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lucindarobinsonvevo · 4 years

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This week, a record made and released by close collaborators Eerie, Indiana and Heart on a Chain received a re-release with a deluxe edition to celebrate its 20th birthday

Though the front cover of Marshall’s Theory of Believably, the joint album by bands Eerie, Indiana and Heart on a Chain names only those two bands, the project was a collaboration between all the members of the Indiana seven. The Indiana Seven were a close group of collaborators who had a close working relationship in the 90s, creating iconic tracks and albums. The cover, which depicts a lone man in a ghost costume was shot by Sara Sue, an artist/photographer who shot most of the Eerie, Indiana’s album covers, and a track labeled ‘we gave this track to Tod’ features the enigmatic artist known as Tod, who also helped on the band’s delayed record Broken Record. The album art is different from the works of both bands, with Eerie, Indiana frequently having a sort of DIY feel to their photoshoots and Heart on a Chain tending to the more abstract kind. These particular photos (remastered for the deluxe edition) depict various band members in the dessert wearing a sheet over their heads with large black eye holes. The cover is Holmes, peering from behind a large unlit bonfire at the viewer. The title is written in the handwriting of Janet Donner, who also features as the figure on the CD itself. Teller features on the back of the album, and the back page of the liner notes, waving goodbye. Inside the liner, there are images of X, with Monroe being absent, apparently due to having a broken leg at the time of the shoot following an incident at a waterpark.

The album features twelve tracks, with many of them focusing on the idea of cryptids and other mysterious entities to make up the metaphors of the song. On the idea for the Album, Donner said: We wanted to talk about love as we knew it. This broad, mysterious concept that so many people in their twenties make love out to be.” On what she thinks of love now, Donner then remarked: Love is being glad the world hasn’t ended yet. I’ll leave you to make of that what you will. On the album, both X and Teller have cited the other as an inspiration behind the tracks, which will not come as a surprise to anyone who frequently listens to Eerie, Indiana as the pairs sometimes tumultuous relationship is often at the center of the most controversial and interesting projects done by the band. But this album is, more than anything else, a happy one.

The first single released from this album was the track ‘Sometimes I Almost Miss You’ in the one-two punch style of Eerie, Indiana the track is titled like a break-up but is a love song. Over an energetic guitar track and drum machine, Monroe sings about the heart transplant she’d had some years before and how she believes that she can still feel the donor even though he’s (according to the lyrics) long gone and sweetly resting. The track is careful to avoid any religious implications, instead suggesting that the donor (who has since been identified as Devon Wilde) instead rests inside her chest. With X on the guitar and Holmes on the drum machine and (of all things) the triangle, Teller is free to singe verses from the perspective of the heart donor, viewing the world from inside Monroe’s chest while Donner provides very beautiful backing harmonies. The overall mood of the track is one of quiet love and happiness, as well as gratefulness to the young boy who gave her the second chance. Those familiar with the work of Heart on a Chain know that the transplant features heavily in their songs and it’s no surprise to see it here.

The second track released in the work was ‘Me and My Jackalope’ and fueled rumors about a relationship between Teller and his bandmate, Dash X. At the time, both were closeted at the request of the label to avoid scandal. “Being in the closest literally almost killed me.” Teller would reflect later, interviewing for a project he did, releasing tracks for an LGBT themed album in the 2000s.”The funny thing is, I don’t think anyone who listened to us gave a damn. We’d go on stage, and we used to stand so close our knuckles were almost touching getting up in each other’s face and people would just go crazy.” Me and My Jackalope is, as you may have guessed, a song about impossible love. A love that the singer, in this case, mostly Teller, keeps hidden under his bed, only bringing it out to play when he’s alone. It’s a slow, sad track with Teller crooning to his animal “If they saw you, then they’d send you away.” Both Holmes and Monroe are credited as writers on the track, with the usual Eerie, Indiana flavor of complicated guitar playing set aside in favor of Donner and a violin and Holmes playing an assortment of other instruments.

The third and final promotional single was meant to be Skylines, which lyrics from are also featured on the inside booklet of the album however at the last minute it was swapped out to the Meatloaf cover in the center of the album, Midnight at the Lost and Found due to ‘label meddling’ after it was decided they needed another upbeat track after Me and my Jackalope. The track is nothing special, a seemingly typical Eerie, Indiana cover. Eerie, Indiana frequently covered Meatloaf and Jim Stienman tracks, hoping to work with one or the other someday. Sadly, this collaboration never came to be. But it’s a fun song, much like the original version from the 1983 album by Meatloaf. Somewhat of a deep cut by today’s standards, but it’s fun. Which I think was probably the mission statement of this album if Dash X is to be believed (Yes, that’s his stage name, no I do not know his real name). ‘We were a bunch of 20 something friends given a studio and a year or two to do whatever we wanted. So we did whatever we wanted, which was being weird.’

Skylines and it’s reprise is a group effort, with every member of the group joining in with the writing process to produce something that could have gone astray but managed to come together into something coherent. Skylines covers the re-treaded ground of many bands, it’s a song set about missing people while on tour. Set against New York’s bright, iconic skyline the track is mostly led by Donner as she wonders what her lover is doing right now. Her lover, played by Teller wonders about if his lover will stay in New York, swept up by the bright skylines, and pleading for them to simply be theirs. The track has backing vocals from all of the members involved, including Holmes who mostly shies away from singing parts. ‘It’s not that I don’t love to sing.” He explains, “I’m just not very good at it. Marshall was always the singer, I’m much happier playing the drums, or a cello or something.”

The final track on the album, clocking in at nine minutes, is Cryptids (I Still Believe in You and Me). This track shows off the impressive guitar skills of Teller and X, this time paired with the violin playing from Donner who shows she can keep up with the boys by playing speedy, intense sections with precision. This Dash X penned track also has extensive work by Holmes on the drums and a solo from a very jazz saxophone in the third act. Ultimately, the song doesn’t quite come together, feeling disjointed and a little over-complicated. But...Maybe that’s how it’s meant to feel. Dash was never brought into Eerie, Indiana as a writer, he was brought on to foil with Marshall on stage and because he was the only person the label could find that could play the punishingly difficult riffs Teller produces. On his Instagram speaking about pride X has suggested that a lot of his music was changed during production because it was too overtly about men, while Donner and Teller both proficiently changed pronouns in there songs, or stuck to calling their love interests you.

The album has three tracks that feel like filler, the intermission track which is not unusual on the cinematic, large scale Eerie, Indiana albums, a seemingly ‘story’ track called ‘Lost in Time’ which is a piece of Holmes poetry performed by Donner and an odd little track called ‘We Gave This One To Tod’ While the enigmatic Tod was often credited on Eerie, Indiana albums and opened for them at live shows he never quite reached the level of recognition his peers did. However, seeing the bizarre and experimental nature of his work, and his goth and punk leanings I think it’s safe to assume he was happier underground than his friends were blinded by the lights of showbiz. This piece features heavy synths and a drum machine. It doesn’t hit for me, but perhaps for a fan of Tod, it could be a holy grail.

On this version of the album, known as the deluxe edition, we’re given three additional tracks. A demo version of Elvis and the Mothman, which is lyrically the same slowed all the way down with the shouting chorus replaced with a mouth against the mic crooner style. The released, upbeat anthem style track is a far better fit for the album. Baba Yaga in Heels is a Heart on a Chain only track, perhaps why it was discarded. It features a techno style dance beat, with the lyrics being about a night out with Baba Yaga, a Banshee, and a harpy. Ultimately, the lyrics are not that impactful but they don’t need to be. The final listed track is a cover of Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell, which lyrically and sonically is almost identical to the original.

Overall, what Marshall’s theory of Believability tries to do is ambitious. It’s an album between two experiential groups of friends trying to make something that they enjoy. But it’s not the best work of either group, which is a shame because it could have been something very special if they were given a little more time to work out some of the kinks and if they pruned some of the tracks that are superfluous to the story of the album. I’m happy to have a copy in my collection, but honestly, I’d rather listen to something the group produced independently anyway.

#eerie indiana #mitziedits #(eerie indiana as albums cinematic universe)

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totallyvain · 5 years

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Vanity Hour with Carlos Vara: Handling the Seasons of Life

Hometown: Lexington, South Carolina

Sounds like: Your next favorite pop bop

WORDS BY: THANIA GARCIA

In American culture, the search for independence comes at the age of 18. For Carlos Vara, this was exceptionally true. At 18, Vara moved to Nashville in search of a life separate from the emotional cuff to his father who had previously owned nightclubs but had abruptly found religion in the small town of Lexington in South Carolina. This along with the struggle of being closeted in a small town naturally pushed Vara to search for newness in a city rich of musical history.

At 21, Vara has somewhat of a grasp on his day to day life. Bouncing back from Nashville to Los Angeles, Vara has completed his anticipated October 4th release of “Have You Ever Seen a Boy Break Down” - an EP meant to encapsulate his past few years bouncing from season to season in the versatile chapters of his life.

“When I was a teenager on X-Factor I thought I was going to be…well I loved songwriting and I loved singing, but I didn’t necessarily know who I was at the time. I was in the closet in the suburbs and I was growing up as a preacher’s kid so there was that phase. Then there was the phase of me moving to Nashville at 18 and coming out and discovering myself and exploring the boundaries of my mind and challenging myself and my ideas… I think that phase of my life lead to the music I made at that time and now I’m in a completely separate phase…what I create now are journal entries of specific eras of my life.”

In my interview with Vara, a clear conflict arises - a conflict found in the lyricism of his past couple releases. Vara shares, “I do have experiences where I’m like out and I’m like ‘Am I this person?’…because as I said I’ve gone through so many different stages in my life.”

Listen to “Confident,” Vara’s February 2019 release and you will fully understand this divide - a truly personal and internal divide.

Vara says, “The people who knew me at 18 would think I’m this quiet shy person. It’s like imposter syndrome for yourself it’s almost like you don’t think you have the right to be this brand new version of yourself. I feel it especially because I’ve been through so many extremes but I think now I’m in a stage where I’m like ‘why can’t I just embrace every single emotion?’ ‘why can’t I just live through these phases’ they are the best parts of life and it’s freeing to be what you want to be whenever you want to be.”

—————————————————————————————

Totally Vain: Your life has had clear chapters from your upbringing in North Carolina, to the X-Factor, to your time in Nashville and LA. When you look back at these past few years, how do you compare your artistic vision from then to now?

Carlos: “It’s interesting you say that because it is so true… I think …well actually I was talking about this yesterday when I was stoned with my friends that I feel like I’ve lived distinct phases of my life. I think through the process of growing up, my artistic vision and the way I think has changed. My music is always changing, depending on how my environment changes..because it stays so true to that. To me, my writing is based off my reality at the time, I will always be satisfied with it because I make music to be able to express myself and to be able to purge”

TV: Your environments have all had very distinct setbacks and advantages, how have they affected you in relation to the music industry?

Carlos: “I remember being a kid and watching TV and award shows and listening to music in the car…I knew I had a passion for music but being in South Carolina meant I didn’t have an uncle who was an executive, or any relation to the industry itself. I didn’t see anyone who had come out of South Carolina, all I saw was people coming from New York or Los Angeles so I just never had that hope. Senior year of high school I moved to Nashville by myself and finished graduating online. I was working restaurant jobs. I worked so many restaurants from 18 until last year before I got signed. I think that moving to Nashville was the first time in my life when I felt like I had some possibility to make it. Thank God for Instagram and Spotify and Apple music. I think that really became a way for me to connect to people who appreciate music the same way I do and connect to artists as far as co-writes. Especially in Nashville since it is a songwriting community, it definitely helped when it came to writing. Moving there was the first time I was able to discover who I am as an artist and figure myself out, retain my thoughts and grow up and figure out what I believe and have the opportunity to collaborate with people around me.”

TV: An overarching idea in your releases is confidence, both the reaction to confidence and personal self-confidence, from where do you think that idea stems from? And what kind of conflicts or internal struggles do you still have?

Carlos: “My friends know me as a very extreme person meaning I truly feel every emotion I have. I’m either going fucking crazy at a party or I’m like I want to go home. There is no in-between. I feel like for me since I am so emotional, I tend to feel it all at once and songwriting allowed me to be able to go home at 2 A.M. and smoke and just sit at the piano and play whatever is on my mind. I think it’s a way of me being able to work through any struggles I may have and for me to fully comprehend those emotions and see it as a full picture…for instance, I am extroverted but I’m sensitive and insecure so those feelings are both there at the same time. I mean it. I’ll be at a party being the loudest one there and thinking everyone hates me so it’s like I think that when I write, I want to be able to capture what that feels like. When I wrote “Confident,” I was in LA for the summer and it was my first time being out here for a super extended period of time and I had just turned 21 so I was able to get into all the gay clubs and it was exciting but it was stressful. I wanted to appear like I was cool and kept up with everyone but I just remember going to a club and being like shwasted and like going home and crying in the Uber. I’m just out here pretending to be confident and I was mad at myself and angry at myself for faking confidence and I went home and wrote a few lines for “Confident.” I think from an outside perspective people think I’m this super confident boisterous person and I guess I am but internally it’s rooted to a lot of sadness because I am freaking out inside.”

TV: Who were the artists who spoke to you the most growing up and what did you pull from in their work that you apply to your own?

Carlos: “I think of it in phases. My mom had me when she was 21 so at that time my mom only listened to pop radio and like Christina and Britney, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston all these pop vocals and also my parents owned nightclubs so I was always surrounded by an energetic musical atmosphere. Around age seven, my parents became more religious and my dad became a pastor we went to a church with a big African American community so they were soulful in their gospel and that’s when I allowed myself to become more emotional with my music and I wanted to create to provoke emotion. When I was 16/17, I went online and I discovered the things I wouldn’t normally have access to like the Beatles and the Beach Boys and Queen and Freddie. Those three eras, have all formed me today. I don’t know if I have one specific source of inspiration but it was a melting pot for sure.”

TV: As you’ve been coming to find an artistic persona, what have you found your overarching message to be?

Carlos: “I want to always be real to myself as an artist. Growing up I was always the weird kid and I never felt that I had someone I could relate to. Now I feel I’ve been blessed to have been able to reach out to kids that feel that same way I felt and I want to make music whether it be a fast fun bop or an emotional ballad, I want the music to be passionate and dramatic and I want to be a part of the world in that way, I want to create. It’s a spiritual thing, it comes out and I know how it makes me feel and I hope that when other people hear my EP, I want them to be able to feel that emotion and have a small escape or a meaningful feeling.”

TV: Can you give me a little breakdown on what kind of lyricism and sounds we can expect from your upcoming EP?

Carlos: “The cool thing about this EP is I was able to create both in Nashville and in Los Angeles. Living in Nashville, it is very much a lyric community and in Los Angeles, there is more of an emphasis on melodies, so it’s been cool and inspiring to have access to both. For me, this EP embodies real lyricism and dramatic melodies. It’s a real and vulnerable introduction to who I am and what these past 3 years of my life have been like.”

#carlos vara #music #musicblog #blogger #onedirection #pop #popmusic #musicnews #news #Music Journalism #new #Billie Eilish #look #upandcomingphotographer #upandcoming #indie #blog #bloglife #vanityhour

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kittywildegrrl · 5 years

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MAMA CAT AND THE CRAZY IDEA

In Which Mama Cat Decides to Commit A Revolutionary Act of Theatre for All to See.

“I've been reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine. So men say that I'm intense or I'm insane. You want a revolution? I want a revelation So listen to my declaration: "We hold these truths to be self-evident That all men are created equal" And when I meet Thomas Jefferson, I'm ‘a compel him to include women in the sequel! (Work!)” -- Hamilton, The Schuyler Sisters

You’ve got to understand, darlings, I just got passed over for the one huge leading-lady role I have been longing for -- nay, READY FOR -- lo these many years, and I am in A Mood.

You should also know that I like to watch the movie, “1776,” every year on this date – most years, anyway – and it rather gets to me. Partly, because it’s just really good, and it seems to become more timely each year. Partly, because I have always wanted to do the show, but I’m neither a Martha Jefferson nor an Abigail Adams.

I’m John Adams.

These are troubled times, my loves, you don’t need me to tell you that. And I for one am feeling the patriotic urge, the call to action, more and more each day; personally and professionally. I am an unlikely candidate to run for office or reinforce barricades, come to that. But there is one thing I can do that might have an impact in some tiny corner: I can sing the shit out of that John Adams music, like it was written for me; and I can act it, too. (So is that one thing? Or two?)

Like many girls and women for many years, I have been wanting to do the show and asking why? Why not? There is precedent: https://www.mtishows.com/news/all-female-cast-of-1776-revisited.

I began to speculate on the Social, just to get it out of my system. Perhaps not surprisingly, I have since had friends, acquaintances, and women members of the theatre community nationwide, who I do not even know IRL, coming out of the metaphorical woodwork in support – many of them volunteering to play certain roles! I have touched a nerve, seemingly. I have at least two Jeffersons now, and at least one of them has asked to be considered for another Founder as well; as if to anticipate that there are going to be an awful lot of women who are into this. And they’re pros, cats & kittens. I have professional colleagues, both the onstage variety and the offstage variety, coming forward to offer their services. For a production that does not yet exist, at a venue we do not have, on a budget that is not extant.

So today I declare this:

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for artists to conceive and mount their own stuff just to get it on the stage already;

And when in the course of the run-up to the 2020 elections we find some really strong women rising up to declare themselves, and to prove themselves electable;

And when in the course of still trying to prove, after 243 years, that all Persons are created Equal and Free and some of them are inexplicably endowed with theatre chops; I will stand up in my own little corner and begin to write my business plan.

In the past several years I have met, worked with, and seen work done by, women directors, actors, dancers, stage managers, lighting designers, sound designers, stage technicians of all varieties, music directors, pit musicians, casting directors, agents, and independent producers. Many of them, truly and amazingly good. All of them, my colleagues at some level or to some extent, even at the vaguest and most tenuous association. And while I have huge love for all my cis-men in the business, I beg their understanding that this is absolutely NOT a fuck-you to them. It is a Thingy we wish to do. We welcome your ticket money, and your support for our seemingly foolhardy mission. To the men in drag who have done Auntie Mame, the Golden Girls, or whatever expresses your art and craft best, we likewise have huge love for you, and this is absolutely NOT a fuck-you to you, either.

This is not a fuck-you to anyone. It is a blatant act of theatre. With joy and groove and professionalism.

Perhaps it’s a response to, a Yes-And for, that moment when we saw Ali Stroker make history as the first actor in a wheelchair to win a Tony Award. Maybe I’m feeling personally reactionary in the wake of a disappointment that gut-punched me a few days ago. Or maybe I’ve actually completely taken leave of my senses since that awesome break I told you I had in May (yeah, yeah, we’ll get to that, it’s a great story). Or maybe MamaCat is just really vain and she can’t tell because she has the temerity to use the third person in reference to herself in her blog. Whatevah.

But I make the case that we can, and perhaps should, have ourselves a production of #AllFemale1776In2020, with every person on the stage, in the pit, in the booth, on headset; every man Jack of us, women. Trans sisters welcome.

Oh, there will be negativity. There will be disbelief and anger. Probably haters too. And as I have inadvertently gathered almost an entire cast already, I see that the flaming arrogance of the thing is that I will no doubt be talking Creative Control or directing it myself or some equally unlikely scenario. And wouldn’t that be just like John Adams? If you’re a woman who has directed this before and would be willing to entertain my Ladies’ Volunteer Army of Talent, reach out.

But remember how I was telling you about my friend Shannon? And how I sleep on her & her husband’s couch when in the City? We started tossing this idea around a while back. How I’d love to take a crack at Adams & she’d be the perfect Ben Franklin… and there IS precedent. The thing CAN be done.

So, we may be talking some little black box somewhere with one piano and a staged reading. Or maybe some kindly theatrical company with whom myself or Ms. Haddock have worked will offer a legit slot in a season. I don’t think you’d have to be a woman to be the Artistic Director who takes a chance on us. Or perhaps I risk defeat entirely. But today, on Independence Day, I say this thing: I want to play John Adams, and I have almost everyone you need, including Ben Franklin, the Courier, and others (a potential Lee or Rutledge who will knock yer eyes out whichever role she does), and we need to do this thing. #AllFemale1776In2020.

What if you were to inadvertently STEAL this idea? And there were TWO OR MORE productions of an #AllFemale1776In2020 springing to life? What if you just up and STEAL THIS IDEA, O my sisters??😉👍🎭✌💙

Happy Independence Day, darlings.

#AllFemale1776In2020 MakeTheatre MusicalTheatre actorslife

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breakingmllc · 4 years

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Sign our grandson grandson because there’s got to be between them who had the Osprey directly air all he wanted to meet in walking around on the James issuesand is hoping it’s my wee smalland little Rudy but I hear a Crazy Yorkshire Terrier Lady 2020 Quarantined Toilet Paper Mask Covid 19 T Shirt man is what you know about regular dummies like Walter still that way when a new pair shoes on the sidewalkand scratched 11 credit because everyone is allowed to see the bottom of the dishes so makes you look like 130 we just know how to how that free flying California on how the SI present to try syrup I was 1927 that you named earlier we named him to make sure that that legally the name is okay to be registering it so for all countriesand has successfully merchandiseand actually write everything like that it’s amazing how crazy with laws now in ceilingand all that how I you just have to be carefuland make sure you get it all right or somebody said we want to peanut is the phone real was 43 no not really speaking you know may be able to be on the phone rang the case my daughter’s phone registered for starter happy in case you take apartand take your life in your handsand reinstall itand I did that after missing a part of the actual face of the cases glass my tribe uses the pain case for them in my the hole in itand I forgot glassand glass broken back so their zeal pink iPhoneand instead I took her case on itand that your caseand fill it with the Styrofoam start heating to make it lightand took clear plastic improvement over the phone in the backand then I took a screenshotand printed itand put it in there like the you know the reason is why why would I do that is the real iPhone anywayand one reason only way way his arms outstretched like this I went stress like thatand you will be lightweightand wagerand see now a are made down Elm through its epoxy resin but in my long phone on please this with off the screen is for second to show something that you’re still going to sell the speaker the folks we had so much fake merchandise out there is anand that handful of companies that are profiting women hiding these fake merchandise guides for years almost a decade nowand there was one or two in particular that were were just awful they would steal my images they can take my pictures off of the website they would take the images by Tom Richmondand copy themand then use them verbatim or they would just adjust the artwork I would say it was mine any photos of meand put on a body sellers merchandise when he finally when I find time in a static amount Cove in 19 merchandiseand profiting off of his pandemic I said not to do that so we found a huge lawsuitand I is unbelievable how expensive these things get quicklyand I just decided I got to go after these guys is not very good almost every artist that you can think of the time the rock band or country artist out there are a harness for that matter any notoriety to their their stuff stolenand that were abusedand then with their images or their name so we say one of the answer will be posted online I want to go got the screen wa Here are closeand so here we are so this is the fake merchandise thing that we have put out thereand see if anybody can sign up this Kirov is greatand anyway but I just wish others to rebut internal humor in Canada so this right here is what we been sending out that it’s all fake that is real it’s all fakeand these guys still listen toand one particular guy in a huge huge huge business is like whack a mole but if you see a merchandise like this fear that we set up an email that we haven’t done that yet but please let us know is when you get all this we probably will yet so in guarding the deadline know what was going to the article on your comedian your twitter your grandand for all to see me picture holding something with merchandise never posted a merchandise for you will never at least until further notice you will never see me holding something of my mind merchandise to tryand sell it ever from my website or if it’s not from my story Amazon it’s fake on any of our whack a mole in these guys going after every single one of them not just to were born after all them so I literally the week down our guys that report to the lawyersand take them 2000 different pieces of merchandise weekand I were suing these folks for as much as possibleand good portion of those proceeds areand to donate to Cove in 19 charities so that had pastors you I think here skillful screen will just be meand a murder email reporting also government itself Murch Jeff Dunham. 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The law no matter where you are taking it is frightening groundbreaking trail on time inside for the ordinary tour in his life as it kind of lie is live as long America’s number one live stream live stream will the nurses health care professionals first responders everyone in our supermarkets pharmacies gas stations running thank you for all the essential workers all that do you think you every challenge concern every day every day because we get through this together black and orange tiger for the whole story worker as part of Chicago during the Chicago being with for the neighborhood in Chicago real concern for your community wildlife will See Other related products: unicorn shirts and shirt

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theteenagetrickster · 5 years

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A Candid Conversation With K. Michelle - Rated R&B

K. Michelle has made a career out of walking in her truth. Her delivery might be off-putting to some, but her unfiltered commentary is all from a sincere place. For instance, the misunderstood singer doesn’t mind offering real guidance to the fresh voices in today’s R&B era; but she’s no yes-man, though.

“I think when it comes to the new people you have to support,” K. Michelle candidly tells Rated R&B. “I want to offer all the support so that they don’t make the same mistakes I made because I made a lot of them. But, I’m not going to offer no fake shit. If I don’t like it, I don’t like it.”

It’s a chilly Monday afternoon in mid-January and the Memphis native is running a few minutes behind for our call. It’s a heavy day of phone interviews for the R&B star. The calls are special, though. They are in support of her latest album All Monsters Are Human, which is available everywhere.

K. Michelle’s team heads the call and invites the woman of the hour to kick off the eagerly-anticipated conversation. She is in great spirits from the chirpy tone of her voice and is seemingly eager to talk about her latest work before she makes a run to Target.

But first, before the new album discussion, it was only right to congratulate her on making the list — Rated R&B’s 50 Best R&B Albums of the 2010s list, of course.

Her sophomore album, , made our unranked albums list ahead of the New Year. Considered by many as her finest album, K. Michelle is equally as smitten as the critics, five years after its breakthrough release.

“That album was amazing,” she confidently says. “I’m not saying that because it’s mine. I listen to it still and be like, ‘Girl, this is good’.”

The emotive singer-songwriter is hoping for a similar reaction with All Monsters Are Human. Truth be told, her fifth studio release, the follow-up to 2017’s , felt like it wasn’t going to be put out. Most of the slow starts for the All Monsters Are Human release, which she first hinted for a September 2018 arrival, were attributed to her serious health battle after multiple surgeries to remove her butt enhancements.

In a fight for her life, completing an album was the last thing on her mind. Clawing her way out from this time that could have proved fatal and a mountain of other somber moments that almost delayed AMAH wasn’t easy, but she made it through. How did she get past it? She went into the studio and recorded music that her loyal Rebels would instantly love.

Now, she’s back with tons of new music — including a new mixtape () and a proper full-length album. The latter collection, however, is the first independent studio effort released through her imprint Chase Landin, LLC d/b/a No Color No Sound Records.

All Monsters Are Human includes her street single “Supahood” featuring Kash Doll and Yung Miami of the City Girls. It also includes her blazing single “The Rain.” Produced by Cory Mo and Jazze Pha, the New Edition-sampling hit has infiltrated the top 10 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.

The dripping ode is now the highest-charting single of her career on this chart, with “Make This Song Cry” and “V.S.O.P.” both peaking at No. 13, respectively.

In our conversation with K. Michelle, the R&B powerhouse talks All Monsters Are Human, evolving as an artist, fighting to record a country album, her thoughts on musicianship in today’s R&B and much more.

All Monsters Are Human is the title of your first release since parting ways with Atlantic Records, who backed your four previous albums. At one point in your career, you mentioned the label allowed you creative control. But, on the new album’s opener “Just Like Jay,” you said they wanted you to follow the Mary J. Blige blueprint. When did it hit you that having your own music identity was no longer a priority for the label?

It was never a priority. I still love my label. We’re still in good standings. I never picked a single. I was able to do my albums but when it came down to the country album, it always had to be pushed off. The crossover records had to be pushed off the album. There was no room and they didn’t fit. So, me being kind of naive as an artist, I was always told the next album is the time.

On one album I was told, ‘This record is too big for [you]’ to my face. So, after this last time, I realized they’re never going to let me do this. I did a whole country album. The last album was supposed to be that. They would not let me turn it in after they spent money on me recording it. They were just saving face. So I realized that as long as I was there, they were going to fight for me to be the next Mary J. Blige. Nothing is wrong with Mary J. Blige (she’s one of my favorite artists of all time) but at some point you want your own identity to be who you are.

Each of your predecessors showcases a nice variety of your diverse artistry, which doesn’t always translate into a bonafide radio hit. As an artist who has been committed to never chasing the charts and only the hearts, how do you feel being celebrated more for the overall album than its true singles?

That’s fine with me. I’m always celebrated for my overall work. It’s supposed to be a masterpiece. That’s what I did learn from R. Kelly. One thing he said to me that I always will remember is, “Just because the record isn’t a radio record doesn’t mean it’s not a hit.” That’s because the amount of money is not being paid. Just because you didn’t buy your Grammy, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve one. I don’t play the politics of the industry. If I was to sell out and play into the politics of the industry, I don’t think my fans would appreciate it as much.

I think people that love me are rebellious. We’re in our own world where all we do is listen to music. We don’t deal with the rest of the stuff. I don’t like red carpets. I do get invited to the awards, you know what I’m saying? I didn’t get invited to the Billboard Awards even though they made me the top five R&B artists [that year]. It’s crazy, right? This whole shuck and jive, cooning out game is one big, fake coonery that I’m just not apart of and never have been. I know who I’m willing to be and who I’m willing to sleep with and not. I know what’s going on.

Something that noticeably stood out after listening to All Monsters Are Human is that many songs sound slightly more radio-friendly than your previous albums.

You think so?

Yeah. There were a few songs that repeated a lot, like “OMG,” that had a certain radio appeal. So, what was your mind frame sonically while recording this album?

Everywhere. I was kind of up some days and down others. [This album] has a lighter sound. I wanted to lean into lighter songs because I was trying to be in a lighter place and not feel as heavy on a lot of the songs that made the album. I was heavy for two years sick. When I got in the booth this time, I was happy to be back in there and I didn’t want to be that heavy. I recorded a lot in different booths and different fashions but the songs that made the album seemed to me like the days weren’t so heavy.

At one point you mentioned that “Save Me” was a pre-album single. However, it didn’t make the final cut on AMAH. Why?

“Save Me” was something I was going through with my boyfriend at that time. It’s still on iTunes, so fans still can get it. I’m going to do that through the year, too. I’m going to just give out songs throughout the year on iTunes. I’m going to just start getting with these producers and say, “Hey. Let’s just put out these songs throughout the month and start rolling them out.” I don’t do that but I have too many records just sitting.

You seem to always be inspired musically by different entertainers and their public stories, from Drake to Kim Kardashian and now Ciara. How did you decide a record like “Ciara’s Prayer” needed to take creative shape?

Because I just say it all the time and I always write about life. So, I wondered, “Was her karma that good? How did she get that man? (laughs).” I want to know if there are any other men like that. If so, where do they live? I want to know (laughs).

Now that “The Rain” has proved a hit, what song are you considering for the follow-up?

Well, you know radio can take longer. I’ve had to break it down to my fans that “[The] Rain” is still brand new at radio, and it’s still moving. So, I’ll probably sit with “[The] Rain” for some more months before anything else happens. R&B records can take up to nine months to get even midpoint. I’m just hearing “[The] Rain” for myself on the radio. Stations are still adding the record. It’s a hit record and it’s moving. But after “[The] Rain” is finished, I’m probably going to go to a record called “That Game.”

I know the fan favorites. I put up “[The] Rain” and the number of views on YouTube from them ripping it from our [Instagram] live was so crazy that it had to be a single. “That Game” is the same way. It’s on YouTube ripped from [Instagram] live and they’re begging for that. So, I might do that. I know Moneybagg Yo gets on that record next week. I’m going to start getting some rappers and do some remixes of the album just for fun. So, once you guys learn that album, I’ll put out in like 2-3 weeks some remixes probably with some of my favorite rappers. I’ll put those out for free and fun. Music doesn’t always have to cost a lot of money.

Up early listening to new R&B artist and this is the best way to fall asleep, this shit has no soul and it boring. It plays like one big lullaby. I’m so confused by it

— K. Michelle (@kmichelle) January 8, 2020

R&B seems to be the genre that is the most guarded by its conservatives. Often times, there are conversations about the absence of traditional R&B elements like pure vocals and soul in the modern R&B era. You even described the evolving sound like a “one big lullaby.” How do you and other seasoned acts believe newcomers should express their form of art if it’s being asked to be boxed in traditional R&B mode?

See, I don’t speak for other artists unlike Tank, who hopped in on some shit that didn’t have shit to do with him. He was the same one losing his mind when Jacquees said he was the king of R&B. Now you want to comment behind me when I said it’s one big lullaby? Stay over there, General. Stay in your lane.

It does all sound like one big fucking lullaby. What you want me to do, lie? There’s no heart. There’s no soul. It’s a lot of great artists. I also said that in my tweet, which we like to overlook, and shouldn’t be overlooked in this article. I said that they’re some great artists and songs, but the bodies of work are lacking. I believe in bodies of work, as you can tell from my body of work. So there are artists that I absolutely love that are new R&B artists.

I will never say the baby’s name or disrespect them or anyone but I was listening to a group of different R&B artists that morning. I was literally falling asleep. There was no umph. I popped in Ari Lennox and I was excited. You are supposed to be excited. I listened to other artists and I wasn’t excited. That’s my right as an artist. I’m minding the business that pays me.

She is phenomenal and one of my favorites, I think people just always want to vilify me. I don’t have to love everything I hear. But Mrs.Ari excites me not one bit of boring. https://t.co/uZymxcoUtg

— K. Michelle (@kmichelle) January 9, 2020

I wish it would just get back to the music…to just the singing and writing. You don’t get but three minutes and thirty seconds to paint a picture and to tell a movie. Where are the bridges? We don’t do bridges no more? That’s when you really break it down. That’s when the music really feels good to you and touches your soul. If you’re an artist and you can’t make a musical bridge, then you ain’t no artist.

So, that’s all I’m asking. I’m even challenging myself to step up. All this talk about country music and you never put it out. I’m challenging myself. I’m challenging every artist out there to give your fans something that they paid for. Give them something that’s going to make their day better — not just something that’s going to make your pockets bigger.

Speaking on your highly-anticipated country album, how are you hoping to break the color line in a controlled genre where you don’t see many artists that look like you?

This is me just having to fight. There is no way you can plan this. This is something you’re going to have to get in there and fight for. I’m going to do what it is that I need to do, which is make great music. That’s all I can do. I’m very excited about this because country artists are reaching out to me. I received a call from Billy Ray Cyrus, who is really supportive. So, I’m going to work this R&B album and make people hear every single song on this album.

Once people hear this album, I’m about to do something different with this country album. I promise you. It’s time. You’re not ready for what’s about to happen. If you think I’m good on my other albums [singing country], wait until you hear my voice and where it’s supposed to be. I had to sneak those songs in there on other albums, sir (laughs). But I’m finna to walk into it and I’m going to fight like never before. I need my people to have my back instead of fighting against me all the time. I’m fin’ to take on a whole nother situation and I need my people.

How does one have a natural progression as an artist? Also, where do you see your artistry evolving in the next decade?

I think a natural progression is just that — natural. You can say where you want to go, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to go there. For me, my progression has always been growth. It’s just been all about me growing to be better while challenging myself in the weaknesses that I have in my craft. I’m a lyric girl over a melody girl. I like to make sure that my lyrics are detailed and that someone can really relate to them. My melodies sometimes can be repetitive, which I know is one of my weaknesses as an artist.

I see myself moving into this country album after this album. I’m going to sit in that a while and fight for that so it can be easier for some other women that are my color.

As a musician, who has tight songwriting skills and a sonically sound ear, are there any rising and established artists you’d like to write or collaborate with on the production side in the future?

I really want to work with Dolly Parton. That’s really it. I really love her.

Stream All Monsters Are Human by K. Michelle below.

This content was originally published here.

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theparaminds · 5 years

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For Yuki, this is the shifting moment. This is the moment where the gear teeth align in his favor. It comes after the passing wave of his 18th birthday, a time of solidified adulthood, as well as after an enlighting collaborative experience. In many ways, you could say he’s beaten the final boss to the video game that was his adolescence. But then again, most successful games have a sequel.

Being a New Zealand based producer, it was quite the culture shock to be called towards Los Angeles to work with Jaden on his new album ERYS. He admits it being a slight drowning sensation, one where he could’ve gone under at any moment. His few moments with his head above water were life-altering, no doubt, but it was still a deep end without an eventual bottom.

But he survived. He swam. He succeeded.

And thus he stands now 18 and fearless. If someone else’s deep end cannot swallow him, then his own never will. He stands upon the horizon of a new album, one that explores the sinking sensation, but also the beauty within our head emerging periodically to smell the air of enlightenment.

And while he would’ve never told himself to do so, he is encouraging all to jump into their own deep ends, whatever it may be. He only does so because he knows that we will learn to swim before we drown. He knows we can break our environmental and mental shackles. He knows we can all be free.

Our first question as always, how’s your day going and how have you been lately?

My day today has been uneventful in a good way. Right now I’m very busy but very stagnant. There's a lot going on in preparation for big things but I feel like I’m not moving at all. It’s the busiest I've ever been while simultaneously having the most free time in my life.

And what does stagnation mean to you and what does it mean in your life currently?

The things I’m working towards aren’t within reach yet. I’m working towards a visa and it's a very slow process, I feel like all this crazy stuff is happening but it's not affecting my life directly right now. The great things aren't able to materialize yet.

What do you think, right now, is your most overwhelming and intense feeling within daily life? The one that hits most constantly.

If there was a couple, I’d say the feeling of being disconnected because I left LA and I feel left out from what's going on there. And a nervous excitement, a positive anxious feeling.

Do you feel emotionally whole within yourself or is there something you feel you're still looking for?

I think I'm pretty content with myself but I’m trying to be better at being me. I want to be able to learn to let things go and grow up. I’m in the last quarter of growing up. I feel I grew up very early and now I'm just learning all the little things, hence the album title. I honestly think once that’s done a lot will fall into place.

Well, let's talk about that album while you mention it. You’ve been working on it for a good minute now, but when did you realize you needed to start upon it and when did you feel it important to put yourself towards the turbulent process of an album?

When I went to LA I started working on an EP. I put a lot of my time into that over a few months and it didn't really stick with me so I scrapped it. I felt I hadn’t made a project in a long time so I was more excited to make music than ever. And especially working on ERYS was a whole other break of not being able to fully just do my work. So, I was bursting at the seams to express what I felt. It was the right time to focus on this project as I had so much to say. It is so draining to start an album because once you're in you can't stop unless you give up, which I hate doing.

Through the work what is that you needed to express and say and even currently what are you trying to externalize?

I think perspective is a big thing. I feel like all though this crazy stuff is happening a lot of it doesn't matter. I feel like a lot of artists feel very hopeless. Growing up is obviously a huge theme. Letting go of things and moving on from mistakes. Figuring out who you are. The album is pretty much just growing up, I think.

Let's compare honesty then, how much more honest do you feel is in this project more so than your last and do you think that's something you've gotten better at?

I think I'm definitely more honest in this project just due to being older. I got thrown in the deep end a bit with the whole LA thing. I think I was forced to adapt very quickly because I dropped out of school at 17 and then started living on my own in a whole new city with a new way of life. People drove on different sides of the road. People talked differently. I had to grow up to mentally survive. I feel like I’ve been the same mentally from 14 to 17, I’ve been the same since I became a teenager. But since becoming 18m and being an adult, it's the right time to express something completely new on this album.

Did you feel like 18 was a number that resonated with you as a sort of shifting moment in realizing this is the beginning of something more legitimate?

Definitely, I always used to say I wanted to be 17 forever because then if I kept getting better at music, I can be the gimmick artist who’s young and talented. But there's so much I don't know about life that I actually now want to grow up and learn about it. 18 was the moment that I can stop giving myself excuses about being immature and I can finally force myself to grow up. After years of finding yourself, 18 is a year where you can finally start to implement it to make your life the best it can be.

Well what does that implementation look like for you and what are the ways you've done so?

I think to make mistakes and coming back from them. Trying to move on and focus on myself more. I'm trying to take time out of my day to make me happy more and to not be focused on negative energy. I've learned that while music makes me so happy, I have to give myself the time to do nothing or watch a movie, collect magazines or buy some stupidly expensive candle.

Then is happiness what matters to you above all right now? Or is there another goal and milestone to grab as well?

Happiness and being sane through the ups and downs, no matter what’s thrown my way.

In your project right now, what are the technical changes you've made and the developments you’ve made into your sound and actual technical ability?

Going into the professional aspect of music with Jaden seriously opened my eyes up to new techniques and work ethics. I think I can flesh out my ideas ten times more than I could before. The production is better and my song ideas are better. This album is experimental, I fit so much into a song without making it feel crowded and it feels much longer as a song than the actual runtime. Pushing things sonically to where I'm overloaded but then refining it later. I feel I looked at this project like my Cherry Bomb, which is my favorite project, and asked myself how could I do my own “Cherry Bomb” album, relative to my discography. Taking the idea of going wherever I wanted but making it easy to listen to.

Well, the interesting thing with Cherry Bomb is that it’s an album where if you took all of Tyler's discography and laid it out in a line you can point at that as the shifting moment. So how do you feel you want everything to look after this shifting moment for you and what do you want it to lead towards?

I think there's a lot of music that sounds the same in the whole DIY bedroom artist scene and I feel like there's a stigma that comes with that. There’s the assumption that nobody has the resources to execute anything “professional” sounding or cleanly executed. so there's a stigma where it’s ok if it sounds like shit because it’s an independently released “bedroom pop” song. I want to make the cheapest but also the most luxurious album. I’m taking care to set up my mics and instruments properly, organize my files better and plan more. I’m also not mixing the album myself. Even just outsourcing work is something that a lot of independent musicians won’t do because they want to rep the “I did it all myself” title, shout outs to James Rim, my mentor, and engineer for this album, he’s so talented and amazing at overseeing things and being a huge enabler for me. . I want this to be a shift for me and others where we don't have to have a label budget but we can still push it to another level of musical expression. I want it to be a point where I’m serious about making the best music possible from my bedroom without the limitations.

You've been talking about growing up and youth but that's very familiar in the subgenres you're saying you want to break out of. Do you feel there are themes beyond those you want to touch on but maybe haven’t fully experienced yet?

I think I don't even know yet. I tend to talk about what's happened lately and it's an album about recent ideas like my stress from LA and social anxiety, but that I'll grow out of. I guess we'll just have to see. Every six months for me is a new phase.

Do you break your life into eras and phases?

100 percent, yes.

What’s this era called then?

The ‘be free’ era. All my friends are working towards their own projects and are stressed and happy and sad but we’re all very focused.

So what does it mean to be free to you, you've also called it in the past ‘being free like Paris Hilton’. What is that concept in your mind?

The ‘be free’ side is being the most stressed you've ever been and getting to the point of breakdown but then releasing something beautiful or having something happen in your life and to just move forward. And the Paris Hilton side of it comes from the second version of Nikes off Blonde where this rapper raps in Japanese and says be free like Paris Hilton. I interpreted it is that she's this figure that embodies Hollywood and has embraced it and loves the red carpet, but she talks about feeling lonely and lost and not having a purpose and that she's missing out.

It's almost like Jim Carey said he wants everyone to be rich and famous so they can learn it’s not the answer to their problems.

Exactly and that's the Hollywood thing where there's dark Hollywood and the glamourous Hollywood coexisting.

You did spend a good amount of time in LA and for anyone who didn't know you worked closely with Jaden and worked heavily on ERYS, and you said it opened your eyes to the technical side and that it was a turbulent time, but what was the biggest lesson from the time working on the project as a whole?

I think the biggest lesson I learned was, as corny as it sounds, to believe in yourself. It's about telling yourself that you're special and knowing it and being proud of ourselves. I went into the studio as an underdog with these amazing producers, I had to use that energy to perform and succeed.

Does that mean to you that this journey in music is not about self-validation but more about fulfillment and building yourself and finding personal answers?

I think the thing for me is to achieve my goals and its above all being able to be in a happy state and constantly create.

Of the last year as a whole, what memory means the most to you and is one that stands out the most?

I was going to go on a tourist visa to LA to meet people but on the way, I went to Vancouver and I met Seungjin, the best human being on planet earth. I was so happy and I had shit going before I left but it really cleaned my whole palette. When I got back to LA I was feeling pretty hopeless and I was so close to giving up, but last minute I met Jaden and it all just steamrolled from there. Shit gets bad in life but how bad is it actually? I have a roof over my head, friends, supportive parents, clothes and food and water. Once you break it down and realize all the small stressful shit in your life means nothing, you start to appreciate the stuff that matters

So it was happiness instead in the mundane in life and the simplicities of daily existence?

Exactly, it was realizing that shit sucks in the moment but we always get over it. It always moves on.

On top of Seungjin and that friendship, this ERYS project was a lot of collaboration and you also work with a lot of other talented artists in your scenes, but what does it mean to you to be collaborative and how did you put yourself into that space?

I think it's about removing the selfish side of it, we all want to make something sick and be successful, but realizing we’re not here to just make a beat and then have our name on it but instead to help someone else shine, to help Jaden shine in this case.

What artists right now do you think you would be able to accentuate the best?

Lil Uzi Vert because when he gets a producer that makes him shine it's not even fair how good it is. I want to get on some K-Pop shit as well.

In your career and most of all through creation as a whole, what is that you’re trying to achieve as an overarching mantra?

I want to inspire people like I was inspired by people like Tyler and Earl and Mac Miller. I want to be the next generation' inspiration so I can create hope, even if it’s small.

So is part of it trying to create a wave?

Not even a wave, even just one kid stuck in their hometown having my songs give them the confidence is all I want. I want their lives to be lived to the fullest. There's a generation of genius kids stuck in the grinder, I want someone to make the decision about what they want to be and not what their parents want.

In your eyes, what does it mean then to be a hero or is that a concept that is overdone in art and music?

No, I think it can exist through both of those, I think as long as it’s positive. If you try to be a hero, super hard, you'll never be one. If your motives are pure and authentic you can harness that and you can teach and inspire others. Tyler’s focus was never to change LA, he was just being himself and the rest came. People will come when they come, the money will come when it comes.

How do you feel that right now your music is impacting others and how do you notice it daily?

It's crazy because looking back I’d never thought anything would ever happen. It's back to that sense of hope, even when things are slow, realizing that what you're doing means something to someone out there whether you know it or not. It's so crazy to even think about.

Going into the rest of this year and beyond, what’s your biggest goal and necessary milestones?

To release my album, and on top of that, my goals are literal such as getting my visa and living in LA. But above all I want to be free, that’s what it’s all about.

Do you have anyone to shoutout or promote? The floor is yours.

All of my friends: Maxwell, Luke, Tom. James Thorington, he’s crazy. And Seungjin. Seungjin is the man. The amazing producer, engineer, and mentor: James Rim.

Follow Yuki on Instagram and Twitter

Listen on Spotify and Apple Music

Words and interview by Guy Mizrahi

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tauers-go-dutch · 7 years

Text

Concerts, Beer, and Independence

Dinant, Belgium

Over the past couple of weeks, Mariah and I have been laying low—er , well, laying low compared to the crazy travel we’ve been doing lately—but we’ve still been doing lots of fun things around Amsterdam (and Belgium). I thought I’d share some of our adventures.

Amsterdam has a great music scene, and we’ve been to some awesome concerts. First, we saw Linkin Park, whose Hybrid Theory CD was the first one I purchased way back in middle school. I have to say that though they are climbing in age, they put on a great show with an insane amount of energy. If you haven’t been keeping up with Linkin Park’s music lately, you should. The newer songs are pretty good, and their old hits from middle school still rock today. (Edit: this blog was written before lead singer Chester Bennington’s untimely death. We are sad and feel fortunate to have seen them live before he passed away.) Another middle school band, Sum 41, opened for them, and they actually cover Queen pretty well. Second, we saw Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats in a pretty cool outdoor theater just outside of Amsterdam. While it’s no Red Rocks, it does provide a nice backdrop to listen to some good music. I liked it so much that I bought Miranda Lambert tickets there for August. BTW, Nathaniel Rateliff is great live and worth seeing (don’t forget to check out his concert swag—one of the few non-beer shirts I now own). Third, we saw another country artist, American Young. While Amsterdam apparently has a respectable country following (not all of which are American expats), it has its limits. These guys didn’t pack the house, but we enjoyed the intimate concert on an otherwise sleepy Tuesday night.

Middle-school Mariah was pleased

Linkin Park. Pretty bummed about Chester Bennington.

Nathaniel Rateliff with Brent & Christine

We’ve also been passing the time with some friends, old and new. Our friend Tyler, who is about to return to Denver after spending two years in London, visited Amsterdam for a couple of days with his brother and a couple of friends. We had a great time checking out some of the bars around the city with these guys. Our friends Brent and Christine, who coincidentally moved from Denver to Amsterdam, hosted a Fourth of July party. It was great fun, especially since the majority of guests were not American, which provided a lot of opportunities for tongue-in-cheek jokes and gags. The best attire is a tie between the Dutch man, Jella, sporting the Trump shirt, and the Swedish man, Karl, in the Putin tee. (Yes, they were both worn as jokes.) We may have also introduced ‘shotgunning beers’ to all of the Europeans. Reactions ranged from ‘I gotta try this’ to a not-so-subtle eye-roll. On the actual 4th of July, I made a very American meal—steak and mac’n’cheese (Kraft, of course). It was a delicious reminder of home—thanks for the care packages everyone!

The American gang. See Mariah inserted herself appropriately.

Sparklers on the ‘Make America Great Again’ cake (take that as you will, given the lovely condition of the cake in the photo)

The two coolest guys at the party

Explaining how to ‘shotgun’ a beer

As I mentioned above, taking it easy was a relative term. While we haven’t flown anywhere for a few weeks, we did make a road trip to Belgium. Ok, ok, so it was a weekend trip, but honestly I’ve begun to just consider Belgium part of our backyard. As an aside, if anyone who wants to visit and has Belgium on their list, Brussels is a three-hour bus trip away, and it only costs 35 euro for the round trip. I’m always up for going!

We rented a car for a quick weekend to Belgium, chiefly to acquire some really nice Belgian lambics (sour beers from the region surrounding Brussels) and to visit a few Trappist abbeys. Our first stop, of course, was Cantillon in Brussels. While I normally enjoy staying for a beer or two at the brewery (and by ‘a beer’ I mean a 750mL bottle), we had a lot of stops and I only bought some (ok, several) beers to go. We stopped at a brunch/lunch spot called Peck 20 (sister café Peck 47 is in the city center if you’re visiting). Mariah had the house special (poached eggs and waffles) and I had a surprisingly decent Cuban sandwich. After getting some chocolate for the road, we went to 3 Fonteinen, another lambic brewery. We actually stayed to enjoy a beer (Homage 2013- a specialty lambic blend with raspberries and cherries), and bought more to go. Mariah really enjoys the lambic beers (basically the only type of beer she will drink), so she even bought a shirt.

Favorite Brussels breakfast spot. And yes, we already stopped at our favorite chocolate shop. We needed to break a 20 for the parking meter.

New shirt!

Short on time, we continued our way southeast, deep into the French-speaking region of Belgium and very close to the border. We made it to our destination about an hour before it was closed to visitors, which turned out to be just enough to marvel at the beautiful Abbaye d’Orval. The majority of the abbey is closed to visitors (unless you schedule a spiritual retreat of two to seven days), but you can still see the amazing architecture. The sculpture of Mary and the infant Jesus is as large as it is breathtaking, and is the first thing that you notice arriving to the abbey. The ruins of the old abbey are open to visitors, and are very beautiful as well. After taking in the sites, we stopped at the nearby A l’Ange Gardien café for dinner and Petite Orval, which is a lighter version of the famous Orval beer only available to the public at this café. After dinner, we drove to our hotel just outside the town of Dinant. Dinant, as we found out, is the home of the inventor of the saxophone, and fully embraces that heritage. Several countries from around the globe painted custom saxophone statues to display in the town. I have to say that the Dutch Delft saxophone was one of the more impressive ones!

Abbaye d’Orvale

In the morning, we decided to double back to the French border to visit yet another abbey, Abbaye de Chimay. Chimay has long been one of my favorites—especially the blue-labeled grand cru (go by color if you’re looking for it, as the label name changes but the color indicates the beer). We bought tickets to see a short museum that explains the origins of the brewery and beers, and it included a free beer! We also explored the abbey itself, which included a nice walk through the woods and a peek into the church (mass was in session, so we tried not to disturb the ceremony). We made our way back to the bar and enjoyed our beers. I strongly debated buying a bike jersey, but decided I wouldn’t wear it for at least a year and I already spent an exorbitant amount of money on beer. Regardless, we left and made our way back to the Netherlands, but not without a quick stop back in Dinant for some Neuhaus Belgian chocolate!

Chimay

Crossing the border back into the Netherlands, we decided to make yet another stop at yet another abbey. This time we visited Abdij Koningshoeven, the older and more widely known of the two Trappist abbeys in the Netherlands. Haven’t heard of it? Ask your liquor store for ‘La Trappe,’ and I’m sure they have some. The grounds of this abbey are largely inaccessible to the public, much like Orval. However, they have a large restaurant with a patio and a humongous lawn where you can sprawl out and enjoy some beer. The only downside is that the bartenders often over-pour and allow the beer to spill over on the glass before clearing the excess head with a bar blade (think the Stella Antois commercials). It’s very Dutch and very annoying. But I digress, the abbey is very much worth visiting, and I did pick up a barrel-aged quad from the shop before we made our way back to Amsterdam. We’re still enjoying our European adventures, even when we aren’t jet setting for the weekend.

Tot ziens for now!

#tauersgodutch #Belgium #roadtrip

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zealynstan · 5 years

Conversation

Acme Radio Transcript

Interviewer: Hello there and welcome into Acme Radio. Again, sorry to Rachael, we had to fade down her in the mix as she's on vacation but that's okay because we have a good reason. We have brought in an artist to perform live today, we've got Zealyn here in the studio. Hello Zealyn.

Zealyn: Hello! Thanks for having me.

Interviewer: Thank you for coming in.

Zealyn: Yeah, of course.

Interviewer: Big show tonight at the High Watt.

Zealyn: Yep. High Watt.

Interviewer: Gonna be good. Have you been over there?

Zealyn: No. The only venue I've played in Nashville was the East Room.

Interviewer: Okay.

Zealyn: Yeah. So it's the first time playing the High Watt umm... I've heard great things so I'm excited.

Interviewer: Yes, it's a nice room. There's really like, not a bad spot to see which is good. Most venues in town have a pole right in the middle somewhere.

Zealyn: Okay.

Interviewer: That one doesn't.

Zealyn: Great. Awesome.

Interviewer: Umm... But Zealyn's gonna be out there at the High Watt tonight with Andreas Moss and, I was curious about this, Savannah Sgro?

Zealyn: I think it's Sgro. That's how I always said it?

Interviewer: Yeah.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Interviewer: Okay. S-G-R-O so you can understand our confusion but I think that's it. Doors at 7, the show is at 8. You can get your tickets right now at mercylounge.com.

Zealyn: Yep.

Interviewer: Umm... You mind doing a song first so we can kinda get a little taste of what's gonna happen tonight?

Zealyn: I love to. Absolutely. Yeah, I'm going to sing the title track of the EP that I just released over a week ago- just over a week ago. Umm... yeah, it's called A Weekend in Maine.

Interviewer: Alright. Perfect.

*Zealyn sings A Weekend in Maine*

Interviewer: There you have it. That is Zealyn live here in the Acme Radio studio with a brand new song, the just dropped at uhh... like two weeks ago, a week in a half ago or something like that.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Interviewer: It's awesome.

Zealyn: Thank you.

Interviewer: Sounding great.

Zealyn: I appreciate that.

Interviewer: That is the title track, A Weekend in Maine. The EP dropped May 17th and you pretty much hit the road immediately.

Zealyn: Yeah. Yeah like 3 days later. Don't recommend it. It was pretty- it's a lot at once but it was- it's been fun.

Interviewer: And what is Maine is there something that, did you grew up there, did you have like- is there a far off place that you're like, "Oh.*something I couldn't understand*"

Zealyn: Yeah. I mean, I grew up in Boston. My family. So we always take trips to Maine. And it's just kind of umm... it's a place where a lot of memories were built, a lot of love, a lot of just... Growing up and whatnot and so, it's a really nostalgic place full of nothing but good memories that got me where I am today so... Yeah.

Interviewer: And now you're based in LA.

Zealyn: Based in LA.

Interviewer: Yeah, see I didn't know if it was just like looking at the opposite end of the country.

Zealyn: Right.

Interviewer: And you're like...

Zealyn: Wanting a peaceful life. To get away from the city I mean- It's some of that too as well. Yeah, the city can be uhh... I mean- you know, here in Nashville, it's always the hustle and bustle of music. Everyone- there's so much talent that like, "Go go go go!" So uhh... I feel like this EP is kind of like a longing to escape and just like feel free and calm for a second because it just can be crazy.

Interviewer: Yeah.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Interviewer: Absolutely. Again, Zealyn is here in town, Nashville, Tennessee, playing tonight. She's got a show at the High Watt with Andreas Mass and Savannah Sgro. It's gonna be a good show so I recommend grabbing your tickets now at mercylounge.com to celebrate her now- I guess, released in Nashville, and you've got quite a tour. Excuse me, quite a tour. You've got Atlanta coming up, the East Coast coming up in June.

Zealyn: Mhm.

Interviewer: And the West Coast back in August.

Zealyn: Yup.

Interviewer: Umm... Now, when you head out on these dates, is it something you take a whole crew with you? Do you have the whole band or do you kinda pick and choose as you go through the towns?

Zealyn: Umm... Yeah. It's kind of different each run. Umm... Some run, it's like a three-piece band and other runs, it's a four-piece and then obviously when we're home in LA, we do a whole five-piece band that I'm thankful enough to have friends that are like super talented and great people that can just play music with me. So yeah, just kinda depends on where. But tonight we'll be playing with a three-piece. A drummer, guitarist and I play keys and so umm... yeah.

Interviewer: Little more.

Zealyn: Keeping it- a little stripped- well not stripped, it will be so high energy and so fun. The drummer's amazing. But yeah, a small crew.

Interviewer: Yeah. It's gonna be good. I was listening to the EP the other day. There's some really really nice hype songs, really nice slower ones.

Zealyn: Thank you.

Interviewer: It's gonna be a good time. So again, that's at the High Watt tonight. Now, A Weekend in Maine obviously just dropped and you released it independently. Which is awesome.

Zealyn: I did.

Interviewer: Is that something you love or is that something you were just like necessary or how did you look at the independent aspect of your career?

Zealyn: I mean a little bit of both. It's not like I have labels coming to me like, "We wanna sign you right now!" I love being an independent artist right now for the time being. I think it's great. Have a small team of people that just really believe in the music and that goes a really long way. But uhh... yeah. I think for as long as I can, I'll stay independent and do it on my own. Hopefully, it gets too big one day that I'll have to bring on a bigger team. But uhh... yeah. I'm enjoying it. It's really rewarding. Put a lot of work into it.

Interviewer: Yeah.

Zealyn: A lot of hours. A lot of money. It's not easy. But it's really rewarding.

Interviewer: Yeah. Well, it seems to be working out. I mean, you've been uh... crushed in the socials and I see just constantly updating everything and you're working hard. It's great.

Zealyn: Trying. Thanks. Thank you.

Interviewer: Now, with the EP, did you do it all out in LA and who produced it like how did it all kinda come together?

Zealyn: Yeah. It was all written by me and different people. Every song I worked with different songwriters but it was - for the most part, all recorded by David Burris who is in the Arts District of Los Angeles.

Interviewer: Okay.

Zealyn: Incredible producer and like, just a great hang. It was so fun collaborating, just creating sounds and whatnot with him. So yeah, David Burris produce it all. Except for one song that was done by Aaron Marsh of Copeland. Umm so yeah.

Interviewer: And he produced your first EP?

Zealyn: He did. So yeah. The song that he did on this EP was actually supposed to release on the last EP. But I loved it so much, I wanted to like hang on to it and release it later. It's been three years and the song still holds up and I still love it so I put it on this EP. But yeah, he's also a genius songwriter and like, the layers he adds to songs are just- forget it, they're too good. Yeah.

Interviewer: No, that's cool. And there were some great little collaborations on that as well.

Zealyn: Yeah. First EP or? Yeah.

Interviewer: Yeah, for sure. Again, Zealyn is our guest. You could find her on the socials @zealyn or zealyn.co if you are looking up her website. Some nice merch there. You can listen to this new EP we're talking about, A Weekend in Maine. And you've gotten to spend a couple days in Nashville before your show tonight at the High Watt so, what have you gotten to do over Memorial Day Weekend? Anything you're just like, "Yes."

Zealyn: Okay. So I made a point on this trip to be a local and not be a tourist. So I ask a lot of friends where to go and hung out with any friends that I could hear and umm... few things. Favorite sandwich shop Mitchells.

Interviewer: Yeah. Good call.

Zealyn: So good! I don't know if that is like the local place or not. But it felt like it and it was so good. Also, went to Attaboy.

Interviewer: Attaboy.

Zealyn: *gasps* You don't know it?

Interviewer: I don't know.

Zealyn: Oh, I feel awesome right now.

Interviewer: Yeah.

Zealyn: I feel so cool. It's a speak-easy. You don't tell them what drink you want. They just say, "What do you like?" and you tell them all the things you like.

Interviewer: Okay.

Zealyn: And they create one for you and it's like always delicious.

Interviewer: Gotcha.

Zealyn: Umm... yeah. So I went there.

Interviewer: Sounds like a young person spot.

Zealyn: Okay. Come on!

Interviewer: I'm an old guy. *laughs*

Zealyn: Come on. Well no- But that's the thing though. It's not like- that's true.

Interviewer: I'm just kidding.

Zealyn: But it's not like a club or you know like- I don't know. It's like a very chill, calm hang that's just- yeah, it was fun.

Interviewer: That's my kinda vibe and I'm gonna check that out. Attaboy. Nice. Well, I'm glad that you've got to spend a couple of- you know, a few days in town and I know you got Atlanta tomorrow. So you're hitting the road after the gig night but I hope you have a safe tour.

Zealyn: Thank you.

Interviewer: And I hope you guys keep kicking ass. That's awesome.

Zealyn: Thanks.

Interviewer: Yeah. Again tonight at the High Watt, you can see Zealyn. She's gonna be out there with Andreas Mass and Savannah Sgro. Doors are at 7, show is at 8. mercylounge.com to grab your tickets or try to get them at the door if they are not already gone. And you can keep up with her on socials @zealyn that is Z-E-A-L-Y-N or zealyn.co. You mind doing another song for us?

Zealyn: I would love to.

Interviewer: Awesome. What are you gonna do this time?

Zealyn: I'm going to do Airline Wine. A song also off the EP.

Interviewer: I like that this one was actually the first one I went to cause I was like, "I wanna know what that song's about" *laughs*

Zealyn: It's literally about an airline bottle of wine. My friend was like, "You should write a song called Airline Wine." and I was like, "Okay." And it turned out to be beautiful so umm... yeah. Kinda started as a joke but turned into something I loved.

Interviewer: No that's great. the last song on the EP, right?

Zealyn: Last song on the EP. Yeah. Alright. Here we go.

*Zealyn sings Airline Wine*

Inyerviewer: There you go. That is Zealyn once again live here at the Acme Radio Studio with a little assist from her buddy DJ on guitar.

Zealyn: Woo!

Interviewer: That is a song called Airline Wine and you will find it on her new EP, A Weekend in Maine, which is out now so go check it. Thank you guys so much for stopping by today.

Zealyn: Aww. Thanks for having us.

Interviewer: Yeah. Good luck tonight. It's gonna be a good show. If you guys wanna join us, High Watt is where it is located. Andreas Mass and Savannah Sgro are gonna be on the bill. mercylounge.com to get your tickets and the show will start around 8 pm. Hope you guys, like I said, have safe travels for the rest of the tour and uhh... look forward to see you back in Nashville soon.

Zealyn: Thank you. Thanks for having us.

Interviewer: Alright. That is Zealyn guys. Z-E-A-L-Y-N.co, if you wanna find her website or @zealyn on the socials. You're listening to Acme Radio live- stick around just a little bit, we've got some more great interviews and a lot of good stuff that's coming up at 3 'o' clock here on Acme Radio.

#Zealyn #my post #Transcript #acme radio #2019 #Angie Miller

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sellinout · 6 years

Text

TRANSCRIPT for EPISODE 4

[music]

ANTHONY GESA: It was just a chance for me to like...see that band once, for free. And it turned into seeing them almost every day for two years which is more than I could have ever asked for.

MIKE MOSCHETTO: Hold on a second. Is this a rare positive outcome this show? Don’t adjust your podcast dial, I’m still Mike Moschetto and this is still Sellin’ Out.

[music: “I’m a casino that pays nothing when you win / Please put your money in”]

MIKE: Hey folks, thanks for listening to Sellin’ Out, where fools and their money are routinely parted at every rest stop, gas station, parking garage, toll booth, Taco Bell, Guitar Center and one-star motel just off the interstate from sea to shining sea. I’m Mike Moschetto and, quick housekeeping item before I proceed – if you have made it to the end of any of the past few episodes, this will be old hat to you at this point. But in spite of the name of the show, I am committed to keeping Sellin’ Out free from advertisers, so no plugs for meal-prep delivery services, website creation platforms, online hiring assistants, or mattresses, underwear or fill-in-the-blank of the future. What I’m trying to do instead to undercut the costs of production is to rely on you, the listener, to throw a couple of bucks a month my way via Patreon. If you don’t listen to a lot of podcasts, it’s a platform for, kind of a public-media style funding model where a pledge is not required but it is greatly appreciated, and every one keeps the wheels greased as it were. In return, I’m interested in providing exclusive bonus content for subscribers and I do have some ideas as to what those might be, maybe more newsy and topical content about this precarious intersection of creativity and commerce. But also, maybe followups with previous guests? More banter, more loose, hot-takes I guess? In any event I’ve been asking at the end of the past few episodes for your input on what you, the prospective patron, would like to hear out of this. You can write in with your suggestions at [email protected] or on twitter @SellinOutAD. And you can always just write in with your feedback, too – I’m still pretty green at this whole thing and would love to get you involved however I can. If it ever comes to it I may take listener questions on the show if you have any. In fact, if you follow me on Twitter @SellinOutAD or even on Facebook at facebook.com/sellinoutpodcast, you can find out who I’m going to have on the show in the future and you can submit what you want to know from them, submit questions ahead of time. Not that you should be doing my work for me, but whatever. You get it. Now on the subject of Patreon and crowdfunding, I am acutely aware of the irony of hosting an producing a show about the, let’s say, dearth of cash flow among musicians and the music-adjacent, and then turning around myself and asking for your monetary contribution to this project. Totally get it, and if you only have so much disposable income I would much prefer you spend it on a record or a tape or a CD or a shirt, cover charge to a show, anything – that is, after all, the crux of this program: to encourage support for independent artists so they can continue doing what they do. But the other important thing to know is that this Patreon thing that I’ve been spending all this time on is completely optional. Much like being in a band, I will continue to do this as long as it still makes sense and then probably a year or so longer than that, because I think these conversations are enlightening to me anyway and hopefully they provide some perspective for you as well. So go to Patreon.com/sellinoutpodcast to find out more. But once again, there’s no obligation and I just appreciate you being here. Now, onto the show - my guest today is Anthony Gesa, guitarist for the New Jersey band Gatherers - one of my favorite, one of the most impressive current post-hardcore/screamo/whatever bands. They have a new album out now on Equal Vision Records called ‘We Are Alive Beyond Repair;’ go treat yourself to a copy of that. Anthony also manages and releases music for artists under the Party Smasher, Inc. brand, and if that name sounds familiar to you it’s because Anthony also spent roughly two years in the employ of the legendary Dillinger Escape Plan as a stage tech on their extensive farewell tour that took him all around the world. So we spoke about that, about uprooting your life to join a band in another city, the music industry in higher education and so, so much more. Here’s my conversation with Anthony Gesa.

[music]

MIKE: So what got you into music in the first place and I guess more specifically punk and hardcore if you even want to call it by those terms?

ANTHONY: There were I guess two things. One of my best friends growing up, his older brother, he was four or five years older than us...I’d gotten into the Deftones probably through MTV or whatever, and he basically gave me a Glassjaw record and he said, “hey, this is the Deftones if they played it wrong.” So I listened to it and then I realized they’re from Long Island, not too far away from where I am. I just started trying to look on places like Mp3.com for other Long Island bands and then it turned out kids that I went to high school were in a band called Stray from the Path and they were on there as well. I just started talking to them, and they were all a little bit older than me...They were like, “If you like Glassjaw and you think our stuff is cool, we’re going to a show if you want to go at this venue called the Downtown, and it ended up being the Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die doing a weekend run, and this is while ‘Last Night In Town’ was out and ‘Calculating Infinity’ was out. And that was my first glance into that world.

MIKE: Man, that is golden-era shit.

ANTHONY: Yeah I’m super fortunate. And then from there they started taking me to all these local shows and, at this time the Movielife had just blown up and there was a lot going on around here. Glassjaw was still playing Long Island relatively often, there was a bunch of stuff going on and it was the first time where I saw outside of the world of MTV or whatever, that there’s a community around it and I started soon getting into booking shows of bands that I would find through Mp3.com or whatever or message boards, and I would start asking them to come to Long Island to play. One of the first shows I ever booked was with Ed Gein at this weird dance hall and it just snowballed and...you know, I’d always kind of dabbled in playing music but I was more into seeing the community of it and that’s basically what became of my weekends. Just going to shows and exploring music that way, so that’s how I got into the punk and hardcore scene.

MIKE: How old are you, out of curiosity?

ANTHONY: I just turned 30.

MIKE: Okay, that’s kind of what I thought; I knew we were around the same age but you talking about Mp3.com is such a sense memory to me, it’s so fucking funny.

ANTHONY: That was the only way to find free music post-Napster.

MIKE: [laughs] It’s so specific! Like, I have two Anterrabae songs on my hard drive that I probably got from Mp3.com. When I first met you I guess that was probably what, 2012? When I did that Pastlives record back then?

ANTHONY: Yeah, either 2011 or 2012.

MIKE: At the risk of seeming like I’m just blowing smoke up your ass, honestly it’s still one of my favorite records I’ve ever done.

ANTHONY: You’re sweet

MIKE: Well, you know, I’m just telling the truth here. Obviously I know that wasn’t your first band, but where did I find you on your musical journey at that point?

ANTHONY: The other real band I was ever in was from Boston called Shot Heard Around the World. One of my friends was like, “Hey, they’re looking for a guitarist to fill in for a tour,” so I talked to Brian from that band and we hit it off and I packed up my station wagon with everything I could fit in and just kinda...bounced, and went on tour. I just kinda stayed in New England after that, up until recently.

MIKE: Until we spoke a couple months ago at the show, I didn’t realize that you were from Long Island originally, what brought you up to Boston?

ANTHONY: A terrible, terrible girl. She was going to school around that area. She basically gave me an ultimatum to move to New Hampshire or we were kinda done, so I did that.

MIKE: [laughs] You had to “live free or die?”

ANTHONY: [laughs]

MIKE: And you moved back to Long Island why? Like for a non-terrible girl?

ANTHONY: On a personal note, my mom got sick and it was really just- I don’t want to be in Boston, not in a band, because at this point Pastlives had kind of stopped doing stuff. So it was more of...my wife now was just like, “We’ve got to move to New York.” And she’s not from there. She left all of her family and was just like, “We gotta go.”

MIKE: Yeah, she’s from here right?

ANTHONY: Yeah. And so at this point we were only dating for maybe a little over a year and it was just a crazy selfless act on her part, just saying “let’s drop everything and go.” So I’ve been here and luckily it’s worked out.

MIKE: Yeah. So tell me how you get into the fold at VuDu Studios. Do you have a studio background?

ANTHONY: Yeah, so when I started getting into hardcore bands and stuff like that, I went to see Stray record one of their records that they’ll never admit to putting out. I thought it was really cool, and it was at just one of our friends’ houses. I thought I wanted to do that at 15-16, so I bought the worst shit possible, but I was able to record local bands and stuff. And then I’d graduated high school at 16 and I was looking at colleges. My mom gave me an amazing piece of advice. She said, “If you’re really into working with bands, you have plenty of time to be practical...why don’t you find a school that will cater to that?” So I found Full Sail, fortunately or unfortunately, so I went there and started getting more into it, just recording bands on my own. That kind of all stopped once I moved to New England the first time with that girl, moved back to Long Island after Shot Heard Around The World disbanded...I was working construction jobs and I was miserable. My wife told me, “Find a studio and intern, and we’ll make it work.”

MIKE: So you DID intern.

ANTHONY: So I did intern for a while, for like a year. I just started being asked to edit stuff, and then I was getting paid a very small amount to just do drum editing and session setups and then I really catered toward the business end of things, working with labels and scheduling and stuff like that. And while I was doing my own thing at VuDu, I was just asked to kind of manage the studio, and that’s what I did up until two years ago.

MIKE: I didn’t even realize you had all of the technical background, I thought the business role – and I guess I was right that the business role was your bread and butter. I guess it’s worth actually mentioning in some detail for people who don’t know what the deal with VuDu Studios is, give me just a handful of records that have been cut there, for the sake of example.

ANTHONY: As Cities Burn, ‘Son I Loved You At Your Darkest.’ Everything The Deer Hunter did past Act II. The last two Hopesfall records, the new one that’s coming out...The last O’ Brother record was mixed there. Drums for the new Dillinger Escape Plan was recorded there. Glassjaw was recorded and mixed there – the new one, ‘Material Control.’ He did all of the As Tall As Lions stuff. So he has a very heavy hand in the New York scene.

MIKE: I guess so. I mean that’s...talk about a regional hub. So at some point in there, obviously Dillinger tracks ‘Dissociation.’ I know you said you saw them at your first show and maybe had friends in common with people who knew them, but how do you broach the subject of...you obviously work with them now; how does that come about?

ANTHONY: I’d become friends with Billy a few years before then, just because he’s from Long Island and-

MIKE: Billy Rymer?

ANTHONY: Yeah.

MIKE: Is he still the drummer?

ANTHONY: Yep.

MIKE: I can’t keep track of these freakin’ guys.

ANTHONY: Well he’s been the longest-standing drummer, I think this is year 9 or 10 for him. He joined the band super young, he was like 23. So yeah, we had met a few years ago. He was recording at VuDu and I was assisting on the session for his Radiohead tribute band. We just started talking and somehow we ended up at the same social gathering, we hit it off…Fast forward to when they were recording ‘Disassociation,’ he introduced me to Ben [Weinman] and Liam [Wilson] and we hit it off as much as you can when they’re in the middle of recording what’s gonna be their last record and their heads are everywhere else.

[music]

MIKE: When they ask you, do you know that it’s gonna be for the long haul, for the two-year stretch that they’re doing all of these shows all around the world?

ANTHONY: No, and I don’t think... They asked me to do just one show they were doing at this really small club on Long Island called Amityville Music Hall – 200-cap room, and I still look at it as probably the worst experience of my life, because everything that could go wrong absolutely went wrong. Ben’s amp getting knocked over, Liam’s amp dying mid-first song and not coming back, just because of shitty power...it was just a horrendous experience. It was the worst first gig anyone could have, and I think they knew what it was gonna be coming into it, and they just didn’t let ME know. You know, obviously I’ve seen the band and I know that they’re crazy but I’ve never been on that side of it where I have to be the one to control everything that’s going on onstage.

MIKE: Oh man.

ANTHONY: Yeah, no. I thought it was just that one gig, and then they asked me that night to go with them to... the complete opposite gig! They were doing a - the next day they were doing a show at the Electric Factory which is a few thousand people in Philadelphia; it’s a huge, huge venue and they were supporting a one-off Mastodon show. From there I didn’t hear anything from them. I just figured it was those two shows, that’s cool, I got to tech and hang out with one of my favorite bands, it was unexpected, and I still have another job so I wasn’t banking on it. Then Liam calls me like a week later like, “Hey, get your passport; we’re going to the UK.”

MIKE: Wow. And so that moment of just thinking you’re gonna be with them for, wherever they go for a while, what’s going through your head in terms of re-organizing your whole life around it? Were you in a position that that wasn’t insanely stupid to do or irresponsible to do?

ANTHONY: Yeah, I mean I was working at VuDu Studios full time, so they obviously understood the whole band mentality. I was also touring with my band at the time, so they were used to me leaving. I wasn’t sure the extent of the tour - no one was. This was just a two-week thing to go to Canada, East Coast, West Coast and the UK, and then I thought that was as far as that was gonna go. So I talked to my wife, she was more than supportive about it, so I just kinda packed my bags and went along and just assumed that that was it after that, and it just kept going.

MIKE: So you just have to keep re-upping that, “well I’ll figure it out later.” But they’re paying you, which...that’s tough to get. I don’t want you to necessarily go into how much you earn if you’re not comfortable, that’s obviously fine. But do you have a sense of how your take-home pay is decided? Does it come out of their guarantee on a tour-by-tour basis? Are you being paid nightly? Does it matter where you go?

ANTHONY: I have a salary, so whether we do two shows a week or seven shows I get paid the same, which is nice that I know my income. It was enough for me to quit any other job I had going on and just go on tour for two years. It was enough to pay the bills. I would’ve done it for free!

MIKE: And that’s the most dangerous thing to say, too. What’s that thing that’s going around right now, Suicide Silence? You pay all this money and win a chance to be their roadie.

ANTHONY: That’s insane. So you’re paying an exorbitant amount of money to be their roadie? It’s ridiculous. Luckily Dillinger hasn’t put out a bad record where the industry makes you do that in order to have a crew, so they’ve always had a production budget to take care of the people they bring out. None of us are going on MTV Cribs, but they’ve been incredibly fair with it. They’ve helped me live when I’m not on tour which is a huge thing, where when we weren’t on tour I was wondering what’s going to happen, if I’m going to be able to keep my electric on.

MIKE: That’s huge. And with that in mind, you’re on the road with them how often would you say? In the past two years, how much of it have you spent at home?

ANTHONY: We’d go out for two months, home for a week or two; out for a month and a half, home for a week or two. So every other month or every other two months, I’ve been out with a two-week-to-a-month break in between.

MIKE: But everything’s cool in between, like money’s still coming in...that’s the part I’m trying to wrap my head around, what their production budget must be that they can sustain anything. I guess it’s different because there’s an end date on it, as opposed to “well let’s sustain this along as we can.” That has to play into it, right?

ANTHONY: I can only speak to how they’ve taken care of me, but just talking with any other tech they’ve had – they’re still close with everyone who’s ever worked for them, because they’ve never treated anyone terribly, they’ve always genuinely great people to them and when they could afford to pay, it seemed like they took care of whoever was willing to work for the band. Even though...You know, it’s a grind. There’s some weeks where there’s no days off...sometimes we’ll do six shows in a week, seven; there’ll be times where they do two shows in a night – they’ll do a DIY show for fun.

MIKE: That’s amazing.

ANTHONY: Yeah no, it’s great. And also, mind you, they’re playing big rooms. They’re not playing 300 cap rooms. Obviously I don’t know the bookkeeping of the band, but everyone does well.

MIKE: Yeah, and to that end also you’ve been literally all over the world: Australia, New Zealand, India recently, Europe, UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Russia, Israel...what’s the comfort level from place to place? Is it all fairly consistently taken care of, or are you slumming it occasionally still? Do you notice a difference?

ANTHONY: India was...I don’t want to say “bad”...It made me grateful to be from where I am. I’ve never seen so much poverty in one place, where toddlers, teenage kids, elderly people are all sleeping on the streets. We were in Poonai and Mumbai and for a brief minute Delhi, and it all just looked unfinished. Sidewalks were ripped up, stray dogs everywhere, trash all over - streets covered in it. And the scariest thing is there’s no real traffic laws. So people are just doing whatever they want on the road without lights or lanes. It was very interesting to see traffic come to a halt though when a cow would cross the road, which is...You know, it’s sacred there. And it’s really interesting to see that despite everything that’s going on, hundreds of thousands of people in these cities, this animal steps onto the road and everyone comes to a halt and lets it take its time to get across the street. And that’s a cool thing to see, that despite everything that’s going on – class system, whatever – everyone still holds the same thing important.

MIKE: Yeah, like there’s a reverence for something that transcends all of that.

ANTHONY: Exactly.

MIKE: The fact that you went to India at all was interesting to me, because I never hear about metal bands, rock bands – anything that’s even remotely “Western” in that way – go to that part of the world. The most exotic thing I can think of is Have Heart playing in South Africa. But India just seems like this total uncharted territory for a guitar band.

ANTHONY: It was interesting. And there was thousands of people that knew every word to every song. It was really cool to see that aspect of it. When we first landed, Liam and I went to the promoter rep and said, “Hey, we’re gonna go walk around, get some street food and just hang out. Where would you suggest going?” He said, “to your rooms and getting room service and not leaving the premises,” because it’s just so dangerous – even in the major cities – with abduction and things like that. And then we were also told in the same breath, “make sure you don’t drink any of the water or eat any fresh fruits or vegetables.” And for people who don’t eat any sort of animal product, it’s a crazy thing to hear. “Don’t eat any vegetables,” just becasue their water is so polluted from all the trash, and when they wash their vegetables – and plus the irrigation – there’s just all this bacteria.

MIKE: Yeah. Fuck. Now, to my point before, is it kind of a blind spot for me to say that I don’t know of a lot of bands that go to India or do you think-

ANTHONY: I don’t know of any other bands.

MIKE: Yeah it was a novel experience for y’all, right? Do you think it maybe opens the door to more of it or is there even an interest there?

ANTHONY: I don’t know. It’s a brutal flight and it’s very expensive to get there, but the festival that we played, it was huge as far as heavy music. There was a lot of bands that had the Dillinger-esque style, from India. Like, they’re from Mumbai and they were just incredible. So there IS a scene there for it, I think it’s just making sure you can get there and being safe about it, because you have to unfortunately...it’s one of the only places I’ve been to where safety was the biggest concern rather than getting to the show. Whereas Israel I THOUGHT would be like that, but we were walking around Israel like 3-4am, 5am, just hanging out. People also just hanging out, having a good time. One of the most gorgeous I’ve ever been and the people there were so friendly. There wasn’t a point where we didn’t feel safe.

MIKE: Were you in Tel Aviv?

ANTHONY: Yeah, we were in Tel Aviv, I guess that’s where – up until recently – all the embassies were. But even being in a major city, it’s surrounded by this amazing...the Mediterranean Sea is gorgeous. People go out every night all night, restaurants are open 24 hours. It doesn’t shut down and it’s very...like, Mumbai is also a major city, and you’re advised not to go out in the middle of the night, where Tel Aviv is the capital and they’re just like, “Yeah, go have fun.” Our promoter was like, “Yeah, go have fun. If you go to Jerusalem, make sure you go during the day and you know your Uber driver knows where he’s going to. Other than that, yeah, everything is pretty much safe.”

[music]

MIKE: There’s also something to be said for overseas hospitality in general, compared to what you get here.

ANTHONY: Oh yeah. Everyone overseas is...those were some of the best experiences that I’ve had.

MIKE: Do you get time to see stuff? Or are you just pretty much working and driving between place to place the whole time?

ANTHONY: We definitely have time to see stuff. Liam was always big with that. The first time I went to the UK, we were in London and Billy woke me up at 5am because I had to go see Big Ben, London Bridge and all these things that are touristy, because we had such a crazy schedule. This was the first time I went there and I wasn’t sure if it was the only time I was gonna go there, and he wasn’t either so he wanted to make sure I saw everything that was worth seeing. Liam was the same way throughout the last two years. He was always making sure to include me to go see the huge square in Brussels or go into Copenhagen, to one of the world’s first amusement parks, just seeing crazy things. So I’ve definitely gotten the chance to see some cool stuff, even if it means not sleeping. I definitely was able to take as much as it in as I could, and the fact that we’ve gone to most places multiple times – if I didn’t see something I wanted to see the first time, I made sure to make time to see it the second time, if I had to Uber or walk or whatever. I was definitely able to see a lot.

MIKE: Yeah. And you know what? You’ll sleep when you’re dead.

ANTTHONY: Exactly.

MIKE: [laughs] And at some point – you must have become especially chummy to trhe point where you’re working with Party Smasher, which is what..Ben’s label? Is that right?

ANTHONY: Yeah it’s a label/management company that he and I do. Basically throughout the touring we just kinda got close. Into the same music, into the same dumb TV shows, same ideals and we hit it off. I was really fortunate that he kinda took me under his wing and he’s basically shown me everything he knows, even as far as playing guitar or business, whatever. He’s been great. It led to probably the coolest job I could think of having as an adult.

MIKE: Truly. That’s super cool. Now, when I ran into you recently, you were on your first DIY tour in a couple of years with your band Gatherers. What were your initial impressions? Was there kind of a culture shock or did you just fall right back into it?

ANTHONY: I was incredibly excited to get back into it. There was no part of me that didn’t want to be there. It was a very welcoming change. It gets a little frustrating being on the sidelines sometimes, where I’m in this band that’s on the other side of the world and they’re rehearsing. It gets to be kind of daunting not being able to play with your band, and the fact that we were able - within 3 days or 4 days of me getting home from Japan, we left for 10 days. And it was great. Every part of it - the shows, the drives - it was something that I didn’t realize I missed as much I did until we were back at it.

MIKE: Is there anything that you may have learned in your time touring with Dillinger that you could apply to making your DIY efforts more successful going forward with Gatherers, for example?

ANTHONY: Absolutely, from just scheduling, the business aspects, things I’ve learned from Ben...just observing how Dillinger works to kind of maximize our experience and how to get things done in a certain way. Small things, like sending venues stage plots and input lists in advance, that I would’ve never thought of before I started touring with Dillinger, where we get to a venue and the sound guy knows how the stage should be set up. He knows how many inputs we have, things like that. Budgeting for a tour, just all around...made me have a better sense of how to tour-manage my own band.

MIKE: So do you find that you’re more active with those kinds of logistical activities than you were? Because you’re not around as often, so I don’t know who was running the books for Gatherers. Is it more of a shared effort now that you have some scalable real-world experience?

ANTHONY: They kinda tricked me into managing the band full-on, which wasn’t my intent. I was excited to just play guitar in a band.

MIKE: I would kill to just play an instrument in a band and not have to think about stuff.

ANTHONY: Right? But I love doing it, so it’s not really...It’s a labor of love. So yeah, I kinda fell into taking the reins from Adam, who plays drums, who has been doing it for five years or so.

MIKE: And he’s also the guy who records everything too, so he’s…

ANTHONY: Yeah, so it was a welcome change for him to just be able to kinda relax and play his instrument and that’s all he has to do. It was nice being the newest member in the band and having a sense of a role very early on, instead of trying to figure out where I sit and not trying to step on anyone’s toes, which is always a good thing.

MIKE: Yeah, as the new guy I would want to tread lightly too.

ANTHONY: Yeah, and instead of that they just threw me in and said “hey you’re running this now” which is great. I’m very excited about being able to take all the experiences and knowledge that I’ve gained over the last two years and try to make my band successful.

MIKE: So the elephant in the room is that now that Dillinger is effectively over, what does the roadmap look like for you?

ANTHONY: I’m gonna take a nap for about a month, and then life’s gonna go on. Ben and I are gonna pick up with Party Smasher; that’s kind of what he and I are doing now. That’s what I have planned for after Dillinger, just working on managing bands. We have a few artists on the roster now; we just put out two records last year that I’m insanely proud of, we have a bunch of artists that we’re gonna be announcing that we’re working with. We have records that we’re gonna put out this year, and then Gatherers has a new record and we already have a pretty full year so far booked for touring, so it’s enough to keep me busy. Luckily I have a job where I can work from the road and I have a boss I guess that understands more than anyone would why I need to work from the road and not just be in an office.

MIKE: Of course. And so Party Smasher is your job at this point.

ANTHONY: Yeah.

MIKE: And is there a door open, like could you go back to VuDu if you wanted to?

ANTHONY: I’m sure I could.

MIKE: Did they get some other schmuck to do your job?

ANTHONY: Yeah, but I’m sure I could walk back in to some degree, just because I have a great rapport with everyone. But I’m trying not to go backwards. I kind of want to just see what new experiences I can get. I don’t want to fall into a routine that I’ve already been through, even if it means times are a little bit leaner and I’m just able to see where my life goes organically.

MIKE: You don’t drive for Uber, fly by night, Airbnb your place…

ANTHONY: [laughs] No, thank God...And I might do something like that in between tours, just to make the days not blend together and get stir-crazy, but as of right now my focus is just on making Party Smasher successful, and then making Gatherers as successful as possible.

MIKE: That’s awesome, man. You’re a very lucky guy.

ANTHONY: I sure am.

[music]

MIKE: As always, support Anthony, support Gatherers, Party Smasher, everything. I’ll have info and links in the description of this episode. If you want to support the show, Patreon.com/sellinoutpodcast. If you want to get in touch, I’m at [email protected] or on Twitter @SellinOutAD. If you want to leave a nice rating and review on Apple Podcasts, it would really help other like-minded folks find the show, or you can resurrect your old LiveJournal – or if you’re real badass, your Deadjournal – and post about it there. And thanks! The music you hear at the beginning and end of every episode is “No Cab Fare” by the band Such Gold, support those guys too while you’re at it. Cover art for the show is provided by Nick DiNatale. I’m Mike Moschetto. Thanks again, we’ll see ya next time. This is Sellin’ Out.

[music]

#transcript #transcripts #podcast #anthony gesa #dillinger escape plan #tdep #the dillinger escape plan #gatherers #vudu studios #ornaments #pastlives #sellin out #party smasher inc.

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celtfather · 7 years

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Getting Started With Celtic Music #334

A listener emailed that they were just getting started with Celtic music. Wouldn't it be great to have an episode that could be a great intro guide? That's what this show is all about. You'll enjoy two-hours of awesome indie Celtic music from Jameson's Revenge, Poitin, Ed Miller, Cady Finlayson, The Elders, Mithril Duo, Jesse Ferguson, The Rogues, Rambling Sailors, Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones, Runa, We Banjo 3, The Ne'er Duwels, The Gothard Sisters, Rathkeltair, Wicked Tinkers, Ockham's Razor, House of Hamill, Cara Dillon, Oisin McAuley, Screeched Inn, The Flying Toads, The Selkie Girls, Three Mile Stone, Lothlorien, Battlefield Band, Banna De Dha, Thomas "Doc" Grauzer, Rise, Socks in the Frying Pan. http://celticmusicpodcast.com/

Listen and share this podcast. Download 34 Celtic MP3s for Free at http://bestcelticmusic.net.

Subscribe to the Celtic Music Magazine. This is our free newsletter and your guide to the latest Celtic music and podcast news. Remember to support the artists who support this podcast: buy their CDs, download their MP3s, see their shows, and drop them an email to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast.

TODAY'S SHOW IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY... THE CELTIC INVASION OF THE ISLE OF SKYE I'm going to Scotland in 2018, and I want you to join me. We will experience the Isle of Skye, where the Bonnie Prince Charlie fled with the aid of Flora MacDonald after the defeat of the Jacobite Rising of 1745. The Isle of Skye is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides. Some call it one of the most-beautiful islands in the world. You can join our small group of invaders as we get to Know the region through its culture, history, and legends. Subscribe to the mailing list to join the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/

NOTES

* Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. My name is Marc Gunn. I am a Celtic and Geek musician and podcaster. This podcast is dedicated to the indie Celtic musicians. I want to ask you to support these artists. Share the show with your friends. And find more episodes at celticmusicpodcast.com. You can also support this podcast on Patreon.

Special thanks to our newest Patrons of the Podcast: Sean Mac Aodha, Kas, and our new Celtic Superstar, Hunter Melville.

Years ago, a traditional Irish musician sat me down and told this autoharp-playing Renaissance festival musician what Celtic music really was. He gave me a list of popular trad musicians I should listen to. And I found some awesome bands in his list. That meeting was an important moment in my life. Because I did not see Celtic music the way he did. His definition narrowly defined traditional Irish music. For me, Celtic music is vast and growing. It encompasses the traditional songs and tunes as well as the contemporary arrangements that are more accessible to the average listener, like Celtic rock and even Celtic New Age.

So when I started the Celtic Music Magazine and later the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. One of my goals was to share my definition of Celtic music as well as to help independent Celtic musicians. So this week I'm gonna share songs and tunes that I think will be a great intro to someone getting started with Celtic music. I picked some of my favorite bands and tunes. I got a little of input as well from my Patrons of the Podcast. Without my Patrons support this show would not have happened. This is in fact the first of two 2-hour shows that you get because we hit a big milestone on Patreon.

Head on over to Patreon.com/celticpodcast if you want to show your support and get more two-hour specials.

Let's get on with the music!

CELTIC PODCAST NEWS

VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20. It's easier than ever to do. Just list the show number, and the name of one or two bands. That's it. You can vote once for each episode help me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2017 episode. http://bestcelticmusic.net/vote/

The Kickstarter for the 2nd House of Hamill CD is now running.

Big congrats to Jesse Ferguson who has earned over 6,000,000 views on his YouTube channel. If you like Celtic folk songs, you want to subscribe to his channel.

If you enjoy this show and want to support indie Celtic music, become a Patron of the Podcast. Or you can also visit the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast store.

If you're not subscribed to the Celtic Christmas Podcast, a new episode comes out right after Thanksgiving. You'll find Spotify playlists, videos, and two Celtic Christmas CDs, including a compilation that features Celtic music from several of the bands featured in this episode. Go to http://celticchristmasmusic.net to subscribe.

If you're looking to want to find out more about a particular band that you hear in this show, go to the shownotes at celticmusicpodcast.com and you'll find time stamps for every song featured.

THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC

0:04 "Murty Delaney's/The Empty Bedpan" by Jameson's Revenge from While Yer Up

6:03 "The Congress Reel/Unknown Reel" by Poitin from Poitin

9:10 "The Broom of the Cowdenknowes" by Ed Miller from Generations of Change

12:32 "Ships Are Sailing/Over the Moor to Maggie" by Cady Finlayson from Irish Coffee

15:37 "Even the Great Ones Fall" by The Elders from Story Road

20:30 "Outlander Set: Loch Lomond / Comin' Thro' the Rye / Clean Pease Strae / The High Road to Linton (feat. Andy Kruspe)" by Mithril Duo from Bottom of the Punch Bowl

26:20 "The Spanish Lady" by Jesse Ferguson from Folk Favourites

29:23 CELTIC PODCAST NEWS

29:58 "Amazine Grace" by The Rogues from Made in Texas

33:30 "Pay Me My Money Down" by Rambling Sailors from Bright Shining Clear

36:28 "Farewell to Ireland" by Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones from Far Away In Australia

39:58 "Ain't No Grave" by Runa from Current Affairs

44:20 "Puncheon Floor-Late For The Dance" by We Banjo 3 from Gather the Good

48:07 "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" by The Ne'er Duwels from The Ne'er Duwels

53:21 MORE CELTIC PODCAST NEWS

54:01 "Midsummer Jigs" by The Gothard Sisters from Story Girl

56:32 "How the Irish Saved My Life" by Rathkeltair from Something Good For a Change

59:58 "Hammer on the Anvil" by Wicked Tinkers from Hammered

1:03:42 "The Auld Triangle" by Ockham's Razor from Job's Comforter

1:06:42 "Fierce Cottage" by House of Hamill from Wide Awake

1:11:53 CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS

1:12:26 "Bold Jamie" by Cara Dillon from After the Morning

1;17:18 "Moneymusk/ Spey In Spate" by Oisin McAuley from Far From the Hills of Donegal

1:20:29 "Old Black Rum" by Screeched Inn from Screeched Inn

1:23:27 "Sweeney's Eyes Set" by The Flying Toads from In Stitches

1:30:22 "Gaelic Song" by The Selkie Girls from Long Time Traveling

1:36:07 CELTIC FEEDBACK

1:38:13 "Piper on Horseback/Mullingar Lea/Molloy's Favorite" by Three Mile Stone from Three Mile Stone

1:41:26 "A Stor Mo Chroi" by Lothlorien from Single

1:45:50 "Highlands: The Lass of Killiecrankie / The Ladies of Gormand / Untitled Highland / The Teelin Highland" by Battlefield Band from Beg & Borrow

1:49:03 "The Water Is Wide" by Banna De Dha from Band of Two

1:53:36 "Squire Woods' Lamentation on the Refusal of his Halfpence" by Thomas "Doc" Grauzer from Infernal Harp Racket

1:59:28 "Wild Mountain" by Rise from Uncertain Wonders

2:05:28 "The Track for the Craic" by Socks in the Frying Pan from Socks in the Frying Pan

I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK: What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Email a voicemail message to [email protected]

Christine Weir emailed: "Hello Marc, I just want to say thanks for playing my song Samhainn, on your Thin Veil show. I've had some really nice responses to it, and sold a couple of CD's as a result! Kind regards, Christine"

Chrystin Pleasants emailed: "Lucky me! Got the podcast e-mail as I am sitting in a waiting room at my car dealer’s working on my taxes. All life is portable, and thankfully, music especially so. Have loved the first two cuts, thanks so much! Not sure when they’ll be done with my vehicle, but if I don’t finish it in the next hour, then I’ll have something to listen to later in the day."

John Delahunty wrote: "I for the life of me cannot remember who sings or the name of a song you played last year and it’s driving me crazy! I think it was the fall of jack o lantern or something like that but google is not helping... help me Celtic music podcast you’re my only hope"

Great. Appeal to my inner geek why don't you John. Fine. There is a song called "Fall of Jack O'Lantern" by David Nigel Lloyd. You'll find it at the end of the 2015 Celtic Halloween & Samhain music special.

The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather. To subscribe, go to iTunes or to our website where you can become a Patron of the Podcast for as little as $1 per episode. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/.

Check out this episode!

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47maz · 7 years

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FRIENDS

im sitting at my terminal right now and got about an hour of bullshitting to do, so I thought I'd do something productive and talk about this trip, more particularly my friends who made this trip amazing. WA will always be home, but home will always be were my family is, and I just don't have friends, all my friends are family. This is a thankyou letter to them. XAVIER- you've always believed in me man. As early as 8th grade when we barely knew eachother you could see something in me, you drove me to push myself creatively and taught me the ins and outs of this music shit. You have one of the hardest work ethics I know, and we can all see with the blog that you have the talent and drive to make a mark in the world. Love you to death, Untitled in my veins. ISAAK- one of my best friends since I met you a year and a half back. You taught me what true friendship really feels like, and if it wasn't for you introducing me to the GOONSQUAD, who knows where I would be today. You are another person who truly believed in me and pushed me to work harder towards my goals, and I've never seen someone go to such lengths to make sure there friends are happy, I'll always admire you for that. You have potential to be one of the best photographer/videographers out there and I have no doubt that we'll be getting this money in the future. Possum boys 28. OMAR- my actual blood, you've been rocking with me since birth and I can't thank you enough for all the wisdom you've brought into my life. You are, and don't ever doubt this, THE best rapper in the state of WA. I've always seen the talent since we were little freestyling on the bus in 8th grade, show the world who you are, were all rooting for you. RONIE- I've told this to Xavier Untitled countless times, but you are the next Tyler when it comes to fashion. You have such a vibrant personality that literally draws people to you, and even with the short glances of your artwork I can tell that whenever you decide to release your clothing that it will be amazing. Thank you for always making me laugh and being a close friend all of the goons can lean on, I love you vro. CAMRYN- has to be one of the most talented young minds out there right now. I can't tell you a time I haven't looked at one of your paintings and just been like "wow." talking to you over the past year I've gotten to know and love you as a friend and artist, I hope that you continue on the path you're going with your art because you only have a bright future ahead of you. Ill always remember our stupid inside jokes and weird facial expressions, stay creative. DAVID- when I think of GOON, you're the first that comes to mind David. You have such a free spirit and captivating personality, and it carries over into your life and art. You'll get nothing short of an adventure when hanging with you, and I can wait to link up in Cali eventually so we can make some more memories together. Cheers to my stoge brother. JULIA- Julia is the epitome of a strong, independent women, and you will always be someone I look up to as a older sister figure. I always value advice from you and truly respect your undying loyalty to all of your friends. I won't ever forget all those drunken nights where you would make me feel right at ease and like I truly had a family behind me to lift me up in times of need, love you to death Jules. LOGAN- my hot-headed brother, you mean a lot more to me than you know man. Whether it's our countless smoke seshs, or crazy nights of competitive smash, you'll always be someone I truly cherish as a friend. You got one of the biggest hearts I know and I think anyone who's gotten the chance to really get to know you can attest to that. KJ- thank you for believing in my music. Thank you for making all of it a reality, before I met you I never really had good chemistry with any of the producers that I worked with, but you knew exactly what I wanted and could make my visions a reality. I know I pick a lot of fun at you but I look up to you as a creative and a man, you have a lot of wisdom and intelligence and you're on of the few people I could put my full trust in. Love ya Big Reeves. KEONNI- we only truly started to talk as much on this past trip, but man hanging out with you is a blast. Your art is like nothing I've ever seen before, and that isn't just your only talent. Your so multi versed it's crazy how young you are, you definitely have so much ahead of you. Can't wait to see you on tv someday showing kids how to truly be yourself and not be ashamed of it. JORGE- Jorge, you've always be the sweet and quiet type, but when you speak, I almost always listen. You have a lot more to you then people probably see, and I always value time spent with you. So many nights spent until 4 AM arguing over stupid shit like who had a sadder life, Naruto or Sasuke? (Naruto 😂) left us laughing and cracking jokes all throughout the night. You're a hard worker and I already feel like you have a grasp on how to get what you want, and I really admire that. JESS- Jess, you are the kindest soul that I have ever met. I've seen you leave your house off of no sleep at 2 AM just to help a friend out. I'll always love just how caring and concerned you are for the well being of your friends. I could always count on you for late night vent sessions, all I'd have to see is i need you and you'd be right on over. I cannot thank you enough. TRISTAN- Man, you are probably the person out of all my friends that I relate to the most. You are so down to earth and I love how you are always there as someone your friends can talk to. People are sleep but I can see the vast potential you have as a musician, I believe in you! You are so strong, I've seen you go through so much and still manage to smile and have fun, to love as hard as you do, and to be there for anyone who needs it. You're truly amazing. DEJA- Through all our ups and downs, you will always be one of my very best friends in the world. You have taught me so much about myself and what is important to me in life. No matter where I am in life you will always be someone I can lean on and knows me better then anyone on this earth. You are sweet, caring, strong, goofy, and beautiful. You best believe that I will be buying your books of shelves one day showing all my friends how amazing you are. CONNOR- the definition of tough love, you always are there to push me to get what I need to get done no matter how annoyed I am. And that to me, is a true friend. You really believe in my dream and its so nice to have someone like that. You are one of the hardest working people I know and I've seen you come from nothing to who you are today, and I can't help but be extremely proud. Thank you for seeing something in me not a lot of other people do, you'll always have my support in everything you do. JAZMINE- you got to be one of the funniest and goofiest personalities that I know. I'm so glad that we became friends in highschool because you are the definition of a ride or die. You are such a strong and intelligent woman, and I am at an awe everytime I see you talk about your goals because you are a true go-getter. Thank you for the countless nights of texting and vent sessions to make me feel better, I'll always be here to return the favor. Love you lots, can't wait for Cancun! MARY- my soul-twin. Never have I met a girl that I can literally say is me in another body. We can literally talk for hours and still have things to talk about, you're truly like a sister to me. You have so much potential as a writer and I can see you blowing up some day. Thanks for letting me cry to you and Weeb out, and just in general being one of the best friends I could ask for. CHRISTIAN- you are definitely someone that grew on me overtime, and the more I got to know you the more I came to realize how hilarious and fun you are. I'm glad we became friends and I got to know more about you and what you believe in, I think your extremely talented and intelligent and your natural charisma and charm will get you somewhere someday. KATIE- thanks for being such a kind soul and for always making me feel like I have a home away from home. Thanks for sharing one of my favorite summers ever with me, staying up til odd hours of the night watching movies and getting high, and having some of the best baked convos of all time. I love how hard you love Katie and you'll always have a special place in my heart! BRANDON EDWARDS- the definition of a fucking g. you given me some of the best wisdom I've received. I thank you for guiding me through some tough times and always being there's as a big brother figure to show me the right thing to do. I'm so astonished on how much you've done for yourself and shown how people our age can be self sufficient if they work hard enough. Love you lots my g. BRANDON EAKES- you got crazy talent for photography man and you ain't even started yet. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you and how you decide to pursue your art more. I wish nothing more than success and happiness in whatever you do. AGNUS- last but not least, everytime we hang it's a story man. From walking around the streets of hilltop drunk as fuck, to getting boofed and going on a 2 hour roadtrip, or sneaking into some abandoned mines, were always getting up to something worth remembering. You got so much talent as an artist and I can't wait to watch your cartoons in the morning and show my kids the homie made that. Much love to you kinfolk

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eurolinguiste · 8 years

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The following post is a guest post from fellow language learner and musician Fiel Sahir. He came to me with this excellent idea on how to apply music study techniques to language learning and I just love what he came up with.

So take it away, Fiel!

This is it.

Lots of crazy things going on in the world, so it’s time to bring in some positive energy. Let’s make 2017 something worth looking back on.

Losing weight is good, hiking up Everest is always prospect, as is finally getting to those cooking classes. There are always more ideas floating around than we realistically have time for. It’s hard to know what to choose.

Already, it’s February. There’s a pretty good chance that so far, you’re not quite where you want to be with your goals for the new year. Kinda frustrating, isn’t it?

Maybe trying to tackle Mandarin from scratch was too difficult, and now it’s crunch time at work. All those characters! UGH! If only the boss was more lenient so that you’d have a bit more free time. Or maybe you were still just wishing you had a better plan or strategy.

As humans we often tend to think too big. We love to dream about end results as if they were as easy as picking an apple off a tree. It’s easy to forget that there’s work that needs to go on behind the scenes to make those end results a reality.

I’m not saying goals and resolutions are bad. Not at all. It’s a sign that you are a responsible individual and that you want to take charge of your life! The world needs people like you.

The problem is that these goals are often too big.

As the days roll by, life happens. You’ve find your progress up that mountain has halted and you’re frustrated about why you aren’t at the peak yet. You start to wonder if you’ll ever arrive.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easy way to learn languages?

What makes ordinary people do great things is not because they themselves were great. Rather, it’s all about how normal people tackle great adversity.

If you’re short on time, and want to get to the specifics there’s a detailed video explaining how things work in this post.

What in the world is chunking?

I’ll let you in on a secret: Just doing something repetitively won’t solve your problems.

Instead, you need to be more mindful of how you spend your study time and develop a series of tactics that work for you. Chunking is a technique that musicians use and I’ve also found it useful in language learning and it may be the right choice for you.

For those of you unfamiliar with chunking, it is the practice of breaking things down into bitesize pieces. Whether you like it or not, your brain can only process a limited amount of information. You cannot absorb everything at once. But if you give it breathing room, the brain can absorb more effectively.

Let’s say you want to go to the US for college. It’s tempting to throw up your hands in desperation exclaiming, “OH MY GOD. I HAVE TO LEARN ENGLISH!!” While that may be your current mountain, take a breath. Do what Benny Lewis the Irish Polyglot does instead:

“Today I need to learn how to introduce myself. Tomorrow I’d like to order a coffee. Hmm… maybe I’d like to talk with a waitress at a café today.”

See how much less pressure that carries? You can even go further still!

You might find something similar to the following dialogue in your course book: Jack: Hey! My name’s Jack. Where are you from? Ann: Oh, hi! I’m Ann. Nice to meet you! I’m from Seattle. Jack: Nice… I’m from Nebraska. It’s a pretty cold place. I hear Seattle gets TONS of rain!

Let’s say this is your first ever English dialogue. What the heck is Nebraska? After looking it up, you breathe a sigh of relief. It’s just a place name.

You naturally read it over and over again from beginning to end and soon find the rhythm in your voice. After having done that multiple times, you realize it’s not sinking in as well as you hoped. You look at it and shake your head thinking, “How can I learn this in the most efficient way possible?”

Spending a lot of time on something doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get anything done…. Click To Tweet

Simple Repetition isn’t the Answer

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Unknown but falsely attributed to Einstein

I recently sat down with a polyglot friend over Skype who wanted some guitar advice before he recorded a video for YouTube.

One of his enduring questions was, “Do you ever get stuck in a song and then have to play from the beginning all over again? I never seem able to just pick up where I messed up!“

I then asked him how he was practicing, and therein lay the answer.

For anyone who’s studied music (particularly classical), this is a problematic reality. Many people look at sheet music and “practice” by playing from beginning to end.

While a Freshman at the New England Conservatory, that was my routine. I thought, as long as I spent two hours on this piece everyday, it would get better. Two hours of putting something on repeat and stopping to fix mistakes only once as you plow through doesn’t do much. Why? Because you’ll only make them again. You’re not giving your brain enough time to process and reprogram what you’ve learned.

Just as you can learn to play the right notes, you can also program yourself to play mistakes. And…

Mistakes don’t fix themselves. If they do, it’s never at the speed you need or want. This problem plagues everyone from the amateur to the seasoned professional. Music is enjoyable and it’s easy to get lost in it.

“Playing is simply intoxicating!” – Adam Holzman, Classical Guitarist and Pedagogue

One of the problems many musicians face is relying too much on muscle memory. On the other hand, language learners focus too much on the script in front of them. After spending a good amount of time with the music or text you begin to feel pretty great.

The reason is, no one is there to judge but ourselves.

Then comes the moment when you have to practice in front of our language partner or tutor. Half a sentence leaves our lips, and then our nerves kick in and you forget the rest. This happens multiple times within one session. It’s pretty embarrassing!

Everyone has problems and challenges. Nothing new. How you address them, especially through chunking will change everything.

Building better “practice” habits.

“Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” – Doug Yeo former BSO Bass Trombonist

Being a Classical Guitarist by trade, these are techniques I’ve learned over the years that push me in the right direction. I’m in the business of having to learn music for concerts and competitions. Without these ideas, I’d end up just playing my pieces over and over again.

What I’m about to describe is invaluable information. It’s the behind-the-scenes work of professional musicians and actors. It’s how they perfect their craft. I’m sure Shannon can attest to having used these techniques herself.

1. Take it slow, phrase by phrase.

Ignore the temptation is to take it in all at once. Don’t forget the brain can only process a certain amount of information.

As you look at a dialogue, feel the words in your mouth, and the weird shapes and sounds of this new language. Give your body time to adjust. It’s like stretching into a new yoga pose.

Maybe your accent is really bothering you and you’re not sure how to fix it. There is hope!

I highly recommend Idahosa Ness’ MimicMethod or Gabriel Wyner’s Pronunciation-Trainers. What makes them work is the musical philosophy behind their methods.

“If you can’t hear it you can’t imitate (pronounce) it.”

2. Prioritize.

Scratch out words you do know and circle ones you don’t.

Take charge by deciding what is priority and work with that. Knowing how to say “Nice to meet you” is much more important than knowing what Nebraska is.

Sorry Nebraskans…

3. Drill it again and again.

Although it may sound like it, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do repetitions.

What makes musicians learn music quickly is by changing how you repeat! Artists make it fun and useful. Keeping it varied also helps avoid burn-out.

Try the following options:

Read a phrase syllable by syllable.

Again, but this time In different rhythms or speeds.

Use what opera singers and actors call “back-chaining.” Back-chaining is the practice of going backwards and building up a word one syllable at a time. (More on this in the video.)

4. Record yourself at normal speed to listen to and identify problems.

After practicing something for awhile it’s easy to feel proud of yourself. Sometimes you might even feel as though you can take on the world.

The fix for that is recording yourself. Why?

Once you hit the record button, something clicks. You’ll be making mistakes you’ve never made before and it’ll show you what to improve. Being under stress no matter how small, produces changes in performance.

Speaking of which, Lindsay Does Languages is doing what’s called the Instagram Language Challenge (#IGLC). I can tell you from personal experience that it’s nerve wracking. So why do I still do it? Because afterwards, I can evaluate my mistakes and fix them! The other participants are also quite helpful in correcting any mistakes. And best of all, it’s FREE.

5. Practice again with these new ideas

Review the various points as well as the video. As you wrestle with the ideas I’ve shared with you, adjust them to how you learn best. Our goal is to turn you into a highly effective independent learner.

6. Go public!

Assuming you haven’t already done this step, going public sets you up for accountability. When people are watching what you’re doing, you’re less likely to slack off.

One last idea. Never be afraid to keep asking for a second opinion. When you let others check your progress, you’ll find that their insight is priceless.

Now, enough theory. Go practice!

There’s a lot of information here in this post, so feel free to come back to it whenever you’re feeling stuck.

For now, get out there and apply what you’ve learnt today. Whether it be language learning, cooking, music practice, it’s time to do things better.

Here’s to a productive 2017!

Want more tips on language learning from a musical perspective? Be sure to check out Fiel’s presentation at the Polyglot Gathering in 2016.

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The post How to use Chunking to Fire up your Language Learning appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

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yelenaww · 8 years

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my 2016

A little late for a 2016 reflection, but I'm pretty much late for everything so this doesn't come as a surprise. "Better late than never", they say. 2016 was an interesting one, owing to routines different from peers and the previous years. I recall spending plenty of time on my own during the first half of the year because of my research degree, followed by a contrasting half which comprised of re-learning conversation with company both new and old.

Regardless of fluctuating surroundings in 2016, music remained a close companion. I'm one who rejoices over AUX cables and Spotify Premium, and would very much prefer listening to music in confined spaces- in a car or through headphones. It's funny how our brains are able to retain information as minute as when exactly we discovered an artist, the person who brought us to it, or how we felt at that particular time.

Here are a handful of songs which carry a little something, bringing me back to 2016.

[Future Bass] The Lighthouse And The Whaler - Venice (Louis The Child Remix), Genghis Khan - Miike Snow (Louis The Child Remix)

These songs were recommended by J earlier in the year. I remember struggling through chapter 2 of my thesis, sitting at my glass dining table and demanding for new music. I grew incredibly attached to Louis The Child upon the first listen and up till today, my ears smile at their distinctive playful music. These songs accompanied me to the lab on most mornings, even if it was a mere 10 minute walk door to door, as if to give me a cheery boost before a long dreary day looking at bacteria and mice.

Hackney Marsh - Slow Club

As mentioned earlier, the first half of 2016 was mostly quiet, which taught me to enjoy my own company. I sat on countless train rides to KL in 2016, just because, not that I had any specific liking towards KL itself. The buzzing crowds reminded me of London, with everyone having their own agenda, walking to and fro minding their own business. Being in crowds are refreshing once in awhile, for some reason. It felt strangely freeing, walking around aimlessly and not having to tell anyone my whereabouts. Hackney Marsh reminds me of the comfortable space I found in a quiet cafe one afternoon, where I worked on my thesis till the rain stopped.

UGH! , If I Believe You - The 1975

Matt Healy captures emotion so well through his music, bringing in the unique with his witty, poetic and almost twisted lyrics. B made a passing comment saying that it would be crazy if The 1975 ever came to Malaysia. It was pretty surreal watching The 1975 live together last August, considering how the both of us would always squeal at their songs which made us cry internally since discovering Chocolate on the radio.

From The Stalls - Angus & Julia Stone

Watching this duo perform live changed my initial impression of them back when Q recommended it. It was so beautiful, hearing Julia talk about Angus with such sisterly affection. Their soothing vocals accompany me on quiet days and drives. Conversations with Q throughout the year were both thoughtful and challenging. Through paragraphs of typed words (with sizable pockets of time in between), I found myself struggling to string my words and opinions together for they often seemed poorly formed in comparison to Q's linguistic flair and well-thought replies. Grateful for like-minded friends who patiently walk through difficult concepts, passages and tangled thoughts.

Polygon Dust - Porter Robinson ft Lemaitre

Porter Robinson (Worlds) was a huge part of my 2015-2016. His music, along with Flume's, initiated my growing electronic music gravitation, played often from day to day. Worlds was, in my opinion, a work of art reflecting Porter's interesting, unique character seen from interviews and his album's commentary (which I play continuously when I'm in need of a stress reliever, as silly as that sounds). Polygon Dust reminds me of night drives alone- the best time to be on the road.

White Lie - The Lumineers (Cleopatra)

I've come a long way with The Lumineers. There was such a stark difference between their two albums that it took me a while getting used to Cleopatra, which was a lot more mellow and mature, as if it was time for the little girl in me to grow up. Cleopatra reminds me of car rides with A. We have an unsaid agreement knowing that once in the car, we'd only play songs we both enjoy. She'd transition between Lord Huron, Radical Face and few other old indie favorites of mine, pinching me hard if I ever said I was falling asleep on the wheel.

In Your Atmosphere - John Mayer, Airplane - iKON

John Mayer- always having his way with words and one whom I'd pay to see live; his versatile harmonization sounding so beautiful and effortless. Live at the Nokia Theatre is by far my favorite compilation of his. John Mayer reminds me of warm, airy afternoons in the driveway of IMU- scheduled lunches with people, iced dirty chai latte in hand, surrounded by the smell of coffee. I like the driveway. You could sit there for ages, either hiding away from the crowd or be completely seen when you wanted to, countless conversations with familiar faces. Both of these songs remind me of W, their sad melodies carrying a sense of comfort whenever I feel down. On walks home, we'd talk about anything and everything under the sun- side by side since 2014 and in 2016, 2.5 hours apart. One who saw me at my best and worst, thank you for loving me.

Warm On A Cold Night - HONNE

There's something so mysterious yet calming about Honne's voice. This song takes me back to night swims and time spent preparing dinner in the kitchen back in Covillea. I stumbled upon this hidden gem in a stranger's playlist while washing the dishes and had to put down the sponge to press replay. Since then, my playlists have been peppered with many of his songs. Time in the kitchen always brings back fond memories of having L just across the 21st floor when she was around. Having identical Noxxa's (a pressure cooker) and a habit to clean the kitchen sink because it was a 'therapeutic' thing to do, most people say we're 'two peas in a pod'. Without a doubt, L's one who is irreplaceable.

Calling - Ukiyo

Calling was stolen from J's playlist, to which he immediately confirmed with me after watching my Singapore vlog. Whenever this song comes up, I see the memorized footage of the trip playing in sync with the beat of the song (inevitable, after spending overwhelming amounts of time on it). Video editing was something I picked up on a whim when deciding to do a farewell video for L before she left- what an experience that was. Since then, I've had newfound appreciation toward videos and see them in a whole different light.

M- not many encounter a friendship quite like ours, and I can only say that I'm incredibly blessed to have met a group like M. "Lasting friendships are built not on habits, but on principles." 2016 robbed us of our weekly, (terribly) exclusive hangouts, but I'm proud to say that we've made it through long distance in 2016 with bullet point updates, voice messages and intentional meet ups. Our array of personalities glued by the gospel continue to keep me humble and thankful for friends who are unafraid of transparency and rebuke.

Side To Side- Ariana Grande, Closer- The Chainsmokers, Calling Out- Penguin Prison

October was 'different' in full swing, being sent to Kluang for a month-long hospital posting with people I hardly knew. Nevertheless, it progressed slowly into a highlight of the year thanks to Y, N and K. Seeing them for a solid seven weeks has seen us through countless conversations, understanding each others personalities, quirks and principles. These were their respective favorite songs, played repeatedly in the car.

Y inspires me with her fierce independence, 11/10 initiative character and her appreciation towards friendships. Barely more than yoga acquaintances at first, we got along really well as room mates for a solid month. Immensely grateful for her honesty, I smile remembering the many topics we talked about when we were tucked up in bed- face moisturized, eyelids heavy, guard down.

Whenever Closer came on, K and I would laugh at the synchronized bobbing heads of Y and N. Strangely, N never struck me as an introvert upon first encounter. Yet a true introvert he was, after hearing his sentiments about crowds and alone time, while we sat at the lobby of the dodgy hotel. I value his inquisitive nature and enjoyed bouncing of his "why or how's" every so often.

K surprised me with his music taste followed by his sarcastic humor and thoughtful actions. Responding similarly in most instances and disliking the same things, we got along well through our backseat deejay struggles, salty Hearthstone runs, caffeine/alcohol trips and making unimpressed faces in response to N's 29837 puns. Reserved in most instances, it was a privilege hearing a bigger fraction of his thoughts over time.

No Problem (ft Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz) - Chance The Rapper

This fun song popped up at my sidebar of Spotify's Friend Activity, the album Colouring Book played often by V. Always fascinated by rap, this song started creeping into my playlist somewhere in November. On repeat throughout Melbourne and a little after, W would ask, "Why'd you like this song? It doesn't seem to carry any meaning.", making me stop in my tracks. It dawned upon me that I don't always digest the lyrics of songs which I listen to, or rather, I do it very selectively. Are we what we listen to? If yes, well.

Glorious- Colony House

Hope: - "..This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.

..Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it [desires], but only to arouse it to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it my main object in life to press on to that other country and to help others do the same."- CS Lewis

Just like all years, my 2016 had its own set of doubts, distractions and stubbornness. Granted, we struggle with the unfavorable circumstances we're thrown at; but over time, we get by, scrape through, adapt. It's a little more tiring to be struggling with Self- our wants, character and human heart which remain fairly constant. Thankful to have those (namely M, S, E) who love me enough to remind me that Home is not here and to struggle alongside me. Immensely grateful for the gospel which sustains and is still able to bring tears to my eyes when it makes sense, regardless of any situation I'm in.

Thank you for being so colourful, 2016.

#wordy

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