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

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!

Giga Herbs: Riding the boat, Froggin'... all in a day's work.

Hello dear readers!  The third Hearts Bleed Radio Showcase is coming up on May 17th, at Matchless in Greenpoint.  Closing out the night will be Giga Herbs, a super fun indie pop band that puts for a kind of post-dada/absurdist vibe...  Or maybe they're just crazy.  You'll have to come to the show and decide for yourself.  I spoke with their collective mind.  Here's what I got:

Hearts Bleed Radio: Ok, so I'm listening to "Mad Weird", your debut album. It's a pretty big block of work, 16 tracks... How do you go about composing?

Giga Herbs: We lobotomize our egos and pack them into a spaceship. We then tear a hole in the space-time continuum and transverse through different dimensional membranes until some sort of cohesive structure is attained. Basically, we usually jam the tunes out.

HBR: Who would you say are your main influences? I hear kinda a straight up 90's indie side, but also, like a groovier Hall and Oates thing.

GH: Daniel Johnston, The Band, Unicorns, and the Wu-Tang Clan. More recently, the Black and Flaming Lips --respectively.

The band, in 16-bit mode.

HBR: I think "Froggin'" is my favorite track on the album. What's the song about?

GH: It's about comin' up and chillin' on that lily pad, y'know what I'm sayin'?

HBR: Oh, that's what I thought... but you never know if there's a hidden meaning. Hey, what is a Giga Herb anyhow?

GH: Well sometimes a predator done come along and park his car on your lawn.

HBR: And that's a Giga Herb?

GH: No, a Giga Herb is a dud.

HBR: A dud? Like, a bomb that doesn't explode?

GH: Exactly. A grand dud.