RUST Issue 1.1
Transcription
RUST Issue 1.1
Retrospective Issue #1 We only cover the best. PUSHMETHOD PUSHING FOR CHANGE ON A GLOBAL SCALE Sly & Robbie present Stepper Takes The Taxi PLUS: Album of the Year 2011 • Sky Cries Mary • The Jigsaw Seen Jason Eskridge • Rick Berlin • Wooden Hez • Mark Panick • Ben Everyman • Cabinet • Jon Raven • Kris Gruen • This Gift Is A Curse • John LT • The Love Is Loud!! • Temperance League • Bobby Long • James Raftery • Steven Bakur • Hannah Zale • Carly Gibson +more at rust-magazine.com crafted in the USA Pushmethod in Atlanta on September 10, 2013 artist endorsee Chris ”topher” Derry RUST Magazine Inaugural Issue! Hello, this is producer/publisher Eric Petersen and I could not be more pleased to introduce this first inaugural issue of RUST Magazine in print-on-demand and downloadable format. This moment makes me realize what a long road RUST Magazine has already traveled to get to this point and I am very excited for the future. artist endorsee Kalani Das What started as a personal video blog has turned into a multi-platform global team effort to document musical artists with the same enthusiasm, intensity and love with which they approach their own craft. We thank the hundreds people who have helped to get us to this point, and that is why RUST Magazine is always a “we” and never an “I.” In this retrospective edition we’ll revisit some of the very first articles and interviews we published from versions 1 and 2 of the website plus we’ll write up new articles about the photo and video shoots we have had since. We have a backlog of material that will constitute the first four issues, then we’ll publish them chronologically whenever we have enough content. Our goal from day one was to document the great artists of our time, as best we can, and now with this full magazine edition, we’ll be able to represent them in this premium format. I often reflect that there is more, better music being made every minute of every day, but there are not publications out there to document the many great artists who are - literally - laboring away in obscurity. RUST Magazine’s purpose is to document these talented people for today, and for the future. In addition, it is our goal to support those artists by sharing everything we shoot with them, enabling them to continue chasing their dreams with powerful tools in a timely manner. For this first issue we have chosen NYC’s Pushmethod as our cover band, and the reason is that - for us - they embody the spirit of modern independent music. They have talent, dedication, spirit and a philosophy of advancing social causes and enlightenment through their music. They push for social change and they are worthy of appreciation and support. We support Pushmethod and the many other bands dedicating so much of their lives to making music for the rest of us, and we hope that this edition will not just be the beginning of a new magazine, but a new age in musical journalism benefitting all. kopfpercussion.com Eric Petersen All material ©2014 RUST Magazine www.rust-magazine.com [email protected] JAMMING WITH JON RAVEN Jon Raven @ The Walking Dead June 25, 2013: RUST Magazine took Jon Raven to our favorite Walking Dead filming location for a photo shoot and interview. Then, we went to DooGallery for an acoustic session and Jon played There Comes A Time, Stick Around and I Am The One for us. It was a great interview and a super outdoor acoustic session. Here at RUST we love Jon Raven and we encourage folks to check out his music and his self-designed wearables and jewelry. Watch all the videos on our YouTube channel. jonraven.com 42 RUST RUST Magazine 2 Magazine RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 43 3 Rick Berlin - Always On Insane June 21, 2012: Rick Berlin’s new album “Always On Insane” will always be on one of your favorite lists. It is intense, intelligent and sometimes just plain funky with extremes of emotional highs and lows. It has a focus that shifts from things personal and deep to uplifting affirmations of the weirdness and joy of life. Pure rock at times, at others developing instrumental passages exploring intense personal spaces, “Always On Insane” transitions across styles and methods but never loses it’s identity. Authentic Rock and Roll Legend, Rick Berlin has been active since the 1970’s and is joined on this project by the Nickel and Dime Band and the combination is just plain awesome. Hearty, gravelly vocals are combined with legendary guitar/keyboard work and sizzling brass assaults into songs that each have their own story to tell. It’s like a time trip to the golden age of FM singer/songwriters retrofitted with a post-psychedelic do-it-yourself mentality. Stars In Stereo October 12, 3013: RUST Magazine caught up with Bec Hollcraft from Stars In Stereo in the tour bus before they rocked the house in Atlanta for an interview. Since then the band has been recording and touring with their new album Leave Your Mark now available. Check out the video on our YouTube channel and check out the band’s website for their new 11 song virtual tour. starsinstereo.com Berlin’s vocals are mesmerizingly strong and dominate the landscape of the album. It’s his album. His songs. He owns just plain owns it from start to finish. But he does not compete with the band to be the star of the show. It’s a joining of elements in balance, organized with a group goal. Through every song there is the intimate expression of the art of Rick Berlin as a musician. It’s his heart and soul that comes through, whether slowly working a riff or showing the dark places he’s seen in himself, this is music that comes from pure individual inspiration. “Always On Insane” defines it’s own space by being an incomparable view into an artist willing to give all that he has, Very Highly Recommended. Luna - Bewitched LP on Vinyl June 22, 2013: For contemporary music fans the resurgence in vinyl over the past few years has been like a giant stellar mass re-aligning everything else in the universe by it’s gravity. This is something like a giant black hole that creates and shapes an entire galaxy around it and affects all the systems within it. Like those NASA pictures of dust clouds birthing stars, RUST is very pleased to mention that a very significant vinyl star has just been born. facebook.com/rickberlinner Michelle Malone - Day 2 November 20, 2012: Seasoned singer/songwriter Michelle Malone is back with Day 2, a genuinely fun and heartfelt record that rocks at times large and bold and at others quiet and painful. Produced by Grammy Nominee Shawn Mullins with the united front of the Georgia gang - Shawn Mullins, Gerry Hansen, Phil Skipper, Tom Ryan, Trish Land, Chuck Leavell, Marty Kearns, Glen Matullo, and Randall Bramblett - helping her out, she cooks up a good old fashioned celebration feast with flavors of subtlety and intensity. Day 2 is a wonderful collection of deeply personal messages that come from a place of individuality and develop to fruition through teamwork. Shawn Mullins was on the project as soon as being asked. “When Michelle first called me about producing her new record, I didn’t even have to think about it. For more than twenty years she’s been one of my favorite singer/songwriters and guitar players. And one of my favorite people.” Looking at personal, political and contemporary issues, Day 2 maintains a significance, both intellectually and emotionally throughout. Balancing those expressions in music that flows freely and lightly is a daunting challenge, and Michelle Malone is able to not only to keep that balance, but she does it effortlessly. This shouldn’t be a surprise to her fans who know her as an award winning musician and songwriter who has been playing for over 20 years with 11 albums to her credit. Known for her explosive live performances, she has toured, written and/or recorded with John Mayer, Emmylou Harris, Dave Matthews, Indigo Girls, to name a few. Day 2 is one of those albums that reminds you that today is special. That feelings can turn from the deepest darkness to the brightest bright at any moment. That there is pain and that there is hope, and that the two are both part of being you. Day 2 is a special album from a very special artist and is not to be missed. Very Highly Recommended. michellemalone.com 4 RUST Magazine Well, perhaps re-born would be the more accurate term as Luna’s indie-alt masterpiece Bewitched, which was originally released in 1994, has actually never been pressed on vinyl. Seeing this particular album now available on vinyl is special for several reasons. One of the main reasons is that the original album had a very unique and gorgeous ambient quality. The “feeling” was warm, dreamy and spacious. It was - in a word special. That specialness is much better communicated in an analog method that a digital one. So, for the first time we get to hear a this album the way the musicians heard it before it got compressed onto one’s and zero’s, and it makes a huge difference to the feeling of the music. Bewitched is Luna at it’s best, and this edition provides listeners with a new level of intimacy with the music. The album doesn’t just sound ‘good’ it sounds ‘right.’ It’s like hearing the music for the first time. In our current world of instant content and disposable celebrities, this album is not just a technological treat but it’s the best method to appreciate the work of the musicians. Another reason this is so significant is that Luna has fans worldwide. They are - literally - a beloved band. This has much less to do with numerical *fan base* numbers at the label office, as the emotional connection with listeners. They captured a vibe and a feeling, and in retrospect, a moment in time like no other band. They defined themselves in a particular space and because of that, the affection of fans has remained strong. Behind the scenes it actually took several years to make this all happen and we have to thank the people at Gotta Groove Records for their hard work, patience and attention to detail. This includes using the cover art that was originally intended, but which the label at the time changed. What really warms the hearts of Luna fans is that Bewitched is now going to be presented a whole new generation of listeners in a method that sounds even better than when it was originally released. Time slips by quickly and many good bands and many great projects can fade away, especially if there’s not a legacy community keeping them present online. This re-issue is now going to have a whole new life with a whole new generation. Bewitched never sounded better. The music is as fresh and unique as it was 20 years ago, and instead of fading away in digital obscurity, it will now be shared via vinyl to new fans today and tomorrow. This was a very special recording, this is an amazing album and now it will go into the future the way it was meant to. Essential. gottagrooverecords.com RUST Magazine 5 The LTG in Nashville October 17, 2013: RUST Magazine visited Morgan Letorgeon, Matt “Jix” Pritchett, James Letorgeon and Samantha Joelle of The LTG at their Nashville warehouse rehearsal/studio space... and it was awesome! These artists are the real people behind the new Nashville, mixing reggae, rock and country into smooth grooving music made with style and individuality. We have four performance videos on our YouTube page and this photo was actually taken under full moonlight behind the warehouse. facebook.com/theLTG RUST Magazine 7 Razorhouse - Codex Jun July 30, 2013: Codex Jun is the first of two new EP’s dropping from Chicago’s reformed Razorhouse, and the 6 songs on it provide listeners with the tantalizing tip of an enormous iceberg of musical intensity. Kicking off with instant legend track “Sad Manifesto” and following it up with gut puncher “Get Up Jesus” and smooth grooving “Dedicated Love” Razorhouse comes on like a carnivorous animal with strength, speed and style. Though *only* 6 songs, there’s real substance and significance here, and beyond just being a great set of tracks, Codex Jun hints at great things to come. But this is all no surprise to people familiar with The Bonemen of Barumba founding member Mark Panick who has recruited a virtual who’s who of Chicago musicians for Razorhouse. Joining him are guitarist Danny Shaffer (Julie Frost, Michael McDermott), percussionist David Suycott (Robert Pollard, Machines of Loving Grace), and bassist Matt Feddermann. While Panick is best known for his work with seminal underground bands, Razorhouse is a departure in form. Producers Howie Beno (Tom Jones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blondie) & Danny McGuinness (The Ex Senators) have deftly followed the bands’ lead and pushed them towards a guitar-based musical palate mixing Mark Ronson-eque production with Tom Waits-like vocals and lyrics. Razorhouse takes its name from a chapter in the spiritual writings of the Mayan Popul Vuh. The Razorhouse is a deity, a house of living knives that stood in judgment of the gods. Drawn from Panick’s fascination with Mesoamerican culture and ancient mysticism that is woven into the parables of the Popol Vuh, the band found its inspiration for the Codex “Jun” concept. The result is a brooding dark, industrial vibe that shows it’s punk roots at just the right moments. It’s intense, extreme and just plain loud. The best part - there’s more to come - the next album from Razorhouse - Codex Du is scheduled for release on January 13, 2015. Both teasing and pleasing, you’ll want more just as soon as you’ve had some! Very Highly Recommended. Mark Panick of Razorhouse October 19, 2013: RUST Magazine wants to thank Razorhouse’s Mark Panick for taking the time for a photo shoot with us in his home town of Chicago, starting half a block from Wrigley Field and winding up at a scrap yard on the northwest side of town, catching the late afternoon light - and traffic! flickr.com/photos/rust-magazine intherazorhouse.com The Dead Daisies July 22, 2013: The Dead Daisies are a band that has a simple formula. It’s all about the songs, and the fun, and it’s a recipe for one of the most outstanding big rock albums we have heard in a very long time. It’s simply some of the greatest highenergy rock and roll from anyone at any time. It’s big music. Bold and confident. Solid and stylish. The energy is there. The performances, songwriting and overall identity of the band is totally unified. The album sounds fresh and classic like when the Black Crows broke. It was undeniable as soon as guitarist David Lowy and singer-songwriter Noiseworks front man, Jon Stevens, first got together. Within a few hours they’d written a dozen songs and knew they had that most vital of ingredients in any creative enterprise –chemistry – infused in their collective musical genes. These guys are like a duo of rock and roll superheroes teaming up to fight evil, and winning. Though this is a debut album, it presents decades of skill and resilience. You just can’t make music like this without earning it through years on the road and having both won and lost many of life’s battles. Plain and simple The Dead Daisies are big time starting now. Stevens had previously recorded with LA-based engineer, producer and multi-instrumentalist John Fields, and so the pair headed over to Wishbone Studios in North Hollywood, and finished the album in just two intensely creative weeks. It’s 12 non-stop tracks of fresh, fast and funky rock and roll. The fun began in earnest when The Dead Daisies opened for ZZ Top in March. Then the news leaked about their debut single, Lock N Load, which was co-written by and featuring Slash and (as they say) it was on! The band opened for Aerosmith on their Australian tour and then were invited to be a part of the massive 25-date Rockstar Uproar Festival through the US and Canada in August and September. With a tour line-up of Jon Stevens, Richard Fortus, Akex Carapetis, Marco Mendoza, Dizzy Reed and David Lowy, The Dead Daisies are going to be THE band to see at the Rockstar Energy Uproar fest. The Dead Daisies new debut album is a dream come true for anybody who misses the big shamelessness that made classic rock and roll, well, classic. It’s a must-have. The Dead Daisies show the whole world that they have what it takes to rock with the biggest of the big time rockers. Essential. thedeaddaisies.com 8 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 9 The Quick & Easy Boys - Make It Easy June 16, 2013: What makes The Quick & Easy Boys new album “Make It Easy” so incredible is the density of thought and talent they have condensed into it. There’s just so much “there” to listen and return to. It’s jam-packed with, well... jams, and there is a complexity of writing and performances that is not just rare today, but rare on a permanent time scale. “Make It Easy” isn’t just *one of the best albums recently* and it’s not one of the *best albums of the year so far* but it ranks right up there with the very best pop-rock-punk albums ever. Seriously, you can listen to this album ten times in a row and still feel the groove and find new things to hear on the 11th listening. Coming from Portland, Oregon The Quick & Easy Boys are vocalist/bassist Sean Badders, guitarist/vocalist Jimmy Russell, and drummer/vocalist Michael Goetz. It’s a power trio that defies numbers and delivers a wide spectrum of sound with an intense and fun energy. And fun is where it’s at with these boys. They rock hard, and they obviously take their work seriously but they’re never self-conscious about it. Wooden Hez April 9, 2013: RUST Magazine captured Dave Pitone, Alan Lee and Timmay Stevens of Philadelphia’s Wooden Hez performing Sinner and Reckoning at the iconic Jay Lou’s Restaurant in Gainesville, Georgia. The videos are on our YouTube channel and we also took photos, however shortly after Tim (pictured lighting the money) passed away from natural causes. When that happened, it made us realize the power of photography and the significance of doing artist shoots. It strengthened our resolve to improve our technology and our skills and it was a major factor in forming the philosophy of what RUST Magazine should be. woodenhez.com Following up 2008’s “Bad Decisions with Good People” and 2010’s “Red Light Rabbit” the band went for a more cohesive sound on this album. Produced by the band, and recorded with engineer Bill Barnett at his Gung Ho Studios in Eugene, Oregon, everybody gave this effort the time needed to make it just right. It’s one of those albums that captures the authentic vibe of the band without feeling like it’s a manufactured product. You get the feeling that you’re a “fly on the wall’ during an impromptu jam session, where everybody just goes with the flow and the magic happens naturally. “We really took our time recording and then assessing what should be put on the album as a coherent sounding mix of songs,” recalls Russell. “We did not rush this process at all. We ended up cutting some songs and then adding some others. We feel very happy with the choices we made in regards to the final track selection. Also, by working with Barnett, we feel the entire production quality increased exponentially. The album pops harder than our first two efforts.” In the past four years, the band has crisscrossed the nation several times, playing everything from dive bars to festivals and they have garnered a steady and growing fan base along the way. This new album could be the fuel that blows their small fire up into a nuclear explosion. The road time, and studio time, have honed their blade to a fine edge and these ninja rockers are using their skills to slice and dice like sushi maniacs on “Make It Easy.” This is THE band to watch right now, and their new album is more than good enough to break them out and put them over the top. Very Highly Recommended. thequickandeasyboys.com SteelDrivers October 5th 2012: RUST Magazine talks to The SteelDrivers at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. See the video on our YouTube channel. thesteeldrivers.com See and download hi-res images at flickr.com/photos/rust-magazine 10 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 11 The Doppler Shift - The Lost Art of Living June 18, 2013: Across the pond, there’s been a unique big music scene since, well, forever, but in our modern world, there are just a few of these “Big Brit Bands” that headline festivals on the global level and have defined a new contemporary genre. If you were to ask someone on the street about the biggest rock band they can think of, they will probably name one of these bands. Well, all these bands should be on notice right about now because there’s a powerful contender coming up, and coming strong. The Doppler Shift is enigmatic about who they are, which is somewhat odd in our overexposed media world. This is perhaps because - for them - it is about the musicianship first and foremost. It seems that every fiber of their strength, every thought of their minds and all their waking hours have gone into their performances. The simple unified energy that this big rock band is able to focus - in both the quiet moments and the thunderous ones - is stunning. They show a capability to be unique in many different tempos and colors, perfectly supporting each mood. Their natural movement from one extreme to another is really what sets them apart. The Smoking Popes perform Need You Around October 10th 2012: Josh and Eli from the Smoking Popes perform Need You Around from the album Born To Quit before their show at the Masquerade in Atlanta. Watch the video on our YouTube channel. smokingpopes.net It’s pretty rare when you get that first listen to an unknown band and you immediately get the feeling that they could go all the way. The Doppler Shift gives you that feeling because they’re that good. Because their music speaks in the language of now. Because they both fulfill the idea of greatness, and maintain their uniqueness. The music speaks to you one-on-one and it speaks true no matter how many people are listening. It is special and rare when an album like The Lost Art of Living comes out. Like a single candle which alights another, resulting in the whole night coming alive with light and music, each flame warms us a little as a whole, and a lot individually. The Lost Art of Living is the light inside us, seen through they eyes of some of the most talented musicians of our time. Built on a foundation of emotion, with flawless construction, you can just hear the biggest stadiums and festival grounds aching to be filled with their sounds. This is big music. This is a big band. This is a must-have album. thedopplershift.co.uk The End Times 7” Vinyl January 2013: The End Times is a project headed up by Fred Beldin, who plays guitar for The Great Tribulation, and who is joined by TGT bandmate Corey Snavely, plus John Nipper and Jennifer Green on this new 7” vinyl release: A Plea for the Reckless/The Drowning Waltz. Now, we at RUST have a backstory with The Great Tribulation, who are the vanguards of what we have called the New American Rustbelt Sound. Together with bands like The Blueflowers and Empty Orchestra (also from SE Michigan) and people like Jared Grabb from Chicago, these musicians have developed a distinctive regional sound, and have achieved an extreme plateau of excellence. The why is inseparable from the what in that these bands are mirror expressions of middle America right now. Their music expresses both the environmental background they come from and the current situation that individuals, and our nation as a whole, are facing. It’s a winsome remembrance of a time when Patsy Cline and Roy Orbison played on jukeboxes in diners along lonely dark roads. It takes some Bruce Springsteen and embraces the folk music that defined America before rock and roll and strips away any pretense of celebrity or self-importance. The result is music that is poignantly American. Having written about, and having been in touch with these bands for the past couple of years, RUST has seen them struggle as artists and as regular people. It’s amazing to see wonderful music come from them under situations of such adversity and daily challenges. But that struggle is an integral part of what makes their art so special. It’s music that comes from a place of total authenticity. It’s untainted by exterior forces trying to fit it into their needs. The two tracks here are beautiful. RUST Very Highly Recommends not just this release, but this group of artists. If you’re not listening to the New American Rustbelt Sound you’re missing out, not just in a petty “keep up on the hot new band” kind of way. You’re missing out on some timeless expressions that will enrich your appreciation of the musicians, yourself and what it means to be American. thesearetheendtimes.bandcamp.com 12 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 13 American Wolf - Myriad Cinema Cinema Manic Children & The Slow Agression June 20, 2013: American Wolf is a band that needs to be on your radar - especially if you appreciate indie-prog-dream rock - and their new album Myriad is well worth the effort to investigate. Myriad is the band’s second full length release after 2012’s Tales of Kamanakera and it showcases a band with a great sense of their ‘own space’ with an intimacy of personality and a powerfulness of intention. Patience, intelligent musicianship and a classic sense of progressive rock are all combined with a youthful enthusiasm and a bright vision of the band’s potential. In a lot of ways, American Wolf is in a similar territory as the many fine post-rock albums we are getting from Europe, especially from http://oxide-tones.com/ and it’s great to see a home-grown team of visionaries exploring the quietness and thunder of modern musical tools. These are bands that have de-constructed the emotional bits and pieces of the music they have in mind, and examine them singularly amidst wide expanses. Partly derived from the operatic rock of the 60’s and 70’s, Myriad presents us with a band that can change tempos and develop ideas from tiny seeds to wild forests. There’s a diversity of speeds and intensities, but the band keeps their sense of self throughout and you are left with a real appreciation of them as a unique collective. Comprised of guitarist and lead vocalist Sal Plant, guitarist Hristo Mintchev, John Imburgia on bass, and Joe Sherman on drums, American Wolf will be touring the east coast in August and plans on releasing an EP soon after, and another full-length next year. The take-away here is that this is a band that makes the music they want, and it’s a style that is perfectly suited to their musical sensibilities. The result is a really great album from a very cool band with authenticity and style. Like a Native American Dream-Catcher, American Wolf has captured the visions of their dreams and have saved them, and shared them through their music. A lot of love and work went into making Myriad and the result is an album with complexity, beauty and uniqueness. They have opened a door to a new and different musical world and have defined themselves as a band with a future. Very Highly Recommended. americanwolfband.com July 10, 2012: Cinema Cinema is a full-throttle, experimentally-inclined rock duo formed in Brooklyn by cousins Ev Gold (vocals & guitars) and Paul Claro (drums) in 2008. Their second full length release is MANIC CHILDREN & the SLOW AGGRESSION recorded with legendary producer/engineer Don Zientara, renowned worldwide for his work with Minor Threat, Fugazi, Bad Brains, & Bikini Kill among others. Throughout MANIC CHILDREN & the SLOW AGGRESSION shattered & heavilytreated guitars pound into focus by a primal assault of beats and shifted tempos. A vocal delivery, honest to its bloody, shredded core, forces the attention of listeners. Not a moment of pause prevails; but a feverish journey from one song structure to the next weaves incessantly throughout the performance. The decision to do 100 shows in their 2nd year of the band’s existence would prove pivotal. Touring that extensively in support of their 2008 self-released debut LP, EXILE BABY, taught the band countless invaluable lessons. Functioning fully under the D.I.Y. umbrella helped to further instill a serious minded work ethic. EXILE BABY would go on to crack the CMJ Top 200. By middle 2010, the duo had crafted almost a double album’s worth of new material and began honing it night in and out on the road, crossing two countries as well as 16 states. Their main concern was finding the right person/studio to work with. At the top of that list was the legendary Don Zientara/Inner Ear Studios, and after numerous shows in D.C., they connected. The band headed to Zientara’s Arlington, VA-based studio at the end of 2010 with big ideas. The initial concept was to record two separate bodies of work, or “acts” of six interwoven songs apiece. In keeping with their tradition of recording at least one track per album totally improvised in the studio, they created an “intermission” to divide the album into parts. The sessions yielded close to 80 minutes of music and the duo released three songs worth as the SHOOT THE FREAK EP in 2011, as an introduction to the frantic, mind-bending music they’d created. They coupled this release with their customary relentless touring, which included opening for Greg Ginn on three separate runs through the Southwest late that same year, having first toured with him on the East Coast mid 2010. Showcasing a true dedication to extremes in emotion and volume, Cinema Cinema’s Manic Children is an album that never compromises. It’s vibrant, intense and unique and well worth the effort to seek out... Highly Recommended. Beth Cahill - Songs For Sarah cinemacinemaband.com November 26, 2011: Indie-pop folkstress Beth Cahill returns with “Songs for Sarah”. Collaborating with Graham Duncan, this is a recording with beautiful melodies and deeply personal stories. This is one of those timeless albums that defies immediacy. It could have been recorded any time in our modern era, yet it will remain relevant and significant for generations. Black Oxygen November 29, 2012: RUST Magazine talks to David Lyle from Black Oxygen at the Masquerade in Atlanta Set in northern landscapes, “Songs for Sarah” is a sad and happy musical journey about nurturing: our souls, our children, and our planet. It comes from a place of experience and is enabled by excellent musicianship and production. Well worth a listen for all, but if there’s a woman in your life (or if that woman is you) this album is an absolute musthave. “Songs for Sarah” was recorded mostly at Soona Songs in Dallas with mastering by John Scrip at Massive Mastering. Graham, Beth and Mike Galante (lending a hand with percussion) do all the musical heavy lifting. And yet there is a sense of calm that comes through the notes giving you a sense that the sessions were completely relaxed, allowing just the right space and intimacy. The CD comes in a tri-fold enviro pack and the album is available for download at SoonaSongs.com as well as iTunes. Beth also has a website BethCahill.ca with more information on her music as well as some tasty recipes and hassle free vegetarian lifestyle tips. “Songs For Sarah” is an album with permanence. Very Highly Recommended. bethcahill.ca 14 RUST Magazine blackoxygenmusic.com Minton Sparks December 2, 2012: RUST Magazine talks to Minton Sparks accompanied by John Jackson at Eddie’s Attic. mintonsparks.com RUST Magazine 15 Ben Everyman: Deprecado October 11, 2012: Ben Everyman has done something really special with his latest album and book release. The album “Deprecado” is accompanied by a 50 page booklet which can only be described as a collection of short stories and illustrations in an alternate dreamspace. Together they combine into an artistic statement of extreme individuality and excellence. It’s official, Ben Everyman is now a legend. First, the music. The do-it-yourself methods that Ben Everyman used on his previous attic-recorded album “Iconoplastic” are carried over and further developed here. The focus is on the musician’s poetic observations and expressions. Patience, beauty and sadness radiate from the gentle instrumentation and Everyman’s unique and elusive vocal presence is noticeably accentuated much here more than in “Iconoplastic.” Producer Elisa Pangsaeng’s efforts have taken Everyman’s signature sound to a higher, more penetrating level and there’s a great technical awareness at work that delivers a super all-around tone and feel. Also expanded on this second album is the addition of a full band which seems to have allowed the Everyman to focus more on his own particular space. The urban coffee house-meets-hicktown bar approach succeeds tremendously, but there’s more to this release. The cd packaging is a six-panel fold out that turns into a pair of “Unicorn Country” illustrations. The book brings to memory the Book of the Subgenius and - in this reviewers opinion - it’s just plain great to have someone actually put out something like this... especially in this time of physical media disappearing. This is something you would expect from a beat poet of 40 years ago. It’s part poem, part hallucination and part just messing around... but what matters is that it IS. Opinions aside (and they will be many and varied) it’s unbelievably refreshing to see someone doing something MORE than what they need to do, and to do something WORTHY of discussing. Photo courtesy of Ben Everyman Ben Everyman While the book and album stand apart, they work together to showcase Everyman’s deep understanding of the absurd. Overall it’s a bizarre combination of different elements that somehow unite like they were meant to be together. With his second album, Ben Everyman has clearly cemented his indie-undie superstar status. His new cd “Deprecado” and accompanying book “No Fate But What We Make” are absolute must-haves for the modern slacker, Essential. Here at RUST Magazines, we’re huge fans of Ben Everyman. Taking cues from the Slacker lineage this SubGenius is keeping the vibe alive and doing it with individuality and style. They call him El Nada... Ben Everyman: Iconoplastic February 12, 2011: Vancouver based alt-folkster Ben Everyman’s 8 song debut album Iconoplastic showcases some great original lyrical writing and a deep, signature style. A paradoxically inviting vocal style is contrasted against dark and absurd themes intertwined with subtle acoustic guitarwork and sparse arrangements. Recorded in a single 48 hour attic session, the vibe of the moment and the space permeate every song with ambient elements such as creaking floorboards, tapping feet and even windowsill chirping birds all adding to the sonic spectrum. At the controls Eric Lowerison captures the moment authentically and allows the natural flow to be presented in clarity without unnecessary revisionism. The distillate of Iconoplastic that lingers is the authenticity of the moment. Taking elements from across the entire last century of folk music, it’s not the “what” it’s not even the “how” it’s all about the “who” of Ben Everyman. It’s his personal statement. Truly unique lyrics and patient compositions combine into something greater than the sum of it’s separate elements. Endlessly listenable, this is a collection of songs that will appeal far beyond the “folk” category with post-punk, pop and alt audiences. Captivating and calming, intriguing and memorable, Iconoplastic reminds us all that a quiet voice is at the heart of us all. It’s a modern expression of traditional themes direct from the artist to the listener without interference. Very highly recommended. beneveryman.com CASCADE MICROPHONES Call 360.867.1799 Or visit-www.cascademicr0phones.com 16 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 17 A Secret Policeman’s Ball Teenage Crimewave Canyons of Static - Farewell Shadows January 27, 2012: Canyons of Static have really achieved a plateau of excellence with their new album Farewell Shadows. Formed in 2006 and having released about half a dozen albums, EP’s and singles since, Farewell Shadows presents a mature, ripe and rich collection of flavors and concepts. It’s clearly the work of a dedicated group of musicians with a definite idea of the dreamy, powerful space they want to be in. Vague descriptors like Post Rock, Alternative and Instrumental might be the buzzwords that describe them and comparisons to Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky and In The Wake Of Giants might put them into a similar line-up but this distinctive group defies categorization of classification. June 13, 2013: A Secret Policeman’s Ball just released their first album, and it brings a fresh, heavy and intricate take on good old fashioned garage rock. Boys club threesome Greg, Mike and Jesse let a girl (Nikki) into their clubhouse and it added that special extra ingredient that breaks them far, far out of the pack. It’s small-town America where kids riding bikes by white picket fences stop by the local teenagers garage to listen to the jams. Those jams took A Secret Policeman’s Ball on the road after a legendary talent-show performance and Teenage Crimewave is an album showcasing a band leaping out of the gate with energy to spare. After being holed up in a Murfreesboro, TN home studio every weekend for two months battling sickness, time constraints, and creative differences, the band and producer/engineer Andy Gregg managed to capture *that sound* of today. This album is a snap shot of rock and roll in middle America right now. The band captures the time when the bleakness of adulthood collides with the youthfulness of childhood, and people realize the world is much more complex than they had ever imagined. This is s straight-up rocking record from a hot new band with serious skills. Tough meets light and fast. It’s inspiration fueled by energy. The band is credited as co-producer and it’s really apparent that this was a team effort where everybody involved knew what they wanted to accomplish. The struggle to make this all happen comes through in the music. You hear the well earned reward of a challenge overcome. It’s A Secret Policeman’s Ball against the world. In the middle of this maelstrom you hear a team uniting and fighting back. It’s like street fight where - all of a sudden - a group teams up to kick everyone else’s asses. A Secret Policeman’s Ball’s Teenage Crimewave is one of those fresh-and-timeless albums that relies on the sheer will power of the band members to overpower their differences and challenges for one united purpose: kicking out the jams. It’s the soundtrack to your life, if your life is secretly outrageous in a homogenous world. It’s aggressive but not mean. It’s heavy, but light. It’s rich and complex but never at the cost of just plain enjoying the music. A Secret Policeman’s Ball has put themselves at the very top of the ‘hot bands to watch’ list with their debut cd Teenage Crimewave. Very Highly Recommended. facebook.com/aSecretPolicemansBall Coming from West Bend, Wisconsin husband and wife Ross Severson (guitar) and Aggie Severson (keyboard) are joined by bassist Chris Biertzer and drummer Nathan Gaffney and in 2010 guitarist and long-time friend Nicholas Elert joined the band in time to help complete the writing of Farewell Shadows. Canyons of Static shares a lot of elements with The Most Powerful Telescope in the World who uniquely meet once a year in a cabin secluded in the American northwest for an unrehearsed session. Perhaps it’s the woodlands or the northern latitude that gives these bands their patient beauty, maybe it’s the distance from the city and the rush of urban life that gives them individuality and music that comes from introspection. Geography aside this instrumental quartet blends the distorted melodies of shoegaze with the intensely emotional aspects of post-rock into visions both peaceful and powerful. CoS has no central songwriter, the music evolves from a collective process of experimentation. This 30+ minute 5-song album seems like a much longer collection. Each song is rich and layered with developing themes and visions morphing, evolving and building on each other. Effortlessly transitioning from sparse, quiet spaces to thunderous emotional explosions, the band flawlessly supports an incredibly wide spectrum of capacity. Their visionary approach is similar at times to the Flaming Lips but they never sound derivative of anybody else. Recorded and mixed by Benjamin Derickson at The Tannery in Bayview Wisconsin with mastering by Jeff Lipton, assisted by Maria Rice, at Peerless Mastering in Boston, the audio presence and personality of Farewell Shadows is fantastic. It has an extreme intimacy and brightness. Available as a physical cd as well as DD in various formats, Farewell Shadows is definitely worth investigating. Big kudos to the band for having their own website with preview tracks. You can listen to entire songs, get more information and order/download at Farewell-shadows.com and RUST Magazine Very Highly Recommends this innovative, timeless collection of musical visions. facebook.com/canyonsofstatic See all the RUST Magazine videos at youtube.com/rustzine The Bohannons Smallpools November 6, 2012: RUST Magazine catches Matt and Marty from The Bohannons for a tour update at Smith’s Olde bar in Atlanta while on the road supporting their most recent album Unaka Rising. May 5, 2014: Smallpools rocks the house at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. smallpoolsmusic.com thebohannons.org 18 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 19 With BJ Wilbanks gibsonwilbanks.com With Hannah Zale thepussywillowsmusic.com 20 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 21 Remy LBO Editor’s Note: RUST Magazine interviewed Remy LBO in early 2011 and talked to him just before he released Exceptionalism, which won our very first Album of the Year award. We have stayed in touch with him, though he has not released any new material since. Exceptionalism has not been released through any label. At least not yet. In the years that have followed our appreciation for Remy LBO and his music has only grown, and we have found more and more in his albums. In many ways RUST Magazine is here to document great artists like this who are doing amazing work. Exceptionalism has stood the test of time and remains one of our very favorite albums ever. If there was only one artist RUST could recommend to anybody, Remy LBO would be that artist. Photo courtesy of Remy LBO Remy LBO is perhaps the greatest trip-hop/electronic composer that you’ve never heard of. Except that he’s not really limited to trip-hop or electronic music. Working out of LA for the last several years he combines organic performances with digital effects across a spectrum that includes beatmaking, the traditional ideas of instrumental hip-hop and jazz, and downtempo vibes that bring to mind retro sounds as well as futuristic sci-fi forethoughts. You really can’t describe the person or the music without using the term “enigmatic” and perhaps that’s a reason word hasn’t spread about him. One thing is for certain, that’s the real, tangible, inescapable genius and his unique ownership of the space he has created as a performer. Dedicated to his art he has released three full length albums in the last 2 years - available on vinyl - as well as two EP’s, and he continues to work on new tracks, in some sense neglecting the promotions in favor of composing. “If I take time to try to promote myself then I have to sacrifice time making music” he says. “Before ‘Component’ I was in Brooklyn, and was VERY deep in a record digging/sampling mode of production. Every week, I would buy a new stack of records, load them into my MPC, and make sample based Hip Hop beats. I was not very successful at selling those beats to rappers, I think because I always wanted to stretch Hip Hop production well past what people normally like to rhyme over. So, it was very hard for me to lay back, and make something that was smooth and complimented a rapper well - it still is - and I always wanted to push it further, add another melody or change-up or something.” completely and make an album using entirely live instruments and synthesizers. I was very reliant on computer effects at that period, but really worked on using the effects in the most musical way possible. It is my belief that musicians should be very open to new progresses in musical technology, but always be wary of temptation to use technology in a cheap way. Too many modern musicians use technology as the ultimate solution, without thinking of the musical implications of what they’re doing. I always try to write my songs in a way that if they were to be played by acoustic musicians, they would retain most of their original value.” “Umpqua Fire” is his latest release and shows a definite change in process as he secluded himself in a cabin in Oregon and the liner notes detail that the only effects used were a pedal and distortion setting. The album title refers to a series of wildfires in the Umpqua National Forest. Not only was this album almost not released at all, but Remy self-released it independently, managing the pressing and even printed the jackets in his own garage. “During the mixing of “Peeling in the Drum”, I became VERY bored with the all the electronic stuff I was doing. I began to believe that the electronics I was using were my new crutch that had begun to take the place sampling previously held. So, I swore off those, and without much notice, left Los Angeles to live in a trailer in the middle of the Oregon wilderness. I brought a bass guitar, a fender rhodes, and a few small drums with which to record a new album. “Umpqua Fire” is one of my favorite things I have done. It forced me to confront a lot of aspects of songwriting that I had been running from, up until that point. Living in the cabin was both liberating and terrifying. I got fairly sick at certain points, dealt with very cold weather, and the problems of living (mostly) off the grid. Currently Remy has finished an album entitled “Exceptionalism”, and is deciding how - or if - to release it, and is turning his attention to a film, video and game composition. “I write new songs every day, but since finishing ‘Exceptionalism’ they are increasingly in a style more fit for a film score.” Amazon.com is listing “Peeling” available as a cd or lp and “Umpqua Fire” as vinyl, and you can get more information (and maybe a copy of “Component”) at remylbo.com. If you do get a vinyl copy, and send him a picture of you holding the vinyl he’ll send you a download link for digital files. Album Of The Year 2011 Remy LBO - Exceptionalism One thing that is constant is that he plays all the instruments himself as well as doing the mixing on his releases. Categorizations aside his works are generally stripped-down in arrangement and tempo, exposing complexity of thought in a minimalist form. Just as he chooses to compose rather than promote, he also chooses to realize his own vision as he sees it instead of compromising on a band mentality and involving other musicians. In a classic case of a whisper being heard in a room full of shouting, RUST Magazine names Remy LBO’s Exceptionalism (released June 28, 2011) as album of the year for 2011. After several albums and EP’s which saw him shifting techniques and recording environments, he has found a LaGrange point of balance somewhere in the dreamspace between jazz, lounge, ambient and trip-hop and with this album he has truly created a masterpiece. “Component” was his first full-length project, and was finished after a move to Los Angeles using half samples and half original material. “Writing the songs without samples was a really new, and challenging thing for me to do at that time, but it was something important I really wanted to learn. Also, it should be worth noting that when I quit my job and moved to Los Angeles, I stopped being able to afford new records. So it was almost a necessity that I learn how to write original songs.” Unique and elusive in character, both the artist himself and the compositions of Exceptionalism defy categorization or description. They are spacious, patient, subtle and complex. Every note and effect is perfectly placed. It could be called an experiment in minimalism, but there is a richness and multi-layered intricacy that is both deep and rewarding. Exceptionalism is insidiously addictive. It pulls you further and further into it’s world. You cannot stop listening to it over and over again. Peeling In The Drum/Comical Cheating was his second full length release and is available porterrecords.com through Porter Records and shows much more So, even though he has been compared to of a sythetic, urban style and though this album some of the trip-hop greats like DJ Shadow, and though often categorized as an electronic musician, at times used more technology that the other two, it shows his stylistic these descriptions fit, and others they do not. Remy describes this hallmarks of intentional arrangement and sparse notation. When nomadic series of different production techniques as “a result of asked about the odd titling, Remy explains that the name comes me pushing myself away from previously comfortable composing from a bad google translation of a Japanese review of ‘Component.’ techniques” which are also reflected in his personal life. “Once Component was done, I decided to swear off samples Exceptionalism stands on it’s own merits far and above the crowd but there is a second factor in our naming it AOTY, that being that it was self-released and has not yet found a label. Though Remy LBO (pronounced LeBeau) previously released the excellent Peeling In The Drum/Comical Cheating on Porter Records, this is an album without a home right now. Gone are the days when being on a label lent any probability to profitability. Today the significance of labels is that they provide of some level of permanence and validity to a title. It would truly be a shame if Exceptionalism faded into obscurity in the backwaters of Bandcamp and we hope that our recognition of this album’s excellence motivates someone to give it the recognition and audience it deserves. Remy LBO brings a sound like Lalo Schifrin soundtracks from the late 60’s and early 70’s and the legendary Euro-animated movie from that same period “Fantastic Planet” so it’s easy to describe him as being retro, but at the same time there’s a futuristic science-ficton feel to some of his tracks. Over three albums he has used different techniques, and many of his tracks are extruded from a more traditional jazz lineage than an electronic production approach, and these variations in recording styles have resulted in a collection of material that is both diverse and consistent. 22 RUST Magazine Peeling In The Drum/Comical Cheating is available through It is very difficult to compare this to any other work, but it definitely has a Lalo Schifrin-esque soundtrack feel to it. Instrumental and without repetitive hooks, each song is like a collection of thoughts in a developing series with one idea leading to another. Exceptionalism is like watching the sky as clouds form, develop and evaporate effortlessly. It is perfection in concept, arrangement and execution. The intelligence and genius of this artist cannot be underestimated and this album has earned it’s place among the rarest of peers. remylbo.bandcamp.com RUST Magazine 23 The Pushmethod Philosophy September 10, 2013: RUST Magazine met up with NYC’s Pushmethod at Cherrylion Studios in Atlanta for an interview, then we went to the Reynoldstown arts district for a street-side jam session where the band played Dynamite, Memphis and Witness for our cameras. The guys brought the real and we got amazing shots. But what really made the day special was learning about the band and their greater view of arts, society and progress. They’re pushing for a lot more than album sales, and they inspired us to ask ourselves what we were pushing for, and to go for it with a sense of greater support for our whole world. PushMethod is more than a band, but a way of life. We ask of ourselves and fans “What’s Your PushMethod?” What is your passion and how do you pursue it? We, the members of PushMethod, share a collective passion for the power of music and come together to make sounds that inspire, move and motivate. pushmethod.com 24 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 25 Brandon Payton-Carrillo: The Break Up April 24, 2012: Brandon Payton-Carrillo merges rock, pop, disco and classic soul vibes into a smooth-grooving fresh collage with his album The Break Up and it seriously impresses. Recently relocated to Atlanta from Milwaukee, where The Break Up was recorded in a dingy warehouse in the Bayview neighborhood, the music is uniquely Milwaukee with a global potential and goes by the stylistic description of Lakebeat. The real take-away here is the emergence of a super solid songwriter who is able to mix the familiar and the fresh and maintain his own individuality. Performing as ‘Brandon PaytonCarrillo and The Love Is Loud’ with engineering help from Jamison Thorwald, the vibe they achieve on The Break Up is something of a Brian Ferry-meets-Maxwell Motownmeets-Manchester blend. This is actually his third album and in various configurations Brandon has toured regionally and performed in places like Atlanta, Denver and San Francisco and numerous other cities. The time on the road and in the studio definitely show in a project that is just an all-around success. Currently he is working on new compositions for himself as well as other artists on labels like Def Jam and getting comfortable in his new home city. It’s pretty rare when a talent like Brandon emerges and his double threat of writing for others and producing his own work will surely get him noticed. theloveisloud.com The Love Is Loud!! January 19, 2014: RUST Magazine captures Brandon Payton-Carillo and Jeff Brown of The Love Is Loud!! performing three of their songs for us. These are some very talented songwriters and performers who have two full albums worth of material on the way. See the videos on our YouTube channel. theloveisloud.com Ben Taylor October 19, 2012: Ben Taylor takes RUST magazine back to his hotel room for an impromptu serenade before his performance at Eddie’s Attic while touring to support his album “Listening” bentaylormusic.com Dark Sea Dream November 9, 2010: This self-titled debut from Washington, DC psychedelic shoegaze black metal band from is one of the most unique and ground-breaking albums of the year. Three band members. Three endless songs on the whole album. Dark and stunning landscapes painted in various shades of loud. DSD defies description. Instrumental with haunting background lyrics and ghostly vocals, featuring extensive thematic development, this is a perplexing, disturbing and stunning effort. Beautiful phrases organized out of noise descend into crushing jams and are reborn again. Delivering unparalleled complexity and vision DSD is - without a doubt - a legend being born. prophasemusic.com 26 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 27 Images courtesy of The Blueflowers The Blueflowers The Blueflowers are a band that RUST Magazine has admired and covered for years. This is a great band. They make beautiful music. theblueflowers.com The Blueflowers: In Line With The Broken-Hearted The Blueflowers second album is classic contemporary songwriting at it’s very best. Bringing together elements of Americana, folk, indie pop and psychedelia, the core duo of Tony Hamera and Kate Hinote are joined by drummer Jim Faulkner, bassist Erica Stephens and David Johnson on acoustic guitar and together they bring to mind the atmosphere of a dreamy summer day spent with beloved family. There’s a comfort and beauty that runs throughout the album that is immediately familiar and welcoming. It’s music that stops whatever you are doing or thinking about and captivates you, drawing you into it’s calm and subtle moods. With patient, rich and layered compositions, The Blueflowers are confident enough to allow the listener to discover them and this album is like rafting down a lazy river, taking each bend as it comes and never needing to look ahead or behind. Independently recorded at Tempermill Studios in Ferndale, Michigan, The Blueflowers bring to mind many of the same rust-belt emotions as Empty Orchestra, and the production is really quite good, enabling a deep and expansive sound. Kate Hinote’s vocals are perhaps the signature element here and much like the recently-reviewed Lost Patrol album “Rocket Surgery” her beautiful natural tone and natural talent just radiates through each song like warm sunshine. There’s definitely a retrospective approach to 50’s and 60’s songwriting, though “Broken-Hearted” never sounds like an imitation of someone else. Complex and multifaceted, dark elements are mixed with light in a hypnotic laid-back downtempo approach that is purely American. The Blueflowers have accomplished nothing short of a masterpiece with Broken-Hearted. It’s an album with timeless excellence. Essential. 28 RUST Magazine The Blueflowers: Stealing The Moon June 23, 2012: Last year, we at RUST were totally surprised and impressed by the second album “In Line With The Broken Hearted” from SE Michigan’s The Blueflowers. It was an amazing re-imagination of the essence of mid 20th century Americana and it was on our very, very short list for album of the year. Even more interesting, it was part of a new American Rustbelt sound eminating from the region and joined a chorus of excellence from bands like The Great Tribulation and Empty Orchestra (who will be on tour this summer). Individually and together these amazing artists have returned to a bygone era for their blueprints, and have produced new music that is simply great and not to be missed. You’ll find this band categorized as Outlaw Rock with lineage traced back to Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline but seeing them as purely a retro act would be a big mistake. What The Blueflowers do is make the music they want to make out of love and inspiration and “Stealing The Moon” is a timeless collection of music that takes the listener completely down the rabbit hole. Its like being snuck up on and engulfed by a David Lynchesque Blue Velvet world of dark shadows, cigarette smoke and strong liquor. The sound they defined on their previous albums is refined and expanded upon in “Stealing The Moon” with core creative duo of Kate Hinote and Tony Hamera being joined by David Johnson, Erica Stephens, Jim Faulkner and Erin Williams. Kate gets most of the attention as she just demolishes the vocals in her own unique way, but this is a band of capacity and judgement all around. The smallest note is just where it needs to be and The Blueflowers present a unified team effort. Since writing our article last year we have kept in touch with the band and feel compelled to comment that these people all work full time jobs (and then some) and to say that making this album has been a labor of love really fails to account for the effort they have taken and the sacrifices they have made to bring this beautiful project to fruition. “Stealing The Moon” is an album that gives us hope that - despite economic challenges and a music business that seems to be in the business of bankrupting the artist at every turn - truly great original music can flourish and triumph. Hard work alone does not make a good song, album or band. The Blueflowers have combined hard work with skill, judgement, emotion and individuality to produce an album that cannot be underestimated and absolutely cannot be missed. Not only is this an essential album but together with “In Line With The Broken Hearted” The Blueflowers have created blueprints that future listeners and artists will surely turn to for inspiration and insight for generations to come. RUST Magazine 29 Digital effecting or editing was not done here, as it was not needed. This is a straight recording of a live band in a controlled environment and this was really the only way to stay truthful to the nature of the band. What you hear is JP Biondo’s soothing vocals speaking of innocence and longing, with Pappy Biondo’s delicate and deliberate banjo keeping time like a boxcar clicking along the tracks. You can feel Dylan Skursky’s bass like it is right in the room with Todd Kopec’s fiddle creating haunting landscapes one moment, then an avant-garde, almost electronic accompaniments the next. All the while Mickey’s guitar is stepping in and out with perfect rhythm, and JP ‘s mandolin building tension at every chance. And behind everything, in the middle, and all around is the careful ear and hand of Jami Novak - a drummer who knows what’s around every corner. This is a band that wants to play music, that loves to play music, and created a recording session around their unique personalities. The result is a timeless American album that tells us as much about who we are now as how we became who we are. As a music reviewer, it’s always a hard sell to get mainstream people to try folk, bluegrass or anything that even sounds remotely “country” unless they like it already. Oddly enough in this time of tolerance and acceptance, there’s still a mason-dixon line in the minds of a lot of people, and they seem to think that nothing has changed outside of the suburbs in decades. Unfortunately, this bias puts great bands like Cabinet into small spaces. Photo credit: Jason Riedmiller Cabinet - Eleven CD/DVD and Leap CD At RUST we’ve always had a specific motivation to spread the word about artists who might not normally get the recognition that they deserve. It’s a big media world out there and it’s very hard for the truly talented to stand out against the endless noise and clutter. Cabinet is a band, and Leap is an album that defy categorization other than to say that they are some of the most talented, passionate, and dedicated musicians period. They’re not the best of this or that category, they’re not the best of this region or that time period. They’re just the best, and Leap is a must-have album. It’s not a must-have album ‘if’ you like this kind of music or that kind of music. It’s not a must-have album for any one type of person... it’s a must-have for everybody - Essential. November 6, 2012: RUST Magazine was at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta shooting our interview with the Bohannons when we bumped into the newgrass folksters from Cabinet, and it was love at first sight. Actually it was something like double vision love at first sight because they have two different releases available now that are each just fantastic. Roi and The Secret People: Phoenix July 6, 2013: Roi and the Secret People’s new album Phoenix is a musical and lyrical journey that fills your imagination like a flock of birds filling the sky. There are so many layers and details that emerge, grow and change that each song is deep and complex, but you never lose the overall feeling of energy and fun. This is a get-up-and-rock band with super tight performances and really, really great songwriting. The first is their CD/DVD “Eleven” which was recorded November 11th, 2011 at the Abbey Bar in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (it took me a few days to figure out the whole 11/11/11 thing btw) and it’s a beautiful, playful live concert with a real “friends and family” feel to it. The location itself has a unique story, it’s a former WWII aircraft parts factory turned brewery, and the vintage location - and plentiful liquid refreshment - are just the perfect place for a group like Cabinet to be appreciated. The sound is fantastic, the the band clearly is feeling right and everybody is in tune with the vibe of the night. This event was extra significant event for the band because it was the first time they had sold out outside of their Scranton, PA home turf and they even rented a bus and drove the 120 miles down to the venue with several dozen fans and friends. This is their third release, and the band has been together for 6 years now with Pappy Biondo on banjo and vocals, J.P. Biondo on mandolin and vocals, Mickey Coviello acoustic guitar and vocals, Dylan Skursky electric bass, double bass, Todd Kopec on fiddle and vocals, and Jami Novak doing percussion. Eleven was released 4/24/12 on Ropeadope Records and it’s just a great pairing of music and video. You really get to know the band and appreciate their motivation, dedication and their honest personalities - Very Highly Recommended. So, hot on the heels of Eleven comes Leap, an album that was recorded live in the studio, over four days with a live audience. It’s something of a definitive album for the band, both in the way they unite as a single unit and in the way the individual players shine so brightly. The emphasis on musicianship comes first and everybody is playing “in the zone” cabinetmusic.com 30 RUST Magazine Combining rebellious indie alt tones built on a solid fm rock foundation, Phoenix is both fresh and familiar. The album plays like a season. You have a feeling of what to expect, but you are surprised anew by the beauty of each new moment. Mike Roi grew up in Jupiter, Florida, has been singing in bands since the age of 16 and now calls Easton, Pennsylvania home. Along with Randy Melick on Guitar, Craig Martyn on Drums and Vocals, Dave Baun on Bass and Dan DeChellis on Keys and Piano, he has put together a band of like-minded people, each adding their own wavelength to the energy broadcast. Having toured up and down the east coast as well as Europe, and with the added miles under the hood from several other projects, Roi delivers the vibes of a mature musician on this album but has not lost the energy of youth. There’s a synthesis of idea and execution here that is truly admirable. It’s one of those magic moments in music when a band is just so “right” for the songwriting and it all comes together like it was meant to be, and that is clearly the case here. With BritPop influences mixed with Florida/Tom Petty styles, Phoenix really is a special album. This is a band that has something to say and they say it well. From beginning to end each element is in place and balanced. Combined, it’s an easy, intricate, enlightening journey. Complex, intelligent and heartfelt, Roi and the Secret People’s 2nd album Phoenix is a must-have fresh rock album that is sure to remain on your favorites list for a very long time. Very Highly Recommended. mikeroi.bandcamp.com RUST Magazine 31 Cold Blood Club: Headlines & Firefights October 9, 2012: Here at RUST we got word of a hot new band coming up from the NY scene several months ago and Cold Blood Club has just now delivered their debut album “Headlines & Firefights” and they have both lived up to the hype and stayed true to their vision. What you’ve got here is a hard core house-party rock machine that kills it in the pop and club space. They’re ready for the main stage, and this is a band that will speak to a huge variety of listeners, so we’re expecting them to be playing to full houses. Cold Blood Club gets the party started and keeps it going all night long. Bringing a tight, intense new take on New Order and Depeche Mode space, CBC speaks to your mind and shakes your bass with danceable tracks that really rock. This is a small studio project that turned into a monster, and it’s one of those albums that truly makes and entrance and leaves an impression. 6 tracks means it’s technically an EP, but every track is a no-holds-barred winner, and it feels more like a full album. It really is impressive to hear such good songs back to back where each song has it’s own feel and identity. And there’s more crossover potential here than in just about any album we’ve ever reviewed. This music just has no borders or colors or age. “Headlines & Firefights” has such a non-stop power and intensity that it will not be categorized or contained. This is the soundtrack to your life today. Cold Blood Club has an irrepressible big-time feel and sound. The mastering is just plain awesome, the songwriting and performances are *duh* great and all put together it combines into something larger than life. It’s a bold, confident band that deserves to be on it’s way straight to the top. With mad crazy crossover potential, a mix of tempos and emotions, Cold Blood Club’s new album brings heart, soul and talent together in a powerful statement that comes straight from the heart. Very Highly Recommended. coldbloodclub.bandcamp.com Song by Song Featuring Tom from Cold Blood Club Blur - Think Tank June 28, 2013: NYC’s Cold Blood Club is a killing machine of intense club rock music. Their debut EP blew us away a few months ago (read it here) and we are very grateful that CBC’s Tom has taken his time to comment on Blur’s 2003 album Think Tank. Rust: First, Tom, what can you say about the album as a whole from your own point of view? Tom: Like any album that I suppose really stays with me, things begin with the music being superb. But where I was living and how I was living when I found a record are equally large parts of the mental crossword puzzle when it comes to my very favorite albums. And that is to say when I ‘found’ Blur’s “Think Tank” that I was living in Britain at the time in the early 00s in my very early 20s and – holy shit am I dating myself right now – in school in a very intense scenario where I was a stranger in a strange land and alone an awful lot. I don’t know that I have ever listened to more music than I did during that time. I would devour records, listening to each new one hundreds of times. That year there was also “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” and I fell in love too with Nada Surf’s “Let Go” record which is just gorgeous. I would walk around in the rain to those blaring on my little blue discman with a spare set of batteries in my pocket at all times. 32 RUST Magazine There was a cheap record (see also: CD) shop that moved in that year around the bend from where I was living and it was a big deal as I recall because Radiohead’s “Hail to the Thief” and the new Blur were coming out within weeks of each other. By that time Radiohead’s reputation had far exceeded Blur’s on several levels but that album was by far the weakest thing they ever committed to tape. By comparison, I expected next to nothing from “Think Tank” as it had been made almost entirely without the presence of my teenage guitar hero, Graham Coxon. Instead, what I found in “Think Tank” was a masterwork of percussion, jazz chords, tunefulness and most noticeably, space. Knowing that they could not replace Coxon or reproduce the range of sounds that he brought to the band, the remaining members opted rather to leave a gaping whole where his guitar rig was obviously meant to reside. Genius move. Genius album. And unlike the first Gorillaz record that had not just cartoon visuals, but also a deadened, fat, cartoonish sonic palette, “Think Tank” is sort of the real point of departure for all of the Damon Albarn project albums he’s completed in the decade since. After “Think Tank,” you got the feeling that even at Gorillaz most goofy, he could not help but reintroduce that kind of trademark melancholy that marked the majority of Blur’s finest and most beloved tunes. 1. Me, White Noise It bums me out that this isn’t an “official” track. On certain versions of the album, it is added as a “pre-roll” before “Ambulance,” on others, it’s tacked on at the end. Whatever. Anyways, there couldn’t be two more opposed ways to start the album than this or “Ambulance.” This one is a bat-shit crazy jam that sounds like the bloke from “Parklife” came back to lay down his vocal part after spending three days out in the Sahara, smoking peyote and staring into the sun. 2. Ambulance “If you let me live my life I’ll stay with you ‘til the end.” Truer words, you know what I mean? Plus, I love the drumtastic left turn the whole band takes for the end coda section. 8. Caravan Really rad, sexy tune. It’s got this slithery central electric guitar line and I could swear the “snare” sound is just someone tapping along on a very hot stage mic. 9. We’ve Got a File on You A spikey, oddball punk interlude just to remind you that you’re listening to an album, not a singles collection. There’s always this kind of gobble-gook on a Blur album, and I like them all the more for it. (Except for “Leisure” – that album blows except for “Sing”). 10. Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowles Club Took me the longest to get into this song. But it’s ultimately so infectious you just have to yield to it. It doesn’t hurt that they sound like they are generally having fun and that classic synth shows back up on the choruses to just shower you with sun again. “The desert needs a beer” indeed. 11. Sweet Song I read an article somewhere once where Chris Martin said that this was his favorite tune at the time. He talks a shit ton of rubbish in general, but if you told me he’d be willing to sell crack to nuns and small children to write a tune this gorgeous and stately, I’d buy that. 3. Out of Time One of two or three melodies on this album that are among the top ten best Albarn ever wrote. And the tinker-toy attempt at a West African guitar solo in the middle 8 somehow comes off as wonderfully affecting rather than grating. 12. Jets Repetitive? Sure. What’s your point? 4. Crazy Beat Remember when Fatboy Slim was a cool dude? Ok, me either, but if you want to hear what the fuss was about check out his production on this track. 5. Good Song Sounds like how I imagine the sun sounds while setting. 6. On the Way to the Club Amazing synth tones on this one. As on most of the back half of this record, the song structure is really unorthodox as the song’s A-B-A-B structure breaks down by midway point into a spliff cloud of Casio organs and vintage drum machines. Almost too cool for school but not quite. 7. Brothers & Sisters The closest thing on this record to a “Demon Days” era Gorillaz song. Rolling beat, bluesy-droney chorus vocals, bass guitar that sounds like bald tires on a freeway…dope as hell. 13. Gene by Gene It takes a while to develop, but once it does, wow. Maybe the best pure pop chorus on the entire album. Makes me almost mad to think they buried at the end of the track sequence, but then again, I can’t think of a better slot for it so I’ll just shut up about that. 14. Battery in Your Leg So, get this: Graham Coxon does show up on “Think Tank.” But only for the better part of 3 minutes and 20 seconds. And holy shit, does he spend that 3:20 like a boss. Kids, the lesson is as follows: if you are going to get fired from your band for being a drunken dick, make sure you record the single best guitar line of your career on the way out the door. It honest-to-God sounds like a spaceship that takes off, separates in the stratosphere, and then parachutes into string fucking quartet. Unreal. Genius move. Genius album. Thanks Tom! RUST Magazine 33 LYTRO’s Amazing New Image Technology October 15, 2014: Hey RUST fans, we have a unique story for you here. We normally don’t review gear but there is a new camera hitting the shelves that is just so fantastic, so unique, and has so many rock and roll applications, it has our head spinning. Well, spinning more than usual. You might have heard of the company LYTRO and you might have heard about light field photography, and maybe you’ve seen some of the cool images online but the news today is that they are coming out with a new model, the LYTRO ILLUM, a professional-grade light field camera and software platform designed to redefine the way we portray the world. Left Lane Cruiser - Rock Them Back To Hell September 29, 2013: Recently, RUST Magazine had the chance to catch up with Joe Evans (Freddy J IV) and Brenn Beck of Left Lane Cruiser for a really fast photo shoot and chat. Their new album Rock Them Back To Hell delivers dangerous raucous rock with a mix of steel belt machinery and southern hard liquor. This power duo demolishes the rules and grabs you by the throat and shakes you until you submit. Hailing from Fort Wayne, Indiana Left Lane Cruiser brings the heavy sound of middle America and stripped-down jams that are as tough and sharp as a midwest pool hustler’s gaze. Being here in Atlanta, we always ask touring bands if they are Walking Dead fans because there are so many great photo locations from the show, and the bridge and warehouse featured in episodes 1 and 2 are regular spots for us to shoot. Though we didn’t have time to go there for this shoot, that question really hit home with the guys. “Oh we are HUGE Walking Dead fans!” said Brenn “We actually watched a bunch of episodes on the way down here because we knew we were coming to Atlanta and we wanted to get in the vibe.” “Yeah, the Walking Dead is our number one favorite show, period. It’s just gotten so good and keeps getting better” said Joe “and actually it was a big thing with us while we were making the album. We would watch shows to get ready before recording and we really thought about making music that would work for the show.” It’s a true 3-d capture device that allows you to change the focus point of your picture after you take it. That’s because the LYTRO ILLUM captures a true three-dimensional space. When you look at it on a 2-d computer screen you can “move” your point of focus deeper and shallower within the 3-d space. It’s all a little confusing, but the impact it will have is to create a truly new form of art. Just like Donny and Marie were a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll, the LYTRO ILLUM is a little bit 2-d and a little bit 3-d, and their technology is meant to capture an authentic, interactive window into the world. It’s something like the picture Harrison Ford examined in Blade Runner – real science fiction stuff. Combined with the proprietary software, photographers now have a new tool to create an immersive brand of storytelling in which images can be brought to life in multiple dimensions. Because images are half the story of music, this new tool will certainly become an essential technology in presenting musicians to the world and enhancing their musical staements with an amazing, never-before-seen style of images. The ILLUM will hit the streets at about $1,500 and it’s going to be the one “must-have” item on many holiday lists. Make no mistake, light field photography is the most important new image technology since cameras went from film to digital and the ILLUM is the first truly professional-grade camera to be available. This is not just the future of photography, it’s going to be so much more that future generations will ponder why we ever shot in 2-d. We’re going to have a lot more information on this crazy cool tool coming soon, until then check out the company’s website here: www.lytro.com Also check out the original LYTRO camera, currently available online starting around $200 “A couple of the songs are actually songs we made in the hopes of getting them on the show” said Brenn “So maybe someone at AMC will hear them and call us.” Down and dirty rock fans don’t have to wait until the next season of the Walking Dead to check out this band. Their album Rock Them Back To Hell is out now and the band is regularly touring. They’re on Alive Natural Sound records which has a great roster, so they’re in good company with stage-wreckers like John The Conqueror, Hollis Brown and Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires. So if you’re looking for a zombie apocalypse soundtrack, or just some straight-up tough rock, Left Lane Cruiser’s Rock Them Back To Hell is the album for you. Very Highly Recommended. alive-records.com 34 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 35 Jason Eskridge @ Good Wood Nashville October 17th 2013: RUST Magazine met up with Jason Eskridge at the Good Wood Nashville warehouse for an afternoon jam session where he performed demo acoustic versions of Sweet Love, Next To You and Good Music - and it all was good music! All three of those videos are viewable on our YouTube channel and Jason has published the session as an iTunes album. The warehouse environment was perfect, with acoustics bouncing off hundred year-old lumber stacked to the ceiling. Having served as a studio vocalist for such acts as Lyle Lovett, Randy Travis and Jonny Lang and having been featured as a guest on numerous projects, Jason has a deep natural talent and sense of harmony. After meeting and talking to him and listening to his songs, we have to say that he has an amazing talent matched with a very special spirit. Check him out! facebook.com/jasoneskridgemusic goodwoodnashville.com 36 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 37 See Kris’s Cabbagetown videos at youtube.com/ rustzine RUST Magazine was interested in reconnecting with Kris to talk to him about his new album. Here’s what he had to say: RUST: Kris when you had come down to Atlanta you had just acquired a 1944 Gibson LG2. It’s been a while since you’ve had it now, what can you tell us about playing it? Photo courtesy Kris Gruen Kris Gruen Talks About New Comics From The Wooded World February 19, 2014: Last Spring RUST Magazine had the pleasure of meeting up with Kris Gruen on tour and we spent the afternoon with him searching for a unique place to shoot a couple performance videos. We wound up in Cabbagetown just southeast of downtown Atlanta, which is akin to the Berkley neighborhood, full of artists and a new vibrant in-town energy. We literally pulled off on the side of the road and set up the cameras and mics. It was a real lo-fi session with motorcycles and cars adding to the action and Kris was a real trooper dodging traffic and keeping his vibe the whole way. A New York City native who’s put down roots in Vermont, New Comics From The Wooded World is Kris’ third album following up the critically acclaimed albums Lullaby School and Part Of It All. This is an artist at the height of his craft. He has developed his personal space and has adorned it with delicate and intense emotions. He has a signature vocal style that reaches for the heavens with a wise soul 38 RUST Magazine rooted in introspection and observation. Kris Gruen is an extremely talented songwriter, performer and philosopher. Beyond that he is a very special person who has a one-ness with his music that is very unique. New Comics From The Wooded World features contributions from drummer Butch Norton (Lucinda Williams, Eels), Anais Mitchell, Sean Hayes, Shiben Bhattacharya, The Bowmans, Nashville’s Jason Goforth (Over The Rhine) and more. On past tours, Kris Gruen has shared the stage with Sean Lennon, The Avett Brothers, Bishop Allen, Jesse Malin, Nicole Atkins, Anais Mitchell, and The Bowmans. If you’re lucky you might be able to see Kris on tour this spring, he is actually appearing in several different configurations including a solo acoustic, a duo, and even with a six piece band that includes violin and trumpet. Kris Gruen is one of those people who say a lot without pushing their ideas. His music flows like gentle waves on a long beach. There is a balance and a rhythm where all things are in the place they should be. New Comics From The Wooded World is a fantastic album from beginning to end, but it’s also an album without a beginning or an end. Very Highly Recommended. KG: It’s got a story all its own and you can hear it all over the fret board. The B string in particular sings out like the lead in a ghost choir. The second fret has a groove worn so deep that my grip has to be really emotionally committed to keep my D chords from buzzing! All of the quirky challenges is worth their weight in gold - the instrument has character, the kind I hope to aspire to. I’ve also noticed that when my shows have been shot by magazines, there are as many close ups of just the guitar as there are of me playing it. RUST: You mentioned your friend Anais Mitchell had recommended that guitar, what did she have to say about it that piqued your interest in the first place? KG: Anais has a Kalamazoo from the same decade. She calls hers a poor man’s LG2. That was enough of an endorsement on its own. Anais recommended it, and I usually do anything she says! RUST: Anais is credited with doing vocals on Morning Glory and Anchors, did she contribute to the album in any other ways? KG: Anais actually doesn’t sing on Morning Glory. She’s on two tracks on the record: Company Man (along with Sean Hayes), and a duet on Anchors. RUST: Anchors is one of our two most favorite songs on the album, what can you tell us about where that song comes from? Who are some of the people who contributed to that track? KG: Anchors was written by a good friend of mine, Duffy Gardner, who is a stone mason living in Vermont. He’s a bit of a renaissance man - a mule powered organic farmer, promoter, song writer and sculptor. The list goes on. And he’s in love, so his love songs vibrate with actuality. Anchors speaks to that. Anais loved the song when she heard me sing it one night when we shared a bill in a local club in VT. She’s been singing it with me whenever our paths have crossed since. When I asked her to track it with me in NYC, she made it happen. I’m really happy that we were able to include it on the record. RUST: Our other favorite song is Company Man. It’s just a fantastic composition and it has so many levels of relevance. Were you thinking about any other time periods or people as inspiration for it? KG: Company Man is set in modern times. Corporate (and corporate-like) culture and hierarchical relationships have been a popular subject in all societies for centuries. I tried to write the song from the perspective of someone close to someone in middle management. The protagonist’s voice is not heard. The singer is the friend/colleague/parent of the protagonist, and suggests (through lyrics) that the protagonist is torn - like someone who’s surprised to find themselves in a position of institutional power, a little uncomfortable about standing in those shoes, but needs the job very badly. I tried to cover as many conflicting elements of this experience as possible, and I’m pleased with the outcome. The song is both cautionary and lively. RUST: We’ve been introduced to some very unique regional music scenes, is there a Vermont scene, or a regional collective sound there? KG: Vermont, as a state, is known for it’s crafts more than its fine art. Every once in a while something emerges that’s meant for bigger circles, but I think the point I’m trying to make is that people living in VT are rarely trying to connect with the rest of the country, or world for that matter. That said, there are those up here that have a nice mix, and we have some great artists and bands that have mastered, or are just beginning to create a sound meant for bigger ponds, just serendipitously. For example, Neko Case lives in the furthest regions of the North East Kingdom, and Anais Mitchell still keeps a 200 year old farm house right here in Central VT with her husband Noah and their baby Ramona. From my perspective, I think VT’s a great place to inspire story, for song or otherwise. There’s a lot of natural insulation and isolation to support the creative process, but also a culture committed to old fashioned social engagements, which require being able to communicate. RUST: Well Kris thanks first for dodging traffic with us last year and thanks again for talking to us here. Last question, is there a particular performer you know of that you think has a special talent people should know about? KG: I’m fortunate to call a few of my favorite rising stars friends, so I’ll suggest your readers check out Sean Hayes, out of the Bay area. He’s a one of a kind singer - he has a voice that’ll shock you in the gentlest of ways. He should have a much bigger audience. Thanks Kris! krisgruen.com RUST Magazine 39 Sly & Robbie Stepper Takes The Taxi July 21 2013: When was the last time you added a really awesome fresh Reggae album to your collection? It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Well it’s time to give the Reggae section of your collection some love with Sly and Robbie’s Stepper Takes The Taxi. This album is the result of a legendary mix of artists let loose in a vault of - literally - hundreds of thousands of tracks dating back to the 80’s. It’s a remix dream come true, and more... much more. This is one of the best Reggae albums ever. The scenario is that the Riddim Twins have opened up their music vaults to Stepper (French saxophone player Guillaume Briard) who has been allowed to record over them, as well as create new music with Sly & Robbie’s band the Taxi Gang. Stepper has chosen his riddims with gentle care, just as he has chosen his associates including French mixing engineer Fabwise, the rising star of dubmasters. The result is a collection of classic instrumental Reggae that is just plain amazing. This is one of those projects destined to be a part of music history. About the only similar album that warrants a comparison is the Gorillaz Demon Days as far as musical excellence and visionary timelessness. It reminds us that tradition is a growing and changing thing and that albums like this are significant points in history that will affect the present and the future in real tangible ways. RUST Magazine was started because there were fantastic artists who were not getting the recognition they deserved in either the diluted digital space or the corporate press world where critical opinions are always tempered by neutrality. But music is not neutral. Passion and love of art and the feeling of joy and humanity sparked by artistic excellence is something personal and individual. When it magically happens - as it has here - the people who have labored and sacrificed deserve to be applauded, and they deserve an equally personal response from listeners, not a committee unwilling to commit to an opinion. Sly and Robbie’s Stepper Takes The Taxi is one of the best albums of all time, not just one of the best Reggae albums ever. It’s a unique combination of artists, techniques, archives and inspiration. It’s an album that is destined for legendary status. Essential. facebook.com/slyandrobbieofficial RUST Magazine 41 Jerry Stifelman walks Danny Mason from Shithorse into position for the last shot of the video Creato Destructo on the Making Wesley Wolfe’s “Only Ray of Sunshine” by Jerry Stifelman Jerry Stifelman is the director of CreatoDestructo Imagery creatodestructo.tv who recently made a video for emerging musician Wesley Wolfe. The video is distinguished both by it’s unique visual storytelling and the low cost production techniques used. Even now where everybody has phone cams, it takes professional equipment and people to make a “real” music video. Jerry has directed videos for other artists, including Lost In The Trees (Anti), Dex Romweber Duo (Bloodshot), and Lizh (O Records) and has real-world experience for people with real-world budgets. Contact him at [email protected] A music video is a dangerous thing. It’s like a crazy sharp knife. It can slice perfectly. Or it can cut off your finger. A bad music video can close a song down and keep it from resonating. A good one opens it up, spaces it out. It helps listeners sense the different sonic spaces and moments within the song. To me the most important thing is that the video opens up the meaning of the song. Also, I like doing videos that help build the persona of the artist (in a way that’s TRUE to them, as opposed to turning them into a cliché). Wesley Wolfe’s “Only Ray of Sunshine” grabbed me at first listen based on its sheer breathlessness. It takes sunny love song cliches and stretches them to darker, truer places. Wes attaches confectionary trifles like “You’re my only ray of sunshine” and “you sparkle through a grey sky” with lines that cut deeply. “Take my hand, we’ll make it through / we’ll tread through the bullshit of this human zoo”. But what really captured my imagination was the line 42 RUST Magazine “We have different stories, but we share the same scars.” At the time, we’d just completed a 10 plus minute video for Shit Horse that involved a lot of shooting and editing (shout-outs to Creato executive producer, James “Silk” Hyatt for getting members of the police and fire department to appear in a video for a band called Shit Horse). So, I was really into doing a SIMPLE video with limited elements. I pictured a girl in a parking lot tied to a chair with a hood covering her head. Then, a car pulling up and two guys getting out and unloading Wesley also tied to a chair, but with duct tape over his mouth instead of a hood. I liked the idea of the song playing while the singer couldn’t sing it. So I wrote up the treatment and sent it to Wesley (and Paul Finn from Odessa Records), who I had met a month before at a Hopscotch afterparty. Wes liked it and he and our Creato team got together to talk about it. Wes, who has a pretty developed sense of cinema started complicating things within minutes, throwing out all kinds of additional ideas. My Creato brethren, James and Tracey, were trying to rein him back to preserve the simplicity of our initial idea – but I instantly started obsessing on Wesley’s idea of having all the people in the video dressed as police officers in a world where EVERYONE would be dressed as police officers — inspired by another great Wesley lyric - that I have to quote in context to do it it justice. “Take my hand, we’ll make it through / We’ll tread through the bullshit of this human zoo / Where most of them are criminals disguised as cops.” To bring this point home, we decided to have all our cops doing un-cop-like things. The first image we came up with was a police skateboarder with a cigarette dangling from his lips (ultimately played by Odessa label-mate, Josh LaJoie from Shit Horse and Americans In France). Then we came up with more ideas. A cop in dreads. Cops smoking joints. Cops with bongs. Cops breakdancing. You get the idea. My whole idea of a simple video shoot was in tatters, but I was really excited. I loved how this idea matched the dynamic of the song, in terms of twisting together darker and lighter elements. are SO important, because it’s about more than practicing, it’s about coming up with ideas and foreseeing problems. But now we needed a bunch of people, a bunch of police uniforms, and all kinds of props. All complicated by the fact that this was a no-budget video. There was no money to pay people to hang around for hours and listen obediently to my instructions. We’d have to rely on the kindness of strangers and friends (and the helpful assistance of Playmakers’s Repertory Company, where we found our lead actress, Kelsey Didion). For the next month, James was constantly bringing in various police shirts and badges and hats for me to look at. He also secured the parking lot of Fitch Lumber for the shoot and explained to the real police what we would be doing. Casting relied on friends of Welsey, friends of CreatoDestructo and fellow musicians (including Rachel Hirsh, Joe Mazzitelli and John Booker from I Was Totally Destroy It - Rachel and John were the cops kissing). The more ambitious a production is, the more things there are to go wrong. Especially when you’re directing people who don’t have any experience (one critical part of being an actor is simply learning how to take direction from someone). But what gave me comfort – and I think this is the biggest lesson for bands doing their own videos — is that we’re putting something interesting in front of the camera. As long as there’s something compelling in front of the lens, then you’re just solving problems to make it better. One problem was that at first, Wesley really wasn’t into appearing in his own video. But I feel that as a relatively new artist, there are a lot of benefits to being in your own video. I know for me, when I’m connecting with a song, I have an elemental desire to see what the musicians look like. That’s especially important when I’m deciding to see a band live. Also, Wesley is a wonderful looking man with thick jet black hair and soulful dark eyes. He incorporated into a tv star look that fit in beautifully with the concept. He would be one of the only cops who actually looked like a cop. So, finally after some persuasion, Wes agreed to be in the video and we made him more comfortable by turning our casting session into a rehearsal. We had each of the potential female leads work with Wesley, performing the main action of the video for several takes of the songs. This helped us solve problems (like how exactly does someone tied to a chair use her teeth to pull a piece of tape off the mouth of another person tied to a chair). We also got to practice things like shaking-off-hood technique. By the end of the session, Wes had gone through the whole song about 8 times, so he was feeling pretty comfortable. We also did a second rehearsal to camera about a week before the shoot. Rehearsals The hardest part of the video was staging the action with an ever-changing cast, since most people had to come and leave at different times. The other challenge was the changing light (a problem that can be mitigated if you have a crew and equipment to silk off light in some places while you supplement it in others). I prefer to overshoot rather than undershoot, so we ended up with a few things that didn’t make the final cut, most notably the full scene of two cops playing keep-away with another cop’s emergency insulin bag and an alternate ending, where the cop on a skateboard steals Wesley’s wallet. (The cop being kept away from is Paul Finn, who runs Odessa Records.) As often happens, we started with some carefully planned shots with dolly moves, but we had to shoot so fast, we quickly became improvisational. What made it all work was - as I mentioned earlier - the fact that we were putting interesting things in front of the camera. It was amazing to see how quickly a badge, a shirt and a hat made someone look like a cop – and it was great see how this parking lot filled with cops cutting lines of cocaine, break-dancing, doing beer bongs, tongue kissing, and passing around blunts. In post-production, we started with an extended version because it let us see more of our cop universe. But in the end, it felt better to stay with the conciseness of the song (a breathless power-packed 1 minute 51 seconds ) and make it work like that. We only added a few seconds of set-up so the song could begin when our two thug cops pull Wes from the trunk of their Oldsmobile. Wesley came up with some background music to add in for this section. I’ve watched this video more than I can count, but it still pulls me in every time. It creates its own off-kilter, strange world that captivates me. It could create dozens of short films, all taking place in this world where everyone is disguised as cops, and some of them still fall in love and rescue each other. RUST Magazine 43 Garrison Starr, Adrianne Gonzalez (AG) and Maia Sharp September 28th 2012: RUST Magazine talks to these three friends and performers at Eddie’s Attic on the Atlanta stop of their tour. youtube.com/rustzine Alive At The Deep Blues Fest November 27, 2012: If you like your blues big, bad, live and loud, then Alive At The Deep Blues Fest is for you. You can just smell the hot amplifier tubes and feel the mid-summer sun beating down on you with this collection recorded in Bayport, Minnesota just a few months ago. It’s a sizzling set of winners taken from a weekend of heavy-duty electric blues that reminds us how good it feels when the blues get down and dirty. RUST Magazine Shoot • March 1, 2014 isaacbramblett.com Beyond the roster of talent, there’s a real feeling here of recapturing the loose and spontaneous vibe of live albums produced in the Golden Age of rock’n’roll. Recorded live - just this summer - at the sold out Deep Blues Festival, this event was really about friends and family, quite unlike the corporate sterility of many larger modern music fests. Credit goes to Chris Johnson who successfully revived the communal spirit of late ‘60s and early ‘70s music gatherings here, and this authenticity of concept really shows through in every detail. BUFFALO KILLERS and RADIO MOSCOW turned in super heavy sets soaked in psychedelia and reverb, while LEE BAINS III & The GLORY FIRES fiercely ripped through their show with a blistering set of songs steeped in Southern rock, R&B, soul, gospel and punk. BRIAN OLIVE and his backing band melded soulful R&B with technicolor garage-pop for their early daytime set, while HENRY’S FUNERAL SHO (the Welsh duo), LEFT LANE CRUISER and newcomers JOHN THE CONQUEROR perhaps kept closest to the Deep Blues curriculum with their respectively raunchy and heavily amplified modern interpretations of rural gutbucket Delta Blues. Alive At The Deep Blues Fest will transport listeners to another place and time, whether they listen to it today, or years from now. The feeling of an organic event fueled by authenticity is totally different from the mass-packaged tours that many bands are stuck on just to get a paycheck. This is an event where artists really had a connection with the fans, and you can really hear the love. One listen to this album and you’ll be buying your tickets for next year’s event, Very Highly Recommended. alive-records.com Namesake October 9, 2012: RUST magazine talks to Will and Brad from Namesake while taking a break from their tour schedule. The guys talk about being on tour with Eve 6, Everclear and wanting to tour with 30 Seconds to Mars, and their sponsorships from Minarik Guitars and JH Audio. youtube.com/rustzine 44 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 45 product? Photo courtesy of James Raftery Interview with James Raftery of Rat Wakes Red June 29, 2010: James Raftery, along with producer Jeral Benjamin form the creative core behind Rat Wakes Red, and RUST has been taking time to listen to - and enjoy - both their Weekend EP and Acres full-length CD. Somewhere in the deep space between happy and sad, Rat Wakes Red is reminiscent of times past when people had patience for real emotion. It’s also very contemporary, relevant, fresh and beautiful. Finding their own sound in their own time, the uniqueness of the project flows from the personalities of James and Jeral. With complex and inspired lyrics being forefront, we wanted to find out more from James about the project, and his creative relationship with Jeral. JR: The working relationship between Jeral and I is very close and intense. We both care deeply about the music and making it with high standards. We deal daily with business end of things, and work very much in tandem on everything; sometimes we even finish each other’s sentences. As for the song process, usually I will present the finished song and depending on what it needs, Jeral will add her arrangements. We both work very differently, but when we add our parts together, they invariably work out quite well. RUST: Did you start out with an idea of how you wanted the band to sound, was there a goal to be reached, or did things just flow naturally? RUST: How was working with Andris Balins? What about his personality made him the the right person to engineer Acres? JR: Everything just happened organically. There was no preconceived idea of how the band was to sound, but once we got in the studio everything did flow naturally. We both found out we work well together in the studio and have a lot of the same ideas and love to experiment with sound in the same way; we also both love lots of layers and harmonies. I mean, the songs themselves are what we try to honor, so as long as we let the song live and breath and grow, it becomes its own unique thing. JR: We had worked with Andris on the earlier Energy Garage EP, and from the moment we both met him we fell in love with him. He is the most down-to-earth, affable, talented, precise, and thoughtful engineer. He just has a warmth and easygoing nature that we both thrived in. He is also incredibly knowledgeable about music and technology and Dryhill Studios where he works is a comfy jewel in rural upstate New York. RUST: You’re self-released. Do you think you could make music like this with any other entity - be it a person or label - that had a say in the final JR: The live shows have been really fun, but quite different than the has produced all five releases, played the viola, written all the string and wind arrangements, and spent countless hours dealing with promotion and all the goings on behind the scenes. JR: I also have a hard time when someone asks me to describe the music. I never really know what to tell them. It’s beyond singer/ songwriter, it’s not quite folk, it has its rock moments, it’s definitely indie. One reviewer called it “neo-gothic folk”, and one called it “neo-folk with a gothic edge”; one reviewer lamented the poor record store employee who had to decide which section to stock the CDs in. I must say, I agree. Rat Wakes Red is hard to pin down, but I just call it “music so beautiful it hurts”. RUST: Can you describe the working relationship between yourself and Jeral? How early in the process you do work together on songs? JR: Back in 1998, after I left the world of acting and became possessed by songs that were presenting themselves to me, I conceived of the moniker Rat Wakes Red; partly to remove the pressure of having to sell my own name, but also so it would be expansive in case other members were added. It is everything from a solo project to a full band project and so I consider Rat Wakes Red to be me and whoever is playing with me at the moment. It is definitely a duo project, though, in the sense that Jeral and I have partnered on this endeavor from the beginning as an outlet for the songs I was writing, so whatever serves the material is what is used. I write the songs, sing and play the bulk of the instruments; Jeral 46 RUST Magazine RUST: You’ve got several other musicians contributing, can you tell us about them? JR: Sure. First off, we were very lucky to get Hannah Fury to contribute vocals to the song Always for the album “Acres”. She is an incredible singer and songwriter who really took a liking to Rat Wakes Red. I actually wrote this part for her and she accepted. It was a shining moment. My brother, Matt, is the drummer on the album and he is wildy talented. It was great to get to work so closely with him on music. Also, Jeral hooked us up with some incredible woodwind players for that album, too. I wanted to expand the orchestral palette for several of the songs and we were honored that Brandon Blankenship, Heather MacLean and Erin Deininger all gave their time and talent to the project. For Horizon Drops, I had the honor of having Christy Davis on drums and John Werner as guitarist. The incredible bassist, Andy Kuusisto, also was our live bass player for a while. As you can see, Rat Wakes Red is an ever changing ensemble. RUST: People have been using terms like post-rock and post-punk a lot lately. Your project definitely does not fall into a pre-packaged category, how would you describe it? RUST: Wow, that really does hit it right on the head... for RWR you are credited as songwriter, Jeral is credited as writer for the strings and winds as well as the producer... is this a duo project? JR: I guess you could say we are self-released although Jeral and I look at Rat Disk a fully functioning label. We kind of feel like we are somewhat beyond the description “self-released”. That term makes me picture people sending out CDRs. Rat Disk has released 5 albums, 3 of which are full-lengths, and done all the work that any indie label would do to promote and follow through. Each release is a professional product with great packaging. That aside, if some entity wanted to step in and provide a way to get the music to a wider audience, then we would entertain that notion. I would hope that whoever that would be would want to because they love Rat Wakes Red and not some idea of what it should be. But, in this day and age, with artists such as Bon Iver achieving success, I really do think that we could make music like this with someone who had a say in the final product. Of course, it would depend on who that person was. recording process. I’ve done shows solo, with Jeral, with cello, with background singers and at one point Rat Wakes Red was a full band with a drummer and bass player (for the Horizon Drops album). Jeral and I used to love playing at the old CBGB’s Gallery back in the day, and a couple highlights for me have been opening solo for Bob Mould and for Hayden. We were even on a bill once with Digable Planets! Lately, RWR has been more of a recording project, but that is subject to change. RUST: This might seem like a small detail, but your CD packaging has complete lyrics printed large enough to read, which is really unusual these days, why was it important to you to include these? JR: I have always loved a lyric sheet since I was a boy with my LPs. Not that every record needs to have them, but when it came time to put the packaging together it seemed right. The words are such an important aspect of the songs and they can be cryptic or hard to understand, so we thought we should include them. I personally love reading the words while I listen to music and I wanted people to have that opportunity. RUST: How happy are you with the final release now that it’s done? Anything you’d like to revisit... any regrets? JR: I’m incredibly happy with the way it came out. I guess, as with any work of art, there might be certain tiny little things that I would go back and fix if there were all the time and money in the world, but at some point you just have to move on and let the song live. In fact, some of the best moments came out of the limitations we were up against. It all becomes part of the fabric. RUST: What’s next for Rat Wakes Red? JR: I finally got around to making two music videos for Acres. We’re set on releasing them in the next couple weeks, so I’m excited about that. They are both homemade by me and it was my first foray into directing and editing. It was great to be creative with visuals. I’ve always admired Joni Mitchell who would paint between albums to rest her ears and feed the visual side of her. I think I understand why now. Beyond that, I’m letting new songs bubble up and will be trying to find them all good homes. ratdisk.com RUST: You’ve done some live appearances, how have those shows gone? RUST Magazine 47 Hannah Zale August 30, 2014: Get ready to hear a lot about Hannah Zale. Not only is she half of The Pussywillows but this talented beauty also has her own solo album coming out soon, regular gigs hosting DSTV’s Acoustic Lunch Hour and she’s house singer for Park Bench Buckhead. RUST Magazine has done several shoots with her and we’ve gotten a sneak peek at her new album so take it from us - big things will be happening for this purple-haired girl! hannahzalemusic.com 48 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 49 for two nights in the first place. Michael has really grown into being the band’s producer in addition to our guitarist so between him, Alex and Krist the project got done. RUST: What kind of effort did the band make to capture live performances over the years? Was there a consistent method? Photo courtesy of Sky Cries Mary Sky Cries Mary’s Roderick Romero Editor’s note: This was one of the first interviews RUST Magazine ran in 2011. Talking to Roderick opened up our minds to the vibrant lives and - in a word - the reality of the artists behind the music and inspired us to seek out people with passion, individuality and spirit. All the Sky Cries Mary records are fantastic and we recommend checking them out, as well as the many great albums coming from Trail Records. Roderick Romero (seen here with Trail Records’ Alex Tsalikhin) is the creative force behind Sky Cries Mary, the legendary trancerock band from Seattle. Over a 20 year period, along with his wife Anisa, they have seen many ups and downs including a legal fight over song ownership and the break-up and recombination of the group. In 2009 Trail Records compiled the album “Space Between The Drops” which featured remastered versions of songs from the course of the band’s career, and now Trail is again releasing another compilation album “Taking The Stage: Live 19972005” was pretty funny he was like “Oh, you need to come to Russia!!!” - because he’s Russian - and we would get letters from him every once in a while. Then in 2008 I was at a Lou Reed show and he came up to me and we reconnected. When he told me which songs he wanted to do for “Space Between The Drops”” it was exactly the songs that I would have picked so I felt that he had an understanding of the band and it worked out pretty well because the guy is just a ball of energy and really made the project happen by his own motivation... and the help of Vlad Milyavsky, his label partner. RUST: Trail Records is releasing a second album from you, this time a collection of live recordings... what does it mean to you personally, or perhaps egotistically that this label considers SCM worth two new re-issues? RR: Well, actually the history of both of those releases goes back 20 years. Alex Tsalikhin who runs the label came to a show in ‘91 in New York City and after that started writing to us and kept in touch. It 50 RUST Magazine Roderick Romero with Trail Records’ Alex Tsalikhin RUST: Who are some of the people involved in the new album from a technical standpoint? RR: George Dugan, the sound engineer at Trail Records did the remastering and Michael Cozzi, the band’s guitarist probably produced about 3/4 of the album. He has has his own studio moscozzi.com and Stone Gossard from Pearl Jam let us mix some tracks at his Litho Studio studiolitho.com and Krist Novoselic the bassist from Nirvana actually recorded us RR: You know, we really didn’t make a consistent effort to record live stuff when we performed. We had a guy doing our light show and video and he did some recording and occasionally got a line off the board, and we did quite a lot of radio performances but those were usually not recorded very well - you know usually a junior engineer who didn’t know what we were about to play. And our sound is very hard to record, there’s a lot of richness and depth and then a lot of spaciousness - it’s a challenge to capture that under the best circumstances. One thing that did help us was in 1994 we were the first band to play live on the internet and that got us some recognition which translated into the “Here and Now” live album we released in 2005. RUST: How much material did you have to go through? RR: Well there was a ton of radio recordings, and the first two tracks on the album are from the Krist Novoselic sessions, but other than that there was not really a lot of material to go through. RR: Gosh, you know it’s funny you should ask that because Lou Reed and I have been talking about this a lot lately - shameless name-dropping aside we’re good friends - and the real issue that bothers us is that the sound quality has dropped so much. It’s not that we’re anti-single and pro-album, the single has been around forever but what people are putting in their ears and how they are experiencing the music now is eliminating like 80% of the total sound. I mean, where is this going? What’s the value of good music? And everybody is running around with ear buds which sound terrible and hurt your ears. What happened to listening to the sounds of the city, or the sounds of the country? From a record business angle I’d say that the real change is that the labels now have no commitment to the artists. They might be willing to put out a song but they’re not getting behind a band for a whole album or a tour. It used to be that labels were willing to give bands time to develop and they were promoted and supported along the way but not now. If your single doesn’t sell it’s over. RUST: Some people perceive a heavy drug influence in your work, have there been situations about this you’d like to address? RR: Well during the early years of the band there was a lot of drug use. That’s the way things were back then, especially in 89-91. Now Anisa never did any and neither did Gordon and I Space Between The Drops RUST: For better or worse, Seattle was was into organics like mushrooms and Available through Trail Records - and still is - associated with Grunge. I smoked a lot of pot but I never even SCM predates that moment of hype tried any chemicals. It’s funny, basically and has outlived most of the bands thrown into the spotlight. What the whole band was high but we were all on different things at are your thoughts about being associated with the city and not different times. We were never doing the same stuff at the same necessarily the movement? time and I think we would have sounded different if we were all coked up or all tripping but this chemical diversity definitely was RR: Well because I grew up in Seattle I was basically friends with a factor in our sound. I haven’t done anything in years but it was all the guys who found their fame that way. I had either gone to definitely a part of what made us sound the way we did. grade school, high school or college with them, or we had worked together at one of the cafes so I have nothing but good feelings RUST: Is there a particular band out right now that you like? for them and that whole crazy time. And though our band didn’t RR: You know I’ve actually been shut away from the scene for a few really fit into the “Grunge” sound the attention that the scene years but I really have to say that Arcade Fire has impressed me got there enabled us to get our record deal. One thing that was not only in their music but in the way they handle their business. lucky was that by the time the whole scene broke in ‘91 we had Johnny Dubowski jonnylives.com is really awesome but mostly already released three albums and our sound and band identity I’m into the instrumental improv scene. There’s a place called was established so we weren’t pressured to sound different or to Nublu http://nublu.net on Avenue C in New York and every night change our style to get that deal. is different. You never know who is going to show up and play or RUST: Your studio albums present complete thematic journeys. what it’s going to be like but I love to go there and just soak up the There’s a lot of talk about the music world changing to a “single music. I like to sit in the back and write lyrics to go with the music download” mentality. What are your thoughts on the value of and it’s unlike anywhere else I have ever been. traditional media vs. individual downloads? RUST Magazine 51 RUST: Is there a particular album from years ago that you have gained appreciation for over the years that you would recommend to people? really rewarding. They were amazed they could actually pick their own fruit and eat it - they were all like “Oooooh, it tastes soooo good!” RR: Actually there is a band that David Byrne was influential in breaking called Os Mutantes. They’re described as a Brazilian psychedelic rock band and to me they sound like a Brazilian SCM. They’ve been around since the 70’s and actually toured last year. RUST: Can you compare the reward of being a musician to the reward of designing physical environments? Is there perhaps an age-appropriateness to each? RUST: You’re living near New York City now, was it work or family that prompted the move away from Seattle RR: Well Anisa was accepted to the Graduate Program for Art at NYU and we actually moved here just seven days before 9/11 which was really a weird time to be new to the area. At first we figured we’d maybe spend a year or two here while she got her degree but we liked it and we stayed. RUST: For 13 years you have been dedicated to Romero Studios romerostudios.com which is doing some very interesting things with sustainable architecture. What are some types of projects you have done? RR: Well, I’ve become known as the “Treehouse Guy” and I’ve built treehouses around world. That’s how it started but I’ve branched out into landscapes, sculptural work and a lot of teaching and classes, but everything I do comes from the idea of sustainability. It all started in 1997 when a friend was having an art festival on a 100 acre farm and she asked me if I had any ideas and I jokingly said that I would build a treehouse in this gigantic maple and she was like “Oh great, let’s do it.” When she said that I really didn’t have a plan - but we built it - and then someone else asked me to build one for them, then another, than another and I kind of woke up one day and realized that this was something I could do for a living. But I shouldn’t say it’s just me. Anisa really runs the business and she does a lot to take my sketches and to take them into autocad or to create fine architectural illustrations for clients to look at so we truly work together. RUST: How does your personal life philosophy affect your handson work now? RR: You know everything I do comes from the Hindu concept of Ahimsa which relates to doing the least harm and contributing to the happiness of others. That’s why we only use reclaimed lumber and why I do things like educate, travel and work on projects like the one acre community garden near where I live. RUST: You do other charity and volunteer work? RR: Where I live we have community gardens and I have done some landscaping there as well as teach classes to kids as young as kindergarten all the way to college students. Actually I just finished a 14 week college level class and we just had some second graders here who picked fruit for first time. You have to realize most of these kids have never even been on a farm, they don’t have a concept of picking fruit or working with plants. It’s 52 RUST Magazine RR: There’s never really been a separation for me. I have always been a gardener, always been an artist and when I was a musician I gardened and music is still a big part of my life. SCM has put out twelve albums over 21 years so it’s not like there was a transition from being a musician to treehouse builder... plus I have lots of other projects so there’s not really a division. RUST: You have had several celebrity clients. Is there any one in particular that you felt a similar eco-orientation or kindredness to? RR: Oh, yeah, the time I had with Val Kilmer was absolutely surreal - it was a total blast. We just got along on so many levels and we’d stay up until three in the morning just cracking each other up. I mean, philosophically I have never met anybody that I felt was so much like a brother to me. He’s just a great guy and the time I spent with him was just awesome. RUST: What was your favorite design to work on? Sky Cries Mary Taking The Stage Live 1997-2005 May 14, 2011: Sky Cries Mary is a legendary trance-rock band hailing from Seattle, Washington and this new retrospective live album captures them at their very best. Over a 20 year period, Roderick Romero along with his wife Anisa, have seen many ups and downs including a legal fight over song ownership and the break-up and recombination of the group, but the band has continued to tour and record. In 2009 Trail Records compiled the album “Space Between The Drops” which featured remastered studio versions of songs from the course of the band’s career, and now Trail is releasing this live compilation album. The audio quality is great and the live versions offer a unique insight into SCM’s complex and visionary work. Behind the scenes, assistance from members of Pearl Jam and Nirvana helped make it happen. skycriesmary.com • trailrecords.us August 31, 2014: UPDATE - Anisa Romero and Teri Brajewski have launched a new web store called Interior Provisions. Located at 204 Elizabeth Street in New York, NY and they offer home goods as well as art from Anisa and people such as Clemens Weiss, Dominic Albo, Josana Blue, Julie Evanoff, Robin Noble-Zolin and Steve Riley. interiorprovisions.com RR: That’s hard to choose but I’d say that the Lantern House in Topanga, California was probably it. From a design and architectural standpoint I would have to say that I hit my peak there, but probably my most favorite project was when I went to Morocco. A friend had asked me to come to Tangiers and to teach a one month class to street kids about how they could get off the streets and live in the trees and it was the experience of a lifetime. I basically cried every day. I brought my two best carpenters with me and Wooway films wooway.uing.net did a documentary film for PBS called the Tangier Treehouse Project. You really need to see that film, it’s amazing, and for me it was such an emotional experience... I’ll never forget it. RUST: So, how do you feel now? What’s going on next in your life? RR: Oh, I feel great. I mean, I have to admit that I wake up nervous and anxious most days. It can be stressful placing a large lumber order, and running a business takes a lot of, well, not just work, but thought and I’m constantly thinking “Did I take care of this - did I forget that?” And I’m about to leave for a five week treehouse project in Mexico and the day after I get back there’s another big project in Connecticut. Plus the new live album is out and people are ordering it and I’ve got my side project of Smoke Shack Okiestra to think about. I have a to-do list with about 60 items on it and every day I cross stuff off that gets done or I circle it if it gets delayed so there’s a lot of just details to try to keep track of. But enjoy what I do and I’m happy with my family. It gets busy some times - well, most of the time but I wouldn’t have it any other way. skycriesmary.com • trailrecords.us RUST Magazine 53 Devianz - Á corps interrompus May 4, 2012: Here at RUST we’ve been getting a lot of big hard rock from France lately - such as Eepocampe’s “When Things Get Abstract” - and it seems that there’s a really hot new-heavy movement going on there. It’s like “grunge” - which got played out and has been poorly milked here by a lot of imitation bands forever - somehow got relocated and continued growing and developing there. Now with a fresh generation of inspired musicians, this could be something of a new French invasion. One of the latest releases sent to us from this scene is from a band called Devianz, and it’s their second full-length album entitled Á corps interrompus. Now, because of the translation issues we don’t have much in the way of stats on the but we do know that this band has been around about 7 years, has released two EP’s, their first album “Una Duna in Mezzo all’Oceano” was released in 2005 and they have had some exposure via music videos and soundtracks for French tv. This is a very hard rocking contemporary band with a big, heavy sound. They have a great band unison and work as a team to blast you with a high-bandwidth audio assault that leaves no wavelength un-used. There’s definitely a ‘wall of sound’ aspect to them that’s reminiscent of the golden age of Phil Spector and you can’t help but feel their vibe permeating every dark corner of your ears and mind. These guys kick a lot of ass and put to shame many of the other bands in the same territory. They strike a balance between aggressive hardness and mainstream appeal. There are quiet, spacious moments and then lashes of power with layered melodies and signature instrumentation. The excellent production is also worth noting giving the band a great ‘close and personal’ feel. Á corps interrompus from Devianz is a full frontal assault of power, talent and inspiration that will have a lot of big US and English bands feeling a day old and a dollar short, or in this case a Euro short. They’ve got what it takes to go head to head with the biggest and best. They’re the dark horse nobody saw coming that just might win the race, Very Highly Recommended. devianz.net Claps - Wreck November 22, 2011: Claps brings to mind that emerging time of MTV when the keyboard player was the height of avant-garde coolness and music had a new, modern feel. Wreck - the impressive first full length album from this Minneapolis three-piece revisits that cool space, minus the big hair. It’s got that magical combination of retro and future vibes with suggestive spectrums of dark brooding emotions and get-up-and-dance hooks and verses. In 2009 CLAPS debuted with their EP ‘New Science’ which was comprised exclusively of analog synthesizers and was an example of a computer-free hands on electronic music philosophy. Their follow up EP ‘No Party’ continued to develop a sound in the vein of the late 70’s early 80’s minimal synth and synth pop movements. Now, CLAPS members Jed Smentek and Patrick Donohoe have added Sara Abdelaal on bass guitar, adding more of a raw, garage rock aspect to their sound. The multilayered synths are still at the core of their sound but now with Sara they have the capacity to realize a larger, more complex audio landscape. Recorded and produced by Ryan Olcott, Wreck delivers a rich tonality where your ears can savor each lingering note. Sparse in arrangement, but complex in concept there is a commendable continuity across all nine tracks. This is not an album with a couple winners and a bunch of filler, CLAPS maintains originality and vision throughout. The heart of the album, tracks Book Of Love, In My Dreams and Gone Gray are back-to-back winners. Though people may be tempted to see CLAPS as just an homage to minimal synth - and it is definitely a modern take on a classic genre - there is an originality and integrity to the group, album and individual tracks that is unique and valid. CLAPS - Wreck: Classic retro MTV sound, check. Great songwriting and gorgeous synth tones, check. Depeche Mode, Joy Division and Tangerine Dream influences, check. Big hair, no. Highly recommended. guiltriddenpop.com This Gift Is A Curse I, Guilt Bearer July 12, 2013: Recently on an American talent show, a 6 year old girl and her brother were introduced, and - of course - the audience thought they were very cute and adorable. When it came time for them to perform the duo plunged headfirst into a super heavy metal assault complete with the girl doing the voice of Satan, much to the shock of the audience - who then thought it was super cool. Seeing this event brought into perspective how much “death metal” has moved from the extremes of the music scene to *almost* mainstream. As with any core group of pioneers there are always imitators and watered-down versions of what was originally shocking that eventually appear on the mainstream consciousness. You can envision the guys walking into a music store and saying “I want to sound like THAT band.” And if 6 year old girls are doing it on prime time American television, you can probably presume that the original sound of the movement has been diluted and subjected to corporate limitations by the time she got on stage. This puts into perspective the new album I, Guilt Bearer - just released on vinyl - from Swedish sludge metal group This Gift Is A Curse as being a band that derives their sound, inspiration and concept from a totally pure source. Actually, due to a typo in the original press release we here at RUST thought that we were reviewing a re-issue of a seminal SSM band. In light of that, we were blown away by the intensity, musicianship and overall cohesive machinery of this band and found ourselves asking “Why aren’t there any new bands this good?” which - in retrospect seems kind of funny. But this is not a band to be taken lightly. And this is one of the best heavy albums ever, of any time. It’s simply amazing and is a must-have, whether or not you’re a pre-existing fan of the genre or not. I, Guilt Bearer is a timeless, un-categorizable masterwork. It’s so focused, so raw and so pure that it makes a statement all it’s own. This is a band that has found a way to deliver a philosphy and a range of emotion in their own signature way, and that is the highest accomplishment of music in any style. It’s unfortunate that it can be challenging for a band like this to get appreciation and respect outside of their core fan space. Being labeled confines artists - whatever their style - but I, Guilt Bearer is an album that both enbraces and defies their sludge metal description. Similarly we at RUST have been having numerous conversations with bands frustrated that their “pop” description has decreased appreciation for them when compared to the tv contestants that share that category. But whatever broad terms are used to describe This Gift Is A Curse, they have made an album here that refuses to be contained. Purely on the merits of its excellence I, Guilt Bearer demands your attention. There’s tremendoius intensity and such a focus that it seems like the band has been waiting a lifetime to make this music this way. The performances are flawless, the production is totally transparent, and there is just a self-evident awareness of every detail. During the late summer and early fall of 2011 the band recorded I, Guilt Bearer at a secret location north of Stockholm. To be free from any time limit, they asked the producer Magnus Björk (who worked with bands like Meleeh and Children of Fall) to move his studio to this specific location so the band could work with the recording without boundaries and whenever they felt like. The result is a passion project that deserves a place in music history, not just metal music history. I, Guilt Bearer is an album that American audiences may have to special order if they want it on multi-color limited edition vinyl. It is available as a download, but RUST recommends you put in the extra work to get a vinyl copy. It’s a timeless, genre-breaking work of genius and excellence. Essential. monotonstudiorecords.bandcamp.com 54 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 55 Black Swan Lane Staring Down The Path Of Sound August 1, 2011: Black Swan Lane’s newest album, and their fourth release, “Staring Down the Path of Sound” brings an excellently crafted spectrum of ideas and emotions. Well thought out and meticulously recorded, Lauren Fay joins regular members Jack Sobel and John Kolbeck with producer Jeff Tomei again lending his talents. Strong cross-atlantic influences give this album a pronounced Manchester feel, but never so much that it their sound would be subject to typecasting. Emotions are at the forefront of the songwriting with very personal and reflective themes, and the musicianship enables the messages - whether slow and down or powerful and positive. Few groups can cover so many feelings and tempos while staying relevant to the core idea of what the overall band identity should be. BSL delivers a tight, focused musical front and the unity of the members is self-evident in every song. There’s a harmony in their group vision and the members share a similar level of skill and experience... that being a lot. This band knows what it wants to achieve and they’re capable of doing it - and doing it very well. Black Swan Lane has produced an original, contemporary album with a updated take on the Manchester sound. Familiar, but never imitating, BSL builds on the strengths and maturity of it’s members and takes their music to its own unique personal space. Defying categorization, it sounds both classic and new at the same time and exposes more and more with repeated listenings. This album is layered, rich and complex both in concept and execution and is similar to The Dowry’s “Circus and the Sea” in that the personal feelings exposed will mirror the listeners state of mind and change and grow over time. There is much to explore in “Staring Down the Path of Sound” and it will surely be as fresh and poignant tomorrow as today. Highly recommended. blackswanlane.com Temperance League September 4, 2012: Temperance League comes on strong with a big boss east coast rock sound and songwriting that heralds the return of a neo-vintage Roger McGuinn revival. Led by 40 y/o Charlotte native Bruce Hazel, Temperance League has been overturning the old-guys-can’t-rock notion since solidifying as a quintet two years ago, and the seasoning of age is evident in this totally put-together rock band. Hearty, throaty vocals trade the spotlight with the two-guitar attack of Shawn Lynch and Chad Wilson, with rock-solid foundation courtesy of muscular drummer David Kim and bassist Jay Garrigan. This is a band where every member shares the similar vision of being a great folk rock band, and they have had years to decide what’s just right for them. You hear a lot of bands ‘trying’ to be something, this is a band that could not be anything else. The songwriting alone on this album puts them at the very top of the conceptual pyramid in modern rock space, and to have equally adept performances AND unison of members means that you probably haven’t heard an album this good in a long, long time. It is as clichéd as it sounds... this is an amazing hard rock band with authentic heart and soul. Technically their first release on their own Like, Wow label - after the band’s initial singles from 2010 sessions done with Mitch Easter at his Fidelitorium - you can get this through the Temperance League Bandcamp page either digitally or on limited edition vinyl. The 180 gram pressing is limited to 300 copies and RUST strongly suggests that you pick up one of the albums... before they sell out... and the band blows up. And that’s a big part of the story about this band. They have that classic rock sound that was defined on vinyl. Now that people are rediscovering the specialness of those spinning black petroleum discs, bands like Temperance League are making music that has an extra dimension via analog delivery. Temperance League is right up there with people like Wes Hollywood who put a lot of thought into their packaging, media and visual styling on top of their great music. Sometimes you can judge a book (er, album) by it’s cover and Temperance League has 60’s style cover art that hits the graphic nail right on the head. They definitely have a retro vibe like central Illinois’ scenesters Three Hour Tour (a band well worth investigating) and they’re never intentionally vintage at the cost of originality. Whether it’s the long years or the hard miles, Temperance League shows the results of long journeys through our modern space. It’s like a reverse Johnny Appleseed where the members have walked the back roads, highways and alleys of America and have collected the sounds, sights and feelings of a nation. Here, at the end of one journey and the beginning of another, they stand alone at the crossroads. Essential. Vinyl must-buy. Longreef temperanceleague.bandcamp.com April 17, 2013: RUST Magazine talks to Longreef at Fantasyland Records in Atlanta, Georgia while the band was on their never-ending US tour. See the video on our YouTube channel Dangerous Muse - Red EP longreefmusic.com David Pirner from Soul Asylum August 21, 2013: David Pirner from Soul Asylum talks to RUST Magazine about their summer tour and their current EP releases plus his involvement with Songs For Slim soulasylum.com May 7, 2013: Hitting the electronic-rock-dance-pop scene with a fresh - free to download - ep, NY’s Dangerous Muse is taking us back to school with six tracks produced by David Siskovic (Justin Timberlake/Gwen Stefani/Cut Copy) and Bloodshy & Avant (Brittany Spears/Madonna/Miike Snow). Dangerous Muse is led by singer/songwriter Mike Furey and the deep production quality of the project and the inspired range of writing and performances have put them on the fast track to top spots on charts and playlists with a LOT of media and celeb attention. And they deserve it. Super fresh, head-turning tracks hit you one after the other, with incredible force and attention-grabbing talent. In this world of auto-tune functions and digital enhancements, Dangerous Muse succeeds in doing what everybody else is merely attempting - kicking out super complex tracks that sound amazing and are individually stylistic. The music comes from a place of inspiration, not post-production. Technically their third EP, these guys are more about the download than the album, and their ability to keep putting out winner after winner is really amazing. You’re only as hot as your last single these days, and Dangerous Muse is setting the pace for everyone else to follow. This is a band you need to be watching right now. dangerousmuse.com 56 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 57 more glam americana, maybe “Ziggy Stardust” meets “Muswell Hillbillies”. RUST: So was Bananas Foster enough of a commercial success to fund these studio sessions? JL: The income from Bananas Foster CDs, downloads and t-shirts, combined with sales of our version of Scott Walker’s “30 Century Man” (from Futurama) and our back catalog is helping to finance the recording of “Winterland”. Photos courtesy of The Jigsaw Seen Jonathan Lea of The Jigsaw Seen talks about Winterland Editor’s Note: This interview was actually one of the very first ones RUST ever ran. Since then, we’ve followed Jonathan and the guys from The Jigsaw Seen as they’ve released several amazing albums. The original reviews for Winterland and Gifted follow this article and their Old Man Reverb is reviewed in issue #4. RUST: So you were just in the studio, what were the details of the session? JL: We’ve actually been recording this album since December, involving 25-30 sessions so far. The album is called “Winterland” and Dennis Davison and I had basically completed the vocals, acoustic guitars, keyboards and percussion by the time Tom Currier (bass) flew to LA from New York City and Teddy Freese (drums) arrived from Italy in mid-April to record their parts. That was a couple weeks ago and now we’re recording the electric guitars this weekend, then just have a few overdub sessions before we start mixing on May 24. RUST: I heard that the mid-April session was a four-day straight marathon – it sounds like you had your material ready to go, but was there a lot of improvisation or changes to the material once Tom and Teddy arrived? JL: All the material was ready to go, it was a mix of ideas that Dennis and I had for the songs and parts Tom and Teddy had worked out in advance so we pretty much knew what we wanted to do. RUST: Is this a “holiday” album? JL: It’s actually a “concept” album with Winter as the subject, so a few songs mention Christmas. The album consists of new 58 RUST Magazine RUST: You’ve been compared to Brian Jonestown Massacre and described as having a retro 1960’s feel. Is this intentional – like do you intend to have a retro sound – or is this the natural space you write in. versions of 3 previously released tracks (“What About Christmas?”, “December” and “Candy Cane”) combined with 7 new songs and a cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Circle Of Steel”. JL: We don’t try to sound “retro” intentionally, we really like melody and cool instrumentation which most people now hear as “retro”. RUST: Can you tell me one by one who was on the project and what they brought to the session? RUST: Personally what are some of the things you do outside of music in your life? JL: Dennis sings most of the vocals and plays some guitar and keyboards, I play most of the guitars and add some bass and keyboards, Tom plays most of the bass parts and adds piano to almost every track and Teddy plays drums. Guests include Morley Bartnoff (Burning Sensations) playing organ on 2 tracks, Kristi Callan (Wednesday Week) and Theresa O’Donoghue (Oh Sisters) adding backing vocals to “Dreams Of Spring” and Lisa Jenio (Pussywillows, Candypants) adding flute to “Winterland’s Gone”. JL: I’m a big fan of mid-century advertising art and graphics and apply this interest to The Jigsaw Seen’s packaging. RUST: This came kind of quickly after your last album, while there was a long wait for “Bananas Foster” so it might seem that this album may not have had a similarly long development period – is this a less complex group of work or is there some reason for the difference in timing? JL: “Bananas Foster” took so long only because we financed it ourselves and we had to spread out the recording over several years, when we could afford it. “Winterland” will be less orchestrated than “Bananas Foster” but no less complex. It’s less orchestral pop and RUST: The Bananas Foster cd package had some unique features, any ideas on how you’ll make Winterland special? JL: The “Winterland” packaging will feature a photo by a fantastic Russian photographer named Yuri Schipakin. There will definitely be a unique feature to it which I don’t believe has ever been done before. RUST: You put in a lot of packaging and design work. Beyond your personal appreciation is there a motivation to provide something collectable - or at least special - to motivate people to physically buy the album vs. download it? JL: I think all music packaging should be special, when I grew up that was the norm. I can’t imagine going through all that work to record an album just to put it in a plastic box with a slip of paper in it. All great bands have a keen visual sense, I’ve never really been interested in bands that don’t. RUST: The lamest question musicians ever get asked by interviewers like me is “Who are your influences” but if you had to pick one single album from your personal collection that you think deserves recognition and has been forgotten, what is it? JL: I don’t know if it’s forgotten but I think The Pretty Things’ “S.F. Sorrow” is a masterpiece, the followup “Parachute” isn’t too bad either. As a guitarist, my biggest influences are Dave Davies (The Kinks) and the late great Mick Ronson. RUST: What’s the last new album you listened to that really impressed you? JL: “Truelove’s Gutter” by Richard Hawley. The songs, instrumentation and production are fantastic. He also has a great Scott Walker quality to his voice, I like everything about it. RUST: With band members so scattered is there any chance of doing live performances soon? JL: We’re definitely able and willing to play live shows, We were actually going to tour this Spring but decided to record this album instead. Dennis and I will be appearing at the Rhino Records PopUp Store in Los Angeles on June 9. RUST: When does Winterland come out? Will it be available on vinyl? JL: It will be released on compact disc and vinyl on October 18, 2011. RUST: Thanks for the info, how can people keep up on The Jigsaw Seen? JL: facebook.com/thejigsawseen and www.thejigsawseen.com. RUST Magazine 59 The Jigsaw Seen - Winterland Steven Bakur talks about recording Sooner Than Later November 15, 2011: Critical darlings The Jigsaw Seen impress again with “Winterland.” This winter-themed album comes just one year after 2010’s “Bananas Foster” which is an acceleration of TJS’s usual release schedule. Before Bananas Foster there was an 8 year gap between full-length albums though several EPs and singles did come out. RUST Magazine was in contact with the band during the recording period and spoke at length with Jonathan Lea who told us that the success of Bananas Foster had a direct result in the band being able to record a new full length album so rapidly. In this world of online singles, hearing a well-thought out concept album is as fresh an experience as a snowflake on your cheeks. Not a lot of bands can maintain a theme and generate a full set of tracks that work well together as well as individually. TJS’s alt-rock vibe definitely has a retro feel to it and just the idea of a concept album brings to mind a distinct vintage, but Winterland is full of fresh and contemporary songwriting and great recording and production. In fact Peter Mew, whose many, many credits include the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour mastered the album at Abbey Road Studios. Audiophiles will note that there was a separate mastering for vinyl and the album is available in a gatefold with included frame-able album art. TJS has gotten almost as much attention for their packaging and design as their music and the LP is just plain gorgeous. The CD also includes the artwork, albeit folded (gasp!) and an old-school style paper disc sleeve. Winterland is both a great new fresh collection and a nostalgic take on an idea from a time when people actually listened to whole albums and artists were challenged to think beyond four minutes. Well-thought out and executed, it suggests that these compositions have been waiting for their moment for quite some time and hint at what TJS was up to during the times between releases. RUST Magazine highly recommends Winterland, especially the stunning vinyl version. The Jigsaw Seen: Gifted The Jigsaw Seen’s “Gifted” is both an album on it’s own and a companion to last year’s truly excellent “Winterland.” Sharing graphic, thematic and tonal similarities, “Gifted” seems to be something of a victory lap after an intense period of output from a band that’s used to releasing albums much farther apart. Showcasing the psychedelic-retro dna of the band, with immaculate mastering by Peter Mew at Abbey Road studios, it’s The Jigsaw Seen is at full force here with strong guitar centric jams as well as more introspective toned-down pieces. Mixing tempos, flavors and feelings, “Gifted” is not so holiday-specific as “Winterland” but some themes are definitely carried through and the two albums are really co-companions. Having heard - and loved - “Winterland” it’s hard to look at “Gifted” without seeing these two albums as linked, and even as a double album separately released. The Jigsaw Seen has been critically adored but has never received the commercial success that fits the level of respect that they have in the music community, but with debut single “Open Up The Box Pandora” being a really fresh and memorable track, let’s hope that “Gifted” provides a gateway for people to become aware of this great band. “Gifted” is The Jigsaw Seen at it’s authentic best. It’s an album that sounds both fresh as well as classic, and is both a great album to get to know the band and a great album to shed new light on them if you’re already a fan. Very Highly Recommended. thejigsawseen.com June 3, 2013: Steven Bakur’s “Sooner Than Later” presents listeners with complex, mature rock that speaks of many years and many miles, though technically it is his debut album. His decades of playing in NYC bands are self-evident in an album with patient passages and exhilirating jams. It’s deep, with a sense of fun. It’s soulful, with a permeating hopefulness. Definitely an album - and new artist - to check out, RUST Magazine was lucky enough to ask the artist a few questions about his new work. RUST: Steven, what did you hope to accomplish with “Sooner Than Later?” Was there a desire to present your own music after being involved with so many other people and projects? SB: There was a desire to present my own music, on my own terms, and to finally focus on my solo recordings, which isn’t to say that I haven’t enjoyed collaborating with friends and other artists over the years, but there is a real sense of freedom and fun to captain your own ship so to speak. RUST: Now that it’s all done, how do you feel about the album? SB:What I hoped to accomplish is what I feel I achieved, in being able to record a bunch of tunes that I have been wanting to get off my chest, and out of my system, it wasn’t so painful! I feel like I accomplished something tangible and am pleased with the results and naturally I Hope that others will be able to appreciate the time and effort spent. RUST: Was there anybody that really made a difference behind the scenes while you were recording? SB: Yes, the only other person who really made a difference during the recording process was my friend and producer Justin Tracy. Justin was largely responsible for the overall sonic landscape, had some brilliant ideas and suggestions, and was invaluable to me by bringing an extra set of ears to the table. He’s also a great singer/songwriter worth giving a listen to. Oops, sorry if I shifted the spotlight for a moment. RUST: If you could pick one song that you think would be the best to introduce people to your style, which would it be? SB: Sasha Says RUST: Is there anything particular in your background that affected the recording of this album? SB: I cant think of anything in particular that affected the recording of this album, but having said That I’m sure that invariably there’s a plethora of things that affected it. RUST: Got any plans for the rest of the year? Touring? SB: The rest of the year will be spent recording the follow-up release to “Sooner Than Later”, as I am already in the thick of it. Once that is done, I’m considering doing live shows in the NYC area incorporating material from both albums. RUST: Is there another band or musician out there that is really impressing you right now? SB: There’s such of bounty of artists over the last couple of decades that have impressed me, I don’t worry about what’s current at any given moment. RUST: Now that the album is done (and it’s fantastic) what’s next for you? SB: Thanks again for the kind words and encouragement, again right now, my focus Is completing the next album. Hopefully by next year “Sooner than Later” will have a companion to play with. RUST: Thanks to you Steven! cdbaby.com/cd/stevenbakur 60 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 61 Mark Bird Stafford - Live At The Delta Adam Marsland - The Owl and the Full Moon July 24, 2013: What makes Mark “Bird” Stafford such a great musician, and what makes Live at the Delta such a great album can be summed up in one word: Fun. June 18, 2013: Take off your work clothes. Pull out your most ratty pair of sneakers and put them on with your softest jeans and your oldest tee shirt. Sit yourself down in a big, comfortable puffy chair. Relax. Put on Adam Marsland’s The Owl and The Full Moon and relive a time when listening to the music was an activity in itself. Sure, he’s got personality and mad skills, and a great bunch of musicians playing with him, but the sense of enjoyment in music and enthusiasm for performing is what shines through on this fresh blues release. And he’s been around the block once or twice, having gotten his start with Hock Walsh (Downchild Blues Band) in the mid 80’s at the Pine Tree jams. Since then he’s been a key fixture on the Canadian Blues Scene as a band leader, guest performer, blues educator, and harmonica teacher at festivals, clubs and workshops everywhere. This is a person with a natural love of his art and an authentically generous soul. Known for his mastery and enthusiasm for classic blues styles - from Chicago blues to swing, R & B, jump, funk and most things in-between, Stafford puts the capital ‘T’ in tone when it comes to his harmonica prowess. A serious student of “fat tone” harmonica, he subscribes to the teachings of the masters: Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter Jacobs, Big Walter Horton, Junior Wells and James Cotton, imbuing what he’s learned with a healthy dose of his own creativity. Mark “Bird” Stafford is one of the hardest working musicians on the scene today with his regular performances in his home town of Toronto as an in-demand harmonica player and singer to his additional talents as a drummer with several duos and house gigs. Stafford is also busy with extensive work with the Blues In Schools Program, conducting blues harmonica workshops at festivals across Canada, teaching harmonica classes with the Toronto District School board, and regular month long excursions to the East Coast of Canada to perform with legendary blues guitarist Joe Murphy. Recorded at Monarch’s Tavern in the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Live At The Delta delivers that classic blues vibe at a venue that’s just the right size and style. With his co-horts Aaron Griggs, Fabio Parovel, Tyler Burgess and Dennis Pinhorn he breathes fresh life into classics and imbues each track with a signature style. The finished album carries over the energy of the performers and the vibe of the crowd very well. It’s a recording that’s “just right” for the band, the space and the night. This is an album with heart and soul, sprinkled generously with zesty spice and served just right. Very Highly Recommended. markbirdstafford.com Adam Marsland has a diverse background as both a performer and producer. This is actually his 11th album, and it comes after an extended break from performing and recording. Perhaps because of the many long roads that have brought him to the recording of this album, there’s an overwhelming sense of retrospective that permeates every song. It recombines the sounds and emotions of the great FM songwriters as well as vintage BritPop and west coast harmonies into a collage of both familiar and new emotions. It’s one of the best overall albums we have ever heard. What makes The Owl and The Full Moon special seems to be that it’s a return to performing, and the artist is refreshed and wisened after taking a multi-year break. Adam Marsland has had a diverse, long and challenging journey to get where he is right now and this album comes after working as a producer for the past few years after a decade+ touring and recording as a solo musician. Along the way he has suffering personal setbacks and challenges which interrupted him.. well, being him. The Owl and The Full Moon is an excellent, rich, invigorating album from an artist that has returned anew, armed with the mastery of the moment. You could call it introspection or retrospection but the effect is that Adam Marsland is in a new and unique place of perspective, personally and artistically and he captures the moment beautifully with these recordings. The Owl and The Full Moon is a work of personal art, and that person has struggled through hurt and exhaustion and has emerged stronger, with a more defined sense of self. It’s an inspiration that music like this can still surprise us. Very Highly Recommended. www.adammarsland.com Big Science - Difficulty May 29, 2012: Big Science is a band that is uniformly frustrating the music press... in a good way. Everybody likes them, the problem is describing them. Are they retro? Are they post-rock? They’re definitely indie, whatever that means these days. About the only thing people seem to agree on is that they should be opening for The Killers. Their debut full-length is entitled “Difficulty” and the name oddly embodies the trouble people are having communicating what they are about to anyone else. Categorization aside, what isn’t difficult is just plain loving their music. It’s a fresh, powerful, wall-of-sound collection of tracks that are memories in the making. There’s a definite English cryo-emo vibe, but Chicago is their home town. Tracing their development starts with Jason Hendrix and Jason Richards (ex-members of The North Atlantic) moving from San Diego to Chicago in 2007 after a seven year, 500+ show existence to start a new band with long-time friend Jason Clark. Add Jeremy Pena and stir. The four then proceeded to practice and write feverishly for the next six months self-recording and self-releasing an EP entitled The Coast of Nowhere soon thereafter. Following it’s release, the group continued to play more and more successful shows in 2009, opening up for the likes of Frank Black’s Grand Duchy project, Planes Mistaken For Stars and The Life and Times. The following year brought a one-off record contract with AEMMP Records for another EP which was called Skyscraper Sound. The band played larger local shows like Wicker Park Fest and also toured to SXSW to support the release. Shortly after returning from the trip, Hendrix, Pena and Richards parted ways with Clark, and later brought on long-time pal and ex-Company Of Thieves, ex-Wax On Radio member Bob Buckstaff in late 2010 for guitar and keyboard duties. Fast forward to today and “Difficulty” presents the unified front of Hendrix, Richards, Pena and Buckstaff making really great music as a cooperative unit. Danceable, thought-stimulating and emotive at the same time, Big Science may have borrowed ingredients but they clearly cook with their own recipe. This isn’t a band that needs a comparison to another band - they’re their own band and they’ve carved out their own territory. They don’t need you to like another band to like them, you’re going to like them just fine on their own. Very Highly Recommended. bigscienceband.bandcamp.com 62 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 63 Brief Candles - Fractured Days Itchy Hearts - Tried To Be Punk September 27, 2011: Brief Candles’ new full length Fractured Days impresses with a balance of power, emotion and personality. Coming a full five years after the They Live We Sleep release, Fractured Days sees a more intense and focused energy from this Milwaukee-based quartet’s power-alt assault force. There’s definitely been a momentum built in the years between the releases and the tracks of Fractured Days have a feeling of intense intention, but with a lighthearted enjoyment of the act of music-making. Never taking themselves too seriously, imagination, creativity and appreciation of beauty come through the fuzzed-out waterfalls of sound. Fractured Days plays like a hazy dream that focuses effortlessly into defined and memorable moments of piercing clarity. It takes you in, puts you at ease and before you even realize it, you are completely captured. They have the patience to craft long introductions to phrases worth developing. Variances in tempo and elements make each song more like a journey - there’s no predictable repetition here. What’s particularly interesting is the roster of guest producers involved, but that the consistency of the band’s sound is not overly affected. There’s a unity of team vision at work with different elements being highlighted, but not disrupting the rest of the project by overly varying the tone. Jeff Zeigler [Kurt Vile, Pattern is Movement] brightens and sparkles the dreamy “Ten Weeks” and the vibraphone-adorned slow burner “Permafrost” while Adam Pierce [The Swirlies, Mice Parade] heightens Boniger-Dixon and Dixon’s pretty vocal exchanges on “Small Streets” and “Recognition”. Neil Weir [Vampire Hands, Gospel Gossip] hones in on the band’s signature sound in “The Completist”, building and making it resonate strongly without losing that sense of urgency the rhythm section naturally dips into to make those builds even more significant. Mostly recorded in Milwaukee at Kevin Dixon’s Humdrum studios and at Greg Norman’s studio in Chicago, Fractured Days showcases a band with a strong sense of who they want to be. Their confidence shows in slower, more patient moments as much as it does in powerful crescendos. Unique in arrangement and execution, this is an album without an expiration date. Originality and integrity never age and both are abundant and unified in Fractured Days. Highly Recommended. GuiltRiddenPop.com May 14, 2011: Itchy Heart’s new album “Tried To Be Punk” - their third - delivers infectiously memorable loud folk from their Brooklyn, NY home base. There have been a lot of new-folk projects coming out recently, and this album is a great example of an original band creating great music in their own comfortable space. Perhaps in a Huey Lewis kind of way more people are now feeling that it’s hip to be square, and doing what they want without pretense of making it big. Maybe the changes in the music business have been a factor as most indie acts have absolutely zero chance of actually making money so instead of trying to do what they think will get them signed or booked, they’re doing what feels good. And “Tried To Be Punk” feels good. Really good. Core members Andy Cobb on guitar, banjo and vocals, Cameron Kapoor on electric guitar, Caleb Brown on drums and bassist Ben Murphy have been joined at one time or another by Reid Magette, John Ptacek, Rob Slater, Jonathan Parker and Alan Parker and Itchy Hearts released their first album “Goodbye Goodnight” in 2008, followed by “Do Ya Best” in 2010. So the band has been around and working for several years and there’s a solid vibe happening that you can definitely hear. Also Jonathan Parker and Coleman Lowndes both did really good jobs with the recording and mastering respectively. But just calling them a folk band misses the mark. There’s pop, indie, alt - and yes - punk all in the mix. It reminds us that there’s a timelessness to a single guitar and as much relevance and impact today as ever. Andy Cobb’s vocals expose an endearing off-center personality, and the songs have just the right mix of either simplicity or layers as needed. It’s one of those unique projects that is fresh and new at the same time that it’s classic Americana. You could play it in the metallic canyons of New York city or the desert canyons of the southwest and it would reverberate equally well. Itchy Heart’s “Tried To Be Punk” is really likeable. It’s relevant, unique, complex, stimulating and peaceful. Play it in the car. It will sound great anywhere you go. Highly Recommended. itchyhearts.wordpress.com Jill Andrews December 2, 2012: RUST Magazine talks to Jill Andrews at Eddie’s Attic. Watch the video on our YouTube channel. jillandrews.com Anna and Elizabeth December 2, 2012: RUST Magazine talks to Anna and Elizabeth at Eddie’s Attic. Watch the video on our YouTube channel. annaandelizabeth.com 64 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 65 Alex Guthrie June 20, 2014: RUST Magazine films Alex Guthrie in the early light of dawn in downtown Atlanta. Watch the videos on our YouTube channel. AlexGuthrieMusic.com 66 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 67 Moriah Scoble Interview charities? Is it different when it’s artists supporting their passion? University and our local community colleges. Published March 2011: Moriah Scoble is the Executive Director of The Fender Music Foundation, which was created to provide instruments for music programs across the United States. This large and diverse organization is active nationally, helping organizations with the long-term vision that music makes a better world. This foundation is investing in a better future, and we at RUST applaud their efforts. MS: I wouldn’t say The FMF acts too much like a corporate charity. In fact, we are a public nonprofit, which means we are mostly funded by the general public. The FMF is not the charitable arm of Fender; Fender uses their resources to support The FMF. Fender offers us web and technical support, they designed the foundation’s branding, and they reach out to artists to sign guitars for the foundation. They are also working on other ways to use their resources to financially support the foundation. RUST: You just had a big event last month - the Rock-N-Zip Affair, how did that go? Who was involved with that? RUST: Can you tell me a little about how and why the FMF was established? MS: At this point, we’ve reached about 45,000 people through our grants, and the good news is that number is about to skyrocket. Just recently, we’ve received guitar donations from Fender and CostCo, enough to reach approximately 300 more programs. This is going to be quite a jumpstart to the number of people learning music in these next couple years. MS: Our founder Larry Thomas founded the foundation when he retired as CEO of Guitar Center, Inc. So, for the first couple years, the foundation was named The Guitar Center Music Foundation. Larry started the foundation because he thought he could bring all of the musical instrument and equipment manufacturers together to help save music education. Just over two years ago, Larry was invited to join the board of directors of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, which caused the foundation to change its name to The Fender Music Foundation. RUST: Not a lot of people know about you, what surprises people most when they find out about the FMF? RUST: When did you become involved with the FMF? MS: I joined the foundation right at the beginning. I was the foundation’s first employee. RUST: Before that, had you done anything like this before? RUST: What are the core things that the foundation does? MS: I’ve been working in nonprofits since I was 16, but I had no idea my path would take me to something like this. Granted, I’ve been a cellist, a cello teacher and worked at a local youth orchestra and at a museum, but I had intended to get into publishing textbooks. I come from Kansas City where, at the time, everyone was offered ample musical opportunities. It wasn’t until I met Larry that I learned about the sad state of music education across the rest of the country. And, learning that children weren’t receiving the same opportunity I had received was what sparked my interest. MS: The FMF gets instruments into music education programs. That’s been our goal since the beginning. We have a grant process set up where we find the music programs that are most sustainable, offer thoughtful music instruction, and will put the instruments to the greatest use. The instruments we send to programs have been collected from various manufacturers and retailers. They have been returned, been sitting in music stores or warehouses or they had a blemish that kept them from being sold in a traditional way. The good news is: we change the fate of these instruments; instead of being destroyed or sold in a pawn shop, they are going to people who desperately need music in their lives. RUST: What is your favorite thing about what you do there? MS: I love showing businesses how they can take what they have and use it to bring some good into the world. People and businesses often contact us because they want to support music education, but they often don’t think outside the box with their contributions. There are many ways a company can contribute to the foundation. Sometimes, the company likes the simplicity of making a donation. Other times, they donate a percentage of their sales, they’ll post a free ad on their website, they’ll produce a PSA for the foundation, etc. If the company can’t contribute upfront but they have a reach, they can still help. RUST: Just about every corporation has a charitable foundation. How you compare the support that Fender gives your foundation to other corporate 68 RUST Magazine RUST: What are some of your responsibilities at the foundation? MS: I look for opportunities for growth, both through donations and revenue and through increasing the number of grants we award. I put the foundation in a place that the organization can help more people to have the opportunity to make music. RUST: Who are some of the other FMF people that you like to work with? MS: We receive most of our support from volunteers. We have a staff of interns as well as a large volunteer board of directors. Fender CEO Larry Thomas, musicians Don Felder and Danny Seraphine, and Robbins Brothers CFO Bruce Ross are all long-time board members. Other well-known board members include musician Joe Bonamassa and Janie Hendrix. Most of our other board members are savvy business people from various industries. Regarding our interns, many of them are students and graduates of Pepperdine University, California Lutheran MS: The band 100 Monkeys has been working with us for the past few months, leveraging their resources to help us raise money. They introduced us to Flightlinez, the zipline in downtown Las Vegas, who, with the support of the Fremont Street Experience, agreed to put on a fundraiser for us where 100% of the gross revenue of the zipline would be donated to the foundation. Then, the Fremont Street Experience agreed to make an additional donation on top of that. To magnify the results, 100 Monkeys also performed a free concert at the zipline that evening. It was quite a night that raised over $20,000 for the foundation -- one of our largest donations of all time. RUST: You have a very large multi-venue event coming up on December 3, 2011, can you tell me some more about that? MS: We are inviting artists and venues in and around Los Angeles to turn whatever they’re doing on December 3 into a fundraiser for the foundation. We will then share their participation with our community and encourage our supporters to attend the events. To show their support of music education, we are asking that they donate 10% of the night’s proceeds with a $1,000 minimum. So far, the response has been positive, and we are still looking for venues and musicians to participate. RUST: How can people get involved with that? MS: Anyone who owns a music venue, restaurant, bar, club or is planning to perform on December 3 can fill out this form - CLICK HERE - That is the first step. RUST: It must be a lot of work to do this job, how do you maintain your motivation? MS: I probably have one of the coolest jobs there is. I work with a lot of interesting people. I do something different every day, and I am part of this organization that is really making a difference – in people’s lives and the state of music education as a whole. RUST: What has been your personal favorite grant recipient? MS: I love the story of the Planfield Re-entry Educational Facility, which offers a music program for men who are about to be released from prison in Indiana. The program director would call me regularly to tell me about the success stories he’d witness. Those men were really turning their lives around because they felt like they belonged to a group. They were learning how to communicate with others and how to listen. Most of the men who go through that program do not return to prison. The state of Indiana was so impressed with how successful this program was that they made programs like it mandatory across the state. RUST: You have some unique collectable instruments for sale on your website, for instance right now you have a custom Fender® Stratocaster® guitar that was signed backstage at the 2010 American Country Awards by Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins, Jewel, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum and over a dozen other performers, are the proceeds from the web sales significant to your budget? MS: Absolutely! The sales of our memorabilia allow us to operate. They cover our operating budget so that donations can go directly to awarding grants. It’s a great deal, too; someone gets a very cool piece of memorabilia that is undoubtedly authentic, and their purchase allows us to run a nonprofit that helps thousands of people. RUST: What’s the coolest instrument you’ve ever offered there? MS: The American Country Awards guitar is probably the most historic piece we’ve offered, but my personal favorite is the set of guitars used in Ok Go’s music video. RUST: There’s a saying, that “if you want to take the fun out of something you love do it for work” and it’s obviously a lot of work to keep the FMF going, but it seems that doing this is something that rewards you more as you do more, is that right? MS: First of all, I don’t believe in that saying at all! I think if you love doing something, you should make a career out of it. I think the reason that doesn’t work out sometimes is because the person didn’t find a good match between what they want to do and the career they chose. For example, someone who likes making music may think they want to be a singer-songwriter, but being a performer who isn’t signed to a label is a lot more about running a business, negotiating and marketing than it is about music. To answer your question, yes: the more people we help and the more companies who buy into supporting music education, the more rewarded I am. RUST: What was the most heartbreaking situation where you could not help? MS: Almost every day, we receive a request that is outside our scope: programs in other countries, individuals looking for a second chance, parents who can’t afford for their children to go on performance trips. Even if we did get instruments into every music program in the country, there is still a lot of need out there. RUST: The FMF takes donations of any amount, right? What’s the best way for people to get involved? MS: More than anything, we need funds. Now that we have the instruments to send out, we need the funds to run the operations. Any donation is much appreciated. Most of our donations are $25 to $100, so it takes a lot of donors to keep things going. The good thing is, their money goes a long way. We have the opportunity to help so many people. We just need the resources to do it. fendermusicfoundation.org RUST Magazine 69 John LT - Suburban Superstar November 6, 2012: Though you might not have heard of John LT yet, you’re about to - in a big way. Though technically a solo release, for his third studio album “Suburban Superstar” he has assembled an all-star team of musicians and friends and the result is just fantastic. Mixing pop, rock, vaudeville, honky tonk and... well... just about everything but the kitchen sink, with a definite east coast flavor, you get some Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen influences jumbled up with some bright broadway lights. Smoky bar soul at one minute, contemporary standard at another, John LT manages to explore his own unique personality across many different speeds and flavors. “Suburban Superstar” is like a loud storm with a quiet center. When this musical rabble gets up to full speed it’s something like listening to a mad pirate captain banging away on his piano while leading his crew of musical ruffians through a hurricane. In it’s peaceful moments you get vibes of the very best classic FM singer/ songwriters like Simon and Garfunkel and Elton John. There is power and passion here that is rare and pure. It’s a celestial alignment of energies that only happens once in a great while. Very Highly Recommended. johnlt.com “Suburban Superstar” is a legendary album with layer upon layer of comedy, emotion, pain and rejoicing. RUST was curious about some of the people and events that made it so special, and we thank John LT for taking more than a minute to give us the inside info on the recording session. Oh, and John, RUST would sure appreciate an intro to your LA friend ;) In the Studio: To get the humor of this story, you have to understand the nature of the work environment on this record. We went at it hard, and in medium-sized bursts. For example, we recorded all the bass, drums and piano (and some guitars) live at Downtown Music in NYC to capture the vibe producer Charles Newman was going for. Using this process, we recorded 13 songs in two days. There was no booze (except after hours), no drugs, and very little fooling around. Everyone had fun, but we went at it hard. The same environment applied when we were adding horns, strings and percussion in Baltimore. One day while we were recording at Ring of Fire in Baltimore (in a terrific studio in a rough part of town), the studio phone rang, signaling that there was a visitor standing at the heavily fortified front door. We answered the phone and a singsongy female voice asked, “is this the honeycomb hideout?” We said no, and the confused visitor was on her way. I then looked up the phrase “honeycomb hideout” in the Urban Dictionary, and found the following definition: “A place 2 kick it with friends, gettn high as a mf’er. Away from police & drama...” That couldn’t have been further from what was actually going on! We thought it was so funny that we considered working the name “Honeycomb Hideout” into the album title or artist name. About the Production Process: Then a generous and wealthy friend treated me and my wife to a spectacular few days in LA and hired a chauffeur to take all of us everywhere for the duration of our stay. The driver was a friendly guy, and we got to know him and even had him join us for dinner one night. But despite our best efforts to overcome it, there remained a barrier between him and us because of the service he was providing and the uniform he wore. While there is of course dignity in doing one’s job well (which he did), that distance that existed between us nagged at me. I began wondering what would go on in his head during the course of a day, a week, a year. Just a couple short weeks after the visit, the words started coming. I started writing everything I had been thinking about our driver from Los Angeles. The lyrics describe the thoughts inside his head throughout his day, up to and including the moment where he briefly forgets his position while flirting with a female passenger, only to be jarringly reminded of it as she asks him to wait outside with the car as she heads into a social engagement. He then reverts back to the chorus that he hums over and over in his head throughout the day--the musical mantra that helps keep him going. To me, the music and the lyrics come together perfectly in this song because the music starts off quietly and gently as the driver awakens from sleep and readies himself for the day, and then grows busier and bolder as his day progresses. Even so, it still retains a contemplative feel throughout. When I started meeting with Producer Charles Photo courtesy of John LT Newman to discuss the direction of the project, I wasn’t certain which songs I had written would make it onto the record, but I did know I wanted “Katie” to be there even if Where does the Album Title Come From: it didn’t fit in with the rest of the material. I just loved it. Luckily, Charles Well, the album is fun, and the title is funny. I am, after all, from the liked the song too, and with its “O-Bla-Di-O-Bla-Da” feel, it became the suburbs, so it may seem as if the title refers to me. But there’s a twist center of the record. The other songs just fell into place, and I wound up to it, because the song “Suburban Superstar” is actually about a hot writing a couple more that fit the record better than some of the songs suburban mom parading around town in her tennis outfit! that had been ready to go. Some of those became my favorites, like “The Driver’s Song” and “Nowhere to Go.” In General: Songwriting: Lyrically, one of my favorite songs on the record is “The Driver’s Song.” It took me over two years to get that one right. I had the music and the melody for the verses, but couldn’t find lyrics and a chorus that fit properly. I wrote and rewrote it again and again but every attempt ended in failure. It was as if putting words and a chorus to the song ruined it every time. 70 RUST Magazine The album is fun. It was fun to write, the melodies are fun, and the “anything goes” production environment fed on itself in an exciting (and often humorous) way--I mean, cowbells, timpanis, banjoes and plastic potato chip containers full of rubber washers layered into a rock record?? All of this, coupled with musical experts for whom the performance possibilities were truly endless, encouraged us to be as adventurous with production as the melodies are themselves. The whole thing is a blast. RUST Magazine 71 Come Down Denver Editor’s Note: After we ran this interview we kept in touch with the CDD guys and even pitched in a hand to shoot their music videos for I’m Sorry and Down Like The Others, still images of which are on the next page. Recently RUST Magazine had the chance to catch up with Come Down Denver at Real 2 Reel Studios outside of Atlanta as they were finishing up their new full length album “Don’t Sweat It” and what we saw, and what we heard really blew us away. This is a hungry, hot, fresh band that’s got a tiger by the tail. When we shot our interview the band had clocked in over 250 hours in the studio and they were looking at possibly topping 300 to finish everything. The reason was simple, both the band and producer Shawn Grove were totally focused on finishing the entire album just the way they wanted, and they weren’t going to settle for anything less than production perfection. “We want every note to be just perfect” said guitarist Travis Blake “and we’re getting more psyched every day as we see our songs develop, especially with the suggestions and directions Shawn is giving us. It’s been amazing to hear our songs take on a life of their own, and we’re like ‘We did that?!’ it’s been crazy, but yeah, we’re all sitting there listening to the mix and we couldn’t imagine our songs sounding any better. We can not wait to get out there!” RUST got to listen in on the *almost* final mix of one track “I’ll Be Waiting” and it was literally stunning. The production was electrifying, the musicianship was front and center (they’re a BAND duh!), the songwriting is totally 2.0 and Christian Camp’s Geek Star style vocals are really a unique signature element. Everything was at 100% and the vibe was just plain ruthless. This is a band that could give the top 40 a heart attack. Nobody is going to see these guys coming. They’ve got that “lightning in a bottle” of being authentic people mixed with an immediate sense of where music is at right now. These are actually humble, cool, regular guys with a lot of talent and eve more dedication. So keep on the lookout for their new album and a US tour later this summer, take a look at these videos and cross your fingers that fate is kind to this group of musicians that have earned their chance at the big time. In our opinion they’re already big time. comedowndenver.com 72 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 73 Andre Williams - Life October 12, 2012: Andre Williams brings a whole lot of old school soul to the house of electric blues with “Life” available now on Alive Records. And when we say old school soul, we mean it. At age 75 Williams has been there and done that, possibly with your grandma. And maybe your mama. Talent never ages and “Life” covers a range of tempos and energy levels seamlessly and with complexity and depth. This is the work of a master who has rare perspective on his craft. This new album gives this legend the hi-def treatment and it sounds fantastic. Recorded in Detroit at Ghetto Recorders with production by Matthew Smith and engineering from Jim Diamond and Jason Fisher, “Life” manages to bring timeless elements together in a definitive statement. With Matthew Smith, David Shettler and Jim Diamond on guitar, drums and bass respectively, there is a band unison that really works as a single big, bad machine. This is the real deal. Andre Williams is the Man. This album is a must-have. One of the unique highlights is the new recording of “Shake a Tail Feather” which Williams wrote and originally performed with the Five Duo-Tones... in 1963... fifty years ago. Most people will recognize it from the Blues Brothers from 1980... thirty three years ago. This is a guy who was dong his thing a decade before Super Fly and when most tv shows were black and white. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, and artists who have mined the roots of soul are a dime a dozen, but to get a new album from one of the original artists in such a great overall package is truly special. So show some respect, do yourself a favor and pick “Life” up... you won’t put it down for a long time, maybe not ever. alive-records.com Indie post pop from Belgium VOLVER - Beautiful Sad StoriesNew album out now The Supersuckers May 14, 2014: RUST Magazine talks to The Supersuckers in Atlanta at The Masquerade. Watch the video on our YouTube channel. supersuckers.com «Ce mini-album marque une profonde évolution. La mélancolie ultra-présente sur ce Beautiful Sad Stories ainsi que les arrangements mélodiques ont gagné en maturité. Cette musique intimiste produit une bulle dans laquelle s'isole l'auditeur.» «Shoot Me Again» volvertheband & 74 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 75 Dengue Fever: Escape From Dragon House November 27, 2012: Though Dengue Fever’s Escape From Dragon House album has been out for several years, they’ve just released a Deluxe Digital Edition, and it’s a great introduction to a really unique band and is just as fresh today as when it was released. Imagine if the Pacific Ocean got squeezed away by smashing the American and Asian continents together and southern California surf culture got mixed up with southeast Asian “Khmer Rock” and you’ve got Dengue Fever. But unlike a lot of other concept bands, this one has real talent, great songwriting and over ten years of international success. Dengue Fever came to be when Ethan Holtzman traveled to Cambodia in 1997 and fell in love with the country’s take on rock music. He and his brother Zac assembled the other musicians (Senon Williams, Paul Smith and David Ralicke) and recruited Cambodian star Chhom Nimol to complete the line-up. Their first self-titled album came out in 2003, followed by Escape From The Dragon House in 2007, Venus on Earth in 2008, and Cannibal Courtship in 2011. What’s so great about this band, and this album, is that the unique sound is not just a surface aspect. Mining everything from ska, psychedelia, Asian pop, surf/skate and alternative rock Dengue Fever creates cross-culturally-pollinated fresh, original songs that have permanent value. With Escape From Dragon House, the band builds on their first studio session with a more confident, relaxed approach. There’s a consistent smooth groove and a mix of upbeat and introspective, intense songs like Made Of Steam and One Thousand Tears Of A Tarantula. Chhom Nimol switches back and forth both between English and Cambodian native Khmer, and her signature voice is matched by band’s great overall tonal unity. It’s a case of a unique band with great original material beautifully executed in every way. Whether rocking out in a psychedelic assault or wandering through colorful dreamy spaces, Dengue Fever develops their ideas with care and thought. Bobby Long August 2, 2013: RUST Magazine met up with Bobby Long at an abandoned lot in the Avondale Estates neighborhood of Atlanta for a session in the summer heat. Bobby performed Help Him Down, Ode To Thinking and The Song The Kids Sing, all of which are on our YouTube channel. bobbylong.info Perhaps the most significant thing about Escape From Dragon House is that many similar concept bands fail hard on their second album due to a lack of talent and dedication. They might have a likeable idea, but there’s no longevity of output because once the novelty has worn off there is not any residual substance. Dengue Fever defies the stereotype not just with this album but by continuing on with consistent quality and originality. RUST Magazine not only highly recommends Escape From Dragon House but we endorse the band as a whole and encourage people to visit their online store where you can get all four of their original albums on vinyl as well as the Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia collection. And, if you really love the band, or you are a collector, there’s even a limited number of signed debut albums available in green vinyl. Also check out Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia denguefevermusic.com Kristin Diable and The City October 5, 2012: RUST Magazine talks Kristin Diable and The City about the new Southern Renaissance and where Bruce Springsteen can find the key to Kristin’s apartment. With Charles Lumar and Casey McAllister. youtube.com/rustzine 76 RUST Magazine RUST Magazine 77 AOK’s 5 Career Killers By: Albert “AOK” Mayden III RUST: AOK is one of the hardest working people in the music business and has staked his claim as a hip-hop producer and manager with a corporate angle. Based out of Chicago, he is a music producer, recording and mixing engineer, writer and artist manager with over 13 years of experience. Beyond his involvement with The Go 2 Guyz and Last Dragon Entertainment, he has worked with Nike, Brand Jordan, Def Jam/DTP, Blast Radius, Spank Music and a has been involved in breaking, mentoring and producing up and coming talent such as Gallardo Tone. As CEO of the national production team The Go 2 Guyz, he manages members in NY, LA, CHI, and ATL. If that was not enough he is also the Chicago Brand Rep for Istandardproducers.com and holds down a position at Pressure Point pprecs.com, one of Chicago’s premiere recording studios as Director of Viral Marketing. Hit him up at [email protected] June 2011: Everyone wants to be in the entertainment industry, cut a record, tour and make plenty of money to buy whatever, whenever you want. That all sounds good but from years of experience I’ve found that the lifestyle you’re after may not be the best situation for you as an artist. I see a lot of young people who come to me looking for help and most of the time what they think is going to make them the next big thing isn’t what the job calls for. Not only that but their idea of what the day-to-day life of a professional performing artist is like is usually way off. There are plenty of articles that will give you the blueprint on how to get into the industry, like how to cut demos, who to talk to at the label. Some even get off into how to sell your music independently without major backing. What a lot of people aren’t talking about are the things that can stop your career before you even have one. So what behavior or situations should you stay away from? There are many different situations that could put your brand in Jeopardy, so this could be a really long list, but I have comprised this list of the 5 top music industry career killers that I see causing lots of artist to ultimately fail at what they are trying to do. 1: Being overzealous to the point you can’t listen or learn anything new from the people who are trying to work with you. There comes a time when you have to become a student again and take advice from those around you who have more experience than you. I’ve 78 RUST Magazine seen people feel themselves to the point that no one wants to work with them and they eventually get black booked or because the entertainment industry is so small the word spreads that you are difficult to deal with and you will be avoided by people you need.. Most executives will not deal with an artist that is just too excited about everything going on. Don’t get me wrong, enthusiasm is key but when you get in the studio, all those people are NOT there to do what YOU want. And if you are not cooperative when managers, producers, writers and promotions people make suggestions you’ll see those people drop you and put their time into someone else who will listen. 3: Emulating what’s popular is another career killer. This really disturbs me because - for some reason - in this generation the artists are all emulating what they see is popular on the Top 100 or MTV instead of developing their own identity. This has lead us into the 808 digital age where the majority of hip-hop sounds the same with unrealistic snare and hi hat rolls, everybody raps like they are on dope, and the word swagger is being used like it’s the newest word in the English dictionary. There comes a time where you have to remain true to who you are and go against the grain if you want to stand out. I’ll put it this way, the greatest artists create their own name and develop that brand. If you’re afraid to do “you” or are being told to do what everybody else is doing, my advice is to remain an individual and follow your path so your music can evolve. 5: Last but not least is limiting yourself geographically. Not traveling and staying confined to where you grew up is one of the major mistakes artist make. Being around family and friends is cool but is not conducive to success. Getting a pat on the back from loved ones or being in your comfort zone does not produce any type of career growth. It is very easy as humans to only do familiar things but for your career you have to become worldlier and experience the many different states of mind that exist nationally and worldwide. Inspiration, new opportunities, and new fans of your work all await those who dare to leave there own back yard. Sure, the road is tough. Most musicians lose money on the road, but it’s a global market and you have to cover as much of it as possible to be a significant player. 4: Not having a strong online presence will kill your career before it even gets started. It’s not just that we have seen digital sales recently trump physical sales by 20%, and this is a trend that will continue, but that online is simply the environment of success now. With an effective online marketing campaign, basically anyone can break out and grab a major piece of the market share. Make sure you have a good looking, functional, working website up. That might not sound like much but an incoherent site with old or misinformation and broken links can even be worse that not having a presence. Take the time to develop your online branding strategy and use the net to your advantage. Also, there’s been a lot of shoespam on Facebook. Facebook can be even more important than a website because it’s “Push Technology” that means when you put something on Facebook it gets sent - pushed - to your friends immediately and they don’t have to go to your website. But if you let spammers use your page to push high-heeled sneakers, you’ll look like a fool and lose credibility - fast. There are many more scenarios that can be added to this list, including lifestyle choices that can harm your health and ability to perform or even lock you away where you don’t have the freedom to be an artist. The hardest thing for an artist can be a self evaluation, but it can be the most important. If you’ve been doing something the same way for a few years and it’s not taking you where you want to go, find what works for you - what doesn’t - and make the changes that are necessary to become the brand you want to be. Take educated risks, and remain a student at all times. Don’t listen to the people around you, listen to the people above you and give their advice serious consideration. Again, you might have talent, but there’s a lot of talent out there. Why should a promoter, manager or producer take his time to work with you when a hundred other talented people walk through his office every week? Start with avoiding these career killers and remember this statement “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.” 2: Being lazy is the worst of all the career killers. You can be one of the most talented artists of the day and get absolutely no opportunity because you aren’t working hard towards any type of goal - and if you are working, your not working hard enough. I have to deal with this issue daily, and even worse than being lazy is making excuses. Not only are you lazy but now you’re insulting the people you want to help you by being irresponsible. People who work hard share one trait and that is taking responsibility. You won’t hear any excuses from a go getter, 80 hours a week is the norm for someone trying to make it in the entertainment business. Until you get that first check you have to juggle an extra job to survive and still do what you love to the capacity of making it... I’ve seen 90% of the people around me bow out at a certain point because it’s too much to handle. RUST Magazine 79 I don’t take pictures. I capture and share precious moments of my life. My PENTAX K-S1 seizes the sharpness of it all, impromptu or planned. This advanced DSLR is intuitive and ergonomic. My memories are sharp, creative, enduring. Step up from smart to brilliant. To see, touch and experience this amazing camera for yourself, visit your local camera retailer and/or go online at us.ricoh-imaging.com & ricoh-imaging.ca capturing endless imagination is always with me Mouths of Babes July 27th 2013: In the Cabbagetown and Reynoldstown neighborhoods in Atlanta there is a burgeoning arts district that is home to a whole new generation of artists and arts communities including DooGallery, and this is where we met up with Tylan (from Girlyman) who was touring featuring Ingrid Elizabeth (of Coyote Grace) for an afternoon acoustic session. The duo, which now goes by Mouths of Babes, performed The Person You Want, Already Fine and Wild Awake for our cameras, and all three of those videos are on our YouTube page. Lately, Tylan has been writing a song a week for the Real Women Real Songs project and the two have been touring and preparing material for their upcoming duo album. If you want to know more, check out Tylan’s album One True Thing or visit their Mouths of Babes website. tylanmusic.com facebook.com/mouthsbabes Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation 2014 © | us.ricoh-imaging.com | ricoh-imaging.ca | photography: Kate Turning 80 RUST Magazine In the next issue: Angela Perley & The Howlin’ Moons The other guys just cover Rock and Roll history. RUST Magazine MAKES Rock and Roll History!