Interview: Creighton Barrett of Band of Horses
If I start this article by saying Band of Horses are singlehandedly saving music you might think I’m a paid spokesperson for the band. Aren’t we all so jaded. I guess I was pretty jaded until I fell in love with this band. Then again the world is filled with spokespersons for all kinds of crap. Creighton Barret is not. He’s a regular guy and a great drummer. And he’s in a great band. And he’s lucky and happy and he’s getting married. He kicks ass. If I told you he was a punk rock/metal guy, would you believe me? Check the video interview. Part 1 here. I usually get to ask my victims what qualities make the best drummer in the world. Instead I’m just going to justify my opening statement about Band of Horses. This will then prove once and for all that Creighton Barrett IS the best drummer in the world. Basically, I think the latest Band of Horses record Infinite Arms is a perfect record. THE perfect record (or fuckin download or whatever you refer to music formats as these days) I also notice that almost all “professional Media” guys talk about a band like its some kind of story. You may know that Band of Horses were on Sub Pop and their contract was up. They hadn’t decided who they wanted to put out their next record so they toured and put the money from touring back into funding the recording of their record themselves. So, since corporate rock is out this season, we have the fact that Infinite Arms was recorded without “The Man” breathing down their neck. Check. I wonder if it’s necessary to compare a band to another band in order to communicate what their music is like or swhat it does to you. I think the mass media and MTV have grooved this concept in so well that it happens on a subconscious level. Lady GaGa is somehow related to Amy Winehouse who was the 2006 version of the 2004 Britney Spears meltdown and it all melts together in a neverending stream of force fed crap. To say Infinite Arms is like a The Band record is not only bad grammar, it sells us all short by inviting the comparison of one piece of art to another. I told Creighton that the album is a religious experience. I’m serious. Here’s part...
Interview: Tim Fogarty of El Ten Eleven
The propulsive rhythms and postive vibes of El Ten Eleven make for a great experience, live or recorded. They recently swung through Chicago, playing Lincoln Hall. Tim Fogarty played a great show. Perhaps not as memorable as the last time they played Chicago, but how can you top a street festival concert caught in a torrential downpour? El Ten Eleven songs are chock-full of ear candy – in Tim Fogarty’s drums, gritty electronic triggers mix with massive drum sounds. You can also get your ear canals tangled in Kristian Dunn’s web of interlocking guitar and bass loops, all built up live. Armed with an array of pedals and noisemakers, An El Ten Eleven show really gets bodies moving. Even if you’re not the “moving” type. You’ll at least sway, guaranteed. The effect is hypnotic. The best part is that this huge sound is built up quite organically by just two guys. Tim Fogarty is the piston that charges the chugging 2-stroke engine that is El Ten...
Interview: David Bazan and Alex Westcoat of Bazan + Band
David Bazan recently hit the stage at Lincoln Hall with a revved-up band and recharged setlist. You’d be forgiven for expecting a morose affair. Last year he released a highly publicized “break-up with God” album, Curse Your Branches. To support it, he embarked on a solo tour, strumming a classical guitar in intimate living room shows. Bazan has always had great songs. His recordings have continued to evolve with a whack-a-mole array of collaborators. Unfortunately, the live renderings of those songs were often just serviceable. No matter how talented a rotating cast, you can’t fake the on-stage chemistry that comes from steadily playing together. As he descended deeper into his crisis of faith, retired Pedro the Lion, and embraced booze, he produced some uncomfortably shambolic solo shows. Forget all that. This incarnation of Bazan + Band fired on all cylinders. They put the pedal to the metal on “Transcontinental,” torqued-up classics like “When They Really Get to Know You,” and rewired “Gas and Matches” with gritty guitars. The band displayed the veteran chemistry that comes with a full tour under their belt. Sideman Blake Wescott provided counterpoint on guitar as well as ballsy background vocals on “Start Without Me” and “That’s How I Remember.” Young drummer Alex Westcoat completed Bazan’s shift from shoegaze to power pop with his energetic timekeeping. Bazan reasserted himself as one of indie-rock’s most articulate songwriters. He also kept the sing-along crowd on their toes with lyrical change-ups to reflect his renunciation of faith. On “The Fleecing,” he frankly replaced “why I still believe it” with “why I don’t believe it”. In a twist of convention, David Bazan has cleaned up, and lost Jesus. He has embraced agnosticism. But far from leading him into a downward spiral, he’s actually become a more powerful performer. Many of his old songs are thematically schizophrenic; ersatz morality tales full of gratuitous infidelity and misogyny that might’ve scandalized evangelical audiences, but fail to shock in a post-LaBute world. And the increasing desperation of his characters dovetailed with his own edging toward alcoholism. In contrast, the new Bazan tunes are honestly sobering. He’s retired the pulp fiction and started over with stark autobiography. Interestingly, as I interviewed him and Westcoat about the qualities they appreciate in great musicians, the word “spirituality” came up a couple times. While he may have left behind tidy religious doctrines, it’s still hard to avoid some numinous terms when talking about creative...
Interview:Aron Sanchez & Arone Dyer of Buke and Gass
From their homemade instruments to their screen-printed posters, Buke and Gass embody the DIY ethic. Both veteran musicians, they’ve carved out a fascinating niche with this latest project by multi-tasking to the max. While Arone weaves a tapestry of treble with her modified ukelele, jingle shoe, and brave alto, Aron shreds it apart with his jigsaw guitar-bass and jagged bass drum stabs. It is methodical madness. Seeing them live is a treat, then. Where the recording might wear you out with its relentless rhythmic polygamy, the concert will absorb you as you watch this small band make a big, big sound with every available limb. Without that visual reference, you might dismiss them as trying too hard. But that’s not possible after you take into account the fact that they basically make all of their own gear. Nor is it possible after you see their lighthearted demeanor on stage. Arone is bike mechanic. Aron builds instruments for Blue Man Group. These are natural born engineers. They are tinkering with rhythm, showing us how to hotrod a waltz into a rollicking 12/8, or realign a wonky melody by simply bypassing the downbeat. These aren’t ivory-tower-theory heads. This is blue-collar Genesis. It’s the sound of the Avett Brothers getting run through a Deerhoof-grinder. It might help you think of ways you can reengineer your own faltering creative...
Interview:Francis White of White Mystery
TheBestDrummerInTheWorld.com learns about the elusive “Yin and Yang” that is the magic behind sister/brother duo White Mystery. Francis White supplies the head-rattling primal beat to their garage rock. We caught up with him before a sweaty show at Crown Liquors in...
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