Walk Off The Earth (Photo: Erin O'Connell)

Exclusive Interview: Walk Off The Earth
February 4, 2012
by Chuck Norton

Chances are, you’ve seen the video.

If not, you must be living under a rock. Because as I am typing this, the video has been viewed 46,660,336 times on YouTube.

Yes, I’m talking about Walk Off The Earth’s cover of Goyte’s “Somebody That I Used To Know”.

The success of the video on YouTube – due in part to the gimmick that all five band-members performed the song on one guitar – has catapulted this little-known, unsigned Canadian band to the International mainstream in a few, short months.

Their video was the most-watched video on YouTube in January 2012. Not just in Canada or the US, but globally.

The band’s success wasn’t limited to video as their cover of “Somebody That I Used To Know” debuted at number 14 on the Billboard charts in January 2012, the highest charting debut in almost a year. And most recently, the band performed the song on ‘Ellen’, one of the largest syndicated television shows in North America.

Formed in 2006, the band from Burlington, Ontario, is comprised of Gianni Luminati, Ryan Marshall, Sarah Blackwood, Mike Taylor and Joel Cassady. But for all that has been seen and heard of Walk Off The Earth, not much is widely know about the band outside of Cananda.

Originally the band made a name for themselves by covering songs by The Gregory Brothers. They’ve released two albums (their debut was released in 2008) and most recently covered other chart-topping pop songs, including Adele’s “Someone Like You”. But it was “Somebody That I Used To Know” that propelled them into one of the most talked about bands of 2012.

I had a chance to catch up with Blackwood, who is also a member of the garage/horror-punk band The Creepshow – and performs with Luminati as the duo Gianni and Sarah – earlier this week for an insightful and engaging interview.

For more information on the band, visit their Web site or follow them on Twitter.

DeadJournalist.com brings you this exclusive interview with Sarah Blackwood of Walk Off The Earth.

Walk Off The Earth

With millions of people aware of the band through your YouTube videos and network performances, how overwhelming of a thought is it to know that you have reach so many people worldwide?

SB: We are all very excited and happy. It has been a goal of ours to make a video that went viral. Working so hard for the past three years to really put a lot of efforts in to the videos and songs. It feels great!

What has been the highlight of this whirlwind of popularity?

SB: The fact that we got to this point doing what we love. Not many people get to say that.

What led you to chose the Goyte song for your video? Where video did the idea come from?

SB: Gianni heard the song on the radio on day and said to me “Sar, this song is amazing! It has rejuvenated my faith in music on the radio!” And from that moment we started working on ideas for a video to cover it. Gianni found three peeps on one guitar on youtube, so we upped it to five. The rest is history.

Do you, as a band, have any concern that your career may be prematurely defined by your cover songs and not for your original music?

SB: No. Because we have such an immense amount of back log when it comes to the band and all of us as musicians. People see that when they research us after the video and that is why we are still in the press. It has been a month since the video went viral, and people are very, very, very interested in what we are up to. That means a lot.

At the time this is written, the band is still unsigned. I would imagine the interaction with labels has now gone from chasing to being chased. How has this situation impacted what you are looking for in a label – and conversely – what labels are now asking of you?

SB: We just want to make sure no matter who we bring in to our family they are there for our best interest. They will be behind our decisions and work as a part of our team. We have no interest in signing away our rights and our creative freedom. It turns out we have a lot of upper hand in this right now and that feels goooood!

I’m sure a lot of people are curious as to what Walk Off The Earth sounds like when not covering a song. How would you describe the band’s sound?

SB: I really don’t know. That’s a good question …

With three vocalists with distinctive sounds, how do you blend those vocals on your songs? Do each of the vocalist tend to have a dominate role per song or do you try to blend them on each track?

SB: We are all very professional. We all know that it’s not about ego and it’s not about being in the spotlight for any one of us individually. We coordinate the songs directly based on how it sounds. So who veers voice sound the best in that one part, that’s where it goes. It’s actually a very easy process.

When performing live, do you try to maintain consistency from show-to-show or does the mood of the band and the energy of the crowd effect an individual show?

SB: Live shows are very, very important to us. We always want to have the best every. It is key that we all stay positive and try and get the crowd involved as best as we can. Being on stage is like jumping around in a candy field for us. It’s what we love to do.

Who inspires you most as artists? Do you look for external sources for motivation/inspiration, or do you try to extract it all from personal experience?

SB: All of the above. Creativeness and ideas come from life experience. That includes other artists being an inspiration, other people’s music. Ideas we have, thoughts, moments and experiences. We live through music …so everything we do, we put in to the music.

As a band, you’ve obviously learned how to manipulate social media to your advantage. Other than your videos success, what other benefits or detriments from the intimacy your fans have to the band because of Twitter, Facebook, etc.?

Sarah Blackwood

SB: We love social media. I don’t care what anyone says. In our day in age it is so hard to get through all the bands and music and artists. With Social Media we have bridged that gap from 2000-2012 where music changed completely. The industry has become this merging river to oceans of labels, companies and artists.

The power of social media is great. It allows artists to rely on their own hark work instead of the half assed work of someone else. It gives us the chance to get our music out there with out having to trust some asshole who doesn’t know what he’s doing sitting at the top of the music industry.

We will forever be all about social media because it helped us get to where we are at today.

Is there an artist that you’ve encountered recently that you’ve been recommending to your friends?

SB: Bon Iver. They are amazing.

What were you listening to in 2002?

SB: Um, probably something sad.

Which do you prefer: MP3, CD, Tape or Vinyl?

SB: Vinyl

Web site(s) you read regularly?

SB: I don’t read websites … I watch them. Youtube, Facebook, hotmail.

One Drink. One Movie. One Album.

SB: Fizzy water. ‘Natural Born Killers’. One Man Army – Last Words Spoken

O'Brother

Exclusive Interview: O’Brother
January 29, 2012
by Chuck Norton

The moral of the fable about the tortoise and the hare is that those lacking focus and determination have the opportunity to exceed the success of those whose effort is compromised by a tendency to dillydally.

In the context of music, this is often the case.

When the band O’Brother formed in 2006 in Atlanta it would have been difficult to predict that, six years later, the band would find the success that had escaped them earlier in their career. As a matter of fact, with the band re-tooling its roster in 2008, it would have been easy to think that the band might never be more than a local band with neighborhood appeal.

It may have taken longer than most, but with the band’s first, full-length album, Garden Window, out and the band finding broader appeal thanks to its tours with fellow Atlantans, Manchester Orchestra, the band is reaping the fruits of their determination.

While the band’s sound leans more toward the industrial-alternative rock mainstream than many of their more critically-acclaimed contemporaries, it’s not difficult to appreciate the drive the band was able to maintain.

Featuring original members Michael Martens and brothers Anton and Johnny Dang along Tanner Merritt and Aaron Wamack -who joined in 2008 – O’Brother is put themselves in position to find continued success.

For more information on the band, visit their Facebook page: here.

DeadJournalist.com brings you this exclusive interview with Tanner Merritt of O’Brother.

For someone unfamiliar with the band, how would you describe O’Brother? How did the current line-up come together?

TM: I generally have the hardest time describing our music to people, but I would say that we’re a loud band. Aggressive at times and melodic/pretty at others. Usually dynamically intense. O’Brother has been a band since 2006 but with a different singer and overall sound. The original singer left the band at the beginning of ’08 and Aaron Wamack and I joined the band at the end of that year. Aaron and I knew the rest of the guys from playing in other bands in the Atlanta area that had played with O’Brother.

What were the biggest challenges in writing this album? What did you learn from the process that will help you on your next album?

TM: Garden Window is our first attempt at writing a full-length together, so much of the process was trial and error. I think every time a band records they learn a little bit more about making records and how they want them to sound.

We’re very happy with the finished product, but I think we learned a ton of things that will help us next time. Everyone’s individual strengths/weaknesses while tracking, what sort of tones we like, and more than anything patience. Recording is a very time-consuming, taxing, yet rewarding process. We can’t wait to do it again.

What drives the creative process behind writing and recording your music?

TM: What drives me personally is simply the concept of creation. The act of building something out of nothing that is completely unique to you. And the notion that this creation has the potential to spark an emotion, an experience, or something as basic as an idea, in the mind of the listener. Because what you create is a by-product of anything that has done the same for you. Influences are all around you, and I believe artistic creation to be a deeper appreciation of those things.

When touring, do you try to maintain consistency from show-to-show or to you like the mood of the band and the vibe of the crowd impact each performance?

TM: I don’t think their is really a choice in it. Each performance is its own entity with variables that affect the overall outcome. Every group of spectators has a different response, and as a performer that plays heavily in to what you give back.

Which do you enjoy more: writing, recording or performing?

TM: I would say writing. Only because I think recording and performing are still part of the writing process. In the studio, you’re still experimenting with sounds and bringing the song to life. And with each performance a band is constantly improving that song’s execution and presentation, making it better.

Coming out of Atlanta, how would you describe the music scene in the city? Have you seen an evolution during the past few years?

TM: Definitely, the music scene here is always evolving and adapting. Different bands constantly come and go, different types of music gain popularity with show-goers. I think the Atlanta scene is in a good place right now, their are a bunch of young creative bands doing great things. So much so, in fact, that I think it’s difficult for bands to get people to come to shows at times because their are so many going on all of the time. Their is definitely a community here amongst bands though, and everyone is very supportive of each other.

Was there a band or artist who made the extra effort to take you under their wing when you were first started out?

TM: Yes, we have been fortunate enough to have several. Manchester Orchestra has been incredibly supportive of us from the beginning. They took us on our first full U.S. tour and helped us do our record. And through them we met bands like Thrice, Circa Survive, and Biffy Clyro who took us on tour and taught us so much. They’ve all been incredibly kind to us.

What’s the most bizarre thing that’s happen to you while on tour?

TM: It’s all pretty bizarre. It’s hard to think of a particular story that stands-out … Once in our old van our cruise control malfunctioned and wouldn’t turn off, so we were barreling down the highway at 70mph dodging cars. Every time Michael would push the brakes the engine would rev and push harder. Eventually, we shifted neutral and killed the engine and coasted over to the side.

How has social media and social networking impacted how you market the band?

TM: It definitely helps keep people up-to-date on everything the band is doing. Marketing is definitely more in the hands of the artist than it has ever been.

Have you seen benefits or detriments from the intimacy your fans have to the band because of Twitter, Facebook, etc.?

TM: Benefits (I think). It definitely allows for a closer relationship with fans. People feel more connected to what you’re doing when they can follow you on twitter and know where you are or what you are doing. Being in a touring band is a unique experience and I think social media allows people to feel more a part of that.

Is there an artist that you’ve encountered recently that you’ve been recommending to your friends?

TM: Yes. Our friends The Soil and The Sun, Big Jesus, Nigredo, and Manray.

What were you listening to in 2002?

TM: Ha. Too much Modest Mouse. At the Drive-In, Smashing Pumpkins, and Radiohead. I know I listened to some really terrible music too but luckily I can only remember the good stuff right now.

Which do you prefer: MP3, CD, Tape or Vinyl?

TM: Vinyl. If everyone owned a record player the music industry probably wouldn’t be dying.

Web site(s) you read regularly?

TM: Imdb and Wikipedia.

One Drink. One Album. One Movie.

TM: Jameson on the rocks. Hail to the Thief. The Fountain.

The Remingtons - Blue Frontier (1992)

This morning I was in the mood to listen to some older country music. While I was looking through my Don Williams options, I noticed an artist whose album I wore out 20 years ago, but haven’t listened to in who-knows-how-long: The Remingtons.

In 1992, The Remingtons released the album, Blue Frontier, which was choked-full with fabulous songs by a band whose vocal harmonies were tight, much like their softly-buffed country sound.

In the late-’80′s and early ’90′s, there were a number of other band who built their career on light rock-inspired vocals on top of country-pop sounds that were accented with box-tops, electric fiddles and electric, peddle steels. Bands like Restless Heart, Little Texas and Exile were either more well known or had bigger hits, but it was the Remingtons – with ex-Bread member Jimmy Griffin fronting the band – that produced the album that was the gem of the sub-genre.

The band only released two albums, with their debut Blue Frontier charting three songs, including the band’s only top-10 “A Long Time Ago”. Other album highlights include: “Eternally Blue,” “After Ours,” “Two-Timin’ Me,” and “When Love At First Sight Goes Blind”. (Complete album tracklisting below.)

I’m going to do something I normally do not do, and that is post a track that I didn’t get an okay for in advance. I’m doing so simply for those of you who are reading this – and have never heard of The Remingtons – can get an idea of what they sounded like.

The Remingtons – “Two-Timin’ Me” (Posted for educational purpuse only)

Although the CD is out of print, you can buy the album (or tracks) from iTunes via The Remingtons’ artist page.

I’m going to go ahead and enjoy this 10-song, time-period masterpiece a few more times. You have yourself a nice Sunday morning, and enjoy the album, if you decide to buy it.

Tracklisting
1. “Everything to Lose” (Jimmy Griffin, Richard Mainegra, Rick Yancey) – 2:30
2. “A Long Time Ago” (Mainegra) – 2:23
3. “Eternally Blue” (Griffin, Mainegra, Yancey) – 2:51
4. “I Could Love You (With My Eyes Closed)” (Mainegra, Yancey) – 2:45
5. “Two-Timin’ Me” (Griffin, Mainegra, Yancey) – 3:06
6. “After Ours” (Ronnie Caldwell, Mainegra, Yancey) – 3:21
7. “When Love at First Sight Goes Blind” (Mainegra, Yancey, Brandon Sinks) – 2:54
8. “Takin’ the Easy Way Out” (Griffin, Mainegra) – 2:58
9. “That’s Easy for Me to Say” (Griffin, Mainegra, Yancey) – 2:48
10. “Take a Little Love” (Mainegra, Yancey) – 2:50

Akron/Family (Photo: Deborah Samantha)

Exclusive Interview: Akron/Family
January 14, 2012
by Chuck Norton

For the last decade, Akron/Family has been making some of the most unique, experimental folk in North America. As anchors of the Brooklyn music re-birth in the mid-2000′s, their impact on this generation of musicians can’t be understated.

The band has released a half-dozen albums in the last nine years, beginning with 2005′s self-titled debut full-length. We reviewed the band’s last album, Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT, a couple of months after its release in 2011.

Akron/Family – “Silly Bears”

Over the years, Akron/Family has been joined by a number of musicians – including members of Megafaun and Angels of Light – that saw the band performing with as many as seven on-stage musicians. The band is now playing as a three-piece, consisting of original members Dana Janssen, Seth Olinsky and Miles Seaton. All three provide vocals and multi-instrumentation to their live performances.

The band – known for their unique, and often interactive live shows – is on tour now with Bad Weather California, including a show in Atlanta on January 14. Complete January 2012 tour dates below.

01/14/12 Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn
01/15/12 Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge
01/17/12 Chicago, IL – Hideout
01/18/12 South Bend, IN – Subkirke
01/19/12 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
01/20/12 Philadelphia, PA – Blockley Pourhouse
01/21/12 Brooklyn, NY – 285 Kent Ave.

For more information on the band, visit their Web site or their Vimeo page.

DeadJournalist.com brings you this exclusive interview with Seth Olinsky of Akron/Family.

Happy New Year. How did you spend the holidays? Catching-up on some rest before your upcoming North American tour?

SO: Happy new year to you. With my family in Pennsylvania catching up on eating, playing apples to apples, and hanging with friends at local dive bars, pretending in my mind its the Cedar tavern and we are the abstract expressionists.

How does this album differ from your past albums, creatively? Was there a point of inspiration for the album?

SO: I think the biggest difference was how we started and created the record. Rather then just starting from songs that we had all written individually, we all got together and really dreamed up the sound and feeling of the record – creatively/musically/emotionally. I feel like it contributed to a more group-minded record.

Akron/Family (Photo: Ian McNeil)

As you have matured as artists how has your song-writing process changed?

SO: I think we write more directly about our lives and emotional experiences, rather then heady detached abstraction.

What have you learned about the recording process throughout the last decade that you have applied to this album?

SO: Ribbon mics sound amazing on guitar amps (and lots of other things).

Having just finished up a European tour, what are the biggest day-to-day challenges you have while on the road overseas?

SO: How did people ever live without their cell phones?

When performing live, do you try to maintain consistency from show-to-show or does the mood of the band and the energy of the crowd effect an individual show?

SO: Even when we play a similar set list from night to night, the mood and energy of the shows can be drastically different.

Who inspires you most as artists? Do you look for external sources for motivation/inspiration, or do you try to extract it all from personal experience?

SO: Speaking for myself, I’m really into Cy Twombly right now. And Bob Dylan. Listening to a lot of Dylan.

“Cast A Net” by Akron/Family from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

With the rapid evolution of social media and marketing bands have faced since the advent of social networking do you find that promoting the band is a 24/7 process?

SO: Honestly it’s hard for me to keep up with the times in that way.

Have you seen benefits or detriments from the intimacy your fans have to the band because of Twitter, Facebook, etc.?

SO: We have always been fairly open – coming out after the show to meet and talk to everyone. So that aspect feels natural. But the “virtual” part of it still feels a little bizarre to me. I guess I’m old fashioned with the term friend.

Is there an artist that you’ve encountered recently that you’ve been recommending to your friends?

SO: Been listening to the War on Drugs’ and Kurt Vile’s records.

What were you listening to in 2002?

SO: Gastr Del Sol, Peter Brotzman, Ayler, Arvo Part, Jug Bands, 68/69 Grateful Dead shows.

Which do you prefer: MP3, CD, Tape or Vinyl?

SO: Xmas carols and sing alongs.

Web site(s) you read regularly?

SO: Gmail

One Drink. One Movie. One Album.

SO: Jameson on ice. ‘James Bond Casino Royal’. Astral Weeks.

Atlanta - We May Not Be The Best, But We Aren't The Worst

A response to Rob Parker’s assertion that Atlanta is the worst sports city in America on ESPNNewYork.com today.

Dear Mr. Parker –

I don’t know you and you don’t know me. Until today, I’ve never read anything you’ve written. I’m sure you haven’t read anything of mine either, so let’s agree to not take offense to that.

I’m not the type of guy who gets worked up by stock-in-trade, pseudo-editorial pieces. They are what they are. But there was something about your column today that called Atlanta the worst sports city in America that bothered me.

I’m not going to write a counter-point piece, because some of your points are valid. But with your simple, easy to craft stereo-typing and off-the-mark points, let me offer you a little insight, from my perspective.

I’m 35. I’m male. I work a couple of miles from downtown Atlanta and live about 25 miles outside of the city. I’m from here (or from about 50 miles away, which in relative terms, makes me a local). I’m married. I have a son. I’m college educated. I have a decent job and I write on the side.

Oh, and I’m a life-long fan of the Atlanta Braves, Hawks and Falcons (in that order).

Let me tell you about a few things that might let you understand why Atlanta isn’t the worst sports city in America. At least not to me – from my personal perspective.

First, it isn’t the best. Hell, it probably isn’t in the top 10. But it isn’t the worst.

In your article, you (or your staff) provided numbers showing how Atlanta was middle-of-the-pack in attendance for the Braves and Falcons. Obviously, if Atlanta was last, you’d have an argument for the worst sports city in American. But they are middle-of-the-pack.

You bring up the Hawks and their lack of fan-base. I agree with you. The support isn’t there. You lay out some of the element in your piece. In recent years, this city has come to loathe the ownership group that owns the Hawks (and owned the Thrashers, more on that in a bit). They drafted poorly, retained disliked players and failed to bring in marquee players or coaches. They have never endeared themselves to the market. And the team itself is uninspiring.

Or did you miss the Triple-OT loss to a LeBron- and DWade-less Heat team last night?

And about the Thrashers – the second NHL team lost by this city – it wasn’t for lack of interest. Much like the Flames, ownership lost the team.

Wait, I know what you are going to say, “if fans had shown up, the team would have stayed”.

Well, I’ll challenge you to find any team that was as poor as the Thrashers for as long as the Thrashers were horrible that drew better than they did. I’m not a hockey fan, but look at the Blackhawks, and the attendance that they drew in the years before they started winning again, and tell me I’m completely off-base.

People spend money for winners and stars. The Thrashers didn’t win and a when they got a star or two, they ended up playing for some other city’s team.

Atlanta is also one of the worst areas when it comes to sprawl in the country. That makes commuting to games difficult. This isn’t helped by the fact that there is no rail to Turner Field and that the rail lines don’t run into the suburban countries where there is the greatest population. And although it’s been changing, slowly, downtown Atlanta is a lot like downtown Tampa. Once the business day is over, there isn’t a lot of activity. That means the people that work a 10 hour day that get off and 6PM – are asked to drive 45 minutes home and turn around and come back into town – that’s a lot for a middle-of-the-week game.

Although Atlanta is the 9th largest metro area in the country, its in-the-city-limits population is less than 500k. And yes, the area was hit by the economic down-turn as much as any place this side of Vegas or Florida. I think just about everyone has less money to spend these days.

There are a few things that are true and without reproach. Atlanta is a college-town – actually it is the region that is a college region. That’s true. Look at the number of years in-a-row that the Peach/Chik-fil-A Bowl has sold out. Look at the kick-off game at the Dome. Its easier to swallow spending a few hundred bucks for a once-a-year event.

That’s also why the Falcons are drawing much better now than they did 10 years ago. Its easier to get to the Dome on the weekend. And there really aren’t many single-game tickets available. So why the empty seats?

This isn’t local to Atlanta, but it’s important: Corporate tickets. I, myself, get tired of seeing empty court-side seats at Hawks games or behind home-plate at Braves games. It sucks. I’d love to sit there. But you know who has those tickets?

Corporations. And they aren’t avid fans.

They show up when a superstar makes it a good event to bring a business partner or customer. And in Atlanta, corporations love buying-up tickets. That means guys like me can either pay for crappy seats, take a loan out to buy tickets I can’t afford or sit home, with a cheap beer and watch it on TV.

Excuses. That’s what you’re thinking, right?

Maybe you’re right, Mr. Parker. I didn’t even bring up the lack of a true superstar, because really, there aren’t many of those anymore. But let me finish this up and get back to my job since this has been my lunch break …

I haven’t been to a Falcons game since 1979. I haven’t been to a Hawks game since 2003. I hadn’t been to a Thrashers game since 2003, either. I only went to one Braves game last year because had a baby and didn’t really have the means or time to go to another game, or I would have gone to more.

But I watch every game I can. Braves, Hawks, Falcons, I watch them all. When they are loosing by 20 or winning by 20. I’m watching. I’m engaged. I’m passionate. I’m interested. I’ve you don’t believe me, check out my Twitter feed.

I’m just not there in person. And I’m okay with that. I don’t have to be there to cheer for my hometown teams.

And you know what else? There are a lot of other people like me in this town. People who leave the house before dawn and get home at sunset; people who eat dinner and put their kids to bed and annoy their wife because they have to watch their local sports team on TV rather than do something more productive.

Atlanta is not and will never be the best sports town in America. Not in my life-time at least. But to consider it the worst is laughable – and frankly – it’s down-right insulting. It’s probably about where it should be – somewhere in the middle.

When I sit down in to watch the Hawks and the Falcons this weekend, I will not be routing for teams representing the worst sports city in America. I’m be routing for the teams of a city that’s hanging in there, somewhere in the middle.

Respectfully,

Chuck Norton

PS – Excuse the type-o’s. I may not be a great writer, but I’m a pretty horrible copy editor. Especially when in a hurry.

DeadJournalist.com

Thank you to those of you who took the recent survey about DeadJournalist.com. For those of you who might be interested, here are the highlights of the feedback:

- Overwhelmingly, you are all not opposed to ads;
- About half of you would like to see a new site design;
- The vast majority of you want more original content – mainly more editorials and interviews (I was surprised by this);
- The majority of you do not like content involving tours, MP3′s or mixtapes (Again, I was surprised by this); and
- The majority of you find out about new links from Twitter.

A few items about DJdc in 2011:

- I had about 4,000 visitors to a month for around 11,000 page views per month.
- Right-at two-thirds of the readers came from the US, with Georgia narrowly beating out California for the state with the most views. (New York, Texas and Illinois rounded-out the top five.)
- I had a dozen people contribute pieces to the site.
- I wrote about two Editorials a month (on average).
- The 21 Interviews were the most since 2006.
- In the first half of the year, we had a ton of Reviews. The biggest years for reviews, ever.
- The mid-year addition of the Artist Op-Ed section didn’t take-off like I had hoped.
- I (and the site) joined the short-lived Paper Crane Collective, which was a great idea that just didn’t manifest itself the way any of us had hoped.

Overall, 2011 was a good year.

Here’s what I find interesting about all of this – in relation to the future of the site:

- The most page-views/visitors come from MP3/video/tour posts. Which means only “readers” of the site took the survey. If I want to start placing ads, I would have to post more MP3/video/tour items.
- I would love to write more content. I would love to have more people write original pieces. The site is much better when there is a contant stream of new, exclusive content. But that’s tough to maintain.
- I’m torn. One one hand, every time I come close to pulling the plug on the web site, I get re-energized for a while and get up some new content. Then, the pendulum swings the other way, and it becomes a burdon.
- I’ll be honest, I thought going into 2011, that I have a few people who would be able to be more actively involved with this site. That would have given me a little more time to focus on original writing. But, despite a hopeful first part of the year, that didn’t happen. Frankly, it will never happen. It is so easy to start a blog or whatever, that it’s impossible to keep any sort of a staff together. The good ones are gone once they get their feet wet. Good for them. Bad for me.
- Technology is great, if you have time to stay on top of it. With all of the changes that happen with technology, it is damn-near impossible to stay on top of everything in order to stay optimized and maximised. Failure to do so doesn’t max ad $. You see the problem.

DJdc will be six in March. The original concept is 10 years-old, later this year. The site is just an extension of me and I’m conflicted, disenfranchised and uninspired. Right now, the site is too.

Over the years, I haven’t earned a penny from the site. My bills are paid as a mid-manager in a brick-and-mortar company where I’ve been for almost 11 years after loosing my dot-com job. As my real-world job has gotten more stressful, tedious and burdensome over the years, I tried to move my zeal for creation to the Web site. It’s been tougher each-and-every-year.

In 2011, maintaining creativity and and passion became more challenging because, having a baby, takes away most of the free-time I had to listen or write or create. I’m not complaining about that. While I’d love to have an eight-hour-a-day job with a 30-minute round trip commute, but that isn’t the case. Maybe if i I had another two or three hours-a-day at home, I’d have more time to work on the site but most days I only have about an hour a day to do so. And lets be real, my family takes priority. Plus, some days, I just want to watch TV and do nothing.

I’ll be 36 this year. There are a lot of fantastic blogs and site out there run by people a lot younger and a lot more active than I am. Age isn’t a factor in this, but place-in-life is.

There are a lot of things I need to do in 2012 to get my life back in order. I need to work-out. I need to loose some weight. I need to get my house painted. I want to try to garden a little more. I want to try to be less stressed. I want to enjoy the time I have.

Be prepared for anything in 2012. You could see ads and less original content as I try to recoup my losses. You could see less generic content and more original pieces. You could see a new site. You could see a scaled-back version of the current one. Who knows?

If you’d make it this far, then you are either extremely dedicated to this site or are quite bored. I kid. If you’ve helped-out in the past – thank you. If you read the site regularly – thank you.

If you want to express your thoughts, please do. Comments – good or bad – are always welcome.

Here’s to whatever the future hold,

Chuck Norton
Founder and Publisher, DeadJournalist.com

Del McCoury

Exclusive Interview: Del McCoury
December 23, 2011
by: Chuck Norton

He’ll be 73 in February 2012. He and his band put out two critically acclaimed albums in 2011. He’s still touring and lining up his next projects. He’s one of the most revered talents in his genre whose appeal extends beyond the bounds of said genre. And, he’s nominated for a Grammy … again.

They don’t make ‘em like Del McCoury anymore.

Steve Earle said – and I’m paraphrasing here – that “bluegrass was the original alternative Country music” and that “a Bluegrass picker plays for the love of the music because there ain’t no way to get rich playing Bluegrass music.”

Although it hasn’t been popular as a mainstream genre since the mid-1900′s, Bluegrass finds its way around the edges of Country, Jazz and Rock for good reason – it’s an artist’s genre. It’s primary instruments are nearly genre-specific. Its sound is distinctive. The vocal styling of traditional Bluegrass is unique and yet strangely ubiquitous.

It was Bill Monroe who was the godfather of Bluegrass with other acts like Flatt and Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers among the artists who gained stardom in the 1950′s. Now, there aren’t many of the traditional Bluegrass artists left, with octogenarians Earl Scruggs and Ralph Stanley among the last of the original voices still alive.

Although part of what is considered the second wave of Bluegrass musicians, McCoury is a pillar of traditional bluegrass. But McCoury’s road to legendary status wasn’t a smooth or straight one.

He began playing Bluegrass in the 1950′s – eschewing the music made popular by Elvis for the music made by Earl (Scruggs). He found success as a musician when he joined Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1963. Monroe moved him from banjo to guitar and singer while tutoring him on the finer points of the genre. But the tutelage was short lived.

McCoury, having started a family and looking for more financial stability, took a job to support his family and put music on the back-burner. Living in York, PA., he spent more than a decade being relegated to a weekend warrior, playing festivals and recording when time allowed. During that time he wrote numerous original pieces while also putting his own spin on many classics as he continued to release albums.

His bands had frequent turnover as musicians came and went. His career continued, but never with the success that may have seen likely two decades earlier.

By the mid-1980′s his sons Ronnie and Rob had joined his band and, in 1990, Del McCoury won his first Male Vocalist of the Year award from International Bluegrass Music Association. The McCourys made the decision to moved to Nashville in 1991 feeling it was the best opportunity for the band. That decision – and the subsequent relocation – led to what could only be described as a stratospheric jump in popularity.

During the 1990′s the band and their work found a greater audience. Del McCoury became a favorite recording partner for acts ranging from Vince Gill and Allison Krause to Phish and Steve Earle. With each year came more awards and by the end of the decade Del McCoury became a standard barer for traditional Bluegrass.

Del McCoury Band

A Grammy Award winner in 2007, he is also three-time nominee – including this year. He’s 31-time International Bluegrass Music Association award winner – including a nine-time winner of Entertainer of the Year. In addition to his own awards, his band members have also won numerous awards for their musicianship, making the Del McCoury Band one of the most decorated, award-winning band of any genre.

In 2011, the Del McCoury Band released two albums – American Legacies with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band – and Old Memories: The Songs of Bill Monroe which garnered the band’s latest Grammy nomination.

His appeal to artists of other genres continues to grow to this day. He’s a favorite of artists as wide-ranging as Bjork and David Byrne in part because of his open-mindedness to both the music and venues of other genres.

Needless-to-say, the man’s a living legend.

I had a chance to catch up with Del McCoury a couple of weeks ago and talk to him about a wide range of topics including his most recently album, his career and family. I think you’ll find him warm and openly honest. To say it was a privilege have the opportunity to interview McCoury would be an understatement.

DeadJournalist.com is proud to bring you this exclusive interview with Del McCoury.

First and foremost, congratulations on another Grammy nomination, this time for Old Memories. While you’ve had a long-line of award nominations and wins, is it still a special feeling when you find out about them?

DM: It really is. It’s such an exclusive thing to be nominated for a Grammy with all of the bands that are out there working hard and putting out great music. I feel really fortunate.

I read that you thought of the idea for Old Memories on a flight back from the Grammy’s a few years ago. With so much work of Bill Monroe’s to choose from, how did decide on which tracks of his to record?

DM: I started a list of songs on that flight home that really got me thinking. There were different reasons for the selections, but mostly I picked songs that were more obscure – some that even Monroe never played a lot.

Are there any of his songs on the album that have significant meaning to you?

DM: “The Lonesome Truck Drivers Blues” probably had more meaning than any of them. My brother had that record when I was a kid and that was some of the earliest music I heard. Later on I became a truck driver, so it did have significant meaning to me. Also “In Despair”, “Live and Let Live”, and “I’m Lonesome, I’m Blue” are three that I sang in the show with him almost every night, so I definitely wanted to do those.

Given your relationship with him – both personally and professionally – how special is it to be able to celebrate is life and his work with this album?

DM: It’s very special. I wanted to record the songs as close to the way he did it, in the same key, and with the same instrumental breaks. It’s been almost fifty years now since I started performing these songs, and they are all still great songs.

Between Old Memories and the American Legacies album you released with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band earlier this year, you seem to be getting more prolific with each year. What are the your and the band’s plans for 2012?

DM: We’re going to continue to tour, and we’ve got a lot more dates with Preservation Hall. I’ve just started working on ideas for the next album, so I’m sure we’ll hit the studio soon.

When you are looking for a new project, what is it that excites and motivates you? Is writing new material something that is important to you, personally?

DM: When I first start thinking about a new project, I always dread it a little bit, because it’s always such a big undertaking that it’s almost overwhelming. However, as soon as I find a couple of songs that excite me, and things start rolling, then I really enjoy it. I’ve always enjoyed recording, and having something new to share with the fans.

As for writing songs, I started writing out of necessity. Used to, it was hard to come up with new material, so I’d just write it myself. Now, there are so many great songwriters out there, I’ve gotten a little lazy and don’t write nearly as much as I used to. I spend a lot of time listening to songs that other people have written.

As a performer, how have your shows changed over the years? At its core, is the show you try to give an audience the same now as it was earlier in your career?

DM: At the core, the show is the same. The big difference is we have such a large catalog of songs, and the band can play everything so well, that we can handle just about any request that the audience throws at us – as long as I can remember the words. That’s probably the biggest difference, but the main goal each night is just to give the audience what they want because they are the ones that bought the tickets that allowed us to be there.

Having worked with a litany of musicians across many genres over the years, has there been anyone in particular that you’ve found to have a kindred spirit to yours when it comes to their passion for music – and traditional bluegrass in-particular?

DM: After all the folks that I’ve met over the years, Bill Monroe is still the one that immediately comes to mind. His love for the music, and his ability to do it so well has always been my standard for excellence, and I’ve never met another musician who I connected with as much musically.

It seems many of the younger generation of bluegrass musicians are playing “newgrass” over the traditional bluegrass sound. Do you think that the sound championed by Monroe, Flat and Scruggs, etc. can even be replicated today, given vast amount of musical influences most newer artists have?

DM: I don’t think we’ll ever hear a young band play traditional bluegrass Monroe invented it. Most of the young musicians aren’t influenced a lot by Monroe, Scruggs, etc. They are influenced by second and third generation Bluegrassers whose sound has evolved, so unless you find a young group of musicians who are willing to go back to the source, there are going to be some differences.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some young folks playing today that can play that stuff, and do in jam sessions and stuff, but when they sit down to create their own music, other influences are going to alter their course some.

Del McCoury Band - Old Memories: The Songs of Bill Monroe

What are the biggest challenges for you – both as a performer and personally – for being on the road?

DM: The biggest challenge is my voice. I’m always worried about it being there … for the most part it’s never really let me down. I still think about it, because the older I get the older my voice gets. So taking care of it on a daily basis and making sure it’s warmed up and ready to go each night is the biggest challenge.

Thankfully so far I haven’t had any real problems.

I’m sure you get asked this a fair amount, but how special is it for you to have your sons not only perform with you but to able to spend some much time with them while touring? Do you think it helped strengthen your relationship with them?

DM: It’s really special that we get to spend so much time with the boys. My wife, Jean, goes on the road with us and handles the merch and whatever else we might need, and she and I have talked many times about how lucky we are to be able to do this with family. Now Jason and Alan are almost like sons, so it really is one big family on the road.

I also feel fortunate that Rob and Ronnie are such great musicians that I can have my cake and eat it to … my family and world class musicians all rolled into one.

It’s probably what has allowed me to maintain such a busy road schedule year after year.

What is the best advice you’ve received from a fellow performer that left a lasting impact with you?

DM: It wasn’t necessarily advice, but what I think was the biggest influence on my career was watching Bill Monroe. He worked really hard, and I realized that to have a music career was going to be really hard work, but if I stayed after it, I would have a chance at success.

As for advice, Ricky Skaggs and his wife Sharon encouraged us to move to Nashville around 1990, and we soon did. The nudge from them was what it took, and that was a big step for the band and the success we’ve had. I’ll always be grateful to Ricky and Sharon for that.

What advice would you give someone setting their sights on being a musician?

DM: First and foremost, make sure that’s what you really want to do. If you are intent on becoming a musician, don’t give up. A lot of people think they want to be musicians, but you’ve got to really have the “want to” to put in the work it takes. Only a few people make it into the limelight, there are thousands more that just love being a musician in whatever capacity that might be.

Is there an artist that you’ve encountered that you’ve been impressed by recently?

DM: The guy that I’ve enjoyed watching over the half dozen years or so is Dierks Bentley. We met Dierks a long time before he became a professional musician, and to see him set his sights on what he wanted, and work his butt off to become a good musician and singer, and turn that into a successful career has been impressive.

I know how hard it is to achieve success in music, and he deserves everything he’s earned. My boys went on the road with him last year and they were impressed with how hard he worked. That’s what it takes in this business, and I have a lot of respect for anyone that can stay the course and reach their goals.

Along the way Dierks has also stayed true to the music he loves by including Bluegrass on his albums and taking a chance by taking the boys on the road with him for an acoustic tour.

Those things say a lot about a person.

With the holidays fast approaching, what are you plans? Do you have any traditions that you try to maintain year-in-and-year-out?

DM: We still have our old farmhouse near York, PA so we’ll go home this year for a week or so. Now traditions are hard to maintain. With all the kids going different directions with their families, we just find a time that we can all get together whenever that might be some time between Christmas Eve and New Year’s.

What is your favorite meal?

DM: My wife is a great cook, so it’s hard to choose, but I really like breakfast, so I’d have to say her sausage and gravy is probably my favorite (I hope my doctor doesn’t read this).

Who is the artist or musician that you love to listen to when you have some time to yourself?

DM: The best band is still when Flatt and Scruggs were in Bill’s band. I don’t listen to a lot of the new music on the street … when I have time to listen and I’m not listening for songs for a new project, I tend to go back and listen to Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, and some of the other great traditional bluegrass.

Sharon Van Etten

Editor’s Note: I don’t do “Best of” or “Top” lists, but I do like things … as hard as it might seem to believe. I’m going to post a few editorials between now and the end of the year about the various things I’ve liked about 2011.

For me to do a post on all the songs I liked that came out in 2011 I’d have to type for about 20 hours straight. I’m going to pair down the list through a couple of parameters.

First, if a band or artist qualified for my What I Liked About 2011 – Albums article, then I will not use a track from that album in the songs category. Secondly, I have to have the song in my possessions, either physically or digitally. Lastly, and this should be obvious, songs I’ve just heard don’t count.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here are some of the songs I’ve really liked in 2011:

Sharon Van Etten – “Serpents”
(Love, love, love this song.)

I Low – “I Hate Feeling Like This”
(This is the best song by an artist that you’ve never heard of … gives me chills listening to it, still.)

Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”
(Forever will be the song that was on seemingly every time I was on the way to or from the hospital while Luke was in NICU.)

WATERS – “For The One”
(Great track by the ex-Port O’Brien lead singer. Also, proud to be one of the first to post this when it came out.)

EMA – “Milkman”
(EMA’s album just missed making my albums list.)

Youth Lagoon – “Montana”
(This album is one of a couple in my wish-list. All the songs I’ve heard off his album are fantastic. If I had it, I’m sure it would have also make my albums list. Teen Daze is a fan, too.)

Givers – “Up Up Up”
(What I really loved was one of the remixes of this track.)

AM & Shawn Lee – “Dark into Light”
(I’ve been meaning to listen to this album and just never found time.)

James Vincent McMorrow “Higher Love”
(He also covered “Wicked Game” but this version of Steve Windwood’s classic tune is top-notch.)

Girls – “Vomit”
(I don’t know why Father, Son, Holy Ghost wasn’t on my albums list. I do, it was an oversight.)

M83 – “Midnight City”
(This was my favorite song of the years for about two months. Everything I know about being happy is encapsulated in this track.)

Hooray For Earth – “No Love”
(Before “Midnight City” hit, this was my happy song of the year. The album wasn’t as good as the song, but the song was fabulous.)

JEFF The Brotherhood – “Mellow Out”
(I just bought the album. JEFF The Brotherhood is the kind of band I listen to when I need to feel more like a man.)

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – “Alabama Pines”
(Isbell in 2011 is kind of like Ryan Adams in 1997. It’s also why they are friends now.)

Wolfram ft. Haddaway – “Thing Called Love” (Legowelt Remix)
(Probably the most random song on this list, but this was a household favorite in the first couple of months of the year.)

Toro Y Moi – “New Beat”
(Love the song, but the album was a let-down to me.)

Those Darlins – “Be Your Bro”
(Love this band. Love this song.)

Crystal Stilts – “Shake The Shackles”
(If there is one band I kick myself for not being obsessed with, it’s Crystal Stilts. And yes, the song actually came out but the album it was on came out in 2011.)

The Alabama Shakes – “Hold On”
(Damn it the buzz isn’t crazy on this band. For good reason. Remember, when they are huge in 2012, we were one of the first people outside of the state of Alabama to tell you about them.)

Lydia Loveless – “Learn To Say No”
(Another just-got-the-album-or-it-wouldn’t-be-on-here artist.)

Cut Copy – “Need You Now”
(Good, not great album. Great, not good song.)

Arron Dean – “To Mary, Love John Watson”
(This is where most of you go, “Who?” and I go “Read the site” because Dean’s a fantastic songwriter.)

Adele – “Rolling In The Deep”
(What? It probably is the best overall song of the year. Don’t hate.)

The Raveonettes – “Forget That You’re Young”
(One of my all-time favorite bands with a perfectly good album that came out this year.)

Beirut – “East Harlem”
(I had a couple of people ask why this album wasn’t on the list. Simple, I never got it.)

YACHT – “Dystopia (The Earth Is On Fire)”
(No better way to end the best songs of 2011 (that qualified) that with this song.)

Love it or hate it, there it is. As with the albums, it is likely that I missed something. There is one song that isn’t featured here on purpose as it will be showing up in another piece.

Zola Jesus

Editor’s Note: I don’t do “Best of” or “Top” lists, but I do like things … as hard as it might seem to believe. I’m going to post a few editorials between now and the end of the year about the various things I’ve liked about 2011.

It seems that every year I have less time to listen to music than the year before. This year proved to be no different. With that said, I did find time during the last 11.5 months to listen to some wonderful albums.

Below is a list of the albums that I own (yes, I still buy music) or happened to get a release through various methods. I’m not including albums that I don’t have in my physical or digital possession.

I’m not going to tell you why I like them. If you want me to justify why I like something, then just bugger off. I like what I like.

So, without any further ado, here’s What I Liked About 2011 – Albums in no particular order*:

Yuck – Yuck
The Antlers – Burst Apart
Other Lives – Tamer Animals
Caveman - CoCo Beware
Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
Dum Dum Girls – Only In Dreams
Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
The Decemberists – The King Is Dead
Destroyer – Kaputt
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Cults – Cults
Dum Dum Girls – He Gets Me High (EP)
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
The Middle East – I Want That You Are Always Happy
Washed Out – Within And Without
Real Estate – Days
Zola Jesus – Conatus
Nikki Lane – Walk Of Shame
Active Child – You Are All I See

* – I did really love that Yuck album as well as The Antlers, Caveman. Other Lives, Real Estate, The Middle East and Zola Jesus. Really, I liked them all a great deal, but I go back to those albums over-and-over.

I also reserve the right to add to this list between now and the end of the year. There are a few weeks in the year and I might find time to listen to the Lydia Loveless album or remember one I forgot. I forget things. It happens.

Lydia Loveless (Photo: Ely Brothers)

Exclusive Interview: Lydia Loveless
December 9, 2011
by Chuck Norton

Remember when you were a teenager and you liked something so much you couldn’t say much more than, “Um, you know, it’s just … like, um …”?

That’s me trying to write about Lydia Loveless. She’s a 21 year-old spit-fire of a singer. She’s basically what would have happened if Mike Ness and Patti Loveless (no relation) had a musical love-child.

Originally from rural Ohio, Lydia Loveless left the family farm and found her way into the punk scene in Columbus, OH as a teenager. Those influences are apparent in her music as she crosses classic, soulful country with cowpunk. She’s so good it makes you wonder if she was fronting an Old ’97′s cover band (and I mean that is the most complimentary way) as a 12-year-old.

Before reading any further, do yourself a favor and listen to these two tracks if you aren’t familiar with her work:

Lydia Loveless – “Can’t Change Me”

Lydia Loveless – “Learn To Say No”

(See what I mean? It ten-kinds of good in a way that can leave you speechless while trying to describe it.)

In a year that’s created more hype for musical frauds than any one year should, Lydia Loveless is making music that should be getting the hype of those lesser artists. But, if she keep putting out albums as good as her album, Indestructible Machine, it will be impossible to keep her front reaching stardom.

Lydia Loveless - Indestructible Machine

She’d be an instant bolt of realism into the decrepit mainstream country music scene, if she were to cross-over into that genre. But if she doesn’t, she’s at the front-of-the-line to be as the torch-bearer for a new generation of female artists who eschew the mainstream for critical success as real, honest-to-god working musicians.

I think with her, it’s not a matter of if she’ll have success as much as it’s a question of when she’ll have it. She’s a wealth of talent crammed into a Brenda Lee-sized package.

Earlier this week, it was announced that she would join Scott H. Biram for a Winter 2012 club tour. That includes a January 30, 2012 show at The Earl in Atlanta. If you want to see a star in the making, you’d probably want to make a point of seeing her the next time she’s rolling through your town.

I had a chance to catch up with Lydia Loveless last week before she took a holiday break. It’s a nice-little interview that gives some insight into her as an artist and her sense of humor. I think you’ll enjoy it.

DeadJournalist.com brings you this exclusive interview with Lydia Loveless.

With the holidays right around the corner, what are your plans?

LL: I have a few shows but I am not expecting to do much. Relaxing writing and making art is the plan.

Looking back at 2011, how would you access the year as it pertains to your career? Did you have certain expectation or aspirations coming into the year?

LL: I didn’t know what to expect. I am very happy with the way it all went down, though. I have traveled the country and gained fans and that’s more than I ever could have asked for a year ago.

I know you are scheduled to be at SXSW in 2012, but what other plans do you have for the year? Is a new album in the works?

LL: Touring. And yes, I’ll be writing as much as possible.

Lydia Loveless (Photo: Ely Brothers)

As an artist – what is it that inspires and motivates you? How to you apply the influences of other artists into your own music?

LL: As a crazy person, my moods influence much of what I get done, haha … Dealing with the constant ups and downs. Discovering new bands that I like, reading about songwriters and their processes, learning more about playing the guitar, and just general day to day experiences inspire me. I’m not sure I have any idea how I apply the influences of my favorite artists.

Going back to your album, Indestructible Machine, what drove the creative process behind the album?

LL: Well getting over this guy I was obsessed with and breaking up with a horribly jealous boyfriend, losing multiple jobs and feeling completely unable to get on my feet led to lots of frustration, lust, anger and generally pulling back from society. That was the general vibe of the creative process. Ha-ha.

What did you learn from writing and recording process that you will apply on your next record?

LL: Always be open to suggestion but also know that you don’t have to take it. There are a lot of good ideas out there but sometimes you just have to stand your ground to make a good record. That, and tiny, shitty amps really are better than big loud ones.

How do you translate your album to your live performances? Do you try to maintain consistency from show-to-show or do you tailor each performance to location and mood?

LL: I do try to maintain consistency musically, but I often tour with varying lineups so it is not always exactly the same. I think it’s important to be flexible in that regard and realize a good song can be played in any way.

Which do you enjoy more: writing, recording or performing?

LL: I have to say I absolutely hate writing songs sometimes. Unless there is a big bang of inspiration it can be very painful. However I enjoy the feeling of finishing a song, so I would say writing songs. Ha.

What are the biggest challenges for you – both as a performer and personally – for being on the road?

LL: My social anxiety is definitely difficult to deal with on the road…and at home.

What is the best advice you’ve received from a fellow performer doing the past year? What’s the best advice you’d give someone setting their sights on being a musician?

LL: I rarely receive good advice from the people I meet, as it’s often older men telling me what they think I don’t know! Ha! My advice would be to be yourself (I know that is clichéd) and don’t get too immersed in things that are not being creative and happy.

What’s something you’d love from your fans to know about you, that no one has asked you about before?

LL: I am actually Ethel Merman.

Have you seen benefits or detriments from the intimacy your fans have to you because of social media (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc.)?

LL: It depends. I really enjoy figuring out where my fans are and what they think. But a lot of people get overly personal, and some people have taken it way too far thinking they know me and are very disappointed when they actually realize they don’t like me very much as a person. Ha. And when people get nasty because I haven’t come to their backyard to play yet, that’s kinda annoying.

Is there an artist that you’ve encountered recently that you’ve been recommending to your friends?

LL: I have really been running my mouth about the Carper Family lately. There’s a band I played with in Kansas City recently called Hot Dog Skeletons that I particularly enjoyed as well.

Which do you prefer: MP3, CD, Tape or Vinyl?

LL: It depends on where I am. In the car you can’t beat the devil MP3s and CD’s, because they’re so convenient. I love to buy metal on cassette, not sure why. Vinyl I enjoy buying classic artists and any music I really want to keep nice because people don’t tend to throw them around so much.

Web site(s) you read regularly?

LL: Stumbleupon is great, Lost at Eminor and Found.

One Drink. One Movie. One Album.

LL: Blood. ‘Urban Cowboy’. Wildflowers by Tom Petty

Bell X1 (Photo: Jan Von Holleben)

Exclusive Interview: Bell X1
November 8, 2011
by Chuck Norton

Twenty years. That’s a long time for any relationship to last. For Paul Noonan, Dominic Philips and David Geraghty, it’s a relationship that’s spanned two bands as well as two decades.

In 1991, the three were founding members of Juniper with Brian Crosby and Damien Rice. After that band disolved in 1998 because of issues with their record label and “creative differences,” the same members – minus Rice – formed Bell X1 in 1999.

The quartet became one of Ireland’s most popular bands in the 2000′s with successful albums and airplay and attendance figures that ranked the band as high as second behind U2 in popularity within the country. The band also found success in the US with performances on late-night television and some well-placed clips in televisions shows, the most infamous of which was the lesbian kiss scene in ‘The OC’.

In 2008, Crosby left the band to work on other projects, but the remaining members continued to release albums, including their latest album, Bloodless Coup, which hit earlier this year. With Bloodless Coup, the band addressed more political themes and pushed hard to reformulate their sound.

The band is currently on tour in the US – including a November 11, 2012 date in Atlanta. I had a chance to catch up with Noonan prior to their current tour and touch on a number of issues including the recent Occupy protests, the creative process behind their last album and how the band plays both kinds of music – Country and Western. (It’s a ‘Blues Brothers’ reference and a joke that plays well.)

For more information on the band, visit their Web site.

DeadJournalist.com brings you this exclusive interview with Paul Noonan of Bell X1.

I read on the band’s blog that one of the first things you did after landing in New York was go to Occupy Wall Street. How did it compare with what you had heard or seen?

PN: There was a drum ensemble playing, with some brass players … so it had a distinctly festival feel. With cops lining one side of the square, media trucks the other.

I was one of the many gawping tourists, so it’s all a bit of a circus.

There is a lot wrong with the structures we’ve put in place that govern our lives, so the frustrations being vented there are hopefully part of the journey toward changing things.

With so much global frustration around a number of politically-charged issues, will the band take inspiration for future use (songs, videos, etc.)?

PN: I don’t know. We’ve written about it in the past, with songs like “Reacharound” and “Sugar High”, and have just finished a video for the latter.

I’m becoming more interested in the forces that push us around, and the idea that government shouldn’t be something that we feel is forced upon us. So more to come, maybe …

With Bell X1 being together for more than a decade – and the majority of you together for two decades going back to your Juniper days – how has your motivation/inspiration and recording process changed as the band has matured?

PN: All those things are changing all the time. In those heady days of first playing music together, those sticky fumblings, there’s a magic and a cluelessness to it that dims with experience and competence. But there’s no formula for making great music, thankfully.

You try something you feel got you there in the past and it never works again.

Going back to Bloodless Coup, did the band set-out to re-develop your sound? How did the writing and recording process compare to your previous albums?

PN: We wanted the process to be very different with this one. Firstly, we wanted to record as a five-piece band for the first time – usually it’s been the three of us playing – and having to project beyond what was going on in the room for additional parts and colours. So we asked Rory and Marc, the guys who’ve been playing live with us for the past couple of years, to get in there.

We also wanted to regress from the ability to carry on the process at home or in garages on laptops and whatnot, to rehearse until we were ready and go to a proper studio and bang it out. Old school. And we wanted a producer on board to crack the whip and keep things moving. So we found Rob Kirwan, who was great at keeping momentum going and spirits high.

Are you in the process of working on material for a new album? If so, do you have a target for completion?

PN: No plans, just flights of fancy in me head.

With the band about to be in the midst of a North American tour, how did you prepare for touring from a performance standpoint?

PN: A grueling exercise program. Nobody likes a fat popstar.

What are the biggest day-to-day challenges you have while on the road?

PN: It’s too warm on the bus. It’s too cold on the bus. Will I try to find my shoes to go to the bathroom or will I risk walking in piss? Will I have something in Dennys at this roadside place or will I wait for something better when we get to Portland? Laundry scheduling. Too much beer and having the spins and the fear in my coffin-like bunk.

Do you try to maintain consistency in your live performances or does the mood of the band and the energy of the crowd effect an individual show?

PN: We’re a pretty complicated animal as a live band, so the sets have to be put together carefully to help them flow. We keep changing it though – we have five records now and want to show that we can play both kinds of music – Country and Western.

Every show is different, and the same set can feel lame one night, soar the next. So what do we know …

A major change in the last decade is how has social media and social networking impacted have impacted music. How has this changed how you communicate and market the band?

PN: We do use all that stuff to get word out about what’s happening with releases and touring and whatnot, but also to describe those pancakes in Wyoming. I’m not sure the internet needs such content, but folks seem to enjoy it.

Looking into the future, what would the band like to accomplish that it hasn’t, yet?

PN: Oh Jesus, many things. Get to more ears. See the Northern Lights. Slay the dragon.

What advice would you give a younger artist on how to make it in the music industry for as long as you have?

PN: Control the means of production – get a computer with some recording software and someone in the band get their head around it. Record wherever you can and keep honing it. Don’t put yourself out there until you’re ready and have something to say.

Is there an artist that you’ve encountered recently that you’ve been recommending to your friends?

PN: Josh T Pearson

What were you listening to in 2001?

PN: Kid A by Radiohead. Maybe Ron Sexsmith. The internet’s too slow here to look up “best albums of 2001″ and pretend I was listening to them.

Which do you prefer: MP3, CD, Tape or Vinyl?

PN: Oh, half inch reel-to-reel man. Gotta be.

Web site(s) you read regularly?

PN: The Guardian. Dearphotgraph. Ebay

One Drink. One Movie. One Album.

PN: Moscow Mule. A Prophet. In Rainbows

Caveman

Exclusive Interview: Caveman
10.20.11
by Chuck Norton

It seems like the Caveman album, CoCo Beware, has been out for several months – but the reality is that the physical copies of the album don’t actually come out until November 15, 2011 (the digital version was released this past September).

The New York-based band, who has only been together since January 2010, has generated a significant amount of buzz with the quality of their live performances – including time touring with The War On Drugs – and, obviously, the quality of their work.

Caveman first popped on to my radar this past June, when the incredible single, “Old Friend” was released. But it wasn’t until I had the opportunity to listen to the entire album did it become apparent just how talent the band fronted by Matt Iwanusa is.

Their ability to mix roots-tinged vocals with harmonious melodies jumps out immediately upon listening to their songs. Unlike a lot of acts who can capture all the magical elements needed to craft a great tune on a song or two per album, Caveman does so throughout each of the tracks featured on the album that I consider one of the best of 2011.

The band, which includes Iwanusa as well as Jimmy “Cobra” Carbonett, Stefan Marolachakis, Sam Hopkins, and Jeff Berrall, cut its teeth in the New York-area opening for acts like Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, White Rabbits, Here We Go Magic, Cursive, Wye Oak and Yuck.

For this year’s CMJ festival in New York, Caveman scheduled 10 – count them, 10 – performances. That’s more shows than a lot of bands play in a month, much less a week. Even for a festival like CMJ or SXSW, that’s a ridiculous number of performances. Given the band’s history of performing, it seems to be par for the course. And if the notoriety gains from such an epic schedule exposes them to a new set of fans, media and industry-types, good for them.

I had a chance to catch up with Atlanta-native Jeff Berrall – the bass player and a vocalist in Caveman – in late September. We touched on a variety of topics, including the news that the band is working on a new album.

To keep up with the latest news on the band, visit their Web site or their Facebook or Twitter.

DeadJournalist.com brings you this exclusive interview with Jeff Berrall of Caveman.

To me, CoCo Beware is one of the best albums released this year. Is the press reaction (of any kind) something you and the band take with a grain of salt? Or – even if you don’t like admitting it – is it something to which you do pay attention?

Caveman

JB: I’m glad you dig the record. As far as the press reaction goes we have to take it with a grain of salt. Fortunately, all of us have been in previous bands and have dealt with good and bad reviews.

We pay attention In so much as it’s a sign that things are going well. But, I’m a 36 year-old bass player. I can’t really be bothered. What am I going to do, quit?

What were the biggest challenges for you when writing and recording CoCo Beware?

JB: That was the best thing about CoCo Beware. You and your readers may not believe me but it was effortless. Truly. I swear.

Did any songs change significantly during the recording and production process? Or did they come out sounding much as they did coming into the studio?

JB: Nothing really changed once we went to the studio. Some stuff was written in the studio. I remember “Easy Water” was done during what was initially a mix session.

The one song we thought about most was probably “Thankful”. That one at first was done with a drum machine and it was really cool. Then we did one with real drums and that one didn’t quite make it either. The one you hear on the record starts with the real drums and the drum machine starts to fade up and join in somewhere in the middle. I love how that worked out.

What have you learned during the process that you can apply to future albums?

JB: I guess what we learned about the process was to do it as fast as possible. I have found that the most important thing in music is knowing when to stop. From making music to photo shoots to doing interviews, you gotta know when to stop.

Caveman “Great Life” is Yourstru.ly from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

What drives the creative process behind writing and recording your music? What provided the inspiration for this album?

JB: The creative process is driven by all the normal stuff. Friendship, girls, feelings, etc. …

As a songwriter, what do you find as the greatest challenge of putting a song together? Do you find that you are always chasing the perfect song?

JB: The best songs are the easiest to write. Is there such a thing as the “perfect song”? I’d be willing to debate you that there is no such thing.

What led to the decision to have split release dates for the album – with the digital version available two months prior to the physical release?

JB: The split-release thing was not intentional. We were initially talking to labels and that was dragging out forever it seemed like. Once we decided not to go that route it was a matter of putting together our own label and finding a distributor and manufacturer. Quite simply the vinyl and everything is still being printed. We also felt like we could not wait anymore so we got it out digitally in the meantime.

Are you working on material for a new album? If so, have you seen an evolution of your work? Do you feel any additional pressure because of the success of your current album?

JB: Yes we have started songs for the next record. We are actually playing a few live here and there. I imagine there will be some evolving going on. That would only be natural. Not sure about pressure. Oddly, I feel a lack of pressure. Call me in six months maybe it’ll be different.

How does your album translate to your live performance? Do you try to maintain consistency from show-to-show or do you tailor each performance to location and mood?

JB: I don’t believe in trying to do the record exactly on stage. Its a boring idea. To me the studio and the stage are two different worlds. Let’s please keep it that way. For all that’s good and pure in the world. Let’s all agree to agree on that.

What are the biggest challenges for you – both as a performer and personally – for being on the road? Conversely, to what are you most looking forward?