Organizers trying for a revival of the Disco Biscuits’ Camp Bisco are running into issues that may make it difficult to host the festival this year.
Schenectady County officials denied the new organizers a mass gathering permit, saying they want the festival to have a zero-tolerance drug policy, according to the Daily Gazette. They also want 50 police officers stationed throughout the concert grounds 24 a day throughout the festival, plus 20 officers to control traffic.
Officials also cited concerns about traffic congestion and emergency response logistics.
After seven years of Camp Bisco being run by MCP Presents, the festival was put on hiatus in 2014 as organizers dealt with drug issues and a lawsuit due to alleged inadequate emergency response to a woman having a seizure. This year, the owner of the country club where Camp Bisco has always been held in Mariaville and Gathering of the Vibes founder Ken Hays hope to hold a new kind of Camp Bisco with acts that attract an older crowd July 16-18.
They have gotten permission from state police and the state departments of Health and Transportation, but need county approval as well. Stay tuned for updates on this potential Camp Bisco revival.
If there is always a lesson to be learned, then the one imparted to those in attendance at the Flour City Station in Rochester last Thursday night was simply: Lyrics are overrated.Two rising young bands – Consider the Source Ocular Panther – owned the stage on that night. Neither sang a single word. And yet, epic tales were told, vivid images imagined…
The night started with local stalwarts Ocular Panther. Formerly a trio, they debuted their newly minted quartet, adding drummer Jimmy Grillo, formerly of Roots Collider, to existing guitarists Colin Jones and Mike Pantano, and bassist Jason Gilly. Considering the complexity of their compositions, with long instrumental passages, shifting time signatures, and the heavily improvised nature of their music, it was not an easy role to jump into. A hiccup or two would be expected. But not on this night, and not for Jimmy Grillo. Having a live drummer, especially one of Grillo’s capability, created an entirely new dynamic for the band. The sound advanced beyond just electronic dance grooves, becoming less predictable and more nuanced. The electronic drum sounds still showed up here and there, but acted more as a spice and not a driving force. Jones was more freed up to concentrate on guitar, and both he and Pantano were equally impressive on rhythm and explosive leads. As good as they sounded, it seems they’ll only be improving in the coming shows as Grillo continues to grow more comfortable in the band. And those in Rochester will have plenty of opportunities to check Ocular Panther out in the coming weeks as they are on a bunch of upcoming bills.
The stage was set then for NYC’s Consider the Source. The individual parts of which defied comprehension. Gabriel Martin on fretless double-neck guitar could coax an incredible catalog of sounds out of his instrument. Some by effects pedals (of which he was surrounded by a rather large floor full) which turned his guitar into everything from a sitar to a clarinet. Some of it was just in the technique, which ranged from straight metal-esque raging to slinky sliding Middle Eastern melodies. At one point he utilized a trombone effect, which was particularly interesting as he played it like a slide. John Ferrara played bass like a lead instrument, melodic and beautiful and technically brilliant. Rarely content to sit back in a simple groove, his fingers were in constant motion, pulling and kneading the music into extraordinary and unusual spaces. Jeff Mann’s drumming style was that of a perpetual solo. Like Ferrara, rarely settling into a rhythm, just constant motion, constant changes, but still holding it all together.
It was soloing in triplicate. But the real magic was the intersection of all three. Their music intertwined ancient Middle Eastern and Indian influences with jazz, rock and metal into a quasi-futuristic blend that represented a land and a culture that don’t yet exist. This was particularly evident in their latest venture, Put Another Rock in That Bag, a multi-part composition released last year on their World War Trio EP. And their interpretation of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android was likewise not of this world.
After over three hours of intense instrumental jams, the crowd cheered not just for one more song, but for one more set. Yep… lyrics are definitely overrated. Lesson learned.
It was a calm, cool, April evening in Albany when Zappa Plays Zappa descended on The Egg in Albany. The show was completely sold out and the crowd was tame but one could tell it was full of die-hard Frank Zappa fans who remained seated all show and absorbed every single note.
The band featured Dweezil Zappa (guitar), Scheila Gonzalez (saxophone, flute, keyboards, vocals), Ben Thomas (vocals, trumpet, trombone, guitar), Chris Norton (keyboards), Kurt Morgan (bass guitar), and Ryan Brown (drums). The show was one long set with no breaks, which found the band play the landmark 1975 LP “One Size Fits All” in its entirety along with other Zappa and Mothers of Invention classics.
The show started with a small speech from Dweezil who explained how they were honoring the 40th anniversary of his father’s iconic album “One Size Fits All”. The band then wasted no time before diving into opener “Inca Roads”, which features very unusual lyrics and tempo, but a soaring guitar solo by Dweezil. Next up was the prog rocker “Can’t Afford No Shoes” and the instrumental “Sofa”. The always weird “Po-Jama People” followed, with its lyrical satire and jazzy feels. Next up was the complex “Florentine Pogen” and the short, quirky, “Evelyn, a Modified Dog”. “San Ber’dino” was next on the album, a tune about the recollection of staying in jail and true love. The band was firing on all cylinders during a nice jam of “Andy” before finishing up the album with “Sofa#2”.
Dweezil gave a brief explanation of the next song “Status Back Baby” (Mothers of Invention), before leading the band through a slew of other Frank Zappa and Mothers of Invention songs. The band cruised through classic Zappa tunes “The Grand Wazoo”, “Baby Snakes”, and “Society Pages”. With no setbreak and the show almost 1.5 hours in, some people were taking off already since the band had already covered the album. Those who stuck around were treated to a “Who Needs the Peace Corps?” and the rocker “My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama” which featured furious guitar work by Dweezil. The band finished off the night with a classic off the 1974 album “Apostrophe (‘)”, “Cosmic Debris”. The band also closed the night with the well-known “Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy” and “Muffin Man.” The room acoustics are absolutely amazing, and no matter where you were in the room, every band member was loud and crystal clear. This added to the experience making it a truly intimate evening for the many Zappa fans in attendance,
Touring behind their early 2015 album, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World, The Decemberists brought their show to the Center for the Arts in Buffalo. It was their third time at the venue, but the first time that they sold it out.
Toronto quintet Alvvays (pronounced Always) opened the evening, performing the excellent material off of their debut self-titled album released last year. It was their first in a run of shows with the Decemberists, after they were held up at the US border and had to miss their engagement the previous night in Pittsburgh. The trials and tribulations of being an opening band continued unfortunately, and the sound was downright awful throughout their set. Squeezed into a small spot at the front of the stage, they plowed through a quick 30 minutes that fell somewhat flat, through no fault of their own. The heavily distorted low-end, drowned out whatever other sounds were present.
After a quick and extremely punctual changeover, The Decemberists took the stage innocently enough. Colin Meloy, his acoustic guitar and a lone spotlight. He started up the first track on their new album, the appropriately titled, “The Singer Addresses His Audience.” Simultaneously a dark backdrop displaying some female archers dropped behind the stage. One by one the remaining members of the band, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, John Moen, Nate Query and two backup singers including the fantastic Kelly Hogan, entered the stage. A second backdrop fell in front of the first, creating a dimensional representation of the new album’s colorful artwork. The band kicked in, Meloy revved up the energy, jumping on to the drum riser, running into the front of the stage, strumming with ferocity. Not only was the singer addressing his audience, but within the first three minutes, he was making a pronouncement: “We are the headliners, and we are here to entertain the heck out of you!”
Early on the audience called out their requests in the silence between songs. Meloy answered that they had a set list, and they were happy with the way it flowed. And he wasn’t kidding either. The set list was constructed almost as carefully as their well crafted songs. As would be expected, the latest album was best represented. The album itself hasn’t particularly grabbed me, it lacks the overarching character and completeness that their previous efforts have included. The individual songs however, suit their live show well, and blended seamlessly with their time-tested material. The evening included the live debut performance of “Anti-Summersong” (video below). Through perfect song placement, including material from their entire catalog, Meloy and the band played the room like a puppet. Controlling the energy throughout the night, they perfectly brought it to a head late in the set. The seated audience roared to its feet, almost on cue, and stayed there the rest of the way.
Meloy wasn’t afraid to lay bare some of the messier moments in the honing of his songwriting craft. He revealed the original lyrics to “The Calamity Song” as sung to his son one morning over breakfast – Hank eat your oatmeal. Later also confiding in us the worst song he ever wrote, which concerned Dracula’s daughter; And yes, we should all be glad that one was scrapped.
The band, seven strong, had the ability to sound like much more. Each member played various instruments throughout the night, filling in whatever was needed for each song and providing a dynamic range of sound. Accordion, trumpet, pedal steel, banjo, percussion… During “The Rake” Conlee and Funk came out with floor toms, banging away with rhythmic bombast. Meloy then orchestrated the audience in a three-part clapping exercise that worked flawlessly and incredibly into the mix. The audience would be called upon again to become an eighth member in a sing-along on the ensuing 16 Military Wives.
Old songs were given fresh legs, such as with early era hit “Los Angeles, I’m Yours.” Conlee’s jazzy organ and the backup vocal oohs and aahs gave it a funkily awesome Stevie Wonder vibe. Somehow their live mainstay, “The Mariner’s Revenge” was kept feeling fresh. A large confetti-spewing whale was carried out on stage by the backup singers and it “devoured” the band, which lay lifeless on the stage. A fitting end for The Decemberists. What other band would/could/should play a theatrical Russian-folk-song inspired sea shanty as their big closing number?
Set List: The Singer Addresses His Audience, Cavalry Captain, Down by the Water, Calamity Song, Grace Cathedral Hill, Anti-Summersong, Make You Better, The Wrong Year, The Island, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, Carolina Low, A Bower Scene >Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga), The Rake’s Song, 16 Military Wives, O Valencia!, A Beginning Song, 12/17/12, The Mariner’s Revenge Song
Garrett Montgomery joined the NYSMusic staff in 2014, covering The Mad Tea Party Jam. During the summer of 2014, he tag-teamed many shows with long-time friend Chris Cleary, covering MTPJ, Umphrey’s McGee, Luna Light Festival, Catskill Chill, and other festivals together. Contributing to NYSMusic gives Montgomery the opportunity to combine his love for music and writing; he has enjoyed interviewing bands such as Consider the Source and TAUK and writing features on venues such as The Bardavon 1869 Opera House.
Highlights in Montgomery’s career since joining NYSMusic include covering and photographing Umphrey’s McGee on New Year’s Eve in Atlanta, getting to know folks in the scene, and exploring many beautiful venues in New York. Sharing his musical experiences through the NYSMusic medium has been a great privilege and Montgomery only hopes to improve in 2015 and beyond.
Montgomery grew up heavily influenced by his parents’ love of classic rock and is a huge Led Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, and Queen fan. He attended Mountain Jam as a high school senior in 2007 and was awestruck by the entire experience and one act in particular– Umphrey’s McGee. He has been to 39 subsequent UM shows and identifies as an Umphreak.
When not attending concerts, Montgomery is an avid Mets and Rangers fan. He also enjoys hiking, kayaking, and hanging out with his yellow lab, Ajax. He has lived in Montana and New Zealand but his heart is in the Hudson Valley.
His musical bucket list includes attending an Eminem show and partying together after, going on a date with Taylor Swift, and raging at an Umphrey’s concert with at least three generations of Montgomerys one day. When asked about his taste in music, Montgomery says, “I used to be all about the blues but now, I usually say ‘funk it.’”
Looking for a new and different place to spend a quiet evening away from the kids? Looking for a unique place just brimming with a romance, beautiful music, and specialty drinks on hand to round out the perfect setting to take your special someone? Whether it’s making a first impression or showing that someone how special they are to you, I have the perfect setting; The Turquoise Tiger at the Turning Stone Exit 33.
Turquoise Tiger – Turning Stone Casino
This venue has been fashioned after 1940’s Film Noir. It features the sexiest specialty drinks around, classic 1940’s period art deco design, photos of the jazz and standards greats, and featuring some of today’s most sought after musicians to entertain you. Seated by a dapper young man decked out in a zoot suit, it’s as though you are transformed into a different era the moment you step inside the doors.
Turquoise Tiger – Turning Stone Casino
I recently had the opportunity to visit the venue and meet one of the regular musicians, Devin Bing. Devin hails from New York City and his blend of sultry crooning, and jazzy beats of the great standards bring a toe tapping mix t0 some of my all time favorite tunes.
Devin Bing – Turning Stone
In between sets of his show, Devin so generously sat down to talk with us recently about his music, his inspirations, and his future plans.
Kathy Stockbridge (KS): Hi There. I am so super impressed with you. With your talent. You are so young to love this genre of music. Tell me how did you come to play this type of music.
Devin Bing (DB): I know right. I am a product of my environment. My mother is a cabaret singer and actress, and my father started a live theater off-Broadway, very off-Broadway in Long Island. So I grew up with Gershwin, and all that music. So the music again, was a product of my environment as I heard it all the time. It was just so beautiful to me. I also am into instrumental jazz. Once I heard Miles Davis “Kinda Blue”, I was like “WOW”, love the art of improvisation. That’s why I do the trumpet sound.
KS: That was amazing, I was blown away by your vocal talents beyond just the singing.
DB: When I was growing up and studying music, and I was evolving as a musician and singer, fascinating to me was George Benson and Ella Fitzgerald’s scatting and their vocal improvisation. I been lucky enough to learn an instrument to improvise on, but to the take the vocal instrument and emulate and turn it into a horn player or something more has always been a passion of mine.
KS: When making note of it I titled it “vocal trumpet”.
DB: You know what I call it? A “Trumouth”. You know a Trumpet + Mouth? It actually has brought me attention for gigs as people see it online and want to book me because of it. But seriously, Miles Davis was a big influence and bridging that vocalist/instrumental thing has always been a passion of mine.
KS: You mentioned you studied music. Did you study through high school, or did you go to a musical college?
DB: Yes, yes I did. I went to University of Miami. Not sure if you are familiar with it, but it’s one of the top 5 jazz schools in the nation. What happened was all the studio musicians from the 60’s and 70’s had a big studio explosion at that time down in Miami. So in the 70’s when all these studio cats, who were jazz players doing studio sessions for the Bee Gee’s and artists like that, got together they decided to stay down there and start a program. And then from the late 70’s on it just grew. So I went down there as a vocalist, but I ended up double majoring in both vocals and piano. It actually was the first time they had someone do that.
KS: After graduation you returned to NY?
DB: Yes. I was living in Miami hustling the scene. But there really wasn’t a scene for me there. It was very club heavy. Very Latin Band. There really wasn’t the cultural scene for what I did. So being from Long Island, I decided to come back home because it was better for what I had decided to do.
KS: So who are your musical influences? I can guess just by listening to your first set list, but I want to hear from you.
DB: No…no I want to hear who you think.
KS: Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie…maybe Ella….who am I missing?
DB: No you did great…in fact the list goes on and on. When I was younger, when I was 13 or 14 and all my friends were listening to Back Street Boys, I was listening to Miles Davis and Mel Torme. I was an anomaly. I wanted to be the next Harry Connick Jr. Harry Connick Jr. was someone I listened to an it’s funny how when you grow up you emulate artists and you are trying to figure out your sounds, I emulated Harry Connick Jr. Then I got into Stevie Wonder. I was like oh my God, that was like great. I wanted to sing like that. But do it in jazz. I kinda had this soul and Motown meets jazz. In fact my second set of my act features Stevie Wonder. It’s a part one and part two kind of show.
KS: Well I have to say, you blew me away with part one of the show. You sang one of my all time favorites songs, “Nature Boy”. And I loved your jazzy soulful rendition of it. Normally it’s a really slow song, but you breathed a new life into it.
DB: Oh good, and that’s really what’s happening to me in New York where I’m carving a new niche of jazz singing even the standards. Where I’m taking all these traditional songs and turning them on their heads giving them a younger hipper sound.
KS: Do you see a younger crowd coming to your shows? Tonight you have a mix of 30’s, 40’s, 50’s all here appreciating your music. Do you find you audiences getting younger?
DB: Absolutely, I have been headlining a club down in NYC called the Metropolitan. It’s off-Broadway, so being off Broadway there are a lot of cabaret singers and I’m very different. I’m not a cabaret singer, I’m straight jazz and pianist. But I sing a lot of the same songs they sing. We all sing “My Funny Valentine”, we all sing “Nature Boy”, and the Gershwin tunes, but no one sings them the way I do. I did a show at Lincoln Center and it was a show with a lot of cabaret singers. I came out and sang “Fly Me To The Moon”. And all 1,200 people were like…. It’s been really exciting to be able to do music that I love and to be able to keep it alive and give it this fresh facelift.
KS: Do you have any projects going on? Don’t you have a new album you’re working on?
DB: Yes, yes I do and I’m glad you want to hear about it, because I love talking about it. It’s an album called Shaken Not Stirred. Now I wanted to develop a concept that brought back the art of the LP which is a full album. So many people are making mixed tapes of just single songs and whatnot. I wanted to create something that was not just a collaboration of single songs. So I wrote this album to tell a story from beginning to end. I wrote and produced every composition, and I wrote it cinematically so that you are almost listening to a movie. It takes you through this epic love story about a crooner/night club singer, that meets this mysterious woman and goes on this search to find her. After searching for her he finally finds her and asks her to surrender to loving him. They get together only to discover there’s the opposite side of the love where he finds out she’s not exactly everything he had imagined. Then the torment begins. It goes through this element of I want it all or nothing at all. I actually throw the song All of Nothing At All in there where it goes through that part; the addiction of love and how you need it. Then you go through the ultimatum where it’s me or nothing, and then ultimately the last song is about coming to the realization of his destiny. A lot of it is based on Paulo Coelho’s book The Alchemist in the sense of how it focuses on finding your destiny. The moral of it is, whatever love it is you are pursuing, never give up and follow your destiny. There is a lot of layers to it, but ultimately when you listen to it from beginning to end, it’s this love story with beautiful arrangements, and again it’s got this cinematic style.
KS: When can we expect the release of this album? I can’t wait to hear it.
DB: We’re finishing it up and expect a release in early part of 2015.
KS: Are you planning on going out to tour with it?
DB: Absolutely. We’re doing some things in Brooklyn and some throughout NYC, and then after that we’re hoping to be out touring with it.
KS: Well I can’t wait for its release and hearing your new music!
As the interview concluded and he returned to get ready for the second set of the evening this extremely talented young man-made a lasting impression on me. I love to see the music of some of the greatest performers and entertainers of all time continue today with a flair from this new generation. Often compared to Michael Buble’ and Harry Connick Jr., Devin Bing is definitely making a name for himself, while continuing to honor traditional standards in a new soulful way.
I highly recommend a night out at The Turquoise Tiger for a relaxing evening of fine drinks, a timelessly classic atmosphere, and some of the best music around. To catch Devin this month at The Turquoise Tiger, don’t forget to mark your calendars for April 10th and 11th at 9pm when he once again returns.
Going into Easter weekend, I took another weekend to visit Long Island and there I went to another kick ass venue The Emporium in Patchogue on Long Island. A rather big and spacious for a medium-sized venue that holds about 1100 people, multiple bars, serves food, with a decent sized pit are in front of the stage. The overall sound is great, so I would highly recommend to see a metal show there or any genre of music there.
American Head Charge was originally billed to appear on the lineup but was not there. No word on why. Not long after the doors opened, Saint Ridley from Detroit, Michigan opened the night with five songs. They were pretty good, excellent chemistry together. You could tell they were enjoying themselves on stage. They had guitar issues on stage, but they did an excellent job of not letting that interfere with their performance. I thought they were a darker version of Angels and Airwaves but more metal than punk.
Combichrist graced the stage afterwards. They were by far the most energetic band of the night. I didn’t know what to expect from them. I have never purchased an album or seen any videos, all I knew was they were a very dark and industrial band. To me, their sound and presence was a mix of Orgy, Nine Inch Nails, and Mindless Self Indulgence. They were absolutely superb. All their synthesizers were played on stage, not a prerecorded track over the PA. Some of the songs they played were “We Were Made To Love You”, “Maggots At The Party” and closed with “What The Fuck Is Wrong With You.” They definitely made me a fan after their set was over.
Filter certainly made an impression that night as well. Although the crowd was a lot more calm and tame compared to Combichrist, I absolutely loved what Filter did during their set. They chose to go deep into their catalog and play some obscure song sand tell the audience what each song was about. Interesting note: again, Filter has a new lineup. vocalist and mastermind Richard Patrick (younger brother of actor Robert Patrick and once an original member of Nine Inch Nails) has a different band around him; Oumi Kapila on guitar, Ashley Dzerigan on bass, Bobby Miller on keyboards and programming, and Chris Reeve on Drums. Funny thing about this lineup…Richard Patrick went on a few rants about how much he hates the current pop music scene in the US, and Ashley Dzerigan has played bass in lots of pop music groups such as Adam Lambert and Cee Lo Green. However, this lineup fits the music of Filters past, and now I’m curious to see if Richard Patrick will use this lineup for the upcoming Filter album that was recently announced. They opened with “You Walk Away” off The Amalgamut, then into “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do,” off the movie soundtrack of Spawn. But the real highlight of the night was the other obscure classic “Jurassitol.” Every song performed Richard gave it his all, the use of fog machines and lights gave their set a trippy atmosphere. Filter closed their set with their original hit “Hey Man, Nice Shot” before ending with Title Of Record’s “Welcome To The Fold.” This band still has lots left in the tank. A headlining tour is eminent in their future.
The anticipation was killing me for Coal Chamber to rock the stage. And man did they bring it. Although they did a U.S. tour a couple of years ago, it still seemed that they were away from metal for way too long. And as soon as they stormed the stage with their anthem “Loco,” the chemistry and magic that this band had twenty years ago seemed to have never fade away. This time, their production was much, much bigger from their previous US tour. They had 2 large video screens behind them showcasing clips and montages of random b-movie horror films. The big highlights of their set had to have been “Rowboat,” brand new song from their upcoming album “Rivals,” and their disturbing classic “I.” They played a full fifteen song set with no encore. Their crowd was absolute bananas during every song. Frontman Dez Fafara even had to tell an audience member to calm the fuck down and stop taking cheap shots in the mosh pit. That was entertaining. Also the rest of band was so damn clutch, but it was drummer Mikey Cox who was an absolute machine behind the kit.
I would certainly hope that Coal Chamber is going to take advantage from the recaptured momentum that they have and with the new album Rivals due mid May, I believe the future is bright for Coal Chamber and every band that is part of this tour.
Every once and awhile, you come across an album that you just can’t stop hearing about, even years after its release. Lately, that album for me has been Mesonoxian by Buffalo death metal bosses, Seplophile. It first graced my ears in February of 2013, and although I haven’t really listened to it since the summer of that year, I still hear at least one person bring it up at every Buffalo metal show I attend. Mesonoxian seems to have set a new standard for not only other Buffalo locals, but a few touring bands that have come through the area as well.
Back in May of 2013, I played a show with Seplophile and Arsis (Nuclear Blast Records) at Broadway Joes. During Seplophile’s set, I had a conversation with James Malone, Arsis’s frontman. He made a comment about how Seplophile not only made a great impression on him, but how they really stood out in an already very talented Buffalo metal scene. Malone later went on to address the crowd during Arsis’s set, giving Buffalo’s metal scene that traditional horns and hails. Then, at last Friday’s ‘Metal Fights Cancer’ event at Rockin’ Buffalo Saloon, I caught up with a lot of Western New York metal scene veterans who repeatedly brought up Mesonoxian, one show goer in particular still citing it as “the best metal album ever released by a Buffalo band, not of national status.” In short, all the attention this album continues to get today, has made me want to revisit it two years later and pick it apart.
It kicks off with “Exhale All Life”, an ominous piano intro played by guitarist, Matt Backlas. The keys come and go throughout the record, all of which are played by Matt, and perfectly compliment the “simply death” idea at the foundation of Seplophile’s music. “Anomos: Identity Crisis” is an ideal opening track for any death metal album. It pulls you in with quick evil riffing accompanied by vocalist Colin Winkelman’s persistent and consistent low growls, ripping basslines and relentless blast beats. “The Isolationist” provides the same punishing death metal truth as “Anomos” which further carries the band’s ultimate message: “DEATH METAL PREVAILS”, which also appears at the end of the credits on Mesonoxian. Then, finally, we get to “Quarantined”, which has the most melodic section on the record by this point. It has a tremolo outro that uses metal’s signature “sad scale” and paints a dismal picture of growth from decay, or perhaps triumph from misery. A 3 part death metal masterpiece follows this change of pace, called “Philosophiae Naturalis- The Portents of Ash- Shaytan”, made up of tracks 6-8, respectively titled, “Omen of the Adversary”, “Under Shifting Sands”, and “Glassstorms”. “Under Shifting Sands” is a straight forward injection of grind, doom, crunch and melody, and was the first single released by the band for the album. Other songs stood out to me a little more on the track list, but given their diehard death metal demographic, “Under Shifting Sands” is a smart single choice. “Fields of Stone” is the next standalone track and has a devastatingly powerful and emotional outro. It’s very doomy, melodic and extremely well composed. Matt’s keys return here and slow harmonized leads make for a fitting finale to a truly driving song. Afterwards, the boys close the album out the way it begins with “Retribution” and the title track, “Mesonoxian”. These two last songs rip and leave you wanting more. The roller coaster has stopped too soon and you feel like you haven’t gotten your money’s worth. All the more reason to get excited for the forthcoming second album or a live show!
Seplophile will be performing at Broadway Joes in Buffalo on Sunday 4/26 with Buffalo thrash legends, Hellcannon and New York death metal legends, Incantation (Relapse Records, Necropolis Records, Listenable Records). If you want to relive death metal’s glory days through a rejuvenated sound, be at this show. If you haven’t listened to Seplophile yet, do so.
If you’re less into traditional death and more into bands that wave the “deathcore” flag like White Chapel, Suicide Silence or Chelsea Grin, you might be disappointed. But if you fall somewhere in between, you might just find that Seplophile has a little something for everyone craving a little bit of heavy.
Key Tracks: Quarantined, Fields of Stone, Under Shifting Sands
Having a guest musician join a band for a song can end up being a highlight of any show, the part that fans talk about for days and weeks after. Mixing things up and bringing up some friends to sit in on a song adds a little extra something special to a show and celebrates the unique and unpredictable nature of the live music experience – you never know what will happen next. Scott Hannay, keyboardist and vocals for Mister F has a reputation that precedes him when it comes to sitting in with bands. interview
A master at this craft, Scott can be found sitting in with regularity at shows in the Capital District as well as festivals around the country. With experience and insight into the art of sitting in, Scott talked to NYS Music about what it’s like to sit-in with a band and what goes into making a sit-in happen.
Pete Mason: What is the benefit of a sit-in? You have had musicians sit in with Mister F and you have sat in with many bands. What is the benefit on each end?
Scott Hannay: For the band, they can see a few different reasons to have someone up – it’s certainly an interesting way of changing up a set. Sometimes it’s to get a chance to hang with a player or friend that they enjoy the musical company of. And then there’s the big names sitting in, which are both awesome for the experience and the promotional benefits. There’s nothing quite like being able to say that players from two of the biggest bands on the scene have shared stage time with us!
For the sit-ee, at least for me, one of the biggest benefits is just getting to play with other people. I hosted an open mic for 8 years, and through that have learned how to be able to play with almost anybody and blend in. I like to think that if you can follow someone who can’t keep a solid 4 beats in a measure (not because they planned to add that extra 8th note to the length of the measure, mind you), you can play with almost anyone. On the other end of the spectrum, playing with people beyond your own skill level can have an amazing effect on making you step up your game. Sitting in is also very useful for cross-pollinating fan bases. Twiddle has graciously allowed me numerous opportunities to sit in over the last year, and now I keep hearing from people that they came to check us out because of something I did with them, and now they know our band and our music. Stuff like that has been invaluable to us. We’ve had all of them share the stage with us at one point or another also. We’re all in this together, so we might as well all be working together as a team and collaborating to help lift each other up!
There’s also a whole lot of ways a sit-in can go wrong, so the person is usually carefully picked.
PM: What can go wrong?
SH: Any number of things could go wrong. If you’re switching out and using someone else’s rig you’re not familiar with, maybe you’ll accidentally hit the wrong button and something crazy will come out. Maybe you’re not very familiar with how the band communicates, and you miss a key change or some important hits. The real key is to use your ears more than your fingers, blend in, when they tell you “GO”, you go, and then continue thinking of the overall sound. It’s not about you unless they make it a point to make it about you, to me it’s really more about complementing the group sound as a whole. The Werks kind of made it about me when they asked me to come up and play keys, bass, and guitar all in the same song. Sometimes, that’ll happen, apparently!
PM: How do you coordinate a sit-in? How much pre-planning is involved or is it sometimes entirely, up until the moment stepping on stage, spontaneous?
SH: Every time is a little different. Sometimes I’ll be asked a month in advance, sometimes I’ll gather up the courage to ask someone ‘out of my league’, sometimes I don’t hear back, and then sometimes when I show up I get asked. Sometimes it’s pre-planned, and then sometimes the planned song changes due to time constraints. Sometimes it doesn’t happen at all. I’ve even gotten onstage to realize not everybody in the band knew I was even coming up! It’s never a certain thing, but I always bring my Moog with me just in case. If it doesn’t get used, it doesn’t get used, but if it’s needed, I’m always so glad it’s there.
BDL Photo
There was one time Mike from Aqueous texted me the morning of a gig we had together saying “Hey, do you know Highway Star”? And I basically told him “not yet” and spent the entire van ride to Buffalo learning it.
PM: When it comes to the song you are sitting in for, are those typically discussed in advance like that? Or do you arrive for a cover song or familiar tune you’ve played on before?
SH: Sometimes they’ll be like “Hey, we’re gonna pull you up for [SONG]” and I’ve got to go listen to it to get the feel and key. Other times, it’s something I already know, and sometimes it’s something I know “well enough” to be able to blend in and fill in holes. I like to know as much in advance as I can to be prepared, but it seems as if there’s always an element of surprise!
PM: So you have a reputation for sit-ins with bands. How many bands have you sat in with this year so far?
SH: Including bands I have played full shows with (excluding Mister F), I have played with 16 bands since the beginning of 2015: Wild Adriatic, Annie in the Water, Spiritual Rez, Capital Zen, Bark Eaters, Gubbulidis, Dead Set Tuesdays, The Werks, Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan, Space Carnival, Lespecial, Consider the Source, Pink Talking Fish, Fat Aztec, Aqueous and Twiddle Fu.
PM: How many in 2014?
SH: I believe my count for last year was 26.
Overall, it’s a really amazing thing to be a fan of all these bands, imagining what it would be like to play with them, and then have it actually happen. It’s literally the kind of thing I would dream about when I was young. I dreamed once when I was an impressionable 12-year-old that I sat in with Green Day. While that’s likely never going to happen, I have gotten to play with some of my absolute favorite bands and it’s been amazing.
PM: Given all the bands you have sat in with and bands you are fans of and friends with, what bands would you love to sit-in with?
SH: Well, it’s crazy to me that I got to sit in with Umphrey’s, my absolute dream band to sit in with, before I’d even established myself at all in the scene. I still want to say I’d love to sit in with them again most of all. I’d also really love to get the chance to jam with moe. someday. moe.down was my first festival, and it really drew me right into the scene that I’m now a part of, kind of full-circle thing for me. Aiming that high looks pretty crazy to me written down, but crazier things have happened, and knowing that makes me always push myself to be better. Oh yeah, and Turkuaz. Let’s not forget Turkuaz. I’d love to jam with Turkuaz someday. Because, Turkuaz.
Huetensil has just released his debut album, Black & White, available on a digital-only format. Huetensil is the alter-ego of tri-cities based Hugh Wygmans, who is also the front man of prog-monsters, Question of Honour. Wygmans is a singer/songwriter/guitarist hoping to expand his listening area beyond the 100 plus radio stations in eight countries he’s been played on in his different stage personas. Very impressive as an artist that handles all ends of his recordings; performing, mixing, editing, producing and mastering this album at Shadow Planet Studios. Wygmans wrote and arranged everything performed by Huetensil (vocals, guitars, bass, programming drums/bass) here besides the co-arrangement of “Let’s Pretend” with David Wygmans and Ken Pitchford. Additional performers credited are Michael Wu: bass guitar on “Nothin’”, David Wygmans: side stick on “Maybe It’s Time” and additional background vocals on “Wake Me Up” by Brent Ochai, Carrie Ochai and Marty Wygmans.
It’s notable that Wygmans really has his character and career presentation together better than most I’ve encountered. A well presented one-sheet, lyric sheets, access to hi-resolution pictures and artwork through his website plus a web address for Huetensil. Having had the opportunity to review the last release from his prog band, I was eager to hear this solo outing as his alter-ego, Huetensil, he’s self-described as a “power-pop musician with a hard edge and an indie singer/songwriter ethic”. It takes a great deal of self-confidence to take a Bowiesque leap like this, the following are my thoughts on its success.
“Want Too Much” is the opener and it’s evident quickly that Huetensil has some vocal gymnastics in store. His range is clear and the layered vocals at the end illustrate the potential of his power-pop proclivity. His emotive delivery is clear, rising above his multi-tiered guitar tracks, accenting the changes, especially verse to chorus. “Last Night” hits the target dead-center, a rave-up rocker illuminating the difference between introspection and introversion, then extraversion. There’s something my ears keep listening for that isn’t there, well, more on that as we go.
“Tonight (The Carbon Wars)” gives Huetensil the chance to riff a bit harder, ripping a nice solo as his topical dexterity expands into another broad field. There’s a sense of Billy Corgan in his raspy delivery overall, but it bites a bit harder into the matter here. Like many great rock songs, the meaning is oblique despite the title, but the chorus speaks of societal ambiguity and it stings! “Executioner’s Song” switches gears a bit, a give and take from slow verse to driving chorus, relenting to an inner truth while forging ahead versus the draw to stay. There’s a growing tense connection between the compositions, it’s evident Huetensil’s thoughts blend, reflect and color each other in tones. Like “Fear & Longing”, a level of desperation from the antagonist while the protagonist searches for something deeper as if nothing is available. The ebb and flow from sweet verse to dramatic chorus is distinct and creates a narrative of sorts between the characters distinguished as melody and hook. There’s something familiar in the verse, but it’s elusive, and that’s very cool. One thing is certain, Huetensil’s dexterity, whether vocally or lyrically is masterful, he switches easily to falsetto, not losing strength or bite. Maybe it’s a Geddy Lee level of influence happening, either way, it’s undeniable.
“Nothin’” jumps a little funky with the wah pedal rhythm, Michael Wu’s bass driving the bottom and the horn blasts. It seems to be a metaphor shaped from an artist’s joy and frustration versus the same in any relationship that truly means something. Yet again, the listener is allowed to read himself into the story line. “Mr. Curry’s Troubles (The Ballad of Edward Snowden) has a XTC/Andy Partridge feel, the vocal read and the acoustic pushing the rhythm. The subject is topical, intriguing and pertinent, something I wish we’d here more of from younger artists. It’s refreshing in it’s candor, like “Tonight (The Carbon Wars)”. Continuing with the acoustic theme, “Simple” has a sweet refrain that enjoys the support of the bass line. Another facet of Huetensil’s gem, a softer side indeed. The “baaa” harmonies at the end are particularly outstanding!
“Maybe It’s Time” is a political anthem that speaks for the masses. The vocal production is borderline brilliant, the harmony tones and overlaps are pristine while proclaiming, “(Time for a change) Maybe it’s time for a radical change. (Alteration) Something more than a slight alteration. (Tear down the stage) Maybe it’s time to tear down the stage. Replace all the broken pieces. End this conflagration.” It’s has the sweetness and tart of a Rundgren composition, Huetensil’s production and mixing values reach a high here and set a deadly ear-worm! David Wyman’s “side stick” technique lends a metronome feel with a sense of a march, very nice twist. “Wake Me Up” is a desperate call from a comatose man, a remarkable perspective voiced into a dreamy chorus filled with the guest vocalists. In a straight-up power-pop format the rhythm guitar, bass and vocals blend so well. When’s the last time you heard hoosegow rhymed with Moscow and no ciao?
“Let’s Pretend” spits defiant dissonance against a wall of reality, a Black Sabbath-like rhythm guitar mixed with Huetensil’s conflicted anguish. The closer appropriately wraps the political side into a rage filled scream against the government. It smacks of what so many feel while witnessing the war machine at work. I’m hoping it’s a retroactive look at things because it speaks of GWB to me, but that’s my read.
You should take a listen for yourself. Huetensil is energetic, enthusiastic and the level of work put in this work is notable. This kind of production doesn’t happen overnight, shouldn’t be taken lightly and deserves recognition. If I had one wish for Huetensil it would be live drums. While the programming is excellent and the timing is right on, it misses on the feel. Many things can run under the surface, but this isn’t one of them. Well done and well-played Huetensil, well-played!
Key Tracks: Let’s Pretend, Maybe It’s Time, and Nothin
The show started with a small speech from Dweezil who explained how they were honoring the 40th anniversary of his father’s iconic album “One Size Fits All”. The band then wasted no time before diving into opener “Inca Roads”, which features very unusual lyrics and tempo, but a soaring guitar solo by Dweezil. Next up was the prog rocker “Can’t Afford No Shoes” and the instrumental “Sofa”. The always weird “Po-Jama People” followed, with its lyrical satire and jazzy feels. Next up was the complex “Florentine Pogen” and the short, quirky, “Evelyn, a Modified Dog”. “San Ber’dino” was next on the album, a tune about the recollection of staying in jail and true love. The band was firing on all cylinders during a nice jam of “Andy” before finishing up the album with “Sofa#2”.
Highlights in Montgomery’s career since joining NYSMusic include covering and photographing Umphrey’s McGee on New Year’s Eve in Atlanta, getting to know folks in the scene, and exploring many beautiful venues in New York. Sharing his musical experiences through the NYSMusic medium has been a great privilege and Montgomery only hopes to improve in 2015 and beyond.
Pete Mason: What is the benefit of a sit-in? You have had musicians sit in with Mister F and you have sat in with many bands. What is the benefit on each end?
PM: How do you coordinate a sit-in? How much pre-planning is involved or is it sometimes entirely, up until the moment stepping on stage, spontaneous?
