Q&A w/Charlie Wilmoth of FOX Japan

FOX Japan (L-R: Sam Wilmoth, Charlie Wilmoth, Andrew Slater and Pete Wilmoth) plays 123 Pleasant St. Saturday night.

Slater-Wilmoth (aka FOX Japan) plays 123 Pleasant Street this Saturday night on the heels of releasing “Casual Sex,” the debut single from their fourth album, Glory, Glory Hallelujah, set for release Tuesday.

The indie rock outfit, comprised of brothers Charlie (vocals/guitar), Sam (bass) and Pete Wilmoth (drums) with guitarist Andrew Slater and evoking something like Talking Heads, with influences ranging from The Pixies to Pavement, is no stranger to Magic Town’s scene or readers of this here blog.

We caught up with FOX Japan frontman Charlie Wilmoth to see what’s been up with the making of Glory, Glory Hallelujah, what has changed (if anything) and what’s in store for the band...


WVRockscene: It’s been over a year since we last talked, where are you guys living at these days? Columbus? Pittsburgh? Morgantown? How far apart are you?

Charlie Wilmoth: I’m in Columbus, Pete is in Pittsburgh, and Sam and Andrew are in Morgantown.

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WVRockscene: While there are projects that you may be involved with, be it The Overcoat, Spirit Night, Charlie doing solo stuff, how cool was it getting back together writing and collaborating for new FOX Japan material?

Wilmoth: We do it all the time, or at least we have recently, so I’m not sure it’s something we really felt like we took a break from. Speaking for myself, I just like making things and I probably always will, so I’ll always be writing.

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WVRockscene: Charlie you’ve played out solo in recent months, how did that go and does/did playing solo either refresh or let you look at FJ writing differently?

Wilmoth: I feel like I should do it more. Fox Japan is about ten times more interesting to me than playing by myself, but I think Fox Japan also isn’t very easy to understand the first time you hear it, in part because the lyrics aren’t clear or audible. When I play solo, it almost feels like comedy. People laugh at the funny stuff. That doesn’t happen at Fox Japan shows.

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WVRockscene: Speaking of solo, Charlie, the debut single “Casual Sex” continues the FJ theme of deeply personal, sometimes painfully honest and smart, insightful lyrics. Musicians talk about their craft offering some sort of catharsis, is just getting to write lyrics and share them pretty cool? Whether it’s casual sex (or lack thereof,) Glenn Beck or whatever cultural/religious/political observations, how much thought goes into the lyrics?

Wilmoth: A lot of thought goes into them, and thanks for noticing! One way this record is different from the others we’ve made is that the lyrics ARE pretty personal at times, whereas before I think they weren't. Thoughtful and distinctive, yes (hopefully), but personal, no, in that I was mostly writing about political ideas, or characters I dreamed up, not about myself. The original idea for “Casual Sex” was for the narrator to not want to have casual sex because of his brimstone-and-hellfire religious beliefs, but that felt like a cheap shot, and it seemed much harder and more interesting to actually make it about me and my own weird hang-ups. So that’s what I did. Most of the songs on Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! aren’t as much of a departure from what we did with lyrics before, but I’m also less inclined than I used to be to go after easy targets.

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WVRockscene: I thought I’d seen a pic of you guys in the studio with Dave Klug in Pittsburgh, is that right? How did that go and how much smoother if at all has recording got for you after three prior releases?

Wilmoth: Actually, we recorded the album with Brian Spragg in Morgantown, and Dave mixed it in Pittsburgh. The photo you saw was probably from the Overcoat’s recording session.

The recording process isn’t smoother. It’s worse. We’re getting a lot smarter about it, but we’re also wanting to do crazier and crazier things. “Casual Sex” was the last song we recorded and we banged it out (so to speak) in a few days, so you can’t really tell, but in a lot of the other songs on the album, there’s just a million things going on. I felt a little bit bad for Brian and the amount of time I spent at his house. He really was a saint about it, and all I could really do to repay him was give him a few bucks and buy him lunch. There’s one song that has, I believe, 78 tracks. Dave just about had a heart attack when he saw it. I liked the way our last record, Reenactment, sounded, but it seems a little bit spare. This one sounds richer, and there’s also a lot more ear-candy stuff going on.

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WVRockscne: Charlie when we talked for the Herald-Dispatch piece on FJ like 18 months ago, you mentioned you wanted the follow-up to Reenactment to sound minimalist in comparison or something like that. Given your classical music background, how satisfying/frustrating a process was arranging and producing the new songs?

Wilmoth: It was just kind of crazy. I think we might have started recording it even before Reenactment came out. It took a long time in terms of hours spent. I’m not sure whether that will be immediately apparent to the listener, in that this record doesn’t really announce itself as an epic rock album, but I do think all the weekends we spent in the studio make the new record sound more dense and warm and immediately appealing.

There really wasn’t a lot of arranging in the classical sense. It was more about listening to things and deciding whether six guitars was enough for a particular section, or whether there needed to be eight. Or whether there would be a way to drop a couple extra keyboards into a particular section to give the pre-chorus a little more momentum. That sort of thing.

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WVRockscene: You’re releasing Glory, Glory, Hallelujah on Garbage Days, which has already put out some cool stuff from local/regional acts, how neat is it to be able to kind of share the new FJ record with not only your fans, but your friends who are running this label? It’s got to be cooler than dealing with some stranger somewhere who doesn’t care about your bands, right? Just your thoughts on labels these days?

Wilmoth: We used to concern ourselves with that kind of stuff, but we haven’t recently, and that feels a lot healthier. As for Garbage Days, there has been a lot of great music happening in Morgantown in the past few years, and it’s nice that Anthony Fabbricatore put together Garbage Days to help announce that to the world.

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WVRockscene: On the FJ bandcamp page it says the new CD will be out Nov. 15, is that right or just a marketing ploy? Can fans expect to be able to get on there Tuesday and be able to order it?

Wilmoth: Yes, it should be up there on Tuesday. There might be some reason to delay it, but we’re not planning on it.

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WVRockscene: Looking forward to this show Saturday at 123?

Wilmoth: Yes. We’re playing with Dave Bello and with a New York band called the Ditty Committee, who make these small but spectacularly bleak and well-crafted songs. It’s a good bill, and what unifies it is that all the acts on it are very serious about lyrics.



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WVRockscene: Bands come and go, but it seems like, looking at you guys from the outside, that being brothers -- and you guys have said this much in the past -- precludes any real diva drama or chemistry issues. Obviously Slater is something of an adopted Wilmoth bro in FJ, but how cool/fun is it after all these years to still be together in a band making music you like playing?

Wilmoth: It must be good, because I can’t imagine doing it any other way. We just agree on so many things that rehearsals are pretty easy. And when I’m in Morgantown, I can always crash on Sam and Andrew’s couch.

mp3: Casual Sex by FOX Japan


photo: Nikki Rotunda

--- FOX Japan plays 123 Pleasant Street Saturday night with The Ditty Committee and David F. Bello, and will release their fourth album, “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah” Tuesday, Nov. 15 on their bandcamp page...

Related: Slater-Wilmoth (FOX Japan) vs. Glenn Beck Friday @ Shamrock's (Herald-Dispatch June 2010 article)

Knisely keeps to important things in new album (H-D repost)

Huntington’s Sean Knisely opens up and steps out on his own on his new 10-song solo acoustic debut Wilbur By The Sea, an unexpected change for the 26-year old singer-songwriter.


Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

Life, love and music. That pretty much sums up the story for Sean Knisely.

Known as the singer-guitarist for the now defunct Huntington-based electro-rock band Attack Flamingo, Knisely, for his 10-song solo acoustic debut, “Wilbur By The Sea,” stripped things down while keeping what was important after things with his band and in his life just kind of ran their course.

“We never officially broke up,” Knisely said of Attack Flamingo over the phone. “People were just in different life situations, and just had other things going on. It just kind of ran its course.”

While Knisely constantly wrote songs, be it in Attack Flamingo, in Coyotes in Boxes, or as a budding solo artist influenced by the likes of Iron & Wine and Bon Iver, with a voice like Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, it was his life and his place in the world Knisely found had changed after a very real breakup.

“So, I almost married a girl in December, and that fell apart,” the 26-year old said deliberately, to give some back story to the inspiration behind the songs. “That gave me a lot of stuff to work through within myself, and I wrote a lot about that, and that turned into a lot of music. Then, coming out of that I started to question everything. Like, that was the life plan at that point, that was what I was moving toward, and now, what am I doing? If I’m here I want to be here intentionally. I love this place, I have great friends, a family, church, a lot of support, it’s really a great community and I love it.

“But at the same time there’s this this feeling that if I’ve never really left home and left my comfort zone, not even moving but just branching out and traveling, then will I look back and wonder what might have been?”

Where Attack Flamingo’s faith-based journey was more interstellar, Knisely’s inspiration for Wilbur By The Sea took the form of an interstate love song.

“I was traveling down through Kentucky and Tennessee and down to North and South Carolina, visiting friends and writing the verses to those songs. At that point I was searching within myself, feeling stuck. I want to feel like the world is wide open. I want to follow my dreams and there’s a limited ceiling of opportunity with the arts in Huntington unfortunately. There’s a great community, but I really want to give it a shot to make music what I do,” Knisely said with emphasis on those last three words.

“In the context of how much I love Huntington, I feel like, myself and other people, need to be able to leave and explore.”

So getting out of Huntington was as much or more of a cathartic experience as it was an artistic exercise for Knisely.

“As I kept writing that stuff, and having been in the relationship and dealing with the aftermath of all that, it just became more personal and I went with it. And I just kept recording because I liked it, not knowing what I would do with it. And I realized that was what I wanted to do.”

Opening up his life to others by himself on a stage wasn’t something Knisely always envisioned.

“I never saw myself as a solo artist, maybe just because it’s more difficult. You have to push yourself, like ‘Here’s me, I play music, I’m going to get up there and play.’ It’s more vulnerable than having a band, where it’s like a team or a built-in support group. Really I’m more in my element writing a song and playing a song and recording a song than I am going out and promoting it all.”

Knisely didn’t need to look too far for a welcoming atmosphere and audience for his music, he just walked out the door of his apartment and played on his porch.

“We’re calling it porch unplugged,” Knisely said laughing. “My friend Joe, he’s always had the same exact mindset, only more intensely, of getting people together. Every other Thursday we get together, whether it’s his porch or mine. That kind environment suits singer-songwriter, and Coyotes in Boxes, well, just down home sort of folky community vibe. It’s where I think the music will thrive, in that kind of atmosphere.”

So from one comfort zone to a whole new atmosphere, be it solo musician or solo relationship status, his porch or another state, for Knisely, Wilbur By The Sea is definitely a welcome escape.

“There’s a really tiny town in Florida, and I didn’t even think it through this deep, but as you’re leaving Daytona Beach there’s this little sign and all it says is Wilbur By The Sea. It’s representative to me of traveling and seeing new things and escaping the comfort zones of life, sort of. I like that.”



Sean Knisely’s solo debut record “Wilbur By The Sea” is available for streaming or download at http://wilburbythesea.bandcamp.com/

photo: Russ Billo

Related: WildBlog review of Wilbur By The Sea

CD Review: "Plastic Rain"

CD: Plastic Rain
ARTIST: The Phantom Six

Remember that band that came along and reinvented rock and roll? These guys, man, they just made everything prior and everything that will be almost seem lame. That nothing would ever be the same, everything else sucks in comparison.

You probably don't.

Rock and roll need not be reinvented, but yeah sometimes bands come along that evoke a particular era, with a particular sound and energy that totally envelops and straddles the years, dissolving all the crap that you've listened to, all the shit CDs you've bought and relegated to the ash heap of your own history, simultaneously reminding you how much you used to be proud to love rock and roll, to invest something in it psychologically, and why you did: because you can feel it.

Hyperbole aside, The Phantom Six is one of those kinds of bands.

It's always great to just put a new CD in, press play, and in the first few seconds, after the first few chords, think nothing more than 'hell yeah,' and commence to rocking.

Rocking is exactly what you'll be doing listening to the debut from this new-in-name-only Morgantown-area power pop/garage rock five-piece, as the record kicks off with "Corianna," and likely won't be stopped until it's run its course.

While they're busy reinventing rock and roll for you, at least reminding you how much you can love it, over 13 songs, if you haven't heard about this killer new band The Phantom Six WVRockscene is creaming itself over, here is a surprise: they aren't a new band at all.

Operating as Moon up until recently, Mark Poole (lead vocals/guitar), Billy Sheeder (guitar/vox), Billy Matheny (bass/vox), Clint Sutton (drums/vox) and Woody O'Hara (percussion/vox), now renamed, on Plastic Rain, only prove that, while some things can change, some things stay the same: catchy, sometimes awesomely overdriven guitar-driven power-pop that evokes something like Tom Petty and Matthew Sweet circa British Invasion type stuff.

The Poole-Sheeder connection and chemistry dates back literally decades to 63 Eyes, you may know Sutton from his own recent solo work, but maybe talking about how awesome The Phantom Six is summed up thusly: Billy Matheny plays bass.

Sure, there are good bass players and there are dudes that kind of just show up; bassists have a long, rich tradition of being much maligned (think Murderface and Sid Vicious) but in a lot of the most rockin' of bands bassists really contribute, be it as songwriters, singers, musicians and performers.

We will include Matheny in the more favorbale category of bassists. If you've missed his solo output in recent years, questioned why there's been no follow-up to Born of Frustration in the lifetime since it was released, as he's more recently joined up with Athens, Ohio's Southeast Engine and joined on with Todd Burge, only cosmically seeming to seal up some cosmic, sonic circle now with Poole and Sheeder, among other projects, previously in Moon and now as The Phantom Six, he helps form what sounds like some super group or something.

Oh, the record. Make no mistake dear friends, okay, dear readers, Plastic Rain is a great record. Recorded at Poole's Zone 8 Studios, with a live and loud final feel, on favorite tracks like "Inspiration," the hard rockin' "About Love" and 70's rock sounding "Losing Control," to the more jangly Americana of "Shades of Sunday" and the somber "Big Airplane," (killer solo) with lyrics mainly dealing with some combination of chicks, love and small towns ("everyone wants to fall in love, if only for one day," Poole sings on "Inspiration") and with a plug-in-and-go attitude, people not familiar with Moon will be kicking themselves now.

With super-tight vocal harmonies, backing vocals, enough requisite "na-na-na's" the songs, describe them how you will, who they remind you of, what you call them, really just might remind you how much you can love a rock band.

While the songs are simply structured sing-along verse-chorus-verse types for the most part, there's enough instrumentation, enough of an ambitious sonic layering with reverse guitar parts and organ thrown in with the solos and the crashing cymbals, to make the songs great. Everything about a kick ass rock band is on display on Plastic Rain.

It's just a shame that the band had to wait until this cold Fall season to release Plastic Rain. This is a record that has a Spring/Summer feel to it. Like you could take some long undirected road trip with only the 13 songs as accompaniment, some sort of exciting new infatuation.

But regardless of the season, whatever year it is, most every fan of rock and roll will be falling in love with this killer new Morgantown band, The Phantom Six. This record not only transcends time, it kicks ass. "Favorite new band" is only a technicality for these guys.

--- The Phantom Six releases Plastic Rain Nov. 5 at 123 Pleasant Street with The Demon Beat.

Salad Days: Tyler Grady & David F. Bello talk about their new band Sleepwalker

Sleepwalker (above) will release their debut EP and play 123 Pleasant Street Saturday night

photo: Andy Pickens

Having covered West Virginia bands for a few years at this point, the neatest thing is seeing new bands form quite organically out of bands that just naturally seem to run their course. Such seems to be the case with the new Morgantown-based band Sleepwalker.

Comprised of members of bands like Death Virginia, Mega Touch, Big Ass Manatee, Nirvana 2, Rifle Camp, and David Bello Band, the band (Tyler Grady: vocals/guitars; David F. Bello: vocals/guitar; Jason McCarty: guitar/vocals; Will Foreman: bass/vocals; Pat Manzi: percussion) is set to release their debut EP The Dark One digitally Saturday night, coinciding with their show at 123 Pleasant Street with Pat Pat and High Fives and Hell Yeahs.

We caught up with Grady and Bello to learn more about the band, the EP, and how post-apocalyptic tossed salad metaphors totally apply to Sleepwalker...


WVRockscene: You guys haven’t been together for very long at all -- your first show was back in June -- but are each veterans of more than a few Magic Town bands, what’s it been like being in a new project like Sleepwalker?

Tyler Grady: It’s really exciting forming a band out of your friends. It’s even more exciting when everyone comes into a project knowing what kind of role they’d like to fill, and having the chops to back up that role.

David F. Bello: It’s great, we didn’t have to spend a lot of time really on normal “Well we’re in a band, what do we do now?” type of things, we kind of just ran with it since we all know what we’re doing and we’ve all been friends for a long time.

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WVRockscene: People who even casually follow Morgantown area acts will be familiar with the bands you’ve been in/come from. Following up on that last question, and segueing into the next one, what were some of the best parts of bringing in everyone’s own contributions into Sleepwalker? These bands you come from have a pretty diverse range it seems like, how special or unique do you think Sleepwalker’s sound is up Magic Town way?

DFB: I think it’s pretty unique. I think we each do a good job of making it a tossed salad kind of thing where we know what to do to mix our sounds together and have it sound good as a whole but if somebody wants to really pick it apart they’ll find our individual styles in there as well. Plus the tossed salad thing will be good for when we all eventually end up in federal prison for one thing or another.

Grady: I agree with David. We are lucky in the sense that each of our tastes individually lends themselves cohesively to toss our salad. As for how unique we are, I don’t really think there is another band in town that sounds quite like we do, but it seems like the general lack of bands has a lot to do with that

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WVRockscene: Obviously you guys will have known each other for a while, (123’s LJ Giuliani is quoted on Sleepwalker’s Facebook page as saying you’re “a who’s who of the late night drinking circuit,”) how did the idea to get together as Sleepwalker slowly congeal and the band form?

DFB: Haha that quote is one of my proudest moments. We all do certainly drink a lot. We got together in a Mad Max kind of way -- I think Tyler will appreciate that connection. A lot of the people in our other projects recently left town, so in the midst of this wasteland we forged weapons and found a practice space. It worked out really conveniently because even before the other bands were kind of coming to an end, we were all kind of thinking of playing music together anyway.

Grady: On the record: Mad Max (the original) is my all-time favorite movie. As for how the band came together, the very beginning of it forming, for me, was seeing David play for the first time. I knew right away that I wanted to be in a band with that guy. I’ve always enjoyed playing with Pat [Manzi] too.

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WVRockscene: It appears that to some extent you both share singing, what about songwriting? You guys being friends, what's the chemistry like just jamming and arranging tunes?

Grady: We still haven’t written a song from scratch together yet. We certainly have different writing styles, but I don’t think it would affect anything for when we do finally writing something as a cooperative. As far as jamming goes, we’ve always had fun jamming together. We have a fake/real “noise” band that we put together a long time ago as kind of a fuck you to the idea of jamming. It’s awful. Intentionally. I can’t say anything but this is our band when it comes to who has more creative control. We each pull our weight and work well together when one of us introduces a song. It’s kind of a Guy/Ian relationship. We both love Fugazi too. That has nothing to do with anything.

DFB: We definitely share things equally.

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WVRockscene: You two made appearances in Ryan Hizer’s video for “Pushover,” how fun was that and was there any perks involved?

DFB: Jason [McCarty] is in it too, but just for a second and he’s got his hands over his ears. It was super fun. The guy who made it, Geoff Hoskinson had us all over to his killer office space with an outdoor deck and Pittsburgh beer on tap and basically let us all get in front of a nice camera and make funny faces. We got to listen to “Pushover” all day, which was really cool. Also, we’re all affiliated with Garbage Days who put out the Good Sport record and is working with me on a bunch of stuff, so it was good to work on something for that whole deal.

Grady: The video shoot was a great time. There were a lot of funny things that didn’t make the final cut. There was a scene that Adam [Meisterhans] was in where he was texting on his cell phone and then was pulled out of the frame. It doesn’t sound as funny as it was. Believe me, it was.

Good Sport – Pushover from Geoff Hoskinson on Vimeo.

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WVRockscene: Hizer mixed the EP, which was recorded by The Demon Beat’s Adam Meisterhans, aside from the songs, and how the band and the songs came together, from Meisterhans to Hizer to Klug for mastering, how proud are you of the final product?

DFB: Man I am so proud of it. Those guys all did an amazing job the whole way through. It was awesome getting Adam up here for a weekend to record the whole thing and it was great that we were able to get our friends to work on this and do an amazing job with our sound.

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WVRockscene: Will there be physical copies of “The Dark One” available at 123 Saturday or just on the bandcamp page?

DFB: Just the bandcamp page for now, and it’s on a pay-what-you-want setting. We’re going to press a 7” fairly soon, hopefully using the money we make from the bandcamp release and any shows we have coming up.

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WVRockscene: I did see that this Saturday is the 123 13th anniversary show. It’s always seemed like a nice supportive college town atmosphere up there. Whether school is in or not, what’s it like for bands up there? Obviously having a bunch of college age kids coming out to see your band is a plus, but having “seen the scene” over the past 10 or so years how much of a plus is it being a band in Morgantown these days?

DFB: It’s always been great for me. It’s how I’ve made most of my friends in town and everybody I’ve ever dealt with in the music scene is super friendly. I wish there were more young bands in town, though. We’re old. We’re still cool! I SWEAR. But we’re old, and more people younger than us should be in bands, imho.

Grady: the Morgantown music scene has always been important to me. I grew up in the Eastern panhandle and there was really no music scene there at all. We would drive to Cumberland (30 miles) just to see a local show that was mediocre at best. Then some of my friend’s siblings started going to college at WVU and we would sneak out to Morgantown to party with the college kids. That’s where I discovered 123 -- and whip-its.

We would say we were going to Cumberland and drive to Morgantown shows and get drunk in the car. It was really formative, haha.

The party was always centered around the music, and the music at that time was much more abundant. I would really like to see more of that attitude. Certainly I don’t endorse that kind of irresponsibility, but I can endorse doing whatever is necessary to get to the music you want to see. I didn’t play on the stage at 123 until I had been coming there for many years, but when I did it was so satisfying because I had loved that place so much

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WVRockscene: So you’ll get the debut EP out, play some shows, what’s up for the rest of the year? Plans to record a full-length? Anything special?

DFB: No concrete plans yet to do a full-length but I think in a year or so’s time we’ll have enough cooked up for that. We want to put out that 7” with songs from the EP, possibly go on a tour of the east coast.

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WVRockscene: Bands form, break up and form new bands over time. Sleepwalker’s story is no different, obviously. Being veterans of the Magic Town scene, seeing bands kind of come and go, bands you might even have been in, how excited are you for the near future to be in Sleepwalker?

DFB: I am really excited. We’re either going to last forever or explode in our van.



--- Sleepwalker plays 123 Pleasant Street Saturday night with Pat Pat and High Fives and Hell Yeahs for 123’s 13th anniversary show.

Sleepwalker will release their debut EP The Dark One on a pay-what-you-can basis on their bandcamp page Saturday.

Occupy Shepherdstown Thursday. Specifically, the Blue Moon Saloon for the first ever Rozwell Kid show

We liked him as Jude Universer. We love him as Rozwell Kid. In anticipation of Jordan Hudkins taking his side project out live Thursday night out in Shepherdstown, we caught up with him over email to see what’s up with praise for The Rozwell Kid LP, who’s in the live band, different animals and collectors items...

WVRockscene: The Rozwell Kid LP has been quite warmly received by critical press types -- how cool has it been to know people have been rocking the LP out with thumbs up?

Jordan Hudkins: It feels great! There are some folks in the UK who love the album, so that’s really cool! The other day, according to my Bandcamp stats, someone in Canada Googled “Rozwell Kid” -- I’m going global haha.

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WVRockscene: Who’s in the live Rozwell Kid band?

Hudkins: I’ve got an All-Star lineup of dudes... It’s going to be awesome! Adam Meisterhans will be recreating live all of those bodacious leads he played on the record. Andrew LaCara from The Resonators will be playing rhythm guitar. Devin Donnelly from Bitch Cave/Chick Salad fame will be playing bass. And Sean Hallock from Chambersburg PA’s The Shackeltons will be manning the drums.



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WVRockscene: I think I’d seen you mentioning a Rozwell Kid rehearsal on Facebook; how did that go? Are you ready to take Rozwell Kid out live?

Hudkins: We’ve had three extended full band rehearsals, as well as two acoustic vocal practices. We’ve learned the whole record, front-to-back, and even worked up a surprise cover that should be a lot of fun. It’s one of those songs I’ve dreamed about playing live in a band since I was in 9th grade. We’re definitely ready.

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WVRockscene: Is this the first AND last Rozwell Kid show, or will there be more going forward?

Hudkins: This is definitely the first RK show, but it won’t be the last. We’re all having a great time jamming out these jams. The calendar fills up pretty quickly between The Demon Beat, Prison Book Club & The Shackeltons, but we’re gonna work on fitting in some regional gigs this winter.

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WVRockscene: I assume you will have many Rozwell Kid LPs for sale at the show?

Hudkins: I’ve whipped together a few physical copies of the record. I’ll have them at the show on a pay-what-you-want basis. I feel weird charging people for a burnt CD when they can wait until they get home to download the record for free. Now, if I had cassettes or vinyl, that’s a different animal altogether. Now we’re talking collectors items!

--- Rozwell Kid plays the Blue Moon Saloon Thursday night with The Continuals and Bratcore. Show starts at 9 p.m., and it’s free.

Friendships keep energy high for Chum reunion show (H-D repost)

photo: Courtney Bell

The Huntington-based band Chum, made up of (from left to right) Jude Blevins, John Lancaster, Chris Tackett and Mac Walker is reuniting for a show on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the V Club, 741 6th Ave., Huntington

Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch


The story of Chum reads like a literal version of musical chairs. Nearly twenty years after junior high friends Mac Walker and Chris Tackett called up John Lancaster to see about jamming, more than a decade after their sophomore record never got released, after numerous lineup changes and a reunion in 2005, the Huntington-based sludge rock band is back.

Chum plays the V Club October 1st with Horseburner and Tower of the Elephant.

A band’s story can read like any relationship between two people over the years: they form, break up and/or fall apart over time. But what makes Chum’s story unique so many years after original drummer Chuck Nicholas jumped ship and founding members Walker and Tackett left is that Walker, Tackett and Lancaster, friends since junior high, are still that: friends.

“We’re all deaf and hoarse right now, so bear with us,” Lancaster said with a laugh over the phone after a just-finished band rehearsal in Walker’s basement.

The guys in Chum (Lancaster: vocals/guitar; Walker: guitar; Tackett: bass; Jude Blevins: drums) have been gathering at Walker’s every so often preparing for a pair of shows in Huntington and next week in Lexington, where Tackett calls home these days. After years of on-again off-again status, it’s good to get together and have a good time, Lancaster said.

“We just make a marathon weekend out of it. Everybody comes in Friday night, and we do a few hours, then go all afternoon Saturday and Sunday. It’s been a blast.”

“We just make a big party out of it,” Walker added.

Tackett said that the enduring friendship and musical collaborations that have existed in the intervening years have helped Chum retain its energy.

“I can tell you right now it sounds really f---ing heavy. I don’t know if you can put that in there. It’s been cool because with John and Mac playing together in John’s solo project, and with Jude, Mac and myself playing in Hyatari together, it almost seems like it was inevitable that we’d get together and do this.”

Bringing Blevins on as drummer was a no-brainer and, for Blevins, who’d seen Chum open for Helmet at Ritter Park years ago, a great call to get.

“I was honored, of course,” Blevins said. “I’m sure they could’ve had anybody, any drummer they would’ve called would have jumped at it. I think it’s pretty cool.

Walker said the original chemistry is still there.

“It gets to be kind of like second nature, because you can almost predict what the other guy is thinking when you’re playing and writing. A few of these songs we are playing, we never released, so it’s great to bring those songs back to life.”



John Lancaster on Headhunter:
“For these upcoming shows we actually recorded an old song we wrote around 1997 called “Headhunter.” It was originally intended for that second record that never happened. When we played it live, people really liked it, so we thought it would be cool to record it and put it online for a free download.”

Tackett said what was once old, as far as Chum goes, is new again.

“One of the reasons I like to revisit Chum is because the material holds up even though some of this stuff is fifteen years old. A lot of the stuff we were writing back at that time, I consider it to be pushing the envelope as far as our song structures and tunings. It’s a little more common nowadays, but back then you didn’t hear it too often. The songs have held up well and have that energy and are really heavy, so I like to revisit it because they don’t feel old to me, they feel just as current as when we were writing them back in the day.”

It almost seemed like a drag, or maybe it was fitting, to ask the “heavy” questions of the guys: why did things go wrong, and when, back in the mid-to-late 1990’s?

Maybe it was the lack of label support after releasing “Dead To The World” on the Santa Monica, California-based Century Media Records? Walker addressed that angle.

“I think what happened was, the label wasn’t really into the band anymore, they weren’t liking the new material. We were rehearsing and writing new material and it just seemed like a lot of work wasn’t going anywhere. That seemed like the beginning of the end.”

For Tackett, internal chemistry issues arose after original drummer Chuck Nicholas left to join West Virginia contemporaries Karma To Burn before DTTW was even released.

“For me, when Chuck left the band, the songwriting, the whole process kind of changed,” Tackett said, speaking diplomatically. “Mac and myself feed off each other, and Chuck and John fed off each other, and we all worked well as a foursome. All the songs that were on [DTTW] and the two [1994 cassette] EPs were hashed out in a room together.

“We had that chemistry, and the songwriting was effortless.

“After Chuck left, we had to write with other people and it wasn’t the same, and the music started to change, not for better or worse, just different. So for me, the Chum era kind of ended when Chuck left the band.”

Tackett on Nicholas leaving (continued):
“Chuck doesn’t get enough credit as a songwriter. Correct me if I’m wrong John, but didn’t Chuck contribute lyrics and concepts? (John answers in background) He definitely helped with arrangements. With Chuck, he was really an experimental guy, and he’d just go off the deep end and just do stuff to be funny and it would end up a song. It was a weird way to write but it worked for us as a band.”

So many years later, Lancaster, Tackett and Walker, with mutual friend Blevins, are looking to not only keep their friendship intact, but Chum too. The internet age offers an avenue of communication that can facilitate long-distance collaboration, as Lancaster displayed recording and releasing his solo debut, “Phantom Moon,” last year.

Also, just as important, Chum’s fans are able to generate a mutually reinforcing energy, whether its picking songs for a set list, asking about merch, or remembering favorite shows from the past on the Chum Facebook page.

“It’s pretty much the main inspiration for us doing it at this point,” Lancaster said of the fans. “We get messages from people talking about the band, it’s just great to know that people are excited about it.”

Tackett on new Chum releases:
“We haven’t discussed making a new album together at this point, but at this point who needs a record label? With a project like Chum, if we wanted to release a record for free, at this point it’s about sharing the music with people who love it. It’s a labor of love for us to play and record this music.”

Walker said, just like at practice, at the V Club show Saturday, it’s going to be a party.

“It’s great. We’ve got people coming in from all over the place, so it’s more than a reunion, we’re getting to see old friends too.”

Old friends indeed, Tackett said, summing up Chum’s future.

“We’re all basically like brothers at this point, having grown up together. I don’t see any reason for us to stop making music anytime soon.”


If you go:
Chum, Horseburner, Tower of the Elephant
Where: The V Club, 741 6th Avenue, Huntington (304) 781-0680
When: Saturday, October 1st, 10 p.m.
Cost: $8
Info: http://www.vclublive.com/

CD Review: "Song of the Invasive Species"

CD: Song of the Invasive Species
ARTIST: The Dreadful Horoscope

What a long, strange, delightful, trip it’s been -- the 40-minute or so long journey that is The Dreadful Horoscope’s CD Song of the Invasive Species.

A review of the 10-song release is timely enough, even though ’twas released back in June. One reason is the very literal invasion, the swarming assault of these stink bugs on the WVRockscene home office. It’s not as bad as last year, where you stopped flinching when they’d land on you, as they approached beard-of-bees like capability. But that’s one reason it’s good we waited so long to post our most favorable review of Jacob Matz’ latest acoustic-based journey.

The second? At the end of the review, dear friends, of a CD that we’ve had for a while here and had thoroughly enjoyed even right after it was uploaded onto bandcamp a few months back.

But talk about keeping Morgantown weird. Experimental. Atmospheric. In parts, pleasingly noisy. An almost directionless but strangely fulfilling trip taken upon with Matz and friends.

Yes, we’re big fans of the BBR-based Dreadful Horoscope. We loved last year’s self-titled release for the same reasons we love this one; more of the same lazy, ethereal acoustic folk output, but with an even bigger, maybe more experimental sound than was found on last year’s release.

Imagine something like Jim Morrison enlisting Pink Floyd’s horn section for a trip out into the Australian outback for some shamanic, definitely spiritual showdown, then coming back to the banks of the Monongahela River to record about it, reading from a few diary entries, and maybe you’re close to The Dreadful Horoscope’s sound.

Matz’ lyrics are a trip enough. Eschatological conflict, or some spiritual persecution, maybe apocalypse, permeates the poetically-put-out-there lyrics; no real choruses or verse-chorus-verse structure for these campfire sing-a-longs with Matz’ nasally, near Frank Black type singing.

But make no mistake, the real treat with The Dreadful Horoscope is the music. Song of the Invasive Species has an even more experimental, richly layered, earthy air accompanying Matz’ own multi-instrumental contributions than last year’s release.

Matz is joined by John Morgan (yes, like it says on the Dreadful Horoscope Facebook page, John Morgan “of Juna fame,”) but if you haven’t checked out even Juna’s most recent release, you might not appreciate Morgan’s own authentically tribal (in parts) sound, and how it would fit right in with what Matz is doing as The Dreadful Horoscope.

Matz and Morgan are joined by Miles Craft for percussion and Jacob Smith, whose dreamy saxophone contributions add so much to the songs.

One great thing about what these guys are doing together, though, is that they’ll do stuff that really aren’t even “songs,” just experimental go-nowhere type noodling (“Introduction of a Species,” “The Witch (like the belly of a fish covered with hair),” and “The Gifts of the West,” with cymbal crashes and trashy snare smashing interspersed with tribal shouting and real-enough sounding screams, are good examples of this). Be it on a Didgeridoo or a Theremin, with the sax, uke, clarinet, piano/organ with “field recordings” and having been “recorded next to the Monongahela River,” Song of the Invasive Species really captures an outdoor, almost new age (not in a bad way at all) type atmosphere. It at least would be great to listen to camping out, getting all neo-Luddite and stuff.

This contrasts to the warm acoustic (almost sunny) sound accompanying a glacially foreboding sense of spiritual crisis -- or something, maybe, but yes, an even dreadful picture painted by Matz lyrically on a few songs. You almost get the sense that the invasive species is not bugs after all.

Matz sings on “The Smell of Cut Up Grass:”

“I’m tired of the smell of cut up grass, it only makes me sneeze. You’re tired of the smell of burned up bodies floating in the breeze. In my name. Hey, I’m not to blame?”

On “Morning Dread:”

“With your back toward a blanketed past, covered up and warm, and marching toward this monumental future. Carved. Perpetual. Our lives are carved and perpetual.”

And, finishing our lyrical examples, on the country and western-esque “Stamps:”

“Stamps on my brain, but they are fading as time goes on.
So you called me a socialist, but I don’t pray to that god.
There was this long awkward silence before we began to make love.
You forced me to watch, I urged you to listen.
But, I was the queer and you were the christian who left stamps on my brain.”

The seven-minute long “Awful Ink” might be the best example, may best encapsulate, the experimental acoustic bent The Dreadful Horoscope is on. “Fail” has rightly achieved near-cliché played out status recently, but it really is something bands do sometimes as they may attempt to segue or branch off into a more folky, experimental-type acoustic realm that these guys inhabit.

You can definitely say The Dreadful Horoscope is “unplugged,” maybe unhinged, but they pull a hard-to-capture experimental acoustic sound off effortlessly with an even richer ambience than you’d expect at first. Even with all the instruments there’s a coherence to the sound throughout it seems, helping to make it a great record.

Song of the Invasive Species might just be, no, is, a great CD to lose your mind to. Accompanying the CD Matz sent a while back was the negative of a photo of the desert Southwest, some cactus-lined stretch of highway, only adding to the sense of a literal journey. When the CD’s over you really do feel like you’ve been somewhere and back -- kudos to Matz and friends for producing something you can say that about.

--- The Dreadful Horoscope plays the Monongalia Arts Center Friday 9.30 with Bonfire, David F. Bello and Octopi(e) from Manassas, Va.



The Dreadful Horoscope: “The Smell of Cut Up Grass”

The Dreadful Horoscope - The Smell of Cut Up Grass from Shane Butler on Vimeo.

Q&A w/Matt Page of Dream the Electric Sleep

We were stoked to see that the Lexington, Kentucky-based prog rock band Dream the Electric Sleep had recently uploaded a three-part series on their debut record Lost and Gone Forever to YouTube. Singer-guitarist Matt Page (above) talks in-depth about the music and coal mining love story behind each of the fourteen songs on the concept record.

So, as excited as we were to revisit the songs with Page, and as much as we love the record, we thought it appropriate to catch up with Page over email to see what’s up with the band these days, and where they’re going after Lost and Gone Forever...


WVRockscene: The reviews are in for Lost and Gone Forever, and the phrase “critically acclaimed” comes to mind, with praise from outlets like The Big Takeover, how great is it for the debut album to have been so warmly received?

Matt Page: I never really thought it would have been so highly praised... it was a shock... I think when we were writing the album, listening to demos, and throughout the recording process, we kept saying to each other “I think this might be something special,” but most of the time I think we would fall back on “maybe we’re just too close to it.” The first couple of great reviews we thought, “well at least there are a few people that really get it,” but then they just kept coming. That’s when I think we knew the album had legs.

I honestly think the album has something in there that we had not planned, something that can’t be accounted for, beyond our abilities. It’s like the album is actually smarter than all of us in the band, and is actually still teaching us. I am not sure if any of that makes sense, but it certainly feels like part of the success of the album came from some place we all don’t really understand... the culmination of all these random things coalescing into one piece of work... it was so much fun to be a part of!

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WVRockscene: You’ve had a few shows over the summer, how have those gone? Won over many new DTES fans live and in person? What kind of shortcuts do you have to make just playing live, trying to give people the scope of the record in its totality just playing a few songs? I mean you don’t exactly have time to play the entire record beginning to end, right?

Page: Honestly, the live shows have been the hardest part. This work needs to be thought of like theatre, and you can’t do theatre in a bar with a 40 minute set. We have learned a lot about what we want the live shows to do, and at this point, we know the theatrical nature of it, and thus the narrative will never really come through. We have to hope that the few songs we play intrigue a few listeners enough to want to dig into the content. I think in some ways, we have to expand our notion of a band. To conceive of what we are trying to do as fitting in the confines of a band is a limiting way for us to go about doing this, and we are constantly questioning what the scope of this project is. We have made a few fans from live shows, but the vast majority of our success is coming from our online presence, and mostly from Europe.



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WVRockscene: You’ve recently been reworking a few songs into acoustic songs, what songs have you been working on, is it a direction you think the band will take up more moving forward and what is up with a DTES EP with an “unreleased” track coming out any time soon?

Page: I told [bassist] Chris [Tackett] and [drummer] Joey [Waters] that I wanted to take these songs into non-rock venues to try and find more people who might be interested in the content of the album. I thought some acoustic versions would be appropriate. When we wrote these songs, I always approached them as songs that could be simplified, so this was my chance to actually test my theory. I decided to take “The Joneses,” “Hold Steady Hands,” and “Roots and Fear,” and rework them for this purpose, and then decided it would be fun to record them and offer them as a companion EP.

As for the unreleased track, it was the only song we decided not to include on the album. It was actually the last song on the album, and was meant to be a sort of moral-tale ending. At this point on the album, it ends with Clementine holding Jack’s body after he is pulled from the mine. The unreleased track would be sung in a narrator’s voice so to speak. The song didn’t get included for a couple reasons, first was that it was agreed that it was more powerful and poignant to end with Clementine and Jack, second, it would have forced the album to be a double album, which we decided we didn’t want, and third, it is the most stylistically different in that it is actually our version of a bluegrass tune.

It will be perfect on an acoustic EP, and is cool to know everyone will hear the alternate ending to the album now. This should be released in the next 4-6 weeks.



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WVRockscene: You haven’t even been a band very long; what’s changed as far as chemistry or approach to songwriting? More comfortable as a unit?

Page: Trevor [Wilmott], our guitar player recently left the band. He lives three hours away, and is working on his undergraduate degree. It was just too hard for him to fully engage the project. We miss his input dearly, and he really wanted to stay with us, but it was just too much for him, and he was never able to be here for writing and rehearsals. After he mixed and mastered the album, which he did brilliantly, he had to step down. So now we are a three-piece.

As far as writing goes, I can already tell our chemistry is stronger and tighter. Chris and Joey and I are all very different stylistically, but at the same time, we are very open to allowing disparate sounds to come together and challenge our sense of self and vision. I might come in with something that sounds like Elton John, Joey will throw in some thunderous Bonham beat, and Chris might throw in the a percussive rhythm. In my head, that’s not what I had in mind, but that’s why I play with these guys... because I want the surprise and the challenge, and in the end it always sounds fresh to my ears... it’s like I know I would be bored if just wrote it the way I heard it, and what’s even better is that Chris and Joey feel the same way... We are all chomping at the bit to get back to writing, and in fact already have some new material that sounds really interesting…

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WVRockscene: So Chris and Joey approached you with the idea about doing this three-part mini-doc on the songs and the concept behind the album, right? Who filmed it, where, and what was your initial response to the idea?

Page: I was totally into the idea when they approached me. I just want people to have whatever it takes to get lost in the narrative, and if these videos help some people do that, I am very happy. Content is king. That’s my motto right now. The music has to be good, but the content is king for us. Music that carries narrative like this is more difficult than film, so having supplements like these videos makes it easier I think to find your footing.

It was filmed in an old farmhouse my wife and I are renovating. It was built in 1790, and in part, was the imaginary place where the album took place. I know no one would know that, but it’s just another way to tie my life into the narrative of the album. I shot it with my wife’s help, who is also an artist, and then gave the footage to Chris to edit.



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WVRockscene: In each part you talk in depth about arranging the songs, the split concepts of Clementine and Jack’s personal perspective on life with coal mining, displaying a very real depth and maturity in the songwriting, telling what is still a timeless story of these people’s lives, placing it in an Appalachian culture. Throughout you seem at ease talking about all this, all the themes inside a very real, cyclical concept record. When and/or if you’ve been told how special this record is by people who may or may not have friends or family members who work in the mines, how does that affect you and how important is it to know that you’ve touched people with the story of Clementine and Jack on Lost and Gone Forever?

Page: I have been told by some family members who were coal miners that this album really captured something for them, and we have had people from all over write us and tell us how moved they were, and some said they even cried... I was pretty floored by that. To really move someone that much is unreal. Again, it’s been so gratifying hearing from so many people about the way the album has affected them. I guess the album was real for me, and it becomes real for others. That’s what I wanted though, to share in these emotions with other people. I want there to be a give and take with our listeners. I am writing this music in hopes that it adds to your emotional life, and in return, that process adds to my emotional life, to be heard and understood by strangers from all over the world... it’s life affirming.



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WVRockscene: There are no shortage of bands that make a great record and may not reach that same level with subsequent recordings. Aside from any changes or directions the DTES sound may take (acoustic, etc.) do you continue to see your inspiration coming from or being rooted in Appalachia? So much of what makes Lost and Gone Forever a great record is the dual narrative, coal mining love story embedded inside it. Do you feel pressure to make another concept record or just what themes might fans expect the next DTES record to explore, if you even know yet? You had so much personally involved with this, with the passing of your grandparents, we can almost expect something different, right?

Page: Different for sure. I am not going to try and top this, or repeat it. I will leave Appalachia for a while conceptually, and focus in on other content sources. Lost and Gone is a project that I am very proud of. After writing music and making art for over 20 years, it’s the first project that I can say surpassed my creative expectations. I had a professor tell me once, a good piece of art is always smarter than its creator… it has a life of its own. As I said earlier, this work is definitely smarter than me, and has its own life to live without me now. As for what’s next, or what to look forward to... I can tell you this, from this band/project, you can always expect an in-depth record. I am really interested in seeing how music might work for a vehicle for history, myth, narrative, and social investigations.

Our music will always be about exploring content in depth. I want to know about the world that I live in, and one way to investigate and engage the world is through art. Art helps us reflect and better understand where we are coming from, and where we are going... it’s a conversation meant to be engaged, and I plan on using music to engage it. I think that’s part of what makes Lost and Gone interesting, it engages the world and its histories and myths in a interesting way, so regardless of what the content for the next album is, you can be assured it will be immersed in questions about the world around us, and hopefully offer new ways of thinking about it through music.



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WVRockscene: Regardless of whether or not DTES even ever makes another record, Lost and Gone Forever really can stand alone as a very real achievement. How proud are you of what you, Trevor, Chris and Joey accomplished with just one record?

Page: I can say that it has been a great honor working with Chris, Joey, and Trevor. They are talented and creative beyond words. That has been gratifying enough, but to have had our creative collisions produce something like Lost and Gone means that for the rest of my life I have a work that I can be proud of. I think it’s pretty clear that to produce an album like this is not going to sky rocket one to fame and fortune, and with that being said, its should be clear that we are not letting those distractions get in the way of our vision.

We put out a record we all believed in for no other reason than to satisfy our creative and emotional desires. Of course one always hopes those ambitions are met by some friendly ears who also understand those desires. I know there is a small contingent of people in the world that want to share in music that engages content in a thought provoking way, and we plan on continuing that effort well into the future.




Related -- CD Review: Lost and Gone Forever; Drama, tragedy, love, life and death: Dream the Electric Sleep brings new concept record to V Club Saturday (Huntington Herald-Dispatch article)

photo: Ashley Watson

Q&A w/Zach Francis for MAYSP benefit show 9.25

Glen Fork native Zach Francis (above w/flag) continues the tradition of cool Magic Town benefit shows this Sunday night with the second annual MAYSP benefit show at 123 Pleasant Street. Francis also continues the grand tradition of catching up with WVRockscene to talk about what MAYSP is, does, and why it's important. Oh and also the bands -- Bonfire (now with a new lineup) plays the show for the second straight year after debuting the band there last year. They'll be joined by Pat Pat, FOX Japan, and a new(er) band, Sleepwalker. And there's Francis' pro-ginger rhetoric, which may shock you.


We caught up with Francis to see what's up with this year's show...


WVRockscene: What’s been up with you since we talked last? You’re in Belladonna Deadbeats these days, right?

Zach Francis: I've been into quite a bit with MAYSP since last September, finding my groove and approach as far as advocating and counseling these kids as well as a lot of brainstorming for fundraising ideas (obviously) for us to maintain free services to juveniles of the Morgantown vicinity.

Personally, I spent a decent amount of this past winter revisiting some bass guitar fundamentals. I taught myself a long time ago, but I unfortunately taught myself everything the wrong way. I could make up sweet bass riffs but my technique and understanding of cohesive music was way off-kilter in an unattractive way. So, I took some bass lessons from local jazz bassist Kevin Fryson, who is amazing. Needless to say, we had to start from square 1 as if I'd never played before. Although I don't currently take lessons from him, I acknowledge that he's the reason I at least know what I'm doing on the instrument confidently now. Now I can play around with a lot of "frilly stuff" that I only guessed at during high school.

I'm also happily engaged to a fellow ginger. We plan on repopulating the earth with a flux of redheads. She's very supportive and also keeps me straightened out pretty well. So moving to Star City and wedding plans have taken up a lot of my "extra time," whatever that is.

OH YEAH! Speaking of playing bass, I play for Belladonna Deadbeats. We're coming out with a sassy little EP sometime this fall, I'm hoping. All the stuff is pretty much recorded to our liking at Bebop Studios here in Motown, but we're just taking our time with mixing and such. We've played a handful of smaller shows, and have just had a blast. I'm pretty much the least talented person in the band seeing that our core consists of two fine young women (Ashley and Rachael) that alternate playing drums and guitar while also taking on vocal duties throughout our sets. Our lead guitarist, Brian is just a brutal technical guy. He incorporates a lot of bluesy slide in our songs as well. I just really enjoy being able to add to the dynamic with some steady, simple bass lines. Every once in a while I get a little carried away with something funky or tribal on a song or two, but I mainly just do my part and chill.

By the way, we're one of the bands in the final round of a Battle of the Bands. It's being held on October 1st at the Student Lot outside the WVU football Stadium if you'd like to come check out some awesome bands.

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WVRockscene: How did the first MAYSP benefit show at 123 go last year? And for those that missed our chat what is MAYSP, what do you do for MAYSP and how is it and groups like it important?

Francis: Let's just say that the success of the show brought in more than we expected both financially and in exposure/networking. It was enough to prove to our agency that we should pursue fresh fundraising ideas significantly more than we had in the past. I was beyond stoked about the turnout and response that we received last year. Great cooperation and volunteerism too. The communal spirit of the whole ordeal was rather inspiring.

Sure. The Morgantown Area Youth Services Project is a non-profit organization that focuses on providing free services for juveniles through various programs ranging from substance abuse counseling to truancy and academic performance issues. The aim of the agency is to reduce violence and drug abuse in this area of Monongalia County in general. I am one of two Transitions Specialists who works specifically with middle and high-school students by visiting them for one on one counseling sessions to monitor whatever they're struggling with on a consistent basis. We get referrals from court officials, probation, family members and the like.

Something I've realized about social service-related causes is that they are worthwhile struggles. This kind of work is not just a paycheck, it is a concern; it is a purpose. In a perfect world, people would not need counselors and social workers, but it is clear that society is not en route to utopia anytime soon. Therefore, small nonprofits will be around to scrape whatever funds they can to provide services and connect those in need to necessary resources that they might not be able to reach within their own limited means due to circumstances and outlying predicaments. I've had several experiences that have confirmed that people, especially youth, sometimes just need at least one person to consistently support them not only during their golden moments, but also during their "rough patches." When you have a network of support encouraging and advising, the results are those of resilience and autonomy. Plainly, better things happen when people have your back.



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WVRockscene: You still work for Danny Trejo? Not that Danny Trejo, though right?

Francis: HAHA! Yes. My boss, Danny Trejo actually used to live in East L.A. many years ago and used to stay in touch with the actor Danny Trejo. I don't know how they were able to meet each other in person and prevent the universe from collapsing! I'm not kidding. He knows, or at least knew, THAT Danny Trejo. It blows my mind every time he confirms it with me during staff meetings.

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WVRockscene: Back to the bands, last year you kind of introduced Bonfire to Morgantown at the MAYSP benefit, and this year you got FOX Japan and Pat Pat (plus Sleepwalker) to play too. There’s seemed to be a long-running tradition of Morgantown-area bands coming together for good causes at 123 Pleasant Street. I remember Aaron Hawley doing big shows for the Boys and Girls Club I think it was. How thankful and/or stoked are you that you’re able to corral these bands for a good cause, and is there anything special you’ve picked up on up there that backs up the theory that these bands are down for good causes?

Francis: As I've mentioned before, the communal spirit of the music scene for these types of events baffles me. I just love it. These bands are local favorites who could understandably demand a lot, but they are just very open and emphatic to play. I'm so psyched about the lineup this year! These are all bands that I want see play live anyway, so it's great that they are just down for it without needing some sort of "convincing sales pitch." I honestly think that most of the musicians here are people who are aware of the social climate and are more than happy to be a part of something that contributes to the betterment of the community. Also, many of the artists of this area have occupations and background in helping folks one way or another. For example, I had several social work classes with FOX Japan's drummer, Pete. In my opinion, that dude had a profound understanding of social policy. I hope all of that makes sense.

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WVRockscene: What else is going on for the show as far as donating or raffles or auction-type stuff? I’d seen you got those precursors to laser discs, you expect to be able to move those things? Any records or anything like alternate revenue stream fundraising that is going on outside of cover charge; you can donate online right?

Francis: In addition to our fundraising tables having some used vinyl records and CDs like last year, we'll have a decent amount of handcrafted jewelry and goods by Emily Iafrate, who has an Etsy store of her own and some other awesome friends of ours.

Vintage Video started joking about donating these "Videodiscs," so I actually took them. They are so odd that I think they might sell. They are like a strange hybrid of vinyl and giant-sized CDs that required the respective player for you to view movies on. They came out before laser discs, so there's not really even much nostalgic demand for them. However, some of the artwork is intriguing on the large outer casings, so, um...we'll see what happens with them. I already have Chris of Bonfire calling dibs on one! hahaha!

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WVRockscene: And there will be art from Morgantown Aspiring Young Artists; seen any of it yet? It seems like musicians and artists of the more visual type are like-minded enough to come together for a good cause; what’s the response been like for artists who might be showing their work off?

Francis: I've mainly seen work tagged on their Facebook page and all that I've seen has a great energy to it. I'm pumped to see what will actually be displayed though!

I think people in the social service field and artists (audio and visual) experience a lot of similar things. For starters, their work withstands profuse lack of appreciation and/or support in comparison to the time and effort they put into it. They are both underpaid as well..ahem..

This gives them the chance for more exposure and more networking while also just having a good time, so their response was the same as the bands.

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WVRockscene: You plan on doing this next year?

Francis: If all goes according to plan, I will be moving on and focusing more on my marriage and future career endeavors elsewhere in Southern West Virginia by this time next year, but I'm sure that MAYSP is going to pursue organizing events like this one in the future whether I'm still with them or not. Who knows? I might even come back just to help out temporarily with next year's benefit show!

--- Bonfire, Pat Pat, FOX Japan and Sleepwalker play the MAYSP benefit show Sunday, September 25th starting at 7 p.m. at 123 Pleasant Street. A $5 donation gets you in the door.

photo: Taylor Kuykendall

CD Review: "The Rozwell Kid LP"

TITLE: The Rozwell Kid LP
ARTIST: Rozwell Kid

It’s 1994-ever on Jordan Hudkins’ new 10-song eponymous debut as Rozwell Kid. Well, there’s actually eleven songs, if you count the “hidden song” at the end. Sounds like the 90’s to me.

Where once there was Jude Universer, now, there is Rozwell Kid. How or why this happened is some sort of cosmic mystery. Or maybe not, with visions of getting in (albeit wholly figurative) rockets heading to the moon, time machines, UFOs and driving a “Saturn,” appropriately enough, given Hudkins’ new persona, to New Mexico.

Either way, this CD didn’t exactly come out of the blue at this here blog. And let’s not look too much into any interstellar theme: Hudkins’ lyrics are as much about rock and roll staples like chicks (“Rocket,” “My Saturn,” “‘93 Connie and Ronnie,”) and wasting your life being in a band (“Born 2 Drum”) -- all worthwhile at the end of the day -- as they are any grand concept. It’s more of a slacker manifesto than some grungy space opera.

Best known as The Demon Beat’s drummer and an artist in his own right, Hudkins follows up and revamps a few songs (the opener, “Rocket” and “New Mexico”) from his Jude Universer release Lingering Blue on this, one of the more highly anticipated releases of the year here at WVRockscene.

Back when Hudkins was not even 10 years old and Michael Jordan was still busy winning NBA titles and not having Hitler moustaches, Weezer, like they were for many others, were a personal favorite of this blogger. Weezer’s “Blue album” was fuzzy and near-grungy but super-catchy with humorous lyrics (hear “Ace Ventura Pt. 3”).

Hudkins sings upon seeing his future self:

“First thing I saw when I stepped out of the time machine
Was a tiny version of myself, and I was pissed off at me
‘What the hell have you been eating?
Your job is a waste of time
Is it too much to ask
That you get off your ass?’

This future doesn’t look cool to me

Listen to me you little shit it’s easy to quit and hard to commit
And I’m sorry that I’m not what you thought we’d be
Not starring in Ace Ventura Part 3
So you can go to hell, me
Yes you can burn in hell”

After fan-favorite Pinkerton, bassist Matt Sharp left in much acrimony to form the Moog-soaked synth-grunge-type act The Rentals, and Weezer was never the same.

Why does this matter to this review?

Taking in what Hudkins did on the Jude Universer release (a surprise favorite in the WVRockscene “best of” CDs from 2009, for what that is worth, which is not that much) and now following that up with a new persona but similar-but-amped up sound as Rozwell Kid, he seems to straddle that nebulous time period inbetween the “Blue Album” and Pinkerton -- not a bad time, but really just catchy, fun, high energy pop stuff. And still, in parts, like Lingering Blue, like a rarely heard Weezer-Rentals hybrid.

This is the realm that, for me, Hudkins inhabits as Rozwell Kid. That I could be so stoked to hear Hudkins and friends (Dylan Balliett, George Zatezalo, Andrew LaCara and Andy Pickens) as Rozwell Kid, and not at all be disappointed or let down, only further takes me back to compiling the first few releases of the aforementioned DGC bands, when grunge and raw distortion and feedback met synth.

Maybe that flannel Hudkins sported in that great picture of the Demon Beat backstage in Baltimore was nothing more than a thinly veiled nod to this time period.

The songs are even arranged and structured like some of that catchy 90’s stuff; pop type loud-quiet-loud verse-chorus-verse with bouncy, fuzzy bass lines walking you through and holding the songs together in between crashing cymbals, sonically experimental in parts yet with a real, live feel, and oh he was probably just hanging out -- killer solos provided by Hudkins’ Demon Beat band mate Adam Meisterhans.

While his Demon Beat bandmates Meisterhans and Tucker Riggleman have found various levels of side project-type success, most notably and recently in Prison Book Club, but also as Black Fag (where Meisterhans evoked the “Blue album” quite awesomely) and Riggleman as a solo artist, for me, even though there really aren’t any Jude Universer/Rozwell Kid shows to speak of, Hudkins’ music stands out among all output among West Virginia bands for its ability to quite literally transport me back in time.

Black Fag + Jude Universer = Rozwell Kid would be enough to sum up the sound and feel on the songs, maybe. Thumbs up to Brian Spragg and David Klug for the sonic handling.

I can see it now: Hudkins as Rozwell Kid hits it big on West Virginia’s Got Talent, signs a major label deal with NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus representing, only to lose it all via trumped up RIAA lawsuit brought by Rivers Cuomo and Matt Sharp.

Friends of P: Sly Roosevelt releases Old "P" at HMAF

Sly Roosevelt (L-R: Sean McDaniel, Alex & Megan Durand, Jyosh Sanders, Matt Marshall) release Old "P" Saturday at the Huntington Music and Arts Festival

One of the best things about doing what we do here is being pleasantly surprised how much we like a band that we hadn’t got into yet for whatever reason. Huntington’s Sly Roosevelt is a good example of this. Of course, we’d heard about the punk-infused indie rock five-piece in covering area shows, but didn’t really know how cool their sound was until getting their new four-song EP Old “P” sent to us.

In anticipation of their Saturday afternoon show at the Huntington Music and Arts Festival, and to find out more about the band, their sound, and their EP, we caught up with the band to learn more...


WVRockscene: You guys have been around since 2008, right? And now you have the new EP out in time for HMAF, how exciting a time is it for the band these days?

Sean McDaniel: This is just the beginning, and yes, it is exciting to see all of the hard work come together. I really didn’t stress too much. I have all of the confidence in the world in the band and our manager, Justin Kay. It’s great.

Jyosh Sanders: Things have changed in a way that makes me feel more confident, like what we are doing has more weight, but it feels very natural.

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WVRockscene: The nucleus of the band was originally a three-piece right? Sean, Alexander and Matthew? How did you guys meet/know each other and how much of a chemistry has developed since welcoming Jyosh and Megan Durand on in 2009.

Sean McDaniel: We’ve met in random places at different times, so it may have been fate that I met [bassist] Alex [Durand]. I played an open mic and was terrified, and afterward Alex asked me to play music with him. We tried that for a month or so, and then he asked Matt [Marshall] to play the drums. Megan and Jyosh have made an incredible impact on the songs – fleshing them out and adding textures, sounds, ideas, input. They are great to be around and add a tremendous amount of creativity.

Jyosh Sanders: We’d all been playing music, finding ourselves you could say, when Sean and Alex met. Sean is the core of the music as he envisions and sketches out the notions to be hit upon. Alex was the common element that permitted the bonds between us that awkward social restraint might have never let happen.

Alexander Durand: The very first time I met Sean was at Ladybird show. The whole night I spoke to everyone with a British accent. Why? I don’t know. He actually gave me a sweet lighter in a gesture of American kindness. Month or two later we meet at a party and I explained my ruse and that I lost his lighter. The first time I saw Sean play, I was blown away. The music was original, yet familiar. He put his guts into it. I was very new to playing music and despite assuming a false persona and losing his awesome lighter, I had to ask him if I could be a part of it.

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WVRockscene: 92.7 played “Lion” off the new EP last week, how exciting was that? Was that the first time getting your music on the radio?

Megan Durand: It was pretty exciting. We’ve been on the radio a couple of times before; we played a live acoustic set on 106.3, and 92.7 played a recording from one of our live shows to promote the first HMAF. This was the first time a track from the EP was exposed to the world, though, and it was really satisfying to hear the finished product – this thing that we spent so much time producing and fine-tuning – in that context.

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WVRockscene: You recorded throughout June and July, is that right? How much of a mix of challenging, fun, sweat and maybe frustration went into the DIY recording sessions?

Sean McDaniel: The recording was really fun, and all of the other things you mentioned. The fact that we built it ourselves was gratifying. I have to say that Justin and Alex were the masterminds behind it. We all put an enormous amount of time, effort, money and love into it.

Megan Durand: There were lots of late nights and, of course, lots of retakes. But the whole process was really positive overall. Everyone was excited to be there and eager to get things done.

Alexander Durand: Before we had the studio, I looked into the recording process and worked on recording some songs I had written in hopes of getting better at recording with the band. I read up on recording setups, room treatment, and what sound is. The internet/universal consciousness is an amazing thing. I think the most challenging aspect was the coordination of everyone’s schedules. We made the most of anybody’s free time and for the most part recorded every day.

Matthew Marshall: About 5-6g’s and a whole lot of work and toil went into it, but totally worth it at ANY rate. Since we recorded in our own studio, we have had complete control over everything which is always nice to experiment with.

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WVRockscene: Old “P” is self-produced, recorded by the bassist and the drummer, talking to bands, you can hear alternate theories re: pros and cons of DIY recording; pros include the freedom of not having someone nit pick, and a con can be that you start nit picking yourselves. How did the recording go? From tracking to taking it out for mixing and mastering?

Sean McDaniel: The recording actually went pretty well. I will defer technical talk to Alex, but I will tell an anecdote: Matt is crazy. For one take he laid down a drum track without a scratch, just the metronome. Not sure if he memorized it, but he nailed it beat for beat, crash for crash. It was nuts. I couldn’t believe it.

Jyosh Sanders: Putting it down was more a relief than anything. We’ve been playing these songs for years, and to finally have them actualized, and to be confident in every element of each person’s contribution is a freeing thing.

Alexander Durand: It was definitely freeing. It would have been nice to have had superb recording equipment and not have to second guess yourself, but during the process we learned so much about recording. There are so many different things you can try and we were able to experiment with of different sounds. We kinda knew what we wanted as a final product and took it step by step.

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WVRockscene: With many bands the decision making process that goes into exactly what songs to record and put out are just as much aesthetic as they can be financial; was that the case with the four songs on Old “P,” do you wish you could’ve put more material on it or is less more in this case?

Sean McDaniel: Well, yeah, we would have liked to put more material on it, but with the songs we chose, I think the idea was more about getting variety – songs we thought had their own vibes that fit well together.

Megan Durand: We planned the EP as kind of a Sly Roosevelt sampler. We chose those four songs to represent the different aspects of our sound. You get some of our heaviness, some of the punkiness, a little bit of the spaciness. It was intended to be sort of an appetizer for the full-length album, which will of course be more comprehensive, but it’s also a nice whole unto itself.

Matthew Marshall: I feel that the number of songs and the length was just right for the EP, leaving fans wanting more but still giving them a taste of our music

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WVRockscene: Dave Mistich had nothing but positive things to say about your live show in his review of your May 6 show at the V Club. Describing your songs as “strange yet inspired,” with “fresh” and “chaotic” structures that make liking Sly Roosevelt “adventurous” and “arduous,” it’s a real compliment from a real music critic. How cool is it to be able to win over such discerning ears, and how have you congealed around this nebulous style over the past few years?

Sean McDaniel: With our music, I want the impact to be moving. I want to take the listener somewhere, whether it’s somewhere dangerous or childish or whatever. I just want the performance to be honest and moving on some level. And if people enjoy it, that’s a bonus.

Jyosh Sanders: It makes me feel validated that others not making the music, sharing in the space, are able to get there. It gets in our head, and it grows there, from some power chord song Sean shamelessly bleats out in our living room one evening. We run with it until we feel that feeling and unclench our fists and nod with a stupid grin and giggles.

Alexander Durand: Dave is awesome.

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WVRockscene: For me, it’s exciting getting into a new band whose sound and songs are new and exiting, how proud are you of the final product that is Old “P” and how excited are you for people to hear it?

Jyosh Sanders: It’s as close as I can imagine you can get to capturing the actual song that we play live. We are all pursuing this idea, and it’s just been so long without it really happening.

Alexander Durand: It’s hard not just giving them out to everyone.

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WVRockscene: Over the three or four years you have been playing out in Huntington, how supportive of an atmosphere is it for a band that is said to be such a challenging, acquired taste?

Alexander Durand: I feel that there is so much support coming from fans, other local bands and the venues in Huntington. We have a really awesome community of musicians that play out here. Watching the crowd response grow from when we first starting playing has been amazing. People can dig it and that’s so awesome. I do remember though the first time I saw someone dancing my mind was blown.

Jyosh Sanders: I feel like we have a very wide appeal, and there’s something there for everyone. We relish in tenacity, though, redemption. If you don’t love us, we look forward to growing on you.

Matthew Marshall: It took some getting used to for people at first. For us as well, our music has gone through a lot of changes not just since we procured all five members but structurally as well. I feel our music has matured enough to start pushing it and getting it out there big time for people to hear and we hope to really start it with this EP.

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WVRockscene: Can your fans expect anything like a full-length anytime in the near future?

Alexander Durand: Definitely. After the festival, we have a few shows lined up including a benefit for Monica Watts on September 4th, which is an honor to be a part of. We plan on recording any chance we can. We are not quite sure on the date, but we are hoping to have something early next year.

Jyosh Sanders: We are planning on working more with John Parsons, who withstood our backseat driving on the mixing The Old “P.” I’m very excited about that. It’s almost as if he acted as an interpreter as we sat there together all huddled up in our recording space around the monitors.

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WVRockscene: And of course you’re playing the Huntington Music and Arts Fest, how cool is not only being a part of that fest, and what it means to Huntington, but making new fans?

Megan Durand: There’s so much exciting music in town, and in the area, and it’s great that there is this outlet for it. There are a lot of people who stay active in the local music scene, but I think there are also people who don’t realize that there’s such a variety of bands playing here every week. The HMAF exposes more people to that, and it’s really an honor to be one of the bands that benefits from that. It would be great to gain some new fans from it, but mostly I hope we surprise somebody. I would like someone to walk away saying, “I didn’t know this was happening here.”

Alexander Durand: The festival, in my opinion, is the best thing ever. It’s awesome having the opportunity to take part in a local festival. A festival that caters to different musical interests is brilliant and I think it is great that everyone in Huntington can catch a diverse mix of genres. In addition no one is restricted to bedtimes since the festival runs all day. We have a lot planned for next year including a substantial tour of the surrounding states. It would great if people were turned on to Sly Roosevelt at the festival and followed us as we grow.





--- Sly Roosevelt plays at 4:15 Saturday at Ritter Park as part of the Huntington Music and Arts Festival. For more info on HMAF, check out the site, check out the HMAF Facebook page, and check out the related posts and articles below.

Related: Sly Roosevelt ready to rock Shamrock's (Dec. 2009 H-D article) Non-Stop Music (8.25 Herald-Dispatch article on HMAF), Musicians Join For Cause (H-D article on Monica Watts), "This Is A Call" (Dave Mistich post on Ian Thornton & Monica Watts), The WVRockscene Toast of Ian Thornton, "Music For Monica" Facebook Page

video: Chris Harper/Tophu Photo

This is a call: An open letter to everyone who ever cared about music and people in West Virginia

Dear musicians, promoters, music fans, reviewers, journalists--and human beings:

When Nick Harrah asked me to contribute a few kind words about Ian Thornton a few weeks back, I struggled, as most serious writers do, to find the right words to describe him accurately and sufficiently. Not only is Ian a person I consider a friend, but also someone I have deep respect for.

Ian is, to put in terms that are insufficient in their own right, a "class act." To put it simply, the guy busts his ass to do what he can for what he cares passionately about. That is the measure of a man, in my humble opinion.

Of course, that "toast" was to celebrate Ian's contributions to the music scene.

Live music, especially on a local level, is a metaphor for a strong community bond. All of us involved (in whatever facet that may be) have an understanding that we're all working towards a common goal. It's not celebrity, or for some financial gain, but rather to lift up those around us through music.

When I tried to articulate exactly what Ian means to live music in Huntington, I tried my damnedest to keep those ideas in mind. Those words now seem totally insignificant.

As many of you reading this may already know, Ian's girlfriend (and live music champion in her own right), Monica Watts, was seriously injured in a car accident in the early hours of August 11th. Monica has been fighting for her life since.

So let's get to the point to this. There is a point, right? Good Lord, I hope so.

People become fascinated--and sometimes obsessed--with pop music for various reasons, but I'm convinced that it's an underlying understanding that songs, albums, and artists articulate something about living that we couldn't quite say ourselves. Be it mortality, or love, or loss, or hurt, or joy--it's a reflection about what it means to be human.

Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of running sound at Shamrock's for their 3rd Anniversary Party. Ian, who should be expected to be losing his mind in a random corner, took the stage and played Tom Petty's "Yer So Bad," for Monica. He also sang on The Beatles' "Blackbird." It was deeply touching, to say the least. I found myself muttering, "This is what it's all about," in the booth with no one around.

Considering the fact that you're reading this, you're probably a part of a music scene somewhere in West Virginia. While you may not necessarily be active within the Huntington scene, I have little doubt that towns like Shepherdstown, Morgantown, Charleston, and Parkersburg are all closely knit like our's is.

With that in mind, I ask you, on behalf of Monica and Ian and everyone that holds those fine folks near and dear, to do what you can to support not only Ian's festival, but--more importantly--to support Monica's recovery.

Various charities have been established in Monica's name to help offset the cost of her medical bills. Huntington music writer, Dave Lavender had an article published yesterday detailing the ways to help out. The V Club, thanks to the good souls of Patrick Guthrie and Don Duncan, are planning a special benefit show for Monica on Sunday, September 4th. They are accepting donations for prizes to be raffled off at the show--so if you have anything to contribute, please, contact them.

There are ways to help, people, so do what you can. And if your pocketbooks are strapped for cash, your well wishes are certainly appreciated.

With a heavy heart and a whole lot of hope,

Dave Mistich