In this episode, Bill Reese sits down with indie pop-rock band Candy Hearts and the band let us debut their new single!
Also, Reese speaks with Officially A Yuppie owner, Salvatore Bono about the site's five year anniversary. Take a listen or download it and take it on the go!
We first told you about England's Dry the River last month as they were featured as our Rising Artist for October. On Tuesday, after much buzz and anticipation the band will release the Weights and Measures EP, their brand new batch of songs that will jumpstart them and hold fans over until they release their debut, hopefully due next year. Dry the River are a band that are as melodic as Travis, layered as Fanfarlo and the type of band that will make you do some serious singalongs in a bar ala Mumford and Sons. We spoke with singer Pete Liddle about the bands brief history, their massive buzz they are making in London and what they hope to achieve as a band. Read our interview with Pete below.
The band started while you were at University. Did it just happen instantly or was it an organic growth?
The band was the result of a long organic progression over several years. We’d been in various bands together in the past and knew one another from the punk scene in southeast England. I moved to London to start medical school and found myself writing and recording a lot in my bedroom. The guys kind of gravitated to London from Southampton, Bristol and Reading and Dry the River kind of coalesced. It was never a strategic endeavour to try and build a career, we just took it one day at a time and we still do.
You hail from East London which right now is seeing a major influence on modern music. How do you fit into the mold or break it in the influential neighborhood?
We all live in Stratford now which is a little further East than Brick Lane, Shoreditch, the trendy areas of London. The area is very diverse culturally and ethnically, it’s an exciting place to be. That said I don’t think we draw heavily from the locality in a musical sense, we just hole ourselves up in the basement and write the way we always have. It seems to me people perceive the East London scene to be very homogenous musically but that’s not really the case. The prevailing attitudes are just an appreciation of a lot of different forms of music – you will find electro, indie, hip hop, pop, folk and everything in between under the umbrella of East London and that’s a good thing. At home we see as many shows as possible, try to enjoy the music around us and write songs that we love playing. I like to think the scene is really trying to break out of itself, not repeat itself over and over again.
The sound of the band has you being compared to Mumford and Sons. Does the comparison get old after a while?
In my first days at medical school I started to write gentle acoustic songs for a number of reasons. In a practical respect I had to keep the noise to a minimum in halls, but also I’d only ever been in punk and rock bands, and it was a chance to explore different avenues, return to the music of my youth and so forth. The early EPs reflect this. When we started to build the live band, though, we began to experiment with building the songs up. We would take my simple folky songs and make them as expansive and energetic and intense as possible. That process has continued and today the live show is louder and heavier than ever it was when we were in screaming post-punk acts. That’s not to say I don’t admire Mumford and other new folk acts, the music seems to be heartfelt and honest and has done a great deal to popularize more cerebral music, but I don’t see the kinship between us and them.
How would you describe your sound to someone that has never heard of you before?
A recent reviewer described it as “hardcore gone soft” and I think that’s probably a good description. We say stealth rock.
Who are some of your influences and why are they important to you?
This question is a tough one for us because everyone mines very different influences. Jon and Scott, like many rhythm sections, are deeply into 70s and 80s prog, hair metal. Bands like Genesis, Tool, Rush, Dream Theatre (haha). It might not be prominent in the music but often there are hints of it lurking in the lower registers. Matthew (guitar) listens to post rock: (Mew, Sigur Ros, Mono, Godspeed) which is where the shoegazey stuff comes in, and also robs Gram Parsons and The Band for his country licks. I’m into a lot of late 90s and early 00s post punk: At the Drive-In, Antioch Arrow, Refused, Drive Like Jehu and I guess lyrically more classic songwriters like Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon... Finally Will our violinist listens to a lot of classical music but also electro stuff. The only band we all really agree on is CCR, the greatest band of all time.
The songs have been based around your studies of medicine and anthropology, how do you make these topics interesting to the listener without sounding like a professor?
The study of anthropology is the study of human behaviour - in many ways the discipline simply encourages you to be open minded and observant. There isn’t a great deal drawn from Malinowski or Levi Strauss: it’s more an approach. I try to reflect on human relationships and obstacles in such a way that allows people to find meaning wherever and however they’d like to.
Dry the River gained much attention after you played SXSW this year. What was the experience like for you?
SXSW was everything we’d been promised and more! Nothing can prepare you for the madness. Jon (drums) had visa trouble so we ended up doing the vast majority of the shows acoustically, or with the rest of us playing bits of Jon’s drum kit. That’s the spirit of South By though, make do and mend. Jon finally made it out for our last show and we had the most rewarding and sweaty 40 minutes of our musical career to date – it was such a relief!
You decided to give your three track EP away for free. Why? Do you think that, with the internet, it’s not a major issue to sell records any more?
I’d like to think selling records will never be obsolete but perhaps that’s the traditionalist in me talking. There are a lot of interesting alternative models out there now, bands building themselves up through publishing or other funding sources etc, which is great because it opens up opportunities for a lot of bands. That said, from an artistic perspective I think it’s a powerful thing to go into a record store and buy a physical record. It’s a direct exchange of resources for music and that’s a very cool thing. It would be a shame to lose it.
What has been the best thing about being in Dry the River so far?
There have been so many things. I think we’re very grateful for the opportunity to travel, to see so many places and meet so many people that we otherwise would not have.
It started with fronting Blur, then went to starting the world's first animated band - Gorillaz then linking up with Tony Allen, Paul Simonon of The Clash and Simon Tong of The Verve for The Good, The Band and The Queen. Now he is onto starting Rocketjuice and the Moon with Flea and Tony Allen and just finished DRC Music, a collection of music recorded over a week period in the Congo to benefit Oxfam. Not to mention he has written and scored an opera and a musical production. He doesn't stop and hopefully will not find time to stop in the near future, because Damon Albarn is someone we truly admire and call an icon.
In a new superlative that will start this year to couple in with our 5 years and something we will hand out every November to go with our anniversary month, we wish to name Damon Albarn our first recipient of this award.
Albarn who is not afraid to experiment with music and not afraid to try new styles has successfully gone from making great Britpop and Britrock to one of the best hip-hop acts of the last 15 years thanks to Gorillaz massive sound and finds time to bring in beautiful tones with his other projects. His creative nerve and root has only gotten stronger as he has gotten older and for that we appreciate him and call him an icon.
To mark our 5 years as a site, we will be drawing up a few lists to share as to has influenced us, gotten us excited and of course, enhanced our musical experience. Here is a list of five artists that have shaped our styles and kept us coming back for more. We wanted to pick artists that really exploded within our time frame, of course people like Kanye West, Radiohead, Danger Mouse, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk, Jack White and countless others keep our attention and excitement high, but they have been well established and massive long before we were even around.
The artists we picked really exploded within the last five years, some have existed before, but it has only been the last few years that their acclaim and celebration has gone from small to large and keep on climbing. We wanted to find acts that have paralleled our rise, so without further ado, here are our picks...
1) The Hold Steady
Whoever says rock and roll is dead is a liar or never listened to The Hold Steady. This Brooklyn outfit have been making music since 2004, but it was not until their breakout album, 2006's Boys and Girls in America where they gained the attention they truly deserved. The band are truly road dogs and slaves to their music and with high energy concerts every night, it is amazing to see them still function. The band have released five albums to date and each one proves their staying power and above all, proof that singer, Craig Finn is one of the greatest songwriters in the business today and at the rate he is going, he will be one of the greatest of all time. This is a band we have written countless times for and never fail to impress. Loosing track of how many times we have covered them in concert is a good thing, because they have failed to give a bad performance and still make us run back for more.
2) The National
Another band from Brooklyn that has had us at our feet. Much like The Hold Steady, they were kicking around the business for a few years but it was not until their 2007 breakthrough, Boxer that The National started getting on everyones radar. I still remember the first time I heard and saw this band, I was will correspondent Bill Reese seeing Arcade Fire at United Palace Theater in Washington Heights when this band with such a layered and vibrant sound were opening and their singer went from sounding like Lou Reed to Nick Cave in an instant. Before closing with their signature set closer, "Mr. November," they had saidwho they were and we were hooked. Again, another one of those bands that you just loose count as to how many times you have seen them but all you can remember is each show is better than the last. The band, who's moody and atmospheric sound sings of loneliness in the big city is something we can all relate to and something we have all faced. Constantly on the road and constantly playing their hearts out, The National will be marching to infamy at the rate they are going.
3) Robyn
Pop music these days seems to be at a very low point, in fact, so low I lost hope in it ever being as good as it once was in the decades prior. Without people like Beyonce to really keep things happening and moving, you cannot count on anyone else and Lady Gaga at this point is not as original or forward thinking as the society that embraces her lets on, its all rehashed material we have all heard before. So with everything really resting on what the classic pop artists like Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and Madonna will do next, it seemed as if good pop was fading....
Then there is Robyn.
The Swedish singer who made a name for herself in the 90's with the massive song "Show Me Love," has totally re-imaged her sound and style. This all happened in the middle of last decade when she parted ways with her label and started Konichiwa Records and released her self-titled album. While the album gained her some attention from the indie community and her fans, it did not explode the way she hoped. Then 2010 came around and she released the massive three-part Body Talk series and changed everything for her and the genre. Inspired by heartbreak and hip-hop and linking up with people like Diplo, Snoop Dogg and Royksaap, Robyn proved that pop can be fun, clever and forward thinking like it was before. Though she is still not a household name, we reckon at the pace she is on, that will change.
4) Portugal. The Man
The Portland, Oregon via Wasilla, Alaska progressive psychedelic outfit have been shape-shifting their sonic style since 2006 and have blown our minds every time. Portugal. The Man are the band we need for today and the band that we will be talking about for years to come. What they have done with sound is what Van Gogh did with paint generations before. They have managed to make us see color and make us feel something every time. Like a fine wine, Portugal. The Man just keep getting better with age and with their brutal tour schedule, they still find time to record and put out fantastic music that takes us to places only our parents know when they talk about listening to Pink Floyd or The Doors for the first time.
5) TV on the Radio
David Bowie is a fan of your music...you are set for life. You can sit back, relax and collect on that accolade for the rest of your career and lives. Yet, for TV on the Radio, they only got better and only got more important. Bowie took to the band after the release of the Brooklyn art-rockers sophomore effort, Desperate Youth, Bloody Thirsty Babes back in 2004, Bowie even appeared on their superb 2006 release Return to Cookie Mountain (A record we gave "League of Their Own" status to that year) and TV on the Radio still got better when they gave us Dear Science in 2008. While the band have had highs and acclaim, they also reached lows and tragedy, just this past year bassist Gerard Smith passed away and the band pushed on and honored his legacy, never stopping and never backing down. While the members of the band are now busy with multiple projects, they still know that the band itself is priority and we the listeners need to be blown away every time. There is no stopping their creative train and thank the heavens for that.
Queen are set to release their never-before-heard duets with the late Michael Jackson. Guitarist Brian May told The Evening Standard that Michael Jackson's estate have given the band permission to release a series of duets which they recorded with the late singer during the '80's. These recordings will be released in May.
Iggy Pop is the face of a new French perfume. The perfume, Black XS L'Excès by Paco Rabanne is only available in Europe now, but take a look at the ad below, Iggy looks thrilled....
The Roots will release their brand new studio album, undon next month. Take a look at the cover below. Also in Roots news, Spin magazine that Sufjan Stevens will make a contribution to the album.
After much speculation and rumors swirling over the last few weeks, on their official website - metal pioneers - Black Sabbath are uniting (again) and will be releasing a new album next year with producer Rick Rubin.
The band are also confirming a World Tour that will kick-off with their appearance at Download Festival 2012 alongside headliners Metallica, who will be playing the "Black Album," in full.
Take a look at the announcement video above and start to get pumped!
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds made their US TV debut last night on Letterman. Take a look at the band perform "If I Had a Gun..." from their brilliant debut which was just released this past week.
It felt like a scene from a horror movie, as I walked down these narrow stairs into the basement of Mercury Lounge, I felt like I was walking into a fallout shelter or a bunker and ready for something to pop out and attack at any moment. Yet, as I walked around the narrow hallways, past the boiler and massive pipes that are probably as old as New York City itself and was led into a tiny room where the members of Fanfarlo were hanging out, it was evident that this is not the glory that they were hoping in playing their first show in the big city in over two years. “It has been only two years but it feels like a decade,” singer Simon Balthazaar told me as we sat down to speak just before the band took the stage at the sold-out room upstairs. Behind Simon, members of the band were tuning their instruments, eating and some were getting massages outside the room in that narrow hallway from a fan that happened to be a Physical Therapist. The scene quickly went from a horror movie to a scene only Fellini could write.
Fanfarlo, were in town for a very small US tour to gain momentum for their forthcoming sophomore release, Rooms Filled with Light, which is due early next year. The band, which formed in London in 2006 by a group of musicians who knew next to nothing about each other but had the desire to make music and were all placed together in a kismet fashion. “Everyone in the band has seen the band before joining the band,” Simon told me, hinting at the bands revolving door of musicians before locking in the line-up we have today. Fanfarlo have been locked away all year making their new record, only played a gig in their hometown of London to debut new songs before heading to the US, “It is interesting seeing peoples reactions to the new songs, its something very validating. Like we are crossing over to a whole new world,” says Simon. The band, who have their own unique blend of folk inspired rock are looking to switch gears and sounds for album two.
“We have grown up…in a good way!” says Balthazaar. Simon then gave me some exclusive information on Rooms Filled with Light saying, “Going into the second record, we learned so much that we were just figuring out before. We got to know each other on and off stage and we brought that into the second record. We had a real need to try a different palate, using different instruments and the same instruments we were using in a different way.” For Rooms Filled with Light, Fanfarlo took inspiration from Modern Classical music, dub, Krautrock, Motown, Berlin-era Bowie and late 70’s / early 80’s pop. Their new influences is far cry from what fans heard on their 2009 debut, Reservoir. For Reservoir, Fanfarlo were starting off the folk inspired movement that has caught fire in London thanks to bands like Mumford and Sons and Dry the River. Yet Simon feels that style is old and done now, “that folk is over, we are not trying to be part of that. With changing our palate we are using much more electric and synth sounds.”
While Rooms Filled with Light, which is already finished, will see the light of day in early 2012, I had to ask why the delay on the release, Simon said with a half serious look on his face, “blame Christmas! No one buys good music around the holidays, so instead of being put out then, we will wait.” Simon already has his year with the band mapped out, “we are just going to tour, then tour some more. It is going to be a lot of time in a van. I love it and hate it, it is all highs and lows and sometime in there, there is summer in between.” As Simon will see the seasons all blend into each other, he should feel at ease, as Fanfarlo took the stage later that night, fans (including myself) reacted with such delight to the new material, Rooms Filled with Light is already looking to be one of 2012’s most anticipated albums. As our interview came to a close, Simon and I walked out into the narrow hallway as one of his bandmates was getting a massage, I motioned for him to get in line, he smiled and “oh you better believe I am.” We parted ways and as I climbed up those dreadful stairs to rejoin society, I realized it was all relevant for Fanfarlo to be here at this time, play the gritty tiny venue now, because it will be all posh, nicer places from here on out.
2) The National
5) TV on the Radio
The Roots will release their brand new studio album, undon next month. Take a look at the cover below. Also in Roots news, Spin magazine that Sufjan Stevens will make a contribution to the album.
