manual dexterity music zine - winter 2005

Bound Stems//The City on Film//LovittRecords Turns 10//Six Q’s for Six Publicists

The City on Film...........................06Lovitt Records.............................12Bound Stems...............................15The American Analog Set..........22

Six Questions/Six Publicists.........30Reviews.........................................37

Chin Up Chin Up

On the Cover: Andrew Kenny of The American Analog Set. www.amanset.comTop 10 Albums of 2005 I listened to most: 1) Jackson United “Western Ballads” 2) The Narrator“Such Triumph” 3) Maritime “We, The Vehicles” 4) Death Cab for Cutie “Plans” 5) Nada Surf “TheWeight is a Gift” 6) Criteria “When We Break” 7) The Jim Yoshii Pile Up “Picks Us Apart” 8) Portastatic“Bright Ideas” 9) The Aquabats “Charge” 10) MxPx “Panic”

Correspond: [email protected] © 2005 • Subtitles Publishing • Minneapolis

Subtitles Publishing:p.o.box 2076 • maple grove, mn 55311

After the break up of Hey Mercedes, whydid you decide to move forward withyour City on Film project and not startanother full band project?

** Well, I wanted to take a break from the wholeband dynamic for awhile. And I mean that on afew different levels. I wanted the immediatefreedom to play when and wherever I could at amoment’s notice, and also to work at my ownpace with writing, recording, what have you. I'malso trying to gain a little more confidence infront of crowds if that makes any sense at all. Ihaven't given up on bands though. In fact, I'm inthe early stages of getting one together rightnow.

Is The City on Film a solo project or doyou have a band that your working with?

** It is definitely a solo project, but I have donea few tours where I have taken bits and pieces ofbands along with me. I like that situationbecause no one knows what the songs willsound like and most of the time, not even I willknow. This next tour I do (opening forSpitalfield), I'm going to try and amass a wildband of keyboards and strings and percussion.And if I can't do it in time, then I can always justgo play the shows myself.

Are you shows on tour solo shows or doyou have a full band playing with you?

** They vary. My friend Rachael has been doingmost of them playing violin. I guess you reallydon't know what you're going to get.

You just toured England with Owen, howdid that go?

** It was amazing. Way way better than any ofus ever expected. There was only four of us in aminivan with our guitars, bags, and merch, so itwas like a dream come true. No drums. Verylaid back. And the shows were very well attend-ed and the crowds were very respectful andattentive. It was the perfect situation. I may goback in February.

What is your history with Mike Kinsella and did it make it easier touring with some-one you knew opposed to someone your not familiar with?

** Mike & I have known each other for at least 12 years. We met while he played drums for Cap'nJazz and I played drums for Friction and now we both play acoustic guitar. Funny. Anyway, ourhistory did help in that we knew all of the highs and lows and uncertainties about going on sucha random tour and how each of us would react. Like I said, it was great. If the tour was a com-plete disaster, maybe I'd have a different answer.

How have the rising prices of gas affectedyour upcoming touring plans? How do youthink the higher gas prices affect independ-ent bands in general?

** They made me reconsider and eventually cancela planned west coast tour. Instead I'm just going tobe doing the midwest dates in November. It's bru-tal. Even on this last tour, opening for Minus TheBear, it was rough. All of our show money wentstraight into the gas tank and we still had to dipinto the merch fund, so we barely stayed afloat. Ithink it's hurting independent bands tremendous-ly. I know a few other bands that have cancelledtours as well. It's a vicious cycle as they say. Itmakes it hard to go on tour without guarantees butpromoters can't promise anything because show-goers don't have the extra money to go to showsbecause of gas prices. And to echo my recent tour-mate, Jeff Hanson, oil companies such asHalliburton have record profits every year.Seriously, give us a break.

On the “In Formal Introduction” album,you re-recorded some songs that you had

previously recorded on the “I’d Rather Be Wine Drunk” EP, why did you decide tore-record those songs?

** I wanted to make the full length a "catch-up" or a collection of everything up to this point. Myoriginal plan was just to have all of the original recordings of the early 7"s and splits that are nowout of print but some of the stuff was just too hard to track down. So I just decided to re-recordeverything with a full band and give it the royal treatment so to speak. The "Wine Drunk" ep wasrecorded all acoustic in a hotel room, so I figured I could give those songs a better go.

Is playing as The City on Film easier than playing in Hey Mercedes or Braid?

** I think it's harder. All of the responsibility is on me and for the most part you can hear everylittle detail. It's nice but it's also a lot of pressure. I can't mumble through a verse if I forget thewords or just hope that the other guitar will smooth over my shoddy playing. It's all right there.

What is the idea behind the photography for the “In Formal Introduction” albumartwork? Have you ever considered playing a show where formal attire was strictlyrequired?

** I wanted to have all of the photos come from a formal attire party full of all of my friends. Ithought it would be a fun concept. It also went with the title. And of course I had to involve ChrisStrong since he's the best photographer ever. And as for shows with formal attire... well, it mayhelp to keep the rowdiness level down, but in my case, I'm pretty uncomfortable all dressed up,so I'd have to say no. I'd like to maintain the comfort zone.

You have a number of downloads online, of cover songs that you’ve recorded. Youhave 100 songs that you will eventually cover, how many have you done so far andwhen do you think you will eventually have them all done?

** I've done 53 so far. Most of them are pretty bad so I'm taking my time with the top 50. I hopeto have them done by the end of next year, but there is no time frame in mind. I'll finish themwhen I feel the urge.

During shows, in between City on Film songs, you’ve been playing Braid songs, howhas the crowd reacted to the Braid songs?

** Very well. I don't plan on playing them forever, but it's exciting to hear what comes out whenI try to play "A Dozen Roses" with a new set of musicians. Who knows. Maybe The City On Filmwill forever play Braid songs. The most important aspect of this project is often spontaneity.

Are you working on any other musical projects in the future? Have you made anyplans to play in a full band?

** Yep. I'm getting one together as we speak. I'll let you know how it turns out!

When did you start the label? What wasthe driving force behind starting it? Iactually started the label my second year atGuilford College in Greensboro, NC, out of mydorm room. The first release was a 7” by the DCband Monorchid. I had been doing a small distrobefore starting the label which was fun but oneday I thought it would be cool to actually releaserecords and not just sell ones from other labels.I had seen Monorchid play a few times and real-ly liked them and was a fan of their previousbands. They did not have a record out at the timeso I decided to call them and see if they would beinterested in putting one out with me. I was notsure if they would doit or not but they sayyes and now it is 10years later and I’mstill doing the label.

When you started, what were yourexpectations for the label, did you thinkyou'd make it ten years? I really had noexpectations for how well it might do or how longit might last. I would have never guessed it wouldstill be going strong after ten years. When I start-ed it, I thought of it as more of a secondary thingand not something that would take up all of mytime. I majored in political science in college witha concentration in environmental studies and Ithought I would be doing something with that bythis point in my life and not still doing the label.

I’m really proud that it has been going a lotlonger than I ever imagined and that it has beenable to keep running with out taking any moneyfrom majors or outside sources. The label fullyruns off the money it makes and always had. Thisalso means that we are able to make all decisionson how we want to do things, not how otherswant us to.

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Sleepy Time Trio

How many releases have you put out?What have been the top selling albumson the label? We are now close to number 50(which should be out in Feb or so). We have atleast through 54-55 planned at the moment.

I believe our best selling record so far has beenthe Engine Down full length “Demure”. TheSleepytime Trio CD has done really well and mightbe a runner up and also Engine Down – To BuryWithin the Sound is around there as well.

Sales are so hard to judge on newer stuff withmoney coming in from things like downloads, etcas that does not really count as a sale since peo-ple might just buy one or two songs.

Are there any releases that your the mostproud of? I’m really proud to have worked withsuch amazing musicians and people over theyears and have a special place in my heart foreach release so that is a really tough question toanswer.

How have your musical tastes changed inthe last ten years? Like anyone, my tastes gothrough phases and evolve with time. I still listento a lot of stuff I did 10 years ago but I have alsolearned to enjoy and appreciate music I would nothave when I started the label. I think that proba-bly just has more to do with getting older thanfrom running the label.

How did the 10 year show on Sept 3rddo? I really could not have asked for the show tobe any more perfect. All the bands played great.We had an amazing turn out. It was wonderful tohave everyone in one place. A lot of work wentinto pulling it off but it was well worth it in the end.The show was filmed by BiFocal Media and someof the footage will appear on the next LovittRecords DVD and some on the Engine Down DVDthat is being worked on.

Engine Down has been on the label for 8of the 10 years, and they recently broke

up, what's it like working for a band thatlong? I am interested in having long term rela-tionships with people and having us all growtogether. Engine Down and the label grew a lotover the 8 years and I’m really happy that we wereable to worktogether for thatlong. Like anyrelationship inlife that goes onthat long, youhave your upsand downs butwe had moreups and I’m sad that they broke up. I’m greatfriends with all four of them and will be working inthe future with all of them in some way or another.

Lovitt has always released music frombands from the Richmond/DC area. Whatis it about this area that produces suchgood music? Have you released anymusic from bands from other regions? Things seem to shift around where the Lovitt bandsare located. The label really started with workingwith DC area bands and it stayed that way up torelease number 7. Sleepytime Trio really changedthat as they were mostly based out of Richmondand that led us to working with Engine Down, RahBras, Four Hundred Years who were all also fromthe Richmond area. Then for awhile, we had adecent amount of bands come from Chapel Hill,NC including Milemarker, Ben Davis and Fin FangFoom. We seem to now be shifting back to wherewe started and working with a lot of DC bandsincluding Navies, Del Cielo, Decahedron andnow Haram. A lot of it turns out that way as wework with a lot of the same people so it dependson where they are living and who they are playingwith. Also, our bands will tell us about other greatbands from their cities and some times, we end upworking with them. A prime example of that is FinFang Foom.

Engine Down

How do you feel about music downloading? Do music sharing programs or down-loading of bands albums effect the sales of the albums? There is no doubt that download-ing has effected the sales of independent records. For awhile, it seemed that everyone was just usingsharing programs and getting their music that way but it seems to have leveled off some and a fair

amount of people that might have downloaded that wayare now buying stuff from sites like emusic and itunes. Evenwith that though, people are buying one or two songs froma record and not the whole record which maybe theywould have before. I’m not really sure if this is all a neg-

ative or positive as even though less sales seem to be happening, bands are sometimes being listenedto more as people can access/find their music more quickly. I guess only time will tell the real impactof this all.

I'm sure you get a bunch a demos a month, do you everget demos for genres that you wouldn't release, like hiphop or country? I would say on average, we probably get at least10 demos a week. Unfortunately, we do not have time to listen tothem in a timely fashion. We do seem to get all genres as people seem to send out to every label nomatter what they have put out in the past. After Sept 11, we got a decent amount of patriotic stuffincluding one from a 80 year old woman and her son singing and playing piano together. I guess noth-ing we get surprised me anymore.

What can you foresee for the next 10 years of Lovitt? I honestly have no idea and I guessthat is part of the fun.

Ben Davis

Rah Bras

The NaviesDel Cielo

Fing Fang Foom The Cassettes

Bound StemsI was in Seattle playing in Harvey Danger and doing design and writing for variousmagazines until the summer of 2002, when I moved out to Chicago. I met the otherfellas immediately, we went through all the early steps of writing and performingtogether, and then decided to make a record of all-new material. After that the EP...

- Evan Sult

“The Logic of Building the Body Plan EP” was written and recorded after you had already finishedwriting and recording the full length “Appreciation Night,” why did you decide to release the EP,when you already had a full length done?

“Appreciation Night” was exactly the experience we wanted it to be. It was hard work, workingtogether and on our own. Every song was a surprise. When we finished the record, we discoveredthat our hypothesis going in had been proven: we were a new band, with a whole new set of songs,new ways of writing, and more capabilities than any of us were expecting to discover. We were elat-ed--but we were also a little too late finishing it to get our asses out the door and on tour, coz Bobby'sa high school history teacher, so summer's when we tour. Flameshovel suggested the EP as aholdover. Still flushed, we went a little overboard putting the EP together: It's got 3 new songs, 2songs from the album, and 2 intercolary songs Tim Sandusky and I built from Bound Stems songbits. How could we not? Writing and recording songs is the best way to spend time ever.

When is “Appreciation Night” set to release? Will it be released on Flameshovel also?

We're still figuring that out. We're really pleased to be working with Flameshovel with the EP. We'reall ready to hit the road as soon as the last period bell rings at Bobby's school; that's the only thingwe're sure of.

For “Appreciation Night,” instead of releasing the 12 songs on 1 disc, you're releasing 3 songs on 4different EP discs. What’s the idea behind this? How did you decide which songs will go on whichdiscs?

That solution was more a way for us to be able to hand out our record to people without waiting forthe official release. The album was built with songs overflowing into other songs, so we didn't wantto make a "best-of" sampler; I think my girlfriend Liz suggested breaking the album into parts. It'sthe whole album, in order, over 4 cds--only we kept the introductory song back for the full album.

I really like the individual cds, actually, and that was a surprise. You know how sometimes you'velistened to a record a dozen times, and then someone turns it on midway through and you're notexpecting it and you say, "Hey, what is that? It sounds great," and it's music you thought you werereally familiar with? This arrangement prevents that, because it offers so many entrance points intoa record that's otherwise built to flow seamlessly from thefirst song into the last. Also, I could be wrong, but Ifeel like "Appreciation Night" is packed with parts:the songs have lots of sections, the sectionshave lots of folks doing lots of parts withinparts...Offering the album inpieces is kind of like makinga deal with the listener: Youlisten, and we won't crowdyou. You promise to payattention, and wepromise not tot h r o weverythingat you atonce.

Everyone inthe bandseems to havepretty seriousday jobs, sci-entist, teacher,art director,etc..., Is it everhard foreveryone totake time off atthe same timeto tour or practice?With all those seriousjobs, why did you startplaying music? Howdoes playing in BoundStems fit in your life, it isa hobby, outlet or a parttime job?

The best thing about beingin Bound Stems is that Ican look all the way to thehorizon, and only see more stuff for us to do that we haven't even got

to yet. Take Janie Porche, our newest member: she plays violin, she whistles, she can attach a remotecontrol to anything electric--we've just scratched the surface of what she brings to the band.

When I was in Harvey Danger we had 2 professional graphic designers in the band, and we hardlyever made t-shirts, posters, or other cool stuff. That stuff we did in our other life; in Harvey Danger,we made music. In Bound Stems I feel like I can do everything I want to do; I think we all feel that way.I screenprint posters for every show, I help produce, I make tshirts. It'll get us around the country.It'll get us to Europe, dammit. Bound Stems is where we get to do whatever the hell we want to do. It'ssomething private, it's something for and with our friends, it's something public. It's professional inthat we take it seriously; it's fun in that we have a great time doing it: writing, recording, playing, talk-ing, planning. We're not asking for it to be a big deal to others, but it's unquestionably a big deal to us.

Our jobs are also important to us. Life's a big deal, yeah? I wouldn't have it any other way. Our solu-tion to the problem of "How do we make time for this?" is pretty cool I think: we do whatever seemslike the most enjoyable thing to do. To make the necessary space, we've learned to live without 2things: TV, and drama.

We don't get involved in a bunch ofsocial skullduggery, and neither do ourfriends. That saves a LOT of time andenergy. We like each other, and we'rehonest with each other, and that's a pret-ty big help. Then no TV, and pretty soonyou realize you've got time to practice--every night, if you want to.

Where did you find the Grandma samplefor the song “Up All Night?”

That's my Grandma Jo. She's on the album too.I interviewed her years ago, possibly to write

about her. I grabbed a bunch of old tapes once to tape overduring practice, and one of them was hers. I refused to tape over it,though, and when I realized it was gonna be right for the album I was ecstatic. She was ornery some-times, but I loved her.

There are a lot of elements to your music, what influences or inspires the sound of Bound Stems?

The samples came in fairly late. I always meant to do that, and like I said before, Bound Stems is theplace we do what we want. So I went around all winter with a minidisc recorder, catching the soundof the city, my friends, cab drivers... I'm not gonna lie: when I heard The Books, I felt awed andinspired. We're not trying to ape them, but damned if they don't impress the hell out of me.

Otherwise: Radz listens the widest, probably. We all find common ground in awesome bands like LesSavy Fav and Built to Spill and Broken Social Scene. Bobby and I wouldn't be who we are now with-out Pavement. The Fall may be my favorite band ever, and Paul Simon is close to the hearts of Janieand me. Whenever we find music that makes and breaks pop moments--that creates and destroys inthe same song--it's an inspiration.

The “L.ogic EP” is one of a handful of albums that I have listened to constantly since I received it,and it never seems to get boring. What do you think makes your music so listenable?

It's a great time to be making music, for a lot of reasons. Artistically, there are so many bands whoare comfortable crossing genres, messing with time signatures, and getting personally invested indoing music their own way. We wrote our album in 6-week batches, normally 3 songs per batch,and each song, each time, we got to a point where it was like, "I know my part, but I can't physical-ly play it yet." We reached past our comfort level--and by the time we were done, we had moved ourcomfort level to a new place.

When you're writing that much, and practicing that much, and trying to wow the other guys, whoare trying to wow you...a lot of cool parts get written. Very early in our process we realized weliked weird time signatures: fives against sixes, 7/4, stuff I don't know the names of. We have ourown funny systems of counting beats. A lot of the time we had no idea what the melody or lyricswould be--so we'd make what seemed like impossible music to write vocals over, then trust thatBobby could smooth it out. The music is secretly almost impossible to count out--I love that it's com-plex, and also that the complexity doesn't hamper getting the song across.

Also we like it when the songs make intuitive sense. There's a great moment that happens writing,when the song--which doesn't exist yet--starts telling the musician what part comes next. That's agreat feeling, and we got better at paying attention to it. Transitions are where pop happens--popas in satisfying--and also where you can create more tension by knocking the pop for a loop.

There's a lot of information in each song--too much, I guess. But there's too much information in the3 blocks between work and home, if you look at it right. Each song is a chance to put a lot of infor-mation in one place, and there's no reason not to, you know? Ain't nobody making these songs butus, so there's no reason for us to do anything but that which makes us happiest.

The American Analog Setinterview with andrew kenny

Tiger Style went out of business in the beginning stages of "Set Free," was there ever anyworry about how you were going to release it? How did the deal with Arts and Craftscome about?

I wasn't worried exactly. We had a few inquiries after the announcement that made usfeel a little better. After our experience with Wall Of Sound in the UK, I knew that I want-ed to complete the record before we went looking for a label though. It might be just aseasy (or easier) to sell someone on the "idea" of a record as it is to sell someone therecord itself, but there's no guarantee that they'll be as excited about it when they final-ly hear it.

I knew that I wanted "Set Free" to be a more complete and a more fully realized albumthan anything we'd attempted before so I was a little more worried about time. No mat-ter how long it took, I'd have to tack on an extra six months or so to get someone excit-ed about releasing it. The album was more or less written at this point. I didn't want thesongs to be two plus years old when we started touring them.

The arrangement with Arts & Crafts came about for many reasons. I'd been in contactwith Jeffrey for a while. I'm a big Broken Social Scene fan and I have a lot of respect forwhat A+C has done for them (and visa versa). We wanted to find a label that had beenaround long enough to be knowledgable but young enough to bend their own rules tofit each artist on the roster. But the number one reason was Kevin Drew. I'm a BSS fan sure,but I'm also a big fan of Kevin personally. He's been a friend for a while and he took itupon himself to make sure Jeffrey and Daniel and the rest of the Arts & Crafts team did-n't forget about us between conversations. He was our guy.

"Set Free" was released in Japan, Europe and Australia before the US release and I'venoticed that a lot of indie bands are doing the same. What is the reasoning behind this?Is the American Analog Set more popular in certain countries?

Well, I can't speak for other bands of course. I know for us it was more a matter of polite-ness. This is our sixth full length in North America, but it's our first album in Australia, Japan,Taiwan, and only or second album in Europe and the UK. We're not a huge band any-where, of course, but we'v been around long enough to have a some kind of fanbaseeverywhere. Outside the US, though, they might be used to finding our records as importsand giving labels abroad the jump on imports is a bit of a gentleman's courtesy. And themusic business is soooo gentlemanly.

Do the songs on the overseas versions of "Set Free" differ for the US version?

Not exactly. The Japanese version has four remixes, but otherwise it's the same record.We finished "Set Free" before we shared it with anyone so there wasn't really any, "Well..it's good but what if you went back and added a guitar solo and a tambourine to 'BornOn The Cusp'.. I think we've got a shot at radio!!"

When it was done, it was done. There are much longer versions of "Cool Kids", "First OfFour", "The Green, Green Grass", and "Everything Ends In Spring" on the 12" tour epthough.

Your doing a lot of touring overseas to support "Set Free." How does a tour in Japan orEurope compare to touring across the United States? Does touring so much in such a lit-tle time ever take a toll on you?

It can get a little dark at times but this tour isn't so bad., Honestly, we've got a fewbreaks here and there that makes things seem a little brighter. This lesson was hardlearned too. We spent 6 months on the road in the year following the release of "KnowBy Heart" and that was in just two 3 month tours. Holy moly. The touring for "Promise OfLove" was a little better. Four months in a year spread over five tours. Make that muchbetter. This tour is about 1/3 breaks and we're all thumbs up about it.

Touring in Europe is a little different because venues take a lot better care of you. It'scommon practice for a club to arrange accomodations, for instance. Dinner is usuallyprovided by the venue and it's quite often a real meal. We've had some laughablemeals thrown at us in the states over the years. [see the AmAnSet.com tour journal forSpring '04.. Northampton, MA] and that happens a lot less in Europe.

We've heard really good things about Japan, as well. This is our first tour in Japan,though. I'll have to let you know when we get back.

What do you think are some necessities for traveling overseas?

This probably isn't what you're asking but I inventoried my shoulder bag the otherday. Ostende, Belgium to Munich is around 10 hours. I needed a project. How aboutthis:

Sunglasses, nail clippers, small photo album full of poloroids, matches, a book, onepoloroid camera, headphones, tour book (day sheets, contracts..), change formerch, pin from two tours ago, two sharpies (fine point), set list from last night, twosharpies (ultra fine point), paint pen, business card from some guy starting a musicpublishing company, pencil (mechanical), three emergen-C vit C supplements (cran-berry), magic tape, exacto knife, another pair of sunglasses, phone card for the US, asandwich, phone card for Germany, boarding pass from flight overseas, phone cardfor Netherlands, phone card for France, envelopes, pin from.. like.. four tours ago,stamps, toothpaste, toothbrush, American flag patch that someone gave me, glidefloss, charger for cell phone, lip balm, CD I got handed..

That's about it. Not all of this is necessary for traveling overseas, of course. Most of it'sjust gerneral touring stuff. I do recommend that if you're driving yourself in Europe, youshould activate your cell phone overseas. It's expensive, but it saved us from many afrustrating situation.

Was there any difficulty record-ing "Set Free" with all the mem-bers in different states?

It was a nightmare. Schedulingwas a fiasco and it made everyrecording session so very expen-sive. We couldn't all be there forevery single session so it was aless collaborative effort than onpast records. But we wanted tomake a different record and thiswas the best and only way to doit.

The early recordings of "Set Free"were done at the house in Austin,TX, and the rest was done withChris Michaels in Jackson, MS.What happened that forced youto not to be able to use the houseanymore? How was it recordingwith Chris?

The little house in Austin wherewe recorded "Know By Heart"and "Promise.." was sold. It was afamily house and my brother wasthe last person to live there. Hedidn't need it after he graduatedfrom the university though. Soafter May, it wasn't an optionanymore. We knew this wascoming when the recordingstarted in January so we madegood use of the house in Marchand in May.

Also, we'd visited theLabarotory in Jackson beforeChris opened it as a studio. Ithougt it had a really nice energyso we may've relocated regard-less of our situation in Austin. Theexperience in Jackson was won-derful. I know I went on aboutthis in the liner notes for therecord, but it really was an eyeopening experience. I imagine itwas a lot more like how a normalband makes a record. I can'twait to go back.

How has American Analog Set's sound evolved from your early recordings? Has itbecome easier to write new material?

The live sound and the recorded sound have co-evolved, I think, over the years. Theelectric piano, vibraphone, and percussion have all been elements added at differenttimes for the recording process that were then adopted by the band for performing live.And they've all had a big impact on the way our band sounds live. On the other side ofthe coin, the songwriting has always grown along with what our band does well (or thinksit does well.. ha ha). And our experiences in recording have made us better at captur-ing these moments on tape.

Two of the songs from "Set Free" were released on a split EP with White Magic called"Songs of Hurt and Healing," which was put out by Ouch the website/Tylenol. How didthat split EP come about?

We know someone that was involved in putting the "Ouch" series together for Tylenol.She called me while we were in Jackson and asked if we had any songs that mentioned"hurt" or "hurting" and I was sitting AT the piano recording an alternate version of "PlayHurt". It seemed too perfect to pass up. "Immacualte Heart" was more or less done atthat point too and I knew that the reprise would still be exclusive to the record. Thelonger version of "The Postman" was also appropriate and I'd been thinking about releas-ing that for a few years. It was just the thing to to.

Did you get any pain medication out of the deal?

Ha ha.. I did, actually. They sent a way-too-big box with a couple of first aid kits. Onlyinstead of packing peanuts or paper they packed the box with the 2-fer travel sizedTylenols. I have no idea how many were in there. A thousand? Two? More? When I cutthe box open, it went "poooof" like it was packed with so so many Tylenols. It was aroundX-mas so I think I took most of them to various New Year's Eve parties we attended. I waslike Santa Claus but instead of presents, I brought the possible risk of stomach bleeding.Happy hollies.

The open handcuff on the cover artwork for "Set Free" looks almost like 3/4s of a heart,which can be interpreted as being set free from love. How does the title of the new albumrelate to the songs and lyrics on it?

I really shouldn't comment on or take credit for the cover of "Set Free" because it washandled by our art director & electric piano player, Craig McCaffrey.

However, that is what much of the record is about. I felt like the stories on "Know ByHeart" and "Promise.." were incomplete somehow and the stories deserved an ending."Set Free" was meant to be that ending. Over the course of writing, it turned out that thestories didn't have happy endings after all, but they didn't have sad ones either. Theyhad some other kind of ending that wasn't predicted in chapters one and two. If "Aaronand Maria" introduced the characters and "Come Home, Baby Julie" is what happenedto them, then "Born On The Cusp" is how things turned out in the end and "ImmaculateHeart" is why. Or maybe they stayed together? In which case "The Green, Green Grass"is a more fitting end. But it's still not a happy ending. It's something else.

(6)(6)questions publicists

“...stop hanging up on me!” - David Lewis, Riot Act Media (1)david lewis

“All their most recent records have leaked but their sales, atten-dance at their live shows have increased.” - Steve Martin, Nasty Little Man

)(2)steve martin

“you have to do it passionately with plently of heart & patience.”- Celeste Tabora, Solid PR

(3)celeste tabora

“It’s all about schmoozing.” - Pam Nashel-Leto, Girlie Action)(4)am nashel let

“...getting some music leaked about a month from street date,can help create a nice buzz.” -Brendan Brouke, Tag Team Media

(5)brendan bourke

“Responses are always nice. Even if it is Dear Kate, please eatdirt...” -Kate Cafaro, Big Hassle

)(6)kate cafaro

Is PR like a standard 9-5 job, or is theremore involved?

Well the office hours are pretty standard, butmusic PR involves a bit more late night revel-ry. Myself I work 24/7 but other PR folks dowork the 9-5, then head out to shows, fests,etc.

Do you ever worry about the advanacecopies of albums being leaked online oron file sharing programs?

That's a good question, bands and labels worrymore about it more than I do, I guess it's notmy job per se to worry about internet safety.But with more and more digital distributiontaking over I would imagine that all labels -indie or not - will begin to come up with somekind of copy protection for their promo copies.Much like the major labels are now with DaveMatthews, etc. Whereas you can't copy the CDmore than 2 or 3 times. But in terms of PR Iam more concerned with getting folks to talkabout my bands and that requires promo...

Have you ever worked on a release thatyou weren’t fully behind, or thoughtwasn’t that good, how do you handlethat?

I am incredibly lucky as I don't have to workanything I don't like; I love all my bands andbelieve that everyone else should do the same[wink]. If I didn't I would be hard pressed toconvince people. When I worked at Hopper

PR I was not a huge fan of some of the elec-tronic stuff, but we always had someone in theoffice who would be into whatever crazy shitHopper was pushing. Now that I run my owncompany I decide what crazy shit my staff hasto pimp.

Has there ever been bands that you havepassed up working with, and then thosebands go on to become very popular?

Nope. Well that's not true, I didn't get to workthe Thrice record on Subcity. I wasn't a fan oftheir first few records. Now I love what theyare doing and wish I was their PR-dude, butotherwise...nope.

What do you think are some neccessaryqualifications for being a publicist?

You have to like booze, food, bling, makingmoney, strip clubs. Okay, seriously it's a hardjob. You have to be dedicated and persistent,have a realistic but positive vision for yourclients....and drink heavily.

Name a couple of things magazine writerscan do to make your job a little easier?

Send clips and copies of your magazines. Beaccountable and responsive and stop hangingup on me!

(1)david lewisriot act media


There's more involved, especially for me, as Iown the company. Definitely a lot of afterhours client relations from dinners, shows,occasional late night phone calls, not to men-tion frequent travel on behalf of bigger clients,to meet with potential clients, as well as doingbookkeeping and the like on weekends.


Yes I do worry about it but not out of financialconcern. I make sure we respect the trust putin us by the labels, make sure all protectedadvances are signed for and so on. However,the flipside of that is that I don't believe thatfilesharing hurts the kind of artists I represent. They're all artists who have built up real fol-lowings of fans who know that their fullrecords are worth their money, not just 1 or 2songs. AFI, Beck, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, theMars Volta, Radiohead... All their most recentrecords have leaked but their sales, attendanceat their live shows have increased.


Nah I don't have that problem. I'm indie and Ipick and choose my clients.

Has there ever been bands that you havepassed up working with, and then thosebands go one to become very popular?

Sure but so what? I don't so this for fame andriches. I do it for love of music and to turn peo-ple on to the music that excites me. If I take onsomething I don't like for fame and money, I'mdoing everyone involved a disservice, myselfincluded.


Knowing and loving music, reading the publi-cations and watching the shows you're pitch-ing. Know the editors' and bookers' tastes.Know enough about music to discuss artistsother than your own. Have realistic goals,appropriate for each artist. Know when to takea definitive NO and move on. We're not tele-marketers.


Other than having the same incredibly goodtaste that I have? Kidding. I would say main-taining communication, courtesy. I'm guilty ofthis as well, but return calls. We all get busyand backed up, but return calls and e-mails.Even if it takes a few days, a week. It's genericadvice, I know, but treat people how you'd liketo be treated.

(2)steve martin

nasty little man


I suppose its relative. PR doesn't just extend tomusic... So I'm sure someone out there has atypical 9-5er having to do with PR. Relating to us, however... There are many nights whereDerek & I will be working until the wee hoursof the morning. Not to mention when we'reattending one of our artists' shows or runningan event - we often have to work as late as pos-sible and then rush over to the venue. If we'relucky we can throw some food in our belliesin-between!


Yes, of course we do but we trust the peopleand organizations we send advances to! I thinkits a greater concern for major labels thanindie PR firms like us. There are many thingsbeing developed these days against leakagelike copy-protected compact discs. However, Ithink it's a temporary problem as technology ischanging and evolving all the time.


We don't pick up artists we don't like. That'srule #1.


(I think Derek should answer this one.)

“Honestly this hasn't been an experience of mine yet.I try to help most of the people who come my way ifI enjoy the music, and the band's and label's ethics.I have turned down some records before but usuallyit's because I'm not a fan of the music or the attitudeof the people approaching me. However, I try tonever say "no" because I'm too "busy". Betweenmyself and Celeste I believe we are able to take on anew client if we love them and their music. I actu-ally hate the thought of deserving talent, who's niceenough to approach us, falling through the cracksbecause we are too busy. If it's good, we like tomake the time and room for it on our roster. Trustme we are swamped to no end, but the idea of help-ing those we believe in is the reason the companywas born in the first place.” Derek Meier


With any profession, I think to do it well youhave to do it passionately with plently of heart& patience. Everyone has different motivation-al factors. For me, I love all my bands verymuch and view them as if they were my kids.Their well-being and success are very impor-tant to me. I think that anyone can be trainedto do any job, but it takes someone who lovestheir job to be successful at it.


Honestly, I can't generalize or lump in maga-zine writers stereotypically. Everyone is differ-ent and processes/handles everything differ-ently. We are here to cater to how these peopleproceed in covering bands. So I guess thequestion should be - "What can we do to makethings easier for magazines and writers?"

(3)celeste tabora

solid pr


Girlie Action hours are 11-7 - which to me arethe ideal hours. Its for a few reasons, one beingthat we communicate a lot with the west coastso it makes sense to start late. Another beingthat most people in the music industry (meincluded) love to sleep late. But you also haveto go out during the week anytime you have aband in town so hours vary. Sometimes I'llhave bands who don’t go on until after mid-night so I may be getting home at 3am on aweekday. The nice thing is we are allowed tocome in later during those types of scenerios.


I dont worry about that. I leave that to therecord companies who worry enough.


I dont necessarily have to dig the band for meto work it well or be fully behind it. Its defi-nitely more of a challange, but as long as theband has a good story & I know a certain groupof writers will like it, I'm confident I'll do justas well as if I really love an album to beginwith.


Yes.


Social skills are definitely a plus. Not beingafraid to call people you dont know on thephone. It’s all about schmoozing.


Answer their phones. Answer your emails -even if its just to say they havent listened to thealbum yet, any response is better than noresponse. Send us tear sheet (aka clips) oncethe review has run.

(4)pam nashel leto

girlie action


Music PR is definitely not 9-5. Part of the jobis going to see your artists when they comethrough town and spending time with them.You need to be out at other events as well.Very important to make yourself known,socialize with writers and editors. If you workfor an independent company, labels thatpotentially may hire you, need to see you outand about as well. I tend to work from 9:30amtil, on average, 8:30pm, Mon. - Fri., plusshows/parties 4-6 nights a week, and I usuallyput in about 6-10hrs. on the weekends as well.In this day and age, everyone thinks youshould be accessible 24/7.


We actually encourage at a certain point. Youdon't want it to be so early that people reviewthe album well in advance of street date, butgetting some music leaked about a month fromstreet date, can help create a nice buzz.Presuming people like what they hear.


I have in the past, before starting my own com-pany. I have no qualms in doing so actually.The important thing is finding something that

you can stand behind. Whether you like theartist on a personal level, respect them as amusician, like management, the folks at thelabel. Or to be honest, make it a mission, quitesimply, to succeed.


Many times. I have no qualm with this either.Potential record sales rarely factors into mydecision making as to what projects we take on as a company.


You have to be reasonably social.Knowledgeable in the field that you publicize.Have a great deal of patience. Not be phasedby rejection. Be able to handle criticism.Basically have a tough skin.


The main thing is getting some sort ofresponse. If a writer/editor does not respond,that means that I have to continue to pitchthem. Would save both parties a great deal oftime for them to simply write back, "passing","did not care for", "past our deadline", etc.

(5)brendan bourke

tag team media


There is much more involved than 9-5. Weusually work 10 - 7/8 and then go out to shows2-3 nights a week, whether it be bands we areworking who are in town or bands who we arechecking out as potential clients or bands wejust want to see for fun.


There is always the potential for music to leakearly, but a lot of the bands I work with don'tmind that their music gets out there, they areexcited to have it heard. On the records whereleakage could be an issue we usually try tooffer at least a few songs online for streamingand/or downloading, to give kids a taste of themusic and hopefully persuade them that thealbum is worth the wait.


The great thing about being an independentpublicist is that you get to choose the bandsthat you work with, so no, I have never workedanything I wasn't 100% percent psychedabout!

Has there ever been bands that you havepassed up working with, and then thosebands go on to become very popular?

Not yet!


A true love of music and the ability to talkabout it. The ability to talk in general. A lot.About everything. Persistence, tenacity andorganization help too.


Responses are always nice. Even if it is DearKate, please eat dirt, I am not going to writeabout your band. love, . It is better thanno response at all.

(6)kate cafaro

big hassle

A Day in Black and White“Notes”If you’ve heard A Day in Black andWhite’s previous EP, then you arefamilier with its quiet/loud/quietsound. On “Notes” however, theyhave mostly gotten rid of that formu-la and gone with a more post rockapproach. Trust me when I say that“Notes” will be in your Ipod’s list ofmost played songs. (Level Plane)

The American Analog Set“Set Free”“Set Free” follows the same ideasused in AmAnSet’s 2 previous works“Know By Heart” and “Promise ofLove.” Quiet vocals, brushed drums,and vibraphones. Songs “Cool KidsKeep” and “Born on the Cusp” areinstant favorites. (Arts & Crafts)

Askeleton“(Happy) Album”I’ve been following Askeleton sinceday one. He started as a one manband hashing out beats on the com-puter. Over time though, he hasbrought in a full band to play hiscatchy, inventive pop songs. (Happy)Album may be his most ambitiouswork to date, but it’s missing dance-able numbers like “Ghosts,”“Birdman,” and “Shapes” from2004’s “Angry Album”. (GoodnightRecirds)

Barr“Beyond Reinforced Jewel Case”This release could either be consid-ered annoying trash or fuckinggenius. People with taste in music willgo with the latter. Barr is BrendanFowler talk/sing/rhyming over freejazz percussion and innocent beats.Though other tracks like “Anx-Worthit” and “My List of Demands” comeoff as spoken word/poetry. I urge you

to at least take a listen to it.You won’t be dissapointed.(5RC)

Baumer“Come On, Feel It”With all the unneccessary newwave bands out right now, itseems that Baumer is the onlyones who are trying not tosound like kooks. A lot of thesongs are catchy and dance-able. (Astromagnetics)

The Blackout Pact“Hello Sailor”The Blackout Pact blend punk, hard-core, math rock and hand claps intoone impressive debut album. Fans ofVoice in the Wire and Hot WaterMusic take note. (Astromagnetics)

Bouncing Souls“Live”Bouncing Souls are a live band to see.They have been playing together forover 15 years. This live album is a 2disc set that has 29 of their greatestsongs. Both CD’s are good, but I findmyself listening to disc 2 a bit more.To make this compilation better, theycould’ve added some DVD footage. (Chunksaah)

Bound Stems“The Logic of Building the Body Plan”“The Logic...” is one hell of an EP. All7 songs are complex and beautiful. Toexplain their sound is impossible.Each song has so many elements to it.(Flameshovel)

A Day in Black and White

Cave In“Perfect Pitch Black”After a dissapointing release on RCA,Cave In was dropped from the labeland signed up with long time friendsat Hydra Head. “Perfect Pitch Black”is a lot heavier than their last couplereleases, which should please earlyfans. (Hydra Head)

The City on Film“In Formal Introduction”Bob Nanna is back with a new musi-cal project after the demise of HeyMercedes. This time though, he hasgone solo. “In formal Introduction”has a small amount of similarity toHey Mercedes. Bob reworked somesongs from the “I’d Rather Be WineDrunk” EP, which sound a lot betternow. “Forgiveness” stands outbecause of its melody and percussion. (Grand Theft Autumn)

Ester Drang“Rocinate”Naming the album after the DonQuixote’s horse, Rocinate is a multiintrumental journey that never failsto dissapoint. Bryce Chamber’s vocalsJames McAlister’s percussion, andJeff Shoops’ guitar work weave you

along a 46 minute excursion, that willhave you pushing the repeat albumbutton over and over. (Jade Tree)

Ex-Boyfriends“Dear John”The Ex-Boyfriends are 3 dudes thatsing songs about breaking up withtheir girlfriends and boyfriends and

do it while playing catchy pop punk.At times the lead singers voice soundslike the guy from Offspring. (Absolutly Kosher)

The Grey“S/T”The Grey is a rock band from Canada,and recently had some trouble tryingto cross the US/Canada border whichresulted in them not being able toenter the US for 5 Years. This 4 songEP is pretty good. It has some niceguitar work. (Lovitt)

Head Like A Kite“Random Portraits of the Home Movie”Head Like A Kite is a new projectfrom Sushirobo’s guitarist DaveEinmo and is inspired by his parentssuper 8 home movies from the 1970’s.Einmo uses samples from the moviesand intertwines them with beats andan indie rock sound. “RandomPortraits...” also features guest musi-cians from Smoosh, Kinski, andCrooked Fingers. (Pattern 25)

Holy Roman Empire“Lost in Landscapes”Holy Roman Empire features exmembers of Shai Hulud, The HopeConspiracy and Killing Tree, plusclassically trained vocalist EmilySchambra. Holy Roman Empirecould be catagorized as post rock. It isrefreshing to hear a rock band with anoriginal sound and a female singer,whose vocals compliment the musicinstead of working against each other. (HeWhoCorrupts)

Inquisition“Revolution...I think It’s CalledInspiration”Inquisition spawned other bands likeRiver City High, Ann Berreta andvocalist Thomas Barnett went on toform Strike Anywhere. Inquisitionwas a very influental band inpirsingother acts like Avail, Ensign, and

Ester Drang

Anti-Flag. Their sound is very similarto what Strike Anywhere sounds like,just less polished and more loose.Barnett’s vocals are the biggest con-nection to both bands, considering hehas such a recognizable voice.Definitely worth picking up if you’re afan of Strike Anywhere or good punk.(A-F Records)

Joan of Arc“Presents Guitar Duets”Some people may call this releaseunneccessary or unlistenable, whichmay be partly true. “Guitar Duets”features the guitar work of BobbyBurg/Nate Kinsella, Todd Mattei/Matt Clark, SamZurick/Jeremy Boyle, andbrothers Tim Kinsella/Mike Kinsella, improvisejamming together. Some ofthe songs are kind of longwhile others just soundannoying, but it’s interest-ing to hear what these guycan can do with their gui-tars when they’re just jam-ming. (Record Label)

Kiss Kiss“S/T”Naming your band Kiss Kiss is a pret-ty good marketing ploy, I mean you’llbe seated right after Kiss in the CDbins. Kiss Kiss has a sound that issimialar to Cursive’s sound on “UglyOrgan”, with its stringed instru-ments. The one problem I have withon this is the singer’s voice. On someparts of the songs he sings so loudthat it almost sounds like he is honk-ing like a goose and I don’t know ifthat is due to poor recording equip-ment or poor singing skills.(Astromagnetics)

Luke Doucet“Broken”Luke Doucet’s songwriting is excep-tional on his latest release. The open-ing track on the CD, ”Brother” is a

slow rocker with many elements to it.“Broken” draws similarities toCrooked Fingers. (Six Shooter)

Maritime“We, The Vehicles”It is unfortunate that this has onlybeen released over seas and that theyhaven’t found a label to release this inthe states. If I owned a label, I wouldrelease this in a heartbeat. “We, theVehicles” tops Maritime’s last effort“Glass Floor” by a big margin.“Parade Of Punk Rock T-Shirts”,“German Engineering”, and “Twins”are favorites. (Flameshovel)

Mates of State“Bring It Back”The duo of Kori and Jason are backagain with another beautifully hookladen album. “Bring It Back” is simi-lar to what “Team Boo” was, but rocksjust a little bit more. (Barsuk)

The Mendoza Line“Full of Light and Full of Fire”The Mendoza Line are back withanother great CD of folk tinged indierock. Like previous releases, “Full ofLight...” features politically and per-sonal charged songs that are easy tolisten to. (Misra)

Maritime

Mercury Radio Theater“The Blue Eyed Model”This is probably the strangest bandI’ve heard in quite a while.Instrumental surf guitar influencedsongs alternating with creepy narra-tion about a lonely college gradnamed Gregor. Gregor builds his owngirlfriend from body parts of others ala Frankenstein. You’ll have to buythe CD to find out what happens. TheIllustrated CD booklet acts as a visu-al referance to the songs.(Lujo)

Metal Hearts“Socialize”A delicate CD withmale/female vocals, fingerpicking guitars, drum loops,and stringed accompani-ments. It is quite a listen.The sound is simple andminimal, but completelysatisfying. (Suicide Squeeze)

Milemarker“Ominosity”Milemarker’s debut CD on EyeballRecords follows the same formulathat their previous album have; whichis that the sound changes with eachrecord. Some of the songs are betterthan others. The opening 3 minutesof the 1st song, “Killed on PublicTransit”, are barley noticable, thenbursts into a rousing ending. Part of

track 6, “Landlord” is reminiscent ofthe Anniversary with its boy/girlvocals and synth pop sound and track9, “Rivers of Blood” sounds like it was

taken off At the Drive In’s“Relationship of Command” CD.(Eyeball Records)

Monkey“Cruel Tutelage”Monkey’s “Cruel Tutelage” is 3rdwave ska with elements of 2 tone anddub. Considering how unpopular skais, this is an ambitious release and it itwould be a welcome part of anyone’sska collection. (Asian Man)

Nada Surf“The Weight is a Gift”To call Nada Surf one hit wondersbased on the idea of their ‘95 hit“Popular” is their only good song, iscompletely ridiculous. 2003’s “LetGo” and more recently “ The Weightis a Gift” are 2 of the most enjoyablealbums that I have heard by any bandfor some time. Their song writingrivals Death Cab for Cutie’s. “TheWeight is a Gift” is a collecton of 11great pop songs that outshine any-thing that “Popular” was. (Barsuk)

New London Fire“A Wave Form”New London Fire is done by some ofthe same people that bring you SleepStation. This release is an internetonly release and can be downloadedfree from the Eyeball Records site.The sound of this EP is quite goodand I can’t wait for the full length.(Eyeball Records)

Nada Surf

Milemarker

Nicotine“Session”Nicotine is a punk band from Japan.The opener “Rock You All” will haveyou singing along in a heartbeat.There is a lot of great punk bandscoming from Japan, and Nicotine isone of them. (Asian Man)

Rah Bras“WHOHM”I was extremely displeased with RahBras last release “EPS”. “WHOHM” isa lot better sounding. I don’t knowhow to describe this other than asdance, industrial, synth opera.(Lovitt)

Roy“Killed John Train”“Killed John Train” is the follow up to2004’s “Big City Sin and Small TownRedemption”. “Killed John Train”blends genres like traditional rockwith folk and indie. It’s one of thosealbums you’ll still listening too 5years from now. (Lujo)

The Red Note“Weatherman”The Red Note is a Latin influencedrock band from Seattle. It almostsounds like there is a marching bandin the backround playing the horns,because they are so full. The songwriting is quite good and I’m sureeveryone would like this. (Hypothetial)

T. Duggins“Undone”T. Duggins is the lead singer for TheTossers. Before Tossers’ show, T. willgo on and do a solo set. This albumreflects what Mr. Duggins does beforethose Tossers’ shows. If you’re a fanof Irish folk/drinking songs then thiswill be right up your alley, if not a fan,then stay away. There are a couple ofcovers of Bob Dylan’s and ThePogues’ songs, plus a couple of origi-nals by T. himself. (Thick)

Ten in the Swear Jar“Accordion Solo”Ten in the Swear Jar is JamieSterwart’s band before he wenton to form Xiu Xiu. For a bandthat was around only a year andplayed less than 20 shows, I findno reason why this was released. Itincludes 22 tracks, some of which arefrom live shows. (Asian Man)

True Love“Wings”True Love play some infectious powerpop with 3 part harmonies. The songsare pretty good, but not real original.A couple of the songs sound likealmost direct rip offs of Weezer’searly sound. (Not Lame)

We Are Wolves“Non Stop”Probably the most inventive releaseof the year. It’s like college dancerock. The track “Non Stop” has a thickbass line, hand claps, and that toywith the machine gun, lazer, androcket launcher sounds. This is defi-nitely something worth picking up.(Fat Possum)

Brian Costello“The Enchanters Vs. Sprawlburg Springs”I’ll be honest, I haven’t read thewhole book yet. It’s not that I don’tlike it, it’s just that when you have anewborn and a toddler runningaround, the only quiet time you get iswhen you’re taking a squat. Fromwhat I’ve read, it is enjoyable and Iwould recommend it to anyone wholikes to read. (Featherproof Books)

We Are Wolves

Barr

Cave In

Mercury Radio Theater

The Grey

Head Like A Kite

Bouncing Souls

Photo Credits:

(Pgs 4-5) Chin Up Chin Up - Martha Williams (Pgs 8-9) Bob Nanna - Sally Ryan(Pg 10) Bob Nanna - Unknown(Pg 11) Bob Nanna - Chris Strong(Pgs 12-14) Provided by Lovitt Records(Pgs 16, 21) Bound Stems - Liz Parrot(Pg 22-23,28-29) AmAnSet - Unknown(Pg 26-27) AmAnSet - Adam Sever (Pg 37) A Day in Black and White - Unknown(Pg 38) Ester Drang - Unknown(Pg 39) Maritime - Unknown(Pg 40) Milemarker - Unknown

Nada Surf - Emily Wilson(Pg 41) We Are Wolves - Unknown(Pg 42) Barr - Ed Templeton

Cave In - Unknown Bouncing Souls - Unknown Head Like A Kite - Unknown The Grey - Alex Cairncross Mercury Radio Theater - Unknown

Thanks to Chris P. for finding the grammer mistakes.

While I Was High

Chris has never been drunk or high in his life, but he’s had plentyof friends who have been. While I was High is a collection ofanonymous stories and comics about random peoples’ adven-tures while intoxicated and fucked up. Imagine smoking weed andgetting busted by your elementary school D.A.R.E. Officer. WhileI Was High is a great collection of humorous short stories.

Manual Dexterity

Manual Dexterity is like a CDep, short and to the point. Eachissue has 3 independent bands, interesting articles and a ton of

reviews. This issue features The Nein, Say Hi to Your Mom,and Chariots (America, North).

Available in print and PDF.

Swimmer’s Ear Back Issues #1 - #15

Get all the past issues of this long running zine featuring skate-boarding, snowboarding and independent music. Tons of greatphotos, interviews, articles and other fun stuff.

Many issues available in print and PDF.

The Haunt of Swimmer’s Ear

Jimi Nguyen combines extreme sports and terrifying stories inthis Tales From the Crypt homage. Ever skate a cursed

handrail before? It’s even harder than a regular handrail, whatwith the zombies chasing you and everything.

Full color comic!

Subtitles PublishingBuy * Spend * Consume

[email protected]

p.o. box 2076 * Maple Grove, MN 55311

manual dexterity music zine - winter 2005

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