Interversity: Redhooker

New York recording artist Stephen Griesgraber is the focus of our Interversity this week. Both a member of Brooklyn collective Slow Six as well as helming his own project in Redhooker, Griesgraber stays busy musically and the latter's new album The Future According to Yesterday is a testament to this with its intricate notes and theatrical interplay. This is a little about the man behind it... And by a little, we mean a lot. Enjoy.














Redhooker - Twelve Times Goodbye - The Future According to Yesterday (Soft Landing 2007)

1. Explain how Redhooker came about, and what about Red Hook inspired you to take the group's name after it.

I moved to Red Hook right after finishing graduate school. I had completed a masters degree program in classical guitar performance, yet I was certain that I did not want to pursue a career as a classical guitar recitalist. Red Hook was still one of those "fringe" neighborhoods in Brooklyn where artists were moving to find cheap work space. I moved there with the naive idea that I would become a part of a cool artist community. Instead, I found the neighborhood to be incredibly isolating. There were no restaurants or grocery stores open past 8:00PM. There were no cafes and just one bar. This made it very difficult to meet the neighborhood residents, and if there was a thriving arts community, I never found it. And because no subway line runs through Red Hook, my friends rarely visited.

And yet Red Hook is very beautiful.Its waterfront was undeveloped at that time and the decay of its unrestored 19th-century factory buildings provided a melancholic atmosphere that was consistent with my state of mind at the time. So I found myself in a situation in which I seriously reevaluating my creative direction for the first time in six years, was living alone in an unfamiliar and isolated neighborhood, and by day trying to negotiate the chaos that can come with working in Manhattan. I had never felt so stimulated, lost, and isolated by such short turns. And it was during this time that I began to think about writing the music that would eventually comprise "The Future According to Yesterday." So I chose the name Redhooker. And admittedly, I liked that the name might make eyebrows raise or eyes roll even though at heart, it does hold real meaning for me.

2. How did you manage to score the recording space in Manhattan for this album?

It's a long story, but a great example of the sort of serendipity that seems to happen every so often in New York.... A close friend of mine from high school was moving to New York from our home state of Minnesota. She had worked for Minnesota Public Radio as an assistant producer for Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion." Prior to moving, she asked Garrison if he could point her to possible job opportunities here. He recommended that she contact guitarist Leo Kottke who subsequently recommended that she contact his friend Mike Gordon who was the bass player in Phish. At that time Mike was looking for a personal assistant of sorts and offered my friend the job. This was shortly after Phish had decided to "retire" and Mike was in the process of giving up his New York apartment to move to his home in Vermont permanently.

Mike had lived downtown Manhattan and loved classic New York buildings. Years ago he had approached the management of the Woolworth Building about renting a small office where he could practice without the distractions of being at home.They found a very small single room for him on a middle floor and charged him somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 a month.

Well, after a couple of years, a tenant wanted to rent the entire floor, including Mike's office, and so management tried to get Mike to break his lease and give up the space.Mike was reluctant, and so management made him an offer.They had cleared all tenants out of the top eight floors to convert "the tower" of Woolworth into condos.

But then September 11th happened and they decided that it was the wrong time to convert and market the condos because Woolworth is kitty-corner to ground zero.

So the deal was, if Mike would give up his office, they would give him the entire 46th floor for the same price on the condition that when they decided to begin the condo conversion, he would willingly move out. So he took the space, which had previously been an accident-injury law office. When I heard that he was moving to Vermont, I asked him what he was doing with Woolworth and he told me that because it was so cheap, he didn't want to give it up, yet he couldn't justify spending the money since he'd never be there.

So we split it and for $250 a month, I had the most remarkable workspace I likely ever will. It wasn't actually a studio, and I didn't record "The Future According to Yesterday" there, I just used it as a place to retreat and write - with incredibly inspiring views and no distractions. Unfortunately, after five months, I got the call. By now, I'm sure my “studio" is someone's multi-million dollar apartment.

3. The Future According to Yesterday has been referred to as one movement in four parts. How do you approach the songwriting process? Did it change during the time you spent making this album?

I wrote these pieces mostly at a Rhodes and on the guitar. The Rhodes part to "Sometimes She Speaks Gently" just came to me while improvising. Initially, I expanded upon it, building it out so that it was not so static. But I later decided that I liked the idea that these long, languid lines would unfold between the violin and the clarinet, setting the stage and relating to the Rhodes ostinato in different harmonic ways as they pushed and pulled at each other before finally evolving into a clear melody. And that melody ends up being immitative - almost like a canon. This idea of the two instruments chasing - or shadowing - each other is central to the themes of the whole work.

"Animus" was conceived simultaneously with "Sometimes She Speaks Gently." They really are one piece. The same is true for "Sunday Silence" and "Twelve Times Goodbye" - they, too, are one piece. And there's no doubt that when I wrote "Sunday Silence" and "Twelve Times Goodbye" I was thinking about how they would work as a program with the preceding pieces. I'm always conscious of the fact that whether it's a recording or a concert, I'm presenting a program and that program is more successful if it has continuity to it. Ideally, each piece can stand on its own, but the whole should always be greater than the sum of its parts.

4. How did you get involved with the Max/MSP technology? I'm interested to hear why you used electronics at all.

Max/MSP is an object oriented programming environment for Mac or PC specifically geared toward allowing the user to design audio control and processing software applications. As soon as I started thinking about the music I wanted to write, I knew that I was interested in manipulating the sounds of live musicians in real time - as opposed to using prerecorded samples - and I knew that I was not interested in achieving this through the use of typical pedal effects or whatever. When I started playing with Slow Six, Christopher Tignor introduced me to Max/MSP, and I quickly realized that it was exactly what I was looking for - an environment that would allow me to build tools for audio processing from the ground up.

The music on "The Future According to Yesterday" was originally written for a concert that Redhooker performed as a part of the 2006 New York Guitar Festival. The venue we were performing in, called The Monkey, is wired for 5.1 surround sound.

So I built a "patch" in Max/MSP that allowed me to capture five samples of any length from members of the ensemble. I could then play these samples back using a MIDI foot controller. I could play them forwards and backwards, either as “one offs" or as loops. I could also transpose the samples in each of the five "banks" chromatically using one of ten preset transposition modes that I could choose using an onscreen interface. I specifically chose five sample banks because this allowed me to "spacialize" the sample banks so that as they played back, they would move around the 5.1 surround sound environment within the space.

We opened the concert with a sort of structured improvisation using this software. I then incorporated it into "Sunday Silence" and "Twelve Times Goodbye." "Sunday Silence" begins with the guitar, violin, and clarinet all playing their lowest available "e" pitch. The violin and clarinet sustain theirs in long notes and I tremolo pick my guitar as fast as I can. Meanwhile, I capture five long loops of this and pile them up on top of one another.

The effect is that of this huge drone that becomes rich in overtones. And because the loops are all different lengths, repeating at different intervals, and because the source material is purely organic in that it comes from live instrumentalists, the drone is completely dynamic. This is a marked contrast to much "electronic" music which is based on repetition of the same, often prerecorded, material.

At the climax of "Sunday Silence," the drone reenters, this time transposed down an octave, and becomes the foundation of "Twelve Times Goodbye." As the instruments move through their different harmonic areas, the drone moves with them, constantly underpinning the bass. I liked the effect of this both aesthetically and conceptually. On a pure aesthetic level, I like the thickness that it lends to what is essentially the finale of the program. Conceptually, I like that these relentless and emotionally charged melodies in the clarinet and violin weave around the steady gait of the Rhodes and guitar, which in turn move over this amorphous bed of sound that ultimately has been generated by the ensemble itself.

5. The artwork, like the music, is pretty minimalist. What is its significance and how did you decide upon it?

The Woolworth space had unbelievable views and those views inspired me in my writing. Again, I knew that I was writing this music for a particular concert, and I happened to be able to project video at the concert as well. So I bought a video camera and would set it up before I set out to write each evening. I would capture different things every night - the cars snaking up Manhattan's major arteries, pedestrians walking to the subway, the skyline as the city's buildings' lights would come on.... The artwork for the album came from stills from the video I ultimately used to accompany Animus. The pedestrians you see are on Barclay and Church Street - right outside of the ground zero site.

Audiversinquiry (10 Questions We Ask Everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as a child that triggered a notable response?

The Beatles' "Please Please Me" was the first record I asked for and received when I was about 6. Around that same age, I used to ask my mother to stop playing her "prehistoric music" - I meant Beethoven and Mozart. At some point I had a change of heart about the merits of that music! The first music I bought for myself was "Who Made Who" by AC/DC. I did this specifically because my neighbor and best friend at the time - who was 14 to my 10 - used to make me mix tapes of stuff he was listening to that I liked. I was really into "You Shoot Me All Night Long," but he wouldn't make me a tape of it because he thought my mother wouldn't approve of the line, "Workin' double time on the seduction line..." So I had to buy it myself.

The first music I heard on CD was U2's "Joshua Tree." I remember when my father brought home a CD player and that CD as well as the Beatles' "Rubber Soul" and the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack for my sisters. When the opening fade to "Where the Streets Have No Name" came on, I thought it was one of the coolest things I had ever heard. But the first time I completely lost my mind to music was listening to "Sergeant Pepper's" at night on headphones as a 12-year-old.

2. You are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you listen to?

It's after one in the morning now, so I'm up for something broody, mellow, and relatively new. I'd have to say "Boxer" by the National. It's a great record by one of my favorite bands to break out in the last couple of years.

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

My two studio/roommates are both incredible artists - Jose Lerma is a painter and Mark Schubert a sculptor. They both do amazing work are fortunately doing quite well in their careers as artists. I love hearing what they have to say about art and specifically their critiques of my music because they understand the work from a perspective that I value, but one that is very different from what I get when discussing music with other musicians. Their values tend to be purely about the work as art and not as craft. Many musicians - including myself - get so caught up in craft of making music that we lose sight of what we're doing and why we're doing it.

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

I don't have a specific process for this, but I try to constantly reevaluate what I'm listening for in music and sound and why. Lately, I've been interested in examining the subtleties of acoustic instruments - "putting them under the microscope" as they say. "The Future According to Yesterday" is in many ways a very "clean" record. And as I've lived with it, I've found that the clarinet key clicks, the breathing, the scrape of the violin bow, the nail on the guitar string - little "human" details, artifacts that some would say “dirty up” the record - are things that I really enjoy. So the new music that I am writing and recording takes this into account.

5. What question do you get most often that you hate answering?

Oh, you're a guitarist? Do you play rhythm or lead?

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

I love the sound of the human voice and especially great choirs.

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you head immediately towards?

Usually the "avant-garde" section, which must be a mistake because I'm almost always disappointed with my purchase.

8. What is the last notable daydream you had and where did it take place?

I'm a relatively young man. My daydreams are fairly predictable - don't they say something about “every seven seconds”?

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

In spite of what I said earlier about conceiving of my own music as a program, I've never really been an "album" person. But I think that "Pet Sounds" is a masterpiece both as a collection of individual songs as well as an entire statement. And I think if I were to come up with criteria for designating an album "great" it would be just that: the majority of the songs have to be great unto themselves and the entire collection has to mean something as a broader statement.

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which do you read if so?

Honestly, not until recently. Since releasing the record, I've begun reading many more music blogs and webzines such as yours as well as The Silent Ballet, Quarter Life Party, Night After Night, The Rest Is Noise, Almost Cool, Stereo Subversion, Epic India, and Pitchfork. Beyond that, I pretty much get my news from the New York Times, Harper's, the New Yorker, the Village Voice, and my personal favorite, the Onion.

Interversity: Odd Nosdam

Level Live Wires is the kind of free-thinking collage album anyone with a keen fondness for sounds will enjoy. The man behind its broad sonic spectrum is Anticon.'s Odd Nosdam, aka David Madson, and he kindly joins us this week to answer some Interversity questions ahead of the album's Tuesday release date. Read, digest and enjoy the hell out of this album. We still are.














Odd Nosdam - Fat Hooks - Level Live Wires (Anticon. 2007)

1. I hear a lot of shoegazer in Level Live Wires, but there's a plethora of sounds hidden throughout. What sorts of ideas and sounds were you looking to most closely for this album, and how are they different from past efforts?

Im always lookin and listenin for anything that moves me.

2. What do you make of the whole downloading thing, and how often does it come up with other members of the Anticon. collective?

I personally dont seek out and download music. it does have it's advantages though. I mean, I make music and some of my music I wanna share with other folk. I cant control how people find or hear my shit. but the least I can do is give people the option of experiencing my music as close to how I want it experienced, on vinyl or CD and loud.

a couple friends of mine will often float me mp3s online through sendspace. I suppose everyone should just enjoy stuff while they can, regardless of how they get it.

3. Level Live Wires is a title open to a number of interpretations. What did it mean to you when you were christening the album? Has that changed at all since?

the way it looks on paper. the way it rolls off the tongue. a rusty pin removed from a bible...

4. The idea of a bonus ambient EP of the sounds that constructed the album is really interesting. At what point did you decide to use it in a limited edition version?

over the years, I collected a bunch of shit in itunes like early versions and raw sounds of LLW tracks. when LLW was done, it made sense to put together a companion CD of this stuff.

5. How much did Odd Nerdrum paintings influence Level Live Wires, and do you have a favorite of his?

I havent thought about Odd Nerdrum for a long time... one painting that comes to mind is his self portrait with an erection. that is dude is a fucking twisted modern day Rembrandt.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as a child that triggered a notable response?

my parents had Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' on wax. the synth sounds and the cover photo of the dude on fire used to freak me out.

when rap got big, I was way into scratching. it was the craziest stuff Id ever heard. my favorite was the scratch "solo" on The Furious Five's 'Step Off'. The vocoder used on 'Scorpio' was pretty wild. mid 80s rap was the first music I took seriously. I used to dub stuff off the radio, never knowing what the hell I was listening to. 'La Di Da Di' was the first song I memorized.

2. You are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you listen to?

'Revolver'

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

I love the work of Dali, Basquiat, Bosch, David Lynch, Akira Kurosawa, the Cohen Bros., Kids In The Hall, The Chapelle Show, Mr. Show, Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ive watched John Lennon's 'Imagine' like a million times. skateboarding. I really enjoy reading music biographies.

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

'Out The Closet', a non profit thrift store on University in Berkeley. Ive scored hundreds of great LPs there. for most everything thing else its Amoeba and Rasputin's in Berkeley. and I have a few generous friends that hook me up with random shit.

5. What question do you get most often that you hate answering?

dont get it as often anymore but Ive been asked "whats the future of hip hop?" way too many times. another one, regarding my music: "is this hip hop?"

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

Favorite instruments: SP 1200.

specific sounds: 50's - 60's vinyl. drones.

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you head immediately towards?

"oldies" vinyl

8. What is the last notable daydream you had and where did it take place?

[N/A - Ed.]

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

De La Soul '3 feet High And Rising'
The Beatles 'Revolver'
Flying Saucer Attack 'Distance'
Serge Gainsbourg 'Histoire De Melody Nelson'

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which do you read if so?

no.

Interversity: Githead

To put it very, very lightly, we are ridiculously excited about this week's Interversity. The one and only Colin Newman of art-poppers Githead, post-punk inventors Wire (!!!!!!!!!), co-founder of Swim~ Records, and mastermind behind experimental music hub PostEverything.com has answered a few questions for us, as well as included a few excerpts from an interview he did with a French mag a few months back (of which will be italicized). His last album with Githead, Art Pop, has been swirling through our heads in wonderfully groovy pop circles for the last month, and this interview reveals a little more insight into what exactly makes the band tick in such precise rhythms. So without further delay, we hand the mic over to the legendary Colin Newman:



Githead - All Set Up - Art Pop (Swim~ 2007)

1. For more than three decades you have been creating music whether with Wire or as a solo artist. You have obviously explored a massive amount of styles throughout your career; what were you aiming to achieve musically by starting Githead? Was there any particular inspiration that motivated you to form the band?

I see a lot of lazy journalism (present company excepted!) amongst reviews of Art Pop by US journalists. It would appear that not many actually read the press release that accompanies the album. Githead is always at great pains to point out that it is a real band and a genuine collaboration between its members. I took a decision in around the mid-90’s that I didn’t really want to do any more “solo” albums. My last one Bastard was in fact just another collaboration between Malka & myself (as were her solo albums & the work as Immersion). Since the early 90’s, in terms of having the studio, I’ve been perfectly capable of making genuine “solo” records (on which I do everything). This very fact has rendered the proposition far less interesting. It’s just more fun to collaborate!

Technically, Githead started as a one off. It was just originally conceived for a performance at our label Swim’s 10th birthday bash. It snowballed because it was obvious right from the outset that even with Malka, Robin & myself jamming along with a drum-loop it was special & somewhat unique. All its development has been organic, it’s much more about what feels right than any master plan. Obviously we’ve gone into the general pop/rock area with this but this is simply because of the time it is being done. This is definitely a mid ‘00’s band. This is a decade when electronic musicians are coming out from behind their laptops and doing songs (Ulrich Schnauss, Styrofoam), electro has got dirty and allowed its post-punk roots to show (Justice, LCD Soundsystem) and indie rock has absorbed every strand of influence ranging from euphoric orchestral folk to beat driven dance-floor anthems. This is the context in which we work. One advantage of this being considered “our” band rather than “my” band is that it only has to be true to itself & its time. With Wire it’s something different, it is also a creature of the present but also has this amazing history to draw on. Githead is more about drawing on the divergent interests of its members. This is a very interesting collaboration!

Robin actually grew up 10 minutes walk from where Malka & I live and work. We've known him since the very early days of his Scanner incarnation. He was the first person who did a remix for our 90's Immersion project and Malka & I (as our label Swim ~) were one of the first people to do a label night at Robin's "electronic lounge" (his groundbreaking "ambience & networking" club in the mid 90's at the ICA). We've often talked about doing stuff together but never quite got round to it until the right opportunity arose.

The opportunity turned out to be the 10th birthday night we put on for the anniversary of Swim ~. We got various people from the label (Silo, Symptoms, Lobe etc.) to play live and Malka felt very strongly that we should do a show ourselves as a "band".

Although we have done shows as a 2 piece we really felt that a larger unit was called for. Meanwhile we'd been chatting to Robin about maybe doing something for the Swim ~ night, perhaps DJing, but he really wanted to play live so we decided to combine the two things and all play together. This was around New Year 2004.

The thing is, we've known Robin for years and pretty much always known he can play the guitar. I don't think it was even a discussion, it was just obvious he'd play guitar. If you check the Githead web-site (www.githead.com) you can see that the first rehearsal was on January 30th 2004 and it was literally just a try out to see if we could make something for a one off collaboration. Our studio is very small, no room for a drum kit, so it was just 2 guitars, bass & a drum loop and off we go. No one would have predicted what would happen next, we just started playing and it gelled immediately. Within literally 10 minutes we had our first tune "Reset" (which is also the first track on our debut EP "Headgit") it was obviously meant to be! One thing we all have in common is that we know when something is good, it's not something you need to discuss too much (we are often too busy laughing!) It would have been unthinkable not to have continued it was like a world of possibilities opened up in an instant. When you get the key, you don't throw it away! This is why Githead is a real band, there is natural sympathy among the players and it's not a struggle to make ideas together. It just works!

The other thing about Githead is that it's very open about how things are written & constructed. Because what we mainly do in our studio together is just play I record everything and then pieces are constructed out of the played elements. Sometimes what we record is pretty worked out, sometimes it's very loose.

2. Between 2005's Githead debut, Profile, and Art Pop, the band's sound has incorporated heavier influences from post-punk, dub and funk within the shoegazing Brit-pop sound; was it a conscious decision to diversify the sound? Would you consider it more of a natural progression of musicians establishing a sound and then expanding upon it, or was it in reaction to anything in particular after Profile's release?

There’s a definite creative arc between the 3 releases in fact. Headgit was done really fast and really captures that initial energy that created the band. Profile was more considered and took a little longer, but not much longer! However Art Pop took over a year to come together. It wasn’t planned like that it just happened. After the Euro tour in 2005 the idea was to get together fairly soon in our live sound man Frankie Lievarts’s Metropolis 22 studio in Rotterdam and do some recording as a band and use the live room to develop sounds and ideas to be continued at are own studio. However Frankie was still building the studio through the winter months of 05 into 06 so stuff started to get developed here instead. In the end we finally got intro the studio in October 2006. Even at that late stage we actually added a lot so it was really useful but we didn’t exactly stick to the plan! In the end the album draws on a pool of performances & experiences and I think that’s what gives it it’s diversity.

For Githead "Art Pop" is the biggest canvas we have painted on so far. There is a big diversity in creative means, musical context and emotional landscapes. The album was constructed over quite a long period of time considering we did "Headgit" really quick and were not that much slower about "Profile". Quite a lot happened in that period and we even worried at times if we'd ever get it finished. The hardest part was last summer when it was just too hot to even turn on the equipment in the studio (above 30 degrees London just doesn't function). We also waited while our live sound man Frank Lievaart finished his "Metropolis 22" studio in Rotterdam. We became a really tight unit as a 4 piece during the dates we did in 2005 and although I have lots of Max recorded multi-track which we can can play over in London and construct perfectly great sounding pieces with, there's a different energy when we play as a 4 piece. In the end it was October last year before the studio was ready and we could provide what I regard as an essential element in the mix of what "Art Pop" is.

The Rotterdam trip was also really, really important for the band. On one hand Githead is like "the field of dreams" we believe in this band 100% . If we make it good enough people will love us. In fact making it good is the only thing we can really control! On the other hand there is no earthly reason why Githead should exist, every member of the band has a perfectly viable project which people are interested in and which are already famous. The reason for Githead has to be that it is not only fucking good but also that it has something which people can emotionally connect to (you can be really impressive as a band but somehow it presents something which people can't identify with so you will be admired but not loved) . We are real people who have real lives and not everything goes well. "Lifeloops" for example is pure existential despair. The vocal Malka did was not repeatable in that moment, it's completely heartfelt but she was not yet completely consumed by the emotion. Meanwhile "Live in your Head" (as in "I wouldn't like to live in your head") is putting the final nails in the coffin of a relationship (not between Malka and I should stress!!) with someone you've just had enough of. "Drive By" is in your face London life, there really is a boy from one of the local estates who goes around with an iron bar, "Fish & Chip hop" is comic London slang for British Hip-Hop, "f-bombs" are American slang for inappropriate and very public use of the word "fuck" (I should point out that Americans are much more prudish in the main that the British, who very often use the "f -word" as humour). I can go on, although a lot of the reflections are personal we hope that people can connect them with stuff in their own lives.

3. I feel that replacing "the Beat Monster" (the drum machine used extensively on the first two releases) with drummer Max Franken was instrumental in loosening and in turn humanizing Githead's sound somewhat on Art Pop; at what point did you decided to try out a live drummer? Did it have any effect on the songwriting process?

The way Githead started is Malka, Robin & me with a beatbox (or drum loop actually). When we jam in our studio that’s how we play, there isn’t room for a drummer in our studio (it was originally a garage!) BUT we always intended that there should be a real drummer for live shows and Max was perfect from day 1. From the production side I came to the conclusion a couple of years back that I really needed proper full kit recorded drums, done in a nice room to be the real basis of creating a band sound on record. Now Frankie’s studio is operational we’ve been able to record not only Max but also Rob from Wire. This is a bit technical but there’s something about drums recorded this way that really adds space (you get something special if you also record vocals in the same room). We can’t afford to be months developing stuff in Rotterdam but employing some of that nice room sound has given Art Pop something it wouldn’t have otherwise. Creatively some tracks are also developed over trademark Max beats although we’ve yet to seriously try he experiment of developing stuff from the ground up with Max.

Actually there's no real set formula about how anything is constructed. If I go through, say the 1st 4 songs it might give you an idea about how we work. On one level "On your Own" is pretty much played as a band, we recorded the basic track in Rotterdam but it was based on a previous piece which had a chorus we really liked but a verse we didn't like so much. Once I got into mixing here I discovered that I could incorporate elements from the original song (even though the verse was in a different key!) so although it sounds simple there are elements that actually come from somewhere else! "Drop" is classic Githead, an absolutely irresistible Malka bass-line that everything sits on. On a track like that it's all about following the logic of keeping the arrangement spare enough to feel the bass/ drum groove. "Drive By" is another turn around, the main riff is Malka playing guitar with Robin on rhythm guitar & me playing bass. Everything is in service of the driving rhythm, even the voice! "Lifeloops" is just Malka & I. I had this acoustic guitar part and Malka wanted to sing on it. it was done very quickly it absolutely captures a moment in time, and so it goes on through the album.

The sound is not decided in advance, it's just about following the logic that the piece suggests. We want to embrace the music's organic nature and follow trails to see where they lead. It is after all Pop which is informed by Art practice (that's the literal meaning). Actually we are extending that now with an "alternate" Githead which you might call "Art Git" (we even got t-shirts :) which is a version of Githead designed for high culture venues. Githead can be many things in many places and we are resolutely interested in opening possibilities rather than closing them.

4. Malka Spigel's supple bass lines always feel like they are in the forefront on Art Pop; does the band write from the rhythm section on up? Was it a conscious decision to emphasize the bass in the mixing process or was it more of a natural evolution? Did any bass-heavy styles or artists influence you in particular while crafting this album?

Every band has to work to it’s strong points and if you’ve got a fantastic bass player like Malka then not to take advantage of her skills would be self defeating! I think there’s another point too which I see much less understood in the USA than in Britain. As a “producer” (i.e. someone who crafts music in a recording studio) my roots are very much in the late 80’s “midi revolution” which was really the point at which musicians themselves could start to produce stuff in their own spaces that didn’t shout “home recording”. It was all about rhythm! So I learned my art in this respect (as did Robin) from what was basically about making dance tracks. Even though I now am able to work in much more advanced ways there is a definite influence from those days and still a lot of stuff from Githead is based on a solid groove. For people who appreciate a sublime groove then “Drop” is THE track on the album, on that track, for the rest of us it’s about getting out of the way! For mixing, it really depends on the track but if a track sounds already cool with just the bass & drums then it sets the direction for how you bring the other instruments in. It’s ultimately all about feel!

5. PostEverything.com (amazing name by the way) has become one of the internet's premier hubs for experimental and genre-bending music and labels; how has creating the site influenced you as an artist and a musician? What are your ambitions with the site? Any large-scale plans in the future concerning it?

Thanks for the compliment! The name was Malka’s actually, even though English isn’t her first language she’s got a knack for coming up with cool names.

Obviously the big thing at PE right now is the fact that’s we’ve re-launched the site and added digital to the offerings (we also re-instated the radio BTW – tip, log in to hear full tracks). It’s taken a while to get there and we are still tweaking (which is why we “soft launched”) but over the next couple of months we will start to publicize the changes more. Right now however people reading this should know that there are quite a few things associated with me that were completely unavailable in any format without paying “collectors prices” now available in digital (320Kbps No-DRM MP3) these include the early Pinkflag releases by Wire (Twelve Times You, The Third Day, It’s All in the Brochure), Wire’s Vien and my It Seems. Obviously the Pinkflag & Swim catalogues are available in digital as well as a lot of Robin’s work, although we haven’t come up with a digital format for t-shirts yet ☺.

For the future we are looking at increasing the formats, adding digital video for example, as well as strategic collaborations & adding a lot more labels & artists. We’d also like to increase the editorial side, give more potential for people to interact as well as finding ways to allow people to stream the radio independent of the site. In other words get a bit more web 2.0

We are still turning over the artistic possibilities. Certainly the possibility of “digital only” releases does open the door to other ways of getting stuff out there but one still has to deal with the basic fact that attention needs to be focused o the site in order to make that effective.


Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as a child that triggered a notable response?

Well I remember hearing “Telstar” by the Tornadoes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstar_(song)) when I was 6. Beyond it’s squeaky charms the thing that really got me interested was the fact that I heard somewhere that it was the “music of the future”. I loved that idea!

2. Let's say you are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you listen to?

I’m not sure if I actually listen to complete albums any more. I think many artists (Githead excepted) don’t actually make albums any more… I’d probably fire up “Lime Light” by Mrs. Tanaka a very obscure release from the equally obscure Town Tone label from Osaka. I’d skip the re-mixes at the end which don’t really help but the first part (which is really an EP to be honest) is Japanese indiepop gold!

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

Definitely no celebrities! I recently re-mixed a band called Celebricide and subscribe to the concept (even if the band split up). I’m generally interested in culture inn all forms but I’m not sure about specific influences, it’s more about the milieu one swims in.

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

It kind of changes all the time, there’s the general background radiation of stuff you hear from people you know, that weird osmosis that enlivens the “chattering classes” with the new genre, band and artist everyone talks about. I’m also pretty much responsible for maintaining the rather popular Wire myspace, which I’m pretty conscientious about and try to check out (however briefly) ALL the friend requests so I get to hear a lot of bands and while the vast majority are of limited interest I have discovered a few gems and even if they’ve only got one thing that’s really good it’s one more than most bands will ever have!

Here’s a selection of recent ones I’ve come across, some are obscure & unsigned, others have achieved some measure of success. Malka & I feature artists we have discovered through myspace alongside more established ones on our occasional [supposed to be monthly] radio show, now syndicated! You can check out a recent play list here - http://www.swimhq.com/mp3/Radio/Radioshow6.html -

http://www.myspace.com/parsleysoundmusic - Parsley Sound - "House is Shaking Demo"

http://www.myspace.com/lesbiansonecstasy - Lesbians On Ecstasy - "Tell Me Does She Lo.."

http://www.myspace.com/bichi - Bichi - "my footfalls are superfluous"

http://www.myspace.com/gustavosantaolalla - Gustavo Santaolalla "De Usuahia A La Qui.."

http://www.myspace.com/thewns - The White Noise Supremacists - "She's Soft Inside"

http://www.myspace.com/lastdaysmyspace - Last Days - "The Safest Place"

http://www.myspace.com/monostars - Monostars - "Wenn Du Mich Suchst"

http://www.myspace.com/monkeemanmusic - MONKEEMAN - "Moving In Circles"

http://www.myspace.com/marconiunion - Marco Union - "Sleepless"

http://www.myspace.com/jerryandthesuits - jerry and the suits - "Shooting At The Moon"

5. What question do you get most often that you hate answering?

Probably this one… (Ed. Note -- hahahhahhaha.. damn.)

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

I like to get sounds to work together so I’m quite agnostic on specifics.

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you head immediately towards?

Art pop ☺

8. What is the last notable daydream you had and where did it take place?

I wish I had time for daydreamimg!

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

Hmmm.. I’ve got pretty broad taste, I like different things at different times & I’m one of those people who feels at home with (and connected to) many diverse genres in music so I think it would be hard to have one album that “said it all”… The trick of really good music is to make you feel you are having the best experience ever when listening. It’s just that so many share that skill!

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which do you read if so?

Sometimes I read people’s myspace blogs. I tend to enjoy stuff that’s written by people who don’t really expect anyone to read it. British bands have the tendency to the funniest blogs. Self depreciation comes naturally to Brits!

On the more “public” scale I no longer really see any difference between paper & online publications. A lot of writing about music has always been pretty informal and you can arguably save the planet (or at least some trees) by publishing online. Obviously Audiversity is the best ☺ (Ed. Note -- We agree, and would like to add a ☺ of our own)

Interversity: Educated Consumers

College Park, Maryland duo Educated Consumers are our featured artist for this week's Interversity. Released in July, Write/Hear is a back-to-basics approach to hip-hop that MC Seezmics and DJ t.E.C.K! have been working to create since they first formed in 1999. Their third and most accomplished work to date, Educated Consumers are holding it down in the shadows of the nation's capital. Seezmics took the questions for us.











Educated Consumers - Catch a Glimpse - Write/Hear (VeriZum 2007)

1. Just to be clear: What was the story behind the release of Write/Hear? You guys were saying it was pretty much set in mid-'05 on your blog...

Write/Hear had been completed from a music standpoint since ‘05, but we kept waiting for the right business situation to present itself. We had already done the "cd-r self release" thing with our first album, Educated Consumers. Our second album, Aisle 2, was released by a small label with limited resources. We'd learned from those releases and wanted to wait for something better, if not perfect. We were also getting some feelers for tours with bigger acts, and were hoping that would lead to signing with a bigger label.

Basically, we were hoping someone else would do the hard work so we could sit back and eat sandwiches made of diamonds. Big mistake.

I eventually got tired of hoping/waiting/wishing for better days, so I decided to start making them. We put the finishing touches on Write/Hear and I planned a release party in DC for July of ‘07. Next thing you know, we’re getting interviewed by Audiversity and performing at the Grammy’s. What a life.

2. How did you guys acquire your stage names, and what does the " t.E.C.K!" acronym stand for?

My little tag used to be “sieze,” which obviously evolved to seezmics when I started rapping for the masses. “t.E.C.K!” stands for The East Coast Kid and was born during the era of boom-bap beats representing the east coast style of production.

3. I'm loving the beats on this record, and I'm not the first to point out an early-90s influence. Is there any one album in particular that you'd say united you two and helped define the sound you're pursuing now?

The most obvious comparison is Gang Starr because my voice is similar to Guru’s and DJ Premier has been t.E.C.K!’s biggest influence. Hard To Earn is an incredibly complete album, both technically and conceptually, so I’d say that’s the best middle ground for us both.

However, we aren’t the next anyone. We are the first and only Educated Consumers. If it sounds like I’m being assertive, it’s because I am.

4. The vibe I get from interviews, shows and your site is that you have a great sense of humor. Whose sense of humor would you say you most admire? Why?

I like the quirky, self-deprecating style of Conan O'Brien blended with the razor-sharp semantics of George Carlin. Anne Coulter is also one funny broad. The whole "it's wrong when you do it but great when I do it" routine never gets old.

I admire these people because they can get the crowd open with a good fart joke, then bring down the house with an intellectually stimulating look at life and whether or not it has meaning. Then end things with another fart joke.

5. Educated Consumers are now nearly eight years old. What sorts of changes have you seen in the hip-hop scenes of College Park, DC and Baltimore during that time, and where do you think it's going?

I’ll use our release party as an example. I promoted the show in DC for over 2 months using Myspace, flyering local shows, word of mouth, threats of violence/financial ruin, calling radio shows, and T-shirts with the flyers printed on them real fancy like.

Essentially, I had all the bases covered: the heads who would come as long as they knew about the show, the heads who would come after they checked the website and fell in love with our sound, the heads who never come to shows because we have so many but knew this one was important, the heads who owed me money and figured showing up would make us even, and the local heads who we’ve supported through the years.

The show was on a Sunday, which was obviously problematic in terms of getting a maximum draw. However, since the venue owners also own several larger venues in the area, my plan was to get a large draw for a Sunday and use that momentum to convince the venue owners that DC hip hop acts are worth working with.

Several of the DC acts I spoke with while promoting wanted to be on the release party bill. I told them while that bill was already full, my plan was to impress the venue owners with the solidarity among DC artists and use this show as a tipping point for locking down the city. Several of these artists supported the idea and said they’d be there, both to show love for the release and to help us help them.

I spent a lot of money on promoting the show, and I can live with taking a loss on my own release party. I can even live with taking a minor loss helping other local acts, which was the plan going forward. However, of the 75+ people at the show not including the acts, 3 were DC artists. That is not a typo. Three. One. Two. Three.

This would not have happened when I first started getting involved in the scene. Heads supported each other, and not just out of some artificially benevolent hippie bullshit. They supported each other because they knew it would come back to help everyone. Apparently, people are too shortsighted or lazy to see that now.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as children that triggered a notable response?

I used to dig all the hair metal bands and their cookie-cutter song structures. Gotta have a snare-free intro. Gotta have tinny vocals. Gotta have a guitar solo. Then I got into Cypress Hill and moved on.

I’ve also always been a big sports geek, and I used to imitate the speech patterns of the guys calling/analyzing games. Steve Buckhantz is currently my favorite play-by-play guy. Howdayalikethat.

2. You are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you all collectively listen to?

I would force t.E.C.K! to listen to the Modest Mouse’s Lonesome Crowded West. He would bludgeon me with a shoe and throw on Smif N Wessun’s Da Shinin.

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

I read a lot. Vonnegut, Orwell, Palahniuk for novels. Bill Simmons, Bethlehem Soals, DJ Gallo for sports. I recently started using netflix and it's become my codependent lover. I like checking out the groundbreakers like Peeping Tom and All The President's Men, but I keep it simple stoopid with Beerfest and Grandma's Boy. People, I implore you: check out Alien Vs. Predator. The contained explanation of mankind's evolution makes more sense than you'd expect. Celebrities... but aren't we all?

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

I ask my girlfriend what she thinks is cool, then I say "That sounds so lame!" but then I go check it out and inevitably like it. My sister also has ill taste in music and literature, so I pick her brain for new stuff. I've read a couple of the books being peddled on The Daily Show, and they have been hit or miss.

5. What question do you get most often as a band that you hate answering?

"Did you really turn down a max deal to sign with Wizards?" I'm like, yeah, I decided to forgo a Hall Of Fame career in the NBA so I could rap in front of strangers for pennies on the dollar. I've learned to live with it, and it's time all these interviewers just let it go.

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

I love the crunchy sound from an SP1200, especially what it does to snares. t.E.C.K! does a great job of layering drum kits and gets a great sound from his MPC. I prefer groove samples to trumped up keyboard samples. I like recording using sports broadcaster mics because they isolate the better parts of my voice. I hate crying babies, bragging men, and nagging women.

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you each head immediately towards?

Soundtracks or comedy.

8. What is the last notable daydream you guys had and where did it take place?

N/A.

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

To me, the perfect album is Aceyalone's "A Book of Human Language." Concise, tangible, entertaining, and challenging. I don't think a perfect album is possible for more than one listener. Life is like a box of... what's that saying... oh yeah, condoms.

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which if so?

Again, I'm a sports geek so here's the list: freedarko.com, kissmesuzy.blogspot.com, wizznutzz.com, Aol's NBA fanhouse, and of course audiversity.com. I also write a basketball blog, postgrotto.com (Incidentally, Kelly Tripucka was a golden god. - Ed.)

Interversity: Fog

Fog mastermind Andrew Broder was nice enough to answer a few questions for this week's Interversity column. His latest release on Lex Records, Ditherer, is a hearty helping of anthemic avant-pop, and it has yet to leave my CD player since I got a hold of it a few weeks back. His answers may not be as quirky as his lyrics, but they still provide plenty of insight into the wonderfully unpredictable musical world that is Fog:



Fog - "I Have Been Wronged" - Ditherer (Lex 2007)

1. I credited the eclectic mix of styles strewn throughout Fog's avant-pop sound to your unconventional evolution as a musician, which I roughly and broadly described as "punk rocker turned acclaimed hip-hop DJ turned 4-track experimenter turned bedroom singer/songwriter turned quirky avant-rocker." Firstly, how accurate was my assessment? And, are these stylistic transitions inspired by a need to branch out and take on new challenges, out of boredom with revisiting a particular sound, or is it something completely unconscious?

I'd say that's reasonably accurate. Being the typical, whiny artist(e), I can say honestly that in the moment, I was never trying to be any of those things (except maybe the hip-hop DJ part), that I always just try to think of myself as a musician, and that I make an effort to transcend those boundaries, blah blah blah. The changes over time have been a result of all the reasons you mentioned- plus, in general, I have a tendency to mimic what I am predominantly listening to at a given time, and that changes frequently due to short-attention span.

2. Ditherer sounds to me like the most assured, accessible and anthemic Fog album to date; was it intentional to write a lot of anthem-like songs or was it more an unforeseen characteristic that arose while writing the album?

It was very intentional to write songs with a certainty to them, and more thoughtfully structured and arranged. A lot of that has to do with a) recording demos first, which I had never done before and b) recording as a unit, rather than on my own.

3. You collaborate with a number of different artists on Ditherer (including members of Dosh, Why?, Pedestrian Mount Eerie, Low and Andrew Bird); how much influence did they have in rounding out the sound on the album? Has it caused you to approach writing music in any different manner than before?

I don't know if it had an effect on the songwriting itself, but it certainly helped the songs achieve more of a universal feel to have different voices and ideas in the mix. The album is in large part an attempt to get rid of the insular feel of one-man recordings.

4. One of the most idiosyncratic and intriguing aspect of the Fog sound is the endearingly quirky lyrics; does anything in particular influence your writing style? Are the lyrics written prior to or in response to the music?

Prior to in the sense that I usually amass a bunch of different ideas, and them try them out over different musical ideas in progress and see what works. Usually, something subliminal happens where I am working on some chords or a basic phrase, and some lyrics I wrote before that will magically slide into place. There is some luck involved. In particular I have influenced lately by books, rather than song lyrics. I like writers like George Saunders and Donald Bartheleme. I also draw from the language of day to day culture whether its slang, or things you see printed on products or in advertising, or just something you overhear somebody say that sticks with you.

5. With so many stylistic influences and such an unpredictable and diverse discography, do you strive to reinvent the Fog sound with each successive album? Is it getting easier or tougher from a songwriting perspective with each record?

I guess so. We don't want to be reinventing the wheel for it's own sake, but why be a musician if not to grow and change? That's where the excitement is, at least for me. As far as getting easier or harder, I don't know. After a record is finished, I usually experience a total drought of ideas, and have to force myself to get back into writing again. By the time I do, my tastes have shifted, and I want to hear new sounds.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as a child that triggered a notable response?

Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot. Then, U2. Then, Jimi Hendrix. Then Miles Davis. Then stuff like Living Colour and Fishbone, then De La Soul, and so on up until present day... Lots of different "phases."

2. Let's say you are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you listen to?

Right now, either Panda Bear's album or Lil Wayne Drought 3.

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

See above authors... Right now, I am reading a book called "Gargoyles" by Thomas Bernhard. Amazing. "Three Novellas" by him is also amazing. I don't really watch movies. The last movie I watched was the one where Harrison Ford is the president and has to save Air Force One. I believe it's called "Air Force One", and it may be the stupidest film of all time.

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

Our drummer Tim has gotten me hip to lots of Black Metal, as has Aquarius Records(.org) where you can listen to samples online. There's a radio show in Mpls. called Strictly Butter that plays Minimal and Dubstep that I like quite a bit. The Wire is a good magazine to discover new stuff. Other than that, mainly friends just telling me about shit. I despise 90% of new music that I hear, particularly in the "indie" realm, but there's definitely a lot of wonderful stuff still, to seek out and is exciting.

5. What question do you get most often that you hate answering?

There's no question that I HATE answering, but I do think it's incredibly boring to talk about what label we're on, or things like that, un-related to what the music sounds like. Any question that is a re-wording of something stated on a press release.

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

It's very hard to argue with how an 808 drum machine sounds.

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you head immediately towards?

Yo, it's 2007: What's a record store? What are records?

8. What is the last notable daydream you had and where did it take place?

Whew- I do a lot of that... Difficult to pick one out. I daydream about having my own professional recording studio. I guess that's the most prominent one right now.

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

Yeah, perfect is a funny word, but sure, I have albums that in my mind can do no wrong: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Ask the Ages by Sonny Sharrock, Illmatic.... way way too many to mention.

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which do you read if so?

I do, but only in the vain and desperate search for my own name, or the names of my friends. My eyes glaze over the rest.

Interversity: History Invades

History Invades is our featured artist in this week's Interversity. Fielding questions for the San Francisco three-piece is Paul Harper, who has taken the ordinarily obtuse aesthetic of the band and kindly (and directly) answered our questions. Straight from the horse:











History Invades - Post-Modernist Trap: A Stalker's Guide to the Universe - In Vision Vanish Invisible (Lujo /Pish Posh of North America 2007)

1. What other musical endeavors were you involved with pre-History Invades?

Believe it or not, not really any before the original incarnation of HI. I played in a circle of local friends' bands just because they needed this or that. I toured the west coast with Map (Velvet Blue Music) as a drummer in 2003, and nationally with Kat Jones (VBM) as a bassist in 2004. Those tours were great learning experiences of how life on the road really is.

2. I've always loved the band name. What's the story behind how it came about?

Originally, when we were changing our bands name and figuring out what to call the project, Michael Norman Williams had a handful of joke side bands, all with these outrageous names, including James Dean & The Pase Robles Racers, We Come In Pieces (This one we are still planning on using actually), Die Capitalist War Machine!!!, and a bunch of others. One of them was History Invades, and someone (i think Daniel Scott Mayberry) suggested it. We never really agreed on it, until we played a local show (our first in a few months as we were out on the road quite a bit), where Michael stated that our other band couldn't make it because they changed their name to History Invades, finishing with "Hi, we're History Invades." Ever since then, we have rolled with the name, and its been a good name for us. We never really had a good reason for calling the band HI, but numerous people have commented on what they think the name means, and thats more important to us...to know that our name spurs different ideas into the listeners mind. We have had people tell us that it reminded them of the Great Depression, others talking about history repeating itself, and probably so many more. It holds specific meaning in my life now, and i think the name will be a good one to keep around for the tenure of this band.

3. The album artwork is reliably distinctive and In Vision Vanish Invisible in particular is tough to miss. How did you hook up with Nigel Dennis?

We played a festival in southern Washington called Tomfest (though i think it was called Portico that year), at which The Evaluation were playing. We played in Portland, Or a couple nights beforehand, at which a couple people asked us if we had ever heard of The Evaluation, which we hadn't, and stated that we should check them out when they play at Tomfest. Well, I had no idea who they were, and when we got there, we started seeing these two dudes running around the grounds. These guys were the best dressed of everyone there. You could tell that they seemed kind of beat, tired, but still, they looked good, and they were everywhere. We played our set on either the first or second night, and right afterwards Nigel and their touring drummer at the time (Frank Lipari) ran up to us in the merchandise tent and started flipping out, stating that they had not heard a band like ours in years and making phone calls. These two dudes, who we thought were just some guys with a fashion sense, were actually The Evaluation. So we told them our story, and we heard about their tour, we exchanged numbers and CDs, and we talked to Nigel the following year about doing our seven inch artwork, which led to him wanting to do our first record, and subsequent work since. He is one of the greatest guys I have met in this business and a force behind the band, and thats why he is considered a member of the operative.

4. I feel obligated to ask about the song titles because I'm honestly curious as to the methods of creation. What's the process in writing and naming a track? Do you start with a title or theme and write a song or the other way around?

Very often the title has little to nothing to do with the actual song, though we never pair a title with a song that we don't feel defines the song somehow. A lot of the songs on IVVI didn't have titles until we started working on the design of the CD. Some of them were stolen from ideas in a short story I had written about fake characters in separate situations who finally come together in a Happy Endings / Me, You, And Everyone We Know sort of way. A couple of the songs' titles came from jokes or conversations had with everyone in the band and even just people in our lives. "Check That Figure! With Digits Like That, Who Needs Cell Phones?" is our friend Evan Persons statement he made at an In & Out in California back in 2004 about good looking people on their cell phones or something. I mean, our titles can come from anywhere and everywhere, if they feel right for a song, no matter how ridiculous, they will be used. I wanted to say, because i just found out...track five on IVVI is listed as "Romance Of Sand And The Salts / Snakes And The Consequential Epilepsy" on a bunch of websites. It's really Shakes. I don't know where Snakes came from.

5. Your new live EP is out now so you've got fans sated for the moment, but how far ahead are you looking for the band's future? Album by album, or something grander?

Well, we have actually ran out of copies of the We Touch The Sky Now Live EP. The only way to get it now is to ask us personally for it. But we have plans. We currently have plans into 2009, but we're taking it one step at a time. We are currently working on a new full length, which will be entitled "COMPANGLOMAMMOTH." The majority of the tracking is finished, but were going to spend as much time as we need to make sure we like what we're doing. HI's focus on this record is a blending of electro-club dance beats and synths with guitars and noisy percussion from experimentation with post-punk. So far it is shaping up to be the most diverse and cohesive record we have done. We were planning on releasing a movie with the album, but that idea was vetoed in the post-birthing stages. Besides that, we just got word recently from Lujo that we will be doing a three way split with label mates All Teeth And Knuckles and The Drugstore Cowboys due out sometime next year. I hear the other bands each have a song or two finished, and we're still coming up with ideas. Luckily, we have time for that. In addition to these, we're hitting the remix circuit, as I am personally remixing all of IVVI for an iTunes exclusive release entitled "Visions", probably around the transition of years. Finally, History Invades is remixing Lujo Records bands as part of a compilation we're releasing on the label. I believe we are calling it "History Invades Lujo." We are in the process of collecting the tracks from the bands. Once we have them we will be hitting that pretty hard, and everything in rotation. So, i would hope that is something grander than just record to record, but we'll find out when these releases see the light of day.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as a child that triggered a notable response?

There really is only a few I can think of... there is hardly any music that I really listened to until i was in my early teens, and the bands worthy of noting at the time were Frodus, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Bjork, Starflyer 59, Devo, Sunny Day Real Estate, and I'm sure there is more.

2. You are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you two individually listen to?

Well, I would opt for something recent, and it's always subject to change, but currently i would probably pop in "Fancy Footwork" by Chromeo. Michael would probably listen to the new Hella record "There's No 666 In Outer Space", Noah Guitar Prado might have all of the Radiohead albums and rarities on shuffle with his iPod, Zachary Alan Zeller has been rocking the CSS album lately, And Nigel Evan Dennis has been listening to "We Are The Night", the new record from The Chemical Brothers.

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

Of course. A few from each I'm sure. As far as books go, the oblivious "1984" by George Orwell, "No One Belongs Here More Than You" by Miranda July (Christine Jesperson from "Me And You And Everyone We Know), "The Tao Of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff, and any of the "This Book / Diary Will Change Your Life" series by Benrik. As for authors, David Icke, Noam Chomsky, Douglas Adams, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Pablo Picasso is my favorite artist, but the majority of inspiration I get from paintings is from friends and people close in my life. It's the only thing in the arts that i can't even come close to doing. For actors, Christopher Walken, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Daniel Dumile, Kirsten Dunst, Stella, and I really respect Drew Carey and Matt Maiellaro. Movies have been hard to come by lately, but I will say The Fountain, The Virgin Suicides, Pans Labyrinth, Wet Hot American Summer, Pi, Spinal Tap, Repulsion, Twin Peaks, Office Space, Dr. Strangelove... to name a few. And as for celebrities, they are rarely an inspiration, but they are great to watch. Lindsay Lohan, Kathy Griffin, talk/game show hosts are always great, Ross Matthews, and probably so many more. Those people on Top Chef are way too interesting... I have to say, i haven't been anticipating something so much as The Flaming Lips Film, "Christmas On Mars."

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

A lot of my friends are constantly showing me and sending me new music. Sometimes it's something i have heard of and really want, and sometimes it's just someone being really excited about a new band. I probably get into 5 new bands a year. At this very moment I am enjoying a band i heard of today called Bat For Lashes. The only thing i know about them is that they have a fantastic vocalist, and their record is called Fur And Gold. The singles I've heard from Common's Finding Forever are outstanding.

5. What question do you get most often that you hate answering?

I can't think of a single question that i have been asked that I couldn't answer, or hated to answer.

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

All sorts of percussion. Like Kylie Minogue said in her single Slow, "let the rhythm pull you in, it's here so touch it." Rhythm is pulsating, and without a pulse, you don't have a heartbeat. Besides that, i absolutely love my Korg KP2, and I am always a sucker for the French tremolo picking style on a mandolin.

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close; what section do you head immediately towards?

These days, probably to the used vinyl to find any of the Randy Newman LPs i haven't already purchased.

8. What is the last notable daydream you had and where did it take place?

I don't know if I ever have had a daydream. The closest thing I could think of would be last summer, when I was out on the road... I think we were in PA driving west from Philadelphia and I was lying down on one of the benches in the van. Before I really knew it, I was skateboarding (which i haven't done in a decade) to my house, at which some lady was waiting. I was listening to !!!'s Louden Up Now on my iPod. The road to get there was much more difficult to ride on than it would seem. I got there, and she was talking to me, but I couldn't hear her. so I tried talking back, and nothing would come out. So I took off the ear buds and attempted to speak again, but I could still hear the same song playing, and I still couldn't talk. This turned into me not being able to breath, and i started freaking out. Somehow, i shook myself to a conscious state, and i had my iPod on my head, listening to !!!. Is that considered a daydream?

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

I don't really think there is such a thing as a perfect album, but if I had to choose my closest choice of perfection, it would be The Fashion Focus by Starflyer 59.

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which do you read if so?

Not many, but a few. Joee Irwin's IM ON THE INTERNET, Seth Werkheiser's Buzzgrinder, and i poke my head into Audiversity from time to time.

Interversity: The Saturday Knights

Seattle party-rappers The Saturday Knights raise the roof a little bit this week with a little Q & A courtesy Interversity. Barfly and Tilson represent the vocal 2/3rds of the group; third man DJ Suspence has got a day job and a family to tend to, so the MCs patiently fielded these questions for us. What we learned: Don't trust anything Tilson has to say. Enjoy and be on the lookout for a new full-length album out soon.










The Saturday Knights - "45" - The Saturday Knights EP (Light in the Attic 2007)

1. First off, The Saturday Knights. Brilliant name. How did it come about and how many other names did you have to go through to get to that one? (Also, do you capitalize "The"?)

Barfly: The name is a bit obvious and we are apparently one of many groups who hold or have held the same name but I'll take the Pepsi Challenge against any other band now or ever with the same name. It suits us to a T. It's just one of those things. I don't remember too clearly how we came to be The Saturday Knights but I think I came up with it. Before that we'd considered being called Royal Comfort and a couple other silly names that we don't talk about. Plus Slayer was already taken so...
Tilson: How did we come up with the name? The name came up with us. We're honored to even know the name.

Of course you capitalize the "The." Do you pee with the seat down?

2. You guys are literally all over the map with your songs. What artists can you all agree on that helped shape your sound?

Barfly: The only thing we agree on is that music is supposed to be fun to make and fun to listen. Tilson listens to rap mostly. Spence listens to good music and I listen to crappy music. We have no idea what we're doing really.
Tilson: Van Gogh and Sydney Portier.

3. The debut full-length was, last time I checked, due in August. How has the recording process or the dynamics of the group changed from when you recorded the EP?

Barfly: We're actually looking at October as a release date. We haven't changed anything really.We just figured out that the best way to fly is to throw yourself at the ground and miss, so we're gonna stick with that 'til the wings come off.
Tilson: I grew an extra tooth.

4. That Coloring Book Coloring Skills Challenge you guys did last month was pretty amazing. How did that come about, and have you played that house show yet? How did it go?

Barfly: Haven't played the houseparty yet but it's gonna be a blast I promise. I did that coloring book some tinme ago and the label thought it might be a fun promotion and we're too scared to tell them no because they can get on some Death Rom, Suge Knight shit when we're not totally agreeable. I'm still recovering from the last ass kicking i got for showing up late to the label president's foot ru
Tilson: We haven't played it yet. The entries were amazing. How did it come about? It came about in a dream.

5. This may or may not be entirely related, but: What are your favorite beverages? They don't have to be alcoholic.

Barfly: I drink Crown and Rocks but I'm not picky. I drank gas one time. True story.
Tilson: Powdered water.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as children that triggered a notable response?

Barfly: I grew up on a bunch of regional Southern California shit. If you know who Beowulf, Excel, Circle One, Dr. Know and that whole canon of groups is then you probably get it.
Tilson: So many sounds of being in trouble, it's hard to choose one.

2. You are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you two individually listen to?

Barfly: I always choose Dios' self titled release on Star Time.
Tilson: I would listen to a Masterson mix tape.

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

Barfly: I like reading Tom Robbins, Chuck Palahniuk, Hunter S. Thompson et al. I definitely get motivated off that stuff. Caddyshack, Big Lebowski are a couple movies I can't burn out on.
Tilson: Wild life ... wild people ... wild atmosphere ... calm days.

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

Barfly: I don't check for music much anymore. I have horible taste and shitty listening habits. I'm kinda into ringtones right now. Radio songs are too long.
Tilson: Between an exit and a turnpike.

5. What question do you get most often as a group that you hate answering?

Barfly: What is Tilson on?
Tilson: Why is there a black guy in the group?

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

Barfly: I love 808s. I also love Tamborines, cowbell, shakers, fish and cheerleader chants.
Tilson: Women's inner and outer beauty. My favorite sound is tzzzzzphgthhssszzzzzzzzghey.

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you head immediately towards?

Barfly: The bargain bin.
Tilson: The snacks section. And the t-shirts.

8. What is the last notable daydream each of you had and where did it take place?

Barfly: I've done a lot of time so we'll just skip this one.
Tilson: I was on stage with people watching me ... it was our next show!

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

Barfly: Pobody's Nerfect.
Tilson: The perfect album is made with appreciation from the people listening. Or: people tell you to turn it down when you're playing it in public.

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which do you read if so?

Barfly: No habla ingles.
Tilson: Audiversity, of course. Can you recommend some for us?

Interversity: Channel One

Don't touch that dial: Channel One have been good to us in returning our humble questions for them this week. Everything from the art to the words and back again is covered in relation to their latest EP, Permissions.










Channel One - "These Roads" / Permissions EP (Sound Foundation 2007)

In my review I mentioned a ton of Creation or Creation-influenced groups, but all of your releases so far have a very Factory Records feel to them. Is there a conscious disconnect from the music to the art, or is it just the band's preferred aesthetic?

Richie: we would be heavily influenced by some acts from both creation records and factory records, specifically joy division, my bloody valentine and vanishing point/xtrmntr era primal scream so invariably, all of these things may influence what we do.

A few of your song titles ("Rhythm&Purpose," "These Roads," "Accelerate;Brake") are as driven as the music. Bad pun there, but do you guys keep up with motorsports at all or is that just a coincidence?

Paul: The words and titles are always written after the instrumentation. We prefer the music to colour and inform the vocal as oppose to vice versa. So i suppose it follows some of the words and titles allude to things like movement.

While you opened for CSS on a few dates, you've just finished making some lengthy rounds yourselves. What are your most memorable tour experiences thus far in '07?

Richie: yeah, we've been touring a lot this year and the dates with css were great as it was nice to play to a crowd that we would not usually get to play to as we are very different to css. Our most memorable gigs would probably be our 2 hometown headline shows in dublin and also the carlow date of the css tour.

What's your favorite place to play in Ireland? Why so?

Richie: we wouldn't necessarily have a favourite place to play in ireland as it really depends on how that night’s gig goes but recently it would have to be belfast as we get looked after really well when we’re there and the crowds seem really responsive to what we do.

The lyrics seem personal as best I can tell, but how much do politics affect the band's writing or playing? What is the main source of inspiration?

Paul: The lyrics are kept as intuitive as possible. They often change a lot until we go to record. While we'd all have a big interest in politics there isn’t really a narrative or a message, personal or political, at least in any direct sense. The words just serve to evoke certain images and feelings in line with the music, sometimes to the extent that lyrics are built around particular vowel or consonant sounds suggested by the tone, melody or rhythm of the existing instrumentation. We've always viewed the vocals as just another musical element, and increasingly we're sampling my voice in order to layer or splice it which is a lot of fun – it’s been like adding a whole new instrument.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

What did you specifically remember listening to as children that triggered a notable response?

Richie: we all got heavily into music when we were in our teens and we would probably all remember different things from our childhood but i would think that the smiths were the first band that we all loved and were heavily influenced by. They may not seem like an apparent influence in our music now but they were and still are hugely influential.

You are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you all collectively listen to?

Richie: well on the last tour, we rekindled our love of the smiths by listening to all of their albums on rotation so any of them.

Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

Paul: We were kinda obsessed with all things Chris Morris for a while. Not sure if it’s an influence but we’re big fans. I’m reading a great book at the moment called ‘All that is solid melts into air’ by Marshall Berman

Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

Richie: we would pick up on a lot of new music on the internet-message boards, blogs etc and we would also stumble upon some stuff in some of the better record stores in Dublin such as city discs. the guys who run that place are always good for suggesting some new act to check out and have told us about Jackson and his Computer Band and Chris Clark recently.

What question do you get most often as a band that you hate answering?

Paul: We usually avoid ‘favourite colour? favourite food?’ type interviews like the plague. With that in mind thanks for the interesting questions.

You spoke too soon... Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

Richie: We are constantly trying to buy new keyboards,drum machines and equipment so the sound or piece of equipment we most like is whatever we have yet to buy/can’t afford.

The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you each head immediately towards?

Richie: Dvd section for some Brass Eye or Jam. Dance music section for a fabric compilation, some of the recent mixes by Ellen Allien and Diplo were great.

What is the last notable daydream you guys had and where did it take place?

Not sure.

What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

Paul: I suppose Loveless comes close. As does Mezzanine.
Richie:Not sure but think Bjork-Vespertine is close.

Do you keep up with blogs? Which if so?

Richie: Yeah i religiously check out an irish music blog which can be found at www.nialler9.com/blog

Interversity: Chris Connelly

Multi-dimensional singer/songwriter Chris Connelly is the concentration of this week's Interversity. After gaining recognition as an integral member of the late 80s/early 90s industrial scene (Ministry, KMFDM, Pigface, Revolting Cocks, Murder, Inc.), the Chicago-based Scot turned to more intimate recordings culminating in the acoustically dense and hypnotically plodding