Last night in videos!

It's been a while since I saw a live show, but last night I made my way to LA's The Mayan to see one of my all time favorite bands: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. It was possibly the best experience I have ever had at a concert in my life. 



Las Cafeteras opened the show. They were nothing less than fabulous. The seven members, comprised of three girls and four boys, played traditional music from southern Mexico and not only sang and played instruments but also tap danced. I wish I could have gotten video of the dancing because it was amazing, but I didn't have enough room on my camera's memory card. 



Fools Gold came next. They were loud, energetic, and fun. I had seen frontman Luke Top's solo shows twice before, but I have to say seeing him with such a large backing band was really a treat. The saxophonist was awesome, and he also played the flute during the show. It's nice to see some 'classical' instruments involved in contemporary music.



Some of the guys from Edward Sharpe came out during Fools Gold's closing song. So fun. 



Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros are truly indescribable, but I'm going to try to do them justice with written words. All I can really say is their energy, joy, and love is tangible and radiates through to the entire audience no matter how close or far they are from the stage. They sound impeccable live and it is impossible to stop smiling throughout their set. 





During the show, I met an awesome guy named Aaron. Turns out he's friends with the band, and after the second or third song, one of Edward Sharpe's crew came out and handed him fifteen wristbands to give to whomever he wanted. I still can't believe he gave one to me....





Because Aaron gave me a wristband, I (along with 14 other lucky kids) got to go on stage during the encore and dance. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I will forever be grateful that I got the chance to share the stage with my idols. 



My mom miraculously managed to use my camera correctly, and captured this endearing and hilarious moment. Alex tried to sit on a sound moniter and almost fell off the stage. So great. 

It's impossible to figure out how to put last night into eloquent wording for a show review....but I hope the videos are decent enough to speak for themselves. I have more on my youtube account HERE.

Precious Movie Review

Recently, I reviewed the move "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire" for The Coast Report. Unfortunately, it was edited down due to space issues...but you can read it HERE if you're interested.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Review

The next installment of the “Twilight” movie series will premiere Friday and tickets are already selling out. The Twilight franchise saw 30 million people buy tickets to the first movie, and over 70 million copies of the Twilight books have been sold.

It's no wonder then that the executives behind the Twilight movies hired famous music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas (the brains behind the music selections for TV shows like The O.C., Gossip Girl, and Grey's Anatomy) to oversee the soundtracks to the four films.


Read the rest of my review of the Twilight: New Moon Soundtrack on The Music Pirate!

Technology and such

"When I was a kid, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I remember taking paintbrushes with me to the playground and sitting in the dirt looking for fossils.

I would spend days digging holes and brushing aside the sand, convinced that, one day, I would find the complete skeleton of a T-Rex and be the most celebrated 4 year old in town..."

Above is an excerpt of a commentary I recently wrote on how advancements in technology have changed the way children play and interact with others. It's in print in this week's Coast Report and also online HERE.

Next I'll be writing a review of the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack. 

Stay tuned....


 

Dia de Los Muertos

I recently wrote an article on the traditional Mexican holiday Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). I also took the picture that was published with the story. It's pretty neat. You should check it out.

Read my article online HERE.

Last night in videos

Last night I went to the Echoplex with my boss Lucas and his girlfriend Carly to see Flosstradamus and Kid Sister. 



Totally Michael opened the show. He was hilarious. Great energy, fun songs. 





Flosstradamus DJ'd next. They played a great mix of hip-hop, house music, and some disco-ey stuff. 





I wasn't really expecting to hear Empire of the Sun or Lykke Li, both of which they spun, so that was a nice surprise. Flosstradamus definitely likes to mix things up. 






Kid Sister (who is actually the older sister of Josh from Flosstradamus) closed the show. Josh stayed on stage and rapped with her which was cool. She also had these two dancers who were intense!  





Before this song, Josh said that Kid Sister's album was dropping on November 11th. It actually comes out November 17th, so she teased him by asking him when her birthday is. Now we all know. July 3rd folks. 


You can see all my videos from the show last night on The Music Pirate's official YouTube page HERE: http://www.youtube.com/themusicpirateTV

Flosstradamus Interview

Yesterday I had the chance to sit in on my boss/editor/friend Lucas's phone interview with Curtis Cameruci from Flosstradamus! I got to ask a few questions of my own, and even suggested something to Curtis that got a response of "that is actually a really good idea." 

Check it out HERE

We're catching Flosstradamus at The Echo this Saturday and planning on taking some exclusive video so stay tuned! 

Side note: the lovely Vuk (who I saw open for Fever Ray earlier this month) plugged my blog on her facebook page! She is the sweetest.

New article in The Coast Report

I recently wrote a review on the new Spike Jonze / Dave Eggers movie "Where the Wild Things Are." 

You can find it on The Coast Report's website HERE

I didn't give it a good review though, so if you haven't seen the movie, be warned. Either way it's there if you're curious. 


xoxo

Wolf in a Spacesuit Interview

So last Tuesday I got the chance to interview two of the three members of Wolf in a Spacesuit. It's the first interview ever they've ever done! Check it out on The Music Pirate HERE

Fever Ray at The Glass House

Check out my review of Fever Ray's show at The Glass House in Pomona last Tuesday, and be sure to watch my videos from the show! 

Read my review HERE

Last night in videos

Back in June I interviewed Aaron Pfenning of Chairlift. One of my questions was "what artists do you want to collaborate with" and the first thing he said was "Fever Ray. Check it out." 

So I did. Last night I went to see Fever Ray and her opener Vuk at The Glass House in Pomona, and I have to say it was one of the best live shows I have ever been to.




Vuk played by herself, sticking primarily to some small organ instrument she hid inside a box. She sang in both Finnish and English and was interesting to say the least. This song above was my favorite from the set, and the only song on which she used her autoharp. She has a gorgeous voice, and her album is definitely worth checking out, although I believe she said it's only available in Finland. Bummer. Before closing the show Vuk told us all how lucky we were to get such an intimate experience with Fever Ray--their show could not have had more than 100 people in attendance--and she was right. It really was magical. 



I can't even begin to describe Fever Ray's performance last night. I think I'll let the videos speak for themselves. All I can compare it to is being in Disneyland as a 5 year old. Mesmerizing. 



She played two cover songs last night: Nick Cave's "Stranger Than Kindness" and Vashti Bunyan's "Here Before".



Fever Ray closed the show with Coconut, one of my favorite songs off the album. 

AMAZING. You can view video of her entire set from last night on The Music Pirate's official youtube channel HERE. The videos were all taken by me...shamelessly. 

Amazing Baby at the Troubadour

My review of Amazing Baby's show at the Troubadour two weeks ago has been published on The Music Pirate. Find it HERE

We also set up a Flickr account and Anneliese Wilson's photos of Amazing Baby are up now!

Side note: We are working on some cool video projects that we will be posting on an official TMP youtube account...it's going to be awesome!

We also have an official MySpace! I have added it to the links section. Add us!

I can't believe I missed this

 

Video courtesy of Eric Horn 

Thom Yorke performing at the Echo this past Friday. His dancing is so A+.

Real Quick

I fell off the face of the planet for a bit. 

Upcoming:

- I'll be at Fever Ray on Tuesday. Definitely taking lots of video and writing a review. Be on the look out. 

- Still waiting on photos from Anneliese Wilson for the Amazing Baby review. TMP may just publish the review without them and update with photos later. Let you know when it happens. 

- I believe Lucas and I are seeing Flosstradamus on the 24th. There might be an interview. I might be really excited about this. 

And that's it! 

New article by yours truly

Check out my review of Wolf In A Spacesuit's EP Pomegranate Stationary HERE

it's pretty A+

Last night in videos...

Last night my good friend Anneliese and I went to see Amazing Baby at the Troubadour. Anneliese accompanied me as an official photographer and I get to play the part of critic later this week...but for now here are the highlights of our adventure last night:

Firstly I should say that on our way to LA we almost got into a car accident twice, and when we arrived Anneliese dropped her $3,000 camera lens onto the pavement and jammed it, which prevented her from being able to zoom. Huge damper on the night, although I think she ended up fixing it, sort of. Hopefully the pictures turn out well!





Night Horse opened first and surprisingly the show was packed pretty much from the beginning. They were good, but their songs seemed to drag on forever and I felt like the instrumentals were overpowering the vocals...something that held true for the entire night actually.



The Entrance Band was next. They also had ridiculously long songs so I didn't take much video. Good energy on stage. There was a girl standing next to me the entire time making that cliche 'Native American' hoot noise...I don't know how else to describe it except to say that it was really obnoxious and made my ears ring. Strange whistling, hooting, and screaming is okay once or twice, but do people really have to do it during and after every song? Come on.



Amazing Baby finally took the stage around 11:15 or so. They opened with Headdress, then played Supreme Being, Kankra, Roverfrenz, The Narwhal, Bayonets, Invisible Palace, and came out for an encore of Pump Yr Brakes. Even though they played eight songs I have to say the set felt incredibly short. As always the band was amazing, I loved the new arrangement on Supreme Being. It tripped me up when William sang "fancy friends" instead of the original demo's lyrics, which had "faggot" where fancy is now. Censorship man, it's crazy. Then again, it's probably better not to promote the use of derogatory terms.



I was happy to get the entirety of Pump Yr Brakes on video this time. My battery was flashing empty as they played this song and I seriously thought my camera was going to die in the middle of it, but it held out for me! I should say as well that Amazing Baby was a huge fan of strobe lights last night...so beware of that if you watch these. There are two other A.B. videos on my youtube channel, and also a second video of The Entrance Band.



All in all it was a great show. Stay tuned for a full (and better written) review and photos from Anneliese Wilson!

OCC's Music Blog

So, unlike on LiveJournal, Google doesn't automatically forward you to your new site name if you change your url on Blogger. Learn new things every day!

OCC's Music Review is now operating under the name 'The Music Pirate'.

Find everything here for now: http://themusicpirate.blogspot.com

My commentary on music piracy

Here's the unedited version of my commentary on how downloading music illegally affects the music industry. It's a lot longer than the printed version, but I think it flows better. Read it if you'd like!

My first article in print is out!

If you go to Orange Coast College you should pick up this week's Coast Report and check out my opinion piece on music piracy and its effects on the music industry. The article is also available online here. The original piece was about 1,200 words, but my editor cut it down to around 350 to fit the space allotment opinion pieces are given in the physical paper. It still works, but I might end up publishing the unedited article here later since I like it better.

Last night in videos

Last night I went to see John Maus, Glasser, and Chairlift at the Troubadour. Words cant even begin to express how amazing everyone sounded.




John Maus opened the show and blew my mind. He spent most of the night walking around in a circle and gyrating in a way that was vaguely reminiscent of someone suffering from a seizure. I have three other videos of his performance but I think this is the only one where you can actually see him.






Glasser came next and she was adorable. Brilliant voice, fabulous outfit, and the cutest dancing ever. I will definitely see her again the next time she rolls through town.





Chairlift closed the show and as always they sounded like perfection. I had a lovely chat with Aaron before the show and he told me they had just gotten back from filming a segment for Yo Gabba Gabba! Can't wait to see it.  

*edit* thought I would be writing a proper review for this show for TMP but I was assigned to do something else and then it ended up getting lost in a list of things to do. So instead I will edit this post later with better descriptions. ha! 

Amazing Baby Interview

INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM ROAN OF AMAZING BABY

September 11th 2009

Amazing Baby is a five piece band from New York that has toured the world supporting acts such as Cold War Kids and MGMT, and has been hailed as one of the best new bands to come out of Brooklyn. The band is currently headlining a national tour in support of their debut full length album Rewild, released through Shangri-La Records. They'll be playing a show in Los Angeles on September 23^rd, but before heading out west, lead singer and lyricist William Roan took the time to call The Coast Report’s Eszter Zimanyi from Chicago and talk about the stress of touring, Amazing Baby’s new drummer, and the world’s “best” dancer. Read the transcript below and be sure to check out Amazing Baby with Night Horse and The Entrance Band at The Troubadour next week!

up and published!

Back in June I interviewed Aaron Pfenning of the band Chairlift. Originally the article was intended for the University of Delaware's music magazine, but after that fell apart I was left with no where to publish it. I'm happy to say the interview is now up on The Coast Report's music blog and can be seen here

However, it is a slightly more condensed version, so the full transcript has been posted on this blog for those of you who want to read the whole thing. Be sure to check out Chairlift on their national US tour this fall! They'll be in Los Angeles on September 16th. I'm going so say hi if you see me!

Chairlift Interview

INTERVIEW WITH AARON PFENNING OF CHAIRLIFT

June 18th 2009

You may not immediately recognize the name, but you have definitely heard the band Chairlift at least once. The Brooklyn-based trio was first put on the map when Apple decided to use their infectious and charming song ‘Bruises’ in a national iPod nano campaign. Now, Chairlift is proving they have much more to offer with their sophisticated and genre-blending debut album “Does You Inspire You” released through Columbia Records this past April. Since then, Chairlift has been touring around the world playing festivals like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and All Points West, and supporting acts such as Peter Bjorn & John. The Coast Report’s Eszter Zimanyi caught up with Chairlift guitarist, lyricist, and vocalist Aaron Pfenning this past June in Los Angeles to talk about everything from shirt designs to twittering taco trucks. Here’s what went down:

ESMZ

Video courtesy of omfgitsskeet

I have no words to describe how incredibly amazing this performance is. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros perform with the kind of energy so tangible it seeps through my computer and fills my soul with emotion. Not many bands can affect me so strongly through youtube videos...I can't even imagine experiencing this band in person. If you ever get the chance to see them live don't hesitate. I bet you will walk away feeling like your life has been changed.

A Quick Update...

Hey.

How are you? How was your month of August? Do anything exciting? That's great.

As evidenced by my lack of updates I have been M.I.A. for a while. However, I've decided to fill you in on the happenings in my life and maybe clear a few things up along the way. At one time, (specifically last February through May) I wrote for the University of Delaware's music publication entitled aUDio Magazine. The magazine was run entirely by students and was...a relaxed environment to say the least. Over the summer aUDio's website crashed. I emailed my editor and inquired about the reason behind this, and more importantly why it had not been fixed, but eventually I resolved to accept the demise of the publication and move on. So. That brings me to today. I am now on staff writing for The Coast Report. It's based in Costa Mesa, California, and is the student paper for Orange Coast College (home to 25,000 students, crazy right?!). It's much more organized than the University of Delaware's music magazine, perhaps because it is backed by college faculty. I'm excited to start writing regularly again. I'm also excited to get some of my unpublished work that I had originally done for Delaware out there (you know, where people might actually see it). I'll continue posting my work on this blog as well so check back in once in a while!

Here's the website for The Coast Report:

http://www.coastreportonline.com

Our first printed issue comes out September 9th and the website is always being updated.

OCC also has a music blog that I will be contributing to throughout the year. Check it out here:

http://www.themusicpirate.blogspot.com

Thanks for all your continued support!

-Eszter

Check it out!

The Music Slut posted my video of Chairlift covering the Pulp song Babies back in May and I only just discovered it! How cool though. Now I know where all those views have been coming from haha.

Check it out here: http://themusicslut.com/2009/05/chairlift-covers-pulp-classic/

!!!

Holy smokes! My mom is psychic. She came home today with two Duchicela CDs and a panflute! I am so excited by this right now. Apparently Duchicela was here playing at a flea market. Bummed I missed them but so glad my mom brought back all this cool stuff for me. yay!

Take me to Lima...

Video courtesy of citymusictv

I want to learn to play the Zampoña. This group is called Duchicela and they play music from the Andes. I have one of their CDs. It's so great.

Everything sounds better...

Video courtesy of The Gregory Brothers


The newest episode of Auto-tune the News. These guys are brilliant. I still can't get over Brian Oxman saying he warned people Michael Jackson would "wake up dead". Oh man. The news really does sound better auto-tuned. Enjoy.

Dazzler Interview

INTERVIEW WITH LOS ANGELES ROCK BAND: DAZZLER.

July 2nd 2009

I found out about Dazzler's show at UCLA's Hammer Museum exactly a week prior to the event. I was on Facebook when Dazzler's guitarist, Andy Marlow, posted a status update about the show, and I promptly called my friend asking if she wanted to go. It was then that I realized I had the perfect opportunity to ask for an interview, and so, I very unprofessionally sent Andy a Facebook message asking if he would be interested in speaking with me. Luckily for me he obliged, and I managed to confirm the interview the same day I asked for it (which is an incredible feat, as any journalist will tell you). Not only did I get to interview Andy, but all five members of Dazzler (Neil Schuh, Adam Villacin, Andy Marlow, Michael Gold, and Tyler Thacker) graciously sat down with me after their set, proving just how awesome this band really is. Here's how it went:

Last night in videos...

Dazzler went on first last night. They were awesome. Keytars and vocoders, it doesn't get better than that. They were gracious enough to give me an interview after their set, so look for that to be up here soon. They're also going on a national tour with Anavan so check them out!





After Dazzler came Band of Skulls. They were incredible, but unfortunately this is the only video I got from their set because I left early to do the interview.




Amazing Baby finished the show and they were nothing less than AMAZING, despite being lost in a sea of fog the entire night. During Pump Yr Brakes Will's microphone cut out and no one knew the lyrics to the song. It was hilarious. Of course the second they stopped the song it worked again...I wonder why he didn't just grab someone else's mic? But there's nothing wrong with some instrumentals.




They closed with The Narwhal and kept it going for almost seven minutes. Brilliant. Anyway it was an awesome show. Maybe I'll write a proper review later...but for now this will have to do.

Could someone buy me a plane ticket to Massachusetts right now?!

 
Video courtesy of Jacob's Pillow


I was a competitive figure skater back in the day. I always thought about how amazing it would be to perform a program of some sort to an instrumental version of a Radiohead song (being that they are my favorite band and I am absolutely obsessed with their music). Well, I just learned that a lovely man by the name of Edward Clug has choreographed and produced an entire ballet set to the music of Radiohead. It looks absolutely stunning. I really hope the ballet goes on tour. If I don't get a chance to see this I will never fully recover. July 1st through the 5th at the Ted Shawn Theatre in Becket, MA, for all you lucky New Englanders.

check it out:
http://www.jacobspillow.org/festival/2009/07/radio-and-juliet-1/

Burning bridges shore to shore...

today I spent over four hours trying to convert a video into audio format...and failed miserably. I was just about to write off all modern technology and go feral in the woods somewhere when I found this video on youtube...now I'm stuck in front of the computer watching it on repeat.


Video courtesy of Pretty Monkey Studio


La Roux - Bulletproof. Cool.

My Bird

I am endlessly entertained by this little guy...

The World/Inferno Friendship Society

The World/Inferno Friendship Society: More of a Wine Drinking Band

April 25^th of 2009 proved to be quite an excursion for Audio Magazine’s intrepid reporters, Laurel Kalman and Eszter Zimanyi. A three hour drive from the University of Delaware had finally brought them to their destination: a small club called Chubby’s in Red Bank, New Jersey. After a good ten minutes of searching for the discretely located club, our reporters found their way inside and sat down with The World/Inferno Friendship Society’s Singer/Lyricist Jack Terricloth and Bassist Sandra Malak to talk about music, fans, parents, and everything in between. 

Laurel: So I have one really random question I have to ask.

Jack: Sure

Laurel: Growing up in Bridgewater, New Jersey, what did you do to entertain yourself, because I’m from there and growing up my friends and I would ask each other “do you want to go to the diner, or the mall?”

Jack: Well the mall wasn’t there when I grew up so it was the diner almost every night. A funny story about the mall, they were building it while I was in high school and we would always go there and move all the markers around. So I like to think we delayed the mall being built by at least a year. We also figured out how to hotwire the bulldozers and we would move those around as well, so yeah.

Laurel: I asked that because I was at your show “Addicted to Bad Ideas” at Webster Hall and some kid told me that I wasn’t from Bridgewater because I didn’t know there was more to do than go to the mall or a diner.

Jack: There used to be a quarry in Martinsville which we used to hang out in all the time. We squatted there pretty much, and part of it fell down and then they knocked the rest of it down, but it was a punk-rock crash pad.

Laurel: Ah, so if only I was like twenty years older.

Eszter: Way to make them feel old, Laurel!

Sandra: We are old. We’re a thousand years old.

Eszter: No, no. You’re only as old as you feel Sandra.

Sandra and Jack: We feel a thousand years old [laughs]

Laurel: So, what is the answer of the day for ‘what does The World/Inferno Friendship Society sound like’?

Jack: Oh oh, what does Inferno sound like today? Let’s see. I would say Louis Prima. Period.

Eszter: I know that you guys have had a lot of members come and go in the band, and I’m wondering: how much do the other members of the band contribute to the creative process?

Jack: Whoever shows up gets their say; whoever doesn’t show up doesn’t get their say.

Eszter: Lyrically, do you do all of it?

Jack: I do the majority of the lyrics. Occasionally someone will throw a line in or I will steal something from somebody. But yes for the most part I write all the lyrics.

Eszter: Do you ever wish you had a more constant line up?

Sandra: We do actually, we’ve had a pretty solid crew for several years now. We only have interchangeable members for certain tours that we do. Maybe somebody can’t make a couple weeks of the tour, so they’ll change out, you know, and we’ll have substitutes for people. So there is actually a solid crew; I think it’s becoming more of a myth that we have interchangeable members. They take turns, but they’re pretty consistent.

Jack: Yeah, I’d say there is a solid community of about fifteen people that play with us.

Laurel: Do you guys ever have trouble fitting on stages?

Sandra: We like each other…

Jack: It’s fun to be close to each other.

Laurel: I was at the Ottobar last night and all I could think was ‘I have no idea how they are all going to fit up there’.

Jack: Actually I was wishing Hess was there last night because sometimes when I can’t stand up I just lean on him, and he wasn’t there so I ended up falling over.

Sandra: I like when we’re tight on stage. It feels more cozy and we feel each other’s sweat.

Jack: Remember the night when the stage was too big and we actually—

Laurel: Mr. Small’s in Pittsburg? I actually heard about that from someone. He was like “they actually looked too small for the stage”.

Jack: I looked around like ‘where is everybody?’ [laughs]

Laurel: Was there a defining moment when you realized World/Inferno had become bigger than the band and had become its own scene or culture that it is now?

Jack: Very quickly actually. It took on its own life within six months of this happening. Very quickly I realized that I was not in charge anymore and I was just a band member, not a band leader, which is fine because I feel I don’t want to lead anybody. I think everyone should do their own thing. World/Inferno took on its own life probably three seven-inches in, so definitely before the first record.

Eszter: I absolutely didn’t know about you guys until I met Laurel and she sent me some videos of a documentary…

Jack: Oh which one? The one about the kids?

Laurel: Yes, the one that was very focused on the culture surrounding the band.

Eszter: Yeah, and I watched that but I actually was kind of like, terrified by the intensity of your fans and I was wondering if the intensity of your fans ever kind of scares you? I hear that they have a bunch of rules for what dances to do during certain songs…I was like ‘Oh God’.

Jack: They don’t frighten me, no. I know I’m afraid of knives, I’m afraid of needles, I’m afraid of snakes, I am not afraid of teenagers.

[all laugh]

Sandra: The dance rules are actually kind of cool. It reminds me of the 50’s where every dance had a title, like “now we’re doing the mashed potato!” or “now we’re doing the Saigon kick!”

Eszter: Yeah. They’re very involved, which is cool.

Sandra: I take it as a compliment, so it’s not frightening.

Jack: I encourage it, and will continue to.

Laurel: With a fan base as dedicated as yours, how does playing new songs on tour go, when they don’t know the words or what to expect? I feel like it’s very different from the songs in which everyone sings along.

Jack: That’s a good point. We have to keep playing new songs because we’re like a shark. If you don’t keep moving, you die. I think, actually, everyone has been very good about youtube-ing the new songs and learning the songs within a day of us playing them; which is often very funny because a lot of times the lyrics aren’t done yet and so the kids are singing different lyrics than the ones I’m singing because I’ve changed them.

At this point, Jimmy, a staff member at the club, interrupts the interview to ask what kind of beverages the band would like. He offers a list of different beers, and Sandra suggests that the band is more of a wine drinking band.

Eszter: Do you guys get that for free? Man, let’s start a band Laurel!

[all laugh]

Sandra: It’s not exactly free, I mean, we end up kind of paying for it in the end. It’s just that it appears to be free which is comforting.

Eszter: Yeah. I think, you know, the delusion of it being free is nice.

Jack: It does come out of our pay eventually.

Sandra: Which is why we’re paid so little, because we drink so much.

Eszter: In today’s age obviously a lot of people are downloading music, downloading music illegally. Records aren’t being sold as much since people are getting stuff on the internet. So I’m wondering how you define success as a band since so much of it depends on touring now, and also if you’re content with where you are right now as a band?

Jack: I am totally pro people downloading songs. I think information needs and wants to be free in order to better the culture.

Laurel: Weren’t all of your songs up on your website at one point as a free download?

Jack: They were actually, and we only stopped doing that because it was starting to cost us money to have all the data and info hosted on the website. So we didn’t take it off to sell more music, it was just because we were losing money giving stuff away. You know, I’m happy giving things away, but once it actually starts costing you money to give things away…anyway I don’t think there is such a thing as “illegal downloading”. I think we should let people get stuff out there, that’s totally cool, and it also brings more kids to the shows. And it also destroys the music industry, which I think should be destroyed! So kids get the music, come to the shows, we get the money from the shows, totally cool.

Eszter: So how is success defined for you then as a band?

Jack: Oh, just having a crowded room.

Jack: [to Sandra] Would you like to add anything to that?

Sandra: I think success is feeling happy on stage. It doesn’t always have to be crowded.

Eszter: Plus intimate crowds are nice actually.

Sandra: Yeah, we played a show for seven people last year somewhere in the middle of South or North Carolina, and it was one of the best shows we ever played.

—Jack, who has been sitting on a briefcase, loses his balance for a moment and almost falls over—

Eszter: You really can sit next to us on this couch you know, I feel bad.

Jack: I didn’t actually fall. I’m like a cat. I meant to do that.

Eszter: Alright. So the vast majority of songs today that are popular are about money, sex, drugs, etc. but a lot of your songs are based around historical events. So what is it about history that inspires you?

Jack: Well, I just want to know what myself and my friends are going to do next, so you kind of look to the past for antecedents of people who you think might be like you and make decisions about what you are going to do next. People such as Paul Robeson or Peter Lorre…whoever I write songs about. And they often made wrong mistakes, and you don’t have to make the same mistakes they did. So I look for people who I think had similar problems and similar ideals to what I have, and then I try to figure out what I should do next.

Laurel: Well speaking of Peter Lorre, again you’ve written about so many different people and historical events, why did you choose to expand on Peter Lorre?

Jack: I think it was a mix of, uh, he was like a childhood hero of mine. He was Bugs Bunny, and who doesn’t love Bugs Bunny? And he also had this other life in Germany where he worked with Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. And somehow he ingratiated himself into the culture so much that everyone knows who he is even though no one knows that much about him. If you want to look at the 20^th century from a punk-rock point of view, Peter Lorre is everywhere you want to be. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again for your readers. Born in Transylvania, you gotta love that. He moved to Vienna and worked with Fritz Lang, worked with Bertolt Brecht. Got kicked out of Germany because he was Jewish, moved to Hollywood, worked with Humphrey Bogart for Christ’s sakes. Then because he had communist leanings, he was yelled at by the House of Un-American Activities Committee and then he actually went back to Germany, which very few immigrants did, to direct his own movies. He just seemed to be everywhere you might want to be in the 20^th century. Plus he was high for 40 years straight, which is totally cool. He really didn’t seem to give a damn about much—really had his ideals, which were vague, but also seemed to have a good sense of humor about his place in the world. He could have really felt sorry for himself and he didn’t. He was like, “I’m working, I’ll take it, and I’ll do the best job I can. This is my life and this is what I do.”

Laurel: That’s great. Now you guys are doing a lot of regular touring and then also putting on your production, “Addicted to Bad Ideas”. Does that ever get confusing or exhausting?

Sandra: No it’s great. It makes it more interesting.

Jack: Yeah, it’s nice to mix it up. In December and January we’re doing a bunch of radio plays.

Laurel: Is that the ‘Prairie Home Companion’ thing?

Jack: Yeah. We should probably stop calling it that. That is a fine short-hand way of doing it, but I believe Mr. Keillor’s lawyers have already contacted us about that. It really is a straight-up radio play with the band starring as the characters, and music as part of the stories as well. It actually has more to do with um, well you’re probably familiar with Orson Welles, it has more to do with his radio series about The Third Man called “The Lives of Harry Lime”. Same character in kind of connected stories every week, but each story, you can listen to just one and it wouldn’t confuse you. I’m really looking forward to it.

Eszter: Well back to touring. Touring obviously is really exhausting, so—

Jack: But never boring!

Eszter: How much longer do you think you would keep touring though, is this something you want to keep going with until you literally drop?

Jack: Oh yeah, until I drop. I actually, yeah.

Sandra: I’m not comfortable NOT touring.

Eszter: Do you ever think about what you would do if you weren’t touring or recording?

Jack: No, I remember having day jobs. They sucked! I would like to tour until I die and fall dead on stage. It might happen tonight!

Eszter: That would be a really dramatic way to die.

Jack: What a way to go! [all laugh]

Laurel: So. I once saw Ted Leo, and he was explaining how somebody thought one of his songs, which was about alienation in the political process, was about a ghost trying to make toast. Does stuff like that happen to your songs? Do people completely misinterpret them ever?

Jack: Actually sometimes I get good lyrics from things people think I’m saying, and then I work them into songs. But there’s no good story about that. We try and put our lyrics out almost immediately. I send the lyrics out to the fans and put them on the internet on our widely used forum. I do like Ted Leo very much, we’re actually childhood friends.

Laurel: Really!

Jack: Yeah. His brother Chris once played the trombone in our band. Ted is a very nice man.

Laurel: Yeah, I’ve met him a few times. I think once he jokingly agreed to play my 21^st birthday party.

Jack: You got to learn to say no to those things. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked us to play at their wedding. I mean I’ll go, if I’m invited I’ll go, but we’re not a wedding band.

Laurel: Well you’re officially invited to my 21^st birthday party if you want to come!

Jack: Is there an open bar?

Laurel: Um no, it’s going to be down the shore…with lots of drunk college kids.

Jack: Well, I’ll send a telegram.

Laurel: That works!

Jack: But yeah, Ted Leo’s a good man. We just saw him open for Against Me! recently.

Laurel: Oh, was that back in October?

Jack: It might have been. It was at Webster Hall.

Laurel: Oh, I was completely at that show!

Eszter: Are you done?

Laurel: I’m done.

Eszter: Okay. Well, I have a bone to pick with you Jack.

Jack: No, okay. Are you from California?

Eszter: YES! And I want to know why you think I stink!

Sandra: It’s not you! It’s the state of California.

Eszter: But isn’t the song called “All of California and Everyone in it Stinks” ?

Sandra: Oh yeah.

Jack: Alright, democracy. Which means that you voted for Richard Nixon, you voted for Ronald Regan—

Eszter: I’m an immigrant to this country though, so my family wasn’t even here for all that!

Jack: Well if you believe in democracy then everyone has their say and you voted for Pete Wilson. Who is your governor now?!

Eszter: Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Jack: How embarrassing is that?

Sandra: And you voted against gay marriage!

Jack: And also, if you want to talk about Hollywood, come on. Brad Pitt makes me feel like I’m too fat.

Laurel: WHAT?

Eszter: You’re way thinner than Brad Pitt.

Jack: Exactly! And I’m not even going to get into the rest of it. Come on. You have a LOT to answer for California.

Eszter: But what about the nice weather, and the beaches, and the mountains?

Jack: Too hot.

Sandra: I don’t like the heat.

Jack: Alright, well do you have any other bones to pick?

Eszter: No, that was all. Is there anything you would like to add?

Jack: Nothing. We’re the World/Inferno Friendship Society, your friends from Brooklyn, New York. And really, I especially enjoy debating things with people who I disagree with because Lord knows I need to think as much as I can! You’re only as young as you make your brain work, so I try to make my brain work all the time.

Laurel: You should sit down with my parents, they would tear you apart.

Jack: Really? Then why aren’t they doing this interview?

Laurel: Ha, yeah. I wasn’t allowed to see you guys for like six years.

Sandra: Which made you want to see us more!

Jack: Thank you Mom and Dad!

Laurel: Remember a certain show at the Bridgewater Firehouse?

Jack: I do, I do. The ceiling got caved in. My sister was at that show.

Laurel: I was supposed to go to that show and then my parents decided I couldn’t. Then the next day, the Bridgewater Parent Hot Line talked about what happened. My parents were screaming at me like, “THERE WERE RIOTS AND AMBULANCES! LAUREL WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”

Sandra: It was probably because you weren’t there that it happened. You could have prevented this Laurel. We need you!

Laurel: Yes, I could have prevented the ceiling from caving in.

Jack: It’s very funny, we’ve gotten to the point where people have started to Google us and go “oh no, no, no.” And then we show up and, lets face it, we’re middle aged people, and the club owners are like “so you’re the guys that are going to destroy our club?” Yeah, I know.

Eszter: You’ve got to stand for something.

Jack: Or represent something. [to Laurel] But what was it about us that offended your parents so much?

Laurel: I don’t know, it was probably everything.

Sandra: They probably secretly come to shows and don’t want you to know about it.

Laurel: No, no! My parents listen to Billy Joel

Sandra: That’s what they want you to think. Mommy’s alright, Daddy’s alright, they’re just a little weird.

Laurel: I was at your show last night and my friend and I saw some parents there, and I was like “could you EVER imagine my mom here?” and my friend was like “she would have to be 155% TRASHED.”

Jack: Our shows are actually very family friendly shows. In fact, a lady I went to high school with is bringing her 16 year old daughter to the show tonight. She was like “hey, I hate to ask you this but my daughter likes your band. Can you get us in?”

Sandra: My sister is coming tonight. My cousin that I hadn’t seen in 20 years came last night.

Eszter: Wow.

Laurel: [to Jack] Now, did you go to East or West [high school]?

Jack: I went to East.

Laurel: I went to Immaculata Catholic High School. I’m one of those.

Jack: Ah! I remember it very well. I remember you had to wear your costumes every day but Friday? Do you still have to do that?

Laurel: No, we didn’t get Friday off!

Eszter: Really? You didn’t have casual Fridays?

Jack: Back in the 80s they had casual Fridays.

Laurel: That is so not fair. They got worse my senior year too. They made it so that we had to wear our tights all year round.

Sandra: Wow. Someone probably ruined it for the rest of you by wearing her skirt too high.

Jack: Actually a former roadie of ours, who you might know—Mike Leonard—gave me an Immaculata sweater, which I use as pajamas.

Laurel: Really? Would you like more? I’ve got them at my house.

Sandra: Yeah! I could get one and we could match.

Jack: Sure, why not.

Eszter: You could have sleepovers in your matching Immaculata sweaters.

Jack: Okay, well, I need to go downstairs.

Laurel: Alright, thank you so much!

Check out more on The World/Inferno Friendship Society at their websites:
http://www.worldinferno.com

http://www.myspace.com/worldinferno

Ima Robot

IMA ROBOT AT THE ROXY
January 28th 2009

It was two years ago in February that I first had the opportunity to see the Los Angeles based indie band Ima Robot. I had been a die-hard fan since 2003 when their debut album was released through Virgin Records, so when my best friend offered to buy me a ticket to a show, I immediately jumped at the chance. February 15^th of 2007 marked my first trip to The Roxy Club; I remember it being packed with the some of the strangest people imaginable, including Miley Cyrus, who was in attendance to see the then un-famous opening band of the night: Metro Station. Rest assured I won’t subject you to reading about that thirty minute set, if it can even be called such. That night Ima Robot took the stage with an infectious and out of control attitude; front-man Alex Ebert emerged in a nude leotard, throwing white feathers into a sea of fans who half-way through the show rushed the stage and spent an entire song dancing along side the band. The crowd was unmanageable, and I remember being swept from one side of the room to the other in a matter of minutes; we were packed so tightly that I was convinced I was going to asphyxiate and pass out at any moment. Youtube video of this event still exists, and I am proud to say I can still find myself in that turbulent crowd. It was one of the most exciting and unpredictable shows I have ever been to, and one that will always stay fresh in my memory.
Fast forward almost exactly two years, and you will find me gearing up to once again see Ima Robot at The Roxy. I was home in California for winter break and luckily stumbled upon a Myspace bulletin announcing Ima Robot would be playing a show that evening. After a fervent twenty minutes of texting every person I knew in search of transportation, I managed to procure a ride and $20 and set out with a friend for the hour drive into the city. The Roxy Club, for those of you who have never been out west, is located on Sunset Boulevard, one of the most famous streets in Los Angeles. Everything seems to happen on Sunset, and the feeling of excitement and action is tangible the minute you step out on the sidewalk. My friend and I arrived at The Roxy around 8:30 pm, and decided to skip the first two opening acts in exchange for grabbing a quick dinner. When we finally entered the club, I was amazed to find a completely different atmosphere from the last time I had seen Ima Robot. 2007 had comprised of a massive crowd, consisting of everything from fourteen year old girls to 20-something men dressed in superhero costumes. It was during the bands promotion of their second album, Monument to the Masses. Since that time Ima Robot has stayed relatively under the radar; they successfully terminated their contract with Virgin and have been working on releasing new material themselves, a process which has been relatively slow. Still, I was understandably surprised to find that 2009 drew a much smaller and calmer crowd, and one that easily allowed me to procure a spot directly in front of the stage without any pushing or shoving. By the time Ima Robot took the stage it was already past 11pm. They were an hour late to start, however the minute they stepped on stage I forgot all my exhaustion and was filled with excitement. Alex Ebert strolled up to the microphone wearing dirty and ripped white jeans, a white cardigan, and no shoes. His hair is long now and he sports a thick beard; I imagine he looks something like the lovechild of an emaciated Ryan Gosling and Jesus, but in the most attractive way possible. Before starting their set, Alex announced the band’s keyboardist, Lars, was stuck outside of the country and would be replaced that night by what he called L.A.R.S. (lifelike analog replacement situation). This replacement turned out to be a cleverly constructed manikin wearing a werewolf mask, complete with Christmas lights as eyes, which the band was committed to interacting with throughout the show. In reality however, it was guitarist Timmy Anderson who stepped up to the plate and managed to play both guitar and keyboards for the entire night. Ima Robot made the daring decision to play all new songs off of their forthcoming album, and the crowd spent much of the night in subdued awe. The new songs are completely different from Ima Robot’s older work; they are almost tribal in sound, and have a definite South American influence to them. Alex was impeccable both vocally and performance wise; he danced as if no one was watching and was so lost in his music that the experience seemed entirely spiritual for both the band and audience. It was an experience I still cannot fully put into words. I spent the entire evening in unblinking admiration for this band, which despite largely reinventing their sound has still remained true to themselves and their creative integrity. At the end of the set, Timmy pulled out a list of older songs to decide from for an encore, and after deliberating for a few minutes, the band decided on fan favorite 12=3. This song was one of 3 out of the 10 songs played that evening familiar to fans, and it was only during the encore of 12=3 that the crowd really let lose and went wild. I left The Roxy that evening filled with elation and awe. Although the experience was completely different from the first time I saw Ima Robot, the band still captivated me and solidified their placement as my second favorite band of all time. Their stage presence, musicality, and talent all shine through during their performance, and they are undoubtedly one of the greatest live bands around today. It is still unsure whether Ima Robot will tour outside of Southern California in the near future, however if you do get the chance to see this band, I highly recommend you go. They are a band that promises the unpredictable, and always delivers.