NYS Music 20​13

Category: Capital Region

  • Halestorm’s Arejay Hale Talks to Upstate Metal

    Upstate Metal’s Kate Drexel had the lucky opportunity to do a phone interview with Grammy-winning band, Halestorm’s drummer, Arejay Hale. They talked about everything from the start of the band to discussing his crazy use of one of his favorite iPhone apps, Vine. But first, let’s go back to the birth of Halestorm.

    “Lzzy and I were on our way to our very first show,” Hale said. “We were playing the talent show contest in 1997, about 16 years ago this year, and we were driving to the venue in our parents’ car, and we were looking at each other like ‘you know, we can’t just go out there and say, ‘Hey, this is Lzzy and Arejay Hale’, you know? We actually have to have a band name that sounds bad-ass.

    “I recall being kind of teased in school, you know? You walk into class and it was like ‘Oh, here comes the Halestorm, and so on our way to our very first show, I was like ‘why don’t we just call each other Halestorm? What if we called ourselves Halestorm?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, that’ll work for now’, and sure enough, 16 years later, it’s still Halestorm!” explained Arejay in a very animated manner. “I guess we’re just influenced by Hanson maybe, I don’t know …It was like, ‘Hey! Their band name is their last name! Let’s do that too! We’ll add a twist to it; we’ll make fun of ourselves and call ourselves Halestorm!’ We don’t really take ourselves seriously.”

    As far as influences go, they range from John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and Keith Moon of The Who to jazz percussionists Buddy Rich and Chief Bey. However, for Halestorm’s latest record, Hale mentioned that he repeatedly listened to Black Stone Cherry’s album, and as a side note, revealed that the band did a studio session before Halestorm. “When we went into the studio to make the new record, we pretty much came right off tour. We really didn’t have a chance to take a break. We didn’t stop, and we just went into the studio. We finished up our last tour, and the next day we flew out to Los Angeles to start writing and recording the new record at the same time.

    “They wanted us to finish the record in two months, which ended up dragging out six months because we wanted to wait ‘til we were absolutely ready. But the first two months of recording were highly influenced by our fans, and the people we’ve met on tour, and the places we went to on tour. Songs like ‘Rock Show’ and ‘Freak Like Me’, those are all kind of just like anthems to the fans. Songs like ‘Love Bites’ and ‘I Miss the Misery’, and all the heavy stuff was really written in the very first two weeks of writing and recording the record. Just because we were still amped up from being on the road, we were still feeling the energy from playing live. When we went into the studio, we put a lot of live energy into the recording, so that was a big influence for us, the very first half.”

    And, of course, the band ran into a bit of an obstacle; they were asked to take a break before they could finish the record, something this very determined band was not willing to do. “Our producer went on vacation and we were like, ‘well, what are we gonna do?’ and they were like ‘go home’, and we were like ‘no, we don’t wanna go home, we wanna finish the record!’ So while everyone was on vacation, we went to our apartment on the beach and that’s when Lzzy started, you know, sitting and writing more of the intimate stuff, like songs like ‘Hate It When You See Me Cry’—It’s on our B Side of our new record—She was also writing stuff like ‘In Your Room’, the more softer side of the record.

    “So when we went back into recording after everyone took a break, Lzzy was kind of starting to get in touch with the softer side, I guess you can say. So, therefore, after listening to Lzzy kind of coming up with these more intimate lyrics and stuff like that, I started thinking more trimming down the music and chipping down everything, and I just wanted to write these more softer, intimate songs. So after that we came up with ‘Beautiful With You’, ‘Break In’, ‘Here’s to Us’, like these kind of like more intimate and about us, than just purely about us. So we went back into recording after that. We had all of these soft songs and we were like, ‘now we have all of these heavy songs and all of these soft songs, so how do we put these together?’ then we came up with the song called ‘Mz. Hyde’, and we were like ‘okay, I get it! We put it together!’ So another influence of the record was the story of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, and that was a really cool concept for the album, and we thought, ‘okay, what if we just show the world both sides of Halestorm? The heavy side and the really intimate side, and we’ll do it on purpose and call it The Strange Case of Halestorm, which was inspired by The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde’.”

    Drexel then revealed that The Strange Case of Halestorm is her favorite record by them and truly loves the song ‘Mz. Hyde’. She also told Hale that she saw them at Carnival of Madness in Baltimore last summer with Evanescence and Chevelle, one of her favorite concerts, aside from seeing them kick ass at Rock on the Range.

    Soon enough, Drexel realized they were both deviating a bit from the interview, and then she proceeded to ask what Hale does on his downtime besides making hysterical Vines. A moment of silence took place before Arejay let out a hearty roar of laughter. “I am so glad my madness has an audience! I was introduced to that app while we were in Europe,” Hale said. “One of my bandmates showed me and started playing with it, and I started using it, and it is the most fun app I’ve ever used because it’s just the perfect amount of time to do something hilarious. Six seconds, then, when it’s done, you can edit it as much as you want, then it loops. It’s constantly on loop and repeat, and that just makes it hilarious. You watch something and you’re like ‘what?!’ then it plays again, and you’re like ‘oh my god!’ and then you play it again and you’re like ‘oh my god! That’s fucking hilarious!’”

    High recommendation from Drexel herself: if you have the Vine app on your smartphone, go follow Arejay. Vine name: Arejay Hale. “Besides that, I try to continue to write on the road,” Hale said. “It’s not easy ‘cause you’re constantly running around doing press, doing meet and greets, you know, try to get some catering whenever you can. My days are long on tour. Definitely on days off, if I do get downtime, I try to write; actually my favorite app in the world is Garage Band on the iPad. It’s great. It’s awesome ‘cause it’s got just the right amount of sound to be creative, but it’s still limited enough for when I’m sitting down and trying to write, I don’t concentrate on all the sounds when it comes to getting the musical idea out. So I like writing on my Garage Band app on my iPad. It’s really easy, it’s really convenient, and I just bought one of those Blue Snowballs, you know. I’ll just plug it in and lay down some vocals and try to put together some demos.

    “My problem is if I have downtime, I hate sitting around, I have to be doing something, and I have to be busy. Same thing when we’re off tour. I go home to L.A. and as soon as I get home, I can’t stand sitting around. I used to be on the go all the time, you know, on tour and constantly having to do something. So when I’m home, I do a lot of writing. I got a studio in my bedroom, my girlfriend, she works in the same studio, she’s got her own band, she does writing and recording and stuff like that, so the two of us will write together when I’m at home. It’s really great. Pretty much anywhere I go, I’m surrounded by talented writers and musicians, and I get to be creative whenever I can. So anytime I’m doing downtime, it involves something with music or something there.”

    Unfortunately, it was time to wrap up the interview with Drexel’s last question, what does music mean to you? “I don’t know any other way of life,” Hale said. “It’s been a part of my life since I was probably, like, five years old. [I] started jamming with my sister in the living room, and now it’s just become the only way of life right now. So for me, music is like air, it’s like just every element that I require to be alive and to be myself is what I think about music.

    “I think that without music, I don’t know where I would be or what I’d be doing. I’m just so lucky I caught the bug early and I was able to pursue my dream and my career at a young age to get me to this point at my age. I’m very, very lucky, so I think music just means everything to me. It’s my life, and I don’t know what else my life would be like without it. I just feel really lucky.”

    Halestorm continues to unleash their inner freak this Fall. Be sure to catch them while you can. They are one band you will not want to miss.

  • Fundraiser for Pat Tiernan Music Scholarship at Smokin’ Joe’s Barbeque in East Greenbush this Saturday

    Pat Tiernan was a 518 musician that performed often and sometimes for free.  He was a staple in the community and would even play during set breaks for other bands.  He loved music! Pat passed away suddenly last year and his legacy continues with a fundraiser in his name.

    The Pat Tiernan Music Scholarship was created to help students studying music achieve their goals.  In the spirit of live music, On Saturday, August 17, 2013, a fundraiser is scheduled at Smokin’ Joe’s Barbeque from noon until 7 pm.  There is a $10 donation fee for the outdoor event.  A shuttle bus is available from the parking lot of a nearby Hannaford.

    Local artists scheduled to perform include Molly Durnin, Cardiac Noose, Three Wheel Drive, Jet Crash Billy (acoustic), Brian Tiernan with Jeremy Buker and Kristen Kelly, Kevin Tiernan and Jeremy Walz, Joe Lowry, James Alanson Kirk and Pete Vumbacco, Mark Richardson and Friends, Grounds for Termination, and Sly Fox and the Hustlers.

    Please visit the Facebook event page for more information and complete band listing.

    Photo courtesy of Heather Marie Laughlin

  • moe. to Play Albany on New Years Eve

    moe. has announced that they will be playing a 2-night New Years Eve run in Albany this year, December 30th and 31st at the Palace Theatre. On sale information is not available yet but you can stay up to date on all things moe. by visiting their website www.moe.org.

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  • The Road To Bella Terra: Bujak, Mentally Ill and DJ Leila Lay it Down at Red Square, July 27

    Bella Terra means “Beautiful Earth” and the location and site of the festival certainly capture just that. The festival takes places in Stephentown, NY at Gardner’s Farm at the base of the Berkshire Mountains. The site is beautiful, the artists are amazing and the festival is ever growing. The Albany Drum and Bass Coalition, Leila Harrison and Jon Santolla (or Bad Manners/DJ Leila and Mentally Ill) did their part in creating hype around the up and coming festival with their Bass Fix, “Road To Bella Terra” edition.

    The show this summer evening took place at Red Square, promising a great night of live music and awesome chances to win various Bella Terra merchandise and tickets. The night traded off with sets of Jeff Bujak, DJ Leila, Mentally Ill and the collaborative efforts of “Bad Manners.” As always, Jeff Bujak’s light installation wow’ed the crowd throughout his sets while he pounded on his keys sending the crowd into fits of dancing, hooping and personal glow-stick light shows. Bujak pulled out various samples from The Beastie Boys to 50 Cent turning The Red Square into a giant dance party. Jeff Bujak has always been a great set to catch at a festival. His energy alone is sure to lively up your Bella Terra weekend so make sure you make it to his set.

    DJ Leila and Mentally Ill traded off on their sets playing some solo tunes and some collaborations which they refer to as “Bad Manners.” Each song ranges from down-tempo, trancier sounds to very high tempo drum and bass that could walk the line of sounding metal. Both DJs are well known in the area for their hard, fast and dirty beats, as well as bringing underground Drum and Bass to a music scene in which it had previously gone unnoticed. They clearly both bring very influential and necessary aspects to the Albany music scene and “Bass Fix” has become a year long, monthly staple at Red Square.  All three acts certainly set the tone for the quickly approaching festival. Make sure you catch all three artists sets at Bella Terra Festial, August 15-18. Buy Tickets

  • INTERVIEW: Before I Had Wings

    My first introduction to this beast of a band came in late February of this year at the second-annual Upstate Black ‘N’ Blue Cabin Fever Party at Bogies.  A four-piece based out of Western Massachusetts, Before I Had Wings follows in the tradition of Hatebreed, Death Before Dishonor, and Shattered Realm with a brand of brutal hardcore that simply destroys. Forming in 2009, BIHW has unleashed their aural assault on unsuspecting towns all over the Northeast, and have become somewhat of a permanent fixture here in Albany.  One listen to their debut Burn the Impure will show you why – as it perfectly captures every nuance of their intense live performance; it will leave you reeling and wanting more.MAD-7775 MAD-7810

    I caught up with three-quarters of Before I Had Wings (vocalist Chris, drummer Nate and bassist Kane) after their set at the Black Phil Memorial Show on Sunday, July 28th. Phil Brewer, guitarist for Albany’s At Arms, lost his battle with cancer recently, and his friends in the scene organized this show to celebrate his life and to raise funds for his family. All three of them were very down to earth and forthcoming with information regarding the history of the band, its future, and – for Kane – a cheerful anecdote about his first time meeting Phil.

    UM: So you guys are from Western Massachusetts; what part of Western Mass do you call home?

    Chris: We’re all from different areas: I’m from Berkshire County; they’re (Kane and D.J. – their guitarist, who was handling merchandise at the time) from Pioneer and Nate’s actually from the Albany Area.

    UM: That’s right, I remember hearing that. So, how long have you guys been doing this now?

    Chris: Before Nate was in the band…all together, like three years. He joined about a year or so ago…Maybe 2009? I think me and the guitarist D.J., we were writing stuff in 2009 but we didn’t start playing shows until 2010.

    UM: So you’ve gone through a few line-up changes since the beginning?

    Chris: Basically, the only line-up change has been the drummer. We had a drummer for a long time, but he decided to quit and Nate took over.

    UM: You guys are lucky! It’s so hard to replace a drummer.

    Chris: I know, especially around our area.

    Kane: Nate’s the best!

    Nate: Thank you!

    Chris: Nate’s got it on lockdown.

    UM: Nice! So anyways, I remember mentioning in one of my reviews of your previous shows that your sound is comparable to bands like Hatebreed and Death Before Dishonor. Other than these two, can you tell me what other bands have influenced you?

    Chris: It’s all different; it depends on who you ask. For me personally, its bands like Shattered Realm and Let it Die, you know? Like ’04-’05 core mixed with beat-down; I like Nasty, I like World of Pain, I like all that shit.

    Nate: Same here, basically. Actually, I like death metal, too, but beat-down mostly – Shattered Realm, World of Pain, Nasty.

    Kane: I’m into New York Hardcore. We don’t sound like that, but I’m influenced by bands like Citizen’s Arrest…

    Chris: We’re not afraid to admit that we’re also influenced by Numetal – bands like Coal Chamber and Machine Head.

    UM: Oh, Coal Chamber and Machine Head are awesome! You can’t argue with that!

    Chris: Yeah, we have Numetal riffs and we’re not afraid to admit it. People call us Numetal, we don’t give a fuck what you call us!

    UM: Absolutely, you guys are fucking awesome and I don’t give a shit what anybody says. I’ll put that in print, too!  Anyways, you guys are straight edge?

    Chris: We’re a straight edge band, we just don’t sing about it. In the past, we’ve tried out non-edge members and nothing ever worked out, and not necessarily because they weren’t straight edge, but because they didn’t make the dedication towards the band. But then recently, we decided that we’re just going to stay a straight edge band, we’ll have straight edge members; it’s not a big deal. We’re not going to sing about it, were not going to put “X”s in our name, but we’re all straight edge and that’s what matters the most. I was in straight edge bands [that sang about it] before, and you basically end up cutting your fan base in half because people don’t want to hear about it.

    UM: That’s cool. So I have your first full-length, Burn the Impure, which is a great album, really heavy and well-done. Do you have anything else in the works?

    Chris: We’re working on something right now, but that’s probably going to take a year, maybe two [to complete]; were not rushing it. We have a title already picked out, but we don’t want to give it away. We’ve got a lot of shit going on next year, so if we start recording? Awesome, if not, you know? We’re just gonna take it slow. We’ve got the eight track Burn the Impure full-length/EP, whatever you want to call it, and then the two-song demo we released earlier this year.

    UM: That’s right! I remember seeing that somewhere online…that’s two new songs?

    Chris: If you go to Stereokiller you can download it for free; it’s “Unworthy” and “Bitter Man”, just look it up…

    UM: Nice.

    Chris: We have older stuff, but we don’t talk about it because we don’t sound like that anymore. We don’t like to bring it up, but if people are really interested, just hit us up. We’ll give you a cd.

    UM: I’d actually like to hear that myself.

    Chris: We were not influenced by the same stuff we are now. Our guitarist will straight-up tell you he was influenced by like Emure back then.

    Kane: Times have changed.

    Chris: Times have definitely changed since then.

    UM: Ok, well we got a good amount of ground covered in five minutes or so. On a final note, say something about Phil. I didn’t know him personally, did you guys?

    Chris: I’m from Western Massachusetts, man. I think Kane…

    Kane: I hung out with him one time, and it was sick! We were at a party at Vinnie [Life Sentence]’s house, and everyone was listening to Trapped Under Ice and like moshing in the living room. Then some girl changed it and put on rap – which was awesome, I thought it was sick – but Phil got all pissed.  He kept trying to run around this girl to change the music, and he had just broken his hand, so he was doing all this weird shit to try and change the music, but he couldn’t really, so that was sick…he was a good dude, though.

    UM: That’s good to know, and it’s good to see that there are so many people out here tonight to support him, even those who didn’t know him…

    Chris: I’ve been going to shows for probably about ten or eleven years. I probably ran into him, I just didn’t know him by name. I probably shook his hand; but it seems like a lot of people cared about him and that’s what matters. That’s what the scene is all about.

    UM: Absolutely, and it seems like hardcore more than any other genre will pull together for a crisis moment or a benefit or memorial. I think that’s great…

    Chris: This is probably the fifth or sixth benefit I’ve been to, if not played…

    UM: Yeah, the Stigmata benefit was pretty wild…

    Kane: I was crushed, literally, like on the floor.

    UM: Ha! Yeah, I caught an elbow to the face for that one. I always say that if you catch a head injury at any point, it’s a good show.

    Chris: We actually get frowned upon for encouraging violent dancing. We’re really into it – we think people, like, frown upon us for it though.

    UM: Yeah, but Scott Vogel and Jamey Jasta do it all the time.

    Chris: It is what it is.

    UM: Right on. So I see you guys have been getting around a lot lately – you’ve been in Connecticut and New Jersey recently. I know you just finished up, but do you see yourself playing Albany again soon?

    Chris: We’ll be back whenever Mike [Valente] or Dan [Asylum] will have us. We’re gonna take a little time off to write, but we’ll be back.

    UM: Well it’s always a pleasure to see you guys; you guys are one of my favorite bands. I listen to Burn the Impure as much as possible. It’s hard though, I’ve got kids in the house and my youngest is just starting to get into music. At four and a half, his two favorite bands are The Ramones and Agnostic Front.

    Kane: That’s real stuff!

    Chris: Yeah that’s good stuff.

    UM: Well it was a pleasure talking with you guys and I’ll see you inside.

  • Keller Williams Comes to Upstate New York With Fall Tour Dates

    One-man-band Keller Williams hits the road this Fall performing his signature solo sets with stops in Upstate New York. Accompanied on stage only by a slew of instruments and musical gadgets. In his seemingly insatiable quest for constant musical evolution, Keller will also make very special select live appearances with any one of his creative collaborations.

    Keller_Kevin Burke

    Since he first appeared on the scene in the early ’90s, Keller Williams has defined the term independent artist. And his 16 recordings tell only half the story. Keller built his reputation initially on his engaging live performances, no two of which are ever alike. Williams’ solo live shows—and his ability to improvise to his determinedly quirky tunes despite the absence of an actual band—quickly became the stuff of legend, and his audience grew exponentially when word spread about this exciting, unpredictable performer.

    Keller will play 4 shows in Upstate NY on this tour, the first show will be held at Rochester’s historical, German House on September 12th. Doors open at 7:00PM The show starts at 8:00PM, tickets are $25 and all ages are welcome. To purchase tickets please visit KellerWilliams.net and for more information you can call 585-442-6880 or visit www.upallnightpresents.com.

    The following night, September 13th, Keller will play the Wescott Theater in Syracuse, NY. Doors open at 8:00PM and the show starts at 9:00PM. Tickests are $25 and all ages are welcome. Tickets can be purchased online at KellerWilliams.net or the venue box office. For more information please call 315-478-8634 or visit www.thewestcotttheater.com.

    September 14th Keller will play Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, NY. Doors open at 8:00PM, the show starts at 9:00PM and this is an all ages show. Ticket prices range between $35-$55 and can be purchased online at KellerWilliams.net.

    The last appearance in Upstate NY will be a special treat as Keller will be joined by special guests and New York natives, Floodwood, for the October 10th show at Putnam Den in Saratoga Springs, NY. Doors open at 8:00PM and show begins at 9:00PM, this is an all ages show. Tickets are $22 and can be purchased online or at the venue box office.

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  • Meet The Big Up Artists – An Interview With Eskmo

    The Big Up Festival is right around the corner and it’s time to start mapping out your festival game-plan so you don’t miss all of the awesome acts The Big Up has in store.  I had the opportunity to ask one of The Big Up’s recent additions to the already stellar lineup Eskmo, or Brendan Angelides. If you had the opportunity to catch Eskmo at Camp Bisco, you know you are in for a serious treat at his late night set at the Space Ball City Tent.

    Jennifer Wilson:  Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you got started in the music industry?

    Brendan Angelides: I’m from the east coast of the US originally. I started playing music with bands in high school and then slowly started working on solo projects with cheap electronic gear. Flash forward a number of years and with a series of singles on vinyl, I ended up signing with Ninja Tune to release the latest batch of music.

    JW: Can you tell us a story about a day in your life?

    BA: Nothing too fancy really. I do my morning ritual, take care of simple tasks and work on music. I always mix in hiking, meditating and (just as of recent) practicing Kenpo.

    JW: How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it before?

    BA: I’m not sure really, but I could say melodic Earth and Water music.

    JW: Your musical technique seems to cross many different genres and styles. What goes into your process of creating a new song or album?

    BA: Honest reflection of what is going on in my life and growth process. It can come from a variety of places, but as long as it’s authentic  it is always the best route to take. Sometimes lyrics, sometimes melodies, sometimes it can be a cool recording I got at a train station.

    JW: You released a collaborative project with Amon Tobin, what was it like working with such an influential composer and producer?

    BA: Humbling and encouraging. I value his integrity and person a large amount. He is one of the best out there.

    JW: What do you want The Big Up goers to expect from your performance and how will it differ from what they may have seen at CampBisco?

    BA: Each set has a ton of improvised elements, live singing and happy accidents. I’m sure it will be its own experience. If anyone wants to bring me sound effects, go for it.

    JW: What advice would you give to other artists at The Big Up festival who have less experience playing live than you?

    BA: Be patient, stay focused and authentic; and breathe

    Eskmo on Soundcloud

    The Big Up Festival

  • Meet The Big Up Artists- An Interview with The Egg

    With The Big Up Festival just days away, I had the great opportunity of compiling a list of questions for Maff Scott of The Egg to answer before they take stage in Claverack, New York on Saturday August 10th. The Egg is an extremely influential and talented British electronic band formed in the early 1990’s and they have toured all over Europe as well as Australia and Brazil. It is truly a pleasure for Upstate New York to be able to experience such amazing music at a festival so close to home.

    Jenni Wilson: Can you tell us a little about each individual in the band and how you all met and got started in the music industry?

    Maff Scott:  Well there’s myself (Maff) and Ned.  Ned started getting better at the piano and I picked up the drums. We started jamming at home, using saucepan lids and a pedal that we made by attaching a rubber band to a marching band big drum (it only worked once and then fell apart.) We’ve played with a few others over the years. We used Ben Cullum’s (a great house producer and song writer) bass lines to play electronically.  We also wrote and toured a bit with Matt White who we met through Pete Doherty (whom we wrote the song “For Lovers” with). Drew is playing guitar with us mostly; he’s done quite a few tours now and co-written stuff (something to do) and he’s great.  Most musicians we generally meet through mutual friends. We also tend to meet a lot of people through the West London scene. We met Sophie Barker (Zero7) whom we’ve done lots of UK gigs, and even a recent gig with Mick Jones (The Clash) and Greg Hunter (Killing Joke, The Orb). We’ve done lots of recent production for a new release with him, and used his parts for a tune “Psyfunk” in the set. He’s on tour elsewhere but we will try to connect if we can. We also met a great trumpet player, Richard Wendel, while playing in Costa Rica. We jammed with him… and it was brilliant. He runs a great jazz club (The Bitter End) in NYC so we’ll be having him do some crazy trumpet at the Webster Hall show.

    JW: 

Can you tell us a story about a day in the band’s life?

    MS: Erm, well there was the time we were driving to Cleveland, famous for Spinal Tap’s scene where they get lost on the way to the stage (“Hello Cleveland”) – We’d overloaded the van’s alternator with all of our UK converters, laptops and phone chargers. The final straw was putting ‘Spinal Tap’ on the DVD player. We drew too much power and snapped the dynamo off which busted the van. We were stuck in a ‘Bennys’ for the night and missed the show. Ironic that it was Cleveland and Spinal Tap. How we laughed.

    JW: What goes into your process of creating a new song or album?

    MS: Years of hell and stress! Sitting up late playing with electronic bits and bobs. Sometimes it’s a loop or a chord structure Ned has created which we  can jam on and take the parts into rehearsal and make an arrangement. Of course, it changed when we play it live for a while. We’ve been known to stay up for days on one tune. Sometimes in hotel rooms or soundchecks or instead of actually rehearsing for a gig: we are VERY undisciplined.

    JW: 

What are the biggest obstacles for a band and what is the hardest part about working in the music industry?

    MS: Errr..  getting paid! It’s hard to get people to buy stuff when so much is given away. But we’re happy to give away live recordings. The hardest part is keeping the excitement levels up. Web stuff is hard because everyone is competing for your fans attention using the same tool.

    JW:What are some of your pet peeves when performing?

    MS: Time! We always run out of time and don’t get to play the entire set, and the best tunes are at the end.  We’re also really warmed up by then and so is the crowd. Maybe we’re too ambitious with set lists thinking we can do it. The best gigs we’ve done are the ones that have no time limit. The tunes have the time to develop without stopping to squeeze the next one in.

    JW: How do you feel about online music sharing and how has it changed for you as a band since your start?

    MS: We don’t mind sharing a few live shows and all, but as for albums, well, it’s hard to get paid for sales if people are downloading them for free. Sure it gets your attention to a bigger reach, but if everyone does that then it doesn’t really make you stand out as ‘the band who gives stuff away’ – Even though everyone expects it nowadays. The emphasis is now on live shows I guess. We’ve definitely found people who’d never heard of us elsewhere so in measure it’s a great thing (as long as you hold something back).

    JW: How was your experience playing a festival as huge as Glastonbury?

    MS: We’ve done it a few times now. It’s like a city that never sleeps and you don’t know who you’ll reach. There are massively long walks everywhere and it is sort of split up into villages really… mad crazy villages where everyone is the village nutter. There have also been some crazy muddy years, but that makes a comic bonding effect with everyone. We can all look at each other and laugh. This year was fun.. like another world. You feel weird going back to reality sometimes.

    JW: What do you want Big Up goers to expect for your performance musically/visually?

    MS: We have video triggers and a synced up set of dance music and electronics with lots of different styles and live musicians. Basically Moog baselines, an influence of deep house, but mostly eclectic house vibe: guitars, vocoders,  a bit of ambient bleeps, crunched up this and that… I think they’ll like it.

    JW: 

What advice would you give to other artists at The Big Up festival who have less experience?

    MS: Less experience is good! New bands have hunger and faith and blind optimism. That’s all you need! Generally, be good at what you do and don’t piss anyone off. Everyone’s ‘good’ in a way, depending on what music you like, so someone not liking you as people will have far more effect on your next booking than how good you are. Criticizing other bands doesn’t make your band better either. It’s a backfiring effect. I’m sure they’ll all know this.  I don’t want to patronize but I personally don’t bother with covers. It’s easy to think your music is so different that no one will get it, but that’s the reason they’ll notice you. Being yourself is always original, because we’re all different. So be yourself! I’ve often forgotten that. Anyway we’re crap at other people’s music and we can only do our own.

    Make sure you don’t miss these guys at the Space Ball City Tent on August 10th.

    Get The Big Up Festival’s Tickets 

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  • Meet The Big Up Artists – An Interview with Horizon Wireless

    With The Big Up Festival just a few weeks away, I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with The Big Up artist, DJ Harrison Waxenberg of Horizon Wireless, to talk about his upcoming set at the festival.

    Jenni Wilson: Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you got started in the music industry? Tell us a story about a day in your life.

    Harrison Waxenberg: Okay well I’m 5′ 8″ on a good day, I’m prone to mania induced encounters with inter-dimensional energies and beings. I’ve piloted real spaceships, and even crash landed one once! Oh, and I have dimples… which from what I understand is a common and endearing physical attribute amongst Libras. When I met George Clinton he asked me if I was an alien.

    I started playing piano, clarinet, and saxophone when I was younger, and began playing drums in different bands when I was in middle school and continued all the way up through my senior year of college until I moved on from the drama that comes with playing with too many other strong personalities. Simultaneously, I had been experimenting with programs like FL Studio and Garageband as well, kind of unaware that an “electronic music” scene was developing, or even had existed. So on my 22nd birthday my dad got me an APC40 and Ableton (he knew I was about to hang it up with my band) and I just kind of ran with that.

    I guess I first decided I was really going to go for it when I was at Summerdance in 2009 I believe. I was in a drum circle with Michael Travis and some of the guys from Lotus, and I got to lead for a bit. After that, some old black guy with a lot of soul slapped me on the back and was like “you got it dude!” and poured some wine in my mouth and I was all like, “ok cool I can do this!”

    JW: How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it before?

    HW: I guess I would say that I like to take a lot of sub-alien tech funk and psychedelic break-beat grooves, and blend them with some minimal house and trance elements, all the while sprinkling in some pop culture elements throughout.

    JW: What are your biggest musical and non-musical influences?

    HW: My biggest musical influence is probably my dad, I don’t think I’d be playing music if it weren’t for him. My biggest non musical influence is realignment of the Andromeda and Milky Way schism. Oh, and love too, although I think that could be considered a musical influence.

    JW: What goes into your process of creating a new song or album?

    HW: Well I used to play my productions out when I first got Ableton (actually my first show doing that, and even using the moniker Horizon Wireless was at the first edition of The Big Up), but over time my computer started not being able to handle anything so I began to do mash-ups and remixes for a while. Through this I discovered a fun way to mix over 5-6 channels simultaneously and blend infinite sounds and samples to create new things on the fly all the time, and that’s kind of what I became known for. I do like to tell a story with every set, and nothing really goes into what we do that doesn’t have some sort of meaning or relevance to the overall Horizon story. I just got a new computer though and my drummer is finishing up production school so we’ll see what the end of 2013 holds in terms of an EP. There have been many producers I admire who have reached out to me about coming on board with it and that is very humbling.

    JW: How do you feel about DJs you use novelties/masks on stage, such as Deadmau5 with his mask, Destroid and their costumes, etc…

    HW: We all wear masks. Everyone.

    JW: What would you say is the hardest part of being a musical artist today?

    HW: I’m not sure, everything is very accessible today like it never was before. I suppose the hardest part would be coming to terms with the divide between what you thought the music industry would be like when you first decided you wanted to be a part of it, and what it actually is today. As soon as you accept the changes that have been made, and see the community for what it truly is, you start to realize how much better it is as a network of artists, friends, and music lovers, and you become grateful for any little amount of success you have at all.

    JW: You play a majority of your shows in New York, are you originally from here?

    HW: I was born in Florida, lived in Indiana and Maryland for a bit, and then moved to New York. I live on Long Island so the city is a pretty good place to play… I hear if you make it there you can make it anywhere!

    JW: You played this years Camp Bisco which is a pretty big fest. How was your experience playing a festival that size?

    HW: I’ve been going to Camp since 8, managed a stage there for 10 and 11 and closed out the festival at 11 and 12. It’s always a pretty fun time, and that’s where I would be going anyway so it’s a blessing to be able to play there and be exposed to a lot of new fans each year.

    JW: What do you want attendees to The Big Up to expect from your performance and how will it differ from what they may have seen at Camp?

    HW: Well at The Big Up I’m playing with my live drummer, Monty from Digital Frontier, and these sets are always a lot different then solo sets like the ones I do at Camp (Bisco). It’s also the anniversary of Horizon Wireless and the theme is Star Trek/Star Wars so it’s very fitting. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for a set than this one (which I find myself saying a lot, but it’s always true, ha ha), so I think anyone who comes out to it is going to be very glad they did.

    JW: What advice would you give to other artists at The Big Up festival?

    HW: No matter what time you’re playing at or in front of how many people, this is a very important festival. I did my first Horizon show there as a thirty minute set break between Ultraviolet Hippopotamus and Consider the Source in front of probably thirty people at like five o’clock on a Thursday in a barn, and now three years later I’m closing out the woods with a Zonrise. It’s a huge platform, especially for artists that are just starting to get some decent exposure, so give it your all.

    You can catch Horizon Wireless Saturday August 10th at The Big Up Festival in Claverack, New York. If you catch Horizon Wireless August 3rd at the Santos Party House in NY, NY you will be automatically entered to win tickets to The Big Up Festival.

    Horizon Wireless Facebook
    Listen To Horizon Wireless’ Camp 12 Set 
    The Big Up Facebook
    The Big Up Twitter 

  • Camp Bisco 12: Raising the Bar

    Over the past 12 years Camp Bisco has climbed the ranks of EDM festivals becoming a Mecca for electronic music lovers all over America. Camp Bisco is an annual event that I look forward to from the very first moment early bird tickets go on sale. Each year I meet friends, new and old, for a three day gathering of amazing music, art and people. This year certainly did not disappoint and was one of the best Camp Bisco experiences I’ve had. Every aspect of the festival contributes to the foundation of a phenomenally amazing experience, and it’s so close to home you really can’t go wrong.

    The past two years, I spent the extra money for a VIP ticket, so this year I left Wednesday night to ensure that my friends and I would miss traffic and have a full day of live music Thursday afternoon. What I have found in the past years is that there will always be traffic. I often like to think that I’m the only person in the world who is belligerently excited to be back at Camp, and I am always sadly mistaken when I hit that line of traffic miles from the Indian Lookout Country Club. Overall it wasn’t too bad and I was happy we made the trip up a day early so we had a full day of music on Thursday.

    Thursday afternoon started the weekend off right with a beautiful blue sky and some great daytime music. Although the day began a little rocky for my friends and I, as we ended up locking the keys in our car with the engine running and spending hours trying to break in with a bent hanger, we were lucky Camp Bisco has AAA on site, so clearly this fairly common predicament for campers was solved for us. Judging by the amount of people I ran into who had also locked their keys in the car throughout the weekend, it’s safe to say that AAA should be on site for every festival.

    With the release of Daft Punk’s new album Random Access Memories, it seemed to be a major trend within many sets throughout the weekend to sample or cover one of their new songs. Twiddle and Digital Tape Machine kicked it off with the first sets of the weekend mixing in a little Daft Punk, which the crowd certainly did not contest. The Manhattan Project took over the label tent with a phenomenally large crowd for an early set, which was no surprise. This was The Manhattan Project’s third year at Camp Bisco and it has been amazing to see their talent and fan base grow so immensely year to year. RubbleBucket Orchestra took the main stage in the late afternoon with the perfect upbeat, feel good music. One thing I can say about the sets at Camp Bisco is that they are almost always spot on with separating the beautiful and relaxing day time sets with the late night high energy sets. I, of course, had to check out a little bit of Macklemore’s set on main stage (“Thrift Shop” is quite possibly the most catchy song in the entire world.) I’m not really a huge fan of live rap shows simply because the sound is extremely difficult to emulate the quality of a studio recording, which sometimes make it difficult to hear the vocals. Still, it was an entertaining set with hilarious moments. Camp Bisco does a great job of bringing in different genres, and especially with their rap acts, getting the latest and greatest artists.

    Although I’ve never really been the biggest Umphrey’s McGee fan, I was definitely impressed by their set, despite bassist Ryan Stasik not being in attendance, as his daughter was born that weekend. Bryan Dohery of Digital Tape Machine, Dave Murphy of STS9 and Marc Brownstein of The Disco Biscuits filled in on bass during the set, with Brownstein stepping out to play on a cover of the Biscuit’s own “Home”, to welcome everyone back to the festival we have all grown to love so much year after year. Being a huge Sound Tribe Sector 9 fan, I went over to Main Stage 2 early so I could be front and center to see what they had in store for their sunset-set. Some of the craziest shows I have ever seen in my life have been at main stage of Camp Bisco during sunset (Shpongle live of Camp Bisco X was mind blowing). Sound Tribe certainly did not disappoint. Some highlights included “Scheme”, “Inspire Strikes Back” and “Vibyl”. They were also accompanied by live saxophone and trumpet who brought the level of energy and the complexities of each song to new levels.

    Overall all of the Biscuits sets were absolutely amazing and this year brought some of the best Disco Biscuits sets I have seen at Camp since Camp Bisco 8. The Disco Biscuits started their first set of the weekend on a very high note, including a 20 minute “Spaga” and a stellar 25 minute “I-Man”. All around, the Biscuits gave a great performance. Oh, and the new light show? C’mon. Insane.

    Late night in the Label tent consisted of Com Truise and Squarepusher, two highly anticipating artists. Com Truise had a lot of energy and was an all around feel good show. Squarepusher was quite possibly the most chaotic and amazing set I have ever seen at Camp Bisco, and having wanted to see him live for almost eight years, I was unbelievably floored that he was playing a festival in Upstate New York. His set, true to his nature, was insane. I think a lot of people expected something else and were very confused when they walked into the tent. Squarepusher focuses mostly around heavy drum and bass and electro-acoustic music, so often times the progressions are spastic and abrupt. He took the stage donning an intense mask that lit up in sync with the projections behind him, and to his music. It wasn’t until he stepped away from his table and picked up his bass that I was truly blown away. This set was certainly one of my highlights for the entire weekend. After Squarepusher, I walked down to the hill stage for some Silent Disco, but once the sun started coming up, I made the responsible decision of getting some sleep before the next long day of music.

    Friday was another beautiful day, and completely unlike the average Camp Bisco weekend, as there was absolutely no rain and it was not 100 degrees, making for absolutely perfect weather during daytime performances. If you’ve never been to Camp Bisco, or even if you have, one thing to do is ride the Ferris Wheel, which provides the most amazing view from the top and really puts into perspective how enormous this festival has become. I didn’t end up spending the money on the air bag dive, but it was entertaining enough watching other people jump off that I think it is a great addition to Camp Bisco’s tomfoolery. I popped in and out of the Label tent during Govinda which surprisingly packed for such an early set. Watching the crowd, I was very much blown away by the dedication some of these attendees have. I don’t understand how they have the energy to dance that hard for that long and not be passed out by 5 o’clock.

    Being clock-less via dead cellphone made it difficult to ever know what time it was. I was happy that I stumbled upon Toro Y Moi on the main stage, who I was very much looking forward to seeing. The set was very low key and an awesome way to spend a Friday afternoon. His music is very different from most of what’s around, which is why I was so excited to see what he would pull out in a live performance. This performance proves what I said about Camp Bisco’s set placements for each artist always being incredibly on point. The schedule for Friday was shifted around a bit due to issues with Animal Collective. In true Camp Bisco fashion, the moment Animal Collective couldn’t perform, they had the legendary Thievery Corporation on a flight from across the country to fill their slot. By shifting the set time an hour earlier, Thievery Corporation was a perfect cap to the day and beginning to the night. After Thievery Corporation I took a short break before hitting up the Bassnectar set, sandwiched by double Disco Biscuits sets. I didn’t stay for all of Bassnectar because the crowd was a little crazy, but nevertheless, it was a high energy show and the crowd clearly enjoyed themselves.

    Both sets from the Disco Biscuits were, once again, spectacular. Each set seemed to get better than the last. As a Biscuits fan, it can be easy to be cynical and walk away from some shows feeling a little let down, but there was none of that this weekend. Each set was absolute fire. The highlights of all of night two included “Lunar Pursuit”, “Helicopters” and a “Highwire” encore.

    Gigamesh, Aeroplane and Lotus were all awesome late night sets. Gigamesh and Aeroplane were so high energy I was physically exhausted when it was time to switch tents for Lotus. Luckily, Lotus was a little slower and more ambient which was a nice end to a long day of music.

    Saturday mornings are always the best and the worst at Camp Bisco. You know you have a whole day of music ahead of you, but there is still a looming reality of it all coming to an end. By the time I had gotten myself together to head down to the main stage for the noon Indobox set, it appeared there were some technical difficulties with the stage and music would be pushed back until it was figured out. Music was pushed back for a few hours so I popped into the label tent until the first Biscuits set. Everyone seemed to be having a great time despite the mishap at main stage. By the time The Disco Biscuits came on, the excitement level was high. The daytime Biscuits set is always something I look forward to. They’re often more low key than their usual sets and great to relax in the sun during. However, this set was high in energy and packed with gems. The main highlight of this set was the “Spy” although I am always a fan of a good “Magellan.” I quickly left from main stage so I could catch Break Science who had been moved to the label tent.

    Each time I have Break Science, the energy is high and the talent is mind blowing. Adam Deitch is the kind of drummer you need to see to believe. I almost always try to find my way to the front just to be able to see both artists work their magic in synchrony. I wish I had been able to catch more of their set, but I was definitely happy I didn’t miss it. The next act I caught was Passion Pit on the main stage, which was definitely a highlight of the weekend. Passion Pit is just the kind of feel-good, upbeat night time set you want to see on your last day of Camp Bisco. The crowd chimed in, singing each song and waving their rage sticks through the light show that stretched across the grounds. Immediately after Passion Pit left the stage, the Disco Biscuits quickly filled in for their last two sets of the weekend. It was a treat being able to see two Disco Biscuits sets back to back, giving the crowd a full Biscuits show on the last night of their festival. Highlights included, “Story of the World, “Run Like Hell,” and a personal favorite, “Little Shimmy in a Conga line.” This was a brilliant way to end a weekend of some of the best Biscuits sets I’ve seen in a long time. After the two sets I needed a long break to recollect myself and rest before late night. The last set I ended up catching was Boombox at the Label Tent. I have seen Boombox a handful of times and they never disappoint. They put on a psychedelic, funky, disco-esque set that kept us all dancing and put the close on a phenomenal weekend at Camp Bisco.

    Each year Camp Bisco stretches its potential and our expectations. The festival has branched out to include acts and artists that might not ever share the stage otherwise. Each year is an experience, and a mind blowing one at that. At one point during the weekend Marc Brownstein exclaimed, “It’s been 12 years! That means combined we’ve been at Camp Bisco for almost a month!” It’s crazy to look back at what the festival started as and what it has now become. It is so much bigger than anyone ever truly anticipated, but hey, Upstate New York knows how to party. Thank you Camp Bisco for another brilliant weekend.