About these ads

Author Archive for Michael Smith

13
Jun
13

* Seagull Blue CD release show @ The Handlebar + INTERVIEW W/ TAYLOR WYROSDICK 12/01/12.

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Interview, Show Pics and Show Write-Ups
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

“Honest rock n’ roll…All our songs have a varying array of emotions with them. They’re all very honest and they’re all about things that we all personally struggle with and deal with on a day-to-day basis.  And it’s loud. It’s loud and unapologetic.” - Taylor Wyrosdick of Seagull Blue.

aIMG_7113

One week before Seagull Blue’s CD release show at The Handlebar, bassist Taylor Wyrosdick took a few minutes to talk about his journey in music and the friends that are responsible for  “The Brighter Side of Reckless” for my Music Matters column in the Pensacola News Journal.

MS: Seagull Blue and specifically “The Brighter Side of Reckless”, is this one artist’s vision brought to life by fellow band members or collaborative contributions from each of you.

TW: “It’s more or less a collaborative project.” Frontman Joe Napier writes the songs and while Wyrosdick (bass) and the remaining members of Seagull Blue Jeff Cranford (guitar) and Logan Phillips (drums) fill in the colors.

MS: Sean Peterson turned me on to your music. How did you hook up with him and what role has he played in your album?

TW: We did the recording with our friend Michael Bishop from Pioneers! O Pioneers! and he actually hooked us up with Sean and got us involved with the whole Raw Panda thing and Sean asked us to play a Raw Panda Showcase back in December and since then he’s been extraordinarily helpful throwing in his two cents and helping us promote and helping us book our CD release show and giving us his input on copyright and such and different marketing ideas and whatnot.

MS: He’s like a guru; I’ve known him for awhile, he’s just like this really nice, amazing guy. It’s unbelievable.

TW: Oh yeah! He’s an absolute genius. One of the most helpful people I’ve ever met.

MS: Let me ask you about the show next week; what are you looking forward to when Saturday rolls around and it’s time for the album release at The Handlebar?

TW: Well actually the show is December 1st and we played our first show together on Dec. 3rd of 2011, so it’s almost exactly a year from our first show together as a band and so that’s really exciting. I guess since May we’ve been working on this album to put our this EP and we’re just really excited to actually be able to finally show it to people and show people everything we’ve been working on. The opportunity to share that is amazing and we’re really excited about that…or at least I am.

MS: Tell me more about yourself. How did you get started in music?

TW: I started playing music probably when I was in fourth grade, many, many moons ago and started playing in local churches like worship music and I actually started out in the local music scene playing metal bands and, like a lot of people did, I got out of that when I was in high school and started focusing on mainly playing church music, like different types of worship gigs around town and that’s actually how I met everyone in the band. Me and Jeff Cranberry-he plays guitar for us-we played a college ministry for awhile and that’s how I met Joe and then me and Joe had the idea to start a band and that eventually turned into Seagull Blue.

MS: How would you describe your music for someone that has never seen or heard Seagull Blue before?

TW: Oh, goodness…honest rock n’ roll, probably.  All our songs have a varying array of emotions with them. They’re all very honest and they’re all about things that we all personally struggle with and deal with on a day-to-day basis.  And it’s loud. It’s loud and unapologetic. There’s some depth and rock n’ roll. Straight rock n’ roll influences in it. Sometimes it goes into more ambient or guess quote unquote “indie” parts, but mostly loud honest rock n’ roll.

MS:  What did you listen to when you were growing up? I know you mentioned being in metal bands, but through the years, what kind of music was being played in your household?

TW: Growing up, in my own house, my parents listened to country or whatever was on the radio, whenever I got into middle school, I started listening to stuff like Blink 182 and then I got introduced to bands like Underoath and that’s when I started listening to more and more metal and when I was in 8th grade, so I guess I was about 14, a friend of mine actually showed me Architect which was a local band around here and that completely changed the way I looked at music; bands like Architect and Twothirtyeight. “Wow! These guys are from here and they’re making incredible music that’s not like everything else that I’m listening to.

MS: Have you had a chance to work with Chris Staples at all?

TW: Not really no. We’ve had deep conversations in passing.

MS: Growing up in this area, what’s the best concert/show you’ve ever seen in Pensacola, Florida?

TW; Oh man. That’s a hard one. Actually, probably the best local…or the best concert period in this area  I’ve been to was the Twothirtyeight reunion show that they did at The Handlebar a couple of months back because I grew up with people talking about Twothirtyeight all the time. Talking about how great they were and “Oh! Too bad you didn’t get to see them” because they broke up when I was in middle school. So finally getting to see them was absolutely incredible for me and just the overall energy in the room was remarkable.

I was really upset whenever I saw that they were playing DeLuna Fest, “I can’t afford to pay that” and two days later, they’re like, “Oh, we’re playing at The Handlebar for a reunion show.” I have to go to that; I don’t care if I have to work the next day.

MS: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

TW: “Never feel like you’ve arrived”. A guy told me that probably two or three years ago when I first started trying to be more active in the local music scene. He told me to “Never feel like you’ve arrived.” “Never feel like you’ve made it because you’re always going to find someone who’s better than you.”

MS: Creamy or Crunchy Peanut Butter?

TW: It depends on what I’m eating it with. I like creamy peanut butter on toast with a little bit of maple syrup on it and some cinnamon. But I do like toast with crunchy peanut butter and strawberry rhubarb jam.

MS: You’re making me hungry now, Taylor. That whole maple syrup thing kind of got me.

TW: That’s the best toast right there, is take two pieces of whole wheat toast, creamy peanut butter, put them together pour some syrup over it, a little bit of cinnamon.

MS: What would a Taylor of today, tell a younger Taylor just starting out?

TW: Practice bass more often and don’t try to play other instruments. Don’t let other people discourage you when it comes to music. Work hard and practice, definitely.

MS: My final question for you Taylor; is there anything else you would like the readers and music lovers in town to know about you and Seagull Blue?

TW: They are really, the people that come to shows and anyone who’s ever listened to any of our songs, or said a kind work or critical word, they’re the reason we do this. We’ve all loved people and we feel like writing all honest songs is the best way to show love to people and relate to people.

MS: That’s very well said, Taylor. Thank you.

- Michael L. Smith

About these ads
12
Jun
13

* Mr. Gnome, Pioneers! O Pioneers!, The Spanx @ The Handlebar + INTERVIEW W/ NICOLE BARILLE. 10/17/12

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Interview, Show Pics and Show Write-Ups
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

The day after Election Day; one of the few times in life when you can talk politics, Halloween and mix them all together.

I called Nicole Barille (guitarist/vocalist for Cleveland group Mr. Gnome) for a piece in the Music Matters column of the Pensacola News Journal and we discussed music, Mr. Princess Leia, Beav Kenoyer, the old Silver Bullet Van (R.I.P.), Obama vs. Romney (just a little) and Pensacola.

aIMG_6918

MS: How was your Halloween?

NB: It was awesome. It’s crazy when you tour because you end up celebrating like five times because people are all pumped to be out, so they end up dressing up pretty much in every city that you’re at. We were in Salt Lake City for Halloween which was very entertaining; there were some great costumes. My favorite was this very tall man that was dressed as Princess Leia when she was enslaved by Jabba the Hutt. If you could image just how little clothing he had on with this big beer belly. It was gross and awesome all at the same time (laughs).

MS: Did you and Sam dress up?

NB: No. We always talk about it and then we pretty much always back down at the last minute and just decide to be ourselves. It’s hard to find-especially since I play with so many pedals and Sam’s like a madman on the drums-so it’s hard to figure out a costume that wouldn’t intrude with what we’re doing and we just don’t want to screw up because what we’re wearing. So we usually avoid it.

MS: I have to get this question out of the way; Election night is over, and you being from Ohio, always a pivotal state, what is your feeling on the election, the campaign and Gov. Romney and President Obama?

NB: I’m going to try not to say too much just because I feel that musicians should kind of keep their mouths shut, but I was very happy with the results. I’m all about human rights and social issues over everything else. And yeah, I just kind of went with the guy who was more about that. I just want everyone to have equal rights in this country and that’s pretty much my main thought on all that. So, me and Sam were definitely happy last night.

MS: It’s been almost a year since you released “Madness in Miniature”. What are your plans for your next album?

NB: All the cities that we’re hitting on this tour, this is the third time we’ve been to all of them in a year, so we’ve pretty much been living in our van half the year and it’s been great. This tour has been insanely awesome and we just feel really flattered that people continue to come out in more and more numbers. We’re really flattered by that, so our plans for next record-I think we’re going to be home a couple of days before Christmas-is when our hometown, homecoming show is and then after that we have a million ideas floating around because we really can’t stop writing and when we do get home, it’s kind of like a therapeutic thing where a lot of songs come out of you and we don’t really organize them when we’re in-between tours and we’re just record them and just have a lot of ideas floating around, so when we get home, kind of the first half of next year, we’ll be really focused on beginning to write and organize everything that we already did and scheduling when we’re going to record and just take some time to make the next record just put a lot into it and try to make it the best that it can be. Hopefully, we’ll be releasing something at the end of next year and that’s kind of our goal so if we can work that fast, that’ll be what we’ll do.

MS: You touched on it a little bit just now, but-for me- It’s become a fall tradition where we in Pensacola always look forward to you and Sam rocking our socks off. I have my favorite own Mr. Gnome moments, but do you have any special memories of Pensacola?

NB: You guys have treated us so amazing well for so long, I don’t know. I think that Beav (Kenoyer. Talent Buyer for The Handlebar) who puts on the shows, believed in us when there were 10 to 15 at the show and so when you have someone in a town like that, that really wants you to succeed, it means the world to us and that can really help your growth in that town if there’s even just one person that believed in you that much and wants to spread that word, I think Beav’s really done that for us as well as you guys always writing about us, we just really appreciate it.

aIMG_6876

There’s a million bands playing that come through every city, every night; we understand how special it is that people pay attention to us and how lucky we are. What we really dig a lot about Pensacola is how young the kids are that all come out just to have a good time. I think that’s awesome. I love seeing a younger community just support music and get crazy. It’s awesome. We really love Pensacola. We’ll always keep coming back as long as we can.

MS: Beav is amazing. I don’t know where he gets his energy from. Like man, “How do you do it?”

NB: It’s really awesome. We have a couple friends like this across the country and we did back home even before we started touring. They’re so into supporting live music and just representing what they believe in and really trying to get it out there and without those people, I don’t know that scenes would thrive like they do and Beav’s a perfect example. He puts everything into promoting these shows and spreading the word and that’s huge for bands. We’re lucky to have someone like him on our side.

MS: The last few shows at The Handlebar have been sell-outs. How is it decided when it’s time for Mr. Gnome to play a bigger venue in each city?

NB: Me and Sam are totally fans of playing smaller venues and selling them out versus playing a place that’s too big and having too much space. We’re always into that punk rock side of thing. Those were always my favorite shows growing up, man. I remember just the energy through a crowd when you’re jam packed than sitting in big room that just seems half empty. Unless there’s a reason to keep moving up, if we’re selling out rooms and it feels like we should move up to another level, we will, but right now, I don’t know…it’s just really fun to do it this way. Yeah, so maybe on the next one, I don’t know, we’ll see. We’re just taking it a day at a time and having a lot of fun; you really feed off the crowd a lot more in that way than playing some big giant ballroom where you didn’t quite pack it as much. We’ll keep doing it that way as long as we can unless we really feel we need to move up.

aIMG_6903

MS: I always tell my friends, “If you’re coming to the show, you better get there early because it’s going to be packed.”

NB: Yeah, that’s Beav again, man. He does such a good job of promoting. We’re just lucky that people listen to him and actually like it when they came out.

MS: This past year in particular, What has been the most surreal moment for you?

NB: We’ve always been a band that’s grown at a slow rate. We have always been doing the grass roots thing and just been touring our butts off and that’s kind of the way that we see all of the growth that we have and we’re always trying to become better musicians just from playing a ton of shows and just getting better at what we’re doing. That’s always what we’re striving for. So, I think, just to go on this third tour after a year of touring and seeing these cities for a third time and still see people just as excited as they were the first time that they heard about us. I think that’s always really surreal. We were in Seattle on Friday night and just being like a kid during the grunge era, we think Seattle and Portland, we just really love that area of the country, we’re playing in Seattle and the room was packed and everyone’s singing along to our songs, that just kind of blows my mind, (laughs) it’s kind of crazy, it’s just insane. We’re always really flattered by everything. I’m a big Built to Spill fan, but we got to meet the lead singer on the last tour and he had some really nice things to say to us, that was a really surreal moment as well; just meeting someone that-who is in your top 15 records of all time that you absolutely love and they tell you that they’re a fan of yours. I think that’s always pretty surreal as well.

MS: Was he just hanging out at a show?

NB: They put on this Treefort Music Festival in Boise. This was when we were touring back in the spring and we were a part of it. He was affiliated with the radio station that they just started up probably about a year and a half ago. It’s called Radio Boise, and it’s just done amazing things for the community and getting music out there and getting people to go to shows and we were playing on the show and we brought up Built to Spill and he came into the room right when we were done and we had a Wayne’s World Alice Cooper moment where we were just kind of taken aback, but he was just standing there and we were like “Oh hey, Doug Martsch from Built to Spill. This is awesome.” He was a super nice guy and it’s always nice to meet people that you really admire and they’re just as cool as you’d hope they would be.

MS: What would Nicole of today tell a younger Nicole just starting out?

NB: At moments I would tell me to turn the other way and get a real job (laughs) and probably continue-I don’t know, man-pick a different major in school and figure something else out and at other times, I would say, I think, just being happy with what you do and what you choose and following your heart is kind of the most important thing because I can’t really imagine doing anything else right at the moment. Sam and I have never really been into the cubicle jobs where we sit there in our nice outfits and act like we’re not weird. But yeah, man I would just say “You’re in for a crazy ride and have a good time and try to enjoy every bit part of it.”

MS: How many miles do you have on that van now? Good lord, I just thought about that.

NB: There’s a lot. I think it was a year and a half ago, we were in our older van called Silver Bullet and it broke down 40 minutes outside New York City. It was a Friday night and we had to find a rental car really quick. It was just a huge headache and every since then, we got this new van called “White Lightning”-we name our vans-this one’s kind of new so it’s got like 50,000 miles on it, but it’s doing good, but I shouldn’t say that because we’ll break down (laughs) I won’t say that yet.

MS: No. Good powers going to you Nicole and Sam. Good powers! This is my last question for you Nicole. Is there anything else you want the fans in Pensacola to know?

NB: Sam and I just appreciate all the support you guys have given us and always give us a reason to come back and always give us such a great time when we’re there and that’s about it man. It’s just weird to be touring behind an album for the third time and still have people come out in larger and larger numbers and are just really passionate about what we’re doing. We couldn’t be more flattered about it. But yeah, we just say “Thanks to all you guys for being so awesome.”

We can’t wait to come back, we’ll see you in a week in a half.

- Michael L. Smith

07
Jun
13

* Gallery Night, Downtown Pensacola. Dew Pendleton, Gravy Flavored Kisses, Jukebox Superhero @ Vinyl Music Hall & Helen Back. 11/16/2012

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Show Pics and Show Write-Ups
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

For a few Fridays every year, Downtown Pensacola opens its arms and Palafox Street to people looking for music, art and entertainment.  This night featured Dew Pendleton at Helen Back and a free concert by Gravy Flavored Kisses and Jukebox Superhero at Vinyl Music Hall 

- Michael L. Smith

aIMG_6670

aIMG_6520

aIMG_6632

07
Jun
13

* A Night of Punk Rock and Hip Hop @ The Handlebar. 11/10/12

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Show Pics and Show Write-Ups
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

A high school friend once told me that you can’t listen to rap AND punk rock; you have to pick between one or the other. I laughed and quickly disagreed. Looking back, the craziest part of his statement was the fact that he was dead serious.

aIMG_6306

Fast forward a few decades to the Night of Punk Rock and Hip Hop at The Handlebar. The show featured Operation Hennessey, Guns to Fire, Big Lo, Inferno, X-Ray Vision, Unnatural Soundz, Dee and Crazed, DJBodySlanga and Kanye Twitty. The event was emceed by local comedian Bubbs Harris.

aIMG_6112

aIMG_6328

aIMG_6267

Event organizer Weston Wilkerson (DJBodySlanga) explained the importance of both genres when I asked him why he put on the event…but that will be detailed in the Night of Punk Rock and Hip Hop Part Deux.

- Michael L. Smith

31
May
13

* Kreayshawn @ Vinyl Music Hall + INTERVIEW W/ KREAYSHAWN 11/09/12.

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Interview, Show Pics and Show Write-Ups
Tags: , , , , , ,

On the playground of pop music, Natassia Zolot is paying her dues. The payoff, a music career propelled by Kreayshawn and three million Youtube views for her single salutation “Gucci, Gucci”, was advanced ahead of the time most artists spend making their name.

aaIMG_5906v

Zolot, a Berkeley Digital Film Institute student, created a persona that became an internet sensation followed by a debut album. This is the part where paying dues comes in. Critics are rarely kind, especially to an artist who-in their opinion-hasn’t “done their time”. SPIN magazine entered Kreayshawn’s debut studio album “Somethin’ ‘Bout Kreay” into their monthly online Worst New Music cache.

Is Kreayshawn for real, a future star? Or is Zolot putting on a show with the next great pop swindle? Is Kreayshawn an entertainer? Ask the fans who were screaming and reaching to touch the Oakland born/raised artist during her Pensacola concert.

aIMG_5893

There is a sincerity from the rapper who was born into punk. Her first band met in the basement of her aunt’s house, but instead of starting the next Luscious Jackson, she dropped the instruments and focused completely on hip hop.

One week before her “Group Hug” Tour hit Vinyl Music Hall, I called Kreayshawn for the Pensacola News Journal Music Matters column. Her first words mirrored her introduction to the world, “Hello! Hey, what’s up?”

Sincere with a side of giddiness, my adventure with Kreayshawn began.

aIMG_5979

MS: My girlfriend (at the time) and I are getting ready for Halloween; What are your crazy plans for Halloween this year?

K: I don’t know. We get to tour this morning so, I don’t know. Usually I go out and be all mischievous and crazy. I think I just might scare little kids and eat candy.

MS: Are you going to dress up?

K: Every year I just like pick random stuff out of my closet and turn it into a costume. I don’t really buy something; it’s always some random shit I just made up.

MS: You mentioned touring; you’re busy as hell, what’s the most exciting part of being Kreayshawn?

K: The most exciting part would probably be…oh…getting free clothes and getting free clothes and traveling.

MS: I know your mom was in a punk band, what kind of music was flowing through your household as a kid?

K: All kinds of stuff from Dead Kennedys to crazy funk music. I don’t know how to really….

MS: The reason why I ask is because I would love to see you as the leader of a band like Luscious Jackson or even like Sleigh Bells mixing hip-hop, punk, metal and punk. Is there a chance we can see you adding a band or maybe doing something like that in the future?

K: Yeah. I mean it’s something I’ve definitely tried before when I was younger. My aunt had this band room with all these instruments and after school me and my friends would go and we made this band called Breakfast after School and we’d always practice, but it never turned into anything.

MS: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at one of your shows?

aIMG_6004

K: I’ve seen girls flashing me and people getting…Oh! This one time-it’s not the craziest thing, but it was so funny-we did a show and we were watching the video of it later on and my homegirl was filming some girl face-smooshed this other girl and it was like the funniest thing ever. The whole crowd is doing its thing, and in the corner, you just see this girl get her face grabbed and smooshed to the ground. It’s hilarious. We’ve had girl fights just like any other rap show.

MS: As an artist, how do you juggle the love and the criticism you get?

K: I know it’s hard because I’m always online talking to people and stuff so it’s not like someone is running my account. Like I read all that crazy people be like, “I’m gonna’ rape your mom for making horrible music” I’m like, “What? What?” I usually just be like, people who bully need help, the ones who are not happy with their lives. No one’s so happy with their lives that they harass conditions. I think like that.”

MS: Why does it seem that the media asks females-especially female artists in hip-hop the dumbest questions that have nothing to do with their art? I see people asking you some of the craziest shit. Why is that?

K: A lot of people ask me, “So, what’s your favorite place to shop?” or “What’s your fashion inspiration?” For girls, definitely when other girls, like younger girls look up to you, they want to do everything you do; they want to dress like you and blah, blah. They ask stuff like that but at the same time it’s like sometimes, I’ve done interviews where they didn’t even ask me about my album. It would just be like, “Oh, you like wearing platforms?” I don’t know. It’s cool though, I like being tall I guess.

MS: It just strikes me that you get questions that most male artists don’t get. What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

K: I’ll randomly have these moments when I’m in the studio and some crazy celebrity will come through-like Pharrell-and he’ll be like, “Keep doin’ what you’re doin’.” That’s all I need. I’ll be like “Oh, my god! You don’t even have to give me advice, just talk to me.”

I take random things. When people won’t even be trying to give me advice and they’ll say something super inspirational and I kind of take it into my own advice.

MS: On that same note, a lot people look up to you, not just women, but men too. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are?

K: I would say, “Have everything be as organic as possible. You can’t just force the viral video. A lot people just want to make that “Gucci Gucci” video again. So you can’t force it, it’s got to be organic and you just got to have a passion for music and usually that stands out especially nowadays because it’s easier.  But it’s not, because and that makes it kind of like, people get to choose what music becomes popular again, because somebody has all these hits on Youtube and it only makes sense that it should be on the radio. I don’t know, it’s crazy. Well, the internet, at first, kind of ruined music because it was all like “Oh, people are ripping music offline”, but now it’s like the internet is influencing music it makes whole other crazy way now.

MS: This is a crazy question; Do you prefer crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

K: Crunchy!

MS: Any particular reason why?

K: I don’t know. I just like crunchy little peanuts.

MS: What is something about yourself that no one else knows?

K: That…I don’t know. Everyone knows everything about me. (California stop-start laugh) So, I don’t know, I can’t think. “I’m great in bed.” I don’t know.

MS: Is there anything else you want the fans in Pensacola, Florida to know?

K: That we’re going to turn it up and have a good time.

- Michael L. Smith

28
May
13

* Ryan Cabrera, Deleasa @ Vinyl Music Hall. 11/05/12

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Show Pics, Show Write-Ups and Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

When Ryan Cabrera’s “I See Love” Tour hit Vinyl Music Hall, the biggest cheers of the night came when the Dallas pop rocker performed his biggest hit “On the Way Down”.

aIMG_5754

aIMG_5707

aIMG_5630

The single, which was released on Cabrera’s 2004 album “Take It All Away” featured Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik on backup vocals. The single reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Michael L. Smith

23
May
13

* Lagwagon, Plow United, It Starts Today @ Vinyl Music Hall + INTERVIEWS W/ JOEY CAPE & EARL LYON 10/28/2012.

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Interview, Show Pics and Show Write-Ups
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

“That’s my favorite tour story and I never tell it. I never felt comfortable telling it really until recently. So I’m really glad that we’re coming back there. I’ve got lots of good stories about Pensacola because we basically lived there for a couple of days after that.

I was excited that this interview was with someone in Pensacola because one of my favorite memories from Lagwagon touring happened in Pensacola; we actually broke up onstage at a gig at Sluggo’s. “

– Joey Cape of Lagwagon

aIMG_5507

I don’t know how long Joey Cape had been keeping it in.

I don’t know when he made peace with it all, but Cape talked about the band’s onstage fight at Sluggo’s, his drummer’s addiction, and the days he spent in Pensacola while Derrick Plourde was in detox.

Earl’s Killer Squirrel frontman Earl Lyon witnessed the fight and also gave his account for my Pensacola News Journal “Music Matters” column “Lagwagon back in town that nearly spelled its end”   before the show at Vinyl Music Hall.

The full interviews with Cape and Lyon follow bellow.

Joey Cape Interview

MS: With all of the touring with Lagwagon, your solo work, and new band, what’s the most exciting thing for you?

JC: It’s always been just the creative side of things. I much prefer working on new music and the recording process. That’s always, for me, been the most rewarding part of the gig.

MS: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at one of your shows?

JC: (Silence) Well, it’s a funny thing you bring that up, actually because I was excited that this interview was with someone in Pensacola because one of my favorite memories from Lagwagon touring happened in Pensacola; we actually broke up onstage at a gig at Sluggo’s.

MS: Wow.

aIMG_5456

JC: Back in 95. It was insane. It was just insane. It makes that Billy Joe thing-freaking out on TV or whatever, that Radiofest-makes that look totally weak. (Laughs) The only difference is back when we did it, there weren’t smart phones and the internet wasn’t in everybody’s hands. I’ve wished forever and ever that somebody got it on film because I would love to see it but no one did. Because, when you really think about it, it’s funny.

Basically what it was, was that, the drummer that toured with the band was really…he was having a real hard time…he was a drug addict. He was getting worse and worse on tour and we were…the tension in the band, in other places as well, was getting heavier and heavier and everybody’s come to terms with this stuff now, we’re all at peace with it. There were many, many good years after that when Derrick (Plourde) was fine and we’re all friends, so I’m not saying anything that’s going to cause anybody grief, but it was bad. Derrick was a mess, he couldn’t stay awake on the stage. People in the band…we hated each other. (Laughs). I’ll never forget, we’re onstage at Sluggo’s and our drummer just nodded out and then Shawn Dewey our rhythm guitar player, he started yelling at somebody in the audience for running into the microphone and hurting his face, he was bleeding or something. And I start yelling at him, I start saying, “Well, I don’t care what he says. We don’t agree with him.” to the audience and then we started into it and then our other guitar player-you got to remember, these guys are giants. Like Shawn Dewey is like 6’7” and Chris Flippin, other guitar player, who came to my rescue there and they started fighting, he’s 6’9”, almost 6’`10”, he’s 6’9 and three quarters, so the two of them start fighting, and they’re fist-fighting onstage.

Our stage-tech guy pulls the kick drum out from in front of Derrick onto the ground and Derrick falls in the middle of the stage and starts kicking him and calling him an f’n you know what like, “You’re ruining this band.” (Laughs) I know it’s not funny at all, but it was so…it was so surreal when I look back on it now. And Jesse (Buglione) bass player, he’s kind of standing there cross-legged with a cigarette smoking really awkwardly, looking at me and I looked at him and I just kind of made this face like “Oh, well!” because that’s it! And Jesse nods to the right and I look over and there’s this crowd; like a full Sluggo’s room of kids with their mouths going “Oh my god. What am I watching?”

That’s my favorite tour story and I never tell it. I never felt comfortable telling it really until recently. So I’m really glad that we’re coming back there. I’ve got lots of good stories about Pensacola because we basically lived there for a couple of days after that. Me, Brian and Steve was our stage guy, our one roadie; we had one roadie back in those days and so he’s part of our team. He and I stayed there while Derrick went to a detox facility in Pensacola. We got to know the locals pretty good. It’s a cool town. I haven’t been there in many years, so I don’t know.

MS: Did you go to the beach when you were here?

JC: I don’t remember going to the beach in Pensacola, Florida. I remember going out every night, late, going to clubs and hanging out with a couple people that we knew a little bit. I kinda knew that guy Gus (Brandt), who ended up working with the Foo Fighters. You know, it was like weird. It was more like a David Lynch movie back in 95’ to me being an unlocal. It was like this guy that had a cab that wasn’t a cab and he called it Ramen Cab and you gave him Top Ramen, he would drive you anywhere. I don’t know if you ever heard of that. And…uh…yes, so we would just stock up on top ramen and give it to the ramen cab guy and he’d drive us around to these bars and hang out with the local punk kids. It was just super fun. We were having a great time while our buddy was trying to…you know, it was for the better of course. I remember going to the beach in Florida towns on the east coast on the other side.

MS: Glad you guys are coming back to Pensacola. Just you saying Sluggo’s, I remember those memories of old shows back then.

JC: The other thing was the Nite Owl.

MS: Oh,the Nite Owl. That closed down back in 2000 something. I saw my first show there in the late 80’s. That was an awesome club too. The Handlebar is still around in Pensacola.

JC: Oh yeah! I remember that place. Cool. Yeah. I’m sure we’ll go out. We’re not a band that shies away from hanging out after the shows (Laughs). We pretty much go out every night and-to our detriment, I’m sure. We like to have a good time. I’m going out in Pensacola for sure. Provided that I’m not sick, you know what I mean. Which is the only thing that keeps me from going out is if I get sick. I don’t think that’s going to happen. That’s great. I’m looking forward to seeing you, It’s been a long time. Like I said, we spent a few days there so I kind of feel like I got to know the place a bit. It was so long ago.

MS: The box set came out last year, what Lagwagon songs get you off the most when you’re playing them live?

JC: It’s cool because we’re playing songs from the first five records. There are some songs in the set that we really haven’t played much since the early, early days and those are ones. They feel new and they feel refreshed and sometimes that effects the other songs in the set that are old as well that we have been playing for years because when everything is in the same setting that old feeling that the band had, that vibe, somehow it kind of elevates everything to a little bit higher intensity. I can’t really figure it out, but I know some of those songs…well, if you…there’s a song called “Lazy” that’s a song on our second record, and we didn’t play that song for so many years and I think that was mostly my fault…it’s a really hard and high song to sing, super intense; kind of a voice killer, but I think that I finally got my shit together. I’ve finally gotten strong enough now to do those songs, so that’s really cool. Just anytime you’re doing something you haven’t done in a long time, it feels fresh and good.

a_img5325Joey Cape Lagwagon

MS: What would Joey of today tell a younger Joey just starting out?

JC: I would say, “Remember that band that you had that sounded kind of like Nirvana before Nirvana existed? Maybe you should’ve rolled with those dudes.” (Laughs) That’s only for my daughter’s sake. Yeah, I don’t know. I’m pretty happy with the way we’ve done things. We’ve been pretty true to ourselves and self-indulgent the whole way. I don’t know that we’ve ever really made any decisions that weren’t serving our immediate needs. That sounds weird, but that’s the way to do it. When people start planning and calculating for success and those kinds of things, you can make a lot of bad decisions in music and in general in the business of music. And we’ve stuck with the same label the whole time; we didn’t really promote ourselves in a way that put us into a different perspective to those that like the band. I don’t know. I don’t have a lot of advice. Maybe drink less.

MS: As far as advice, since you mentioned it; what’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

JC: Oh, boy. It’s usually me giving the great advice out here (Laughs). Boy, that’s a really tough question. I mean, I’ve been given lots of great advice by people. I don’t even remember who, but somebody must have told me sooner or later, somewhere along the line really early on, that the best thing to do is to “Just be yourself when you play shows.” Because-and maybe I just figured this out, but I’m sure somebody said it to me somewhere along the line as well. This is good advice, “If you can figure out a way to do something that embodies entertaining people and completely maintain your own personality without creating any kind of alter-ego or…there’s a way to do it where you just literally walk around being the same person you are offstage, you can have a much better run and a much better time and it’s never going to get weird.

MS: This is a crazy one; do you prefer crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

JC: Oh man, that’s a really tough one…well it depends. I mean, you know, my initial reaction was crunchy because it’s more exciting (Laughs)…but, I mean, I would say…I’m going to go with creamy because-first of all, creamy is just an awesome word. For some reason, all I can think of right now is peanut butter on celery and I think that smooth is better on the celery.

MS: That’s true. You’re making me hungry Joey.

JC: You’re making me hungry, man. I haven’t eaten yet today. I got to get a peanut butter sandwich somewhere.

MS: You guys are in New England tonight, where?

JC: We’re in Massachusetts…we’re playing Boston tomorrow night and we’re just in a parking lot somewhere in Massachusetts with the day off. Literally in a dirt, parking lot parked nowhere near anything. It’s not going to be a very fun day, but the Smoking Popes are playing in Boston tonight and the word is we can get a shower from a hotel nearby the airport, then we can take the Blue Line downtown to Cambridge and we can see the Smoking Popes. We’re probably going to stay in the bus and watch the Chappelle Show. (laughs)

MS: This is my last question for you. Is there anything else you’d like to add for the fans coming out to Vinyl Music Hall in Pensacola?

JC: I hope they show up. It’s been a long time. I don’t know what that means; I don’t know if we have any. I hope there’s a lot of them. I don’t know what night of the week it is, but I would always say the same thing, man, “Just come on out and have a good time with us cause’ we’re fun.”  Introduce yourself when you get a chance.

Earl Lyon (Earl’s Killer Squirrel) Interview

MS: What do you remember? First of all, why were you there?

EL: I worked there at Sluggo’s back in…the one on Palafox and Intendencia; the three story one and one night, Lagwagon’s playing, everything’s going fine and in the middle of the show, they cut the set short because, obviously, some people were out of it and couldn’t perform. And the next thing you know, people are leaving and they had a big fistfight between the two guitarists.

MS: Did you see the fistfight?

EL: I was in the dressing room cleaning up while they were fighting right there on the side.

MS: Where you shocked or did you see it coming?

EL: I wasn’t really shocked, but for seeing Lagwagon for, that was like my fourth of fifth time seeing them and they seemed tight and you didn’t think anything like that would happen, but obviously, there was a breaking point, you know.

MS: Hell yeah. Is there anything you want to add? Are you going to the show next week?

EL: Oh yeah. I’m going. I love Lagwagon. They replaced those two members, the drummer and the guitarist after that and moved along and kind of really got kind of-I wouldn’t say emo-, but he really started thinking out his music when Lagwagon got back together and started their fourth album “Double Plaidinum”. It was really thought out after that. You could tell that everything that happened that night affected him.  

– Michael L. Smith

20
May
13

* Man or Astroman?, The Octopus Project @ Vinyl Music Hall.10/27/12

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Show Pics and Show Write-Ups
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Man or Astroman? were the first surf/rock punk band I ever saw. They were also the last band I ever watched at the old Sluggo’s on Intendencia Street.

aIMG_4579

Leaning on the the second-story railing watching the floor and a stage crammed with TV’s and spacesuits, I experienced sensory overload when the Alabama group started their show.

Nearly a full drinking age would pass until I saw them again when they played Vinyl Music Hall. Austin electronic group The Octopus Project opened the show with their own visual/sonic treats.

aIMG_4769

Led by Brian Causey (Star Crunch/guitar), Brian Tesley (Birdstuff/drums), Robert DelBueno (Coco/bass) and Samantha Erin Paulsen (Avona Nova/guitar) MOAM rocked sleeker suits and the same multi-sensory assault of surf punk rock.

aIMG_4729

aIMG_4773

DelBueno teased the Vinyl crowd with promises of a theremin duel between both bands. The promise was kept at the end of the show with TOP’s Yvonne Lambert winning the contest.

- Michael L. Smith

Here is a link to additional show photos taken exclusively for GoPensacola.com/Pensacola News Journal.

16
May
13

* In This Moment @ Vinyl Music Hall. 10/24/12 + INTERVIEW W/ CHRIS HOWORTH

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Interview, Show Pics and Show Write-Ups

There is no choice. When your manager says you won’t make it and you lose two of your bandmates to an “American Idol”, you either keep rocking or give up the dream.

aIMG_4292

In This Moment not only kept rocking, they got harder. In a month where Vinyl Music Hall had a show for almost every night of the week, the LA band touring with their new release “Blood”, lit up the calendar and everyone in the downtown Pensacola venue. One week before their show, guitarist Chris Howorth answered a few questions about their music, meeting Maria Brink and more for my weekly “Music Matters” column in the Pensacola News Journal.

-Full interview with Chris Howorth

MS: Congratulations on “Blood”. That is a brutally amazing album. You guys faced some incredible odds before that album was even created.  (lost two band members and a manager) What pushed you to overcome those events and make such an amazing album?

CH: It wasn’t something we planned, “This is how we’re going to overcome it.” With everything that happened, what it did to us mentally, why it turned out the way it did. Maria and I were both determined more than ever, we want to do this and show everyone that we deserve to be here and we need to make an album that’s going to show everyone that’s doubting us, ‘oh, they’re good.’ That was our main driving force and we just worked like that. And also our producer Kevin (Churko), he’s been believing in the band since 2008 and the first album we did with him. He’s always thought that we should be fuller than we are and we haven’t got quite the right chance that some people we were working with before the split were questioning whether we should work with Kevin and I explained that to him and he was all pumped up and doing the same, “I’m going to show everybody” and the three of us having that vibe came through in the record.

aIMG_4440

MS: Hell yeah and it shows.

CH: Thanks man.

MS: What gets you off the most about playing live?

CH: One of the best things…what made me want do music was seeing my favorite band in concert, seeing the videos on Headbangers’ Ball on MTV back in the day. The “live” thing, you know. It’s always been (the) pre-live show feeling of “We’re doing this. This is going to be great.” And then we get onstage and have a great crowd that knows the words and gives it back to you, it makes it so easy for you to give it them. When it all comes together to have a great show, it’s hard to top that.

MS: Was there ever a moment when you were like, “This is it! God, I’m doing what I wanted to do since I was a kid.”

CH: Yeah. It happens all the time. You’re going from one great awesome moment through a little peak and valley to the next big moment. Part of it’s just kind of realizing when you’re in those moments that are so epic and appreciating it. Because it doesn’t last forever, everyone knows when you’re really stoked, it’s not like you’re stoked for the rest of your life; you go through pits and valleys your whole life. I guess, you know, having those moments when we did the Ozzy Osborne tour; it was us, Rob Zombie and Ozzy. I’ve been a fan of Ozzy since I was a kid; you see him on the side of the stage watching Ozzy play “Crazy Train” or “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and you’re part of the tour. I was a kid watching him from the outside and now I’m part of the tour. It’s like that moment where you’re thinking, “Wow. I can’t believe I’m really standing here right now. This is the most amazing feeling I’ve ever had.” Those happened throughout our career and those are the moments that you hang onto forever the most.

MS: Speaking of live, what’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at one of your shows?

CH: We don’t have the craziest Motley Crue type fans, but one of the best things was Mayhem Fest 2010, San Bernadino. The amazingly huge massive pit, like savage pit-dust flying up and there’s this huge circle and in the middle of the circle there’s four or five metal dudes going all nuts and they start burning stuff and burning shirts and flags in the middle of this huge circle pit with dust in the air…it was just insanely epic…from our vantage point anyways.

MS: You’ve got the album, you’ve got the tour, you’re joining Halestorm soon; what’s the next big goal?

CH: The CD’s selling awesome and we’re on the charts, we’re #11 on the Active Rock Chart and getting in the top 10 will be a huge thing for us-that’s really close. We’re also, we’ve been a band since 2006 and we’ve never managed to break that 100,000 sales mark and the album is selling like crazy right now and we’re rapidly approaching that, that will be a huge milestone for us too. And since we’ve been together and we’ve never really gotten to that next level, this album is getting us to that next level so all the things that come along with that is what we’re looking forward to and what we’re going to be seeing this year and the next year and we’re looking forward to our guarantees increasing and actually making a little bit of money from all of this…because Maria and I have been doing this out of love. We haven’t made money until just recently, we’re now sort of turning the corner where we actually put money in our pockets personally. We’re paying everybody else that works for us, but not ourselves and there’s a lot of great things we’re looking forward to like that.

MS: How did you meet Maria? You have such an amazing dynamic.

CH: We kind of met by chance out here in L.A. I was in a band and one of the guys in my band had met Maria and found out that she was looking for a band. He thought she was awesome-I’d never heard her-he brought her over and she was trying to get us to try her out and I never really wanted to be in a band with a girl-I support girls and everything, but I just never really was giving it a lot credibility and I was going like, “Ah, whatever” and never tried her out and then a couple of weeks later, she came again and forced herself into the band session we were having and sang. And right when she sang, I was like, “Oh! I dig this.” And right from that moment on, her and I just started working on getting a band going and we’ve been in a couple of different things, but we just stuck together ever since then.

aIMG_4380

-MS: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

CH: That’s a good one. I’m trying to think. The funniest advice I’ve ever been given was our first manager-I think it was like…we were still in a band touring in a van trailer and we were all in one hotel room, our first album had come out, we were all really excited, everything was going so good, we were thinking big and we told him, “We’re going to sell a million albums” and he was like, “I don’t want to be the first one to tell you ‘You’re not going to sell a million albums’, but you’re not going to sell a million albums. (Laughs) And we were devastated, man. We were like, “What? We can’t think like that.” We all sat there like, “That was fucked up!” We’re going to call him back and just like, “I just want you to know that that is unacceptable. We need people that are positive working for us; people that believe!” We’ve been given some pretty weird advice and different things because some people are believers and some people are practical, you know, in the business. So you gotta’ deal with the bad, but we’re believers and so we always shift from that and just, it’s all about being practical, it’s about what you can do when you’re dreaming in your head and working towards that and wanting to keep believing it and seeing it and working to make it happen; it can happen. That’s how things happen, man! So, sorry it wasn’t good advice. Advice I have for anyone is, “Don’t give up.” Because Maria and I-before we met, we’d both been trying to do this for a long time, ups and downs and thinking “oh, this one is going to do something” and doesn’t do anything. The only way to really make it happen for yourself-and this can be for anything in life-is not giving up. That’s the first key thing. Is to just not give up on something, because once you stop trying for something, you’re never going to get it. That’s my advice.

MS: Let me backtrack, I have another question; you guys toured with Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne…are there any other great artists that you would love to tour with or work with in the studio?

CH: Yes, man. Maria’s a huge Deftones fan and we’ve been trying to play with the Deftones or get with Chino on something…anything that we can do with them. And that’s one band that it has never happened, they’ve never invited us and our paths have never really crossed where we have been on tour with them or anything. So that’s a huge one and I’ve always said Metallica. We’ve got to tour with Ozzy, why not tour with Metallica? For me it’s like-I know it’s a little heavy, but I think we’d do good. There’s a few that are really good ones that we’ve always kind of wanted, but it hasn’t happened yet. You never know. We’re not saying anything is impossible.

MS: Chris, I have to ask you, this question is a crazy one; do you prefer crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

CH: Oh, crunchy, man! Crunchy. Put a whole peanut in there and I’m fine with it.

MS: This is my last question for you, Chris; is there anything you want the Pensacola fan to knows about the show, the tour before you hit Vinyl Music Hall?

aIMG_4237

CH: Well, we’ve never been there, so I’m really excited to see who shows up and what’s going on. If you haven’t seen us, come see us because we’re better than ever, we’re pretty much a theatrical production. You’re going to see more than just us standing up there in our shorts. You’re going to see a full production as much as we can do in that club. And we’re also learning a bunch of new songs at practice, so we’re going to be playing some brand new stuff that no one’s ever heard live. It’ll be really cool, man.

MS: Is there a chance you’ll have a new album out soon? I know that “Blood” just came out not too long ago, is there a chance for a new album soon within the next year maybe?

CH: Not soon, but I guarantee you, man, by the end of next year everyone’s going to be going, “Alright, well, I guess you’re going to start working on something else.” It depends on where we’re at. If this album’s blowing up even more next year, we might ride it a little longer. But it seems to be a good year and a half is how long an album’s success usually goes. We’ll start working on other stuff, because you know, they’re immediately going to want a follow-up right when we end the tour. Nothing too soon though. Come say hi, introduce yourself.

- Michael L. Smith

25
Apr
13

* Cursive, Elyse Therose, Pioneers! O Pioneers! @ Vinyl Music Hall + INTERVIEW W/ TIM KASHER 10/20/2012

By Take Cover and Shoot! Leave a Comment
Categories: Interview, Show Pics and Show Write-Ups
Tags: , , , , , ,

P=mV

It’s all about momentum for Tim Kasher. Through books, through music, the Cursive frontman is constantly moving.

aIMG_3865

One week before Cursive’s show at Vinyl Music Hall with Elyse Therose and Pioneers! O Pioneers!, Kasher talked about their mini-tour, music, politics, favorite authors and more.

aIMG_3775
aIMG_3682

Here is a link to the Pensacola News Journal “Music Matters: Live concert crowd connection thrills musicians.”

The full interview follows below.

Tim Kasher Interview

MS: My goddaughter is a big Cursive fan. Weird coincidence, but she is a sophomore attending the University of Nebraska (Kasher’s home state), graduated high school from Springfield, Missouri, where you are playing next week, and she was born in Pensacola, Florida where you guys are playing a few days after the Springfield show.

TK: It’s fairly sensible that we get as many first show starts before Gainesville and our set up in Omaha , so that’s just kind of weird that we’re playing Springfield and Pensacola on the way.

MS: How is the tour with Minus the Bear going?

TK: It’s great. They’re just great and they’re old friends of ours. It’s time well spent, very positive.

MS: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen on this tour?

TK: The craziest thing…huge new restaurant that was across the street from the Best Buy Theater we played in Times Square in Manhattan. Kind of joking that we’d seen Guy Fieri’s huge new American Roadhouse restaurant across from the Best Buy Theater, we played in Manhattan in Times Square.

MS: What gets you off the most about playing live?

TK: Mostly when you can…what I’m after the most when I’m playing, there’s a momentum that you can build where you and the crowd are building together and you’re able to keep that momentum and build it into a great show, but it’s not always easy to do. It’s great, but you have to get off stage and you really feel like you did something that night.

MS: Let me ask you about politics. As powerful as “Happy Hollow” was when you released it, it really is resonating now. How is the 2012 political climate influencing your art or your songwriting now?

TK: I don’t know that it is so much; I’m kind of just impatiently waiting to get through it. In a lot of ways it just seems like we’re, as we get older, we get used to the political process and you recognize that it’s just a lot of posturing, going through a lot of similar motions that we’re familiar with at this point. For the most part, I feel like the political climate is terribly…last week was upsetting (first Presidential debate between President Obama and Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney) but I don’t think  it’s going to, any way, ultimately shape the outcome. In my opinion, the only true negative politician out there right now is Paul Ryan. I’m not a fan of Romney, but I also don’t think he means much harm.

MS: “I am Gemini” came out in February, are you guys working on a new album?

TK: No. We’ve been pretty steadily touring that album since it came out. Usually after a Cursive album comes out we turn to other projects. Ted (Stevens) is working on a solo record.

aIMG_3955

MS: Are there any artists that you haven’t worked with that you’d love to work with?

TK: Oh yeah. Sure. I’m sure the list is bountiful. I don’t know…like David Bowie.

MS: What kind of music was playing in the Kasher household when you were a kid?

TK: It was pretty good. I guess I grew up-to be young is a lot of fun-a lot of older brothers and sisters listening to Michael Jackson and the Go-Go’s.

MS: What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

TK: Well, you know, I’ve been offered advice a lot about (the) music industry…I see a lot of bands that have this one-and-done attitude with albums where if it doesn’t catch on then, they break up. I think we’ve all seen that’s just not the way it works. There’s always bands out there where their debut album is a big smashing success and that’s great for them, but it’s not the case for most artists. You got to want to be in the business and get like a 15 year plan. Put your own money into it; you know you’re not going to get it back and get out on the road, play out in front of people.

MS: What other creative outlets do you have, aside from music?

TK: I write quite a bit. When I’m not writing songs, I also write short stories.

MS: Who are some of your favorite writers?

TK: I’m a big fan of Philip Roth.

MS: What would Tim Kasher of today tell a younger Tim who is just starting out?

TK: I don’t know, I guess I would…probably just… “Don’t make such hasty decisions.”

MS: Do you prefer crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

TK: Crunchy. A lot better.

MS: Is there anything you’d like to add for the fans that are coming out to Pensacola, Florida next week?

TK: Just that we’re playing a lot of pretty complete mix of the catalog.

- Michael L. Smith

« Previous Entries
About these ads

Top 10 Clicks in the last 72 hours

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 15 other followers

Join our Facebook page!

Take Cover and Shoot

Promote Your Page Too

All content © 2010-2013 Michael Lashan Smith. Take Cover and Shoot. All Rights Reserved.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

%d bloggers like this: