Category: Artist Spotlight

Artist Spotlight: Wyldlife

tonightatdawn May 8, 2015

Interview conducted by @KralTunes The boys of New York’s WYLDLIFE are in the midst of a personal revival. After being sidelined for close to a year, the band has just released some new material, (It’s Called) Rock ‘n’ Roll, and are gearing up for a major run in the next year. Before heading south to record their new album, vocalist Dave Feldman was awesome enough to talk to me about the highs and lows of the rock and roll life, some of his best (and worst) memories on the road, and some time traveling hijinks. KralTunes: (Typical question I am sure you’ve heard ad nauseam) Do the boys in the band WYLDLIFE actually live up to what the name implies, or are you all simple happy little homemakers when the lights are turned off?

Dave Feldman: Well, I don’t know about a homemaker. We all keep are heads on our shoulders, I’ll say that. We have vices, but we keep them in check. We have paychecks coming in for the most part so we’re not starving. When we’re on the road, we definitely turn into a whole different animal. A party animal, if you will.

KT: Lets get some basics out-of-the-way. How did you guys come together as a group? Have you been playing together for a long time?

DF: Spencer (bass) and Sam (lead guitar, also only guitar) went to college together, as did our old drummer, Russ. I had been playing with Sam in high school so we just wanted to keep it going. Back then, I would go up to Purchase nearly every weekend, practice, play shows, look for some strange, mooch off everybody’s meal cards, and go home. Now we got Stevie in the band on drums, he’s a couple years older but looks maybe 8 years younger. He’s a killer drummer, but he’s also just a really sweet, soft-spoken guy.

KT: You recently returned after a “nearly a year-long hiatus between drummers” with an exciting new 7” vinyl, (It’s Called) Rock ‘n’ Roll. Was it difficult for the band to be on such an extended break for this long? For some bands, such breaks can go either way: (A) Its torture, (B) It was a chance to step back and reflect on our body of work and perhaps make necessary adjustments to future success (sorry for the philosophy) Where do you guys lean, or is there an option C I am not taking into consideration?

DF: Yeah, the last year since Russ left was really hard on everyone. It was so tormenting to want to be playing, wanting to be recording, wanting to tour and to not be able to do it just because I was at the mercy of a terrible situation. And for me, this is all I want to do in life. And for so long I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen again, or if the whole thing was going to disintegrate. I got around to thinking about killing myself, especially around the winter time. That’s not really something I’ve talked about with too many people, but whatever. For about a year, I basically had my terrible day job that I would come home to every day and that was it. That song “Saturday Night” became totally true for me and it was really bad. We had two songs that we recorded in June (that just came out) but we weren’t doing anything with it. I didn’t even like going to shows or seeing my friends bands anymore because it just made me a really bitter and sad person. Anyway, I’m glad I didn’t kill myself because it’s looking good now. The one thing that we were able to do was write a ton of new material, even if it meant we weren’t playing it out, but now we have Stevie on board, we’re recording this album next month and it’s gonna be a ripper. Then I just want to be on tour forever if I can.

KT: The bands image portrayed through your videos and various photos I’ve seen is one of beer swilling ruffians, and does not seem to fit into the current ‘pop-punk’ landscape. (most people think of this 5SOS band when talking about punk rock, for Gods sake)! Do you see yourselves as outliers of the current scene? Are you products of a bygone era?

DF: I think WYLDLIFE may actually be the most outlier-type band right now, only because we are too rough around the edges for a major label (which is fine for me) but we are too slick and good-looking for a Burger Records or Slovenly or Hozac. That kinda sucks because those are my favorite bands right now, Barreracudas, Dinos Boys, Shocked Minds, Dirty Fences, Bad Sports, etc. But I think that huge amount of admiration and appreciation for those bands is most likely not reciprocated from their audiences to us. We’re caught in this fucked place, sonically and visually, but whatever. At the end of the day I just want to drink Bud Lite Lime and make music we like. Our fans will get it, and if some other people get it, that’s cool too.

KT: Songs like “ Cowboys and Slutz” and “The First Time’s The Worst” off of The Time Has Come To Rock & Roll appear to be written from a first person account. Do you pull from real life experiences for the lyrical content of your music?

DF: Yeah of course. The title for Cowboys and Slutz actually came from this Cowboys and Nava-hoes party we went to one time. It sounds fratty as fuck, but I swear to god it was insane. Loose woman dressed as Native Americans, Jesus Christ… The funny thing about both of those songs are that their both about teenage girls. They sound totally different but for “Cowboys” I guess we were going for like an AC/DC or Motley Crue thing, and then “The First Time’s the Worst” was just lyrically going for a song The Raspberries might have written. Those two weren’t about anybody specific, but a lot of our songs are. Mostly ex-girlfriends and knuckleheads I see around the city.

KT: I’m sure you’ve been asked about your favorite spots to play…whats the worst venue you have ever played in? Was the experience so vile that no amount of $$$ would convince you to return?

DF: I won’t name names but people can ask me in person. Hamtramck, MI was fucking terrible. We did a show with The No Tomorrow Boys and at the end of the night they offered us $10 between both of our groups because “they had to pay the light guy.” You can’t even get high for $10 dollars. There was a show in Kansas City that was so fucked, there was just negative energy that night following us. We almost got into two separate fist fights, one with a group of local dickheads, another with a drunk guy in the parking lot who told us “You don’t know how much money I make, you’ll never make 300 dollars a week in your life.” There was also a massive thunder and lightning storm that night. It was awesome. Also there was a spot in Winchester, VA where we didn’t get paid, we ran our own sound, and without any sympathy we’re just like, “also your bar tab is 50 bucks between the four of you” so we Blues Brothers’d the fuck outta there.

KT: Follow up: Are there areas of the country/world that you are super excited to get back to on future tours, and why?

DF: Yeah absolutely. Too many to name. Definitely looking forward to going back to FYWROK. Atlanta, Milwaukee, Chicago, definitely looking forward to playing Denver some time in the future, hit the West Coast. All that good stuff! If anybody wants us to come to your town, get at us!

KT: So body ink seems to be a favorite pastime amongst the boys in the band. Any of you have tattoos that you regret getting years (or the next morning) later?

DF: I mean, I got a Misfits tattoo lasered off. I coulda lived with it, but really I was just bored and could afford something else. Oh well.

KT: If you had to rank your wyldest (see what I did there) touring moments (on stage or off), what would the top 3 be?

DF: There are too many and all quite blurry. In no order: Milwaukee, WI: Picked up, immediately escorted to a strip club called The Cheetah Club in a party bus with all these street punks, then played to a packed house where the cops showed up. That was madness. We Woke up the next day and went on a brewery tour and drunk bowling. Indianapolis, the one time Young Matt stole my sneakers and we wound up at a slip and slide party and drove around in, I swear to Christ, a fucking lawnmower hovercraft, then went back to Brett’s house and watched the Best of Stone Cold WWF VHS tape and ate a pizza that was bigger than my mattress. (You would have been my heroes circa 1999). The first time we played Chicago some guy in his mid to late 20s walked towards me with a knife and said, “Hey! You were at my friends party last weekend weren’t you?” and I said “Uhh… no.” And then his friend in the background shouts, “IT’S NOT HIM!.” That all took about 4 seconds but it was pretty fucked! (You guys have lived a charmed life..that much I am sure of).

KT: What the hell is a “GLUNK ROCKER”?! (apparently, you are) Do you approve of such a term?

DF: I think it’s a conjunction of glam and punk. Yeah I back it. I have been called worse. I think that the New York Dolls and The Soda Pop Kids and The Star Spangles and The Richmond Sluts were kinda glunk rockers in their own right, so I back it.

KT: I try to get some opinions on current events with each interview, so bear with me as we troll through miserable reality for a moment: Baltimore. Freddie Gray. Whats your take on all this crap? Seems like every week theres a new story about abuses in law enforcement that unfortunately results in a dead African-American man. Has there been an actual spike in these events occurring, or is the media simply hyper focusing on such stories? Are they (the media) making it worse? (my answer, YES!) As I write this, they are now stating that his death was self-inflicted while in custody..seems far fetched, but anything is possible I suppose.

DF: None of us are ones to rock the boat politically or socially, so I’ll just say that the footage of the dude nonchalantly throwing a huge rock through a cop car windshield got me so pumped, I had to run laps listening to The Kids just to work off the excitement.

KT: You just released this new 7”. What does the future hold for WYLDLIFE?

DF: We are driving down to Atlanta next week to record the next album. I am so excited for that, I can’t even tell you. Then we got a couple shows around NYC for June, probably fly down to Tulsa for this FYWROK festival. The album will be out hopefully by early fall. Maybe do some touring around then. I would love to put out a Christmas 7” this year too. We’ll have to see. (Excellent!! I look forward to it)!

Most important question of the night…

KT: I like a good time travel hypothetical situation, and this one comes from the podcast TELL EM STEVE DAVE. The one scenario that immediately comes up in conversation is always “If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be”?, and the answer almost always is, KILL HITLER. That became the standard answer, and as a result, to make things more interesting, the question evolved into “If you could travel back in time and kill baby Hitler before all of his atrocities, would you do so”? Now, in an attempt to ratchet it up even more, the question has become “You have the opportunity to seduce Mother Hitler prior to his original conception from his actual father, thus sparing the world from his DNA and cruel final solution. (assuming that the child would grow up to be more like one of you, and a lot less like Hitler). Would you be willing to impregnate the future Hitler’s mother to save he future of millions of lives?? Here is a picture of Mother Hitler to help (or hurt) your response… DF: (Off the record, I really appreciate that Mall Rats reference). Is that a brooch made of grapes? (I do believe it is) I think it would be pretty awesome to be like, “Hey Hitler. I fucked your mom.” And God knows I am a motherfucker at heart but nah, she’s beat. I wouldn’t fuck her with yours. (HA! While I do abhor your negligence in avoiding a worldwide suicide, I do believe that my dick should not be deemed ‘in play’ for such shenanigans… Well played).

Find WYLDLIFE Here: BANDCAMP

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Other Artist Spotlights: Monocle Stache Howling Giant Whores.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Monocle Stache

tonightatdawn May 4, 2015

@KralTunes

Colorado, home of Red Rocks, legal weed, and one time Sex Change Capital of the World, Trinidad, Colorado (look it up), can now proudly claim ‘mutant blues’ rockers MONOCLE STACHE. The rock newcomers blend retro bluesy rock with the heaviness of stoner rock (fitting for Colorado natives), resulting in their impressive debut E.P., Prairie Fire. I recently talked to David Accomazzo and Josh Minor from the band about their origins, whats next of the group, and other world changing topics.

KralTunes: While MONOCLE STACHE is a pretty sweet name for a band, the jaded northeastern U.S. side of me immediately sees it as something a douchey hipster band from Brooklyn would call themselves (which you are clearly not). How did you guys come up with the name? (IRONY is the only explanation I can come up with, please let it be irony, cause I like the music too much for it not to be!).

David Accomazzo: If we’re hipsters, we’re the Red Fang type, i.e. we drink a lot of beer and don’t give a fuck. (Whew!)

Josh Minor: Yeah, we’ve definitely considered the fact that the name is fairly hipster sounding, but at the end of the day, we just don’t care. It’s stuck with us for a long time. The name originated from a friend of ours who used to play a game called “Monocle Stache.” The game was essentially the game “Nose Goes.” I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Nose Goes, but someone will say something like, “Who wants to take out the trash?” Someone else will say, “Nose Goes,” and the last person to touch their own nose with their finger loses the game, and has to take out the trash, or whatever the task might be. It’s a stupid fucking game. So with “Monocle Stache,” you have to make a monocle with one hand around your eye, and a stache across your lip with the other. Operates the same way. We just liked the name at the time, thought it would be funny or something… So yeah….Irony. Because, you know, we don’t wear monocles or have proper mustaches, and fuck hipsters. (Yes…fuck hipsters).

KT: How did you guys come together as a group? Have you been playing together for a while?

DA: We all went to Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado. Josh and I were in jazz band together starting at age 14, so we came up together as jazz musicians with jazz training. Arj and I started playing rock music as a two-piece called Moon Chug our senior year, and while Josh jammed with us once, it wasn’t until sophomore or junior year in college (~2006) that we started playing together as a three-piece and named ourselves Monocle Stache.
KT: You guys are virtually unknown in this part of the country, so lets go about this interview Alex Trabeck-syle. (I will play Alex Trabeck, and you 3 are the Jeopardy contestants. As I walk by each podium, I ask you where your from and to reveal some tidbit about yourself..Give me an interesting factoid about each band member that was currently unknown before today).

DA: I’m actually no longer in the band, though I played bass on the EP. I moved to Phoenix last year for a job in music journalism.

JM: As David said, he moved to Phoenix right after we had finished recording the EP. We were debating whether to continue the band for a while. One of Arj’s old friends and former bass-playing band-mate, Ryan Inman (we just call him Inman), moved out to Denver over the summer, so he’s been our bass player for the last few months. I (Josh) work professionally as a movie editor. I’ve worked on a couple feature-length documentaries of note: a music documentary called “Muscle Shoals” in 2013 (it’s now on Netflix), and an environmental doc called “Racing Extinction,” which premiered at Sundance in January. Arj is in a couple of other bands in Denver, “Il Cattivo” and “Black Acid Devil.” He plays drums in our band, but plays guitar in those bands. (I didn’t realize I was talking to some serious Renaissance Men)!!

KT: I see that you’ve gotten a lot of attention from the ‘stoner rock’ press with your E.P., but I am not sure if I agree with such a tag. Do you consider yourselves a stoner rock band? (I would consider you more of a bluesy garage style band, but what the hell do I know) What are some of your inspirations?
DA: We’ve tossed around a lot of genre tags over the years. “Stoner rock” is accurate since it describes our influences pretty well. We created the term “mutant blues” to apply to us, but no one besides us knows what that means. As the years have passed, I’ve started to think of us as “stoner blues,” since while the core of Monocle Stache is riff-based rock, the foundation of everything we do is blues. We used to jam all the time; improvisation was how we gelled together as a group and developed such great chemistry together. I love the concept of jamming because rock and roll can feel so rigid at times; it’s a confining structure to work within. The non-verbal communication we developed through hundreds of hours just making shit up together is one of the things I miss the most about being in the band.
KT: Things that caught my attention when I first discovered the band MONOCLE STACHE:

They have a great album cover!
Shit, this is free!?!
Who’s the hottie on the album cover!!!

Was the idea to give this album out for nothing a marketing ploy? If so, has it been successful? ( I guess me talking to you could be viewed as a positive sign). As a follow up, who IS the hottie on the album cover??

DA: Nah, we just didn’t give a fuck. We basically did nothing to promote but put the EP on bandcamp and announce it to our 80 Facebook followers (at the time) and friends, and the fact that the Youtube channels and the blogs picked up on it was an awesome surprise.

JM: So after David moved to Phoenix, during the phase when Arj and I were debating whether to keep the band going, we still had this unfinished EP just sitting on the shelf. I was determined to get the album out despite the fact that we were possibly discontinuing the band. I figured that we had invested a lot of time and effort into the damn thing, it would be a shame not to let it see the light of day. I took it upon myself to do all of the artwork and social media marketing (or lack thereof). The chick on the front is Jean Shrimpton, who was a British swinger-era supermodel from the 1960s. I’m really into retro models – they were much classier back then. Now, I should mention we have absolutely no rights to her image, so yeah…hopefully we don’t get sued. (Your secret is safe with me) Then again, we didn’t charge anything for the EP, so it could be hilarious if we got sued – free advertising, and they could get all $70 or so that we made, ha… But yes, I would consider the EP a success. The reason for giving the album away for free was mostly because we weren’t even sure we’d still be a band, but also we just wanted people to have our music. I wouldn’t want someone turning away from our music just because they had to pay for it. So the money we made is just the frosting on the cake. The real victory is in knowing that our music is out there, and people are digging it. It’s also a great feeling knowing that people wanted to pay something for our music even though it was free – that’s a sign that we’ve got some awesome fans.

KT: Since your from Colorado, someone from the east coast envious of your position must ask…has legal marijuana lived up to every stoners fantasy in the Centennial State?

JM: Legal marijuana has been a great success here, and for the most part, we are all reaping the benefits of it. I grew weed for years, so for us it’s kind of the same. Although, now he lives in Phoenix, so that sucks. The only downfall is that I can’t sell it for a profit anymore – but I’d rather have it be legal and cheap, than illegal and expensive. It’s nice knowing that I can smoke and possess weed, and it’s completely legal – nothing to worry about at all. That’s how it should be.

KT: What can we expect from you douchey hipsters in the near future (please say more music and expansive touring)?

JM: We are going to continue to rock the fuck out – that is for certain. We’ve been jamming a lot with the new bassist, so I’d like to say we are on the verge of taking the Denver rock scene by storm. Of course, it’s always a lot easier said than done. We’d love to go on tour at some point, maybe show NYC some love….we’re going to need some more funding.

KT: Random MONOCLE STACHE QUESTIONS/FACTS
Any pre/post show rituals?
Since you in the valley of craft beers, what are some of your favorites?
(Fill in any information that you would like us to include)

JM: So the reason that the name of our EP is “Prairie Fire” is because we always do a round of prairie fire shots before our shows. A “Prairie Fire” is shitty tequila mixed with Tabasco sauce. Yes, they are as gross as they sound, and they are fucking awesome.

I love beer. So goddamn much. IPAs are my favorite, but I can appreciate almost any great craft beer. I am a huge fan of Odell Brewery in Fort Collins, and of course Avery Brewing here in Boulder is unbeatable. The Maharaja Imperial IPA is where it’s at. (You guys are quickly becoming my new favorite band! I’ll have to check out these recommendations. For me, Founders Brewery out of Michigan is frickin’ untouchable, especially their BREAKFAST STOUT or CENTENNIAL IPA. Of course, Boulevard’s Sixth Glass Belgium is no slouch (Jeez, this became a craft beer circle jerk real fast)!!

Now onto serious business…

JM: I would have given Hitler’s father a swift kick in the balls the night he fucked Hitler’s mammy. I would have told him, “I’m saving lives.” But seriously, don’t fuck with the past…. (short and sweet)

KT: MAYWEATHER VS. PACQUIAO… has Mayweather been ducking ‘Manny’ all these years? Who do you expect to come out victorious??

DA: Fuck yeah, Mayweather’s been ducking Pacquiao. Manny’s gonna rip him a new one. (You don’t know how right I wish you were about that).

KT: These slang words have apparently disappeared from the American vernacular:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/npr-history-dept/2015/04/23/401681334/7-lost-american-slang-words

What are some current slang words/phrases you hope will be forgotten from the American dialogue in future years?

DA: I’m pretty sure I called someone a dingus within the past year, so I question the veracity of the prompt. (Dingus is a good one. I heard ‘awesome sauce’ for the first time in years the other day…I couldn’t stop laughing).
KT: The BATMAN V. SUPERMAN teaser has been catching a lot of crap lately, but I think its going to be pretty good movie (better than AVENGERS, at least). Thoughts??

DA: Nothing will be better than the Hanna Barbera Birdman cartoon. Nothing. (Can’t really argue with that, well maybe Harvey Birdman; Attorney At Law)

Find Monocle Stache here:

Official FACEBOOK

Official Bandcamp page (Again, ITS FREE)!!

TWITTER

REVERBNATION

Other Spotlight Artists:

WHORES.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Howling Giant

tonightatdawn April 27, 2015

Text by @KralTunes

Instagram: Kral_Was_Here

Huge THANK YOU to the members of HOWLING GIANT for being good sports about my lack of interviewing skills and playing along anyway.

“Recorded live in Tom’s bedroom, Howling Giant’s first EP comes crashing into reality!”

With this singular statement on BANDCAMP, HOWLING GIANT exemplifies perfect do-it-yourself music making. From the old school B-Movie horror album art, to the no nonsense hard rock mentality, this Nashville Trio with going at it on a smaller scale. Rather than setting the world on fire in grand fashion, they are content with the metaphorical equivalent of lighting a bag of dog poop on your neighbors porch.

The first 2 tracks of their debut E.P. are as straight forward as they come… ‘HUSK‘ and ‘WHALE LORD‘ are hard-hitting, riff-heavy rock ditties that stick to the tried and true regulations of stoner rock. Fortunately, the second half of the album makes me slightly stand at attention… for it is here where the band begins to showcase some exceptional music chops. ‘DOUG‘ provides bluesy rock instrumentals, while ‘CAMEL CRUSHER‘ is a slow burning, spoken word affair that has enough gazpacho to fill that bowl (wink, wink…) including oh so irresistible spaghetti western themed lyrics such as:

“Born without purpose, our friend wanders through the desert
Aimless. Brainless. Infection ruining his sentient thoughts
Over the years he’s created his own purpose
A purpose void of reason or understanding
To slay the hunchbacked sand demons
Blight of nature, he’s their only reckoner
The last bastion of desert justice.”

(You could ALMOST imagine Clint Eastwood delivering those lines before belting some slugs into Ramón Rojo).

As you could tell, I am becoming a big fans of these guys, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with them and ask about the making of this record, their future plans, and any other irrelevant thoughts that bounced around my head at 2AM.

Kraltunes: Is there a unique origin to the name HOWLING GIANT?

Howling Giant: The name comes from the Four Giants in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Towards the end of the temples in the game, these Lords of the Earth come out and howl a haunting melody. (I never put that together until just now..thats brilliant)!!

KT: One thing I immediately noticed after listening to your EP is the exceptional musicianship.
How long have you three been playing? Has music always been the ‘goal’ for you guys? Is this a part time thing?/ Do you have regular day jobs? When did you start playing together as a group? Am I rambling on a bit much here??

HG: We met in college and all played in various other bands, not so much with each other. As our other bands dissolved slowly, we started this band under the name SKLDZR (Skulldozer), as a joke and excuse to jam fat riffs with one another.

We aim to do this full time one day, but in the mean time, we work day jobs just like anyone else. Roger is a substitute teacher, Tom slings BBQ and just got hired at a local brewery, and Zach works at a drum shop.

KT: I’m sure I know the answer to this, but please tell me that you guys are able to grow the epic facial hair so proudly displayed on your facebook page?!

HG: Thats a highly personal question, you’re making Roger uncomfortable. (Aw, C’mon Roger, we’re all friends around here)

KT: I am a big fan the of track “Doug”, particularly for the jam section on the second half. Which track(s) of yours are your especially proud of? (explain why)

HG: We are proud of every track on the EP, each one has its own character and represents a different sound that we love. Husk is the cruising desert feel with stacked vocal harmonies. Whale Lord gives a little bit of the heavy vibe, with some psychedelic guitar work towards the end. Doug captures our goofy side, while Camel Crusher is purely riff work. We love all of our children, as any respectable parent should.

KT: This Ep was recorded in Tom’s bedroom…care to elaborate on any other ‘band activities’ that take place in Tom’s bedroom???

HG: Aside from building a super-computer that will soon take over the world, nothing really.

KT: This weekend, Furious 7 opens in theaters…will you watch it, and in your opinion, can this film surpass the ridiculous awesomeness of its predecessors without going overboard on the cheesiness?

HG: In order to truly understand this film, you must take a look at Vin Diesel’s previous body of work. For example, Disney’s “The Pacifier.” IMDb says 3 stars, Rotten Tomatoes says 1 star. We say, don’t talk to us about Furious 7 until you understand “The Pacifier.” (Well done)

KT: Time to solve the worlds problems:
This week, the US and Iran reached a tentative deal that would curb nuclear activities in return for relief from sanctions. Is this deal a plus for US foreign policy, or will this agreement create more problems down the road between the US and the Middle East?

HG: What the mainstream media won’t tell you is that we have been granted special access to the proverbial “red-button.” Don’t worry fellow Americans, your lives are in good hands.

KT: What do a trio of rowdy Tenesseeians do on their down time?

HG: Cribbage, Jenga, fine wines, you name it. Tom’s been upping his Bocci Ball game over the past few months getting ready for the world championships. (Ambitious..I was looking at signing up in the NYC Bocce League, but missed the deadline)

KT: Hailing from Country Music Central, I am (most likely stupidly) assuming that you 3 are members of a hard rock minority in your neck of the woods. Is there a Nashville rock scene that the rest of us are not aware of?

HG: While there isn’t a huge scene currently, Nashville is in the throes of its Hard Rock Renaissance. We are starting to see a lot more bands breaking the country mold in this town. We think that over the next 5-10 years, Nashville will be significantly more diverse musically.

KT: MULTIPLE CHOICE:
Kentucky just lost to Wisconsin in the FINAL FOUR…are you:
(A)as shocked as the rest of the world, or
(B) couldn’t care less

HG:Frankly, we’re all a bit shell shocked that Kentucky fell to those filthy cheese eaters. We stay up late every night writing in our dream journals by candle light about the whole debacle.

KT: What is the last album you listened to before you began reading these questions? For the hell of it, what other bands do you guys listen to?

HG:

Tom: The Melvins, Houdini.
Roger: Pennywise, Reason To Believe
Zach: Trivium, Shogun.

We love Red Fang, ASG, Weedeater, Sleep, Coheed and Cambria, Led Zepplin, Elton John, Mac DeMarco, Erykah Badu, Queens of the Stone Age, Type O Negative, Descendents, Screeching Weasel, and NOFX.

KT: Aside from celebrating the anniversary of me asking this question, where do you see yourselves n the next 2 years (bonus points if you name the origin of that joke)?

HG: Hopefully touring full time, and making enough money to feast on Taco Bell bi-nightly. Perhaps Mitch Hedberg? (so pumped that you got the reference)

KT:What is the group up to in the near future? (tour dates, recording, etc.).

HG: We’ll play more in Nashville, tour The Great American South on weekends, and work on new jams for our first full-length.

Find HOWLING GIANT here:

OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE

BANDCAMP PAGE (HELL, IT’S FREE)!!

TWITTER

YOUTUBE

Other Spotlight Artists:

Monocle Stache

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: WHORES.

tonightatdawn April 20, 2015

In an attempt to reach new audiences with TONIGHT AT DAWN, we are beginning what will hopefully be an ongoing music interview segment. Several artists have expressed interest in participating, and hopefully that enthusiasm will continue. Our hope is to offer the reader and fans a different style of music interview. Some discussions will be straightforward, while others will have a more humorous take (whatever KralTunes finds humorous, that is).

Any comments, questions, and critiques, please direct them to @KralTunes on Twitter. This was my first attempt, so please be gentle with the criticisms.

WHORES is an American rock band hailing from Atlanta, GA. I recently talked via email to lead vocalist Christian Lembach about their music:

KralTunes: The term WHORES stirs up a slew of connotations for people. Was the potential divisiveness that comes with such a title something the band thought about in the beginning? How did the group come to decide to name itself Whores.?

Christian Lembach: We certainly considered the implications of using such a loaded word; it’s a serious thing. We also thought hard about the fact that some people would misinterpret the name. I feel obligated to state this plainly every time we are asked this question, which is often: There is not an ounce of misogyny in the people in this band, and our name is in no way meant to denigrate women or sex workers.

We intend the name to be more of a statement regarding the nature of capitalism and a commentary on how people are forced to sell out any realness and decency in order to succeed. Look at the words for any one of our songs as evidence. Pick one. We, as a people, have been beaten into submission, and we’re supposed to be happy about it as long as there is still a standing McDonalds within striking distance of our homes. We’re told we can be anything we want when we are children. It’s the biggest hustle of all time. In order to have a life that’s not completely devoid of comfort, you have to “sell out” to some extent.

It’s a bummer of a situation that it’s mostly people from the underground who give us grief or otherwise misinterpret our name. I consider these people allies, so it’s especially disappointing when it gets weird. I expect people outside of mainstream culture to not respond in such a knee-jerk fashion, but it seems there is a rise in what I’ve heard called the conservative left. It’s pretty gross.

I am so far left that I basically see things in a Marxist way, and democratic socialism seems to be the best system to me. I also grew up listen to music, watching movies, reading books and checking out art that was termed “outsider” at the time. It wasn’t socially acceptable to be into punk rock and skateboarding or whatever like it is now. Things have really changed with the erstwhile cheerleaders rocking the satanic, witchy pose, and I think a lot of people who are secretly into Radio Disney-type bullshit music think they have a voice in the underground. They don’t. They’re tourists, and they can fuck right off. It’s utterly bizarre to me that you see these people covered in tattoos and faking a counter culture pose who are really conservative people. It’s baffling.

I was recently talking to Thomas Hazelmyer from Amphetamine Reptile records when we were in Minneapolis on our last tour with Retox. We were talking about the gentrification that happens in every major city, and the parallels to the underground being co-opted.

The majority of the songs I write have an “us-vs-them” element. It seemed like an appropriate name, considering the subject matter of our songs and how I feel on a day-to-day basis. But the dialog surrounding our name never ends, and we’ve taken it on the chin several times in terms of lost opportunities because of the name.

KralTunes: A question I have always wondered… As a singer that does an awful lot of screaming on many tracks, does the strain on your vocals ever concern you about the future of your career?

Christian Lembach: Dude. I think about that all of the time. It usually takes me a few shows to blow it out, then I’m in the pocket for the duration of whatever tour we’re on. It’s painful at times, but I don’t really know how else to sing. I’d love to take some lessons or see a coach or something, but I can’t afford something like that right now. We had like 30 shows on the tour we just wrapped. I have to take care of it – lots of water, lots of sleep and no dairy. I’d love to write some more somber, laid-back songs, but my focus is on Whores right now.

KralTunes: I recently read on your facebook that your studio location is about to be no more (What, the owners don’t realize they are housing the seeds of musical genius within their walls)!! Is this demolition a done deal, or can it somehow be prevented? If not, what are your plans for future practice areas?

Christian Lembach: Yeah, it’s a done deal. We have to be out before May 10th. Tons (like, literally hundreds) of ATL bands are being put out. It’s insane. There are no other spots to practice in ATL that aren’t already full and with a long waiting list. The place where we were practicing was the central spot in ATL where all of the bands practiced. It’s a huge blow to the scene. I’m sure something else will pop up eventually, but we’re furiously writing a new record, and this is a pretty big hiccup. In the immediate future, we’ll be packing all of our stuff up and moving it to a storage space outside of ATL.

KralTunes: Having just watched a youtube clip of one of you sets (Saint Vitus Bar, 2014), you guys put a ton of energy into your performance…I can only imagine that a standard show is pretty brutal on the three of you. Is this the case? What is the recovery time like after or between shows? Do you have any pre/post show rituals that you stick to?

Christian Lembach: Yeah we push super hard every time. We’re in that sweet spot where we’re firing on all cylinders, but we’re also playing to a bunch of new people every night. So I honestly feel obligated to just blast the shit out of every song. I want people who are seeing us for the first time to stop in their tracks. I want us to be your favorite new band. Anybody can make a cool sounding record. Playing a show that takes peoples’ heads off is the important part. As far as recovery time and pre/post show rituals, I try to warm up my voice before we play, and I try not to talk for a good 30 minutes after. We’re not doing a whole lot of local shows, so it’s mostly show after show on tour. You kind of just have to make it happen.

KralTunes: You three seem to be having an amazing time up on stage. Is playing the part of musicians what you always envisioned yourself doing with your lives? Wikipedia has the band starting in 2010. Have you three known each other prior to that date? How did you get together?

Christian Lembach: I’ve tried to do other things, but it seems that music is really the only life for me. It’s taken a pretty hefty toll on my personal life and financial stability at times, but I really can’t legitimately pursue anything else that I would be this passionate about.

We’ve all sort of known each other from other bands that we’ve played in the past. I was a huge fan of our drummer’s old band, and actually learned a few songs on their record with the intention of trying out as their second guitar player back in the day.

Things sort of fell into place one by one for this band. Jake, our bass player, was initially interested in acting in sort of a managerial capacity with the band. An opportunity came up for him to fill in for a show, and after we got off stage he said he wanted to join the band. He was in a pretty active and successful band at the time, so I was a little skeptical as to how it would work, schedule-wise. We’re not well known enough yet to be taking breaks and turning down opportunities. Jake ended up leaving his other band, joining us full time, and that was that.

KralTunes: After reading the lyrics to several songs, many images spring to mind (very little sunshine and unicorn imagery to be found). What are the inspirations for the lyrical content of your songs?

Christian Lembach: Well I don’t want to get too specific and melodramatic, but I have had a few pretty terrible things happen in my life. I just try to tap into a real emotion, and that’s often a fairly ugly one. That’s all I’m really comfortable saying.

KralTunes: I’m always looking for something new to listen to. What music’s got your ears right now?

Christian Lembach: New Metz record, new Fight Amp record, new Retox record, two Athens bands, The Powder Room and Motherfucker, are just wrecking shit right now. Of course I love all of the 90s noise rock stuff, but I’m also heavy into 80s goth/eurotrash type bands as well. I listen to The Birthday Party a ton. I also love a lot of early 90s hip hop. I’m not kidding. I torture my band mates with it. The repetitive nature really appeals to me.

KralTunes: On the current events front, does the officer in the Walter Scott shooting have a prayer in being acquitted of these charges against him??

Christian Lembach: I certainly hope not, but things are so fucked-up right now that it wouldn’t surprise me. There seems to be a certain type of person that is attracted to a job like that in the first place. So as sad and terrible as this is, it’s nothing new. The only good I can see is that technology is making it harder for creeps like this to hide.

KralTunes: What does the next year hold for the band?

Christian Lembach: We’re writing our next record right now. We hope to have it released late this year, or early next year at the latest. After that we’ll be doing support tours worldwide, as well as a few headlining U.S. tours. We’re constantly (and currently) submitting for support tours, so we really never know when the next one is until it’s imminent. The soonest we’ll be back on the road is late summer, unless something really amazing comes up. We’re talking to a few different labels right now to see who the best fit will be. We plan on hitting super hard with this next one, so we’re trying to take our time. We don’t want to let people down.

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