Music

Bang Bang Eche: New Zealand Dance Punk

2009-11-05T23:09:57+00:00

New Zealand’s Bang Bang Eche is a dance punk band that you can’t listen to without wanting to move. I don’t mean move as in shuffle your feet or sway from side to side. I mean crazy ass, wave your hands in the air like you just don’t care, throw yourself around without any thought at all, mindless dancing.

I got the chance to talk to Zach Doney, lead singer for the band, while they were in New Jersey and I was pretty excited. I had watched their videos and listened to their new EP, “Sonic Death Cunttt,” which is set to release in the next few weeks and includes their hot new single, “Fist Full of Dollars.”

Dance punk was a whole new genre for me. This was going to be fun, I thought! Little did I know how right I was and that this would be one of my favorite interviews thanks to Zach’s Willy Wonka-esque answers. Just like Bang Bang Eche’s music, this was going to be a conversation I wouldn’t, or couldn’t, soon forget.
I started by asking Zack about the band’s name. Turned out I was wrong about the pronunciation. It’s Bang Bang Eche (etch) not Bang Bang Eche (esh). Go figure, I’m not from New Zealand. After I worked that out, I asked where they came up with their name. “The name is just something T’Nealle [Worsley, guitar/bass/synth and founder of the band] made up.” We had to pause for a lot of coughing…he sounded like he wasn’t going to make it. He must have had a really rough night the night before. “There’s this band in Australia called Bang Bang X and we, we stole it.”

According to Bang Bang Eche’s MySpace page, “Once there were four kids/they were walking in the park one day/when an old man came up to them and asked/I have three cats, called Agatha, Agnes and Albert/I live all alone with my cats, and everyday I wonder…/do any of you kids like to play around?/And the kids all said ”F*** YEAH!”/and went back to the old man’s house to party…and that’s how bang bang eche was started…”
I really liked this explanation of how the band got together but I thought I better ask Zach in case there was a different version. The first thing I got was more coughing. In fact, he was really hacking now. I was starting to worry and I hoped he would be able to stop long enough to answer me.

”The band started as a joke two and a half years ago from a competition thing.” He finally answered. “And then the joke got out of hand and now [we’re] just making some money on the joke and flying around the world, and it’s a joke.” I liked the MySpace version better but I thought Zach did a great job of making something up for me.
With a band like Bang Bang Eche, I wondered about influences. What made these kids play like this, sing like this, perform like this? Zach flailing around seizure-like onstage; drummer James Sullivan mysteriously stripped down to his underwear half way through their sets; guitarist Charlie Ryder switching instruments so fast that if you blinked you missed it; and through it all, T’Nealle calmly surveying her queendom as if everything was right in her world. Again, I turned to Zach for the answers.

And again, he gave me something I wasn’t expecting. “All of us have different influences,” he said. “I like computers but not the band computers, just computers…T’Nealle likes pillows…” What??? “Charlie likes Radiohead, but probably some other shit too. He likes blogs, mostly, and James likes dreamy stuff.”

Like what, I asked? “I don’t know, like the band Moom or Mum? I’m not sure how to say that band’s name.” (I think it’s Moom) “And Brian Eno, and also just like, blissing out.”
Bang Bang Eche plays the Aquarium Sunday night, November 8, opening for Har Mar Superstar. I asked Zach how they hooked up with Har Mar? “We just said we’re touring, we’re touring, we’re touring and we’re touring and we just kept saying it and then we had a tour with Har Mar Superstar. Yeah, that’s how we get everything. Like when we did our last tour we just said we were touring until it happened. People just believe you and then suddenly you have a booking agent and you have a tour.”

Zach and I finished up our conversation with him giving me a ‘Zach-shot’ of each of the band members.

“Charlie, he’s a robot and he has no soul…and he has blonde hair and really blue eyes because the soul’s been sucked out of him.”
“James also has blonde hair and blue eyes but he has a lot of soul and he likes getting naked…”

“And T’Nealle, T’Nealle has a soul but very little feeling and therefore can be blunt, especially with boys.”
“I like to stay in my house and get lost in the Internet. And that’s us, that’s the four of us.”

All I can say is I cannot wait to see this band perform. Their music is fantastic and they are amazing to watch, if you can stand still long enough to watch them, that is. It really doesn’t matter how Bang Bang Eche started or who they are; what matters is that these four young people are together now creating a nuclear explosion of music that has to be experienced, either at their live show at the Aquarium Sunday night or by picking up a copy of their new EP, “Sonic Death Cunttt,” which will be out this month. Or do both! You won’t be sorry.

Questions and comments: lawndmn@yahoo.com

INFO:

What: Har Har Superstar with Bang Bange Eche and Fup
Where: Aquarium
When: Sun, Nov 8, 10 p.m.
How Much: $7, 21+ID

Burn the Barn Down

2009-10-29T19:48:10+00:00

This Halloween make your way over to Johnson’s Barn in Arthur, N.D., for what will certainly be one of the most unique whomp-tastic glitched-out parties in the FM area. I am unsure if most people have any clue who OTT or S.P.E.C.T.R.E. are.

Put on by Peaceful Plains Productions, Johnson’s Barn has of late become quite the hot spot for electronic music of all sorts. Very few venues in North Dakota, or even Minnesota for that matter, are showcases for what many would consider cutting-edge electronic music. Shows like this are a dime a dozen in the Denver/Boulder, California and New York music scenes so come one come all, because now you can take advantage of this superb opportunity in the FM Area!

Recently, I was delighted to be able to sit down and talk to one of my favorite local Denver/Boulder DJs, S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

HPR: How did you get involved with this event?

S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: I’m not exactly sure, but if I had to guess I’d say VibeSquaD must’ve put in a good word. I know he came out to Fargo this last May and it seemed like these guys hit me up shortly after that. Either that or they stay up on Colorado somehow. I was stoked to come rock it in a new market and see what’s going on in a new scene. I was happy to see acts like VibeSquaD and Ana Sia are getting love in places other then Cali/Denver/Seattle.
HPR: Where are you from?

S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: Born and raised in Iowa. I left as soon as I could after high School. I loved it, but I hated it at the same time. The people are great, life is comfortable, but there was nothing to do after midnite ever, and music and the arts were not cutting it for me. I was a wide eyed city boy that needed a real city I guess.
HPR: Where were you living when you first started DJing?

S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: I grew up in Des Moines, IA and was messing around with some programs like Fruity Loops and Virtual Turntables in High School, more as entertainment than anything serious, but when I moved to Colorado Springs for my freshman year of college in 2001, I somehow started ordering vinyl Drum and Bass singles online. I really don’t remember why, other than I heard music I liked and figured one day I’d want these records. Once I had a small collection going, getting turntables seemed like the logical next step. I only lasted a year in the Springs and found myself back in Iowa, and started getting gigs here and there, but in Iowa, it really was more about playing myself music, because there were maybe 3 other people actively playing Drum and Bass at the time. If I wanted to hear it, then I’d better play it, ya know.
HPR: So you started on vinyl?

S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: Yes! Didn’t we all! That was the only option when I got into it. CD DJ technology was just hitting the market and no one accepted them at first. It was very much a “real DJ’s play vinyl” environment that I came up in. I still have a huge collection of mainly Drum n Bass, but also some hip hop and some classic rock/classical pieces I’ve inherited from the family as they converted to CD’s. I LOVE vinyl, but its time has passed; it’s 1970’s technology, and the fact is there are just so many more possibilities with digital, especially with programs like Ableton live.
HPR: I have watched you on Ableton (http://www.ableton.com) during your sets and notice that you do not lay out tracks ahead of time. Your screen is virtually blank and you lay tracks down completely live. This seems much more difficult, why do you perform this way?
S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: There’s a couple reasons actually. When I first started with Abelton Live, I’d have all my tunes already loaded into Live, but I eventually got so many tunes that finding anything in a timely manner was becoming a big problem. Also it was taking 3 minutes or more for Live to load up my project, and I’m impatient. Then by chance we booked Edit and Ooah, and I (as I always do when around those guys) was very actively paying attention and soaking in how they set up, and I saw Edit was using some organized folders like record bins and dragging in tunes on the fly. I like that approach because it’s more like a traditional DJ that digs thru their record crate for the next tune. I’ve never been one to plan out my sets, even when I played vinyl, so starting with a black screen is just how I think it should be. It also lets me organize music by genre and have things in alphabetical order with a usable search function so I can actually find the tune I’m looking for. I tend to think a planned out and perfected set is boring for me, because I’d have to practice with the same stuff over and over until it was “perfect” and then now it’s boring for everyone else listening because there is no risk, no randomness… no surprises. If you want a perfect set, buy the CD, ya know. Live music should be spontaneous, and that includes DJ’s in my opinion. Starting with a blank screen just forces me into that zone to improvise and be more in tune with my crowd.
HPR: What was that moment you thought “Aha, I want to play music for people for a living?”

S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: I’m kinda crossing my fingers hoping that’s a possibility to be honest. There are literally millions of “DJs” out there these days. And they all want to be famous like Tiesto. It’s really a competitive field, maybe not in Fargo as much as other places. If I can get rent paid in a month I’m a happy camper so I dunno if I’ve honestly let myself believe I can make a living DJ’ing. I’ve tried to keep a realistic outlook and am just enjoying the ride and seeing where this thing takes me. I think everyone “wants” to get paid to DJ, but rarely do people realize how much actual work that is.
HPR: Have you ever been to Fargo or North Dakota in general in the past?

S.P.E.C.T.R.E.: I can’t say that I have. My only exposure is from the movie, so I’m sure my mental image will be shattered once I touch down. Dontchaknow!

Questions and comments: jam.woman@gmail.com

INFO:

What: S.P.E.C.T.R.E., OTT, Sovereign Sect
Where: Johnson’s Barn, 2 miles north of Arthur, N.D., on Hwy 18
When: Sat, Oct 31, 8 p.m.
How much: $7

Keller at the Fargo

2009-10-28T20:29:34+00:00

Try to imagine a musical Swiss Army knife standing barefoot on stage, with guitars, basses and drum machines instead of corkscrews and scissors.

Often described as a “one-man jam band,” Keller Williams can impress a packed house with a microphone and just one of his many guitars, but that is only where his talents begin. His musical style matches his musical talent in that it appears to have no boundaries or limitations. Keller, always on a quest for new sounds, never fails to bring something new to his show.

Last week, the Fargo Theater was host to this musical mad-scientist, and those fortunate enough to attend were treated to an intimate, up-close and personal performance. Even before the show started, an eager anticipation filled the room as people gazed toward this lone figure standing amongst an elaborate set, constructed to mimic the interior of a music shop. Behind him stood walls upon which hung numerous guitars, various stringed instruments, a trumpet, a trombone, guitar strings and magazines. Near the front of the stage sat a glass case displaying pedals and mini keyboards. Atop the case was a cash register, a jar of ear plugs, a “will return at” sign and a ring-for-service bell. Displayed in plain view was a sign reading, “shoplifters will die slowly.”

In an interview, Keller described himself as “a music lover first, musician second and songwriter third.” So, while many of the songs he played were originals, his show, like his music, was layered with covers from the Grateful Dead, Michael Franti, North Mississippi All-Stars and Cracker.

Standing underneath the cozy stage lighting of the Fargo Theater, Keller unleashed his sound and had fans on their feet and dancing minutes into the show. Whether performing a straight up singer-with-guitar ditty, or a full-on showcase of multiple-personality musicianship, each song he played had its own hidden treasures. From the very beginning of the show, Keller introduced his musical complexity, showcasing a wide variety of instruments while redefining the norm of how an instrument can be played.

He began the show with his trusty road guitar, a Martin six-string acoustic, then he moved to his electric bass, and eventually, he held his Godin LGXT electric with a synth pick-up to his mouth, blew across the strings, and played it like a flute. I still haven’t quite figured out how that works, but fortunately I have photographs, so at least I know it was real.

Watching Keller intertwine his various sounds was like watching a magic act unfold. I have seen many musicians attempt to loop their music, and it can get a little clumsy-sounding and often redundant, but with Keller it is almost sleight of hand. His hi-tech setup allowed him to capture and loop sounds and then move on to another instrument, adding layer upon layer as he wove together a complex and intricate soundscape. And for all the technology involved in the show, it still came out sounding completely organic.

He was able to combine not only different instruments, but entire genres of music throughout his show. In the end it simply came out as good music. Keller’s easygoing and humble persona seeped into the audience, and I could feel their appreciation not only for his music, but conversely his appreciation for his listeners. His music made me want to greet complete strangers in the crowd and smile for no reason. He knows exactly what he’s meant to be doing, and lucky for us, he’s out there doing it.

My only criticism of the show would be that it didn’t sell out. The balcony was cordoned off and there was still room at the back of the main floor. However, Keller is a touring artist, and I think he understands better than anyone that repeat business can pay off. So hopefully if we cross our fingers, he’ll come back to our friendly little town.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I did come across a section on his official website titled, “Street Team” which asks fans to hang posters and give away handbills prior to his arrival. A person can sign up to become a part of “Team Keller” and promote upcoming shows and album releases by passing out promo materials like stickers, postcards, CD samples, etc. Keller’s website is full of all kinds of other good stuff too, so check him out at http://www.kellerwilliams.net.
Questions and comments: michael@botpix.com

Flo Rida: More Than a Hip Hop Superstar

2009-10-27T20:36:44+00:00

When you’re as successful as hip hop artist Flo Rida, I guess it doesn’t really matter when you do an interview, as long as you get it done. Case in point: he had to talk to me at a time he probably considered ridiculously early, on a Sunday morning from Los Angeles, where he was working on his third album. In fact, I had to wake his manager up just to wake him up so we could get the conversation going.
“How are you?” I asked. I really felt bad about calling so early.

“I’m fine, and yourself?” he answered.

Wow, I thought, wake me up and make me do an interview and I’m not going to be nearly as polite. “I’m so sorry. Did I wake you up?” I asked.

“No, I’m cool.” he said, sounding like he meant it. I was getting more impressed by the second. After all, the guy is number one in like 13 countries, out in L.A. where he’s not only recording but probably partied his ass off the night before, and here I come, some chick from North Dakota calling and waking him up early on a Sunday morning. This dude is awesome.
“So, you’re in L.A. recording right now?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m actually just cookin’ up a gumbo for my third album, which will be out probably about March,” he said. I like that, cookin’ up a gumbo. “I haven’t come up with a name for it and everything but you know, between times I’m just performing, and touring and everything like that.”
I asked Flo Rida if he has a preference where he records. I knew he had been out to California a couple of times trying to make it big in the music business, but his real break came when he returned home to Florida and signed with Atlantic Records. I wondered what it was like to now go back to L.A. as the top dog…I also wasn’t sure where he had recorded previously and wanted him to know how L.A. compared. It turns out that recording in L.A. probably isn’t half bad.
“I mean, for the most part I have to record where I can,” he said. “Sometimes I find myself recording in hotel rooms because I travel so much.”

As far as his successful return to L.A., was it going well? “Oh yeah, most definitely! When anyone gets at this height, having this much success is great. I’m going to enjoy it.”
We also talked about his albums—after all, for any genre he’s quick – three albums in three years?

“It’s not really quick to me,” he said. “When I’m on the road I’m always getting ideas, and that motivates me to record. Traveling internationally, it just gives you more to talk about…and with that being said, we just grab like six months worth of material and get it to the fans and I’m working everyday and I don’t want to hold back hot music so that’s why we’re getting it out like that…”

That made sense but it was so totally opposite from most artists tell me. One thing I have learned is that in today’s music business, musicians have to tour. Tours equal money. However, it seems like many artists end up touring so much or becoming so burned out that new material takes forever. Flo Rida was the first musician I talked to that was so damn positive, not just about touring but recording while he was doing it.
Flo Rida is hot not only here in the U.S., he’s huge internationally. He recently toured the military bases overseas and explained how he played for all of the troops and their families. “It was very interesting,” he said. “Got a lot of plaques and everything…I never even dreamed of anything like that. It was an honor for me to perform and put smiles on their faces and for me to show my appreciation that they’re putting their lives on the line every day for us. I definitely enjoyed it.”

What amazed me was how he sounded when he told me about receiving those plaques. It really stuck out, as if he had been awarded an Oscar. I think it really was more than he ever imagined.
And how does it feel to be this big all over the world? “You know, I just love music but I never knew it would be to this magnitude. Just being in the business and having the success I have has helped me to grow and learn that music can take you beyond your wildest dreams. I get to see the world and I love it. It’s like twelve countries I’m number one in and I’m living twelve lives.”
While doing research, I noticed some listeners took offense at Flo Rida’s re-use of songs, a technique known as “sampling,” so I asked him about it.

“Taking 20 to 50 percent of a record and putting your little twist on it like I did the Dead or Alive sample with the ‘Right Round’ record gave me huge success,” he said. “It just shows that I do my homework when it comes to music and I’m very versatile.”

I have to agree. The D.O.A. song ‘Round and Round’ that Flo Rida spoke of came out in 1985. Flo Rida was 5 years old. I was a heck of a lot older and personally, I hated it then and still do. More power to whoever can make the song better. My 13-year-old daughter Jordan, who turned me on to Flo Rida with his first hit, “Low,” has no clue about sampling since she never heard the originals. She just likes the music. It’s about the music. People like the music, plain and simple. Take that, all you haters out there!
Flo Rida boasts a large amount of featured artists on his albums. I assumed that he must be really likable in the business to have so many other musicians work with him.

“The people I work with are very inspirational to me,” he said. “Working with guys like Wyclef, working with Will.I.Am, Timbaland, Lil Wayne, great writers, great artists such as Ne Yo, Nelly Furtado, I enjoyed it. A lot of the time when artists just start out they don’t get the chance to work with who I’ve been fortunate to work with. Hopefully some of their great successes will rub off on me because I look forward to having a lot of longevity.”

“But why did you get to work with all of those other artists?” I asked again, hoping to get him to say that he’s just that darn good. “I’ve been blessed,” he answered and we both laughed, knowing that he was going to stay humble and it was time for me to ask another question.
I closed by asking him about the president. “I read in another interview that when you appeared at the MTV Awards in Africa you wore an Obama T-shirt?”

He corrected me. “No, it was an Obama button-down.” Correction noted!

“Tell me about Obama,” I asked.

“I’m looking forward to him definitely helping America to get back on its feet because you know, it starts at home, and it seems like the way his family is, very family oriented, and I think that’s where it starts, to try and really get the country right…but so far, hip-hop, we support him and he puts a smile on the world’s face because when I go out and I remember when he first got elected and I was just like ‘Give it up for President Obama’ in Japan and then in Europe and they acted like he was their president!”
I felt like as an artist, Flo Rida shared quite a bit with me during our conversation that, for him, took place so early on a Sunday morning in California. But I also felt like I learned something about Flo Rida the person. He was so proud of receiving those plaques from the troops overseas and the way he said “Hip-hop, we support him [Obama] and he puts a smile on the world’s face…” Who would have guessed? Flo Rida, a hip-hop superstar and, I believe, a true Renaissance man.

Questions and comments: lawndmn@yahoo.com

Ben Folds: Band, Orchestra, A Cappella Group or Solo?

2009-10-22T18:16:49+00:00

Sometime in the fall of 1995 I showed up at MSU’s college radio station with a copy of the Ben Folds Five’s self-titled debut in tow. A friend of mine, who was a mass communication major at the time, had recently secured his own radio show and extended an open invite to me to stop by at any time. To a music lover, famous for forcibly pushing his tastes onto others, this was a great opportunity for me.
My hopes of impressing my friend (and the three people on campus listening to the show) were quickly dashed, though, as he passed it off as some sort of “punk-rock Bee Gees.” Admittedly, it is a quirky song and those definitely do pepper Folds’ records, but it’s terribly catchy and the insult stung. I guess I should have just been happy he let me come back after an incident earlier, when I’d talked him into playing a track off a Pride and Glory disc and he shut it off mid-song.
The love of everything Ben Folds started for me the week before when I was home, sick from work and saw the video for the album’s first single, “Underground,” on the much-missed MTV program “120 Minutes.” To me, this was the best pop song I had heard since the last Jellyfish album and I immediately ran out and purchased the disc. This happened a lot with me, MTV and sick days. I am glad they don’t play videos anymore.
What initially made the band interesting was the fact that the “Five” were actually three and there wasn’t a guitar player. What most people missed, though, was the expert songcraft involved. An excellent pianist, songwriter and arranger, Ben has always been an artist that seems to have been born two decades too late.

Coming from the same bloodline as musicians like Billy Joel, Louden Wainwright, and Todd Rundgren, it wasn’t hard to believe that the restraints of a band would soon wear. After two more albums with Ben Folds Five, he dropped the other members and went solo. Playing all the instruments himself (including guitar), he released his first solo disc, “Rockin’ the Suburbs,” in 2001. He followed it up with “Songs for Silverman” in 2005 and “Way to Normal” in 2008.
His most recent projects include “Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella,” a collection of his songs recorded by college a cappela groups, as well as a series of songs co-written with author Nick Hornby, including the internet hit “Levi Johnston’s Blues.” And, yes, it’s about that Levi Johnston. Why they wrote a song about the biggest media whore since his baby’s grandma is hard to say, but it has been thrown into recent set lists.

With Ben playing shows with bands, orchestras, a cappela groups and solo, it’s hard to say who and what will show up on Friday, but it will be great whatever it is. Australian singer-songwriter Karen Miller-Heidke will open the show and will most likely play the part of Regina Spektor on “You Don’t Know Me” as she has during previous shows.

Questions and comments: mattb@hpr1.com

INFO:

Who: Ben Folds
Where: The Venue
When: Fri, Oct 23, 6:30 p.m.
How much: $30, all ages.

All That Remains: Overcoming and Remaining on Top

2009-10-21T18:52:25+00:00

I spoke to All That Remains’ co-guitarist Mike Martin on what was for me a cold, wet, Wednesday afternoon. “Where are you right now?” I asked. “We are in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada,” Martin answered. To my way of thinking, you can’t say Vegas without saying fabulous and I told Martin so.

“Exactly!” he responded. Cool—already this conversation was going well.

Just in case anyone isn’t familiar with ATR, I asked Martin to give me a quick history of the band. “Phil [Labonte – lead singer] started it when he was in Shadow’s Fall in, like, 1998. It was kind of a side project. He plays guitar, too, so he wanted to write. But then Shadow’s Fall asked him to leave right around that time so it turned into his main project, involuntarily. From there it was ten years of rotating members in and out…now we’ve had the same five people [Martin, Labonte, Oli Herbert – guitarist, Jeanne Sagan – bass and Jason Costa – drums] for almost a whole two and a half years.”

“Why the rotating members?” I asked. After all, ATR is a cool band, one that has, for all intents and purposes, broken out and people KNOW them. Why would someone leave this band?

“There’s such a variety of reasons, ranging from people not being able to perform the songs well enough, to having drug problems, to people just being straight-up douche bags and we don’t want them in the band anymore. To find a nice balance of five people where we only want to stab each other a little bit when we spend too much time together…”

“Sounds like my family,” I threw in.

“Yeah!” he agreed. “You get snippy at each other here and there but everybody knows their boundaries.”

I asked Martin what ATR calls their music. After all, in the ten years they’ve been doing this, both they and the metal scene have undergone a lot of change.

“We just call it metal,” he said. “Every time someone calls it metalcore we kind of want to punch them.”

I told him how I picked up on that when I was reading about ATR.

“Yeah, apparently it’s a terrible word now. We’re over it.”

With such a strong reaction from the band, I decided to look up the definition of metalcore and why ATR doesn’t want to be classified as such. Maybe everyone out there already knows the difference between metal and metalcore, but not this writer. Here’s what I discovered: “Metalcore” is a cross between hardcore punk and extremely heavy metal, whereas “metal” originated in blues and psychedelic rock. I found this interesting. I read further and now I’ve really got it: metal is supposed to make listeners think of masculinity and machismo. Tell that to Sagan, ATR’s female bassist, I thought.

Since we were already talking about the music, I asked Martin about their influences. To my way of thinking, when you have five different people trying to make music together, each one must bring some preference with them.

“We have a wide range,” he said. “There are the typical ones, like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pantera, and some pretty not typical ones too – lots of 80s hair metal bands.”

Oh really? That required a bit more explanation.

“Yeah, that’s more me probably than anybody else,” he confessed. “I fell in love with the whole glam world. And then like Death Metal 2, Cannibal Corpse…it’s very wide range of what people like, you know, Justin Timberlake…all that stuff.”

I assured him I would make sure that got into the story, but unfortunately, I couldn’t get him to admit exactly who it is that likes Justin Timberlake.
Since ATR is on the road in support or their fourth release, “Overcome,” I asked Martin how ATR liked working with producer Jason Suecof (Trivium, God Forbin, Chimara) after using Adam Dutkiewicz, guitarist of Killswitch Engage, the producer of their last three albums.

“Adam’s always our number one choice. We always try to get him first so as soon as he says he’s not available, that’s when we start looking for other people…but if he’s available we don’t look at all,” Martin said. “But they’re kind of the same in a way because they’re both so crazy. Both experiences were really awesome. The only thing that sucked about working with Jason was we had to go down to Florida to do it and we hate traveling to record. We love recording at home. We’re never home so having to go down to Florida and actually record the album was a bummer, but Jason did a good job so it was worth doing.”
ATR admits to taking some heat about “Overcome.” According to the press, there’s “less screaming and more singing.” As a listener, I can honestly say I did not know this was a bad thing. What was Martin’s take on this?

“We like each album to have its own sound. I think it’s cool if you can put three different records in by the same band and you can automatically tell which record it is. With our last three records that’s definitely the case. You can tell, there’s a big difference with each one, which is cool, it keeps your fans around longer instead of being that flavor of the month. There are so many bands you see that go on a Warped Tour and get huge for six months and then all of a sudden you never hear about them again and it’s like, okay. We don’t want to be that. We want to put albums out and do this for a long time.”
And what about more singing and less screaming?

“Yeah, there’s a little more singing,” Martin said. “But there’s tons of screaming.” He’s right, by the way. “People make it sound more melodic than it is, but it’s by far our biggest album by like four times, so none of us are really complaining even though this is definitely the album we’ve taken the most crap for press-wise…but [we] have that many positive things happening so it’s not a big deal if some kids on the internet are complaining.”

We began wrapping up the interview with Martin’s thoughts on the music business. ATR has been at this for awhile now and has seen some major changes in the last couple of years.

“The music business is like the worst thing on the planet,” he said. We laughed in agreement at that one. “If you’re in a band you’re pretty much the last person to get any of the money. And, that’s after like the eight hundred other people get their hands on it. CDs are obviously a dying thing. The convenience of stealing records off of the internet isn’t really doing anything for the longevity of bands. At the same time, while the internet sucks it’s really good because the internet gets your band heard by a million different people – it’s a real double-edged sword. I have no idea what’s going to happen with music in general in the next five years. It’s going to be really interesting.”
I asked him if he thinks it all comes down to touring.

“As far as bands like us go, making a living and being able to keep doing it, you have to stay on tour for most of the year, every year.” All I could say was OMG, since ATR tours ten months of the year. “Which is cool most of the time…this has been the busiest year we’ve ever had, constant touring, but we’re holding strong.”
“And how do you bring it every night?” I asked.

“You just drink a lot!” he said, laughing. “Naw, if you work for an hour a day, it’s easy! Everybody else that works for the bands has the hard jobs. The band members don’t do anything. We’re the laziest people on the face of the earth, and even if we have to do a little bit of work all we do is complain about it. We’re lucky to be in the position we’re in. The economy’s bad but we still have people coming to our shows. We’re doing it for a living, so playing the Mandalay Bay in (fabulous!) Vegas on a Wednesday night is not necessarily a bad job.”

No, I agreed, it certainly isn’t.

Questions and comments: lawndmn@yahoo.com

INFO:

What: All That Remains
Where: The Venue
When: Sun, Oct 25, 7pm
How much: $22, all ages

P.O.S.— No Sign of Slowing Down

2009-10-20T19:03:55+00:00

What’s there to say about P.O.S.? The guy has his own record label, is signed by one of the biggest independent hip hop labels, has three full-length albums along with various crew albums, is in a hardcore punk band and is getting bigger daily. The guy shows no signs of slowing down. When you really look at it though, there is no reason why things would be any different. He is always on tour and always working.

P.O.S. has been called Product of Society, Promise of Skill, Pissed off Stef, or Piece of Shit, respectively… you take your pick, but is also known simply as Stef Alexander. Alexander grew up in Minneapolis where his music career started at an early age somewhat in a different direction than where he is now. P.O.S was greatly influenced by the punk rock scene. Growing up he was a part of many punk bands playing whichever spot was available. However, at the same time all the punk was happening, P.O.S. was also getting into the hip hop scene. Rhyming with friends in the mean hallways of Hopkins High School ignited the flame that is Doomtree Records.

Often known for his politically charged rhymes and raw rhyming talent, P.O.S. has something to say. It’s obvious he is a talented musician that can hold his own with anyone; it was just a matter of time before everyone would start to take notice. And once they did, they wondered why they hadn’t heard about him earlier.

After making various False Hopes mix tapes with Doomtree Records, in 2003 P.O.S. released his first full-length album, “Ipecac Neat.” The album busted the scene with raw gloriousness. Minneapolis-based hip hop label Rhymesayers Entertainment quickly noticed and signed P.O.S. His album was then widely distributed. From there everything was getting built fast, and more kids started to notice.

His next album, “Audition,” featured heavy hitters like Slug from Atmosphere and Craig Finn of The Hold Steady—thus, only building his fan base. Kids would eat up his music faster than fast food.

P.O.S. is a guy who works in the front of everyone, and also behind the scenes. He produces many of his own beats and plays all sorts of instruments. What you hear is strictly a musician at work.

Besides those albums, he has been busy with releasing Doomtree’s first crew album and recording and playing shows with his punk band, Building Better Bombs. The guy is hard to miss.

His newest album, “Never Better,” was released early 2009. You can call it a hybrid sound of punk and rap, but most just call it P.O.S. The album received national press. Pitchfork media called the album, “his tightest album yet.” The album oozes confidence, talent and a “try me” attitude.

One of the most anticipated hip hop concerts of the year, P.O.S. joins Rhymesayers’ Eyedea and Abilities for a double feature concert this Sunday at the Aquarium. All ages show at 6:30, and 21 plus at 10 p.m.

Sims of Doomtree, Big Zach from Kanser, Plain Ole Bill, and Kipp G. will also be performing. It is a big night for hip hop.

P.O.S. made a long journey to where he is now. He has what almost any artist would want for a career but for some reason, P.O.S. doesn’t seem satisfied. Still trying to prove what he already has, it is hard to figure out what is P.O.S.’s definition of “Never Better.”

Questions and comments: zach.smith@ndsu.edu

INFO:
Who: P.O.S., Eyedea & Abilities, Sims, Big Zach, Plain Ole Bill and Kipp G
When: Sun, Oct 25, 6:30pm all ages, 10pm 21+
Where: The Aquarium
Cost: $10

The Return of the Phish

2009-10-19T19:14:23+00:00

After a five-year hiatus, Phish triumphantly returns with one of their most ambitious studio albums to date, a fusion of rock, jazz, blues and contemporary. “Joy” emerges as one of the jam gods’ most anticipated releases.

Following a handful of live shows, Phish fans were left wondering if an eleventh album would ever see the light of day. Upon its release, “Joy” sold 29,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number 13 on the Billboard charts.

Although a commercial disappointment, the new album embraces the band’s roots and continued relevance in an ever-expanding jam band scene. Influences such as Carlos Santana, The Grateful Dead and Elvis Costello can be heard throughout the album. The occasional incorporation of elements of Chicago blues and Latin dance beats contribute to a diverse end result. There are a variety of notable tracks and a few forgettable tracks as well.

The highlight of “Joy” is frontman Trey Anastasio’s timeless guitar voyages that offer a happy ending feel to the conclusions of many of the songs. They make you feel like you are driving into the sunset and leaving all your worries behind. Examples: “Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan,” “Sugar Shack,” and “Backwards Down the Number Line.”

Most notable is “Time Turns Elastic,” a thirteen-and-a-half minute epic jam session. A series of interconnected mini-jams, each at its own pace and mood, this track affirms Phish’s status as America’s most brilliant band in the jam circuits. “Time Turns Elastic” is a roller coaster of psychedelic guitar riffs, contemporary piano stylings and a sense of hopeful optimism, topped with a dash of enlightenment. Like the rest of the album, this song has the potential to translate live, and very well.

“Ocelot,” a track reminiscent of material from the 2000 album “Farmhouse,” has contagious swagger and a catchy chorus that lingers. “Don’t be the only one left on the block,” exclaims Anastasio. “Come hide in the herd and float with the flock.” With its bouncing bass and rhythmic pianos, “Ocelot” is sure to please a wide array of Phish fans, young or old.

“Joy” is among the most diverse Phish albums to date, a collection of tunes that summarize the extended history of the group.

This is a must-buy album for any diehard jam fan.

For any avid music fan, “Joy” is a great place to broaden musical tastes and embrace the theme of peace, love, and happiness.

Check it out.

Questions and comments: bradybredell@mothers.com

Keller Williams Plays Alone for Everyone

2009-10-15T02:17:19+00:00

Keller Williams is a music lover first and a musician second. The truth behind that statement is especially evident when one sees him perform live in concert. This singer and multi-instrumentalist, who made his mark on music by being one of the most creative and entertaining performers on the jam band scene, continuously tries to put himself in the shoes of his listeners as he invents and reinvents everything he does. Most impressively, what he does onstage he does alone.

Growing up in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Williams was immersed in music at an early age. He sang in the church choir in first grade and by the time middle school came around he was performing in musical theater. In 1986, when he was sixteen, he took his first gig with his guitar in hand. Dressed in a jacket and tie he played for tips on the back patio of a small restaurant in Fredericksburg.
“I played for dinner and tips and was doing all the covers I thought people wanted to hear at that time which was the Eagles and James Taylor and the stuff like that.” Williams said in a recent phone interview. “ I was seeing these solo acts play at little lounges at these ski resorts, and that was my goal, to be that dude in the corner.”

Williams put the tires to the pavement and in time easily surpassed that modest goal. Putting his life into the music, there were many years that Williams played over two hundred shows as he lived out of his van with his wife who ran the merchandise and helped manage the operation. That hard work paid off. Today, Keller Williams fills theaters, clubs and festival grounds with fervent fans that continuously return for more.

Standing barefoot on stage, Williams loops from guitar, to bass, to percussion to vocals and before a song is over he’s a one-man band. And if a horn is needed, Williams can play that too, but he does so rather untraditionally with just his mouth and no tangible instrument. “A flugal is what I call it,” Williams said, laughing. “The older I get, it seems the less higher notes I can hit with it, so maybe I’m sliding down into more of the trombone area.” The real charm, though, in Williams’ music, is in his storytelling lyrics that oftentimes flow from being beautifully sincere to downright hilarious.

As a uniquely creative artist whose concerts can sometimes feel like a flight of the imagination, Keller’s music jumps back and forth through genres then back again leaving it easy to throw him into the jam band ring. Yet it isn’t that he necessarily “jams” so much, but the music he creates defies boundaries that limit so much of today’s popular music.

When asked if he saw any negatives for long being associated with the jam band scene, Williams was swift to reply, “I’ve done this for so long that I’ve seen some ups and some downs of this music business and to be put into any kind of class, I feel very grateful. You can call me whatever you want but I definitely don’t see any negatives about the jam band scene. I have lots of friends and lots of fans in the scene and it’s a super positive thing. Anyone who thinks differently is thinking too hard about it.”
Through these years Williams has been busy releasing albums and if one were to judge an album by its cover, his fourteenth release, “Odd,” may induce assumptions of dragon-slaying fantasy rock. But after a few spins his creative brilliance is clear and quite extraordinary.

Even more than his previous works, “Odd” bends through everything from folk, to jazz, to techno, to reggae, to rock and it does so with such ease that there is no reason to question it.

When asked why he titled the latest record, “Odd”, Williams explained, “I always want to try and sum up the vibe of my whole record with one syllable. Odd was perfect because I guess I gave myself some odd writing assignments like trying to write a bluegrass science fiction song, or taking on the role of Dr. Doolittle and talking to the rodents and animals who seem to meet their death around my house and to try and warn them. And there’s a whole oddness to how the record flows as far as the genres and its mystic feel. I figured it was only appropriate.”

That’s Keller Williams in a nutshell. This modest man has made his name by doing things his way. His approach to music is easy to distinguish as his songs bounce through the world with no remorse as if to simply say, this is music.

Questions and comments: crieder@hotmail.com
INFO:
Who: Keller Williams
When: Wednesday, October 21, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Fargo Theatre
How much: $24, all ages

The Dusty Road to Beulah: The Story of Drew Nelson

2009-10-13T20:23:52+00:00

“People ask me where I’m from and I say my wife and my cat live in a little house in Michigan. I just live in my car.” Drew Nelson, a Grand Rapids, Michigan resident is touring. His next stop: The Listening Room on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7:30 p.m.

Singer/songwriter Drew Nelson started his musical career at age 11 after what he calls “soaking in” the local music that his family played on their front porch in a small farm town in northwest Michigan.

“I started really seriously playing around age 16,” he said, “when all of the sudden you discover rock and roll and girls and everything changes. Now it’s funny because the older I get, the more I’m drawn to the older music that I grew up with. When you’re younger you don’t really appreciate that kind of stuff.”

After being on the road full time for twelve years (with small construction and teaching jobs in between) Drew has seen it all.

“A couple years ago I did a few shows with Melissa Etheridge and there were like 20,000 people but I didn’t like it. It was really too big for what I do. I’m just a guy with a guitar and I prefer the smaller, more intimate venues where I can tell my stories.”

Where does he draw his inspiration for such stories?

“I think I’m influenced more by poets and authors than musicians. Greg Brown is a big influence on me. Pablo Neruda, Annie Crew, Jim Harrison, Flannery O’Connor, Mary Oliver, those guys. That’s really where I draw more [inspiration]. I try not to listen to a whole lot of stuff because it’s just inevitable that you soak up all those other melodies. There are only twelve notes on a scale. I’ll write a new song and I’ll play it for my wife and she’ll say ‘Yeah that’s Jack Johnson.’ I don’t want to plagiarize.”

His newest album, Dusty Road to Beulah has a story to it too. “I remember watching my aunt Molly sing and falling madly in love with her. She was so pretty and she could sing like an angel. A couple of years ago she passed away because of cancer, so this song is a testament to her. Beulah is an Old Testament term it means paradise. It’s funny because in almost every state there is a Beulah. It’s kinda whatever you want. This life that we’re in is a dusty road to Beulah.”

All of Drew Nelson’s songs are stories told through singing and acoustic guitar. Stories of achievement, stories of hard times, stories of working hard, and each one seems to have a tie to his life, either currently or before.

“My idea is that we are so defined by our geography,” he said, “it plays such a central character in what we do and who we are and how we walk on this planet. I try to write about and view the whole world through the lens of where I come from and what I know.”

As far as the future of Drew Nelson?

“I plan on making another record and traveling around and singing. My goal has always been to be able to write music that can hopefully affect people and touch people. When I was really young my plan was to become this big giant rock star and we see how well that worked out.”

The kind nature and personality of Drew Nelson comes out in his songs and writing style. The Listening Room is located at 111 Broadway in North Fargo and is the perfect setting for Drew, small and intimate with just enough room for him to tell his stories.

Questions and comments: t_h_stockton@hotmail.com

INFO:
Who: Drew Nelson
When: Fri, Oct 16, 7:30pm
Where: The Listening Room (Spirit Room)
How much: $11, All ages