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Princess Chelsea @ Kalvingrad, Geneva, 04.10.2018
I had a great time hanging out with the amazing Princess Chelsea and her band at Kalvingrad! Such a magical show. We did a little interview as well, I’ll publish it asap! Here are a few pictures taken with my Olympus Trip 35! Many thanks to Princess Chelsea, her band and the Kalvingrad team for their kindness!
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Interview : Bad Mojos
Bad Mojos through my Olympus Trip at Fri-Son last December, our first encounter. They were dressed up as Jesus (?)
A couple hours before their release show in Bern last month, I sat down with one of my favorite swiss bands at the moment, Bad Mojos. It was my first time visiting Reitschule - shame on me - and I loved it! The atmosphere was really chill and friendly. Join us as they tell me about their lives in Bern, getting paid in hash, their new record I hope you O.D., and more. Many thanks to Bad Mojos and Reverend Beat-Man for their warm welcome!
So firstly, just to be sure- I read that you guys are from Bern, but you’re actually from Thun right?
Juli : Originally, we’re from Thun. We grew up in the suburbs… a lot of cow shit, and a lot of churches. Then we moved to Bern, because there’s less cow shit and more dog shit! We are more dog shit people than cow shit people. We kinda like it here.
What’s your life like here in Bern?
Juli: Most of the time pretty boring, except for nights like these. We all have nine to five jobs. We just ditch work whenever we can-
Jean: We work as less as possible.
Juli: We’re lazy boys. But still at the end of the day, you have to pay your fucking rent. We try to travel a lot with the band, go to different countries, meet different people.
Martin: Luckily, there is Reitschule in Bern, I think that’s why we moved here.
Juli: Yeah, Reitschule is like our second home.
Jean: We always keep an eye on good shows there and go whenever we can.
Juli: Yeah, and when we are not in Reitschule we’re on tour taking marijuana and drinking alcohol, just having fun.
I’ve seen that you guys are going to play in London soon?
Everyone: Yes! First time!
That’s awesome! I hope you guys make us proud and represent us well! (laughs). Because it seems that people abroad think that we’re all rich and working in banks here!
Jean: Yeah, also in Germany! Some people think that swiss punk doesn’t exist, or that Switzerland can’t be punk. Fuck that.
Juli: We’re going to bring a lot of money with us and throw it into the audience, maybe some Ricolas as well… Ricolas are really good for the throat, so…
Jean: Maybe some Toblerone!
Juli: We’re looking forward to this. It’s going to be fun. Shout out to Suicide Generation who invited us! Hopefully we’re going to meet Marco from No Front Teeth Records. Or we will have to go to his home and ring the bell! (laughs)
Yes just do it!! So tonight, we’re celebrating the release of your new record I hope you O.D. on Voodoo Rhythm Records. How did you guys discover the label?
Juli: We’ve been fans of the label for years- I mean, it had a major impact on us growing up in this region. Voodoo Rhythm has always been around, and as you know it’s a small scene. Beat-Man was at one of our shows and… I don’t know, I don’t remember!
Jean: We had some recording problems and we just asked him where to go for recording. And that’s how it started I think.
Juli: He saw us live and he liked what he saw, because we were really untalented. That really bad, bad band. That’s right up his alley! (laughs) He told us to go to Toulouse, to Los Spider and to record there, and that he would release the record. He did in the end! We’re really happy about it.
Jean: We really liked the place, Lo Spider is a genius. He did a great job, what we needed.
I also wanted to talk about the cover of the album. Was it your idea?
Juli: No, it was Beat-Man’s! He just sent it to us and we were like “oh yeah, it’s cool”! It’s from a concert we played somewhere in Germany. It was a very dodgy place. It was really fun, because people there thought that we were on crack. We bought this pipe to smoke hash, and we were smoking it but people thought that it was crack! They got really concerned and it was a lot of fun.
Jean: I remember some people paid with hash to go to the show! (laughs)
I’ve noticed that you always dress up before going on stage. Is it a way to make people feel more comfortable?
Juli: It’s to make me feel more comfortable! (laughs) Me and my body, actually. That’s just a lot of fun- I mean, it’s really important not to take yourself that seriously. There’s enough macho and tough guy bands, and not enough bullshit bands. So we dress like shit to have fun. Most people like it, and if they don’t like it it’s even more fun.
Jean: I think it’s important to take nothing seriously.
Juli: Even death. Even if there’s a fire! (laughs) There’s too much going on to be serious about. But not this band!
I’d like to talk about your song Police Car as well, I think it’s one of my favorite off the album. How did it come to life?
Juli: Hmm… In the practice room, when we smoked crack! (laughs)
Martin: I think we wrote it after Hamburg, right?
Juli: Yeah, after the G-20 demonstrations in Hamburg, that’s what it’s all about. So it’s an anti-police, anti-system song. We’re kinda political, but we’re even more nihilistic I would say.
Martin: And the video for it is awesome.
Juli: Yeah, the guy who made the video is insane! And he’s really handsome too! (laughs) Martin did it.
What can we expect from Bad Mojos in the future?
Jean: New stuff.
Juli: Fuck all. We’ll see. We’re going to play as many shows as we can. As long as we have fun, we’ll continue.
https://www.facebook.com/badmojos/
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Interview : The Cavemen
The Cavemen outside Voodoo Rhythm Records in Bern, shot with my Olympus Trip.
On a sunny Monday afternoon I took the train to Bern to watch the Cavemen play a free little show at Voodoo Rhythm Records. I had barely arrived in front of the shop that a cocktail appeared in my hand out of nowhere (thank you Reverend Beat-Man!). The atmosphere was very friendly, with nice tunes being played by DJ Junk Wild. The Cavemen were also hanging out outside enjoying the sun- they told me that they had signed the visitors’ book of the church nearby, which I thought was very funny. The band ended up playing on a little platform just under the shop’s roof- they literally had to climb a ladder to get on “stage”!
In this interview, we laugh a lot- don’t take it too seriously. I think it represents the band well nonetheless- a funny, kind and chaotic group of friends who are passionate about what they do.
Many thanks to the Cavemen, Reverend Beat-Man and all the team at Voodoo Rhythm Records for their warm welcome!
What’s your life like in London?
Jake: I sleep all day!
Jack: I usually have to go to work really, really hungover. And have suicidal thoughts.
Paul: I wake up, scream at an inanimate object and then masturbate all day.
Nick: I go to work and I sleep as much as I can get away with at my job without my superiors finding out. And then I go home and stuff my fat fucking face and watch TV every night.
Do your employers know that you’re making music besides your dayjobs?
Jack: Yeah, that’s why none of us have jobs now!
Jake: We’re all unemployed.
Nick: They envy me, but they’re also happy for me you know. But they are jealous, they do get very jealous of my rock and roll lifestyle I might say, yeah.
The Cavemen playing at Voodoo Rhythm, shot with my Olympus Trip.
Tonight you’re going to play in a record shop- how is your set going to be different from usual?
Jack: It’s going to be a lot shorter.
Paul: And we’re going to sit down for a while. Instead of falling down!
Nick: Usually only this fucking bastard gets to sit down!
Jack: Usually we just fall over yeah, but here if we fall over we’re probably going to hurt ourselves quite badly, so..
Nick: I might have to dangle my legs over the side of the fucking roof. I’m terrified somebody’s gonna pull them!
Paul: It’s gonna be like a gig on a pirate trip!
Nick: A little bit yeah! Or like a sea-shanty kind of feeling.
Jake: I think I’m too drugged to get up the ladder now.
Nick: Getting down is out of the fucking question!
I’d like to talk about your album Nuke Earth as well-
Paul: Well, it’s a concept album about the destruction of the whole Earth.
Jack: Which is what we pray for every day.
Haha, I don’t even need to say anything! You guys just go for it. So I wanted to know, how did you record it? It sounds like you guys were all recording in the same room at the same time.
Paul: Well, it was recorded on a cellphone. I’m kidding, it was recorded on tape.
Jack: We did it on an 8-track cassette test kind of thing with a friend of ours, Jimmy. We pretty much did it all live, and then a couple overdubs like vocals. But most of it is just us in a room playing live.
So that’s true! I really liked the energy, it really sounded like it was recorded live.
Paul: We were taking a lot of cocaine when we recorded that album.
Jack: Which is why it’s such an egotistical shitshow.
Who is Janey?
Jack: Um, that’s my auntie.
Paul: I thought it was about your closeted homosexuality, I thought it was originally called “Jamie”!
Jack: Shut up! No, it’s an amalgamation of all our sexual fantasies about women. It was going to be called “Barbie” initially. (ndlr: everyone is dying of laughter at this point).
Jake: That’s all we’ve got. We’ve only got the fantasies. We don’t actually have experience.
Nick: It’s a metaphor for what we think it’s gonna be like when we lose our virginities. I wish Janey was real!
I also wanted to talk about my favorite song on the album, Thug. How did it come to life?
Jack: We were touring in Italy and listening to a lot of Personal and the Pizzas and Thin Lizzy. I thought, “they’re good bands. Let’s rip these assholes off!” So I did.
Nick: In the guitar solo there was actually a lot of influence from an old New Zealand band as well. There’s a bit of a key twist on it. The song is Be Mine Tonight by Th’ Dudes. So we jacked a little bit of that as well.
Jake: And then the lyrics are just really really stupid.
Nick: Yeah. But it’s like a Kiwi-New York amalgamation. The two go hand in hand, yes.
Finally, what can we expect from the Cavemen in the future?
Jake: Not much.
Nick: Death?
Paul: We’re pretty close to death.
Nick: More public shame, more humiliation and scandal.
Jack: A bit more criminal record
Jake: Prison, probably.
Nick: Hopefully. All I see is a bottle of Jack Daniels and a 6-string guitar.
https://www.facebook.com/thecavemennz/
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The Horrors @ Croc’ The Rock Festival, Étagnières, 27.10.2018
The band agreed to pose for a quick picture before going on the basketball field- I mean on stage. The Horrors are one of my favorite bands and it made me so happy to be able to take pictures of them with my Olympus Trip ! Their show was also special- it was a mix of old and new songs, including Sea Within A Sea, which they played in its entirety !
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La Luz @ Le Romandie, Lausanne, 18.09.2018
I was very happy to learn that the band stopped in Lausanne for this European tour. It was great seeing them again after two years ! The songs from their new album Floating Features sounded so so good live ! Many thanks to La Luz for their kindness and their sense of humor, and to Le Romandie & team for being so welcoming (as always).
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The Solar Temple @ Stall 6, ZH, 08.09.2018
My friends from Solar Temple were playing in Zurich a couple weeks ago, so I decided to go and brought my Olympus Trip camera with me. There were a looot of people watching them, and they played some great new songs. It was a warm and sunny day, so we tried a few portraits too! Many thanks to them for letting me take all these pictures! Here are a few of them...
#solar temple#lagroupiepics#lagroupiefrancais#lagroupieenglish#swiss bands#swiss music#stall 6#the solar temple
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Interview : Howlin’ Jaws (ENG)
Howlin’ Jaws through my Olympus Trip.
A few weeks ago, I took the train to Solothurn to meet the Howlin’ Jaws. They were playing a small 50s themed festival called Rock This Town, and they were also one of the youngest bands in the line up. By doing some research and getting to know them in person, I noticed we had a lot in common besides our age- they knew my hometown Lausanne really well, played with Shannon and the Clams (I’m a fan and even got to meet them four years ago!), and liked The Stray Cats- Needless to say the interview was a lot of fun. Even though it was really hot and the festival organization wasn’t the best, the band played a great show and made the sound people freak out, which I think was awesome. Join us as we talk about their lives in Paris, their latest EP Burning House, their intense Japan tour, and much more.
Welcome to Switzerland!
Lucas: Thanks! That’s cool that you got in touch with us.
Djivan: (ndlr: using a swiss idiom) C’est monstre cool. (laughs)
You said it so well, I barely noticed! It sounded very natural. It’s not the first time you’re playing in Switzerland right?
Baptiste: Yeah, it’s the third or fourth time I think?
Lucas: At least. We played in Lausanne twice, once at the Brasserie du Château and another time at Docteur Gab’s. Both times revolving around breweries! (laughs) We played in Bern and Basel as well.
Tell me a bit about your lives in Paris. What is a typical day like when you’re not touring?
Baptiste: I wake up and then I go hunting. (laughs)
Djivan: Usually we’re exhausted, because we party a lot.
Baptiste: Then we have to send emails and rehearse.
Djivan: Yeah, actually we rehearse and party a lot. Because that’s a big part of a musician’s life, networking with night owls!
Lucas: Just like athletes who have to maintain their cardio, we have to keep our rhythm by drinking every night. (laughs)
Baptiste: So yeah, a lot of rehearsals, and appointments with the people we work with. It’s great.
Howlin’ Jaws in action, through my old Canon.
That sounds so nice! I read in other interviews that you guys didn’t really have any side jobs.
Djivan: Yeah, actually I make microphones. If anyone is interested, it’s called Hepcat Pickups- great guitar and bass mics. We’re working with a guy called Stéphane Beaussart, it’s really cool.
Lucas: I’m doing a bit of freelance design. Plastic toys, speakers, things like that. Not much though.
Djivan: We actually have an engineer-designer in the band!
Baptiste: I do sculpting on the side. I sculpt stage-sets and I’m also an artistic sculptor.
Djivan: Baptiste has the intermittent du spectacle status (ndlr: a special status in France allowing people working in the music and art industry to get financial help from the state to make their art). Lucas and I are trying to get it as well, so we do everything we can to fit the requirements and work the necessary hours.
Baptiste: This doesn’t exist in Switzerland right?
No, it doesn’t. All my friends who are in bands are working on the side… It’s hard.
Djivan: Yeah. You have to make a living somehow.
Howlin’ Jaws in action again, through my old Canon.
I wanted to talk about your latest EP as well, Burning House. Where are you guys on the cover?
Lucas: We are in Chinagora. That’s in Alfortville, south east of Paris. You can see it from the périph’. I always thought the place was abandoned, it looks like a giant Chinese restaurant with a green roof and dragons. Actually, we went there and it isn’t abandoned at all, it’s a hotel with security cameras and people are coming and going! So we were there, and in the picture it looks like we’re in an industrial zone, that’s pretty funny.
Djivan: It’s by a photographer called Mauro Fiorito. He’s a friend of ours, he’s very talented. A great DJ too.
Baptiste: He is a fashion photographer as well.
Djivan: So he came and took pictures of us, and it made us very happy. We did great shots with him.
Baptiste: We liked one of these pictures so much that we used it for the cover. It was originally shot on a black and white film. Then we asked a graphist artist to colorize it.
Lucas: It’s our friend Vincent Vidor, aka Vangogo Artwork. We’re very happy about the result!
How did you proceed while making the EP? I though there was a slight change in terms of style- it sounds like you added some 60s into it!
Lucas: (ndlr: using French slang, saying that he agrees) Grave. De ouf!
That was very French of you! Grave de ouf! (laughs)
Lucas: A year ago, we knew that we would be recording in a month- so June 2017. So we worked a lot on these songs, whether it was on songwriting, sound or arranging. Then we went to Studio Mercredi9 in Paris. We spent about 5 days there. And we recorded everything on tape. We were able to use new ideas, things we had never done before.
Baptiste: We did the three first singles two or three years before the EP. So during three years we toured a lot, practiced our instruments, met a lot of people, played a lot of festivals… So we soaked up as much as we could, and then went into the studio with all these new ideas. So this EP is the logical evolution of our music.
Lucas: And now, we’re very happy about the result and we’re writing new songs already. We’re doing it all again for more songs, more cool and more wow and more monstre! (laughs)
Lucas through my Olympus Trip...
Could we talk about my favorite song off the EP as well? It’s Three Days!
Everybody: Woo! (laughs)
Lucas: That’s great to hear, it varies from people to people. That’s so cool.
Djivan: Some people have several favorites, some of them like I’m Mad a lot…
Lucas: But in general, the winners are Oh Well and Three Days.
Djivan: Yeah. She’s Gone has a lot of success too.
Baptiste: Three Days almost didn’t make it on the EP. We arrived in the studio with ten songs, and we had to choose 6. We hesitated a lot, Djivan really wanted to put it on the EP.
Djivan: I always believed in that song.
Lucas: Same here.
Baptiste: so in the end we put in the EP, and people really like it.
Lucas: Now it’s your turn to be interviewed. Why do you like this song? (laughs)
Well… I think the melody is very well written, and the chords at the beginning made me laugh because it reminded me of the Beatles! I also like when you sing “you know you crossed the line-line…” I think that was a great idea.
Djivan: When I listen to this song, I imagine myself driving a convertible car on an empty American road with cactus! And I would drive like this under the sun, while listening to this song…
Lucas: I imagine myself riding a scooter in Vercors. No helmet! (laughs) But yeah, we listen to the Beatles a lot. For vocal harmonies and arrangements for example.
...And here is Djivan.
Today you will play a show in the afternoon. Do you notice any differences when playing in the afternoon versus in the evening?
Djivan: Absolutely.
Lucas: Playing in the afternoon sucks, while playing in the evening is cool! (laughs)
Djivan: Nah, playing in the afternoon is cool too. But it depends on the state you and the crowd are in. It’s true that when you play late, people are more, let’s say, uninhibited; there is always a better atmosphere. However, playing in the afternoon is cool too. But the problem is that today is too early for us! We partied a lot yesterday.
Baptiste: We have done early concerts in the past that went really well. The atmosphere is just different.
Djivan: But playing outside is better in the afternoon. Too bad they put the stage inside while it’s so warm.
I also wanted to talk about your Japan tour. I heard there is a big rock’n’roll scene there. Did you notice any differences between the Japanese and the European crowd?
Everybody: Yes!
Baptiste: There is a huge scene over there.
Djivan: Japanese people are crazy!
Baptiste: The crowd really is the craziest. People over there are really into entertainment, the shows were insane. It was hard, because the standards were very high from the beginning. The bands playing before us were incredible. We ended the tour with a festival where we saw almost 50 bands in two days! Whether it was the small bands or the headliners, every show was amazing, very energetic. So people were very receptive to the atmosphere.
Lucas: And for the first time, we saw – I don’t know whether it happened during our shows – people sleeping near the stage! They drink and party so much from 5pm until 5am that they start to fall asleep with their heads on their bags, and people just leave them there. But they are 20 meters from the stage.
Finally, what can we expect from Howlin’ Jaws in the future?
Lucas: We are currently preparing our new babies, writing little songs that we like a lot.
Djivan: We will make a new album pretty soon, it’s coming.
Lucas: We have a new music video coming as well.
Djivan: We are working on a lot of great things, it’s going to be awesome.
https://www.facebook.com/Howlin.Jaws/
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Interview : The Outta Mind
The Outta Mind at Floesserplatz, Aarau, through my old Olympus Trip.
About a month ago, I took the train to Aarau to go to a psychedelic happening (hosted by my friends from The Solar Temple). The band that was opening the night was The Outta Mind. I wanted to see them live for a while, so I was really looking forward. And I wasn’t disappointed- the band sounded so good, it made the whole two-hours trip worth it. A few hours before the concert, I had a little chat with the brain behind The Outta Mind, Lukas. He tells me about his life in Glarus, his band’s first record, explains to me what a Bünzli is, and much more!
Tell me Lukas, where are you guys from?
Lukas Heer: We’re countryboys! We’re all from from Glarus except for Sam our drummer. He used to live next to the Walensee, between Zurich and Chur. Now he lives in Luzern. And our guitarist Claude lives there as well now! […] We don’t have that much time, but we try to rehearse as regularly as possible. I used to work as a chef, but now I’m doing an internship as a social worker, and I want to study this next year.
[…] Well, I’ve played music since I was 12, 13 or something like that. I always loved music because my mother and my father were and still are a big influence on me. They listened to the same sounds as I do. I started to play guitar, and I always wanted to have a band. But I would listen to other styles of music, like Sum 41- Teenage pop-punk, like everyone!
Well, I still like Sum 41 though! (laughs)
I know what you mean! And then somehow I got into this 60s stuff, I have no idea why or how. But I really loved it, and I still love it. That’s what I want to do, and I think that’s what the other guys want to do as well, so… yeah! (laughs)
The Outta Mind playing at Floesserplatz, this time through my digital camera.
I wanted to talk about your link to the L.A. psychedelic scene. You guys sound a bit like these bands from Echo Park, like Levitation Room, Mystic Braves and so on. I think you’ve been to Los Angeles before?
Yeah, I’ve been there once. Those L.A. bands have a big influence on us. I think we want to sound like them, but we are a band from Glarus! We won’t sound like an L.A. band.
I also wanted to talk about your first album. How did it all happen?
Well, the other guys are very busy. That’s the main reason why I wrote most of the songs. I just recorded them on a little device, and then I sent them to the guys. They listened to it, and then we rehearsed. They also gave me their feedback, for example “we could play the drums differently”, or “there could be another bassline” or whatever. So I had all these ideas, and the other guys brought another vibe into it. And then we went to Germany to record it… we spent about five or six days here. We did it in two times: first we spent three days there, and then we spent another two days.
Can we talk about my favorite song off the album? It’s Special Lane!
Special Lane? Okay! It’s about boring people actually. Do you know the word “Bünzli”? It’s a swiss-german word. It means “boring people”, who just want to work for money and do nothing special with their lives.
And the special lane is for them?
Yes! It’s just like a lane on the street. They just stay on their lane, and that’s pretty boring because sometimes you have to take another direction.
What can we expect from The Outta Mind in the future?
We want to do more, but the social media stuff is pretty hard! We just want to have fun and play music… meet different people. I think that’s the main reason we do it, so that’s what we want to do in the future: have fun!
http://www.theouttamind.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theouttamind/
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Les L.A. Witch sont de retour avec le joli clip pour Drive Your Car, tourné au milieu du désert !
L.A. Witch are back with a beautiful video for Drive Your Car, shot in the middle of the desert!
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The Babe Rainbow @ L’Écurie, GE, 20.09.2017
Les Australiens de The Babe Rainbow étaient de passage à l’Écurie de Genève, et le groupe a mis l’ambiance avec ses morceaux groovy et psychédéliques dans une salle pleine à craquer. En prime: une reprise de Heart of Glass de Blondie à la sauce Babe Rainbow !
The Australian band played beautifully well at l’Écurie in Geneva, and it was like a big party in the 60s: a room filled with people dancing, smoke in the air, and groovy tunes and/or jams. The band even played a great cover of Heart of Glass by Blondie... Babe Rainbow style.
MORE PICS ON MY FLICKR
This concert was organized by Rock This Town, you should check them out: http://www.rockthistownextrafine.com/
#The Babe Rainbow#Lagroupieenglish#lagroupiefrancais#lagroupiepics#rock this town extrafine#L'Ecurie#Geneva#Genève
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Tracy Bryant est de retour avec un nouveau clip pour Forever Certain. Son prochain album A Place For Nothing And Everything In Its Place sortira en septembre prochain.
Tracy Bryant is back with a new music video, Forever Certain. His album A Place For Nothing And Everything In Its Place will be out in September!
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J’étais au concert des Guantanamo Baywatch la semaine passée au Gonzo Club de Zürich, et c’était juste génial. Tout le monde s’est bien amusé, et l’atmosphère était plutôt sympathique. Merci à Mauri et Timmey du Gonzo Klub pour leur accueil, et aux Guantanamo Baywatch pour leur gentillesse !
I was at Guantanamo Baywatch’s show at Gonzo Klub last week, and it was just awesome. Both the band and the audience had a lot of fun, and the atmosphere was very friendly. Many thanks to Mauri and Timmey from Gonzo Klub for their warm welcome, and to Guantanamo Baywatch for their kindness !
FULL GALLERY ON MY FLICKR
#guantanamo baywatch#lagroupiepics#lagroupiefrancais#lagroupieenglish#gonzo klub#Gonzo Club#Langstrasse#Zurich
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Interview : Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra
The band a few minutes before going on stage, through my Olympus Trip!
As part of their European tour, Rob and his gang were passing by Zurich for a concert at the epic venue El Lokal last month. I was really looking forward to the show, especially since their new album had just come out- and the songs of Soul Of My City sounded even better live. It was really difficult not to dance!
Before the concert, I sat down with Rob at the bar and we had a little chat about the band’s life in Newcastle, being a 21st-Century musician with 20th Century influences, Soul Of My City, red wine and more.
Many thanks to El Lokal, Rob Heron and his management for their warm welcome!
Before we talk about your music, I wanted to get to know you a little bit better. What’s your life like in Newcastle?
Rob Heron: Well, I’m originally from the West Coast of North England, a place called Cumbria. I moved to Newcastle to study music, which is where I met most of the rest of the band- that was about 10 years ago, and I’ve done music ever since really! I started this band about 7 years ago.
Do you guys manage to live off your music now?
Pretty much! A couple of the boys teach music privately. Paul our drummer is a lecturer at university, and I spend my time DJing and making coffee in a café when I’m not doing this! So it’s mainly making music, but you have to make money some other ways sometimes.
I’d like to talk about your new album Soul of My City- I read in some interviews that you got inspired by the gentrification of Newcastle, is that true?
I wouldn’t say “inspired”, but it’s definitely an issue yeah! (laughs) So there’s a place where we go drinking a lot and play a lot of music and there’s a lot of buildings being pulled down- mostly old buildings, and venues closing down because of developments and expensive hotels or student housing. Which in my opinion doesn’t bring a lot of culture. It’s killing off the exciting atmosphere to an area.
It’s like in London right? London bands told me the same thing.
Yeah, everywhere. They’ve closed down music venues because of complaints from flats next door that were built after the music venue. So it’s a lyrical inspiration, but I wouldn’t say the word “inspired”! (laughs)
Shot with my good old canon.
I also wanted to know more about the first track, Let’s Go Back In Time. How did it come to life?
Hmm… I take a lot of notes on my phone when I have song ideas, and one of the notes just said “let’s go back in time, man”. I don’t know why it came into my head one day, because I can’t remember writing the note. The song originally had an extra verse that we never recorded, because the song is about how good music was in the past- for me anyway. And the last verse was summing it up for me I guess, because I don’t think politics and equality were better back then, but the music was. But I just decided not to include that verse, because it made it a little bit too complicated. I’d like to go back in time for the music, but I enjoy the 21st Century for its growing addressing of issues and equality!
That’s interesting, because a lot of reviews describe your music as if it didn’t belong in the 21st Century. I actually disagree- I think it really belongs in the present times!
This is true, people think it’s old-fashioned music. But this generation of people has the ability to listen to music from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s… So why wouldn’t we be influenced by all of it? And lyrically…
…It’s very now.
I think it’s very now. Which is something I’m trying to do, because I’m not from 1953 Tennessee- I’m from Newcastle in the 21st Century. It’s born to keep good music from the past alive in a modern way I think.
Yeah, and I think nostalgia is more “now” than ever. For example, I see so many people coming back to vinyls, trying to live in a more authentic or sustainable way to fight climate change.
Yeah, and if ain’t broken, don’t fix it! Old clothes, old records, they’re still there so you may as well use them instead of buying loads of new plastic stuff and throwing it away next year.
Could you please tell me a bit about my favorite track, There's a Hole (Where My Pocket Used To Be)? I also really like how the music video fits with the music. How did you get the idea for the melody?
I collect a lot of records, and there’s a track by Fred Carter called What Am I Gonna Do With Anna. That is basically a minor key verse and then it goes to the major key for the chorus, which is what happens in There’s A Hole (Where My Pocket Used To Be). So I guess that was the initial inspiration. But I wanted a song like a cowboy film theme, because I love all the spaghetti western music. That’s why we use a theremin, male backing vocals… And the thing is, that’s all of the band’s favorite track on the new album! And a lot of people’s favorite track that I have spoken to. The video is of course loads of fun, and we couldn’t have made any other video apart from our own spaghetti western film! But instead of pretending to be in a desert, we thought it would be fun to do it in Newcastle.
Now I have a weird question. If you had to drink one thing for the rest of your life, what would you choose between red wine and tomato juice?
Hmm… I would choose red wine of course! I don’t drink a lot of tomato juice.
Okay! The least healthy option. (laughs)
That’s the least healthy option, but I enjoy to drink red wine! I would probably die without any water. But tomato juice gives me an awful heart burn, whereas red wine does not! (laughs)
What can we expect from Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra in the future?
It’s an interesting question. I’m hoping to record this summer. It will be along the same lines of the last album, but maybe more of the 60s rhythm and blues sound, and I might start playing electric guitar.
It’s like you’re going further and further in time! (laughs)
Yeah! We might stop at psychedelic and funk in the 70s. But yeah, I think we’ll do – maybe – an EP before the next album.
https://www.facebook.com/robheronandtheteapadorchestra/
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Mystic Braves @ Croc The Rock festival, Lausanne
I had a lot of fun watching Mystic Braves play at Le Bourg and hanging out with them; they are genuine and talented people. it was a night filled with great music, laughs, and interesting conversations. Here are a few pictures, more on my Flickr !
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Interview: Tony Malacara from Mystic Braves
A few weeks ago, I met Tony from Mystic Braves before the band’s concert at Le Bourg for Croc’ The Rock festival. We had a nice conversation hanging out in the middle of Lausanne, during which Tony told me about his life in the U.S., the music scene in Echo Park, the bands’ album Days of Yesteryear, singing in Spanish, and much more. He also asked me if there would be enough people coming to their show, as they never got any requests from fans online asking them to come to Switzerland. I answered that yes, people would come. They ended up playing in a venue packed with people dancing and singing. I think everyone had fun that night.
Before we talk about your music, I wanted to know what your life was like in the US.
Tony Malacara: Well, I live about two hours away from Los Angeles, in San Diego. I guess I’m more of a homebody. I don’t really go out too much anymore you know. The last couple of years I haven’t really been going out. I need to save that for when we’re on tour! Too much partying, you just gotta calm down a little bit! Because you get old and you just need to relax you know. San Diego is more like a sports city, it’s not really a musical place. Julian lives in San Diego, nearby from where I do. Probably one hour away. And Shane, Froggy (ndlr: Ignacio) and Cameron all live in Echo Park.
I’ve heard of this place called Echo Park in Los Angeles! A lot of bands from L.A. told me about it.
(laughs) Yeah, that’s like being in high school, and you run into everyone you know! You walk down the street and you run into Levitation Room for example. The scene in Echo Park is really cool. That’s like one big family.
Is it ok to rehearse together even though you live in different cities?
Yeah, I mean we’ve got a studio in the works called Lollipop records. They switched locations, so there’s a jam room and they’re gonna build a studio and all that.
I think one of you guys actually runs Lollipop records right?
Yeah, I guess you could say that Froggy and Wyatt Blair run it.
I also wanted to know: do you guys like fashion a lot?
Yeah! I mean, we love clothes, but we can only afford to shop at thrift shops (laughs). I think that it’s always something we’ve had in common. We all like clothes. Normally when we go on tour, one of our favorite things to do is being able to go to all these vintage thrift shops and get cool clothes. I think Shane is a lot more into fashion than all of us, but I guess it goes with the music.
So what do you think is the link between your 60s-inspired style and your music?
When we started the band, the music- that’s what we listened to. My favorite music is from that era. I mean, I like stuff from the 70s and the 90s, modern bands that are our friends, but not really hip-hop or any of that stuff. But we’re just really into that whole 60s vibe, and we feel that it’s when the music was the best you know.
Let’s talk about Days of Yesteryear. I hope I pronounced that right.
Yeah, Days of Yesteryear. That’s our latest record, although it was two years ago! (laughs)
Yeah, I noticed! But… is it ok if we still talk about it? Or are you tired…
No, it’s cool! What do you want to know? (laughs)
What’s the title about?
I guess - just looking back at it- all the stuff that we progressed and went through to get to making that album properly done, with someone who actually knows what they’re doing- Rob Campanella, he’s actually one of my best friends. Cameron somehow started talking to him, and then we thought “let’s record it with him and give it a shot.” In our eyes, we didn’t know the record was going to come out so good. It’s my favorite so far.
Yeah, I thought it sounded a bit cleaner!
Yeah, the quality and everything is done the right way. It’s better to have someone who knows what they’re doing than someone who’s still learning.
Besides this change in production, did you have a different approach for this record?
Well, we just thought to ourselves “let’s make another record, because it’s about time.” When we got to his studio, we noticed all his gear was 60s stuff. That was part of why the record came out so good, it’s because we were having fun making it. We were like kids in the candy shop, playing with all this vintage gear. Plus, he’s one of the nicest guys on the planet you know. So having him co-produce it and record it was just good vibes, and you need that when you’re making music. It’s a big part of it.
I noticed a lot of Hispanic / Spanish influences on this album- I know that some of you guys have Mexican and Argentinian origins…
Froggy and I are Mexican! Let me see… so I think Froggy said he was Aztec, Mexican and Irish. Shane is Spanish and Navajo. Cameron is – I think – Cherokee, white, German… Julian’s family is from Argentina, and I’m just Mexican-American. Chicano, you know? (laughs)
So my question is: why not try and sing in Spanish?
Well, the only one who knows how to talk in Spanish is Froggy! I mean, I was born in America- I should know Spanish but I don’t.
Ah, I’m sorry! I thought you knew Spanish because one of the songs is titled in Spanish.
I mean, I’m not sure- if it came down to it, I could learn how to sing a song in Spanish. But it’s actually kind of funny, because me and- I’m not sure who it was, we were talking a little while ago about singing some of the songs and re-doing some of the vocals in Spanish. So that is something that we want to do, it just hasn’t happened yet you know. It’s been a while since we actually got back into a studio to make a record or anything. So lately we’ve been talking about making another record. Maybe then we’ll sing in Spanish. I think I always wanted to record a song in Spanish. I’m a Beatles fan, so when they sang songs in German, I thought “this is fuckin’ great, I gotta do that!”.
I also wanted to talk about one of my favorite songs of the album if you don’t mind. It’s Now That You’re Gone.
I think you’re the first person to ever say that! For some reason I’ve never heard people talk about it. The song is about my dad, who died. We didn’t have a relationship, we never really got to know each other. Before he died, I gave him my music- a tape. And he gave me his tapes. But we didn’t see each other, I just gave this to him and he gave it to me. And on his deathbed, he had our tape on the nightstand right next to him. He listened to it, and he was all crying, “that’s my son”. And I’m like, “oh, now I’m your son?”. But then he had died, so what they said when he did was that Mystic Braves’ tape was next to his bedstand. And then I heard his music. That’s why I said: now that you’re gone, you thought that I didn’t care and we didn’t have a relationship, but I still cared about you. Because he’s my dad.
I think I understand how you feel a little bit because I have dad problems too, although it’s a bit different- I cut ties with him because he was very…
Abusive?
Yes, verbally. But it was for my own good and probably his own good as well.
Anyway, now I have a fun question- If you had to record an album in an unrealistic place, what would you choose between McDonalds, The Moon, and Earth during prehistoric times?
The Earth during prehistoric times! Because I’ll get some pterodactyls in the background you know? Or some dinosaurs sound effects (laughs). It’s either that or you record at McDonalds and they say in the background “the big mac’s ready!” So yeah, prehistoric times.
Finally what can we expect from Mystic Braves in the future?
Hmm… A lot more albums, that’s for sure. And a lot more touring, coming back to places more than once or twice. Trying to make every record sound a little bit different than the last, and sending a message of love.
http://www.mysticbraves.com/
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The Cavemen @ Voodoo Rhythm Records, Bern, 08.10.2018
I had the pleasure of meeting New Zealand’s finest punk rockers aka The Cavemen last week at Voodoo Rhythm Records, and the band played an incredible show above us on the platform just under the roof! Many thanks to the Cavemen, Reverend Beat-Man and all the team at Voodoo Rhythm Records for their kindness and the cocktails!
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