Prior to the show, we sat down with Baylin to discuss how she used her inheritance from her grandmother to record her recent independent release, Little Spark. She cheerfully greeted us and exclaimed that our interview location, the front bar of the Troubadour, was where “Joni Mitchell used to hang out.” Baylin explained that as a child she was notorious for making mixed tapes for her friends, which included tracks by her musical idols (Dusty Springfield, Barbara Streisand, Nina Simone…). She told us how she met her husband in line for the bathroom at Bonnaroo and explained that although she misses LA, the simpler life in Nashville is conducive to her artistic soul.

You haven’t performed in LA in a while. What have you been up to?

I’ve been making a record and crafting these songs and just waiting for the right moment. I felt like when I came back, I would have to play here [Troubadour] so I wanted to have it be an event. The record’s out now and it’s a celebration!

And you put it out independently?

I did and it’s actually been the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my career. It’s just really freeing and it’s nice to know what’s going on and to have that control. I really needed that in myself and I invested in this album with my own finances – pretty much every little bit that I had left – so that was a good risk to take.

I read that you actually used some of your grandmother’s inheritance for the album…

Yeah, all of it. I think she wouldn’t have had it any other way. Every time I called her she would be like, “How are we gonna make this happen kid?” I would say, “We’re working on it.” She was a wonderful, sassy little woman so this is a really nice way to honor her. She appreciated art and music and loved watching me perform. Actually right before she got Leukemia, she came on the road with me and ended up seeing like four dates on this tour. I was opening up for someone and she came to Florida for two shows and she came to New York and Philly and Boston and just had a ball. She loved it. She’d drink her sherry backstage with me and tell stories to anyone that would listen.

Not many grandmas are going on the road with people. That’s pretty amazing!

She was a unique grandmother. Most grandma’s are up at like 5am; she went to bed around 2 or 3am and slept till at least 10 or 11 in the morning. I’d be like the little kid. I’d spend the night and be like, “Grandma. I’m hungry! I want eggs. Come on!” She was like the ultimate rock star.

You relocated to Nashville with your husband. Do you feel like you’re more at home in the music scene there or do you miss LA?

Nashville’s been really good to me – really really responsive and it’s been a really wonderful place for me to harvest who I want to be as an artist. That’s super exciting to me – just sort of having the time. Really, there’s nothing else to do in Nashville than sit and write and cook and do my thing. It’s really simple there. There’s not much to do. There’s not a lot of culture. There are beautiful parks and walks but for the most part it’s a simpler life that I can appreciate. I’m out in LA now for two weeks and everyday I’m like, “We’re going to the Getty. We’re doing all this stuff.” And I love that but in a way, it’s distracting all the time when that is accessible to you. In Nashville, it’s like my only job for today is to write a really good poem – maybe it will be mediocre and maybe it will be great and I’ll feel good that I tried. Then I’ll make lunch and then I’ll take a walk and that will be enough.

What made you decide to have Scarlett Johansson produce your video for “Hurry Hurry?”

We were old friends and we were drinking wine and I played her some new songs and she was like, “That’s it. This week we’re gonna cut a video. Adam Kimmel is going to do the cinematography. It’s done.” And I’m like, “Really? You wanna do this?” And she’s like, “Yes. We’re doing this.” I think she’s gonna be an amazing director and she already is and she’s going to continue to do some beautiful things from behind the lens. I’m excited for her and I’m happy to have been a part of her early directorial life.

Is it true that you did many of the songs on Little Spark in one take?

 Yeah. Pretty much every vocal is one take just because I feel like that initial moment – it’s so alive in you and I’m more in it. Then it becomes work and it shouldn’t. It should feel effortless and it should sound effortless. That’s the kind of records I want to make. Some records don’t have to sound that way but I want this to feel dreamy and intimate and it has to have that freshness and it can’t feel rehearsed so it was not at all.

Do you remember your earliest memory of falling in love with music?

As a kid, my parents always had music on in our home. My dad loved Frank Sinatra and my mom loved Zeppelin and Barbara Streisand and Bette Midler. We had everything; it was kind of all over the place, which was great for me as a kid. My mixed tapes that I made my friends, they were like, ”What the heck is going on here.” Then I remember being in sixth grade and hearing Fiona Apple Tidal and “Sleep to Dream” is the first song on that. My mom brought it home and was like, “I really think you’re going to like this record.” I put it in and my parents had just invested in this nice Bose sound system and I remember I turned both speakers towards my head and I just wanted to be inside that song. I’ve never had that type of experience where I literally wanted to know every layer. That was the first time I was really moved and I thought, “If I ever make music, I want something that feels this big and just surrounds someone like this.”

Have you seen her live before?

I haven’t. I had tickets to two of her shows. One she canceled a tour and the other, I had to go to my friends Bat Mitzvah and she told me that if I went to Fiona’s show that we would not be friends anymore and it turned out a month after that we were never friends and never spoke again. I went to that Bat Mitzvah and missed Fiona’s show. But you know, it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe one day.

Rumor has it that you met Nathan standing in line to use a porta-potty at Bonnaroo? Is that how it went down?

Yeah it was. He saw me from a distance and made his way to me. He was like, “Who’s the blonde?” Everyone was like, “Don’t even go near her man. She’s too good for you.” But he came near me and he hasn’t really left since so it’s a nice thing.

Are you enjoying married life?

I’m really enjoying married life. It’s great. It’s getting better. You know there are always the growing pains in any relationship; it’s complex. There’s moments when you think this is the pit of despair and then there’s others when it’s heaven on earth but I think that in anything there’s highs and lows. It’s good because for my work I can capture some of those moments and dig into that.

You’ve said that certain songs on this record were difficult to write. Is there anything in particular that you can elaborate on?

There’s just certain lines… There’s some pretty obvious songs that were just really tough times but at the same time if I was going to be honest with myself and the listener, I felt like I needed to write about it because it was a crucial moment in my process as a human. If I left that hole out, it wouldn’t feel honest in me. “Joy is Suspicion” is not a happy song but it’s about hope and loving what could be and all of that.

Did you write about your grandma on the album?

Not directly but in many different lines… There’s a few lines, like Little Spark – “I’ve been looking for you in the dark. Give me just a little spark” is about her. There are little moments of my grandmother and a few songs that didn’t make the album that I’d written about loss. It didn’t make any sense to me that you could love that deep and then it vanishes. That just confused the hell out of me for about six months. It’s pretty intense shit and then you dig into it but I realized energy doesn’t die. If I know anything, that is a fact.

Is it hard for you to sing some of your more emotional material live?

Oh no. I like it! I like sharing that part. It’s why I do it. It’s what moves me when I watch someone. I want to feel like they’re exposing themselves emotionally. When it’s genuine – you know… I think my songwriting is pretty simple. It comes off the page of my journal and it’s simple but it’s direct.

Do you and Nathan ever make any music together?

No we’re just supports systems for now. That’s the plan. He is incredibly supportive of this project and the direction and I’m headed in and could not be any more supportive honestly. It’s actually been a relief because you never know how your partner is going to react when you’re taken away from home by something else. It’s just really lovely that he’s grown into a good man and knows how to respect art and what I’m doing and is just now along for the ride.

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon)

Band Lineup:

I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME (CD Release)
- “Pink Floyd meets NIN” – Dave Navarro
- “Their sound reflects the influence of European electronic artists known for their song writing and live shows…” – Vikton Phoenix, Buzzbands.la

OMNIFLUX (Debut)
- Debut solo project by Mahsa Zargaran (Sabrosa Purr/Big Black Delta)

INTO THE PRESENCE
- Featuring members of UFO, Train, and A Perfect Circle

GINA & THE EASTERN BLOCK
- Featuring drummer/producer Marc Jordan (Credits include: Velvet Revolver, The Cult, Slash, Milla Jovovich)

8MM
- Husband & Wife trip-hop duo feat Grammy nominated producer Sean Beavan (GnR, Marilyn Manson, NIN, Slayer, No Doubt)

DJ Shaun Lopez
- The other half of Chino Moreno’s (Deftones) new electronic project Crosses

Plus:
Lucid Absinthe Supérieure tasting by The Los Angeles Absinthe Club

See you there!

In support of the release, 12th Planet embarks on a 28-city, North American tour kicking off on February 2nd in Miami, FL. And he’s giving fans a chance to get up close and personal! That’s right,12th Planet will be hosting Meet & Greet contests presented by HEX in select cities with tour mates Flinch, Kastle and Crizzly. Enter now at www.12thplanet2012.com/tour! Video after the Jump.

Named one of bass music’s foremost purveyors in Billboard’s Year In Music issue, 12th Planet dominated 2011 with a sold-out, 50-date North American tour alongside Skrillex, released the ‘Who Are We?’ EP on his influential dubstep label SMOG, which just celebrated their 5-year anniversary, and co-produced a track on Korn’s latest foray into dubstep (“Way Too Far” with Flinch). He has also lent his signature crushing bass and resonating energy to remixes for MIA, John Legend, Travis Barker and more, and has collaborations coming out with Dizzee Rascal, among others. With his star rising internationally, 12th Planet was also dubbed “US dubstep godfather” by UK’s dance music bible Mixmag, as he’s emerged as an ambassador of the now fully established American dubstep movement.

Check out the apocalyptic new video for “The End Is Near Pt. 1,” which premiered exclusively on SPIN.com:

12th PLANET ‘THE END IS NEAR!’ NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2012
PRESENTED BY SCION A/V

Feb 2 Miami, FL @ Grand Central
Feb 3 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
Feb 4 Athens, GA @ Bad Manor
Feb 5 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Feb 7 Virginia Beach, VA @ Peabodys
Feb 8 Washington, DC @ District
Feb 9 Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
Feb 10 New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Feb 11 Philadelphia, PA @ TLA
Feb 12 Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater
Feb 13 Boston, MA @ Middle East
Feb 14 Montreal, Canada @ Le Belmont
Feb 15 Toronto, Canada @ Wrongbar
Feb 16 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Feb 17 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
Feb 18 St. Louis, MO @ 2720 Cherokee
Feb 19 Nashville, TN @ Club Mai
Feb 20 New Orleans, LA @ Ampersand
Feb 21 Dallas, TX @ Trees
Feb 22 Oklahoma City, OK @ Kamp
Feb 23 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
Feb 24 Phoenix, AZ @ Madison Events Center
Feb 25 Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock
Feb 26 San Diego, CA @ Voyeur
Feb 28 Orange County, CA @ Dubtroit
Feb 29 Los Angeles, CA @ Avalon Hollywood (*venue change)
March 1 San Francisco, CA @ Mighty
March 2 Portland, OR @ Roseland
March 3 Eugene, OR @ Wow Hall

Download ‘Amorphous Music Mixtape Vol.7′ here.

TRACKLIST:

Beastie Boys – Intergalactic (Bassnectar Remix)
Bassnectar – Wildstyle [live edit]
Futurebound – Blind Cobblers Thumb (Giz-roc edit)
DC Breaks – The More I Want (Bassnectar edit)
BLUR – Song 2 (Bassnectar Remix)
Bassnectar & Jantsen – Red Step
NastyNasty – The Goalie (Bassnectar Remix)
Foamo – Centavo [live edit]
Bassnectar vs Mochipet – Sloppy Face
Shotgun Radio – A Bad Place Ft. Mimi Page (Minnesota Remix)
MyBack – Blomman
Little Jinder – Youth Blood (12th Planet & Flinch Remix)
Bassnectar – Underwater

VAVA VOOM SPRING TOUR DATES:

* 3/02 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex
* 3/03 Las Vegas, NV Rain
* 3/04 Avon, CO Snowball Festival
* 3/25 Miami, FL Ultra Music Festival
* 3/31 – 4/01 Santiago, Chile Lollapalooza Chile
* 4/07 – 4/08 Sao Paolo, Brazil Lollapalooza Brasil
* 4/11 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room
* 4/12 Kansas City, MO The Midland
* 4/13 Madison, WI Exhibition Hall @ Alliant Energy Center
* 4/14 Chicago, IL Congress Theatre
* 4/17 Burlington, VT Memorial Auditorium
* 4/18 Boston, MA House of Blues
* 4/19 Boston, MA House of Blues
* 4/20 Philadelphia, PA BASS CENTER V The Liacouras Center
* 4/21 Rochester, NY Rochester Armory
* 4/24 Norfolk, VA The NorVA
* 4/25 Richmond, VA The National
* 4/26 Knoxville, TN Knoxville Civic Coliseum
* 4/27 Greenville, SC Bi-Lo Center
* 4/28 Birmingham, AL Boutwell Auditorium
* 4/29 Tallahassee, FL The Moon
* 5/03 Santa Cruz, CA Santa Cruz Civic Center
* 5/04 Sacramento, CA Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
* 5/10 Blue Lake, CA Blue Lake Casino
* 5/11 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
* 5/12 Seattle, WA BASS CENTER VI WaMu Theater

As guests arrived, they were greeted by a second story balcony performance of Free Jazz: Something Else! based on Something Else! The Calder Quartet was up next, playing the music of Arnold Schoenberg on violins, a viola, and cello.

The evening consisted of 8 motel rooms of various musical expression. Our favorites were as follows:

Room 16: The Los Angeles Free Music Society: Pyramid Headphones, 1976. People sat around on the hotel room bed and placed black cardboard pyramids on top of their heads. The pyramids were rigged up with speakers and each one produced a unique electronic racket. I tried to get away with merely observing but quickly changed my mind when a participant handed me a pyramid and insisted that I give it a whirl. With the cardboard on my head, I heard a mixture of beeps and twangs and the gentleman next to me yelling “Aren’t the colors beautiful?” I wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about but it sure sounded cool.

Robert Wilhite: Bob Wilhite in Concert, 1975 occupied Room 9. Visitors were invited to pick up the motel phone and dial “106” to call another room and hear a performance. Every person who participated was treated to a different experience.

Room 8 featured Bruce Nauman, Violin Turned D.E.A.D., 1969. This was a replication of Nauman’s practice of incorporating boredom, exhaustion, and the superimposition of unlike systems into art and music. The room was occupied by an extremely focused violinist who played the D, E, A, D notes for an entire hour.

John Cage, Variations IV, 1963 took place in Room 25. Here, guests were encouraged to participate in making various musical sounds with a variety of ‘instruments.’ As Scott Benzel sat on a bed playing around with a laptop, people stood in the corner and ran a crystal over a cactus, which was hooked up to a speaker system. As the interactive exhibit continued. People changed the television channels to create new background noises.

Welcome Inn Time Machine gave Southern Californians the change to relive some of the most bizarre, unique, and cutting edge moments in experimental music history. It also made many reexamine the way that they look at household objects. I know I’m now tempted to add a cactus to my musical instrument collection. Those thorns make wicked sounds!

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon).

Sharon kicked off 2012 with her January 5th late night television debut on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, performing the Tramp single, “Serpents.” Last week, Sharon appeared at WNYC’s Greene Space for a special broadcast of “Soundcheck,” and the following night, she played Tramp in its entirety, including many of the new album’s songs for the first time, to a sold out Mercury Lounge crowd.

Tramp, out February 7th on Jagjaguwar, is now available for pre-order in deluxe and regular editions.

Sharon Van Etten 2012 Tour Dates

Fri 02/10/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s # (SOLD OUT)
Sat 02/11/12 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat #
Sun 02/12/12 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle #
Tue 02/14/12 – Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center #
Wed 02/15/12 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Ladies Literary Club for Calvin College #
Thu 02/16/12 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall #
Fri 02/17/12 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall #
Sat 02/18/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center #
Tue 02/21/12 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace #
Wed 02/22/12 – Montreal, QC @ Il Motore #
Thu 02/23/12 – Boston, MA @ Paradise #
Fri 02/24/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg #
Sat 02/25/12 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom # (SOLD OUT)
Sun 0/2/26/12 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ^
Wed 03/14/12 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
Thu 03/15/12 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
Tue 03/20/12 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Avalon *
Wed 03/21/12 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent *
Fri 03/23/12 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater *
Sat 03/24/12 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret *
Sun 03/25/12 – Seattle, WA @ The Neptune
Tue 03/27/12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room *
Wed 03/28/12 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater *
Fri 03/30/12 – Iowa City, IA @ Mission Creek Festival
Sat 03/31/12 – St. Louis, MO @ Luminary Center for the Arts *
Sun 04/01/12 – Bloomington, IN @ Rhino’s *
Thu. 04/19/12 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
Fri. 04/20/12 – Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theatre
Sat. 04/21/12 – Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
Sun. 04/22/12 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe
Tue. 04/24/12 – Knoxville, TN @ The Square Room
Wed. 04/25/12 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Thu. 04/26/12 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
Fri. 04/27/12 – Cincinnati, OH @ Mayday Northside
Sat. 04/28/12 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Carnegie Lecture Hall

# w/ Shearwater
^ w/ Carter Tanton, Glass Ghost
* w/ The War On Drugs

In the lobby of West Hollywood’s Andaz Hotel, Allison joked about continuously breaking her Kindle as Catherine told her somber tale of someone beating her to the house she had planned on moving into. The girls explained that listening back to their earlier tunes makes them proud of how far they’ve come and that being role models to artists who haven’t made it yet has it’s pros and cons.

Is it difficult to be in a band with your sister?

Catherine: It can be difficult but I think it’s difficult to be in a band with anyone. And we’ve been doing it for so long and we’re kind of forced to make it work because we’re siblings and we can’t say, “Oh I never want to see you again!”

Allison: Well we could…

Catherine: We could but we figured out a way to kind of work thru our differences and make it work.

Do you live together?

Catherine: We did for the past year in London but usually no.

Allison: We fight much less when we don’t live together. Right?

Catherine: Oh yeah [laughs].

Are you pretty similar or are you opposite of each other?

Allison: People that get to know us say that we’re really different but I think it’s hard for me to tell you how we’re different.

Catherine: But we definitely are different.

Allison: It’s the way we process things.

How old were you when you both started singing?

Catherine: I think 4 and 6.

Were you always singing together or did you ever have your own individual projects?

Allison: For a minute each of us has done something, but mostly together.

Is it true that “Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge” was going to be your last music effort?

Catherine: That was going to be our last effort together and we decided to split up. Then the bass player from Coldplay called us and wanted to work with us so we got back together.

What was your plan B if that didn’t work out?

Allison: Solo projects.

How did you guys hook up with Guy Berryman from Coldplay?

Catherine: I met him in New York thru an ex-boyfriend years ago and he heard our music and really liked it and we kind of stayed in touch thru that. Whenever he’d pass thru New York, he’d call and see what we were up to. He wanted to hear our new demos and he wanted to start a production company so we ended up making this last record together.

Was your record one of the first that he made with his new company?

Catherine: Yeah we were!

So you grew up in Alabama and moved to New York and now live in London?

Allison: We’re done with London.

Catherine: I think I’m gonna move to LA. I was just looking at houses yesterday and I got rejected for the house I wanted.

Allison: Did he say why?

Catherine: He said somebody had checked it out first or something. Oh my God the house was amazing and I loved it. I’m so so sad. I just found out.

Are you both going to move to LA?

Allison: I’m not sure yet. I kind of want to move to Nashville. I’m trying to decide if I want to split my time between the two.

What was the biggest thing you had to get used to with living in London?

Catherine: The fact that you can’t get great food whenever you want it. In New York, you can get whatever you want to eat at any hour or delivered to your home. In London you really have to search out good food.

Allison: But after 10pm, that’s it.

Catherine: Some of the food is so bad. It’s like they don’t have any passion for food.

Allison: It’s getting better. There is amazing food there but you have to find it. The fish and chips are good but not something like a sandwich.

Catherine: You go somewhere and order a sandwich and it’s like 2 dry pieces of bread with butter and a thick layer of cheese. And it’s cold.

Allison: Stay away from Ranch dressing there too!

Catherine: They have this thing called salad cream.

Allison: It’s like miracle whip but sweeter and like a dressing.

Catherine: Oh it’s so disgusting. You’ll order a salad and it’s covered in it.

Do you get compared to a lot of other sisterly duos like The Veronicas?

Catherine: Not really The Veronicas. We get compared to anything that just has 2 women in it – Heart, Fleetwood Mac, Mamas & Papas, The Bangles…

Allison: Bananarama.

When you listen back to your earlier albums? What goes thru your head? Do you feel like you’ve come a long way?

Allison: Yes, especially live – I feel like I’m most proud of how far we’ve come. I have a fondness for the early records…

Catherine: I don’t!

Allison: But you wish you could go back and know what you know now.

Catherine: I think we were just young and kind of naive and we would play out in coffee shops with a guitar and suddenly the concept of having other instruments on a record was foreign to us. Anything kind of blew our mind like, “ooh there’s a drumbeat on there.” We just didn’t know what we wanted and now we’re more specific and more aware of what we want.

Do you ever play any of those old songs live or are they locked in the vault?

Allison: We play some songs from the last record. The other songs are locked in the vault.

Catherine: I was thinking the other day about if we’d ever bring those out… probably not!

Allison: The only way is if for some reason they started selling again and people became familiar with them but not right now. It would probably be fun to revisit them and make them new.

Catherine: Especially the production.

Do you see yourselves as role models to other artists that have been at it for a long time and are ready to throw in the towel?

Allison: Yeah. I guess when you put it that way. There aren’t that many people that have been doing it as long as us without major success so yeah.

Catherine: But I do think we might give false hope to a lot of people too who might be like, “Oh look at them. They made it after 10 years!”

Allison: I remember seeing Behind The Music with No Doubt and they were doing it for 10 or 11 years before they had that first record hit. I was so inspired by that and that gave me a lot of hope. I think Lucinda Williams also did it for a really long time before anyone knew who she was. Justin Bieber – it took him so long to make it where he is now.

Catherine: Never Say Never! He seems like such a sweet kid.

Allison: And then that whole scandal came out about him possibly impregnating that girl and I was like, “I am going to be upset if this is true.”

I remember when Jessica Simpson had that promise ring and “wasn’t having sex…”

Allison: And Britney.

Catherine: We have promise rings too.

Allison: We promise we’re having sex.

Do you guys ever feel pressure from your managers to say that you don’t have boyfriends because it makes the fans like you less?

Catherine: Every once in a while someone will say, “Oh don’t say you’re in a relationship.” I’m like, “We’re adults.” It’s not like we’re teen heartthrobs where we need to keep the fantasies alive. Adults know that even if you’re in a relationship that it might not last so if they really want a shot with you to just wait it out.

Is there anything else that we should know about you guys?

Allison: We’ve given you all the information that you can handle right now so…

Catherine: We’re highly intelligent. We have great taste.

You break a lot of Kindles…

Allison: Well mine broke and then my mom stepped on the one that they replaced so then she gave me a new one for Christmas and I need a new case for it.

Catherine: Well the case obviously helped a lot!

Allison: I’m so upset. I live off this thing.

What book are you reading on there right now?

Allison: Oh like a million! But I think at the moment I was reading “The Heart of Tantric Sex.” If you must know…

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon)

Still, fans of Fujiya & Miyagi had a reason (well, three reasons, not two as the band name suggests) to force themselves out from under their electric blankets, eat a bowl of chili and wobble their way to the Mercury Lounge for an intimate sold out show. Brooklyn based Dinowalrus warmed up the room and were probably well received because everyone was itching for F&M’s stripped down electronic layers and they were able to satiate the hungry just enough with their upbeat, krautrock jams.

Also hailing from Brooklyn, young party rockers Jangula followed Dinowalrus and turned that lil’ back room venue into a hot, sweaty mess. Lead singer Johnny Campagna employs an instrument that at first glance looks like a cross between an amputated guitar and a video game controller and sounds sorta like a synthesized toy piano. And the way you gotta hold the thing, it gives a sort of T-Rex like demeanor on stage. A nice fusion of surf rock and chill wave, a handful of their songs sound like if the Beach Boys took acid (duh, but wait for it), left the beach and went on a long, epic mountain journey into the Himalayas, picked up a man in a donkey mask and returned, victorious. With the rest of the band bouncing around with such energy, wearing neon tights and everyone in the front just slangin’ their sweaty hair around and dancing like wild, the result of the entire experience was really pretty magical. They’re aiming for a unique sound and they’re a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. And, really, how could you when you’re having so much fun?

The welcomed heat in the room was palpable and tensions were high when F&M finally took the stage. You know what cures the colds faster than a bowl of chili? SEX. And that is just what F&M delivered. On first glance, you wouldn’t guess these guys were capable of inciting such desire, what with their silvery hair and quiet demeanor but these guys know how to make music that just oozes it. After putting out four full albums, they’re seasoned vets and obviously confident musicians. They just wanna take it slow, honey. Put on something more comfortable and let the music do the work. At any point during the show, you could spot at least one couple making serious get downs in the crowd. Their sound is anchored in repetitive beats and riffs that slowly build on each other, growing, gaining momentum until you’re eyes are rolling back in your head and … just… can’t… take it anymore. Top that with David Best’s deep, whispery vocals and well, no, I can keep taking it. It’s easy to get a dreaded case of the blue balls, though, as the band is wont to stay on one level of intensity and never quite reaches the spectacular climax you hope is coming. Still, the devoted crowd was quite satiated with Best, Lewis, Hainsby and new addition on drums Adams as after the show they streamed out into the fierce winds, cheeks flushed and hot enough to make it back home to the respite of those electric blankets. And maybe it’s those blue balls that keeps you listening, leaves you wanting more. And in turn, sells tickets.

The band was kind enough to exchange a few words with me before their show:

CS: You guys have been compared to a lot of 70’s krautrock bands. How do you decide what to take from them and how to make it your own?

Best: I think when we started out our influence was a bit more obvious, like you could tell that we liked Neu and Can. But now I think our songs are just what happens when the four of us get together. I think you definitely could spot that we liked certain records before but its not deliberate on our part anymore. We’ve been going for a while and you want to be your own thing. Also a lot of that music is our favorite music, so I’d rather people compare us to stuff we like than stuff I didn’t.

Hainsby: Sometimes when you start out as a band you get tagged, and then you start thinking, ‘Well why are they tagging us like that?’ so then we think we have to try and change, but then we realize, ‘Why did we change away from the reason people liked us in the first place?’ And people still say you’re doing it anyway, so you might as well just do it.

CS: How did you strive to make this album different from the previous three?

Best: Well we worked with a producer for the first time, and it was really great, really quite different just to get someone else’s viewpoint and expertise. We got to use lots of synthesizers we haven’t used before. And Lee was on the drums.

Hainsby: Which added some soul.

Lewis: And the time schedule for recording was quite strict. Normally we take our time recording when were at home. But we were in studio in Sacramento and Thom (Monahan) was kind of dictating the time schedule.

Best: Plus all the songs are different. The words are different. So, it was all different (Laughs).

CS: What’s the meaning behind the title?

Best: We’ll its ‘Ventriloquizzing’ (pronounced Ven-tril-oh-kwize-ing) with an extra ‘zed’ so it sound more snappy. On the cover and in the video we use ventriloquist dummies so there is that kind of literal meaning, and also a lot of the songs are about not having much control and being on stage; you feel a bit of a puppet sometimes in as much as people are looking at you.

Hainsby: And you’re essentially up there doing the same thing every night, not that it’s a bad thing. And people have perceptions of you that maybe aren’t true.

Best: It was actually for us, quite well thought out.

CS: You’re songs have been features in a Jaguar commercial, a Miller Lite commercial and on an episode of Breaking Bad. How did that different kind of exposure affect you?

FM: Well, with the Jaguar one it enabled us to leave our jobs and focus on the band full time, so even though it was a corporation and some bands aren’t happy using their music on advertisements, I wasn’t that happy working in an office. I get some random texts from people who watch Breaking Bad and are excited when they hear our song, so that’s nice to hear from friends.

Lewis: It’s probably better to be on a good TV program than an advert from a ‘cool’ point of view but from a financial point of view, adverts are helpful. No one buys records now, so that’s the way we’ve got to do it.

Best: And just do gigs, forever.

CS: Two of you had kids?

Best: Yeah, do you wanna see a picture?

CS: Yes! Awww. How do you balance it all?

Best: Personally I haven’t written a song since he was born and he’s 14 months now.

Lewis: Yeah, my daughter is a bit of a handful actually.

Best: So we the next album will be out in 2022 (Laughs). No, it’s fantastic, it’s brilliant and really changes your viewpoint on a lot of things and makes you work harder, get up earlier and go to bed later. We’ll work it out but it is a big adjustment.

Words and photos by Courtney Dudley (@CourtneyDudley)

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:

Since we caught up with you guys last October, you seem to just be getting bigger and bigger. What do you owe the momentum to?

Working together as a team here at Pocket Kid Records/Fontana and the support of our fans!

How does it feel to be a female fronted rock band amidst a sea of male fronted rock bands?

We have a leg up I’d say because of the lack of female fronted rock bands these days. But at the end of the day, we are just friends who love rock music and love playing rock music with a passion. There is no boy-girl equation.

What runs through your head right before you guys take the stage?

A million things. It’s too hard to think. My mind is racing…!

What’s in your touring survival kit?

Vitamins, water, good coffee and good food when we can.

Do you have any female singer role models that you look up to? You’ve been described as a cross between Patti Smith, Janis Joplin, and Siouxsie Sioux…

Sure, It changes from time to time but it mainly falls back to the 60′s – 70′s folk singers. From Melanie, Sandy Denny, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens – you name it. They sang with so much honesty I can’t help but get goosebumps and watery eyes.

Emily and Siouxsie, you’d been playing together for a while, but it wasn’t until you teamed up with Chris and Sean that you found the Dead Sara sound. Did you know when you first jammed with them, that you had found the missing links in the project?

It took me a little longer then the first jam but not much longer. I was just stoked to be playing. It didn’t hurt that we started writing “Weatherman” the first rehearsal… like I said, it didn’t take much longer.

What has been the most surreal moment of being in this band?

Being played on 98.7 FM. Because, being from LA I would listen to that station growing up and fantasize that one day my band would play one it. The support from them is amazing!

Is it true you almost named your band Masturbation Salvation?

It was an option that Siouxsie had…yes.

Who is your favorite band that you shared a stage with and why?

I don’t have an answer for this one yet. Going blank.

Where do you hope 2012 takes Dead Sara?

Staying really really busy. We got a lot cut out for us this year and it’s all exciting! Including being one of the featured artists for Warped Tour. I know how important it is for a band to be working – and this work is a blessing.

If you had to pick one of your songs that best sums up what Dead Sara is all about, which would it be and why?

I have to say “Weatherman”. Only because it was the first song we started writing together with Chris and Sean. And now it’s our first single…

 Is there any sort of underlying theme to your debut album?

I’d just say it is raw, energetic, rock n roll and passion.

What is your secret to your massive on stage energy? Chugging coffee pre show? Natural adrenaline? Energy drinks?

Sleeping! A good rest sometime during the day or right before the show and then letting adrenaline do its thing when hitting the stage.

What’s the best part about being a Los Angeles rock band?

Big city, big dreams.

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon)

Weatherman by Dead Sara

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.

You got your start playing illegal basement shows in Tehran. Tell us more about that.

In summer of 2007, we teamed up with our good friends/band the Free Keys (they just got to Brooklyn from Tehran 2 weeks ago) and built an underground venue out of a basement in Tehran, and we threw 2 concerts. It was a place where anything that was illegal outside was legal inside, like rock and roll, alcohol, dancing and etc. We sound proofed the whole place and had people watching the street while we were playing. I should say we were lucky that we didn’t get arrested!

And you used to practice on a rooftop? Whose rooftop was it?

It was our former drummer’s rooftop. We built and sound proofed a tiny room on the roof with a bunch of garbage where we rehearsed for almost three years. It was located in a traditional neighborhood in Tehran.

Did you keep your amps turned down low, etc. to avoid getting caught?

Sometimes, and our drummers dad would cut off the electricity if we got too loud, but mostly we played as loud as we could… It was more pleasant.

Why did you have to practice in secret? Was it because of your controversial song lyrics?

Just playing our kind of music in Iran is considered an act of Satanism and it’s a crime. We also had controversial lyrics as well and no permission for playing music. In Iran, for playing any kind of music or doing any sort of arts or having any sort of art space, you should get permission from “The Ministry of Islamic Culture.” It was impossible for us to get permission from them and I should add that we never gave a rat’s ass about that ministry and most of the laws of Iran.

What would have happened if you got caught playing the music that you made?

Fines, lashes, jail time… no one really knows.

Have you always been fans of freedom of speech?

I guess yes as it is a basic human rights, but we just wanted to play music!

Were you ever arrested? If so, where and what for?

Once in a main square in Tehran, I was arrested with Looloosh (our guitarist) by the moral police for having long hair.

And now you guys live in Brooklyn? What made you gravitate towards New York?

Yes we do. A lot of our favorite bands that we listened to in Iran were from New York. We used to see it in films and hear about the music and art scene; it was always such a tempting thing to live in New York. After going on tour across America, we realized that we feel more like home in Brooklyn than anywhere else.

How long have you lived in NY?

For two years… It still feels pretty fresh and new.

What is your favorite thing about the US?

New York City…. actually Brooklyn.

Craziest experience you’ve had playing music?

The whole thing is such a crazy experience, as the past few years had been a wild journey. Our craziest show in the US had to be at the Filter’s Culture Collide festival in LA where a guy at first was just dancing crazy but then turned into a madman and jumped on stage and started grabbing and pulling me. Then I saw Looloosh and our manager were fighting to kick him off and then the crazy guy tore my guitar strings so we were only able to play 3 songs, but the crowd really loved it.

I’ve read that your band is named after a nickname you used to call each other. What exactly does calling someone a “Yellow Dog” mean?

It all came from an old slang that says: “the yellow dogs is brother of the jackal.” It means that you can’t tame a yellow dog and it would be better by itself in the wilderness. When you call someone “Yellow Dog” it means he or she is kinda crazy.

What is your most controversial song about?

It’s about the whole stereotype image that westerners have from Middle Eastern people – a bunch of suicide bombers with camels and guns who don’t know shit about what’s going on outside their village in the middle of the dessert.

Who are your musician idols?

We listen to a very wide range of music but we like Talking Heads, The Clash, Gang of four, The Kinks, Rapture, Moving Units…

Favorite show you’ve played so far in your career and why?

It’s really hard to say because each show is a new thing. I like playing our house parties at our compound in BK. Our underground shows in Iran were definitely such special events. Playing with great bands like Black Lips, Thee Oh Sees, CSS and venues like Webster Hall and Echoplex in LA were amazing too!

What’s on the agenda for 2012? Tell us about the new EP, etc.

We will be recording our 2nd EP with Keith Souza again. He’s amazing and works with great bands (Battles, Dear Tick). We are releasing that and are also making our first music video in April after we get back from SXSW.

We really like to tour and now that our immigration issues have been solved (sort of) we can finally go to Europe, South America and Australia but first will go to Turkey, as that’s the only we can see our family and friends from Iran. We are planning a big show for there as well!

It will be a busy year for sure. I don’t like to say this but the rumors say that the end is near. We should hurry up!

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer)

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06 – The Yellow Dogs – New Cen by bmariea