(The following interview was conducted and transcribed by Rick Vandeveerdonk of 1919 Hemphill)
Nardwuar the Human Serviette is a Canadian radio show host who has been interviewing bands and famous people for over twenty years. The amazing thing about him is he always knows wild obscure facts about whoever he's interviewing which usually shocks and/or over impresses the interviewee. He also brings them presents and incorperates different props with his questions. But not in that bad Carrot Top way. If you do a google search of "Nardwuar vs. _________", there's a 1 out of 5 chance he's interviewed whatever band you put in the ___________. He's been mocked up in a Korn video and theres a rumor that Heath Ledger studied Nardwuars interviews for his role in Dark Knight. Nardwuar also just did a split 7" with Andrew WK with his band The Evaporators. I interviewed Nardwuar over the phone and I was horribly nervous. In my defense I was interviewing one of the most popular interviewers in the DIY universe. Feel free to listen to the forty minute extended interview where he also talks about Henry Rollins, Gene Simmons' love for Fresca, Alice Cooper, mor about Snoop Dogg and lots and lots of musical trivia. You can also hear me embarrassingly mumble out questions and try to be funny. The pitch is slightly fucked up which adds to the embarrassment. HERE
Who are you?
Nardwuar the Human Serviette from Vancouver British Columbia Canada.\par
Of What?
From CiTR UBC Radio and I also do freelance interviews for different publications like Razor Cake fanzine and Roctober Fanzine and Chart Magazine in Canada. And I also like videotaping interviews when I do them in person and I put them on my website or give them to various cable access sort of TV stations. And the word "sort of" is because there aren't too many left of the cable access variety. And also I play in a rock n roll band The Evaporators and in a mysterious band Thee Goblins.
Interestingly enough there's a Goblin in every town. There's the legendary Italian band called Goblin, there's The Goblins from Chicago... Interestingly about that too, is that Jake from The Goblins in Chicago runs Roctober fanzine and that's how basically I met him. He came to a gig in Chicago to see a band and it turned out this band called Thee Goblins were opening and he was in a band called The Goblins and so he ended up befriended us and next thing you know we are doing an 8 track release with Jake from The Goblins. Then he invites me to write for Roctober Fanzine. So he's The Goblins from Chicago. We're Thee Goblins from Vancouver and there's also Goblin Cock and another band called Goblins. I just encourage the more Goblins the better. The more confusion the better.
So you've been interviewing people for how long?
The first interview I did was in high school on September the 26th 1985 and it was with a guy called Art Bergmann who played in a band at that time called Poisoned. Not Poison. Although Vancouver has had a great history of recording heavy metal from hair metal bands like Bon Jovi who recorded Slippery When Wet in Vancouver. And we recorded Motley Crue and Def Leopard as well. But Art Bergmann was in the band Poisoned at the time playing our high school but previously he played in a punk band in Vancouver called The Young Canadians. Who believe it or not had thanked our high school Hillside Secondary in Vacouver in the liner notes to their 12" record "This is Your Life". So when I got his band to play our high school, I negotiated the price of his band playing from $1,400 to $1,398. I was president of the student council so I was really good at negotiations then. I thought "They're playing our high school I gotta do an interview!" So that's captured on video. I have not uploaded that yet on youtube. But hopefully someday I will.
How long have you been doing things for CiTR?
I got my show on CiTR UBC radio in October of 1987. But I joined CiTR Radio in September of 1986. So it took me about a year to get the courage to do a radio show. I was just happy to do announcements. We called them "carts" now I guess you play them off a computer. I remember doing one for Spike Lee's movie "She's Gotta Have It!" and we did public service announcements and ads for giving blood and that sort of stuff. And that was just awesome because you could make these announcements and they would be played at all times during the day and people would recognize you from the announcements. So that's what I did for one year and then eventually I decided "Hmm, well..I know how to use the equipment. Maybe I could do a radio show.". So originally they were gonna give me fifteen minutes but then they said you gotta have a minimum half an hour. So it was 2:30 to 3:00. Now it is 3:30 to 5:00. However I still only have a half hour interview so I fill the other stuff up with music or spoken word or something like that. And who was the first band you interviewed? Was it DOA? Am I wrong?
Wow! Exactly you are right! That is the first band I interviewed with. I did not think I was going to do interviews on CiTR. I just thought I would be playing music. But because I got so crazy after my first show I had records everywhere I had to kill the time somehow with half an hour. So DOA were in the studio and I asked if I could do an interview with them and they said yes! And it was Dave Greg the bass player of DOA. What's weird about that show is that Randy of Mint Records in Vancouver said that was my best show and that's when I peaked and I should have quit right after then. Because it was really great that Dave Greg came into CiTR. And we had him playing a bass and I think he did a live Madonna song on the air and it sounded amazing. And Randy from Mint just thought that was the best thing ever and it's been downhill ever since then. So my first show, my best show. And that's the great thing about CiTR radio there's always people offering encouragement. That's basically what I think I sorta stand for. If this idiot can play in a band, if this idiot can do a radio show then anybody can do a radio show and that's what I really love about CiTR is that there's always people offering comments or listeners phoning in. Just a couple of weeks ago somebody was phoning in and said "When did you get a show on CiTR you suck!" I didn't say to the guy "22 years ago" because that was unfair. But that keeps you on your toes. I've been with some other commercial radio stations as a guest and I'm scared, I'm shaking because there might be someone phoning in to criticize me. I think people on commercial radio, they're too complex. They're not thinking about people criticizing because they cut them off. But we at not commercial campus radio we don't cut anybody off
Do you ever get nervous while interviewing people? Have you ever been terrified while interviewing somebody?
I'm nervous right now, Rick.
Yeah me too!
I'm nervous every time when I speak, when I interview, when I go to a store to buy milk I'm nervous. I'm just a constantly nervous person. I think sometimes it helps but sometimes it doesn't help. I guess it doesn't help when your in front of a cop and you've done nothing wrong and you start to sweat and they think you've done something wrong. Or it does help when your thinking of an interview or preparing for a gig or something like that. You think "Oh, we gotta have songs to play in a band!". Well that's obvious. Write the songs down. "I gotta question to ask". I think it kinda drives me in that way. I do drink chamomile tea to bring me down though to make me relax.
Well, you seem very chill in most your interviews. When Sonic Youth was beating up on you I was like "Wow, he's taking it very nicely"..
Well as long as the tape is recording the interview I'm happy. The tape is your friend. Thankfully my friend Scott who is the Evaporators drummer and also in Thee Goblins was recording that and did a great job of recording it so we were able to play it back to you. Sometimes tapes have been destroyed. Like when I interviewed heavy metal band Skid Row the tape was destroyed. When I interviewed Quiet Riot the tape was destroyed. When I interviewed Tom Green, he ordered the tape destroyed. All three of those people all at intervals of five years. So there has been quite a few things you haven't seen that have gone horribly wrong. I don't mean horribly wrong like being arrested. I just mean you don't see how it turns out.
So Quiet Riot physically destroyed your tape or just ordered it destroyed?
Yes, they physically destroyed it. They finished the interview and I did "Doot doola doot doo?...Doot Doo". And afterward they surrounded me in the club and said "We're calling the cops". And I was like "Why you calling the cops!?" "Because you're trespassing." "Why am I trespassing?" "Because you haven't handed over the tape" "What tape?" "The tape of the interview. Hand it over right now!" "No, I don't hand over the tape!" So they called the cops. And they called in a description of me. They said "There's a guy here dressed head to toe in plaid and he has this buddy with him filming wearing a Jason hockey mask here at Graceland Club in Vancouver come arrest them, they're trespassing". And I'm like Oh god, I don't want to be involved with the cops. So I said "okay" and handed over the tape. And then they chased us down the street. They thought I was embarrassing them. I was just joking with the guy. Kevin Dubrow. And rest in peace because he's dead now.
Have people been this rude to you recently? Because I've watched your Welcome to My Castle DVD with some of the older interviews and everyone's a dick to you. Like Sonic Youth and Jello Biafra..
Yeah Jello is on there drawing with a black marker on my face and then years later we're on his record label. So I guess if you stay in the game long enough, you can work on these people. I guess I've had the luxury that it only took me about fifteen years to win over Jello Biafra.
It looks like you've won over alot of people. The people I've seen you interview back in the day are complete dicks to you. And now, like when you interviewed Jello Biafra and the Melvins. Jello's not doing anything to you. He's just looking at you. Did he just get old? And the newer interview with Sonic Youth they're being respectful to you. Have they grown to love you and respect you?
Well, I tried to interview Sonic Youth when they played the Virgin Music Festival in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago but they blew the interview off. So I said okay, what about doing a phoner the next week and they said it might be possible. Then they blew that off as well. So, I'm having trouble with them. But that's the great thing.I don't think they've changed. They're still the same people and I wouldn't want them to change. Chris Noveselic, I interviewed him on the phone a couple of months ago and he was exactly the same way he was years ago.
Did he rub pizza on the phone?
No, he didn't rub pizza. But he suddenly had to go and that sort of stuff. That sort of craziness. Which is something you should exactly expect. You kinda gotta understand what the situation is. So I'm glad people haven't changed. Plus remember those video interviews on the Welcome to My Castle DVD were just a little sampling. When you do your radio show every week like I have for 22 years. There's going to be some interviews that are crazy or a bit more rude. But generally it's pretty much just boring. That's why folks are calling in to complain. Not to complain because swearing, not to complain because it's too rowdy but to complain because it was boring. What's neat though about what your saying about people being rude or different peoples reactions for everything. I posted an interview I did with Kathy Griffin and there's also an interview I did with Slipknot that's on the internet. And the Kathy Griffin fans hate me as much as the Slipknot fans. Which I think is amazing! Because do you think the Kathy Griffin fans think they have anything in common with the Slipknot fans? No way! Do you think the Slipknot fans have anything in common with the Kathy Griffin fans? No Way! So I'm uniting Kathy Griffin and Slipknot! So I think I must be doing something good there.
You've interviewed all these people. Have you ever turned down an interview? Because you've interviewed just about everybody. Every terrible band.
I learned this from the Canadian band Sloan who were signed around the same time Weezer was signed. They had that saying "G.G.B.B.". Good Guys, Bad Band. So if they are a bad band I'd probably interview them because they are good guys. I have missed out on different sort of stuff that's happening. I remember Alanis Morsette as a teenager was performing in Vancouver. I didn't wanna check that out.
Yeah exactly. This was before she had the hits. It would have been good to talk to her about You Can't Do that On Television. But I was like nah, I don't wanna do that, that's silly. There's stuff I regret everyday that I could've done that was interesting. But there's always somebody new to interview so it's hard to have any regrets.
And when you do interview those people you find out stuff about them before you see them. Like when you interviewed that guy from Lord of the Rings and the Good Son.\
Elijah Wood?
How did you run into him and how did you know he likes sandwiches?
Well he was shooting a movie in Vancouver called "Try Seventeen". And a friend of mine was working on the movie and said "well, why not come town to the wrap party and talk to Elijah Wood?". I had actually dropped by a tape to Elijah Wood ahead of time at his Hotel wherever he was staying, So he had checked out my tape and at the cast party I went right up to him and he was totally into it. He had actually been familiar with a bit of my stuff and that sometimes helps... when someone at least approaches it with a positive attitude. Sometimes people are ticked off like "This guy's an asshole!". And if they're told that right before an interview its gonna make them clam up just a bit. It's pretty hilarious though. You can't tell like a gangster rapper such as Snoop Dog "Oh watch out for this guy. He's an asshole, he's really tough. He's gonna try to trick you!". Gangster Rappers like Snoop will be like "C'mon bring it on!". So that's kinda funny.
Did Snoop Dog every give back the stuff he stole from you?
No and I'm quite upset about this. He just played in Vancouver two weeks ago and I went down the gate and they said he would do an interview. I came back later and he blew off the interview. I've tried to interview Snoop eight times and I've only gotten to him four times. This is especially disheartening because the last time I talked to him in 2007 he said "The next interview we were gonna do is at my house and you can have all your stuff back". Here we are in Vancouver and I can't get an interview set up with him. And the three interviews I've tried to do since then he blew me off. He has a Cassius Clay Muhammad Ali record of mine. And he also has a Whispers record and a Blowfly record too.
All the information you get before you talk to these people you get in an amazing short amount of time. Are you willing to mention how you get this information?
Usually through connections and stuff like that.
That's what I assumed. The DIY punk rock connection.
Totally! And that's usually what's the best! For instance, when I interviewed Glen Danzig. I was thinking how could I get some good questions for Glen Danzig? I talked to Mike LaVella from Gearhead Magazine. And he used to live in Pittsburg and he'd been a big Misfits fan. In fact he had been over at Glen's house. So he had tons of information. Then Mike LaVella said I should talk to Tim Kerr of the Big Boys.
From Austin.
Yes, and another connection actually regarding Texas and all that. When I interviewed Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols I found out through my friend Grant Lawrence from rock n roll band the Smugglers that when the Smugglers were on tour they played with a band called The Sons of Hercules from Texas! Whose lead singer Frank was in a band called The Vamps. Who actually opened up for the Sex Pistols! So I was able to ask Frank of the Sons of Hercules about the Sex Pistols show in America. So yes, it's just from the indy rock connections that exist.
That's what I actually hoped and figured. I actually asked somebody who did interviews how they prep and they told me just to check the interviewee's Wikipedia page. But your asking things people already know about!
Wikipedia is useful because it shows you what not to ask.
All your interviews usually end with the "Doot Doola Doot Doo" thingy. What is the weirdest reaction you've gotten with that? The Michael Moore one terrified me.
The best one was probably James Brown. Because I went "Doot doola doot doo" and he went "I'm not gonna go Wop Bobba Loo Bop a bim bam boom!". I was like "No. Doot doola doot doo.." and his back up singers went "Doo Doo.". But I was totally wrong because that was incredible. Because he totally did it! He basically did the best one. The worst one of all time pretty much was and the one that "got me" was Rob Zombie. At the end of the interview I went "Doot doola doot doo" and he just walked away from the speaker phone he was doing the interview on backstage at a giant Korn gig! He just walked out of the room and I kept going "Doot doola doot doo. Doot doola doot doo..." and seriously like twenty minutes later somebody came over and said "What going on there?" "Well I'm waiting for Rob Zombie to go 'doot doo'." "He left the room like twenty minutes ago" "Well, can you go 'doot doo'?" "Okay..doot doo." And it ends right there. So that was quite amazing, As much as that was kind of maddening it was kinda genius of him just to walk away and i just kept on going and going and going.
I guess I'm basically done. Unless there's anything you'd like to add.
Well, thanks so much for caring. I really appreciate the interest in all things Nardwuar the Human Serviette. And if people are interested and confused about what I said cause god knows I am, please check out Nardwuar.com also you can check out Nardwuar on Twitter and there's also clips on Youtube. But everything is linked from my own website there. And keep on rocking in the free world and doot doola doot doo...
...uhh doot doo?
For an audio recording of the interview featuring extra material, click here.
Paul McCartney (Cowboys Stadium) I can't think of a worse place to see Paul McCartney than this giant fucking Jerry Jones shrine in Arlington, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. The other day, DL and I were talking about our favorite Beatles songs and who wrote them. You can check out a full list of Beatles songs and writing credits here, which really got me thinking about my favorite Paul songs. Out of all the songs attributed just to McCartney, not to Lennon/McCartney, I'd have to go with "I've Just Seen A Face," "Martha My Dear," "Eleanor Rigby," or "Helter Skelter," I guess depending on what kind of mood I'm in (there is some argument as to whether "Eleanor Rigby" is really just a Paul song). What are some of your favorites? I'd start a Beatles vs. Stones thing too, but I've had that argument enough in person already, and I bet most people reading this would hate my answer. Anyway, McCartney always seems to play at least a few Beatles hits whenever he performs, so you can look forward to that if you're actually willing to shell out this kind of money for a ticket. And if you are, I'm guessing you're probably an ex-hippie baby boomer who thinks "free markets are totally groovy."
Darktown Strutters | Archibald Adams | No Mas Bodas (Rembrant's Dallas) Maybe I'm dumb for not knowing what Rembrant's is, but even though their website appears to no longer be functioning, I was able to ascertain that its some sort of "European cafe" downtown that serves beer, and is located at 703 McKinney Ave, Ste. 150, at McKinney and Houston. All three bands are interesting for sure-- I wonder how this will play out? Sounds worth checking out to me.
Ear Pwr | Toro Y Moi | Giggle Party (Good Records) This Parade of Flesh show was moved to Good Records from Pastime Tavern after Pastime up and canceled all remaining Parade of Flesh shows there. ADD: Or, to be more accurate, Pastime Tavern said they wouldn't do any all ages shows there anymore, citing some statute, and Parade of Flesh decided to move his shows to other locations as a result. Pretty lame, and certainly makes you wonder why-- do hipsters only buy set ups or something? Anyway, this is BYOB, all ages and starts at 8pm.
I don't really have much in the way of details for this particular recording, other than it was recorded in March of '80 and subsequently broadcast on Holland's VPRO Radio in 2002. It's possible that it was also broadcast shortly after it was recorded, but I have not confirmed this. I'm also going to assume that drummer Palmolive had already been replaced by Ingrid Weiss by this point, but again, I cannot say this with certainty.
This recording is heavy on material from the Raincoats' self titled 1979 debut, with a few tunes from their then forthcoming sophomore release, Odyshape, which makes it drastically different from the group's official live album, 1982's The Kitchen Tapes. The girls sound pretty relaxed and deliver performances that are somehow both more laid back AND intense than their studio recorded counterparts.
I love the first two Raincoats records, but in the several years that this recording has been in my possession I have listened to it more than both of those albums combined. Enjoy!
Harlem | White Drugs | The Frustrations (Rubber Gloves) There's an interesting cover by Harlem on their page of the Royal Trux classic, "Junkie's Nurse." I call every song made before 2005 a classic now, because it really pissed someone off the other day. Anyways, it got me to thinking that the original was made by actual junkies, and that's why they decided to cover the whole thing with a weird, noisy, wash. Now even though that kid in the picture is wearing a junkie's pancho, I'm going to guess that these guys aren't real junkies. For the sake of argument, even if they are, there is no way they are as into heroin as Royal Trux once were. Not only is that probably humanly impossible, but it's really for the best. Some days that's how I feel about the current crop of highly stylized and willfully vague recording practices in "current music." Many times I'm glad that the music is recorded or treated in a certain way, because I am afraid that it might be terribly uninteresting if it were recorded clearly or without the layers of static between artist and listener. It often seems as if we are running away from the efficiency and clarity of modern technology. Don't run so fast, fellas! I like things that suck.
The Frustrations seem like a group that would be pretty effective no matter what circumstances they play or record under, and their successful melding of psyche-wah sounds with punk rock rhythms and hysterics are likely to prove very entertaining tonight. Throw in White Drugs, who I haven't seen on many bills of late, and this looks like a good show on several levels.
Best Fwends | Zwounds | Casy and Brian (1919 Hemphill) Great show tonight at Hemphill. I'm not sure what else I can say about Best Fwends that I haven't already said at some point in the past 3 and a half years. I mean, we covered the Bacardi commercial and how they're more famous in Europe and the Death Set split 7 inch from forever ago and all that stuff already, didn't we? I still think they're one of the funniest and shittiest (in a good way) bands around, and since 1919 Hemphill is kinda where they got their start, I'm sure they'll have a good number of fwends out to see them tonight, especially since the Onion recently referred to them as "iPod-backed synth-strangling naifs." That's always a big draw. San Francisco's Casy and Brian are actually pretty similiar in many respects, with a feel-good, hyperactive Casio/synth pop sound that is often dizzying in speed, harshness and happiness, although probably a little poppier and closer to something like old Yacht or the Blow. Things will apparently get started around 8Pm this evening.
TUE: Harlem/White Drugs/The Frustrations (Rubber Gloves) WED: Paul McCartney (Cowboys Stadium) WED: Ear Pwr/Toro Y Moi/Giggle Party (Pastime Tavern) THU: Halflings/Geronimo/Xrin Arms/Lychgate/Psychic Violence (House of Tinnitus) THU: Bat For Lashes (the Loft) FRI: Church of the Apocalypse/Divorce/Lil Foot/wu fru de lu/Welby/Colossi (Wasted Words Collective, Arlington) SAT: Dungen/Woods/Matthew and the Arrogant Sea (The Loft) SUN: Lil Wayne/Young Jeezy/Soulja Boy (Starplex)
Blixaboy | Anthony Stanford | Personal Victories | H...N (Fallout Lounge) Wanz Dover is hosting a new bi-weekly "variety show"-themed event at the Fallout Lounge, that will include a mix of DJs and bands, with Dover (Blixaboy) himself closing out the night. Acts this week include DJ Anthony Stanford, as well as the open-ended wash of twin guitar duo H...N. Finally, Personal Victories work as conveyors and collaborators of George Quartz, and I'm told that the group acts as a separate entity in addition to this collaboration. Farah had to cancel but should be back next month. Like Pooh Bro said, "Oh, bother."(DL
AV | Select | VMB (Zubar) This serves as DJ AV's birthday party, and if you show up you'll hear a lot of hip hop, reggae, and latin dance stuff, and a good time is almost a guarantee.
Hockey (Granada) This is, for some reason, a FREE show, and you can get on the guest list or whatever by RSVPing to jcprsvp@yahoo.com. I mean, I can think of a lot of reasons why I wouldn't pay to see this band, but I imagine there are a lot of people around here that wouldn't mind paying at all, so I'm puzzled. Either way, though, Capitol Records' Hockey are from Portland, OR, and you'd be surprised by that, actually, because they don't really sound like they're from anywhere. I mean, shit-- they just sort of sound like The Killers, MGMT, Passion Pit, IMA Robot (remember THAT crap?) and a bunch of other vaguely "indie" stuff, and its so bland, streamlined and marketable that it won't even piss you off, because its clearly meant for people ages 12-16 that really haven't heard anything released before 2004. Hockey also pulls one of my favorite lame band moves-- they have a song where they accidentally make fun of themselves. Check out their track "Too Fake" on their Myspace page. The line in the chorus where the main bro says "I'm just too fake for this world" is particularly humorous.
Slow Roosevelt | Element 80 | System Overload | Hardway Down (Trees) It will be interesting to see how this ultimately turns out, booking wise anyways. Just because this show isn't exactly the Trees I have any fond remembrances of, that's okay. I think it's more honest. Some of my best memories from Trees aren't from watching the big national acts in a small setting, but rather from laughing at the barrage of bad Dallas bands that unjustifiably opened for said acts. Does anyone remember Pluto? The acoustic heavy band with a lead singer going off in an Vedder-voice about how his dad "thinks he's a pussy." What an uncomfortable lyrical era that was. Honesty is overrated. (DL)
Los Campesinos | Girls | Smith Westerns (the Granada) First of all, the packed show at Mable's in Denton last night was pretty fantastic all the way through, and Chicago's Smith Westerns were probably the highlight, although Fergus and Geronimo played an extremely well received set that I enjoyed quite a bit. I did kinda like some of the noisier stuff that the much buzzed about Girls did last night, but all any of us could seem to focus on was the fact that the lead singer reminded all of us of Dave Pirner from Soul Asylum. Even people who are way too young to actually remember Soul Asylum were saying so, and the fact that some of Girls' songs actually sounded like The Replacements meets doo wop didn't help matters. They are one of those bands that sound much better live than on record. Anyway, headliners Los Campesinos are sort of a strange band actually-- stylistically, their material is all over the place, everything from Yo La Tengo/Built to Spill influenced indie pop mixed with a distinctly British brand of pop punk. Not the most amazing thing you'll ever hear, but fun and mostly solid. But really, don't miss Smith Westerns-- I know they're like teenagers or whatever, but trust me.
ADD: Buzzer | Impediments | Uptown Bums (Cool Beans Roof) I haven't been in years, but I remember really loving Cool Beans' roof. San Francisco's Impediments remind me of a lot of first wave west coast punk, and the few songs I've been able to listen to were all fantastic, and truly sound like they could have been made way back then-- translation: not a shitty hipster rip off that just ends up sounding like indie garbage (which seems to be the case more often than not with bands who are supposed to sound like this). Tourmates Buzzer are quite similar in style and quality, and are maybe slightly more reminiscent of British groups with a touch of the Saints and Flying Nun thrown in for good measure-- this should be a great show, especially with the solid Uptown Bums opening. Kind of sad that I missed this yesterday, but I fucking work for a living you assholes. JK luv u mean it!
Dani Deahl | Disqo Disco | Passenger Panda (Fallout Lounge) The guys from Disqo Disco brought Dani Deahl to Fallout Lounge a few months ago and it was one of the better times I've had there in quite a long time-- the music was great and the place was packed. Deahl apparently had so much fun that she decided to come back and spend her birthday in Dallas, and we're lucky she did. You can stop by Disqo Disco's blog for a post on Deahl and a link to her latest mix, and we can tell you for sure that she knows what she's doing-- she runs Calamity Jane Records, an off shoot of the highly respected Rhythm, and she writes for URB and BPM magazines, among others. You might want to get to Fallout early on Saturday if her previous performance is any indication in the interest level people will have, and especially if you like house music, which is what she'll likely be focusing on.
Marilyn Manson | Slayer (Starplex) The only portion of this show that's even worthy of discussion will take place for one hour, starting at 827 PM on the "Rockstar" Main Stage, when Slayer will play. Every other horrible band on this rather large bill sounds like fucking Paul Simon's Graceland compared to them. Duh.
Fishboy | Iji | Watercolor Paintings (Hailey's) Kinda running out of time to write here, but Iji's naive indie pope sounds at least moderately interesting.
Dallas Record Convention (Westin Park Central Hotel Dallas located at 12720 Merit Drive in Dallas (located just south of 635 exit# 19 B aka Coit) This is apparently Dallas' first record convention in three years, and it's not a moment too soon. I have had to do a lot of shopping out-of-county, out-of-state, and even overseas if I can*, so this comes as a very welcome surprise. I have had a lot of "expert's luck" at these conventions, especially considering some rare scores like a Pere Ubu live record featuring a killer cover of The Seeds' "Pushing Too Hard," and a VHS tape featuring the odd pairing of Clan Of Xymox 4AD promos with a Bedhead live show. It's the kind of place where you can get a good estimate on the value of your Moe Tucker solo project t-shirt. True story. More info here (*I know I sound like an asshole, but I hate ordering records online. BORING.)
Smith Westerns | Fergus And Geronimo | Teenage Cool Kids (Mable Peabody's) Somebody please tell me we weren't just arguing about math rock versus punk rock on here the past couple of days. Somebody please tell me we aren't arguing about the definition of lo-fi. Come on, I can't do this again guys. I'm not seventeen anymore and it's not 1997. I had to grow up and start listening to João Gilberto solo albums and ordering Americanos instead of espresso shakes. It's like all late 90's up in here lately. Anyways, I'm going to avoid delving into such philosophically treacherous subject matter, and just tell you that this will be a very good show, sure to satisfy pop-defending squares and snotty seven-inch collectors alike.
Smith Westerns are from Chicago and they mix in slower glam grooves and rhythms than you would typically find on a typical power pop/garage rock record these days. A Marc Bolan resemblance is often mentioned in reviews, and the group has validated that by citing him as an influence. The band seems more memorable as a result of sounding more like T-Rex than The Standells or Mystic Tide, as is often found with acts lumped into this category. And speaking of being seventeen, these guys are all like eleven or something. You know that WSJR loves middle school-core.
Fergus and Geronimo are back from a string of successful New York City dates and this is the kickoff show for what will basically be three months of touring if you consider the amount of time spent on the road between F&G and shared-member act Teenage Cool Kids all the way into the end of October. That's three months of excruciatingly hard work for most of these guys, but it's also three months away from this petty and semantically obsessive music "scene." Fellas, wait up! TAKE ME WITH YOU!
DI | Spector 45 | Scary Cherry And The Bang Bangs (Somewhere in Lakewood) Look it up, I refuse to type the name of this place since they refused entry to my friends and I once based on our appearance. Also: beware of reunited punk bands with Myspace pages done in comic sans.
Waxy 100 The Encaustic Center 580 West Arapaho, Suite 271, Richardson, TX 75080 August 14 : 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
I'm actually going to go to this because A) it's literally in "The Richardson Heights" and B) encaustic has really grown on me over the last year. It's a really old art form dating back several thousand years, some pieces of which still exist. Jasper Johns used it for his Flag paintings. Evidently, "the event will include a demonstration by Bonny [Leibowitz] on Painterly Techniques and Deanna [Wood] on Painting and Collage." Featured image in encaustic by Deanna Wood.
5 x 7 is a fundraising road show from Austin's Arthouse. They're peddling 5" x 7" boards with original art on them for $100 each. The coolest part, though, is that "All pieces are displayed anonymously – only when you purchase a work of art will you discover who created it."
Home Grown Emerging Young Artists Melissa Archer, Thomas Colley, Maria Cortes, Alex Hamrick, Rudy Jacoby, Huy Nguyen, Zeke Raney and Olivia Rodriguez Upper Room Gallery of Unity Church of Christianity 3425 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75206 August 15 : 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Young enough that none of them seem to have any web presence whatsoever, except Alex Hamrick, whom you've seen here before.
A Memorial Celebration for the life of Andrew F. Sie Stan's Eye Light & Sie 129 Leslie Street, Dallas, TX 75207 August 15 : 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Evidently Andrew Sie died at the beginning on July due to "long-term" illness. The first half is the memorial, then the second half is going to be a selection of works from Stanley Light's personal collection.
Bowerbirds | Megafaun | Matthew Gray (Hailey's) Bowerbirds are a North Carolina folk duo who have garnered a considerable amount of attention for their mostly traditional, pastoral Americana folk, and have notably gained the approval of the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle, along with a spot opening for him on tour. The group released their sophomore LP, Upper Air, last month to respectable if not ecstatic critical praise, and the rather muted compliments found throughout many of the albums' most positive and high profile reviews are understandable-- most of their material is similar to what you've probably heard over and over again throughout the past half decade if you've been following trends within this strand of "indie folk" even casually, and although many of their tracks could be called "lovely," which something reviewers really like to say these days, "boring" would be another appropriate adjective for these mostly predictable songs that vaguely deal with the connections between humans and animals and other shit like that while copping the stylings of everyone from Devendra Banhart to Phosphorescent in the process. Even the duo's back story-- isolating themselves in the woods to make music thats honest blah blah-- has become pretty tired by this point. Not that I'm not all in favor of hippiesters leaving the rest of us alone in our villages as they journey to the middle of nowhere to connect with some kind of something, but lets just give it a rest, alright? We know you still managed to get high speed internet access out there.
And speaking of making records in the wilderness, Megafaun are former members of the band DeYarmond Edison, along with Justin Vernon, who is better known today as Bon Iver, the namesake of a project which proves that sometimes, some bro recording folk songs in the woods actually results in something worth listening to. And although Bon Iver is excellent in its own right, Megafaun take a much different approach, utilizing kitchen sing percussion and several part melodies to produce experimental Americana thats actually interesting, as their association with the always fascinating Akron/Family might attest. They are certainly the band most worth watching this evening.
ADD: DECADES with DJ Nodad (Rubber Gloves) Forgot about this one-- Dj Nodad will be spinning records from different decades every hour, working his way from the 60's on up. Projections will be going on as well. FREE for 21 and up.
Dear Human | Tambersauro | The Space Love Gambit (Death House, Denton) Complicated Math Rock guitar parts.... tons of tempo changes... polished instrumentation... emo tendencies... mostly instrumental? No thanks. And bands, please quit calling yourselves "shoegaze" just because you use a lot of distortion on your choruses or some shit, ok? Oh, and Tambersauro-- the world doesn't need a Rollins Band revival. Really. I'm serious. Don't know where Death House is, actually, so maybe someone could share in the comments.
free los campesinos, girls and smith westerns tickets
I'll make this short and sweet because you already know what's up-- Los Campesinos. Girls. Smith Westerns. Saturday night at the Granada. 2 pairs of tickets. Thanks to the Granada. Email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com to win. Do it before 5PM Wednesday. Thanks for reading.
What's up everyone? It's Monday again, and there isn't a whole lot going on this evening (as usual), but I thought we could talk about a few things. Is that ok? I mean, we're friends, aren't we? Isn't that what friends do?
First of all, strangely enough, Pitchfork has recently taken notice of Denton's Sunnybrook, posting a track on their "Forkcast" that we first discussed here more than 14 months ago, entitled "Waving Hands" (although they've shared a re-recorded version of the song) . Way 2 b 5 blog years late, broz. Anyway, Pitchfork's posting comes in response to last week's announcement, via Gorilla Vs Bear, that Sunnybrook has just completed a new EP that appears to be nearly ready for self release. We haven't seen or heard a lot from Sunnybrook's Paul North over the past year, but it would probably be reasonable to expect to hear a lot more in the very near future. Pitchfork also posted tracks from Denton based Abacus today as well, if you'd like to check those out. Looks like Denton has really been making some national waves recently, doesn't it?
Second, I've been listening to a lot of new music over the past few weeks, and I was wondering if you guys would like to discuss some of the stuff released this year that you've been digging as of late? Recently I've enjoyed new and relatively new stuff from Box Elders, Ooga Boogas, Dinosaur Jr, A Place to Bury Strangers, Health (a fairly drastic change from their debut, by the way, but excellent), Neon Indian, Ga'an, Malibu Falcon, Subway, Smith Westerns, Deastro, Delorean, Headdress, Oneohtrix Point Never, Talbot Tagora, Tyvek, the new Vivian Girls, and the list goes on. So whatchu got?
This evening you can check out the usual: Cool Out at the Cavern and Jazz at the Amsterdam Bar.
ADD: And I don't know why we keep forgetting this, but Mayhem Monday is happening at Fallout Lounge tonight, featuring Stefan Gonzalez and DJ Meco Seco spinning lots of hardcore, thrash, grindcore, death metal and more. You should go.
Geez, what a bunch of shows. Why does everyone feel the need to constantly express themselves? Come on, take the night off. Do you really want to be worried about your big show all day, and all that entails? Having to load in, load out, walking around nervously while the other bands play or DJ's are on (who you are most surely better than, of course), monitoring your merch table and pretending you haven't made a mental note of everything you've sold and given away for free, until finally, it's your moment to shine. I have faith in you. You're going to be great. But you might also consider just kicking back and watching a baseball game or trying to make some real money or something. Dreams do have an expiration date, kids. Don't choke on the sour milk.
Music is supposed to be fun, right? Well, I can say with confidence that some of these shows actually do look fun.
-DL
FRIDAY
Keith P | Redsean | DJ Dean Dillinger/Young Adult Fiction (Fallout Lounge)
My Son, My Executioner | Pee Wee Hermanator | On Earth As It Is In Heaven (Eisenbergs Skatepark located 930 E 15th St in Plano) Eisenbergs is a great place to catch a hardcore show. There is something about physics of the sound waves bouncing off of concrete and skate ramps that makes everything sound even more piercing and disgusting. Throw in the background clamor of worried parents shuffling about and you have yourself a real suburban punk experience, which is what it's all about when your really think about it. Beware of little in-line brats whizzing past you with all the confidence of a suicide bomber. Love this place.
Bob Dylan And His Band | John Mellencamp | Willie Nelson (Quiktrip Park located at 1600 Lone Star Parkway in Grand Prairie) Whoa, talk about commerce trampling all over taste in this lineup. I mean, Nelson and Dylan is a no-brainer, but throw in the experience of having to endure Mellencamp sing about chili dogs and shit just reminds you that the target demographic of this show is still often clueless about what's great concerning their own era's music.
Vega (DJ Set) | Big J | Yeah Def (Suite Basement) I'm assuming this DJ set follows the "band" set at the Lounge, with what I don't doubt will be an illuminating listen into what influences separate Alan Palomo's project from similar acts.I saw some Denton parody Twitter thing recently where Alan was called a name, and I assure you from a strictly "pro" blog bro standpoint, he most certainly does not live up to what was said, and is about a million times easier to deal with than much less popular artists.I'm sure the Tweet was a joke, but I just want to reiterate that this guy is an angel compared to people you think would be a walk in the park.
Sleep Whale | Perhapsy | Dear, Human | Echo-Toll (Hailey's) So Sunnybrook is on Pitchfork, but I don't know if I've seen Sleep Whale (or Mom) on there before. It can be awkward when a solo project takes off, but sometimes it's the best thing for a band.
| /TENSE/ | | Preaux Breaux Geauxld | Diamond Hymen | Skeleton Warrior | Vulgar Fashion (Castle Of Luxurious Diamonds located at 1007 Oakland St. In Denton): Vulgar Fashion has one of the best dance tracks I've heard by a local group in the past year or so, "Krystal Lies," which is featured on their Myspace page. This show should be pretty chaotic, thanks in no small part to jittery minimal synth act //TENSE//, who are appearing after having to cancel a recent show at Mable Peabody's.
SATURDAY
DJ Set by Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets, Tones On Tail etc. (Agave located at 2067 Summer Lee Dr, Ste 105 in Rockwall(!)) Where do I even begin about how weird this is? Sometimes a musician's life is all about looking at a sheet of paper and just saying yes if the money or exposure seems okay. Sometimes a little "Citysearch" on a place like Rockwall should also factor into the decision making process. Just a suggestion.
Method Man | Ghostface Killah | Redman (House Of Blues): Great lineup, though Ghostface seems to be the last guy here who has done much in the past five years. Did you know Killah Priest is playing the Lounge soon? Crazy.
