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Featured Gallery Music Going AWOL at Coachella

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
April 16, 2012 - 2:18 pm

AWOLNATION surprised fans with their debut Coachella performance in more ways than one. First, frontman Aaron Bruno rallied the audience into a frenzy, demanding crowd surfing participating, at one point asking the masses to “try something different on the next song and see how many girls we can get to crowd surf at the same time.” The band managed to unite thousands into simultaneously jumping to “Kill Your Heroes” and brought Macy Gray out to accompany Aaron on vocals during “Sail.” Known for his energetic stage antics, Aaron dove into the crowd himself at the tail end of “Sail,” clutching his microphone and belting out the chorus. The set ended with an “AWOLNATION” chant and a Coachella-worthy version of “Burn It Down.”

It’s been a while since we sat down with AWOLNATION so we caught up with the band for a post-show “what have you been up to?” chat. Check out the interview after the jump.

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Featured Gallery Music Who is “Keep Shelly in Athens”?

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
April 16, 2012 - 12:28 pm

One of the most talked about “under the radar” bands of Coachella was the Greek duo, Keep Shelly in Athens. The emerging indie-electronic band has created quite a stir – for their unique, sometimes characterized as “melancholy disco” sound and their “mysterious” reputation. In order to keep the sole focus on the music, the band members don’t reveal their real names to the public, performing under “Sarah P” and “RPR.” They also constantly have people asking, “Who is Shelley?” and “Does she live in Athens?”

We caught up with Sarah P and RPR after their Coachella set to learn more about Keep Shelly in Athens. Check out the interview after the jump:

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Art/Design Featured Gallery Titmouse Mook Part Deux

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
April 16, 2012 - 11:02 am

Titmouse Inc. celebrated the release of “Mook Vol 2” with an art show at Nucleus Gallery in Alhambra, CA. The book is a follow up to Mook Vol. 1 and, according to the Titmouse crew, “is not a cartoon. It’s not a comic book, not a magazine, and not a book – It’s a MOOK, a magazine-book.” Titmouse Mouse President, Chris Prynoski, best described it as “an anthology of art, comics, and interviews which is printed on nice paper and includes the work of some badass artists” which he personally approved.

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Film Fridays ‘Darth Vader and Son’: If the Sith Lord Had a Soul; Sin City 2 Gets An Official Go-Ahead; Gotham City Tourist Video; & New Dark Knight Rises Photos

by Jeff Nau
April 13, 2012 - 4:36 pm

It’s likely crossed many a fan’s mind what it would have been like for Skywalker to join his father at the end of Empire, but Jeffrey Brown’s Darth Vader and Son gives a glimpse of something that seems wrong and almost perverse in an altogether alternate universe: what it would have been like for Take Your Son to Work Day on the Death Star. Or how Vader would have handled potty training, or teaching him to ride a bike. Still, it’s pretty awesome, if only because of how completely ass-backwards it is. What happened to poor Leia?

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Music Mason Jennings at Masonic

by Ariel Maccarone and Jennifer Popperl
April 13, 2012 - 1:04 pm

Writer Daniel Antonio Barron said, “Most of creating art is just soldiering through sucking.” Barron gave us the words, and now Mason Jennings gives us the soundtrack beneath it. The recently released album, Minnesota, by indie folk rocker, Mason Jennings, gives a voice to the tumultuous, and perhaps never-ending, transition into adulthood. We nabbed the artist for a quick few before his recent recent show at the Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, hoping to gain insight into what motivated his recent album.

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Geek In A ChinaShop Cheeks – Saving the Internet One Video At a Time

by Teresa Jusino and Emily Heyer
April 13, 2012 - 1:02 pm

If you don’t already know Cheeks, you should. Since September 2008, his YouTube channel has amassed almost 12,000 subscribers and over 2 million views. He has music on iTunes, including the hilarious “They Call Me Cheeks,” and very active Twitter account (@GoCheeksGo). These days, Cheeks has been getting lots of attention for his web series, Husbands, the first gay marriage sitcom.

Brad Bell knew that when he moved out to Hollywood from Texas that he wasn’t going to follow the same path as everybody else. “I knew that I wasn’t going to drive around town with my headshot and be all I can play this role! I can do that! I’m this guy! Because I’m not every guy, you know? I’m a specific type. So when I got here, I wanted to figure out What am I gonna do differently? What’s a different way into this machine? And it took a couple of years to figure out. YouTube came out as a website that people knew about and were using I think, like, two years after I moved [to L.A.]. That’s when I was like, Okay, there are people putting themselves out there in front of thousands of people on their own platform. I can do that. And I still audition for stuff, but I didn’t feel the need, that it was my only way in.”

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Music Photek: The Form and Function of Electronic Music

by Rich Thomas and Joe Gall
April 13, 2012 - 9:28 am

Of all the trends, anomalies and institutions that electronic music has helped put forth, the DJ mix is probably my most favorite. It is, however, a double-edged sword. A well selected and executed mix never goes out of style, jumping genres and moving effortlessly through moods as the tracklisting progresses. A bad mix, on the other hand, is like being handcuffed to a manic, self-congratulatory muppet that won’t stop thwapping the side of your head with his middle finger. In conjunction with Studio !K7’s legendary DJ Kicks pedigree, Rupert Parkes (a.k.a. Photek) has released a picture-perfect example of the former, following in a long line of deftly mixed electronic music compilations that don’t just document what’s now, but give nods to what came before and what’s next.

Featuring four exclusive Photek tunes, including the sublime “Azymuth,” this DJ Kicks mix runs the gamut of styles, starting slow and building to various crescendos throughout. One of the first model citizens of drum ‘n’ bass, Photek knows how to inject low end rumble that doesn’t fall victim to the excessively aggressive dubstep trends of the moment. He’s also not afraid to go atmospheric, letting the mix breathe and reshape itself. In the words of the Plump DJs, one of my favorite breakbeat DJ duos, it’s a “big, groovy f*#ker” for sure, but it’s a mix that knows the virtue of patience. Check out our interview with the incomparable Mr. Parkes below, along with a link to download his throwback M25 mix on Soundcloud.

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Music Tribes vs. X Factor

by Nicole Pajer and Sidney Bensimon
April 13, 2012 - 9:00 am

When Tribes takes the stage, “crowd surfers and stage invaders” are a common occurrence, says bassist, Jim Cratchley who explains that US audiences have been very kind to his London-based band. After forming in 2009, the four-piece rock project built up a fanbase by shunning social media sites and promoting themselves by word of mouth. Their career quickly exploded and with just five gigs under their belt, Tribes was asked to open for the Pixies. After two years of notoriety in the UK, Tribes has shifted their sights on America. Their debut album, Baby dropped on March 13th and the band has been feverishly touring in support.

Following their recent gig at The Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles, we caught up with Jim Crachley to discuss the London music scene, his hatred for The X-Factor, and the strangest compliment that the band has ever received.

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Music William Fitzsimmons’ Guided Journey Towards Sanity

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
April 12, 2012 - 11:25 am

William Fitzsimmons has no idea how many instruments he can play. “I’ve never sat down and counted,” says the mental illness counselor turned singer/songwriter. Born to two blind parents, music was an essential part of his childhood and was an alternate means of communication between Fitzsimmons and his parents. Fitzsimmons began playing the piano and trombone at a very young age, and learned the guitar somewhere along the way. “[My parents] wanted me to be pretty multi-lingual and be able to speak with a wide variety of instruments.” While continuing to pursue music as a side hobby, Fitzsimmons became a trained counselor and began working in the mental health field. Eventually, he began to see music as a better vessel for therapy and focused his fulltime efforts on crafting deep and meaningful songs.

In a recent interview with Fitzsimmons, we discussed, his 2008 album “The Sparrow and The Crow” serving as an apology to his ex-wife, his trademark beard, and why he gave up music snobbery.

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