VIDEO: "Teenage Wasteland" by The Demon Beat

The Demon Beat – Teenage Wasteland from Geoff Hoskinson on Vimeo.

It would come as no surprise to their fans, and the band itself might try to downplay it, but The Demon Beat looks like they’re about to “break through” and/or literally explode. And we are talking weeks, not months, here people.

Well, that’s just judging from the positive press and praise from people who’ve heard songs off their upcoming release Less Is Less, or seen the band’s video for “Teenage Wasteland,” ably and awesomely done by Geoff Hoskinson.

As we’ve all followed Adam, Tucker and Jordan over the past, what four or five years solid, (always will remember pulling Heavy Nasty out of the envelope, never having heard of the band, thinking 'What the hell?') sure, they’ve received nods and thumbs up and various positive shaking of other body parts from “the press” and big outlets of other mediums. But now you almost have to keep up with what outlet is rockin’ ‘em out or singing their praises.

Impose Magazine premiered the “Teenage Wasteland” video, and the band was named (quite obviously, and rightly) by Paste Magazine as one of 10 West Virginia bands to check out. And Paste and Impose aren’t the only ones.

Less Is Less -- due out around the end of September on Funny/Not Funny, and available for pre-order now -- may be the record that sees the band take that next step, whatever that is. It’s just always been interesting to think about what bands get popular or put on and some bands that may rock as hard or harder, don’t. (hint: family members in the record industry?)

How many times have we thought to ourselves here we’d rather see The Demon Beat on Saturday Night Live than whatever silliness they’ve got booked half the time? More than once.



As much of a badass rocker as Meisterhans may be, as far as plans may or may not have been drawn up to kidnap Hudkins to have Rozwell Kid play the WVRockscene home office, it’s been great to see Tucker Riggleman (as the other dudes handle recording/art) handle the band’s PR front, in addition to setting up Big Bullet Records, in such a professional, thorough manner.

There was talk recently on Facebook about the perceived need to have some sort of a workshop where local music beat writers and aspiring musicians get together to discuss the do’s and don’t’s’s of approaching press types, taking a business writing class, and whatever else. Any such workshop would be very well served to host Riggleman.

He’s handled that end of things for the band. But all this positive coverage isn’t or doesn’t seem like hype. It’s people catching on after so much awesomeness from the band. The Demon Beat is a great example of a band doing things the right way, D.I.Y., worrying about rock and roll and not “breaking through,” “blowing up,” or much less approaching press types.

Pretty much exactly seven years after at a Hurricane Katrina benefit show at Shepherd teamed Tucker up with Adam and Jordan, The Demon Beat may or may not have big, rich, famous things in their future. But they’ve at least done this: remind people what’s great about rock and roll.

"Strange and scrappy" -- Christopher Lusher talks about life and art

Christopher Lusher has been busy bringing outsider artists indoors out Huntington way, booking art shows at Blank Gallery and exposing area artist’s work to a wider, real world audience. Lusher and friends do it again this Saturday with “Easy Does It,” showcasing art for a good cause.


If you missed our Herald-Dispatch interview with Huntington artist and all-around D.I.Y. dude Christopher Lusher, stop reading this right now, go check that out, and come back.

Alright, good. Now you’re up to speed. We had such a good time talking with Lusher for his “It Is What It Is” show at Blank Gallery, we thought we’d catch up for this Saturday’s “Easy Does It” art show. Not only does it help benefit the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, it’s another chance for us to talk with the always entertaining, sometimes illuminating (he rightfully demurs on generic questions) but totally-punk-rock outsider artist…


WVRockscene: We talked last August for the H-D article on “It Is What It Is,” what’s been going on? Thought I did see you at a recent CVRG thing, still taking street pics?

Christopher Lusher: I don’t even know where to start with that. This has easily been the most insane year of my life. The highest highs and the lowest lows. Not that I’d trade it for anything but it has been a mind fuck to say the least. Things have gone down that I never would have imagined.

If you saw me in public you basically saw the human version of Bigfoot. I have some sort of predicament going in public anywhere. Not so sure why but I really can’t stand it. The staff of Black Sheep would say differently.

-----
rockscene: You been havin’ any Beast Ice Challenges lately? Explain the details of the challenge itself, for those, say, who think they could compete, and just the fun that may have been had? These were at your place?

Lusher: Not so much. The challenge started quite by accident and ended in bloody violence. Well, there is only one real rule and that is six beers must be consumed by each contestant in the first hour and then after that its full on. It is however the quality of the drunk and not the quantity of the drink. Field sobriety tests are performed because we’re professionals.

Yeah, we did them here and they were a lot of fun for sure. With that said I don’t think I’m so excitable about embracing the idea of self abuse anymore and don’t really see these happening again. You had to be there, as they say.

-----
rockscene: Just following your status updates on Facebook it seems like you’ve been staying busy. You brought Max Snow to Huntington earlier this year. How cool was that?

Lusher: That was honestly one of the highlights of this strange and scrappy life. Hands down. He had no obligation to come here at all but did so all on his own dime and asking for nothing. Max and I had this unspoken dialogue between us that made me feel a connection with him. He was just like an instant friend and was the nicest and most genuine guy I have met in a long time anywhere.

He brought his mother as well and don’t get me started on her: just an amazing spirit and so nice to be around. They treated everyone with nothing less than a pure sincerity and grace. It was truly a beautiful experience.

-----
rockscene: Noticed on yer Hillbilly Magazine tumblr page you posted a photo of you titled “A New Leaf,” is that being literal?

Lusher: I’m usually not with my titles and I’m frankly sick of making them up. That one however I actually am. I had a show a few weeks ago with another artist I admire, Benjamin Hollingsworth, and then proceeded to basically have a nervous breakdown the evening after the show. My body and mind had had enough and just shut way down.

I found myself too much drowning my sorrows out. I’m not a one-night-bender and dry-out-for-a-week guy, I’m a drink-till-you-feel-like-shit and then drink-till-you-feel-worse and keep-drinking-till-you-feel-normal kind of guy. I’ll let you work out the logic in that. It doesn’t work anymore.

I’m not saying I’m straight edge. I’m having a glass of wine as I type this but I’m done with that. That hasn’t been going on for days or weeks but for years. I have a lot I want to do and workin’ half ass and turning into a swollen, piss stained mess isn’t on that list. It was a lot of fun but I’m 38 not 18.

-----
rockscene: Between the various mediums you take with your art, from photography to painting to multi-media efforts, how have you been trending if you’d have to say you’re more into one or the other these days? Taking more pics? Excited about painting or putting something special together? Just getting a sense about your passion these days. Thought you’d been doing a kind of podcast?

Lusher: The photography thing has always been this constant and I still do it every single day. I don’t ever see that changing. Currently, I’ve been getting into sculpture and experimenting with different ideas of “painting.” Those are canvas using things such as berries, candy, grass and coffee to create these strokes and or imagery. Ha, well the radio thing was ummmm.. Lo-fi and NSFW? Not sure that radio deejay is on my list of great ideas but some people thought it was funny so I suppose that made it worth it.



“Untitled” by Christopher Lusher

-----
rockscene: How frustrating and/or awesome is it putting these shows together and pulling them off?

Lusher: It’s pretty much an equal combo of both. With the group shows it’s a tad difficult due to the corralling of people and their work that needs to happen. However, it’s never, ever not been worth it. There have been bits of drama here and there but almost always for personal reasons and nothing approaching legitimate discourse. There is one instance however that did but that and the person involved isn’t worth the ink.

-----
rockscene: When we talked for the H-D you mentioned the more casual atmosphere you hoped to create and foster, both for the artists, to get them out exposing their work to people, and to the people who come out, that it’s not a stuffy high-brow type atmosphere. How has the atmosphere been generally?

Lusher: It’s been exactly as it started out being. I’ve always been very staunch about never changing that. It’s a few rooms full of friends, family, and people who enjoy creativity and the end result. It is casual as it can be because it should be. As long as it exists it’s not gonna be anything else, atmosphere-wise, than what it started off as.

-----
rockscene: Dealing with bands you hear stories about problems booking shows. What have you learned or started to maybe do differently as it relates to putting on these shows, dealing with artists and the public?

Lusher: Nothing. It’s been the same, again, as it has from the start. That’s been kind of the beauty of it all. I’ve never concerned myself too much with the public and what their specific desires or derision would or could be. It’s about the people involved that are showing their work and what their desires are.

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rockscene: Talking about getting both the artist and a community of supportive friends etc. out to these shows, you book/arrange/promote these Blank Gallery shows on Facebook for the most part. Aside from the artists you interact with and the people who are supportive of your efforts online -- you pretty much HAVE to have a Facebook presence to promote a show just because everyone is on there -- have you grown to hate Facebook even more than you did in the past? Is it bittersweet having to use it? It’s our thought here that most social networking has kind of devolved or at the least it makes us hate the world in general...

Lusher: Well, it’s a necessary evil due to that exact thing. The invite process seems to work best through Fakebook since no one has the attention span to look at anything other than what appears on a fucking newsfeed now or a tweet.

My problem with social networking is how much of this shit do you really need? How much information is too much? Apparently, there can’t be too much. You have your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Pinterest, Tumblr and you have them all connected AND then you have your iPhone so you can let everyone know when you’re gonna eat and when you’re gonna shit. You can tweet at your buddy that you’re fucking SITTING with instead of any actual interaction.

If I see one more E-Card I’m gonna rip my eyes out from their sockets and eat them. I mean, I’m probably on the internet more than anyone but I’m trying to be proactive with it and do something positive. I’m no better than anyone else and this is just my opinion but try and put your fucking phone down for, gee I dunno, a whopping three minutes and see if you can handle it.

People spazz without that constant influx of pointless information these days. “I got my colon checked today. Here’s the video. Pryrz Plz.” Hashtag this and fucking that. Fuck your hashtags and your duckface Instagram photos. We know you’re cute and we don’t care. Keep your dinner plans to yourself. Try some human interaction like they did in the “old days.”

-----
rockscene: You feature so many other artist’s works on Hillbilly Magazine -- it’s going to be tough and you have to be diplomatic, but who've been some of your favorite contributors or artists who make you happy you put these shows on, to show their work?

Lusher: This is gonna sound like some bullshit soundbite but all of them. Just the fact people are reaching out to me at all makes me thankful for them. I’m proud that it’s like this rolling online gallery that is full of this sort of weird-and-dysfunctional-but-loving-families’ work. I just want to watch it keep growing. To keep supporting talent through that.

-----
rockscene: You’ve got this Easy Does It show lined up for Saturday, to help the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, how excited are you about the artists and that you could have this show benefit a good cause?

Lusher: I kinda went back and set up sort of an original lineup from the first shows. All of these guys are practically family now and when I think of BLANK I think of John Drake, Mike Adkins, Jimbo Valentine, Jason Lucas, Kelli Bellomy, Ana Gaston, Elizabeth Turner, and some newer faces too. It should be as good they get in my totally biased opinion.

This show is really inspiring in what the cause is for. The idea to be able to be a part of an event for children is an honor. I just need to think of my niece and nephew and how lucky they are to have family and then to think of the ones that don’t is all the reason needed.


EASY DOES IT

WHERE: Blank Gallery, 1102 3rd Ave., Huntington
WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday 9/1

Coming Home: Mark Bates back in West Virginia with “Night Songs”

Photo: Will Foley

Hurricane native Mark Bates returns to West Virginia with his new record, “Night Songs,” and a new outlook on his own musical career. Bates performs at the Creekside Café in Hurricane Saturday night.


Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

There’s a great story behind the inspiration for “Lucinda,” one of the songs on Mark Bates’ recently released sophomore effort “Night Songs.”

There’s also a hilarious one.

Bates, the 24-year old Hurricane native and L.A. resident, returns to West Virginia for a show at the Creekside Café in Hurricane Saturday with his second record in tow, having fun playing music again.

Bates, like so many other aspiring musicians, went to Nashville a few years ago with big dreams that were crushed in short order. Despite releasing his solo debut, the Americana-heavy CD “Down The Narrow” in 2010, Bates didn’t realize his dreams as so many hope to.

“Really, the Nashville thing, I call it a constructive failure,” the singer-songwriter said over the phone. “It was great to come out and get beat around, you know?”

Bates returned to West Virginia and took a most unexpected career turn: he enrolled in the West Virginia State Police Academy as a cadet. After more than two months, and a call from L.A. about making music again, Bates drove off one fateful night.

“The night I quit the police academy, it was a Sunday night, and Lucinda Williams was playing Mountain Stage. My mother was there, and she’s a huge fan, and so am I. So I drove straight off the hill, which is what they call the academy up there, and met my mother at Mountain Stage.

“I’d never seen her live but always wanted to,” Bates said of Williams, who he lists as an influence, among Tom Petty, Springsteen, and Tom Waits. “So it was kind of a magical thing. I went home, and the next day I wrote that song.”

Hearing Bates sing “I’m in love with Lucinda,” over and over, the obvious question would be: ‘You got a thing for Lucinda Williams?’

“It’s really not about her at all to be honest,” he said with a big laugh. “She was kind of on my mind, and the syllables of her name just sounded good, and how they rolled was a nice fit. But her involvement with [“Night Songs” producer] Eric [Liljestrand] was the reason I met with him; he produced some records for her that I really liked.

“It’s pretty funny, Eric, when we recorded that song, he said ‘Just be sure when you talk to her, just tell her that song’s not about her. You don’t want to freak her out,’” he said laughing. “I’ve got to be careful because I’ll see her out from time to time and her husband’s usually with her.”

Bates actually did meet Williams at the release show for “Night Songs” out in L.A.

“She ended up coming to the release show, and I got to meet her, and she hung out and was great. She was super nice to my family, and I got to introduce her to my mom, which was the coolest thing.”

Comparing the response to his music in L.A. as opposed to Nashville, Bates said it was like night and day.

“Instantly it just felt better,” he said. “The reception to what I was doing was great. So I was able to get a decent little following, and find a niche for what I was doing. So it’s been great.”

Bates said despite the warm welcome in L.A., and critical praise for the new record, most musicians, these days, need to be D.I.Y and totally self-sufficient.

“It’s a pretty tough business, especially right now. With the deconstruction of the music industry, it’s been difficult to figure out which angles you should take. The response [to “Night Songs”] has been good, we haven’t had any bad reviews, and people seem to be enjoying it. It’s still early in the process; we’re still having reviews come in and we’re trying to talk to some industry people.

“At this point my favorite labels are kind of on the way out. My dream was to get on Lost Highway Records. My publicist Mike [Farley] was talking with them, and they’re pretty much done, and it’s sad. At this point there’s opportunity in the demise of the industry, you just have to do it on your own, and that’s what I’ve been trying learn to do these past few years. It’s possible but difficult.”

For Bates, raised on church music, a mutually reinforcing, symbiotic relationship exists between music and family.

“I’ve got a great family, and we’re very close, and that’s a constant thing and the way I was raised. The people that build you are really the ones that matter…It has more to do with them than it does with me.

“It’s always very important for me to extend gratitude in the liner notes to my nanna, and to my grandfather, who has recently passed away. He was a preacher in the church that I was raised in. I try to never take that for granted. They’re very important to me.”

Bates said having fun playing music again, coming back to West Virginia with a new record, is what it’s all about.

“I’m having fun playing music again, so I enjoy it wherever I am. I think the songs show I’m definitely homesick. I’m excited to get back.”

After saying he plans on moving back to the Mountain State later this year, Bates added he thinks he’s going to stick with the songwriting thing this time.

“I’m going to continue to play music and regardless of what I do. I’ll never quit again. I realize I’ve spent too much time and effort to make things happen.”


IF YOU GO:
Mark Bates w/Clark Paterson
Where: Creekside Café, 3380 Teays Valley Road, Hurricane
When: 10 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $5
Contact: 304-562-2494
Online: www.markbatesmusic.com

Related: Mark Bates returns home for Live on the Levee, Empty Glass shows (June 2010 Gazz article)

Mark Bates: “Lucinda”

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Back in business: Byzantine reunites with new album, local shows

Byzantine (L-R: Chris Ojeda, Skip Cromer, Tony Rohrbough, Matt Wolfe) is back together with local shows and a new album due out in November.


Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

To hear the guys in Byzantine talk, you’d think they were just another local metal band with something to prove. Hearing them talk about their new record, having lead guitarist Tony Rohrbough back in the band after a three year absence, with a string of local shows lined up, Byzantine and their fans are rightly excited.

No local metal band has three major label releases and European tours under their belt. Since being birthed out of Chapmanville in 2000, four years removed from “Oblivion Beckons,” their last release, which, promptly upon release, fittingly enough saw the band go on indefinite hiatus, Byzantine has built and maintained a passionate fan base and achieved critical acclaim for their progressive, melodic version of metal.

Together for a rehearsal at Rohrbough’s house in Weston, you get the sense that thing are back to basics and Byzantine is making music on their terms. After a heart attack prompted Rohrbough’s move back to West Virginia from Charlotte, where he’d lived for three years, Byzantine was indeed back in business.

Rohrbough described the organic process of the band coming back from oblivion.

“We were all just chatting, sending emails and demos back and forth. Originally the thought was ‘Look, why don’t we get together casually whenever we want, throw some ideas out and see how it works?’”

Byzantine plays The Sound Factory in Charleston Friday night, and The V Club Saturday night, with a new, fan-funded, self-titled release in the can and slated for a November release.

“I don’t think it would’ve happened without him,” lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris “OJ” Ojeda said of getting Rohrbough back in the band. “Once we got Tony back in, it all flowed real easily. Of course, he and I started the band, and he’s a huge, integral part of the sound. I knew without him it wouldn’t be the same.

“It didn’t feel like we jumped back on the bicycle, because it was all new stuff we hadn’t played before, so it was hard,” Ojeda said. “But you can’t tell listening to the album; it’s fantastic. Once we started playing the old stuff, like “Hatfield” and “Jeremiad,” then it felt like we hadn’t missed a beat.”

Drummer Matt Wolfe seconded that.

“It went a lot smoother than I thought it would after so long. But it’s a chemistry thing. If you put the four of us in a room, something’s going to happen musically. It’s been really cool to get back together and get some frustrations out playing some metal.”

“It’s still great, hearing what OJ and Tony write,” bassist Skip Cromer added. “I have the unique opportunity to hear it first, almost as an outsider. The fact that I get to play on it is even better. I’m still as pumped today to be jamming with these guys as I was in 2005. They keep me on my toes, to say the least.”

So one thing led to another. Demos led to rehearsals and that led to recording. One problem: recording budget, or lack thereof. Enter Byzantine’s fans, who pitched in with financial support via the band’s Kickstarter fundraising campaign.

“We were like ‘This is cool, let’s see if we can do an album,’” Rohrbough said. “So we started the Kickstarter page, to try to raise money, and it just blew up. So then it became something that wasn’t as casual. It was like ‘This is real, we need to get to work,’” he said, laughing hard.

Rohrbough, describing the nine songs on the new record, said he expects Byzantine’s fans to love them.

“It’s actually, in places, a lot more mellow and melodic, and in parts there are more blast beats, so you get more of the extremes. We really spent more time on the spit-and-polish on these songs, because we were sharing demos, we didn’t have a lot of time to get together.

“So the songs came out polished, and very, prog, you know? I’m gonna say prog,” he said with a laugh. “But there’s some extreme stuff and some very, very mellow stuff. We hit a larger gamut than we usually hit. The focus has kind of expanded.”

With a renewed energy and an expanded focus, Ojeda said one thing is back to normal in Byzantine: having fun playing metal.

“The last album we did, everything kind of felt wrong. We were all going different ways. We just wanted to get our music out and have fun,” Ojeda said, with added emphasis on the last two words, almost as if it was an alien concept. “And it got not fun. Once we realized it was going to be over the label, it started getting bad, and it fed into our personal relationships, and that all culminated in us having a big, big layoff.”

Byzantine has teamed up with Gravedancer Records to help get the new record out. Any frustrations the band may have had with record labels are in the past, OJ said.

“There was a lot of bitterness towards the end, toward the label,” Ojeda said. “We were trying to open doors and we found out they were kind of shutting them on us. We knew we weren’t going to be able to tour a lot, we were an older band, and they wanted to focus on 18-year old kids who didn’t mind sleeping in a van their entire lives.”

“You have to remember, we’re an older band,” Rohrbough added. “When we first got signed and put out our first album, I was in my mid-30’s. Usually it’s a much younger game. It’s a much younger game for kids who don’t have a lot of responsibility. Honestly, I can’t imagine us jumping on a bus and going out on tour now, they really don’t make such a thing as a road nanny,” he said, laughing hard.

Cromer summed up his thoughts on having Byzantine back together, making music again, and having kept their fans all these years.

“The difference between a band like Byzantine and your industry standard, cookie-cutter band, is we don’t follow any of the metal fads. We like what we like, and if it’s good, we roll with it. I think Byzantine stands out amongst the fad bands because we don’t adhere to anyone’s standard. Never have and never will.

“As a band, we come up with stuff we like, and if we like it, we hope other people do too,” Cromer added. “The fact that it’s still in demand by these people who were coming to see us years ago, it’s a gift, as far as I’m concerned.”


--- Byzantine plays The Sound Factory tonight with John Lancaster and Fall Before Your Creator, and plays The V Club tomorrow night...

IF YOU GO
Byzantine w/Horseburner, Saprogen
WHERE: The V Club, 741 6th Ave.
WHEN: 10 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 18
COST: $12 adv., $15 DOS
INFO: www.vclublive.com
ONLINE: www.facebook.com/Byzantinewv

Related: Byzantine: Back From Oblivion (Sept. 2010 H-D article)

CD Review: J Marinelli's half of his split w/The Elsinores

CD: J Marinelli/Elsinores split cassette
ARTIST: J Marinelli

What the hell is wrong with us? Why haven’t we reviewed J Marinelli’s half of his recently released cassette split with fellow Lexington rockers The Elsinores?

Do we think fawning over Marinelli’s sometimes weird, sometimes trashy but always awesome one-man version of “maximum stomp and swing” will make us look bad? Maybe. Do we ask our own questions and then answer them? Sometimes.

But yeah it’s weird; of all the bands we’ve covered there’s never been a definitive J Marinelli article or post or whatever, and it sucks because he’s really our favorite rocker. If you’re constantly going around telling people that you’re way more punk than such and such, well, Marinelli is punk rock and DIY personified.

A few of the 10 songs found on the split won’t be unfamiliar to Marinelli fans. Again showing his penchant for revisiting and re-working his songs, the stripped down, less swingin’ version of “4,000 More Years” (originally only 400 years on his Pity The Party EP) stands out and seems more charming and almost endearing looking back on what most people agree is the worst presidency ever. Four more years? On that day in 2005, for some, it seemed like 4,000, and it seemed like world war three was imminent.

This softer sounding side (hear “Month of Mondays”) is the yin to Marinelli’s “caveman guitar” yang. Whether it’s “the scene” (and his place in it or apart from it) or the interweaving friendships and/or (mainly) animosities found therein, (the rollicking opener “Ricky Loud’s Big Choice”) Marinelli pulls no figurative punches, lyrically or sonically.

The sauntering jam “Countrypolitan” stands out, with Marinelli again opining on the scene and certain segments of it:

“Back where I don’t come from the scene ain’t been much fun/in a deep freeze around these fuckin’ middle aged babies/replete with infantile fashions oral fixations and poor life choices/sick strata of a slick niche market/wide glass ceiling revealing nothing.”

The rockin’ “Butt-Hurt Frat Priest” is maybe the one song that approaches Marinelli’s class-consciousness type bent. 28-year old “popped collar” privileged fraternity members will vote this song worst of 2012. But it’s one of the best songs on the split.

Not sure what “Post Up” is about but it’s as psychobilly as you’ll ever hear Marinelli.

Think Marinelli is beholden to the punk rock elite? “Captain Integrity” not only appears to be a swift “U.R. Dismissed” to Ian MacKaye, (“autographed my friend’s Minor Threat EP/he’ll e-bay it next week to make his rent money/selling punk nostalgia keeps you so busy/I guess that’s why you didn’t see me when I played in DC”) …but it sounds like it would’ve fit well on 2010’s Pre-Emptive Skankery Sessions, a record that, after what almost two years, after repeated listens, we’re just going to go ahead and say it: it’s surpassed or at least equaled Keep It Fake in total awesomeness.

One neat thing that Marinelli’s included on the bandcamp page is the lyrics. So not only can you sing along, you’ll appreciate the stories he’s telling and better appreciate what we think is a mature vision of “the scene,” friendships, and oh yeah punk rock. Marinelli’s vocals are often kind of hard to decipher, singing through various delay effects or at volume levels somewhere past “10” (and sometimes simultaneously), so if you know what he’s singing it will mean more to you.

Sometimes the thought briefly crosses our collective mind here that on first look, people at a bar or wherever seeing Marinelli for the first time will see him sitting behind his makeshift drum kit, banging on his guitar and see a kazoo or harmonica, wearing a raccoon skin hat, and think he’s something of a no-talent busker; it’s not always easy for one-man bands. Hear “Rebel Without Applause” and “Hey Pinkerton” on PSS for Marinelli’s thoughts on that.

But J Marinelli is no joke. There are tons of bands out there. Who’d have thought that this one guy would or could mean so much to us? That he would in essence be our favorite band? Maybe it’s a suggestive thing; that Marinelli so easily loses himself in his performances, rocking out, that you simply can’t help but feel the same, and you’ll soon be up shaking your ass and pumping your fists.

Maybe we’ll end up doing the definitive J Marinelli interview. When we talk to him we’ll thank him for keeping rock and roll relevant and rebellious. If punk rock ever needed a slap in the face or a kick in the ass, Marinelli is the man for the job.

VIDEO: Sly Roosevelt "Trains" Live at Trackside

'Nother awesome video we came across that we thought we'd share.

Huntington's Sly Roosevelt performs "Trains" off their recently released full-length debut Animal Tracks as part of the very awesome Live at Trackside series.

Related: "Animal Tracks" CD review and H-D article

VIDEO: J. Marinelli @ Grandma’s House, Ewing NJ (full set)

Sometimes something so good comes along you don’t want to ruin it by saying much about it. This is the way we feel about J Marinelli.

When we saw somebody had filmed a recent set of his from his tour, we knew it was time to get awesome. Almost makes up for not being able to catch him. Almost.

Documentary filmmaker Amy Oden to screen "From the Back of the Room" at Blank Gallery Saturday

Courtesy photo

Washington, D.C.-based documentary filmmaker Amy “KC” Oden (above) comes to Huntington tonight for a screening of From the Back of the Room, her recently released film about the contributions women have made to the punk/DIY scenes over the years...


Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

There is no vast, benevolent collective consciousness that oversees punk rock like some sort of deity. People bring their own attitudes and yes, ignorance into outlets (songs and shows) that for so long embraced, at its best, progressive causes and solidarity, at its worst, violence, racism, and sexism.

For Washington D.C.-based documentary filmmaker Amy “KC” Oden, it was an ugly incident at a local show that drove her to make “From the Back of the Room,” which chronicles the contributions women have made to the punk, hardcore and do-it-yourself movements over the past few decades.

Oden comes to Blank Gallery in Huntington Saturday night for a screening of the documentary.

“The first thing that really attracted me to punk, like so many people, was the energy,” Oden said over the phone on the way to Detroit for the Allied Media Conference and a workshop on D.I.Y. film production.

After starting going to punk shows in the D.C. area as barely a teenager in the mid-90’s, and getting turned on to D.C. punk bands like Bad Brains, Amy was indeed a punk rocker.

It was only after her feminist perspective crystallized as an adult, and one particular incident at a local show Oden was clued into, that combined to serve as the impetus to make the documentary.

“This guy was approached by a friend of his who told him she was treated really inappropriately at a show and was being pushed around and she wasn’t sure she wanted to participate in this community anymore, and it was really heartbreaking for her,” Oden said.

“He was the kind of person who’d thought always about these ideas, and he’s been involved in collective organizing for feminist events in the D.C. area. So I think something clicked in his brain and he was like ‘Alright we have to do something about this.’

“He actually got in touch with me, and we just started talking and it went from there.”



Four years later, after traveling the U.S. and Canada to interview notable female punks like Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill/Le Tigre) among others, “From the Back of the Room” was released in August of last year to critical praise and a warm embrace from those in the punk/hardcore/D.I.Y. community.

“Kathleen Hanna was definitely awesome,” Oden said. “Another favorite was Anna Joy from Blatz, just because I listened to them a lot growing up. She’s an English teacher at a university in California and she’s just really articulate and in touch.”

Oden said one thing that surprised her was the diversity of opinion inside of the community of rockers she interviewed.

“You know, it’s funny, you don’t think about how nuanced things are until you look at something up close, like anything, even a group you consider yourself a part of.”

Bringing the stories of how important punk and hardcore have been to these women over the years, in person and at the screenings for the documentary, is what it’s all about for Oden.

“At first I was intimidated, because you’re just meeting people all the time. But I’m into it, it’s been really fun doing the screenings. It’s almost like an immediate reward for the work that I put in. it just feels really good that people care enough about it to show up.”


IF YOU GO
“From the Back of the Room” screening
WHERE: Blank Gallery, 1102 3rd Ave., Huntington
WHEN: Saturday, July 7
TIME: 7 P.M.
COST: $5 donation strongly encouraged
ONLINE: www.fromthebackoftheroom.com/

Henry Rollins "Capitalism" Tour comes to Charleston 10.23

WVRockscene will be hosting ticket sales and promoting Henry Rollins’ 10.23 “Capitalism” show in Charleston. Rollins is traveling the U.S., hitting all 50 state capitals for spoken word shows in advance of the November presidential election.

Check out the PRESS RELEASE below for details...

Henry Rollins hits the campaign trail this fall for a two-month tour hitting all 50 state capitals -- starting September 6 at Hawaiian Brian’s in Honolulu, HI -- and wrapping up on the eve of the Presidential election at the 9:30 Club in the nation’s capital.

Titled “Capitalism,” Henry’s latest talking tour offers not so much a voting guide as an outside viewpoint -- and an unflinching quest for truth that’s sadly lacking in the profit-driven American mass media. “I will be performing across our fine nation, doing shows in the capital city of each state. We will be going all the way up to election eve,” says Henry. “It’s always a great time to be in America, but this will be the highpoint of this year’s tour. Shepard Fairey did a great poster for the tour to make it extra noteworthy. I can’t wait to start this one.”

On “Capitalism,” Henry will continue to dish anecdotes gleaned and perspective gained from the road less traveled -- sharing experiences that include recent visits to North Korea, Mongolia, Bhutan, Vietnam, India, Tibet, Sudan, Uganda, Haiti and Cuba. And in the spirit of the season, of course, expect both pointed commentary and wry observations about the American democratic process as it unfolds.

Tickets for “Capitalism” go on sale Friday, June 29. Check with local venues for full ticket information.

(You can buy your tickets for the Charleston show safely and securely visit our friends at Brown Paper Tickets. (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/257753) Click on any of the conveniently placed BPT widgets or links to get your tickets.

John Radcliff Turns His House Into a Venue in Parkersburg

photo: PM Beat

Parkersburg-based John Radcliff (above) has opened his doors for his 816 Quincy Street Concert Series.


We think house shows are cool, lotta people do. It’s not everyone, though, who will let strangers walk into their house for a few hours. Who can't envision some totally awesome scenario where everyone just goes nuts and trashes the place?


Parkersburg-based musician John Radcliff doesn't care. Well, we're sure he cares, he just trusts people and wants to put on cool shows by any means. He's been hosting some neat looking house shows at his 816 Quincy Street Concert Series. And he’s got one lined up tonite, as he welcomes The Kernal, Mechanical River (Joel T. Hamilton) and Andrew Combs (and you, if yer up there) into his residence.


We caught up with Radcliff to see what possessed him to host house shows…

WVRockscene: House shows seem to have been a weird mix of popular yet underutilized. You see some around here but you might think there'd be more. When did you decide to welcome musicians and strangers off the street into your home for this Quincy Hill House Concert Series?

John Radcliff: I started hosting shows in 2007. I came across Kevin Montgomery on Myspace and really enjoyed his music. I got to reading about him and this thing he does called, the 50 States in 50 Days tour. I had been hosting songwriter parties for a couple years and thought I could host a musician for a concert just as easily. I wasn't really planning on making it a continuing thing until I started getting emails from other artist wanting to know if they could play at my house. Pretty soon, I found myself looking at touring schedules for acts I really liked and trying to fit house concerts in the holes in their touring schedule.

Success with the first few shows made me want to keep on doing it. I find that the strangers that show up are usually some of the most interesting people I meet. There is a certain amount of apprehension about letting people into my house. But your realize pretty quickly that those are the people that really love music. Since Parkersburg isn't a really big town, I think guests really appreciate the quality of the artists that play at my house. Because otherwise, we don't attract that level of performer to the area. Since I started, there have been a couple bars that have started going after these kind of acts. And that is really refreshing, because the whole Mid-Ohio Valley wins, and I like to think it has made the music scene around Parkersburg that much better.

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rockscene: Obviously for the most part bands play bars. While playing out like that is still cool, what are some of the pros of house shows versus playing at a bar (time/cost/atmosphere) and some of the cons as it relates to hosting something like these?

Radcliff: The best part is that seeing an act at a house concert really is the best way to see them. Most of the crowd are there to hear the music, and you don't get the noise and distractions you would at a bar or a large venue. It's intimate and you can actually sit down and talk with the performers in a casual setting after the show. I'm lucky that I have really cool neighbors that don't mind the extra noise or traffic. My reward is the two hours of incredible music and the looks on people's faces when they understand how right I was about the uniqueness and fun of house concerts. The con is cleaning up the next day.

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rockscene: As it relates to the pros, what's the response been from the musicians and even attendees who've come to 816 Quincy Street for a show?

Radcliff: While I haven't toured extensively myself, I've slept on enough floors and back seats of cars to know how great it is to have a comfortable place to sleep and a warm meal. Besides hosting the shows, I have the room to let the acts stay the night. I try to make them as comfortable as possible before they head back out on the road. I think that goes a long way. First time house concert goers are the best. I know it was an eye opener for me at my first show I hosted. Most shows are $10 a head and I think people are apprehensive about laying down that kind of cash. But once they step through the door and commit to it, I think they feel the same way I do.

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rockscene: You live in Parkersburg, right? I've heard of one or two places to play up there but do you see what you're doing here as something as an asset to the town?

Radcliff: Absolutely. The Adelphia Music Hall and Marietta Brewing Company have been great about bringing music to the area. But when I started hosting shows, there wasn't hardly anywhere to go see good music. I've lived here since 2003, so I'm probably not the best resource. But for what I wanted to listen to, there wasn't anything. I knew there were people in the area that would enjoy these types of shows. A lot of them came to my songwriter parties. But you know there have to be more people that are interested. It really works for both the artist and the area. It leads to bigger things, as well.

There is another house concert host in Parkersburg, Steve Tuck, that put together a really nice festival to raise money for The Children's Home Society. Steve is an absolute saint, and we're joining up to bring Kevin Montgomery back September 24th. It's really neat, because Kevin's 50 State in 50 Days tour is about raising awareness about foster children that age out of care. It's so closely related to what Steve does, it's like the perfect storm. But in a really good way.

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rockscene: You've signed up for this "Concert in Your House" thing, how much is that going to help with promotions etc.?

Radcliff: I literally just signed up last week. I've received two emails from artist wanting to play here in the fall. So I would expect the more I work with acts through CIYH, the better it will work for me. Probably a lot more exposure. I think they'll enjoy Parkersburg too!

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rockscene: Does being a musician (again, the pros and cons) give you an insight others might not have when it comes to booking these shows and convincing these musicians to come to your house and play?

Radcliff: I'm sure they like that I have a PA set up and ready to go when they arrive. I try to be reasonable and work with them any way I can. I think that comes from being a musician and knowing how much easier it is to put on a good show when your mind isn't clouded with other things. As far as booking, I have pulled from that network a few times to get acts here. I'm sure there's a certain amount of trust in knowing you're working with someone who really cares about music.

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rockscene: You most recently released "Naked Souls" -- what's up with any recording or other highlights you're looking forward to the rest of 2012?

Radcliff: I have Haggard Wulf from Morgantown coming July 21st and Chris Bathgate August 27th. As far as my music, I'm doing a project called Demolicious. It's the songs I've written recently that I maybe want to record. So I've made demos of six of them so far. When I get to a point where I'm ready to choose and do make the next CD, it'll be fun to look back on them. I've also tried to video tape myself the day or the next after I write the song. So I'll have three layers to all the ones that make the final cut. It'll be fun to have that all out there to see the evolution of the songs. They are all on my Youtube site. There's also a few videos of the house concerts I've had. But I'm in the middle of editing a lot of them out and posting. So it's kind of thin right now.

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rockscene: You've got Shovels and Rope booked for September?
Radcliff: Yes!!!!!! The day after Labor Day, September 4th. It's funny because I landed the three acts that will be here Wednesday night through the booking agent for Shovels and Rope. It was a last minute thing, but when I listened to them I was just like, "Hell Yeah!" I saw Shovels and Rope at the Nelsonville Music Festival and really thought it would be a long shot at best. But I ended up getting two incredible shows out of it. I'm really thankful you're taking the time to ask me about it and pass it on. It's just too good to keep a secret. Thank you!

John Radcliff 816 Quincy Street Concert Series
WED 6.27 The Kernal, Mechanical River (Joel T. Hamilton) and Andrew Combs
816 Quincy St., Parkersburg 8 p.m.
$10 suggested donation
Facebook event page? Here.

Lucero Brings "Women & Work" to V Club Tuesday

Courtesy photo

Lucero (L-R: Rick Steff, Brian Venable, Ben Nichols, Todd Beene, Roy Berry, John C. Stubblefield) performs at The V Club Tuesday night as part of its Summer “Women & Work” tour.


Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

Given the very rich rock and roll history Memphis, Tennessee has, it wouldn’t surprise anyone that the critically acclaimed alt-country band Lucero was influenced by it, in ways both subtle, and overt.

What may surprise some is the music they bonded over before forming 14 years ago.

“For us as a band, we all grew up punks, and we all met at punk rock shows,” guitarist Brian Venable said over the phone from Carrboro, North Carolina, where Lucero kicked off its Summer “Women & Work” tour.

“When you’re young, you might not realize where you’re from,” he added. “Everyone wants to go somewhere else, to get out. We were trying to do something different.”

Lucero performs at The V Club Tuesday night with Houston-based country rocker Robert Ellis, who was just nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year by the Americana Music Association.

“Women & Work,” Lucero’s eighth studio release, finds the band embracing its Memphis roots; a bigger, more soulful sound, with horns, steel guitar, and piano/organ. Lucero also recently played with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s Opus One musician series, and in May, recorded some songs for the PBS-syndicated Sun Studio Sessions.



“Just being from Memphis, playing with the musicians and knowing the people and the history and recordings, you realize you’re a Memphis musician, and there’s a lot to be said about that,” Venable said.

Released on ATO Records, (home to Drive-By Truckers and My Morning Jacket) a lot of positive things have been said about “Women & Work” since its March release. The record, a raucous soundtrack to a bar-based weekend, with some gospel nods (hear the female chorus on “Go Easy”) thrown in, has received praise from Rolling Stone and The New York Times (among others) and that’s cool, Venable said, if a little unreal.

“It’s one of those things where it kind of doesn’t seem real. But it doesn’t affect our day-to-day touring. It’s also something that your grandparents and people like that, you can go, ‘Look, the New York Times likes us.’ They all know what The New York Times is. It’s like getting your records into a Best Buy or a Wal-Mart. Your relatives are like ‘Oh, you’re a big deal,’” Venable said with a laugh. “Sure.”

But Lucero is a big deal to their fans. That the hard livin’, hard lovin’ songs singer-guitarist Ben Nichols and crew come up with means so much to the fans, means that much more to the band.

“That’s the awesome thing,” Venable said of the love Lucero is constantly shown by its fans. “Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees. We’re so busy making music and living day to day, and you get people who come up and are like ‘Your music got me through a divorce,’ or ‘We’re getting married to your music.’

“Music means a lot to a lot of people, but sometimes as a musician you miss out on the importance of it to people. I mean, I have favorite bands, but it never occurred to me that my band would be someone’s favorite band until they came up and told me.”

The long, winding musical path Lucero finds itself on? Venable said the journey is the destination.

“We’ve been really lucky being a band for 14 years, to be able to stretch our legs, so to speak, creatively, where a lot of bands if they break up after six or eight years, they might not get to try it like we have.

“It’s just one of those things,” he added. “None of us have real job-qualified educations. The joke is we’re too dumb and too uneducated to do anything else. We’re lucky enough to play music for a living, so we’re going to run with it as long as we can.”


IF YOU GO

Lucero
w/Robert Ellis
WHERE: The V Club, 741 6th Ave.
WHEN: 9:30 p.m. Tuesday
COST: $18
INFO: www.vclublive.com or (304) 781-0680
ONLINE: www.luceromusic.com/

Q&A w/Tucker Riggleman and Paul Cogle of Bishops

It’s always cool to see new bands form, ‘specially when they’re made up of cool dudes we’ve talked to in the past. Such is the case with Bishops, which grew out of Tucker Riggleman (The Demon Beat/Prison Book Club) recording some solo stuff with Paul Cogle (Nagato/Vox Populi).

Fast forward a few months, and after adding drummer Andrew Ford and pulling guitarist Adam Meisterhans (The Demon Beat/PBC/Rozwell Kid) in, Bishops is releasing a full-length in July and heading out on tour. We caught up with Riggleman and Cogle to learn more and talk about some rock songs…


WVRockscene: The first Bishops full band show was June 10? How did that go?

Paul Cogle: The first band show went great! Loved playing the “Ice Breaker” in front of all our friends.

Tucker Riggleman: It was definitely a lot of fun. Everyone was real attentive and had nice things to say. It’s only gonna get better from here.

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rockscene: You’re set to release the full-length real soon right?

Cogle: Yes, it’s recorded and we are in the mixing stage. It’s got a sound all it’s own – Trashy Garage Rock, Dream POP/Shoe Gaze and just down right Rock at times.

Riggleman: Yup, and it’s sounding way bigger than I ever expected. Everyone really brought their best. It definitely doesn’t really sound like anything else I’ve ever done. People keep asking me ‘What kind of band is Bishops?’ and I never have an answer. We have some songs that are pulled back and soaked in reverb, and that might be followed by a raved up, almost punk sounding song. It covers a lot of ground, but somehow still makes sense that it’s coming from the same band.

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rockscene: Tucker you’d previously done solo stuff, still write in PBC, but played the MACRoCk solo Bishops set, how & when did this collaboration with Paul come about out of your own writing? Did you two say ‘Let’s start a band!’ at any point?

Cogle: I’ve been bugging Tucker for a few years about doing some recordings for either PBC or the Demon Beat and schedules had never worked, out but last fall we talked (about a side project) he’d like to record and wanted to know if I’d be involved. I jumped at the chance. It’s been a really good time!

Riggleman: I’ve been writing songs pretty frequently since I was about 16 years old. Once I got to college I had the opportunity to do some solo shows and travel around a bit with that, but I was never really satisfied with the representation of the songs. Everything I write has more of a “full-band” feel to it in my head. Paul is a great guy and is very active in the West Virginia music scene.

I was finally able to find the time to go check out his studio in Falling Waters in early 2012 and cut some acoustic demos of a bunch of songs I had recently written. Once we got Andrew in there and plugged in the amps it all just felt pretty perfect. I was finally hearing the songs the way I had heard them in my head all of those years.

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rockscene: Paul I thought I’d seen a Nagato show mentioned online not too long ago, what’s it like being in a band like Bishops with Tucker, something so different than Nagato?

Cogle: I’m a real music junky and love playing as many styles and with as many different people as possible (this is how I grow). Bishops and Nagato are so far apart but still, all a part of me.

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rockscene: Paul, what’s up with Nagato, you gonna do another EP or anything? Still playing shows obviously right?

Cogle: Yep, still playing shows and getting ready to record a full length. Been a lot of challenges in “Nagatoland” but all is well. Greg Ball (also in Hovel) now lives back in Morgantown so there are a few schedule challenges but we do get together every few months.

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rockscene: Tucker not to get too personal or specific but just looking at stuff you’d said on Facebook about life sucking in general, and then you have the lyrics on “I Wanna Marry Rock and Roll,” -- “Everything sucks don't you think I know/Tomorrow's gonna suck, just let it go.” But now the obvious question how cathartic is it now to have this band for you?

Riggleman: It is very cathartic. I think everyone needs that outlet. The Demon Beat’s songs are written by Adam, and PBC’s almost entirely by John, so it’s definitely nice to be able to cut loose and get some shit off of my chest. I think the entire act of writing, recording, and performing music is insanely therapeutic, and it always seems to help me out when I’m down.

I think as I get older I just realize that a lot of the negative or shitty things that happen around me are out of my control, so if I can try to remember to just sit back, let it go, and play some music with my friends it will make this whole “growing up” thing at least a bit easier.

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rockscene: Is Meisterhans supposed to be in the band now?

Cogle: He started out as a fan, then a utility player but I think he needed to be in the band after what he brought to the recordings. Adam is great! Like cream, he rises to the top. Can’t wait for you all to hear the songs!

Riggleman: Yeah, we recorded one of the early practices we had with just a room mic and let Adam check it out so he could add some parts to the recording, but the parts ended up being so good and his enthusiasm about playing was awesome, so he’s going to start playing live with us as well.

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rockscene: Where did you guys record at? And given each of your own respective amounts of recording how did it go for Bishops?

Cogle: We recorded at my house. Tucker, Andrew Ford (PBC) and myself. The energy was really good and we knocked-out the main tracks in an afternoon. All first takes! Was a pure joy to record. Adam came in a few days later and did his cuts. It’s all been really good. Lots of good performances captured to tape.

Riggleman: Paul has a great studio with amazing gear that he built from the ground up. That’s where we practice too, so it was a very comfortable environment to track in. I’ll admit, it being a brand new band I was a bit nervous about how the tracking would go, but I’ll be damned if we didn’t do 10 songs in one take each for the basic live tracking. Andrew and Paul are such professionals, and I’m really lucky that they let me add my sloppy playing style overtop of their locked in rhythms.

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rockscene: You’re going out on tour with New God in July, how much are you looking forward to that?

Cogle: It’s gonna be a great time – totally looking forward to it!

Riggleman: I’m very excited about this, especially because Kenny (from New God/The Christmas Lights) and I grew up playing shows together in our very first bands, so it’s really come full circle for us. He’s an amazing musician, and New God is going to turn some heads. Check out their record “Motorcar” if you haven't already.

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rockscene: Tucker maybe a side issue but you started Big Bullet Booking recently, what made you wanna do that and how’s it gone so far?

Riggleman: That is really just an attempt for me to take my years of booking experience to the next level. To kind of get my foot in the door. It’s been going pretty well. This tour actually started as Kenny from New God approaching me about booking a tour for them, and then I was like, ‘Well I’ve got this new band and we’d love to play some of the shows with you,” and he was all about it. I also have recently helped booked some stuff for my friend JKutchma from Durham, North Carolina.

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rockscene: You’ve each been in and still are in multiple bands. How exciting is it to be in this band right now?

Cogle: The hardest part is scheduling. All the bands (we are in) are with our friends and time has to be shared with all our music endeavors but that said, I’m totally excited about Bishops and the future!

Riggleman: It’s very exciting. Like I said, it’s been years in the making for me to finally have an outlet for my songs the way I’ve always wanted them to be heard. That being said, it’s still just as important to me to go out and be super loud with The Demon Beat, or rock out with PBC. Each has its place in my life and are equally cathartic in different ways for me. I think we’re all pretty lucky to be involved in so many different projects. It’s hard for some people to find one band that they like to play in.

Bishops art: Jordan Hudkins

Sample mix of “Get Down” from Bishops soon-to-be-released debut record

Video(s) courtesy Bucket of Rock Blog

Bishops: “Shit Happens” 6.15 @ Church St. Pub

CD Review: "All the Stuff and Gore"

CD: All the Stuff and Gore
ARTIST: The Renfields

Fans of The Renfields have for years had the same problem: where to go to hear all their records. If these fans are at all like us, they may have been trolling the internet, looking first at MySpace, now at Facebook Renfields pages, wanting to hear more, screaming:

“There’s got to be a better way!”

Yes, dear friends, Team Transylvania has released its two-disc box set All the Stuff and Gore just for you!

Only a few people really know our own “fiendish,” bloodthirsty affection for The Renfields. Since first hearing “Prom Night” what, around 2006 or 2007 (?) there hasn’t been any other band we’ve loved hearing more than the Transylvania pogo-punk stylings of these undead horror movie lovers, re-animated with the parts of dead Ramones.

Not only will Renfields fans finally get their favorite records, The Night THEY Came Home and Bastard Sons of Ed Wood, there are like a dozen or so unreleased songs, some old, some new, so even the most diehard Renfields fans will have new songs to fall in love with and sing along to.

“War of the Robots,” “Transylvania Fight Song,” and “Renfields Go!” are included on disc one, and disc two (Stalk and Slash Splatterama I and II) has the most awesome “Ramones Zombie Massacre” (just included on a Ramones tribute comp) and the very much still unreleased “Porkchopp3D”, dedicated to Eamon Hardiman’s murderous pig-headed backwoods killer, is actually one of the most badass Renfields songs ever. Cool to see Hardiman team up with The Renfields.

The one thing that longtime fans of The Renfields will be able to agree on is the very clear progression the band has shown since those older records were released.

It seems like for so long, Vincent had a hard time putting, much less keeping a live Renfields act together. Now, with the current Fiend and Dick Ramses having been in the band a couple of years, Vincent and Team Transylvania have displayed not only with their very raucous energy and chemistry a step forward but also capture a bigger sound with better production. They just sound like a better band, not surprisingly.

But one thing that must be addressed in the live act: the samples. Having the movies that are so important to The Renfields (what the songs are about, duhhh) be a part of these songs pulls everything together. Hate to not see that live.

One last thing: the Ramones nods displayed so prominently in parts by The Renfields. Some readers will maybe get that the title of their own box set is a lift off the Ramones’ vault-like two-cassette greatest hits comp.

While some things have changed (for the better) for The Renfields, some things haven’t changed: the fun. Listening to The Renfields horror-themed version of plug-in-and-go punk rock, this reviewer really is reminded of those days of old, discovering those Ramones tapes, a wholly innocent punk rock love blooming. Except where the Ramones may have been more prone to sing about babysitting and locket love and needles and pins, The Renfields sing about slumber party massacres, but it is just as fun, and just as catchy.

But yeah, there’s stuff for Renfields fans old and new on All the Stuff and Gore. As much as we’d been anxiously waiting to hear this very much treasured box set, it’s even more awesome than anticipated, this coming from someone who considers himself a Renfields afficianado/expert.

All the Stuff and Gore is the perfect Christmas-in-June gift for that hard to buy for Renfields fan, and a great way for new Renfields fans to love the band as much as we do.

Renfields GO!



All the Stuff and Gore box set includes:
*every Renfields song ever recorded
*acoustic demos and rare tracks
*stickers
*first ever Renfields show flyer
*Transylvania Devil Bats team poster
*Textured CD cover art via Jason Kisner @ Killer Design

Royal Thunder brings “CVI” (and the story behind it) to V Club tonight

Photo: Christy Parry

Atlanta-based Relapse Records artists Royal Thunder (L-R: Josh Coleman, Josh Weaver, Mlny Parsonz, Lee Smith) brings its debut record CVI to the V Club Tuesday night with Valient Thorr, Holy Grail and The Kickass


Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

Numerology is of course a very real thing. Whether or not the number 23 is actually appearing everywhere in some sort of cosmic conspiracy, it’s a neat thing to think about.

It can also make you insane, apparently.

For the Atlanta-based rock band Royal Thunder, 106, or, as they’ve titled their new, critically acclaimed Relapse Records debut, “CVI,” is that number.

“The 106?” singer and bassist Mlny Parsonz (that’s how she spells it for the band) asks back over the phone, almost like you don’t know about a horror story she doesn’t want to talk about.

“No, it’s actually a pretty significant story,” she continued. “Originally Royal Thunder was an instrumental band, and the drummer was born on January sixth, 106. They found $106 in the street one day, and it led to some woman crying, and it turns out it was her money, and they got into a lot of trouble with the cops thinking they stole the money.

“And the original drummer went to stay at a friend’s house, and when they woke up in the morning, the drummer was talking to the guy’s grandmother and apparently she was dead, and he didn’t realize it, but she was 106 years old.

“So whatever it means, this number has followed us on a daily basis.”

Royal Thunder, with “CVI,” released May 22, following the band quite literally around the country, comes to Huntington tonight for a show at the V Club with Valient Thorr, Holy Grail, and The Kickass.

Parsonz said praise from outlets like NPR and Revolver Magazine for Royal Thunder’s version of Southern-infused hard rock and metal in general, and for her vocal range and power in particular, is always cool, given the band’s modest aspirations getting started.

“Our hopes and dreams for this band were to just be a successful Atlanta band,” Parsonz said just a few days removed from Royal Thunder’s CD release show and a three-day jaunt of shows with Baroness. “Of course, everybody wants something more than that, a lot of musicians do. You just hope you can pay your bills with it one day.”

But fielding questions about songs like “Parsonz Curse,” spelling out some sort of generational affliction on her dad’s side of the family for strangers in the press? That’s taking some getting used to.

“It was a little uncomfortable for me to even be as personal as I was,” Parsonz said of her lyrics. “We were just another band, I thought we could be off-the-grid, and people wouldn’t focus on it. But all of this is happening, and people are focusing on it, and I want to be open but still keep my boundaries and not just give all the details all of this personal stuff.”

Parsonz, on the subject of personal stuff, said that, yeah, being married to founding member and lead guitarist Josh Weaver makes for smoother chemistry in Royal Thunder.

“I, um,” Parsonz said, pausing to calculate the time they’ve been together. “I’ve been with Josh for almost half my life, and we’ve been married for eleven years and just always have had such a connection with music. You would never know we’re married; we’re like best friends. We don’t really bring our marriage into the music, but inevitably when you’re playing music with your partner it’s going to translate in some way whether it’s energy or subconscious chemistry.

“I do think it makes for a chemistry and energy you can’t really explain.”

And all that flattering praise for the new record? There may be one person not following it too closely. “To be honest, I don’t read a lot of the press because it can make me feel too much pressure, and it makes me feel bad,” Parsonz said with an almost apologetic laugh. “But I hear a lot of good things, and I’m grateful for that.”

Parsonz said that as much as the number 106 has followed Royal Thunder, the band doesn’t believe they’re cursed, or, alternately, given their rapid ascendance in popularity, blessed.

“No, we definitely worked our asses off,” Parsonz said about any cosmic benevolence the number may carry for the band. “I think it’s just interesting. It was like, 106 was such a huge part of our lives, and now it’s being sent out even further into the universe. It’s really cool.”





IF YOU GO Valient Thorr, Royal Thunder, The Kickass, Holy Grail
WHERE: The V Club, 741 Sixth Ave.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 12, 9 p.m.
COST: Advance $10, at door $12
INFO: www.vclublive.com or (304) 781-0680

CD Review: "Animal Tracks"

CD: Animal Tracks
ARTIST: Sly Roosevelt

On the song “Bluejays,” on their recently released full-length debut Animal Tracks, Sly Roosevelt singer-guitarist Sean McDaniel sings “We’ve got something special here.”

If he’s referring to the record, he’s right.

You have to imagine that Sly Roosevelt knew what it was doing all along to pull together what even at first glance appears to be a surrealist petting zoo-themed concept record. On Animal Tracks, though, this Huntington-based indie rock band not only ties together the album art (ably done by Jarrod Schneider) with songs like “Bluejays,” “Lion,” “Minks” and “Wolf,” but a populist, anti-Wall Street manifesto theme seems to have buried itself in some of the lyrics of these songs.

Heck, the band samples 90 seconds worth of Teddy Roosevelt’s August 6 1912, “Confession of Faith” to open the record.

Over twelve songs worth of richly arranged songs that ebb and flow between laid-back almost jazzy intros building into rocked out choruses, jammed out bridges and soaring solos by lead guitarist Jyosh Sanders, it’s McDaniel’s stunning vocal range, from delicate whisper-to-shrieking-howl, that really help make Animal Tracks such a wild ride.

Alexander Durand (bass) and Matt Marshall (drums) have steered the band DIY-style through their own studio in addition to their rhythm section role. Megan Durand adds so much to the songs with synth and piano part.

Standout tracks for us are “Lion,” (which you may have already seen the YouTube “Meet the King” series and video the band did for the song) “Opportune Moment,” “Atoms,” and what makes this CD something more than just animal crackers, “Elijah,” which finds McDaniel ending up on the no-fly list with his conspiracy theory lyrics:

“Gimme the vaccine for Wall Street… Gimme the vaccine for this mock democracy… Gimme the vaccine for this vaccine/I haven’t had the flu in years… I guess I’m gearing up for the plague…”

Not only is the CD something you should buy just to see how the art flushes out the very rich, animal-infested landscape Sly Roosevelt has created here, but this seems like a band that would have an energy live that may be hard to capture on a record. Jon Parsons (mixing) and Russ Fox (mastering) deserve kudos have done that here, we think it would just be cool to see them rock these songs out live.

But yeah, Sly Roosevelt has something special here. Animal Tracks is a great record and a great full-length debut for these cats.



--- Related: Making "Tracks" -- Sly Roosevelt releases "Animal Tracks" at V Club Friday (Huntington Herald-Dispatch article)