While I really want to recap the festival, school just keeps getting in the way. Until I can fully dish out the details here are some sneak peek pictures from Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zero’s set. Let me just say…. MIND=BLOWN. As always, all pictures from the events I shoot are on my Flickr!
Last time I saw Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros I was standing on a polo field in Indio, Calif. with Andrew, my boyfriend. I barely knew them- only had heard their single “Home.” That song has stuck with me since. My dad loves it, it’s my ringtone and I can’t get enough of their take away show of it in San Fransisco. It was on that field that I really first connected with the band.
This weekend, I’ll be seeing them again and hopefully getting an interview. I would love to talk to these guys.
I also plan to catch Brandi Carlile, John Prine (my dad’s idol,) Andrew Bird, Blitzen Trapper, Sharon Jones, April Smith, The Avett Brothers, The Swell Season and Edward Sharpe. Anyone else I should check out?
I’ve been on co-op for almost half a year now, and it’s definitely had a profound affect on my person. It’s amazing how being stuck in one place and allowing it to become who you are can cloud your perception of the future and what you are capable of. Each day is a constant struggle to find the positive. Tonight, I’ll see my Dad and my sister, Mary for the first time since Christmas and I hope I’ll be able to find the strength and spirit in them to feel awake again.
How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don’t know
This weakness I feel I must finally showLend me your hand and we’ll conquer them all
But lend me your heart and I’ll just let you fall
Lend me your eyes I can change what you see
But your soul you must keep, totally free
Har har, har har, har har, har harIn these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your lifeAwake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker
Last summer, I worked at the Live Nation offices in Cincinnati as a marketing intern and eventually became their current graphic artist. Working with great women, I quickly learned a lot about how both large scale and small scale venues run and everything that’s involved with maintaining them. I also sharpened my Illustrator and Photoshop skills and honed my ability to express creativity while working within guidelines. I absolutely love my job and the people I work with at Live Nation.
This is a long overdue sampling of the work I completed while there.
Holden Lewis and Jeremy Mendicino may be pretty and nice, but most of all, this duo is fun. Pretty & Nice, Lewis and Mendicino’s band, have been Boston’s best-kept secret for years now. Formed in a basement somewhere on the outskirts of the city, the band records their own snappy pop with both grace and childlike abandon, making them the pop band to beat. After completing the band as a foursome with Kevin Walsh and Roger Lussier, the band took to the streets, touring relentlessly.
Pretty & Nice’s latest release, Get Young, is nothing short of wonderful. Warping pop hints around a solid static and noisy aggression, the latest release is modern in sound, but a throwback in emotion- embodying all that Pretty & Nice is. The band’s been on tour essentially since the release (with more energy than most of the bands you could think of) and shows no signs of becoming “too old” or “too young.”
Lewis and Mendicino got me up to speed on line in the fast line, how they stay so fun and their plans to record.
KP: You guys record in your basement, so it’s safe to say you’re a pretty DIY band. How much do you actually do yourselves?
JM: We rule the world! We operate every machine of our collective existence. And well! And How!
HL: Yeah, we have a studio – It’s called Esthudio. It has pretty pictures and lists: esthudio.com. We started out doing EVERYTHING that you can do on our own. Now, we’re fortunate enough to have some help, but we like to think we’re more self-sufficient than yer average band.
Shout Out Louds are back to work with their new album and a new sound. Brought together as friends in Stockholm, the band has been rocking the Indie Pop Rock world for years now. With two releases under their belts, Shout Out Louds took a six-month vacation of sorts before reuniting to create their new release, appropriately titled, Work.
A step away from their previous albums, Work is stripped, with an air of whimsicality. The album, produced by Indie hit maker Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses) signals Shout Out Louds acceptance of music as a living. The overall feel of the album is cheery and reminiscent of summer. All in all, with their new album, Shout Out Louds have found a way to make work fun again.
Singer and Guitarist Adam Olenius spoke with me about the release and the preparations for the album.
KP: Could you tell me a bit about how the band came to be?
AO: After school, Ted (bass) and I met at different parties and talked about music and starting a band. He’d never played an instrument but just wanted something to do, so we called up our friends and started—from the very, very beginning.
KP: In addition to your music, you do a lot of work for the band yourselves (i.e. the art, the music videos). How would you describe the creative process?
AO: We often collect things and ideas during tours and breaks and talk about them when we get back to work. Carl and I, who do all the artwork, were inspired by Irving Penn on this album, so we wanted the album cover to have a photo book feel to it.
KP: I read that you all parted ways for six months before the creation of this album. What did you do during that time period before reuniting?
AO: I went down to Melbourne for three months and started writing the album. And I also did a lot of nothing—wining and dining, for the most part.
Since their breakout success in 2005, OK GO has been one of America’s most creative and memorable bands. Their DIY videos, most often done in one take, showcase unusual, yet energetic dance moves that make their songs even more irresistible than they already are. With the release of their new album, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, OK GO is back for more and ready to get down. OurStage got the chance to catch up with Damian Kulash, frontman of the band, to chat about recording the album, their upcoming video and expansive world of OK GO.
Katie Price: It’s been almost half a decade since your last album. What was it like to record again after all that time? Did you have to dust off your dancing shoes?
Damian Kulash (singer): Wow, half a decade, that makes it sound really dramatic and long. I can’t tell you how happy we were to get back into the studio and record. This time around we recorded with Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT, Mercury Rev.) Dave gave us the keys to his wonderfully weird, psychedelic three-dimensional sonic universe. We went hog wild as they say on The Dukes Of Hazzard and other TV programs that take place in the South. More so than ever before, we really let the beats and the sounds define the emotions of the songs. It was great fun, and I’m really happy with the end result.
KP: “Shoot The Moon” was included in the Twilight soundtrack. A lot of tween girls freak out over the series. What do you guys geek out over?
DK: I geek out over iPhone applications and gadgetry in general- mid century modern Danish furniture, Pee Wee’s Playhouse, playwriting, Flash Gordon, artwork by Claire Rojas and the band Mew.
Since She & Him’s Volume One was released almost two years ago, I have been anticipating Volume Two. When I found out that Zooey Deschanel could really sing, my already overwhelming girl crush basically imploded. The album quickly became the only one on rotation in my car, on my iPod and in my head. If I had been smart enough to buy the vinyl, let’s just say it would have been reduced to dust right now.
I know this may seem really creepy and a bit much, but it’s not just Zooey that makes She & Him one of my favorite groups to date. The vintage sound of the album called to my Motown side; M. Ward’s folky plucking spoke to the rootsy, Ohio girl in me; and Zooey’s voice was something I could pretend to actually sing to. None of the songs begged for my approval either. Unlike many of the bands on top of the industry, She & Him weren’t trying to be #1 or be the next cool thing, they were trying to make music that they enjoyed and that made the album worthwhile for me.
As the release of Volume Two neared, I was at first worried. Could they really make me as happy with the follow up as they did with the debut? But then I heard “In The Sun,” and knew everything would be okay. With a little help from another one of my favorite bands, Tilly & The Wall, Zooey and M. Ward did it again and stole my heart.
If you haven’t checked out She & Him yet, I urge you to do so. Take a break from trying to stay on top of whatever Indie artist is, like, so sick and listen to something honest. Other streaming tracks include the haunting “Thieves,” and the lovely “I Can Hear Music.” Watch for the album to drop 3/23!
With the growing amount of stock put into a TV, Film, or Advertising placement, music supervisors are in high demand. The fast paced career takes more than just a love of music. It requires serious networking skills, the ability to navigate licensing, and a lot of multi-tasking. The guys at Music Supervision Central understand this and even authored a book detailing the tasks associated with being a Music Supervisor. With their expansive backgrounds, they detail how to break into the industry that’s being called “”The New A&R.”
One of the authors, Dave Hnatiuk, has enough supervision experience to last him a lifetime. Living by his motto, “Find what you love, and make it who you are,” Hnatiuk has made a living placing audio to video. His clients include MTV, ABC, NBC, and an expansive list of well-known broadcasters. I got the chance to chat with Hnatiuk about his role as a music supervisor.
so today i went to the dentist to find that the veneers they put over cavities a while back were slipping off. then they found a cavitity or three on my mollar where the root was exposed from getting my wisdom teeth, and so began a very painful five or so hours.
as i sit in my bed watching christmas movies both new and old, i figured this was a great time to recall my top five favorite films for the holiday season. this is no easy feat, mind you. i mean, how can a christmas movie not be great? they recall times that make you warm and fuzzy inside and evoke emotions that you haven’t felt since waking up at five am on christmas morning to see what santa brought the night before. granted, some movies warrant less than mediocre reviews. but, there’s still that fairy tale ending where family comes together and celebrates love, happiness and good old american consumerism….
so here they are in no particular order:
1. elf
“i just like to smile. smiling’s my favorite”
this movie will always be near the top of my things to do around christmas for many reasons. for one, zooey deschanel is in it (albeit as a blonde) and she is my biggest girl crush of all time, so far. another reason this movie is perfect is will ferrell’s commitment to making people smile. some lines will never fail to make me laugh. and it’s not overdone in terms of being cheesy. but most importantly, zooey sings in it. NOT NOW ARCTIC PUFFIN!
2. a christmas story
“well, it’s just me and my trusty old red ryder carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle. lucky i got a compass in the stock.”
because tbs has played this movie for the entirety of christmas day as long as i can remember, it’s safe to say that i have seen this movie over 50 times. it features the perfect disfunctional family and makes timeless plays at their dynamic. i feel like this is the classic that you don’t want to like because you’ve seen it so many times, but you still can’t help but giggle everytime ralphie comes down the stairs in his pink bunny suit (and then get quiet really fast when you remember the time you had to wear a fuzzy pink sweater in front of your extended family on christmas day. thanks aunt linda!)
3. how the grinch stole christmas
“and the grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day”
i will always love the original animated version of this movie because of the way my dad used to know every line and sing the song to my sister and i when we were little. and for max, the perfect puppy that i always wanted. (now i have sugar, who looks a little like max.) now all kids will know of the grinch is jim carrey- which is fine, but not the same. either way, the grinch will always have a place in my heart.
4. love, actually
“General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion… love actually is all around.”
this is such a great story of love centered around the holidays. it’s well written and under-appreciated and i love this movie.
5. holiday inn/white christmas
“yesterday, she couldn’t sleep. today, she won’t eat. she’s in love.”
both of these movies warrant a spot in my top five movies, so i’m extended the list to six. my family watches them both together every year and we’ve even seen them on the stage at one point or another. with classic plot lines, they both feature singers and dancers that could never make it in today’s industry which makes them all the more refreshing.
of all of these, there’s the common factor of people being brought together by love. this is something we, as a people crave during this time of the year. taking off work and school has given everyone time to think back on another year ended and these movies reflect that culmination of thought.
the next week or so, i’ll be spending with family and old friends and i wish you all are doing the same. take time to let life happen and enjoy your surroundings.
happy holidays!
