NYS Music 20​13

Tag: syracuse

  • Sophistaphunk at the Java Barn, St. Lawrence University, February 23

    Sophistafunk, a three piece band from Syracuse, played at the Java Barn in Canton. Java is located on the campus of St. Lawrence University, where during the school semesters there are great bands at least once every week. Java is not overly large but definitely fills up no matter who plays there.

    Sopistafunk consist of Adam Gold on keys, Emanuel Washington on drums and percussion and Jack Brown on vocals. They were like no other band I have ever seen, their funk style rap  reminded me most definitely of artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Arthur Baker, Bell Biv Devoe and Booker T and the M.G.’s from the late 80’s early 90’s. Based in Syracuse, the band is on tour in surrounding areas to New York and has made it out west for shows. Check out the photos from the show below, and more at their website, Reverb Nation and on Facebook.

  • Turkuaz, Conehead Buddha and The Monk headline The Westcott Theater on February 28th

    Thursday February 28th will be a triple-threat show at The Westcott Theater featuring Turkuaz, Conehead Buddha and The Monk. Turkuaz is a 10-piece band with a crazy stage show and has moved from opening for Kung Fu this past fall to headlining in their own right a few short months later.

    Independent Music Venues the westcott the monkTurkuaz’s stage show combines influences from Sly and the Family Stone to Talking Heads into an explosive auditory and visual circus, causing a full-frontal assault on the senses. The group has played multiple residencies at NYC’s Brooklyn Bowl, festivals including Bear Creek, Mountain Jam, Strangecreek, Equifunk and Wormtown, among others, and has toured nationally. Turkuaz on Facebook and check out their music here.

    Conehead Buddha started out in Albany in the early 90s and was one of the early Jambands to come out of the Capital District. They return to play shows every so often, so they are not to be missed! The Monk was spawned out of a fusion of genres found all over the world and all across the musical spectrum. They promise to bring infectious rhythms to make you move, blazing guitar and sax to make you scream and monster melodies to make you sing. Above all, The Monk will bring the Funk, that much is guaranteed.

    Doors open at 7 at the Westcott Theater, with The Monk Bought Lunch and Conehead Buddha taking the stage at 7:30pm and 9pm, respectively. Turkuaz goes at 10pm. Tickets are $12 at the door, $10 online here. This is an all ages show.

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ5OYeHV4Kg]

  • Interview with singer-songwriter Jamie Kent, playing The Westcott Theater on February 23rd

    It’s a Sunday afternoon and while every other touring artist may take the seventh day off to catch some forty winks, workaholic Jamie Kent takes the time out to interview with Morgan and Gauraa . It’s no surprise, though; he does include singer-songwriter, concert promoter, entrepreneur, and mischief maker in his job description!

    Mary Morgan Craig: Okay so before we get down to business can you tell us about this “stint” you had in a Mariachi band?

    Jamie Kent: Ha ha, okay so I was in high school and there was a battle of the bands and a group of friends and I formed a mariachi band called Suko Gringo and we won the crowd award for it.

    MMC: Thats awesome. Ha, the coolest kids in school I’m sure.

    Jamie Kent: Yeah, it was an experience.

    Gauraa Shekhar: So what was it like growing up in Northampton, Massachusetts?

    Jamie Kent: Northampton is a really awesome town. It no doubt influenced my goals in the beginning being musician. Its a big music town I pretty much spent all my money growing up going to concerts. and when graduated high school I knew I was going to do music. I was either going to go to Berklee in Boston or Babson in Boston to either do music or music business. I did an undergraduate program for music business but continued to do music on the side at Conservatory.

    MMC: So why did you choose to apply to ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)?

    Jamie Kent: Well, when you’re first starting out you kind of take the advice of people you look up to and my producer at the time had a big music library that he would sell to radio stations and film and TV. He was both an ASCAP and BMI member and he said both are tough to deal with but I get paid more from ASCAP. So I was like “Oh Cool!” and started to figure out why it was better to go with ASCAP and what’s been really great with them for me personally is they have some really great programs to develop songwriters which a lot of others don’t. Last year I got into this songwriting program out in L.A. working with some really crazy people, (including) the dude who wrote Adele’s “Someone Like You” and Keith Urban and Lee Ann Rhymes’s last two records. So, they really network well and help you connect with other great songwriters that help take it to the next level.

    GS: So what is it like writing music solo compared to writing with the band or in workshops?

    Jamie Kent: Its definitely different. It’s got its benefits and setbacks. Solo you can really do everything that you want to do which is awesome but for me sometimes I will lose focus and get distracted by Facebook or whatever and then it’ll take me a few days to write a song whereas when I’m writing with other people and we’re in a room together, we will focus for a few hours until the song is written. You do lose control over some of the things you want and you have to make some compromises but it is a lot more productive.

    GS: Kind of keeping each other on track.

    Jamie Kent: Yeah, exactly! And also about challenging each other. Sometimes when you’re writing by yourself you can settle but when you’re with other people they can push you and you’re like “Oh yeah, it could be better” but you don’t think of that until you’re with someone else.

    MMC: We’ve heard you have a tireless work ethic but touring 200 days is a lot. What was that like?

    Jamie Kent: You know, I love being on the road fundamentally but I also really believe that the live show is the most important aspect to being a musician these days and important of course in order to make money and survive since anyone with a laptop and a Myspace account can be a musician these days which is cool but that also means there’s an overwhelming amount of people so if you want to distinguish yourself and take it to the top your show has to be incredible. And ya I just love playing. The more I play the better I get.

    MMC: Practice makes perfect.

    JK: Yeah, exactly and you know like in Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers he talks about putting in 10,000 hours into something you’re going to know it better than everyone else and do it better.

    GS: If you could pick one thing you like the most about touring what would that be?

    JK: Thats a good question. I love the stories that come out of it. I’m a big fan of at my shows of weaving stories into my shows and making that part of it and that does inspire songs a lot. That is where a lot of stories come from: being on tour and putting yourself in uncomfortable situations and having something interesting come out of it. Often it involves like a random character that you meet in Rock Island, Illinois or wherever you might be but there’s nothing that you could ever experience by just sitting at home in the studio.

    MMC: You’ve got a campaign going for your next record. You must have a great fan base, you’ve got a very successful campaign going and it looks like they’re even sponsoring your next record. How do you maintain such a strong connection with your fans?

    JK: Well I think that the way I’ve been able to do it really well is because of this thing I started couple of years ago called The Collective. Its a community of my most loyal fans and in return for their contributions they get free tickets to shows, free music, free merch and they can log into a specific program where I post exclusive content and ask them questions. So like The Collective voted on my album artwork for the last two albums and like where they think we should tour, what the first radio single should be, that kind of stuff and that’s kind of kept people really involved in like my career and vice versa. I think that that’s been really helpful and since the beginning I wasn’t sure that people would continue to reinvest in the next project or the next album that kind of thing but they really have which has been awesome and they’ve spread the word to friends and it has really kind help create that loyalty.

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    MMC: That’s great. I think we’ll start seeing a lot more of that kind of fan base building.

    JK: Yeah, I think so. I launched it before Kickstarter even came out and then when Kickstarter came out I was like oh that will sort of become like what The Collective is on a bigger scale. Whats sort of surprising that they haven’t done yet is kind of create the community. Kickstarter is just like a project-to-project kind of thing, where they help you  make that one record and then that’s it and then hopefully they’ll go to Facebook or sign up for your email list or something like that but The Collective is about a long term community to create loyal fans. So even like we’re doing the Indie GoGo campaign for the next record but everyone who contributes gets a part in the collective so we can keep it evolved for the long term.

    GS: When you first jammed with The Options was it a “love at first jam” kind of a thing or did it take some time? How did you know they were right for you?

    JK: Its been an interesting journey with the options. Looking at The Options as they are now are the solidified Options. My bass player and drummer, Dan and Rhees have been with me really since the beginning. Rhees for almost 3 years and Dan for like 2 and a half years. And then our keyboard, accordian and electric guitar player Killian and Zach. They’ve been with us for about 6 months. So they are the newer Options. Rhees I met when I was first looking to form a band. He was playing with this other girl in the area who actually wanted to be on The Voice and then they had a falling out. I met him at a mutual friends party right as they were falling out and we just hit it off. He was surprised to have a band leader who treated him well and shared the money and shared everything with him. Then Dan came on shortly after through the Northampton music scene we kind of saw him and brought him on and then we had a different keyboard piano player for a while which was he was incredibly talented but we had kind of a lesson learned that personality goes a long way in a band. It’s about both talent and personality and if personality goes askew then things can not be the greatest on the road. So we made some changes and brought on a few new members who were both really awesome people and killer musicians and its been the best setup we’ve ever had and I think at shows we displace that energy as well.

    GS: Cool, yeah we can definitely hear it in your sound.

    JK: Cool! That’s the goal. Yeah, when you’re on the road you really want to be with people who you like and connect with. It really comes through in your music. If there’s bad energy there that will come through as well.

    MMC: Your last album Navigation had a fresh Americana twang to it. What can we expect from your new, evolved sound?

    JK: Its sort of taking that and pushing it. The idea behind the record is Brian Eno producing Bruce Springsteen. That’s sort of the vibe we’re gonna go for. We’ve got a couple chops that we’re pretty excited for so far. Its gonna be really kind of roots rock vibe, really song focused.

    GS: Definitely like the sound of that.

    MMC: As you grow as an artist, do you feel as if your songwriting process has evolved?

    JK: Yeah yeah I really do. When I began I was interested in song writing and when I wrote my first one I was like wow this is sounding really cool, boom done. But I’ve become a lot more picky in my songwriting now. I want every lyric to kick ass and if it doesn’t, I won’t release it.

    GS: It’s really cool that you have a lot of different work experiences under your belt, you were reviewing craft breweries for Two Foot Media nearly five years ago…was that something fun you just decided to do?

    JK: Well I went to Babson in Boston. The focus is on entrepreneurship there and I kind of learned just a different way of viewing the world. Entrepreneurship allows you to turn what you love into a career or business which is fundamentally what I’m doing with music and I’ve always had a big love for Microbrew and in college a friend of mine and I decided we wanted to go on a road trip across the U.S. and sample different brews and so we convinced the magazine to hire us and we reviewed all the breweries across country and put together article on them. If you love something you can always figure out a way to make money doing it.

    GS: Well we couldn’t help but notice that you’re known as a “mischief maker”. Where did that title come from? What mischief have you been making?

    JK: Ha, yeah I’ve always been a mischief maker. That was kind of coined this one time when I dressed up in a costume and planted my first CD in 172 Starbucks stores in Manhattan. The video for Mischief Man films all that. So that’s where it came from and I’m always causing little bits of mischief on the road and thinking of new ways to promote shows. For example we’ll go into like the nearest restaurant and start playing with a sign that says we’re playing tonight and then just take off. Usually we confuse people and also attract some attention. We are also playing for SXSW and we have an RV that we’re gonna drive around and party in and do flash concerts.

    MMC: Very cool. Sounds like fun. Do you miss your family while you’re on tour though?

    JK: Definitely. But I’ve sort of gotten used to it. I’m really good up until three weeks. At three weeks I start to get a little homesick. I love life on the road but you do miss home sometimes. Northampton is a great home to come back to as well. When I’m out on the road I’m always looking for a place that’s cooler than Northhampton and I haven’t found too many.

    GS: So what’s it like opening for The Wood Brothers?

    JK: Yeah I mean they’re fuckin’ awesome. They’re so good. And they’re really good guys too. Just unbelievably talented as I’m sure you know but also equally as nice. Rhees has worshipped Chris Wood since he was growing up so the first time they met Rhees was really nervous but they totally ended up hitting it off and Chris turns Rhees on to they’re great players and they push us both to be better players.

    MMC: Who is your favorite contemporary artist?

    JK: I’m really liking Milo Green, Churchill, and First Aid Kit are like the three bands that are getting a lot of iPod time with me right now. I’m sort of on this like female male singer combo thing. But i’m always bumping like Ray Lamontagne.

    GS: Is there any advice you can offer young musicians about the industry?

    JK: Yeah I would say if you want to be a musician you have to be willing to work your ass off. Its so competitive and the market is so flooded with musicians you really have to work your ass off and want it  to get yourself out there. Otherwise I would say just put yourself out there like just do it. A lot of people ask me “How do I book shows?” How do I play shows?” and I always tell them really you just have to do it. Get out there, go to the venue, talk to people. The only way anythings going to happen is if you just take action and do it.

    Make sure to catch Jamie Kent open for The Wood Brothers on Saturday, the 23rd of February at The Westcott Theater!

  • V for Vanderbuilts: Syracuse based Pop/Rock band release New Single “I Wish I Was A Saber Toothed Tiger”

    Amidst all the mushy releases that make single people want to stick a fork in their eye around Valentine’s Day, it is absurdly appropriate for The Vanderbuilts to release their single, “I Wish I Was A Saber Toothed Tiger” on February 14th. There is something dreamlike about their sound that you can’t quite place your finger upon. Whether it’s the soothing pizzicato of Yamamoto’s violin or the energy of lead singer Kogon’s elusive-yet-lingering vocals,  The Vanderbuilts take you to another world, far, far away from the Hallmark clichés.

    Inspired by Werner Herzog’s 2010 masterpiece, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the band’s new album, What We Forget puts a fresh spin on ancient sounds and images. Their music video by Sessa Lund, uses a combination of claymation and stop motion to depict a clay figure transforming into various animals but never quite reaching the goal of becoming a saber toothed tiger. “I Wish I Was A Saber Toothed Tiger” wraps us in a strange yet familiar sound, waiting impatiently for what’s to come. Music & Lyrics by Sam Kogon; Engineered, Mixed and Produced by Jay Newland

    The Vanderbuilts are Sam Kogon, Dave Riddell, Max Newland, Aya Yamamoto and Grennan Milliken. “I Wish I Was a Saber Tooth Tiger” features Finnegan Shanahan on Violin; string arrangements by Aya Yamamoto and Finnegan Shanahan. Website Twitter Facebook Youtube

    Vanderbuilts

  • Interview with Burlington, Vermont based singer-songwriter, Justin Levinson, playing The Westcott Theater on February 24th

    The promising Burlington, Vermont-based singer-songwriter Justin Levinson chats with Gauraa and Morgan about his trajectory as a musician–from the good ol’ Berklee days spent playing gigs at the All Asia Cafe to his upcoming tour with Aaron Carter.

    Mary Morgan Craig: Your music is an interesting combination of country, pop, and rock. How would you best describe the influences that led to that?

    Justin Levinson: I think most of my music right now is in the power-pop genre but when I spent some time out in Nashville a couple years ago, I was really inspired by a lot of the music that was out there and one of my friends gave me an Elton John record called Tumbleweed Connection and it just turned out to be a really influential record for me. That’s one of Elton John’s records that had some country influence on it and it was piano driven as well.

    MMC: We can definitely hear that in your music.

    Gauraa Shekhar: Yes, for sure. We read that you went to Berklee College of Music. What did you major in while you were at Berklee?

    Justin Levinson: Well, I started out as Jazz Trumpet and then I changed over and did songwriting. It was more like School of Rock than normal college.

    GS: I’d imagine!

    MMC: Do you think the Boston music scene helped you grow as an artist? I’m from Boston, by the way.

    Justin Levinson: Yeah, definitely. Going to Berklee was great because I was around incredible, awesome peers who were great musicians and I got to learn a lot from them. I also played a lot of the local clubs like The Middle East. I actually started out playing at the All Asia Cafe, which is kind of the place to start when you’re in Boston and you know, all your friends have to buy a drink and everything. It was small and no one actually went there so it was mostly just students playing, ha. I kind of worked my way up from there to playing bigger venues like Great Scott. I feel like I  played every venue in the city until I worked my way up playing at The Paradise.

    MMC: Nice. The Paradise is such a gorgeous venue! I would have been so pumped to have played there.

    Justin Levinson: Yeah, it was a real privilege and now actually, when I’m not on tour with a bigger headliner, I go frequently back to the Lizard Lounge, which is in Cambridge. Ha, you probably know the spots. Where are you from in Boston?

    MMC: I’m from a little town right outside of Boston, actually, called Boxford.  I mean, there’s nothing going on there so we go to Boston all the time.

    Justin Levinson: Ah, nice. Yeah, Boston’s great!

    GS: It’s pretty interesting you say that because you went straight from Boston back to Burlington, Vermont, which you described as the “one horse town”. What inspired that?

    Justin Levinson: Well, originally, I had been interested in moving to Nashville. A lot of my friends were thinking about moving out there and I was pretty certain that I was going to move out there–not just because of music but also because this girl I was chasing was moving out there, and since that didn’t work out, I pulled an audible and said I’m gonna move to Los Angeles. Ha, and I ended up not moving to Los Angeles. Then, my final choice was New York City but New York City just wasn’t for me. I mean, I loved visiting but it moved a little too fast for me and I just really loved the people in Vermont as well as the quality of life and I was able to do enough touring to be able to make my confections in the music industry on the road and be able to not have to kind of live in the chaos in the big, urban music meccas.

    MMC: Ha, good! So you described your latest album, This Side of Me, as feel good heartache. How’d you come up with that?

    JL: Yeah. Basically, I was making a record that was filled with a lot of heartache but at the same time I wanted to keep it a little lighthearted for listeners and I didn’t wanna make kind of a woe-is-me record. Also, I was really aware that making a concept album about heartache is probably the most overdone topic so I realized that it was important for me to put a twist on it. I tried to have a little sense of humor–kind of heart-on-sleeve, using simple metaphors and silly euphemisms…just kind of playful stuff, ha.

    GS: Well you did a good job because we definitely liked it! People say musicians write music most when they’re either falling in love or falling out of love. Would you agree with that statement?

    JL: Yeah, definitely! Love alone is like the number one topic in most songs and I think when an artist is writing from the heart, its definitely one of the pretty intriguing concepts, I think.

    MMC: You have experimented with your sound quite a bit over the past years. How did you end up with The Valcours?

    JL: Well, I spent a lot of time playing with session musicians and there’s a big difference when you’re playing with session musicians as opposed to when you’re playing with a band. Session musicians have higher guns and technically you don’t let them into your world as far as writing and ideas are concerned. It’s kind of like you’re showing up to work for the artist, basically. I work that way a lot because I’ve been in bands in the past and it hadn’t really worked out for me. When I met the guys that are in my band now, we just really got along well and we would have dinner together before we would practice and we would totally talk about our troubles and there was this ‘bromance’ going on and I thought to myself maybe I won’t let the jaded past of the band thing haunt me and give this band a chance and let them in a little bit. It really made a big difference  because it let me listen to other people’s ideas for once instead of my own. If you don’t work with people who trust you enough, you end up writing the same song over and over and over again but if you listen to four people in the band, someone could be like, ‘Hey man, you’ve already done those four chord changes a few times. Why don’t we try this instead?’ It might be hurtful at first to listen to but it definitely makes you grow as a musician. I think anyone that thinks they can do everything on their own, all DIY and all, is at a setback. In the music industry, it’s always good to listen to other people.

    GS: Well said. As musicians, we are consistently trying to find “our sound”. Would you say you’ve find your sound with your new backing band?

    JL: Yeah, I think I’ve found a sound but one thing with me is that I get really bored playing one kind of sound so I don’t know if I can make that a final answer. I mean, look at The Beatles, they never made the same record twice. They had some similarities, yeah, but they went from “She Loves You” to “Let it Be”, you know. I’m hoping that I’ll achieve that kind of growth and maturity if I keep it up.

    MMC: Yeah, we’re excited to hear more.  Your song “City With Two Lights” sat tight on CMJ charts for quite a while, granting you nation-wide exposure. Would you recommend artists like yourself to leverage themselves at conferences like that?

    JL: Yeah, I think college radio is a great thing for independent artists. I learned a lot about the industry by doing that as I had to build relationships with people. One of the best piece of advice that I got was from a friend who worked for WERF, which is the Emerson College radio station, and he was actually a DJ there and he suggested putting in a personal note in with my press kit when I sent them out to colleges because college DJs get so many press kits so it needs to have something that separates you from the pack and makes you go, “alright, Justin Levinson is a human ‘being’.

    GS: We do get a lot of press kits, that’s true! A personal note can make all the difference.

    JL: Yeah, that was really a cool thing and I started writing notes to DJs and build authentic relationships with these people who I’m still in touch with today. I would say for artists coming up, that’s an important thing to do because people you meet as you’re rising are very important. Kids that were DJs at WERF are now working at Columbia Records.

    GS: Yeah, hopefully that’ll be us in a few years.

    JL: Ha, definitely!

    GS: Okay, so, how did you end up as an opening act for Aaron Carter?

    JL: Well, that’s actually a good question. I don’t really know all the details about how that came to be but in November I signed with new management and since then I’ve been working with artists like Aaron Carter. I also toured last fall with Tyler Hilton. He’s actually in the cast of One Tree Hill.

    GS: Oh, wow, that’s amazing. Tyler’s really good, I have his records and everything.

    JL: Yeah, his new record is really good and he’s possibly the nicest guy I’ve ever met, too. He’s totally an authentic dude and the first show I jumped on on tour, he introduced me to all his friends and you know, every time I’d play he’d mention my name three times to the crowd. It was a great experience, really. I think the new management is opening up a lot of doors for me. Hopefully, I’ll be doing a lot more stuff like this in the future!

    GS: Oh, sure.

    MMC: So when you’re writing, do you keep a certain demographic in mind?

    JL: I don’t really think I ever really thought about it but you know, recently, with the Tyler Hilton and Aaron Carter tours, I definitely think about it a little more. During the Tyler Hilton tour, it was like 300-500 screaming young girls every night, which was crazy and something I wasn’t used to but when I write, I want to have every age group and gender have some sort of experience where they can relate to the music. I think I have a pretty good perspective right now. I’m 27 so I’ve still got some sort of teenage angst in me but I’m also kind of an adult now  and been into college for a while so I think I can kind of balance out a lot of age groups. Well, I hope I can at least. I mean I’m wishful that a lot of different age groups would enjoy my music.

    GS: With the growing EDM scene, what do you see happening to the future of the power-pop/ singer-songwriter genre?

    JL: You know, I’m not really sure, I think with the power-pop stuff that I’m doing right now, there always seems to be a market for it, you know, I aspire to be as successful as bands like fun. Nate Reuss is kind of one of my heroes, he’s around my age right now and he’s been doing this power-pop thing for a long time and it seems like it all has worked out for him. I think if artists are able to be as creative as him and really combine a lot of really cool things like hip-hop, power-pop, and  even some of those marching band kind of rhythms that he kind of sampled, it would be a great feature for the indie, power pop market.

    MMC: Do you think that you will incorporate anything like that in your music?

    JL: I would love to keep experimenting, you know. My drummer right now has a sampler and we use a sampler for our drum beats and use real drums over them. I’m always up for doing different things. It would be really cool to try to fuse those things.

    GS: Very cool. Is there a specific songwriting process that is your default? Like, do you write the melody first or the lyrics? Or does it vary from time to time?

    JL: You’re asking really good questions! These are really thoughtful, I appreciate it.

    GS and MMC: Why, thank you!

    JL: Yeah, I mean, I’m kind of the dude that plays on the piano with the melody in his head. The lyrics kind of come after, I guess. Usually it comes after playing the piano and guitar. You got to kind of see what the mood is like if it’s a minor chord progression, then it might be a sadder topic. If it’s major, then it might be a happier topic. If it’s kind of transitioning between major and minor, it is likely that it’s going to be bittersweet. I guess that would be my process for the most part.

    MMC: Cool. So, in the video for “I Was So Wrong”, what inspired the ballerina in the video?

    JL: Well, one of the things I do besides playing music is a lot of social work. I work with people in development of disabilities and one of the things  we do is we volunteer at a lot of different places and I volunteer at the main society at Burlington, Vermont and one of the women that works there had told me that she was a dancer and I said, ‘Well, I kind of have this circusey idea for this song and it would be cool to have a ballerina dancing in the background as my muse.’

    MMC: Well, it looked good!

    JL: Yeah, I’d say it worked out fairly well.

    GS: Do you find yourself using social media at all to stay connected to fans?

    JL: Yeah, definitely. The whole DIY thing is great and I can’t speak for every songwriter but I have not  reached the pinnacle of my career yet but I think being all DIY is an impossible feat in music so it’s important for me to have a lot of help. Even though I’m not with a major label, I have a publicist, a booking agent, a college booking agent, a licensing company, that puts a lot of stuff together for me but I still spend endless time doing the whole social media thing. A lot of publicity these days is doing social media. PR campaigns are all about reaching out to bloggers and podcasts. It’s all about networking, really. It’s a big social networking game and I spend a lot of time doing that. Even though I have this team, I love talking to fans and friends and everything, but sometimes I’m like, “I really want to be writing a song right now” instead of sitting on my Twitter page and what not. It’s really all about balance. If I can do both, it makes me a happy camper.

    MMC: Awesome!

    GS: We loved having you on our show.

    JL: It was a pleasure, really. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. Hopefully I’ll see you guys at the show!

    GS: Oh definitely, we have our tickets.

    JL: Nice! You should come in and introduce yourselves, it would be fun to chat a little bit.

    GS: We’d love to!

    MMC: Thanks and have a great night!

    JL: You, too!

    Make sure to catch Justin Levinson open for Aaron Carter at the Westcott Theater on the 24th of February!

    To listen to this interview with Justin Levinson, tune into The Laura and Meg Show via iTunes Radio on Wednesday, February 20th at 11pm! Just click on “Radio” on the menu bar at the top of your iTunes Library. From there click College Radio> Syracuse University>WERW. Or simply head over to SoundCloud

  • Lotus Interview and Review: January 30th at the Westcott Theater

    Lotus, the notorious EDM act-turned-jamband played a solid sold-out show at The Westcott Theater on a Wednesday, January 30th, making quite the comeback with their tenth album, The Build. The band continues to enchant listeners as they genre-bend their way into an idiosyncratic combination of funk and EDM, proving to be more relevant now than ever.

     

    Before the show, I got the chance to talk to Jesse Miller, the bassist and sampler for the band.

    Gauraa Shekhar: Your new record The Build is recorded live to analog. How did that come along considering the wide range of instrumentation?

    Jesse Miller: We have been following the process over the last few years. It is a classic 70s thing, you know—with basic tracks and everything.

    GS: That’s really cool. In The Build the rich texture really comes through, especially in songs like “Middle Road”. How do you guys produce music within a budget without compromising the quality?

    Jesse Miller: Most of it was done by myself and Luke. We rehearsed the process before we went into the studio and relied on a lot of software to help us. So we didn’t waste time and money on extra studio hours.

    GS: That’s very practical. What kind of a demographic are you catering to with such genre-bending music? Is it easier to find the venue that matches your sound or do you have to pay special attention to it?

    JM: I don’t think there is a specific demographic that we cater to but venues are definitely important. We aim for high-energy shows. Sometimes, we play for a younger crowd but there really is no specific age.

    GS: Performing live is obviously a great aspect of your music. How do you mix it up on stage to keep the audience entranced . . . I mean, besides the lights of course.

    JM: Improvisation, for sure. We try to mix it up by changing the instruments and arranging the songs a little differently.

    GS: Since you guys incorporate a lot of computer generated digital sounds in your music, how do you put a different spin on it whilst performing live?

    JM: There are certain things that are important to pull out of line…sometimes, we play around with the melody and sometimes we change up the instruments. We also trigger samples on stage.

    GS: Oh, wow! Well, what is it like having a 47 days tour?

    JM: 47 days in a tour can be hectic. But it allows us to develop a sound and a rapport.

    GS: I’m sure. Bands have issues but you guys seem to stuck together as a band through all these years. What are some of the main things that glue you guys together?

    JM: Well, it’s mostly the work ethic and the drive. We’ve been at this for such a long time and we’re really passionate about the music.

    GS: As are we! Looking forward to seeing you in ’Cuse on the 30th, Jesse!

    JM: Looking forward to the show!

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg8giAkXJjA]

    As promised, Lotus gave those looking to get a high-energy head start to their weekend more than what they had bargained for. As I walked straight off the campus to their venue, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had walked straight into a Tim Burton set with all its entailing paraphernalia. I watched inebriated girls in princess costumes flail their way to the front row and men leaping out of crumbling bathroom doors with glowing light sabers. The night was fecund with possibilities  as if anything could happen. Excited fans drove in all the way from Rochester and Watertown, yelling out to anybody willing to listen: “This is the fourth time I’m seeing them perform”, “I just watched their show in New York last week” and “They just keep getting better each time”.  It was more than evident that Lotus’ electronica sound sustained their fan base over a span of fourteen years. And let me tell you, the infamous interplay of stage lights was only the beginning. Only a band like Lotus could turn a dance party into a religious experience. Lotus fueled the room with time-transcending energy and a motley crowd checked their baggage at the door, walked in, simply wrapped their heads around the music— and let their hair down.

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2r7NY_Ra3s]

  • Review and Interview: The Brew at The Westcott Theater, January 26th

    Over the past year I’ve often heard people voice concern about Rock N’ Roll as a genre, seemingly worried  that it is dying out these days due to all of the EDM and Indie music that is over saturating the mainstream. If you are one of these people, fret not. I assure you that Boston based band The Brew is keeping Rock alive and kickin’.

    Before they completely brought the house down at The Westcott Theater this past Saturday night, lead singer Chris Plante of expressed his love for Upstate New York and the ‘Cuse. “We’re so happy to be back in Syracuse! We love playing The Westcott,” he yelled into the mic from his spot at his double-decker keyboard. The Boston based quartet consists of brothers Chris Plante (lead vocals, keyboards), Joe Plante (Bass, vocals) and friends Dave Drouin (Guitar, vocals) and Aaron Zaroulis (Drums/vocals).Together they are like the Fantastic Four of Rock. There isn’t a single weak link in the group on instrumentals and their song writing skills are something to envy.

    Following Chris’s warm shout out the band opened with one of their new songs titled “Aftermath”. From the sounds of the track we can look forward to enjoying a killer new release. As soon as the powerful instrumentals of this track filled the room I was reminded of why I fell in love with Rock N’ Roll in the first place. Aaron has driving in-your-face drum beats that make it virtually impossible for anyone with a soul to stand still. Chris sings the band’s insightful and relatable lyrics with an honest raspy voice while his piano parts cascade over the tracks. Dave plays epic guitar solo’s on his edgy Gibson explorer with seemingly no effort and Joe coolly holds the entire sound together seamlessly on bass.  Their sheer musical awesomeness evoked multiple and loud shouts of “I love you!” from the audience on multiple occasions throughout the show.

    When they vocally harmonized for the intro of radio hit “When Darkness Comes” off the album  A Garden In The Snow, I doubt if there was a single person in the room that didn’t have the chills. Later in the show they played their hard rocking version of Led Zeppelin’s Going To California which I might actually like even more than the original because of its absolute head banging break down. They also included tracks such as “Into The Remembering Sun”, “Sharks In The Pool” and “Garden In The Snow”. As soon as they left the stage the crowd cheered for an encore and they all came to play “What I Want” (the ladies love this one) and a few others as the crowd begged them not to go.

    After the show, I got a chance to sit down with The Brew and ask them a few questions.

    Mary Morgan Craig: So first of all who are your biggest Musical influences individually?

    Joe Plante: My biggest influences at the moment are Little Feat, Radiohead and Beck has a really big influence on me.

    Aaron Zaroulis: I like Guns and Roses and I like the Allman Brothers .. a lot.

    Chris Plante: I’m doin’ a lot of Bruce Hornsby, a lot of Chick Corea and a lot of classical.

    Dave Drouin: I listen to Iron Maiden a lot and MJ. (MJ’s Dirty Diana plays in the background)

    MMC: I know Chris and Joe are brothers. How did the two of you meet Dave and Aaron?

    AZ: Well the band was around for nine or ten years with another drummer and then I joined about a year ago and I met all these dudes through the power of music.

    CP: Yeah but the real story behind that one is like six or seven years ago we were playing a show with our other drummer Kelly. It was a show in Newburyport, Massachusetts, that we put on ourselves. We didn’t have like a green room or a bathroom for ourselves. During set break Kelly like really had to pee, so he went outside because there was a big line for the bathroom inside. It was  a packed show with a lot of kids. A lot of younger kids, and he got arrested outside for peeing in a public place. So we didn’t have a drummer! We frantically tried to bail him out. We reluctantly went back onstage when we, you know, had to. We basically made an announcement to the crowd. We were like “Does anybody know how to play drums?” “Put your hands in the air because our drummer is arrested”, and a bunch of young girls in the crowd were pointing to Aaron who was like 13.

    AZ: Yeah I was 13.

    CP: And then he got up on stage and already knew a bunch of our tunes.  So we’re like oh good job, cool, thanks for sitting in. Then like eight years later or whatever it was…

    DD: No six years later.

    CP: When it came down to audition for the band when we were moving on from a different drummer he showed up and already knew all of our songs and he was like “Yeah, I’m that kid” and we were like “Sweet!”

    AZ: Yeah I’m that Kid. (all laugh)

    MMC: What was the first CD you ever bought?

    JP: Green Day’s Dookie. I remember that. I really remember that day.

    CP: Didn’t you get it from your 5th grade girlfriend?

    JP: No. Oh Yeah ! I did. I did get it from my 5th grade girlfriend.

    AZ: That was the worst Valentine’s day ever huh?

    (All laugh)

    JP: I love that CD.

    AZ: No. Its not that bad. I don’t remember my first CD. I think it was like Tom Petty or Paul Simon something like that. Something that my parents passed down to me kinda thing.

    CP: I don’t know. I’m in the same boat. Me and Joe started finding music around the same time and I remember doing was it Toadie?

    JP: Yeah Toadie.

    CP: Toadie was awesome. Yeah I remember doing the Toadies.

    JP: The Toadies!

    CP: Yeah The Toadies were awesome.

    DD: I had tapes way before CD’s.

    CP: Ya. Ya no we were all actually into tapes.

    JP: I bought an Oasis tape and a Blues Traveler tape.

    DD: Yeah, I had the Blues Traveler tape with the cat on it. I traded my Aerosmith Pump when it was like the new thing.

    AZ: Bad move.

    DD: Bad move.

    MMC: So are your parents as musically talented as you or are you guys the first in the family?

    JP: My dad happens to be extremely talented musically. He started playing when he was about our age professionally out in California. He met my mom out there and then moved back to Massachusetts and had us children and surrounded us with music our entire lives.

    CP: He was sitting in with us at a show recently.  We were doing like a more acoustic broken down sort of show. We were telling the stories behind certain songs and stuff like that. And he comes up and he plays an original song of his with us and its like the last song of the show cause it kicked so much ass.

    MMC: That must be so cool.

    CP: Yeah, its pretty nice.

    MMC: So is that why you guys chose to do that cover of “Going to California”? Which I love by the way.

    CP: Thanks! That’s an interesting connection but no we just did that cover because we were doing a gig opening for moe. at The House Of Blues and we really wanted to do something special, you know? Dave came to practice and he was like “I just Heard Going to California and was picturing it with a more driving groove under it” and we just started doing it.

    MMC: Well it came out great. I love that one. When did each of you start playing your instruments and what made you gravitate to the specific ones?

    JP: I went to a show when I was 17. I ate some mushrooms and I heard bass for the first time. I was tripping and I was like “I am gonna be doing that for the rest of my life.” That’s pretty much how I decided. And I had a bass so I decided just to start playing it. I picked it up that night and started playing it.

    CP: That was my bass.

    JP: Yeah. I stole his bass.

    CP: I had a black Guild bass.

    JP: It was awful to play. It was terrible, but then i actually started jamming with Dave literally four days after.

    AZ: I started playing drums in the fourth grade. It wasn’t cause I started eating mushrooms though. And I got serious around my freshman year of high school and I just haven’t really stopped since.

    CP: I started playing piano when I was like 3 because of my dad and then took classical lessons when I was like five. So, I did that and then jazz and a lot of stuff so I’ve just been playing my entire life. I remember when I was like 14, I really realized I could play piano. Because I never made the conscious decision to actually do it. So its been a long time. I should be better than I am.

    DD: I started playing guitar at like age 14. It was mainly because I couldn’t have a drumset. I had drumsticks. I really wanted to play drums. But they were like “too loud” or something. So I got a guitar.

    (all laugh)

    MMC: Good thing you did

    DD: Ruined my life

    (All laugh)

    MMC: OK so who is your biggest Rock-Chick crush?

    CP: Rock Chick Crush?

    MMC: Yeah, well it doesn’t have to be rock. Musical artist crush.

    DD: The lead singer of Heart.

    AZ: Aw this is rough man.

    CP: There’s not as many hot rock lead singers as there are like pretty sexy pop stars.

    MMC: Well what about Gwen Stefani?

    All: Yeah

    AZ: True. She’s hot

    DD: I don’t know.

    CP: But she’s a little too muscle-y for me.

    JP: I’m a ‘Sineado’ fan. Just, you know, because… (gestures to his bald head).

    DD: Did you just call her ‘Sineado’? Sinead. O’Connor.

    JP: ‘Sineado’. That’s what I call her. She likes it.

    (all laugh)

    AZ: I’d like to take Mila Kunis out to like a nice dinner at like The Ninety Nine or like The Olive Garden.

    CP: Salisbury Steaks?

    AZ: Yeah yeah! I would definitely buy her a nice Salisbury steak.

    CP: I like Rachel McAdams. I think she’s the hottest. I like her.

    AZ: Yeah, shes pretty dreamy.

    DD: I like Taylor Swift.

    MMC: I knew that was going to come up.

    CP: She looks like a deer. Not in like a bad way.

    JP: In the headlights.

    DD: That’s why I like her.

    CP: I think shes beautiful but she resembles a deer slightly.

    MMC: A majestic deer.

    (all laugh)

    CP: A majestic blonde deer.

    MMC: Have you played any festivals recently? Are you planning on playing any this year?

    CP: Yes. A lot. We played Mountain Jam last year.

    JP: Absolutely

    AZ: We played a lot of festivals last year.

    DD: Its mid-winter now so..

    CP: Yeah we’re actually starting to think about next year and any festival, you know. We’re having our agent and our management work with all the promoters of festivals to hopefully get the right situation worked out.

    MMC: How would you describe your own music?

    JP: Um, not butt rock. Rock.

    (all laugh)

    CP: I mean, its really just like rock n’ roll but we try to be versatile with how we deliver our songs. We get into different production techniques the same way The Beatles or anybody else would.

    MMC: What was the thought process behind the Triptych project? Who did your album artwork?

    JP: Well actually we decided to make the Triptych just based on the fact that we had a really large catalog of songs and certain songs fit into different groups. Like for instance, the first album was really driven by acoustic singer-songwriter songs that kinda fit into a certain category. We felt like they all really fit on the album. Then the second album we really stretched out live.  We wanted to take that same energy in the studio and do some improvisational stuff. The third record basically is really more pop oriented the way The Beatles used to like look at all their parts and really kind of like figured out how they wanted everything to fit.

    CP: As far as the album artwork goes, that’s a tapestry that was meant for King Louis the 7th. It was a tapestry that was meant to commemorate like his wedding with somebody. It was back in 1495. Its called The Hunt of The Unicorn. You can see the unicorn on the second record. When you put them all together it makes one large image that kind of gives you the whole scope of the artwork.

    MMC: Very Cool. What has been your best tour experience ever or just one that sticks in your mind?

    CP: We were rolling through from New Mexico to Austin, Texas and we pulled over at this  like really sketchy looking Subway. We were like ‘Fuck we have to get Subway today. This is gonna suck.’ But there was a burger joint right next door that was kind of like home made burgers but you could tell it was like real like southern cooking.

    AZ: They had like Boston stuff in the windows so we were like ‘Fuck it lets go in here.’

    DD: Yeah it was weird. It was all like Red Sox stuff and Patriots stuff.

    CP: Yeah we felt good about going there and so we walked in and just like everywhere we show up, they’re all like are you in a band or something? It was this older guy and his wife. Very old like 85 or 87. With this other lady and we were like yeah we’re in a band and hes like have you ever heard of Roy Orbison and we’re like ‘Yeah of course.’ and then he’s like ‘Have you ever heard of Buddy Holly?’ We’re like ‘Obviously.’ and he’s like ‘I used to sing with them.’ So we met a member of Buddy Holly’s band, the only guys to like background sing. They were called The Roses.

    JP: And then hes like ‘Do you want to go see Buddy Holly’s studio? I’ve got a key. I live there.’ And so all Buddy Holly’s original stuff is set up there, untouched, and we sat in the same chair that Buddy Holly was (once) sitting in.

    AZ: I got to play on the drumset. It was rad. It was awesome. We got it all on video too.

    MMC: That’s crazy!I’m so jealous. So last year when I saw you play at Brewfest Chris was playing with a broken arm at Brewfest in Lincoln, NH, which was so impressive. I actually remember I  Instagrammed about it and I captioned it like ‘my hero’ or something. I read somewhere that you just recovered from broken ribs. What happened there ? Are you always this accident prone?

    (all laugh)

    CP: I wouldn’t say i’m accident prone. I play indoor soccer so I just smashed into a dude that was way bigger than me and it was like this really awkward point in my side where my fist got like  jammed right into my rib. But I didn’t know it was broken for like the first four days. I thought it was just really badly bruised.

    MMC: Glad you’re better now! Do you have any advice for other bands who are just starting out?

    DD: Don’t do it.

    (all laugh)

    MMC: I think that they should just focus on the songs and then really work on the business aspect even though that’s the last thing you want to do as a musician. That’s what it takes to actually succeed. Cause you know its a small business and it sucks to look at it that way but you can’t go on forever running out of money. So just get good content, believe in your music, and then like just be doing your work. What has been your weirdest fan experience?

    CP: Oh man there’s like too many twisted stories to get into that.

    DD: There’s like naked dudes getting tied up. Well we were at a festival and there’s this guy running around naked like going ‘Get off my island! Get off my island!’

    CP: And then they hogtied him and had to like put him in the back of the truck.

    MMC: Well why were you on his island?

    JP: Well we weren’t on mushrooms and he was, so we were on his island.

    AZ: Dude he was on his own island.

    (all laugh)

    CP: He was being aggressive toward everybody.

    JP: The last straw that they wouldn’t put up with at this festival was when he went up to an old woman that was pushing a baby in a carriage and walking a dog at the same time and he like tried grabbing the dog leash from her and then they tackled him and hogtied him.

    DD: I think they like duckttaped him up.

    CP: It was a duct tape hogtie job. They did really well

    AZ: Hogtied!

    (all laugh)

    To listen to this interview with The Brew, tune into The Laura and Meg Show via iTunes Radio next Thursday night (Feb 7th)at 11pm! Just click on “Radio” on the menu bar at the top of your Itunes Library. From there click College Radio> Syracuse University>WERW.

    Check out the stations blog and The Meg and Laura Show

    Check out The Brew’s Website, Facebook, Myspace, Soundcloud, and the official video for When Darkness Comes
    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3lkwFjHvw0]

  • Umphrey’s McGee at The Landmark Theater, Syracuse, January 17, 2013

    I won’t lie — I went into Umphrey’s McGee’s show at the Landmark Theater in Syracuse on January 17, 2013, with almost no high expectations. I had seen them nine times and not once was I blown away. It always seemed stale, like the music was a moldy piece of bread. Just guitar solos and crazy lights, which always made for a fun show, but UM never made the cut to my iPod. That has since changed.

    So it came as a huge surprise to me when I walked out of the venue with a smile on my face, slapping hands and chatting about how great of a show it was. And it was! Not being familiar with a band’s full catalog can have serious consequences if you are reviewing a show. Luckily for me, I knew every song and had just enough UM experience to understand what was going on.

    First, let’s talk lights. Jeff Waful, the band’s lighting director, is insane. Not the committed-to-asylum insane, but lights-in-your-face crazy. I am so used to Chris Kuroda of Phish that I never really thought lights for any music could be as powerful as they are for Trey and Co. Waful puts on more of a psychedelic feeling show, with lasers and rotating bulbs. The Landmark is a small theater and to fit a rig in there has to be difficult and cannot compare to playing a large festival or outdoor arena. Waful manages to weave in perfect diversions from Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss’ wicked guitar mania. Those two guys, who just so happen to put on a real guitar clinic every summer, are two of the most talented players going today. My only gripe is that the lights were so blinding that I couldn’t hone in on watching their fingers. As a guitarist, I try to take something from every guitarist I see play. I need to see them again, standing on the stage again, listening to them shred again.

    “Cummins Lies” bled ever so thrashingly into “Miss Tinkle’s Overture” before a brief breath. “Walletsworth”, “Der Bluten Kat” segued into an instrumental of Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” back into “Der Bluten Kat”, “Through the Cracks”, “Smell the Mitten” and “The Floor” made for a rocking set. The second set was where I got “it”, as in understanding the band. “Prowler” > “In The Kitchen” > “Deeper” > “#5” > “In The Kitchen” was a full-on dance-a-thon, It just kept heating up with “Let’s Dance”, “Utopian Fir” > “Cemetery Walk” lit the rafters ablaze with fiery soloing. An encore of “Miami Virtue” > “Glory” sent the almost-full theater home with a happy ending.

    Setlist

    Set 1: Cummins Lies > Miss Tinkle’s Overture, Walletsworth, Der Bluten Kat > I’m On Fire > Der Bluten Kat, Through the Cracks, Smell the Mitten, The Floor

    Set 2: Prowler > In The Kitchen > Deeper > #5 > In The Kitchen, Let’s Dance, Utopian Fir > Cemetery Walk

    Encore: Miami Virtue > Glory

    Download the show here

    Show Poster by Dan Grzeca