CMJ Music Marathon 2014 (extreme shit-show navigation and survival edition)

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The Black Black plays Cake Shop (twice), will release a new album (eventually), and loves Les Pauls

  I hope you're all enjoying the summer so far (all 5 days of it). I'm still recovering from a booze filled Northside weekend followed by a full week of band practice, recording, and gigs. We're slowing down with the booking thing (more on that later), and we're trying to focus more on covering some sweet local bands. Honestly, I felt a little bad about how mean I was to Gibson lovers in the article on guitars that I wrote two weeks ago, so I thought I'd do a quick Gchat with Jon Daily from The Black Black; a well known Gibson-a-phile.

Here's the transcript:

Hearts Bleed Radio: Start off by giving me a little history of The Black Black...

Jon: I started the black black in the fall of 2011. I was frustrated with my band at the time in every way possible, so I tried to create the antithesis band to it. I recorded three demos in my bedroom with my electronic drum kit. I sent the demos to my long time friend Chris and asked if he'd be interested in playing the bass (he was), and then Craigslist turned up our first drummer Johnny. It was super easy, and the band was just fun and easy for the first year with the three of us. We recorded twice, played a bunch of shows and it was just... fun.
  Johnny moved to CA, and then we spent a year looking for a new drummer. We had six guys do it in a year. It was pretty awful. Then Tomo came on board, and we finally got moving again... fast forward another year and we just finished recording our first LP. It'll be out on Money Fire Records in September (probably). The band was created as a cross between Big Black, McLusky, and LCD Soundsystem. I don't know if those influences are still obvious, but that was the initial idea.

L.E.S. Les Paul action at Pianos

HBR: You're playing a lot these days, you have a record coming out... But I want to talk about guitars for a second... I'm a Fender guy, you're a Gibson guy... I don't want you have to defend Gibson, but what do you like about Les Pauls? What do they do for your sound that no other axe will do?

Quiet Loudly's LAST FRIGGIN' SHOW

Hey people!

  I've been insanely busy and I haven't written ANYTHING in FOREVER. I'm breaking my silence to let you know that you all must go to Fort Useless in Bushwick tonight. It's the last ever Quiet Loudly show and the opening bands are great and we're all going to miss them! 

Here's an interview with Max from last year.

Here's a picture of Max that has been saved on my desktop for a year for some unknown reason.

Here's the RSVP link to the show.

And here's my favorite QL song:

Hey Haybaby! Nice to meet you.

Hope you all made it through the polar vortex in one frozen piece. Thirty-five degrees feels like springtime to me. Anyhow, we have the first showcase of the year this Wednesday at Cake Shop, and we're really excited for the lineup. The Mad Doctors are up first, followed by Crazy Pills, pow wow!, and then Haybaby. Doors at 8, don't be late. Check out this chat with Haybaby. Try to control your excitement. Save it for the dance floor.


Hearts Bleed Radio: Can you start us off by telling us a little about the band?

Zach: Leslie and I met at a show of a band I played in called Bad and the Ugly, and then a while later I asked her to join a band with my ex girlfriend called Peter Pan, which became Peter Pan and the Lost Boys once Leslie joined. I also played in a band called Steer at the time and we played a show with Sam's other band called Spaces.

HBR: Did this all take place in NYC?

Leslie: We started as Haybaby when Zach and his ex broke up with our friend Caleb. He was on bass at first then wanted to switch to lead guitar so we had Sam join on bass, then Caleb moved back to Boston so we were just three again. Yeah, all in Brooklyn.

Zach: That pretty much sums it up, although my ex did not break up with Caleb, but my ex and I broke up.

Leslie: I play guitar, Zach drums, and Sam's on bass. We all sing, but Zach and I share lead.

HBR: Do you think that bass players need to have a good sense of humor because they are kinda the "losers" of the band?

Zach: Definitely think so which is why Sam is perfect.

Leslie: Sam definitely is the biggest loser in the whole world but he is also the best at bass in the universe.

Zach: True and it's awesome that he's not here to defend himself 'bout his loserdom.

Leslie: I think he would agree.

Zach: True, but he is the baddest ass at bass that I know.

A rare pic of a NYC band in a non-taxi automobile.

HBR:Well, in all honesty, bass players aren't "losers" but it is kinda a thankless instrument, right?

Zach: Not when you play like Sam. He thanks the powers that be with every note. I just think that they are in fact losers.

HBR: I'm going to pay special attention to that on the 15th. So, how do you guys go about songwriting? Is it a group process?

Leslie: I think in a lot of bands the role of the bassist is pretty boring, holding down root notes or whatever but that definitely is not the case in Haybaby. Sam pretty much defines the groove of the whole song and I just noodle around it.

2013 Playlist and 2014 Shows!

Hey everyone, hope you're not frozen to the bone. I'm really happy that my 7 year old computer heats up like a toaster oven; I'm wearing two sweatshirts and clinging to it like it's the last spot of warmth in a dark and dying world. Anyway, I wanted to mention a couple of things...


#1. Our 2013 Playlist!

  These are all bands who played an official HBR showcase in 2013, and I think it's a pretty sweet playlist. Unfortunately, not every band we booked is on Spotify, for a full list (with links) check out the ever-evolving Bands We've Booked page. If you find something you like, share it with your buds. Need more info on anyone? Hit me up.






#2. Typhoon Haiyan Relief Show

  A bunch of HBR regulars are playing a benefit show this weekend, 1/11/14. All proceeds will go towards aiding and rebuilding the Philippines. It's $10 for a great cause, and it's a sweet bill at a sweet venue. Here's a link to the event on Facebook, and here's a link to donate if you can't make the show.

Don't Get Excited from Brooklyn's Lost Gloves drops TODAY!

  CMJ 2013 is finally over, and I have to admit, I'm still catching my breath a little bit. I was an absurdly hectic week for me with the bands and showcases and the music and the day job and all of that, etc. etc. But I was happy to be in the thick of it, and now I'm happy it's over. It's nice to get back to writing about new releases, and today we have a fresh, out of the oven, so hot it'll burn the roof of your mouth, brand spankin' new 7" from Brooklyn's Lost Gloves. You may remember them from our showcase on August 1st of this year (2013 if you're counting. I stopped in '09), which they played and were excellent. Check out the interview if you need to refresh your memory.

Just chillin' on the street.

  Anyway, Don't Get Excited is quirky without getting too cute, and interesting while remaining playful. I don't really know what sub-genre to stick them in, and I think that's very telling. Lost Gloves changes texture and feel quickly within songs, which always keeps the listeners on their toes. You never know when they are going to transfer from a keyboard lead that almost feels like a "96 Tears-esque" 60's garage rock, into a guitar driven passage reminiscent of 70's prog. Let's go through the EP song by song.

GET EXCITED

Don't Get Excited opens with the title track, which is a frantic feeling pop rocker and features a really nice push and pull between the keys and a chunky rhythm guitar lick. Lead vocalist Brian Goodheart always has this nervous urgency to his vocals, and they really fit well with this track. Around the 1:47 mark, the rhythm really straightens out and gives you a sense of perspective on the earlier jerky rhythm.




The second track, Nothing Yet, has a bouncy 8-bit quality that is best described as a Casio and a Nintendo entering a faulty transporter, and winding up with a mix of each other's molecules when they are re-materialized at their destination. The chorus slows a little in feel (is this the right way/or is this the long way down?), then returns to another pokey verse section, a couple of high velocity interludes, and back to a chorus... It's jumpy and unpredictable, but still works as a song.




Winter Walk is next, and it's the slow, pretty song. It maintains a certain velocity due to a 16th note beat, and the EP doesn't loose a shred of momentum. Really pretty vocal harmonies and an almost Irish sounding lead on the instrumental breaks on this tune. Neat drum beat over the instrumental sections too... I'm kinda a sucker for big snares, so I may be biased on that one.




Finally, the EP closes with Grandmom, which starts out with the biggest guitar sound we've heard so far, and quickly falls into a syncopated, riffy, verse. The keyboard lead that takes over once the track straightens out is money. Lost Gloves have this ability to use the transition from a jerky syncopated section into to a straight four feel, like you would used the harmonic dissonance of the dominant 7th to add to the strength of a V- I cadence. Might have lost some of you there with the music theory, but honestly, that's the best way to describe what they are doing.




Hopefully we'll get a chance to set up another showcase with these guys sometime down the line. In the meantime, they are playing this Thursday at Don Pedro to celebrate the release of Don't Get Excited. It should be an excellent night; HBR favorites Paper Fleet are playing as well.

RSVP to that show ---> here.

Purchase the Vinyl from Bandcamp ---> here.

Like Lost Gloves on Facebook ---> here.

And like HBR on Facebook ---> here.

See you at the show...  ;)

The Brooklyn What: Genre Hopping Goodness.

Greetings Internetz! The CMJ Music Marathon is only a few weeks away, and we're happy to be bringing you two showcases this year! Our second showcase of the festival at Matchless on Saturday 10/19 features The Brooklyn What, a hard drinking, hard rocking, high energy crowd pleasing, just downright fun band. I had the privilege to sit down with Jamie Frey, the group's lead singer. Here's the transcript:


Hearts Bleed Radio: For starters, can you give me a little background on The Brooklyn What, who were the founding members? How did you meet?

Jamie: The Brooklyn What was founded by myself, Evan O'Donnell, John-Severin Napolillo, Billy Cohen, Douglas Carey and our friend Z-Pac who was briefly our drummer. Pac was my friend from Junior High School, but the rest of the band met at Edward R. Murrow High School, where the lot of us played music together. I played with a few of the guys in my first band, The Jesus Fish Evolution, who were kind of a whacked out version of 90's alternative rock band, but we all were jamming and collaborating by the end of high school. John, Evan and Billy all went away to school, whereas I stayed in Brooklyn, and was writing songs for what I thought was would be a solo record, but when I got a group together to play the tunes over a break from school, simply for want of playing a gig again, we decided to become a band. By our second gig (outside of my parent's basement), Jesse Katz had joined, a schoolmate of Billy's, and we haven't had another drummer since.

HBR: What's it like growing up in Brooklyn, and seeing all these kids move here to play music and be in bands?

Jamie: It has definitely been a confusing experience, and I've had all kinds of feelings about it. Upon starting The Brooklyn What, we played our first gig as the only band on the bill... we did not know any other bands. Our early material, specifically, has a great deal of reaction and bile towards gentrification, and gentrifiers. The initial Williamsburg scene was something we felt entirely left out of, the first song on our first record is "I Don't Wanna Go To Williamsburg." Since then, we've discovered many like minded bands, musicians and audience members, some native of Brooklyn and some not. However, even today, I can't entirely shake that weirdness, of being unusual in my home borough for growing up here. It's still weird to hear the attachment of "Brooklyn band" to people I know are profoundly not from here. I still feel like there's this other scene, in the rest of Brooklyn, someday waiting to burst, from spots most people have not even seen, because they're "too far out."

Roof band fears no one!

HBR: There must be some satisfaction in the fact that people see Brooklyn as like, something other than a dingy little offshoot of Manhattan, right? Despite how annoying the "Brooklyn-Chic" crowd can be, at least people are acknowledging this place.

Laura V. video from The Meaning of Life!

  The Meaning of Life is more full, and lush, and deep, than a three piece really has any business being. If you're listening to Play Fuego and think it's studio tricks, I got news for you, I've seen them live and they pull it off, almost effortlessly. I've always felt that there was a sort of supreme beauty within an electrical circuit, a flawless math of humming electrons, a loop of echo and oscillation, an om made of ohms... Christian Gallardo coaxes that akashic entity out of his guitar rig like a snake charmer with an entranced cobra. With Gallardo's guitar providing the backbone of the band, bassist/vocalist Marta DeLeon drifts between drawn out melodic lines, and ornamental accents ad lib. DeLeon is one of the best lyricist around. Her deft use of imagery leaves the listener wondering if she's a surrealist or a symbolist, yet wholly satisfied, regardless of which conclusion is drawn.

  

Christian feels no pain from rose thorns.

  The Laura V. video officially drops today, and it's a perfect fit for the sensual, yet guarded, single off the Play Fuego EP. The "Instagram meets cabaret"-style video drifts from the absurd to the overtly sexual, and shifts between shots of the band on a beach, and a small group of people at dinner party (or perhaps a couple at dinner, depending on how you choose to see it). Anyway, it's stunning. Deep and artful, yet self aware, absurdist, and at times funny, the Laura V. video is probably as close to a visual representation of TMOL as one could really get. Check out the video at the bottom of the page. I sent Marta and Christian some questions via email, and here's what they had to say:

Hearts Bleed Radio: Is Laura V. a real person? Where does the inspiration for the song come from?

Marta: Christian called it Laura originally after Laura Palmer from "Twin Peaks" as a nod to his affinity for "her" and for us to have something to call our new jam in the practice space yelling over loud amps. The song is dedicated to a close family friend, Laura Vasalo who is deceased like the fictional Laura. It's not directly about either ladies. But I guess to me, both were laughing smiling ladies in the high school hallway surrounded by a group of friends. A lady's name as a song title never gets old.

HBR: Marta, as a lyricist you rely heavily on imagery. I feel like in Laura V. there's a battle between the spider and the halo. I see the spider as representing temptation or the guilt of giving into said temptation. Wearing the biggest halo, and/or waiting the longest to run is the other side of the coin; a partner is trying to have the upper hand (or possibly even do the right thing) in an obviously failing relationship. Is that accurate? Is it more open to interpretation? Or did I miss the point completely?

Marta: Thanks! I never put those two together as a narrative in the lyrical lines literally but I like listeners to project their own emotions and interpretations of what the song means. I think pop songs lend themselves also to that quite well. Using pop references words like "spider" or "red dress" can be open-ended yet emphatic. A spider could be menacing or helpful and protective like in "Charlotte's Web". A collage of emotions, whimsy and longing are the common thread. Someone who waited for the perfect love and when it showed up with all it's complexities they ran away. Not too get too deep, too much bodega Redbull at 11:30 pm.

Breaking Down "With Our Thoughts We Make The World" by Jane Eyre

  I don't know how a band can go from referencing Flannery O'Connor to referencing a Macaulay Culkin movie with a straight face, but Jane Eyre makes it seem as natural as hot air rising, electro-magnetism, and the pull of gravity, which now I think about it, are all actually kind of bizarre phenomena.  Jesse Rifkin's voice has a familiar timbre that I can't place, and as I sit here detoxing for an upcoming mini tour, sweaty/shaky, huddled with cats and tea, I can't help to be pulled into this album's orbit. With Our Thoughts We Make The World is a Buddha quote, overall this album is a bit of a meditation; a stoned, psychedelic jam that slips in and out song-form like thread through a needle. It really should be played through as an entire piece. I wouldn't call it a concept album, or maybe it's a concept beyond explanation, but take some time and sit down with it... just be in the moment.

Due out August 8th, 2013

  Hazel Motes 1 & 2 start the album off with sampled chatter from some ethereal scene of normalcy; guitar drones build the songs into aural waves, up until about the 3 min. mark in HM2, at which point St. Aubin's drums and Gordon's bass settle into a groove that pushes the epic along in a manner reminiscent of Can or later era Sonic Youth. Rifkin and Seretan's guitars sail overhead, then decrescendo back to about where the first track took off.

  Be Still, Be Silent is bass driven and absent of percussion. The track reminds me of something off of Astral Weeks, and overall, I think WOTWMTW is on a similar wavelength. You can question the accessibility of an album that doesn't jump out with an uptempo single, OR resign itself to atmospheric background music. I don't know if I consider it a fault that this album requires a deeper listen; it's just a rarity these days. However, if you're looking for a single, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York is it. The catchiest vocal hook on the album spearheads a song where 60's jangle guitars give way to 80's, almost Smiths-esque shimmering arpeggios, then to indie guitar squeal, then back for a chorus... and end scene.




 Borrowing Body, is a minor key ballad with a 6 feel. St. Aubin's drums shine through on this track. Quick fills between cymbal crashed downbeats mark the first half of the song. After a rest in the middle, the drums re-enter with a kind of awesomely anti-climatic snare roll. That's the best I can describe it. Just listen to it.

  Boy King Island comes out with pianos upfront and a simple grove. As guitar heavy as Jane Eyre's sound has been up to this point, it doesn't seem strange or jarring at all when the keys take over the role of the main chordal instrument. Bells Bells Bells fades in from a loud manic solo, to some tape noise, then a slow, jagged vocal serenade. About midway through the track, we get one more chance to rock, before the album decays into tape loop nothingness.

The band in the heat of battle.

  With Our Thoughts We Make The World is worth a listen. Actually, it's worth four. That's about what it took me to catch most of what is going on. This is an album that was made for a time when you sat down in front of a record player and did nothing but listen, (and drink and smoke pot and maybe make out). It's not an album for a 3 min. commodity to soothe your soul on the way from your apartment to the bodega, or to listen to on the train with all the background noise; it's not an album to blast while you pre-game with your buddies, or to put on a jukebox at a bar. It's an album for when you go home, and learn to be alone.

Pre-order the full album ---> here.

Like Jane Eyre on Facebook ---> here.

RSVP to their record release show ---> here.

Like Hearts Bleed Radio on Facebook ---> here.

Lost Gloves, Power Harmony, compact car packing gold medalists

 Hey everyone, we're getting close to "go time" on HBR showcase #6! It's Thursday, August 1st, and it's going to be the last one of the summer (I need a break to work on writing reviews of all the wonderful submissions that I've been receiving). I met Brian Goodheart at Hearts Bleed Radio Showcase #3 (oh! the power of internet networkings) and he (guitar/vocals), along with Rebekah (keys), Mike (bass) and Pete (drums), constitute the band Lost Gloves. We're happy to have them batting second tomorrow night, and we think you'll enjoy their set. I had the pleasure of chatting with them last weekend. Here's the transcript:

Hearts Bleed Radio: For starters, someone give me a brief history of the band.

Brian: Pete? I think you should take this question.

Pete: OK. It all started when I answered a Craigslist ad that Brian put up. That's right, we might be one of the few bands that actually started up the old fashioned way, with strangers meeting via classified ads. For a few weeks it was just the two of us being polite and seeing if the musical chemistry would work, which it did.

HBR: So Michael and Rebekah came from Craigslist too?

Pete: Brian knew Rebekah from a previous band, actually so he brought her in and for a few more weeks it was just the three of us. A happy little family.

Mike: And then...

Pete: Mike came on recommendation from a friend. After that, all politeness ceased and we became Lost Gloves.

Mike: And I forgot to bring my bass to my first rehearsal, which is usually not a thing you do. But somehow I conned them into letting me play with them. Sorry, first tryout. I demonstrated my musician chops by being a total flake.

HBR: I almost left my guitar and my bassist's bass in the laundromat yesterday, so I understand how that goes..

Pete: He lives up to all the bass player jokes!

Mike not pictured... Probably doing something weird.

HBR: So, did you guys kinda know the sound you were after, or did it come together from like, feeling each other out? Was there a vision? If so, who had it?

Mike: As we practiced more and more we also realized that we all genuinely like each other which was disturbing.

Brian: Lost Gloves' sound has been a work in progress since the beginning. Its been a source of frustration and self doubt, but also a lot of great self discovery and bonding as a band. I think those new songs we recorded that we'll be putting out on a 7" in the next few months represent the first time we've all kind of landed on a sound we like.

HBR: Rebekah, you've been quiet, this question is for you.. Who's your biggest influence? Where are you coming from musically?

Rebekah: Well, it seems to change a lot and I'm not sure I could really pinpoint one band or genre that really helped forge our sound. We all come from different musical backgrounds--I grew up playing classical piano and Mike taught himself bass--but somehow it seems to work... Personally, lately I've been listening to a lot of Marnie Stern, but I'm not sure that's had much of an effect on anyone else.

Brian: Oooh, Stephen Perry likes Lost Gloves on Facebook!

Mike: SCORE!

HBR: Haha, I didn't realize that I hadn't liked the band yet, sorry.

Mike: This isn't just because we are doing this interview, IS IT STEPHEN?

HBR: Do you like the newest Marnie Stern album? I've been on the fence about it.

Rebekah: Yeah, I'm totally into it.

Mike: I do as well.

Rebekah: I really like how poppy it is.

Mike: It's definitely a push towards a more pop sound.

HBR: I just remember being like, in a crappy mood, and listening to it and being like, "It's not as guitary as I want it to be."

Brian: Yeah, she's streamlined a bit on that album, and I think it works.

Libel's Music for Car Commercials, and HBR Showcase #6!

  Greetings dear readers, the August 1st Hearts Bleed Radio showcase is almost upon us! Today we're chatting with Gavin Dunaway from the Brooklyn band Libel. Libel has a new album out, Music For Car Commercials, AND they are closing out the night on 8/1. MFCC retains most characteristics of the band's earlier works, but isn't afraid to wander off in new directions. Dunaway's Bowie-inspired howls coast over the super tight rhythm section of Nick Brzoza (drums) and Julie Rozansky/Brian LaRue (bass, it will be explained in the interview, be patient). Anyway, we're pumped to have them on the bill. Here's the chat transcript: 

Hearts Bleed Radio: For starters, give me a little history of the band.

Gavin: Libel formed pretty soon after I moved to Brooklyn in 2008. I'd kinda broken up my longstanding DC band, The Alphabetical Order, and had the idea of joining an established act when I landed here. Well, while I was looking for that magical established band that was going to rocket me to stardom, I recorded a bunch of demos that I let a drummer friend name Jim Archer listen to. Next thing I know we're jamming on the tracks, his girlfriend Julie is playing bass and we have gigs.

HBR: You knew Jim from VA/DC? And Julie too?

Gavin: Jim was the original drummer of The Alphabetical Order – he's on our first "professional" recording, "The Unimpeachable EP." Julie played in a rival band called Run Silent Run Deep. They were kind of like the bizarro version of Alphabetical Order. Both had tall, skinny singers with moptops, short and cute girls on bass, brawny drummers and traditionally handsome guitarists. They were more... metal than us – we were more into our post-punk, super-mathy DC stuff. Lots of odd time signatures, odd guitar parts, some screaming here and there.

HBR: So you've had some changes at drummer, and bassist, but now you're back with Julie. What does she bring to the table that keeps her coming back? How is she unique among bassists?

Gavin: The girl has groove, among other things. I've always enjoyed playing with Julie, since we did a Smashing Pumpkins cover band together (still do occasionally). She's got a very deft touch, an ability to really make every note hum. When she's playing with her fingers, her tone is low and round, perfectly filling up the low end. However, she's also vicious with a pick – she can be incredibly aggressive when it's called for. Finally, she's a fantastic singer – choir-worthy pipes that have always added an ethereal quality to our vocals.

HBR: Libel has four releases, Julie is on three of them?

Gavin: Julie is on three, though she's not playing bass on Music For Car Commercials. Those duties fell to Brian LaRue, who did a tremendous job (with his backing vocals as well). Brian exhibits raw power through his bass-playing – almost always... 

Libel rocks Muchmore's. I took this picture.

HBR: That's not Julie on Broken Wine Glass?

Gavin: ...killing every note. And yet probably the best bass line on the album is Broken Wine Glass, where Brian put down his pick and composed a haunting yet gentle melody. Really versatile player – you're lucky to have him on The Planes team. Oh, and what a distinct voice! You bet I'll be begging him to come back for future backup vocals.

HBR: Wow, I was certain that was her!

Gavin: Crazy, huh? I didn't know he had it in him either.

12 things tiny unsigned NYC indie bands hate

Hey everyone, my band, The Planes, is playing at Matchless tonight, and I'm spending the afternoon doing laundry, fetching guitars, and nervously thinking of all the things that can go wrong (I know I'm gonna break a string tonight). Anyhow, since I'm sitting here waiting for my laundry to dry, I thought I'd make a quick list for you all to read, and hopefully argue about.

We rocked Ft. Useless into a painting dreamscape/nightmarescape.

12 things tiny unsigned Brooklyn bands hate (in no particular order):

#1. Carrying heavy shit. It's literally 30% of being in a band.

#2. Transporting the above mentioned heavy shit on public transportation. That rickety hand truck with a 40 lb. amp, pedal board, and kick pedal strapped on isn't going to carry itself up to the J train. "I coulda swore this station had an elevator..." Nope, it doesn't.

#3. Getting ditched by everyone while you bring your stuff back to the practice space. "We'll be back in 45 mins, and meet you at the bar/diner/party..." Nope, no one is gonna be there, especially those three cute girls/guys who, "Really dug your set."

#4. Getting paid next to nothing. "Hey good crowd, the bar did really well! Here's a free beer and $80 from the door for the five of you to split." I know the small clubs aren't racking in the dough, BUT, an extra beer, maybe some food if the joint has it... It goes a long way. Also, bands should get paid a percentage of the bar. Wouldn't we all rather have 50 people show up, stay all night and drink all night, then have each band bring 20 people who show up for their friends, have one beer, and go somewhere else?

#5. Big rooms that book small bands. "Yeah, we need you to bring 100... on a weeknight... in February." I ACTUALLY HAD A PLACE SAY THIS TO ME. Like the motherf'ing Planes could bring 100 out on a Saturday during warm weather... even if there was nothing else in NYC going on that night, even if there was free hand jobs and whiskey. If you have a room that holds 200 and you want it full 7 days a week, you need to hire a booker, and you need to be guaranteeing some money to the headliner. Don't book tiny local bands and expect them to work miracles, then get all pissy that the place was only half full.

Cleveland's Filmstrip plays Brooklyn's Death by Audio

Hey people! Filmstrip is an awesome band from Cleveland, OH, and they've been on the road for what seems like 10 years. Monday, 7/15, they are playing in Brooklyn at Death By Audio, with one of my bands, Big Quiet, another Brooklyn band, The Meaning of Life, and Severe Severe, from Albany. Marta DeLeon (lead singer/bassist of The Meaning of Life) took over interviewer duty and spoke with Filmstrip guitarist/vocalist Dave Taha. Here's the transcript:


Hearts Bleed Radio (Marta): Obligatory, why did you guys choose "Filmstrip" as a bandname? Are movies an influence for songwriting, etc?

Dave: Our friend Ray was on a photography kick and suggested "The Filmstrips". We thought that was too pop-punk sounding, so we went with Filmstrip. We sat on it for about a week, and it kept coming back up. We liked the sound of it, the arrangement of letters. It stood out and was the obvious choice.

HBR: I like the lyrics and pop leanings of your single "Stuck on Explode". How was that written and recorded? I hear Sebadoah, Superchunk with the post rock guitaring of bands like Polvo. Any notable influences that you like or like at this moment?

Dave: Wow, thanks! I wrote that song in 2002 on an acoustic guitar. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the lyrical content, but I guess I was reacting to the onset of instant-gratification/ soundbite culture, the swiftness of it. As far as recording, I've actually recorded this song a bunch of times. The process at Echo Mountain was really smooth, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to get out of it, and luckily we were able to translate that to the finished version. Influences? Those three you mentioned are pretty spot-on. We came of age in the 90's, so grunge and post-punk are huge for us. Right now it's a lot of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, The Band, that kind of stuff, but we'll always be close to our punk roots.

 

Filmstrip, outside and unwound.

HBR: You guys grew up together and have been playing in this incarnation for awhile. Good serial monogamist musicians! How does that influence the songwriting? Are you collaborative?

Dave: We have a pretty established system, where, if we all agree we like it, we go with it. Sometimes that might mean I approach the guys with a finished song (at least my parts), with a concrete idea of how the drums and bass should sound, and other times it might be the three if us jamming, and we go "Whoa, what was that? Let's do that again!" We're lucky to have a streamlined, intuitive writing process. That's the easy part. I think we'd all agree the songs come from somewhere else, we're just the vehicle.

Shooting the shit with Sunset Guns

  Greetings dear readers! Sunset Guns are an incredibly fun Brooklyn based four piece, and we're proud to have them playing for us at Fort Useless on July 13th. I sat down with Jon Mann (guitar/vox) and Derek Hawkins (also guitar/vox), and chatted about the usual band nonsense. Derek starts this one out with a brief history of the band. Here's the transcript:

Derek: I guess the whole thing technically started a couple winters ago. Jon and Chuck had their own bands but they'd linked up and started writing some songs together. I was somewhat new to the city and Jon, who I knew through some mutual friends, brought me into a practice with them and George Garcia, who was on drums. We had a good session, banged out a big stupid rock n roll song, and it was just a matter of time before we started playing shows. The idea at first was to write big, scrappy, simple rock n' roll, but after about a year of that we parted ways with George, found Sam on Craigslist and started working on new, tighter, slightly more serious material.

Jon: Sounds about right. Sam was a huge Craigslist find. I do like to think we still have the big and scrappy elements, but yeah, we've tightened things up.

Hearts Bleed Radio: You guys have really good guitar interplay, (and vocal interplay too), how do your songs come together?

Jon: That's nice to hear, man, thanks. Early on, it was more common for us to come in with relatively complete songs and sort of throw them around, but increasingly - and I think this leads to some of that back-and-forth interplay - we're coming into practice with ideas or pieces of songs with the desire to get everyone's input in order to complete them.

HBR: Do you feel like one of you has the job of the lead guitarist? It seems pretty split.

Jon: It's pretty split. The other thing that leads to that interplay is that Derek and I are both riffy as hell.

HBR: And vocally, the same applies?

Derek: It's pretty even overall, but I think Jon's got a tad more noodle in him and I lean a little more on the vocal duties. I like driving the guitar a lot but I get a lot of energy by pushing my voice, stretching into my upper range, doing back to back songs that get me a little raspy.

HBR: The old tag team!

Jon: Yeah, I've never really thought of it, but we've never had a moment of 'No, I think I should sing this one,' or anything like that. It's always just fallen in place. 'I've got some lyrics for this.' "Do it."

Derek (left) and Jon (right) get down to business

HBR: Do you write lyrics together? Or at least talk about the meaning of the song? Y'know, to make sure it makes sense? DOES IT MAKE SENSE?

Jon: Yeah sure, sometimes. 'Haymaker,' for instance, was about a 50/50 collaboration. 'Thunderclap' and '25th Hour' were also situations where I had incomplete lyrics and asked Derek to give me a chorus or a bridge or whatever.

Practice makes OK: The Planes, HBR, and Beatalic Cats.

Greetings dear readers! For this interview, we're talking to Stephen Perry from The Planes. "Wait!" you might say, "isn't that your band?" Well, it is... I tried interviewing myself, but it was coming off more like a cross between Mao's little red book and the Unabomber manifesto, so I decided it would be best to get a hand from Marisha, formerly of the band Corita. I must apologize for the goddamn novels I wrote for some of the answers, but I've been tapping into the writing part of my brain lately, and it's a well that is not easily capped. Marisha was a good sport though, here's the transcript:

Hearts Bleed Radio (Marisha): So, you have a fantastic showcase coming up on Friday. Tell me about the Northside Festival showcase for HBR.

Stephen: Well, it's mostly a bunch of friends bands that I wanted to get together on the same bill. Mostly catchy indie bands, all of whom are excellent performers. The Planes played a super fun showcase with Crazy Pills last year, so I wanted to get them again. Quiet Loudly is a blast to see live, really dynamically good set, poppy, but you can also get a chance to zone out with them. Mount Sharp has a kinda songwriter plus loud dissonant guitar thing, that a sonic youth like myself really digs. pow wow! might be one of the best bands in the city when they really nail it, like, any fan of rock would like them. And lastly, we were fortunate to get Queens natives, The Beets, to round out the bill. They haven't been playing to much recently, and they are kinda getting back into things, so we're super excited.

HBR: Crazy Pills are amazing! It's a really strong line up you've got on a Friday night. You guys are creating a supportive community of bands that tend to curate a lot of interesting shows in Brooklyn on a pretty regular basis. What are some of your favorite venues to play?

Stephen: Venue wise, there are three who have been very friendly to HBR and The Planes... For starters, Matchless, where we're throwing the show. Nice, tight, small room, bar in the band room (key), good food, outdoor area, good location. Cake Shop, has been very kind also, probably the last spot in Manhattan that small bands love to play (not to diss Bowery Electric, but I've never played there). And lastly Grand Vic, where we're doing a showcase on 8/1. Jeremy is a super nice guy and I recommend everyone stops by on a slow night and has a beer with him. Also, we haven't played Fort Useless yet, but we will on 7/13, and we're pumped, 'cause we've been going to shows there forever and what they do is so true to the DIY spirit and the community spirit of indie.

HBR: Fort Useless, Matchless and Grand Victory are great places for live music in an intimate space. I am a major fan of Cake Shop for all of Andy Bodes's ideals, high standards and good taste, all around a great place.

Stephen: I'd take a full room over a big room any day, haha. Legion has been good to us too, and they are super tiny.

I lost those aviators after this shoot. If anyone finds a pair on Meserole Street, hit me up.

holy cow! pow wow!

Hey you awesome people out there, reading this, probably getting stoked for Northside next weekend... We'd love to see you at our showcase, AND we know you'd love to see pow wow!, one of the most fun live shows this side of anywhere. pow wow! is a local five-piece, consisting of Eddie (guitar/vox), Jeff (keys/vox), John-Paul (bass/vox), Amanda (guitar/vox, from Crazy Pills), and Sal (drums, from Quiet Loudly). Between you and me, they are the band I'm looking most forward to seeing. I sat down via Gchat with Eddie the other day. Here's what he had to say:


Hearts Bleed Radio: So how did pow wow! get started?

Eddie: pow wow! got started way back in the fall of 2005 between myself and long time friends from high school Blake Zarsky & Chris Connell. We had been jamming together as several bedroom type bands post high-school and pow wow! was the first project where we actually focused and aimed to released material and play shows. The problem was, we needed a full band to really be able to play out, as our formula of two guitars and a drummer, wasn't exactly working out for our live set. After a few jams, Jeff was invited to join the band to play keys in 2006 when he turned 17, along with our first bass player, Corey Mcnaught who I had met during my short stay at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. I forgot to add it was formed in New Jersey (IMPORTANT!)

HBR: Totally important. How do you feel about Maxwell's closing?

Eddie: Maxwell's closing is truly a bummer, especially for us Jersey blooded folks. Before really hanging out in New York, the early 2000's was spent in Hoboken. We saw a bunch of shows at Maxwell's and were lucky enough to even play one back in 2009. They were such a hospitable establishment. I can't think of another venue that fed us an entire meal on the house before we played! Maxwell's has and always will hold a soft spot in my heart. Between the cigarettes we smoked in that front lounge, to all the times I stood in front of their jukebox trying to decide which Replacements song my friends would most enjoy a drunken sing-a-long to... their closing is truly quite a loss for Jersey and the Northeast in general. It will be missed immensely.

HBR: It's silly how we live in NYC, and we know NOT to be sentimental, because things change so constantly... but there are always changes that come as shocks.

Yup, this is exactly what they look like.

Eddie: It's true, but it's unavoidable. New Yorkers are just as sentimental as anyone else, especially when it comes to any long standing local haunts...

HBR: Let's talk about "Don't Stop to Look". It's a really strong recording, polished enough, and catchy enough songs, to be accessible to the average fan, but it retains some lo-fi grit that gives it a mountain of character. What was the recording process like?

Breaking Oceanographic News

Oceanographer, home from the expedition... happy.

Our sources confirm (what? you didn't think I had sources?) that Mark Kelley of The Roots is joining the Brooklyn indie band Oceanographer. I'll have to track down Mark at some point and grill him on his decision, but in the meantime we can watch this super 8 music video and imagine a driving, thumping bass-line underneath.

                              

OH, and also, Oceanographer is making their first television appearance, this Friday, at 9pm on the Artie Lange Show (Directv ch. 239), and playing Mercury Lounge on Monday the 10th!

Like Oceanographer on Facebook ---> here.

Like Hearts Bleed Radio on Facebook ---> here.

AND, don't forget to check out the HBR Northside Showcase ---> here.

Quiet Loudly Rocks It Proudly

Quiet Loudly is one of the most sonically deep indie acts in NYC right now. They have an ability to work up an aural tsunami, and then corral it into a tightly written pop song. To hear what I mean, check out "Go Into The Light Smiling" on Bandcamp.  We are extremely lucky to have them performing at the Hearts Bleed Radio Northside Showcase. I sat down lead singer/guitarist Max Goransson, and picked his mind about the band, the album, and the future. Enjoy!

Hearts Bleed Radio: You recorded "Go Into The Light Smiling" with Tony, Sal, and John. But you're going to have a fill in at the 6/14 show. I assume for John?

Max: Yes. Well, John's still going to be away on tour with his other band Naam (who are great). BUT, that's not the only change to our lineup. We will be playing our first show as a five-piece for your showcase. We've made a pretty big change-- Tony has moved over to guitar for all our songs and we've brought in Jonathan Pilkington Kahnt to play bass for us permanently. And he is amazing. And as far as keyboard goes, our good friend Kurt Schneider is going to be filling in for John. And from now on, whenever John is in town and can play with us, he will continue to do so. But, whenever there's a show we want to play and he is on the road, we're going to try to have someone filling in whenever possible. We've been rearranging all our songs to accommodate the change. So, if we ever have to play without keys, we can, and we can still have a nice, full sound. It just might be a little more guitar-centric.

HBR: Looking back on that album, I guess almost a year after it came out... AND going through those changes, like, how has your perception of the album changed? Do you like certain songs better than you used to? Some less?

Max: Well, to be honest, I have a really hard time listening to my own work. I go through phases throughout the process of making an album, as I'm sure most musicians do. There's that first phase when you've just laid down all the tracks and you are super, super pumped and you're convinced it's the best thing you've ever done. Then, you reach a boiling point during mixing the album where you've heard every single detail under a sonic magnifying glass and anything that's not perfect is totally jarring and infuriating. Then, once the album is done being mixed, there's usually a lull when you can take a break from it and you get it mastered. Then, once it's mastered it feels like gold again and you're obsessed with it for a week. And then you go back to nit-picking and finding it intolerable and you need distance. That's how it is for me, anyway. So, I haven't actually listened to the album for a long, long time. But, if I wait for another year before I do, I'll probably love it again. There were definitely a couple songs that weren't my favorites before recording, that became favorites AFTER recording, like Your Wedding/My Funeral.
    

If you don't wear glasses, you have wear a hat. If you don't wear a jacket, you have to wear suspenders.

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.

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?