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Pete David & the Payroll Union: Ghosts Came By and They Told Us to Go

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Recently, while listening to a band whose genre was listed as “Americana” but who were not from any of the Americas, let alone the United States, I likened Americana music in the ’10s to Irish music in the ’90s – a genre named for a country, rapidly filling with non-native practitioners.

But that phenomenon is not necessarily a bad thing. Take Exhibit A: Pete David & the Payroll Union. Based in Sheffield, England, the group was formed by a couple of young Brits (vocalist/guitarist/harmonica player David and banjo player Joseph Field) who held an acute interest in the traditional music of the U.S. This makes a sort of sense since lines drawn from early American music (string bands, drum and fife bands) often lead back to the British Isles.

The lyrics of Pete David & the Payroll Union’s debut EP Underfed and Underpaid make this even more of a musical Möbius strip as David and company sing stories set during the French and Indian War, the Civil War, the Salem Witch Trials, etc. They even have the visage of America’s 7th president Andrew Jackson gracing their website. Not for the first time, the Brits have beat us at our own game.

Whatever, it’s probably just prolonged jealousy over that whole Revolutionary War thing. You’ll forgive them once you hear the music. The album begins with the attention-grabbing “St. Lawrence River”, in which a company of soldiers opine, in earthy harmony, that they will “die on a muddy river bed” while Field picks beautifully on his banjo and drummer Ben President urges your feet to stomp along. Later on, in “Abigail”, David croons over a slowly-strummed guitar before the song opens up with the full band into a romantic cry of longing. The album ends with “There’s a Light”, probably the most traditional-sounding song on the album with Paul Heath’s freight train bassline and Field’s banjo strumming.

Two of my favorite tracks are “The Sacrifice” with its Nick Cave-like bravado and the appropriately-haunting “Ghosts”.

 

[Tracks removed by request.]

 

Pete David & the Payroll Union have a string of gigs at home in Sheffield, later branching out to Glossop, Wales and York (check their website for details). They’re looking to work up a U.S. tour in the future, but until then, check out their lovely website and download or order Underfed and Underpaid from their Bandcamp site.

 

Pete David & the Payroll Union Official Website

Pete David & the Payroll Union @ Bandcamp

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Daniel Knox: I Make Enemies Everywhere I Go

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You climb the metal fire escape on this frigid, Chicago night, a little uneasy. The steps sway and clang under your feet while layers of paint and rusted metal disintegrate under your hand. You are halfway up when you make the mistake of looking down to check your progress. A pause as you close your eyes, grip the railing with both hands and whisper, “Oh please oh please oh please…” A deep breath, and you continue on.

You reach the door and sniff back some rogue snot before turning the handle. You step in to find the inside just as dark and cold as the outside. Darker. Except for a soft spotlight trained on a man and a baby grand piano. The bear of a man is dressed all in black, and his hands play across the ivories more delicately than you’d have expected. He watches you, grinning. His face is pleasant enough, but something about the grin is slightly unsettling, as if it will spread into a giant Mr. Sardonicus rictus at any moment.

“Watch your step,” the man warns casually, just before you feel age-old wooden slats begin to give way under your foot.

You cautiously navigate your way across the room to the piano, thinking, however illogically, that if you can just grip this huge, heavy piece of furniture in the middle of the rotting floor, you’ll be safe. The man continues to grin as you listen to him play. He begins to sing. A full, sonorous voice that seems to come up from another time. It makes you think of thin, foreign men with severely pomaded hair and angular women with Louise Brooks haircuts. The man plays a beautiful song, and you begin to relax under the lilting melody. Until your mind begins to process the words…

When I come back to life, I’ll find you,
Push my thumbs into your eyes and blind you.
When you hear your name called out across a crowded street,
you’ll think of me and swear the ground was stolen from your feet.

He punctuates the verse with a high, ghostly, wordless howl-hum.

Your shoulders freeze. You glance back across the room and wonder how quickly you could make it back out the door and down the fire escape. You turn back as the man stands, still grinning, and motions you to follow him. You don’t know why you follow, but you go. Out a window you climb, onto a snowy stone balcony overlooking the city. Chicago is laid out for you in a jeweled grid, the snow making everything pristine. Clean. Wonderful. You try to remain on your guard, but the site dazzles you and your eyes widen and sweep the landscape like an excited child’s.

Beside you, the man begins to chuckle. Maybe he’s not so bad, you think. He’s shown you something beautiful you might never have seen had you let fear turn you back down that fire escape.

Then you feel a strong tug on the back of your jacket. As the snow-laden streets fly up to meet you, the man’s booming laughter echoing behind you, you realize he really was as bad as you thought.

Ghostsong by Daniel Knox

Daniel Knox’s album Evryman For Himself, the second in a trilogy, releases May 10, 2011. The first album of the trilogy, Disaster, is available to stream, download and order on CD on Bandcamp. And, if you’re brave enough, he’s on tour.

Daniel Knox Official Website

photos: John Atwood

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Strangers: Dark Pop and Twisty Soundscapes

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Raife Hacking (drums; left), David Jones (vocals, keyboards; right);

not pictured: Glen Nicholls (producer, programmer, keyboardist, crafter of twisty soundscapes,  and international man of mystery).

 

I’m intrigued by your sound. So, tell me more about the band. Who are you, collectively, and what’s your story?

David: Well the band is a trio, myself and Raife Hacking started working with Glen Nicholls, the producer and also third band member in October last year. We are from the Midlands in the UK originally, but now work from Glen’s studio in North London.

We came together through a love of dark pop music, stuff like Depeche Mode, some Bowie stuff, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails (you’ll hear that coming out more in our new stuff). Glen is a producer/remixer and has worked with bands such as White Lies, Prodigy and Unkle amongst others, and I have been songwriting for a few years, inspired by my love of dark uplifting pop songs. I use the word pop loosely, I guess.

We’re aiming for a big powerful live show which we are debuting in May/June in London UK, and are releasing another couple of EPs over the course of the next few months followed by our debut album later this year.

 

I have a rough idea of where the West Midlands are but, to be honest, almost everything I know about the bits of England that aren’t London I learned from books like Pies and Prejudice and Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie, movies like Brassed Off and Billy Elliot and the week I spent in the Lake District before I went up to Glasgow for my junior year abroad. I can look at a map and see you aren’t from those part(s) of England, but: what is your England like? What propelled you down to London?

David: Well, my England was centred around Northampton when I was growing up, which is a large town in the middle of England. I was brought up in a Christian community where everyone shared all of their possessions and lived simply without a television or radio. It meant that I was encouraged to be creative from a very early age. So I’ve been writing songs and playing instruments from about the age of 7.

What brought me down to London was music. I always knew I wanted to pursue a musical career, and London seemed a good place to meet people and go to gigs etc. I also like buzzing places and being part of a city that’s always moving and always vibrant is a great place to be for inspiration.

 

Was your community akin to the Amish? Was London a whole lot of culture shock, or was the separation between the two types of worlds not as stark as the Amish/”English” division tends to be? (The old order Amish here generally refer to the non-Amish as “English.”)

David: The community I was brought up in has similarities, I guess, to the Amish, but only in the way everyone lives together. We all went to normal schools and interact with ‘normal’ society. They just choose to live a simple and humble life as they believe it is how God would want them to live. They call themselves Charismatic Christians. I think my upbringing has influenced me in a very positive way.

 

Are Raife and Glen from Northampton too? Did you call decamp to London together, or meet there? What is their England like?

Glen: I’m originally from Leicestershire, not too far from Northampton but moved to London in 1997.

David: Raife is from Northampton, and still lives there. He comes to stay with me in London every week so we can work on the band, though. Raife is the youngster of the band and we love him for his energy and enthusiasm, and also his crafty beats. I guess our collective ‘England’ is quite similar, we are all from relatively small places and have a desire to do something bigger than the confines of where we are from. That isn’t to say that we’re not proud of where we’re from, and I still really enjoy being in Northampton, it’s a great place with lots of creative people around.

 

Why did you name the band Strangers?

We came up with the name Strangers because firstly we thought it fitted perfectly with our sound and secondly everyone is born a stranger into this world and we really find the concept behind that idea. Also we all interact with Strangers everyday, more so than we ever have, and its a really interesting idea and can be used in loads of different ways.

 

You mentioned NIN as an influence; is that early NIN or later? Also, is that a violin I hear, on one of the tracks?

Yes, that is a violin in one of the tracks. Our producer is very much into ‘filmic’ sounds, by that I mean epic, huge soundscapes, and so he will often spend days coming up with a string part for one of our songs. I think it really works well for our sound. To be honest I’ve only recently got into Nine Inch Nails. I love ‘Hurt’, Closer, tracks like that. Glen is more of a hardcore fan, and he has turned me onto them.

 

Oh, okay, Closer and so on, that’s early NIN. Those are some of my favorites, too! Would it be appropriate to read “dark pop” as a synonym for “gothic”? Or at least as being related to certain strains of gothic music?

I guess there are gothic elements to our sound, but Dark Pop sits better with us as a way to describe our sound at the moment. Some of influences definitely have gothic roots; The Cure, Depeche Mode.

 

[ Strangers ] - In Chaos

 

Where was the video filmed? It looks very dark and pleasantly creepy, wherever it is. Also, how long did take to do it, using just the iPhones as recording devices?

We filmed the video in Holland Park, which is a national park in West London. They are very strict about what is filmed there, so we had to stealth it a bit, and stay ‘under the radar’. It was raining for most of the filming so we were all standing there drenched, trying to get the right shots, it was an interesting day to say the least! We were there for about 3 hours the first time, and then went back for an hour or so a week later to get a few of the shots we missed. It was all shot using two iPhones, yes, and I think we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the footage.

 

What was your transformative song – the rock and roll lightning strike?

David: A guy who I was in a band with a few years ago played me Depeche Mode Enjoy the Silence and it was literally love at first listen. From there I got really into The Cure and bands like that, as well as purchasing the entire Depeche Mode back catalogue.

Glen: Mine would have to be Head Like a Hole, by Nine Inch Nails, literally blew my socks off!! haha!

Raife: Everlong – Foo Fighters. The first time I heard it I wanted to be Taylor Hawkins, just such an entertaining drummer to listen to, and watch, he’s so animated. Also, it’s just a great track, I’ll never grow tired of it.

 

What was your first show (that you attended, not that you played)?

David: My first show i went to was a local band called Glendon. The guitarist used a food mixer on the fretboard to make some cool sounds, back then that was enough to impress me haha.

Glen: Depeche mode’s ‘Devotion Tour’ in ’93 was the first big concert I went to in London!

Raife: The very first show I went to was to see a Scottish metal band called Mendeed, I was 13 at the time. It was at the forum in Kentish Town, proper battle metal type stuff, there was mohawks and dreadlocks all over the place. Loved it. I really clearly remember just how loud it was, I couldn’t believe PA’s went that loud, pretty sure the ringing in my ears right now is because of that first show I went to.

 

What was the first record/tape/etc that you bought? What was the last one?

David: I wasn’t allowed to buy tapes when I was a kid, as all other music other than Christian music was considered ‘worldly’ and wrong. I used to go round to my mates house and he would copy me stuff that was in the charts at the time.

Glen: Damn! probably Michael Jackson’s Thriller on vinyl and the last was the Inception movie score by Hans Zimmer.

Raife: Nirvana, Nevermind, the most stereotypical album to be a bought by a teenager. I listened to it over and over, really opened up my musical ears. The last one I bought was  Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, full of great hip-hop grooves, some really interesting instrumentation on some tracks, and a cameo perfomance from Chris      Rock at the end of the last track, couldn’t ask for more.

 

And finally, where will you be playing the live shows?

David: Our first show is May 20th at a new venue called Victory. We are playing this show for Club. The. Mammoth and will be the main support for FOE. Also we are playing at Bull and Gate in Kentish Town, North London for Mybandsbetterthanyours Presents on June 7th.

 

To hear more from the Strangers, visit them at their Website or on Soundcloud!

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Cut in the Hill Gang: Livin’ in a Town That Ain’t Even on the Map

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Here’s how I want to write this post about the Cut in the Hill Gang’s Mean Black Cat: Holy shit, buy this album! Go! Do it now! It is flat-out, fist-pumping, sternum-thumping rock-and-goddamn-roll from top to bottom, and you need it. Then I would throw out a couple of songs, and you would listen and say, “Damn, the effusive writer is correct! Where’s my credit card?”

But some people are going to want more than my exuberant flailing to go on (if you weren’t already enticed by the description of the album in our James Leg interview).

In this most recent incarnation, the Cut in the Hill Gang is comprised of four frontmen: Johnny Walker (Soledad Brothers), Lance Kaufman (StarDevils), Reuben Glaser (Pearlene) and James Leg (Black Diamond Heavies). And on Mean Black Cat, the four put their dirty fingerprints all over other people’s songs. CitHG dip into a number of genres and eras, covering the likes of Lula Collins, the Gun Club, Gary U.S. Bonds, the Kills, Hound Dog Taylor, the MC5, Bill Allen… If you’re familiar with the other works of the CitHG members, the artists covered aren’t a huge surprise, but the way some of these songs are covered may give you a pleasant start. The opening track, “Don’t Ever Leave Your Daddy at Home”, is a stunningly ragged and raw turn on Frank Frost’s “Never Leave Me at Home” that feels like it could burn the lining out of your throat just from listening to it. And the greasy slide of the Gun Club’s “Promise Me” is turned into a sparse, haunting, echoing plea as the album’s closer.

There are also clever marriages of songs. The MC5’s “Black to Comm” flows seamlessly in and out of Hound Dog Taylor’s “Let’s Get Funky”. Later on, the Kills’ “Fuck the People” meets up with Spacemen 3’s “Revolution” to form a sneering call to arms.

Two of my favorite tracks on the album are the covers of Gary U.S. Bonds’ “I Wanna Holler” and the Mighty Hannibal’s “The Right to Love You”. Leg takes the lead on “Holler”, bringing the keys to the forefront and covering everything with his trademark growl while a tribal drumbeat thrums deep under it all. (Plus, it’s amusing to hear Leg utter the line “I’m just a silly sap.”)

 

I Wanna Holler by Cut in the Hill Gang

 

The vocals of “Right to Love” are so heaped with emotion that they sometimes sound as if they will cut out all together under the strain, yet the vibe of the song holds a certain menace that makes love sound like a threat.

 

The Right to Love You by Cut in the Hill Gang

 

This album would be shooting to the top of my Favorite Albums of 2011 So Far list if it wasn’t for the fact that it was released last October.

You want this album now, don’t you? Yeah, here’s the catch for all the U.S. readers: It’s only available as an import. Mean Black Cat was commissioned by German label Stag-O-Lee and hasn’t been picked up by an American distributor. But this being the Age of the Internet, the album is easily obtainable through Stag-O-Lee’s parent company Glitterhouse or through Amazon or a few other online retailers. Yes, it will cost you a little more, but if you’re turned on by what you’ve heard, I’m confident you will find the album worth the extra scratch.

 

Cut in the Hill Gang @ MySpace (where you can hear a couple more songs off of Mean Black Cat, as well as the great “Soul to Waste”)

The Tale of the Cut in the Hill Gang

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The Imperial Rooster: My Heart is Thawed

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Couch by Couch West: it started out as a tongue-in-cheek backlash against the rising tide of babble that always inundates the online music community around South by South West time. But while the whole thing started out as a joke that masked the fact that many of us were envious of the people who were going out to Austin to take in some great live performances, CXCW turned into a viable entertainment option of its own, complete with exclusive performances from unknown and name acts alike (Neko Case didn’t play SXSW this year, but she and her dog Liza did serenade CXCWers). NTSIB found more than a couple of acts that made us sit up and say, “We’ve got to get them on the blog!”

One of those bands was the Imperial Rooster. Playing from a porch in Espanola, New Mexico, the Roosters showed up early and often at CXCW. Here they are in their CXCW performance of “The Ballad Of Lightning Bill Jasper”:

 

 

Their first album, Old Good Crazy Poor Dead, spans the spectrum from raucous novelty songs (“Pigfork”) to heart-tearing, Southern gothic ballad (“Uranium Mole”). Rooster music is loose and full of heart, and we heartell they put on a mean live show. (And Shooter Jennings likes ’em, too.) Stream or download a couple of my favorite tracks from OGCPD below.

 

Your Friends Think I’m The Devil by The Imperial Rooster

 

Never Cold Again by The Imperial Rooster

 

The Imperial Rooster has a new album coming out sooner than later, and we’ll be keeping you apprised of those goings on.

 

The Imperial Rooster @ ReverbNation

The Imperial Rooster @ Facebook

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Brown Bird: I’ll Embrace It All

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Brown Bird’s forthcoming EP, The Sound of Ghosts, seems to be another step in the stripped-down band’s evolution, sounding as different from early albums “Such Unrest” and “Tautology” as the Carolina Chocolate Drops sound from Iron and Wine. While early Brown Bird songs were slow, sparse, delicate pieces, The Sound of Ghosts is imbued, start to finish, with foot-stomping, ramshackle rhythms anchored by upright bass and layered with percussive guitar, rich harmonizing between David Lamb and his partner MorganEve Swain and a splash of fiddle and banjo. One can hear influences that span the world, but it’s all held together with a polish that never overwhelms the spirit of the songs.

 

Bilgewater by Brown Bird

 

The EP is available via Brown Bird’s Bandcamp site with a limited edition hand-silkscreened edition that will ship May 1st. The EP will see wide release May 10th.

Brown Bird is on the road now and will be playing the Newport Folk Festival in July.

 

BROWN BIRD 2011 SPRING/SUMMER TOUR DATES
(more dates to be announced soon)
Apr 08 – The Apohodion w/ Al Scorch, Plains / Portland, ME
Apr 16 – Virada Cultural, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Apr 23 – WOW Hall w/ The Devil Makes Three / Eugene, OR
Apr 24 – Wonder Ballroom w/ The Devil Makes Three / Portland, OR
Apr 27 – Crystal bay Casino w/ The Devil Makes Three / Crystal Bay, NV
Apr 28 – Slim’s w/ The Devil Makes Three / San Francisco, CA
Apr 29 – The Catalyst w/ The Devil Makes Three / Santa Cruz, CA
May 05 – Porter Belly’s / Brighton, MA
May 07 – House Show w/ Sidewalk Dave, Plume Giant / New Haven, CT
May 19 – The Met EP RELEASE PARTY!! w/ The Devil Makes Three, Wooden Dinosaur, The Silks / Pawtucket, RI
May 20 – Bario-Neal Jewelry Show/ Marco Panella, Wooden Dinosaur / Philly, PA
May 22 – w/ Homemade Knives / Richmond, VA
May 26 – Rochambeau Library / Providence, RI
Jun 03 – Lily Pad w/ Joe Fletcher & The Wrong Reasons / Peacedale, RI
Jun 24 – Elysium w/ Audrey Ryan / Rollinsford, NH
Jun 25 – SPACE Gallery w/ Audrey Ryan and South China / Portland, ME
Jul 31 – Newport Folk Festival / Newport, RI

 

Brown Bird Official Website

 

[photo credit: Mikael Kennedy]

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Casey Neill and the Norway Rats: Goodbye to the Rank and File

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The Norway Rats are the all-stars of Pacific NorthWest folk-punk musicians: Casey Neill (vocals, guitar), Little Sue (vocals, acoustic guitar), Chet Lyster (guitar), Ezra Holbrook (drums), Hanz Araki (vocals, flute), Jesse Emerson (bass), and Jenny Conlee (piano, accordion), and Goodbye to the Rank and File, the first Norway Rats record to feature the complete line-up of the band all in the same place at the same time, is the West Coast-centered follow-up to the more New York-oriented Brooklyn Bridge (2007).

True confession: Two of the songs on this record -  Guttered and Stonewall – were already old and familiar friends of mine, met some time ago on a podcast. I was nonetheless pleased to see them formally released into the wild, not least because now I can listen to them on their own whenever I want.  I’m particularly fond of Guttered because it is really satisfying and/or comforting to listen to on cold, wet days, when it feels like you’re watching your life go by from the bottom of a hole. Or, to borrow from the lyrics, if you are wandering in a graveyard in the snow -  in your mind or for real.

As for the rest, I have spent a couple of days listening (and humming random bits of melody to myself odd times) and pondering how to describe them. What I finally came up with was “Hymns (and Lovesongs) for The Vagabond Heart.” All of the songs are strong; my personal favorites (as of right this minute) are  Idyll and When I Came To You. These two songs encapsulate the trials, travails and also sublime joys of wandering, and how the joys can be amplified by having someone to wander with, and the ache of the trials and travails eased by finding a place to to finally stop and be at home. Nightowl and the Skylark, based in part on Joe Strummer’s life, is also achingly beautiful.

But really the most important thing I can tell you about this record is: it is meant to be savored. Clear an hour in your schedule, turn off your phone, pour yourself a drink, find some sunlight to sit in, then sit back and listen to them sing some stories.

Here’s a taste of the treat you are in for:

Casey Neill and the Norway Rats "Guttered" live in Seattle at the High Dive 1/13/11

Also important: they are still out on the road in the West, stopping in Albuquerque, NM tonight before progressing on to Arizona, Colorado and Utah during the rest of the week. They’ll also be playing some Pacific NorthWest shows in May; you can find all of the details at Casey Neill’s official website.

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Get More Gritty: Again and Again

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Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Again and Again, of Seattle, who I learned about from Twitter. After I had poked around their website a little bit and listened to a couple of songs, I was intrigued and wanted to know more. After getting past some technical difficulties, drummer XwesX (Wes Keely) (center) and I had the following email chat:

 

Who was in which band, previously, and how did you get together to form Again and Again? And who does what in Again and Again – did anyone switch roles (or instruments) from previous bands?

OK, well, to start this off, Dutch VI (above left) plays guitar, Geoffrey C Walker (above right) sings, and I play drums. We had a few other members over the years, but at the current moment this is the core group, and we have a few fill in bass players that go out on tour with us from time to time. Geoffrey used to sing in the Victory Records band called On The Last Day based out of Seattle, Dutch VI also plays in a few different hardcore bands that we are not really allowed to talk about, and I was a founder of Walls of Jericho and have also played in bands such as Most Precious Blood, Throwdown, Until The End, Remembering Never and a few others.  I also spent years as a hired gun for several different bands over a span of 5 or 6 years.

There was no role switching as far as instruments go, although we all play other instruments. Dutch plays a mean set of drums from time to time; Geoffrey plays guitar and bass and knows how to rock a Pro Tools rig like no other; and I play guitar as well as bass.

 

On the “hired gun” front, I see from your blog that you were out with the Jonas Brothers. How did that happen and what was that like, because there’s quite a vast gulf, musically, between Throwdown and the Jonas Brothers. Also, tangentially, I have noticed that there are an awful lot of ex-hardcore drummers in pop and/or pop-punk bands. Is that just a coincidence, or a kind of natural progression?

Haha, well, ok, I did some touring with Jonas this past summer, but there was no drumming involved. I was on the tour working for one of the lead sponsors of the tour that works with the Jonas group.  It’s funny, I did a tour just before that one with Jordin Sparks and a lot of people were asking me “are you drumming for her?” because really with the amount of jumping around that I have done in the past something like that is pretty possible.

As far as hardcore drummers in pop music, well that one has been happening on and off for years, people like Andy Hurley playing in Fall Out Boy with Pete [Wentz], and Chad Gilbert playing in New Found Glory after sinning in Shai Hulud.  I think its just one of those things where people just play in HC bands for years and eventually you just want to do something else.

Pete and Andy used to go to WOJ and Earthmover (band 3 members were in before we started WOJ) shows in Chicago and they played in HC bands too. We all used to have fun and play shows together and mosh it up, but eventually some of us just wanted to do other things.  Some people go back to school, some get married, some start pop bands and become millionaires, it happens.

 

Hah! There’s also Alex Johnson of The Cab, though I don’t remember now which HC band they got him from. Though Andy Hurley (and Joe Trohman) have since gone back to heavy music, with The Damned Things.

Yeah, it’s awesome, they are all doing great. Andy and I just recently got back into touch, he’s a rad dude and a solid drummer I hope to see him play again one day here soon!!

 

On the ProTools tangent – have you been producing your own records, or are you working up demos and then working with a producer?

YES, the first record we had some help from a sweet dude named Steve Carter, he’s a great guy and a great engineer and has million dollar ideas.  Steve and Geoffrey pretty much handled the first record [Again and Again, 2008]. I mean, we all had our hands in, it but the majority of the producing was all on them.  The second record, Get More Gritty [2010], was pretty much all Geoffrey. Derek [Casey], the guitar player and song writer at the time, had hands in it as well, but for the most part it was Geoff.  We had some outsiders mix and master the record, which is always a great idea.

 

Is sending a record to someone else to be mixed and mastered a good idea because it’s helpful to have someone listen to it / “edit” it who isn’t so close to it?

Yes, I mean sometimes we are so deep in it that we can’t always hear the songs for what they are or what they aren’t.  It’s nice to have another set of ears on the songs.  For example, our latest release Get More Gritty was mixed my one of my oldest friends, Marc Hudson, who happens to be an amazing engineer and has a great ear. I have been working with him on and off since I was about 15.  He spends most of his time on the road with Taking Back Sunday and Saves The Day, [so] he has such a different outlook on how things should sound, and sometimes that makes all the difference in the world!

 

Why did you pick Seattle as your home base? (Also I’d like to know more about the Barn of Solitude!)

Seattle is a great place to live, we have all lived in a ton of other places, I mean between us all, we have lived in Vermont, Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Germany, South Florida, Orange County and Washington.  Seattle is by far all of our favorite place to live, it has mountains, desert, snow, rain, rain forest, city, hiking, camping, great music scene, jobs, and great food. It’s just the best! Seattle just happened to be the place that we all ended up, before meeting each other. (Other than Dutch and I, we were friends before the band.)

The Barn of Solitude is a great place, free of most distractions, where we wrote and recorded our first 2 records. It has a great sound and we have been fortunate enough to use it whenever we needed to over the past 3 years.  It’s 30 minutes out side of the city, up in the hills of an area called Sammamish, just east of the city.  We also shot a a video there for More Ripley Less Darrow.  It’s just an awesome place to play, write, and hang out.

 

Woah, that’s a lot of moving. And I say that as someone’s who’s moved, I think, nine times since 1998, or something like that.

Yeah, I mean between dudes in the band that have been in other band, moving and traveling just kind of comes with the gig.  Some people are fortunate enough to start a band in their home town and never leave only to tour and record, we just haven’t had that luxury.

 

“Wish I Could Be” and “More Ripley, Less Darrow” are so far my two favorite songs, MR,LD in particular because a) I appreciate a good ode to a self-rescuing princess but also b) it isn’t a simple song. The narrator sounds like he’s really wrestling with the issue. What can you tell me about those songs?

Well all of the songs are written biographically and are situational of course.  There are metaphors all over the place. Geoffrey really puts the work in to tell a good story in a catchy way.  We really try write catchy fun songs but  at the time we also try to keep ourselves entertained while playing them, which in turn makes them a little complicated by nature.  There is a lot of pre-production that goes into our songs, and we try to write more songs that we will need for a record, so we can sort out the best of the material that we have at the time.  We are in the process of starting to write and demo some new tracks, [and] we’re very excited to see what will come out next.

 

Again and Again - More Ripley, Less Darrow OFFICIAL

 

Why did you name the band Again and Again?

That was Geoff’s creation. It was funny, when he and I joined up and we were talking about doing a band together, I asked him “what’s this band going to be called?” and he was just like “Again and Again.”  I don’t think that I have ever been in a band where one guy had already decided the band [name]. It’s always such a pain to have 5 dudes trying to come up with that they think is the best band name, him having the name he liked and being set on it was great, because we totally avoided that situation.

When I asked Geoff why that name, he told me this: “To me Again and Again means a lot. It represents persistence and perseverance, sometimes to a fault. But it’s about never giving up”.

 

Who did the cover art for Get More Gritty and the website? Something about the style seems very familiar and I can’t tell what it is. I am having a moment of Why Do I Recognize That Bear?

If you recognize the bear you are probably just thinking of something else.  There are a lot of people that do the “scratchy” type drawings people like Derek Hess and Jake Bannon but I can assure you it was neither of them, it was in fact my roommate and long time friend Rawb Evans. We had this idea for the new record of a “scratchy” bear and he made it for us.  There are a lot of bears here in Western WA!

 

I see you’ve been on Warped Tour before, do you have any plans to go out on tour again soon? Not necessarily on Warped Tour, just, at all?

YES!! We did a short 4 week tour in OCT/NOV and have been planning on heading back out, sometimes life and holidays get in the way, that and the US getting blasted with snow everywhere but here in Seattle hahahahaha.  We will be out very soon.

 

And now the questions for all three of you. What was your transformative song – the rock and roll lightning strike – and why?

Geoffrey: When I first heard a rough version of Excuse This Honesty everything clicked.  I’m proud of everything we’ve done, but that song just really defines what we are at this point.  It has all the elements of music that we’ve been trying to inject into these songs.  Excitement, beauty, sincerity, and intensity.

Dutch: Excuse This Honesty is the jam, it embodies all the rock but still stays groovy and has tons of emotion in the melodies.

XwesX: I feel is the song that actually hit us in the face and the “transformative song” was a song called TMNT2, that never actually saw the light of day. It’s something that we wrote and recorded and it only made it to preproduction before we came up with 4 or 5 songs that were just way better, but had a familiar feeling to the TMNT2 track.  It really was the song that started defining what A&A sounds like today.

 

What in the world does TMNT2 stand for? Part of my brain wants to parse that as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, and I know that can’t be right.

XwesX: HAHAHA, that’s exactly what it stands for. I can’t tell you why, I can just tell you that that is indeed what it stands for!!

 

Also, let me rephrase that last question a little bit: what song(s) made you fall in love with rock and roll?

Geoffrey: I can think of a few. But narrowing it down is tough. So here are two. It might sound cliche, but Smells Like Teen Spirit made a big impact on me. It was just so HUGE sounding. So aggressive and in your face.  The other is Closer by Nine Inch Nails. It was the first time I’d really heard electronics in modern music that didn’t induce vomit. It was dirty and grimy and shockingly honest. Trent Reznor remains a hero of mine to this day.

Dutch VI: I have a record more than any one song: Pink Floyd, The Wall.

XwesX: There are definitely a few records that strike me as “the ones” that made me wanna rock but I think when all is said and done it was probably the Arise record from Sepultura. My brother used to air drum to this record all the time, and spin these drum sticks that he had to all the awesome drum parts. I don’t think he could have ever played them for real, but it was cool to watch him when I was like 13.

 

What was your first show (that you attended, not that you played)?

Geoffrey: Aerosmith!  They played a ski area near where I grew up (during the summer).  It was on the Get A Grip Tour.  So good.

Dutch: Steve Miller Band, 1998

XwesX: Body Count, 1992

 

What was the first record/tape/etc that you bought? What was the last one?

Geoffrey: First: I wish it was something that gave me mad street cred.  But I’m pretty sure it was New Kids on the Block.  I was only 8 or 9. Haha. Last: The last record I bought was the Tron: Legacy soundtrack by Daft Punk.  It’s so epic.

Dutch: First: Weezer- Blue album, Last: Behemoth- Evangelion

XwesX: First: Guns N Roses “Appetite for Destruction” , Last: Mumford & Sons “Sigh No More”

 

Okay! Thanks so much for talking with me. And with that, I’m going to leave everyone with one more song for the road:

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James Leg: Big Hearts and Bad Attitudes

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While some hetero ladies like to pretend they only want an upright, decent, clean-living man who is home every night by dinner time, I tell you what, it’s hard to pass up a long, tall Texan with Waitsian vocal cords and key-pounding fingers… especially when he serves up some of the filthiest, most driving soul/jazz/blues-powered rock ‘n’ roll since T-Model Ford’s debut.

James Leg, a.k.a. John Wesley Myers – who was a part of the last line-up of the Immortal Lee County Killers and comprises one half of the Black Diamond Heavies – is releasing his solo debut, Solitary Pleasure, on April 5th, and it is a delight. Leg expands his usual repertoire into piano bar ditties and gospel while still serving up slipping, sliding, sweaty blues-tinged rock and heavy soul with take-me-as-you-find-me lyrics. He even dips into comedy with “No License (Song for the Caged Bird)”, a song that begins with a sad trombone, ends with a Three Stooges motif, and plays like Fats Waller at the end of a week-long bender in between, in an ode to one hell of a dame.

Among the 10 tracks on Solitary Pleasure are two covers: a thumping, fiery take on Link Wray’s “Fire and Brimstone” that I’m sure Wray would have approved of and a cover of the Kill Devil Hills’ “Drinking Too Much” that takes the Australian band’s aching ballad of self-realization and turns it into a ramshackle tumble that makes the final verse feel even more confessional than in the original.

A little over half-way through the album comes a track, “Whatever It Takes”, that threw me for a loop the first couple of times I listened through the album. The song features vocals that are so sweet and pleading that they are actually jarring after 6 tracks of Leg’s broken-glass gargle. I made a note to myself to check the liner notes and find out who was singing on this almost out-of-place track and was shocked to find it was still Leg, making a heartfelt plea to a lover who wants to throw in the towel. In contrast to his usual singing style, the softer vocals make the nature of this song that much more affecting.

If I had to pick one track that would best encapsulate Solitary Pleasure, it would be “Drowning in Fire”, as it combines elements of rock, blues, jazz, soul and gospel into one hell of a revival complete with a church-worthy backup chorus.

James Leg – Drowning In Fire by Now This Sound Is Brave

The whole collection wraps up with a straight-up, hand-clapping gospel tune called “No Time to Tarry” that Leg throws himself into so whole-heartedly that you can hear him panting and cussing at the end. It’s an oddly uplifting and fitting end to an album that is ultimately the story of a man who has come to realize his faults and seems ready to take the first step to redemption.

James Leg is currently touring in support of Solitary Pleasure and will be making a stop at the Happy Dog in Cleveland this Thursday, 3.17.11, at 9 PM, and I highly recommend you get there.

(And if you live elsewhere, check out these dates [more to be announced]:

March 17- Cleveland, OH- The Happy Dog
March 18- Ft Wayne, IN- The Brass Rail- Left Lane Cruiser record release show
March 24- Chattanooga, TN- JJ’s
March 25- Chattanooga, TN- JJ’s

EUROPE DATES
31March -Lorient, FR at Le Galion
2nd April- Mont Contour [St Brieuc], FR at La Vieille Tour
3rd April- Binic, FR at Le Chaland Qui Passe
5th April- Grenoble, FR at 51 to 48
6th April- Valence, FR Mistral Palace
7th April- Dijon, FR at Deep Inside
8th April- Nantes, FR at Le Remorqueur
9th April- Marmande, FR at Garorock
10th April- Brive, FR at 5th Avenue
11th April- Bordeaux, FR at St Ex
12th April- Limoges, FR at Zic Zinc
13th April- Lille, FR at La Boite à Musique
15th April- Middleburg, NL at Café t’Hof
16th April- Haarlem, NL at Patronnaat
17th April- Utrecht, NL at db’s

April 23- Cincinnati, OH- Northside Tavern [Record Release Show])

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London Calling: Good Dangers

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This band’s information floated over our transom with the following e-note appended:

We wrote these songs in our living rooms

We recorded them

We moved to north london so it was easier

We didn’t always agree

but that’s ok

We made some art to go with the music

We made videos which took longer

We have all been in other bands – this is our favourite

Good Dangers is – Maxim, Gavin, Johny, Jenny & Howard

I listened to their songs and watched their video(s), and later, upon adding Abigail to my daily playlist (listen to it streaming at bandcamp), I found myself humming along and tapping my pencil to the beat while I worked. And then I took it upon myself to do some further investigation. Lead singer Gavin (top right) expanded as follows:

Naturally the first question is going to be: Which bands were you in before?

That’s a bit of a secret, we like mystery.

Where did you move to North London from?

We all studied and lived south of the river after going to Goldsmiths College, gradually we migrated north/east so we could write and play easily. It’s good times in that part of London.

Why did you name the new band “Good Dangers”?

The music has a tension about it.  There’s a lot of risk in putting music out there and giving up a part of your life to do that. We wanted to capture that in the name. Or we just came up with cause it sounded good. Can’t remember.

The songs sound so light and airy, but your comment in your bio about disagreements makes it sound like getting there was hard. Was the songwriting difficult? How did you go about putting the pieces together?

Sometimes writing is painless, the songs write themselves. Other times we massively disagree. Great songs come out of both situations. You can never tell how it will play out. The only thing you can guarantee is that we will all have an opinion!

Are you all supposed to look dead in your press picture? If so, why?

No, although I agree we look a bit dead! There is something good about taking your clothes off and shutting your eyes, we can say that much.

I watched the video for Brasilia, and wow, there’s a lot to unpack there, visually. I saw a lot of footage I recognized as being disaster- or crisis-related, and a lot that seemed, at least in theory, to be harmless. What was all of that mixing about, and how does it related to the song? Also was it meant to evoke Brazil, the movie?

No relation to that fantastic movie. Making that video, I used footage from growing up in Australia shot on super 8 and a bunch of archive footage that I felt summed up the themes in the song. The song is about memories and their potency.

 

 

These last ones are for everyone. What was your transformative song – the rock and roll lightning strike?

Gavin: Anything from Van Morrison – Astral Weeks; Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusions II; Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream; Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker; Strokes – Is This It and Arcade Fire – Funeral.

Howard (bottom right / bass): Anything of ‘Nevermind’ (I love Drain You), when that was played at parties everyone used to go more nuts than anything else.

John (bottom left / drums, brother of Howard): The entire Strokes first album

Jenny (center / keys): Anything off the Jimmy Eat World self-titled album

Max (top left / guitars): Positively 4th Street – Bob Dylan. My Dad’s enthusiasm finally made sense on one long drive in Spain with the family.

 

What was your first show (that you attended, not that you played)

Gavin: First proper show, [was the] Smashing Pumpkins [in] London. I managed to grab a broken guitar string off Billy’s guitar. I was 14.

Howard: George Benson somewhere in London with my folks. I think I was 5 years old, I spent the entire gig shoving cotton wool in my ears as it was so loud and his smooth tones really hurt.

John: The Strokes, 2003, Alexandra Palace.

Jenny: Billy Joel

Max: Echo and The Bunnymen, Royal Court, Liverpool, 1996

 

Good Dangers - Beat Of Your Heart

 

What was the first record/tape/etc that you bought? What was the last one?

Gavin: First: Mc Hammer – Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em /Last: Wild Nothing – Gemini

Howard: I bought REM Automatic For the People because my cousin was really into them. I love that album. Last one I bought was the new Radiohead album.

John: Power Rangers theme song in 1994.

Jenny: Cyndi Lauper, True Colours and Arcade Fire, The Suburbs

Max: Ain’t talkin bout dub – Apollo 440; Zola Jesus – Stridulum II


And finally, will you be playing any shows any time soon?

Gavin: We are playing at:

March 17: Old Queens Head, Islington, London

March 24: Hoxton Bar&Kitchen, Hoxton, London

April 12: Catch, Shoreditch, London