to prevent animal cruelty! Think of this when you see an innocent animal in need of help! MB - Do you have a message for our readers? ML - A wish is just a teardrop away...! Love and wishes for you all! Interview By Miguel Ribeiro (www.mylucina.de or myspace.com/mylucinamusic) |
|
MK- Can you tell me a little about the band’s history?
Bonnie - Kelsey and I met in Jr High at age 13, we began singing, playing guitar and learning songs together, which slowly progressed into writing songs of our own. We started playing small shows at art galleries, coffee shops etc... and finally had enough of our own material to spend a 3 day weekend recording our first album of 10 original songs by the age of 16. MK- It’s been 6 years since your last CD. What took so long?
Bonnie - We worked hard promoting our first CD for two years playing those tracks and performing to push sales. After we graduated in Grade 12 - 2005 we both moved out into Vancouver for continuing education. We began to start writing new material and slowly got back into the studio. With our schools 2 hrs apart in a big new city finding time to write and record was difficult. We spent about 1 day a month in the studio instead of a more typical 2 month straight session. The process in the studio for that reason took up to 3 years! That did however able us to write over and change songs we started when we were 18 and now able to finish at age 21. MK- How would you say the band has progressed since your debut?
Bonnie - Our maturity as song writers and instrumental skills have grown a lot since the first album, as well as our knowledge of the industry. MK- Your debut was recorded in 3 days, but you were able to spend a lot more time on this one. How do you feel this influenced the new CD? Bonnie - We were able to be a lot more creative and have help with our producer and come back to songs after a few weeks or months instead of laying them all down back to back. We were also able to re-record any vocals or add things to songs as we went along, they were always growing and changing with the process. Over the three years our songs grew with us. MK- All of your songs are credited to the band. How does the songwriting process usually work?
Bonnie - Song writing is a 50 - 50 process for us. This time on the album there were a few songs written by Kelsey and a few by myself. We weren’t so dependent on having each other side by side to write, then we could come together to show ideas and build from songs we had been working on alone in our time apart. That gave a different sound/feel to some tracks. MK- Your bio mentions bands like Blink 182 and Yellowcard being influences, but I don’t really hear that coming across in your music. Do you feel their influence comes across and if so where? Bonnie - A lot of our influences and favorite music isn’t the genre which we write in. I feel bands we look up to and enjoy writing might not necessarily sound like the songs we right but those artists were the ones who got us into the industry and gave us the drive to get into music. MK- How do you decide which one of you sings which parts? Bonnie - We are slightly different ranges, and we can hit different notes than each other, so it’s a little easier than it may sound. I tend to figure out harmonies, so if I do not want to teach Kelsey the harmonies or if it sounds better with her on the melody we will just leave as is. Also on songs we wrote on our own, Kelsey would sing vocals for her songs and visa versa and the other person would feed off of those melodies to help right backrounds/harmonies.
MK- The song “Mess Of Mine” really stands out from the rest of the CD with a bit of a jazzy vibe and has flute and organ. What can you tell me about that song? Bonnie - We usually start our song writing from guitar riffs we right. Kelsey at the time was learning some new chords which were very blues derived.. so it gave it a much different sound from the standard guitar chords we generally play. We feel it sticks out as well but enjoy the variety this album has compared to our debut. MK- Can you tell me about the short unlisted cut at the end of the CD? Bonnie - That song is an outro which is the last song and album title “ A Few Years Down the Road” played backwards as the ending.. We were goofing around in the studio listening to ourselves sing tracks backwards and were like ”Hey that sounds pretty good, let's use that!” MK- Have you ever done any live shows in the US.? Bonnie - Not to date. MK- Do you have any tour plans to support this CD? Bonnie - Unfortunately no. MK- What are your plans for the rest of 2009? Bonnie - Kelsey will be graduating from her 4th year at UBC in her bachelor of music, working in the summer and starting Music Therapy program at Capilano College Sept ‘09. I am continuing to work at my industry job for a Management company who represents the likes of Hinder, Faber Drive and Jessie James as a management assistant. MK- Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers? Bonnie - We hope you enjoy our CD! Thanks to all our fans and friends Interview By Geoff Melton (Opening Axe -www.myspace.com/openingaxe) |
|
MB - Can you explain the meaning of the name Crystal Rain?
Jay - The meaning is simple, music should be as beautiful as crystal rain, if you can imagine how the raining crystal sounds. We were 5 months without a name, then,suddenly came up with the idea when i was driving on the highway to Helsinki from another city. It was a warm,still night,and raining of course... :) MB - Tell us a little bit of your story. Jay - There are 3 guys: Ryan (vocals), Johnny (guitar) and Jay (drums), who came up with idea to establish this band, since our former band stopped functioning and back then there was one guy who wanted to be the boss in the band and tell everybody how to play or sing or whatever.. This time it would be different, everybody would take part in composing and creative stuff. We took along another guitar player also and he was composing songs with us, but he quit recently so we decided to go on with one guitar and keyboards. There have been various bass players also. Now we have a dynamic girl duo in bass and keyboards. We will announce new players with new songs soon on myspace..
MB - In the beginning you recorded two demos. How was the reaction to your music? Jay - Well the first was good. We really had the opening gig with help of the first demo, the song "Kiss Of Death" is still a "hit" song :) We had long ballad "Let It Rain" there also, but it was too long, so we are currenty re-writing it.. With the second demo we had little problems with the recording and mixing schedule so the result unfortunately wasn't what we wanted.. MB - In October of 2007 you played for 1600 people. Can you describe that?
Jay - It was an amazing experience.. It was the Finnish beer brewers annual party. I can remember when i was behind the stage before the gig, I almost lost consciousness and I couldn't breathe. Because it really was our first gig and I was used to playing in small clubs, but when we hit the stage I felt great! The gig went very fine I guess to be the first gig. MB - You guys have participated in Metal Compilation. How did that happen? Jay - They contacted us by myspace. I guess there are lot of Finnish bands. We will have to pay a little amount of the CD making progress, but it wasn't really much - 100 US dollars Ithink.They send you some copies and place the CD onsale at amazon.com and some record shop in L.A. I still don't have a clue if anybody is buying it.. :) MB - In the end of 2008 you released a limited edition with two singles, "Bleed For Me" and "To Die For". When are you going to release the first album? Jay - Yes we did that. I would like to see an album by next year at least.. so 2010. MB - Do you have plans to play in other countries? Jay - Yes, it would be great to start from mid-Europe. I have heard the audience is fantastic in Sweden. So maybe there.. MB - Do you know bands of your genre from Portugal?
Jay - I know Moonspell. My friends from Finnish band Dead Shape Figure were just touring with Moonspell.. Must have been fun.. MB - What are your plans for the future? Jay - Plans would be to do lot of gigs,so that we could get in the routine of playing very energic live shows. The album of course also. MB - Tell me who is the responsible for composing the songs... Jay - Well nowadays Ryan and Johnny, since our other guitar player left. Of course I take part in some arranging. MB -Your lyrics talk about what? Jay - I think life in general, emotions and relationships. Some songs might have some things relating with the gothic world and even movies. MB - What it was your highest moment in your career? Jay - Oh..it must have been that first gig! It was so unexpected back then. But after that comes the release of new CD, first time we had the sound we really went looking for, so you will hear it.. :) MB - A place where you would like to play, and with who? Jay - Oh in Helsinki Tavastia club of course. Well if you ask with who, there would be many bands so it is hard to say what band, hmm.. Paradise Lost :) MB - Leave a message to our readers Jay - Stay tuned..We are always creating something behind the scenes. And if you are into gothic,melodic metal, watch it! Someday we may crush in to your city and shoot our "crystal arrows" straight into your heart.. :) Interview By Miguel Ribeiro (www.myspace.com/crystalrainrocks) |
MK – Can you give me a bit of your band history?
Vince - As friends, Mike, Robbie, and I have been together since graduating high school. Mike's garage band needed a singer. Once I filled the position, I set out to recruit the wildest drummer in town. After Robbie joined in 2001, we had several lineup changes with other close friends while playing the covers circuit throughout northeast PA, sharing our love of 60's pop, punk & indie rock, and anything that came out of Vince - Being from MK - The music is credited to all 3 of you with Vince writing the lyrics. How does your songwriting process usually work?
Vince - Usually Mike or I will start with a chord arrangement. I'll come up with a general idea for what direction the lyrics will take after fitting a few possible melodies to the chords. I'll take a loose arrangement to practice with the band and, after a couple of run-throughs, we'll decide if it's a hit or miss. MK - This may be totally off base, but I can hear bits of what to me sounds like Buddy Holly and Marshall Crenshaw on a few cuts. Were either of them influential? Vince - Marshall Crenshaw was not in our vocabulary growing up. Listening now, I can see the similarities in our music. But Buddy Holly is definitely an influence on us. I especially admired his songwriting style, creating countless melodies out of 3-chord pop songs. They sound so simple and effortless, but there's great guitar flourishes all over them! His vocal style also has a natural exuberance that sounds so perfect for the type of songs he was writing. MK - I love the handclaps throughout “Panic At The Jukebox”. Was that something that was planned? Vince - Mike had the spontaneous idea to add handclaps to "Downtown Friday Night". They sounded so good on that song that it was a no-brainer to add them to "Panic At The Jukebox". Handclaps are a great gimmick in pop music. Not enough bands utilize them! MK - One of my favorite songs on the disc is “The Worst Is Over”, which reminds me of a 60’s Girl Group song (most notably The Shirelles’ “Tonight You’re Mine”) meshed with a hooky alternative rock sound. Was that kind of music an influence? Vince - It's no coincidence that "The Worst Is Over" has a resemblance to The Shirelles' song. This is the closest to a love ballad as we've come so far and when writing it, I definitely referenced a lot of that doowop/motown sound because those groups had the best kind of ballads. We had to toughen it up a bit, though, to have it mesh with the edginess of the rest of our songs which is where the loud/quiet/loud dynamic comes into play. MK - “My Hard Luck” has a rockabilly vibe to it that sets it apart from the rest of the disc. Where did that come from? Vince - This goes back to the Buddy Holly influence...the simple, light chord progressions and that rockin' two step backbeat that we can't get enough of. This song could've turned out a thousand different ways but we chose to keep it clean and bright because we didn't want an EP full of barnburners. This was my favorite song to record because it required the least amount of producing! MK - There’s a lot of diversity to your sound, so I would imagine fans of a lot of different styles of music would be receptive to you. Are you finding that to be true. Vince - We definitely see a very diverse crowd when we play out. The 40 and over crowd appreciate us because we remind them of bands and music they may have grown up with. Younger people enjoy our shows because of the high energy they experience from our music and our on-stage antics. I have a 5 year old nephew who can't stop singing the chorus to "Panic at the Jukebox." Now, he may be biased, but... the ability to pick up on a catchy hook or melody is universal! MK – Do you do any covers in your live show and if so, do you do any that would surprise readers? Vince - Well, we're guilty of playing LOTS of covers in our northeast PA...that's the only way most band get gigs around here. People who frequent our shows know we have a particular affinity for under-the-radar music from MK - What are your plans for the rest of 2009? Vince - ITUNES! That's definitely the next step. We want our music to get out to as many people as we can in as little time as possible. We'd love to get rid of the 500 copies of our EP that we pressed (we don't have THAT many family members). They're available at all of our shows and at the northeast PA independent music chain, Gallery of Sound. A regional tour will be in the works also, and by the year's end we hope to hit every major city within 300 miles of good ol' MK - Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers? Vince - On behalf of the band I'd first like to thank you again for this opportunity to share some of our thoughts with you and your readers, Geoff. We're ecstatic that you paid as much attention to the songs as you did! We really hope this article gives your readers a glimpse into the workings of our band and that they are intrigued enough to check us out online, at a show, or at their local record store. We'd love feedback from them, too. We try to get back to everyone who inquires about us on myspace. Interview By Geoff Melton |
| Mike: How did you come up with your band's name? Mike: How has living in NYC impacted your music? Mike: How does a KM song get written? Mike: How has adding a second guitarist affected your music? Mike: How would you describe your music to someone who never heard you before? Mike: When I'm not in KM, I'm...? Mike: Who are some of your musical influences? Any we'd be surprised by? Mike: Why should we see KM live? Mike: What has been your best musical experience thus far? Your worst? The one you've learned the most from? Mike: What are some of the advantages/ disadvantages of being a NY band? Mike: Do you prefer the studio or the stage and why? Mike: What bands are you currently listening to? Mike: What are the plans for KM in 2009? |
|
MK- Can you give me a quick rundown on how The Whispering Tree got together? EK - Elie and I met while at music school in MK- The CD just shows the 2 of you, but lists 4 band members. Are EK - No, they were the musicians we were working with at the time. The Whispering Tree is Elie and I, joined by other musicians for gigs and recordings. At the moment we are performing as a trio 3 and working with Chris Schultz, an incredible drummer/ percussionist. MK- Can you tell me about your songwriting process? EK - The songwriting process varies a lot. Generally, I have a burst of inspiration where I come up with a short melody and lyrics which usually become a verse or a chorus. Sometimes there is a chord progression behind it; sometimes it’s just a vocal line. I then sit down with Elie and we expand on the idea together and get a clearer direction for the song. Then I write the rest of the lyrics. This part tends to be the most difficult since the initial inspiration is completely natural and effortless and can make the rest feel contrived and forced in comparison. MK- I found several different references to the name The Whispering Tree including a poem and an episode of Gunsmoke. What was your inspiration for the band name? EK - The name “The Whispering Tree” just came together while we were thinking of band names. We both love trees, they are beautiful and solid and peaceful. We loved the imagery. MK- You have MP3’s of all the songs on your EP available for download on your site. Why did you decide to do that? EK - Actually, we recently started selling our EP on CD Baby. We originally recorded the EP as a demo, for booking and promotional purposes. It was recorded live in one day with a tiny budget. It turned out better than we had expected so we released it as an EP. For a long time we just sold hard copies at shows and offered free downloads to draw traffic to our site, but we got a lot of feedback from people who wanted to buy the songs and had a change of heart about it all, so the era of the free Whispering Tree EP has come to a close. MK- Several songs on the EP have some really cool elements like the percussion on “Blood and Fire” and the keyboards on “For Lisa” that really set those songs apart. Are there any stories behind the use of these? EK - Thanks! The percussion on “Blood and Fire” just came about naturally while playing the song with our drummer and guitar player and ended up adding a completely new vibe to the song. This was an old song of mine which I had pretty much discarded but which Elie convinced me to resurrect. We wanted it to be kind of hypnotic and dreamy at the same time, I think the drums definitely give it that feel. The keyboard part on “For Lisa” was the original inspiration for the whole song. I had the piano part years before the rest of the song came together and would come back to it from time to time and try fitting different lyrics and melodies over it. I sat down one day with some lyrics I had written and it finally came together, it was just waiting for the right fit. MK- I love the video for “Blood and Fire”. Can you tell me about that? EK - Elie and I worked as performers in a casino in MK- Now that the EP has been out for awhile do you have another CD in the works and if so what can you tell me about it? EK - We are gearing up to go into the studio. This CD will be a full length release of much higher quality. The EP was very low budget and DIY, Elie mixed it himself and it wasn’t mastered, which is nice in a way, but this time we want to spend a lot more time getting the right sound and capturing each song as best we can. They are the most precious things we own and we want to do them justice. We have a lot of new material and also want to re-record some of the songs on the EP. We are aiming to release it this summer. MK- You have videos for two songs on your site that aren’t on the EP. Are those new songs? EK - Yes, those are two of our new ones which will be on our upcoming CD. MK- You recently played the Millennium Music Conference in EK – MMC13 was a great experience. It was the first music conference we have attended and we learned a lot. The audience was really receptive and we got great feedback, we also met a booking agent at our showcase who wants to work with us, so it was an awesome night. MK- Do you do any covers in your live show? EK – We occasionally play a cover of songs we love, we’ve done “While my guitar gently weeps” and we are probably going to work on “That day is done,” a Paul McCartney song which I listened to when I was little and is really satisfying to play. MK- Eleanor, you are also a member of the band The Random Spike. What can you tell me about that? EK - Funny you should ask, I just quit The Random Spike last week. This was a project I kind of fell into when I met an electronic music producer/ label owner called Anthony Fletcher. He was looking for a singer for a certain project and I am always open to trying out different styles of music. So I joined him and formed “The Random Spike.” We recorded and released an album in a very short period of time. It was interesting to make an album which was such a departure from what I am used to, but at the same time my heart was not in it and I didn’t feel like I could honestly perform or support the release. MK- What plans do you have for 2009? EK - Play as much music as possible to as many people as possible, record the greatest album ever, and quit our day jobs! MK- Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers? If there are any readers interested in organizing a house concert we would be thrilled to come and play. Feel free to contact us! |
|
|
I recently had the chance to interview Portland based Power of County’s vocalist/guitarist D.Rives about their critically acclaimed disc See You in Rock’n’Roll Heaven, their new release due later this year, other plans for the year and more.  |
|
MK - Can you give me a band history?
DR - Matt Stark was a bouncer at a The Shaghai Tunnel. I went there often because the bartenders never charged me for a drink. He and I always made drunken plans to play music, but never did. Eventually, we got together and had over twenty songs on that first afternoon. The tunes were mostly traditional bluegrass and gospel with a couple that we had written. We spent the next five years learning how to actually play. MK- How has being from Portland influenced you?
DR - None of us are from Portland. I am from East Tennessee, Matt is from the sticks of Oregon, Andy Bacon hails from Maine, Erik Clampitt is a Northern Californian, and Sydney is from Denver. I think the influences from these disparate locales come together to form the core of our sound. Portland has been called the indie rock capitol of the world. We are the antithesis of the white belt, shoe gazing set. MK - I read that you're working on a new album. What can we expect this time around? DR - Our last record, See You in Rock'n'Roll Heaven, had no reverb. The guitars and vocals were all dry. This time around, the tunes are reverb laden. Consequently, this record has turned into a dirty cosmic, spaghetti western fracas punctuated by serene dreamlike soundscapes. MK - How would you say your sound has progressed from your first disc?
DR -This record is about twenty minutes longer than our last. The subject matter is more sensitive. We have evolved as players and have more cohesion within the band. MK - What can you tell me about the instrumental "Trashville Rag" and how it was influenced by Dylan's "Nashville Skyline"? DR - My girlfriend, Tanya Smith, is Todd Haynes' assistant. When they were making the movie, I'm Not There, we listened to a lot of Bob Dylan. She suggested we cover "Nashville Skyline Rag". We opened with this song every night of the Hank III tour. Shelton was always calling Nashville, Trashville. We thought that was funny. So, we recorded it and went with that title. MK - I read an interview from last year that mentioned an acoustic EP. Is that still in the works? DR - That would be more like a double album at this point, but don't look for it any time soon. We are focused on putting together our comic book that has been in the works forever. Hopefully, it will be out some time next year. A 7" record will come with it inserted in the spine. MK - What can someone expect from your live show? Do you do any covers or is it all originals?
DR - If we are playing a biker party or wedding, they might want us to play for hours. In these instances, we will break out our arsenal of covers which are mostly old, obscure country songs. Then there are times when we have to throw and go. When we opened for the Knitters a couple of weeks ago, we had thirty five minutes to impress. Those shows end up being much more intense because we only have a short time to get satisfied. MK - Besides recording your new disc what else do you have on your agenda for 2009? DR - We are planning a national tour that will stretch from August to September. Until then, we will be recumbent in the great northwest. MK - Is there anything else you want to share with readers? DR - No matter what, DO NOT call us Power Of CountRy. Interview by Geoff Melton |
|
With their first full-lengther and second disc (following their EP Ostrich) New York's The Boroughs display their infectious combination of Dead Boys/Stooges punk with bits of ska along with more. I recently contacted guitarist / vocalist Ryan Dwork and here's what he had to say about the new disc, their sound and more.  |
|
MK - Can you give me a band history? |
| Alexis Dallman After just one listen I heard something really special in this EP from Alexis Dallman. I recently had the chance to talk to her and here's what she said.  |
|
