Invisible Familiars is the creation of the talented multi instrumentalist Jared Samuel. His debut LP Disturbing Wildlife, which he penned on a houseboat named Gypsy docked in Jamaica Bay, was released on Other Music Recording Co. this January and does a fine job of making life feel much better. Whilst his captivating lyrics promise you that it’ll all be ok, Invisible Familiars converse with your inner secret self and stroke your soul in the most reassuring of fashions. Speaking of his work in such a graceful and modest fashion you can’t help but be somewhat endeared. I’m not sure he fully appreciates his own brilliance yet. Perhaps that’s part of the charm.
Tell us about your band name. How did it come about?
I took the name from a passage in a Joseph Campbell book that’d been recommended as a sort of beginner’s skeleton key to start making better sense of the world around me. I was puzzled by it, almost to the point of social paralysis. Invisible Familiars are unseen beings or forces of confirmation that are felt. Not made of felt, like a muppet, but like muppets (esp. the benevolent ones in the film Labyrinth), they are there when you seem to need them most and come along to help encourage you in your path. So many wonderful friends came and played on the record and there were a lot of mysterious circumstances that lined up in our favour. Nothing as obvious as a spirit animal materializing and remaining in the room… Although our assistant engineer, Normyn, is the most dashing dame dachshund ever to man a Manley mic preamp.
Where does your inspiration come from lyrically?
Sometimes from things overheard. I’ll use bits of dirty truth from other people’s conversations and use that to get me rolling. I’m certainly not the first to do that. Sometimes it’ll be a matter of at first singing phonetically so as not to interfere with the melody and then just repeat it enough times so that more recognizable words start to form. On our next single ‘Act One’ the seasons just kind of tumbled out of my mouth right along with the chorus melody. That sort of dictated the shape of the rest of the song and I got my own meaning of it after it was all done. My real secret is that 90% of my lyrics are stolen from Jimmy Buffet songs, played backwards. Again, we’re talking phonetics. (Laughs.)
The artwork on your debut album is incredible. Who’s responsible for that?
Thank you! A startlingly talented young man named David Barth did all of the illustration. All of the hand-written print work, including the liner notes and titling, is by a young man that is a bit older but still startlingly talented, named Alex Holden.
Invisible Familiars, Shaking Through.
What’s your favourite thing about being a working musician in New York?
The sense of community. A feeling of unity within the struggle… Maybe I shouldn’t use that word. There are real struggles going on in the world for basic human rights. I just mean that I know a lot of people that I try to look out for and vice verca. The cost of living here makes it seem seriously cut throat. I remain grateful for all the people New York also somehow beckoned here because I’ve experienced more joy making music with them than doing nearly anything else I could ever imagine.
Who/what inspired you to want to make music?
I think that it was just a natural attraction and has been a need for as long as I can remember. I always knew I was going to play music. It certainly wasn’t a sound business decision! I took piano lessons for a little while from age 6 because I was forced to, where I pretended to read music that I was actually playing back by ear. I abandoned actual instruction for a while until I found more personal mentorships in my teens and beyond. As far as who, it was everyone I ever listened to. Even the horrible shit- what pop radio would force on us in supermarkets and movie theatres, TV theme songs, commercial jingles. I think on some level we either seek to emulate it or to embody its antithesis. Either way it’s all an influence. Oh, and the birds and stuff. Yeah, nature.
What’s your take on the music industry as it is?
Don’t get me into trouble now. I have a favorite William Blake quote that goes “When nations grow old the arts grow cold and commerce settles on every tree“. A friend and mentor of mine, Paul Dooley, used that line in a gorgeous tune. He’s a musical wellspring who writes about 200 songs a year. None of them are boring and at least half of them are brilliant. But, you know, he paints houses for a living… I feel like these days my main concern is the struggle against streaming music sites and their inability to offer transparency and fair payment for artists. I don’t know quite how deep the water will get but I’ve got a snorkel around here somewhere.
You’re stuck on a desert island. You’re allowed to take one album. What would it be?
I don’t think I would want one because then it would become “thee album”. I’d have to become very precious about it like “Oh no! This is my only album and what happens if it gets exposed to too much heat or salt air or a sea lion comes along and licks it?” I’d like to trade in my record option for copious coconuts, please.
‘Disturbing Wildlife’ by Invisible Familiars is out now! Catch them live in New York this month: March 12, BSP Lounge, Kingston & March 26, Rough Trade, Brooklyn.
If you’re anything like me you’ve likely spent far more and gotten far less in return. Go get it kids.
Written by Gemma Dietrich on Friday March 6th, 2015 3:32 pm
We’re completely entranced by the art/performance band that is MEN. How can you not go weak at the knees for a diverse musical stew that fuses dance and electro beats with rock music and combines this with a dose of political and social activism that takes in complex subject matters such as gender roles, erectile wartime economies and sexual politics? Oh, information pills and their live shows are pretty wild too.
For the uninitiated, a little backround info: MEN are made up of JD Samson, best known for her involvement with Le Tigre and a 2006/2007 playmate of Peaches in her backing band The Herms, Michael O’Neill (Ladybug Transistor) and Ginger Brooks Takahashi (LTTR) as well as fellow Le Tigre member Johanna Fateman who remains in the backround alongside artist Emily Roysdon and contributes as writers, consultants, and producers; as you can see, MEN have a pretty stellar pedigree.
A short while back, we managed to catch them in their fly by night visit to the UK, where they briefly rocked up in Brighton, Soho’s legendary Madam Jo-Jo’s and the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen (where Amelia’s Magazine squeezed our way to the front of the room). The crowd were made up of a mix of music label A&Rs (MEN are very much the hot ones to watch for 2010, don’t you know) and devoted fans of JD from her Le Tigre days.
JD, the charismatic little devil that she is, had the crowd wrapped around her little finger and calling out for more, as witnessed in the rapturous reception she received as she bodypopped her way through ‘Simultaneously‘. As MEN’s guitar riffs joined forces with a deep electro beat, friends of the band stood at the back of the stage holding banners high, as you can see from the photos.
A couple of days later, we had an email chat with JD and asked her to tell us a little more about what makes MEN tick……
We loved your live show, it was electric! Combining the elements of art and performance seems like an integral part of a MEN gig, can you share with us why this is important to you?
Being on stage is an opportunity to explore that space of performer, musician, and artist with an audience and bringing together elements of agit-prop theater, dance music, and the live rock band is a project we’re totally invested in.
What messages do you want your audience to leave a MEN gig with?
Questions about who we are in the world, where our money comes from, and how powerful it can be for people to gather together and share our space and time.
MEN don’t shy away from including hard hitting subjects such as sexual politics and war-time economics in the lyrics, unlike many other bands and singers. Is it safe to say that there isn’t enough activism in music right now?
I don’t want to judge other artists about what they want to talk about in their own art. We make music that talks about our lives and what we think about and where we exist as humans on this planet. Not many people talk about war time economies and gender fluidity but we do. and we are happy to be a queer activist band. JD, Is your involvement with MEN different from your part in Le Tigre and if so, how?
Of course this experience is different for me. I am working with two new musicians whose collaborative efforts bring totally new elements to my music. I am still me, so a lot of my music and aesthetics are similar, but I have grown since writing with Le Tigre and I think its clear that we are doing something different and have new discussions with a new audience.
Illustration by Celeste Dupuy-Spencer
What are the plans for MEN in the next year? And what subject matters would you like to tackle next in your songs?
In 2010 we will be working on our album, finishing our album and then sharing it with the world on tour. We’re excited to be making a new performance in Mexico City this summer with live hand drummers and our painter friend Celeste Dupuy-Spencer. We’ll also be performing at the 35th Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival!
Written by Cari Steel on Wednesday February 17th, 2010 3:58 pm
Religious to Damn‘s lead singer is Zohra Atash, more about a cool lady with a batwingged 70s style, look a voice a bit like Alison Goldfrapp and Natasha;Bat For Lashes, approved and an excellent (seemingly well behaved) fringe. The Brooklyn band’s album, Glass Prayer, is out now on M’Lady’s Records. I caught up with Afghan-American Zohra, and asked her a few questions.
Hello, could you introduce yourself for us please?
My name is Zohra Atash, I’m a singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter. My primary project is Religious to Damn.
Could you describe what your music is like?
I try to make music that’s atmospheric and elegant, thoughtful and melodic. Some people have said that it’s cinematic and evokes a certain sense of expansiveness, which I’d agree with.
Where are you from?
My parents are Afghan, but I was born in Florida and grew up in Virginia. But I’ve been in Brooklyn for quite some time now.
How does London compare to New York? Do you like England?
I’ve been in love with British culture and art for years. I may have had my raising in south, but I lived in a house full of British records – from 60’s British invasion rock, to my sister’s collection of new wave and post-punk. My favorite bands in high school were Lush and Pulp…. I really wanted to move to London and start a band!
Why the name; ‘Religious to Damn’?
I write the music, but I wanted to avoid the stigma that goes with being a singer-songwriter. The name came up in a rather fiery conversation I was having with Josh about people who seem to be attracted to religion primarily so that they can condemn others to hell. We both liked the multiple meanings, (from) Religious to Damn(ation), as in a span, and Religious (in order) to Damn, so it stuck.
Tell us about Glass Prayer?
I wanted to make a record you could really immerse yourself in, something with really grandiose imagery. There are a lot of layers. It’s subtle at times, and heavy on the drama as well. It’s meant to reveal itself after multiple listens. We’re inspired very much by artists that maximized the possibilities of production, but the thing about them was that they didn’t beat you over the head with every last sound and idea. Some things may be out in front, but others are buried, carefully placed, left in soft focus. And that’s why they reward multiple listens, because new nuances emerge gradually, and one day you notice things you may not have noticed before. It’s a gamble to make a record like that these days, given how saturated the world is with new music. But we went for it anyway.
And when will you next be on tour…?
We’re planning to be in the UK/Europe this year, hopefully sooner than later. I’m very excited.
Who would you like to sing with in an ideal world – dead or alive?!
Bryan Ferry
How did you all meet?
Josh and I knew each other for years before we started working together. We had a similar aesthetic. Charlie was a classically trained percussionist, but also just an amazing rock drummer. He has an incredibly full range of capabilities to realize the diverse aspects of the music. Allegra played in a band in Portland called Magick Daggers, as well as The Portland Cello Project, and we had mutual friends, so when she moved to New York, she came on board. And Lea was Charlie’s bandmate in a Balkan punk band, and she’s also a classical musician, so she rounded out our current lineup.
How did you get the position you’re in now?
We put a lot of heart and muscle into getting to the place we’re in now. I dedicated my whole life to this. It’s a labor of love…. it’s what I wanted to do my whole life. We’ve certainly put up with our share of obstacles. Sadly no stories that don’t fall into the category of boring rock doc cliché. It’s not an easy business and New York’s not always a kind town. But we got to where we are through perseverance and the belief that we had something worthwhile to offer to the musical landscape.
How do you see your future?
We’re excited to bring our live show to as many people as want to see it. Believe it or not, the next record’s almost written, and we’re planning on recording it later this year. I’d say the future will be at the very least, eventful. I’ve got lots of ideas, and am always eager to write new songs and record new records. I see a future filled with lots of Religious to Damn music!
Religious to Damn‘s lead singer is Zohra Atash, viagra 60mg a cool lady with a batwingged 70s style, viagra a voice a bit like Alison Goldfrapp and Natasha;Bat For Lashes, physician and an excellent (seemingly well behaved) fringe. The Brooklyn band’s album, Glass Prayer, is out now on M’Lady’s Records. I caught up with Afghan-American Zohra, and asked her a few questions.
Hello, could you introduce yourself for us please?
My name is Zohra Atash, I’m a singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter. My primary project is Religious to Damn.
Could you describe what your music is like?
I try to make music that’s atmospheric and elegant, thoughtful and melodic. Some people have said that it’s cinematic and evokes a certain sense of expansiveness, which I’d agree with.
Where are you from?
My parents are Afghan, but I was born in Florida and grew up in Virginia. But I’ve been in Brooklyn for quite some time now.
How does London compare to New York? Do you like England?
I’ve been in love with British culture and art for years. I may have had my raising in south, but I lived in a house full of British records – from 60’s British invasion rock, to my sister’s collection of new wave and post-punk. My favorite bands in high school were Lush and Pulp…. I really wanted to move to London and start a band!
Why the name; ‘Religious to Damn’?
I write the music, but I wanted to avoid the stigma that goes with being a singer-songwriter. The name came up in a rather fiery conversation I was having with Josh about people who seem to be attracted to religion primarily so that they can condemn others to hell. We both liked the multiple meanings, (from) Religious to Damn(ation), as in a span, and Religious (in order) to Damn, so it stuck.
Tell us about Glass Prayer?
I wanted to make a record you could really immerse yourself in, something with really grandiose imagery. There are a lot of layers. It’s subtle at times, and heavy on the drama as well. It’s meant to reveal itself after multiple listens. We’re inspired very much by artists that maximized the possibilities of production, but the thing about them was that they didn’t beat you over the head with every last sound and idea. Some things may be out in front, but others are buried, carefully placed, left in soft focus. And that’s why they reward multiple listens, because new nuances emerge gradually, and one day you notice things you may not have noticed before. It’s a gamble to make a record like that these days, given how saturated the world is with new music. But we went for it anyway.
And when will you next be on tour…?
We’re planning to be in the UK/Europe this year, hopefully sooner than later. I’m very excited.
Who would you like to sing with in an ideal world – dead or alive?!
Bryan Ferry
How did you all meet?
Josh and I knew each other for years before we started working together. We had a similar aesthetic. Charlie was a classically trained percussionist, but also just an amazing rock drummer. He has an incredibly full range of capabilities to realize the diverse aspects of the music. Allegra played in a band in Portland called Magick Daggers, as well as The Portland Cello Project, and we had mutual friends, so when she moved to New York, she came on board. And Lea was Charlie’s bandmate in a Balkan punk band, and she’s also a classical musician, so she rounded out our current lineup.
How did you get the position you’re in now?
We put a lot of heart and muscle into getting to the place we’re in now. I dedicated my whole life to this. It’s a labor of love…. it’s what I wanted to do my whole life. We’ve certainly put up with our share of obstacles. Sadly no stories that don’t fall into the category of boring rock doc cliché. It’s not an easy business and New York’s not always a kind town. But we got to where we are through perseverance and the belief that we had something worthwhile to offer to the musical landscape.
How do you see your future?
We’re excited to bring our live show to as many people as want to see it. Believe it or not, the next record’s almost written, and we’re planning on recording it later this year. I’d say the future will be at the very least, eventful. I’ve got lots of ideas, and am always eager to write new songs and record new records. I see a future filled with lots of Religious to Damn music!
Religious to Damn‘s lead singer is Zohra Atash, illness a cool lady with a batwingged 70s style, cialis 40mg a voice a bit like Alison Goldfrapp and Natasha;Bat For Lashes, medications and an excellent (seemingly well behaved) fringe. The Brooklyn band’s album, Glass Prayer, is out now on M’Lady’s Records. I caught up with Afghan-American Zohra, and asked her a few questions.
Hello, could you introduce yourself for us please?
My name is Zohra Atash, I’m a singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter. My primary project is Religious to Damn.
Could you describe what your music is like?
I try to make music that’s atmospheric and elegant, thoughtful and melodic. Some people have said that it’s cinematic and evokes a certain sense of expansiveness, which I’d agree with.
Where are you from?
My parents are Afghan, but I was born in Florida and grew up in Virginia. But I’ve been in Brooklyn for quite some time now.
How does London compare to New York? Do you like England?
I’ve been in love with British culture and art for years. I may have had my raising in south, but I lived in a house full of British records – from 60’s British invasion rock, to my sister’s collection of new wave and post-punk. My favorite bands in high school were Lush and Pulp…. I really wanted to move to London and start a band!
Why the name; ‘Religious to Damn’?
I write the music, but I wanted to avoid the stigma that goes with being a singer-songwriter. The name came up in a rather fiery conversation I was having with Josh about people who seem to be attracted to religion primarily so that they can condemn others to hell. We both liked the multiple meanings, (from) Religious to Damn(ation), as in a span, and Religious (in order) to Damn, so it stuck.
Tell us about Glass Prayer?
I wanted to make a record you could really immerse yourself in, something with really grandiose imagery. There are a lot of layers. It’s subtle at times, and heavy on the drama as well. It’s meant to reveal itself after multiple listens. We’re inspired very much by artists that maximized the possibilities of production, but the thing about them was that they didn’t beat you over the head with every last sound and idea. Some things may be out in front, but others are buried, carefully placed, left in soft focus. And that’s why they reward multiple listens, because new nuances emerge gradually, and one day you notice things you may not have noticed before. It’s a gamble to make a record like that these days, given how saturated the world is with new music. But we went for it anyway.
And when will you next be on tour…?
We’re planning to be in the UK/Europe this year, hopefully sooner than later. I’m very excited.
Who would you like to sing with in an ideal world – dead or alive?! Bryan Ferry
How did you all meet?
Josh and I knew each other for years before we started working together. We had a similar aesthetic. Charlie was a classically trained percussionist, but also just an amazing rock drummer. He has an incredibly full range of capabilities to realize the diverse aspects of the music. Allegra played in a band in Portland called Magick Daggers, as well as The Portland Cello Project, and we had mutual friends, so when she moved to New York, she came on board. And Lea was Charlie’s bandmate in a Balkan punk band, and she’s also a classical musician, so she rounded out our current lineup.
How did you get the position you’re in now?
We put a lot of heart and muscle into getting to the place we’re in now. I dedicated my whole life to this. It’s a labor of love…. it’s what I wanted to do my whole life. We’ve certainly put up with our share of obstacles. Sadly no stories that don’t fall into the category of boring rock doc cliché. It’s not an easy business and New York’s not always a kind town. But we got to where we are through perseverance and the belief that we had something worthwhile to offer to the musical landscape.
How do you see your future?
We’re excited to bring our live show to as many people as want to see it. Believe it or not, the next record’s almost written, and we’re planning on recording it later this year. I’d say the future will be at the very least, eventful. I’ve got lots of ideas, and am always eager to write new songs and record new records. I see a future filled with lots of Religious to Damn music!
Religious to Damn‘s lead singer is Zohra Atash, capsule a cool lady with a batwingged 70s style, a voice a bit like Alison Goldfrapp and Natasha;Bat For Lashes, and an excellent (seemingly well behaved) fringe. The Brooklyn band’s album, Glass Prayer, is out now on M’Lady’s Records. I caught up with Afghan-American Zohra, and asked her a few questions.
Hello, could you introduce yourself for us please?
My name is Zohra Atash, I’m a singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter. My primary project is Religious to Damn.
Could you describe what your music is like?
I try to make music that’s atmospheric and elegant, thoughtful and melodic. Some people have said that it’s cinematic and evokes a certain sense of expansiveness, which I’d agree with.
Where are you from?
My parents are Afghan, but I was born in Florida and grew up in Virginia. But I’ve been in Brooklyn for quite some time now.
How does London compare to New York? Do you like England?
I’ve been in love with British culture and art for years. I may have had my raising in south, but I lived in a house full of British records – from 60’s British invasion rock, to my sister’s collection of new wave and post-punk. My favorite bands in high school were Lush and Pulp…. I really wanted to move to London and start a band!
Why the name; ‘Religious to Damn’?
I write the music, but I wanted to avoid the stigma that goes with being a singer-songwriter. The name came up in a rather fiery conversation I was having with Josh about people who seem to be attracted to religion primarily so that they can condemn others to hell. We both liked the multiple meanings, (from) Religious to Damn(ation), as in a span, and Religious (in order) to Damn, so it stuck.
Tell us about Glass Prayer?
I wanted to make a record you could really immerse yourself in, something with really grandiose imagery. There are a lot of layers. It’s subtle at times, and heavy on the drama as well. It’s meant to reveal itself after multiple listens. We’re inspired very much by artists that maximized the possibilities of production, but the thing about them was that they didn’t beat you over the head with every last sound and idea. Some things may be out in front, but others are buried, carefully placed, left in soft focus. And that’s why they reward multiple listens, because new nuances emerge gradually, and one day you notice things you may not have noticed before. It’s a gamble to make a record like that these days, given how saturated the world is with new music. But we went for it anyway.
And when will you next be on tour…?
We’re planning to be in the UK/Europe this year, hopefully sooner than later. I’m very excited.
Who would you like to sing with in an ideal world – dead or alive?! Bryan Ferry
How did you all meet?
Josh and I knew each other for years before we started working together. We had a similar aesthetic. Charlie was a classically trained percussionist, but also just an amazing rock drummer. He has an incredibly full range of capabilities to realize the diverse aspects of the music. Allegra played in a band in Portland called Magick Daggers, as well as The Portland Cello Project, and we had mutual friends, so when she moved to New York, she came on board. And Lea was Charlie’s bandmate in a Balkan punk band, and she’s also a classical musician, so she rounded out our current lineup.
How did you get the position you’re in now?
We put a lot of heart and muscle into getting to the place we’re in now. I dedicated my whole life to this. It’s a labor of love…. it’s what I wanted to do my whole life. We’ve certainly put up with our share of obstacles. Sadly no stories that don’t fall into the category of boring rock doc cliché. It’s not an easy business and New York’s not always a kind town. But we got to where we are through perseverance and the belief that we had something worthwhile to offer to the musical landscape.
How do you see your future?
We’re excited to bring our live show to as many people as want to see it. Believe it or not, the next record’s almost written, and we’re planning on recording it later this year. I’d say the future will be at the very least, eventful. I’ve got lots of ideas, and am always eager to write new songs and record new records. I see a future filled with lots of Religious to Damn music!
Religious to Damn‘s lead singer is Zohra Atash, information pills a cool lady with a batwingged 70s style, online a voice a bit like Alison Goldfrapp and Natasha;Bat For Lashes, mind and an excellent (seemingly well behaved) fringe. The Brooklyn band’s album, Glass Prayer, is out now on M’Lady’s Records. I caught up with Afghan-American Zohra, and asked her a few questions.
Hello, could you introduce yourself for us please?
My name is Zohra Atash, I’m a singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter. My primary project is Religious to Damn.
Could you describe what your music is like?
I try to make music that’s atmospheric and elegant, thoughtful and melodic. Some people have said that it’s cinematic and evokes a certain sense of expansiveness, which I’d agree with.
Where are you from?
My parents are Afghan, but I was born in Florida and grew up in Virginia. But I’ve been in Brooklyn for quite some time now.
How does London compare to New York? Do you like England?
I’ve been in love with British culture and art for years. I may have had my raising in south, but I lived in a house full of British records – from 60’s British invasion rock, to my sister’s collection of new wave and post-punk. My favorite bands in high school were Lush and Pulp…. I really wanted to move to London and start a band!
Why the name; ‘Religious to Damn’?
I write the music, but I wanted to avoid the stigma that goes with being a singer-songwriter. The name came up in a rather fiery conversation I was having with Josh about people who seem to be attracted to religion primarily so that they can condemn others to hell. We both liked the multiple meanings, (from) Religious to Damn(ation), as in a span, and Religious (in order) to Damn, so it stuck.
Tell us about Glass Prayer?
I wanted to make a record you could really immerse yourself in, something with really grandiose imagery. There are a lot of layers. It’s subtle at times, and heavy on the drama as well. It’s meant to reveal itself after multiple listens. We’re inspired very much by artists that maximized the possibilities of production, but the thing about them was that they didn’t beat you over the head with every last sound and idea. Some things may be out in front, but others are buried, carefully placed, left in soft focus. And that’s why they reward multiple listens, because new nuances emerge gradually, and one day you notice things you may not have noticed before. It’s a gamble to make a record like that these days, given how saturated the world is with new music. But we went for it anyway.
And when will you next be on tour…?
We’re planning to be in the UK/Europe this year, hopefully sooner than later. I’m very excited.
Who would you like to sing with in an ideal world – dead or alive?! Bryan Ferry
How did you all meet?
Josh and I knew each other for years before we started working together. We had a similar aesthetic. Charlie was a classically trained percussionist, but also just an amazing rock drummer. He has an incredibly full range of capabilities to realize the diverse aspects of the music. Allegra played in a band in Portland called Magick Daggers, as well as The Portland Cello Project, and we had mutual friends, so when she moved to New York, she came on board. And Lea was Charlie’s bandmate in a Balkan punk band, and she’s also a classical musician, so she rounded out our current lineup.
How did you get the position you’re in now?
We put a lot of heart and muscle into getting to the place we’re in now. I dedicated my whole life to this. It’s a labor of love…. it’s what I wanted to do my whole life. We’ve certainly put up with our share of obstacles. Sadly no stories that don’t fall into the category of boring rock doc cliché. It’s not an easy business and New York’s not always a kind town. But we got to where we are through perseverance and the belief that we had something worthwhile to offer to the musical landscape.
How do you see your future?
We’re excited to bring our live show to as many people as want to see it. Believe it or not, the next record’s almost written, and we’re planning on recording it later this year. I’d say the future will be at the very least, eventful. I’ve got lots of ideas, and am always eager to write new songs and record new records. I see a future filled with lots of Religious to Damn music!
Religious to Damn‘s lead singer is Zohra Atash, buy information pills a cool lady with a batwingged 70s style, a voice a bit like Alison Goldfrapp and Natasha;Bat For Lashes, and an excellent (seemingly well behaved) fringe. The Brooklyn band’s album, Glass Prayer, is out now on M’Lady’s Records. I caught up with Afghan-American Zohra, and asked her a few questions.
Hello, could you introduce yourself for us please?
My name is Zohra Atash, I’m a singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter. My primary project is Religious to Damn.
Could you describe what your music is like?
I try to make music that’s atmospheric and elegant, thoughtful and melodic. Some people have said that it’s cinematic and evokes a certain sense of expansiveness, which I’d agree with.
Where are you from?
My parents are Afghan, but I was born in Florida and grew up in Virginia. But I’ve been in Brooklyn for quite some time now.
How does London compare to New York? Do you like England?
I’ve been in love with British culture and art for years. I may have had my raising in south, but I lived in a house full of British records – from 60’s British invasion rock, to my sister’s collection of new wave and post-punk. My favorite bands in high school were Lush and Pulp…. I really wanted to move to London and start a band!
Why the name; ‘Religious to Damn’?
I write the music, but I wanted to avoid the stigma that goes with being a singer-songwriter. The name came up in a rather fiery conversation I was having with Josh about people who seem to be attracted to religion primarily so that they can condemn others to hell. We both liked the multiple meanings, (from) Religious to Damn(ation), as in a span, and Religious (in order) to Damn, so it stuck.
Tell us about Glass Prayer?
I wanted to make a record you could really immerse yourself in, something with really grandiose imagery. There are a lot of layers. It’s subtle at times, and heavy on the drama as well. It’s meant to reveal itself after multiple listens. We’re inspired very much by artists that maximized the possibilities of production, but the thing about them was that they didn’t beat you over the head with every last sound and idea. Some things may be out in front, but others are buried, carefully placed, left in soft focus. And that’s why they reward multiple listens, because new nuances emerge gradually, and one day you notice things you may not have noticed before. It’s a gamble to make a record like that these days, given how saturated the world is with new music. But we went for it anyway.
And when will you next be on tour…?
We’re planning to be in the UK/Europe this year, hopefully sooner than later. I’m very excited.
Who would you like to sing with in an ideal world – dead or alive?! Bryan Ferry
How did you all meet?
Josh and I knew each other for years before we started working together. We had a similar aesthetic. Charlie was a classically trained percussionist, but also just an amazing rock drummer. He has an incredibly full range of capabilities to realize the diverse aspects of the music. Allegra played in a band in Portland called Magick Daggers, as well as The Portland Cello Project, and we had mutual friends, so when she moved to New York, she came on board. And Lea was Charlie’s bandmate in a Balkan punk band, and she’s also a classical musician, so she rounded out our current lineup.
How did you get the position you’re in now?
We put a lot of heart and muscle into getting to the place we’re in now. I dedicated my whole life to this. It’s a labor of love…. it’s what I wanted to do my whole life. We’ve certainly put up with our share of obstacles. Sadly no stories that don’t fall into the category of boring rock doc cliché. It’s not an easy business and New York’s not always a kind town. But we got to where we are through perseverance and the belief that we had something worthwhile to offer to the musical landscape.
How do you see your future?
We’re excited to bring our live show to as many people as want to see it. Believe it or not, the next record’s almost written, and we’re planning on recording it later this year. I’d say the future will be at the very least, eventful. I’ve got lots of ideas, and am always eager to write new songs and record new records. I see a future filled with lots of Religious to Damn music!
You may have seen my review of Smoke Fairies, visit web with Sea of Bees supporting, visit this site last month in Bristol. ‘I’m telling you when they play together live on stage, it feels, well… I will have to use a simile – here follows: You know that advert for Ireland, when the lady is singing in her Enya (is it her?) voice and the camera is sweeping over the ridiculously green fields and coastlines of Ireland? A bit cringe but you get the image, it feels like you are the sweeper – as in you are sweeping/flying over amazing landscapes. Possibly wearing some tweed, definitely a cape with a hood. The music is more The Cranberries than Enya, but the flying sensation fits.’ I was lucky enough to get hold of Katherine and Jessica, just as their tour finished. I asked them a whole bunch of questions, on a range of subjects; from Jack White to New Orleans and Sussex.
Could you introduce yourself for us please?
We are Katherine and Jessica from the Smoke Fairies
And what is your music like?
A concoction of harmonies, riffs, blues, folk, long drives, late nights, nostalgia, stories of loss, dark thoughts, changing light, memories.
When and how did you get together?
k.We met at school when we were about 11 and started singing together as a way to make the school years more interesting. It soon became pretty obsessive with us playing at every opportunity.
Do you miss Sussex?
K. Sometimes living in London gets a bit intense and I think deep down we both love getting out to the countryside and back near the sea. I miss the space and the ability to get out on your own. But London has more opportunities and of course we are drawn to all the activity and creativity happening here. It would be equally hard to tear myself away from here now that it has become a home base.
What was Canada and New Orleans like?
K. We lived in New Orleans for a year at quite a pivotal time in our lives and we absorbed a lot of influences from the environment and people. We used to hang out in a coffee shop where we were given gigs and a lot of musicians from across the States would pass through. We felt free to explore our sound. We were affected musically as well as by the heartache that came from leaving it behind. Canada was a less focused and more calamitous year and that came out in the music we were writing at that time, but again the environment was the main influence seeping in. From our apartment we could see the mountains stretching off into the distance as well as the sky line of the city. Those places were important in our development, but nowadays we are just as much influenced by the heavy air of London, as England has really become our home.
Who have you toured with? What was it like?
J: We have toured with a range of artists; Bryan Ferry,The Handsome Family, Richard Hawley and Laura Marling. All have been completely different experiences due to the venues, the audiences and the way we were travelling. For some tours we have driven ourselves which requires a lot of organisation.
And what is touring as the headline band like?
K. It has given us a lot more confidence as performers. It is a completely different feeling to being the support band, there is more of the feeling that you are able to own the stage and that brings a sensation of immense freedom and enjoyment. It’s very satisfying to be able to headline shows now.
What was it like working with Jack White?
K. At first we couldn’t really believe we were there, but it was amazing how relaxed we felt once we got into the studio and we had never had the chance to record with analogue equipment before so that was really interesting.
Who would you like to work with next?
K. I think any musician dreams about working with many of the people they admire.
What’s coming up for you?
J. At the moment we are getting ready for festival season, writing the new album and making plans to release ‘Through Low Light and Trees’ in the US.
How are you enjoying your successes?
J. It is great at the moment but we will always want more. We are pleased with ‘Through Low Light and Trees’ and the way it was received but we are eager to move on to the next album.
What inspires you?
J. Sometimes it will be music but mostly ideas from songs will come from a combination of experience, books, tv, the weather, the seasons…. Sometimes one idea will strangely keep presenting itself in different ways, forcing you to write about it.
Do you write your own music?
K. Yes. We write it all. Except, recently we have been experimenting with some covers. We worked on a cover of Killing Joke’s Requiem and played it a lot on our last tour. We ended up releasing it on the B Side of our special edition tour vinyl of our single Strange Moon Rising. We also recorded a cover of Neil Young‘s Alabama. We are hoping to expand the covers we do into more unexpected genres, so there will hopefully be more on the way. The Killing Joke cover was really inspiring as it was probably a surprising direction for us to take, but it gives you a different perspective on your own songs and how you could think about writing songs in another way.
Where did you learn to play the guitar like that?
K. I think its just taken us a really long time to develop our style. Its a bit like singing I think, it takes a while to find your voice and feel confident. That came mostly from listening to a lot of music and watching folk and blues musicians playing live. Sitting in the front row and watching their fingers. I don’t think our style of playing is particularly conventional or based on a technical background.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
K. Hopefully still alive and reaching more people with our music, maybe I’ll be able to get a dog, but I’m not sure with all the touring.
So what do you do after you’ve taken back the gown, viagra approvedorder after you’ve drunken all the champagne, seekthere after your parents have cried as much as physically possible and you’ve uploaded all the pictures of your friends throwing their hats in the air onto Facebook? When you leave the warm bosom of your university institution after doing a creative degree what’s most important, page even more so than talent, (although that helps) is to surround yourself with likeminded individuals. This is something David Angus, Rafael Farias and Andrew Sunderland have kept in mind during their first year of university free existence. They all met at the Maidstone Campus of the University of the Creative Arts and have been working together under the name Bumf since they graduated.
How Bumf Collective works is that one member of the group sets a time limit and a rule and everyone makes a piece of work which must be viewable on the internet and not discussed until the project hand in. Rafael studied graphic design, Andy video media arts and Dave photography and media arts which means the work they show on the website is an interesting mix of the conceptual rule framework (1. Must be edible) and just brilliantly clever and simple design responses (a brain made out of bread titled Food for Thought)
Food for Thought – Rafael Farias
“Basically we wanted to form a collective, but we have different ways of working. Raf is more graphic design based and I was more video and Dave is more photography so it wasn’t that we had a similar theme and we wanted to work together it’s that we wanted to make work separately almost against each other.” Andy tells me as we search for somewhere cheap (we are all struggling artists after all) to have a cup of tea in Bethnal Green where two out of three of them live.
They all admit to how hard they’ve found it since leaving full time education and with a big focus on photography and video for Dave and Andy lack of equipment is something they’ve struggled with.
“You instantly lose all facilities that you had, you lose your space to work in and it’s already harder. I was always in the dark room doing film and now most of the projects I do are digital and that’s annoying for me.”
“The one thing people say when you leave uni is to keep making work, you leave quite a structured environment. Coming out of university nobody cares about you.” It was from this realisation and the need to stop art from becoming “a kind of side project” because of the time demands of day-to-day life that Bumf was started.
The rules that govern the projects seem to have been implemented to make up for the loss of structure from leaving university. The rules can be anything from the fairly simple (the title must be Woman), to the more abstract (100 meters) and they increase every time. “We each start off doing a rule each and then we go onto two rules each and then three rules each and then we’re gonna keep going until we’re doing sixty rules each forever!” Andy tells me.
Rafael Farias
Type-lace Typeface (Uppercase)
David Angus
Untitled (Flash)
However what’s interesting is how the rules have been manipulated by each artist to meet their own interests and to challenge each other.
“What I found interesting when I set that typeface challenge was to see what someone who doesn’t do graphic design would come up with. Like with the edible project, it was so that they couldn’t use a camera to see what would happen.”
For this project all the artists had to create a typeface with a single found object. Rafael having trained in graphic design obviously found the project easy, creating a visually pleasing yet fully working alphabet. Interestingly Dave still managed to gear his work to photography by using as his found object a camera flash. He also managed to use the photographic process by making a contact print out of food colouring for the ‘must be edible’ rule.
“I find that each of us manages to fight our own corner for our own discipline. These two are always slagging off graphic design so I’m always fighting my corner, so it’s interesting to see how we represent our own backgrounds.” Rafael tells me.
Andrew Sunderland
Portion #1 (Pink/Green)
David Angus
5×4 contact on edible paper with food colouring
There are times though when the artists have been forced to completely change their practice, like the project in which the work couldn’t be anything manmade. With Andy and Dave relying heavily on video and stills cameras for their own practice they were forced to try something completely different. Dave turned guerrilla gardener with his East London turf work and Andy, in my favourite work from the website, documented bird pooh for the series Bird Made 1-6. It is in this way that the website becomes more than just a game and a way into making work and evolves into something that makes them challenge what ‘type’ of work they make and therefore what ‘type’ of artist they are.
“The thing that is almost annoying in art college is that there’s always this need to mould you into this polished artist. You get into a rut of making similar work and you have an idea but think if I do that it doesn’t look like any of my other work.”
Andrew Sunderland
Bird Made 1
Rafael Farias
Stone Fruit Family (Cherry, Plum, Peach, Apricot, Nectarine)
They started the website because they naturally wanted to index the projects, but it’s fast become a reason in itself for making work. Despite art often being a sensory and tactile experience with Charles Saatchi using his website as an ‘interactive art gallery’, and Amelia’s Magazine now showcasing new talent online, your computer is becoming an acceptable way of seeing art work. I ask them whether showing their work in this way effects the making of it.
“I think about it a lot, that’s graphic design for you, it’s all about presentation. There are a lot of things we don’t do because it wouldn’t look good on the internet. No one’s done anything really sculptural because it wouldn’t translate well.” Rafael tells me.
“Well the internet is the whole reason for doing it and it’s quite interesting that we put in a rule at the end which is that if you make anything physical, like an object then the work is the image of it. If you make a sculpture obviously you can’t put it on the internet. We make these things but all of them are very temporary. The one that I did with the skittles in the end we ate them.” Says Andy.
The group don’t see Bumf as their main focus, the name itself meaning “waste and all these little things that you either pick up or you don’t”. Not that the projects are throwaway, just that with all the artists heavily into process, the outcome isn’t their main concern.
“I don’t think the projects are there to make an amazing piece of work, they’re good but it’s more something to keep your mind in a creative flow.” Says Dave.
”I see it as a creative bookmark so it’s something that might not be finished, but I’ll bookmark the idea for another project.” Rafael adds.
David Angus
Red, Green, Blue
Rafael Farias
The Grass Is Always Greener (On The Other Side)
With our drinks empty and the boys needing to drop off work for an exhibition at BASH Studios I ask them if they have any advice for new graduates.
“Yeah keep making work!” Exclaims Andy. “Even if it’s bumf keep making it because it means keeping up that creative process. If you don’t make anything for a year it can be really hard to get that back. Follow the Bumf rules and send it us!”
A website and some friends is all you need to avoid falling into a black hole of obscurity, you heard it here first! To look at all Bumf projects past and future or to view the individual artist’s work, click the links to their websites.
Thumbnail: David Angus – East London Turf
Having emerged from the Farm, symptoms picking straw out of my hair and ears still ringing, my first thought was – well, to have a bath – and then, to tell everyone I know how amazing Lounge was this year, and how I wish I was still sat beneath the stars, listening to Gong with my cup of tea.
Lounge is very much a local festival, for local people, and local bands were very well represented in every tent. Our weekend kicked off with The Psychotic Reaction, who hail from Whitstable and make a sound like no other…part Joy Division, part librarian rock, they sing of the cupboard under the stairs, hand-me-downs and the trials and tribulations of living in a small town. The Boxing Octopus, all from Herne Bay, brought in the funk on Saturday morning, and had the whole Furthur Tent dancing before noon – quite an achievement! Syd Arthur put on an absolutely amazing show, their haunting psychedlia filling the Furthur Field.
So often their songs deceive you, starting off laid-back and mellow and becoming all encompassing tidal waves of sound to sweep you off into the stars and beyond…Dancing to their soul-filling songs in a field full of hippies is certainly an experience I won’t forget for a while! Current torch-holders for the Canterbury sound, they’ve moved on from Wilde Flowers and Soft Machine (well, it’s been forty years) but not without using their influence for good and emerging with mellow yet powerful tunes to sway to, dance to or completely lose yourself in. These guys are also part responsible for the Furthur Tent and creating the atmosphere which makes the Furthur field so unique. Back in the Sheep Dip, The Ukelele Gangstas rocked their pimp hats and tiny guitars, while Hotrods and Dragsters brought out the hula girls.
Oh, the music? We shimmied and jived to the upbeat blues they were rocking, as did the rest of the tent and shame on the fools who missed out. Dropping the beats in the Bar tent was Mr. Wolfe, a young Canterburian with beat-boxing skill that begged the question ‘Why only an interlude?!’ Hopefully, next year, a longer set for Mr. Wolfe, preferably in the Hoedown. (Oh, if I ruled the festival world…) The coup, for me, in terms of Canterbury bands though, was Gong. Nothing prepares one for the rambling, overwhelming psychedelic journey that the progenitors of the Canterbury sound produce, short of a cup of mushy tea.
We sat in the Furthur field watching the stars, lights and pixies in their teapot taxies fly past – definitely the perfect way to experience a band whose music often seems to lose its train of thought and ends up at quite a different station to the one you bought a ticket for…
There were a few bands who travelled further than five miles to perform at Lounge, and while nothing beats home-grown talent, they did pretty well. I did drop in on Mr. Scruff who played a six hour set, perfect for dipping in and out of like a hobnob in early grey. He began the afternoon with laid-back beats, working up to a dirtier evening set which got the crowd moving. He doesn’t look quite as cartoon-esque in person, either. Upon hearing the cry ‘The Aliens are in the Cowshed’, it didn’t take me long to head there for a good look, and well worth it too. Comprised of three members of The Beta Band, they mix psychedelia and rock with a smattering of cheery choruses (chori?) into a sound which creeps up behind you and pokes you ‘til you dance. Jouis surprised us at the Further tent, starting off with some spoken word, creepy fairground-esque songs, then switching singers and moving into a more sixties groove – perfectly complemented by the guttural, earthy tones of ‘the hipipe’ as I dubbed him.
After chatting to the sax player, we were directed towards Jonquil – two lads, a keyboard and trumpet – whose music reminded us of Patrick Wolf, but less whiny. They generate a mellow, organic ambience wherein you can almost see the layers of sound filling the tent (or equivalent!). Far and away the best set of the weekend though (closely followed by Mr. Wolf) were Alessi’s Ark. One girl, her guitar, an incredible voice, and the Ark. Her melody-led lyrical stylings are whimsical and sweet, but never sugary, and she was hardly phased when someone with trousers on their head and shoes on their hands wandered in, telling them the next song Dancing Feet was perfect for them. Talking of libraries and similes, her lyrics were ideal for cleansing my mind of all that psychedelia… I spent my last pennies on her album, which came in a cd sized knitted bag!, and only just had enough left for dinner.
Talking of food, Lounge on the Farm cannot be faulted in that department. Almost all the food is locally sourced by local people. Merton Farm had their own barbecue stall, – ‘Less than a mile from gate to plate!’ – which we bypassed on the way to Al’s Hogroast. Does the fact I was vegetarian for a month prior to the festival say more about the deliciousness of the soft white bap, filled with freshly roasted pork, smearings of apple sauce and dollops of stuffing…Sorry, where was I? Food! Yes. Wonderful stuff. Vegetarians were equally well catered for with the Good Food Café on hand providing soups, sandwiches and beetroot brownies. I had a very filling cous-cous sald with chickpeas and pitta from some lovely ladies who admitted to never having done anything like that before, in between belting out eighties classics…Tasty food though. For breakfast we went to Strumpets with Crumpets, delightful women serving baked goods in corsets – Eggy-fried crumpets with cinnamon and icing sugar?! My favourite. And they did tea too. Tea, and caffeine lovers, were not forgotten – The Tea Temple gave good brew, though no homemade flapjacks this year. Luckily, the Mole Hole Café, an eco-sustainable café up in the Furthur Field, had biscuits for ten pence as well as chocolate brownies and squishy strawberry cheesecake. Enzo’s Bakery provided us with gorgeous pastries, chocolate filled lobster tails and pain au chocolate, while Ana’s Sweets served Portuguese style desert, and the most divine cheesecake ever, according to my thorough researchers. And, as always, the Groovy Movie Picture Tent could be relied upon for chocolate fudge cake, infinitely strange films, and yet more tea, well past everyone else’s bedtimes.
The Groovy Movie Picture Tent is the only solar powered cinema in the UK and makes it aim to play independent films, animations and documentaries. This year’s top GMPT picks have to be Nina Paley’s Sita sings the Blues, which switches between a heartbroken New Yorker, gossiping Hindu gods, and Sita, singing the blues. The film is available for free at Ninapaley.com and is well worth the perusal. On Friday night, after Gong, the GMPT held an exclusive airing the BBC South East documentary about the Canterbury Sound; featuring interviews with Daevid Allen, Kevin Ayers and Steve Hillage as well as Joel and Liam Magill or Syd Arthur- passed to the tent only an hour before the showing. Highly informative and worth a watch, especially if you have no idea about the Sound to which I keep referring!
This year’s Lounge was definitely the best so far, and between running around from bands to burlesque, burlesque to fire shows, fire shows to portaloos, we also managed a lot of lounging- although I never did find the petting zoo. Still, Lounge on the Farm is only getting better and if I could get a lifetime ticket, I would. In the meantime, The Farmhouse will just have to tide us over until next year.
Photos by Amelia Wells
I have a new happy place.
Sometimes when I find these rare serene pools of magic and inspiration my selfish streak comes through and I want to keep them to myself for secret, help indulgent pick me up moments in times of disgruntled annoyance. But Eva Monleon Cifo would not approve, dosage for she is far fairer and kinder than my greedy alter ego, troche and her creativity is about spreading a sunnier smilier experience, which surely does not bode well with keeping newly found craft talent to one’s self.
Her doll creations are the epitome of ‘kawaii’, the Japanese word for cute that has become a genre of kitsch playful toy-like art to which many dedicated crafters are these days inspired by. With names like ‘doli donkey ears’, ‘doli bank robber’ and doli pink meringue’ they are hard not to love. I felt honoured to ask her about her work and life, beautiful details and snippets of which appear on her gorgeous blog, Misako Mimoko.
Hello, how are you today?
Hi!
It’s twenty past eleven in the evening. I’m at home listening to music and writing some emails, it’s a nice but bit chilly night. I feel happy and tired after having worked all day.
What have you been doing recently?
I’ve been finishing some of my dolls, planning and thinking about new stuff, cooking biscuits, waiting for the sales to buy these black shoes I really want, and then buying them (hooray!), going for walks in the evenings, having dinner on our tiny balcony, watering twice a day (hot weather is killing my plants!), and developing an animation about medicine for a video presentation…
What materials or mediums do you like to work with best?
I’m completely smitten with all kind of fabrics, but especially linen and vintage fabrics. It’s pretty unhealthy. I fall in love with a colour, a texture… I can’t go to too many flea markets much because I come home laden with lots of bags and there’s no more room! I think that I’ll have to work on bigger designs in the future just to use all the material I’ve stored.
Who would be your dream collaboration/who would you like to work with artistically?
How is Barcelona’s art scene different from other cities you have visited?
Barcelona is a highly open minded city, it’s really receptive to what happens around the world and so excited by style that loves being up to date. It’s possible that art and city day life are strongly influenced by what we think about life, our sense of humour, the sun or being by the seaside… There are many gallery-shops as Iguapop, Vallery, Todojunto, or Duduá… where you can buy a hand-crafted toys, independent publications, originals, join a cake contest or an amigurumi workshop, enjoy live music…
What inspires your work?
I’m really taken with 1930s-60s culture, old Walt Disney cartoons, classic films, children books and illustrations… and Japanese art, mostly kawaii.
How long do the dolls usually take you to make?
It depends on the doll. I spend a whole day or two making the body and face, then I use to leave it for a short time. I crochet some accessories, or I try different bows, berets, and hats on… just to see what happens.
One of the lasts dolls I’ve made was a gift for a friend, I wanted to make a book doll or maybe a popular character from literature, but it was harder than usually and I needed about four-six months to finish it… Each doll has a very different personality, sometimes I know what they want to be almost at the beginning, other times I have to try and try again…
At what age did you realize you were creative?
As any other little girl a loved to draw, I spent a lot of time on my own drawing. I always dreamed having a good job, (I was a very good student!) and making art as a hobby. One day our line drawing teacher (I was studying Science at High School) asked us to draw an architectural piece from the street. I chose a typical fountain. He encouraged me on doing Fine Arts or Architecture so I considered it seriously because I was getting tired of studying.
I always thought that people are creative doing things they really love to do. But the body needs some exercise, imagination and creativity too. You can make it bigger or let it die; I think that we don’t need to just make art, life is easier with a little bit of imagination, and humor too! I think taking life too seriously isn’t a very good thing at all.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
I don’t know life is so weird… It’s funny how things and situation changes. I’ve been working as a designer for the last twelve years and I never thought I would start doing my little things again.
There’s an old saying that says that you have to be aware of what you dream, because dreams sometimes happens. I hope that wherever I’ll be in next ten years I enjoy doing things as if for the first time.
Besides art, what are you passions or interests in life?
There’re so many things… I enjoy mostly the whole part of the day. I love to walk, nearby my home there’s a small hill with a wonderful view of the city and the sea, it makes me feel so good… Nature is one of the things I need the most. Swimming on the quiet blue sea, good food, gardening, dancing, going for a drink and having long talks, and tea, I could drink tea all day long…
Which are your favorite artists/illustrators/photographers?
Calder, Dubuffet, Duchamp, Miró, Cage, Hopper, Niky de Sant Phalle, Tinguelly, Tove Jansson, Satie, Wharhol, Richard Scarry, Elisabeth Peyton, Stella Vine, John Currin, Damien Hirst, Stella Vine, Makiko Kudo, Yoshitomo Nara…
Tell us a secret!
I (and my partner too) hate the telephone so much… Telephones are always bothering us, it interrupts what you are doing. We work at home so we always use internet to communicate.
Sometimes we stare in front of the ringing phone, looking at the number and asking ourselves who can be calling us, there are so many companies calling trying to do business… We only pick up if it’s a known number. The phone doesn’t ring very often fortunately!
What is the story behind the name ‘Misako Mimoko’?
Japanese names always make me smile. They are funny names as they sound similar to Spanish words. In Spanish if you say Misako Mimoko what people understand is: “I pick out my nose” or “I pick out a booger”. It would be almost the same “me saco mi moco” (me sako mi moko).
As we are used to Japanese names Spanish people doesn’t realize the joke, but children begin to laugh as soon they hear it and I love to use it.
If you were showing Amelia’s Magazine around your city, where would you take us?
We could go to Montjüic first, it’s a shallow hill by the sea. There’s a fortification on top overlooking the harbour, museums such as Fundació Miró, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Caixa Forum, swimming pools, the Olympic Stadium, as well as gardens and winding paths that cover some slopes, the Font Màgica and Mies Van Der Rohe’s pavilion at the foot of the hill.
We should go down to La Rambla, visiting La Boquería market and walking along some narrowed streets of the old city in Barri Gótic. We could stop to have a drink and go shopping on the Borne Quarter, there are some of the coolest independent shops in the city. The beach is really close to here and you can go along the boardwalk, have a bathe or have lunch by the sea.
“We should visit Gràcia, it is a district full of bars and restaurants with terraces and there’re plenty of small shops and independent designers too.
There are so many things to do in Barcelona… oh! You can’t miss city flea markets Els Encants Vells, you can find new or secondhand stuff there, and Sant Antoni, a second hand book flea market.”
Misako Mimoko is the eigth wonder of the world in my opinion. I wonder how quick I can relocate to Barcelona and live in my happy place full time…
Following my review of Time To Die, online that was so excited and gushing it seemed to have been written by puppy. I made my way, try practically skipping, to meet the Dodos yesterday afternoon with my clammy nervous fist wrapped around my list of questions, and the autoharps and drums of Visiter ringing in my ears. It’s always a bit make or break meeting bands you love, what if they thought my questions were goofy? (they always are kinda goofy) or what if I had a piece of gaffer tape stuck to my bum? (I did). Although I was too much of a wimp to follow up my boyfriend’s suggestion to exchange animal impressions with them, the interview was definitely a make rather than a break, and they didn’t mention the gaffer tape!
So, I really liked the new album! What else is new with you guys?
Logan: Well that’s pretty much it, we finished the Visiter tour, had some personal time, and then started recording in the studio.
I guess quite a big deal has been made here about the album leak and your decision to stream a high quality version yourselves…how did you reach that decision?
Meric: Well it happened pretty quick, I guess our label here and our label in the States came up with the idea of setting up the website. We were on tour and were like “yeah!”
OK! If you had to pick someone as a main musical influence in your life who would you pick?
Meric: For me, I would say John Fahey is a very important musical figure. It’s weird because I didn’t start listening to him until quite late on in my guitar development, but now between albums and writing, I always go back to him and get stuff out of him. He’s just like a source of learning and inspiration. I know Logan’s a fan of him too and there’s something there that we draw from even if it’s not that direct, because he’s a solo guitarist and we’re a band… I feel like we’re inspired by a lot of the melodies and chord choices and where he goes with stuff What about you Logan? Would you agree with that?
Logan: Yeah, I’m a huge John Fahey fan, I feel like it’s a connector between me and Meric, the first time I saw Meric play, I was really admiring his ability to play in that style…I would say it’s [being a fan of John Fahey] has been a constant throughout.
So, would you pick Fahey to provide the soundtrack to your life? Or would you chose another band?
Logan: I would definitely say that if I was going to soundtrack my life there would be like the Misfits scene, and the Slayer scene, but if I had to pick just one thing, I’d pick something more emotionally resonant like Fahey
Meric: It would be a pretty ecclectic mix tape. A lot of people pick the Beatles interestingly…
Meric: I guess a lot of people choose the band they grew up listening to or listened to throughout their adolescence but I don’t really have that, I listened to too many different bands and went through too many superficial musical phases to grasp onto anything.
Can you tell me a secret about the Dodos...
Meric: We really like to dance… Good!!
Meric: I feel like the best shows are determined by whether there’s a good dance party afterwards.
Do you have a signature move?
Logan: My girlfriend calls my dance move ‘The Bounce’ because I go really rigid and bounce to the music whereas she tries to dance more flowy- we have opposite dance styles, that’s the only way I know how ‘The Bounce’ Hmmm I gave up trying to be a flowy dancer, I’m a bit elbows and knees the whole time, it kinda works out in a strange way.
Logan: You can come to our dance party
Ace! I’ll save my signature move until then.
Who or what is your nemesis?
Logan: Do you ever have people just throw it out there like “I hate Joey Joe Joe” ? Yeah, I interviewed Wavves and they went for this infomercial guy apparently he has a stupid beard and sleeps with prostitutes…
Logan: Oh did they mean Billy Mays? He’s dead! Dude-bad ju-ju on Wavves part!
Meric: It’s a cheap shot. I wouldn’t have approved if I’d have known at the time, I would have said “That’s too far guys…too far”
Logan: Well I’m sure he didn’t know
Meric: I like to think I don’t hate anybody but I know that’s not true… It can be a thing as well maybe…
Logan: How about that asteroid that’s on it’s way here? Yep
Logan: I’ll direct all my hate at that giant rock It’s quite a good one…I’m not sure you’ll win though
Meric: I’ll hop on that train If we all channel our hate into one big burning laser of hate maybe we can break it up and it’ll evaporate…
Logan: Though maybe it’s fuelled by hate, hate makes it move faster So maybe we should all love it and that’s how we’ll stop it.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Logan: Bobby Brown, I’m pretty hard up, I was wikipedia-ing all my favourite songs to see who wrote them, like he had a string of hits that all had the same quality to them that I really really loved and I just had to know, yeah I’m really in deep for Bobby Brown.
Is that a guilty thing though?
Logan: I don’t view it as one but I have received some strange glances from people if we’re drunk at someone’s house youtube-ing videos and I put on Bobby Brown. Everyone has a weird song they play at parties and get flack for…
Meric: If it’s good though I don’t really feel guilty, if you truly love it the guilt is gone. I would say online poker. I’ve never played.
Meric: It doesn’t feel good….(laughter) but it’s always there just before I go to sleep, like “I haven’t gone to sleep yet I might as well play a few hours online”. I love playing actual poker with people, but online it’s just hand after hand of up and down emotions and then you’re really angry at these avatars Is it other people playing as well?
Meric: Yeah it’s other people
Logan: Do you set up a PayPal account?
Meric: Well, you can give them your credit card, I haven’t done that yet, I’ve been using fake money, but you’d be surprised at how infuriating losing fake money can be…it’s like an ego thing… like PokeyMaHaunches1234 is gonna bet me out off this.
(laughter)
So if you had to pick 5 songs to put on a mix tape what would they be?
Logan: Who’s it for? ME! or it can be for that man over there (point to man)
Logan: But I know him even less than I know you…a bunch of songs I’ve been listening to recently have romantic overtones so don’t take it too seriously…Tom Petty‘s “Built to Last”
Meric: On the Tom Petty front “Congratulations by the Travelling Wilburys
Logan: Roy Orbison‘s “You Got It” and “Strange Magic” by ELO
Meric: ummm….”West End Girls” [Pet Shop Boys]. Keep it light!
OK! So if you built a time machine which era in the past or the future would you travel to?
Logan: I was always a bit lost deciding when I’d go..but now I know that I’d travel 100 years into the future; see if civilisation was still going strong, then I’d come back to now and be less neurotic Yeah like leave the lights on and I guess if you went and it’s all gone to pot, you can come back and be like “fuck it!”
Logan: Yeah, do something extravagant
Meric: Like “We’re all gonna die anyways”
Logan: There was a time when I wanted to ride a dinosaur, but now I want to live my life as happily as I can, that would ensure it.
Meric: It might kinda fuck things up if you know though…I feel like not knowing is a big part of it
Logan: Perception does change the outcome of experiments, wouldn’t it be lovely and ironic if I destroyed the world? You might come back and be the smuggest man alive…
Meric: Winning bets Or online poker
Logan: How could my joy destroy the world? I always would pick going back to the age of dinosaurs….I’m kinda into dinosaurs, but I’d only go for a couple of hours not ages
Meric: If you’re just visiting anytime before 100 years ago would be interesting…I like dinosaurs though, I’d like to see them. Like Jurassic Park…Fuck it- I’ll just watch the movie!!
Logan: Dude, I’d go back to 93 and watch it opening night, red carpet!
Meric: That would require more than a time machine though…you’d have to buy a ticket, rent the tux. I’d like to go back to 1977 when the first Star Wars came out and have never seen it before and for the effects to be new and cutting edge
Logan: Yeah…
What would your quiz specialist subject be?
Meric: Food
Logan: Skateboarding History
Good broad subjects there! You’ll totally win…so which 5 people would you invite to your dream dinner party ?
Logan: This is good…shall we invite Phil?
Meric: Sure…
Logan: Ok, so Phil Eck [music producer]
Meric: I’m trying to think of a nemesis for Phil to cause some drama
Logan: I’m thinking of a food celebrity
Meric: Bret Michaels
Logan: Bobby Flay so you and him could have it out Is it going to turn into a fight?
Meric: No it’s a sit down affair. We need some ladies in the mix
Logan: Aretha Franklin, she’d like to eat
Meric: I don’t know why but...Janet Jackson. She could do with a nice dinner party at the moment
Logan: She’s grieving right now… Exactly, cheer her up with some nice food
Logan: Hopefully our rag-tag team will cheer her up!
(laughter) Who would you make wash up?
Logan: Phil
Meric: Bret Michaels can dry Sounds great, it would also be the best crime solving rag-tag team ever if you wanted to branch out!
Written by Roisin Conway on Thursday July 23rd, 2009 1:27 pm
Last week I had the pleasure of reviewing Petter & the Pix‘s second album, hereGood As Gold, malady an eclectic bundle of folk and rock that never sits still longer than one track at a time. I urge you to seek it out, and you can listen to the first single off the album (Never Never) here. Petter, lead singer and ringleader of the group, of sorts, is an Icelandic chap from something of a musical family – his brother, Pontus, is half of the successful pop songwriting duo Bloodshy & Avant (not sure which one), and Petter himself used to be in Iceland’s first big reggae band, Hjálmar, as well as in a few other acts making everything from house beats to jazz. The Pix is Petter’s band, consisting of Mike Svensson on piano, Andreas Gabrielsson on bass, Nils Törnqvist on drums, and Mattias Franzen and Klas Ericsson on guitars. I had a quick catch-up with him to ask about his songwriting process.
Hi, Petter. What is it that you’re trying to do with the Pix? As in, what are you aiming for?
To make music and let everyone that is involved feel as involved as we are. I see music as some sort of get together, and I don’t want to work with anyone unless I can trust them to do their very best. For me a very big part of making music is to find situations where you can create moments of trust, with both your fellow musicians and a possible audience.
How would you describe your sound?
I’d say it some sort of pop.
Your music is extremely varied in style and instrumentation – how much to do you draw upon your experience with genres other than just ‘indie’ in making music?
I don’t really know how to define indie or pop if you are referring to it as a certain style of music. There are so many different music styles that people call indie or pop. The expressions seem to change depending on the decade in which they’re used. I think that for musicians, every piece of music they participate in changes the way they think about making music. If the musical history of the members in a group is varied, the outcome will somehow be a reflection of this.
What’s it like working with such a talented range of musicians? How much do they help in achieving that semi-orchestral breadth of sound?
The musicians are everything that there is! If I would choose another constellation of musicians then I’m sure that it would sound very different, not necessarily bad, but different. The fact that we’re all old friends makes it easier to work together.
What else influences you in your work? Where do you draw your ideas from? The world around you, friends, things like that?
The fact that it’s possible to survive as a musician, and that I enjoy playing and recording music, of course, are definitely the reasons why it’s worth making the effort to finish a song. But I think that what actually triggers the ideas could be just about anything, most likely it’s a combo of different components that effects your emotional state and I believe that music is just a product of that process.
This is your second album – do you feel that you’re progressing as a band?
Yes, I think that this album sounds different from the first one, so that would be progress. We haven’t been touring with this band so we haven’t been able to evolve in terms of meeting an audience. But we’ve played together in different constellations for at least ten years so I think that gives us the comfort to play what we like, even if doesn’t happen that often.
Last week I had the pleasure of reviewing Petter & the Pix‘s second album, this siteGood As Gold, capsule an eclectic bundle of folk and rock that never sits still longer than one track at a time. I urge you to seek it out, about it and you can listen to the first single off the album (Never Never) here. Petter, lead singer and ringleader of the group, of sorts, is an Icelandic chap from something of a musical family – his brother, Pontus, is half of the successful pop songwriting duo Bloodshy & Avant (not sure which one), and Petter himself used to be in Iceland’s first big reggae band, Hjálmar, as well as in a few other acts making everything from house beats to jazz. The Pix is Petter’s band, consisting of Mike Svensson on piano, Andreas Gabrielsson on bass, Nils Törnqvist on drums, and Mattias Franzen and Klas Ericsson on guitars. I had a quick catch-up with him to ask about his songwriting process.
Hi, Petter. What is it that you’re trying to do with the Pix? As in, what are you aiming for?
To make music and let everyone that is involved feel as involved as we are. I see music as some sort of get together, and I don’t want to work with anyone unless I can trust them to do their very best. For me a very big part of making music is to find situations where you can create moments of trust, with both your fellow musicians and a possible audience.
How would you describe your sound?
I’d say it some sort of pop.
Your music is extremely varied in style and instrumentation – how much to do you draw upon your experience with genres other than just ‘indie’ in making music?
I don’t really know how to define indie or pop if you are referring to it as a certain style of music. There are so many different music styles that people call indie or pop. The expressions seem to change depending on the decade in which they’re used. I think that for musicians, every piece of music they participate in changes the way they think about making music. If the musical history of the members in a group is varied, the outcome will somehow be a reflection of this.
What’s it like working with such a talented range of musicians? How much do they help in achieving that semi-orchestral breadth of sound?
The musicians are everything that there is! If I would choose another constellation of musicians then I’m sure that it would sound very different, not necessarily bad, but different. The fact that we’re all old friends makes it easier to work together.
What else influences you in your work? Where do you draw your ideas from? The world around you, friends, things like that?
The fact that it’s possible to survive as a musician, and that I enjoy playing and recording music, of course, are definitely the reasons why it’s worth making the effort to finish a song. But I think that what actually triggers the ideas could be just about anything, most likely it’s a combo of different components that effects your emotional state and I believe that music is just a product of that process.
This is your second album – do you feel that you’re progressing as a band?
Yes, I think that this album sounds different from the first one, so that would be progress. We haven’t been touring with this band so we haven’t been able to evolve in terms of meeting an audience. But we’ve played together in different constellations for at least ten years so I think that gives us the comfort to play what we like, even if doesn’t happen that often.
The first thing that you’ll notice about O.Children is that voice. Their singer sounds like he’s singing from the crypt – hell, physician the whole band sound like they’re howling from some horrible netherworld. Their indebtedness to the production style of the late 80s is clear (just stick on ‘Floodland‘ by the Sisters of Mercy to see exactly how much), but their sound owes just as much to more modern exponents of shoegaze and noise rock.
An introductory note here: When I first ‘got’ music, when it became something more than a tinny backing tune on the radio on the school run, it was the 80s that I fell in love with. I would stay up late listening the epic squall that opens Bauhaus’ ‘In The Flat Field‘ over and over again; or I’d search the web for grainy videos of Joy Division performing before they were canonical; or I’d even stay to the very end of Nick Cave‘s solo set at Bristol’s Colston Hall, missing my train back to London and sleeping in the station just because I couldn’t bear to miss a beat. I love how dark that music all sounded, all the space between the notes and the way that the guitars seemed to shiver while some demented sage would chant into the void about bats and judgement and all that nonsense.
Thus my fascination with O.Children, who appear to be rooted in this time period. I fired off a few quick questions to Tobi, their lead singer, on the eve of the launch of their latest single.
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Can you introduce yourselves and the rest of the band?
I’m Tobi, I sing and write the songs. Gauthier plays guitar. Harry plays bass and Andrew plays drums. Collectively we’re O.Children.
I’ve been listening to your songs, and I sense an affinity with the darker sides of early 80s post-punk, and (whilst I’m not sure you’d agree with me here) especially some of those proto-goth/industrial bands like Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and Sisters of Mercy. Where are you coming from with you music – are those the kinds of bands that you draw upon?
We’re certainly inspired by 80s goth music but we’re also into the general sound of the 80s as well as early 90s noise. The production techniques in particular. We love bands like The Birthday Party, Ciccone Youth, Big Black and Ministry, so we just take bits from all those types of bands and add them to our own personal sound. A little bit of edge.
What’s with the name? Is it a Nick Cave reference?
We bonded on ‘Shivers‘ by Boys Next Door, but then we realised that Boys Next Door was already taken and Shivers just didn’t work. O.Children was the next best thing.
What is it that you’re trying to achieve with your sound?
We just want people to enjoy the music. We’re recording out album at the moment and people will hopefully be (pleasantly) surprised by the outcome. We just want people to listen and make up their own minds.
What are you recording or planning to release? Anything soon?
‘Ruins‘, our second single, is released on April 19. The album should be done and released sometime in June so look out for that also.
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Head over to our listings section for more info on the party to celebrate the launch of their latest single, ‘Ruins’.
Written by Ian Steadman on Wednesday April 21st, 2010 6:18 pm
From organic beginnings during a stay in Sweden, The Breach by Australian singer songwriter Dustin Tebbutt has gained a momentum all its own, gaining fans on major radio stations along the way. As he prepares to head over to Europe for a string of dates I caught up with him to find out more about the man behind this beguiling four track EP.
Why did you decide to relocate to Sweden and in what way did this influence your music making?
The move to Sweden was in part due to a friend of mine that grew up in Stockholm. We’d been playing music together for a few years and he spoken a lot about the music scene, and Scandinavia in general. It sounded like an interesting place! Also, I was ready to travel at that time. I hadn’t been overseas before and for a few years I’d been idealising the northern hemisphere, and the winter there. I’ve always been infatuated with that rugged appeal some places have … Alaska, Canada, The Himalayas… Sweden had that harshness about it too.
How did you support yourself whilst away?
A combination of making a lot of coffee at a cafe, and eating mostly frozen TV dinners.
What did you most miss about your homeland on your adventures abroad?
There weren’t any ‘Aussie comforts‘ I really missed. Each country has its own version of Vegemite I guess, so I was more focused on finding and enjoying the things that make Sweden unique while I was there. But there’s always going to be a few people you have to leave behind. That was the hardest thing. Especially when your not sure if/when you’ll be coming back. I think the music reflects this aspect of the journey, and how it affected me.
White Lines
Who were your most formative musical influences growing up?
I used to listen to my Dad belting out Stevie Ray Vaughan licks when he’d play… and I loved this classical guitarist called Slava Grigoryan. Other than that, a fair bit of the Verve, Jeff Buckley and Radiohead.
What was the process of creation with this EP, and what were the easiest and hardest parts?
The process for this E.P. was really cyclical, in that I would move between individual elements in a song and rework them, over and over again. I did this to the point where one part that was once the foundational element, for example; the drums, became buried, or changed to just function as a highlight or secondary texture. In this sense, the tracks and their focus, are always shifting. It’s a really nice way to create… a real journey. The hardest part then though, is where do you stop?
Where I Find You
How did you make the video for Where I Find You?
I shot that video in one pass, at home, using a combination of found footage, a computer monitor and a large block of ice.
The Breach
What do the chalkboard drawings on The Breach video mean?
That’s really up to whoever is watching them unfold I think
Where are you living now and why?
I’ve recently moved to Sydney, theres a great space here for me to work from and we get to see some amazing thunderstorms.
What can we expect from Dustin Tebbutt in 2014?
I’ll be coming over to the UK at the end of Feb for a couple of things, and right now I’m just working on some new songs. So hopefully they’ll be out and about before too long!
The Breach EP by Dustin Tebbutt is out now. Catch Dustin Tebbutt in the UK at Servant Jazz Quarters on Tuesday 25th Feb, before he heads on over Tivoli Spiegelbar in Utrecht (Netherlands) on Saturday 1st March for a night with Marble Sounds and Mutual Benefit.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday February 3rd, 2014 5:24 pm
Stricken City are Midlands-raised, London-based four piece who yield a back-to-basics kind of indie pop. Riding the 2001 post-punk wave of indie style makers, The Strokes and Kings Of Leon, in their formative years, they hit a mark between The Kills and Young Marble Giants with their DIY output. Amelia’s Magazine caught up with the brains and the beauty (they have both in equal measure before you jump to any conclusions) of the band, Rebecca Raa and Iain Pettifer at the launch of debut mini-album, Songs About People I Know, whilst they cut-out self designed (by Raa) bunting decor. We discuss the trials and tribulations of being unsigned, finding names and dealing with band members losses.
It seems like this album has happened fairly quickly for a new band, has it been a much longer story from your perspective?
I: Yes. We did two singles at the end of last year and the plan was that early this year, rather than put another single out, to do something more substantial. So we thought we’d put something out in May and it’s taken until October. Some of the songs on it are quite old now. Killing Time and Five Metres Apart are both the first songs we ever wrote about four years ago, so it’s a relief to have those done. But there’s a couple on there, which were written just before finished recording it.
R: It feels like this could’ve been our second album almost.
Tell me about what touring you’ve done.
R: The last thing we did was a support tour with Maximo Park, which wasn’t really promoting our stuff but we’re doing a little UK tour for our stuff, then a few shows in New York.
Wow, New York?
I: Yeah, there’s a little American label putting out the album over there, so we’re going to go out and do some shows for that. A press guy over there liked us and put us out to a few people and this tiny little label got back. We hadn’t heard of them but they sent us all the records they’d released and there was all this lovely packaging and artwork. A lot of effort had gone into them, really caringly done, so we agreed.
R: They’re gonna do a lovely 12” which will be white with some splatters on it so I’m looking forward to seeing that.
What’s been your best live experience so far?
Both: Paris.
I: It was the end of last year, we were playing with The Kabeedies and Hatcham Social. So it was quite a nice English line-up in the Flèche d’Or. It’s like an old station bar, really weird and old, like how you imagine old Paris to be. The stage has a red curtain and it draws across. It was picked by a massive French TV station the day before we played. Like at 6 o’clock, to millions of viewers. A bit like The Culture Show but more mainstream. They played a bit of our video on that and we found this thing on youtube the other day that was like video wars, where one girl picks a video and then a guy picks a video and there’s a clapometer and I think we beat T Pain. So the next day when we played in Paris and all the kids knew the words to our songs.
Illustrations from album artwork by Rebecca Raa.
R: It was so full and we were like, ‘this is bizarre’.
How did you meet?
R: We met at school in Northampton.
I: There have been about 10 different members of the band since it started. Mike joined last August. He lived with our manager’s. We were struggling for a bass player for ages and it wasn’t for like a few months, our manager suddenly realized his flat mate played bass and Mike joined. Kit joined years ago now, through a mutual friend.
How is the music scene of Northampton?
R: I think it got better since we left.
I: I think it got better then it got worse didn’t it?
I: There was a really good period just before I left where The Libertines played, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Kills. But we’ve lived in London since we were 18. We grew up there but it’s not really got anything to do with the band anymore.
I: Yeah, 2001. I had better taste than that though. I listened to all those bands, but my sister had a boyfriend at the time that was a bit older. He made her mixtapes which I took. Things like Young Marble Giants, Slint, it’s hard to find like-minded people like that.
Are there any individuals that you’re particularly thankful to?
R: So many. We’ve totally relied on people for favours and support. Because we’re not signed, we have to do everything ourselves. Money has got to come from somewhere.
How do you manage to put your recordings out, being unsigned?
I: The first 7” was through our manager’s label at the time, which she doesn’t do anymore, Adventures Close To Home, who put out Free Blood and Holy Hail. The second one we did with Blue Flowers which was good but there’s only so much a small label like that can do.
R: This one we were really lucky that Pure Groove were helping us because thisis the one that was going to cost a lot of money. That’s the problem, who puts up that initial investment?
I: It’s nice that people are helping and doing little bits for us but that we’re not tied to anything.
R: All our artwork and stuff we can do what we like with it. No one is telling us what to do.
You two write the songs, tell me about that process.
I: I tend to occasionally have a backlog of four or five ideas. Then either as a band we develop that, or Rebecca will pick it up and add to it.
R: Sing it in the kitchen, play it the lounge.
I: There’s a song that we’ve finished now that we’ll play tonight which took about three months from having the idea to getting it together. But then Pull The House Down, which is on the record, was literally written in a rehearsal with nothing pre-planned. The recording on there is the weekend after it was written. There’s a mix of real spontaneous stuff and drawn out processes.
Tell me about your music videos.
I: We forgot to make one for Five Metres Apart. There was a long process of ‘shall we make one?’… ‘yeah, we’ll talk about it at the weekend’. And it just never happened. The video stuff is really important to us. There’s a DVD with this album that has some short films we did on a Super 8. We don’t like to just do something for the sake of it. Whatever we do has to be a step up from what we’ve done previously. The whole aesthetic has to fit together nicely.
If one of you left the band, who would be the ultimate replacement?
R: I’ll leave and it can just be a boy band.
I: We’ll get Alex James in if Mike leaves. If you leave, we’ll get someone from Jimmy Eat World to do vocals and go Emo. There is an all male version of Stricken City, which is called Bison Bison Bison, so if she leaves we’ll revert to that. It happened once, it’s on myspace, it’s a secret.
R: It’s Ian’s dream.
I: Or Man Up, our other mythical band.
Who would you love to cover one of your songs?
R: A bit too ambitious maybe, but Dirty Projectors. It’d be so nice to hear what they would do with one of our songs, they have such amazing arrangements and vocals, I love them.
I: David Byrne would be good. I heard him do a cover of a Fiery Furnaces song once and he wrote a whole new verse. That’s his way of covering, it was really good.
If you had to play your music in a different style, what would you choose?
I: Bossanova, they used to do that in the 60s didn’t they? Every band’s album came out in a bossanova version. Beatles bossanova. Everybody loves bossanova.
I: He did a remix of Lost Art, but it doesn’t sound anything like our song. You can play Spot The Stricken City in his remix, there’s a little guitar part of ours. But I really like it.
How did that remix come about?
I: We gave it to Andy from Tin Can Telephone to remix and he gave it to Gold Panda because he’d done both of our tracks. We started Gold Panda’s career.
R: We were his first remix, after us he got loads and gets paid really well for them now, thanks to us.
Tell me about the brackets you use in your name.
R: I was looking through a magazine and it’s really hard to get a recognisable logo or font or symbol, that makes people think of your band.
I: It’d be good if people started using it. If when they used our name, it had to have the brackets.
How did you decide on your name?
I: It was the name of a piece of sheet music – The Stricken City. It’s really hard to come up with names you like. We had one called The Smithereens after Richard Hell’s movie, but there already was a band called The Smithereens. All the good ones have been taken. Most bands have rubbish names but after a while you don’t question it. Like Razorlight, that’s a rubbish name.
R: Oasis?
I: I think if we started now maybe we’d come up with a really snappy one word name, like Wavves, Trees, Girls.
I: There’s a band called Women as well. And Men. When we were on tour we used to talk about being called Your Mum and Your Dad, so that if you went to see them you’d go, “what’d you do last night?” “I went to see Your Mum and Your Dad.”
Ian you studies film at university, is it still a part of your life?
I: Yeah, we always wanted to make a film, where one album would be the sound track to our film. So maybe one day we’ll do that. Like The Shadows and Rebecca will be our Cliff Richard.
Songs About People I Know is out now on Pure Groove Records.
Written by Katie Weatherall on Wednesday November 11th, 2009 6:38 pm
Healer by Terracotta Blue. Illustration by Geo Law.
From the enigmatic thump of Arcade to the Japanese inflected strings of Healer, murmuring beats of Lake Autumn and blissed out vocals of White Cloud, Terracotta Blue impresses with new album Takoma Park. Read on to find out more about the enigmatic Jay…
Arcade
Who is Terracotta Blue, and what does the project encompass? I understand that Terracotta Blue is just one of 5 aliases – what else do you do?
I would say that Terracotta Blue is an outlet for my more melancholy, electro-inspired endeavours. And there’s absolutely no back story or special meaning to the name; I just thought it sounded cool! I dabble in all sorts of genres – essentially anything that has alot of samples, synths, and hard drums. Yes, I release music under four other aliases (which includes Electronic Dance Music and hip-hop), but I’ll keep that under wraps… at least for now. I can say with certainty is Terracotta Blue is not a side project of any popular superproducer/DJ. I’m just a guy trying to make a living off of his music like countless others out there. The anonymity thing just adds to the mystique.
You’ve drawn comparisons to the oh so trendy chillwave trend as well as ambient, synth-pop and hip hop, what do you think best describes your music?
I’m a fan and listener of everything you just listed, but I would say that hip-hop is the one constant that ties everything together. From the use of sampling to the grittiness you hear in many of my tracks, the hip-hop influence is undeniable. I’m also fascinated by the inherent freedom electronic music allows me, in all its forms. So I’d best describe my music as sample-based, hiphop-tinged, electro chill music. Hopefully people will just regard it as good music.
How did you get into music, and where did you learn how to play?
I played the saxophone and trumpet in the 4th and 5th grades, respectively. But it wasn’t until I tape recorded myself playing on this Radio Shack keyboard that I became truly fascinated by the synthesis of sounds. I eventually started experimenting by pause-mixing beats on karaoke machines and then recording drums machines and samples on 4-track recorders. I bought my first ‘real’ piece of equipment—the MPC2000XL—in 2000. Then in 2005 I was introduced to Reason and FL Studio software—I’ve used the same programs ever since.
What inspired the creation of new album Takoma Park? What were you doing at the time, and what subjects and ideas suffuse the songs?
My music reflects the changing of the seasons, and it’s been like that for as far back as I can remember. I’m thankful to be living in an area of the states where there’s so much contrast between the seasons. Takoma Park was definitely inspired by the sights and sounds of my favorite time of the year—autumn. There was nothing particularly interesting happening in my life during the making of that album; I just wanted to present the sounds I was hearing in my head at the time.
Where did you grow up and where do you live now? What have your roots brought to your music?
I grew up right outside of Washington, D.C., in Silver Spring, Maryland—that’s where I live now. D.C. is known for its percussion-heavy funk music called go-go, but I was honestly never really into it growing up. I was that kid sitting quietly in the corner bobbing his head with big headphones on and a backpack full of hip-hop cassettes and CDs.
What next for Terracotta Blue? Any special releases or free downloads that you would like to share with my readers? Have you thought about how to get your music on itunes?
I just released my new single Arcade b/w Healer, available for free download on my bandcamp page, where you’ll also find One Million Sunsets and Takoma Park. I’ll probably release another free EP in the spring and aim for an iTunes full length release in late summer, early autumn. I would also love to collaborate with more artists in the near future, so hopefully I can make that happen in 2012!
White Cloud
Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday January 5th, 2012 10:45 pm
Nick Mulvey, former founding member of Portico Quartet, releases new single Cucurucu accompanied by a stunning video shot on Nihiwatu beach in Indonesia by National Geographic director James Morgan, filmed in March 2013. Nick says: “I felt this song needed a video with wide expanses. Space to wonder. I didn’t have to look too far for the right film maker – James is a friend of mine, and I’ve loved his work for National Geographic. I knew he’d understand what I was after and have something special in his vaults…” So we caught up with James Morgan to find out more, and see further examples of his beautiful photography.
Can you tell us a little about the locations in this video – how did you come across them and is there any interesting history behind any of the locations?
All the footage for this video was shot on the island of Sumba in Indonesia. I was there in March last year shooting a documentary about the practice of ritualised violence and local esoteric beliefs. You can see more about that here. The opening shot is actually of a shaman gathering sea worms at dawn from the ocean, the colour of the sea worms serves as an augur of the coming harvest. For Cucurucu we decided to focus just on the story of these two boys riding their horses at the beach.
Two young boys and their horses play in the ocean in Nihiwatu, Sumba.
Can you tell us a bit about the boys and their horses?
The two boys are called Laiya Kula and Honga Dedu, we met them in a village in eastern Sumba. I’ve worked in Indonesia on and off for a few years so have a reasonable grasp of the language, I was also working with a producer and frequent collaborator, Johnny Langenheim, who is based in Bali and speaks Indonesian fluently. The horses are what makes Sumba unique in Indonesia, as I understand it they’re a result of Sumba’s place on the old sandalwood trade routes to China and Arabia. Now they’re very much a part of the culture. On another day we were invited to the funeral of a wealthy local landowner where a huge number of pigs and buffalo were slaughtered and, in testament to the man’s status, a horse was also killed quite violently. It was hacked to death with machetes and ran around for a good few minutes, it’s entrails splashing out onto the crowd, before it finally died. I find things like that hard to watch but in a lot of ways its less haunting than getting our horses vacuum packed and passed off as beef lasagne.
Ratu Dangu Duka chewing betel before the Pasola in Sumba, Indonesia.
How did working with Nick come about and how did you come to work on this ‘Cucurucu’ track?
I’ve known Nick for a few years and always been a big fan of his music so I was very excited when an opportunity came up to collaborate.
Tradition dictates that Almarhum Keledepiku must throw the first spear in the Pasola, a responsibility that he has inherited from his ancestors.
Is this the first music video you’ve been a part of, and if so how did you find melding the images with the music?
Yes, this is the first music video I’ve done. The past few years I’ve been focused on long term investigative photojournalism stories looking at underreported environmental and human rights stories. But even with that work, I’ve always been trying to push the boundaries of multimedia, combining sound and visuals to create a more atmospheric form of journalism. Music videos are definitely something I’m keen to work more on. I’m planning this year to keep up the journalism but also to explore more experimental areas that allow me to create more richly textured and layered films.
22 year old Luciano Scherer is truly dedicated to his cause. Working 8-10 hours a day, more about 7 days week, he produces paintings, sculptures and animation until his back hurts too much to carry on. The Brazilian self-taught artist works alone as well as with a collective called ‘Upgrade do Macaco’, and has collaborated with Bruno 9li and Emerson Pingarilho. I found him to be much older than his years, with some very insightful and philosophical things to say about everything from art to life and the internet.
When did you realise you had creative talent?
When I was 8 years old my school had a drawing challenge for a children’s book, the teachers read the book to us and we should drew parts of it. My drawing was chosen, it was not the best, but it was the craziest, and the teachers said to me that I was very creative. I started to draw again when I was 15, and only seriously when I was 18.
Which artists or illustrators do you most admire?
From the past: Bosch, Brueghel, Jan van Eyck, Crivelli, Albrecht Altdorfer, gothic art in general. I also like alchemical drawings, illuminated manuscripts, and popular art from my country. But my real influences are my artist friends, they helped me to transform my spirit, not just my art, modifying my inside shell, something that still happens everyday. They are: Carla Barth, Carlos Dias, Bruno 9li, Emerson Pingarilho, Talita Hoffmann, Upgrade do Macaco collective. My current master is Jaca, he is genius.
Who or what is your nemesis?
My nemesis is somebody with lot of dedication and creativity to create evil things, like guns, bombs, wars, murders, lies.
If you could time travel back or forward to any era, where would you go?
I would go to the late-gothic era, in the end of the 15th century and early 16th century, just to understand or comprehend a little better how artists can do those masterpieces. I want to know about the places, the woods, the people’s clothes, the churches, the religions and the spirituality of this time. It is my all time golden age of painting. They all invested years of dedication to each piece, the result of it is bigger than our current comprehension.
If we visited you in your home town, where would you take us?
My hometown is a very small city in the extreme south of Brazil, almost Uruguay. There’s no galleries, no museums, no cinema, no nothing! But there are very beautiful natural places, like mystery fog woods, beautiful beaches with nobody, lakes, fields, lots of different animals; I will take you to all these places.
To what extent is your work influenced by your religion or spirituality?
I’m a son of a catholic father who takes me to the church every Sunday, and a mystic mother who is deeply connected with questions of spirituality. All my life I’ve been in catholic schools, and the people that I know there appear to be dedicated to God with tons of saints in sculptures, bracelets, necklaces, flyers, but the rest of their lives they spend being so petty, earthly, extremely connected with just the image of faith, and the concepts of guilty, suffering and impotencies. This contradiction makes me feel revolted, and at the same time I too have been into spiritualism, a Christian based doctrine, but much more metaphysical. This time the metaphysical seems to me so curious, respectable and scary, very scary. So when I started to paint, the images of Catholicism caused a strange fusion of respect, fear, nostalgia, and anger. I felt I needed to work over them, to learn about them and get more intimate, question the images and dogmas and lose the fear. It was a period of destruction like a renaissance. For a year now I’ve found myself distant from the doctrines, but between all of them, mainly the oriental ones like Buddhism and Hinduism, I’m feeling more spiritualized than religious. But this is just the start; I have much more to learn and I’m trying to not answer all the questions but instead learning to live together with them. All of this reflects in my artwork.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing?
An artist’s assistant, or a curator, or a collector; art aside, I’d be a garden sculptor.
Where would you like to be in 10 years time?
Living in a self-sustainable vegetarian community, with all my friends and family, in a place not too hot and not too cold, with as many animals as possible, all of them free.
What advice would you give up and coming artists?
Over and over I’ve heard people say “art doesn’t make any money” or “what do you want to be an artist for, it’s so useless”. I’ve stopped listening to the cynics now though.
What was the last book you read?
I read the David Lynch book about transcendental meditation “Into Deep Water” (This is the name in Brazil), and the Krishnamurthy’s “Freedom from the Known”- it’s like a bible to me, I read it over and over. I’ve been reading H. P. Blavatsky “Voice of the Silence” and “Isis Unveiled” too. Now I’m reading Nietzsche’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, it’s awesome.
What piece of modern technology can you not live without?
The Internet. It’s my mail, my books, my telephone, my all time world museum 24-7.
What is your guilty pleasure?
The excesses, in food, drink, work, sleep. Anytime I get too much of these things I feel so regretful, but I’m working on it.
Tell us something about Luciano Scherer that we didn’t know already.
I have a post-rap band, named Casiotron. And I’m working on my first individual exhibition, at Thomas Cohn Gallery next year.
This is certainly a young man full of promise.
As a purveyor of Steve Reich meets Daniel Johnston instrumental music, sickness Graeme Ronald, a.k.a. Remember Remember, is keen to take it to the stage as nature intended: “I’ve put together a seven piece band for this tour. It’s hard to time it right but it’s worth it. Using a laptop isn’t the same as a live band is it?”
Sitting in the back of a Brighton drinking den, Ronald exudes a boyish sense of wide- eyed enthusiasm. Currently touring with influential US noise crew, Growing, he’s rightfully proud of his self-titled debut album on Mogwai‘s Rock Action Records. Ronald’s sweet, Glasgow brogue suffuses our conversation as he gives me an insight into his formative days: “I played with Mogwai as an additional keyboard player. I kept pestering them to let me join the band. I was working on my own stuff with a Loop station and started playing live regularly. Mogwai came down to hang out at one show and then offered to do an album”
As it has afforded him so many opportunities, Ronald is proud of his home city: “Glasgow does have a great music scene. It takes going away to appreciate what’s there. The art school or dole queue are great places to meet musicians. It’s a vibrant environment. Best steer clear of the Neds though”
The music of Remember Remember mirrors the urban, comfortingly grey, concrete beauty of Glasgow: “It was a conscious decision to make a record that sounded Scottish. I hate it when people sing in American accents. Or think they’re German. There’s a sense of shame attached to being Scottish. Growing up, I was embarrassed by the Proclaimers, Rab C Nesbit, bag pipes. I saw Kurt Cobain on MTV and that was it! Getting older, you look to your own identity to create more honest art”
Ronald is refreshingly grounded and deadpans: “I’m not deluded enough to think I can become a pop star off of minimalist drone music. Making money is not a priority. Shouldn’t music be free? CDs, selling music – they’re all imposed business models.”
Forever the Modernist, he’s already got his sights on the future: “The label wants me to promote this record more but I’m so keen to start working on new music. Touring’s new enough to be exciting but it’s still work. I’m quite up for doing a Brian Wilson and sending out other people to play my songs…”
All photos by Ken Street
Written by Rich Hanscomb on Wednesday August 12th, 2009 2:32 pm
