popwreckoning

The Gallery is a rock band that knows how to write catchy hooks and sharp lyrics. The Florida band by way of Massachusetts is made up of brothers Brendan Cooney (vocals/guitar) and Ryan Cooney (drums) and their friends Shea Brennan (guitar) and Dave Mozdzanowski (bass/vocals).The band recently performed at SXSW 2011 and took some time to chat with PopWreckoning about their Come Alive EP, the festival and future plans. You can read the full interview below.

Bethany, PopWreckoning: Let’s start at the beginning. Where’d you guys meet and how did you form the Gallery?
Ryan Cooney, drummer: Brendan [Cooney] is my brother, so we met at my house. Haha. Shea [Brennan] lives in our town and Dave [Mozdzanowski] lives near by, so we’ve all been friends. We’ve played together and we kind of branched off from all the people that we were playing with and started playing in our basement and went from there. 

PW: I know on your bio that is says you’re all from Massachusetts, but you call Florida your second home. What’s the connection between the two?
Dave Mozdzanowski, bassist: We went to school down there. I went down for school, then Ry came down after a couple of years and then these two guys [Brendan and Shea] came down a couple years after. Then we met a lot of friends down there, so we have all those connections.

PW: For people who haven’t heard your band, how would you describe your sound and what are some of your influences?
Ryan: We just say rock. It’s so easy to put a bunch of adjectives in there, but I guess people say it has a kind of folk feel. We do listen to a lot of music like that. Bob Dylan – we’ve learned a lot from his songs. Then Tom Petty, 90s rock bands like Oasis or Third Eye Blind or Matchbox 20. We like everything, so I guess it just comes together to form some sort of rock music.

PW: You guys have a lot of support from a lot of online and print publications. You were just involved with a Rolling Stone unsigned cover battle contest. How did you get picked for that? Is that still going on?
The Gallery: We got involved in it – we played Miami for a festival that someone in the industry suggested that we go to and then next thing you know, we got picked. We were just in the top 16. The top 8 have already moved on. It’s over now for us.

PW: You guys have been playing every single day of SXSW. What have you learned from your experience and if you had to, what would be in a SXSW survival kit for you?
Ryan: We’ve…moderation would be the key, probably. A lot of bands, I’m sure, only play one set or a couple sets and then have the rest of the week to do whatever they want, but if you’re busy playing everyday, it’s probably not the best idea to stay up really late. Especially if you’re sleeping on the floor of hotel. We’re at the Marriott – downtown Marriott. We had to sneak in through the garage last night. Take it easy, enjoy the music and stay busy.

PW: What have been some of the craziest or coolest things you’ve seen since you’ve been here?
Brendan Cooney, singer/guitar: We were actually saying it’s not exactly as crazy as we thought it would be. I think it’s just the type of people that are attracted to this kind of music fest. There have been a lot of drunk people. That’s the craziest that I’ve seen. Coolest things? We only caught one song, but this Augustana set – that song – was the best song that I’ve seen all of SXSW.
Ryan: I feel like yesterday [Friday] we saw the best bands. At least my preference.
The Gallery: This guy from The Testament over at Rusty Spurs – this jazz fusion thing. That was the best.

PW: What’s next for you after SXSW?
Brendan: We’re actually going back to Florida and we’re playing some music festivals in Florida. Then we’re going to tour up the East coast and do some shows in the New England area. Then we’re going to hit the road for a month or so after that.

PW: You guys just released an EP. Is there a plan for a full-length?
The Gallery: We’re kind of playing it by ear. We’re not sure, but we’re always writing, so there’s always an opportunity for the next release.

The Gallery’s Come Alive EP is available now. Get it on iTunes and Bandcamp at thegallerymusic.bandcamp.com.

Ethereal Brooklyn act Acrylics had a busy schedule at 2011′s SXSW, but they found some time to catch up with PopWreckoning. The synth heavy duo, Jason Klauber and Molly Shea, chats about new album Lives and Treasure, Super moon vibes and the influence of “Twin Peaks. Check the full interview out below: 

PopWreckoning: You just played a set here at SXSW, earlier, right?
Jason Klauber, Acrylics: Yes.
PW: Was that your first SXSW performance ever?
Molly Shea, Acrylics: First of this year.

PW: You’re a fairly new band and you just had an EP that came out on Grizzly Bear‘s Chris Gehringer‘s label – the first to come out on his label. How did you get hooked up with him?
JK: Pretty much we’re a part of that Brooklyn band cesspool. We’ve crossed path Chris over the years and he thought it’d be fun to have us record some sessions. These sessions ended up being put out as an EP, so they just put it out. At the time they were just doing singles, and we were just going to record a single, but it stretched out into a 5-song thing. It was really casual. We spent about a week in a church that he records out of. It was really fun to do that. That was our first release and we’re putting out a new record – well it just came out.
MS: It came out March 1.
JK: We’ve been working on it for so long that it’s hard to say – to put it in the past tense, but it did come out.

PW: It’s still pretty new. Present tense. Now on that record, you did a song with Chairlift‘s Caroline Polachek.
MS: She’s just a friend that we met three or four years ago just through musicians in Brooklyn. It’s really true about Brooklyn, I guess.

PW: Well how would you describe that Brooklyn scene? Is it like just being in a family or…?
MS: It’s so huge that there’s so many different groups of bands that know each other. It’s hard to classify the whole sphere.
JK: It’s more of a social thing. Musicians like to hang out with musicians, and there’s a lot of them in Brooklyn. It’s as simple as that. With Caroline, she came to visit us in the studio one day and we had that song going.
MS: Very casual event.
JK: Yeah, we said you want to sing some backup vox? And she said yes, so next thing you know she’s singing.
MS: We thought it was the perfect song for her.
JK: She did some vocal athletics at the end of the song and it’s very atmospheric. Like, “ah-ah-ah-ah,” so we thought she deserved a feature and credit on it.
MS: It was a vocal solo.
JK: She’s a phenomenal singer, so it’s just fun to have her lend her talents to what we were working on.

. “Sparrow Song” ft. Caroline Polachek

PW: So for people who haven’t heard your music, why should they check your record out?
JK: It’s a good record.
MS: We put our hearts and souls into it. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true.
JK: I think there’s some good songs on it and it’s produced in a way that makes it a great record to listen to by yourself in an intimate space. It was created much with that type of intimacy. It’s like watching a movie that takes you from place A to place B while you’re lying in bed. I think you can achieve something similar if you run through the course of our record a few times as well.
MS: It’s a personal, intimate record. I imagine people listening to it on their headphones.
JK: It’s certainly not for everybody, but I think that people who will connect to it, will connect and have connected, in a very sincere and meaningful way. That’s what it’s about for us.

PW: Who are some of your influences on the record?
MS: Tough question.
PW: That’s supposed to be one of the easy questions.
JK: Haha, yeah. We didn’t want to sound like anybody else, but if we ended up sounding like everybody else, it can be a good thing, you know?
MS: We listen to a lot of different – I mean, I love a lot of 60s psychedelic music. I love a lot of loud, hard rock. That might not have come across in an obvious way on the record, but it’s there. We have a lot of punk rock roots that we feel are strong.
JK: I was in the middle of the “Twin Peaks” series when we were making the record so a lot of the Angelo Badalamenti scores for that project had some influence over the sound. In terms of the songwriting, we were just taking from everywhere. For me – most of those songs are just written on acoustic guitar in your bedroom. You decide as just two people how to build up your sound. I think we were interested in cinematic, rich, layered textures. When we were making this record, I wanted something that was connected to a classic, rooted American feeling, but we also wanted to bring in other worldly elements, so that together you’re home, but also somewhere else. You know, that feeling when you come home from being away and you feel great to be home, but at the same time, home looks different than how you remembered it. That sense of being somewhere else when you’re somewhere familiar. That sort of weird – we were going for that.

PW: Since we’re talking while at SXSW and this is kind of a huge and crazy festival, what are some of the coolest and craziest things you’ve seen while here?
JK: A fight! We saw a really crazy fight.
MS: We walked really far into East Austin to check out our friends Das Racist play yesterday. It took us about on hour to get there and it was in a strange part of town and a fight broke out after the show.
JK: Like someone getting his head stomped kind of fight. Very scary. Everyone ran out. It was like walking out into rural Arkansas in the 1960s. We live in the ghetto of New York, so…
MS: We love that kind of shit. We love to go on adventures like that.
JK: We lapped it up like a cat.
MS: We saw all sorts of strange things happen the other night.
JK: There’s this thing called the extreme super moon, which is coming on Saturday. It means that the moon is the closest to Earth that it’s been in 18 years. I think this stuff happening coincidentally with the super moon, is dark vibes.
MS: So everyone be vigilant.
JK: We thrive off those sorts of vibes. We wear black on the outside because black is how we feel on the inside. Haha. I say with a smile. Haha.

PW: Haha. So what’s next for you after South by?
MS: We’re going on a national tour, late April to May, with Junip – Jose Gonzalez‘ band. So we’re super stoked about that because we’ve never done a full tour.
JK: We’re bringing the message to the people. We’re in the process of writing a new record as well.

PW: One record just out and you’re already doing the next one?
G: Absolutely. We stay working. All the time. Writing. That’s what we do.

You can find more about the Arcylics, including tour dates, at myspace.com/acrylicsnyc.

upcoming CD Release party next week in NYC at The Knitting Factory.  PW readers a pair of tickets to the CD release show

NYC-based indie trio The Nowherenauts formed during their early teen years, brother and sister Anders and Sofie Kapur were introduced by Guided By Voices drummer, Kevin March, to Hunter Lombard. Along with live drummer Tony Franco, the three songwriters and musicians have been hailed by The New York Times as “effective miners of late-80s and early-90s indie rock, with a ferocious lead guitarist…and a kinetic lead singer.” They have played various legendary NYC venues, including The Living Room and The Bowery Ballroom, where they opened for art-punk heroes, Shudder to Think. The band is set to release their long-awaited, debut album at The Knitting Factory in NYC on Wednesday, May 4, 2011. PopWreckoning chatted with the trio about how the band formed, their first show, and what we can expect from The Nowherenauts in the future. 

Also, The Nowherenauts are giving one lucky PopWreckoning reader the chance to win a pair of tickets to the CD release party. In the interview below, the Nowherenauts share their favorite NYC venues. To enter, comment and tell us your favorite venue by May 2 at 2  p.m. EST. We’ll pick a winner then. Please use a valid email address.

Brianna Hernandez, PopWreckoning: You hail from NYC and met when you were very young. How did you meet and how old were you?
Hunter Lombard, The Nowherenauts: I met Sofie and Anders at a music school in the city when I was 12 years old.
Anders Kapur, The Nowherenauts: Sophie and I met Hunter in like 2006 or 2007. So at this point, we’ve all been playing music together in some capacity for at least four years.

PW: When did you each start playing an instrument? What are your musical backgrounds?
Hunter: I started playing guitar when I was 10. Jack White was a huge influence as a guitar player.
Anders: I started playing bass in 6th grade. A bunch of my friends had a cover band together, and, feeling left out, I borrowed a shitty bass from my friend’s dad so I could learn to play. My musical evolution pretty much followed that of your typical rocker kid; I started playing and loving classic rock like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, and through the years my tastes and playing style have gravitated more toward modern sounds.
Sofie Kapur: I started playing violin when I was in second grade, but stopped around the time I started singing and taking piano lessons, when I was eleven. My dad’s dad played jazz piano and my mom’s dad loved classical music so there’s a little bit of both influences there. Also, my parents always loved music and played pretty much everything they liked when we were younger, like: New Order, The Who, Dar Williams, and Ella Fitzgerald to name a few. It was a very wide range though.

PW: How did Kevin March of Guided By Voices influence you to start a band?
Anders: Kevin taught at the music program where Sofie and I met Hunter, so I guess he recognized our potential from our time there. Kevin brought us all together as a sort of “music experiment,” and we kind of grew into our own from there. He’s been a huge help and we wouldn’t be where we are without him.
Sofie: Kevin’s vision and inspiration is what got us together in the first place, otherwise Anders and I may have never played with Hunter.

PW: What is the story behind the name, The Nowherenauts?
Anders: Well, we had a different name, Blame the Patient, but due to some unfortunate, unforeseen circumstances we had to change it. So we’d be on stage and people would yell “What band are you guys?” and someone else would shout, “They’re Blame the Patient!” And we’d say, “No we’re not!” That evolved into NowhereNauts, and it stuck.

PW: Critics have noted your 80′s and 90′s sound. Is that how would you describe your sound and style?
Hunter: As a band, we’re definitely influenced by music from the 80s and 90s, but each of us has such different tastes in music that we like to think that our sound isn’t pigeonholed into one era or genre.
Anders: I guess it’s a fair comparison, because that stuff definitely does influence us. But I don’t know how I’d describe our sound. It’s difficult. There are a lot of influences in there. We’re just trying to make music that everyone can enjoy!

PW: What was your first show like?
Anders: Our first show was a mess. We were all in high school back then, and we played this showcase at the Cake Shop with a bunch of other high school bands from around NYC. Pretty much every other band there wanted to borrow a piece of our gear, we couldn’t hear ourselves, and I’m pretty sure I broke a bass string in the middle of the set. But it was still a fun experience. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.
Sofie: It was nerve-wracking primarily because we had never played our own music for anyone before. We had practiced together and were used to that, but playing a song you wrote for complete strangers can be scary, especially when it’s a new experience.

PW: NYC is a such a great hub for live music. What have been some of your favorite places to play? How are The Nowherenauts able to stand out among all the other NYC bands?
Hunter: My favorite place to play, so far, has been the Bowery Ballroom. We played there opening for Shudder to Think a few years ago. The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn also has a really cool stage and great sound.
Anders: NYC is THE place to be if you’re a musician. We’ve had the opportunity to play at the Bowery Ballroom and the Mercury Lounge, which are both awesome venues that are also humbling to play as well. But we’ve also played smaller and more intimate shows at places like Spike Hill (in Williamsburg) and the Rock Shop that are always a lot of fun too. So far, we’ve mostly played in opening slots, so our goal for those shows is to make our act impossible to follow. The comment I keep hearing is “You guys are really tight!” It comes from college students, 20-something hipsters, elderly, high school kids, small children, scenesters, metalheads, people who just happen to be hanging out at the bar at the venue we’re playing…. If that broad a range of people care enough to tell me that after our shows, I figure we must be doing something right!

PW: If you weren’t playing music in The Nowherenauts, what would you be doing?
Hunter: I would still be making music. I would probably have another band and hope that everyone loved playing music as much as I do.
Anders: That’s a possible scenario? I guess I’d have to be playing music is some other band.
Sofie: I honestly have no idea. Possibly perpetually competing with my twin sister.

PW: What is your creative process like when you are writing a song and creating music?
Hunter: It varies. Sometimes one of us will bring in an idea and we’ll all work on it, but other times we’ll just get to rehearsal and jam until we have a song.
Sofie: Usually we come up with music and melodies and the lyrics follow. Everyone suggests ideas and plays around until we hit on something we like. It’s not until we have the basic idea that we start to really give the song a form and meaning lyric-wise.

PW: Who/What inspires your music and lyrics?
Hunter: Television and movies. I came up with the riff for “Delightfully Distracted” while I was watching Hannah and Her Sisters. I like to write lyrics with a specific character or relationship in mind, but personal experiences and people I know always help too.
Anders: We all have very different backgrounds, and I think that comes through in our writing. Hunter’s guitar playing is very influenced by Jack White and St. Vincent. I like to think of my bass playing as halfway between Peter Hook and Matt Sharp (from Weezer). And nobody can seem to pin Sofie’s influences down, which makes for something very original and interesting.
Sofie: For a lot of my melodies I listen to other singers and if there are little hooks or stylistic things they use I’ll try to capture the essence of those bits. I also try to write some lyrics as I work on melodies and polish them later. They come from books I’m reading and ideas I have. I also try to take my point of view on a situation and twist it or flip it so what I’m singing is more interesting. In fact, sometimes I even combine thoughts or experiences in one song or line to get the right mood.

PW: Who/What are you currently listening to?
Hunter: Recently I’ve been listening to Austra, Tune-Yards, Twin Shadow, Washed Out, The Avalanches, and Fever Ray.
Anders: Maybe it’s a reaction to everyone comparing us to bands from the 80s and 90s, I don’t know, but I’ve gotten more and more into that music recently. So a lot of Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., New Order, Wire, early Weezer, stuff like that. I’ve also been getting deep into a wide range of Brazilian music. But no matter what it is, rock, folk, psychedelic, samba, cheesy popular dance music like Forró, it’s all united by a strong rhythm section. As a bass player, I’m really drawn to that
Sofie: I just recently bought three albums down in Chapel Hill, NC. One was a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album and I’ve been listening to that nonstop for the past week. I tend to listen to albums I like to death. Then I listen to them some more

PW: What does the remainder of 2011 have in store for The Nowherenauts?
Anders: We have our record release on May 4 at the Knitting Factory, so after that, just gigging around and seeing where the year takes us! Writing and recording perhaps? A second album? I’m excited for whatever comes our way.
Sofie: The album release show is a looming event. We’re working like mad to be ready for it. After that we’re hoping we can keep playing and building our fan base. We have to get our music out there so that’s priority number one at the moment; let people listen and hope that they like our sound.

Fort Collins-based dream pop band Candy Claws, played Larimer Lounge last Thursday alongside Santa Barbara indie rockers Gardens & Villa and Denver electro pop duo, FLASHLIGHTS to an amiable crowd who turned an otherwise quiet night into a blissful dance party. Candy Claws’ conceptual indie pop has recently struck a chord with various music publications and critics, including Pitchfork, as fresh and ambitious. Founding member Ryan discussed the band’s experience at SXSW with PopWreckoning, and explained the intent behind “Candy Claws in Dreamland,” a series of “documentary vignettes about nature,” that the band is releasing weekly.

Brianna Hernandez, PopWreckoning: Where does the name “Candy Claws” stem from?
Ryan, Candy Claws: The name Candy Claws sets up a vivid contrast – sharp danger with sweet innocence. There’s not much of a story behind it, just two words that sound cool together. It also rings of Christmastime.

PW: How did you come up with the idea for the “Dreamland” series? Did you approach Pitchfork about featuring them or did they come to you?
CC: Whenever we’re trying out new sounds for an album, we like to put them to video to help get the right feel. This time, we figured we’d make it a weekly thing, and let everyone hear and see what we’re up to. We live right next to the mountains, so beautiful footage is just a car ride away. Our wonderful publicist and label guys worked their magic with Pitchfork.

PW: Explain your creative process.
CC: We think of our theme first. It was the sea, then the forest, and next will be the Mesozoic Era. That helps to give a specific direction for the sounds and arrangements. We work on chords and melodies next, recording everything as we write. Lyrics come very last.

PW: You are largely inspired by nature. What else inspires your music and writing?
CC: Science and the scientific mindset. The world is incredibly beautiful, bizarre, and enthralling the closer you look at it, the further back you step. Thinking about deep time and the far future. Carl Sagan. The cosmos. Evolution. Burt Bacharach, George Gershwin, Tchaikovsky. Golden Guides.

PW: What made you want to record Christmas songs?
CC: Some of the best songs ever are Christmas songs. They have the perfect balance of sweetness and melancholy, some very clever chord changes, exciting dream pop instrumentation – sleigh bells, etc. It seemed worthwhile to add to the canon.

PW: What is it like performing with your close friends? Do they get to weigh in on the creative process? Do you ever have any disagreements?
CC: It works, for the most part. It just Kay and I making all the creative decisions on the records, so when the time comes for everyone to learn the songs for the live set the parts are already there.

PW: Your previous work has been inspired by “The Sea Around Us” by Rachel Carson and “Secret Life of the Forest” by Richard M. Ketchum? How did you get into Carson and Ketchum?
CC: I found Rachel Carson’s “The Sea Around Us” at my grandparents’ house, and fell in love at once. They have an extensive collection of really great, old science books. I love to visit and poke around for new material. Lots of Sagan, Attenborough, etc. Kay found Richard Ketchum’s “The Secret Life of the Forest” at a used bookstore in town. The illustrations were what convinced us to buy it, and when we read through it the words were just as inspiring.

PW: You performed at SXSW for a second year in a row this year. What was your experience like?
CC: SXSW was a blast. It was a special time because SXSW 2010 was our first time out on the road, so this year was sort of an anniversary for us. It’s our favorite fest to play, by far. It was hot and chaotic, and all the people and bands we’ve been in touch with over the year were all there in one place. We played seven shows in four days, and some of us were in the first annual SXSW fashion show. So fun!

PW: What does the remainder of 2011 have in store for you?
CC: We’re hoping to tour Europe in July, continue the Dreamland series, and make a new album. Fingers crossed!

—

You can check out Candy Claws’ new video series here and download an mp3 of their song “Snowdrift Wish” below.

. “Snowdrift Wish”

Fresh off his tour with Girl Talk and Max Tundra, Deepak Mantera, aka Junk Culture, cleverly pursues new frontiers in electronica, layering opposing cuts and synths to make unexpectedly lush, intricate melodies. Named after the OMD song of the same name, Junk Culture played to two back-to-back sold out shows at the Ogden Theater in Denver last month and blew audiences away with his fresh beats and live instrumentation. Deepak took the time to talk to PopWreckoning about his musical influences and what it’s like playing music in his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi.

Brianna Hernandez, PopWreckoning: How did you get your start?
Deepak Mantera, Junk Culture: I’ve been doing all sorts of weird art and music things since I was a kid. The music stuff I’ve been doing since I was maybe 12 or 13. My older brother was really into home recording so I naturally got into it that way, kinda peeking on what he was doing. Eventually he gave me a bunch of his old equipment so I learned on that stuff myself pretty quick.

PW: What is Oxford like?
JC: It’s slow and stable. Certified retirement community. I like it because it’s cheap and I can work on art projects there without much distraction. I’m personally not too into bigger cities or city living or anything. I definitely like having a lot of space and Oxford delivers on that. The only other place I can imagine myself living is Portland – it’s pretty Oxford-like to me in a lot of ways.

PW: Your sound is largely electronic influenced. Does Mississippi’s music scene have an appreciation for electronic music outside of traditional EDM? What has it been like to get your start and evolve in a place like Oxford?
JC: The music economy in Oxford is for the most part blues jam rock stuff. There isn’t really the same appreciation for electronic music here as in Baltimore or Detroit or something, but I think that’s changing. Not just here but everywhere. It’s just becoming more “normal” to complement live performance with electronics and computers and stuff. Honestly, I don’t know how much playing live in Oxford had to do with my music evolving. I mean, I played something like 120 shows last year and only maybe 10 of those were in Oxford. Touring around the country gave me way more perspective than playing in just Oxford.

PW: What was your first show like? How has your set evolved since then?
JC: The first Junk Culture show was more a mix of live and purely electronic songs. We don’t play any of those purely electronic songs anymore. Since then I’ve also added live visuals to the set and do a lot of things that make the live experience more raw and human. I’m all about doing shit that people might not expect to see at a show.

PW: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
JC: Things like movies, other music, and photographs are definitely huge emotional inspiration points for me. I can be pretty sentimental sometimes so I’m thankful that to this point that has helped me write some songs rather than wallow in self-pity.

PW: Is it important to you to include live instrumentation in your sets?
JC: Absolutely. I’m constantly trying to come up with ways to make the set more live and raw.

PW: Who have you collaborated with in the past and who would you love to collaborate with in the future?
JC: I haven’t really done a ton of collaboration with people in the past. The most recent one I can remember was for a track off my new record. I sampled heavily from a song that my younger brother’s band Koala wrote for “Honeysuckle.” There are a couple of vocalists who I’ve played with before that I’m getting to sing on a few new tracks I’m working on. I’m pretty psyched about that. Other than that, there’re tons of people I’d love to collaborate with: Das Racist, Javelin, James Pants, Lil B to name a few.

PW: If you weren’t making music and touring, what would you be doing?
JC: Making comedy films. Working on interface design projects. Copy editing. Something like that.

Fresh off his winter tour, Telekinesis front man, Michael Benjamin Lerner took time to chat with PopWreckoning about the band’s newest album, 12 Desperate Straight Lines, and what it’s like being based in Seattle. We caught Telekinesis’ show at Hi-Dive in Denver, CO a few weeks ago, and were blown away by the trio’s energy and indie pop sensibility. Lerner’s genuine rendition of songs off 12 Desperate Straight Lines turned the Hi-Dive’s intimate space into a Tuesday night dance party. Don’t miss Telekinesis this spring as they hit the road in support of Portugal. The Man.

Brianna Hernandez, PopWreckoning: How did you get your start?
Michael Benjamin Lerner, Telekinesis: Well, the live band has been a bit of a revolving cast for the life of this band so far. It’s always been just me writing and recording the records, and then getting my friends to come on tour with me! But, right now, I’ve got Jason Narducy and Cody Votolato playing with me. Jason plays bass with Bob Mould and Bob Pollard, and has his own band called Verbow. He’s kind of amazing. We met through Nada Surf. And Cody Votolato was in a band called the Blood Brothers, and currently in Jaguar Love. We met peripherally through the Seattle scene, and when Jaguar Love took a break, we got connected. He’s also ridiculously amazing.

PW: What was the first show you played? What has changed in your sets and performances since you first started out?
Telekinesis: Our first live performance as Telekinesis, I think, was at this place called the Funhouse in Seattle. It was terrifying! We were really nervous, and I remember it being really clunky, and crazy. David and Jonie Broecker, and Chris Staples were in the band from the beginning for the first year and a half or so. A whole heck of a lot changed from that show, I think. We learned how to play more as a collective, and not just learning the parts. I remember it being really thrilling, and also looking back on it, I’m really proud of where we ended up since then. It’s been a lot of progress: fun progress!

PW: How has your sound evolved over the past few years?
Telekinesis: For me, it’s less naive than it used to be. The first record sounds very naive to me. Which I am proud of! But, this new one I was a lot more confident, and it might sound a little tougher in that way.

PW: Is it more important to you to create something timeless or something that is relevant to what is going on at the time?
Telekinesis: Boy, I don’t know! I mean, I think I just write whatever comes to my head. There’s a whole bunch of influences that are pretty apparent on this record. There’s the Cure, Joy Division, and even some 90′s rock. Whether that’s ‘in’ right now isn’t for me to decide, and I guess I would never really try to write based on what’s relevant! I just have fun!

PW: Who are you currently listening to?
Telekinesis: I’m really, really obsessed with Nick Lowe again! Labour Of Lust is a killer record. I also got this amazing record as per someone’s recommendation. It’s by a band called Dug Dug’s. Insane psychedelic rock. From Chile or something crazy like that. Also, this amazing compilation called Cartagena. Also, The new Love Language record. It’s amazing. And the new Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin record. SO GOOD.

PW: What is it like coming back to Seattle after being on tour? How has Seattle affected you as a band?
Telekinesis: It is amazing! I moved into this incredible little house in Georgetown with my girlfriend, and it’s so nice to come home now. I really look forward to it, for the first time in the career of this band, for sure. Seattle has been a pretty amazing place to grow up. So much music has come out of here, and thru here. And I’m very thankful to be a part of it all.

PW: Playing the drums and singing . . . how do you do it?
Telekinesis: It’s not too bad anymore! It’s mostly a question of being in shape or not! But, I really, really enjoy it! And weirdly, it’s easier to do that than play guitar and sing for me!

PW: What was it like to work with Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie)? Has he influence your recent work?
Telekinesis: He’s a super genius. 100% super genius! He just makes me play better. He makes me give the best performances I am capable, and most importantly, we have so much fun working together. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to work with him.

PW: What was your favorite show to play?
Telekinesis: We just recently played an amazing show in Munich. It was the final show of a somewhat rough six week European tour. And it just felt so incredibly good to play a festival to a very enthusiastic crowd of 1500 Germans. I think Cody knocked me into my drums for that show! It was fun!

When the Denver-based alterna-pop band Meese dissolved after a failed record deal, band founder Patrick Meese returned to Denver’s music scene to start a new project, The Centennial. While Meese was pure pop perfection, Patrick took The Centennial in a decidedly different direction. Patrick enlisted the talents of his wife, Tiffany, and his brother, Nate, to form The Centennial and the trio has been gaining plenty of attention over the past couple of months with their lush melodies and memorable live shows. PopWreckoning spoke with Patrick about forming the band, their creative process, and what it’s like working with family.

Brianna Hernandez, PopWreckoning: While Meese was more pop-focused, The Centennial has a more sophisticated sound. Was this shift intentional, or more of a natural progression?
Patrick Meese, The Centennial: A little bit of both. I had been writing more mellow, ambient songs for awhile before Meese ended and we started the new band. Lots of the new music developed while traveling in the van last year where I was restricted to only my laptop. When we stopped touring, I sat down and listened through all my song ideas and felt like none of them made any sense for Meese. I just wasn’t excited to write music for what Meese had become, and I took that as a sign to move on to the next thing.

BH: Is working with family members easy?
PM: At times it can be really easy. Obviously, we know each other extremely well and can sense when someone is having a tough time or needs a break. Communication is key. Other times it can be tough because we’re not afraid to blow up on each other or get honest. I wouldn’t recommend being in a band with your brother and your wife to everyone, but when it works it can be a beautiful thing.

BH: Has it been difficult to re-brand yourself as The Centennial?
PM: Yes, but we knew what we were getting into. It felt like there was a lot of expectation for us to be spectacular right out the gate, when in reality we’re a brand new band with new songs and new roles. It took years to get Meese rolling. I try not to think about rebranding or the old band. It felt right to a new project and we just have to keep doing it.

BH: What made you decide to form The Centennial? Would you ever add more band members?
PM: I decided to form The Centennial because I wanted to have a band that I would still be excited about playing in 40 years from now. The best time of my life was playing in Meese, but personally I was disappointed with where we ended up at. I became obsessed with starting a new band in which I wasn’t only a singer. Luckily, Nate and Tiff were on board and we could get started right away.

I would love to add more members. Recently we’ve been performing with Joe Pope (Nathaniel Rateliff, Fairchildren) and Adam Blake (The Films).

BH: Denver is becoming an increasingly electro-focused music scene. Is it difficult to assert your presence in Denver’s EDM-obsessed music scene?
PM: There is a lot of great music in Denver and we’re fortunate to know many of the people creating it. We have a lot of growing to do live, but every show is an improvement from the last. We’re just going to keep playing around the front range and see where it takes us this next year.

BH: The Centennial has received great reviews for your haunting sound and songwriting. What is your creative process like?
PM: The process usually starts with me demoing songs out at my home studio. Most times I start with riffs or melodies I’ve recorded into my phone. Then Tiff and Nate come in and lay down vocals and guitar and we make adjustments or decide to work on something else. I like to sit with songs for awhile and see how much they stand out once the original “new song excitement” has died down. The final step is mixing and adding the little things that give the song character. The Second Spring E.P. is self-produced.

BH: How does playing in Denver compare to playing elsewhere? How has the local crowd responded thus far?
PM: I love playing in Denver. Maybe it’s because we know everyone already. I’ve heard people say the scene is just a bunch of people patting each other on the back, but I disagree. I see bands in Denver inspiring each other and moving on to create new bands or make old bands better. Criticism and competition will always be necessary to develop a great music scene, but I feel lucky to live in a town where those aren’t the only things that make a great music scene. The local crowd has been accepting and responsive so far. We had a wonderful time playing Westword’s Artopia.

BH: What are you most proud of about The Centennial?
PM: The song “1988.” I think that’s the closest we’ve got to where I’d like to go with this project.

BH: Where do you draw your inspiration from? Who and what influences you?
PM: My friends. I’ve been playing with a few bands as of late (Nathaniel Rateliff, Josh Novak, Fairchildren). Seeing people sacrifice their time and energy to make music for almost no money is inspiring to me. It gets me off my ass and into the studio.

BH: What are you listening to currently? What are some of your guilty pleasures?
PM: I’ve been listening to more soulful stuff like Al Green and Marvin Gaye. The albums they put out were recorded so well. I need someone to school me in Soul. The last Phoenix record is one of my favorite’s in the last five years. They take what I love about pop music and make it interesting. My guilty pleasure right now is The Bird and The Bee’s record of Hall and Oates covers. It’s great.

BH: What are you excited about for 2011? What can we expect from The Centennial in the coming year?
PM: I really want to put out a full length record this year. We were planning on doing a bunch of E.P’s, which we still might do, but I’ve got an itch to put out something a little bigger. We’ll see. The Second Spring E.P. (which is still a free download off our site) was a nice break from the four on the floor-ness of Meese, but I would love to bring back the groove in some ways and write some tunes that are fun to play live.

BH: Who are some of your favorite local musicians? Favorite hang out spots?
PM: I feel like I’ve already named a bunch of Denver bands already, but two new bands I’m excited about are Glowing House and my friend Tim Hussman’s (Dust on the Breakers) solo project. Also, Churchill’s new record is excellent. I’ve been hanging out at El Nopalito at Bannock and Alameda. Super cheap and delicious breakfast burritos.

BH: Any plans for The Centennial to tour in the near future?
PM: Not right now. We’re still figuring some things out live and getting comfortable with the new tunes. But you never know when something will come along. For the time being, playing shows around here is just fine with me. We would love to do another house party show this spring, so keep a look out.

Download The Centennial’s EP, Second Spring, for free at: www.thecentennial.net and check out a stream and download of a new track below:

. “You Don’t Get to Say” – The Centennial

Casey met up with lead vocals/guitarist Gregory Dunn of Moving Mountains at the Jackpot in Lawrence in March.

Below is a short eight minute interview filled with talk about their new record, super powers, and eating a bucket of cheese.

. “Interview with Moving Mountains”

Waves is set to release on May 10 through Triple Crown Records.

For more information on Moving Mountains, check out their website www.movmou.com or Facebook.

Hailed by NPR and Pitchfork as the new “buzz band” to watch, dreamy surf-pop outfit Tennis take a break before their three night run in Las Vegas to discuss living and playing in their hometown of Denver.

Brianna Hernandez, PopWreckoning: How is it returning to Denver from being on tour? After receiving so much attention nationally, is it strange to return to Denver where you are still relatively unknown?
Tennis: Really great. Denver is the most comfortable city to live in and after being in big cities every night. It’s the only place we want to be.

BH: Prior to Tennis, you played in various bands in Denver. Which bands?
T: James has played in much more memorable acts: Tjutjuna, Mothership and a bunch more. All the bands I played in were so bad that we couldn’t get shows in Denver and the DIY scene hadn’t started yet. Thank god for house shows because we couldn’t even play a show in Denver as Tennis in the beginning.

BH: Who are some of your favorite musicians in Denver?
T: Gauntlet Hair keeps putting out some really amazing stuff. The new Woodsman record is, in my mind, their best yet. Can’t go wrong with Tjutjuna either.

BH: What is it like playing for a crowd at home in Denver versus elsewhere?
T: We have a lot of really great people at our shows, but we also have the most amount of critics. Denver press has always been our most negative, and in that sense, it’s a bit weird. Aside of that, we love playing at the Hi Dive and always have a great time.

BH: When you aren’t on tour, where are some of your favorite places to be in Denver?
T: Our favorite bar is the Great Divide Tap Room. Really great people there and the best beer in town. We also find ourselves at Forest Room 5 quite a bit. But our favorite place to be is at Bistro Vendome for their Sunday brunch.

BH: Your last album chronicled a sailing trip. Will your next album follow in suit? How do you feel about concept albums?
T: We haven’t put any restraints on our writing yet, so at the moment, it isn’t going to be treated as a concept album. I think most albums can be tagged “concept” albums; it’s really hard to write 10 or so songs that are so disjointed that they can’t be associated with each other.

BH: What are you listening to now? What would people be surprised to know you listen to?
T: We’ve been listening to a lot of R. Stevie Moore lately. Some Jackie De Shannon, too. I don’t know if those are surprising or not.

BH: How would you describe your sound?
T: We’ve been using the word “vintage” a lot in reference to the production techniques we used on the album. I don’t know. We try to make things sound like a human being made them.

BH: How did you meet one another?
T: Alaina [Moore] and I [Patrick Riley] met in an Analytic Philosophy class. I’ve known James on and off since high school.

BH: Any plans to move from Denver…or to take another sailing trip?
T: We are definitely planning another sailing trip. Don’t really know where or for how long, but it’s going to happen. We talk about moving away from Denver, but we never make the necessary steps to do so. I think Denver is a place you always talk about moving away from but never do.

BH: What is your favorite part about touring and playing live?
T: I really like hearing Alaina’s voice live with a room’s natural reverb. As for touring, we love visiting our favorite bars, diners, restaurants, beaches, people, etc.. in every city. It gives us some sense of routine when we go to the same places every time we tour.

BH: If you weren’t Tennis, what would you be doing instead?
T: If I wasn’t in Tennis I’d probably be fixing up boats or something.

BH: Where did the name Tennis come from?
T: White people, I assume. The name doesn’t mean anything to us which is the purpose of a band name, right?

Find more from Tennis here.

As one of the few bands from Kansas City to do a Daytrotter Session, O Giant Man has a lot to be proud of.

And they’ve only been a band for about a year and a half.

When TV Torso (Austin) came through Lawrence this past summer, O Giant Man agreed to open for the show – even though it was a Monday night and they knew the crowd wouldn’t be very big.

A couple of days after they said yes, Chris Robbins (singer/guitar) got an email from Daytrotter that said they were opening a studio in Austin with one of the member’s from TV Torso.

Robbins gave the band a copy of their newest singles unmastered – and about a week later, O Giant Man was confirmed for a session.

O Giant Man officially formed in September 2009 and released their first album, Everybody Knows I’m Just An Animal, in May 2010.

“It’s like the first time a kid rides his bike,” Robbins said of the first album. “Ten years later when he’s riding a bike, does he really care that he ate shit the first time he rode? We were more like a little wobbly, but we stood up still.”

While they’re proud of the record, they feel they’ve progressed past it.

“We don’t feel bad (about the record) in any way,” Robbins said. “It’s just a part of becoming who we are. It was something that needed to be done to see where we wanted to go.”

“We recorded that record as Rick (Schulenberg; keyboard) was joining the band so we were still learning how to play with Rick and what we sounded like with him,” added Jake Schulenberg (bass).

The record also established them in the local music scene, nabbing an honorable mention from the Pitch’s “Top ten local albums and EPs of 2010.”

But O Giant Man isn’t resting on what they’ve done – they’ve been practicing more and perfecting their unique sound and style.

“The word genre and the band O Giant Man don’t go together,” Robbins said. “We don’t fit into a genre… that’s not something we set out to do.”

O Giant Man happened from combining completely different influences from each different member, from pop punk to reggae to singer-songwriter music.

They’ve also been working with Michael Stout on new music, a Missouri native and recording engineer with a resume including Rogue Wave and Wavves.

At first, they were hesitant to work with an engineer again but couldn’t pass it up since Stout wanted to do it; they’ve already released three new songs they recorded with Stout, and Robbins considers the tracks “a huge step up.”

But they say the biggest thing they’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter how you translate on a record, you’ve got to bring a good live show.

“We used to be so serious on stage because we didn’t want to mess up,” Robbins said. “Now it’s like, we’ve played this live set so much… we like to just have fun.”

“Now we don’t care if we play it wrong – we’re still going to be having fun while we’re doing it,” Rick said.

The Daytrotter Session hasn’t been released yet, but you can pick up their new singles for FREE here: ogiantman.bandcamp.com.

*Note: their other member, Andy Wendling (drums), wasn’t there for the interview.