Download - Manual Dexterity Music Zine - Summer 2005

- Are from Chicago, IL- Band member Jesse Woghin, co-runs Flameshovel Records. - Released “Such Triumph” on June 28, 2005, on Flameshovel.- Play intense, angular punk/rock with urgency and youthfulness. - Some songs on “Such Triumph” are influenced by Cap’n Jazz, Unwound, and Pavement.- www.thenarrator.net, or www.flameshovel.com for more information

Music The feeling of starting and finishing something new. Wifey, Monkey, and Noodle.

Cover: The Narrator-Megan Holmes (www.thisishamid.com/meganholmes)(Pg 8-9) Adam Lowe(Pg 10-11) Aaron WoJack(Pg 12) Unknown(Pg 16-17) M. Vorrasi(Pg 19) TAAS-Robin Laananan, Del Ceilo-Unknown, PiB-Shane McCualeyStrike Anywhere-Unknown, Dr. Dog-Unknown, Des Ark-Unknown(Pg 25-30) The Aquabats-Unknown, Deathray Davies-Unknown, Lake Trout-Unknown, Minus TheBear-Unknown, Portastatic-Unknown, Schoolyard Heroes-Unknown, Spoon-Unknown

Ideas, submissions, comments - [email protected]

©2005 - Subtitles Publishing - Minneapolis

Six Bands/Six Questions:

Strike Anywhere

Des Ark

Paint It Black

Del Cielo

Dr. Dog

These Arms Are Snakes

Interviews:

Chariots (America, North)

The Nein

Say Hi To Your Mom

Live at Last:

The Crush

Braid

Reviews:

Music

THE CRUSH

The Crush seemed to be heading places. Theyreleased a solid sophomore album which wastheir debut on Adeline records. They played soldout shows in England opening for Green Day andwere getting reviews in major magazines. It was ashock to me when I heard they were playing theirlast show. I thought they had been doing prettygood up to that point. Their last 2 shows were onthe same night on August 30, 2003 at the 7thStreet Entry.

Braid is one of those bands that most people knowabout, due to their contributions to the indie/punk/emoscene in the mid nineties. Although not very popularamong the mainstream audience, they played manyshows throughout the US and Europe. 5 years after theybroke up, they reunited to play a string of shows to pro-mote their Killing a Camera Retrospective DVD. Thephotos above are from their last show in Minneapolis onJuly 6, 2004.

How long after the end of Song of Zarathustradid Chariots start?

We started around March of 2003. Just a fewmonths after S.o.Z. played our last show. Aroundlate 2003/early 2004, the line up was solidified as a5 piece. Then we lost a 2nd guitarist and remaineda 4 piece till this day.

Are all the members from the Minneapolisarea?

Arthur is from Illinois. Eric is from North Dakota, I'mfrom Iowa, and Matt’s from Illinois as well.

Early in Chariots forming, the band had multi-ple guitars or multiple bass players, how didyou finally end up with the four current mem-bers?

Just made sense at the time. The four of us wrotewell together,etc.. The other guitarist is amazing,but just didn't match up for what we were going forI guess. More or less.

The band name is Chariots, why add the(America, North)?

There's a Christian hXc band called The Chariotand a screamo band called Chariots from the UK.We'll still be known as Chariots. People will justhave to get used to it I guess. But just to not makean issue, we decided to add to the name.

How does Chariots compare to previous bandsyou've done, Song of Zarathustra and Book ofDead Names?

Natural growth,pretty much. Especially if you knowme personally...It makes sense.

The 2 previous bands you've been in have bro-ken up, what steps are you taking to preventthis from happening with Chariots?

You can't prevent it. It'll happen eventually. I guesswhat we’re trying to do is proceed in steps that willat least help in it's longevity.

How long did it take to write and record"Congratulations"?

About a year. We scrapped around a full lengthsworth of material though. We didn't want to have arecord full of "filler". Yet, I know we won't play mostof these songs for years. I hope we'll be able towrite more often as we mature as a band, etc..

Was Troubleman the first label you approachedto release the Chariots full length? What is itlike working with Troubleman?

I spoke with a few labels. When I approached Mikeat TMU,TMU was busy. So, it was actually for thebest. We weren't writing as good of songs as weare now...in our opinion. I like TMU, I like the bandson it and I like Mike. He's always been more thansupportive.

Interview with Travis BosApril 2005

What are the plans for Chariots touring? Doyou plan on touring Europe like you did withSong of Zarathustra

Yes we are. As a matter of fact, we spoke about ittoday with a guy from Germany who has an inter-est in it.

Tell us about the video you doing for the track"Hips Unite"?

It'll be finished when we get back from tour. We allenjoy video and audio together. So,we decided tomake it with some friends of ours in town. Prettyexcited to approach that kind of art along withwriting music.

Seems like now a days a lot of bands havebeen making MySpace pages, how has theChariots MySpace page helped with promot-ing the band?

It's been good. It's it's own thing. People find themost random stuff, bands, people on that site yaknow? So,I guess why not.

What would you like to accomplish withChariots?

I just wanna be happy with what we write. Beproud of it. That's all I really care about at themoment.

CHARIOTS (America, North)

Interview with (RB) Robert Biggers and (FC) Finn Cohen

How does “Wrath of Circuits” compare with your previous releases?

RB: “Wrath” is our first concentrated studio recording. The previous EP's were reallydemos or documents of what we did live (at shows) with no extra decoration or specializedarrangements. It's also our first release to feature our 4th member, Dale Flatum, on tapesand samples. Besides, though possibly because of, the studio resources and resultant son-ics, we spread out or grew the songs more than those on the previous EP's. A couple ofthe songs have relatively long instrumental sections, and even the shortest song goesthrough a series of different sounds. Most of which we can't do live, but this will hopefullymake up for the experience of our "live rock band" performance -- which I don't think wecould do in recording.

How did you get together with Sonic Unyon, and how do you feel being one of thefirst American bands on the Canadian Label?

FC: I sent the EP that came out last fall to a bunch of labels, and Sonic Unyon was the firstone who said "Let us put this out" right off the bat. I'm proud to be part of their global expan-sion takeover plan. They need us and we need them, so it works out well.

RB: We didn't know them or most of the labels we sent demos to; they liked it enough tooffer to release CDs of ours. SU is extremely supportive and generous; we're happy andgrateful. There's a pretty good argument of ours that goes: We'd rather be the one of 2American bands on a Canadian label than one of 20 bands on an American label. It alsogives us reason to travel to Canada, which is pretty nice to do.

After the release of your self titled EP, you brought Dale Flattum in to the band. Whydid you bring him in, and what does Dale bring to the group, that it was previouslymissing?

FC: Casey knew Dale since they are both artists, and he told me that Dale really appreci-ated the songs that we had early on, especially the ones where I played the sampler as themain instrument. Dale's also a fan of the Dr. Sample (the brand of sampler we use), so wehad him join in on a Wire cover ("Our Swimmer") about a year and a half ago. It workedout well and his personality seemed to mesh with ours really well; then I listened to someof the Steel Pole Bath Tub and Milk Cult (which was the SPBT alter ego project, wheresongs were constructed out of samples and loops) and really dug that stuff. I started writ-ing some songs with him in mind, keeping room in the demos for Dale to add whatever hewanted to. It was really exciting to give him a song and say "Do whatever you want" andhave him come back with something that the three of us would never have come up with.We started integrating him more and more into the songwriting process and playing shows,and eventually we locked into a way to approach the songs with him as an equal instru-ment.

RB: Dale's parts have typically come after the bulk of the song is written, but we're hopingto progressively work him in earlier in the process from now on. I think Dale's sound bringsa really unique and distinguishing quality to the overall group sound. Most of the songs areguitar/bass/drums/vocals (some trade guitar for sampler) and his instrumentation of oldcassette tape loops and samples serve to put all that (guit/bass/drums) into a context thatwasn't there before. Of course, sometimes his sounds are less global to the song (a repet-itive noise figure in the background) but I think they still change the entire setting of ourmusic.

FC: One thing that has been kind of frustrating about playing live shows with him is that alot of soundmen see his setup and automatically think he's secondary or don't bother to payattention to what he's doing, so we've had to be really up front about how he should be inthe mix every show we play since we can't afford our own soundman to go on tour rightnow. I don't think the songs we have on the EP are "missing" anything, but when Dale playson them live they are definitely better.

Will Dale be adding his sound manipulations to Nein songs, that were recordedprevious to his joining the band, during live shows?

FC: There were no "sound manipulations" that were recorded previous to his joining theband that he plays live; when we play songs off the EP, he's got parts that he's writtensince he's joined the band that fit in pretty well with the rest of the stuff. Almost all thecrazy sounds on the new record are him, and he wrote those parts. He does play livewith us and some of the parts from the new record get reconstructed, but he has somethings that he's worked out over the course of the past couple tours we've done that aredifferent from the album.

What do you want listeners to get out of “Wrath of Circuits”?

RB: I don't think I have particularly personal goals here. I want the sounds to engagepeople, to catch their ear; I'd like for the songs to leave lasting impressions, seeking morelistens, etc etc. I want to find out what people “get out” of the album, and don't reallyknow what it'll be.

What elements helped inspire or influence the new album?

FC: Our friend Randy Ward, who was, in my opinion, the most innovative circuit-bendingwizard in our area (he constructed a one-man band with a drum kit that played itself and allsorts of noisemakers that he had created out of Speak and Spells and Sesame Street toys),died about a year ago. We weren't extremely close to him, but we knew him well enoughto be really affected by how unfair it was for someone that creative to get cancer in his early30s. So, at least from my end, lyrically there are several songs that came from the monthsafter his death, just about what I saw as a huge dent in the music community around here.And his innovations and manipulation of technology that resulted in some amazing musicwere inspiring to think about how we relate to machines, hence "Wrath of Circuits".Musically, Dale had a huge influence in that he added elements to the songs that we neverexpected to be there. And we were just willing to experiment with the arrangements moreand more and not be satisfied with one way of playing a song; sometimes we would just letthings happen and let the songs work themselves out, and sometimes we would go backand forth with each other about what parts should stay or go or be changed. Normal "bandrecording an album" stuff.

The title of the album “Wrath of Circuits” comes from an activity known as circuitbending. Can you explain more about the title of the album and the process of cir-cuit bending?

FC: In a nutshell: you take anything that has a circuit board and makes noise and open itup, linking different circuits together until it creates a new sound. Then solder those circuitsand link them to a switch that allows you to turn that effect on whenever you want. There'sa lot more to it, and I'm not that experienced with doing it, but it's pretty fascinating. Thereare some cool websites you can check out: www.mysterycircuits.com is one run by ourfriend Mike Walters, who modified a keyboard I have; it resulted in the demo for “Wrath ofCircuits” that I did on a 4-track. He does tons of stuff and builds some amazing machines.There's a guy in Chicago named Peter B who makes things called Shinths that allow a per-son to be a conductor of the signal coming out--it's crazy.

RB: “Wrath of Circuits” simplified is: technology evolving and run amok, I guess. Circuitbending is a willful (fun) act that results in happy accidents. Happy accidents and technol-ogy running amok and over us. There's the connection, I think.

What is the music scene like in Durham, NC? What other bands from the area arenotable?

RB: We live in "The Triangle" of North Carolina - consisting of Raleigh, Durham and ChapelHill (and not to mention Carrboro, which is actually geographically within Chapel Hill).Between the 4 of us, we actually reside over the entire triangle. Finn has lived in Durhamfor most of his life - the rest of us are transplants. And it's nice to get a city's name out there(I don't think it gets out there much in the music world). Anyway, I hesitate to say anythingabout Durham in particular, music scene-wise, because all the bands play in all the trian-gle venues. So overall, we have a great scene -- several notable bands (Strange,Rosebuds, Des Ark, Jett Rink, Cold Sides [tooting my other horn], Cherry Valence, MowingLawns, Erie Choir, Pykrete), labels (FrequeNC, Pigeon English, Pox), venues (Nightlight,Kings, Duke Coffeehouse, Local 506, Cat’s Cradle), and college radio stations (WXYC,WXDU, WKNC). The scene was once more famous (early 90's grunge/indie phenomenon),but considering the size of the town(s) I think it's great now.

FC: Durham's got tons of bands but it's been really hard to sustain a venue that has con-sistent shows. Duke University is right in the middle of the part of town that many of theseclubs have been, and they have a club on campus called the Duke Coffeehouse, but themajority of the students don't really care that much about local music, which makes it hardto keep something open that can have shows. As far as bands FROM Durham goes, it'shard to find 100% Durham bands because so many people live all over the Triangle(Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill). There's Des_Ark, who just put out a record, CantwellGomez & Jordan, who we are doing a split 7" with later this year, Hotel Motel.

The Nein played SXSW this year, how was that? What bands did you check out whilethere?

FC: The show was great. The logistics were kind of a pain in the ass, but that's inevitablewith something like SXSW. I saw The Rosebuds, Crooked Fingers, Bloc Party, The NaturalHistory, Jet By Day, and some stupid retro-hip bands from NY whose names I've blockedfrom memory.

Does Casey design all the art for The Nein's posters/products? How does it help hav-ing a designer like Casey in the band?

RB: No, Dale does just as much as Casey - Dale did the art for “Wrath of Circuits” and ournew shirts too. Both are great designers and highly skilled within jargon I don't get at all.Yes, it helps having graphic designers in a rock band, definitely. Obviously there's a lotmore to the band than these songs we record, so that leaves a lot of room for differentexpertise. Yay for Casey and Dale!!!!

FC: They're both fantastic artists, so we always have cool designs, and with all their posterartist friends we usually have amazing screenprinted posters when we go on tour.

You write all the music by yourself, alone, but you play with a full band when tour-ing, do the people who play with you ever have a hard time learning the guitar,drum, or keyboard parts they need to play? Do you ever have problems where yourmusic isn’t played how it should sound?

Well, I’ve auditioned many people who can’t get the songs right. It’s a long, complicated processevery time I need to go through auditions. There’s a bare minimum musical fluency level though,for someone to make the cut. After I unleash my too-purist inner control freak on them inrehearsal (once they have made that cut), they usually get it right. Sometimes it takes a few showsto work out all of the kinks, but, like James Brown does, I charge them for every bad note. Howdo you think I’ve been able to afford to put out the records myself? I end up playing to the musi-cians strengths too, choosing songs for the set that work right with what each player is capableof.

As far as how a song should sound?: The nature of a live performance means some of songs mustchange dramatically, from an arrangement standpoint. In the studio, I can play twenty guitartracks on a given song, to help shape dynamics. When you only have two or three melodic instru-ments on stage, you don’t have that luxury. What eventually happens is that we use the recordsas demos and attempt to make the songs more exciting when we play them live. That’s kind ofbackward, I know, but that’s just how things have ended up working. If we spent this time on thesongs before we recorded them, the records would sound entirely different. That said, there aresome songs we play now that, in my opinion, are far superior in their live incarnations, but viceversa too. I’ve never really been comfortable performing “Lets Talk About Spaceships” or“Hooplas Involving Circus Tricks,” from Numbers & Mumbles, but they are two of my favoriteSay Hi songs in their recorded forms. We’re still in the process of fine tuning the stuff fromFerocious Mopes for the live show. Ok, now I feel like I’m rambling.

How do you write songs? Do start with a guitar part, then add drums or do youwrite music based on the lyrics?

I never write lyrics first. They always come well into the process, sometimes just before I recordthe vocal. I’ll spend months on songs just singing a melody, without any coherent words. Somesongs start with guitar parts, some with bass or piano. Many songs, especially these days, startwith a scratch drum part I’ll program in Reason and I’ll write the rest of the song around that.

After reading your lyrics, they seem like answers to questions people ask you. Likeif I asked you what kind of ghost you would be, you could respond with the song “IThink I’ll be a Good Ghost,” and it would make perfect sense. What inspires you towrite the lyrics you do?

It took me a long time to figure out what I was comfortable writing songs about, and in what man-ner I wanted to convey things thematically. I started writing songs in ( wait, how old am I? ) 1989and am absolutely ashamed and embarrassed about the records I made until I started Say Hi.Deciding not to take things too seriously was a big step. Once I did that, lyrics started flowing likespiked punch on prom night. Even though it creeps in every now and then, I try to avoid pure,emotional gush. I’d rather write about the mundane or science fiction. Whether or not people getsomething human out of a song about robots is up to them. I will say that everything I write aboutis fiction, something far more exciting than real life experiences. Too many songwriters thinkpeople are interested in hearing about their own loves and troubles. Maybe some people are. I’mcertainly not.

Interview with Eric Elbogen

You started Euphobia records to release your own records and you’ve done quitewell since then, do you think other people should do the same to get their musicheard?

Well thanks. Success is all relative. I’m quite happy with the way things have panned out. The SayHi phenomenon keeps getting bigger and bigger, which I’m glad to see. I think, though, that if Iwere on certain record labels I would have sold five times as many records and have been givenmore opportunities to tour with bigger bands. The flip side, of course, is that I can make andrelease the records I want, when I want and that I don’t have to split record sale profits with alabel, which makes it easier to pay the bills.

I always try to talk other bands into releasing their own records, but most musicians are intenton waiting for the magic record deal that will change their lives forever. I see it all the time in NewYork, where a band will play the same venues over and over again and actually get a following,but never a deal. Or they’ll get a deal from the wrong label and fall through the cracks and not getthe attention and marketing they deserve.

I suppose I just don’t like to wait. Every time I finish a record, I solicit labels for about two weeksbefore I make the decision to put it out myself. It takessome credit card debt to put out a record, but,its really not that hard to do.

If you stayed in California and started Say Hi To Your Mom there, do you think thatthe sound would be the same as it is now?

Probably not. It took leaving the comfortable womb of LA for me to realize that I was unhappywith what I was doing creatively. Then it took another year of figuring out what kind of music Iwanted to make. That year was filled with the frantic chaos of New York City and its colorful, caf-finated architecture, culture and nighttime. A year of that will change anybody. It makes youtougher but is also the most stimulating place in the world. Everyone's an artist here. And a goodone too. It makes you want to work harder to compete with the curve.

Do you think where you are geographically influences the way music sounds or howlyrics are written?

As I said before, I think being in this city changed the way I do things. But that doesn't mean I'mwriting exclusively about subways, the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. So no,I imagine if I spent a few years here and then moved back to California, I’d be writing the samerecords. Perhaps “Pop Music Of The Future”, also from Numbers, would mention the 101 insteadof the L-train, but that's about it

The first two Say Hi records were made using a PC computer that you built. Did youuse the same computer to record Ferocious Mopes?

I did. Some of the drums were recorded at a proper studio this time. But those recordings werethen chopped up and re-processed and programmed at my home studio. All the guitar, bass,synths and vocals were done on the computer, in my bedroom. Just like the last two records.

In most photos I’ve seen of you, your face is either half seen or hidden behind anobject. Do you not like having your picture taken, or do you just not want to be rec-ognized?

It’s not that I don't like to have my picture taken, it’s that I don't like to look at pictures of myself.Besides, I think music is always better if you're not thinking about what the people making it looklike. It’s better if someone can just appreciate the recording for what it is, devoid of any connec-tion to the real world.

From some of the pages (faq, press(interview)) I’ve read onthe Say Hi website, they have all been hilarious. Do you con-sider yourself a funny guy?

Aside from a work ethic, I like to not take any of it tooseriously. People often laugh, whether they're doingit at me or with me I don't know. My few attempts atstand-up as between-song stage banter have beenpretty bleak though, I’ll tell you that much.

At what point in your life did you decidebeing a musician was what you wanted todo?

It was never a conscious decision on my part tobe a musician. It was something that happenedthat I fell in love with and kept doing.

What’s the worst job you have ever had?

Every job is a tie until I started doing graphicdesign and even some of those are absolutely ter-rible.

What would you be doing if you weren't ina band?

I would be doing graphic design and not worry-ing about paying rent.

Would you rather work for your money orwin the lottery?

I would rather win the lottery so I could continueplaying music with no regard for making moneyfrom it.

Could you ever work a 40 hour a week, 9to 5 desk job?

It's been a while since I've done so but I think it'spossible. It's just a different state of mind.

Who do you owe your success to?

Success? I wouldn't call it success but I definitelyowe where I am at to all the people involved withthis band. From the rest of the boys in the bandto Jade Tree, David Lewis, Susanne Dawurskand of course everyone that likes our band andbought our record. Thank you.

At what point in your life did you decide

being a musician was what you wanted to

do?

I started playing drums at age 17 literally rightafter going to Lollapolooza and watching PattySchemel play drums with Hole. I had never seena woman play drums like that before and wastotally and completely enthralled. I started tak-ing lessons, and in a few months started my firstband. I was hooked.


Cashier at Mr. Chicken ‘n Ribs. I am vegan. Thiswas in high school and miserable. I was just veg-etarian at the time but still. Ugh.


I do other things besides my band that I mightfocus on more, such as freelance writing andtravel, but there isn't anything I would say I ammissing out on because of my band.


I'd love to win the lottery! I run a small recordlabel Exotic Fever www.exoticfever.com and Iwould like to be able to have tons of money tosupport the rad artists on it!


Hehe. I do! I am a grantwriter at a nationalyouth violence prevention nonprofit based in DCcalled The Empower Program www.empower-program.org.


My mama. She is the single most loving, ener-getic person I have ever met!


I think I was a freshman in high school. I hadbeen going to shows and buying records for a cou-ple of years as a fan of the music but once I startedbecoming aware of how amazing and vibrant theD.I.Y. scene in Philadelphia was (mainly thanks toshows at the First Unitarian Church and Stalag 13)I knew I had to get involved. And I have been eversince.


I worked in a fried foods joint for about fifteenminutes. Hard up for cash, I accepted a friend'soffer of hooking me up with a relatively stress-freeposition slinging chicken fingers and wings, butwhen I realized that no matter how hard I tried, Icouldn't get the stink of the friers out of myclothes, shoes and hair, I stopped showing up.They could have paid me a hundred dollars anhour and I doubt it'd have been worth it. Thusended my career in the service industry, hopefullyforever.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in aband?

Probably trying to start one. Or maybe working asa nightclub singer, radiantly going on with mydecadent show (even in the face of a second Bushpresidency) and holding my many admirers atenough of a distance that I might keep from havingto bother with genuinely deep emotions.


How about both?

Could you ever work a 40 hour a week, 9 to5 desk job?

I've done it a couple times. It's only as bad as thejob itself is. Some of the more creativity-basedones were amazing, barely even like working at all;however some of the ones felt like being in prison.For now I'm content to stay out of that world soI'm more free to tour, help out with R5 Productions'shows and pursue my modeling career.


I've never actually decided this actively. I am adedicated half-assed dilettante who has studiedmusic most of his life. Starting a band seemedlike a reasonable thing to do, but I never expect-ed it to be my main occupation.


Fixing classic arcade machines for this completedick who would challenge me whenever I tried toget paid.


I think I would start one of those 'car title' loanplaces. That or a credit card company. Maybeboth.


I would like to win the lottery and devote all ofmy time to learning interesting things and mak-ing stuff.


Nope. But I can work an 80-hour-a-week, all-over-the-world, very taxing and glamourous job.Turning this band into a successful business hasbeen the most stressful and sweat-inducing thingI have ever done in my working life, and I'm noteven doing it alone.


Everyone who works with us through our label,our booking agent, our publicist - David Lewis,everyone in the distribution chain who has said akind word encouraging buyers to pick up ourCDs, and everyone who has ever spent adollar/euro/kroner/whatever on us. Also, theother bands who taught us how to operate: Availand Hot Water Music.


The other guys probably decided by middleschool, but it took me a little longer. I didn't startplaying guitar until my first year of college. But Iwould say sometime in the next year or so I'll beready to make the leap of referring to myself as amusician.


Actually I've kind of liked every job I've ever had,I just get really tired and hungry after an hour ortwo so I want to leave. I was a dishwasher atUniversity of Delaware when I was in high school,which seems like it would be terrible, but about 15people who I was friends with got jobs in the samedining hall and we mutinied and pretty much hadthe run of the place for the next two years. So thatwas awesome.

What would you be doing if you weren’t ina band?

I'm actually a Law School Graduate, so I guess Iwould be expected to do something with that.


I think I can speak for all members of Dr. Dog insaying that we would rather win the lottery thannot win the lottery.


I would like to imagine that I could, but I'm notreally that interested in finding out. I have mas-tered living on very small amounts of money justto avoid those type of situations. I do admire afinely crafted desk though.


Our band has been dealt a series of insanely luckybreaks, from being asked to open for My MorningJacket, to being featured in the New York Times,

to having an amazing manager appear out ofnowhere to help us out. But more abstractly, weowe our sense of musical success to people likethe Beatles, David Bowie, Neil Young, BrianFerry, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Pavement,Sonic Youth, the Kinks, Nirvana, Sam Cooke,The Clash, R. Stevie Moore, Otis Redding, BrianEno, Talking Heads, and about a million others.Also, Philadelphia has been very good to us.


If I had to pick a point in my youth where I decid-ed that I wanted to be a rocker it would be thesummer before my senior year of high school. Iwas 16 I think, and was playing guitar and singingin this noise punk band called the geEkAggression. I’m from a medium sized city inupstate NY called Syracuse and in the early 90sthere was a huge local hardcore scene. As a reallyyoung kid we would skate all week and go to TheLost Horizon for their Hardcore Matinee’s. It wasa full days worth of the craziest hardcore bandsfor like 3 or 4 bucks. Through that I got into bandslike Youth of Today, Quicksand, Fugazi, Split Lipand Op Ivy as well as some of the killer localbands like Earth Crisis, Infusion and Framework.I don’t know if it was my age or the just overallstandoff-ish attitude of the scene but I didn’t feellike I could be out there doing what those bandswere doing. Around ’90 or ’91 this shift happenedin the local hardcore scene and all these skate-board kids started going Vegan X-Edge and all ofa sudden the scene got even more suffocating.You’d go to the same Sunday shows you had beengoing to and if you didn’t have huge X’s Sharpie’dto your hands you were scum. I tried to stickaround for a while but it just didn’t feel right. Ayear or two later I met the guys in the band geEkAggression and started playing guitar with them.Through those guys I got introduced to the greats– Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Scratch Acid,Ramones.

We used to practice almost every day, just gettingstoned and making the loudest most angry noiseour little bodies could. Once we started playingshows it all started to make sense. At that point Ibegan meeting people, older guys who were intheir mid 20s still rocking out. The two people thatmade the biggest difference in my young rocker-dom were Rob Walsh from the scariest band inSyracuse, SpamHammer and Lee Waters, thedrummer of Sonic Whirlpool, who is still the mostrock motherfuckers I have ever met. It was actual-ly those guys that got me to Chapel Hill, the rest ishistory…or something like that…


I sold vacuum cleaners door to door for KirbyVacuum. I had to wear nice shirts and a tie. Theywould sing songs like "gimme a K. I. R. B. Y. Whatsit Spell? KIRBY! What do we sell? KIRBY! What dowe make? !!MONEY!!" I think I lasted 4 days. Iwould ride my bike to work and get there allsweaty and have to ‘freshen up’ in the gas stationbathroom near the shop, get in a van with a groupof hopefuls and knock on doors. It was the utmostin humiliation.

A very close second was going door to door collect-ing money for NCPIRG. They had a killer helpwanted add "Earn $300-$500 a week working forthe environment" I lasted a little longer there,maybe 3 weeks. I hated interrupting stranger’slives to ask for money and would usually just situnder trees and read pretending to be working.Needless to say I really sucked at it and I think Ionly made my weekly minumum one week andthat was cause one of the managers felt sorry forme and gave me one of his donations. They wouldbring us out in groups, drop us off in a neighbor-hood and leave not to return until late in theevening. We would go all over Chapel Hill andDurham. One day they dropped me off in one ofthe low income ‘ghettos’ of Durham. I got out ofthe car and my jaw dropped. I couldn’t do it, Iwouldn’t do it. I absolutely would not subject thesepoor people to the spiel I was taught. Our countryhad cut out very definite areas of low priced hous-ing, keeping the poor legally segregated by theonly thing more powerful than laws, money. Yeahsure, segregation is against the laws held upon usby the US Government, but not the laws of eco-

nomics. I decided that instead of asking for moneyI was just going to spread the information, onething that doesn’t flow freely in these parts of thecountry. I went door to door and instead of givingmy "please help us out and give generously" spiel,I told them the facts and as an experiment collect-ed signatures. I think I made it to 4 houses beforeI was approached by two men, one very large andone small, both drunk. The little one asked me forsome change while the big one made his wayaround to my side and before I knew it he gave mea bear hug, picked me up and the little one rum-maged through my wallet and took what littlemoney I had, thus concluding my stint as an envi-ronmental activist.

What would you be doing if you were not ina band?

Probably getting a lot more sleep, having a lotmore money and looking for people to play in aband with.


I would love to win the lottery, but only because itwould enable me to be able to do more financiallyfor the punk community. Even if I, out of the blue,got a lot of money I would never stop "working". Iwould just be able to "work" in different ways.Instead of being a productive tool making moneyfor something or someone else in exchange for aliving wage, I would be working towards helpingother people make a living wage through their artin a way that doesn’t compromise what they aredoing by commodification for a mainstreamdemographic.

Could you ever work a 40 hour a week, 9 to5 desk job?

I do work a 40 hr a week job right now, actually itsusually more than 40 hours a week but my desk isa work bench and my paper work is carving hunksof wood into beautiful guitars. I think the wholedesk job thing really comes down to what youroptions are. I don’t ever believe I’ll be in a bandthat will afford me to not have to work for some-one else in some capacity.

If my options were flipping burgers in a place thatgave me a hard time for taking time off for tour,wouldn’t let me call in sick and paid me like anindentured servant OR enter data into some com-puter or design circuit boards on AutoCAD whilesitting at a desk in a place that gave me paid vaca-tion and sick days. Well, then you better believeI’d work a desk job. But for now I am luckyenough to make my money with the toil of myhands. Weather it be crafting wood into guitars orbuilding bikes. At least I am producing somethingI love, even if it does make someone else rich.


I guess the success I have is only possible becauseof a network of amazing people all over the worldthat are willing to live a life that is a little harder,do a little more work and get paid only in know-ing they are part of something that totally kicksass. I owe the fact that there are punk clubs andcollective show spaces to bands like theMinutemen and Black Flag who were willing to allpile into one van and drive all over the US andplay in any shithole bar that would have them. Iowe the fact that kids under 18 can come to seeshows at clubs to bands like Minor Threat andFugazi who would only play shows if all agescould come. I owe the fact that there are labelslike Bifocal Media and Lovitt Records to all theamazing bands that have been playing subversivemusic in a subversive way and doing it with thehelp of small local labels that put out musicbecause they love it and telling the major recordlabels and the Clear Channel controlled megaradio stations to fuck off. And I guess more thananything else I owe it to MTV, Rolling Stone andAtlantic records for making the most watereddown, unoriginal and uninspiring shitbag of amusic industry that will continue to turn an evergrowing handful of kids away from the main-stream garbage that is shoved down their throatsand make them search out truth and meaning inart. Without that music industry true diy punkwould cease to exist.

The Aquabats“Charge”Upon first listen of the new Aquabatsalbum, I realized that there are nohorns anywhere. If you know any-thing about The Aquabats, then youknow that they started out as a skaband. Ska bands have horns, TheAquabats do not. Does that meanthey are not ska anymore? Truthfully,it doesn’t really matter. “Charge” isthe best album they’ve put out since“Fury of The Aquabats.” (Nitro)

Carter Tanton“Birds and Rain”A good set of songs by 23 year oldCarter Tanton. “Birds and Rain” has alot of good songwriting and guitarplaying. (Park the Van)

Cex“Know Doubt”Cex is a very provocative name for aband. Having sex or making love tothis album would be like having sex toroad work noises. (Record Label)

The Cherry Valence“TCV3”With dual drummers, vocals and dou-ble riffing, The Cherry Valence soundlike a band not to be messed with.They are a 2005 version of classic

rock. With all those duels, you can’treally tell there is 2 drummers. Theguitars sound more full, but what’sthe point of having 2 drummers orguitars if it sounds like they’re play-ing the same notes/chords? Thisshould be played with cruisen forchicks in your 1970’s Chevy musclecar. (Bifocal Media)

Chixdiggit“Pink Razors”Quite a catchy punk album. I’d say it’smore guitar driven then most punk.The last track is a 27 minute com-mentary by the band as they playthrough each song. (Epitaph)

Chin Up Chin Up“s/t”This is a re-issue of Chin Upx2’s first

album “We Should Have Never LivedLike Skyscrapers.” This new albumfeatures some of the songs off theirprevious album, some remixes and avideo for “...Lived Like Skyscrapers.”(Flameshovel)

Criteria “When We Break”“When We Break” has a great open-ing song that rocks and sets the pacefor the rest of the album. A lot of thesongs are really good and there isreally no disappointment in thisalbum. (Saddle Creek)

Cursive“The Difference Between Houses and Homes”I was a semi fan when I first heardCursive. They had a song that I liked.When “Ugly Organ” came out, Ienjoyed their sound a lot more thantheir older stuff. “The DifferenceBetween Houses and Homes,” is acollection of out of print 7 inches and2 unreleased tracks. The songs on thisalbum are from early in their career,and sound nothing like their newerstuff. Some of its good and some I’dpass up. (Saddle Creek)

The Aquabats

Deathray Davies“The Kick and The Snare”Oh Deathray Davies, my have yougrown. And become happier. Theirlast album was a little on the darkside, sound wise. Their new album,much brighter and upbeat. They eventhrough in some trumpets to roundout the sound. (Glurp)

Des Ark“Loose Lips Sink Ships”I was at a restaurant once and therewas a painting on the wall that said“Loose Lips Sink Ships” and it had aship sinking. It was art from time ofwar. This new Des Ark album doesn’tremind me of war, but it does remindme that there are duos out in themusic world better than the WhiteStripes. (Bifocal Media)

The Epoxies“Stop the Future”I don’t understand this whole newwave music revival going on. So whenI first popped the new Epoxies albumin, I was expecting the same synthblah blah blah that’s been going on.But I was pleasantly surprised thatThe Epoxies sounded a bit different.They have a very upbeat and funsound, much like Devo. (Epitaph)

Euphone“V”“V” shows Euphone going in a newdirection than his previous albums.While the majority, if not all thesongs on his previous albums weinstrumental, “V” has a couple trackswith vocals. (Record Label)

Get Him Eat Him“GeographyCones”The sound on“ G e o g r a p h yCones” is almostas strange as thename of the band.By mixing wurl-itzers, organs, andsynthesizers withtraditional instru-ments and superbguitar playing, GetHim Eat Him hasreleased a strong

debut album. The artwork is alsosomething to be mentioned. It looksas though they used constructionpaper or felt cloth and made interest-ing animal shapes, but it makes thisband even more unique. “MumbleMumble” is a stand out. (AbsolutelyKosher)

Gold Rush“Ozona”They named this album after a smalltown in Texas, that their bus brokedown in. “Ozona” has a polished andwell played sound. (Truck)

Jackson United“Western Ballads”Chris Shiflett, of Foo Fighters and MeFirst and the Gimme Gimmes fame,shows off his lead singer/songwriterskills with perfect punk album withelements of The Get Up Kids, Savesthe Day, and Weezer. (Magnificent)

The Deathray Davies

Jim Yoshii Pile Up“Picks Us Apart”

It took me a couple listens to get intothis, but after I did, I was quitepleased. They use very good ideasplaying the songs, by how they playthe guitar and how the vocals sound.If you’ve heard Zykos, then you havea close idea to how The Jim YoshiiPile Up sounds. (Absolutely Kosher)

Josh Joplin“Jaywalker”Josh’s past included a 2 record stay atArtemis Records and a contractedsongwriter at Jive. But one day whilegoing to do his laundry, he saw a manplaying guitar on a stoop. The manasked if Josh wanted to join in, Joshdid, and the experience remindedhim why he loved playing music.While still under contract withArtemis, Josh went and recorded“Jaywalker” with childhood friend,Issa Diao. He sent the new album toArtemis and they told him that“Jaywalker” was not the record thatthey needed. While “Jaywalker” ismostly acoustic guitar, there is astrong presence of a full band, andthe songwriting is great. (ElevenThirty Records)

Lake Trout“Not Them, You”With “Not Them,You,” Lake Trouthas blended many different genresinto one album and actually pulled itoff. How you ask, they’re just thatdamn good. With songs ranging frompost rock to instrumental to shoegaz-er. It sounds like Cave In got togetherwith Radiohead, and instrumental

band Explosions in the Sky and madean album. But there is also the down-side of so many different songs, it dis-rupts the flow of the album. Anywayyou look at it, “Not Them, You,” is agreat album. (Palm)

The Lawrence Arms“Cocktails and Dreams”“Cocktails and Dreams” is a collectionof B-sides, tracks from out of printsplit CD’s, exclusive tracks, newrecordings, and bonus tracks. If youra fan of the Lawrence Arms, or likepunk music, then I suggest you pickthis up. (Asian Man)

Lake Trout

Lords“Swords”There is nothing very exiting aboutLords. The sound on “Swords” does-n’t sound as good as it should, andthat’s basically the main problem. If itsounded like it was recorded in a stu-dio and not in a large open space, Imay have liked it more. (Jade Tree)

Make Believe“Shock of Being”I love how Tim Kinsella is in like 4different bands, with roughly thesame musicians, and most of the 4bands music sounds the same. Butsome people like one band overanother or like one band and don’tlike the others at all. Make Believedoes sound like a Tim Kinsella proj-ect, but it stands out more from any-thing else he’s done. (Flameshovel)

Minus the Bear“Menos el Oso”I have a love/hate relationship withMinus the Bear. The music sounds sogood, but I can’t stand to listen tothem. There is just something aboutthem, something mystical. It’s likethey sold their souls to the devil inexchange for playing great music, butthen the devil turned around and said“I’ll make you play good, but no onesgonna want to listen to it.” Theirsound is just so damn original, itsucks. (Suicide Squeeze)

Motion City Soundtrack“ Commit This to Memory”How is it that this band is fromMinneapolis and I have never heardof their music. I’ve been missing out.They play some damn infectiouspunk. (Epitaph)

MxPx“Panic”After a few years and a few less thanmediocre records on A&M, MxPxreleases their debut album on SideOne Dummy. By far their best album

since “Life in General” or “SlowlyGoing the Way of the Buffalo.”Hopefully with this new album, theywill shed some of that sell out resent-ment everyone has for them, andeveryone will realize that they canactually play good music. (Side OneDummy)

Bob Mould“Body of Song”If your expecting Husker Du, then

the take the next time machine backto the late 80’s. “Body of Song” ismore futuristic with it electro vocaleffects. (Yep Roc)

The Narrator“Such Triumph”Such a good album. Angular punkwith influences like Cap’n Jazz. Track8 has a Promise Ring influence, and itthe stand out track. (Flameshovel)

The Nein“Wrath of Circuits”Former White Octave and Steel Pole

Bath Tub members combining punkinfluences with sound manipulationsand samples. Unique and inventive.(Sonic Unyon)

Minus the Bear

No Use For a Name“Keep Them Confused”Almost sounds like a copy of TheAtaris, but No Use For a Name havebeen around a lot longer than TheAtaris. Overall, “Keep ThemConfused,” is a good album, but thesound is nothing new. (Epitaph)

Parish School“Alikeness”This is Brian Case’s, from90 Day Men, first solorelease. All of the songs onthis EP were written on apiano, and have certainelectronic elements in eachsong. Track 4 sounds likeRatatat, with vocals. (Record Label)

Portastatic“Bright Ideas”Superchunk singer Mac McCaughan’sside band. What Mac did with “BrightIdeas” was, write 10 lovely indie

songs about ghosts and girls he wantsto know. With each listen, you’ll fallin love with this album more. (Merge)

Say Hi to Your Mom“Ferocious Mopes”You could honestly play Say Hi’s 2previous albums, along with“Ferocious Mopes” and you wouldnotice that their is hardly a differencein sound. But all the songs are infec-tious and fun to listen to. (Euphobia)

Schoolyard Heroes“Fantastic Wounds”Scathing high energy female frontedmetal, with guitars like Slash anddrumming that would make that guyfrom Rush proud. (The Control Group)

The Soviettes“LP3”This is The Soviettes debut release onFat Wreck, since leaving AdelineRecords. Danny, the sole male in theband, sings more on this album, thanon their previous albums. “LP3” has anice blend of punk rock with plenty ofedge. (Epitaph)

Sparrow“The Early Years”Sparrow is a new band from JasonZumpano, who was in a band withCarl Newman, before Carl left to dothe New Pornographers. Sparrow hasa lot of piano elements, and it kind ofsounds like the Shins, without copy-ing the Shins sound. Definitely some-thing worth checking out. (Absolutely Kosher)

Schoolyard Heroes

Portastatic

Spoon“Gimme Fiction”The line forms to the left toshake hands and congratu-late Britt Daniel and com-pany on another fineSpoon album. I won’t be inthe line. I do enjoy some ofthe songs off “GimmeFiction,” but I think “Killthe Moonlight” is a muchbetter album. (Merge)

Statistics“Often Lie”Denver Dalley’s Statistics project getsbetter with each release. He has greatsongwriting skills. The only disap-pointment on this album is it’s only 9tracks. 1 or 2 more to fill it out would-n’t have hurt. (Jade Tree)

Stnnng“Dignified Sissy”Stnnng hold a special place in myheart. Mainly because their music isall over the place. The guitars, drumsand vocals come from all over, buttogether it just makes sense. (Modern Radio)

The Teeth“Carry the Wood”The Teeth have a sound that is remi-niscent of the Beatles with their vocalharmonies and piano. You can tellthey’re having a lot of fun on thisshort 6 song release. Track 4 hassome nice trumpet work that givesthe song on old big band feel. (Parkthe Van)

The Vets“Ad Infinitum”(Modern Radio)A great follow up to their last album.“Ad Infinitum” is over 70 minuteslong and needs to be listened to inone sitting. There is some excellentguitar and drum work here.(ModernRadio)

Tim Kinsella“Crucifix Swastika”Tim’s got great wordplay. This isTim’s second solo album. He wrotethe songs while on his honeymoon.But I don’t know if they are about hishoneymoon or not. (Record Label)

Vox Vermillion“Standing Still You MoveForward”Intricate and somewhat eerie, VoxVermillion has created semi epicgems of brilliance. VV is a crossbetween The Umbrella Sequence, fortheir piano driven songs, and AWhisper in the Noise, for their moodsetting and cello. (Women Records)

Spoon

Download - Manual Dexterity Music Zine - Summer 2005

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