Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 1182
June 24, 2020
YELLE ANNOUNCE L'ÈRE DU VERSEAU, FIRST ALBUM IN SIX YEARS TO BE RELEASED ON 9.4 + RELEASE SONG “KARATÉ”
YELLE ANNOUNCE FIRST ALBUM IN SIX YEARS L'ÈRE DU VERSEAU TO BE RELEASED ON 9.4
(PREORDER HERE)
RELEASE NEW TRACK “KARATÉ” HERE
“JE T’AIME ENCORE” HERE (+ VIDEO HERE)
About
Today, the French dance pop duo YELLE return with a brand new song “Karaté” HERE and announce their new album L'Ère du Verseau (meaning Age of Aquarius)(preorder HERE) set to be released on September 4th.
“Karaté” is the complete opposite of Yelle’s previous single "Je t'aime encore". How so? Well, it's not soft, it's acid. It's not tender, it's hectic. The lyrics are not long, they are one sentence. Looping again and again, invading your brain cells and your body & soul to liberate the karateka dancer inside you. You can hear some traditional Breton music vibes in the way the words answer themselves but you are definitely in the future. A fun future. Bit brutal, but fun. Cause it's Yelle! The mood is amazing! L'Ère du Verseau is the duo’s first new material in six years.
“Je T'aime Encore”, the first single from L'Ère du Verseau is, when taken at face-value, a bittersweet love song. Buried in its rhymes, however, lies the complex relationship between Yelle and its native country. “We're French, and sometimes we're more understood by American people, Swedish people or Spanish people,” Budet says. “They feel what we say and the energy that's in our music, while France is a lot about overthinking, analyzing and trying to put you into a box… That's what the song is about. 'We love you, but sometimes we don't get you.' Proper love song!”
The ballad expresses this complicated relationship with clear piano and brooding bass over a syncopated beat. It's romantic, colored with synthetic sighs and imbued with a kind of longing, a rare vulnerability that shines new light on Yelle. The duo’s new direction is amplified in a surprisingly-intimate video that shows an empowered Budet having her hair cut with a surprise twist. “It's actually working,” Perrier says. “When we play it to French people, they get the lyrics. They feel it. There is something very emotional about it.”
The music video (HERE) is deeply personal, and is focused both on Julie Budet and hair stylist Charlie Le Mindu. The video was directed by fashion documentary filmmaker Loïc Prigent HERE. PAPER Magazine premiered the video HERE.
YELLE - L'Ère du Verseau tracklist:
01. Emancipense
02. J'veux un chien
03. Je t'aime encore
04. Karaté
05. Menu du jour
06. Mon beau chagrin
07. Vue d'en face
08. Noir
09. Peine de mort
10. Un million
Bred in the mid 2000s blogosphere, the French band's primary color disco was impossible to ignore. Jean-François (GrandMarnier) Perrier's gritty synths mixed with Julie (Yelle) Budet's sunny cheers. The pair was joined by fellow producer Tepr on debut album Pop Up. The candy-colored collection was cocky, sexually-charged and ready to party. Language was no barrier for the infectious synth-pop hooks and eye-catching videos, and Yelle soon brought its buoyant party to stages around the world.
The effervescent fizz of 2011's Safari Club Disco burned bright with lush synth atmospheres and layered production. Its songs about love and living in the moment earned the trio an opening slot on Katy Perry's California Dreams tour. After a remix of the star's “Hot n Cold,” they were signed to Kemosabe Records. Tepr left to pursue a solo career, while Perrier and Budet delivered their punchy 2014 LP Complètement fou, a crowning moment that evolved Yelle's kaleidoscopic sound to broader tempos, styles and depths. In the last few years, they've released one-off singles such as "Romeo", "OMG!!!" and "Ici & Maintenant".
Welcome to this next chapter, as YELLE says “Wake up people, we are coming back!”
YELLE tour:
10.22 - Strasbourg, FR @ La Laiterie
10.24 - Villeurbanne, FR @ Le Transbordeur
10.29 - Paris, FR @ La Cigale (SOLD OUT)
10.30 - Paris, FR @ La Cigale
11.04 - Nantes, FR @ Stereolux
11.06 - Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix
11.21 - Bordeaux, FR @ Bal Queer
11.28 - Rennes, FR @ Le MeM
12.03 - Metz, FR @ La Cite Musicale
12.04 - CLT Ferrand, FR @ La Cooperative de Mai
12.09 - Copenhagen, DEN @ Little Vega
12.10 - Oslo, NOR @ John Dee
12.11 - Stockholm, SWE @ Debaser
12.16 - London, UK @ Garage
12.17 - Bruxelles, BE @ La Madeleine
12.18 - Lausanne, SW @ Les Docks
USA / Canada tour to come in January 2021
https://yelle.fr/
https://twitter.com/yelle
https://www.instagram.com/yellestagram/
HOOPS Reunite, Announce Sophomore LP + Share New Single
Halo out October 2nd via Fat Possum
Praise for Hoops:
“Hoops know the power of dream-pop” - Pitchfork
“The band distills busy guitars and shadowy mystery into efficient pocket epics.” - NPR Music
"sprightly lo-fi constructed with an attention to production and atmosphere that you'd expect from someone with a background in noise music." - The FADER
"there are legit flashes of brilliance to be found in the tapes’ collective" - Gorilla Vs. Bear
“Propelled by ample grooving keys and guitar, 'Rules' is a two minute jaunt into the past when synths and subdued vocals were king. ” - Stereogum
“Simply put, this is the best dream/jangle-pop debut since the aforementioned Oshin and an absolute must for fans of this genre...absolutely terrific and addictive debut full-length album.” - Under The Radar
"The Bloomington, Ind. outfit blends shimmering guitars, woozy keyboards, and clacking drum tracks for their sun-flecked brand of indie-rock, which evokes peers like Real Estate and DIIV." - Entertainment WeeklyIndiana’s Hoops released their critically-acclaimed debut album Routines in 2017, and, soon after, announced an indefinite hiatus. The trio - friends, singers, and multi-instrumentalists Drew Auscherman, Kevin Krauter and Keagan Beresford - had been making music together for almost half of their lives, but the band had begun to feel more like a burden than an outlet, so they decided to call it quits. “I think we had lost a lot of steam,” explains Krauter. “Hoops wasn’t moving forward organically. It was being dragged along.” Following a short but necessary break, during which the band had the opportunity to explore their own creative endeavors, Hoops have reunited and announce their incredible sophomore album, Halo, today. Recorded at Bloomington’s Russian Studio, the studio that had been home to L’il Bub (RIP), and produced by the band’s friend Ben Lumsdaine, Halo is an album defined by musical exuberance, full of gratitude and generosity, and, simply, sounds like a lively conversation amongst close friends. Halo will be out on October 2nd via Fat Possum - pre-order it HERE.
To celebrate their album announcement, Hoops share Halo’s lead single and first song the band has ever written together, “Fall Back.” Auscherman had started “Fall Back” about a long-distance relationship, but he fleshed it out with Krauter and Beresford, who added jangly guitars, a buoyant rhythm section, and a swooning chorus: “Fall back in my arms again, just the way it should have always been.” Like many songs on Halo, it wasn’t written specifically about his bandmates but nevertheless addresses similar emotions about their musical partnership. Listen to the song now HERE.
Hoops had to self-destruct in order to survive. Following the release of the band’s debut album Routines, the band had reached a point where years of hard work and creativity were just starting to pay off. They were hailed as one of the most inventive young bands around, with comparisons to Guided by Voices, My Bloody Valentine, and the Radio Dept., and that’s exactly when they broke up the band. In 2011, Drew Auscherman recruited his pal Kevin Krauter to help him flesh out a solo project he had started in his bedroom. Three years later they added another friend, Keagan Beresford, on keyboards. Together they home-recorded some ingeniously catchy songs that spliced a variety of pop strains—jangly guitars, shoegaze drones, kosmische drums, even some ‘90s dance-pop beats—and self-released a series of cassette tapes whose popularity caught them off guard. So they toured the country, amassed a grassroots audience, and signed with Fat Possum Records. Their 2017 full-length debut, Routines, put them right at the brink of breaking out.
But in reality things were headed toward a breakdown. Hoops felt burned out and overwhelmed both creatively and professionally. In July 2018 they announced they were taking an indefinite hiatus. They left it open-ended, but it felt permanent. And it felt like a relief. “I had to rediscover why I wanted to be in a band and make songs and perform,” says Keagan Beresford. “I had been having a lot of anxiety when I was onstage. I wasn’t even thinking about playing. I was just thinking about getting through the set without falling on my face. It’s crazy to think about all the shows we did where I wasn’t really present.”
With Hoops on the shelf, the three friends went back home and got on with their lives. Krauter and Auscherman formed a short-lived hardcore punk outfit called Matrix in order to explore some very different sounds and play some very different stages. “It felt good to go back and do a self-booked tour, play some DIY shows, and do some home recording,” says Auscherman, who lives in Chicago. “It definitely got me excited about music again in a way I hadn’t felt in a while.” Krauter moved back to his hometown of Carmel, Indiana, and released two solo albums. Beresford, based out of Indianapolis, returned to college to complete his degree and released a solo EP in February 2019.
Freed from the weight of Hoops, they kept writing what they thought sounded like Hoops songs, demos of which they sent back and forth to each other. There was no pressure to make anything of them, though, and that revived some of the excitement they felt when they made their first cassettes. In December 2019, Beresford called up his old friends to see how they felt about reviving the band: “I missed working with those guys. I’d been writing these songs and I thought we could do well together. They’re my best friends and my favorite collaborators, so I was happy they were so receptive to it.”
Just a few months later, they met up in Bloomington, Indiana, to record Halo. For a week, they worked all day experimenting with each other’s songs. Where they had once guarded their own songs in the studio, at Russian they discovered they were opening themselves up to more possibilities. “We were trying out crazy ideas, doing things on the fly, and not getting super caught up in things not sounding how we thought they would,” says Auscherman. “I think a good way to describe our band is that we all produce each other.” It felt like summer camp, not just because they were sleeping in bunkbeds but because it had been ages since they had all spent that much time together in the same space.
Reaching this point nearly destroyed the band, but Auscherman, Beresford, and Krauter emerged stronger and closer for their time apart. “This record is a more honest representation of our influences and interests as musicians,” says Auscherman. “We’ve grown a lot in four years, as people and as listeners. We’re starting to sound more like ourselves.”
(Credit: Pamela Ayala)Tracklisting:1. Glad You Stayed2. Fall Back3. Blind4. Ride5. Everyone You Know6. Heart Never Stops7. They Say8. Quiet Games9. Total Disregard10. I'm On TV11. When It GoesConnect with Hoopshttp://hoopsband.blogspot.com/https://www.facebook.com/hoopsbandhttps://twitter.com/hoopsbandhttps://www.instagram.com/hoopsband/https://hoops.bandcamp.com/
June 23, 2020
The Streets Release Third Single "Falling Down" Featuring Hak Baker
Today, Mike Skinner has shared a brand new taster from his forthcoming mixtape; a collaboration with rising East London songwriter Hak Baker called “Falling Down,” available as an instant gratification track when you pre-order a download of the record. The release comes hot on the heels of current single “I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him” ft. Donae'o & Greentea Peng', both will of course feature on None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive (out July 10th on Island Records).LISTEN TO "FALLING DOWN" FT. HAK BAKER HEREIn line with this news, The Streets have also been announced as one of acts poised to perform a run of UK headline shows “Live From The Drive-In.” Mike and his band will take to the stage for a full concert production at 12 locations throughout July and August, where audiences will be able to experience the show from the safety and comfort of their designated area accessed via their vehicle. Tickets will be extremely limited, but fans will be able to gain pre-sale access when they pre-order the mixtape before 12pm, June 23rd. More info here.
The original plan had been to release a TONGA album (the balloon filled rap, grime and dubstep party by Mike and Murkage Dave, which had been a series of shoobs to remember). But as night moved to day, and day moved along to night, it… just didn’t happen. Instead, a new mixtape None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive steps up to take its place. Recorded between work on the accompanying film to The Streets new album, it is the unpredictable sonic continuation of those parties. To date Skinner has shared “Call My Phone Thinking I'm Doing Nothing Better” (ft. Tame Impala) to world-wide critical acclaim and the more recent “I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him” which was also written about far and wide including Rolling Stone who described the video as a “disjointed, green screen-assisted trek around the neighborhood...the aesthetic bears a distinctly choppy and collage-like feel. Adding to the immediacy of the clip, the Streets peppers the video with references to recent Black Lives Matter protests and various internet memes.” “‘Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better’ showcases Mike Skinner’s skilled wordplay." - Paste Magazine on “Call My Phone Thinking I'm Doing Nothing Better” ft. Tame Impala "Kevin Parker and The Streets’ Mike Skinner are getting through the isolation by calling loved ones. With washed-out synths and poignant backbeat, Parker sings of the anxiety that can be attached to facing a phone call." - UPROXX on “Call My Phone Thinking I'm Doing Nothing Better” ft. Tame Impala "the track featuring Donae’o and Greentea Peng was meant for groovy dance parties everywhere." Consequence of Sound on “I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him” Taking in UK Funky and twilight zone UK rap, and with guest spots ranging from Grammy nominated psychedelia sovereign Tame Impala to cult south London rapper Jesse James Solomon, as well as 2019's key-fiend-friendly drum’n’bass collab with Chris Lorenzo, None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive is the most eclectic and highly collaborative collection of songs from The Streets yet. Or as Mike puts it with characteristic distinction: "it’s really just a rap duets album.” The inclusion of Mercury Prize nominated punk group IDLES (who perform what Mike describes as a sea-shanty tinged track inspired by an overnight ferry to Dover) and teenage wünderkind Jimothy Lacoste help ground things firmly in the here and now. But there are familiar faces of the past too. Birmingham legend, Dapz On The Map, pops up on merky rap track “Phone Is Always In My Hand.” While Rob Harvey, previously of The Music and Skinner collaboration The D.O.T, tunes into pensieve penultimate track “Conspiracy Theory Freestyle.” Full track listing and featured artists detailed below: 1. Call My Phone Thinking I'm Doing Nothing Better (ft. Tame Impala)2. None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive (ft. IDLES)3. I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him (ft. Donae’o and Greentea Peng)4. You Can't Afford Me (ft. Ms Banks)I Know Something You Did (ft. Jesse James Solomon)6. Eskimo Ice (ft. Kasien)7. Phone Is Always In My Hand (ft. Dapz on the Map)8. The Poison I Take Hoping You Will Suffer (ft. Oscar #Worldpeace)9. Same Direction (ft. Jimothy Lacoste)10. Falling Down (ft. Hak Baker)11. Conspiracy Theory Freestyle (ft. Rob Harvey)12. Take Me As I Am (with Chris Lorenzo) None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive will be released via Island on July 10th and is available for pre-order here.
Mixtape Art HERENone Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive - mixtape out July 10th - pre-order“Call My Phone Thinking I'm Doing Nothing Better” ft. Tame Impala - single out now“Where The F*&k Did April Go” - b-side single out now“I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him” ft. Donae'o & Greentea Peng - single out now“Falling Down” ft. Hak Baker - instant grat track out nowInstagram | Facebook | Twitter
Old 97's Return With New Album "Twelfth"
Out August 21 on ATO Records
“One of the most intensely joyful experiences we’ve ever had as a band.” - Rhett Miller
Watch the Video for First Single “Turn Off The TV” HERE
Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen“Terse, wry, and supremely catchy roots-rock.” - THE ATLANTIC
“A well-loved pioneering force in the alt-country movement… [they’ve] still got the same raucous, sweaty energy that's made [them] so beloved all this time.” - NPR
“Blistered, blasted, and brilliant.” - NEW YORKER
Old 97’s, the iconic alt-country outfit fronted by Rhett Miller, is returning with their twelfth album, the aptly titled Twelfth, to be released on August 21 on ATO Records. Twenty-seven years in, Old 97’s still features its original lineup - Miller, guitarist Ken Bethea, bassist Murry Hammond, and drummer Philip Peeples - and Twelfth is a testament to the band’s staying power. The album’s cover image of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach is both an homage to Miller’s childhood hero and a recognition that, in making their livings as musicians, the 97’s themselves have achieved their lifelong dreams.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Miller talks about how his five-year sobriety influenced the new album, saying, “Going back in, I thought, ‘What if I don’t bring anything to the table? What if I’m like Samson and the whiskey was my long hair and I cut it off and can’t write songs anymore?’... But [Twelfth] was the first record where, top to bottom, I felt I was back in the driver’s seat, found my voice, and came out the other side. It feels good.”
The band shares Twelfth’s first single “Turn Off The TV” today alongside a video directed by Liam Lynch that features Puddles the Clown as well as footage of the band throughout their career. Watch the video below and pre-order Twelfth HERE.
Old 97’s - TwelfthAugust 21, 2020 - ATO Records1. The Dropouts2. This House Got Ghosts3. Turn Off The TV4. I Like You Better5. Happy Hour6. Belmont Hotel7. Confessional Boxing8. Diamonds on Neptune9. Our Year10. Bottle Rocket Baby11. Absence (What We’ve Got)12. Why Don’t We Ever Say We’re SorryMORE ON TWELFTH:
“Somehow what we’ve got never breaks down,” Rhett Miller sings on Old 97’s exhilarating new album, Twelfth. At first, the line comes off as a boast, as a declaration of invincibility from a band that’s managed to survive three decades of rock and roll debauchery, but as the phrase repeats over and over again, it slowly transforms into something more incredulous, something more vulnerable, something deeply human. “We experienced some close calls over the last few years,” says Miller, “and I think that led us to this dawning realization of the fragility of it all. At the same time, it also led us to this increased gratitude for the music and the brotherhood we’ve been so lucky to share. I think all of that combined to make recording this album one of the most intensely joyful experiences we’ve ever had as a band.” That joy is utterly palpable on Twelfth. Loose and raw, the record is an ecstatic celebration of survival, a resounding ode to endurance and resilience from a veteran group that refuses to rest on their considerable laurels. Working out of Sputnik Sound in Nashville, Miller and his longtime bandmates—bassist Murry Hammond, guitarist Ken Bethea, and drummer Philip Peeples—teamed up once again with GRAMMY-winning producer Vance Powell (Chris Stapleton, Jack White), and while the resulting album boasts all the hallmarks of a classic Old 97’s record (sex and booze, laughter and tears, poetry and blasphemy), it also showcases a newfound perspective in its writing and craftsmanship, a maturity and appreciation that can only come with age and experience. Perhaps the band is growing up; maybe they’re just getting started. Either way, Old 97’s have never been happier to be alive. “You have to take pride in the unlikeliness of it all,” says Miller. “It’s mind boggling to think that we’ve been able to last this long, that we’ve been able to support ourselves and our families on our own terms for almost thirty years. Twelve is a lot of records.” Formed in Dallas, Texas, Old 97’s first emerged in the early ’90s with an adrenaline pumping blend of rock and roll swagger, punk snarl, and old-school twang that quickly brought them into the national spotlight. Conventional wisdom places the band at the forefront of a musical movement that would come to be known as “alternative country,” but, as the New York Times so succinctly put it, their sound always “leaned more toward the Clash than the Carter Family.” Fueled by breakneck tempos, distorted guitars, and wry storytelling, the foursome built a reputation for high-energy albums and even higher energy shows, earning themselves performances everywhere from Conan and Letterman to Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza alongside countless rave reviews. NPR lauded the group as a “pioneering force,” while Rolling Stone hailed their music’s “whiskey-wrecked nihilism and slow-burn heartbreak,” and The New Yorker praised their songwriting as “blistered, blasted, and brilliant.” On top of his prodigious output with Old 97’s, Miller simultaneously established himself as a prolific solo artist, as well, releasing eight studio albums under his own name that garnered similarly wide-ranging acclaim and landed in a slew of prominent film and television soundtracks. A gifted writer beyond his music, Miller also contributed essays and short stories to The Atlantic, Salon, McSweeney’s, and Sports Illustrated among others, and in 2019, he released his debut book, a collection of poetry for children, via Little, Brown and Company. While part of Old 97’s charm has always been the air of playful invulnerability they exude onstage every night, reality began catching up with the band in 2017. The night before a television appearance in support of the group’s most recent album, Graveyard Whistling, Peeples collapsed in a hotel parking lot, falling backwards and cracking his skull on a concrete abutment. He spent weeks in the ICU and was forced to miss the first leg of tour. Bethea, meanwhile, began to notice a loss of feeling in the fingers of his right hand. As his condition continued to deteriorate on the road, the numbness spread to his leg, and he was eventually forced to undergo spinal surgery in order to regain full motor control. Miller, for his part, found himself at more of an existential crossroads, questioning attitudes and behaviors he’d long taken for granted. Yes, he was a rock and roll star (whatever that means nowadays), but he was also a father and a husband, and he decided it was long since time to get sober. “Back when we were in our 20’s, we put ourselves through these terrible trials because we thought we could survive anything,” says Miller. “But over the last few years, it started becoming clear that we’re human.” Rather than slow things down, the band decided to embrace their mortality as all the more reason to seize the day. Life is short—a lesson that was hammered home on the group’s first day of recording in Nashville, when a series of deadly tornadoes ripped through town—and Twelfth is the sound of Old 97’s recommitting themselves to making the most of every moment they’ve got left. Addictive opener “The Dropouts” sets the stage, taking stock of the band’s journey from its very first days, when they cut their teeth playing the bars of Deep Ellum in exchange for pitchers of beer and pizza. Like much of the record to come, it’s a nostalgic look back on simpler times, but it smartly avoids looking at the past through rose-colored glasses, instead recognizing that change is neither inherently good nor bad, only inevitable. “There’s a line about sleeping on hardwood floors in that song,” says Miller, “and that’s what we did in the early days. But that image of hardwood floors keeps coming back and building on itself in different songs throughout the album, and over time it begins to mean different things as we grow up and start families and own homes.” Miller has a knack for capturing those sorts of little details that tell a larger story, for crafting richly cinematic scenes that transform seemingly mundane moments into metaphors for life itself. The driving lead single “Turn Off The TV,” for instance, spins a free cable hookup into a celebration of the visceral pleasures of living in the present, while the larger-than-life “Diamonds On Neptune” turns an astronomical phenomenon into a meditation on what really matters, and the waltzing “Belmont Hotel” finds emotional symbolism in the restoration of a Dallas landmark. “‘Belmont Hotel’ is a microcosm of the album, and of our band,” says Miller. “When we first started out, the Belmont was in absolute ruins, and we even did a photoshoot in the empty parking lot. Now, though, it’s more beautiful than it was in its glory days, and that got me thinking about the way we approach our relationships. Whether it’s a friendship or a marriage or a band, it’s inevitable that you’re going to go through ups and downs, but if you’re willing to put in the work and stick out the hard times, you can wind up with something that’s better than it ever was before.” While Miller collaborated with writers like Butch Walker and Nicole Atkins on Graveyard Whistling, he penned everything on Twelfth himself (outside of the Spaghetti Western-esque “Happy Hour” and hypnotic album closer “Why Don’t We Ever Say We’re Sorry,” which were both written and sung by Hammond). It’s a return to form he credits in part to his increasing comfort with sobriety, a comfort that finds him effortlessly running the gamut from playful romance (the dreamy “I Like You Better”) and brash bravado (the blistering “Confessional Boxing”) to supernatural fantasy (the Kinks-ian “This House Got Ghosts”) and old-school twang (the rollicking “Bottle Rocket Baby”). It’s perhaps the jaunty “Absence (What We’ve Got)” that captures this particular moment in Old 97’s history best, though, as Miller marvels at the way things change while staying the same. “The wine turns into whiskey / And the whiskey turns to tears / It’s been this way for years,” he sings, later summing the whole magic act up with a deceptively simple confession: “This is what I do.” Old 97’s may be human, but somehow what they’ve got never breaks down.
old97s.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Dave Navarro hosts Grey Daze roundtable with members of Korn & Helmet via Inked Magazine
DAVE NAVARRO HOSTS GREY DAZE ROUNDTABLE ALBUM SPECIAL, “SHOUTING OUT,” FEATURING KORN’S BRIAN “HEAD” WELCH, LP, AND CHRIS TRAYNOR (BUSH/HELMET)
EXPLORATION INTO CHESTER BENNINGTON’S MUSICAL GENESIS AND THE STORY BEHIND GREY DAZE’S AMENDS AIRS ACROSS INKED MAGAZINE’S SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS TOMORROW, JUNE 24, AT 9 PM EDT/6 PM PDT
YouTube: https://found.ee/GD_InkedYT; Facebook: https://found.ee/GD_InkedFb
Click the image above to view the “Shouting Out” trailer or follow this link: https://youtu.be/-3m5ZRYrBx8
June 23, 2020, Phoenix – Dave Navarro takes fans behind-the-scenes into Chester Bennington’s early years as the “Ink Master” host delves into the story of Grey Daze with the band’s drummer Sean Dowdell, Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch, singer LP, Chris Traynor (Bush/Helmet) and producer Esjay Jones for a roundtable discussion dubbed “Shouting Out.” Fans can tune in tomorrow, June 24, via Inked Magazine’s social media channels (YouTube: https://found.ee/GD_InkedYT; Facebook: https://found.ee/GD_InkedFb).
“We’re here today to discuss a great friend of all of ours, Chester Bennington,” says Navarro in the intro to the hour-long special. “You know him from Linkin Park, of course, but a lot of people don’t know that before Linkin Park, Chester was in a band called Grey Daze and that Grey Daze is where he developed his skills, his styles, his technique. Even lyrically, he was going into some of those places that he talks about in his later on lyrics.”
“Shouting Out” arrives as Grey Daze’s album, Amends (https://found.ee/GD_Amends), becomes available this Friday via Loma Vista Recordings. The 11-song release is the fulfillment of a planned Grey Daze reunion that Chester had announced prior to his untimely passing. The remaining band members – Dowdell, Mace Beyers (bass) and Cristin Davis (guitar) – along with Talinda Bennington (Chester’s widow) and his parents, made it their mission to see the project through with assistance from Tom Whalley, the founder of Loma Vista Recordings and former Warner Bros. Records Chairman during Linkin Park’s tenure at the label. Dowdell, Beyers and Davis selected the tracks from the band’s mid-90s, but largely unknown, catalog and re-recorded the music in 2019 to accompany Chester’s re-mastered vocals. Produced by Jay Baumgardner, several musicians leant their time and talent to the album, including Korn’s Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer, Paige Hamilton (Helmet), Traynor (Orange 9MM/Helmet), LP, Jasen Rauch (Breaking Benjamin) and Ryan Shuck (Orgy).
“He did have that raw talent early on,” explains Dowdell in “Shouting Out” album special on Inked Magazine. “He definitely knew he was going to be a performer at a very young age. Every story his parents and relatives talk about is about him performing at some level all the way back to when he was 8-years-old.”
“I met Chester just when they came out,” shares Welch, as the panel share stories of how they met Chester and some of their personal memories. “All of a sudden this band pops out of nowhere… obviously the vocal was what caught everyone’s ears… having that powerhouse voice…”
Amends is available in a variety of collectible formats with several iterations available exclusively via the band’s website (https://found.ee/GD_AmendsStore). The CD comes as a 16-page case-bound book; a first pressing, ruby red vinyl variant exclusive to the band’s webstore; and a numbered deluxe edition featuring both a CD and LP, which includes the first ever disc tray designed for vinyl, a 60-page book with never-before-seen photos, 180g red and white splattered vinyl, and a collectible set of band memorabilia dubbed the “Grey Daze Archive.” Digital and other standard versions of the album are available here: https://found.ee/GD_Amends. Pre-orders on the band’s webstore include instant downloads of “What’s In The Eye,” “Sickness,” “Sometimes,” “Soul Song” and “B12.”
View the video for “B12” by clicking the image above or following this link: https://youtu.be/1H1TL0jD1vw
# # #
Facebook: https://found.ee/GD_Facebook
Twitter: https://found.ee/GD_Twitter
Instagram: https://found.ee/GD_Instagram
YouTube: https://found.ee/GD_YouTube
SONG SUNG share new single 'The Mind's Eye'. Debut album 'This Ascension Is Ours' due July 31st via Night Time Stories.
Song Sung, made up of twin sisters Georgina and Una McGeough, are sharing their new single "The Mind's Eye" today. The track is taken from their upcoming debut album 'This Ascension Is Ours' due July 31st via Night Time Stories. Speaking about the track, the band said "This song wrestles with doubt, but is fought with hope. It's provocative and resilient and in a way, quite anthemic. We can fall down together, but in defiance, we will stand up forever."
Listen to "The Mind's Eye": https://soundcloud.com/nighttimestorieslabel/song-sung-the-minds-eye/
Georgina and Una McGeough who comprise Song Sung, grew up in Monaghan, a gnat’s width away from the border with Northern Ireland. Despite their relative geographic isolation, theirs was a stimulating childhood. “We had a very normal upbringing, but we were music-obsessed children” says Una. “Our father played in showbands in the ’70s and ’80s, so music was very prevalent at home. Our mother applied a creative twist to everything she touched, so we inherited that mindset.”
The pair admit that they first went to Belfast School of Art to get closer to music: “in retrospect, I think we used art school as a way to develop and incorporate sound and musical ideas into our practice, because it's always been about the music. We definitely had a strong interest in visual art, but music interested us the most."
Over a decade ago, they moved to New York and began forging careers in the art world, while simultaneously managing to amass this vast catalogue of material in, quite frankly, the most unorthodox way imaginable (possibly contributing to the idiosyncrasies of their songwriting). “We make melodies using alternative ways, but we also dabble in software” explains Georgina, “in the beginning, we created melodies by using our own vocals over some of our favourite music. Our first apartment in the East Village, was located above a bar and our back room was situated directly above the DJ booth. This is going to sound ridiculous, but it’s true, we started making melodies over the bass of the tracks coming through the floor from the bar below.” From that, a process of layering vocals, however obscure, was how the band started to formulate songs.
Via a mutual friend, the filmmaker Seamus Harahan, Song Sung connected with the producer David Holmes. “At the time, Seamus was working with David on a collaborative project – in an effort to exchange work, he sent us a track to work on, so we pulled something together fairly quickly and sent it back,” says Una. 'David loved it', so Georgina got his contact details from a mutual friend in New York. "I sent David an email,” continues Georgina, "and suggested meeting to talk about music, even though an album wasn’t even really on our agenda. David got in touch and we arranged to meet later in the year.”
That meeting was in December 2015 and by early 2016, they spent three days holed up in Holmes’ studio laying down the tracks for an album. They had been collaboratively bouncing tracks back and forth between New York and Belfast for a short period, with Holmes sending the arrangements and Song Sung writing the lyrics and vocal melodies.
Fast forward four years and the result is a hypnotically unique sound that is strangely anthemic, coming on like a space-age girl-group transmitting directly from Jupiter. Holmes, known for his many film scores co-wrote and produced the album with fellow composer and Unloved band-mate Keefus Ciancia (True Detective / The Ladykillers). The pair have a long-standing working relationship and have worked on numerous scores including The Fall and Killing Eve (for which they won a BAFTA) as well as both Unloved albums.
“We were very excited to work with David and the process worked amazingly well. He got us immediately", claims Una. Georgina nods her approval. “Working on this album was an absolute dream. We only hope that the songs resonate, as they make their journey out into the world."
This Ascension Is Ours tracklist:
1. Come To The Water (stream)
2. Telling Tales (video)
3. Somewhere
4. Orbiting Slow (Here It Comes)
5. Take Some Time
6. Testimony of Tears
7. Let It Go (An Act of Sorrow)
8. The Mind's Eye (stream)
9. Come Whispering, Come Half Awake
10. Nothing Ever Dies
This Ascension Is Ours artwork:
Links:
Night Time Stories website
Website
Rufus Wainwright announces livestream concert of 'Unfollow The Rules: The Paramour Session.'
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT ANNOUNCES LIVESTREAM CONCERT PARAMOUR SESSIONCONCERT INCLUDES THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED UPCOMING ALBUM, UNFOLLOW THE RULES,TO BE PLAYED IN ITS ENTIRETY PLUS OTHER SONGS
CONCERT TO TAKE PLACE IN THE BALLROOM OF THE HISTORIC PARAMOUR ESTATE IN LOS ANGELES’ SILVERLAKE DISTRICT
Today GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright announces Unfollow the Rules: The Paramour Session, a concert that will be livestreamed on Saturday, June 27 at 2pm EST / 8pm CET.The livestream will premiere in Germany and France on ARTE Concert and ARTE Concert’s Facebook and ALL ARTS’ Facebook for the U.S. and all other territories. ARTE’s stream of the concert will be available as VOD for 90 days. The livestream will also be accessible via Rufus Wainwright’s Official Facebook.
Rufus will perform acoustically, with a socially distanced string section, piano and guitar to accompany him, in the ballroom of LA’s Paramour Mansion, former home of silent film star Antonio Moreno. The concert will feature Rufus’ upcoming album Unfollow the Rules in its entirety plus some additional songs from Wainwright’s existing repertoire and some new compositions, one of them written during and reflecting on the lockdown period reflecting.
To commemorate the album’s release on July 10, the TV broadcast of Rufus Wainwright's Unfollow the Rules: The Paramour Session, will be available for viewing in the U.S. starting at 5pm PST / 8pm EST on the ALL ARTS broadcast channel, free streaming app and allarts.org.
Details for ARTE’s TV broadcast for Germany and France will be announced soon.
Rufus Wainwright has released this statement regarding the concert:
"The Paramour Session will show a completely different side of Unfollow the Rules. Acoustic, stripped back, sparser, but. in a Rufus Wainwrightian sense of course. Good songs can survive in many different environments. I want my fans to have an opportunity to hear the music live when the album comes out. The only way we can do this responsibly during these times is with acoustic instruments, and fewer musicians in a large space, where everyone can be 6 feet or more apart, with a super small crew. Rather than attempting to imitate the sound of the album I think it’s both more responsible and more creatively interesting to try something new. There are no drums, no effects, no bass, no horns, no flutes, no back-up vocals — only strings that are bowed, picked, hammered, or strummed, and my voice. Let's hope less is more. Of course, it helps that we are filming and live streaming this from the gorgeous ballroom of the Paramour Estate, a 1920s Hollywood silent film star’s mansion."
UNFOLLOW THE RULES has already been met with remarkable praise from some of Wainwright’s friends, fans, and fellow artists. “This is pop music on a grand scale; sweeping, symphonic, unabashedly emotional and fearlessly agnostic in style and delivery,” says Sting, while Cyndi Lauper described the album as “Rufus’ PET SOUNDS. It sounds like a culmination of everything he has done. It’s a great album, catchy and intelligent.”
The band will consist of:Brian Green, guitar and music directorJacob Mann, piano and celesteRebecca Schlappich Charles, violinEliza James, violinJayna Chou, violaDanica Pinner, cello
About ARTEARTE (Association relative à la télévision européenne) is a European free-to-air television network that promotes cultural programming. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE GEIE, plus two member companies acting as editorial and programme production centres, ARTE France in Paris (France) and ARTE Deutschland in Baden-Baden (Germany). As an international joint venture (an EEIG), its programmes focuses to audiences in both countries. For more: https://www.arte.tv/en/arte-concert/
About ALL ARTSALL ARTS is breaking new ground as the premier destination for inspiration, creativity and art of all forms. This New York Emmy-nominated arts and culture hub is created by WNET, the parent company of New York’s PBS stations. With the aim of being accessible to viewers everywhere, ALL ARTS’s Webby-nominated programming – from digital shorts to feature films – is available online nationwide through allarts.org, the free ALL ARTS app on all major streaming platforms, and @AllArtsTV on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. New York area TV viewers can also watch the 24/7 broadcast channel. For all the ways to watch, visit allarts.org/everywhere. Leadership support for ALL ARTS is generously provided by Jody and John Arnhold, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Rosalind P. Walter, and The Agnes Varis Trust.
PRE-ORDER UNFOLLOW THE RULES HERE:https://rufus.lnk.to/UnfollowTheRules
CONNECT WITH RUFUS WAINWRIGHTOFFICIALFACEBOOKYOUTUBETWITTERINSTAGRAM
Synthpop Fanatic Premieres "Away" Video From Chiasm, Industrial-Electronic Project Featuring Collaborator John Fryer
(Photo courtesy of Chiasm) Industrial-electronic act Chiasm today releases the provocative music video for new single “Away,” premiered exclusively via Synthpop Fanatic. See the video here:
https://www.synthpopfanatic.com/videos/world-premiere-chiasm-unveils-new-music-video-away/
Of the new single, Synthpop Fanatic describes it as a “beautiful song featuring dense, stuttering electronics and Chiasm’s trademark ethereal vocals that shift into an echoing, high-pitched chorus.” The outlet also hails Chiasm “a massively overlooked talent in the industrial and dark electronic scene.” The project of Detroit-based musician Emileigh Rohn, Chiasm has become known for cultivating lush, eclectic, eerily dystopian sonic landscapes with delicately balanced vocals for the past 20-plus years. The 5-song
Away
EP, led by the title track single, also features writing and musicianship from collaborator John Fryer (Black Needle Noise), the noted producer whose credits include Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, 4AD, Cocteau Twins and Love and Rockets. The
Away
EP comes in advance of Chiasm’s full-length album,
Missed The Noise
, to be released later this year. Both will be released by COP International—the label home of Stabbing Westward, Deathline International and Suicide Queen. 
(Away EP) The newest release follows a long line of notable releases from Chiasm (established in 1997), including the 2001 album
Disorder
with the track “Isolated” that was featured in the television show NCIS as well as in the Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines computer game. Rohn has also collaborated with genre stars Attrition, Carphax Files, Jean-Marc Lederman, Third Realm, :10:, and Acclimate. All of Rohn’s previous releases had been self-written, programmed, performed and produced in her Michigan studio known as the MausHaus. The music, and the project name (which refers to the optic chiasm, a crossing of optic neurons in the brain that allow people to have continuous and peripheral vision), are in dedication to her full-time career in the field of science. Here is what the press has had to say about Chiasm: "Emileigh Rohn's voice is somewhere between Bjork and kaRIN of Collide—soothing in sound and yet jarring in message” — Outburn Magazine "What Kate Bush is to pop culture, Chiasm is to electronic music" — Zillo "The often dismal character of the Motor City is known for inspiring a host of instrumental techno artists, but Chiasm (Emileigh Rohn) chooses to express her angst through very intimate and intense audio exorcismsthat juxtapose her ethereal, haunting vocals and confrontational snarls with murky, minimalist industrial sounds. … An audio diary full of electro energy and honest emotion that gives the idea of 'girl power' a whole new spin" — CMJ "Emileigh Rohn's music is one of the often overlooked treasures of the dark electro/industrial genre"— LiarSociety
(Photo courtesy of Chiasm) Find Chiasm OnlineWebsite: http://www.chiasm.org/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CHIASM-60799621813/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chiasm_music/
Haley Blais - Releases new single "On a Weekend" + "Too Good" video - Debut album 'Below the Salt' out Aug 25
DEBUT ALBUM BELOW THE SALT OUT AUGUST 25 ON TINY KINGDOM
HEAR “ON A WEEKEND” AND “TOO GOOD” NOW
Artist, musician and popular vlogger Haley Blais expertly puts into song so much of what humans are feeling. After years of turning out song after song of defiant scream-into-your-pillow bedroom pop anthems, Blais delivers a jaw dropping vocal performance, unforgettable melodies and candid lyrics that riff on the joys and banalities of the everyday.
Photo By Lindsay ElliottVancouver-based breakout artist Haley Blais expertly puts into song so much of what humans are feeling. For years now, Haley has turned out song after song of defiant scream-into-your-pillow bedroom pop anthems, recorded in her actual bedroom. She’s organically earned a significant following and online reputation for her self-deprecating, self-loving balladry sung out in operatic crescendos. This summer finally sees the release of her debut full-length album, Below the Salt on August 25 via Tiny Kingdom Music. Today you can hear her brand new single, “On a Weekend” and “Too Good” which was released last month with an accompanying video.
Haley explains, “On a Weekend is originally about FOMO due to social anxiety or lack of a social life. But recently it has kind of inadvertently turned into a sort of quarantine anthem. So when I say, Do what you wanna do without me there with you, I really mean it.”
Listen & Share "On a Weekend": YouTube - Spotify - Apple
Watch & Share "Too Good" (Official Music Video) on YouTube
Following in the footsteps of Haley’s successful 2018 EP Let Yourself Go, the young singer-songwriter and classically trained vocalist finds her signature sound maturing into her own distinct voice on Below the Salt. Featuring production from indie favourites Tennis (Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley) and fellow Vancouver artist Louise Burns, the record bursts out of the gate in a flurry of drums and keys, soaring synths have replaced ukulele noodling, and confidence has replaced doubt as Haley belts out rock and roll confessionals by way of Jenny Lewis, Karen Carpenter or Hayley Williams. Her lyrics riff on the joys and banalities of the every day, on the need to break apart and away from an uninspiring life, on radical acceptance, and manifesting a world where you feel proud of yourself and who you’re surrounded by. Below the Salt is a coming of age story that recognizes that there is no real ‘coming of age.’ There are hundreds of instances of recognition and of learning. What do we do when we find them? Well according to Haley, we take them with us. As dissonant guitar strings fire and a bass drum pulses on the single “Rob the Original” Haley softly lulls us with this record’s ethos, With all these magic moments sparkling/This one’s mine.
Keep up with Haley on her adored YouTube channel or find her on Instagram. To pre-order Below the Salt on vinyl, visit Tiny Kingdom Music. For the month of June, Haley will donate all proceeds from her Bandcamp sales to Hogan’s Alley Society; an organization that advocates for Black Vancouverites who have endured the legacies of urban renewal and their erasure from the official historical narrative. More info is available here.
Haley BlaisBelow the SaltTiny KingdomAugust 25, 2020Pre-order Here
1 - Someone Called While You Were Out2 - On a Weekend3 - Ready or Not4 - Too Good5 - Firestarter6 - Asleep7 - Be Your Own Muse8 - Rob the Original9 - So Funny
Keep up with Haley: YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Web
June 22, 2020
RED WEDDING Interview with Michael Ely 2020 KAJW
RED WEDDING
Interview with Michael Ely 2020 KAJW
by Alexander Laurence
As the early LA punk scene of the late 1970s morphed into the new era, many things took place. Many bands had broken up by 1982 and some had not succeeded in getting signed and breaking into the national scene. The Germs and X more or less crashed and burned. The least likely candidates The Go-Gos had a hit record by 1982, and were touring nationally. The punk rock scene at first was inclusive to anyone with an attitude and a counter culture sound.
Independent Music and labels went into different genres. Punk became more hardcore and anti commercial and local. Other bands who might have been punk in the past were now Goth, Rockabilly, Roots Americana, New Wave, Techno, Ska, Reggae, Disco, Metal, Cabaret, or all of the above. People like Henry Rollins, Nick Cave and Lydia Lunch read their poetry at Club Lhasa. The birth of MTV emphasized the importance of image.
The original punk scene was also hated and banned. Clubs like the Cuckoo’s Nest and the Masque had closed down. The scene documented in The Decline of Western Civilization was fading by 1980. Public Image Ltd played at the Olympic Auditorium in May 1980 to almost five thousand people. Other punk nights were staged by the Stern Brothers soon after that at the Hollywood Palladium. Shows were getting big with the introduction of Goldenvoice. Cops hated the punks. Punk rock had to soften its image, or go underground and be hardcore punk and exist on the margins.
Many new clubs were born like the Anticlub, the Fake Club, Rajis, Al’s Bar, Club Lhasa, the ON Club, Club Lingerie, Club Fetish, The Vex. and the Cathay de Grande. They existed to present a new era of bands that formed in the wake of punk. Some clubs like the Whisky a-go-go and the Roxy existed along side of Goldenvoice events that catered to the new sounds. While conventional rock bands headed over to Gazarri’s or the Troubadour. In downtown LA, there were illegal warehouse parties, at Power Tools, Scream, Dirt Box, and Brave Dog.
There was also New Wave Theater. It was hosted by Peter Ivers and appeared around 1982. Many older bands played on it like Fear, Dead Kennedys and Circle Jerks. But there was also newer bands like 45 Grave, Monitor, Killer Pussy, Suburban Lawns, Mnemonic Devices, Red Wedding, Surf Punks, The Plugs, Legal Weapon, and the Blasters. The new scene had arrived and girls actually attended these gigs. UK bands like Adam and the Ants and Psychedelic Furs were widely accepted and very influential. LA had it’s own Paisley Underground scene, which was a 60s based retro scene based on Syd Barrett and the Velvet Underground.
Red Wedding stood out among the bands. They existed for about five years 1981-1985. They released a few EPs and played many venues and supported many of the local bands. I saw them play at Club Lhasa and the Anti-Club. They also played in San Diego and San Francisco. They never played England or did a national tour, where they may have found more support. I spoke to lead singer, Michael Ely, of Red Wedding. Recently he has formed a band in Tuscon, Arizona called Elegant Rabies.
AL: Many of these bands only played in LA, and SF and NYC if they were lucky.
ME: A lot of them didn’t even leave LA.
AL: When did Red Wedding start?
ME: We played our first show at the Brave Dog in June 1981.
AL: Who were some of the bands that you played with in those years?
ME: Oh gosh. Outer Circle, Crown of Thorns, Kommunity FK. Most of the band that you included in your introduction, including X. We played at the On Club and Club Lhasa. We played in downtown clubs. Many people lived in lofts in the old produce area. We would play shows with bands we liked and there would be DJs also.
AL: There were a lot of illegal loft and warehouse parties back then. Cops would come and some guy would run out with a bag of cash.
ME: Totally. The Brave Dog lasted two years before they got busted. The Brave Dog was my favorite club in those early days.
AL: Most people I knew at the time lived in midtown LA or Hollywood, and never East of Vermont. It wasn’t until the 1990s that people lived East of Vermont. I looked at an apartment in Echo Park back in 1988. But you guys lived in Silverlake at that time?
ME: It was rough. It was in large part latino. We were these weird pale white boys living in their neighborhood. It was rough in general. Spider and I lived in a small studio apartment there. We were starving musicians back then.
AL: When did you meet Spider?
ME: We met in Huntington Beach in 1971. We started living together. He was in bands during the 1970s. He was in a band from Pasadena called The Tracers in 1978. I used to go to band rehearsals and dance. The singer liked the way I danced and she wanted me to sing backup in the band. That was how I got into bands. We formed our own Hey Taxi with George Hurley of the Minutemen. During the Hey Taxi days we lived in Long Beach. Long Beach was where we lived the longest.
AL: After talking to Don Bolles of the Germs, I realized that many of the bands from this time only played shows in California. Only later when Black Flag, Dead Kennedys and X got into the van, and toured nationally, whether it was a big show, or to ten people in Oklahoma, those later bands created an indie circuit for bands of the later 1980s.
ME: It wasn’t easy to do. I live in Tuscon Arizona now and I am friends with all these young bands. They have this circuit where they can tour all over the country. That didn’t exist in the early 1980s.
AL: I guess most bands at that time would play a lot of shows and build up a following and get some interest from a major label or booking agent?
ME: I remember playing with and called Psi Com. It was Perry Farrell’s band before Jane’s Addiction. I remember Perry sitting at a table in the club talking to some girls. I remember seeing an aura around his head. I suddenly had a feeling that he was going to be one of the ones that makes it. It sounds hippy dippy, but I haven’t seen an aura around anyone’s head before or since.
AL: Red Wedding eventually landed on Bemisbrain Records which also had Mneumonic Devices and Out Circle. What was that label like? Was it just one guy and a garage?
ME: Practically. It was bigger than that. We were on Bemisbrain and then Important Records after that. They were definitely mom and pop operations. When our first EP came out we went down there and stuffed envelopes and sent records to publications and college radio stations. It wasn’t all done for us.
AL: Did you play in San Francisco?
ME: We did. We did a few shows up there. One small club in Berkeley and one at the Sound of Music in 1982.
AL: I saw you play at the Anti-Club in 1985.
ME: We broke up in 1985.
AL: I saw you play once with Marco in 1984 I think. And the last show Marco wasn’t in the band, but he was there in the audience.
ME: Marco was my best friend. We remain friends after that.
AL: Why did the band break up in 1985?
ME: We had burnt the candle at both ends for years. We were playing and partying. It was wild and exhausting. We hit a wall.
AL: Let me ask you about some of the songs. I just played “Goddess No More.” Back in the punk rock days there were these simple anti-lyrics. Red Wedding was more literary and interesting. You had this interesting song “Satan in Cologne” and “Bernando” was a reference to West Side Story.
ME: I was just into lyrics and I was accused of writing flowery lyrics. That was my style. “Marsha In Pictures” was about being at a party and meeting a woman who was much older. She might be dead now. She was telling me about her life in New York City being a model and that became the lyrics for “Marsha In Pictures.”
AL: And “Goddess No More” was about?
ME: It was about someone I knew who was being put on a pedestal. I knew she was going to fall. It was more an observation.
AL: If people want to listen to Red Wedding, and this new band Elegant Rabies, where should they go?
ME: You can find songs at Bandcamp for both bands. Elegant Rabies is more a late 1960s psychedelic inspired rock band. All my band members are in their twenties, and they weren’t around in the 1960s.
Interview with Michael Ely (of Red Wedding)
Red Wedding: redweddingoriginal.bandcamp.com/releases
The Elegant Rabies: elegantrabies.bandcamp.com/releases
