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gb-patch · 3 years

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Ask Answers: December 11th, 2020

How old are terri, miranda, lee, shiloh and jeremy? Are they all the same age as the mc?

Step 1: MC is 8 and Shiloh is 7

Step 2: MC and Lee are 13 and Jeremy is 12

Step 3: MC, Lee, and Terri are 18, Miranda is 19 (though she just barely turned that age)

How many different personalities are there for Jamie? Does picking one color of dialogue option mark down the personality or is it the choices and actions themselves?

There’s not really any set amount of personalities. You can mix and match traits in different ways and different levels, it’s really up to you. The colored options just give an idea of the tone of what you’re doing (whether it’s serious or more lighthearted or more emotional, that sort of thing).

Hey! Sorry to bother, but I was just curious. Why does MC and Cove react the way they do in the errands moment? It just sorta seems like they overreacted to being left alone in the farmers market.

I’m a little confused on what you mean. You can choose not to care or to have a good time, your MC doesn’t have to be upset. There are more choices that lead to upset feelings, but that’s because there’s really only one way to say you’re really okay and multiple ways to feel upset (sad, angry, scared, etc). And if someone is upset, there’s nothing wrong with that. Feeling fine is okay too.

As for Cove, he’s just like that. Cove is a sensitive guy and he is especially bothered by parents pulling stunts without talking to their kid ahead of time. If you wanna annoy Cove, that exact thing they did is one of the fastest ways to do it, ahah. And he’s not gonna let it slide just because it was the MC’s parents doing it to them rather than one of his own parents doing it to him.

so if I were to become a one time patreon pledger, would I still have access to the things from that tier after the month is over (such as 18+ pics or access to a demo/beta)?

If you join Patreon for one month you’ll get everything released that month and have access to all our past posts, and you can save the stuff to your own computer to keep it forever. But you won’t get access to things that come out after your subscription has ended. So if you want to join for a specific piece of content, just make sure you wait until that content has already come out and then subscribe.

Why did Noelani and Pamela decide to adopt within the USA when they had previously adopted abroad?

Because we wanted to highlight more than one type of adoption. Both are valid.

At what age was MC adopted in our life?

Only around a year old, but it’s flexible based on what the player wants for their story.

If Pamela is estranged from her family and Noelani doesn't really talk to her's, where did Lee come from?

Lee is a backer created character, she wasn’t originally part of the cast. Because our main supporter wanted her to be related to the MC’s family, we gave Pam one sibling she still talks to and that sibling has a daughter, Lee. The game was still in pretty early development way back then when we first mentioned the family situation. It’s just kind of inevitable that during the game making process some things ended up changing, aha.

In the relationship DLC’s for Derek and Baxter will there be options for polyamory to include Cove?

I’m afraid not. The way Our Life: Beginnings & Always works doesn’t support developing a poly relationship well, it’d very quickly build up too many alterations to manage. But we do hope to feature polyamory options in future games.

Will it be possible to confess to Cove (or vice versa) in Step 4, if it hasn't been done already?

Yeah!

are you going to put the credits song on youtube or spotify? i really like it and want to play it for my friends 🙏🥺 ty

I’m so glad you like it! We have rights to use the song in our game and for our game to be the only game it’s ever used in, but the rights to sell/upload the song belong to the actual creators of the music. We’re happy to let them decide where they’re comfortable posting the track.

Quick question, do you plan on continuing to use MC we can custom? I liked all your games but being able to customize Our Life's MC was awesome

I can’t say if every game we ever make from now on will have a super customizable MC, but we are planning other projects with that feature. Our Life: Beginnings & Always won’t be the only one. It’s nice to hear you appreciated the effort to add that.

Can I just express my disappointment that you only get a 'makeout session' in Step 3 if your MC is outgoing? My shy MCs miss out on grabbing the Cove booty... xP

Whether or not you can make out with Cove and how intense it can get depends on how long you’ve been a couple. If your shy MC takes longer to get with Cove, he’ll need more time before he’s ready to do that sort of stuff. And if your confident MC has been with him for years already, then he’s at a point where he can go that far with them. I’m afraid patience is required when it comes to romancing that boy, haha.

If we played in 1.0 and we updates to 1.1 do we have to start over? Or do save files transfer? I hit the "ignore" not sure if I should have for the game to work properly

1.0 save files should work with version 1.1. If you’re getting error reports can you send us more details about what the error is saying?

Bug report: At the end of the 'Mall' DLC moment in Step 2, there's a point where Cove says the MC's name, but it's said in his Step 1 voice instead of his Step 2 voice. I don't know if it happens with ALL names, but it happened with my most recent game using the name Devin.

As a follow-up to my earlier bug report about the voiced names (or at least Devin) in the Mall moment, I had the same issue in the Soiree moment as well (with the same name - again, it might just be that one).

Thank you for the report! Can you let me know when you downloaded the DLC files? I think that should be fixed in the most recent version of them.

Dear gb-patch, I'm one of the OL Kickstarter backers (and I had and still have a great time with your updates, it's great to see the project grow and you are great in communicating with your fans 💕).

I want to wait until all steps are complete until I play, I know I'll enjoy it even more if I can experience it all together. Because of that I didn't open the game myself but I just saw your post with the screenshot of the voiced names and noticed that the name that I submitted to you isn't on the list. The name is Mai (or May), will it be available later?

Thank you for supporting us! Mai is one of the names that we’re still working on. It accidentally had a tone missed.

And thank you for all of these asks <3

—————————————————————— We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

#our life #ourlifeba #Our Life Beginnings & Always #ask #asked #gb patch #gb patch games

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joementa · 3 years

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The Unplugged Sessions

I don’t know where you live, but where I’m at, this past week had some crazy weather. My parents told me that where they live in Brigantine, people were literally sitting on the beach. As if it were summer! I didn’t get outside as much as I’d like this week, but I still got to soak in some rays. This global warming thing might be ruining things for future generations, but don’t worry, it lets me keep my summer tan all year long.

Anyways. It looks like we are going to get some chilly weather starting TODAY actually. And not only chilly, but it’s going to rain a ton too. Which means it’s perfect weather for some acoustic music. So I put together a playlist of some songs that you probably already know, but some you probably don’t already know. And some of these songs have been on recent playlists of mine (and you all know how I don’t like to repeat songs!). But the key here is that all of the songs this week are the acoustic/unplugged versions. So there’s no sax when you hear “Born To Run”! No guitar solos in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. But that’s okay. This kind of weather demands more acoustic-based music. A few notes on the playlist:

I have no clue why Learning To Flinch isn’t available on vinyl. It’s criminal. This is the only album sampled on this week’s playlist that I don’t already have on vinyl!

“In Your Atmosphere” is just an incredible song. The entire Where The Light Is album is one of the best live albums in my vinyl vault. Your collection needs to have it. Make sure you get the Music On Vinyl pressing: https://www.discogs.com/release/3430867-John-Mayer-Where-The-Light-Is-John-Mayer-Live-In-Los-Angeles

The entire Live At Luther College album is amazing and probably my favorite live Dave Matthews release, of which there are many and all are great. But this one tops them all. It’s all about the SOUND here. Dave and Tim sound like they are next to you in your living room. The acoustic guitars truly sound acoustic. You can hear their fingers scratching up the guitar neck. And Dave’s voice is so pure that you want to cry. And it sounds like he is too on a view songs at this show. Check out this entire album RIGHT NOW. Focus on it. Listen from beginning to end. Your ears will thank you.

I’m assuming you’re already familiar with the Esher demos, which were thankfully released a few years ago. Woo hoo!

Alice In Chain’s MTV Unplugged. Your record collection needs it. It’s an essential album. Similar with Where The Light Is, you want the Music On Vinyl pressing. It looks like it might be out of print but still, this album is worth every penny. https://www.discogs.com/release/2445087-Alice-In-Chains-MTV-Unplugged

The Chimes Of Freedom EP is pretty cool (check out the title track and “Be True”) but I think the coolest thing is just when this EP was recorded. Bruce and Patti were just getting together on that tour. The thoughts that one has….

The Unplugged Sessions on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/the-unplugged-sessions/pl.u-WabZpLjsWRYe83

The Unplugged Sessions on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RUwHVJ2mpM4J77h0ROJa0?si=MsLH8NrwRMiaw8NWAsBT_Q

Wait! There’s more! In case you do need a little lift me up, here’s the plugged in version of the playlist (unfortunately only 19 songs because there’s no ‘non-acoustic’ version of “In Your Atmosphere”. At least not that I know of….)

The Plugged Sessions on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/the-plugged-sessions/pl.u-NpXm60asvL74WM

The Plugged Sessions on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0NPBEm4dkFRFXOovQNpHIN?si=R-sQdaIuRVaSPZ1qcrhlSQ

John Mayer – “In Your Atmosphere” (Where The Light Is: John Mayer Live In Los Angeles)

Warren Zevon – “Splendid Isolation” (Learning To Flinch)

The Pretenders – “Sense Of Purpose” (The Isle Of View)

John Mellencamp – “Small Town” (The Good Samaritan Tour 2000)

The Goo Goo Dolls – “Slide” (Rarities)

Neil Young – “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong” (Carnegie Hall 1970)

Ryan Adams – “New York, New York” (Live After Deaf (Copenhagen))

Jeff Tweedy – “I’m Always In Love” (Together At Last)

The Civil Wars – “20 Years” (Live At Eddie's Attic)

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds – “Lover Lay Down” (Live At Luther College)

The Beatles – “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (The Beatles (Super Deluxe Edition))

Nirvana – “Come As You Are” (MTV Unplugged In New York)

Ruston Kelly – “Dammit” (Dirt Emo Vol. 1)

Bleachers – “Rollercoaster” (MTV Unplugged)

Katy Perry – “Waking Up In Vegas” (MTV Unplugged: Katy Perry)

Prince – “U’re Gonna C Me” (One Nite Alone…)

Pearl Jam – “Black” (MTV Unplugged)

Alice In Chains – “No Excuses” (MTV Unplugged)

The Gaslight Anthem – “American Slang” (The B-Sides)

Bruce Springsteen – “Born To Run” (Chimes Of Freedom EP)

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shefanispeculator · 3 years

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Gwen Stefani had begun working on new music before the lockdown hit, but says it was only when she brought up the idea of reintroducing herself to her collaborators that inspiration struck. “I'm not trying to force myself on anyone, and I'm not trying to have a comeback,” she says with a laugh. “I’m simply going to do some music without feeling defensive about it. Whoever likes me can listen. If you don't like it, you can actually say you don't like it! I don't care. I just want to put music out.”

After cutting a song in February with rising songwriter and producer Luke Niccoli (who’s worked with buzzy acts like Yves Tumor, Miya Folick, and Joji), Stefani was virtually introduced to pop hitmaker Ross Golan (Selena Gomez, The Chicks, P!nk), who suggested the trio write about exactly what the singer was feeling: a desire to remind people that she’s not just records collecting dust on your shelf.

“Let Me Reintroduce Myself,” released Monday, is a feel-good return to the ska/pop/reggae hybrid — record-scratching, horns, a walking bass line — that Stefani perfected during her time fronting No Doubt. Using her downtime in Oklahoma during the pandemic to dig back into ska’s roots, she immersed herself in the history of the genre, leading her to feel like now was the right moment to return to the sounds that first put her on the map 30 years ago. “All of the riots had happened, and I just started thinking so much about when I started loving music and why,” she says. “It was eighth grade when I learned about ska and Madness and the Selecter and all those bands that started to define the kind of music that I felt like I fit into; here I was, this Catholic girl from Anaheim doing reggae music! But that music was all about unity and anti-racism, and that was in the '70s. Then we were doing it in the '90s. And now here we are, again, in the same old mess.”

After the “Let Me Reintroduce Myself” writing session in late August (for which she later cut her vocals safely at the Los Angeles studio, the Village), Stefani began referring to Golan and Niccoli as her “song soulmates,” joining forces on a handful of other Zoom-born songs since then that will, if all goes according to plan, see the light of day some time in 2021. But for now, the No Doubt singer’s new track is a welcome return to form after five seasons judging The Voice, twice topping the country charts with fiance Blake Shelton, and building upon the success of her first-ever Christmas album, 2017’s You Make It Feel Like Christmas. “I just said, "I want to do some reggae,’” she remembers. “And it was just this weird full circle moment, because as soon as I started telling whoever I was going into the studio about that, they were so inspired too.”

In a call late last week, Stefani walked EW through returning to solo music, revisiting her back catalogue on the heels of Tragic Kingdom’s 25th anniversary, and how some of her biggest hits have gained new resonance in recent years.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you feeling knowing this song is about to come out? GWEN STEFANI: Under the circumstances, to be able to put out new music is just beyond a gift. Even if it wasn't a pandemic it would be exciting, but it's crazy with the pandemic, you know what I'm saying? I just didn't think it was going to come this year or that I'd be this lucky.

What was your headspace like as you went into writing and recording new solo material this year? Well, this is the deal: I haven't really put a record out in five years. That's a long time. I don't know how it went by so quickly. I would have loved to, but I was doing the Vegas show [Just a Girl] and that took up a lot of time. Before that, I toured the record before, [2016’s This Is What the Truth Feels Like], and the next thing you know, five years passed. I also was feeling like... "Does anyone really want to hear new music from me?" It's so much work to make new music, and I think about all the bands that I loved — I don't go looking for their new records. I just listen to the stuff that I liked in high school .

Somebody sent me a song called “When Loving Gets Old,” and I really loved it. Nobody sends me songs. Why doesn't anyone just send me, like, “Umbrella”? I got this song, I actually liked it. I went in to record it. The girl that sent it to me said, "They actually wrote this for you." And I was like, "Really? No wonder the lyrics feel so good. Why don't I write with them?” We wrote this song called “Cry Happy,” made up of all of these lyrics I’d written on my phone. We had this really great day, but I had to rush home to the kids. It's so different these days; you get there and you have to get home to cook dinner, so I didn't get to cut a demo. That was last February. And then we hit lockdown.

I spent a hundred days in Oklahoma, doing laundry and cooking. We had 15 people there. It was an incredible pause on life to be there at the ranch with the boys and just have this surreal lifestyle for a while, but nothing to do with the life included creating music or anything like that. But Blake happens to have a studio there and had to do some work and brought an engineer in. So I recorded the vocals on “Cry Happy,” and that was like lighting a match to a wildfire because I was like, “My god, I’ve got to do music."

You felt inspiration again? I felt all kinds of inspirations and ideas. It's like God saying, "You’ve got to do this now." When I get that urgency, you can't stop me. I'm like, “I’ve got to go write songs. That's what I need right now. And I don't even care if anyone hears them, or if they think they suck, I'm doing it, now.”

When I got back to L.A., I went into the studio. Everything was plastic-guarded. You get your temperature taken. Everybody's wearing masks. By then, all of the riots had happened. I started to go back and investigate ska and reggae, and I found all these documentaries about how ska was born in the 1960s, how that was linked to the Jubilee when Jamaica was being freed from England. Starting No Doubt, we were the third-wave imitating the 1960s.Then I found this documentary on a school in Jamaica called the Alpha Boys School, which was run by Catholic nuns. There's this little white Catholic nun called Sister Mary Ignatius Davies who helped nurture reggae music. You can see all these pictures of her with these little boys and they're learning these brass instruments. The first ska band that was ever born was these kids out of Alpha Boys School, the Skatalites. No Doubt used to listen to them. Doing my research, it all just felt so full-circle.

So this music was born out of that. I wanted to go back and make something that was joyful and back to my roots, where it all started. [Pre-pandemic] I’d been in the studio with Luke Niccoli and he's the one that said you really should work with my friend Ross, who turned out to be someone who really gets my sarcasm, and the fun side of my lyrics. We really hit it off.

With Luke, we taught each other a lot, especially when it came to ska and reggae, because I kept saying, "Dude, no, listen to Sublime. It has to have scratching in it. It has to be '90s." So he was discovering all this stuff that he didn't know, but bringing his technology and youth to the sound. It was a perfect kind of combination between the three of us. And we wrote a bunch of songs together and I know we're going to write more.

Lyrically, “Let Me Reintroduce Myself” addresses the idea of people thinking of you as a relic. Is that how you feel? At the beginning of this process, I feel like I had to make excuses for why I wanted to make new music. I felt like people were going to judge me and be like, "Well, you're like super old. Why would you even want to?" This is just how my brain works. Anyone would, you know what I mean? Everybody has their own fears or insecurities.

Ross’s reaction was [for us to incorporate] a way of saying, “Well, I haven't really gone anywhere if you really think about it.” I just had a No. 1 hit on [country] radio ["Nobody But You"] — two of them actually, because the next one's ["Happy Anywhere"] going to go No. 1 soon [Editor’s note: it did, 24 hours after our call]. We were just trying to say I haven't really gone anywhere. I'm still doing the same thing. I still wear the same kind of stuff that I've always worn. It's just an evolution.

“Let Me Reintroduce Myself” references your past, lyrically and visually. Some artists are really loath to look backwards, but you seem extremely willing to. Why is that? Five years ago, when my life blew up in my face, there was a lot of looking back. Music has always been a really amazing place to pour my heart and emotions into. It's like therapy.

When I was offered to do the Vegas show — a huge milestone for me — it was very reflective. I think it's an incredible thing to put out new music and have your sound evolve, whether it be through the No Doubt years or the three solo records I did. The first solo record [2004’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby.] was very much a dance record — that was the pop music when I was in high school that I wasn't into, but was the backdrop of my life. Back then, I said, "You know what? I want to try to make that kind of music. I want a dance song." It was so incredible to be able to work with all the talented people that I did and have such a different kind of sound like that, which made me want to do the second record, [2007’s The Sweet Escape].

The third solo record was not born in the same way. It didn't have a reference for the production. It was just, “How do I get through this time in my life? I've got to write these songs. I don't care how they're dressed up sonically. It's just getting them out.” During the process of doing that, I fall in love and I'm writing a song about my life basically being over and then starting to fall in love at the same time, all with one album.

After that, it was like, how do I evolve? When you do a new record, usually everything comes with that: the tour, the merch, the vibe. But when you're doing a Vegas show, you don't have a new song. You don't have anything new. How do you create a show around everything you've done? So there was a lot of looking back and thinking about, “How do I make this feel super nostalgic? How do I make this feel like, when everyone's coming from around the whole world to see me in this room, we have this common story, and that these songs were the backdrop to our lives?”

This year marked the 25th anniversary of No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom. How has that record changed meaning for you over the years? I don't really like anniversaries. I don't really celebrate like, “Oh, I wore that in 1995. Now it's 10 years later, woo!” But then when it actually happened and I started seeing everyone posting and seeing all the stuff that we had done — things I don't remember, until I see the image — I was just overwhelmed, like, "Oh my god, we did that?" It was a really emotional couple of days. I really enjoyed hearing just how much that record impacted people. It really is truly mind-blowing to me that I get to do music, let alone to be part of people's lives in that way. It's hard to wrap my head around it.

I'm really proud of Tragic Kingdom. It was a very weird album. I was so naive. I didn't even know how to write a song. I don't know how I wrote those songs because I didn’t know anything back then. But doing the Vegas show was a really reflective time, because doing a song like “Just a Girl” every night felt more relevant than ever, especially in the last couple of years with the rise of the #MeToo movement. It feels like history repeating itself. We've come far, but we haven't. I always thought that I would outgrow that song and be a woman and not be able to sing the words “I'm just a girl” anymore, but it felt more relevant than it ever felt in my whole life. It was bizarre.

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papeldetornasolcosmico · 4 years

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MR. BUNGLE : The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo Trevor Dunn Interview - translated from french by Luis Misiara.

Q: So, the idea of rerecording the demo came from you...

A: Yes, the idea is entirely mine. This horrible idea! (laughter)

Q: For how long have you been thinking of this?

A: Oh, yeah, after a I met Dave Lombardo when he joined Fantomas. Honestly, it's like these songs were written with him in mind. We were listening to Slayer and this kind of music all the time back then. Re-recording it with him made a lot of sense to me.

Q: So, you then asked Mike Patton and Trey Spruance if they agreed?

A: Yeah, and they did!

Q: And then Dave.

A: That's right. Then we figured that a second guitarist would be a good idea. We had many guitarists in mind, but Mike and Dave both knew Scott. And it's crazy, because when we asked him if he was interesting, he didn't understand what we wanted, he thought we were inviting him to a Mr. Bungle concert! (Laughs) "No, we're asking you if you want to be part of the band!" And then we found out he's a total fan, which surprised me! He was ready to do it for free and he knew the songs in our first demo, I mean... He's an incredible rhythm guitarist, incredibly precise. Anyway, he's one of the original musicians of the genre, part of an elite of "thrash professors" like Dave. This is why we wanted them. His way of playing rhythm parts is different compared to Trey's, and on the album you hear one of them on the left and the other on the right, with little differences in terms of rhythm and tone, and these differences provide a lot to the album in my opinion.

Q: Did Dave know the demo as well?

A: No, I don't think so, but he was into the idea as well. We spoke for a while, and then one day he called Trey and asked him to redo the demos of the songs and to send him so he could learn them and surprise Mike and me.

Q: The album is truly excellent. I had only listened to the demo, which was only available in mp3 and with a sound quality that was far from ideal in order to assimilate this kind of music... But I re-listened to it after becoming familiar with the songs in their re-recorded versions, and I must say that everything was already there: great riffs, structures, you didn't change a lot in that sense. I was impressed that, for 16 year-olds, you could write thrashcore songs, some lasting up to 8 minutes, that didn't seem like a pile of riffs, not anybody can do that...

A: (Laughs) Thanks! I don't know what to say to that, or how to explain it... I always liked these songs and, over the years, I felt like bringing justice to them, playing and recording them as they deserved to be. At the time, we were a bit crazy, we really dived deep into the 80s metal wave, we absorbed every riff of every group we listened to, we studied this music, we analyzed the details and we tried to do something that would belong to us, something personal. But Trhash is just an example, you can do that with any kind of music. Even orchestral music, for instance, you just need to learn it, master it. You just need to want to and to have a desire of seizing a musical genre and then do anything you want. Also, if I wanted to write 80s thrash metal right now, it would be totally different, because these songs were written with the information and tools that were available to us at the time.

Q: Exactly: you lived in Eureka, a small Californian town. Was it easy for you to acquire all the thrash, crossover or hardcore records you wanted?

A: Not really, but there were two good record stores, and actually Mike amnaged to work in the bigger one. We read many magazines like Kerrang and fanzines like Maximum Rock and Roll and were abreast of all the new releases. If any album wasn't sent to the store automatically, Mike would order them. We were the first to do it! He would bring the records to my house, we would open them, tape them, bring them back to the magazine and wrap them back. (Laughs) That played a large role on the construction of our musical culture.

Q: Before Mr. Bungle, you only ever played with Gemini, right?

A: Right after I started playing bass, the next month, I joined two groups, one of them being Gemini. There were five members -- two guitar players, a drummer, a singer and me. Since the singer left right around the time I met Mike, I invited him to replace the guy. I didn't even know if he could sing or not, all I knew is that he loved music (Laughs). That was enough for me!

Q: Was it just a covers group?

A: No, I had started writing songs, but mostly rock. At the time, hardcore and thrash music hadn't arrived at Eureka yet. It was a bit like AC/DC, or even a mix between ZZ-Top and Rush!

Q: On Youtube, one can find videos of you playing covers of Judas Priest, Kiss, Iron Maiden...

A: There you go. That was recorded a bit later, with Mike singing.

Q: How was life in Eureka at the time? When Dave asked him to record demos for the songs so he could learn them, Trey was right there, and he said playing these riffs 33 years later, "in the same goddamn town, in the same goddamn house" had an interesting effect on him!

A: (Laughs) I wouldn't say it's a goddamned town, but it's truly a special place, and it always was. Unfortunately, it's a very poor city, very labor-based, living out of forestry and fishing, two sectors that have seen better days. Now, there are many homeless people there, and intense meth dealing activity... Eureka laways had many strange characters because it's quite isolated, and it would welcome people running away from big cities or from their own past. But it's also great, the nature is wonderful, the landscapes, the forests. My mother still lives there, and as such I'm often going back there, and the same applies to Trey, which is why he was there recently, recording new demos to send out to Dave.

Q: Were there many bands at the time?

A: There was always a music scene, especially a punk scene, before we started out, and also a jazz scene, but these scenes were very small and comprised very few musicians. When we started out, there wasn't any metal or thrash band, that was a new genre for Eureka. The "metal scene" was solely made up of people we went to school with, perhaps one or two college students, but what I mean is that verybody knew each other.

Q: When did you meet Trey?

A: At high school, one or two years after I met Mike. I met Trey in my music theory class. We had many tastes in common, we were hungry for different musical genres and we wanted to study music. We then started rehearsing together with a drummer with whom Trey played.

Q: Mr. Bungle is a perfect name for the kind of music you started playing later on, but quite unusual for the thrash/thrashcore band you were at the start. [That name has] nothing to do with Corrosion of Conformity, Nuclear Assault, Anthrax or Slayer...

A: (Laughs) That's for sure... Once again, it was my idea... I was completely obsessed by Pee-Wee Herman and his show at HBO at the time, it was well before Pee-Wee's Playhouse, his show for children. I was mad about that show, I would record the audio of it and listen to it repeatedly. I'm sure that, if I watched it know, I would know the scripts by heart. During the show, he would play old educational shorts with Mr. Bungle teaching good manners and hygiene to children. To use the name Mr. Bungle while playing trhash was a way to show that we didn't belong to any scene, to any one genre. It was an absolutely non-metal name.

Q: The title of the demo also, as well as the song titles, displays a very "non-metal" humor.

A: There you go, precisely. At first, we wanted to call ourselves "Summer Breeze", like the Seals & Crofts song, which we ended up playing live. There was no way we would choose a "metal" name. Why should we? Music speaks for itself. I think more bands should think like that and do away with clichés.

Q: I guess you didn't play the songs in Raging Wrath (...) live very often back then?

A: No, for the first couple of years we didn't play many shows, we played a few on occasion. There weren't many places for us to play at, and they were very tiny. Nobody would book us, we had to organize our own concerts. But after we released our first two albums, when Mr. Bungle became a touring band, we played one or two of these songs. Nobody knew them, but we always thought they were good, so...

Q: What happened between your first demo and Bowel of Chiley (1987), the second one? Within a year, you evolved in such a way that it doesn't even seem like the same group...

A: Yes, we always evolved, even when the first demo was recorded, we were always trying to evolve. Mike Trey and I always listened to all kinds of music, classical, pop, jazz, and even in the first demo there are a couple of non-metal tracks. We always sought new ways to express ourselves. "Going forward and never repeating ourselves" was always our motto. Whenever we did something, we would move to the next right after. Therefore, ok, we recorded our 80s thrash album, there's no way we'll make another. If we ever release another album, I couldn't even tell you how it would sound like, I don't know. All I can say is that it would be different.

Q: In fact, the second part of "Hypocrites" and "Evil Satan", in spite of its extremely metal title, are not thrash, but rather ska in the case of the former and funk rock in the latter. You didn't re-record these tracks. They announced your more "fusionining" demos...

A: Yes, "Evil Satan" didn't fit with the rest. We had a couple of ideas on how to transform it, but in the end we didn't keep it. It's always like that with us: at each recording session for one of our albums, there are songs that seem to be a bit "out of character" with the rest and we do away with them. We either put them to the side to be used later on, or abandon them for good. Also, this song was always a bit of a joke. For us, it didn't fit the album.

Q: You guys have a stash of unreleased Mr. Bungle songs...

A: Yes. For instance, in our third demo released in 1989, OU818, you've got "Mr. Nice Guy", which was never properly released in an album. I think there's also two songs from the California sessions. They didn't survive past the mixing stage, we knew they wouldn't be part of the album and didn't want to waste the time or energy working on them anymore. It's possible that we may one day decide to finish them and release them... I don't know, we've never discussed this. But yes, there are a few unreleased Mr. Bungle songs.

Q: Talking about songs that were unreleased until now: when were "Eracist", "Glutton for Punishment" and "Methematics" made?

A: "Methematics" was written in the 80s, at the time we made the first demo, as well as "Glutton for Punishment". "Eracist", on the other hand, had never been finished, it was in the "pile of riffs" stage. The riffs are from that time, but the arrangements are recent. We never played those songs live at the time and they were only ever recorded in Cassette tapes. But we thought they matched the album perfectly, unlike "Evil Satan" or the second half of "Hypocrites", which we didn't re-record, since they were more like jokes or parodies.

Q: One of the riffs in "Methematics" was later used in "Love is a Fist", one of your classic songs present in OU818 and in the first album.

A: Yes, that's true! That's also typical of our way of working. If a riff in a song that was left off an album pleases us, we recycle it, that's what happened in this case. But I didn't even remember it anymore, it was when we decided to re-record this song that I realized, re-listening to it, "oh yeah, the fucking riff is from there!"... But we decided to leave it in, since the song was built around that riff. Furthermore, honestly, the two riffs aren't exactly the same, there's a different note!

Q: (Laughs)

A: We changed the ending of the riff in "Love is a Fist", I don't know why, but this time we have the original riff. Thus, it's not EXACTLY the same riff. (Laughs)

Q: I suppose that the song being titled "Methematics" refers to what you told me just now about the meth being sold in Eureka...

A: Yes. Originally, the song was entitled "Mathematics". I mean, that was just a working title, I never thought the final title would be that. I wrote this song, but I never had any idea for a vocal line and barely wrote any words for it. I asked Mike to do it. Mike, Trey and I then started to talk about what this song should be about. We then realized it would be a good idea to include some Eureka "folklore". In fact, the lyrics are full of references nobody could understand, mentioning people that attended high school with us, our teachers, things that happened to us at the time. For instance, there's this verse: "stab a dog, climb a tree, just to pass geometry". It's a reference to a guy that stabbed a dog and then hid it in a tree to escape the police -- and he was then arrested, of course. This is the type of news story that made an impact on us. There wasn't meth in Eureka when we were in high school, but it's sort of an acerbic homage. (Laughs). I did write the lyrics for "Glutton for Punishment" at the time, however.

Q: So the lyrics in "Methematics" are recent, but did you change the lyrics in the other songs, the ones originally present in the demo?

A: No, we left them as they were. Not entirely, in fact, because we couldn't remember some of the parts. Even when re-listening to the original demo, Mike couldn't understand what he was singing at certain points, so some words and sentences were changed.

Q: Along with the unreleased tracks, you recorded a few covers, notably "(Fuck the) USA", by The Exploited, which isn't in the album, but that was released on the Internet. Your version is entitled "USA" only, was that an attempt to avoid censorship in social media?

A: No, no, the official songtitle is "USA".

Q: In the Exploited albums where it's released, it's either titled "(Fuck the) USA", "Fuck the USA" or "USA".

A: Yes, and I think the original title is "USA". In any case, that's how we always called it. Also, it's certainly easier to have it circulate in social media with that title.

Q: Among all the covers you played in the concerts, how did you chose the ones you wanted to record?

A: We recorded absolutely all of the songs we played live, so we had around twenty minutes of covers. I still don't know what we will do with the other ones.

Q: Ah, OK. So, among them, how did you choose the ones that ended up in the final album? Namely, S.O.D.'s Speak English or Die and Corrosion of Conformity's Loss For Words.

A: I don't even know... surely we thought that those were the ones that would fit the best with the others. I think most albums right now are too long, and that's also the [incomplete]

Q: Also, why did you split up?

A: We never split up, we're about to release a new album!

Q: Yes, it's true, you never officially split up, but you didn't do anything together for twenty years...

A: We just took a break. A 20-year break! (Laughs). I challenge you to find a note in which we announced that we split up as a group...

Q: I spent an afternoon in Paris with Mike Patton last summer...

A: Oh, poor guy... (Laughs)

Q: (Laughs) You wouldn't believe it if I told you. We spoke to him in English, but he answered us in Spanish a few times... Also, when he showed up on a Youtube video playing a cover of "Speak English or Die" with the members of S.O.D., I wasn't surprised that he renamed it "Speak Spanish or Die". Your version is also entitled "Habla Español o Muere". Do you know why he's obsessed with Spanish these days?

A: Oh, I don't think he's obsessed with Spanish, but he is still in San Francisco, and many people speak Spanish in California...

Q: Yes, that's what he told us afterwards. Well, after a while, he posted videos on Youtube, which were shared by the Revolver magazine website, in which he pronounces Spanish words, dressed like a Mexican bandit or something...

A: (Laughs) What I know is that he spent a long time learning Italian, and both languages are a bit similar. I think, in any case, that more Americans, starting with myself, should follow his example and learn at least another language! (Says sentences in Spanish) That's all I can do...

Q: Did you retitle the song like that because S.O.D. and Billy Milano were considered racist at the time?

A: No, no, no, we don't care what people think! If you took those lyrics at face value, you would think the person writing them was racist, but it's clearly a joke. It's like when you write a poem or a movie script: you can write sentences for a character that is racist, but you want to express something else with it. It doesn't mean the person who wrote the text is racist, the character does not reflect who the writer is. I think people frequently forget that when they listen to music. When a singer takes the role of a narrator, it doesn't mean what is sung is their personal opinion. No, we renamed the song because we love hispanic culture, because many people speak Spanish in the United States, and because of the Trumpism that has grown over there, this "build a wall" attitude. But we could have recorded it with the original lyrics, we don't care.

Q: Yes, and also "La Cucaracha" establishes the link between "Hypocrites" and "Habla Español o Muere".

A: Yes, "La Cucaracha" is in the demo, I couldn't tell you why, but it's what gave us the idea of replacing the second part of "Hypocrites" with "Habla Español o Muere", the Spanish language is the link.

Q: When re-recording these songs, did the dive into that time make you want to re-listen to your thrash, thrashcore and hardcore albums you listened to when you were 16-17 years old?

A: Not really. Well, a bit of nostalgia is apparent in my choices when I look into my CD and vinyl collection. But I didn't feel the need to resort to these old records, I just had to re-study these old Mr. Bungle songs and to reconnect with this style of music, because it requires some practice. So we had to record new demos for the songs, so that Dave and Scott could learn them, since it was impossible with the original demo. Reecording these demos, to me, helped me remember the songs and work on them. It's crazy: when I play these riffs again, I can remember what I was thinking when I wrote them 35 years ago... At the time, I listened to all kinds of metal, thrash, punk metal, crossover, but I also listened to Jaco Pastorius, The Police, Charlie Parker, Stravinsky, a bunch of different things. So, when I was in high school, one had to choose where one stood, if you were a punk, if you were a skater who listened to J.F.A. (Jodie Foster Army) and Corrosion of Conformity or if you were a metalhead who listened to Metallica. Listening to these groups and subgenres at the same time was considered weird, it was frowned upon. Mike, Trey and I always thought that was ridiculous, we listened to anything.

Q: In the 90s, many bands like Anthrax or Corrosion of Conformity evolved to a heavier and more melodic type of music. Did you still listen to them during that time?

A: Not really. After Reign in Blood, which could be the pinnacle of this genre of music, I lost interest. I was in college, I got more into classical music and took a deeper dive into other genres. Thus, I didn't listen to a lot of metal in the 90s. I always listen to Reign in Blood or Animosity and they always sound good to me. But bands evolve, people's tastes evolve, and I didn't follow the careers of these bands that I enjoyed, also due to a certain lack of time.

Q: Do you listen to current bands that play this type of 80s thrash/thrashcore?

A: Pfff... no, I'm really out of the loop in regards to what's happening in the metal scene. I've heard a few grindcore groups, but mostly those that are more extreme, like Full of Hell, which we invited to open for us in New York. So I don't know a lot of what is done in metal nowadays, but I enjoy a few bands and have been attending their concerts when I can. But so many albums come out, it's crazy, it's impossible to follow... On the other hand, I haven't listened to young bands playing 80s thrash in a long time...

Q: Let's talk a bit about the shows that you played in February...

A: It was all really cool: playing these songs live, being face to face with an excited crowd, with all these cool bands opening for us (Full of Hell, Ho99o9, Melvins, Hirax, Victims Family, Spotlights, Possessed, Cattle Decapitation, Intestinal Digorge, Cunts, Cleric...).

----

Q: Were your fans surprised that you reunited with this lineup and these songs? Even recently, even though it had been a few months that the reunion was announced, some fans appeared to be blindsided when you released "Raping Your Mind".

A: Oh, yeah! Many people aren't happy, they think this isn't the "true Mr. Bungle". They complain that these songs have nothing new or experimental about them, that it wasn't what they were expecting of us etc. But hey, we always did what we wanted, none of our albums are similar and as long as Trey, Mike and I are in the group, it's Mr. Bungle, period! In any case, other fans are quite pleased!

Q: In New York, Harley Flanagan joined you on stage to play "Malfunction", originally by the Cro-Mags, with you. This seems to be Mike's idea...

A: Yes, Mike contacted him. We are big fans of the first Cro-Mags album. We had plans to play with other guests, especially Keith Morris from the Circle Jerks, who was going to go on stage with us in Los Angeles, but he couldn't because he got sick.

Q: Jed Watts, your first drummer, who played on the demo, also went on stage with you...

A: Yes, he came to play "Anarchy Up Your Anus" during one of our concerts in San Francisco. We were in contact with him and told him about our project to re-record these songs. He told us he was a bit jeaous, but he was also happy for us. That was a happy reunion.

Q: Does he still play music?

A: Yes, he didn't become a professional musician like us, but he still plays with a band in Eureka.

Q: Well, how does the future look like for Mr. Bungle right now?

A: Eugh... surviving until 2021. Not catching this virus. We wanted to play other concerts with this line-up before all this madness. And I think we will do it sometime. But for now, the future is really vague, not only concerning Mr. Bungle, since all of our activities are suspended.

Q: I suppose you were invited by European festivals?

A: We received a bunch of offers from festivals around the world, it's incredible! But I don't know what's going to happen, maybe there will be no concerts ever again... (Laughs)

Q: If I understand what you told me just now, you don't think about trying to write new music with this line-up.

A: No, we said all we wanted to say with this line-up, it's over. Barring the possibility of new concerts, because it would be cool to be able to play more shows. Also to release the other covers that we recorded. But I don't see any interest in recording another album in this genre. When we start a project, we go deep, we put all of our energy into making it perfect. Afterwards, we never recover that same energy to do the same thing over again. Some groups, perhaps most of them, do that: record an album, tour, record a similar album etc. I don't know why, but I think of Radiohead. I'm a big fan of OK Computer, I've listened to that album a million times. Their next albums are really good, the band evolved, for sure, but they developed a specific sound. I would like to evolve like that with Mr. Bungle, but I don't know if we're capable of that, I don't think so... In any case, concerning 80s thrash, we've said what we wanted to say. But we are children of 80s thrash, so this music always runs in our blood -- it'll come out whatever we do, whether in a riff, in an attitude, or in something else...

Q: Could you write and record a metal album, but not really 80s-based, something more modern?

A: Yes, we could record an album in the style of, uh... uh... fill in the blank! (Laughs)

Q: You could reunite with another Mr. Bungle line-up and do something else...

A: There are no plans for that.

Q: Are you still in touch with Danny Heifetz, Clinton McKinnon or Theo Lengyel?

A: Not with Theo, but with Danny and Clinton, yes. I talk to them from time to time, but both live in Australia. We of course updated them on what we were about to do, since we wanted to be really transparent with them. We presented the project to them: "There you go, we re-recorded the first demo with Dave and Scott, we're going to play concerts using the name Mr. Bungle, and if you don't like it... fuck you!" (Laughs) No, they totally got it. I would love to play with those guys again. We'll see...

Q: Out of the three Mr. Bungle albums, which one is your favorite? I feel people often choose the first one or California, Disco Volante less often, sadly, especially all the bad bands that copy you...

A: (Laughs) I'd say California, because in terms of studio work, it's truly our pinnacle. But honestly, I don't listen to them, they are too loaded with memories, I can't listen to my own albums, no matter what they are. I can't prevent myself from revisiting the situation, the studio sessions, our arguments about this or that song, and also i think about production choices that weren't kept, etc. It's too loaded with memories that infect my listening.

Q: Did you use your confinement to write and start new projects?

A: Yes, I wrote for my next Trio Convulsant album. I hope I have enough material for an album at the end of the year, and then record it as soon as possible.

Q: Is the new Tomahawk album finished?

A: Yes! Duane, John and I recorded our parts three years ago in Nashville. We then waited for Patton to finish his vocal parts, and I think he did so recently. I can't even remember what the album sounds like! (Laughs)

Q: You can't even tell me if it's different or not?

A: No, I don't remember at all... I'm exaggerating, I think it sounds like the one I played on before, Oddfellows. Tomahawk is Duane's baby, he writes it all, he even gives Mike ideas for lyrics. I'd say the album sounds a bit like the last one, but I didn't listen to it finished...

#mr bungle #trevor dunn #The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny #music

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daggerzine · 3 years

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Sunday Runners.....the Corvair interview.

The music of Corvair fell into my hands recently thanks to Heather Larimer, who makes up one half of the band. The Portland duo, comprised of Larimer and her husband Brian Naubert (and drummer Eric Eagle for the recordings) haven’t been around for too long but being together a lot the past year or so gave them plenty of time to work on songs. I was a big fan of Larimer’s previous band, Eux Autres, and wondered if they were still around (see the first question) so was anxious to hear Corvair. I really liked what I heard. A healthy dose of all things 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s and not quite new wave, note quite indie rock but 100% deluxe. The S/T record, which was released in February, was a co-release between their own label and WIAIWYA label in the UK. Read on and find out the history of the band, where they’ve been and where they’re headed. Oh and make sure you listen to their music.

Heather and Brian and Brian and Heather

Tell us about the end of Eux Autres. Why did that band end?

It actually has not officially ended. While Sun is Sunk was coming out, we left SF because it felt like that city as we knew it was dying—all the artists we knew were moving out, and I moved back to Portland and Nick to LA. Then I had a baby and then Nick had a baby and then soon we each had another baby. With 4 little kids among us, it became really hard to fly back and forth to work on new material. We tried it for a couple years and then one day we calculated that at our pace, the record we were making would take 5 years. So we just kind of gave each other permission to prioritize other projects. Nick is working on some songs I truly love right now. They’re a real gut punch.

…and about the beginning of Corvair. How/when did the band form?

We had known each other for many years and then we got married three-ish years ago and suddenly neither of us had other musical projects going on. So we kind of shrugged and said, what if we worked together? We would sing in the car or while cooking or whatever so we knew our voices sounded great together. Then it was just a matter of figuring out what sort of project it would be. We went into the studio with a session drummer (Eric Eagle) in late 2019 and then a few months later, the pandemic suddenly gave as a LOT of time to make progress on the tracks. So the creative center of the record was defined in a weird apocalyptic bubble. But it was helpful to have that break with reality as we knew it, because we’ve both made a lot of records, and I suppose that could have somehow blunted our ambition or our edges. But we just hit the “fuck it” button and gave ourselves over to it completely. We were very nervous to mix, because no one else in the world had heard it, and we thought it was great, but we also could have been in a shared hallucination. Really, we’d be the last to know.

The debut....

Who came up with the name? I have always loved those cars.

Brian’s mom drove a Corvair with a hole in the floor. They would drive it on the special outings to the beach, the weekend adventures. So it was a very romantic car, and the name is just very nice to say. It makes you feel good. Both of us had been in bands with names that were a nightmare to tell someone in a crowded club, or really anywhere (Eux Autres and Ruston Mire). You’d have to repeat it 3 times, then explain it, and then they just kind of shrug with pity. We vowed to have a band name anyone could understand the first time.

Did the WIAIWYA label approach you about releasing the record (or co-releasing it)?

John had approached Eux Autres right after our second record and so we did an EP (Strangled Days) with him and then we were on his label ever since. Late last summer, I posted a picture of Brian and I holding the CD Master on my Instagram and John said, what the hell is this? And then I emailed him the record and he wrote right back: “It’s RAD Heather!” I’m not sure if he was making fun of me by saying “rad”--probably, actually. I think I used to say it a lot. But he immediately wanted to put out the record. Nick and I had some really great times in the UK and Europe thanks to John and he has a very devoted audience, so Corvair felt it was a great fit for us.

Is the Pink Room your own studio?

Yes, it is literally a room in our house that is pink. Brian has been making records at home for most of his life, since he was about 14. And despite having done fancier stuff like making studio demos for Columbia several times and recording with Peter Buck in a nice place, he really prefers to work at home because he likes to spend a ton of time on overdubs—they’re not even really “overdubs,” more like a second wave of writing for him. And I had found being in the studio very stressful in the past because I’m not a technically proficient musician and that makes me self-conscious. So I was grateful to be in the privacy of my own home, in my soft pants.

Single from last year

Did the songs on the album come fairly easily or did you feel like you labored over them?

The initial writing of them came very easily and fast. Brian did a couple of 30 day writing challenges where he wrote several songs a day. But then once we laid down the basic tracks, we spent a ton of time building them and experimenting with them. We actually recorded probably twice as many parts as we ended up using. And half of what we did in the mix was kill things. In fact, we cut five totally finished songs from the record.

Tell us about making those videos? Were you freezing?

Consistently very very cold, yes. Ironically, the one in the snow (Green Mean Time) was the warmest because we were properly dressed. But the ocean ones were just brutal. Especially Sunday Runner. The video was Brian’s idea, he had a very specific vision and made it sound all easy: OK, just go down to the beach and dance for 90 seconds. And I was like, huh?!? And then I kept falling down and got absolutely soaked to the bone. When we finished shooting, I couldn’t feel my hands or feet and he was steering me down the beach with his coat wrapped around me and these little kids were staring horrified, like, Mom what’s wrong with that lady?

Prior to the pandemic had you played out live much? Done any tours?

We have never ever played live as Corvair. Which is just wild. We will likely be recording this next album before we even have a line-up for performing. But we are very excited to play together. Likely this fall. Hopefully John will bring us to England soon so we will have a great excuse to get it together.

What are your top 10 desert island discs?

Brian:

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

David Bowie - Low

Nada Surf - Let Go

Brian Eno - Another Green World

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon (yeah I know, but I don’t care)

Heather:

GBV - Alien Lanes

Kinks - Village Green

Elliott Smith - Either/Or

Radiohead - Kid A

Ruston Mire - Steady Jobs and Flying Cars

Who are some of your favorite current bands, local otherwise?

HL: I’m interested in the Dry Cleaning juggernaut. And I really dig Deep Sea Diver, Cloud Nothings, Courtney Barnett, Big Thief/Lenker. And then, I’m also very ready to embrace a new angry band whose music makes you think your stereo is broken when you play it--I’m taking suggestions.

BN: Alt J, Elbow, Doves, Metric, Foals, Snail Mail

What’s next for the band?

HL: We are recording this summer and trying to put some sort of live outfit together ASAP. Trying to stay out of the ocean for a while.

Closing comments? Words of wisdom? Final thoughts?

Thank you so much for having us!

www.corvair.bandcamp.com

youtube

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bccity · 4 years

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AUGUST 2020 BC ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of September 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly limit).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on the monthly schedule.

Threads and solos do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: July schedule posts are due by the end of August 7 KST. Please do not post schedule posts in the fmdschedule tag.

OVERALL COMPANY

Last month’s photo sessions for the base Culture Complex were a success and it seems like the project is off to a solid start, although some idols may be called back in for reshoots, especially for the 3D imaging, as necessary this month. All of the idols under BC, Dimensions, and Gold Star have been tasked with a new duty for the building this month: filming videos that will accompany some of the museum exhibits. The videos will be once again filmed in a studio, this time in front of a green screen, and the idols will be asked to talk about their feelings about important career events like their trainee days, debut, song releases, and major achievements. They will be given all of the subjects they are expected to talk about beforehand to rehearse their answers, and the director may request different wording or delivery of their answers as seen fit. (admin note: Muns have freedom about the specific topics muses are asked to talk about here within the guidelines given above, but any talk about scandalous or negative occurrences will be avoided.)

Important dates:

August 1-August 31: base Culture Complex museum intro videos filming (admin note: muses may encounter idols from other companies while there).

BC SOLOIST 1

“Love U” promotions continue with fan signs, music show promotions, and an appearance on Weekly Idol to film. After her promotions end, she has two festivals squeezed into the very end of the month: one in Incheon and one in Los Angeles (KCON). She will fly straight out from Incheon following the conclusion of her performance at that festival in order to arrive in Los Angeles in time to check into her hotel and get in rehearsal before her performance at KCON on the thirtieth. At KCON, she’ll perform a special dance cover of Ariana Grande’s ‘God Is A Woman” that’s she prepared throughout the month and the dance practice, filmed before KCON, will be released the following day for fans.

Important dates:

August 2: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.

August 5: Filming of Weekly Idol appearance (to be aired: August 12).

August 16: Fan sign in Mapo, Seoul.

August 29: End of music show promotions.

August 29: Performance at Incheon Airport Sky Festival (also performing: Fuse).

August 30: Performance [2] at KCON LA (also performing: Knight, Alien, Lucid, and Gold Star Soloist 3)

August 31: Release of “God Is A Woman Cover” dance practice.

DECIPHER

Music show promotions end on the thirteenth, but there’s a quick turn around on their comeback and the members are told before promotions even end that they’ve already been confirmed to make another comeback in November. They’ll hear the demos of the confirmed tracks shortly before “Love Paint” promotions end and then almost immediately after they do, they’ll be expected in the studio to record for their next mini-album. The album only contains two full-group songs, and the other four are solos for four of the group’s members as follows:

Maknae/main dancer/lead vocal: “Paradise”

Lead rapper/lead dancer/vocal: “Good Love”

Main rapper/vocal: “With”

Main vocal: “Happy Until Now”

Important dates:

August 13: End of music show promotions.

August 25: Performance at Korea Times Music Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, USA (also performing: Gal.actic, Unity, and Fuse).

↳ Decipher R & V

No schedules for the month.

Important dates:

N/A.

↳ CHAMPION

As Decipher finishes promoting their comeback and Unity makes their own comeback, a hold is put on touring, but BC and Dimensions have managed to land the members of the sub-unit a deal with Korean Air and they’ll be recording a special CF song for a music and safety video collaboration to bring more international attention to Korean Air following CHAMPION”s success overseas and to bring more domestic attention to CHAMPION, who are still not wholly accepted as a unit by fans of their main groups.

Important dates:

August 27: Korean Air x CHAMPION “Let’s Go Everywhere” MV and Safety Video filming.

BEE

In the final two days before their comeback, BEE is in Hong Kong for the last of their Live Concert: B concerts. They return to Seoul on the tenth and go to their press showcase venue immediately from the airport. It doesn’t come as a surprise to most anymore that “Darling” does well on the charts and wins over the hearts of the public and neither fans nor the public seem all that opposed to the brighter sound in comparison to BEE’s most recent releases either. Fan signs and music show promotions continue for the members through the end of the month.

Important dates:

August 8: Live Concert: B concert at Star Hall in Hong Kong.

August 9: Live Concert: B concert at Star Hall in Hong Kong.

August 10: Release of “Darling” & Everyday 4 mini-album, music show promotions continue through September 10.

August 16: Fan sign in Songpa, Seoul.

August 23: Fan sign in Mapo, Seoul.

August 30: Fan sign in Yeouido, Seoul.

↳ 2BEE

No schedules for the month.

Important dates:

N/A

KNIGHT

Their new sub-unit makes their debut this month, but work on their comeback doesn’t cease since the members of CHAMPION are in Seoul this whole month. With the album recorded, August is designated as the month to learn and practice the choreography of the title track and b-side “Jekyll” until the group has them down by memory. From August 28 to August 31, all of the members will be in Los Angeles for their performance at this year’s KCON LA.

Important dates:

August 30: Performance at KCON LA (also performing: BC Soloist 1, Alien, Lucid, and Gold Star Soloist 3)

↳ White Knight

No schedules for the month.

Important dates:

N/A

↳ CHAMPION

Important dates:

August 27: Korean Air x CHAMPION “Let’s Go Everywhere” MV and Safety Video filming.

↳ Knight Light

Knight Light makes their debut this month and while they may not have the digital appeal of the main group or White Knight, their album sales are the top of the top for a sub-unit, which had been more BC’s aim with the unit anyway. Three title tracks is a lot to promote nearly every day on music shows and since public appeal isn’t BC’s priority with this unit anyway, their debut promotions are limited to music shows and fan signs.

Important dates:

August 3: Release of “What A Life”, “Closer To You”, and “Just Us 2″ & What A Life mini-album, music show promotions continue through September 3.

August 4: Fan sign in Jongno, Seoul.

August 9: Fan sign in Mapo, Seoul.

August 16: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.

August 23: Fan sign in Seocho, Seoul.

August 27: Fan sign in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul.

LIPSTICK

Queendom takes full priority for Lipstick’s schedules in August. The show hasn’t begun airing yet, so it’s hard to tell how it will due in ratings beyond the buzz it’s steadily creating in online communities, but BC hopes the show can bring a new surge of life into Lipstick’s fanbase before they make their next comeback. This month, the task is cover songs, and Lipstick will be covering the famous “Coming of Age Ceremony”, a song they’ve actually covered before, which could be a risk if their fans are bored of it, but has also been a crowd-pleaser when they performed it before. Full details of Queendom filming for this month can be found here.

Important dates:

August 24: Queendom episode three & four filming (cover song stage).

August 27: Episode one of Queendom airs.

↳ Lip Gloss

No schedules this month.

Important dates:

N/A

CHARM

CHARM continues to tour in the middle of the month, this time in Europe. The concert has been a success so far and this only seems to be continuing as the group wraps up their tour. The Berlin date marks the final one of the tour and BC doesn’t have plans for them to tour again until next spring, at which point they’ll embark on their first dome tour in Japan, at this point. Staff encourages CHARM to give their all for their final tour dates instead of letting the repetition get the best of them.

Important dates:

August 18: Ode To You tour concert at WiZink Center in Madrid, Spain.

August 20: Ode To You tour concert at La Seine Musicale in Paris, France.

August 23: Ode To You tour concert at The SSE Arena in London, England.

August 25: Ode To You tour concert at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany.

↳ CHARM U

No schedules for the month.

Important dates:

N/A

WISH

WISH’s tour continues with two more dates in Japan in August. Though they don’t have any more comebacks planned for this year, BC has decided to have them release a special single for their fifth anniversary that they won’t be promoting: “Downpour”, to accompany a special concert only open to official fanclub members they’ll also be holding around their anniversary. This month, they’ll record the song in the studio.

Important dates:

August 25: WISHlights Tour concert at Marine Messe Fukuoka in Fukuoka, Japan.

August 26: WISHlights Tour concert at Marine Messe Fukuoka in Fukuoka, Japan.

#fmdschedule #queued post

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blankasolun · 4 years

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source: Classic Rock November 15, 2006

The Story Behind The Song: Rooster by Alice In Chains

By Henry Yates (Classic Rock) November 15, 2006

Rooster by Alice In Chains was Jerry Cantrell’s tribute to his Vietnam veteran dad, and it showed a different kind of dark side to the band

Rooster by Alice In Chains may have become one of the band’s defining tracks, but it came from humble beginnings. When guitarist Jerry Cantrell found himself temporarily homeless at the start of 1991, he turned to a fellow grunge legend for help. “I was between places to live at that time,” Cantrell recalls, “so I moved in with [Soundgarden singer] Chris Cornell and his wife Susan Silver at their house in Seattle. Susan was managing Alice In Chains at the time. I stayed for a few weeks, up in this little room.”

Alone, late at night, Cantrell’s thoughts kept turning to his estranged father, whose psychological scars from his service in the Vietnam War had contributed to the breakdown of the family some years earlier. “That experience in Vietnam changed him forever,” explains Cantrell, “and it certainly had an effect on our family, so I guess it was a defining moment in my life, too.

“He didn’t walk out on us. We left him. It was an environment that wasn’t good for anyone, so we took off to live with my grandmother in Washington, and that’s where I went to school. I didn’t have a lot of my father around, but I started thinking about him a lot during that period.”

Sitting in front of a four-track recorder, the song that poured out of Cantrell might have been laced with bitterness. Instead, its harrowing lyrics were written from the standpoint of his father; describing the ‘stinging sweat’ and ‘mosquito death’ of a trek through the jungle, and an imagined skirmish with the Vietcong.

The title was the nickname given to Cantrell Snr. by his great-grandfather: “Apparently he was a cocky little kid, and his hair used to stick up on top of his head like a rooster’s comb.”

“I certainly had resentments,” Cantrell notes, “as any young person does in a situation where a parent isn’t around or a family is split. But on Rooster, I was trying to think about his side of it – what he might have gone through. To be honest, I didn’t really sit down intending to do any of that; it just kinda came out.

But that’s the great thing about music – sometimes it can reach deeper than you ever would in a conversation with anybody. It’s more of a forum to dig deeper.” Alice In Chains had enjoyed some success with their 1990 debut album Facelift and its single Man In The Box, but Rooster was arguably the first song to announce the depth of the band’s talent.

Cantrell recalls that “it felt like a major achievement for me as a young writer,” and this sentiment was echoed when he played the demo to vocalist Layne Staley, bassist Mike Starr and drummer Sean Kinney.

When it came to recording Rooster, the band turned a prior engagement to their advantage. “Cameron Crowe had already come to us to ask for a song for his movie Singles,” recalls Cantrell. “So in the session that was meant for recording that one song [Would?], we ended up demoing about 10 songs, which included all the stuff that ended up on the [1992] Sap EP, Rooster and a couple of others from Dirt.”

Rooster by Alice In Chains: the video

Rooster was taped at Eldorado Studios on LA’s Sunset Boulevard, which the band co- produced with Dave Jerden. “It turned out to be really powerful,” notes Cantrell, “and the way Layne sang on it is amazing.”

Similarly powerful was the video, in which director Mark Pellington [fresh from Pearl Jam’s Jeremy] interspersed scenes of Apocalypse Now-style brutality with an interview with Cantrell’s father.

“My father had never talked about that time in his life, and was reluctant to do so if anyone ever asked,” recalls the guitarist. “So I was amazed that he agreed to do Mark’s request, for about an hour, on film.

“He was totally cool, totally calm, accepted it all and had a good time doing it,” Cantrell added in the notes for 1999’s Music Bank box set. “It even brought him to the point of tears. He said it was a weird experience, a sad experience and he hoped that nobody else had to go through it.”

youtube

Released as a single in 1993. Rooster drew immediate praise, both among followers of grunge and further afield.

“I’ve been all around the world,” explains Cantrell, “and I’ve talked to combat vets from Desert Storm and the recent war in Iraq – and they have a deep affinity with that song. I just recently got a letter from a guy in Iraq who told me his unit had changed their call sign to Rooster. Obviously it’s unfortunate that guys still have to fight for political ends. But it’s cool that people connect with that song; for it to be part of them getting through.”

And yet Rooster’s greatest triumph was ultimately a personal one. Against all the odds, the song repaired the fractured relationship between father and son.

“When I first played it to my father,” recalls Cantrell, “I asked him if I’d got close to where he might have been emotionally or mentally in that situation. And he told me: ‘You got too close – you hit it on the head’. It meant a lot to him that I wrote it. It brought us closer. It was good for me in the long-run and it was good for him, too.”

The Story Behind The Song: Rooster by Alice In Chains source: Classic Rock November 15, 2006 The Story Behind The Song: Rooster by Alice In Chains…

#alice in chains #chris cornell #dave jerden #dirt #eldorado studios #facelift #jerry cantrell #layne staley #man in the box #mark pellington #mike starr #post-traumatic stress disorder #rooster #sap #sean kinney #susan silver #vietnam war #war veteran #would?

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rivetgoth · 5 years

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Lol yes specific recs are good idk where to start

You either came to the wrong or right person. This is a lot. HONESTLY, one of the cool things about Skinny Puppy is literally all of their albums are very very different and they have a huge range of styles and a million ways you can get into them from all sorts of directions. They have a very long history and extensive discography and endless connections and collaborations and associations so you can come at them from a million angles.

Here’s a list of the main albums chronologically. The band’s lineup has changed a little due to band members leaving or dying but Ogre and cEvin have always been members. For more specific recommendations I’m also including their arguably most popular song from each album (veteran fans might wanna dispute me on some of ‘em cuz I think there are a few toss ups but I tried my best to pick the most iconic) if you just want that basic of an overview, although I definitely recommend delving deeper.

Remission (1984) - Their very first album on a label. Sounds like synthpop with baby Ogre vocals (Ogre doesn’t learn to sing until the 90s and just sings in a way where he screams and tears his vocal chords up). Kind of simpler music, sounds a lot like Cabaret Voltaire. Not as uniquely experimental yet maybe. Really dancey and fun a lot of the time. Ogre, cEvin, and Bill Leeb as musicians. Song suggestion: Smothered Hope

Bites (1985) - Their first full length album. Kinda an evolved version of Remission’s goth synth electronic stuff but still definitely experimental and cool new sounds being thrown around. Ogre, cEvin, and Bill Leeb as musicians again. Tom Ellard from Severed Heads and Edward Ka-Spel from Legendary Pink Dots (who forms The Tear Garden with cEvin) contribute. Song suggestion: Assimilate

Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse (1986) - Their first full length album after the lineup changes and Dwayne Goettel replaces Bill Leeb, who goes off to form Front Line Assembly. Dwayne adds another layer of complex experimental sound and noise to the band. More experimental and abrasive in sound. A little less dancey maybe. Song suggestion: Dig It

Cleanse Fold and Manipulate (1987) - Their second album with the Ogre/cEvin/Duck lineup. Evolution of the M:TPI sound. I definitely group these two together in my mind, they overlap a lot with the directions of the experimental electronic noises they’re going in. Song suggestion: Deep Down Trauma Hounds

VIVIsectVI (1988) - Slight change in direction, this album sounds much more chaotic, abrasive, and experimental imo. Darker album for sure with more ambient tracks and harsher sounds. Same lineup as before. Heavy focus on any vivisection, war, and other social inequality. Song suggestion: Testure

Rabies (1989) - Industrial metal. Al Jourgensen from Ministry joined the lineup because Ogre wanted to male bond with him. It has a ton of electric guitar and screaming. Way angrier and more aggressive music. Song suggestion: Warlock

Too Dark Park (1990) - Really intense, noise-heavy, complex experimental stuff. Al Jourgensen is gone and we revert back to something along the VIVIsectVI trajectory but way more intense with a ton of layers to the sound. Lots of themes of environmental degradation. Ogre/cEv/Dwayne lineup. Song suggestion: Spasmolytic

Last Rights (1992) - Too Dark Park x2. Even more experimental and abrasive and harsh; really dark content, really sad, lots of personal themes surrounding Ogre’s battle with drug addiction. Song suggestion: Killing Game

The Process (1996) - 90s industrial rock-y. Simpler in sound than the complex noise layers in TDP/LR era, with less chaotic experimental sound and more rock noise like guitars. Ogre is doing some early singing and more untreated vocals. This is the last album with Ogre/cEv/Dwayne as the lineup, and Dwayne passes before the album is even released. Song suggestion: Death

Greater Wrong of the Right (2004) - First album with the new (current) lineup where Dwayne Goettel is replaced by Mark Walk. Ogre has learned to sing in a way that doesn’t damage his voice; the music is more electronic and dancey than before, has obvious overlap in sound from the band ohGr that formed between The Process and GWOTR, less heavy noise and more focus on slightly cleaner electronic sound. Song suggestion: Pro-Test

Mythmaker (2007) - Same lineup as before; very fast paced album, with a lot of vocal distortion and treatment to Ogre’s new singing vocals. Very electronic, very dancey. Song suggestion: politikiL

HanDover (2011) - A little more noise based, with interesting recurring sounds and some more experimental noises. Very melodic electronic music. This album always feels very dreamlike to me. Song suggestion: Cullorblind

Weapon (2013) - Some people consider this sort of a throwback album, the music is a little more abrasive and “messy” than the last few albums while still retaining a lot of the more recent cleaner electronic sounds and staples from the previous few albums. They actually cover a song off of Bites and give it a new revamped version. Song suggestion: illisiT

I don’t think I could ever order these from most to least favorite or anything, but I will say that Greater Wrong of the Right tends to stand out as my top favorite... I really truly absolutely love it all though.

Aside from these albums, there’s three live albums (Ain’t It Dead Yet? in ‘87, Doomsday in 2000, andBootlegged, Broke, and In Solvent Seas from 2010), there’s Back & Forth which was their original debut demo EP from 1984, and there’s the subsequent Back & Forth series which includes lots of demos and outtakes and stuff. There’s also Puppy Gristle, which was a collaboration Skinny Puppy did with Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle, and it’s just a really long experimental jam session. There’s also Remix Dystemper which is a remix album from 1998. These are all also really good, but I would probably recommend their main albums first :]

As you can see, the industrial community is super close knit and every band has a ton of overlap and if you just start with one band it’s really easy to get swept up in all the others!!

Cabaret Voltaire is a great band to check out if you wanna hear one of Skinny Puppy’s big inspirations.

Throbbing Gristle is an inevitable inspiration since they straight up invented industrial music and they ended up collaborating like I just mentioned too

Severed Heads is also great to hear their inspiration and the music from one of their collaborators

Legendary Pink Dots as well, and you can listen to Tear Garden to hear Ka-Spel’s collaborations with cEvin Key.

cEvin also has solo music, as well as music with Hilt, PlatEAU, and Download. Phil Western collaborated with him in these a lot, and Dwayne Geottel, before both of their deaths.

Dwayne also has a few solo songs released as aDuck.

Ogre is the frontman of ohGr alongside Mark Walk, which has five albums out since 2001 and is fucking fantastic. They just released a new album last year in June and it’s so good.

He also collaborated with Al Jourgensen from Ministry and helped write some of their music for the album Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste, and he does the vocals on “Get Down” from the Revolting Cocks and “Show Me Your Spine” for PTP (two of Al’s other projects).

AND he collaborated with Martin Atkins and does a few songs for the band Pigface and together they released the album Bedside Toxicology as RX.

Ogre and Bill Leeb were in a short-lived project together called Muteual Mortuary. Also, Bill Leeb’s band Front Line Assembly is really good.

Ogre has done a lot of one-off collaborations and projects, like writing “Ode to Groovie” for the In Defense of Animals compilation album, a Madonna cover for a Madonna compilation album, working with KMFDM on their albums Symbols and Adios, Paul Barker on his Fix This!!! album, and with Bill Rieflin as The Petty Tyrants.

He’s also done music for the Descent II OST, remixes for John Carpenter, and since he’s been in some musicals he’s also featured on the Repo! the Genetic Opera, Devil’s Carnival, and Alleluia: The Devil’s Carnival soundtracks.

Dave Rave Ogilvie (their sound engineer/producer until 2004) mixed Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.”

Yeah :) Good luck :)

#ythaenagor

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flwrcrwnbncr · 5 years

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Best Non-Studio Hanson Tracks

(In no particular order)

Troublemaker - Billboard’s Mashup Mondays Sessions // This is definitely a favorite. It sounds nothing like the original and I think that’s a good thing? I like the original, don’t get me wrong, but this is like a whole different song and I love that fact so much. Go in with an open mind, there are some... interesting, I think is a good word. Interesting lyric changes, but it’s not enough to ruin the song.

Kiss Me When You Come Home - Tay’s Music Exchange // This song was one of my favorites already, but this version is so much closer to the way I remember hearing the song at the Stand Up, Stand Up EP recording. It’s a little bit more calming than the studio version, but doesn’t sacrifice the wonderful piano solo in the process of stripping it down.

Hey - Underneath Acoustic // Why is this not on YouTube????? This is far superior to the album version, even if you only base it off that bit with the jump to a higher note near the end that ISN’T INCLUDED IN THE STUDIO VERSION, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING HANSON?????

Strong Enough To Break - Strong Enough To Break // This one took some thought, I almost equally love the Underneath Acoustic version. The deciding factor was that this version showcases their voices just that much more. There’s something about the more stripped down sound it has, as well as the abrupt ending, that resonates with me in a way other versions of this song don’t.

Runaway Run - Chicago, IL 10-13-2013 // I’m so bummed that I didn’t have the chance to experience this one in person, but thanks to some amazing fans, it’s available to listen to on YouTube. This is the best version of this song, in my opinion. It’s got all the beauty of the Underneath Acoustic Live version, but somehow it’s better? I’m a sucker for songs that showcase Tay’s piano playing and this is an amazing example of why.

Gimme Some Lovin’/Shake A Tail Feather - Live From Albertane // Hanson are the kings of good opening songs, and this is a top tier example. The way they manage to amp up the crowd, the adlibs, and the way they manage to make the two songs work so well together, get me every time. Also, I challenge any fan to listen and not say the “It is great to be here in Seattle” bit along with Taylor.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Razorblade - The Best Of Hanson: Live & Electric // I’m still bummed this song never made it onto one of their main studio albums but this version makes up for a lot. The piano breakdown is something I didn’t know I needed until I heard it, and Taylor whining his way through the adlibs gives me a very specific brand of life.

Something Going Round - Anthem: Live In New York // Okay I love every single live version of this song I’ve ever heard but this is a standout. Not only are the boys completely on point (Zac’s drumming makes me so hyped up I want to take on world hunger by myself), the audience gives 110% when it’s their turn to sing. I blast this song in the car and hope people hear it and wonder “Who is this band that has such a cool fanbase?”

Thinking Of You - 5 Of 5 // This song has stood the test of time, and this version just shows how their voices dropping was the exact opposite of the problem critics were predicting way back when. This one shows that you don’t need to change a song to make it just as good 13 years after release.

Me Myself And I - String Theory // This song was amazing to begin with (if you don’t believe me, @changecanbebittersweet has talked about it already), but this version is even better. First of all, the fact that they re-recorded the vocals so it’s split between all three brothers, adds depth I wasn’t expecting. Additionally, the song’s pacing is better. While I loved it originally, having the same vocalist sing so many verses made it feel longer; this version just *feels* like a perfect length. Secondly, this song feels like it was written to have the orchestra and somehow it was released as a demo by mistake on Shout It Out. The strings are just so flawlessly integrated it makes you wonder why you didn’t realize it needed strings in the first place.

On The Rocks - The Walk Acoustic Live // I had a discussion once about this song, and without my prompting, the other person made the comment of this being the superior version. I had been nagging people about that opinion for a long time prior to that conversation and I’m still thrilled someone else gets the perfection of this track. There’s just something about how Zac sings “We’re gonna fight” that gives me chills every single time I hear it.

Use Me Up - Stand Up, Stand Up EP // I’ve had so many conversations about why I only listen to this version and they all boil down to two things: 1) the simplicity makes the song and 2) there’s one tiny little lyric change that ended up happening in the Shout It Out version that changed how the song hits and I refuse to give up this version.

Dirrty - Underneath Acoustic 2003 Tour // I don’t have anything to say about this except that it’s fucking hot and I would pay so much money to hear a full version of it.

Thinking ‘bout Somethin’ - ABC Greatest Hits // This one is perfect ‘cause Echosmith brought something to the table that I didn’t even realize was needed until I heard it. Also the video is adorable, Sydney of Echosmith just seems so happy to be playing with Hanson and I love it.

Hold On I’m Coming - National Post Music // While I’m sad that Zac wasn’t able to sing as much for this performance, the other boys doing his parts ended up sounding amazing. Also, I’m a sucker for the little interaction between Zac and Tay when Tay hits that high note.

Summertime Blues - Japan // This is amazing but I think I’d rather use this space to talk about how funny I find it that they sang this (very American, omg the lyrics are about the struggle of American teenagers) song for something recorded in Japan????? Why, Hanson?????

Lost Without You - Anthem: Live In New York // This song puts me in a very indescribable mindset, and I think part of what I love about this version is that the ending pulls me back to reality in the best way possible. The “I could be the one that you’re holding on to” outro just makes this version for me.

Where’s The Love - String Theory // Holy harmonies, Batman. As @tragic---love said, this song got the best glow up of all the songs from this album. I also think this falls into the same category as Thinking Of You for “songs that have stood the test of time”; this version takes a song that’s still amazing, and somehow makes it BETTER.

Waiting For This - Stand Up, Stand Up EP // I’m not sure why I prefer this version to the Shout It Out version, but I do. Maybe it’s the energy? I think this one feels more positive than the studio version? I’m not sure but I listen to this one almost exclusively. I also say the “You can’t deny it until you try it” bit every time I hear any version of it, you can pry those lyrics from my cold, dead hands.

Cecilia - Albany, NY 10-16-2009 // Even with almost the entire tour being sick with the flu, this performance was amazing. I had the good fortune of being at this show (the linked video is my footage), and I still listen to this one a lot. I’m realizing as I read this back to edit it, I’m Team Hanson Singing Older Folk Songs.

Teach Your Children - Underneath Acoustic Live // There’s something about the harmonies in the second verse that gives me chills every single time I hear this song. There’s also the added personal bit where this is the song that turned my mother into a fan.

Underneath - Underneath Acoustic // WHY DID THEY DITCH THE HARMONICA ON THE STUDIO VERSION?????????????? I literally can’t stand the studio version, but this version is one of my favorite Hanson songs of all time. I also need to draw attention to how amazing they sound when they sing “something missing”, it’s like I’m in the horrible relationship, they sing it with so much emotion.

Rip It Up - Underneath Acoustic Live // I need more Ike singing old school rock ‘n’ roll more often, this song is a blessing and I’m grateful for it on the daily.

Breaktown - Leaked Demo // I have talked about this before, but I’ll forever be bitter that this wasn’t released with Underneath, Taylor’s voice was absolutely perfect for it at that point and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to this one over the years.

Madeline - Middle Of Nowhere Acoustic // There’s a place in my heart reserved only for the ending “woah”s of this song, and getting to hear them in the stripped down, more mature, version made me so happy. This song was so well written to begin with, and they make it even better when they play it acoustically, and this performance is the best example of that fact.

Save Me - Anthem: Live In New York // I love the piano driven sound of this track, and this performance just emphasized that part of it. I also love the “yeah” that Tay adds after the second “yes I’m wrong” for some reason, catch me singing it passionately alone in my room at 3 am.

Crazy Beautiful - Underneath Acoustic Live // #BringBackThisVersionOfCrazyBeautifulNextTour

Good Lovin’ - Jack Frost Soundtrack // I have heard other bands cover this song and every time it pales in comparison to this performance. It’s short but it never feels short? And I end up in such a good mood after listening to it.

Magic Carpet Ride - At The Fillmore // I remember coming across more recent performances of them doing this song and I’m forever disappointed ‘cause this recording just had something about it that they haven’t recaptured on recent tours. If you watch the video, there’s a girl in a white tank top, going balls-to-the-wall throughout the whole song, and I just relate so much.

With You In Your Dreams - 5 Of 5 // When Taylor talked about how they pictured this song with a choir, I was skeptical at first but holy crap the audience vocals just make it that much better. I also get chills when Zac yells “Like you mean it!” every damn time.

#hanson #isaac hanson #taylor hanson #zac hanson

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shemakesmusic-uk · 4 years

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INTERVIEW: Ohmme.

Ohmme - the Chicago-based duo of Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart - will release their new album, Fantasize Your Ghost, digitally this Friday, June 5 on Joyful Noise Recordings, with the physical retail release date pushed to July 31.

Last week they presentedd a new single/video, ‘The Limit,’ which follows previously released singles ‘Selling Candy,’ ‘Ghost,’ and ‘3 2 4 3.’ ‘The Limit’ is a dystopian dance rocker. With angular, winding guitar and Ohmme’s distinctive intertwining vocals, the track further stretches their already dynamic palette. Its eccentric video was directed by Hannah Welever, edited/VFX by Priscilla Perez and animated by Connor Reed (Jazz Records Animations). It features Ohmme green screened over trippy clips and stock footage. Fantasize Your Ghost is the direct result of the band spending more time on the road than in Chicago. It’s deeply concerned with questions of the self, the future, and what home means when you're travelling all the time. Early sketches of Fantasize Your Ghost's tracklist were demoed at Sam Evian's Flying Cloud Studios in upstate New York through intensely collaborative and open sessions. The album was recorded over a six day session in August 2019 at the Post Farm in southern Wisconsin with journeyman producer Chris Cohen.

Though 2018’s Parts showcased their wildly burgeoning influences and talents, Fantasize Your Ghost captures the astounding magnetism and ferocity of their live show. It encapsulates the thrilling and sometimes terrifying joy of moving forward even if you don't know where you're going. It's an album that asks necessary questions: When life demands a crossroads, what version of yourself are you going to pursue? What part of yourself will you feed and let flourish and what do you have to let go of? This is a record of strength, of best friends believing in each other. Unapologetic and brave, Ohmme are ready to figure it all out together.

We had a chat with Macie all about Fantasize Your Ghost, quarantine life, the music industry and more. Read the interview below.

Hey! How are you? How have you been coping with life in quarantine?

“I'm doing well! Feeling more and more like myself lately. It's been a lot of ups and downs, but I feel really lucky to have my home situation, and am still able to communicate with friends and family. Been doing a lot of cooking and a lot of reading which is ultimately what I enjoy doing when I get some alone time. Really missing community right now, but I know there is another side at the end of this!”

You are gearing up to release your new album Fantasize Your Ghost. What can you tell us about the record?

“This record was born in a time of a lot flux for the both of us. We had been contemplating the idea of home and what that meant to us when the things around us were changing so rapidly. It's a record about change, whether for better or for worse, and diving deep into how you confront that. There are a lot of parts of yourself you identify with over your lifetime, but sometimes those don't always stay the same. There's a lot of freedom in knowing you can move in many directions, but with that comes the realization that you need to grab your own steering wheel in order to lead yourself in a positive way.”

What were your musical influences for the LP? Who were you listening to around the time of writing it?

“We were both really into Kate Bush. We still are - and I think that's a very apparent influence on the record. We love her arrangements and writing style and were listening to a lot of her discography while driving on tour. A lot of Brian Eno, Cate Le Bon, Feist, Le Fille De Illeghadad, Bulgarian State Television Choir... We listened to a lot of things while we were on tour and I think they all made themselves known on this record in one way or another.”

Were there any other songs written during this period that didn’t make it onto the album, and if so, will you revisit them again in the future?

“Definitely! We have a few that didn't make it on that we are looking to release later in the year. There are a handful of demos that were made that didn't quite get to the official album recording process. We're planning on expanding those whenever we're able to get back together as a full band. That's the exciting part about having two songwriters, there is a wealth of material to work with and it's always exciting to hear what the other person is working on.”

What was your favourite part recording Fantasize Your Ghost? Did you learn anything new during the creative process this time around?

“I loved recording ‘Sturgeon Moon’. It is the improvised track on the record, and we recorded it late at night under a full moon (The Sturgeon Moon). We went up to a family friend's farm to record, so it was really great to hear all the ambient noise of the animals/bugs/birds that were swirling around us. The majority of the basic tracking was recorded in 5 days up there, so we were feeling a little stressed and pressed for time. Recording this track was a really special moment where we were all zoned in to each other and completely in the moment. It felt good to feel so present.”

What do you hope fans will take away from the new record?

“I hope everyone is able to find a little piece of themselves in the record. Sometimes there are points in life that become overwhelming, even unexpectedly so. These things can range from normal every day struggles, to loss of relationships or loved ones, uncertainty of the future, or even confusion in your own identity. I think everyone needs a person they can relate to or direction to move towards when experiencing things like this. It's always helpful to know that you're not alone and that change can be both hard and positive at the same time.”

What struggles, if any, have you faced as artists in the music business and how have you overcome them?

“Overall, I've been incredibly lucky and fortunate to grow up how and where I did, and to have role models that were able to show me what being a professional musician could look like. Early on there were some struggles that came with being young women in the industry. There were times during and before this band where being hyper-sexualized, not taken seriously, and patronized were common occurrences. Currently the biggest struggle is figuring out how to achieve financial stability and how to find accessible healthcare. It's shameful that the most basic necessities such as healthcare should be so out of reach for a majority of people. There are some great resources in place- such as MusiCares, but ultimately that is not enough at the end of the day.”

With having a lot of time to reflect recently, if there was one thing you could change about the music world today, what would it be?

“I answered this partially in the last question, but, universal healthcare! It's a basic need and right that would make the lives of touring musicians and those who work in that field much more at ease. The bonus is that it's not just for the music world, it would benefit the US at large. Most affordable insurance doesn't cover out of state care, and many touring musicians are on the road at least 75% of the year. That's a MAJORITY of the year where you do not have affordable access to the medical care you might need. It needs to change.”

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

“Perhaps I would be cooking and studying mushrooms and psychology. Honestly I'm not sure- it's been part of my life for so long its' really hard to imagine what a life without making music would be. Right now I'm really fascinated by those things and I hope to be a lifelong learner, so this summer I'm going to try and take the time to explore those things, a lot more reading is in store.”

Finally, are you working on anything at the moment during lockdown? And what do you have planned when all of this blows over? I expect you’re keen to get out on the road to tour the album?

“Working on some things- but we also just finished a record! Sima is working on her solo project which is VERY. GOOD. by the way, and I am playing around with some ideas for an audio/visual project I've had floating around for a while. We're definitely going to get back to touring when we're able to move around safely, but I'm very curious to see what the landscape will look like in the future. I think the both of us have a really open mind as to what will happen, because things will definitely look different! We love performing, and we love working with friends and our community, so we're are both eager to continue in that work once it feels safe to do so.”

youtube

Fantasize Your Ghost is out June 5.

Photo credit: Ash Dye

#interview #ohmme #the limit #fantasize your ghost

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northcountryprimitive · 4 years

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“I Have at Least Five Albums Worth of Material Yet to Record!” An Interview with Mark Fosson

This interview with the late Mark Fosson originally appeared at North Country Primitive on 25th May 2015

We are very pleased to bring you an interview with the last guitarist John Fahey signed to Takoma records, Mark Fosson. After Takoma was sold, Mark’s recordings for the label remained in his garage unheard for almost 30 years, until they were finally released in 2006 by Drag City. A further archival release, Digging in the Dust, a collection of early home recordings, was released by Tompkins Square in 2012. Fast forward to 2015, and Mark has just brought out his first ever new collection of instrumentals, kY, a paean to his home state of Kentucky, and mighty fine it is too - in our view, his best album yet. Recorded at his home in Baltimore, the album has a timeless, folk-infused quality and features Mark on banjo and dulcimer as well as an enviable collection of guitars…

Can you start off by telling us about the new album, kY? You appear to be revisiting your roots on two accounts: firstly, it has the feel of the sort of pure American Primitivism that could have been put out by Takoma any time in the 70s; secondly, the strong traditional folk themes suggest that you are literally revisiting your roots as a native Kentuckian. I had been trying to record a whole other group of instrumentals that I had written and not getting anything I was really happy with. I was probably trying way too hard to come up with the perfect guitar album and being way too critical, which I’m prone to do. At a certain point I realized I wasn’t having any fun at all and decided to step away from it for a while. So next time I went down to my studio, I pulled out my banjo instead of a guitar and started noodling around and came up with Kingdom Come. I had just purchased a Tascam DR-05, so I made a quick recording of it and was totally pleased with the way it came out. I thought, why not do a whole new album that way? So I would sit and noodle every day till I came up with an idea I liked and record it immediately, while it was still fresh. Most of the songs are first takes, but I never did more than three takes and I think the tunes have a very spontaneous feel because of it. I used the Tascam on quite a few of the songs on the record… Kingdom Come, Kentucky, Cold Dark Holler, Come Back John. All the songs are inspired by my childhood memories of growing up in Kentucky. I recorded it at Pine Box Studios - a.k.a my basement. What have you been up to recently? It’s been eight years since Jesus on a Greyhound came out. I’m aware of the live sessions you’ve done for Folkadelphia and Irene Trudel, but I guess you’ve been keeping busy in other ways… I moved to Baltimore about six years ago and have been writing and playing every chance I get. Did a short tour with Daniel Bachman when our Tompkins Square records came out… Done quite a few gigs in Philly and New York, some with Don Bikoff, who has become a good friend. A lot of excellent young musicians out there I’ve had the chance to play with… Hope to do a lot more. Were you pleased with the response to Digging in the Dust? Were these recordings what brought you to the attention of John Fahey and Takoma in the 70s? Yes, I was very pleased with the response… it’s good to have it out there after all these years! These are the tapes I originally sent to Takoma. There were also five vocal tracks on that demo which John really liked. I’m not crazy about the way my voice sounded back then… like I was 12 years old! Luckily I’ve learned to sing a little better over the years. There was a song on the demo called Grandpa Was A Thinker, which John and his wife, Melody, liked a lot. I’m pretty sure it was that one and Gorilla Mountain that got me signed. How did you link up with John Fahey and Takoma Records? I had been listening a lot to releases on Takoma… I think I wore out a coupla copies of Kottke/Lang/Fahey. On a lark I sent the tape to them, never dreaming I’d get signed! I remember I had come home from work - I was working in a steel plant at the time - and had fallen asleep in my chair. My wife woke me up, saying, “There’s some guy named Charlie Mitchell from Takoma Records on the phone.“ Then when I got to California, John co-signed for a brand new Martin 12-string. I kick myself nearly every day for selling that guitar later on! As soon as I got to LA, I started opening shows for him… I think the first was McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, which was right next door to the Takoma office. His records sounded great, but hearing him live - and that close! - was an unbelievable experience. How did Drag City come to release The Lost Takoma Sessions 29 years after it was recorded? My cousin Tiffany Anders had started listening to Fahey and found out I had been on the label, so she asked for a copy of the recordings. They were gathering dust in the corner of the garage and I was reluctant to let her have them at first, because I figured the stuff was too old for anyone to care about. She proceeded to send it around and before long I had three or four offers from labels to put it out. I eventually decided on Drag City and I think they did an excellent job of getting it out there. What was the musical journey you took to playing solo acoustic guitar? Did you do the whole garage band thing first or were you always attracted to acoustic music? And what were your formative influences, musical or otherwise? Everyone in my family was a total music lover, so I was bombarded with good music of all styles from an early age. When I was in elementary school, Jean Ritchie would come and perform every year… that’s probably the first traditional folk music I was exposed to. I played a festival with her later on and at the after-show jam, I talked her into giving me a dulcimer lesson, which was totally cool of her. My Aunt Rachel sang and played guitar and I was always asking to play her guitar. I bugged her so much, in fact, that she gave me one of hers - a Beltone. What a beauty! That pretty much started me down the guitar road. Also my dad would buy 45s from the guy that stocked the jukeboxes in the beer joints he frequented and was always bringing home the cool, obscure music… lots of blues and extreme hillbilly stuff. Later on I became a Roger Miller fan and pretty much taught myself to play listening to his records. My grandmother was bedridden for a long time and I would go to her house and try the songs out on her. If I got her laughing I considered it a success.

Then at the age of 14, the Beatles broke and that’s when me and probably a billion other teenagers decided to become musicians. That turned into a succession of garage bands. Then in college I started getting more in to the folk music again. My buddy Dan Gore and I would spend hours at the school library listening to the old blues and Folkways records - The Harry Smith Anthology was a big favorite - and we began performing at the school’s coffeehouse every Friday night. It was run by my English teacher, Nancy McClellan, and she also organized some of the big folk festivals in the area. She may have encouraged me more than anyone to be a musician. Then when I was stationed in North Dakota in the Air Force, I began discovering the Takoma artists. I actually bought the Kottke/Lang/Fahey album because of the cool cover - I wasn’t that familiar with the artists at that point - and was blown away by it. I think the most influential album for me, though, is Peter Lang’s Thing At The Nursery Room Window. It’s still one of my top five favorite albums of all time. Which reminds me… I think Daniel Bachman forgot to give me back my Peter Lang CD!

What were you up to between the Takoma recordings and Jesus on a Greyhound? Did you keep making music during this period? Can you tell us how Jesus… came about? When the Takoma thing fell apart, I continued playing around Los Angeles, Sometimes solo, sometimes with a small group. I played with a bass and tabla player for a spell - that was a great sounding little combo. Then in the mid 80s, I started a country rock duo called Crazy Hearts with Karen Tobin. We had a song on the A Town South Of Bakersfield compilation, along with Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale and Dwight Yoakam, then went to Nashville to showcase, but Karen ended up getting a solo deal on Atlantic Records and that was pretty much the end of the duo. Then I started a group called The Bum Steers with my good friends Edward Tree on electric guitar, Taras Prodaniuk on bass and Billy Block on drums. We caused quite a ruckus in Nashville: Porter Wagoner personally invited us to play the Grand Ol’ Opry, but I think we may have been a little too left-of-centre for that town. Anyway, after these two full-blown groups, I decided to get back to basics and perform solo again. Jesus On A Greyhound came about because I wanted to write an album’s worth of songs that sounded good with just voice & guitar. And although I did add some extra musicians to the record, the music is still drastically stripped down compared to what I had been doing. And totally acoustic. At the moment there seems to be a veritable swarm of young players influenced by the American Primitive sound. Do you feel any particular affinity for them? Are there any favourite players who particularly stand out for you? When The Lost Takoma Sessions came out, were you aware of people like Jack Rose and Glenn Jones? I started to become a lot more aware of the newer guitarists when Lost Takoma came out. I did a short tour with Joanna Newsom and she turned me on to a lot of the younger players. Of course I was aware of Jack Rose and was already a Glenn Jones fan. Then, like I said earlier, I did a short tour with Daniel Bachman and was really impressed with his playing. He’s on fire… seems like he puts out a new record every two weeks. Met Nathan Bowles through Daniel and I really enjoy his banjo playing, both solo and with the Black Twig Pickers. I’ve become friends with quite a few of the new pickers: through Don Bikoff I met Matt Sowell, who introduced me to Kyle Fosburgh, who introduced me to Hayden Pedigo. I got to play a duet with Hayden on his new record Five Steps. There is certainly no shortage of excellent young musicians out there! Lots of great records being made…I’m always checking out the new stuff. You play banjo on a couple of tracks on the new album, which sounds fantastic. Are you a big fan of the instrument? Are we likely to hear more banjo excursions from you in the future? Thank you… I love playing banjo! Seems like I don’t do it as much as I would like to, but it’s getting a little more frequent all the time. I keep saying I’m going to get a really nice clawhammer and get serious with it… someday! I was at a songwriter retreat in Stanley, Idaho, a couple of weeks ago and one of the musicians had a killer clawhammer with nylon strings that sounded amazing. So what happens next? Any plans for gigs? Have you got more material up your sleeve? Well I have at least five albums worth of material yet to record, so I’ll just keep plugging along and making new records. Been getting a lot of pressure to put out a follow-up to Jesus On A Greyhound, so that’s probably the next project up. Unless things change…which they do! And of course I plan to keep gigging as long as I can.

Behind kY - Mark Fosson’s Track-by-Track Guide

We asked Mark about the guitars and other instruments he used on kY. He responded by sending us a track-by-track guide to the instruments played and the tunings, as well as a little background on each of the tunes. Jimmy Leg Mule high strung Tacoma Road King [C -G - C - G - C - E] You need to visualize riding this mule as you listen. Loose Change 1995 Martin 00016GT [Standard Tuning] The ‘loose change’ refers more to the chord progression than the amount of coins in my pocket. The way it sort of gets lost at the end and falls in a hole… I meant to do that! When We Were Young 1968 Gibson B-25 12 String [A# - F - A# - F - A# - D] I wrote this one for my grandparents, Harry & Grace Steed. Kingdom Come Deering "GoodTime” banjo [G - D - G - A# - D] Kingdom Come is a real town in Harlan County, Kentucky. Indian Summer Tacoma DM1812E3 12 String [C - F - C - F- F- C] Glenn Jones showed me this tuning and I proceeded to write about seven songs using it. Dogwood Dulcimer was made by Robbie Long, San Geronimo, CA 1976 [A - A - A - D] I often wonder if the fellow who built this dulcimer is still alive? Simpleton 1956 Gibson LG2 [C - G - C - G - C - E] There was a fellow named John in my hometown who would stand on the corner directing traffic & waving to everyone who passed. In the old days he would have been considered the ‘village idiot” but my folks used to refer to him as the ambassador of good will. Cold Dark Hollow 1956 Gibson LG2 [D - A - D - F - A - D] A cold dark hollow is an eerie place when the sun is about to go down… I tried to capture that feeling. Avondale Strut Tacoma DM1812E3 12 String [C - G - C- E - G - C] The part of town where the black folks lived… my romanticized idea of a regular Friday night there. A Drink w/Stephen F 1995 Martin 00016GT [Std tuning] Legend has it that Stephen Foster drank himself to death in the North American Hotel and left this world with 38 cents in his pocket. Which brings us back to the amount of coins in my pocket… let me check… hmmm …39 cents. Bad Part Of Town Deering “Good Time” banjo [G- D - G - B - D] There’s a ‘Bad Part’ in every town… And I’ve been to a LOT of towns Kentucky 1990 Gibson J100 [D - A - D - F - A - D] I’m not sure what this one is about. Come Back John 1968 Gibson B25 12 String [ A# - F - A# - F - A# - D] This is me trying my damndest to write a John Fahey tune… inspired by Sunflower River Blues, which John taught me how to play backstage at Bob Baxter’s Guitar Workshop, 1977.

#mark fosson #american primitive #takoma #john fahey

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greensparty · 5 years

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Album Review: The Beatles “Abbey Road” Super Deluxe Edition

Even though 1970′s Let It Be is the last official album released by The Beatles before their breakup, 1969′s Abbey Road is considered their last album because it was the last recording session, whereas Let It Be had mostly been recorded before Abbey Road. Whether the band knew it at the time or not (as some recent reports have suggested), it is considered by many to be the perfect ending of the band’s story. Released on Sept. 26, 1969 the band truly went all in on this album. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this legendary album, Universal Music Group recently released a Super Deluxe Edition of Abbey Road. The release is similar to the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (which I named my #1 Reissue of 2017) and The White Album (which I got to review and, yes, named my #1 Reissue of 2018). I was lucky enough to get to review this box set: all 3 CDs, a blu-ray audio disc, and coffee table book.

original album cover

CD1 is the 2019 Stereo Mix of the original Abbey Road album produced by Giles Martin (son of producer George Martin and a genius producer in his own right). This is packed with so many epic gems: “Come Together”, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, “Polythene Pam”, and “The End”. What’s amazing is that its not just Lennon and McCartney’s show, two of George Harrison’s greatest compositions “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun” are here, as well as Ringo Starr’s “Octopus’s Garden”. Sounds as good as ever! CD2 and CD3 are both full of Demos and Outtakes. It is full of early demos and alternate takes. Also included in this set is a blu-ray of the album presented in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD, and High Res Stereo audio. The book is filled with tons of photos, lyrics, articles and track by track analysis.

The Super Deluxe Edition

Look, let’s be honest here, I am a Beatle fanatic, so it’s no surprise I out and out LOVED this Super Deluxe Edition! The cool thing about this is the Sessions (CDs 2 and 3) which include some recordings of songs that didn’t appear on Abbey Road: “Goodbye” (a song McCartney wrote for Mary Hopkins), “The Ballad of John and Yoko” (released as a single that year, but wasn’t on Abbey Road), “Old Brown Shoe” (also released as a single that year, but wasn’t on Abbey Road), and “Come and Get It” (a song McCartney wrote for Badfinger). These are worth the price tag alone. It reminds me of the same excitement I had about The Beatles Anthology albums including so many never released takes and hidden treasures.

Me crossing Abbey Road in 2009

For info on The Beatles’ Abbey Road: https://www.thebeatles.com/album/abbey-road

5 out of 5 stars

#the beatles #album review #reissue albums #giles martin #John Lennon #paul mccartney #George Harrison #Ringo Starr #badfinger #mary hopkins #1969

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theonyxpath · 5 years

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Pirates of Pugmire art by Pat Loboyko

Pirates of Pugmire, which as of my writing this, has 16 days to go and is just under 75% funded! Thank you to everyone who has back, shared, and commented so far, and I’m so excited to help bring all the new pirate rules to the Realms of Pugmire, including ship battles, bird and lizard characters, new callings, firearms, and treasure! We’d really like to get this traditionally printed and in stores, so if you would, too, or just to see manuscript previews, head over to the Kickstarter at http://kck.st/2EoRkyp, yar! But who is writing this, you ask? (We’re going to pretend like you asked. And by “we” I mean “I.”) It is I, Dixie Cochran! Yes, that’s right, I’ve taken over the blog this week while Rich and the rest of the gang who attended UK Games Expo are on their way back from England (or in Matthew’s case, back to elsewhere in England). I’m sure Rich will provide a full account when he returns next week, but until then, here’s a report from Matthew, along with some photographs he kindly sent along.

“The team of Rich, Eddy, Matt, Matthew, Klara, John, Steffie, and Chris had a fantastic time at the UK Games Expo this year, where we ran a demo table, ran over a dozen games at the Hilton, and sold product from Leisure Games to great effect! It was Onyx Path’s first time having a booth at a British convention, and the sheer number of people who thanked us for coming or showed a keen interest in our games (Pugmire, Scion, and Prince’s Gambit were standouts) was staggering.”

L to R: Matt McElroy, Rich Thomas, Chris Allen, Klara Herbøl, Steffie de Vaan, Eddy Webb, and John Burke play Prince’s Gambit! The Sabbat wins!

“We organized our very first Chronicles of Darkness tournament at the Expo, with players from each game of Vampire (run by Klara Herbøl), Werewolf (run by Chris Allen), Promethean (run by John Burke), Changeling (ran by Steffie de Vaan), and Geist (ran by Chris Handley) went on to participate in an Antarctic session of the Contagion Chronicle (run by Matthew Dawkins)! The final winner was Michael, who played his changeling from Steffie’s game, and won a prestige copy of Demon: The Descent. The tournament concept was so good we’ll aim to do something similar next year.”

Matthew and the players of the final game of the Chronicles of Darkness tournament, Stephen, Chris, Sophie, Michael, and Andrew! Congratulations, Michael!

“All in all, we had a superb time. It was great to meet freelancers who haven’t made it out to Gen Con before, the business meetings we held were fruitful, and everyone had a lot of fun. Here’s to the next one!”

The Onyx Path crew at UKGE: Matthew, Klara, Eddy, John, Steffie, Chris, Matt, and Rich! No wonder it’s been so quiet around the office this week. Wait, I work from home…

Eddy welcomes folks to the Onyx Path booth at UKGE! Look how excited he is! “You’re all good dogs!” he seems to say

Dixie again! Isn’t it just like Matthew to interrupt me on my very first blog entry here? I feel like I’m sensing a pattern. For real, though, it looks like everyone had a great time at UKGE, and I hope it’s a convention to which we return in the future! (See how I said “we” there? Maybe I’ll come next year! Who knows? I got so much done while they were gone, though…) For those of you who aren’t as familiar with me, let me actually provide a bit of my history with the company. In 2015 or so, I was chatting with Rose Bailey, just catching up, and I mentioned that though I’d gone to school intending to pursue a career in copy editing, I was having trouble finding a way into the field (at the time, I was mostly focused on fiction and comic books). She subsequently tried me out on the Demon Translation Guide and from there I moved on to supplements and eventually cores. I’d been playing White Wolf/Onyx Path games since about 1999, but for some reason hadn’t considered the RPG industry as a career path until it fell into my lap. Now, several million words edited later (I’ve lost count, but it has to be over three million at this point), I ended up stepping into a version of Rose’s former position when she left to focus on her personal projects. I’m the in-house developer for Chronicles of Darkness and Exalted, so I make sure those lines are doing what they need to, and I still edit quite a bit of our books myself, though I outsource a lot of the smaller supplements and a few core books to other editors, depending on my current workload. In addition, as many/most of you know, I’m one of the three hosts of the Onyx Pathcast, along with Eddy and Matthew, which I enjoy immensely.

It’s been a really great 16 months or so working for Onyx Path, and I look forward to doing even more in the future! Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like to hear about or anyone you’d like to hear from on an upcoming Pathcast episode!

The classic Shén pantheon from Scion: Hero!

Anyway, if I seem to be stalling before I get to the actual Monday Meeting notes, it’s because we didn’t actually have a true meeting this week, what with half the staff still traveling. I have updates and teasers, as usual, but as to what we talked about in the meeting? There wasn’t a lot. (Mostly I asked Mike to give me art, which he did! Thanks, Mike!)

Now that UKGE is past, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at PAXU, though of course bits of our team here and there will be at other conventions throughout the summer. Say hi if you see one of us!

To reiterate a couple of teasers from Rich from last week, we’ll be announcing a new developer for Scarred Lands and the projects they are overseeing once everyone gets back. Plus, on the Scarred Lands Community Content site, the Slarecian Vault, the beginning of July marks the start of a phenomenal linked adventure series you will not want to miss! Also, June 13th we’ll be starting a little treat for everyone that leads into the aforementioned July event. (Psst, it’s one we get a lot of questions about.)

The modern Shén pantheon from Scion: Hero!

One last tease before we get on to blurbs and updates, for something else that is coming soon…oh? What’s this?

Oh, sorry, that just fell out of my email, but hopefully it will help people create

Many Worlds, One Path!

(Did I do that right?)

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Our Pirates of Pugmire Kickstarter is nearly 75% funded, so swing over to our ship and check it out!

Pirates of Pugmire is a chronicle sourcebook for both Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau. It’s usable in either game, or as part of a joint experience. Some highlights include: * Two new species for players to enjoy: lizards and birds * Six new callings, including two for dogs and two for cats * Rules for building, sailing, and sinking ships * A trove of new allies, enemies, and treasures * Information on Waterdog Port and Port Matthew * “Going on the Account,” a chronicle of three new adventures, taking characters from 1st through 6th level

You can also hear Eddy discuss the writing and design of Pirates of Pugmire on the Onyx Pathcast on your favorite podcatcher, or here on : https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/)

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Onyx Pathcast art by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast is an update straight from UK Games Expo!: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

Beanduck Productions’ crew has been playing Exalted! They’re on session 13 of Full Party, but the rest of the sessions are on YouTube if you want to catch up! There are hours of Exalted goodness there.

Garblag Games is still playing Scion! They’re on episode 9!

The ever-wonderful Saving Throw Show is also playing Scion! (So much Godly goodness!)

Twin Cities by Night just released Chapter 1 of their new Chronicles of Darkness game!

Occultists Anonymous’ Mage: The Awakening chronicle delves into magic-crafting territories with the following episodes:

Episode 17: We Got Our Scryes on You – The cabal establishes surveillance on the Predator Kings alpha and begins to track him. https://youtu.be/GP3500xZ41s

Episode 18: Preparing For War – With a scrying spell established, the cabal creates support spells and curses the alpha every way they can think of. https://youtu.be/-8uetChnfEM

Meanwhile, Red Moon Roleplaying has just concluded their Scarred Lands actual play run by Matthew, over on www.redmoonroleplaying.com! Stay tuned to their channels, as soon they’ll be participating in a V5 Chicago by Night chronicle!

It would be remiss of us not to link you again to the fantastic Pirates of Pugmire story Travis Legge ran for us, both parts of which are available on our channel! Here’s episode one: https://youtu.be/fU9y3tl77GM

Darker Days Radio interviewed a bunch of Onyx Pathers and Matt Timm from Modiphius at the UK Games Expo, the recording of which is here: http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/109-darker-days-radio-live-at-ukge/

And Roll the Role recently concluded an excellent Trinity actual play that can still be viewed on their Twitch channel here! https://twitch.tv/rolltherole/profile?desktop-redirect=offline_channel

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can now order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’re releasing print versions of both Origin and Hero for Scion Second Edition on DriveThruRPG and in stores!

CONVENTIONS!

Gen Con: August 1st – 4th Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB, COMPILED FOR THE FIRST TIME BY DIXIE COCHRAN (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon) Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Second Draft?

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Development?

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

DR:E Threat Guide (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Manuscript Approval

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Editing

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Scion Ready-Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Blood Sea: The Crimson Abyss (Scarred Lands)

Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Indexing

Trinity Aeon

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Scion Ready-Made Characters – Art is in.

Dark Eras 2

M20 Book of the Fallen – Drew’s finals in

VtR Spilled Blood

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

Trinity Continuum Aberrant – Sketches

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars

They Came From Beneath the Sea

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

In Layout

V5: Chicago

Trinity Core

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel

Proofing

WtF Shunned by the Moon

Signs of Sorcery – At WW for approval

DR: E

Scion Jumpstart

Aeon Aexpansion

C20 Cup of Dreams

Ex 3 Monthlies – At WW for approval

At Press

Dragon Blooded – Deluxe Printing

Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – at press

Dragon-Blooded Wallpapers – Going out to backers

Dragon-Blooded Screen – Printing

The Realm – Gathering errata

Trinity Core Screen – Printing

TC Aeon Screen – Printing

Tales of Excellent Cats

C20 Player’s Guide – Gathering Errata

Adventures for Curious Cats

Geist 2e – Gathering Errata

Book of Oblivion – Out to backers

Trinity: In Media Res

Scion: Hero – Wednesday

Scion Origin – Wednesday

Today’s This Month’s Reason to Celebrate!

It’s Pride Month! This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, so let’s remember Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Brenda Howard, and all the other activists throughout the years who made Pride possible. Happy Pride to all our LGBTQI+ fans and freelancers, and I hope any celebrations you attend are amazing!

#Onyx Path Publishing

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daggerzine · 4 years

Text

Peter Milton Walsh of The Apartments offers a pocketful of sunshine...

Peter Milton Walsh started his, band, The Apartments, in Brisbane, Australia in 1978. He didn’t release his debut LP until 1985 (The Evening Visits...and Stays For Years). I didn’t hear the band until 1995 when Restless Records here in the U.S. released the terrific A Life Full of Farewells (in between was 1992′s Drift). The releases have been sporadic throughout the years (and there were several years in between when Walsh did create any music at all) but each one glistens with a special kind of magic that only Walsh seems to possess. Though 2020 has been a difficult year, to say the least, one of the bright spots was the release of a new Apartments’ record In And Out of The Light released on Talitres Records (through Riley Records). The record is classic Walsh, spare, gorgeous songs written as the sun goes down (or comes up) with love or loss as its main theme (in most cases). I sent Mr. Walsh some questions and he was more than happy to open up about the record and what’s next.

Peter Milton Walsh photo by Belddyn Butcher, 2020

When did the songs start coming together for the new record?

The plan was to record the album in a couple of weeks in September 2019 in Tours, which is about 2 hours South of Paris. Antoine has a studio there. Natasha would come down from Lille, Nick from London. Then I was moving over to Berlin to mix them with Victor Van Vugt, who now has a studio there. Vic produced the evening visits… back in 1985. (He went on to work with P J Harvey, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds etc.)

But the band wanted to hear the songs before September. So I started by making a couple of demos with a guy who lives just around the corner, Darren Cross. A great musician.

Butterfly Kiss was one, Pocketful too. I sent Butterfly Kiss off to Natasha when she was in Lisbon, and she wrote back to say she’d listened to it over and over, ten times or more, walking at night by the Tagus river and that she fell in love with the song in Lisbon. I thought that was a good sign!

I found that those two songs came alive in the process of recording the demos, so then I thought I don’t want to do any more demos, I just want to make an album. Now! The process made me impatient to begin the album.

So rather than wait till September, I found a place near where I live in Sydney, and approached the producer, Tim Kevin, telling him I had a couple of songs to start the album off with but that I wanted to try to write the rest of the songs as we went along.

The earliest we could start was July, early days of Winter here, as Tim’s studio was very heavily booked.

I have been writing songs since I was 15, and I’ve never really gotten any better at it. I still don’t know what’s happening exactly. But I thought, this will make the whole set of songs very fresh, very in the moment.

This album will not be me trying to recapture the past, it will be me in the present moment, in the Winter of 2019.

I had recorded the title track of No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal like that. All we had for NSNSNM was my piano part, Eliot’s bass and Gene’s drums. The rest of it I made up in the studio. Wayne kept asking me when we would finish the vocal part, because we were running out of time, and even though I didn’t have any idea what the finished lyrics would be I kept telling him it was OK—the song would start in the rain and end in the rain and across the course of the song the guy would be changed.

I thought of the lyric like a voiceover in film noir—the guy reaches the end of the song and just knows he must change his life.

And that’s how we went with In and Out of the Light. Each time I’d finish a new song, I’d think—I’ll never write another song again. But some time would pass—we were recording very sporadically—and something else would come up. We went on like that until we hit the magic number 8, and I thought—OK, that’s 8 songs that sit together well, don’t tempt fate. Stop now, start mixing the album.

What was the recording process like, I’d read other musicians recorded parts in their own country?

I would record some guitar or piano, a vocal, arrange the song, then upload it. Natasha, Antoine and Nick would then record things they thought might work and upload them for us, then Tim and I would select what we wanted and add it. It was very easy. In many ways, we were recording in the perfect way for the COVID era—though the COVID era had not yet begun. Sometimes I’d record 1 day in a week, sometimes more. Very short days. Usually home by six. All very unusual, but that was the situation because Tim was so heavily booked.

The new record

Had you worked with produce Tim Kevin before? What did he bring to the sessions?

No. He’s got a fabulous ear, is a sensational guitar player and singer and has an epic, really impressive concentration span. Also, he was very open to the way I wanted to work—we’d had that discussion before committing to recording. So I could turn up, play him something, and ask if he saw some promise in what I had. And mostly he did.

Did you have any hesitation about releasing a record in 2020?

We finished mixing the day before lockdown hit Sydney, so that part of the timing was beautiful. Playing music, being in a band, touring, releasing records—this is a casino life anyway. If you can’t accept that things often don’t go to plan, you’re in the wrong line of work.

We had a tour planned for September/October 2020, when the album was due for release. That had to be cancelled. We then had a bigger tour planned for February/March 2021—clubs, festivals, some big shows—and had to cancel that as well. I have no idea when we’ll be able to leave Australia—yesterday, the Australian Tourism minister announced that rising COVID cases in Europe and the US mean that Australians won’t be able to visit either of these places next year, unless a vaccine was invented.

Where did the title come from, In and Out of the Light?

Possibly two things occurred to me. Firstly, that on the days that I was recording, I would disappear from the high, bright Winter daylight into the lamplit darkness of the studio and that this too—moving in and out of the light—is the pattern of existence. We are constantly changing, and the conditions of our lives do as well. No feeling is final.

For those of us who wish there were more Apartments records, why do the records come out so infrequently?

The Apartments once had a good 4 year run—drift, A Life Full Of Farewells, fête foraine and apart then, for personal reasons, I turned away from the music world, and any kind of public life that goes with it.

Will you be playing any shows (I know here some folks are beginning to do occasional backyard shows and others in other unique venues…drive in theatres, etc).

That’s a great idea.

His previous record from 2015

Who are some of your favorite current musicians/bands?

If a song has fingerpicking, a certain kind of smoke or melancholy in the voice and maybe a major 7th, I’m a fool for it and always have been, always will be. With new music, I can be as fickle as the next person and I’m not a particularly organized person—so there’s no purpose or method in how songs get to me.

It’s random, they seem to just float in. But here are some of the tracks that have seduced me recently, from my Soundcloud/Bandcamp/Spotify lists. I’m drawn to singles; if I love the album as well, that’s really magic.

Lonny—Incandescente

https://soundcloud.com/lonny-sc/incandescente

Mason Lindahl—Outside Laughing

https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/track/outside-laughing

Arlo Parks—Black Dog

https://open.spotify.com/track/1NGPZKzplieiPc5g6lAJ49?si=KYK_7EZLRkCK5PUjW0DeUA

Ruby Haunt—Avalon

https://open.spotify.com/track/5rwKSB1WtNDWOBmwxZMWrg?si=uNxxyWjGRRuvYZrk5500oA

Endless Winter—Angus Roy

https://angusroy.bandcamp.com/track/endless-winter

Harkin—Decade

https://handmirror.bandcamp.com/track/decade

www.theapartments-music.com

www.talitres.com

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