Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 2113

No Parents releasing 30 videos in 30 days leading up to 'Greatest Hits' release on 5/13

NO PARENTS RELEASING 30 VIDEOS IN 30 DAYS
TOURING WITH BLEACHED
GREATEST HITS OUT MAY 13TH VIA RING THE ALARM Photo Credit: Jason Landis
WATCH THE FIRST 7 VIDEOS HERE
LA punk band, No Parents announce new Greatest Hits 12" via Ring the Alarm which will include fan favorite "Hey Grandma" as the A-Side and 30 30 Second Songs as the B-Side.  Leading up to the release the band has announced that they'll be releasing 30 videos in 30 days. The first 7 of the 30 videos are up now, on their site where they will continue to post videos on.  The Greatest Hits 12" is available for pre-order now and out 5/13 via Ring The Alarm.
No Parents are currently on tour with Bleached. All dates below.
TOUR DATES:4/11 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
4/13 Washington, DC @ DC9 *4/14 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas *
4/15 Boston, MA @ Great Scott *
4/16 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz POB *
4/17 Toronto, ON @ The Garrison *4/18 Buffalo, NY @ TBA
4/20 Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness *
4/21 Detroit, MI @ Loving Touch *
4/22 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *
4/23 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
4/25 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
4/26 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
4/28 Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret *
4/29 Seattle, WA @ Barboza *
4/30 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir *
5/2 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *
5/5 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom *
* w/ Bleached
ABOUT NO PARENTS:How did No Parents, a punk band from the San Fernando Valley whose music is equal parts 80s hardcore homage and Vine-ready dick jokes, end up being declared the "Best Band in Los Angeles" in 2015 by LA Weekly? Well, by writing songs that are equal parts 80s hardcore homage and Vine-ready dick jokes, that's how.
No Parents is a punk band made up of longtime friends (singer Zoe Reign, guitarist Ryan McGuffin, bassist Killian LeDuke, rhythm guitarist Davis LeDuke, and drummer Monte Najera) who love being from the Valley, love punk music and love each other. They also love bowling, gluten, kombucha, Kendrick Lamar, Monte (everyone loves Monte, meet him, you'll see), and Dr. Pepper, a prettysolid list for a group of punks who insist that they're not just a band but a lifestyle.
Following up their debut album May The Thirst Be With You (Burger Records), No Parents is releasing a series of singles this spring, including a 12 inch with Ring The Alarm records with fan favorite "Hey Grandma" as the A side and thirty 30-second songs on the B side, including gems like "Wifi" and "The Valley." The songs work both as songs as well as a document of the No Parents lifestyle, which means they sound like they're spiked with love and Dr. Pepper. 
 
NO PARENTS GREATEST HITS 12" SINGLE RING THE ALARMMAY 13, 2016 PRE-ORDER
NO PARENTS
RING THE ALARM

Vetiver Share Daniel T Remix Of "Stranger Still" Single. Touring This Spring!

VETIVER SHARE DANIEL T REMIX OF "STRANGER STILL" SINGLE
U.S. SPRING TOUR KICKS OFF APRIL 22

In advance of a tour that kicks off later this month, Vetiver are excited to share a remix of their single " Stranger Still ."  The remix was a collaboration with Daniel T of theCosmic Kids and feels much like a proper old Balearic Pop record, which Cabicnotes, "'Daniel T is a DJ and producer from LA and one half of the duo Cosmic Kids. His remix keeps a lot of what makes 'Stranger Still' unique in Vetiver's catalog, but strips it down and builds it back up, creating more space and room to move. Happy on or off the dance floor, this mix hits harder than the album version but keeps a lot of the same feeling."
LISTEN to "Stranger Still (Daniel T remix)Cleared to share / post
WATCH "Stranger Still (Daniel T remix) visualizer feat. art by Nat RussellCleared to share / post
"Stranger Still" is off the band's 2015 album  Complete Strangers  which was name-checked on  NPR 's favorite songs of the year list.  The remix is available now via digital outlets, and on June 23 Easy Sound will release a limited edition (of 150) 12" white label pressing with an instrumental remix on the b-side.  You can listen to the original version of "Stranger Still" here.  
Vetiver is touring the US this Spring.  The dates kick off April 22 at The Troubadour inLos Angeles and conclude in San Francisco on May 18 at The Independent. Other cities along the way include Austin, Atlanta, D.C., Brooklyn and Chicago. The complete tour is listed below.  
NPR  recently included a set Vetiver played at Pickathon in their "Favorite Sessions" section  - watch the band perform "Current Carry" here via NPR.  
For more information ...Limited pressing 12" pre-order:  https://vetiver.lnk.to/strangerstillDigital: https://vetiver.lnk.to/strangerstilldigiTOUR DATESAPR 22 - The Troubadour - Los Angeles, CAAPR 23 - Valley Bar - Phoenix, AZAPR 24 - Skylight - Santa Fe, NMAPR 27 - 3Ten at Austin City Limits Live - Austin, TXAPR 29 - Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN APR 30 - Vinyl - Atlanta, GAMAY 01 - Cat's Cradle Back Room - Carrboro, NCMAY 04 - The Hamilton - Washington D.C.MAY 05 - Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PAMAY 06 - The Bell House - Brooklyn, NYMAY 07 - Club Helsinki - Hudson, NYMAY 10 - Lee's Palace - Toronto, ON CANADAMAY 14 - Off Broadway - St. Louis, MOMAY 15 - Lincoln Hall, Chicago, ILMAY 18 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
Watch the live video for "Stranger Still" here!
"When Vetiver's Andy Cabic gets a song right, he really gets it right."
- Otis Hart, NPR Songs We Love

Announcing The Julie Ruin's Hit Reset, out 7/8/16

HARDLY ART SIGNS THE JULIE RUIN, HIT RESET DUE OUT 7/8; WATCH LYRIC VIDEO FOR FIRST SINGLE "I DECIDE"



MP3 - "I Decide"
VIDEO - "I Decide" (lyric video ft. Waxahatchee) [dir. Brendan Kennedy]

Hardly Art is incredibly proud to announce its latest signing: The Julie Ruin. Set for release on LP, CD, digital, and cassette formats on Friday, July 8th,Hit Reset--which finds the band operating at the peak of their considerable talents--is The Julie Ruin's first full-length since 2013's Run Fast and the release of the biographical documentary The Punk Singer(which charts Kathleen Hanna's career from the founding of Bikini Kill through to this latest iteration of The Julie Ruin). Leadoff single "I Decide" premiered this morning via Pitchfork, and was heard last night on Henry Rollins' KCRW radio program. It's yours to stream here or from the link above. The band has also shared a lyric video for the song, starring Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield as she listens to the song for the first time at SXSW, which you can watch here.

Of Hit Reset's subject matter, Kathleen Hanna says, “I was way more honest lyrically on this record because we’d been on the road together and I felt more confident taking risks in front of my bandmates,” adding "I’ve written about my personal bouts with illness, abuse, sexism and how hard it is for me to walk away from people even when they are toxic Tasmanian Devils before, but not in this way."

Pre-orders for Hit Reset are available now. 

Tour dates:
 
07.23.16 - New York, NY - Panorama Music, Art, & Technology Festival
08.12.16 - 08.14.16 - Atlanta, GA - Wrecking Ball
 

Watch Cate Le Bon's "Crab Day" on Art Forum!

BON APPETIT! THE NEW MAIN COURSE FROM CATE LE BON CRAB DAY  OUT ON APRIL 15TH, 2016! Throw the net!  Crab Day  has arrived. With the glamorous slam of Cate and band pulsing in and out, the moving pictures would together in "Crab Day" (the movie) transpire to mean more or less than words. Directed by award winning visual artist and Turner Prize nominee, Phil Collins, "Crab Day" utilizes inspiration and elements from Cate's stunning forthcoming album. Actually, other than  Crab Day , there are no words in this particular picture - just the luxuriant images crafted by Phil Collins and Cate; views on the everyday with a screw or two loosened on the doors of the cupboard. Or perhaps this is what every day looks like somewhere - we can only hope! And not seek to know what it means, for as Cate would opine, most of everything we know aligns as equally with nonsense as it does sense. "Crab Day" is here! Cate says: "My desire was not to work with any artist on visuals for Crab Day, but to work with Phil. He creates a landscape that is anarchic and wide-open through careful consideration and exploration. There is no map. It is an empowering isolation that fills me up when I see his work. It's beautiful, strange and inescapably human. To have him take Crab Day and re imagine it as a visual piece is an absolute honor. No stone was left unturned and the friendship that we have fostered over the years was the anchor of the collaboration. He has made a coat that we can both wear. " So take a seat and stay for a while, watch the world premiere of "Crab Day" on  Art Forum  right now! WATCH 
"CRAB DAY"
HERE Cate Le Bon US Tour Dates:
April 11th- The Bowery Ballroom, New York USA*  May 2nd - Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto ONMay 3rd- Brighton Music Hall, Allston MAMay 4th - Fete Lounge, Providence RIMay 6th - Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia PAMay 7th - Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington DCMay 8th - Big Room Bar, Columbus OHMay 9th - Schubas, Chicago ILMay 10th - Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis MNMay 12th - Biltmore Cafe, Vancouver BCMay 13th - Barboza, Seattle WAMay 14th- Dante's, Portland ORMay 16th- The Chapel, San Francisco CA
*w/ BANANA, performing  Crab Day  in its entirety Cate Le Bon Online: Pre Order- https://www.dragcity.com/products/crab-day Drag City- http://www.dragcity.com/artists/cate-le-bon
iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/album/1077891581
 

SIGUR RÓS ADD TOUR DATES BY OVERWHELMING DEMAND

SIGUR RÓS ADD TOUR DATES BY OVERWHELMING DEMAND TICKETS FOR VANCOUVER ON SEPTEMBER 18 AND BROOKLYN ON OCTOBER 7 GO ON SALE FRIDAY, APRIL 15. SIGN UP FOR PRESALES BY JOINING THE SIGUR RÓS MAILING LIST:http://sigur-ros.co.uk/ WATCH A VIDEO TRAILER FOR THE TOUR:https://youtu.be/lBqwx-YLUfs 
Last week Icelandic experimental rock band Sigur Rós announced an upcoming North Americantour for the Fall. Today, due to overwhelming demand, the band has added additional shows atVancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre on September 18 and Brooklyn's Kings Theatre onOctober 7. Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 15th at 9am PST/12pm EST. These performances represent the last additions to the current North American tour. Further information and exclusive presales will be available to subscribers of the Sigur Rós mailing list; sign up info can be found here:sigur-ros.co.uk As with the other dates on the tour, the band will be appearing without a support act, instead offering the audience two sets (with an intermission) starting from 8:30pm. Tickets for the rest of the tour are on sale now, with the exception of September 24 at Hollywood Bowl, which is on sale now for 5 or more tickets (single tickets go on sale May 1). The month long run is comprised primarily of theater shows, marking the band's most intimate tour in a decade. In keeping with the scale of the venues, the group will be performing without the string and brass sections that have been characteristic of recent performances, opting instead to focus on the core unit of the band itself.  The shows will give the group a chance to road test new music, the first time since the tour leading up to the acclaimed  ( )  album in 2002 that the band has performed new material ahead of album recording sessions. Alongside this experimentation played out in public, the band is also planning on attempting new interpretations of old songs that haven't been played in a very long time.   SIGUR RÓS UPDATED TOUR DATES 9/18 - Vancouver, BC - Queen Elizabeth Theatre9/19 - Vancouver, BC - Queen Elizabeth Theatre9/20 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre9/21 - Portland, OR - Keller Auditorium9/23 - San Diego, CA - Copley Hall9/24 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl (with support act, TBA)9/26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kingsbury Hall9/27 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre9/29 - Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre9/30 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre10/1 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theater10/3 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall10/5 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall10/6 - Brooklyn, NY - Kings Theatre10/7 - Brooklyn, NY - Kings Theatre10/8 - Philadelphia, PA - Academy of Music10/10 - Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium10/12 - Kansas City, MO - Midland Theatre10/14 - Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum Theatre 

The Young Wild Announce Tour w/ DREAMERS + EP Out April 15

 
ANNOUNCE LIVE DATES WITH DREAMERS
RELEASING  All The Luck EP ON APRIL 15TH VIA FAIRFAX RECORDINGS - STREAM TITLE TRACK HERE
Photo Credit: Sergey Kolivayko
 SoCal's brightest new talents The Young Wild are heading out on tour with New York City's DREAMERS. The newly added Spring tour dates include stops in Santa Barbara, Chattanooga, New York City, Omaha, Colorado Springs and more. The Young Wild are joining Australia's Atlas Genius and Skylar Grey on tour starting April 20th in Boston. All tour dates below.
The San Diego based band will release their EP  All The Luck  on April 15thvia Fairfax Recordings. The EP was produced by Kevin Augunas (The Lumineers, Black Keys, Cold War Kids) and The Young Wild's Bryan B William and Brandon Zedaker. Bryan explains, "The songs on this EP are about being wide open to the misadventures and moments that challenge us the most. That they are all worth going through even if it nearly kills you." 
Stream "All The Luck" HERE.
The Young Wild, who are featured in the global spring campaign for GUESS?, have been making a beautiful racket in their hometown for the past several months and recently attracted national attention along with a record deal. The band's infectious sound is centered around their stellar songwriting, cut with an allegiance to soul, Motown and precision grooves and a captivating energy on stage. The band released the video for their track "Not A One" last year, which was directed by lead singer Bryan B William.
Watch the band perform "All The Luck" + " Not A One " in Chicago for Audiotree Live. Watch other performances from this session  HERE .
THE YOUNG WILD are Bryan B William (singer/guitarist), Gareth Moore (bassist) and Brandon Zedaker (drums) who met in college in San Diego. William writes the majority of the material; Zedaker, with his drumming and production chops, excels at shaping the studio work and understanding the mechanics behind a sonic experience. Moore exists as rare combination of bassist and hype-man, taking the songs from the studio and relating them to an audience in the performance setting.
Get young and wild:
The Young Wild Tour Dates4/20    Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *4/21    New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall *4/23    Charlotte, NC @ The Visualite Theater *4/25    Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard *4/26    Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater *4/27    Houston, TX @ House of Blues *4/29    Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *4/30    Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre *
5/4     Santa Barbara, CA @ Velvet Jones #5/7     Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard #5/8     Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street Collective #5/9     Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves #5/11   Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall #5/12   Birmingham, AL @ Syndicate Lounge #5/13   Chattanooga, TN @ JJ's Bohemia #5/15   Durham, NC @ Kings #5/16   Wilmington, DE @ Reggie's 42nd St. Tavern #5/19   Albany, NY @ The Hollow #5/20   New York, NY @ Studio at Webster Hall #5/22   South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Room #5/23   Providence, RI @ Fete Lounge #5/24   Syracuse, NY @ Funk N Waffles University #5/25   Buffalo, NY @ The Waiting Room #5/26   Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub # (FREE)5/30   Omaha, NE @ Slowdown Front #6/1     Denver, CO @ The Black Sheep #6/5     San Diego, CA @ 91X Fest @ Sleep Train Amphitheater (w. The Offspring, Cheap Trick)6/8     Sacramento, CA @ Harlow's #6/9     Fresno, CA @ Strummers #6/10   Costa Mesa, CA @ The Wayfarer #
* with Atlas Genius and Skylar Grey# with DREAMERS
 http://theyoungwild.comhttps://www.facebook.com/theyoungwildmusichttps://twitter.com/youngwildmusichttps://instagram.com/theyoungwildwww.fairfaxrecordings.com

Young Magic Release New Song "Sleep Now"

YOUNG MAGIC RELEASE "SLEEP NOW"
STILL LIFE OUT MAY 13 ON CARPARK
ON TOUR WITH YEASAYER THIS MAY-JUNE!Photo credit: Olga NazarovaYoung Magic premiered a sublime new track called "Sleep Now" today; the song is the latest release from the New York duo's forthcoming new album Still Life and was inspired by the rural countryside of singer Melati Malay's home country of Indonesia.
"This song came about while recording on the island of Lembongan, Indonesia. Each morning I would ride a beat-up moped up and over the cliffs, getting lost down dirt roads through tiny villages of seaweed farmers. It's another side of Indonesia, still largely untouched by the feverish development of other places like Jakarta, where I grew up. I was hoping to capture the warmth and color of this island, but also the complexities that inevitably seem to manifest when development meets paradise." - Melati Malay LISTEN TO "SLEEP NOW" (CLEARED TO POST) "It's a lithe, lovely song, but far from insubstantial, with electronic and organic elements interweaving to form a fluidly shape-shifting pop soundscape." - Under The Radar
Still Life is out May 13 on Carpark Records. Preorder on Carpark or iTunes.
Young Magic will be on tour with Yeasayer this May-June. Full dates below.
Young Magic with Yeasayer5/12 Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME5/13 Paradise Rock Club -Boston, MA 5/14 Irving Plaza - New York, NY
5/16 9:30 Club -Washington, DC 5/17 Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA 5/19 The Orange Peel - Asheville, NC
5/21 Exit / In - Nashville, TN 5/22 Majestic Theatre - Detroit, MI 5/23 Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL 5/24 First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
5/28 Imperial - Vancouver, BC5/29 Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR 5/31 The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA 6/01 The Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA 6/02 The Observatory North Park - San Diego, CA6/03 The Observatory - Santa Ana, CA

Larry Fessenden interview

THE HORRORS
OF A BLOOD HABIT
An independent filmmakers talks about the blood, sexual hunger, paranoia, and the East Village hangoveractor/director/writer Larry Fessenden Interviewed by Alexander Laurence

CUPS MAGAZINE
October, 1997
Larry Fessenden has been lurking in the independent and underground film scenes for many years. He is an actor, director, writer and editor. An early version of his new movie Habit was actually made as a video when Larry Fessenden was still at NYU film school in 1980. He formed Glass Eye Pix in 1985 and got involved with performance artist David Leslie. Together they made a few videos including The Impact Addict Video which documented the risk taking stunts of Leslie. Fessenden then moved on to documenting strippers in 1989 with Hollow Venus. This movie starred Heather Woodbury who was a dancer and wrote the script. She later turns up in the film Habit. After doing No Telling and River of Grass, Fessenden was still involved with editing, and soon decided to work on his first real feature as writer/director/actor in true Orson Welles fashion. He soon hooked up with Frank DeMarco, and started shooting in 1994. Fessenden plays an East Village loser who has a drinking problem. His girlfriend leaves him and he looks for some replacement but this only gets him in trouble.
Alexander Laurence: How did you get involved in film?Larry Fessenden: My first movie I was the animator on a GI Joe caper film. Then when I was 11, I did a live action Dr. Jeckyl & Mr Hyde. I did mostly acting during high school. And I started making films and videos as an undergraduate at NYU. The video program was much looser. In the video department there were no limitation so you could make feature-length videos. I made the first version of Habit in 1980. It's just me in a paired down version, but it's the same basic story.
AL: How did you meet David Leslie and Heather Woodbury?LF: I was editing for people at that time, actor's reels and that sort of thing, and then I met David, and got involved in the performance art scene. I documented his crazy stunts. We started intercutting movies and all his childhood influences into these pop-myth collages. The videos were seen in performance spaces and some film festivals. While I was making those films and getting known in the performance world, I met Heather Woodbury, who was also a performance artist. She did one-woman solo acts. She was also a go-go dancer. She had a story to tell which was her life as a go-go dancer. It was one drunken evening where we decided to made a film about it, and that turned into a project that lasted from 1986 to 1989.
AL: When did you start thinking about doing a new version of Habit into a full length feature?LF: Around the time that I was making No Telling, I had envisioned this trilogy of movies: Habit, No Telling, and Hector Dodges. I ended up doing No Telling first instead of Habit, but it has always been on my mind to re-do it. It's a story that's really close to me. Even at the time of its original conception, it hadn't been done. Now we can say that there are other "Lower East Side-Vampire films." At the time, when I thought of re-doing it, it was still a fresh idea. After doing No Telling I was hired on a movie River of Grass as an actor. That was a great experience and reminded me of doing low-budget film. So I was hungry to get started with Habit. I wasn't going to play the lead in the beginning. We did a reading at Nuyorican Poets Cafe. I got inspired to put it together with a small crew.
AL: Who was involved in the beginning?LF: I found my freind, Dayton Taylor, who's a producer and production manager on everything from commercials to features. We devised a plan to work with this small crew of volunteers. He wasn't intimidated by the more ambitious parts of the script like the wolf scene and that there were so many locations. I could see that Dayton was a man who I could work with. We went forward and made a general invitation to people to work on this project. That's when we got involved with Frank DeMarco who had recently shot a documentary called Therimin. He became the Director of Photography. We shot the movie in our own apartments and on the sly all over the city.
AL: The main character of Habit is a drunk who breaks up with his girlfriend and then gets involved in this obsessive sexual relationship....LF: This was a very intuitive story for me. It's an obsessive affair about blood and cutting. Sam is obviously on a downward spiral and then he meets this woman who's fabulous. She makes him feel important. I think you can tell a story about a more marginal character if you root it to a tradition, like the vampire story. You can look at this guy's specific life and see what's universal in it through the vampire story. We all have demons that cause us despair. Habit is a portrait of the little things that add up and lead to Sam's undoing, and it's about how this kind of self-destruction is in our myths, its quality in human nature, that's the real moster. I'm interested in re-examining that nugget of truth at the core of a genre that I love. You know, the horror movie, the vampire mvie.
AL: What is Glass Eye Pix and who is involved?LF: Glass Eye Pix is me, and some editing equipment. It's a dwindling bank account. I work as an editor. I rent out equipment. Glass Eye Pix has its hands in various little projects. I made a book that went along with the film No Telling which was about environmental issues. Glass Eye Pix is the people I'm working with right at this moment, and the people I've worked with in the past. I'm working with Mike Ellenbogen right now to distribute Habit. I have helped other filmmakers through Glass Eye Pix. It's an umbrella for indy filmmaking, mostly my own.
AL: What do you think about Independent filmmaking in New York now?LF: It's all over the place. New York still has museums and literary traditions as a base, but film has infiltrated everything. New York will always be resilient, but there's moments when it feels like LA, and what I mean by that is that every waiter and bartender wants to be an actor or writer or director. It's good that video is more accessible and makes people able to make their own films. My worry is what people really have to say. I think that really needs to be discussed. I think that there's too much discussion of celebrity and people's financial packaging and what have you. In Hollywood films it's all about special effects and the celebrity's machismo and how many vans they have shipped around the world. I think that in five or ten years, there will be a resurgeance of interest in authentic cinema or single-voice cinema, because the price will go down, so that people with a vision might be able to get their movies made. It's really where they're distributed and how they're exhibited that becomes difficult. There's a tendency now of being so hyper-aware of your place in the hierarchy of showbiz. I can't believe that a guy like Cassavetes sat around and talked about the numbers he was getting. I think they were really interested in making dramas that reflected their lives.
AL: What about some of these kids who are cutting themselves and drinking blood? Do you think Goth kids are going to be attracted to Habit?LF: It's all part of a milieu of self-destruction, but it's also a visceral world where one is living a little closer to the edge, and that's the world I was trying to create in Habit, this bohemia which is sort of dying out now as everyone is so career-oriented and gets serious at age seventeen. In my day, you take a little time to deal with the bigger issues and if it lead you to despair, "Well, you pull out the old pocketknife and express yourself!" As far as the Goth culture, I hope that they would appreciate my film because I think that I'm talking about things that they're concerned with and consumed with. I'm not in that world directly though I've been there.
AL: Who are some of your influences?LF: In terms of movies, I'm one of the guys who's really influenced by the 1970s when I was first being turned on to moviemaking. Well, Scorcese, who I always call Marty. It's like knowing someone through their filmmaking. I love Roman Polanski. His early movies. Up to his American departure. I loved Cul de Sac and The Tenant. Rosemary's Baby. Chinatown too of course. But in Rosemary's Baby I think that he has this perfect blend of realism and something surreal. In that way I like Bunuel. I like Godard for his breaking the medium. Polanski has an incredible attention to detail and the story unfolds very realistically. Rosemary's Baby for example, there's not a lot of indicators during the film that are saying this is all very spooky. It's really the unfolding of events. That's what I really love about Polanski. Bunuel just had a nasty sense of humor, but even he would just throw in strange events in an overwise straight-forward narrative. I'm interested in breaking narrative. Having the accumulation of events form the narrative, rather than the signposts of drama which you expect and are now overused in Hollywood films. I'm interested in detail, and an accumulation of detail forming the narrative, and therefore character-driven.
AL: What is the link that connects all your films?LF: All my films are about how you create your own truth in a crazy and chaotic world. And the truth that you make becomes your reality. Obviously Sam in Habit focuses on the dark side and it leads to his demise. In No Telling, it's about what are we calling progress? Are we really entrusting oursleves to science and the market to determine our reality? Even in Hollow Venus, it's about the way she rationalizes being a go-go dancer and how much is she kidding herself? David's stuff is all about pop culture and how it drives you mad, which is a theme that is still relevant today.
AL: Why are you so interested in the truth?LF: I just think when you're educated you're supposed to ask questions. You read all this stuff at fine schools as I did anyway. Then you have information, then you're pursuing truth. Then when you grow up you realize that no one wants to hear the truth, and the media suppresses the truth. So there's this total contradiction between the potential for growth and understanding and the way the world is run which is counter to that, because everyone has their agendas. Within that comes a feeling of alienation and horror. My films are about alienated horror.
AL: You won this award recently?LF: It was the "Someone To Watch" award. Mostly for Habit but I think that they were excited to see that I had done a lot of movies, and I would probably go on making movies. 

MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS Opening For The Dandy Warhols Next Week in NYC And Other Shows!

April 9, 2016Opening for the Dandy Warhols in NYC and Other Dates!!!


I am very excited to announce I've been added last minute to open two acoustic shows for the Dandy Warhols next week at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, April 12 and 13! The first date is currently sold out; please click  HERE  for tickets to the 2nd night.

Heading into the weekend, I am playing an acoustic four piece California Roots Union presents show at the iconic Lost Church in San Francisco, Saturday, April 16, with Big Eagle. (Please click on the date for advanced tickets). This is a hidden speakeasy off of Capp Street in San Francisco, catering to folk and esoteric live performances of local and touring musicians.

Finally, I am playing two free Los Angeles acoustic shows, first at the The Love Song Bar (next to the Regent Theater) in downtown Los Angeles Thursday, April 21. The other is at the Amoeba Records Stage at the Hollywood farmer's market Sunday, May 1, bright and early, 10 a.m. This one is for you early birds! I will have NEW merch: CD's, LP's, and t-shirts at all of these performances.

We are currently firming up some West Coast full band tour dates for July, and I will be announcing those soon. We are also working on some European dates, thank you so much for your patience.

Also at this time, I would like to reach out to my fans to rate or leave a written review of my  Echoes of the Dreamtime  album on iTunes. Your support is much appreciated! Here is some good press the album has received thus far:

"A coming of age return by the San Franciscan singer-songwriter...Richards’ transcending, perhaps, for the first time, her influences, and no longer constrained, arriving at psychedelia’s higher plane"
- Four Stars, Mojo

"...hovers between Joanna Newsom and Stevie Nicks." - 8/10, Uncut


"Richards has grown beyond her influences and is ready to become, herself, a spirit guide to a new generation of songwriters."
- PopMatters

"Breathtaking... a near perfect song cycle." - Echoes Radio

...And if you somehow haven't yet seen the video for "7th Ray", please check it out HERE. 

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE RELEASE ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEO FOR “GOOD HELP (IS SO HARD TO FIND)”

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE RELEASE ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEO FOR “GOOD HELP (IS SO HARD TO FIND)”WATCH HERE:https://youtu.be/O6e0sAMRioo
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Death Cab For Cutie premiered the official music video for current single “Good Help (Is So Hard To Find) earlier today. Watch the animated video, directed by Walter Robot, here: https://youtu.be/O6e0sAMRioo. On the making of the video, Walter Robot said: “Crazy to think it started with "Grapevine Fires" 7 years ago. Ever since then, the band has been so gracious in all our collaborations. This one definitely feels more mature but also the oddest of the three. The idea started from a sketch Bill made of a dumb looking guy with a hole in his head."In more news, Death Cab for Cutie has unveiled a series of US live dates, including headline shows and major festival appearances. The co-headline dates –with CHVRCHES and guests Pure Bathing Culture – begins this summer (full itinerary below). The band is hitting a number of major festivals including Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Firefly & more.
Death Cab Press Materials:http://press.atlanticrecords.com/death-cab-for-cutie/[image error]
+ SUMMER TOUR DATES INCLUDING CO-HEADLINING AMPITHEATRES WITH CHVRCHES  BELOW:w/ CHVRCHES † KINTSUGI  OUT NOW MAY 6 Missoula, MT Adams Centerw/ The Helio Sequence
28 Napa, CA BottleRock Napa Valley JUNE 5 New York, NY Governors Ball Music Festival7 Cleveland, OH Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica †+ Pure Bathing Culture
8 Canandaigua, NY Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center †+ Pure Bathing Culture
9-12 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival10 Richmond, VA The National (with Pure Bathing Culture)+ Pure Bathing Culture
11 Asheville, NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium (with Pure Bathing Culture)+ Pure Bathing Culture
14 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheatre †+ Pure Bathing Culture
15 Charleston, SC Volvo Car Open Stadium †+ Pure Bathing Culture
16 Charlotte, NC Uptown Amphitheatre at NC Music Factory †+ Pure Bathing Culture
16-19 Dover, DE Firefly Music Festival JULY 7 Council Bluffs, IA Stir Cove+ Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
15-17 Louisville, KY Forecastle 201616-17 Birmingham, AL Sloss Music and Arts Festival