RAA show poster by Random Found Objects

Show info:

6/9 the Rural Alberta Advantage, Okay, Half-handed Cloud @ Bottom of the Hill, 9pm, $10, a/a

Here’s a reminder, for what will probably be the last ipickmynose presents show, the Rural Alberta Advantage (myspace) are playing a great bill at the Bottom of the Hill this Thursday July 9. Locals Okay and Half-handed Cloud (myspace) are opening.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know my love of Rural Alberta Advantage is nothing new. In fact, they released one of my favorite albums of 2008, which will be rereleased by Saddle Creek tomorrow, July 7. I saw them twice at SxSW, including an incredible, breath-taking show at Central Presbyterian. They produce driving, often-raw indie folk about Alberta. Mark my word, they will put on a good show.

the Rural Alberta Advantage – Don’t Haunt this Place (mp3)

the Rural Alberta Advantage – Sleep All Day (mp3)

Okay play broadly folk music, but with some experimental and freak folk elements. When I saw them at the Bottom of the Hill last year, I enjoyed their set.

Okay – Natural (mp3)

Half-handed Cloud is a band I’ve been following for quite a while, since I saw him open for Sufjan years ago. With folk-pop songs for people with ADD, this will be a fun way to start the set.

Half-handed Cloud – Skip the Rope (mp3)

Ticket contest:

I have two pairs of tickets to give away. To enter to win a pair of tickets to this show, email contest [at] ipickmynose [dot] com by noon on Wednesday July 8 with “Rural Alberta Advantage” (or “RAA”) in the subject line. Make sure to include your full name somewhere in there–that’s what will be on the guestlist. The winner will be chosen at random from all that email in. I’ll email the winner on Wednesday afternoon. Get those emails in now! It’s easy!

the Rural Alberta Advantage by ipickmynose

the Interview

I spoke to Nils Edenloff, who fronts the RAA and writes about his experiences growing up in Alberta for their songs, by phone last week from his father’s house in Edmonton. It was the day after their very first Edmonton show and it acted as a homecoming show for Nils. He was obviously still basking in the experience. Despite the interview taking him away from time with his family, he was gracious throughout the interview. We spoke for almost half an hour in the end and I wish I could share all of it here, but due to practical concerns, here’s just some of what we talked about.

Adrian Bischoff of ipickmynose: So you’re back in Edmonton?

Nils Edenloff of the Rural Alberta Advantage: Yeah, it was sort of a homecoming show for me.

Adrian: Have you played there with the band before?

Nils: No, this is the first time we’ve actually been able to make it west of Ontario. So we’ve been [doing] a, sort of, Canadian tour. The Alberta show have been going pretty crazy.

Adrian: Yeah, I bet.

Nils: I never, ever would have expected that when we started this the response would have been so overwhelming.

Read the rest of this entry »

show poster by Random Found Objects

A reminder that ipickmynose presents the the Wooden Birds (myspace) show at the Rickshaw Stop this Sunday at 8pm. As you may have learned from my post about the band, they’re the new band of Andrew Kenny of American Analog Set. It also has member of Ola Podrida and Lymbyc Systym in it. If the two shows of theirs that I saw at SxSW are indication, this will be a really good one. They have a new album, Magnolia which is out now.

The Wooden Birds – False Alarm (mp3)

Here’s the info you need to know for the show:

5/31 the Wooden Birds, the Old-Fashioned Way, Goh Nakamura @ Rickshaw Stop, 8pm, $10 (advance)/$12 (door), a/a

Buy tickets for the show. I have three pairs of tickets to give away. To enter to win a pair of tickets to this show, email contest [at] ipickmynose [dot] com by 11:59am Friday May 29 with “Wooden Birds” in the subject line. The winner will be chosen at random from all that email in. I’ll email the winners Friday afternoon. Get those emails in now! It’s easy!

Wooden Birds at SxSW

I recently had a chance to interview Andrew Kenny of the band by email while they were in tour in Europe. We talked about past San Francisco shows, Magnolia being Kenny’s ‘best effort to date’, and who really is the nicest guy in indie rock.

Adrian Bischoff of ipickmynose: How’s the tour going? Between Europe, East Coast and SxSW, you’ve got a handful of shows under your belt as the Wooden Birds. Do you have any favorites so far?

Andrew Kenny of the Wooden Birds: Our first shows were at SXSW so this is a good time to be a Wooden Bird. Every show, I can feel the band getting better and more confident. The Mercury in New York, and Union Hall in Brooklyn were both stand outs. I really liked Leipzig, Germany although most everyone in our crew thought Zagreb, Croatia was our best show in Europe. Madrid was a lot of fun too. I think we’ll wait until after the US tour to pick our favorites though. Lawrence, KS, I’m talking to YOU. Bring it on.

AB: It’s been a few years since you last played San Francisco, a packed and sweaty show at the Bottom of the Hill during AmAnSet’s last tour. What are you looking forward to about playing San Francisco again? Do you have any favorite stories from past San Francisco shows?

Read the rest of this entry »

[This is Part 2: the Interview. See also Part 1: the Garden Tour.]
–

After the tour around the garden, John and I went inside and chatted while he changed his strings. It veered much more toward conversation than interview throughout the hour. It’s strange interviewing someone you know on a personal basis. Here’s some of what we talked about.

The Interview

Adrian Bischoff: How was the tour with [the Mountain Goats' John] Darnielle?

John Vanderslice: It was probably the best tour I ever went on in terms of ease and fun.

AB: Did you guys just go around in a van?

JV: It was just me and him and [Mountain Goats tour manager] Brandon [Eggleston] in a minivan. It was as easy as it gets. It was perversely simple.

AB: So [keyboardist Ian Bjornstad's] the only one in your band from the last record, right?

JV: Yeah. We have a new drummer, Matthias. And we’re going to lose Matthias immediately after we do one tour with him, so we’ve already rehearsed with the next drummer.

AB: Wow. Who’s the next drummer?

JV: Jason Slota, who’s incredible. Man, I hate to say it, but one thing that’s cool–it’s like when your favorite band breaks up, there are so many other bands. That’s the cool thing. There are so many musicians. It’s a bountiful world. The Bay Area is a very good place for musicians. There are just shitloads of people here. There are a lot of drummers. There’s a lot of stuff happening here. It’s kind of awesome.

AB: So where’d you find these guys?

JV: It’s weird. I found a lot of them through Matthias. Do you know Matthias? You met him, right?

AB: I think I met him.

JV: Yeah, the new drummer I’m playing with, he’s awesome. He’s a total badass.

AB: I met the guitarist, right? What’s his name? Sil–

JV: Silvain is awesome. He’s really, really good.

AB: And then you have a fifth, right?

JV: Yeah, there is Jamie Riotto, the bass player. He did some of the arrangements. I met him because he works with the Magik*Magik Orchestra. A lot of these people are really connected to the Magik. They’re on a different level than me as far as how they play. They’re all really good musicians.

AB: So why did you switch labels?

Read the rest of this entry »

[This is Part 1: the Garden Tour. Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2: the Interview.]

John Vanderslice and his garden by Adrian Bischoff

“Adrian. This is John Vanderslice. Is now a good time?” Any time is a good time when it’s JV calling. What can we do for my blog, he was wondering. I remembered him talking about gardening in person and in various, other places. How about a garden tour/ interview, I suggested. And that’s what we did–see below first for the garden tour and tune in tomorrow for the interview

But before we get into all that, let’s make sure you know that Romanian Names is out tomorrow on Dead Oceans and JV is playing two dates in SF today and tomorrow. Tomorrow’s show with the Morning Benders should be great.

5/18 John Vanderslice @ Amoeba, 6pm, FREE, a/a

5/19 John Vanderslice, the Morning Benders @ Rickshaw Stop, 7:30pm, $16, a/a

–

The Garden Tour

Time and time again, he spoke about how zen it was in the garden. How peaceful, how quiet. “We’re in the suburbs and we love it”, he said at one point. It doesn’t take much to figure out why this man has a garden and loves it.

succulents

John Vanderslice: These are–there was a neighbor’s house down the street. I’ll show it to you when we go outside. They had a really famous–I think the Examiner did a story on them a long time ago. They have a famous succulent garden. The owner sold it and the new owner sent a letter out to the neighborhood saying that if anyone wants some plants, just come down here.

more succulents

Adrian Bischoff: This looks prehistoric.

Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo at the Wall in Taipei, October 2007

I listened to this concert of the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour featuring most of the collective in some for or another: Olivia Tremor Control, Apples in Stereo, Elf Power, Circulatory System, Music Tapes, the Gerbils, and more. It’s a good show; it’s worth listening to. You can stream it or download it if you subscribe to the podcast.

P4ktv has Danielson: a Family Movie available to stream in its entirety for one week only. I reviewed the movie when it first hit DVD (and interviewed the director) and I found the movie pretty fascinating. That’s certainly one band that marches to its own drummer. Danielson is actual at the Bottom of the Hill November 14 (w/ Cryptacize, Bart Davenport, 10pm, $14, a/a).

Back in October, shortly after their set at the Wall in Taipei and despite losing his voice, Robert Schneider, the singer, guitarist, main songwriter and producer of the Apples in stereo was nice enough to talk to me and answer some of my questions.

When I heard that the Apples were coming to Taipei, I was basically blown away; American bands just didn’t come to Taiwan much. When I heard back from their manager that an interview was possible, my mind started racing. After all, this is one of the first indie pop bands I ever liked. My first exploration into the Elephant 6 collective after In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was Science Fair. Tone Soul Evolution came shortly afterwards and still sits among my favorite indie pop albums of all time.

[If you want the condensed version of the interview, jump down to the question about the band's transitional period.]

the Apples in stereo – the Silvery Light of a Dream, Pt. 2 (mp3, from Tone Soul Evolution)

–

Adrian of IPMN: I love that you do the “hello” and “thank you”s [during your show] in Chinese.

Robert Schneider: I studied Chinese in college but I’ve totally forgotten it now. But it turns out having traveled, I know the most basic shit in a few languages, but that really gets you by. Because most of your interactions with average people is–you have to know how to say “hey”, “please”, “thank you”, “I’m sorry”. “I’m sorry” is a good one. Whenever I go to a new country I learn “I’m sorry” first because it really keeps you out of trouble.

[We're walking and Dan, the band's manager, approaches to discuss some logistical details. After that, as we're leaving we need to pass a local.]

R: Dui bu qi [I'm sorry].

A: See! So useful.

R: I know how to say “sorry” in multiple languages. It really gets you by. If you want to be chatty with someone it won’t get you by, but it gets you in average interactions.

…

A: How do you like playing for the Taiwan crowds?

R: It’s been amazing. We’ve had really good shows. Our show at the Megaport Festival was awesome.

We were playing against the water and there were gigantic fucking ships behind us–huge industrial ships. It was incredible, you know. It was really cool. We had to bring up the volume to meet the [volume of the] gigantic ships and the shipyards. We stayed in the–what’s it called–the Skytower. It’s the 14th tallest building in the world. [Ed: Now's it's the 16th tallest, but at the time of the interview it was the 14th.] A huge hotel–

A: Is this in Kaohsiung?

R: Yeah, this was in Gaoxiong, or Kaohsiung or however you say it. It was awesome. It was amazing.

…

A: So Megaport brought you over? How’s that work? They just called up your people and said, hey, can you do this…?

R: Yeah. They only brought over three international bands: two Japanese bands and then us. So I guess they didn’t do it with a lot of people but that’s what they did. They just called us and said, we’ll pay for this whole trip. We have hotels and everything taken care of, every single thing. Plane tickets and everything. I got to bring my wife and child over. It totally rocked. We had an amazing time. We had a translator/ guide and she took care of everything. She was amazing. It’s been pretty awesome. They were great.

–

A: So the last few years seem like a bit of a transitional period for the band. Is that fair to say?

R: Yeah, I’d say so. I mean, our whole career has been a transitional period in a sense because we’re always changing and doing different things. Also, making records and stuff has always been tied up in learning how to record. We usually home recorded and stuff. It’s been this whole journey of learning how to have a studio, record, and make productions, write songs and play together. We could barely play our instruments when we started our band. So [the] whole [time we've been a] band has been a transitional period, but the last few years has been much more transitional.

A: Was it a purposeful break that you took between, uh, sorry, uh, Velocity of Sound and New Magnetic Wonder?

R: No, it wasn’t purposeful but we were working on having a new sound and stuff. We were trying to work on new things and we had kind of a high goal for we wanted to achieve. So we just took time–also there was other stuff that happened. We toured in that time.

Many of us have other bands. Our drummer Hillary Sydney quit about a year and a half ago, after we recorded New Magnetic Wonder. About a year ago, actually. She was our drummer from our first–from the beginning of our band.

Actually, musically it was transitional. I went through a period, around Velocity of Sound and before that where I lost faith in the principles I always believed in as far as music goes. I always had this faith when I was growing up, when I was a teenager and when I was going into the Apples, going into my 20s and being a part of Elephant 6, which was this collective I was a part of and stuff–I’d always had this–it was my religion. It’s not overstating it to say it was my religion. My religion was big production, pop music, harmonies, psychedelia. When I say it, it doesn’t really mean enough–it really was my religion. I breathed it. It was the universe to me, you know? Brian Wilson and John Lennon and Paul McCartney and the Zombies and the Kinks. These guys were like my deities, you know. And my only deities.

I kind of went through a period where I lost faith in it. I came to feel like–not the songwriting–but the production and the drum sounds and the horn parts and the harmonies and the sound effects and stuff that’s all very important, it seemed very empty to me. I started to feel like–I can’t describe it. I went through a period where I started to feel that stuff was kind of superficial. What was real–you can listen to a record, like a Robert Johnson record or an old Dylan record. It’s just a guy and an acoustic guitar. You hear the voice and you hear the guitar. The voice is most of it and the guitar is equivalent to the whole big production. How important is that? You hear a guy singing some songs and you hear something else, some chords. Is it an orchestra, is an acoustic guitar or a piano? It doesn’t matter. And I started to lose faith because it’s like, if it can just be an acoustic guitar, why do I need this whole orchestra?

Read the rest of this entry »

This is an action packed post, kiddos. Brace yourselves!

The Morning Benders, talking through tin cans; photo by Adrian Bischoff

The Morning Benders (myspace) release their debut album, Talking Through Tin Cans today on Plus One Records. They’ve got a pretty kickin’ deal going that if you buy their digital album, you get it, plus some b-sides, and a ticket to their CD release show either in SF or LA. The LA release show is at the Echo on Thursday (May 8th) and the SF show is at 330 Ritch on Friday (May 9th). More about the deal here. You can also get more info about the shows here.

You can also check out a free in-store at Virgin Megastore downtown (2 Stockton St) tomorrow evening at 7pm. Be sure to get there early so you can get a spot close.

All the songs I’ve heard from Talking are really good. I’m pretty excited to hear the whole thing.

the Morning Benders – Crosseyed (mp3)

the Morning Benders – Boarded Doors (mp3)

I sat down at a recording studio and music offices in the Mission with Chris Chu, the Morning Benders’ songwriter, singer and guitarist, last week to catch up and ask him a few questions as the album release approached.

–

Adrian Bischoff of ipickmynose: Are you excited that the album’s finally coming out?

Chris Chu of the Morning Benders: Quite. Quite.

A: It’s been a while since you recorded it, right?

C: Yeah, it’s been a while. I think that’s sort of what happens.

A: It’s been … eight months or something… last August.

C: Yeah. August. So it’s been a while.

A: Have your opinions of the album changed since then? Or the songs?

C: Um, yeah, definitely. I guess I haven’t listened to it in a while. That’s what happens, you know. You obsess over it for so long, you don’t want to ever listen to it again. You get over that after a while and you can put it on again and be more objective about it. It’s cool. I mean, everything we’ve gone through is a learning process. I’m the sort of person who’ll look back and think about all the things I would do differently or want to change for the next time and that sort of thing…

A: Is that what happened with the EPs? Because you recorded some of those songs again.

C: Yeah, the EPs were definitely a learning process because I was recording them and that was my first time ever recording, so I was just learning that for the first time. I sort of knew going into them that those weren’t going to be what I had intended them to be because we were really limited. We were really limited, obviously. What we had was just whatever was around my house.

When we got into the studio that was what was so cool about it. We got to flesh out the songs how I wanted in the first place.

A: I read somewhere that one of the EPs–I forget which song–but the second song you ever recorded was on one of the EPs.

C: The first song I ever recorded was “Grain of Salt”. And it took me like three times. I have a bunch of versions of it. We’ve actually been talking about–because that song’s not on the record, but we still like to play it. So we’re thinking about putting out an EP of just “Grain of Salt” recordings because there are so many different versions of it.

A: That’d be awesome. You should get some other bands to cover it as well.

C: Yeah. That’d be cool. I didn’t think of that. That’s a good idea.

A: I’ll expect a royalty check.

C: [laughing] Yeah…

I recorded acoustic demos but that was just like putting a mic up and hitting record. But the first time I tried to record a band or a song was “Grain of Salt” and I did it piece-by-piece.

A: I mean, historically, that’s not, like, how bands work. People sit in their basements for 10 years and record on a four-track and then finally release an album. Do you feel like you’re–I don’t know–bursting onto the scene quickly?

C: I don’t really think about it that way. I think try to not think about it too much or deliberate too much and just let it happen like it needs to happen. I don’t feel you need to be tinkering away on songs for years and years before you put them out. Because it takes away a lot– I think, some of the spontaneity, some of the early creative hit or whatever–or energy.

So I kind of like the spirit of recording things haphazardly and putting them out. I started writing songs a few years ago, so that was sort of a new thing. Most of these songs are some of the first songs I’ve ever written.

A: Do you think that–obviously it’s a lot easier to record a song and get it out there [now] with the internet, so do you think ten years ago that you’d have been releasing songs as quickly?

C: That’s a good question. I think we probably would. We would have found some way to do it. People have been recording things for themselves for a good amount of time, like you were saying, on a four track. We probably would have done that or whatever was cheaper. It just so happens that recording on your computer or something is the cheapest way, because you don’t have to really buy anything else. Yeah, the internet is obviously a good tool for getting your music out there. That would have been a lot harder or a lot different.

(Find the rest of the interview, a new video and the flyer after the jump.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Head over to the Bay Bridged to read the interview I did with the The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle.

Here’s a sample:

TBB: Now that you’re touring with a drummer and even playing electric guitar on occasion, I’ve heard people talk about the Mountain Goats “rocking out” more than before. Do you see this as a change in the amount of “rocking” or just its manifestation?

JD: I personally don’t, but that’s because I don’t equate rocking with instrumentation. My old solo shows back when I was just totally spazzing out all night, those rocked harder than any ten full-combo rock bands. Any day. Give me enough liquor and cause for a bad attitude and I’ll still put me & an acoustic guitar up against most any band who think they rock. I have always had something of a chip on my shoulder about this.

Go check out the full interview.

I did an interview with John Vanderslice back in July on the air at KZSU. Below is the full, unedited, linked/ annotated and with mp3s of his in-studio performance. It’ll be like being in the pop up video version of the studio. If you want to read the last interview I did with him, head here. If you want a shorter version of the interview, read yesterday’s excerpts.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrow I’ll post the full and unedited interview (and mp3s of the in-studio performance) I did with John Vanderslice back in July on the air at KZSU, but for now, here are some excerpts: the best of, so to speak. If you want to read the last interview I did with him, head here.

On the title “the nicest guy in indie rock”:
“I’ve got to punch someone out to get rid of that stuff, man. I think it’s damaging me.

“No, I’m kidding…In fact I really don’t like when people act in a way there’s a predetermined–I see so many bands in the studio [where] they literally show up with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s because there’s that thing; they’ve read the Motley Crue thing or whatever. It’s just that I think you’ve got to mix it up.

“Sometimes I think I should go road-raging or go crazy… But am I any different than any other person that comes in here?

“That sucks, though because it means they’re maybe not so nice because I just see myself as being completely normal. I am very socialized. It’s true, I am very socialized, but I feel that I’m totally normal.”

On Scott Solter:
“He’s my partner really. He produced the record and he works at my studio a lot. And he toured with me for–I can’t believe now that I got him out on tour for so many times because you know, he’s married, he’s got a real, normal life. I think I took him out on six tours or something. But he’s been there since Time Travel [is Lonely]; he’s been really really important to what I’ve been doing.”

On interviews and being entertaining:
“…Sometime when I read interviews I’ve done I just cannot believe I have said those things. Like I’m wondering now–seriously, the only thing I’m worrying about now is am I being boring? I’m answering your questions and I’m like–

[Adrian looks at other people in the studio, posing the question. They nod.]

“See! I am! I need to ratchet it up, right?!

[Other people in the studio shake their head vigorously.]

“See, it is on me to be entertaining. I am an entertainer. I’m being asked questions. I really can appreciate that English front guy–Oasis–that guy just being absolute off-the-wall. I really appreciate him now. I didn’t get him but I went back and I’m like, that’s an artwork, a living, standing, breathing artwork. Instead of having to read through some really careful press release. I began to think that–I really appreciate how honest and straightforward people are in interviews. I realized if you did that you’re going to be somewhat abrasive. You’re going to annoy some people.”

On whether he worries about buzz building up too quickly:

“No, it’s never enough. You know like when you were young–can I say anything I want? I should be mellow, huh. Let’s say you’re young, first time drinking alcohol and you want it to hit so fast and so hard and it doesn’t. I remember the first I got drunk, I drank bourbon at my friend Ricky Rankin’s house straight. We put lemonade mix in it. I remember thinking, this isn’t fast enough. It’s not intense enough; it’s not strong enough. And that’s how it is when an album comes out. You just want it to be this torrential flood of–the thing is, when you do it over and over again, there’s a routine. I think that routine is cool, but it’s almost–listen, you’re not the Beatles at Shea Stadium no matter what. I mean, there’s too many things coming out. There’s too many amazing records coming out every week. You’re just another band putting out a record. And you’re totally thankful for it, but there’s a part of you–seriously, there’s that Mick Jagger inside you that just, you know, wants insanity. You want to be in a Prevost driving 150 miles per hour while people are shooting heroin. You know? It doesn’t ever happen. And strippers and craziness. It just doesn’t happen.

“The question is, is it ever enough? No, it’s not enough, because I have this infantile image inside my mind of how intense it was in 1968. You know what I mean? [laughs] And all the bands I know, they’re like–it’s like business people on a trip. They go to their Courtyard Marriott, turn on the golf channel and go to sleep. And it’s never crazy.”

On photography:
“I don’t take any more amazing photographs than any of my other band mates. They’re right beside me; we’re taking the same shot. Theirs looks exactly like [mine]. It’s just that they don’t bother to put it on the web. [laughs] That’s the only difference. It’s just that I take 10,000 photographs a year and I weed out the 150 and I’m probably a decent editor. What I’m doing, anybody could do it, if they get a Pentax K1000, get some decent film and then go to Photoworks or Pro 1 in LA and have it developed on nice matte paper. It’ll look exactly the same, you know?

“And, photography for me is a hobby and it’d never enter the realm of any other thing.”

On a United flight that dropped out of the air for a few seconds:
“That was the worst experience I ever had but the real depression of that flight was after–basically the plane just dropped out of the sky for four or five seconds and then everyone started screaming, like all these seasoned travelers. You know, people who fly back and forth every week were freaking out and there was–I mean, everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs for like three minutes. It was the worst thing I ever saw. I mean, basically, the plane was in the middle of the Pacific and it had just fallen out of the sky. It’d free-fallen so much that the crew and everyone–people had lost it. But it wasn’t then that I really went nuts, it was after the plane had stabilized and I thought, this is horrible. It was even worse when the plane was flying to Japan again. I mean, they were playing Miss Congeniality 2 on there.

“You know what I mean? I’m not trying to be funny, but I just thought, is this how I’m going to die? At this point in my life? It’s all the typical, cliched stuff you think about your life.

“Again, I submit: Miss Congeniality 2.”

On whether he’d write a fully-autobiographical album:
“In general it’s not that I’m not interested, but I’ve been writing songs for so long, I’ve mined a lot of that personal stuff. It’s difficult–you know, I’m not a drama guy. I’m actually looking for the absence of drama. I’m very very domestic and super mellow and I don’t really find or seek out conflict with people. I really don’t want to be emotionally destabilized at all so for me it’s not like I’m Faulkner. I don’t have this tremendous wellspring of experience necessarily. Or James Joyce. I’ve found that I take a piece of experience and expand it, blow it up, exaggerate it and then place it somewhere else, which is probably what a lot of writers could do anyways.

“I mean, not every slight that happened to Morrissey was really that important, you know what I mean? That’s totally–there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean, that’s songwriting, that’s art. I mean, Emily Dickinson wasn’t really that freaked out about the spider in that one poem. ”

Oakland-based Jason Munn, who designs under the name the Small Stakes, is a genius. He designs show and tour posters with simple but amazingly apt and effective designs. I always love his posters and buy them every time I see one at a show that I go to. (I now have 9: Ben Gibbard/ David Bazan, Sufjan Stevens, Pat Sturgeon Benefit, Mates of State, Jose Gonzalez, Mark Kozelek, Rogue Wave, American Analog Set and Tsunami Relief.) You can check out his posters at his website and also at gigposters. I’ve also run into him at / written about him after Flatstock 10.

I asked Jason to put together a short mix and asked him a few questions.

The mix:
Jason says: “I’ve got some 5 songs for you. Somewhat random, but I had a look at my iTunes to see what the top played songs and bands were.”

American Analog Set – Choir Vandals (mp3)

Lungfish – To Whom You Were Born (mp3)

Contantines – Lizaveta (mp3)

The National – Slow Show (mp3)

Castanets – A Song Is Not the Song of the World (mp3)

The interview: [All links added by me]

How did you get into this?
I moved to Oakland from Wisconsin almost 5 years ago. Before I moved I was working in a small design studio and doing some side projects like album packaging and t-shirts for friends of mine in bands. When I moved out here I had a couple of short term jobs at design studios or ad agencies, but it was a pretty slow time for everyone so I wasn’t working much. Around this time some friends of mine started booking shows at The Ramp – an all ages venue in Berkeley. They asked me to do a poster to promote each show – which was once a month. Really great shows and I met a lot of people at these shows that I still do work for today.

What was your first show poster?
There were a couple that I consider my first two since I was working and printing them at the same time. One for Pedro the Lion at Great American Music Hall and Damien Jurado at Bottom of the Hill.

Are you a musician?
Not at all. I can play a little on the guitar, but definitely not anything to write home about.

Who hires you for jobs? I’ve seen posters for tours and posters for individual shows, leading me to believe that it’s sometimes clubs, sometimes bands.
Most of the time for me it is through bands or management. Occasionally through the venue or a combination of both.

Does the client have any influence on the design?
Most of the time the bands are pretty hands off about it, but I’m always really trying to make something that is appropriate for the band and not just me doing whatever I feel like. It needs to tie in. They are approved so if a band feels I’m way off I’ll try something else.

Take us briefly through the design process for a poster.
A lot of sketching at first. If I’m not really familiar with the band I’m doing some listening and research on them. Once I have an idea I start in on it. Most of the layout and everything is done in Illustrator, but I’m usually basing it off of a sketch I’ve done and scanned in.

Do you design posters based on some fundamental design principles or do you take each one on a case-by-case basis?
It’s definitely a case-by-case, but there are definitely aesthetics that I gravitate towards. The bands drive the posters quite a bit though.

Who do you admire as far as graphics go? Who has influenced you the most?
There is quite a few people, most who have or still work doing design in the music world. Peter Saville being a big one, he designed the Factory Records albums. Jeff Kleinsmith being another – he’s the art director at Sub Pop. He’s designed quite a few records that I own.

It seems your most common non-musical design element is the heart (two Mates of State posters, and posters for American Analog Set, Camera Obscura, Nada Surf, Rainer Maria, if not more). Is there a reason for this? Just that a lot of indie rock songs are love songs?
I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that heart symbol is pretty universal and I’m a sucker for symbols that are bold and universal and it does fit a lot of the bands pretty well.

Do you have a favorite poster that you’ve done? Or a top five?
I like the couple of posters I’ve done for The Books quite a bit. The first one I did for them may be my favorite poster I’ve done. I tend to like the newer posters more than the older ones, but sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised when I see one of the older prints that I haven’t seen for awhile. Most of the time though I think of what I would have done differently.

if you were playing a show or promoting a show and couldn’t make the poster yourself, who would you ask?
Dirk Fowler, he’s a poster designer from Lubbock, Texas. He’s made a few of my all time favorite posters.

And the one that’s going to win me the investigative journalism prize: why are posters 2.5 times as much on your website than at shows? (You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want.)
By the time they are on my site there are not many available. I think it’s a really fair price for a limited edition print.

–

And there you have it. You can buy Small Stakes posters at many shows and at the poster store at the Small Stakes website.

A few weeks ago I reviewed JL Aronson’s film Danielson: A Family Movie, which finally came out on DVD.

I emailed JL and we did a short interview. Here are it is:

Adrian: Why did you want to do a film about the Danielson Famile?
JL: I first heard Danielson Famile on a Tooth and Nail compilation that I got for free in late 97 (or mid 1998?). So that stuff really works. Not sure if I’d heard of them before that but the comp was definitely my first introduction. The song was ‘Smooth Death’ from their second record, “Tell Another Joke at the ol’ Choppin’ Block.” It reeked of authenticity which is the first thing I look for in music. What exactly they were authentic OF was, however, a bit difficult to ascertain. I pictured them barefooted in rolled up dungaree overalls, singing around one microphone at the center of the room. I wanted to know more and, fortunately, I live in New York and they’ve always played in the city quite a bit. New York’s art-rock avant-garde has always embraced them more than the south Jersey, farmland milieu that they come from. But at their shows I was equally fascinated with the audience as I was with the band. What draws people of different perspectives –often secular people– to a performance of a family singing about their relationship with God? That was what really inspired to make a movie about them.

Adrian:Do you have an religious leanings yourself? Either way, do you think this was important in making the film?
JL: I’m into meditation and I was raised Jewish. I think it helped that I am
sympathetic to people of faith rather than immediately dubious.

Adrian: What did you learn from making it?
JL The filmmaker has to let the movie decide when it’s done, not the other way
around.

Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk (myspace) was nice enough to talk to me over the telephone a little bit ago and answer some questions. Originally it aired on my radio show.

Girl Talk undoubtedly rocking out; promo shot

Read on to see what he thinks of being called a “DJ”, how the Pittsburgh scene is, what his high school graduation song was and what he thinks of this year’s Steelers team.

[notes: I'm basically presenting it as it happened, only editing it to take out some radio-specific references and to make my words clearer than my normal bumbling.]

Grizzly Bear – Knife (Girl Talk remix) (mp3)

Adrian: So for [people] who might not be as familiar with what you do, you go by Gregg Gillis during the day and Girl Talk at night. You released an album that was critically acclaimed over the last year and made a lot of top 10 lists. How would you, sort of, describe your sound?

Girl Talk: My sound is basically cut up pop music, rearranged.

A: I know you have t-shirts that say “I’m not a DJ” and I wouldn’t really call what you do a mashup so do you, sort of, get mad at [people using] those terms when they’re applied to you?

GT: I don’t get mad necessarily. I think people can interpret it any way they want. I think that—the “I’m not a DJ” shirts are sort of a response to, you know, people asking me to play shows and expecting me to do two hour sets on turntables, but that’s not what I do at all, you know. I’ve always done my music on a laptop.

A DJ is a very specific art. You could put a good DJ on on any crowd and they could work the crowd and spin songs that they like, but when you see me live, I play my style of remixes. And it’s like going to see any band live where you go to see that style of music and if you’re not a fan of that style of music, you won’t like it. So, you know, when you see me live, it’s all remixes. It’s all very—it’s all based on other people’s music. I don’t play other people’s music outright, but there’s a little bit of a distinction between what I do and a standard DJ. I’ve always considered myself more of a producer, a sample-based producer. And there are lots of guys who do sound-collage stuff who wouldn’t necessarily go by the “DJ” term. I mean, I’m not offended by anything. I’m open to interpretation. The whole DJ phrase has sort of been tossed around the last six months whereas I’ve been doing this for seven years. I’ve never had an issue before.

Read the rest of this entry »