Interview – Dennis Hopper Choppers
Source : Dennis Hopper Choppers Facebook.
Where were you when the nameless stranger in a black guayabera shirt came into town and saved us from the rustlers? Where where you when he rode into the horizon, his silhouette vanishing into the horizon like a Fata Morgana?
Maybe you were drinking some pozol, maybe you were worried about that aces & eights hand you were dealt. Whatever happened, we found that lonesome stranger with the gravelly voice and the cinematic music. His name is Ben Nicholls, but prefers Dennis Hopper Choppers.
The rough and tough exterior was only one layer of his personality. We wanted to find out more after thoroughly loving his gospel (review) and wondering about that girl that walked out of town… (more…)
Interview – The Life and Times
The Life and Times. Legends.
A few years ago, a group of scientists recorded the sound of stars (really!). The technique called stellar seismology gives us a sound and that sound describes what the star is made from. It’s a sound that pulsates and stays with you.
So is also the sounds that The Life and Times gives us in every release. Called space rock (a term thrown around by several fans – specially us), their music is quite dynamic and atmospheric, where every instrument has a clear cut voice perfectly enveloping each other, like twine.
We had the pleasure of reviewing their latest offering, No one loves you like I do (review) and even better, we managed to get much cherished interview with Allen Epley (guitars/vocals). Without any further ado, here it is…
Interview – The Twilight Sad
One of our all time fave bands is The Twilight Sad. Between the great lyrical work and an ever evolving sound that mutates from release to release, it’s like finding the right author and relishing on the books released, each one brimming with atmosphere and strong emotions. (more…)
Interview – Screaming Maldini
Screaming Maldini. An explosion of schizophrenic pop, where chaos has a structure and where the wall of sound is done by a proper mixing of instruments and a choral delivery, not an overdose of pedals.
This band also has a secret lair. We sent an interviewer in late November but heard back from them. Then we sent another one. Nothing. Then I went and after getting picked up by their personal chaffeur (driving the buggy from Diamonds are forever), he drove me to the secret location/Lair of Maldini. I can’t reveal much but it’s volcano shaped and near a park.
Anyways, we liked the band, specially their EP Secret Sounds(review) and also we had the pleasure of catching them at Peace in the Park (review). And so I met the band (sort of), in a darkened room. I could see shapes and someone in an executive chair looking at me while cradling a cognac (which I was offered a thimble, that’s how nice they are).
Oh, right, interview.
Interview – The Pale Pacific
The Pale Pacific. Source:Myspace
The story has been the same for several of my favourite bands: the discount bin. Not because they aren’t good bands, but a certain major chain of stores in Mexico insists on not knowing what gems they have and eventually put a lot of great stuff at very low prices. Which means me and one of my best friends can go and blow our budgets on wonderful music. One of the recommendations from this friend (thanks, Emilio) was a band called The Pale Pacific.
I got Rules are predictable and listened to it with my dad while on the car back from the work. We both loved the EP and talked a few times about this sort of music and the bands and sometimes wondered what made the tick.
Couple of years later and some emailing afterwards, we managed to have a Q & A with Greg Swineheart (drums, backing vocals, stylish clothes) as the news of The Pale Pacific recording new stuff made us all giddy. So, get your dream pop drinks ready and read on… (more…)
Burns like fire : Stewed, Screwed and Tattooed
Sometimes you need a mellow day filled with naps, soft cheese and violins and some days you just want to snap that violin in half and turn your record player all the way up. You blast good old fashioned punk rock to keep you from destroying everything in your house and it feels effing amazing . This is one of those days for me. I have so much energy built up, if I don’t stop dancing (flailing) around my house while listening to Burns like Fire I may just accidentally rip the sink out of the wall with my pent up hulk strength. It’s such a good release to play air guitar , slide across the floor and to jump off the couch and impress even myself with my herkie skills.
Having been together since 2009, Burns Like Fire has built up quite a local following and from what I hear the shows are something not to be missed. From playing a set while having food poisoning ( and rocking it before vomiting off the stage) to awesome dance moves and suggestive gyrating, this band know how to please a crowd. Unfortunately their tours have only been on the east coast of the US and I have had only youtube videos of their awesome moves to get me through until i can experience the real thing. Le’ sigh…
I sent these boys a few questions so you lovely readers could get to know burns like fire in a more intimate way..so here goes read up and enjoy! (more…)
Interview – Landing
Landing - Image from official site.
We have a thing here at Sloucher.org (besides blowing our own trumpets) about dreamy music (the term is included in 95% of all reviews – fact). We love it and it’s a genre that makes our hearts flutter and our minds wander into vast arc hues. So when we heard Landing were coming back to the breach with a spiffy new album, we emailed them a bunch of questions. In advance, thanks to the band, specially Aaron who took the time off his busy schedule to answer our tripe. (more…)
Interview – Wet Nuns
A normal day at Wet Nuns HQ. Art: Glenn Miller.
About a year ago, we interviewed Wet Nuns just before Christmas. We tried to do the same this year but we got shanghaied by a bunch of macheteros and ended up drinking Pozol ’til the cows came home. Still, the band did courteously replied to the emailed questions and even sent some badges that managed to get us in trouble with a group of pilgrims in the Metro that were going to La Basílica de Guadalupe.
What does “excommunication” mean again? (more…)
Interview – Headlights & Psychic Twin
Photo taken from Psychic Twin's Facebook.
Absinthe Blind. Headlights. Psychic Twin. Three very different bands, with a couple of members being transferred every time it undergoes a regeneration, Doctor Who style. (more…)
Interview – Onslaught
Well, Ladies, Gentlemen and Demented Fictional Characters, we at Sloucher.org pride ourselves in being very democratic (natch!) and we ALWAYS want to hear both sides of the story. Whether from rock vs pop, Surrealists vs Realists and Trekkies vs Anoraks, we thrive on hearing both sides of the story (both literally and the Phil Collins song).
With that said, on Monday we brought you the interview with one of our fave bands of all times, Hey Sholay. If you missed it, click here. If not, well, you might be wondering why EVERY SINGLE FRICKIN‘ SINGLES COLUMNS WE HAVE DONE have a cartoon at the bottom complaining about Hey Sholay upstaging him. (more…)
Interview – Trojan Horse
#IFOWONPRO ! That means I For One Welcome Our New Prog Rock Overlords! Some say we are paraphrasing Grand Theft Auto Vice City, the less knowledgeable points out to a brilliant episode of The Simpsons but the true origin of the “I for one welcome our ___ overlords” is from an obscure 70s film based on H.G. Wells’ Empire of the Ants.
But, yeah, Trojan Horse, a prodigious fantastic quartet from Salford. We’ve reviewed them before, we even offered you with cupped hands one of their tracks. Heck, we even had to post again about them just to remind them their awesomeness (and the Power of The Beard ….compels you!) Now, our dear editor & writer Tonan sent them an email and the lovely band took some time from their heavy riffage exercise to answer them. (more…)
Interview – Mega Aquarians
-What’s that? Eh?
-A camera, we don’t have money for a dictaphone so I just record and extract the mp3
-Oh yeah, yeah.
-We don’t have any money nor talent. You know, shit writers, shit editors, shit website…
Don’t you hate it? One day, you’re just minding your own business and two interdimensional musicians pop into your room, kidnap you, give you a free tall coffee and play some psychedelic rock just for you. An interview with the lovely cuates from Mega Aquarians, Desmond (vocals, guitar) & Marc (drums, cool moustache) followed. We just had to after watching them during Tramlines and pushing their music around…
Interview – EP Island
Photo by Michele Brayton
A while ago, we interviewed LL Schultz because her band Down the Lees frankly rocks. We asked about the EP Island project (question 7!), got told it was alive and kicking but heard no more for a while.
Time seriously passed. EP Island ‘s newest EP, Sweet’ish got released and we loved every single track of it. So, we sent LL Schultz (guitar, vox, keyboard), Sarah Jane Truman (bass, vox) and Melanie Covey (drums, percussion) a bunch of questions and they courteously answered them, which made us very happy! We even did a little victory jig and all.
Interview – Mama Pulpa
We, like Mamá Pulpa. We really, really like them. If you want to lose 2 hours of your life reading our dissertation-length reviews, here’s one for El mundo es muy difícil and one for Tocadiscos.
We managed to cajole Alfredo (vox/guitar/cool beard) to answer a few of our questions via email… (more…)
Interview – See Emily Play
A coach station is not the usual place where we conduct our interviews, but luck and last minute plans had it that the interview with Emily Ireland from See Emily Play would be conducted in a small café by the coach rank. While the busy coach bays transported back and forth a myriad of people we would never talk to, we talk about her upcoming gig (Sunday 20th, Library Theatre, Sheffield), her new ep, Four feet from the door, Pink Floyd and Superhero names.
It’s all related. Honest. (more…)
Interview – Conquering Animal Sound
A few months ago, Tonan reviewed the wonderful Kammerspiel by Conquering Animal Sound. The band is currently quite busy but managed to answer a couple of questions that were sent their way. (more…)
Interview – Milk Maid
It was a neither dark nor stormy night in Sheffield. The Harley was going to host a night of fuzz drenched garage (review) and an offer for an interview with Milk Maid‘s Martin Cohen had been offered by their lovely label, FatCat Records.
I meet Martin Cohen by the bar and we haphazardly get ourselves placed in the entrance of the Harley hotel, where it was supposedly quieter. Sadly, the recorded interview sounds garbled and slightly distant, which in hindsight feels like one of their songs; full reverb on, ghostly voices and a crunchy fuzz. (more…)
Interview – The Hot Soles
The Hot Soles. We’ve talked previously about this band. Three gigs (The Harley, Club 60, The Bowery) and also as a wake up song (yup). The three gig reviews done by three different writers, all enjoyed them live. So it was natural to get an interview with them. (more…)
Interview : Cobra-fist
Image: Glenn Miller (check his work on our webcomic!)
Picture this: a warm, sunny September afternoon and you are just walking on Ecclesall Road and all of a sudden you look at the trees and yell “Hey! Is that a ninja up there?!?!?!”. You thought you saw three ninjas (with the only difference being they got palette-swapped) but now they are not there…they are.. behind you! But they are friendly ninjas, and they just saved you from a Samurai (stupid tachi-wielding melonfarmers).
We thank the trio. They call themselves Cobra-fist. The name’s origin, a mystery. The trio’s identity, an even bigger mystery. We notice they have musical instruments. One of them introduces himself as Myth and we thought it was a good idea to interview them… (more…)
Interview – Dead Sons
Dead Sons are a Sheffield based band that have released a couple of dark (almost country noir) songs this year while giving out some great shows (specially their cracking set during Tramlines 2011). We sent them a couple of questions via email and they managed to answer them on their overbook schedule (recording, preparing for tour, rehearsing ’til the Pale Rider comes by to collect the rent).
Interview – Cats:For:Peru
It’s a very quiet Sunday at the Frog and Parrot. A couple of jokes about Sheffield looking like a deleted scene from 28 days later fall flat and after having the strongest thing next to a coke (a coke with a lemon wedge), we talk.
Out of the 5 cats, only Lucy (drums), Keith (bass) and Ad (keys, guitar, voice, ukulele, beard wrangling) are here. The rest of the band (Stella and Rich) are either fighting robots or dodging well-armed spreadsheets.
Interview – The Payroll Union
The Payroll Union are a Sheffield band that has been doing the rounds for a while, but it wasn’t until this year when it all started to fall into place. Between an EP launch in a cozy little pub, a stint on the Busker bus during Tramlines and a couple of Hoedowns (one which ended in a massive hay fight), the band is getting loads of good word of mouth.
A meeting with the band was arranged at 2Fly studios. When I get to the studio, the band are still recording. The song is ’1826′ and although the basic layout is pretty much finished, they want to add an extra layer of detail to the song. Melodica, a spot of keyboard and even the sound of breaking wood (courtesy of a 2×4 being destroyed in the studio) are added.
The Payroll Union are Ben (drums, vocals), Paul (bass) and Pete (guitar, main vocals) and they have been recording for the entire weekend. They look slightly tired but happy about how the song is panning out, so we take a stroll around and settle down at a Mexican restaurant to talk about Americana, history and why your influences might not determine how you sound.
Interview – The Ravenna Colt
Photo by L Park (from The Ravenna Colt's website)
The Ravenna Colt. A powerful name for a powerful band with an album full of pure emotions and reverberated atmospheres. We reviewed it quite recently and thanks to the very kind people of Karate Body Records, Tonan and Sam got to email Johnny Quaid, who answered our questions post haste. (more…)
Interview – Firesuite
It was the week after their Tramlines triathlon, but Firesuite were not taking a single moment off. They had new songs to practise and old songs to fine tune. They are in a corner room at Stag Works and after fiddling with some pedal settings and joking for a few moments, they proceed to rip out a few tunes.
We then go into the main courtyard, a couple of cigarrettes are lit, a few brews, ranging from ales to beers, are opened and a lot of questions are fired towards Firesuite. Wait, who are they? Well, they are Christopher Anderson (guitars, voice), Sarah Griffiths (guitar, voice), Chris Minor (bass, keyboards) and Richard Storer (drums). Christopher’s brother is taking photos and video, while a friend of the band, Stu, is also present. Stu plays keyboard during live renditions of ‘Sci-Fi Lullaby’. (more…)
