Category: Special

Albany’s Alive at Five Concert Series Lineup for 2014 Announced

Albany’s Mayor Kathy Sheehan announced the Alive at Five Summer 2014 concert series lineup at a city news conference this morning. The Alive at Five Thursday tradition of free music brings together thousands of people to the Capital District each week featuring local and national acts of various genres. This year the series will return to the beautiful Corning Reserve in downtown Albany, overlooking the Hudson River and will run from June 12th to Aug 7th.

The acts of 2014 Alive at Five are:

• Fitz and the Tantrums, an Los Angeles-based pop act, headline the first show on June 12th with The Features.

• Easy Star All-Stars headline reggae night on June 19 with John Brown’s Body.

• Dwele, a Grammy-nominated singer, headlines R&B night on June 26 with Mirk.

• Lord Huron, a Michigan-born folk singer, performs on July 10 with Mary Leigh Roohan.

• Eastbound Jesus, Stellar Young, and Hard Soul will perform on Albany Invasion Night on July 17.

• Dustin Lynch headlines Country Night on July 24 with Jacob Powell.

• ’70s rockers Grand Funk Railroad plays on July 31 with local stars Wild Adriatic.

• Sheila E. plays on Aug. 7, the final show with Conehead Buddha.

For more information about Alive at Five, visit albanyevents.org and stay up to date on your music news with on Facebook, twitter and Instagram.

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May 7, 2014
UMBowl V – A Most Unique Live Music Experience

It’s one thing for a band to craft a setlist that fans will be talking about for weeks and months to come. It is another to have the fans decide the setlist through voting, both beforehand and in real-time at a concert. Still, Umphrey’s McGee has found a way to make this a reality, using separate themes over four quarters of their UMBowl experiences, which held its fifth installment at The Capitol Theatre on May 3rd, to put on the must-see event UMBowl V for fans of Umphrey’s but especially those who appreciate live, improvisational rock.

UMBowl is nothing short of a smart idea for live music, unparalleled in complexity, audience engagement and the resulting musical odyssey. In the past, I have listened to these shows days after, while fans were abuzz about the experience, and I thought they were interesting, but I didn’t get the hype. Up until last week, I would never have considered flying or driving to Chicago for UMBowl, where the previous four were held, but after being able to drive just over two hours south to take in my first UMBowl, it is undoubtedly not my last. I will happily follow UMBowl wherever it goes – this is a premiere live music experience where the band meets the fans halfway and puts on nothing short of a stellar show, pushing the boundaries of art in musical performance.

The Cap was packed downstairs, creating an intimate feeling for the night, with the upstairs reserved for VIP and photographers, but you weren’t missing much up there; the view looked better in the lower house, and that is saying a lot. At times you forgot you were at The Cap, as the show transported the focused crowd of 1,000 with each jam, improv and cover that came across the setlist.

But first, since this is a four quarter show with OT, the sports theme was present, but mostly in the form of commemorative towels and a couple of guys wearing eye black and football jerseys. But then, ESPN’s Around the Horn came on the big screen, with host Tony Reali hosting his show, giving a brief rundown to his panel of the show that was about to take place. Reali sat in earlier this year with Umphrey’s for “Layla”, so this was a fan sharing in the experience rather than just a hired gimmick. Take a look below for the intro video.

The themes of each quarter flowed nicely, building progressively on each other as the night went on. The first set was not so much a warm up as it was a chance to stretch improv potential out, then the fan favorites, (halftime/setbreak) audience direction, one pre-approved text at a time, then a set of originals chosen in real-time, a five hour concert experience that keeps the band on their feet and aware of their fans moods and tastes, but without having to deal with them shouting their requests at them.

Q1 was ‘Raw Stewage’, voted on beforehand by fans among a variety of “Jimmy Stewart” improve portions of past jams, as they have come to be called. Hardcore fans could identify the song from which each “Jimmy Stewart” arose, some even mentioning the specific date. The rest of us sat back and watched a spectacular improv session develop, pulling on hints from the music to pick out the original song the JS was born from. Essentially, the protean Umphrey’s had created a set of fan choices of their favorite jams from the past. The skill and focus to reconstruct these improvs is mind-boggling.

Q2 was the All Request quarter, with fans once again having voted on the songs beforehand from a select list. Opening with moe.’s “Rebubula”, the crowd was ignited and we were off and running. The instrumental “All Things Ninja” followed, then a show-stopper in “Crazy Fingers”, with Jake Cinninger on vocals. The audience was floored and dropped jaws all around focused squarely on the skinny guy singing the fat man’s song, to perfection.”#5″ had a nice long jam, while the perfect closing to the set came in the form of “Brain Damage > Eclipse”. The set was just incredible start to finish, although “Bell Bottom Blues” was snubbed in voting. Let’s hope it’s on the ballot for UMBowl VI.

Q3 was a Stew Art event, where the fans determined via text message what direction the band should go in. You text an idea, such as ‘Frank Zappa-esque Jam’, and the result was the band would segue into a jam that developed into “Willie the Pimp”. Among other highlights of this 43 minute set were “Emergency Dance Party” and “Daft Funk”, leading to some of the best dancing of the night and the moment when the set truly launched onward and upward. “Rockabilly Throwdown” flipped yet another ignition switch while “Barry White Love Letter” with Jake on vocals had elements of the dub version of “Breathe” by Easy Star All Stars. Bill Evans came out on sax for part of this event, adding a seventh member to the Stew Art, no small feat for just any musician.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get better, Q4 was “Choose Your Own Adventure”, where fans texted choices among three song choices shown on the screen behind the band. Percents rose and fell among them, with some votes getting contentious between a pair of songs and coming down to the wire. “The Haunt” opened things up, and there was a tease of moe.’s “Spaz Medicine” about 2/3 of the way in. “The Triple Wide” beat out “Last Man Swerving” in the second spot, which led into a “Funk Jam”, where the voting vs “Industrial Jam” wasn’t even close, although I did hear Joel Cummins throwing in some industrial tickles of the keys in the vein of NIN. Brendan Bayliss and Ryan Stasik took the lead in the funk jam, each taking a section while the next voting commenced.

This was shaping up to be the most fun set of them all, particularly as fans cheered for their choice that rose in the voting and drifted back down to earth. “Wife Soup” beat out “Plunger” and “Great American” for a HUGE version of the Anchor Drops classic. Statik drifted over toward Joel to jam along, then returned behind Jake and blended in with Myers’ kit in the shadows of Waful’s lights. Cummins took a patient climb towards the first grand peak in “Wife Soup”, then Jake led towards the second major peak equally unrushed, building and building until the collective ‘gasm on stage and in the crowd sent a rush of chills and cheers throughout The Cap.

“Flamethrower”, one of the walk on numbers that has been a regular feature of Umphrey’s shows for the past few years, was short and moved into “FF”, with an “All in Time” tease towards end of the jam. “Space Funk Booty” segued into what would be the final choice of the night, either the end of “JaJunk”, the end of “Bridgeless” or the end of “Mulche’s Oddysey”. JaJunk was an afterthought from the moment voting started and was tied or within a point between “Bridgeless” and “Mulche’s”. Cheers accompanied each song as they pulled ahead, one text at a time, but in the end, victory was eked out by “Mulche’s”, definitely the correct call for the punch this song delivers to cap a set.

Prior to the encore, a tribute to former drummer Mike Mirro aired on the screen, the crowd recalling the fallen bandmate with revered silence. A Goodfellas parody video then aired on the screen, followed by the start of OT. “Nothing But a G Thing” started things off, with the rarity of Stasik on vocals, followed by “Much Obliged > Glory” with Bill Evans on sax once again, the full encore giving an emotional ending to a premiere night of music. UMBowl ranks as one of the most inventive and marathon sessions of live music you can witness and participate in, and will certainly be a staple of many lucky fans music calendars for years to come.

May 7, 2014
May Day Throw Down with The Word & Kung Fu at The Cap

The historic Capitol Theatre hosted a night of funk and soul on May 1st thanks to supergroups Kung Fu and The Word. The small crowd of over 500 people left more than enough dance room on the wide open GA floor and prime seating in the loge/balcony with universal grand views of the architecture and visionary light show. The Cap is larger than life with its numerous chandeliers, deep colors of carpeted floors and tall ceilings that glow with the psychedelic projections that glide over the venue.

Kung Fu started the evening with a brief set of electrifying rock and funky heavy jazz with members of RAQ and The Breakfast. The dirty rhythm of Adrian Tramontano with the deep bass notes of Chris DeAngelis was the ideal groove to get the night moving. Todd Stoops kept both hands busy on two different sets of keys throughout the set as Rob Somerville blasted light-hearted funk melodies. Kung Fu will bring their lethal funk to festivals this year such as Disc Jam, Gathering of the Vibes and Catskill Chill.

The Word was greeted with overwhelming cheers and general excitement for a night with the quintet of musical masterminds, as well as this being a rescheduled show for the original date in February. The Word reunites Robert Randolph on steel lap guitar, John Medeski on keyboards, Chris Chew on bass and brothers Cody Dickinson on percussion and Luther Dickinson on guitar for the first time since 2012. The Word performed an outstanding three-hour set full of slip sliding guitar licks, crashing cymbals and rejuvenating organ chords full of bluesy rock. Medeski swam laps over the keys with hard-hitting strokes of spiritual reckoning.

Randolph is an A+ entertainer as he karate chops and both figuratively and literally licks the lap steel strings with a smile in his chair or on his feet. Luther Dickinson energized the crowd with his head to head strumming with Randolph and overall, southern rock flair. The big man himself, Chris Chew, laid out a consistent, booming rhythm much to the delight of the fans and band members after his personal health hiatus back in 2012. The Word will be performing at the Jam Cruise 13 but you can catch individual members, Robert Randolph and the Family Band at Mountain Jam Music Festival, John Medeski will be at this year’s Lockn’ Festival and North Mississippi Allstars members will be touring Europe for the summer. The Word continues to bring together music lovers and band members for a fusion of gospel rocking funk to create a unique and instrumental experience.

Download the show from etree

May 7, 2014
Local Limelight: North Country Stalwarts Lucid

Lucid is the top band in New York’s smallest market yet perform quite well in the larger markets throughout Upstate and beyond, making them true underdogs in the Upstate New York scene. This passion to prove their mettle has netted the band of 10 years a recent hit album, Home is Where We Wanna Grow, their own music festival, Backwoods Pondfest, a following of passionate fans, and of course, their iconic bus ‘Lucy’.

Champions of the inaugural March Madness tournament, Lucid embodies the North Country spirit and is one of the most successful acts to come out of the region. Playing a mix of rock, jam and funk and self-described ‘wood rock’ in their powerhouse performances, Lucid mixes the sound of six members to create a sound that can be imitated but not duplicated. Featuring Kevin Sabourin (guitar), Lowell Wurster (percussion/harp), Jamie Armstrong (saxophone), Chris Shacklett (Bass), Andy Deller (Keys) and new addition Chris English (drums), the future is bright and the potential for a burst out of the Upstate area seems imminent for the septet from the northern 518.

Pete Mason: How did Lucid first start out?

Lowell Wurster: Kevin (Sabourin), Jamie (Anderson) and Nick (Sauvie, our first bass player) played with a few different people, just jamming mostly, who found our first drummer, Ryan “Rippy” Trumbull. I knew Jamie and Kevin from growing up in Plattsburgh. One day I saw Jamie walking and we got to talking; he said he was playing with some guys and to come check them out. I went and really dug what they were doing. They were having so much fun and I asked them if I could come to a practice and jam a bit. After practice they asked if I wanted to be in the band! A few months later we were playing a show in Plattsburgh at this horrible place called Maggie’s and had a friend sitting in on keys. There was this dude (Andy Deller) yelling to our buddy what the key changes were. At break we asked our friend Steve who that dude was and he told us his name was Andy and a great key player at that. He played with us the whole second set and the rest was history. Five years later our bass player Nick wanted to pursue higher education instead of being in a band. We had a few fill in bass players until St. Patrick’s Day five years ago we had Chris Shacklett play a show with us, and it was like magic; he fit right in. That night on the bus ride home we asked him if he wanted to join and he said yes. After our first big tour down to Florida, our original drummer, Rippy decided he didn’t want to travel anymore. As sad as it was he decided to leave. we tried out a few different drummers and we asked Kyle Murray to join the fun. He rocked with us for about a year and a half. Kyle decided life on the road wasn’t for him and wanted to phase out as our drummer, then just like magic, Chris English popped up at the perfect moment. By the grace of God, Chris decided Lucid was exactly what he needed in his life and we knew he was exactly what we needed in ours. Chris moved up to Plattsburgh about two months ago and shit is beautiful now.

Jamie Armstrong: Sabo, Nick (our original bassist) and I were spending time together playing music and hanging out. Stumbled into it really. Andy, Lowell and Rippy (our original drummer) came along shortly there after. We all had mutual musical interests and loved hanging out together, so naturally the band grew more and more over time as we bonded and our music developed. As some members decided to leave (as things started getting more committal) along the way, we’ve seemed to have perfect luck picking up new members to fill the role and evolve the band in a positive way. Great examples of that are Chris Shacklett, who joined on bass in 2009 and Chris English who recently joined on drums.

Chris Shacklett: I joined the band about four years after the initial formation. The band formed for me when I graduated from Plattsburgh state in 2009 without having any idea how I was going to be an “adult”. Everything felt right from the very beginning and every place in time the band has taken me has been exactly where I needed to be. For my whole life I knew music was the main element of my being, but I never seriously considered playing music to be a career until I joined Lucid.

PM: What are Lucid’s main influences on their music and style?

Jamie Anderson : The band itself is very eclectic. We draw on many styles as we all have differing musical backgrounds. If I could some up a style for Lucid it would be ‘homegrown blues Americana.’

Andy Deller: I think our home is the main influence. That and a stubborn refusal to pigeonhole ourselves in any kind of way. It’s hard to point to other artists that are influences. That is to say, each member brings his own particular influences. Our tastes do intersect; I don’t think there is a one of us who would say they did not like Zeppelin or The Beatles or Hendrix. But I am the only avid Rush fan I know of in the band, and the other fellas have their particular favorites. So we each bring our own thing to the total sound.

Chris English: My main musical influence and style is all over the map. I’m into a lot more local artists than anything. Some of the music I started listening to at a early age include Donny Hathaway, The Clark Sisters, Buddy Guy, Paul Simon, Grateful Dead, The Funk Brothers, Stevie Wonder, and many more.

PM: What separates the North Country from rest of Upstate? What makes it distinct?

Kevin Sabourin: Wilderness, a deep appreciation of nature and life that comes with being a fairly self-reliant people who are hard working. Crafts people, music loving, tough, rugged and beautiful, like the surroundings in which we live.

Andy Deller: What separates us from the rest of Upstate is the Adirondack State Park, to be geographically obvious. We’re maybe a little more backwoods and redneck than the rest of Upstate – not that there’s a value judgment on that. It’s neither better nor worse, just different. To be more serious, I think the people in our area really make the difference; I’ve never seen audiences more gracious, more open to something new and different, or more ready to dance.

Chris Shacklett: I don’t think there is any separation. Separation is not conducive to the band’s purpose. I may be saying this because I believe my scope of the North Country or Upstate is not broad enough to draw any borders.

Jamie Armstrong: We live way up here in the Northern Adirondacks. Next to Lake Champlain. Fresh air! Being sandwiched between a beautiful mountain range and a huge blue lake is all I need. And the geographical diversity reflects in the people who live up here. The music community is encouraging.

PM: For those who don’t live there or venture north, what is the music scene like across the North Country?

Chris Shacklett: Don’t tell me this town ain’t got no heart. You just gotta poke around.

Lowell Wurster: Well we are spread out up here, but there are amazing pockets of music lovers spread out around the ADK’s. Beautiful little communities that love original music. Folks up here look at music as a necessity, not a luxury. I’ve never met bigger music lovers then in the North Country. Plattsburgh is undergoing some amazing changes and I’m really happy and excited to be on several different community action boards that are helping spread art and music around the area. Saranac Lake is amazing and filled with real folks who thrive for music; their Winter Carnival is something to behold, hearty folks up there. I love it up there, right in the mountains and cold as hell. Backwoods Pondfest has brought tons of amazing acts to the North Country over the last eight years and with its continued success shows the thirst these mountain folks have for original music. They can’t seem to get enough.

Andy Deller: Well, because of the audiences I described above, the scene is VERY diverse, creative, and supportive. On any given night you can stroll through Plattsburgh or Burlington and find any number of different styles – rock, blues, funk, reggae, metal, jazz quartets, and brass bands. What I truly love is the cross-pollination: people from highly diverse bands getting out and jamming with one another in impromptu acts. It happens all the time here.

Jamie Armstrong: It’s very rich, with a wide array of styles and ideas floating around, but all held together by a supportive arts community. There’s a lot of support up here. Kids are movin’ and shakin’ and motivated. That goes for our community in general. A lot of great people are trying to make positive change all the time!

PM: What other musicians do you think also encompass the spirit of the North Country?

Kevin Sabourin: The Blind Owl Band, who have the same North Country work ethic and attitude that we do of going until the job is done and playing long hours and working hard. The crowd has been busting there ass all day working, building farming, so we have to work as hard as they do for them.

Lowell Wurster: The one that immediately comes to mind is The South Catherine St. Jug band from years and years ago, Sven Curth (who plays solo mostly) but is in the band JIM who plays a few times a year and is made up of some of the North Country’s best.

Andy Deller: The local artists that don’t receive much press, and maybe even avoid it: Trinity Park Radio, Will Scheifley, and his on again off again Shameless Strangers, Mike Pederson, Giovanina Bucci, Catie Wurster and her band Doomf**k – the list can go on and on. We have a huge, hugely diverse, and highly active music scene up here where people can take the time to have some real professional fun, and it’s all thanks to the audience – the people of the North Country.

Jamie Armstrong: I guess to sum it up, there’s a lot of musical diversity in a very tight knit community up here in the mountains. People are trying to make things happen in a positive way up here. We love it.

Chris English: I can say George Wurster is the spirit of the North Country. I love that guy.

Catch Lucid on tour this summer throughout New York and select New England dates, wrapping up with the Lucid-hosted Backwoods Pondfest Music Festival.

May 7 Firehouse, Rochester, NY
May 8 Spring Revival, Macedon, NY
May 9 Nietzche’s, Buffalo, NY
May 10 Keegan Ales, Kingston, NY
May 16 Shake the Mountain Festival, Solid Rock Ranch, NY
May 22 Blarney Stone Pub, Norwich, NY
May 23 Olive’s, Nyack, NY
May 29 Nanola, Malta, NY
May 31 Main Pub, Manchester, CT
June 10 Church, Boston, MA
June 12 Theos BBQ, Springfield, MA
June 20 Shepard’s Cove, Lake George, NY
July 25-26 BRYAC, Bridgeport, CT
August 8-9 Backwoods Pondfest Music Festival, Peru, NY

Lucid Website Facebook Twitter YouTube

May 6, 2014
Chris Jericho and Jamie Jasta will clash as Fozzy, Jasta, and more come to rock The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie

With the upcoming album Do You Wanna Start a War? expected out this summer, Fozzy, which is led by WWE Superstar Chris Jericho on vocals, is embarking on the “Lights Go Out Tour,” which will be stopping at The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie Friday, May 9. Jasta will be making a special co-headlining appearance at the show. Jasta features Hatebreed frontman Jamie Jasta on vocals who, with the band, covers a wide spectrum of songs including Hatebreed, Ice Pick, Kingdom of Sorrow, and Jasta and Friends.

Hardrockers Kyng, who have been touring nonstop behind their album Burn the Serum, and Nashville, Tennessee rockers Framing Hanley, who are promoting their brand new album The Sum of Who We Are, are set to open the show.

Doors open at 7:00 PM. You can purchase tickets here.

May 6, 2014
Geek Week: An Interview with Scott Hannay, Creator of Umphrey’s McNES

As Geek Week continues, we catch up with Scott Hannay, keyboardist for Mister F, who also happens to have one of the geekier methods of composing music. Using software and Cakewalk SONAR, Scott rebuilt Umphrey’s McGee songs into the style of NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) songs, sounding like they came right out of the 8-bit games from the 1980s. With over a dozen tracks of Umphrey’s McNES and sit-ins with Umphrey’s, Scott has created one-of-a-kind remakes of the original tracks. He spoke with Editor-in-Chief Pete Mason to discuss his long running McNES music and how these tracks initially came together.

Pete Mason: How did you one day decide to develop Nintendo remixes of Umphrey’s McGee songs?

Scott Hannay: When I was 15, I used to transcribe old school Nintendo video game music – entire games’ soundtrack – to sheet music and MIDI files for fun (and instead of homework, usually) and learned a lot about the structure of the 8-bit NES sound chip in the process. I dealt with the limitations, workarounds, ways the old music programmers would simulate chords, making sounds, etc… Fast-forward to 2004, when I learned of Umphrey’s McGee and had been listening to (and absolutely loving) live recordings for a while via etree.org torrents, but never owned a studio album. At one point I visited my friends from Michigan that I’d met that year at moe.down who introduced me to UM, and they had the Anchor Drops album. When “Miss Tinkle’s Overture hit”, I knew right away what I had to do.

PM: What challenges did you come across in lining up an Umphrey’s song to be developed in the NES format?

SH: I hit many hurdles along the way. In the beginning, I still didn’t have any studio versions, and listened to the live versions of songs, sometimes pretty rough AUDs where I couldn’t always hear exactly what the bass was doing in this one spot, or the kick drum in another spot, and maybe the keyboards were muddled. To add to this, the NES can only make 5 sounds simultaneously – two square wave (lead) channels, a triangle wave (bass, mostly) channel, a white noise (cymbals, most snares, some SFX) channel, and a 1-bit DPCM wave (kick drum/toms, voices, some SFX) channel. For those keeping track, let’s recall here that that’s only 5 sounds at once – to try to represent the sound of a band with 6 people, each with 10 fingers across their two hands, making an exponentially larger number of notes than I could even begin to use at once.

So much had to be either sacrificed or compensated for, like chord simulation for example. It’s a very signature sound on the NES – instead of playing a bunch of notes at the same time (which you mostly can’t), you’ve got to alternate the notes so inhumanly fast that it actually sounds like a chord. I try to be a purist to the NES capabilities 99.5% of the time. Their live versions also weren’t as definitive as an album version would be – there would be a lot of jamming sometimes, and I had to find the common denominators between many different versions of the same song. Oh, and one day, after I finally had some studio stuff, I started making my version of “Blue Echo“. I was too lazy to get up, walk across the room, grab the album, walk back across the room, and put it in, so I just started making it from memory. I ended up finishing it that way too, and when I finally listened to their version, I only had to change out two notes in one part each time that part came around – I learned no lessons about being lazy on that day. I guess this last one wasn’t really that much of a hurdle.

PM: What equipment do you use to create these?

SH: I use just a simple piano roll-style editor and my ear to input notes in Cakewalk SONAR. The sounds come from a sample bank I found online long ago that sounded almost perfect – if you like out-of-tune music. I went through and tuned all the note samples, organized them by instrument, stereo panned them (in)appropriately. NES audio is supposed to be mono (there’s that other .5%) and ReWired the sounds into SONAR using Reason. Additionally, I have an NES cartridge (appropriately called MIDINES) that has a MIDI cable coming out of it that I can use to run one of these sequences from my computer. It’s not reliable enough to use for my regular tracks, but it’s certainly something special to hear something you’ve made playing through a real NES. There’s a video of my version of Prowler playing through it on YouTube.

PM: Was there any word back from Umphrey’s after these started circulating among Umphrey’s fanbase?

SH: Before I had even seen Umphrey’s live for the first time, I had already completed three remakes – “Miss Tinkle’s Overture”, “Bridgeless” and “Prowler”. Well, kind of finished. They all faded out before the end. But I thought of them as being as complete as this silly project needed them to be at the time. I posted them to The Bort, an Umphrey’s fan message board, to see if anyone had the same weird idea I had about their music. The reaction was great! I ended up finding a very supportive community surrounding Umphrey’s. That was impressive to begin with. When I first saw them at Revolution Hall in Troy, NY on 12/7/04, I introduced myself to them after the show and handed them burned discs with the songs. They all gave me hugs and told me someone had already burned it for them somewhere across the country, and they’d already heard and loved it. Brendan Bayliss even told me he showed them to his mom.

This all blew my 20-year-old mind – that my favorite band out there was cool as hell, really appreciated what I’d done, and had actually heard something I’d made before I’d even met them. Since then, I’d stayed in correspondence with them and eventually was asked to play with them in at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, MA on 4/8/09, and I managed to sit in again in on 11/4/10 at Higher Ground in Burlington. They are very gracious people. I still can’t believe I got those opportunities when I did. I had at that point just finally broken into being in a jam-scene-friendly band – Capital Zen – and suddenly I had also become an asterisk on Umphrey’s setlists. I also have a track on their Soundcloud (“Miami Virtue”) and have had a track featured as bonus content for their album Mantis (“1348”).

PM: What songs do you hope to convert in the future in the McNES style?

SH: Lately, I’ve mostly been making remakes for Northeast-based bands, including the likes of Dopapod, Kung Fu, Twiddle, and Aqueous. I’ve had tracks featured on official lespecial and MUN releases, and another brand new one I made for Elephant Wrecking Ball will be on their upcoming release! What I consider to be the hardest one I’ve ever done for anyone is still currently unreleased – I’m so terrifically proud of it and really can’t wait for it to surface. I can’t give it away, but rest assured it’s from some unbelievably good source material. I’ll also be doing one for my band, Mister F, in the near future. However, there are a bunch of older Umphrey’s McGee songs I’d still love to remake someday. “Hurt Bird Bath”, “All in Time”, “Slacker”, “Utopian Fir” … one of these days! I am also considering doing something from their upcoming album, Similar Skin, just for good measure.

Check out Umphreys McNES on Facebook and Soundcloud, as well as Scott’s NES remixes of other bands

May 6, 2014
Venue Profile: Bogie’s in Albany, A Scene Coming Together

While the venue is closer to 30 years old, for the last five years the local hardcore and metal scene in the Albany area have really called Bogie’s on Ontario Street home. To say that Bogie’s has character is like saying the Pope is a little religious – from the black walls and the sticker covered bathrooms, to the fliers thrown throughout the place celebrating past and upcoming shows. Above the bar there are signed drum heads and cymbals, each to tell tales of legends and start-ups alike coming through those doors, to play for the diehards that make up Bogie’s core clientele.

This coming weekend Bogie’s is reaching out to the community for help. The music scene is not a lucrative one and to keep the metal and hardcore scene alive, Mike Valente is asking friends, family, and fans to come support the venue. “Repair Fest” is a weekend-long show held at Bogie’s with some of the best local bands on the metal, hardcore and similar scenes.

Friday night headliners Sworn Enemy will be gracing the stage along with Valente’s own Troycore band, Brick By Brick. Saturday will be headlined by local industrial rock band, The Clay People. The music continues on Sunday with headliner, Full Blown Chaos.

NYS Music sat down with Mike Valente before a Goatwhore show last month and asked a few questions. Here’s what Mike had to say about Bogie’s and some of the memories inside those walls.

NYS Music: How long have you run Bogie’s?

Mike Valente: Five years.

NYS Music: What have been some of the more notable bands that have played here the past five years?

Mike: Corrosion of Conformity, Tommy Tutone, Sepultura, Soulfly, Marc Rizzo, Stigmata, Black Flag, I could go on and on.

NYS Music: What’s one memory that sticks out?

Mike: Tommy Tutone (of Jenny/867-5309 fan) was blasted on something. He was wearing sunglasses, chewing gun, he had the worst bus I’ve seen and he was hyped up really good. He needed someone to sell merch, so Matt was helping him out and Tommy told him to sell signed photos for $3. $1 for Tommy, $1 for Matt. When Matt pointed out they were $3 and that only accounts for $2, Tommy ignored the question and told Matt that he should try to get a hummer from the girls. Completely wasted.

NYS Music: Repair Fest is coming up. What is it and what are some goals?

Mike: There are a ton of repairs needed here. The bar is surviving, there is enough for salaries except mine and Ralph (Mike’s partner at Bogie’s) most the time. The repair funds will go toward doors, floors, ceiling, bathrooms, coolers, etc. This place has taken a beating over the years.

NYS Music: Do you attribute the damage to the hardcore scene?

Mike: Not the hardcore or metal scene. Those guys are the most respectful, it is when we throw college parties that everything gets destroyed. Like a tornado goes through here.

NYS Music: Can you tell me about your affiliation with Black ‘n Blue out of New York City?

Mike: Freddie and Cousin Joe, they are BNB. They’ve helped a lot and have Black ‘n Blue Bowl, big names and they are only three hours away. Upstate Black ‘n Blue is completely separate but we help each other out.

NYS Music: What are some bands that played here before anyone knew who they were?

Mike: State Champs. They played the first spot of six bands. they started at the bottom but worked hard. They are getting big and they are going to be big. They deserve it.

NYS Music: Any bands out right now to look out for?

Mike: Sure. Before I Had Wings, Collateral Damage and Ego Destroys. There are others, too.

NYS Music: Is there a difference between the Albany scene and the Troy scene?

Mike: Not a difference anymore. It is the same kids, they go wherever there is a good show. Troy bands are very proud of their Troy connection though.

NYS Music: What’s the scene like now?

Mike: It is okay, all the promoters are working together. Trick Shots, Upstate Concert Hall and Bogie’s. We try not to book over top of each other. None of us are getting rich off this and we all have other jobs to pay the bills. We have to work together and we do.

So this weekend, if you have a free day, free afternoon, or even a free hour, come down to Bogie’s at 247 Ontario Street in Albany and support the local venue. If you can’t make the festival, please consider to donate online at their GoFundMe account (www.gofundme.com/6k0qjw) and check out future dates at Bogie’s including these in May: Adrenaline Mob on the 14th, Vanna on the 24th and Blacktide on the 31st.

Website: www.bogiesny.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Bogies-NY

May 6, 2014
Glenn Miller Orchestra to Perform at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on May 8th

The Glenn Miller Orchestra, known for classics such as “In the Mood”, “Chattanooga Choo Choo”, “A String of Pearls”, “Moonlight Serenade”, and “Tuxedo Junction”, will bring the famed bandleader’s legendary music to to Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Thursday, May 8th.

Although bandleader Glenn Miller disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944, almost 70 years after the public first embraced the successful Glenn Miller sound, the legend and the music live on. The Miller Estate formed the present orchestra in 1956 and the band, which includes two vocalists, has been touring constantly ever since, playing an average of 300 live dates a year around the globe. It returns to the Hall after selling out its 2011 engagement here!<

Tickets range in price from $20 to $34 and can be picked up here.

May 5, 2014
Hearing Aide: String Cheese Incident “Song in My Head”

It has been nine years since The String Cheese Incident have released a studio album, and with the spring release of Song in My Head, they put forth their best recording since 2001’s Outside Inside. In this, their 20th year as a band, fans old and new will easily enjoy this perfect album for summer, complete with an island music vibe, catchy lyrics and A+ production via Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads).

String Cheese has an interesting identity as a band. Are they bluegrass? Jamgrass? Jamgrass with an EDM tilt? Something new altogether? Elements of each of these are found within the songs on Song in My Head, none of them overpowering each other, but rather complementing one another and adding to the overall sound of each track. Pulling from the talents of all band members to assemble these tracks, Song in My Head is start to finish a thorough and complete album from a band that has taken time off in recent years, had their respective side-projects (EOTO, Kyle Hollingsworth Band. Emmitt-Nershi Band among them) and now returns stronger than before.

Starting off with “Colorado Bluebird Sky”, the Centennial State may have found a new state anthem amid their Green Rush. An auto-biographical tale from Bill Nershi, the song reflects on a trip out west to see what can be found, and the home he loves and reflects on, with an incredibly upbeat rhythm to kick off the album. “Betray the Dark” takes a shadowy rumba-vibe, while “Let’s Go Outside” puts forth a grinding psychedelic trance with a strong hook, a mark of many SCI numbers, keeping familiarity strong and high. “Song In My Head” is a pure ear worm with a meta-title, whereas happy, upbeat island music can be found in “Can’t Wait Another Day”, which has the feel of the classic “Round the Wheel”, followed by the foot-stompin’ hillbilly rock delivered in “So Far From Home”.

Kyle Hollingsworth’s “Rosie” has a little of everything and is truly a song that can breathe life into a party or set, as it has done so since debuting in 2011; meshing electronica with jamgrass is no small feat and this song is the highlight of their renewed song-writing as a band. A soft landing comes in “Stay Through” but the cap to the album is the powerful “Colliding”, meandering at times but with a punch to it, highlighted by a hypnotic mandolin from Michael Kang. Overall, Song in My Head does not disappoint in the least, consistent and complete from start to finish. Pick up a copy here

Key Tracks: Colorado Bluebird Sky, Song in My Head, Rosie, Colliding

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May 5, 2014
Interview: Thomas Dekker of Zero Times Zero

Zero Times Zero is an experimental music force working under individual anonymity to create a free-form, artistic, and entirely unique visual and auditory experience through their music and videos. Although a whole horde of producers, artists and musicians are working under a cloak of darkness on the project, one familiar face dares to make himself known.

Thomas Dekker, already known for his work as an actor, has starred in the 2008’ TV series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as John Connor; The Secret Circle; and is set to later star in the movie Fear Clinic in October with Corey Taylor (Stone Sour/Slipknot). Despite earning his reputation as an actor, Dekker is currently looking to separate his acting career from his music career. Already Dekker has earned musical credits, co-writing the movie soundtrack to the 2013 release, Plush, directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

One quick look at his current project, Zero Times Zero, tells us that he is definitely going in the right direction with it.

On April 28th, Zero Times Zero released the first single, “Liar” with a lyric video. The song is very dark with some hard synths. But Dekker’s vocals compliment a sound that would otherwise be a definite industrial edge akin to Nine Inch Nails, but with a dance beat. Dekker was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about his music and how Zero Times Zero made their start in the music world.

Thomas Dekker performing at The Viper Room, Los Angeles, wearing a feather mask
Los Angeles 04/19/2012
© Rachid Ait, PacificCoastNews.com

Carly Knaszak: Who is part of Zero Times Zero?

Thomas Dekker: Well now, that is quite a question to start out with. I completely understand why you’d ask it but I also hope you understand why I can’t answer it. Not by providing all names involved at least. The idea behind Zero Times Zero was to create a nameless, faceless force in modern Pop Culture. Quite an impossible thing to do in this day and age I suppose. As a solo artist under my own name, I felt that the public knowledge of my other career was a detriment to the music. And simultaneously, what I wanted to explore in music was a detriment to what was expected of me in said other career. We are not a “band” in the normal sense of the word. We’re trying to recreate the Andy Warhol factory in many ways here. To be creators of not just music but video, performance and photographic art with one concise and focused outlook between us. So this includes actors, film makers, musicians, dancers, etc. However, I will say, the music department is spearh
eaded by myself.

CK: When did Zero Times Zero begin?

TD: I had been discussing with many friends and collaborators, all of whom perform on this new record including Reza Safinia, Ian Krupp, Kristofer Holst, Etc. what a liberating experience it would be to try and champion the unknown. Or to put it in a less hippie dippy sense: to have the ability to experiment and feel out ideas amidst the freedom of anonymity. We were all coming from different backgrounds and artistic interests but found that we shared a common outlook on greed, hope, Armageddon, religion, sexual revolution, anger, pain, madness, science and methodology. And all could be reflected in simple pop song lyrics but then dissected into deeper meaning within the construct of the project. The name of the group was chosen and the project launched in 2012 I believe. We’ve made two albums, “= 0” and the current one “Love and Razorblades”.

CK: What genre would you describe Zero Times Zero?

TD: Obviously being a large group full of diverse ideas and inspiration, the music in particular tends to jump from genre to genre a bit. But ultimately we would say “Industrial”. Hard core synths and beats matched with orchestral influence. Dramatic, bold, tough. We want to share opinions and not share them quietly. As the leader of the music, I’ve always been happiest working on the technical side of production and electronic intricacy. It’s a process that becomes deeply personal. Probably much more than people would expect from non traditional singer/songwriters.

CK: Is Zero Times Zero signed to a record company?

TD: We are in negotiations with “Cutting Edge”.

CK: What are some of the musical influences for Zero Times Zero?

TD: Musically, we would all agree: Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Bjork, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Glitch Mob, David Bowie, Rob Zombie, BT, Goldfrapp, Marilyn Manson. And those are just the modern influences, let alone all the classical that comes into play. But we are equally inspired by photographs and films. Gregory Crewdson’s photography book “Twilight” is a massive inspiration when it comes to the stories we want to tell, both with music and performance art. The early films of Ingmar Bergman helped govern our decisions with the new record too. I’ve always found a strange correlation between the muted desperation of those kind of works and the deafening scream of metal, electronica and experimental rock.

CK: The single Liar was just released, should we expect a new single or a music video for it?

TD: “Liar” is the opening track of the record. We felt it really set the tone so we wanted it to be the appetizer. However, an official music video is not planned for that track yet. YET. The first official music video will be for the eighth track on the album entitled “Superstitions” which I will direct. It’s the story of a club kid running from a ghost who’s dredging up the kid’s self-imposed abuse and memories. Sadly, the ghost is the kid’s dying future self. Think “Party Monster” meets “A Christmas Carol”.

CK: Any plans on taking the music to the road?

TD: We would love to tour! I think we’ve all been a bit overwhelmed by the size of the project we have taken on. Meaning, this is not the kind of music or performance you can put on properly with a few band mates in a small bar. We have video projections, choreographers, programmers, engineers, costumes, interactive experiments. We need the proper funding and interest to really give audiences the hell of a show we have always intended. However, we are so confident in this new album and feel it’s something so special. We believe all of the above will be made possible sooner rather than later.

CK: When will the new album be expected to come out?

TD: We are planning the release date of the full album within the next two to three months. But we will be releasing videos, art installations and leaked tracks in the interim to get those who want us to want us!

Zero Times Zero album EQUALS ZERO can be purchased HERE

You can listen to “Liar” HERE

Warning: This video contains flashing lights which may not be suitable for those with photosensitive epilepsy.

Keep up to date with Zero Times Zero:

Follow Zero Times Zero on Twitter HERE

Follow Thomas Dekker on Twitter HERE

May 5, 2014