Olivia Mainville & The Aquatic Troupe - New Single + Interview

Happy Halloween

Fitting for a holiday where the macabre and ghoulishness is nostalgically glorified, here's a new song by Olivia Mainville & The Aquatic Troupe about falling in love a skeletal soul who's wasting away even as she pines away...



Mainville is a talented and imaginative singer/songwriter from the Grand Rapids/Holland area music scene and she's been making charmingly eclectic tunes for five years now. She released her full length album, Maybe The Saddest Thing, in 2015, adorned with her old soul's romanticizing of gypsy folk and theatrical soul. Her ensemble utilizes roots and baroque-styled acoustic instruments and brass, like standup bass, trombone, and softly-brushed jazz percussion. Mainville plays the guitar, electric guitar, violin, and sings lead vocals.

"The song was written more from a request from a friend to write a Halloween song. October has always been one of the most inspiring times of the year to write music, so I was excited about the project."

photo by Victor Vague
pictured left to right, ghostly Bleu Quick, Mainville, ghostly Adam Schreiber, and ghostly Brandon James

At just 21, she already has a keen sensibility for an arrangement that's coated in evocative ambiance, to where you can almost see a music video for the song played out in faded, sepia-toned 35mm film, fluttery and frayed with shadows. Mainville makes pop songs that have a patina of whimsy on top, but can draw a curtain of darker themes around you, even as you're catching melodies in your head of melancholic motifs and heart-heavy swoons.

It's definitely going to be a stretch to say that with "Danger Death Ray's" lyrics about feeling greedy for someone that's already near (or in) its grave could connect to the way she extols the vibrancy of bygone era artists like Django Reinhardt in a contemporary electro-pop-dominated music world.... But my point would be that that's just the sort of special thing Mainville does with her songs; dreamlike, or theatrical imagery and vocal stylings consistently render poetic ruminations on life, lessons-learned, or renewed resolve. Macabre or not, you can still find meaning in this danceable ditty...

Mainville's next performance is on Nov 17th, near Holland, at Tripleroot - more info

Meanwhile, we caught up with some Q&A over the weekend...

When you look back on the last 5 years of developing your songs and this band, performing, recording, touring, etc... what are some of the biggest lessons or insights you've learned about what it takes to keep everything rolling along in the life of a professional/diy-touring musician?
Olivia Mainville: One of the biggest lessons I learned is to never get knees deep in another job.. unless you have to and it doesn't take up a lot of your time because at the same time, balance is important. I also know that you have to constantly be reaching out to people and venues and making contacts all the time. 

When you think about what you've always loved most about writing and performing music, what is it? 

Mainville: I'm a big fan of film. I love watching movies and shows. And I've always been inspired by movie soundtracks, so, naturally, I like to write songs that I feel could be placed in film... So I guess you could say that I love hearing what I, what we, have created all come together with a slightly cinematic sound. Creating music that can be accompanied by imagery is what always keeps me writing!


Have you, along the way, discovered newer, more nuanced reasons, to be in love with all of this? Mainville: I'm in music for myself. Knowing that I'm not trying to please anyone is what also gives me much enjoyment in writing. Of course it's always a plus when somebody takes something out of what they hear in my music. For performing, I just love to play music in general..whether its solo, duo or with a full band. Performing is just genuinely a fun thing especially along side my whole entire band. There are days when our live performances don't go as well as we had hoped for, but when it does and when we all play our parts with our own dash of originality and energy the song calls for, the feeling is always rewarding.


Can you talk about how the new single came together? What the song means to you? 

Mainville: I recorded the rough idea of Danger Death Ray on my little crappy recording kit last Halloween. I finished the idea and the boys from Jack and the Bear (Brandon and Adam) helped me arrange it and Bleu added trombone to the live version and sousaphone to recorded version. The song was written more from a request from a friend to write a Halloween song. October has always been one of the most inspiring times of the year to write music, so I was excited about the project.And how your songwriting process/approach has, if at all, changed in any way, over the last couple years? 

Mainville: My songwriting approach hasn't changed much but my songs have. I've always been a big picture type when writing. I usually figure out the parts or ideas of parts I'd want to add to said song before i finish it. 


Do you have an all time favorite genre of music? 

Mainville:  it would have to be gypsy jazz and swing. I'm also a huge fan of french ye-ye pop. 


Do you remember any eureka-moments when you realized whatever it was about all these styles, be it orchestral....or pop....or folk.... that drew you to the nexus of all three? 

Mainville: We actually had a band come over when I was first starting in music called Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra. My dad hired them to play a house show and do a 3 day workshop at our house and it inspired me and gave me a new love for music..just seeing a band in the works. One of the members told me about Django Reinhardt and since then iv'e been a huge fan.

In your journeys on tours and meeting new music people, you haven't had anyone suggest that you try just one genre specifically, more than any other, have you?

Mainville: I can't remember if anyone has ever asked me that, but if they did.. Well, I don't know what i'd say, but there's no way I could confine myself and the band to only one style of music. 

What's up next? 
Mainville: ... I have a southern December tour on it's way. Iv'e been writing new songs for the new album that I am planning to record in February or March of 2018. 

www.oliviaandtheaquatictroupe.com

WICCANS Interview - Bad Habit Release Party

WICCANS
left to right: Aran, John, Bill, Jeff, Kelly

Listening to WICCANS always evokes the sense of slipping through a portal, or happening upon a séance. Aran Ruth and Kelly Jean Caldwell conjure ethereal melodies over minimal but entrancing rhythms, spellbinding a listener with their harmonies. Ruth plays guitar and sings, while Caldwell accompanies on vocals adds flourishes on flute. Candles are lit. Bay-leave laurels are donned. A vibe, or an energy, or whatever you want to call it, is mesmerizing in the way its cast down upon the stage.

Long ago, in a mystic and wild mid-west, two young Witches were united. Having been cast from their respective covens, they bonded over their own unique sanctities: 70’s Coven Life, dragon stories, weed, beer, hanging out on blankets, candle magic, and Thee Sacred Scrolls of the Gnome.

“More specifically,” Ruth says, “we met at a downriver house party, got drunk, and sang along to the entire KISS Destroyer record. Then! Spontaneously we picked up a dusty witch book and read a spell together, aloud. That same natural spirit continues to bless and inform our music, and our kinship. Blessed be!”

Ruth and Caldwell each write and perform their own music, either solo, or with a band. And they’ve been around the scene for several years. While Wiccans has always been their combined eerie enchantments, they have typically always had John Szymanski (of The Hentchmen) adding percussion or other elements. A few years ago, though, they transformed, becoming Electric Wiccans, as it were, with amplified, fuzzy synths, bass, and a drum kit (adding Bill Hafer and Jeff Fournier). The sound is something that can carry one away, tidal and beautifully turbulent, entrancing and wraith-like.

This Saturday, WICCANS release their new full length album, Bad Habit. The celebration is two-fold: not only will they be headlining a formal album release party in Hamtramck, but the location of the show, Outer Limits Lounge, is officially kicking-off its very own inhouse record label. Bad Habit is one of five projects recently recorded inside the elegant dive, (engineered by Szymanski), including The Kelly Jean Caldwell Band, and The Cheetahs.

Bad Habit’s snaky, celestial melodies coax you down into a resplendent netherworld, radiating with those crunchy, fuzzed-out emanations one typically anticipates from the witchier blends of 70’s psychedelia. Ruth and Caldwell’s chemistry and creative energy also draws in somewhat more tender strands of folk and the incendiary shreds of punk, but the phantasmagoric timbres of synths and guitars vault much of Bad Habits songs into these foggier, mystical stratospheres.

To put it more bluntly than that^… Ruth said that she and Caldwell “smoke some weed to aid our visions, and consult thee sacred witch books. And we allow the Elder Spirit to guide us and trust in the wisdom of the crone!”

Kelly further clarified the source of their sorcery-ish/supernatural sounds… “Aran used to live in a house that was haunted by the spirit of a clairvoyant physician…who spoke to us in a vision. We intercepted the message and interpreted it with precision. We twice conjured thunder storms when we jammed it. For the recording (of Bad Habit!), we just got real stoned and invited a half-elf over to play singing saw..."

"Oh Holy Maiden" 

My personal favorite song on this new record is called "Maiden," and it's exemplary of their tender kite-in-a-tornado-style arrangements of sweet psych sounds that crest into a few different movements, where however much the guitars/synths might roar or purr, the bewitching vocal harmonies consistently sail across the top. An original version of it, with Fred Thomas on bongos, is streaming below........

Rush and Caldwell said that "Maiden" is in fact the oldest song among the batch collected for Bad Habit. It's that potent song, they said, that served as a catalyst to "recreate" their "group in full electric splendour to fully express its designs!" Adding: "We can only hope that the power of the Goddess inhabit each who heaer her call!" Concluding: "Street weed will set you free." 

And they, as WICCANS, are typically extolling to these brief, subverssive, cryptic, or defiant answers. Weed came up more than a couple times in our interview. But when I took the opportunity to gauge their take on the current scene's state regarding its conditions of inclusivity, acknowledgement, respect, for women participating in the realms of rock music. And so sayeth WICCANS; "...HEX THE PATRIARCHY! HEX THE MUSIC CREEPS! SO MOTE IT!" 

The Gnomes' influence on their creative trajectory comes up, again, when I ask about the future of WICCANS. 

Ruth said that "...the Gnomes have beckoned toward a second record. We are making songs about the Dark Crystal, and the Laughter of Demons. The USJE. We recently got a Mystic Witch Tome from a couple of British Wiccan Spirit Guides to aid us in our quest..."

And Caldwell concluded: "As far as Outer Limits (Records/Lounge) goes, we're open for business NOW! Slinging beer and playing our house records every day. Anyone can stop in and hear what's up with our catalog. The Hentch Dudes just finished recording their new record, so we're all stoked about that!" 

Until then, stay tuned to this blog for a bit more about Outer Limits Lounge Records. 

WICCANS ALBUM RELEASE SHOW
NOV. 4TH
OUTER LIMITS LOUNGE
MORE INFO 

Italy Records' 20th Anniversary Party - Devil's Night at Third Man - Interview with Dave Buick

It was 20 years ago… A vinyl 7” single by the band Rocket 455 appeared on the scene, stamped with the insignia of Italy Records…

David Buick’s national notoriety as the founder of Italy Records was naturally amplified after the global spark in enthusiasm for garage rock music in 99/2000, when collectors found that it was his DIY label that was first to champion 7” vinyl releases of a band called the White Stripes. As we all know, Jack and Meg White experienced a meteoric rise just a couple years after their “Let’s Shake Hands” single was put out by Buick. But this Devil’sNight, the team at Third Man Records hosts a birthday bash of sorts for the label, looking back to Halloween of 1997, when Italy packaged its first batch of wax.

“I didn’t know anything (about starting a label) other than that I liked music, and I was really into collecting records,” Buick said, looking back. “I’ve always just been a music fan, even back to when I was becoming my own person in the late 70’s and early 80’s: I just liked listening to the radio all the time and I began collecting rare punk records in high school. And then I started buying records because of which label it was on, like Dischord, or Rough Trade... And while Jack was very important part of the first several years, I hope it got to where the amount of people who were seeing these (Italy) records were having that same impulse.”

For the last two years, Buick has served as one of the primary team members for Third Man Records, which was co-founded by Jack White, Ben Swank and Ben Blackwell. They established a brick-and-mortar store and vinyl pressing-plant in the Cass Corridor on Canfield two years ago and it was already a foregone conclusion that Buick would join the team. 

In fact, few are as close of a confidant to White than Buick; both of their formative years in the Detroit music scene included lots of shared experiences and bonding collaborations. But just as November 2015 formally reunited these longtime friends through the enterprise of Third Man, Buick was still keeping busy here from 2007 to 2014 with a steady stream of Italy Records that were featuring a new wave of Detroit bands like FEELINGS, Johnny Ill Band, Sugarcoats, and more.

“Of course, 20 years ago, when I started it, I didn’t think it was going to lead to these two-decade-long relationships and 20-year friendships. Basically, these (people) are, in essence, the same people I went to high school with, or grew up with; basically, my friend base is like family…they’re the family that I met while doing the first Italy Records releases and going around to shows and working at record shops… And, it continues to be like that. A lot of great relationships made. It’s definitely nice to eventually see a product, a vinyl record, and hold it in your hand, but ….getting there was always really fun too.”

Buick was left with some inheritance after his passed away in the mid 90’s, “not a crazy amount…” he said, but probably just enough to seed something like a vinyl label. But Buick was enamored with the energy from all the bands buzzing around the rock clubs at that time, each carrying forward into the 90’s what The Gories had sparked in the late 80’s, such as The Hentchmen, Rocket 455, The Demolition Doll Rods and The Dirtys. In fact, it was because he found out the Dirtys were getting ready to tour Germany for a record that was going to come out on Hamburg-based CRYPT. When he heard they’d yet to have anything released on a Detroit-based label, he decided to create one for that explicit purpose.

“I talked to Rocket 455 and they had some songs too…,” Buick says, recalling that first early autumn in 1997. “Then I hit up Jack to do a White Stripes release. And I’d also been hanging out with the Hentchmen. Everyone was kinda working together; it was cool.” Dave is a musician as well, and from that heyday he’s best known as being a member of The Go. And these days he still makes appearances on bass guitar with FEELINGS and as a masked member of ferocious performance-art rock outfit The Wolfman Band.

Speaking of The Wolfman Band... Here's a recent photo from a performance inside Third Man Records, shot by Brian Rozman

Buick used to work at Off The Record in the early 90’s, where employees wrote out their own time cards, and each day he would write a new mysterious or absurd alias. While they might vary from cool sounding to strange, it was the fact that he once used the name “Dave Italy…” that stuck with him. “It seemed too obvious to call it ‘Buick Records…’ because I didn’t want to have any automotive-sounding name coming out of Detroit. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. So it came to Italy. And I said, let’s just put the statue of David on there, and make it pink and black. That’s about as overtly opposed to what garage-rock labels would do…, call it Italy and put a naked guy on it and use the color pink…”

The Devil’s Night Party at Third Man Records brings together a lot of longtime friends from Italy’s first years, including The Hentchmen, Rocket 455, and Soledad Brothers. Italy Records reissues will be on sale as well, featuring releases from the aforementioned bands, as well as Whirlwind Heat, The Fells, The Dirtys, and Greenhornes.

“I’m just excited to see everyone,” Buick said. “I’m sure it’s gonna be an emotional evening, a fun evening. I don’t really know what to expect. I haven’t seen Soledad Brothers as a two-piece in many years.” Soledad Brothers’ member Ben Swank also works for Third Man Records these days, but he’s based in Nashville. John Szymanski, meanwhile, of the Hentchmen, has a record label of his own these days, the very recently-launched Outer Limits Lounge Records. Buick mentioned how endearing it is to see his friends having stayed so involved in Detroit music, and to each be contributing through the means of releasing vinyl records, now.

“Flashing back to when we opened up Third Man here, to when we released (the first Rocket 455 record in 1997), it’s sorta the same feeling. Only that now, I remembered thinking: ‘Wow…, I had no idea this was gonna be a career.’”

And that career sprang from just a pure love of the signature strain of rock/blues/garage/punk that germinated here in Detroit in the mid 90’s. “What drew me in was that even though each band was different and had their own thing going on, there was…and continues to be, this thing here in Detroit where everyone is doing it for themselves, but also doing it for each other, doing it together. No one was doing it as a career move. They were doing it ‘cuz it was what they love, and what they wanted to do, and everyone was on the same team. Fans, bands, club owners, everyone was just kinda in it for the right reasons. It was very real.”

Getting to this milestone makes it tempting to ask Buick what advice he might give to anyone else wanting to start up their own label. “Not that much (advice)…” he says, with a chuckle. “I guess I got better at it eventually. Or at least (artist/musician Steve Shaw and I) got better at making sleeves…. But when we started off, we’d just go to Kinkos and hopefully have a friend working that night who’d hook you up. But if not? Just do what you could afford. But yeah ,” (laughs) “I didn’t know much then… I still really don’t know all that much.” But after this, he reiterates the camaraderie between bands; how everyone worked together.

“But I would say that if it’s something you believe in, something you feel strongly about, just do it. Don’t bank on it or anything. But if you believe in it and want it out there—do it!”

Devil’s Night at Third Man Records is not just a concert and a celebration of the music released by Italy, it is also most certainly a costume party. DJs Keep On Trash will spin between performances; there’ll be food and other treats; also a costume contest… More info below!

Italy Records 20thAnniversary
Devil's Night Party at Third Man Records
Mon,. Oct 30
7:30pm
Third Man Records
441 Canfield St
$15

More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1241665729272273
http://italyrecordsdetroit.bigcartel.com/
Third Man Contact: 313-209-5205
Release of seven Italy Records Reissues including Rocket 455, The Dirty's, The Hentchmen, The Fells, Soledad Brothers, Greenhornes, and Whirlwind Heat
Performances by

7:30-8:30pm: Doors, Keep on Trash DJs, Specialty Devil's Night Drinks, Free snacks, Photo Op with Third Man photographers extraordinaire 

8:30-9:00pm: Special Host Introduction

8:30-9:00pm: Soledad Bros.

9:00-9:15pm: DJ/Changeover

9:15-9:55pm: Rocket 455

9:55-10:15pm: DJ/Changeover

10:15-10:55pm: The Hentchmen

10:55-11:10pm: Host Farewell / Costume Contest Winners

Halloween (& Carjack)

Halloween

Halloween is, and always will be, special to me, for a number of reasons. I love the electricity in the air on a cold autumn night. I love the spark of good-natured mischief with costumed kids taking over the streets. I love the thrill and schlocky elegance of scary movies. I love dressing up and becoming someone or something-else.

Most of all, Halloween is a time when I came into my own. And many thanks, for that, go to Brian Rozman. Rozman's a local photographer now, with five years under his belt as a consummate craftsman of captured images. He's also been a key component in the Detroit music scene for more than 13 years now...under the moniker of Carjack. That started out as a solo band, but has since become a trio...a trio you likely saw at Theatre Bizarre last weekend.

Halloween 2005
There was no Crofoot. No Creepy Cheapy. No Loving Touch Blitz. No Lager House Cover Shows. There was really just a sweet little twist-n-shout masquerade called The Zombie Dance Party. But Halloween around here wasn't as manic as it is these days... So here we were, Brian and I, just hanging out at his house on a quiet Halloween night, listening to The Cramps and The Mummies and the B-52's... Turns out he's got all this random paraphanalia in a closet upstairs. I'll assure you that we weren't drunk, or high, or anything... We just kinda started losing ourselves with ghoulish glee. I think we threw together about 4 different costume combinations and started choreographing weird movements and fake fight scenes, be it cowboys, samurai, aliens, or whatever... It was freeing and utterly geeky.

Cut to a week later... And Brian's about to play his first show ever as Carjack. It was more straightforward electro-punk back in those days, one man with distortion-heavy riffs singing about breakbeats, stereos and Flying Pizza. And I came up for the last song, danced my ass off like no one was watching, and played a slide-flute. If you know anything, you know that slide-flute might be the most embarrasing instrument on the planet--yet we reconfigured its charms into the aesthetic of a punk song, so, well, we just didn't care. Carjack/Brian/Halloween - all three of them, as a band, a person, and a holiday, inspired me to gracefully not-give-a-shit and Just. Go. Weird.

Over the course of the next year, I would make cameos at every Carjack show. Always the 2nd-to-last song. Always including costumes, masks, sunglasses, robots, cinematic music, bait-and-switch stage choreography, fake fight scenes and syncronized dancing. I was, as the DEVO song goes, "through being cool..." and embracing an inner mongloid. But, really, I was just following Brian's lead.

There was precedence for this kind of outrageousness and theatricality. Doll Rods. Wolfman Band. Even back to The Mummies. But wow... what a wave that followed throughout those next years of 2006-2009.... Johnny Headband. Charlie Slick. Marco Polio & The New Vaccines, Champions of Breakfast, The return of Satori Circus. Weird and wild and unpredictable....the outsiders were IN. And I felt so much joy and a sense of identity to be lost up in their stormy dances.

So here's to Halloween. Here's to Carjack and Brian. Here's to coming out of your shell.

photo by Erick Buccholz

VSTRS: Interview + Album Release

VSTRS Record Release
Sat., Nov 4
Ghost Light Hamtramck
with:
Pewter Cub, Duende, Unlimited Head & Cosmic Light Shapes
More info

Detroit psych-splicers release 2nd album, titled Pandemonium Seesaw 




VSTRS have continually sought a heavier, headier kind of trip. The arrangements are layered with reverb-coated guitars and kneaded with nice echo and dreamy delay, the drums have the horsepower necessary for stratospheric escape velocity, the synths/organ element oscillates with stimulating disorientation, and the vocals have an otherworldly warble and overlain haze that evokes an augmented perceptiveness...



The brooding vibes of metal, the detached meditative murk of shoegaze, the magnetic melodies and gliding intonations of dream-pop, the furious kind of feedback motifs that make you feel like the material world around you is disintegrating and reintegrating right around you as the song culminates into extended crescendos...

VSTRS are constant travelers. Not just staying in the dark sides of post-grunge or in the clouds of psychedelia, but thriving on propulsive tunes that always have a vibrant pulsation. A couple paragraphs below, you'll find another song to stream; a 15-minute epic that closes out their second album and features violist Sarah Rayburn (of BURNS). The band is made up of Eric Myers, DJ Sovey, Michael O'Connor, Zach Pliska, and Katie Galazka. The lyrics and concepts were by O'Connor, who co-produced this album with Myers. Laid down at Tempermill Studios, it was engineered by Myers and Jim Kissling.

INTERVIEW
There's a lot of different flavors, nuanced rock energies going on in a typical VSTRS song... What was it that drew you all together, in terms of, ya know, shared sensibilities or appreciated styles or inclinations toward certain aesthetics...
Zach Pliska: I think we all wanted to do something that feels alive and natural. We don't record to a click, we don't use backing tracks. Our songs speed up and slow down in parts, there's a lot of room to breathe and stretch out. Performances aren't often the same.

Michael O'Connor: Yeah, alive & natural was a large part of the attraction.  When it's fun getting together and everyone's open to the moment the structures tend to build themselves to a degree.  That usually brings out a better energy anyway & tends to wear well over time.  With the personalities involved it ended up leading to a push & pull effect of space & aggression where everyone could see themselves in the tunes.



I love that your band, and several others that I could name... have really been blurring the lines between dream-pop, shoegaze and "psychedelia..." It's something I'm encountering more and more in the Detroit music scene, to the point where I can't say that one band is either one of those genres over any other.... What is the essence of VSTRS

Michael O'Connor: I think blurring the lines drastically is, perhaps, an unconscious way of using your influences to find a more original place, which isn't so easy to do.  With VSTRS we're aware of the sound but with collaboration & a good feedback cycle there's nothing's stopping something potentially interesting from surfacing.  A good idea is a good idea I guess.  The business of music is mostly in shambles from a creator stand point so there doesn't seem to be much sense in limiting any genre that you might be into or would make a song sound better.  There's also a healthy appreciation for psychadelia, dream-pop & shoegaze within the group... although I can't say Eric tends to spends a lot of time in dream-pop land or that Zach is deep into psychedelia!



Tell me about the recording experience..., and what distinguishes this record as a whole, in terms of what it was that you started really working towards, listening-experience-wise, as you put it together

Michael O'Connor: 'Dark Secret' is a song that the band seemed to take to right away, & would on occasion ask me about as the record drew nearer.  The title refers to the psychological reality that a dream is probably a lot more powerful than a day's thought process.  Yet, not often lucid or remembered much because it just escapes one's grasp - as most do.  The characters created are perhaps just as much in the dark about what's being foist upon them as others can be in our tangible lives, & as that tangible reality is an interpretation of the mind, so is dreaming.  The karmic cycle unwinding might be fairly equivalent, although I don't believe we think of it that way.  The video is a loose concept of a representation of how a dream might look/feel.

The first record was encouraging; enough so that everyone thought we should keep working and improve on it.  The only concrete thought on differentiating initially was to have DJ (Sovey) use a grand piano whereas organ had a larger role on the debut.  I also focused a little bit more on songs I'd crafted than I had initially and I think that's reflected in few places.  Probably more than anything though was the willingness of the band to take on a multi-themed longer tune that is really the centerpiece of the record.  I give them all a ton of credit for bringing their talent, vision & professionalism to that one... & all of the songs really.   There's a healthy interest about what's being created in VSTRS without much wasted motion, it's a pleasure.




What about the album title...
Michael O'Connor: Pandemonium Seesaw is a line from the song 'Cirkus' by King Crimson, and it evolved from a term I've long enjoyed into the LP title.  It seemed to reflect on the material somewhat but also increasingly on these media-inflated times where strings are constantly being pulled and manipulated in different directions.  Fear & loathing, divide & conquer as usual but daily and at an outrageously fast pace.  There's certainly a purposeful intent to distract and placate at break neck intensity.  It seems to create a feeling of dread where the wolves - paradoxically or quite literally in a metamorphic sense - tend to be at the door.  It's a heaviness from our government to corporate America to kidrockistan that is at times hard to avoid and takes a toll.  Lyrically at times, and perhaps musically in moments, the record spun in that direction.

VSTRS Album Release Show
Nov 4
More info

Katelynn Corll at 20 Front Street (Interview)

Katelynn Corll performs at 20 Front Street
Fri., Nov 10
with Callison Nash
info

I'm pretty sure Katelynn Corll is going to be a rock star... She kinda already is..., having already made some significant splashes on the local music scene all before she graduated high school. I caught up with her back in April for the Detroit Free Press, when we were discussing the release of her second solo album Soul Foundry Sessions, as well as her work with the School of Rock and her drum-work with bands like Harlow.

Corll started on piano at age 5, took on the drums for a rock ‘n’ roll band by the time she was 10, and realized early on how important it was to start writing her own music at a young age.  Corll's got an uncommon drive and passion to not just create music, but connect...connect with audience as well as her fellow musicians. And that enthusiasm can be contagious when you hear her songs or see her live. While she might bring a softer, folk/Americana vibe, her influences include lots of iconic rock auteurs who bring a lot of presence and energy to the stage. Sure, Soul Foundy might fit into folk, but she's got rock 'n' roll in her creative DNA.

I think its that drive that led venues like 20 Front Street to champion her music. She's getting ready to perform her third concert at this cozy/elegant listening room up in Lake Orion. This time around she's invited  indie-folk rock /Americana singer/songwriter Robin Berg of the band Callison Nash out from California.

Before I dive into an interview with Katelynn, here's a couple tracks from these two artists, both featured at 20 Front Street on Nov 10

Corll, photographed in 2016, visiting the site
of 20 Front Street while it was under construction

INTERVIEW: Katelynn Corll

So, share with me a bit more about what you appreciate most about a venue like 20 Front Street? 

This will be my third show at 20 Front Street; my first time was actually the very first show at the venue. Then, my second time there was for my "Soul Foundry Sessions" CD Release Show. Something I am very grateful for was the opportunity to witness the process of making 20 Front Street come to life. I met the owner, Allan Goetz, back in the summer of 2016 after I had just finished an acoustic set in Rochester. At the time, he was telling me about his vision for an intimate acoustic venue in the Lake Orion area. He talked about it with so much enthusiasm, and I could tell how dedicated he already was to making that dream a reality. He invited me to come check out the building when it was just dirt floor and brick walls. 

Even then, it had so much character. Allan had the idea for me to bring my guitar and record an unplugged video of me playing one of my original songs. That actually ended up being the start of the "Songs In the Dirt" series that they had going up until the venue was done. 

The venue itself is breathtaking, and everyone who has performed there and attended a show will agree with that statement. It's a true listening room. No TVs, sound isolated from the lobby and rest of the building, and has a greenroom exclusively for performers. Adding to the experience are a social cafe area with Kombucha on tap, as well as a creamery in the basement with homemade hand-dipped ice cream. But what really makes 20 Front Street stand out is the incredible team behind it. The Goetz family, Tim Williams, Scott Loudon and so many more. Their love and support for the local, national, and even international acts that come to perform there is second to none.

How's everything else going... Are you working on anything else after Soul Founddry Sessions, or anything you're looking forward to with Harlow?  

Everything is amazing right now! Last Winter/Spring I was very fortunate to have been asked to join Harlow as their new drummer, and the journey so far has been a ton of fun. They are truly some of the nicest and supportive people I know, and the chemistry between all of us is incredible. We're currently looking to tour in early-mid March, so keep an eye out for that. I'm always writing acoustic material for my solo project. In fact, I will be debuting a brand new song at my show on the 10th! My acoustic songwriting process is very delicate, so I tend to spend weeks and even months completing a single song. 

Over the past few months, however, I've been working with Steve Stetson (Uncle Kracker, Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas) and Steve Lehane on a new rock single at Rustbelt Studios in Royal Oak. I'm recording all the instruments myself, so it has been a really cool experience! It's completely different from my solo material, and an avenue in songwriting I haven't spent much time with since Blood and Wine disbanded. I'm really excited for everyone to hear it!

Tell us about Robin Berg and Callison Nash and how you set up this show? 

Robin Berg is from Southern California. We've never met, but we connected via Facebook a while back. When my previous rock project, Blood and Wine, went out to LA to record with Linkin Park's producer Jeff Blue about two years ago, we did most of the songwriting and recording at Greg Markel of Altered State's home studio, Studio 11:11. Greg has shown immense support of all my musical endeavors since then, and at one point shared one of my live acoustic videos. Robin left a really kind comment on the video, and I noticed he was a musician so I sent him a friend request. He accepted it, and we've been supporting each others artistic journeys since. His music is, to me, a perfect blend of country, folk, and classic singer/songwriter. His lyrics are very easy to relate to, and his voice is outstanding. 

So back in July, I saw that Robin had posted a show poster on his page, and thought about how cool it would be if we performed a show together. I figured it would be a long shot, but I asked anyways and he was all for it right from the start! We've both been really looking forward to this show, and hope everyone will join me in giving Callison Nash a warm welcome to Michigan!

Katelynn Corll at 20 Front Street (Interview)

Katelynn Corll performs at 20 Front Street
Fri., Nov 10
with Callison Nash
info

I'm pretty sure Katelynn Corll is going to be a rock star... She kinda already is..., having already made some significant splashes on the local music scene all before she graduated high school. I caught up with her back in April for the Detroit Free Press, when we were discussing the release of her second solo album Soul Foundry Sessions, as well as her work with the School of Rock and her drum-work with bands like Harlow.

Corll started on piano at age 5, took on the drums for a rock ‘n’ roll band by the time she was 10, and realized early on how important it was to start writing her own music at a young age.  Corll's got an uncommon drive and passion to not just create music, but connect...connect with audience as well as her fellow musicians. And that enthusiasm can be contagious when you hear her songs or see her live. While she might bring a softer, folk/Americana vibe, her influences include lots of iconic rock auteurs who bring a lot of presence and energy to the stage. Sure, Soul Foundy might fit into folk, but she's got rock 'n' roll in her creative DNA.

I think its that drive that led venues like 20 Front Street to champion her music. She's getting ready to perform her third concert at this cozy/elegant listening room up in Lake Orion. This time around she's invited  indie-folk rock /Americana singer/songwriter Robin Berg of the band Callison Nash out from California.

Before I dive into an interview with Katelynn, here's a couple tracks from these two artists, both featured at 20 Front Street on Nov 10

Corll, photographed in 2016, visiting the site
of 20 Front Street while it was under construction

INTERVIEW: Katelynn Corll

So, share with me a bit more about what you appreciate most about a venue like 20 Front Street? 

This will be my third show at 20 Front Street; my first time was actually the very first show at the venue. Then, my second time there was for my "Soul Foundry Sessions" CD Release Show. Something I am very grateful for was the opportunity to witness the process of making 20 Front Street come to life. I met the owner, Allan Goetz, back in the summer of 2016 after I had just finished an acoustic set in Rochester. At the time, he was telling me about his vision for an intimate acoustic venue in the Lake Orion area. He talked about it with so much enthusiasm, and I could tell how dedicated he already was to making that dream a reality. He invited me to come check out the building when it was just dirt floor and brick walls. 

Even then, it had so much character. Allan had the idea for me to bring my guitar and record an unplugged video of me playing one of my original songs. That actually ended up being the start of the "Songs In the Dirt" series that they had going up until the venue was done. 

The venue itself is breathtaking, and everyone who has performed there and attended a show will agree with that statement. It's a true listening room. No TVs, sound isolated from the lobby and rest of the building, and has a greenroom exclusively for performers. Adding to the experience are a social cafe area with Kombucha on tap, as well as a creamery in the basement with homemade hand-dipped ice cream. But what really makes 20 Front Street stand out is the incredible team behind it. The Goetz family, Tim Williams, Scott Loudon and so many more. Their love and support for the local, national, and even international acts that come to perform there is second to none. 

How's everything else going... Are you working on anything else after Soul Founddry Sessions, or anything you're looking forward to with Harlow?  

Everything is amazing right now! Last Winter/Spring I was very fortunate to have been asked to join Harlow as their new drummer, and the journey so far has been a ton of fun. They are truly some of the nicest and supportive people I know, and the chemistry between all of us is incredible. We're currently looking to tour in early-mid March, so keep an eye out for that. I'm always writing acoustic material for my solo project. In fact, I will be debuting a brand new song at my show on the 10th! My acoustic songwriting process is very delicate, so I tend to spend weeks and even months completing a single song. 

Over the past few months, however, I've been working with Steve Stetson (Uncle Kracker, Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas) and Steve Lehane on a new rock single at Rustbelt Studios in Royal Oak. I'm recording all the instruments myself, so it has been a really cool experience! It's completely different from my solo material, and an avenue in songwriting I haven't spent much time with since Blood and Wine disbanded. I'm really excited for everyone to hear it!

Tell us about Robin Berg and Callison Nash and how you set up this show? 

Robin Berg is from Southern California. We've never met, but we connected via Facebook a while back. When my previous rock project, Blood and Wine, went out to LA to record with Linkin Park's producer Jeff Blue about two years ago, we did most of the songwriting and recording at Greg Markel of Altered State's home studio, Studio 11:11. Greg has shown immense support of all my musical endeavors since then, and at one point shared one of my live acoustic videos. Robin left a really kind comment on the video, and I noticed he was a musician so I sent him a friend request. He accepted it, and we've been supporting each others artistic journeys since. His music is, to me, a perfect blend of country, folk, and classic singer/songwriter. His lyrics are very easy to relate to, and his voice is outstanding. 

So back in July, I saw that Robin had posted a show poster on his page, and thought about how cool it would be if we performed a show together. I figured it would be a long shot, but I asked anyways and he was all for it right from the start! We've both been really looking forward to this show, and hope everyone will join me in giving Callison Nash a warm welcome to Michigan!

Carmel Liburdi (Interview) - CD Release Show Nov 3

Carmel Liburdi
Release Show for Insomnia Slumber Party
Fri., Nov 3
Hamtramck Korner Bar
with J. Navarro & The Traitors
Nina & The Buffalo Riders
& Banjo Electric
More info





Carmel Liburdi has a power. She's conversing with you in song form, with each discussion point curled into a subtle melody. It's just her voice, her words, her guitar, and her eyes too... Unlike most singer/songwriters, she doesn't close her eyes during the zenith of a song's emotional impact, but instead opens her eyes wide and trains them right out into the audience, often connecting with the gaze of a specific person in the crowd. And that gesture, that expressive and engaging style she has, along with the forthright lyrics that spill it all in creatively poetic punches, makes you that much more aware of your own feelings.

Liburdi celebrates her latest album release on Friday, Nov 3rd at the Hamtramck Korner Bar; the album is called Insomnia Slumber Party. And to go back to her unique way of engaging with you, through a song, it is emblematic to the essence of her music that both the recordings and the performances are delivered with so much personality and charisma, and yet address or presents tougher subjects and wistful sentiments that most of us might typically like to avoid or suppress. She sweetens up whatever might be scenes of sadness with her mellifluous voice and sense for melody. So it encourages a more active self-contemplation..., and to not be afraid of that..., really. The vibe is one that acknowledges the dragging powers of distress or self-doubt or heart-break, but extols the restorative resolve of forging on.



INTERVIEW
What sets these newer songs apart in terms of how they felt to write them? 
The songs on this album are more about relationships than other albums of mine -- including my relationship with my own self. A lot of them were inspired by individual people, but I still broadened them a bit because I think it allows people to hear their own story within the song if I leave something to the imagination. There was a lot of introspection and metaphysical growing pains going on during the creation of these songs. I worked through a lot of things while writing them; the process allowed me to understand my feelings more. Some of the songs even surprised me a little, almost like a dream--it was like my subconscious mind coughed up some words and then my conscious mind learned from it. One huge thing is there are no piano songs on this album! Piano was my first instrument and my first album is almost entirely piano songs. I didn't intentionally rule it out, just the past couple albums I was on the road a lot more and I could never bring a keyboard so it naturally phased out a bit. I would love to bring it back though!

What has been some of your biggest motivations when it does come to putting a song down....in terms of considering the ears that will hear them?

Well, I try to give people the most authentic form of my feelings in a way that I think they'll relate with. I aim for the connection. Sometimes I write something for someone to express a feeling to them (which happened a few times on this album actually), other times I see a story in other people's lives that I want to write about or I even create a character. Either way, I definitely write with the intention of reaching an audience and I try to balance the need for expressing myself with the need for others to feel understood. People and world events strongly motivate me.

Anyone encountering you for the first time would make the presumption that you're a folk singer... But you have such a percussive style to your playing and your singing that it feels that it has so much oomph - and it has so much more personality.... And oomph and personality are things people might associate with indie-rock or jazz or pop or punk - 
So that all being said... Who were some of your formative influences, or where do you draw the courage it takes to be vulnerable, to be minimal, to be very forthright in your craft? 
I grew up on a strange combination of show tunes, and jazz (as far back as 20s!), and grunge and 90's alternative. I also had a huge love for rap and r&b growing up, and as I got older I got in to pop rock, like Blink 182, and ska/punk, and found a lot of support from the punk community here in Detroit as a songwriter. My earliest influences while writing were bands like Queen, Foxy Shazam, Kimya Dawson, Say Anything, Panic! At the Disco, to name a few, and I think those bands inspired me to put myself out there more. But really it's tough to say where my sound comes from, I guess I just had a lot of feelings and I needed to express them and maybe it was the way I was raised, but I never had reservations about being direct with my lyrics.

In what ways will the last year's worth of performances, or even the last year's worth of experiencing the creation process of insomnia slumber party, influence/inform/change the way you might write or approach or perform your next piece of music? 

Seeing the personal turn that my writing has taken is something that's been interesting for me, and I hope I will continue to write from that place where I'm not judging or hiding myself. These songs represent a lot of maturing that I've done; huge and painful lessons that I've been learning. It's shown me a lot about myself. A lot of times when I write a song I'm deep in my feelings, and sometimes there's clarity that I don't reach until later about the song itself--sometimes even years later. I would say I was much more aware of what was going on within these songs when I wrote them, as opposed to other albums. So I think moving forward I'll be writing with more of that clarity--at least I hope!

Anything else to add about Insomnia? I remember you recorded, mixed and mastered Patron Saints by yourself in your basement...

The last album, I did everything myself. However, this album I designed the album art and merch and Steve Gualdoni did the recording and mixing. In terms of just the album in general, the name "Insomnia Slumber Party" really reflects what I was going through, literally and figuratively. It's about the struggle of darkness and light within yourself, and the good and the bad in life coming together in one ironic package that's maddening but kind of fun in its own way. 

More info

The Analog Lights: Song Premiere - "Excommunicated"

Singer/songwriter/producer and synth wizard Greg Aubry is releasing an EP under The Analog Lights moniker on November 25. "Excommunicated" is the first single from Phantom Limb. Aubrey brings a lot of emotion and energy with his voice, and he matched that intensity with his guitar playing in bands like Superbomb and Dead Letters. His past résumé's bullet points included vibes of post-grunge, Industrial, early 80's post-punk/art-pop and a shoegazey psychedelia. 




What's interesting about Analog Lights is that he's bringing those different dark rock n roll tides and cresting them into the synth-wave genre. Specters of Nine Inch Nails mix in with the chilly sleek drifts of Gary Numan or maybe the statcy-shimmering nocturnal meditations of Solvent. This single showcases Aubry's developing knack for threading these spacey synth sounds into an indelible, hooky kind of groove. The beats are an austere march but evoke a sense of ascension through the gusts of myriad analog synth intonations. 

And then there's that voice... Certainly not the nasal/extraterrestrial kinda tone you typically anticipate from voices leading songs like these, be it a Thom Yorke or a Newman, he's always had this melodic growl that would almost fit more into a blues/folk field, or at least that post-grunge grit - and it's enticing to hear it meld to the ambient electronica. 

A couple years ago, with Superbomb and Dead Letters inactive, Aubry decided to finally experiment with synthesizers. "I started to imagine an alternate timeline influenced by ‘The Terminator’ where Skynet took us out in 1997 and a retrofuturistic resistance whose pop-culture ended in the late ‘90s kept music going, underground. What would that sound like? I think at least some part of it would sound like The Analog Lights; dark, machine-like, introspective, but still dancy.”

That the song sounds urgent, or with this sense of pulling oneself forward almost as much for evasion as it is for progression, suggests Aubry's drive to push himself away from past forms and reach a new level. (No video game pun intended). Still, his pull toward electronica was seeded by retro video game soundtracks. But beyond shifting to a new form of musical arrangement, the song became about reckoning he experienced years ago...

“I was a young, brash, insecure artist surrounded by friends who were all likewise young, brash and insecure artists. Over time, though, I found out that my antics--such that they were--really got under the skin of my peers. All of us being passive-aggressive, though, people would be nice to my face and I’d have to find out through the grapevine that everyone hated me. We were frenemies before that was a thing. I stopped being invited to parties; mutual acquaintances would meet me and go ‘oh god, you’re him; uh, I’ve heard about you’. Thankfully, I learned from those times and got better both as a person and as an observer of people.”

Analog Lights ends the year on a high point, with Aubry having established the project as a contemporary with other local electro-havey artists like Queen Kwong, Voyag3r, Rogue Satellites, Audrey Burne, Belterra and Rottinghouse.

The galaxy of hear he's using to conjure the Phantom Limb EP includes an Akai XR20 drum machine, both Korg Monologue and Volca FM synthesizers, a Roland SH-32 synthesizer, and much more.

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