We here at SKOM are huge fans of Beta Lion. If you are still unfamiliar with them check out our review of Written In Sand here and our interview with them here.
They are hoping to get a video done for their new song, Dynasty, but in the meantime enjoy it in these fine audio formats and locations!
The Deafening Colors want you to make their next music video!
And they are offering a total of $500 in prizes for you to do so.
How does it work? It’s simple. You choose from either, “Parkway South” or “Mary-Anne” (tracks one and two on our 2015 album, “Carousel Season”) and you make a video for the song.
Submit the song by emailing the file (or private link to Dropbox) to thedeafeningcolors@gmail.com by 11:59 PM on Sunday, May 22, 2016 and we will pick our favorites. By submitting, you are stating that you agree to the Terms & Conditions below.
First prize will receive $400 and your video will be released as our official video for the song, posted to our YouTube page and our website and shared with the world.
Second prize will receive $100 and your video will also be released as our official video (the second place winner will be selected from the entries for whichever song did not win the first place prize) and shared with the world. Winners will be announced and videos released on Monday, May 30, 2016.
There is no entry fee, but we ask that you purchase whichever song you are making the video for at the price of .99 cents, available from thedeafeningcolors.bandcamp.com, from iTunes, or from many other online retailers.
For more information please contact thedeafeningcolors@gmail.com.
About The Deafening Colors:
The Deafening Colors are an indie band from New Jersey. They have performed live on WFMU, at The Bowery Electric, The Knitting Factory, Maxwell’s and many other venues and radio stations. Their newest album, “Carousel Season,” was described by WFMU as “an album that brims over with beautiful and poignant pop music.” They have been featured in the Press of Atlantic City, You Don’t Know Jersey, and Popdose, among many other publications.
Terms & Conditions
By submitting you are giving The Deafening Colors the right to publish your video submission on our website, our YouTube channel, or anywhere else that we deem appropriate.
You may also choose to share your video, whether your entry wins or not, on your own website, YouTube channel, or in any other manner available, as long as you credit The Deafening Colors and link to or share either www.thedeafeningcolors.com or www.thedeafeningcolors.bandcamp.com in both the description of the video and in the credits.
Winning submissions become the property of The Deafening Colors. Filmmaker(s) will be credited wherever distributed.
The Deafening Colors retain the right to forego choosing a winner depending on the quality of submissions.
The Deafening Colors reserve the right to change or alter the Terms and Conditions without notice at any time.
By submitting you are agreeing to all of the above Terms & Conditions.
Welcome back to the continuing saga that is Some Kind Of Muffin’s interview with The Deafening Colors.
They really do exist.
What are your hopes and dreams for this album and for The Deafening Colors?
John: My hopes for this album are that people cherish it, listen to it, and love it the way that I do my favorite albums. My hope for The Deafening Colors is that we spend the rest of our lives making music as best as we can. If we focus on that—the making of the best music we can make—all the rest will take care of itself.
Cris: Everything John said, and really: I just want more people to hear it. Sure, it’s nice to get recognition or make money or something, but what I REALLY want more than anything is something I’ve gotten a little bit already with Carousel Season. For the first time, people have “gotten it.” They’ll say, “Oh man, this made me think of that time I….” and it’s not the same thing I thought of when we made it, but it’s similar. It’s an aesthetic that people latched onto in the same way we did making it. It gives you this electric feeling of true and literal connection: like this thing that you can capture sonically can make someone feel the same way you’ve felt, even if you’ve never met this person. It’s what keeps me waking up and doing this stuff every day. Trying to get an answer to the question: “Maybe you’ve felt this way, too?”
Listening to Carousel Season I was immediately hit with a wall of emotion. I know that the album is a nostalgic look back, but it also feels immediate. It doesn’t feel wistful or regretful, as so many nostalgic pieces do. Where does that emotion come from and how are you able to convey it so effectively?
John: First, this is a wonderful reaction and I’m overjoyed that you felt this way when listening to the album. I think a lot of the creation of art comes from a mysterious place lurking somewhere between what might be called our conscious and sub-conscious. So answering this question is tough—but my guess is that the emotion comes from the realization that life is fleeting and that looking back on our experiences with anything other than some combination of joy and wonder would be useless.
Cris: YES!!!! That’s so cool! That’s the kind of thing I was talking about above. This is a roundabout answer, but it’s true so bear with me.
Here’s a secret: I’m deeply afraid of localism. This works on a few levels. For one, as a surfer, there is the constant question of local authenticity. Being a guy who grew up near the beach and now living across the river from Manhattan, every time I come home to paddle out, I wonder if someone is eyeing me up because I have a shirt tan or something stupid like that. Or even the way I surf. Or that I’m on a longboard instead of my shortboard because I’m out of practice or whatever.
Also, this is the same thing with where I live. I’ve been living and working in North Jersey for about a decade now. I’ve been home for extended stays in there, but my permanent residence has been in Morristown, Hoboken, Weehawken, and more for years now. For those are not from the area, it may sound stupid (and it probably, truly, is. But…) those places are decidedly more “New York” in accent, attitude, clothes, pace, and more. So even though some of this might be in my head, when I come back for a holiday or something, it’s as though I’m now the “other.” The difference. But where I live and work now, I’m always the other. You know what I mean? And people don’t move around between North and South Jersey often. The cliche is that they ought to be different states, but it’s actually a little more than cliche. It’s not animosity really. It’s, at least in some cases, a different way of life. It’s Philly vs. NYC. Slow vs. Fast. The beach vs. the city. I’m a diehard Philly sports fan but I live three blocks from the Hudson River and drive by MetLife Stadium and Red Bull Arena on the way to work every day. Go figure. John is much the same way I think. We live in this strange in-between world of New Jersey. We have probably lived in 10-15 cities and worked double that number in jobs between the two of us, so I think we have a firm grip on what it means to live in the Garden State.
So now, here’s the conclusion: when we wrote this thing, we were in a cool spot. Since we grew up here, since we have our families and our friends and our high school and our experiences and memories and childhoods here, we’ve been away long enough to write objectively about it. We can criticize and not feel like some jackass outsider or vacationing tourist (as a lot of recent AC-based songs can certainly feel) or some critical voyeuristic journalist looking to say “look at what a disaster this place is!” We can objectively say (and sleep okay at night saying) “this is our home. This is what it feels like for us. It’s messed up. It’s beautiful. We grew up operating carnival rides on the boardwalk and surfing at sunrise, but we also grew up knowing too many kids who died of heroin/opiate overdoses before we were of legal drinking age. We also saw good, hard-working people lose good jobs because of mismanagement and bureaucracy. We saw two island beach resorts with ludicrous socioeconomic disparity. We saw long summers, but we saw longer and more desolate winters. It’s flat here. It’s featureless. Pine trees and sand and pine trees and sand and cattails and bay grass and low tide and the same bar for the same happy hour with the same people…and we (or they?) like it that way. It’s not cool because it’s different from everyone’s experience. It’s cool because it’s our experience and it’s probably yours. It’s 100% not special. That’s why it’s special. We love where we grew up.” It’s everyone’s story of localism and the conflict in your heart when it comes to going away or coming home. In a weird way, I hope there’s something sort of American about it! Do we owe it to those who stayed or to our conscience to dwell where we please? It’s nostalgic, sure. But it’s OBJECTIVE. Or at least we tried to be that way. It’s good and bad like anywhere else is. Yikes. That was a lot longer than I wanted it to be.
What are the greatest challenges as songwriters?
John: To avoid cliché, and to say something universal as concisely and simply as possible.
Cris: To explain a feeling people have been trying to explain their whole lives, though they didn’t even know they were trying to explain it.
What haven’t you done yet that you want to either with your music or in life?
John: I want The Deafening Colors to make a masterpiece so undeniably great that it holds its own with the greatest albums, or works of art in general, of all time. To aim any lower seems a waste of time.
Cris: I 100% agree with John. I think his answer is perfect. As audacious and naive as it sounds, grandiosity doesn’t happen without foolishness if you ask me. If the worst thing that happens is someone thinks we’re talking out of turn, well, good.
What has been your darkest moment as The Deafening Colors and what has been your brightest?
John: The darkest moment was probably somewhere between our first full-length album, Upstairs, and Carousel Season, when we only practiced sporadically and recorded even less. The brightest was the whole recording process for Carousel Season. Those were some of the most fun days I’ve ever had.
Cris: We’ve had 20 or so people play in our group over the years and not all of them have been the kind of nice, kind, friendly folks you like to have around the family. With that said, many of them have been, too. Also, John has had some remarkable stability with his wife, and I…well…haven’t sometimes? I don’t recall having even a mild disagreement with John really ever, so the dark moments that have influenced a lack of output or less-than-stellar stuff have really been a symptom of personal stuff rather than TDC.
How do you play live? Is it just the two of you? Do you have additional musicians live or prerecorded tracks?
John: We have played many shows with a full band–usually three guitarists, one bassist, and a drummer. Lately we’ve been doing an acoustic duo/trio depending on who is around, and we’ve also been practicing with a full band. We have never used prerecorded tracks live. We’ve also played with dozens of musicians in our various incarnations over the years.
Do you plan to tour? Because I can’t make it to New Jersey, but it’d be great if you made it to Portland.
John: We do. Do we know when? Not necessarily. Part of it depends on finances, and our work/life circumstances. If circumstances and finances allow, I’d like us to tour anywhere that would have us!
Cris: Agree with John here too. I think that the two of us struggle inherently with a simple concept: we spend so much time getting the right sound on our recordings, and that is a discovery process. So there’s a lot of “trial and error, listen, take time, listen some more, try something else” going on that you can’t really have in a live show. So ultimately, we (unfairly, and maybe inaccurately) feel as though our live show seems like it doesn’t measure up to our records. Also, the real rush of it all at least for me (but I think for John too) is that we get to actually make something NEW when we are recording. We’re not treading over something we have worked to perfect, we are making something. We like that.
I know John is married. Do you both have full-time jobs in addition to the band? How do you manage your time?
John: Yes, I am married, and yes, we have full-time jobs. I am a librarian. I manage my time by filling it with all the things I care about–I love my job, and when I am not working I am playing guitar, or writing to bloggers about The Deafening Colors, or driving to Cris’s place to record music. We record late at night, or very early in the morning, or all day on weekends, or all day on holidays, or whenever we get a chance, really. Cris has been doing all of the instruments himself–which means that whenever I get over there he has a track for me to sing over. It’s been a great arrangement and we don’t plan to stop.
Cris: I am not married, but I have a wonderful girlfriend who is infinitely patient and compassionate in addition to being a gorgeous and strong person. I am a full time 10th/11th grade English teacher at a public high school in northern New Jersey. I have been doing that for five years. I absolutely adore my job, my school, and everyone I work with…not to mention the students who are unquestionably awesome. I also coach girls soccer at the high school, play semipro soccer with a local club, cook at The Little Grocery Uptown in Hoboken during the summertime (the owners are lovely people and the food is incredibly good. I know, because I make it!), I surf as often as possible, and I try to see my family, see my friends, read, and write as often as humanly possible. I’m pretty obsessed with recording and listening to music though. I sort of strangely look at it as studying as much as I look at it as doing something for strictly entertainment purposes. The management of all of this time is a bit of an insane juggling act, but it never seems that way. It’s just what we’ve been doing as long as I can remember. It’s strange: since I’m fourteen or so, I always think that whenever I have free time, in my head, it’s always “I should be recording… I should be recording… I should be recording…
Thank you both so much for taking the time to share about your new album, your process, and a bit about your personal lives!
John: Thank you for taking the time to interview us!
Find The Deafening Colors at these fine locations:
Today I am very pleased to feature part one of a two part interview with John and Cris of The Deafening Colors. The second I heard their music I was immediately transported out of my living room and into the minds and worlds of these amazing song writers. You can find their new album here. Be sure to crank it on a good sound system or put your headphones on, there’s a lot to take in.
What is your name?
John: My name is John Arthur. I am in The Deafening Colors.
Cris: My name is Cristofer Slotoroff. Everyone calls me Cris, though. Even my mom. I am in The Deafening Colors.
What is your quest?
John: My quest is, to quote Tolstoy, to add my light to the sum of light.
Cris: I took a career quiz in the eighth grade. In a moment of preteen sincerity, I wrote “to paint my masterpiece.” Not sure of the medium, but I’m still working on it. Tell me about your journey to Carousel Season. How does it differ from previous efforts? John: It started with Cris’s early versions of “Diving Horse’s Ghost” and “Carousel Season.” It differs from previous efforts because it is so focused. This was probably the album that we’ve been trying to write during the dozen or more years since Cris and I first started playing music together in our parents’ basements in high school.
Cris: It differs, as John mentioned, in the realm of focus. Like, I can passably (and poorly) string vocals together, but they won’t be very good. John can play a bunch of instruments too, but this time, it just sort of turned out that John (who is an uncommonly good singer, and I’m not even just saying that) did all of the vocals and I did all of the instruments. It wasn’t a stated aim or goal or whatever. It just sort of started turning out that way. That’s more of an explanation of the process though rather than the journey.
To more accurately answer your question, I think the journey is, at least personally speaking here, borne out of necessity: I had a rough 2014 and I hadn’t made anything (musically, financially, personally, artistically) in a long time. I didn’t feel like myself. Wrong girl, wrong town, wrong people to surround myself with. Blah blah blah. Finally, something clicked and it seemed as if I had to look backward to go forward if that makes any sense. Looking back here, this all seems a little pretentious. Whatever. It’s true.
Reading the “About” section on your site makes it sound as if a minor fender bender may have started all this?
John: That was Cris’s fender bender. I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about.
Cris: Sort of. I was home visiting my family. I had already intended on recording a ton of stuff, so it wasn’t as though the idea wasn’t in my head. I didn’t mean for it to sound so dramatic, because it wasn’t. Let me set that straight for future reference. What happened is that I was driving to get a cheesesteak for lunch at Rose’s Garden Grille in Northfield, NJ, where John is from (and where he used to work in high school). John’s town is adjacent to my town. Anyhow, on my way there, I see this fender bender on the side of the road. It looked like the cops hadn’t gotten there yet. Nothing serious, but everyone looked a little uneasy. So I pulled over and then I realize it was actually someone I knew really well. I hadn’t spoken to her in so long, and we had a bit of a relationship when we were kids. She was there with her mother, and I’m really good friends with her older brother, so I run over and ask if everyone’s all right. They were, but they both didn’t recognize me until later in the day after I got in touch again, and then we kind of spent the whole rest of the winter break talking to one another while I was recording all of this stuff. I had forgotten or maybe misplaced in my memory all of these experiences. Also, I’ve been out of high school ten years as of 2015. So as we were talking it was kind of like rediscovering myself in some strange way. It was really cool to make something and rekindle an old friendship. I think the two had a lot of bearing on one another.
What do you think would have happened if Cris hadn’t had that experience?
John: We would have kept on recording and making music. Both of us constantly have recording, and the creation of art in general, on our minds.
Cris: I agree with John. We have been making stuff for years and we won’t stop. Like John sort of insinuated, we have been trying unconsciously, I think, to make this album for a very long time.
I need to know who Mary-Anne and Jerry Ryan are.
John: Mary-Anne is the girl you wish you had asked to the movies in 11th grade. Jerry Ryan is a philanthropist, music enthusiast, festival organizer, father, humorist, and all around good dude from Atlantic City, NJ.
Cris: Mary-Anne is the best kind of disaster, but you can only feel that way in retrospect – a person genuinely awful to the core, but nonetheless essential to helping you figure something out about yourself. I had one of those in my life at one point. I think it’s important to be optimistic, so that’s the way I choose to see that whole thing. Her name wasn’t Mary-Anne, but Mary-Anne has this classy old ring to it, so it kind of had to be “Mary-Anne.” “Maggie Anne” was considered too, because my roommate’s dog is named Maggie and she’s fantastic, but it wasn’t to be.
As John said: Jerry Ryan is a philanthropist, music enthusiast, festival organizer, father, humorist, and all around good dude from Atlantic City, NJ.
I’d like to add, he was pretty instrumental in our developing an early audience. Though John and I had been making music for years and playing the occasional show here and there around NYC, Philly, NJ/AC, etc. we were inherently not so good at promoting ourselves. We’re not very “band-y,” if you know what I mean? But we take the creating music part of things very seriously and Jerry was one of the first people to sort of say “hey, you guys NEED to play at my new festival and you NEED more people to hear this album.” Also, the lyrics of that song are almost 100% literal truth.
I absolutely hear a Beach Boys influence in your harmonies and even some of the production choices? Is that something that is conscious or instinctive?
John: I think it started out as instinctive but we picked up on it quickly and then it became conscious.
Cris: Hm. One of the things I like about the way that John and I record is that it’s not very “serious.” I don’t mean that in a way that contradicts what I’ve written previous to this. What I mean is that we are very serious about the music we make and extremely dedicated, but the process of doing it is entirely one of exploration. I imagine it’s probably a lot like telling some kid at an amusement park, “okay, we want you to make the greatest roller coaster of all time. So here’s all the tickets you want. Ride them all as many times as you’d like, see how much you can handle. Then, draw up the best roller coaster possible, it doesn’t matter if it’s crazy and doesn’t make any sense. We will try to build it!” We didn’t really model it on anyone else’s work. John did a lot of those harmonies first take. Like it’s almost all improvised, which is sort of crazy good, if you really think about it. Like, I’m still outrageously impressed with all of that and I was sitting there and clicking the buttons and all.
John and I were just having this conversation the other day: “Why do people keep saying beach boys?” or “why surf rock?” Neither one of us thinks of music in terms of genre, you know? We have a hard time categorizing other people’s stuff, so it’s nearly impossible for us to accurately describe our sound. I mean certainly we love Pet Sounds and the like, and I’m sure it played the role of a conscious influence along the way, but I think I was listening to more Run The Jewels and RTJ2 than I was Pet Sounds! In terms of Surf Rock, we have been listing that as a genre where applicable because it’s what other people seem to say about us. I think that’s because of the guitar tone I kind of prefer, which is actually really simple – just a few pedals and amps and all. Lots of spring Reverb. But actually, as much as I like equipment, my stuff sort of pales in comparison to what I want. We have made the most out of our gear. Believe me. I did some weird stuff to my guitars, I guess, but it’s nothing revolutionary or whatever. We keep things (cheap and) simple on the whole. We become restless easily too, so what happens next may be entirely different. Who knows?
In terms of production, I like being surrounded by music. I like bathing in it. I want it to sound, literally, like waves of sound are picking you up and tossing you around comfortably and maybe not so comfortably. So, more so than Brian Wilson, I think Loveless (My Bloody Valentine), You Forgot It in People (Broken Social Scene), and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot were influential production touchstones. Oh, also a lot of Dave Friedmann’s stuff with The Flaming Lips. In particular, Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi. Finally, (sorry for rambling here,) I think that it sounds a little Beach Boys or surfy or whatever because it’s about where we grew up, and well… I surf. I love surfing. I’m going surfing in a few minutes actually! There is a lot of kitschy BS associated with surfing and music around here, so I think I kind of wanted it to be as cool as I think it can be. Jersey Surf Rock, maybe? Like dirty water, crowded lineup, dodging jetties and shoobies and drainage pipes and all. That’s what the album sounds like to me.
The Beach Boys connection is maybe (…and somewhat ironically, given what people have said about it,) more Van Dyke Parks than Brian Wilson in that the subject matter is cyclical and reflective of a hometown aesthetic (if I can be so presumptuous). I can see where it comes from though, because of the harmonies and the guitars…but like, there was Carl, Dennis, Bruce, Al, Brian, and Mike. And probably others. John did literally every vocal on that album. I didn’t work with any session people. I don’t say that to brag, because I’m not exactly Mr. Proficiency on my instruments. I mention this because the line between vision and creation is not even remotely obscured when it comes to the two of us. We don’t have to relinquish anything to the creative or commercial whims of anyone else. I’ve heard of a certain Hoboken native who liked to remind the world just whose way he did things, and I think it’s admirable when anyone blazes his or her own trail in the arts. I think that someone more important than me once said “if you’re going to fail, it should be spectacularly…” or something like that.
What has the reaction to Carousel Season been?
John: It has been overwhelmingly positive—I’m thankful every day that we have people listening to and sharing our music. The best thing, for me, is that some of the songs are taking on a life of their own—”Jerry Ryan” was recently performed by a bunch of students for an Elephants For Autism charity music camp—watching the video of those kids performing a song we wrote probably made me happier than anything else has in my life (except of course my family and my wife)…hi, Khush. Hi, mom.
Cris: More positive than I could have ever imagined. It’s sort of surreal. Like, I remember just sort of mic’ing everything up and then playing the instruments, recording John, mixing it, mastering it, buying gear, restringing guitars or whatever, blah blah blah, and there was no audience for that, you know? Like, no one was expecting anything from us except for those really close to us. And then again, we’ve been recording music a long time so when we would tell our friends “no really, this is pretty good…” I think a lot of them were sort of skeptical. It’s funny – we used to tell people that if they didn’t want to listen to our 7” or our CD-R EPs, they made great drink coasters. We never took ourselves seriously and I think that kind of rubbed off on the music we made and the way people interpreted it. Also, I think that we may have been a little afraid to say something genuine… sort of like “who are we to say _____ ?” A lot of things clicked, though, this time around in a way they haven’t and I think we’re onto something even bigger.
Be sure to join us next week for the exciting conclusion of our interview with John and Cris of The Deafening Colors.
Today we return to Los Angeles to speak with Steven Eric Wilson of Plasticsoul. We’re going deep, kids. Hang on tight.
Tell me a little about your background. How you got into music.
Steven Eric Wilson: I had 5 older brothers and sisters who filled my head with all sorts of music from as early as I can remember. It was probably Kiss who made me want to be a musician. They were like super heroes with guitars.
How did Plasticsoul come together?
SEW: When I was 15 I joined my first band – a really horrible punk band – playing bass guitar. Our guitar player had a $15 pawn shop guitar that was made from particle board. Our drummer played Synsonics drums (no, seriously). I played with a couple more bands after that before I got disillusioned with the whole “band” thing and decided to do things on my own. I liked the idea of being a solo artist while using a band moniker like Matt Johnson/The The. Originally I wanted to call the band The Sal Mineos but my friend told me that I might have problems with the estate of Sal Mineo so I changed it to Plasticsoul. During the recording of our first album, Pictures From The Long Ago, Marc Bernal became a permanent fixture in the group. We did as much of the production, recording, and playing as we could do on our own, and got help from our friends when we couldn’t. During the recording of our second album, Peacock Swagger, we made the decision to add members to the group in order to better recreate live what we were doing in the studio.
Is your band’s name “Plasticsoul” a reference to the term black musicians in the 60s used to describe Mick Jagger (a white musician singing soul music)?
SEW: Yes. After that Paul McCartney said “plastic soul man, plastic soul” in the fade out of The Beatles track “I’m Down”. Then they mutated the phrase into their album title Rubber Soul. I wanted something that reminded people of vintage music. All of our amps and guitars are pre 1970 and we are heavily influenced by classic rock, so it seemed appropriate.
I hear some Beatles influence, but mostly in the vocals. Is that intentional?
SEW: The Beatles are a huge influence on me. They were innovators and they wrote amazing songs. I don’t intentionally try to sing like any member of The Beatles and I don’t really hear it myself. It’s strange how many people hear different things in my voice. I’ve gotten Michael Penn, George Michael (??) and Billy Corgan (?!?!?!) and others.
Tell me about the song “Over & Over.”
SEW: Over & Over is about trying to ignore emotional pain by burying it deep within you and trying to forget it. I grew up trying to do this and it doesn’t work. Eventually all of that poison will bubble back up to the surface and really mess you up mentally and physically. That song was a big exorcism for me. I’m really proud of that one.
What inspires you musically and lyrically?
SEW: I’m inspired by whatever I’m feeling at the time. I’m not usually very direct in my lyric writing. My lyrics tend to be more about imagery than about saying something specific. I like leaving things open to interpretation.
I’m inspired musically by real instruments. Music that is made without digital correction. I love hearing mistakes. Some of my favorite parts of songs are mistakes or things that shouldn’t be there. The squeaky kick drum pedal in James Brown’s Sex Machine makes me smile every time.
Yes! Exactly. Jimi Hendrix is someone who has inspired so many guitarists to be extremely proficient and yet he has mistakes on his albums and also never played his songs the same way twice. Is Plasticsoul similarly fluid live?
SEW: Oh god yes! Our bass player Marc often complains because we sound so different live than we do on record. To me, that’s a good thing. There was a band in the 80’s that I really loved called Lions & Ghosts. On their first album they had all of these lush string arrangements, piano, etc, and when you saw them live it was just 2 guitars, bass, drums, and vocals. And they were AWESOME live! That was what I wanted with Plasticsoul. Our guitar player Daniel is always changing up his pedals so his sound is often different, and he rarely plays the exact same thing twice. My guitar solos tend to be more scripted but that is just because I’m not as good a guitar player as Daniel. Overall, I think we still sound like Plasticsoul when we perform live.
What do you want people to get from your music?
SEW: The beauty of imperfection.
What do you get from your music?
SEW: Catharsis
What are your highest aspirations for Plasticsoul?
SEW: I would be very happy if I could make enough money from my music to support myself, my wife, and our cats. That doesn’t mean I would be upset if suddenly we were as big as Queen and playing stadiums. If we can continue to make music that I can be proud of, make a living, and take the show on the road so we can meet the people outside the US that bought our records, I would be very happy
What is your assessment of the LA music scene and music in general right now?
SEW: There are some amazing musicians in Los Angeles making fabulous records. Brandon Schott (who is a casual member of Plasticsoul), the breakups, John Hoskinson, Everyday Ghost, The Condors, Brian Whelan…tons of great artists! Unfortunately, the club scene isn’t very supportive. If we could inject the passion of our LA musicians into our LA club owners we might be able to achieve something.
Chicken, pork, beef, or tofu?
SEW: Back in August I cut all animal protein out of my diet with the exception of chicken and fish. One of the things I thought I was going to miss the most was chorizo. Then I found SOYrizo and its delicious – so I will have to go with tofu.
Allan Irvine: Guitarist, mentalist, madman. No, seriously. Who wears this outfit in Northern Ireland for fun?
Allan has been a good friend to me over the years, is another guitar.com find, and was nice enough to include me on a project a year ago. Video after the interview. Ladies and gentlemen, Allan Irvine!
How did you first get into guitar?
AI: I blame my Uncle. He was a total rocker/metal-head when I was still in primary school (7-8 years old) and I was the only kid in my class with a cut-off denim jacket that had a huge Led Zep painting on the back. It rocked! I sat every weekend listening to AC/DC, Saxon, Led Zep, KISS, WASP, Scorpions,Iron Maiden….. y’know…….late 70’s and early 80’s rock and metal. Getting into the guitar as an instrument and not just a bringer of wonderful noise was a logical conclusion almost. It was years after that when it happened though.
How old were you?
AI: I was 18. I’d just started college after getting 7 G.C.S.E’s at 16 and then a Higher National Diploma at 17. When I went on to A-level study at 18 I had my first proper job and the guitar was my first purchase with my 2nd wage packet. My girlfriend at the time wasn’t happy about it, but I didn’t give a shit. It was my ambition from school, my money, and my hard work that made that money. She soon became an ex, and my guitar was my mistress!
Was it your first instrument?
AI: No, I started off in primary school with a little recorder, then a Tenor Horn in secondary School. I hated them, I always wanted to play the guitar, and my music teacher wouldn’t let me near the Strat that the school music room had because he was a first class prick. I could have asked my folks, but I had too much pride and dignity and knew they couldn’t afford one. I had a great upbringing, but financially a tough one. My parents worked hard and what we had was minimal, but I seriously can’t fault it. I could never have asked them for anything as expensive as a guitar when I was a kid and I knew I’d buy my own some day. And I did…….now I have serious G.A.S!!! (editor’s note : Gear Acquisition Syndrome)
How did you first learn, who taught you?
AI: Guitar tablature was my teacher, addiction and entertainment for a few years when I first started out. I loved learning new songs and it never took much time to get to grips with them as I learn at an extraordinary rate. Within a year of first plugging in my very first guitar I was playing things like “Midnight” by the mighty Joe Satriani almost note perfect.
“I can be happy in knowing that I’m still enjoying the challenge.”
Kids now don’t realize how easy it is for them with the Internet and Youtube etc. I think some of these kids are amazing. But they have access to a world that we didn’t have when I was growing up. Jeez, even the tablature we got was awful sometimes, nowhere near the bloody song you were trying to learn! After a while though I was able to pick up most things by ear and transfer them to the neck as I learned and progressed. I can pick up styles and licks that others use and adapt them to my own way of playing. Anyone who says this is just copying is a dick. Sure, if I met a bunch of Beatles fans on Twitter and set up a cover band called “The Tweetles” or some equally as shitty pun, playing all their songs and dressing like them, then I’d agree! Fucking right I would. Those guys are assholes. But say if a classically trained pianist had studied some Chopin pieces then totally arranged, composed and played his OWN work including little Chopin-esque elements, does that make him any less of a musician? Does it fuck! In a world with 6 and a half billion people alive, and as many or more dead, it is hard not to be compared to anyone no matter what you do. It’s just how it works. And if you can learn from your heroes and infuse or include it it into your own style and playing then do it. Every guitar player you have ever heard has done it. I recently heard Guthrie Govan playing a piece made up in the style of his heroes, and he uses their sound and techniques but plays it the way Mr. Govan can play it, his own way. It was amazing. Not only is he better than nearly every one of the musicians he referenced, but you knew who they were instantly without seeing anything to tell you. Does this make Guthrie Govan a copycat/plagiarist? Seriously? Fuck no. If he is then Steve Vai was wrong in calling him “The best guitarist on the planet.” Personally, I happen to agree that he is too.
What was your first guitar?
AI: A cream Squire Strat. It was an average guitar, but it was MY average guitar and I worked damn hard to buy it. As I said, I wasn’t a spoiled little rich kid with too much gear and little or no talent. I had my crappy little Squire and a second hand Vox 15 watt amp and I played the shit out of them until I could move on to better things.
Tell me a little about your gear and your sound.
AI: At present I’ve got a Schecter Damien Elite 8-string tuned E,B,E,A,D,G,B,E I think!? I love that thing. You start off with a catchy little progression then “Berrrrrrrrrrr…….RAWK!!!” I totally skipped the whole 7-string phase and leapt from 6 to 8. It was a new challenge and I’m loving it so far. I also own an Ibanez JS, a few home-built Strats, an old Crafter Bass for recording (redundant now I have the Schecter, it has all the bass included!) and a battered old acoustic for practice. On the DAW front I have a Line 6 UX-1 running through Abelton. It will soon be replaced by a Line 6 HD500. I also run a Boss ME-25 now and again for different tones and effects. I don’t have a dedicated sound or tone and I change it constantly to fit whatever I have in my head when I’m recording. I’m still useless at Abelton though so although musically I can get by, as far as recording and production etc is concerned I suck. I’ll leave that to the pedantic knob twiddlers out there. Let’s face it, in the studio it’s just you and the instrument, the engineers do the magic on the other side so why get all arsey (anal) about it now? For now I’ll be happy with crappy quality recordings with some decent playing.
How do you approach song writing? What’s the process?
AI: I don’t write. Never have. I know nothing of theory, scales, modes…..nothing. I record or ‘obtain’ drums then I plug in and what comes out is what I feel when I hear the beat set down previously. It has worked for me so far! I think if I sat and constructed pieces and worked everything out methodically it would kill my enjoyment. People are too obsessed with theory dude! Look below any Youtube video of a guitarist and/or rock musician. It’s fucking pathetic the arguments they get into. I think if it rocks then it rocks, and I don’t care if he used a Phrygian, Mixolydian, Triceratops, or Condominium. That’s the downside of the Internet as a musician’s tool, it turns musicians into tools. A wise man, and a great blues guitarist once said to me “Just shut up and play your damned guitar! That is your voice and you can sure as hell use it, so do it!” He passed away a few months after giving me one hell of a great piece of advice. Man, I miss him.
I think if it rocks then it rocks, and I don’t care if he used a Phrygian, Mixolydian, Triceratops, or Condominium.
What is your opinion of “tone chasers”and do you consider yourself one?
AI: Like Eric Johnson? I’ve nothing against them to be honest. If that floats their boat then sure, go for it! I can’t settle for just one sound or tone, I have to be tweaking and finding new things. Lots of different and strange sounds that work into whatever I’m doing at the time.
Who are your idols?
AI: I have way too many to list but I’ll drop in a few names if it helps! Mattias ‘IA’ Eklundh, Shawn Lane, Guthrie Govan, Vai, Satriani, Ron Jarzombek, Rory Gallagher, Hendrix, Beck,
Page, Django Rheinhardt, Newton Faulkner, Eva Cassidy, Jason Becker, Jeff Loomis, Tosin Abasi, Eric Johnson, Danny Gatton……..the list goes on! I can’t play like 99% of these people, but they all in some way or another inspire me, and that inspiration pushes me to learn more, and I think that it is important to draw that inspiration from artists you admire.
What do you get out of playing guitar?
AI: Therapy. I have arthritis in my hands, hips and knees. Playing helps me with the hands part of it to some degree but there are days were they are too sore to even pick the instrument up.I still love it, even though I can’t play the way I used to many years ago. I just adapted my playing to suit what I can do now, as opposed to what I could do then. Not that I’m ever happy with everything I do. I hate some of my recordings with a passion, but I can always find little bits that I think really pop out and make them listenable again. I don’t think I’ll ever reach the level of playing I’d love to reach, or even the level I was at before things took a turn, but I can be happy in knowing that I’m still enjoying the challenge.
How do you keep yourself interested and learning?
AI: Listening to new bands mostly. I hear licks in things that I can relate to, or just enjoy the hell out of and it keeps me wanting to learn new ways of approaching my own playing. For instance, at the moment I’m picking up some really neat riffs with some wide spaced intervals and while it is a struggle to get to grips with considering my handicap, I’m still enthusiastic about it and it keeps me wanting more. I also get a kick out of online collaboration. Hearing how others approach their music and making my own style fit into their stuff really makes me happy. To me that’s what playing is all about, learning from others and on your own, adapting, trying new styles or genres and having fun! Yeah, mostly the fun bit.
And now the collab Allan and I did. I programmed the drums and bass and Allan let it rip on the gitfiddle.
My sister, Mo, is in town. She’s in town because we are David Byrne-ing it up!(Byrne-ing down the house?) Tonight we get to see him talk about his book How Music Works with Carrie Brownstein, but last night we saw him perform with St. Vincent(Annie Clark) in support of their collaborative album Love This Giant.
Intention. Beauty. Art. That is what we witnessed. I’ll be honest. I don’t really know how to write this review; how to properly convey the experience I had. Let me start with the basics and go from there.
There was a minimalist stage set up; just a few stage lights and a plain white backdrop. This was used to great affect when setting the mood. Byrne and St. Vincent both convey an amazing stage presence and are amazing vocalists and, as Mrs. Muffin said, St. Vincent has Prince-like chops on the guitar. The eight-piece horn section, drummer, and keyboardist were tight-every single one of them consummate musicians. Each song had it’s own choreography whether it was dancing, marching around the stage or even having the horn section and Byrne lie down so the attention was aimed at St. Vincent.
Everything was so focussed and thoughtful and every song was so good and every performer so on their game. And here is the part that is kind of hard to explain. I have been to many concerts and had an amazing time. There are times when the artist or band and the audience are so in sync that it becomes transcendent (Belly at LaLuna in ’95 comes to mind). While last night’s concert did not attain that kind of transcendence, it did offer something else-at least to me. About three songs in it all hit me: David Byrne, St. Vincent, the horn section, the drummer, the keyboardist, the amount of work, dedication, passion, talent, and the level of the craft that I was witnessing and then it happened. Bear with me here kids….my eyes watered…they teared up. I didn’t cry, but I would say I was moved to tears. I have heard people talk about being brought to tears by artwork or a piece of music and have never gotten it. I understand those things bringing out something that is already inside of a person, but never believed the art or music did it in and of itself. Maybe I had something inside me that recognized what was going on up on the stage last night, but it seemed bigger than that and it definitely didn’t feel like it was about me.
Of note:
They played three encores and when they introduced the members of the horn section they pointed out that each person had their own table in the lobby selling merchandise for their individual bands they are in outside of the Love This Giant project. That’s class, folks.
Every song was amazing. That is rare, but it’s true.
Punker. Rocker. Seriously messed up individual (in the best way possible). Bloody F Mess has made a name for himself playing with GG Allin and founding seminal acts such as Bloody Mess and the Skabs. His current project is The Bloody Mess Rock Circus. This week Some Kind Of Muffin is honored to be joined by the man himself Bloody F Mess and his bass player/writing partner Christopher T. Baggins.
Bloody, I know about your rock n roll and punk pedigree, but I was wondering how you all got together for this current band?
Bloody Mess: THE Bloody Mess Rock Circus was formed by myself, & Christopher & Andy. (& Justin, our ex drummer)
But of course, we have the most awesome Chris Stench on drums and we are pleased. This line up is so perfect for so many reasons!!
Christopher T Baggins: Rock n Roll brought us together…..a mission you might say
How has the band been received?
Bloody Mess: We get great responses from most of our gigs that’s for sure. we’ve played all over the country & have earned new fans and putting smiles on the faces of the older fans, by throwing down, rocking out, and delivering the goods at EVERY show, big or small. The “FRICTION ADDICTION” 2012 USA tour was a bloody blast!
CTB: I love the response we get…love us or hate us , you won’t forget us…
What is your song writing process like?
Bloody Mess: We write both separately and together. But mostly together. I write all the lyrics. The guys write music,songs…Christopher is the main song writer, musically, at this point, but everything shifts on occasion & everyone contributes for sure.
CTB: We all write riffs and jam on them at band practice….I feel lucky to be able to jam with these guys..they make it easy
You recently finished a short tour. What was your favorite show? Other than the one my band, Zombies Love Gizzards, opened for you.
Bloody Mess: Favorite gigs of that tour? Hmmmm…Peoria, Illinois I guess. Ironic (its my home town). Portland was a LOT of fun too though & a great kick off to that 11 state tour.We play Portland next on Saturday October 20th at the Twilight Cafe & Bar. Bring some Gizzards & friends out to get down with the Rock Circus!!
CTB: I loved the show in Peoria, San Antonio …truthfully had a blast on the whole tour …met some great people and had great times…memories that can never be taken away from us…
Bloody and Christopher at The Red Room
I know you are looking at recording a CD soon. Can you tell me how that came about, where you are going to record, and when we can expect to see it?
Bloody Mess: It’ll be my 30th anniversary cd! THE BLOODY MESS ROCK CIRCUS. At least 13 songs Im guessing. Rikk Agnew is producing it for us in L.A. at Robot Kitten studio. Paul Roessler is recording us. I’m super excited about this cd. Not only because of the band (they fucking rock!!!!!!!!!!), but because we have some solid songs ready to unleash! “JUNK MALE”, “OCD IS KILLING ME” & “BLUEST OF THE BLUE” to name a few. Also Sammy Town from FANG is co-writing one song with me & doing vocals on it as well for the album! We hope to record in Winter or Spring. we are doing it right but progressing rapidly. we have about 9 or 10 originals now ready to record. 4 or 5 more and we just tighten up until we feel ready to record! We ARE looking for a label too currently!
CTB: Bloody summed that one up pretty good…recording in LA with Rik Agnew producing and a few guest rockers….really lookin forward to this album
What are your plans for the future?
Bloody Mess: Future? Tour….Hit Europe…Canada….Do more film roles…do more film soundtracks…tour…tour…tour
CTB: Future….more ROCK
Bloody, I know you are busy with lots of projects outside of the Rock Circus. Can you tell me about those?
Bloody Mess: I’m the host/producer of the Church Of Rock radio show on Sunday nights in southern Oregon and on the net at www.kzze.com (Christopher is the co-host/producer)….Im also one of the southern Oregon Burlesque M.C.’s. I do small acting roles in Independent films. Two are currently in production. BAR-B-GURLZ here in southern Oregon and SPIDARLINGS in London, England. I also go to Haiti in the Fall for a role in VOODOO EXOTICA. Plus, the band & I are writing songs for the soundtracks to these films. I’m also a legal minister & do rock n roll weddings.
What other projects do you have going on Christopher?
CTB: I am Co-Host/Producer of The Church of Rock ….doin a few MC jobs with the Southern Oregon Burlesque Girls…Have a Boutique we just opened in Downtown Medford..“Our Stuff Boutique”…..and I try to sleep on the in between spare minutes…
If you could be one piece of furniture, what would it be and why?
Bloody Mess: I’d be a love seat because Im so fucking lovable!!!!
CTB: I don’t know if you would consider it furniture, but I think I would wanna be a woman’s bicycle seat…
You can catch The Bloody Mess Rock Circus Oct 20th at the Twilight Cafe and Bar 1420 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, Oregon and I HIGHLY recommend it.
Some Kind Of Muffin 