popwreckoning

Emii blew us away at SXSW and recently, she took the time to answer a few questions from PopWreckoning’s Thomas Starks about her unique sound and strong connections with her fans.

PopWreckoning, Thomas Starks: Unlike many artists today, it seems you just knew what you wanted to be from youth. What was it that ultimately drew you to music?
Emii: Music has always intrinsically been a part of my existence. It’s something I inherently need…. to create, to write, to sing, to inspire and be inspired, and to celebrate; All through music. That has been apparent since I was very young. I can’t exactly explain it. It’s just always been that way for me.

TS: What were the major influences that impacted your writing?
Emii: From love to disappointments, to celebrations, to my own heart-wrenching mistakes, to the guy back-flipping off a building onto the flatbed of a moving semi-truck… let’s just say I’ve been inspired by a wide range of… well, everything.

TS: When was your first open mic gig and how did you feel you did?
Emii: When I was around 13, there was an open mic competition. Granted, when I was much younger, I had always taken the stage (mostly uninvited) without a second thought, with no professional performance experience at that point. But for this competition, I had practiced my song diligently, and when it came time to perform, I got up on stage and gave it my all. Unfortunately, the only ones that heard me were a few people in the front row. The rest of the audience along with the judges hadn’t heard a peep because I had been holding the microphone wrong. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel too badly about it. I just knew I had to do better. And so, I did.

TS: You seem to have a cross between a gothic sense and pop, would you agree with that distinction, or are you attempting to pave a new genre?
Emii: Sure, at times. But it depends on the moment, on the song. I’m more interested in the freedom to create whatever inspires me, regardless of genre.

TS: What organizations would you recommend for other artists who want to work with students?
Emii: Character Counts, Students Against Destructive Decisions, Rock for Character.

TS: Can you tell us where the inspiration came from for your latest song “Magic”?
Emii: The song was first born when one of my partners-in-crime saw the mystery in me. Followed by an intense recollection of personal events mixed with love and desire, it inevitably created quite a bit of magic.

TS: You are quoted as saying, “When you truly live for something, it is natural to be on the kind of path that I am on now.” What has that path brought to you and what does that path seem to hold for you?
Emii: It’s brought me life. I never really know what’s around the corner, and I love it. All I know is that this is what I do, and this is why I exist. I’ve got a whole world to see, an endless number of songs to create, and a hell of a lot of FUN to have with the awesome people I’ll be rockin’ out with.

TS: You have all the links to social media on your website. Have you utilized social media much and how has that worked for you?
Emii: Absolutely. Every day there’s some new way of reaching out, and I keep up with it as much as I can. Staying connected is extremely important to me.

TS: Coming into the industry at this point, how do you feel about the climate between major labels and “Indie” artists who now have all the tools to make records?
Emii: There are different paths for different artists. I feel like it’s an exciting time for everyone, because the opportunity to be seen and heard by the world exists through the internet and the exposure it offers outside of what was the previous norm for “getting out there”. Indie or major, it ultimately doesn’t matter to me personally because the important thing was finding the right team for myself as an artist, as an individual. What was right for me may not be right for the next artist. The only constant in this musical climate is the fact that the game is ever changing, and it’s necessary to adapt and remain flexible while staying true to yourself as an artist.

TS: If you could work with anyone you wanted too right now, whom would it be?
Emii: B.o.B, Muse, Beyonce, Kings of Leon. I love them. Although, I recently went to Fantabuloso (Chicago 103.5 KISS FM’s concert), and every artist I saw perform live there blew me away.

The feel and sound of a quiet room can change simply by an individual standing in it; its density, temperature and sound are all-affected. When Citizen Cope graced 103.7 The Mountain in Seattle, WA with his very powerful presence, the room immediately changed. With an Amos Lee-like quality, Citizen Cope commanded the room just by standing at the mic: no words yet said. He waited for the lucky ones to file in–all passionate about a passionate man.

With John Fisher at the helm, the show was finally underway. Citizen Cope took the tough questions, “What do you like to do; where do you like to go; what inspires you,” into an almost grateful response that allowed us to peer into a mind that is seemingly just like the rest of us. He likes to stay in any given city for longer than one night. He likes basketball and good food. His favorite thing? “…Well my favorite thing I won’t talk about…” The crowd laughs along, they get the joke.
As John continues to keep the conversation flowing, he knows it’s time for a song to be sung. That’s why we all came here. Not disappointed with the realism of what true song writing is about, Citizen Cope breaks into “Healing Hands” from his latest The RainWater LP. We find out that he is just as talented and prolific as his first record, if not more polished and poignant.

As a songwriter, I know that LP’s can be deceiving. It’s not always their newest work, so sometimes you get a song that could have possibly been lying around for ages. But it’s just as well as we get a history from him that literally lets us in: things you won’t just hear from a heartbreak song. Citizen talks of his Uncle Clarence and washing hands before a meal. It’s all keeping us glued. Armed with the RainWater LP, Citizen Cope is truly assured a place in Mountain Music Lounge history.

In 1985, the world was full of hope. Ronald Reagan was sworn in on Jan 20 for his second term, and the United Nations had declared 1985 to be “International Youth Year.” It was in that year that Katrina and the Waves rose to glory with a song that has since carried our hearts and minds into a forever young state. We have been “Walking On Sunshine” for 25 years. PopWreckoning’s Thomas Starks was fortunate to have a conversation with Kimberley Rew, writer and co-band member of Katrina and The Waves.

Thomas Starks, PopWreckoning: Good afternoon, Mr. Rew.
Kimberley Rew: Hello, Thomas.
TS: Very pleased to have you here. My name is Thomas Starks with PopWreckoning. I’m honored to speak with you.
KR: It’s entirely my pleasure.
TS: So you have a quite a massive event this summer, huh?
KR: That’s correct! Twenty-five years of “Walking on Sunshine” plus all the re-issues.
TS: Have you literally been walking on sunshine? (Mr. Rew humored me, thankfully)
KR: Well, ummm, not recently because it’s kind of snowing and raining for about three months, but I do plan to do that later this year.

TS: So where are you residing at the moment?
KR: Ok, well, I’m in Cambridge England. That’s my hometown. I have lived here for a very long time, about 40 years. As of yet, still here, and yeah I still play music around Cambridge. Still making records here. The Soft Boys were formed and Katrina and the Waves were formed here way back in 14th Century B.C.
TS: With Radar Records?
KR: Yes, indeed. Yes.

TS: So you’re still making new records, are you utilizing a studio in or outside of Cambridge?
KR: Well, I’m very fortunate in that Katrina and The Waves had it’s own recording studio, which is just outside of Cambridge. The surviving Waves, we still have that studio there, so yes, still recording there.

TS: So I have received your 4 LP’s, the ones you released for retrospect. Those are excellent, and forgive me if this is common knowledge, but are you still performing with Katrina?
KR: Well no, the history was with Katrina and The Waves, we actually continued until 1997, I don’t know if you are aware of the Eurovision Song Contests?

TS: Well, I do know that you released Katrina and The Waves in Canada, and then Rolling Stone had a hand in introducing you to the United States.
KR: Yeah, in the early history, but to get back to your earlier question, no Katrina and The Waves aren’t still together as a sort of functioning unit. But the early history of the band was such that we spent about tour years looking around for a deal, and then did eventually land a kind of little independent deal in Canada. Now two of the four records that you’ve got there Katrina and The Waves and Katrina and The Waves 2 were released in Canada originally, and then from there the word spread to the states.

TS: Now, explain to me how this came about, were you looking at letting the 25th Anniversary of “Walking On Sunshine” calmly pass or was there a buzz about it and around you?
KR: Well, there is a buzz, yeah. People are interested, which is why we’re here sort of talking really…
TS: Exactly.
KR: Either way, that interest sort of self generates itself, so it’s a bit of a circular thing. I think there’s a buzz, yeah, reaching that 25-year milestone. Plus the fact that, you know, as time has gone by, the 80’s have kind of gone into this sort of classic kind of category.

TS: I also see a sort of sub part of this, a big one too, not only are celebrating 25 years, we are getting to meet “Kimberley Rew.” Now, you’ve written for The Bangles and Celine Dion, who else have you written for?
KR: Right. Ok, well, who else have we got? Well, Dolly Parton recorded “Walking On Sunshine,” I think on an album called Treasures in about 1995, that was a nice one. Oh and Aly and A.J. did as well. Let’s see, the cast of “Glee,” you’re familiar with that T.V. show right?
TS: Yes, I am.
KR: They recorded it just recently. Although most of it has been on one song, Celine Dion recorded a song called “That’s Just the Woman in Me”; the Bangles, they did a song called “Going Out to Liverpool.” Also, Jefferson Starship, which is kind of a very distant descendant of Jefferson Airplane actually recorded a song called “Rock Myself To Sleep,” which I wrote with bass player Vince De La Cruz. So it’s not a long list, but it’s got some good moments.

TS: Well, I’d rather have a short list of quality, than a long list of just stuff you don’t care to listen to anyway. Well I think you’ve done a great job, so you have these four in retrospect, what do you have in store? Two part question: after this are you going in studio and creating a whole new work and 2nd- where are we going to celebrate?
KR: Right, well, probably on the airwaves. It’s been the #2 summer song of 2008, so we’re hoping we can get it to #1 for 2010, that would be very nice. So yeah, that would be the venue for celebration. Oh, and do you know the World Cup, the soccer World Cup?
TS: Oh yes.
KR: This year, well probably you won’t hear it there, but the BBC, the BBC put their football on television, a gospel choir version, that’s another place it’s gonna be heard. And the first part of your question, yeah I’m writing and recording all the time. I actually just finished an album, so gonna see if there’s any interest in that, you know these things do happen.

TS: I really believe there is going to be interest in this. So tell me how you hooked up with Brooklyn Vegan? Did they come to you?
KR: Ohhh, I don’t really know. There’s this thing on the internet that Brooklyn Vegan is going to have a series of my songs available on their Web sites. You know, I don’t really know how that works actually, we’re just waiting to see what happens. I feel kind of stupid, you know, saying I don’t know who is going to sing what song or how you’re going to hear it. I don’t know if they are on the Web site at the moment, so I do apologize. But if you get a chance to check it out, please let me know. (Kimberley laughs with appreciation)
TS: I think it’s completely OK because we are going to keep an ear out for it. I do know that they are going to be releasing a tribute E.P. of the songs covered by apparently some of the most talented artists in the world of Indie music today. So, long after the celebration this summer, I think we are going to be seeing some very interesting things coming not only from you, but also from your followers, your peers and those respected in the music industry today. I also have to admit, I don’t think there’s been a summer go by when I haven’t heard “Walking on Sunshine” and had to literally stand up and dance.
KR: OK, well, I’m very glad you said that. I actually had a guy ask me earlier this afternoon “How do you feel when it comes on like in a romantic comedy, do you wince?” But you know I stand up and everybody else does, so well done.
TS: Well, I think what you have done and are doing is great. Twenty-five years for one song is a great accomplishment and I hope to interview you in 25 more.
KR:That would be nice wouldn’t it? I hope I’m still here. I hope I can still talk.

TS: Well, I know that song carries a lot of weight. We are looking forward to everything you have coming. Where can our fans and readers find you online?
KR: Well, you can go to www.katw.com, which is the official Katrina and the Waves Web site. You can also go too kimberleyrew.com, which is my Web site. That has got links to things like all the sort of gigs I’m doing around Cambridge, you know; things like that. Plus all the sort of history, discography and everything. You know KATW has the news on it, like the cast of Glee singing, Celine Dion and all the rest of it. Also, there are all sorts of things popping up on the internet anyway, so it all goes in the general interest of what’s going on.

TS: Now a lot of our readers are on Facebook as well, do you have a Facebook we can find you on, a fan page?
KR: I am on Facebook, yes. Yeah, but I have to admit, between you, me and the gate post, I’m not really a Facebook kind of a guy. That is I don’t go on there and tell people what I had for breakfast. I mean, but you know, I got into music because I really loved playing the guitar, you know? And then 40 or 50 years later, Facebook came along, which is something that I’m supposed to do because of the position that I’m in. But I mean I’m not actually very good at going on and saying anything very interesting. But yes, I’m now on Facebook, hang on, I’m getting a prompt here…
(A voice in the background, a female who’s voice has been present through out speaks up. Sounds as though she is a sweet person just trying to move him along)
Background Voice: You’ve got plenty of personal things on your Web site…
KR: Yeah, if you wanna sort of check me out, go to my Web site. There’s a thing called “In Pursuit.” Also, a free download of an E.P. called Ridgeway…
Background Voice: You’ve also got stuff on YouTube…
KR: And, of course, various things on YouTube. You know, you can see what I look like there. You know, there’s sort of cameras coming in from above. You can see how much hair I’ve got left, you know like all my friends. We’ve been playing playing music forever.
TS: Well, we appreciate what you do, Mr. Rew. We would also like to thank the coach behind you, who is giving you this information.
(We all laugh out loud, pressure released…now, we’re friends.)
KR: Oh yes, Naomi, I couldn’t have done it without her.

TS: It takes a team to build it. I want to ask one last question, if you had the opportunity to work with anybody right now at all, who would it be?
KR: Well, that would be easy, it would be with my lovely fiancee, Lee: bass player, backing singer, songwriter, everything. You know I play music with her every week and I wouldn’t change that. It doesn’t get any better.
TS: Well, thank you, Mr. Rew. I appreciate your time.
KR: Well, thank you, Thomas.

Alyse Black has done it again…play another amazing show, that is.

This perpetually traveling artist has graced SXSW this year with a single, yet poignant performance in the heart of Austin, Texas. Deciding to play to us scalawags at Treasure Island, she illuminates the dingy room with a stunning grayish cotton dress she found at a thrift store while playing in Seattle, Wa.

“Bomber Girl,” a tune she penned that is quite simply one the prettiest and revealing of her long repertoire, is literally melting from her lips as gazers from outside the bar are lured in. She’s not taking herself too seriously though, she knows her job–keep them engaged–and that she does.

As Miss Black begins to speak, I know what’s coming. I’ve seen it before in other towns with her and it always works. She entices the crowd to sing along to a cover, but won’t say the name, only that the incentive is to just be surprised. The bass player starts rolling in with quite a genuine representation of the original score and the drummer follows suit. As Black’s hands lace the keys, we are all ready to sing EVERY word of “Come Together,” made famous by the Beatles!

It’s a sunny hot day and it gets hotter as she loses herself completely into the conjoining rhythms of bass and drum, only accenting with keys, and of course, we all sang along.
Once she has fully mastered her crowd, which is a regular occurrence when attending an Alyse Black performance, she continues by letting us in with not just the music, but also with stories behind them. She laughingly asks, “Have you ever given so much too someone that you literally lopped off whole pieces of yourself in the process…?” Yes or no, now there is theme music to accompany how we relate to heartache and triumph over it.

Black can be found on the social networks, FaceBook, Twitter and ReverbNation. but with her ability to inspire, it’s even better to find her at the venue she is soon to perform at in your town.

Sound checks rarely entice one to listen to the full set. Granted if you came for the band anyway, it’s likely you will know the sound check is a test.

However, when Dreams are for Rookies‘ cellist Steven Garcia is placed directly in front with a stern, but warming look, you just can’t resist your curiosity what sort of sound this band will bring. By the time that lead singer Adam Chiarelli sings barely the notes, you’re hooked. All of a sudden, a sound check becomes a leaf cover to a book, explaining the adventure all are about to embark on. You can tell they care and will pave a way for you to care as well. After sound check however, all bets are off.

This band is no ordinary band. Bass player Adam Goff walks to the stage with a cane much like Hugh Laurie traverses a room: with power and a clear destination.
My server, Ashley Heer, a distinctly unique and happy soul, asks me if I need another, while smiling at the sound check. It seems to ignite her senses.

As the true set begins, music, pure tones and other reliable and familiarly-pleasing sounds fill Beale Street Tavern in Austin, Texas like a dense fog fills a cold morning. It wakes you up and forces you to move with it, but with most foggy mornings, you can’t help but wonder what comes next, so you just go. And it all comes. Technical difficulties, possible amp failure and high frustration. But it doesn’t fade away. Drummer, Raymond Dreamquist continues to fill as they work it out.

Isn’t that what music is anyway, one trying to work it out, or through it? With soothing Americana in the air, Adam sings through it as lead guitarist Tyler Vann Yager acts as scientist and repairman.
Goff looks young, but as he mouths the words to each song, probably not even noticing it, you can see a depth that more than likely comes from a place only music could make apparent. As the set proceeds, so do more and more difficulties, but it seems that some things in life happen as they should. I got to shake Adam Goff’s hand and thank him for doing what he does. They didn’t finish the set, but maybe that wasn’t the purpose of this one, maybe it was to make deeper connections with music and people.

Photo by Joshua Hammond

Have you ever met a Rock Star? I mean someone who just walks into a room and has all eyes on them. Believe it or not, every industry has them, not just in the music world. Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity is her industry’s Rock Star, and Thomas Starks of PopWreckoning got on the phone with her to find out why and how she got to the top of her game.

Thomas Starks, PopWreckoning: Thank you so much for taking my call Miss Hyatt.
Ariel Hyatt, Ariel Publicity: The pleasure is all mine, thanks for liking what we do!
TS: You know what, I’ll tell you what, I actually put your plan into action, and I along with my fans found some success! But we’ll talk about that in a minute, we are chatting with Ariel Hyatt of “Ariel Publicity” and we are very pleased to speak with you, thank you so much.
AH: Pleasure is mine.

TS: So you got into this some 10 to 13 years ago?
AH: I got into my own PR firm approximately, gosh it’s almost 15 years ago.
TS: You’ve obviously done pretty well for yourself, can you tell us the story of how that actually came about?
AH: Sure, we founded as a traditional P.R. firm and we’ve always represented and worked primarily with artists who were independent, meaning non major label affiliates. For many many years, I clicked along very comfortably with a successful traditional P.R. firm., meaning we promoted to newspapers and magazines and television and radio,we also did a lot of tour P.R. and it was going along quite swimmingly until September 11th, 2001. At that moment, when that tragedy happened, I noticed a very very sharp downturn in the success rates of the campaigns that we were managing, and what I noticed was, all of the local beat music writers at all of the smaller newspapers around the country were getting fired, or, they were beginning to cover different types of events that were not locally focused on music. I realized that we had a big problem and that problem was that my clients were literally paying me thousands of dollars of a month to get them wide coverage and I couldn’t provide it. So that’s when we started looking for other solutions. Luckily, we had been heavily involved with the internet and it just made perfect sense to me to go where there were ENTHUSIASTIC fans. I mean at the time there weren’t even blogs, it was like, “news servers” and “zines.” That was the big thing, “webzines.” And it was before internet radio really took off, so you know, we started promoting to passionate people in those domains, and obviously that’s all morphed into what we NOW know as blogs, podcasts, internet radio stations, and social media sites.

TS: I did notice that just in the last week or week and a half you have changed your web site.
AH: We have indeed.
TS: Your site has always been user friendly and now as I see is much more user friendly. I’m also aware that with the social media aspect of all this, I do know that you were always prescribing that to your clients. What exactly keyed you into that?
AH: As far as how we represent artists?
TS: Let’s say you have a company come to you and say, “We are such and such website…we would like to help promote to musicians.” What is your process of sifting through the thousands of web sites that want to assist musicians?
AH: You know, our whole philosophy is, even if a web site seems like it’s small, maybe they don’t have a ton of readers, maybe it’s kind of homemade or homespun, but we think it ALL counts because with Google, it ALL counts. So we’re not only going for the top top top players, you know, like the large sites where there’s millions of readers. We are also going for anyone that wants to show love. We have a vetting process obviously, like we don’t want the web sites to contain anything offensive or that we deem inappropriate, but basically, if there is someone with passion on the other end that wants to cover our artists, we pretty much want to work with them. So our vetting process is liberal and we really believe ourselves to be the solution if you’re looking for a long tail solution as opposed to “Just promote to the top 10”…we don’t believe in that.

TS: So when an artist comes to you and says “I would like to figure out how to succeed in the music industry…” What is the first thing you say to them?
AH: You know one of the first things we try to do is find out how open to social media they are. Obviously, I’m a social media coach and this is my area of expertise, so I come with a very biased opinion of how I think survival will happen for them. So if I get someone that is completely resistant and is saying, “I hate this; I hate all this communication; I hate social media; I don’t like it.” It’s going to be very very hard for me to work effectively with that person. I need to know that the person is educable. Because if they are really negative about social media and really feel that it is so confronting and so upsetting, I’m not going to be able to be effective. So I think the one key we are looking for with all the clients we represent is how willing to do this are they? That’s really the number one deciding factor. Then it’s up to us to help them identify an audience and connect with them in a way that makes them feel comfortable. So obviously there are so many different ways to focus in on social media. You might be into Twitter, maybe you like Facebook, maybe Last FM is how you like to share with different artists. Maybe you just want to blog; maybe you like to take photos. You know we don’t want to limit anyone’s preference online. There are so many ways of expressing yourself online, so if  some one says, “Look, I really think Twitter is dumb. I have so much to say. I can’t say it all in 140 characters.” I’m not going to force them to tweet. If they say, “Look I’m really long-winded and I like writing long essays about my traveling or my tour schedule,” well than I’m going to say maybe blogging fits better. So then it’s how do we identify what the artists resonate with.

TS: So without playing favorites, can you tell us a story…a success story without having to say the name of a particular client that actually succeeded in your program?
AH: Now one of our crowning achievements, and this no secret because I’ve blogged about her, is Kelly Richey. She’s an artist that called me, literally lying on her kitchen floor two and a half years ago. She’s a blues guitarist who had toured literally the world, very successful in her own right. She had played HUGE festivals, you know, Europe and across the country. She had put out 13 albums and she realized that she had an enormous mistake. Now, the mistake was she tried to go for it in the major leagues. She hired the major publicist, she hired the major radio plugger, she got the glossy photos, she really tried to be the next Bonnie Raitt and she tried to do it without a major label budget. It’s pretty much impossible to do and she had spent tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, chasing this dream. She had a stunning realization which was that she didn’t even listen to these radio stations that she was so desperately trying to get on to. Then she realized: “Wait a minute…if I am my ideal client, and I don’t even listen to these radio stations, what on God’s green earth am I doing trying to fit myself into this thing that I don’t even believe in?” And she figured there would be a better way, so by the time I got her on the phone, I got someone who had really taken a stab at achieving mainstream success the old fashion way and it wasn’t working. I said to her, “I would love to help you transform your career,” and she started a BRUTAL re-education. She did not know ANYTHING about Twitter or blogging or podcasting and months into this, she called me up and she said “I feel like I’m a Martian that got dropped down from the sky into a shopping mall and I didn’t even know what money was. Not only did you give me a fistful of money, you dropped me into a mall. I didn’t know what shopping was, I didn’t know what stores were, I had to learn EVERYTHING.” So it was really really interesting to listen to her equate that, but what I’m really proud to say is, she did it. She took on Twitter, she took on blogging, she took on photo sharing, she took on reinventing her sites, and she took on reconnecting one by one with her fans. It’s three years later, she emailed me last week and she said, “I’ve made a radical decision because of the thousands of people you helped me connect to online, I’m not going to be touring anymore, I’m going to spend time in my studio, I’m going to release things online and I’m going to use the base that you’ve helped me build up to make my future money.”

TS: And that is something, if we can dig into will truly be a success story with all of us. Miss Hyatt, I sincerely appreciate your time.
AH: The pleasure is mine and I can’t wait hear what you’ve been doing with your own career!
TS: HAHA. Yeah, I’m gonna get off the record here in a minute, but I just wanted to thank you OFFICIALLY. Where can we find you, our readers and musicians find you, to gain more success and knowledge on how to succeed in the music business?
AH: You can find me at www.arielpublicity.com.
TS: Again, thank you so much, Miss Hyatt.

*We spoke for another 20 minutes because that’s just what Miss Hyatt is about: connecting and being real about it.

Battle Studies is crap–that’s what I wanted to say because I felt like I was in a locker room with the rest of my peers. Like we were laughing at some kid for getting an “A” when it was cooler to get a “D,” while not ever realizing that time, blood and pain had generously poured over the soul that had reaped it’s reward.

John Mayer’s newest outing is simple: gleeful even and sadistically happy. Quoted as saying “I approach music like a director doing a period piece...” John has pulled a fast one on our senses. As with most music, it’s the initial feeling you get that determines what you receive  from the piece, but that’s not my job. My vocation is to dig and dig deep. Battle Studies is what a trained soldier would call experience coupled with decision. Mr. Mayer went to war, and came back with a myriad emotions, attempting with each song to display the ever changing notions that we are not just one thing or thought, we are many.

Starting with “Heartbreak Warfare,” John slips in as though it’s a symphony, tuning together and beginning. But this is no ordinary score; it’s an introduction into a need to stop the chaos. Yes, he is famous, and yes, his relationships appear trite on paper, but with lyrics like “How come the only way to know how high ya get me, is to see how far I fall,” it’s also obvious John is skin and bones like the rest of us. And not every argument is sophisticated with an agreed back forth, sometimes it’s just plain childish.

At times, in all of us, we have locked ourselves in a room and said out loud “Who says I can’t get stoned, turn off the lights and the telephone, me in my house alone” and thrown it in the face of someone who is supposed to care.

Mayer’s descriptions of backs in and outs and pure notions of inadequacies are no better met than in “Assassin.” This is the meat of this fully loaded LP, and his clearest statement of admission and failure to continue in just meaningless sex. This track in particular, at around the 2 minute and 40 second mark, John Mayer’s exploits, in all their TMZ fueled glory, makes it all very clear. He lost control at some point and met his match, whomever that would be. Toning down the situation John includes “War of My Life” and you almost wonder, is he laughing at someone? The subtle easy flow indicates an almost intended contradiction. Anger coupled with happy chords, almost as though it’s a joke. “All the suffering and all the pain, never left a name...,” but you can’t help but wonder, is this an insult as well, depriving someone of what they wantingly own?

John Mayer is a no joke, solid artist and he has surely paid his dues. Like many of us, he himself left college, took off to another place and worked the road, even at one point playing SXSW and getting onto compilation LPs. But we don’t see that now; what we see is an over exposed, sometimes selfish, but talented icon. This is the anti LP and it is my opinion that Mr. Mayer knew exactly what his intentions were: to make what he likes and damn the critics, damn the masses and in some ways, damning himself. That, in and of itself, is art. He so directly states in “Edge Of Desire:” “I want you so bad, I’ll go back on the things I believe,” which every indie artist in the world has at one point or another conveyed that exact concept.

Battle Studies was not written to receive thank you’s and accolades, it was written to purge one man of a heartbreak so deep, he had to bleed it out of himself. It may not be your most treasured purchase, or even liked, but I give John Mayer credit for knowing where he wanted to go and taking that chance.

Track Listing:

1. Heartbreak Warfare
2. All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye
3. Half Of My Heart (With Taylor Swift)
4. Who Says
5. Perfectly Lonely
6. Assassin
7. Crossroads
8. War Of My Life
9. Edge Of Desire
10. Do You Know Me
11. Friends, Lovers Or Nothing

Make no mistake, Corinne Bailey Rae is no Norah Jones, and that’s a compliment–with no disrespect to Miss Jones. Forging a genre is difficult at best, mostly unintentional, and sometimes just damn right needed, and on her new album, Rae is out the gate once again with both bold determination to change the landscape of sound and emotion, coupled with a risque and sexy movement. The Sea is a compilation of innocence lost and sweet nights in Paris.
Deeply layered with sadness, “Are You Here” flows through with a sometimes “Beatles’esque” hue. She glides in with words like: “He’s a real live wire.” You immediately picture someone barefoot and singing to an empty room, but knowing a ghost is present. When she is repeatedly asking, “Are you here,” it’s a soft scream for love lost and remembered.
One of Rae’s most igniting talents is her ability to change it up on a dime. Three tracks into The Sea and she introduces us to her sultry zones. “Feels Like The First Time” literally transports one to a hot night in June, in a nonair-conditioned night club. Time slows and you can feel the sweat drip from your pores as you move with her in her lust for the feeling of days gone by.
“The Blackest Lily” is an adventure. It’s the track you play on a Friday night before you’re about to intentionally get into some serious night wandering. It’s a free pass to go break some hearts with wreckless abandon. The infusion of simple guitar with psychedelic funk is a true throwback, but it feels brand new.
But Corrine Bailey Rae is still able to help us have an innocent fun, in “Paris Nights/New York Mornings” she has that lighter side that made us fall in love with her landscape. It’s a day in the life of someone who enjoys the very air she breathes, while paying attention to it all. It reminds us that it’s important to remember how good life can be as she courageously states, ”We were young, we were young and we didn’t know.”
To be “present” is bold, risky and sometimes a bit damaging. But to be “present” and document it, is the mark of a tested and accepting soul. “Diving For Hearts” is for lack of a better term, soulful. It’s a swim through Rae’s journey to understand her own heartbreak. With a raw calm, it questions the fabric that holds and breaks unannounced. Flowing with statements like , “Can’t forget the things I’ve seen” and “I longed for you like the love sick moon, pulls the tide,” Rae generously expounds on a need to be where we are “present.”
The Sea is eclectic, sexy, smoky and real. No pandering to the masses, no holding back due to fear of offense, and most certainly a no holds barred work of art. If we could all have that type of focus and determination to produce quality work, there would be less to be regretful of. But then again, it’s in Miss Rae’s reminders to remember that we can get there, without living in that regret, we can repeat the anthem: ”The sea…cleans everything, takes everything from me.” We break time and time again, but with Rae at the helm, we will always have our “Paris Nights/New York Mornings.”

Track Listing:
1. Are You Here
2. I’d Do It All Again
3. Feels Like The First Time
4. The Blackest Lily
5. Closer
6. Love’s On Its Way
7. I Would Like To Call It Beauty
8. Paris Nights/ New York Mornings
9. Paper Dolls
10. Diving For Hearts
11. The Sea
12. Love’s On Its Way (Live at The Tabernacle, London)

Top 3 Albums of 2009:

• These United States – Everything Touches Everything
• Curtains For You – What A Lovely Surprise To Wake Up Here
• Diane Birch – Bible Belt

Best Show of 2009:

• Curtains For You on Nov 13, 2009 at The High Dive: Seattle, WA

Most Anticipated in 2010:

• Fleet Foxes – TBA

Most Overrated in 2009:

• Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D.

Favorite Musical Memory of the Decade:

• Seeing Snow Patrol at The Key Arena in 2005

On a cold Thursday afternoon, PopWreckoning was cordially invited to a warm and inviting room at the renowned Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle to discuss what has become the cultural phenomenon known as “Twilight: New Moon.” Thomas Starks was able to sit down *round table style and speak candidly with two of its newest actors: Charlie Bewley as “Demetri” and Daniel Cudmore as “Felix.”

*Not all questions are directly from Thomas Starks, but asked in the same spirit.

Thomas Starks, PopWreckoning: So I’m sure you’ve both been asked many of the same questions already today.
Charlie Bewley, Demetri: Yeah, we’re getting good at it now. You’re getting the best, most refined answer. Not like, ohhhh don’t ask that one.

TS: So what was the whole process like filming this movie, I mean, after the hype of the first one, what was it like?
CB: Well, you’re right, it was a very protected environment in filming the movies. In Vancouver there was constantly people.
Daniel Cudmore, Felix: What were they called again?
CB: They were called um…well basically there were people on the peripheral of the film set stopping the paparazzi. And you know they spot people in buildings from way off, they’d have to call up cops and shit. It was amazing man, seriously there were huge big screens that were being erected with like black bounce boards and they were to block people from taking photos from the buildings around the place.
DC: Umbrellas just like while you’re walking with them and stuff like that, just so people can’t get photos of everything that you’ve gotten all ready before it comes out.
CB: So it’s just like, it’s indicative of how big the “Twilight” thing is, people come from far and wide to just be in the city while you’re shooting.
DC: And obviously they just wanna see you.
CB: Me and Dan got to film in Montepulciano to film some of the pick ups for the “Volterra” scenes, I mean we were subject to MASS FAN hysteria. 5000 screaming girls in a very small area. The place is like a beautiful rustic city, so it’s kind of like another world for us shooting there: a real experience and we were very lucky to go there really.

TS: So were you guys given any tips as to how to deal with how to deal with this huge phenomenon?
(Some commotion from a late arrival entering round table interviewer, but these guys don’t skip a beat.)
DC: You know we’ve had that sort of media training and all that kinda thing, but not really any sort of tips, cause we would just basically go to work and do your job. But you know, to survive all of this, I mean, you would hope that you had training from your parents. You know what I mean? Cause then you know who you are. And that’s where it all comes down to. You understand who you are as a person and this is a job that you’re doing, and if someone is enthusiastic about you or the character, then you know you’ve done a good job of building and working on this character. So it’s just knowing who you are, and this kind of thing doesn’t really come around that often, so you know, just enjoy the ride man for what it is.

TS: So when you received your character, how much time did you have to prepare for the role?
DC: So are you talking about once I got the green light?
TS: Yes.
DC: Ok, the funny thing is, with acting is like, you know, with you’re audition process you usually get it the night before the audition. So to build the character you have a short amount of time to really build a lot. So you wanna do the best job you can the night before to build this to try and land the job. And then you go in, hopefully confident in the amount of work you’ve been able to put into it sometimes, like you know if you’re holding a second job you’ve only got hours in the morning to hammer it out, you’re running on coffee, you’re half asleep. But once you’ve kind of built the base of what it is, and they give you the go ahead, like you’ve got the gig, then it’s just like we had…
(Charlie breaks in enthusiastically)
CB: Too much time!!!
DC: It was almost too much time to kind of work on.
CB: Ten weeks, right ten weeks so…
DC: But building the character also helps when you’re on set. There are a lot of other outside factors, whether it be the set, whether be the costume, whether it be make up. These wicked contact lenses that we got to wear, they added help with everything that you get to do, so it’s a strange sort of beast. And then all of a sudden you’re now interacting with another person, so you’re like “Let’s do it again, let’s do it again.” It’s this weird kind of world where you have almost too much time, and then when you’re filming, you don’t have enough time.

TS: And that beautiful Italian setting probably helped a lot too, huh?
CB: That’s what we’re talking about. It’s very hard to understand, you know? You read the books and you can get kind of a good idea of what the set is gonna be like. But you don’t really know. Certainly my interpretation was slightly different, it wasn’t as grandiose as it truly was. The sound stage housed this huge vault, this cylindrical vault. The attention to detail is almost that you can’t tell until you touch it, whether it’s stone or marble. And then on top of that, you got this green screen that goes above you, which they then do CGI to create this huge dome above it. So we don’t even know how big it’s gonna be, the final thing but, when you do get to set, it’s like, “OK. Do your Job.” It’s almost like you have nothing else to think about, except your character, so it suddenly frees you up. And you start discovering different parts of your character that you were never in a position to understand before hand.

TS: So “Demetri” is the ultimate bad ass tracker and “Felix” is so raw with brute strength, was it symbiotic between you too, like when you view those characters, do you say Demetri is great, Felix is great, but together they’re greater?
CB: Well it’s like the good cop, bad cop thing. It’s a brilliant relationship that unfolds and me and Dan knew each other fairly well before hand. We had the partnership going already, and they say my character is a very sinister, evil character. Maybe he is, underneath it all. But he covers very well with this real front, this real kind of pretense of charm. It’s like “Come with us, it’s fine, it’ll be ok.” Then you realize you’re in the shit.
(The room bursts with laughter. It’s quite a true statement of being secretly sinister)

TS: Daniel you have a strong stunt background. Was there any specific stunt training you did while working with Robert?
DC: Um yeah, I was fortunate enough to do some stunts. I’ve sort of gone back and forth with stunt work and acting. I don’t really consider myself a stuntman, I consider myself an actor who can do stunts. I’ve got an athletic background, so I figure I can do that. But they set up a really cool fight scene. And the problem was, where do you go with these kinds of characters? They’re ultimately fast and ultimately strong, so you don’t wanna do what’s been done before in certain films. So you have to sort of build this whole thing up, and that tough task was left to the stunt coordinator and the fight choreographer. Robert and I, for a week, we just trained and practiced certain parts of the fight scene. And obviously as the lead actor in this huge franchise, there were certain we couldn’t do, like I couldn’t pick him up six feet off the ground and throw him into a concrete floor, but I do that with a stunt double. There were things we worked on together and he was kind of, you know, he wasn’t sure at first, he hasn’t done anything like this, and then he started to really enjoy it and did a great job with it. And then at the same time, his stunt double, Simon, that guy took some licks!
(We all amuse at someone else being subject to Daniel’s brute force)

TS: Was he professionally trained as a martial artist?
DC: That’s kind of the thing with the stunt world, you either come from either a martial arts background, or from a gymnastics background, and then you work on as many skill sets as possible. He came from a gymnastics background, but he’s a tough guy man because I picked him up a couple of times from the neck and slammed him into the concrete ground from about 6 feet up, there were some seriously hard hits. It’s on wire and it’s work, but I’m bringing him INTO the ground and it’s aggressive. All hats off to him. Man, I appreciate that kind of professionalism.

TS: So you have strength (to Daniel) and you have tracker abilities (to Charlie), but through all the vampire lore which ability would you choose to have?
CB: Ever in the history of time? You know I’ll be totally honest with you, I never really thought of vampires as particularly cool before this. It never really appealed to me the whole vampire world, and I think that’s a testament to what Stephenie has done here and what a lot of very contemporary pieces like “Trueblood” and stuff are doing right now. They’re bringing them to the forefront and making them accessible to people. Particularly this younger generation, I think it has a lot to do with the aesthetic and the emotional writing within the vampires who might have before been considered to be passive and devoid of emotion. Suddenly these monsters have emotion, and if you wonder why “Twilight” is so big, those two reasons are key in that. Certainly when I got the audition to play “Demetri,” it was a huge honor when I got the call. I’m not unaware of how huge a thing this is. Despite being in the “world” for so long, it’s almost like you feel a couple of rungs down in the heiarchy, but when you turn around and look at the rest of the world and how huge this film is, it’s like, this is a real trip and I’m so lucky for playing this character.

TS: So have you run into “Volturi” fanatics, because there are a ton of them out there.
CB: Yeah, we have a REAL following now, huh?
(Charlie glances over at Daniel as though it’s just setting in)
DC: I guess so…They are pretty cool characters to play, and as an actor that’s really what you wanna do is play really interesting and complex characters. Then you’re suddenly thrust into this huge world that is “Twilight,” and you get play these characters that have a lot of history and a lot of things going on. So man, it’s kind of a dream come true to get something like this, and I think the fandom might grow even more after this film comes out just because how big it’s gonna be.
(Charlie proceeds to go into an excited review of his passion for this film)
CB: I don’t think anyone realizes how big it’s gonna be, NO ONE realizes how big it’s gonna be. I think a lot of guys out there are like “Ahhh yeah, Twilight, another film is coming out. Ok, I’ll let my girlfriend go watch it, yadda yadda.” But as soon as the first week’s over, you’re gonna start seeing guys filling up those, what very few empty seats there will be by that time. Because this is more of a guy’s film than a girl’s film, no one really realizes that yet, I don’t think it’s been put out there like that yet. This is an ACTION film, this a primal, aggressive film with stuff in there that’s gonna freak some little chicks out!
DC: But you still have the love story, and now the love triangle, obviously right? Then you’ve got the wolf pack, which are cast so well, and also the Volturi. There’s fight scenes, and action, and this intensity, and the love triangle, so it’s just gonna be a really cool movie.

TS: So what did you learn about yourselves in your characters?
CB: Well…that’s a good question…
DC: You know obviously with my character, because of that aggression, as a society you’ve been taught too push that away, push that down. That’s not how we run, that’s not how we live as human beings because it just doesn’t work that way. But it’s fun to know that you have that there, and to think about back in the day why you had that and to learn about yourself that you can kind of enjoy that, but you can control it.
CB: Totally, I’m exactly the same page as that as well. I have this side of me, it’s a very kind of, it’s a very European flamboyant, I won’t say “Queenie,” but it’s borderline, could be perceived as homosexual. But that came out in my character and I embraced it. A lot of people looked on and asked “Are you a dancer? You look like a dancer?” I’m like, “I’ve never danced in my life man,” it’s just coming out on set. And I was just swanning around like an idiot and more and more people were saying they really liked what I was doing with my character. So these things that came out that I’m suddenly allowed to do, I think with acting and since becoming an actor, me as a person has become more confident and I’ve really come out of my shell somewhat and back to myself.
DC: I went back and forth with acting because I lost the fact that it was so much fun. You kind of remember how fun it was to do this as a job. You don’t get to do this in everyday life, where you get to lose yourself and play make believe, you sort of lose that as a child and it’s too bad sometimes. As a society they say “Grow up, Grow up, Grow up”, but it’s great to use your imagination. I like what I’m doing, and now I’ve got more confidence in what I wanna do, and that helps also.

New Moon: movie website | soundtrack website | soundtrack review