When I came home today, I found a new package for me from Saddle Creek Records. They are by far, one of my top 3 favorite record labels.

So today I got 4 new vinyls and a new album.

Vinyl:

•  Art In Manila – Set The Woods On Fire
• Criteria – When We Break
• Georgie James – Places
• O+S – O+S

I also got a 7″ record of Azure Ray. The actual cd album I bought was UUVVWWZ’s self titled release. All are pretty good bands and I recommend you check them out!

The Rural Alberta Advantage's Hometowns is #11 on our Best Of 2009 List

PREVIEW: VISIT The Rural Alberta Advantage Official Web Page
TOP TRACK: The Air

You’ve probably heard this Toronto trio compared to Neutral Milk Hotel on more then one occasion, but what many fail to do is recognize the impeccable originality that The Rural Alberta Advantage bring to the genre with their debut release Hometowns.

Re-released under Saddle Creek Records in July 2009, Hometowns is a perfectly tailored release, exceeding anyone’s expectations for a standard debut album. For a band that formed a mere four years earlier, Paul Banwatt, Amy Cole and Nils Edenloff demonstrate incredible harmony and unison within each facet of the album.

Employing the widest range of sound, RAA’s Hometowns is almost an oxymoron. Each note is incredibly fresh and unprecedented, yet every arrangement is drenched in homelike familiarity. The album is a mash of everything from indie synth-pop to post-punk, while retaining an immaculate flow.

Whether you are in a mood for a jam session or a melodic ballad, Hometowns seems to merge all of the above. The band’s ability to retain accessibility while exploring such an array of sounds is nothing short of astounding for the young band to master. Every song is precise and calculated, as each instrumental layer fits ideally with the next. Assortment of light drum thumps, tambourine beats sprinkled with the occasional airy violins give the album an incredible variety, making it relatable from multiple angles.

Hometowns has humbly caught attention this year, and put The Rural Alberta Advantage on the map. Hopefully, it’s just the first in a line of many intrepid releases for the group.

– Irina Dvalidze

It took me two weeks due to one thing or another but I am finally posting my interview with Matt Maginn from Cursive.



I had originally intended to interview the whole band but Ted and Cully were tired and Tim had taken off to Tinseltown to see Fantastic Mr. Fox and didn’t tell anyone. Fortunately, Matt was still available to talk for a bit.

I decided it would be nice to try a video interview for once. The audio’s a little low but consider it a lesson learned for next time The video was shot & edited by my good friend Eric Vasquez.

“From The Hips”

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I haven’t seen or heard much from this band for a long while, but I still love them.  Coyote Bones started in 2006 and has been road tripping since.  This band had originally formed to see friends and place music for them.  Coyote Bones then turned into a full fledged band that’s been recording and touring ever since. Their sounds are/were always evolving, the live show just kept getting better and better, and then they disappeared.  I feel the need to feature them because I miss seeing them live.  Their shows and music are very heartfelt, and they are the nicest people in the world.  I wonder where they vanished to?
Some bands that have influenced their sound are, of course, The Faint, Tilly and the Wall and other favorite locals such as Connor Oberst.
As far as I know they have no new shows coming up and I couldn’t even tell you the band members names because I can’t find any information about them anywhere.  If you know anything about them, send me a comment.
So checkout their videos and dance!:

We just got a lot of snow here in Omaha, which is a bummer.  Now I can’t break out the Corvette and put the top down and jam to Eagle Seagull.  I guess I could never really do that in the first place though, since I don’t have a Corvette, but if I did I would jam and drive to Eagle Seagull on a sunny and absolutely warm day with my hair blowing in the wind.  Eagle Seagull kind of reminds me of warm summer days and the Omaha Symphony.  They are such talented musicians that it kind of blows my mind.  My mom even likes them, which is saying something.  Bring on the low-key rock and top 40 lovers, Eagle Seagull is nothing but smooth sailing and band aids for a broken heart.
The band consists of:

• Eli Mardock – vocals, keys, guitar
• Austin Skiles – guitar, bass
• J.J. Idt – guitar, bass, keys
• Mike Overfield – bass, synth
• Britt Hayes – drums
• Carrie Butler – violin, keys, vocals

I’ve never gotten the

White Flight is the solo project of Justin Roelofs. He’s from Kansas, so I’m not really sure what urban invasion White Flight is fleeing from, but I guess it’s not like U2 actually knows how to fly spy planes or anything.

He released a self-titled album in 2007 which eventually got picked up by Conor Oberst’s label Saddle Creek. White Ark is Roelofs’ new release. I think the music flows pretty well, but the lyrics aren’t anything special. The album is definitely eclectic. Some electronics, some found sound, some acoustic, some spoken-word, some foreign languages. There are a few standout tracks, but as a whole it’s nothing to piss your pants about.

As far as I can tell, here is the cream of the crop:

While Flight — Dream Lover (stream)

White Flight — Big Black Hole (stream)

Saddle Creek has just released Bright Eyes’ “A Christmas Album”, on 180 gram snow white vinyl! This is the first time this album has been available on vinyl, and it features EXCLUSIVE VINYL ONLY cover art. When you order it, you get a free MP3 download  of the full record! You cannot buy this in stores, its only available online, as is the cd version too.

100% of the proceeds will go to benefit the NEBRASKA AIDS PROJECT.

You can order this record HERE!

You know the drill. Cursive will be playing Cine El Rey in McAllen next Sunday November 29th and I am extremely excited. I believe that the past is what makes us who we are in the present so I’ve decided to post one track from their back catalog each day leading up to the show.

Today’s track comes from the split EP the band released with Japanese punk band Eastern Youth. The release has one of the coolest names ever to don an EP, 8 Teeth To Eat You. (fyi: there are 8 songs on the EP.)


This track is called “May Flowers” and brings Cursive’s contribution to this EP to a close. Now, don’t be fooled by it’s soft, serene intro, this tooth will most definitely eat you.

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OH! I also have an announcement to make, guys!



E-mail questions with your Name and City of Residence to ilpasetto@gmail.com before Saturday November 28th, 2009.

Only five (5) questions will be chosen.

Go! Go! Go!

You know the drill. Cursive will be playing Cine El Rey in McAllen next Sunday November 29th and I am extremely excited. I believe that the past is what makes us who we are in the present so I’ve decided to post one track from their back catalog each day leading up to the show.

Today’s track comes from the band’s first EP featuring then newly-added cellist, Gretta Cohn.(pictured above)

Off of Burst and Bloom, here is “Sink To The Beat”. The interesting thing about this track that trails on over to their next full-length, The Ugly Organ, is the acknowledgement of the song-writing process. At the time, this was the latest from Saddle Creek.

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NPR
Carrie Brownstein (formerly of Sleater-Kinney) moderates a panel of Indie Labels who discuss how the music industry has changed over the last decade and what they see their role being in the future. Portia Sabin, of local label Kill Rock Stars, identified labels biggest problem stating, “I think labels are caught in a cultural bind: No one really wants to know what a label does; it’s like the sausage factory. Even long-established bands have a hard time talking about what labels do.”

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is a singer-songwriter fellow from Brooklyn, New York.

He’s been writing and playing folk rock songs for a while and just earlier this year was signed to Saddle Creek Records where he has released his 2nd album, Summer of Fear. Now, the thing about this album is the journey it took to fruition. Years of demos, clubs, fights, and all-around inner turmoil have sprouted this extremely soulful record.

However, this does not imply that this is a soul record. It is most certainly folk-oriented and aside from a few bumps here and there, a pretty decent record.

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CMJ Saddle Creek Showcase
The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn
Thursday October 22nd 2009

9:00 Beep Beep
10:00 UUVVWWZ
11:00 Old Canes
12:00 Orenda Fink
1:00 Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson

This Thursday, October 22nd, Beep Beep kicks off Saddle Creek’s showcase in the appropriately placed Knitting Factory; appropriate, because it is in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and a hop, skip, and a jump from my front fucking door! Beep Beep is an eclectic 5 piece with band members ranging from Darren Keen, one man beat dropper of The Show Is the Rainbow, to Ian Francis, lacerating drummer from The Machete Archive, a progressive postrock bud of a band making noise in Nebraska (check out Keen’s newest release Wet Fist, definitely worth a listen, and The Machete Archive’s debut Tempus Omnia Vorat).

Beep Beep is textured with threads of comfortable androgyny. Their music is a soft velveteen seduction, punctuated by the jarring insertion of an almost violent outburst of guitar and drums. Come prepared to swallow the groove, to ogle the hot one in the crowd, to watch Beep Beep set the cool and smooth in motion only to knock each other off center, exposing the slightest tension in an otherwise graceful fusion of romance and erotic emanations. It is like listening to Sade, Morrissey, and the Rapture at the same time. YUM!

Other bands gracing the stage are UUVVWWZ, a band that has come a long way from their humble beginnings. This band personified all that was musically confected in 2007; I knew it was only a matter time before someone caught on. Jim Schroder still plays his masterful guitar. These guys are quite the fucking experiment so it should be interesting to some and lost to others.

Old Canes, fronted by Chris Crisci of The Apple Seed Cast, is an amazing acoustic oriented Americana act that keeps its home in Lawrence, Kansas. This will be an great addition to the lineup. I know that Mr. Crisci and I share a love for Sunny Day Real Estate.

Next is Orenda Fink, wife of Todd Fink of The Faint, is an excellent folk singer armed with an arsenal of talent. Her bucolic lyrics and melodies are simply gorgeous. She could have been the Muse that possessed 27 year old James Agee to write Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.

The night ends with Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, a surprisingly young dude with a very strong voice and a unique approach to making pop music, which seems to be his forte. This man’s emotions may get the better of him, but as he explodes on stage, it will be a powerful unraveling.

-F

http://www.myspace.com/beepbeep
http://www.myspace.com/uuvvwwz
http://www.myspace.com/oldcanes
http://www.myspace.com/milesbenjaminanthonyrobinson
http://www.myspace.com/orendafink

Related
http://www.myspace.com/themachetearchive
http://www.myspace.com/theshowistherainbow

Here we have a great recording of a show that took place back in March. I was fortunate enough to get to see Cursive on their spring tour and it was beyond expectation. These guys have only gotten better with age. Mama, I’m Swollen is a masterpiece. Check out my show review Tim and Damien are a Spectrum.

-FF

Cursive has announced a new run of headlining dates next month, beginning November 24th at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS. The shows will continue into December and wrap up on the 13th at Lash’s 6th Annual Toy Drive at the Waiting Room in the band’s hometown of Omaha, NE.

The Toy Drive is an annual benefit show organized by Omaha musician Larry Dunn for the children of the Porcupine District of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, one of the most impoverished communities in the U.S. Gift donations will be accepted at the show and 100% of ticket proceeds will go toward buying additional gifts and holiday stockings. Tickets are $14 and go on sale this Saturday, October 17th.

TOUR DATES
OCT. 26 TOKYO, JAPAN – SHIBUYA O-NEST
OCT. 27 TOKYO, JAPAN – SHINDAITA FEVER
NOV. 24 LAWRENCE, KS – BOTTLENECK
NOV. 25 SPRINGFIELD, MO – OUTLAND BALLROOM
NOV. 27 DENTON, TX – HAILEY’S
NOV. 28 AUSTIN, TX – MOHAWK
NOV. 29 MCALLEN, TX – CINE EL REY
DEC. 03 MOBILE, AL – ALABAMA MUSIC BOX
DEC. 04 PENSACOLA, FL – SLUGGO’S
DEC. 05 ORLANDO, FL – THE SOCIAL
DEC. 06 GAINESVILLE, FL – COMMON GROUNDS
DEC. 07 ATLANTA, GA – LENNY’S
DEC. 08 OXFORD, MS – PROUD LARRY’S
DEC. 09 LITTLE ROCK, AR – THE REV ROOM
DEC. 10 FAYETTEVILLE, AR – GEORGE’S MAJESTIC LOUNGE
DEC. 11 COLUMBIA, MO – MOJO’S
DEC. 13 OMAHA, NE – WAITING ROOM (LASH’S 6TH ANNUAL TOY DRIVE)

About Lash’s 6th Annual Toy Drive
Since 2003, Omaha rockabilly musician Larry Dunn has organized a toy drive for the children of the Porcupine District of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. According to the 2000 census, Pine Ridge’s Lakota Sioux community is one of the most poverty stricken communities in the United States. The children of the reservation are desperately in need of some sunshine and cheer, especially during a time of cold, harsh winds and immense desolation like winters on the reservation can be. The majority of gifts for the children are collected at benefit concerts put on by Omaha-area musicians. Every dime raised goes toward buying additional gifts and stockings. www.myspace.com/lashlaruetoydrive

Tomorrow, Old Canes will embark on their October/November tour, beginning with a hometown show at the Jackpot in Lawrence, KS. The tour will initially take the band eastward, where they will perform at the CMJ Music Marathon during the Saddle Creek showcase at the Knitting Factory Brooklyn on October 22nd. Feral Harmonic, the band’s sophomore album, will be released October 20th on Saddle Creek.

Limited edition CDs and LPs of Feral Harmonic are now available in the Saddle Creek online store. Hand-assembled at the Saddle Creek office by Grammy award-winning artist Zack Nipper, each CD and LP is wrapped with a black ribbon and features hand ink-stamped impressions on the cover label and inner/outer packaging, and a booklet of black and white photographs. The vinyl run is a hand-numbered edition of 1,000 and includes a code to download the album in high quality MP3 format. Check out images of the packaging below, and a slideshow of the CD artwork here and the LP artwork here. More info can also be found here.

Old Canes is the brainchild of Chris Crisci (The Appleseed Cast), who wrote and recorded Feral Harmonic in his basement studio. On tour, he is joined by Kelly Hangauer (4th of July), Taylor Hollenbeck, Lucas Oswald (Minus Story), John Momberg (Appleseed Cast/Dactyls; drums on the West coast leg of the tour), and Jeff Stoltz (Drakkar Sauna; drums on the East coast leg of the tour).

TOUR DATES
OCT. 13 LAWRENCE, KS – JACKPOT
OCT. 15 DES MOINES, IA – VAUDEVILLE MEWS
OCT. 16 CHICAGO, IL – BOTTOM LOUNGE
OCT. 17 ROCK ISLAND, IL – RIBCO
OCT. 18 BLOOMINGTON, IN – THE VIDEO SALOON
OCT. 19 CLEVELAND OH – BEACHLAND BALLROOM
OCT. 20 ROCHESTER, NY – BUG JAR
OCT. 21 HAMDEN, CT – THE SPACE
OCT. 22 BROOKLYN, NY – KNITTING FACTORY (CMJ)
OCT. 23 PITTSBURGH, PA – BRILLOBOX
OCT. 24 CINCINNATI, OH – SOUTHGATE HOUSE
NOV. 12 OMAHA, NE – SLOWDOWN
NOV. 13 DENVER, CO – HI-DIVE
NOV. 15 SALT LAKE CITY, UT – KILBY COURT
NOV. 16 BOISE, ID – TERRAPIN STATION
NOV. 18 SEATTLE, WA – SUNSET TAVERN
NOV. 19 EUGENE, OR – BOND’S GARAGE
NOV. 20 SAN FRANCISCO, CA – HOUSE OF SHIELDS
NOV. 21 UPLAND, CA – THE WIRE
NOV. 22 LOS ANGELES, CA – VIPER ROOM
NOV. 23 SAN DIEGO, CA – CHE CAFÉ
NOV. 24 PHOENIX, AZ – MODIFIED ARTS
NOV. 28 AUSTIN, TX – MOHAWK

Orenda Fink’s sophomore solo album Ask The Night arrived in stores on Tuesday. Following her heralded 2005 release Invisible Ones, the new album is an homage to her Southern roots and inspired by traditional American folk music and Southern Gothic literature. The album has been striking a chord with the press; the blog Captain’s Dead remarked, “Orenda Fink’s Ask The Night…plain and simple is a beautiful and haunting record and definitely one of my favorite sounding records of the year…Highly recommended!”

Orenda will travel to New York City for the CMJ Music Marathon later this month to perform at an Oct. 21st day party presented by Rachael Ray’s Feedback, The Syndicate, and Amnesty International, as well as the Saddle Creek showcase on Oct. 22nd.

OCT. 21 NEW YORK, NY – THE STUDIO AT WEBSTER HALL (Day party; 5pm set)
OCT. 22 BROOKLYN, NY – KNITTING FACTORY – BROOKLYN (Saddle Creek showcase; 12am set)

Safe, bland music for the Saddle Creek set? A Traveling Wilburys-style super group for indie fans? Discuss.

My favorite band of all time is The Goodlife, and  since life isn’t that awesome right now, I’ve been listening to way too much of them.  They are awesome, purely, insanely, and beautifully talented musical geniuses.  If I’m ever feeling down, pissed off, or over-joyously happy, this is the band that I listen to.  However, I can only listen to The Goodlife when I’m emotionally distraught or ecstatic.  I think that this is because the lyrics are so heart-wrenching, displaying mixed emotions with vicious, heart-battering detail.  I guess I can relate to the lyrics when I’m upset and get some kind of twisted joy while listening to them when I’m happy, but who knows.

The Goodlife consists of: Tim Kasher (vocals, guitar), Stefanie Drootin (bass), Roger Lewis (drums, and Ryan Fox (guitar, keys) and are of course signed to the infamous Indie label of Omaha, Saddle Creek.  If you’re a music buff, then you probably know the name Tim Kasher.  After all, he’s the third greatest human being to ever exist (next to Zeus, Stephen Hawking or myself of course) and the lead singer of Cursive.

I really like the idea behind most of The Goodlife’s music.  Tim Kasher has a passion to write, which you can hear in his lyrics, and his music often is written to screen plays that he writes.  The Goodlife’s last album: Help Wanted Nights, is the sound track to Kasher’s most recent screen play, that he happened to just finish in the later part of 2008.

The Goodlife’s music videos are also very entertaining.  I really love how most of them are shot in Omaha, and if you’re from here, you can definitely recognize where they were shooting the music videos.  If you’re also a fellow Creighton student, then checkout Heartbroke because you can see some Creighton “hot spots” such as Ted and Wally’s and Pettit’s Pastry.  I wish I would have seen them filming this music video, because I would have had to of tried to talk myself into a cameo role.

The Goodlife do not often play local shows, but when they do, they are very secretive.  Shows are announced just days, if not hours before stage time and tickets sell quickly.  So seeing them live is a really special treat.

If you can’t or haven’t been able to checkout The Goodlife live, then checkout these live performances of them:
Lovers Need Lawyers (Music Video)
Empty Bed (Music Video)
Poisoned (Skit)
A Little Bit More (Live)
On the Picket Fence (Live)

Here’s one of those opportunities to download free music legally that is actually good, from some artist that you might have heard of. I have most of these songs already and I do enjoy them, so if you know what type of artist are on Saddle Creek then you might enjoy the music. If you don’t just go ahead and give a listen because did I mention that it is free, and you can actually here a 30 sec. snippet of the 18 track sampler, just head on over to amazon. Want some more free music while your there check out Anti Records fall 2009 sampler.

On the rickety back porch of THE EARL in ATLANTA, GA Greg Alsop, drummer for TOKYO POLICE CLUB did an interview with me.

We immediately bonded over Christmas pop-up books and then moved on to remark about how music critics are never criticized. Although not at all turtle-like, Greg would love to carry his home around with him. Like many bands with interesting names, there’s no good story as to how TPC got their name, but there is a good reason that their tour van floor is covered in jellybeans.

Special thanks to my new friend John Kurc for sharing his photographs of Tokyo Police Club with me.

Full Transcript: (Audio)
Nichole Bennett: Just introduce yourself.
Greg Alsop: I’m Greg Alsop. I’m in Atlanta, and I play drums in Tokyo Police Club.
NB: Thank you so much for joining me. So I guess just a little bit of background on the band. If you could describe the story of your band, would it be a comic book or would it be a pop-up book? And maybe fill in the details.
GA: I would probably choose a pop-up book. I’m not as familiar with graphic novels as some. I sort of grew up on pop-up books. I had a great version of “The Night Before Christmas” that my mom bought in the seventies that saw me through year after year.
NB: Yeah I make my parents read mine every Christmas.
GA: Yeah, same. We formed in January of 2005. We were all friends in high school. So you could picture us all there drawn in mostly pastel colors. And there’s a little slide arrow of us waving in front of our high school. We’d all just been friends in high school. The other three had known each other since elementary school, and we all just kind of bonded over similar taste in music. We were the only people we really knew in our small town who were into a lot of the new bands that were coming out around that time. You know like Interpol, The Strokes, Arcade Fire… Everyone else was, kind of strangely, into hip hop. It was a bunch of really rich white kids. Just like…beating each other up for no reason. And we were like “I don’t want any part in that.” So, our thing to do on Friday nights was just to gather in somebody’s basement and just play music until our parents told us to stop. Eventually, that brought us here.
NB: Where did the name Tokyo Police Club come from?
GA: There’s no good story.
NB: Is it just words mashed together?
GA: Yeah, it really is just words mashed together. That’s the best description. We should come up with a decent story for it because people ask us that all the time. We’re not a band full of mystery. That’s the problem…very open. And we’ve got nothing to say about our name. We wrote the song “Cheer It On” in May of 2005 and it came to be our first show, and we were like “We need to call ourselves something.”
NB: So how is this tour going?
GA: It’s fantastic. It’s the best. Yeah, we are touring with all incredible bands that we are great friends with. Ruby Coast from our home town in Toronto. Born Ruffians from there also. The Harlem Shakes, who are amazing. Ra Ra Riot, who we’ve been out with before. If I’m missing somebody, then I apologize, but it’s just all incredible bands.
NB: Yeah, I saw that all of your openers are fantastic.
GA: Yeah, we wanted it to be that way. We haven’t toured in a while, and we’re not going to be touring again for a while, so we wanted to make this as fun as possible. Going out on tour can be very exhausting, but when you get to the venue everyday and there’s a bunch of people there that you’re really excited to hang out with it’s much better.
NB: How would you describe the sound of the band, or even maybe the sound that you guys are looking for, to a three year old?
GA: To a three year old? We’re music you can jump around and have fun to, I’d say. You don’t have to cover your ears. We don’t have too many swears. Hopefully they aren’t words that a three year old would be familiar with anyway so it doesn’t really matter. Even if, there’s nothing that you would be shocked to hear a three year old say. It’d be a little more cute.
NB: Three year olds cover Tokyo Police Club.
GA: Yeah, yeah, you could do that. If Kidz Bop or whatever that was decided to do one of our tracks, they wouldn’t have too much trouble choosing, sifting through the lyrics.
NB: Do you ever read your own reviews? I always wonder, as a musician, if you read your own stuff.
GA: Yeah when the album first came out, I did. But eventually it became too difficult separating what they are saying as an actual critique from just journalism. You can’t take it to heart. Sometimes you find reviews that maybe do offer very good criticism that you can use to make better songs in the future. Some publications are just about tearing bands up, and some publications are just about puffing bands careers up. I don’t know. I feel like it’s good to find a middle ground.
NB: I feel like reviewers should also be reviewed sometimes.
GA: Yeah.
NB: They’re never criticized for their writing.
GA: That’s the one thing. That is the one part of the music industry that is completely unnecessary. It’s kind of the easiest job out there.
NB: Yeah, nobody is looking over their shoulder.
GA: Exactly. Maybe that will be my thing…writing in just letters to the editor week after week. More counter-reviews.
NB: What is your favorite flavor of jellybean?
GA: In just the regular variety, yellow.
NB: Yellow-flavored.
GA: Yellow lemon I guess. Or white, I guess. I like white beans sometimes. But if you’re going to go all the way to the Jelly Belly gourmet flavors, Dr. Pepper. We had a bunch. I got a bunch for Easter last year, and they were all nicely laid out in a tray, and within a few hours they all just spilt and were all over the floor. So every once in a while, you could just reach down, grab a couple up and just make a cocktail.
Matt Crisler (WSBF-FM): Do you eat the black ones? That’s the big question as to whether or not they like jellybeans?
NB: Yeah, I like the black ones.
GA: I do, yeah.
NB: My friends would all hand me the licorice ones. And I love food, so I was always like “Give me all of yours.” So, I gradually grew to love them.
GA: Yeah, I will take all of the other ones. But if I reach down and grab one, then I’ll eat it. No problem.
NB: So you guys have a Candyland van with jellybeans all over the floor.
GA: Yep.
NB: So I was thinking about this the other day that pop music, when you think about the word “pop” it has become something totally different in especially the minds of young people these days. Do you have your own personal definition? Or has it become a bad word? It used to be like pop and that meant Brittany Spears.
GA: I definitely agree that it used to be something to approach rarely, and if you were labeled as pop music it was just stuff that was very trite and easily digestible. The definition has become much for vague and all-encompassing. I mean, what do you really consider not “pop” music these days? Clearly if it’s not jazz and if it’s not composed in a modernist classical sense, then everything else can really fall under the pop category. I mean, we label ourselves as pop music. I don’t like assigning genres. Oh it’s like trip-electrocore or something. What are you talking about man? It’s just music, and if you like it, then listen to it. It shouldn’t be something that you try and find a label for and then listen very strictly to that.
NB: One more, and this is the one more and this is the one that I ask all bands. If you were an animal, what would you be?
GA: Me? Maybe a turtle because then when I tour, I can bring my home everywhere with me.
NB: That would be nice.
GA: That’d be the best actually. That would be really great. I don’t think it fits with me any other way.
NB: Thanks so much.