A song called “The Walls are Coming Down” featured in an eye-catching new video that spotlights one of the world’s only remaining escape artists? How could that not pique someone’s interest? Catch up on what’s new with London’s Fanfarlo, and delve into their genre-bending, anarchistic plans for world musical domination.
“There are actual segments of this show where you cannot feel any oxygen because it is all in people’s lungs. There are periods when we are on stage where if feels like a hairdryer, people are screaming and giving you the energy back so much. There are times in this show where I look around and there is hardly anybody in a seat, they are on the floor laughing.” – Jim Rose, on the audience’s reaction so far to the When Legends Collide Tour.
The legendary Jim Rose has done it once again, this time taking his freak show to the stage and incorporating the legendary and understated, yet controversial Jake “The Snake” Roberts into his theater. Traveling across the globe with high profile wrestlers, attractive females, and an unusually talented ensemble, Jim Rose continues to make audiences cringe with his latest, When Legends Collide Tour. According to Jim, this is the best tour yet. “We’ve got pretty girls, wrestling, amazing circus stunts, and a fistfight. I mean, who can ask for more? If that isn’t testosterone fueled, I don’t know what is.”
ChinaShop caught up with Jim Rose on a much-needed day off in between shows, as he filled us in on what people can expect from his latest project. In addition, Jim was accommodating enough to wake Jake “The Snake” Roberts abruptly from his sleep to break us off a little piece of his troubled past and to explain why he really considers this tour to be the launch of his mighty comeback in the eyes of the media.
Not often does a band with almost 20 years of history and a well established presence take such a long break in between recordings, but that was very much the story for Chicago based Tortoise. Although they have toured here and there, the band just recently release their first album in five years this past June 23. Beacons of Ancestorship is the band’s sixth official full-length album and has been long awaited by fans and music industry affiliates.
Tortoise, formed in 1990, has thoroughly confused the world with their almost impossible to categorize and exceptionally unique sound. According to member, Dan Bitney, it can be hard for the band to even classify themselves. Attempts at stamping a genre on their music aside, it is pretty unanimous that Tortoise is one of today’s more innovative and musically revolutionalizing projects. With the launch of a new album and the power of the press on their side, the band is out on the road, performing songs off the new disc across the United States and overseas.
You might as well get used to the odd name, because you’re going to be hearing a lot about Portugal. The Man very soon. They’ve played more than 1000 gigs, some of them at high-profile festivals, over the past four years. The press loves them. And their new album, The Satanic Satanist, their fourth in as many years, may well be a defining sound of summer 2009.
When not in the studio, the band spends most of their time crammed up in a van, moving from town to town. But while the road has broken many bands, John Baldwin Gourley, who plays guitar and sings (winning Alternative Press’s Best Vocalist award in 2009), ain’t complaining. “Once you get used to the restrictions of space and of having less around you, living in a van is “not so far out there “
Portugal. The Man – People Say
But the van is not home. Nor20is Portland, where he lives when not on tour. For Gourley, home was, is and always will be Alaska, where his parents fled to from the east in the 1970s in search of a better life and where he grew up.
Welcome to a world of tattered silk, stained lace & decadently distressed velvet. A world where girls eyes are always fringed with magical false eyelashes, their hair is always elegantly tousled, & they wear elaborate headpieces while lounging around the house.
This is the world of Dawn Younger-Smith, owner of The Boudoir Queen, where disheveled opulence reigns. Citing the likes of Marchesa Louisa Casati, Kiki De Montparnasse & Erte as style icons & influences, when she isn’t busy designing stage costumes for celebrities — she’s currently creating outfits for The Veronicas tour — Dawn has been known to delight onlookers in a dress made from Aleister Crowley collage!
I pounced on her for 10 quick questions. I like to imagine her writing her answers while wearing an immense feathered headdress!
You never know what to expect when you are standing in front of a stage waiting for Colourmusic to come out. The band has been known for putting on some extremely wacky live shows, from wearing dresses and acting out roles of kooky family members to allowing audiences to paint them on stage. The inspiration behind their music is just as out-of-the-box as their live show, with color being the force that drives and inspires them. They are big supporters of Isaac Newton’s Theory of Color and Sound and each of their songs represents a particular color. Hailing from the college town of Stillwater, the band has played D-Fest the past 3 years, is a frequent performer at South by Southwest, and has toured around the Midwest.
We have average, mediocre days in which we aspire to something greater. We sit in movie theaters imagining ourselves as the super heroes, with destinies, super powers, and epic sex lives.
But, how can we be sure that telepathy or the ability to fly would improve our lives? More likely, we would be ordinary people who could use heat powers to warm up our dinners without using a microwave.
Drew Pearce has created the amazingly hilarious world of “No Heroics” to examine this exact thought. For those who are unfamiliar with the story; it’s very simple, but very funny. Inspired by his time as a musician, Drew crafted the narrative of four friends who happen to be super heroes: The Hotness, Electroclash, Time bomb, and She Force who all commiserate at the local heroes-only pub—The Fortress—about their struggle to rise above mediocrity…all with hilarious consequences.
Amidst the mass of caped convention attendees, I was lucky to sit down with the hero himself, “No Heroics” creator Drew Pearce and talk about the UK version of the show, the unaired US pilot, and the super-power he’d most like to have.
Larrabee Studios is one of those mysterious places in North Hollywood where if you aren’t in the inner circles of the music industry, you will never find it. Most recording and mix studios go incognito so they can service high profile clients without becoming landmarks on the maps of the stars. And who would blame them with such talent as Christina Aguilera, Kid Cudi and Whitney Houston all in this very room within the last week.
The reason a string of the most notable names in the business grace these halls is audio mixer Manny Marroquin. He’s won 4 Grammy’s (Mary Mary, John Legend, Kanye West and Alicia Keys) and been nominated for countless others. One year he had 3 out of the 5 records up for Record of the year, losing to the compilation Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? However, when you talk to Manny you get the distinct sense that he’s not in it for the accolades. In fact he keeps those coveted trophies in a corner of his bedroom and he’s gifted them, 2 each, to his two boys. “They really belong to them, everything I do is for them.”
Glasgow, Scotland’s newest musical export, Twin Atlantic, arrived in Austin, TX on their first trip to the good ole’ USofA. And you could tell, too, by the way everything seemed so damn wonderful to them. Having dinner with them was like having dinner with 5 musically virtuosic children in the way that children are sweet little sponges, eager to learn and experience everything around them. That’s about the only way these guys are like kids. Well that and the fact that they were drunk after two margaritas. We took time out of their busy gigging schedule to sit down for the lads’ first-ever authentic Mexican meal, which they absolutely relished. The venue was Austin foodie staple Gueros, home to the best Mole’ in TX.
Read the full story
