Category: Interviews

K. Phillips Interview on Recess with Spinelli

Mr. K Phillips opened up for Rob Thomas and the Counting Crows at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, so naturally, we had to speak with this young up-and-coming ranch-raised Texan about his passion for story-telling.

Listen to interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve-EK4DeG9M

Listen to the abridged feature/interview

Recess with Spinelli: How’s the trip going, any highlight so far?

K. Phillips: Everything is a highlight. This is a highlight; we’re in Saratoga Springs there’s 24,000 seats in this venue. It’s like I died and went to heaven, I’m just glad to be here.

RWS: It sounds like this tour is largly outdoor amphitheatres?

KP: Yes. I loved it. It’s a little harder for us because the band rehearsed so much and and we’re so good at playing a club setting but nothing can prepare you for playing on a gigantic stage; it’s made out of aluminum and the sound shoots everywhere and it bounces off the back of the hill and comes back to you and it was very challenging, first to learn how to hear each other to play on the stage. I’ve been touring the United States for about seven years but that’s usually in front of you know, 15 people a night.

RWS: When that transition initially happened, from going from playing in front of 15 people to playing in front of thousands or 20,000 what was your initial mindset change?

KP: It’s actually actually easier because when there’s 5000 people watching you who haven’t seen you seen you, some of them are listening and so maybe like 2500 people are actually watching you attentively. It’s actually easier because you feel like you’re doing something. Sometimes when you play for 15 people, 2 of those people are listening. We’ve been ready to do this but nothing can prepare you for it.

RWS: The way we heard about you was through interviewing Adam Duritz of Counting Crows; Adam spoke very fondly of you and told us to check you out, How long have you actually known Mr. Duritz.

KP: In 2012…he sponsors a blog that finds new music and he listens to all of it. He doesn’t have to do that but he still does. I mean, I think that’s what makes him great, is that he loves music and he’s always filling the well. It was so funny when we started to play and he used to come to my shows and it would be 12 people, but then 1 of the 12 people would be Adam Duritz. It was almost embarressing, you know like “you like me, but I don’t have any fans yet.” I mean he’s like one of the greatest writers of our time and one of the greatest literate writers. it’s a very special thing for me. And Rob too, I didn’t know Rob before this tour; they’re 2 of the nicest guys I’ve ever met and they don’t have to be, they’re super successful, they watch every show of mine and then they going to put on a show on the kill and after that we hang out; it’s amazing. I never want it to end

RWS: Have you noticed any doors open or any opportunities come your way because of this?

KP: D’Angelico, the great New York guitar company gave me a guitar. They sent me to their showroom and I just pick out a guitar to play for this tour and that was so nice. Being somebody that they think is worthy of an endorsement, that’s kind of neat to me. Right before this tour I had a guitar in pawn which I lost because I couldn’t afford get out of pawn. And then D’Angelico gives me this way better guitar than I had in pawn. It’s just funny how your life changes so quickly when people help you

RWS: Now with Mr. Duritz, I believe that you’ve done some work with him in the past, I think I saw that he covered “Kat’s Song” and I think I heard that he worked with you on the new albums?

KP: Yeah, he let us record some stuff at his house, so one of the new songs on this was recorded at his house and actually, a guitar that we used, we found out later was the guitar from the “Mr. Jones” video, which is funny. I was like “this guitar sounds so Counting Crows. So we recorded at his house and he sang on it and he added this four-part harmony like it was nothing. A few years ago I was watching the Counting Crows. We were at the Bowery Electric and the Crows were playing a cigartette show and my friend Nekia was playing a song with them and he’s like “Dude, you gotta video tape me doin’ this song” and I’m like “Man I gotta go, I have my own show” and he said “This is gonna blow your mind.” They go into this song and I’m like “That’s funny, I have a song that sounds alot like that.” and then Adam Duritz sings “I took that young thing to dinner,” which is my line to a song I wrote called “Kat’s Song” and I realize at that moment that they’re not doing a song that sounds like my song, they’re doing my song. I started weeping, it was like a lifetime achievement award. The Counting Crows have too many good songs.

RWS: As a songwriter, would you say you have a certain duty or responsibility either to yourself or to the listener to write an honest song?

KP: My duty is to connect people and to write things which connect the song with the listener, and the only way you can do that is to have an honest narrator. When you do that, it doesn’t matter what the story is, it’s going to connect, it’s gonna help people through whatever the situation is.

RWS: How do you know whether or not you are being honest?

KP: I know because, there’s a poem by Robert Graves, which I always go back to. It’s actually what our LLC is named after. It’s called “Love without Hope” and in four lines, Robert Graves tells the story of this bird catcher in industrial England, he spends his day in this park, everyday his job is to put larks in his hat, take them to a baker, baker gives him a piece of bread, maybe a piece of coal and that night he goes with food in his stomache and he doesn’t go cold; that’s all he has to do, just grab the birds before it gets dark. On this particular day, he’s leaving the park, he’s got his birds and he sees this beautiful white carriage drawn by two white horses and inside is this beautiful squire’s daughter and here, this lowly birdcatcher, sees this girl and he looks at her and shee looks at him and he tips his cap; the birds fly out, the larks fly to the heavens and she watches them go to the heavens and he’s made this impression on this girl he’d never have a chance with. Now he goes home and he’s cold and he’s hungry, but he’s made an impression on this girl. I’ve never been a birdcatcher, bu I know from that story, I can relate and I think about that story all the time and if I wonder if my narrator is being honest, I just compare it to that, “Love without Hope.”

RWS: Was it a relief when you were finally able to put your thoughts on paper in a cohesive manor that could be understood?

KP: Yeah, but I can’t do that every time. After each song you write after every record you write, you’re just starting over. You’d think that you would get better, but the only thing that gets better is your expectations, I’ve definitely gotten better at finishing songs, I’ve gotten better at writing with people. This last record was writted to be a breakup record. That was fun for me to go like “How does this fit in?” or “There’s a song called 18 year old girls,” an 18 year old girl who like looks like a grown-up but she’s totally not. It’s funny the idea of this character who’s come out of a relationship and he’s gonna bring this 18 year old girl around to his friends and they’ll be like “What are you doing, dude?” So I am looking for more perspective than I am looking for the next what I can’t have. What gets me off about songwriting is finding different angles and funny scenarios.”

Recess with Spinelli can be heard every Wednesday 8pm-10pm EDT on WSPN in Saratoga Springs, NY on 91.1FM and on Hoxton FM in London, England every Wednesday 11pm-1am GMT 6pm-8pm EDT

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November 30, 2016
The Lake Brothers Retrofit Rochester with Old School Rock n Roll

The Flower City music scene has continued to blossom over the past few years, displaying its symphonic diversity as a focal point of Rochester’s cultural identity. New venues have taken root as the city continually evolves and locals are finding more ways to fall in love with this mid-sized but mighty Finger Lakes of NY destination. In the midst of this inspiring evolution, modern nostalgia weaves its own thread into this rich cultural tapestry in the form of The Lake Brothers heralding retro rock ‘n’ roll tinted with a punk rock kick.

Trevor (26), Austin (24) and Brendan Lake (19) grew up on a 30 acre farm in Hilton, NY where they forged a strong sense of camaraderie cultivated from a lack of proximity to other kids in the neighborhood. Their father, a jazz drummer, always kept drums in the house, though never pressured his sons into music. Nevertheless, playing music became a main hobby for the Lake brothers, and after years of marching band, jazz band and concert band throughout school, they’re taking their skills to the hipster bars and grungy basements of Rochester and making waves.

Between the three brothers, there are three bands in which they each lend their skill in varying combinations. The Televisionaries (TV’s), a largely instrumental surf/rockabilly trio features Trevor (guitar/vocals) and Austin (drums). Punk rock ‘n’ roll group, The Temptators, features Austin (guitar/vocals) and Brendan (bass/vocals) along with three other band mates. Finally, the ten-piece explosive, high energy rock ‘n’ roll drive in Aweful Kanawful & His Rubber Husband’s Band is manned with Austin (vocals) and Trevor (guitar). And yes, Austin plays in all three bands. I met up with them at Trevor’s apartment to learn more about their collective contributions to the Rochester music scene, how they got started and where they’re headed.

Ally Dean: I was in Rochester a couple weekends ago and saw Aweful Kanawful & His Rubber Husband’s Band at Skylark on Friday, then saw The Temptators at a basement show on Windsor Street Saturday. I thought it was really interesting that you’re all brothers, are all musically talented and collaborate together on your different projects.

Austin Lake: We probably could have ended up as mechanics together. Playing music just came after all your other extracurricular things in school. After building ramps and scaring the shit out of each other. We had a fake wrestling ring for a while. That could have tooken up. So music is just kinda the only thing that’s working right now. Later in life you could see the three bandits ready to go fight crime in the ring. It could happen.

AD: Do the three of you practice together or jam?

Brendan Lake: Probably been a year since we’ve done that.

AL: The world would probably end if we did that.

AD: Why?

AL: We just don’t know what would happen.

Trevor Lake: The stars could align. We could make some serious music.

AD: Do you guys get along pretty well? Do you think it would be a good collaboration?

BL: Oh yeah. I think it would be too easy.

TL: We are all song writers. In each band we’re each the main songwriter except for The Temptators where Austin and Brendan each write some, in the TV’s I write all the songs and in Aweful Kanawful Austin writes all the songs. We’re each the head chef in the kitchen, so to have three head chefs in one kitchen, I dunno what would happen.

AL: Too many cooks! Although I don’t think any of us are too strict in our ideas that it wouldn’t work.

TL: We would need more time. We’d have to quit every other band.

AL: We could take a year, write a record. (half jokingly) Maybe that’s what we’ll do now.

TL: There’s a lot of music already. Brendan also plays drums in a group called Gun Trouble.

BL: I don’t write any of that music though.

TL: We each have our own solo projects. Austin has two tapes he’s recorded which turned into Aweful Kanawful & His Rubber Husband’s Band.

BL: I’ve been trying to put out a solo tape for three years and I’m finally at a point where I’ve got an album I’m happy with so I’ll probably put it out this winter. Just stuff I recorded in my room at my house.

TL: And I did a solo tape as well that was recently released.

&lt;a href=”http://awefulkanawful.bandcamp.com/album/pharoahs-lonely-ego”&gt;Pharoahs Lonely Ego by Aweful Kanawful&lt;/a&gt;

AD: I have to ask: How did you come up with the name Aweful Kanawful & His Rubber Husband’s Band?

AL: Dude I don’t know, that’s a good one. I like that name. I think about changing it a lot too.

AD: Why?

AL: Because he’s not my character, he’s an actual character. There’s tons of Aweful Kanawfuls out there. And the Rubber Husband’s part, you know what a rubber husband is right?

AD: Should I?

AL: Yeah! It’s probably not what you think it is.

AD: The first thing I picture is a blow up sex doll.

AL/TL: (pensive) Okay…

TL: It’s actually the most innocent thing you could imagine.

AL: They’re the little things that help you open jars. We’ve used em. They come in handy for anyone.

AD: You could write jingles for them!

AL: We might ruin the product forever!

AD: What are each of your musical influences? Name the first thing that comes to mind.

BL: Beach Boys.

AL: Queen.

TL: 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll, Sun Records, Elvis, Golden Age of rock ‘n’ roll, Phil Spector.

BL: I remember Modest Mouse being the first band I really loved in middle school.

AL: Four Tops, Motown. Motown should be number one, really. That was definitely the first thing I got into. And Buddy Holly, early rock ‘n’ roll, the goofballs of the 50’s. Pretty much everything. It’s hard to weed out anything. Tons of pop punk. That was definitely what got me into rock ‘n’ roll.

&lt;a href=”http://thetemptators.bandcamp.com/track/simple-touch”&gt;Simple Touch by The Temptators&lt;/a&gt;

AD: So what do you guys do when you’re not playing music?

TL: Thinking about it. Obsessing over it.

BL: I wait tables at a vegan restaurant, The Red Fern, on Park Ave. Been working there three years and started waiting tables seven months ago. I like it, it’s easy and it’s a nice area.

AL: (proudly states) I just quit my job. I screen printed shirts with a good friend of mine for five years at Galaxy Graphics and now I’m goin’ to probably wash dishes somewhere at an undetermined place. Or rock ‘n’ roll for the rest of my life. Who knows!

TL: And I am a full time barber. It was my mom’s recommendation, but thinking back, my friends would come over and I’d give em hair cuts.

AL: Bowl cuts.

TL: A lot of bowl cuts. There’s an early picture of me, probably 12 years old cutting Brendan’s hair in the backyard and I saw that and thought it all makes sense. My mom one day said “Hey you’re not going to college, why don’t you go to hair school and be a barber. So I gave it a try and it worked out. Now I do that and make a living and I can buy a car somehow, which blows my mind.

AD: Is it the red one parked out front?

TL: Yeah it’s a ’65 Thunderbird. It’s ready to go away pretty soon. As soon as the snow hits. I can’t drive it in the winter time. The salt will destroy it.

AD: So what do you do without it? Do you have another car?

TL: Nope I bought the car at the beginning of the summer and up until then I didn’t have a car for about two years so I just walk.

BL: I was sixteen when I bought my motorcycle. It sounds bad ass but I dunno what I was thinking.

AL: I mean, you dropped out of school at sixteen years old, bought a motorcycle, moved to the city. And our parents were flipping out like “What have we done!”

BL: It wouldn’t have happened that way unless I was the third child. Trevor was definitely the guinea pig for our parents.

TL: I moved out pretty early.

BL: By the time it was me they were like “Just do what you’re gonna do,” so I had way more leniency than they did.

&lt;a href=”http://televisionaries.bandcamp.com/album/televisionaries-2″&gt;televisionaries 2 by televisionaries&lt;/a&gt;

AD: Are your parents supportive of your musical endeavors?

TL: Totally. They love it.

BL: They come to shows every now and then.

AD: Do they dance?

BL: No. They seem like they genuinely like it though. Hopefully it gives them something.

AL: Yeah we’re gonna make em a ton of money someday. I’d like to have my mom see us on TV someday. Actually, Aweful Kanawful did have its first show ever on the news. We played Good Day Rochester. It might be gone now. It should be gone. It wasn’t very good but it was sweet. It was a lot of fun. Getting ten people up that early was a miracle.

AD: So what should we expect in the near future from your respective bands?

BL: Music that’s gonna blow your mind.

TL: Temptators just came out with a new 45. TV’s have half of a record out on CD and the other half will be recorded in a month and we’ll put it together and give it an official release.

AD: Nice. Any upcoming shows?

BL: The Temptators and Gun Trouble are playing in Brooklyn on December 11th so that should be really fun. As far as shows in Rochester I don’t think there’s anything planned yet.

AL: Two Kanawful tapes with about twenty songs are coming soon. Probably January.

BL: We’ve all got big plans, that’s for sure.

AD: So where do you guys see yourselves in five years?

BL: Hopefully living somewhere other than Rochester

AD: Where would be ideal for you?

BL: Since I was a little kid I always dreamed of moving to California and I think Austin has too.

AL: It’s not that we want to make a lot of money and bang a lot of chicks, we just want the opportunity to.

AD: Sometimes just having the option can put your mind at ease.

TL: That’s the spice of life, having the option. I have never really wanted to move. I like staying here for now. In the future hopefully we’ll be playing on the road more often.

AL: I think our music will probably do better overseas if it gets out there.

TL: They say older style rock ‘n’ roll does really well in Mexico and Spain. Everyone has always worshiped American rock ‘n’ roll.

AL: And now America doesn’t give a shit about rock ‘n’ roll.

BL: I think if your music is genuine enough then it will mean something to everybody.

AL: It would be nice to entertain the current generation but provide something that will last a while. It’s gone sort of back in time now where artists release a single and get it out there as fast as possible. It sort of exonerates the whole idea of putting out a record that will stand through time and not just be good right now. It’s hard because who doesn’t want to put stuff out now and be in on the action.

TL: Everyone can record music themselves now on their computer or cell phone. Puts everyone on the same level.

AD: It is a gift and a curse because it’s a very saturated market but it’s also easier for people to get their stuff out there so it’s a matter of being on top of it and reaching your audience. So how do you all branch out to widen your audience?

AL: I’m horrible at it.

TL: We’re trying to get better at it. For a while we didn’t do any social media because we were against it. But after a while you realize if you want to keep up with the Jones’ and book shows in NYC you have to have a social media presence. If people can’t find anything about you online they’re not gonna book you. So you have to play the game.

AD: Any final comments?

BL: As far as us being brothers goes, we’re always gonna stick together. We’ll always be making music and we’ll always be friends. We have a really strong connection. We were never bored as kids and when we’re together now it’s never boring. Gotta stick with your pack.

AD: One last but very important question: What’s your spirit animal?

AL: Keith Richards.

BL: A turtle.

TL: Mine is a lizard. It was given to me.

AL: Someone told me mine was Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh. He’s the leader of all the animals.

BL: It’s pronounced Christopher Walken. (does impression) “Don’t get on my back about crumbs.”

AL: My spirit animal is a bag of crumbs.

November 27, 2016
Cross Country Interview with the One and Only Zach Deputy

Talents in the music world like Zach Deputy are a rare breed. The multi-instrumentalist singer and songwriter is from Savannah, Georgia ( I thought he told ya?) He is currently on tour to support his newest album Wash It In The Water. With his upcoming show November 29 at Buffalo Iron Works he recently took the time to talk with me about tour life, our great state of New York and much more.

Tim Merrill: Where in the world is Zach Deputy today on this fifth day of November?

Zach Deputy: That’s today I’m assuming (haha)? I just crossed the California border into Arizona. We are in Tempe, AZ right now. I’ve got a show in Tempe tonight at the Marquee Theater

TM: You’ve got a show later this month in Buffalo. The show is five days after Thanksgiving. How do you plan on spending your Thanksgiving?

ZD: What am I doing for Thanksgiving? Probably hanging out with the Worm. A bunch of Wormtown Family. I’ve spent Thanksgiving there two or three times over the past few years.

TM: You’re no stranger to playing in Buffalo. Is there anything you like to do when you pass through town?

ZD: I’m always down to play disc golf. I love the wings at the Anchor Bar. Some people claim they’re the best. Some people don’t. But yea, that place is awesome. Those wings are legit!

TM: When you’re on tour traveling through the rest of the great state of New York how do you like to spend your time off stage?

ZD: I love Keuka Lake. Swimming in that lake is awesome! I’ve been sick before and jumped in and felt instantly better. I love New York. Lake George, tons of places upstate. Except for the winters. I’m a Southern boy

TM: You’re latest album Wash It In The Water was released a few months ago. What song(s) are you having fun playing on tour off the album?

ZD: I’ve been playing a few different versions of “Put It In The Boogie.” Maybe four different versions but they are always different. I’ve had a lot of fun opening up the jam on that song, especially the solo.

TM: At what age did you pick up your first instrument?

ZD: I’ve always told people that I played my voice first. Before my recollection it was there. But I picked up the guitar at 13. Got one for my 13th birthday.

TM: Whats in store for Zach Deputy in 2017?

ZD: I’m always trying to work on my craft. I’m always trying to give back the love that was so freely given to me. Just trying to make this thing bigger and better. You know, onward and upward. Wherever that takes me!

Doors are at 7 PM and the show starts at 8 PM Tuesday November 29 at Buffalo Iron Works. Tickets are available here. Bring your dancing shoes. See you there!

November 21, 2016
Nestling in at The Egg: An Interview with Mike Gordon

Mike Gordon has returned to the road, with a Fall Tour stretching from the Midwest to the east coast. Having just wrapped up Phish’s Fall Tour in Las Vegas with a performance of David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, NYS Music talked to Mike about his favorite moment from the instant classic set, the goals of improvisation, and what he loves about The Egg so much.

Mike Gordon will be in Pittsburgh on Tuesday November 22 at Stage AE, Town Ballroom in Buffalo on Wednesday November 23, Higher Ground in Burlington on Friday November 25 and The Egg in Albany on Saturday, November 26.

Pete Mason: This is your third show at The Egg in Albany. Your show from 2011 was even released as a live show. What is the appeal of the venue to you?

Mike Gordon: The acoustics are pretty incredible, I don’t know what it is about eggs, part of how they built it I guess. I had been in the past to see Jerry Douglas. I remember liking the weird shape and it sounds good. The first time, you could hear a pin drop, and when it got loud it was a good kind of loud. And it’s nice how it’s just nestled there in Albany. I love that word. Nestling.

PM: Is there a moment you hope to reach in improvisation? A certain goal in mind?

MG: Not so specifically as a specific goal. There are different kinds of goals in there, set personally or with bandmates, different feelings. I’ve had different unique experiences, some are high energy, some are about a lot of sweat. All moments have to be unique, not just rehashing to feel special. There are kinda high energy ones, some more dreamy – in that department, what I used to say, is that my goal in music is to bridge the gap between being awake and asleep – there really is, in the middle of a jam that feels like it’s playing itself, this kind of opening in my soul or somewhere in my mind that accesses a neural network or feelings that I can usually only sort of traverse in night dreams. That’s why I’ll remember certain night dreams, the feeling, the location, the people, some aspect of it. That’s the biggest goal.

Being 100% in the moment is the true catharsis of what people have or are overcoming problems. In an experience it doesn’t mean you can’t keep track. When it’s not happening and it’s sort of a road trip to another song, then I forget how deep these experiences can be. Then I’m reminded, and I don’t need to be anywhere else in the world and I can be in a cozy living room or somewhere else.

I’ve been in a philosophical mode – my answers are veering this way for interviews lately. There are so many other feelings and metaphors. A complicated answer and definitely something I think about a lot.

PM: Why do you feel that is?

MG: Switching projects, my album, my daughter – so much going on at once. That allows for some cross referencing and applying one inspiration to another to go back and forth to blend all the experiences together and have it come out either way.

PM: What compels you to have improvisation as such a large aspect of your music?

MG: I have one band that jams a lot, maybe not enough for fans who want every song jammed out. But enough that St. Vincent made fun of it (the jamming). I think I have that (with Phish), so (with Mike Gordon Band) I can rock and work with catchy hooks in fun ways, or ask “How can we experiment with new sounds?,” but what happens for me, even if it’s not what I’ve been writing about in my journals compared to 30 years ago, these little peak experiences remind me that there is a deeper well to be tapped into than what the surface level of what music can provide. There is something that if you believe in it and allow it to go deep into your soul, it’s deeper than one can remember. Anything they try to read and watch later isn’t going to be the same, when the experience becomes irreplaceable. For me, I just keep getting reminded of total spontaneity and what you can plan for, but there is some planning that is necessary and good. Sometimes I think about how my favorite Radiohead show was really deep and dreamy and all the songs were 3 minutes long. If something feels really good, I don’t want it to end, I want to bask in it. Like when you get a new video game, you want to keep playing it. I don’t want things to end at 3 minutes, but if it does that’s OK.

With Phish and my experience being in bands with long jams, in the middle of that long jam, something may come up that has nothing to do with the song. Melodies, chord progressions, not as often lyrics, but sometimes lyrics. Made up stuff comes together, almost as a new song, even with its little emotions, flashbacks, dreams, chords, melodies, a whole new little song. So cool to be able to get to that. But wait a minute, this little new song that came out of the jam, taken on its own, could just be a song on the radio – pop, old blues – that isn’t filled with all this cosmic stuff and it’s not a dream song. Maybe there is another route to get there. Maybe there is a different way to get there, by writing songs, that don’t have improv to be enjoyed.

PM: “Let’s Go”, which was left off Big Boat, was performed by your band this summer at Catskill Chill, and twice this year by Phish. Will the catchy tune have a home in both band’s repertoires?

MG: I think so, yeah. Scott and I have been doing a lot of writing over the last couple years and I don’t think I’ve said this before, but it came out of a jam my band was doing, some sort of outro, and I just started singing that chant and saved it, and I loved that chant. My friend Fonzworth Bently (From G’s to Gents) was at my band’s L.A. show, and he loved the show a lot and offered some feedback, “I wish you could address the crowd more, say some stuff,” which is interesting since I’m from a world where we don’t talk to the crowd. I wondered “What would I say?” and my friend replied “What about ‘Let’s go?’” When we played House of Blues Boston, we were Googling this medley as a joke of all the songs that have ‘Let’s Go’ (The Cars, Richie Valens) so we went into a writing session, liking the chant, and working off a list of songwriting ideas, this demo we made had a hip hop groove, it sounded sort of fresh, a fresh style for me, mixing synth guitar and drum machine with live percussion. Trey said he kinda lit up when he heard it – we don’t have a chant, aside from “Fuego.” Big Boat was so open ended where I bring songs that are open ended and have more room to build. Trey put it back on the list in the studio, mid-recording, and Bob Ezrin suggested we try it with only drums, all singing, with no other instruments, all after one take. We added in some toy synth sounds and went through an evolution that didn’t sound right.

PM: Were there any lessons from Big Boat that you have applied to your own band?

MG: There are always lessons. In terms of Big Boat, there were a wide variety of songs on there, which stemmed from the lesson with Bob about being more heartfelt and direct about some songs. When Trey first brought “Miss You,” he played his demo for us, just him strumming and singing and it was authentic, he did miss someone. The chord voicing thing, it sounded unique, like Trey. I appreciated the directness. Bob sat us down and talked about taking the cleverness away and keeping emotion, which he’s done with Pink Floyd and U2. When someone challenges you, I like to look at both ends of spectrum. We want to try that out a bit more. I take it as a grain of salt when I realize I don’t know what my songs are about, and that is intentional. Like “Come Together,” where Lennon admitted it was filled in with gibberish, but it sounds so good. Sometimes directness doesn’t work for me, especially if it feels too plain and other times it does. That’s one thing to think about from that experience. Maybe the way the themes were tied together, there were certain nudgings in certain directions. I liked those directions and discussions, and liked to directly go to YouTube and bring up some influences as old as they might be, and learn some grooves from legendary artists and not be afraid. I really like Page’s song ‘I Always Wanted it This Way’ – he spent over 10 years on it. I’ve been really getting into “Petrichor,” being so long and having 22 sections, it is really fun to digest. There’s a collection of little things.

PM: What was your personal highlight from the Ziggy Stardust Halloween set?

MG: I liked it all. Maybe it was highlight of rehearsal for “It Ain’t Easy” and Trey got to sing while I played one note. At the show I think it was different, really all of it together, just a feeling of how comfortable I was doing it. As we always do getting into the mind of another artist, I really like being in that world but feeling like myself, but I liked singing “Starman” because it was the first song everyone knew that was a hit. Having everyone singing along felt amazing.

PM: What books, movies and music have you been enjoying this year?

MG: It’s actually a book Phil Lesh lent me – I have to get this back to him – “In Perfect Timing” by Peter Caddy, about the formation of a community in Ireland where the term ‘New Age’ came from where they use spiritual guidance: “I can do it” and “I can climb the biggest mountain.” I’m slowly getting my way through it. I love the weirdness and empowerment feeling.

I keep missing movies I want to see. Grand Budapest Hotel stuck as a landmark for me where I was like ‘Yeah, I seriously like that one.’

I’ve been checking out producers and such, my bandmates provided these albums they’ve been listening to and mine hasn’t gone out yet. Warpaint, Can, my daughter is now only spinning Megan Trainor. She had gone into World Pop 40 on Spotify, and now she has been listening to it as a guilty pleasure that she comes up with. So sonic to indie to pop to indie pop to kraut rock.

PM: In listening to Megan Trainor, had you noticed any similarity between “All About that Bass” and “Contact?”

MG: All about that bass… I hadn’t thought of that. I like the lyrics, some of her songs go straight back to 1950’s with a modern twist, but some is exactly out of there.

November 21, 2016
Runaway Gin to Perform First Show in NYC

Runaway Gin – a Tribute to Phish, will perform their first show in New York City on Saturday, November 19 at The Highline Ballroom. Featuring two sets, this South Carolina based Phish tribute act will kick things off at 7pm on Saturday, warming up the crowd as they prepare for Phish at Madison Square Garden in just under 46 days. Runaway Gin is Andy Greenberg on guitar, Bobby Hogg on bass, John Fitzgerald on keys and John Pope on drums. Andy talked to NYS Music about the upcoming show, what makes them a unique band, and performing with Holly Bowling this fall.

Pete Mason: This show marks your first in New York City. Where has the band been playing the most and what are your plans for this first show the Big Apple?

Andy Greenberg: We are so glad to finally play in New York. Since we started in 2014 we definitely have played many many shows at the Pour House in Charleston, South Carolina in particular with our weekly Sunday Phunday residency. Beyond that we ventured into North Carolina and then Georgia and Florida as well as Chicago in the summer of 2015 and then up to Washington D.C. Just this past weekend we went to Birmingham, AL and Oxford, MS for the first time. Our only plans for the show are to get weird, have fun, and play our hearts out. I know so many from NYC and surrounding areas from Phish tour and I am ever so excited to play for many of them for the first time! Some places we play we try and keep things a little light on the jams and more “songy.” New York is not one of those places. We are assuming most everyone there is very familiar (and obsessed) with Phish’s music and we want to go ahead and dive in deep right from the get-go without worry of easing into the show.

PM: What was it like playing a sold out show at Hard Rock Chicago after Fare Thee Well in July 2015?

AG: It was incredible. The whole experience was completely surreal. First of all, being in Chicago with Trey playing with the Dead was beyond anything I could verbalize. To see my guitar hero play with many of his musical heroes in such an epic setting certainly had us all feeling very inspired. The crowd’s energy the whole weekend and at our show was absolutely euphoric and we couldn’t help but reflect that back to them. The fact that there were so many people there was overwhelming, in a good way, especially people that I know well and love and people from our hometown. It was a bit of an out-of-body experience up there on stage. Sometimes you just forget where you are and what you are doing and put all your brain-power into just being in the moment. I guess that’s what we always strive for, especially while jamming. That’s how I felt for that show. I walked off stage not remembering much of what just went down – My mind was too occupied with forming memories in those moments.

PM: Among all the Phish cover bands, what makes Runaway Gin the most unique? What makes you stand out among the rest?

AG: To be honest I’m not really familiar with the other Phish cover bands – not because I don’t want to be – there just aren’t any near us in Charleston. I went to see Phix when I was in college and I’ve seen Pink Talking Fish and become friends with them, although I guess you wouldn’t exactly call them a Phish cover band per se. I can tell you however what we are all about. We try to sound as much like Phish as possible during written sections of songs – I imagine some tributes may put more of their own spin on the written parts. We try to be in the moment and embellish some things from night to night but in a similar way that Phish would deviate from the composition. When it comes to jams we approach them in the same way that I imagine Phish does and has. We don’t learn jams or try to emulate specific versions typically (although we have once or twice) but I’m not sure if other Phish cover bands take this same approach. In terms of setlists, we create our own shows in the same way that Phish would. We don’t play a show that has already occurred like Dark Star Orchestra does. We felt that doing so would take us (and the audience) out of the present moment which I don’t think is authentic to the experience of being at a Phish show. Another thing that is unique about us is – we play all the time. Since 2014 we have played over 200 shows and I think that a big part of Phish’s sound is the chemistry they have developed from playing together so many times. It would be really tough for us to play as we do without playing as often. When we are off for even a week we can all feel the rust – when we play 3-4 nights in a row it typically gets better and better with each show. At least from my perspective.

PM: You’ve recently played a pair of shows with Holly Bowling. How were they and did you collaborate at all during the shows?

AG: We had so much fun sharing the stage with Holly! We did two shows with her the weekend after Dick’s in Charleston and Columbia, SC. It was my first time seeing her live so first of all I was blown away. Piano was my first instrument so I have a very deep connection with what she is doing. I used to sit and transcribe Phish on piano in the earliest stages of my “phandom” and fuse songs together after school for my own amusement. I can’t help but wonder if I had continued playing piano and not switched to guitar in my early teens if I might be doing something in the same vein that Holly is. So the shows were so much fun – really a magical vibe all around! She had the audience in the palm of her hand (you could hear a pin drop during soft sections) and even in tears. Most everyone at the shows, like me, were hearing Holly for the first time and it was such a beautiful thing to facilitate and share in. We did do some collaborating! in Charleston the first night Holly joined us spur of the moment for “Harry Hood” (we chanted “Holly” instead of “Harry”) and again during the encore “Frankenstein” on the keytar. In Columbia for what turned into our “Meat” show Holly joined us for “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and for our first set we closed with “the Squirming Coil” and we brought out Holly’s piano right as we got to the outro section and we walked off stage leaving Fitz and Holly (each on their own pianos) to close the set together with an impromptu piano segment which was stunning to behold!

PM: What else do you have coming up this fall?

AG: After this weekend we are going to be putting on “the Animal Carnival” on Friday, November 25 in our hometown of Charleston. This is also my birthday so it’s basically just a big costume party where everyone is going to dress up like animals and we’re going to play all Phish songs and songs they have covered that reference animals. In December, we are headed to Athens, GA to play legendary Georgia Theater on December 8 and then we play Savannah, GA and Tampa, FL that same weekend. The weekend after that we have our first two-night run in Charlotte, NC at the Rabbit Hole and then on the 30 and 31 of December we will play a two-nighter in Atlanta, GA including a 3-setter for New Years which runs until 2:45 am. This is our first time playing on New Years – I’ve been at Phish every NYE since 2011 and I had to choose between Phish at MSG or at Mayan Riviera. I chose Mexico so that left me open for New Years. We normally don’t play shows when Phish is playing but with MSG tickets being so tough and the weather up there vs. down South I figured we could throw a party nearby for all the phans in the Southeast that couldn’t get tickets or make the trip to New York. So yeah it’s a busy Fall and Winter for us and we’re gonna have some fun!

Saturday show has doors at 6pm and the show starting promptly at 7pm. Check out more info here.

November 17, 2016
Punk with Empathy: An Interview with Frank Turner

Frank Turner – who headlined Upstate Concert Hall on Wednesday Nov. 2 with support from Arkells and Will Varley – radiates passion and authenticity both in his on stage performance and work behind the scenes. Turner, who has six albums under his belt with 2015’s most recent release Positive Songs for Negative People, hovers the genre line between punk and folk. Defying categorization, he has amassed a fan following who packed Upstate Concert Hall to near capacity, the largest Turner has seen for one of his performances at the venue.

Fans of Turner perhaps most identify with his honesty and tendency to not deter from difficult themes, even when those topics are self-deprecating. Turner was open about discussing authenticity, empathy, and his experience writing The Road Beneath My Feet.

Lisa Christopher: You tour pretty incessantly. Can I know what show number this one is?

Frank Turner: Tonight is 1,972.

LC: How do you keep all the different numbers and shows straight in all the shows from The Road Beneath My Feet?

FT: I just have a list. It’s on my website; it’s publicly accessible. That’s the thing, people think I’m sort of, more, sort of like “rain man” about it than I actually am. I write the set number on the set list every day, and I just write it down, and I just check when the number of the previous one was.

LC: Was it difficult transitioning from song writing to memoir writing with The Road Beneath My Feet?

FT: Yeah, definitely, that was a classic case of hubris for me. I sort of got, I was part reluctant about writing a book, full stop, at the beginning simply because I think people who write autobiographies when they’re young, I think that’s lame. But we talked about stuff like, Henry Rollin’s tour memoirs, which have been a big deal to me growing up. I know he’s in town today, actually. Get in the Van was like a bible for me as a kid. The publisher and I sort of came up with an approach that made sense. And then I was like, well I’ve written sort of three-page magazine articles plenty of times so this is kind of going to be like writing –

LC: A bunch of them all in a row?

FT: Yeah, and that’s obviously completely wrong. And there’s quite a serious intellectual effort to support the internal architecture of a 300-page book, you know?

LC: Absolutely.

FT: It was quite rough at times where I wasn’t sure if I would pull it off. It was immensely satisfying when I did. It’s always satisfying to finish a record, but I’ve done it a few times now. This was the first time I’ve finished a book. When I got a hard back copy it was great because you can gift it to your friends for Christmas, or indeed your enemies.

LC: Inflict it upon them.

FT: Yeah, you can hit people with it, it’s quite a solid thing. It felt pretty good.

LC: I noticed there’s kind of a big change and transition in the tone from Tape Deck Heart to your current album. Is it hard to include songs from both albums in a complete set?

FT: No, I don’t think so. The set list thing – I try to do something different every time I make a record because I sort of write autobiographically and I tend to write chronologically as well. You know, the mood of a record generally reflects my mood as an individual at the time. Part of the reason I find comparing the records I’ve made impossible – I think most artists do anyway – but it’s like asking me to compare my second record with my sixth record. It’s a slightly meaningless comparison to me because it’s like asking me to compare myself at twenty-five to myself at thirty-two. It’s just like…what?
[singlepic id=6167 w= h= float=none]

LC: So much has changed.

FT: Right, it’s so kind of time specific to me. So definitely, I think that Tape Deck Heart and Positive Songs are kind of flip slides of a coin. Tape Deck Heart is about things sort of falling apart and Positive Songs isn’t so much about them coming back together, it’s about kind of, dragging yourself out of the burning wreckage.

LC: I feel like the theme of recovery is kind of a theme among all of them.

FT: Yeah, it sort of is about dusting yourself off after falling off your bike, and trying to straighten out the handle bars. I mean, in terms of set list, I spend a really tragically large part of my adult life thinking about the set list. We generally have a kind of working architecture that lasts for about three months or so before we flip it up. There’s so much you have to do, I try to play something off every record I’ve done, I try to not put two songs in the same key next to each other unless you’re deliberately running from one into the other. There are transitions and technical issues…there’s just a million different things. You want to tell a story, you want to start strong, you want to bring people down…it’s endless. The consideration of which record and which mood is part of it, but those are two attributes of many things that come into consideration.

LC: In the same vein as that, your live shows are always so energetic and engaging. You always engage the audience. Your lyrics are so honest and personal, and I wonder, is it hard sometimes to juxtapose those song concepts into such an energetic set?

FT: Yes and no. There’s a degree of performance…I mean I am a performer among other things. I’m a singer and a songwriter and a musician but I’m also a performer. There’s something with the repetition of performance and the realities of a tour, where it sort of softens the emotional content of some songs, you know what I mean? And you have kind of an emotional…I am shying away from the word detachment. I don’t want to say that I feel detached when I play those songs, but you can’t go through the experience of everything that goes into writing a song every single time that you play it. So, there’s that. And there’s also, I think one of the most central concerns as a writer is empathy. And for me, there’s something fascinating and enormously rewarding about singing a song about your deepest darkest secrets and screw ups and having a room full of people sing it back again. At the very least there’s something interesting about that. So I don’t think that the two are philosophically opposed.

LC: That’s a good point.

FT: It sort of surprised me – sorry I’m rambling, I talk way too much – but one of things that sort of pleasantly surprises me, I always try to write honestly and about flaws and that kind of thing. But particularly with Tape Deck Heart, as well as many other things that went into that record – England Keep My Bones is quite a bombastic record thematically, and certainly in the UK it was kind of my break through record. I was definitely like, much more main stream after that record came out. And at that moment in time it kind of struck me as perversely interesting to then go inwards rather than outwards as to my subject matter, and I sort of tried to write the most broken down record about failure and my own failure that I could. Just because that seems – I’m kind of a contrarian at heart I think. It seemed kind of interesting to me. And then it was yet more popular – which was like oh my god what’s happening! But yeah, it’s weird singing the song “Plain Sailing Weather” in front of a room of people, because that’s a song that isn’t generous to myself, you know.

LC: But I think it’s authentic and a lot of people can relate to that as a ubiquitous human experience.

FT: Yeah, that was kind of the intention so I’m glad the plan worked.

LC: How was working with Butch Walker?

FT: He was great. Butch is an amazing guy. He smells better than any man I’ve ever met.

LC: What does he smell like? Just curious now!

FT: He smells like, just like, goodness and adulthood and manhood. No, I don’t know. He’s just, anyway. He just sort of – I kind of got myself in a bind where I’d come up with a methodology to go with the songs I was writing and my record label were not convinced that it was a good idea. And I sort of fought tooth and nail for that but I needed an ally, and in the end Butch was my ally. I mean part because he’s a major league producer but also just like – I sort of contacted him not through management or whatever, I just got his e-mail address and dropped him a line – we met up for a beer and just instantly clicked. And one of the first things he said is that everything he thinks about song writing and production can be found on the first two Weezer records. And I said, I could not agree more strongly with that statement. So yeah, so we clicked straight away. And when I started explaining this methodology – which had to do with making things quickly and raw with a kind of pop heart to it – he just kind of started finishing my sentences before – we’d known each other for twenty minutes, you know. He’s a great soul and I’d love to work with him again.

LC: Is there anyone you haven’t worked with as yet who you liked to?

FT: Oh yeah – loads. On the production side of things, yeah. I’m fascinated by Rick Rubin. I have mixed feelings about Rick Rubin
as a producer but I think that’s kind of the point. Part of me is really interested in the idea of going off and making a record with something out of really left field…I’m really into Bjork and indeed electronica. Do something really deconstructionist –

LC: That would be interesting.

FT: Yeah, you know, it’s certainly – I think that being outside my comfort zone at this point in my career is extremely important and it’s certainly what I try to do.

LC: Are there any topics that you wouldn’t write about? So much that you write about seems so personal.

FT: Um, you know, I try to quite hard for the answer to that question to be no. My boundaries are more to do with stuff like…like consideration for other people, you know what I mean? There’s a song, which I’m not going to name because that’s kind of the point I’m trying to make, but there is a song I wrote about a situation with a friend of mine that it was an overstepping of the bounds in kind of revealing or just discussing – it didn’t name her in any way but – she was pretty pissed when the song came out. Retrospectively, I understand why completely and I feel pretty bad about it. So, you know what I mean, if like I choose to hang my dirty laundry out in public that’s my business but it’s not up to me to do that for other people.

LC: Right, choice and consent.

FT: Yeah, exactly. I mean, the counter argument to everything I’ve just said is Tape Deck Heart because I wrote quite in depth about a relationship which involves another person and I’m not sure I have a ready argument for that topic that I’ve just introduced. But, other than don’t date song writers.

LC: Or you’ll be written about?

FT: Yeah.

LC: I have one more question that is kind of silly. I’ve seen you in other places where you’ve Googled an anecdote of places you’re at and shared what you’ve found. Have you Googled Clifton Park yet and what did you find?

FT: That’s a good question, it’s not something I do every single time and it’s funny because – that shit works better in the states than it does in other places in the world. I think partly because American cities and towns have a sort of tradition of civic pride where they’re trying to distinguish themselves so it’s like you get a place that’s like, we have the biggest coke can in the continental united states! And it’s just like…what? But Clifton Park is sort of, we’ve played here before, and I think last time I cheated and googled Albany instead.

LC: I think more will come up if you Google Albany.

FT: But you sort of just reminded me to do that tonight.

November 9, 2016
The Evolution of Annie in the Water: An Interview with Mike Lashomb

Annie in the Water, with their combination of reggae, rock, funk and jam, is an Albany-based band that originated as a duo with Mike Lashomb and Brad Hester in 2007. This past spring, the duo added three more members, which you can imagine has had significant impact on both the sound and the overall feel to their music. NYS Music spoke with founding member and lead guitarist Mike Lashomb about that change and what fans can expect going forward.

Erin Clary: Before it was just you and Brad, and now you’ve added two more members to Annie in the Water. What brought on the change and how did this happen?

Michael Lashomb: It’s been an interesting learning experience. Brad and I started back in 2007. Back in 2011 we had a drummer play with us and he kind of just up and left when we were starting to get bigger and booking venues and stuff like that. So Brad and I started this looping, jam kind of style. As time went on, just trying to connect with the jam scene and we felt we were kind of in between all these different scenes and we didn’t really connect the way we were hoping to with our style. So as time went on we understood there was definitely a progression that needed to happen. There needed to be some way that we could branch out and diversify our sound and also our personnel and people. We added our bass player, Lucas, three years ago and then we added piano player in the summer of 2014, Dillon. Having Lucas Singleton on bass really added a big low end kind of contribution with a lot of his style. Then Dillon on keys was this different kind of musician oriented but transient, experimental sound. So it was good to have Lucas who brought in a lot of specific playing and structure and Dillon who was outside of the box with his expression and style. And in that time, Brad would constantly update his looping with the four of those guys, having them on and off for shows. Then this past winter we knew we wanted to get a drummer involved and really up the jams so we could switch around grooves, time changes and cues. Josh West was finishing up with Lucid as they decided to tone down the touring and everything and it was just a natural…we met him at Nectar’s as he was playing with his old band, Tar Iguana, and it was just a natural relationship that blossomed into a really cool band relationship. Kind of different evolutions and progressions brought us to now.

EC: Are there different challenges you find when switching from a duo to a full band?

ML: Definitely a change. Brad has pretty much grown musically and matured with me as his counterpoint. I had played in different fusion bands and different guitar bands since I was in 8^th grade so when we added the full band together it was definitely a whole new experience for Brad. It’s something that to this day he is totally changing and morphing in such an awesome, progressive way. So yeah there is definitely more personality which calls for more contribution artistically, personally and emotionally. It’s different. We went from having only a few people on the stage to suddenly having a lot more room being filled up. Not only physical space, but sonic space and musical space. A lot of what we had to do too was rehearse as we played shows because we had all the prior engagements set up with Duo shows but moving out of one house, just a lot of different things off the stage we were dealing with. It has been a really interesting transition but a really positive transition because everyone is really open to communication and evolution for sure.

Dillon Goodfriend, Lucas Singleton, Michael Lashomb, Brad Hester- Annie in the Water

EC: So you’re saying you weren’t latching on to a niche?

ML: Yeah, it’s hard to explain because there was a certain amount of people who are looking at what we’re doing with the Annie in the Water Duo acoustic set, that we still play to this day, but we will have some people who really jive with that and think it’s cool, the amount of sound we are able to produce with two people. It’s fun! There’s a certain element to having an absolute kind of experimental but also structured rhythm section. Having the rhythm section be human rather than having a syncopated beat box being looped for X number of measures for a certain amount of time. So Josh will change things up and everyone has been playing music for a long time and everyone has their own interpretation of when that happens. So we’re always creating a different show. When we were the Duo we were always big on experimenting and never having a setlist. Now that we have a full band it kind of brings in a little bit more people who are down to dance. People with a groove looking for a pulsating kind of sound. That’s kind of where we were in the middle of. We had that groove but we were missing the rhythm section. We would self-consciously catch people that normally would be like “oh these guys are really talented,” and suddenly like “I’m dancing and I’m reacting to it.” Then again we have people who like EDM and DJs who would go crazy for our looping stuff, but that’s not necessarily what we wanted to accomplish. To this day it’s an absolute trial and error to see who is reacting, how they’re reacting and why they’re reacting.

EC: What is the goal of Annie in the Water and what is success to you?

ML: It’s tough to say that there’s a finite point where it is success. I know that you aren’t assuming that either. For us, we’ve already achieved certain levels of success personally and musically that we’re really proud of. By having a certain ability to run as a functional business. So that was kind of our first goal. As that went on we had the goal of being a full live stage and live sound production whenever and wherever we were needed. In a long run, wider scope, our success is to just connect with as many people as possible on a human and spiritual level. I know that sounds heavy and I don’t want to say egotistical, but it’s pretty bold in that we feel that we have a responsibility to help in whatever way we can. If we can provide positive music to people than that’s it. I think one of the biggest sources of success for us is the ability to continue being full time musicians, playing wherever. My personal goal is I’d love to headline and have our own show at Blossom Music Center in Cleveland, OH where I was born and raised. Yeah we’d love to headline a festival, that would definitely be a goal but we’d like to just contribute in the most unique way humanly possible. We want to just make whatever Annie in the Water is, an entity that promotes peace and positivity, and inspires people to do whatever they feel they are naturally good at and love and passionate about. So definitely multiple goals and ideas of success but if we can just keep on helping people and along the way while we’re able to keep this boat floating than that’s as much success as we could imagine and be grateful for.

EC: Are there other collaborations you’d like to put together for the future and can you reflect on favorites that may have happened recently?

ML: We’ve been having Jamie Armstrong from Lucid on the saxophone play with us. It’s been a sit-in that we really enjoyed. He’s been playing extended shows a handful of times. It’s not necessarily a side project, he has kind of given us a “Hey mister, what’s up?” and will be down to play a show. There’s a lot of different ideas we have for side projects. It’s kind of up in the air right now. We have our friend Garrett, this kid that we met at Dyken Pond. It was an absolute, random….he’s not even playing in a band he’s just living in New York City and he added this unbelievable style to what we’re doing and we’re having him play with us in New York City next week. He plays lead guitar. We kind of bounce back and forth. We had Gubb from Twiddle sit in for a show with us in Vermont. We’ve always talked about having a little jam session show in Vermont to keep our good friends there happy and dancing. It’s really cool because we got into the jam scene only as of recently having other bands kind of become our friends which is a difficult thing for the first couple of years, just because we didn’t really know what we were doing either. So now it’s like the doors are kind of open to all these different friendships and creative expressions with other bands. It’s exciting because all these other bands are really reaching out and playing with everyone. All we want to do is play with people and put in the frequency and energy that overall contributes to a beautiful experience. So we are open to whatever.

EC: Describe each band member in one sentence.

ML: OK this is fun…

Bradley Hester (Percussion, guitar, vocals, looping) – Hardest working musician and nicest human I’ve ever met.

Joshua West (Percussion, Drums) – A stoic little child who is so much fun to have behind the kit.

Lucas Singleton (Bass) – The dependable groove supplier and overall goof ball.

Dillon Goodfriend (Keys) – A pure musician and absolute music lover.

EC: And what about you?

ML: I’d like to say I just like to have fun when I play.

EC: Should we expect a new album out now that you’re all together?

ML: Yeah. We’re all looking at the overall picture and new music being recorded is absolutely on the radar and very important. What we’re trying to do right now is make sure that we’re choosing the songs that we have from our past that we’re writing down and we’re looking to write. We’re trying to make sure that we’re choosing what works best for the band. So the music will definitely become recorded but at this point we are getting everyone on the same page to decide how we want to move forward musically, personally and band wise. So the album is definitely in the works right now, we just have to decide the next step to make that happen that works best for everybody.

EC: You’ve made your homebase Albany.

ML: Yeah, we’ve been in Albany for four years but we haven’t played in Albany as much because we’ve been pursuing different opportunities in different parts of the Northeast.

Trying to do a lot of different hubs and also play at different mountains because snowboarding is a huge part of our culture. It’s been more or less that we’re in the progression of making that happen so seeing us in Albany is going to be more frequent for sure.

EC: The October 13 show with Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad in Albany at The Hollow should be a homecoming show with lots of friends and family I presume?

ML: That’s going to be a really interesting show because we have a lot of friends from the Rochester area that have always talked up Giant Panda and I think vice versa. So this show is going to be the first time that we’ve actually ever met those guys. It’s cool because whenever you play a show with the band for the first time there’s a lot of learning and vibing of personalities. So when it comes to that night I would say wait for something interesting but until that night happens, that’s when the magic starts.

https://youtu.be/ARct1fM7OkU?t=1m20s

October 12, 2016
Recess with Spinelli Interview with Caravan Palace

What do you get when you mix old swing music with modern electronic beats? Well, Electro-Swing of course! And who better to talk about the genre than the pioneers of Electro-Swing, Caravan Palace of Paris, France! From Robots, science-fiction to bras and vintage French porn and late night television, this is an interview you will not want to miss.

Listen to the abridged feature/interview

You can listen to the Full Radio Broadcast

On-stage, Caravan Palace proves they are performers and musicians; keeping the crowd engaged, dancing and of course swingin’.

Recess with Spinelli can be heard every Wednesday 8pm-10pm EDT on WSPN in Saratoga Springs, NY on 91.1FM and on Hoxton FM in London, England every Wednesday 11pm-1am GMT 6pm-8pm EDT

Follow Recess with Spinelli: Instagram Twitter Facebook Youtube Soundcloud Mixcloud Tumblr and online at longbowmedia.us

October 11, 2016
Photo Gallery: Riot Fest 2016 Douglas Park Chicago Day 3
Day 3 of Riot Fest 2016 has arrived and it is the day I have been waiting for since I was twelve years old. The original Misfits lineup will be taking the stage and performing together for the first time since 1983.

Santa Cruz punk band the Swinging Utters kicked off the third day of Riotfest. Led by frontman Johnny “Peebucks” Bonnel, the band led off with their classic hit “The Librarians are Hiding Something.” The crowd took over the singing duties during “No Eager Men” as Johnny jumped wildly around the stage. After a very spirited and entertaining set the band expressed their thanks and bid the crowd farewell.

Of course I have to mention the frontman for Twisted Sister, Dee Snider. Snider is currently touring in support of his solo album, We Are the Ones, scheduled to be released in October. Snider has acknowledged that the album is a new direction for him and he hopes fans like it and will continue to show their support. Snider gave the crowd a little taste of what he meant by “new direction” when he performed his version of the Nine Inch Nails hit “Head Like a Hole.” He performed a nice mix of his new music and of course Twisted Sister classics like “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” It was truly a memorable performance by the rock legend. I was very fortunate to have been able to sit down with Dee Snider later that day and chat about his new music project.

There were so many memorable performances that it is tough to sum it all up. Bad Religion was amazing. Punk band Leftover Crack really got the audience revved up. Tiger Army brought their blend of punk and rockabilly to the festival, not to mention they were the best dressed band of the weekend. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes performed their unique versions of cover songs such as “Jolene” and my personal favorite “Over the Rainbow.” Earlier that day, I had the privilege of sitting down with Me First and the Gimme Gimme’s lead singer, Spike, to chat about Riotfest and the bands that he was looking forward to checking out.

The day kept getting better and better. The master of modern horror heavy metal, Rob Zombie, took the stage and performed the White Zombie classic album Astrocreep 2000 in its’ entirety. I have seen Rob Zombie live multiple times and had only heard him perform select tracks such as “More Human Than Human.” But getting to hear the entire album was awesome! Zombie’s current band consisting of John 5, Piggy D (Matt Montgomery) and Ginger Fish brought the album to a new level of intensity and depth.

Now, after 2 days and too many bands to count , it leads me to the one musical moment I have waited for since I was 12 years old… the Original Misfits were about to take the stage to close out Riot Fest 2016 in Chicago!

Looking around all you can see is an ocean of people jam packed into Douglas Park waiting to witness the music history that was about to unfold. The stage lights go down and the smoke rolls out over the stage and you could feel the anticipation building. Suddenly the curtain drops revealing two enormous pumpkins (from the Halloween 7” cover) on each end of the stage complete with eerie glowing eyes, and a wall of crimson ghost amps in the background. The crowd gets revved and then explodes into a massive mosh pit as Glenn, Jerry and Doyle lead right off with “Death Comes Ripping” the perfect song to set the tone for their set. They didn’t waste any time belting out classics like “20 Eyes,” “I Turned Into A Martian” and “Where Eagles Dare.” Backing up the original trio was the incredible and heavy hitting Dave Lombardo (formerly of Slayer) on drums and Acey Slade (Dope) on guitar. Both were excellent choices! Glenn took time between songs to tell stories about how he and Jerry formed the band back in 78. At one point Glenn paused and asked the audience if they liked pumpkins. Glenn and company played a lengthy set list of 26 songs from the bands 38 year history. They even played the first song Glenn and Jerry ever wrote and performed together “She” during their encore.

For me, this was the band that I had listened to since I was a kid. I collect their records, posters and memorabilia. I never thought I would witness an original lineup reunion in my lifetime and I have to say that I was completely floored by their performance. It was everything I expected and more, not-stop, high energy punk, massive mosh pits and bodies crowd surfing everywhere. My dreams come true!

Set list:
1. Death Comes Ripping
2. 20 Eyes
3. I Turned Into a Martian
4. Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?
5. Vampira
6. All Hell Breaks Loose
7. Hybrid Moments
8. Teenagers From Mars
9. London Dungeon
10. Earth A.D.
11. Green Hell
12. Devilock
13. Horror Business
14. We Are 138
15. Hollywood Babylon
16. Who Killed Marilyn
17. Halloween
18. Die, Die My Darling
19. Astro Zombies
20. Skulls
21. Last Caress
Encore:
1. Bullet
2. Night of the Living Dead
3. She
4. Attitude
As the final notes rang out and the crowd starting to clear this first trip to Riot fest and to Chicago will definitely be one I won’t forget!

Please enjoy the photos and interviews below from a killer final day at Riot Fest 2016!
October 9, 2016
Photo Gallery: Riot Fest 2016 Douglas Park Chicago Day 2

Punk veterans, The Vandals, kicked off day two of Riot Fest 2016 with some good old fashioned fast paced punk rock tunes. They whipped the audience into a beer throwing, pogo jumping frenzy. This was my first time seeing The Vandals and I am hoping I get the opportunity to catch them again at some point.

Other notables included the UK band The Hives, who despite a late start to their set, belted out hit after crowd pleasing hit. Alternative punk pop band Motion City Soundtrack took the stage to perform their second to last show. In March of 2016 the band announced that they were calling it quits for now and didn’t know what the future had in store for them. They invited their fans to come out to a show and sing along with them one last time.

It would be criminal not mention another icon who played an intense and incredible set, former Husker Du guitarist, Bob Mould! I was blown away by the passion and ferocity of his performance! At 55 he can easily shred and tear up the stage with the best of them! I was humbled to finally get the chance to see him perform.

Day two of Riot Fest 2016 ended with some of my personal favorites. What can top the Descendents and Social Distortion playing live? I have been fortunate enough to see both bands in the past and just like before, the Descendents were absolutely incredible live. Milo and the gang came out swinging hard and didn’t let up for the entire hour that they played. They tore through classic favorites like “Everything Sux,” “Rotting Out,” and “I Like Food” as well as some new songs. After an unforgettable 29 song set, the massive crowd was screaming for more.

I love Social Distortion and my favorite Social D album is White Light, White Heat, White Trash so you can imagine how thrilled I was when I found out that they would be performing the album in its’ entirety at Riotfest to celebrate its’ 20^th anniversary. Normally, I don’t get star struck when I am shooting bands but being in the photo pit when Mike Ness and the band took the stage and started playing “Dear Lover” left me awestruck with my jaw on the floor. It was definitely surreal. They ended their set with Johnny Cash’s immortal classic “Ring of Fire” which had the audience screaming so loudly it drowned out Morrissey who was playing on the other stage at the time. Thank you Social Distortion for performing my favorite album.

Earlier in the day I sat down with singer, songwriter Donna Missal. Even though I had missed her performance that morning, we had fun chatting about music and riot fest.

Day 2 was amazing. Please enjoy the photos and interviews below.

October 7, 2016