photo courtesy of Black Hills

We Love DC Music Editor Alexia Kauffman had the chance to chat with DC-based musical mastermind Aaron Estes recently. Estes previously fronted the indie band Bellman Barker, but is now focusing on going solo with his dreamy-synth-pop project Black Hills. 

Alexia Kauffman: So I never got to see Bellman Barker, but I became aware of you as a performer when I saw you at Run for Cover*, as part of my favorite acts, two years in a row.

Aaron Estes: Oh cool, which acts?

AK: In 2010 it was the C&C Music Factory cover group, and then in 2011 it was the Daft Punk group.

AE: Yeah, those were pretty fun shows. (laughing)

AK: They were so above and beyond awesome, not just the theatrics and visuals that went into them (which were both hilarious and spectacular) but really the music- it was so well done. Plus I’m a fan of anything that glows in the dark. So once I found out who you were I filed it in my mind that I needed to see what music you were doing. And time passed, and I just saw your picture up on the Black Cat website recently, that you’re performing as Black Hills, and I knew I had to check it out. I really dig the tracks you have up on Bandcamp.

AE: Oh awesome, thank you!

AK: Is that all you have recorded right now?

AE: Those are the only things that are mastered and officially released.It’s like still kind of a new project, so I kind of… it was a side project to Bellman Barker for a while, and then when that band broke up I just kind of decided to make it my main thing. And so I’ve been sort of slowly working on those for a while, and just decided oh, I’ll just put out this EP, and just see what happens. So there’s a handful of more songs, some of them are recorded, some of them are halfway recorded.

AK: So the Black Hills stuff- do you produce that on your own, or do you collaborate with anyone?

AE: Um, it’s all just me, and I do pretty much just make everything at my house, and then my friend mixes and does some additional production. Like I bring in a song, basically a finished song, and we just mix it and maybe redo the vocals at his place.

AK: Was it challenging translating the music you wrote/produced into a live show with a full band?

AE:  So live I really wanted to like not do backing tracks, and not have a computer onstage, so right now it’s a five-piece band live. Some of the guys, like the drummer and the other keyboard player were in Bellman Barker, and then the other two guys are just people I knew from around.

It didn’t really end up being that difficult. All the guys who are in the live version of the band are super-talented at what they’re doing, their instruments. I would basically come in and say “Alright, here’s these eight synth parts, we need to figure out how to play all these things on these other instruments”, and make it sound cohesive, you know, make it into an exciting live show rather than be with a couple samplers and a laptop. I mean it was definitely kind of weird at first trying to figure out how to do it, but we’ve kind of settled into a method of how we play now.

AK: You mentioned that you are in another band now too?

AE: I am playing keyboards in a band called Bone Fur and Feathers. And that’s a really new band, I’m not one of the main people, that’s a six-piece band.

AK: So are you a native of the DC area?

AE: No, I moved here after college, I’m from South Dakota originally. I lived in Alexandria for a year, back in, like, ’03, and then I moved into DC in I guess ’04. I’ve been in lots of bands, and I kind of decided it’s more fun for me to do it solo. You know bands, I’ve been in so many bands that have broken up, and then you just, like, lost all of that creative effort that you put in, and you have to start over, and I just didn’t want to do that anymore. So that’s why I decided to do the solo thing.  

AK: How did you start playing music?

AE: Well I played classical piano for several years, I started when I was six, and I did, like, the piano competitions, and things like that. And then I played jazz saxaphone for a while, which was pretty fun. And then you know, you get into high school, and stop playing those things, and play guitar and play in bands, and that’s it.

AK: Is there one album or artist that you can remember that first made you really excited about music?

AE: You know, there isn’t really anyone that I can say just for music in general. I mean, for the stuff that I’m doing now the biggest inspiration was Air. Just ’cause I really liked how they would use sounds and styles that a lot of people would consider cheesy. And they definitely can get more into the cheesy territory with some of their stuff, but that’s something that I always really admired. So I started with a similar idea, and a lot of the earlier stuff that I worked on for Black Hills sounded just horrible! (laughs) Really cheesy stuff, and then I eventually was like “Alright, I gotta find a way to make this sound cool” while using, y’know, vocal patches and synth strings sounds that don’t sound cool, and try to come up with something.

AK: Well I love Air too, and I can definitely hear some of the influence, and I think you definitely pulled off whatever you were going for!

AE: (laughs) Thanks!

AK: What’s coming up in the near future for Black Hills?

AE: Well, after this show we don’t have any shows planned, except I think we might be doing something with Alliance Francaise, like maybe doing something for Bastille day. I did a collaboration with this German producer named Kris Menace, so we did a couple songs that are coming out on his album. I don’t think that comes out ’til like October though. It was pretty cool, though, I’d never done anything like that before, so it’s like this super-German club-techno music. Really cool.

See Black Hills live, Wednesday night at Black Cat.

Black Hills

w/Raindeer, The Fire Tapes

Wednesday, May 23

$8/backstage/Doors at 8pm

*Run for Cover was a yearly benefit show held at the Black Cat that featured one-off cover bands or mash-up bands made up of people from DC bands.

photo by Jason Coile

Last week We Love DC guest writer Jonathan Druy interviewed Chris Glover of Penguin Prison, and Saturday night he attended the Penguin Prison show at Rock & Roll Hotel. Check out his review of the show below!

By the time the unabashedly glamorous electro-pop opener Class Actress had finished, the packed, rowdy house at Rock & Roll Hotel late Saturday night was ready for Penguin Prison to come out and give them more. When Chris Glover and his three bandmates took the stage, they looked more like an indie-rock band – besides the two rows of keys, Glover sports a guitar and a leather jacket. Their brand of infectious, melodic electro-dance-pop can’t be as easy to swing as they made it look, but having been on tour as long as they have, it’s no wonder they delivered a slick, flawless, crowd-pleasing show. Once they opened with “Golden Train”, one of his best songs, Glover’s skilled voice didn’t falter throughout the set, and most of the show was a faithful live version of songs from their self-titled album. In addition, he sang the breezy new “Hollywood”, a collaboration with the remix artist RAC, and peaked with a cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Blue Jeans”, in which Glover, who’d been using his guitar mostly as a rhythm backup the entire night, busted out with a confident guitar solo. Since the dancing had been pretty much non-stop for the last hour, the crowd had probably earned the encore, as Penguin Prison closed the night with “Multi-Millionaire”.

photo courtesy of Penguin Prison

We Love DC’s guest writer Jonathan Druy had a chance to talk to Chris Glover, who records under the name Penguin Prison. Check out his interview below!

While multi-instrumentalist Chris Glover has been remixing under the name Penguin Prison for a few years now, playing with the music of Lana Del Rey, Kylie Minogue, Kimbra, Marina and the Diamonds, and Goldfrapp, it is also the name of his electronic-pop outfit, hailing from the Brooklyn that gave us LCD Soundsystem, DFA records, bands like Holy Ghost!, Light Asylum and a host of others. Glover sings catchy, infectious, and lyrical pop songs over his own production, which draws inspiration from classic and Nu Disco as well as the French House of the last ten years. It falls squarely into the kind of indie-dance territory fans of Friendly Fires, Miike Snow, LCD, Hot Chip, Cut Copy, and Junior Boys are going to immediately recognize.

Penguin Prison is sort of a next phase in this realm, flirting with mainstream, and not in a bad way. The music is not compromised by its catchiness, because the hooks are good and the grooves are deep. Glover’s a straightforward and stylish vocalist and a sometimes expressionistic lyricist, but has the looks and charisma to pull off a kind of indie-dance Timberlake vibe. The video for one of his album’s several great singles, “Don’t Fuck With My Money”, shot in gritty black and white last year, shows Glover singing against the backdrop of New York City’s Occupy protest. It’s an odd juxtaposition – pretty-boy crooner, electro-pop, citizen activism – he pulls it off with a coolness and unique spirit.

Although he says his remixing days are definitely not over with, Glover now tours with a full band, and brings Penguin Prison to Rock & Roll Hotel on Saturday night, along with fellow Brooklynites Class Actress.

Jonathan Druy: How do you like playing DC?

Chris Glover: I’ve played DC many times. I think DC is one of the best places to play actually, yeah some of our best shows we’ve played have been in DC, like at U Street Music Hall a couple times, and 930 club a couple times, other places as well.

JD: While you’re mainly an electronic artist, you play with a full band, right?

CG: Yeah, I play guitar and sing, we have a bass player, a keyboard player, and a drummer. We were always a full band, I never wanted to play without a full band, because if I go to a show, and it’s just like a guy on stage with a keyboard or drum machine, it doesn’t really move me, I never wanted to do that. Especially without a live drummer, I think the audience doesn’t know what to do exactly, there’s like tracks playing, there’s no drummer, no anything, there’s like one or two people, the audience is kind of confused, even if it’s music that’s loud and dancey they still aren’t gonna dance because they’re confused about where the sounds are coming from, they don’t see human beings making things on stage.

JD: Where have been some of your best shows?

CG: My favorite crowds are the ones that are really rowdy, and the rowdiest crowds were actually at U St Music Hall, in Brooklyn, Austin, Los Angeles, places like that.

JD: Are there any particular songs that get a surprising reaction?

CG: Honestly, standup comedians will say that everywhere they go, no matter who the audience is, if a joke is good, people will laugh, it doesn’t even matter – the audience could be from completely different backgrounds, but the material should be hitting the same way everywhere they go. If it’s not, it’s not a good joke.

So it’s the same thing with music, whenever we play the same song, pretty much universally the audience reacts kind of similarly, like “Don’t Fuck With My Money”, that one live elicits one of the bigger responses from the audience no matter where we are.

JD: Do you have any bands you consider your colleagues, contemporaries, or maybe competition?

CG: I’m friends with Holy Ghost!, and I was kind of inspired by them, influenced by them, and I made a song with Alex Frankel from Holy Ghost! called “Golden Train”, which is on my album, Penguin Prison, and we finished it, and then I decided I wanted to make more songs like that – that was the first song I made as Penguin Prison, and then from there I wanted to make a whole album that would fit together with that song.

I don’t see other people as competition really, I like to collaborate with a lot of people, I’m friends with lots of musicians, I don’t know if anyone really sees other people as competition, you know it just feels good to become friends with other people that make music that is similar, in the same world.

JD: You just finished shooting a video for the song “Hollywood”, which you did in collaboration with a guy called RAC…

CG: He is someone that I met through the internet, really, I didn’t even meet him in person for a very long time, after we had just been corresponding through email, and he made a couple remixes of my songs, then we were talking about collaborating, and we wrote that song together through the internet.

JD: How has the online world affected what you do?

CG: You can see someone that you like on the internet, and be like “I wonder if I should write to them”, and you write to them, and you’ll be surprised by how they respond to you and they’re like “oh yeah I really like your music too”, and then you’re like “oh ok we should try to make something together”, and then you send each other files, and you work on stuff and send it back to them, and after awhile you’ve made a song together, and you haven’t even met each other.

Sometimes on Twitter, someone will write something about me, and I’m like “what? I really like your music too, we should collaborate!”

JD: Is there anyone else that you’ve done that with?

CG: Yeah this guy Goldroom, he’s got a song called “Fifteen”, and he made a remix of one of my songs. I’ve been talking to him about collaborating. I’m friends with Classixxx, and these people Oliver. Holy Ghost! I’ve collaborated with. It’s hard with peoples schedules and people living in different parts of the country or parts of the world, so the internet helps.

JD: Are you still doing remixes when you find the time?

CG: Whenever I’m not touring and I’m home, I’m usually doing a remix or two. I really like doing remixes for female voices, I like working with female singers more-so than male singers. If I got to choose who to remix, I would really like to remix Lykke Li. I like her voice a lot, and there’s a remix of her by the Magicians, for “I Follow Rivers”, which is, I think, one of the best remixes of the past couple years.

JD: Do you have a way to describe your aesthetic, what you think of when you’re making music? Is it retro-80s? Indie-dance-pop? Nu Disco-influenced pop?

CG: I think my music is essentially pop music, I’m trying to write pop songs that have good melodies. In terms of the production, I don’t really think of it as 80s, I don’t, like, listen to 80s music all day long, or ever really. I’m influenced by the whole Nu Disco movement, which I guess LCD Soundsystem, James Murphy is a big part of. I’m really into disco edits, and the whole DJ culture of editing old obscure disco songs, and adding stuff to them, and the whole DFA kind of sound. I also like to use different influences, different genres of music and try and come up with something new.

JD: I’ve seen you talk elsewhere about Prince and Michael Jackson. How have they played into your music, and your life?

CG: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was the first album that I had, the vinyl, on a Fisher Price record player, and I had a Michael Jackson doll, the little action figure. I think a lot of people like Michael Jackson – it’s just something you don’t really understand, even people that might dislike him as a person or think he’s crazy, they definitely like his music, especially the heyday, “Thriller”, all those hits, it’s hard to not like that music. I just use it as the ultimate template for what are the ultimate pop songs. “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” is one of the best songs ever made, it doesn’t feel cheesy, like a lot of the mainstream disco at the time. So him and Prince, the best songs that they made in their prime, in the 80s, those to me are the ultimate pop music that I use to judge what I’m doing.

JD: What do you think of the music Prince has been doing in the last few years?

CG: Well obviously he’s a good musician, and he likes to show off his skills, and he likes to surround himself which a huge band, where everyone is a really good musician, I guess I can appreciate that, but I’m really more into his minimalist kind of stuff, like now he’s kind of going crazy showing off and throwing in too much stuff.

JD: The other day was Brian Eno’s birthday, is he particularly important to you?

CG: Brian Eno must be one of the best producers ever, because Coldplay – I’m not much of a fan, and he produced one of their albums, and he did a good job with a band that I don’t really like; he must know what he’s doing.

JD: Do you pay attention to mainstream pop? Justin Bieber has a new song out…

CG: I heard that song and I didn’t really think much of it, and it didn’t get stuck in my head, and I don’t have any desire to listen to it again. I guess some people like that, but I don’t have any interest.

JD: Is there any mainstream pop songs that you do like?

CG: There’s certain songs that come out, there’s that one Miley Cyrus song I like, what’s it called? [JD: “Party in the USA”?] Yeah, that’s a great song. I don’t like Miley Cyrus, but there’s just certain songs where I really say I like that song, it doesn’t matter who makes it. “Toxic” by Britney Spears – it’s a great song. The guys from Miike Snow actually produced that song.

JD: For your own songs, do you sort of know it when you get it, does it come pretty quickly, or do you work pretty hard to arrive at something?

CG: Yeah the best things happen naturally, and then you have to work from there. Like with my song “Don’t Fuck With My Money”, all of a sudden – I was just saying that, out of nowhere, it had that melody, and that lyric. That just came out of nowhere, and then I just had to figure out what to do with it. I sleep with a tape recorder next to my bed, and sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, and have a melody in my head and I sing it into the tape recorder and fall asleep, and wake up in the morning and listen to it, and try to make a song out of it.  There’s an art that goes into making a good pop song, and when it happens it’s pretty clear.

See Penguin Prison live this weekend at Rock & Roll Hotel.

Penguin Prison

w/Class Actress, Outputmessage

Doors 8:30/Show 9:30/$15

Saturday, May 19

Rock & Roll Hotel

R. Ring, photo by Jason Coile

We Love DC guest writer Jonathan Druy attended the R. Ring show at DC9 Tuesday night. Read his thoughts on it below! 

Tuesday night started with a fairly sparse DC9 room, but the evening opened with a sharp acoustic/punk set by Marc Ganancias, and then a soulfully beautiful set by Mean Season, who know how to intertwine chick vocals and guitar into a lean indie-rock gift. When Kelley Deal’s new project R.Ring took the stage, the room began to swell with fans of the Breeders guitarist, who got to see a warm set, highlighted by Deal’s sweet vocals and Mike Montgomery’s amplified acoustic interactions, as well as some really funny between-song convos.

 Kelley Deal uses that voice, imprinted on those of us who came of age when the Breeders reigned the alternawaves, as one of the band’s electric instruments, cranking up the reverb, or singing through an effects pedal. It provides a nice touch, so songs like “Fall Out and Fire” and “Hundred Dollar Heat”, which Deal sings from the floor, draw in the audience, resulting in an echo-embellished electric/acoustic lullaby. Deal accompanied Montgomery on guitar for a few numbers, and the electrics came out for their closer, a cover of Shellac’s “Ghost”, on which Montgomery also shared vocals.

 The DC9 crowd grew over the course of the set, so by the end there was no shortage of fans chatting with Deal after the show. Here’s hoping the rest of her tour generates as much goodwill as Tuesday night.

Spiritualized, all photos by Matthew Carroll

 British space-rockers Spiritualized delivered a soulful 2-hour long set to a packed house at DC’s 930 Club Thursday night. Nashville-based country songstress Nikki Lane opened. Spiritualized is on tour of the US now in support of their seventh studio album, Sweet Heart Sweet Light, released in April on Double Six Records.

Nikki Lane

Spiritualized

photo courtesy of the artist

We Love DC guest writer Jonathan Druy had the chance to interview Kelley Deal. Read his account of it all here!

Breeders guitarist Kelley Deal is touring with her beautiful new acoustic project R.Ring, and they’re stopping by DC9 on Tuesday night, in what may prove to be a truly talent-rich night of acoustic-based indie-folk-rock-thingies, with Mike Ganancias and Mean Season. A new release from Misra Records is on its way.

From Dayton, Ohio, R.Ring is Deal and Mike Montgomery of the band Ampline, performing acoustic, spare, melodic explorations led by Deal’s unique and sometimes distorted vocals, her voice familiar to those who remember the once-ubiquitous Breeders. If you were sentient 20 years ago, you probably owned “Last Splash”, with it’s beautiful singles “Cannonball” and “Divine Hammer”, and its surfy instrumentals, and the sweet chick-rock vocals led by twin sister and Pixie Kim, and harmonized sweetly by Kelley. You probably also loved the “Cannonball” video on early-90s MTV, an unimaginable pre-WWW/Youtube/Smartphone era when the cable network stumbled into post-Cobain indie-land, and played these things called music videos, because it was the only place you could see them, kiddies.

The lead-up to our interview lead me to revisit “Last Splash” and “Pod” and “Safari EP”, and well-up all nostalgic-like with my memories of seeing the Breeders ’92 show at the old 9:30 Club, which almost made me forget that Deal has had plenty to do since then; first with Kelley Deal 6000, then with the reformed and rejuvenated Breeders, first in ’02 then in ’08. And while I did just see a friend of mine sing “Cannonball” at karaoke, fear not, middle-aged geezers, the Breeders haven’t gone away, but the other day Kelley talked to me about her new project and about being among the current crop of veterans that are still doing it and doing it well.

She also got curious about the Ethiopian food I told her about on 9^th St. You haven’t lived until you’ve explained Injera to a Breeder…

Jonathan Druy: Are there any memories or feelings about DC you have from past tours?

Kelley Deal: I do remember our ’92 show at the old 9:30 club – DC at the time was considered really hip and really happening, and I just remember being a rube from Dayton, and I didn’t know about any of this stuff and I remember thinking “wow, this is really cool!”.

R. Ring

JD: What is your idea for your new project? Your new songs “Fall Out and Fire” and “Hundred Dollar Heat” have a very nice sense of melody, as well as a spare, haunting quality; what are you conjuring?

KD: Well, since we both have other bands that we can do full band ideas with, it’s really important to me to do something that was just different; one of the songs we do is a cover of “Ghosts” by Shellac – we do it on acoustic guitar, which cracks me up! I love the idea of taking that song, deconstructing whatever song it is, and finding what is it that makes that song move, what is it that makes that song sing, what are the sweet spots, what are not, and understanding it – I don’t know, I just find music fascinating.

I’m not talking theory, because I don’t know theory, but it’s all very selfish, when I hear a piece of music. What is its relationship to me, what is it doing to me, what’s it talking to me about? And I like exploring that, and what we’re doing now is just a different way of using different tools of exploring.

It’s weird because another song we do, there’s a song by [sister Kim's band] The Amps called “Mom’s Drunk”, and it has this lovely chord progression deep inside this fuzzy droney stuff, but it’s an absolutely lovely chord progression, and what we’ve kind of done is kind of taken it apart and rebuilt it back with a lot of tension in it between what one guitar does and what the other guitar does, just to find out where are the tension points. I just find it really fascinating.

JD: Your website also features your cover of another Ohio band, Devo, and their song “Mr. DNA”. Are there any other covers you’re interested in doing?

KD: I thought it would be really funny to do a cover of Fear’s “The Mouth Don’t Stop (The Trouble With Women)”. I heard a little of it and I thought that might be funny, a punk song about women, but then it wasn’t that good of a song.

JD: Are there any other Ohio bands people should know about?

KD: There’s a band called Motel Beds, they’re really good, and of course the Buffalo Killers, and there is a band not from Ohio on Misra called Waterliars, they’re fabulous live.

You know Brainiac is making quite the resurgence right now, for awhile in Ohio it was “Breeders, Breeders, Breeders”, then it was “GBV, GBV, GBV” and now it feels like it’s “Brainiac, Brainiac, Brainiac”. That’s been kinda cool, that’s been really interesting. There’s a lot of Brainiac love going on, people have been really bringing up the idea of Brainiac, who they were, and who they are, a lot.

JD: “Last Splash” is such an important, iconic piece in its time, I’m wondering if you think that there’s anything today that would have the same impact, or if there’s anything for you personally that has an impact on you the way “Last Splash” did to people.

KD: Well there apparently is!! What is it, aren’t there a couple new boy bands coming from England? One of my nieces got tickets to see one of those boy bands for a show in June 2013. 2013 is when the show is, and it’s sold out! So I guess it kinda does happen. Will that happen with anything that I find that has merit? I don’t know, everything kinda seems very niche oriented now, so I think that’s what everybody talks about a lot.

JD: Right now you have all these indie/alternative bands from the 80s and early 90s reuniting and touring, like the Stone Roses, the Feelies, Firehose, and even Pavement a few years ago. The Breeders never went away and are still going – what’s that like to see your contemporaries doing the same thing that younger indie-bands are doing. How do you feel about having everyone still around?

KD: I think it’s really interesting. We’re playing in Pittsburgh tonight and there’s a local band there called Food, and it’s with Ed From Ohio, the guy in Firehose, it’s his band, and we’re gonna be playing with him tonight, which is really interesting because Firehose is also back at it! I think it’s awesome that this guy is still involved and people are still making music if they want to.

JD: You, along with your sister Kim, were part of the iconography of the early 90s indie explosion; What’s kept you in music after this long?

KD: I really like it! I like actually doing music, and that’s kind of something you figure out as you play; there are lots of elements to it, and you kind of decide what it is specifically that you like about it, and from there you can then decide to either continue doing it or parlay maybe the kinds of things that you like into something else, or just abandon that kind of thing altogether.

So for me the reason why I continue playing shows and actual music instead of just booking bands or writing about it or creating a blog, or going into photography – which is all very music related and has a wonderful artistry all on its own – but for me the thing I like specifically about it is the actual music portion of it, so being a photographer of music or something like that, I wouldn’t be passionate about it.

JD: Do you see a lot of older people at your shows, people who were twentysomethings back in the 90s?

KD: You know it really varies, I’ve seen some older cats there, who come up and say, “I saw you guys play at…” and then other people that come up, a couple guys last night had seen a show The Breeders played two years ago. I’m happy to help them walk down memory lane!

You can see Kelley perform with R. Ring Tuesday night at DC9.

R. Ring

w/ The Mean Season

Marc Ganancias

Tuesday, May 15th

DC9 /doors 8pm/show 8:30/18+/$10

Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to the sold-out James Morrison show at 930 Club on Wednesday, May 16th! The UK artist is on tour of the US in support of his third album, The Awakening, released in 2011 on Island Records. You can check out the video for his single “One Life” here, and follow James Morrison on twitter here.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. This show is SOLD OUT!

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email in 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the 9:30 Club Guest List window one hour before doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Patrick Watson, all photos by Matthew Carroll

all photos by Aminta S. Nieves-Candamo

Goth-rock superstars Marilyn Manson played a sold-out show at The Fillmore in Silver Spring on Tuesday night, in the middle of their “Hey, Cruel World” tour. When I got a ticket to this show I did so without many expectations, except maybe to have a trip back in time to my high school/early college days when I was a big fan and saw them several times. I got what I wanted, basically.

Their set was musically strong- Manson himself still has energy, stage presence and rockstar mojo to spare, and thankfully Twiggy (sometimes bassist, now guitarist, and major songwriter for the band) has rejoined the group after a hiatus in the early 2000s (which involved stints with A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, and The Dessert Sessions). However, having seen them in the height of their fame, while they were riding high on the shock-rock infamy which used to surround them, Tuesday night’s show seemed like mainly old tricks. It was also shorter than one would expect (15 songs, just over an hour-long set) from a band who has been around and active for as long as they have, with as large a catalog as they have.

The band started their set off with a dramatic flair- a smoke-filled stage, and a curtain drop to reveal the band, as they launched into “Hey, Cruel World…” the opening track of their latest album, Born Villain. The crowd immediately burst into a boil, arms flying, crowdsurfers launching. Manson also came through with a few costume changes throughout the set- a sequinned dinner jacket for “Dope Show,” and later an amusingly glam disco-ball motorcycle helmet. But after seeing him on the Antichrist Superstar tour crawling on four stilts, or in a barely there gauze corset get-up, these seemed somehow tame.

The most shocking thing Manson did all night was put his hands down his pants…twice. And that just read more pervy than shock-rocker. Also, I swear he said “I wrote this song in rehab” before launching into Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” the first of two covers in the 15-song set. The crowd clearly ate up everything that Manson served, though. Highlights of the set, for me, were from the older material- the slow burning “Tourniquet,” supercharged speedcore “Irresponsible Hate Anthem,” and the anthemic, pounding “Antichrist Superstar” (which featured Manson on a podium, an impressive visual, but one recycled from the Antichrist Superstar tour).  They ended the set with hypnotic “The Beautiful People” which drove the crowd wild, but the end of the set felt premature…the crowd wanted and deserved more.

photo courtesy of Electric Guest

I have been a fan of Matthew Compton for probably fourteen years now. (When I first knew him, and until recently, I knew him as “Cornbread”, but he now goes by Matthew.) I saw his band Engine Down play house shows when I was first at James Madison University, and from the first time seeing them, his hypnotic and powerful drumming captivated me and really stood out. In subsequent years I got to know and became friends (and housemates for a couple years) with Matthew, and my admiration has only ever grown. He’s a creative force to be reckoned with, and has always had this amazing drive and ambition, with whatever he’s doing , but especially music. On top of that, he has a super, ever-present sense of humor.  It’s hard to interact with him and not laugh.

So…I reconnected with Matthew about a year ago, after losing touch for some time. He was living in LA, and told me he was working on a new project, a band called Electric Guest, with a musician friend named Asa Taccone. Singer Asa Taccone is a driven creative force as well- his musical accomplishments include writing for TV (see: Family Guy episode “Hot Tub of Love”) and contributing/collaborating with comedy group The Lonely Island (of which his brother Jorma is a member.) Asa wrote the hilarious holiday classic “Dick In a Box“, performed by Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg on SNL. Last summer the band only had a couple songs up on a bandcamp website for public ears, but upon first listen I loved it. It is a far cry from the brooding, post-hardcore Engine Down music. Electric Guest’s songs are soul-tinged, sunny, groovy, lighter, but inspired.

Since then the duo has been on fire- they played some super shows at last fall’s CMJ, have been touring the US and Europe, have a full-length album that came out last week, produced by Danger Mouse (a long-time friend of Taccone’s), stormed SXSW, and are charging full-steam ahead into the summer touring and gearing up for festival season. They’ll be making a stop in DC on Saturday, May 5th at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Amidst their super-busy tour schedule they were kind enough to answer a few questions for the We Love DC readers.

Alexia Kauffman: Growing up, what were some formative artists or albums for you?

Matthew Compton: Blonde Redhead- Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons.  This band always makes interesting creative choices and  pulls off so much for just being a three piece.  One of the best live band’s shows I’ve ever seen.  And Serge Gainsbourg – Vu De L’extérieur.  (He’s) an amazing musician, who composed for many genres.  I admire his versatility.

Asa Taccone: I liked a lot of hip hop when I was younger. Souls Of Mischief’s 93′ ‘Til Infinity was a great album. There was a big rap scene in the Bay Area when I was growing up, so I listened to a lot of E-40, Mac Dre, etc. I don’t know why I just said “etc” like most people would know who those artists are.

Alexia: How did you start playing music?

Matthew: I started playing drums because my best friend growing up played guitar.  We wanted to be in a band together and I had just seen a guy I know play drums in our junior high talent show. It blew me away so that was the instrument I picked.  After that I became pretty obsessed with it.

Asa: I sung in choir at my elementary school and played the trumpet. I mostly sung during religious holidays, but the choir director was cool and let us have a little bongo section so you could sing and play the drums.

Alexia: How did you and Matthew meet, and how did you start playing music together?

Asa: We met in a big house in L.A. where I was living at the time. Matthew was coming over to play drums for this guy that lived downstairs, and I heard him play and asked him to play on some of my stuff. He ended up playing on a ton of tracks over the year, and we got to be close friends. We work really well together, which isn’t always a given with people.

Alexia: What was it like working with Danger Mouse?

Asa: Terrible. We paid over 70 thousand dollars to have him help produce the record, and half the time we was so drunk he could barely open his eyes enough to give direction. No, it was great. He’s quite a talent, that fellow. By the time we got into the studio it had been years since we’d known each other so it was super comfortable.

photo courtesy of Electric Guest

Alexia: Was it challenging translating the recorded music into a live show?

Matthew: Our live show has its own feel for sure.  We spent about a year rehearsing and trying to figure out what needed to stay/go to make everything work. Honestly it probably took that long because we are both perfectionists.  In general the songs were written with the idea that they could be played on a single instrument and still translate.  We have two other people that play with us that are incredible.

Alexia: I know you’ve been in the music business for a long time, but as far as Electric Guest goes, it seems like things are moving super fast! Last summer you just had a bandcamp page with 2 songs on it, and now you have an EP out, this album (produced by Danger Mouse) that just came out, you’ve played CMJ, South by Southwest, toured all over the US and Europe, and are playing some big festivals this summer, including Sasquatch in Washington State and Outside Lands in San Francisco. How did this huge momentum get going?

Matthew:  It may seem fast to people that have just started listening to us, but this album has been 5 years in the making.  It’s been over a year now of just playing in LA.  Since the album has been released things have progressed fast, and we are very excited to see where it goes!

Alexia: You all have been touring a ton- how is that going? Any favorite  moments on tour?

Matthew: Any time our sound guy/tour manager Jon Gilbert speaks it’s golden.  Some of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard, such a great guy and he works his ass off.

Asa: Someone tried to slip ecstasy into my month at our show in Chicago. It wasn’t my favorite moment but it was interesting. When I asked her what was going on she said, “It’s just ecstasy.”

Alexia: Holy Crap! So who are you listening to these days?

Matthew: I really like this band TOPS from Montreal.  Also the song “Black Rabbit” by PUJOL. We played a Third Man Records party at SXSW with them and I caught his set- catchy song.  Also just started going through old Labi Siffre albums- he’s an amazing songwriter and voice.

Asa: I just heard that new Beach House single which is pretty great. I’ve been listening to this song by HoneyBus called “Be Thou By My Side” which has one of the best choruses I’ve heard in a while.

Check out Electric Guest’s latest video for their super-catchy single “This Head I Hold“, and their video for their first single, ”American Daydream.”

You can catch Electric Guest live at the Rock & Roll Hotel this Saturday, May 5th.

Electric Guest

w/Young Rapids

Rock & Roll Hotel/Saturday, May 5

doors: 7pm/show: 8pm

$10

Coachella at dusk, photo by Martin Silbiger

Last weekend I spent a sunny, super-hot, music-filled 3 days at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, in Indio, California, just outside of Palm Springs. The festival, which has taken place since 1999, features five main stages/tents set up with music of many genres playing from as early as noon each day until after 1am, and art installations spread throughout the festival grounds. This was my fifth year attending the festival. I’ve never written about the experience before, so I thought I’d compile a few things I have learned from the Coachella experience. (While these are based on my experience at Coachella, they can be applied to most big music festivals with success too…)

1. Hydration is key. Temperatures for weekend two of Coachella 2012 got to a high of 106. I think the hottest I felt was during Yuck‘s 3:15pm set on the Outdoor Stage on Friday. I felt approximately like a baked potato, wrapped in foil, on the surface of the sun. I credit spf 110 spray (yes, they make spf that strong), drinking copious amounts of water, iced lemonade and some powerade to my ability to have fun and stay standing, dancing, and running around for 13 hours a day, for the 3-day festival.

2. Ask people who they’re excited to see. Taking recommendations from people on what bands to see can be a great thing. There is nothing quite as magical as discovering a band you didn’t know, or haven’t listened to yet and finding out how amazing they are. And if they’re not your thing, you just run off to the next stage or tent and listen to something else. This is how I came to see some of my favorite acts of the festival! Other Lives and Wild Beasts are a couple of these.

3. Don’t be too shy to dance! Here’s a tip- no one gives a @#$! how you dance, or how silly you look. Everyone is there to have a good time, and they’re paying attention to the band/dj. Let loose- you’ll have more fun!

Kasabian @ Coachella 2012, photo by author

4. It’s ok to hang in the back for a set, but get close to the front for at least one band you like! It isn’t easy to get up front for big acts, and sometimes it isn’t even enjoyable. But it’s certainly a different experience being up close vs. being in the back for a set. There are upsides and downsides to both. Sometimes you just need air and space that being in the back or middle allows. But being close up can be a much more interactive and exciting experience. I was right up front for Atari Teenage Riot, and the energy was awesome. Also I got in the front row for Kasabian, which was super exciting! I didn’t expect Kasabian fans to be so insane- I got crowd-surfers passed over my head, and got bruises in the pattern of the guardrail on my knees. But it was exhilarating and super-fun! Definitely a unique experience. (Truth be told, you may decide being right up front isn’t for you- it’s not for everyone. And to get in the front row you usually have to camp out in that spot for quite a while, and may miss other bands on other stages- that is the compromise.)

 5. Make a plan, but be flexible. When going to a big festival, there are a ton of bands playing, and it’s just a fact- you won’t see them all. Make a plan of attack- who do you have to see, who do you kind of want to see, etc. If you don’t plan it out a little, you’ll risk missing someone you wanted to see. At Coachella this is key, because there are 5 stages, schedule conflicts galore. With a little planning you can make the most out of your time. Compromise is key, and with flexibility you can also check out bands you haven’t seen or heard before, which is one of the most amazing parts of a festival for me- finding new awesome music.

photo credit: Laura Totten

Plants and Animals are a post-rock trio from Canada, currently based in Montreal. Their energetic, guitar-driven indie sound has garnered them acclaim and recognition from the likes of Paste, Filter, and Nylon, among others. They are currently on tour of the US and Canada, and are making a stop at DC’s Red Palace this Friday, April 6th. WeLoveDC’s Alexia Kauffman got a chance to chat with guitarist Nic Basque, and here’s what he had to say.

Alexia Kauffman: How’s your tour going?

Nic Basque: Oh, it’s going well! We’ve done a few shows where we’re from, in Montreal, Quebec, and we went to South by Southwest, and now we’re on the West Coast, driving to Portland.

Alexia: How did South by Southwest go for you?

Nic: It was great! A bit insane, but we got lucky. Our label and management company organized a showcase in a church, so it was pretty calm, and we had good sound. That was great. And we did a couple of bar shows, and those were fun too. I think it was the first time we traveled there with a sound engineer, and that made a huge difference. We were a bit more in control, so that was great. But it was insane!

Alexia: I’ve heard it’s like totally nuts! Did you have any favorite moments while you were there?

Nic: Well the show was fun, and we went to a Mexican place we go every time where they have avocado margaritas- that was fun. We saw some friends too…In terms of shows we didn’t see much except for the showcase. It’s so weird the conditions that bands are playing, that it’s tough to really enjoy bands there.

Alexia: What are some artists that were important to you when you were growing up?

Nic: When I was young, well when I was in junior high I listened a lot to Led Zeppelin back then, and I think that’s how I started playing guitar, ’cause I wanted to learn those guitar lines. And I was listening to Metallica- that type of music was popular where I was. And then for like five years all I listened to was jazz music, and then I went into experimental music, and I just listened to weird noise/guitar stuff.

But as far as doing music, I remember when I was in elementaryschool we had a teacher that was really good and inspiring, and he told the class… one thing you should do is you should follow your passion in life, even if it is against what people are telling you to do. So I followed that advice, and I think that teacher helped me going towards a music career.

photo credit: Caroline Desilets

Alexia: That’s really cool. How did the band come together?

Nic: Oh, well Warren and Woody were- the drummer Woody and Warren the singer- were friends since they were kids, and they moved to Montreal, and we all studied at the same university, and I met Warren, we had a class (together). We liked the same type of music, and we started chatting together. I think Woody was in South America traveling, and when he came back we just started playing together for fun. And there were a lot of new venues in Montreal where they often needed bands to open. So we were opening for bands, but without having really worked any songs- we were just showing up at the venues with our guitars and drums, and jammed before the headliner would show up, so that’s how we started, by jamming in bars! (laughs)

Alexia: That’s pretty awesome!

Nic: Yeah!

Alexia: So with your newest album you kind of took a different approach to recording. Can you tell us a little about it- how it was different, and how the experience was?

Nic: Yeah, a lot of the time when we work on a record we work on the songs while we’re in the studio. This time we wanted to work on the songs before going to the studio. That’s what bands usually do- they write the songs, then they go record them. So we worked on a bunch of songs for a few months- the three of us, recorded them, like in a ghetto way, just to get a sense of what they were and work on the arrangement. I think this helped us out maybe knowing more what the record was going to be, and what we wanted to do. I think it’s the first time also where we talked about the type of record we wanted to do before being done. So we worked on the songs a lot, and the arrangements. I think working on the songs before, knowing how to get from point A to point B during a song it helped a lot so we could focus on playing well together while we were in the studio. There was still like stuff that we figured out in the studio, or songs that we never played before that we worked in the studio. It was the first time that Warren had I think all of the lyrics written before recording. Like sometimes we would record a song and he would figure out the lyrics later, and then we regretted some move we did in the song cause we would have played differently if we knew what the words would be at that point. So it was a fun thing, he sang most of them live with us, so it was fun to play and know which word goes where. It’s a performance thing, but I think it inspired a lot of the recordings to have the lyrics before.

photo credit: Caroline Desilets

Alexia: So you recorded The End of That in France?

Nic: Yeah, we went in France, near Paris, in a city called La Frette- it’s like twenty minutes outside of Paris. It’s where the rich families from Paris used to go in the country for vacation, they had country houses over there, in the ninteen hundreds, or something like that. So there’s a guy we know who has a studio in that city- it’s a big house, really warm, and it’s world-class, really a good studio, but it’s just in a house, which makes it incredible. So we got really lucky, he invited us to record there. It’s the second time we were there, we went there a bit for La La Land, but this time we really locked ourselves there for two weeks with the engineer, a guy named Lionel Darenne, and we tracked the whole record in two weeks over there. It was difficult, but it really was exciting- it was really an inspiring environment. We were really lucky to be able to go there.

Alexia: I read that you all have added bass to the band?

Nic: Well we always had bass on our recording, but live were a trio. And I think it worked, but we always had been talking, like for a year or two that it would be fun to bring someone else on the road with us. First of all to not do the same show that we’ve been doing, like when we play the old songs- to do new arrangements, and also to have that groove, that bass, that low frequency that just the bass can do and a guitar can’t reach. So we were talking about it and there’s a friend of ours who it just made sense to have him with us- the chemistry worked pretty well. So we tried a show with him in Montreal in a little studio, and it worked- a lot of our friends were there, and a lot of them had the feeling that it was like he had always been playing with us. It didn’t take anything away, it just added to the spirit and the chemistry of the band. So it’s a big change for us, but it’s great because we can revisit some of the old songs, and we can be really close to the songs from the last record too, and it helps a lot for the groove, and to free us up. It’s a great addition for the concert.

Alexia: What are your plans for the near future?

Nic: Well for now the plan is to tour. Right now we’re going to Portland, and after that we’re going back to Canada, then making our way to the east coast, and then we’ll go to the States, east coast, south, west, we’re basically touring until June. I think our mind is on getting better live, and doing the best show. Also just before we went on the road we went to a friend’s cottage in Vermont and started working on new songs. We still felt, like, really inspired from the recording session, and felt like we had touched something with that record, and didn’t want to lose it before it came out. We worked on a few new songs, a few new ideas, I don’t know if we’ll keep any of them, but it was really fun to work on new material before the record was out. I think we’ll keep working on that on the tour. Besides that maybe a couple of festivals this summer. We’re playing a festival in Montreal that should be fun. That’s about it!

Catch Plants and Animals live at Red Palace on Friday, April 6th!

Friday, April 6/9pm/$10

Check out the latest video from Plants and Animals here.

photo courtesy of Bowerbirds

Welcome spring in tonight with the sweet sounds of Bowerbirds at Black Cat. The indie-folk duo, from Raleigh, North Carolina, are on tour now in support of their new album The Clearing, out now on Dead Oceans Records. Listen to their song “Tuck The Darkness In” from their latest album here.

Bowerbirds
Dry The River
$15 Mainstage/Doors at 8pm
Black Cat

all photos by Matthew Carroll unless otherwise noted

Hank 3  is a musical maniac. Last Thursday night at the 930 club he played over three and a half hours of music spanning four genres, with only one five-minute break. Hank 3 and his band tore the roof off of the club with their breakneck paced country and Hellbilly sets, and then he and his drummer charged on with the progressively darker and weirder sludge/doom/metal and Cattlecore sets, ending the show after midnight.

http://matthewthomascarroll.com/

With no opening act, Hank 3 and his crew of outlaws started off the night right on time, playing their rowdy, rough-and-tumble style of country music to a pretty full club. The audience was ready to get down, and band led the way on stage, beginning with the super-charged “Straight To Hell.” The song, a boot-stompin’, barroom sing-along stirred the crowd up and showcased the virtuosic playing of fiddle player Adam McOwen. The pace never really slowed down for the next hour and a half (or more), as they charged through twenty-six songs in the country set.

Hank 3 and his band played the hell out of their instruments, and kept the crowd swaying, stomping, moshing, shaking their fists, and spilling their beers. A few highlights of the country set included “Rebel Within,” the cajun-flavored “Mississippi Mud,” the honky-tonkin’ “Gutter Town,” and the fast and crunchy, bass-heavy tribute to Hank’s dog, “Trooper’s Holler.” Hank 3′s dark sense of humor shone through in the song “Pills I Took.” Towards the end of the country set Hank 3 invited Dave Sherman, the singer for the doom metal band Earthride, onstage. He joined the band to sing the spanish-tinged “Ghost to a Ghost,” another high point in the set.

About twenty-seven songs into the night Hank 3 strapped on an electric guitar and introduced the Hellbilly portion of the show. That consisted of about twenty-some minutes of faster, louder, punker, screamier country-flavored tunes.

After the Hellbilly set, Hank 3 announced a five-minute break (his only stop for breath of the whole night), at which point he and his band exited the stage, and about half the crowd exited the club.

Five minutes later Hank 3 came back on stage, along with just his drummer. The stage was dark, except for a couple green lights pointed on Hank’s guitar, so you could just see his silhouette- his cowboy hat now off, revealing long strands of hair hanging down over his face. Behind the stage a video screen had appeared, and a movie played silently while Hank 3 and his drummer launched into the dark, doomy, plodding sludge metal of the next hour-plus, which was his Attention Deficit Domination set.

photo by Alexia Kauffman

 While I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily a fan of metal, I am a fan of noise. Hank 3′s stoner-doom rock created an awesome wall of fuzzy, crunchy noise, blanketing the club with jarring waves of sound. Dark, trudging, spooky, with few vocals, it was weird, but it worked. After over an hour of sonic assalt, with only about a quarter of the audience left, at most, Hank 3 geared up for his final set, from arguably the strangest of the four CDs he released last fall- 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin’. In this album he developed his own genre, which he calls Cattlecore. It’s a combination of hardcore metal guitar (more sonic assault) with auctioneer “Cattle callin’” vocals. The delineation from the ADD set to this one was slight, and involved the addition of another guitarist. Hank 3 had an interesting wardrobe change, onstage (in the near dark), which involved covering his head with something akin to an executioner face/head cover, then a bandana over the lower half of his face, what looked like leather armor on his shoulders, and a cowboy hat on top. The second guitarist was similarly clothed/masked, and the combination, along with the bizzarro Cattlecore sound made for good nighmare fodder.

photo by Alexia Kauffman

 At the end of his epic three-hours and forty-some-minute set Hank 3 still appeared tireless, and after shedding his leather armor and mask and donning a sweatshirt and cap he hopped off the stage, not missing a beat, and went to talk to his fans. I don’t know how he does it, but he brings such energy and passion to everything he does, is relentlessly hard-working, and deserves every bit of success that comes his way. Rock on, Hank!

all photos courtesy of Hank3

 

Hank 3: Well I’ve always been doing it on my own, even when I was with Curb Records. You know I don’t have management, or any of that stuff, I always just had a booking agent, a lawyer, and my band and my crew. No secretaries, or anything like that, it’s always been DIY. It’s just finally now since Curb Records isn’t there I’m able to just be myself, and put out records I want, when I want, and not have to have people holding me back for so long.

Alexia: What made you decide to do those four albums all at once?

Hank 3: It’s mainly being different in the music business. I don’t think anyone else has ever done what I’ve done- released four records across three different genres ever. It’s my way to make my part in the music business, and I’ve always kinda gone against the grain, and it’s just another way for me to be different out there.

Alexia: I mean, they’re pretty amazing. It seems like (coming from a musician who has recorded stuff) an insane challenge.

Hank 3: It was a massive challenge. I doubt I’ll ever have that much focus again in my life to pull off something like that, but you know I’m glad I had the energy to do it, and it’s my way of makin’ a mark in musical history. And you know I’ve never been able to sell my own CD at my own show in over, like, sixteen years, so that’s another reason, that’s another good reason why I wanted to do all the CDs at one time- just to be able to give my fans a chance to see it and a chance to buy it.

Alexia: Where did you get the idea for the Cattlecore record/genre?

Hank 3: Basically, I always thought heavy metal and, um, the auctioneering, beat of the auctioneers was a hand-in-hand kinda thing, and it just ended up workin’ out really cool. So it was just a natural fit for me. You know I always try to do things different, and I just thought it brought a different light into heavy metal.

Alexia: What about Attention Deficit Domination?

Hank 3: I’ve always been a fan of stoner-rock, doom-stoner-rock, and you know I’ve been playin’ fast for so many years, uh, it just felt good to slow down, basically, is the main thing, and do somethin’ that’s strange. You know that part of the show is weird, doomy, um, all that stuff. So, I have a lot of fun playin’ slow, and collectin’ older gear, and stuff like that. So it’s respect to Melvins, Sleep, Earthride, Pentagram, all these band I grew up on.

Alexia: I read that you had dedicated that album (Attention Deficit Domination) to Layne Staley?

Hank 3: Yes.

Alexia: I’ve always been a fan of Alice In Chains, and he was such an amazing singer- were you all friends?

Hank 3: No, I never did get to meet him. I got to see him one time. But, you know, when I was takin’ vocal lessons and stuff I would always bring his songs in, for inspiration. And tryin’ to figure out how to sing powerful. So he was, he was always a hero of mine.

Alexia: That’s really cool. Were there any favorite moments you had when you were making these albums?

Hank 3: It’s really hard to say, I mean, you know, doin’ some of the drum tracks, or if it’s not the drums, doin’ the guitars, some of the vocal takes, you know it’s all one to me. It’s all really important to me, so even if it’s the live show, or the records, even though it’s separate, it’s always one thing to me.

Alexia: So you did so much of the tracks and instruments on these recordings, right? So was it a challenge to bring it all, translate it onstage and take it on the road?

Hank 3: Oh yeah, I mean this is the longest I’ve ever played in my life, and the most gear I’ve ever hauled. You know we usually load in to the venues at one o’clock, and we’re not done settin’ up ’til seven, and that gives us an hour, and we’re onstage for three and a half, and then breakin’ it all down.

Alexia: So what can the audience expect from this show?

Hank 3: It’s gonna be at least an hour and a half of Country, then I do about twenty-five minutes of the Hellbilly sound, then we take a five-minute break and I come back with Attention Deficit Domination, the stoner, doom-rock part of the show, and then we finish it off with 3 Bar Ranch. So I’m tryin’ to hit every aspect of it- a lot of moods, it’s really long.

Alexia: I know you talk about outlaws, and maybe a lack of outlaw spirit in country music right now- are there any outlaws in country music right now, or any genre that are worth listening to?

Hank 3: Well, I mean there’s all kinds of different outlaws, it’s just how you look at it really. Melvins, I mean they’re outlaws, ’cause they march to their own beat. Um, I mean if it’s people that do it themselves, and goin’ against the grain, and bein’ independent about it, to me that’s an outlaw. It’s a lot more than just someone havin’ a beard, or wearin’ a cowboy hat. So, y’know, Black Flag are outlaws to me, The Jesus Lizard, Melvins, Dead Kennedys, Jello Biafra, Tom Waits, all these folks have always been heros of mine. In the country music world it is gettin’ harder to see it, because it’s such a corporate deal nowadays, but there’s a few out there. I consider one of my buddies Bob Wayne- he’s an outlaw in his own way. Or the band Jon Wayne.

Alexia: Thanks so much, I really appreciate you taking this time to talk, and I can’t wait for your show at the 930 club!

Hank 3:  Well please tell everyone to be on time, because there is no opening band. So get ‘em there on time, so we can start on time, and beat the curfew, and all that. And tell the women to not wear no open-toe shoes, so no one gets hurt! We look forward to comin’ back to the 930.

See Hank 3 live this Thursday, March 15th at the 930 club.

Hank 3

Doors 7:30pm

$20

930 Club

all photos by Nathan Jurgenson

Stockholm-based electronic duo Korallreven played their first DC show Monday night, headlining the Black Cat backstage. They were joined by openers Young Magic and Stout Cortez. Korallreven are currently on their first US tour, in support of An Album by Korallreven, out on Acephale Records.

Young Magic played an enthusiastic and energizing set. The trio, currently based in New York City is comprised of Australian ex-pats Isaac Emmanuel, Michael Italia, and Indonesian-born Melati Malay. They mixed dreamy vocals and ambient guitar with tribal-sounding rhythyms and hypnotic, thumping beats. Their performance and sound was fresh, intense, and engaging.

Young Magic

By the time Korallreven took the stage the room was pretty packed. Producer/keyboardist Daniel Tjader and singer Marcus Joons were joined by a third musician on stage, playing guitar and percussion. The set started off with pre-recorded tracks- the celestial, airy vocal layer of Julianna Barwick from their track “Sa Sa Samoa.” It was a little hard to tell from that point what was live and what was recorded, musically. I imagine, as with a lot of electronic music, there are a certain amount of pre-programmed elements, but where that ends and where the live performing begins is kind of nebulous. Regardless, they created a dreamy, yet forward-moving tone with the song, which morphed/was combined with their song “As Young As Yesterday.” While the song(s) were beautiful and lush, Joons’ vocals were a bit lost in the multitude of layers of Barwick’s pre-recorded vocals and the other synth/instrument layers going on. 

Marcus Joons of Korallreven

Joons’ demeanor was kind of vulnerable and fragile- he stood, (flower tucked behind his ear) mostly still and a little tentative seeming, but while a little awkward at times, this was also endearing. While it took a while for him to warm up, vocally (there were some pitchy moments at the start of a few songs) he got into his groove and the performance came together. The stage was lit by black and white video projections, sometimes muted scenes of tropical locations (the inspiration of the band’s genesis was Joons’ travels to the South Pacific), and abstract visuals/animated burst and patterns.

The upsides- the music was beautiful, lush, and mostly pretty chill. The vibe of the music was mirrored in the band’s demeanor and appearance. The downsides- there wasn’t much of an arc or crescendo in the set, it kind of occupied the same space the whole time. Joons’ pitchiness and lack of much of any vocal effects amid the super-lush, layered music stood out sometimes in a not-so-good way.  And the set was pretty short- only seven songs (or eight if you separated the mash-up of “Sa Sa Samoa” and “As Young As Yesterday.”) I didn’t time it, but it didn’t feel longer than an hour, if that.  When they left the stage the audience was cheering heartily, and the lights remained down for quite a while, the cheering continued. An encore seemed expected, especially with such a short set, but they didn’t come back out, and eventually the lights went back up. Clearly they already have an enthusiastic fan base in DC, waiting for more from the duo.

photo courtesy of Korallreven

Swedish dreamy-electronic-pop duo Korallreven, aka Marcus Joons and Daniel Tjäder (of The Radio Dept) have announced their first US shows ever, with select East and West coast dates supporting their debut album, An Album By Korallreven, available now on Acéphale.

We Love DC’s Alexia Kauffman got the chance to ask singer Marcus Joons a few questions.

Alexia Kauffman: What music inspired you when you were growing up?

Marcus Joons: I remember getting touched real early by Velvet Underground, I must have been like eleven or twelve when I first came across their heroin romantic pop songs. Maybe too early. Apart from that I think that I, free from my mind, got the biggest kicks from Screamadelica, Spiritualized, everything by The Beach Boys and Daft Punk’s Homework. All of this has inspired me more to live and breathe than to make music though.

Alexia: How did you first start playing music?

Marcus: Daniel has played since he was a little kid but I started out singing with Korallreven. “Loved-Up” and “The Truest Faith” were the first songs I’ve ever written.

Alexia: What is the songwriting and recording process like for you two?

Marcus: Sometimes I come up with an idea and sometimes Daniel. If I come up with an idea I usually sing my melody to him and then he lays down some chords to it. I usually have a vocal idea with some lyrics and then Daniel composes the track from there while I write the lyrics. Then we finish it all together and wonder where all this magic came from. It’s so surreal.

Alexia: Was translating this music into a live show challenging?

Marcus: It was. I have never ever been on stage before and we never ever had a thought that we should take this to venues around the world. We just dreamt up an album – and then all this happened. Since we decided to do it live we tried and tried to do it real special. Sometimes, when everything has been more than perfect, we have been falling into trance during shows. Truly hoping that this will happen in the US.

Alexia: I see you collaborated with Julianna Barwick for the song “Sa Sa Samoa“- it’s a beautiful track. How did that come together?

Marcus: Thank you. I had a real dark summer that summer of 2010 and the only thing that I could listen to to get rid of my black feelings was Julianna’s vocal loops. It really calmed my fucked up thoughts. Then I went to see her live at a small place in Brooklyn and talked a bit with her afterwards. She seemed super lovely so I sent her a demo with Sa Sa Samoa and asked if she wanted to sing on it and she said yeah. Easy.

Alexia: Are you looking forward to anything in particular on your US tour?

Marcus: First of all it’s gonna be so fun just to play at all these fantastic venues, it feels kinda surreal, and to meet all the lovely people that will go to the shows and who help us exist. Then, since I lived a year in New York it almost feels like a second home and LA is one of the weirdest and funniest places to be depending on how you feel when you’re there. And it’s gonna be interesting, I think, to see if Austin is this sort of a Sodom and Gomorra circus that I heard it is.

Alexia: Are there any artists out there right now that you’d really like to collaborate with?

Marcus: Stina Nordenstam. Or Liz Fraser (of Cocteau Twins). Truly hope that it could happen one day.

Alexia: Who are you listening to now? Any favorite bands/songs/albums from the past year?

Marcus: We have started to write new songs so I’m sorry but I haven’t had that much time to listen to new stuff. The new Burial release is pretty good, especially the track Loner. Apart from that I have mostly listened to soca music. Kinda hate genres but soca music must be one of the most overlooked music genre in the so called Western world. When I was in Saint Martin, a tiny French/Dutch island in the Caribbean, last summer a girl called Destra garcia was on the radio all the time. Such ecstatic and such beautiful melodies at the same time.

See Korallreven in their first DC appearance, live on Monday, March 5th at Black Cat, as part of their first US tour!

Korallreven

w/Young Magic, Stout Cortez

Monday, March 5

Black Cat /8pm/$15

Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes

While We Love DC typically focuses on events in the Washington, DC metro area, we sometimes make exceptions for special events that are not coming to the area. Bjork‘s performance on Saturday night at the New York Hall of Science is one of those exceptions. The concert was part of her ten-show New York residency in February and March of this year.

It is rare to be at a concert and feel that you are having a once-in-a-lifetime experience; that you’re  truly a part of something monumental. I have been to hundreds of concerts in my lifetime. I have seen Bjork perform five times now. Saturday night’s performance was among the top concerts I’ve ever experienced, and it was more than just a concert- it was a multimedia art extravaganza. It was ground-breaking in many ways, and truly unforgettable.

Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes

It is hard to accurately describe the scope of this concert and its significance without writing a book, but I will try to condense my thoughts for your reading pleasure. First- a scrap of background. Bjork’s latest album, Biophilia (her eighth studio album, released in 2011) was the driving force behind the concert series. The album itself was created as a mulimedia experience. Bjork collaborated with instrument-makers and scientists to create special instruments which she used for this album.The instruments included a “gravity harp” or “pendulum harp,” which used four 10-ft pendulums attached to cylyndrical harps, and a “Gameleste”- a hybrid, midi-controlled combination of a gamelan and a celeste, among others. She also recorded some of the album on Ipad, and before the album even came out she released a Biophilia interactive Ipad app. For the concert she brought along all of her unique and beautiful instruments, and incorporated video/visual elements on screens above the stage.

Let’s touch on the venue. The New York Hall of Science is a science museum.The concert itself was in the museum’s “Great Hall,” which, from the outside, looked like a tall tower made of honeycomb, undulating walls with chunks of blue and red glass throughout. From the inside it was basically a circular space, with a soaring ceiling. The stage was in the middle of this space, surrounded by various instrument stations- a pedestal for electronics, another for the percussion, and then on one side the magical instruments specially created by Bjork and her collaborators- the pendulum/gravity harp, a midi-controlled small pipe organ, and suspended high above the stage, in what looked like a human-sized birdcage, a double Tesla coil. Above the stage were video screens, in a circular formation mirroring the stage, that were visible from the front and the back, which played colorful and stunning visuals coordinated with each song throughout the night. There were seats as well as standing areas all around the stage, no more than seven rows of seats, so every one in the room was super close to the action. The plus side of this is obvious- I have never been so close to Bjork and it was so intimate. The down side is that she was not always facing your direction for every song- she changed direction for each song, to give each side of the audience their due attention. But there was so much to look at onstage that there was never a lack of visual stimulation in the night.

Bjork with Gravity Harps, Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes

The set itself was heavy on material from Biophilia (she played every song from the album), as expected, but also drew from several other albums including  Medulla, Volta, Vespertine and even Post. Bjork started it off in a spectacularly dramatic fashion with the song “Thunderbolt,” off of Biophilia. As if being a mere stone’s throw away from Bjork in her big orange wig and blue vinyl sculpture-dress, and the 20-some-member chorus of girls, all dressed in copper fabric or blue sequins wasn’t dramatic enough, this song featured the night’s debut of the double-Tesla coil. It was lowered, in its aluminum cage, from the ceiling down to above stage level, and was a primal and amazing sight to behold. Now many people have seen a Tesla coil in action, and some have even used one on stage before (see Man or Astro-Man?), but I have never heard of or seen anyone use one as an instrument in a song before. It blew me away. Not only to hear the metallic, crunchy basslines that it produced, but to see the lightning it was creating in tandem- it was thrilling.

One of Bjork’s amazing strengths that shone on this night was harnessing both the terrestrial and celestial. She brings the very earthly elements of choral singing, handmade instruments (including the harp, played by wonderful, long-time Bjork collaborator Zeena Parkins), and seamlessy incorporates electronic elements, sonic and visual, even harnessing raw electricity with the Tesla coil. On top of that her appearance is that of a creature from another planet, something dreamed up in a sci-fi fantasy.

The songs from Biophilia were really given life in the concert setting. I had previously not fallen in love with the album, but experiencing it in this vibrant way, Bjork cavorting around the stage, working her siren magic, the chorus of girls dancing and singing, the instruments all right there, the energy, every moment was electrified- it made me love every song. Some musical highlights of the night included “Who Is It”, a jubilant track from her all-vocal album Medulla, the tender and beautiful “Sonnets/Unrealities XI” from the same album, and the bass-heavy, thumping “Pagan Poetry” off of Vespertine.

Bjork came back with the whole crew for an exciting encore that included the beloved “Possibly Maybe” from her second album Post. She also recruited the entire audience to sing ”Happy Birthday” with her to a friend of hers in the audience. A crunched out hard-core “Nattura” followed, that included a reappearance of my favorite Tesla coil. The night was ended with an all-out dance party, everyone in the room and on-stage jumping and waving their hands in abandon to the battle call of Declare Independence. I pray that a live DVD of this concert experience is in the making. 

Setlist:

Thunderbolt

Moon

Crystalline

Hollow

Dark Matter

Hidden Place

Mouth’s Cradle

Who Is It

Virus

Generous Palmstroke

Sacrifice

Sonnets/Unrealities XI

Pagan Poetry

Mutual Core

Cosmogony

Solstice

Encore:

Possibly Maybe

Nattura

Declare Independence

Synth-chamber-electronic songstress Zola Jesus and her band performed to an enthusiastic crowd at U Street Music Hall Thursday night. They were supported by openers Talk Normal, a female experimental rock duo from Brooklyn who are accompanying them on much of their tour. They are in the midst of a US tour before heading over to Europe at the end of March.

This was the third time singer Nika Roza Danilova, who performs as Zola Jesus, had played in DC. Previously she has toured as on opener for acts including The XX and in Europe toured with Fever Ray. Her music is dark, moody, heavily electronic, with some piano and strings mixed in, with dramatic vocals. At times it brings to mind Massive Attack, other times Fever Ray, even hints of Kate Bush, but Danilova’s vocals are the unique element of her music.

At Thursday night’s show her backing band of drums, synth/keys, and electric violin were all clearly talented musicians, who added energy and depth to the performance, but it was really the vocals that stood out and elevated the sound. Danilova’s stage antics and voice took music that could have been kind of generic, slow-industrial synthpop to an interesting and compelling place.

The stage was set with four glowing white cubes (which could have served well as platforms for the tiny Danilova, who I could see from the second row, but was probably much less visible from farther back in the crowd.), flooded with blue light, and even hazy with fog from a fog/smoke machine. It set a kind of 80s vision of the future ambience, which worked well with the music.

One stand-out track of the evening was ”Night” from her 2010 album Stridulum II. The song, dark and slow, was driven by mesmerizing drums, and chilling tremelo from the violin. Another high point was the crunchy, almost industrial, moody “Vessel“, from her latest album, Conatus. Danilova danced around the stage throughout the night, striking sharp poses, even sitting/lying on the stage for most of one song. At one point she even came into the audience, moving amongst the crowd, who were clearly excited by her presence, though no one was really dancing. (The music itself isn’t really danceable unless you do the slow goth lurch.) The set, along with a short encore, was a captivating hour.

photo courtesy of Zola Jesus

Goth/synthpop princess Zola Jesus will be performing her enchanting, dark tunes Thursday night at U Street Music Hall. She has toured with Fever Ray and The XX, and collaborated with M83, LA Vampires and Burial Hex, among others.  Check out her video for “Vessel,” off of her 2011 album Conatus, out on Sacred Bones Records.

Zola Jesus

U Street Music Hall

7pm/$15/All Ages