Friday, May 31, 2013

Coming for me? MEEEEEEE??

What Model Citizens is a local electro-synth-y indie noise pop band. Did that make sense? 'Cause that's what they are... A convergence of several distinct styles. The brainchild of songwriter Alex Musto, WMC has released a new video for the single "Coming For Me".  Effortlessly weird, almost gracefully strange, the video feels like an alternate remake of "Sunglasses at Night" (which I consider to be an awesome video BTW), co-starring The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.  Keep your eyes peeled for some of my favorite Myrtle J area haunts, Bar Bizarre and Silent Barn.  Enjoy!


Coming For Me by What Model Citizens from Nerd Rage Film on Vimeo.

Check out What Model Citizens on Facebook  --->  Here

Like Hearts Bleed Radio --->  Here

And RSVP for the Hearts Bleed Radio Northside Showcase --->  Here

Catch you down the trail!

Monday, May 27, 2013

Crazy Pills: Cats, Gear, Gigs, and Alternate Reality Country Music Super-stardom

Hey there dear readers... The Northside Festival is just around the corner, and here at HBR we are so excited about our showcase that we can't even sleep or eat, or really do anything other that drink beer and count down the days. Last year, one of my bands, The Planes, shared a bill with Crazy Pills, at The Whatever Blog showcase (and it was incredible), and we're lucky to have them on the Hearts Bleed Radio Showcase this year. Crazy Pills (Amanda on Guitar/Vox, Eddie on Bass, and Jim on drums) are a high energy three-piece, and kinda sounds like that point where rockabilly, garage rock, punk, and pop, all intersect. I sat down with Amanda and discussed her two main passions; music and cats.

Hearts Bleed Radio: I have to start with the most important question first. How are your cats getting along?

Amanda: They are not! Ha. Apparently, they're trying to ascertain which is "alpha". I think they'll settle down. Apparently the small sassy female is going for the win. You know how that's gonna go. I'm pretty proud of Binky - he's being very tentative and careful around Snuggles. She's being alternately too cute for words and hissy... KITTENS.

HBR: I heard that it can take a while for them to kinda smell the same, and that's when they finally accept each other. Snuggles? I thought it was Miyu.

Clockwise from top left: Amanda's cats, Miyu /"Snuggles", Binky, my cat Baron, and my roommates cat, Storm
NOW YOU KNOW
Amanda: IT IS SNUGGLES. Eddie was like, "She's a little girl, she needs a pretty dignified name" or some nonsense like that. Since Binky's full name is Bibingka, which is this purple yam based, Filipino sweet, he thought it should be a girl's name in Japanese or whatever. So I went with Miyu, which is a girls' name in Japan which means "pretty [something, I forget]". But she is Snuggles to me... I LOVE CATS. Please, let it be known. 

HBR: Yeah, Baron is either "Bear," "Bearcat," or "Bearmuffin" to me. He's only called "Baron" when he's in trouble. So aside from cats... You also play guitar and sing in Crazy Pills. I would describe your sound as "garage rock 2.0". A lot of influence from 60's garage, but like, you obviously lived through the last couple of decades and take inspiration from that. Where are you coming from musically? What are you main influences?
 
Amanda: Hmm - good question! I guess that as with our tunes being thematically disparate from song to song - one song is inspired by cults, one is inspired by moving out of NYC, one is a good ol' "he done me wrong, mama" - so are our influences! Obviously, each player brings his respective influence to the table so...I can only speak for myself. I love the Stones. I draw a lot of that rock and roll swagger from my childhood dream of being the next, I dunno, Elvis? Who knows. I love the rockabilly from the 50s and 60s (and country, of course - I grew up in an Indiana town with...wait that's a Tom Petty song - I grew up in a blue collar town with tons of country music radio stations, I can sing along to any Trisha Yearwood or Dwight Yoakam song, dude), obviously, the garage and pop from the 60s through the 70s, post-punk or whatever you call it from the 80s... man... 
  Of course there's 90s college rock that I think gave me the guts to go electric - thank god for The Breeders, BELLY, all those rad female fronted bands for having freaky amazing songwriters fronting rock bands. I could go on and on... Also - my guitar playing is influenced by separate factors beyond the songwriters and bands I'm influenced by so it's... not quite a conflict but it does take the tunes different directions than they start out heading.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Meet Mount Sharp! Mainers on a mission... to Mars... with tacos.



It's a rainy Friday afternoon here in NYC, but lucky for me, I got to spend a chunk of it chatting away with Sarah Wood (Swood) and Bryan Bruchman.  Bryan (guitar/drums) and Swood (guitar/vox), along with Maia Macdonald (guitar/drums) and Ryan Zumsen (bass), make up the Brooklyn indie rock band, Mount Sharp.  We are super happy to have them kicking off our official Northside showcase on 6/14!  Here's a little primer on the band, and their love of tacos... 

Hearts Bleed Radio: So you guys met in Maine, and then ended up in a band together in Brooklyn. How did that happen?

Bryan: We were both living in Portland, Maine, where I was playing in a band (Marie Stella), working at a venue (SPACE Gallery), and running a music blog (HillyTown.com). Sarah had a band called Mango Floss that a few friends with good taste in music saw and started raving about, so I checked them out and loved what I heard. I booked Mango Floss to play a couple shows I was putting on in Maine, so that's where Sarah and I met. Then, we bonded over a long, drawn-out Foursquare battle for the mayorship of a Korean taco restaurant.

Swood: It's how all great friendships begin, really... Tacos.

Bryan: And beer!

HBR: So, how long ago was that? Did you guys come to the city together? Was there kidnapping or bribery involved?

Bryan: Hah!  When was that, Swood?

Swood: That is such a good question. About two years.

Bryan: 2011 was when we met.

Swood: Yeah, and then Bryan moved.

Bryan: I booked Mango Floss to play my Belfast Free Range Festival after-party as well as Hot August Night, On A Boat, AKA Party Barge that year. Then I moved back Brooklyn in 2012. A short while after that I had a breakup and found myself in need of a roommate.

HBR: I wish more places offered Free Range Musicians...

Bryan: Hah!

HBR: And Swood swooped in...

Bryan: Yup. I was up in Maine to work on some videos - and I think for Free Range Festival again - when Sarah and I had tacos at a less-than-awesome place which will remain unnamed, and offered to move to NY, be my roommate, and start a band!

Swood: I decided I needed to get out of Maine, and that coincided with Bryan needing a roommate. Meant to be.

Assuming they are facing Northeast, what time is it?

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Old Monk's "Seymour: Video

Here's a picture of Old Monk.  I drew myself in as a pirate.  I'm on the right.

Ok, Ok, so the guitar solo at the end of this is like, epic, Slash standing in front of a church style awesomeness...  but it's also 8-bit and incredibly nerdy.  Anyway, Old Monk rocked out at HBR #3 last weekend, and I just wanted to pass on the new video to "Seymour", which premiered yesterday on Brooklyn Vegan.  They threw in some pop culture references, so keep your eyes peeled for them.


Behold, the pixelated glory of the Seymour video:





Check out the interview we did with Old Monk  ---> Here.

We'll be starting up the next round of interviews soon, as we inch closer to the Hearts Bleed Radio Northside Showcase!  Click here to RSVP!


Monday, May 13, 2013

New Tunes, Old Monk... and Constant Yearning.

Hey there Internetz!  We have a special treat for you!  Meet Old Monk!  They are one of those rare bands who are interesting but still simple...  Musicianship plus melodies...  Familiar, yet fresh... Whatever... you're just gonna have to hear them...  Anyhow, we are super lucky to have them playing Hearts Bleed Radio's 3rd showcase.  I sat down with Josh and Ian via Gchat, here's the transcript:


Hearts Bleed Radio: You guys kinda started out as a long distance project.  How did that happen?

Joshua: Well, I play guitar and Ian plays drums. I met Ian during a short stint I had living in Colorado. Then I moved to New York. We wrote a couple of songs long distance and then he finally moved out here to start the band for real. We had a couple of bassists for a short period, one of which moved to Korea. Then we met Tsugumi and Old Monk happened.

HBR: What was that process like? Writing songs together that far apart, how quick was the turnaround? How much longer did it take to complete like, a 3 min song? Or was it just as quick?

Joshua: It depends really, inspiration hits you at funny times. Sometimes you have huge spurts of creativity
and then you get a bunch of stuff banged out... I'd send it over to Ian and he'd listen and come up with stuff to add.

Ian: The quality was not studio quality, for sure. The ideas were there, and when we finally met up we just had the meat and polished it. Polished meat.

HBR: Maybe, "seasoned meat"? No, I think I like "polished meat" better.

Joshua: Ha.

Ian: Me too. The trading process though, in all seriousness, was just a bunch of ideas, not songs that were album quality. So the turnaround was quick and easy.

Joshua: Ian recorded his with a rock band mic.

This photo makes perfect sense if you stare at it long enough...

HBR: Well, I'm pumped about this show, I can't wait to play with you guys. Are you striving for a certain sound, or are you just like, infected by your influences? 

Ian: Well I did have a crazy night with Pissed Jeans one night, and I think they infected me a lot. Same with Marc Bolan.

HBR: Haha

Friday, May 10, 2013

Can't cancel this Fleet Week... Talking with Paper Fleet! w/UPDATE

 UPDATE 5/26:  Help Paper Fleet duplicate their new album!

The third Hearts Bleed Radio Showcase Extravaganza is rapidly approaching! Friday, May 17th at Matchless in Brooklyn! Opening up the show is a great local band by the name of Paper Fleet. I sat down with Jon Mann (guitar/), Jim Campbell (bass, vox), and Josh Inman (drums, vox) and talked a little shop. Here's the interview, enjoy!


Hearts Bleed Radio: OK, so you guys have been together since 2008? What was the original lineup?

Jim: Me and Josh, then we added John Ter Louw.

Josh: Actually, Jim and I started Paper Fleet in 2003.

HBR: Wow, so TEN years ago!

Jim: Is that right? 10 years? I have to look that up.

Jon: That's what you dudes told me, haha. 2003.

Josh: I wish I had a better memory for dates, we could have a big anniversary show!

HBR: Ten years, I think it's OK to just guess.

Jon: It's nuts to me to think I've been in the band for five years, honestly.

HBR: When did Jon Mann join the band?

Josh: I think he joined in 2008.

Jon: Well, I moved to Brooklyn in 2007, and it wasn't long after that. Officially, it might've been 2007.

Jim: I have an email here from Jon in 2007.

Josh: It's been a while.

Jon: Jim and Josh posted a craigslist ad under the subject line "Adequate Guitarist Wanted."

HBR: Nice, save that email for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

Jon: Woah! If you have the response to that email, I'd be really interested in reading it, haha.

Jim: Unfortunately he started getting good after he joined the band.

Jon: I blame you guys.

HBR: So you have a couple of recordings up on Bandcamp, some with Ter Louw on bass, and newer ones with James Blood, but now you're a trio. Why make the switch?

Josh: Jon Ter Louw quit the band shortly after Jon (Mann) joined up.

Jon: Yeah, he got a job and had a kid around the same time.

HBR: Well, you can't have two Jons, right? It's bad luck...

Jim: We did pretty okay with 2 Jons/johns. We called them Johnny T and Jonmann to avoid confusion. He (Ter Louw) started a family and moved to New Jersey. Hard to practice.

HBR: But still, you have Blood on bass after that?

Jon: And then James (Blood) is just another busy dude. He was working on a comedy film with a buddy of ours, and they do digital comedy shorts online, on top of his job. He also DJs. It's probably sort of surprising he stuck around as long as he did.

Josh: James Blood had a lot of other stuff going on, he started shooting a film and was doing Drunk Talk Show.

Jon: Yeah, that's their comedy thing: www.drunktalkshow.com 



Paper Fleet in ACTION!