Tag Archives: interview

Featured Gallery Music Keeping Rock Alive: Dead Sara

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
January 24, 2012 - 11:29 am

Dead Sara has been busy since we spoke with them last year. The female-fronted four piece has been packing in venues, exponentially growing their fanbase, and just finished recording their highly anticipated new album. Dead Sara was recently selected to be featured artist on this year’s Warped Tour and has been enjoying success on popular rock radio stations throughout the country.

We recently caught up with vocalist Emily Armstrong who explained that 2012 is shaping up to be the band’s best year yet.

Check out our conversation with Emily as she discusses being a female vocalist in a male dominated rock world, items in her tour survival kit, and the band almost being named Masturbation Salvation:

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Music Brother of the Jackal: You Can’t Tame Iran’s “The Yellow Dogs”

by Nicole Pajer
January 23, 2012 - 1:32 pm

Bands that perform in Iran must have permission from “The Ministry of Islamic Culture,” a task that is not easy to accomplish. After ruling this out as a possibility, The Yellow Dogs decided to risk imprisonment, fines, and lashes in order to perform their “Satanic” tunes. They began holding band practices on a rooftop which they sound proofed with garbage and started packing in the crowds at their “secret” underground basement shows.

After several years of gaining popularity as a rebellious Iranian band, The Yellow Dogs moved to New York and have been enjoying the freedom to perform without constantly looking over their shoulder. Lead singer/guitarist Obaash recently spoke with ChinaShop about “not giving a rat’s ass” about the laws in Iran, getting arrested for having long hair, and feeling at home in Brooklyn.

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Music 5 Questions with Ida Maria

by Brent X Mendoza
January 4, 2012 - 11:34 am

Ida Maria closed down 2011 with a special KCRW showcase at The Roxy Theatre. The Songstress also pause for a moment to answer 5 burning questions.

The pop punk princess has already conquered much of Europe with her delightfully catchy and remarkably well crafted ear candy and is now catching some well deserved buzz here in the U.S. Get to know the spunky songstress that’s the talk of the tastemakers after the jump.

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Art Artstar: Paige Pumphrey

by Molly Crabapple
December 7, 2011 - 10:10 am

Paige Pumphrey is an artist based in New York City.

You seem very influenced by scenes like roller derby, burlesque, and rockabilly. How does subculture influence your art?

Paige: Growing up in the suburbs of Maryland in that dark time before the internet, I desperately wanted to be cool. I’ve always skipped around subcultures dipping my toe in various scenes all through adolescence in an attempt to find myself. But I’ve always been first and foremost a big ol’ nerd with a wicked case of OCD when it comes to my obsessions, so I always treated each different subculture that I monkey-barred to and from as almost like a costume of different characters I was trying to be.

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Music The Young Rapscallions: Garage Rock at its Finest

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
November 30, 2011 - 10:05 am

It’s not everyday that you find parents caring enough to surrender their garage to their son and his friends/bandmates. Fortunately for The Young Rapscallions, the parents of drummer Chris Mintz-Plasse gave him the green light to turn their carport into his band’s personal rehearsal space. The San Fernando Valley-based band formed when four childhood best friends – Taylor Messersmith, Jonathan Sanders, Chris Mintz-Plasse, and Nick Chamian – picked up instruments and began jamming to songs by their favorite bands. After discovering a mutual love for rock and roll, the desire to form an original project spurred and alas The Young Rapscallions was formed.

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Featured Gallery Music “For Us, It’s Called Music” – The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
November 28, 2011 - 10:17 am

This year’s Culture Collide was so packed that we resorted to conducting our interview with Mette Lindberg from The Asteroids Galaxy Tour in the corner of a parking lot. Lindberg didn’t mind. She plopped a squat in her shiny gold sequined leggings right on the asphalt and told us all about the inspiration behind The Asteroids Galaxy Tour lyrics and the magical world that she creates with her musical partner in crime, Lars Iversen.

When heads were quickly turned, we had Lindberg plop on top of a motorcycle in her fantastic glittery gold outfit for an impromptu parking lot photo shoot. She was a good sport, initially concerned about the bike falling over or getting beat up by its most likely musclebound owner, but happily played along. The best shot of all was when Lindberg asked if it was OK if we photographed her “listening to the motorcycle’s heartbeat.”

Check out our feature interview with Lindberg below:

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