popwreckoning

Rather than sit back and ride the wave of success from 2006′s platinum, Grammy-nominated 15, which includes the monster hit “Crazy Bitch” (just the mention of the song and it’s stuck in your head!), California boys Buckcherry are back with Black Butterfly, a no holds barred album featuring 12 hard-hitting tracks.

PopWreckoning, partly due to the impending holiday season, partly (mostly) because we love to give fun stuff to you, our darling readers, we’ve got a Buckcherry album and poster to give away. But, oh, that’s not all readers! We’ve also got a CD and poster to giveaway for Buckcherry tour mates Saving Abel!

Southern rock quartet Saving Abel, who draw their moniker indirectly from the Bible, are released their Virgin Records debut album after impressing Virgin Chairman/CEO Jason Flom with hit song “Addicted”.

Don’t miss both bands as they tour the US through early December.

**For a chance to win Buckcherry’s and Saving Abel’s album, leave a comment with your name, email address and CD preference. Winners will be drawn at random on December 3rd!**

Tour Dates:
Nov 19 – Roberts Stadium / Evansville, In.
Nov 21 – Eastern Michigan University / Ypsilanti, Mi.
Nov 22 – Chevrolet Centre / Youngstown, Oh.
Nov 23 – Schottenstein Center / Columbus
Nov 25 – BancorpSouth Center / Tupelo, Ms.
Nov 26 – Mississippi Coast Coliseum / Biloxi, Ms.
Nov 29 – Greensboro Coliseum / Greensboro, NC
Nov 30 – James Brown Arena / Augusta, Ga.
Dec 02 – Tallahassee-Leon Co. Civic Ctr. / Tallahassee
Dec 03 – UCF Arena / Orlando
Dec 05 – Warehouse Live / Houston
Dec 06 – Nokia Theater / Dallas

Buckcherry: website | myspace

When it comes to music, Kansas City is generally not listed anywhere near the top of places that matter. Sure, in the 1930s, it pushed its way into the the forefront of a booming Jazz scene but, for the most part, Kansas City has always been that city bands drive through on their way from Denver to Saint Louis.

Tonight, however, the national focus was on Kansas City, as the band credited with changing the face of emo, Get Up Kids, reunited for the first time since 2005. Few realized how their formation in 1995 would shape not only music, but inspire the lives of both bands and fans throughout the world. So touched we’re those who followed the Get Up Kids that some traveled as far as 12 hours to attend the reunion. Groups began to gather as early as 4:30 in the morning to collect their admission ticket to the Record Bar. At approximately 7:00 pm, the doors swung open to the show, and a new chapter in the life of the band.

Opening energetically with “Holiday”, followed by “Action & Action,” the band took little time to brush the dust off themselves, presenting a very tight and chiseled sound. “Some of these songs are pretty easy, and some of them we’ve never really played,” Pryor huffed of “My Apology”, “this is one of the latter.” Yet, one would have a hard time believing this band had been apart for the better part of three years, had tours and albums from New Amsterdams, Spoon and Blackpool Lights not been surfaced as the hard proof.

The energy and chemistry belonged to the Get Up Kids of old. Watching Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic candidly smile while preforming the set, consisting of their album Something to Write Home About, played in order, as well as a five song encore, was uplifting and inspiring in terms of hoping for a future for the band. “This is the healing show,” joked Pryor, regarding the tension between the members of the band towards the end of their careers. “I mean, I haven’t seen James (DeWees) in two years,” added Suptic later.

However, regardless of their past drama, misunderstandings or bruised egos, the band itself, as a whole, seems to be in unison again. “We’ll see you in next year,” Matt claimed as he walked from the stage, waving and thanking fans for coming to “their little party. It’s only the beginning of what is to come.”

Setlist:
Holiday
Action & Action
Valentine
Red Letter Day
Out of Reach
Ten Minutes
The Company Dime
My Apology
I’m a Loner Dottie…A Rebel
Long Goodnight
Close to Home
I’ll Catch You
\\
Campfire Kansas
The One You Want
Up On The Roof
No Love
Mass Pike
Walking on a Wire

The Get Up Kids: website | myspace

Before Friday night, I had never seen The Decemberists live and yes, I’m retro-actively kicking my own ass. In 2003, a friend introduced me to the Portland indie rock/baroque pop five piece, bestowing upon me Castaways and Cutouts and the then newly-released Her Majesty The Decemberists, though it wasn’t until 2005′s Picaresque that I really fell in love with The Decemberists (“The Mariner’s Revenge Song” is still my favorite Decemberists song, and the bridge of “The Sporting Life” is my ringtone).

I rolled into the Electric Factory Friday night — thanks to the staff there for making my entrance to the sold out show possible! — expecting nothing short of amazing, and Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query, and John Moen certainly delivered that, though front man Meloy does get most of the credit for his hilarious stage antics, which only added to the astounding performance.

As I write this, I’m listening to the concert again thanks for WXPN for broadcasting it live and NPR for hosting the archived stream of the show. I’m still amazed at just how tight the band was live; if not for the roar of the crowd and the stage banter, almost every song on the set list could have been mistaking for a recording. Vocally, Meloy was spot on and Chris Funk is just an amazing guitarist, not to mention his talents on the slew of other instruments he played throughout the night. Conlee’s intensity at both the accordion and keyboard provided beautifully rich melodies that carried many of the night’s selections.

Eager to get the same high on life as Colin Meloy, whatever he asked of the crowd, they followed through with more than willingly: Meloy urged the crowed to put their arms around the person next to them and sway to,  to run in place and even lay down on the floor of the Electric Factory (um, gross). The energetic Meloy was running all around the stage himself, had the audience in the palm of his hand; they even loved when he bent down to tie his shoe and later cracked a joke about losing your cred when playing a shoe tying samba.

Meloy is one hell of a showman and didn’t lack for energy for one second throughout the entire two hour set, though I now that the rest of those in attendance would agree that two hours never went by so quickly. If the Electric Factory would have allowed it and the Decemberists had been up for it, I have no doubt that we the crowd would have been more than happy to stay well into the night, even the next day, to revel in the fantastic music and even better musicianship displayed that evening.

Do yourself a favor and get yourself to a Decemberists’ show, just make sure to buy tickets in advance or you’ll be sorely disappointed when the box office tells you the show is sold out. And while I generally discourage scalping tickets (on both sides of the sale), a Decemberists ticket is certainly more than worth the inflated price.

Setlist:
Shanty For The Arethusa
July, July
Valerie Plame
New England
Engine Driver
On The Bus Mall
The Island, Come and See, The Landlord’s Daughter
The Perfect Crime #2
Days of Elaine
The Record Year For Rainfall
Dracula’s Daughter (shortened)
O Valencia!
Culling of the Fold
The Chimbly Sweep
Sixteen Military Wives
//
Raincoat
Sons & Daughters

The Decemberists: website | myspace | Always The Bridesmaid series review | stream the concert

Simply put, the mind of Wayne Coyne is like no other. His musical brainchild, The Flaming Lips have become renowned for the top creativity and visually stimulating live performances. So, based solely on his resume of work over a 25 year period, it is without question that his directorial debut, Christmas on Mars will be a spectacularly stirring mindfuck.

But don’t take my words for it, check out the trailer:

In addition to the standard version of the DVD, set to be released on November 11th, Coyne will be releasing a special edition of Christmas on Mars, which will include the following:

(1) Exclusive CD in addition to the DVD
(1) Collectible Movie Ticket
(1) Exclusive postcard set
(1) special screen printed popcorn box
(1) “Eat Your Own Spaceship” sticker
(1) T-shirt only available with the DVD

Furthermore, a limited number of the special edition DVDs will be autographed by Wayne. Ten DVDs will randomly contain a golden ticket, granting access to win a pair of tickets to see The Flaming Lips on New Years’ Eve 2008/2009!

**PopWreckoning has been giving the opportunity to give one standard DVD away to our readers! If interested, please leave a comment with your favorite Flaming Lips story and email address. Editor Joshua  will choose his favorite on November 11th and post it along with the winner’s name on the site.

Until then, be sure to catch advanced screenings at theaters near you.

The Flaming Lips: myspace | website

If you don’t know Shawn Fogel or Golden Bloom, you’ve clearly never been to this website before. If this is your first exposure to the indie pop rock magic that is Golden Bloom, you should be delighted to catch the first glimpse at the brand new, not-released-to-the-rest-of -the-world-until-tomorrow music video for “Doomsday Devices.” Watch here.

Shawn Fogel for President!

Golden Bloom: myspace
Shawn Fogel: website | myspace | live | interview with

Canadian collaborative Broken Social Scene is known for great and experimental music where the only thing more surprising than what they’ll think of musically is who will play with them next. Popwreckoning‘s Bethany got the chance to talk music and food with one of the group’s core members and co-founder, Brendan Canning. Read the interview below:

PW: Let’s start off with some recent events. I just caught your Omaha show and you had to do an impromptu DJ set.
BC: Yeah, Lizzie [Powell], was, well she had a bronchial infection.
PW: Aw. Is she doing better today?
BC: Yeah, she’s doing much better, I haven’t actually spoken to her, but I think she’s on the mend, which is good for everyone.
PW: So no impromptu DJ set tonight?
BC: No, no DJ set tonight, I had to borrow most of those records from the bartender at the Slowdown.

PW: So how do you plan out your set if you hadn’t seen the records before?
BC: Oh, well, I looked at them and I knew most of them. It is pretty easy to put on a PiL record and once you do that it’s like, well, I guess Gang of Four goes well after PiL and you try to go from there.
PW: So how did that compare to the other times when you’ve DJed some of those celebrity parties in NY?
BC: Well, normally I show up with my records. Ha. And I don’t do too many celebrity parties to be quite honest. The odd party here and there. I do like it, though.
PW: So is Lizzie like an official member of Broken Social Scene now?
BC: Well, we try to avoid the word “official” in regards to anything with Broken Social Scene, but she’s playing shows with us and she’s up on stage with us. I’d say that’s as close to being a member as anything right now. She sang on a couple of tunes on my record.

PW: Now when she wasn’t able to perform in Omaha, you guys had to call up some guest singers like Orenda Fink.
BC: That’s right.
PW: Is that hard for you to get a hold of people to do the music or are they pretty willing?
BC: That was not because Val, at the club, she called her up and then I talked to her and she came down to club. We’re very fortunate to have people like Orenda Fink around who can just kind of come in, not really knowing the songs at all, and just come up on stage and do it up. I thought she did a good job.

PW: Do you guys rehearse with guest musicians or is just a quick sound check?
BC: That wasn’t even a sound check. That was just like her, on stage, just her, me, Charlie [Spearin] and I, sort of going over the song for 5-10 minutes because we didn’t even really know what we were going to do that night. So that sort of came together about 8:00 in the evening.
PW: Wow. Now, Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes also played with you. Did he get any more advance notice?
BC: He might have gotten a couple hours extra notice. He’s a great player, though.

PW: So all these musicians, because you guys have other people in other cities that perform with you, all these musicians are pretty much cold turkey?
BC: Yeah, it’s not like they can fly up to Toronto to rehearse with us or anything. I mean, it’s not that difficult. It’s just music after all. If you got ears and some ability, our music is not that hard to comprehend.

PW: With all these guest musicians, who would you ideally like, dead or living, who would you like to perform with?
BC: Oh, I don’t know. That’s kind of a funny question. Who knows? I can’t really answer that because I don’t even know who we’re going to have play with us tonight even. Especially if we have some great player tonight that I don’t even know about yet. There’s not an ideal guest. I’ve never thought in terms like that.

PW: Last year when you guys came to Omaha, you played a secret show.
BC: I don’t know if it was a secret show, but it was an impromptu show. We had the day off there and we just kept running into people who talked to us about playing. We thought it was a good idea, too. We were there in Omaha, so we figured we’d make use of our time.
PW: Does that sort of thing happen a lot?
BC: No, it does not.
PW: How does a show like that compare to last night’s planned show? Are the crowds pretty different?
BC: Nope. Comparable, I’d say.

PW: I do like that you guys surprise and improv, so what’s the story on the “science experiment” and how involved is everyone in that?
BC: That’s Charles. Charles has an album coming out. He made a record with a bunch of conversation blips from some of his neighbors. He’d be better poised to answer, but ultimately he just chopped some conversation clips and made musical pieces and started added instrumentation to different conversations following melody lines.
PW: Yeah, I was just impressed because the first one at the show had been done before, but then the second one you did on the spot and you came out to join.
BC: Ha, yeah, well I mean I hadn’t played the cowbell before to that one, but like I said, it’s not that hard to pick up a drum stick or two and play along on cowbell or to pick up a guitar. It’s just music.

PW: So with your new album, you’re front and center with this tour, does your attitude with that also just go along with “it’s just music” or is it nerve-racking?
BC: It’s different in the sense that now instead of me just doing it for one or two songs in the set, now it’s like four or five. I’m a comfortable front man.

PW: What songs are you most excited about audiences hearing on this tour?
BC: I don’t know. I never really think about that. I’m just happy to be out there, playing music for people. I hope that there’s not just one song in particular that’s going to wow them and that’s it. I hope we get a good two hour show running from top to bottom.
PW: I think the Omaha one was kind of pushing three hours.
BC: Ha, yeah, I know. That was awfully long. We were just talking about that tonight and being like, “Ok, that’s it. We can’t be playing that long every night.” Unless, maybe we will start doing that, but take a little break in between.
PW: It was really impressive, but I think everybody was a little confused when there were like eight endings.
BC: Oh right, that’s good. Confusion is good. We don’t want to sound like something ordinary or give something that everybody’s seen before.

PW: Were you guys operating off of a set list for that show?
BC: Probably the first half. Then it kind of, well, like most of our shows, we sort of have a set list, but then about halfway through the band just kind goes and throws that out the door. We go wherever the moment seems to be taking us.

PW: At the show, you guys also brought up politics. Are you guys concerned with United States and the presidential election being Canadian?
BC: We’re so closely linked to American politics. We’ll have to witness it everyday of our lives. We’re all tuned into anything. It is going to affect our livelihood in the end because we spend so much time in the US working. We spend time working here in the US like we do in Canada, so we’re very concerned about the future of the US, the American economy and the people who live in this country who are very concerned with how it’s going to move forward. We can’t not be concerned.
PW: Now Canada just had an election as well.
BC: Yeah, it was kind of a joke. The Prime Minister called for the election thinking that he could get a majority government. It all happened very fast, but all it did was waste tons and tons and tons of money on “Oh, thank you.” It was a stupid idea and it wasted tons of money on advertising without out really solving anything. The most it did was give was give a little face time to the green party, Elizabeth May, so that’s a good thing. Another political party that has a voice outside of the common politics of a running candidate.

PW: Ok, let’s talk about your album a little bit. Your recent album was a solo album, but you still collaborated with your Broken Social Scene chums and then it got the title of Broken Social Scene Presents: slapped onto it as well. How do you keep a solo album separate from BSS when it is still that closely connected?
BC: In this instance, it was just me in the driver seat the whole time, having the ability to make the final decision on the tunes. That’s where it becomes different.
PW: Do you think you’ll do more solo albums?
BC: I think so. I got a long career ahead of me as a musician and the world’s my oyster. At the same time, I think BSS is cooking something and plans on making a full band record before another Brendan Canning solo album comes out.

PW: Will there be another BSS record before another BSS Presents?
BC: I think so. That’s the plan, but I can’t really say for sure.
PW: Because Justin [Peroff] is working on something solo isn’t he?
BC: We’ve all got lots of ideas up our sleeves, but yeah. Justin’s got a bunch of ideas, too. Probably a bunch of those will go to a BSS record. It’s really kind of an unwritten chapter that we haven’t read through yet. We’ll just take the time here and there and piece it all together, map it out.
We’ve put a lot of time on the road this year, so I know next year will be less time on the road and more focused on recording and whatever becomes of those recordings.

PW: Do you guys think you’d ever want to try to get some of the original collaborators of BSS back together in sort of a massive reunion sort of show or is that impossible since Leslie Feist and the members of Stars and all those other groups are pretty busy with their own projects.
BC: Nobody’s really thinking about a reunion because this band has never broken up and members are always coming in and out and we’ve always made records. The core that is touring right now, this is essentially BSS. Myself, Charles, Kevin [Drew], Justin and Andrew [Whiteman], we’ve been sort of the five core for the career of the touring band.
A couple of people have sort of dropped in and out, the Stars gang have come in and out, the Metric gang have come in and out an another hundred or two hundred or so players. The idea of a reunion, there is no reunion to be had, since nothing’s been disbanded. It’s more just whomever is going to be around when it comes time to make the record.

PW: Bruce McDonald is making a documentary about your life.
BC: Yeah, it’s for the Independent Film Channel. It’s sort of a little postcard of my finishing my record. It’s not my life story.
PW: So it’s about the album making process?
BC: Yeah, a little bit of that. It’s just a snap shot. There are some nice vignette moments.
PW: Did he ask to do that because you had worked together in the past?
BC: Yeah, he had the project with the Independent Film Channel and was looking for something to film, so it sort of came about that way.
PW: There’s not going to be like a DVD release?
BC: Not at this point and I don’t officially own the rights to it.
PW: Is there anything surprising for fans in it that they might not know about?
BC: I’m pretty handy in the kitchen, I suppose. There’s a little cooking moment. It’s not like I’m cooking something and then serving it to Bruce.
Is there anything surprising? I don’t know. I don’t really know what people know about. Maybe they might be, but it’s tough to say. I like, I can say that much. Some of it is mildly embarrassing, but I think that’s just because it is me watching myself. I think they did a good job. Nothing’s grossly out of proportion in it.

PW: What type of stuff do you like to cook?
BC: I can cook anything. You name it. Whatever you want, I’ll make it for you. I’m pretty handy in the kitchen.
PW: Alright, next tour, I’ll take you up on that.
BC: Yeah, sure. As long as there’s nice pans. I like nice pans.
PW: Of course, those are very important.
BC: Yeah. Pans and good knives. Oh and fresh herbs, lots of fresh herbs.
PW: Do you get to cook on the tour bus at all?
BC: No and we had a shit meal today, so I guess I should have known better.
PW: Too bad, there are some good places to eat in Kansas City.
BC: What’s that?
PW: You’re in KC, right?
BC: Yeah, KC, MO.
PW: There are lots of good places to eat there. You got to try to find good food.
BC: I did yesterday.
PW: Where’d you go?
BC: An unnamable diner.

PW: Ok. So, I saw on some sites that you’re nicknamed “The Champ.” What’s the story on that?
BC: It’s just a nickname I have sort of had since my old band hHead.
PW: How’d you get it?
BC: I used to pretend that I was a drunk prize fighter and I’d take swings at my drummer. And he’d say, “Hey Champ, Champ. It’s me, Champ,” and then I’d sort of come to. That was the game and for some reason people seemed to really gravitate toward the nickname. Then DJing, it just became a sort of DJ handle.
PW: Do you have any other nicknames?
BC: Only little funny ones that my girlfriend calls me, nothing I want to share.
PW: Alright, we can keep those private.

PW: My last question for you is: BSS did a Guided by Voices cover and I think I’ve heard you guys do that in the past, so if you could personally cover anything, what would you want to cover?
BC: Maybe “Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat” by Charles Mingus. It is a really great ballad. You should check it out, it’s one of the all-time classics.
PW: Will do. That’s all I have, thank you for talking with me.
BC: You’re welcome. Thank you, Bethany.
PW: Good luck with your show and find some better food. Eat some KC BBQ, you’re not vegetarians are you?
BC: No, there’s a few in our crew that are, but yeah, I’m sure we’ll find something.
PW: Good. Take it easy.
BC: Bye.

Broken Social Scene: website | myspace | photos
Brendan Canning: website | myspace

Photos by: Nick Davis

Tegan Quin @ Terminal 5, NYC, 10/6/08

Without further ado, here is the long-awaited second, and final, part of my interview with Tegan Quin:

Dese’Rae Stage, PopWreck(oning): Are there any other artistic mediums you use to express yourself?
Tegan Quin: Yeah, definitely. I mean, obviously, with the videos. We’re putting together a book. We’re definitely trying out different things and, you know, trying to be creative in different ways. I think that, eventually, we’ll get to a point in our lives where we’ll wanna do something outside of that, like using the other side of our brains, as well. For now, we’re basically involved in every aspect of what we do, from the business side of things to the artistic side of things. We’re all over the map. I’m definitely not smoking pot in my bedroom writing music all day long expecting someone to get me out there. We’re working really hard to make this happen.
PW: That’s awesome. It’s totally what you need to do. It’s amazing to see the change. I’ve been listening to you guys since I was a kid–since my freshman year of college seven years ago.
TQ: It’s really important. I mean, just like everyone’s life, you don’t wanna get stuck. I think, oftentimes, you know, unlike our own lives, when we get into an artist, we want them to stay the same because we want them to remind us constantly of that place we were in when when we first attached to them. I think Sara and I have navigated that change in ourselves and our music with our audience pretty well. There are obviously people that grow out of music and have grown out of us, but it seems, progressively, throughout the ten years that we’ve been making music professionally, we’ve continued to cultivate a really great relationship with our audience that, as we change, they change too. We grow with them and they’re able to accept our changes. There are still enough key ingredients in our performance, in our ability to connect with our audience, that stay the same that, as our music grows and changes and the evolution of Tegan and Sara continues, we’re still recognizable to the audience we had ten years ago.

PW: Who have your musical influences been historically and who are they now? Have they changed much?
TQ: When we started making music, it was like the mid-nineties to late-nineties, so we were into that whole grunge movement and Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young and Bob Dylan and Ani DiFranco and Hayden. We were listening to a lot of that kind of music. As the years have gone by, I’ve gone further back into my past and music that I grew up with, like Cyndi Lauper and Sinead O’Connor and U2 and Dire Straits and Pink Floyd and all the stuff that I was listening to as a little kid. We were freakishly involved with music as kids, too. So, I think I went through that stage through the If It Was You/So Jealous era. I think, nowadays, I’m influenced like everybody else. I’m obviously listening to a lot of indie rock and pop music and, you know, very into electronic music. When I was a teenager, we were really big into the electronic kind of bands, that kind of music scene and stuff. So, the last few years I’ve definitely gotten more interested in involving those elements in our music and listening to that kind of music. We’re contributing some songs to Tiesto‘s new record and we’ve performed with him and I really think he’s great. You know, it’s an example of a type of music that isn’t necessarily obvious that we might listen to, but it’s definitely influential. The melodies and the harmonies and the structure of the songs and stuff–it’s all definitely very much something that we employ when we’re writing our own music.

PW: You have a lot of tattoos. I wanted know if you get the same question I do and how do you respond to it, and that question is: do you ever think about what you’ll look like when you’re 80?
TQ: [laughs] I figure that things are moving along so quickly and laser removal will advance so much that, if it’s really that terrible when I’m fifty, sixty, seventy or whatever, I’ll remove them. But I’ll tell you right now that the last thing I’m probably gonna be thinking about when I’m eighty is what my arms look like.
PW: Fuckin’ right. Thank you.
TQ: I’m not worried about it. Like I said, I figure by that point in time, things will have changed so much and advanced so much that it’ll probably be pretty easy to figure it out. I mean, there’s always sweaters.
PW: Yeah, I just think that’s gonna be the least of my worries.
TQ: Totally. It is absolutely gonna be the least of your worries. I mean, I would never tattoo my face, my hands, my feet–anything I couldn’t cover up.

PW: Before you were able to make ends meet by playing music–I do assume there was a time–what sort of jobs did you guys have?
TQ: When I was in high school, both my dad and step-dad owned home building companies, so I worked on job sites a lot. My last year of high school, I worked in a coffee shop. When I graduated, the first six months that I was out of high school, we were making music, and I worked at a coffee shop again. I got a different job at a different coffee shop, but that’s it; that’s my employment history. Sara did mostly the same. She worked at a music store for awhile and she worked in a cafeteria at the Calgary Zoo. We both, by the time we were basically three or four months out of high school, were making music, so we didn’t have to get real jobs.

PW: I think successful artists are intense by definition. I wanted to know if you found that people in your life have been scared away or spooked by that intensity.
TQ: You know, I think as I’ve gotten older, I’m definitely more aware of the energy that I have. Like, my ability to walk into a room–and I’m a people pleaser, but I’m also extremely gregarious and loud and extroverted and I know that I oftentimes can monopolize and take a lot of space and I have an ability to get a lot of attention on me. I mean, I know how to stand in front of 2,000 people and keep their attention on me, so it’s not hard to do in a party atmosphere. So, I’ve learned how to contain that and not be so much. I’ve also learned to be a little more comfortable with the idea that, just ’cause I’m not talking and I’m not entertaining, it doesn’t mean that anyone’s judging me or thinking, “What’s wrong with Tegan? What’s happening? Why isn’t she talking?” But I’m used to that. I’m used to being quiet and people being like, “What’s wrong?” And me being like, “No, nothing’s wrong, I’m just trying to let it happen.” I definitely feel like that can be uncomfortable and, as an artist, I’m quite aware. I mean, I remember this one time I asked this girl who I’d been chasing for quite awhile why it was so hard. What was the problem? Wasn’t I great? Wasn’t I perfect? She sent me my schedule from my tour page on my MySpace and I was just like, “Okay, I get it.” It’s difficult and I think I make up for that by being so intense. I put a lot into the relationships I have when I’m at home and, you know, it’s a lot. I’m aware of how big I can be sometimes. I was hanging out with some girls the other night who I’d just met and we had this whole big meeting and we got up from the table and we were walking outside and this one girl was like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe how small you are!” I was like, “Oh!” She was like, “I mean, I would have sworn you were the same size as me at the table.” I think that’s just an energy thing. So, I’m definitely cautious and careful about it, but I like my intensity. People who have no energy–I couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.
PW: Totally. Cool. I had to ask that question because people do that to me and I’m like, “Ah! I’m sorry I’m intense!”
TQ: No. Fuck it. Don’t be apologetic. It’s fine.

PW: Holla! Okay, last one. I feel like a lot of people who are in the public eye have trouble carrying on a normal life and I wanted to know how you make new friends or meet a new romantic interest when everyone knows who you are. Do you have to keep your guard up?
TQ: Yeah, of course. It’s not easy. I don’t mean that in a sob story way, kind of like, “Oh, it’s so hard,” but it is. You know, I meet people and I’ve been out of a serious relationship for two and a half years and dating the whole time, and it’s hard. You meet people and they do know who you are and you have to kinda just accept that, or you meet people and they’ve slept with half the people you know and you’re like, “Oh God, really?” You’re not eighteen anymore, you’re not meeting somebody who’s never been with a girl, you’re not meeting someone who’s just out of high school and doesn’t know who you are. It’s really hard. With my age group and the people I’m interested in and the scene I hang out in, I mean, oftentimes I do feel a bit like a zebra being pranced around in a dance club. I don’t feel like people are able to come up and talk to me and be themselves with me because they either think that I’m going to be a certain way or they’re terrified of me and so they’re nervous and creepy and weird and then I’m like, “Ugh, get away from me.” When it comes to making friends, it’s a little bit easier because I’m pretty good at being straightforward and being like, “Okay, you met me. Now it’s time to stop talking about me. Let’s talk about life.” So it’s a little bit easier, but yeah, I’ve been really lucky and blessed to have a lot of really great friends since high school. I meet a lot of really great people through other people I know, so it’s pretty great. I think Sara and I–the one thing that has stayed consistent over the last ten years is that we’re still the same people we were then. We’re very charismatic and we’re very humble, good friends and we try to take as much time as we can for our friends and family. I think it’s pretty easy to attract good people when you’re putting that energy out there.

Photos by Dese’Rae Stage. More at flickr.

The saying goes, “Always the bridesmaid, never the bride,” but marital bliss is not nearly as tempting as new material from The Decemberists, thus I’m content with Always the Bridesmaid. Leaving cheesy leads behind and in all seriousness, Always the Bridesmaid is a series of singles by the Portland artists to help lead up to their 2009 full-length album release entitled Hazards of Love. All these titles sound so optimistic, don’t they?

Vol. I is out October 14th. On one side you have “Valerie Plame,” a bombastic song weighed down by big instruments like trombone and the disparaging lyrics as we learn more about the title lady of many names. On the flip side is the catchy, but sad, “O New England.” In this song, Colin Meloy sings of traveling to New England in rekindle a love flame, “This here is the fable of a failed attempt to find new life in a love in the seat of its origin.” However, when he gets there, he gets scared and realizes it just isn’t going to happen, so he sings, “O New England, in the face of your empire, I think I’d rather just wait in the car.” I wasn’t a big fan of the harmonies on this one, but I loved the lyrics.

The piano-driven Vol. II drops on November 4th. I feel it is the least interesting of the volumes. “Days of Elaine” is a sunny sounding piano number juxtaposed with reflective and solemn lyrics about failed attempts to fix things. “Sticking With You” is a rather vaudevillian number with its staccato chords. It is just so abrupt, it comes off as a amateurish for this band.

The third and final volume, Vol. III, will be released December 2nd. Of the three volumes, this folkier collection is my favorite. The “empire” referred to in the first volume is again referred to in “Record Year” when Meloy sings, “Because I’m watching it slip away and in the annals of the empire did it look this grey before the fall?” A gut-wrenching cello rounds this number out. More lonely and sad lyrics follow in “Raincoat Song,” where Meloy sings, “And the raincoat that you wore when it rained today, I think it only made it rain more.”

Although some or the volumes are more accessible for listeners’ enjoyment, I would recommend checking out the whole series because you can never have too much of the Decemberists in your music collection.

Tracklisting:
Vol. I:
01. Valerie Plame
02. O New England
Vol. II:
01. Days of Elaine
02. Sticking With You
Vol. III:
01. Record Year
02. Raincoat Song

The Decemberists: website | myspace

Written by: Bethany

Pierre de Reeder is best known for his role as a multi-instrumentalist in the band Rilo Kiley, but like the other members of the band, de Reeder occupies his down time with his own songwriting and recording.

Technical Editor Nick caught up with Pierre on the phone to discuss his new album, The Way That it Was. They talked about the album, songwriting, influences, and Pierre’s support for Barack Obama.

Nick, PopWreckoning: How are you doing?
Pierre de Reeder: Doing good, I’m good. How are you?
PW: Great, it’s starting to be fall here in Kansas City so it’s a good time here.
PdR: Oh yeah, what’s the weather like?
PW: It’s cloudy today and maybe about 70, but the leaves are starting to fall and change colors and there’s a lot of energy this time of year.
PdR: Great, great.
PW: So, do you live in Southern California?
PdR: Yeah, I live in LA.
PW: In LA, so you get to travel a lot so do you enjoy the seasons or do you enjoy keeping it the same all year?
PdR: Well yeah, I like the seasons. We do get some semblance of the seasons here. It’s not like anywhere else but, it gets cold and it gets fuggin’ hot. But, yeah we don’t get any good snow but it’s awesome when we get rain which is so infrequent.
PW: But, you get the best of both worlds because you’re only a couple hours from good snow.
PdR: True, true. I’ve been guilty of skiing during the day and going to the beach in the evening.
PW: Yeah that’s not fair. We can do neither.

PW: I’m really interested in knowing what your song writing process is. Do you start with lyrics or melody or chords or does it just vary with the song?
PdR: It’s very song dependent. It does vary, but I don’t know if its any one strategy I have. The songs come to me in different ways. Sometimes they come as just a melody popping into my head and I’ll start there and I’ll write some music around it. But I think more often it will start either with me practicing on the guitar or piano and something musical first happens, and then a melody comes along. But sometimes it all comes at once, you know? I’ll just pick up a guitar and something pops out twenty minutes later. It just depends on the song, but that’s more rare. But yeah, it’s everything. It’s all of the above. There is no one formula for me.

PW: How many times do you come up with something great and then someone else tells you it’s something else you’ve already heard?
PdR: I think I’m more guilty of saying that to other people. It’s always described to me as my job in Rilo Kiley to point out how similar some riff or something was from some other song. I try to avoid that. I’m pretty keenly aware of that. Though I’m guilty of it, I’m sure. There’s nothing new under the sun, as they say. So, yeah. I don’t know. It doesn’t really happen to me that often though maybe I’m littered with it. I don’t know.

PW: This album, your first solo release, is very polished and mature and has some great song writing in there without being overly layered and overly complex. Who has been your greatest song writing mentor?
PdR: Certainly some of the greats for me are the some of the greats for so many people. Like the Beatles, Neil Young and definitely my peers are mentors to me, just the people I’m surrounded with. Great musicians and song writers I’m associated with. So yeah, it’s a lot of outward kind of associated things and the things that I love through out my life and people I’m surrounded with, I guess.
That wasn’t a really specific answer, very broad I know but I think it’s true because everything I think we all are influenced by all of those things. I mean there is no way to pick. I guess you could say you’re totally into one band and you love the sound and you really try to emulate them, but we’re so influenced by so many things over such a long time span, you know, that it all kind of filters into the music you make.

PW: If those are your kind of long term influences, who do you like right now? Who are you listening to now that you think is great?
PdR: Right now, I’m actually back on a lot of the classics. I’ve been spinning a lot of vinyl around the house. I found this old Wings record. There’s certainly some contemporary things that are awesome like Benji Hughes who just went out with us- he’s awesome.
I get flustered being on point with these questions, about what record I’m buying or what I’m listening to. But again, peers. I’m a sucker for my friends’ bands. I’m a sucker for the stuff my friend Michael Runion does, or Whisper Town, or Jonathan Rice. Nik Freitas, another rad dude who we were touring with and he has a lot of records out.

PW: It’s nice to hear PopWreckoning favorite Morgan Nagler (of Whispertown2000) on your album as well.
PdR: Yeah, I got her and some friends together and sang up a chorus or two.
PW: How does that work, you just put out a phone call and tell a bunch of people to show up and they lay down some tracks?
PdR: I guess so, that just had happened to be one day where I had this vision for a whole bunch of people singing and different parts of a few different songs and so I asked my good friends and people that happened to be around.
Jake Bellows [of Neva Dinova] was in town so it was like, “That’s awesome!” So just some friends and I was like “Hey! What about Saturday?” and he was like “Yeah, alright!” So everyone came by. Not that I know it was a Saturday.

PW: It looks like you were able to bring your daughter into that process. Was that the first time she’s taken part in your music officially?
PdR: Yeah, yeah.
PW: Did she enjoy that process?
PdR: (laughing) Yeah, she really does.
PW: Are you trying to get her down the road? I have two girls so I have one about the same age as your daughter and I find it fun to get her involved. We did a little Garage Band project a few months ago. Do you try to encourage that with your daughter?
PdR: I definitely encourage it. She’s self-encouraged, though. She just loves “it,” whatever “it” is. She’s just like a little performer, you know?
PW: Yeah, I have one of those too.
PdR: She just loves doing that kind of stuff. I definitely don’t want to be a stage mom or dad pushing her to do anything but she does finds it on her own and things come up like this for her, like people ask her to be in a video or some song. She did a record for a kid’s band and all of this stuff just keeps coming to her and she just loves it.
PW: Well that’s great, my daughter, we did a Garage Band project and ended up shooting a video and she realized quickly that it’s not as fun as it all looks. There’s a lot of work involved.
PdR: A lot of it is just waiting, just waiting around.

PW: So I’ve read an essay you wrote about Obama and I see you’re a big Obama supporter. What are you doing over the next month to help out?
PdR: Well, coincidentally enough I get to participate in this really awesome commercial tomorrow that Shepard Fairy, the guy who did the Obama posters and also did obey Jock the Giant, is doing. It’s an official Obama campaign commercial that’s shooting tomorrow and I get to go in and do a sixty second speech on what I think and why, and blah blah blah. Tons of people are going to show up and do this tomorrow and just getting to be a part of that and who knows if a snippet of me will be in there or not, but just being able to get on the pulpit a little bit tomorrow for that experience is exciting.
PW: It seems like these days that artists are completely past the worry that they are going to offend any of the fans and they are wearing everything pretty blatantly on their sleeves.
PdR: Yeah, thankfully.
PW: I think maybe the Dixie Chicks led the way and took a little heat on it with their crowd but it seems like now it’s pretty acceptable. We were at ACL last week and it seemed pretty much every show made a mention of change and Obama.
PdR: The more the better, you know? It’s a crazy time everyone’s got to wear it on their sleeve. It’s the most patriotic thing they can do. It’s cliché to say but it is.

PW: Any back up plans if it doesn’t go our way?
PdR: I truly was one of those people when Bush got elected the very first time – before he got elected I didn’t know what I’d do. I thought there was something crazy about this dude and I didn’t know what was going to happen to us if he got elected. I heard some people like Alec Baldwin were going to leave the country, and I was the same way and this was all before Bush’s first term, so I had those similar pangs. But I’m not going to leave the country, I’m not going to do anything. What am I going to do? Just hang in there like everyone else and hope for the best.

PW: Yeah, I know. I read that you designed the Rilo Kiley t-shirt for the Yellow Bird Project. Is that true?
PdR: Yeah.
PW: So you paint or do other visual arts as well?
PdR: Yeah, I paint to some extent. A kind of amateur, for-love-of-painting kind of way. I have always dabbled in the arts. But, yeah I do a lot of design.
I have done most of the Rilo Kiley album covers, and I painted my record cover and all of the artwork, and Jenny Lewis’ record cover and yeah I do that. I do everyone’s record covers and photo retouching and all of that kind of junk. And artwork and advertising so yeah, I definitely do that.
It’s kind of been a sideline of mine forever. I used to teach graphic design. I just dabble in painting. I don’t really do it, but I did get to do it on my record cover which was fun.
PW: My wife has that Yellow Bird shirt, by the way, and just loves it. It’s a beautiful shirt.
PdR: It was great doing the Yellow Bird Project.
PW: And the Elliot Smith Memorial Fund is another cool thing to see on the back of that shirt.
PdR: Yeah, for sure.

PW: Let’s go to the new album. What is your favorite track now that you have had some time to let it sit and roll around, what do you go back to as your favorite?
PdR: I don’t know, that’s such a hard thing to answer. I’m so close and personal to each one of them. Its really hard to pick a favorite. There are different ones that are with me for different reasons.
There’s a slower one on the record called “A Long Conversation”. I don’t know why, it just has a mood about it that I really enjoy playing live and how it came across on the record. “The Way That It Was”, the title track, is another favorite. They are all obviously incredibly personal and I have a different relationship with each one, it’s like different children. I don’t which one I love best.

PW: How many songs do you write that don’t make an album? Are you prolific and just take the best ones, or do you take one and work on it for a long time?
PdR: I mean it’s kind of a mixed bag there, too. There are certainly a number of songs that didn’t make it on this record so there are a lot of finished or unfinished or whatever songs floating around out there. So I don’t know how prolific I am. More than some, much less than others.
I definitely can whittle away at a song for a long time or I could finish it quickly. I guess I’m more of a whittler with songs, especially with recording so much of this record myself. It lent itself to whittling where I’d have to do the drums and the bass and the guitar, and then experiment, and do whatever. It’s a long whittling process, and through that sometimes a song comes out much different than I started or sort of intended.

PW: I really like “Not How I Believe” at the end of the album and I really like the message of it: have a little bit of modesty and honesty. Does that hurt in trying to do a lot of self promotion around your album? Is it difficult for you to go out and sell this thing?
PdR: It is. I’m terrible about wanting to do that stuff but I am pragmatic about having to do it. I started a record company to release this record and so at least I can hide behind that and kind of use any promotion through the record company doing it (even though it’s me). I have to do tons of other stuff: be kind of business savvy, and getting all the ducks in a row and that kind of stuff, but yeah I try to remain modest with it all, too. It’s a hard thing to do, but, yeah those are tenets of me in general, like being honest and modest, and humble and sincere and confident, all at the same time.
PW: I think it definitely comes through in your work and I see a lot of, even with these troubled times, some optimism in here, quite a bit of it actually.
PdR: Yeah, I am optimistic. I always have been optimistic. Realistic, but optimistic.
PW: Yeah I think that’s great, it does come through. I really enjoyed the album.
PdR: Thanks.

PW: It’s definitely grown on me. I have listened to it quite a bit in the last few weeks. Is there anyone you really want to collaborate with or maybe even, since you have a label now, get a project going with someone else in the future?
PdR: I guess there would be so many people I would love to, I don’t know. Again I mean I love working with all of my friends and I love doing that and I would love to continue to do that with just about every one but I’ve encountered musically and I would love to have them all play with me in some sense on some recording or whatever.
From [Michael] Runion to Benji [Hughes], to Conor [Oberst], and everyone who is associated with everyone, I would love to play with them all. With everyone I have played music with and I’d love to have them involved with my stuff. And then it expands out to the greater big world of I don’t know. Yeah, I would love to play with anybody and everybody.
PW: Those tracks that have the chorus on them, it just seems like your having a lot of fun in there, and that does come through. I think that’s all I have for you.
PdR: Cool, that’s awesome.
PW: Thank you very much! It was great talking to you I wish you the best of luck.

Tour Dates:
Oct 24 – Rio Theatre / Santa Cruz, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)
Oct 28 – Herbst Theatre / San Francisco, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)
Oct 29 – Herbst Theatre / San Francisco, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)
Oct 30 – Orpheum Theatre / Los Angeles, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)
Nov 01 – UCSD Price Center Ballroom / San Diego, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)

Pierre de Reeder: website | myspace

Having slept for more than 3 hours, Editor in Chief Jessica and I found ourselves out the door and headed to the park in a somewhat timely manner. Pausing for only a moment at a local McDonald’s (ew, right?) [Ed. Note: fruit and yogurt parfait is delish!] for breakfast, we pointed our bodies toward the dust pit that was Zilker Park.

11:45-12:30 // Langhorne Slim // Dell Stage
As we shifted through the somewhat modest morning crowd, making our way towards the Dell Dome to get Jessica’s hair teased into the finest of “America’s Next Top Model” mode, we managed to catch a few songs from Kemado Records’ Langhorne Slim. Their mellow yet manic songs seemed to set the perfect soundtrack for what appeared to be the makings of a pretty calm start to a festival that would eventually peak into a frenzy at the hands of Beck. Yet, listening to these boys, better suited for a dive bar than a giant showcase, they seemed determined to hold their own regardless of the makeup of their surroundings. Scene be damned, Langhorne Slim gave the day their all, coloring me impressed. I fully expect myself to make an effort to seek out this band again.

Langhorne Slim, Photo: epochshot

12:30-1:30 // Old 97s // AT&T Stage
Since 1996, I have loved the Old 97s, yet have never been blessed with the chance to see them play. Needless to say, there was no way in hell I was missing there set at this year’s ACL. I must say I was rather pleased to experience how fluently their mix of alt-country twang and standard pop riffs carried over into their live act. Furthermore, watching Jess shake her ass in time to one of my favorite bands, having just discovered them, was one of my most coveted ACL experiences.

1:30-2:00 // Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed (interview) // Dell Dome
While waiting in line for the aforementioned teased out mess of a faux hawk Jess had to have, we got to overhear one of the many artist interviews that took place in the Dell Dome over the weekend. Jess was excited that we happened to be there for 50′s style rocker Eli “Paperboy” Reed, whom she had seen at Download: Philadelphia.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed

Following an extended stay in the Dell Dome, checking out some rad art by Mike Ming and making new friends (sup Andrea!), we headed back to the media area for a couple interviews. I must admit, I went into my interview with MGMT with a bit of apprehension. It has been stated pretty heavily and bluntly that these boys were moody, pretentious pricks who would have little to no issue with tearing you down if you rubbed them the wrong way. Turns out, however, those rumors could not have been more false. Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, simply sat and hung out with us, more or less, even opting to remain in conversation with us for nearly 20 minutes after the interview had ended. Sadly, the party had to be broken up in order for Jessica and I to hang with a different sent of boys, Electric Touch.

MGMT, Photo: Quiet Color

Local rockers Electric Touch were fabulous guys, who Jessica had seen play with The Airborne Toxic Event in Philadelphia not long before. She was excited to sit and chat while I wandered off to take full advantage at all the media tent had to offer. [Ed Note: Electric Touch are super sweet and fun guys.]

3:30-4:30 // Man Man // Dell Stage
Man Man easily had the set of the day, in my opinion. Honus Honus (nee Ryan Kattel) and company, decked out in white, shook their ass and won the hearts of all those in attendance. The crowd mirrored Honus on “Ballad of Butterbeans,” jiggling car keys and other noise makers in a manner that would make one think they were part of a Dr. Seuss book. Actually, Man Man’s set tends to remind me more of a trip to the circus than a day watching music. This is, however, not meant to take away from how musically talented and innovative this group is. It is nearly impossible to not get swept up into their infectious riffs, which hook you in, and keep you longing for more. Kudos to Man Man for being just catchy enough to become the only set on day two that we watched in it entirety.

Honus Honus of Man Man, Photo: Quiet Color

4:30-5:30 // Erykah Badu // AT&T Stage
On our way to catch dinner in the media area, Jess and I were lucky enough to catch a bit of the legendary Erykah Badu. I was really quite impressed by her abilities to belt out notes that I’m not positive most people could even reach. Her version of “Amazing Grace,” sung near the end of her set, was on of the most beautiful renditions I have ever heard in my life. It highlighted her abilities to speak to a crowd of people at Austin City Limits, who otherwise might never have had the desire to see her sing. I know I’m a convert.

Erykah Badu, Photo: Quiet Color

5:15-6:00 // Electric Touch // Austin Ventures
Known for their high energy act, Electric Touch did not disappoint. With guitars flying and bodies moving, these Austin boys burned their hometown to the ground, stealing the crowd from fan favorites, MGMT, who happened to be playing (loudly) directly to our left. And while, MGMT may be the critics pick, easily playing to 25,000 people, Electric Touch, with its crowd of 1,000 was easily your best buy.

5:30-6:30 // MGMT // AT&T Blue Room Stage
Due to their popularity, Jess and I were forced to watch MGMT from something like the 10,000th row away from the stage. So, while their sound seemed to be right on the money and the energy of the crowd appeared to be pushing toward a near frenzy, we hung around for “Time to Pretend,” before bailing to find a closer place to watch Conor [Oberst] (and fit in a tiny nap).

MGMT, Photo: Quiet Color

6:30-7:30 // Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band // AT&T Stage
While we had both already seen Bright Eyes, I had a feeling that Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band would be nothing like Oberst’s driving force of success. I was right. While I have always openly admitted that I find Conor to be a touch beyond emotional, bordering on manic and whining, I have also always credited him with being a genius. To me, the Mystic Valley Band not only confirms this, but solidifies it. With a bit of a Bob Dylan meets Ryan Adams sound to it, Oberst comes of a bit more aged and worn than in previous works. Furthermore, his live show remains tight and crammed with energy, making him a fairly difficult act to follow. Luckily for us, Beck was to follow him on the AT&T stage, and he’s not too shabby either.

8:30-10:00 // Beck // AT&T Stage
Opening with “Loser,” Beck straight up went for the kill from the very beginning. Follow that with “Devil’s Haircut” and “Timebomb,” and you’ve pretty much set the tone for a fairly kick ass set. Undoubtedly, the crowd, consisting of roughly 50,000 people agreed, as they gave their full attention to one slightly shy and awkward long-haired man. To my surprise, however, Beck was very crowd interactive, instead of offish and closed off, which I naturally assumed he would be.

Beck, Photo: Autumn DeWilde

However, torn between seeing a current legend in Beck, or a pair of established legends in Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Jess and I took the high road, choosing to catch half of both.

8:15-9:30 //Robert Plant & Alison Krauss // AMD Stage
I can think of a lot of artists I would love to shove together on stage, just to see what the results would be. Yet, to be perfectly honest, I am not sure I would have ever thought to place Robert Plant, formerly of Led Zepplin, next to Alison Krauss, easily one of the biggest names in bluegrass. However, there is no questioning that this all-star combination just gels. Their blended vocals compliment one another like I have never experienced before. Their rather beautiful set felt to be a fairly flawless way to end and pretty well planned lineup. I couldn’t have asked for more.

The duo were a bit cheated by the overpowering volume of Beck’s set across the park, but it did little to detract from the lovely sounds Plant and Krauss produced. Clearly annoyed at the competition, but laughing it away, Plant referred to Beck and company as “The Village People.” Not cool — twas the sound guy’s fault. We peaced out of ACL dancing to Beck’s “Where It’s At” before happening upon a ridiculous disco dance party outside of a random juice bar on Barton Springs Road, not far from the park’s entrance. Preferring sleep to disco inferno, we continued on our way, stoked for the culmination of one of the greatest festivals of the summer.

Stay tuned for Day 3!

Austin City Limits: website | day 1