Neon Indian – Era Extraña

Alan Palomo’s decision to retreat to the Nordic country of Finland for the recording of his second album as Neon Indian appears to be a no-brainer; lushly textured synth-pop that runs the gamut from exuberant to nocturnal seems completely simpatico with a country whose many chimerical qualities were espoused by Finnish patriarch Jean Sibelius. Encamped in the capital city of Helsinki for a month-long stint during last year’s winter solstice, Palomo embraced the nation’s storied remoteness and icy landscapes as part of the gestation for Era Extraña, a record whose circular atmospheres and wistful melodies play out like the perfect soundtrack to a life lived near the Arctic Circle.

This isn’t exactly Neon Indian’s For Emma, though. Whereas Justin Vernon famously withdrew to his backwoods Wisconsin cabin in order to fully realize his creative impulses, Palomo opted for Finland’s cosmopolitan hub – a city of more than a half million residents. Correspondingly, the songs born out of those travels reflect the alternately reclusive and sprawling moods that are often part and parcel of foreign urban excursions.

Few would argue that Era Extraña boasts a more robust sound than its predecessor, Psychic Chasms, but the record is still imbued with the same amalgamation of dancefloor electronica and 80s dream pop that made Neon Indian’s debut a critic’s highlight of 2009. This time around though, Palomo tapped production a-lister Dave Fridmann to twiddle the knobs, and the former Mercury Rev bassist’s penchant for expansive textures and audio clipping are instantly recognizable.

The album is neatly compartmentalized by a trio of instrumental vignettes. As the opening cut, “Heart: Attack” isn’t really a harbinger of what’s to come; less than a minute in length, the track mainly functions as a fractured potpourri of bristling electronics and stop/start rhythms. Anyone who heard strains of 80s videogame melodies on Psychic Chasms is bound to feel like they’re in familiar territory. More in the tone of a mid-act segue, “Heart: Decay” fuses looped vocal chants, a four-on-the-floor drumbeat, and distressed keyboard melodies.  Coming out for the closing act is “Heart: Release,” a boogying little dance number that isn’t all that different from the tunes that get played on house PA systems when the show is over and the crowd starts to make for the exits.

Sandwiched in between these interludes are nine other tunes that showcase Neon Indian’s newly aggrandized approach to songwriting. “Polish Girl” is the disc’s obvious first single, a burnished cocktail of breathy vocals, siren synths, disco beats, and lovelorn lyrics (“Do I still cross your mind / your face still distorts the time”).  Though it boasts a similar sort of momentum, “The Blindside Kiss” is the first time listeners can really hear Fridmann’s touch at the boards, with levels pushed so high on the drums and keyboards that the song takes on a bemused ambience. Same goes for “Hex Girlfriend,” though the vocals on this one are more pronounced and allow for Palomo’s lyrics (“Sullen sights always indirect / tired eyes hypnotized by your teenage sect”) to effectively reference the gauzy bedroom nostalgia of the glo-fi movement he helped spawn.

Era Extraña’s middle third features Palomo’s choicest writing, which by no coincidence also harkens back to a time when John Hughes movies were grossing big revenue and Reagan was in the Oval Office. “Fallout” is further evidence of the shift in Palomo’s lyrical preoccupations, trading in the narcotic reveries of Psychic Chasms for lamentations of the heart. The title track smacks of gloomy New Wave forebears such as New Order, but the spiraling layers of synth melody and tweeting samples make it a mesmerizing affair nonetheless. By contrast, “Halogen (I Could Be a Shadow)” imparts a tone of personal resolve and affirmation that would no doubt jibe with a massive festival crowd.

The only misstep on Era Extraña is “Future Sick,” which is a little bit too overblown for its own good. Though the lyrics are right in line with the themes of yearning and loss that populate the record (“All strung out / from all that staring at the future”), the song’s bluesy licks, unceasing repetitions, and chirpy electronic effects come off as a trite gesture.

It’d be a daunting feat for anyone to furnish a respectable sophomore LP after the hype of a debut like Psychic Chasms, but Alan Palomo succeeds here, blessed with an innate ability to temper previous charms with present provocations. The album’s literal title translation connotes high levels of peculiarity and estrangement, but Neon Indian gives those qualities a sublime luster.

 

 

 

Cheyenne Marie Mize – We Don’t Need EP

Cheyenne Marie Mize is a tough nut to crack. She’s worked with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, toured with Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore, and was chosen by NPR as one of their “Discoveries at SXSW 2011″. The We Don’t Need EP comes on the tail of her first full-length release and a few years of international attention as a great up-and-coming artist.

So why does We Don’t Need seem so fragmented? The EP has some really nice songs, but feels like Cheyenne Marie Mize’s response to so many critics calling her a folk singer. The opening R&B swing of “Wishing Well” features Mize’s voice over a variety of percussion. It’s a bonafide booty shaker, that sits oddly against the dirge-like “Call Me Beautiful”. Taken alone, this song is quite striking; Mize sounds reminiscent of Beth Gibbons and the somber tune could have almost been a Portishead extra.

Along comes the jaunty, piano driven “Going Under” up against the more straightforward, slow burning rock of “Keep It” and “It Lingers”. The sixth and final track on the We Don’t Need EP is “Back Around”, a spacious, instrumental number with beautiful strings and haunting guitar work. This piece would be right at home as the soundtrack to a noir film set in the desert.

We Don’t Need lacks cohesion, but most of the songs here stand up well on their own. Sometimes disjointed styles work well together, but in this case they seem misplaced. Cheyenne Marie Mize is clearly a talented woman with plenty of ideas, strong songwriting, and a good voice. Revisiting the tracks here on an individual basis – perhaps as part of a playlist or mix – is a definite; however, listening to this EP as a whole won’t stand the test of time. Still, fans of Mize’s previous work should surely make their own conclusions as the six tracks here are all quite strong.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Short Takes on 1 Soundtrack, 2 EPs, and 1 Album

The Chemical Brothers – Hanna soundtrack

Relativity Music Group

http://www.thechemicalbrothers.com/#p=home

The 20 songs of this film soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers may seem like plenty, but some numbers are constructed as “joining segments” that exist between the fully-developed songs and, as such, they barely register because of their brevity and ephemeral structure.

The vibe of the soundtrack alternates between innocent whimsy (bright, cheerful “whistle-while-you-work” electronics and glockenspiel) and a moodier, more ominous tone (marching-forward beat and robotic electronics). This mix of childhood innocence and knowing danger is in service to the themes of the film Hanna and, on that account, the soundtrack is successful; it’s alright for a short car ride, but not refined and catchy enough to go the distance.

 

Jane Hunt – Violin Venus EP

Self-released

http://www.violinvenus.com/

This EP was quite a pleasant surprise, as I had no preconceived notions going into it and no knowledge of Jane Hunt. I put the CD in my Discman (Yes, I’m old school like that – LOL) and was swept up and away by the opening track “Vasene”, which literally made me misty-eyed from its exquisite violin crescendos. An ethereal female singer vocalizes in a foreign language (Is it Jane Hunt?), reminding me of Liz Fraser of Cocteau Twins. The tantalizing violins mix with modern electronics and a kicky beat, drawing the listener into a vivid dream world.

The second number, “Melia Dream”, moves into a movie soundtrack realm with poignant, quivering violin pulls, a full, sonorous orchestral sound, and occasional starry sprinkle of chime. “Flying High” follows, and it’s more contemplative, with Jo Gabriel-like quick runs of piano and violins that recall the A Single Man soundtrack.

The last song, “Sahara”, starts off somberly with slower, melancholic pulls of lower-register violin, then swiftly adds a hand drum beat, flitting jags of electric guitar, and spirals of violin by its end. Jane was trained as a classical violinist, but on this EP she combines various music genres with ease, creating enticing amalgams that soar with her violin expertise.

 

Bart & Friends – Make You Blush EP

The Lost And Lonesome Record Co.

http://www.lostandlonesome.com.au/band_info.php?id=29&desc=bart-and-friends

The 8 brief songs (most clock in at under 2 minutes) that make up this EP display a low-key charm with the gentle instrumentation of acoustic guitar strum or reverb guitar, bass, and steady drum beat (provided by Mark Monnone, Louis Richter, and Stanley Paulzen of The Lucksmiths) forming a pleasantly soft spine. The EP gets stronger as it goes along, but sounds a bit unfinished due to the lo-fi production and demo-like feel of the songs. On half of the tunes Bart Cummings (The Cat’s Miaow, Hydroplane, The Shaprios) sing-talks in an unassuming, impassive style, like on the way-to-short “Make You Blush”, which is tossed off casually in favor of the longer “Memories Fade” and its brush of electric guitar and the lyrics “Memories fade in the light / Tears are hidden by your smile.”

Music icon Pam Berry (Black Tambourine, Chickfactor zine, Glo-Worm, The Shapiros) joins the production on a cool cover of “Blue Moon”, singing in her distinctive, warmly impassive style against watery guitar lines, a pliant beat, and deeper, wavering guitar riff.  A more emotive Pam also appears on “Weave Your Name” which incorporates an emphatic beat, up-tempo guitar strum, and Pam singing plaintively “Take my hand / and always keep me beside you.”

 

Haroula Rose – These Open Roads

 Self-released

http://haroularosemusic.blogspot.com/

A long list of guest musicians contribute slide guitar, piano, cello, accordion, mandolin, and other instruments to Haroula Rose’s album, with Orenda Fink on additional vocals, and the result is a comforting, but not compelling listen. Haroula’s sleepy alt-folk songs with their continuous, gently strummed guitar patterns and light, breathy, lyrics-centered vocals would perfectly suit the coffeehouse milieu. Haroula keeps any strong emotion in check, singing with a clear, delicate intonation and a touch of melancholy.

When it all gets to be too aurally lightweight, the introspective, bittersweet lyrics help to anchor the songs. On opener “Brand New Start” Haroula deftly balances displays of optimism (“These roads are open wide / There’s room for everyone to move side by side.”) with reality (“…it’s a shame…we learn to walk single file.”). Her girlish, hushed vocal lines are supported by extra, hazy vocal phrases and ubiquitous guitar strum that belie the stark nature of the lyrical content on songs like “Close My Eyes to See” where Haroula sighs “The world goes by / but I…stay inside.” and the cutting “Another Breakup Ballad” (“And I refuse to see the truth / when all my friends would say / to walk away / Memories fade / just like the day…”)

First full-length from Company out now

Company – “Holy City” – Ltd Edition LP (300) / Digital

A series of serendipitous events allows Exit Stencil to excitedly present you with “Holy City” — the first full-length album from Charleston, South Carolina’s Company. While the full telling of the story would run many pages, for brevity’s sake, here is the Cliffs Notes version: Catholic grade school friends Brian Hannon (guitar, vocals, songwriter) and Kelly Grant (drums) both end up living in Charleston, SC following their respective stints in college, reconnect, and start playing music together. They play some shows; get introduced to Band of Horses who in turn take them out on tour and to SXSW; while in Austin they meet Matthew Johnson from Fat Possum who agrees to put out their first EP (released January 4th, 2011); they do some more touring, including a stint with Matt Pond PA, and eventually cross paths with us here at Exit Stencil.

“Holy City” illustrates the varied and masterful songwriting abilities of Brian Hannon, with some songs akin to the lo-fi immediacy, intimacy, and warmth produced by the “other Carolina” in the 1990s (you know, Chapel Hill). While other songs create gentle, psychedelic-Americana sound collages evoking the likes of Band of Horses or Mojave 3. Consistent throughout the album, however, is the lyrical acumen displayed by Hannon,
as he touches on the timeless themes of love, loss, aging, and more. Delivered with cadences and phrasing which at times, is reminiscent of James Mercer (Shins), but always maintaining an earnestness and authenticity distinctly unique.

 

Thulcandra – Under a Frozen Sun

One of the reasons I avoided Thulcandra for so long was the eerily similar resemblance to the legendary Dissection— from sound to vocal style and even album art. With their latest release Under a Frozen Sun it was high time to give a fair shake to a band that borrowed their name from a Darkthrone demo.  Just viewing the album cover alone, done by Necrolord, with the spectre beckoning to you to come and partake in the madness, should be enough to warrant a second look and listen.

As stated at the outset the direct influence from Dissection is abundantly evident, but it is not necessarily a bad thing as it can be construed as a living testimony to an influential monster of a band.  The album opens with an acoustic guitar that charges headlong into a riff that could be likened to Dissection’s classic “Thorns of Crimson Death”.  “Black Flags of Hate” is a perfectly paced short burst of a song, with its well executed workman-like drums.

The vocal work across the entire album is simply immense; Stefan Kummerer does a great job of spitting venom laced lyrics that would make Jon Noteveidt throw up the horns.  “Ritual of Sight” has a haunting intro, but misses the mark with too many breakdowns and pattern shifts.  “Under a Frozen Sun”, the title track, is a phenomenal melodic piece that marks the pinnacle of this album.

Once again, “Aeon of Darkness” contains another riff that is just too reminiscent of Dissection’s “Unhallowed”.  When “Echoing Voices (A Cold Breeze of Death)” is reached, the overall feeling and atmosphere begins to lose it’s luster, as it stumbles about from one bland sequence to the next.  “Gates of Eden” is just not dynamic enough for a song that is over 9 minutes long.  The album closes with an Unanimated cover that has some intensity and bite, but too much one-dimensionality.

To Thulcandra’s credit they are without a doubt top notch musicians, but Under a Frozen Sun falls short of anything spectacular.  The Dissection template is utilized way too often and one can’t help but constantly scrutinize every note under a microscope.  If you are looking for a tribute or a continuation of the blueprints left by the mighty Dissection, then this may be right up your alley.  To call Thulcandra a direct clone would be doing them a disservice, but there is just not enough originality for this album to stand on its own.

Noothgrush – Live For Nothing

Silly name aside, these Oakland, California sludge kings are back. Live For Nothing is just what you’d expect from Southern Lord Records. I often times find myself purchasing records by the bands on Southern Lord simply because I know I am getting the very best. Noothgrush is no exception. Part Darkthrone, part Cough, the listener lays in wait as with any good Doom Metal. Slow and downright brutal, this two part radio broadcast (one from 1996 and one from 1999) highlight a band in their primordial prime.

After a ten year hiatus, Noothgrush have released two full lengths this year, along with Live For Nothing. There is a discernible difference between radio shows, this discrepancy lies only in the production. Tracks 1 – 8 are from KZSU recorded in 1996, 9 – 18 were recorded in 1999 on KFJC. Both stations find their homes in the Bay Area, California. Like the headwind of a hurricane, this album limits forward movement. Epic in its entirety, Live For Nothing challenges the true meaning of heavy.

 

John Amadon releases third album

PORTLAND, OREGON-BASED SONGWRITER, JOHN AMADON CELEBRATES RELEASE OF THIRD FULL-LENGTH, SEVEN STARS

Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter John Amadon is celebrating the release of his third full-length, Seven Stars, a collection of haunting melodies that make good bedfellows with easy-laid beats; an album that finds tight hooks with a from-the-heart lyrical sense that will make you feel as if you personally know the songwriter.

Multi-instrumentalist John Amadon is the kind of artist that creates music without any financial support or promotional backing from a label. Knowingly off the beaten path of the music industry, he is driven not by the pursuit of fame or money, but by a passion for songwriting. He holes himself up in friends’ basement studios, his only ambition to challenge himself songwriting wise, and to create the best art he can.  All for art’s sake; not to please A&R guys, not to create something he thinks will turn elitist writers into his fans, and certainly not to “sell out.”  He does it to make himself happy, to make records he can play for friends with a smile and pride.  But, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want people to take notice and find enjoyment in his music either.

Known around Portland for his seven-year stint as bassist for roots-rock/pop artist Fernando, Amadon is equally known for his locally self-released solo records. Upon leaving Fernando’s band after the release of 2006′s Enter to Exit, Amadon took a break from music only to be re-inspired to make a record, the record that would become Seven Stars.

With a record’s worth of material, Amadon called in several friends, including Scott McPherson (live and session drummer for acts including Beck, Elliott Smith, Neil Finn, M.Ward, She & Him, Bright Eyes, et.al), Mike Coykendall (M.Ward, She & Him), and William Slater (The Grails) to help him flesh out the record.

“Making Seven Stars was the most hurdle-free thing I’ve ever done,” he says without hesitation.  “Experience has taught me this is very unusual in the record making process. The writing, the recording, and the post-production all went off essentially without a hitch, and each stage was very rewarding. I got to spend a lot of time working with good friends in an environment very conducive to creativity. I honestly can’t remember a single bad or even unproductive session. It was pure creative pleasure and catharsis.”

The result, for Amadon, is a record that he feels is artistically legit on its own terms, on his own dime, with no compromise or settling.

Scott Ryan – Mercy Killings

Los Angeles-based songwriter Scott Ryan may only have a small body of work to his name, but it’s nonetheless hard to dispute his panache as a musical alchemist. When his Tree Man EP dropped in the summer of 2009, Ryan achieved that remarkable feat – increasingly rare in today’s “more is more” musical landscape – of taking a prototype rock band blueprint and rendering it malleable to a point that both gritty catharsis and tender meditations felt completely organic.

2 years have passed since Tree Man first captivated listeners with its unexpected forays into snarling blues rock and recondite chamber pop, and it’s been nearly twice that long since Ryan’s debut LP, The Coldest Room in the House, heralded his arrival. If his newly released Mercy Killings record is any indication though, the lengthy interval in between albums has served Ryan well, allowing him to expound on his undeniably dexterous treatments of disparate idioms. His sophomore record is an expansive 10-song cycle unified by personal reflection on faith and love, confident in its explorations of new territories, yet never cavalier.

While there’s no mistaking that Mercy Killings boasts a meatier sound than Ryan’s previous outings, things never feel ostentatious or bloated – string arrangements, horn riffs, and synthesizers are judiciously applied throughout. If there is a prevailing sound on the hour-long disc however, it’s one that should be familiar to fans of Death Cab for Cutie, where sparking ripples of gently distorted electric guitar and pristine tenor vocals are frequently fused to melancholy keyboard timbres and bristling bass lines. Such is the case with opening track “Autumn Hymn,” a midtempo rock tune that conveys a tentative atmosphere despite propulsive crescendos and mildly agitated guitar hooks. Ryan’s lyrics even display a literary flare à la Ben Gibbard, particularly with lines like, “As we tumbled down the stony staircase / memories and dandelions twirled before our eyes / and the clocks we swallowed ticked internally / I swore once not to lose you / but each moment is such a fickle fiend.”

Other songs that follow a similarly poignant or bittersweet milieu include the danceable “You’ll Never Change Your Mind” with its “all things shall pass” mantra, and the atmospheric folk swoon of “St. Lucille.” In the latter, we find one instance of the religious imagery that Ryan employs throughout the album to examine existential questions of the afterlife: “I swear the saints could never hear me singing / pray for us sinners / now and hereafter.”

Elsewhere, the album comes together like a pastiche, weaving together psychedelic blues, sunshine-dappled pop, and even a dash of New Romanticism. Most bands have the obligatory ballad or acoustic slowburner to break up their routine, but every left turn made by Ryan feels instinctive and expedient – even the desperado flavored chaos of “Drown Stir Drown,” which matches barroom imagery (“Let’s drink our whiskey neat and fall in love before / there’s nothing left to laugh about anymore”) with tremolo-affected guitar and horn calls.

“Blank Maps” begins by copping what sounds like the main riff from the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” before morphing into an alt-country rambler that would not have been out of place on an early Counting Crows record. Lead single “Western Anxiety” is unexpectedly ebullient, touting a hip-shaking bass line and Maroon 5 swagger that can’t be held down in spite of the distressed lyrics (“I wandered in for a season / squandered every good reason to leave / while the water froze ’round my submarine”).

Yet for all of his prowess with musical parlances, there’s no denying that Scott Ryan is most in his element with just an acoustic guitar and a little bit of reverb behind him. Tunes like “Variations,” the aforementioned “St. Lucille,” and closer “VFW” form a hypnotic trifecta of exigent soul searching, the last of which also finds Ryan singing, “I pray I’m not alone,” with palpable vulnerability.

Mercy Killings is a towering achievement of a record, but there’s no doubt some will be turned off by its stubborn refusal to follow a clear trajectory.  That’d be a fair criticism if Scott Ryan didn’t pull off each of his ideas with the aplomb of someone twice his age, but he’s that rare burgeoning songwriter who seems to have found that congenital understanding of how to temper innovation with prudence.  Plus, you don’t find rookies who write words like these, the final observations from “VFW”: “Those who call themselves sinners / those that dine with the saints / those who’ve grown fat from years of great yield / those that pray for the crumbs from their plates / I can see them seated together / I can see them at the end of time.”

Interview with Martin Kennedy of All India Radio and Kilbey-Kennedy

Hello Martin! You’re no stranger to the DOA musical universe, where we’ve written reviews about your band/project All India Radio and your collaboration with Steve Kilbey of The Church.  Since you reside in Australia, I was wondering how the weather was with you (kinda a Crowded House reference…).

Here in Melbourne it can literally be four seasons in one day (to continue the Crowded House theme…), but this winter it has been pleasantly cold – like a normal winter is supposed to be!

You and Steve Kilbey have come up with the crazily brilliant (or brilliantly crazy?) idea of custom-creating songs for takers who can pony up a cool grand, per song, for this pleasure and privilege (yes, now it’s kinda a The Smiths reference…). How is it going? What kind of requests are you receiving, since you’re tailoring the song to the customer? *Sigh* If only I had a grand laying about. You know how I’d spend it… Well, that, or a one-way ticket to a tropical island…

The song writing project is going very well. In fact it has taken over my life at the moment and I have had to put other projects aside to deal with it. We have had all sorts of requests – songs for girlfriends, a song for pets, a few birthday songs, a song for a much loved deceased relative and a few songs that customers have left completely up to us. It’s very challenging and has required both Steve and myself to step outside of our songwriting comfort zones. On the other hand we have still managed to stamp every song so far with our sound.

I’ve been perusing the Kilbey-Kennedy website at: http://www.kilbey-kennedy.com/ and I see that you and Steve are already in the midst of concocting your third album together. That’s wonderful news, and hot on the heels of the release of White Magic. How is it coming along? Will you suddenly be going disco or rockabilly on us, or…?

We’ve made a good start on the third album. All the music is done and we’ve recorded vocals on two songs so far. I really like the songs for this album – and I mean I REALLY like them. I don’t always feel that way with the music I write – often the opposite. But this time I’m happy to say it. The feel of the new album is more like Unseen Music Unheard Words than White Magic. Mystical and mysterious rather than pop and rock. But work on album #3 came to a grinding halt when we started the song writing project which has taken priority. It’s a good kind of competition to have, although I’m very much looking forward to getting stuck into the new album again.

You’re not only a musician, but a well-rounded artist who paints, draws up illustrations, and creates animated videos. I’m very fond of your videos, like the ones you did for “Closer”, “The Mountain”, and “Inner Country” with the cat with the ‘never-say-die’ attitude. Can you go through the process of how you turn your static illustrations into an animated video?

 I’m better at music than art, but I enjoy drawing and turning them into music videos was the next logical step. It’s complex, but not as time consuming as some animation techniques. It’s different from classic frame by frame animation which is painstaking and time consuming. My software (Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro) allows me to simply drag a static image across the screen with the mouse and that’s it. My animations are just different static drawings dragged around by a mouse!! The trick is creating all the different layers – background, foreground, the figures themselves and coordinating all the movements. It can takes weeks to months, unlike say the video for All India Radio’s “Rippled” which was frame by frame ‘light animation’ and took over six months.

You drew a wryly hilarious comic book of your and Steve’s adventures as Kilbey-Kennedy, and it can be viewed and/or downloaded for free (!) at http://www.kilbey-kennedy.com/ (check the April 21st post). Is there any chance that you’ll get the comic book printed up on paper and maybe sell it in that format?

I’d love to print it up, but it’s not economically viable. I do them mainly for enjoyment and they kind of have a promotional element to them (even if it is about a fictional disastrous tour!) and I post them all over the internet, so I would be uncomfortable then trying to sell them in a book. However the free PDF book version (download here http://www.kilbey-kennedy.com/2011/04/kk-in-usa-complete-comic-strip.html) looks great on an iPad!

You do have an entrepreneurial spirit, as I also noticed on your site at http://www.martinlkennedy.com/p/original-cartoons-for-sale.html that you’re selling some of your original illustrations (with proceeds benefiting the creation of the third Kilbey-Kennedy album) and they’re a hoot to view. I especially like, well, pretty much all of them! Will you be adding more to the line-up?

I quit my day job two years ago to concentrate on music, so I’ve become entrepreneurial via necessity! But a musician has got to think outside the music box these days. I will definitely add more original illustrations. Many of them were created in Photoshop, so it won’t be possible to sell those, but all the older ones that were done with pen and coloured pencils or paint are for sale. I don’t consider them particularly good, especially some of the lame jokes, which is why I’ve waited years before working up the courage to sell them. It’s amazing what a financial imperative does to your pride! Anyway, people seem to like them and I’ve sold quite a few.

Speaking of illustrations, on your site, in the January 11th post, you drew an awesomely funny Star Wars poster, with Steve as Luke Skywalker and you as… No, I’ll let the read find out for him or herself on that point. LOL You’re a self-described “science fiction nerd.” What kind of sci-fi stuff are you into? Do you collect collectibles and go to conventions dressed up as a Storm Trooper? I’m into sci-fi in a low-key way and like the TV shows The X-Files, the latest Battlestar Galactica (Starbuck rocks!), and Farscape.

Haha! I just had to do that illustration. It’s a little like the Family Guy Star Wars thing. I’m not so much of a nerd to go to conventions or dress up but I’ve always liked sci-fi ever since my mother took me to see a re-run of 2001 A Space Odyssey in the mid 1970s (really, whose mother takes the kids to see 2001 A Space Odyssey?!!). Anyway, it lit the spark and then Star Wars came along and KAPOW!, at age eleven I was ripe for the picking. So I like all sorts sci-fi but not everything. For example I liked Tom Baker’s Dr. Who, but disliked everything after him (except the new series), I loved the original Battlestar Galactica (I used to tape record the audio of it from the TV speaker – who had VCR machines back then?) but HATED the sequel series Galactica 1980. I love Star Trek The Next Generation but not the original. The remake of Battlestar Galactica is a masterpiece. I love Lost. I loved the hardware in Space 1999 but the stories were boring (even to an impressionable young boy). I found X-Files too drawn out over nine seasons, but I love its modern cousin Fringe. I have a few collectables – mainly spaceships. I could go on….

You released The Silent Surf as All India Radio (or A.I.R.) several months ago. I’ve been meaning to ask you about the name All India Radio. Is there any connection to India? Am I missing a historical or pop culture reference?

There is a vague connection to India. Back in the mid 1990s a friend travelled to India and spent a lot of time recording street sounds and radio programs. I heard the recordings and in 1998 it inspired me to name the band All India Radio and record the first album The Inevitable. The wasn’t really any connection with Indian music although many of the more abstract street sounds and radio voice samples found their way onto the first album. The name mainly appealed because it had a nice ring to it.

You recently made an All India Radio album titled Free Me available online for free download. Can you go into the details of this album? How is it related to The Silent Surf and other A.I.R. albums?

Free Me is just a collection of remixes and unreleased tracks. This is our second ‘free’ album. The band is quite prolific and there are many songs that basically end up sitting on the shelf. I felt it’s better to give them away than have them gather dust. Some people ask why make them free, but I don’t feel the need to sell every single song – we have enough ‘official’ paying releases. Also, for various reasons most of these songs never made it onto official albums, so I feel uncomfortable charging for them. Because our output is large, we can afford an EP or album of freebies once a year or so. Beside, people love getting free stuff and (with my entrepreneurial cap on) it does wonders for the bands mailing list and fan club!

What is the latest news for All India Radio? Is there any new material in the works?

So many things happening with All India Radio. First of all we are releasing our first ever 7″ vinyl single in the USA. It is a split single with fabulous US instrumental band Signal Hill. We’ve known Signal Hill since the days of MySpace – in fact they were our first ‘MySpace friends’ back in 2006! It’s going to be a beautiful red vinyl single and limited to 250 copies. Then we are releasing a special remix of the bands very first album The Inevitable (the album discussed above that includes the abstract Indian street sounds). This will also be on vinyl and limited to 250 copies. You can see the pattern here: vinyl records. They are making more and more sense (again) in so many different ways – they are collectable, last a lifetime, beautiful vehicles for artwork, still most expensive than CDs but moving closer, etc.

Lastly and most importantly for All India Radio we have started rehearsing for a new album which I hope will be released late 2012. It’ll be album number 9 or 10 – can’t remember! But I think it’s going to be the best.

Folk-pop Album from Steven Hefter out now

Steven Hefter conjures a debut album of masterful folk-pop songs as St. Even.

“Spirit Animal” drawing heavy praise from coast-to-coast. Hear the single now.

http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/st-even/mp3/st-even-dreams-myrope.mp3

Prior to that album, Hefter developed his lyrically-driven folk sensibilities and melodic indie-rock textures with Judd Bolger (Judd and Maggie) and Billy Gordon (J. Roddy Walston and The Business) in the bands Sons of Buford and Challenge Club respectively.

The west coast beckoned Hefter in 2009, and now in 2011, under the name St. Even (still really cool), Spirit Animal is set to show the rest of the country what some already know. Spirit Animal was recorded with Jake Kelly (Kimya Dawson) at Materials To Outlet Studios in Portland, Oregon with an immensely talented smattering of old and new friends in tow. It is available via Dustbin Records now.

http://stevehefter.tumblr.com/

Next Page »