Category: interviews

MVRemix Rock Interviews

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Boys Night Out Interview

Interview conducted by JKE Dean

I was fortunate enough to be able to get a few questions answered by “laser” Dave Costa bass player of Boys Night Out .

MVRemix: How have the kids at shows received the new material?

Dave: It’s gone over very well. Probably the best so far of any record. Which is awesome, considering we usually get a lot of shit when we have new records come out, and they usually sound very different from each other.

MVRemix: What was the writing process like for this album?

Dave: It was really easy, but pretty long. I think we took about 2-3 months off to write. So we really tried to refine the songs, and write properly structured songs this time. Get rid of the weird unnecessary stuff.

MVRemix: Tell me about the lineup changes between the last album and this one, and how things are feeling now?

Dave: Well, Kara and Brian both left, but for different reasons. Kara got married, and basically just wanted to be home. With Brian, I am actually not too sure. He said he wanted to do different things other than music, but now he’s playing with Receiving End of Sirens. So, yeah, not too sure. It feels awesome now though. Having Ben back in the band is amazing. Being on tour with him is incredibly fun. And now with Andy being in the band, songwriting is much easier.

MVRemix: Why the self titled album now?

Dave: Basically because we feel like we really found our sound. So yeah, that’s pretty much it.

MVRemix: Anyone in particular you are looking forward to touring with this year?

Dave: I am looking forward to touring with Olympia. A few of them were in Fairweather, and they were one of my favorite bands.

MVRemix: Any bands you guys have come across you feel like people should be looking out for?

Dave: Dear and the Headlights are my favorite new band right now. Absolutely amazing. Really good mellow indie type stuff. I highly recommend them. Other than them, I am still stuck in the mid 90’s.

MVRemix: You guys have had major label rumours following you since before Trainwreck… do you see yourselves moving from ferret to a major or staying with ferret for a few more records?

Dave: I highly doubt it, but I would never rule it out. Myself, I am really apprehensive about that kind of stuff. So many bands get fucked; I don’t want to end up like them. Our contract is up with Ferret now, so we’ll see what the future brings. I still love Ferret so I would have no problem going back with them.

MVRemix: You tour practically non stop anything you miss from home?

Dave: Pretty much just my dog and friends. The dog is definitely the toughest one. So other than those, nothing really. Maybe good nights of sleep too.

MVRemix: So what is next now that the album is out?

Dave: Just touring non-stop. I would love to do another record faster this time around. Hopefully that’ll happen.

MVRemix: Which track do you recommend people check out to get a feel for the record or boys night out in general?

Dave: I’d say “swift and unforgiving”. Its got a good mix of every style we’ve done. Still technical, but catchy.

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interviews tour dates

People Noise continues seemingly endless six-month U.S. tour supporting debut album Ordinary Ghosts

People Noise continues seemingly endless six-month U.S. tour supporting debut album Ordinary Ghosts, Louisville, KY band features ex-VHS or Beta guitarist Zeke Buck.

Louisville, KY quintet People Noise is on a mission. Just like in the days before the Interwebs when the only way for a band to build a fan base was consistent touring, the band led by former VHS or Beta guitarist Zeke Buck set out on a seemingly endless tour last April with dates stretching into late September this year. …And the tour itinerary keeps stretching onward.

“There’s so much lost time to cover,” says Buck in a recent interview with The Louisville Eccentric Observer’s Mat Herron. “Basically, I’m trying to start anew.” After a successful 10 year run in VHS or Beta – which included a national arena tour with Duran Duran – Buck now devotes his time and talent to People Noise, the band he started with good friend and ex-Boom Bip member Matt Johnson. With Johnson on drums and Buck on, well, everything else, these Louisville natives have produced an epic, drone-laced rock album reminiscent of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Spiritualized and Interpol.

Although we never heard him sing a lick during his years in VHS or Beta, Buck’s resume would lead us to ask the question, “why the hell not?” From the ripe age of only four years old he was belting out opera all over the country until the inevitable struck: puberty. Unfortunately for him, it struck in the middle of a performance. It wasn’t until only recently that Buck began to sing again. For a number of months he studied under Turley Richards, a blind Louisville musician with a vocal range that would impress Whitney Houston, and eventually regained the confidence that was lost long ago. On People Noise’s debut album Ordinary Ghosts, Buck sings about everything from reincarnation to thoughts on his former band.

Johnson, a guitarist turned drummer with an experimental electronic music background, boasts quite a resume himself. During his time in Boom Bip, he toured extensively across Europe and has shared the stage with notable acts like LCD Soundsystem, Yo La Tengo, Pinback and Matt Pond PA. Johnson has also performed at London BBC Peel Sessions, Centre Pompideu, Royal Festival Hall and The Renne Music Festival in Renne, France. Not to mention he studied the djembe under Yaya Diallo for a number of years. Quite an accomplishment for a guy who wrote and performed all of the drum parts on Ordinary Ghosts on a rural Kentucky farm with no internet and no cell phone service!

For its live shows, Johnson and Buck are joined by Rahman McGuinnis on guitar, Woody Woodmansee on keyboards, and Sam Marino on bass. People Noise’s debut album Ordinary Ghosts album hit stores on June 12th. And, considering its crazy tour schedule, the band might be available to deliver its album straight to your door.

People Noise on Tour:
07/03 Athens, GA Tasty World
07/04 Chapel Hill, NC Blend Nightclub & Lounge
07/05 Atlanta, GA The ISP Space
07/06 Tampa, FL New World Brewery
07/07 Orlando, FL The Back Booth
07/09 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbits
07/10 Tallahassee, FL The Beta Bar
07/11 Deland, FL Cafe Davinci
07/12 Delray Beach, FL City Limits
07/13 Miami, FL Churchill’s Pub
07/14 Gainesville, FL The Atlantic
07/15 New Orleans, LA House of Blues (The Parish)
07/16 Montgomery, AL Off the Wagon
07/17 Jackson, MS Swell-o-Venue
07/18 Little Rock, AR Sticky Fingerz Rock-n-Roll Chicken Shack
07/19 Lafayette, LA The Grant Street Dance Hall
07/20 Houston, TX The Meridian Room
07/21 Austin, TX Beauty Bar
07/25 Salina, KS Lucky’s Bar
07/26 Kansas City, MO El Torreon Ballroom
07/27 Tulsa, OK DFest
07/28 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory
07/29 Aurora, CO Wyatt’s Torch Bar
07/30 Boulder, CO The Trilogy Lounge
07/31 Denver, CO 15th Street Tavern
08/01 Albuquerque, NM Atomic Cantina
08/04 Phoenix, AZ Casa Blanca
08/06 Pomona, CA The Glass House
08/07 San Diego, CA The Jumping Turtle (All Ages)
08/09 Davis, CA KDVS 90.3 (In-Studio)
08/12 Eureka, CA The Boiler Room
08/15 Seattle, WA The High Dive
08/18 Boise, ID Neurolux
08/19 Salt Lake City, UT Monk’s House of Jazz
08/20 Riverton, WY Fremont County Fairgrounds
08/24 Missoula, MT The Badlander
08/25 Fargo, ND The Nestor
08/27 Omaha, NE The Slowdown
09/01 St. Louis, MO Lucas School House
09/02 Clinton, IA Zabbies
09/03 Des Moines, IA Vaudeville Mews
09/11 Augusta, GA The Mission
09/26 Durham, NC Duke Coffeehouse
10/11 Bloomington, IN Live From Bloomington

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65Daysofstatic hand-picked to support The Cure in the fall, summer U.S. tour launches July 18th. New album The Destruction

65Daysofstatic hand-picked to support The Cure in the fall, summer U.S. tour launches July 18th. New album The Destruction of Small Ideas album hailed by Kerrang magazine as “utterly peerless.”

“Kicking off with their trademark electric crackle, it’s clear that with their third album 65daysofstatic have resisted the urge to tone down their quite frankly mental tsunami of noise and make a play for the mainstream sales potential of an ever scene-conscious world. Instead, they have done what they’ve always done — thrown the rulebook out the window and grown organically. With such clinical conviction 65DOS are utterly peerless in their chosen field of post-rock.” — Razio Rauf, Kerrang Magazine

“65daysofstatic have made their masterpiece, or something close to it; three albums in, in the most dirty, shallow decade of music we’ve known, who else can say that? A handful, not enough. The Destruction of Small Ideas is a weight, a tower of babel, a journey, learnings, understandings, communication, evolution. I’ve been waiting. I was promised this or something like it. The rise and fall. All so deep, so rich, so comically dynamic and detailed and powerful for it that it makes me want to cry. How to make a record. Play loud.” — Stylus Magazine

British post-rock quartet 65daysofstatic has been hand-picked by goth-pop legends The Cure to support its entire North American tour this fall. The tour begins September 13th and runs through October, taking the band to arenas and amphitheaters nationwide — including the legendary Madison Square Garden in NYC and Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (see complete dates below.)

But, that won’t be the first chance for American audiences to experience the band that’s been all the rage in the UK, Europe and Asia for several years now. 65daysofstatic launches its first U.S. tour on July 18th (see complete dates below) with co-headliners Fear Before the March of Flames.

In the first week of its release, 65daysofstatic‘s new album The Destruction of Small Ideas sold out of its first pressing, forcing the label to scramble to meet the overwhelming demand. Likewise, press response overseas for the album has been phenomenal, with Kerrang magazine deeming the Sheffield, England quartet’s latest “utterly peerless” in the post-rock genre, awarding the album a 4/5 K-rating.

The new video for the first single from the album, “Don’t Go Down to Sorrow” has been posted online. Click HERE to watch.

The Destruction of Small Ideas is the highly-anticipated followup to its massively popular sophomore album. The 12-song collection released worldwide on April 30th via Monotreme Records. A three-song single “Don’t Go Down To Sorrow” preceded the album on April 9th, building upon the critical and commercial success of One Time For All Time in the UK, Europe and Japan which catapulted the band to festival stages and pages in the NME, The Wire, Rock Sound and many more since its release in 2005. That album was released in the U.S. in fall 2006.

65daysofstatic made its American live debut to an enthusiastic audience at the SXSW festival this past March at the Fanatic Promotion showcase. (We don’t want to gloat, but we’ve been telling the press for a year now that they’d be huge and it now looks like 65daysofstatic‘s ascent has begun!) Stylus magazine calls the album a masterpiece and American press has begun to pick up on the band, including forthcoming coverage in Magnet, Paste and Harp magazines.

In the past year, the group has packed venues and headlined festival dates overseas, as well as recording three radio sessions for BBC Radio One. Recently, MTV Asia aired an interview and live set from the band’s performance in front of more than 10,000 fans in Tokyo at the 2006 Summer Sonic festival.

During much of last year’s activity, 65daysofstatic‘s UK label Monotreme Records inked a deal for an American release of the refreshing gene-splice of electronic glitch and guitar girth heard on One Time For All Time for fall 2006. The album’s futuristic tone makes for a seductive score for an unwritten sci-fi epic that melds cutting guitars and electronic tones with sampled beats, live drums and computer glitch. But where IDM culture cuts out in the low end, 65daysofstatic delivers a thunderous wall of guitars that’s reportedly still shaking some festival grounds since last summer’s performances.

Following the European release of its acclaimed 2004 debut album The Fall of Math, 65daysofstatic spent several months touring the UK, playing to packed venues and festival tents. With the UK release of their second album, One Time For All Time in October 2005, 65daysofstatic further cemented its position as one of the most innovative bands to emerge in the UK, with its groundbreaking blend of drum’n’glitch beats, walls of guitar noise, broken laptop clicks and overwhelming melody. A relentless touring schedule in the UK and mainland Europe has seen the band share stages with the likes of Mono, Wolf Eyes, Hundred Reasons and Mogwai. The group headlined the Kerrang! Stage at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, followed by a headlining Kerrang! ‘Most Wanted’ sponsored tour.

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Boogie Men From The Basement – Death From Above 1979

Death From Above 1979Death From Above 1979 original article

I was pretty sure I was going to interview an independent band when I set out to ask the two members of Death From Above 1979 a few questions before their concert on Remembrance Day. But when I got there—about 8 hours before they were due to hit the stage—there were already kids who appeared quite settled, dwelling in the staircase that led up to the steal doors of Club Mesa.

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The Watson Twins Interview

The Watson TwinsThe Watson Twins original article

With the music industry saturated with “personalities” used only as muses by producers and record labels, one can become jaded by the lack of actual, authentic talent in the music marketplace. Luckily, The Watson Twins proves that artistry and craftsmanship are alive and well in this day and age. A modest, folk duo that hails from Louisville, Kentucky, MVRemix had the chance to chat with half of The Watson Twins, Leigh Watson, to discuss their thoughts on being independent, as well as their debut EP, “Southern Manners”.

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Michael Franti (Spearhead) Interview

Michael Franti SpearheadMichael Franti (Spearhead) original article

Credible artists are hard to find. Most, when given the opportunity will sell out, why not? We all need money. Few of us actually have strong enough moral fiber to seek something better and inspire change on a global basis. Michael Franti however has. After beginning his musical career frustrated and angry, he moved onto more uplifting, sensual and happy material and travels the globe routinely performing in a unique manner drawing together all audiences he performs before.

Franti visited Iraq last year and also explored Israel and Palestine. His findings drove him to create the forthcoming documentary “I Know I’m Not Alone,” detailing what has gone on and is occurring within these ignored and inaccurately portrayed areas.

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James Shaw (Metric) Interview

James Shaw (Metric) original article

Wes Kirk sits down with James Shaw and Emily Haines, the two founding members of Toronto’s Metric, at Vancouver’s Commodore ballroom at sound check before their April 7th show. First, two drunk dudes chat about music…

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Howling Diablos Interview

Howling DiablosHowling Diablos original article

The Blues is rooted in the universal truth of pain. As a musical form of expression, Blues was created by talented people who experienced inexorable adversity. While the average person would be incapable to survive such sorrow, Blues musicians formed a whole new musical genre conceived from their struggle. Born from the misery Blues music has connected every kind race, class, and culture. These universal emotions of pain and sadness are is the link in the musical chains that keep every single human in a type of metaphysical bondage. Although different people experience different levels of this sorrow, the feelings created by Blues music will endure as long as human beings inhabit Earth. Misery loves company. When a person is downhearted, life becomes slightly tolerable when you hear that someone else is experience similar sadness. Born from the hardship of the Deep South, the spirit of the Blues hits everyone in their soul. The Blues spirit also has haunted some White boys in Detroit named, Howling Diablos. The four members are creating their own style of Blues. As Tino Gross sings, the band moves the spirit along. Mike Smith’s addictive guitar work complements the classic sound of the harp and sax of Johnny Evans. Shannon Boone keeps the rhythm rolling with the drums. Acknowledging their influences but remaining true to themselves, Diablos sing about what they know with a respectful appreciation for the art form.

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Horrorpops Interview

Horrorpops MVRemixHorrorpops original article

Wes Kirk sits down with punk rock super group the Horrorpops at the Brickyard in Vancouver. Before today, half the band has never been to Canada…

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Girl Talk Interview

Girl TalkGirl Talk original article

The transcripts from an interview conducted with DJ and Pittsburgh native, Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk. Although he explains that he is not in fact a DJ, Girl Talk knows how to get that booty to shake right thurr, plus, he also makes you think. After six years of making music, with three albums to show for it, Gregg Gillis has taken control of the Pittsburgh music scene with his dirty, bouncy, and seductively truthful/possibly illegal sampling and sound presentation. Ooh baby, I like it raw and by raw, I mean Girl Talk.