Ironically, the Michigan-born Virkhaus hated his first rave. The year was 1991, and the music was all whooshing, vacuum-cleaner techno. “I didn’t like it at all.”

At a later event in Chicago, where he was enrolled in the same art school his grandfather had attended, he discovered Richie Hawtin and Juan Atkins. He also discovered that if he took some of the video feedback and looping experiments he had conducted as teenager in his mom’s basement, and projected them behind the DJ, the kids went nuts for it.

Virkhaus was hooked. “Honestly, it was far more exciting than exhibiting in Gallery Two for the Art Institute of Chicago School.”

Flash forward to 2012, and Vello Virkhaus’ V Squared Labs is at the razor’s edge of a revolution in live visual technology for concerts, clubs and music festivals. Founded in Los Angeles in 2000, V Squared has designed high-tech eye candy for everyone from Electric Daisy Carnival to Beyoncé to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And their greatest achievement to date is about to appear on the West Coast’s biggest stage: Coachella.

Ask Virkhaus how Amon Tobin’s jaw-dropping ISAM: Live show is going to go down at Coachella 2012, and his excitement is palpable. He starts talking about lumens—a unit measuring the intensity of a light source—the way the sound guy at a Metallica concert talks about decibels.

“We’ll have like 40,000 lumens on it. It’s gonna frickin’ rock! Tobin’s gonna crush it.”

V Squared designed ISAM’s mind-melting visuals in conjunction with Leviathan, a production studio specializing in commercial animation, along with production coordinator Alex Lazarus and set designer Heather Shaw, who created the elaborate, Tetris-like structure over which the show’s 3D animations are projected in perfect time with Tobin’s intricate, off-kilter music. To pull this off, Virkhaus and his team developed their own “sync-mapping” software and performance tools. The final product is so hard to operate that only three people, including Virkhaus himself, are qualified to do it.

Virkhaus also hopes to bring back another V Squared installation, the Heineken Dome, which made appearances at Coachella and Outside Lands in 2011 and is expected to return to Coachella in 2012. Last year, Virkhaus enjoyed “one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had” VJing inside the Dome. “The environment itself is so powerful and so immersive,” he marvels. “People were transported.”

As if all that weren’t enough, Virkhaus also expects to be working again this year with Skrillex. Last year, Virkhaus and V Squared blew still more minds on Skrillex’s Mothership tour, teaming up with Skrillex’s director, David Navarro (no, not the guitarist) and an A-list team of 3D artists to create a giant, motion-capture-driven Skrillex avatar, projected behind the dubstep DJ and mirroring his every gesture.

“The whole show is pretty much all 3D rendered, and then all generative, real-time 3D effects,” Virkhaus explains. Translation? “It’s sick.” Which could be the tag line for everything V Squared Labs does.

Watch the ISAM extended trailer here

Words by Andy Hermann (@AndyHermanMMX)

You’ve had several songs featured on Jersey Shore which I’m sure is the hot topic of the moment that you can’t escape?

Dan: Yeah. It’s a positive and a negative.

Mike: It’s a double-edged sword. So many people hate it so much but people talk about it and they ID us and it’s 10 million people. Out of those 10 million, some see our name and become fans and there is nothing wrong with that!

Ted: The response is pretty cool and amazingly it’s been world wide too. Our iTunes have spiked in Canada and Australia and Israel, Denmark…

Mike: We’re so big in Israel and Denmark that it would blow your mind!

Did you actually see the episode that it was in?

Dan: Not the last one.

Ted: I haven’t’ seen the last couple.

Mike: I’ve seen them all.

What were the scenes like?

Mike: In season 4 it was Ron and Sam getting into another fight and then another one was Vinny trying to go in and sleep with Snooki and she kicked him out.

Dan: And that song is called “Get Away.” It was like a montage to that song.

Mike: And then this season was Snooki and Vinnie getting it on. Banging!

Dan: And the vocals were, “I can feel it….”

Ted: That was the line that they used.

Mike: “Closer than before…” because they had done it before.

That’s one of those train wreck shows but once you have an episode on in the background, you can’t look away…

Mike: Oh yeah.

Do you guys have a reality TV guilty pleasure?

Mike: I watch Survivor.

Is that still on?

Mike: Yeah. It’s like the 20th season or something like that. I’ve watched that every season.

Ted: I’m a fan of housewives. I like Beverly Hills and Orange County…and New Jersey actually.

Dan: Hey guys. We’re allowed to not answer these questions! Just say no comment!

Ted: I have no problem admitting that!

Dan: OK well then The Girls Next Store and The Kardashians. Just because they’re hot chicks.

Mike: What are you? 13?

That’s the sad thing though is they are hot chicks but you know you still tune in and get sucked into the plot…

Dan: No I don’t care about that.

Ted: That’s actually all I watch is reality TV.

Dan: This interview is not going well!

Ted: Well not just trash though! I’m either watching sports or like House Hunters International. It’s the best show ever!

Mike: Intervention…

Ted: What about Hoarders?

I opened a big can of worms here!

Dan: I saw one episode of Hoarders, which was like totally fucking amazing! The house was full of dirt and trash and she was like hatching chickens in her living room.

Mike: Someone was hoarding cats in the one that I saw. They were like dead cats and the whole yard had so much shit – a row of lawnmowers and then a row of old broken washing machines, anything you could find. The guy just wouldn’t throw anything out because he could make money off of the scrap metal.

Tell me about your lyrics. Dan, I’ve read that you consider them to be a means of therapy for you…

Dan: Yeah definitely. It all just kind of comes naturally with things I’m dealing with in my own life. I feel like everyone’s kind of dealing with their own complexities so I think a lot of people tend to relate. It’s cool. I like to get deep.

Is music cheaper than a shrink?

Dan: Yes.

Ted: Is it though?

Dan: Well it’s an extended session because there are more things that happen because of music and because of the lifestyle.

Why did you name the band Kill The Complex?

Dan: The band that we were before – Mike is new to the band, he’s been with us about a year and a half – six or seven years ago we had a band called Butane. The record was called Kill The Complex. It was more punk rock. We did the Warped Tour and stuff like that and were writing about the same things. It’s just automatic so Kill The Complex was the theme for this project too.

How did you progress from a punk band to where you are today?

Ted: We were never a true punk band. We were playing punk for fun but we were never really doing it because it was who we were.

Dan: It didn’t sound like traditional punk. It was melodic, it was radio, it was still pop in a way I guess.

Ted: I think what we’re doing now is just more natural to who we are. We’re not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole anymore. The punk stuff was fun but when we started doing what was in our hearts more…

Dan: We just evolved into ourselves.

What is on the agenda for the band for the next year?

Dan: Writing.

Ted: We’re finishing up an acoustic record right now.

Dan: Like chill versions of this record.

Mike: I want to play every big festival in the world pretty much starting with Coachella at some point.

Starting with Coachella and ending with?

Ted: Coachella.

Mike: Yeah Coachella just years later.

What else should we know about Kill The Complex?

Dan: I guess we’re just true to what we do and we believe in what we’re playing.

Mike: Dan has the most luxurious flowing hair out of everybody in the band.

Dan: Because I can’t grow a beard.

Mike: I usually have a big bushy beard. Oh and I should add that we come from many influences. We’re all from different parts of the world. We’re all totally different guys that came together through this one form of music but our influences are so diverse. I’ve never written anything with the band yet but for the next album, we’re just wondering where it’s gonna go.

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Lisa Johnson

How did the session go?

Julian: It was good. We were kind of tired because we didn’t sleep a lot last night – just a couple of hours. We were playing in San Diego and we drove all the way here but it was good.

You describe your sound as electrical tropical. What genres do you incorporate into your music?

Julian: Basically what we do is a blend of folk music from our country and alternative music – rock music, kind of pop music as well that we heard when we were young that influences us. It’s pretty much a blend – folk with alternative. You can call it whatever you want. I don’t think it has to fit specifically as something.

Your song “Fuego” was in an episode of Dexter. Do you watch the show?

Julian: I heard that. I didn’t see it. I’ve never seen it.

Do you watch any American TV shows?

Julian: I’m a fan of Dr. House.

When they play House over there – do they do subtitles or do they actually have him speaking Spanish?

Julian: Both of them. Sometimes I look at the subtitles because I really want to understand but they are talking too fast or in some medical terms I don’t catch sometimes.

You’ve been playing Bonnaroo, Coachella, and all kinds of big festivals. Do you prefer the bigger shows or do you like the smaller more intimate performances?

Julian: I prefer the small to medium venues because you can see the faces of everyone. It has to be a really good connection with people at a big stage or it’s hard to get the feedback from the people. Right now I prefer the small ones.

How did you guys get together as a band?

Julian: It all started out as a solo project from Simon, the bass player and then we were joined first by Lillana the singer, then Kike the drummer and the last one was me. We got to know each other very well – touring a lot and making music and jamming. We’re kind of a family now.

You were nominated as one of the ‘Top 25 Best New Bands in The World’ by MTV. That’s quite an accomplishment!

Julian: Thank you. That was in July 2010. We did a show in an underground place for that. It was small but a lot of big fans were there, joining us with the MTV crew. It was very intimate.

What would you say your greatest experience musically has been so far?

Julian: In 2009 we played the Roskilde Festival in Denmark and it was great. It was like a field of happiness all around.

What’s your favorite place to play in the US?

Julian: Seattle. We’ve been there 3 times and it’s really weird. I don’t know how the people there got to know our music very well but every time we go there, we can see that more and more people are getting to know the music. Seattle is a very musical city and the energy just feels good there.

When you guys play in the US, do you tend to attract more of a Latin fanbase or is it a good mixture in the crowd?

Julian: Sometimes it’s very Latin. When we play in a city that has a lot of Latin American people like Miami or California or New York, it’s a lot of Latin American people. But in a place like for example, Seattle, there are a lot of just American people in there.

You released an EP, “Ponte Bomb,” in January. What’s next? Are you working on new material?

Julian: Yes, we are working on the 3rd album. I don’t know if it’s going to be ready for the end of this year. If not, it’s going to be ready for the beginning of the next one. We are working hard on it but the last tour in the US was too long. We didn’t have time at all to work on it. When we’re at home we will do that.

So that’s your summer plans then?

Julian: Absolutely and also we’re going to be in Europe touring.

Do you prefer touring in the US, in Europe, or in your home country?

Julian: You know, this was a very special trip for us. It was kind of a road trip all through North America. We got to see the country – the mainland and the countryside. I’m getting to know the difference between the states. I really like it a lot. I used to prefer to go to Europe but right now I think it’s equal.

What was the biggest culture shock that you experienced when first coming to the US to play?

Julian: The first time I didn’t get that shock but this time we were playing at a festival in Ohio in a very small town called Nelsonville and as we arrived there was a band playing 4 banjos on the stage. All the crowd was country people so we were a little nervous to play but they liked us.

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Catie Laffoon.

After being denied entry to the first show along with the other slackers who missed the boat on the on sale date, we were fortunate enough to score tickets to Tuesday’s coveted second show. The hype behind the back-to-back shows stemmed from the feedback of those who witnessed the glorious performance by the band at Coachella 2010, the reviews from Yeasayer’s more tone-down set at the Natural History Museum last year, and the fact that they mysteriously chose to forgo any LA tour dates on their “Odd Blood” tour. To many, this was their first time seeing the band and if that meant dragging their butts out to a jammed auditorium on a school night, then so be it.

Hush Hush and The Smith Westerns warmed up the audience before Yeasayer took the stage shortly after 11 p.m. Armed with an elaborate array of instruments, the band performed under dim lights and strobes, magnified by a sea of fog. Each song proved more energetic than the next and the crowd embraced the band with open arms, dancing into the wee hours of the night. As lead singer Chris Keating belted out his trademark high pitched voice, Ira Wolf Tuto, Anand Wilder, Jason Trammell, Ahmed Gallab, and Bommel produced beats, synth, and riffs to match.

For Yeasayer, the evening was just as much about the stage show as it was the music. Various images danced around the backdrop and lighting continuously changed to fit the mood of the song. A sweaty crowd bobbed and weaved, at times entering a more frantic state of rave dancing. For a Tuesday night, it was an impressive scene to see an array of fans dress up, fuel with alcoholic elixirs and go all out, such as the group of enthusiastic fans clad in wacky sea creature outfits.

The band played 13 songs in total, including 3 preview tracks off their highly anticipated and soon to be released third LP. The full setlist was:

Sunrise
Tightrope
Henrietta
ONE
Mondegreen
Devil and the Deed
Rome
Wait for the Summer
Grizelda
Madder Red
Ambling Alp
——————-
Demon Road
2080

Following the encore, the crowd whistled wildly and cheered, which we all hope motivated Yeasayer to make sure that a stop in Los Angeles or two is included in all tours going forward.

For more information on Yeasayer’s current tour and upcoming album, visit: http://www.yeasayer.net/

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Sidney Bensimon

The show kicked off shortly after 6:30 p.m., however, fans skipped out of work and got in line way before to solidify their spots; the earliest arriving at 10 a.m. Groups of Foster lovers crammed into CD aisles which were roped off once at capacity.

Michael Foster, the uncle of lead singer Mark Foster, was nestled into the front row VIP section. Foster told us how proud he is of his nephew and how he remembers him working odd jobs such as busing tables in order to save up money to fulfill his dreams of becoming a rock star. “He’s worked hard and deserves it and it couldn’t have happened to a better nephew. He came out here with his dream when he was 18 years old and he stuck to it,” explains Foster.

By the time the band hit the stage, security had stopped allowing people to enter the building for the show but that didn’t stop a line of last minute hopefuls from crowding the building. Groups of Foster The People fans wearing band apparel, fake mustaches, and shoelaces tied around their heads cheered and danced along to the set. The band performed seven songs in total including “Houdini,” “Color On The Walls,” “Warrant,” “Helena Beats,” and the radio friendly “Pumped Up Kicks,” which everyone knew the words to.

The show was in support of “Torches,” the latest and greatest Foster The People album that just released on May 23rd. Following the performance, Amoeba held a CD signing with the band. Sweaty fans coming down from the high of dancing during the entire show dove into line clutching their copies of “Torches” and waiting to meet their favorite rockers.

Before making his way over to the signing table, Mark Foster addressed the crowd with some heartfelt words: “We just wanted to thank you all for coming out and filling up the place. We’re glad we got to be here in LA and play in the best indie record store in the country.”

For more information on Foster The People’s current tour, visit: www.fosterthepeople.com

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Sidney Bensimon.

Backstage before the show at Los Angeles’s Music Box, Yelle greeted us with a smile and a look that would have taken the average person a team of stylists to assemble. Dressed in spotted animal print pants and a black scoop neck shirt, sporting a soft pretzel necklace and Eiffel Tower earrings, she pulled up a chair and began expressing her love for America.

In an interview with ChinaShop, Yelle discusses remixing songs for Katy Perry and Robyn, getting used to American culture, and dressing to impress on stage.

This is your last show of this leg of the tour. What’s next?

We’re gonna go back home and then we will begin festivals around Europe so we’ll be on tour until the end of December. After the summer festivals, we will tour in Europe and then go to South America too.

Do you prefer doing shows in the US or Europe?

I like to play in the US. People here just want to have fun and party and enjoy the moment. In France, people need time to get into the show. They need to analyze and listen – because maybe they understand the lyrics and are more focused on it.

How was Coachella?

It was really good. It was the second time for us at Coachella and it was crazy. This time in particular was really intense because we played at the perfect time. It was 6:30 or something like that and the sun was going down. People were happy, the tent was really packed, and it was perfect.’

You’ve done a bunch of remixes with Katy Perry, Robyn, etc… What’s been your favorite so far?

I think the Robyn one. We really like to play it live and it was a real transformation of the song. We had to write the lyrics. We had to find new melodies and stuff. For the Katy Perry remix, it was a remix so we just added some voices. For the exchange with Robyn, it was really fun to work in it and it was the first song we made in our new studio at home.

I love your Eiffel tower earrings. Have you been wearing those a lot on tour?

[Laughs]. No just yesterday because you know it’s the last day. It’s a wink to the country.

You wear some pretty fun things on stage. Do you put them together yourself?

I like to work on designers and to have a real exchange – it’s not just wearing some stuff; I really like to have a connection. At the beginning of the tour, I asked Brian Lichtenberg to draw me a dress and he did something really cool with a lot of animal patterns and glitter things. It’s like an orange body suit printed with leopard stuff. It’s really cool and really comfortable and perfect for the show because I’m dancing a lot and jumping. I wear it a lot and I’m gonna wear it tonight.

I have 5 or 6 outfits in my luggage and I try to go with that. It’s important for me to be well dressed on stage, its’ a show you know…In France we don’t’ have that culture. You have it in the US – it’s show time so everybody up and dressed, let’s go!

So the US audiences are receptive even though most of the lyrics are in French?

Yeah. It’s funny because I think even if they don’t really understand, they try to sing and it’s really funny to see people in the crowd trying to sing in French.

Your English is very good. Did you grow up speaking English in school?

A little bit yeah but in France, you can choose and I chose German for the first language. I think I learned English for like five years.

Since travelling throughout the US, I’m sure you’ve experienced some culture shock and had to adjust to a few differences. What’s the strangest thing you’ve had to get used to when touring in the US?

I think the size of the food. In France, when you ask for a plate of beef – for us it’s normal size. Here, two people can eat in one plate. When you’re here you have to remember, if I choose that, it can be too much for me.

We like the American culture. We drove the last 6 weeks around the country in different states and each time it was a good surprise for us to meet the people in little towns, to discover all the great landscape you have, it’s magical.

We had a crush on Austin. Last time we went in November, it was like, ‘This city’s perfect.’ The last few days we were in Santa Cruz and the guys were in love because they love to skate and surf. We really like California – the sun and everything. It’s perfect!

For more information on Yelle, visit: http://www.yelle.fr/

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Sidney Bensimon.

Your hair has gotten way longer since we spoke two years ago.

John Famiglietti: Yeah, I’ve barely cut my hair since then.

It’s been about a year since Disco2. Are you guys recording new material or in the studio writing?

John Famiglietti: Yeah, that’s pretty much all we’re doing; just writing. We haven’t been touring much or playing too many shows. Just doing a few festivals and one-offs. We’re trying to write way more songs for the new record this time around, so pretty much everything is going into this record.

Same writing spot downtown?

John Famiglietti: We’re writing in our practice space, as normal, but we’re also doing a lot of stuff on the computer, which we didn’t do before. We’re not sure how we’re going to record this thing just yet, but we’re definitely going to go for a way different production sound this time around.

How so? That very live, off-the-floor style ran you into some problems during the mixing.

John Famiglietti: This time we’re just gonna sidestep those problems. There’s been a total change in sound in modern records. Old records now just sound super thin, and our earlier records sound thin in the same way. We were always trying to deal with super loud output volume. With the new one, we’re looking more towards the way really heavy electronic music is produced, with everything super compressed. We’re not putting anything out unless we’re super happy with it.

I never got a chance to ask you how all that Golden Ticket stuff you did to promote your last album turned out.

John Famiglietti: It went pretty well. We took the dude to Magic Mountain and it was a super fun weekend. We videotaped the whole thing and we were gonna put it on the internet, but no one wants to edit it. Jake’s mom made this scarf. Our manager called some kid and gave him a pep talk. We sent a lot of gifts out, but a lot of people just didn’t claim their gift. I think a lot of people didn’t want a lot of that shit. (Laughs)

What’s your take on where the LA scene is now?

John Famiglietti: There were a ton of emo-type bands and other really exciting bands playing Coachella that are from LA. There’s just a lot of shit from LA right now. From an underground point of view, everyone sort of wrote LA off for most of 2000, but it seems that we’re doing pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygQMUemU5qo

Are you guys are working on any video projects?

John Famiglietti: We have a lot of projects that we meant to get off the ground, but everyone’s like, “Dude, what are you doing? Do this record now,” so once the record is done we’ll get some of the other stuff done. We really want to make this high concept TV show, but it’s gonna be a hell of a lot of work to film. We want to shoot it in HD and have it shot and lit like a movie.

Any Coachella battle stories?

John Famiglietti: I met Danny DeVito. That was pretty cool. The best thing was when we were by our trailer, all of Kanye’s ballerinas were stretching. The most muscular chicks I’ve ever seen with the most muscular butts in the world. They were pulling their legs up to their heads and doing crunches standing up. It was amazing.

Words by Rich Thomas. Photos by Dustin Downing.

When asked about Coachella in a recent interview, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian stated his feelings in no uncertain terms. “Metal bands have never been invited or been able to be part of the cool kids, and I like it that way.” Then, for extra emphasis: “I don’t want to have anything to do with you, I don’t like your music, I don’t like your scene, I don’t like your ironic mustaches, and I don’t like your stupid hats.”

If you’re an old school metal fan at heart, you probably feel (at least to some degree) the way Scott Ian does. And it’s that same sentiment which has helped all four bands keep riding for 3 decades — sure, Metallica made Load, Megadeth made Risk, Slayer did Diablos in Musica, and Anthrax, well, didn’t do anything. But a week after Coachella, all four horsemen were mad as hell, and they weren’t going to take it anymore. It was time to clean house.

Just to make sure everyone knew that, there was even an interpreter there for the deaf. Thus I spent a good portion of “Metal Thrashing Mad” stalking the hot sign language girl.

A couple of parking lot parties here, multiple mosh pits there, and the beer flowed in fountains. Who were people here for? Had they forgiven Metallica and Mustaine their respective transgressions? Was Joey Belladonna’s return to Anthrax something to be abhorred or celebrated? How would Slayer sound without Jeff Hanneman?

The answer, 9 times out of ten: SLAYYERRR. The last 10 percent were rabid Megadeth fans — guess Anthrax and Metallica were just a nice bonus?

I guess it made sense. Many of the band’s followers were lifers, having hounded Slayer since their Show No Mercy days. Even as I tried to make my way to the photo pit before their show, these two fans wouldn’t let me through until I snapped a picture. Who was I to say no, especially when I risked becoming someone’s cell-mate?

The great thing about big tours of long-lasting bands like these is that you get to see the moms and dads bring their kids along. In most cases, the kids had dragged the moms and dads out. Sometimes entire families — brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, maybe sometimes all at the same time.

A huge part of why I was even here was my brother, both my music hero, and one sadly missing from this event: I was your typical 14 year-old angsty teen, at home flipping through a magazine with Metallica on the cover. And from down the hall, I heard a sound — something magnificent, godly, crushingly heavy, and more badass than anything I’d ever heard. Like Pepe Le Pu following a stench, I stumbled towards my brother’s room.

“What is this?” I asked.

“Rust in Peace,” my brother said.

“Wha?”

“Megadeth,” he said, and then kicked me out. And I was among the converted.

I guess there was only one possible lingering question: how would the masters sound, nearly 30 years later? ‘Ol Anthrax headed the lineup, and kicked it off with “Caught in a Mosh,” also official festival slogan (there were at least three pits at a time going the entire duration of his show). Eschewing all things John Bush, the quartet stuck strictly to greatest-hits Belladonna: “Got the Time,” “Anti-Social”, “Indians”, and one new track, “Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t,” a return to the mid-80s riffs that brought everyone out here. I still miss the ballsier, bluesier voice of John Bush, but Belladonna held his own throughout. Dude runs around like a Jazzercize instructor, so at least he’s fun to watch.

Megadeth was up next, and frontman Dave Mustaine surprisingly kept the talking to a minimum. Could this be the sign of a kinder, gentler Dave? I keep hoping he’ll play other stuff off Killing Is My Business than “Mechanix”, (*cough CHOSEN ONES cough cough*), but no love. Brushing the dust off “Poison Was the Cure” and setlist stalwarts like “Wake up Dead,” still got me choked up, and the Broderick/Mustaine harmonies were flawless. Out of all the bands, the musicians know: you want to be really good at guitar? You learn to play Megadeth. I couldn’t even figure out the tabs.

Slayer was what really drew the crowd out, despite Jeff Hanneman’s absence (he was the recent recipient of a nasty spider bite). But thrash veteran Gary Holt did such an impeccable job of filling in for him, almost no one noticed. “World Painted Blood,” and “Postmortem” were two standouts, before Hanneman summoned enough strength to encore with “Angel of Death” and “South of Heaven.” And there was much rejoicing.

I’d never seen Metallica before. I guess it’s because I lost interest in them before I was old enough to ever see them. Their set turned me around, as it consisted mostly of stuff off Ride The Lightning, including the title track. “Creeping Death”, “For Whom the Bells”, “Orion”, “Welcome Home”, and special San Francisco treat “Blackened” were nearly flawless — along with the usual suspects off of the Black Album. People have been hard on these guys since the whole Load debacle, and I’m no exception. But they won me over tonight — sure, Lars can’t keep up on the double bass like he used to, but the boys still carry it off, especially James and Kirk.

11:00. As I walked off to my car to beat the crowd of 50,000, I thought, “If they were gonna play ‘Hit The Lights’, they probably would have done it be now. There’s no way.” And then, from the Coachella parking lot 50 miles away, I heard it. F*CK.

As I rumbled through the parking lot slop, a montage of events played back in my head to “Taps.” : the smell of lard in the air, being clobbered in the mosh pit, getting grabbed by sketchy and leathery beer-guzzlers, loads of terrible tats, Dave Mustaine actually hugging Kirk Hammett, and 4 incredible sets. I only wished that it could have been another two days of surreal time-travel to my youth. Ah yes, trendies come and go, but certain kinds of music never really die. Thrash is a prime example — its unpolished, straightforward sound is what’s carried it thus far, and (as 3 out of 4 have proven) only that sound will carry it further. Perhaps Scott Ian’s genius lies in knowing when to think narrow-minded.

Words and photos by Jeff Nau

]]> http://www.chinashopmag.com/2011/04/the-road-to-hell-metallica-megadeth-anthrax-and-slayer-play-indio/feed/ 2 http://www.chinashopmag.com/2011/04/francis-and-the-lights-catching-rays-at-coachella/ http://www.chinashopmag.com/2011/04/francis-and-the-lights-catching-rays-at-coachella/#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:19:28 +0000 Rich Thomas http://chinashop.designenginela.com/?p=56342 Continue reading →]]>

Last year, amidst major releases from Kanye West, the Kings of Leon, Vampire Weekend and Gorillaz, a little album by Francis and the Lights called It’ll Be Better snuck into slot five in my car’s CD changer sometime around April and stayed there for the rest of the 2010. Simple in its construction, heavily dependent on melody, and pristinely produced to enhance every hi-hat, keyboard flourish and tasteful guitar solo, It’ll Be Better proved that less was indeed more. But when I finally got frontman Francis Farewell Starlite on the phone, I found there was way more going on than meets the eye, and that dude is just as eccentric as his name—his real name, mind you—makes him out to be. But the fact remains that if you don’t keep him on your radar, you’re going to miss out on some of the best music this decade will have to offer. Backstage at Coachella 2011, he gave us a little insight into what he’s got coming next.

Last time we chatted, you talked about how your record, It’ll Be Better, sounded deceptively simple, but how the recording process was extremely difficult? Are you working on new material right now?

Francis Farewell Starlite: Yeah.

And are you taking anything from that process?

Francis Farewell Starlite: I hope I’ve learned from that process, but I haven’t started recording yet. It remains to be seen how I’ll record the record.

Are you just working out melodies and phrases?

Francis Farewell Starlite: Just writing music.

Are you a guitar player or just a piano player?

Francis Farewell Starlite: Just piano. The real writing is in my head, so then the piano is used as a translation machine from the melody into music. You know how we talked about how I paint all the keys black? When I practice the piano, it’s the same idea. “This is not an instrument. This is not the piano. This is just a way to play notes.” I try to think like, “This is a song and this song exists in the clouds. I want to make it real,” so I use this tool to try and make it real. That’s the way I try to think about it.

Do you look at any other instruments the same way?

Francis Farewell Starlite: Well, I don’t know how to play any other instruments.

Have you ever tried painting all the keys white?

Francis Farewell Starlite: (Laughs) No, but you know what’s funny? When you make a piano into a keyboard, then it’s just triggers; it’s just on/off in a specific order. One through 88, volume at one through 27 for each one, and that’s it. That’s beautiful. That’s science. Then you’re controlling whatever it is you’re controlling with this trigger setup. I happen to be very facilitous [sic] with this trigger setup, but that’s all it is. I’m just pushing on/off.

On the last record, a song like “Get In The Car” was about your relationship with a record label exec. What songwriting themes are resonating with you right now?

Francis Farewell Starlite: Super personal. Super personal. I feel like the last record was about all different kinds of relationships; relationships with that record label guy, relationships with girls. Now I want to talk about myself. That’s what I’m talking about right now.

You’ve also been making a lot of moves with other artists. What collaborations do you have going?

Francis Farewell Starlite: I don’t think I can talk about it, but there’s stuff happening. No one has shown me more respect or done more for me in the music world than Drake, and that will always be there. I’ll always be there for that.

Are you working with him on a consistent basis?

Francis Farewell Starlite: Anything I would say would be misconstrued. Whatever he needs from me, I’m there for him. It’s like that. I have so much respect for him. I hope that something else happens in the future, and maybe it will.

Words by Rich Thomas. Photos by Dustin Downing.

Matt And Kim Force Cheer Upon You With Upcoming “Sidewalks” Tour

Mad Lib Monday: Dinosaur Bones