Interviews | Nevermind The Posers

NVMP on the Record with Andrew W.K. March 1, 2010

Filed under: Can You Believe This?!,Interviews — NVMP @ 3:47 AM
Tags: Andrew W.K., Santo's Party House, Steev Mike

It’s no secret that achieving acclaim and stardom comes with a price. Think of any celebrity and there’s a good chance that at one time or another they’ve had to deal with a cadre of skeptics and nay-sayers (more commonly known as “haters” these days), and Andrew W.K. is no exception. 2010 started off with a fresh whirlwind of controversy for the “Party Hard” rocker, rife with flat out accusations that he is not the person we think he is, that “Andrew W.K.” doesn’t actually exist but is rather the result of a vast music industry conspiracy to brain-wash performers and turn them into idealized puppets. (Lady GaGa and Kanye West have been thrown into this mix as well.)

This was followed by a message posted on his website.

http://www.andrewwk.com/index.php?page=page.php?id=64

If you’re like us at NVMP, you’re thinking, “What the hell is going on?!” Well, we went straight to the source to find out. We were lucky enough to score a phone interview with Andrew W.K. himself a few days ahead of his February 23rd appearance at Santos Party House in NYC, and had a chance to get his perspective on how this all got started and the real truth of the matter. Check out the highlights of the interview below and be on the lookout for our first Poser Free Podcast this week, featuring audio from the interview.

NeVerMindthePosers: So, from your perspective what is this controversy all about? How did this start?

Andrew W. K.: A lot of that started and has been going on just because of the way some of the way the press reacted at the beginning of the whole story…because I appeared out of nowhere, some people approached it with a more doubtful point of view, where I think they just figured it was too good to be true., or too whatever to be true. Rather than giving me the benefit of the doubt, they just went with the doubt and decided that they knew my whole story, when of course they didn’t. And at the time it was very frustrating for me to have people say that I’m not a real person, or that I didn’t make-up my music or that other people tell me what to do. But at the same time, there’s enough partial truth to a lot of the accusations or rumors that it’s still hard for me to really deny some of the elements. I mean, yes I’ve worked with people at my record labels, yes I have a team of people that I’ve worked with from the beginning. Yes, I have made efforts to approach what I do in a certain kind of spirit that to some people might seem like acting, but it really gets down to just how you really define these words. I think you can look at anything and pick it apart and convince yourself that it’s whatever you wanted to believe. So if people want to believe that I’m not real, I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to prove that to themselves and other people. But the fortunate thing, since I do exist, all I have to do is keep going on, and I kind of by default disprove a lot of these accusations.

NVMP: Well, we’re all supporting you here. We’re all behind you, 100%.

AWK: Well, I mean just by the fact that you’re speaking with me, I hope that you also understand now that I exist. I don’t take a lot of these things too seriously because it’s on such a level of absurdity, that when someone doesn’t believe I’m a real person for example, all I have to do is appear or live one more day, being a real person, to show that that’s not true. But even with all the proof I could ever offer people, they could still say that I’m lying or it’s not true…but I’m just trying to be present in this moment, I’ve always tried to be accessible…so I want to be here to respond to people, I may not be able to answer every question in a way that’s going to satisfy every single person, but I just want to say that I’m not hiding away at this time.

NVMP: Did you ever know a Steev Mike? Who is he?

AWK: That’s the producer on my first album, unaccredited on the second album, credited on the third one that’s coming out in March. Again, there’s not a lot of hidden facts when it comes to that kind of stuff, I just, there’s people whose names I don’t name and that allows them to have their privacy maintained over the years, and that’s really the biggest problem. When you make a promise to someone to keep something a secret, one side effect of it is that people assume that there’s some bad reason you’re keeping the secret, or that there’s something you’re trying to hide that is malicious or dark or something like that, but of course it’s only that some of the people I’ve worked with from the very beginning, part of the agreement was that they wanted privacy, certain types of privacy. I don’t care about that kind of privacy, that’s why I don’t obscure my name or anything like that, but there’s different people. Some people like to be in the spotlight, some people like to work behind the scenes…and some of them have a different way in which they manage their privacy. I can understand why someone might think there’s something fishy about that, but if you’ve ever made a promise to not tell a secret…you understand that it may not be a big deal, it’s not like it’s some big revelation, it’s just private.

NVMP: Yeah, you’re keeping your promise.

AWK: Yeah, and that’s something I take very, very seriously. I made this promise a long, long time ago, and made it over and over again….I guess the same way like when you marry someone, you make your vow, but part of keeping that vow is you sort of make that promise again every day. You empower the promise by repromising.

NVMP: Do you think that some of this stems from the fact that the public really has no idea that there are so many things that have to go on behind the scenes that are necessities, like business necessities, production necessities, strategic necessities? I mean once you become a name and achieve the level you have, you are sort of a brand, and you have to find a way to sort of keep that going so that the whole reason you started this doesn’t come crashing down.

AWK: Absolutely, exactly. You said it very well, and I appreciate you seeing it that way. I mean, I believe that things will move on, this too shall pass. It’s been surprising, and at first really frustrating. The only thing I can think of is when you come on real strong, and people can’t figure out where you came from. When they can’t trace that line back…people want to understand, it’s a natural human instinct to want to understand, but I think that the confusion begins when we confuse the rest of our experiences with entertainment and show business. I don’t know that entertainment is designed or best served, or the audience is best served by understanding in most cases. I think just experiencing is really the fun of it, and trying to understand can sort of chip away at the joy of just reveling in being entertained and having fun with whatever performance you’re encountering.

You can hear more from Andrew W. K. in the pilot episode of the Poser Free Podcast, the official radio show compendium to Nevermind The Posers. The show features more of the great music news and reviews from the editors and writers of Nevermind The Posers, as well as audio from interviews with artists, indie tracks, concert reviews and more. So check out the latest addition to our bill of fare, and don’t forget to leave some comments below. What do you think of what Andrew W. K. had to say?

– Klone

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Charlotte Martin Interview at World Café Live October 16, 2009

If watching the latest MTV Music awards has illustrated anything (and not just Kanye West’s “outburst”), it’s that today’s music scene is a world full of jaded, over-pampered, attention seeking, product hawking, uptight musicians, or as everyone else calls them, dicks. Thankfully, we have someone like Charlotte Martin, who has proven to be a sonic savior, an artist who has delivered fresh and inventive music into the gag-inducing music scene for 10 years running. Her compositions float seamlessly between pop, electro, dance, and singer/songwriter, with her powerful opera-trained vocal chords leading the charge, paired with a piano playing dexterity that has the fury of a monsoon delivered with the delicateness of a soft caress. She is a music industry veteran who has clocked a decade in the field; from her humble beginnings in local Los Angeles clubs, to going through the trials and tribulations of a major label record contract and living to tell about it, to the present challenges of motherhood and gaining the freedom to guide her own career. And rather than enjoying the fruits of her labors, she chose to tough it out by launching the “Mad Fast Acoustic Tour” in the middle of recording a new album, with family in tow.

Mark from Nevermind the Posers had the chance to sit down with Charlotte at World Café Live in Philadelphia, PA on the first night of her 4 date tour (September 30, 2009) to discuss the fans, family life, music, the horrors of post-nasal drip, and her new instrumental release Piano Trees.

M (Mark): You’re a working mother who’s charting the course of her career, in the midst of recording a new album, and you have just completed a side project. With so much going on, why choose to launch a mini-tour in the midst of all of this?

CM (Charlotte Martin): I don’t know… because I’m insane. Honestly, I just want people to know that I am still able to tour; it’s really hard to tour with a baby, but actually mine is really easy [being that] he’s a good kid. The only thing that’s difficult is the extra gear [pointing to all of the baby gear]. I can’t do as much anymore, not all at the same time. I’m multi-tasking as a mom, and trying to run a house, so much that I can’t work on a record and tour at the same time. And the reason that this side project came out is because I have awesome people that helped me put it together. I wouldn’t have been able to do that by myself; I fully give props. As far as the writing goes, I’m still a bit slow. I mean we’ve recorded about 6 songs; most of it is written, but I am kind of at the mercy of Ken’s [Ken Andrews, Charlotte’s husband and producer] schedule, because I want to work with him. When we get back from these dates he’s going to work pretty much for a solid 3 weeks, so I am hoping to finish it by the end of the year… [by] early January, because my team wants to try to put it out next year.

M: On this tour you are releasing a side-project called Piano Trees and I read that you wrote it specifically to inspire other artists.

CM: I did. It didn’t seem like I was. I was actually going to write a book called ‘Word Trees’, because I write a lot of my songs from these lists that I have been brainstorming, broken thoughts and words, I call Word Trees. And I have 20-30 something books now; I was going to make a coffee table sort of art book, and the Piano Trees CD was going to go with the book, but it’s ridiculously expensive to make a book. So, when I figured out my record probably wasn’t going to be done this year, I figured [that] I have got to give everybody something, so why not? And fast forward from 2005 ’til now, lots of dancers dance to my stuff on all of these shows, which is amazing.

M: Like ‘So You Think You Can Dance’?

CM: Yeah! Tons of dancers, painters, photographers, actors and other musicians, and I thought “this would be really good for people”. Then the point became very clear that it might be cool for people if they are in the process of writing something. Honestly, you can’t write music to it, but if you’re a musician… I write lyrics while listening to my favorite bands all of the time, which is probably why the song “The Kick Inside” by Kate Bush is in the song “Up All Night”.

M: I know a lot of people ask you about your influences. You’ve name checked artists like New Order, The Cure, Kate Bush; I was wondering who are some of the other artists that you listened to that inspired you while you were making Piano Trees?

CM: A band called Stars of the Lid, a band called Explosions in the Sky; I’m really, really into M83, Radio Department, this piano player named Dustin O’Halloran; his music is pretty similar to Piano Trees except that it’s way sweeter, almost more proper classical. It’s all of my Shoe-Gazer stuff that I don’t sound like but that I want to be [laughing]. I really love it all, I just never do that… ever.

M: Along with past tour releases Darkest Hours, Veins, and the Rarities series, Piano Trees is also being released on tour, why release such a steady amount of material during tours?

CM: I feel like it gives me an excuse to tour because I have something coming out, otherwise I don’t know if I would tour just to tour. It’s for fun; I feel like it’s my obligation to give you good new music if you’re going to buy a ticket to come see me play.

M: A lot of other artists milk the same thing for years.

CM: No, I have never done a record cycle for longer than a year, because the records weren’t quite that huge. You know, on my level you have to release a lot of material to make a living… and I am blessed that people buy it, but I have got to release a lot. I’m just really lucky; I mean they are the reason that I have a job.

M: One of the things that is noticeable about the shows, in addition to the growing crowds, are the familiar faces that I see. What effect has having such a dedicated fan base had on your writing and career?

CM: Everything. I write thinking, “Is this going to bore people? Are people going to be into this”? I mean, I write for myself too, but I’m very conscientious. I know that there is a lot of my fan base that wants me to do a solo record, and honestly I feel like saying, “You think that you want that for a whole record, but I don’t think you want it that… stark”. Even On Your Shore was in a lot of ways as dense as Stromata, it was just orchestra, but there were lots of layers. People think they want [another] On Your Shore because it’s sparse, but it really isn’t, it just has sparser moments.

M: Around the time of On Your Shore, you started collaborating with a lot of dance acts; you did a song with the Crystal Method (“Glass Breaker”), with DJ Tiesto (“Sweet Things”), and most recently, I was ecstatic to see that you collaborated with BT on his next album. how did that come about? How was the recording process? Was it any different than what you are used to?

CM: Well, he sent me a track, and I recorded over it and sent it back to him.

M: So that’s pretty much it with BT then?

CM: Yeah. I really don’t know what he’s doing right now. He’s been working on it for a while, because we did that song 2 years ago. It’s called “Feed the Monster”, it’s slammin’… it’s Garbage, meets Shiny Toy Guns, meets BT.

M: Each of your records seem to have its own distinct sound and atmosphere, how do you determine which sonic direction that you want to take during the recording process?

CM: Well, with Stromata we decided pretty quickly. With this new record, the writing, or the actual song itself tells Ken and I where it should go. I mean we do get stumped; there is this one [song] now that is called “Everything is Tied to Little Strings” that we just can’t crack. We actually asked Greg [Greg Edwards of Autolux and Failure] to work on it because it’s super weird. It’s a really tough nut to crack, but I have had songs that were tough to crack before. I mean “Every Time It Rains” is a simple pop song, and this [new track] is way more complex than that… like this is arty art. And that took us years to finish the album version of “Every Time It Rains”, I mean I have 5 versions of that song. We wrote it in the studio while cutting it, it was always evolving.

M: Being that you’re an independent artist with a still flourishing career, how important would you say that word of mouth has been in the development of your career?

CM: It’s all. It could be a lot more too, because what I have is all people… it doesn’t get any more grassroots than this. I’ve never had a break, I just slugged it out and toured… and I’ve had some good tours; Liz Phair’s “Chicks with Attitude” tour and Howie Day.

M: I was surprised to read about in your newsletter is that you allow your shows to be taped. Why do you allow it?

CM: I have a lot of international fans. I have been doing this for 10 years and it’s been tragic that I haven’t made it over to tour, especially in Japan, where On Your Shore did okay on import. I don’t know how to do that yet, so I’m just like “tape it all”. And if they can remain a fan and connect to me that way, then go for it.

M: Something like that ties into the fact that a lot of the praise coming from your fans is your personal interaction with them. During shows, I know that you make faces at people, you’ve made faces at me; and on this tour you took another step [with fan interaction] and you invited your fans to post song requests on your websites message boards.

CM: I’m going to do my best… I rehearsed a lot of them, and there were A LOT of requests. It’s finding that balance, because I am going to play a couple of new ones, and I want to play a couple that I know people want to hear, and then there’s the fans that want to hear everything obscure, and I don’t think that would make for a good show, personally.

M: My last question could be directed at both of you [Charlotte and Ken]. There was a project a while back that both of you were supposed to be involved in called Digital Noise Academy. I know that it involved a lot of your collaborators and friends, and I was just wondering whatever became of it?

[Ken Andrews joins the interview]

KA: Well, it exists…

CM: A whole record.

KA: No one’s heard it except the band, because we haven’t had the time to organize a release. I know that that sounds ridiculous, but it’s actually true. With everyone’s projects, and the baby, and one of the other members also having a baby… that this project even happened at all was amazing. And now the fact that it is sitting there waiting to be released is kind of a bummer, but we’re pursuing it. We’re just looking for the right way to release it, because it’s not a real band in the sense that we don’t play shows all of the time, and it’s not like we’re going to tour on top of the release.

CM: And we’re not going out for a big record deal. We’re all doing our personal artist careers, production careers… we all have our own things. But it’s a very artistically fulfilling project.

KA: It’s going to come out

CM: It’ll come out. It makes me sad to think of it not coming out.

Photos and interview by Mark B.

Comments (1)

Black Gold at All Points West 2009 September 12, 2009

Filed under: Concert Reviews,Interviews — NVMP @ 3:03 PM
Tags: All Points West 2009, APW09, Black Gold, Eric Ronick, Red Bull Records, Than Luu

Than Luu and Eric Ronick - Black Gold

“Dark eyes make you snap up straight – Red hands wash the sleep away” – as the up and coming band Black Gold says in Detroit, their successful iTunes single of the week. And that they did when opening on the first day of sunshine at All Points West this year. The band who’s music feels much like their name, a contrast of light and dark, gave an illustrious performance with a full band to back up Eric Ronick and Than Luu. While this duo from Brooklyn played, golden ladies threw golden beach balls into the crowd, who in return, began bouncing and tossing them all around to the beat. By the time they performed hit songs like “Detroit” and “Plans and Reveries”, many festival goers had already formed a crowd and stuck around until the last note finished resonating. Nevermind the Posers had the chance to ask Black Gold a few questions about their writing styles, musical backgrounds and what’s next for them.

Nevermind the Posers (NVMP)- How did you two come together as a duo?

Eric Ronick (ER)- We were sort of music master-made by our friend Jacob who said ‘yo you gotta check out Than’ and ‘yo you gotta check out Eric’. So we just put it together as folk based first on a tour and then we became friends and started making music well after that.

Than Luu (TL)- Yeah, it was like a match maker style.

NVMP- Were you two on tour together in different bands?

TL- Eric was on tour as the keyboard player for Ambulance LTD and I was like the merch guy, wrangler of the cute girls.

NVMP- How is your debut album Rush doing?

ER- It’s doing well, I think it’s just starting, but you can tell with everyday that goes by. I think more and more people know who we are and are waiting for us. Like today, it was really great to be opening the festival. Not many people were here at the start, but it was great to see people just rushing in on both sides and run right to the stage and they stuck around to check us out, it felt good.

NVMP- What was your favorite part about writing/recording Rush?

ER- To be honest, for me, it was just about hanging out, it was about sitting in the studio all night until the wee small hours of the morning. Than and I just hanging out, chilling, and making music, that was really what it was, it was about a friendship.

TL- Yeah, that’s what our record is about.

ER- It’s like if you guys are just hanging out and you happen to be creating something in the process and it happens to work and be something you really like.

NVMP- What was your creative process or what did you do to stay inspired?

TL- Yeah we get wasted. Haha, well not wasted, but you know, I’ll be drinking a little something, and then sit down at the piano and guitar and write some tunes.

NVMP- Have you seen any big changes “Detroit” was ‘Single of the Week’ on iTunes? Did it have a big impact on your fan-base?

ER- At that point, nobody knew who we were. We hadn’t really released anything. When that got released, within a week around 400,000 people had heard our song and it was just like out of the blue and nobody expected that, but iTunes just decided to do us a favor and it’s been good for us.

NVMP- Would you consider yourselves part of the digital revolution?

Black Gold- We’re such analog guys, so I would say no. We consider ourselves to be part of the digital de-evolution.

NVMP- Why the name Black Gold? Is there a meaning behind it?

TL- Sure. Our music is kind of contrasting between the dark side of things and the shimmering bright side of things. Lyrics are dark, but they can be uplifting as well. And the music can be quarterly dark as well as shiny and bright, we like the contrast.

NVMP- Is there a message are you trying to get across with your music?

ER- It think it’s less about a message and more about a story, about telling a story. It’s real life what we’re talking about. We’re not inventing ideas and stories to talk about, these are the things that have happened to us and have happened to our friends. And it’s about turning that story into music.

NVMP- What’s your favorite kind of venue to perform at, big festivals, small intimate shows, or somewhere in the middle?

TL- I like theatres, especially the ones in Europe, or the ones here that are like really really old and have a lot of flavor to them, that have been around for 100 years or more, that hold anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 people. You really feel the audience when you play places like that and then you look out and there’s so much history in the building, there’s probably some ghosts, I love that. Festivals and all that stuff are cool, clubs are cool, but theatres are my favorite.

NVMP- and how about you Eric, the same?

ER- Yeah, there’s a sweet spot right in the middle of the venue size, anywhere between like 1,000 to 5,000 people, where the audience is still really a part of the show, they’re not thirty feet back from the stage, and the sound is still good, because club shows, it’s just hard, they never really sound right.

NVMP- You two are from Brooklyn, do you have a favorite venue in the NY area?

ER- Our first show every was at a venue called South Paw in Park Slope and I love that place, I have warm memories,

a lot of great shows I’ve seen there and playing there was great, they treated us really well.

NVMP- What albums or CDs defined your childhood?

TL- For me, it was a mixture of The Beatles, that my mom played, French Pop music, and really cheesy, weird Vietnamese Pop music. Specifically, Francoise Hardy on the French tip. I don’t think my mom got into the psychedelic Beatles, I don’t think she understood it very much. I think she was into more early Beatles, and Vietnamese stuff, it’s pretty cheesy, probably like torture for some.

ER- I would say that I pretty much grew up on Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Off The Wall. That was kind of like a staple in my diet growing up.

NVMP- What’s next for Black Gold, what can your fans look forward to?

TL- We have the Black Gold sex tape coming out, and we’re working on it tonight. Haha. No, you know just some more recording, working on our second album already, we’re three songs into it and we’re really excited. We’re going to tour Europe and the US more, so look out for us. And making more videos.

NVMP- Can you give us your definition of a Poser?

TL- Man, you know, we’re surrounded by them. Posers are everywhere. Anyone who’s not fucking real. The reason why I moved to NY; they have the least amount of posers than anywhere in the world that I’ve ever been to, so fuck you if you’re a poser.

Right on Than, right on.
To hear more from Black Gold, please visit:
www.blackgoldmusic.com
www.myspace.com/blackgold

Warped Lullabies; Backstage with Flogging Molly August 31, 2009

Filed under: Concert Reviews,Interviews — NVMP @ 2:03 AM
Tags: Bob Marley, Dave King, Flogging Molly, Gaslight Anthem, Justin Sane, Nathen Maxwell, The Salty Dog, warped tour 09

By Greg Swindasz

The cork goes flying, champagne poured into red solo cups, a hearty cheers and down it goes. This is Flogging Molly’s last day performing on Warped Tour 2009. Before the last sip can even be swallowed the crowd begins to roar, expecting their promised dose of drunken lullabies and Irish punk that is Flogging Molly. After throwing away their cups the men, and one very lovely violin clad lady rush on stage, the crowd screams with excitement, the music starts, and Dave King greets his waiting fans.

Before the show Nevermind the Posers sat down and talked with Nathen Maxwell, the bass guitarist for Flogging Molly, and asked him some questions about the infamous Irish punk rock legend.

Nevermind the Posers (NVMP)- How are you enjoying Warped Tour so far?

Nathen Maxwell (NM)- I’m having a great time, Warped Tour is always fun.

NVMP– How long has Flogging Molly been playing on the tour?

NM– About six years now.

NVMP– Do you think Warped Tour has changed a lot over those years? How about the crowds?

NM-Yeah, it’s changed a bit. This year there’s one main stage instead of two, that’s different, but a lot of it really stayed the same. The crowd hasn’t changed that much, the bands have, which bring in new people. It’s always a good time; always fucking wild, kids with their shirts off, jumping up and down, having fun.

NVMP– Tell us a little bit about Flogging Molly’s latest album.

NM– Flogging Molly’s latest album is “Float”. We wrote and recorded it in Ireland; love the album, definitely the best shit we’ve ever done to date. I’m not sure about the sales, physical vs. download, but I know it debuted at #4 on Billboard charts which was huge for us. We were also #1 on the indie charts for over a month and we’re all really proud of that.

NVMP– Do you usually record in Ireland?

NM– No, that was our first time. We were touring our asses off, seems like forever now. We were all living in Los Angeles and then everyone kinda went back home. So that’s the reason why we ended up going to Ireland, Dave moved back home and we went with him to make the record.

Being on stage with Flogging Molly is like a party in Dublin, only no fighting and less brogue. Tina and I had the fortune to be standing with Justin Sane, the lead singer of Anti-flag. When those last howls of “The Salty Dog” are just about to play, Justin hands Tina the can of Guinness he was drinking and runs down stage to sing with the band. He shares a mic with Nathen Maxwell, and the crowd goes wild.

NVMP– With all the touring, did you have time to do the Green 17 tour this year?

NM– Yup, that’s an annual thing, we plan on doing that every year. It went great this year, best year ever. We had The Aggrolites with us so that was awesome.

NVMP– Can you explain the Green 17 tour and how it came about?

NM-It’s kind of our annual pre-St. Patrick’s Day party. St. Patrick’s day happens one day a year, but for Flogging Molly it happens every day of the year. So it’s our way to bring a big St. Patrick’s Day celebration to your town and it happens the month of or before St. Patty’s day. So that’s the idea behind it, we pick 17 cities to go to and we keep it at that. It all accumulates to the big St. Patrick’s Day show on the 17th.

NVMP– What music did you listen to growing up?

NM– I grew up listening to all kinds of music, I really kinda formed my identity around punk rock music- that was a big part of my culture, and what I played myself. I listened to a lot of reggae growing up as well. I was lucky to have a musical family, my father and sisters, so I was always around music. He (my father) was always turning me on to new things and old things and different things. Music is a big part of my life.

NVMP– Do you have a favorite artist?

NM– Well, I have Bob Marley tattooed on my arm. I really love the Wailers and The Clash.

NVMP– What is your favorite song off the new record and why?

NM– My favorite song off the new record maybe “Float”, the title track. I think lyrically it’s really sad (paying homage to Johnny Cash) and people had a big response to it; and honestly I just love the way it sounds, it’s a different approach to a song than we’ve done before. It has more of a folk type beat with a work song rhythm. I like the whole album.

NVMP– Anyone else you can’t get enough of at the moment, whose music are you playing all the time?

NM– Oh yeah, I really love the new Gaslight Anthem record; I think they’re great. Also, Gogol Bordello, I’m a big fan.

NVMP– Are you still with Side One Dummy Records?

NM– Yes, Side One Dummy, they’ve been our record label since the beginning. We’ve been offered deals by other major labels, but we’re loyal.

When their set was done Dave King gave his wife, the lovely violin clad woman, a kiss. As they walked off stage the whole band was greeted with smiles and hugs and thank-yous. Amongst the celebration of putting on a great set, there was a little sense of sadness as this was their last day on Warped Tour this year. Before letting Nathen go we had one more question for him:

NVMP– What is your definition of a poser?

NM– Someone who doesn’t progress, who’s not their authentic self and trying to be something they’re not. That would be my definition.

NVMP– Perfect!

NM– But never mind people like that. Be real.

Putting The “Fun” back in Funeral March 31, 2009

Filed under: Concert Reviews,Interviews — NVMP @ 2:06 AM
Tags: Interviews

By the time The Builders and The Butchers took the stage we all had a band’s worth of beer in us. I visited their MySpace page when I first saw their name on the roster for the upcoming Murder By Death tour, and what I heard persuaded me to show up at Bowery Ballroom when the doors opened that Friday night. I was curious to hear how they would deliver their ghastly blue-grass beats and knew that their live performance would be the determining factor of my fanship. Equally as curious was my desire to see how everyone else responded.

Within seconds, the twang of an acoustic guitar rattled like a cargo train across the Mississippi bayou and we raised our glasses high to welcome it. A voice like a paper cut sprinkled with sugar poured over the crowd to meet the drinks on the ground. My black converse sneakers sliding on the gin soaked floor only made it easier to dance.

I still can’t decide what was the most confusing- the banjo, the washboard, or the fact that it rocked. With forty minutes passed and their set coming to end I found myself completely engrossed in the energy of the audience and the music we were sharing. I swung my hips like a railroad hammer as he sang about his little sister on the tracks.

It wasn’t until the tambourines, the maracas, and the depression style Tympani drum made their way into the crowd from the hands of the lead singer that I could sing along to songs I’d only heard once. So while some of us clapped and some of us danced, the rest of us banged and sang The Butcher’s blues.

There was no doubt that Murder by Death would fail to disappoint this time around. The anticipation began when word first got out that they would be touring with former keyboardist, Vincent Edwards, and playing their second LP, “Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them” in its entirety.

Not that it’s undeserving, but for Murder by Death to sell out Bowery Ballroom is impressive. How far they’ve come from the release of “In Bocca De Lupo” alone is astonishing. We all, as fans, have been faced with this quasi dilemma; the transition from c-list to mainstream underground that makes us wonder how much longer we can enjoy the “GA” stamped in the left hand corner of our tickets.

For some us the experience is bittersweet. Even though we reminisce of the “good old days” as teenagers, seeing our favorite bands at VFW halls and coffee shops, we can’t deny our adult voice as it quietly praises the wet bar and coat check. Parting is sweet sorrow, they say. Especially when it means bidding farewell to ten dollars at the door.
But Murder by Death brought more than surplus ticket sales with them on this tour. They brought The Builders and The Butchers.

I have since purchased their self entitled CD, and it captures the same raw intensity found in their live performance. I did, however, find myself with questions burning to be answered. Who better, I thought, than the brains behind The Builders himself, lead singer/songwriter, Ryan Sollee. He welcomed my inquiries with the same benevolence with which he autographed my tambourine (coolest merch item ever, by the way).

Caroline Frank- I want to start by asking about the song, “Barcelona”. It was not on The Builders and The Butchers and I know quite a few people who are anxious as to when this track will be released? Can fans expect another album anytime in the near future?

Ryan Sollee- The new record titled “Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well” will be released in June of this year, Barcelona will be a track on this record.

CF- After doing a little research I learned that TB &TB is the result of an idea you had with Adrienne Hatkin of Autopilot to start a funeral band. Fantastic! However, I am curious as to where this idea came from? What influenced it?

RS- Adrienne was a member of the Builders when we first started out, originally the idea was to create a band that played funeral dirge music that played unplugged around Portland where ever there were crowds of people, for the bands first year that was what we did. The first builders songs were inspired by this idea, this I think is why the first album has so many sing along parts, during those first shows friends would come and during shows sing along and become part of the band.

CF- And, speaking of influences, what musicians/bands would you attribute to having had the most effect on you? Do you think this is reflected in your music?

RS- I love mining from pre 1950’s America music, old country and blues, bluegrass, as far as contemporary artists, of course Tom Waits first comes to mind. It seems like the Portland scene is really folk driven and there are a lot of bands feeding of each other, but at the same time taking different approaches.

CF- I heard a lot of genres being thrown around in an attempt to label TB&TB. Would you say that there is a certain obscurity to your sound that sparks the confusion or would say that it is simply the absence of soul in modern music? And how would you, as a band, categorize it?

RS- I think there are a lot of bands that are playing with soul, but it also depends on what your definition of soul is, sure there isn’t a modern day Otis Redding, but Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings come pretty damn close, also I think that you can find just as much soul in Bon Iver or TV on the Radio as anything old sounding, it’s just a modern version of it. One of my favorite things about the Builders is that people have a hard time categorizing it, all of my favorite bands can’t be simply described. I don’t think that the sound is very obscure, I actually think its really simple.

CF- You’d mentioned that the original intention of TB&TB was to write “death themed songs”. The macabre imagery is so well executed that I wonder, where do you draw from to write such convincing lyrics?

RS- I went through a major transformation as a song writer about 4 years ago when I stopped writing personal songs and started writing more story songs. I started listening to more narrative songwriters like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, Nick Cave and again Tom Waits, it was like a re-awakening, and a whole new source of songwriting material. I also really have related to dark tales, I don’t really know why, but a lot of people are fascinated with dark stories.

CF- From what I read, I understand that there was no initial expectation for the band. In the experience of positive responses, has that perspective changed at all?

RS- That’s the most difficult thing with any band I think is to keep expectations low. Of course when positive things happen you can’t help but feel that the band is moving forward and with that comes expectations, but it’s always important to remember that writing and performing music is a journey and not intended to be kept static, it’s the journey that makes it interesting and that journey will have good times and bad, just like anything else.

CF- Would you say that “mainstream success” is a goal for TB&TB? And, in the same
vein and at the risk of sounding pretentious, do you think the masses could appreciate, or “get”, TB&TB? More important, does that even matter to you, as a band?

RS- That’s interesting, I think that lately a lot of really great bands have had mainstream success, I never would have thought that modest mouse or the shins would’ve become as mainstream as they did, but they did, and you never really know it really just comes down to peoples tastes. I think we are all a little weirded out about even our small level of success and I’m sure if we become more known that will just get weirder.

CF- As I mentioned in my original message, I was very taken by the energy of your live performance- but I was blown away towards the end when you started handing out the instruments. Not only was the idea fun and clever- it really was the ultimate in audience participation, without compromising the band’s performance. It showed the band’s commitment to the audience and made a much stronger statement than asking us to clap along. I was quite impressed by this, and have to ask where the idea came from and what the usual response is to it?

RS- The idea to try an involve the audience really came from the sing along audience participation of the early builders shows. Those were really special shows and we saw people just naturally reacting to the band in a pretty intense way and after we started plugging in and playing bigger shows we wanted to keep the same connection with the audience.

CF- How has the experience been touring with Murder By Death?

RS- This has been the best tour so far. They are really great people and they have amazing fans, we played 8 straight sold out shows and its been amazing. I wish we could always tour with Murder By Death.

Recommended Tracks:
“Barcelona” – Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well (unreleased – http://www.myspace.com to listen)
“Black Dresses” – The Builders and The Butchers (2007 – available on i-tunes or http://www.cdbaby.com)
“Red Hands” – The Builders and The Butchers (2007 – available on i-tunes or http://www.cdbaby.com)
“Spanish Death” – The Builders and The Butchers (2007 -available on i-tunes or http://www.cdbaby.com)

Caroline M. Frank

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Nevermind The Posers

See ya in the pit.