#me not drawing something based on a stage play photo? crazy

[kazuichikazuichi]

mahiru! ♡♡

[favescandis]

New Q&A with Alexander Skarsgård and Esquire Middle East

‘Alexander Skarsgård on pro wrestling, death metal, the joys of Godzilla vs Kong’ - by William Mullally, March 25, 2021

The Swedish star speaks to Esquire Middle East about his latest film, being home in Stockholm, and staying ripped for The Northman during quarantine

Alexander Skarsgård did not have the 2020 the rest of us did. There was no quiet quarantine, no tubs of ice cream devoured at three in the morning, no existential boredom, no staring out the window as we wondered if we’d ever be able to start doing things again.

No, Skarsgård had to spend the year staying in the best shape of his life to play an honest-to-god Viking warrior and Nordic prince Amleth in Robert Eggers’ upcoming epic The Northman. Not that he minded, of course.

Skarsgård is in a very good place. Before The Northman, he filmed Godzilla vs. Kong, which was one of the most joyful experiences of his career. It’s a film that is much better than anyone could have hoped, that fixes the flaws of the previous outings of the franchise in Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of Monsters by making its supporting characters actually interesting to follow—including Skarsgård’s turn as a conspiracy-loving mad scientist named Nathan Lind—and making the battle between the legendary behemoths the stuff of Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant.

Esquire Middle East caught up with the 44-year-old Swedish actor, who is aging like a vampire, fittingly enough, over Zoom ahead of the film’s release.

Read the full ESQ&A with Alexander Skarsgård below:

Alex, it’s great to see you again. How are you?

I’m pretty good. You’re in Dubai, right? I’m in Stockholm, Sweden at the moment.

How long have you been home?

I’ve been here for two months now since I wrapped The Northman.

How’s that been?

Yeah, it's been really nice. I mean, it's obviously a difficult time, but considering everything, I'm lucky, because everyone is doing alright. It's a nice opportunity for me, as I'm constantly on the road normally. It’s great to just be home, and not just for a week around Christmas or weekend over summer. I actually get to be here and spend some real time with my family.

You didn’t have any downtime in 2020?

Well, I was actually shooting for most of 2020. When the pandemic hit, I was in Belfast about to start filming the Northman, then we shut down for three months, and during that I had to train basically. It's a very physical role, so I had to keep working out. I was still in work mode for the whole lockdown. Then in July, we started shooting till the end of the year.

Did you prefer it that way?

I was very grateful to be able to work. It was definitely different from the normal set because we were completely isolated. We got tested three times a week and I basically lived in a bubble up in the hills of Northern Ireland and didn't see anyone didn't do anything for six months other than work and sleep and train.

I have a friend Adlai who lives in that village in Northern Ireland and I kept trying to get him to go break into your set because I needed to know more about this movie.

It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The most amazing experience.

You’ve been making a habit of working with great horror filmmakers, with Robert Eggers (The Witch) on the Northman, and Adam Wingard (You’re Next) on Godzilla vs. Kong.

What’s interesting about all these guys like Adam and Rob Eggers is they produce these really dark and twisted movies but they are two of the nicest human beings I've ever met. They're so sweet and genuine.

What do you and Adam like to talk about?

Death metal, probably. He's a big metal fan.

Are death metal people sweethearts, generally speaking?

Yeah, actually. Sometimes I feel like that's sometimes the case when you meet musicians in death metal bands they're like the sweetest, loveliest people who talk about their grandmothers and stuff.

Why do you think that is?

Maybe it's cathartic. It's a way to get out all that dark energy onto the big screen or as a musician onto an album.

Did you and Adam click immediately?

I met him years ago for another project. We didn’t end up working together on that but it was such a memorable meeting that we stayed in touch over the years. He’s not only a wonderful guy but so intelligent, such a film buff who knew everything about not only the horror genre, but even just films in general. When Godzilla vs Kong came up, I was just really excited to get an opportunity to work with him.

Were the words ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Kong’ enough for you, or did something specific draw you to this one?

I think it was a combination. I had just come off of a couple of really dark intense projects. I did the Little Drummer Girl, which is a limited series based on the John le Carré novel about conflicts in the Middle East, and I just come off Big Little Lies, two seasons of domestic abuse.

Did you just need something different?

It was just really two of the most rewarding experiences of my career but also really, really draining really intense experiences. I was just craving something fun and exciting. I hadn't done any big tent pole matinee-style movies and since Tarzan.

But you said it was a combination—are you also a Godzilla nerd?

Oh man, I was like a little boy. I just got giddy when I saw the renderings, the drawings, the storyboards, like the world that they wanted to create. I thought tonally they were the right people to make this kind of movie because I thought they had the balls to go all the way and make it as big and crazy and fun as it as I think it deserves to be, with the right amount of sarcasm and irony, but while still taking the topic seriously, and the characters seriously, and really caring about both Kong and Godzilla.

Did you and Adam share a lot creatively back and forth?

Oh, yeah. He would run up to me and ask what if they run into a creature that almost looks like an owl and start explaining how it works. And then you start sketching something on a piece of tissue. And then a week later, he would come back with something amazing that the visual artists have created. To be part of that from an early stage is so exciting to me.

As a pro wrestling fan, that balance of ironic and serious you mentioned sounds awfully familiar to me. Did you guys make a pro wrestling movie on purpose?

It’s a lot like pro wrestling. Like, you want the fights to be big spectacular, fun, and entertaining. But you want to care about the wrestlers, right? You want to root for them. I think Adam did such a great job in finding that tone. They beat the sh*t out of each other on an aircraft carrier, but you also want to connect with these creatures and care about them. The movie asks, what does Kong really wants other than beat up Godzilla? What is he longing for in life?

That’s exactly what I think when I watch the Undertaker throw Mankind off Hell in a Cell.

Absolutely!

Godzilla vs. Kong is in theaters now across the Middle East

https://www.esquireme.com/content/51448-alexander-skarsgard-on-pro-wrestling-death-metal-the-joys-of-godzilla-vs-kong-the-northman-interview

Photo from WarnerBros. Entertainment. Thanks to SophTop on Delish for the find!

[multiharlot]

real life bau (rls 2) / matthew gray gubler x fem!reader

summary: matthew meets the real life bau

warnings: this one is so long for no damn reason. adjfhalfkh sorry. but i had fun writing it.

masterlist

part one

third person pov

“please give a nice warm welcome to matthew gray gubler!”

matthew stumbles out onto the stage, nearly tripping over himself as he waves into the crowd.

“hey!” he smiles widely as he sits down in the chair.

“hey how are you?” the interviewer chuckles.

“i’m great! and yourself?”

“i’m great. you seem like you’re in a fantastic mood.” the interviewer chuckles, as matthew adjusts himself in the chair.

“i am i am. i just got off the phone with my girlfriend.” he smiles proudly, making the interviewer smile.

“ah, y/n right? i’ve seen the photos of you two together but you’ve never spoken about it. is this an exclusive?” the interviewer asks as he sends a playful smirk matthew’s way.

“i guess it is, yeah.” matthew chuckles.

“well you two are absolutely adorable.” he says, crossing his left leg over his right.

“thank you! she was actually really nervous when i asked her if it was okay if started telling people we were together.”

“i’d be nervous too. you see all these people?” the interviewer chuckles, motioning out to the fans against the glass outside the building and the fans in the crowd.

“yeah. yeah i could understand why, which is the reason i never wanted to push her into things. but she was okay with it and now i could scream it off of a roof if i wanted to. well, i actually can’t, she said that’s too dangerous and i’m too clumsy to be on a roof anyways.” he laughs, making the interviewer laugh as well.

“well let’s talk about her. give us the scoop. to hell with these questions.” he shrugs, throwing the cards over his shoulder.

matthew laughs, adjusting the small backpack in his lap.

“well what do you want to know?”

“how’d you two meet?”

“she came in to consult on criminal minds after the first season. spencer reid’s character is actually based off of her.”

“you’re kidding.”

“no it’s true. she’s legally a genius. IQ of 187, reads 20,000 words per minute, eidetic memory. all of it. of course i made spencer my own and threw in little things here and there, but i also threw in little character traits that belong to her too.”

“this is so cute. keep going. tell me more.”

matthew chuckles as he runs his hand through his hair.

“for instance, spencer wears mismatched socks and is super awkward in both movements and social situations because of me. but the germ thing, that was inspired by the girl herself. and it was actually written in that spencer would be sort of...all over the place? so his neatness and those little mannerisms is all y/n.” matthew smiles proudly as the interviewer gushes.

“so essentially you’re dating yourself?” the interviewers laughs, and the crowd follows.

matthew is quick to shake his head in disagreement.

“no. there’s plenty of differences between the character i play and my girlfriend. for starters, she’s the strongest woman i’ve ever met. mentally and physically. she could definitely beat me up if she wanted to. spencer? not so much.” matthew laughs, a warm feeling arising in his chest as the thought of his girlfriend flooded his mind.

“as much as i love every second of this, i’m getting the evil eye from my producers, so let’s get on with this interview.” the interviewer smiles, picking up the cards from the floor.

as the interview went on, y/n and her team watched from their plane. her cheeks were hot and red and her team smirked at the girl sinking into herself.

“you know, you guys have been together for almost a year now and it’s not fair that you’ve met all his friends but he’s met none of yours.” fields says, taking a seat next to her as he sips on his coffee.

“well he’s flying out for a few weeks. that’s why i cashed in my sick days.” she smiles, blowing softly into her mug of hot coffee.

“and you weren’t gonna tell us?” their unit chief, lucas benjamin, asks.

“well i was i just...i dunno.” she shrugs, afraid of voicing the things she wanted to say.

“hey, what’s up?” phillip asks as he places a comforting hand on her forearm.

“i just...once he meets you guys. that makes it real. it...it means i have something to lose now. you know?” she sighs, chewing nervously on her bottom lip.

phillip lets out a low breath, exchanging concerning looks with the two other men on the plane. they all shift their gazes to crystal, who’s deadpan gaze pierces through them.

“hey, this job get’s hard. but having something to lose just makes you work that much harder. it’s gonna be okay, kid.” she smiles, leaning her head on the edge of the couch.

“yeah. and i’m sure we’ll love hollywood.” phillip says.

“ooh. hollywood. i like that.” fields smiles, making the girl groan.

“please don’t call him that when he gets here.”

the two boys exchange looks, nodding their heads at each other. they were definitely calling him that when he got there.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“i missed you so much.” matthew mumbles into her messy hair as they sprawled out beneath the covers.

“i missed you too...i saw the interview. we watched it on the plane.” she smiles as she runs her fingers through his curls.

“we?” he questions, quirking an eyebrow at his anxious girlfriend.

“yeah...like...the team. my team. you know. the real life bau.” she shrugs, sitting up and clutching the sheets to her body.

“hey, why’re you so nervous?” he chuckles, sitting up and placing his warm hand on her cool back.

“ummm...do you wanna meet them? maybe?” she asks, looking over at him with wide hopeful eyes.

he smiles and nods his head.

“if course i would.”

“o-okay.” she smiles, turning away from him and grabbing her clothes from the floor.

“is that what you were so nervous about?” he chuckles, watching her throw her dirty clothes into the hamper and change into new ones.

“yes, now come on. let’s go, they should still be at the office and they really wanna meet you.” she wiggles excitedly.

he shakes his head, watching her every move, soaking in every moment with her that he had. he watched as she ran her finger gently over the hangers in her closet, pulling out an orange corduroy skirt and sheer black tights. she glances down at her bedroom floor before picking up matthew’s sweater and throwing it on. 

“hope you don’t mind.” she smiles, and he just shakes his head, staring dreamily at her.

it’s almost as if it was all happening in slow motion. he watched her pull on the tights and tuck the sweater into the skirt, his heart beating slowly in his chest. she sat down and pulled on her high top black converse, neatly tucking the laces into the top of the shoe. she stood up, smoothing out her skirt and matthew’s eyes skimmed over her body, taking mental photos of every inch of her.

“i love you.” he says, making her cease her movements.

she turns to him, a soft smile on her face. 

“i-i love you too.”

his heart seems to skip a beat as he smiles wider, standing up out of bed and pulling her into him, pressing a firm kiss on her lips. she smiles against his lips before pulling away completely. 

“come on, get dressed lazy. i’ll make us coffee.” 

eventually, the two made their way to the quantico building. matthew was in awe of how similar the building actually was to their set. 

“it’s crazy similar, huh? i’m always amazed whenever i watch the show.” y/n smiles, dragging him into the elevator as he clips the visitor badge on his shirt pocket. 

“yeah, it’s actually kind of amazing.” he smiles, squeezing her hand softly. 

“by the way, i really like this.” she says, pulling at the ends of the long sleeves of matthew’s sweater. 

“it looks better on you than it ever could on me.” he says, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into him. 

“okay mr. i’ve modeled for tommy hilfiger.” she snorts, making him roll his eyes. 

the elevator dings open and she’s immediately met with the eager faces of her team. 

“you guys couldn’t have waited in the bullpen like normal people?”

“come on now, sugar. you couldn’t have possibly thought we were normal people?” phillip smirks. 

she rolls her eyes as her and matthew walk out of the elevator. 

“well, matthew, that’s declan fields, we joined the team at the same time. and that’s phillip hannigan, resident pain in my ass, but also the morgan to my reid. this is abigail bronwin, our technical analyst, then there’s crystal miller, our communications liason. and lastly, lucas benjamin, our unit chief. matthew, meet my team. team, meet my matthew.” she smiles, leaning her head against matthew’s chest. 

“her matthew. oh how gross!” fields gushes sarcastically.

“nice to meet you hollywood. come with us, let’s have a speak.” phillip sighs, wrapping his arm around matthew’s shoulders and pulling him away from y/n. 

“no...no let’s not have a speak!” she says, rushing up to them. 

“no. we’re going to have a speak, sugar.” phillip says, waving her off. 

she look over at her female friends, silently pleading for their help. they simply shrug, following behind the boys. they seat matthew at y/n’s desk and he looks over the organized desktop and his eyes fall onto a duo frame. one side had a photo of her and matthew, and the other side held the drawing he had made for her on the day that they first met. he’s soon snapped back into reality when he hears y/n shouting over the male agents. 

“i will take him and i will walk away. i will do it. i’ll quit!” she threatens, making everyone snort. 

“no you won’t.” they all say in unison, making y/n frown. 

“it’s fine, baby.” matthew quickly reassures, making a giggle arise in her throat at the sound of the pet name escaping his mouth. 

“gross. okay. so hollywood, we’re just gonna lay out some ground rules. cool? good. first rule, treat her right or we’ll make your murder look like an accident. and i know you know we have the skills to do that.” fields says, leaning up against the desk. 

y/n releases a sigh as she nervously chewed on her fingernails. 

“if it makes you feel better, this method helped ward off my last boyfriend. and he wasn’t shit.” crystal shrugs, looping her arm through the panic ridden girl. 

“and they do this because they love you. we all do.” abigail smiles, leaning her head on the girl’s shoulder. 

“rule number two, never forget that we’re federal agents, meaning if you hurt her in any way shape or form, we’re coming for you and we’re charging you with assault on a federal agent. and don’t even think to run. we have an abigail and a vast network of contacts around the globe, there’s nowhere in this world where you could possibly hide.” lucas says, a stern glare looming over matthew as he crosses his arms over his chest. 

“last but not least, rule number three, if you break her heart. i promise you, i will ruin your life. you see, y/n and i...we both lost our parents at a young age. so...we’re all we’ve got. and for a long time, it was just me and her. i’d lay down my life for that woman, many times i almost have. and she’s done the same for me. so if you break her, i promise you, you’ve got a world of hurt coming your way.” phillip says, making y/n sigh and chew faster on her nails. 

matthew lets out a low breath, relaxing his shoulder and nodding his head. 

“you got it.” he smiles, making the girls furrow their eyebrows and the men smile. 

“you got it? that’s it?” abigail laughs sarcastically. 

“i wouldn’t do any of those things, so i don’t have to worry.” matthew shrugs, smiling over at y/n.

she bit her lip nervously before sticking her hand out to him. 

“well, now that you’ve met the real life bau, how about we all go for dinner?”

they all glance at their watches before nodding their heads. matthew stands up, grabbing y/n’s hand and bringing it up towards her chest as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. phillip throws his things over his shoulder before patting matthew on the back. 

“i like you, hollywood. now tell me, is aj single?”

“jesus phillip.”

“what? a guy’s gotta know.”

taglist:

@dreatine​ @slytherinintj13​ @mileven-reddie​ @eleventhdoctorsangel​ @haileymorelikestupid

[upsettlspaghettl]

Empire City Con 2019

I can say with confidence that this has been the best weekend of my life. People will be so quick to say that the Steven Universe fandom is one of the most toxic fandoms out there, but in all my years of going to conventions, this has been the most welcoming and friendly by far. Now, this could be because it’s a convention based on one singular fandom, as opposed to the mishmash of fandoms that gather at other conventions, but even Bronycon was nowhere near this level of welcoming. Then again, I only got the chance to go to 2 Bronycons so I don’t know if I can say much.

The flight to North Carolina was surprisingly not that bad. I’m very prone to getting lost, but I left 4 hours in advance and I didn’t even need those 4 hours. But this was my first time ever flying somewhere completely alone.

I got the chance to meet Deedee Magno Hall, who signed my Guide to the Crystal Gems. Now it’s my goal to get all the character pages signed. But it’s got all the fusions of season 1, so chances are I won’t ever get the chance to get Sugilite’s page signed. Oh well, a fan can dream, right? Just kind of a bummer because she happens to be my favorite fusion.

She also validated my OC ship with Yellow Pearl which was super cool of her. Deedee is a really sweet person. While waiting in line to meet her I made friends with a kid, and he was fanboying like crazy. Later on we met somebody else, and we all did karaoke together. Then they got to do a group Karaoke with Deedee, which I was unfortunately too nervous to join. She said she would try do one with me but we never got the chance, but either way I’m so grateful. She’s a really kind person and I hope I can meet her again!

My part in the karaoke was still really fun though. Me and my 2 friends were having a hard time figuring out what song to do, and since the instrumentals were live, the people playing only had a limited number of songs they could play. Eventually we agreed on Stronger than you. But the instrumental team couldn’t play that one, so one of my new friends asked everybody to sing along and be inclusive. I got to to do the Peridot rap onstage too! Only me and 1 other person in the audience did that though so it was really scary and I fumbled a lot... but I’m still so happy that I got to because it was just such a good time for everybody.

There was actually a garnet cosplayer who’s act was right before ours and they were still by the karaoke lineup, so one of my friends asked them to come join us. Toward the middle of our act, this same friend spotted a Jasper in the front row, dragged them up on stage, and we had an adorable fake fight scene. I had to hop off stage right before the song ended to hug somebody in the front row who was crying. I was relieved to hear that they were tears of joy. In the end, they invited my group to sit in the front row with them.

Right, and Garnet’s act! They actually sang the original SU opening in German which was super amazing. Toward the end, there was a Pearl cosplayer in her Mr. Greg tuxedo who sang It’s Over isn’t it with Deedee, and a Yellow Pearl cosplayer who did an amazing Yellow Pearl-y take on Do it for her. So yeah the variety of acts was fantastic and the whole thing was just so feel-good all around.

At the very end of the karaoke, after everyone had gotten a chance and we were all just hanging out in the karaoke room, I was given a Spinel promo pin by a Mystery Girl. Not literally a Mystery Girl cosplayer, but somebody who I thought was just... well, somebody. They mentioned having extras from the movie screening in CA, and were handing them out to Spinel cosplayers. Of course I was hopping up and down being super thankful to an awkward degree, like I normally do.

That night, I told my roommates what happened, and they told me just who that Mystery Girl was. None other than Mackenzie Atwood, creator of the Pearl’s Secret Rap Career series. My facial recognition is terrible, so I didn’t realize at the time. I was lucky enough to run into her again the next morning during breakfast in the hotel lobby, so I got to thank her personally in the end.

Speaking of Mystery Girls, there actually was a Mystery Girl cosplayer who was especially awesome. Not even ten minutes after arriving at the convention, I see 2 Spinels who welcome me into their Spinel group. A Mystery Girl cosplayer is with them, and they hand me a pair of shoe squeakers. They look like tiny clear whoopie cushions, and Mystery Girl was handing them out to all the Spinels. I don’t know about everybody else, but mine drew a lot of attention from other con-goers because I was super happy and energetic at this con so I ran everywhere I went. People were always laughing and it made me so happy that I was able to make people smile. I’ll definitely be using them again in my future Spinel cosplays.

One of the people I shared a hotel room with was a Spinel cosplayer on the first day, and they were carrying an amazing Spinel plushie that I remember seeing a photo of on Deviantart, and later showed up for sale on Etsy. It was super expensive and I remember wanting it, but I couldn’t be jealous because I know I was super lucky to even see the thing in real life!

On the second day, I met a sweet little girl who seemed to think I was the real Spinel. She drew me a picture of Baby Spinel, and I gave her my drawing of Baby Spinel which I’d made earlier that day in the quiet room. Later on, one of the convention organizers was holding a game session, and this kid crushed me in a round of Gem Gem Clod... which is Duck Duck Goose, but better. Note to self: playing games that involve running when wearing pink high heeled boots probably isn’t gonna go well!

After some games, we made some meep morps. Somebody started a trend of drawing Lion on the little canvases we were given, but my Lion wasn’t coming out quite right, so after I finished drawing his head I just. put it on one single leg. You’ve heard of Leg Pearl, now get ready for Leg Lion. I was super happy about that too because I made everybody laugh.

Once we ran out of canvases, the organizer offered to take polaroids of some of us, so now me and this adorable little kid had matching photos, which we put in tiny pink frames and put a Spinel gem on each.

oh also! the game organizer had a tattoo on their leg of a bunch of anime characters, mainly the cute “squad mascot” archetype. There was Hawk, Happy, a few other characters, and Keroro! I totally freaked out over Keroro because it’s a relatively obscure series, and it was the first show that really got me into anime! I’ve always loved things like Pokemon and Naruto, but Keroro Gunso was my gateway to the anime community as a whole.

At around noon, I spent a little more time in the room where the games were held, which had some board games of its own, books, and art supplies and overall functioned as just a room to hang out in. There I met a Pink Diamond cosplayer in a pink schoolgirl uniform and an Uravity hat (really cute outfit!), and a goth Spinel cosplayer. The Pink Diamond cosplayer was a great artist and drew a really cute magical girl Steven. These 2 people also taught me what a vsco girl was when they were joking about the fact that Pink Diamond would totally be one. I was super confused but it was really funny after they explained it.

There was a cosplay fashion show much later in the day and I made friends with a Ruby and Sapphire while sitting in line. They were a couple irl and went on stage together and they were adorable! They were also both Hazbin Hotel and Harry Potter fans, so we had a lot to talk about. We kept talking while we waited in line for the Sadie Killer and the Suspects concert too, and a few other people joined us. I’d only just met these people but I really felt surrounded by friends.

Earlier in the day, while I was waiting in line to meet Kinetic Cosplay, I ran into an amazing Sour Cream and Buck Dewey. I got their photo, only to later see them on stage as a part of the real life Sadie Killer and the Suspects. Jenny Pizza was also on stage, but I didn’t see her before that.

While the convention was great, something also happened that scared the hell out of me. At NYCC just last month, I bought some very tiny stickers, one of which was Froppy from BHNA. When I got home and unpacked, it was gone. I thought maybe it fell into the fabric of my backpack, and if it did, there was really no way to retrieve it unless it decided to fall out again. However at the convention... I was at the registration table, decorating my con badge. I pick up my phone, and suddenly the Froppy sticker falls out of nowhere. It looked like it came from the phone, but I can’t imagine where it would have fit and gotten stuck. It kinda just fell out of the void. Either way I’m glad to have it back.

Lets see... I also got some pictures of the real life Mr. Universe van... and later on I ran into the owner of the van in full Mr. Universe gear.

The Garnet cosplayer was Cotton Candy garnet on the second day and I still can’t get over how sweet and nice they were.

There were some family cosplays. On the first day I saw a Yellowtail carrying a baby doll dressed as Onion, and then on the second day the same person was with a Vidalia cosplayer, and an actual child dressed as Onion.

There were also a pair of parents dressed as Connie’s mom and dad, and their kid dressed as Connie.

On the first day there was a Mr. Smiley which was super cool and unexpected, and then on the second day they were Bismuth. There were actually 3 Bismuths in total at the con which was surprising because that wig looks super difficult to make. Anyone who can pull that off is amazing!

The last day only went on until about noon, but my flight didn’t leave until the next day. I didn’t book my hotel room for that night because I wanted extra time in case I got lost on the way to the airport. Turned out there were free shuttles. I ended up in the same shuttle as that Pink Diamond cosplayer and her dad, and she showed me this adorable RPG game app called Wholesome Cats. We took some snapchats together and now I know what I’d look like as a boy...

Since there was a shuttle to the airport, that meant I was super early for my flight. Super early as in, almost 12 hours early. After going through security, I was planning to just sleep at the gate, but my gate number wasn’t on the screen. So I asked an airport employee, and he told me that I wasn’t even supposed to be let through security until the next day, which was when my gate number was supposed to show up... whoops. It wasn’t so bad though, either way I’d just be hanging out at the airport for the night. I decided not to sleep though, just in case. It felt weird late at night, when the airport was more or less completely empty. It was so nice and quiet, and the Starbucks was still open so I had a super yummy dinner of pumpkin bread and cheese danishes.

I think that’s about it? If you wanna see pictures, I’ll be posting them all to a public album on Gnomie Leviton on Facebook, and I’ll also select a special few to post on QueenGnomie on Instagram.

If you add me on FB please tell me your url! I only add people who I've talked to before.

In conclusion!

This was by far my favorite convention I’ve ever been to, because you could literally just go up to someone, start talking, and you’d immediately have an awesome new friend. I’ve never been to a con before where every single person was so approachable. It really felt like everybody there was one big family. I already have a potential roommate for next year, so I really hope to get back on my feet soon so I can go!

[junker-town]

What is the world’s best soccer rivalry?

Photo via Getty Images / Illustrated by Karyim Carreia

We discussed our favorite rivalries from best ever to most underreated.

While rivalries are a staple of literally every sport, a solid argument can be made that no group of fans has embraced them quite like soccer. There are, of course, plenty of local “derbies” around the globe, but what differentiates soccer is how many of the rivalries are international.

In honor of Rivalry Week, we recently assembled some of the greatest soccer minds from around SB Nation to discuss their favorites.

Here is who participated: Donald Wine II, Stars and Stripes FC Gill Clark, Barca Blaugranes Kudzi Musarurwa, Dirty South Soccer Rob Usry, Dirty South Soccer Mark Kastner, Sounder at Heart and Liverpool Offside Eugene Rupinski, FMF State of Mind Aaron Lerner, The Short Fuse Tito Kohout, (Viola Nation) Brent Maximin (The Busby Babe)

El Clásico might be the best rivalry overall but does it ever live up to the hype?

Donald Wine II: The history between Real Madrid and Barcelona is off the charts, and it, to me, is the biggest and best in the world. Each match is epic, features some of the world’s greatest players, and is never short of drama. What other match have people scrambling to find out how to obtain beIN Sports for one day?!

Gill Clark: The thing is it very, very rarely fails to deliver. There are almost always goals (this season’s 0-0 was the first since 2002 — almost 20 years) and usually a red card or two and sometimes even a pig’s head chucked from the stands.

Donald Wine II: When you think about some of the world’s greatest players of all time, many of them have played in this rivalry: Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Figo, Samuel Eto’o. I remember a few weeks ago we were doing that game of name a starting XI with greats that didn’t play for the same club, and Real and Barca blew everyone’s starting XIs up, lol.

Eugene Rupinski: For people who swear sports aren’t political, they should look into the history of Barça-Real Madrid. It’s part of what makes it such a big deal.

Aaron Lerner: Yeah — there are big time politics wrapped up in El Clásico, and that gets pretty ugly. Catalan separatism versus Francoist-influenced Spanish nationalism is still very much alive and kicking.

Donald Wine II: Hell, the 0-0 draw that was mentioned was postponed from its original date because of Catalan protests that threatened the security of the stadium. It ended up being played in December instead of October. They’re also two of the richest clubs in the world, and they consistently earn the most revenue.

On an internal SB Nation survey Boca-River showed up a lot, even though it’s probably a rivalry that a lot of general sports fans don’t know about. Anyone want to explain what makes it special?

Kudzi Musarurwa: The passion from the fans and the players is something that’s barely replicated anywhere else in the world. When people say football can be life or death, I always think of this rivalry and agree.

Rob Usry: There’s no doubt that Boca-River is a fantastic rivalry, but at what point can a rivalry be too intense? I feel like if there’s a legitimate threat of someone dying anytime the two teams play then it might be too out of control.

Aaron Lerner: The level of hatred between Boca-River and their fans is off the charts. Not to glorify supporter clashes in any way, but that derby led to wide-scale riots and a match being moved literally out of the country.

Photo by Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images

Mark Kastner: Didn’t they have to move the final between them to Madrid last year?

Aaron Lerner: Yes. They moved it across a literal ocean.

Donald Wine II: Boca-River is INTENSE as hell. You can feel the passion in any stadium. It may be too intense. It’s because of these matches that Argentina banned fans at away matches nationwide. But, that passion can be felt in your soul through your TV set or computer.

Eugene Rupinski: CABJ vs. River is probably the biggest rivalry on this side of the planet. It’s gotten very ugly at times, but it is an unfortunate reflection of the passion and intensity of the fans. Everyone knows the weight of those games; the players, fans, hinchas, fans across the globe and casual observers. You know how much that game means when it comes around.

Aaron Lerner: River Plate-Boca Juniors is intertwined with soccer identity in Argentina. You may have your own team, but you’re for one or the other. It touches politics, economics; that derby has tendrils wrapped up in everything in the country.

Donald Wine II: Also, I think sometimes the stadiums and atmosphere can help make a rivalry. When someone asks for a list of stadiums they most want to see a match in, La Bombonera is on just about everyone’s list. When someone asks for a list of stadiums they most want to die in, is at the top of everyone’s list.

Brent Maximin: Boca vs. River is the derby that is on most football fan’s bucket list. The history of the fixture, the relative quality of both teams over the years, and of course the fan experience.

What are the best rivalries on the women’s side either on the international or club level?

Donald Wine II: The USWNT’s biggest rivalry is Canada, then Mexico. But lately they haven’t been great rivals because they get smoked all the time. I will say, budding rivalries are forming with England and France, though.

Eugene Rupinski: The thing with international women’s soccer is that the US has almost always been the top dog and there’s been a rotating cast trying to knock them off but no one has been able to sustain it.

I think one to watch will be the US vs. Mexico. The US is unquestionably the best in the world and it’s not really close. Mexico though has put a lot of money and time and effort into growing and professionalizing the women’s game and it’s starting to pay off. Players are going to Europe to play and Mexico has also utilized the US collegiate system and dual nationals to bolster the program.

Aaron Lerner: It’s more of a past rivalry now, but on the women’s side, I’d shoutout Norway-U.S.A. Norway handed the USWNT their first big defeat on the international stage (and went on to win that ‘95 Women’s World Cup). For a few years, they were a bonafide rival to our women, and that rivalry served as my introduction to women’s international soccer.

Kudzi Musarurwa: During the Pia days, the USWNT’s rivals were Sweden. That rivalry lasted until last year to be honest.

Rob Usry: France/USWNT is my personal favorite. Feel like every game between them is top quality. But I can’t justify it as the best since it’s still fledgling.

Or USWNT vs. US Soccer.

Donald Wine II: LOL, he’s right though.

Tito Kohout: To piggyback on Rob, really any women’s team against the absurd levels of incompetent sexism rampant throughout the sport.

For the women in Serie A, I’ll submit Fiorentina-Juventus. The men’s side carried over, plus there’s the fact that Fiorentina had the first pro(-ish because Italy) women’s team attached to a men’s club and won a bunch of trophies before Juve added one of their own, outspent them, and have become the best team on the peninsula.

Donald Wine II: Real Madrid just picked up a women’s team last year, and it was officially renamed Real Madrid last week. When I last spoke with club president Florentino Perez last summer, he said the club’s intent was to put €20 million into salaries for the women’s team in an effort to be on the level of Barca and Atletico Madrid immediately. So, look for those rivalries to grow in intensity.

Eugene Rupinski: I think Tigres vs. Monterrey is probably the best though. They average a crazy amount of fans, and have won more stars than other team in Liga MX Femenil.

Photo by Andrea Jimenez/Jam Media/Getty Images

Mark Kastner: Liverpool Women vs. Fenway Sports Group (the club’s owner).

Aaron Lerner: Michelle Akers vs. anybody who tried to come through the center of the U.S. formation.

What are your favorite international rivalries?

Mark Kastner: Messi-era Argentina vs. trying to win a big tournament has been very enjoyable. It always starts with promise but ends up in crushing defeat

Tito Kohout: Most of the South American ones feel really intense to me, especially the ones involving Argentina and Brazil.

Brent Maximin: Argentina-Brazil. Even if it very often failed to live up the hype, those two nations live and breathe football and for decades each has claimed to have THE best player of all time. THE number 10.

Donald Wine II: US-Mexico is my favorite, but other great ones are Argentina-Brazil and England-Germany, though with England-Germany, we don’t get it as often.

Gill Clark: I go with Netherlands vs. Germany because they really can’t stand each other.

Ronald Koeman wipes his bum with Olaf Thon's West Germany shirt at Euro ’88.. IMAGINE THAT HAPPENED THESE DAYS pic.twitter.com/tcX8iqtBiA

— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) June 10, 2016

Rob Usry: I tried to think of one that isn’t obviously biased. But couldn’t come up with one. Mexico-USA is always high stakes and intense (unless it’s a cash-grab friendly). The bragging rights for each set of fan bases is precious. Surely there are better quality rivalries in Europe and Brazil-Argentina is great. But Mexico-USA is just a step below the World Cup as far as importance goes.

Tito Kohout: I think that all of the ones that involve crazy non-sports relationships (USA-Mexico, Ireland-Northern Ireland, DPRK-South Korea, Greece-Turkey, etc.) are probably the craziest to me just because of all the off-field stuff that gets packed in too.

Feel like any UEFA matches involving England could get really weird after Brexit, too.

Gill Clark: England vs. Argentina is probably worth a shout. There’s the Maradona handball, the Beckham sending off, Michael Owen’s goal (22 years ago today!) and obviously the history between with two countries.

Tito Kohout: I think part of it is that internationals are less common and that the quality of play is frequently lower because they don’t have as much time to train together, too. Seems like it leads to a lot of really tense, ugly games. Not sure if those result in more fan badness than really “good” games, but that’d be sort of interesting to look at.

Kudzi Musarurwa: Ooo, I just remembered a major international one-two: Egypt vs. Algeria or Egypt vs. Tunisia. I remember the AFCON held in Egypt (iirc) and it was the fiercest international rivalry I’d seen in a long time. Those countries hate each other

Donald Wine II: The North African ones are great. Throw in the Nigeria-Ghana-Ivory Coast-Cameroon battles that have been around forever. Ghana, FWIW, might be America’s second rival if you poll fans.

Australia-New Zealand back in the day when they both ruled Oceania.

What are some other rivalries we love?

Liverpool vs. Manchester United

Mark Kastner: Liverpool vs. Manchester United is a derby that transcends just football. It’s two cities that have a lot in common but have some very distinct differences in their approaches to life and football. Both teams have dominated English football during different decades, defining what we think about the game. The matches themselves are always really tense and full of passion. It’s wild that we’ve only ever had one title race between the two teams.

Liga MX’s América vs. Chivas

Eugene Rupinski: For me, it’s Liga MX’s América vs. Chivas. The two clubs who have more stars on their shirt than anyone else. The two most watched clubs in North America. It’s the cultural rivalry between Mexico City and Guadalajara and the rivalry of a diverse lineup against one made entirely of Mexican players with the pageantry of the American Super Bowl (at least) twice a year. Is it the fiercest in the world? No. Is it the most hyped? No. But it is the one that to me is the best because of what it means to so many in both the US and Mexico.

What about some underrated rivalries?

Donald Wine II: For an underrated rivalry, gimme the Soweto Derby (South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs vs. Orlando Pirates). Kaizer Chiefs is a team with American roots (the founder named it after the Atlanta Chiefs, who he left Orlando Pirates to play for before returning to South Africa to start the Chiefs) and each match is fierce on the field and in the stands.

Mark Kastner: Notable shout for Portland vs. Seattle in MLS. Any time you have a player rip up a referee’s notebook IN A GAME, the rivalry must be intense.

Tell us about your favorite rivalries in the comments below!

[gigsoupmusic]

The Flowers of Hell, Japanese Television, Sterling Roswell (28 Feb 2020)

Being the infidel atheists that we are, we normally only ever set foot in a church when someone gets married or dies, and lately it's been much more of the latter. So, it is largely thanks to musical events that we get our occasional ecclesiastical hit that doesn't involve being surrounded by family, whether dead or alive. Bit-Phalanx put on an amazing electronic festival last year in a church in Covent Garden, which you can read all about here. We were not expecting another chance to enjoy music inside a London church so soon. But, enjoy we did. Last Friday night we were congregated in the small but perfectly-formed St Pancras Old Church just north of the famous station named after it, looking forward to a triple bill of the Spacemen 3's ex-drummer Sterling 'Rosco' Roswell, current BBC6 darlings Japanese Television, and 'Lou Reed approved trans-Atlantic symphonic psych group' The Flowers of Hell.

Rosco's main percussionist had had to cancel last minute – let's just say it's a 'sign of the times' and leave it there – so Max Peak stood in on bongos, and started tapping away at them as Rosco kicked into his beautiful opening song, "Like Wild Horses".

"Heartbeat" was followed by his slightly off-the-wall "Nobody Loves the Hulk", and then into one the more recent tracks that we fell in love with when we first heard it a few years ago, "Atom Brain Monster", the lyrics of which Sterling has recently updated to refer to Boris Johnson instead of Tony Blair. We recorded the performance and would like to share it with you here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQSBpeXNUAo However, things sadly were not going well for our Rosco tonight as his string broke right in the middle of his next track, "Venus Honey Dew". It would have taken him at least twenty minutes to source and fix a new string and, whilst most of us there would have gladly waited to hear his classic "Give Peace Another Chance", which he was scheduled to sing next, it would not have been fair on the following act.

As we therefore do not have much more to add about Rosco's gig, we'd love you to read an article we wrote for GIGsoup about 'Being Sterling Roswell', following an interview with him in his studio last October. Next up were a very tight band from London called Japanese Television. We've been seeing their name a lot in the gig listings over the past year but this was our first chance to see them live. They are so different to everything else out there at the moment, so it is no wonder that they caught the eye of Marc Riley on BBC6. The tracks they recorded last July at the Marc Riley session have made it onto their new double-EP reissue, now available in all good record shops and which we were able to buy that night, the night before its official release!

But what makes Japanese Television so special? Well, for a start, there's no singer. And we like that, because it's different. Not having vocals means that the audience can really concentrate on the music, which is very surfy and very psychedelic. Not as surfy as, say, the Beach Boys, or as psych as say The Roaring 420s, but somewhere in-between, and without a singer. I think the best thing we can do here is to share here a bit of video we filmed. Here are two of their songs on one video – "Crocodile Dentist" (which, incidentally, was originally recorded for their EP in one take on an 8-track) and "Tick Tock". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsGNCu4IR6I Before this they played most of their back catalogue, kicking off with "Lizard Moon", and then their brand new track "Moon Glider", which is so new it's not even on the new release! We loved how psychedelic "Mood Glider" was, and how it slowed down towards the end.

"Surfing Saucers" came next, which has a really good organ sound to it which just sounded perfect given the church setting. Which brings me onto the instruments. Tim Jones plays his pale-blue surf guitar in a very unique way, hoisted right up underneath his beard, which must not be comfortable! He plays in a slightly different tempo, it seems, to the rest of the band, which is a truly marvellous effect. Ian Thorn is on keyboards, but also uses a taishōgoto, which is a form of Japanese harp which first came out in 1912, and looks almost like something you would type on (in fact, these instruments are also collectively known as 'typewriter zithers'). The sound is, as you would expect, very Japanese. Just something else that marks out this band as being pretty unique.

Alex Lawton on bass and Al Brown on drums make up the remainder of the foursome. They were buried by the dark shadows at the back of the stage, but kept time immaculately. We chatted both to Alex and to Ian after the gig, such lovely chaps. We recommended they give Young Georgian Lolitaz a listen, and if they ever play a gig in the former USSR republic of Georgia they should get together, as we think they would merge and make some really nice spacey music! After a short break, it was time for the main event. But first, a bit of background knowledge about The Flowers of Hell. They were formed in 2005 and were mentored by Sterling Roswell's erstwhile bandmate from Spacemen 3, Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember.

Their second album was Come Hell or High Water, and the album cover features in the Aubrey Beardsley exhibition which opens tomorrow 4th March at Tate Britain. This is going to be the largest exhibition of the late-Victorian artist's drawings for over 50 years, and The Flowers of Hell's album will feature among the exhibits, as an example of how influential Beardsley was, whose life was so sadly cut short by tuberculosis at the tender age of twenty-five. Other artists' albums featured at the exhibition include The Beatles, Procol Harum and Humble Pie, so The Flowers of Hell are in very good company indeed.

Toronto-born band-leader Greg Jarvis suffers from, or in his case is blessed by, a unique neurological condition called timbre-to-shape synæsthesia, which basically means that he sees all sounds as layers of three-dimensional shapes. He went on to found the Canadian Synesthesia Association in 2013. Whereas many albums from artists on the psych scene are influenced by visions from LSD and other psychedelics, Come Hell or High Water is actually based and arranged on Jarvis's synæsthesthetic visions, which is what makes his sound so very unique. There were thirty musicians performing on that album, recorded over a mammoth forty sessions in four different countries. Knowing how much Jarvis likes to surround himself with a crowd, we were not altogether surprised that we counted eight musicians on Friday's small stage – nine, if you include the contribution of Anna-Nicole Ziesche (on the left in the photo below), Hamburg-born visual artist and former alumnus of Central Saint Martins, who got up on stage to read out a German poem from 1955 that her mother had taught her, over a trumpet solo.

Jarvis was everywhere on stage. Sometimes playing keyboards, sometimes harmonica and, towards the end, at the front of stage on his trusted guitar. One of the three trumpeters who featured on the original Come Hell or High Water album was our taishōgoto-player from Japanese Television, and therefore was also on stage for The Flowers of Hell, as was a sax player, a violinist, a female singer who had a hauntingly angelic voice, and various other performers, most of whom were lost in the darkness at the back of the stage.

Back in the 90s, before The Flowers of Hell, Jarvis was living, among other places, in Prague, playing in various underground rock bands. They played their version of "Muchomůrky bílé", a protest song by Milan Hlasva, who was the original bassist and songwriter for PPU (Plastic People of the Universe), who were forbidden from performing this (or indeed any other song!) by the then Communist government, which was one of the many catalysts that spurred PPU fan Václav Havel in 1976 to create Charter 77 which took on the government and eventually lead to the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The rest, as they say, is history. To be honest, it's not our favourite song of The Flowers of Hell, and certainly the least psych, but we filmed it because it means so much to Greg Jarvis. Here is our footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6CznGOsrR0 Far more atmospheric was the next song, "Pipe Dreams", which was truly quite beautiful, it made the hairs on our arms stand on end. The violin intro, the pipes, the singing, the slow introduction of the percussion, it all works so well together. We'll let you make up your own minds: https://youtu.be/bZF_5WmXxuo "The Joy of Sleeping" came next, which was a fantastic duel between the female singer's haunting voice, and Thorn's trumpet sounds, with violins and keyboards and guitar and percussion adding to the quite breathtaking sound. Here's the footage. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsTvjcrWrME After a couple of other tracks, Jarvis took to the front of the stage, turned around, and literally conducted the band to play his very experimental piece which is largely made up of rehearsed improvisations. Originally, this piece lasts over 46 minutes long (it is a classic example of 'absolute' music, in other words, music that is not about anything in particular, and is a term first invented by Richard Wagner to describe this abstract, non-representational form). Jarvis's synæsthesia is largely helping him direct the band to perform the sound that he is seeing, in a really interesting symbiosis. We did not get the full 46-minute treatment (or else there's no way we'd have made the tube home), but we certainly got a good crack at it.

The song finally ended on a real crescendo, with Jarvis whirling his arms around like crazy. Imagine Pete Townshend meets Simon Rattle and you're halfway there.

Lou Reed was a big fan of The Flowers of Hell, so it is no surprise that the band always like to fit in at least one Velvet Underground or Lou Reed classic into their set. Their cover of "Heroin" had a great build-up with the drums and the violin, with Jarvis on vocals and playing guitar. As with "O", it had a really exciting and cacophonous dénouement. There was something nicely cyclical about the way the evening ended. Sterling Roswell, whose set had earlier been so cruelly curtailed by a broken guitar string, was encouraged onto the stage for the closing encore. He sat on drums and joined The Flowers of Hell on Spacemen 3's iconic hit from 1988, "Take Me to the Other Side". This was a real treat for us, and was the perfect end to the evening. We filmed it and we're delighted to be able to share it with you here, though unfortunately the drums were right at the back of the stage so you can't see Rosco, but you can certainly hear his trademark drumming style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIbn0J9J-Os And that was the end of another epic night of great entertainment. Armed with a copy of Japanese Television's EPs, and with a bounce in our step, we bade our fairwell to the lovely church and the lovely musicians who had entertained us for the prior three and a half hours. We are also looking forward to The Flowers of Hell's new greatest hits compilation album called 15 Years of Soft Labour, which is coming out this summer. It is going to include a 10-minute extended version of "White Out", featuring the sadly recently deceased Ivan Král, who was Jarvis's mentor and 'rock'n'roll uncle' for the past two decades. We at GIGsoup would like to also pay our respects to Král, who played with and wrote music for so many musical greats, from Iggy Pop to David Bowie and Patti Smith, among many many more, and who lost his fight to cancer last month. Čest jeho památce. Read the full article

[2700fstreet]

OPERA / 2017-2018

Alcina

OPEN REHEARSAL

Washington National Opera

Music by George Frideric Handel Adapted from a libretto by Riccardo Broschi Inspired by characters and stories from Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso

So, What’s Going On?

NOTE: At the Kennedy Center Open Rehearsal, you will enjoy Act II of Alcina. However, we've provided you with information on the entire opera.

Alcina (pronounced ahl-CHEE-nah), a beautiful enchantress with a habit of turning people who annoy her into animals and inanimate objects, has succeeded in bewitching Ruggiero (roo-JYEHR-oh), a handsome knight. Ruggiero’s been living with Alcina on her magical island for some time, despite the fact he was meant to go down in history as a virtuous hero.

Costume sketch of Alcina. All Alcina costumes designed by James Schuette.

This seriously irritates Bradamante (brah-dah-MAHN-teh), Ruggiero’s former girlfriend whom he had promised to marry. She and the magician Melisso (meh-LEES-soh) travel to Alcina’s island hoping to bring Ruggiero back to his senses with the help of a magic ring. Bradamante disguises herself as her brother, “Ricciardo” (ree-CHYAHR-doh); she and Melisso show up on Alcina’s doorstep claiming to be shipwrecked sailors.

Costume sketch of Bradamante disguised as her brother, “Ricciardo.”

Their plans go quickly downhill, however, when Alcina’s sister, Morgana (mohr-GAH-nah), falls instantly in love with Ricciardo. To make matters worse, Ruggiero refuses to give Alcina up, even after being confronted by his fiancée’s “brother.” Meanwhile, Alcina’s army general, Oronte (oh-ROHN-teh), who’s crazy about Morgana, announces to Ruggiero that Alcina has heart eyes for the newly arrived Ricciardo. Still, thanks to Alcina’s powers of persuasion, Ruggiero pretty much remains under her spell…that is until Melisso, pretending to be Ruggiero’s old tutor, Atlante (aht-LAHN-teh), manages to get Ruggiero alone and slips the enchanted ring on his finger.

Did you get all that?

Take a listen… Morgana pledges her love to her latest crush, Ricciardo (who’s really Bradamante in disguise). This clip from “Tornami a vagheggiar” (roughly: “Turn to me with longing”) features a repeated melody from a verse heard a few moments earlier. Listen up for the many vocal flourishes used by the soprano.

Costume sketch of Ruggiero.

Shocked to discover that Alcina’s island is really just smoke and mirrors, Ruggiero instantly regrets his lovesick behavior. But when Bradamante shows up again and reveals her true self, Ruggiero doubts his own senses and worries that her image is yet another trick.

Bradamante has nearly had enough, but Ruggiero eventually decides to fool Alcina into letting him leave her heavily guarded castle for an impromptu “hunting trip” (while actually secretly plotting to leave the island for good). Alcina eventually uncovers the truth and is furious, but she’s too late—soon Ruggiero has begged for Bradamante’s forgiveness. The two officially become a couple again, and, to add insult to injury for Alcina, the enchantress’s magical abilities begin to fade.

Phew. Are you following all this?

Take a listen… Alcina tends to her broken heart in the aria “Ah! Mio cor!” (“Oh! My heart!”) (Note: Listen for the mood swing at around 4:22).

Costume sketch of Melisso.

On the run from the sorceress and her henchmen, Ruggiero, Bradamante, and Melisso develop a plan to conquer Alcina’s army and destroy the mystical urn that lends the enchantress most of her power. But can these three righteous warriors succeed in their efforts? Will they be able to rescue all the captives of the island and escape with everyone’s life and limbs intact? Will the vengeful and heartbroken Alcina let them go?

Take a listen… Ruggiero meditates on Alcina’s island and its temporary beauty in the haunting aria “Verdi prati” (“Green meadows”).

Who’s Who

Alcina, an enchantress (soprano—the highest female voice) Morgana, her sister (soprano) Ruggiero, a valiant knight (mezzo-soprano—a middle-range female voice)* Bradamante (also called ‘Ricciardo’), his fiancée (contralto—the lowest female voice) Melisso (also called ‘Atlante’), Bradamante’s guardian (bass—the lowest male voice) Oronte, leader of Alcina’s army (tenor—a higher male voice)

*This role would have originally been performed by a male musician trained to sing in a higher, more traditionally female range. Today, this type of performer is very rare, and the male role of Ruggiero is often played as a “pants role,” or a woman who poses as a man on stage.

But stop here for another minute because…

This situation is quite different from the one you’ll see unfold with Bradamante, who is a female character who pretends to be a man during certain scenes within the opera.

Good to Know

Alcina is just one of three Handel operas based on Ludovico Ariosto’s epic work, Orlando furioso (the other two operas, both of which debuted in Handel’s adopted hometown of London were: Orlando and Ariodante). Written just over 500 years ago and told in poetic verse, Orlando furioso may be the perfect story for you if you’re a fan of mystery, magicians, flying hippogriffs, slimy sea monsters, ugly witches who disguise themselves as fair young maids, and/or tales of true love trying desperately to conquer all.

This original text inspired many other works of art besides Handel’s three stage productions. These include yet another opera—this one by Antonio (“The Four Seasons”) Vivaldi—as well as certain scenes in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Costume sketch of Morgana.

Check This Out…

Operas written in Handel’s day (referred to as the “Baroque” era) featured solo songs or da capo arias, that could be broken down into two emotionally contrasting sections, with the first section repeated for added emphasis. Listen for how the singers include their own special embellishments to the repeated melodies. Do these improvisations help you uncover new things about the characters and their story?

Alcina’s power supposedly comes from supernatural forces that include evil spirits and a magical staff. How does the music indicate that Alcina isn’t just your average temptress but, in fact, has several tricks up her sleeve (hints: extreme high notes, fluttering string instruments, etc.)? What clues do you see on stage that help reveal her more mystical qualities (think lighting changes, unusual props, makeup, etc.)?

Disguise and deception are important themes throughout Alcina. With so many people pretending to be someone else or trying to hide who they truly are and how they truly feel, it’s difficult for the audience to keep track of what’s true and what’s false (which is sort of Ruggiero’s problem, too).

How do the costumes and gestures of each character alert you to who’s in disguise and who isn’t? Does the music help indicate which characters are lying and which aren’t? How so?

Costume sketch for Oronte.

Think About This…

When Ruggiero realizes he’s been deceived by Alcina, he’s almost more upset at his “dishonor” than at his betrayal of Bradamante’s trust. What do you think of Ruggiero’s concept of honor and reputation? Do you think the creators of Alcina believed that integrity was more important than love? Why or why not?

The music written for Alcina’s character shifts from fiery, to beautiful, to sympathetic, and back again. How do you think Handel felt about his main character? Do you think he sees her as an evil villain or as a tragic figure (or perhaps a bit of both)? How do you see Alcina’s character? Are you able to empathize with her at all or do you think she’s an operatic version of a crazy ex-girlfriend?

A common feature in Handelian operas is the use of the “melisma” (meh-LIZ-mah), a singing style in which many notes are given to a single word or syllable to draw attention to a thought or idea, or to allow the singer to show off his/her vocal range. Do you think the melismas in Alcina—many of which mimic the sounds of sighs or sobs—help you get a better sense of the characters’ emotions? Or do you find these added notes showy and distracting?

Take Action: Going Green

One of Alcina’s most memorable tunes is “Verdi prati,” Ruggiero’s soothing song about the lush greenery of the island. In the aria, Ruggiero warns his listeners that such overwhelming beauty cannot last and suggests all the flowers that surround him will soon die. While his words are clearly a metaphor for Alcina’s dazzling good looks and her intense passions, it may not be a bad idea to think of the aria as a cautionary environmental tale.

Using Ruggiero’s lyrics as your guide, find an outdoor spot you enjoy (such as a park, arboretum, botanical garden, pond or reservoir, wildlife preserve, a neighbor’s yard, or something similar) and see if you can volunteer some of your time toward helping it maintain its health and beauty for years to come. Ask your local government if you can pick up trash, plant seeds, mow lawns, or care for the resident animals. If you feel comfortable, spread the word by taking pictures of yourself as you work on your preservation project and post the pics to Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, or any social media platform of your choice with the hashtag #verdiprati.

Explore More

Go even deeper with the Alcina Extras.

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PHOTO (top) by Julio Rodriguez.

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  Major support for WNO is provided by Jacqueline Badger Mars.

David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of WNO.

WNO acknowledges the longstanding generosity of Life Chairman Mrs. Eugene B. Casey.

WNO's Presenting Sponsor

Generous support for WNO Italian Opera is provided by Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello.

This performance is made possible by the Kimsey Endowment; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; and the U.S. Department of Education.

Major support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by David and Alice Rubenstein through the Rubenstein Arts Access Program.

  Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts.

© 2017 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

[buttonpusherdiy]

2000 Trees 2019 : Festival Review

Words by Daniel Wilkinson 

It's early July and I'm making my yearly pilgrimage to a beautiful farm devoid of phone signal for a weekend of top tunes, no sleep, and toilet queues at everyone's favourite Reuben-themed festival 2000 Trees.

Thursday started late, after waking late, bombing down the M5, negotiating the new site layout and hauling a barn-sized tent up the hill to where my local friends had set up many hours before. 

Our first band of the weekend Conjurer are immense. They've built up a huge fan base on word-of-mouth and reputation, massive songs and hard work (just check out their tour schedule this year). Their live show is faultless, their songs rise and fall, twist and turn, yet remain cohesive and catchy. 

After finishing off too much cider and putting up the tent we wobbled over to the much expanded Forest Sessions stage for Press To Meco. The Forest is far more popular than it was probably meant to be – the clearing in the trees with the tiny stage for intimate acoustic sets regularly draws crowds that would struggle to fit in many small venues and PTM played their chilled-out set to an equally large crowd squashed between bark and bush.

Press to Meco : Photo Credit - Gareth Bull 

Xtra Mile acts Jamie Lenman (of Reuben) and Frank Turner (of Million Dead – but everyone knows both these things right?) are pretty important to 2000 Trees and it's attendees, having camping areas unofficially then officially named after them, the festival wouldn't be complete without a set from at least one of them in some form. They are both welcomed to the stage like somewhere between Gods and old friends, playing hits old and new before I collapsed embarrassingly early, face down in my tent.

Jamie Lenman : Photo Credit - Dominic Meason

Friday begins like all good festivals mornings - painful and early; to the sound of peacocks and the taste of fresh watermelon. 

I'm pretty late to the Slow Crush and Brutus show, metaphorically, and just about managed to not be actually late to Slow Crush's early set at the Neu Stage. Their heavy brand of shoe gaze works well first thing in the “morning”, the ethereal guitar work from their recordings sounding just as strong live and generally being a nice way to start the day. Their set was punctured by another Belgian lot's soundcheck blasting over from the Main Stage and almost of a good chunk of their crowd thinking Brutus had started early.

 I missed Brutus during previous festivals having only gotten into them this year and was pretty excited for their set immediately after Slow Crush's, more specifically hearing them play Cemetery off this year's release “Nest”. They did not disappoint ripping through album opener “Fire” and then on to “Cemetery”, where drummer-vocalist Stefanie manages to turn her vocal performance up to 11 while drumming like a beast and remaining note-perfect on song's more melodic ending.

The final act of Friday's Belgian Trio, Raketkanon, were enjoyed from under one of the eponymous trees, safe from a very enthusiastic crowd and vocalist Pieter-Paul Devos's dingey-based crowd surfing.

During a gap in our otherwise busy schedule we checked out Gouge Away on the recommendation of tour-mates Slow Crush. Another new act for me they brought some energetic hardcore to the Cave before we headed over to the Axiom for Crazy Arm's blend of folk, punk, classic Springtstein-esque classic rock. I've enjoyed them in previous years playing the random busker stages after dark and they lost nothing being amplified and upgraded to a larger stage.

The Wildhearts were the Wildhearts; brash, melodic, charismatic, and were joined by Frank Turner for “Let 'Em Go” off their latest album (Turner sighting 2). Rolo Tomassi were brash, melodic, charismatic, a whirlwind of abrasive riffs and screeched vocals giving way to more melodic newer material.

Rolo Tomassi : Photo Credit - Joe Singh

Skinny Lister are another one of those bands I love to see live, especially in a festival scene, their pop-folk being easy on the ears and to have a little dance to with the little people. By the time Cancer Bats started in the Cave I was about ready to finally eat some food that day and was able to grab some authentic Italian pizza that had been taunting me all day, the stall conveniently situated next to the stage so we could enjoy both.

Cancer Bats - Photo Credit - Gareth Bull

Frank Turner sighting number 3, Möngöl Hörde, were Friday's headliner of choice, packing out the Axiom with Turner looking like a human mirror ball. Much less serious than his solo work and much more aggressive, my cider-ravaged self may have enjoyed this more on better days.

Saturday began at my parents house because I'm just old now and had you suffered like I suffered on Friday you'd take the opportunity to sleep in a real bed!

Vukovi started Saturday on a recommendation, bringing a lot of energy and some catchy tunes to the Main Stage, singer Janine Shilstone announcing this was her “first dingy” as she surfed the lunchtime crowd in an inflatable. Sunshine Frisbee Lazerbeam were next, being a big fan of Johnny Foreigner. After that we caught Sœur's second full set of the weekend. Sœur are just grand. Melodic, grungy music not unlike the Pixies meets Shakespeare's Sister, wicked musicianship and stage presence, and the reason I only caught about 2 songs from John and John of John.

Soeur : Photo Credit - Gareth Bull

A were this year's blast from the past and I confess I've been a fan since I was fresh-faced and short-haired. Despite playing quite youthful Rush-flavoured pop-punk with lyrics bemoaning their elders technological illiteracy and keeping things “punk”, A came out embracing the fact that they are now much older, with children and mortgages. Jason Perry asked the crowd to cheer so his children sitting stage-side wouldn't think their “old man” was a failure, chided bassist Dougie Poynter for finishing his run with the band because “they don't pay enough”, and confessing his Just Eat jacket was worn entirely for the attention. And they managed to organised what might possibly be the slowest and least aggressive circle pit ever.

MØL were quite the opposite, a mix pummelling blastbeats and dark atmospheric passages contrasting the afternoon sun, the only smiles to be seen plastering sweaty bodies emerging from the pit.

The Skints are one of the few things I remember from my first 2000 Trees, watching them from my tent far too early in the day while feeling very sorry for my alcohol-ravaged self. While a reggae band might stand out on the bill they were the perfect band for everyone from crusty hippies to small children to cynical teenagers to have a little dance to in hot evening, with a great sound, tight musicianship and well-crafted songs.

2000 Trees regulars and local-ish lads The St Pierre Snake Invasion were back with their new album playing the Cave at more respectable time than their usual allotted slots. They powered through their well-received set including album closer “I Am A Lonely Tourist”. For this particular track they were joined by a rather overwhelmed 5-year old named William who, after much encouragement and fist-bumping from frontman Damien Sayell, blasted his kazoo and shouted along like a champ to rapturous applause.

The St Pierre Snake Invasion : Photo Credit : Ben Morse

Clashes often give rise to the question: do you go for something reliable or try something new? Instead of trying to answer that we did both. Every Time I Die played their only UK set of the summer on the Main Stage, spurring on many a crowd surfer and circle pit. Once we'd had enough of that we strolled over to the Axiom for Wicca Phase Springs Eternal. The gothy trap project of Tiger's Jaw's Ben Walsh was a bit of an outsider on this year's line-up but was well received by the small crowd swaying along.

I went to see The Armed expecting something akin Employed To Serve and The Locust (as the timetable suggested) but didn't quite get either the technicality of ETS or the madness of the Locust. They did however a great stage presence even if their vocalist spent most of the set in the crowd stretching the limits of the microphone cable, and Groot handing out pastries.

The Armed : Photo Credit - Ben Morse

Deaf Havana closed the festival with a flashy light show and some big tunes. I've never been one for the headliners, the exceptions in recent years being Refused and At The Drive-In, but I found myself swaying and nodding along with an enthralled crowd, James Veck-Gilodi's voice soaring over the dark Cotswolds countryside.

Our final night of 2000 Trees was finished off in a typical fashion with chips, silent disco, and a guy playing a Jailhouse Rock/Killing in The Name Of mash-up on the Camp Reuben stage.

Until next year!!!!!

[cinephiled-com]

New Post has been published on Cinephiled

New Post has been published on http://www.cinephiled.com/interview-jessica-brown-findlay-beautiful-fantastic-ophelia-death-lady-sybil/

Interview: Jessica Brown Findlay on ‘This Beautiful Fantastic,’ Ophelia, and the Death of Lady Sybil

I had the chance to chat with Jessica Brown Findlay today minutes before she left for the theater to play Ophelia in the current critically acclaimed production of Hamlet at London’s Almeida Theater. That production stars the wonderful Juliet Stevenson as Gertrude and, as the Danish prince, Andrew Scott, who is also Findlay’s co-star in Simon Aboud’s film This Beautiful Fantastic. The film is a true starring vehicle for the actress, best known in this country as the beautiful, kind, and headstrong Lady Sybil on Downton Abbey. In This Beautiful Fantastic, Findlay plays a reclusive woman named Bella Brown, who suffers from the need to have total order in her life. She lives next to a cantankerous widower and horticulturist named Alfie (Tom Wilkinson) who is appalled at how Bella has let her own garden go, and his hapless servant Vernon (Scott) who ultimately goes to work for Brown as she begins to come out of her shell. Along the way, Bella meets Billy (Jeremy Irving), someone who appreciates her very unusual way of looking at the world.

Danny Miller: Thank you for talking to me when you’re about to go on stage in such a demanding role.

Jessica Brown Findlay: Yes, I’m about to get on my bus to head to the theater!

I so enjoyed your chemistry with Andrew Scott in this film. Is it just a coincidence that you two are reunited as Hamlet and Ophelia right now?

Yes, I guess I would call it a happy coincidence. I think Andrew saw my performance in our director Robert Icke’s previous play Oresteia, and I think that helped, too. But it’s wonderful to be working with him again.

When I talked to Simon Aboud about this movie last week, I admitted that I was a little fearful going in, knowing that the film was being described as “whimsical” and “like a fairy tale.” But none of my fears were realized thanks to your performance that didn’t have a trace of “preciousness” about it. Was that a concern you had going into that project as well?

Yes, definitely. I think when something stops being honest and goes too much into a certain kind of fantasy, you run the risk of becoming quite saccharine. But Bella struck me as someone who is a kind of no-nonsense type of person. She doesn’t really have time for any silliness. She’s quite aware that her real life is not anything like a fairy tale and yet that awareness frees her to express that kind of fantasy in her own writing. I was so interested in the balance that she displayed with that.

I so appreciated the way Bella channelled her OCD in a way that works for her while still recognizing her own fears and issues.

We wanted that to be very much a part of how she is, but not who she is, we didn’t want it to be her sole defining element. There are parts of how she lives that will always be with her, and yet, by slowly letting people in, she was able to relinquish certain parts of those fears and that need for total control. If I think of Bella going forward, it’s the connecting to people and the gardening that will help her from staying too much inside of herself.

The outward expression of her OCD in the way she set up her house was fascinating. Were there any parts of that incredible set that were your favorites?

I love the toothbrushes thing, I thought that was brilliant! And I found her kitchen absolutely amazing. The color of all those tins, the different types of tinned fruits lined up in the cupboard, it looked so beautiful. I wanted to have that in my own home, but I guess you’d have to commit to a whole cupboard full of tinned fruit and I’m not sure I’m ready for that! (Laughs.)

The costumes, too, said so much about her identity and were gorgeous.

All of the clothes were made for the film which was amazing. We wanted it to represent another way that she coped with her life. She’s sort of grown up in institutions so we decided that there would be comfort in a kind of uniform for Bella, that speaks to her. So we went with pieces that I think were beautiful but that had that element to it. It was all good fun, I especially loved the hats.

Did you get to keep any of those clothes since they were made especially for you?

Oh, I so wanted to keep the coat, it was amazing. Alas, no!

As a moviegoer I always find myself resonating with certain characters based on my own life experience and what I project into them. If you had to draw threads from your own life to Bella, and for that matter, Ophelia, would that be easy for you to do?

Oh, absolutely, I can certainly relate to both! It’s interesting, for me, I’ve always had to find parts of myself that make sense for the characters I’m playing. Then, when I’m performing, it can sometimes feel more honest than I feel in my regular life. I always have to find a way to connect to the characters — it never feels like an “escape,” it’s more like a “tuning in.”

Which always makes me wonder about the physical toll certain roles must have on actors. Your body doesn’t know the difference when you’re playing an intense scene, does it? It doesn’t know you’re “only acting.”

Right! It takes me a while to settle down when I come off stage, especially as Ophelia. It’s true that my body doesn’t know the difference, it feels quite real in the moment. The idea of just waking into that and then walking off and feeling absolutely fine, that just doesn’t happen, at least not for me.

It was a joy to see you opposite Tom Wilkinson in this film, he’s such a great actor. Had you ever worked with him before?

No, I had never worked with him, I’ve just always admired him from afar and thought, “You are brilliant!” I loved his character in this. He seems very cynical but it’s such an interesting performance because you can’t really be a cynic and grow a garden since that automatically means that you believe in life. Things have happened to his character to make him more closed off than he used to be, but in other ways he’s an open book even though he doesn’t know it. I so enjoyed working with him.

I also told Simon, a bit guiltily, that this was the film that finally killed off Lady Sybil for me once and for all! Is it strange to be so identified with a role you did years ago when you were so young? Or do you think we Americans are more obsessed with your past on Downton Abbey than people over there?

I do, actually, I think it really touched the imagination in America. Of course I totally appreciate what that character meant to so many people. It’s funny — the other day a woman was waiting by the theater to ask me to sign something and it it was a picture of me as Sybil. I looked at it and thought, “Oh God, who is this young girl?” It was a photo from the first series and I looked so terribly young and earnest!

I think a lot of us projected a lot of our own stuff into Lady Sybil’s death, there was some real grief there about it. To the point where even now as I talk to you there’s a certain relief to just realize that you’re alive after all! It’s kind of crazy.

I can understand that. She was so kind and so good, and she helped bring together people who really didn’t get along. I realize that she really had a strong effect of people.

I promise that if I ever interview you again, I won’t bring up Sybil Branson!

(Laughs.) That’s quite all right!

But speaking of great television roles, I’m very excited about what I’ve heard about your new series, Harlots. That’s coming here very soon, right?

Yes, the 29th of March. It’s fantastic, I’m so proud of it! It’s a brilliant feminist piece, and to work with all those women and to be able to go to work every day and do that job, it was just amazing, that’s what it’s all about for me, to be able to do stuff like that.

I can’t wait to see it. And if you ever get the chance to bring this production of Hamlet to the States, I would love to see it!

That would be so amazing!

[theseventhhex]

The Koreatown Oddity Interview

Dominique Purdy

Photo by Theo Jimison

The Koreatown Oddity aka Dominique Purdy was born and raised in Koreatown, Los Angeles. His first hip-hop influence was his own mother, who made jewellery and hung tight with Ice T, the Rhyme Syndicate, and Grandmaster Caz. Purdy moved from corner to corner through Koreatown his whole life, drawing, writing, and developing his own brand of experimental hip-hop, fused with comedy, and impromptu performance. As The Koreatown Oddity, rocking a wolf mask he bought back in high school for 70 bucks, he's been doing captivating crowds constantly with his enthralling creativity and charismatic presence. ‘Finna Be Past Tense’ is Purdy’s latest incredible offering, a record oozing matchless dexterity and is based around a loose concept of Koreatown Oddity reckoning with life, death, and the passage of time… The Seventh Hex talks to Dominique about experiencing various cultures, video games and classic cartoons…

TSH: Is documenting time gone by still at the heart of your musical expressions?

Dominique: Yeah, totally. Sometimes I think what else is there to express, you know? Every single moment that I progress, things get a little deeper for me. I know that whatever I put out, it’s going to be out there forever. It’s not just about making a song that’s hot or something that people can dance do - if it comes out that way, then that was the right mood and the right expression for it, however, my music is simply documenting my time in life because it’s all personal to me. I’m not going to talk about things that I can’t relate to and I won’t talk about a bunch of shit that I know nothing about.

TSH: Is the vibe and pattern of a beat an essential aspect when you form new music?

Dominique: Absolutely. When it comes to my own beats I know exactly what type of pockets they are going to be in. Each beat always has a certain flavour and feel that allows me to know what to do with it. Also, at times, the beats are colours to me - I may have like a blue or a grey type of visual or vibe attached to a beat and then the words that accompany the beat just come out of me. Usually I just write in my head, because it stays in there better. I also like to come back and revisit my beats later in the day too, simply because something in the world that I see or experience will inform the words I choose to include on top of the beats. I just attach the words to the beats and everything goes hand in hand.

TSH: Having had a while to digest your excellent album ‘Finna Be Past Tense’. When you look back at this album now, what stands out most?

Dominique: For me, what stands out most when I look back at this album is that it’s something that’s real to me. I’m glad I can look back at it and that it reminds me of some meaningful memories. Also, knowing people have got something out of it - that is cool. I’m proud of that because every song and every detail on this record was super-important for me. I don’t say stuff for no reason. I use metaphors and punchlines, but I only insert them in if they are necessary for the point I’m trying to get across.

TSH: Was it a natural approach to delve into one’s reckoning with life and death with this body of work?

Dominique: It just made sense. To be honest, the title itself ‘Finna Be Past Tense’ is what everything will become. It’s not really hard for me to talk about death; it’s actually quite natural given my character. There’s a murky lifestyle that’s been embedded in me since I was a kid. I’ve seen people broken and lost, as well as near death type of experiences too.

TSH: Talk us through the incentives that you drew on for the track ‘Mood of the Grind’...

Dominique: I specifically like the darkness of that track. I felt like I was on a mission with that track in trying to get certain points across whilst also incorporating a specific state of mind. You’ll notice that this track has certain inflictions in the beat, and when I felt those infections it would make me say ‘now you feel me’. I said that line with so much conviction because the infliction of the beat made me do so and the raps perfectly fed into this vibe too. That track has a lot of levels to help you take it in and it’s not meant to fall on deaf ears. I felt like I was expressing gems that people had given to me and there are several point of views going at once with that song too.

TSH: What resonates with you most when you overlook a song like ‘Yesterday’s News’?

Dominique: That’s a track that will always have a place in my mind. For me, it’s a specific post-it note from my head about how I feel. A lot of the rhymes in that track are quotes from conversations that I’ve had with my dad. When my dad heard that track, he was really happy to see how I’ve documented our discussions - he knows I’m a deep thinker. My dad realises that when he talks, I take it all in and turn it into something that other people can get something out of.

TSH: The ethics, lessons and morals that your parents have instilled in you remain very beneficial to you?

Dominique: Definitely. I still live with my mum and see my dad occasionally. My mom and dad were never married and they didn’t live in the same household when I was born either. However, separately the morals that they instilled in me have been so valuable. My parents have never been liars; they’ve always kept it real. As a kid you don’t really think about it, but when I think about it now I’m so grateful for what they taught me. They never shielded me from anything that was supposed to be adult, which includes me driving around with my mom during the riots.

TSH: Your mother is also very influential when it comes to your hip-hop roots...

Dominique: My mum is from Ohio and she came out to California when she was 19 - she just wanted a better life so she moved to California to find better opportunities. Both of my parents are hustlers on their own. My mum had an entrepreneurial business selling to all the rappers; she sold jewellery and gear, so she was always coming up on hip-hop. In fact I know so much about hip-hop because of my mom.

TSH: Dropping knowledge is always in play when you meet your father...

Dominique: Totally. We don’t meet that much nowadays, but when we do, there is so much energy brought into that one experience. One day with my dad feels like half a year. My dad is a street dude; he didn’t have a father so he learnt through living on the streets.

TSH: Where you’re from there are so many cultures to experience: Ethiopian, Indian, Greek, Korean etc...

Dominique: I’m impacted greatly by my surroundings. I don’t even have a passport, even though I’ll probably get one this year. I’d like to go to other places in the world, but if it never happens, I won’t be disappointed. When I’m here in Los Angeles, I have pockets of all the cultures you can think of and I can experience them all. I stumble across other cultures all the time and I’m always learning about them.

TSH: Film also influences how listeners receive your words and sounds...

Dominique: You know, I like films from all eras, but I’m definitely into abstract and crazy type of movies. I especially love how movies back in the day were shot, including the unique things they did with the credits and dialogue back then - I’m into that. I recently watched The Hustler with Paul Newman - I’d never seen it before, but I thought it was great. I like movies from that era because you can tell the actors were serious about acting. The actors back then were not throwaway in any way. Today’s acting is a throwaway thing, people become actors just because they want to make money and be famous. Back then people were looking to make people feel something, they took it seriously. But yeah, film is a huge influence, which is why my albums tend to have a theme, much like its own movie.

TSH: Was playing and getting lost in videos games back in the day a special time for you?

Dominique: Ah man, I loved playing the NES, the SNES and SEGA Genesis. Back in the day I used to play arcades all of the time. We’d play games like Contra, Ninja Turtles, Double Dragon, Kung-Fu Master, Sonic the Hedgehog and all of the Mario games. Oh, and I’m a massive fan of Mortal Kombat too. I remember going to play it at my boy’s house when it first came out on a system because it was only on arcades before that. We’d always be trying to figure out the codes, there was no internet back then to rely on, ha! Also, I remember when Mortal Kombat II came out and my mom got it from work. I don’t know how she got it, but everyone was flocking to my house and playing until late in the night. I play video games once in a while now but it’s not like how it used to be. Video games are an influence on my music as well, especially the creativity of the gameplay and the music.

TSH: Judging by your Instagram, you also admire animation from yesteryear too...

Dominique: Ha, I’m glad you noticed that. Yeah, I love animation man. I especially love the older stuff because I came up on that stuff. I used to watch Huckleberry Hound, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. The animation of the old cartoons is so good because it’s so on point, even the music that accompanies it too. The whole Hanna-Barbera age is definitely a huge influence on me. I could just put that stuff on and watch it for hours.

TSH: What are your plans with your future musical ambitions?

Dominique: I definitely want to put myself on a bigger platform. There are a lot of unique personalities in hip-hop, but when you look more towards the mainstream and the bigger platforms, there’s only a certain amount of voices that are there. I feel like when I’m able to get to the higher platform, that’s when I’ll be able to do a whole lot more. I want people to know that when they come to my show they cannot be offered this kind of experience anywhere else, they have to get it from me. I want to be able to fully bring my mind out of my head and onto the stage for people to see. I want to bring audiences into my world, both on record and onstage. With my next record I want to take people on a journey with me and give them a further insight into my state of mind. Underneath it all, there’s a spiritual connection with everything that I do and I hope I can share this with the masses.

The Koreatown Oddity - “Fuck Dinosaurs”

Finna Be Past Tense

[marcuserrico]

#BatmanDay: The strange but true history of Harley Quinn revealed!

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad (Photo: Warner Bros.)

Editor’s note: The original version of this story ran in July 2016, as Harley Quinn was about to make her big-screen debut in Suicide Squad. With Saturday designated as the annual Batman Day, and DC celebrating by giving Harley a co-starring role coinciding with her 25th anniversary, we thought it was the perfect time to revisit our first-hand account of the strange origin of one of DC’s strangest characters from the man who dreamed her up.

  ________________________

In the early 1990s, Paul Dini was a writer for hire, cranking out scripts for the ground-breaking, noirish Batman: The Animated Series, when inspiration struck. For a story called “Joker’s Favor,” Episode 22 of the show’s first season airing on Sept. 8, 1992, a previously unseen character popped up in the background. She wore distinctive jester garb, cracked one-liners and earned the ire of the Clown Prince of Crime, with whom she had some unstated relationship. Harley Quinn was born. Dini picks up the story…

It was always understood that the Joker was going to have a rotating gang of hench-people, everybody from street thugs to circus-type people — whoever we needed at the moment. And for this one, I wanted to give him a female hench-person, because I felt it would fit the tone of what we were doing. It hearkened back to the Adam West series in the ’60s where you’d see the Riddler with Jill St. John or the Penguin with a young moll… and we thought it would be fun to do a modern-day twist on that.

Harley was a glorified background character in her first appearance in Batman: The Animated Series (Clip: Warner Bros.)

I was looking for a name and thought “Harley” was a good one.  I’m a big one on puns or names that describe what a character is — it’s something that goes back to Charles Dickens… I thought “Harlequin” was an interesting, fun kind of a character and I split up the name — Harley Quinn. It was cute.

The idea for the character came from several sources, and Dini envisioned her fitting a certain Hollywood trope.

I was working at home on some other projects and I had doodled up a drawing of this crazy blond character in a miniskirt. I based her on [I Dream of Jeannie star] Barbara Eden. A 1960s blonde in a miniskirt.

Dini’s original Harley Quinn sketch refers to her as a “1940s screwball, Betty Hutton, Gloria Grahame, Claudette Colbert with an attitude.” (Image: Paul Dini/Warner Bros.)

I remember bringing it in to Bruce [Timm, the lead artist and co-producer on Batman: The Animated Series] and saying, “What do you thing of this?” And he looked at it and went, “Ooh. I think we can do better.” And he put my drawing aside and came up with something that was very sleek and very elegant; something I think he put a lot of heart and soul into. When I saw that first model, I said, “That’s perfect.” She combined a sense of fun and impishness. You could tell she was a gymnast or maybe a ballet dancer just from the way he drew her — up and ready to move.

I saw Harley as a wise-cracking Girl Friday-type character that you might have seen in a ’30s or ’40s screwball comedy. I like the fact that she could crack a joke and the henchmen would laugh, and the Joker would kind of glare at her. It gave the scene a Punch and Judy quality of one-upmanship.

I also based her in part on my friend Arleen Sorkin — who wound up doing the voice — who has that personality of the very snappy, wisecracking, bubbly blonde. She was on TV a lot at that time, on Days of Our Lives and a show called Duet playing largely that character.

Arleen Sorkin, with her own Louisville Slugger, as Calliope on Days of Our Lives (Photo: Joseph Del Valle/NBC/Getty Images)

So when I came up with Harley, I asked [Arleen], “Do you want to do the voice?” And she said, “Yes.” We brought her in — it was her first voiceover and she did a tremendous job on it.

Watch Sorkin on ‘Days of Our Lives’ in the character that helped inform Harley:

  But I really didn’t have plans for the character beyond that episode.

Although she was intended as a one-off character, Dini couldn’t shake Harley. The rest of the Batman brain trust also became smitten with the burgeoning Maiden of Mischief and soon enough, she was back on the show.

There was something about the character. We thought she was a lot of fun. We didn’t want to do every Joker story with her in it, because we didn’t want to overuse her or make it just about the two of them — because the Joker has to be a credible threat when he’s on his own — but thought every couple of episodes, it wouldn’t be bad if she was part of the regular group.

Blessed with Sorkin’s squeaky, Brooklyn-accented pipes, Harley perfectly channeled Dini’s sense of humor. She also developed a few early catchphrases, including endearing nicknames for the Joker.

Every time I wrote her, I tried to think of funnier things for her to say to expand her role a little bit.

“Mr. J” was a natural because that made her a wisecracking blonde. “Puddin’” came from that lunch with Bruce, where he just said she should have a really goopy [nickname] for the Joker. And we both hit on it. “What about Puddin’?” “Oh, Puddin’ is great.”

As Harley became a key member of the animated series, DC took notice of her growing popularity and decided to transition the character to the comics. But she didn’t leap directly to the pages of the main DC Universe continuity; instead she appeared in a book based on the show.

There was an issue of The Batman Adventures, No. 12. And that was the first time she showed up in comics. … It was an all-girl story with [villain] Poison Ivy, Harley and Batgirl taking center stage. It was a way of using characters that had popped up in the animated series in a comic book.

Harley’s first comic book appearance (Image: DC Entertainment)

Working hand in hand with DC, they saw all the episodes first, and they were able to see all the scripts as they came in, and it was able to dovetail pretty closely to her teaming up with Poison Ivy in the animated series. They saw what we were doing with her and they liked it. She showed up in The Batman Adventures book first, and then Bruce and I came up with the “Mad Love” story. Then she began showing up more and more in the comic books.

“Mad Love,” a one-shot 1994 special issue of The Batman Adventures, established the origin story for Harley Quinn. For the first time, we learn that Dr. Harleen Quinzel was an intern at Arkham Asylum where she fell under the sway of the Joker and busted him out. She adopted the persona of Harley Quinn in an attempt to win his favor.

I’m no stranger to therapy. I was spending some time in therapy and was in my head a lot around that time. Bruce and I were discussing her origin one day over lunch, because I had been approached by DC to do a special issue of the comic, and we were talking about what if there was some sort of surprise to her origin? What if she’s not just a hench girl? We came up with the idea that she had been a doctor at Arkham Asylum and the Joker had gotten into her head and worked her into being his follower. … Then we thought, what if Harley’s in the role of the long-suffering girlfriend?

Harley’s origin story is revealed in ‘Mad Love’ comic (Photo: DC Entertainment)

There was also an element of the fans who write to a prisoner who committed a terrible crime and say, “I understand you… I see the good in you,” and sometimes develop a relationship.

It didn’t take much effort for Dini to come up with Harley’s real name.

Let’s think. Harley Quinn. OK, what’s easy? Arleen does her voice, we’ll put an H on the front. What’s [Arleen’s] middle name? Frances? We’ll use that. Harleen Frances. And then Quinzel. I knew there had to be a name that shortened to Quinn. I had a teacher at Emerson College named Quenzel — spelled slightly differently. Dr. Quenzel, or Professor Quenzel — I changed the spelling of the name, and I’m sure he’s not even aware of it. [We attempted to contact George Quenzel to find out if he had any inkling of his role in Harley’s origin, but the professor passed away in 2012.]

By the end of “Mad Love,” Harley is broken both physically and emotionally after being abandoned by the Joker. As she’s locked into her own cell at Arkham Asylum, she decides she’s through with her beloved Mr. J forever, only to find a flower and a note from him. It’s the start of a demented relationship.

She’s still into him. That growth is hard. For a person who’s really codependent or whose self-esteem is dictated by how they think other people think about them, they’ll take a crumb of affection and turn it into a whole cake. So Harley could swear off him and be very strong, but If there’s even the hint that he wants her back or he’s reformed, she’ll go back.

Joker and Dr. Quinzel meet cute in animated version of ‘Mad Love’ (Clip: Warner Bros.)

When I did the first comic book that placed her in canon in the Batman universe, she really has Joker at her mercy at one point. She’s going to send him to his death and she goes, “I’m gonna kill you, and I’m gonna make my life right again.” He’s hanging by his fingertips and he says something like, “Would it help if I said I’m sorry?” And she goes, “Yeah!” We play it for a laugh, but I wanted to share there’s some tragedy involved with making these choices. I think that had that continued with the character going along that way, she wouldn’t be as popular. I think at some point, she has to wise up and go, “This guy does me no damned good. I am a doctor after all and I do see what he’s doing. They’ll always be something in my head that feels something for this guy at some level, but I have to value myself more than he does.”

I also see the Joker as like Pygmalion. He never knew that he’d fall in love with his own creation. I think more than loving who Harley actually is, he loves what he turned her into. I think he viewed Dr. Harleen Quinzel an art project almost. “What can I make of this? I’m going to get her to break me out of the asylum, but am I going to bump her off? What am I going to do with her here?” And then she far exceeded his expectations to the point where he’s like, “Hey, wait a minute…” He actually did fall in love with elements that he brought out in her. But he’s still an abusive jerk.

Eventually, Harley did try to forge her own path in the cartoon and the comics, often paired with another Bat-villain, Poison Ivy.

We had also established Poison Ivy as a character on her own, and I thought, “What if she and Poison Ivy teamed up — it might be a fun story, where a strong female character brings something strong out of somebody who’s not as strong.” And then we wound up with the two of them being friends. And that became its own dynamic. The more we used Harley and the more we used her in different roles, the more we discovered what a richer character she was; she just blossomed, in a very short time, to the point where she was just as interesting as Catwoman or Penguin or Ra’s al Ghul or one of the other core Batman characters.

For a long time I thought, “What if we just did a Harley show? What if we just do her off on her own? Can I do a short with her where she’s just a manic presence?” At one point they were doing these DC Showcase Shorts … and I thought, “What about a solo Harley short that has no dialogue, it’s just her causing trouble to music? Almost like a weird Fantasia sequence where we show her as this crazy sprite. The idea never got further than that, but I kept pushing to make her a solo character independent of the Joker and Batman.

She started out as one thing and morphed into another. Mickey Mouse is not the same guy steering the steamboat and squeaking, and Bugs Bunny has gone from being a nameless rabbit to an iconic character. Same with Harley.

In 2009, Dini launched the Gotham City Sirens comic book, focusing on Harley, Ivy, and Catwoman. When that book ended its run in 2011, as DC was preparing to reboot its entire comics line, Dini’s clown princess faced an uncertain future.

I was afraid she might be in mothballs, but no. I was really excited when the New 52 came out, and she was so prominently featured. They did a solo book on her, and the Suicide Squad was going to use her. She was also such a prominent element in the video games. Suddenly she was everywhere.

And with anticipation for Suicide Squad at a fever pitch, Harley is about to go next-level…

About two years ago, I found out she was going to be in the movie. It was one of those things I just heard about. “Harley’s going to be in a movie.” Wow, that’s pretty cool. In talking casually with friends and peers, I said that someone should do a solo villain movie to really establish their presence in the DC Universe and show why they’re credible threats to the heroes. We know who Batman is. We know Superman. Now do a villain movie. When I heard they were doing Suicide Squad, introducing everybody except Lex, who was in [Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice], I thought, “Good job.” It makes good sense to establish the key bad guys. And when I heard Harley was in the mix, I was going “Oh man, terrific.”

I’ve seen the trailer and some of the photos online. I love the color scheme. The candy-colored look. [Margot Robbie] looks great. Entertainment Weekly shows up on my door with the two of them on the cover [Robbie as Harley and Jared Leto as the Joker] and I think, “That’s so cool. That’s the live-action extension of the cartoon right there.” I have in my house the painting from her first comic book in the DC Universe… and she’s leaning back against the Joker. And I held up the cover [of Entertainment Weekly] next to it, and I said to myself, “15 years later, here’s what they’ve morphed into.” They’re still together and it’s still the iconic look.

Covers of Entertainment Weekly and Harley Quinn No. 1 (Photo: Entertainment Weekly; DC Entertainment)

_____________________ Paul Dini is an Emmy-winning writer whose most recent work, the graphic novel Dark Night: A True Batman Story, tells the harrowing tale of his brutal mugging and struggle to overcome his demons.

Paul Dini (Photo: Alan Weissman) 

[rockrevoltmagazine]

Show Review & Photo Gallery: Slayer, Lamb of God & Behemoth - Boston, MA

Slayer – Blue Hills Bank Pavilion – Boston, MA – July 25, 2017

Nearly four decades into their existence Slayer are playing to as many sold out crowds these days as they ever did back in the golden age of metal, the 80’s. 

The heavy metal community should consider themselves lucky that classic thrash and speed metal bands such as Slayer are still touring, let alone taking into account the band continues to perform at such a high level.

They probably should also take solace in the fact that behind the Slayer’s of the world there are a handful of metal acts that at least have the possibility of carrying the metal torch the band lit in the 80’s into the next millennium.

Acts such as Behemoth and Lamb of God, both of whom pulled up their tour buses alongside Slayer to the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston, Massachusetts this past week, may very well one day establish the kind of legacies Slayer has built.

The evening of metal mayhem in Boston began with an abbreviated but dynamic set by Polish death metal stalwarts Behemoth.  Taking to the stage behind mic stands in the form of wrought iron snakes and demonic symbols while dressed in black leather and chainmail armor, Nergal, Seth, Orion and Inferno immediately drew the Beantown metal crazies into their web of dark metal madness.

What clearly separates Behemoth from many of their contemporaries in the world of death metal is the fact that not only is their musical acumen beyond reproach, the band’s presence on stage as well their ability to connect with any audience makes them of all things, likeable.

Behemoth would go on to crank out resplendent versions of tracks such as “Ov Fire and the Void”, “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer” and “Alas, Lord is upon me.” 

The biggest takeaways from Behemoth’s time on stage, however, had to be less about what songs they played and more about the sheer force of their musical performance as well as the instant connections they seamlessly made with the Boston audience.

It’s rare for an opening act playing in the daylight hours to invigorate a crowd to the degree that Behemoth was able to. By the time Behemoth had started to play the opening chords of their second song on the night, “Conquer All,” the vast majority of those in attendance were no longer milling around at the merchandise booths or grabbing a slice of over priced pizza. 

Instead most of the crowd had already been entranced by the evil metal spell the band had cast over them, and rightfully so.  The one negative in terms of the Behometh’s performance in Boston could only be tied to the simple fact that they only played for a mere thirty minutes.

Next up were Richmond, Virginia metal heroes Lamb of God.  It’s worth tipping the cap to Behemoth once again as their set more than primed the Boston audience for what was to come on the evening.  

From the opening chords of “Laid to Rest” Randy Blythe and Lamb of God had the entirety of the audience wrapped around their proverbial metal fingers.   

LoG have never and likely will never be an outfit that relies on too many bells and whistles in terms of their live stage production.  Beyond some post apocalyptic imagery playing on a few video screens behind the band, Lamb of God let their music speak for itself and boy did it ever.

The band’s set was fiery, captivating and soul crushing while also offering up countless moments of metal intensity the Boston crowd eagerly ate up throughout the duration of the band’s time on stage. 

When Blythe turned to the audience signaling them to sing the lyric, “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For”, their ensuing reaction was nothing short of spine tingling, as nearly every last one of them in unison repeated those very words back to Blythe. 

One of the elements that any metal fan has to admire about Lamb of God is there’s not a single act out that there today that even remotely sounds like them.  LoG is their own genre of metal. They’re like this evil metal unicorn or devilish forest Leprechaun that has to been seen live and in the flesh on stage to be believed.

The band’s performance in Boston turned out to be nothing short of brutally beautiful.   Their set surely had to have inspire some of the younger audience members to go home and pick up the guitar or at very least crank up a Lamb of God record and mosh unapologetically in their bedrooms while their family’s cat or dog looks on in bewilderment.

It would be difficult to single out any one specific song or moment that served as the primary highlight from Lamb of God’s set. That fact alone speaks volumes about the overall quality of any LoG live performance.

If forced to single out a few choice moments from the band’s time on stage in Beantown tracks such as the old school “Ruin” and more modern day favorites including “Walk With Me in Hell” as well as set closer “Redneck” had to be considered high points of the evening. 

Prior to launching into “Redneck” Blythe made reference for the second time on the night how it was unusual to be at a metal show that had seats, this time commenting,

“Normally we call for a circle pit on this one but that’s not going to happen so do something weird, just freak the fuck out.  Go crazy, get naked, stick your cell phones up your asses, do something freaky Boston.  Let’s get bizarre mother fuckers.”

Based on the crowd’s vocal and physical response to the front man’s request, anyone in attendance would have to admit the audience reacted in ways Blythe and company surely must have been impressed by.

The final act of the evening of course were southern California speed and thrash founding fathers Slayer.  Again without sounding like a broken record, nods have to be given to both Behemoth and Lamb of God for delivering sublime performances as well as for drawing the audience that much furhter into the show.   

Both opening acts got the crowd’s metal blood boiling for what would turn out to be an awe inspiring performance by Tom Arya, Kerry King, Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph.

A funny thing has happened along the course of Slayer’s career in terms of their live performance, they’ve become showman.  Yes, the music itself is still the glue and the burning ember that powers the Slayer machine. However, the band has made strides in terms of their live show as it pertains to creating show pace, building anticipation and even their stage production.  

For decades Slayer would just hit the stage with nothing more than a curtain donning their name behind them and without anything besides their instruments that could even remotely be considered a prop.

These days the thrash and speed metal kings are touring with somewhat of an elaborate light and laser visual production that also includes its fair share of blinding pyrotechnics.  

Slayer has never needed and never will need anything beyond their music to bond with their metal brethren but it’s kind of cool to go to one of their concerts these days and be taken aback by their shows’ production values.

The band began their set in Boston with only a gargantuan white curtain spanning from stage end to stage end as the Repentless track “Delusions of Saviour” built an organic dark swell of anticipation that slowly washed over the Boston crowd.

Not exactly the U2’s Zoo TV tour set up by any means but sometimes the old ways are the best ways. The pale drapery slowly began to become awash in a sea of blood red with huge white crosses spinning aimlessly until coming to rest in their familiar upside position.

As the instrumental track made its way to conclusion the cross imagery morphed into four pentagrams that would eventually come together to form Slayer’s iconic symbol. The band’s symbol quickly gave way to the four shadowy figures that comprise Slayer taking the stage before the curtain would fall and the band would launch into “Repentless.” 

Again Slayer has evolved their live show in terms of set pacing over the years.  They seemingly have taken into account that not only what they choose to play but when, can have a profound effect on how any audience reacts to a show.  Has Slayer actually become thoughtful or gasp, introspective?  Oh the horror!

The front end of Slayer’s set focused on balancing classics such as “Post Mortem” and “War Ensemble” with more recent material that included tracks like “Disciple” and “Hate Worldwide.” 

It’s worth nothing how much Slayer’s more recent material was embraced by the audience.  It was next to impossible not to notice that many of those in attendance were singing the lyrics to the new material word for word.

That’s not only a testament to the power of Slayer as a band, it also speaks to the fact that the band is still cranking out records that their core fan base continues to connect with.

After the pitching and swaying between the new and the old, the metal engine that is Slayer really began to purr as the band annihilated the audience with a crushing salvo of  fan favorites “Mandatory Suicide,” “Hallowed Point,” “Dead Skin Mask” and “Born of Fire.”

It would almost be a crime not to mention the camaraderie shared by many of Slayer’s fans throughout the evening.  A shining example of this metal brotherhood would come during the performance of “Dead Skin Mask,” as something quite unexpected happened.  

One wouldn’t think thrash and speed metal would present too many opportunities, if any, for crowd wide sing-a-longs but 80% or more of the crowd sang the lyrics,

“Dance with the dead in my dreams. Listen to the hallowed screams. The dead have taken my soul. Temptation lost all control.”   

Fans of Seasons in the Abyss certainly must have been elated as Slayer would end up playing five of the record’s ten tracks.  Super old school Slayer fans, however, may have walked away wishing the band played a bit more early 80’s material as “Hell Awaits” and “Chemical Warfare” wound up being the only pre Reign in Blood songs performed on the night.

Speaking of “Hell Awaits” it may be one of Slayer’s classics but visually the band has brought the track into the modern age.  No song performed on the evening, outside of “Reign in Blood” was more visually inspired as the pyrotechnics and blinding visuals that accompanied the song’s performance created a surreal evil metal fueled sensory overload.

Who knows how much longer Slayer will continue to tour or for that matter even record.  Both Araya and King have made some rather cryptic comments lately about the band’s future, which I’m sure have many fans feeling as though the end may very well be near.

Fortunately there are some acts such as Behemoth and Lamb of God that give both old and new school metal fans hope that transcendent metal music will carry on for generations to come even should Slayer call it quits one day in the near or distant future.  

Regardless of how many days, weeks, months or years fans have left to enjoy Slayer on the lighted stage I’m guessing this sentiment will always reign true, On and on, south of heaven!  On and on, south of heaven!

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All Writing & Photography:  Robert Forte

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Show Review & Photo Gallery: Slayer, Lamb of God & Behemoth – Boston, MA was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

[houstonlocalus-blog]

An Interview with Power Trip

Power Trip. Photo courtesy of Facebook

  Dallas’ crossover phenomenon Power Trip recently embarked on their national tour in support of Nightmare Logic, their latest album that released February 24. Based on their album, it’s apparent that the band has stuck to their craft while kicking up the melodic and rhythmic skills. As one of the craziest live shows around, it’s apparent why the group have selected Iron Reagan to give direct support: a match made in the mosh pit. Other groups performing include Skourge, Omertà and Sexpill. Power Trip vocalist Riley Gale spoke to Free Press Houston about their latest release, his craziest memories on stage, and who really runs Dallas.

  Free Press Houston: Can you talk a bit about the the time spent recording Nightmare Logic? Also, was it recorded solely in Dallas?

Riley Gale: It was, uh, tedious and slow, but it was good. I had a really good time. It was two years of writing and getting together between tours when we could. We finally got together and began to pound it out during the recording sessions. It was a lot easier this time than the last one, for sure, because I think we knew what we were doing in the studio.

And no, some of it was recorded in Denton, and some was recorded in Philadelphia. It was basically split between the two.

  FPH: What is going to be the biggest surprise for fans on this record, if any?

Gale: I guess it would be the traction that we’ve picked up over the last couple of years. I did not expect the band to be this successful ever, really, or as big as we are and as fast as we did.

  FPH: You are playing with Iron Reagan, another obviously energetic group; how did you get in touch with them?

Gale: Oh, they’re just good friends of ours. Tony [Foresta] was a big fan of Power Trip from early on, and he started to hit me up and was like, “Oh, I’m doing this crossover band, Iron Reagan.” I decided that if they were able to get their shit together, we would be there to help out. They’ve done a lot on their own, but they’ve been, like, a brother band to us, I guess because we’re both crossover bands. But our members get along really well, we’re all good friends, not just tour-mates. It was a no brainer: they had a record out, we had a record coming out, so it seemed like the obvious move rather than compete for crown of our music, you know?

  FPH: I know you and other members met at various hardcore shows around town, but when it was time to start Power Trip, was there ever any thought about going either metal or punk, and not going in between?

Gale: I have a desire to start these bands that were, sort of, influenced by these hardcore bands that were influenced by other metal bands. But as we got out chops up and got more talented as a band it made sense to bring more metal into the fold, you know?

  FPH: What was the importance of the DIY culture to you and for the creation of the band?

Gale: It was pretty important. When you say do-it-yourself, it’s more of a team effort. We wanted to have control over what we do as a band, artistically and all, and you don’t put that stuff in the hands of people you don’t trust. We have a tight-knit group. We have a producer, a permanent road-guy, and his job is to build the brand, so to speak. That’s sort of the way it is with bands these days: a lot of it feels like you are a traveling T-shirt salesman. You go up there and your 30 minutes on stage is your pitch to get people to buy merch. People have gotten better about buying records, which is great. I love that people are starting to support in actual, physical formats again. It’s not like it used to be, obviously. If someone wants to steal a record [online] they’re going to steal a record; if they want to collect music and buy it, they’re going to buy it. We saw that our record was leaked two weeks earlier before it’s release date, but we didn’t care. It busts that hype bubble, which kind of sucks, but it is what it is. We’re just happy that we’re able to get to get the record out there. I think it helped sales, though: if anyone was skeptical, they could check it out. It seems like this album has already shit up a lot of the critics that weren’t big fans of the first record. We had a lot people who liked it, and we were very receptive to it, but there are people who are going to say “we didn’t like the first one, but I already bought this, downloaded that.” It goes back to the DIY thing, where we are in control of trying to create a product that appeals to anyone. We have control over what people see and hear. It’s a good thing that we have that control, so to speak.

  FPH: What were you listening to growing up? Was there any particular label that you were drawn to?

Gale: When I was first getting into punk it was just anything and everything. I’d say, when I was really young and getting into punk at 13 or 14, Epitaph and Fat Wreck were the big ones, and that was cool because they actually put out hardcore records, too. They had a broad mix of sound. For a long time, I thought bands like Sick Of It All or Madball on Epitaph were just another punk band, you know? It was the same with bands like Bad Brains, I just thought that they were another punk band. There hasn’t been a specific label, I’d say, that has anchored what I’m into. If I discovered a new label, I’d look up a lot of their releases. But you had labels like Dischord and Jade Tree that were really important for a while. In their heyday, Bridge Nine was putting out some good hardcore records that I liked. But you also have the metal labels like Nuclear Blast and stuff like that. Nuclear Blast put out the really legendary thrash records. Combat Records was another good one. I didn’t worship a label, but labels were very big in helping me find other bands, for sure. I hate to admit it, but Victory Records — I loved stuff like Earth Crisis — showed me bands that blended hardcore with punk and other stylings.

  FPH: As you got older, did you delve into their weird stuff, like Amphetamine Reptile?

Gale: I got into AmpRep around the time I got into that sound, so I would put it around 18-20 years old, when I was getting into bands like Kyuss, Fudge Tunnel, and the Melvins, obviously. Some of their connections to the punk world were cool. But yeah, the label put out some great stuff.

  FPH: My first time seeing the group was at Fun Fun Fun back in 2016, and I was blown away by the high energy. In fact, the energy was so intense that I imagine venues are even more so. Do you ever get worried that something can go terribly wrong on stage, or perhaps did when you were starting?

Gale: Eh, I wouldn’t say nervous. I was nervous at Hellfest in France, because of the sheer size of the crowd. I was like, “if they don’t like us, I don’t know if our ego could handle 20,000 people booing us off,” you know? A lot of the earlier shows with Lamb of God were the same, I was just a bit nervous about the reaction. But I’ve never been scared for anyone at a show. I mean, some people have gotten hurt, but we’re really good about making sure they’re OK. I’m not up there singing “kill your fellow neighbor” or anything like that. This whole culture of mock-violence — we have to understand and draw a line that there is a pace to take out your aggression. If you want to punch a guy who is participating in the same thing, then cool. There are obviously people who come to just watch the band, though. I do feel bad sometimes, when we’re playing a show and the kids get going — if a fight breaks out, we’re going to stop and say something. I’ll tell them to knock that shit out, or if they want to fight, come on stage and fight us, you macho-man kid. I don’t promote actual violence or anything like that.

  FPH: What’s been the craziest show moment from recent memory?

Gale: Oh, man, we have we so many of those! There’s a lot. Sometimes, people like to go crazy. Two shows that always stand out would be Moscow and St. Petersburg, when we first went to Russia, because they were well-attended shows, and the number of people participating and moshing was crazy. To see people go that crazy over a band that — we didn’t know anything about Russia or what to expect. It was just a cool moment.

We’ve had shows with fireworks, people setting stuff on fire, etc. There was a SXSW show that was another favorite of mine. We played a venue called Barbarella’s — it’s usually a dance club — that had a nice patio setup. This guy set up the showcase and it was Power Trip, a few others, and Cro-Mag’s. During our set, people were throwing anything that wasn’t attached to the group: trashcans, etc. Some guy threw out a fake wad of money, which led my friend to throw out a real wad of money, so there was actual money flying around. The bouncers were trying to get between the stage and the fans, and they were just beating up the security. It got so hectic, that [the venue] just pulled the power to the stage, because it almost looked like a riot. I was trying to tell the staff to get out of the fucking way, like don’t do it and you won’t get hurt. The owner comes on stage with the promoter of the show comes on stage and is like “What the fuck is going on? What do we do?” All of the kids are chanting our name, so I told the venue that they had two options: let us play our final songs with security out of the way and I’ll tell them to watch out for the monitors. I don’t want people to show up to a show and disrespect the venue, I’m not that kind of person. Of course I incite a lot of excitement, but I don’t want people tearing apart a venue. The other option was I turn to these kids and yell “Riot!” I asked which one they wanted to do, so we went to finish. It was a lot of fun. Some kid kept flipping me off right to my face and spat on me, so I punched him in the face and broke his nose. But our set was so crazy, that when Cro-Mag’s went on, the venue had to take on more security. It wasn’t as exciting. They’re a great band, but it didn’t feel the same.

  FPH: Finally, does Power Trip actually mean more to Dallas than the Cowboy’s?

Gale: I mean, if you don’t give a shit about football, maybe. There’s no way that the whole metroplex actually cares. I would never say that. [The Noisey write-up] was just my friend giving us a nice little nod of hyperbole, so I’ll take it, sure. But no, I don’t think we will actually mean more to Dallas than the Cowboy’s. I doubt we’ll mean more than Pantera. If we’re lucky, we’ll mean more than Drowning Pool. I’ll take that as a goal.

An Interview with Power Trip this is a repost