feels like December

This Sticker Is A Threat To National Security

2006-03-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

This is too funny. A kid at Ohio University has a My Bike Is A Pipe Bomb sticker on his bike and the bomb squad has to swarm it. And the kid was charged for the trouble it caused. Perhaps it would be in the cops best interest to keep up on what is happening with music these days, hahahahahahaha.

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/7612371/detail.html

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/7649796/detail.html

And now I really do need to start a band just so I can call it, I Am Going To Kill You With This Bomb In This Box That I Am Holding Right Here, Under My Arm.

I'm going to start posting in here again.

2006-02-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

I'm bringing this blog back. I won't be posting reviews or interviews since those go to sctas but I still just like talking about music and will just post other things that is music-y-related and stuff.

:o)

the metroids are on tour!

2005-08-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

The Metroids are touring around the eastern-ish part of the country. You should go to see them if you can. and they have a tour diary. I love reading tour diaries, that's mostly why I'm posting this in case anyone else likes reading them too, lol. it's at http://www.livejournal.com/users/themetroids/

Also they need help with getting a show for Monday, August 15th anywhere in Ohio.

Tour dates!

8/3 on 88.5 WHPK around 11PM, my friend Jenni’s Radio show will be talking about us, woohoo.

8/4 The Big Horse Lounge, 1558 N Milwaukee in Chicago with The Elusive Rapmaster Ensemble, Shumai and The Specific Heats

8/5 DeKalb IL at the Practice Space with Best Friends Forever, Your Loving Tiger and Candy Sweat (The Variable Why only)

8/6 Downs IL at Stoop’s Farm, some crazy keg going away party thinger. I dunno the address. I’ll post when I have it.

8/7 Driving day through the fabulous south

8/8 The Haunted Hive with Castles Underground at 83 Maple St Charleston SC

8/9 The Pour House Music Hall at 224 S. Blount in Raleigh NC. With Parker.

8/10 Baltimore Maryland or Anywhere, Virginia NEED HELP

8/11 Philadelphia PA, probably at The Fire but this isn’t set in stone. Might NEED HELP

8/12 The Trash Bar at 256 Grand St, Williamsburg Brooklyn NYC with Tommy Dempsey and Smug, The Exiles, The Drew Blood and Red Robot

8/13 The All Asia Bar at 334 Mass Ave in Cambridge MA with The Saturday Saints

8/14 Monocacy Park in Bethlehem PA with BRRR, Harbor Lights, Pants YELL!, Soltero and more

8/15 Anywhere in Ohio. NEED HELP

8/16 Vollmar’s House 1342 S Cory Lane in Bloomington IN with Mt. Gigantic (just Metroids at this show)

The Metroids website: http://www.themetroids.com/

Spencer Owen interview. :o)

2005-08-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

Birdy: How long have you been playing music? and how many albums have youreleased on cd?

Spencer: I've played piano since I was 2 years old. I took piano lessons from ages 4-12, and shortly afterwards, taught myself the drums, guitar and bass. I played drums for fun, but I taught myself guitar and bass for the sole purpose of recording with them, basically. I have this funny way of playing guitar where I put it in my lap, tuned to open D usually, and adroitly mash the fingers of my left hand up and down the fretboard to make the chords and melodies I want. It isn't an incredibly versatile style, although it has made for some interesting developments, like on occasion being able to play the lead and rhythm parts at once.

But I digress. I've been recording music since I was 13, used the same 6 track multi-track from Sansui for 7 years, and now it's dead and I'm looking for a new machine so I can make a new record. As for CDs, I used to release them on mp3.com, back when they used to do that service, under the name Trigger Goldberg. I did four or five that way, but I don't consider those albums anymore. I've dismantled them and used a few of the songs for later albums. The count of my "offficial" discography is 14 albums, 3 EPs. Tomorrow these numbers may change because I barely have any allegiance to anyone when it comes to what defines my albums at the moment. When they actually get released or pressed, whether by myself, which has been a couple times, or someone else, once with ballbearings pinatas and just now with this cassette label Tin Cans and Twine(http://www.geocities.com/tcatrecordings/main.html), I consider them done. But I'm trying to keep them intact as they are right now, pretend that they have been released and move on.

Birdy: Are you heavily involved with music, along with making music, you've written reviews for Fake Jazz, I think. Do you still write for them?

Spencer: I don't write for them, nor Pitchfork, anymore. And yes, I wrote forPitchfork for about 9 months in 2001, before I wrote for Fakejazz. These days I hate half of everything Pitchfork has to say; I think they're unintentionally total scum sometimes. Mark Richardson is still a great writer and they have decent pieces now and then, but I've drifted a long way from being interested in what they have to offer other than music news, which is the only reason I check their site daily, still. They've done a lot for me, though; I can't deny the positive experience I had with them. They just need editors, serious bullshit detectors. I'd kind of like to write for another place now, but I want money or else it won't be worth it, because I need money. (insert laughter here)

I am constantly listening to music when I'm not watching a movie, and even then I think the music is one of the most important parts of the movie, so I'm listening to that too. Right now, for instance, I'm listening to Ornette Coleman's The Empty Foxhole. I hear as much music as I possibly can and get my hands on it however I can.

Birdy: Are you still in college and if not are you working at a job in which it doesn't conflict or take up too much time from your musical endeavors?

Spencers: I'm not in college. I dropped out of UC Santa Cruz last year, not for any reason other than school was not for me at the moment. I'm currently trying to get a job. I just e-mailed this magazine that was advertising a position for a music writer actually, on Craigs list.We'll see how that goes! I want music store experience, and I've posted this ad, so if you're in the Bay Area of California, why not give me a ring: http://www.craigslist.org/eby/wan/88087271.html

Birdy: Hahaha, I love the craig's list ad. Someone should definitely be able to help you out with that, at least just for the absurdity of it. Do you love record shopping? Do you have a huge music collection?

Spencer: I do love CD shopping. My music collection is all digital. I have 120+ GB of albums, and growing. I buy CDs all the time but I return them and get 75% at the right stores, Amoeba & Rasputin, the stores I'm trying desperately to work at. I live four blocks away from Amoeba here in Berkeley. I am there all the time. My friend Sean works there(www.seansmithlives.com), another guy who I might be doing shows with in the near future, although not playing on his songs, because he's a solo acoustic guitarist. He's great though. I'd be honored to share some bills with him soon.

Birdy: And is it nice living in San Francisco? I'm curious what San Francisco is like. lol

Spencer: I live in Berkeley, which is just east of SF over the bay. I end up in SF pretty often. I actually just moved here from Santa Cruz. I'm incredibly happy to be here. It's California urban culture at its most diverse and concise. I'm from Los Angeles, and while I have an extreme affinity for L.A., I'm glad to be living here instead. Easier for a guy who doesn't drive, and more exciting as a new culture. The weather's lovely, in general. I hope this job happens so I can stay in this apartment. I room with one of my best friends, by the name ofJohn, a UC Berkeley student, brilliant musician in his own right.Wherever I send demos he sends them too, separately, and vice versa.Who knows when we'll collaborate, but we're doing fine on our own. He can be found at: http://www.crackerbox.net/audio/goodbye

Birdy: How did you start getting stuff released by Ballbearing Pinatas?

Spencer: Funny, actually-- I e-mailed Jeff Eliassen through a banner onFakejazz. He helped Ariel Pink start and he's a fantastic guy, good friend and talented musician. He lives in Colorado at the moment, and I hear from him now and then; he's been talking up the possibility of re-releasing Ribcage with a bonus EP, and I'm just waiting for it to happen, basically.

Birdy: What would the possible bonus ep if ribcage is re-released, consist of?

Spencer: It's called Summertime: 2003. Five songs I made around the time ofRibcage that were cut from the album. They're pretty good.

Birdy: Now that you mention summertime 2003 with the ep.To me there's a really great summer feel to the album, does it feel that way to you? I wonder if it's from you living in California and that having some weird effect in which that mood just shows up in your music in an odd way or something. Or like when you're writing and recording does the season affect your music in an odd way perhaps?

Spencer: I don't ever think about the season when I'm making music. I did make the Ribcage album in the summer, though, so it's nice that you think it's summery. I see more darkness in my music than most people do, probably. But it's still a good record for the beach, I bet.

Birdy: Also, many of the song titles start with "The." Was that kind of intentional or like as a funny way to label the songs? It would be funny if it were just a coincidence.

Spencer: Intentional, for sure. It's meant to be kind of wry. It has some thing to do with the idea of a song title influencing the interpretation of the song. Each title is such a vague concept, but putting "The" in front of them all kind of humorously adds a very "certain," concrete sense to it. As if to say, yes, this is about the truth of something, about the one thing that this word represents, the one way it can be. Really my personal philosophies center around the opposite of that idea, and I think there are a couple things that hint at that throughout. For example, in "The Method," I sing, "I'm not all serious/ I'm not all scientific." Case closed, basically. Not to mention the key "depressing" song, "Les Heureuses," which means "TheHappy Ones" in French (ha ha), and which also adds a very deliberate plural pronoun twist to the "The" series. " Julian O'Neil" was titled that way literally because I could not think of a title, and someone I know said, "Name it after my grandfather."

Birdy: Is Ribcage a concept album or have a certain theme? Feels like there is a connection between the songs and like a cycle or something.

Spencer: The only thing that connects the songs is what I was thinking about at the time. So yeah, it's a concept album; the concept is Spencer's brain, summer of 2003 in Los Angeles, between freshman and sophomore years of college.

Birdy: Was it a long process to record the album and was it enjoyable? Iwonder if it's a bit nerve-wracking to make an album especially in ashort amount of time.

Spencer: It doesn't take me more than two days to make a song. The song is written when I sit down in front of the recording machine. Ribcage was also the first thing I ever made with "making an album" in mind that actually turned out a success. How I do that is I just make songs and assume that they'll all be on the album until I decide that some of them aren't. In the case of my self-titled album I just recorded seven songs in a row, and then that was the album, and that's actually my most conceptually unified album.

I enjoy making recordings, but I do it for the result, not just the process. The actual joy starts when I have a mix of the song, and I can just play it a few times in a row, content that I've brought some more music that I wanted to hear into the world. That's really the purpose for my music, first and foremost.

Birdy: And who sings with you on Julian O'Neil? Do they have any musical projects they are involved in? Or is that like some type of tape manipulation thing that you did to get that sound?

Spencer: That's me sped-up. That's also the only song I didn't use tape on. I used my roommate Ben's computer in freshman year at the dorms. It's funny how well that song fits at the 3rd number, because it wasn't recorded with the rest, isn't even titled like the rest. It has no lyrics, though, and you can bend instrumentals to do whatever you want just by changing the context.

Birdy: Have you been able to do much touring or playing many shows? And when you do play shows, is it just you or do you have people help with playing some of the instruments?

Spencer: Never toured. Played a few shows in my life, all of them over the last couple years. When I do play shows, I play my music on a backing track and sing along. Sometimes I use props, sometimes I play melodica. Sometimes there's no track and I just play guitar. But I much prefer the freedom of movement and expression when I'm singing to a backing track. Some people think I need a band, but most of the folks that see me play tell me that it was more than enjoyable with just me and the tape. I really try to breathe life into it. And I'm so proud of my recordings and how they sound that it's also a nice way to get those out there. I've played at the Roxy in Los Angeles a couple times, once recently opening for my brother Alec's band, the Archbishops, and once with that band backing me up, which I dubbed the Spencer Owen Initiative. It was fun, we did a couple tunes from Ribcage. I'd enjoy doing that again, but my current preference is solo.

Birdy: Have you played with others or been in any bands?

Spencer: Sometimes my friends beg me to collaborate-- not with them, but with anyone! They just want to see me get some outside influence; it's not that I'm wanted by everyone, that's the last thing I meant by that. I do play with friends on records, and actually lately I've been in my friend Fletcher's band, he goes by Bird by Snow (www.birdbysnow.com) and has associations with a lot of hip West Coast cats. He digs the psych-folk scene and is becoming part of it more and more day by day. I played on his latest LP, a vinyl-only thing, and I also played on a track on an upcoming compilation. For him I record my own parts and add effects and such, so I'm almost co-producer, but it's more like I'm only a producer of my parts. He has me add whatever the hell I want and he generally loves it, so it's a great working relationship. I've played a couple shows with him as well, and we're looking at touring next year, which will probably be my first ever tour.

Birdy: Do you have a preference between working on things yourself or with others like in the band you are currently working with?

Spencer: The band I'm working with, Bird by Snow, is actually just Fletcher plus whoever else he recruits to add to his songs. So it's like night and day in a sense; I like adding to his songs a whole lot, but it could never replace my own megalomaniac music making passions and concepts.

Birdy: I only know your work from 18" x 2000'. / Ribcage, is your other work similar to some degree with those songs or are some things more experimental? Sounds like you do lots of things musically from what I've read.

Spencer: I weave in and out of styles and moods, and I have a couple of blatantly experimental albums. On/Playing is the title of one of my favorite albums I've made, it's almost entirely drones and noise, but the sound of it is very busy nonetheless and there's lots of things going on. I'm particularly proud of a piece for three solo guitars on there. I want to cultivate more experimental guitar playing, it's always incredibly fun for me. I listen to Sonic Youth, Tyondai Braxton, Seiichi Yamamoto and other folks who do the guitar crazylike. But yeah, my actual best album, called Meredith, is 21 songs and it veers from swingin' power synth pop to dreamy, floaty ballads to out-and-out noise/concrete. It's a good one, sums up all I like to do.

Birdy: What bands are you really into lately?

Spencer: Ornette Coleman, like I said. Caetano Veloso, and other Brazillian folks like Arnaldo Antunes and Tom Ze. R. Kelly has really been turning me on, surprisingly enough. His new album is about 3/5 incredible. I feel like I'm also about to get big into the Wu-Tang Clan and their offshoots, as I just got the new album by Mathematics and it has some great tracks. Also some grime, Dizzee Rascal and whatnot. The Mekons are a band I fell in love with recently. I can't get enough of their persona and how unique their sound can be. None of this explains the sound of my music, of course, since I haven't made any since I got into all this stuff. I should then point out that my favorite artists are the Boredoms, Laurie Anderson, the Residents, David Bowie, They Might Be Giants, Elvis Costello, Stereolab, theMagnetic Fields, Yoko Ono, on and on.

Birdy: And were you a music major in school because you seem like you can probably play any instrument?

Spencer: Art major. I did some performance and video art. I'm really a performer at heart.

Instruments come to me in whatever way I choose them to do so, and whether that's actually skill or not is debatable; I just make them do what I want them to do. Of course it helps that what I want them to do is usually shaped by what I can make them do.

Birdy: Do you have a favorite instrument at the moment or anything you are really excited about lately? I imagine you as having a huge collection of instruments, lol.

Spencer: I actually do not have a huge collection, although it flatters me that you say that, because I've always loved the image of the guy who's holed up in his studio, hella broke but he's got a million instruments somehow. I borrow a lot, I have one broken-down bass, one cheap melodica, one drum set which I can't even fit into my current apartment, let alone play it here. I did just buy an Omnichord and made an entire album with it (among other instruments). It's self-titled. You can hear it, and others, at http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Spencer%20Owen%22

Birdy: Are you still doing stuff in the visual art area and are there anymediums that you especially like?

Spencer: I design all my album art, but other than that, I don't really do art at the moment. Performance art is always fun but playing shows is enough to indulge my hunger for performance at the moment. I never got into drawing, painting, sculpture, and I also prefer art by people who, if they ever drew, painted, or sculpted, only did it as a dalliance. My favorite artist is Bruce Nauman, if that tells you anything; if it doesn't, he's this guy who started off making hour long unedited films in his studio of things like bouncing in a corner or walking very oddly around a room. Endurance tests. I find them so funny, though, and he's done so much work, all in different styles, that all has that sick, cynical sense of humor, but it all comes off as so joyous to me, so full of the 20th century postmodern life that keeps me going. I'm more into film these days than art-- my favorite filmmaker is Jean-Luc Godard. Same situation.

Birdy: Would you be interested in doing more scores for movies like as more of a job or something? And was it a fun experience doing Kalen Egan's Long Gone Daddy movie?

Spencer: Yes, absolutely absolutely. I was actually thinking recently of posting a Craigs list ad saying that I will score your film, no matter what, for a certain negotiable fee. When I get recording again, I will probably post this ad. It was a wonderful experience, scoring Kalen's movie. I want more people to see it, but I don't think it's going to get all that widespread. It's not the kind of movie that should open in theaters, it's just a great home-made feature-length film, featuring an incredible lead performance by his sister who's half hisage (and he's in his early 20s). I was very proud not only of the score but of finally being able to have a full-length movie under my belt.

You can buy 18" x 2000'. / Ribcage from Ballbearing Pinatas at http://www.ballbearingspinatas.com/home.htm

And download more songs from Spencer at http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Spencer%20Owen%22

Also you can email Spencer at swimmo@gmail.com for copies of his stuff. He recently just pressed some cd's of his Meredith album and you can get it for $5.00

the Sleepy Trees, Interview with Caily and John.

2005-07-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

Whooh I got to interview the Sleepy Trees. They write really good songs and you should like them because they are awesomeness times four!

Here's the interview.

Birdy: How long have the Sleepy Trees been around?

Caily: The Sleepy Trees became official around March of 2005.

Birdy: How did you and John meet and when did you start to think that it would be fun to start making music together?

Caily: We started school together and then I, Caily, moved to Florida for seven years and moved back like two years ago. When I came back we became friends who would talk constantly about bands during school and on the phone. We would make each other mixtapes and lend each other cds. We have always kind of shared the dream of having an awesome band that reflects our influences. John has always written really great lyrics, but he started playing guitar about a year ago and I started to play guitar a little over a year ago, and I am really struggling with my lyrics.

Birdy: Has it always been just you two?

Caily: It began with both of us. The past show we played, our friend Erick played keyboards with us. Then we realized that Erick, although intentions being good, was not meant for The Sleepy Trees.

Birdy: Do you plan on adding drums to your songs or other instruments or do you just prefer them to be with guitar and singing?

Caily: We really want a drummer. We try to fit other instruments into the mix. Whenever we see toy pianos or other silly instruments, we buy them in hopes to fit them into our songs.

What bands are you really into lately?

John: Actually I've been listening to Flogging Molly, The Dropkick Murphies, and Cursive.
Caily: I can't stop listening to Dennis Driscoll and The Danielson Famile! I also just got a Microphones album that I've been listening to a lot.

Birdy: Are there plans to release your music soon on Lolly Pop Records or are things a bit in the very beginning stages or something?

Caily: Our pal Waylon has mentioned that we could record a cdr of our songs and then Lolly Pop Records would distribute in Florida.

Birdy: And does Lolly Pop Records have a website? I found one but they are based in California.

Caily: I don't think Lolly Pop Records has a website, I hardly know anything about the label. : (

Birdy: What kind of town is Saxton, Pennsylvania? Is it like a small nowhere-ish kind of town or bigger and is it a nice place?

Caily: The smallest town ever in the entire universe. There is a population of 803 people. One food store and four bars.

Birdy: Are there other people in your town that you can relate to musically or is it just you two by yourselves and stuff?

Caily: It's basically only us.

Birdy: Do the Sleepy Trees have any arch-enemies?

Caily: Um not right now. There is this family named the Colvins who harassed us for walking boxes. But they didn't know that inside those boxes were... JOHN STAPLETON AND CAILY RAMONE!!

Birdy: If the Sleepy Trees were to curate a show like All Tomorrow's Parties or something, what bands would be on your wish list to play?

John: Rilo Kiley, Bright Eyes, Son Ambulence, The Microphones, and Matt Pond PA.
Caily: The Bobbettes, Dennis Driscoll, Beat Happening, Mirah, and The Diskettes.

Birdy: About how many songs do the Sleepy Trees have?

Caily: We probably have around 16 and John is constantly pumping out new songs, I make songs at a much slower rate. But we also have songs that we like to cover, so in all there are about 25.

Birdy: You and John do not write songs together but mostly by yourselves individually?

Caily: Yeah. We were discussing it yesterday, it's almost like we are two solo artists who just work together. But we like that. It's almost like The Sleepy Trees can be Sleepy Tree Records, but not yet.

Birdy: How old are you and John? I'm a bit curious because in your email you mentioned something about being five I think and in your myspace thing you say you're 96. Or is this like classified information? lol

Caily: Haha, John is 15, he was born on January 11th 1990 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. I am 15 and I was born October 24th, 1989 in Bayport on Long Island, New York.

And thank you to Caily and John for doing this interview. :)

For more information about the Sleepy Trees you should visit http://myspace.com/thesleepytrees and add them if you have a myspace thing. :)

Rachel APP "Burstin" ep Review

2005-07-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

Rachel APP's Burstin ep consists of six songs and is her first ep that was released earlier this year. This collection of songs is a bit more upbeat then her newer ep. There are more keyboards on this one. Also she layers her vocals on some of the songs which sounds really good. There are like two vocal tracks, one louder and the other one is lower and almost like a child singing along or something on some songs. This collection of songs is noisier, louder, and just really fun.

My favorite song at the moment is My New Home. I really like the keyboards on it and the song sticks in your head all day, replaying the keyboard parts because they are so nice sounding. This song makes me think of when I was a little kid. Some songs that are really good in a certain way do that sometimes with me. Like I wish I heard it when I was like seven or something and it could have just been good theme music for that time period or something.

Another good song is All My Efforts. Just a fun song with more good keyboard sounds on it and is fun to sing along to even though it's a song about being in love with someone that doesn't love you back anymore. That's what is interesting about her songs. They are fun and upbeat but the lyrics are a bit sadder with how things are in life, work, friends, and stuff. You wouldn't realize how bleak they are if it were not for the lyrics that are printed for you with the cd.

The last song is not as noisy as the other songs. It's just singing and an acoustic guitar. The singing, like with all of her songs is just so good. She has a good vocal range but it's like someone singing just because it's fun. Like when you first start singing for the first time and you realize that it's just so fun to sing and makes you feel so happy in a way. It reminds me of that in a way.

To find out more about Rachel APP you can go to her website at http://www.rachelapp.co.uk/
and you can order this cd at http://cdbaby.com

Awesome Animal Ambulance "This is Sour" Review

2005-07-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

Awesome Animal Ambulance's This is Sour album is a really nice upbeat pop-ish album. Synthesizers, drum machine, and singing mostly. There are guitars and bass too, but it's not that noticeable really. The synthesizer sounds are really good, especially on the song "Grover Cleveland."

The only little part of the album that is maybe a flaw (the only tiny smidge of a flaw) is the beginning part to "Operation Kitty." It's not too bad but just a little cringeful with them goofing around about a friend's cat missing. But it's not like serious or anything and since it's just about a cat, makes it kind of silly and fun in a way. Reminds me of the Dead Milkmen when they are trying to be funny. But then I always thought they were funny but some didn't and with the one's who thought they were trying too hard to be funny, it's a bit like how Awesome Animal Ambulance are at the beginning of this song. But once the song starts, it's really cute and fun.

But this is still a nice, fun album. Whenever you need something to put you in a good mood, you should put this in. And I'm glad to have finally found an album with really fun synthesizers making up most of the music. It's a bit hard to find one with the right sounds going on and stuff.

This album feels like a good album to listen to on like a rainy Saturday in autumn, right after watching cartoons. Or like how Saturdays used to be, before cartoon day was kind of ruined.

To find out more about Awesome Animal Ambulance you can go to their record label Aurora Seven Records at http://www.auroraseven.com/

Mt.Gigantic "Old Smiler" Review

2005-07-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

Mt.Gigantic's Old Smiler album is too much fun. Fun, fun, fun. I'll probably use that word a lot but I can't help it. It makes me feel the same way that Os Mutantes songs make me feel. Just a wave of happiness and joy coming over you or something while you are listening to it.

The songs seem almost like they are dark or macabre in some way but they are too much fun and make you feel just so happy that they can't be. Maybe that's why some people find the album a little odd or something because of this paradox.

The singing is so great. Lots of chanting and quiet moments to loud screaming moments. And Megan Downey's voice is toooo good. And they came up with the greatest lyric that could ever be created by anyone. "All I really want is some pretty humans" from the song "Rachel and her children" The way it's sung is so perfect.

There also seems to be a lot going on with the lyrics. I get the feeling that there are a lot of references to things I know nothing about, lol. You hope that some day a college student will eventually write a thesis on them or something because they probably do need to be researched and deciphered to really be understood.

The instrumentation with the songs. It is all over the place, like the singing. Nice slow arrangements to really frantic drumming and guitar playing along with lots of other stuff at other times.

This is just a really special album.

To find out more about Mt.Gigantic you can go to their website at http://mtgigantic.com/
You can order the album from their label, Friends and Relatives Records at http://www.friendsandrelativesrecords.com/

Kickball "Huckleberry Eater" Review

2005-07-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

Kickball's Huckleberry Eater album can be described in just two words. Very Pleasant. The songs are just so incredibly pleasant sounding. It's another really good Summer or Spring album. No, definitely more Spring-ish. The perfect soundtrack to everything starting to grow again; leaves on trees, flowers, and the birds are back and chirping again. On a nice sunny day just put this on and lay in a field or your backyard or something.

The best part is the singing. The singer's voice is sooo good. I'm so in love with their voice. A nice vocal range and just so cute in a way. These songs would be great with just singing and no instruments because it's that good and can definitely carry the song by itself. I wish I could find the lyrics somewhere, you can find little snippets of nice things. Picking berries on an island, how to spend your summer, birds, among other things.

The instrumentation is nice too. Almost sparse to a degree with acoustic guitar, organ, bells, drums, and probably some other stuff. The vocals and drums carry the songs the most in a way.

The cd comes in an interesting way too. It's a thin cardboard kind of container that folds out. More cd's should be packaged this way. I wonder if it was a nuisance printing them up and slipping the cd's inside.

To find out more about Kickball, visit their website at http://www.houseopolisrecords.com
and you can buy the album at k records website, in the our friends and neighbors section. http://kpunk.com

Spencer Owen: 18" x 2000'./ Ribcage. Review

2005-06-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

Spencer Owen's 18" x 2000'./ Ribcage album released on Ballbearing Pinatas is a really good and interesting album. The songs have a really nice flowing feeling to them and a really powerful energy to all the songs. Lots of really good guitar and synthesizer sounds along with so many other things going on with the music. Instruments used were pedal steel guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, electronic organ, synthesizer, piano, accordion, and drums, all played by Owen. The album consists of ten songs which lasts about forty minutes.

This album is really good in how it's like a perfect summer album. Perfect time to listen to this album would be like on a cool sunny summer afternoon, like two-ish. Just after going swimming. I'm serious, it also just makes me think of good summer-ish kind of movies like "The Graduate" and a couple other one's for some reason.

Favorite tracks at the moment are Julian O'Neil (which has really nice "la, la, la, la, la, la"s from two voices being layered over one another), The Association, The Improvement, The Author (which has a good loud messy jumbled kind of instrumentation with the drums and lyrics at the beginning), and The Method. There are just a lot of great, good feeling songs on the album.

The lyrics are interesting too. He has a way of singing that is very introspective or something. Favorite line at the moment is from the song The Improvement. "Oh, is this the best that you can doooo" sung over and over.

You can listen to tracks at http://cdbaby.com/cd/spencerowen
You can visit BallBearing Pinatas, the label that put this album out at http://www.ballbearingspinatas.com/

Rachel APP interview :-)

2005-06-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

I got to do an email interview with Rachel App. She has released two ep's this year, "Burstin" and "Oh No" just came out this month. Here's the interview.

Birdy: What are the various instruments that you use to create your songs?

Rachel APP: I write most of my songs on guitar and then usually, I add bass, drum machine and sometimes keyboards. I'd say vocals, guitar and drum machine make up the roots of my songs, and the other instruments are kinda there to reinforce whatever emotions I want to carry through.

Birdy: And when did you start learning to play music and what instrument or instruments were they when you first began?

Rachel APP: As a kid, from age 7, I learnt classical music via the recorder then the piano; I switched to guitar age 14, I think. So I learnt how to read music and all that stuff; I still use some skills such as reading music but I have tried to un-learn whatever I've been told about harmony. I guess it's good to know the rules so you can break them! I barely touched my guitar in my early 20s and I got back into it about 3 years ago (I'm 28 now).

Birdy: Are there any plans to play in the U.S. or at some point in the future, perhaps?

Rachel APP: I've never been to the States so yeah, I'd like to go there and perhaps play! No definite plan so far; right now, I'm focusing on my debut album and touring Europe.

Birdy: Have you written all the songs already for your album that you want to have out by around November? And is everything going along on schedule?

Rachel APP: I've written about 100 songs within the last 3 years, so yeah I have all the material for the album. I've narrowed it down to 25 songs, a good mix between totally new songs (some of them I wrote a couple of weeks ago) and some older songs I wrote 3 years ago. Ultimately, I think I'll have about 18 songs on the album. Right now, I'm doing very rough recordings of the selected songs, in guitar/vocals form. I'm on schedule so far but it's early days so let's cross fingers!

Birdy: Is there any interest in having your recent cd's and future one's released by a label in the U.S. and other places? Or are things pretty taken care of with distribution so that you don't really need to do that?

Rachel APP: Even though CDBaby makes it easy to distribute my stuff in the States, I'd like to get my stuff released on a label over there, mostly so that it'd be easier to organize a tour. But I'm not too fussed about it, I mean it's not like I've sent my CDs to any label! I quite like keeping it all organic, one step at a time, and right now, I'm mostly concerned about recording my album and touring Europe in November (hopefully!).

Birdy: Have you been in any bands before your recent work as Rachel APP or is this your first time with playing music?

Rachel APP: I had another solo project a few years ago, as well as a duo with a friend of mine, but that never went further than writing a couple of songs, recording them quickly then giving up. It's the first time that I actually seem to have any kind of stamina in my creative endeavours! I hope it lasts ;-)

Birdy: Have you considered putting out your early demos from 2003 and 2004 on cd?

Rachel APP: Funny you should ask, a CD of mine is coming out on a german label called Retinascan. The CD is a mini-CD (3 inch CD) and will comprise of 7 demos I recorded in 2004! If all goes to plan, the CD is coming out in July.

Birdy: Is there a lot of sexism in the music scene in London? In the U.S. there is still a lot of "boys club" stupidity in certain music circles. Or have you encountered anything negative yourself?

Rachel APP: It's also true in the UK. Whenever I meet musicians outside of my circle of friends, it's a cold reminder that not everyone knows who Bikini Kill and Sleater Kinney are, and not everyone knows women can play traditionally male instruments like guitars and drums. Sometimes, when I'm on the tube with my guitar and some men ask me if I play classical or acoustic guitar! The same people would usually ask guys if they play in a rock band, you know what I mean? But tell me I can't do something and I'll want to do it, so maybe this state of affairs, as sad as it is, is giving me more determination to carry on with my own musical ideas.

Birdy: How do you deal with people or how do you usually respond to people being stupid when it comes to dumb sexist questions or comments about you playing music? I usually just berate people whenever they are being so ignorant but in a way I feel like they probably didn't learn anything at all and will just continue to behave that way and just feel kind of yucky about it.

Rachel APP: It depends on my mood really. If I'm not too tired or stressed, I try to find an anchor into someone's way of thinking and then twist it a little bit. I've actually had a few good discussions with people who first came across as being very ignorant; I was obviously having a good day when I did, full of patience and faith in people! But sometimes, it feels good to simply get your point across, even if it means arguing or shouting! I've calmed down over the years and I'd like to believe I'm better at discussing things and confronting different points of views than before but I know I still snap sooner than some of my friends do for example.

Birdy: Do you plan on keeping Rachel App to be just you without any other musicians? In a way I hope so because I think it's just really interesting when it's just one person making all the music and coming up with everything, especially you because your songs are so good.

Rachel APP: So far, I'm quite happy it being a solo project. First, it's quite practical, it means I can devote any spare time I have to this, without having to wait for fellow band members to turn up etc. Secondly, I've only met one person I'd really like to do some music with - it's my friend Laetitia, previously of Goofball and now in Pedagoz - and she lives in France, so it's not practical. I can't think of anyone else who is 200% on the same wavelength as me right now. I need time to get to know people and get comfortable so I couldn't play with someone I just met in a musicshop if you know what I mean.

Birdy: Are you into doing any cover songs possibly? I think it would be fun to hear you play some like Madonna songs or some other pop musician's songs. Have you heard Ciccone Youth's cover of "Into the Groove"? I love their version of it, even though I think they did it mostly as a joke, it's still just really good.

Rachel APP: I'd love to do a Madonna cover indeed! Actually, I tried to record one about a year ago ("promise to try", a song on "Like a Prayer" album) but I wasn't happy with what I did. I might try again; I'd like to cover "Like a Prayer". In fact, I'd like to cover the whole album! And yes, I do love that Ciccone Youth album, and their version of "Into the Groove" is great! I'm not too sure they did it as a joke; I mean I read somewhere that Kim Gordon was quite a big fan of Madonna at the time. A band I'm really into at the moment is the Dresden Dolls and they always do a few covers live, it's quite cool because they do them their own way and they've got such a unique style.

Birdy: Do you miss running No Concessions Records or anything especially that you miss that you liked a lot while running it?

Rachel APP: On a daily basis, I don't really miss it because it was a lot of work in the end, running to the post office every lunch time, spending 2 hours a day packing records etc. But one of the great things about it was that I knew about all the new bands without too much effort, all I had to do was open my mail and listen to the stuff sent to me. Now, I have to make a more conscious effort to go and seek out new music, so yeah, I miss this aspect of it. And I also miss not getting on guest lists anymore when I go to a gig. hehe

Birdy: What happened with all the stuff put out by No Concession Records? Is it in like storage somewhere or did someone else take over in dealing with selling the stuff? I always wonder what happens to a whole catalog of stuff once a label stops.

Rachel APP: Some of the bands I released stuff for are still together and touring so I gave them the remaining stock for their releases. I have a bit of stock left for some early releases because the bands have split. I tend to give stuff away now; I still get orders once in a while and when I do, I tend to send a copy of each record I have left in stock even if the person only ordered one! There's no point having them sitting in boxes under my sofa!

Birdy: Have you finished writing your novel "South of the River" yet? Are you planning on publishing it yourself or have others to help with putting it out? And do you have any ideas for another story after this one that you would like to write maybe?

Rachel APP: I've written about two thirds of it, I'm hoping to finish it by August. I haven't thought about getting it published yet; right now, I'm more at the stage of proving myself I can actually write it! Knowing myself, I'm sure I'll go the DIY way. I have ideas for other novels; I'm kinda a daydreamer, which can be quite annoying in some situations, but is good to get ideas. I've always made up loads of stories in my head whenever I am on the bus, walking down the street etc. Sometimes I wish I dreamt a bit less and was a bit more in the here and now, but at least, the positive side of this is I have tons of story ideas!

Birdy: Also, I forgot to ask in my first batch of questions. Is it a bit scary to play a show, with just you up there without anyone else to kind of deflect attention a bit from you or are you pretty comfortable playing in front of people?

Rachel APP: I was a real pack of nerves for my first gig! Ony of my friends said I was all twitchy and that's quite an accurate description, hehe. But luckily, I got over it by my 2nd gig and now, I feel comfortable enough on stage. It's still a bit tough when I mess up a line or something, because I have to take full responsibility for it. But overall, I enjoy playing on my own because when all goes well, it's such a great feeling. What I don't like much is soundchecks; sometimes, bands just hang out together and don't mix with the other bands, so it's kinda hard being on my own.

To find out more about Rachel APP you can go to her website at http://www.rachelapp.co.uk/

You can check out more about her record label, Cats Rock the Boat Records at http://catsrocktheboat.co.uk/

And to find out more about Retinascan Records to follow what's going on there and to know when they do release Rachel APP's demo's when they do, you can visit them at http://www.retinascan.de/

:)

Interview with Wayne from Mt.Gigantic

2005-06-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

I got to interview Wayne Jason Wayne of Mt.Gigantic. They are planning on touring across the country with Kickball in August so definitely go see them if they are playing near you. They released their album "Old Smiler" last summer on Friends and Relatives Records along with Harlan Records.

Birdy: How and when did Mt.Gigantic start?

Wayne: I wrote some songs to record as a Christmas present for three of my friends and my friend Hayley asked if she could sing these songs with me. Because there were two of us we were a band and we named ourself Mt.Gigantic. A huge mountain sounded like a great place to be both at the bottom of and top of. From the bottom we feel small and from the top we feel huge. Our songs are a tiny house about to fall off the pointy peak of the huge moutain. Writing songs is a way of gathering my friends together in this tiny house. I'm sorry if I didn't answer your question the way you wanted me to. I just think creating and enchanting spaces are important and I wanted to get that out right away. Here is a clearer answer. Me and Hayley made our Christmas gift songs about five years ago and so I guess that is when and how we started being Mt.Gigantic.

Birdy: Do all the band members share similar influences or is it really varied?

Wayne: I don't know if I can speak for all of us but I think we all influence each other. I write the songs for Mt.Gigantic but everyone involved also writes songs for their own projects. Their songs and lives are the most influential influences to my Mt.Gigantic songs. If I were a rich man like Tevye the dairyman I would become all of their patrons and pay them to write songs all day. But we are all also influenced by other things because we are different people. I'm sorry if that sounded like an obvious jerky thing to say but I just meant that things that influence me the most are religious history books, walking, and my friends but I don't think these specifiic things are the primary influences of everyone or anyone else in Mt.Gigantic. We all like different fruits but eat from the same tree. We eat out of it but not into it.

Birdy: How difficult is it to find people in Bloomington, Indiana in which you can relate to one another musically?

Wayne: No, I mean it is not difficult at all. There have been a ton of people involved with Mt. Gigantic since it began. Whenever someone has left, someone else has asked to lend a helping hand. I'm kind of sad that so many people have had to leave but I'm also very encouraged that so many people have wanted to to play Mt.Gigantic songs with me.

Birdy: And is there a nice group of artists working together and hanging out together and stuff in Bloomington Indiana?

Wayne: Yes, there are a lot of really great people here making wonderful things happen. Some of my favorite things happening now are these things: Puppy vs. Dyslexia, Crotch Council, Vollmar, the Door-Keys, Los Gatos Negros, Rapider Than Horsepower, Smut, Matty Pop Chart, Justin Clifford Rhody, Norman Oak, Friends and Relatives Records, Plan-It-X Records, Bluesanct Records, and probably some more things. Here is a great place to be.

Birdy: Do many people not get Mt.Gigantic or give you a lot of flak? I've seen some absurdly ignorant reviews of your album and was surprised at how narrow-minded people can be.

Wayne: Usually, when we play a show at a new place there are a couple of kids who enjoy what we are doing and say very nice things to us and then maybe the rest of the people just look sort of confused. I don't think the people who don't like us have bad taste or are wrong in any way. Maybe they just don't like what we are doing. People are different and need different sounds. I don't want anyone to have to try to get us. I don't want to be forced or told to get the things I don't get. I thought the reviews we recieved were encouraging. It's nice that people took the time to think about our music and write about it even if they didn't like the things we made. Getting really bad reviews has been neat in an unexpected way because it has inspired several people like yourself to come to our defense. I appreciate that your question is defending us. I mean its pretty great that you care to ask questions at all. I guess that i like it that people seem to either really like our music or really hate it. It makes me feel like we are really doing something.

Birdy: Also, have you gotten any negative stuff at like shows or anything?

Wayne: No. There are a lot of us and we are very loud and I usually just look at my hands and concentrate on not messing up. So if someone was being mean to us I don't think I'd notice it. One time we played a show in a huge church that had lots of video games and televisions and a couple of kids wanted us to stop playing so that they could pay better attention to the video games they were playing. That's not really very negative at all but that was the best example I could think of. Usually, we play shows in basements, practice spaces, back yards, small record stores, and an occasional barn. The kids who prefer to come to these places are generally looking for something special and are willing to tolerate our rejoicing even if they think our sound is musical bullshit. Occasionally, I think we are what a couple of those kids are looking for.

Birdy: You're recording a new album after your upcoming tour, are the songs already written? And are there any ideas about what you would like to do or things you would like to explore that you maybe didn't with your "Old Smiler" album?

Wayne: Yes, the songs are already written for our next record. We will explore many things like going slow, breathing both in and out, letting mildew grow upon our lips, truth stones, the wind that blows the bear's fur, Amish martyrs, birds who feed us at the stream and later need us, the kingdom of matthias, the Upanishads, and some other things gleaned from our secret sash of hush. There are a lot of recording things we will do differently but they are not very interesting to talk about.

Birdy: Is Mt.Gigantic a difficult project since band members live in different places and have lots of other musical things they are working on? Do you put this band above all your other things or do you just squeeze time for it whenever you can?

Wayne: I only like working on it for short periods of time. It is more important to me to go on walks, ride my bicylce, paint pictures, and read books. I just finished college so I have a pretty big list of things I'd like to read and learn that I didn't have time to do before. After I do some of these things, sometimes I write songs about the things I learn. I like to walk around with song ideas for a long time before I finish them. It's really exciting to be writing a song but as soon as I'm done I feel sort of sad just like I feel after finishing a really good book. But then I get excited again when I get to share the songs with my friends. So I guess an answer to your question is that no it is not difficult. Difficult things are never really hard to do. It's nice to take breaks because it helps to appreciate what we have and not get worn out. There are also at least two different sizes of us, Mt.Gigantic and Mt(s).Smaller, so I'm able to play my songs in some way whenever I need to.

Birdy: Could you explain a little about what Mt.(s) Smaller is? And are there any plans to release anything under that name?

Wayne: Mt(s). Smaller is a smaller group of people playing Mt.Gigantic songs. Well that's the way I think of it but it's not really that much smaller because there are five people currently preparing to be smaller. It's nice to be able to play songs with different people and in a different way. It keeps us young. I started doing Mt(s). Smaller about three years ago because I was asked to play a solo show and that terrified me so I agreed to do a smaller show. I also really wanted to play songs with my friend Justin Vollmar. Since that show, Justin Vollmar joined Mt.Gigantic and has probably been the most influential and most helpful person that I have ever played songs with. You're going to need to listen to his songs. I would really like to put something out as Mt(s). Smaller but I haven't prepared anything for doing this yet.

Birdy: What instruments are used in the band? With six people and lots of layered sounds and stuff there just seems to be so much going on in your songs.

Wayne: The things we use most are guitars, drums, bass, viola, bells, melodica, keyboards, and voices. On our "Old Smiler" record we also had trombone, violin, sleigh bells, piano, toy drums, vibra slap, hand claps, mega mouth, and tambourine.

Birdy: How did Harlan Records get involved in jointly putting out the cd with Friends and Relatives Records? How did you two meet?

Wayne: Harlan records is our friend Nate Powell's record label. I got to know Nate because we played some shows with his band the Soophie Nun Squad two winters ago. the shows we played with them where very magical and some of our best ever. I had kind of a stressful year up to that point and there was a Soophie Nun Squad record named "The Devil, The Metal, The Big Booty Beats" that I spent a lot of time with to cheer me up and get over my self. After those shows, Nate jumped in our van and drove around with us for a while and we became friends. Our Erin and Matt Tobey knew Nate for a while before the rest of us met him because Nate was a big fan of Erin and Matt's band Abe Froman.

Nate actually suggested that we put out a cd because we only had an LP out at the time. So he offered to put it out and then Justin Rhody (Friends and Relatives Records) asked to help so they both ended up helping. Then we asked Justin Rhody to join us and now he is one of us. Justin and Nate are two very important and inspiring dudes to me at least. Sorry if that was too long of an answer. I just really like them both a lot.

Birdy: And do you do all the artwork for the website and album cover and stuff?

Wayne: I do most of it but Megan Downey and Erin Tobey have done a ton of stuff too. Justin Rhody will be putting out a book of drawings soon and it has drawings by all three of us and many other people too. Erin has a website that has her drawings and comics on it. Here it is www.hellomermaid.com .

You can find more about Mt.Gigantic at http://mtgigantic.com/

Friends and Relatives Records who put out their album "Old Smiler" can be found at http://www.friendsandrelativesrecords.com/

Harlan Records who also helped put the album out can be found at http://www.seemybrotherdance.com/

Rachel APP "Oh No" ep review

2005-06-26T02:17:00.000-07:00

I just got this ep in the mail a couple days ago. It was released June 6th. I loooove it. It consists of six songs. She uses guitars, a drum machine, keyboards, and I'm not sure what else. She is a really good song-writer. The songs are full of energy and just fun to dance to. The instruments sound stripped down to their bare sounds or something, almost like how when a band performs acoustic renditions of their songs. That's how these sound because there is such an intimacy to them. And how her singing was recorded is great. There is no production glossyness to it which makes it sound so natural unlike how some voices are recorded and it's as if you are in the room with her while she is singing.

The song "Oh no" is such a nice upbeat song. The way she sings the end of the lines in the song is really good. It's in a very high voice and just too good. It's probably my favorite at the moment, it's been changing though because all of the songs are good.

Another song "I love technology" is a fun song about electronic gadgets that she likes. With the line "I am such a geek, and I love it" how can you not love it. Yes it probably helps that I'm a geek and can relate to it a bit, lol.

The ep is packaged nicely too. It comes in a little plastic slip and includes a booklet with the lyrics, similar to how records are packaged. I've never seen cd's packaged this way before and just thought it was really neat to do it this way instead of having too much plastic like how jewel cases are. Also she has made these cdr's in sets of twenty in which each pack's booklet is designed differently.

To find out more about Rachel APP and to hear the songs you can visit her website at: http://www.rachelapp.co.uk/
The record label that she runs to put out her stuff is Cats Rock the Boat Records, you can visit it at: http://www.catsrocktheboat.co.uk/aboutus.htm
And you can order her stuff at www.cdbaby.com as well as listen to some of the songs here. She has two ep's and you should get both of them.

Jonathan Caws-Elwitt (of The Silly Pillows) Interview

2005-06-26T00:59:00.000-07:00

I got to interview Jonathan Caws-Elwitt who used to have the band The Silly Pillows that I have been so in love with for the last couple years.

The Silly Pillows were a band from 1986 to 2000. At first it was just Jonathan making homemade recordings and eventually turned into a larger band. You can read all about them at http://home.epix.net/~hce/sillypillows.html There you will find almost everything about The Silly Pillows and hear Jonathan's new songs that he has been recording.

And here is the interview.

Birdy: Hello, thank you for agreeing to do this interview

Jonathan: My pleasure! It's fun.

Birdy: How often are you writing and recording stuff now? I read something online in which it said you were a bit burned out from making music and stuff after the Silly Pillows broke up, so it's definitely nice that you are getting back into it.

Jonathan: Thanks! Writing/recording music is certainly not a constant focus these days, but it's back in the picture. For so many years the music was a huge part of my identity, and then when the band came to an end and I was burned out I realized it was time for me to steer my identity away from that, at least for a while. Eventually my interest and motivation for doing music returned -- on a smaller scale -- and I cautiously integrated it back into my world. Most recently I did the 6-song project this winter, and that felt like enough for a little while, butI'm guessing I'll probably come to back to music later this year. I have some song ideas stored up, and at a certain point, when the time and inspiration come together (right now, over me, here come old flattop . . .), I'll develop those ideas further and get in gear for another set of recordings. All of this assumes that I'm just doing it at my own pace for my own website. If a label entered the picture, then I might do stuff sooner/faster to keep to their schedule.

Birdy: What groups are you really liking these days?

Jonathan: Loch Ness Mouse, Marykate O'Neil, Nicola Conte.

Birdy: Are you planning on playing any shows in the future perhaps? The Silly Pillows never got to really tour, was it because of jobs and stuff? And would you be interested in doing like an extensive tour around the country sometime?

Jonathan: It's true that the Silly Pillows would not have been available for any extensive touring because of our various jobs and family commitments. But, to be perfectly honest, no one ever asked us to tour! The offers we got were almost always just one-off gigs in the northeastern U.S., and we were lucky in that we hardly ever had to turn one down.

In theory I think that I, personally, might enjoy a little bit of the touring experience (I'm talking like 2 weeks, not 6 months!), if the circumstances were just right. By "just right" I mean that Hilary (Jonathan's wife and for a time a Silly Pillows member) and I would definitely have to be travelling together, and ideally we'd be more or less getting enough sleep and eating balanced meals and sleeping in a bed . . . . We're in our forties, and our bodies can't take all-nighters and junk food and sleeping on floors! So, in the idealized world, a short tour now and then sounds like the kind of thing that could be fun -- we like to travel, and it would be neat to combine that with the thrill and ego gratification I get from gigging. But of course in the real world it might not work out so perfectly. But since right now I don't have a live act and no one's asking me to play, it's all just hypothetical, so we might as well imagine the ideal mini-tour, since the whole thing's just in our minds anyway.

So let's see . . . the ideal mini-tour: San Francisco, Miami Beach, Montreal, Amsterdam, and Providence (we have friends near Providence). Travel between these destinations would be free and instantaneous in the ideal mini-tour, of course.

It's kind of funny in retrospect that the specific reason why I turned the band into a live-ready ensemble in 1996 was that I'd been told it was likely we'd get invited to play in Japan. Everyone who was part of, or became part of, the band at that point agreed that we'd make ourselves available to go over there for the 10 days or whatever when the offer came. Well, it never actually came . . . but in the mean time we'd been rehearsing this live set, and so we decided that as long as we had an act, we'd start playing in New York when we could. So the live Silly Pillows were Japan's gift to New York City. Sort of like the Statue of Liberty from France, only louder.

I loved performing live -- I'm a natural extrovert, and though artistically I care a lot more about laying music down for keeps in the controlled setting of a studio, I always had a blast in front of an audience. And so this semi-accidental evolution of our studio band into a studio-and-live band was one of the best things that ever happened to me. As for the future: though I don't have a band, what I could do at some point is re-mix some of my recent material "karaoke style" and sing live over my backing tracks. Sounds very uncool, huh? Well, hey, I'm middle-aged now so I'm supposed to be uncool, right? Seriously, it's not the kind of thing I could get away with at a club, but I might try to do that at one of the local community theaters or something -- you know, in more of a "variety show" setting. Very cabaret, and I'd wear my new blue fedora with the red feather. Like I said, I love being on stage, and though I've acted in a lot of plays these past few years, I definitely miss doing the live pop music thing.

Birdy: I do not think it's uncool to have pre-recorded tracks to sing along to. Many bands are more into using parts that are pre-recorded and use laptops for that sort of thing. I've had the same idea that when I actually get around to start writing songs, and that I ever play in front of people almost all of it would be pre-recorded since it would most likely just be me. And it would just be really fun to do it that way, I've even thought of maybe having like stuffed animals or manneguins up on stage, as a joke as if they are part of the music making, with me. And the way you describe it, makes it sound even more fun. I think the only people who would have a problem with it are probably the same kind of people who think drum-machines are inferior or not as "real" as having a drummer or something.

Jonathan: I would love to see that!!

Birdy: What kind of job do you have these days, if it's okay for me to ask? and would it be easy for you to take time off to tour and stuff and for Hilary to come too? I'm hoping you could because it would be great if you could play somewhere close to me.

Jonathan: Thanks! Hilary is a public librarian, and I've worked for many years at a college textbook store. We both have what you'd call "management-level" positions, so it's not the kind of situation where one can just pick up and leave for a few months at a time, as a serious touring musician would have to do. But we do get a few weeks' vacation every year, and so the "ideal mini-tour" we spoke about could theoretically be accommodated, depending on the time of year. (And of course the Ideal Mini-Tour would always occur at the ideal time!)

Birdy: Are you planning on releasing any of your newer recorded stuff on cd?

Jonathan: If there's label interest, I'd love to release it. Otherwise/meanwhile, I'm always happy to make someone a CD-R if he/she prefers that to the downloads. My policy is just send me a check/money order for the estimated cost of a blank CD plus postage (or else mail me a blank CD and an SASE).

Birdy: Do you still see the other members of the Silly Pillows around?

Jonathan: Whenever possible! Some of them live nearer than others, but every one of them is my friend, and most of them are my close friends. One of them (in addition to Hilary) is even a relative. (:v> I rely on email a lot to keep the friendships active.

Birdy: Why can't you convince Hilary to keep singing? You really should because her singing is so nice.

Jonathan: Hey, Hilary loves all the positive feedback she continues to get regarding those old recordings, and of course I'm always very pleased too to see her vocals appreciated. But she really didn't enjoy being a singer, and I certainly wouldn't dream of trying to convince her to do something she's not happy doing. When I first invited her to sing on my recordings, she looked on it as an interesting challenge, and for about 7 years of fairly prolific home recording she kept at it -- she stayed motivated that long, I never pushed her -- but when she came to the realization that it just wasn't a rewarding endeavor for her, we both realized that she should stop doing it.

Birdy: Was it weird that The Silly Pillows were big in Japan?

Jonathan: I can't pretend to any expertise regarding trends there. It's like it's a whole different country or something!! We'd really have to ask a Japanese pop-culture maven, I guess, if our (relative) popularity there was strangest of the strange or just typical of their enthusiasm for twee-pop and "cute".

Birdy: How are things different now that you are making songs and recording them on your own as opposed to with a band? Is it like how when you first started out with making home-made tapes and trading them with people?

Jonathan: Artistically, it's a lot like when I started -- I'm limited by the technology and my own skill level on the various instruments, rather than by the process of compromise and the omnipresent time constraints that characterized the band/studio version. So it's all tradeoffs, isn't it? But to put it more positively: working with those other people vastly enriched what I was doing, while working alone gives a purer expression of my musical personality.

Hopefully I know what I'm doing a little more than I did in 1986, and maybe I can sing a little better and play a little better (or at least know my limitations as a singer and musician better) . . . but, on the other hand, I can't claim as much of that fresh, youthful, open-horizons, out-of-left-field attitude which is so much of what the charm of pop music is often about. And my friend Geoff, who turned me on to punk rock 25 years ago, might say that knowing whatyou're doing is a liability, not an advantage, in making underground music. As for songwriting -- the big advantage of when you're starting out is that you haven't already written all your best hooks!(But later in life, maybe you can render them a little better when you self-plagiarize them into "new" songs.)

Unlike when I did tapes in the 80's, I'm not doing a lot of trading now. I get easily overwhelmed by that -- though I think it's a great culture for the people who are really into it. My thing these days is more in the "put it up on the web so people can grab it if they want it" vein.

Birdy: As to the many home recorded songs that you have made but haven't put out. Is there a chance that you would go through them and release some, some day like what you did with the Silly Image Pillowhead album?

Jonathan: I don't personally want to act as a label again -- too much expense and hassle. But if an outside label ever wanted to do something like what you're describing, I'd do pretty much whatever they wanted.

Birdy: How did you and Little Teddy first get in touch with one another and have them put out your stuff?

Jonathan: The first Silly Pillows vinyl release was a 7" EP from a then-new Little Teddy "subsidiary" called Hoppel di Hoy. The visionary who started HdH had mail-ordered some SP cassettes and decided to make us his debut release. (I remember how, when he first ordered tapes, I almost decided not to get involved in selling cassettes overseas -- wow, I was sure glad I'd decided to go ahead and do it!) After the "When She Gets Home"EP came out (early 1993), I believe HdH split off from Little Teddy; but LittleTeddy proper expressed interest in continuing the relationship with the Silly Pillows. And the other indie labels we worked with, Perfect Pop and Rover, were exposed to us via the Little Teddy releases, I believe.

Birdy: Was it sad when the Silly Pillows ended and was it a difficult thing to decide?

Jonathan: It was very sad for me, and probably for some of the others. But really I think it was remarkable that that band -- in its real "band" form --lasted as long as it did. We didn't all live in the same city, people were in other bands concurrently, some of us had demanding jobs, there were kids coming into the picture, raising the funds to do what we wanted to do was a chronic problem . . . and there were definitely some different artistic slants on things within the band, not to mention different ways of approaching the whole process. There was sort of an illusory sense of stability from 1996 (when we upsized to 6 members and began regularly rehearsing for live as well as studio) to 2000 (when it all unravelled), but I think we were always aware that if one or two things changed it could fall apart, and luckily that took a few years to actually happen.

The decision, though emotionally a hard one, wasn't what I'd call a difficult one -- for me at least -- because things had reached a sort of tipping point at which various band members clearly knew that they didn't want to go on. At that point the decision sort of made itself. Likewise, my personal decision -- as one of the people who didn't want to go on -- was the result of a concatenation of factors that added up so clearly that I hardly had to think about it.

Birdy: Was working with some of the record labels a bit difficult with the Silly Pillows? I read an article in which they said that some of the labels you were on were going under because of financial troubles and caused problems with some of your releases.

Jonathan: Actually, I didn't mean that the labels caused problems for the releases, but rather that the releases ultimately caused problems --financially -- for the labels. One or two of the labels we worked with ran into trouble, as far as I could tell, because the bands they"invested in" -- by putting them out and putting their limited resources into promoting them and so forth -- didn't always sell enough records to keep the label solvent. The Silly Pillows, at times, were I think a band that didn't earn back what the labels were perhaps hoping for. They put us out because they believed in us -- these labels cared about music, not money, and I love them for having cared about us -- but if you're a little label and the bands you believe in are costing you money instead of making you money, it doesn't take long before you've got problems.

Birdy: And what type of label interest would you prefer in order to have your music put out by someone? And what things would you look out for perhaps to make sure that you don't put yourself in any bad situations since that can happen sometimes with labels and being sure that they can put out your music efficiently?

Jonathan: Well, I don't think I want to be too fussy. You're right that sometimes you can get involved with a label, and then things don't happen the way they're supposed to. I think in most cases that's not due to any dishonesty or insensitivity, but just to the fact that a little label is usually just composed of one individual who's not even making a living off of it and who is maybe also in a band, and so things can fall behind -- or even not happen at all -- due to time and money issues. But what're you gonna do? That's the indie music world. I think the best you can do is try to steer clear of anyone who has the reputation of actually trying to cheat people, and then just hope for the best with the well-meaning but possibly-overextended folks.

Ideally, one thing I would hope for as an artist is a label that makes a habit of getting stuff distributed in Europe and the Americas and Asia, instead of just a single region -- I don't mean on a grand scale, but just so that a fan in Brazil or Philippines or Netherlands or Cleveland can hopefully mail-order your record from somewhere in his or her own currency. But depending on the size of the operation, I know that a label might not really be set up to get stuff out there to that extent -- they might be lucky if they can get a carton or two off to one mailorder company in their own country, and I certainly understand that.

Birdy: What was the most fun or enjoyable experience that happened with the Silly Pillows?

Jonathan: We had a lot of fun times -- even the average rehearsal was full of "band-collapses-with-laughter" moments -- but if I had to pick one event that was the most fun for me personally, I'd probably pick making our"Time Zones" video. Some of the recording experiences would be a close second.

Birdy: What happened with the life-size pillow that made an appearance at your Mercury Lounge '96 show? I'm hoping that there's a chance it will end up on Ebay some day.

Jonathan: Ha! Well, I'll let you in on a couple of band secrets: (1) "Mr. Pillow"isn't really a pillow, he's just a pillowcase! It didn't matter what pillow was inside him -- that could just be whatever pillow was handy. (2) There were actually two Mr. Pillow pillowcases. I don't remember why. I think Hilary and I have one of them somewhere and the other one lives at Dave Joachim's house.

Birdy: And about Silly Pillows Unstuffed (Jonathan and band member Charlie Zayleskie performing live piano and vocal renditions of Silly Pillows songs). Was that during the Silly Pillows time or like afterwards?

Jonathan: Those appearances (there were only two of them) occurred during the final year of the band's existence. At that time the full band didn't have any gigs scheduled (as it turned out, the full band never played live again), and things were moving slowly on our recording project, so Charlie and I decided to keep busy with this scaled-down local twist on the SP experience.

Birdy: Also, you have been working in theater lately? What kind of theater projects are you involved with and do you get roles in plays and if so, are there any roles or plays that people would be familiar with that you have worked in?

Jonathan: Hilary and I got involved in a community theater company here in rural Pennsylvania in 2001, and since then I have tried to do one or two plays every year. (Hilary's involvement is more occasional.) We do comedy -- I personally specialize in comical little guys, such as Hysterium in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Once we were into the theater thing, I also began writing plays, and I've now written about a half-dozen comedies of various lengths. Three of them have been produced to date -- two with our local amateur company, and one as part of a program in Scranton put on by a professional group. (For anyone who's interested, my scripts and other humor writings can be found at www.epix.net/~hce/jhumor.html .)

My other theatrical project these past 5 years has revolved around a street-theater character I created called Manny Tikitz. I've used this character to work the crowds at local festivals and host variety shows, and for a while Manny also ran an offbeat improv show around here.

Aside from Hysterium, the one role people might be familiar with is the obnoxious bandleader in "Tony n' Tina's Wedding" (though our company made him a DJ, since we didn't have a band).

Theater pics are at www.epix.net/~hce/emtc.html .

Birdy: And I just wanted to say that "Silly Image Pillowhead" is such a special album to me. So many perfect songs on it. Thank you for putting it out.

Jonathan: Wow! Thanks!! I chose those tracks from the dozens and dozens of home recordings we did. When I look (or rather listen) back on all the old tapes, they're a real mixed bag to me -- stuff I'm proud of, stuff I'm embarrassed by, stuff where I like the song but not the performance, stuff where I like the performance but not the song . . . I'm really glad that the ones I chose as the "best", work for other people too.

Birdy: And thank you for answering all these questions, I've probably been a bit obsessed with the Silly Pillows since hearing about them two years ago. I hope I don't come off like a creepy stalker or something. lol

Jonathan: No worries! I really appreciate your interest and enthusiasm.

gerard cosloy vs. birdy.

2005-06-23T01:50:00.000-07:00

I was planning on doing a fanzine last year and had this stupid idea of doing one question interviews. Since I never got around to making the fanzine, I thought I would print this one question interview with Gerard Cosloy, which ended up turning into a silly argument and got him mad at me a bit. It goes back and forth a bit through email.

Me: What is the worst encounter that you've had with a musician? Not counting when GG Allin tried to urinate or crap on you that one time.

Gerard Cosloy: "I'm sorry,but that's really between me and Courtney. I really have nothing else to say about it and I'd like to think both of us have moved on."

And about the GG Allin thing.

Gerard: "Hey, he tried, but didn't succeed."

Me: Thanks for answering the question, and one that includes Courtney Love is even better.

To which Gerard responded with: "I don't remember mentioning anyone named "love."

And me bringing up the GG Allin thing.

Me: Hehe, yeah right, there is a rumor going around that GG did it because he knows how much of a fan you are of scat.

Gerard: "Y'know, no matter how many times you repeat a story, that doesn't make it true. I mean, I could tell people that your Dad paid GG to fuck him in the mouth, but that wouldn't make it true. Even if it was on the internet so many times that everytime people googled your name, the story about GG fucking your Dad in the mouth came up.

Me: My dad doesn't suck dead guys cocks. And my dad is hot and would never have to pay someone to suck his cock.

Gerard: "Great, then you get my point. Your dad and I have lots in common --- we're both really hot, don't have to pay for it and we're sick to death of slander."

Me: I wasn't serious about that rumor and i wasn't planning on spreading it, i thought it was obviously a joke.

Gerard: "That's cool. I'm just making a point. some degree of minor league notoriety allows people you don't know and have never met to make any number of presumptions, kidding around or not. best of luck with the asking-questions thing."

Pipas. 6/22

2005-06-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

i just found an interesting band. PIPAS! http://www.indiepages.com/matinee/artists/pipas.html
http://www.plumasbouncer.com/llc/band/pipas

They and their music seem like a lot of fun. The band consists of Lupe Nunez-Fernandez and Mark Powell. They have more than a few albums, ep's out on Matinee Records and Long Lost Cousin Records.

In their bio they mention how they don't like certain cliche's of being in a band. Like practicing, being tight, or owning amplifiers. Too funny.
Their song "Riff Raff" is the perfect song to just dance to in your bedroom. But make sure you don't knock over your lamp.

And I found a couple interesting interviews with the band.
http://www.tastyfanzine.org.uk/ints19.htm
http://www.indiepages.com/matinee/archive/pipascf.html

CD Baby, Nice online store

2005-06-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

I just found out about CD Baby. http://www.cdbaby.com/ It's this really, really, really great online store that sells cd's from independent artists. Anyone who has made any cd's can sign up with them if you would like them to sell your stuff. The store is based in Portland, Oregon and they have tons of stuff. You can download most of the tracks to hear something first which is really nice. It's just a really great place to look around and you are sure to find a million good things because there is just so much.

They also have $5 special deals if you order at least three cd's at the moment.

Today I finally ordered Rachel APP's "Oh no" and "Burstin" ep's. And Spencer Owen's "18" x 2000" album.

update. i just got these in the mail in like, less than forty-eight hours. awesomeness!

welcome to feels like december.

2005-06-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

I plan on using this place to put up interviews, articles, reviews, and whatever else about music that I like. And there will be reviews of albums that may not be so new. It is sad how some stuff just goes by without even being aware of it because of all the crap that is put out clogging things up a bit. And I generally dislike how some people think that only new stuff is the only thing that matters or should be reviewed. Tons of stuff gets skipped over and it's time to put a stop to that, lol. Especially since there are some really great bands that may not be getting as much attention as they deserve.