popwreckoning

Omaha’s Maha Festival has started to reveal details of its lineups and its headliner announcement already has us pretty excited. Guided By Voices will headline the Maha Festival on August 13. 

Organizers also revealed local alt rock heroes Cursive would be on the bill along with rapper Matisyahu. More band announcements are soon to come.

Maha Festival is at the Lewis and Clark Landing in Downtown Omaha. Tickets go on sale here at 10 a.m., April 30.

For more information, visit mahafestival.com.

“Hi, how are you?” opened the legendary Daniel Johnston right before starting his Beaumont Club set.

The answer? Incredibly fantastic.

Especially so because the weekend was jam packed with some of the best local talent alongside some pretty stellar national acts. The occasion was the first (and hopefully not the last) Middle of the Map Festival. This was a festival that for two days took over some Westport Clubs–Beaumont, Riot Room, Record Bar & the Union–and packed them with bands ranging from Lawrence’s Hospital Ships to Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club to Daniel Johnston backed by locals Capybara. It was a truly unique weekend and a great way to debut the fest.

Friday I arrived in time to catch the tail end of Spirit Is the Spirit. There were several other local bands playing before them that I’m sad to have missed, but work duties held me up.

Spirit Is the Spirit is a local band that performed a lively set that was heavy on the percussion. It reminded me of a blend of the distinct ‘Seattle Sound’ that’s recently become so popular. In other words, great vocal harmonies, almost tribal sounding percussion at times, and enough of a lilt to make you want to dance. I first saw the singer in a group called Yellow Walrus, and I could hear some ties to that Death Cab for Cutie-inspired band as well. These guys were a pleasant surprise and a great start for my festival experience. Sadly, I didn’t get my camera ready in time to snap any pictures. I was so lost in their music that they were done by the time I thought to take my camera out.

Another local group called Minden followed on the Riot Room stage. I had never heard of the band prior to this festival, which I assumed from their tight, rocking set that it was because they were one of the out of town bands. Turns out they’re reppin’ Kansas City and this was only their sixth show as Minden. Although, several of the guys have plenty experience in other bands, which might explain their confident set. Minden is a band to keep an eye on.

It was time for a change of venue and to take a gander at some of the non-local bands the festival had brought in. I went to the Beaumont Club to watch Maps and Atlases followed by Two Door Cinema Club. And what a change of pace it was. The atmosphere at the Riot Room was like being at a house show – everyone knew each other and was giving hugs. The crowd was a bit older – the matured veterans of the music scene. At the Beaumont Club, however, x’s on hands were numerous. The faces were unfamiliar – these were not frequenters of shows every week, but people drawn out for a specific band: Two Door Cinema Club. The young, Irish dance pop group has started to gain quite a following stateside and in Kansas City, they’re abetted by the recent radio play they’ve been getting. This show was almost like stepping outside of the festival and into a normal concert. I do hope that some of these people that came out specifically for Two Door ventured outside of the Beaumont to see some of the wonderful local bands and discover new loves.

Maps and Atlases, who are touring with TDCC, were just about to take the stage. They had me eager for their set as a raised, sideways drum was featured right up in the front of their set up. The Chicago rock band’s experimental, yet pop-influenced sound quickly had me hooked. At times, it reminded me a bit of Minus the Bear, but then there were times when it went off in a completely different direction.

Beaumont was running a little behind schedule, but when Two Door Cinema Club finally took to the stage – the place went nuts. Immediately, people were clapping, dancing and singing along to a lot more than just the radio single. I could swear I could even see a couple of people ‘air-synthing.’ The Irish accents were thick, so while few could decipher what was being said between the songs, people still cheered and smiled. The amount of love for this band in that room was electric. TDCC played through several new songs during their set, which have me eager for their next release. “Costume Party,” especially, is sure to be a stand out. They even performed an encore, ending their set with a personal favorite, “I Can Talk.” Again: dance party explosion.

There was no better way to end the first night of the festival than with some local legends. I went back to a packed Riot Room to see Appleseed Cast. It had been quite awhile since I had seen this ambient band perform and even then was a special occasion for them to play the Low Level Owl records in their entirety. It was exciting to hear a set with even more variety from their large catalogue -and even some material I had never heard before. Watching these guys rock out with their passionate lyrics and well-thought out guitar lines, it is easy to see why they’re such an influence for so many other bands today. Truly couldn’t have gone home any happier from their set.

My Saturday had to start with a very different sort of music: classical. I had an orchestra rehearsal before I could get to the festival. So again, I sadly missed some local bands that I would have liked to have seen. However, I did arrive in time to catch what might now be my new favorite local band: Saharan Gazelle Boy. Several of the guys playing in Saharan Gazelle Boy also play in fellow festival band Capybara. I had seen their other incarnation before and was looking forward to finally seeing this new project. There are elements to SGB that are similar to Capybara – the extra drums in addition to a regular drum set, the heavy use of tambourine and the vocals – which is to be expected when you have the same primary singer for both bands. However, this is also a very different different project. This is the brainchild of Darin Seal. For the live show, he’s joined by his friends, which consequentially happen to be his Capybara bandmates and several other musicians. With Saharan Gazelle, he sings indie pop songs about finding love that are laced with fun synth melodies and upbeat tempos. I’m not a dancer, but it was hard to stand still with these guys on stage.

Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship is a garage rock band from Omaha – so practically local. “1,2,3,4″ they rapidly counted off almost every song and then a wall of sound would hit. The drummer was hypnotizing to watch. The guy was non-stop smiles as he rapidly banged across his set. The guy played hard – and consequentially broke several sticks.

After Omaha’s Noah’s Ark, KC took over again with Making Movies. I’m sure Kansas City has plenty of bands that sings in Spanish besides the few mariachi bands I’ve seen at Mexican restaurants around town, yet this is the only rock band in Kansas that I can think of that sings in Spanish and has been this successful. These guys had just driven back from a show in Texas, but they still had plenty of energy to get people to dance to their rock music with a spice of salsa. I doubt many people at the Riot Room could understand the lyrics, but it really didn’t matter. They were addicting just on their sound quality alone.

State Bird was a bit of a surprise. The clip I had listened to online had a lot of instrumentals and cutesy whistling. So I went into the Beaumont Club expecting some gentle, indie act. Instead, I got screaming and harder rock than I had even anticipated was at this fest. Sorry guys, but this was not my thing. I left after a few songs to find some friends at other venues.

I found myself back at Riot Room, which had yet to let me down with its constant lineup of killer Midwest bands. When I made my way back, it was packed for Lawrencians Hospital Ships. So packed, in fact, that I couldn’t get up close enough for any decent pictures. So I enjoyed the wave of music from the back. It sounded a bit different than the last time I heard them – which I later learned was due to them missing a few members for this particular set, but it was still quite enjoyable and I was sad to have leave early because their set conflicted with another local band that I adore.

Back at Beaumont, Lawrence former three-piece and now foursome Cowboy Indian Bear was setting up. These guys work harder than most KC/Lawrence bands and are constantly touring and writing. They’re most recently fresh off of a string of shows that carried them to SXSW and back. They started off with several new songs – some which have me eagerly anticipating swaying to a new record and some that have seeds have potential, but I’d love to hear them do more. Their older material always brings a smile to my face and I love how they’ve adapted their pieces to include the beautiful vocals of their latest addition: Katelyn Conroy. If you’ve never heard this band – it’s very chill music with lots of fun beats and some of the most haunting harmonies you’ve ever heard. It was great to see them playing to such a large crowd.

Capybara is the other incarnation of Saharan Gazelle Boy whom had already performed earlier in that day. These guys would earn the title of the hardest working band of the festival by rounding out the day with a third performance as Daniel Johnston’s backing band – most impressive and an unforgettable moment for their career. As I said earlier, Saharan Gazelle Boy might have earned the ‘my favorite local band’ spot, but I still loved Capybara. It had been over a year since I had last seen these guys perform, so it was nice to see them rocking out in the Riot Room with their blend of indie folk rock pop.

Dinner was becoming a necessity with the increasing heat and all the walking. So after grabbing some pizza, it was back to the Beaumont. Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s were finishing up their set. They’re not from Kansas City, but they have that dark, folky quality that I’m finding increasingly common among Midwest bands. East Coast has a sort of grainy glam sound they fall into, while West Coast tends to embrace the surf rock sound and the South tends to be more straight up rock. Midwest has its own quality that is a bit harder to describe, but is definitely present. I loved the variety of instruments Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s used, too – violins and slide guitars. After their set, it was time for one of the most anticipated shows of the festival.

Daniel Johnston was an experience. The guy is a living legend and for that reason alone he was worth seeing, but he also has a very troubled story and a reputation for being a little peculiar on stage, which is also worth seeing. If you’re only familiar with him in name, but not sound – it is very lo-fi. Mostly just Johnston with acoustic guitar. Although tonight, he would be joined by Kansas City’s very hard working Capybara.

Johnston started with a smile, slyly asking, “Hi, how are you,” and then playing a few songs from behind a music stand. He told bizarre stories in between about dreams and things he’s seen and he even spoke of his love for root beer. Then he said he was taking a brief intermission before coming back with the band. Already, this was unlike anything most had ever seen before at a concert. When Johnston returned, Kansas City’s Capybara was with him. They guys looked nervous, but excited to be playing with Johnston. Unlike Johnston, they did not have any sheet music stands, but either they practiced a lot or were just really suave at making things up on the fly because they never seemed to have any giant falters. My pride with the Kansas City music scene multiplied by a thousand during this performance.

I thought I’d be fine to watch another Omaha band, Little Brazil, before heading over to Cursive at the Riot Room. If you’ve never been in the Union where Little Brazil was performing, it is kind of like being in a cave. The band still played a killer set despite the unusual surroundings. Little Brazil has changed quite a bit since I last saw them perform. Landon Hedges and his distinctive vocals are still the star of the show, but they had a new member with them – a girl on keys – which added a nice grounded sound to their music.

When Cursive‘s singer, Tim Kasher, took his leave from watching this set to go to his own, I figured that be a good cue to head over to Riot Room as well. To my surprise, the Riot Room was already at capacity and a huge line had formed hoping to be one of the lucky few to be let in should someone leave. Sadly, it looked as those Cursive would not be happening for me that night. Fortunately, I have seen the band several times before and though I’d have to miss it, I’m glad to see that this festival would end on such a high note. The band was getting to play to a packed house, the organizers had put together a festival so successful that it would reach capacity not only here, but also at the Raveonettes across Westport at Record Bar. And of course, all the patrons of the festival got to see some fantastic bands, even if they found themselves shut out from the last few headliners like I was. It’s hard to be too upset when the whole weekend was so great.

I think it’s safe to say Middle of the Map was a great success and I’d love to see it back next year – even bigger. There’s plenty of venues in Westport that could easily be added and with the 90 degree weather – outdoor venues should be thrown in as well. Let’s see it happen, KC.

Ink’s debut Kansas City festival, Middle of the Map Fest, has announced its lineup. Local greats such as The Appleseed Cast join with national acts such as Two Door Cinema Club, Daniel Johnston and  Cursive.

The festival is in the historic Westport area on both April 8 and 9.

Taking place within the music venues of The Record Bar, The Beaumont Club, The Union and The Riot Room, festival goers will be given access to four different musical choices. Tickets can be purchased on day to day basis ($20 for either Friday only access or Saturday only access) or both days for a mere 5 additional dollars, of $25 total.Tickets can be purchased here.

Here’s the full schedule:
Friday:

Two Door Cinema Club
The Appleseed Cast
The Casket Lottery
El Ten Eleven
Dosh
Paper Route
A Lull
Small Black
Continents
Minden
Roman Numerals
Max Justus
Motorboater
Seafarer

Saturday:

Daniel Johnston
Cursive
Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s
The Raveonettes
The Life and Times
Tamaryn
Candy Claws
State Bird
Soft Reeds
Capybara
Cowboy Indian Bear
Saharan Gazelle Boy
Sam Billen
Lazy
Making Movies
Vertigone and Trystyl
Reach
Les Izmore

More are still to come.

Stay up to date with Middle of the Map Fest here.

Tim Kasher, the front man of Omaha’s The Good Life and Cursive, is set to release his debut solo album on Saddle  Creek Records.

The album, The Game of Monogamy, hits stores October 5, and is now available for pre-order. One of the songs, “Cold Love,” is also available for streaming and free download. Go here to either pre-order or download the song.

Kasher told Spin.com about “Cold Love” that it is: “Mostly, (the it’s about) really boring sex, couples who have run out of steam in their relationships, whose sex life is reduced to going through the motions.”

Forget what the Bible says about seven deadly sins. There’s really only one deadly sin and that’s not knowing who is Brad Hoshaw. Brad Hoshaw is the front man for Omaha’s indie folk rock group Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies, a group that recent won the title of Omaha’s Artist of the Year as well as earning Album of the Year when up against fellow local act Cursive.

Brad recently spoke with PopWreckoning about his group and life in Omaha. You can read the full interview below:

Bethany, PopWreckoning: How are you?
Brad Hoshaw, Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies: I’m good. How are you?
PW: Good. Just enjoying the warm weather the Midwest is finally good.
BH: Absolutely. Are you in Kansas?
PW: Yeah. Lawrence.
BH: So you’re getting the warm weather, too.
PW: Yep. I lived in Omaha, too, for four years, so I know that it’s usually about the same.
BH: Cool. This weather has been hell. It reminds me of the winters in Minneapolis where it just lasts for way too long.
PW: Did you live there or do you just know that from touring?
BH: I lived up there for three and a half years. Yeah.

PW: Cool. I know you’ve been making music for a long time. How did you get started and decide to pursue a career in music?
BH: It was kind of an assured feeling for me when I was 18. I had been playing since I was 16 and when it came to decide where to go to college, it was just like, “Well, I need to do what I need to do in order to support my love of music.” It wasn’t really a tough decision or anything really to wrestle over. I just knew what I needed to do to pursue whatever would support that.

Photo by John Shartrand

PW: You went to college for three years or that’s when you came to Omaha?
BH: No, I went to Lincoln for a semester in music, but then I realized that wasn’t really teaching me anything that I felt was useful towards my musical direction. They focused a lot on marching and classical music. I was more interested in the composition and the songwriting and lyrical aspects of music, which they didn’t have anything to encourage me that way, so I left after a semester and started doing it on my own.

PW: Eventually you switched from solo artist and you filled out with a band – the Seven Deadlies. How did you come up with the name and were there at one point seven other people in the band with you?
BH: Ha. Yeah. The name is…a lot of people have different ideas about what the name really means. It started out where I had put the band together for a one show only performance and there were nine of us total. I was thinking of something that I could buy each of the band members to commemorate the event and remember what a good time we had. I was thinking about gifts that come in eight or nine and I was doing a lot of research from that. Seven deadly sins kept popping up as some sort of a theme that I could use. I had also read an article on CNN about how the Catholic Church had cleared a new list of seven deadly sins, which was about the same time I was processing this band show. This new list of seven deadly sins was a little more specific to modern things like hurting the environment and causing poverty and things like that. It just all came together. We played our first show just as Brad Hoshaw band and then we decided to play some more. I threw out name ideas and they liked the idea of the Seven Deadly Sins, but didn’t want it to be that dark and broody, so Seven Deadlies was what we kind of settled on.

PW: Having this initial start with more people in the band, is that how you got…on a lot of your songs, I’m hearing female harmonies. Are those guest spots or was there a female in the band at some point. Yeah, there was a female at some point named Eliza Webb. She and Adam Hawkins, who is the lead singer of a band called It’s True, were my background singers. I had two people that just did background vocals live in concert. Then I had mandolin, keyboards and trumpet and a few other people that would just play on certain songs, but didn’t play every song. It was just about six, eight months ago that I scaled it down to a four-piece. The harmonies are done by the drummer and bass player. The key parts are covered by different people. It’s easier to tour that way and make everybody happy.
PW: Definitely. I know there’s another Omaha band, Midwest Dilemma, and they have so many people, it seems like anytime they go on tour they’re billed as Midwest Dilemma – in some form.
BH: Haha. Yeah. I can’t imagine trying to make everybody happy in that band. There are so many different personalities in that band. It’s an impossible feat to keep everybody together on the road.

PW: I know recently you were honored with three awards at the Omaha Entertainment Awards including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. What was your reaction like to be picked as the best of the best in Omaha when up against artists like Cursive?
BH: Oh man. Cursive is one of my favorite bands ever. That was really cool. It was kind of a little weight off my shoulders. I did put a lot of work in that year and to be able to have somebody say, yeah, we recognize that and your work, your effort was well spent, and what you did actually maters and people noticed…that was the biggest compliment. Not necessarily that people can compare music and say that one song was better than another, that doesn’t matter to me, but that people recognize all the hard work that I put in.

PW: Great. I also read somewhere that on this last particular album, the one that won you Album of the Year, a lot of reviews said you broke out of the “Omaha sound.” Is there something you’d call the Omaha sound and is it something you’re conscious of while songwriting?
BH: It’s definitely been stated by people outside of Omaha that there’s a distinct Omaha sound, but being in the midst of it, I’d say that’s it’s hard to think that way. I know so many musicians and the diversity of the bands is pretty extreme. I can play with Midwest Dilemma and Cursive and Bright Eyes all on the same stage, but our music is all very different from each other. We’re all about the same age and all in the same city, but saying there’s an Omaha sound or that we all sound alike, it’s…I don’t know, it’s kind of ridiculous to me. There’s definitely a lot of people that think that we sound like a bunch of farm boys making indie rock music. I don’t know. At some point, I’m conscious of what other people think, but as I get older it’s just me making music, regardless of what other people think. I don’t worry too much about how I’ll be labeled.

PW: Ok, a few fun things for the last few questions. If you could put together a dream tour, living or dead, who would be on the billing with you?
BH: Oh man. My favorite parts of touring are just hearing the other people perform. I would love to be able to tour with Johnny Cash and Jeff Buckley. I think those two—aside from their performances—I think that there’d be some good conversations and good hangs before and after the shows.

PW: Great answer. Now, if somebody were visiting Omaha, aside from catching you in a hometown show, what would you recommend that they do there?
BH: Man, I think my favorite thing to do is the diners and the thrift stores. Hit those and you’ll find a lot of the character of the city.
PW: What are your favorite diners? Like Leavenworth or Dixie Quicks.
BH: My favorite right now is Leo’s Diner. It’s right in Benson where all the music venues are. That’s a good diner. Then the Radial. Lisa’s Radial Café is a good one.

PW: It is. I’ve been there. Finally, is there anything that you want people to know about your band, while you have this forum to share?
BH: I think the band is pretty transparent and if anybody thinks that we’re trying to be anything, that’s the one thing they need to know. We’re just going to write the songs that we know and perform them the way that we feel at that time and just hopefully we’ll be a relevant, genuine band for many years to come, regardless of what genres we’ve been looped into or the subject matters we’re singing about. We’ll just keep doing everything that we’re doing from our hearts and hopefully people will connect with that.
PW: Sounds great. That’s all I have. Thanks so much.
BH: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me.

Learn more about the Nebraska foursome Cursive and life on the road in this backstage interview with Kacie Faye.

Remember when the term “indie rock” meant something? From Dischord Records bands like Rites of Spring and Fugazi to 1990s lo-fi staples like Pavement and Elliott Smith, indie rock used to mean that a band maintained a certain aesthetic of raw, do-it-yourself production, and it meant that they released their records on independent record labels. Remember that? Yeah, neither do I. I’m 27 years old. I was raised on Nirvana and Pearl Jam, bands who eschewed independent labels for gigantic mainstream success. Nowadays, indie rock is a blanket term that can be applied to any number of types of bands and genres of music. That being said, Untied States is an indie rock band to the core. They are signed to relatively unknown indie label Distile Records, and their sound harkens back to a laundry list of well-respected Dischord bands (among many other bands too numerous to list) yet they still cover enough new territory to sound fresh and exciting.

I must admit that upon receipt of this album, I was instantly skeptical based solely on the name of the band. Untied States? So, it’s like, you know, the United States, but like “untied,” like we’re a nation divided or something. Get it? (Wink, wink). Yeah, I get it. However, being the good little music reviewer that I am, I pushed these reservations aside and started listening. I was floored; these guys are GOOD. These guys are REALLY good. After the first thirty seconds, I wouldn’t have cared if they had called themselves The Flying Burrito Brothers. Wait, there’s already a band named The Flying Burrito Brothers? Jesus, never mind. On to the album at hand: Instant Everything and Constant Nothing.

From the opening track “Gorilla the Bull,” this is a relentless, driving record that demands attention and doesn’t let go. It’s difficult to focus on certain tracks, and in this instance, that’s a good thing. Never mundane or repetitive, this is an album in the truest sense of the word. The songs flow into one another organically, and although each piece is unique enough to be memorable, the whole is certainly greater than the sum of its parts. The bass guitar on this record is an electronic yet throaty thump that pulses through each track, providing consistency and cohesion. Steady verse parts often explode unexpectedly into reckless but well-orchestrated dissonance, and the song structures are as varied as they are unusual. All of this may seem a bit formulaic without having listened to it (I could have written the same review up to this point for my favorite Blood Brothers album), but this is most certainly not such a record. The vocals stand out quite markedly from other bands of a similar ilk; you won’t find any hardcore-punk shouting or pop-punk melodies on this album (and certainly no Blood Brothers screeching). Instead, expect to hear strange and ethereal singing often hidden (but not buried) under dense electronics. Colin Arnstein’s voice is haunting and familiar (with shades of Tim Kasher of Cursive fame), but his voice is decidedly his own. The heavy electronic foundation on which these songs are built is also a separating factor which will help this band stand out from the crowd. Many bands have attempted to fuse together their love of digitally produced sounds with garage band gusto; few bands that I’ve heard have done so with such complete disregard for either camp. I can just hear the band members now: “Too electronic for ‘true’ punk fans? Who cares! Too noisy and aggressive for the masses? Who cares!” Untied States seem to be making the music that they want to make, and that’s just fine with me.

Track Listing:

1. Gorilla the Bull
2. Not Fences, Mere Masks
3. Unsilvered Mirrors
4. Grey Tangerines
5. These Dead Birds
6. Take Time for Always
7. Bye Bye Bi-Polar
8. Wrestling With Entropy in the Rehabbed Factory
9. Delusions Are Grander
10. Holding Up Walls
11. Kowtow Great Equalizer

Written By Marc G. Gray

As anticipation builds for their Epitaph Records/Heart & Skull debut, seminal punk rockers Alkaline Trio have announced plans for a US headlining tour with indie rock band Cursive, in support of their forthcoming studio album, This Addiction, which is due out February 23.

Beginning December 22^nd at 10AM local venue time, fans will be given the chance to get a discounted pre-order of This Addiction with a presale through Ticketmaster.com OR Ducatking.com, depending on the market.  A list of dates are below with the corresponding presale option next them.

Since emerging in 1996, Alkaline Trio have become one of the punk rock’s most progressive and unique bands of the last decade, commanding an enormous cult following with six fan-adored albums and relentless world-wide touring.  This Addiction is the next chapter in the band’s celebrated career.

Alkaline Trio Tour Dates:
Feb 16 – Pomona, CA – Glass House (Ticketmaster.com)
Feb 17 – Los Angeles, CA – House of Blues (Sunset) (Ticketmaster.com)
Feb 18 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom (Ticketmaster.com)
Feb 19 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom (Ducatking.com)
Feb 20 – Seattle, WA – Neumo’s (Ducatking.com)
Feb 23 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory (Ducatking.com)
Feb 24 – Salt Lake City, UT – In the Venue (Ducatking.com)
Feb 25 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre (Ducatking.com)
Feb 26 – Lawrence, KS – Granada Theater (Ducatking.com)
Feb 27 – Chicago, IL – Metro (Ducatking.com)
Feb 28 – Chicago, IL – Metro (Ducatking.com)
March 2 – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak (Ducatking.com)
March 3 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall (Ticketmaster.com)
March 4 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues (Ticketmaster.com)
March 5 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Zoo (Ticketmaster.com)
March 6 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre (Ticketmaster.com)
March 8 – Clifton Park, NY – Northern Light (Ducatking.com)
March 9 – Hartford, CT – Webster Theatre (Ducatking.com)
March 11 – Philadelphia, PA – Tracadero (Ticketmaster.com)
March 12 – New York, NY – Nokia Theatre (Ticketmaster.com)
March 13 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland (Ticketmaster.com)
March 14 – Providence, RI – Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel (Ducatking.com)
March 16 – Towson, MD – Recher Theatre (Ticketmaster.com)
March 17 – Charlotte, NC – Amos’ Southend (Ducatking.com)
March 18 – Charleston, SC – Music Farm (Ducatking.com)
March 19 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade (Ticketmaster.com)
March 20 – Jacksonville Beach, FL – Freebird Live (Ducatking.com)
March 22 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues (Ducatking.com)
March 23 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution (Ticketmaster.com)
March 25 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues (Ducatking.com)
March 26 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live (Ducatking.com)
March 27 – Dallas, TX – Palladium Ballroom (Ticketmaster.com)
March 28 – Austin, TX – Emo’s (Ticketmaster.com)
March 30 – Tempe, AZ – The Marquee (Ducatking.com)
April 1 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues (Ticketmaster.com)
April 2 – Los Angeles – House of Blues (Ticketmaster.com)

Alkaline Trio: website | myspace

When you are an indie rock band from Omaha that got started living in an infamous house known as “Hotel Frank” you’re destined for one of two things: greatness or begging for free booze outside of the bar Brothers across the street from Hotel Frank. I’m really hoping the guys in Capgun Coup are destined for the former.

They’re sophomore album Maudlin just came out on Team Love and I can’t stop spinning the smart and quirky record.

Check out their sound now by listening to second single: .“Sitting on the Sidewalk” (right click to save)

Or catch them live on tour with fellow Nebraskan group Cursive. Tour dates are here. And of course, you’re more than welcome and highly recommended to do both.

Capgun Coup: website | myspace

I must apologize for the amount of time I spent transcribing this interview, but this found itself to be one of the most difficult transcriptions I have ever done and I contemplated not bothering. However, Little Brazil is a fantastic band and there were some really great answers provided in this interview that I couldn’t allow it to just get buried.

At this point, I’m sure you’re wondering what happened. Little Brazil’s guitarist Greg Edds and I left the venue in search of a quiet spot to conduct this interview. We found ourselves in a tiny bar that was empty aside from the bartender. We got a drink and sat down to interview. The minute I turned the recorder on, two rather-less-than-sober men entered the bar and added their own soundtrack to this interview. They loudly talked and laughed and even came over to our table and messed with the recorder. At some points, I left in their dialogue because they were interesting characters. I also left it because they both played important roles in the development of the band. One, Joe, had given lead singer, Landon Hedges, his first job in Omaha and the other happened to be Hedges’ roommate. I thought the interview was pretty wild, but the night only got crazier. As an apology for ruining the interview, they took me out to dinner (Edds recommended leaving on the recorder and encouraged that I go, but said he couldn’t because he needed to get back to the venue.) and dinner really was insane, although I’m sure it was more so one of those you had to be there things. At the show, I ran into one of them again. At dinner, his friends had warned me that he would do something insane at the show and the venue would let him get away with it. Sure enough, at the show, he managed to get away with not only grabbing the microphone, but also mooning the crowd. Oh the exciting life a music journalist leads. Now on to the interview:

Bethany, PopWreckoning: So what are you guys doing? It looks pretty exciting in there.
Greg Edds, Little Brazil: Well, we had this original idea where we wanted to tie the theme of the record in so like the cover with trees and something like. So we were trying to be as creative as possible. We had this whole idea of having this giant tree on stage, but we weren’t sure how to get a giant tree on stage. Then we thought maybe mannequins spread out on stage like a whole family of mannequins, but there is no place in town that you can rent that. So we decided to go with the pregnancy theme because that’s the It’s a Son thing is. So we were driving today and I was like, well, what do you do for a baby shower. So I was like, let’s get some balloons, let’s get some party poppers, let’s get some cigars and we got a big giant inflatable goose that says “It’s a boy.” We’ll probably take that back very early in the morning because we paid 40 bucks for it and I don’t know why. And we’ll never use it again, I’m not going to lie. So we just wanted to have it look really fun in there. There are some songs on the record that aren’t necessarily what you’d think of fun party songs, but we want people to have fun with it and feel like this show is a birthday party really. We wanted everybody to have fun and have just as good a time as we are.

PW: KC was listed as a CD release show, too. Did you do something down there, too?
LB: Not anything like stage set up. That is, you know, the home base of the label Anodyne Records. So, it was our label owner’s birthday and he already had people out and had already had it decorated like a birthday party. We played with a band called The Roman Numerals, who are also on our label. They were supposed to play tonight, but their original drummer also plays in The Get Up Kids, and they’re doing that reunion thing now, so it was a lot of-not drama, but pushing and doing this and that. They played with us and there was….

Enter first actual interruption as guy trips into our table.

Rando dude 1: Everything alright here?
Rando dude 2: Haha.
Rando dude 1: Now, don’t laugh at me.
LB: I’m not. I’m trying to do an interview.
R1: I know that you want to. You’re trying to be all serious and bladhio. And I’m going to be on stage and I’m going to laugh at you.
LB: It’s true.
PW: What’s your name for transcribing purposes?
R1: That guy for transcribing purposes.
LB: You sure you want to do that?
R1: Joey Pitts. (It’s not his name.)
PW: Joey Pitts?
R1: Joey Pitts is my nickname. Jeremiah Pepper Pitts. Joey M.I. Pitts.
PW: M.I.?
LB: Jeremy Pitts II.

With that, Random Dude 1, dances off back to the bar.

LB: But, yeah, so that was fun and it was a party. It was good to see all the people in Kansas City from the label and it was very welcoming. Same thing like with tonight where the Life and Times will replace the Roman Numerals. And they’re close friends of ours, so it still feels like family anyway.
R1: BLARGH!!!!!
PW: And then didn’t The Get Up Kids’ show get cancelled with Brand New anyways because of volcanoes or something ridiculous?
LB: Yeah, well, when we heard about it on tour we were just like, “Ahh,” and let out a collective sigh. It wasn’t quite disappointment, but it’s crazy because we’re good friends with Ryan Pope, the guy who plays in both bands and part ones one of our favorite bars in Kansas, the bourgeouis? In Lawrence, and we’re like since you guys screwed us in Omaha, it’s karma that….

Enter major interruption two.

LB: What is this?

Rando dude 1 sticks a glass over Edds’ nose and makes him smell. Then does the same to me.

LB: What is that?
PW: What is it?

Edds sips the drink.

R1: Pear cognac. Wonderful, wonderful warm pear. Like if you have ever had pears—there are pears and then there are Pears. Everybody’s had peach, but have you ever had pear?
LB: Yeah, it’s good. It tastes like Thanksgiving.
R1: The idea is that it’s warm. It will just warm you up. Warm pears.
LB: Oh man. It is going to be messy tonight.
R1: Grabbing recorder: I am in no part of this interview. Shh. Joey Pitts! Plugs nose and in a nasally voice and possible Landon impersonation: It will be a classic show tonight with a couple of bands. Maybe four. I think it is a quadruplet.
LB: I’m not Landon.
R1: Landon doesn’t do interviews. Last time I was interviewing somebody this crazy….BUT WE’RE In OMAHA!!!
LB: Oh man. Sorry about that.
PW: No worries. I just did a bunch of interviews in Austin at SXSW.
LB: Oh yeah. We were only there one day and it is crazy, so I can only imagine.
PW: Yeah, free alcohol everywhere and so they were interesting interviews.
LB: Well, you got a free drink out of this one, so that’s good.

PW: True. Let’s see. What were we talking about?
LB: KC stuff. So it was pretty simplistic and stuff and only two bands, but a very good vibe. A lot of Omaha people drove down. Like 20 people. And the venue only holds like 80, so we were afraid that…
PW: Which venue was this at?
LB: KC at the Czar Bar.
PW: Oh yes, Czar Bar.
LB: So that’s actually the label owner’s bar and he’s big into real estate, so he just opened that up in like September. But I was afraid that all these people coming down from Omaha, who will probably be here tonight, I was afraid we weren’t going to be able to let in all the KC people who were going to be like, “We’re trying to come out, but there’s always all these Omaha people coming down. How big is the guest list?” And it seems like that’s where everybody transplants. There or Minneapolis or Denver. Lots of KC fans. That crowd was really nice. Really receptive. We had a lot of jokes. It was a good night.

PW: This is your first release with Anodyne? How did you get involved with them?
LB: About, I’d say, almost two years ago, we started writing material and practicing. Not even having a theme or anything, and we just focused more on song writing and next thing you know we had a group of songs with a reoccurring theme and we were rehearsing so much, we didn’t know if we wanted to record them and have a demo because we weren’t necessarily sure if we wanted to release with Mt. Fuji even though they released before. So we were like, ok, we’re having some small problems with this label, minor problems. Like not taking a phone call. Communication was starting to get poor. So we kind of said, screw the business, let’s focus on writing. After we had a certain set of songs written, I was contacted by Sean Moeller From Daytrotter and he wanted us to come out just to play and I thought, how about we demo some of the new stuff and then possibly use those recordings to submit to labels and Sean loved the idea and was yeah, I’d love to help you guys make a step in the right direction. And ironically at the time, Oliver, our drummer, had acquaintances with a band called the Dark Circles, which the label owners knew and they were playing at O’Leaver’s one night and I was doing sound.

Enter another interruption:

R1: If you have three wishes, on the third wish, ask for three more wishes.
PW: Did you just pick that up from Aladdin?
R1: It only makes sense.
R2: you have to ask the genie for three more wishes.

LB: Ok. So through the Dark Circles we met Anodyne. Danny was there and Oliver was there, but Landon wasn’t, but we kind of made a relationship and they were like hey, I have a label, what are your plans right now. And we kind of gave them a head’s up on what we were doing and that we were writing a record without any plans of what we were going to do with it. We thought we might possibly release it ourselves. But I was a little afraid of what happened there with business and he was like keep me posted. Let me know what you’re doing. So we told him we were going to do the Daytrotter thing. We recorded those songs and they came out fairly well. We were pretty impressed with the quality, so we shot him the disc and the label manager, within a couple of days,

PW: First time ever with Daytrotter?
LB: Yeah. First time ever with Daytrotter. It was a pretty overwhelming experience because so many people have done it. So you kind of walk in and are extremely nervous and don’t know what to expect, but it was a great experience. Four songs and 26 minutes in the time it would take like two hours to do it. We did it and got the record, the cd, a couple days later and Sean was like, I like what you did. I hope you do well. A couple days later we sent the cd off and Anodyne was like, I want to work with you guys. Keep me posted when you think you’ll get done and when you want to work with the studio. From there the ball was rolling and everything pretty much happened overnight.

Interrupted again:

R1: Greg Edds is a gentleman of leisure.
LB: You suck.
R1: Haha. Yes. Indeed I do.

LB: Oh man. I never had such an easy experience. Before everything was easy, but this time it didn’t seem like there was as much work and tedious things because he was a very good business man and his label manager, his name is Brandon, he is the lead singer of the Architects. So he gets musicians. They all seem to make very good decisions and they want everyone’s opinions and they weren’t really like “ok you got to do this and here is your budget and here is this.” We told them that all we wanted to do was record at ARC studio, we wanted to do it with AJ Mogis, and we had 10 songs and we were going to try and do that within a certain amount of time. They were like, Oh that’s fine. Let’s write this up. Let’s figure this out. So we called Pedersen from Criteria who is a working lawyer. Sat down with him and started contract negotiations. Everything worked out really easy and was just a simple process and we all learned a lot. We had never been through that before. I’m still amazed at how easy it has been. They’ve done everything. We haven’t asked them for anything. They’ve done all the work.

PW: You guys have worked with AJ before. What is it like to work with him and how heavily involved is he?
LB: The first time we worked with him was 2007’s Tighten the Noose. That was our first experience and Landon’s second or third, we were all like extremely nervous because he is a very stoic person. He is very quiet and sits behind the board like Reuben, twiddling his beard. You never know what he is thinking, what he is going to say, or if he is mad. He just kind of, well you ask him a question and he’ll think about it. Like you’ll say if you want to go for a certain sound in the guitar, certain sound in the vocals. And he’ll go OK. It makes you nervous. So the first time was a little nervewracking, but the second time going into the studio ARC, ARC is a very nice studio. We were in the B room and felt privileged.
PW: Yeah, I’ve been in there.
LB: Yeah, and you feel privileged. You walk in there and some people record on their laptops, but it is just not the same as when you walk in and the pressure is on. I told Landon, it is crazy that this place of insanity spawns so much creativity, because you’re locked in the studio for 10 days and you put your life out there and write a story and keep an overall theme without going mental. It is a weird thing. AJ this time around had much more input.

Recorder grabbed again.

R1: Pear cognac. Sniff. Keep it warm. The idea is that it is warm and there is the aroma. It is in the sniffing because the pear cognac, while it is warm, it goes through your nose and hits your olfactory. Forces us both to sniff. Isn’t that good?
PW: Very good.
R1: So good because?
PW: It hits your olfactory.
R1: What was your experience of the pear cognac? Just smell it.
PW: Delicious.
R1: Especially large sniff.
PW: Thanks, Darth Vader.
R2: Watching Aladdin. He just goes up to that girl and is like, want to go for a ride? I wish I had a magic carpet.
R1: It is an awesome idea. You’re praying five times a day on your carpet and it is magic and it would be transcendental and you’d leave your own body, mentally. So that makes it a magic carpet.
LB: What?

Gives us new pear cognacs.

LB: Thank you. This is going to be fun.

Forces a toasting of glasses.

LB: Sooo, back to AJ. The second time was more input. He was more of a producer this time and had a lot of say in the production. He put Landon’s vocals to the brink and hitting notes that he can’t usually hit. Landon’s voice has developed so much over these last few years and on this record it really shows. The only thing I can credit that to is AJ because Landon would do a take and AJ would be like, nope do it again. Nope, do it again. Vocals lasted about three days and I couldn’t imagine what it was like to do that. But he had a lot of ideas and even when we were kind of fried, because we’re not a big post-production type band, we don’t add a lot like a band like The Faint out there where it is all about the nuances or even Cursive. It is all about what happens between songs and what you can only hear in headphones, we’d like to be like that someday, but it’s so much money and we like things simplistic and I think AJ definitely added to that. I can only imagine what is going to happen the next time we record. I’m very nervous, but very excited because he is comfortable with us and we know more about him now. We know his humor and he is a nerd, just like us. He likes video games. He likes weird movies. He is just a great engineer. Who knows? It can only get better as we get more comfortable.

PW: We kind of touched on this, but it sounds like you have a lot more duties in the band than just playing guitar.

Interruption again as R1 sings to the theme of “A Whole New World”:

R1: A whole new cognac…

PW: What exactly do you do for the band like booking and what not?
LB: I share the booking duties with Sean from eleven 11 booking. I am also kind of the daddy/band manager if you will. Landon always says it is because I went to college I fit this role very well. Then I always remember going to school and hearing junior professors say you’re going to need these skills one day and I was like, no, no. I was a PR and advertising major and I never thought I’d be able to use those skills in the band that I play in and it was never my intention, but I do now and I think it gives me a little more confidence in certain situations than those guys and more comfortable whether it be an interview or working with a promoter or working with a booking agent, they just let me take care of it and I just kind of developed that role. Now it feels like I’m kind of growing in it. I feel more comfortable dealing with it, but a part of me just wants to be a musician and just play music. You miss out on a lot of the creating or relaxing when you’re constantly on your laptop or making sure a press release went out or somebody sees the record or telling people to be at certain places at all times or making sure balloons are getting blown up and somebody is taking care of food. This time we have a tour manager now and they’re helping a lot and making sure we’re at the clubs on time and making sure we’re on track or just responsible. The first couple tours were by the seats of your pants. The first few tours I didn’t touch a lot of that stuff and was just kind of there learning the experience and now it is more of a responsibility.
R1: Yeah. You are a responsibility. Greg Edds. Poster child of responsibility.
LB: Turkey.
R1: Coo.
PW: Now you interned at Saddle Creek, too. Did that help you with these responsibilities?
LB: Oh yeah. That was an experience learning about what goes into putting out a record. Especially because at that time they were like a “major” label, but a small independent major label. Like seeing everyone’s role. I worked a lot with Matt Maginn from Cursive. He did a lot of setting up for other artists and Cursive as well like setting up shows, promoting, making sure people had merch and had everything taken care of. I got to see what Nansel and Jason did. He is a label mananger so he had a lot of control and I got to see what he did. Then I got to see the labor side. I did a lot of record shipping out and all that stuff. It was a cool experience. Not necessarily eye opening, but I learned so much in such a short time. I don’t know for sure if it is run the same way as then because that was when it was in a small little place and it seemed like a basement type thing. Now they’re in a bigger building. I’m sure they have like 15 interns and I can only imagine what it is like now. But it helped a lot.
PW: I think they still keep it to just a few interns at a time.
LB: Yeah. And now more interns stayed put. Like my friend CJ, he did the same thing and is now an employee. It is crazy that you try something for one experience and then it turns into your career. That was one of those things. I never thought I would utilize the things I learned there. In the beginning I was just fulfilling a need for college and interning and I did not want to get stuck somewhere that I wasn’t going to have fun, but those guys listen to records all day and it was really lenient when who knows what I could have been doing as an internship. I didn’t really think past it. I just submitted one day and my friend, Jeff Taffola, was like hey I know you. Just come in. Work for a couple months. You’ll have fun, you’ll learn a lot and you’ll get some records at the end and it will be worth it. 5 years later, I’m like, wow I did learn a lot. It is crazy. I really did learn a lot and they can see how my role has become that of businessman from what they’ve taught me.

PW: I love Saddle Creek and it seems like Omaha has become synonymous with Saddle Creek, but as a band not on Saddle Creek, do you ever find it hard to break away and stand out in the Omaha scene or even break away from Little Brazil’s past ties to the Good Life?
LB: Yeah, that is something, those ties to those other bands that Landon has is something that in the very beginning we didn’t necessarily use, but it was so recent that you have to. It is a resume. We had all been in other bands, but none as famous or infamous as those, and part of it, it does, we have seen it kind of grow in popularity in name in certain in areas. Like in California and on the West Coast, you just drop the name Saddle Creek at a show and all or a sudden we have 60, 70 people. But in certain places, it is hard. People still ask us, how’s tim doing, how’s conor doing, when is the new desa record coming out, but we’ve started to create our own name outside of them and we enjoy all those artists and we’re all friends, we all support each other still as a whole. People are noticing more now though that we’ve kind of succeeded now, on our own. Not necessarily with the help of them, but we’ve made our own path and our own mistakes. A kid in Jackson, Texas, is one. He actually designed some merch for us; he is an aspiring artist and musician. He was like so, what kind of advice can you give me? I want to play music for the rest of my life, I want to be an artist for the rest of my life. We said, make every mistake possible because that’s the only way you’re going to learn in the end.

R1: HAHAHA.
LB: I like how I end a sentence and you’re just waiting.

PW: So the new album, Son, is a narrative. There’s a lot kind of tougher subjects on there. How did you guys come about the narrative about the “son” and how connected are the subjects?
LB: When we started, a couple songs into, I started to notice a theme. I don’t think he knew he had a theme. He had a close family member go through some hard health issues, and that was being reflected in the song writing, but from there we developed a certain story.

Interruption again as random dude one steals the recorder of spraying spit.

LB: You’re just trashing the place dude.
R1: And conduct interview in 3, 2, 1. Pear cognac is quite tasty and smells like sniff.

LB: It was like four or five songs in when I asked. We were just sitting in our practice room just talking and I think we wanted to name the record from the very beginning and I had noticed these themes of family whether it be dysfunctional or functional, who is to say what family is fucked up? I said, Landon, it seems like, well he was diving so deep into the song writing process that he started to write from different perspectives in a family that had started at the very beginning to the very end of that relationship that bloomed into a marriage with children and separation and divorce and eventually it touches on suicide and then kind of a hypothetical ending from certain perspectives, and I said, can we call this Son because it literally sounds like in the beginning it could be him growing up through a certain relationship, yet it kind of reflected all of our personal lives. We all grew up in certain situations. I’m not going to say any are bad, but we all had different upbringings and it is reflected in each of those songs. When it was mostly ¾ of the way done, we realized the stories were tied together. We would write songs in different orders, but the first song, which was called “Brighton Beach” was about the intro to a relationship and you put in a certain setting, a fictional setting, but there are still a lot of personal issues in there and then all of a sudden we jump to the end to a song called “Separated” where you fast forward to an I have somewhat of an ex-wife, but I want her back. She has my kids. What do I do here? What’s the next step? And in the end, it all worked out like beginning to end. It still has a positive in it because I think that people can always relate to things that happen in your family from any perspective from a child’s perspective, a mother’s perspective, a father’s. If you’re going through something with health. Especially in the recession, there is a little bit about money tied in there. Like who can really afford to do this shit? And when we backed away, I was like, Oh my God. We actually have a concept record. I mean we’re not trying to be Pink Floyd. I know that certain bands have the rock opera thing. We didn’t set out to do it and we realized it was taking place in the middle and in the end we were just like oh my god it worked out. It worked out the way we planned, I guess. So it is a good story from beginning to end. We all enjoy it and anytime we hear it we try to place ourselves in certain parts of it and I think it is reflected.

PW: How does “Perfection” fit into that? I think I saw on Daytrotter that it was about Ladyfinger (NE).
LB: Yeah. Actually, when we were talking about a lot of the subject matter, when we were talking about Ladyfinger, that was more of a sound. A lot of the songs have a different tone musically. That was a song that when we started writing it, it felt kind of metalish. Me and Landon were doing some sort of abnormal guitar work that we’re not used to doing. Before when we set out to write a song, we just wrote it and played and practiced with eachother. But these were pop songs or certain tone songs. You can kind of hear the influences in those songs, minus the words. That was one when we were writing it, we were actually out with Ladyfinger. That was a band that you can actually, when you hear the voice you either think something from like Iron Maiden to who knows what. They were more reflected in the tone of the song. We’ll say that to this day. This is our Ladyfinger song. The lyrics are completely different, but soundwise we are just trying to be Ladyfinger.
PW: At Daytrotter, you said it was an “ode to Ladyfinger.”
LB: Yeah, it was like we were just trying to be them. Every now and then in a practice room we’ll be like ok let’s right our Cursive tune or our Nada Surf tune or Built to Spill. We’ll write a song and people will come up and be like, hey you sound like Metallica. And we’ll be like what really? Ok. Whatever. And actually sometimes we’ll set out when Landon’s writing certain songs, he might say that he is going for Sunny Day Real Estate or Superchunk. When he tells us that then we’re like Ok and all of a sudden we’re more focused on the sound than the lyrics because that is his forte and we try to help him out as much as we can without being offensive or letting him do his thing. He always asks our opinion, what do you think of this, and we’ll say ok, sounds great. He did really well lyrically. He keeps it pretty simplistic so people can relate to it, but he still puts a little bit of masque to it. You don’t want people to be like, who is this person? Is this you? Technically it is not. It could be anybody. It could be the person listening to the record, that’s the idea.

PW: For “Gold” on the Daytrotter description, it also said that that song, Landon wrote that about how he comes off as a prick at times, what is his personality really?
LB: That’s where the story meets the person. He is trying to be, he is still trying to continue with the story after there is a death and he is still trying to continue with this perspective of who he is in death and a lot of personal situations come out there. It is kind of like when you walk away from a situation and you realize where you’ve gone wrong and you accept it. You realize everything is not gold. It is kind of like a sad self-realization in a certain way. But we all think that. We know we’re not perfect guys. We’re not trying to be perfect guys. We’re just trying to do what we do and I think that is the thing he is trying to get down. He knows he is not perfect. He knows that people know he is not perfect and that is the best that he can do.

PW: Is there a song on the album that particularly resonates with you?
LB: That’s a good question. I’m thinking. I’d actually say “Golden” for me. It resonates so much. In the end, we are who we are and there are certain things that sadly we can’t change about ourselves, but you come to terms with that. I guess that could be about my personal life at the moment or even in the past, I’ve had that feeling before. I hear it and it makes me feel comfortable. Playing it live makes me feel comfortable. So I would say that would be the one. I couldn’t even say what comes in a close second because they’re all so fun to play and we all put ourselves in the situations. Oliver has a little daughter, so when the situations start dealing with a child’s perspective or the parent’s perspective, he can relate to it. I can only imagine what that is like, but for him, that is probably where it feels cathartic. Definitely “Golden” for me. That was actually the last song we sound checked and I thought man, we haven’t played this one in awhile. I miss it. So livewise, for me personally, it is like Explosions in the Sky meets Ryan Adams. It is a heartfelt song with self-realization and an instrumental explosion. That actually has more feeling than the lyrics. That’s why I like playing it, that’s why I like hearing it, so it has a close relation to it. That’s mine. I had never really thought about it.

PW: I like your description of it as an Explosions in the Sky meets Ryan Adams.
LB: Well, yeah. It is one of those things where you are talking one day and he started writing guitar and I wrote something with it and we have a mutual admiration from that band. So when it happened, we were like, this works.
PW: Did you catch Explosions at SXSW?
LB: I did not. We played a show and were only there for 24 hours. We had a show. After the last record, I lost a little track of them. Doing the whole business thing, I lose track over what is coming out and staying on top of new bands or the front page of Myspace to see the bands there or reading magazines. There are so many and there are bands that are here one day and gone the next. So for Little Brazil to have been here since 2002 and turn into a little rock band, we feel like we already have been around so long. Then you have bands like Cursive who have been around for like 14 years and that’s amazing to me. So it feels like if I haven’t from a band in two years, it is like, oops what happened? Where did they go? Then they probably have like 14 different side projects and who knows what.

PW: I know you said it is hard to keep track, but you are well-engrained in the Omaha scene. Are there any up and coming Omaha bands that people should be looking out for?
LB: The band we’re playing with tonight, Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship is one of my favorite bands at the moment. Then of course Flowers Forever. We all have our personal favorites and usually when we book a show and put a bill together, we take a lot of that into influence and say what band do we want to introduce to our crowd. First of all, we want to hear them because we’re going to play anyways, but we want to hear our favorites. Like Eagle Seagull has been around the same time as us and they’ve been something unique. They have a great sound and are compared to the Arcade Fire, though I don’t really see similarities. Well, I see it, but.
PW: I think it is the strings and the number of members.
LB: Yeah. I don’t like saying it.

PW: Do you find yourself paying more attention to the KC scene because of your label?
LB: Yeah, well, Oliver, has been with some bands in the past that have had KC members like Shiner and all these older mid 90s bands. We were actually talking about this a couple of nights ago and we were trying to retrace family trees of bands and what bands they’ve been in just like you would do here. But the KC scene, even more so than Omaha, does it like I was saying with Get Up Kids and Roman Numerals and then they have even more side projects all the way back. I mean these guys are in their late 30s and have been playing music since they were 13 or 14 years old in bands that were prominent. So right now, I’m just trying to get up to speed in my Kansas City music scene education. Because for me, the only thing when I thought about Kansas was Get Up Kids in Lawrence. And even now I think more of Lawrence bands like 4th of July because I’m always down there. But now, KC is just blowing my mind and I’m just trying to catch up. There are like 30 bands where it seems like every dude is in them and the drummer is playing in like 30 more. So Oliver is my teacher in that perspective and I’m still learning.

PW: You guys should get up a big chart in the practice space or something.
LB: We do have a chartboard. We made a resolution to actually start with bands and see where it goes. Because you do have 8 hours in a van and you get bored. You want to waste time and you’ll do anything possible. You at least want to make it interesting and that is an interesting thing to do to be like ok who is this guy and what band did he play with and what other band did he play with or influence or who is he with tonight and just add to this. Next thing you know, you’re at your destination because you just spent the last six hours trying to figure out everything about that city.
PW: Beats that 7 or 6 degrees from Kevin Bacon game, for sure.
LB: We tried to do that. We tried. We do a lot of the movie games and name that actor related to different movies and different things. Anything to pass an eight hour drive. Three to four hours, we’re all like who is driving and blah blah and we’ll sleep because it is a short drive, but those 8 to 14 hours and this last jaunt, we’d talk about so much random stuff. We’d be driving along the border and next thing you know we’d be worried about cartels coming to take us in the middle of the night. We start scaring ourselves and border patrol is asking all these crazy questions.

Random dude 1 stumbles back over.
LB: You’re not going to make it tonight, are you?
R1: I will.
LB: Alright. I’m going to hold you to that.
R1: We’re going to go to dinner if you guys want to come.
LB: I’m good. I got some celery that I’m going to munch.
R1: It is on me.
PW: I have to pick up a friend for the show, actually.
R1: Does your friend not eat?
PW: Haha. When are you going?
R1: Once my friends get here we’ll go. You could pick your friend up. We’ll stay awhile. Dinner on me. I’ll include your friend.
PW: Haha. I’ll see.
R2: Crazy voice. Greg Edds likes to eat dinner.
LB: This is true.

PW: Ok. Well, I guess for a final question, what is next for you guys? The album just came out, so more touring, will there be music videos?
LB: we’re actually working on a concept with Bill Sitzmann who is a very good local photographer, well local, but he is known nationally. He wants to do his first video and is working with a certain type of camera and things like that. He has been coming up with different themes and concepts. We’re going to try and do this in April. So we have some sporadic dates then and we’ll try and do this video with hopefully more touring in May and June. East Coast next because we just went West and we want to do this before it fts too hot and humid. Kids will be out of school and then who knows where they’ll be at. We’re entertaining a couple different packages of bands we’d like to go with. Bands we’d like to take on and get them out to the region like Noah’s Ark and It’s True. Bands that we like and want our fans in cities to see them because that’s how Cursive did to us. Our influence isn’t as great as theirs, but we want people to see the bands that we like. We have wanted that since the first tour we left for. We want to be out there with people that musically we are friends with and take Omaha on the road. Of course we do Ladyfinger and Cursive and that’s two of our favorite bands. At the end of the night, everybody is like, we’re moving to Omaha and we’re like wait a minute. It is not that cool. There are certain things that are nice, but still.

Random dude stumbles over without shoes.
R1: Greatest interview I ever did was with Greg Edds.
LB: This one might take the cake.
PW: That’s all I have unless there is anything else you’d want to say or add.
LB: You going to dinner with him? Keep the recorder on at dinner. Oh God. I’m curious to see what happens.
PW: How do you know each other?
LB: He’s the owner of Ted and Wally’s (local ice cream shop that is quite popular) and Landon used to work with him. I’ve known him since high school. And he’s always been like this, but super nice. As a guy, you’d get beat up, as a girl, you’d get a lot of stuff bought for you. He always takes care of people, but we always get beat up all the time. I usually keep space. Haha. Have you heard Life and Times?
PW: Yeah. They’re from KC, and I’m from there originally.
LB: We’re actually going to play their CD release next week. When we called them up to do ours, they were like, yep we’ll do it. You guys want to do our CD release party? That’s like, we think they’re greatest. I feel bad. They’re playing second and I’d like them to play third, but Eagle Seagull was already in the spot and I don’t want to create drama and move things around. It is going to be a party and people will be there. It is going to be interesting. I love that band. For a three piece, they are so good. I saw them at SXSW and they killed it at this really random club on the second level.
PW: Waves?
LB: Yeah. I was in the back. I didn’t go into the crowd. I wish they would have been at a bigger venue. People will say that about us, but we love where we’ve been because they make great bloody marys and we always want to come back. Most places we play are always east of 35 and over in the neighborhoods where a lot of the Fuck SXSW parties go down because it is always free food and free beer and fun times.
PW: This was my first time there, so it was definitely an experience.
LB: How long were you there?
PW: The whole time for music. Got there Tuesday, left Sunday.
LB: So that turned out good.
PW: Yeah.
LB: It is a hangover.
PW: I was pretty responsible. I had a lot of work to do.
LB: Yeah. This was like the 4th time we were down there and had only been there for 24 hours and had a blast. I saw a lot of the Omaha bands and would catch wind of whatever, but that’s all I wanted to do. Support others like see Brimstone Howl from Lincoln and Dareen Keen. I missed his show, but I hung out with him. Went to the Life and Times, hung out with Cursive in the park at a free show.
PW: Yeah, I was excited to see O plus S.
LB: Yeah, I was wondering about that. Their record came out the same day that ours did. We got an email from the music editor from Alternative Press and he is in love with our record and that was a privilege to hear. He put out a blog and was like, of all things you should buy today, Little Brazil and blah blah. So that was the same day as O plus S and the Decemberists and we were like, wow. Really? That’s awesome.
PW: Yeah. Well it is a good album.
LB: When I sit back and look at it, I’m just like wow. We didn’t try. We worked hard. It has such a weird relationship to the others. What did we do with this one that we didn’t do with the others? We didn’t care as much? We just let the music speak for itself. We were simplistic and it turned out really well. Shoot. I better get going back and making sure the balloons and all that shit’s coming through. See you there.

P.S. I did go to dinner and it was quite the experience, but alas, I forgot to turn on the recorder for that.

Little Brazil: website | myspace | @ the waiting room